001Good evening. My name is Kathleen Brown, chair of the Virginia Beach School Board, and I call this meeting to order at 6 PM. Madame Clerk, would you please announce the role? Thank you, Madam Chair. Present in the school board chamber or Chair Brown, Vice Chair Williams, Mr. Co Pepper, Mr. Cummings, Miss Dwire, Miss Felton, Dr. Green, Miss Milnik, and Miss Rogers. Thank you. Please join me in a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance as you are able. Pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. This evening, the school board has the pleasure of recognizing students and staff for their achievement. It's actually our f I think our favorite part of
002the meeting. And we want to thank all the parents and community um members and and employees and staff who have come out to help us celebrate. We do ask that you remain seated until all of the students tonight have been recognized. Thank you, Mr. Co Pepper. Our first recognition is for the 2026 Virginia District of Columbia Military Youth of the Year. Please welcome Alexander Rivers from Bayside High School. In February, Alexander was named Oceanana's local military youth of the year due to his dedication and commitment to the community. After a competitive and extensive process, Alex was selected as the Virginia District of Columbia Military Youth of the Year in March. He presented his winning speech at a celebratory reception in Charlottesville and also received a $5,000 college scholarship provided by the Boys and Girls Club
003of Virginia. He will now go on to compete for the Southwest Regional title in Atlanta in June and then hopefully on to the nationals. Congratulations, Alligator. Well done. Our next recognition is for the National Safety Patrol Award. Please welcome Noah Mason of Chemville Meadows Elementary School. Noah, I'm so proud to read this. Noah Mason earned both the AAA Tidewater Safety Patrol of the Year and the AAA National Safety Patrol of the Year for his leadership as safety patrol captain at Chemville Meadows Elementary. He selects safety patrols of the month, promotes deserving peers, and upholds high expectations by addressing concerns constructively with administration. Noah, who is in fifth grade, also trains new patrollers and helps review emergency procedures to ensure schoolwide safety. In addition to excelling academically, Noah serves on the flag detail team and arranged
004for his father to train students on proper flag protocol, emphasizing respect and service. He is a supportive classmate, always willing to help others succeed and actively volunteers through his church, contributing to community outreach efforts. Noah consistently demonstrates responsibility, leadership, and a strong commitment to helping others. Congratulations, Noah. Our next recognition is for silver medallion winners in the National Scholastic Art Competition. Please welcome Lee Reyes and Ray Jordan of Visual and Performing Arts Academy at Salem High School. Give it up for them. All right. The Scholas Art and Writing Awards is the nation longest running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teams. Each year, students in grades 7 through 12 submit original works across a range of categories which are evaluated by panels of accomplished artists, educators, and industrial professionals for originality, technical skills, and
005personal voice. Earning a silver medal represents an exceptional level of achievement, placing students among the top young artists in these regions and distinguishing their works for its sophistication and creative expression. Lee created a digital painting titled A Syndrome invoking themes of morality and devotion through its Gothic dec uh decorative ethnic. I think I saw that in the hallway. Ry created an an editorial cartoon titled A Man in Uniform featuring a character character of a satirical interaction of public figures. These two juniors amplify the highest standard of artistic dedication and innovation and their recognition reflects both their in uh their individual talent and the strength of our visual and performing art academy. Congratulate these students. We are proud of you. Give them a big hand. Give them a bigger hand. Our next recognition is for the
006future business leaders of America. Will our FBLA students please come forward? Future Business Leaders of America is the career and technical student organization associated with business education classes and helps students learn and practice speaking, writing, and networking all while refining their skills in various business topics. These students were first place winners at the Virginia FBLA state leadership conference in Restston, Virginia, attended by more than 2100 competitors and advisors. Sarah Rutus, coordinator in our office of technical and career education education will now introduce us to these first place winners and her name is Sarah Rutsis. Thank you. I'm glad to share more information about our prestigious award recipients. We'll start with Ava Aenbach, a sophomore at Cox High School. Ava earned first place in retail and merchandising in the Virginia FBLA state leadership conference. What makes
007Ava's achievement particularly remarkable is that this was her first year as an FBLA member. Her performance is also historic. Ava is the first Cox High School student ever to win an objective test event at the state level in FBLA. Next, we have Megan Brick, a senior at Cox High School. She won first place in career portfolio. Megan's state title caps, a distinguished two-year FBLA career that has consistently placed her among Virginia's top business students. Last year, she demonstrated her versatility as a competitor by finishing 10th in the nation in business plan at the FBA National Leadership Conference. Our next winner is Joselyn Powers, a junior at Cox High School. She won first place in future business educator. Joselyn's victory is believed to be the first competitor in the history of the event at the state
008level to receive a perfect score from the judges. Jocelyn is an active member of Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow, making her pursuit of the future business educator title a natural extension of her broader passion for teaching as a career. Next, we have First Colonial High School sophomores Remy Garcia and Logan James, who placed first an introduction to programming. This award was won based on excellent practical written and verbal execution of their programming event where they could where they coded a a petbased video game. These skills and this presentation were initiated and completely completed solely by Remy and Logan. And this is their second year in this event. Next we have three advanced technology center students. Senior Nathan Figueroa, junior Elijah Oana, and senior Kyle Keller. This team competed in the networking design competition. Nathan, Elijah, and
009Kyle had to provide a comprehensive solution, recommending a variety of solutions to identify the problems and implement security measures. This same team also placed first in the state in this competition last year. Next are the two Princess Anne High School students, senior Raymond Molford and junior Prren Cupreddi. They won first place in business ethics. Their project centered on a fictional automotive company that marketed itself as environmentally friendly and green despite not fully meeting those standards. Throughout the process, they developed a clear, cohesive presentation that effectively communicated complex ideas in an engaging and understandable way. Our last FBLA winner this evening is Riley Alt, a Chemville High School senior who couldn't be with us here tonight. She won first place in the sports and entertainment management event. Through an objective test in a role-play scenario, Riley
010applied knowledge in areas such as marketing, event planning, sponsorship, and financial management within this dynamic field. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Our next recognition is the winner of the 2026 Constantino Community Impact Award. Please welcome Dr. Admin Alexander. Dr. Alexander Dr. Alexander is the director of the Office of Family and Community Engagement. The Constantino Community Impact Award is presented by successful innovations and the family and community engagement network. This is in recognition of his transformative leadership and sustained contributions to advancing family engagement within the Virginia Beach community. Dr. Alexander's selection reflects his ability to move beyond compliance-driven approaches and instead cultivate authentic relationship centered engagement practices that empower families as true partners in student success. Through his leadership, he has championed initiatives that pro prioritize two-way communication access and the intentional alignment of family engagement efforts with
011student outcomes. His work has not only elevated division practices, but has also influenced regional conversations and collaborations, positioning Virginia Beach as a model for effective family engagement. In addition to this recognition, Dr. Alexander was named a top three finalist for the 2026 National Constantino Family Engagement Practitioner Award. His leadership has resulted in more inclusive practices, stronger trust between families and schools, and increased opportunities for families to actively contribute to their children's educational experiences. Congratulations, Dr. Alexander. We are very proud of you, Alexander. Great job. Our next recognition is for National Art Education Association Southeastern Region Elementary Art Educator. Please welcome Meredith Snyder of Princess Anne Elementary School. Meredith Snyder is a visual fines visual fine arts teacher at Princess Anne Elementary. The association's Southeastern Region Elementary Art Educator Award recognizes an outstanding elementary art educator
012whose work exemplifies excellence in teaching, leadership, and advocacy for visual arts education. This honor spans a diverse region that includes 11 states and the District of Columbia. The award celebrates educators who create meaningful, inclusive, and engaging learning environments where young students develop creativity, confidence, and artistic voice. Mrs. Snider's commitment to highlighting each students unique strengths within their artwork creates a supportive and inspiring classroom environment. By allowing our students the freedom to express themsel authentically, she empowers our students at Princess Anne Elementary School to develop their own artistic voices and to take pride in their individual talents. Congratulations, Mrs. Snider. We are very proud of you. Congratulations. Congratulations. Our final recognition is for a new member of the Virginia School Board Association's business honor role. Please welcome representatives from Bayport Credit Union. It's our honor to
013recognize an organization that truly exemplifies what it means to be a community partner. Public schools and local businesses are deeply connected, and when they work together, our entire community benefits. A strong public school system supports a strong economy and partnerships like this help ensure our students are prepared for success in the workplace and beyond. That's why tonight we are proud to recognize Bayport Credit Union for being named to the 2026 Virginia Schools Board's Association Business Honor Role. This distinction reflects Bayport's ongoing commitment to supporting our schools and investing in the success of our students. Through their partnership, Bayport Credit Union has helped strengthen not only our schools, but the future of our community. Their support reinforces the idea that an excellent public education system is essential to quality of life and to sustaining a strong,
014vibrant democracy. On behalf of the school board, we want to express our sincere appreciation for all that Bport Credit Union does for Virginia Beach City Public Schools. We are grateful for your dedication, your partnership, and your belief in our students. Thank you. Thank you, Bon. Thank you, Bon. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. This concludes the school board recognitions for this evening. Thank you everyone for coming and celebrating. Thank you. Awesome. Huh? Oh, I just said the same thing. Now you chewing it real fast. Did good. Okay, we are now on to the adoption of the agenda. Are there any modifications to the agenda as presented? Seeing none, I call for a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Moved by Dr. Green, seconded by Miss Wire. Any discussion? Seeing none,
015I call for the vote to approve the agenda as presented. So, Madam Chair, we have nine eyes. The motion did pass for the adoption of the agenda as presented. Thank you, Dr. Robertson. We do not have any reports or recognitions tonight. Correct. That's correct. Thank you. We are now on to the approval of meeting minutes. Are there any modifications to the April 28th, 2026 minutes as presented? Seeing none, I call for a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Moved by Miss Dwire, seconded by Mr. Co Pepper. Any discussion? Seeing none, I call for the vote on the minutes. So, Madam Chair, we have non eyes, a motion to pass for the approval of the April 28th meeting minutes. Thank you. We're now on to public comments and we will hear public comments on matters
016relevant to preK through 12 public education in Virginia Beach. And the business of the school board and the school division from citizens and delegations who signed up with the school board clerk prior to noon today. The purpose for the public comment section is for the school board to offer an orderly forum to receive public comments during the schoolboard meeting. I call upon all speakers and all persons in chambers to be civil in discussion and a decorum. Whatever views you wish to express, the school board wants to hear from you and to ensure that all viewpoints and perspectives are heard. The best way to do this is for all of us to strive for civility and respect. Madame Clerk, would you please introduce the first speaker? Thank you, Madam Chair. Our first speakers are Kevin Ricard,
