001We invite you all to go ahead and grab a seat and as best you can. We have a full room. Give us just a second. We're going to We got to certify. So, um, do we have a motion to >> Hold on one second, buddy. >> Mr. Chair move that we return to open session and adopt certification session. >> Awesome. >> Second. >> Okay. It's been moved and seconded that we um adopt certification of close session and return to open session. Um Madam Secretary, we have a roll call. >> Whereas the Denwy County School Board has convened a close session on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of Virginia Freedom of Information Act and whereas paragraph 2.2-371 2-3712 of the code of Virginia requires a certification by
002this school board that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law. Now therefore be it resolved that the Denwy County School Board hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge only such business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered by the school board. Dr. Elaine J. Pearson, District 1, >> I certify. >> Dwayne G. Walker, District 2, >> I certify. Barbara T. Pitman, District Three, >> I certify. >> Mary M. Benjamin, District 4, >> I certify. >> Jason L. Brown II, District 5. >> I certify. >> All have certified. Mr. Chairman. >> Thank you, Madam Secretary. At this time, we'd like to invite everybody to join us for the pledge of allegiance. If you would stand and some of these amazing students
003from Midway are going to lead us in that. I'll pledge and also the flag United States of America and to the republic which stands one nation under God indivisible and for all. >> Thank you. [snorts] Chairman, I move that we adopt the agenda as presented. [laughter] >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded that we adopt the agenda uh for this evening's meeting as it's been presented. All in favor say I. >> Any opposed? >> Motion carries. At this time we have uh presentation I believe from some students at uh Midway Elementary. Mr. Sum. >> Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Dr. Weston and guest. It is truly an honor to stand before you as the proud principal of Midway Elementary School. This year at Midway, our
004focus has been on strengthening relationships and building a strong culture of belonging for every student and every staff member. Our theme this year is together we can, together we will. One of the ways we have brought this theme to life is through the implementation of the Ron Clark house system, which has helped create connection, school pride, and a sense of family within our building. Before we begin, I would like to recognize Tabby Owen, our House Council lead, and the members of our House Council for their leadership and hard work in helping to prepare tonight's presentation. At this time, we are proud to have our students share what the house system means to them and how it has helped strengthen our Midway community. Good evening members of the school board, teachers, families, and guests. My name
005is Harper and my name is Grace, and we are proud to represent Midway Elementary School. At Midway Elementary, our mission is we create a safe and nurturing environment where every child feels valued, supported, and empowered to grow epidemically, emotionally, and socially through strong relationships and high expectations. This year we started something spe very special to help support our mission. We began using the Ron Clark house system. Every student and staff member belongs to a house which is like a smaller family inside of our school. Our houses have helped us build friendships, show school spirit, and grow together. >> Being in a house has helped us feel valued, supported, and empowered. We cheer each other on, encourage each other to do our best and encourage and help hold each other accountable. Our houses have helped us
006grow not only academically but also emotionally and socially. Because of our houses, we have learned important life skills like leadership, teamwork, responsibility, and kindness. We support one another, celebrate each other's successes, and work together to solve problems. Most importantly, our houses have helped create a s strong sense of belonging. Each house has become its own family, and together we are one big Midway family. >> At this time, we would like to proudly introduce our eight amazing houses of Midway Elementary. We are house rever the house of dreamers where we believe in big dreams lead to big possibilities. Our animal is a wolf. The wolf represents strength, loyalty and teamwork. Our and leadership. Just like wolves, we support one another, work together, and never give up on our pack. Our house color is blue. Blue helps
007us feel confident, calm, and brave. It releases our fears and worries so we can focus on learning, learning, growing and achieving our dreams without letting anything stand in our way. In House River, we encourage each other, encourage each other to believe in ourselves, try our best and aim high. When we know when we work, we know we know that when we work together and stay positive, anything is possible. R E V >> R E V E U R We are house almost the house of friendship. We wear red to show our kind and caring hearts. Our our animal is the peacock. The peacock reminds us to be proud of who we are and to share our love in our hearts with others. Just like a peacock stands tall and bright. Our friendship is strong and
008never gives up. In house on the no one stands alone. You will always have a friend by your side. We cheer each other on, help protect one another, and encourage everyone to discover their own greatness through their special talent and gifts. In house, we build friendship through love and kindness. So every student feels brave to enough to shine. A m i Warehouse is a bendy. The house of strength and courage. Our animals the lion. The lion teaches us how to be brave. Stand to be brave. Stand tall and protect one another. Even when things feel hard, we keep going and do our best. When we choose to be brave, our ideas grow bigger and stronger. Our courage helps us become leaders who set examples for others. We are proud to be a part of Midway
009family. We show strength and dedication not just in our school but to our community everywhere we go. Who is >> we are house alterisma the house of giving. Our animal is the snake. The snake reminds us that strength does not always have to be loud. Sometimes the strongest people are the ones who quietly help others. We are known for standing together and giving with kind, generous hearts. We wear black to remind us of our goal. We help everyone grow, improve, and become their very best. In House Turismo, we bu we use our bold and we use our bold strength and selfless actions to lift others up. We believe real leadership means helping others succeed and leaving a list legacy of kindness and giving from the heart. BL Kout We are house solar glory, the house
