001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Good evening. I will now call to order the April 20th, 2026 school board meeting. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. So, um review and approval of tonight's agenda. Is there a motion? So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Okay, close session. So, is there a motion to move into close session to begin the meeting? I move to convene a close session to discuss personnel matters, including appointments and resignations pursuant to Code of Virginia 2.2-3711 A1, and for student discipline matters concerning student pursuant pursuant to Code of Virginia 2.2-3711 A2. Estimated time required for the
002close session is 20 minutes, and action is expected. Second. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Right. >> Mhm. >> Is there a motion to Sorry. Okay. Okay, now we're on. Okay. Thank you. Is there a motion to reconvene and reconvene in open session? So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Tonight's consent agenda. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Fair enough by the order. Okay. Yes. Pursuant to code section 2.2-3712D of the Code of Virginia, you certify that to the best of your knowledge during the closed session just concluded, the Fauquier County School Board discussed only matters lawfully exempt from the open meeting requirements of the code and identified in the motion convening the closed session. Mr. Hobert. I. Mr. Brumback. >> I. Mr. Kennedy. I. Mr. Settle. I. Mr. Wilson. I.
003Thank you. Action based on closed session. Is there a motion? I move to approve uh personnel matters discussed and in regards to the disciplinary issue uh to remand student A back to staff. Second. All in favor? I. All opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. The consent agenda now. So, are there any comments or questions about tonight's consent agenda? There's a lot on there. Okay. I move to approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. All in favor? I. All opposed? Motion passes. Presentations and recognitions. Thank you guys for being so patient and waiting for us. Sorry that you've had to wait so long. Recognition of elementary school students. So, do you want me to do it? >> And um Ms. Weir does our uh uh cafeteria program and I think she would be best to describe our
004future chefs challenge and had them introduced to come up. Okay. I don't I I mean to put you on the spot. If you want me to do it? >> [laughter] >> So, deal with you later, I think is what I do. So, I have to come over here. I've never speak spoken at talked up here. So, I didn't have pictures, I don't think this year, but this year we had our future chefs competition, which is sponsored by Sodexo and it was held at Voice Elementary and um Mr. Nucci was one of our judges with with me and um Harry Holloway. And um it was delicious as usual. Took leftovers. He even took some leftovers home as well, too. But um we only we invited our winner today and that is Landon. Is he here? Landon,
005come on up, Landon. >> [applause] >> He's been at soccer practice. Why don't you come over here and tell them about your recipe, what you made for us. Hi. So, my recipe for the Future Chefs competition was chicken lo mein and I used like I used chicken and lo mein noodle noodles to do it and made the teriyaki sauce from scratch, too. And the chicken I had to like I had to like do it on the pan and stuff. And I made I did most of it myself, too. Thank [clears throat] you very much. >> [applause] >> He doesn't have it, but they all as you all know probably have their little chef's hat and the coat and everything with Sodexo on it and then his recipe has been submitted to the next level with
006Sodexo and I don't think we've heard anything about that level next that next level it's gone to, but if we hear anything, Landon, we'll make sure you you know about it. And he got a lot of prizes that I wish I had for my kitchen. >> [laughter] >> I tried to take them, but they wouldn't let me. But um so, thank you, Landon and everybody and I want to let you know that the Sodexo employees that helped volunteer their time after school. So, we really appreciate that and appreciate Voice hosting it. So, I mean, next year it's probably going to be a cool week. So, that's all. Thank you. Thank you. All right, and on the next elementary school recognition, um it's from the Discovery Museum and it's a DG Cooley students and team from
007the Are You Smarter Than a Fourth Grader Challenge? So, putting someone else on the spot, I thought maybe Miss Tinsman would come up and describe this event and introduce her students. And I am prepared. Awesome. So, this is the trophy we received. Um we uh participated in Are You Smarter Than a Fourth Grader? Um and you'd be surprised that you're probably not. Um the things that they had to to know were was pretty impressive. Um they participate answering questions based on fourth-grade curriculum content around math, reading, science, and social studies. They competed with Clark um Frederick County, Winchester City, um and they were all they competed against other fourth graders. Um the competition highlights their knowledge. It is also a great confidence builder. Uh encourages community involvement, and we will be uh riding on the
008float in the Apple Blossom Parade. So, that was one of the prizes or one of the rewards. So, I would very proudly like to introduce uh the team uh that include Jillian Crouser. Come on up. Fannie Thompson. Alicia Mansilla. Blair Alliston and Ben Smith. >> [applause] >> Thank you. Congratulations. Congratulations. >> Great job, >> everybody. Yep. Get ready. Get your way in there. And next we have the presentation on the Clark County Public Schools Strategic Plan Process. And if families want to leave, if you've had enough, we understand. >> [laughter] >> If you're thrilled with the bottom of the strategic planning, you're welcome to stay. >> Thank you. All right. Um looking at the strategic plan piece, and if you would look, um we won't go over them, but on some of the attachments there
009for the um strategic plan, what we do have is we have what was our existing strategic plan there, so you all can kind of reference that piece. And we need to do a new strategic plan. Um Virginia code has that you do a new strategic plan at least every three to five years. Um and we need to go ahead and prepare to do a strategic plan for the uh next five years would be. And if we want to amend it early, it would be a formative document along the way. Also, something that's linked there is the division profile. Uh that was something I wrote for us to use as part of our evaluation processes because each administrator and school principal has to do a division profile, so I just thought I would take that off
010of their back and do that for them, and knowing that it was also a section that's required in a strategic plan. So, that's those documents there. Um one thing I do think that we can do this for no cost to low cost, and I know that we know funding is always limited. Now, doing a strategic plan is something that a lot of times divisions pay a lot of money and have a consultant come in and do it and write it, and it looks really you know, very polished and professional in the end. But, my thoughts on a strategic plan is it's more important that it reflects what we're really going to do and becomes a, you know, a living document that we're going by. But, what we'll be doing is embarking soon on the strategic
011plan process for 26 to 2031, which is hard to believe that that's what this document will govern to, cuz um and of course, our current um piece is encourage, inspire, and empower. I think that sounds wonderful, but that's part of the thing that we'll either uh decide to continue with that, or we could adopt something new in the strategic planning committee. So, we can go on to the next slide. Um and of course, a strategic plan is required in Virginia code. It's actually listed as partial fulfillment of Virginia code 22-1-253-13-16, and it's part of the standards of quality in Virginia. So, that's the part that requires a public school division to have a strategic code. Our strategic plan, rather. All right. Now, when we work on this process, um what we need to look at
012is basically trying to develop a brand for the school system. And what I mean with a brand is what makes us unique, what's important about our work. So, what we're going to start with is kind of talking about looking at things in which Clark County Public Schools is unique compared to other school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. And when you look at a strategic plan, it should do a couple things. It should guide daily actions and decisions, but also to establish the brand or sell the school division as a whole as a destination. Um and we're going to be looking at when you do a strategic plan, what you're really wanting to focus on are student learning outcomes, opportunities, and resources you're going to need to get there. Right now, typically and having done