017Kim Mayo, and then Jane Tran. Good evening, Dr. Robertson, Chairman Brown, and members of the school board. My name is Kevin Rickard, and I am the instructional technology specialist at New Town Elementary. I have served Virginia Beach public city public schools for more than 20 years and New Town for the last 15. I am here tonight to express our serious concerns about the proposed merger of New Town Elementary and Betty F. Williams. Our district has demonstrated tremendous vision in building and renovating district schools. Unfortunately, this proposal does not reflect that same level of planning and vision. The current design reduces Betty F Williams to just 14 classrooms, three resource rooms, two offices, and one student bathroom in the new wing and wherever we can fit them in the existing building. Um, that is not enough
018space to support the needs of our students or staff. It will create overcrowding and significant challenges in art, music, physical education, lunch, and the library while leaving little room for future growth. I shared a slideshow with each of you outlining these concerns and offering possible solutions. PE is one of the most impacted areas of this plan. Our gym is small compared to others, only 5,250 square feet. We currently average four classes period and about 63 students. This plan will force PE up to seven classes and about 138 students per period. This is unsafe and will not allow all the students to be active at the same time, especially when factoring in behaviors of our student body. On comparison, John B has a similar student body of what we will have at that time and their
019gym is 66 6,400 square ft. We need a larger gym to ensure every student has an active and productive PE experience. We also need a second playground set by PE to accommodate recess during PE with up to 138 students at recess at one time. Another serious issue is bathroom access. With as many as nine classes transitioning at a same at the same time and only three nearby student restrooms, routine restroom breaks will become extremely difficult. During SL testing, two of those bathrooms will be reserved for test takers. We have the largest simultaneous test takers of any elementary school in the district. This year, it'll be 190 roughly. Uh leaving just one bathroom for the rest of the students. Some of you expressed concerns about this in your September 24th meeting. We share that concern. Finally,
020New Town and BDF Williams are hard to staff schools with a high turnover rate. Overcrowding, not allowing every staff member to have a safe and comfortable workspace to be productive and creative in. Not having a comfortable space to commune in with our fellow teachers and staff will make that even harder. This merger will affect our students every day. We respectfully asked you to reconsider this plan and work with staff to develop a solution that is safer, more functional, and better aligned with the needs of our school community. Thank you for your time and consideration. Our next speaker is Kim Mayo, Jane Tran, and then Jamie Irish. Good evening. I'd like to ask, do you think our neighborhood schools are stronger or weaker having one gifted school? I'm optimistic about major reform given how next year's
021school board is shaping up. The chief academic officer who pushed the gifted plan has left. Some school board and admin greatly underestimated public sentiment on gifted ed. ODS now admits one elementary schooler from every school. in 2026. Nothing separates those at ODS from those in neighborhood schools. I'll read my piece published in the pilot, but first as an update, my foyer came back after the article was published. ODS took 50% of the $24 million gifted budget in FY25. General reaction outside of ODS was many in your districts are getting screwed over. As Virginia Beach City Public Schools moves through budget season, key decisions are made that impact thousands of students and families. During the 2425 school year, ODS received 57% of gifted funding while only serving 11% of the division's gifted students. This imbalance raises
022serious questions about proper use of taxpayer money. Maintaining a standalone public gifted school for grades 3 through 8 is very unusual. In other states, similar specialized schools are typically private. In Virginia Beach, public resources are heavily concentrated at ODS. Many schools, particularly the 23 elementary schools recently identified by the VDOE as off track or need of intensive support, struggle with far fewer resources. ODS even gives sixth graders world languages five days a week, 50 minutes per day when neighborhood middle schools don't offer high school credit language classes. ODS also has far lower lower rates of students with IEPs than the rest of the division's gifted students. Virginia Beach Public Schools has consulted with national education expert Dr. Jonathan Plucker, yet ignored recommendations. Some schoolboard members are now pushing for major reform. In challenging financial times,
023public education dollars should serve as many students as possible. Redirecting gifted funding to neighborhood schools and eventually repurposing the older nation school campus would expand opportunity. We must ensure that this public asset benefits the entire community. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jane Tran. Jamie Irish and then Cat Evans. Good evening. My name is Jane Tran and I'm the music teacher at New Town Elementary School. With 18 years of experience in Virginia Beach as both a licensed professional and a long-term substitute, I've taught music in both dedicated classrooms and from a mobile cart. I'm here to share my thoughts and feelings for the upcoming merger with Betty F. My primary concern is capacity and specialized storage. Currently, my classroom houses two closets of percussion and orf instruments, xylophones. The addition of Betty F. Williams program,
024specifically their fourth and fifth grade curriculum, brings an entire inventory of instruments, including violins, violas, cellos, and bases. These instruments require a climate controlled, secure, and dedicated space that a mobile cart system simply cannot provide. There's been no space provided in the blueprints for music or art classes to take place. Instructional quality suffers significantly without a dedicated room. Teaching from a cart forces a teacher to limit the curriculum to what can be physically transported. Students would lose the opportunity to play larger instruments like xylophones and tibano drums which are central to our current weekly lessons. Finally, the music education at the fourth and fifth grade levels relies heavily on kinesthetic learning. Our curriculum includes line and circle dances designed to foster social skills, coordination, and collaborative development. Standard classrooms are not configured for this type
025of movement. Currently, every music performance that we have at New Town is beyond capacity in our cafeterium area. This past year alone, we had parents who had to stand due to lack of seating, and some parents even spilled out into the atrium due to lack of space. If we double our school's student numbers, we're also doubling our parent and guardian numbers. The cafeteria is no longer large enough to fit our parents for special events after school and multiple concerts each year. There's been no talk of expanding our current cafeteria with these blueprints. In closing, I'd like to say that I'm a proud alumnest of Virginia Beach Public Schools. I went to Indian Lakes Elementary and Larksburg Middle School and Salem High School before it was an academy. My mom has taught in Virginia Beach City
026Public Schools for 34 years before retiring, and my dad still works Virginia Beach City Public Schools as a security officer at a local high school. However, I am concerned by the manner in which the development of this project has taken place. I don't think it is fair to make decisions without talking to the people who's going to be affected mostly. I think you have a duty to our district to make sure that our students are getting the best we can give them and not be just a second thought because nothing else can be done. I urge you to look over the plans for the new town BettyF merger and see if this is really the best that we can give our title one students. Thank you for your time and your commitment to our students
027development. Our next speaker is Jamie Irish. Cat Evans and then Candy Maldon. All right. Okay. Good evening, um, schoolboard members and concerned citizens. My name is Jamie Irish. I'm a third grade teacher at New Town Elementary School. I stand here before you um to address critical mission in the bycampus merger plans for Betty F. Williams and New Town Elementary. the failure to address the core operational needs of our kitchen and cafeteria. This omission threatens the equitable management of our school and the welfare of our most marginalized students. New Town is a Title One school providing essential nutrition for 430 students, many whom rely on the National School Lunch Program. After this merger, our population will nearly double to almost 800 students. Our current facilities are already insufficient. staff operate with only one functioning oven and
028one steamer, while the walk-in refrigerator is unsafeely shared for prep carts and raw storage. With the degree in culinary and food service management, I can state with certainty that these facilities cannot safely handle the volume of 800 students. With regards to equity and resource allocation, this unequal resource allocation is profoundly concerning, especially when comparing our school's situation to others. For instance, John Bai Elementary, a non-title one school with approximately 750 students, received a $25.7 million budget for a renovation that included a modern kitchen, a new cafeteria, and courtyard. In stark contrast, New Town Elementary, a title one school serving nearly 800 students after the merger, is only receiving a portion of 13.7 million contract for a classroom addition with no planned kitchen or cafeteria renovation. And this limited budget must be shared also with Diamond
029Springs Elementary. Furthermore, the $25.7 million renovation for Jean Bidai was completed over five years ago in early 21, meaning that due to inflation and current recession, the purchasing power of $13.7 million contract today is considerably less. The funding disparity is further highlighted by the historical context. The complete remodel or rebuild of the historical landmark of Betty F Williams was once slated to cost approximately 1 $100.7 million. The cancellation of that million dollar or seven $17 million project makes the current 13.7 million split for two schools seem entirely inequitable. Equitable access requires comparable investment in the title one schools that provide essential social services. Beyond the kitchen or cafeteria is maxed at capacity of 268. Doubling our student body will force lunch service to cut deeply into instructional time. Furthermore, the combined school will be unable
030to hold a single assembly for an entire student body. We also require acoustic panels to manage the noise levels. We respectfully urge the school board to prioritize the expansion of the cafeteria and kitchen alongside the initial campus expansion. Our student deserve a safe and equitable environment. And our next speaker is Cat Evans, Candy Mlin, and then Katherine Bernney. Good evening, Madam Chairwoman, Dr. Robinson, and the board. Uh, my name is Cat Evans. I'm a second grade teacher at New Town Elementary. Uh, the Virginia Beach Tri campus, Diamond Springs Elementary, New Town Elementary, and Betty F. Williams are all all deserve equal and equitable resources, the same as other Virginia Beach schools. Um, our staff work just as hard, and our students do, too. This merger between Vettf Williams and New Town Elementary is adding a
031huge amount of additional stress on our staff and as many Title One schools do. We already deal with a very high staff turnover. The building plans just are simply not acceptable. They pretty much adding it's a hallway for they're just one long hallway we're adding on there. Our gym is our cafeteria, our library, our recess space. It cannot accommodate an entire school being added to us. We need more workrooms. We need more printers. Um the entire school building is being added and work rooms more multiple. This is a whole entire school there and they're just having one workroom being added to it. We are already at barely able to use the the work rooms that we have and the printers that we have. Um you're not redistricting our zones. So that means that we're getting
032the entirety of VF Williams their student and population staff. Our hallways already get crowded outside of our gym. Our cafeteria is already loud with the current space. Our library is already teeing with eager readers. Just comparing this to John Bai, that school had a huge rebuild. I mean massive. It's beautiful. They had this beautiful spacious environment. The gifted academy. So ODS, their space is also beautiful, spacious, more than enough space for them to work in. They got huge funding as well. So why do we lose our green area that we currently use for recess? um we only gain one big hallway and receive a whole school full of students without any further room to accommodate them. Why can't we get at New Town the equitable service, the equitable funding and consideration as other Virginia Beach
033schools get? I love our school, our students, and our family. And New Town deserves better. Our students, our families, our staff deserves better. Please revisit the plans for the new town Betty F mer merger because people are not just lining up knocking doors just to become a teacher right now. Thank you. Our next speaker is Candy Mlin, then Katherine Bernie, and then Lacy Davis. Hi members of the board. My name is Candy Mlin. I am here to be the voice of my son, Logan Lawson. Logan is 8 years old and he is a type 1 diabetic warrior. I would like to address some simplatic failures and accountability regarding my son's medical safety. On May 27th, Logan's blood sugar dropped dangerously to a 40 or a 64. The alert was determined by his pump at 258.