010of uplifting. Our in was the phoenix. The phoenix teaches us that even if we are knocked down, we always rise back up. That's why we say we are undefeated because we never give up. In house solar, we we use our creativity to look beyond this moment, just this moment or at one small problem. We rise back up. We look ahead and think about how we can make things better. We lift ourselves up and we lift everyone around us because we encourage others and help them succeed. We help create a better world for all of us. We are House on Rocka, the house of unity. Our animal is the tiger. The tiger reminds us to use self, self-control, stay focused, and be strong in the right way. In House on Rockco, we stick together no matter
011what. We face challenges as a team, like a family. We know that when we work together, no problem is too big for us to handle. When [snorts] we lift each other up, we all rise higher together. But unity does not mean we are all the same. Each of us is unique and special. We celebrate our differences because they make our team stronger. In House on Rockco, we choose to stand together, support one another, and grow as one. Put them paws on them. >> Put them Awesome. >> We are house predous, the house of success. Our animal is the bear. The bear reminds us to be strong, brave, and protective of our school family. Just like a bear looks out for others, we help protect and support each other on our journey to success. In House
012Produce, we know that wisdom and knowledge help guide us. We work hard in our learning because we believe academic success starts with asking questions, trying our best, and never giving up. We also know that success takes patience. When we mix patience with wisdom, we can reach our highest goals. In House Produce, we are dedicated to helping every student grow, achieve, and become their very best. P R O T O Success. We are House Nucamorei, the house of kindness. Our animal is the dragon. The dragon is strong and powerful and it reminds us that kindness can be strong, too. In House Namorei, we learn that kindness grows over time. The more we practice it, the more it becomes part of who we are. Kindness is not about being quiet or shy. Kindness means standing up for
013others, helping someone who is hurting, and choosing to do what's right. Just like a dragon is wise and brave, we use our strength to protect, care for, and lift up the people around us. We make sure everyone feels valued, included, and important. We spread kindness. We make our school in our world a better place. Na. And now that you have met our houses, we hope you can just see how much this has meant to our house school. We are not just students who come to school each day. We are leaders, teammates, and friends. We lift each other up. We celebrate hard work. We learn from our mistakes and grow together. Thank you for believing Midway Elementary School students and staff. [applause] >> [laughter] [applause] >> Thank you so much. I did it. >> Mid Midway
014School is a special place and um I have this special connection to Midway School myself. So, it's exciting to see that um the school is still being used to impact lives and to see kids grow and learn and so really blessed by that. And also love the community that that comes with Midway. The room is as full as it ever is tonight. So, we're we're so grateful. Um, could we recognize teachers and parents that are here with the students? Uh, we have any teachers or parents? Would y'all stand? Well, let us know who you are here. [applause] [applause] >> Any of the other board members would you like to comment? >> I just think that this is a marvelous outpouring of love and support for this school that all of you are here tonight. Thank
015you. Thank you so much for not only your presentation but your creativity and how exciting it is when we come into the room and there's u lots of noise, joyful noise. It always lifts our spirits and thank you for everything that you're doing. This is awesome. I am just so happy to see that what they're doing. Um your theme we can >> we will wonderful power words and then uh courage strength never give up and then my little student over here my rising star I did it. [clears throat] So what can I say? Awesome. Thank you so much. really great presentation from all of you. Really enjoyed it like the rest of our board members. Uh hope you all are looking forward to spring break coming up. Uh one challenge I would give you all
016is if you want to really embody what your house stands for, try to do that during spring break. You know, while you're outside of school, whether it's unity or pride or uh quiet service, you know, try to find ways to do that in your community or at home with your brothers and sisters or your parents or whome you. Um, and then come back to school and tell everyone what you did so you can try to inspire them to do better as well. So, enjoy your spring break and enjoy their season. >> Yeah, I was a uh I was a Midway Marauder. I don't know if anybody here knows what that is. I see a few other midway marauders around here. And I remember when uh Miss Roxan Cre developed the uh first um caricature of
017the Midway Giant >> because none of us knew what a marauder was. So, but it's it's so cool that even through change, the school continues to do what matters and to make a difference in the community. And so, we're so grateful for Midway. And thank you all for being here tonight. We're going to take a brief recess at this time because we do have some business to take care of. This is a public um meeting and so everyone that's here is welcome to stick around for the meeting, but we know that some of you didn't necessarily sign up for that. So, we're going to take a three-minute recess and if you want to slip out, take pictures together or something like that. And then about three minutes, we'll start the meeting back up uh once
018everybody's had a chance to move out if they'd like to do that. So, if you would at this time, if you'd like to slip out, you're welcome to do that. We're going to bring the meeting back to order and um at this time we'll entertain a motion with regards to the personnel list. >> Yes. Uh Mr. Chairman, I I move that we approve the personnel list as presented. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded that we approve the personnel list that was presented this evening. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? The motion carries. >> Mr. Chair, I move that we approve the expenditure report as presented. >> Second. >> All right. It's been moved and seconded that we approve the expenditure reports that were presented to us this evening. All
019in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed. The motion carries. >> Mr. Chair, I move that we accept the minutes of February 10th, 2026 and February 24th, 2026. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded that we approve the minutes from our meetings on February 10th and February 24th of this year. All in favor of that say I. I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. At this time, we're going to uh discuss a field trip, I guess. >> Yes. Um Miss Johnson, I believe, is going to come forward and talk about a field trip that she has planned for her students. >> Good afternoon. My name is Latrice Johnson. I am the gifted instructor for the secondary level. I'm housed at Dy Middle School. I'm proposing a trip for my sixth and seventh grade students um