013these prior, we're going to start with a previous strategic plan and kind of dissect that. So, we need to decide which components of the previous strategic plan are still relevant, valued, and ongoing. Cuz there's nothing that says part or the whole strategic plan, if you felt like it was perfect, could not be adopted as the new one. So, we're going to look at what we think is still relevant, valued, and we need to make ongoing. And I would encourage our committee to review and look at other strategic plans throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Also, there's nothing that says you can't look at strategic plans outside of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Not all states require one by code, but there'll be examples outside the state as well. Now, as we develop goals and strategies, we need
014to make sure that they're purposeful and they lead to measurable outcomes. It shouldn't be things like I will attend X professional developments or you know, something that can be done just by an action. It should be something that leads to a fundamental learning outcome for our students or an opportunity for our community. Now, I think a good strategic plan has specified dates for formative progress reviews along the journey. Cuz if this just becomes a document that stays on a website or sits on a shelf, then it does our kids and our community no good. Um and that easily happens with these. You feel like you've checked the box with code. But, one thing that I've always liked doing after it's developed is coming up with how many times it's going to be reviewed each year
015and going ahead out in board docs as long as you can and marking things as a reminder. Do a strategic plan review once, not do another one this not. That way, as the board meetings come up that you actually go back and visit that strategic plan. Uh the other piece there is all the goals in it need to be clear and factual based on things that are concrete. And one thing that you can do is potentially consider a survey. We don't have to do this. I feel like we've got a pretty good handle on our departments and stuff here, but I did do a strategic plan in the past that I did all the work along with the committee myself and that I wrote it, but the only cost that I had was in doing
016a survey. And that was to get information back on our different departments and schools and how they were doing, but I wanted to make sure that that data was reliable, valid, and and factual. And a lot of times when you get Google surveys and things like that, you worry about one person taking it multiple times, do they share it around, things like that. Not saying that we need to do this, but this was great for the strategic plan that I've done in the past and I can show you the results back we got and the committee come and presented at a school board meeting on the results. But, basically what it was, it was a retired superintendent had formed this uh um survey company and they were norm referenced, so they went throughout the entire
017nation and you picked a climate survey for different departments. And what they did was they emailed everybody that you wanted to be included on your faculty distribution list an email with the code and that code could only be used one time. And it would reject it after it was used one time. And even the people at the company could not tell you who had taken the survey and who hadn't. For instance, if I had taken it, they wouldn't know that I had, but they would know out of the amount of email addresses it went to like you're up to 82% of the respondents have taken it, but even they couldn't tell who. So, what it did was it gave a great deal of comfort in knowing that it really was going to be used as
018data, but it couldn't be connected back to an individual. The only thing was the cost is based on the number of people in the distribution list. And when I did that, the distribution list was really limited. So, these things would don't come at a cost. I think I can do everything else myself, but if we we've really not budgeted for that piece, so that would be something could be helpful, but I would be cautious about incurring a cost related to the strategic plan. But, I wanted to let you all know of that potential. Now, in looking to, I want to dispel some myths. A lot of people I've heard, you know, people in administration division say, "Oh, yeah, we've got a strategic plan." And they'll say, "Well, who wrote it?" And they'll say, "I did
019it myself." And it's the superintendent or whatever. Well, that's not a strategic plan. It does fulfill maybe fulfill the code, but that's a comprehensive plan cuz you're writing a plan for the division yourself, but it's comprehensive. Strategic by its very definition means that you're going to be collaborating with a wide burst group of stakeholders including other people. So, what some people if you hear, "Well, I did a strategic plan and I did it in a week myself." I would argue that what they've really done is a comprehensive plan. That to do a true strategic plan that you need to involve different groups and people. We can move on to the next piece there. And the good thing is we've been building this a lot of the groundwork along the way. Because there's some prerequisites to
020get this ready for next school year. If we just started now, I would think that it would be highly unlikely that we would get it done. But like I shared with the evaluation processes, we've already written a new division profile that we can use. Also, um you want to have an organizational chart and a current and up-to-date one that you reflected on as being part of your strategic plan. As you all know, we've already voted on this year an updated organizational chart, so we'll be able to use that. Also, when you enter strategic planning, you want to make sure that you have current up-to-date job descriptions. And you know that we did that for all of our full-time positions and published that earlier this year as well. So, we've knocked that step down. Also, you
021want to look at because you have to pay people in school systems in Virginia cuz we're doing public dollars according to their qualifications, certifications, licensure, and in the different positions, we have to do equity-based uh salaries based on scales and steps, and we have to treat everyone equal based on their credentials and their years of service or years of experience. So, as you know, uh we finished that up last board meeting, I think, and we now have salary scales for all of our positions. Um once we get a budget finished, which could be any day locally, not the state level, then we'll be able to take our salary scales and multiply them by 1.05. Since we didn't do a step, we'll have to move them up one step, but we can redo that booklet, put
022it on our HR section of our website, and our salary scales for next year are complete. Now, changing salary scales requires budgeting, which has to be done ahead of the budget process, and any change to salary or any change to a position or adding a new position requires board approval and has to be put in the budgeting process early on. So, we couldn't, you know, do anything with those salary scales now. But, I would think that after we've got them all done, some of our scales are much better than others. And at this point, we need to start looking at all of our scales and say, "Instead of just focusing on the salary increase and a step or not, is there something that we need to invest in individual scales to make them better?" And
023there are two or three that I would argue could be better. But, outside of the strategic plan, but we could reference in the strategic plan that we're going to start working on salary scales during the 2026-2027 school year, that we should have a salary compensation review committee, just like our other appointments, and start reviewing those scales and comparing to surrounding districts around us scale, and do a few each month and say which ones are the ones that we need to focus on most uh importantly. Also, we've started working on evaluation processes and clarified that with our leadership personnel. Um and we've got a really good plan for electronic database for that going into next school year. So, that's also a prerequisite. And we're at the point now that we're able to see both uh percentile
024ranking data comparing us to other divisions, both in a consortium in the state, as well the state at the end of the year and in real time. So, we're looking at data and saying not only and there's things that are outside of just data, but it's not good to proceed if you're not being informed about what's going on. And we're able to see every few weeks, are we How are we doing compared to the state? How are we doing compared to other districts around us? Which I think is really important. So, that's the work that's already done. All right, we can move on to the next piece, which will be our next steps. And what we want to do is form a strategic planning committee, which will include division leadership, school leadership, teachers, support staff,
