001I call to order the York County School Board uh regular meeting for February 26 2024 uh as we begin the chair will entertain a motion to amend the agenda to add an invocation prior to the business portion Madam chair I'd like to make a motion to agend uh amend the agenda to add the invocation prior to the business portion of the meeting is there a second is there a second I'll second thank you Mr Richardson the motion has been made in seconded Mrs Ford would you please um take the roll call yes the motion was made by Mrs Goodwin and seconded by Mr Richardson to amend the agenda to add the invocation Mr schaer yes Mr Richardson yes Mrs Goodwin yes Mrs Fairman yes the motion pass forward is zero thank you and I'd like
002to let everybody know that uh District 2's representative Mr zor La pich is unable to be here this evening uh he is away on a business trip um and we look forward to seeing him at the next meeting now um moving on we do have a full agenda tonight we have a lot of important business to attend to uh but before that we're going to be learning about all kinds of wonderful things that are going on in our schools and our classrooms and before that we're going to be uh introducing our pledge lead and uh before we have the pledge let me read some information about him uh Elliot Harris go ahead and come on up Elliot is a shining example of excellence and compassion in his second grade classroom he's at Deer Elementary School
003with a heart filled with kindness and positivity he embodies the qualities of an outstanding classroom citizen respect is second nature to Elliott evident in his interactions with both teachers and peers he not only only spreads kindness but actively Fosters an environment of support and encouragement among classmates always ready to lend a helping hand Elliot demonstrates remarkable responsibility and accountability in his actions and schoolwork his dedication to personal growth and academic achievement is truly commendable with a strong work ethic and a determination to excel Eliot strives for excellence embracing challenges with a growth mindset he thrives on expanding skills and knowledge beyond the classroom Elliott has a passion for various activities as a Taekwondo red belt and skilled gymnast he exhibits discipline and commitment in his Pursuits additionally he immerses himself in living history events alongside
004a US Marine Corps represented group the old breed where he recently portrayed a US Marine fighting on okanawa during World War II alongside his father Elliot's altruistic Spirit extends Beyond his school in extra curricular activities he actively engages in volunteering and supporting his friends Endeavors attending their events and performances with unwavering enthusiasm Elliot's dedication and integrity make him a true role model at D Elementary and if everyone could please stand for Elliot to lead us in the pledge I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you so [Applause] much and now we move on to our seniors of the month I know they're excited uh with that Mr schaer I believe you
005have brutin high schools R yes I do and Bru and high is proud to recognize Abigail Lee as their senior of the month go ahead and stand up Abby and and she is here with her brother Drew you stand up too Drew come on now uh Father Andrew her mom Allison and then her grandparents uh Larry and Cindy Le y'all can go ahead and stand up come on now yeah yeah this this is a family thing because I tell you what she didn't get where she is alone it was because of you guys okay brutin High School is proud to recognize AB ABY Lee is our February 2024 senior of the month aby's compassion for others shows in the classroom and Halls of brutin high school where she is always there for anyone who needs
006a helping hand with a desire to enter the medical field Abigail Abby has pursued opportunities to en enhance her Education and Training through the governor's Health Science Academy the dual enrollment emergency medical technician program and the University of Virginia's summer volunteer program Abby serves as the student body through her involvement with the Key Club student government and New York County School of the Arts this year aby's Talent has been honored as she was selected to choreograph a musical for SOA and if you don't I think that's a pretty big thing it is if you've seen any SE Productions her desire to serve and connect with others is highlighted by the many roles she serves and always with a smile she has worked closely with the sponsors and teachers of the organization she has been involved
007with as well as her peers to serve as a voice for the student body all of her hard work and dedication has paid off as Abby has been selected as brutin High School's First Jefferson Scholars finalist Abby has a vision for the future and she will undoubtedly continue to invest wholeheartedly in her community as a student and a professional aby's going to be going to UVA in Fall congratulations Abby and Mr Richardson will be telling us about Grafton High's senior of the month yes Grafton High Senior of the month is Tes Patel if he could stand up with his family your whole family can stand up please there you go Grafton High School is very proud to name Tes Patel as February senior of the month academically Tes sits among the among the top 2%
008of his senior class with an impressive 48095 grade point average Tes distinguished himself with acceptance into the selective Governor School of Science and Technology this magnet program is for a high achieving highly motivated students offering college level content and opportuni ities for Hands-On labs and in-depth research through this program TZ received valuable tutelage through a mentorship at Nasa Tes began preparing for college while in Middle School electing to take High School Credit advanced mathematics and World language classes during his 7th and eighth grade years once entering High School Tes continued to challenge himself by taking rigorous Advanced and college level courses culminating in the acceptance into the Governor's School tesa's academic scholarship yielded invitations into The National Honor Society muo Alpha Theta math Honor Society s science National Honor Society and the York County School
009Division honors program T's activities beyond the classroom also speak volumes about his drive and discipline he sees value in giving back to his community and has sought out numerous opportunities to do so he has volunteered regularly through the junior volunteer program at a local hospital through the YMCA Leaders Club and at a local temple his participation in these programs helped him to develop to develop critical or crucial interpersonal critical thinking and Leadership skills with a future interest in business and finance Tes also learned valuable skills as an active member of the future Business Leaders of America FBLA all four years in high school he was a member of that TZ received a first place recognition for FBLA Regional testing for personal finance and fbl Regional testing of Finance financial math allowing him to move to
010the state conference two separate years as a participant in the whro great computer challenge Tes also earned another first place recognition and integrated applications in addition to these accolades he was also actively involved on the Grafton School campus representing his peers as his class president during his freshman year and representing Grafton as a member of The Varsity tennis team where he was a state semi-finalist last year Tes defines what it means to be a Clipper we are very proud of him and can't wait to see what he does next congratulations [Applause] thank you so much and I oops Yeah mic is on uh I have uh for tab High School Janie Ching if she could stand uh with her family that's wonderful tab High School is honored to announce Janie Ching as February senior of
011the month a distinct she has earned through her remarkable achievements and contributions to our school Community she exemplifies the very essence of a tab student embodying excellence in academics extracurricular involvement and community service all while maintaining a friendly demeanor and outstanding moral character with an impressive GPA of 4 9591 Jan's academic prowess is evident underscoring her dedication and work ethic Jan's ability to excel academically while balancing her extracurricular activities and volunteerism makes her even more impressive she holds her leadership positions in several organizations including serving as the senior class treasurer for the student council Association founder and president over the Chinese Culture Club vice president of the Key Club and a member of the model un girls who code and the student Advisory Board Janie also plays on tab's Varsity soccer team I want to
012know how you find enough time for all of that Janie contributes to the community Through volunteering at Riverside Hospital and other medical facilities Janie is passionate about her future goals and works diligently to achieve them this past summer Janie participated in research opportunities at Duke University where she was able to work alongside doctors and interns in a hospital setting Janie plans to attend you Duke University in the fall tab has been privileged to have her as a student and she has a very bright future ahead thank you Janie and Mrs Goodwin will be presenting York High School student of the month I have the pleasure of introducing Lana panova and she is here with her parents mark and Tanya Portanova if you could stand York High School is proud to recognize Lana panova as our
