001[Music] [Laughter] [Music] Would you please read us out of closed? Yes, Madam Chair. I move that Throno County School Board come out of close session for the following. To discuss or consider the acquisition of real property for a public purpose or the disposition of publicly held real property where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the school board pursuant to the real property exemption at 2.2-3711A3 2-3711A3 of the Code of Virginia. And I also move to certify that 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 closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed, or considered in the meeting by the school
002board. I'll second. Madame Clerk. Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am. Mr. London. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Item 3.01, major construction project updates. Mr. Todd Kaggels, Mr. West Mitchell, and Mr. Kamal Khalil. Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Nicely, Dr. Sulttus. We have with us this evening, Wes Mitchell, and Kamal Khalil from Scanskow. Just a reminder that Wes is the project manager, our third party construction manager for um the CTE center and Mr. Khalil is the third party manager for WE Condiff and Glen Cove elementary schools and we have um updates on our progress. Uh good afternoon everyone. Um I'll start off with the CTE project. A lot going on there if you can't tell from driving by on um Peters Creek. Uh we'll start with site work. Um the big
003thing for the past six months has been rock. That's pretty much all gone now. So that's a huge milestone. The rock crusher is gone. There's probably a little bit of rock left down near the roadway near Bojangles that they'll have to get out at final grade, but for the most part, it is all gone. The uh front parking lot is to subgrade and all the storm structures are set. Um so when the time comes, we'll be able to go ahead and throw asphalt on that pretty quick. Um the remaining rock uh there's like I said just a little bit on that west parking lot. They started working to get all that to subgrade this week. So from that front parking lot working up um and getting the storm structures in there as well. U fill
004operations also mostly complete. They started finishing the top soil on that big slope um as well as spraying hydro seed this week. Um, so as you drive by it'll you'll see less dirt and more grass hopefully in the ne in the coming months. Um, also as well the turning lane has been prepped for VOTE. There's going to be a turning lane installed on Peters Creek Road. Um, so you can turn left into the site. And then also this week we moved some utility poles across Peters Creek. Um, so all of our utility companies have been in there this week working on that transfer, getting it all the lines transferred over to the new poles. Um, area D construction. So that's where we're furthest along when you come up and visit. Um, the roofing in area
005D is complete. So we're under a dry roof for the most part. There's some flashing details and things that they'll have to clean up. Um, and it's not completely dried in because we don't have windows and doors yet, but it it goes a long way to have a dry roof on for all the work going on inside. Uh, brick veneer continues. Um, some stack stone being installed as well. They transition to the stack stone this week. So, there's some more progress on that. If you if you come by, you can actually see the black with the stacked next to the the lighter brick. Um, so you can kind of see how it's going to be a finished look. um inside inwall overhead and rough in for all of our mechanical, electrical, and plumbing trades. That's
006ongoing. So, all of our uh mechanical piping and duct work is is getting hung in the ceilings now. Um this week, the big push has been for duct work. So, you go in there, there's a lot of our spiral duct work is up. Um and it's getting crowded in the ceilings. Um sprinkler stall install started as well in the past two weeks. Um so all of our fire protection is getting installed. Um and then metal and CMU framing. Um so metal and concrete block framing is going in. It's 95% complete uh on that. Um so that allows them to put topout board. That's your drywall that goes to the top of the walls. They have to get that in before they get your big mechanical piping and um duct work in or else they won't
007have room to install it. So, that's going on as well. Uh, area A construction, um, CMU bearing walls are complete and it's a a full-time steel operation in area A right now. Uh, we do have all the decking installed on the east side. And then the west side, we're about 95% complete on that. And we just have a little bit left in the common area for decking. And then after that, it'll be about ready for for the roof there as well in the coming weeks. Uh area B and C is a big CMU operation. So all the bearing walls going up for that. And area B, we moved into area C this week as well. So into our welding classroom, got started on that. And then of course all our mechanical, electrical, and plumbing trades
008are following it right behind them with their inwall rough in. So, um, that's probably about 75% complete. They've got one more wall to go down the corridor, but it's a big one, so it'll take a little bit of time. And then that should time out to where as soon as the roof's done and A will, we'll pop over to B for our steel erection. Um, some photos is area D, high roof. As you can see, that's all of our white TPO roofing is up, or it's actually gray. It looks white in the picture. Um and then the area D brick, that whole wall is complete. Um area A steel erection, you can actually see the Clare story. So that's the common area pop up. So there'll be glass in that area that pops up to
009give you a lot of light, natural light coming into the uh the big common area. Um area a steel decking as well. So this side's complete. And then on the other side of the entrance that's getting very close to be complete as well. Um this is area B see me bearing walls. Um you can see the uh rebar sticking up on the other side. So the wall that we're looking at is almost done. It's getting very close. And then on the other side where the rebar is, that's your other corridor wall that has to go up. So that'll be next. And then just some more in area B. This is your auto service shop. Um, you can see how much space we're going to have. And that wall's complete now. And then just some site
010pictures. This is from the front parking lot. You can see it's starting to look like a building. It's going to be your view from the parking lot looking up at the entrance. And then this is looking um north in the parking lot um towards Hollands. Any questions on CTE? Quick comment just to put it on the board's radar. When we were out there yesterday, we mentioned that maybe sometime in September, we would look at working with branch to do what they call a topping out ceremony. Yes, sir. Yep. There. Uh I think as soon as we get started or wrap up with a we'll have a better idea of exactly when that will be. We're going to try to put it out obviously several weeks in advance to get everybody time to prepare for it.
011And it'll be more of a ceremonial thing. It's not going to be the very last beam. Um, if we do that, we're talking about really narrowing down our window to invite people. So, but just keep that on your radar. Be on the lookout for it. We'll send something out in the next in the coming weeks. My turn. Um, sorry. I'll start with Good afternoon though. Uh, I'll start with Condiff. Uh, phase 1B and 2 A. They're almost the same, like redundant. Um, all the demo is done. Uh, installation of like framing, plumbing, overhead, duct, ceiling of duct, drywall, patching, all of that is done. Uh, we got the cabinets last week. I'll show you in the pictures in a little bit. Uh, signage will be done like towards the end, but I put that in
012there just uh just as a reminder. Um hopefully 1B should be done maybe next week or the week after. That's almost like a a fact. Um on the admin and corridor the same thing like plumbing, overhead, duct system, the sprinklers. Um all the overhead is done. Drywall um and then we start painting all like almost done probably 80% done. Light fixtures are done. uh continued like on the cafeteria and kitchen. Uh we have the all all the the concrete block is done, the bricks are done, uh all the framing is done, 90% is done, but in the next week or so we should be done with all of that. Uh ceiling grids, uh inwall, all the inwall like plumbing and electrical also it's done plus the overhead. Uh sprinklers is done. Windows 99.9 is done.
013Uh door framing is done. When you go outside the the the building like for the parking lot, we should be doing asphalt probably next week. All the curbing gut are now being done. Probably by tomorrow we should be done. All the islands they're being um you know dirt is put inside of him, compacting them. Uh, and probably will be put some uh the lights for the parking lot next week. That'll be a big relief when the parking lot's paid. Uh, on on kind of probably some of you when you drive by, you'll see uh there's a lot of work um outside the parking lot. And now they're doing the curbing gutter. And hopefully also we'll do the asphalt maybe next week or the week after, but probably next week. Um the admin area, we put
014the those uh up on top of the roof, those uh the heating and cooling stuff, the equipment. Uh they're connected, but they're not running yet. Um the framing of the walls, the ceilings, all that's done in the admin area. There's a few things that we need to do. Maybe um a cleaning, painting. Uh some windows are missing some glass, but uh we should be done with that probably this week or next week. Uh phase two, second floor, the demo is done. Sewer, we're working mainly on the sewer now. Overhead plumbing, electrical, that's also done. Uh paneling, piping, wiring. The same with with the 3A cafeteria. Um a lot of underground is being done. Overhead plumbing, electrical. It sounds like like it's redundant but it's it it has to be done. Uh phase 3B the kitchen
015also the same thing where we're the demo is done. Uh sewer trenches and pipe installation is done on the site. This this when you take a drive probably you'll see how far they they went from like a grading uh curving gutter. Uh, and that's the main thing. When you set your curving gutter, you can do your asphalt. Um, hopefully by next week we'll do all that that the you'll see a different parking lot. I think that's pretty much it. But I I want to I want to show you uh a few pictures on the brick that that's uh on uh Gleno. You'll see the the kitchen and the the cafeteria. That's kind of cond. Yes. the the wall with the I mean the brick with the stain that's the that's the gym that's in existing
016but the ones to the left that's the new stuff and that's the curbing gutter I was talking about on condom that's also on condom that's the cabinets if you look on the ceiling we don't have the the panels yet but they're working on them the patching of the drywall uh the electrical work also and and that will covered with ceiling tiles. The IT room center um this is for Glen Cove if you could I mean it's a small retaining wall but you could see it. Um on the next one they they're just forming the curbing gutter. That was last week or the week before. And that's the sewer work on the on the right. They should be done with that this week hopefully. Uh more electrical work. Uh now they're starting with the the tile.