025school board members, community leaders, parents, business leaders, educational foundation staff, um and or their board members. Also, something I think that's really good. Now, our plans will be different, but even we may do additional meetings, but I think having the foundation sit in on our meeting and us sit on theirs, cuz they're actually at the point that the educational foundation for Clark County needs to do a strategic plan, too, this summer. So, they happen to coincide. So, I think there's an opportunity a lot for us to work together. Um and I'll work on getting that committee together, and I'll give you a timeline for that. Now, the one about school board members, um if you'll remember earlier in the year when we did committee appointments, there were two of you that were put on the
026strategic planning committee. Um so, that's getting ready to become a really active committee. Be good that we'll get to have a big voice in what we're doing, but it'll have more work with it now. Um over the next few months. Um I can't remember who got that appointment. We're trying to remember. Okay. >> We will look back and find out. Um Um And when we go forward, what we got to do is start out by looking at our current mission and vision. We can either accept them and say don't know changes, we like them, or we can draft new mission and vision. That's typically the first thing you do starting in committee groups. And then you start uh to draft what are called guiding principles or the core values. What are the most important non-negotiables
027for us as a district? Also, we need to look at areas for growth or areas for uh you know, areas that we have or that are successful, but we also need to look at areas for potential growth. Now, I think we can look at the data we have and do this, but this is another one of those parts that survey would potentially come in handy. As I used that survey the last time to say clearly these are strengths of us as a district, these are areas of growth. From that, we want to pick about five or six operational pillars. And um we want to do four to six overarching goals. Now, the reason I say four to six is anytime a district does 24 goals or something, it sits on a shelf and it's too
028long to ever do an update on or talk about. The more succinct it is and the more these are the absolute things that we're working toward, the more likely we're to be effective with them. And the goals need to be aligned to our clear uh purpose. From that, we need to develop strategies and measures that lead to our goals. Um and then I would recommend one or two established board reviews of the strategic plan each year during its life of up to five years. We'll go to the next one, which will be the Okay. All so We'll have lots of fun working on it. It is actually a good thing. I think it's a good conversation, all jokes aside. Um the next part is our timeline. And you can see that we are in the
029April 26th May 26th, so we're talking about pre-planning, talking about things that we've already done. During the month of May, I'll finalize establishing that strategic planning committee. Then during June, and I there's no other work other than establishing the committee before June cuz I really want to be cognizant we've got to finish the year, keep our focus on that, graduation, pieces like that. But in June, division leadership will work on the strategic plan during our retreat here. Um also during June, the committee will start to work on core values, pillars, mission, vision. And then my goal is to take the draft work to the school board, you all, for feedback in June of '26. Then also during June of '26, I would like to have two strategic planning committee meetings. Um we can either we're
030not as far spread out. Something I enjoyed the last time that I did this was um I hosted them in rotation in different school buildings. That way I felt like different towns and communities would get to show up and be a part of that. Um really three of our four schools that are in the same town and one's not too too far off, so it may be okay that we do that here for ease, but that is something we can talk through. And then in July, we need to get further into the work and talk about our core values, our pillars, the mission, vision, goals, and strategies all need to be finalized in July. During July, based on we want this approved at the July school board meeting, we'll either maybe do one or two
031committee meetings to finalize that work. And then the goal would be to approve the strategic plan before the start of next school year during the um July uh board meeting. And then after that, start working on uh reporting back on our progress toward our goals one or two times a year. And at this point, that's all I had, but any feedback you all have for me if anything you'd like to see done differently with this or anything you'd like me to consider. No. Thank you for the presentation. Does anybody else have any comments or questions? All right, moving on to finance committee report. So, Mr. Nucci will provide a report on the April 8th, 2026 finance committee meeting. Good afternoon everyone. I'll go ahead and give you guys the update for the month of March.
032So, the first couple things we want to talk about up there are number one, the fiscal year 26 supplemental appropriation. This one is for Boise playground sunshades for about $16,000. Funding would be provided by the Boise PTO. And in for in order for us to receive this money, increase our expenditure and appropriation, it's got to be voted on by both both the school board and the board of supervisors. And this is something that you'll be voting on in new business. Number two is a fiscal year 26 transfer between school funds. So, we want to transfer $250 from our school operating fund to our school debt fund to cover an increase in administrative fees. It's a minor amount, but um per our fiscal policy, there is no minimum threshold for transfers. So, if we're transferring a
033dollar from fund to um from fund to fund, it's something that has to go to the school board and has to go to board of supervisors. We asked our auditors about that and they said, "Hey, look, if we pull this example and we look at your policy and there's no minimum threshold, it will be an audit finding. So, whether it's a dollar, five dollars, ten dollars, or higher, um it's definitely something that we're going to bring to your attention as well." So, that will be something uh you'll be voting on in new business as well. Uh besides those two things, the next thing we can talk about is just the fiscal year 26 26 school bonus. So, we can jump back to the PowerPoint slide on the main screen. And for the fiscal year 26
034school bonus, what we're doing is we're proposing any a range anywhere from 1,200 to $1,500 bonus for all employees. There's about 301 employees and 202 of them are SOQ funded. We're also going to be suggesting to add uh retention language to this bonus, which we'll talk about a little bit later. And we could also finalize a bonus amount next month. We could uh vote on a range this month. Next month when the finances come into a um a better scope, we can then uh pick a certain amount, whether it's 1,500 or 1,200, and then go from there, or you can finalize the amount um on a vote today. Uh before we get into that, I just want to show you the difference between last year and and the current year with how this uh funding
035for the bonus would look. So, if it was run the same way it was run last year, what would happen is the state would identify the 202 SOQ funded positions, and then they would times that by the bonus amount. In this case, it would be 1,500, and that's where you get to 302 or 303,000. Then, to administer that bonus, it would cost us money cuz we would have to pay taxes. We'd have to pay social security at 6.2%, and then Medicare at 1.45%. So, in that example, it would cost us $23,000 to administer this bonus. So, the state would give us an additional 23,000, and that's where we get to the total of six of 326,000. This year, it's different. You still get to the 326,000, but the bonus is run through the LCI. And
036basically, what that means is your fiscal year '26 LCI for us is .6032. So, the state is saying you could afford to cover .6032 or 60% of the 326,000. So, our local portion is 196,000. That's how much we would be responsible for, and the state would make up the difference of 129,000. So, definitely a different picture from last year to this year. We're getting a portion of what we got in last year. And just keep in mind that one that 196 just gets us to where we would have been last year. So, that gets us the funding the 202 SOQ funded positions, but then you got to fund the other 99 positions to make everyone every employee get the same bonus. So, because of that, that's why we're kind of suggesting you utilizing retention language.
