001like to call our meeting to order. Is there a motion for the board to reconvene into open session? >> Daniel will salute. >> Is there a second? >> Second, Rebecca Miner. >> Thank you. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. Okay. We are now in open session. Good evening to everyone. Sorry about starting a little late. Uh, awesome to see such a nice turnate. We very appreciative of that. During our meeting, I'd like to ask each of our board members to state his or her name when making or seconding a motion or when speaking. At this time, I'm going to ask each board member to verbally indicate their presence when I call their name. Mrs. Mrs. Amy Richards >> here. >> Mrs. Rosemary Maym >> here. >> Mrs. Rebecca Miner >> here.
002>> Dr. Daniel Wallace >> present. >> And I am Ralph Fallon. Is our motion to verify that our closed session was conducted in accordance with the code of Virginia section 2.2-3712 2-3712 paragraph D and that only matters exempted from open meeting requirements and only matters identified in the motion to go into close session were discussed. >> Danny Wallace salute is a second. >> Amy Richard second. >> Thank you. Miss Richards, how do you vote? >> I. >> Mrs. Maym, >> I. >> Mrs. Miner, >> I. >> Dr. Wallace, I >> chair votes I. And our close session has been verified at this time. If there are no objections, I'd like to ask our superintendent, Miss Rice, to lead us in prayer. I see no objections. >> Okay. >> Dear heavenly father, thank you for this
003day and thank you for the privilege of serving the students of West Morland County. We do consider it a privilege. And father, we we know that your word says if we trust you and we acknowledge you that you will direct us in all our paths. And that's what we're asking for this evening. We ask for the wisdom that only you can bestow and that you would guide us in making decisions, guide us in our leadership. And thank you again for all the students of West Morland County and their families. and thank you for the privilege of serving. In your name I pray. Amen. >> Amen. >> At this time, let's stand and honor our country by reciting the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
004and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Do I have a volunteer to read our statement of vision and our statement of mission? >> Sure, I'll volunteer. >> Thank you. >> Our vision is to provide an exemplary learning environment that empowers all students to find their voices and make meaningful contributions to the world. Our mission is together we nurture the unlimited potential of all students through inclusive authentic learning experiences. Thank you Dr. Wallace. Do we have any suggested changes or addition to our agenda? Okay. Hearing none, our agenda is approved by unanimous consent. Next we have recognition for stu student and staff attendance. Miss Rice. >> Yes sir. We will begin with recognition for student attendance. So we keep track of course every day
005and we keep a a running percentage of the average number of students who were in in school each day. Copel Elementary School for January had an average percentage attendance of 94.61%. Washington District Elementary had an average percentage of 94.18%. Montrust Middle.47% and West Morland High School 92.91%. So our winning school this month is Copel Elementary School. Oh, we'll have to use the staff. >> We'll pose with the staff. >> We'll make sure you really do get your trophy. U staff attendance for Copel Elementary School for the month of January 91.85%. Washington District staff attendance 96.02%. Montrust Middle School 94.27% and West Morland High School 93.87%. So, this trophy goes to Washington District Elementary School. Congratulations. >> Okay. Thank you, M. Rice. >> So, next we have character trait honores. Uh, Mr. McConville. >> And we
006will have our principles come forward and share awards for this. The character trait for January is courage. I'm principal of Copel Elementary Angel. Um, so I'm going to read it in English and then we have Mrs. Ner, our EL teacher, who's going to read it in Spanish. Uh for January or February um we have Emanuel uh Vasquez. Emanuel shows courage by always coming to class ready to learn. Emanuel is eager to learn new things and shows courage by trying his hardest even if something is difficult for him. He always has a great attitude is a great friend to his classmates and his positivity radiates throughout our classroom. And he is a kindergarten teacher who was nominated by his teacher Miss Reed. Max. Congratulations. Hi, I'm Michelle Repass, principal, Washington District. Our month for this month
007is Caroline Saunders. Um, Caroline demonstrates extraordinary courage by arriving each day with a bright smile and a steadfast determination to succeed. Never allow anything to diminish her spark or love for learning. Even when things do not go her way, Caroline always has a smile on her face. She maintains her positive attitude no matter what is happening around her. We're lucky to have her as a student at WD. Congratulations. I'm Janet Carl the principal at Montra Middle. Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. Courage especially in children is very rare and should be recognized and highlighted. Jon Barry displayed notable courage by speaking up about famatory remarks, prioritizing honesty and respect over fear of being labeled or bullied. He showed courage and strong moral character by reporting a serious concern even when doing so
008could have led to peer criticism. Great job, Jion. Continuing your journey towards being a transformational leader. You are what the world needs to make it a much better place. And he was nominated by Miss Poel, his English teacher, and he's not here tonight, >> but we'll still celebrate him. >> Yes. Hi, my name is Michael Bathy, principal at West High School. WH student of the month for January goes out to Mark Beach, grade 10, nominated by Mr. Lwood. Mark consistently steps up to step steps up to challenges and never afraid to take the lead when something needs to be done. He encourages his classmates to give their best effort through clear communication and teamwork. Mark helps his group achieve strong results. His willingness to lead, support others, and face challenges head-on makes him a good
009example of courage. And I'm going to kind of add to this because one thing that I was really impressed by is when I went to um the dog and robotics competition, I I kind of got to see the team kind of work together. It was really impressive. Um, at that time they had a team of four on Saturday. And Mark was part of that team. That team took third place overall out of probably about, you'll probably know more. I'm going to say at least 20 schools there, 20 different teams. And I was real proud. You know, you would see the team get frustrated, then they get back to work and they kind of found a solution. So, so I'm kind of really proud of Mark the way that he put in part of that robot