017I wish I had a photo that showed the like the finish. Maybe I did at the end. And the copper piping also were being like insulation insulation of these pipes. I wish I had more photos, but they're great. Thank you. Any questions? Anything? Jim, I saw you at the at the tour. So, yeah. So, we we uh What's your feedback Monday? Oh, it's great. Looks really good. It's coming along. Every area is almost touched now. Um got to walk it with a couple board of supervisor members and so they got to see it. It was It's really looking really looking good. It's changing every day. It is. I I do have one quick question. I've got the branch group uh we're going to open the new administration wing. I'm assuming maybe we're a little behind
018at Cundiff that to do that. That's October, November. Yeah. I was just curious if before school starts at Correct. That's that's awesome. Yeah. So, there'll be one there'll be a a cere but I just assume that means we're a little bit behind the the time frame for Yeah. It's they're not behind schedule. It's just those two things were were phased differently because of the big expansion and and the new cafeteria and kitchen over there, right? Okay. Yep. That's awesome. I didn't know we were that close, but as I drove back uh Cove, I noticed the curb and everything, the grading, it looks like it's coming along great. Yeah, that's awesome. So, you're saying the first layer of asphalt bay down next week? Yeah. Awesome. As soon as they as soon as as soon as they
019put the carbon gutter, that's Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's your reference point. Then they can do that quick. They did say this wouldn't be the permanent aspect though that they'd come back with the last layer. Correct. The cap would be at towards the end because the mess you if you do mess or you do something we can't fix, right? You don't want the cap to be right. No, it looks great. It really did. Remind us again of the completion date of those two schools. Uh substantial completion. I think it's uh I think it's 9:17 on uh Cond and 81 on uh Elinko. 26. 26 of course. That' be a miracle if they could push that forward a month on just just to get it right there before the school starts. Well, that is the hope. Yeah,
020I know. I get it. I Yeah, it has been truly amazing the speed that you guys have been able to work at. I mean, driving by Peters Creek and looking at how fast those walls are going up and then stopping by Glen Cove and seeing all that work, it just amazes me that you guys have the ability to do that. Thank you for everything you're doing. Yeah, thank you. I absolutely love it. They got on condom they got 110 guys just like you're talking about a town working. So over here we got maybe 75 80. So it's it's a lot of people working. That's awesome. We're about 85 to 95 something like that. It's really cool. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I just want to say I really appreciate the updates. It
021makes a difference in terms of us knowing what's going on. So yeah, that's amazing. They come in there. No black hole. You have to do this right. Okay. Item 3.02 02 proposed feasibility study to explore future uses of current Burton Center property and other properties for possible specialized special education and alternative education programs. Dr. Ken Nicely and Mr. Todd Kaggels. All right. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to kick this off and then uh turn it over to Mr. Kaggels for uh uh some some some details. um as the board knows um you we've got some some challenges uh when it comes to some of the you know yearby-year uh programs that we um work with. So, one of those is um uh working with um our CSA funding, which uh covers lots of things,
022which I'm going to go over briefly, but uh what we best use it for or mostly use it for is all of our students who are students with disabilities who need to um be in a different placement than their general ed placement. And so, they'll uh wind up, you know, attending a private day school in the area. Uh so I want to talk a little bit about what challenges um that presents and just uh you know what's uh you know what what are some things that are happening with that that really kind of you know need to be um sooner than later addressed um in a different way to try to mitigate some of those continuing pressures. Um going to present uh an opportunity that we might have kind of a follow-up to all this
023major construction that we have. to kind of present some some existing properties that we might look at to try to mitigate some of these challenges and then present um a a proposal to actually conduct a feasibility study. So that's sort of the sort of the road map uh talking about what those CSA funding pressures are uh what starting the new program looks like and what challenges that presents opportunities and then um and then the study. So, just for some background information, uh CSA of course is the Children's Services Act, which is a Virginia law that um that really pulls together um eight different funding streams um to support high-risk uh youth, you know, students uh in K12 and and of course their families. Um we we think of like the the private day school funding,
024but it encompasses a whole lot more than that, including um foster care, foster care prevention, of course, the private day schools uh for students served by um special education, um independent living um services for students who uh maybe don't have family support and there's support for uh trying to help help them transition. Um and then wraparound services for students with um disabilities. This is a a multi- aent agency um uh process um that uh is uh um managed by by several agencies kind of housed under the department of social services but of course uh schools have a integral part in this. Other agencies include uh Blige Behavioral Healthc Care plays a role, court services plays a role because sometimes you're dealing with uh students who might have uh some some legal issues. Uh law enforcement
025and then the private day uh or private providers in general uh themselves. Uh to kind of paint the picture of what some of the challenges are in terms of why we probably need to think ahead and be proactive into developing some future solutions. Uh just looking at what those CSA expenditures are. This is for uh fiscal year 2024. This is information that we have jointly been looking at together with county staff. Um but these different uh buckets of of costs that are that fall under CSA are some of the ones listed there. So so private day schools um that runs about 51% of the funding that is run through CSA which in uh fiscal year 2024 was about 6.4 million. uh community based services, residential placements, that's actually a step above your private day school.
026That's where students occasionally need some very intensive um uh you know residential type uh settings which is usually out of the area in terms of their education and their family living and so forth. Obviously, you know, very uh um high intense need uh you know, situations there. Uh foster care I mentioned is about 15% of what takes up that that funding. uh what they call non-mandated services, special ed um uh wraparound services. That could be things like uh where um you know family or students need outside counseling services or other kinds of therapeutic u type interventions that that team um you know approves uh for them to have. Um some of these services are mandated. So private day services are mandated because that's all I team driven. Uh so basically when that goes through the
027process I mean they have to approve those things. Uh there are other things that the uh the FAP team or the CMP team um can approve and that becomes non-mandated because it's not IEP driven necessarily. Um again this is some some high level background. Uh we do share as a school system in the cost of that CSA fund. So, uh, each year, um, when we do the the county budget, um, they, uh, give us a set amount, but that money is transferred directly back, uh, to the county side through a budget transfer. And those costs, of course, have have risen each year. Um, so for us in uh, this past year that we budgeted about $2.2 million and that's gone up in this coming year's budget by another million dollars. So 3.2 is what we
028budgeted to transfer back to that services. If you compare that to what the actual expenditures were back in FY24, you'll see that you that does not cover the entire cost, which of course leads to some intense budgetary pro uh um pressure points on the county side as well as um you know the part that we kind of play into that. I did put a note in that um because as we were discussing this with the the county administration, you know, they did bring to our attention that you know currently that um that CSA budget is is overspent. Um overall, okay, on the county side as well, I think it's about the $2 million or something like that. We've not been told exactly if we're going to need to share in the cost of shoring up
029that budget, but you know, I was sort of told that just as a reminder that when we do our year-end funds, you know, they that's on an annual basis in terms of they're passing an ordinance saying, you know, how we can use our year-end funds. Nor normally that's split between major and minor capital. Um, but they could very well come back and say, "Hey, we need for you to uh put, you know, a portion of that toward uh shoring up this these CSA costs." So, I'm just bringing that to the school board's attention because that is something that that's out there for discussion. Just asking 18 or 20 million that we've lost the last five years. Understood. Right. I just want to make sure you're all aware of that. That is something that could come
030down. So, um, obviously, you know, the CSA costs, um, are expected to continue to arise to to rise and a lot of that is driven by the private day school costs because, I mean, they're operating they're operating a business themselves and of course it's hard to find staff to, you know, these are these are these are these are students that we cannot, you know, adequately appropriately serve in our general ed setting. So, these are pretty, you know, extreme needs, extreme behaviors. Um, and so you can imagine, you know, what it takes to to try to to staff and fund that. uh you know sympathetic to that but I mean the costs are continue continuing to arise and those are some of the pressure points for us. Here are some examples of what private day school
031costs I think in this past year is where this these came from. Uh these are some of the providers. So you can see on a day-to-day basis there's different tiers of of costs. And so uh just on a general basis you can see that's one level of funding but then for more intensive uh needs uh let's say a student um you know has to have that um you know one-on-one person that onetoone staff ratio even in the private day school setting. Well that private day school is going to cost you know charge a much higher you know rate for that. So you can kind of see what um some of those rates are and of course it it all adds up. It's really it's really a a cost pressure point but also a space pressure
032point. Um especially on the elementary side of things or our elementary students who um you know really just cannot be appropriately placed their their least restrictive environment really is not the general ed setting as determined by an IEP team. Uh but especially for on the elementary side, there just aren't spaces in these private day providers to um you know for them to be placed and so they might wind up on a you know homebased education system for or you know situation for a while or things like that. So so it's a cost issue um in terms of these pressures but also a space issue which we um you know we're trying to think ahead and how can we how can we address these? Um, one of the things as you kind of look at what
033other school systems do, um, there, you know, some other school systems that we've identified that are similar size to us, similar demographics who have lower CSA costs. And so the the question arose, well, why is that? Is that something that we're doing differently in our decision-m or so forth? Um, and that's really not the case. the the the big factor is that some of these other divisions do already have their own uh larger in-house internal um you know alternative education program run as a you know full-time public day school not a private day school right uh some you know participate in regional programs and things of that sort but you're really doing like an apples to you know asparagus kind of comparison when you look at CSA costs in in by themselves because there are
034other factors involved so that which leads to this idea A that, you know, one way to to mitigate some of these rising costs as well as alleviate some of these space needs is for us to look at starting, you know, our own alternative education program. And I'll use that term, but you know, think public day school, think, you know, full-time. Um, and really uh uh not the same thing as our current Astep program. You're aware our Astep program, which is housed here in our building, you has been very, very successful. Um but that is a uh it only serves um secondary students and it's only on a you know half-time basis. Okay. So we get those kids uh through. So that's you know students are placed there for disciplinary reasons. But we also of course
035have our gateway program which is really more of a dropout prevention program which again both of those have been very very successful but just aren't adequate in size or scope to meet um our current needs as well as well as well as expanding future needs. Um so the idea that you know can we look at starting our own internal program um to to meet some of these needs um stating the obvious here obviously that requires additional capital funds to actually have a place to do it as well as a diff you know additional operating funds okay because it doesn't happen by itself obviously so you need you know more folks to do that uh we have engaged in ongoing conversations with um county staff to talk about what that might look like because obviously this
036is a joint challenge because of the CSA funding that joint responsibility. Um they've been very open to having discussions about and recognizing that, hey, if we're going to stand up our own program, um you know, we're we're probably going to need some additional financial assistance to do that. And I've also reached out to um one of our neighboring school divisions um who because of proximity and so forth might have an interest in partnering with us and have got a positive response about that so far, especially again on the elementary side of things. So there's some factors um kind of at play. So what we want to bring to you today is the fact that we do have some uh potential infrastructure opportunities because as I said is to stand up a new school it's capital
037cost as well as operational. We haven't gotten to the operational side of things yet in terms of what that would have to look like. Um but in terms of capital um we do because of you know um relocating our our CTE center. We have the the Burton property that will come become available uh you know sometime in 2027. um don't know if that's the answer or not. Uh but we ought to probably start the process of doing due diligence to determine the viability of using um you know those spaces uh you know for this for this particular purpose. And so um so we do have you know the existing property there. Um, again, don't know if that's the answer or not because I'm thinking, okay, what do do you continue to invest in a building
038whose infrastructure is such that you could renovate and it's worth it's makes financial sense to continue to invest in that property and those buildings? I I suspect the answer might be yes, but don't know, right? Uh, does it make more sense to, you know, sell some of our existing properties and, you know, build new somewhere? Again, that's at a big cost, but does that make more financial sense, you know, long term? Again, don't know the answer to that, but um so, you know, one idea is of course we have some some acreage here on our property here on Cove Road. Uh we do have the two properties um up in downtown Salem on South Market Street, which I'll show you. U does it make sense to look at selling those properties and moving those operations
039um you know to the the Burton Center property? Um and of course, you think about cost of renovation. and you never know what you're going to uncover when you're doing renovation versus new construction. Those are all variables, you know, kind of pieces to to the to the puzzle. So, just as a reminder, um we do, of course, you know, have uh the Burton Center property over on Reno Boulevard. Um and uh that's about 29.9 acres. Of course, we're very familiar with the three buildings that are there, which will mark, we refer to them as building A, B, and C. And then beyond that, of course, are some um uh parks and wreck um maintained uh uh playing fields that they've invested, you know, quite a bit of money in as well. So, of course, those
040structures are, you know, are are aging, which is one reason, of course, we're, you know, building a new CT center. Um but, um but they still might have some very useful life to them that could, you know, fit our purposes. Um, I listed what the current programs are in those buildings just as a reminder of what those spaces kind of look like and how they might be some of those spaces might be more easily adapted to a classroom space you might need for an alternative education program um or not, right? So that's why I kind of listed those. So, so building A, that front building of course has the admin function. It's got classes like the cosmetology, the center for visual arts, which is a more of a traditional classroom space. Uh, of course the
041nursing programs, those are generally, you know, laid out like regular classrooms. Uh, same thing with the early childhood programs, the game design, cyber security. So, so those that that building generally has, you know, classes or, you know, spaces that are already kind of laid out as classroom as well as that admin function. So the thought would be, you know, from a um uh non, you know, expert side in terms of uh you know, structures and that kind of stuff, but the thought would be that that would probably most likely lend itself to maybe, you know, use for that alternative ed space. Um so there's that but also the question of is it enough space right for what we you need to accommodate that building B which is the upper building um that of course houses
042that that cafetum um the the culinary arts programs there is kitchen space in there um the English language program the high intensity programs there mass communications program uh the center for performing arts is there which has some larger spaces but are still typical sort of class areas um and then ISAP which is our GED program Um, and then of course it does have those those auto service, welding, and EMT uh functions on the um on the uh lower end down here. And then building C, which is the one of course closer to Mason's Creek over there. Um, I'm bring that up on purpose just because we're reminding you know ourselves that part of that property isn't a flood plane. And so always have to be mindful of what value that brings and functionality. So hopefully
043this feasibility study will speak to that. But building C does currently um house our computer information technology programs, criminal justice, uh which are generally classroom spaces, mechatronics are kind of like that, engineering spaces, but then you also have your building trades programs which are, you know, laid out a little differently and and so forth. So just a quick reminder of what those buildings are, which which we we can look at and and how they're currently being used. And then uh most of you are familiar with the property up in Salem um uh on off of Fourth Street up there which is on South Market. So um uh if you you'll notice that's where Glenn or I'm sorry uh Javia Carver Elementary School is on the other side of that property. That of course is a
044city of Salem um school. But right next to that is our transportation department and facilities. That's of course you know their offices as well as the mechanical the garages as well as the bus lot. There's also a, you know, fuel depot up there. So, you have fuel tanks. Those kind of things always, you know, play into those kinds of, um, kinds of issues. Um, because of its proximity to, uh, Carver Elementary, we we do know that there's interest, you know, on on Salem's side. So, hey, we probably would like to have that property. So, that's a, you know, factor that kind of plays into that. Um, that property is about three acres, a little more. Um, um, and then the property across the street, uh, there's actually two different properties. those house our maintenance departments.