013February senior of the month Lana is an ambitious hardworking and extraordinary individual and a pleasure to have at York High School Lana has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to academic Excellence consistently ranking at the top of her class class and distinguishing herself as a standout student in the international Balor program her membership and prestigious societies such as the National Honor Society science National Honor Society moo Alpha Theta fesbian Honor Society National English Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society showcase her dedication to academics Lana seamlessly balances her academic Pursuits with her passion for service and extracurricular activities as sponsor as a sponsored race car driver for MAA Lana has showcased her talents on a national stage exemplifying dedication skill and sportsmanship she has participated in y yhs drama Productions competed on the junior varsity and varsity girls
014basketball teams member of the Asian American Pacific Islanders club and yhs international Club Lana has displayed her selfless commitment to community service by volunteering weekly at her church congratulations Lana on this well-deserved honor we're now going to move into the student service Awards and volunteers of the month Dr shandor I believe you go down in the front to help everybody uh this evening we're combining our award recipients according to their school so I'd like to ask Miss Lisa jalomo uh Coventry Elementary principal to step forward and remain down front while the information is shared about both the student service award recipient and the volunteers of the month for Coventry um so first we have our student service award recipient for Coventry Elementary um Mrs Goodwin will be handling that it is with great honor that
015we announce Zachary seelbach as the recipient of Coventry student service award [Applause] Zach has been a coventry cougar since fourth grade he quickly became an active and involved member of our school Community consistently displaying positive behaviors and serving as a role model for other students this school year he showcased his talents in our school's bullying prevention month production where he held a key role and performed for the school as well as in front of our Coventry Community Zach also serves as a student ambassador and a member of the principal advisory committee he is currently leading our student ambassador service project collecting items to support the Peninsula Rescue Mission Zach serves as the leader all while balancing his classwork and extracurricular activities outside of school Zach is a member of the fif and drum of Yorktown
016where he is a recruit as a military dependent with a passion for history Zach shared that his organization allows him to merge his love for both he has proudly marched in the Yorktown Day Parade Fourth of July parade and is also performed at Mount Vernon in Northern Virginia when asked what he enjoys in his spare time Zach shared he enjoys rock climbing and swimming he also enjoys spending time with his family and pets Zach's accomplishments and service to others speak volumes about his character we are thrilled to recognize him as Coventry 2024 student service award [Applause] recipient all right now we have our volunteers of the month for Coventry Elementary we have Pete and Patty Kippy they could please come forward Coventry Elementary School is pleased to recognize Pat excuse me Pete and Patty Kippy
017as our volunteer of the month award recipients Mr and Mrs Kippy are a retired military couple who have generously devoted numerous hours over many years to working with second grade students at Coventry Elementary they are affectionately known as grandma and grandpa to many of our cougars although their children are now adults and their grandchildren are no longer in elementary school they continue to volunteer their time to support our school community they support students in a variety of ways ranging from Reading sessions and tutoring assistance to fostering social and teamwork skills through games as well as engaging students in extension activities when asked what they enjoy most about volunteering Mr and Mrs Kippy both shared that the best part about working with a student is when they finally grasp a challenging concept we truly value the
018time Mr and Mrs Kippy have invested in our school their involvement support and commitment have had a positive impact on our school Community their willingness to give their time and service is greatly appreciated by Coventry elementary students staff and families thank you all right now I'd like to ask uh Dr Lindsay Kidd Dare Elementary principal to step forward and remain down front while the information is shared for both the student service award recipient and for the volunteer of the month for Deer Elementary uh the first is student service award and Mr Richardson would you please tell us about that yes if uh Luke lamb would come forward please there you go so Luke lamb is the epitome of dare of the D motto he thrives in all academic areas consistently doing great work as a
019member of the extend program and even earning a black belt on the record order Luc is reliable making good choices and accepting responsibility of being a leader in the school he pays close attention to details and helps others remember to be safe he Embraces kindness by volunteering to help any classmate in need and twice monthly you will find Luke behind the spirit store table selling items to raise money for the PTA and he advocates for free items to gift to his fellow students Luke is one of the creative directors behind the PTA restaurant event coordinator role his photo shoot ideas helped reinvigorate the PTA Facebook ads bringing customers to local businesses while providing funds to DARE and bringing the school Community together Luke is thrilled to be a member team member of anchored for life
020and he welcomes students to DARE and supports them as they move or go through a military deployment Luke also helped facilitate the military appreciation breakfast and helped the team host a food drive for Thrive Peninsula collecting 338 lbs of food which will make 2 81 meals for local families when Luke is not at school he participates as a proud member of the 10 and under can's travel baseball team seaf for Baptist Baptist upwards basketball team and Windy Point piranha swim team Luke is kind responsible and respectful and we are proud to call him a d dolphin congratulations now we'll have our volunteer of the month for D Elementary uh Mr Richardson yes if Timothy wall could come forward please Tim has been an asset to there for many years his roles as par educator teacher
021and now substitute have been invaluable given his dedication to and love for our students and staff outside of these roles Tim continues to serve our school Community as an adviser for our anchored for Life Club this role requires specific training participating in ongoing activities and meetings as well as providing support to our student team leaders in addition Tim maintains connections between D Elementary School and Crossroads Community Church providing our school with supplies for all students at the beginning of the year he has also helped connect families in need with the holiday groceries and meals including delivering items to homes Tim continues to support our book vending machine initiative helping to fund the purchase of the machine as well as the books to fill it you can also find Tim at dare on Tuesdays preparing instructional
022materials for teachers with the PTA cut and paste team out of all of these wonderful contributions the most important is his dedication to the building and maintaining relationships with students staff members and the families it is always a treat to see Tim back in the building with and our students love and uh and admiration for him doesn't go unnoticed he is a cherished part of our school community and we're lucky to continue to have him as a volunteer and important member of our dare family he is well-deserving of the day Elementary volunteer of the month award congratulations Tim now I'd like to ask Miss Candace Welch Queens Lake Middle School principal to step forward and remain down front while we uh get the information about our student service award recipient and volunteer of the month
023for Queens Lake Middle Mr Schaefer would you please let us know about student service award surely Grayson Tain Perry come on up there we go Grayson or Gracie as she's known is an honorable student at Queens Lake Middle School in addition to her rigorous coursework Gracie is very focused on uh service projects and giving back to the community last school Year Gracie spearheaded a campaign during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September to educate the school community and honor children with cancer in addition she brought in a representative from the Red Cross to facilitate and host a community blood drive on her birthday and gathered her classmates parents and Community me members to donate a substantial amount of blood for those in need this is now a tradition at Queens Lake and we look forward to