010team. So, student of the month goes out for January. Goes out to Mark. Way to go. This is sitting there. So we congratulate all of our students being recognized but we also want to thank their parents uh their teachers and school administrators because each of you play a very important role. So this is always one of the highlights uh of our board meeting. So, okay, next we also are going to u have something that we're going to enjoy and this is going to be a Black History Month presentation from Copel Elementary and Montros Middle and our students. >> Good evening again. All right. So, at which celebrated Black History Month, so we started off each morning on the morning announcements reading a fact about a famous African-American. So, you can see a fact there about
011Maya Angelou. Um, we also had to uh because of all the snow, so sometimes we're reading like three a day. Um, but we want to make sure we got all them um read. So, our reading specialists put together uh a challenge for classes and so teachers were able to choose one person to celebrate for Black History Month. And as a class, they created a section of a quilt highlighting that person. Um so together when we put the pieces together, they created the Cocoal Black History Quilt. Oh, okay. So, there is our quilt. Um and it was on the bulletin board outside of our reading specialist room. So every student would walk by it every day um to go to the cafeteria or to go to specials. Um and then here are just some closeups. So
012we have Ruby Bridges, May Jameson, Langston Hughes. Um so they wrote famous or facts about their person that their class chose and then they had quotes there as well. And then at the top it says they're all woven together. And then on each side we had more quotes about um famous Africanameans. And like I said, they all went by every single day. So they got to see a little bit every day. And they were putting it together. So it wasn't all put together at one day. So every time they walked by, there was a little bit more added to it. Chris, do you want me to put it? >> Hello. >> So, at Montas Middle School, this was an important thing that everyone needs to remember. February is a reminder and I limit. Black history
013lives in our classrooms, our communities, and our country. every single day. We're just celebrating it more in February. So, we divided up all the art classes. Um they got together and created these collaborative posters. They're posted around Montro Middle School. Before they began, they learned about the African-American role model that they would be creating. And they took several pieces of the poster to create and then they put it together like a puzzle. It helped them to understand more about Black History Month, but also what collaboration actually means. Then in Miss Berthaw's technology class, they create an activity called who am I? So around the school, you'll see these who am I posters. And then um on the other underneath of it, they could say who it really was. So of course this is Jerry Rob
014Jerry Rice, sorry, not Robinson. Jerry Rice, but these were um they created four clues explaining why the person was important part of our history. And these are in all the halls around Montrust Middle. And then in sixth grade they did um a wall of fame and they created whoever they wanted to research and then they had to do need to know facts. And so this is Claudet Kovven who pioneered civil rights activist at 15 years old. She was arrested um for refusing to move for a white passenger. And her case was seen as too immature to be the main public legal test um case by the NAACP. And so this is located in our sixth grade hall. And in seventh grade, um, our seventh grade students from Miss Poell's English class are here today. The
015first one's going to be Flame Heart and the next one's Mother Son. So they're going to read to you their interpretation of these poems and they'll tell you a little bit about them. Do you want to click on the first one, Mr. Evans, please? You guys ready? The ones you were doing with Lorn? >> Yes, they are. They're coming now. this way. >> We're going to face this way and >> then we're gonna go one, two, three, go. >> Oh, >> flame by Claw McKay. So much I have forgotten in 10 years. So much in 10 brief years I have forgotten. What time the purple apples come to juice? In what month brings the shy forget me not forgotten in the special starling season of some beloved trees. >> What time of year do the
016ground the fields? I have forgotten much but still remember the point that is red blood and warm December. I still recall the honey fever grass but I cannot bring them out the mad bees in the rabbit of sweets. I have not gotten much strange but still remember December. >> What weeks? What months? What times? What days are wine throws with joy feasting upon black or some I know the days even sacred moments when we played all innocent of passion >> at noon our shades we were so happy happy I remember the redember You want to read what you have on yours? >> In foreign part, the speaker reflects on his childhood in Jamaica, remembering a time when his emotions were intense and cool of life. He describes his younger self as having a heart like
017a flame bright passionate and full of im imagination. He often wrote about social and polit political um concerns from his perspective as a black man in the United States. The flame symbol symbolizes the speaker's passionate childhood spirits. As the flame fades, it represents how growing up can lessen joy and and imagination. As he grows older, that flame begins to fade. Adulthood brings changeness and a loss of the fiery emotions that once defined him. The speaker feels nostalgic and slightly sorrowful and he compares his vibrant youth to his calmer less passionate about adult self. >> So now another class um did the next one. Good evening everyone. We represent Miss Pal seventh grade English. This is our final imperson imperson impersonation no interpretation of this poem mother to son. >> Mother to son by wson. Well
