WMLCPS 8/18/25 School Board Meeting

001like to call our meeting to order. Is there a motion for the board to reconvene into open session? >> Present move. >> Is there a second? >> Danny Wallace second. >> Okay. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. Okay. We are now in open session. Good evening everyone. uh those of you who are here in person, we thank you for attending tonight and also those of you who are watching online. We appreciate that as well. During our meeting, I'd like to ask each board member 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. Rosemary Mayan, >> present. Mrs. Rebecca Miner, >> present. >> Mrs. Amy

002Richards, >> present. >> Dr. Daniel Wallace, >> present. >> And I am Ralph Fallon. I also would like to acknowledge our student representative, Miss Bedford. Nice to have you with us this evening. >> Thank you. >> As is our motion to verify that our close 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. >> I move that we so verified Daniel Wallace. >> All right. Is there a second? >> Richard second. >> Second. Okay. All right. >> Mrs. Mayan, how do you vote? >> I. >> Mrs. Richards, >> I. >> Mrs. Miner, >> I. >> Dr. Wallace, >> I. >> The chair votes I. And that

003close session has been verified. If there are no objections at this time, I would like to ask Mrs. Miner to lead us in prayer. Ms. Minor, >> let us pray. Gracious God, we give thanks for this day. Thank you for all that are gathered here in this room as well as are watching online. We pray, oh God, for your wisdom and discernment for all discussion that takes place, for decisions made, and for the ways in which we can impact the life of our students. We truly give thanks for a wonderful first week back with our students in the buildings and for a continued year of success of safety, learning, growing, um, and being community together. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. >> Amen. >> Thank you. At this time, let's stand and honor our country

004by reciting the pledge of allegiance. >> 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. is our volunteer to read our statement of vision and our statement of mission. >> Sure. Our vision is to provide an exemplary learning environment that empowers all students to find their voices and make meaningful contributions to the world. And our mission is working together. We provide all students authentic learning experiences, knowledge, and skills to become successful global citizens. >> Thank you, Dr. Wallace. Do we have any suggested changes or additions to our agenda? Hearing none, our agenda is approved by unanimous unanimous consent. Uh at this time, uh we have a presentation. Here comes a bus update. Mr.

005Suff and Mr. Rich. >> Okay. Good afternoon everybody. Chairman, school board members, Miss Rice. I written this down so I wouldn't forget. >> All right. >> Uh we me and Barry are here tonight to give y'all more information about the bus routing. U so we we have a presentation. So we're going to go through it and try to explain to you the best we know. Okay. >> All right. If you don't mind, I'm going to sit so that I can see what I'm doing here, but I'm going to give you a brief overview of how this works on a daily basis. All of the routes were set up this summer, but on a daily basis, I come over here to this little guy, and there are none here because at night, uh, P school talks

006to transact and downloads all of the students who either need transportation updates, are new, have withdrawn. So that keeps us as up to date. It was always exciting when I worked with uh Miss Alexander this summer. I'd call and say what or I'd go by our office and say, "How many students do we have?" And she would tell me and I'd say, "I got the same thing." So we're good. But you come down to new change and request. And obviously there are none because I took care of those this morning. So what I did to show you how we do the routing is I created a student a fictitious student so that I don't get in any fura trouble. And let's see this student's number is 8675309. [Music] All right. Okay. And let's go in

007and the student's name. Oops, we got a purple problem. And my hands aren't working. Let's try that again. 8675309. [Music] And we're going to enter. And this should be Yes. Eddie the Eagle. First name's Eddie, middle name's the last name is Eagle. And I see he's come in during the night. He's a ninth grader at the high school. Is 14.4 miles from the high school and is pickup is at 381 Brooks Drive. So, I'll go into the edit and scroll down to bus schedules. And I'm gonna see if I'm lucky today. I'm gonna see if I'm lucky. I'm gonna search and add a bus schedule. Boom. There is a bus that services that stop. So, I'm going to put it right there. And in the evening, the same thing. Let's go up and let's see.

008We're going to accept it. We're going to save it. Now, this student has automatically dropped on to bus 24. So, I opened another window over here just so to save time. I'm going to go to bus 24. And we're going to hit edit over there. And bus 24, by the way, is Mr. Rich. >> That house number is Mr. Rich, too. >> And that's house number also. And so we're going to see Mr. Rich and I'm going to explain a little bit about this tool. The bus leaves, he goes into Abide. This is the actual route that is being run. The beauty of this, Terry and I were able to sit down this summer with every driver in the division and go through their route automatically. Because let's face it, who knows the routes better

009than the drivers? And if something did not look right, hey, I can't turn around there. That's a bad place for us to stop. We need to move it. There's a bad curve. Traffic's bad. We could fix those things prior to the start of school. So, and now, um, Terry just dropped off at the high school and he's headed to the middle school to drop off. That's his morning run. So, we just routed a student. It's in the system now over on the We can flip now. Chris on the tablet. And these are on all the buses. These tablets are on all of the buses. And today I got my first chance to try one out to see if the new routes where it had taken. It was perfect. It was perfect. So, real question is,

010is Eddie Eagle paying rent, Mr. Rich? >> Yeah, that's a question I'm asking when I get back on. All right, we got I'm going to log in and I'm a driver. Sometimes these things don't like to work when they're Okay, there we go. And there I am. So yes, I'm driving bus 40 PM route. Finish. There are no runs selected. And let me go back. I am. So why are you not doing that? I had this issue today. Let's see if it will We'll we'll check on that in a minute. But what There we go. What this does is when a driver logs in to whatever bus they're on, for instance, I did 40 and 38 today. So when parents get notification, if it just stayed with 40, it would show that the bus isn't

011moving. By switching it, the parents are looking for bus 38 instead of which is which is a great feature. Yes, I want to start my route. These things, like I say, they move slowly. No stops for students. I got to sank them. They don't run as slowly on the buses. There we go. It's sinking. There's my route. the driver and regular drivers. This isn't that critical for once they learn a route. This isn't that critical. If you get a sub like me on the bus today and it's spot on, it really helps the driver. And the days of holding a route sheet trying to do a route that's dangerous >> because you're not focused on what you're doing. This really helps and it takes you step by step. It can talk you through it if

012you want it there or you can just do the visual and it will take you through the visual. Okay. Some other good features on this and the these are safety features that I like. You see the inspection tab. You can perform either a pre-trip inspection or keep your fuel sheets in here. This does away with so many rings of paper that it it's invaluable. Um, I'm not going to go through the pre-trip or the fuel stop, but with the GPS on each bus and I have a student loaded into mine now and I'm going to take it off soon because I get a notification every morning at I asked the driver today. I said, "You are almost to the second every day." She said, "Well, I have three alarms. one to wake me up in

013the morning, one to tell me when to leave my driveway, and one to tell me when to get to the first stop. That's a dedicated bus driver. >> And but when it gets within the range on the Here Comes the Bus app, the parents are notified. It I get both an email and a text that the bus is within range. So, that was a quick overview. This kind of stuff excites me. I'd love to see the this kind of technology in our buses. And like I say, it with the pre-trip module. Uh Terry, how many pre-trip forms do you run a year? >> Probably a thousand. >> A lot of them. >> Yeah. One out of each bus. >> Yeah. And with this, you can just run the reports. and get a I believe they're

014in Excel. You can get an Excel report. So, are there any questions about this? >> Any questions from anyone? >> I just have one one question. This I have a a colleague um where I work. They have, you know, a similar type system in the county where their kids are, but they said that it's it's never accurate. They said one time they had three, you know, three adults all with the same app and the bus was in three different locations according to the map. How are we finding this particular system? I I don't >> I haven't this one >> personally. I don't get the feedback that would come from administrators in the division. But yeah, and I don't know what app they're running either. >> I don't but so I'm not worried about theirs. I

015just was wondering are we getting any feedback that our parents are saying, "Yeah, this is this is valuable. Is it helpful?" >> I can say that there was a a post on Facebook like just a few days ago and somebody tried to make a a joke about it and um the feedback from the parents was actually is really great. >> Yes. And I I saw the same post. >> I saw the same and it's that back. It's really simple. In fact, I got a text from a teacher the other day who said, "Hey, how do I get on this thing?" I said, "Go to your app store." You know, whatever device you're using, download Here Comes the Bus. The school division code is 3020. And then you've got to have your child's um >> yeah

