School Board Meeting - October 28, 2024

001should I start okay good evening I called to order the York County school board meeting for October 28th 2024 with just a few months excuse me with just a few days remaining in October we're about to enter busy holiday season as we wrap up our first quarter there are so many amazing things happening with our students in the classrooms tonight we will take the opportunity to celebrate several of those achievements I'd like to welcome Dr Carol to the dis this evening as Dr shander is at a conference so thank you Dr Carol for holding down the for this evening I would now like to share the ycsd mission statement the mission of your county school division is to ensure every student is valued supported and challenged through learning experiences which prepare them for a successful

002future at this time will you please join me in a moment of silence thank you now I will share some information about our pledge leader sah Lucen a second grader at Tab Elementary sah is a second grader at Tab Elementary she loves math but her favorite times of day are recess and lunch she always tries her best in school sah participates in cheer at football games and loves cheering during halftime Sarah's classmates say that she is a kind and caring friend please stand as sah leads us in our pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay we will now recognize our seniors of the month for each school when your

003name is announced please stand along with your family members while we hear about your accomplishments okay the first one we we have is brutin high school and Mr schaer we'll tell you about it go ahead and stand up Jackson OH both of you now you don't you don't get out of this here it is with great enthusiasm that Bruen High School recognizes Jackson Evans as senior of the month Jackson is an extraordinary young man who has demonstrated a keen dedication to both academic and excellence and Community involvement throughout his high school years his commitment to academics is conf mented by his ability to balance a multitude of extracurricular commitments from being selected to attend boy state to his active participation in math and science honor societies the speech and debate team green club and Key

004Club where he served as president during his sophomore year Jackson's involvement in these activities not only showcases his leadership skills but also his ability to foster a sense of community and collaboration among his peers Jackson's future goal is studing is to study engineering at a four-year college or university congratulations Jackson thank [Applause] you thank you next we have our Grafton High School senior of the month and Mr pich will tell us about our student yes I would like to ask Ethan Fawn to stand up and his family thank you Grafton High is a thrilled to announce Ethan Fawn as our October senior of the month Ethan embodies the spirit of Grafton with his unwavering enthusiasm and dedication since his excuse me sophomore year he was served as a class officer playing a key role in

005organizing numerous school events including carnivals pep rallies and the first annual pickle ball tournament last year he took the lead in planning a f fantastic junior prom creating an unforgettable experience for his classmates Ethan truly loves Graft in high school and works daily to make it better place he's also an exceptional student consistently challenging himself to be the hardest working in the room his dedication to his St studies has earned him an impressive 4.6 GPA and he's excited to have applied to prestigious schools including MIT Brown Wiman Mary and the University of Pennsylvania we are so proud of Eaton and grateful for his vital contributions to Grafton High School congratulations [Applause] Eon our next senior of the month is from tab high school and Miss Fairman will tell us about her senior thank you could

006I have om pingle car stand and his family wonderful tab High School is pleased to announce om pingar as our senior of the month for October om has consistently demonstrated exceptional academic and extracurricular achievements throughout his years at tab he currently attends the Governor's School for Science and Technology where he enriches his Knowledge and Skills in engineering from 9th to 11th grade he earned recognition for the highest academic honors showcasing his intelligence and dedication to his academic Endeavors his leadership skills emerged only when he was inducted into the National Beta Club in 10th Grade acknowledging his outstanding character and achievements by 11th grade he became a member of the National Honor Society further solidifying his commitment to academics and leadership in extracurricular activities he has served as the backstage manager and lead technician for many

007of tab High School's drama Productions he was elected student council class president twice successfully organizing various events and fundraisers as the executive president of the student council this year he continues to lead with Charisma and positivity a dedicated Varsity swimmer and team captain om also volunteered as a junior coach receiving a sportsmanship award for his character 's commitment to community service is evident through his two tutoring involvement with the peninsula Indian Community Association and leadership in drama Productions his dedication to academic excellence and contributions to both his school and the local community make him an outstanding candidate for senior of the month congratulations [Applause] oh and I have the privilege of telling you about our York High School senior of the month Olivia hak would you please stand and your family York High School is

008excited to announce our October senior of the month Olivia horac Olivia is a hardworking student and has served as SCA class president for the past three years which highlights her strong leadership skills and commitment to her classmates outside of school Olivia volunteers at several home homeless shelter in Hampton Roads showcasing her passion for helping those in need she also Shadows at Seaford Veterinary Clinic where she learns how to care for animals The Experience combined with her love for pets is helping her prepare for a future career in veterinary medicine in addition to her volunteer work she's a member of the yhs lacrosse team and plays for Hampton Roads Lacrosse League she is also an active member of the yhs bowling team and placed second in Virginia's Bowling Championship she balances sports with her Dynam or

009excuse me with her academic Pursuits as a member of the yhs National Honor Society National Art Society art Honor Society yhs Latin Honor Society and the yhs Green Team her hard work and dedication are inspiring and she truly embodies the spirit of our school congratulations Olivia we look forward to all the amazing things that you will do Dr Carol is making his way down to the front for our next round of recognitions we will be combining our award recipients according to their school so I will ask Miss Beth Welch Tab Elementary principal to step forward and remain up front while information is shared about both the student service award recipient and the volunteer of the month for Tab Elementary um first we have our student service award recipient Kendall Pucket Miss Fairman would you please

010tell us about Kendall as she comes up front I sure will Kendall has been a student at Tab Elementary School since kindergarten and is now a fifth grader in Mrs Santa spt's class her favorite subject is math mostly and she loves how the environment at tab is calm and quiet she also loves how the grade levels work to do things together outside of the class classroom this year Kendall is a news anchor on the tab Elementary School Morning News show the exciting part about the news show this year is it no longer is done over the announcements it is recorded each day for the entire school to watch when Kendall is not on the news and working hard in school she is busy with various extracurricular activities Kendall is an assistant teacher at her dance

011studio she helps facilitate chance to dance which gives students with disabilities an opportunity to learn to dance Kendall also is on the leadership team at Taekwondo in this role Kendall helps the teacher and occasionally leads the class we are proud of Kendall and all she does in and outside of school to serve others thank you Kendall our tab uh volunteer of the month is not able to make this evening so we can recognize her maybe at a later date now I'll ask Mr Aaron Dodge Grafton Middle School ACC to step forward and remain upfront while information is shared for both the student service award recipient and the volunteer of the month for Grafton Middle School we have two student service award recipients for the month for graft and middle Ashlin Barker and zo Anthony zo

012is actually unable to be with us this evening because she is volunteering we will recognize her at next month's board meeting Mr pich would you please tell us about Ashlin as she comes up front yes I will Ashlin Baker a dedicated eighth grade student at Grafton M school is being honored for her service to school and her community as part of military family Ashen values the importance of service and has proudly raised and lowered the school and state flags each dat since sixth grade even braving the coldest mornings when the Rope freezes to the pole in addition to her flag duties Ashlin serves as an alter server assisting the priest both in America and during her summer visits to her grandparents in Ireland she also volunteers with the school's military Lia Zone and is an

013active Clipper Ambassador helping new students feel at home ashen's passion for service continues to inspire others and she looks forward to continuing her contributions as a high schooler and next year we are thrilled to recognize ashleen for her dedication and service great job ashleen thank [Applause] you the volunteer of the month for Grafton Middle School is Miss Katherine gulage Miss gulage would you please join Dr Carol and Miss s Miss Miss Anthony up front sorry sorry Mr P would you please introduce Miss gge oh well Katherine gge is a dedicated parent of Grafton Middle School is being recognized for her outstanding volunteer work and contribution to our school community over the past four years Mrs Gage has been a consistent present in at Grafton supporting the school as her children Landon and Lily have attended

014humble and hardworking Mrs gge often comes in does the work and leaves without seeking recognition as a member of of the PTSA she has served in multiple roles including committee chair and now president stepping in wherever she is needed from decorating the school to Leading important initiatives her daughter Lily expressed deep pride in her mother's work and hopes to following her footsteps saying her mom was tough tough and taught her importance of giving back to helping others Mrs gold selfless service has made a lasting impact on our community and we are grateful for all she has done for Grafton Middle School thank you so [Applause] much Mr Gavin from Grafton High School principal will now come Upfront for graft and High student service award for the month of September we are going to recognize Elena

015M malstrom Elena was able to attend last month's meeting so we are very happy that she could be here this evening to be recognized Elena came to the front while Mr elen Excuse me please come to the front while Mr Richardson tells us about you thank you well Grafton High School proudly honors Elena Malmstrom as the 2024 student service award winner Elena's drive to help others in her exceptional leadership have made a significant impact as a member of the Spanish Honor Society she spearheaded the pulsera project raising over $1,000 for Central American artists additionally through the leadership Club she organized a fundraiser for the less homeless organization by selling bracelets this year Elena will play a CR CR crucial role in restructuring all student advisory groups to improve the Grafton Zone her commitment to service

016and her desire to make her school a better place reflect her dedication and passion congratulations Elena good job okay we'll have a little presentation from the York foundation for public education Mr schaer I'll let you go ahead and tell us about this presentation okay thank you I'd like to invite Mr Terry mock who is a new trustee to the York foundation for public education if you would like to be one you can too just talk to him okay just a Shameless plug there okay uh he's going to assist Dr Carol as he presents gifts to each of our award recipients please come up front when you hear your name called congratulations to Sir a Lucen a second grader from uh Tab Elementary School for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at tonight's school board meeting we

017would also like to recognize tonight's student award recipients Kendall Pucket from Tab Elementary School Ashlin Barker and Zoe Anthony from Grafton Middle School and Elena mstr strong from Grafton High School okay we also congratulate our seniors of the month Jackson Evans from brutin High School Ethan fawn from uh Grafton High School om pingaro Pingo car there we go yeah from tab high school and Olivia hak from York High School special gifts from cookie Tex and edible tweet are being presented on behalf of the York foundation for public education in partnership with her donor Jean foka of cookie textt and edible tweet a Walmart gift card is also being Don donated by a foundation supporter join me in congratulating all our award [Applause] recipients I'd like to invite it the this time um Miss Nagel and