018son, I'll tell you for me ain't no crystal. It's tax and splinters and boards torn up in places with no carpet on the floor. But all the time I' been climbing on landings and turning corners and sometimes going into dark where there ain't no light. So boy, don't you turn back. Don't you sit down on the steps cuz you find it kind of hard. Don't you fall now for I still going and ain't no cryst. >> Mr. Huge is known for his insightful po portrait portraits of black lives in America and mother to son by Langston Hughes used to extend metaphors to compare life to staircases. The mother explains that her life ain't been no crystal stair meaning it has not been easy or smooth. Instead, her staircase had sacks, splinters, and boards torn up,
019which symbolizes hardship, poverty, and struggles. Through this metaphor, the mother encourages her son to keep climbing despite difficulties. The staircase represents perseverance, determination, and resilience. Even though she's she's faced obstacles, she continues to move forward and urges her son not to give up or turn back. This poem's conversational tone has dialect and dialect makes her mother feel her mother's advice feel personal and powerful. Huges highlight themes of strength, endurance, hope, and the importance of pers persistence in the face of adversity. So, in eighth grade, um I can take one and pass them down. This student um was not able to be here tonight, but this was the prompt they were given. Barbara Rose John Jones, excuse me, Barbara Rose John's was courageous student activist whose leadership and determination helped spark a legal challenge that contributed
020to the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown versus the Board of Education which ended racial segregation in public schools in the United States. So the students in eighth grade had to write an essay explaining how Barbara Rose John's was and discuss the importance of student activism today. So this is by air tate and she asked me would I read it for her so I will. It is important for young people to use our voices, actions and leadership to create positive change in their community. Young people see problems from a different perspective and are personally affected by them in ways adults may not be. When students speak up, they bring attention to issues adults may overlook. Young people have the courage and energy to demand better conditions in their communities because it has a big impact
021on their lives. For example, Barbara Rose John was only 16 years old when she led a walk out at RR Motton High School to protest unequal and poor school conditions. She organized 450 students and contacted the NAACP lawyers to file a lawsuit that helped to win the Brown versus Board of Education case. Her leadership showed that even teenagers can stand up for what is right and make a lasting impact. Youth involvement also brings fresh ideas and determination to solve problems. From student protests like bees mustf fall in South Africa to speaking out about school safety, young people continue to push for change. When you use your voice, actions, and leadership to improve your community, not only do you leave an impression, but you also set an example for future leaders. So, good job, Mr. Yeah.
022>> Thank you very much. Would any of our board members like to make any comments? >> Thank you all. >> And your ability to stand up here and be scared and read and present. Thank you. >> Well, and I'd also like to just say that, you know, in an era when we're used to, you know, doom scrolling through Facebook and things like that, it's great to hear poetry. You know, I I think poetry is so, you know, underappreciated, you know, in our culture and our society today. It's like I was I was thinking you the uh folks who are up here, you know, quoting the the first one as a group, several of them were truly had memorized large portions of it because they weren't looking >> Yes. >> looking at anything. It's like, >>
023yeah, >> brought back memories of all the poetry I memorized when I was young and I can still remember to this day. I can still, you know, quote large amounts and it's like I encourage everyone just for fun, >> go dig up a poem maybe from your childhood that you already know or something new and read it tonight. Poetry is underrated. We need to get more poetry in our lives. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Good job. >> And we always really enjoy uh and are appreciative of students participating in our board meetings. So, uh, it say it does say a lot for young folks to stand up here and and recite things, uh, speak and, uh, so we all enjoyed it very much. So, thank you. Okay. So, next, um, did you want to
024make any comments, please? >> Yes. You sure? Okay. Uh, Virginia kindness week presentations. And I think this is going to be Washington District and West Mullen High School. >> So these are three of our fifth graders and two of them wrote something they're going to read to you all about kindness, what it means to them. and then Winston is going to share some things some students are um but Savannah Mley is going to read first and then Jacob Hayes and then Rebecca Peran's going to talk some about >> Good evening my name is Savannah and I am >> and I and I am fifth grader student from Washington today I would share my perspective of kindness and I try to show in small ways each day, hoping to inspire others to make good choices, too.
025I believe kindness means showing care, respect, and being helpful to others. As a student, I show kindness that helps someone even when I also try to include my classmates doing activities. Stay calm instead of arguing and use respectful words towards others. Even when someone makes poor choices or choices stop me from running, I always choose not to respond but words. But listening, being patient and stuff, I help to create a kind and respectful school. Thank you and good evening. >> Thank you. Hi, my name is Jacob Hayes. At school, we have been discussing different ways to be kind and how we can show kindness to others. This year, I took part in the STEM club, and we recently competed in a robotics challenge against other schools. During the competition, we had to work together as
026a team, share our ideas, and solve problems. We showed kindness by listening carefully to one another's ideas and choosing the best solution to complete the task. Sometimes our ideas didn't work on the first try, so we hadn't had to collaborate and build on each other's thinking to come up with a better plan. By supporting and respecting one another, we were able to stay focused and keep improving our work. If we hadn't treated each other With kindness, we wouldn't have been able to finish the task on time or achieve success. Stand up for kindness and they have one more gift for the night. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. You did a great job. >> Okay, next we have West Mullen High School. >> Hello. So once again, Michael Bathgate, Principal West High.