045Um, so the larger one is on the uh what I'll call the lower end down here which is about a little over an acre and there's also a smaller lot uh which maintenance also uses on up South Market Street there and that's about.35 acres. So again these are pieces that we need some help on determining okay does it make any sense to relocate those functions? Is there value in selling those properties to help us reconfigure other existing, you know, um properties and in the infrastructure? Uh don't know the answer to any of that, but that's why we'd like to look at have somebody, you know, help us with that. So that's why we're proposing doing a um an independent um feasibility study which would help us to determine the capacity, the feasibility, the cost effectiveness
046of using existing infrastructure to solve some of these needs that um we've articulated here. Uh especially in establishing this alternative education program. Uh the focus of the program would be to operate as a like I say a public day school to meet the needs of students with disabilities that cannot be served in general education placement. So, uh, think about the students who are currently in private D day school placements. And don't mean to put you on the spot, Dr. Harmon, but that's about how many students? You knew I was going to ask that, right? Yes, I did. I have it right here. About it's right around 113 with several weight list. Yeah. So, those are students who are already placed there. And again, we have a waiting list of others who especially on the elementary
047side who need to get in. So, right now, we have 10 with signed IEPs waiting. Yeah. Okay. So, so that's that's, you know, part part of the need there. So, and also think have space for those other 10. The private days don't they're waiting for private day. That's so we're serving 174 in our specialized programs. So, in a step we've got No, no, no. No, that's private day. Totally different things. Specialized program. Oh, gotcha. Okay. So, private day schools are your mics, your riveronts, your day school, but not that's outside the scope of the number of what we have in a state. Absolutely. Yes. Okay. So, what is the number of a step? 50 assignments for currently served. Okay. Yeah. And it rotates 50 something there and 170 some you say in our special ed
048program, right? Yeah. And and again, you got you got to think about um uh and what we're looking at here is try to serve all of those. But that's what I'm saying. But it is two different buckets. You need Right. No. Yeah. Absolutely. But there's the opportunity is there. You still you're looking for one place to try and help. That's right. Yeah. The idea would be to uh have the capacity to move our current ASAP program and expand it as well which again is more for disciplinary issues um as well as the um uh the dropout prevention. Right. Right. So trying to yeah meet those needs and and also a couple of you have mentioned uh you know possibly looking at some sort of substance abuse program. Right. Which also could possibly be you know
049rolled into that as well. But the the primary function and goal is to serve kids, you know, K12 U, but really trying to better meet uh the lack of space for elementary. And so that's it's not it's not that that's the only thing. We just want to emphasize that that's really a huge problem we're trying to mitigate here with that. And and for uh number of purposes, how many students do we have at one time at BCAT? I'm just trying to currently Yeah. I know that they're tagged at other schools, but I mean do we have I'd say at a time you're talking three or 400 because it's AB basis because I think the total enrollment is around 700 ballpark that 400. Yeah. But that's part of the feasibility study because I'm not sure you
050can equate. Yeah. I'm not sure you can say okay this what we currently have that's what we can do because the spaces will be very different. Yes. And and one thing I want to point out to your point is if we u you know astep program that's a half day program, right? Which means we're not doing and it's also secondary. We're not doing you know we don't have to have playgrounds for recess. We don't have to have cafeteria to serve food day public day school. We're going to have to have those functions uh included as well. So just to you know bring that out there. So um those are all things we'll have to figure out. That's why, you know, is that space, you know, good? I think there's some opportunity there. That's what we
051want to, you know, determine. Yeah. And I just like to add in that with Burton, it wasn't that in my opinion, I know it was an old aging building, 1963. However, we really grew out of that space. I mean, we grew out of that space. And so, it's not that that building is defunct or gross. I mean, it's aesthetically, is it pleasing? No. But it still could serve our needs here is my point. I think there's some opportunity there. Yeah. which I think we need to to look at. So, um yeah, and I put in there additional goal beyond this, you know, public day thing. And just to be clear, I mean, it's not going to make the need for some private day school play placements go away. Um but right now, there's just not
052enough space in those places. Plus, the cost is such that we think we can do it uh more efficiently and really try to stem the stem the tide is what I'm trying to say. Uh because this is not getting any better, right? The costs are going to continue to climb. The need is going to continue to climb. Um, so again, there's some opportunities here to be proactive and try to look to see if we can how we can solve that problem. Um, so yeah, I mentioned the ASEAP piece. Um, so here's and I'll let Mr. Kgles jump in, but um, I try to say this, you know, basically we we know there's lots of pieces here at play. We've different properties maybe available to us. Um, we have um, uh, different ways to think about
053how this makes sense. I think uh what we're sitting here saying, you know, we don't have the the the expertise and knowledge to know what the best weight is to to take any one of those standalone options or what combination of those makes the most sense. Um so that's really what we want to you try to achieve um by by doing this independent study um to really get some hard data to kind of bring to bear. They're not going to make the decision for us obviously, but at least they'll better inform us in terms of how to make, you know, good decisions around that. So, the first pass, is it worth paying $50,000 to give us what I think our staff and knowledge can give us? I'm just wondering if that's, you know, money well
054spent or would I rather have the knowledge of our staff to help us determine that. Yeah, I I'll let Mr. Mr. K will speak to that, but I think what we're here saying is we we we don't have the expertise to really do that adequately and especially looking at the the infrastructure of the current buildings to to you know really tell us you know what what what we're ready to hear. Yeah. So what we'd like to do is partner with um architecture uh architects and engineers to um assess the feasibility of doing several different options. And it's not really maybe the right words to say option. These are really sort of components that could be combined with one another. We'd like to um address not only the need for the for the private day uh
055piece and expanding those programs, but also our aging uh maintenance and transportation facilities. So, we've already had all of those properties appraised. So, we have a an understanding of what their uh current value is. What we don't know is what is it going to cost to renovate uh BCAT if we chose to go that route or to build uh new buildings if we decided to do that. Uh and that's where the feasibility study could help us. You know, they'll they'll do programming studies. They'll do cost estimations. They'll do some conceptual designs. They'll tell us no, this won't work at BCAT or yes, it will work at BCAD or you need to, you know, consider buying something right out here is a thing that we've considered since we own this this property already. And so, um,
056I'll just go real quickly through the the different components. Uh, one would be to convert, uh, building A at BCAT into an alternative school. And the reason we're looking at this one is that building A, as as Dr. Ne's really already said, contains classrooms, administrative spaces, and support spaces. Uh, so this would seem to be the logical place for an alternative school, but again, we we need to look at the all of the requirements for the programs that we're talking about putting in there. We need confirmation on things like square footage requirement and support spaces like the kitchens, the gymnasiums and things of that nature. Uh those are you know when you go to build a gym for instance that's that's very expensive. So uh we have to look at those sorts of things. Can
057I jump in real quick Mr. Piggles and just say to your point Mr. Greenway what we have done as a staff is sat down and looked at okay what kinds of spaces would you need like you know Dr. Arvin can speak to say, okay, in a private day school setting, you need, you know, the these kinds of spaces in order to adequately meet the needs of those kids. We sort of started that process of mapping out, well, we need, you know, uh, a place for this or a place for this function or whatever mention the food service and all that, but just in terms of what it takes to manage students with, you know, severe behaviors, we have done that piece, which is what we'll give to them to then let them tell us, okay,
058can you do it here? Yeah. And there's legal requirements to consider also. So it's not just us, you know, having a feeling for how much space we need. There's actually when you go to do private day, for instance, there's a requirement for a certain amount of square footage per student for private day schools, that sort of thing. So uh those are things where you where you need an architect to make sure that you're meeting all those requirements. Another component would be um to convert this building uh central office into the alternative school and construct a new uh office building here on the uh existing site. This might make sense if you consider the value of uh BCAT and then take into account that we already have a gymnasium, there's already a kitchen space and that
059and that sort of thing. So, uh again, we need a complete study to uh see if that's feasible and what the cost would be to to do that. Uh a third component is to construct a new building for an alternative school. That would be a you know sort of simple basic uh building but it would be new and you know of course it'll be nice because it's new. Uh it may be possible to build a basic small building as an alternative school. The where it gets cost prohibitive as I already mentioned is the is the gymnasium and the cafeteria that may be required there. Uh fourth component is relocating uh maintenance and transportation to the existing BCAP building. Uh that's problematic in that uh there's no garage space over there that can accommodate school buses.
