001[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] I'd like to call our July 17th, 2025 Reno County School Board meeting to order. Madame Clerk, will you please call the role? Mr. Greenway? Yes, ma'am. Mr. London? Yes, ma'am. Mr. John? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hudson? Yes, ma'am. Miss Clemens. Yes, ma'am. All right. Welcome everyone. Would you please stand for the pledge of allegiance? I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Item 2.01, announcement of changes in the agenda. We do not have any. Item 2.02, approval of agenda. Do we have a motion to approve? So moved. Second. Madame clerk. Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am. Mr. London. Yes, ma'am. Mr. John? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Yes, ma'am. Item three, presentations
002and recognitions. We do not have any this evening. Item 4.01, public hearing. A public hearing is now open regarding the proposed sale of schoolboard parcel number 097.06-01-05.00-000000. This property is located just adjacent to the old Starky School. Is there anyone who wishes to address the board on the proposed sale? All right, the public hearing is now closed. Item 5.01, 01 hearing of citizens for agenda topics. We do not have any. Item six, consent agenda. Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda? Make a motion to approve the consent agenda as submitted. Second, Madame Clerk. Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am. Mr. London. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hudson. Yes, ma'am. M. Yes, ma'am. Item 7.01, approval of minor capital requests. Mr. Todd Kaggles. Madame Chair, members of the board, Dr. Nicely and Dr. Sulttus,
003having previously discussed the 15 minor capital project requests at the work session on July 10th and as listed on the document available in board docs, staff recommends that $1,36,500 be appropriated for minor capital special projects to fully fund the project budgets. Do we have a motion to approve? Make a motion to approve. Do we have a second? Second discussion. No, I'm I'm going to pass on the discussion because I believe my colleagues will take care of me. So, I'm going pass. Any other discussion? Madame clerk. Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am. Mr. London. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Johnny. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hudson, sale of parcel number 097.06-07-05. 06-07-5.0000-0000. Do we have a motion to approve? So moved. Can you get some information from Mr. Kaggles? Oh, sorry. Was I supposed to? Oh, sorry. Oops. Go ahead. Go ahead.
004Only if needed. The word is pre previously designated parcel 0970601 which is located near Pinforest Elementary School as surplus property. Having held a public hearing on the sale of the property and having received an offer equivalent to the appraised value, staff recommends that the board accept the offer, move forward with the sale immediately. All right. Do we have a motion to approve? So moved. We have a second. Second. Discussion. Madame clerk, Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am. Mr. London. Yes, ma'am. Mr. John, yes, ma'am. Mr. Yes, ma'am. M. Yes, ma'am. Item 9.01, hearing of citizens for non-aggenda topics. We do not have any. Item 10.01, report by Reno County School Superintendent, Dr. Nicely. You madam chair, members of the board. Uh this morning I participated in the first meeting this year of the Virginia Early Childhood Care
005and Education Commission, which is a 30 member commission established by the General Assembly and includes members of the General Assembly as well as multiple agencies and companies that work in the early childhood education arena. I was just appointed to this commission by Secretary of Education Gadera to serve as a superintendent representative. And it would be an opportunity to elevate the work that our schools do in the preschool arena, but also spotlight the need for increased access to early childhood education, especially in rural areas and for families who struggle to afford highquality child care. This is an important topic for us because we um it supports um students being able to um be ready to enter kindergarten when they do so. Um, and which leads me to our next topic. I want to thank uh Mr.
006Greenway for his efforts to highlight a current um situation that's created by the federal government in not releasing federal grant funding already authorized by Congress. withholding. Withholding of these funds impacts uh Reno County schools directly due to title 2, title three, and title four funds not being released, which affects areas such as staff, training, support for English language learner programs, and financial assistance for economically disadvantaged students taking AP tests. Title 4 funding also provides 21st century grants for needed lowcost after-school programs such as those offered by bo boys and girls clubs serving students at Burlington Condiff and Horn elementary schools. We've reached out to our congressional delegation to ask for help and in getting these funds released and we just want to raise um awareness of this concern. Also want to highlight a few upcoming
007events. On July 29th, there will be a free screening of the documentary Can't Look Away, highlighting the serious dangers of social media and smartphone addiction, especially for young users. Um, the screening is at 7:00 on July 29th and it's going to be followed by a moderated discussion and we encourage parents to attend and tickets can be reserved on the Grand Theater website. So, if you go to that website and look for upcoming events, you'll see that there. Also upcoming, a big event for us annually, of course, is the load the bus school supply drive. That's coming up on August 1st through 3d at aerial Walmart stores. I want to thank all the teachers and principles and central office staff who volunteer their weekend time to help collect school supplies, as well as, of course, Mr.
