School Board Meeting - May 27, 2021

001so calling a closed session [Music] open session portion to order ms carlson do you have a motion i do i move that the albemarle county public school board go into a closed meeting as authorized by the virginia freedom of information act section 2.2-37-11-a of the code of virginia under subsection 1 for the discuss discussion consideration our interviews of prospective candidates for employment and the assignment appointment promotion performance to motion salaries disciplining our resignation of specific public officers appointees are employees of any public body second okay move by ms carlson second by mr al qaida we go into closed session um ms johnston call the roll please um mr alcaro yes dr aka yes uh miss lee yes miss carlson yes ms osborne yes mr page yes motion carried ms johnson have you heard from mr

002oberg um i heard from him earlier today so he may have just hopped over into the closed meeting okay all right all right thanks so okay good afternoon to all of our listeners we i now call this meeting back into session the may 27th meeting of the albemarle county school board ms carlson do you have a motion i do um i move that's a board certified by recorded vote that to the best of each board member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted promotion authorizing considered second okay it's been moved by ms carlson second by mr alcaro that we certify that um the only topics discussed were those in the original motion ms johnston could you call the world please dr aka yes mr uber yes miss lee yes ms carlson yes miss osborne yes

003mr alcaro yes mr page yes mission carry okay motion cares all right we have um two motions from the closed session so mr alcaro i move that we approve the recommended appointments of three elementary school principals maureen jensen in stony point elementary aceta de laurier in murray elementary and angela stokes in stone robinson elementary i second moved by mr alcaro a second by doc daycoff that we approve the hiring of the three principles mentioned ms johnston could you call the roll please dr acuff yes mr oberg yes miss lee yes miss carlson yes ms osborne yes mr alcaro yes mr page yes mission carried and miss osborne you have a motion also yes i'll move that we adopt addendum number two to superintendent matt haas's contract second second move by ms osborne second by ms

004lee that we adopt addendum 2 to superintendent haas's contract ms johnston could you please call the roll mr alcaro yes ms osborne yes miss carlson yes miss lee yes mr uber yes dr acuff yes miss paint mr page yes mission carried thank you we will now have a moment of silence thank you um because of the covet crate pandemic our minutes are we required to read this into our minutes for each of our meetings the minutes of this meeting should reflect that this meeting is being held electronically pressing it to virginia state law and that mile county ordinance because the covet 19 pandemic makes it impracticable and unsafe to assemble a quorum physically in a single location the meeting is being communicated to the public electronically through zoom and stream to live on the albemarle

005county public schools website and public comment may be offered through the zoom waiting room feature in accordance with the school board's protocol or by written submission and now to introduce the members of our board dr kate akov kate akov jack jewett district mr giano alcaro jono el carro at large miss katrina carlson trina colston rio district miss judy lee judy lee rivanna district mr dave oberg dave o burg whitehall magisterial district ellen osborne ellen osborne scottsville district and i'm graham page samuel miller district and we also have our student rep ms leyla bonds hi good evening everyone my name is leila and i'm from alpine high school thank you very much and again it's a pleasure to have you sitting on our board um we now need a motion to adapt or to approve rather

006the agenda i move that we approve the agenda second move by mr alcaro second by ms lee that we approve the agenda um mrs johnston mr oberg yes miss lee yes ms carlson yes miss osborne yes mr alcaro yes dr aka yes mr page yes so the motion does carry we now need a motion to approve the consent agenda for tonight i move we approve the consent agenda second second okay move bad uh dr acuff second by miss del caro that we approve the consent agenda wisconsin dr acuff yes mr alcaro yes ms osborne yes miss carlson yes miss lee yes mr oberg yes mr page yes motion carry thank you all right we now have announcements or school board or superintendent business so are there any announcements or any business from dr haas or

007school board members um if i may mr page we did have a few announcements for tonight so um i think i'll start with our chief of operations ms schmidt uh has an announcement about our vaccination clinics thank you dr hassan rosalind schmidt chief operating officer i just wanted to update the board that today we have hosted three vaccination clinics clinic center schools this past friday at albemarle high school and this week at earlier this week mind shell high school in burley a total of 253 students and members of their household received their first dose we also have clinics at uh the remaining high schools and middle schools through the first week of june so many thanks to our health department they have been a key partner throughout this pandemic but particularly these clinics they've um

008organized and staffed them um and we have just provided additional access to our students and families so we're grateful for that and i will plug our next clinic is monday june 1st uh with both walton and western respectively thanks so monday june 1st if you if you're looking to get vaccinated then that's that's the place to go is at is it walton middle school at western alamo high school uh thank you ms schmidt and then so i we wanted to give dr mclaughlin a break from updating us on covet 19 tonight he still wanted to make an announcement and we had a really really cool announcement uh that that we thought he might enjoy making so i'll turn things over to dr mclaughlin our chief of strategic planning thanks dr haas pat mclaughlin chief of

009strategic planning for the school division um and as you may recall during our april 1st school board meeting your spotlight on education honored the work of kat ravichandran our albemarle high school student who was leading the school food drive for the blue ridge area food bank in this evening i have an update and it's very good news the food drive under cat's leadership collected more than four tons of food enough to provide 7 000 meals to families in needs it was the highest total of food collected in five years despite the fact that the pandemic significantly reduced the number of students in our schools this year the highest contributing school among the 18 schools participating in the drive this year was albemarle high school donating about 1400 pounds of food and while on the subject

010of leadership kat is one of two area high school students selected this year for the bank of america student leaders program she'll be working with the united way as a part of the bank's work with local non-profits that are addressing such issues as social justice food insecurity affordable housing and economic mobility so our heartfelt congratulations and our gratitude go out to cat for her very inspiring community service thank you thank you dr mclaughlin yes um we also have an announcement from our assistant superintendent for community empowerment dr hairston sir thank you dr haas uh good evening board members the student equity advisory team called seat scat was established by the anti-racism policy to promote equity and diversity issues as leaders for albemarle county public schools they will host their second virtual town hall meeting on

011june 2nd at 6 30. their topic is removing our mask creating safe and anti-racist school places a panel of students will discuss the term hypervisibility this is their approach to addressing the disparities in courses such as advanced placement and honors courses as required in the anti-racism policy student leaders diana kim of western alamo high school representing the asian american and pacific islander organization lauren price representing the black student union of albemarle high school chloe root from the community lab school and angel pilkey former school board student representative of um from albemarle high school will share their multiple views as our albemarle county public school scholars they will be joined by dr paige perriello who will address the stress that racism has on the body and mind and health inequalities joining her will be dj chris

012maxwell jones the only african-american nationally aired top 40 dj from new york he will he will talk about how his courageous conversations led to increased diversity in his workplace the town hall panel discussion will be facilitated by nyquil perry of albemarle high school under the watchful eye of the seat advisor miss karen waters-wicks and i do believe that uh our school board chairman paige has been drafted to make some special remarks so i hope others will be able to join us as well on june 2nd thank you thank you dr hairston um so i just had a couple of quick announcements i do want to say that annually the albemarle county schools employees choose a beneficiary for a community for employee fundraiser and this year they voted and chose the kindness cafe and play which