027I got Miss Kenny with me today to talk about kindness week. >> So the purpose to recognize that simple day-to-day acts of kindness enables our school communities and state kinder, safer, healthier, and more inclusive place to live, work, learn, and play. Of course, at WHS, kindness counts. And what I'm gonna do, we do have one of our class officers here, Miss Maddie. She's going to kind of talk about kindness week. >> Hi. Um, so for kindness week, our 2029 class officers put together a spirit week to celebrate all of the different aspects of kindness throughout our school and just to really show how kindness can bring us all together in different ways. So for Monday we did don't sweat the small stuff where you wear your favorite sweatshirt or sweater. For Tuesday we did twin
028day. It's double the kindness and we wear the same clothes as a friend, sibling or anyone else in the school that we wanted to match with. On Wednesday it was color day. On the side you can see yellow was for freshman. Yellow stands for positivity. Sophomores wore green and green stands for gratitude. Juniors wore purple, which stands for kindness and/or understanding, and seniors wore blue for harmony. And then on Thursday, we did kindness makes the heart grow by wearing red, pink, or white. Just to tie in also some Valentine's Day colors because we had Valentine's Day that weekend also. So yeah, a big thanks goes out to our 229 class officers, me, Brandon, Nessa, and Emma, for putting together a kindness spirit week. >> Thank you. ALSO FOR KINDNESS WEEK WE DID our kindness notes.
029Um we had even classes from the middle school came up one of those days. We had them write notes as well and we posted the notes on our our one notes. Um if we seen something nice going on um some more notes. If we see something nice we actually gave out certificates just to show our appreciation. Hey, we saw you something doing nice. They didn't expect it, but we gave them a little gift, a token. And there's little tokens in yours that we gave them, little armbands and stuff like that. But then on the top, it's the ambassador of kindness. And it just says how much we appreciate just doing the small things matter. And then just to kind of finish things up, you know, one quote that I didn't like, try to be a
030rainbow in someone else's cloud. That's my answer. That's all we have. Thank you. >> So once again, I'll see if any board members would like to make any additional comments. >> I would just like to thank all the students for participating. Whether you were told you had to do it or whether you volunteered to do it, um it does get easier to speak in front of people. So whenever you have that opportunity um definitely do it even as adults when it's time for I can only speak for myself but mostly all of us get a little nervous about reading in front of people especially if we're not familiar with the subject. So always participate and it does get easier. I'm so proud of each and every one of you. I don't really have much more
031to say than what's already been said, but it's great seeing you guys come up. >> And I' I'd like to repeat what Miss Richard said. The more often you do something, speak in public or in front of people, if you ever did get nervous, it totally goes away. So, nothing like experience. So very appreciative of all of our students, but also of our school administrators and our teachers. So thank all of you for what you've done. >> Okay, we have more celebration coming up. Uh the 2025 drive for change winner, Mrs. Crim and Montros Middle students. Good evening. I'm Miss Creme and um I got the opportunity this year to work with the Yaso, which is the Youth of Virginia speak out about traffic safety. Um we've had quite a few things going on. Um
032and yes, we were a winner and we'll get to that shortly. Um so, good evening. I'm Deputy Pitts and I am the school resource officer for Montrosville Middle School and with the YOSO drive for challenge the buck up and slow down project. It was an initiative to designed to empower youth and teens to take the lead and create positive change in their schools and communities when it comes to the young driver and passenger safety. Our students focus on two key areas. It was the seat belts use and that was encouraging everyone to buckle up at every time and also the speed prevention promoting safer driver habits by slowing down. Through this project, students raise awareness about these important safety issues but also build leadership skills and that has made a real difference in their community.