018Miss Vander from Seaford Elementary School and Miss Welch and Miss Goodson from Tab Elementary School to the front we are pleased to announce that Seaford Elementary and Tab Elementary have both received the highest Achievement Award from the Virginia Board of Education 2024 2025 Exemplar performance Awards this year 92 schools earned this recognition the awards are based on performance during the 2023 2024 school year to receive this award seford Elementary and Tab Elementary had to meet State benchmarks in reading and math 75% for reading and 70% for math both schools also had to meet a certain threshold for the achievement Gap as well as a chronic absenteeism rate of 15% or lower congratulations to Seaford Elementary and Tab Elementary [Applause] okay at this time we're going to uh talk about the Virginia School Board Association Academy

019Awards and I'm going to let Dr Carol share some information about that all right thank you Mrs Goodwin uh each year the Virginia School Board Association recognizes board members across the state for their dedication time and hard work in improving boardmills through vsba meetings conferences board development and training and active involvement in the association there are five levels of awards based on points earned from July 1st through June 30 and the Awards being pres presented tonight are first of all an award of excellence and silver pin to Mr Richardson and he already has those an award of achievement and bronze pin to Dr shandor and award of recognition for Mr schaer and I'll make sure Dr shandor gets his certificate in pen thank you all right next we're GNA have our accent and academics Dr

020Carol would you like to share about this presentation yes thank you I'd like to introduce uh Miss Sheri Vandergriff back up to the podium uh she's the assistant principal at Seaford elementary school and she's going to kick off our Accent on academics featuring student advisory groups good evening Madam chair members of the board Dr Carol in ycsd schools student advisory groups Empower students to collaborate with school leadership providing feedback and facilitating Solutions on key issues by sharing their perspectives students engage in decision making and serve on various committees which enhances their motivation and academic performance students from Grafton High School and Seaford Elementary advisory groups are excited to present their achievements from the past year and outline their goals for the upcoming school year I'd like to Welcome seford Elementary School and then Grafton High

021School thank you the development of our current student Advisory Board actually began in October of 2023 for third through fifth grade students and in February of 2024 for kindergarten through 2 grade students classroom teachers recommended one student from from each class to serve as their representative the students met with school administrators twice a month sometimes more to share what was working well discuss concerns brainstorm solutions to problems and share ideas to make our school even better they were responsible for sharing the discussions with their classes during morning or class meetings they practiced public speaking active listening and creative presentations the older students served as ENT for the younger students and at the end of the year returning students expressed a strong desire to remain on the student Advisory Board this year Seaford has expanded the

022student Advisory Board to include those who were in it last year along with new Representatives presently we are developing student advisory committees which will allow students to focus on specific initiatives identified by The Advisory Board to improve school safety attendance communication student connections and family engagement earlier this month student advisers in fourth and fifth grade created presentations and led uh presentations for kindergarten first and second grade students during our town meetings these focused on expectations for behavior and school safety first and second grade advisers are writing and recording weekly announcements for families all advisers will have continued opportunities for collaboration problem Sol solving communication and making connections with the entire School Community it is my pleasure now to introduce and highlight some of our advisers from Seaford Elementary we'll begin with Mila Tyrie good evening

023my name is milary and I in the fourth grade student advisory has helped me to have a lot more confidence to speak up in front of people in in the past speaking in public made me very anxious I still get a little anxious but I get through it I know I have a lot of great ideas to share and I can help the school be safe and fun being a student advisor makes me feel like I'm part of the school not just in a school good evening my my name is ronet Desai and I am in the grade I like being a student advisor because before I was in student advisory I was just a normal kid who was very shy and I was new to Seaford in the third grade and I was not

024involved in the school and I did not feel like my ideas were valued as a student advisor I now have a reputation to hold up people see me now as a leader and for the first time in my life I see myself as a leader I am proud of my reputation being a leader who helps others makes me feel happy when I grow up I hope to own my own company when the skills I am learning as a student advisor will help me Reach This goal good evening my name is oh wait good evening my name is Roco Montini and I am in the fifth grade having a student Advisory board has had a positive impact on our school we have added more recess equipment showcase stem to our community during alumni night found solutions

025to make the cafeteria even better and help to present school safety presentations for our town meetings we represent our classes to share what is going well and What needs our attention the most important thing we do is work together to make our school better better being a student advisor has helped me develop leadership skills that I will use in the future when I grow up I would like to own my own business with a focus on outoor equipment supplies and sports one quote that resonated that I feel encompasses what we're about our why for student advisory is from a quote from the Harvard Graduate School of Education one of their Publications when schools give students the agency and the tools to speak out the effects can resonate across students lives reforms initiated with student input

026are likely to improve the learning environment for all students not just those involved in the reforms it's now my pleasure to introduce Grafton High School good evening Dr Carol Miss Goodwin board members I am Steve Gavin the very proud principal of Grafton High School I'm joined tonight by Miss Jared and we're going to talk to you about a program that developed through the concerns that the student expressed to US during student advisory uh last year one of the concerns they came up with is that they wanted to find a way that we could reach out to the Zone schools and make an impact I we do a great job of doing things such as Trunk or Treat or carnivals but the students really wanted to find a way to get into the classroom make an

027impact so through that the graft and Friends program was formed uh graft and friends is is a partnership between the three elementary schools uh the middle school and about 25 students who weekly make visits into these classrooms have a tremendous impact on the kids and I think it has quite the impact on them too so I probably talked enough and you don't want to hear from me anyway so I'm going to let you hear from our three students hello School Board I am Sloan Roberts and I help Miss Lewis's fifth grade class at Grafton Beth Elementary School Grafton friends has helped me build the connection with the Zone with Grafton High School by being able to by Grafton High School being able to show off their star students to go through a similar path such

028as I have a graft and Beth alumni building that connection with with the kids either through GaGa ball or convincing kids to come to a Grafton High School football game to watch me perform during the Grafton band halftime show which is a tall order knowing Grafton football's record kids look forward to working with me from the change of pace between someone compared to me to an actual adult where I could lead by example and act as as a role model overall my perspective has changed for graft and Friends where I initially had no interest in helping younger kids where I now look forward to every every single opportunity I have of these little kids and I am grateful and blessed for the opportunity I've been given through this program and thank you for listening good

029afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the board my name is Kevin Lee I've had the privilege to be able to work with d Elementary I went inside I work with kids with multiple disabilities I range I work I help in ranges of simple sanitation to laminating papers in order to assist my teacher in allowing more time to focus with their students I'm proud to say that I'm a role model in the classroom my students no longer shy away from other kids on the playground and instead look forward to playing with them the kids I work with have extremely changed my perspective truth be told I didn't know exactly what to expect when I first walked into a classroom but I now with my whole heart I would like to say that I wouldn't want have wanted

030to have it any other way my name is Adam Schuster and first and foremost I would like to thank the entire School Board Miss Jarrett and Mr Gavin for giving me this opportunity to work with the Grafton friends program working with these students working with these students has not only changed my own individual perspective but has also helped me become a better leader my communication skills have vastly improved when it comes to talking to people who come from different perspectives and backgrounds so much so that I've included it in one of my college essays as I have truly believed and has made that big of an impact on me not only have I become a better leader but I get real enjoyment and pleasure out of working with these kids I enjoy seeing progress in

031these students and I am an infinite debt of and gratitude to the teens who helped me when I was their age and growing my social skills and ability through the book buddies program I am now reinvesting their kindness to help these students grow and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to do so I am also forever grateful for the opportunity to ask Miss player my teacher some questions about the Grafton friends program and the video we play right now your Grafton friend student has an impact in your class and if so how definitely the third graders are really excited to show their work to him and um when they're able to help him to help other students uh they all really like that what is your graphed friend done to help you in your

032class so we have a third grade student who is very well behaved he's very um quiet and he doesn't always advocate for himself but he does need some support and I know he doesn't love it when I sit next to him and help out so much and when our Grafton friend is there it's more like instead of getting help from the teacher he gets support from a high schooler and so he likes that a lot and I know that's our one time that we can make him feel um really special during the week is there anything you would change about grafted friends if given a chance we really appreciate the program I wish that it they could come more frequently but I know that they're high school students and they have other to do as

033well and what growth have you seen in students working with grft and Friends definitely uh confidence booster especially for this third grade student I mentioned earlier um who needs a lot of support um and that's been huge for us okay thank you as you can see the graft and Friends program has had a big impact on our whole Zone um and it all comes from one goal we want to show every kid in our Zone and make sure they understand that every day is a great day to be a Clipper thank you guys and I'll now take any questions you may have so I just have one question for the uh the high schoolers from Grafton um not to make a commitment or anything but it made you think about maybe a teaching career this

034experience [Laughter] actually the kids have asked me that and I I think about it from time to time but I don't think if I was in like a similar role I would definitely teach older kids they're a little much at times and Miss Lewis definitely takes a lot and just any Elementary School teacher takes a lot for just like the things that they do for this community good deal good deal thank you yeah I have I have a question for you when you came up and you said that your perception your perspective changed what was your AA movement when that happened um I would say probably like my first day just like being able to go back to where I used to be like my old stomping grounds of grath and Beth Elementary School definitely

035was a big game changer just watching how like the school has changed even from when I used to be there and just like my first day being there and just like just being in that classroom again which was a former one of my classrooms and being able to just the change and perspective for me being more of a teacher now instead of the student talking and being disruptive which is definitely very different from my fifth grade experience have you noticed how small chairs are in there yeah I've walked back in the class in the hallways and it's much much smaller than it was before those that's very um just want to tell you guys uh my experience uh through actually even middle schools when I was young I started the same thing leadership roles and