020to visit Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Morehead Planetarium is one of well, it is the largest planetarium the southeast portion of the United States. Um it's also historically um known to have trained 11 astronauts to various missions. My um sixth grade students actually worked with um developing a Mars habitat. So I wanted to present this field trip so that it would basically bring the classroom to life. Um and so if approved, this will give my students the opportunity to bring all their classroom experiences. Um they'll also have the ability to tour the campus as well as eat the dining hall. >> Turn your microphone. >> Turn the mic. >> Yeah. >> Is it on? >> Okay. Hi. Do I need to start again? >> No, just Okay. All right. So, um, they'll have
021the opportunity as well as visiting the planetarium. It is housed on UNCC's campus, but also to eat at the dining hall, which they seem to be very excited about because it's buffet and, you know, you can have as much as you want. So, I would ask that the board please consider giving my students this unforgettable experience. And if you have questions, I will take questions at this time. >> Is this a day trip? You're going >> This is a day trip. Yes, ma'am. On Thursday, April 23rd. Any other questions or comments? >> I would just say, Miss Johnson, uh, two things. Number one, I know you had some students that were coming today to possibly do a presentation. We weren't able to. I would love for us to arrange that because, um, just to see
022and hear from some of those students as well. >> You're going to be here on next >> next meeting. Okay. I look forward to that. And then also, I would just encourage you to stop in Durham on your way back. Okay. >> And visit Duke and see. >> Okay. [laughter] >> I'm kidding, but I'm not. Um, so if >> there are a whole lot of colleges in North Carolina, >> there are there are. [laughter] So if there are no other questions or comments, if someone wants to um >> I move that we accept the gifted trip to Morehead Planetarium. A >> second. >> It's been moved and seconded that we approve the uh middle school gifted programs trip to uh Chapel Hill. Uh all in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? >> Thank
023you. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you for being here. We'll see you next month. >> All right, >> Christie Fleming. >> Miss Fleming is going to come and share some supplemental appropriate. >> Good afternoon. >> Can y'all hear me? Is this on? >> I can't talk. Okay. Um in in December the county audit was presented to the board of supervisors and along with that um it it the the validation of endofear funds for each particular um of our each particular fund was validated. So at that time um the in January the county amended its budget to reflect those year-end balances and to carry them over into the next year. Um these appropriations have to be made um each year. We can't spend what is not appropriated and we must um roll our ending balances from year
024to year. So the school division and county budget need to be aligned and in order to do that we need to do the same as the board of supervisors did with their budget. So really this is a housekeeping um kind of matter. Um but what I'm asking for is approval of FY2026. This is the current year budget supplements as um presented and these are um balances from the end ofear funds. the funds going to left in um fund 205 are which is our school operations fund are being reappropriated to our small capital fund um in order to do some projects. One is the upgrade to the midway auditorium and the other is to repair the tennis courts which I believe we had already brought to you um as well. So um we uh we appreciate
025that. Um, so we're today I'm asking that you um approve a supplemental appropriation to revenue in the amount of $981,394 and for expenditures $2.1 million. And I'll be glad to answer any questions about any of these funds that you want. >> I have a question. lack of um I guess understanding. I know we're getting the money from all these funds. You've listed the the fund balance, the accounts that we're going to get it from. This is going to take all of this to do that repair work that we're talking about the court. >> No, not all of it. >> Okay. >> No, ma'am. So, um the it's going to take two the 221,000 um that's left in fund 205 and additional 500,000 that um is was already appropriated in fund 205 to do that. Fund
026206 is the textbook fund and that's just an ending balance that we did where we didn't spend the funds um last year and it just rolls from year to year. Fund 207 is our cafet school nutrition fund and that's the amount that um we didn't um utilize in our budget um adoption last year. So this is the difference that we needs to roll over. Fund 302 has the most is 981,000, but 200 of that is what I just spoke of and then 500 thou I mean um the uh the difference between that is from projects that were not finished last year that will now roll into this year. Some of that is timing whether it finishes by June 30th or later in the year. We have to roll that over. And then fund 303 is
027our grants fund. And a lot of that um that was not already appropriated is related to the all-in money that expires this June um and some other smaller grants that we received um that carry carry through the kindergarten camp um off the top of my head. >> So the cafeteria ones have to roll back to the cafeteria, right? >> Yes. Yes. That's why they're all separate. They all have to roll to those funds that are um allocated on the sheet. Yes. >> So So what you're saying it rolls back into that >> so [clears throat] continue to use on the next >> Yes, ma'am. >> Oh, okay. Yes, ma'am. I understand. >> Think of it like um your your your monthly budget and you get to the end of the month and you actually have
028money left over, you can roll it into the next month. So this is kind of the same thing at the end of the year. you know, these were funds that were left that that were not part of the original budget that was approved and can now be rolled over to be used in this particular year. >> Okay. >> And the and the board of supervisors took action on this um in January. So >> both because both of us both boards have to approve it >> and and they have already approved it. >> And they have already approved it. Yes. Yes, sir. >> Okay. >> Any other questions or comments? >> If not, we'll entertain a motion. >> Move that. Ready for a motion? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Chair, I move that we approve um
029this um what you call the budget approval appropriation as presented. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded that we approve the supplemental appropriations of our 2026 fiscal year budget. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> The motion carries. >> Thank you very much. I think that's all that we have for board matters unless there's any new business from any of the board members. Any new [clears throat] business? Oh, okay. Superintendent Dr. West. >> Yes, we have the improvement association here. I saw her earlier. >> Yes, she's there. >> Oh, I didn't see you were hiding behind the So, she's going to provide us with our yearly update um about how um our students are doing in Head Start. >> Yes. >> Good evening. >> Thank you for being here tonight.
