001Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Why are you What's happen? Good evening. I'm Kathleen Brown, chair of the Virginia Beach School Board, and I call this formal meeting to session at 6:02 p.m. on this 25th day of 2025. Madame clerk, would you please announce the role? Thank you, Madam Chair. Present in the school board chamber are Chair Brown, Vice Chair Williams, Mr. Bowensteel, Mr. Kalen, Mr. Co Pepper, Mr. Cummings, Miss Dwire, Miss Felton, Dr. Green, Miss Melnik, and Miss Rogers. Thank you. Please join me in a moment of silence followed the pledge by the pledge of allegiance as you are able. I pledge allegiance 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. Okay. So, there are no
002awards and recognitions this evening. So, we're going to move on to the adoption of the agenda. We have two parts. The first one's going to be the motion to approve the agenda as presented. That is moved by Miss Dwire. Is there second? Seconded by Miss Melnik. I'm going to turn the floor over to um Mr. Cummings because we have that carryover motion. Do you do you need me to read you that motion from the 10th of November? Do you want me to read the whole thing or do you want just a the motion? So I I can read it and if you want to just um make that motion, you can so that we can make sure we're complying with the law here. Um, I have a motion to amend the agenda to include the
003resolution acknowledging the advisory referendum results in support of adopting the 10-1 district voting system for the school board of the city of Virginia Beach is item number um 15 C on the agenda. Do you want to make that motion? Yeah, I make that motion. Okay. And is there a second on that motion? Okay. All right. Any discussion on that motion? Right. Seeing none, we're voting on the carryover motion from November 10th to add the referendum results in support of adopting the 101 district voting system for the school board of the city of Virginia Beach as item number 15 C. Okay. So, Madam Chair, we have five eyes's and six nazs. So, the motion failed. Okay. We are back to the initial adoption of the agenda. Is there any discussion? I'm waiting for my board to
004move here. Okay. And that motion was made by Miss Wire, seconded by Miss Melnik. I call for the votes to approve the agenda as presented. So, Madam Chair, we have 11 eyes. The motion to pass for the adoption of the agenda as presented. Thank you. We are now on to the superintendent's report and recognitions. Dr. Robertson, we look forward to your report. Okay. Thank you. So, good evening, Madam Chairwoman and members of the board. Here are a few items of interest for you and our families. The third annual Turkey Bowl scored a touchdown for education, fun, and giving back thanks to our partners at the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office. Team Education, coached by our good friend Bobby Jameson, scored big with a 43-29 victory, and together we raised over $6,000 for the Beach Backs program
005through ticket and concession sales. Yes, Beach Bags provides healthy meals to students who might otherwise go hungry over weekends and holiday breaks. Since 2009, more than 325,000 beach bags have been distributed to students. Since the game, we've seen more volunteers signing up to pack beach bags every week. So, let's keep this momentum going. Community members can visit vbf.org or or email beachbagsvschools.com to learn more about donating items, funds, and volunteer time toward this effort. National Junior Honor Society students at Linhaven Middle School recently held a surprise appreciation lunch for cafeteria staff. They made sandwiches, flower bouquets, and personalized messages for each staff member. One student served up cheddar biscuits. He learned how to bake in his teen living class. When the cafeteria team was asked to come out of the school kitchen, students welcomed them
006with a boisterous round of applause. The cafeteria manager and Miss Cho burst into tears. Special thanks to the student council association and community partner, Nothing But Cakes, for helping to give this special thank you to the cafeteria staff who provide our students with smiles and nutritious food every day. Virginia Beach City Public Schools doing a great job celebrating Military Family Appreciation Month. Students and staff wore red for Remember Everyone Deployed Day on November 21st. We're committed to supporting our military families through programs like Anchored for Life, which helps them build friendships and find stability when moving between schools. Students from Ocean Lakes High School's Anchored for Life Club are spreading kindness and gratitude by creating care packages for sailors aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford. Virginia Beach City Public Schools has a total of 66
007schools that have earned the Purple Star designation. We proudly serve more than 11,300 students with a military connected parent. These families strength, resilience, and adaptability inspire us every day. Finally, I have a a short video to share and this marks 50 years of the Beach District. A true celebration of teamwork, sportsmanship, and community spirit. Let's take a look. Good afternoon. It is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to today to the 50th anniversary celebration of the Beach District. The Beach District really is a family and so for 50 years there have been so many people that have come through and put a lot of hard work into making sure that the district does the best it can for students. In 1975 the beach district had its first meeting. The six schools at the time were
008part of the Eastern District. They were paired with uh five Norfick schools. 50 years is a long time. Of the more than 40 districts throughout the Virginia High School League, the beach is the only one that is comprised of one school division. and and we are really lucky in that aspect to be able to operate like that because we deal with the same set of systems, the same school board, same superintendent. And I think that all of our schools work well together. We trust one another. We know each other's heart so that when there are issues that arise, I think they're easily solvable because our schools get along so well with each other. And so we felt it important uh to recognize this historic occasion to bring everybody back together to celebrate as a family
009and to also look forward to what is the next 50 years going to bring and and what can we do for for students in our school division. Yeah. Organizations around the country look to the beach district as a great example of how we here at VBCPS do great work together. Work that benefits our students, athletes, and the staff who support them. Thank you, Madam Chair. This concludes my report. All right. Thank you. We are now on to the approval of the meeting minutes from November 10th, 2025. I call for a motion to approve those minutes as presented. Moved by Miss Dwire, seconded by Mr. Cummings. Any discussion? Seeing none, I call for the vote to approve the November 10th meeting minutes. Miss Felton, how do you vote? Thank you, Madam Chair. We have 11 eyes.
010The motion did pass with the approval of the minutes from November 10th. Thank you. We are now on to the public comment portion of our agenda, and we will hear public comments on matters relevant 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 schoolboard clerk prior to noon today. The purpose for the public comment section is for the schoolboard to offer an orderly form to receive public comments during the schoolboard meeting. I call upon all speakers and all persons in the chambers to be civil in discussion and 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
011to 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. First speaker is Heather Cip, then Omar Hagazi, and then Amanda Kimble. Good evening, Chair Brown, Vice Chair Williams, members of the school board, Dr. Robertson. My name is Heather Cyp, and I am the president of the Virginia Beach Education Association. I would like to take a few moments here at the beginning to remember a few of our staff members that we have lost in the last couple of weeks. We lost Coach White at Bayside. We lost Coach Ray who was at Chemville and at Tallwood. And we just recently lost Miss Para at Brandon Middle School. These are some deep losses that are going to be felt by our
012communities, by our students. All three of these individuals were advocates. advocates for their students, for their needs. We need to advocate for our staff as well. The way we advocate for our staff is giving them a voice, giving them a seat, doing what is right for our staff to ensure that they truly have what they need so that they can be the best they can be for our students. There's only so much our staff members can give before they are empty. We need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to support them and keep them at a level where they can be the best that they are. That they can continue to provide the worldclass education that we boast for our students. Our staff's working conditions are our students learning conditions. We
013need to listen to our staff. They need to have voice, a real voice where they are truly heard. Time to stop doing lip service. Time to truly give voice to our staff. Our custodians are the ones who know what they need in the buildings. Our bus drivers and bus assistants are the ones who know what they need on those buses. Our security in the buildings are the ones who know what they need in their buildings. Our teachers, our teacher assistants know what they need in the buildings. We need to listen to them. They are the ones that can tell you what they need. Collective bargaining gives a voice. It gives that seat. It lets them be heard in a true manner. Thank you. Our next speaker is Omar Hagazi, then Amanda Kimble, then Cody Connor.
014We'll move on to speaker number three, Amanda Kimell. Good evening, Chairwoman Brown, Vice Chair Williams, members of the school board, and Dr. Robertson. My name is Mandy Kimell, and I'm a kindergarten teacher and VBEA school representative and board member. I am speaking tonight to express my concerns about the plans to adopt an anti-collective bargaining stance representing the Virginia Beach School. Although, I'm really not surprised. You know how woefully underpaid teachers and support staff are for the work that we do. If you want our district to once again be a great district to work in, allowing us to negotiate is a great first step. But do we have leaders in place who are ready to listen, collaborate, and problem solve with real solutions? Last week during our Thanksgiving school breakfast for staff, a first grade teacher
015was chatting with me. And you know what was on her mind? not turkey and mashed potatoes, but come January, how she was going to make up the $800 a month she will be losing when her health insurance premiums go up. The worry on her face broke my heart as we are in the middle of a celebration of joy and thanks. If we had a bargained contract, this never would have happened. Many districts across the state already have successfully bargained with their employees. Arlington County, Fairfax County, Prince William, Alexandria City, Falls Church, and congratulations to Lowden for last week, successfully ratifying their first bargain contract. And it's not just Northern Virginia. Richmond City, McGomery County, and Charlottesville successfully have bargain contracts as well. And just yesterday evening, Albamaro County became the last to have a tenally
016agreement to a bargain contract. So, it can be done. Let me put it plainly. Your teachers are struggling. Your bus drivers are struggling. Our office workers, custodians, teacher assistants are struggling. I know because they share their stories and their worries with me. It is time for us to have the voice we deserve. We need a seat at the table to work together to problem solve with competent leaders and come up with real solutions facing with the problems facing our district. Why are you setting us up to be adversaries instead of working as a team to work together for the best for our children of Virginia Beach? If you have any stance that you would like to take on collective bargaining, please have a 1B of support. Support your staff and a right to have a
017voice to be heard and accounted for. Thank you. Our next speaker is Cody Connor and then Alan Wakefield. Good evening. Your teachers are right. They should have a seat at the table and you should institute collective bargaining. Um, but I'm here to talk tonight because, you know, winter is approaching and I'm curious if you're going to do anything to help keep our community safe during icy conditions. Did you know that nearly 25% of FBI agents have been reassigned to immigration enforcement? Nearly half of the agents at their 25 largest field offices have been redirected to immigration enforcement. Did you know that 75% of the DEA, Drug Enforcement Administration agents, have been reassigned to immigration enforcement? That 80% of the ATF agents have been reassigned to immigration enforcement, resulting in a historic drop in gun trafficking
018investigations. Seems like the only crime our government cares about is the civil offense of being an undocumented immigrant. Did you know that that's a civil offense, not a criminal offense? Can you think of any other civil offense that results in groups of armed masked government agents raiding workplaces, churches, schools, emptying entire apartment buildings, and zip tying everybody, including children. What we're seeing is not the careful targeting of the worst of the worst. It is a random violent rampage through our communities without any respect for the people that live in them, without any respect for due process or people's constitutional rights, without any respect for anything or anyone at all. We've already seen a dramatic increase in ICE activity here in Hampton Roads. We all watched what happened just a few hours away in Charlotte, North
019Carolina. Did you know that 90% of Americans are descended from immigrants? Did you know that in Virginia, one in four children have at least one immigrant parent? That's 25% of the kids in your schools wondering if their parents are going to be there when they get home. Because ICE doesn't take just the worst of the worst. They take everybody. They've detained people here legally. They've detained American citizens. They can detain you just because you don't look like you belong here. That's 16,000 students or parents are wondering if it's safe to send their kids to school. Wondering if it's safe to go to work, to go to church. That's thousands of other parents like myself wondering how ICE showing up at a school or a bus stop is going to impact our kids. Now, before you
020say it's not your place, I would tell you that it's everybody's place to stand up to injustice to what we know is wrong. Before you say what can you do, I would ask you what have you tried? Even making a statement denouncing these activities and so and showing support for the immigrant families in our community is something. Martin Luther King said, "There comes a time when silence is betrayal." That time has come. Make good decisions. Our next speaker is Alan Wakefield. I'm sorry about my unckempt hair tonight, but you know. Hello everyone. When I drove here tonight, I wondered what it would feel like to be riding on a beam of light. Beam of light instantly. Wow. Come on now. Turn off. There you go. All light travels at about 700 million miles an hour.