013is actually a cafe at the ymca that was started by katie cashore and it is a workplace for young adults with special needs as they learn work skills they're transitioning from high school oftentimes they're high school graduates that's a very special place and um this year our employees uh pulled together and raised 2 336 dollars that we will donate to the kindness cafe and play for their programs and also the the good work that they do in the community the so congratulations to our staff you really come through every year on that last year if you recall they raised funds for our families in crisis program and the year before it was for the blue ridge area food bank and the last announcement i want to make is i had it i really want to

014thank ms crummy the principal at crozet elementary school for a great tour this morning i was a little tired when i got there didn't really want to come out of my shell but miss crummy got me out and about in the building visiting with students and teachers and really just a wonderful environment at the school i also had the opportunity to run into matt wortman who and also uh lindsay snotty who are both uh employees for the county and for local government on our alma county schools and as you know there's a construction project going on out at crozet so i got the chance to get a tour of that and while i was there they were doing two things uh in the site we went through and i think this is a good thing

015to think about as a board is the positive impact you are having on the environment through the projects that are going on in your schools one is they are removing all of the oil tanks from underground that were previously being used to heat the school in order to do that they had to pump out all the oil which was about 6 200 gallons of oil and they were transporting it over to western out mall high school which still uses the oil oils for heating and air conditioning and heating water and so they'll be using that there and then they are installing the county's first geothermal heating uh units underground of any county uh facility and um it's quite an operation going on out there with a lot of drilling and i want to thank matt

016wortman for my hard hat he actually gave me one i could use forever so i'm really proud of that so thank you mr page for the opportunity to make some announcements tonight thank you dr haasen so now not only do you have your school bus driver's license but also a hard hat for construction yes i do thank you and we also thank miss schmidt um dr mclaughlin dr harrison and dr haas for all of the um good news that we received tonight i did visit our model high school on uh last friday when they had the first covet clinic and miss pearl early was the person who had organized that so miss early had done an outstanding job and everything was really proceeding smoothly at that covett clinic and i know that other clinics at

017the other schools have moved or been organized in the same way so thanks to our staff and all of the ones involved in those covet clinics do any school board members have any announcements or any comments at this time if not ms carlson public comments i think she's having some problems with her connections okay technical difficulties here for a few seconds mrs johnson do you have probably waiting for um miss carlson hopefully to return um you're back i am my i my internet is acting odd but i will try to get i'll read the public comment guidelines and i'll send the list to someone else in case i drop off it's public it's time for public comment correct yes okay so let me go ahead with the guidelines the school board invites and actively seeks

018the public's input in the matters relevant to school board governments and provides for time during its business meetings to hear from albemarle county residents and community members as authorized by ordinance of the county of albemarle the school board will hold its meetings electronically during the covet 19 pandemic the school board is nonetheless committed to encouraging public comment despite its need to meet on a virtual basis for this reason there will be two ways for the public to provide comment one as always written comments may be submitted to the school board clerk and will be given to the school board members for review um two as long as the school board holds its meetings electronically members of the public wishing to provide public comment during the meeting may sign up online by 1 pm the day

019of the meeting before electronic public comment starts i'm going to well i will announce three speakers at a time we have 32 speakers today so i will do three at a time and comments will be limited to two minutes which i believe everyone was notified by prior to um prior to now so speakers during the meeting are those submitting written comments should state their name and address our magisterial district um are if you want if you don't know your magisterial district where your your child attends school is also helpful further speakers should limit comments to those matters that are relevant to school board governance are the operations of the school division lastly although the school board will not respond to comments made during the public comment period school board members may address comments at the

020end of the meeting agenda under other business and so with that i will announce the first three speakers it is going to be marsh patty marie no last name given from the white hall district and then nicole affie so it is your turn i don't see her on who's there oh just muted go ahead marsh thanks dave good evening everybody my name is marsh patty i have two children in the whitehall district parents and teachers uh are beginning to realize some things are going rather wrong and how schools are educating young people today more frequently our kids are being presented with methods that while well-intentioned to support a more just society are serving to do the opposite they sow division and conflict rather than promote positive relationships and mutual respect they victimize people and force

021them into categories they promote equity at the cost of equality in the name of anti-racism these ideas and philosophies preach an unending cycle of conflict kindy wrote in his book how to be an anti-racist the only remedy to prep to pass discrimination is present discrimination the only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination aside from having no basis in scholarly research to suggest the effectiveness of such an approach these ideas teach children a simplified world your curricula is informed almost exclusively by a single worldview critical race theory crt informs your courageous conversations about race your culturally responsive teaching program and your inquiry design model you may not realize but crt is a branch of post-modernism that rejects objectivity and liberalism small liberalism defined by rational thinking empirical inquiry and individual rights and freedoms liberalism is

022not perfect because it has been maintained by imperfect people but it is a system that allows for constant improvement challenging assumptions through reason universal human rights and equality of opportunity these values have fought against slavery colonialism fascism communism and discrimination i fear what you are doing in our schools threatens the progress of that system over the past two and a half centuries so i ask you to read more broadly seek different viewpoints and recommit to our classical liberal values remove critical theory from our schools instead close the achievement gap by teaching respect for self and others relationships and resilience thank you thank you for those comments mr patty the next speaker is marie from the white hall magisterial district i'd like to start but i still hear someone going okay you need to stop your

023live stream hi thank you for having me um so i'm here about the um courageous conversations about race pilot program that they have at henley um i have a kid there and i've had uh grave concern over it and while i understand that the goals of it may be lofty and trying to make sure that everybody feels welcome i think that the program is actually doing just the opposite um i know that proponents of the current approaches will deny that it is done over overtly but it's beginning to honestly teach our children not just not really how to think but what to think which is really not the place of the school um well it does again while it doesn't isn't done overtly functionally this occurs through how controversial issues are presented manipulated and as

024well as unequal application of the policy and the resource material that are provided to the students for example the parents were not given the resources in the same way that for example the family life education is done in a wonderful way in our county and i feel very blessed for that where parents can look over read it it's very transparent this has not been transparent if anything parents have asked multiple times to see slides and not given them so i also my own son being a catholic we have felt very discriminated against where he would never be unkind to anybody else who may identify as transgender anything basically we have been left in a position where if you believe that there are two genders male and female the the message has become very clear very

025clear keep your head down and shut up because you are not welcome here and so it's become very much where we feel like you know it when did public schools truthfully only become welcoming if you're a democrat that's honestly what it's come down to feeling really that if you have conservative values you are really unwelcome um to express them at the school and that you know you'll get ostracized you know and that's already been happening to my son first for saying he believed male and female and um he got a terrible email from another student was very hateful very derogatory if he ever said anything like that he'd be in big trouble at home there's been no consequences for the other student um you know again if he was from a right degree yeah sorry

026i'm done thank you i'm sorry in the samuel miller district [Music] i'm sorry you broke up where were you calling uh me nikki you're next yes you're breaking up we can't hear anything you're saying basically okay i think i think you called on me i'm nikki uh good evening i live in owensville and i think that's the samuel or samuel miller district uh i do like to echo both of the previous speakers i agree 100 with both of them um i have whittled down my comments to four so um here we go first comment relates to the social media policy which i believe violates staff members constitutional right to free speech for page three staff members will be punished if they express a personal opinion on social media if it is quote deemed hate speech