030>> Thank you. Good evening, board members. Dr. Weston. Um, on behalf of the board of directors, policy council, and executive director, Honorable Rufus Tyler and our staff, we appreciate your continued support and dedication to the improvement association. Um, we apologize for not being able to be here in February um during um the school board appreciation month. However, I do have tokens of appreciation with me that I'll hand out after our presentation. Um, so as you know, Head Start is the number one early childhood program that provides comprehensive services to families that includes health, nutrition, services for children with disabilities, education, family goal setting, and advocacy. In Denwitty, we have 48 scholars, three classrooms, three teachers, three teachers assistants, and six support staff, all located at Southside Elementary. um in the modulars behind the school. We
031have conducted 64 home visits this year, 48 parent teacher conferences, two field trips, and held one community event. We've assisted families with comprehensive services such as food, utility, mortgage, and rental assistance. These are our outcomes um for TSG. And if you don't know, um, TSG is used with our curriculum and we use the creative curriculum. Um, and this is used to show how our students are developing within the curriculum. Here you'll see the fall and the winter scores. Fall is when the students came into us. Um, and then the winter scores are when they were reassessed in um, February. The social emotional piece shows how students express and regulate their feelings. The physical is gross and fine motor skills. Language is showing the ability to formulate sentences and express words. Cognitive is that higher order
032thinking, so those how and why questions. Literacy is the ability to recognize the letters, sounds, and words. And then math is recognized in their numbers, shapes, sequences, etc. And as you can see from the fall to the winter, the progression that they've made, the progress they've made. Here are fall class scores. Um class measures the interactions of the classroom um amongst the students and the teachers. It consists of three domains. Emotional support which shows how the climate is within the classroom and how teachers respond to the students needs. Classroom organization looks at ma the classroom management. Is that classroom productive? Do the students know the routine and what is expected of them? And then instructional support is how the teachers are engaging students in that higher order thinking repetitive and parallel and in language enhancing
033activities. I will say also let me go back. So for um class the highest score that can be achieved is a seven. The lowest score is a one and then the mid-range is a four. At the improvement association this year, we did meet all of the state um benchmarks. And then one of the major components of Head Start is the family engagement piece. We ask for several ways for parents to get involved with their child's in education. Some of those are attending home visits, attending the parent center activities, volunteering in the classroom, attending their child's medical and dental appointments, and then we have a newsletter that goes out each month. One of the things that we also did this year, um, in December, we held a winter wonderland extravaganza. We had approximately 350 participants. And
034in a April, sorry, on April 16th, we will have our annual Royal Ball, which is themed this year, Boots on the Ground. And we invite you all to attend if you're able. Um, it will be located at Golden Leaf Commons in Greensville County from 10 to 1. And again, we just want to thank you for your continued support to the improvement association. Any questions? >> Thank you very much. appreciate. >> Um, our next presentation will be Mr. Timothy Any and team. I see you brought your whole team with you this evening. >> Going to be providing us with a technology update. >> All right. Greetings everyone. Board members, Dr. Weston. Um it's my pleasure to be able to give you all this update. All right. One thing I said take a a leap forward. Not
035just a step, a leap forward in in this technology. And one thing I wanted to see, let's go on providing severe technology for future growth of Deny County public schools. So we're trying to provide that technology that's going to help everybody make everything better. And one of the goals, our infrastructured hardware was one of our main goals this year. We uh place 250 highowered micro radio access points in and throughout the division. And these access points are they have multiple radios on. This is what all your laptops connect to. They allow them to get on the internet and uh these devices we were able to put these over the summer and we we replaced 250 of them but we actually have over 380 in the division. This is what allows everybody with the Chromebooks and
036their laptops all have access wirelessly. Next, the here's a piece of I always think of this piece of equipment as like the your veins in your body because all everything goes back through these these switches. Give you example. Even though you'll be on your laptop wirelessly, that access point is there's a wire to that that runs back to these switches. So, all devices go back to this these switches. And we were able to place um um new switches switches into three schools, Midway, Southside, and Sunnyside. And we schedule these because we we can't really afford to replace them all at the same time. Same thing with laptops and other equipment. So we schedule it to go through so we can get as much of this equipment into our division as possible. The next thing was
037which I consider the heart of the brains, the server. We were able to replace three servers. one at the central office right here and adult ed maybe some of you might not realize we still support adult ed it's at the historical southside high we support them we with their their uh laptops and their servers and all the equipment like that and transportation we were able to replace that server at transportation and the equipment that's sitting next to it is a rack is where a server would sit in one of this rack this rack is a picture from the high school I just took a picture of that and we put there. Next we go. Um, new Chromebooks were added to the fourth and fifth grade and then there was 650 of them. We actually have
