001[Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] I don't [Music] know. [Music] Oh yeah. Oh. [Music] Hey. Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey. [Music] back to order. Mr. Greenway, would you please read us out of closed? I do not have a sheet. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Um, I move that Rono County School Board come out of close session for the follow to discuss the investigation of a student matter. the Scholastic Record Exemption 2.2-3711 A2 of the Code of Virginia to discuss personnel matters under investigation pursuant to the personnel exemption at 2.2-3711 A1 of the code of Virginia and to discuss or consider the acquisition of real property for a public purpose or of the disposition of publicly held real property where discussion and an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position for
002negotiating strategy of the school board pursuant to the real property exemption 2.2-3711 3711 A3 of the code of Virginia and to certify to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under this chapter and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the meeting closed which the closed meeting was convened were heard discussed or considered in the meeting by the school board. Second, Madame Clerk. Yes, ma'am. Item 2.03, action from closed. Yes, madam chair. I move to allow student number RE20252026-17 to be released from compulsory attendance pursuant to 22.1-254-B1 of the code of Virginia as amended. Madame clerk. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Chairman, I motion that student number ex 2025 2026 number three be expelled from Rono County Public Schools. Second. Madame Clerk.
003Yes, ma'am. Welcome everyone. Will you please stand for the pledge of allegiance? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible and justice for all. Item 4.01, announcement of changes in the agenda. We do not have any. Item 4.02, approval of agenda. Do we have a motion to approve? I'll make the motion. Second, Madame Clerk. Yes, ma'am. Item 5.01, 01 Williamird High School community impact award for Camden that simong and we've got Mr. Evan to present Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Nicely, Dr. Sulttus. It is my honor to introduce you to one of our students this evening. Ham Theamong began his time in as a Renault County student as a first grader at Bonsack Elementary. He continued through
004Williamird Middle School and is currently a senior at Williamird High School. To say Cam is a proud Terrier would be an understatement. He's a member of our football team, our tennis team, and a member of our pickle ball club. Even though his brother Liam, who is an eighth grader at the middle school, does claim, Cam, that he could take you on the pickle ball court. Cam has also demonstrated high academic performance throughout his time at Williamberg High School and is slated to graduate with an advanced studies diploma. During the summer of 2024, Cam was diagnosed with osteocaroma, a cancerous tumor in his bone. Since his diagnosis, Cam has touched the lives of many through his positive attitude, his energy, his humor, and most importantly to he and his family, his faith. He and his mother,
005Charlene, who is with us tonight, have openly shared details of his battle with others through their CAM's Purpose Facebook page, which currently has over 4,000 followers nationwide. Within the Rono Valley, countless businesses, churches, organizations have also demonstrated support for Cam's purpose, and there is a reason for that. There is no question he is continuing to make a positive impact on people and communities across our state as well as nationwide. Throughout recent weeks, the impact of CAM continues to have, excuse me, that CAM continues to have on our community has truly been highlighted not only in the William Bird community, but across all of Verno County public schools. We were able to host a Cam's Purpose game against Cavespring High School in week one of the high school football season this year. We cannot thank Haley
006Deeds, her staff, and your fans for supporting us in that effort. It was my son's first Williamird High School football game and he did not have a yellow shirt in preparation. My wife took my son Jack to the store and he chose a Pikachu outfit because he had heard me say that Cam loves Pokemon. The following week, we played host to Hidden Valley High School. Unbeknownst to us, Hidden Valley seniors had approached had approached Mr. Josh Whitlo that week, requesting to change their student section theme to yellow out for CAM. Hidden Valley staff members joined in by wearing yellow to their jobs that Friday. Thank you to the Hidden Valley community. This afternoon, I have spoken with North Side High School who plans to demonstrate support for Cam during our away game on October th
007October 10th. Thank you to Jill Green and her staff for their support. When Cam and I were planning our Cam's purpose game, I asked him what he would like the game to entail. This is in the summer months. Cam's response to me was, "I just want to be with my boys." He then stated, "Is all this for me, Mr. Null?" And I said, "Yes, Cam. Yes, it is." and his response could not embody a 17-year-old anymore. One word, cool. That simple statement is a testament to Cam's humility, his strength, and his character. It is clear why so many members of our community have been supporting you and your family without being asked to do so. This past week, we had the pleasure of highlighting our holiday spirit a little bit earlier on the William campus.
