Roanoke County School Board Meeting - May 22, 2025

001[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hello. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Honey. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey. Hey. [Music] to call our meeting back to Order. Mr. Greenway, will you please read us out of closed? Yes, ma'am. I move that Ron County School Board come out of closed session for the following and to and to discuss the investigation of a student matter [Music] pursu 3711 A2 of the code of Virginia. Also move to certify that to the best of each member's knowledge only b uh only 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 board. Second. Madame clerk, and if you

002could just exclude Miss Vashani for this portion as she was unable to attend closed. Okay. Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am. Mr. London. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hudson. Yes, ma'am. Miss Clemens. Yes, ma'am. Item 2.03 action from closed. Yes, Madam Chair. I move to long-term suspend student 2024 2025 number 10 for 364 days. Second. Madame Clerk, Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am. Mr. London. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hudson. Yes, ma'am. Miss Clemens. Yes, ma'am. Madam Clerk, if you I'm sorry. Sorry, Madam Chair. Um, I also move to uphold the recommendation of expulsion for number 2024 2025 student number 12. Second. Madame Clerk. Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am. Mr. London. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hudson. Yes, ma'am. Miss Clemens. Yes, ma'am. And if you'll please call the RO again. Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. I thought it was snowing. Chuck. Right.

003Welcome everyone. If you'll please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Item 4.01, announcement of changes in the agenda. We do not have any. Item 4.02, approval of agenda. Do we have a motion to approve? I'll make the motion to approve the agenda. Second, Madame Clerk. Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am. Mr. London. Yes, ma'am. Miss Pani? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hudson? Yes, ma'am. Miss Clemens? Yes, ma'am. Schoolboard meetings allow the board to make decisions, address business items, and oversee the governance of Reno County Public Schools. The school board welcomes the community to attend these meet these public meetings and values the input of students, parents, and other stakeholders

004during the designated public comment portion of the meeting. However, to accomplish its goals, the board must ensure that decorum and appropriate behavior are always maintained. As a result, attendees are not permitted to speak outside of the designated public comment portion of the meeting. Statements or questions directed at individual board members during a board meeting are also improper. Equally, any personal attacks and the use of vulgar language are inappropriate and detract from the board's important work. Accordingly, if interruptions or statements outside of the designated public comment time frame occur, actions up to and including the removal of disruptive individuals from the meeting may be taken. If a larger disturbance is created, the board chair may also call a recess to allow for order to be restored. By upholding these standards, we ensure productive meetings and a

005positive impact on Reno County Public Schools. All right. Item 5.01, recognition of BCAT CTSO state winners. Mr. Christian Kish. Good evening, Madame Chair, members of the board, Dr. Nicely. Thank you for welcoming us this evening. Well, it's May. That means I'm back to celebrate the uh incredible achievements of our students who participated in recent state level uh competitions for Skills USA and FCCLA. These students behind me competed against their peers across the Commonwealth and came out as winners. Uh before we acknowledge them, I do want to take the time to recognize our lead adviserss, Mr. Walls and Miss Kinszer. There's a lot of behind thescenes work that goes into planning and coordinating things so students know where to be, when to be there, what to wear, uh with registration and all that. So, uh their

006planning and coordination really helped to make sure that they were able to showcase their skills. I also want to extend gratitude to their teachers. Uh Miss Washington who's a math teacher in our center for engineering. Uh we also have um Mr. Walls who caught on 81 FYI could not make it today. Um who's our criminal justice teacher and and Miss Kohl's in cosmetology. They pour their knowledge and skills into these students so they can be prepared uh to showcase their skills and and it really does take an incredible effort by uh getting them there. I also like saying this every time it happens, but each of your districts are represented by the students here. And I think that really does speak volumes about the quality of all the schools uh that feed into the Bay

007Schools and into the Burton Center. And finally, to the parents, a very heartfelt thank you because you all put your trust in us uh to take them to these things. And as a parent myself, I know what it takes in getting your students and your children to be willing to step out and take a risk and go to these competitions. So, we appreciate the partnership and the faith that you have in us. All right, to all the students up here tonight, we are so proud of all of you. All right, so our uh we'll announce everybody at the same time and then do pictures after. All right, our FCCLA state winner in chicken fabrication, yes, that's a thing, is Teresa. Our Skills USA state winner in natural hair braiding is Lana Childress. The team of

008um the team in state skills USA for crime scene investigation is a team of three is Kyra artist, Sarah Wen, and Alyssa Wells. And then finally in Skills USA state related technical math, you may remember Frank Zaradulus who won the state competition last year, got silver in nationals uh last year in Atlanta and will go to Atlanta and try to turn that silver into a gold this year. So please congratulate Frank Zaradullis. Thank you all so much. All right. Sarah All right, everybody stand out that way and face all the moms and dads. You got the first flashes and snaps. Don't go anywhere. Congratulations. [Applause] Are we good? I've got another one here. So, item 5.02, recognition of BCAT National American Visions Medal and National Gold Medal winner, Miss Eliia Williams and Miss Sarah Cubertly.

009No, no, no. Do I have another one? I don't know. I have something different. That's what's on here. Okay, I got it. I got it. Yep. I don't know. Sorry. Okay. 5.02 recognition of VHSL class 3 North Side High School Pole Vault State Champion, Mr. Carson Davis. Presented by Miss Jill Green and Miss Kristen Hunt. Good evening, Madame Chair, members of the board. Dr. Nicely. Um, thank you for allowing us to come celebrate Carson tonight. Um, I will not speak um briefly and turn it over to Coach Hunt, but as a high school administrator, we don't often get a chance to see the early stages of growth and development. Um, Carson gave me that opportunity. Uh, Carson was about a foot shorter in 2023. um and we were getting the turf installed in the spring

010and I was trying to do my wellness walks in the evening and he thought he would pick up pole vaulting and um I thought for sure he was going to hurt himself because he did not have enough momentum and skill set to run the runway with the pole vault and even stick the thing in the little pit without going backwards. And I was like the object is to go this way on the mat. Um well boy he's come a long way in two years and uh just nothing but um hard work and a great work ethic. Uh I am going to turn it over to coach Trump but I want to say one thing and I want to thank Reno County uh for the resources to make pole vaulting possible for this young man because

011most track teams and school systems don't do that and coach Hunt can attest to that. But uh you made it possible and we have all this in place for one kid. So, thank you. Hopefully more. Yes. All right. Hello. Um, I typed up a whole big thing, but there's a lot of people, so I'm going to go a little bit quicker and not read all of it. Uh, but thank you so much for having us. Uh, Kristen Hunt, head coach of the track team. Um, super excited to be here. I didn't realize until I started writing this. Um, I've been a couple times the last couple years for some of our girls. Carson is the first boy we've had who won states in the last 12 years that I've been coached. So, super excited about

012that. And then he's also one of my former Mountain View kids. I did not teach him, but I've known him since he was in kindergarten at Mountain View. So, very special to me that I have seen him since he was this big and now he is this big. Um, so, and that's one of my favorite things about coaching is that I get to see the little ones that I teach and watch them grow and form these great relationships, which I feel like Carson and I have. Um, with that being said, I am not the one who's taught him how to jump over a 15oot pole. Clearly, uh, as Miss Green says, we have the mats and things. Um it appears from our results that we haven't had pole vaultting in about 20 years. I think

0131993 was the last time we had a balter and then the county was allowed um around 2017 2018 to start jumping again. So we had a handful of kids who just kind of flung their bodies over and did pretty well. Um but when Carson came to us two years ago, he was like, I want to try it. And we all said, not a good idea. We don't really know what we're doing. Um so we did the best we could with him and then we started reaching out to other people. So, we've had Sheriff Orange has helped you. Um, let's see. I wrote it down. Coach Holland, who's at Caves, has helped him. Coach Johnson, who's now at LB, has helped. And then Coach Carter is the main one who's worked with him. So, he drives

014to Lynchburg at least twice a week to work on those skills and to get the proper polls. He needs the polls cost eight to $900. So, we have a few polls, but nothing for him. Um, and then he jumps so high that our mat is a little small for him. So, he does the basic skills and things that he can do, but he has to go to Lynchber. So, that's a whole big thing for him that he has committed himself to and he's done that in the last two years. Um, for outdoor last year, you were runner up. And when he ca he came in second, he was like, I'm going to take it. I'm going to do it. I don't care what I have to do. And that's what he did. He was out

015there all summer long working, doing the videos, watching the Olympics, watching all those little things he has to do. And he put in every little piece of work he had to um for indoor. He was not ranked first. He was ranked, I think, third. and he and I met in the parking lot and he came out and he was like, "I feel good. This is it." I was like, "You're not going to do it. You're not. This kid's jumping like a whole foot and a half higher than you." And that kid just fell apart. And Carson was just so calm, so cool. He's like, "I've got this." And that's what he did. We just watched him do it in total shock, super excited. He knew he had it. I didn't believe in him enough. So,

016he's got to do it again for outdoor. He's trying to do 15 and a half feet. 15. We're trying to go for um We've got regions next week. He has won I think every meet we've done so far this season. He's been the top athlete. Um so we've got regions next week and then we've got states June 7th. He has qualified for nationals. He's been he has competed in Virginia Beach and all of those great places. But I'm excited we're going to be back and our team is really good. North side's really good. William Bird is here too and they're also very good. So hopefully we'll both be back with more athletes soon. So thank you so much. [Applause] I may have to stand on this. [Applause] Item 5.03, recognition of Caves High School debate

017state champion, Mr. Taylor Gruce. Presented by Mr. Chuck Parker and Mrs. Elizabeth Mayer. What? What did I say? Oh, madam chair, members of the board, Dr. Nicely, Dr. Sulttus, thank you all for your time. I have been here many times to give you student athletes and Taylor is a student athlete, but he's a scholar athlete as well, and that's what we are here to honor today. He is a debate state champion. um very well-versed, studies hard, does his craft really, really well as a freshman. But I'm going to talk or actually I'm going to turn the mic over to in the podium over to Miss Mayor uh who is his coach to give you even more great things this young man is doing for Cavespring, a true wonderful representative of our community and our school.