038over over 4,500 Chromebooks, but we replace just like we do laptops. We refresh them at a certain amount of time. We refresh 650 of these devices uh la during the summer and through the year. And uh total we have just to keep in mind we have over 10,000 devices that we support. >> Next we also also with that hardware new staff we deployed new laptops at Southside Sunnyside and Southerntherland new laptops for the staff and right on the schedule for the the staff for next year is Dway Elementary and Midway is is the top of my list to replace for the up andcoming year. Next, we work with the innovation specialist and help them with these Prometheian boards that we set them up and help them fix them when there's a problem or but what
039I love about the Prometheian boards and the ones we have now is a mobile. It's one thing to have a Pome board sitting on a wall and you can't move it, but these are all mobile so a teacher can move them around the classroom. If we had a some other activity that we wanted to use a board, we could push it on in there easily. So, these boards are very useful, handy, and I think the teachers very much enjoy having these boards. Next, this is something that just started this year. It's part of a grant with Mr. GS with mental health support. And these are a rack with these devices and headset for mental health support. And they're at the middle school and at the high school. Next, this was a large project which was
040done with three labs. We had three labs. We upgraded. We put bigger and larger monitors, increase the memory. The SS ID drives are much faster than than the standard drives and we put new software on them. And somebody might ask a question, why do we even have labs if everybody has Chromebooks? The answer to that there is a lot of advanced certifications that some high student students get that they need laptops for and the Chromebooks won't support it and stuff like AutoCAD doesn't um uh Chromebook doesn't support it. So you need some labs for some of the advanced class and those certifications they need to get. So we'll try to make sure that they keep the good hardware and software on it so they can continue to do that because I definitely think that's important
041for for the future for students. Next. And these are other things that we have connected just maybe and you might that's one picture is a greenhouse there and that's something we just done maybe two or three weeks ago. We connected the greenhouse. Of course you might realize you need the greenhouse connected so you can monitor the temperature and there's and so that you make sure your plants or whatever vegetables you growing you don't want to freeze or get too hot. So you now they're able to monitor it. And next, the middle picture is the picture of the when you come to the football field, the football complex. They already had we added internet last year, but we added some more connectivity to it. We add some more access points to that and we added some
042more access points to um the baseball complex also. And going next another connectivity things is those freezers which the uh food service and and their her department miss elder department has you also got to look at the fact that you need to be able to monitor those freezers because unfortunately the power might go out in here and then what you need to know whether you need to move that stuff or not. So, you need some accurate data on when uh what's the temperature of these freezers and we some of them was done last year, but we make sure that all the rest of them work now. They all connected. I think that's a a big thing to help make sure that none of the foods get wasted and everybody can keep up with what's happening
043in that location. Next, here's a familiar place for y'all. This is board. We changed some equipment here. We changed the microphones here and also the cabling, some of the new cabling in there. And we changed some of the equipment in the streaming in the streaming room there to make things better. And if you look at and I've noticed that every now and I look online to see how many people stream and it's usually around 100 or 150 people look at this later on the these board meetings. So it's and of course it's about three times that during the budget meeting that people always interested in that. So it's it's good to have all that so it sounds good and looks good. Next, uh there's a lot of changes we've been making and and one of
044the things we always got to make is security changes. One of the security changes we did uh right now is it really is two parts. Key portal has a lot of sensitive information in it. So, we make sure that it's multiffactor authentication for that and also your VPN. You don't really don't want people connect, you know, that's virtual private network. You don't want people coming into your network that uh that doesn't have a multiffactor authentication so it can prove that it's them help keeping everything secure for everybody. So that's that's why we added that. And there are quite a few other things we're looking at are on my list to change also to help secure not only your personal information but the student data information. So these are other things that's going to help with
045that that we've been working on. Also going to the next screen. We just I just took a couple shots just now. Um this is a shot of uh parents square a smart sites you know that's uh we're going to deploy that on April 7th and that's a program I went to the board before and that's the thing that is includes our website includes our mass calling and data um um um what you call the um secure documents and many other things like that and that's part of it um plant was upgraded we pushed that out among And then there's Dela Delo web filter. We got a new web filter. And it also comes with a student wellness features and uh that's out and been running all year long. And then these are things that we
046talked about just now just most of the uh the Jack projects of the school uh that the technology department has. But that doesn't count what I'm looking at. The next thing is the staff help desk like this is the request. 833 tickets was completed of that dealt with staff since July 1st. And also if you go down the device is Chromebooks. We have 1,16 Chromebooks tickets was completed. And also the other that one under that is 108 worth accident damage claims. See, we always we also have work which handles accident damage where people might break the screen or something that helps with making sure um all the devices working because the thing is when you give everybody devices, everybody has to have a device. I mean that you have to have one available for them.