024our second annual blood drive coming up in March her desire to host blood drives derives from a personal passion she uh and has a lasting impact we look forward to continuing the tradition after Gracie transitions to high school and appreciates the Legacy that she is leaving to our school Gracie is always willing to participate in a student committee or lend a helping hand to a classmate in need she spreads joy to her teachers principal and support staff through her optimistic kind and generous personality Gracie congratulate ations on being recognized as a Queens Lake Middle School student service award recipient and keep shining now Mr Schaefer will tell us about our volunteer of the month for Queens Lake Middle okay Amber rner come on down Mrs RoR as our PTA president can always be found volunteering
025and lending a help hand at Queens Lake she's LED our PTA to new heights this year and not only planned and executed a wonderful Winter Dance for our students but she has helped us to recognize and celebrate our students and staff as well Mrs RoR is a parent of a student athlete and she not only cheers on Addie from the Sands but she assists by offering to manage the books at the basketball games helping to sell tickets and even plans end of season celebrations for the teams as a military spouse M Mrs director connects with our community families on a level that makes them feel supported understood and right at home she spreads positivity and stands alongside our school team to help share our school story and the wonderful things that are happening at Queens
026Lake on a regular basis we thank Mrs RoR for her continued support of Queens Lake Middle School and congratulate her on a special honor of being named Queens Lake Middle School volunteer of the month congratulations now we'll have Mr schaer uh share some comments about the York foundation for public education for that presentation yes I'd like to invite Mrs glennis Ellis York foundation for public education member to step forward yeah recipients please uh come up front when you hear your name called congratulations to Elliot Harris a second grade student from dar dar Elementary School for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at tonight's school board meeting we would also like to recognize tonight's student student service award recipients Zachary seelbach from Coventry Elementary School Luke lamb from Dare Elementary School and Gracie talain Perry from Queens
027Lake Middle School we also congratulate our seniors of the month Abby Lee from brutin high school Tes Patel from Grafton High School Janie Ching from tab High School and L Lana portonova from York High School special gifts from cookie text and edible tweet are being presented on behalf of the York foundation for public education in partnership with their donor Jean foka of cookie text and edible tweet a Walmart gift card is also being donated by Foundation supporter join me in congratulating all of our recipients [Laughter] got them all close great great thank you very [Applause] much and at this time I'd like to ask Dr shandor to share some things about tonight's Accent on academics yes thank you m Fairman uh this evening York high school will be presenting information regarding their senior day of
028service and Collective commitment in the York Zone the York High School class of 2024 is supporting a collective commitment to support the York Zone through their senior day of service the class of 2024 demonstrated characteristics of Future Ready graduates in the community by supporting students and teachers yorai achieved this by organizing collaborative activities throughout the entire York Zone benefiting current students and future Falcons to share more details and introduce the presenters is Dr Shannon Butler our principal at York High School Dr Butler good evening FY 23 ycsd adopted a new strategic plan to guide our work and set our students up for Success one of our key priorities Collective commitment is that students staff families and community members are invested in student outcomes and actively engaged in meaningful collaborative relationships to support Student Success at
029York High School we set out to achieve this in a way that supported not only our current students but also our future Falcons our seniors were able to demonstrate characteristics of Future Ready graduates in the community while supporting the York Zone students and teachers when they returned to yhs the response was better than we could have ever imagined the first Senior Day of Service was held this past October during the first half of the school day when our 9th 11th and some of our 10th graders were taking the PSAT this idea was born from an example set by a school in Georgia and we decided to launch it this year at York I'm going to turn it over to assistant principal Courtney Smith Copeland to share about the planning process and Logistics of how we
030pulled off our first Senior Day of Service good evening through collaboration with our other York Zone schools we were able to identify areas of need and provide opportunities for our students to participate in community outreach while refining their own future ready graduate skills in preparation for this event we consulted the Strategic plan and worked on implementing year 2 strategy to create positive experiences for all students by providing exemplary customer service in one of these three areas teacher support PBIS support or academic support we visited all Senior English classes and explained the upcoming opportunity we then created a Microsoft form and gave any senior that wanted to volunteer the opportunity to sign up and select a school and a focus area we had 102 seniors sign up and participate in this activity we reached out to
031admin at each York Zone school and communicated student interest and tasked them with assigning students within their own buildings this service project aimed to offer meaningful engagement for high school middle school and Elementary School students catering to the unique needs of each site each student had their own takeaway from the event but all were overwhelmingly positive I'm now going to turn this presentation over to our four seniors to tell you about their experiences hi my name is Ramsey Pitman and and I am a proud Falcon senior my classmates and I were excited about the opportunity to go to the elementary schools and the middle school when we signed up but it was so much more than we expected I was assigned to Seaford elementary school and when I arrived I got paired with the kindergarten
032teacher I met with the teacher before the students arrived and we talked about the plan for the morning and what I was going to be responsible for once the students arrived we had carpet time and I got a chance to meet all of the students for the next hour and a half I worked one-on-one with different kids helping them write both lower and uppercase letters using a whiteboard they all got to roll a dice to pick a color and we worked on writing their names I love seeing how excited they were when they got their name right and you could tell how much they liked meeting older kids and working with us this experience encouraged me to remain involved and I'm now part of the mentorship Big Brother Big Sister program with Yorktown Elementary where
033we go twice a month to work with our buddies now I'll pass to Jeremy so we can tell you about his visit to dare thank you Ramsey uh as she shared my name is Jeremy green and I had the opportunity to go back to my elementary school and work at Dar Elementary when the group of us got back got there we were first t with helping create banners and signs for the PBIS pep rally later that day we were able to create a lot of signs for the teachers before the students even got there at arrival we got to form tunnels and welcome all of the students to school as they got off the buses and drop off offline I was then assigned to work with Miss Ream's class which was really cool for me
034because Miss Reams was my first grade teacher I read owe the places you will go by Dr Seuss to the class my favorite part of the experience was seeing the kids reactions to us being there and how happy they were for us to be there good evening my name is Cadence Washington and I traveled about with 25 of my classmates to Yorktown Elementary school when we got there we were all assigned to our teachers for the day I met with my teacher and we went over the lesson plan for the day and then I got to work on a new bullon board for the first grade hallway about an hour later the students arrived and we conducted conducted their morning meeting during that time I read the book verie to the class and then we