008Limeberger for organizing and promoting it. Anyone else who can spare an hour that weekend to volunteer is certainly welcome to come on out at any of the um area Walmart stores or see Mr. Limeberger. in the units the weekend of August 1st through 3rd. And believe it or not, before our next schoolboard meeting, we will of course be um welcoming back all of our teachers and kicking off the new school year at the annual faculty convocation on August the 7th. The first day for students is coming up August 14th. And of course, we look forward to welcoming back returning students as well as welcoming our new students and our kindergarters. It's going to be a great school year. Thank you. Thank you. Item 11.01, reports and inquiries of board members. Mr. Greenway, would you like
009to go first? This may be the shortest meeting we've ever had, so I don't want to let that Come on. No. So, uh, going to to Dr. nicely. There's nobody here, but I'll if anybody's listening out in uh whatever land. Uh I I would like to say that um I had the opportunity as as Dr. Nicely stated uh to sit in with uh some representatives from the state. Tim Kaine, our senator, uh Ben Klein, our congressman, sent a uh representative, Jonathan Hartzuk. And if uh no one knows Jonathan, I think our our Venton folks probably do. Um Jonathan is a true American hero. I don't know how many tours he was uh fought in for our country overseas, but he was in several of those tours in Iraq and maybe some other conflicts. but uh
010he was sitting in for for Congressman Klene who actually called me uh to let me know he would be coming and gave me uh his support, agreed with our Boys and Girls Club uh for the need. Uh it serves our Venton community. Uh uh uh we also have one at Burlington that serves the Hollands area. Um which is probably even uh I don't know how many kids do we know how many kids are at the Hollands at the I think they're both full. I know ours is full, but I didn't know because we're using the school if we had more capacity. But um so uh and and you know got a little little blowback because of uh you know meeting with uh Senator Kaine. But I'll tell you this, I'll meet with anybody that'll talk
011that issue. I don't give a rip what party they're from or or where they're from. And for anybody that knows me, uh obviously this board knows me that I'm not real good with politics, but I'll meet with anybody that uh does something good for our community. And the Boys and Girls Club is uh something that's serving our community well. Uh we're a our community I would consider a a bluecollar uh hardworking uh community and it serves uh 60 kids right now at our church and uh our church is limited on the the amount of space and the way it can be used I think setting up for for classrooms and additional help for these kids. So, I'm going to continue to push to find other avenues. I've got a a meeting with another pastor in
012our community. I may reach out to to the board and see if we can use one of the schools like we're doing in Burlington. Uh but we need to increase the capacity, not not see how we can do without this funding. And uh and and I've got to figure out a way that we keep this funding going. So, I'll speak to anybody anytime, any place, whether they like it, whether they like who I'm talking to or not, I don't care. Um uh but that's just going to be uh how it is and and they're doing a great job for our community and our kids and and the personal testimonies that we heard on Saturday from some parents. It matters to have these programs. It really does. So hopefully we get that funding reinstated and everything
013back on track. Um, having said that, um, it's it is hard to believe that we're, you know, you come out of graduation and you start back into another school year and and our staff just does a phenomenal job and it's just a welloiled machine and and then we had 40 or 50 retirees. Every year that happens and how you replace that talent is amazing. Uh, but it looks like we're geared up and just about ready to start the new year. So, thank you uh everyone and uh look forward to getting back to work. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. London. Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I too would um like to extend my appreciation to to Mr. Greenway and uh and Dr. Nicely have made a couple calls regarding the Boys and Girl girls club that
014is vitally important there in at Burlington Elementary School and and all of our schools that have that. So, um hopefully we can find a way or the federal government can find a way to support that program because those children that that come from um families where they may not be able to afford after school care um and and those at risk students really need that program. So hopefully um hopefully your efforts and really appreciate you going to that meeting Saturday and and speaking on our behalf. Hopefully we can can find those funds here sooner rather than later. But just want to reiterate the August 28th event there at North Side High School also on uh social social media and cell phone use. Um important to get that word out and get as many parents there
015as we possibly can. The uh on the 29th there at Grandon Theater will be a little leadin to what we're going to do, I think. But um that's going to be an important event. So hopefully that's well attended. Also just want to extend my condolences to both Dr. McClung and Dr. Lunberg who both lost their dad here in the last 48 hours. So thoughts and prayers are with those families. That's all. Thank you, Miss Vashani. So um good evening. I want to take this opportunity to announce that as we approach the start of the new school year, I'll be hopeo holding what I'm going to call open door and donuts office hours at each of our schools. So, um these sessions are intended to provide a platform for teachers and staff, parents, and even stakeholders
016to share their thoughts, concerns, ideas with me directly. I believe open communication is the key to success. and I visit the schools, but I don't always have an opportunity to sit down with folks one-on-one. Um, regarding the timing, I plan to hold these office hours the week before the school year starts. And I'm going to ask my wonderful clerk, Miss Edy York, uh, to coordinate the specific dates and times to avoid conflicts with other planned teacher events that they have at the schools. And once the schedule is finalized, I'll ask that it's posted to our website and the principles will inform you when those sessions will be. I hope you take this opportunity to share anything that's on your mind or just stopping for a donut. Um although like I said I tore the schools,