016uh ID number. So, very simple, useful tool. So, Mr. Stoddard is to listen to the voice rather than the screen. Is it kind of like using GPS? Right. Yes. And honestly, when I drive, if the voice is on its own, and I I run it whether I know the route or not, just because I like to say, "Hey, that works." So, doesn't make much happen. It sounds a lot safer to me to listen to a voice. >> It is because anybody who's driven a bus for a few years has done that, >> you know, where and it's dark and so Anyway, well there there you have it. >> I do want to say something before I just want to thank Mr. Sis for coming in this summer and working with me to try to get

017this system up and going. And if it was left up to me, we was still on square one, but he really worked hard with me and I'm getting it. I still got some areas I got to get it, but I just wanted to thank him personally in front of everybody. Thank you. I wish you hadn't done that, but you're welcome. >> Yeah. Well, we thank you both. >> Yes. >> Uh I think it's an exciting uh feature to have for our bus drivers and especially if someone's a new driver. Yes. >> So, thank you very much. >> Okay. Miss Rice, do we have any written public comments submitted prior to our meeting? >> No, sir. >> None. Do we have any public comments from anyone present? >> Okay. I don't think we do. So, our

018public comment period is now closed. Next, we have our consent agenda. And you have uh for personal appointments and resignations, you have a copy of board minutes from the July 1 work session, the July 16 work session and the July 21 regular session. And you have copies of the school division bills and school nutrition bills. Do I hear a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So move Rebecca Miner. >> Is there a second? Second, Mayor May. >> Okay. Miss Mayan, how do you vote? >> I. >> Mrs. Miner, >> I. >> Mrs. Richards, >> I. >> Dr. Wallace, >> I. >> The chair votes I and the consent agenda is approved. Next, we move to action items. U donations and school gifts. Miss Rice. >> Yes, sir. With the start of the new school

019year, uh, a lot of donations came into the schools. Uh we have a donation from Ebenezer United Methodist Church in valued at $800. Uh Ebenezer gave $1650 gift cards for Food Lion uh to be distributed to each of our new teachers. And then at Copel Elementary School, the West Morland Masonic Lodge gave a monetary donation of $500 for classroom supplies. Glee Harbor Cabin Point gave school supplies valued at $500. Copel Parish gave school supplies valued at $500 and Kathleen and Tom Reed gave board games valued at $15. At Washington District Elementary School, Freddy Lopez donated two holly trees valued at $120. Walker Sta Sand and Stone donated a load of mulch valued at 65250. Snider's Painting donated ground cover, pencil trees, sedum, and hostas valued at $225. Tractor Supply in King George donated plants valued

020at $300. Engleside Nurseries also donated plants valued at $300. Ace Hardware of Colonial Beach donated 10 bags of top soil valued at $50. Colonial Gardens gave 12 plants valued at $70. The Lewis family donated plants valued at 5119. Todd Repass uh and those were all for the beautifification project that took place at Washington District Elementary that Dr. Repass will talk more about here in a little bit. Uh Todd Repass donated a pancake breakfast for the staff valued at $120. Food Line in Colonial Beach donated two fruit trays for the staff valued at $40. Starbucks in King George donated coffee for the staff valued at $40. Marco's Produce gave tomatoes and cucumbers for the staff valued at $15. PTO gave doughnut holes for the staff valued at $35. The Kru Gruseski family uh from gave Domino's

021pizza for the staff valued at $100. Sheets at 301 gave muffins for the staff valued $200. Garner's Produce gave cantaloupe and peaches to the staff valued at $50. Jessica Southern gave brownies and pasta salad for the staff valued at $20. Angelic Johnson gave chips and drinks for the staff valued at $100. Equitable Enrichmond gave Chick-fil-A breakfast for staff valued at $320. Snyder family gave chips for the staff valued at $20 and Hall Supermarket gave sandwiches for the staff valued at $200. So, we all know where we should have been eating during pre-ervice week. Um, and then at Montro Middle School, Tapahhanic Furniture donated a bookcase, a love seat with a matching chair, and two wing back chairs for the teachers lounge valued at $2,300. Rebecca Miner gave teacher incentives, $48. Ashley Wilkins, teacher incentives, $25.

022All the rest of these are teacher incentives. The Sherm family valued at 35. Arlet Williams valued at $15. Jennifer Winkler valued at $20. The West family valued $32. The Birdsaw family valued $15. Carmen Durang value $8. And an anonymous donor valued at $40. And then finally at West Morland High School, the Lightest Properties LLC gave a monetary donation towards the Virginia Star program of $250. So, we present all of these very generous donations from our community to the board uh to ask you to accept these. Okay. >> In accordance with our policy, KH, is there a motion to accept the donations as presented by Miss Rice? >> And well, so moved. >> Second. >> Amber Rich second. >> All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Miss Rice, those are some outstanding

023donations. So uh we are very very appreciative of >> Yes, we are >> indiv individuals and organizations that made these contributions. So next um I'm pleased to have uh we are pleased to have Dr. Baker here to present our strategic plan 2025 to 2030 and u we're excited to have you here again sir. Thank you very much. Good evening. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and ladies and gentlemen of the board, the distinguished board, and I can close my laptop. I'm not these notes. I'm just going to look at the screen and look at you. Um, it has been uh truly a joy to work as a partner with your school system, with you as a board, and there are a lot of folks here that are here tonight that have been a part of the process

024that we're going to briefly highlight. I'm not going to read these slides to you, but it's a way of sort of unpacking. I believe you have in front of you or at least access to kind of three different PDF versions of the final plan um that kind of give you a very detailed view that be used by your staff and even the board at times for implementation purposes. And then you have um kind of the the framework um that you can view and could be something that is uh you know symbolic and put out for your your families and your community to kind of let focus let folks know what you're focused on over the next five years. So you can see that um the eagle pride and soaring with pride is thematically something that

025that we really picked up on. And I want to say before I go any further that my colleague who assisted me throughout this process and as your partner Dr. Sue Burgess, she's not with us tonight, but she was very present in the planning and facilitation of this process all throughout. And I know that she would want me to re reiterate what a um a labor of love and joy it was indeed for her as well. I think I clicked something. I don't know. >> Well, right off the board. >> Yeah. So, I I do want to um again highlight and emphasize how important to us process is. Um everyone who is a part of a public school system, all leaders throughout the Commonwealth are required every five years by the code of Virginia to update

026their comprehensive strategic plan. Um, so that's sort of a given, but as we talked about a lot through this process, there's a big difference in having a plan and actually executing a plan, actually the plan becoming the work that you focus on. And so what we wanted to do is to make sure that the process of developing this plan was something that um embraced your stakeholders, a cross-section of stakeholders that was I know a senior student representative who was on our team. Um, and so having students, uh, staff, leaders, teachers, parents, community members, uh, and even one of your board members to be a part of that process, we felt like brought a lot of different voices to the table and that was invaluable in terms of the process. And so I wanted to again

027thank them uh, those that are here, but also those that are not able to be here. We could not develop this plan without it. We believe that it is a critical part. Anybody can write words on a p page, but we really believe that this plan represents the will and the insights of your stakeholders at large. And so this background again, just this is in your plan documents, but we have been uh kind of part of this process throughout your second semester last year and going into the summer. And um we started it up with leadership and kind of envisioning what the process would look like. We did look at your your data, a lot of different data sources to kind of get a foundation for where you are now and where you want to

028go as a school system. And then as I just mentioned, the stakeholder design team sessions were um pivotal in terms of moving forward. And I want to thank you as a board. Um not only did you kick off the process with us, but then um about a month ago, I had the opportunity to come and give you a preview so that you could ask questions appropriately, scrutinize it, and analyze it and then kind of prepare us for tonight. So thank you for that process. There we go. Maybe it's where I'm clicking. Um, so I know that I noticed at the beginning and I love this practice and it's because I guess I would say having been a public school educator, um, lifelong Virginia, a U superintendent, um, and just love strategic planning that I kind

029of geek out over it. someone a board reads their mission and vision at the beginning of every meeting, I just go, "Yes, that's it. That's it. Thank you." But um I I do want to kind of we went back through your mission and vision as part of this process because why you exist as a public school division, why you believe you're here kind of that that core purpose we believe is essential in terms of developing the rest of your plan. often view that mission is what what gets people excited about coming to work every day, what gets students excited about coming to school every day. And so this is kind of that collective mission. And this one was um slightly revised and updated. Your current vision that you read this evening remain the same, which