034Yet it was not acknowledged until 3:21. 23 crit critical minutes my son sat in class to finish a paper. Not one person intervened. Logan then was instructed to go to the nurse and walk alone during a hypoglycemic event. just two days after reporting with the district. Um I was also told that he would that sorry I was also told that he turns off his CGMs and walks alone or he wants to walk alone. I addressed it with the school and those were the comments that were made. Not regarding his safety, not about making a plan of what could be changed or what else we could do. It was blame put on my son. Um each time the focus changed from the wording, we've had four meetings with district. Um two of them where district was
035present and found them in violation. Um, I'm not sure how much more we can change wording on a paper and not make a change and hold people accountable for the actions that they they are not helping him. Um, my son won't be an expectation or a learning curve. Um, for the school's inability to implement its own safety protocols. I am just asking for accountability and making sure that my son is safe while he is at school. He is only eight and I'm not sure what the expectation is for an 8-year-old child or how much he needs to get up and raise his hand or be instructed on how to say he needs help. I've also brought um documents of everything that's happened. I will pass them to the clerk. Um that is all. Thank you.
036Our next speaker is Katherine Bernie and then Lacy Davis. Good evening. My name is Katherine Burn and I have spent 10 years teaching second and third grade before transitioning to teaching art on a cart. Now that I have my own classroom, art classroom at New Town, I have seen firsthand how essential dedicated space and storage are for a successful art program. The proposed addition would limit our ability to effectively organize and maintain the wide range of materials required for art instruction. Relying on a cart-based model would introduce significant challenges. From my experience, teaching art on a cart is not a sustainable long-term solution as it restricts instructional time, limits project scope, and creates unnecessary logistical barriers. A welle equipped permanent art space is critical for providing students with a quality creative experience they deserve. Classroom
037structure is an essential part of successful art program. In an art room, students are seated large at large tables where they can share materials and collaborate. This setup supports both creativity and efficiency. However, in a traditional classroom, if I were to go in on a cart, often students see sit individually, which requires rearranging the entire room before and after the the class. This takes valuable time away from instruction, and the teachers don't always appreciate it. These are also significant challenges related to materials, too. Materials such as oil, pastels, paint, watercolor, and clay can easily spill onto desks, computers, and student work. I can attest to that. That's happened many times. These this understandably creates frustration for classroom teachers. As a result, many avoid using these materials altogether and rely primarily on just crayons and markers,
038limiting the students artistic experience. Additionally, on a cart, access to proper cleanup facilities is often inadequate. Many classrooms have only one small sink, making it difficult to manage paint and other materials effectively. You've got students who need to wash their hands and then you also have the supplies that you need to clean out in the classroom. So, um that's also a problem. Um extra storage with access to a sink and storage closet for supplies would greatly improve both instruction and classroom relationships. Um students benefit from being in an environment designed for art. Um, when I teach art, the one thing I want my students to do is to kind of leave your problems at the door and let's let's relax. Art there's a reason why there's art therapy. You know, come in, relax. I play
039soft music. Relax. I want you to just focus entirely on what happened here, not what happened in PE. So, they need to have their own space. Um, they learn how to share materials, work collaboratively, collaboratively, and respect tools and space. These are important skills that cannot be fully developed in a transient cart-based model. Thank you very much. Our next speaker is Lacy Davis. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Lacy Davis and I proudly serve as the librarian at New Town Elementary School. I stand before you today as an advocate for the students, staff, and families of district 4, specifically the tri campus. As an employee and stakeholder in Virginia Beach public schools, I have seen the amazing facilities and the opportunities that this board and this school division have created for students
040throughout our city. Therefore, it is not my intention to stand in the way of any changes being brought to the tri campus. On the contrary, the innovations, educational benefits, and investment in the future of our trimpus students is encouraged. However, the concern that brings me here today is the disconnect between the modernization plan for Betty F. Williams and every other project that has come before it in the CP CIP. Until recently, a web page from Virginia Beach City Public Schools, Schools of the Future, was accessible on the division website. although it has been replaced uh it hasn't been updated since 2023 and has been replaced by a link to um the comprehensive long range facilities plan from 2018. Both of these documents propose a modernization plan for Betty F. Williams to incorporate a new build
041incorporating the Bayside 6 campus, also slated for modernization. the corresponding CIP from last year's bud uh budgeted $118 million to consolidate both campuses and solve two of the four oldest infrastructure concerns of the city. Also included in the schools for the future page were three concept designs, a schedule of public forum and meeting dates, and a progress timeline including photographic evidence of two educational specification meetings, five conceptual design meetings, and one schematic design meeting which took place in the Betty F. Williams cafeterium. Um, fast forward to present day and all of the planning appears to have been abandoned with no clear explanation as to why the current proposal on the table today was only made known to me because I happened to be in the library when the bid meeting took place where I overheard
042the planner say that the scope of work did not include any modifications to the existing structure despite our student enrollment doubling. New Town currently houses 425 students and every available space is occupied and has a purpose. Finding this a concern, I went back and followed up on um the school board meeting to find out what the proposed plan was for the 400 additional students. Um Miss Williams and Miss Evans spoke to that uh concern about consolidating the whole school down to 14 classrooms. When you look at the most recently completed elementary modernization products at Thorug good, John Dai old donation center and college park elementary schools, you can see why the plan for Williams does not jive with our school's division standard. And that is time. Thank you, Madam Chair. That was our last speaker
043for this evening. Okay. Thank you. Right. We are now on to our policy review committee recommendations. Please welcome Cammy Lenetti, schoolboard attorney. Good evening, Madam Chair, vice chair, schoolboard members, and Dr. Robertson. I'm Cammy Lenetti. I'm the school board attorney. And on behalf of the policy review committee, I'll be bringing recommendations for policy amendments and changes from the April 22nd, 2026 PRC meeting. We only have four tonight. So, starting the first one is policy 32. This is ethics and public contracting. We've amended this and expanded a little bit. Not significant changes. However, we've done some scriptive changes in the first paragraph. Then we'll be adding two paragraphs which we think will clarify the requirements under the ethics and public contracting act. First would be a employees must also comply with one the Virginia state and
044local government conflict of interest act and two the Virginia frauds act and then b the superintendent design will provide guidance and training as necessary to ensure understanding compliance with these statutes. And then we've updated the legal references. This was last looked at in 2021 and we felt these were necessary amendments. Are there any questions on policy 32? Seeing no questions on policy 32, I'm going to move on to policy 46. Policy 46 is healthy work environment. The only changes we made here are basically formatting with the paragraphs did not have designations before. So we're going to designate the first paragraph as A and the second full paragraph as B. Other than that, we have no recommended changes for policy 46. So, are there any questions on policy 46? Hearing no questions on policy 46, we're
045going to move on to policy 418. Policy 418 is in your personnel section. Having spent some time with human resources, we realize that we have two policies, regulations that basically do the same thing. It was creating some confusion for us. So, policy 418 is dismissal or placement on probation. and it's broken up into licensed personnel and classified personnel and then the rules replacement on probation. We realize that policy 46 and the regulations supported also have these procedures in them and it got a little confusing as to which policy we should be using. So there's no reason we should have two policies and we felt that policy 46 more clearly sets this forth. Mr. Rogers, I'm sorry. Yeah, I have a question. So I just want to make sure we do have and like I we
046have a policy that specifically discusses dismissal of a teacher and the probation and all of that. Do you know which policy? Correct. It should be 46 and if you look at them it act that actually follows what are the regulations the statutory requirements and the regulations involved and this is just a general discussion on it. I'm not really clear why we this was added in there. has been in for a while, but there's no reason to do it. And we've had several situations we realized there were conflicts as to which policy we should be using. We felt that the 461s are more clear in the more closely and the placement of probation as well is in there. I just want to make sure. Yeah, we do have the existing policies for this. Are there any
047further questions on 418? Hearing no questions on 418 or remaining in the the personnel section in policy 439 which currently reads employee professional development and growth in job skills. The decision was to just leave it as employee professional development. Just some modifications in the first paragraph to read a little bit cleaner. You'll see down in parag paragraph A teacher orientation in section two again we're correcting the name of a department and updating section C which will be instead of tuition we felt it was more appropriate to call it employee professional development so it doesn't limit tuition to simply um college or type of programs like that other professional development could be covered we updated the legal reference to that and added in the new reference and that there are no further recommendations for amendments. Are
048there any questions on 439? Hearing no questions on 439, that will end the PRC's recommendation for this month. Thank you. Okay, we are now on to our Allin Virginia update and we m welcome Kamani Van, director of elementary schools, Department of School Leadership. Good evening, Chairwoman Brown, Vice Chair Williams, school board members, and Dr. Robertson. My name is Kimani Ivon and I serve as a director of elementary schools in the department of school leadership. This evening I will provide a brief update on how our school division continues to strategically utilize the all-in Virginia funds provided by the Commonwealth as the funding period comes to a close. You may recall that under the All-In Virginia initiative which began during the 2023 2024 school year, our division received approximately $20 million from the Commonwealth. The majority of
049these funds, approximately 70%, were designated to support highintensity tutoring for students in grades 3 through 8. 20% supported the implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act, and the remaining 10% was designated to address chronic absenteeism. As shared in previous updates, the state allowed divisions flexibility to shift funds across these categories when necessary and with prior approval from the Virginia Department of Education. This initiative will sunset on June 30th, 2026, and all funds must be fully expended by that date. As I move through this update, you will learn how we have made intentional adjustments in response to student needs and how we're strategically planning to spend down the remaining funds. You go back. There we go. Since the 2023 2024 school year, the Allin Virginia initiative has allowed us to strengthen our tutoring model by focusing on