033>> Oh, that's me. We brainstormed with Miss Crim to come up with ideas for our We brainstormed with Miss Crim to come up with our float idea that was linked to the float theme and the message. All of our signage for the parade was made by six students. Then there is a video of it just in the parade, but if you came to the parade, you would have been able to see that. Here's some of the um signs and we had the eagle, we had the crash dummies. We had made all these boxes out of cardboard and um had them painted and things by some of our students at the school and through the art teacher. For the competition, we had to not only do a community project, but also many projects that help get
034the message out to our students and community. The students gave a starting survey and an ending survey on seat belt safety. The YOS banner was at sporting and community events. Students passed out our homemade note with thumb do lollipop. Students put together Halloween safety bags for car rider ideas. Safety bags for our car riders. Students made announcements in the morning at NMS. >> And they even colored a large safety poster and made a pumpkin to be displayed at Milken Light Festival. Through this project, 72 schools and youth groups suck statewide. More than 60,000 education overseas were distributed. Most importantly, we saw an average 5% increase in seat belts from preelt. Mont Middle School also had an outstanding 14% increase from seat belt checks. The winner is Montrol Middle School. Not only with this project, um
035this was the big one for the fall, there is one coming up in the spring, but we also had many little um contests. Um we did win some money for this one and I can't recall um how much we won for this. Um but then there was many projects and one was a jingle contest over Christmas break. The students also competed in the yoga jingle contest. The goal of this contest is to keep teen drivers and passengers safe during the high-risisk holiday season by promoting seat bus use and safe responsible celebrations. Students created a short safe riding jingle under 30 seconds in video format that shares a catchy message about seat belt safety and or safe driving routines. A few of our seventh grade students created a short song on their own and then they
036made it into a 30second video. The students practiced a day or so and then shot the clip in just a few. And cool enough, um Kaylee who read that is one of the ones who actually um wrote this along with one of the people who stood up here earlier writing with one of the poems. Um so they had wrote this and then we had to shorten it into 30 seconds. Maybe not. >> It's not working. >> No. Okay. All right. Well, it's a cute 30 second jingle um that uh if you would like to see it, I can definitely show it to you. Um but they recorded it outside. It took literally about four or five takes um of lots of giggling and whatnot. We sat outside um in my car, had the doors open
037and things, and they shot this video. It was super cute. And for this um we took third place for this little video. And the next up clubs and classrooms that implement Yoso programming are invited to create a short audio or video clip such as a podcast, game show, interview, or news report. Submissions will highlight traffic safety, smart choices behind the wheel, and passenger rights and be no longer than five minutes in length, which we just submitted on Sunday. So hopefully we'll get that back and be able to share with you if we were winners or in any case a contestant to be a winner. Um but this has been awesome. The kids um are um up for another challenge this spring. Um that they're going to also again promote more uh seat belt safety. Um
038and they just did this past week their surveys for their seat belts again because we have to do a pre-imposed survey to double check and make sure our seat belts. Um, so hopefully we can get you guys to to help us out this spring, possibly do another activity. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> So, Miss Rice, I'll leave you next. >> Yes, sir. So, I'm sure you've noticed the uh display of flowers and gifts. That's because uh February is designated as schoolboard appreciation month. Um so, uh we we appreciate our school board and the principles um have have brought some things to show appreciation and then central office as well uh would like to show our appreciation to the school board. So, we do have a proclamation from uh the governor and I'm not
039going to read that one. And I'm going to read the proclamation from West Morland County uh schools for Virginia Schoolboard Appreciation Month. And it's whereas the education of Virginia's school-aged children is the foundation upon which the economic, social, and intellectual capital of our state is built. And whereas locally elected and appointed school boards play an important and vital government role, and decisions made by school boards directly influence instruction in Virginia's public schools. And whereas these decisions affect the present and future lives of children and also set direction to prepare all students to be competitive in a local, state, national, and global 21st century knowledge economy. And whereas local schoolboard members work with parents, businesses, education professionals, and other community members to create the educational vision that we want for our students. And whereas this year's
040theme, this comes from the Virginia Schoolboard Association, from strong roots come endless possibilities, highlights the vital role schoolboard members play in planting the seeds for student success, ensuring every student has the resources needed to grow, thrive, and reach their full potential. And whereas schoolboard appreciation month provides an opportunity to celebrate the Virginia schoolboard members who champion the mission of public education. Now therefore, be it resolved, the West Morland County Division joins the Virginia School Board Association in recognizing the contributions of the local school board members to the academic success of its public school students and expresses its sincere appre recognition to local board members for their focus on the well-being and achievement of students throughout the Commonwealth. and be it finally resolved. The West Morland County Division declares February 2026, even though it's March, as
041schoolboard appreciation month and encourages local community members and leaders to appropriately recognize our school division's dedicated school board members. And we do have a plaque from the VSBA uh for each of our school board members through and for our student representative. So, u Mr. Bathgate, could you accept on behalf of Sydney Bedford? Is he still here? He had to go. Mr. McConville, will you accept? >> Thank you. >> And Dr. Wis for you. Rebecca Miner for you, >> Ralph Fallon for you, >> Amy Richards for you, >> and Rosemary Mayan for you. And these plaques say uh 2026 VSBA School Board Appreciation Month. >> Okay. Thank you. And I also want to thank all of our school board members because uh it takes a real team and all of our school board members work together.