008Terrier Nation was decked out in holiday attire as Cam Ruth rode through campus with his mother to take it all in. Officer Johnny Renan had the blue lights fired off and he got to see all of Terrier Nation lining the entire parking lot supporting him in this effort. Additionally, the community has sent Christmas cards to Cam to celebrate his favorite holiday. Cam, I want you to know personally two of those cards came from my personal children. Thank you for helping me spread your message of faith, ma'am. Thank you. It is said that faith, hope, and love are the best things we have. Cam, you continue to demonstrate incredible faith and hope in this battle, and we know you will continue to do so. I hope that you and your amazing family has felt the love
009of our community as well as all of Renault County Public Schools. We may never know the true number of people that Cam has inspired, given hope to, helped rekindle their faith, or becomes friends, become friends with who are on similar journeys. On behalf of Williamird High School, it's our honor, Cam, to present you with a community impact award. Thank you. [Applause] I just want to say just how amazing it is to be here and how just blessed I feel just to be able to be, you know, even walking right now, have the energy to come out here and just say thank you guys. Just hearing what Mr. to know how to say and just it was awesome just hearing how much of an impact that just one you know person can make in in the
010life of many others and I just want to keep on continuing to do as much and just show how God is working through me and just how much faith I have in him and what he's going to do. So just thank you guys so much for recognizing [Applause] This one. I'm not Mr. on that. I was out of town last Thank you for coming. Item 5.02 02 recognition of governor's world language academy attendees Dr. Paula Newville Miss Laura Ward Lori Ward excuse me and Miss Britney Martin good evening madame chair school board members Dr. nicely in the Rono County schools community. Since 1987, the VDOE has sponsored the governor's world languagemies. These are summer residential programs for Virginia's most motivated and talented world language students. As of 2024, more than 10,600 students had completed one
011of the programs. The 2025 Governor's World LanguageMies included full immersionmies in French, German, and Spanish, a partial immersion Japanese academy, and a Latin academy. Rono County consistently sends students in various languages. We are here tonight to congratulate one of our students from Williamird High School who attended the Spanish Academy this past summer. Britney Martin, his Spanish teacher who nominated him, will say a few words about Brand Braden Booth. This is going to be a little bit unconventional because Braden is a band student and he got stuck at band practice. So, we got him on FaceTime, y'all. All right. All right. Um, so as Paula said, I'm a Spanish teacher at William Bird and um that has had the opportunity to not only teach one but two incredibly amazing seniors here tonight. Cam who whose smile
012has never not lit up an entire room and whose positivity is truly contagious. It's also my privilege to recognize Braden Booth for his remarkable achievement of being accepted into and successfully completing a highly selective the highly selective Virginia Governor's World Language Academy for Spanish this past summer. This three-w weekek full immersion program required students to give up their cell phones, which is something amazing in these times, and commit to only speak in Spanish while engaging in intensive academic, cultural, and community building experiences. Braden not only thrived in this challenging environment but al also demonstrated the very qualities that aligned with Ronoke County's seed change framework and its commitment to deeper learning. Through this experience he strengthened his communication skills by engaging exclusively in Spanish. Broaden his sense of community by collaborating with peers from across
013Virginia. practice critical thinking skills through problem solving in a second language and showcase his creativity by contributing musically during cultural events. Most importantly, his complete immersion in the Spanish language and culture deepened his sense of global citizenship, an essential skill in the interconnected world of the 21st century. Braden's accomplishment is a shining example of how world language education fosters the five C's of the framework and deeper learning outcomes that prepare our students to be opportunity ready, innovative, and engaged citizens. His success underscores the vital importance of supporting world language students and programs across Ronoke County schools as we continue to prepare students for the demands of a globally engaged and diverse society. So here's Braden and would you like to say something? I could for sure. Okay. So am I good? Yeah, just tell us
014about a little bit about your experience. Okay. Um, so born, thank you for allowing me to be here tonight. I'm sorry that I can't be in person because of band whatever. Um, I'm a very busy person. I apologize for that, but honestly, I'd say the World Language Academy was probably the best experience of my life. It was incredible to be able to go experience Washington and Lee as a college and meet so many people from across the state. I've met some of my best friends there actually. Um, I developed communication skills, as Miss Martin has said, tenfold of what I had in the past. And honestly, I just say that the academy was such a beautiful, incredible, life-changing experience that has really prepared me for my future. So, I really have to give thanks to
015Miss Martin and Renault County for providing me with that platform to grow as a person and accepted in the academy. So, thank you guys. Thank you. Okay. [Applause] He just he just came out. That's okay. We'll do you can do she hung up on him. She said item 5.03 3 school spotlight. Fort Lewis Elementary, Miss Kim Smith. Good evening, Madame Chair and members of the board and everyone here tonight. Um, Crystal Bonder, my assistant principal, and I are honored to be here to tell you about Fort Lewis Elementary School. Clicker. Okay. Established in 1889, the original Fort Lewis was located on Main Street, just east of the current location. Fort Lewis will celebrate another 100th anniversary soon. The current structure was erected in 1928. The building's been added on to through the years, thanks to
016all of you. We have a ceiling in the library that has been such a game changer. Um, students can learn without echoes of activity in the hallways and our lovely but very creaky floors. Um, in addition to giving our music teacher who shared between schools, her own space for teaching and now we have an innovation station. And so thank you very much for all of that. Last year we updated our logo with the new Lou created by Sarah Cubberly using AI. So our student population of about 250 uh students is fairly spread out reaching both north and south of Salem. Um she had no idea until I took her for a little road trip. Um our staff is really part of what makes us special. 17 of whom are parents of current Fort Lewis students,
01718 if you count our school secretary, Mrs. Dixon, whose daughter teaches kindergarten. Um, we're vested in our mission and building relationships in our community along with the PTA, which is actively involved in supporting many of our special events and provides important resources for our school. Our strengths are built on the relationships that start with each child being greeted with upbeat, positive music and our staff who strive to make contact with each child on arrival, addressing them by name. We also rotate through morning greetings in different languages, including those that are spoken by some of our students. And although he's not looking, if you go back, somebody's son was in one of those photos. So, Oh, I see that. That's what he's best at. Um, occasionally our mascot, Louis the Lion, appears at arrival, dismissal, and
018special school events such as our upcoming fall festival and deeper learning showcase. Louie made his first appearance in 2020. Um, when we opened back up for in-person learning, we wanted to encourage and welcome our students back in a fun way. This is a wonderful new addition. Uh Eliza Tuttle, our art teacher, completed this beautiful mural in the courtyard, helping to make our learning environment more welcoming and child- centered. So, Lion Pride is at the heart of everything we do. In order to foster these best poss the best possible learning environment as we do with classroom instruction, schoolwide expectations are explicitly taught, modeled and reinforced in a variety of ways and many opportunities are given for the students to generalize, practice and apply these skills. In addition to Lion Pride shoutouts, we celebrate Lions of the
019Week who wear a medal to serve as role models for their classmates. We also have student lion leaders in grades three through five who go through an application recommendation and election process. I wanted to be a line leader because I think it would be fun and challenging. I also thought I also wanted to be a great leader. I want to be a line leader so I could help out this amazing school so it can be a better place and come up with some fun ideas. At Fort Lewis, we are dedicated to educating the whole child with engaging and purposeful learning experiences in and out of the classroom. Emphasis is put on sharing or learning from mistakes to help foster a growth mindset while provided differentiated instruction. so all students can experience success. I'm determined to
020do what it takes. I even learn from my mistakes is from our Lion Bride pledge. By building on our students interest and equipping them with the skills they need, we are helping them become lifelong learners who are opportunity ready. So this photo is of our very first Everybody Has a Buddy event where the students met each other for the first time. That was in 2018. We've been doing this since um older grades are paired with younger grades across the building and buddy teacher. There are buddy teachers as well as buddy students. They collaborate in project-based activities while developing sea skills and lion pride skills such as respect, innovation, determination, and empathy. We're helping to build positive mentoring relationships in and out of the school community. And our ultimate goal is that these relationships will help
021foster a positive culture and relationships as they continue through middle and high school. And that's just cute. I like working with my buddies because I can help him learn new things and then in the mornings I help him get unpacked and help them learn different types of things. that student had a buddy with special needs and it was amazing how much he took initiative to layer in additional experiences to support that student. Um so a true strength of our school is our commitment to collaboration both on grade level and across grade levels. Teachers align instructional practices and strategies in each content area. They present many professional development sessions. They train each other as they explore and identify best practices. This ongoing professional dialogue occurs beyond our scheduled planning meetings. It happens all day every day.