027or quote antithetical to school board values as we have seen of late just about anything can be considered hate speech and school board values as represented in the strategic plan and anti-racism policy are highly controversial staff members are expected to report other staff members for violations this policy silences staff members from expressing personal opinions for fear of retribution second the sex offender policy eliminates almost every practical day-to-day protective measure for children and staff staff members are no longer notified to be on the watch for unauthorized presence of sex offenders prospective employees are no longer vetted against the sex offender registry and so forth this policy favors sex offenders not children and staff third the anti-racism policy excuse me can you go on mute um third can you guys hear me i want to be sure

028my time is thumbs up okay third the anti-racism policy is fundamentally flawed by extreme bias and single-sided input its entirety is based upon highly controversial and unproven theories and the trajectory of every facet of the school system is now focused on the tenets outlined in the document the strategic plan takes these concepts even further i believe these two guiding documents will produce the exact opposite of what they purport to combat with the added outcome of incubating a culture rooted in grievance discord and victimhood in closing i believe acps is employ heavy-handed tactics that seek to outlaw free thinking replacing personal reasoning with pre-formulated ideas that will be force-fed to students throughout the day and interwoven in all content these tax tactics attempt to establish acps theories and ideologies in the minds of children before they

029have developed logic and reasoning skills and before they've had enough exposure to the world to confirm or refute what they're being taught thank you thank you i'm not sure if anyone can hear me but i'm gonna pass public comment on to judy lee to continue since my computer is causing issues and i do not know how to um fix it so if you you give me judy the next person the next speaker is going to be fontini from the whitehall district followed by paul mcarthur thanks and i'll be um speakers just watch from me i'll give the high sign when you have one minute and then i'll stop you at two so fautini from the um whitehall magisterial district hi can you hear me yes okay good evening photony burns whitehall district i applaud acps

030for trying to engage students on issues of race and unity however i feel the means by which it has done so are misguided and that they overstepped the role of school violate their own policies on political engagement create a divisive learning environment misprioritize resources and set an unsettling precedent of imposing political ideology via school curriculum three specific examples that highlight these issues are the implementation of the courageous conversation pilot program at henley which highlights acps's misplaced prioritization it is disappointing that instead of using resources to aid in learning recovery substantial resources were used to develop this politically charged pilot instead another was the piloting of the book resist as part of the language arts curriculum this book has an overt bias and is factually inaccurate in many instances we are thankful to the school leadership

031and recognize for recognizing this when we raised our concerns but are disappointed that it passed the approval process to be presented to students in any capacity finally the revised approach the gifted program that is justified by acps's adherence to the ineptly named anti-racist policy functionally this eliminates skill-based pull-out classes in elementary schools and core classes in middle schools except math by doing so acps has burdened teachers to provide skill-specific instruction to students of vastly different skill levels this approach has been pedagogically proven to result in decreased performance for students of all skill levels as documented in a 2016 study by researchers at duke and northwestern this approach hurts all students including gifted students from underrepresented groups that will not be given the best opportunity to reach their potential and only mask the metrics that reflect

032the problem rather than addressing the problem itself i encourage a renewed focus on presenting skill specific instruction and fostering a healthy learning environment by discontinuing the pilot ccar program reconsidering your stance on skills based learning and allocating resources in accordance with these primary goals rather than divisive and politically motivated initiatives thank you so much for your time thank you next we have paul mccarter hello my name is paul mccarter i'm a parent to a fifth uh rising fifth grade student at mountain view elementary i'm sure you guys have noticed the um the media coverage and other things about the plan to possibly push fifth graders next year to walton uh middle school after doing some research and hearing presentations from the school system and supervisors off our superintendent's office last night i'm here to ask

033the school board to delay any changes to the fifth grade students and instead implement the same plan and procedures that were used two years ago when the when the population of mountain view was higher than what's projected to be next year and then hope the board of supervisors and the school board and partnership can figure out a proper solution to cover the following year students until the addition to mountain view is built the current plan has been done haphazardly with no input or support from the parents creating a very unequitable situation especially for the residents of southwood so i would ask the school board to intervene and go as planned in previous years thank you thank you next we have lori tamborino hi thank you um i also have a rising fifth grader at mountain

034view elementary school after 14 months of being asked to absorb massive changes most of the fourth graders in alberta county public schools are looking forward to a fun summer and returning to their elementary school in the fall as fifth graders the big kids on campus most but not all the fourth graders at mountain view elementary school are being asked to absorb the consequences of lack of foresight and planning on the part of elmer county public school leadership they're being directed as rising fifth graders to walton middle school to be the youngest students on campus why because there's not enough room at mountain view even though projected numbers show less students for the 21 22 school year than we had during the 1920 school year we're being told by the superintendent's office that this is now

035at emergency status requiring a novel solution even though growth in our area is not a new topic the parents of rising fifth graders have repeatedly asked for a working meeting to brainstorm possible solutions to keep our kids in their school home we have yet to have such a meeting we were invited to a meeting last night that was billed as a q a yet most of the time was spent trying to convince us and sell us on the idea of sending our kids to walton as fifth graders i firmly believe that there is a solution that doesn't involve shipping our fifth graders to a middle school crafting a solution that involves repurposing the cafeteria for temporary classroom use bringing in two or three learning cottages and temporarily making the art and music classrooms mobile would

036possibly free up enough space other parents have come up with some creative solutions as well we need the superintendent's office to commit to seriously entertaining these ideas rather than just listening to us and then doing whatever they want namely sending our fifth graders to walton thank you thank you uh oops the next three speakers we have are leticia perez scott townsend and matthew i'm going to guess more chefsky but i'll i'd like to hear more about that so leticia perez are you on it looks like it but again muted okay we can move on to the next person and i'll um put her at the uh i'll start her to come back to so scott townsend you're up good evening as a parent of two children attending schools in albemarle county specifically in the whitehall

037district i would like to take some time to address the recently socialized strategic plan in the mission statement as currently written this statement is questionable in many aspects and worrisome at very best as a retired army officer i am keenly aware of the difficulty in long-term strategic planning and the challenges of crafting a mission statement that clearly provides subordinates with their orders and objectives clearly defines the limits and expectations and provides guidance for future success assumptions however are not part of a mission statement and never should be the core phrase of the first sentence makes assumptions based on race class gender and special capacities it assumes that we you or whoever can predict an individual success or failure based on their race class gender or specific or special capacity the second sentence violates the principle

038of feasibility providing clear and defined objectives and goals that are feasible there's a reasonable expectation of success while seeking to build relationships with families and communities is honorable yes can you hear me we'll come back to you um we didn't hear from you before so um please turn off your live feed if you're in here if you're in this room sorry mr johnson it's okay so the second sentence of this principle of violates the principle of feasibility while it's seeking to build relationships with families and communities as honorable and i applaud that it's unrealistic to think that you can ensure every student succeeds the mission statement is written is fundamentally flawed it creates unrealistic expectations and shifts the focus of albemarle county public schools away from challenging our children through rigorous academic instruction to focusing