037What that would do is lower the number of people receiving this bonus. So, it would go from 301 to a 297 or a 295 or even lower. And the retention language would sound something like this, you know, you'd have to be on contract as of April 1st and sign a contract for the fiscal year 26, fiscal year 27 school year, or fire paper or file paperwork to retire through VRS. And again, that's just because given this climate, given how much money we're getting from the state, it's tough to know that someone's leaving to be like, "Hey, here's $1,500 as you walk out the door." So, a little bit of a different picture with how much money we'll be getting from the state um and why we kind of want to utilize that uh retention language
038as well. Just to give you a high level of cost, um if we wanted to give out this bonus at 1,500 utilizing retention language to all the employees, it would cost the county $347,000. If you want to do the same thing at 1,200, it would cost about $252,000, so about $95,000 difference from 1,500 to 1,200 if you use uh retention language, so you're not going to be at that 301, you're going to be around the the 290s um based on how many people are leaving. So, I'll pause there if you have any questions. I know Dr. Bowling was going to speak to it a little bit more as well. And uh thank you, Mr. Niech. You did a wonderful job, and there may be a question that I would have with that, but I do
039want, you know, I think a lot of times it's important to have understanding of, you know, what's going on factually in the state, and I think a lot of times when you see this $1,500 bonus for educators, people don't read or understand always below the headline piece. And the way it's done is it's based on it's not saying it's a $1,500 bonus, it says a $1,500 bonus based on full-time SOQ positions. Now, districts have different amounts of positions over standards of quality than others. Um but in it, it right away mentions that the district should consider retention and utilize these funds as long as they meet the required local match in the best efforts to retain staff and if they are not able to get to the full 1,500, they can reduce it to a
040amount as long as they meet the required local match. The only piece there is we are required to use every bit of the state funding for the bonus for the bonuses and we have to be at at least the required local match. The required local match is $196,000. Um, $742. Now, you really to understand this, this is by far the most complicated bonus scenario we've ever had and to be honest, it's the weakest budgeted bonus scenario we've had that's come about in this spring year. In the past, it was one thing that had not been considered as a part of the local composite index. So, what happened before as Mr. Nucci had said is when they did the $1,000 one last year and all the other bonuses before, they gave you and said, "Okay, you
041have 202 SOQ positions. You're getting the full $1,000 for all 202 positions and you're getting the fixed cost. The locality just has to come up with the amount for non-SOQs and if you can't, there's no required local match at all. You can just divide the money evenly." Which made it really simple before this. This bonus in the way it was passed in the recent weeks was that it goes through LCI, which means you only get our current year's LCI, which is a two-year biennium, which is the worst one, which is around .61. You take the inverse of that, which would be .39 and we're getting roughly 39% of SOQ funded positions $1,500. Does that make sense? So, we're already down to about 39% of what we had last year, and not all of our positions
042are SOQ funded. Now, I don't know, and standards of quality is what that stands for. I don't know of any district that operates just on standards of quality, but different districts have thresholds above it. Um the standards of quality are what the state says you have to have as a bare minimum to run a school district. But, one thing I always think it's important to do is be appreciative of what you have and what you're given, and to say thank you, and our board of supervisors, and all of you all work hard for our staff. Um the state says as a bare minimum we had need 202 positions. We have 301, which means 99 of our staff are non-SOQ people, which means that's entirely supported at the local level. So, we've got to come up
043with that um piece for that. Now, one thing about standards of quality, um I don't know, there may be one or two large, but I don't know actually of any division who knows who's standards of quality in their division and not. There are some key pieces that are whole numbers that are clear. For instance, if on the standards of quality it says and you got a principal and an assistant principal, and you're don't have the requirement of an assistant principal cuz it's ratios and you have one at means that one person's not. You would know that. But, when you look at like say, you could have fourth grade teachers and they don't come in whole numbers, which is what makes this even more complicated. It may say X county, and I'm making this up, needs
0445.12 teachers in fourth grade. Well, who are the five that are SOQ? Who's the point one two? Cuz people don't come in decimals. And if you have eight, the others are non-SOQ, but they're all doing the same job, if that makes sense. So, this gets to be a really kind of complex piece. It actually comes out of the calc file that we do every year with the budget that says you get this. And a few of them are whole numbers, but if you actually go down through there and look at those positions, the majority of them are decimals. And some of them are not even a whole one. It would be Cart County Public Schools needs 2.21 of this. Well, how are you going to hire .21 of somebody? Um there was a thing in
045the JLARC study related to budget that said and it was a recommendation that I would love. It said SOQs should always be rounded up to the next highest number. It would cost some money, but that would mean like if it's 4.12, it automatically goes to five. That would make these things a lot more simplistic. But one thing that um Mr. Nucci did wonderful course, when you add our required minimum to um the state money, it adds up to $1,010 per person. So, the very minimum bonus that we're allowed to do to give the bonus is $1,010. Now, there is other there are other ways that divisions are meeting this bonus, and I want you all to have all this information cuz it's very important later on. Um which is you can do it with through
046what's called equivalent action, and you'll find out that a lot of divisions around us are not actually giving the bonus at all in a lot in the state. The reason is if you did above what the state required last year, which was 3%. If what you did on top of 3% was equivalent to $1,500 or more, then you could actually keep the state money and use it for other things and not give a bonus. Um we've done that calculation. We did a 4% when it was required three. It's not 1,500. So, we don't have that option, but some divisions do. But, something that was mentioned last week um was that um they've added on it in the state budget and it's always changing that you actually can meet it with uh equivalent action with FY27.
047That wasn't in there till last week. There's probably a good chance and I That's why I want everybody to be appreciative of what they get that you all we probably there's a chance that we could keep the money and not do the bonus. Now, I want to be clear about that. But, the problem is the state budget has to pass before May 1st when this is turned in. Because currently we're at a 5% salary increase. Right now, the state's been debating between you know, three, possibly two. And at three to five, we would certainly be at that point of the 1,500. But, the state budget would have to pass before May 1st cuz you have to turn in your plan by May 1st if that makes sense. Um the other piece is last year when
048a lot of the divisions did this um we didn't do retention, but a lot of divisions in the state did and it's fully um allowed within the guidelines. And we've worked with the BDOE on that to get retention language that's approved by the Virginia Department of Ed. Uh the only other thing I would say um cuz two pieces, we did do a superintendent's webinar last week that went on about an hour and a half just to talk talk about the processes and understanding the math and the laws for giving this bonus cuz it's such a complicated one. And you all do see the guidance document on there. Just the guidance notes are five pages long on how to do this. But, basically you all can do anything above a thousand ten dollars or bank on
049you know, meeting it next year. I would recommend at least 1,200 cuz I think our staff are fully worth that and we need to do whatever we can for them. I would love to get to 1,500 and I think that should be our goal, but we've had a lot of unexpected cost. So, we actually only are certifying to give in the bonus this night. We can come back and specify an amount in May. So, I would love to see us get to 1,500 if we can be really cautious with our spending the rest of the year and make a decision in May. But, I would recommend at least going 1,200, but do know that 1,010 is the minimum. And the other thing to get And I don't know, Steve, do you know the total cost
050of the bonus at $1,500? Cuz I think it's important to see what percent the state actually >> 450, 480, something like that. Yeah. All right. Let me just roughly then, and that's just doing that as a rough amount. Cuz I think there's a lot of thought out there that the state gave all educators a $1,500 bonus. What they actually gave us was right around a quarter or 25% of the cost in a caboose bill. That's done after the budget's at the end and said, "You can give this if you can come up with the rest of the money." So, I I I think we can get through this one this year, but these are very hard to plan for at the end of a fiscal year. And I hope that if we're going to do
051bonuses again that we go back to a more sustainable formula that gives the full amount at least to SOQs. And Steve, do you have anything you'd like to add on to that or No, that's pretty much it. Yeah. So, questions from you all? I like the second slide the No, that's okay. The the slide that you added from our finance meeting. Yep. I don't have any questions. Does anybody else? All right. >> for the presentation, Steve. Thank you. Superintendent's update, Dr. Bowling. All right. Um one thing I'll mention before I forget it, because it's not on there, is I was blessed to go to see the production at the high school, Miss Brewer's Cinderella. And the students did a wonderful job, and a lot of that I think has to do with her direction. So,