047So you always got to keep a certain number on the shelf and fix so everybody has a device because you can't have uh you know a classroom with some people have them and some don't. So that's one these methods keep um the ability for everyone to have a device and this is just a picture of uh like a a dashboard of of u parent square that which we were talking about which is at April 7th uh deployment with the website and all that's just a shot of that and then the next shot there I went by the next shot was of um uh software advancements which was of Dela which is there >> I think uh just a dash um just a dashboard of Delad which is that filter which kind of keeps the students
048safe from uh getting to inappropriate things and that's what that is and just just a dashboard of that kind of information and there's a the people who work in the tech parliament some of them here they can stand and stand up >> and u stand up all the technology [applause] people just for just for record. Why don't you uh give your name, what school you support, and how long you've been here? People don't know that. >> Um I'm tech coordinator. I've been here for 28 years. >> I support all the schools. >> That's right. >> All the department. >> Okay. Very good. >> I'm Hill and I've been here for 20 years. >> And um my office at the high school and I care of the one to one Chromebooks >> and um I also
049take care of the cell phones for the district and all the iPads for the district. >> My name is Sar Goodidge. I'm technology support specialist. I work at the middle school and I take care of the Chromebooks. >> I'm Patrick Judy. I'm a network specialist. I'm mainly based out of the high school >> and some of that a lot of work. He's he's he didn't give himself enough that lab that lab those labs he was part of upgrading those lab to high school some other people were too and one of our other people dice is back there working equipment now so that's the other person part part of this team I like to take this time and just give them a hand for all that great WORK [applause] and is there any questions for me
050anyone >> Mr. Mr. Ampy. Um, >> yes sir. >> I have two questions just out of curiosity to better understand how these things work. >> So our students are issued Chromebooks. >> Um, if the Chromebook is broken, what is the process for that? Is the student held responsible for that? How how does that determination? the students is not held responsible. But uh if it let's say a student runs to the bus and the Chromebook drops out his book bag and Bud breaks it, he reports it and we'll you know have it fixed. But uh when it gets reported, we'll issue him another and then it'll get back get sent back to worth. That's our accident. >> Yeah. Accident protection and they'll go and repair that. Okay. >> But we we also in uh um insist
051that they try to take care of the device all the devices because everybody >> that's my concern. I just um you know we're putting >> um these devices in the hands of young people. >> Yes. >> That are still learning how to be responsible. >> I agree. >> Um do we do do we ask the students to pay for that insurance or >> in some cases? Yes. >> It's kind of as much as possible. Okay. >> The other question I have is um your dashboard. I was looking at it. I don't I was looking at it. I don't think you intended for us to look at it the way I looked at it, but I got questions about it. Um just because we we get um contact from parents sometimes. For example, I've had several
052parents reach out to me saying, "I don't let my kids have these things at home, but they have them at school and they're accessing things that I don't want them." So, I'm just curious how these uh >> you have this dashboard here that's showing Yeah. the firewalls and whatnot. Okay. So, for example, it says here that you had uh a total of 20,634 blocks when you screenshotted this dashboard. >> Um, is that in a month? Is that in a year? Do you know? >> Uh, I might look at I took a picture, but here here's how it works. >> I'm just curious about Yeah. Yeah. If you could just >> Here's how it works, though. Uh, so there's tons of things that we have put in that's saying that students can't get to. So, if
053somebody tries to get to it, it'll it'll count that as a block even though they didn't get to. So it could >> So So do you have a way of knowing what student has attempted to access something? Yes, you do. And do we have like a follow-up plan for that to like to go confront for lack of a better word? That's >> And most of those most of the Yeah, most of the time that if a student's going to place a lot of depends on the age group, they're trying to get to games. That's the problem. Students are searching for all different kinds of ways to get to games that generally uh they're playing at home. >> I mean, maybe the parents are aware of that or sometimes they're not. I don't know. But it's
054because they are familiar with where those sites are. >> Um but they but they are they are routed to certain people administrators that Clay and Mr. Walters also get alerted as well, >> right? They get alerted if there is something inappropriate so somebody can talk with them. >> I had a contact from a particular parent. It's been a while now. Um but the parent was insisting that the u that they had taken devices away from their child at home but their [clears throat] child was accessing games while they were at school. What is it possible that they could still do that even with all these firewalls? >> Um, do they have still they have their phone at home or anything like that? Because any kind of technology, you know, it still have the capability of
055of, you know, somebody getting to something, but no firewall, whatever it is, is 100% support. >> Yeah. And that's just I think that's one of the risks we take in using this kind of technology is that um it's not >> foolproof. like there's always a possibility and obviously you're doing a lot to protect us from that and I do appreciate that. >> Yeah. And I encourage parents as all to you know monitor their own child with that so they can you know try to look out for that because there's no 100% um device that can keep you from everything. >> Are there allowable games on the computers? Like do we have >> Well, there are there are games that some teacher recommends for to help with their Yeah. math games and things like that. There
056are some. So that's that's where you got to go in and say this is allowed, that's not allowed. So somebody comes in there make changes so it allow this but not that. >> Okay. This is very helpful for me as far as understanding how this stuff work. So I appreciate that. >> Yes, sure. >> So we issue the um >> Yes, ma'am. >> Chromebooks to the high school. They take them home whatever. But the middle school >> they don't bring them home. >> They just use them in the building. >> Right. Right. >> That is correct, >> Mr. Brown. I'm sorry. >> I mean I was just going to say it's not going to be foolproof. >> No. I have a younger niece who my sister takes her phone all the time consequence and she
057finds ways to to get access to what she wants to get access to. I remember when I was in school here that uh we would use this website called cool math games and nothing on there was related to math whatsoever and so we were able to play games and it would have gotten blocked because it was cool math games.com. >> So that being said, students are a lot smarter than you may give them credit. >> Yeah. >> Right. Right. And they able to I don't want to mention it here after we get off. I'll tell you they're able to get help too, >> right? I understand. >> I explained it when we're not holding >> I understand. >> And then obviously we've talked about the uh >> artificial intelligence. >> Yes. >> Piece of this.