039on addressing social injustices i'm asking the school board to reject this mission statement in the new strategic plan and direct deputy superintendent mclaughlin to start over with a focus on providing all of our children with the opportunity to excel through a rigorous academic curriculum that challenges them and holds them accountable regardless of race class gender or special capacities thank you for your time thanks very much uh next we'll go to matthew in the white hall district good evening yes my name is matthew marzieski from the white hall district i wish to express my discontent with henley's courageous conversations about ray's ccar pilot program program has failed to establish proper guidelines and has failed to involve parents and community members i know you've heard about this topic already but this is a different perspective so listen

040up scotty has a is a has a shining example of how to involve parents and establish guidelines through its family life education program draws parallels to fle because the c-car program and curriculum directly addresses sexual identity and core elements are discussed in a classroom setting so you're inviting it in i'd like to read a few core tenets of the fle guidelines and showcase what's missing from how c car was rolled out first from acps parents are responsible for the care and guidance of their children children and youth function best when it is clear that there is cooperative communication between home and school next the state guidelines there must be uh evidence of broad-based community involvement and an annual opportunity for parents and others to review curriculum and instructional material instructional materials prior to the beginning

041of the actual instructions unrealistic to think that you can ensure every student succeeds commissions please everyone turn off your life local training and follow-up activities shall involve the community in understanding and implementing the family life education program so training if this is a standard for fle which i think is great the same approach should be applied to c car so i'm requesting the school board move to pause the c car pilot and any plans to roll out in the fall or next year until further parent involvement and community involvement can be met teachers saw the curriculum 10 days prior to implementation that is not proper training parents only heard about the curriculum eight days prior to rollout that is not accurate adequate parent involvement the henley administration holds that all materials are available for review

042they are not on the website it still reads eighth grade units are forthcoming the program's almost over i will leave you with a potentially dangerous scenario that you should consider in the c car 8th grade unit 1 the words transgender and non-binary folks are presented as identity questions may arise in open student-led classroom discussions about sexual identity and maybe even physical sex changes and by law these topics are governed by very clear and strict guidelines which i've just covered in fle that cross over into that educational curriculum and standards this is dangerous territory school board should slow down pay attention to this before the lawsuits start rolling in thank you next we can come back to latisha perez hey can you hear me now yes so i just wanted um just to frankly speak about

043my experience this year at walton i have a son who is in the fifth grade there and then i also have a rising fifth grader and i would not describe it as a positive experience by any means i think the transition has been extremely disruptive both emotionally and socially to my son albeit our experience with his teacher has been fantastic she's been awesome but i do think that forcing fifth graders to attend to school with children much older in a school that is ill-equipped even though they are trying to meet the needs of these students is not in the best interest of our children and i do think as someone mentioned before that there are several alternatives that were proposed yesterday that are quite feasible to maintain our fifth grade students at mountain view and

044another issue that has not been discussed is are the families mainly the non-english speaking primarily primarily families who are even unaware of this change and they have not been approached or been given the equal opportunity to voice their concerns and that's equally upsetting because these children will you know potentially fall even more behind as my child has fallen behind being forced to do a much longer schedule that honestly leaves them exhausted and that's only two days a week so now we expect a nine ten-year-old to go five days a week two hours longer than any other elementary school child and admiral cowley and i think that's just completely unreasonable to expect our children to do and it's unreasonable for the board to make this decision without sincerely sincerely thinking about the proposals that we have

045made i guess in the end i just from our personal experience have seen how this transition ill oh your time is up thank you our next three speakers will be christy humpston donny long and sarah harris so christy if you're on hi yeah sorry it's actually christy gorman's um so good evening my husband and i moved to albemarle county for one primary reason highly rated public schools which we decided and trust with our children's education the ccar program being instituted at henley middle school certainly gives us second thoughts about whether or not we made the right decision i think that most of us support separation of church and state our tax dollar should not be funding the promotion of one religion over another or any religion at all that is a matter that should be

046left up to parents i hope that al morrow county school board will also support the separation of political ideology and state our taxpayer dollars should not be funding one political ideology over another that is also a matter that should be left up to parents the pilot program at henley clearly violates this idea as it promotes only one side of a political narrative a politically charged curriculum has no place in our public schools thank you thanks very much next we have donnie long my name is donnie long i live in alberta county in the ravana district however i was born and raised in attended school in mcallen texas a town along the texas mexico border from grade school through college i attended classes with students of different backgrounds different skin colors different ethnicities we recognized each

047other as friends as classmates and we also recognized that the schools we attended aim to teach us the skills to be successful in life never to teach us to focus on our differences we saw each other as americans of equal worth i am in no way unique in this regard i know a few who do not have family friends or associates who come from different backgrounds and shades of skin colors this critical race program that is being implemented in albemarle county schools would have our children look at themselves and each other through the prism of race not equality citizens of the us have worked to eliminate racism have fought a war to crush it our constitution prohibits it i am rendering your intent on instituting the critical race program in the schools to my mind

048it can only be to resurrect racism with division in mind why is that thank you thanks ms long nice we have sarah harris hi thank you members of the school board my name is sarah harris and i'm a parent in the white hall district i'm former teacher in albemarle county and a parent of three kids out in the western feeder pattern i'm here tonight to voice my strong support of the henley administration in piloting the courageous conversations curriculum and for an lgbtq inclusive curriculum in general the code of virginia states that each school board in virginia must adopt policies procedures and practices for an inclusive school environment for lgbtq students prior to the next school year furthermore the virginia values act protects lgbtq people from discrimination in their daily lives including in public schools according

049to the virginia department of education every virginia student regardless of their gender identity gender expression or sexual orientation has a right to learn free from discrimination and harassment a national survey by glsen has found that 75 percent of transgender youth do not feel safe at school they have significantly lower gpas than their cisgender peers and they're more likely to miss out of school out of concern for their safety it is imperative that we create school environments in which lgbtq students feel safe supported and free to express themselves openly in the past year more than 50 percent of trans and non-binary youth have seriously considered or attempted suicide only one in three lgbtq kids consider their homes to be safe and affirming of their gender identity when i say that this inclusive curriculum is a matter

050of life and death i am not being hyperbolic i'm worried about the two-thirds of lgbtq kids who are not in safe and accepting homes i'm worried about the kids who can't live an open and authentic life because their parents tell them the untruth that there are only two genders these are the kids we're losing by the thousand every year having just one safe and supportive adult in an lgbtq kid's life cuts the risk of suicide ideation by 40 percent it is the moral imperative and the duty of acps not to mention the law in virginia to support an lgbtq inclusive curriculum and teaching practices which will protect the safety and affirm the identities of every child in the school division thanks next we have allison miller jay jennings and margot diaz hi i'm a parent

051of two acps students in the whitehall district and i'm speaking tonight in support of the courageous conversations curriculum being piloted at henley in our community there have been some voices speaking out against this curriculum as well as suggestions to make it an opt-out opt-in or elective i wanted to make sure you know that there are also many people in our community who do not agree with those voices and who support and care deeply about this work and will do everything we can to keep it moving forward acps's anti-racism policy says combating racism in our schools is a legal and moral imperative it absolutely is this curriculum teaches our kids empathy and how to have hard uncomfortable conversations and learn from them it has been missing from our kids education for way too long and it