030really exemplifies where do you want to go? And I won't read them both to you, but I think you can see that there are some connections between, you know, the why and the who and then the where and the what. And I think it has to do with there's a keen focus on students and making an impact on students. And I would say the whole child, making sure that students are engaged while they're at school, but also those outcomes where it goes beyond just being ready for a college or a career, but it's making meaningful contributions to the world and I think that that that alignment it's it's powerful and I think it's profound. So that is kind of your your mission and vision. And then the other thing that we worked quite a bit

031with the the steering team was also kind of uh embedding as part of this process. You know how does what what is what are northstar values that you have as a school system. Things that you say no matter what this is what we are about. This is going to be integrated into how we do this very important work. And so we wanted to make sure that not only did we identify those values but how do they how do they come alive in the work um both through the form of kind of collective commitments but then behaviors you know how we we can say that we're about things but how does our behavior reflect that? So we wanted to get as concrete as possible with those values. So you'll notice that in the plan document we

032actually phrase them in actionable ways. We are accountable. we communicate by. And so these are not meant to be static again or symbolic values, but they go into what do you mean by being accountable? What do you mean by comm communicating? A unique value uh that came out through this process was that what's Morland County Public Schools see themselves as a family. Um not as something you want to be, but as an affirmation of the present. And so we wanted to say what does that look like? So that sometimes you have a value that's a part of your culture and you want to sustain it and you want it to continue to be nurtured and grow. So it's important to say well what does it look like? Well it it involves trusting supportive relationships like

033a healthy functional family. It involves making sure that families are not kept at a distance but that they're involved in the learning process. And it's going to you're going to see a lot of alignment with some of those core goals or those foundational goals that we have identified later in the plan. Um creating welcoming environments. It's one of the key things that you want when people come into your schools that are part of your families that they feel like they belong, that they they're welcome. And then representing diverse perspectives. There are people within every community that have a lot of different views, a lot of different insights, and a lot of different backgrounds and experiences that are valuable and informing the work you do. And so, you want to make sure that that is respected.

034And then leadership and making sure that leaders, there's a kind of a brand of leadership that you want to exemplify here in West Morland and it involves integrity and being serviceoriented and a sense of a team. Um, And then developing that capacity is something that uh was kind of came up. Not just looking at leaders you have now, but how do you build that sense of leadership capacity for the future? Um though I know she wants to work for 20 more years. One day your superintendent is going to transition. One day these young principles that I see out here are going to transition. and some of your teacher leaders are also going to to move on. How do you build that sense that no matter when people transition there is that collective capacity folks to

035just move into those roles internally? And then finally um that idea of safety that is not just physical safety but overall emotional and mental health well-being. Um that was something that was really important in terms of environments. I can tell you that um there is actual safety and then there's the sense of safety that many parents want to have. I was so glad to get to see this presentation tonight about this app. And I know from being a part of a school system that you know developed those types of means over time that sense of a parent to now be able to know my child's okay. I not just because I know that they're on their way, but I can actually track them. Those are the kinds of things that again nurture one of your

036key core values. Being student centered, people say that all the time, but what does it mean in West Morland? It means that decision making is really about what is best for students. um making sure that the instruction that's provided on a daily basis is personalized with our students in mind. Not just here's the curriculum, we're going to deliver it, but it's more about what do students need and what are things that we can tap into that help it to be more experiential and more meaningful for them. And then finally, that overarching sense of just support. and we picked up that again unique to your culture is there's a sense of support at every level uh a support for staff um that even as we talked about comes from this board all throughout the school system

037and so we wanted to say well what does that look like? Well, it's it's making sure that the resources and the relationships are there that help learners to thrive. And you see again trusting and then encouraging and affirming one another not as something that you have to put on a a check list every day or to say this is a task but it's something that just becomes a natural part of the culture and something that we did as a little exercise but then later I found out that um your superintendent and her staff had actually gone through a process of developing a profile and what we mean by a profile of a graduate it. That was a big movement in our state several years ago, but also kind of the profile of an eagle. So,

038so customizing it or tailoring it to uh West Morland County Public Schools. This is about really identifying how do we embed those key skills that we want all students to graduate with that that that are part of the K12 experience and that when they cross that stage um at the end of their 12th grade year that we're confident that these skills are going to transfer that they're going to be a part of what they take with them. And so these are those skills um that want each of those students to be effective collaborators, uh strong versatile communicators, critical thinkers, um creators. Uh we need folks that create things, not just uh you know, use other means to um kind of regurgitate the same things, but to create new things that make our world better. and

039then being a contributor, always making our communities and our states and nation and our world better. And if you look at what's in your document, you'll see it broken out in in much greater detail. But we were really excited that we were able to do that and get that beautiful Eagle logo in there as well. And so I'm very quickly going to um highlight each goal area. And as I go through these individually, they aren't meant to be viewed as something that you go, well, today we're going to work on goal number one, or tomorrow we're going to work on goal number three. But even though they are meant to give you a focus as a school system and a good idea of what success might look like and a good idea of different ways

040or strategies in which you might execute, they are not meant to be static. They are meant to be integrated. They are meant to be alive together. And you will note that not only do these align with your mission, vision and core values, but you should see across different areas connections. So there are going to be things that are happening in the focus and communication that are going to be very important in terms of your ability to achieve goal number one in relevant and engaging instruction. And you're going to see that you can't you can't achieve relevant and engaging instruction if that student and staff well-being isn't in place. That that focus on those needs. If you think about Maslo's hierarchy of needs, those things have to be in place if you're going to get to

041higher level um or higher order thinking skills or academic skills. So the relevant engaging instruction this was a theme that went throughout the entire process is to make learning as real world and experiential as possible and we did have student representatives from our high school level and it's so important I think and they were help helped us to again zone in on this idea that what students learn at school needs to be something that is important to transfer and that they understand why it's important and so in doing that there are three kind of big areas. One is the college and career readiness making sure that students are able to um trans transition from high school into really we see it I think through our process as not necessarily one or the other but perhaps

042both. you know, whether you're going to go to college or you're going to go directly into the the working world, it's all career. And so this this kind of combination was something that was very important. And the three main uh parts of that are in achieving it is to expand again that experiential learning through project-based learning so that it's less kind of um memorization and more doing. And then increasing work-based learning, providing more opportunities for students in their fields or in their prospective fields to gain experience and to get ahead uh before they graduate on apprenticeships and industry certifications. And then being a small division, this isn't easy. Um, and it requires resources, but want for some of your students who want more advanced learning opportunities, whether it's advanced placement or dual enrollment, to explore

043how you might be able to expand and enhance those opportunities moving forward. This is just one slide that gives you a sample of how under each goal area, we make sure that there are key performance indicators or that are ways that you can measure your success all along. uh the implementation journey. And then a literacy and math group is is not only a statewide focus, but again it's fundamental making sure that students um are you know growing in terms of those literacy skills and that they're um they're behind that they are catching up and making sure that in math that students are not just again memorizing but they're learning how to critically think and apply that math in real world contexts. Um the last one has to do with just focused on kind of the

044the big picture with um looking at uh project based learning and um real world experiential learning. We look at literacy and math. This one is about making sure that no matter what students are taking, whether it's science, social studies, the arts, other types of elective courses, that they all are, you know, high quality experiences. So looking at making sure the alignment of curriculum is there, that best practices are implemented and then professional learning communities is something that have been around conceptually for well over 20 years now. But making sure that there is more um fidelity to how adults and staff and leaders plan together. um enhancing that across the school division and making sure that teachers have the time and have the support in um implementing professional learning communities. So the goal number two is

045that safe, supportive and inclusive environment that I alluded to earlier. This involves not only um the physical support but the mental health support looking at those resources and making sure that there are opportunities through community partners um your counselors to to expand mentoring. Um, I've been in school systems where that's where you're often able to really bring in your community and obviously you have to vet folks, but making sure that all students have access to mentors, uh, whether it's through the staff or through the administrators, but sometimes the best mentors are folks that are coaches or are uh, community folks that can come in and share their experiences. proactive discipline and a safe learning environment. Um, making sure that those behavioral expectations are clear, but also making sure that there are systematic ways in which

046students are best conditioned to um be successful in school and to understand what is expected in terms of the learning environment. And that also involves how we prepare staff. And it is becoming I know increasingly difficult at all levels. Um depending on how students come to us uh that we have to make sure that this is something that is an ongoing process of enhancement. And then student attendance. Um, chronic absenteeism is something that I would say plagues or challenges a lot of different school systems depending on the community, depending on um different family needs. And so this is something that um I think there has been improvement from what I've seen here, but trying to get under that certain statewide percentage or that statewide indicator, but eventually making it so that more and more it's