052really wanted to tell her thank you for that. I went to that on Saturday night, though, so I didn't get to add that to it, so I was afraid I would forget. The first thing up there is uh Clark County High School won the Widget Cup on April the 9th. Um I really like this challenge, cuz a lot of critique of the state testing model, whereas we have to have universal standards, and they are important to look at. I think they're the minimum, like basic literacy and basic math. We don't need to disregard that, cuz if we can't, you know, progress well and show that we're doing well in that, then I have concerns, but there's so much more beyond that when it comes to creation and innovation. And what I love about the Widget
053Cup is the kids don't know the project till they get there, and the project is something from the community. It's a we need this artifact, and the kids from these different high schools have a budget, and they get materials, and they have to design it that day, they have to meet the specifications, they have to build it, and then they have to do a marketing uh video for it, and there's a curveball thrown at them midday. That's a real-life scenario of what life is, and you're using a lot of math and creativity, but I love it because it's a real-life based one, and I think we've won that 5 years in a row now, which I think is a testament to our high school. So, want to tell them thank you for that, and I
054we wanted to make tonight elementary recognition. I would love to have the Widget Cup team and the, you know, coach here for recognition at our May meeting. I'm sorry to interrupt you, but you know, when you think about it, though, like these products are coming from our high school students, but most of those high school students started with us in elementary school and middle school. And so, because of those foundations that that have been built and being able to work together as a team, I think that it does speak to our entire school system. Well, I agree, yes, wholeheartedly. Um and then the next piece there, April is workforce readiness month. Um I think we've got a lot of wonderful apprenticeships and internships in our CTE programs at the high school, and I do think
055it's important that we honor and realize that we all um contribute equally and differently to this world. Um and just really value the work that's being done there. Also, Mr. Hausman was inducted um into the 2026 Volunteer Hall of Fame for the Consortium for School Networking on April 14th. Um and he's also been recognized as a Virginia 2026 Computer Science Champion for administrators and school counselors. So, we want to recognize him on that. Um May 1st is School Lunch Hero Day. We knew that was so early at the beginning of the month that we want to go ahead and do that. Um but there's a video out that shows how school can look so different when everybody in it's negative and doesn't have the time with kids, and it's a like a 2-minute video, then
056it goes back and shows what an impact each of us makes if we treat every kid as an individual. And I think that's the key. Sometimes, and I've heard it from tremendous amount of kids, you know, the cafeteria manager or the cafeteria worker may be the kids' most favorite person in the building, or it may be the custodian that's the person that makes a monumental difference in a kid's life. Um so I do think it's critical that we um recognize that. Also, we had school librarian day on April the 4th. We had National Assistant Principals Week during April the 6th through the 9th. Another uh group of people how they greet and treat kids each day often the bus driver may be the first person that sees a kid and when a person comes to
057visit the school, the front office receptionist or administrative assistant is the first person they see and they really set the tone. Uh school bus driver appreciation day is coming up on April 28th. Um and then we do have child care and early childhood professionals day on May the 8th and then you got some minutes attached. Thank you. Audience comments. So audience comments are limited to 3 minutes per person in order to allow ample time for all who wish to speak. Ms. Weir, do we have Hi, good evening everyone. Um my name is Marie Davis and I've had the privilege of teaching our wonderful elementary students at DG Cooley for almost 10 years. I'm here this evening to advocate for Jennifer McDonald and our technology specials class at Cooley. Um for anyone unfamiliar, the students at
058Cooley have specials classes every day on a rotating schedule. They are library, PE, music, art, and technology. Mrs. McDonald, our current technology teacher, could not afford to continue in her role at the current salary next year and has resigned as a result. Myself and many other staff members would respectfully request that Mrs. McDonald be allowed to rescind her resignation and that we work to find a way to keep her employed in her current technology position. There are strong concerns that the technology specials class may be removed from the rotation altogether and we want our admin, school board, and the community to know just how important both Jen and the technology class are to Cooley. The curriculum that Mrs. McDonald wrote alongside John Novick and the lessons that she has developed support the new Virginia state
059technology standards along with the state computer science standards. She's worked incredibly hard to get our technology program to where it is today, which is to say a program that is highly educational, engaging, and enjoyable for our students. I've had so many children tell me how much they love technology class and learning from Mrs. McDonald. Her lessons also teach and stress the importance of internet safety and responsibility, which has always been incredibly important and is now more relevant than ever. If her position is eliminated, will teaching these standards fall to grade level teachers? Especially with the new reading and math curriculums, our grade level teachers have no room in their schedules for this crucial technology instruction. I realize that our county is small and that funding can be limited, but there must be some options available.
060We would like to work with administration, school board, and the education foundation to come up with a way to compensate Jen for the invaluable education and services that she provides to our students and our school. Could there be a possibility that the Clark County Education Foundation could use their STEM grant funding to help with Jen McDonald's salary as well as a comparable technology program for Boyce? Staff at the middle school have noticed that our students are coming to Johnson Williams prepared with more technology knowledge and computer skills than they have in the past. If we eliminate our technology class, our students will not be learning these essential 21st century skills and the middle school will be impacted as well. Beyond her role as an outstanding and effective technology teacher, Mrs. McDonald completes an absolutely incredible
061amount of extra duties that improve the climate and well-being of our school. So many that I do not have time remaining to list even a fraction of them. Suffice to say, losing Jen would be a devastating blow to everyone at Cooley in countless ways. Thank you very much for your time and consideration. Angela Lavallee? Good evening members of the school board. My name is Angela Lavallee and I'm a teacher at DG Cooley. Thank you for your time and for the difficult work you do in balancing the needs of our school and our community. I'm here to speak about the potential reduction or elimination of the technology program at DG Cooley Elementary. This is not simply about one class. It's about measurable student outcomes. According to the US Department of Education, students who engage in technology
062integrated instruction show improved in performance in core subjects including math and reading as well as stronger problem-solving skills. These are not optional skills. They are foundational to academic success. In addition, Virginia requires computer science instruction at the elementary level. This means technology education is not enrichment. It is part of the state standards. Furthermore, under goal 4.1 of the county strategic plan, it states that Clark County will increase the integration of digital technology use and application to enhance and transform the learning of all students. If this program is reduced or eliminated, that responsibility shifts to classroom teachers who are already managing full instructional schedules. Research consistently shows that increasing teacher workload without additional support leads to decreased instructional effectiveness and higher rates of burnout. There are also equity implications. National data shows that students from lower
063income households are significantly less likely to have consistent access to devices and structural digital learning at home. For many students, school is a primary and sometimes only access point for developing digital literacy. Reducing this program risks widening an already existing gap. At DG Cooley, the technology program also multiplies the effectiveness of the entire staff. Mrs. McDon- Through the use of seven types of robots, VR headsets, 3D pens, and more that Mrs. McDonald has acquired for her students, she supports not only students but teachers, helping integrate technology into daily lessons, improving efficiency, and strengthening instruction across subjects. Removing or reducing this role doesn't eliminate the need, it redistributes it to already stretched educators. Finally, workforce data is clear. The vast majority of future careers will require some level of digital competency. Early exposure to technology and
064computer science directly impacts long-term readiness. In short, limiting this program would likely lead to lower student performance in core subjects, increased strain on teachers, reduced ability to meet state requirements, and greater inequity among students. I urge you to consider not just the short-term budget impact, but the long-term cost to students' achievements and preparedness. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. Excuse me, Madam Chair. Yes. I've heard two of the speakers now mention talk of dropping this course all together. This is the first I've heard about this. Could not the superintendent or the assistant speak to that at all? Um I'll pass it along to Dr. Seal here in a minute. Um but there's no change in the budget. This has been budgeted the same way ongoing. And part of a budget is something
065um to do a new position or to change the level of position has to be presented early in the budget process through a principal request and it has to be approved um through the school board as part of that. So, I mean it really should be done early, but there is no change to the budget piece on that. Um and you know, the other piece too um to speak to it being a class or anything like that, we have to pay all of our teachers by the same thing and it's based on, you know, teacher license or certification. And you've got to think that not speaking to this particular situation, but if you um pay a position that's not budgeted as a teaching position without a license at a teacher's salary, you got to think