058And we we're still actively >> Yeah. >> Cool. Well, I won't take any more time on that. You guys have any other questions? >> Thank you, Mr. H. I just want to make sure I say about um Mr. amp and his team that um this is a team that >> um the minute well first of all they they think forward so they're always they take initiative >> but if you bring anything to them they immediately resp they're very responsive and not only are they responsive they follow back up with you later to make certain that everything is working >> fivestar service always um and I hear that from everybody not you know it's just it doesn't matter who you are they're just very responsive it's a great team of people. >> Cool. >> So, I
059just want to thank you for your leadership and thank your team publicly for their servant leadership and the work that they do to set us all up for success. >> Okay. And I'd like to thank all of y'all, all of you there for your support. >> Thank Thank you, Mr. Appreciate it. >> Um, we have Miss um I'm guessing Miss Branch is going to come and talk to us about our um classification and compensation study. Good evening everyone. >> Good evening. >> Um today I um come before you forformational purposes. First to express our appreciation and your approval of allowing us to move forward with um the conducting of our classification and compensation study. um you gave us that approval at our February meeting and since then we have been able to meet with um
060Baker Tilly who will be in charge of the process and they have outlined our next steps for uh successful um completion of the study. Um, I wanted to make this um, announcement here within the board setting because it is truly important that we have participation from all employee groups that are on the up and transportation pay scales. So, um, this first PA phase of the process will start with employee town hall meetings. We're going to have our first meeting this Friday with division leadership. um a virtual link has already been sent out. There has been a change in the schedule. There will be um of course if anyone comes here, we're happy to set it up for you to meet here, but you are not obligated to come to the school board office. You can
061join on for that meeting virtually. And um this will be an opportunity for our division leaders to speak with Baker Tilly directly. they can express any concerns that or challenges they have had with compensation [snorts] um before they move into the u meetings with our employee groups. Those are scheduled for um March 17th and then March 19th um at uh 400 p.m. and 10 a.m. respectively. Um we are uh working to um identify like a call-in feature and we'll provide that later to the employee. So if there's for some reason they don't have a online um accessibility, they could call in by phone or they could go to their school what have you to be able to join in and hear the presentation and um ask presentate uh ask questions as well. Um and from
062those meetings they will um identify with our help um employees that are in select groups that we have had challenges with such as our pair professionals um individuals who are in pupil personnel services and other areas so that they can be able to um ask more questions and hear from them about what they foresee um the challenges being with us being able to attract and uh maintain a competitive workforce. So, um I have nothing that needs to be approved today. I just ask uh for everyone's support in um helping their um employees and leaders to be able to participate in these um town hall meetings [clears throat] >> and that is all. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> As far as um policy um updates, um you have received a copy of
063the most recent policy updates. This is the first reading. So, just to make you aware um as we always do that to take these home with you and we'll bring them back later um for your approval. >> Gota all right? >> Yeah. Miss Benjamin, you have a an update for Maggie Walker? >> Um yes, I do. Thank you. Uh we went we met on the 19th of of February at the location in in Richmond. Uh we had a very long meeting. Um a lots going on at Maggie Walker with our students at that particular time. We had um the arts and writing awards. There were 104 students who were uh who received awards and out of that number over 61 of the students received awards in photography. We received 25 gold medals, 39 silver and
06440 gain honorable mention. And um on that same day, the students also presented a we were presented um in a video of board appreciation that was done by the students there at the school. And there as in most of our schools, March is also um youth art month. And um some of the members also wanted to know that after all the good things are done by the students, now what about our fiscal uh condition? So at that time the director said that the fiscal status of Maggie Walker is stable and at that particular time over $13,500 had been given in um donations. And at this time uh it's during the general assembly there was a Maggie Walker day there or uh although um what we call those magnet school day but Maggie Walker had a
065very strong showing there that day. There have been over 1,27 applications submitted for students who would like to attend Maggie Walker next school year and they will start the visitation early this month. Have we received anything yet, Dr. Wes? Nothing yet. >> Yes. No, they do. They have the dates set already. >> Okay. And so that's about all that's go going on and we will meet again on Thursday next week, the 19th. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Benjamin. Then uh Miss Pitman and I attended a Rowani board of directors meeting recently. I'll allow you Miss Pitman to speak. >> At this time the year um there our students are participating in the various fields in the Skills USA testing and it's a certification test but it's also contest. So you if you place a
066first or second in each of those fields then you go on to the next level and we have several who've made it to the national level in the various fields. Uh two of them are from Denwi and I failed to bring those names and I'll uh bring that next time. And at Rwanti we are still working um on water issues. We've been working on water issues for several years. Um we've replaced the the water tank where [snorts] we bought a water tank. We're waiting to replace it till because the school has to shut down for about a week when you do it. So, um, between that and the pumps and the various water issues, hopefully once we get this tank in, we'll be at the end of the water issues. Um, hopefully it's it's it's