036that led me on a path of business uh where I'm at right now uh even in this role that I'm serving it it's a great opportunity to do what you guys do uh starting business that young thinking about it that's something else but also for you guys in high school just uh invest in your time in the children I know people that were older than me my peers that invested me it just meant so much to me it was more than a teacher actually because he was like my friend he's somebody that I look up to and he was not that older but it seemed very old to me at that time so just kudos to you guys for doing this and stepping up to that role just uh it's going to get you far

037in life in comfort zone that you're going to get out through the college and your careers knowing that you can actually teach somebody some values and bring them up into society so thank you yes sir thank you one of our main priorities is you know giving back to the community that we've grown up in and really you know paying it forward for what they've done for us good I just wanted to add to Mr Richardson's Point while this program has never made me considered being a teacher it has certainly made me considered being a coach as as I play soccer and that is something I am much more knowledgeable in and the sheer Joy I get out of these aha moments with these kids is just something like invaluable and you can't get any you

038can't there's no other feeling like in the world and coach coaching and teaching is like the only we can get that feeling so this program has made me cons like deeply consider becoming a coach in the future the question that I have is both for the high school students as well as the elementary students how would you convince one of your classmates or say someone in um the the next grade moving up to where you are now to participate in this would you say that again please I'm sorry there we go what would you say that again please sure will uh what could you tell one of your classmates or say someone in the grade below you who's moving up uh and may be participating in this next year what would you say to them

039you know to encourage their activity with this maybe like just help other people like encourage them and do what like what I'm doing right now and what all the other people are doing like just try your best and work hard and just be kind wonderful thank you any other comments from the others so I would just say that help others and if there's a um shelter nearby you go help them like give them food water and clothes that's what I would tell them thank you anyone else I would say in order to get more students involved I would talk about the uh the value that this community has had on us because giving back I mean I grew up here I've been here since three years old you know I've I've lived in this community

040for so long and to be able to give back especially especially to a ele school that I you know went to K through 5 through it's just it means a lot thank you so I just have a comment or actually a question I guess for the uh seniors here that are working with the younger kids um you must feel like it must feel like you're a rock star when you walk into that classroom those kids faces light up like you are the rock star from the day that must feel good it feels great I mean I work with kids with special needs and it's uh it's they don't get a lot of time with others and it's it's a good to have a new face in there every once in a while and I see

041them light up and it just warms my heart MH yeah my teacher Miss Lewis always like before I leave for like just her class and everything she always lets me know that like her like her kids weeks are made every single time I go back into their class and I'm only there for like two or or three hours just to see them and just like the small like engagement I do get but like it she lets me know every single time and even when I played Goa ball that was like the best thing to them I wouldn't say rockar is a right term to put on us but I'd say just the friend because that's just what that's what I want to be to these to these kids I don't want to you know be

042like the rockar that they all hail to I just want to be a a good role model and a friend to these kids well I think it's an excellent thing that you're doing and uh talk to your fellow students and encourage them to to keep that going because that is truly something very very special great job thank you all right at this time the board's going to take a short recess to meet with a ward recipients and their families all right we will now reconvene the meeting before I open up for public comments I will share some remarks the school board provides a public comment period for the public to comment on topics gerain to the business of the school board the school board expects that each speaker will be courteous modeling for our students

043how one can respectfully disagree with others views we ask the speakers address their comments to the entire school board and not one individual board member nor to the superintendent or one filling in for the superintendent a staff member or the audience speakers will present their comments at the podium each speaker may speak for up to three minutes a timer is visible to speakers from the podium and speakers should conclude their remarks when the red light comes on the yellow light will come on that indicates you have about 20 seconds to finish up the timer will begin after you state your name and District now with that said I just want to emphasize a couple things okay a little bit different first of all why have a policy if you're not going to adhere to the

044policy and I think we've been pretty lenient in the past with some things that have happened at the podium and letting people continue but moving forward okay you do not address individual board members just address the board as a whole you don't have to name names of people okay more importantly um we're not doing yelling there's no yelling no posturing okay we're not going to be aggressive up here there's no need for that all right we all can practice civil Discord so what will happen and I don't I'm hoping that I don't have to do this but you know if you do violate one of those rules um I'll give you a warning if you do it again I'm going to uh stop the time okay and you're done but I will give you another

045opportunity at the end to do it again okay and like I said I'm only doing this because it's the right thing to do it's our policy it's a good policy and we want to model how to have uh discussion or you know State what what we want to State without um the aggression or hostility and all those other kinds of things okay so with that said I'll will call up our first speaker and that is um Danielle cousins hello my name is Danielle cousins I'm from District 2 and um I'm speaking today on regards of Governor yonan's um revision policy that it's great the way it is uh let's not make any changes to it um I did have a passage here I wanted to read to you guys today if you don't mind mind

046it's Exodus 20 The Ten Commandments you shall not have any other gods before me you shall not make yourself an idol of any likeness of anything on above heaven or on the earth or in the water under the Earth You shall not worship any other gods besides me for the Lord your God I am a jealous God you shall not take the Lord's name in vain for the Lord God will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the Sea and all that is in it and he rested on the seventh day therefore the Lord bless the Sabbath day and keep it holy honor your mother and your father and your day

047shall be long on the Earth and the Lord will bless you and keep you Thou shalt not murder Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor you shall not covet your neighbors house wife or other things that they belong to I thank you for this opportunity today I just wanted to remind um Everybody uh that this York town was founded was the last battle of the Revolutionary War that we have freedom of speech in this country we have freedom to uh practice our religion and some of these laws that are trying to be passed um try to try to quiet uh the voices of Believers and come against our morals and what we believe um to our god and I just wanted to mention that

048other countries Christians are getting martyred their heads are getting decapitated by people of other religions that they won't renounce the name of Jesus and some of these policies and things that you're trying I won't say you personally but that are trying to be implemented to help a small number of people um are really violating the rights of others and their beliefs and like I said I love all people and I pray for them I pray against a spirit of suicide depression um just gender confusion in Jesus name I bless everyone here and I thank you Holy Spirit be present in this room amen thank you thank you all right our next speaker is let me see Tiffany is it hler okay hello uh my name is Tiffany hansler I'm not sure what district I'm in

049um my kids go to Grafton I'm just here representing as a parent um my kids have been in Grafton since my daughter was little and she's now 16 I have a son in the elementary school um I found out that here you guys are going to talk about the revision of young law and that allows would essentially allow any gender to come into the children's bathrooms that they choose fit my son is seven he's afraid to go into the men's bathroom anywhere he goes as a m as boy he is still afraid to go to the boy's bathroom because he's afraid of what the adult men will do you guys pass this law into his school that will allow whatever gender to they choose fit to go into whatever bathroom they want and he's going

050to be afraid to use the restroom my daughter is going to be afraid to use the restroom at school a basic body function that they need and they're going to be afraid to go and that as a parent that upsets me and that concerns me they should be safe to go to their own bathrooms girls and girls boys and boys God created us with two genders and we need to stick with it and we need to keep our kids safe in their basic body functions so I just thank you thank you our next speaker is Russell Evenson good evening York County school board thank you for the honor the privilege that we get to address you you I also would like to make some comments on the proposed uh revisions that are going to be

051considered that um in the distant F future point of Honor Madam chair what is the name in the district oh I'm sorry excuse me Russell Evenson from District 4 excuse me thank you excuse me point of order Madam chair um only the board members are members of the school board that the audience is not to be standing and making comments regarding other speakers thank you and that's standard Robert's Rules of Order thank you go ahead and continue I am Russell Evenson from District 4 in Grafton I am here to make uh some comments about the proposed uh changes that are being considered with the U transgender laws and U the codes that are there Kendall one of the students said that she uh enjoys the calmness and the quiet of classroom I know that today's

052school system in today's schools and thank God York County I believe is a good school system you guys all these students uh wonderful programs that are going on and uh every time I've ever come here watched online it is how good York county is and we all know that and I'd like to see it kept that way kept it calm kept it quiet kept the confusion out of the classroom I think kids are confused enough about things today thank God for the wonderful programs that you do have I'd like for you to continue to adhere to and follow the Virginia Department of Education guidelines that have been uh already approved for the state of Virginia because it really legally protects everybody it gives everybody a non-discrimination uh effect and uh protecting everybody so my word

053to you tonight is just please continue with that encourage it any proposed changes you don't have to do it so please don't do it thank you thank you okay our next speaker is Connie Elmore good evening Connie elore I do not live in York County well I do live in York County but in picosen but I have um Grand children that attend seir elementary so thank you for the opportunity to speak um I had a conversation with a student that attends a high school here in the district and La last month I shared with you um one issue that concerned me and I really I just wanted to say I appreciate the response from several um staff members that reached out to me and um thank you for taking action to ensure our schools um

054Librarians don't participate in band Book Week Tonight I wanted to speak to you about another issue that came from that conversation the student that I spoke with told me that um Pride flags and um Pride Ally stickers are displayed by teachers in her school on their doors and in the classrooms she also shared that she's asked over and over about her sexual orientation by other students um and that uh on the on the school bus she has had days where maybe just one day where students on the bus have chanted together Pride Ally um if indeed teachers are allowed to display the items that I described I think that that's helping I know that that is helping to create an atmosphere where students think that that discussing or even focusing on their sexuality is appropriate

055for the school setting God has given every parent the right to raise their children up in the way that they should go regarding these highly personal matters it's not the right or the um responsibility of the school system or their employees our schools should prioritize academics York County Schools wants to prioritize maximizing maximizing student potential in order to do that every student should feel normal within the walls of their school they should feel welcome to be treated fairly some will label what I'm saying as hate speech I don't hate anybody I don't hate those within the lgbtq community in fact my heart broke as I've heard people at this school board meeting and other city school board meetings share how they've been treated growing up in school systems but thankfully we have legislation and policies