018Good evening. It is an absolute honor to stand before you today to recognize a truly exceptional student, a young leader whose voice, intellect, and dedication have made an undeniable impact on our school at Kring High School and on the Virginia debate community as a whole. Since joining our debate team as an eighth grader last year, Taylor Gri has proven to be a fierce competitor and a loyal debate captain, training an entirely new team this year. As the Congress captain of our debate team for the 2024-25 school year, Taylor's been a role model and mentor, setting the tone for success both inside and outside the chamber. His ability to charm and persuade not only parliamentarians, but also student senators from across the state of Virginia is impressive and inspiring. This year alone, he earned first place

019in student congress at two of the four savval tournaments, dominating the Southwest Virginia Forensics League circuit. At the Savval Championships, he placed second overall, continuing a season of highc caliber performance. But his accomplishments stretch back even further. As both an eighth grader and ninth grader, he achieved the VHSL class 1 through3 West Region Student Congress champion, not once, but twice. He was also voted most outstanding representative of the region for both of those years, which is an honor bestowed upon his own peers. And then this year, the culmination of all that hard work, talent, and perseverance at the VHSL class 1 through3 state championship, Taylor has earned the title of state champion in student congress, scoring an astonishing 490 points out of a possible 498, a near perfect score that speaks volumes about his poise,

020preparation, and power of persuasion. This is more than a list of awards, however. This is a story of growth, leadership, and unwavering commitments to excellence. Please join me in recognizing and congratulating your VHSO 133 State Champion in Student Congress, Taylor Gr. I just want to I just want to say a couple of words just because I happen to know Taylor fairly well. Um he's in the same class with my daughter and he is just an awesome kid. He's super smart. He's very well poised as you mentioned. He's just a great kid and I tell everyone that he's going to be president one day. I think he can tell you what year that's going to be Yeah, I figured. And I stand by that. Wait, he's going to be president. And I think he's catching dad

021in height. Thankfully, he got his mom's good looks. Congratulations. [Applause] Item 5.04, recognition of Williamird High VHSL indoor track 55 meter hurdle state champion, Mr. Deshawn Austin, presented by Mr. Travis Anderson. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board. Dr. Nicely. Uh it's an honor to be able to uh celebrate some accomplishments of uh Deshawn Austin. Um we're going to miss him next year. He graduates this year, but we're hoping we can get another state uh title this spring. Uh I won't jinx it. I'll knock on some wood there. Um we love having him at school, not only as you know, an athlete and watching him run. and how gracefully, you know, in this case it was the 55 meter hurdles going over those, but also him in the building and his presence and uh

022the work he does in the classroom. And so we're we're excited to be able to honor him. And I've got coach um Costa here that will speak a little bit more to thank you for having us tonight. Um I'm extremely proud and just grateful to be able to be here uh thanks to Deshawn's just tireless work ethic. Um his love of the track honestly has um rejuvenated me and my love of the sport as well. Um six years ago he showed up uh this he was about this big. Uh he was in seventh grade and he said you know can I work with you guys a little bit? I do track in the summertime. I'd love to keep working it. And he knew a lot and we let him roll and um he was really

023good. He he'd gone to some uh AAOU national events and when he got to high school, his favorite events were high jump and hurdles and he was just a little too small to do it in ninth grade. So, we put him in some other events. Um he's dabbled in some football, some basketball here and there, but track's been his passion and um we let him run some longer stuff and then last year he finally grew a little bit enough. Um well in 10th grade he finished second in the outdoor state meet in the 300 hurdles. So we knew he was getting there. Um and so last year uh in the 55 meter hurdles he he won the state championship as a junior. Um which presented an extra challenge to him this year to come in

024with that target on his back. But he rose to that occasion in the preliminary rounds. He set a school record for us and was the top qualifier to go into the final rounds the next day. Um there he ran 7.49 seconds. Uh he won by three hundths of a second over the closest competitor and um tied the class 3A state track meet championship record. So not only school record, a state meet record. Um quite an accomplishment defending a state championship. Um I just want to say to Deshawn, this has been an exciting ride. Um I've had you as a coach and an athlete. I've taught you in class. We share, we live in a neighborhood together, man, it's been just a great five, six years. Um, Deshawn has already qualified for five events in the

025outdoor state meet Championship. So, I hope to be able to come back here um June, July, whenever you guys will have us if if we um you know um if he can uh so just just happy to see him do that kind of stuff. But um he's gone to Reena College, so stick locally. He actually be closer to it here than we are in Venton. So um but thank you guys for having us and Deshan congratulations. [Applause] Item 5.05, 05 recognition of Glenn High School class 26 26 pound wrestling state champion champion Mr. Levi Wright presented by Dr. Corey Franklin and Mr. Tim Miles. Good evening members of the board. Dr. Nicely, Dr. Stus, thank you for having us. We're here to recognize this amazing young man who won a state championship this year. He's

026an extremely hard worker and very dedicated to the sport of wrestling. And to tell you more, I'm gonna turn it over to Coach Miles. Good evening. Um, despite being a freshman this year, Levi showed the poise and grit of an upperassman wrestler all year long. often staying after practice, working on small and large parts of his wrestling. Very well-rounded. Levi led from example from the start of the season, and it was clear in my eyes that he was the leader of the team in the first week of practice just by not just by uh his work ethic. His results showed uh all the work paid off in the end for him. He was 34 and five for the season. that included six and0 for the postseason, a region champion, a state champion, and also in

027the 2A state wrestling tournament. Levi scored more points for his team than anyone else in the building. So, that was an incredible feat and even more for a freshman. Uh, Levi works hard in the classroom. All the extra work uh is showing. Levi, I look forward to doing this again soon with you. Congratulations. [Applause] Breakfast. [Applause] Item 5.06, recognition of Rory Grant from William Middle as regional spelling be champion, Mr. Joe Lalt and Dr. Deborah A. Bae Wilbun. Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Nicely, uh, it's my pleasure tonight to to bring to you Rory Grant, a regional champion. Um, just a little explanation, the regional champion is the one that actually goes to nationals. So, he is leaving for the national spelling bee um, Sunday. Yes, Sunday. And he's going to be competing

028for the whole Wow. the whole kaboodleoodle. All right. So, with that, I'd like to turn this over to Dr. Bae Wilbun. She is uh from Radford University and they are the sponsor of the regional B uh where he defeated all of his competitors. Thank you. Um board members and Superintendent Nicely. Thank you for allowing me to come and recognize Rory. It's my great pleasure to do so. Um, I'm Debbie Bazewoman and I serve as the associate dean of the college of education and human development at Radford, but my other title is be coordinator at least for the last two years and it's been a wonderful thing to do. Um, Radford University is one of 200 or over 200 regional sponsors across the nation for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is

029celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. So, it's a really exciting year for Rory um to be going. Each year, the B reaches millions of students across the country, thanks to educators who enrolled their schools and engage elementary and middle school students in learning word spellings and meaning through participation in the classroom and school level Bes. This year in our region, 137 individual schools participated. From those classroom and school level B's emerged 27 spelling champions, and Roy was one of those. Um they progressed to the regional B that was held at Radford University on March 22nd. To prepare for that competition, the 27 spelling champions studied the 2025 words of the champions. A list of how many words? 4,000, right? It feels like slightly over. It does. 4,000 words. Um and so that that competition list

030was built from those 4,000 words. regional competition was fierce and the bee went a total of 13 rounds this year. It is my great pleasure tonight to recognize the winner of the Radford University regional bee. Um, your regional champion participated with confidence. He was also very humble. Um, after the bee was over and he was congratulated, he shared words about the other sellers and how he thought they were wonderful. He was just he presented with great humility. He was also poised. He looked calm the entire competition. I don't know if he felt calm, but you presented calm and and he was a wonderful person to to watch participate. His winning word was neuropathy. Right. Neuropathy. Um Radford University will sponsor sponsor Rory to attend Scripts National B week which starts um this week Monday at

031the G Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center in National Harbor, Maryland. It is a week-long spellar. It's a weeklong experience for the spellers and their families and includes lots of special events that I know you're going to enjoy. There'll be educational workshops, excursions into Washington DC and more. While at the National B Week, Rory will compete with 242 other national champions. The competitors will represent 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Department of Defense schools in Europe, as well as uh champions from five other countries outside of the United States. The preliminaries um begin on Tuesday. Rory will start competition in the midafter afternoon, late afternoon. It will be televised. So, if you have an opportunity, uh, log into Bounce XL and you can see the preliminaries. The the competition

032then progresses to quarterfinals, semi-finals, and then, uh, finals on Thursday. I'm looking forward to being at the competition to watch you compete. Rory, on behalf of Radford University's community, we look forward to seeing you engage in National B Week. We're proud of you. We know you have a great future ahead and we're just happy to be part of this, a little part of it. So, congratulations. [Applause] Maybe we can Everybody else, don't go anywhere. [Music] [Applause] It's cold in here. Yeah. Item 5.07, recognition of Virginia Western Community College Associate Degree and Uniform Certificate of General Studies recipients, Mr. Mike Riley. Well, good evening, Madame Chair, board members, and Dr. Nicely. Tonight, we'd like to recognize several students who completed college level certification programs while enrolled as students in Renault County Public Schools. We partner with

033Virginia Western Community College to provide our students with the opportunity to complete the Uniform Certificate of General Studies, the Associate of Science and General Studies, and in some cases, both. The uniform certificate of general studies is designed for students who plan to transfer to a 4-year public college or university in Virginia. When completed, the UCGS will satisfy lower division general education requirements at all four-year public colleges and universities in Virginia. Students should select courses in general education that best align to their major requirements. Students completing this program will graduate high school with a minimum of 33 college credits. The Associates of Science and General Studies is designed for a student to complete an associates degree by taking dual enrollment co courses at their base school as well as some courses directly through Virginia Western Community

034College. Students completing this program will graduate high school with a minimum of 61 college credits. So, at this time, we would like to recognize these students. First up from Hidden Valley High School, earning the uniform certificate of general studies and an associates degree in general studies is Lucy Furkron. Hey, Lucy. Lucy here. Y Come on up. Come on up. When we call your name, come on up. And what we'll have you do is just kind of stand off to the side because we'll want to get pictures of everybody together. We'll do a group photo. Yep. Next up, also from Hidden Valley High, getting an associates degree in general studies and the uniform certificate of general studies is Natasha Johnson. We're going to get pictures at the end. You come right over here. Y from Caves

035High School, earning an associates degree in general studies and the uniform certificate of general studies is Anna D. Stefano, Ava, Ava, not Anna. The V is important. Sorry about that. Ava, also from Kring High School, receiving the associates degree in general studies is Noah Wright. from North Side High School, receiving an associates degree in general studies, an associates degree in health studies, and the uniform certificate of general studies is Emily [Applause] Wyn. And our last student from North Side High School receiving the associates degree in general studies is Madison Perkins. Again, we want to congratulate these students. We know this is hard work. You have to take dual enrolled and AP classes at your base school. You have to take classes um at Virginia Western. So, we just want to congratulate you and wish you