047it's less of a problem for students to to come to school because you can't do any of this if students aren't in school or they're not engaging. high quality staff, something that I know we are quite convinced that you have here. Um, but you want to be able to retain them, you want to be able to develop them, you want to be able to keep them. And as we looked into the future, this was an area that even though so far West Morland County Public Schools has been very successful at recruiting folks and keeping them, there are, as we did during one of our exercises, there's threats to that. Um, from salaries to just the the shortage that we have of folks coming out prepared. And so as folks begin to say, I want to

048retire or I want to transition, it's it's already unknown that it's harder and harder to replace those folks with high quality folks. So on the proactive side and the focus side, looking at how you can expand recruitment, looking at programs like building a grow your own pipeline, um even though it may start small here in West Morland, high school students that have an interest in teaching, if you can begin that now, you know, four or five years, it can begin to really pay dividends and sometimes in some critical areas. And then you we can see you do a great job of celebrating your staff, but the more and more u there's a quote that I I shared with all of the folks about when in doubt celebrate. And so as you are on this journey,

049there's so much to celebrate the good work that's happening every day to try to continue to do that as a a part of your culture and look for ways to enhance it. you know, just keep keep finding more and more ways to let people know how much you appreciate and value the excellent and critical work that they do every day. And then I I know that salary is a really important part of being able to recruit and to retain. But one of the things that I have found at least in my experience and I think there's a lot of research that would bear this out. Most professionals and even paraprofessionals want to work in environments where they have the opportunity and the support and the resources to grow uh to get better at what they're

050doing. and perhaps to um get better and be able to have mobility um throughout the system. And so I think this is another important objective and some different types of strategies um that we've identified. And it also includes continuing to make sure that your leadership in West Maryland is the best trained, the best supported uh empowered, and high quality as possible. So for goal number four, I sometimes I I view this even though it's a goal, it's almost like an overarching strategy um in order to accomplish what we've already looked at. The more that you can have effective communication with your all of your stakeholders and have that family engagement piece, which is not the same thing. There's communication and there's engagement and they aren't identical. But making sure what we kind of identified through

051our process was that there could be improvements in just the general two-way communication, but that there could also be ways that families are engaged more proactively, more systematically to be a part of their child's day-to-day learning process. And all of us who have had kids are grown now, but we know that at elementary everybody's engaged or a lot more engaged. Get to middle a little less. And then at high school, sometimes not not at all. It's like when your child comes home at 15, 16, 17 and you ask them what happened at school, you get nothing. You get zero. So, how do how can the school system build that sense of kind of reciprocal communication with families as well? And so, the two-way communication is one of the overarching objectives that involves making sure that

052messaging is consistent. Making sure that as one of the first things that you would do in launching your strategic plan implementation is a communication strategy. making sure that that there aren't folks here tonight. You don't wait for them to come to board meetings. You reach out to them in multiple ways and say this is what we're focused on over the next five years. Continue to be a part of processes and and um have more and more um committees and uh stakeholder advisories that that can contribute to that. And then one of the things is making sure that this plan is not only communicated to your staff and to your leadership, but that leadership school improvement plans are aligned to it and that you're moving and kind of rowing all in the same direction. And then

053family engagement, making sure that not only are there opportunities for families to engage, but that there is that proactive outreach. and also making sure that there are more and more opportunities for families to have that voice and to be at the table with educators. And then in partnerships, even though I know um we we talked a lot during our committee work about how there aren't but so many businesses and community partnerships that are available, but I my experience has always been and I was listening to the donations tonight and the the um kind of the shout outs to different folks And it's not always the quantity of those partnerships, but it's the quality and it's the commitment and it's the relationship. So, continuing to look for more and more ways in which businesses, nonprofit folks

054can help move different opportunities for. Perhaps opportunities that right now you can't come up with the funding to provide, but maybe there are community partnerships that can help bolster that support. And then finally, you had a great example of this tonight, efficient and effective system operations. And the focus here is making sure that all of your learning environments, your schools are secure, modern, fully functional and well resourced or adequately resourced. Um fiscal planning and execution. One of the things that um we talked about all localities in Virginia have a dynamic where you are completely reliant upon state federal government and your locality for funding for the bulk of your funding. And so it's important to make sure that stakeholders are involved in the development of your budget in understanding why you have various constraints. Um

055but I have found found in working in various communities is most parents when you ask them what they want for their children in schools it's usually more not less. It's not we don't need all this, we want this. It's usually we want this and this. Uh but then when you look at what the capacity is locally, it's like there isn't a whole lot to be able to increase. So, how can stakeholders be a part of that understanding, support, and professional appropriate advocacy? And then making sure that as you develop your budget, the more that your budget can be a reflection of your priorities, the better it's able to make that case. Um, better able to develop that partnership with your local funding body and your counterparts. but also um continuing to nurture that trust in

056the community that you're very intentional about what you are doing with your budget and with the community's resources. And then finally, um facilities and transportation enhancement. Um, it's always remarkable to me after you've had a renovation or a new school that you blink and it's 10 years later or it's 15 years later or it's 20 years later and you're like, "Isn't that a brand new school or didn't we just do that renovation?" So, it's real important with your plan to make sure that as you review your capital improvement plan that you're always looking at your facilities and making sure that you're prioritizing how you um not only make the available space for different programs, but how you continually upgrade and stay on top of those projects. Um updating your bus fleet. um making sure that

057as we heard tonight the digital access um ensuring equitable technology access and that infrastructure that's so so needed and then in terms of maintenance systems always looking at strengthening your facility maintenance and your responsiveness. Um you're going to be in a division like this you're going to have small number of people trying to do a lot. Um, so the more that the system can continue to build around those very capable folks and support them, the better. And the last thing that I like to always share is, and again, it's probably because I'm a strategic planning geek, um, but I really think it's important that these are not words on a set of pages, but that they they are aligned that this was a process and the development of this document is meant to come alive

058through the daily work. And I wanted to just give an illustration that I think because of the process, it was rich with stakeholder involvement. And as I'm understanding it and as I get to continue to work with Miss Rice and and your folks, it's going to continue to engage that stakeholder group as part of launching the implementation. So that input I think is going to make this it's you are aligned to soar as as it says and then the core values your mission and vision you have a very strong foundation that I think you can continue to remind folks of especially when you go through difficult times why you're here is compelling where you're going is exciting and it's important and then how you do your work I think is inspiring. So I think you're

059aligned to soar and again it has been a a joy to work with all of you. Thank again all of the folks not only in this room but uh who came to meetings um and were part of that process and we're really excited to see where you go from here. So with that I will open it up if you have any questions anything that you want to ask me before I let you go. And then I see down here, I don't know if this is new or not. Is this anybody's water? I'm just going to say I might take it with me. So, just wanted to let folks know before I walk off. Any questions or feedback you have? >> Miss Rice, would you like to make any comments? just just that um we have

060been really really glad that we uh worked with Berkeley Group that uh they worked with us. U we could not have made a better decision. So we've been really pleased with the whole process and uh we're thankful that we get to continue our work moving forward. >> Thank you. Well, it was a very fun process >> and and you know the the inputs have a lot of similarities and inputs from a diverse group of individuals. >> Yes. >> And I think that says quite a bit the similarities that were there. >> So agreement and I any other questions comments? I'm just excited to see how we can share this with everyone, with the community, with the parents, everybody. >> Yeah, we need to do that. And one of the other things that we talked about

061was when we do our board agendas, we need to have a relationship between the strategic plan and our agenda items. Maybe not all of them, but certainly quite a few of them. Maybe most of them. And that's something that I guess we have to work on. >> We'll work on that. Yes, sir. >> Yes. >> Well, I am excited to continue to be uh in Berkeley Group to be a resource and partner with you throughout the process. Um have some great ideas that I'll share about how you can begin to communicate plan. Um there's usually not a wrong answer for that. It's just how many different ways do you want to reach out and how do you sustain that? And the other thing is of course me as a partner for too long if I

062constantly tell you as a board you need to do this, you need but I do think that what you brought up about this is your plan. This is the school division's plan. In essence, it becomes the board's focus for governance. And one of the ways in which you can help to bring that alive. Think about leadership as a core value is to look at different things that you do in governance and perhaps even set some goals that you have on an annual basis that align with the plan and ways that you can say within our lane within um our work collectively. Here's some things that we could do that help to advance and help to promote this very important plan and work. >> Okay. Would you um share a thank you appreciation also to Sue

063um and tell her happy anniversary. Yesterday was her anniversary. >> Yes. And uh Yes. And I think it might be it's getting close. >> It's not. I don't have the year in my heart. >> It's up there. >> Sure. >> It's up there. But I certainly will. And uh thank you all again for your support and again real excited to see you move forward. >> Thank you so much. >> So would the board like to take some action tonight to approve this plan? >> If so u as presented by Dr. Baker and if so I would appreciate a motion >> in Wallace. So moved. >> Okay. Is there a second? >> Second minor. >> Okay. Is there any more discussion? Mrs. Mayan, how do you vote? >> I, >> Mrs. Miner, >> I. >> Mrs.