021and my 1991 VW camper traveling about 45 miles an hour. That's pretty pitiful. Albert Einstein thought about time and space and matter and how they are related. He would probably have been been attending Renaissance Academy because of his behavior. Think about sitting in a classroom and your mind is daydreaming. His mind was going in every direction examining different phenomena and trying to form equations in his thoughts. The classroom teacher would have a difficult time in trying to engage him in lessons. He never was comfortable with authority. His unckempt hair. He prized as a symbol of nonconformity. For many years, the Nobel Prize was awarded to other scientists that conformed to the norms or that had PhDs. He could not attain a PhD because he didn't have he did all the mental work, but he could
022not do the physical as far as what they wanted. Even though Einstein had completed the greatest theory of physics the world has ever known at age 36, E= MC² and it sounds like a little simple thing, but E is a huge amount of energy produced by the matter and speed of the matter times light or the square root square of light. Jay Edgar Hoover he award he created a dossier on Einstein labeling him a communist so he was denied a security clearance for information on the Manhattan project which we all know what that is even though he created the physics to make the bomb. Einstein died when he had sheets of paper with equations on a table next door to him and beside him. What will the students at Renaissance be recognized for? Who they
023are or what a score on an SOTL test means? The rest of the world is being taught to think and we're still learning by wrote memorization. This is easily observed in the number of patents produced by other countries. China had 1.8 million patent applications last year compared to our 550,000 patents last year. less than a third. Do I need to say anymore? In my next presentation, if you have me, I will discuss how we can use thinking and observation as the best tools for learning. Thank you. And madam chair, that was our last speaker for this evening. Okay. Thank you. We are on to interim financial statements October 2025. And we welcome Daniel Hopkins, director of business services. Hello. Good evening, Chair Brown, Vice Chair Williams, schoolboard members, Dr. Robertson. As of October, the overall
024revenue trend remains acceptable at this point in the fiscal year. State revenues are also acceptable at this point in the fiscal year. The next update for state revenues will be the governor's proposed budget. They should be meeting in the middle of December. Hopefully, we'll have a C calc tool early January. Um the state did come out with a new com composite index for fiscal year 27 and fiscal year 28. So our current composite index is 4138 and the new composite index for next year is going to be 4172. So that's a slight increase. Uh it does not affect the current year and our budget department is well aware of it and they are in the budget cycle right now. Federal revenues are an acceptable trend. We have received $5 million in federal impact aid year-to-
025date. If you remember last month, we were under a shutdown and we talked about how federal impact aid is um not forward funded and now with it open, we originally had scheduled to get money in December. We actually received $4.7 million last week. So, they're kind of ahead of schedule for some somehow. So, we'll take it. Um, local revenues are acceptable at this point in the fiscal year. We've received 33% or four months of transfers year to date. Other sources of revenue are acceptable at this point in the fiscal year. We're down about $400,000 from last year because of the jewels settlement we received last fiscal year. Sales tax are an acceptable level. We received $1.1 million more this year than we have last year. But it's important to note the state has already built
026in a $3 million increase in state sales tax in the budget. So that is referred to in our budget. So they're expecting to be $3 million over this year. And the last graph shows the expenditures and incumbrances trend remains acceptable at this point in the fiscal year. At this point, I'll take any questions. Okay. So, I don't see anybody's tablet up. So, if somebody's in line, can you raise your hand? Okay. I don't see any questions. All right. And have a happy Thanksgiving. Thank you. You too. Okay. I we welcome Dr. Sarah Lockett, director of technical and career education for presentation on textbook adoption, nursing, anatomy, and physiology. Good evening, Chairwoman Brown, Vice Chair Williams, members of the school board, and Dr. Robertson. Uh, as you just heard, I'm Dr. Sarah Lockett, director of technical
027and career education, and I'm here this evening to provide you with information regarding the recommendation of a new textbook for our licensed practical nursing one and two programs for implementation in the fall of 2026. Uh before presenting the adoption committee's recommendation, I'd like to thank family and consumer science coordinator Kathleen Buuno, who's here with me this evening. The committee members and industry experts for dedicating their time and efforts to choose the best textbooks for our nursing students. The replacement cycle for nursing texts is governed by accreditation standards for practical nursing programs that require textbooks to have copyright a copyright date less than 5 years old throughout the lifespan of the text implementation. Therefore, the adoption process for practical nursing textbooks is conducted more frequently than other career and technical education courses. On screen you will
028see the recommended first choice text book selection. The committee has selected human anatomy and physiology third edition as the first choice for the practical nursing program. This text provides a solid nursing focused foundation in anatomy and physiology integrating critical thinking and clinical application throughout the content. Its alignment with national nursing nursing standards and robust instructional resources make it the most strategic choice to support student success and program outcomes. This slide outlines the cost implications for the initial and total implementation of the first choice textbook for both practical nursing one and two. The total cost involved for the first year of implementation is just under $6,600. The first choice text published in 2025 provides the maximum lifespan allowed by our accrediting body, the accreditation commission for education and nursing. This book will serve the program for
029a full three years. The total cost for the three-year implementation with replacements is projected to be about $6,995. The first choice recommended text best meets the needs of the Virginia Beach School of Practical Nursing program. Its depth, alignment to nursing competencies and robust instructional support justify the investment and is it better prepares students for clinical pra practice and lenture than other available options. For comparison, this slide outlines the cost implications for the initial and total implementation of the second choice textbook for practical nursing 1 and two. The total cost involved for the first year of implementation is just under $4,000. The second choice textbook published in 2024 provides only a two-year lifespan under the rules of our accrediting body. This book will serve the program for only twothirds of the allowable time compared to the
030first choice textbook. The total cost for the two-year implementation with replacements is projected to be about $4,239. To give a more level comparison of the cost of the first and second choice texts, the per year cost for the second choice text is only $121 less than the first year text because of its shorter lifespan. Thank you for your consideration of this recommendation. We're happy to answer any questions you might have. Miss Rogers, thank you so much for your presentation. Just a quick question. So if the other textbook is a two-year implementation, we then have to go through this process again. We do in two years. So can you quantify the cost of researching all of this so that we can kind of see the comparison on I mean we're going to have to do it
031in three years if we choose the um more expensive option, but I mean the whole Sure. it it the the whole adoption process it takes a lot of Miss Buna is here with me she does the research and helps bring some initial along with our nursing administrator Miss Rosa Abbott down at the tech center so just the administrative salaries of those two folks far outstrips the $121 difference in these two texts I mean they couldn't probably if they spent an hour and I know they probably spent 10 20 30 hours before texts were brought um they give a lot of consideration to what books are brought forward um especially because of the shorter lifespan. These are classroom sets. We're not buying, you know, huge amounts of these. So, it's it's not a huge amount, but
032um I it's really hard to say because a lot of it's unpaid labor when you think about the time that the committee meets, some of it's contract, some of it's off contract, but there's definitely productivity time for those two administrators. Um but we bring in parents that maybe took time off work to come in to spend time on these textbooks. um and and staff in general to look at them, just running them down to the libraries, the whole process. Um probably in this case a a percentage of what the books themselves cost. And are we seeing an increase in textbook costs anyway? In general, yeah, of per book for sure. So, for sure. So, in two years, this Yeah. And and and the the timing on this is we have to look at 25 books
033that we're going to now implement in 26. So we've lost a little bit of time on the front end. We'll adopt again at the end. We lose a little time sometimes on the back end. So the first choice textbook is really kind of the maximum amount of time we're going to get out of a textbook. And it's tied to our accrediting body and we are required by the state to be accredited. So um you know this keeps us in line with that accreditation and and the first choice book also vigorously supports the more than 10year history we have of 100% pass rate on the ENCLEX exam. So, we're pretty comfortable with that choice, especially when you do the year-over-year comparison of the two. Thanks. Thank you, Miss Melnik. Given the success of this program and
034the expertise of those involved in choosing this textbook and the fact that it's the difference of a hundred and some dollars. Um, I totally support this. Um, but I thank you at the end for mentioning the success rate of the students in this program and uh clearly the the books they use make it well. It it makes a difference in in addition to uh the education they're receiving. Moz. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Rogers. Sorry, one more question. the difference in the text as well. Does that include a difference in uh teacher resources? Yes. Okay. I have to look to Kathleen. She's the expert on this. I I saw her saying yes over there. Okay. And and so that also makes a difference because if we have educators with the resources that they need versus
035educators who have to go and find resources, it does make a difference in their time and their preparation. It does. Thank you. And I appreciate you mentioning that 100% pass rate. Um that is a huge accomplishment. So thank you very much. This will be up for um consent at our next schoolboard meeting. Um we are now on to our Renaissance Academy alternative education program year three outcome evaluation. We welcome Dr. Noel Williams, program evaluation specialist, office of research and evaluation. And I tried to say that a little too fast. Good evening, Chairwoman Brown, Vice Chair Williams, members of the school board, and Dr. Robertson. Today, I'll provide an overview of the key findings and recommendations from the year three outcome evaluation for the Renaissance Academy alternative education program. The evaluation report you received in your