036guys luck in the future in whatever you guys decide to do after high school. [Applause] This is your chance to get pictures. board members up top. Go for it. Just dead center. Everybody, don't go anywhere. [Applause] Item 5.08, 08 recognition of the 2024 2025 student advisory council seniors Mr. Philip Martin oh okay good evening madam chair members of the board Dr. nicely. It's my honor to stand before you tonight as the adviser to the student advisory council. As we come together this evening, I want to take a moment to celebrate and recognize the incredible group of students, student leaders who have made this year such a meaningful and memorable one. Uh not just for their schools and their peers, but also for myself. This group is made up of students who care deeply not just

037about their own success, but about the success and well-being of others. They represent the very best of what public education is meant to cultivate. empathy, responsibility, initiative, and leadership. They shown up month after month, meeting after meeting, not because they had to, but because they wanted to. They wanted to represent their school, share ideas, and build relationships, and take action. And while every single member of this council has made an impact, I want to give special recognition to our seniors tonight. To our seniors, your leadership, commitment, and your spirit have helped shape this council in countless ways. You've modeled what it means to lead with integrity, to speak with purpose, and to serve with compassion. You helped to build a culture that create that values creativity, responsibility, and collaboration. You've left a legacy, not only

038in the work you've done, but in the example you set for those who follow in your footsteps. Anyone who chooses to enter the field of education does so have a deep belief in young people. And I can say this without hesitation that you have reaffirmed that belief every step of the way. You've reminded me of why this work matters. And to anyone who questions the character, the capability, or the potential of today's youth, I invite you to spend just 15 minutes with these students. You'll walk away encouraged. You'll walk away inspired. And you'll walk away certain that the future of our community is in good hands. At this time, I'd like to turn our attention to our senior members and the young adults we are here to recognize and celebrate tonight. In just a moment,

039you will hear from several underassmen who will introduce the senior representatives from their schools. We will call the members from each school, one school at a time. After the seniors are introduced, please take a moment to share with the board your plans after graduation. We will begin with Caves Green High School and freshman member Taylor Gri. So at this time, if all Case members would make their way up to the stage, okay. Um, good evening, Madame Chair, board members, and Dr. Nicely. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Taylor Gruce. I'm a freshman at Cavespring and I represent my class on the student advisory council. Tonight I have the privilege of telling you all about the seniors from Cavesing, Relle Moran and Noah Wright. Michelle and Noah are both present today,

040so you'll hear from them in a minute. I'll start with Noah. Noah's been an amazing member of the SACE and has helped both in the school and countywide in order to make our schools a better place. Throughout his high school career, he's been an active participant in his high school and community, leading him to success on the SACE and beyond. Next, I'll talk about Michelle Moran. Michelle has been an integral part in leading the SACE along with Nathan Rogers and has helped to promote mental health along with various other initiatives in our school and community. Thank you. And I'll now bring up Michelle and Noah to discuss their post-secary plans and accomplishments. Thank you. Hey, I don't have much to say. I'm Noah. I'm going to UVA next year to study systems engineering. Thanks. I'm

041Michelle Moran and I'm going to William and Mary next year to hopefully major in psychology. Thank you guys for all you do. [Applause] Now you can see why Taylor Grizz won a state championship in debate as well. Um, next we're going to invite up our Glenver SACE representatives. So, we have eighth grade member Isaac Baroitz with us today and we have sophomore member Evelyn Guard. Um, unfortunately our two seniors from Glenver High School, Brook Smith and Aiden Hilton, uh, could not be here tonight, but I would like to share their post-graduation plans with the board. Um, Aiden Hilton, who is an exceptional student athlete at Glenber, will be attending Virginia Tech to study mechanical engineering. And Brooke Smith will also be attending Virginia Tech and she plans on majoring in forestry with a minor in

042marketing. Uh, Brooke was also awarded a very prestigious scholarship. Um, she was the recipient of the Don Holiday Memorial Scholarship uh, totaling more than $30,000. Wow. Congratulations to Brook and All right. Next, I'd like to have our Hidden Valley Middle School and high school students make their way up to the stage and we'll have Sopha member Luca Dorini um introduce our two seniors who are here with us tonight. Good evening. My name is Luca Derini and I'm a 10th grade Hidden Valley SACE representative. I'd like to take a moment to recognize our two incredible senior representatives graduating this year, Aaron Boencing and Gretchen Swank. Aaron is not only a National Merit Scholarship finalist, which speaks volumes about his academic dedication, but also a positive influence on those around him. on the student advisory council. He

043has inspired others with his strong work e ethic, commitment to excellence, and respect for those around him. He has set a positive example for those around him, and his accomplishments have brought pride to both the council and our hidden valley community. Gretchen has also been an exceptional leader in our school community. As president of Key Club, a member of Beta Club and the National English and History Scholar Society, and MOU al Alpha Theta, she's shown commitment to service. She leads by example in every area. On SACE, she has brought energy, creativity, and genuine passion for making a difference. Her dedication has not only strengthened our council, but left a lasting positive influence on our school community. Together, Erin and Gretchen have inspired us through their achievements, leadership, and commitment to SACE. Their example reminds us

044how much of a difference students can make, and we are so excited to watch them continue to lead. Now, I would like to ask Aaron and Gretchen to share their post-graduation plans. Hey, I'm Aaron and I'm going to UVA to hopefully study biochemistry on the premed track. I'm Gretchen Swank and I will be attending James Madison University to study elementary education. [Applause] All right. Next, if I could have our North Side SEC members up to the stage. These three wonderfully talented, kind, and conscientious seniors have been an absolute joy to work with this year. I'm so proud of what they've achieved over the last four years, and I'm eagerly looking forward to what they will accomplish in this next chapter. First, we have Ariel Allen, um, who serves as a senior class president at Northside

045High School and who has graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Ariel was accepted to numerous colleges and universities, but I'm going to let her share her final decision with you in just a moment. Uh, next we have Addison Frank. Um, Addison who serves in the Beta Club, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the Triam Music Honors Society. And last, we have Rowan Clemens, who is an all district choir member and who also serves in the Triam Music and Honor Society. We'll go ahead and begin with Ariel. Hi. Um, I'm Ariel Allen and I'm going to be attending Virginia Tech on a full ride scholarship to study marketing management. Hello, I'm Addison Frank. I'll be going to Liberty University to study biomedical science on a pre-med track. Nice. Hello, I'm Rowan Clemens and I will be attending

046Liberty University after graduation. All [Applause] right. And last, let's welcome up our William Bird students and fresh member Lei Wickcom to the microphone. That's what I'm thinking. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, and Dr. Nicely. This is my second year on the student advisory council, and I for you tonight to recognize our seniors Nathan Rogers and Mer Raura. Not only are they fantastic and valuable members of the SACE, but they're also great colleagues. Even since back in 2022 and 23 23 when I was just introduced to this organization, they've been there to answer any questions I've had about it. Um, being curious first member and just hearing about it and obviously being selected for it. They were there for me and very appreciative of that. So, anything that I had wondered about it,

047uh, regardless of whether it were events or, uh, upcoming things or requirements of one to be on that organization, they were always there to answer those questions. Along with this, they've also been incredibly kind and compassionate to me. Um, as I'm sure you're aware, the SACE has a yearly retreat each year, and on my first uh year of 2023 2024 SACE season, we went to Treetop Quest. And um I am dreadfully afraid of heights. So it was uh very nice to see some people who were there who were so welcoming to me as a first year member and very supportive of me as I took on those courses. So not only are they great uh members of the SACE being incredibly resourceful and helpful to those who are new members um but they're also great

048friends. Uh whether it be leading our school clubs or organizing community events for awareness. Wish them the best of luck on their next endeavors in life. And now I asked them to step up the podium and speak on what their plans for the future are. I'm Nathan Rogers. I'm going to tech pursuing a degree in architecture. I am Mera Ritra. I will be attending the University of Virginia as an equal scholar and I will be majoring in chemistry on the premed track. [Applause] And we also like to add that all the blue bags that were on your tables today are from us. A little token of our appreciation for you guys. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Well, at this time we'll invite all of our seniors board members. Moms and dads are welcome to come

049and take photos as well. Yeah, maybe a couple step. All right, moms and dads, go for it. Don't go anywhere. [Applause] What's the meant item 5.09 09 RRMM student leadership scholarship in honor of Dr. Ken Nicely, region 6 superintendent of the year, Mr. Kenny Word. Good evening everyone. How are you guys doing? My name is Kenny Word. I'm with RMM Architects, business development manager. Appreciate you guys having me tonight. We're going to have a party for life. Sorry. So, on an annual basis, RM recognizes the regional superintendent of the year. This is our way of giving back to the community, but also honoring these great educators for all that they do for these students, teachers, administrators, and parents within their respective school districts. So, with that said, the region six superintendent of the year is

050none other than your leader, my friend Dr. Ken Nicely. The the the recipient of this award is none other than the future hokey, Nathan Rogers. [Applause] New York. I don't know. I'm not sure. Hey, that's a bird. Well, it's his. It's his to give away. I'll take all the photos. Here we go. Here we go. All right. Don't go anywhere. Let's see. I'm do this one, too. Here we go. Don't go anywhere. Got to find out which camera I'm on. Okay, here we go. You're good. [Applause] That's nice. He's offered a job. Thank you. Thank you. Item 5.10, 10 recognition of Glenford High School and Hidden Valley High School as 2025 VBODA Virginia Honor Bands. Mr. Rick Elliott. Good evening, Mad Madam Chairman, members of the board. Dr. Nicely, it is my privilege uh to

051present to you some very distinguished awards won by a few of our high school bands and choirs. directors and students have worked very hard to achieve these accolades from the state. The first one is the 2025 Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association Virginia Honor Band. To re to get this award, bands must accomplish two things. First, the marching band must earn an overall superior rating at the state marching assessment. This assessment is adjudicated by a panel of marching band experts. Second, the band must earn an overall rating of superior for district concert assessment. This this assessment is also adjudicated by highly skilled concert band experts. Superior is the highest rating for these assessments. Two bands in Renault County earned this award this year. This is the second time in achieving this award for both bands.