064Richards, >> hi. >> Dr. Wallace, >> I. >> And the chair votes I. And the strategic plan as presented by Dr. Baker is approved. Thank you, sir. >> Okay. Next, uh, Miss Rice, our West Mullen Educator Hall of Fame. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. So, the uh the board and everyone in this room is certainly aware, but for those who might be watching online, um the West Morland Educators Hall of Fame is a project that the school board initiated and that uh the board has put lots of time and effort into uh developing. So, it's exciting to be able to share it this evening um in its current form. So we're we're ready to launch >> and it was actually a collaborative effort of the board and our superintendent. >> Yes sir. >> So >>

065um so purpose and selection uh the reason that the school board um and superintendent uh the governance team would like to uh honor and celebrate retired educators who've made exemplary impacts on their students on the community. Um the broader educational landscape is what we have here. And the selection criteria uh are broad. Um possibly will be further uh refined over time as we implement the process. But for now we have some nice broad criteria uh instructional excellence, innovation, dedication, longevity in the profession, positive impact on the community. the guidelines and requirements in order to be eligible. Uh we established that you need to be a licensed educator who worked as a teacher, a specialist, a school counselor, andor an administrator in the division, worked in West Morland County schools at least 20 years and retired

066from West Morland County. So annually we plan to take uh nominations from uh any nominator. Any person can uh nominate an educator uh who meets criteria for the uh recognition and we also will accept self-nominations. Um so nominations are due February 1 of each year and we've established what needs to be in the nomination packet. uh put a lot of time and effort into that and I think we've got a nice packet developed now um with an information sheet the nominees educational history and some of their professional activities narrative essays and up to five letters of support. So selection initial screening will be done by the governance team and then anyone who makes it through that initial screening uh their nomination packet will go before the West Morland Educator Hall of Fame committee and that

067committee will be uh composed of people who are appointed from community organizations, the community at large, retired educators and then we plan to induct honores as part of the annual employee recognition banquet which takes place each year in April May depending on the year. So that's a quick overview of the process and then Mr. Evans has the uh what we we think is the final document uh for board approval uh where we have more uh we've laid out in much more detail uh the things I just shared the purpose the nomination process and the instructions and guidelines along with the um nomination packet itself. So the board uh you all have seen this you all have contributed to it. So now I'm just presenting it this evening for board action. Mr. Felon, do you want

068to add anything to that? >> Well, that was a lot of work. We've actually been working on this for a couple of years uh and gone through quite a few revisions and we may have more revisions, but I think we all feel very comfortable uh with what we have and every board member and superintendent uh made contributions to this document. So very appreciative of all the effort that went into this. As you said, Miss Rice, the board members are very familiar with this. So, and because of that, uh, I would like to entertain a motion to approve the West Mullen Educator Hall of Fame. >> So, move Rebecca. >> All right. Is that a second? >> Second, Rosemary Mayan. >> Okay. Are there any more discussions? Miss Maym, how do you vote? >> I. >>

069Mrs. Miner, >> I. >> Mrs. Richards, >> I. >> Dr. Wallace, >> I. The chair votes I and the West Molan Educator Hall of Fame is approved. And uh I guess one of the things I should say is that the information is going to be on the website, the application form. So if you want more detail, and I assume it will be there fairly soon. I don't quite know when it will be there, but all of the description and the forms, etc. will be on the division website. So, >> yes sir. So, our our next steps will be uh communicating that this exists now. Um we'll get it on the website and we'll uh do some broader communication so folks know that we're ready to take the first nominees and then uh we will need

070to work together to identify who will serve on the uh education hall of fame selection committee for the first year. Right. Okay. Miss Rice, you have a few uh policy updates for us to consider. >> Yes, sir. Um you all just approved the VSBA policy updates uh this past month and we have three uh small changes from the VSBA to three of the policies. So, I wanted to bring those to your attention. Um, and that's why because they are modest changes and because you all just approved revisions, we we didn't think it necessary to do a twomonth present for information and then present for action. So, the first one, purchasing procedures, um, DJF, the only thing that changed was an update to the code section. Um so you can see that in the redline version

071and there was no change other than that to that particular policy and then policy JFC student conduct that policy >> code amendments >> yes code amendments again. Um and then a little clarification on page three of the policy. Um cyber bullying, the term cyber bullying was added to the section on bullying and that included um a description a definition of cyber bullying um to make that more clear in the policy. And then the third policy uh that had updates was policy KBA request for public records. And this was um just an oversight when BSBA shared out policy KDA. Um they inadvertently left out the second paragraph of the FOYA officer training. So that is a paragraph that had been there previously and then it was just inadvertently left out. So they put it back in

072because that's an important paragraph. And so those are all of the policy changes this evening. >> Are there any questions for Miss Rice? >> Mr. Chairman, I move that we accept the policy revisions as presented. >> Okay. Is there a second? >> Rich second. >> Okay. Any discussion? Mrs. Maym, how do you vote? >> I. >> Mrs. Miner. >> I. >> Mrs. Richards. >> I. >> Dr. Wallace. >> Hi. The chair votes I and the VSBA policies as presented by Miss Rice are approved. >> Thank you, Miss Rice. Okay. Next, we uh it's a time of year for us to uh review and approve crisis management plans, Miss Rice. And I believe the principles are going to assist you. >> Yes, they are. Yes. Um so uh as you said each year the board uh

073needs to um certify that you have uh approved the current crisis management plans and then I make that same certification to the state. So it's kind of a a two-part process. First the principles conducted a school safety audit. Um they each uh surveyed their campuses and identified what they considered to be areas that needed improvement. Um and they use that information to help inform any revisions they might need to make to their crisis management plans. And then they worked uh to make any necessary updates if any um to their crisis management plans. So I'm going to ask each one of them uh to come up. you can all come up together, but just um indicate if you needed to make any changes to your crisis management plan and then what those changes were if you

074just want to highlight those please. And I'm going to ask Dr. Repass to go first, but you can all come up and she can speak first. >> Um I had to make We had to make just a few adjustments. One of the recommendations when we did the safety art was more additional lighting outside and so um that's in our crisis management plan and the installing some of it has been installed already and they're finishing that. And then the second change was our tornado journal. It's a little more detailed. We didn't have explicitly where each classroom would go. And in I think it was in April, April or May, we thought there was a tornado in the area. And when we had our it was a little discombobulated. So we realized that we needed to be

075more clear. Um so it's very clearly there's a table in the crisis plan that says where every person in the well not every person but every classroom in the building where they should go and that wasn't in there previously. Um and then we just updated um contact information and personel changes. >> Any any questions from the board? And I would assume when it comes to approval we will have one motion. Yes, >> okay. All right. Well, thank you very much. We appreciate you doing doing that. >> Okay, >> guess I'll go next. >> This is Michael Baty, principal at West High. Um, for us, we just need, you know, we have some blind spots in our school that was identified. Just extra cameras. We talked about some 180 cameras kind of found different hallways. We

076did have a lightning strike out of our parking lot throughout the whole student copy parking cameras, but that's being adjusted right now. Um, we updated, you know, our list of students, student needs, you know, so if we do have a crisis, we know all the the things for each of students and we updated our faculty and staff with it with what's today because people change, people move around, we have to make adjustments. That's pretty much it. It's pretty minor. Any any questions? Thank you, Mr. P. >> Good evening. Um, the Cobalt crisis management plan didn't change um really drastically. We just had to make some revisions on personnel um changed our crisis management team due to um a personnel changing and we also updated our students who might have special needs during a crisis. Okay,

077thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hello. >> Hi. >> So, ours, we just had to update our plan with allergies, um any kind of action plans kids have like seizures and our staff, but what we're doing works. We have our unification point. All numbers, all classrooms are numbered. The only big thing is we need keys for some of our doors um to make sure we can easily access them. But other than that, I think that's it. Okay, thank you very much. >> Seems like fairly minor changes. >> Yeah, they're they're pros. They all have good solid crisis plans in place. So, it's just it's just the annual tweaks. And then on the division plan, uh we just updated personnel. Um for the same reasons they did, some some people have moved around um and we

078realized we hadn't updated all the personnel shifts last year. Um, so we also, um, needed to update for us, we needed to make sure what we had in the division plan matched what the schools had in their plans as far as sites for off-site evacuation. So, our plan is updated to reflect what's current in the school plans. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> All right. Is there a motion to approve the updated crisis management plans? >> Daniel Wall is so moved. Okay. Is that a second? >> There's Mayor Mayan. Second. >> Okay. Any discussion? >> Mrs. Mayan, how do you vote? >> I. >> Mrs. Miner, >> I. >> Mrs. Richards, >> I. >> Dr. Wallace, >> I. >> The chair votes I. And the crisis management plans are approved. >> Thank you very

079much. Okay. Next, we have school openings. Uh, Miss Rice, I guess you will start. >> Yes. And the principles will take it from there. Um, so my part is just uh I worked with the principles and with Carol Alexander um to see if we could try to capture how many students we have in the buildings as of this moment. Um, so we wanted to look at our enrollment. This is current enrollment as of day five or six. Um, so we're looking pretty good. Uh, at Copel Elementary, uh, we do not count preK in our enrollment. Not that they're not important, but they they don't count toward ADM, so we don't count them in this count, but COP has uh 312 students who have actually shown up and are attending uh Copel Elementary School. So, we

080were we were careful not to list who were we expecting, but who actually has come through the door. So, we have 312 at Copel, K5 plus preK. Washington District Elementary has 409 students uh who have shown up uh plus some uh little ones in prek. And then Montrust Middle School has 339 students who have enrolled and West Morland High School has 470 students who have enrolled. So our total enrollment is at 1530. And then just as a comparison uh to last year in the fall, in the fall, Miss Alexander um completes the student record collection uh fall version. She does it three times a year, four times a year. Uh this is the the fall version goes in and it captures our membership on September 30th. So September 30th last year, you can see how

081many students we had in each school and total enrollment was 1501. So, uh, we're up presently at Copel Elementary and we are, uh, way up at Washington District Elementary School. Uh, our enrollment is up at Montros Middle School and it's down just a bit at West Morland High School. So, overall, uh, our enrollment is up about 2% for the division, uh, over where we were September 30th of last year. I will say uh we are still within that first 10 days of school. Um so enrollment fluctuates dayto day every day for the first 10 days um while we're tracking down who were we expecting that hasn't come in the door yet where are they and uh while we're enrolling new students who are are showing up but didn't make it on day one. So >>

082one question um it's you know one level it's a good news story that Washington district has 30 more students and another level it's like do we have um do what's our class sizes like and are we going to need to adjust or how are we doing there for um class sizes >> classes a fifth grade class size 22 which isn't terrible >> that's not terrible No. >> Um and our smallest class is um second grade that has 17. >> Okay. >> Then prek smaller than that >> obviously. Okay. But 22 is your is your max right now and that's fifth grade which is a little more doable. Okay. >> Is your anticipated count higher or lower than what it is today? Uh right now our count is higher than what we anticipated. So um we'll

083see how it all plays out once the dust settles after about the first two weeks of school >> enrollment starts to level out and we'll see exactly where we stand. But these are encouraging numbers >> encouraging. Yeah, >> the projected ADM was significantly lower if I remember correctly. >> Right. Although uh it is it is lower. Um a couple of things factor into ADM for which we receive funding. And so there are students who attend separate day school facilities. Not a large number but a small number um who attend and they will be adjusted out of the uh March ADM as you know. Um so that's a factor. And then our ADM for the spring is attendance also factors in for average daily membership and average daily attendance whereas here it's a straight count of

084who's enrolled. >> So >> but still you know still encouraging that we're up >> homeschooled. Did that number increase this year? I don't believe that number has increased, but we do have a good number of students who are homeschooled. I think that has stayed pretty much the same as prior years. >> So, we're going to hear from principles or did you have something else? >> On to the good stuff. Okay. Okay. >> The principles are um each going to share highlights uh from their first week of school. and maybe some open house highlights as well. >> Thank you. >> Good evening again. So, here are some pictures of our kiddos. Um, this was these pictures I have to take on the second day of school because I was too busy on the first day of

085school to take pictures. Um but they're coming in and we have it set up so um the littleer kids so first and sec or kindergarten first and prek meet their teachers in a designated spot and then they get their breakfast and then they go to class as a whole class and then the um older kids second through fifth they would go get their go to their class first and then we would call them to breakfast. Um and that was all of last week. Um, so there they are coming in. We have some small groups starting in a first grade classroom. So they're getting the routines and procedures of what small group looks like. Um, and then on Friday we had a little bit of a competition to see who could wear the right colors. And

086so you can see Miss McCoy in the middle were the wrong colors. Um, you know, sometimes you just can't help it. But um, hopefully she was able to wash the dirt off of that. and um continue. So, we did have a good turnout at open house. We had a lot of community partners. So, we had the boys and girls club, uh the regional library and he and then the West Morland youth association with there to get um kids to sign up for football and cheerleading. And then this first week and this week too has just been focused on building relationships and setting the expectations for the students. Um so again, they have some small groups in a second grade classroom. There's our PE class in our multi-purpose area. And then we have some more small

087groups in a third grade classroom. So they're starting to get the routine of the small group structure and how that looks in the classroom um with their teachers and their parents. Um so eventually once we finish our 21-day plan, they'll be full-blown into small groups. But we had a great first week. We got everybody where they needed to be. So that was a plus. came in, got fed, and went home. >> That's right. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Question. >> Thank you. So, so how was attendance during the week? I mean, >> it was really good. So, we hovered I think the lowest attendance we had on the 10day attendance. Um, so I want to say like 95%. Today, our second grade had 100% attendance. >> Oh, good. Yeah. So, we're we're

088starting off strong. >> Yeah. Good. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, so I put some things in there about the work week, too, because I felt like the beginning of the school year included the work week. Um, so the first thing was our pancake breakfast and Miss Richard's actually came to our pancake breakfast. Um, and that was great. And that picture in the bottom left corner is the staff enjoying breakfast. Um, and then the donations from the community that you all saw earlier, they were amazing. I was blown away by how kind everyone was to us. They so much. Um, every day our staff had something was great. And then the PD at Westborn High School was really great. Um, Miss M Steel and Mr. McCondo did a great job planning that for us. Um,

089and my staff enjoyed that and they talked about things that they had done. So that top left picture is um, one of the sessions I led about them playing card games to review math facts. Um, and then the staff rolling into the meeting is the Yeah, we don't have to play the whole thing because it's a minute 52 seconds, but it's really fun. They they're happy and I think that that's important to be able to see how happy they are. I was standing talking to someone from Equitable who brought Chick-fil-A and they had organized this on their own and the whole idea was just something to roll in on. And apparently it's a Tik Tok thing. I didn't know but anyway, but you get the idea. I just wanted you to see a little bit

090of it. But like it was for a two-hour staff meeting. They knew it was going to be a two-hour staff meeting. They were still this happy and this jolly. Um, I just it's a nice way to start the year. Actually, we can just wait to see Miss Sher. Miss Hilarious, the teacher of the year. Miss Hold on. >> She's coming up. >> And this is Miss Phillips. She's eight months pregnant. I was like, "Oh, God, please don't hold the tricycle." [Laughter] >> Yeah. But I just um that was just highlights of the work week that I thought was which is fun. But anyhow, um and then the open house highlights um that we did a beautifification day right before open house and a lot of those donations were for that. And then I don't know

091if you all saw a picture in the front of our school. Um but people worked really hard. Um we worked on a Saturday and it was really hot outside, but they worked so hard and um everything's mulched and planted and it just it didn't look so much nicer than it did. And then um I took down the faded sign that was up above our front door and painted it nice bright yellow and we have two signs on either side with the eagles on it and they face each other. So it's kind of cool but anyway um and it's saturated picture on the other side sometime. But anyhow um open house was great. We had about 71% attendance and then we had eight community partners come and help too. Um so that was great and um