036agenda materials provides additional details. VBCPS has a long history with alternative education beginning in the late 1960s. In 1993, the school board officially adopted a policy related to alternative education. And in 1998, a 5-year alternative education comprehensive plan was adopted to support students educational and personal needs. Two years later, in 2000, a task force was appointed to review the five-year comprehensive plan to enhance services. In 2009 2010 school year, Renaissance Academy opened, merging three existing alternative education centers at that time. The Renaissance Academy alternative education program seeks to meet the needs of students who are not experiencing success in regular middle and high school settings. The program offers students opportunities when traditional education interventions do not effectively remedy students behavior and/or academic challenges. While there are a variety of alternative education program available to students,
037this program evaluation is specifically focused on the middle and high school program at Renaissance Academy. The three-year evaluation process for Renaissance Academy began with two implementation evaluations in 2223 and 2324. The evaluation in 2425 focused on student outcomes. This outcome evaluation included implementation related aspects of the program shown on the slide and actions taken toward recommendations from the prior evaluations. However, the primary focus of this evaluation and presentation was progress toward the student outcome goals. Stakeholder perceptions and the costs were also included. Data collection sources are also shown on the slide. Surveys were provided for Renaissance Academy staff, comprehensive secondary staff who had experience working with students who attended Renaissance Academy, students who were enrolled at the school any time during 2425, and parents of those students. The number of the survey respondents and response
038rates are displayed in the table. Response rates for staff groups increased compared to last year. Results for these survey respondents will be shared throughout the presentation. There are programmatic and staffing components within the Renaissance Academy middle and high school program designed to meet students unique needs. Students at the Renaissance Academy participate in VBCPS general curriculum courses. Flexible scheduling allows students to obtain credits they need through available online options. Students also have opportunities that address social emotional learning skills. Students basic needs are supported through free and reduced meals, free school supplies, and toiletries. In addition, school uniforms are sold to students with no additional cost, and those who are unable to purchase it are provided it for free. Students are supported by various staff, including school counselors, student support specialists, and mentors. Student support specialists provide
039support for students transitioning between Renaissance Academy and homechools. They collaboratively work to determine appropriate interventions for students. Students at Renaissance Academy are provided mentorship based on students needs. Of those who reported working with a student support specialist, 94% indicated their experience was very or somewhat useful. Of the students who reported having a mentor, 98% indicated their experience was useful. Opportunities at Renaissance Academy included career development and credentiing and world languages. In 2425, five CTE courses were offered to middle school students with a total of 133 enrollments and 14 CTE courses were offered to high school students at Renaissance Academy with 300 enrollments. 99 students in grades 10 through 12 attempted to earn a certification and 47% earned at least one, which was a 6 percentage point increase from 23 24. Offering world language credit at
040Renaissance Academy allows students to take courses that count towards graduation credit. In 2425, Renaissance Academy offered Spanish 1, 2, and three with a total of 41 enrollments. During 2425, 752 students were enrolled at Renaissance Academy at some time during the school year with 285 students in grades 6 through 8 and 467 students in grades 9 through 12. The majority of the students were male at 59%. Overall, 63% of the students were black. 69% of students were economically disadvantaged and 26 were special education students. These percentages were higher than percentages for the division's population. Overall, enrollment at Renaissance Academy varied for each student. 53% of the students at Renaissance Academy and 2425 were enrolled there for the first time. 62% were enrolled less than half the school year, while 11% were enrolled the whole school year.
041Most enrollments at Renaissance Academy during 2425 were due to students behavior offenses outlined in the student code of conduct. 94% of comprehensive secondary staff agreed they understood the criteria for students to be referred to Renaissance Academy, which was a six percentage point increase from the previous year. Renaissance Academy initiates the transition to the school by reaching out to families to schedule orientation within 48 hours of students being placed there. 39% of Renaissance Academy staff agreed that during the students transition process from their home school to Renaissance Academy, communication efforts provided them with needed information to meet students needs. Students have the ability to transition back to their home school once they have met three criteria. Good grades are a C or higher in all classes, good attendance or no more than six unverified absences, and
042good behavior. Once this criteria has been met, the Office of Student Leadership, OSL, sends a letter to the students homechool to communicate information regarding the students return. 90% of Renaissance Academy staff agreed they understood the criteria students must meet to return to their home school. Once students return to their home school, they are supported by a student support specialist for nine weeks to monitor their progress. If students demonstrate success, they graduate from the services after 9 weeks or supports are continued during 2425. Additional communication strategies between Renaissance Academy and homechools were implemented to support student success such as check-ins to review students transition status and student transfer logs. When comprehensive secondary staff were asked about the transition process from Renaissance Academy back to the home school, 53% agreed communication efforts provided them with needed information
043to meet students need. This was an 8 percentage point increase from the previous year. Stakeholders were asked their perceptions of students having the support they needed to be successful after returning to their home school. relatively high percentages of students thought they would have the support they needed after they returned to their home schools. Middle school parents were less likely to agree than high school parents that their child had the support they needed at the after they returned to their home school and agreement declined in 2425. For comprehensive secondary staff who responded to the survey, 69 to 72% agreed students had the support they needed when they returned to their home school. Another area addressed in the evaluation was instructional staff characteristics and professional learning. On average, middle school staff had 15 years of teaching experience
044while high school staff had 10 years. The middle school average was similar to the divisions, but at high school, Renaissance Academy staff on average had five years less experience compared to the division's average. 93% of staff reported participating in professional learning within the past three years related to being a staff member at Renaissance Academy and this percentage has increased from 80% in 2223 and 89% in 2324 evaluation year. Of those participate participating in professional learning, 81% agreed it helped prepare them to teach or provide services to students at Renaissance Academy, which was an increase from 75% the previous year. Additionally, 83% agreed it enabled them to better meet students needs that they have useful strategies to help them manage students behavior. Two professional two specific professional learning opportunities were offered to Renaissance Academy staff during
0452425. Overall, 88% of staff agreed the traumainformed training and 83% of staff agreed the deescalation techniques training provided useful strategies and tools for managing students behavior. Part of the evaluation focused on opportunities for families to be involved and engaged in their child's education at Renaissance Academy. As part of the entry process, all students and families must attend new student orientation. The orientation included pertinent information about staff policies and procedures, schoolwide expectations, security procedures, and the criteria student must meet to return to their home school. Overall, 82% of parents indicated the orientation session was helpful, which was a decline from last year, primarily due to middle school parents' perceptions. Renaissance Academy also held an open house in September and sent quarterly newsletters to families. The parent guardian group was continued in 2425. Renaissance Academy formed a
046partnership with the office of family and community engagement. As part of this collaboration, Faith participated in school events like open house, parent group meetings, and supported after-school programs. The following slides will discuss progress toward meeting the program's goals and any related actions toward previous year's recommendations. The first program goal is to focus on students building relationships to determine to demonstrate social emotional learning competencies. One of the recommendations from the two-year evaluation as it relates to this goal was to continue to focus on implementing strategies and activities that strengthen students relationship skills, self-management, responsible decision-making, anger management, and self-regulation at Renaissance Academy. Several actions were taken toward this recommendation. First, BBCPS expanded its partnership with Child and Youth Behavioral Health to provide brief counseling services for Renaissance Academy students billable to their insurance. It expanded its
047current mentoring opportunities to include mentors from Norfick State, Hampton University, and Christopher Newport. School counselors began holding small group sessions. Calming corners and zen rooms were established as spaces for students to self-regulate, and student choice boards were provided. Social contracts were developed between families and students for accountability. Both middle and high school students had high levels of agreement when asked about having positive relationship with teachers, ranging from 84 to 90%. 75% of middle school students and 81% of high school students agreed they get along well with other students at Renaissance Academy. In addition, 96% of Renaissance Academy staff agreed they have positive relationship with students, which was an increase from the previous year. Renaissance Academy staff members were asked items related to their perceptions of students demonstrating competencies. Overall, staff had low agreement percentages about
048students demonstrating relationship skills, self-management skills, and responsible decision-making skills. There was some increase in staff agreement regarding students demonstrating self-management skills in 2425 compared to the prior year. This chart displays Renaissance Academy staff's members perceptions of students showing improvements on these competencies while enrolled at Renaissance Academy. Overall, staff had higher agreement percentages regarding students showing improvement on theCCL competencies. There was an increase in the percentage of staff who agreed students showed improvement in relationship skills, self-management skills, and decision-making skills in 2425 compared to 232 24 with increases as large as 11 percentage points in relationship skills. Goal two focused on students demonstrating success while attending Renaissance Academy. One of the recommendations from the year 2 evaluation was to enhance instructional strategies and academic opportunities to improve Renaissance Academy students so performance and readiness for academic
049demands upon returning to their home schools. In response, Renaissance Academy implemented the AVID program schoolwide at both middle and high school levels during 2425. This included students using AVID notebooks, AVID learning walks, and teachers developing lessons aligned with AVID based learning plans. Additionally, three staff members attended the AVID summer institute to strengthen their instructional practices and deepen their understanding of AVID strategies. RA also received an allocation for an instructional specialist in 2425 who supported the middle and high school program gifted students AVID implementation behavioral support and virtual Virginia. In addition, RA staff instituted teacher check-ins with new teachers to provide additional support. Finally, RA started an after-school program called Griffin Grad Path where students could take courses needed to graduate on time with RA teachers. Stakeholders were asked their perceptions of students gaining tools and