052should not be something that once finally implemented can be opted out of what kind of message does it send to black and indigenous students and students of color to suggest that combating racism is merely an option the policy requires the implementation of anti-racist curriculum and acknowledges that educators must play a vital role in this work again the board got it right it is not anti-racist and not good enough to simply hope the conversations are happening at home to root out institutional and systemic racism we need all hands on deck and we need to continue to listen to and be led in this work by those who have been marginalized by racism including those in the staff faculty and student body who worked so hard to make the anti-racism policy happen it is also critical that

053these conversations recognize and affirm students in the lgbtqia plus community this can be life-altering and even life-saving for many of these kids who deal with bullying and harassment and are more likely to struggle with serious mental challenges as a result schools must be safe places for these kids it's required under virginia law consistent with acps's equity education and equal education opportunities policies and it's a moral imperative too by including these students and courageous conversations acps will send a clear message to them that they are seen valued and belong and that they will be safe and supported in their schools i hope you'll stand by the anti-racism policy and the courageous conversations curriculum thanks for your time thank you next we have jay jennings he was not able to attend thank you so next we have

054margo diaz hi there let me start my video sorry okay so um most laws these days are made to protect our citizens um whether they suit your way of living or not it's your duty as a resident of virginia to follow the law if you were raised to hate people of color or any of the lgbtq plus community that is your problem except when your hatred and discrimination not only breaks the law but affects whether a teen takes their life then it's our problem how many children have to die before the way that they are as human beings is no longer viewed as wrong i'm speaking out against hate and discrimination today now there is no room for it not in this community and not in this town if the last year plus hasn't brought

055to light the fact that our country is rife with hatred and damn near emotionally broken because of it you are truly all kinds of asleep wake up if we don't take drastic steps to support this generation that came from our wombs this country will ultimately end up as the pinnacle of how to not live and may ultimately result in the death of many of our children's futures thank you thank you next we have uh the next three speakers are scott guggenheimer michael salzberg and heidi gilman bennett so scott thanks hi my name is scott gukenheimer i'm the parent of two middle schoolers at henley and i'm here to commend the county for their bold anti-racist policy and to voice specific support for the leadership at henley as they pilot the courageous conversations curriculum and work

056to build a truly anti-racist and inclusive school community too often our students are told that they need to check their identities at the door before they enter the school building for students who fall out of the dominant culture in our community students of color lgbtq students students who are speaking a language other than english at home or from another country the message is clear your identity is not valued i've heard stories of bullying students transferring people feeling not welcomed in the schools and if people feel that so deeply that they might transfer i can only imagine what my students or my children are picking up on in the school community as they try to navigate well who is truly valued in this school am i truly valued in this school because the thing is we

057can't check our identities at the door our students show up with strengths and stories and i want a school system that encourages each and every student to bring their full identity to the process of education to thrive to have their unique genius show up that we believe that every single student can succeed and i think the albemarle county anti-racist policy establishing a school community that shares the collective responsibility to address eliminate prevent actions decisions and outcomes that result from and perpetuate racism eliminating inequitable practices all of those policies are exactly right now it's a matter of building programs and practices that bring those policies to life thank you next we have um macaulay salzburg hi i'm mikhail salzberg i'm in the white hall district and i am the parent of a henley middle school student

058as the parent of a henley middle school student i'm speaking tonight in support of henley's courageous conversations anti-racist curriculum i'm a high school counselor in a district outside of albemarle many many of my days are spent meeting with students who don't feel like they fit in or are understood i have students who are afraid to be themselves for fear of how a peer a parent or staff member may respond they cry in my office wipe their tears from their face and then step back into the hallways into an environment they are insecure in and admittedly at sometimes unsafe in to say that makes me incredibly sad would be an understatement the henley courageous conversations anti-racist curriculum is working to change this growing up is hard work our students minds are expanding as they learn about

059their world we're not trying to teach them who to be because they'll figure that out on their own we're trying to teach them how to be how to be kind how to listen how to understand each other's differences problem solve how to be each other supports when they are down these are imperative skills that go beyond the strictly academic element of education i could not be more proud of the direction that albemarle is striving to work towards this is hard but necessary work it will make a positive difference in the lives of our students it may even save lives thank you thank you uh the next three speakers we have are amanda alger rebecca kendall and stephanie malo corbett so amanda i think judy this is heidi i think he's oh i'm so sorry i

060didn't did i'm sorry okay sorry my name is heidi gillan bennett and i am the henley patzo president and the parent and two kids at henley i wish to make comments first as a pto representative and then as an individual parent so thank you for letting me do both on behalf of henley passo i wish to express our support for the courageous conversations pilot which helps our teachers put into action the county's approved anti-racism policy our pto is deeply troubled by the recent uh unkind incidents of verbal and physical bullying of asian american students in our schools these lessons were described by a teacher as simply teaching kindness our pto wants to ensure that all students and families feel welcome safe and supported we've established a new jedi role in our pto which stands for

061justice equity diversity and inclusion and are participating as partners in the important work that dr costa is leading including encouraging lots of parent input then as a parent i want to express my deep gratitude for dr costa and becky fisher's leadership moving to western albemarle county has been quite a shock coming from a more diverse and also much more tolerant small town in california one of my own kids has experienced bullying related to sexual orientation at a county elementary school last year we have really important work to do here but i'm pleased at how deeply henley is committed to lgbtq plus equity and i ask the school board members to support acps pursuing both anti-racism lessons and an lgbtq plus inclusive curriculum and continuing to provide professional development and training for all educators thank you

062thank you so um our next three speakers are amanda alger rebecca kendall and stephanie malo corbett amanda thank you hi my name is amanda alger i'm in the ryo district and i have three children in elementary middle and high school i wanted to comment tonight in support of the courageous conversations anti-racism curriculum that is being piloted at henley middle school this year every child deserves to feel safe and supported for who they are in our schools and i applaud these steps towards that goal i've looked over some of the lessons on the henley website with units around understanding bias and building empathy along with activities such as brainstorming ways to build a stronger school community i wish i had had access to this type of curriculum as a child and i'm really looking forward to

063these lessons in our schools next year as well as the conversations here at home that they will bring i know it must have been an incredibly tough year to serve as a school board work in administration and teach during a pandemic and i appreciate you all thank you very much thank you next we have rebecca kendall hi my name is rebecca kendall i live in the white hall district i have a fifth grader at crosie elementary that will be at henley next year and a ninth grader at western i'm also a mental health practitioner and i am speaking today in support of henley's courageous conversations curriculum i wish that my daughter had had an opportunity to participate in the curriculum and look forward to my younger kiddo joining that conversation in the future i find

064it laughable or actually disturbing hearing other parents talk about the curriculum as politically motivated the fact that the curriculum is teaching respect of differences and basic human decency is not political that is not political that is human kindness and decency the parents also need a lesson in history themselves because our current curriculum is politically motivated and shaped by groups like the daughters of the confederacy so this curriculum is undoing the lessons that we have been learned and the hidden history of our nation and it's critical that our kids learn to talk about these things this is the 21st century skill for our kids to learn to respect decency to learn to respect differences to be able to have cross-racial and cross-cultural conversations every single private sector public sector business is starting diversity equity and inclusion