050both intervention and acceleration while keeping the emphasis on direct support for students. Since the start of this initiative, our students have received over 4,000 hours of tutoring, which reflects the continued expansion of services to meet student needs. Total hours for this fisc year 26 through April 15th are 1,023. It is important to note that these hours are specific to the highintensity tutoring provided under this initiative. We do have other tutoring opportunities that come out of our local funding and title one funding to support remediation and acceleration. As a part of our spendown plan, we made strategic adjustments and spending categories to ensure timely and effective responses to student learning needs. These adjustments allowed us to expand student access to tutoring, increase tutoring hours, extend the duration of services, and provide targeted instructional materials for specific
051student populations. Some of these examples are noted on the slide. Our Department of School Leadership and Department of Teaching and Learning teams conducted a careful review of tutoring plans to ensure both equity and fiscal responsibility. It is important to note that shifting of funds have not negatively impacted any of our school's ability to provide high-intensity tutoring. We would like to take a moment to thank you for your continued support throughout the implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act. As you are aware, the Virginia Literacy Act required each school division to develop and implement an approved K12 division literacy plan. This included the adoption of core curriculum materials for kindergarten through fifth grade as well as supplemental and intervention resources for grades K through 8 from the Virginia Department of Education approved lists. With your support, we
052were able to use all in Virginia funds to purchase our division's core English language program HMH into reading along with supplemental and intervention resources such as UFly, Heggerty, and 95% comprehension which are used to support students with foundational reading and comprehension skills. These resources also help to provide targeted intervention for student groups such as our English language learners. We're proud to report that nearly all allocated funds have been used to purchase approved instructional materials that are now actively supporting students in classrooms across our division. We will fully expend the remaining funds on approved curricular resources prior to the June 30th deadline. Another important area supported by All in Virginia funds is our continued work to reduce chronic absenteeism. Here you see a summary of our efforts to improve student attendance through targeted interventions and family
053engagement. As of April 20th, 2026, attendance has improved for 19,158 students this school year. For comparison purposes, the entire uh school year last year, attendance improved for 23,390 students who received attendance nudges through the Everyday Labs program. The chart also shows the broader progress we've made as a school division. In 2023 24, our chronic absenteeism rate was 17.21%. That rate decreased significantly to approximately 10.04% in 2425. And we've maintained that progress this year with a rate still around 10%. Through the combined efforts of schools and our partnership with Everyday Labs, several schools reduce chronic absenteeism rates by more than 10 percentage points, demonstrating the effectiveness of this targeted approach. Our attendance ambassador program continues to show strong results across participating schools. This year, the program includes a part-time coordinator and six ambassadors supporting students and
054families at selected sites. At Bernick Elementary, for example, we saw more than a 10% reduction in chronic absenteeism during the second semester last year, and we are continuing to build on that success. Schools continue to use student response teams to analyze attendance data, partner with families, and implement targeted intervention plans for students at risk. Schools also continue to leverage the flexible in-person tutoring to reduce absenteeism. Additionally, our collaboration with the Virginia Beach Court Improvement Program had strengthened coordination between schools and city partners, helping to streamline truency processes and providing support to families earlier in the intervention process. The figures displayed represent estimated expenditures and remaining balances updated as of May 8th, 2026. Our schools continue to work diligently to ensure these funds are used strategically to support student learning and achievement. Based on current tutoring
055plans and resource allocations, we are confident that we have a clear plan in place to fully utilize most of the remaining funds prior to the June 30th deadline. That concludes our all in Virginia update. Our team stands ready to address any questions that you might have. Thank you, Miss Melnik. So I think for the public it the chronic absenteeism um just that I just want to repeat all of this great news again because the work Mr. Jameson. Um the work that's being done um in Virginia Beach City Public Schools, it is really incredible and I know other surrounding school districts are really struggling with this and um I think clearly we're a model for u for other school districts. Mrs. Lenetti, please remind me the name of the social worker that's really the creme de
056la creme. Damian Wilson. Damian Wilson. Oh, Damian Wilson heads. He's phenomenal. And I want I do a shout out for Simone Booth who's in Simone Booth. They are in in court. I can't even tell you how many days a week with this. Yes. But important to note also, I know you said um Virginia Beach Court improvement program, but we have our own docket so we can stay on top of this. Um we really are a model for the rest of the uh for the rest of the area. Um really kudos to all of you guys because that in particular is really important, right? Being in school every day um is so important. So thank you for that. I appreciate all your hard work. Thank you, Miss Rogers. Thank you again. I just had a quick
057question and I guess it would be for Dr. Robertson. this all in Virginia money is suns setting but we do have plans to then fund all of this. So we do not but we do not we do not this the the funds are sun setting and uh right now uh both versions of the house and senate budget in Richmond that is unsettled have different portions of money set aside that if you recall when I uh we share with the board some recommendations of a percentage uh of funds that we could use towards these purposes. We feel like the work we've done around attendance, for example, is something we can peel away from, we've changed the culture around attendance, uh, we've got enough supports to handle that, but there's no substitute for the supports you see
058in the tutoring area. That's what I again these are the kind of things that I'm like I want to make sure that we're we aren't just dropping alto together which is why I was asking about the funding because it would be a shame that all of this hard work just can't go on and it will affect our students. So again to Mrs. is Melnik's point that we're doing such an amazing job and now this is where the public can see that our funding is so important that we can't provide the services without the money and we have no way of generating revenue this kind of revenue to do this on our own. But this is the important work that our division needs to continue with and this is why having um support from uh the
059city and the state and the federal government is so important for the success of our students. But thank you all very much for all of your hard work, Miss Falton. Thank you, Miss Bond. I want to say thank you for this detailed presentation. I am really impressed with this program. I've had the opportunity to visit two schools and I was just amazed how, for lack of a better word, I don't like I don't like the word tracking, but the engagement that they use for individual student and how the numbers have come down with this program. uh as Dr. Um Robinson has said it has changed the culture with the teachers administration how they work with this even though the sun is setting on this. Um I just like to say to our students that do
060this hard work you take you take little and you do so much with it. And I was just impressed how one particular school knew each student knew each step and how they were graduating out of that and I'll use the word graduate graduating out of the program they had gotten them to that point where they were successful on their own and it was another program they did how they uh how you all go and find the students and I don't want to get into detail but I don't give people negative thought but how you find them because some of them were lost and you bring them back and give them up to par. I do appreciate this program. I hope somehow someway the federal government would understand, use us as a model that this is
061very important because it is set on our children, our students are to be successful in society. You're doing a great job. Thank you so much. Thank you for this update. Um I do have a question. Um, and I I want to start first by saying that attendance regularly is very important and I'm happy that we're moving in the right direction there. But I do have some questions about the nudges and the letters. So the nudges, we're talking about the text messages, correct? The the letters, excuse me, the letters as well as the text messages. Yes. Okay. And so I've had a couple of families reach out to me because when they get the letters, they've told their schools their student is ill. And so they're now receiving a letter and they feel like they have
062to send their kid to school ill even though we have policies and we we don't want them to go to school ill. So how are we making sure that families know that this is just a notification, right? and it's not you did something wrong here. So, ongoing communications uh directly with those families, any questions that do come through, uh the text messages themselves can be individualized to students and families as reminders that this is not punitive. This is literally just an update on your students progress related to attendance. And from that point, if they have any additional questions between admin, school counselors, even registars and buildings are able to answer questions. We have FAQ documents for them. Um, if families do reach out with questions about those nudges that they're receiving, is that FAQ something
063that is divisionwide? Is it? Yes. Is that something that you might be able to share with the board so that if anybody has any questions about it, I can also pass it along. Anyway, thank you for all of the work that you all are doing. We are now on to federal grant applications and we welcome Dr. Lorena Kelly, executive director, office of elementary teaching and learning. Hello. Good evening, Chair Brown, Vice Chair Williams, school board, and Dr. Robertson. My name is Lorena Kelly. I'm the executive director of elementary teaching and learning and I'm here tonight with a team of colleagues to provide you with an overview of the 2026 2027 federal grant applications. These applica these programs are authorized under the elementary and secondary education act of 1965 as amended by the every student succeeds
064act of 2015. Federal guidelines require schoolboard approval of these grant applications. We bring the applications forward to you annually for your review and approval. And the Virginia Department of Ed has provided us with a July 1st, 2026 deadline to have them submitted. Oops, sorry. This slide provides an overview of the past, current, and projected funding amounts for each grant. The final 2026 2027 award amounts for all grants will be determined at a later date. Level funding amounts based on current year awards will be used for the purposes of developing the title one part D, title two, title three and title 4 applications. This year we have received guidance specific to title one part A to re use a reduced allocation based on projections. This is a conse this is a conservative approach and is being
065implemented to ensure that we are well positioned until federal funding is confirmed. At this time I'll go through each application. The Title One Part A grant has been developed for just over 15.2 2 million. The application was prepared and schools were identified to be title one schools using data from community eligibility provisions C reports. Title one part A funds provide additional financial assistance to schools with high percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic content and achievement standards. The 2026 27 application includes title one and prek support staff and resources instructional staffing allocations beyond the division allocations. Such positions include additional literacy leaders, math coaches, school counselors, behavior intervention specialists, teacher assistants, MTSS coaches, family outreach representatives, and ESL teacher and a social worker. Additional funding for