050strategies for success. Students were more likely to agree they gained the tools and strategies for success while attending Renaissance Academy than parents and Renaissance Academy staff. All stakeholders at the middle school level reported declines on this survey item. This slide shows the percentage of Renaissance Academy students who had decline in referrals and suspensions as well as attendance rates of 90% or higher and improvements and core course grade averages. As shown by the gray bars in 2425, 71% of students demonstrated a decline in the number of referrals and 71% of students had a decline in suspensions while enrolled at Renaissance Academy. These percentages were somewhat lower than the previous year. In 2425, 36% of students had an attendance rate of 90% or higher, and this was an increase from the prior evaluation years. In 2425, 84%
051of Renaissance Academy students had an improvement in their core core grade averages. This was a notable increase compared to the prior evaluation years. When surveyed, 38% of Renaissance Academy staff agreed students behavior improved, 40% agreed attendance improved, and 58% agreed students academic performance improved. In 2024 2025, so pass rates remained the same or increased for 41% of the so test compared to 23 24. The highest passing rate was 40% on the algebra 1 so taken by 105 students. All the other pass rate range from 2 to 28% with between 34 and 75 test takers. Goal three focused on students successfully transitioning to their home school following enrollment at Renaissance Academy. One of the recommendations from the year 2 evaluation was to continue to strengthen the transition process from Renaissance Academy to the students home school,
052including incorporating communication strategies between Renaissance Academy and the home schools to support student success. As part of this recommendation, comprehensive secondary schools have increased their check-ins with their students to review the status of the students transition. A student transfer log with a profile is created that includes a list of supports and services the students need and additional support from a student support specialist was provided at a middle school based on students needs. When stakeholders were asked about the students gaining tools and strategies at Renaissance Academy to successfully transition back to the home school, 84 to 89% of middle school and high school students agree they gain the tools and strategies. parents, Renaissance Academy staff and comprehensive secondary staff had lower agreement on this item with dis with decreases in agreement for middle school parents and
053middle school RA staff along with improvements for high school parents. This chart shows the percentage of students who maintained their attendance rate and grade average after returning to their home school. In 2425, 51% of Renaissance Academy students maintained their attendance rate after returning to their home school, reflecting an improvement from the prior year. In 2425, 18% of students maintain their core course grade averages after they returned to their home school, which was an improvement from the prior evaluation years. When examining behavior outcomes after returning to their home school, Renaissance Academy students continued to have higher average referral rates than the average at their home schools. However, in 24-25, Renaissance Academy students who returned to two middle schools and one's high school had lower numbers of referrals compared to their home school's average. Goal four focused
054on Renaissance Academy students graduation and post-graduation plans. This chart shows the percentage of Renaissance Academy students who graduated in four years. As displayed by the blue bar, students who attended Renaissance Academy and Middle School only consistently achieved the highest graduation rates over the three cohorts. Students in the last three graduating cohorts who attended Renaissance Academy and High School only displayed by the orange bar on the slide showed a steady increase in the percent graduated in four years from 55% in 20 2023 to 73% in 2025. In contrast, students who attended Renaissance Academy at some time during both middle and high school, as displayed by the gray bar, had the lowest graduation rates each year. This slide shows data related to post-graduation plans. The percentage of graduates planning to continue their education in some capacity increased
055each year, reaching 79% in 2425, more than double the percentage reported in 2223. The majority of students reported that Renaissance Academy provided meaningful support for academic and career planning. In 2425, 78% agreed they received assistance, resources, and information at Renaissance Academy that helped them make informed decisions about their options after they graduate from high school. 83% of students indicated they set goals for their learning and future plans. Although these percentages represent a decline from last year, they remained higher than agreement percentages reported in 2223. When asked about their overall satisfaction with the alternative education program, 78 to 81% of students reported being satisfied with their experience at Renaissance Academy. from 50 to 59% of Renaissance Academy staff reported being satisfied with the experience students had at Renaissance Academy depending on school level. 63 to 68%
056of comprehensive second secondary staff reported being satisfied with Renaissance Academy. Finally, 38% of middle school parents and 68% of high school parents were satisfied with the experience their student had. Declines were noted for RA staff and parents compared to the previous year. The cost for the Renaissance Academy middle and high school program during the 20 2024 2025 school year totaled approximately 15.8 million. The largest expenses included staffing costs and transportation. Based on the results of the evaluation, it is recommended that the Renaissance Academy alternative education program continue with modifications as noted in the following recommendations. The second recommendation is to engage a group of division and school-based staff involved with Renaissance Academy to review findings from the three-year evaluation and best practices in al in al in alternative education to identify specific actionable steps to
057strengthen the program's design implementation and impact in the middle and high school levels along with monitoring progress. The third recommendation is to strengthen communication systems between Renaissance Academy and families to provide updates about students behavioral and academic progress and additional resources to support students in these areas. The fourth recommendation is to develop communication protocols and systems for sharing information from comprehensive secondary schools with Renaissance Academy staff during the transition process to support the success of students. The fifth recommendation is to enhance the transition process for Renaissance Academy to the students homeschool including incorporating communication strategies to support students needs. The sixth recommendation is to strengthen instructional practices and expand academic opportunities that enhance students so performance and better prepare them for the academic expectations of their home school. The seventh recommendation is to provide additional
058graduation supports for students who have attended Renaissance Academy and both middle and high school to improve on-time graduation rates for these students. At this time, Dr. Walter Brower, senior executive director of high school, will provide the administration's response. Good evening, Chair Brown, Vice Chair Williams, school board members, Dr. Robertson administration concurs with the program evaluation recommendations and notes that Mr. Anthony Smith, director of alternative education at Renaissance Academy, has implemented several new strategies this school year. Recommendation one, continue the Renaissance Academy middle and high school alternative education program with modifications as noted in recommendations 2 through seven. Recommendation two, continue working on the recommendation from the three-year evaluation focused on identified areas of need at Renaissance Academy. The Renaissance Academy administrative team has implemented new structures at both the middle and high school levels to
059enhance program design, strengthen overall effectiveness, and improve progress monitoring. Recommendation three, continue focus on strengthening communication systems between the Renaissance Academy and families. The Renaissance Academy has currently established a partnership with the Department of Families and Community Engagement, maintains consistent communication through weekly newsletters, and facil facilitate, excuse me, parent teacher conferences twice per month. Recommendation four, continue working on the recommendation through communication protocols and systems for sharing information from comprehensive secondary schools with Renaissance Academy staff during the transition process. The Renaissance Academy now develops individualized student transition success plans, which are shared with the home school prior to each student's return. Administrators from the comprehensive schools are invited to visit the Renaissance Academy monthly to meet with their students in preparation for their transition. Recommendation five, continue working to enhance the transition process, including incorporating
060communication strategies to support students needs. Recommendation six, continue working on the recommendation to strengthen instructional practices and expand academic opportunities. Renaissance Academy will provide opportunities for ongoing professional development focused on AVID and literacy strategies. Additional opportunities also include after school tutoring and so remediation. Recommendation seven, continue working on the recommendation to provide additional graduation support for students who have attended Renaissance Academy. Renaissance Academy has begun providing access to opportunity through college visits, credit recovery, dropout prevention, and career recruitment. At this time, Mr. Anthony Smith, director of alternative education at the Renaissance Academy, and now are available to answer any questions. Miss Melnik, well, I took a couple notes during that presentation. um some some good things first. So, I'm so proud of the transition to the Renaissance Academy that that that took place specifically um
061the wording of the letters home to parents a lot easier to understand. I mean, we know what a comprehensive school is, but why don't we just say your homeschool because that's what people understand, right? Um I think that's been a really important part in this in and then the 48 hour turnaround for orientation has really really made a difference. Um the family involvement piece um slide 13 with with the AVID that is clearly pro I turned to Alvida during that part and said I bet that is incredibly effective. Yes. At the Renaissance Academy. So really glad to see that that's in place and wellreceived. Um glad to see that attendance is up including after the transition back to a home school that they're maintaining um good attendance. Um so the other is I love the
062recommendation of principles visiting their students in preparation for that for that transition home. Kids need to feel that love and they need to know, and I say this often in discipline hearings, that what happened to get them there doesn't have to be a defining moment. That we all have blips on the radar. And they need to know that principles are like coaches and coaches tend to have short memories when you're talking sports, right? Short memory. Get back out. Get back out. And those kids need to know that the that that building um wants them back and that they care about their success. Um the one thing I will mention and this has been a problem as long as I've been on the board 11 years. Um we still need to have that what some might