035got to discuss its message about being okay to grow up and that change can be a good thing we then did our morning rotations and I assisted at different tables I was so impressed with the kids and their independence respect and honesty when they needed help I will be going to college next year to study to be a pediatric dentist and I think this opportunity helped me solidified my choice and working with kids I was sad to leave when I had to but I was able to go back to De Elementary School and help with their PBIS pep r that day I was able to talk to the kids about being a role model and being respectful Mitchell is going to come up and share more about that part of our day thank [Music] you
036as Cadence said my name is Mitchell Jones and I am the commanding officer of the York high njrtc I along with several other school leaders got to go back to DARE on Senior Day of Service to speak to the students about being positive role models we talked to them about service and serving others and how one nice thing a day can make a difference in njrtc our mission is about serving the community and this experience is what is all about for us I love interacting with the kids and talking about my own personal experiences and how what they do now can lead to rewards in the future future I really enjoyed talking with the students of dare about how much they have to look forward to in the future as falcons as we leave York
037the senior class wants to leave our Mark and wants to support the York Zone in any way we can we are all really excited about the opportunity to serve our community one more time before we graduate on June 8th I will turn it back over to Dr Butler to share our plans moving forward thank you so as you heard from our students the York zone is is a very special place and we love giving our students as many opportunities as we can to not only grow themselves but to help grow the next set of future graduates as we continue to work with York Middle with cross-curricular lessons and Yorktown Elementary with our mentorship program we have planned an entire Senior Day of Service during the week of graduation on June the 4th our graduating seniors
038will have the opportunity to sign up to volunteer at all four of our Zone schools for the day as well as some local organizations and Charities to leave a final mark on the community at York we have a collective commitment to our students and our entire Falcon Community thank you very much and we will take any questions that you may have okay well I'll start uh would you make this program how you've set it up would you make it uh available to the other high schools in ycsd absolutely in fact the um the PSAT we had always planned to do this one coming up in June the PSAT was a last minute kind of what are we going to do with all the seniors that's rewarding we're like let's try it now so um they've
039already reached out to me and we are going to share all that information and hopefully start the trend there you go well as as you know brutin would do great with this I think yeah yeah thank you are there any more questions just a comment great program I love it um from the other ones I know talk about Pediatric Dentistry we actually did a couple of the comments you got we had some boys some big tough boys get off the bus and the first thing they said is what I got to do to be a teacher there you so it was it was really rewarding excellent program thank you that's really nice I know as as a former classroom teacher it was always helpful when I had high school students come in and read to
040students or help them with things that they were struggling with so seeing that youall are carrying that on is just wonderful thank you very much thank you great job job you the board at this time will take a short recess uh that'll allow some uh photographs with tonight's recipients as well as to do a Changing of the Guard of the seats I know a lot of the students and their parents leave during this time and some of the speakers who want to be in here they will do that change so we'll take a short recess thank you we will now reconvene the uh the meeting tonight uh this time the invocation Mr Mark Miller a deacon serving at Yorktown Baptist Church will share the invocation dear Lord thank you for your grace your mercy and
041your unconditional love Lord we ask your blessings on our community and help us to never forget those who lost their lives on the very ground where this building now stands so that all future Americans might enjoy freedom self-governance and individual liberty Lord we ask your blessings on the men and women that serve on this board and their families as well as all of the students that are subject to this board's actions give the members of this board wisdom to make the very best decisions in accordance with your will and help them to be mindful that our schools and those who work in them are likely the students first exposure to organized government all of this we humbly ask in the precious name of Jesus Amen thank you uh at this time we have two items
042that were listed under unfinished business however uh I'm kind of surprised to see this on the agenda because at the agenda creation meeting of we had discussed that it was going to be tabled because of uh one since Mr pich isn't here and two that we were just starting to get information in one is on the Virginia school board's Association policy services and the other one is on the school board clerk position and we are still Gathering that so um if I if I could have a motion to table well Madam chair I thought we had attorney I thought had information I just got the information last I just got the information last night from the Schoolboard member Alliance uh to give to the members and having it just one night uh you know and
043not being able to review it before the meeting and also um Mrs Barry we haven't gotten the information to review before a meeting to discuss so but one of the issues is we're not getting any legal advice as of now because it's legal yes we are un under the Virginia school board um Association uh we have since we have overall board membership uh from what I understand the vsba attorney um Miss eing is part of that overall membership it is it is not necessarily connected to policy I can reach out to miss eing currently as vsba members however our policy Services have been cut off uh as of the end of January so right now we have no access to any policies or updates yes we currently as spma members we do have access to
044that policy so if there's any policy related issues questions we do as members have that access but that's part of the problem I think that's part of the issue we don't know what their background is and writing policy they have legal because the lady that runs this organizational is not a lawyer okay hang on uh just a minute we don't have a motion on the floor no we don't we're having to some discussion for discussion um I've I've asked for a motion for these to be tabled so that we can gather the information and to discuss it at the next meeting all right I'll make a motion to table so that we can discuss sorry I'll make a motion to table so we can discuss at the mer next meeting specifically which ones you the
045uh well def the Virginia Schoolboard Association policy services so that we have all the information we need to move forward to make an informed decision and also the Schoolboard clerk position which I know at our last work session I said we would wait until after we got through uh rezoning and the budget before we even address that because those were more important items all right I will I will second that uh Mrs Ford if you could um take rooll a motions made by Mrs Goodwin and second amend by Mrs Fairman to table both of the discussion items the Virginia school board's policy and also the school board clerk discussion Mr Schaefer no Mr Richardson no Mrs Goodwin yes Mrs Fairman yes and and I'd like to explain my vote um I'm I'm okay with the
046uh tabling the board clerk for right now cuz that's not a pressing issue uh but the BBA I think is a very pressing issue just from um meetings that I've been to I'm actually the regional chair for psba uh so it's kind of awkward that we haven't paid our dues uh to that organization and no we Mr Richardson in correction we have our dues paid through the vssp a through I believe June right for they come up in J July uh for that um so motion has been made and seconded I believe uh the ruling for this on ties that if it is a tie vote with a member missing the uh the action is moved to the following meeting and that's according to the Virginia school law um deskbook here and Miss Fairman we
047do have a policy on that and you are corrected will so the motion to the table will be pushed to the next meeting but I would like to clarify the motion for how long to table because we need to put like a date so is there a motion is this motion to table the vsba to the next regular meeting and is the motion for the clerk is that to a certain time or date um M I'm okay I'm okay with tabling it to our next work session because that's only in two weeks and think that's it's reason more reasonable than dragging it out four weeks um the school um Schoolboard clerk position um I would say we wait until like April to revisit that that way we're through budget and we're through um rezoning because