017it's really hard to meet with people oneonone. I think this will give me a better avenue to communicate with folks. And my goal really is to support um you as best as I can, our stakeholders, teachers and staff. And I believe that starts with listening. So thank you. And um I look forward to seeing anybody at those sessions. Um, I want to say that I'm really excited about the feasibility study for the alternative school. I think that was one of the number one things that we put on our um big consent agendas that that we just approved. Uh, this will give us opportunity to really look at um the growth that we have here in the county to expand that program and uh serve all of our students in a better format. I'd like to
018thank Dr. Sultist um for um doing the hard work with the investigation of the feasibility for substance use schools. Um I am hoping that we can go visit. You put in a lot of work uh Dr. Sult and uh this is something that I'm very passionate about. There's three current schools right now in the state of Virginia. It's hard to get the grant money. The grant money might not be there. We wouldn't do it unless we had the grant money, but it's something that we could do to serve our students. And these are for kids who are, you know, struggling with substance use and uh they need an education and how can we serve them and wrap around services while they're receiving educ education. So, one of the schools that we had talked about visiting
019was in Chesterfield. So, I'm wondering and hoping that some of my fellow schoolboard members will want to take that trip down to Chesterfield, see how they operate, and really get a a bird's eye view of of what they're doing and meet with their staff. Lastly, um can we please put on our website u Mr. Lberger the information about Can't Look Away. I know there's a QR code to sign up, maybe a little promo for that. I don't know if that's possible or not, but I think it would be great to get people to sign up through um our website and just know that it's out there. We want to pack the Grandon Theater and it's free and it'll be a great opportunity. If you haven't watched the trailers, go ahead and watch it. I I
020teared up twice just watching it. So, it's important information. That's it. Thank you. Oh, and uh enjoy the rest of your summer. Thank you, Mr. Hudson. Yes. Uh, I'd like to also uh extend my prayers and and thoughts for Dr. McClung and Dr. Limeberger. Um, it's very hard to lose your parents like that. So, um, keep them in your thoughts and prayers. And, um, Dr. Nicely, be sure to let us know if there's anything we can do for them. I'd like to recognize our men's soccer state champions. I'm assuming we'll probably get them at our next meeting. We probably didn't do it this time because of summer and it's kind of hard to get everybody together during the vacation time, but three years in a row they've won state championships. So, that's just amazing. Um,
021looking forward to welcoming back our teachers and staff as well as, uh, seeing all the students back. You know, when you're having a bad day, all you have to do is stop by an elementary school, see those smiles, my day instantly gets better. So, I'm really looking forward to seeing all that. And I welcome our teachers back. Um, just around the corner. Um, summer's almost over. I know they probably hate that, but I love it because I love going in and saying hi to everybody. I miss everybody. But, um, on another note, something else happy. I'd like to congratulate Dr. Nicely for welcoming her grandbaby here. Was it yesterday or today, Dr. Nicel? Last night. So, congratulations. I know that old, but yeah. Anyways, that's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. I just want
022to highlight a couple of initiatives that are underway um with Renault County Schools that I believe um should be our focus and I'm really excited about them. Um it's certainly important to me. Um this is where I want to put my time and energy. The first um is our focus on the opportunities and experiences for our high school students. Um Ron County was selected as one of 24 school groups from across the country to participate in the future of high schools network. Um we were chosen based on the work we're doing with the opportunity ready graduate. So I along with Dr. Sulttus and um our deputy superintendent and Mr. Mike Riley, executive director of secondary education and Dr. Corey Franklin all went to um PaloAlto, California to be um a part of this. It was
023a grant that we received to be a part of the Carnegie Foundation of the Advancement of Teaching and this um future of high schools network. Um it was a wonderful experience. We got to see um some really amazing things that these uh schools from across the country are providing for their high school students. We were paired with a group from um Kansas City Piper Academy High School. They are doing some really amazing things and we hope to continue to collaborate with them. Um my vision is that we're able to offer real world experiences by way of apprenticeships, internships, job shadowing and special projects for every one of our high school students. And I'm excited that Rono County Schools is sharing in that vision and I'm just grateful to be a part of it. It was
024a really great experience. Um, the other focus, um, and Miss Fashani mentioned this as well, the feasibility study that we approved tonight is by far the best, um, the best money that we're going to spend. Um, I do think that there's a real need here. We need to expand our alternative programs for our elementary school students. Um, it's something we've talked about for a long time. I know I've been talking about it for about a year. So, I'm just so excited that we're making this a priority and we're going to start the process. This is a real step in that direction and it's going to be great for our students. So, I'm really excited about it. Um, I'm happy to be a part of it. Um, that's all I have. Um, I hope everyone is
025enjoying their summer. It is a little sad to think that we're on the downhill slide on the way back, but I hope everyone's having a great summer. And if there's no other business, meeting adjourned [Music]