056in place to prevent and handle bullying and mistreatment in our schools I say let's work those policies and let's continue to make sure that every student is accepted and feels safe I'd Al also like to state that the non-discrimination policies as they are written cover every student by adding the recommended verbage it focuses on one specific group and I believe that places a higher priority on them or could and that that's in direct opposition to what we want those policies to do thank you thank you all right our next speaker is Tammy deerberg good evening Madame chair board members and Dr Carol I'm a home owner in District 2 I viewed the October 14 2024 School Board session online there are two items on that agenda I would like to speak to tonight first I'm

057thankful for the school safety presentation and discussion I applaud York County School District and sheriff Montgomery along with his staff for making the safety of the students and staff a priority second is the policy a discussion specifically adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the non-discrimination policy the current policy reads for those that might not know or be watching online the school board is committed to non-discrimination with regard to sex gender race color ethnic or n national origin disability religion ancestry age marital status genetic information or any other characteristic protected by law this commitment prevails in all of its policies and practices concerning staff students educational programs and services and individuals and entities with whom the board does business as you can see discrimination based on sex or gender are already covered in this policy

058it was stated during the meeting that it doesn't change the way we are operating it's just being specific in the policy I'm concerned that including this language could potentially lead to changes in your current operations I'm asking you to not insert special protections for sexual orientation and gender identity into school code because all students are already covered and protected thank you thank you all right our next speaker is Natasha Cleaves if I said that right good evening my name is Natasha Cleaves and I'm from District um I am speaking as a parent of two young girls and I'm here to say that I would like you to protect parental rights student safety and religious freedoms and to vote no thank you okay our next speaker is is Jonathan Waldren is that right uh Jonathan Waldren

059uh District 3 uh good evening my name is Jonathan I am the director of speakup peninsula uh which is a Grassroots organization that represents the interests of parents um in Yorktown Newport News picosen Hampton Williamsburg and Jamestown I'm here tonight to give comment on and oppose a portion of the changes uh being considered for the policy manual tonight uh specifically the addition of uh gender identity and sexual orientation to the non-discrimination section uh to be clear every person deserves uh to be protected regardless of background beliefs or Creed however there are already numerous laws on the books uh which make this abundantly clear uh both at the state and local level I think uh miss Connie and Miss Tammy stated it excellently uh that all students are already currently protected uh you might ask why

060um if there are already prot Protections in place at the local and state level uh what's the big uh big deal with adding the wordage here um the answer is is pretty simple uh actions like these uh have a proven track record of having uh utterly failed to do anyone any good anywhere and uh if you can work a u a mouse and a a keyboard you can search plenty of um uh instances of this on Google where uh instead of protecting students that did an excellent job of Paving the pathway to infringing upon religious Liberties uh harming women and female sports and also undermines policies already recently passed down by the Virginia Department of Education uh concerning these matters in conclusion I would urge you to spend uh really just less time focusing on

061matters that are already settled and more time continuing to focus on what matters to parents teachers and students thank you thank you all right next up we have Mr Sam Ray good afternoon y County School Board my name is Sam Ray I reside in District 2 uh I come to you once again to briefly speak to you on the subject of the name change of McGruder elementary school I'll will be short tonight um I believe on October 9th you guys were all emailed a packet that contained some research that was done by Mrs Mary Lasser and it contained a lot of research that I know she had to go through micro fish to find that's how deep in the trenches she looked so I would just ask that you guys take this information please look

062it over discuss it amongst yourselves uh discuss it with other historians and um my goal is to get this on the agenda this year for a vote uh everything that we that was presented to you by mes ler will prove that that school who that school was named after and once you see that I believe that you will find that you are in violation of your own policy which is FFA which states that no school should be named after a person living or deceased thank you that my comment thank you all right next speaker is Miss Pam pad my name is Pam push I reside in District 4 um God created hermaphrodites as well and I do support the changes in the uh policy at the last general meeting of the board a woman from

063Coen whose Grand with grandchildren in our schools was concerned they were being exposed to ban books recently I was told it is better to remain silent about book Banning as it only incites those who want to control the reading choices of others I watch several audience members nod in support of bands silence is consent and I do not consent to the suppression of knowledge that is how dictators arise and Thrive that is how ignorant lies so easily spread the speaker acknowledged she did not even know the titles of the book she was complaining about I doubt she's even read any of them she was relying on an unknown people's comments without any basis in fact let me tell you about some of the band books The Diary of Anne Frank is considered inappropriate because a

064young girl coming into her teenage years has a crush on a boy while fting from the Nazis the obscenity is not her normal behavior but in that a country elected a leader whose goal was to exterminate those who were not heterosexual Caucasian Christian nationalists the obscenity is that she and her family as well as millions of other Jews died in concentration camps but why want students to learn about genocide when they are exposed to the harders of teenage hormones and Tango makes three is based on a true story about two bonded male Penguins who are given a fertilized egg to hatch they become a family of three some believe the story has homosexual overtones and therefore offensive instead maybe they should see it as a loving parent successfully nurturing and raising their adopted child some

065believe Charlotte's Web must be banned because talking animals are unnatural and blasphemous and the death of Charlotte is way too disturbing if so let's ban Mickey Mouse Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny ban Bambi because his mom dies at the beginning of the story even the Bible has been banned because of ual references murder death and destruction and factual accuracy books about lgbtq plus people about history that is disturbing about religions other than Christianity racism sexism and normal teenage angs are the objects of most bands I would prefer children read whatever they desire and parents who have concern should also read these books and discuss the pros and cons of the books together do not be afraid of your children learning about what it means to be different about history that should never be repeated about

066the fears of the process of just growing up no one ever read a book and did not learn something it increases vocabulary and critical thinking a love of reading can last a lifetime and ensures the reader never stops learning book bands are the result of adult ignorance and falsely instilled fears I truly hope that no book is ever banned in York County Let each parent decide what their own child reads not what others read thank you thank you [Applause] all right next up we have Mary ler good afternoon good evening rather I'm Mary ler and I reside in York County in the brutin district and my children and my grandchildren went to uh muda Elementary I um I'm going to read an an excerpt from my brother's letter that I submitted to the York County

067School Board in reference to changing the name of muda Elementary my brother's name is Carl Lasser for the past six years I have been told that McGruder Elementary located on Penman Road in York County Virginia was name and commemoration of the Lost village located in the brutin district of York County I found find this rationalization laughable according to Donald Smith an independent researcher and other Scholars the Lost V was named in honor of John Bankhead McGruder a confederate general McGruder is the general who ordered the city of Hampton to be burned down and is responsible for the killing or capture of Many runaway slaves at the beginning of the Civil War after the Civil War the unincorporated community of muda was primarily populated by former slaves and their dependant and whites who settled there before

068the war I have not found any literature or documentation indicating that the blacks who resided and what became and what came to be known as McGruder an unincorporated Comm Community petitioned to name their Community McGruder no one in their right mind would believe that former slaves would name their community in honor of a confederate general who fought to keep them enslave committed treason against the United States and not only committed sedition against the United States but shed American blood I contend that a Confederate sympathizer recommended the name of McGruder for the unincorporated region Village based on the information I re researched a white postmaster was instrumental in naming the village of McGruder there is no record showing that the black community played a role in in the village of muda all the documents that I

069that I viewed indicate the name muda was chosen because of the role John bad McGruder played in the Battle of Williamsburg May 5th 1862 and his military prowers against against the army of the United States on the lower Peninsula and I hope that everyone in here and um the school board members will face the truth muda Elementary should be changed and it is named after the general and it is not named in honor of that community of that Community thank you thank [Applause] you our next speaker is Deb Wesley good evening Madam chair members of the board and Dr Carol my name is Deb Wesley and I live in District 4 I am proud to continue to serve York County Educators as president of the York Education Association as you are aware one of the

070concerns that Educators in York County have is restoring steps that were frozen several years ago we realized the steps were frozen before any of you were in these positions uh and two steps have been restored since Dr shandor has been our superintendent and we appreciate those two steps being restored we know many ycsd Educators both yaa members and non-members want the their other steps restored we know the question has been an asked and answered many times over the last several years about when is this going to happen however as you can imagine it is still a topic of concern for many ycsd Educators that have stayed loyal to the division I have many Educators that share their frustration with me that they are teaching with a colleague with colleagues that have the same number of

071years teaching experience as them but the colleague is on a higher step making sometimes up to $4,000 more a year for example a teacher with 20 years experience who has been in York County for 20 years may be on step 16 and a newly employed York County teacher with 20 years experience may have been put on step 20 and that's that's just tough that's just tough to understand why that happens um we would like to know how many educators are still impacted by these steps that were frozen several years ago and then really what is the financial impact and implications of restoring even one step I I understand it it's a financial nightmare probably to figure all of that out but it would be interesting and go along way in helping everyone understand this this

072does affect our lifetime earnings as well as the motivation to continue working in York County I worry that we will lose the highly effective talented teachers to surrounding divisions because they can make more money and as the teacher shortage continu continues to impact York County we need to make sure we are retaining the talented and loyal Educators that have made us number three in the state thank you for listening to me this evening thank you our next speaker is yavon Johnson thank you your County school board for this opportunity to speak my name is yavon Johnson I'm a homeowner in the brutin district my father was in the Army so I did not attend a segregated school until I was in the third grade and that was Frederick Douglas I read an article in the

073Williamsburg Yorktown daily printed March the 1st 2021 what's in a name Community torn over McGruder Elementary's name school's Nam sake the article stated that McGruder came from the name of a Civil War Confederate general John Bankhead McGruder who had defended the area against the Union's Peninsula Campaign it went on to say that if McGruder was such a revered legend in the community that they named a community after him the community of McGruder an informal Hamlet of nearly two 200 families was settled mostly by African-Americans after the Civil War McGruder families were forced to move in 1942 to make way for Camp Perry there were two quotes from that article from members of the York County School Division and am am I allowed to say who they were or just say the quotes just say the