048those are the two big things right now and we don't need to address that right now so the motion to table will be brought up at the work session along with the VBA yes discussion so both motions would go may I make a comment my my only comment would be Miss fman to your comment uh at the very beginning of this where you said you were surprised to see these two agenda topics on here I had um uh three staff members that sat with you in a room and we met and these two items were on there the the agenda may I finish yes we met last Monday the agenda was discussed reviewed for over an hour and then miss Ford posted the agenda on Wednesday so what I would request would be if there's
049an error on the schedule please contact either myself or the board clerk so we could could amend the agenda so it doesn't even get on here duly noted well I appreciate that we also spoke on the phone and discussed about the vsba and you said it was on for discussion when we spoke on the phone because I was concerned ConEd about us you don't remember our our speak on the phone no not not particularly that that one I remember it okay uh Mr Richardson we need to move on because this is already uh tabled we'll move on thank you thank you um the next is presentations the sr3 update I believe Dr shandor has comments on this yes thank you Miss Fairman Dr V vaa Stevenson is going to come to the podium she's our
050grant coordinator writer and she's going to present uh sr3 update we do this uh every six months it's a requirement so thank you for being here this evening Dr Stevenson my pleasure Dr shandor good evening Madam chair members of the board and Dr shandor since August 2021 I have provided the board and the ycsd community a brief by annual update on the division's American Rescue plan act sr3 plan tonight I do have the pleasure of sharing an update with the purpose of highlighting final year expenditures as this grant will officially reach its close out out on September 30th so the purpose of the three-year sr3 fund is to help safely reopen and sustain safe operations of schools and address the impacts of covid-19 on the nation students by supporting students academic social emotional and mental
051health needs in my next few slides I'll provide you a brief update on the implementation of our sr3 plan that outlines a few changes within the budget as well as a few highlights from the FY 24 Academic Year as background ycsd was awarded over $5.2 million in sr3 funds in 2021 as part of a three-year grant program to address the impacts of the co9 pandemic in summer 2021 School divisions were required to seek and take stakeholder input into account when we developed our initial sr3 plan When developing the plan a minimum of 20% of the total award amount was to be allocated to address specific areas of Unfinished learning additionally we are required to maintain the plan and keep it posted on the division website for the life of the grant the sr3 plan consists
052of three categories the first category is the addressing unfinished learning category which requires that at least 20% of the total Grant award be allocated to address the academic impact of lost instructional time uh through the implementation of evidence-based interventions that second category is the other uses of funds category which includes all the other items that are not reserved directly to address unfinished learning and that is intended to be a large part of the grant to be allocated to address areas of need as identified by the board and the ycsd community the third category is the prevention and mitigation strategies category which may include the purchase of PPE and supplies as well as other mitigation strategies as appropriate next I'll share with you an update on our sr3 plan so since the Inception of the sr3
053plan uh or Grant within 2021 division has been diligent in utilizing these Grant funds to support the goals of the Grant and the needs of our School Division in this update funds have been reallocated between categories to reflect a decreased need for fund or other funding measures to support those additionally funding has been reallocated between categories to reflect current cost associated with Grant funing funded Staffing as well as supports for our specialized populations so please note that we far exceed the required 20% minimum to address areas of Unfinished learning and we currently have allocated about 40% of our total award to this category and we've done a fantastic job in supporting our students needs so as we are in this last year of the sr3 grant our focus is on Final spending and reimbursement per
054state and federal guidelines as a reminder to the board These funds are awarded on a one-time basis and they are to be fully expended by September 30th 2024 to dat we are on track with meeting this deadline in my next slide I will provide you a brief update on the division's spending plan to track spending we calculate the burn rate or the percentage of the total award amount spent to date we have spent 89% of the awarded S3 funds the remaining 11% is allocated for FY 24 purchases and is expected to be fully expended by September 30th 2024 as I've shared in several of my previous uh updates the sr3 plan includes additional positions to address areas of Unfinished learning and provide necessary supports to our specialized populations we were able to move the ACC
055position that was originally funded through the grant into our local budget this school year year as part of our sustainability plan to continue providing this critical support to our schools and in this final year uh there are five positions that are Grant funded through the end of FY 24 we have our letters trainer and the four virtual instructional associate positions that are included in our final year of Grant expenditures and division staff will review these Grant funded positions and determine the next steps for funding in my next few slides I'm very happy to share a few High highlights of programs and supports that we were able to fund through our sr3 grant uh in this last year so the first highlight I'm pleased to share is that we have been able to utilize sr3 funds
056to partner with the dream catchers of V of Williamsburg to provide therapeutic services to students requiring such supports dreamcatchers is a therapeutic Writing Center where students experience equestrian therapy research has shown that therapeutic horseback writing reduces challenging behaviors and increases students over overall communication social and motor skills which therefore improves overall confidence and self-efficacy this year we have 118 students participating in the dream catchers program through York County School Division and it has been extremely exciting for staff to witness the positive correlation between this therapeutic service and overall student outcomes our students really do look forward to attending these therapeutic sessions and connecting with the horses that they're assigned to ride each time that they uh visit and so it's been an incredible experience for our students to take part in that this year and
057another highlight I'd like to share is that since fy22 uh we've been able to utilize sr3 funding to hire a full-time letters trainer uh who has trained at this point approximately 243 participants that include Elementary Middle School and special education staff members on implementing the science of reading that is supported by the Virginia literacy act this year we are pleased that to share that we have about 65 participants that are completing this highly rigorous and engaging training and we are really excited about the work that they have been able to do in classrooms for our students uh through their participation in this program and the last highlight I want to share tonight is about family engagement so this year sra3 funding has been utilized to support both building and division level family engagement activities schools
058were allocated funding based on per pupil calculations this year and the goal of these family engagement activities is to promote Partnerships among families Educators and Community Partners for the purpose of supporting Learning and Development so throughout the year our schools have been working hard to plan and Implement purposeful family engagement activities to meet this goal upcoming division level family engagement uh events include our first annual Elementary stem challenge which is taking place this Wednesday at the grafting complex as well as the openhouse and resource Fair which is slated for March 13th just to name a few of those events so following this presentation the sr3 plan reflecting tonight's updates will be posted on our division's website and we will continue implementing the plan through September 30th 2024 as as organized and in August I have
059the pleasure of providing you the final update on our spending with information on our grant closeout procedures at this time I'm pleased to answer any questions that you may have related to the updates on division's sr3 plan okay I got a couple comments uh on it um as far as the uh unfinished learning we were like double what the minimum was and I got hammered in two emails about 88% literacy rate oh how terrible that is except we're in the top 5% in the state and it's one of the uh highest that we've been and it's simply because of the money that we spent on unfinished learning uh also could could letters training maybe it might be Ci's question I don't know uh could letters training be done in house it's Dr Skinner by the