022It's really, really impressive to see this happen. They raise the bar instructionally for each other. Just like the students, it is important we foster a positive collegial climate for the staff. staff identify their why using a key word that we each wear on our badge for reflection. This is such an important part of our school culture. Mine is impact. Mine is supportive. And this will shock you. Ken came and his was purposeful. I don't know if you remember that, but I did. These are some photos from some experiences that we have at the school. Uh such as Colonial Day, a skate party, the buddy program, phone party, fun run, monthly dance parties. We strive to make school and learning fun and engaging while building relationships within the school community. So, how many times do parents
023report hearing fine and nothing when they ask their child about their day? What'd you learn? Nothing. Well, student led conferences will help change that as we teach students to report and reflect on their own learning. We're hoping. Um, another reflection of our efforts is in our so data. So these graphs come from the current state school profile for Fort Lewis. It includes the last three years. Uh Fort Lewis is represented in gray. The blue bar is our district achievement and the red is state achievement. Our goal is to challenge and equip students to achieve above district averages and state averages. Um although we haven't heard if our status is distinguished or on track in in the new reporting system, we were very pleased with their performance. Um if you look at science for the current
024or last school year, we achieved 98% and Ben Williams told us that that ranked third in the state. So you see Mr. Sean Duff. Um, high five. And Louie, uh, he was our science, he is our fifth grade science teacher as well as, uh, math teacher and his classroom, uh, was the most proficient classroom in the March Mathness, uh, leading our school to be the most proficient school. So, we are small but mighty. Um, and if you recall, we also earned the Virginia school board's highest achievement exemplar award last year. Well, I like I just feel safe and loved here. It's I mean it's my favorite school I've had. He did add yet. I did edit that yet. Um so we just have some photos. We're almost at the end. We cut a lot of
025really cute videos. I almost did a blooper reel for you. Um and this is our Lion Pride pledge. Ready to go. I'm respectful to all I know. Innovative. I can be when a problem faces me. I'm determined to do what it takes and learn from my mistakes. Empathetic and kind. I can't hide my lying friend. Just precious. And it's nice when you can teach your students what empathy is and they can tell you. and it's really interesting to talk to the students and learn what they think is most important in Lion Pride. Um, so that's what we have for you about Fort Lewis. It's just a snapshot. Feel free to come by anytime. Um, somebody comes very often. Um, every day. Um, given his recent announcement, um, I would like to thank Dr. nicely for
026his leadership and very clear vision for our school. We're grateful for his support and for the student centered framework and culture he's fostered in our district. Chair, if you don't mind, I'll say a couple words. Miss Smith, don't run out just yet. I haven't had a chance to embarrass you. I'm just kidding. So, I've been around Fort Lewis Elementary, I think since about 2010 when I was SR over at Glenber and um both of my young kids have went through there and just the amount of love that the staff show to the children and just the whole the feeling of the school when you walk in the door. You can tell that everybody just feels loved and safe like that one child spoke about. Um you know, I've never been shy about speaking of my
027young son and the struggles that he has. he's physically disabled and has a disease that's terrible. Um, but you know, we've had a lot of problems over the last few years, you know, being able to get him to school and things like that. And your staff have just been completely amazing with supporting him in and out of school. Um, I can't say enough for what you've done there over the past is it how many years now you've been principal. Eighth year. Wow, time is really flying. I do stop by there every morning. I always talk about how when I stop by in the mornings and see the little kids, they they really just make my day. But you guys make my day as well. It really sets my day off right just to walk around,
028see all those little smiling kids and the wonderful staff. And I could name them all out, but I won't do it. But they're just absolutely amazing. Everybody is so unique there. Those creaky wood floors and those dance parties and everything that you do. Thank you. Item 6.01, report by student advisory council representative, Mr. Bear Tyrie. Good evening, Madam Chair, Dr. Nicely, Dr. Sulttus, and members of the board. Thank you for the opportunity to share information from our recent student advisory council meeting held on September 10th. The council welcomed Miss Nancy Hans, who presented on the wait until Grade 8 campaign and related community events on the dangers of early smartphone use. Scheduled events include September 17th at William Bird High School at 6 p.m. October 13th at Northside High School at 6 p.m., November 18th
029at Cave Spring High School at 6 p.m. and additional sessions will occur at Glen Middle and Hidden Valley Middle School later this semester. Miss Hans also introduced the screeners initiative which focuses on screen time impact on adolescent sleep and mental health. Students participated in an interactive survey and discussion reflecting on their own habits and those of our peers. After Miss Hans's presentation, each school shared updates on current service and leadership projects. This included working to support initiatives recommended by the special education advisory committee for disabled awareness month. In October, SACE members will work with school staff to highlight disability awareness by coordinating displays, creating morning announcements, and other schoolwide initiatives. The council is also developing a social media handbook for high school and middle school administrators. This resource will be help hope hopefully uh educate
030staff on platform functions and support investigations around school safety. Finally, we will have our annual retreat at the Treetop quests scheduled for Friday, October 3rd. Thank you for your continued support of the student leadership in our district. Thank you. I've heard Mr. Tyrie speak before and I have no doubt that he was going to do a wonderful job this evening. Item 7.01, 01 hearing of citizens for agenda topics. We do not have any. Agenda item eight, consent agenda. Do we have a motion to approve? Second. Madam clerk. Yes, ma'am. Item nine, action. We do not have any action items. Item 10, we do not have any information items. Item 11, hearing of for nonaggenda topics. Our first speaker is going to be Doie Dorini. I'm gonna have you go ahead and make your way to
031the podium. During this portion of the meeting, citizens are invited to address the board on matters of public concern and exercise of their First Amendment rights. In the interest of time, speakers must be either parents, employees, students, or citizens of Reno County. We ask speakers to be respectful and civil in their comments, observing due respect of the dignity and privacy of others who may be affected by public comments. Speakers should be aware that they may be held legally responsible if they make statements that violate the legal rights of others. For example, if if statements are made, they're defamatory or threatening. Complaints about specific school personnel should be addressed outside of this meeting to the appropriate school administration who will address those concerns as appropriate through existing complaint procedures. Comments likely to disrupt the board's work