052They are Glenn High School directed by Nick Alfred and Hidden Valley High School directed by Thomas Gallion. [Applause] Put your Here we are. Anybody else? Thank [Applause] you. Next is the Virginia Music Educators Association Blue Ribbon Award. This is awarded to high schools. It is earned when each of the top band and choir ensembles earn superior ratings at district assessment. One of our high schools earned this distinction and this is the first time that we have done so. Um the symphonic band directed by Mr. Thomas Gallion and The Corral, a coral ensemble directed by Andrew Miller at Hidden Valley High School, earned this rating this year to earn Hidden Valley High School this uh Blue Ribbon Award for music. [Applause] hungry. What was that? I don't know what's going on. Give me the print. I

053[Applause] need You will see many students coming up here to be recognized for in their individual hard work and dedication. These students have put in long hours along with their directors, honing their skills to be eligible to be included in Virginia's top musical ensembles. They all survived multiple rigorous auditions to be placed inside these groups. Um, unless I am mistaken, this is the largest number we have made. we have had made all Virginia band and choir in quite some time. It is truly a reflection of the very fine work that the directors at our schools are doing and you know they work tirelessly to make sure that their students are well prepared. First of all, first off we have the all Virginia band and we have two students in our county. One from Northside High

054School, Jackie Porter. Director is Tim Gallian. [Applause] Hidden Valley High School. Julia Pierce, directors. Thomas Gall. [Applause] What's that? [Applause] getting some steps in tonight. Next, we will introduce you to the the students who made the all Virginia High School chorus. I will let them all file in and then I will uh announce each school's participation. spent a lot of time trying to get certificates and names spelled correctly. I hope we we were successful. From Capes High School, directed by Bradley Stump, we have William Richardson and Purdue Hula Peruan. Sorry, my apologies. [Applause] from Glenn High School directed by Sarah Smith. We have Nicholas [Applause] Fredachelli from Northside High School directed by Ashley Gallion, Bibana Bell, and Adeline Miller. [Applause] From William Bird High School, directed by Matt Bartley, we have Alyssa Adams, Brooke Hershel,

055Alexis Short, and Connor Wheeler. [Applause] from Hidden Valley High School directed by Andrew Miller, Isabella Shelnut, and Lily Stanley. [Applause] Yes, that's separate. Let's have all of our high school chorus here. Only jump on in. All right. [Laughter] Did they prepare a song for us? Not sure. All right, don't go anywhere. Congratulations. [Applause] In the fall, the Virginia Music Educators Association had auditions for an honors choir uh group that performed at the annual state music educators conference in Richmond. It is a very difficult group to get into. This year, one talented senior from Williamird High School successfully made it in. His name is Christian Parker. I'd like to recognize [Applause] We've got very tiring. You want to say something? Okay. Before he goes, maybe not. Maybe not. You want us? I think we have to

056go back up. All Virginia Middle School. Come on. The these students made the Virginia chapter of the American Choir Directors Association All Virginia Middle School Chorus. from Cavespring Middle School. Michael Steto, Jackson New Jas Jasine Sarmento, Seal Dela Cruz, Isabelle Duramedes, and Elaine Mccoral. [Applause] from Hidden Valley Middle School, Carly Johnston. [Applause] from North Side Middle School, Kevin Tran and Olivia Cunningham. [Applause] filling in Miss Ashley again and from Williamird Middle School, Gracie Chisum, Jadia Jada, sorry, Baldwin, Hannah Counts, and Maryanne Jenkins. [Applause] Yes, it is. Let's have at it. Make sure you got an opportunity for a great [Applause] Is that Mr. Elliot? Before you leave, I just wanted to say thank you for uh for your time. Rona County Public Schools. I know you're getting ready to retire. I've seen you so many

057times during the Christmas season running from one school to another. Your dedication and uh and what you've done for our music department is very much appreciated. Just wanted to say thank you. [Applause] Item 5.13, recognition for published article in elementary STEM council journal, Miss Kim Bradshaw. Good evening, Madame Chair, school board members, Dr. Nicely. It gives me great pleasure to bring forward Julie Zanzamire, the principal at Hermanel Horn, and Tina Coffee, the instructional technology resource teacher that's also at Hermanel Horn. Both of these ladies just recently published an article titled Bridging Gaps: STEM Strategies That Work in Title One Schools. And I'm just going to share the opening that they had in this article because I think it truly embodies their vision for Herman Elhorn. We've made it our mission to ensure that every child

058has access to the tools, experiences, and mindset needed to thrive in a technology-rich world. Through intentional planning, strategic funding, and a lot of creativity, we've developed a hands-on schoolwide STEM program that meets students where they are and takes them further than they imagined. I am so incredibly proud of these ladies uh not for only having and delivering their vision at Herman Elhorn but also for taking the initiative to write the article, share and inspire others across the nation to do the same. So I just wanted to bring these two ladies forward to you all and say congratulations, Miss Anzamire and Miss Coffee. So good. [Applause] Item 5.14 recognition of 2025 March Mathness winners Sarah Bear. Good evening, Madame Chair, members of the board, and Dr. Nicely. I am Sarah Beer. I'm the supervisor of mathematics,

059and I'm delighted to address you today to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our students during the recent March Madness competition. For three weeks from March 3rd through the 21st, our schools competed um competed to complete as many math skills to the proficient level as possible. Excuse me. Schools were placed on four teams. the Duncan denominators, fractions of fury, gardens, guardians of geometry, and number ninjas. Before celebrating the the I'm so very sorry. Before celebrating the success of our students, teachers, and schools, I would like to acknowledge the support team that we had from key individuals. Dr. Ken Nicely for approving this um district-wide initiative again this year and serving as our referee. Team coaches, Dr. Dr. Jessica McClung for the Duncan denominators, Mike Riley for fractions of fury, Dr. Jamie Sulttes for Guardians of Geometry,

060Kim Bradshaw the number ninjas, Colleen Bert, our EXL district partnership specialist for her collaboration, the weekly data analysis that she did and continuous support. Chuck for his creativity and brainstorming and partnership with Reno Valley Television and Alan Francis, the multimedia producer with Reno Valley Television for creating our weekly videos showcasing our schools and our students and teachers. Our district's results exceeded expectations. Last year, we achieved approximately 142,000 proficient skills in four weeks. This year, in one week less than just three, we reached a little over 70,000 proficient skills. That is an increase of just a smidge over 20%. It is my pleasure to announce this year's winners. The most proficient team was coached by Kim Bradshaw and it was the number ninjas. It was com made up of six schools teachers and the students at

061Clearbrook Elementary, Fort Lewis Elementary, Glen Cove Elementary, Mason's Cove Elementary, William Bird Middle School, and Northside High School. The most proficient classroom goes to second grade at Herman Elhorn, Miss Jen Pino's class. They received a courtesy pizza party from EXL. And for the overall most proficient school, it is an honor to present the traveling trophy to Fort Lewis Elementary. They secured the um top position for all three weeks of the competition. Additionally, excuse me, tonight they are going to receive the traveling trophy engraved with their school's name and year. Additionally, we recognize three Fort Lewis Elementary teachers whose dedication and enthusiasm sustained momentum throughout the competition. Dee Clifford, third grade, Joy Ronamp, fourth grade, and Shaun Duff, fifth grade. As we celebrate our student success, we must also acknowledge the support provided by parents, guardians,

062and the entire school community. The encouragement has been pivotal in inspiring our students to reach their fullest potential. Thank you for your attention and I look forward to your continued support and nurturing excellence in mathematics throughout Ronoke County. [Applause] For what? right now. Yeah. Fortific glad Herman El Horn got something. My grandson thought it was rigged till they got What you got? [Applause] We got to get all clear. Come on up. Let's get that whole team together. That was that was Northside High School North High [Music] School Cove Mason Cove William Bird and then we'll get to her home in just a second. So, let me get all of these guys because this is our most proficient team. We need the coach up here. Coach Bradshaw has to come up. What was your team again?

063Number something. Ninja number ninjas. Ninja numbers. Yeah. A bunch of times. I love it. Did y'all all find your like pick your own names? No. They gave you Oh, you inherited. Okay. Okay. Okay. No. Who doesn't want to be a ninja? All right, ninjas. Good. And then we have our most proficient classroom. I'm freezing. You should feel my hands. It's like ice. My nose is cold. Mine, too. I'm freezing. It's like a puppy. A puppy. My hands. Are you cold? Mhm. Yes. It's awful in here. Sorry. I always It doesn't go with my outfit. But thank you for the offer. That's what I said. I told Edie that. She's like, "I'm good, too." I'm like, "Aren't you the one controlling the thermostat?" I guess she didn't take my hand. Item 5.15, introduction of new administration

064for the 202526 school year. Good evening, Madam Chairman, board members, Dr. Nicely. I don't have a cool trophy, a cool name, or anything, but that's okay. This is an exciting time because I actually get to introduce our new administration for next year. So, I'm gonna ask them to stand and then I'll introduce them as they go through. I told them they needed to have a speech ready, so we'll see how they do. We're going to find out. No, I'm just kidding. Uh, first of all, there are new principles. Uh, Mr. Evan No, at Williamird High School. Uh, Evan, you y'all know, is currently our principal at Williamird Middle School. So, we're glad to have Our new principal at William Bird Middle School is uh Katie Hutchinson. And of course, she is the current assistant principal

065at William Bird Middle. Next, we have principal at Glenn Elementary is Christy Stanley. And Christie is the current assistant principal at Glenn Elementary. Next is our assistant principles. I have uh Mr. Dr. Jason Murray at Glenn High School. He is our current athletic director at Glenn High School. Moving from Glenn High School to Glenn Middle School is Tyler Brown. Tyler can't be here tonight because he's got his daughter's graduation of preschool. And I don't know, Dr. S. Promotion. Promotion. Yeah. So, it's promotion on graduation, but we're excited to have Tyl Tyler moving to the middle school. Uh, next I have Allison Thornton at Williamsberg Middle. She is a current teacher at Williamird High School. And Allison actually has 19 years of experience in Rona County Schools. I've been practicing his last name, so I hope

066I don't mess it up. It's Michael Gavioro. Uh he is our new assistant principal at Glenn Elementary. Uh Michael is currently the assistant principal at Round Hill in the city. He has eight years of teaching experience in Batai County and four years of administrative in Ronic City. Our newest hire as of today, Kristen Schmidt. She is Oak Grove Elementary School. Kristen is a former current project coordinator with TTAC at Radford University. She is a former elementary principal in Salem and she has 14 years of administrative experience. So, we're glad to have you join us. Next is our instructional supervisors. We have Sally Weiss as a supervisor of English language learners. She's a current ELLL teacher at Northside Middle and she has seven years of experience. And finally, we have Miss Shannon Norman. She is the