066tutoring, field trips, stipens, and summer programs are included in the grant application. Professional learning for instructional staff, family engagement supports, and equitable services for eligible private schools are included. Additional funding for instructional supplies and technology programs are also provided. A memo dated May 5th, 2026 was sent to the board with the administration's recommendations for schools to receive Title One funds for the 2627 school year. Title One Part D neglected, delinquent, or at risk youth grant is anticipated for just over 94,000. The purpose of the Title One Part D grant is to improve educational services for neglected and delinquent children and youth under the age of 21 in correctional facilities and for other atrisisk populations to prepare them for secondary secondary school completion, training, employment, and further education. In addition, the funds are used to support
067students residing in delinquent facilities to support the transition of students from those facilities and the Virginia Beach Juvenile Detention Center back to Virginia Beach City Public Schools, including Renaissance Academy, and to support dropout prevention programs. The Title 2 Part A grant is anticipated for just under $2 million. Title 2 Part A provides funds to improve the skills of teachers and the quality of instruction in academic subjects in elementary and secondary schools. It supports activities for the development of teachers, principles, and other school leaders. The program aids to approve highquality systems of support for excellent teaching and learning. The grant will fund instructional coach coaches as either literacy or math supports to serve our schools. And additionally, equitable services for eligible private schools is also provided. The Title 3 Part A grant is anticipated at just
068over $289,000. Title 3 Part A is utilized to fund the salary and benefits of an English learner instructional specialist. The specialist assists ESL and classroom teachers with instructional support as well as provides professional development for ESL and classroom teachers. The grant also provides funding for educators to attend professional learning relative to English learners and best practices. It includes funds to support stipens for English learner family engagement leaison and to support family engagement activities. Furthermore, the grant funds Elevation, which is a digital platform that allows teachers and administrators to access English learner student data, supports digital meetings for student accommodation planning and monitoring purposes, and provides federally mandated documents in multiple languages. Funds are reserved to ensure the provisions of equitable services for eligible private schools. The Title 4 Part A grant is anticipated at just
069over 1.3 million. Funds are intended to improve students academic achievement by increasing the capacity of school divisions to provide all students with access to well-rounded education, ensure safe and healthy environments, and increase the effective use of technology. Supports from the title 4 part A grant include, but are not limited to, financial support for AP and IB exam fees to supplement staffing needs such as coaches and social workers, providing classroom materials, including intervention and resources, and professional learning. The division will provide equitable services for eligible private schools. Thank you for allowing me to present this information to you this evening. We will return to you at the next board meeting to request consent for submission to the Virginia Department of Ed. We stand ready to answer any questions you may have. Miss Melnight. Dr. Kelly, can
070you go back in your script right before we turn the page? Yes. Um, you said can you look and tell me what you said about some was it criteria for um was right before I turned the page. Federal guidelines require schoolboard approval of these grants and we have to do it before July 1st, 2026. Um, right after right after the grant funding at the end of your grant funding script, I said this is a conservative approach and is being implemented to ensure we're well positioned until federal funding is cons confirmed. Okay. And right before this is a conservative approach what did what did you say that this year we received guidance specific to title one part a to reduce the allocation based on projections. Okay. So can you just explain that so that just in
071layman's terms? Sure. So so usually we fund we always put our applications in based on level funding. Okay. So we'll use that same amount. This year we received guidance for title one instead of to instead of using level the level funding to reduce that a little bit. Okay. And so that's what we've done and once we know the true allocation we'll be able to adjust. Okay. You'll be able to adjust once you know the true allocation. Okay. That's all I wanted to know that that if we were conservative and we were awarded the grant we're not going to be held at that conservative number. We're able to adjust. Okay. Perfect. Thank you. You're welcome. Miss Rogers. I guess on that same vein, um I'm assuming and I guess maybe I should ask that we were
072told to be conservative because we're not sure we're getting the funding that we had gotten in the past. There are a lot of factors that contribute to the reason why we were asked to be um conservative at that time. And I do have Laura Silverman here and she can give you any the amount of detail that you would like. Well, I'm I'm most concerned about if we are given the amount that we're projecting, how is that going to affect our staff? What are we going to be losing jobs? Are we going to be losing services? Like, I just need like that's where my concerns lie. Obviously, you can see that last year we were funded 20 million. Now, it's projected 18. That's a $2 million gap. That's got to come from somewhere. So, that's why
073I'm asking if if we wind up with a $2 million difference from last year, how is that going to affect us in real terms? Great question, and I'm glad you asked it about staff. We're pleased to share that based on leveraging other grant funding sources such as BPI grants such as the Title One carryover from this year. It's a normal practice that we look at and how we can leverage carryover funds from one year to the next. We will not be eliminating any FTEEs built into this grant application which is based on the 15 million figure. Okay. Okay. The only position there is 1.4 FTE that has been vacant for the past year and a half which will no longer be is not no longer included in this application. But based on your question, people
074are not losing positions. We're just using multiple funding sources to ensure that we're meeting our current needs and doing our best to continue both the staffing because it's a priority as well as to ensure that our programs continue to meet the standards for our students. Okay, that's my biggest concern. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. You're welcome, Dr. Green. Once the grant is submitted, um when will we have verification or notification of what will be funded? We typically receive allocations around September. So we submit in July, we actually receive VOE approval and then later on once we receive um the true funding, we're able to amend. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay. Thank you. I don't see any further questions. We are now on to budget transfers. Welcome Crystal Pate, chief financial officer. Good
075evening, Chairwoman Brown, Vice Chairwoman Weboard members, Dr. Robertson. Forformational purposes this evening, we are presenting one fiscal year 2025 2026 budget transfer for the board's review. Schoolboard approval is required for any budget transfer that exceeds the superintendent's author authorization threshold of $250,000. The proposed transfer in the amount of $420,000 addresses increased McKini Vento transportation cost from a rise in the number of students being served. To fund this transfer, we are recommending the use of remaining available funds from elementary classroom budget specifically within the social security tax line item due to position vacancies. And that concludes the presentation for the budget transfers. I'll be happy to answer any questions. Dr. Green. Um, mine is really not a question, but um, from a practitioner uh, perspective, Miss Pate, I know right now you have numbers for McKenna
076Vento, but I think it's important for my colleagues to be aware that those numbers may change between now and the end of the school year. So, what we see may increase. Absolutely. And because we've seen that increased cost over this fiscal year, we've watching that very carefully. We have a budget analyst that looks at that those bills and we also work with Damen Wilson who was mentioned earlier who's been helping us um analyze that and make sure that we're on track to make sure that's funded completely. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. I don't see any further questions. Um colleagues, just so you're aware, this is on our consent agenda. So, if anybody has any further questions about it when we get to that, we'll need to move it to action. We are now on to
077VSBA recognition, and I'll be presenting this one. Mr. Callen had brought to my attention an inaugural um schoolboard clerk of the year award honor and um we discussed submitting the nomination. that has to be approved unanimously by the board to submit. And um you know, we all had very glowing reviews of our clerk here um at the very beginning of the year. So I drafted this letter and I'm going to go ahead and read it and it will be on consent and after that. So and of course any discussion anybody wants. The school board of the city of Virginia Beach enthusiastically nominates Miss Regina M. Taniato, Clerk of the School Board for the inaugural VSBA Schoolboard Clerk of the Year Award. Since assuming her role on July 1st, 2020 during the height of the CO
07819 pandemic, Miss Taniato has demonstrated unwavering professionalism, exceptional organizational skills, and dedication to the work of the school board. Having only a school-based background and no prior experience with the duties of the schoolboard clerk's office, Miss Taniato assumed her new clerk duties, just as public bodies were returning to the workplace and learning how to conduct public meetings under the new COVID restrictions. Even experienced schoolboard clerks were challenged by these new and changing conditions. Yet, Miss Toniato persevered and was integral in the schoolboard's transition to electronic meetings and to developing the protocols to allow the public to safely view and participate in schoolboard meetings. Her steady presence, strong work ethic, and commitment to Virginia Beach City Public Schools provided the muchneeded calm in the storm during these challenges. As clerk for an 11 member school board
079that has experienced significant transition and rotation, Miss Taniato has consistently provided continuity, continuity, guidance, and dependability. She has successfully managed the complexities of virtual, COVID, and in-person meetings across multiple locations, including a one-year placement at another building while the school administration building underwent construction. Upon return to the newly renovated schoolboard chambers, Miss Taniato took charge of the new open meetings voting system software program. This was the first time the schoolboard had access to an online integrated voting and agenda system and Miss Toniato took on the heroic task of teaching 11 board members how to incorporate this new system into their governance procedures. While the school board would like to say we were all stellar students, Miss Taniata would most likely admit that teaching the schoolboard to use this system was yet another challenge we gave
080her that year. Throughout these transitions, she ensured meeting materials and speaker lists were organized, compliant, and prepared for each meeting to ensure they would be able to con be conducted efficiently. Her professionalism and composure during high pressure meetings consistently contribute to maintaining order and effectiveness. Beyond the responsibilities typically associated with the clerk's roles, Miss Taniata goes above and beyond to facilitate effective communication between schoolboard members, staff, and the public, often resolving questions and coordinating information in ways that save significant time and allow the schoolboard to focus on governance and student achievement. She is dependable, proactive, responsive, and committed to supporting the work of the school board with neutrality and integrity. To support the schoolboard's commitment to increase transparency for the public, Miss Toniato helped develop the protocols for schoolboard committees to now be broadcast and