032or prompt of breach of the piece are prohibited and the speaker will be called out of order by the board chair. Speaker speakers must address the board chair rather than individual board members. Speakers have three minutes to make their comments and will be signaled by the lights on the podium. When the light turns yellow, please wrap up your comments and finish before the light turns red. Please be aware that board members listen to comments but do not respond. Thank you. Good evening, madam chair and school board members. Thank you for your time tonight to listen to my and many others concerns. My name is Die Dolini and I'm a current 12th grade student attending Hidden Valley High School and the Center for Visual Arts at Burton. The new RCCTC building was synthesized without a thought
033to include the arts programs, both visual and performing. I'm very grateful to my teachers and Burton principal for making an effort to continue this program, but the movement of the program to Northside High School is still unacceptable. Statistically, students in the arts suffer from a higher rate of bullying simply for cultivating their passion and skills. And the result of this bullying is an often often a feeling of isolation in those individuals. What the school board is choosing to do by directly removing and isolating the students in the accelerated arts is bullying at its core. How do you intend on replicating the collaborative experience of Burton for this isolated art program? Countless times other programs have come to our classroom to ask for either our materials or services and I myself have asked students of other
034programs for collaboration. Additionally, the counselors and staff members of Burton are simply one of a kind and exceptional at all that they do. For example, I'd like to mention Mrs. Puffco, who is in charge of the job and college search process for us students. And I would like to know how are the resources of RCCTC going to be extended to the arts students or is that being discontinued as well? I understand the decision has been rooted in the need for the new building to be for certain technical and certifiable programs, but was there any effort to make our arts more technical or certifiable? In an academic research paper, which I will gladly forward to each of you board members after this, um, it has been scientifically proven that students participating in art develop more skills
035that cannot be directly taught like work ethics, creativity, and critical thinking skills than those that do not, which are actually seen as more employable than skills one can simply be instructed to learn like literacy and numeracy. And the RCCTC building is in fact you know in excuse me the RCCTC building is made to cultivate those career and ventures that you know students that maybe are not going to college for. Actually in an arts integrated environment students develop higher GPA and higher willingness to seek higher education. But that simply doesn't matter because you can't certify that. Correct. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is John Dorini. My daughter. I wait for the green light. Okay. Um, good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Nicely and neighbors. My name is John Dolini. I'm a
036parent of four students in the Hidden Valley District. I'm a local business owner in the county, certified interior designer with a bachelor degree in art and minor in art history. I'm a licensed architect with a master's degree in architecture, a licensed general contractor and entrepreneur. And in my free time, I'm a visiting faculty member at Virginia Tech's interior design program, ranked tape uh ranked top five in the nation. Before all that, I too was an art kid in high school. And back then, I was considered the best artist in my school. And yet, every spring when I walk these halls, uh I'm very humbled because all the art that I see is better than anything I produced at their age. Uh last year, my design firm became the first in Virginia to win 50 design
037excellence awards. We're very proud of that. This year, we're the first design business in Virginia, chosen for a state sponsored export plan. And tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. as part of that plan, on board a plane for Mexico City, not just in pursuit of work opportunities, but to immerse myself in its thriving art scene. Artists are flocking there to produce bold ideas at low cost, and I need to be inspired by human-made creativity. Two years ago, this board decided to take the A out of BCAT to separate the arts from the technical programs in new 80 million CTE building. But since then, the world has already changed. In my profession, artificial intelligence is squeezing the breath out of human spirit. We're told AI will one day take everyone's job. But the one thing AI cannot
038replicate is the unique human spark, the vision that comes from the arts. Proverbs tells us, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." Art does not happen in a vacuum or in a corner in a different building. Collaboration, one of the most important skills of your sea change framework, must be its lifeblood. When art blends with engineering, marketing, construction, every profession gets better. It's synergistic. Think of the iPhone. Engineers built the hardware and software, but art kits shape the logo, the stores, the packaging, the unboxing experience, the feel in your hand, and the emotions in the ads. Art focuses on the human being and not just the human doing. By isolating fine arts from technical education, we risk signaling to these students, my daughter among them, that their contributions are an afterthought. That would be
039a mistake recorded on the wrong side of history, especially as society grapples with AI's rise and we eventually lose the war against machines. That's another story. Please reconsider the arts integrated at the heart of the CTE where collaboration can flourish and where the next great inventor, designer or entrepreneur can learn that art belongs at the center of innovation and not at another building where you found some unused square footage. Thank you and adios me amigos. Tomorrow at this time I'll be in Mexico inspired by artists and I hope our students here can find an inspirational space where they are here. Thank you. Thank you. Our [Applause] next speaker is Oliver Hardy. Good evening. My name is Oliver Hardy. I am a secondyear visual arts student. The visual arts program has played such a significant role
040in my life and all of my classmates lives who I never would have met if it weren't for this program. I just wanted to bring attention to the fact that next year's CVA1 students will take this class online, which is nowhere near the same experience as being in the classroom with all of our incredible CVA teachers. There's truly nothing else like this program for students interested in art and it breaks my heart to see amazing opportunities being taken away from future students. That is all. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Our next speaker is Abigail Hood. Hood, excuse me. Hello ladies and gentlemen of the board and madam chair. Thank you for taking the time to let other students and I express our thoughts on the pertinent program and the move of the visual
041arts program. We are grateful for our program. Visual arts program is extremely important to not only me to our communities and our school in general. Future careers also depend on this because I have seen multiple people including myself want to um go forward in arts for our careers and whatnot. Skills we are learning from this program can in incorporate with our jobs at some point. I in particular want to be part of art history. And the historical aspects of this program are extremely important to me and what they have taught me. Art skills that I being taught are also used in marketing, architecture, digital design, and much much more. I am incredibly grateful for this program and thankful that it has been kept. But in light of this move, I feel the need to express