067supervisor of music and performing arts. She is a current teacher at Casey Elementary. Shannon has 21 years of teaching experience. I'm really excited about this group. Um they've been a lot of fun to get to know. Of course, a lot of them we already do know. And I I really look forward to great things. and I think we have a great group of administrators that are going to lead our our schools moving forward. So, uh, thank you for your support and having them and I do think they're going to be fantastic. So, thank you. They have to stay till the till the end of the program, right? Initiation. [Applause] Wonderful. I see. Well, I was just waiting. It's loud. I was Wasn't loud enough. I was snorted in the microphone. You can't do that. Item

0685.16, recognition of Miss Susan Peterson, winner of the VASBO Cardinal Award, Highest State Honor for School Business Officials, Dr. Ken Nicely. Miss Peterson, come on up, please. Miss Peterson is has been attending the um Virginia Association of School Board Officials um uh meeting the past couple of days. And uh just yesterday, I believe you were completely surprised uh to find out that she had won uh this award. So I just want to tell you a little bit about this. This is the the the information from uh Vasbow, which is the Virginia Association of School Business Officials. Uh they're pleased to recognize Miss Susan Peterson of Vern County Public Schools as the recipient of the 2025 Vaso Cardinal Award. The Virginia Cardinal Award is Vasbbo's premier annual recognition for a member who exemplifies professionalism, leadership, and

069innovation in the field of school business management. Candidates in this award are nominated by their fellow colleagues from across the state and take part in a competitive application process to identify each year's recipient. The Cardinal Award recognizes a prestigious milestone for school business official officials in Virginia. They're excited to recognize Susan Peterson for her unending commitment to um their profession and the continued work that she does for the betterment of our schools and students across the Commonwealth. Susan Peterson serves as the director of finance for county public schools. She's a standout leader who impacts reaches beyond far beyond her job title. For more than a decade, she has served as the chief financial steward for one of Virginia's midsize school divisions, overseeing a complex multi-million dollar budget with precision and purpose. Her work ensures that

070financial resources directly support instructional priorities and long-term student success. Her leadership has not gone unnoticed. Under her guidance, the division has received numerous state and national awards for financial transparency and excellence, including the meritorious budget award from ASBO, which is the national organization, and the GFOA certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting. Her contributions extend well beyond spreadsheets and balance sheets. During the pandemic, she led the strategic planning and management of nearly $30 million in federal relief funds, ensuring every dollar was used to meet student needs while protecting the long-term financial stability of the division. Innovation is the core of her work. She developed her division's first financial or finance SharePoint site, expanded a public-f facing budget blog, and produced a budget 101 video, all empowering staff, families, and taxpayers with greater access to

071information and decision-making. Beyond her local work, Miss Peterson has a lasting impact across the Commonwealth. She leads a statewide group of school finance officers, coordinating regular meetings that have become a vital professional network. She has served as a Vasbbo membership chair and currently hosts the Vasbo School Finance Group, where her dedication and inclusive leadership has helped grow and strengthen the profession. for all she has done and will continue to do for the betterment of school business. Basau is proud to award the 2025 Cardinal Award to Miss Susan Peterson, director of finance for county public schools. [Applause] Congratulations. She was presented. This was a big surprise at the conference yesterday. All right, here we are. Very good. [Applause] Great job, Susan. I know you only work about 100 hours a week or more. Or more. You're

072doing a great job. Thank you. Item 6.01, report by student advisory council representative, Mr. Nathan Rogers. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, and Dr. Nicely. Student Advisory Council met for the last time this school year on May 14th. We hosted our annual Q&A with Dr. Nicely, welcomed new members, and voted for leadership roles for next year. The Q&A with Dr. Nicely is always a highly recommended and requested by the committee members. It's great to be able to get a glimpse into his day-to-day job and to be able to ask him questions about things going on in the county. It also allows us to form a closer relationship with him and learn some things we didn't already know, like the fact that he willingly chooses to put applesauce on pancakes. I don't know about

073that. Our council is made up of two students from grades 8 to 12 from every middle and high school. This year, we welcome 10 new students to be part of the council. These students are faculty nominated and peer- elected, meaning that they showed leadership skills their teachers notice as well as their fellow students. We are so excited to see all that they will accomplish over the next couple of years. As I mentioned earlier, we also voted for leadership positions for the 2025 2026 school year. I am pleased to announce that Levi Wickham from Williamird High School has been elected to the role of clerk. Taylor Gr from Caves High School was selected to be the alternate representative. Lily Bradic from Hidden Valley High School was selected to serve as the vice representative and Barrett Tyrie

074from Hidden Valley High School will be the senior representative. Throughout the year, we discussed a wide range of topics that affect students every day. Some of the issues we gave feedback on included the new grading policy which aims to be fair and more consistent, opportunity ready portfolios, which were used to let students show off their skills before graduation, the roll out of Canvas, which is the new learning platform we use for all classes, the new cell phone policy in high schools, and school safety, including vape detectors that were added into the restrooms. Beyond meetings, many of our members helped with service projects throughout the year. Some highlights include the nights aid arrive alive campaign to raise awareness around safe driving, pause for mental health, which was a project with teen ambassadors from the tutor house,

075and a mock car crash event at Williamird High School, which was a powerful reminder of the dangers of distracted and impaired driving. These are just a couple of things our members have done over the last year. But behind all these events is a goal of making a difference in our schools and communities. On behalf of the student advisory council, thank you to the school board and our district leaders for your support, your time, and your willingness to listen to student voices. We truly appreciate being taken seriously and being invited to give feedback on important conversations. Thank you and have a great night. [Applause] I'd just like to say, Nathan, you may be the first William Bird student we've had lead the SACE. I can't remember. and and all the students that that have been here

076in the time that I've been here have been so strong and and and wonderful spokespersons for the student body and so forth, but you uh you exemplify that. you have uh you exude character and poise and you can see the peers around you when we've had some of those SACE meetings um that you you rub off on them in a positive way and you give good feedback and and you're uh just very very thoughtful and and deliberate in everything you do and you're going to you're going to do well. Uh I'm proud of you and and our community is proud of you. Thank you. I appreciate you're welcome. Yeah, thank you for your leadership and being here for our meetings and best of luck to you. Go Hokes. Item 7.01, hearing of citizens for agenda

077items. We do not have any. Item eight, consent agenda. Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda? So moved. Second. Madame Clerk. Mr. Greenway? Yes, ma'am. Mr. London? Yes, ma'am. Miss Pagani? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hartson? Yes, ma'am. Miss Clemens. Yes, ma'am. Item 9.01, request for approval of social studies instructional resource adoption, Mr. Philip Martin. Good evening again, Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Nicely. Tonight, I'm here to formally request your approval for instructional resource adoption recommendation for social studies in grades K through 4 and 6 through 8. This adoption is a crucial next step in preparing for the full implementation of Virginia's revised 2023 history and social studies standards of learning which will take effect next school year. So why adopt now? Um as I mentioned there are new standards that will

078be fully implemented and tested next school year. And in grades K through four and six through eight, staff are especially reliant on highquality instructional resources, not just for delivering content, but um also for building historical thinking skills, supporting student processing, and then also providing consistent assessment tools. With new standards on the horizon, we must ensure that uh our materials align and equip both teachers and students for success from day one. To ensure a thorough selection process, uh we had two instructional resource adoption committees that were formed this spring. Uh one for elementary and then one for middle school. Each committee included teachers from every single grade level and every single school across the district as well as school administration uh and a parent representative. Using a standardized rubric, we evaluated all materials for style, accessibility,

079alignment with new standards, digital integration, age appropriateness, uh as well as pedagogical effectiveness. After narrowing the field down, each committee received formal publisher presentations. Then we had a final vote. Um after an in-depth review both committees overwhelmingly react uh recommended the same product which is five ponds press for adoption for K through four uh the committee was 100% across the board for five ponds. In middle school for civics it was 86% in favor of five ponds and then for US1 and US2 it was 75%. So again pretty overwhelmingly in favor of of the product. It's also important to note that uh this is not a wholesale change. In fact, this recommendation is really a continuation of the same publisher we're currently using, just an updated revised um product for all the grades except for Civics.

080So, Civics will be the only course that would be changing a publisher based on this proposal. Uh really quickly, I want to tell you why we're recommending Five Ponds Press. Um so, first, they were the only available publisher that exclusively aligns with Virginia standards. So, they are not aligning with any other state standards. They're also not align aligning with Common Core. That means that product is exclusively aligned to the SOS. Uh their resources are written, reviewed, and field tested by Virginia educators. Their ebook platform offers seamless access for students and families, both available in English and Spanish with immersive features like readaloud, annotation tools, integration, and class canvas. I mean, I could go on and on about the digital tools this product comes with. Uh on top of that, it also comes with a collection

081of formative summitive and performance-based assessments that are already built out for our teachers and again aligned with what they should be teaching. They have scaffolded differentiated activities aligned with the science of reading initiative. They have career connections and instructional components supporting both Virginia's profile of a graduate and the five C's, which is also very well aligned with our vision of deeper learning um as well as opportunity ready skills. And then finally, they have study guides and family newsletters for each unit um for both English and Spanish. Uh so here's what the committee is requesting tonight. Um, we respect respectfully request that the board approve the adoption for five pawns press for grades K through four and six through eight, permission to immediately begin purchasing the recommended materials, and permission to immediately begin to surplus or

082remove existing social studies instructional resources for these grade levels only. This recommendation reflects our commitment to academic rigor, accessibility, and instructional continuity for all students in Renault County Public Schools. Thank you for your continued support of high quality instruction and standards aligned learning. At this point, um, did there any questions regarding this adoption request? I don't think so. Do we have a motion to approve the adoption? Make a motion to approve the social studies instructional resource adoption as presented by Mr. Martin. Second. Any discussion? Madame Clerk. Mr. Greenway? Yes, ma'am. Mr. London? Yes, ma'am. Miss Pani? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hudson? Yes, ma'am. Miss Clemens? Yes, ma'am. Thank you very much. Item 9.02, request for approval of math instructional resource adoption. Miss Sarah Bear. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, and Dr. Nicely. Tonight,

083I respectfully request your approval of the instructional resource adoption recommendations for mathematics K through 12. This adoption supports full implementation of Virginia's 2023 mathematics standards of learning, which are already in effect across the state. This school year marks our first year under the revised mathematics standards. Originally, a crosswalk year was planned to help divisions transition. However, with the state's timeline shifting, we entered full implementation without fully aligned instructional materials. And to ensure that our teachers and students have what they need to succeed under the new standards, we must adopt resources that are aligned, comprehensive, and instructionally sound. So, the process began in February of 2025. We formed committees that were targeted for K5, 68, algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2, pre-cal, calculus, and statistics. Each committee com uh excuse me, included teachers along with school administrators