081for committee agendas and minutes to be available on the school division's website. Miss Toniato has taken on additional responsibilities related to the WCAG website accessibility requirements to ensure that the accessibility of schoolboard minutes and materials. Her efforts have been strengthened communication with the public and improved access to important schoolboard information. Her dedication to continuous growth is evident through her annual participation in the VSBA clerk conference and her commitment to staying informed on best practices, procedures, and compliance requirements. Finally, Miss Taniato has earned the respect of every schoolboard member through her consistency, professionalism, and collaboration. At the schoolboard's most recent organizational meeting and during her reappoint, schoolboard members overwhelmingly expressed their appreciation for her dedication. She approaches every task with care and has demonstrated an extraordinary level of commitment, including an attendance record that reflects her
082reliability and dedication to the schoolboard and the community she serves. For these reasons, the school board of the city of Virginia Beach enthusiastically recommends Regina M. Piniato for the inaugural VSBA schoolboard clerk of the year award. And so and that'll that one will be on consent colleagues and so I don't know if there's any further discussion that anyone wants to have but um thank you Regina for all of your hard work. and Miss Melnik. And this is why I love VSBA and the fact that they they really focus on um school boards across the Commonwealth and um that they offer what they do to our clerks. And thank you, Regina, for participating every year in those. You're awesome. Thanks, Miss Felton. I just like to say to Regina that there has been no task too
083small or too big that you don't you don't approach it you approach it with humility and professionalism. Thank you so much in my time of need and my bereiement. You were there for me. Thank you so much and you supported my every need that I needed and when we when we had to come in and read books you were there and so uh accompanying giving us what we needed. Thank you for all that you do. Appreciate you. Okay, thank you. We are now on to the use of facilities proposed fee structure changes and we welcome Steve Leak, risk manager, office of risk management. All right. Good evening. Good evening, Chair Brown, Vice Chair Wings, school board members, and Dr. Robertson. Um uh last schoolboard meeting I went over the fee structure changes and I supplied
084you with some additional information that is in your packet. Uh that packet consists of a comparison of other surrounding school divisions of what they charge from a school rental standpoint plus one school division that's in similar size uh with us. and it shows you the previous and proposed pricing structure um based on what their range is. And most other school divisions base their range on whether it's an elementary school, middle school or high school. uh as the school as our school division, we base it upon um pricing structure of uh whether it's a nonprofit or a profit or a private commercial industry. Um the proposed rates, as you can see, are comparable and um in some cases they're lower than neighboring school divisions. And plus, I'd also like to add that some of the school
085divisions charge for electricity, which we do not. Um, also in the uh your attachment packet, um, I gave you a current list of renters by group classification of listing of all five groups that we have. And I proposed back uh some adjustments that of some questions that was brought up at the last schoolboard meeting. Uh particularly in group two where um it was we were recommending a charge of $25 a day for group two classification for grounds and uh we are taking that advice and leaving it as is. Uh also for the group four uh we are uh having a minimal rental of 4 hours for the churches and for because most churches are only there for 4 hours. the churches that are going to be there for longer, such as eight and t hours,
086we're going to look at discounts for them because they're a longtime customer of ours and if they're there that long, um we'd like like to show some uh support with that. So, with that being said, uh also there were a couple other items uh that were or an email that I received and I kind of want to bring this up is that you wanted to get a rough understanding of of what our revenue is right now and what our revenue would be if we implemented the new changes. um in the month of month of March we had a revenue of about $23,000 and if by chance we had those proposed prices in place we would have about $32,000. So roughly looking at it about a 38.6% increase in revenue minus the 10% that Facilitron takes.
087So you're looking at a 28.6% 6% increase in revenue. But that is just a sample of one month. It could be higher, it could be a little lower uh moving forward. So any questions? Vice Chair Williams. Yeah, I just want to say I appreciate you taking our comments and and making those changes because I think they were they were good positive changes and and it's nice to um of course we h we have to charge something, you know, because of the maintenance and the custodial fees fees and everything, but it's nice to be a a nice fair partner to the community and it's so wonderful. You gave us the list of every of all the organizations that use our buildings and I didn't count them, but it's it's hundreds a couple, you know, probably a
088couple hundreds. Yes. So, um, we are able to let the community use our buildings and that's a good thing. So, thank you so much. All right, Miss Rogers. I just wanted to be clear. So, with our church services, we you had proposed doing an hourly, but now you're going to go to a 4-hour block with one fee. That's No, no, it will still be per hour fee, but a 4hour block. So, because it says here four hours and then a minimum of four hours, right? And is that 300 for the four hours? It is $75 per each hour still yet. Okay. And that would be 300 for the hour. Yeah. Like because the way it's set up and I knew we had been we had talked about going hourly. So, it's 75 per hour. 75
089per hour. Got it. Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Mr. Kalen, when we spoke last, I had raised the issue of the 10% charge in reference to custodial overtime, and your answer just seemed to me that's just the way. Well, I've never asked. Yeah. And so I I approached Facilitron about that and what they did, they gave us the recommendations. Number one, I wanted to address this. They gave us uh our pricing recommendations to start off with. They compared us with 24 other school divisions uh that are similar to us in size and in the southeast area geographically and that's how they came up with the average and came up with our stuff. um in asking them about the custodial o custodial overtime that is just a part of the 10%. They didn't
090really give me a reason. They just said that is part of the 10% of our revenue because they consider that revenue and that's what they told me. And the thing about the the 10% is, and I didn't bring it up last time, was that that 10% that we are losing with Facilitron, there's a lot of wear and tear on our gym floors. There's a lot of wear and tear on our stadium turfs and eventually this and and some organizations come in and use our equipment as well. So that fee will help offset that, be put back in the general fund and go to replacements. So, but to answer your question about the um the fee, they did not give me a reason, but I contacted other school divisions that are um using Facilitron, and it's
091straight across the board with that. And you're not a representative of Facilitron, you're a representative of the school system. That is correct, sir. So, in light of that, going to bat on behalf of the school system because the answers that you seem to be giving or that have been given to you strike me as non-answers. Just that's the way things go. And when we compare it to other places, that happens in a similar way. So, it's just part of the package, mister. So, well, the other thing that I'd like to say is when we looked at other school rental software companies, nobody out there did the 10%. They all gave us a straight annual fee that we had to do. and how our department looked at it. We looked at how much money we made
092and took 10% of that and then looked at their annual fee and it was like I would say close to 35 to $40,000 we are benefiting from going with Facilitron with the 10% even with the custodial included. So on behalf of the school system you think this is a wise choice for us to make? Yes, I do, sir. Okay. Thank you, Dr. Green. Thank you. And yes, I think it's a wise choice as well. Um, Mr. Leon, I had flashback from our Plaza days. When I was the administrator, Dr. Robertson, you know where I'm getting ready to go of that building and all the community people that utilize that building. And Mr. Leont, I think you short change yourself cuz there are a lot of hidden costs that you all are taking for granted that
093you don't see. He referenced the electricity, the water. We don't make people bring paper towels and toilet paper. No, seriously, we we don't. then cleaning our custodial team who is being paid overtime because they're there on the weekend or after hours. They're using our school cleaning supplies to clean the facilities to get it ready for instruction for the next day. So, in the grand scheme of things, thank you. Yeah. And this is from someone who has had the experience of having to approve and work with other departments to ensure we had the appropriate coverage. If you have certain groups, you have to check their liability um you know for risk. There there are a lot of variables to this and again as I constantly say we have to trust the practitioners who have the expertise
094for this. We don't Mr. Cummings. Yeah, thank you so much for answering some of the questions that I had and providing some of the supplemental information uh for us in our packets today. Um I think just where the the area that I struggle with a lot is just within group two and potential price increases because I see and this is probably where I see a lot of the the organizations in here and I know from a nonprofit experience that, you know, a lot of these folks aren't don't have huge budgets. You know, basically they're nonprofit and name only. And I I I struggle with the cost increasing on some of these folks who are doing good work with our our youth in our schools. And I tend to look at, you know, is this a
095holistic experience for our community in the sense that our our buildings play a role of providing a safe place, you know, before school, at during school, but also after school. And I think that's, you know, this is these nonprofits doing some of that work are doing good work. And I'm very hesitant to feel like I know what an increase on some of them would do. um especially when budgets are strapped very tight. Um and so that's probably the biggest concern that I have for this uh this proposal. I understand I definitely understand, you know, our our our groups three and groups four. Um but where where I'm feeling a little concerned about is group two. Um, and I feel like this is a this is a lot of new information personally for me and I
096don't think we're in a there's not like a huge rush to vote on this. Is there do Dr. Robertson, is there a pressing reason for us to vote on it today? Well, it's to the prices are going effect July one. Mhm. So, I don't know how long, Steve, it would take you to get everything prepared to go live July one because we also want to signal we're going live July one. I want we would like to it it has been posted on the Facilitron website of the price increase that's coming, but nothing has been posted regarding dollar amounts. So, time is of the e essence. I'd like to get that out there and publicize to them for the individuals that feel that maybe that's out of my price range or uh I got to look
097somewhere else or whatever the case may be. And looking at your questions uh uh at group two, I mean we currently right now the only places the only areas we charge in group two is $12.50 50 cents an hour currently in the gymnasium in the kitchen and that is only raising to $15 an hour and that is the only change that we have in group two. It's a very minimal um group increase. Yeah, I think about scale though and weekly use and hourly use. Um, and if groups have different I mean I just have to read through the list more thorough just to kind of probably think through it a little more more if especially if they have multiple sites. Um, I think that's my concern. Uh, and I'd be curious just to hear from
098other board folks. I mean, I'm not going to propose anything radical, but if there's a push for some folks to think that we need to vote on this today, or if other members would prefer more time to kind of digest some of the current packet information that we received today, but that's all. Mr. Co Pepper, thanks for the adjustments you made here. My concerns were similar u primarily to group two. So, your adjustment uh to remove the cost for grounds, I think, is the right call. What causage grounds I want to confirm because you have classroom listed some other places. Does grounds in this line include classrooms? No, classrooms are no charge, meaning that there's no change before. Okay. Were on there before, not on there now. Okay. Yeah, I just want to confirm that.