060So you're looking at an addition to to be able to, you know, accommodate the lifts and the the roof height that you need to be able to do that. Uh there is a lot of space over there in building B and building C. It would still need to be renovated. So obviously there's significant cost uh to the to the renovation and again that's um you know where a feasibility study could could help us. So the scope of the feasibility study would to be to do um just a short summary of it would be to do multi-day programming workshops to determine exactly what our needs are. They would then provide uh conceptual designs for uh proof of concept and then they would do cost estimating for um all the components that we've already discussed and we
061feel like that would then give us the information along with the appraisals we've already had done to make uh an informed decision as to what might be the best path forward. Could I offer up an option five? Sure. What about the possibility of looking to going in with Reno County? They've put the new facility over there for transportation on is it Holland Road or somewhere over that way and not I don't know if farming out's the right word, but allowing them to work on our vehicles and maintenance. we still have control of, you know, the the transportation department and so forth, but I think that's one way we could save our citizens a lot of money if we could put the fruitions of both together um to uh to house our transportation maintenance for for
062buses and vehicles and such over over at that facility. And my understanding is through talking to another uh board member on the supervisors is that they could probably handle that because they have enough and that's what I was told. Now whether that's true or not, I don't I'm not saying with the staff they have, but I'm saying with the facilities they have. Um so we did have some very uh preliminary discussions. I believe that was actually suggested by Mr. Lynen last year, maybe a year or so ago, and we had some preliminary discussions with the county in regards to that. Uh at that time their staff indicated that they did not have the capacity to take on uh our vehicles um and still maintain I think the water authority the trash site maybe they have
063to add a couple bays or something or throwing out well sure if they're willing to expand the facility and the staffing that that could be a a possibility. I I don't I I'm not certain if that's something we'd want to try to add to this feasibility study because obviously the county has to be uh willing to do that uh or if those are conversations that are best had with our county first and then perhaps uh studied separately. Sure. Yeah. I I mean it's it it seems very logical and and because we brought this up before because I've had the same you know thoughts and wonder I each time we have brought it up the the response has been well um they really don't have the space for it but doesn't mean we can't bring it
064up again and continue to explore that. I mean, probably worth another ask, but I did when I spoke with board of supervisors and went toward that building, they did indicate that they were near capacity. When you think about the garbage trucks and the police vehicles and the ambulances and everything else that they service, they they did not indicate that they would have room for for our fleets as well. That was But to Mr. Greenway's point, I mean, is there is there enough land there to where an expansion might make good cost sense? Yeah, I don't know the answer to that, but Let me just say it for our citizens that there are a lot of things we could do to work together with the county that we're duplicating a lot of services. And for me
065that's again I'm not saying it'll work. I'm just saying it's worth asking the question like Mr. Lman said. Um because you know and I'm not saying give up our transportation or anything like that. I'm just saying that if there's ways to save our citizens money in my mind, I don't know why we have two separate facilities. And and honestly, I haven't been over there in a while, but when I came on the board, that place in Salem should have been renovated 25 years ago. Um, it's how those guys keep us operating is phenomenal and amazing and we they deserve everything they get and pats on the back and thank yous and then they drive the buses and so, you know, um, if we can save our citizens money, I know that doesn't happen very much
066these days. to keep growing revenue. But I think that's one of the things we can do to try and look at ways we can work together to save money. And so that's just again I it like you say it may not work. I'm not saying it work because I don't know. But it's certainly worth asking the question and talking it over and seeing if we could build another bay or two and and sell that property and put it maybe towards BCAP. whatever we do. You're right. That's it's an antiquated facility for sure. And then to the point, and again, I'm not trying to belabor this. I'll do whatever everybody wants to do, but I think our staff knows what we need in relationship to we've got some very smart, capable people. Uh I just think
067where we might need to help is engineering for facilities to but I think they can develop what we need and where we where we uh the capacity and and features and stuff. So just just my thoughts on it but we absolutely need to I'm so in favor of the AEP program and I hope we're not turning away any of our schools that need to send kids over for AEP because we've never turned anybody away for capacity reasons or anything. That's good because if that becomes a problem then that's I think that's our problem. We need to find a way to fund it. We have talked about building out AEP and of course as um Mr. Giggles mentioned the or maybe you mentioned it the um substance abuse program as well which is typically when you
068start you get there's money from the state and um you're starting very small 8 to 10 students you know so I don't know how that couldn't fit in there as well and I have looked into that and I actually have a phone call with the lady who's over from VDOE tomorrow but good but it's um they have applied for part of the opioid grant that actually pays for that and they have not gotten it yet. Okay. So, in the fall, they won't know till the fall whether there's even going to be grant money. It might be ending. So, we're trying. Well, that's right. Well, the change of administration, it might be ending, too. And I did learn that the average lifespan of a recovery school is nine and a half years. So, they're not sustaining
069very more very long. And there's 44 of them in the country. I did a lot of research on Okay. All right. And I'd be happy to share. Okay. with the number of factors involved. I think the 49,500 is is money well spent personally to to make sure that we get it right or that we know what we're doing rather than take a chance on I'm not trying to belittle staff and and your knowledge, but I think Mr. Cables, you would probably agree that that's the money well spent to make sure that we are know what we're getting into. Well, I think you're you've said that you've give you're going to give them the information that they would need in terms of what our needs are. This this is truly the architectural side. This is the
070best way to go about making that happen. I mean, I I agree. I think this is the best money that we'll spend is to make this happen. I mean, we've talked about this for a long time, a really long time. It's a huge need, especially serving our elementary school students and we're we're not able to do that in the best way at this point. So, being able to offer this is I think it's got to be like one of our highest priorities at this point. And to keep it in house. That's what I was going to say is keep it in house. the cost. It's a little bit easier a little bit easier for a parent to stomach that too, knowing that they're still being educated by our school system. We're not putting them out
071in a private day where it makes a parent a little more nervous. Well, and in some cases, we can't even put them there, right, because there's not space. And it sounds like your conversations with the county is that they are interested to hear about this. Yeah, I think when it comes actually, like we said, is it's going to require, you know, some uh some capital costs, you know, construction renovation. It's going to require some operating costs. um haven't haven't gotten an O yet in terms of but this is costing us a lot of money now too. I mean so we've got to find another way to do this and we're still not serving all of our students. Right. Right. There's a lot to this. I think you're right. I think it would be best well
072suited to have a professional come in and tell us. Yeah. This is a no-brainer to me for the $50,000 the wealth of information we'll get especially with the codes and the you might wheelchair accessibility ramps. There's a lot of components that we need to think about. That that is one area we know. It's not, you know, currently ADA. Exactly. Right. Well, and I think you're adding in the transportation piece, too. I mean, this is a lot to undertake to try to figure out how to best serve quite a few different needs. So, we've got to figure out how to do that the right way. I'm on board. It's going be a lot on you guys to figure out the operating expenses, too. One thing at a time. Yeah, we'll get there because elementary will definitely
073want to do face to face now. Right. Yeah. I'm excited. I'm really excited about it. Yeah. Me, too. go on as an action item or cons? Yeah. So, uh, we can, uh, proceed. Um, if there's unanimous consent, we can go ahead and put it on consent for next week. Unless you want to bring it back before action. I'd like to see it on there. I'm a Yes. Yeah. Put on consent. Thank you. Is there anything else? No, we're good. All right. Item 3.03, discussion of minor capital request. Mr. Todd Kaggles. I believe u each one of you has a packet of um it's the list of minor capital uh proposed projects that we have not yet funded. They are colorcoded um according well first these projects have all been reviewed with the board actually multiple
074times and um have undergone extensive discussion. The ones that are highlighted in green are the ones that I believe currently we have majority support for. Uh the ones that are not highlighted in green, I do not believe we have support for yet at this time. Uh I'm presenting this list to the board uh for discussion and uh questions and answers. They're sorted in order. This in green is the approved list. It's not approved. It's the ones that I believe you have uh already majority support for on the um on the board. So um what's approved or not? How do you know that? Uh by just based on conversations with uh individual board members. Okay. Certainly that's not set in stone. That's up to the board. So, I'd like to just share what we've It looks
075like a breakdown we have here. Somebody correct me if we're wrong. If I'm wrong, it looks like by district we've asked in the cave for 394,000, Windsor Hills about 96,000, Holland's 875,000, Glenn 125,000, and Venton or Kataba I should have said, and Venton 2975,000. And it looks like somewhere roughly we're going to approve K for 354,000. Windsor about 556,000. Hollands about 375. I'll give you I'll give you the numbers. And Glenn 125,000 and Benton 22,000. So it's So for Windsor it should be 370. and for well Bogle split between the two of us. So that's why that looks so so for Cave Spring it's for my area it should be 354. What is the Bogle split? It's the concession. So we're debating the concession stands at Cave or the snack bars at Caves Hidden Valley
076Cave Middle for 60,000. So that got approved. Okay. All right. So 370 for Windsor. Okay. 465 for north side. Well, I don't know how the north side splits with David. David David and I 465. So 465 for north side. That's 465. Then what's the rest of cave 3. All right. So that was right. And then Glenn 125 and then Venton will get 22,000. So that's n 5 is 14 1.4. Okay. All right. So I suppose if there are no questions on these uh we need to determine the best way forward. if um we want to put these on as an action item uh on the u meeting next week or as a consent item or if you you know if there's debate in terms of needing to move the the projects around all those things
077are up to the board obviously it's hard to swallow no pun intended but it it is what it is but I will tell you guys this if I give you my word on doing something. You don't have to question it. I will do it. I will stick by. That's all. I'm good. So, we would like to add it to the agenda for the next meeting, which is next week. You know, that is uh consent or items? I think that fine with consent for me, but I'm fine with consent. Obviously, I'm not fine, but I you know, it's good. Well, we just need to determine if we're doing it as consent or action at this point, right? Just do Would you like to take a vote and forension on record? Yeah, that's fine. Then we can
078put it on as action action. Yeah, put action. Y uh I just asked the board, do you want as the action item, do you want a review of each project or do you just want the list? No, I can I can highlight it. I mean, I think we've we've reviewed quite a bit. I think we're okay to just Yeah. Okay. I can highlight my sections. [Applause] All right. Is there anything else? That's it. All right. Item 3.04, random drug testing program information for consideration. Dr. Jamie Sulttus. Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Nicely. Uh, I was asked to u I don't know why I'm not projecting. Sorry, wait for you to start the show. Sorry. Um, anyway, I was asked to look into potential for a future program for random drug testing. Uh, we