084and parent representatives. We used standardized rubrics. Committees initially screened multiple products selecting two finalists per level and then these two finalists received formal publisher presentations followed by in-depth evaluations across the five um five categories intent content methodology assessment and technology. So our recommendations after our rigorous evaluation process they recommend for K5 KDUm 68 and algebra geometry and algebra 2 math space pre-calculus with limits by Ron Larson um calculus for the AP course by Michael Sullivan and the practice of statistics for AP uh seventh edi edition excuse me um why are these resources at the elementary level um the committees felt that they were strongly aligned with the 2023 math SOS, built-in developmental progressions for our students, emphasis on manipulatives and hands-on learning experiences, fully integrated digital tools, and the universal design for learning principles were

085throughout Kdum for 68 and algebra, geometry, and algebra 2. math space um has been selected because it has very distinct and clear learning objectives and structured lesson frameworks, real-time feedback, effective digital integration and it was specifically this company built um for Virginia SOS and it was not adapted from common core pre-calculus and our um calculus and statistic courses. We have strong canvas LMS integration. We have multiple problem solving approaches are evident in all three. We have realworld relevance and structured design for our students. In addition, we have video and teaching supports not only for teachers but also our students built in their online platforms. Um we also have advanced ebook and video features and especially strong alignment to the AP exam structure. Tonight, I respectfully request that the board approve the adoption of mathematics instructional

086resources as recommended for grades K through 12, permission to begin purchasing the approved materials, and permission to surplus or remove existing resources in these areas. These recommendations reflect our commitment to academic excellence, equity, and aligned instruction for every learner in Rono County Public Schools. Thank you for your continued support, and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. I'll make the motion to approve the math instructional resource adoption by Miss Bayer as presented. Second. Any discussion? Madame clerk. Mr. Greenway? Yes, ma'am. Mr. London? Yes, ma'am. Miss Vani? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hudson? Yes, ma'am. Miss Clemens? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Item 9.03, 2025 20226 RCPS pay plan revision. Mr. Dr. Jim Bradshaw. Good evening, Madam Chair, board members, Dr. Nicely. Uh, tonight I request uh permission for approval of the new pay plan which

087has been revised to reflect the 3% increase for all steps and grades uh throughout the entire plan. And that's the only change from the, you know, updated that you already approved last meeting or last time we did the budget. Do we have a motion? I'll make the motion. Second. Any discussion? Yes. Is is our other part of that is that is that that's not included in so that'll be Susan. Okay, sir. All right. Thank you. Are we good madam clerk? Mr. Greenway? Yes, ma'am. Mr. London? Yes, ma'am. Miss Pani? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hudson? Yes, ma'am. Miss Clemens? Yes, ma'am. Item 9.04, 2025 2022 annual budget revision approval student fee schedule. Miss Susan Peterson. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board. Um, in accordance with state law, school divisions are required to adopt a student

088fee schedule and make it publicly available on the website. Uh, we have aligned this requirement with our annual budgeting process as the two are closely related. During the March 20th school board meeting, you approved the 2025 2026 student fee schedule and related policy changes. At the time, we anticipated that the general assembly would enact legislation eliminating dual enrollment tuition charges for all students. Uh based on that expectation, we removed dual enrollment fees from the schedule at the time. Uh however, this did not come to full fruition and certain dual enrollment courses will still uh retain a fee uh that is passed through to the student. Um and as a result, we are updating our student fee schedule uh to add back the $43 per credit hour maximum uh for dual enrollment courses to the student

089fee schedule and all of the changes for the policies are included. You will see the additional revenue and expenditures uh in the next item. So if you have any questions, I can't answer those, but otherwise um we just u have the fee schedule and the policy change. I make a motion to approve the 2025 202 26 annual budget revision regarding student fee schedule. I'll second. Any discussion? Madame Clerk. Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am. Mr. London. Yes, ma'am. Miss Van. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hudson? Yes, ma'am. Miss Clemens. Yes, ma'am. Item 9.05, 2025 20226 annual budget revision approval, Miss Susan Peterson. I am glad to uh bring a revision uh to the school board to increase our original budget by 4.6 million from the original budget adopted on March 20th. Uh we held a work session on May

09012th to review um all of the items that are on the screen. Uh this is also in your board docs and you have a it's on like page two of the stapled landscape report in front of you if you want to follow on there. Um I'll really quickly uh review kind of what we uh discussed at that time but I won't belinger the information. Um on the revenue side we did have 3.3 million additional revenue coming from the state. uh Ron County uh increased their revenues and that came through the revenue sharing agreement to provide an additional 597284 to the school division. Also, as part of the revenue sharing agreement, uh they provide us some CSA funding that we turn around and transfer back to the schools. So, you'll see um an additional 250,000 in

091revenues. You'll also see that later is a transfer back to them in under expenditures. Um, and then as I previously spoke in the last uh item, the dual enrollment tuition, we have added 75,000 back to the revenues. Again, you'll see an expenditure of the same amount down below. Um, and then on the expenditure side, uh, we did provide for a 3% scale shift and discussed this. Uh, that provided a 4.6% raise uh, to all employees that were not at the top of the scale and we will address that in a minute. Uh so but for now we've got 3.7 million set aside for that. Uh we are uh we had increased the technology replacement plan transfer for a an add-on to our Raptor program. This is student safe. This is for threat assessments. So that

092was the 2185. Uh you've got the CSA transfer I mentioned. Uh then the nutrition marketing is $8,500. Uh this is for uh specific items that are promotional materials during school breakfast and lunch weeks for our students. Um the next item, school board or uh Senate Bill 1017 did not come to fruition and so we do not need to set aside uh that additional 100,000 for unpaid bill balances. So we pull that off of our expenditures. Uh we are providing an additional $50,000 in athletic aotments. Uh this will end up providing another $7,600 per high school and $2,400 per middle school. Uh we're adding in is AI is becoming the new hot topic and we're uh working to get our hands around that. We are adding in 81,000 for software for teachers and students to use

093AI software. Um and it does have all the uh correct legal ease in the background to protect our student information. Uh we are adding uh one HVAC apprentice position um for 24,250. Um we are also adding in a school counselor floater to help with uh leave leaves of absences when they occur. And then you see the dual enrollment tuition. So that amount brought us down to uh just under we had 26,412 left over that we had discussed at the time possibly putting into health insurance. Um, however, subsequent to this meeting, uh, I was asked to provide additional information on employees at the top of the scale or over the scale. Um, in response to that and based on the feedback given to us, uh, we are recommending a one-time longevity stipend of $1,000 for these

094employees to help off help offset the insurance costs. The total cost of this stipen would be $87,210. So, the difference uh of that is $60,798. Um and we do feel comfortable that we can uh budget negative payroll lapse of this amount to cover um the the difference. Uh so uh the final schedule that you have in front of you shows the breakdown uh by fund and by functional category so that the county can adopt our budget on Tuesday. Uh so what I will end up doing is uh they have read the first reading of our budget and on Tuesday they will have the second reading. So, I'll provide them with these changes at that time and um as long as you adopt them tonight. Um and then they will adopt the the our revised budget

095as their original budget. So, um I can answer any questions that you may have. Do we have a motion to approve? Yeah, I'll make a motion to approve the 2025 2026 annual budget revision approval as presented by Miss Peterson. Second discussion. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, so thank you for for the proposal. Thank uh thank you board members for uh an adjustment for our senior employees. I just want to make it known that I think we need to we need to change that uh step scale from is it 31 we've got currently to at least 33. I think we ought to make that as a part of our budget adjustment. Um, just so you know, I fought to get the same across the board for the 32 33 year employees that we gave our

096our 0 to 31 employees. And for me, when you open your checkbook and you read down what you've paid out of your checkbook, it kind of tells you what is important to you. And when you do a budget, it kind of tells you what's important to you. And while we fought hard and and got this additional uh uh percentage for our employees, um knowing from a business perspective, what your senior employees mean to you? Uh it bothers me that we're not treating them the same. I know you there's got to be some kind of guidance and uh we're government and we don't want to grow necessarily but in my mind uh those senior employees should be treated the same as uh as the u the younger employees especially for their guidance their leadership their experience

097uh otherwise we wouldn't still have them and a lot of in a lot of those schools and from some of the conversations I had with principles uh those are the most leaned on advice given employees we have. So, um I think it's a shame. It's it's not much difference. I'll be honest. It's not a not a lot of difference in what we're giving and what we're doing, but we have to fight for this every year. And I don't think that's something we should have to do. we had the money available through the payroll lapse just like we've, you know, we spent two million this year to cover our reserves. I feel like we could have found 120,000 for for those employees. So, um, some didn't agree with me and so we didn't get it done

098exactly the way I felt we should have and the way we should treat our employees, um, especially those senior ones. And let me say one more thing. When we talk about our senior employees, we're not talking about a GE uh 30 35 year employee that's making 150 or 200,000 a year. We're talking about school employees that go from 40,000 and maybe they're at 75,000 30 years later. So, I hope the intent and and I believe that that a piece of it is uh an intent that we bring in younger employees um and that we have some cost savings there. But when you're talking about what these teachers mean to our communities and to uh society in general, I think they're worth every penny. And so for me uh I would like to see us do

099the same thing we did for our other uh staff members. But uh I am happy we got to the thousand. I'll fight the fight again next budget season. I probably should have brought it forward a little sooner, but I I didn't really didn't think we would cut those those out when we gave this. So thank you. And that's all I've got. Anyone else, Madame Clerk? Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am. Mr. London. Yes, ma'am. Miss Pani? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hudson? Yes, ma'am. Miss Clemens? Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Miss Peterson. Thank you, Susan. All right, we have no information items. She's really uh earning that award back there, aren't you, Susan? Making you work hard. Trying to squeeze every dollar out of you, Susan. Well, let me say that's not, you know, that that's not Susan. That's our

100call right here. That's the board. No, I'm just saying we're putting extra work. She's lots of extra work. Thank you, Susan. Yeah, thank you, Susan. Item 11.01, hearing of citizens for non-aggenda items. Our first speaker is Karen Looney. During this portion of the meeting, citizens are invited to address the board on matters of public concern and exercise of their First Amendment rights. In the interest of time, speakers must be either parents, employees, students, or citizens of Reno County. We ask speakers to be respectful and civil in their comments, observing due respect of the dignity and privacy of others who may be affected by public comments. Speakers should be aware that they may be held legally responsible if they make statements that violate the legal rights of others. For example, if statements are made that are