099Um I think my only other question is um you know increase in pricing is going to change how people use it obviously. Um, do you have a plan to brief us again later on and how this impacts usage and whether you think an adjustment can or should be made later on? Well, you will be able to see it because I supply Dr. Robertson with a um monthly school facility use. You'll be able to see right now typically we average between 360 to 360 school rental applications a month. Okay. So, you'll be able to see what the difference is. Okay. All right. Thank you. I had no idea. Oh, yeah. But it's a long list. You got you variety here of who uses our facilities. All right. Thank you for the brief. Okay, Miss Dwire. Yeah.
100So, that was um Mr. Co Pepper took the words out of my mouth. That's what I was impressed with, the current uh renters, and they're all legit. Um and um I I just had no idea. And I think they call this creative financing or I don't know what you call it but it's very creative and I'm very impressed. Um and also I think um with the concerns of uh what Mr. what my colleagues are concerned about uh the uh maybe for the nonprofit groups. Uh you did say earlier with the churches you uh were going to get a little creative. Maybe maybe we can get a little creative with some of these nonprofit groups like the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts. Yes, we can. Yeah. Okay. But great job. Thank you. Okay. So, this one
101is on our agenda um for action under B. And um I do I appreciate everything that you've done to, you know, take the board input and I know it's not it's not an easy um task for sure. I'm actually and I I understand the concerns with group two and I'm having some mixed feelings here about group three uh community nonprofit. I mean we have Hampton Roads Vipers Fast Pitch softball pony baseball uh Plaza Little League, Princess Sand Little League. You know, a lot of our students are served by a lot of these things. is um moving down in our community. Alanon family groups uh for family and friends that have loved ones that um are um experiencing alcoholism and that might be helpful and beneficial for people in the community. Um and so I'm I'm
102really struggling. I'll I'll make a decision, but I am struggling with that. Um, I just don't think that there's any, you know, great great way to raise a rate. But, um, my math shows me that we're looking at about $108,000 annually if everything was to remain equally. Is that accurate? That should be about correct. Yeah. Okay. Um, and you said that those funds would go into the general fund or would those it would go back into the general fund and then distributed out as needed for replacement costs. Okay. Because it my preference would be that those funds would be utilized, you know, for facility maintenance. So that that's what we're doing with it. So, all right. Um, Mr. Cummings, I just had a quick question. And so we talked about negotiating special rates with long-term
103in, you know, long-term stakeholders. Dr. Robertson, is that something that schoolboard policy guides or that we need to vote on as well if pricing deviates from what's before us? Yeah, I don't I I'm not sure if Steve was saying he was going to deviate from No, not deviate from the actual, but we're going to look we're going to look at some of the churches that are there for 10 to 12 hours a day could prove to be costly for them because most the majority of all the churches are only there for four hours. Mhm. So, but when you in when you do the 10h hour, it is because they're using say seven classrooms at $25 an hour for each classroom. Um, looking at that is something that we really need to maybe evaluate or stand
104pat with. That's what I kind of wanted to bring it up to the school board to see what you guys thought. I mean, does that have to be spilled out, you think, before we vote like or we just stay with the the current cost structure of where we have it? Yeah, that's all my questions. I was just kind of curious about what I'm hearing a little more about unpacking that. I also just need to correct this. Apparently, Alanon Family Groups is in group four. So there would be no changes to that one. So the other community staff that I was mentioning, that one is not included. M Well, these are these are the groups that they are listed at right now. There's going to be changes with that with the new system because some some
105groups will go to three, some groups will go to two based on if they have uh a nonprofit designation. If we don't receive a 5013C from them, we do not list them as a nonprofit, even though their website says they're a nonprofit. Just a reminder, you need to be careful in favoring some groups over another. So, we don't have discrimination allegations. So, while you may favor one group, they've classified, and they meet the classifications on there. And I will say, as um Mr. Pock has point out, a lot of times people say they're nonprofit, they haven't actually filed. They have to file both at the state and the level. they don't actually make that designation. So although they consider themselves nonprofit, they're doing the right thing and checking so they don't get that profit nonprofit
106status. Thanks. And I I most certainly wasn't. I just labeled them incorrectly and it shifted right there. So Okay. Um Miss Rogers, did you already speak on this topic? Did Okay. I just wanted to make sure if I was going in order still that I wasn't skipping over anyone. So Miss Dwire, then Miss Roger. So, so the prices that we have right now, these are effective now. And you said there was a chance that they could change um or there is a potential somewhere down the road that the ch the prices would change. Did I hear that right or did I hear that wrong? You heard that wrong. Okay. The prices will the proposed pricing structure is set for July 1st to what we current have versus to our new pricing structure. Okay. Okay. Thank
107you, Miss Rogers. Okay. So, when you're talking about some places um some renters having a very long uh day in our building, perhaps we could consider doing a cap on the hours. So, after 7 hours, eight hours, then there's no more charges, no more additional. So that would then not specify a specific entity, but it then specifies time for all entities. Does that make sense? So we're not charging after a set amount of time. Once you hit that mark, you then the the clock stops ticking. So this way any entity that's in group four, whatever group, um we're doing hourly. So then maybe after eight hours then you've you've hit your cap how much you have to pay. You know like at a parking garage it's so much for 1 hour, so much for two
108hours. Once you hit a certain amount of hours then you don't pay anymore. So maybe we can consider that so we're not charging um you know if someone needs the place for 10 hours that we're not continually running up the bill. Yes, I know exactly what you're talking about. Okay, I don't see any further questions. Thank you. Thank you for all the work that you do. Appreciate it. Okay, we are now on to the consent agenda. So, we have budget transfers, Kimpsville Middle School Foundation repair phase 2, and the VSBA recognition that I read for Regina, I'm sorry, our clerk. Um, are there any objections to the school board voting on the consent agenda as presented? Seeing none, I call for a motion to approve the consent agenda. Moved by Miss Dwire, seconded by Miss
109Rogers. I call for the vote to approve the consent agenda as presented. So, Madam Chair, we have 11 eyes. The motion did pass for the approval of the consent agenda. Thank you. We are now on to the personnel report and administrative appointments. Do we have a motion to approve the personnel report and administrative appointments? Moved by Miss Melnik, seconded by Mr. Cummings. Any discussion? Seeing none, I call for the vote on the personnel report. So, Madam Chair, we have 11 eyes. The motion did pass for the approval of the personnel report and administrative appointments. Thank you. Dr. Robertson, do you have any administrative appointments this evening? I do. I do. Cheers. is the season of of change. Uh and we we bring forward a strong slate tonight. Uh we'll start with uh Jordan Barbaresi. Jordan
110is currently an admin assistant at White Oaks and Woodstock Elementary School, and we're pleased you've approved our recommendation for Jordan to be the next assistant principal at Indian Lakes Elementary School. Next up, we have Kevin Crossman, former uh currently an admin assistant at Kimville Middle School. We're pleased you've approved our recommendation for him to be the next assistant principal at Brandon Middle School. Next up, we got Natada Zenedine or Dr. Zenedine, currently an admin assistant at Larch Middle School, and we we're pleased you've accepted our recommendation for her to be the next assistant principal at Salem Middle School. Uh, next up we have Michelle Brown, currently an assistant principal at Triel Elementary School in Chesapeake Public Schools, who's coming to Virginia Beach to be the next coordinator of special education in the office of programs
111for exceptional children. Next we have uh Lauren Gardler, currently the itinerate principal at Southeastern Cooperative Education Program, CEP, and we're pleased that you've accepted our recommendation for her to also be a coordinator in special education, the office of programs for exceptional children. Next up, we have Dr. Daniel Manni, currently the principal at First Colonial High School, and we're pleased that you've accepted our recommendation for Dr. Myani to be the next chief academic officer in the department of teaching and learning. And then finally, we welcome Mr. Benjamin Oaks or Captain Oaks, retired commanding officer, amphibious warship USS New York battleship, uh, who's coming to us to be the next chief operations officer in the Department of School Division Services. That concludes our recommendations. Right. Thank you. We are now on to committee, organization, and board reports.