074quotes Okay the name McGruder PID tribute to the Lost community of McGruder not the man the second was the Schoolboard chair who said in an email on February 19th the school's name is a tribute to the fortitude of muda community and we do not want to further displace it I can assure everyone in this room that is not true the history of the displacement has not been taught and what the article failed to mention is prior to that some of those people that lived there had already been displaced from the res from the reservation when woodro Wilson took the property in n on August 7th he had uh Proclamation August 7th 1918 to take um the area that you now know as Naval weapons for the res and that was a reservation so some of

075those people that moved there were displaced a second time the first time I heard my mother cry and was when I was in the third grade when I came here and I went to a segregated School frederck Douglas and it was after a PTA meeting they had raised money for books for us the children of Frederick Douglas but she was crying because this they had changed that and given the money to McGruder to buy books for the white students the books that we got were the used ones that they sent over to us that had been written spit on and had bubble gum stuck on them thank you Miss uh Johnson Madam chair um if if I may i' I'd like to um read something actually from the Virginia school law desk book uh regarding

076rules of the school board uh restricting speech at public meetings and this was made uh April 15 2016 says certain rules of school boards restricting the spe speech of speakers at public meetings violate the Free Speech rights of speakers the board may not constitutionally bar speakers from discussing Personnel issues or identifying School Employees or officials during public session like I said this was an an opinion from the attorney general April 15 2016 Miss Fairman we have a policy in place and right now you and I are we can debate that offline but right now there is a policy in place that I'm trying to adhere to so I'm going to adhere to that policy agree I understand but policy does not override law and when now especially not constitutional law okay right now as I

077chair this meeting the policy overwrites that and we can debate that later but right now we're going to go with what I've decided okay sorry let's continue all right um next speaker is Miss Daniel excuse me Daniel Francis hi there Danielle Francis District 2 proud York County graduate my son niece and nephew are York County students I'm going to continue with Miss Johnson's um the name mder does not has not and will never pay tribute to the Lost community of McGruder this article from the daily published August 29th 1954 on page 47 shows a picture of the McGruder Elementary School with the caption the original four rooms of the structure were built with a Federal Grant in 1951 but under a twoyear bond issue construction program in York County another six have been added and

078will accommodate 3177 Elementary children this term it is located just south of Williamsburg on Route 168 and was was named for a confederate general I ask you why if someone did not want their children to go to a school named after a black man why would they want them to go to a school was named after Brent higinbotham said as a tribute to the fortitude of the mcder community I'm in full support of the renaming of mcder Elementary School York County has prided itself on including all of its students and all of its families in inclusion means being mindful of names words and language that promote kindness and love and make sure that every child and family is valued renaming mcder Elementary School is important in that process another piece that is important in making

079sure all of our children and families are valued is um the change in the language because all students y'all it really means all it means our LG btq Community it means the parents of those students the parents of those students who are terrified um and I'd like to offer my services to anybody in this room and the school board anybody in the community who needs education to stop the fearmongering it is so harmful to the lgbtq community all of the fear Maring our our um folks are not are not threats to anybody um and and actually they're so terrified they don't use public bathrooms so whoever child was afraid please tell your child don't be afraid our lgbtq children aren't using public bathrooms they're so afraid of being beaten up they're so afraid of things

080being said to them they're not in the public bathrooms they're going to private bathrooms they're not even going to school when they're anxious so I offer my services to educate anybody so that we can really bring this community together in the way that we know is strong and inclusive and makes every single student feel valued and every parent feel heard all of the parents thank you thank you okay next up we have Robert Alexander Mr Robert Alexander Robert Bruce Alexander District 5 i' like to address the hysteria that has come over the servants on this board and its attendance of late and the treatment of the servant of my district without naming names in order to dispel some of the fear and intimidation deployed by some Bad actors I'd like to Define some scary terms

081children not be not need to be scared these words are only scary to certain adults political relating to government or the public affairs of a country if you're working for a government you're political if you're speaking in public you're political relax it's not a derogatory term um militia half the members of this room half the people in this room probably are members of a militia if you work for the school if you work for the state of Virginia you would know but every resident between 16 and 55 Able Body is a member of the unorganized militia title 44 Article 1 uh spells it out you could read it for yourself but uh the governor has uh the right to call you up in a state of emergency so get over the scary word militia you're

082part of it indoctrination this one should be very clear to Educators it's a the process of teaching a person or a group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically now that doesn't apply to everything that's taught in school not math maybe but it's not a bad thing it certainly would apply to things like English grammar uh these are indoctrination it's a good thing you teach them the rules of grammar but if you are teaching you know so parts of speech would be included there so if you're teaching our children that they can declare their own pronouns then you're teaching nonsense certainly if you're teaching them that they can choose their own identity you're indoctrinating the children in an evil ideology certainly children should not be bullied by their teachers to choose a sexual orientation when

083they shouldn't be sexual at all okay thank you our next speaker is Diane Smith good evening my name is Diane Smith and I live in District 3 as Educators and parents our responsibility is not just to teach academics but also to teach children what it means to be good citizens in that effort we teach our students history and government and encourage them to follow in Cur follow current events even if they are not yet old enough to engage fully in our democracy in current events right now this weekend former president Trump held an event in which he and his guests made vile racist remarks about Latino and black people since we encourage our students to track current events and since even if we didn't they all follow social media many have been or will be

084exposed to the remarks from a former US president and current candidate for president I think it is critical that the school board issue guidance to faculty staff and students reiterating what we already know but I encourage you to make a statement that we as a community denounce racism and any who promote it that any form of bullying with a racist component will be disciplined immediately and that echoing or amplifying such hate hate speech will not be tolerated on another subject as a parent one of my biggest fears is losing my child to illness acade uh accidental death or suicide as you may know the suicide rate among the lgbtq youth PL youth is higher than that of heterosexual heterosexual cisgender youth what you may not know is that an lgbtq plus youth with at least

085one accepting adult in their life report significantly lower rates of accepted Su of accept of attempted suicide lgbtq plus youth who live in a community that is accepting reported much lower rates of attempting suicide than those who do not and I think I've shared before I grew up in York County I had a fairly idilic life have loving parents and family and I used to use the phrase well they're your family they have to love you and I was disabused of that notion when I became an adult fairly quickly there are many people who are raised without people who love them or with people who aren't supportive of them and that is particularly true of children who are lgbtq plus and our school system just one person can make the difference between a parent losing

086their child to Suicide or not just one teacher who who shows them compass passion can make a difference and our teachers I know are willing to do that I hope you'll let them thank you and our last speaker is Dr Alan Kennedy good evening uh Madame chair and members of the board uh I'm Alan Kennedy I'm proud homeowner uh and resident of District One uh I came here tonight uh to follow up on uh the vote last uh month on bullying prevention the proclamation for bullying prevention Awareness Month it does seem fitting given that a number of speakers tonight have made homophobic transphobic uh remarks um supposedly in the name of religion and I think it's important for us to double down on our policy of non-discrimination following the uh the the the pretty basic

087uh proposal uh to expand uh our non-discrimination policy to make sure that we are covering uh everyone in our district um that includes gender gender identity uh it includes sexual orientation uh I have family members who are gay I have family members who are transgender and I am here uh tonight uh on their behalf as well uh because Love Is Love love is love so I think to so I was horrified last month when uh Miss Linda J Fairman um uh Miss I'm sorry um the courts have been pretty clear on that this is not a this is not a position to AR the courts have been very clear that there's a First Amendment right we're not doing that we're not doing that to do uh Madam chair this is a constitutional right under the

088First Amendment freedom of speech this isn't about Constitution right now we can talk about that later this actually is this this my public comment please please refrain from using specific names that was asked in our policy and until the policy is revised and by the board of my public comment with regard to your policy our policy does conform with the First Amendment it says you cannot address an individual person you can say a name but you cannot address them and when you pointed to miss Fairman and looked at her you were addressing her in a way however you can't address someone but you can address the board as a whole I was not addressing Miss Fairman I was simply stating the fact that I was horrified that Miss Fairman voted no on the uh Proclamation

089for bullying prevention Awareness Month it was a 4 to1 vote and Miss Fairman voted no uh I think that is that is very problematic I think that Miss Fairman needs to explain her uh the reasons why she voted no on bullying prevention Awareness Month given that that we that there are many uh that there is there's an open question of whether our county is going to support the rights of everyone who goes to school here uh particularly in light of the non-discrimination policy so I think it's uh I think it's appropriate for Miss Fairman um to address the the reasons why she voted no on that I think uh I think this community also deserves um an explanation on why Miss fman continues to refuse to sign the code of conduct uh for the school

090board uh and wrote n/a on uh when everyone else signed their name thank you thank you I now close the public participation comments of citizens and we'll move forward with our agenda all right and thank you everybody for the most part I thought that was uh pretty simple all right we're going to move into Matters by board members I'm going to ask each of our um board to just share some general remarks or whatever you want we'll start with uh start with Mr pich this evening Madam chair thank you so much for this opportunity to share some of the reports and uh where I have been uh participating and doing the past 30 days uh first uh I would like to share committee report on New Horizon uh we had a special session on September

09126 where we uh discussed uh contract for the new position for the new director uh and uh following that we actually hired the new director so I'll be reporting this to the to the board that we have a new uh executive director for the new New Horizons and um I would like to actually introduce her to the our community I would just a share email that was shared to me with me by Dr uh Roy Hart uh New Horizon Regional Education Center appoints Dr Marsha kale as executive director New Horizons Center is proud to announce that appointment of Dr Marsha kale as its new executive director Dr kale a highly respected and Visionary leader in the field of Education brings a wealth of experience and a commitment to fostering Student Success collaborative leadership and Innovative