060way yes I'm sorry yes Dr Skinner yes um thank you that's a good question and so we are currently looking at our funding and um we shared a few things with the board at the work session where we intend to look at literacy coaches that may be able to help F fulfill that in the future because we certainly know that it's been very beneficial to our staff um with the help of Virginia Department of Education who's also going to be providing some of that training now we were just a couple years ahead of the Virginia Department of Education okay thank you are there any other questions or comments thank you very much thank you thank you all right now we come to the public participation at the board meetings uh we actually have three different
061opportunities to speak uh the first one is for comments relating specifically to the public hearing on the operating budget make sure I've got the right cards here for this um the other one is dealing with the attendance Zone adjustments and the last one is for General topics uh do we have a presentation regarding the budget before we take the comments on the budget yes Mr I just have a little bit of information share just aou sure thank you very much so tonight the board is conducting a public hearing on the proposed budget some highlights include in my budget proposal are the operating budget total is roughly 192.5 million or% the approved FY 24 budget however when considering all funds that's workers comp uh health and dental food service and our Tech Reserve fund the total
062budgets about $235 million uh the budget includes a 7 million or 6.99% increase in state revenue uh and a 2.35 million or 3.7% increase in the county contribution and if you recall board members that's the working number that we use with the county this for this year the fy2 proposed budget is based on a projected student membership of 12966 students um this is an increase of 85 students over the FY 24 student membership uh on the expenditure side my recommendations regarding the FY 25 budget focus on five M uh main budget priorities highly effective Talent Collective commitment uh Future Ready graduate supportive culture and safety and operations uh this budget includes 4.4 million in savings which comes from the vrs rate reduction staff attrition and the elimination and repurposing of 26.2 vacant positions which will
063be used to assist in funding the five budget priorities um just to reminder my budget was based on Governor yun's proposed budget the general assembly is still in session so at this time I'll ask Mr Bowen our Chief Financial Officer to come forward he's going to provide us with an update Mr Bowen thank you Dr shandor Adam chair members of the board before I get to the budget update um there's one other update I want to provide you with in Friday notes um I alerted the board to an error in our budget document um it just so happens um on the board's Services account um that we we added a position was the school board attorney after the budget process last year um the FTE got posted in fy2 24 however the funds did not
064get transferred to that account um that was overlooked and that will be added in the document that you will approve at the end of March now the Mr bone I'm just going to ask if you can move just a hair closer to the microphone yes okay you must have grew over the weekend the second update this evening um is related to the presentation and this is just a comparison of the governor's uh Senate and House versions of the budget um we started the process with the governor's budget where the governor's budget provided us $106.9 million there was an adjustment to the Virginia preschool initiative um we did this because we saw a significant increase in funding in all three budgets related to the VPI program however um the enrollment that they use to base this
065funding on for the school division is much higher than our actual enrollment they based it on 176 students and last year we had between 50 and 60 so there's a lot of Revenue that we will not collect um from this line on them so we're U backing that out so for the total is $106.4 million for the Governor's uh Budget on the Senate side when adjusted for the VPI it's $112 million so that's $5.6 million more now there were some significant changes or additions to the Senate budget there was the elimination of the 1% bonus and adding of the three and adding a 3% um compensation adjustment for S soq funded positions is removing the uh cap on support positions increasing significantly increasing the at atrisk funding providing supplemented funding due to the loss of
066sales tax on groceries this was hold harmless funding that the state provided for the past two years it was going away this year but the Senate has included that for another year and then expanding the sales tax base um is what the Senate's adding so that adds additional Revenue to us now on the house side um we're actually seeing um less than what we're seeing in the governor's budget so it's $ 105.4 million a million dollars less I will say that um historically we typically don't see uh Less in the house side than what we've seen on the governor's side um typically you start off with the the governor's budget and in a good economy we're still in a robust economy we'll see the the Senate much higher and we'll see the house kind of
067in between but in this case we're seeing Less on the house side so um we'll have to see um how that translates um as the general assembly completes its its session and to um just to talk about our next steps so this is where the real work begins here in the next two weeks uh General Assembly will assign conferees from both the house and the Senate and they will reconcile the uh final state budget that session is scheduled to end on March 9th which is a week from Saturday once that happens we will have a school board work session on um Monday the 11th and hopefully we'll have some information to share with you about what came out as a final budget from the general assembly then the school board will adopt a budget on
068March 25th and then on April 8th is the uh last day for the governor to take action on the general assembly's budget so he can add amendments or he can veto line items in that budget and then uh the general assembly reconvenes April 17th through the 24th to address the governor's vetos and amendments and if all works out well we will have a budget for you um bringing additional changes at the O I'm sorry at the May 20th uh session business meeting and those are my comments for this evening that's it all right at this time we're going to have uh Community comments that were specifically for the uh fiscal year 25 operating budget and just to remind people um when you come up and state your name we have eliminated stating your uh street
069address we ask you to give the city and the district so that each one of us knows you know which district um where you reside um in addition uh make sure your public comment is gerine to the topic so this one is specifically for the operating budget and the school board expects each speaker to be courteous modeling for our students how to respectfully disagree with others views uh we ask that speakers address their comments to the entire school board however uh with that in April of 2016 the um the Attorney General uh made a decision on law that it is a it is against your first amendment rights to be told that you cannot speak to any particular person on the school board or any of the staff you can say their name but once
070again please make sure that um you use deorum and um kindness and understanding that different people have different opinions on that each speaker will be speaking for up to three minutes a timer is visible uh to the speakers from the podium and speakers uh will need to conclude their remarks when the red light comes on um and it will uh the timing will start as soon as you state your name um your city and your District uh the first one for the operating budget is Suzanne haor and I apologize if I'm mispronouncing your name Miss Fair Fairman you need to open the public oh whoops my mistake public comments are open hi it's Hagadorn my name is Suzanne Hagadorn I live in District One um in uh Williamsburg but it's District 1 and I am
071the mother of a York County School Division middle schooler I'll begin with two words fiscal responsibility that was part of the platform that three new board members Mrs Fairman Mrs Goodwin and Mr padovich proclaimed when running for office last fall yet earlier this month a couple of you suggested that the most important item to be added to the budget of the York County School Division is a salary for a board clerk to serve you not the students or teachers of this District now Mr Mr Schaefer and Mr Richardson did publicly disagree but what would this individual do at the last work session Mrs Fairman and Mrs Goodman said it was necessary to have such an individual employed by the at the expense of York County taxpayers to do research for you all but struggled to