079have two divisions around us that are doing it with Salem and Bodatat. So, I collected some information like why would we want to consider random drug testing? Basically, the whole point is to promote a healthier, safer environment for our kids, right? Uh, kids that are participating in extracurricular activities or sports. you could you could say should be held to a higher standard because they are actually representing the school division. Uh also if you're using any kind of illegal illegal drug and you are participating in extracurricular activity, you could be hurt. Um you know it doesn't um help your athletic endeavors. Also, and this is what I heard all the time in my former division, is it gives the kids an opportunity to push back against the peer pressure if they're at these things because they
080can say, "I can't. I could be tested." You know, it it gives them an out. Uh, also, we could intervene with a kid much earlier if we called them earlier. Um, doing that. And the whole point of this program is really to support and be preventative, not the punitive part. Um, and then the bottom line is it's illegal. So what would be our purpose to promote a health health safety and wellbe promote the health safety and well-being of our students by discouraging substance use through preventative measures. So kind of being preventative instead of reactionary. Uh our commitment and the bottom one's pretty important is that no student shall be expelled or suspended from school as the sole result of any verified positive test conducted by the school under this program because a kid has a
081property right to go to school. It's covered under the the Fourth Amendment. However, they don't have a property right to participate in extracurricular activities. So, we couldn't suspend them from school from school or expel them from school if we caught them using this program. Obviously, if you caught them using it or doing it at school, that's a different story. So, is it legal? Which would be my first question if I were you guys? It it is basically based off of what I told you guys that we cannot exclude them from school. However, extracurricular activities as ruled by the Supreme Court uh is a privilege and therefore you can pro put the intervention program or the prevention program in place in order to allow them to participate. So the the really the main Supreme Court case
082that did this was uh Veronia School District versus Wayne Action and basically they said it was constitutional because and these are really important it didn't cause the athletes to be expelled from school. So they had no property right laws. They had an opportunity to receive assessment and rehabilitative services and not face punishment, school punishment uh pursuant to the positive test. And they also ruled that if an athlete refuses to take the test that that can be counted as a positive because it is an extracurricular and that that time being away from the extracurricular is not a property right. Um so comparing Salem's and bodats and I'm very familiar with Salem since I oversaw it. uh Bodatats. I talked to uh staff over there to kind of get more information because they're they apparently had it
083in the past which I didn't know and they're bringing it back. Um so both both are doing middle school and high school students. Salem lets some sixth grade students play some sports now, just ones that they don't have wreck to offer, so they get tested as well. um students in both areas. I guess Bodatide is different because they're also going to test kids that request a parking permit and they're also also going to test kids that um participate in CTSOs which are the career technical student organizations where that's your skills USA that's like when we go win the engine building contest any of those things a lot of touch testing them Salem sticks to pretty much any of the VHSL sanctioned activities not just sports but forensics and you know academic team and all that
084stuff Um yeah, quiz bowl. Anything not like required for graduation. So Salem test two times during the fall and winter and three times in the spring. Bodat says their plan is to test a minimum of two times in the fall, winter, and spring. And the reason they do that in the spring in Salem is because Salem's a little different. I'll get to this in a second, but Salem tests 20% of each activity. So we're botto dumping them all into one pool and pulling out 20%. And the reason for that is you can't say, "Well, we don't test football players." Because, yeah, you do. You test 20% of the football players, 20% of the um all the fall sports and all the fall activities at the same time. Where Bodakott's putting them all in one big
085pot and saying, "All right, we're going to do 10% the first test and 10% the second test." So, it will be possible that they could test all athletes or they could test all drivers because it's completely randomized. One particular bucket at a time. So Salem Salem tests every individual thing at 20%. Now 20% of that team, right? Of that team. Every team bodat is putting them all into one big pot and testing 10% the first test in the fall. So it's 10% second. I guess you could consider it's random on either side. It is, but but random on either side, you're guaranteeing somebody from each representative activity in Salem is tested. And we're in Bodatite, it it may or may not end up that way. But yes, they're both randomized. So under that scenario, you're
086saying like Bat you could get 10 baseball and no tennis or no what? Okay. Which is why Salem went to the other way. Salem's way better. Yeah. Um interesting. So and that's where I already talked about it. Salem does 20% of each of the activities. Bat does 10% of the total, but but it adds up to 20 because they'll do 10% on the first test, 10% on the second test. Salem might do 10% of all the athletes and you know or extracurricular the first test and 10% the second test to where it equates to 20% of the total. They're all um both divisions use a random selection process through the computer that's managed by a third party company. um what they test for. Bit basically said they're testing for alcohol, tobacco, nicotine, any controlled substance,
087and their plan is to do performance-enhancing substances. Salem basically says we may include and gives a list, but are not limited to, but they're pretty much both testing for the the common drugs. Um, one of the big things to make this successful is you have to really communicate it and then have time to communicate it to the to the constituents. So, they have orientation meetings before every sports season or every activity season and basically say just a reminder, we have this random drug testing policy, yada yada yada. Every kid has to sign an annual consent form u before they're allowed to even practice on both sides. If the kid's 18, he can sign himself. And I'm saying practice, but it could be practicing for Skills USA or debate or whatever. The testing protocol and confidentiality.
088So, I just brainstormed like we you need a central office person to oversee it. So, I volunteered Tammy or Miss Nukem, I'm sorry. Um, to be the program coordinator. Wow. She congratulations. Um, but then the actual athletic director at each school has to navigate the logistics of the testing. So, for example, I would send the labels and and who was going to be tested like the day before. So, the school then printed off the labels and had them ready for the drug testing company that comes in and does the drug test. the athletic director or whoever we would deem to do it would then go get the kid out of class, bring them to the secure testing site, private, have them, you know, you they did a urine sample and then they would go back
089to class. So that it does eat up time in the AD or whatever staff members um world, which when they did it at Andrew Lewis, that also included the the middle school ad, which is an assistant principal. So, which would be the same idea of how much time that might I mean it that's why we did three time that's why we did three during the spring is because it it'll eat up half your day. Okay. If you're trying to get to 20%. Now obviously if you you don't have to do 20% you do 10%. Yeah. But if you add up all the minutes in a school year that's really a small fraction of your school year. Yeah. And and it's not the whole kids there the whole time. It's the AD or whoever's monitoring the
090site that has to be there. Just one more question. Did they prioritize pulling the child out or the student out rather during lunch or first block or to be honest with you? We started testing as early as we could in the morning. Okay. And we just grabbed kids as we could because you're working with a third party company that's actually doing it. The school staff never touch anything. Okay. They just transport the kid. Okay. Ideally, you would, but just rather practical. Yeah. I just was wondering how that would seem like you're chasing chickens all up. Exactly. So confidentiality uh the drug testing results are conf confidential only disclosed to the parent the student and school staff that need to know about it. Uh all names and personally identifiable information remain confidential and they're not stored
091in their academic record. So basically when the kid graduates as as allowed by law you shred those that information because the whole purpose here is prevention and support and help. So basically in summary, random selection, student novocation, sample collection is done by the instalment was done at the school in a secure private location by the approved agency. Um so what would count as a confirmed consequence? Like why should you get a consequence? Obviously, if you get a confirmed positive test, if you refuse to participate, um if you leave school without proper documentation, and this was learned because the word spreads real fast that the testing people are here, and you know, kids will try to check out. If they have a pre, you know, a note to check out for a doctor's appointment or all
092that, that's an excuse. But if they're, and I'll be honest with you, there were lots of times we'd pull a kid's name that was at gov school. Well, that kid was at gov school when the testing was going on. So, that happens. And then tampering with the specimen. Uh first offense for both of them are going to be 14-day suspensions from the activity. Uh they are allowed to go and watch, but they can't participate. Um, in Salem, you automatically go through, they partner with Intercept and you go through three sessions where they do a drug substance abuse assessment and then the they determine whatever the plan is for the kid and that's at the parent expense. Bod was still working on what they were going to do as far as their therapeutic, but they thought
093for 14 they would just basically you lose your park pass for 14 days and then you have to participate in their own student assistance program. Second offense for Salem is basically an 84-day suspension. Um, and they also have to go back and get another substance abuse assessment. Then that their program is designed by that third party company to figure out what they're going to do to try to continue to support the kid. Second offense only be if you randomly pick them again or you are you automatically doing you get caught the first time and it's not nicotine in Salem. Like let's say I got caught for marijuana vape pen, then I'm tested anytime I'm as long as I'm participating in an activity when the test is going on. So like if I play football, but
094I don't play a winter sport, you don't test the kid in the winter if he's not not um in a fall sport. Does that make sense? I mean, but you he's still in the program, right? Still in the program. Yes, sir. And then yes, if if you get caught, you are automatically flagged for a calendar year to be retested as long as you're participating in. Yes. And and is that the second suspension in the same year or could it be like the second year? Well, so I'm going to get to that. That's different. So Batide is basically a 365 day calendar. Salem's is cumulative. Okay. So if I get caught in the seventh grade with marijuana and I get caught in the 10th grade with marijuana and you're going to see the third offense for
095Salem is a lifetime ban. I never had a third offense. I'm just being honest. Never had. When did they implement? This was implemented in like 2008 or something if I'm 2012, something like that. It's been a while. Yeah. And I remember when they did it. I remember it was on the news and I actually still remember the kid's name who was a wrestler who was like, I like it because I can tell my friends I can't participate because I'm in season. So a clarifying question real quick just sir. So if a student is in a fall sport, obviously they're in the random pool, they get pulled, they test positive, the next time you do it, like during winter sports, that kid, if they're in a winter sport, they're automatically tested again. But what if they're
096what if they tested positive in the fall because they're in a fall sport, but they're not in a winter sport? I think you already said that, but can you say it again? Yeah. So they're still subject to non-random tests for 365 days. Okay. regardless of whether or not they're in a winter sport or spring. So once you get caught once you're in the pool for yes for 365. Okay. Um so now the big thing is and this is what we need to plan for if we decided we want to do something like this is the cost estimate. So I called a company a local company that one of the divisions is using to do it. And basically it's $95 a test if you're not testing for performance-enhancing drugs or steroids. and it's $21 a test
097if you are. So testing for steroids makes it it's just more expensive. And basically the cost changes based on what you decide you're going to test for, right? And also what percentage of people you're going to test. So I based it off if it's 10% and we are testing for steroids. Uh, and there's no parking pass included because I will be honest with you, I I think it would be logistically a nightmare because it was a half a day when we were just doing the athletes and the the forensics and things like that. You throw in all the parking pass kids, too, and you it depends if you want to throw them all in one bucket. There's a lot of variables here. Uh, but the way I marked it out is if I was just