092parents were happy to see um the kid um the teachers and stuff. And then our first week we really focused on the whole idea of having a house system at our school. I felt like last year our kiddos didn't really have a sense of togetherness and belonging and wanting to be there and our teachers kind of didn't so much either. So I wanted to work really hard on building that climate this year. And so the way we did that was um this summer group of teachers and I met actually we met at my river house which was great because they enjoyed sitting at the river planning but we met about 15 of us and we talked about how can we do this? What should we do? And we decided to have four houses and we

093used we used animals um animals of the northern neck. And so we have otter and osprey and crabs and dolphins. And so the pancake breakfast the teachers were sorted into houses. And so they got together and they talked about um signs and symbols they could use and cheers and chants that they could use once they got to the kids. And so um we kept telling the kids all week that something big was coming up on Friday and they didn't know what it was. And then Friday we wore our house shirts and we sorted the kids in the houses and one of the teachers actually had a sort of in Harry Potter. Um and so when she was sorting them all the kids had envelopes and they had little strips of paper with different colors and

094it told them which house they were in. So some teachers had the whole class open it all at once. somehow do a sorting hat like this. Different ways to do it. Um, and then we had house meetings on Friday and the the clip here is just eight seconds, but it's just one of the houses just to see how excited the kids are. >> Um, so those are the otter and I'm an otter, so they're the best. But anyway, in the end of the day, we took a picture of the whole um staff to put on our Facebook page. But um just trying to build that sense of community and trying to get the kids excited about it. >> Sounds like fun. >> Yeah, it was it was fun. Yeah, the kids enjoyed it. >> So

095So does the board members have to get, you know, shirts for >> if you would like. Yes, I'm I'm actually I'm ordering kids shirts this week. So I definitely do it. Yeah, >> your dolphin. I didn't get And it's so funny. I had some staff get really serious about it, like more like crazy serious. But um yeah, you guys, >> thank you. >> So, we are starting off with what's new at MMS this year. So, one of the um Department of Ed's initiatives was to have more advanced math classes. So, um talking with Mrs. Rice, we decided to get a head start on it. So in sixth grade there are two um advanced math. They take the sixth grade so but they'll learn some seventh grade concepts um mostly proportional reasoning and then seventh grade

096this year there are two pre-alggebra classes and then advanced seven um math which is a new class and in that class they'll take the seventh grade um math so where the pre-alggebra takes eighth grade but they're going to learn skills to help them for algebra the next year mostly multi-step equations and um slope intercept form and in eighth grade this year we have two algebra classes where last year we had one. So we're heading in the right direction and then when they release the upper quartile those kids in seventh grade will be set up for success the next year and then we're excited that Miss Medina will be with us full-time um at Montros Middle School and then we're really proud of Miss Halchin who became her certification ESL. So, one of her classes, her

097fourth block, she's super excited. She wants to do all the BD. She's supporting um seventh grade students, which is our largest number of um L students. So, we're excited. And then we have the Ham Jim curriculum, which is new to us this year. So, um like our eighth grade um science teacher, he's using it um and some of his stuff that he learned from um other sources that were already there, but that's available to our teachers. And then we have some kids who um because if you failed to So, you have to be on a reading plan. So, one of the things that we're going to show how we're helping them is through what used to be Stride, which is now K12. Um, they start tomorrow, actually, and they'll um in each child that's on

098a reading plan and needs to reinforce those foundational reading skills, we'll do that. And then we also students who failed their math so but really the ones who don't have a number sense that to help them really close those gaps but um they will start like I said tomorrow and then new to West Morland is the one to one initiative with Chromebooks. So we started that this year we hand out the golden tickets at our open house and that was really good because the first day we had a lot of kids that had them. So now all kids are ready to roll. And I'm proud to say that there's not been any kid that doesn't come with a charge Chromebook. We've had no issues. No one asked for it to be charged. Um it's they

099all are there and they're right and we haven't had any damage to the Chromebooks that I'm aware of. And our help desk is going well too. Mr. Smith runs that. But it was u Mr. Evans, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Smith, and um Mr. Smith and Mr. Gazy who helped. It was seamless the distribution. So thank you Mr. items. The next slide. So when we were asked to think about highlights and picks, our theme this year is we saw as one and that's our logo that we're using. So um we do this because at our first um opening day, Nomina Baptist Church um hosted a breakfast that came to our school and they opened us up with prayer um just building that partnership. And then our parents as you saw from the list of donations were also

100a big part of that. um our PTO raffle off uh backpack. A seventh grade student won that and then we're partnering with the community services board um will start in September um helping to educate our eighth grade students on the dangers of vaping. So we're excited to be able to offer that and that partnership and then the Boys and Girls Club were at our open house just to talk about um child care. But the most exciting thing it's about the kiddos. So our good news reports are like a positive office referral. The young man on the top right is a sixth grade student. He was our very first um recipient of a good news report. And when I told him, he said, "Let's go." He was so excited. But his was he's new to our

101school, a sixth grader. Another sixth grader was walking in the hall and didn't know where to go. He said, "Was girlfriend, I got this. Come with me. I'll take you." But that was just so exciting. The young man in the bottom is a seventh grade student, new to our school. Very similar thing. You can see he's so proud. And the ones to the left are both seventh grade students. And the one at the bottom was about being on task and then the young lady at the top was for accountability. But all those happening together is how we sore as one at Mont Trust Middle. And then there's the um deployment of the Chromebooks there and the pictures on the bottom left and the bottom right. Our spirit day. Our first one was last Friday and

102was saying goodbye to summer, but these teachers are still hanging on with their spirit wear. And then nurse Halter and Miss Williams dressing like it's summer. So you know teachers want to have fun too. So they did. But again it's this is how we all sort as one working with technology students teachers everybody together. >> I think that's it. Do you have any questions? >> It's just fun to watch that. >> I mean it's >> Mr. I walked with there a long time walking around. So thank you for coming. >> Oh you're very welcome. I got exercise that day. >> Yeah every classroom. So thank you. >> It was fun. Thank you very much. Yes, sir. Thank you. >> Hello. Once again, my name is Michael Matthew, principal at Westborne High School. Um, the most

103impressive picture I think is that middle right there that was taken an hour and 15 minutes after we began our open house. Um, we had probably I could say this, we had 325 schedules given out. It seemed like a lot more people than that. Um, our school was packed and it was good conversations. Um, the public came out. They just wanted to talk. I mean, they wanted to talk to each other. Um, it it was really nice. Got to walk around a lot, talk to a lot of parents. And, um, we did two separate bell schedules. We did a bell schedule at six o'clock and where students walked to their schedule. So, they were on first period through fourth period. Um, then we had a little break. Everyone kind of met back in the middle

104and then we did another four period rotation just so they felt comfortable about what schedules they were going to. Um the teachers, you know, talking with teachers and talking with parents, they felt five minutes is was great enough. Got they got to see the teacher. Teacher gave a brief explanation of the course and then they kind of moved on. So these are just some highlights of some teachers talking uh in the classrooms to parents. Um big thanks go out to PMNN Behavior Health. I'm also there with substance use disorder. We had at community college, we had golden eagles, we had gear up and we had upward bow. Um, you know, we support our students by passing out schedules. We had the school nurse there kind of help with medications and kind of the right forms

105that um students need to turn in and uh, you know, pass out demographic cards and computer acknowledge to our parents. Uh, parents would really appreciate it because we're also going one to one as well. Um, I'd like to thank Chris and his team. You know, we blocked off a whole week for students to come in and the IT department got it done in two days. It was phenomenal. Once again, we're doing flex. Um, some new things that we're kind of offering, you know, competition drama. That's brand new. We're bringing student government back. So, we're going to have student government uh yearbook, SAD, uh, coding, robotics, theology, trivia, band, and guitar. So you'll see those programs being out this year for our flex. Um you know our our mantra uh is going to it's going to

106kind of go about this big thing and the big term for this for the high school is consistency and everything we do is going to be consistent you know so you know we're not going to treat anyone different from anyone else. Um, so we kind we kind of say, hey, with consistency, it brings peace. When you know you've done something wrong, you know the punishment or you do something great and you know the rewards. You know, we're going to bring in collaboration. You know, when we talk about we're going to bring everyone in. We talk about family, we talk about community, um, commitment, communicators. When you start bringing these things into a school, especially to a high school, it lights up a building. It brings the beacon of what High School's about. Um, last year