065initiatives not because they want to spend more human resources money but because they know they need to and if we don't give our kids this 21st century skill building at a critical time like middle school they are going to flounder as much as we found her as adults and talking about these difficult topics your time is up thank you thank you for your stance on this uh next we have stephanie milo corbett good evening my name is stephanie malo corbett the white hall district i have a rising 8th grader at henley and a child sophomore at the mesa program in albemarle i'm here to provide my support for the pilot program for conscious conversations we owe it to our children and all children to teach them the truth good bad and ugly about our racist

066and biased structural systems and how to see the humanity in all people irrespective of race gender identity socioeconomic status mental or physical ailments sexual orientation or religious affiliation we need to create and foster safe equitable environments for learning and growing in 2018 suicide was the second leading cause of death in black youth and third in black adolescence and it has been reported upwards over 40 percent of the lgbtq plus youth seriously consider suicide themselves research has demonstrated that discrimination and bullying of these children are major risk factors these kids are facing rejection discrimination and violence at the hands of their peers and some educators these this program could have a significant impact on the health and well-being of these children anti-racism education itself fosters internal work conscious and unconscious biases prejudices stereotypes it recognizes the

067roles and privilege and challenges inequalities and it teaches people to see the humanity in all people it recognizes lived experiences of marginalized communities and fosters community and collaboration by reducing judgment and false truths it is lifelong work that our children can benefit from by incorporating it into their curriculum now and allowing them to practice it daily this is something most of us adults were denied in our whitewashed education i understand some may disagree that there is a problem with racism or don't want to recognize that the lgbtq plus is not just a phase that needs to be repented or prayed away the fear is that this curriculum will influence their children independence their children's independent thinking instead of allowing them to see appreciate and respect the dignity and humanity of all people to display love

068and compassion and to employ social responsibility that honors the lived experiences and ensures true equality this does not thank you thank you uh our next three speakers are javon saw julie govan and sally armentrout miss all anyone here i do not see that i did not see her either okay so we will move on to julie and after that we'll have sally armentrout and carolyn skyler hi there can you guys see me and hear me great my name is julie and i have four students at acps schools we're all here tonight for the same reason we all care about the well-being of our kids and we all recognize that school plays a critical role in developing them and preparing them for the world i have a little bit of a unique perspective and i'm going

069to share it with you of my four acps kids some are white and some are people of color they share in the same interests and they go to the same schools but they do not always have the same experiences at those schools so if you're like me you're someone who has rarely been treated differently based on race or orientation please hear me when i say that i have been forced to face the reality of racism and bias because my kids experience it i cannot ignore it and so i'm here to in support of albemarle county and the strategic plan and specifically the pilots at um henley with courageous conversations i want to be clear we need these conversations our kids already tackle tough topics and they can do that they need chances to talk not

070just about bullying or family history but about identity and bias and their teachers are going to need help understanding and supporting them albemarle has done a great job targeting this need the anti-racism policy respects and champions the diversity and life experiences of all community members there is no political bias in doing so and making an inclusive school environment for lgbtqia plus students is critical so this is an important commitment and these topics aren't optional i want to express my overwhelming support for albemarle and pursuing this work and to thank you for your willingness to stay strong and committed you will improve lives and you may save lives thank you thank you um next we have sally armentrout yes thank you so much good evening i am the mob of the mountain view first and fourth

071grader um and i thank you for your time tonight to talk about concerns moving mountain view fifth graders to walton um we were blindsided we were blindsided to hear just last week that this move was probable and i understand now that the county has allowed enrollment to exceed capacity at mountain view and that you no longer believe that there's room for our children at their school we have been told that our students will gain a middle school bus route middle school schedule facility middle school activities and middle school administration but please know that these kids our kids have not attended school full-time since they were in third grade and i want to stress that we want an elementary school not a middle school experience for our nine-year-old daughter what we have not discussed in adequate

072detail however is that our students will lose significant amount they will lose their library specials teachers edep playground and countless other resources and opportunities these losses mean grossly inequitable proposal that strips our children of experiences that promote the development of empathy leadership and self-esteem another thing lost is time a middle school schedule means that our kids will lose approximately two to two and a half hours of play time daily and if you estimate 180 days of school this means 360 to 540 hours of lost play time compared to other fifth graders in our county i beseech you to provide a comparable and age-appropriate experience for our kids the same experiences and resources that you'll provide to all other fifth graders do not deprive our children of a fifth grade experience invest in our kids by

073using an elementary school schedule minimizing bus time providing after school care allowing a comparable amount of play time providing playground equipment i like so many other parents are here to work with you and i beseech you now to invest in our our students our elementary school students our mountain view fifth graders thank you thank you um next we have we'll have carolyn schuyler matt anderson and david deaton hello my name is carolyn schuyler i am the parent of a student at stone robinson elementary school and a mental health professional and i thank you for your time today i'm here to speak in support of albemarle county public schools commitment to ensure an equivalent school community for all students i have been very impressed with the hard work the district is undertaking to ensure a safe

074school community for all the acps commitment to making schools inclusive learning spaces felt for lgbtq lgbtq plus students is consistent with the recommendations of the american pediatric association and the american psychological association it is current best practice to protect the well-being of all children by actively teaching the values of diversity equity inclusion and inclusion it is also a moral imperative i support the use of the courageous conference conversations curriculum and asks that the district uphold its use as essential to its commitment to dei work we cannot forget that this work is about protecting children from violence harassment and the resulting feelings of unworthiness that lead to epidemic levels of suicide this work is about saving lives and must not be undermined or derailed not now not ever thank you thank you next we have matt

075anderson hi my name is matt anderson i'm from the whitehall district i have two daughters that are at henley middle school and have participated in the beginnings of the ccr ccar curriculum i want to just say this evening that i have the fundamental support for some of the intentions that are being brought forward through this curriculum but i also have to say i have tremendous concern i grew up in what is what is now known to be a religious sect or cult so i learned what it meant to be indoctrinated and i learned what it meant to be taught things in an unhealthy fashion which i had to overcome and work through in the course of my life as a result of this i'm very aware when anything is coming along that is beginning the

076process of indoctrination and i'm testing it to see is it healthy indoctrination or unhealthy my concerns as i've looked at the ccar curriculum and its underpinnings is that there is unhealthiness in its teaching and i would like to see that the goal that is being pursued stays on the table while the methods and techniques are significantly reviewed so i have one question this evening for the the school board can you give reassurance to this community that what you're bringing into the school system is or is not part of the critical race theory of teachings and underpinnings i would like to see some kind of written statement that puts where you put yourself on the table and say this is what we're doing come forward speak up because there's some significant issues in that ncrt lastly

077i'd just like to thank everyone here this evening this is a very important topic it is very clear we need to have some courageous conversations amongst the parents and the community before we expose our children to the conflict that is involved in this subject matter the parents need to do it first not the children in school please take this under significant consideration and i thank you for your time this evening thank you next we will have uh next we will have david deaton carl schuv first let me thank you everyone for the hard work and dedication that you have and all teachers and educators have um my statement today is in strong support for the courageous conversations program as well as all other efforts that support inclusivity and community john b when spoke at the