063call a difficult conversation. And it's not difficult for me, but we really do need to talk again about why 63% of the students at the Renaissance Academy are black males and why 69% of our student population there is economically disadvantaged. We have to talk about that. Well, our job is to serve the students and provide resources for the students. Um, student leadership refers students and recommend students to come to our school. So, I can't control that. I know you can't control it. I'm telling the I'm saying this to the board. I'm sorry. I should have said as a board, we need to start having those conversations again. We started having them years ago and it's kind of fallen off, but that is an an in-your-face statistic and this has always bothered me. And why why
064is this? Then we need we need to talk about this again. Um yeah. So are is is it is it a given or are are are things happening in our thought processes even at the at the hearing level. So that's my own personal opinion. Um but overall like really proud of the Renaissance Academy and the work that you're doing. Welcome. I look forward to um watching you grow over this year and uh I'm I'm really proud of the Renaissance Academy. Thank you. just so you be aware that um even though we do serve that many students like our job was to serve them, we did send back 136 students back to the comprehensive school this past year. So yeah, back past November. Yeah, it's it's great. Thank you. Yeah, Dr. Green. Okay. Uh I have
065a couple of things. Um first and the first question is for the research staff and I just want to make sure because I I did read the report as you know I would. So my first question I just want to make sure and and this is more of clarification so the public understands um that the data presented uh is not on Mr. Smith's clock because it happened prior to Mr. Smith's arrival but the great responses and some of the things that Dr. uh Brower put in the recommendations are a result of Mr. Smith's uh arrival. Okay, with that being so so thank you. I just wanted to make sure because I I thought that and and one more research related question. So I'm dovetailing on Mrs. uh Melnik's uh notice about the high minority population
066which I worked for the division for 17 years. That that is truly a systemic issue. But what's concerning I I believe I read and heard you say that this year is a 6% increase from last year. Did I hear that correctly? Um in terms of the I think it was around slide three. three with the um um the comment I made is that the um 16 63% of the students were black, 69% of the students were economically disadvantaged, and 26% were special education students. And those percentages that we pointed out were higher than the percentages for the division's population overall. So I didn't make any percentage increases, but that was the comparison that we were the point of reference we were making. Yes. And that's what I wanted to be clear on. And the question
067and again I know you all have an evaluation data schedule. Um I would be interested and seeing what that looks like at the end of the first semester. The demographics. Yes. For the end of once we get through the first semester because then we we will be halfway through the year. Thank you. Sure. And then the last com it's more of a comment than a question. Dr. Brower and and and Mr. Smith, I am glad to see that you all are changing strategies of how uh we're working with the uh comprehensive schools because they also have to own the graduation rate and I think a lot of times the assumption is made which is not always correct that a lot of times when students are sent to Renaissance especially in their later years that that
068may be where they exit from and that is not always the case. So, I truly uh am happy to see and I hope we really will amp up even more and I see that you are um Mr. Delaney as well in working with our comprehensive schools so that they understand that we share these students that they that some of them will be coming back. The goal is hopefully all of them will go back. I would love to see that building repurposed for other things. Not that you would be out of a job, Mr. Smith, but um we get to a point that, you know, some other things can be uh enhanced at Renaissance, such as a lot of the career things that we're starting to do over there. Um the uh programs that we have
069for uh all ed for GED, um the language programs and things as well. So, in a way, I do want to put part of your program out of business. All right. Thank you. We just want to add to it. You want to put out of business, just add to it. Add to the program. Miss Rogers, thank you. Thank you so much for the presentation, Mr. um Smith and Dr. Jameson. The first thing I want to do is make a comment before I ask questions on uh I'm sorry, Dr. Brower. Sorry, I clearly am not feeling well. Um, if you look at slide 20, the total cost for the 202425 school year is 15,827,283. If you remove the staffing costs, remove the transportation costs, you are left with $246,462. If you divide that by the 752
070students we see, you are working with $327.74 per student. Talk about doing a whole lot with not a whole lot of money. Thank you so much for spending so much of your time and little resources that you're given and successfully um navigating these students. Honestly, it is amazing that $327 is all we all lot to each of these students that need so much. And if you look at the statistics, obviously these students are in some of our highest needs uh populations. And so kudos to you for being successful with such little resources. But moving on, um some of the things that I'm a little I think we can improve on um is in our middle school population, um parents don't seem to be super jazzed about um some of the communication and some of the
071um they're feeling the success rates for their students. And so um I'm wondering about um maybe giving our middle schoolers more options. there's an afterchool program for graduation rates, but if you're in sixth grade or seventh grade, you are not thinking about graduation at all. So, as something and and I I I didn't see it here, so if there is something, please feel free. Yes, I can speak towards that. Um that's from 2425 school year. Okay. But this school year, we had um intramural sports at our school. We had basketball, cheerleading and um mentorship and the student parents really love that. Yes. Um so that is going on. So that's excellent. I think if you do a survey this year, I'll be the parents be 85% happy. So, okay. And that's something I wanted to
072hear because obviously giving middle schoolers a motivation to come to school even if they are required to spend time at uh Renaissance is important because they still need to feel a part of a community. They still need to feel like that this isn't uh a sentence for them, but that this is just part of their ongoing education. Um, and I love that there are self-regulation options for students that have been introduced. That was really important. That stuck out to me. Um, the other thing I wanted to ask, and I got to find the slide because I wrote so many notes on here. Hang on a minute. Um, is about on slide seven for transition back to homeschool. Three criteria based on grades, attendance, and behavior. My concern is what if their attendance and behavior is
073established but they're struggling with their grades? I am concerned. I don't want to keep students at Renaissance based solely on the fact that they're struggling with their grades and may need supports at their home school for grades. Wonderful thing about that is that um this year um office student leadership and I partnered together, we collaborated and we changed the rubric. If you want, I can share the rubric with you. Um, that would be awesome later on. But, um, we changed the rubric so the kids can go back if they're not doing well academically. But now it's a point system instead of just straight out you got to pass all class with a C or higher. Sun has a point system. Okay, perfect. Because again, I know that students are working towards going back to their
074home school and I don't want a grade point average to prevent them from going back and still getting academic support in their home school. That is correct. Okay. Thank you so much. That was one of my big concerns as well. And I do share um my colleagues concern that we are overwhelmingly serving students who are black and who are in low socioeconomic status. Do we have plans or is there supports in place for families like um support for the socioeconomic piece? I'm glad you asked that question. Um tomorrow, Wednesday, we're gonna have a um feed the city moment for we're gonna feed those families that are in low economic disadvantaged families. So we have 120 families already signed up. Um we feed them brunch from 12 to 10 to 12. When they leave us, they
075can get um coats as well as food for the weekend as well. Would you care if I came and joined you? Come on down. Awesome. Thank you, Mr. Cummings. Thank you so much for um sharing with us today and especially this thorough report. And I just wanted to first and foremost publicly thank you Mr. Smith for hosting myself and a couple commissioners from the Human Rights Commission um and taking us on a tour uh around Renaissance Academy. And I wanted to follow up and let you know that both of those folks had great things to say about yourself and the future of the school and what you're doing there at our follow-up uh human right commission meeting. So, I appreciate, you know, you taking time answering questions and showing folks what the boots on the
076ground work actually looks like versus what, you know, is some some perceptions. And so, I wanted to publicly acknowledge that. And I also wanted to say, you know, publicly acknowledge all of our staff who are working there. Um it's truly a remarkable experience to see folks who are there because I know so many of those people are mission driven, purpose driven, and there because they believe that they make a difference um within these within these young kids' lives. And you see that within their excitement for their curriculum, their courses, the projects that they're working on from the entrepreneurship, you know, coffee stand that was going on there to the future, you know, farm-to-table garden that I know that's being worked on. Uh, I mean, that's truly an amazing thing that we are looking at the
077restoration of individuals in a holistic sense. And I don't know, I've been sitting I'm I'm going to get a little preachy for a second because sometimes you just read things or you hear things. Um, and then I'll probably come back to some of my questions, but sometimes you just sit up here as a board member and you hear the level of care and compassion that comes from our staff. You know, I'm really sitting with the fact that we have folks who are sitting every day with our kids to help them get up to reading level 30 minutes a day. how that's early intervention um you know for both academic learning but also it's a behavioral intervention. I think about um you know the intervention programs that we funded or that we voted on and funded
078you know a couple of weeks ago at school board and how you know we see that as a hopeful positive way to decline the enrollment in Renaissance Academy. And so sometimes, you know, just sit up here and I think about like how, you know, how many folks are really working hard because we believe um in every single child that comes into our Virginia Beach City Public Schools. So much appreciation to all of our staff. You know, I think the difficult piece of reading this report because it's long and it's dense and it's very good is that it's hard to understand. um you know for many of us we don't don't come from a K12 background you know we have a right experience in education what benchmarks are available for alternative education and so that took
079me down a realm of research and Google and it is difficult you know to benchmark this because so many programs are different and unique and so when we see things like attendance or we see things like you you know, some of the low so scores. You know, the thing that I think would really unpack some of the information more is like what does this look like nationally um or within the state of Virginia. You know, I've looked around and the downside is like there's just not updated data sets from like 10 years from the last one I found was like 10 years ago. So, I don't know if I'll go through my questions and maybe if we could speak to that. Um, so that was the first thing I I was kind of thinking about.