092academic strategies Dr kale will officially start on Tuesday October 15 2024 with a bre uh excuse me with the background that spends 20 years in both administrative and class roles Dr kale has built a reputation as a Creative Education leader academic Visionary and Community Builder her leadership style is a rooted in a student first philosophy y emphasizing a c collaborative environment involving board members Community leaders administrators teachers and parents she said that she's an honored and excited to join New Horizons and she looks forward to working alongside the exceptional team of Educators and staff to build one of the strong foundations in place and create an even greater opportunities for our students Dr kale is dedicated to enhancing School culture through strategic planning and problem solving in academic programming which optimizes learning outcomes she is

093known for her effective communication Praises budget development and ability to identify and utilize educational resources while nuturing cohesive terms her career in education includes significant leadership rool serving as a director of secondary institution director of curriculum professional professional Learner in Career and Technical education Elementary principal and middle and high school assistant principal Dr kale holds a doctor of philosophy and educational leadership from all un University where she was recognized as the outstanding doctoral Student of the Year in a national ucea DL Clark scholar she also holds an education specialist in educational leadership a master of education in supervision and Leadership and a Bachelor of Science in leral studies uh she is a well-rounded individual that I believe that she's going to do really well leading the New Horizons in our students uh following that I

094had a CT advisory meeting on October 15th uh we discussed actually we we had a presentation of the CTE promotional video that is still in the process of being developed which soon as we get it cleared we're going to be able to publish it on our website and share with the parents and I think it's very important for all our parents to know uh what we as a School Division do and help out with C education uh we have the Mach interviews coming up uh for New York High School it's going to be on October 24th 25th Grafton High School is going to be November 13th and 14th bruttin high school is going to be November 18th and 19th uh tab high school is going to be December 4th and 5th and at your Career

095Academy December 10th so I would like to invite all of you my fellow board members to volunteer and participate go to your uh schools and uh I think it's going to be a great opportunity to connect with the students and share some of our experiences through those Mack interviews um we went through the Federal monitoring audit and uh for it was performed and completed it was found that the CTE program is in compliance and also I would like to bring that to attention I'm not sure to who but um CTE meetings are not listed on your County website so we just need to look into that now as far as like uh the other things that I done was uh there was a school safety meeting at sher's office which we all participated it was

096one of the most educational uh sessions that I had uh I have a voice in uh high school and I stress to them all the time importance of being cautious of what we post and how we behave because uh we had a horrible beginning of the year with a lot of a lot of different threats not just from the within the system but like outside of the country that were been reported so uh I want to say say thank you to Dr shandor Dr Carol and everybody else and staff just uh and shar's Department actually for working so hard and diligently to keep our students safe um we let me see I visited at Grafton High School for family back to school night and I just want to share with you guys how amazed I

097am by our teachers and staff um it was late in the day they took a time to sit down with all of us parents go through their program introduce themselves go actually through the lessons that our kids are learning and they were still ready for the next day for their classrooms for the teaching I just uh I know how hard is to work late because of my field my work and I I cannot just I just want to say thank you to them for their commitment and hard work um next I went to brutin high school for the The Marvelous play Bell uh me and Mr schaer we were there with uh it was just enjoyable evening to see students prepare the play without any props they were just three benches right that's it uh

098and they were they were able able to explain Express the emotions that entire audience was able to connect and actually visualize the play uh it was just amazing project and I I just want to say uh to everybody who was involved in that and if you see them thanking my name um me and Dr shander we went to the New Horizons to meet with the new executive director Dr kale uh during that time we visited uh criminal justice uh uh classroom where we saw the live demonstration by our students of handling uh threatening situations that police officers they find themselves I would say in Daily situations how to make those decisions and uh think quickly um it was just a eye opening how our students can actually I don't want to say pretend but actually

099act as uh police officers was just a good EXP experience uh we visited welding lab uh with where our students were performing really good uh they were preparing for some work on on some um competition pieces at the time of our visit they had the blood drive by Red Cross so half of the school was in a line to give and donate blood which was amazing to me and some of them were first time donors and nobody told them that they can faint I was like you know anybody fainted yet no nobody did but uh they were Brave they were really Brave so if any of you uh students were in there I just want to say thank you they they just done an amazing job and it's a great uh to see them to

100donate their blood for better and greater cost uh we saw the body shop firefighting uh Department the students and Automotive uh technology uh the last thing that uh me Dr shandor and uh chairwoman Goodman be withit at uh Coventry Elementary School and we saw play uh that entire School participated in and it was super many stands up and it was due to the bullying prevention month that we have um I did not know that we have such a great choir in Elementary School uh they were singing Katy Perry uh song and it was just uh I got Goosebump just listening to them how much of energy and power they brought up in that performance um so with that I just want to say thank you to uh actually well organized uh performance by Alik vidakis

101Christina Wallace Claire uh Galan I believe I'm not sure do I get her last name right but also the principal Mrs jalama uh with that I'm concluding my report thank you thank you very much all right next we will move on to miss Fairman thank thank you very much um some of the different things going on on October 8th I participated uh in going to the special ed advisory committee meeting and it was very informative and it was wonderful seeing so many um parents there uh along with faculty and staff uh for all of the new things they gave a lot of uh updates coming up one of the things they said that was very helpful is a video called evaluation and eligibility and they were encouraging uh parents to see that I wanted to

102thank Mr Patel for offering to be the chair uh they're still looking I believe for a vice chair for uh cak and you can see the agenda for upcoming times and dates they went over in detail uh Miss Hopkins uh did with a presentation along with um the staff for the Virginia alternative assessment program and the different changes with that uh very detailed and I would suggest going going to see if you can see that presentation again um for that particular information I was taking a lot of notes while everything was going along uh with this one of the things that was really interesting That's Unique I believe for York County and I knew this when I was teaching in the classroom is that we focus and start first with the general curriculum and it's

103one of those things that we always assume competence and then if we see that different supports are needed then we go in and look at those supports in order to help those students gain the best that they can from their educational experience and um it was interesting they some of the sources are used uh with this is the IEP the evaluation data eligibility um and other information that supports the decision and it's a team effort with the the teachers the administrators Guidance the parents and the student uh along those lines so that they can learn to the best of their ability and with always the idea of helping when they need it and encouraging them you know to be included doing everything and it was just a a very wonderful meeting with all of that

104I encourage any of our um parents of special ed students to please consider joining uh the special ed advisory committee or at least coming into uh observe the meeting ask questions there's a Q&A near the end that we discuss some of the important issues for particular parents and a lot of times what one parent says another parent will say well I have the same concerns and so it was a wonderful kind of team effort there um let's see and I think that covered that uh along those lines um some of the other things I wanted to congratulate all of the award recipients tonight and especially for my district Tab Elementary um that's wonderful in District 5 uh for that recognition now one of the things I'm going to be focusing on uh is academics and

105anybody who knows me from teaching in the past knows that I was always looking at that how to get the academics across and one of the things looking at I'll encourage people to go to the Virginia State Department of Education website and look up the school quality reports and if you look at the assessments you can see for three different years how the testing has come out overall for the state as well as comparing to the state the overall York County and then individual schools within York County and yes we across the board pretty much we're ahead of the overall Virginia state assessment uh evaluations however there are some that I'm concerned about um in looking at just the reading test and I was just looking at that um yesterday and today um for the

106ycsd division ho overall uh for that reading for this year 2023 to 24 actually the end of last year um overall we had 87% achieving however when you look at that that means 133% aren't I don't know about you but I want to make sure that we get that closer to 100% achieving seeing what we can do uh I'm concerned uh because as you break it down and you can see all of this on the school quality report you can see the different demographics and unfortunately overall in the division the black students 75% are achieving and that's great but that also means that 25% aren't and I think we need to start focusing on how we can get those students achieving more his anic was 85% are achieving 15% aren't special ed is concerning to

107me especially being on the special ed advisory committee and teaching in inclusion classes When I Was Here full-time as well as subbing and doing homebound tutoring 57% are achieving that means 43% of our specialed students are not achieving in their reading and that's concerning to me um the economically disadvantage advantaged 75% are achieving but that means 25% aren't and the English language learner and I understand that they're still learning English 55% are not or are achieving but that means 45% aren't yourk county is a great School Division I've taught here I know what it's like in the classroom and how wonderful it is but we can do better and I think we need to be helping all of the students rise in their achievement and so that's going to be one of the things that

108I'm working on because I don't know about you but are you okay with those High numbers you know double digits not achieving and it's when you start looking at some of the individual schools it's still that issue and so I think we can do better and um I'm looking forward to working with um the administrative team as well as the school schools to see what we can do to bring this up and what help that they need and what help we as a school board that we can bring to the schools the parents the teachers and especially the students to help them achieve and I believe that covers things oh one other thing I wanted there was a question that came up during um the public comment period regarding the book Banning the issue isn't

109about banning certain books the issue is about age appropriate books and we all know there are some books that high school students and college students can read and look at the pictures and things like that and because they're older they can handle that they are not appropriate for elementary or middle school students we need to keep that in mind this is not about banning the books if we were Banning the books that would mean the parents couldn't go out and buy them on their own they couldn't get them from the public library or whatever these are for the the books in individual schools if they are found to be AG in appropriate we need to make sure that we are following those guidelines because unfortunately some of these books and um we've seen it happen

110in some of the other counties that the issue is whether you're looking at the graphics or you're reading the actual descriptions they actually fall under pornography ISS issues that we can't allow miners to see if you need a rating system for movies or a rating system I've seen it on some TV shows we need to keep that in mind with the books we're not about banning the books we're making sure that they are age appropriate for those particular students and so I just wanted to make that clear thank you thank you okay is that okay if I go next I'm going to go next normally I go at the end but tonight I'm going to go next um in the interest of time I'm going to hold off giving you my um GC committee report

111because we'll do those committee reports next month um I do want to address the little uh the comment about law versus our policy okay if our policy doesn't butt up right with what is listed in law what we will do and what we are going to do is we're going to take that policy and we're going to we're going to revise it so that it falls in line and um I think that it would be perfect for Miss Fairman to take that on and bring us something maybe by the uh the board work session so that we could tweak it as necessary so that we run into these things again so I just wanted to put that out there um that that will be addressed the other thing I I just need to comment on