101defamatory or threatening. Complaints about specific school personnel should be addressed outside of the meeting to the appropriate school administration who will address those concerns as appropriate through existing complaint procedures. Comments likely to disrupt the board's work or prompt a breach of the piece are prohibited and the speaker will be called out of order by the board chair. Speakers must address the board chair rather than individual board members. Speakers have three minutes to make their comments and will be signaled by the yellow light and an audible tone on the podium. When the light turns yellow and you hear the first tone, please wrap up your comments and finish before the the red light and the second tone. Please be aware that board members listen to comments but do not respond. Welcome, Miss Looney. Thank you board

102members, Dr. Nicely and Reno County staff. I'm here tonight to give you a long overdue thank you and shout outs to so many people. My name is Karen Lenny and I'm a Reno County teacher. I'm a parent of two Reno County graduates. My son, as you may know, was Eric Russ. He was it was just over a year ago that he unexpectedly passed away from his complications from his heart defects. I wanted to say thank you school board for listening to him and reaching out to him for um and reaching out to him for additional conversations. It meant the world to him that he was heard and it meant the world to me to see the excitement on his face and thank you for allowing him to grow as a speaker. To Dr. Nicely and

103other central office staff, thank you for reaching out and acknowledging Eric's father and uh during those deaf days. To my Cave Spring family, thank you for all the support then and all the support that continues to help me get through each day. I'm honored to say that I work with loving friends that are also my family. Additional thanks to my former principal, Mrs. Poff, and my current principal, Mrs. Alanise, who have taken care of things and supported me, as well as my third grade team. I could not do any of this without them. In one of Eric's uh last meetings that Eric spoke at, he closed with the saying that each day I go home thinking what I can do to make things better. I do my best to keep that legacy going. Whether I

104agree or disagree with the issues or whether I think of uh where we can compromise, no one gets their way 100%. but the common ground and where I can make things better for as many people as possible. And I ask for all the people that remember Eric and his energy and his spirit. And I challenge everyone to think beyond their own needs and try to make things better for as many people as possible. Thank you. You Thank you. [Applause] Our next speaker is Key Meadows. My name is Key Meadows and I thank you for listening. 282. 282 is the amount of times between 2017 and now that I've cut my wrist. And I'm not counting the other parts of my body. Most of these scars are due to bullying. what I'm here to talk about

105today. I'm not here to reread everyone else's speech from last last meeting about how much of a loss our community, specifically the Hollands community, has felt. I'm not here to reread how beautiful and spirited and kind and wonderful Autumn Bushman is. I'm here to talk about the impact of bullying. In elementary school, I was told I was weird for what I wore. I changed my clothes to fit in. In August of 2024, I was told that I was a bad person for saying no, and then I was raped. To make it short, bullying primed me to accept things that I wouldn't have otherwise accepted in order to fit in with the others around me. Bullying also comes in many forms, including ignoring those you serve, which is what you do by shutting your con constituents

106down. I've talked to you for years. You never listened. I've spoken to you consecutively, meeting after meeting, but you never changed policy. NPSA to the community. A previous school board member, the one who curated our current anti-bullying bullying policies, has spoken at Autumn Bushman's memorial events and has been extremely hypocritical considering he curated the policies that killed her. His name is Tom McCracken. Please do some self-reflection. Look at the scars on my wrist. The majority from bullying in your schools. You need to see the scars and the pain. Feel the grief of genocide and hear the pain in a grieving mother's voice and don't call it disruptive and police on the grieving mother. To be a true representative of our schools, reflect on the policies in place. It is blindingly obvious that they don't work.

107Please change. [Applause] Our last speaker is Emma Wrench. Hi. I wrote it out this time to the board. As seen in the almost two months since our last meeting, nothing has been done or changed. To your misfortune, we are not giving up. We will continue to fight. The countless children who are consistently being let down by you deserve to be fought for. You may think I am a naive, immature, unlearned 17-year-old. However, whatever your privilege leads you to believe about me is wrong. I will continue to fight for change. Right now, I'm doing that by making our voices heard. You are employed by the people for the people. I know nothing about you as people, but I do know about you as a board. A board that claims to advocate for children, their education, and

108their future. As the people you serve, we want you to take us seriously. We ask that you implement stricter zero tolerance policies against bullying. Yes, we know you've already claimed to be zero tolerance. However, it's obvious that it's more of a 100% tolerance. As stated in your policy, safety, physical comfort, and appearance also are vital environmental components. May I ask where this has been implemented? In 3.16 section of policy, it stated that it shall be a violation of this policy for any school personnel in parenthesis bystanders to tolerate or participate in harassment/bullying as defined by Rono County Public Schools. From firsthand experience, you have many violators of this policy employed. We want something done and will not stop until something is done. We shouldn't have to lay out your jobs for you. Make your children

109respect authority, adhere to consequences, and listen to your people. In section 7.11, a level five offense of student conduct is instructed to be met with 10 days of OSS and a recommendation of expulsion. Code violations shall result in suspension between 11 and 45 days. The only time I've heard of someone facing this was due to drug use. In case it wasn't obvious, bullying kills kids as well. You all need to take responsibility when it comes to school environments. Your use of social emotion em emotional learning, also known as SEAL, isn't going to do anything by coddling the wrongdoers. You know the action you need to take, so take it. Until a difference is made, I will gladly do my part by supporting these families. I can't tell if it's the children that need discipline or

110you. I don't expect you to agree, especially after the eye rolls and shrugs I received last meeting, but I expect you to listen. Thank you. [Applause] Item 12.01, report by Reno County School Superintendent, Dr. Ken Nicely. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. Well, this is always one of my favorite board meetings of the year because as the school year comes to a close, there are so many students, staff members, and schools to celebrate. It's been a longer meeting than normal uh this evening, but it's so important to take time to recognize the amazing accomplishments of the folks who make up our school division. What's especially encouraging is the wide variety of achievements represented, state championships in athletics, debates, CTE, music, uh to recognitions of student and staff leadership. Congratulations to everyone recognized and

111thank you to the board for allowing us take time to do that this evening. I want to again commend Susan Peterson for winning the Cardinal Award, the highest recognition given to student business officers in Virginia. She's truly an asset to our school division. We appreciate her expertise and the many hours of hard work she puts into leading our finances. Thank you to the school board for recognizing the dedication and value of our employees by prioritizing salary increases with the additional state and local funds we received. For the past two years, teachers and other employees have received an addition an average of 6% or more. And this year, thanks to the actions of this board, significant increases will again be in place. This has also been the first year that the school division has implemented a

112first in Virginia PTO plan, similar to programs common in private industry. This program provides better planning for absences to protect instructional time and incentivizes teachers and other staff members with endofear PTO payouts rather than having to wait um until they retire. Even though we've experienced increased health care costs and resulting added pressures to our health reserves, you've been taking prudent steps to shore up the reserves for next year and expanded the health insurance options available to employees, including a first ever HSA option with a zero premium for individual employees. These efforts help us to uh remain competitive with neighboring school divisions and recruit recruit and retain excellent teachers and staff. So, I want to thank uh the board for all of these efforts. Next week, of course, is the highlight of our year when we

113take part in commencement exercises for our five RCPS high schools. We congratulate all the seniors graduating and the families and school stu staff who have worked hard to make it possible. I also want to congratulate and recognize our first official cohort of opportunity ready graduates who have successfully defended their skills portfolio and earned their first opportunity ready graduate diploma seals and honor cords. I want to thank Mr. Riley for leading those efforts. Last day of school of course is next Thursday and we want to thank all of our students, teachers and staff for their hard work um this year and wish them of course a great summer vacation. Thank you. Thank you. Item 13.01, reports and inquiries of board members. Mr. Greenway, would you like to go first? Sure. Um thank you. So, yeah, this

114is this is kind of an exciting time because we're uh coming down to the last few minutes of the year, just like a football or baseball or basketball game, we're running out of time. But, uh it it it's just hard to believe that every year you get to this point and you think, where did time go? Um we've had a lot of stuff going on through the last month since our last meeting. Um, you know, we had the opportunity to to walk the CTE facility. Um, some pictures that need to be put out there. I don't know if any I haven't shared any, but man, it's phenomenal what that facility is going to mean to Rono County and and how far along it's came in the last probably 30, 45 days. Um, it it's an

115it's amazing. If you get a chance to go out there, it's a beautiful site. um again had the opportunity to interact with the SACE at at William Bird uh with our partic with our set of students and there's good discussions and things that we can do to improve some of the uh daily experience and uh overall achievements that go into to our school year. So uh look forward to seeing if we can continue to implement them. You'll have to come back, Nathan, and see if we've see if we've improved a few of those few of those functions. Um, so but uh that's always rewarding. I think one of the most rewarding things we do each year. And then we had the mo the the mock uh accident. We've had FCA at the pole. We've had

116a lot of things going on. Uh but uh one of the uh things that we had we dedicated the softball field to Greg Barton last Saturday and and that was pretty cool because he's been a lifelong friend. So, I've known him, know what he's put into that program, and uh just a lot of things going on in the the school life of the last 30 days and and coming down to the end. And as you as we shake the hands of those graduates next Wednesday for us, I guess Tuesday for some others. Um you know, it's just a a culmination of everything. Makes it all worth it. and uh just uh proud of of everyone that makes this it it's like a city unto itself. Reno County Public Schools and and Dr. Nicely and all

117the staff just do an amazing job of uh getting us from start to finish and uh every year when you know we graduate Wednesday and what's June 4th is is starting it back up and you know getting staff together and and going forward. So it's just amazing. But thank everyone for everything you've put into this year and uh congratulations to the graduates. Congratulations to the staff who get a little bit of a rest. So, thank you, Mr. London. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh this meeting is it's been so enjoyable to see all these recognitions and um just it's been a busy month for us as Mr. Greenway um mentioned earlier. So, just wanted to go over a few things and thank a few people that uh that really I've noticed in the past month have

118made such an impact. And I'm going to start with uh Mr. Martin and the SACE, your student leadership conference that I was able to attend. those students, you've just done such a great job getting them to be future leaders and to spend 45 minutes with with that group from North Side and to be able to interact with them and hear their concerns um and to see see um what all they've done is just very very proud of what you guys do there with that leadership conference and I know we're developing leaders for the school district. the registered apprenticeship event. I want to thank Jason sir and and Mark Jones for that. Their work with Ronuk City, Bodatad, Salem, what a great event we had over there. And to see the number of new businesses that