072specify just what that research might be what kind of research would such an individual do that could not be done by a current employee of the school dist Vision you couldn't or wouldn't say so in public but I'll say the quiet part aloud the kind of research that would undermine our superintendent and perhaps research on how to fire him or terminate his contract because before the election three of you new school board members went on a conservative podcast and publicly stated your interest in doing so though Mrs Fairman backpedal at the last school board work session and said she didn't really mean that at all or perhaps you just want an underling so you can delegate the task of answering the torrent of emails you've been receiving or maybe in the case of Mrs Fairman
073and Mrs Goodman you need this person to scrub your previous social media history the fact is some of you have made the job harder for yourselves by your own bad behavior and poor decisions if you're so overwhelmed with the tsunami of bad feedback you've already gotten then the solution is not to hire a clerk to do your work for you it's to stop engaging in destructive behaviors that get parents teachers and employees all riled up and that cause us to lose faith in the competence of the board if your stiens aren't enough or you don't have time to do the work then do us taxpayers a favor and step down now I think I speak for many parents and voters when I say they're far more important line items that actually support students and teachers
074in ycsd classrooms like a par educator or another bus driver spring to mind the fact that those who wanted it couldn't point at a single line item to cut in favor of the clerk show that you didn't do your homework or that you're following a script laid out in a recent Virginia school board member Alliance newsletter basically in some the proposed board clerk is not fiscal responsibility it's fiscal stupidity thank you ladies and gentlemen ladies and gentlemen with with the decorum in the room because we're limited on time there is no applause or cheering or anything else what you can do is you can do the um the silent Applause to let everybody know you can let them know that but we do not have time for all the speaking now uh Miss Ashley Smith
075good evening my name is Ashley Smith I reside in District 3 uh good evening Dr shandor members of the board first thank you for the adjustments to staff compensation that are reflected in the superintendent's proposed fiscal year 25 budget recognizing that there are limitations to ycsd budget process as we await the final budget from the general assembly I want to encourage staff and the board to continue to push for two vital items compensation that meets the reality of living in York County and the surrounding areas and a fully staffed Special Education team at each building speaking to the first while we would all like to imagine that our staff is Comfortably compensated the reality is that there are employees in our division right now who cannot afford to live on the peninsula yet we are
076the number three School Division in the state all of our staff contribute to this recognition and that should be reflect Ed in their pay we have often heard about Virginia's academic prowess despite our compensation being below the national average let us continue to be a leader in the Commonwealth by bucking this trend second please do all that you can to ensure every school has a fully staffed Special Education team this includes special education teachers par Educators Behavior Support Specialists and especially lead special educa lead special education teachers while there have been shortages in this area for some time it remains imperative that ycsd shows its commitment to these positions lead special education teachers at middle school and Elementary are most effective when they do not have a case load this can only happen when we
077have fully staffed teams without parent Educators student testing accommodations are delayed or stretched so thin that they become ineffective without this staff small groups grow and and no longer support students as intended I know our School Division has a strong commitment to our students with disabilities such as mine and I ask that we strengthen that commitment with funding that accurately reflects our need thank you thank [Applause] you our next speaker on the budget is Carol Bower did I pronounce that correctly thank you good evening Schoolboard members Dr shandor senior staff my name is Carol Bower I'm a member of the York Education Association representing York County employees in all job categories I reside in District 4 in November the yaa spoke to the school board and shared ideas and proposals with Dr shandor about the
078upcoming budget I want to thank Mr Bowen and his staff for their work on their superintendent's proposed budget for the 2425 school year and for considering the Ya's proposals there are always uncertainties when dealing with the governors and the general ass assembly's funding proposals it is rewarding to see that the Virginia state budget proposals include compensation increase for educators but that what is not in the general assembly budget is removal of the cap on the support staff this means that there is little to no State funding for many of the ycsd employees who are instrumental in making schools successful the ya would like to thank the ycsd for recognizing the need to increase compensation for our education support staff including bus drivers custodians secretarial cafeteria workers in Paris we acknowledge the superintendent's budget must find
079local funding for many of our support staff but they need more as ya shared in November these dedicated staff members can make more at Target than they do with ycsd they are professionals who support our students in a wide variety of ways bus drivers are the first face students see in the morning and they genuinely care for our students listen to the bus drivers to improve their routes and to meet the needs of the student who should not be in a bus for an extended length of time the proposed budget does not increase the number of pair positions to support our students there is reduction in the positions even though our schools are successful in large part due to the pairs provide individual supports to our students any elimination of pair positions impacts our students
080significantly increasing compensation for the custodial staff will attract additional staff we are under staff for custodians we have custodial staff who have worked through ycsd through the pandemic and for many other difficult situations and they deserve recognition for their work and the dedication with increased compensation in reviewing the Y the proposed budget ya is thankful for the inclusion of additional behavioral supports for our students these supports are critical as we come to the end of Esser funding it will be increasingly important to find money in the budget to continue the supports we know have helped our students in The Proposal the ya presented we also encourage professional treatment of all employees and that includes professionalism for the school board collaboration and prioritizing student needs thank you thank you ladies and gentlemen I really don't want
081to have to remove people from the room but if you continue applauding that we'll use the time and I will ask uh for those people to leave I really don't want to do that uh that ends the time for the public hearing on the operating budget uh at this time we have a public hearing on the proposed attendant Zone adjustments Dr shandor yes just a few brief comments board members as you recall Dr Jim Carroll make sure my micro microphone was on sorry Dr Jim Carroll our chief operations officer shared information on this topic at our February 12th special meeting and work session and we had arbridge Consulting uh they presented their recommendations as well this evening's public um hearing is an opportunity to receive additional feedback from our families and citizens moving forward in
082March we will have continued board discussion and we plan to have a consideration for board approval by March 25th thank you thank you thank you at this time I open for the uh public speaking on the attendance Zone adjud adjust excuse me adjustments Diane is it bralon yes good evening school board members Dr shander Madame chair I'm Diane brelon I a resident and parent from District 5 in Wood Lake Crossing neighborhood I'm here to express my perspective on the elementary school rezoning as your decision could significantly impact my children I have three children a sixth grader in tab Middle School a third grader at Mount Vernon Elementary and an incoming kindergartener this fall as you can imagine I have a vested interest in the outcome of the rezoning I would like to show my support