112something Miss fman said um yes 87% are achieving 133% aren't achieving and we want all kids to achieve we want we'd love to get to 100% that'd be wonderful um and but I have to say you know you say that you are looking forward to working with administrative team to help schools achieve how do you do that when you don't go to your schools when you don't go into the schools to see what these teachers and what these people are doing to help these kids achieve I've spent countless hours in all the schools watching and looking to see that they're doing every above and beyond and yes we can't rest on that 87% and say oh we're good we're not doing anything that's not happening I can tell you that's not happening because I've spent

113hours and I work two jobs outside of Schoolboard but I find time to go to those schools so that I can report back to you and tell you what is going on in those schools and I'm amazed I'm blown away that's not to overshadow or cover up and say that oh you know we're great we're great and all that we are great and we do know we have more work to do but I'm going to tell you as a person who's in those schools all the time across the whole the whole uh School Division these teachers administrators are working their tails off there's not one child that they let try to slip through the cracks and if somebody's at a deficit they're in there right away trying to help them and you all know you

114know the odds and the things that we deal with just in general as a society limited funding and all these other things so I just want you to rest assured that we are not just sitting back and saying oh 87% is good you know no they're constantly working and I know that because I'm out there all the time and I would ask you to ask your individual School Board representative how often are you in the schools what are you seeing on the ground because I know in leadership one of the most fundamental ways to find out what's going on it's called management by walking around that's how you find out what's going on that's where you see the real work happening okay I did it as a manager as a director as a leader and

115I'm doing it as a Schoolboard chair okay so I challenge you to ask that question it's a very important one when somebody throws out numbers and statistics okay and says I want to work with leadership that's a great thing how do you do it if you're not in the schools okay with that said I want to tell you about what I have done this last month uh it's been a busy month non-stop activity as you know um as you get into the school past September things really ramp up and then they go at warp speed as we get into the holidays um so it's been a month of non-stop activity I visited I'm happy to say as of today I visited all 19 schools in division since assuming the role of chair this month I

116completed visits to the northern part of the county which included McGruder Elementary Queens Lake Middle brutin High School and School of the Arts known as SOA I made a special effort to check out the bathrooms that brutin high school and even had my picture taken in the newly renovated bathrooms as Mr schaer has been talking about these uh bathrooms since I first got to know him in January they are gorgeous aren't they yes they are gorgeous I attended my first High School pep rally at Grafton High School and my first Elementary costume dance at York Elementary School school I was able to stop by and see the Fall Festival at Seaford Elementary School and visit my old stomping rounds at D Elementary School where I was a counselor back in the early 2000 on Friday

117I saw a fantastic bullying prevention play as Mr pich told you about put on by Coventry Elementary School that focused um on empowering kids when it comes to bullying it was great to see how the entire School worked together to make this performance so successful um and one of my many highlights through this last month was seeing so many familiar faces from the years I worked in the division and catching up with former colleagues that says a lot about longevity so we still have a lot of the same people that I worked with um back in my time in the county in the early 2000s so I thought that was um that was really impressive and I enjoyed that um as well as visiting the schools as I've said it's a lot of talking with

118um administrators teachers looking at all things when you go into a school you know how's how the school look what's the culture like what's the vibe like What's um safety look like um you're looking at everything and I'm happy to report while we're not perfect we look really good and all 19 schools um are looking really good clean good vibe hardworking people um you can tell a lot when you walk through a door um and you know the culture of that school the climate at that school and I'm happy to report it is good um in addition I met met with our County Board of supervisor chair Mr ran and he and I earlier this month uh finalized the agenda for our joint meeting that we will have tomorrow night and then last but not

119least I'll be attending on Friday the ceremony recognizing bethl Manor Elementary School as a um Blue Ribbon school so that is my report it's been busy I do for a little rest thank you and next we'll have Mr Richardson okay thank you uh I'll make mine as brief as I can I know we're uh we want to be here too late but I'd like to say congratulations to those schools that earned the uh Exemplar performance Awards Seaford Elementary and Tab Elementary that was a great job what they did um I did visit several schools a couple weeks ago in the Grafton area and um i' I'd just like to share that one of my goals my first Year's chair on this board was to visit all of the schools at least once uh in the

120division and I would like to commend Miss Goodwin for uh accomplishing that task it's um since she recently took over his chair it's a it's a big task to do as 19 schools and to try to find the time between work and everything to visit all those schools is uh is difficult sometimes um I also attended the safety form that we had last month with the Sheriff's Office and uh we discussed some of those topics at our last work session I had my monthly meeting with uh supervisor ran he's my District representative in District 4 uh so I meet with him monthly just to discuss any issues that may come up um I attended the whro meeting last week as well and also attended the Shark Tank at D elementary school on October the 25th

121uh the presenters in the fifth grade classes will identify a problem come up with solution and uh present their ideas and some of the ideas were making a wallet for their Dar dollar and uh book holders for desk water bottle holders organizers for desks and organizers for their chairs just to name a few but the uh the kids that did the presenting did a great job and it was just uh great to get in there I'd seen it the last couple years and wi again this year to see that so uh thank you so much thank you and last but certainly not least say The Best For Last that's right okay well everyone needs to be woken up just a little bit anyway because I tell you what the I was going to lead off

122with Kim visiting all 19 schools which is a feat in itself so congratulations on that but I got to attend the bru and tab game with uh Vic shandor when Dr shandor of course went over to the tab side and I was on the brutin side and uh brutin I can't say they whooped him but they handily won okay they won 14 to1 uh so that was a good thing that brutin has uh has bragging rights not only that but brutin also won the hovas cup uh for York County which is given to the the school that has the best in District uh record uh also want to comment on the 87% that Miss Fairman brought up uh yeah 87% doesn't sound that great we're failing 133% of the people but we are in the

123top 5% of school districts in the state top 5% of 132 school districts so I don't think that's bad and second uh the 23 24 assessment that was our first year out of covid okay do you realize how much learning was lost during Co and what were the two subjects that were hit the worst was reading and math okay everybody up here knows that I am passionate about reading uh the new literacy uh program came in and it's going to be great uh I don't think I think we'll be above 90% pretty quickly um in the next year so but uh but for what we've been through with uh with being closed down and everything else uh kids in mask and everything else how can you learn to read if you can't see your teacher

124annunciate words it just doesn't happen real well and we came through all that and we're still in the top 5% in the states so that's not too bad uh I got to visit all four schools this month which was very nice I mean that's the best thing to do is it if if you don't volunteer in a school you need to okay because it will just fill your cup uh or no it's fill your bucket in in the schools yeah fill your bucket in the schools and it it definitely will and you would be a rock star when you go in and read to some of these classes and stuff um School of the Arts yes Mr pich and I went to see uh well and his wife uh went to see The Marvelous Play

125Bill okay it was a one-act play uh that so put on uh and they did it in the brutin theater or the auditorium and it was is a precursor to them going to the state competition okay so they went to the Virginia Theater Association conference in Richmond and while they were there uh that now mind you they have they were all in costumes yeah the only props were three benches okay so they had to have a play around that uh and it was uh they W first place in lip sync competition the students competed in Scenic and costume Des design uh monologue performance playwriting musical theater performance uh one act performance and more they uh won best costumes for The Marvelous Play Bill uh students were specially selected to perform at the uh Tony style

126uh awards banquet students were complimented throughout the conference for their professionalism as our students and that's from all the schools all the high schools because SOA is representative of York County uh they the students also audition for colleges and they got many call backs during the time um I will tell you this December 5th put it on your calendar that is the swing dance at brutin it is a big thing you want to go anyone that likes the big band music and all I mean they have they have faculty playing the instruments and stuff it's great and they're good and uh the students dance and uh and it's it's an awesome time it really is uh and they'll have food trucks there so you don't have to worry about getting something to eat on the

127way up uh you can eat there and it's just a really really fun evening um oh one other thing we need to do both uh brutin and McGruder became purple purple star schools so now all 19 schools in York County are purple star schools which means they really take care of their military students um let's see and I think that was it all right one more shout out to uh York foundation for public education you saw a new trustee up here tonight y all can be uh feeling free to join at any time they would love to have you okay thank you thank you Mr schaer okay at this time um I'll ask Mr Richardson to discuss financial matters all right so this is uh claims certified for payment for the month of September and

128this is significant instructional related expenditures at total 2.98 million that included payments to amen Healthcare 25,000 for contracted speech services maximum uh healthcare 15,600 for nursing services near pod 69,3 for annual renewal of interactive instructional resources New Horizon's Regional Education Center 2.7 million the the bulk of uh what we spent for instruction uh for tuition for the Governor's School for Career and Technical education school and for special education programs Peninsula football officials Association 14875 for football officials Plan B Academy 98,500 for children's services act student tuition seesaw learning 27,000 for elementary interactive instructional resources the phason center 30,600 for children's services act student tuition and payments for technology related items totaled approximately $722,500 for annual support for network and wireless access point security and Google licensing for 1,200 computers Cox Communications 20,200 for internet services

129goto Technologies 11,800 for remote support software mcci 16,400 for microform data conversion that's converting our micro file and microfish to digital format and Communications 9,300 for cc uh Clos circuit television support and replacement and of the intercom system at tab Middle School Virginia business systems 20,25 for copier or Fleet lease and virtue Comm 30 368,000 for deployment of student computers School nutrition expenditures totaled 533,000 925 and included payments to Alto Harley uh 31847 for replacement of our cafeteria equipment sedexo 24,700 for food service operations and Cisco 10,750 for food payments related to construction and maintenance projects totaled approximately 2.1 million and included payments to zbz Associates 893,00 for HVAC replacement at Vernon Elementary Thompson engineering 64,800 for A&E Services for Mount Vernon and tab middle HVAC projects Simpson unlimited 114,900 for brute and High School