042Uh our goal is student success and every decision that we make uh we keep our students and our all of our employees in mind and uh we all work together. We support one another. We listen to one another and that results in us making good decisions. And I do want to not just say schoolboard members because there's this thing called the governance team that includes schoolboard members and superintendent. So everything I said about the school board applies to our governance team. And if anyone would like to add anything, feel free. just want to say thank you for all the the gifts and um appreciation because it it really is a privilege for us to be able to to serve on the school board and we thoroughly enjoy the work um that we are um able
043to partake in. >> I think we all enjoy what we do. I know we all enjoy what we do. So, and again, thank all of you for being here tonight. It's nice to have this awesome turnout. >> Yes. >> Okay, we have more appreciation. Um, and that's the um school board clerk appreciation. The Virginia School Board Association designated the third week in February as school board clerk appreciation week. And it's a dedicated time to honor the invaluable role that clerks pay for our govern and our governance team. So, we're very appreciative for that. And at this time, we want to recognize our school board clerk, Mrs. Tina Sumpter. But we also want to recognize our deputy clerk who happens to be our superintendent because both of you play uh a huge role and without all
044the support we get from you, we wouldn't be able to get everything done that needs to be done. So So anyway, we also have a proclamation. Um and I would like to ask Miss Richards if she would like to read this proclamation. Yes, I'm honored to read it. The Westborne County School Board Proclamation, Virginia School Board Clerk Appreciation Week, February 16 through the 20th of 2026. Whereas school board clerks in each locality throughout our great Commonwealth are appointed by law to fulfill their duties and responsibilities. And whereas school board clerks are responsible for keeping accurate records of the meetings and proceedings of the school board, a record of all receipts and dispersements, and a record of all official acts, and whereas school board clerk performs such other duties in connection with the school business of
045his slash her county or city as may be required by the school board. And whereas school board clerks maintain frequent contact with the public, including parents, employees, and the media on behalf of the school board and superintendent. And whereas schoolboard clerks in the performance of their duties are often required to work extra hours attending schoolboard meetings. And whereas schoolboard clerks join with school boards to help ensure that students achieve their highest potential. And whereas school board clerks provide an invaluable service for school board members and superintendent, the VSBA board of directors does hereby recognize the third week of February as school board clerk appreciation week in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Whereas the West Morland School Board joins the VSBA in recognizing the many and varied contributions of school board clerks. Now therefore, it is resolved
046that it is meeting on the second day of March. The West Morland School Board recognizes also recognizes the third week of February as school board clerk appreciation week. Congratulations and thanks to you both. >> And we also have for you. >> Thank you so much for what you do and also for our deputy clerk, Miss Rice. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> So, any comments from anyone for our clerks? >> Thank you all so much. I don't know that we could do anything without y'all. So, thank you. >> Okay. Next, Miss Rice, do we have any written public comments that were submitted prior to our meeting? >> Yes, sir. >> We have none. >> Do we have any public comments from anyone present? >> I don't believe we do. So, our public comment period is
047now closed. Next, we have our consent agenda. you for personnel appointments and resignations. You also have copies of board minutes from the January 12 work session, the January 12th regular session and the January 20 call school board meeting and you have copies of the school division bills and school nutrition bills. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So move a second. Second. Daniel Wallace. >> Mrs. Richards, how do you vote? >> I >> Mrs. Mayham. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Miner. >> Hi. >> Dr. Wallace. >> Hi. >> Chair votes I. The consent agenda is approved. Miss Rice. Donations and school gifts. >> Yes. Uh we received quite a few uh very generous donations again this month. Uh from Barbara Gay who is with the Girls Zone Northern Neck Gateway region. Uh we
048received clothing and personal hygiene products collected through community donations and she in turn then brought those uh items to the school division and they are now in uh the high school with our nurse um who can distribute to high school students and middle school students uh who might be in need. And those donations were valued at $1,750. and her um collection of donations is ongoing. So, I expect we'll see her back again. Um very grateful to her for that. And then Washington District Elementary School received from Dan and Diana McMongle a play kitchen valued at $100. Food Lion uh of Colonial Beach donated a gift card for Black History Month door decorating contest of $25. and Leo's Pizza also gave a card for that purpose valued at $22. An anonymous donor uh donated 80 children's
049books valued at $400. Then at Montrust Middle School, the Central Rapahanic Regional Library gave candy bars for all the staff and that was valued at $120. Uh Deputy Pitts, who's with us this evening, uh provided lunchon for staff valued at $330. and Miss Wilkins gave staff incentives valued at $85. At West Morland High School, Michelle Roerti and Shelby Brooks both gave monetary donations to the wrestling team. Miss Roerti gave $25 and Shelby Brooks gave $50. And then continuing uh we had a monetary donation to the star program from the corporate uh off lease LLC. Um they gave $100. The init mantra, the tired doctor LLC and Lightest Properties LLC all gave monetary donations to support the drone eagle team. And the donation from the init mantra was $1,500. the tire doctor $250 and lightest properties
050$135. So we present all of these donations and ask that the board take action to accept them. >> We are grateful. >> Thank you, Miss Rice. In accordance with our policy, KH, is there a motion to accept the school donations as presented by Miss Rice? >> So moved for Rebecca Miner. >> Say a second. >> Second. Daniel Wallace. >> Okay. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I I. >> And indeed, we are very appreciative. And it seems like every month, as you already said, >> we get a number of generous donations. So, >> okay. And I think you have something else, too. >> Yes, we have another um this is something uh special and unique to this month. These are not donations to West Morland County Schools, so we didn't want the
051uh board to take action. Um, but these are donations that were made in support, special gifts in support of one of our students who was in need of an important uh medical procedure. And the need was communicated um that this child was in need. And then we received um not the schools but through the schools uh to the medical provider. Ebenezer United Methodist Church donated $1,000 uh to support this student. The Ebenezer United Methodist Church Men's Group gave a donation of $500. Karen Fallon gave a donation of $100. The United Ministries of West Morland County gave $400. St. Peter's Episcopal Church gave $500 and Copel Episcopal Church gave $500. And it's my understanding that the combined donations and gifts were sufficient to fully fund uh the medical procedure that this student needed. And Mr. Fallon,