080um it's just like what does this look like in comparison? And then I think I echo a lot of the sentiment that um some of my colleagues have already said around low socioeconomic status and the high enrollment of of African-American youth in our in this program in the school. And this came up within a community meeting in my district as well recently where there's, you know, some perceptions of of what's going on. And so I feel like I really like um recommendation number two with the committee work and I feel like there needs to be some deeper dive into how do we you know decrease the enrollment into our county what are the what are the things why are people coming here um and I would task that as part of that committee's group or
081some part of that committee's work I should say to really look at those reasons because when you look at school distribution of enrollment. Um you know why do some of these school and this is in the this is not in the presentation this is in I think the report you know why do we see schools that have higher percentage of you know students that make up Renaissance versus others that have lower percentage and so those are the types of things I'm thinking about um as part of a future program evaluation or the work of that committee that I would like to see in our future board presentation. Um, and so those are kind of my initial thoughts that I've been thinking about and I'd love to hear more just about some of the the potential
082benchmarks out there that we have, but also I wanted to just commend, you know, the great work that folks are doing and and thank you for that. quickly. So, if you don't mind to to put it in perspective, um, as a supervisor who deals with all of the high schools and the relationship with Renaissance and moving middle school students to high school, I think one of the benchmarks that we have to look at and we have to commend all of our uh, comprehensive schools for is our 97% graduation rate, which is bar none, honestly, throughout the 757. Mhm. And that number includes our students who have been to Renaissance and transition to our comprehensive school. So even those kids that we see walk across the stage at Renaissance in June, they're still part of the
083number for those comprehensive schools. And to to be perfectly honest, when I see that number and I know the work that's been put into it at the Renaissance Academy and with the comprehensive schools when they come back, that in itself should be commended 100%. Um, so I remember you asked this last year and I was given the task to do the deep dive to look for the benchmarks and had a really difficult time finding a comparable school to Renaissance Academy because um, alternative education can be defined in so many different ways and we define ours kind of narrowly based on the student code of conduct and how students are sent there. So um, that is why we decided to you know look at the behavior at Renaissance Academy over time. So kind of using our
084own school as its own benchmarks and hopefully um you know using that and we will I'm love that you love recommendation number two because we do plan to monitor it and so we'll be continuing to use those benchmarks you know moving forward. Um, yeah, for sure. I'd love to I mean I know that I could schedule time with y'all and and hear updates and whatnot, but I would love to hear you know if you know because this goes for a vote but if it gets passed I'd love to hear some updates on where we go with the recommendations and just have a kind of a check-in because I mean I think you all are doing great work and I think the future you know I mean I think there's a a strong bright future of
085the work being done there with you know giving our kids a second chance with some of the credentials and the you know the um technical education and those different pieces coming. So thank you so much. Thank you Mr. Balensteale. Um thank you for the presentation. I'm going to refer to slide 16 in which it seems like 10 years ago I made a comment about the students returning back to their grades that I thought it was kind of low. I wasn't really trying to meant to criticize. What I was looking at was anything in plan or any goal set to raise those numbers and uh it's very encouraging to see this and thank you very much for your imple implementing new ideas and plans because uh I'm very happy to see this and thank you for
086your great work. Miss Dwire, good evening. Thanks for that presentation and it was very easy to follow. Um I just wanted to make a comment and inject that on slide uh 14 I didn't know those statistics and I thought they were pretty impressive. Um 38% of RA staff agreed students behavior improved, 40% agreed attendance improved, and 58% agreed academic performance improved. Um and then as you look at the charts uh the 71% decline in number of referrals the 71% decline in number of suspensions and uh attendance rate 90% or higher and then um you were at 36% and students with improvement of core grow course grade averages 84%. So that's very hopeful. And um I was listening to my colleagues tonight and I noticed on slide six the student characteristics uh 53% of students enrolled
087for the first time. 62% of students enrolled less than half the school year. 11% enrolled entire 2024 2025 year. So what an improvement and that's encouraging. And so based on those two slides, I um am encouraged by recommendation number two um which we my other colleague talked about as well as recommendation five, enhance the transition process from Renaissance Academy to the students homechool, including incorporating communication strategies to support students needs because I think you guys are on the right track. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Felton. Thank you, Chair Brown. Mr. Smith. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Brier, thank you so much for this detailed uh presentation. This is a long ways from CDC. A long ways. And I do appreciate all that you have done, what you've seen. and um number one um CDC program we have
088evolved quite a bit haven't we Dr. Robertson. So, with that said, I'm glad that you're using in-house resources such as Abbott, which is a uh college career ready program. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Also, you're using Faith, the family engagement uh program as well. There are so many components to face department that a lot of us don't know that they really work it and face really do a lot of work within the community and at schools. I'm glad to be able to go there and see that. For those of us that have that have not had the chance to come to Renaissance and do a learning walk with you, you're missing out on seeing how we are excited or how we are now appreciative of what the work that you're doing there. Now, um,
089one of the things I want to ask you that I'm really excited about it is your new building relationships with NSU. Yeah. Hampton University. Yeah. and Christopher Newport. Oh my goodness. Uh can you give me a little bit explain a little bit what you're doing with those higher institutions? Because when I went to the um uh conference last week, the Virginia uh school board conference last week, uh Charlottesville, we're doing some of the same things with uh UVA, but I think we've moved a list up higher. So, I would like to hear some of the things that you're doing with NSU, Hampton University, and Christopher Newport to gear up our students. Well, part of the Virginia City Public Schools future ready programs, the three E, and that is for students to be enrolled in school.
090The most important part is let them know they can go to school and take them on visits to those schools. So, we had two college visits to Hampton University. We had visits to Odin University as well. Um the engineer student was there to visit the engineering department at ODM University. Okay. Um this past week we took some uh female students to Odin University and they learned about different jobs and careers for female students that they can aspire to once once they go to college. Um and then students that went back to their home school for middle school was able to visit Hemp University as well. Um we're still looking to um in January have some visits to North State University. Um but currently we've had three four college visits um two to Hampton University and
091two to OD main university and students um truly appreciate that and also want to um chat with the community college let them see what it is to be able to enroll into either four-year university or two-year university. So that's going well and the students are very excited about it and students are actually applying to them and um working with um hopefully the division continue to give us access counselor so the students can apply for free financial aid student aid. So um everything is going well. So the collaboration not just with the schools and colleges but collaboration with the division is going very well for our school. So I want to thank you all for all the support you providing my school. Thank you. Again, I would say to uh Yeah. Oh, he also um for
092employment um we have a um collaboration with mentors lift command where I have someone in the community gave us some um funds where we going to um provide um basically scholarship money for students to receive their um merchant marine credentials um pay for their card pay for their passports and also the physical to become merchant seaman um later in life. So, we're doing everything we can to make sure the students have a life after high school. Thank you. Thank you. It is this is a long light from what Renaissance used to be and it it really feels great that um we're doing these things. One of the reasons that I can almost tolerate Renaissance is because when we have to initiate a plan to send out students there, they have somewhere to go and that
093they're not out in the street and we are still they are still in a educational environment. That's one of the reason why I can tolerate it and don't get uh and don't get acid reflux. and to see that you all are making a great effort to make Renaissance the branding of it just a tad bit difference. Uh I'm glad to know that Renaissance stands out as one of schools because when I first got on the board, they weren't even having their graduations like you're having now. And if you ever attend one of Renaissance graduations, just take your box of tissues and and just sit back and enjoy the stories and I just do appreciate all that you're doing and I'm looking for forward to greater future things that you're having there. Thank you so much.
094And what about the welding program? Are we still bringing that together, Dr. Brower? Is that still on the construction starts in January? Okay. Need to take need to make a visit. Thank you so much for all that you're doing. and I look forward to the greater future for the Renaissance. Thank you. Right, Mr. Ken. Well, let me share what I'm reading. I don't want to paraphrase. I want to just read what was written in the report and some of the things that caused me to be a little concerned. But as Dr. Brower and I have talked about this before. My concerns are raising the bar and doing more for those that are there because having been on discipline committees with virtually everyone here on the dis. I know all of us without exception want the
095outcomes that these students are experiencing to be the very best for them so that their future remains bright and hopeful. But let me read what the report said to me in the recommendations and rationale section. I'm reading from section uh recommendation number two. It says throughout the three evaluation years, staff agreement that students demonstrated relationship, self-management, and responsible decisionmaking skills remained low, ranging from 14 to 22%. Similarly, students academic outcomes following their return to homeschools reflected limited success across the evaluation period. 14 to 18% of students maintain their core course grade averages when they return to their home school. Overall, after returning to their home school, former Renaissance Academy students continue to have higher average referral rates than the overall average referral rate at their home school. Because nearly all students are referred to Renaissance
096Academy through the Office of Student Leadership for Behavioral Concerns, it is notable that fewer than half of comprehensive secondary staff agreed the program effectively improved student behavior. In open-ended survey comments, Renaissance Academy staff frequently emphasized the need for greater consistency in addressing and managing student behavior, suggesting that the current approach may not be fully meeting students needs. Balancing behavioral interventions with engaging academic instructions remains a complex challenge and I don't think any one of us see that in any other prism other than how difficult it must be. Secondarily, in recommendation number six, in 2024 to 2025, 18% of students maintained the academic performance they had at Renaissance Academy after they returned to their home school. While outcomes at the high school level showed modest improvement, middle school students experienced a decline from their prior evaluation
097year. And across three evaluation years, students have not demonstrated substantial progress in maintaining academic performance after transitioning back to their home schools. Perceptions regarding instructional quality showed that 44% of parents agreed that instructional opportunities adequately prepared their child for academic expectations upon return. and 64% of re Renaissance Academy staff agreed, which was a 9 percentage point decrease from the previous year. Open-ended parent survey responses reinforce these findings with several parents indicating that the academic program at Renaissance Academy was insufficient to prepare students for the demands of their home schools when asked to share comments about their child's preparation or readiness to return to their home school. There are a couple more sentences, but I'll stop there. Yeah. I just want to say the point that I want to make though is again What we are
098doing with these students that enter is seeking to do two things in my understanding they're there as the report indicates because of behavioral issues. So without question what we want to do is try to do a very difficult task and that is to change the behaviors of teenagers. I get how daunting and difficult that would be, but that's what we're trying to do is to change the behavior and secondarily to enhance the academic outcomes. We want the very best for these kids. And I don't want to just say all is well. Let's do what we can to continue to raise the bar for the benefit of the kids that are in this school system. I defer to you for any thoughts or comments. I may have triggered Dr. Ber speak. Okay. So, I think one
099of the things that we shared in our administrative response is that over time and through evaluations, we've begun to raise the ceiling and the floor at the same time. But this doesn't happen overnight. in a 45day time period, which is the average for a student that goes to Renaissance. We don't change behaviors. We are an alternative placement to support them to hope that they do the right things to go back and succeed in their home school. We have student support specialists. Mr. Smith has put some things in place so that they are really monitoring some of the more severe behaviors. When I talked about structures that have changed at the middle and high school, they have some structures in place so that their students while they are there have some, how can I say it?