066about equity to all of your other teachers. And you've also got to think about you've got if you pay a position above the rest, then you've got to think about the equity to all the other people within that positional category. My question though is I this the what these ladies said is the first I have heard of of a possibility of the class or the course being dropped. Is there any intention to do that? Not if we find anybody. I've not heard anything and actually today is the first I've heard any mention of the technology position at Cooley at all. Now, in doing that, um it's currently budgeted as an instructional assistant position. Um if it was moved up to a teaching position, it would need to be included in the budget. All right. And
067if we were to list it as a teaching position, we don't get to set the criteria for teaching licensure. So, it would have to be a licensed teacher. And um outside of CTE at the high school level, um the most entry-level form to get a license is a bachelor's degree in any field and that's only been existent last year and this year, which allows for someone to get a teaching license for 1 year with the bachelor's degree um under a local license called a superintendent's license if they finish all their teacher ed requirements in 1 year. Um but that would be the the minimum threshold to >> so there's no intention then of dropping the course or the class. That would be up to you all as a board. You know, it's if it become
068if a position becomes vacant, it would be up to you all. We have talked in the past that we would consider each position one by one and decide whether or not it would be retained or not. Um we are having less students and enrollment's down, so I do think that we got to look through that. Nobody's talked to me about it though. And this is actually the first that I'd heard about the technology, you know, instructional assistant position there. We can't talk to personnel and individuals, but um we would decide whether or not to fill that at the same uh salary level. Now, one thing they've not talked to me about it related to this, but things that have come up in the past is an equity issue of the fact that Boyce doesn't have
069it and Cooley does. So, this is all new to me, but one thought off my mind would be would we want to make it if we filled it 3 days a week at Cooley and 2 at Boyce to be equitable to both schools. But, that's just me talking off the cuff cuz this is all new information piece to me. It's more of an HR thing, so I don't know if Dr. Seal has anything to add. So, the only thing I would add is that as Dr. Bowling said, the position is still included in the budget. Yeah. But, there is conversation about ensuring that the content is equitably delivered to students in both buildings. And as Dr. Bowling said, that's a conversation ongoing right now with elementary principals, Dr. Nail, and myself. Okay. Thank you. Clay,
070you have a I was going to say that Yeah, the uh the position is still there. Yeah, that's It's the reason is because the the the individual resigned from that position. This isn't a special hire we made, and when the teacher goes, the position goes with her. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, there's a there's a vacancy. The now the yeah, that's what they're addressing is now there's a vacancy. >> Okay. And not that to respond to public comment, one thing I do recognize though is that it's very hard on teachers and have a lot on them. You know, when the computer science standards were written, they thought it should be seamlessly interfaced into core content with the best of instruction, I mean design. That was the design from the state level. The thought though was like
071when you're doing coding, you're not talking about pure coding or mathematics. It would be when you're teaching something sequentially, what's the next logical step you do here, and you don't even have to touch a computer. It's taught. Having said that, I think anything additional on our, you know, teachers would be a lot, so we do have the position funded in the budget. So, I think it would be a a conversation we would have and that we might continue. Okay. Do you have any other speakers? Jennifer McDonald. >> Actually, I like that all that came up right before I came up. That was helpful. So, I did Wow, that's loud. I did write out uh things to say, but because of the things that came up, I'm going to change it a little bit. Um so,
072I will say I'm I'm thrilled that all these teachers are here to advocate for the technology special. I am touched that they're advocating for me. Um I am just an IA. I only have my associate's degree. Um Dr. Seal knows cuz we we've talked and she's been super helpful for me. Um I I I will get my bachelor's degree. I will get my teaching license. I will get anything I need if if that'll help me just make more to do this job. I I absolutely love this job. I love Cooley with my whole heart. I mean, it Anybody here from Cooley or not from Cooley could tell you like I mean, I just I love my job. Anything that I need to get that could help me, I'll do it because just with an IA
073salary, I have two kids of my own in college now. I I just I can't afford and I I had to resign. Um it was devastating. I I'm still like it kills me because I I really love this job. Um so, I understand budget is a thing. I I don't know school's budget. I don't know anything about that, but I understand a budget. So, I know if the money's not there, you know, it's hard, but I also know with my kids, when they tell me something and coding is too hard, something that I tell them is, you know, it's easy to say it's too hard, I can't do it, but if someone said, "If I gave you a million dollars to do this, could you do it?" And that's what I tell them and then
074they usually figure it out. Just saying. Just putting it out there. So, um I do want to advocate for technology to stay at Cooley and also to be implemented at Boyce. I do think that's super important, too. It really needs to be there. Um I do teach the computer science standards that that are now there. They mostly revolve around coding. I'm not a huge fan of that because I think a lot of things that these kids are taking away from technology like when they get older, coding is not going to be a job that probably most of them are going to have. I do like that it does teach problem solving, which is super important um with kids today. They're not great problem solvers starting off um just because they have that instant gratification with
075phones and technology and stuff like that. So, I do like that coding teaches that, but we also do typing. Um my kids do uh troubleshooting computers. They could all tell you that that computer needs updates. Third through fifth grade could tell you because it has that symbol that it needs updates. And that that's good. It's good that they know that because they feel good when their computer is glitchy that they can fix it. They don't have to ask me to fix it cuz I teach them how to fix it. And that's super important. Um I do teach them Google Slides, Google Docs. Super important. We all use Google Docs as adults, so it's important that they know how to use that. And that they're getting it in elementary school so that when they get to
076middle school, they already have those skills. They shouldn't be learning them in middle school. We think our kids are super exposed um to technology as kids. They are, but not computers. They're using tablets, they're using phones. They do not know how to type. They don't know how to troubleshoot computers. They do not know Google Docs at all. When it's it's pulling teeth to get them to use Google Docs because there's no pictures. Those are They're not big fans. Um Internet safety is a huge thing that they definitely need to be getting in elementary school. It it it The technology, it doesn't need to be three days a week two day like it it needs to be constant. They It needs to be a regular rotation at Boyce and at Cooley. It's so important. We go
077over cyber bullying. I have my fourth graders sit pow wow style and we talk about it. We just discuss it if if they've had um any experiences with cyber bullying. You'd be shocked the things that they tell me and you know, it's always volunteer basis. If you want to talk about it, you can, but if you don't, that's okay. A lot of them do like to share and it's you know, they they need to be getting this in elementary school. It's so important because they are on social media even though they shouldn't be. They do have access to phones even though they shouldn't and they they really need to be getting you know, digital footprint, super important. Um I can't I have no data to prove this, but I would bet my hat that flags,
078um things that get flagged on the kids' computers has probably gone down since they've had regular technology instruction because we talk about digital footprint and if you know, if you type something into your computer, it stays there. You know, the administration's going to see it. Your parents might see it. Like it's it's just so important that they they learn these things that it's a regular rotation. Um we talk about posting other people's pictures without consent. It's important for them to learn that before they get the phones, you know, cuz they usually they get the phones in middle school. They've got to be getting this education and it it's just I I know I keep saying it, but it's because it's so important that they're getting it in in that even all the way down to
079kindergarten. I mean, it's just it's it's it's so important. Um we also actually even do lessons on altered digital photography because I want my kids to know in elementary school that all these uh influencers they see, all these pictures, you know, for us it was more like magazines with the models and we'd be like, "Oh, I want to look like that." You know, they see social media and it's so crammed down their throat to be perfect. I give them side-by-side images of altered digital photography just to show them it's not real. Like these are not These are real people, but they're they're altered and it's just it's important. It's really important at at Boys and at Cooley. um like I said, I am an IA. I understand I'm not asking you to pull, you know,
080a million dollars out of your back pocket. I know money's tight. I get that. If it's not me, it's okay. I don't mind if it's not me teaching it. But I I just want to come to like stress that you do keep it and and that it's at Cooley and it's at Boyce regularly as a special. It It shouldn't be grouped with library, you know, otherwise I know I'm sure I'm almost running out of time. I'm trying to talk as fast as I can. Um I know that it was grouped with library before. I know we've had IAs do it before. I mean, I I put my heart and soul into this. I don't know if you'll find someone on an IA pay scale that'll put their heart and soul into this like I did.