130uh roof replacement play Power Farmington 335e school that we just uh had a ceremony at just the last month or so uh midatlantic installers 13667 for the replacement of Fire and Security system at tab Middle School Centennial contractors 68,000 for the locker room Renovations at York tab High York High School tab high school and tab middle we saw some pictures of those Renovations at our last work session AC Aces 55,000 for HVAC controls and commissioning of tab middle school and Mount Vernon Elementary and payments for operations total $224,600 services 13,450 for HVAC repairs at grafting complex Dominion Dominion Energy 129,000 7770 for utility services and inflow Communications 3 39,9 75 for software support to Telecom systems and Republic Services for disposal of solid waste we paid 1ou $1,375 for WB Mason $30,100 for custodial supp

131suppes and payments for transportation total $272,200 to include payments to K12 Insight uh 35,600 for the Lex talk platform and National Association of federally impacted schools uh for annual membership was $10,800 and significant changes to the operating budget for September revenu state revenue is approximately $3 million higher in September fy2 than September of 24 due to decrease in the local Composite Index increases in enrollment and increases in atrisk funding federal revenue is approximately 556 ,000 Less in fiscal year 25 due to expiration of the Esser stimulus grants and expenditures for instruction are approximately $2.8 million higher in September of this year when compared to the previous year due to the $5.5 million increase uh was in salaries increase to health premiums and additional positions that were added in the fiscal year 205 2025 and there

132were no significant changes in revenue for expenses of the school nutrition budget resolution 2467 requires the board's approval authorizing procurements of more than $50,000 and there are eight items on the resolution totaling 1.29 million the details of which can be viewed on board docs Madam chair I would like to now move for approval of financial matters as listed I'll second is there any discussion okay a motion was made by Mr Richardson and seconded by Mr Schaefer to approve financial matters as listed Mr Schaefer yes Mr Richardson yes Mrs Fairman yes Mr pich yes Mrs Goodwin yes the motion passed 5 to Zer all right I'm going to go over the uh consent calendar we have approval of personnel actions approval of minutes for work session on September 9th 2024 a regular meeting on September 23rd

1332024 a special meeting on September 26 2024 a work session on October 14th a special meeting on October 22nd 2024 a special meeting on October 22nd 2024 and a special meeting another special meeting on October 22nd 2024 approval of donations in the amount of $4,250 approval of overnight field trips for the period of November 1st 2024 through November 1st 2025 approval of St excuse me student organizations and activities for the period of November 1st 2025 through November or 2020 I think this should say 2024 through November 1st 2025 approval of consent calendar as listed Madam chair yes I have a request that we pull out B uh the approval of the different minutes uh to handle individually um mainly because while I attended the the regular meetings and the work sessions those special meetings were

134the um uh dealing with the personnel and the disciplinary issues that only three board board members attended and since I was not there I can't say whether the minutes are correct or not you have the you can abstain yeah but that would be abstaining for all of them and I can do it on the other ones I can Madam chair we could just pull the the three special meetings at the end and vote on that separate it might Becker okay with that let's pull the you let's pull the three special meetings and then have a separate vote on this so Madam chair I move approval of the consent calendar with the exception of B the last three special meetings to be voted on separately second okay Miss Howard a motion was made by Mr Richardson

135and second In by Mr pivit to approve consent calendar with the exception of B and we're separating the special the Clos session meetings um Mr pivot yes Mrs Fairman yes Mr Schaefer yes Mr Richardson yes Mrs Goodwin yes motion pass 5 to Z Madam chair I move approval of the um consideration of the minutes approval of the Amendments for the special meetings on the 22nd uh the three meetings on the October 22nd 2024 I'll second any discussion all right Miss Howard a motion was made by Mr Richardson and seconded by Mr Schaefer to approve the special meeting minutes Mr Richardson yes Mr Schaefer yes Mr pich yes Mrs Goodwin yes Mrs Fairman abstain the motion passed four to zero with one exstension okay next I need a consideration of approval of a proclamation for American

136Education week November 18 Madam chair can I finish uh actually we need to do the minutes for the other meetings before you move on to did that we already did that did that we did that no you did you did the special meetings not that was pulled out we pulled out the special we voted on the other meetings oh okay got it I thought you were pulling out the entire bead that's what I the understood it um thank you consideration of approval of a proclamation for American Education week November 18 to 22nd 2024 Dr Carol do you have any comments about the pro thank you m good the annual observance of American Education week dates back to 1921 it was established for the purpose of informing the public of the accomplishments and needs of the

137public schools and to secure the cooperation and support of the public in meeting those needs American Education week is a reminder that all children Des deserve a highquality education and that each and every employee of the school division be they teachers administrators custodians bus drivers or office staff play an integral role in supporting and equipping students every day I need a motion and a second to approve the proclamation I would like to make a motion for consideration appr of proclamation for American Education week from November 18 through 22nd of 2024 I'll second any questions comments all right Miss how that second was by Mr Richardson is that correct a motion was made by Mr and seconded by Mr Richardson to approve the proclamation for American Education week November 18th through 22nd 2024 Mrs Fairman yes

138Mr schaer yes Mr Richardson yes Mr pich yes Mrs Goodwin yes the motion passed 5 to zero all right we do not have any policy discussion we do you have a policy first read policy a sorry did I miss something yeah yeah the resolution 247 what am I miss 13B oh I'm sorry it's consider I'm sorry consider consideration of approval of resolution 2471 a re resolution requesting the Board of Supervisors to reappropriate the fy2 24 end of year fund balance sorry Mrs Goodwin I'd like to ask uh Chief Financial Officer Bill Bowen up to speak to this item thank you Dr Carol Madam chair members of the board um this evening we're asking the uh the board to approve the resolution which is requesting the Board of Supervisors to reappropriate the end of year fy2

13924 end of year fund balance our audit is almost complete we've identified a balance of about $2.2 million of that the um about $1.3 million um is has been identified as obligations that need to carry forward into fy2 they're in the body of the resolution we have about 975,000 that's uh unobligated balance and we're asking for the board to approve those items um one is to uh 47,000 to to be used for the purchase of an it uh van $250,000 to be transferred to the uh Capital Improvements uh program and $62,500 to the health and dental uh plan and this uh approving this this even also directs the superintendent to forward this resolution to the County Administrator can I get a motion yes I would like to make a motion for for approval of resolution

1402471 resolution requesting the board of supervisor to reappropriate the fy2 24 end of the year funds balance I'll second any discussion all right Miss Howard I'm sorry who was the second thank you I can't see people's a motion was made by Mr pich and seconded by Mr schaer to approve resolution 2471 requesting the Board of Supervisors to reappropriate the fiscal year 24 and of year fund balance Mrs fman yes Mr schaer yes Mr Richardson yes Mr pich yes Mrs Goodwin yes the motion pass 5 to zero okay now uh policy discussion we don't have any immediate policy discussion we do have a policy first reading policy a foundations and basic commitments um Miss Barry you want to make any comments on policy a yes good evening uh Madam chair school board members uh there are

141some revisions since the original uh policy put forth for discussion and those uh changes were posted on board dos uh for Section AC uh we have been able to confirm the date of adoption thanks to jenest who went down into the basement and dug through things uh so June 20 1988 was the uh date of adoption for policy AC uh let's see additionally uh as to AC uh I wanted to point out which I did not point out during the discussion our policy JB uh which is the student uh non-discrimination policy already has those changes in it uh the board adopts adopted the additional language back in February 28th 19 uh 2022 so that language has been in place for the division uh applicable to students uh for over a year now um section a

142uh I did make some additional changes uh based on uh the board's uh input uh and then today I received information from Mr pich that adds a few more words so for uh policy a it would State the school board is committed to providing every student the opportunity to achieve significant that's the word that Mr Page added intellectual social emotional and physical growth and to ensuring each student is equipped to communicate effectively to be competent both in the workplace and higher education and to feel confident of the ability to make creative and constructive decisions and another ch Mr pich suggestion was removing with other people as to communicating uh and then the next section would have the school board provides the necessary trained and dedicated leadership qualified Personnel equipment and materials to assure the opportunity

143and support of an appropriate education for every student Mr pich has added the word support in that section treats all members of the school Community with respect and allocates and uses assets fairly inefficient efficiently so those are the revisions to ad any questions just one miss Barry will you be able to to reprint that and send that out to the board members so we can review that in this week okay thank you thank you Mr pich for those adjustments okay and now um we have policy bdd the electronic participation at meetings from mem locations Dr Carol do you have any remarks yes there's been no changes since discussion um policy second reading we don't have any that requires any action and so now we'll move into the report of the superintendent and Dr Carol I'll

144now turn that time over to you all right thank you Mrs goodwi one Dr shandor just wanted to extend the same congratulations to both Seaford Elementary and tab elies for their Exemplar performance Awards uh he also enjoyed attending the Virginia Board of Education uh meeting this week where the board recognized all the Virginia uh recipients of the National Blue Ribbon and as of you know it's at bethl Manor for us he attended with Christina head associate director of Elementary instruction and academic programs uh bethl Manor principal Chrissy Wagner and a a teacher representative Haley Minnie and we're also look look forward to the purple star official words next week and that concludes the superintendent's report all right thank you very much um we are now in need of a couple of closed sessions can I

145please have a board member make a motion to take us into closed session okay I move that the York County School Board convene in closed session pursuant to Virginia code section 22- 3711 A1 of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act consideration and discussion regarding prospective candidates for app to the special education advisory committee and Career and Technical education advisory committees as the matters addressed and closed session are confidential no minutes or recordings are permitted second thank you Miss Howard a motion was made by Mr schaer and seconded by Mr pivit to approve the school board going into close session as stated Mr pich yes Mr Richardson yes Mrs Fairman yes Mr schaer yes Mrs gwin yes the motion passed 5 to Z we are now in close session okay