100More structure than they may have in their comprehensive school, hoping that that will lead them to make better decisions. better decisions, not a change in DNA, so to speak, or behaviors. But 45 days for most is that period of time that they are outside of the comprehensive school. And just so you know, that's one of the conversations we've had to have with the comprehensive principles. Because you send a student to Renaissance for 45 days does not mean they're going to come back a different person. Right? We just hope the structures that are in place will help them to make better decisions. And and from what we've done, what from what Mr. Smith has done this school year, you can walk into that building. I can probably get Miss Felton over there to to agree that
101it's different right now. Those kids are walking in straight lines. They are sitting at cafeteria tables. They are they are behaving, which is very different than some things that I've seen in previous years. But it is a work in progress. But when you hear about college visits, welding program, when you hear about merchant seaman coming to recruit um ASVAB every month, which that's another story, what we've done is we've raised the ceiling and the floor at the same time. Okay. Mr. Ken, if I can follow up on that. Um Mr. Smith and and Dr. Brier deserves a ton of credit um over the last three years of his investment of time and energy in the Renaissance Academy. Uh I've known Mr. Smith since he was a young football coach, fellow Green Run Stallion, and he
102is going to have an environment of high expectations and no excuses and he's going to raise that bar that you're discussing and he's providing some examples of that. And and Dr. Green's comment is something that we are looking very heavily at is how are we providing additional opportunities to maximize the utilization of that facility and we believe Mr. Smith is the right leader to take us there because to Mr. Cummings comment around alternative programming. If you read that report and what the Renaissance Academy was initially established for, it wasn't just established as a place to house behavioral issues. Matter of fact, that might have been number three on the list. That's why I have wonderful CTE spaces and other uh components in the building. So, we are really tasking Mr. Smith with elevating what we
103see as the purpose of that building and refining kind of what we see I forget who the branding that used Miss Felton that it's not just a place for discipline it's a place for students that struggle in academic environment need to learn the behavioral skills but we need to raise the expectations of their ability to go to college their ability to be employed or their ability to be enlisted when they leave so we are truly excited of the work that Mr. Smith is bringing forward. And we he asked me he when I met with him early in the year, he said, "My job is to stay off your radar." I said, "No, you are smack dab on our radar because we want to elevate that program to really fit kind of what we see as
104the accreditation status around high schools." So, I just wanted to add that component to you as well. We support what you're saying around the expectations. I'm confident of the leadership to do that. Thank you, Mr. Smith. Were you going to share some things? No, I just gonna car with what everyone else has said and um I just ask you to wait for the survey to come out for this year to see what the scores say. Okay. I said I met with principles um met this principal last week and some teachers last night at Bayside High School and they was concerned about our students coming back, but they've been there for a month. All of them are doing well. All of them are succeeding. I talked to um doc Mr. Swanger over at the Vortex Center.
105He said, "Mr. Smith, all your kids are doing exceptionally well." So, I understand what the paper says from the past three years, but I want you to grab me for what we're doing now and not look back at three years. Let's look at what we're going forward. Let's stop looking back. Let's start looking forward. I'll come see you. Thank you. Okay, Mr. Co Pepper. Thanks, J. I appreciate that comment, by the way. Uh, high expectations and uh no excuses. That's a good way to approach the problem. Um you said something that intrigued me because you said your the average uh time you get one of these students is 45 days and this is something we talk about a lot uh at discipline hearings you know is whether to uh increase or decrease the amount of
106time the student is is going to renaissance. I'm actually curious for you to expand on that thought. Um is 45 days enough? And before you answer I'll just say you said something very true. You know you're not going to change behaviors in 45 days. I mean, you're not going to change behavior without changing hearts and minds and and focus, I suppose. U the the other thing that I think always comes into my mind a little bit is u is a transition from Renaissance back to the home school and how that marries up with the uh the academic year semesters whether it be 4x4 semester classes. So anyway, with those two thoughts in mind, what is what do you think you need to be effective in terms of how how long students are with you? So,
107one of the things that we've looked at going in and this is with the orientation process is where is a student when they walk in the door. Uh some of these students are struggling academically as they come in. Mr. Smith is putting in support so that we can get them back on track and in many cases we get them close to if not at or above a C average in that class that they may have been failing when they walked in. We're also looking at transcripts at the orientation. What have you failed in previous years and we have opportunities to catch you up and we have students who just went back. Some of them had failed two or three classes the year before. We were able to use our online program to get them back
108on track. um those are not calculated in those grades because that is something that's added to the transcript as a credit. But there are little things, little tidbits that we could speak all day about that will probably never go into one of these reports, but those are things that are contributing to student success when they go back. and some of the schedules that are different at different schools, but they do their best to match or maintain so that those students can come in and in some cases catch up, but when they transition out, they're right where they need to be so that they can transition back into that home school. Is it perfect? No. I mean, we have things like Never will be. I mean, yeah, exactly. We got to get transportation. Got to get
109you back to the school. We got to get you reenrolled. We got to get you back in class. And those things sometimes take time, which could create missed instructional time. But those kids, for the most part, those 136 students, they had a transition success plan when they walked out of the door uh first week of November. And we'll monitor their progress as they have returned to their home school. Okay, I'll wrap it up with this. I think Renaissance serves a vital role in EBCPS. uh I'll echo my colleagues comment that we all want the best outcome and and by that I think we all mean long-term outcome you know that they have a happy successful life not just that they get good grades uh here in school um I do appreciate that there's a great
110deal of uh of self-reflection and and rigor put into this report to really kind of understand what's going on so I appreciate your hard work Miss Rogers thank you circling back um this actually isn't really for y'all but It's more for uh Dr. Robertson and your staff. Um it's glaringly obvious looking at the student characteristics that socioeconomic status is the largest factor. And so before our students get to Mr. Smith and Dr. Brower, we obviously need to do more work on reaching out to our families who are having socioeconomic struggles and creating a better bridge for those families who are struggling socioeconomically and then not able to be the parents they want to be to their children which then lead to behaviors. If we can find a way to build that bridge, we will put
111these wonderful gentlemen out of a job at Renaissance. And so I think challenging ourselves to find more ways to reach out to those families will help us decrease our numbers at Renaissance altogether. Just a thought. Miss Melnik, I just want to make sure before you leave that you know this stallion is really proud of you and um just really grateful that you're at the helm at the Renaissance Academy and I'll come see you soon, too. Thank you. So, I've heard really great things um about what you're doing over at Renaissance and I know that you are are new there this year. So, I'm I'm really looking forward to getting the report next year um to hear about how all these things are working. Um you spoke a little bit about the intramural sports. I think
112that is absolutely a great thing. Um, you know, a lot of the times when we sat in these discipline committees, that's a lot of the fears of the student is, you know, not being able to participate in something that they really feel like is an integral part of them. And so I I think that you've really done a great job trying to um show these kids that you care in ways that you can so that they can be successful. um for lack of better words that I've written down and prepared here today. But um I I really do like these recommendations. I like how these recommendations are specifically tied to these data points. So I appreciate um you guys working to implement those and I look forward to seeing what this academic year brings and
113we're happy to have you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all your work. Happy holiday. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. Happy Thanksgiving. Okay, we are now on to the consent agenda. We are going to be doing policy 3-23, policy 5-31, policy 7-59, textbook adoption elementary math, Greenr Run Elementary School HVAC and scratch cooking improvements, Independence Middle School roof replacement, kitchen HVAC and scratch cooking improvements, and religious exemptions. Are there any objections to the school board voting on the consent agenda items as presented? Seeing none, I call for the motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. Moved by Miss Dwire, seconded by Vice Chair Williams. I call for the vote to approve the consent agenda. Miss Williams, how do you vote? Thank you, Madam Chair. We have 11 eyes. So, the motion to pass for
114the approval of the consent agenda. Thank you. We are now on to the personnel report and administrative appointments. I call for a motion to approve the personnel report and administrative appointments. Moved by Miss Dwire, seconded by Miss Melnik. Any discussion? Seeing none, I call for the vote to approve the administrative appointments. So, Madam Chair, we have 11 eyes. the motion to pass for the approval of the personnel report. Thank you, Dr. Robertson. Okay, nothing to share today. Okay, I call for a motion to approve the 2026 legislative agenda as proposed by the schoolboard legislative committee. Moved by Miss Dwire, seconded by Dr. Green. Any discussion? Vice Chair Williams. Um yes colleagues as I stated uh during our last meeting I would be bringing back a couple of items. So I would like to present my
115substitute motion. You have it in front of you. So page one stays the same. Page two um under continued authorization for regional recovery school. My substitute motion will add the words and funding. So, it will read as you have in front of you, continued authorization and funding for regional recovery school. I would also like to add the um sentence at the bottom. VBCPS also supports ongoing sustained operational state funding for the Hampton Roads Regional Recovery School. On the next page, my additions include what's in red. BBCPS opposes any legislation that would remove local schoolboard authority to negotiate employment contracts between the school district and its employees. BBCPS believes local school boards are best positioned to manage employee agreements that reflect community needs, uphold fiscal responsibility, and support a stable, highquality educational workforce. Legislation, including but
116not limited to collective bargaining that would remove or reduce local authority, often leads to an unfunded fiscal impact. Okay, motion was made. Substitute motion was made by Vice Chair Williams, seconded by Mr. Bowensteel. Um, and so that motion uh will be voted on before the original U. Miss Rogers. Sorry. Um, first I have a question and u Miss Lenetti, did we not discuss we didn't add funding because the recovery school is already funded for several years. Am I correct on that? We talked about that. We do have funding for a couple years, but I think Miss Williams mentioned the last meeting that if they were off willing to offer more money, we would take it, but we do have funding for we do we have a plan for funding. We've already received some the grant
117funding and we have a five-year funding plan. But I think Miss Williams means point I think Chesterfield was with their when their recovery school there after the initial time they got another round of funding. So if they're willing to do that that Miss suggested that we're open to that we make it clear that we're willing to accept it. Okay. All right. I just want to make sure that we did have funding though. Okay. Um, as far as the other change, uh, you know, we just listen to staff, ask for support, uh, for having a seat at the table, and I support staff and having a seat at the table, and I want to make sure that they that staff realize they are supported. So, that's where I stand. Mr. for co pepper. Um the first