042how important art is not only for the artist or the school, but to the world. clothes on our backs, the building around us, the podium I am standing at, and the desk you are sitting at were all made by artists. The culinary program is a form of art along with cosmetology. Any blueprint or music or car or bench or building was made by an artist at some capacity. Art is everywhere. Want to see my program flourish and thrive. I want to see my peers flourish and thrive. I want to art to continue to thrive which requires your thoughts and consideration and funding to keep our possibilities endless. Thank you. Our last speaker for the evening is Dr. Ryan White. Thank you and good evening. My name is Dr. Ryan White. I am a resident of
043Windsor Hills. I'm a parent. I'm a physician. I'm an advocate for our community in many realms. I have a couple things to share tonight, so I'll try to keep them all brief. And first is that September is actually National Suicide Prevention Month. And as many know, Rono County did lose a 10-year-old student this year to suicide after relentless bullying. So, this is a very important topic that I have not heard nearly enough about this year from our county. It is not a crisis that we can ignore. Too often there is a misconception that by merely speaking about suicide, we're somehow planting ideas into children's minds. Truth, however, backed by evidence and data for many decades at this point, is that talking saves lives. We need to be talking. Now, next Monday, there is a program
044hosted by um the county where Sheila Lithco from Blige will be hosting a program at Northside High School about suicide awareness and prevention. And I do encourage everyone that can to attend. It's a wonderful talk if you haven't heard her give it yet. I would go hours about suicide awareness month, but I have other things that are important to talk about as well. First off, thank you to all the students who have gotten up here with some bravery to advocate for their program that they have loved and want to see flourish. I want to echo their voices and asking that the visual arts program remain strong and in place when it transitions from the current Burton Center of Arts and Technology to its new building. Arts and technology together fuel creativity and innovation. We should
045preserve this connection for the future of Ron Oak and our students. Think about some of the things you see every day. From Pixar films to virtual reality to life-saving medical simulations that train our doctors for tomorrow to the design of smart phones mentioned earlier. The most exciting innovations happen when art and technology meet. You can't meet when you're clear across town. That's why it's important for us to continue to support these programs and keep them together for our students. And finally, I believe that leadership begins by listening, which we can all do a better job doing, myself included. But as I've been out here campaigning for schoolboard in Windsor Hills, I have heard countless conversations with neighbors, teachers, and parents, and what I hear is clear. They want people or leaders in our school that
046rise above politics, who work together to solve problems, and who treat every single citizen with dignity. That's the kind of leadership that this county needs. In my final 10 seconds, I'd just like to remind everybody that there is an election this year. Early voting starts tomorrow. Thank you. Thank you. Item 12.01. 01 report by Reno County School Superintendent Dr. Ken Nicely. Madam Chair, members of the board, um I also want to offer my congratulations to our students who are recognized this evening, including um Cam and Braden, the the folks at Fort Lewis. I want to express my appreciation also to the students who represented the uh the center for visual arts program so well and appreciate their articulatess and courage to come up here and speak to the board. So that's what we want uh
047from our students is to encourage that kind of civil discourse. I'm very proud of them. Um speaking of our students earlier, uh CM truly has been an inspiration in the uh in the bird community. I see that uh where I live on my streets and that's just uh wonderful to see really bringing the community together and uh and also as someone who uh actually taught at the Governor Spanish Academy a few years ago. I was counting the years. I think it's uh 24 years ago. Um I can say that what Braden did in his experience uh this past summer was truly special. I want to begin by reminding everyone out in the community of our series of parent and family education meetings about the dangers of social media and smartphones. These important information sessions are
048led by community partners Emily Harrison and Nancy Hanss with the Partnership for Community Wellness and also supported by our school counseling program. We've had two meetings so far with the second um held last evening at Weamberg High School. These sessions are an opportunity for parents and families to equip and empower themselves with the knowledge and resources they need to stand up to those who are out to harm our children. The complete schedule's found on the uh the Berno County Public Schools web page with the next meeting scheduled for Monday, October 6th at Hidden Valley Middle School. Uh but again, anyone's welcome to attend any of the sessions. You don't have to um be a parent in the school where it's being held. We're also working with the presenters to add sessions at as many elementary
049schools as possible. And all the sessions start at six o'clock and last approximately an hour. September is um also suicide prevention month and there's an information uh session scheduled for Monday, September 22nd. This coming Monday at six o'clock at North Side High School that's also open to parents and families from any school. Work continues to progress on our major construction projects and we're reaching a milestone at RCCTC with the official topping off ceremony is planned for next Friday, September 26th at the RCCTC site. This event will also mark the official launch of our $5 million campaign for excellence as we continue to invite business and individual community partners to join us in supporting the programs at the new CTE center. We also plan to celebrate the completion of the new portions of Kundiff Elementary uh
050at a ceremony on October 24th. We appreciate the work of the Renault County Public Schools Education Foundation in supporting programs in our schools through the donations of time and money of many business partners. And the foundation's annual golf tournament is just around the corner on Monday, September 29th. And we're looking forward to another great turnout. Anyone want to join in the fun and enter a team may still do so on the foundation's website or contact Chuck Limeberger. The end of September also marks a series of tours for high school students of several manufacturing businesses in the Reno area. We appreciate the work that our CTE team uh does in arranging these tours for our students as they explore employ employment opportunities right here in the Renault Valley. Our seventh graders will also again have the
051opportunity to learn about business and industry here in our area through the Career Quest program and that's coming up on October 7th and 8th. And we want to thank all of our area businesses who take time to participate in these events for our students. Finally, um, at our last work session, we heard the wonderful news that RUP County Public Schools remains in the top 10 school districts in Virginia in reading and math performance. I know one of the local headlines read, "Runup County makes slight improvement in so scores." But the real news is that RCPS students improved to number seven out of 131 districts in reading performance in Virginia and number six in math performance in Virginia. Our board knows that we believe in balanced learning opportunities as we heard from uh the folks at