078tedx here in charlottesville and asked why is racism still with us when it is so clearly wrong and the answer is because it lives within our systems and laws and agencies in ways that we don't see nor understand it still persists today as a tool to advantage some at the expense of others in my job i'm honored to work and support reverend jesse jackson's push excel organization in their shaping america's education agenda webinar series and while i'm honored to support this and many other organizations that are doing so much good it makes me sad that the work continues we are 156 years from the civil war we are 67 years to this month on brown versus the board of education and yet we are only four years away from the racist and bigoted hate-filled marches

079here in our hometown drive down the street to danville and confederate flags of the last confederacy capital still fly high oppressing the city why is racism with us when it is so clearly wrong the struggle of racism is not between people of color on one side and racists on the other no one is on the sideline we are all in it and if we are not active to bring things down then we are complicit to it with racism still persistent with 50 of lgbtq youth contemplating suicide we must actively encourage curriculum that drives towards inclusion nicole hannah jones a pulitzer prize-winning journalist said education is the key to liberation and yet education remains a key driver of inequalities mr beaton your time is up and it's this board's charge to take this role to fix

080that thank you thank you next we have carl schufe kate fortis and andres clarence hi i'm carl schuberte thank you very much for the opportunity to uh to speak to you this evening i'm joining several other mountain view parents to speak about the issue of moving our fifth grade students to walton elementary um and i'm here to ask that on the board consider this from perspective of equity that students regardless of whether they attend crozet elementary or murray or mountain view have the access to the same resources and experiences and we feel as many parents in this school that this plan does not meet the equity test that is students who are going to walton in fifth grade would lose access to playground and other age-appropriate equipment they would not have access to after-care programs

081which would also negatively affect their families they will not be on a regular elementary school schedule but will be moved to a longer and later middle school schedule and for students who are zoned for burley they will have to make three school changes in three years and this on top of coming out of a difficult pandemic year and some of the students will have to make that change to three different schools in three years or some of our most housing insecure students in the district so i would ask the board please we understand this is a difficult situation as other parents have noted we really want to work with you on this and find an amenable solution that keeps all of our fifth graders at mountain view elementary thank you very much thank you next

082we have kate fortis and then after that we'll have andrus clarence amy keenan amago and then kristen clarence good evening my name is kate fordyce and i live in the whitehall district i have a rising kindergartner and second grader at crozet elementary school and i'm also the parent of a young adult who attended a middle school and high school in madison county virginia we moved here from there in hopes of giving our younger kids a school experience that included a bit more of a well-rounded education and open-minded peers and teachers and parents and i have been a little disheartened by some of the comments made here tonight and so i am speaking out in support of the anti-racist efforts by albemarle county public schools our students are going to school with kids who themselves or

083whose siblings or parents are of a different race or from a different country are of a different national origin have a different religion have a different sexual orientation families do not look the same and we have to support all of our families i currently work for the eeoc under title vii we deal with employers and help them protect people's um you know rights to work based on their race color natural national origin religion sex sexual identity and so on and so forth while i know that doesn't apply to our public schools as other commenters have mentioned that's an incredibly important thing that we have to do in order to lead productive citizens into the 21st century one thing we do not protect is political ideology um there's a reason for that and it's because some

084of these immutable characteristics must be protected and we have to make those students feel welcome um political ideology is not an immutable characteristic like most of these other things that our students and families are having to deal with we have to have these difficult conversations i first had these difficult conversations in college at uva with a class called multicultural education and i wish my children would have the opportunity to have them much much sooner in their lives so they would be able to be more productive citizens um and get along better with their peers thank you so our last three speakers will be andrus clarence amy keenan imago and kristen clarence thank you so much and thanks to the board i um i'm going to submit my comments in a written form and yield my

085time to kristen clarence who's in southwood and is with families that are going to be affected by the move of the students from mountain view to walton hi everybody um my name is kristen clarens i'm the parent of two children at mountain view and i am um in southwood with two other parents from mountain view who were unable to access the call tonight because they don't have emails that work um or unable to sign up for comments the proposal to move mountain view students to walton is unfair for all of the rising fifth graders but it's terribly inequitable for the students in this community especially and i actually am going to yield my time to three to two or three of the students who wanted to speak to you directly tonight and their moms wanted

086to speak but they don't speak english and this seems easier okay hello my name is english is that a lot of kids do not want to move from mountain view because we're like a family that we have grown since we were there there's a lot of people that couldn't connect because a lot of people go far away um we come from here we don't or we don't learn from here we don't speak a lot of english so we connect with the school which most of the people do not speak english so those people are the ones are the ones that make the decisions to change us from schools to school that are not um that other parents cannot connect to so the the parents of these children are here too tonight sitting next to me

087okay thank you so much for your time and please take their voices into consideration okay great thank you for your time thank you very much and as always we always love to have um our students speak so thank you very much for having the students speak uh and then next we'll have amy keenan amaga thank you can you hear me my internet's acting up okay thank you my name is amy keenan imago and i'm from the white hall district i'm here tonight as a parent and educator to express my strong support for the courageous conversations program being piloted at henley middle school issues of race both historic and contemporary impact our families and our students every single day these issues intersect with all aspects of our society because race and structures of racism are woven

088into the fabric of our identities and cultures often in ways we as white people do not understand or even notice it is crucial that we examine it closely not addressing issues of race and equity in school is a political decision one that continues to advance a dangerous cultural agenda courageous conversations is the kind of program our school district and community can and should be proud of providing our students it puts into practice the ideals articulated within acps's broader anti-racism policy and it provides a safe supportive space for multiple voices and perspectives can enter into constructive dialogue with each other the courageous conversations curriculum does not tell students how to think or what to believe rather this program expands our children's world view and gives them the awareness and tools to evaluate what they encounter and

089make judgments that feel right to them our nation was built on and continues to flourish not in spite but because of the freedom to express and exchange differing ideas it is a job of schools to help our young people develop into an engaged citizenry willing to ask and analyze hard questions build habits of honest self-reflection and operate with compassion and empathy i'm grateful that my children have the opportunity to engage in the intellectual and ethical work that the courageous conversations curriculum provides i commend dr beth costa and henley's teachers and staff for including the courageous conversations program as part of the school curriculum and for orienting its educational mission toward not only knowledge but justice thank you for your time thanks very much i wanted to thank all of our speakers for coming tonight and

090speaking we always appreciate getting feedback thank you thank you miss lee for filling in for miss carlson with that public comment and we do thank all of the speakers tonight for your input now are at the agenda item other business by board members or by the superintendent and we do have at least one other item to consider under that topic um dr haas has had some of his uh staff members to volunteer to be on a committee to um come up with topics for our work sessions i think he has about five people who volunteered to be on that committee and we would also like to have some volunteers from the school board also to serve on that committee to come up with topics for our work sessions so do we have first uh dr