118part there obviously makes sense if we have funding and we want to maintain funding that it makes sense to have a a position that asks for funding from the state for that. Uh as far as the u the second one um this obviously isn't an argument for or against collective bargaining. This is an argument for maintaining the authority uh at the city level to determine how that is negotiated and functions. And in any government, I will always argue that the local government is always in the best position to make decisions for local for the locality. Miss Melnik, well then if it's not for collective bargaining, just remove the words that say so. If you just want Virginia Beach just we've never had this. I've been in legislative for years. We just never put this in
119here and I I just don't the timing is odd and the words are odd, but I'm not going to belabor this all night. Let we can just vote. I mean, it's made it was made about collective bargaining when you put collective bargaining in it. Mr. Co Pepper, are you to the Yes. Just in response to the the question about timing. Uh there was a legislative proposal in 25 uh to remove uh right to work rules and and enforce collective bargaining force force collective bargaining on localities and there's there's already one proposed in 26 for the same. So it's not in response to nothing madam chair. Exactly. It's in response to pending uh um legislation. So it it's in here for a reason. So, I mean I Okay. And I I'm just going to remind that
120we're not back and forth talking. Um we are discussing the motion and we don't discussion the motives behind the board members that are presenting the motions. Um that's that's what the rules would say too. So, Miss Falton, I just want clarity on the um continue authorization for regional recovery school. I get that. I didn't get the one anyone else have. I have no read in mind, so I can't read it. But my understanding, attorney Lynetti, that the um recovery school is funded. I mean, the funds are there, but what you said a few minutes ago sort of kind of threw me off. You said if they're going to offer more money, we won't be able to to receive it. So, if they're offering money, I don't see us turning it down. So, why is it
121explicit to in here in this way, this wording? I I don't get that. That's what's throwing me a little bit. If they're going to offer us more money, yes, but why do we have to put it in in writing stating that we want to ask for more funding? That that's what's getting me off. So, explain that. That's Mrs. W's suggestion. Um, we absolutely have to get authority because our authority to run the regional recovery school is based on an amendment to the budget and it will run up on June 30th, 2026. Now, this has happened in the past with Chesterfield's program and they were given extended authority. Since it's not currently incorporated into any of the laws, we have to get that piece taken care of clarification so that we can continue to run the
122program. After that, that was a suggestion that the legislative community have. Mrs. Williams brought forward the suggestion that we are we not asking money, but we're not against it. If they're going to give money to us, if there's a way they're going to do that, we do have a plan to fund the regional recovery school by some of the the money we had got from the opment fund and by the agreement with the other participating um school divisions. So, we will have funding, but obviously if we can leave some of that by other funding, I don't know that you're going to be against it. But that's Mrs. Williams's proposal. Just a clarification because I don't have the copy that everyone had. Could Miss Re Miss Wayne read again about the uh collecting bargaining? No, it's
123on the next page. Extra. It's this right here. Could you read that for me again, Miss Wings? I just want to hear you read it. I mean, you try. That's fine. You can read it. VPCPS opposes any legislation that would remove local school board authority to negotiate employment contracts between the school district and its employees. BPCPS believes local school boards are best positioned to manage employee agreements that reflect community needs, uphold fiscal responsibility, and support a stable, highquality educational workforce. legislation, including but not limited to cor collective bargaining that would remove or reduce local authority often leads to an unfunded fiscal impact. Thank you so much. You're welcome. All right, Mr. Cummings, then Miss Rogers. Uh, thanks for sharing and like my other colleague said, you know, I'm fine with just moving forward and voting,
124but I do have to say my comments because that's what I'm deciding to do is that a mandate has been given to the state of Virginia and by the city of Virginia Beach when it overwhelmingly voted for people who support collective bargaining and that needs to be clearly stated. in our city, people said yes to candidates in this last election who support collective bargaining. Um, and so from my perspective, we see, we know this is a partisan wedge issue. Um, so be it. You know, I don't mind voting in the way that my conscience allows me to vote and I know my colleagues don't mind voting the way their conscience allows them to vote. But from my perspective, a mandate to uh Virginia government has been given by the citizens of this state and along
125with the majority of the folks from our city. So, Miss Rogers, Dr. Robertson, how many students do we have at the um regional recovery school right now? I haven't checked in in a couple weeks, but I would say the last time we had three Virginia Beach kids and five kids, six kids. Okay. So, I don't know that I think it's necessary to request ongoing funding at this time for three Virginia Beach students and five students total. And when we have funding in place for 5 years, it seems a little premature to me that we're asking for more funding for that few students. I think that it can be done once we run out of funding or we see whether or not the regional recovery school is going to continue to have students. But we are
126in the first year and it's in a stage of growth and so I just think it's premature to continually ask for funding for such a small population when we are still waiting and seeing if that school is going to grow to the capacity it needs to grow to. So that's that's just my comment on funding. we absolutely need to and had put in our legislative package to ask for the authority to run the school and I think that's fair but I don't think that we're in a position at the moment to ask for more funding when we have it secured for the next 5 years and we don't have an overwhelming student population if that makes sense. Um I I would agree with Mrs. Melmik about just removing the one part about collective bargaining. But
127if that isn't something that people want to do, to me it's kind of unnecessary that we have that part specifically targeted at collective bargaining in there. Um and so yeah, that's that. Okay, seeing no more discussion, um we're going to vote on Vice Chair Williams substitute motion. I want to make sure that everybody understands that it is a substitute. So, um that is the motion on the floor. If that passes, um there is no more uh discussion on this. I have more point of something, point of order. We didn't and I'm not being detailed, but we did not correct the motion where there's yellow highlights. I did not hear that updated. So she didn't read that part. She read her substitute and the areas that were changed and so she didn't read that. But if
128you need her to, she can. I mean, so is the vote this complete document or is the vote on just the red stuff. Very substitute motion to add the red stuff, right? The red. Okay. Yes. To to the original. To the original. Okay. I just wanted to make sure to the original that has no Okay. Yep. Do Okay. Would you guys like her to read the numbers? I mean, they're Okay. All right. Um All right. I call for the vote on Vice Chair W's substitute motion on the legislative agenda. So, Madam Chair, there are six eyes and five nazs. So, the motion did pass for the substitute motion from vice chair to approve the original plus her edits that she made. So, the motion did pass. Thank you. We are now on to committee organization
129and board reports. Do any board members have anything? Mrs. from I also wanted to add something once we vote on the substitute that's why I explained it. I said we vote on the substitute there is no further discussion about it. The substitute becomes the motion because it wasn't an amendment and so there's no other amendments. So, we're going to move on because we can't discuss it after the vote, but no, because it was it was a substitute motion and it passed. Um, we are now on to committee, organizations, and board reports. Do any board members have anything to report? Mr. Bowensteel? Yes. I'd like to just bring a brief summary of the GRC committee. uh currently enrolled is 398 students which is slightly above last year. Also the chronic absenteeism remains low at about 3%.
130They have had more referrals this year and they blame it on the portable communication devices from the executive order. Eighth grade applications are 132 which is up from last year substantially and they're doing a lot of different marketing videos, school visits to promote the program. Uh they also have the gayla that is coming up on December I mean on March 14th and they are requesting that all school are hoping that all school board members will purchase a ticket and attend the event. Uh there will be a learning walk on December 10th and IB graduation is on December 18th at 1 p.m. And I'll have more information on the next board meeting. Thank you Dr. Green. Uh reminder that the legislative uh breakfast with our delegation um will be on December 4th at 8:30 a.m. at
131Bayside High School. If you have not RSVP your attent to whether or not you plan to attend, please do so. Miss Rogers. Yes. I'd like to thank my colleagues who um joined me in support of the 101 resolution that passed city council 9 nothing. Um and I just wanted the public to know that there was a letter that was sent. It did meet all FOYA laws and as uh requested or as regulated and that I appreciate their support in that. Vice Chair Williams. Um, yes. The gifted advisory committee will be meeting Monday, December 1st at six o'clock at the Plaza Annex. Mr. Balstdale, uh, speaking about Stallions earlier, I would like to mention that there is going to be a regional playoff game for the finals, Green Run against Indian River. Encourage you to come
132out and see Green Run on their march to the state title. Also, there is talk about rescheduling the time to the afternoon. Um, I was seeing if anybody had any information on that. Yeah, it's a two o'clock kickoff at Green Run High School. Friday after Friday at two. Friday at 2. Mr. Cummings. Yeah, I have a point of order more or less about Robert rules of order, specifically Miss Lenetti. Um, my understanding is that the chair is supposed to advocate. This is out of order, isn't it? No, it's in Robert voted. It's in Robert rules though and so my colleague was denied the chance to introduce her motion. Robert rules does say the chair is to advocate for the board members when you have a known motion. It's your bylaw. You need to take a
133look at your bylaw appendix A. Uh I believe it's number six. That's your bylaw overrides Robert's rules of order. So you need to take a look at that provision. And in f and I will say if you're going to challenge, you have to challenge it that you can bring up a point of explain but if you're going to challenge, you need to challenge at the time that the chair makes a ruling. computer. Miss Melnick, in defense of the chair, she did publicly say, does anybody have anything else? Um because once we take this vote, this whether it was understood that way, I kind of paused myself waiting, but in in in defense of the chair, she she did she did ask the question. I heard that. I agree. I just think that we all knew
134there was another motion on the the dis. So, all right. Vice Chair Williams, please read us into close session. I move the school board recess into close session in accordance with exceptions exceptions to open meetings law set forth in code of Virginia 2.2-3711 parts AA paragraphs 78 and 12 is amended to deliberate on the following matters. 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 the public body. For the purpose of 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
135party. 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 the matter. A consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding specific legal matters requiring the 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 bodies and attendants are consulted on a matter. 12. information related to the negotiating and award of a specific contract where competition or bargaining is involved and where the release of such information would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body. Such information shall not be withheld after the public body has made a decision to award
136or not to award the contract. In the case of the procurement transactions conducted pursuant to the Virginia Public Procurement Act, the provisions of this subdivision shall not apply and any release of information relating to such transactions shall be governed by the Virginia Public Procurement Act, namely to discuss A unsolicit solicited PPE offer. B status of pending litigation or administrative cases, C consultation with legal counsel regarding probable litigation and pending litigation matters. Okay. A motion made by Vice Chair Williams, seconded by Miss Dwire. Any discussion? Seeing none, I call for the vote to go into close session. Okay. And is Miss here? Okay. So, Madam Chair, we have 10 eyes. The motion did pass to go into close session. Hey, hey, hey. Where's The school board of the city of Virginia Beach has convened a closed
137meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom Information Act and whereas section 2.2-3712 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. Right. And is there a motion on the certification close session? Moved by Miss Dwire, seconded by Mr.
138Co Pepper. Any discussion? Seeing none, I call for the vote to certify closed session. So, Madam Chair, we have 10 eyes. The motion to pass for certification of clos is 8:30 p.m. This meeting is adjourned and everybody, I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving. You