107we we brought in that that consistency of one like we we are one. This year we're kind of brought in out. We're trying to trying to be more consistent in everything we do. So there's no questions. And it was funny. I had a kid come up. Ninth grade student says, "Wow, you know, you guys have it right. You guys, I know exactly what to do, how to do it, when to do it." Um, we held our first uh two days. Um, Miss Ter can can attest to this. We had our school meetings. We talked about all the rules and all the procedures and how to do things. Um, you know, everyone's coming in. Our daily attendance right now is is a little bit above 95%. So, kids are coming in. Um, everyone's doing right. Everyone

108feels pretty happy, pretty excited. Uh, you know, for the most part. Um, you know, you do get some some people are tired. as a high school student. Tuesday last week was a struggle for everyone, >> but but we made it through. Um, but today, everyone came in, came in excited, came in happy, came in ready, ready to learn. Um, so we're pretty much on a full schedule run. Um, you go, I invite everyone to come through, just check out the classes, walk down the hallways, see the good things that are going on. I'm there. never ever ever shy away for saying just come to our building and see see what we're doing because teachers are teaching and students are learning and it's a good thing and it's engagement I mean they are they're very much

109into engagement um it used to be you know last year you didn't really quite you saw it from a lot of teachers now you see it from all and uh teacher the students are building it too um you guys have any questions for me >> well I guess I do Sure. >> I'm sorry. >> No, go for it. >> Okay. >> All right. So, >> I know in particular the genealogy. I know you there are some things you need like we've talked about the ancestry library edition and purchasing that if that's at all possible. Five licenses for that. Are there any is there anything you need for any of the other flex courses that aren't in your usual >> I I will say this any kind of requests I made for anything with flex I

110I do ask Miss Rice she'll sign it right away >> they've been awesome with whatever we need for those kind of programs >> um and and those things just build engagement with our teachers and our students >> they're like wow can we really do this yeah you know >> um so whatever kind of requests I send I think it's approved. I mean, she does an awesome job. >> I have no doubt in my mind that she does, but um just was wondering off the top of my head if there's something that you hadn't thought about that >> you were think about. >> Oh, there's >> I just know that's the one thing I want you guys to have for the genealogy. That's just my >> my thing. But >> yeah, but I'm excited about a

111lot of the things, the student government, all of that. It's just I think that's huge. We're bringing it back >> to bring autonomy back to the students. >> So I could say we have roughly 22 students who signed up. Um we gave students four different requests to sign up for their clubs and we had 22 students as their first request to sign up for um student government. So, I mean, it's been, you know, we'll we'll see how it goes because I believe student voice listening to the students, they know more about this building than I ever could. So, it's just getting a reflection on on how to what what do they need? You know, it's, you know, I can say no pretty easily, but I just want to hear what's going on. >> And then

112the question is, okay, you come up with a problem. What's the solution? It's one thing to kind of say all these things, but now let's focus on it. What can we do to make it better? How can we unite us as a group? You know, kind kind of take back that pride. >> Well, and I think our role as educators, and I'm not an educator, but I mean, I know you all are, but I think it's our role as a school system to prepare our students for the real world. And so these very types of things, the student government, SAD, all those other ones, robotics or whatever, I think that's just getting them prepared for real world situations. >> I agree with you. >> Anything else? >> Yeah. Could you talk a little bit about

113the drama competition? >> Sure. That's run by Miss Isigary and our new choir teacher, Mr. Herb. And so what it is from, you know, this is the first year we're doing it. And so they are actually going to get a script that they're going to have to learn and they get to compete against other schools on that script. So they get to present, you know, and then it's voting and there's judges and then, you know, it's just like any kind of competition, sports competition. One team win, one team loses. >> So we already made a request for, you know, this is Gary's first type of script. We'll probably be sending out because we have to buy pay for the scripture and then they can go into competition and they can go to regional and state

114competition for it. And could you say a little bit more about robotics? >> Sure. So robotics is going to be run by Dave Smith and Mr. Johnston. Um they are going to be looking so the program part is going to be Python and they're going to use Python to program robots. Um you know and we can kind of look two things. You know, we can look at Python script where you just kind of drag and drop into the program, but then actually teach the kids what the script means. So they can actually program it and have the program do. So when you go to the competition dog, they know how to run the full full gamut for competition for robotics. >> So awesome. Give them teachers. It's getting teachers motivated to do what they're passionate

115about. Any other comments or questions from board members? >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Yeah, these were all awesome presentations. So, thank each one of you. Okay. Uh do we have any update from the Novac Technical Center, lose May? >> No. No, not right now. Maybe once school starts. Yeah, it's a little early, but still one. Uh >> I will say that um unfortunately um Mr. Davis lost his mother this past week. >> Oh, really? >> Um I did see that in the paper, but that's the only thing I have that's not really other than principal. So, >> Dr. Wallace, do you have any update? >> Nothing to add. They just started started the year. Yep. So, you'll probably have something later, too. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. Uh, Miss

116Rice, upcoming events. >> Uh, yes, sir. We have several upcoming events, and I know Miss Sumpter is interested in knowing who wants to attend what so that she can get you registered. Uh, so we all have master board training on September 11th in Charlottesville. Um, Miss Sumpter would like to know who would like to attend the BSBA legislative advocacy conference in person or virtual. Uh, superintendent evaluation workshop which is in Charlottesville or virtual and the basics of budgeting which is just virtual. everyone is um already registered for the VSBA annual convention, but she would like to know who is interested in attending the early bird session. And then uh we're real happy that uh Miss Bedford um indicated she would like to attend the VSBA uh student schoolboard reps workshop in Williamsburg. So she is

117registered already for that. >> Okay, awesome. >> I think you'll find that very rewarding and helpful. So, thank you for being willing to do that. >> Okay. >> Can I ask her a question? >> H >> Can I ask a question? >> Of course. >> How was your first week? >> That's great. >> School for the rest of the year. So, >> just wanted to know from your perspective how everything. >> Okay. >> So, anyway, we need to find out for who's going to go to what. So, the uh September 19 VSBA legislative advocacy conference um I would like to attend but virtually >> I don't know if anyone else >> same here. >> So, anyone else uh interested? Does that sound like anyone else is? >> I'm doing it all of them virtually and

118I sent her an email regarding that. >> Okay. >> I cannot do the legislative. >> Yeah, I remember. I remember you >> said that you could not do that. >> Um, so what else did we have? We needed to decide on >> um the the other superintendent evaluation workshop, the budgeting. if you're interested in either of those and early bird. >> Yeah, I guess the early bird and I know Miss Richard had expressed an interest in early bird. Anyone else? >> I don't remember what it's about, but I'll look at it this evening and then I'll look at it. >> So, you'll let you'll let Tina know. >> Yeah. Is anybody else going to the early bird? >> Just just >> Miss Richards is going. I don't know if anyone else >> I don't think

119I'll be titled technology and mental health. What is the link? What can we do? >> Interesting. >> I I'll read the blurb. It's very short. It says, "We hear reports that technology use is associated with worse mental health outcomes for kids and teens, but there is confusion about how and in what ways technology creates this negative experience." Dr. Walsh will explain the research about this link, debunk common myths and shared technologies often undervalued positive impact. Particular focus will be on um quantity versus quality of tech use technology as a mood management tool and the role of influencers just >> um okay probably not. >> Okay. >> I'm not good at early bird to begin with. >> Okay. All right. >> Say yes or no. >> That's from 9ine to noon on Wednesday, >> right? >>

120On that Wednesday, right? >> Yeah. I'll probably be traveling like everybody else. So, >> right. >> Okay, then. Uh, Miss Mayan, do you have any additional comments? >> No. >> Mrs. Richards? >> No. >> Mrs. Miner? >> No. >> Dr. Wallace? >> No. >> Miss Bedford, do you have any final comments? >> Okay. Nice to have you here this evening. >> Okay, Miss Rice, >> I'll just share that uh we have put forward October 8th as our requested date for the joint board meeting, but we're waiting to hear back whether that works for the board of supervisors. >> Okay. >> But from your all's input, October 8 was the date that worked for all of you. >> Okay. Anything else? Okay. our our next uh board meeting, Tuesday, September the 9th, we have our work

121session beginning at 5:00 p.m. And on Monday, September 15, we have our regular session with the executive close session beginning at 5:00 p.m. and open session beginning at 6:00 p.m. Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> So move Rebecca Miner. >> Second. >> All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. We are adjourned. Thank you.