052Fort Lewis this evening and we never uh solely focus on standardized test scores but being number seven and number six in the state is certainly something to celebrate for our students, community, teachers and staff. Thank you. Thank you. Item 13.01 reports and inquiries of board members. Mr. Greenway, would you like to go first? Thank you. I've got several things, so I'll take a few minutes. But the first thing I'd like to say is we heard some amazing speakers here tonight. Some of our students representatives, uh, it's amazing to see these students, but they speak a lot better in public than I do. And so proud, makes you so proud to to hear these students speak. Y'all did a wonderful job up here. And Cam and Raven was on the cell phone. Um, you know that
053it's just y'all are amazing and and it just shows what our staff and and Dr. Nicely and everyone has done with our students. Um, first thing I'd like to speak about is Cam. Again, you know, it's a little emotional when we sit here and talk about Cam and what he's been through and what he means and what's going on in our community. For those of you who don't know, um the community has just unbelievably uh came out in support of CAM. We've uh started Christmas a little early this year. Um everyone has decorated. Uh so if you go through venting and you think, well, those people have lost their minds. We've got another three months before this happens. Uh, you know, we uh got lights on our house, got lights at our business and uh
054we were out of town last week as I said and uh but just just amazing the way this community comes together proud to be from from Venton Pleasant Bonsack. We're all kind of rally together and uh what a wonderful place to live and work and be a community. Um next uh Dr. nicely has uh given us his uh retirement date and uh we can't thank you enough for what you've meant to run county and what you've done for Rena County teachers, students, uh Buster, every everyone that touches this school, you've touched and we're indebted to you. Um you know, speaks volumes what you just said. Uh I know it's takes a village. It's not just but you rally the troops. you lead the troops to be number six and number seven in the state with
055how phenomenal is that from little roto county we're sixth and seventh in the state for reading and math and pretty amazing if you ask me that uh you know I don't know where we were when we started on the board but I think you it's not by accident I think you've helped cultivate that and and get us to that place and so we thank you for everything you've done for us and I've enjoyed being a very small part of the journey to be there with you. Um, next, um, real quickly, I won't touch touch a whole lot on this, but Boys and Girls Club, um, going to have some discussions over the next week. I've set up some things. Dr. Nyson might ask you to if you can attend um to try and expand on
056that. Um, you know, we're doing that at Benton Baptist. We I think we've got 60 65 students which is amazing for our our our community. Uh a lot of hardworking bluecollar families and some single parent families. I'm sure it's in all communities but uh happy to see if we can you know and I hope we can expand upon that program. Um it's uh to see that actually in action to see what these kids, you know, they get a little bit of learning, they get a little bit of time with with folks that can help them with their education. Whereas if they go home, they're sitting there maybe uh watching TV or, you know, trying families trying to figure out ways to to care for their children, you know, when they're working and so forth. The
057Boys and Girls Club's amazing. I'm proud that it's in and I hope that we can expand it a little bit to to maybe accept more elementary kids and then also you know kind of a vision would be to even have a middle school program. I just think uh you know it means the world to some of these kids and so if you reach a few you know you reach many. Uh, next, and I told you I had a bunch of these, so I'm sorry for taking so long. Cell phone policy. Um, last night we listened uh and and thank you Shelley for coming and Dr. Nice and Dr. Sult um and and Nancy Hans and uh staff uh did an amazing job presenting. Um, we had I thought was a good turnout for uh it
058it I I wish we could fill the auditorium and I wish they were standing outside and we had people waiting, you know, around the the block to hear the message because I think uh as I've been on this board, I think the cell phones and not necessarily the cell phones themselves, but the the smartphone part of it, we even heard some of that tonight. Uh but but last night we hear of the dangers of cell phones and uh you know particularly the smartphones where I mean it's basically a computer in your hand and a child's hands and and uh and brains aren't fully developed in women uh a little earlier than men. and we found that out. I think somebody was throwing jabs at us on that. But you know, so so uh men men
059are later developed. Uh and and I'm probably one of those that was later. But um it it was a really informative uh I encourage you um it's on the website. Uh you know, we've got Hidden Valley coming up next, I think. Is it North Side next? Then Hidden Valley. Okay. Okay. So that's what it was. Okay. But anyway, it's going to be through throughout our schools and and I encourage you um last night I said, you know, if you can tell two friends, and Miss Hans corrected me and said, if you tell five friends that they tell friends, but if you if you have elementary age children, even middle school, go find one of these meetings that we're having. We're doing this purpose purposefully. Um and and we we want you to attend. You'll learn
060something. You'll hear something. And it's not just how cell phones are bad. You'll you'll hear things that you you didn't know or won't focus on with your with your child that will be very helpful to you. I I guarantee you it's uh a lot of statistics. Uh you know, they've got some some phones that you can get that don't have the smartphone. I think they even call them dumb phones, but you know, so so there's ways that you can get involved uh with your child to uh just don't give them the smartphones if you can uh until they're old enough to to handle it maybe in high school. Um, but with that, last night we had a comment by one of the high school teachers that said our our cell phone policy, while it's nice
061that that the kids can't have the cell phones uh in class, there's still that time period between class and there's still the lunch period times. And what happens is they get engaged for that five or 10 minutes or the lunch period time and they can't they get charged up because they can't wait till the next break in the periods to hear the cell phones, you know, or to get back on them to figure out what my friend said or what's going on with this situation or so forth. So for me, I would love for us to consider bringing back up to do what Governor Yncans asked us to do and do the ban. Not trying to be controversial, but I am trying to say for me bringing up that cell phone ban, uh, bailto bail,
062whatever it is, 8:30 to 3:30, uh, for me that is important. And if we truly care about learning and not being distracted, that for me is a big deal. And so, uh, I hope we revisit that and consider, um, you know, putting that in place. So, um, There you have that's that's that piece. Uh next, uh I won't touch on this a whole lot. It's been very controversial, but all I want to say is that Charlie Kirk was an inspiration. Uh I do uh appreciate his time on this earth for what he's, you know, his message and how he uh you know, professed his faith and so forth. One of the things he said that I thought was very tell and I think he he was only 31 years years old and I think he