098doing the extracurricular activities, not including the parking pass, not including the CTSOs, I got the numbers from our high schools on what were the numbers of participation and it comes out to about $103,000. Um, if we include the kids that parked I keep hitting this button, I'm sorry. If I include the kids to park at 10% it goes to $126,000. But if I don't include steroids, you can see the price difference. It's basically half. Can you speak to that? I mean, what's on the steroid? I mean, I'm sure it's still a issue, but I wonder if it is big issue as it used to be. I don't I don't know that it is as big an issue as it used to be to be honest with you. Does Salem do steroids? Did you So, you
099can randomly do it, too. Like, so you can say, "Okay, we're going to we're going to do f I want five of these random tests to include testing for steroids." Okay, does that make sense? And that's why Salem puts in the wording May. Well, Bat is trying to, but then Bodat also found out that there's going to be $21 a test and they only put 60 grand to the side. So now they're thinking they're might randomly well in my conversations. But like most drugs, right? I mean, we're going to randomly pick somebody, but you're not going to randomly pick the guy that's on the debate team that weighs 125 pounds and say, "Hey, we're going to test you for steroids." Right? So like I'm I'm wondering in my mind what sense this makes, right? you
100know, if we're randomly doing that and we're also randomly doing the steroid piece, right? And it always picks somebody that's not, hey, that guy's huge. He might be on steroids kind of thing. Right. Right. So, to me, it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. And the key is to keep it on all random. I think you keep it random and you save yourself a buck. You can't say, "Well, Brent Hudson, you looking pretty good lately. I think you might be on the sauce, so I'm going to right test you for steroids." So, some of these above us 300 lb on the debate. I try I tried to I'm just kidding. Some of these um enhancers, I'll use that word that these kids are taking that they get at GNC. I shouldn't say that,
101but a health food store, a health food store. And uh they've got, you know, it comes in a jar and they scoop it out and they creatine creatine stuff. So sometimes if you're beefed up on creatine, hey, don't be testing me for that. You might. I know you're No, I'm kidding. But my boy isn't taking that stuff. So I'm just wondering if we could ask those companies does that fall into that antib because there are kids who take that I don't I just so creatine is not an illegal drug. Okay. So where anabolic steroids are so they probably wouldn't test and they don't cross over at all. But if I took creatine and it w it did have a contaminated band substance sentence for Olympic athletes all the time then they get caught and it's
102their responsibility for whatever they're putting in their body. Okay. So, and then if at the 20% mark, you can say it roughly doubles, but it doesn't quite double because there's a $2,000 setup fee. And then there's a $1,000 every time they come out to do a test fee at each school. So, that's why it's not quite doubled. And then the board would need to determine, well, if we decide we want to go this route in the future, do we also want to eat the therapeutic costs or do we want to put that back on the parent? That's just things to consider. Um, so if you were interested in the future, the steps in my opinion would be looking at an RFP to figure out what it would be the actual costs. Uh, developing a committee
103of stakeholders because you don't want to do this from both talking to both divisions. You want to make sure you got some buy in before you do it. Uh, and honestly the reason Salem started is it because it kept popping up on a survey all the time because everybody was saying they had a drug problem and it was like, well, what are some possible solutions and drug testing kept coming up? It's a no deterrent. Yes. And then bringing the committee recommendation to the future work session if you wanted to do that and we could get all this done. If the board wanted to budget for it for the next school year, we would have time to actually do something. But I don't recommend doing anything right now for this year. Yes, sir. We But it
104would be a nice lead in to give a year warning. Here it comes. Yes, sir. One one question I'd want to have answered and just throw this out there just to you may already know this, but uh this whole notion of um like if we wanted to go beyond athletics and look at some of those clubs and so forth. I have a real question about whether or not some of those things are what I would call co-curricular, not extracurricular. And does that get us kind of legal issue like your, you know, your CTE related organizations? I'm not so sure that counts as extracurricular. Yeah. And I don't want to judge another division, but I have asked that question and I have the same concerns you do. I would not make the recommendation to be testing
105co-curricular activities like the Skills USA kids because we are required to offer CTSOs as part of the curriculum. Every school has to. Now, the kid doesn't have to participate in it, but you have to offer it if you have a CTE program. And I just think you're really graying the line the lines there. And there I have not seen anything in Supreme Court rulings about that. Yeah. You know, and I'm just going to be honest with you, with the numbers you're looking at testing, even the parking passes is overwhelming. So, got a few questions. The accuracy of the testing, um, super accurate. Um, we in Salem, we use the same company that the SEC uses to test their athletes. And are the samples kept for a retest? I mean, I can there's an appeals process.
106Parents appealing this. No, my or but they have to pay for well in my previous division they had to pay for the appeal. I had that happen once and it came back positive as well. Yes, they keep a sample for appeals and it the other thing that does happen and I skipped over this is kids get test positive for over-the-c counter medication or prescription medication. So, you have to deal with that, right? Like Dr. Achamman would call me and say, "Hey, can you call the family and ask what they had for breakfast?" Because if you eat an everything bagel, you're going to test positive. And if you are on ADHD medicine a lot of times, so I would call and say, "Hey, can you verify if your kids's on any medication?" I never had an
107argument with a parent. They were always great u about doing it. And and based on the levels that those things come back to, the doctor who's running the test can actually tell you, I don't really think this is, but just check. like they can tell based on the levels that are in your body. And you mentioned not including driving. I mean, we the last thing we want our students under the influence out driving. So, I think it's important that we consider including that. And you want to talk about a deterrent. Tell a senior he's got to ride the school bus. Yeah. Well, I don't disagree with you. I'm just talking about the logistics of actually the number Well, if you the number of kids you test in a day. So, I saw it in real
108time where it takes basically at least half the day just to test the athletes. But you could do it different. You you could do we're just going to test 20% randomly. Or you could do 5%. And I'm assuming that's probably why they did that, right? Or you Yeah. Or that makes sense. Versus 20% for each thing. Let's be real. Salem tested made sure they tested football, too. Because everybody in the world is going to say, "Well, they don't test their football players." But you could also test a certain different percentage for parking passes as well and not that many. I mean, I don't know per school, how many parking passes do you have? Well, 100 150. And I'm going be honest with you. So So 5% of that is not a huge number, but it's
109a big deterrent. Yes. And then we have to make sure that we're enforcing like we used to back in the day that you have to have a parking pass when we put the ugly sticker on your window if you were parking and you weren't. We we do it in about So I will just tell you that that several principles told me that they thought that the the number that bought the parking pass wasn't exactly the number that is working. Sure. Yeah. So So that's extra revenue we're missing out on, Jamie. I know. I won't I won't sell them out. It was more than that. But you make good points. I mean, I agree with you. I think if we can fe if we can logistically do it, that is a good group to target. Oh,
110yeah. That's a huge right of privilege. Yes. And let's just say the bottom line is with today's world and what substances we've been fighting these vapes and we don't know what's in this stuff that you know the last thing I want to do is be invasive in somebody's personal private lives. But for our kids if we take if we have this opportunity they may not get this opportunity if they get out of high school and something goes wrong. So for me, as much as I hate to do it, I that's why I ask you if we could have this conversation is because for me, I think we we need to start it as quickly as we can. And I get that we need to give us a little bit of time to ramp up to
111it, but it needs to happen. Well, if if the board recommends that I move forward, I can start moving forward with the RFPs and the committees and all that stuff in preparation for next year. We couldn't we couldn't start at January 1, could we? I is that a bad idea? One question. Budgetwise, the budget. Yeah, we'd have to find the money. The problem. Well, I think it's always good to start at the beginning of the school year. Yeah, I do too. I think it's an excellent program. I think I was I don't know what event I was at with you, Dr. Soldus, and you had told me that Salem was doing that, and I thought, "Oh my gosh, we have got to do that." So, the fact that a year later we're here, I am
112tickled. I think my son actually got tested this year. Okay. And I asked him or he goes, "Dad, I got tested today." I said, "Well, did you pass?" He goes, "I don't know. Have you heard?" Wait a second. We got to talk. He said he ate a lot of bagels. Yeah. Okay. Well, there's also my daughter has been asked if we're starting it. Are we doing what LB's doing? So, the the kids are already starting to talk. Yeah. Which is not a bad thing. But there there are two sides of the faction. So you would definitely want to make sure you like what would that look like in terms of support from the community would be my recommendation. Well, and what would that look like? At least majority support. I I can't imagine any parent
113would think otherwise. I mean a survey, but you're only going to get surveys are not I'm not interested. I'm interested in doing what's right. And I think this is what's right for our students. not only in terms of prevention, but in terms of giving them the wraparound services that they need to get them through a high school education. And and right now we have a lot of kids and we see it when we go behind those walls of disciplinary hearings who are struggling and they're struggling and we need to help them and this is one way to help them and we would need a committee basically to come up with what are the recommendations to the board for the consequences. These are just two examples. we can make it whatever we want. And I think
114that's what you were getting to is how would that look I think that would have looked us forming a committee of stakeholders in the community. And we've talked about this in the past with each one of us picking someone in the community to well had a judge on there. They had police officers on there. They had some parents on there. They had athletes on there. So they they had a pretty big committee to make it happen. And I just think community buying is going to be huge. So I just we have to think through like what that looks like in terms of getting this information out. Well, and what that looks like. And to your point, even if it's the right thing, we still want to make sure we've done everything we can to communicate
115it. Communicate it. Yeah, Bren, I agree with you as well. We need to have us a parent advocate set up that you feel is like, you know, a reasonable, rational, accurate representation of your district. and that, you know, we've got the the student committee, we've got the, you know, the staff, you know, the committees and and we've got the parents, but I think I don't know if we get engaged enough with them. And that's kind of our rea. What would it look like to put a committee together? Well, it depends on what you guys want to do. I could get a representative from each of your districts that you guys pick and then I could also work with the principles to pull a couple others in. I mean, you want to include coaches, I'm assuming,
116and and other activities to determine what actually we want to do. Like, who do we want to test, how much do we want to test, and what do we want to test for? Those are big variables. Then once we get all that, what are the consequences going to be? You know what I'm saying? Just kind of let the committee debate it all. Do what? let the committee debate all of those and then bring a recommendation to you guys and then you guys can say no I actually think there ought to be a it ought to be cumulative and if you get caught your third time versus and you might but you might say no it's just for 365 you know there's different ways of looking at it yeah and it is interesting that Salem has