052would you like to say anything addition? >> Well, that's that's correct. I think it uh there may have been another $50 that were needed, but anyway, it was a a total of 3,000, so pretty close. And it's my understanding that the uh procedure is going to be done on the 5th of March. And I believe this is a kindergarten student. So uh the community uh came together in a matter of just a few days really. >> So it's very nice when our community steps up like that. So >> yes, >> we are appreciative. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Next um I believe is our instructional calendar for 2026 2027. >> Yes sir. >> And the school board already uh had an opportunity to review the calendar and the process we went through. I
053would like to again thank the calendar committee publicly um because this is a tough job because it's difficult to please everyone with an instructional calendar. Uh but our committee members uh were Alicia Isiziger from West Morland High School, Michael Bathgate from West Morland High School, Rebecca Beal from Montrust Middle School, Janet Garland from Montrust Middle School, Matt Freno from Washington District Elementary School, Michelle Repass from Washington District Elementary School, Natasha Tate from Copel Elementary School, Holly Angel from Copel Elementary School, Corey McConville from Central Office, and Leslie Steel also from central office and myself and uh we are really grateful to have representatives from every school to help us with the calendar committee. Uh we did meet a couple of times uh to put together drafts and then the representatives got feedback from their individual
054schools. Something we considered uh this year was that is unique um and a change for us. Many of the divisions in region three are moving to a full week off at Thanksgiving uh for the Thanksgiving holiday and that included all of the divisions who are part of the Northern Neck and shared the Chesapeake Bay Governor's School with us and the Northern Neck Technical Center. So that was information our calendar committee needed to take into consideration in um adopting a draft for this year. So we did create two drafts. We had calendar draft one which had a a later start date and uh three days off at Thanksgiving and then draft two had an earlier school start date and a full week off at Thanksgiving. We put that into a survey. Chris and Tom did that
055for us um and sent it out uh through the representatives to um all four schools and they completed the survey uh voting on the calendar of choice and you can see uh 75% of those who responded and there were 170 responses so it was a good response. um they chose calendar draft two which is the calendar that um provides for a full week off at Thanksgiving um but also uh does mean we start school 2 days earlier. Uh one of the factors that uh drove that decision uh was the number of students who tend to miss when we have two days uh of school in the week of Thanksgiving. we see a decline in attendance on the Monday before Thanksgiving and a really big decline in attendance on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. So, uh committee
056members and then it it showed up in the survey results. Uh teachers felt like students would be more likely to attend uh two days early in the school year if we started school two days early and we would actually be um gaining instructional time that way. and that is based on a trend of missing uh before the holiday. So the proposed calendar that you all received um at the work session is calendar draft two and Chris has that one. And this calendar does have a student start date of August the 6th. And then we do have the full week off um for Thanksgiving break and that's the notable change from prior years. This calendar still allows us to complete the entire first semester before the Christmas break uh complete exams, complete so assessments and then
057have a twoe Christmas break and when we return we jump right into second semester and a new set of classes at the high school and middle school. Um and uh the rest of the calendar is largely similar to what we have now. Uh we maintained one openhouse day that seemed to be received very positively uh by parents to have one day set aside for all the open houses and make sure they didn't overlap with each other. Um and then we still have our parent teacher conferences built in very similar to this year. So this evening we are presenting the calendar to you for approval. Okay. >> Do I hear a motion >> regarding the calendar? >> First my hand. I move that accept the calendar as given. >> Okay. Is there a second? >> Andy
058Richard second. >> Any discussion? Any more discussion? Mrs. Richards, how do you vote? >> I. >> Mrs. Maym. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Miner. >> Hi. >> Dr. Wallace. >> Hi. chair votes I and the instructional calendar is approved. >> Thank you very much and we appreciate all the work that went into this because as you said it's it's not easy. So okay uh next on all the neck technical center do you have a report Mrs. Mayhem? >> Well I really don't have much to say now. Um what I would have said on a regular day is that we had an open house um on the 25th on on on yeah Wednesday the 25th um of February there was an open house from 5 to 7. So everyone's welcome to go and check out all the
059classes and meet with the teachers and just see what it's like at the school. Um, they had that, but I didn't get to tell anyone about it. So, anyway, um, so nothing really to tell you much more from >> Well, at least we have the good excuse for not going >> there. Yeah, I guess so. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay, Dr. Wallace, do you have anything for the Chesapeake Bay Governor School? >> Yeah. Um this is very current and everyone here is invited to this um this Saturday um and at VCU in the um the university student commons building um I don't know if you all know where that is but um if you're interested in going um I'll give that to you is the anyway it's the um science symposium that they
060do every year where the seniors present their research projects and I am blown away every year at the quality of presentations that the students present. I mean, good scientific rigor, you know, I mean, you know, honestly, you know, I've seen some, you know, master's thesis um defenses that aren't as good as as some of these kids. Okay? Some of them are are very very good. Um I will use as one example here um and our deputy will appreciate this. Uh I saw the the discussion on you know seat belt usage you know presented earlier. I remember there was a presentation a few years back where two of the students actually did interventions of looking at scientifically um what sort of interventions um are most effective in encouraging seat belt usage. And it was a beautiful
061study. They had um someone you know watching students as they were leaving the high school. Okay. and they were, you know, watching through binoculars seeing, you know, if the if the students were wearing their seat belt or not. So, they got a baseline and then the following week they had posters up talking about the monetary impact. If you don't wear your seatelt, you can get a ticket and all this. Okay. Then the next um week and they tracked and looked for compliance. The next week they looked at um peer pressure basically. You know, everyone's doing it, you should do okay. And then the third week they did um the safety impacts and trying to see systematically which one was more effective. And the interesting thing was that they found and they collected lots of data.