063was very uh profound and and very knowledgeable obviously but he said education should focus on teaching students how to think not what to think and so for me I thought about that and I think that is profound I think that's the truth I think we need to focus on how to think and and the curriculums that we have but not we we don't need to tell the students what to think and and so I I thank him for his time and hate that you know things transpired the way they did. We we were out of town and it was terrible terrible news. Um let's see. I think that was it. Uh outside of that I just uh it's already been mentioned but tomorrow is early voting and uh if you can certainly get out and
064make sure you there at least by election day. But early voting is uh you know pretty important now and uh it matters. Uh I think we've got a a good school board. I really do. Um we're focused on the issues and we try to make learning the main thing and for me I'm proud to sit on this board. I'm proud of everybody on this board. Um and uh just just get out there and vote. Uh no matter who you vote for, just get there and vote. It's good that we have contested races and uh so thank you and I'll be quiet. Thank you, Mr. London. Yeah. Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to comment on the so update that Ben Williams had given us back at the September work session. Ben, your your in-depth
065knowledge and report and understanding of the metrics is is truly admirable and um to be sixth and seventh in the state as as has already been mentioned is something that Rona County Public Schools needs to be extremely proud of. So, I want to also thank all our teachers and the remediation specialists who helped get to that point because we all know that it it requires a great effort on so many levels. It's not just uh Ben Williams here pulling strings. It's it's the teachers and it's those remediation specialists that help get us to that point. So, um for those that didn't attend last night's event, as has been mentioned, I really encourage people to get out to the um cell phone social media event. They uh they have a great message and uh as my
066wife would say, social media is is very unfortunate in many aspects. So, the more we can educate people on on the dangers that are out there and what what that has led this society to is um is worthwhile and and hopefully people can get out and and hear those because it is such a great message. So, Dr. Nicely, I want to thank you for your incredible leadership. We know that uh a good leader surrounds him or herself uh with strong employees and you've done an outstanding job at that. It's very admirable how you relate to employees throughout the district, not just here in central office, but all the teachers, the bus drivers, going around to all those different events. You've you've not demanded respect, but you've earned it throughout your your eight years and uh
067you've earned it by being caring, purposeful, empathetic, thoughtful, deliberate in your approach and it just truly admirable. So, we've clearly had challenges here while you've been superintendent. I think you've handled them all very professionally and uh and done just a fantastic job. So, I'm going to be dearly missed. That's all I have. Thank you, Miss Bashani. Yes. I hope my comments are not as long as Tims tonight, but you just never know. Please, we have a volleyball game to get to. Um anyway, in uh keeping up with my school board professional development, I just wanted to let you know that I attended the video's internet safety webinar uh thanks to the school board member alliance as well as an information session regarded a new video framework and SL score results. Um like said before, I
068want to congratulate our teachers, our staff, students, and of course our parents on those results. They're quite remarkable and we have a lot to celebrate with those scores. Um, I attended what I believe was uh greatness and action at Hidden Valley High School with our very own teacher of the year, Dr. Matt Neil, who orchestrated um something new. It's called these uh community wellness topics, and he's integrating some classroom discussions with the so and we had some guest speakers in. I'll just uh go ahead and give a shout out to Niles Comr from the PCW, uh Brian Bailey, the Hope Initiative, Nancy Hans, executive director of PCW, and Alicia Smith in Vision Health. All these people came together to work with Dr. Matt Neil in order to figure out a way that we can incorporate
069one of the so writing requirements uh focusing on a very important topic and the topic that Matt chose was addressing predatory marketing of THC and vaping products to adolescence. It was a very powerful moving discussion. and I took part in one of them and to see the community come together regarding these uh I would say predatory marketing to children uh was quite impressive and I just want to congratulate Matt for taking this initiative on. He hopes to bring it to the entire county if it's a success and I think it's something that we could actually go statewide. Um Dr. Nicely, we are deeply grateful for 33 years. Your letter was fantastic. I got a chuckle over it. There's always a little bit of humor somewhere buried deep in there with the turn turn reference and
070the biblical reference. Through your leadership, vision, and commitment um to our students, you really have shaped uh the our our countless countless young lives through the years and your guidance has inspired so many in our community. Um from your Spanish, the Ken comment and the little giggles that we have offline. Um I've really tr truly enjoyed getting to know you and working with you. Uh, we wish you the best in your retirement and I know that Teresa is going to be happy that she gets to have more of your time and she deserves it. So, your legacy will be left behind, especially with the change framework. So, thank you for that. Um, would also like to thank our partners at PCW and Emily Harrison and Ronut County Public Schools. I think it's great that we've
071come together for these four, I think, many more community meetings regarding the cell phones. We've talked about it already tonight. Um, I'm pleased that it has been extended to the elementary schools. I encourage everybody, as um, Mr. Greenway has mentioned, to attend. They're very informative. Emily and Nancy do an incredible job, and it's important for people to be aware of the predatory aspects of these cell phones and how it gives direct access to your children, to the dark side of the world. Um, thank you to all the students who came out tonight to speak. As Mr. Gumay said, they were fantastic. Uh, I want you to know that we can't speak directly to you. I know I've spoken to um Mr. Dorene personally and to your wife Teresa countless times about other issues and you
072know my door is always open and we've had a constant stream of communication over many things. So, thank you for showing up tonight dy you did a great job. Um, Cam gosh uh I was in tears earlier. Thank you for your bravery, your courage and sharing with so many your your faith. Um, I want Kim to know that God sees you, God hears you, and God knows your heart. And I will continue to pray for your strength and for healing. Tim mentioned it. I wasn't going to mention it, but I'm going to go ahead and say it. Um, the cowardly assassination of Charlie Kirk, who was a bold Christian who professed his faith. Um, he was a tireless champion for the conservative principles and to many young patriots. As you know, he was a loving