119have become involved with that event is uh is tremendous. So, our title one event um which the year end title one event where the title one schools get together and are able to share how they uh get different people in the community involved. Miss Bradshaw, you did a great job with that. Justin King and Sarah Bayer, it was um a nice lunchon and to see that interaction and to exchange those ideas on on how we can help those title one schools I thought was was very impressive. So, I'm not going to be as long as the uh 16 items, but I still do have a few to go here. So, a golden apple winner, um Kristen Cannipe, just phenomenal. So exciting to see such a young teacher have so much uh so much enthusiasm and

120the Golden Apple Awards. Want to congratulate our Green Apple winner, Payton Herd, over at Burlington. And the Red Apple Middle School winner was um Lauren Burgess from North Side Middle. So, North Side area was well represented there. Retirement banquet, we had the opportunity to uh congratulate 58 retirees and we lost a lot of institutional knowledge with those retirees and and hate to see them go, but uh that was a nice event as well. I've been able to attend some year- end band performances, the choir performances. what uh what those people do uh from the start of the year and then to see them at the end of the year is they come a long way. So, I want to thank all our band and choir teachers that um that really work hard with those people

121and Susan uh the year-end budget was very nice to get the additional money from the state and as well from the board of supervisors and the county for that that raise. So, thank you for what you guys did. And um lastly, I don't want to steal too much of Cheryl's thunder, but uh Matt Neil, the Virginia teacher of the year, very excited to see that. And one of the things that I admired most when he his acceptance speech uh he immediately jumped into thanking his wife. Um and we all know behind every good man is an even better woman. And uh and that was uh that acceptance speech was very nice. She's a good lender, too. Other than that, looking forward to graduation next week and congratulations to all those 2025 graduates. That's all. Okay,

122Miss Vashani did steal a little bit of my thunder days. Sorry. Well, uh, good evening. I, uh, I recently had the privilege with some of the other board members up here to tour our new career technology center up there in Peters Creek, and I'm thrilled to report they are right on schedule. The construction is progressing impressively and uh the facility is taking shape and my oh my, it is just beautiful up there. You know, it's exciting to see a space come to life. You see the the walls go up and it's really promising that we're going to be equipping our students um with the tools that they need um for be, you know, productive, dynamic part of our workforce in Rowan Oak. Uh the center really I think every time I go up there it

123underscores the commitment that we have to preparing our students to be the best that they can be and to have um bright futures. I had the opportunity to um attend the Ron County Retirement Dinner. It was fantastic. I really enjoyed having at Hidden Valley. I think everybody had a wonderful evening. Um we really celebrated some remarkable careers. uh the the teachers, the the staff, the bus drivers, everybody who was there, you could just really feel that they felt honored and I just want to thank them again for their unwavering commitment to Rono County and all the years that they gave them and I wish them a very happy retirement. Uh thank you to the SACE. I met with my representatives at Hidden Valley High School because I couldn't make the initial event, but as uh

124Mr. Martin said and Mr. Lynon said, what an exceptional group of students. I mean just truly mind-blowing and they gave me a lot of feedback and I've already taken a lot of that feedback to um my school itself and we're working on some things. So uh if you guys don't bring it to us sometimes it doesn't get very far and people say well why don't they just go right to the principles but sometimes they want to come to somebody else. So it gives us an avenue to really engage with the students and hear at that intimate level what their thoughts are. So thank you and go Hooks again. Um, as we close out the school year, I just want to express my profound appreciation to all our teachers and staff. It's been a a remarkable

125year. I know that they are tirelessly dedicated to this school system and really appreciate everything that they do. They have a lot of passion and creativity. Um, and their commitment to shaping our young minds of our students. Uh, and the impact that they're making is is truly memorable and remarkable. Um they're here to help our students grow and learn and succeed and as evidenced by tonight. Um that has been a wonderful wonderful task that they've put forth and have accomplished. The registered apprentice apprenticeship as David mentioned was fantastic. We had a great uh great great weather. Um and watching all our students get up there on the dugout and come across. I do want to make one suggestion. Ken, I forgot to tell you. I think we need a step stool because there were a

126lot of women who had skirts on. They were dressed professionally and I was so afraid that one of them was going to take a nose dive as I did that one day when we were touring the schools. Remember that. Um so anyway, I think we could do that future. But it was really cool being up there with the beauty of the mountains behind them and congratulating them on their new apprenticeships. So um David talked about it, but I'll just reiterate again. Congratulations to all the Apple winners and a huge congratulations to Dr. from Neil for winning the Virginia Teacher of the Year. A friend of mine was at that event and she actually texted me right away. She beat Dr. Nicely to the punch and then she said, "I'm going to get him on the

127phone for you." So, she passed her phone to me in the governor's mansion and I was actually able to congratulate him right away. So, that was a pretty neat thing. Um, Dr. Neil is an incredible teacher. He's exceptional and it's a welldeserved award. Um, I can't I couldn't be happier. And I do want to thank um Chuck for getting the um big poster board lit up at the Kring Corners. It's a big award, a recognition of him and I think that looks really great. Shows and showcases our schools and how great we are and especially our amazing teachers. So um lastly, two more things. I want to congratulate all our new hires. We have a great crew and I want to thank uh Jim Bradshaw for everything you do. I know that's a lot of

128work, all those interviews and uh pulling out the nitty-gritty to make sure you got the best and the brightest and every single time you amaze us. So, thank you for everything and congratulations folks. Um you picked a great place to to live and to work and we're grateful to have you. Uh congratulations to our graduates. U I will see you on graduation day and until then have a wonderful summer. Thank you, Mr. Hudson. Well, speaking of steel and thunder, you guys have hit on everything and there's nothing left for me to talk about. It's fun to go last. I do hate going last or second to last because you leave nothing. I don't want to repeat everything, but um you know, congratulations. I know people have already spoken about this, but u what a great

129night to celebrate all of our awards and athletic achievements of our students. Um really excited to attend graduation next week. You know, two of the things that are really my favorite about this um exciting times is to go to retirey celebration. Actually, this time around I sat with a table of ladies that I had never met before and talk about a wild table. It was awesome. So, it was a lot of fun. I think it was K it was Kpring ladies and um they were awesome. It was a lot of fun. Um but really looking forward to shaking every hand at North Side and Glenn as they come across the stage and um excited for all of our scholarship winners as well. Uh we had one at Glenver that was spoken earlier that had gotten

130over $30,000. That's just amazing to me. And also welcome to our new administrative staff like Cheryl had mentioned. There's a lot of changes especially on my side in Glenver. Uh so looking forward to seeing all the great things that they're going to bring. Um you know our staff is what makes Reno County Public Schools one of the best in the state. They're the direct reason why we're you know number six, number seven in reading and math and you know one of the top schools according to Nichch and all the great things that we accomplish. It's directly a reflection of our staff and everyone here. All of our support staff from our bus drivers to our cafeteria workers to our warehouse workers, maintenance workers. You there's a lot of unsung heroes in the school system when

131we talk about schools. I love teachers. I support them with everything that I've got. And you know, the pay raises, the benefits, you know, since I being elected on the board, pay and and benefits is something that I've been very passionate about and I've always fought for. We'll continue to fight for that. continue to to to move up in in pay and benefits across the valley. But um our staff are are what really makes us great. I hope they have a great summer. Just want to say thank you to them and have a good night. Um I had the opportunity to see Lauren Sisler's presentation um based on her book Shatterproof at Kring High School. Um Lauren is from our area and she's also a successful ESPN personality. Um she does have a sad personal

132story, but it's also one of resilience. Um and I really enjoyed listening to her speak and also Kpring juniors and seniors had the opportunity to listen to her and um she definitely had a true impact on them as well. I'm sure that was the same at Hidden Valley. Yeah. Amazing. Um also just um want to mention the student advisory council that sponsors the leadership conference. I also had a great time. I got to speak with both Cavering and Hidden Valley students that day. Um it's nice to hear from them about the things that their schools are doing that are pretty awesome. and then also hear their concerns. Um, so it was nice to speak to both of them and also hear kind of the differences between what CSR is doing and what Hin Valley is

133doing. Interesting to hear them talk about it. Um, as everyone's mentioned, this time of year is full of celebrations. The retirement dinner is one of my favorite events. Um, it's incredible the years of service. Um, I want to give a shout out to Liz Straw. She is the PE teacher at Kring Elementary School and she had the most service with 44 years of service, which is incredible. Um, so it's a little sad when they're leaving, but we wish them the best in this next chapter. Um, also just to shout out some of, um, has been mentioned, the Golden Apple finalist. Um, a special shout out to, um, our Caves finalist, there is Cameron Paw from Cavespring Elementary, Dana Harrison is at Clearbrook, Neil Silva Darius from Cavesing Elementary School, Cameron Huffen from Cavespring Middle School,

134and of course our teacher um, of the years Kristen Kip as you mentioned, and Dr. Nicely. and I had a chance to go visit her in her classroom, which was really fun, and surprise her with flowers. Um, it's apparent why she was the winner. She really just engages with her students. It was a marketing class. Um, and you can tell that the students are super involved in the discussion and they really enjoy her. And so, it was nice to see her. And she is a young, she was getting ready, she's got a lot of things happening. She's getting ready to get married. All sorts of things happening. But she's um, she's awesome. She has a new car. She has a new car, is she? Wasn't it a car for a year? Yeah. Yeah, it is

135true. It's impressive. Um, also just congratulations to Matt. I know everyone has mentioned that um for teacher of the year. He Virginia teacher of the year. He um just comes across with such graciousness and humbleness and he's just when you talk to him, he just says that he's excited to represent Renault County Schools. So, shout out to him. Um I think you know if we've mentioned here with the with those that are retiring and our golden apple winners um everyone who is part of our school system um contributes in some way. Um I don't think that you go into the profession of teaching and counseling without um the love of education and the love of students. Um so everyone just contributes to the betterment of our schools and I just want to acknowledge all of

136the the work that they do. Um I chose to serve on this board because I believe in the power of education. Um, and I believe um, in doing everything that we can for our children. So, I will continue to work hard for our students and our staff. Um, and as everyone mentioned, we do have graduation coming up next week. It's going to be a little bittersweet for me because I will be up there and watching my own son graduate. Um, so that will be exciting and sad at the same time. Um, so I hope everyone has a good last few days of the year of the school year and I hope you all have a wonderful summer. And if there's nothing else, meeting adjourned [Music]