062Okay. They found that those interventions made a slight change but not much. The biggest determinant of whether a student was wearing their seat belt was whether the driver, their parent, okay, who was picking them up was wearing their seat belt. >> And to me that that spoke volumes. It was like a like you look at the data, this huge spike of if their parent is wearing a seat belt, the student is wearing a seat belt. And I thought that was that was, you know, a great finding. It's like we can have all of the posters and things like that and those have a slight effect. That's good. But it starts with the behavior that he modeled. Okay. And to me, that was a beautiful study. All right. That's the kind of study that you might
063see there. Sometimes it's looking at the effects of you know salinity in waters and oyster um you know viability or size of oysters or some because it is a lot of maritime stuff that they that they do in terms of studies. But anyway, lots and lots of studies very fascinating to see. So that's this Saturday starts well they actually start presenting at 9:00 but you want to be there by 8:30 to you get to the room and everything. If you're interested in going uh let me know and I'll give you the further information but it's starts at 9:00 this Saturday at VCU student comments. >> Okay. Thank you Dr. Wallace. Appreciate that. Miss Rice, upcoming events. Yes, tomorrow morning uh we have the VSBA uh fiscal governance cohort uh in Charlottesville. So those of us
064that are riding together are meeting here at 6:30 a.m. U and then we have folks I know who are also driving separately. So we start at 9:30 uh in Charlottesville and everybody should have gotten an email with an agenda from VSBA. Um, and then tomorrow evening, uh, we have the VSBA regional spring network forum in King William, and we need to be there at 4:45 p.m. Um, so some of us will be stopping off there on the way back from Charlottesville. Um, and then, uh, we do have the art competition that's part of that. And we have some phenomenal pieces of artwork, uh, from, uh, the elementary, middle, and high school here in West Morland that we will be submitting from those levels. We have two elementaryaries, but from those levels. Um, and then, uh,
065March 18th, we will have our state of the schools event at West Morland High School at 6:00 pm. Uh, stay tuned for more information about that. uh but uh that will be an opportunity for students to um highlight some of the great things um that are happening in the schools. So our principles, our teachers, our students uh will be uh bringing forward some of the things they would like to highlight to the public. And then March 19th, we have the VSBA Hot Topic Conference in Charlottesville or virtual. Uh, and if you're interested in attending and haven't already told uh, Miss Sumpter, let her know. She has already registered some folks for that event. Um, and she would be happy to register others if you're interested in attending. And then coming up in the future, June
0665th, VSBA school law conference and July 16th, the VSBA conference on education. And then, you know, the fiscal cohort, we have four dates. Tomorrow is just the first of four. Okay. Any questions on Miss Rice? >> I definitely would like to sign up for the law conference. >> Same here. >> Yeah, I would as well. I'll do it virtually. >> Virtually everybody or >> No, I'm gonna go. I I I can do it virtually. That's fine. >> I usually like to go in person, but I'll do that virtually as well. Okay, we got everyone that you need. Okay. Is Richard, do you have any additional comments this evening? >> Um, I'd just like to thank all of the principles and the schools for their gifts for um, school board appreciation month. I truly appreciate it.
067Thank you, >> Mrs. Mayhem. >> You know, I always appreciate so much the gifts that you all give. >> Miss Mon, >> just the same. And I'm an offspring. Put my shirt away. Dr. Wall >> and I'm an otter. Um I was also looking at last month's um attendance and it appears that um Washington District has the um the student um attendance trophy that belongs at Copel. So to track that down >> and I'm also very appreciative. I know we all are, but thank you so much for the gifts and uh thank you for still being here, >> Miss Rice. Thank you for everything. Thank you for your leadership most of all and and for everything that you're doing in the schools. Okay, our next uh board meeting on Tuesday, March the 10th, we have
068a school board work session at 5:00 pm. And Monday, March the 16th, we have a close session beginning at 5:00 p.m. We have an open session at 6:00 p.m. and a public hearing on the budget at 7 p.m. Do I hear a motion to adjurnn? >> There's May. So move. >> Is that a second? >> Can you all a second? All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. We are journ