081But if you want to make it a full-time teaching position, find someone who's certified in computer, certified teacher already, and put them there. I I would be thrilled at that because what I I just beg you to just keep it. Keep it at Cooley. Implement it at Boyce so that it's full-time. Um just so everybody can get this information at this young age. I'm sure I went over time. So, I appreciate it. Thank you. >> Good evening. I'm speaking tonight as a teacher in this beautiful county and more importantly as a mother of two young students. I see the direct impact of our education system on my children. Technology is a vital literacy, and losing a dedicated specialist feels like a step backwards for their future readiness. Clark may not always compete with our neighbor
082neighboring counties on salary, but for years we have competed with one of our greatest assets, our community. We have retained great educators because we believe in teaching the whole child and keeping their academic needs central. However, when or if we lose vital positions like our technology teacher, and if we choose not to replace them, we chip away at that identity. Technology isn't an extra. It's a necessity, a core literacy for the whole child in 2026. I'm asking for this board to consider Clark's history and Clark's future. What makes us unique and influential? Perhaps this moment has been brought to us in order to create a pause, allowing us to reflect on our commitments and values. Let's protect the positions that make our students well-rounded, and let's show our community that specialized expertise is worth more
083than an than a line item in a budget. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else who'd like to speak that hasn't signed up? Okay. Moving on to new business. So, VSBA Excellence in Workforce Readiness Award. All right. I think the next item here will be really brief, but basically, we're wanting to apply for two Virginia School Boards Association awards, but applying for these awards, similar to what we did in the past, requires a unanimous vote of the school board to allow us to apply. And we have to do sign certification documents. The board chair signs these. The first one is the Excellence in Workforce Readiness Award to the Virginia School Boards Association. I think you'll recall that we got one of these last year. So, it is, you know, good for us to highlight
084our community and what we do. Um So, what we would like to do there, um is highlight our partnership um with Tri-State Nissan for workforce readiness. And then also, there is the Showcases for Success and Showcasing Innovation Awards. And you can see the criteria there for that award. And what we'd like to do is apply based on our partnership cuz it's about innovative curriculum and working standards into the curriculum about our partnership between Johnson Williams Middle School and Claremont Farm. So, that's pretty simple there. If you give us permission, we'll work on the application and submit them, but the first step is we do have to have a unanimous vote of the school board allowing us to apply for those awards. Thank you. Is there a motion? I move to approve the submissions to the
085VSBA for the Excellence in Workforce Readiness Award and Showcasing Innovation Awards. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion passes. Consideration of policies for first and second reading. I won't go into too much detail tonight, Ms. Kohrherr. You can add anything to it. But these are just more every so often you get a lot of VSBA policies and it's been more frequent because a new attorney's been writing them there. We've been through a few changes there in the last couple years. These are all basically like bullet changes from numbers to go into bullets or vice versa, spacing, clarification of different word or Virginia code sections changed. So, nothing in the VSBA policies are changing anything that we've done previously. And also, in a couple of our regulation pieces there, we just felt like one
086word difference would make it more clear. Um but it doesn't change anything we're doing, so nothing really substantive to the uh policy vote tonight. It's just this gets the second big half of these VSBA policies off of us so that we can work on the four or five that we really want to write tailored to Clark County and to get those approved in the next couple months. Okay. Thank you. Is there a motion? I move to approve the policies presented as first and second reading. Second. All in favor? I. All opposed? Motion passes. Approval of Boyce PTO capital budget and expenditure. So, the approval is recommended to receive uh $15,833.06 from the Boyce PTO for the playground sunshades. Is there a motion? >> And for this one, this is money that they've already got donated
087just to our account. So, really thankful that they've done that. This just helps us to get that through our books, but it's a PTA funded piece. As moved. Second. All in favor? I. >> I. All opposed? Motion passes. Approval of budget transfer of operating fund for the school debt. So, approval is recommended to transfer $250 in operating funds to the FY26 school debt fund. Is there a motion? So moved. Second. Okay. All in favor? I. >> I. All opposed? Motion passes. Approval of the FY26 school bonus. So, we had this discussion or Dr. Bowling um shared a lot of information as did Mr. Nucci. Does anyone have any comments or questions about the the recommended action? So, the recommended action is that we would pay at least a $1,200 bonus to all contracted employees of
088Clark County and sign a contract for 26-27 school year or file paperwork to retire through the VRS. And we could change it to $1,500 in May if we feel like the budget is in a better place. Before you all go to comments, whenever we do it, I would just um recommend that we keep the motion language. I know it's about a paragraph, but this is a very complex bonus structure, so we have to get every word of that out. But basically, there's a couple blanks in there. You see where it says 1,200, you could actually do $1,010, but I think we can get to 1,200. And also, when you're doing a local match, I don't want it to be off a few dollars. So, my recommendation would be not to go below 12 and to
089keep it at at least 12. And I would love to get to the $1,500 if we can afford it. But we have had a lot of cost, and a lot of this budget is bonus is coming out of local dollars. Um we would be paying the bonus out in FY26. One other possibility that's come up as of recent is to do it to equivalent action based on FY27, which would allow the money to then be used on other projects. I think our employees are our best bene- our best resource, so I would recommend paying the bonus. Because as of a little bit last week, we had to because we weren't didn't have the equivalent action in '27. And also, that's based on a budget passing by May 1st, and we may it may not happen.