067taken a lot of time and money to get on that street. We're making progress on adding the engineering program. Um, we have a grant that has come in and so the purchasing of the equipment has is ongoing and we're receiving that equipment. We're still looking for an instructor in that area and that person needs to be uh certified in technology education or manufacturing or engineering. And so, um, it's very important that we be able to find someone in those fields. the equipment for that engineering program. The beauty of all of this is we have a grant for that equipment, but the beauty is a lot of the equipment can be used by the other fields as well as the engineering program. So, it's being set up so that construction and welding and automotive technology and
068whatever can rotate into this lab where the equipment is and make use of whatever piece and part applies to their field. And um as of now, we have more students at wanty than the other two divisions. That's good news for our students being job ready or college ready. Bad news for the budget because it was just per child. But um there are good programs there that will lead people straight to work and good programs there. Obviously engineering would be one that could lead you straight to a job or straight to a four-year college for an advanced degree. So this that is a much needed addition at >> Thank you, Miss Bitman. Madam Secretary, do we have anybody signed up for >> No one signed up tonight. >> Okay. Uh do any board members would any
069board members like to comment at this time? >> Anybody? >> Um I want to say one one thing. You know, [clears throat] last week was Read Across America Week, I believe. And um I had the opportunity to read to some some students just, you know, in the community. And I also I said it's women history month. And one young man said to me, "Well, why don't they have a men history month?" So, [laughter] I didn't know whether we had it or not. I looked at the teacher, teacher said, "I don't know." So, what we did, we challenged a student to start a men history. We said boys, men history month in his classroom and let it grow from the classroom to the school and on through to the county. So I just want you to
070be aware that this might be coming up. [laughter] >> So it was really an it was very interesting what we get what we learn from them when we go and we talk to them pour into them some and they end up pouring into us. So >> Miss Benjamin what school were you at? >> I was in another county but with other people. >> I just want to make sure it wasn't >> I was still I was still with students and it was so interesting. So I'm bringing it back to to all of you. So, I want to look out that maybe I might be coming to Men History Month real soon. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Yeah, I was just making sure it wasn't my son. >> Anybody else? >> We need to be
071honest and tell them that the reason for Women's History Month is because for years only >> Yeah. >> white men were in the history book. >> Oh, yeah. >> So, we've moved forward from that. >> But we don't want to leave the men behind either. >> No. I and I I dare not left would have left that classroom without giving him an opportunity to talk about great men. I didn't have that on my conscious. [laughter] >> I'm done, Mr. Chair. >> Any Anybody [clears throat] else want to comment? Care to comment? >> Um I'll just say this. Um just I I want to encourage folks. I we're we're at that time in the year, the school year where it's like everything is in full swing. Yeah. And um I understand that a lot of times
072we forget that we we sit in a room like this and we forget that people have responsibilities outside of this room. And my wife and I just um the last couple of nights have been literally like putting our calendars side by side and figuring out who's going to go where and who's going to do what >> and picking which things we don't get to go to. >> Um >> and so I and I'm sure we're not the only family that's, you know, living through that right now. now. So, I just want you all to know that I I I personally and I know all of our other board members appreciate what you do and understand that it's not just this. You have lives outside of this. And so, um you are seen and um and
073appreciate it. So, thank you all for what you do and u for how you love your kids and how you love the rest of the kids that you serve. Um that if there's no other comments, uh we're going to >> I have one comment. I have one. Wait, >> comment. >> Denise, >> did you want to come? Dr. >> Oh, yeah. >> Two things. One is I got to go to Southside Elementary School to read. I thought I was just going to read. Um, but first of all, they um so I got to read, but then they had all these questions for me like, you know, one about my husband and my children and do I have a boss and you know, all these things. So, I got to answer all those questions, but then
074I got challenged to long division. >> Nice. >> I know. Oh, and I had to do it in front of everybody. So, it wasn't just getting to read. I did get it right. But what I didn't get right was the way they went about solving the problem because they have all this new fangled way to draw the arrow down and I had to explain everything. So, um it was great [snorts] that I was a little nervous that I got challenged on that, but it was a great the classroom was amazing. Such a community just kids doing great work and so I appreciate the opportunity to be able to come out and do that. Second thing is I learned today at the superintendent's meeting um we have submitted from region one we all submit like um
075scholarships um potential scholarships from our high school. So we all submit about five applications from the high school but we can only only four can get selected to move on to the state level and dimly was one of the four that got so one of our students is going on to the state level competition along with handover Chesterfield enrichment. That's really great. [applause] Really great. Lots of great things happening. That's it. Thank you. >> I want to apologize to our student rep. I I want you to speak. I want you to share something with us. Talk to us. >> Now you have to. >> I was just going to say that it's really nice to come here um and have people like listen about the things that they're putting in like efforts to like make
076our student life better and every like all staff and students everything that you guys put in just to make the county better. and it's just I'm really appreciative and I'm sure the rest of the students and staff are too. >> Awesome. Thank you so much. >> Um we are [applause] we are scheduled to have a joint meeting with the uh board of supervisors at the East Side Enhancement Center. So we're going to adjourn to that meeting now. That will officially start back up at six o'clock, I believe. So thank you all for being here and um you're welcome to join us over there, I guess.