091haas do you have anything to add into those comments thank you mr page i also want to echo what ms lee said about public comment tonight i really appreciate all of the comments um this was a very robust public comment session and it gives me personally a great deal to think about in how we operate our schools and uh also just the the the views of our parents out in the community so thank you very much um mr page what what we were suggesting was that uh if we had maybe one or two school board members to be on a small working team to always know six months out what our work session topics would be and try to find a balance between 30 percent operational topics uh you know on the on the operational

092side of things facilities uh those kinds of things thirty percent um instructional and then thirty percent or some way of looking at it that way of topics of interest presented by outside presenters that we would bring in for the board uh around you know professional development and and discussion so we we think it would be a fun and engaging opportunity for a board member to join that group i know dr harrison volunteered and rosalind schmidt ms schmidt and ms kaiser definitely volunteered so if we could have a board member to think about it then just let us know if you would like to be part of that i think it would be a great opportunity i'll raise my hand now in terms of interest oh great me also thank you thank you very much yes

093so we have two very good volunteers to serve uh on that committee so thanks ms lee and mr alcaro and not cutting off anybody else who would like to be on there any other volunteers no but i i would encourage any school board member who has ideas to also send them in yes of course to pass them along to our two representatives or to other members of that committee is there any other business from me the board members or our superintendent um tonight you know there are a couple of things that came up that that uh in in um public comment and that have come up in emails we've received uh over the last few weeks one of them is a critical race theory and i think the fact that our crt program has the

094same initials that there's confusion about that and i don't know exactly how we should be um communicating out to uh our families the different that this is not about critical race theory you know and and i mean the ccar i mean all of us have read the book i don't know how many of the parents who who uh had comments about it have looked at it or read the book um but this is this is work that is important for the students in our schools because they're going to grow up in the most diverse society that the united states has ever seen and to be able to understand others in the community who many of us have never never grew up with that kind of understanding and uh and and i know we're all working

095at it as we went through our ccar training so i i would love it to be able to have something that draws um the the difference between critical race their theory and culturally responsive teaching [Music] there are issues involving [Music] mountain view education epic run mountain view fifth graders going over to um uh to walton and the number one thing that just kind of stands out to me and i guess i'd like to get some clarity on it is the longer schedule because it is a couple of hours that you know as was talked about last night and and what i've you know looked at uh it's a longer schedule than what is included in other elementary schools and and i'd love to be able to have some conversation about that at some point and

096and lastly um i would like everybody to notice that tomorrow the 28th the age of one of our school board members is going to click up by the number one and so i just want to say happy birthday dave thanks but i'll still be one of the youngest members and ellen's was yesterday right ellen oh right happy birthday ellen happy yeah it's tuesday i think time all right thank you uh mr alcaro for your comments and also happy early birthday to ms stolberg and happy belated birthday to ms osborne um let's say alcaro did bring up a good point and one of the com people who made comment um asked whether or not we could have a statement from the board or from the staff saying that a critical race theory is not a part

097of our curriculum could staff investigate that possibility yes sir all right because i've received emails too sort of i think confusing the two so staff will look into that then and try to give us a policy or statement rather saying something about the difference between the two yes sir okay thank you and then the other one we did hear quite a few good um comments about mountain view elementary school so i know that staff is also looking at all possibilities of how to really address that problem too and i think you have said publicly that the decision would be made in july right dr haas yes sir and um you know as i said earlier i really do appreciate all the the comments and feedback i think the board members know that last night ms

098wells miss hendrick uh ms rozar gonzalez munis mr uh walton mr lewis and mitch schmidt and i attended an information and feedback session with rising fifth grade families from mountain view elementary school it was very well attended and it was about uh overall by the time it was over it was about two and a half hours long i think the presentation part of it will ran into about 40 minutes i think i've provided a recording to the board from is wells of the of the presentation um during the during that time we shared a presentation i sent that earlier today to all the board members ms wells also sent the presentation to all mountain view families we also received written and verbal feedback from families in attendance as well as ideas for other solutions to

099the uh current overcrowding at mountain view elementary school that has been that has been in in effect and is going to continue to be exacerbated by the covid 19 mitigation strategies that we're still under order to follow from the governor's office mound view just as just as a note has had two significant additions um over the years since it was first constructed and so it is a place where we continue to have growth and so it is a place where we we are always working to catch up and as you are all aware first with the great recession that occurred earlier in this century and then in current times the capital improvement program that is part of albemarle county has not kept pace with our needs and we look for better days ahead as as

100that capital improvement program grows in fact mountain view is scheduled to have a significant addition in the very near future and that actually is working as is working its way right through the planning process so that's that's something good on the outlook i thought that um ms schmidt ms wells mr walton did an excellent job of sharing facts about the current situation the factors that have led to what i currently consider to be the best plan and the and also their capacity to receive criticism during the course of the meeting there was negative feedback about the planning as well as positive and throughout today at least at the central office level we have received and so has ms wells received both positive and negative feedback my cabinet and i debriefed on the meeting from last

101night we will regroup again on tuesday to consider how to use the feedback that we've received to move forward in considering how to gain structured feedback from all members of the mountain view school community since the decisions that we would be making around fifth grade will have an impact on the whole school or and how we handle that or if we do not make any decisions if we if we just leave things the way they are and and proceed to move forward that will impact everyone in the school and i just uh i truly apologize for the for what everyone uh is going through this is not an easy time um our schools that are already stressed with their capacity are have undergone more stress because of the mitigation requirements around covet 19 and i'm

102really sorry about that i do not think we're unique in amal county any growing place in virginia has growing pains and i think that our board the board of supervisors and the staff that are charged with figuring out how to move forward have all we have all done the best we can with what we have where we are and we will continue to do that um what i said to families last night was that we're going to constructively consider the feedback that we get and and look for options and that's my promise i'm aware that the most desired outcome is for all mountain view students to attend mountain view that's natural you you cannot fault any parent for wanting that in any way and my heart goes out to the families that um are are

103dealing with this issue um that may not be the best outcome based on facts we have a good deal of experience in how to provide students with best possible learning environments and it is my intention that this experience as well as current research about how students learn and grow best in school will be put to use in our decision-making process and while we see a light at the end of the tunnel with regard to covet 19 we must factor the virus along with guidance from the cdc and the the virginia department of education in our decisions to safeguard against the unexpected you would expect nothing less i don't think our board would expect anything less than that and i don't think our parents our and our our students and our staff would expect anything less

104than that in the final analysis we we will we have sought we will seek input i know that ms wells has been seeking input and and we will we will use that we will make what we think is the best decision with the best information we have for children with regard to their learning and social and emotional development next year we will do all that as necessary to ensure that happens many of the things that were mentioned tonight are legitimate concerns around after school care for students transportation the the the schedule at the school those are all obviously very legitimate concerns that those folks are raising and we will do the best we can if that is the outcome to mitigate their concerns that we will do our best with that i have full confidence

105and i know again that's what everybody would expect for me to do that so we will put out information soon about next steps during the next week and again i really appreciate all the families the the feedback that we've received from you i know it's not easy to speak up and i know that you are looking out for the best interests of your children and and i salute you for that thank you thank you dr haas do we have any other comments or business from other school board members if not this may 27th meeting of the albemarle county school board is adjourned thanks to all of the board members and to our public uh our speakers who made comments so thanks to you all bye everybody have a good day everyone