117been doing it this way for how long now since 200 I can't remember exactly without pulling it up I think it was 12 or it's been a long time yeah it's been a long time and have they revamped it and changed it and pivoted Well, like when with nicotine, they always just basically it's the first offense consequences every time. They don't accumulate accumulate the nicotine. But if it's a marijuana or anything of that nature, then yes, it's it's the cumulative. Okay. Do we want to try on this? Yes, sir. Yeah, I'd like to talk about if y'all want to talk about it and then just tell me how you want me to proceed. That'd be great. Thank you for this information. Thank you for working hard on it. You're welcome. Item 3.05, administrative regulations 7.13,
118administering medication to students. Update, Dr. Jamie Sulttus. Yes, ma'am. So, this is, if you guys will remember the last time we had all the policy updates, we just had the one policy with the ability to carry seizure medications that we really wanted to talk with Charlene and and work through. We did. Cheryl and I both talked to Charlene. We all got together and talked and Charlene's comfortable with this. So basically we are going to let it be that you can with the approval of the Ron County Public Schools medical care team and we've defined who has to be on that team. Um the question was most the time you don't administer the seizure medication until you're what 3 minutes into the seizure or something like that 3 to five minutes. And so the person probably
119couldn't self-administer but some probably could. So, as long as the prescribing physician, the student's parent or guardian, the principal, the school nurse, and Charlene, the coordinator of health services all agree, and then the parents follow these steps by having the written documentation from the doctor, yada yada, then we would we would allow it. if you guys are good with that. And then the other thing is we're going to update what they can carry non-prescription medications. And this was the recommendation of the of the committee to being ibuprofen, acetaminophen, basically Advil, Tylenol, Tums, and lactate. So takes care of it. That takes care of it. That covers everything. So if you guys are good with this, I can move I'd make the recommendation that we move this to consent and just put it on. Well, it's
120it's a it's an admin rag, so the board does actually have to approve it. We just need to just make you aware. I apologize. I think I have more the policy update. Hey, and there's more. So, are we good there? Another one. Item 3.06, policy updates. Dr. Jamie Sulttus. So, as you guys know, the student cond Well, you may not know policy 7.11, the student conduct code has to be reviewed by annually. And there's our policy our conduct code houses a whole bunch of different policies that are separate from the policy manual as well. So with that being said, we're making some revisions and recommendations like we are going to include the student use of personal mobile devices on school property or in school sponsored activities which you guys adopted earlier last year. That's the
121cell phone policy. We basically um we didn't have it in time adopted to be able to put it in the conduct code for last year, but we putting it in for this year. if you guys are good at it or good with it. The next thing is the administration of non-prescription medication update that I just went over putting it in there. Uh and then adding the seizure rescue medication stuff in there. So, none of that is any different. And then the other thing I left at your table was the student uh student created work policy. And we've always had a plagiarism policy in the student conduct code. And the student work student created work policy bled out of that AI work that we were doing. So it also incorporates when artificial intelligence is allowed to
122be used the fact that if you use it you have to site it uh and what the consequences will be. The consequences are basically the identical to what they were for plagiarism. So the only thing that's really changing is you're incorporating AI into it. Obviously if the teacher says you can use AI, here's how I want you to use it. That's fine. And if she doesn't say you can't use it, you know, and you do use it, you cite it just like you had went to the library. So that's basically the change there. It's just updating it to include artificial intelligence. And I'm happy to answer any questions you guys may have about this student created work policy. So just like the plagiarism, we defined what is student created work. We defined what is plagiarism.
123Basically Mike and his committee got together and kind of paralleled it and then made sure that we included the AI stuff. So that was this is under the policy updates. That's the one. That's the only Yeah. Yeah. Because 7.11 has so many different policies in it that when I when I update it in there and you open it up and you try to find I mean Tammy, sorry, Miss Nukem was about to have a heart attack trying to put the lines through the part and get the format and redo it. And if y'all don't know Miss Nukem, she has some challenges with her computer. She walks up to it and today the font just changed out of nowhere. She didn't touch anything. I saw it. I witnessed it myself. So, regarding the AI, did uh
124the VDOE come out with any model? So, the VOE has not released. We haven't got anything to my knowledge. Uh not to my knowledge. Or is it coming? Because I've heard it was coming and if it does, we'll have to come back and revisit. Okay. Um unrelated to that policy. Go to one more policy that's not It's certainly going to create some heartburn, but are we adopting Ynan's bailto bail? I I'm still unclear on that. So, and and the reason I asked that is I've had interactions with some of our teachers now that honestly say it's a joke that there's still there's still and again I know what we say, but if you got half of them enforcing it and half of them not enforcing it, it's it's just a problem. So, we didn't make
125any changes to what we had originally adopted last year. Well, we did make one change. Uh one change, I'm sorry. You're right. Um, basically elementary school kids are not allowed to have it even on the bus. It has to be often out of sight. So, elementaryaries bail to bail or elementary's bus to bail. Bus to bus. Okay. Middle school is bail to bail. High school is not during instruction at all, but they could still have it in the hallways and in the in the cafeteria. Uh, we tried to eliminate that teacher enforcing it, teacher not enforcing it by removing it from the classroom. And I'll be honest with you, there are other divisions around us that I know that somebody I'm a really good friend with who are buying the lockers and stuff and I'll
126be honest with you, I'll be surprised if the kids put it in the locker. You know what I mean? There's the bottom line is there are some people who are going to try to bend and break the rules. That's right. You either enforce it, but we have to make staff consistently enforce it. And I heard Dr. Nicely tell the principles this is a non-negotiable. Yeah. And I I think you know is it perfect? No. Is there inconsistency? Yes, I don't think it's a joke. You know, I think people are making the effort. It's just not as I can tell you I've spoke to multiple and and it's not just it's not just one, but you know, it is what it is. And uh so when did you tell them it's non-negotiable? Is that coming up
127for this year or Well, you have I've said it, you know, multiple times, but the key is like any other rule, it's got to be enforced, right? And a lot of rules, like any other rule, has to happen at the classroom level. There's no getting around that. That's right. So, so, so it's still and that's what they say is they still have to enforce. That's right. Well, and the bottom line and some do and some don't. Right. Right. Right. Right. Which is not acceptable. I know. I agree. And honestly, the principles ought to be dealing with teachers who are not enforcing the classroom policy. Yep. So, do we have any idea who and our our neighbors did officially adopt it bill to bill? Salem did. Okay. Did they buy the lock or Oh, they bought
128the lockers. bought these lockers off of Amazon that I think from what I've been is it like a what is like a number combo but it basically is about the size of a of a postal box like if you had a postal box at the post office it's got enough room basically for your keys your wallet and your cell phone. Oh okay. And is it in each classroom or is it in the hallway dispersed in the hallway? Okay. So you just have to Oh, you could pick any one and like they assign it to you. Interesting. Yeah, it's like basically having a locker. Okay. I wonder how much that cost. I can find out. Anyway, so are you guys good with moving this policy to consent 7.11? That would be my recommendation. Yes, sir. It's
129that one and the u original student created work policy. All that is in there was no separate plagiarism policy. It's incorporated in the conduct, right? And that's what I'm saying. Like lots of divisions have each of those policies broken out and then compile them into their conduct code. Our conduct code contains some policies that are not in our policy manual except for in that policy. Does that make sense? It's not a standalone policy. It's part of 7.11. Gotcha. I'm fine with it on consent. And then the is it still made? Are you so item 3.07. Are you ready to move to that? I got one more. Oh, okay. I'm sorry. No, I thought you were done. I'm sorry. So basically the Virginia High School League, this is an ad admin rig. So this is more
130information. The Virginia High School League has changed their eligibility rules starting in 2627 if I believe that's the correct year, Miss Nukem. So in 2627, uh unless you have a bonafide move, you will have to live in the middle school. Your eighth grade year, you'll have to go to the middle school of whatever high school you're going to be participating for. So, for example, as an eighth grader, if I want to go wrestle for bird, I'd need to go to Bird Middle for eighth grade in order to be eligible, unless my parents move, and it's a bonafide move. So, the other change in that is the rule used to say, um, a few members of your family or your whatever must vacate the property for a bonafide move. Now, it says all family members must
131vacate the property. Well, we obviously had some issues. Just a few. There was a school in Northern Virginia where the whole football team moved with the coach. Yeah. And they had won all the 6A titles in a row and then what they they were undefeated and then that basically that school division shut their season down. So does that mean LCA those kids have school in eighth grade? Yeah. That's a good question. Miss Nukem, do you know the answer to that? If DHSL had something maybe they would Well, there is a new president. So now you might be able to get a meeting with him if you take kids from other states. Sounds like and then then the other thing we clarified just for clarification purposes is Ron County is kind of unique in that we're
132an AB bell schedule for our in-person classes but ourmies are 4x4s which means they're semesterized. Like if I'm taking government and I think I've signed up for five classes, but all of a sudden I got it second semester and I didn't have it first semester so I only had four classes, I'm not eligible. So we wanted to make sure uh Miss Nukem worked with the ads to make sure there's a using the VHSL credits and points so every kid knows you got to make sure you have these amount of classes in each semester. Oh, that's interesting because there are a lot of kids that do the academy classes. I actually dealt with this when I was a kid. When I was a principal at Blender, I had a kid who was like a straight A
133student. Yeah. Um tennis player actually. Um who signed up thinking he was going to have right five in the first semester. Well, he didn't didn't think about it because it was AP government online and u he was ineligible. But was he able to add a class? Well, what he was able to do is I called the VHSL and explained to them what our situation was and he said, "Well, I'll go ahead and do it this time, but Okay. You're going to have to fix this." Yeah. Interesting. It's they might manage that, but they can't they can't deal with boys and girls sports. Can't figure it out. They y'all can figure it out though. Um, but I will say it another way to do it is just add it from school year to start of the
134school year to the end of the school year. I don't know why changing the academy to a whole year course. No, no, no. I like it how it is because we have kids that move in and out of the military or whatever. Helps us a lot when kids come from Boston without a doubt. But um that the VHSL doesn't just count them all up and say it has to be X because one spring semester some kid could have seven classes. I agree. And the other one they want to might a lighter load and have three, right? Because of their Well, and the bottom line is and this is going to be a personal pedestal, but as a wrestling coach in the winter I would lose kids. Lucky I never did, but I could lose kids
135because they weren't eligible because they failed a fall sport. I mean, they failed a class in the fall. Oh, and then they're ineligible for the for the winter. Halfway through my season, then in the spring they're ineligible, but then they take the credit recoveries or whatever in the summer and they're back eligible again for football. Yeah. And then I'm back in that same cycle. Somebody should bring that to VHSL, whoever's got a connection over there, and say, "What about a cumulative point system?" Yeah. How how about a kid that's dees from sophomore season to junior season? There's no requirement for that. Miss Numm, I believe they have to pass the um requires I mean but there's no set out or anything like that. If they do move if they they have to be academic eligible.