112Do any board members? Um, Madame Chair, we have another action item. Oh, yes, we do. Okay. I call for a motion to approve the use of facilities proposed fee structure changes as presented. Moved by Miss Melnik, seconded by Mr. Co Pepper. Any discussion? Seeing none, I call for the vote to approve the proposed fee structure changes as presented. So, Madam Chair, we have 10 eyes and one nay. So, the motion did pass for the uh fees. Thank you. Okay. Now, we're on to committee organization and board reports. And Dr. Green, thank you. I have two things. Um last last the week before last right after the last board meeting um I had an opportunity to um attend um an event over at Betty F. Williams uh the Betty F. Williams leg legacy celebration and the
113group that uh sponsored the event, they were former teachers, students, staff uh at the original Betty F. Williams and I even had an opportunity to meet um the great nephews of Mrs. Williams. And part of what the group did that day, uh, we all read to fourth and fifth grade classes. And I've already mentioned to Dr. Robertson, um, the concerns, uh, of my community with regards to how um, we're going to continue to preserve uh, the legacy of Mrs. Williams and mirroring that with the other concerns that we heard this evening. So, Dr. Robertson, we have a whole lot of work to do, don't we, for district 4 and and making sure uh we align some things. The second um item, last Wednesday, I had an opportunity to go to the adult learning center um
114to attend the English language um learners acquisition program. And these are our adult learners who come to the United States and they're not fluent in English, but they become fluent in English. And one of the things that impressed me with um how they did the ceremony this year is in addition to telling us their native country, they also share what their career paths were in their native countries. So we have a crop now of doctors, lawyers, engineers and I was thinking wow how can we help these new learners English acquisition learners partner with similar careers so that they now can use their English to part learn because we have a shortage of doctors. um it takes you what a year to get an appointment and if you're seeing a specialist it may be as long
115longer or engineers. So I I would love to see something down the road that you know we can maybe do some type of partnership where these new English mastery students can continue with their field of study um that they brought to the United States. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Cummings. Yes. This past Friday, I had the wonderful and delightful opportunity to leave the city that elected me in Virginia Beach and travel north to Norfolk to go to the first annual GSA art crawl. And I had so much fun. Um, and I love how it's the first annual. Uh, but I I cannot express how how great it was to walk around and see our students art on display display, but not just our students, students from the entire Hampton Roads region that with folks that
116go to the school. So, I I asked my colleagues, bookmark this for next year as it's going to be an annual thing. You're walking around Norfol and going in and just looking at some of the art students created, talking to them, learning what they're doing with their next steps in life. Several of them are going to art school. Uh, another one's going to a military academy. Uh, and I just had some great conversations. It's amazing to see just the creative aspect and what we talked what the recognition said uh earlier about our elementary art teacher, how she inspires creativity in in our students to see that manifest in the 12th grade year of our students. Um, it was a phenomenal experience. So, I just wanted to give a shout out to the GSA, their first
117art crawl, and for folks to bookmark it uh for next time around. Thank you, Miss Melnik. Thank you um Mr. Cummings for that lovely um plug for our Governor's School of the Arts students, or as Dr. Shelley calls them, our wonderful humans. Um it it is an amazing place. Um we have our final board meeting for GSA and CEP on Tuesday um for this school year. And um as Mr. Cummings put it, please bookmark um some of the events that they have every year. So as we come to a close and we might be it might be too late. There's a few more. Look, if there's anything you want tickets to, please let me know. It's not a problem. we will get you those tickets and then consider it for next year. Um there there
118are so many events that happen all year. I mean it is full of events and I and and I speak for Dr. Shel when I say please let us know if there's something you want to see. You will be amazed. You will love it. It will be time well spent and we will give you the tickets. Thank you, Miss Rogers. So, um, last week it was, uh, Miss Felton and I were able to go to the, um, Bickl celebration for our, um, Bickl scholars. It was amazing. We got to celebrate the 2026 Bickl scholarship winner and then meet the new batch of Bickl scholarship nominees who are called Bickl Babies and they will be working really hard in the next year. They are juniors going to be seniors. They will be working all year on
119um uh trying to grab that amazing Bickl scholarship. And I just want to thank um ODS for hosting as well as the kids at Salem for catering. They did an amazing job as always. And I also want to tell all of our assigned schools to please reach out to us and invite us to all the things because we love coming and we love celebrating with you and all the students. Vice Chair Williams. Um yes, last week I attended the gifted advisory committee. They're working on their annual plan that they will be presenting to us in the near future. Also, Thursday, day after tomorrow is the PRC meeting at 3:00 and then I will be attending the Harbor Oak Center board of directors regional meeting on the 20th. And I um also attended the special education
120advisory committee meeting and they were informed at that meeting by staff here that um these coordinator positions might be filled at this meeting. So they're going to be really happy to hear that we have filled those and they are also working on what to present here to the board as well. So Dr. Green and I forgot that today Mrs. Woodhouse and I attended the last uh board meeting for the school year for the Access Foundation. And last week uh we had our big college signing day um at Old Dominion uh at the Ted Constant Center and our Virginia Beach. Joan Timberlain was the uh guest. Okay. Okay, thank you everyone and vice chair Williams is going to read us back into close. We have a couple things left to finish up. I move that the
121school board recess into close session in accordance with exceptions to open meetings law set forth in code of Virginia 2.2-3711 part A paragraphs 1278 as amended to deliberate on the following matters. One, discussion, consideration or interviews of prospective candidates for employment, assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining or resignation of specific public officers, appointees or employees of any public body and devaluation or performance of departments or schools of public institutions of higher education where such evaluation will necessary involve discussion of the performance of specific individuals. Any teacher shall be permitted to be present during a closed meeting in which there is a discussion or consideration of a dis disciplinary matter that involves the teacher and some student and the student involved in the matter is present provided that the teacher makes a written request to
122be present to the presiding officer of the appropriate board. Nothing in this subdivision however should be construed to authorize a closed meeting by a local governing body or an elected school board to discuss the compensation matters that affect the membership of such body or board collectively. Number two, discussion or consideration of admission or disciplinary matters or any other matters that would involve the disclosure of information contained in a scholastic record concerning any student of any public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth or any state school system. However, any such student legal counsel and if the student is a m minor, the student's parents or legal guardians shall be permitted to be present during the taking of testimony testimony or presentation of evidence at a closed meeting. If such student, parents or guardian so request
123in writing and such request is submitted to the presiding officer of the appropriate board. Seven, consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members or consultants pertaining to actual or probable litigation where such consultation or briefing and open meetings would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of this public body. For the purposes of this subdivision, probable litigation means litigation that has been specifically threatened or on which the public body or its legal council has a reasonable basis to believe will be commenced by or against a known party. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to permit the closure of a meeting merely because an attorney representing the public body is in attendance or is consulted on a matter. Eight. Consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding specific legal matters
124requiring the pro provision of legal advice by such counsel. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to permit the closure of a meeting merely because an attorney representing the public body is in attendance or is consulted on a matter namely to discuss a personnel matters related to BDOE investigation. B pending student matters c determination regarding student discrimination complaint appeal. D, status of pending litigation or administrative cases. E, consultation with legal counsel regarding probable litigation and pending litigation matters. Okay. Motions made by Vice Chair Williams, seconded by Miss Melnik. Any discussion? Seeing none, I call for the vote to go into close session. Thank you, Madam Chair. We have 10 eyes. So, the motion did pass to go into close session. Are we ready? Yep. She just said we're ready. Whereas the school board of the
125city of Virginia Beach has convened a closed meeting on this day pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Whereas in section 2.2-3712D of the code of Virginia requires a certification by the school board that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law. Now therefore, be it resolved that the school board of the city of Virginia Beach hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting to which the certification applies and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed or considered. Okay, motion is made by Miss Dwire, second by
126Mr. Bowensteel. Um and this is for the certification of close session. Any discussion? Seeing none, I call for the vote to certify close session. You weren't in there for two more things. So, Madam Chair, we have nine eyes and two abstensions. The motion to pass for certification of close session. Yes. Thank you, Miss Lenetti. Um, Vice Chair Williams is wondering if she can read the school in the resolution, the name of the school. Should I You can read it. It's not enough to identify. Okay. Just wanted to make sure. Okay. All right. Whereas on March 10th, 2026, the parents of a Great Neck Middle School student filed a complaint alleging discrimination, harassment, and retaliation regarding a student discipline matter in November through December of 2026. And whereas on April 3rd, 2026, the school administration issued
127an investigation report regarding the parents complaint and concluded that there was not sufficient evidence to support a finding of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. However, the investigation report did recommend remedial measures to address the parents concern. And whereas on May 12th, 2026, the school board reviewed the investigation report and supporting evidence. Now therefore be it determined one that the school board has determined that this matter should be submitted to a hearing officer to hold a hearing and to provide the school board with findings of fact and recommendations regarding the parents complaint no later than June 3rd, 2026. Two, that the schoolboard attorney or designate will retain the hearing officer and work with the hearing officer to set the date, time, and conditions for the hearing. Three, that the school administration is ordered to notify the parents
128and student of this decision and to place a copy of this decision, the supporting documentation, and any recording of the hearing in the students official files. Adopted by the school board of the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, this 12th day of May, 2026. Motion made by Miss Rogers, seconded by Mr. Cummings. Any discussion? Seeing none, I call for the vote on the motion read by Vice Chairs. Sorry, the resolution read by vice chairs. So, madam chair, we have nine eyes and two abstensions. So, the motion did pass. Great. Thank you. It is 8:36 p.m. and we are adjourned.