073father, had two small children, a beautiful wife. I think it shook everybody. No matter what side you are politically, I can say it shook everybody. The political assassination carried out by somebody who is steeped in far-left ideology that's filled with hate. Um, it wasn't just an attack on on a great American. It was an assault on the very ideas of freedom, freedom of speech, our faith, and and the family values that that we all hold dear. Uh, as you all may know, Charlie Kirk built Turning Point USA to empower students um against brainwashing at universities and some K through2 systems. Thankfully, not here in Rono County, thanks to the school board. But Charlie Kirk never used hate speech. He used speech that they hated. They thought they could bury Charlie, but what they didn't know
074is that they planted a seed. And God is using his death for good versus evil. We need more Charlie Kirks in the world who can encourage debate and conversation, embrace faith, and live life courage, courageously, and boldly. Any student at any public school, university can start a Turning Point USA chapter. So, in fact, as of today, there have been over 60,000 requests made to TPUSA for a chapter. Just want you to know that I've encouraged my own daughter to make a request, and I hope others will do the same. So, tonight, parents and students, I'm speaking to you, encouraging you to go to TurningPoint USA website to start a request and let's all be a little bit more like Charlie. May God bless America. Thank you, Mr. Hudson. Thank you, Madam Chair. Well, it was
075great to see Cam. That's the first time I've gotten to meet him and I think that was wonderful that he was able to come out tonight. Um, you know, kind of brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't help it there for a minute. You know, I can't imagine the struggle that that young man's going through um as well as his family and for him to stand there and share his faith. That was very moving. And I'm gonna be praying for him for some time. And I hope that um he has a wonderful Christmas that he um enjoys his time at school. It was really good to see him. Um I had a couple things I was going to talk about, but honestly, I think after tonight, I'm just going to keep everything positive and maybe
076push that to next month. Everybody's kind of stole the thunder. Um, you know, sixth and seventh in the state in reading and math out of 131 districts. That's amazing. It's a testament to our staff and um I'll echo the comments that everyone has made about Dr. Nicely. You've done an excellent job getting to know you over the past four years now has been an honor to work beside you. I look forward to the time that you still plan to work and uh know we're going to accomplish even greater things. So, thank you for everything that you've done and and like Mr. Lynon said, you know, I don't think that I've ever been in any organization where so many people have talked about the respect they have for you and how much they like you. So,
077I need to get some of those secrets from you. Okay. sing. I have not gotten maybe we can maybe we can plan that with you. Your last day, your last meeting, you sing us a song and we can get I believe Mr. Riley back here sings too. We get a maybe. But no, in all seriousness, thank you Dr. Nicel for everything you do on a daily basis. I know you still have quite a bit of time left and I look forward to all that you'll accomplish for us uh during that time. That's all. I also want to to talk about Cam a little bit. Um, it's been amazing. I know we've all followed this story. Um, and it's been amazing to see what William has done, but not just the school, the entire community. And
078then as they spoke about our own communities have been involved in recognizing um his situation and after seeing him here tonight, it's just so obvious why. I mean, he is tremendously brave and um and positive and yeah, I mean, and it's just it's it is it's it's sad, but it's um amazing to see what your community has done and um and amazing to see this this kid here tonight. So, um I just have a few things um to talk about. U Miss Fashani and I did participate in um the random drug testing committee meeting recently. Um and that has been interesting. We've we're really just looking at the research at this point and what other um school districts have done and what they've put in place. And it's been it's great to hear other members
079of our community who are part of this committee who are coming from all different backgrounds um what what their thoughts are and they all had really good questions and brought some things forth that none of us had really considered before. Um, so it's been a good discussion and we're going to meet again next week and we'll just continue to evaluate what that would look like. Um, Dr. Nicely and I um continue our tradition of visiting our schools um together which has been fun. Um, we do it twice a year and so we started the fall visits this week. We had the um pleasure of going to Clearbook Elementary and then Kring Elementary and it's great to see um the students and their teachers in the classroom. The kids are super excited to tell us what
080they're working on. They're all so well poised um and they're great at telling us what they're learning and it it really is fun to see them. So, we're gonna continue to do that over the next few weeks and get to the rest of the schools and we do really try to get to every single classroom and it it is fun to see all of them. So, I appreciate you going along with me. Um also, I've been had a chance to get to some faculty meetings. That is something I like to do in addition to the school visits because you're seeing your staff in a in a different way where they're not in the classroom with their students. Um it gives them an opportunity to speak to me. Um it gives me an opportunity to see
081what what they are being presented with. Um at one of the schools at Kring Elementary, I visited Kring Elementary and Green Valley. Um Kring Elementary, the teachers were learning about Lego spikes um and how they're going to incorporate that into the classroom, which was really interesting to see what those look like. So, it's cool to see what what they're learning about in their meetings and then to also have the time to talk with staff and I appreciate um their honesty and their candidness um and being willing to come and talk to me about things that are their concerns and then being able to turn that around and try to do something with that. So, um that part has been great. Um as Mr. Greenway mentioned, um I did have an opportunity to go to the
082community conversation last night regarding um the dangers of social media. Um, I thought the turnout also was was pretty good. Um, I hope that we will see more as we go along. Um, I think that the audience learned a lot of things and I think that they also asked some really good questions which was nice. Um, so we'll continue to do those. Um, and as was also mentioned, I do think it's extremely necessary that we're doing this in the elementary school. So, I'm glad that we're having that conversation and we're going to do that. So, thank you to everyone who's been putting those presentations on and I do think they're very meaningful. And then lastly, I also want to just thank Dr. Nicely for your time, your 33 years with us. Um, your thank you
083for your vision and your leadership and your dedication to our students and our staff and our schools. I think that what Mr. Lindon said is perfect that you have earned everyone's respect and that much is so obvious when you speak to staff of what all the things they have to say about you um and about your leadership. So that is a testament to what you've done here and it has truly been an honor to to work along beside you and and be a part of this and get to know you and you are going to be missed and we wish you the best even though you're not leaving yet. We got a little bit more time. So that's all I have and as long as there is nothing else. Are we good? All right. Meeting
084adjourned. [Music]