136But how about these private How about these private schools that kids they still have to have the private they have to move into that that division area and and the changing I'm sorry go ahead talking about like LCA well I would never call out anybody but but the fact that they may be getting a quarterback or two so at the end of the day the change for that is all family members must vacate the existing where they're staying in order for it to be a bonafide move. Okay. Because you you know have grandma staying there with the whole family has to move to Lynchburg. Okay. I'm just trying to Oh, we have an example. Yeah. Under your exemption. Yes, sir. So, anyway, that was for information and that's all I have. Miss Clements, I'm sorry.
137That's okay. All right. Item 3.07, 07 pair professional assessment for title one schools. Dr. Jamie Sulttus. Yeah. So I'm actually doing this one for Miss Bradshaw. So title one requires that you have highly qualified instructional assistance and and typically the test that has been done is the parapro which cost about $100 a test. The the state does allow you to develop a local assessment that covers the topics that are required. Uh and we have checked we we put a committee together. We actually designed it 50 question assessment. It's been approved by the title one group at the state for us to use our local assessment, but it has to be blessed by the board that we're okay to use that in lie of the parapro assessment. So, Miss Bradshaw, I'll ask that I present that
138to you guys and see if y'all were good with that. And if so, it means it meets the need but saves us money. Yes. Yes. That's Yes. Does that go on consent? If you're okay with that, if everybody's good with it. Thank you very much. And I think I'm done. Okay. Your time's up. Item 3.08, request to approve the memorandum of understanding between Reno County School Board and Cave Spring Baptist Church. Miss Susan Peterson. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board. Um, you should have the uh board agenda in theou uh at your places. Uh so as you're aware uh when we have events over at Caves Spring Middle School or at Vogel uh there is not a ton of parking um and oftentimes our parents and visitors will uh park at Caves Spring
139Baptist Church and walk across the street. Um last year the pastor administration reached out to us with concerns of the additional risk that this places on uh the church. uh they don't typically open up their parking lot for general public purposes. Uh but they do want to support the school division and so we worked through this memorandum of understanding with the lawyers and the insurance company last year. Um and it was adopted last year. Uh this is an annual agreement that we would go through and this would just lay their concerns. Uh once this is adopted, we would also add them as an additional insured on our insurance policy. Um and then we would be good to go for the year. And so this is just a standard proced procedure that we'll do each year.
140And so I would like to um not get choked up. Sorry. I would like to uh add this to the corner over there. Um the consent agenda for the next meeting. Has our legal council reviewed this? Um last year they did. I didn't put it back because the only thing I changed was a date. Okay. That's fine with me. Y I'm good. Thank you. Item 3.09, long-term facilities usage contracts, Miss Tammy Nukem. Madam Chair, members of the school board, in accordance with the schoolboard policy 8.01, all long-term rental agreements must be approved by the board. We have received requests from Elevation Church and Journey Church to continue utilizing school facilities under long-term rental agreements. These arrangements have been vetted for compliance with facility use guidelines and do not interfere with school operations. We respectfully request
141the school board's approval of these long-term rental agreements as required by policy. One question, if I may, I noticed that uh at North Side, we rent the auditorium for $334 and over at Hidden Valley, it's $614. Is the reason for the the difference in I think it might be capacity, my understanding. It's in policy what the charges are, but I'll look. South County. Oh my gosh. Two in one day. I know. I just can't take it. I mean, I know the the rates for custodians, the rates for classrooms were the same, but the rates for the auditorium were different. And what's your size your auditorium capacity? Does that pardon me? What's your capacity? Your auditorium? I think the auditorium in North's probably bigger than the auditorium at Hidden Valley. It is. I don't Is that
142in policy? the capacity or it has in pol I'm trying to find it. It is in policy the charges for the different places and and certain things had higher charges like if you have a turf field you're using turf field that's right I doubt I doubt it's because of the size of the auditorium I don't know why it might be a number of classes it was was it laid out like auditorium specifically $334 at north side $614 at hidden somebody needs is it Journey Church that's there I can check I don't I don't know that This is a reoccurring contract so I didn't and and that's also something that we can look at revising. Who's in that auditorium? Who rents that? Who rents that? Journey Church. Is that is that who side? They've been a
143long time. A long time. If I remember correctly, there there's actually a calculation for utility cost included in that utility beside it. Yeah. Okay. So that's separate. That's separate that account for the difference. I can certainly look into that. Okay. I'm not sure why. And does that money stay with the schools or does that come back here to central office? I think percentage stays with the school policy as well. We used to other schools the districts but yeah it's 7525 if I remember somewhere we certain percentage stays of the school the rest of the school does do a lot of work. They have to, you know, they do turn on the lights, handle complaints. I mean, contract, right? I mean, there's a lot. The heat doesn't come online or there's a lot of issues. I'll
144find the actual charge. I I'll check in with that. I'm I'm sure North side will know why. I know that they talked to me um today that at Jurni they were um looking to go monthtomonth because they had bought property somewhere else, but they contacted us and stated no that they really weren't ready for that right now. So they they did want us to um make their contract through June of next year. Another idea is maybe it's time um maybe hit I mean maybe at Elevation is renting it out from 7:00 a.m. until 1:00. They have a I mean a broader setup. I mean, I don't know. Smaller time frame, maybe. Yeah, you might have a smaller time frame over there. I don't know. It's just one thought. It's 7 to 12 here and over
145here it's 5:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. They're doing 10 hours. At Hidden Valley, they're doing five. That's what it is then. You're getting a deal. That's what it is. It's based on five hours instead of 10. Yeah, it's because it seemed the number seemed it was almost double. So, makes sense to me. All right. I found it. It took me a while, but I found it. So, it is interesting because under the facility type for Kring High School, it is based on capacity. Kring High School has a,06 seat, so it's a $53 rental fee. And then that the extra is probably electricity. Well, this is Hidden Valley. Okay. Hidden Valley is 614 and North Side is $666, but Hidden Valley is $37 and Cave Spring is I mean I'm sorry. Um, what am I looking?
146What's North Side? I'm looking for North Side. Sorry, I can't see without my glasses. $334. That's what it says. Yeah. Sign. But there's all these other ancillary charges that can be used. Utility fees installation setup of it is $25 an hour. Uh site supervisors 21.52 per hour. So that's probably where all these other and extra time additional fee guidelines. So 50% of the rental fees are allocated to the school, 50% to the school board, 100% of the utility fees go to the school board, 100% of the uh site supervisor fees will be allocated to the school board to offset the associated payroll costs. So I'll double check. Yeah, I mean we don't need to belabor this anymore, but it would be nice to know. We'll get that clarified for for all of you guys. We
147certainly will. Sorry. It's okay. Apologize. Are we good? Okay. Item 3.10, middle school vape detectors. Miss Tammy Nukem. Okay. At the request of the school board, we have gathered cost information related to potential installation of vape detection systems in the five middle schools. This includes all necessary equipment, licensing, infrastructure to support the devices. Included in the estimate is the number of sensors for each school. Each of you have a copy of this. Um, and it's just for information if we wanted to um budget for that next year. The way this currently works, there's an initial setup fee. Mr. Terry, it's under his umbrella, but there's initial setup fee and then we the lease we we do the the yearly cost on a on a lease basis. And so that's what we do for the high
148schools. So you'll see on that paper that uh the first year is more expensive because there are certain things you cannot lease. Basically the cabling, you can't lease the cabling. So that's 75,000 upfront and then the equipment itself is all leasable and that's roughly another 75,000 per year. What's the feedback from the ones we've installed in the high school? Yeah, I think that's Yeah, I think what we've heard is uh you know, students who report that there are some who you know work around these things. But the other side of that is it's it seems to have made a positive difference. That's what I've heard. It's not foolproof, but it's a positive change. Heard it's a great in fact my student council advisory council, they said we, you know, because we have kids that are
149in the middle school on that council and they said we need it in the middle school. We need a leadership conference. I had both Hidden Valley and Cave Spring with me and that was what was brought up was that they thought we needed them in the middle schools as well. I mean I think if it's if we feel like it's working in the high schools and it's a deterrent then I think it would make sense to felt like it had really knocked the numbers down. It really made a difference. It took a little bit but once it did it made a big difference. I think in middle school you're more apt to do the right thing. Yeah. So it's a way to stop and we know that they are doing it right. So it' be
150right. And we're happy with the technology we're currently using. I guess it's part of my question too. It's we've had a year now. We've had a year. So we're happy with with the technology, the company that the services they provided. Yes. So a couple stories I talked to Miss Green from North Side and with the technology we have, it will alert the administrators by either text or email the moment it goes off. So, one of her comments uh that she gave me this week was, "It's a gamecher for me at North Side because sometimes I'm outside of the bathroom door waiting for them to come out knowing that that the sensor just went off." Wow. Uh she said, "I've got more less less students in the hallways and which keeps them in the classroom more."
151So, that she feels like it was money well spent was her exact term. That's cool. Nice. And it also allows the kids who want to use the bathroom to use the bathroom which before kids were not I mean they were literally holding. So this would be one especially in the middle school I feel like because they are so worried about getting in trouble and guilty by association. So yeah greenway's point. what we would need to do if you are in favor of moving forward with this and I think the middle school principles are also in favor um you know come budget season we'll have to budget uh you know approximately $150,000 the first year and then about 75 afterwards as long as the crisis holds the right any potential for grant money on those could
152we we can always look for grants for sure and and we we continue to look for grants for not only that but any of the security things so we'll we'll continue to look for Okay, sounds good. That's money well spent like she said. Thank you. Is there anything else? I know. Anything else? All right. Meeting adjourned. [Music]