090So, I would actually recommend it as it is with the 12 and the 1,500, and if we can get to 1,500, to vote on that in May. I I'd also like to add the that it's a shame that we're kind of put in a situation because of decisions made above us. I'd like for the public to be aware of that. Um cuz I know myself, and I think all the other board members would love to be able to get that total 1,500 if the state would have presented it differently or as it was in the past. And let's hope they make those changes in the future so we don't get handcuffed like this again. And put a caboose bill in or give us the appropriate money that's needed. It should also be noted that they're
091requiring us to have this done, yet they're Right. They they are not passing their budget. Exactly. So there's lots of pressure put on by the state level that I think maybe the public's not aware of that uh it's unfortunate. Very unfortunate. Okay. Is there a um any action on this? We have to read this whole thing. >> Yeah, it's got to be about pictures. Yeah, it's going to require a little [laughter] bit of reading. I move to paying at least $1,200 bonus to all contracted employees of Clark County Public Schools that were on [clears throat] contract as of April 1st, 2026 and sign a contract for the 2026-2027 school year or file paperwork to retire through VRS at the conclusion of the 25-26 school year. The bonus will be contingent upon the receipt of state
092appropriated funding for the 2026 educator bonus. If funding has been received by Clark County on or before June 1st, 2026, the bonus will be paid on June 15th, 2026. Otherwise, the bonus will be paid as soon as possible after state funding is received. If sufficient funding is available, the bonus could increase to as much as $1,500 per person. The final decision on the bonus amount will be decided by the school board at its May 2026 meeting. Second. All in favor? All opposed? Motion passes. School board comments. And Miss uh Kerho before you go on one when you that way that motion's written, I do want it to be important we're trying to do everybody correct, too. We have several part-time people, but not a lot, and most of our part-time people work at least 30
093hours. They're contracted, so that means they will get it. We wanted to treat them correctly. Contracted employees means our regular employees, though. So, you know, like our substitute teachers and our seasonal coaches, they wouldn't be included in that, but everybody else I just really wanted that, you know, piece to be clear as to who's getting it um on there. And with the retention piece, you may ask what would happen if somebody took it on June 15th and then resigned on the 16th if before if it happens before this year's payroll is done, then it'll be deducted out of their last paycheck. All right, Mr. Site? Yeah, uh the only comment I'd like to make is uh you know, I've been on this board for 7 or 8 months now. There's been some tough decisions to
094be made, some headaches and things of that nature, but I just want to emphasize when I see those kids in here and we're we're recognizing those kids, it brings a smile to my face and it warms your heart. It really does. It's so important. And the people that are sitting out there that are part of that and everybody else that's listening or all the teachers, you're the ones that make it happen, but it's it brings a smile to your face. That's all I have. Thank you. Mr. Wilson? Yeah, uh um most of the board members have and staff have met my wife. They also know that she has Parkinson's and most some know that she due to a change in her medication dosage had a went through a very bad patch for about 6 weeks.
095We went down last Wednesday to UVA to their neurology clinic and you'll be happy to know that she is doing much better now, so that's my good news. >> [laughter] >> Amen to that one. Thank you. Um it was fun seeing the the young ones up here. I can remember Emerson and Douglas both go both going through future chef and that is uh that's a blast from the past now and and fun to watch. So, I envy you for being able to to eat it Steve and Renee by the way. And uh I'll be the I'll be the first to admit I'm not smarter than a fourth grader. So, >> [laughter] >> but it is fun um to be a part of that and see them up there and then as we expressed earlier the
096um it speaks volumes to the fact that we've won the widget cup for the fifth year running and the foundation that you have built in our education system. We appreciate each and every one of you and it's it's uh it's fun to see. Um last thing you know, in regards to the technology position, I think um hopefully we provided some clarity that that is not going away. We are you're we're pushing for that. We're advocates of that. Um and we understand the value it you know, it has to to the students with whether it's developing literacy um you know, safety awareness everything else. So, um please understand that and know that going into the budget that's something that you know, for the the following year it may be something that we consider as far as
097that when it comes to Boise and Cooley both and um how that position is presented as far as whether it's a teacher's assistant or or a full-time teaching position. So, That's all I have. >> Thank you. Um I'll just [clears throat] piggyback on that. Ms. McDonald, it was wonderful to see the passion you have for the technology and your statement that um uh it you know, it doesn't have to be you that it's continuing and it is, but anyway, that I think that speaks very well of you. Thank you for that. And um Excuse me, I also [clears throat] want to uh The last lady, I'm sorry. I didn't I don't Your teacher, too. But you said a Your last little quote quote Clark may not always be competitive with salary, but competitive with community.
098And uh I think that is a I think that's a a wonderful statement and I hope all teachers and and employees of of this division uh feel that way. Um because it is hard to compete with the with the things around and there's tough decisions and and workloads may get bigger and that's just you know, the way it is, but I think it's a if if if we can keep our employees saying a statement like that, then um I I think that is something to strive for and and not just a a bigger pocketbook. And if the state ever gets their act together, they can take care of that without us having to bear the burden. >> [laughter] >> Um I also want to bring uh attention to um a long time educator in Clark
099County uh Miss Linda Hardesty passed away recently. Um she taught at Boyce for 33 years, um continued to offer services part time for for several years after and was a substitute uh all the way up up uh in in 2017. She started in 1971. She was my first and sixth uh second grade teacher and was a like a mother away from home to a lot of kids and made that that uh jump into education uh comforting and um special. She was a wonderful lady. I also had Mrs. Hardesty for first and second grade, and then she um was my fifth grade teacher as well. But, I've seen on like social media that some people even had her like first, second, fourth, and fifth grade. Which is amazing. I mean, that's like almost your entire elementary
100career with this one remarkable lady. So, we were really fortunate to have her. Um just quickly, I finally got to go to the night of the arts at the high school and to watch the band um I'm blinking on the name of the band. What the drum line. The drum line. And they were awesome. And I I'm so glad that I finally got to attend, and I wish that I made more of an effort to go to those things as I do for sporting events. Um because the artwork is phenomenal. Um the kids work so hard, and they're so talented. And then the the band just blows me away, as well as the color guard. They did really, really well um in their performance this year, too. And then um I also just have been
101thinking a lot about kind of want to give special recognition to Mr. Kidrick. He's He has had quite the year in regards to our HVAC systems at Cooley, at Johnson Williams, need a new one at Boyce, and then this rotation also of like new the new maintenance director um for our county has changed twice. Plus, this was a new job for him, and he's working for you know, Dr. Bowling has been new to us as well. So, that's think that like I'm just very thankful that he is keeping our children safe going to and from school and then keeping these buildings going cuz it is not it has not been an easy year and I really appreciate his work. Um and that's it. That's all I have. Anybody else have anything to add? Okay. I
102will adjourn the meeting. Thank you all for staying so late. Ms. McDonald, you have a second? Yes.