083of the stakeholder committee and Consulting firm's recommendation and find plan e to be the most favorable option plan e for the Lower County offers the least disruption it avoids splitting neighborhoods between zones maintains traditional feeder School pattern and sets attendance area boundary lines along major highways our neighborhood would be impacted by the proposed changes in plans B and D both options do not satisfy the guidelines provided by the school division Plan B has Wood Lake Cross moving to Coventry Elementary which does not follow the traditional feeder School pattern and does not align with boundary lines as it is on the other side of Hampton Highway 134 Plan D is also not ideal as it splits our neighborhood into two elementary schools both Plan B and Plan D pose unnecessary disruption to the students in our
084neighborhood since there are no capacity issues or concerns at Mount Vernon Elementary now and in the near future I strongly encourage the school board to heed the recommendation of the stakeholder committee and the consulting firm and to support plan e specifically for the Lower County I truly appreciate the work that you do to make our schools the best they could be for our children thank you for your time and consideration thank you very much at this time uh since we only had one speaking for uh the zoning the zoning um public speaking comment time is finished now uh the next one again is public participation for comments of Citizen these are General comments now I'd like to read from the policy sheet once again you'll be saying uh your name your district and the city
085um the what's interesting here is that the chair will impose a time limit of 3 minutes that that's actually in the policy that your maximum time is 3 minutes with no more than 30 minutes allocated for comments of community members this 30 minute period may be extended the chair's discretion this evening because there are so many I will extend it to one hour but we have so many who um so much information on the U agenda tonight dealing with different things that I'm not going to extend it beyond the one hour um so once again if you can keep track of um not applauding and using that time we'll be able to get more people in to speak if you don't get to speak uh you're more than willing if you have a written speech
086you can leave a copy with um Mrs Ford uh the superintendent secretary and the board Clerk and she uh will we'll have her make uh copies of those for us um for each of the board members to read uh afterwards number one U before we start go ahead Jimmy wait a we recognize if the board chair cuts off the the speaking then after that um they can pull their cards and they can speak at the end of the meeting well uh looking at this what the policy says community members who do not sign up to address the board prior to the beginning of the business portion of the meeting will be given an opportunity to speak at the end of the board's meeting agenda so with that statement there the people who have already signed
087up they don't fall into that now what they could do is they could withdraw their cards and if they want to stay afterwards and speak at the very end of the meeting they can we just have so much business that we need to attend to that I'm already extending it Beyond well the chair's discretion so they can pull their cards if you cut it off at an hour and they're so ready to speak they just say I want to pull my card and speak after yeah what what I can do is I will give uh give those to uh Mrs Ford and if you want to stay after uh the entire agenda is finished and that includes the closed meeting that we have afterwards number one mad it wouldn't include the closed session that would
088be after the Clos session comes after thank you um number one I was going to make a comment that uh that when we took our oath of office we uh were sworn to have hold the Constitution of the United States and that includes the First Amendment which has free speech and it also uh the Fourth Amendment which provides redress of grievances to the government and Mr schaer I'm I'm following um the poliy here and we need to be moving on yes and it is the chair's discretion so you're cutting me off now thank you we we need to be moving along Mr Sher Mr schaer well I mean board de Quorum I thought I mean we can we can argue this but it's using up the time for people to speak and then at the
089end of the meeting they would have time to speak afterwards well then how about this I make a motion that we uh include everybody that came to speak which we have always done in the past we've heard everybody even back during Co with all the masks and CRT problems and all that good stuff we listen to everybody and I think we shouldn't stop that now we we can listen to everybody but we'll what we should do is follow policy that I'll extend it for an hour then we'll go through the agenda and those people who want to stay after that they can still speak at the end if they withdraw their cards I second Mr schaer's motion to listen to them all at the same time all right a motion has been moved and seconded
090to hear all of them at the same time which there are um we're going to be here anyway there are 51 so 51 multiplied by 3 minutes so we're going to be here we're probably going to hear them anyway all right the uh motion has been moved and seconded to hear all of them at one time Mrs Ford a motion was made by Mr schaer and seconded by Mr Richardson to hear all of the public comments at one time Mr Schaefer yes Mr Richardson yes Mrs Goodwin yes Mrs Fairman no the motion did pass three to one thank you all right thank you very much all right the first one is Laura San Lorenzo and once again I remind the audience on decorum to not use time with applauding thank you oh and it is
091open for the general uh participation Laura San Lorenzo I live in the tab Zone good evening board members and Dr shandor my my name is Laura I have served as a Yorktown Middle School teacher for 12 years and I've been working as a ycsd school counselor for the last 6 years at both the middle and elementary levels I watched the February 12th work session with disbelief and sadness Mrs Fairman was questioned about encouraging a posy of people to attend the Family Life Education night information session and videotape school counselors she admitted she was wrong and stated she wrote personal letters of apologies to these four counselors only one of whom has received it as of date as someone who is tasked to do this presenting the Family Life curriculum to parents and families these days
092is one of the more daunting job responsibilities that elementary school counselors must perform often families come in with preconceived notions about what message and information we will be teaching parents are often on the offense before they even see the materials and resources although we begin each presentation with an explanation of how the curriculum was developed it's developed with stakeholders such as members of the vdoe school division professionals as well as parents my experience has been that parents want to ask us why we teach what we teach at this year's presentation I had to explain to families that as school counselors we must have every lesson plan and book that we read or present to Children approved at the Schoolboard Administration level by the director of K12 curriculum and instruction so families should rest assured that
093there are no Rogue counselors going into classrooms with their own personal or political agendas it would be comforting if our Schoolboard members acted in the same way and Mrs Goodwin's defense that no laws or rules were broken is an extremely low threshold for board member Behavior at last week's work session Mr Schaefer proposed replacing Mrs Fairman with Mr Richardson for the benefit of his experience as a Schoolboard member and his judicious temperament Mrs Fairman wasn't elected by the community stakeholders to be the board chair she was elected by her faction Mrs Goodwin and Mr padic the fact that she refused to step down despite a legitimate concern indicates that that she is more interested in pushing through her agenda than concerned for the effective functioning of the board and service to our school Division and
094community in my role as a classroom teacher I did have a telling interaction with Mrs Fairman she served as a homebound teacher for one of my middle school history students she took offense at one of my test questions that came directly from the vdoe so Essential Knowledge website the question asked students to identify Senator Joseph McCarthy as a name associated with anti-communist hysteria in the 1950s Mrs Fairman took fence to the word hysteria because she had a family member that worked in anti- Espionage and she felt strongly that it wasn't hysteria but grounded in fact I bring this example up as a good indicator of how Mrs Fairman is unable to discern the source of an issue badgering a teacher about her use of a test question that comes directly from the standards of learning
095and was in fact a released so test question shows a serious lack of understanding of process and protocol just as is sending a militia group to bully and intimidate school counselors who are striving for transparency regarding family letter that they didn't write please remember that you are modeling positive social resolving conflicts okay yes ma'am and once again folks decorum so that you're not using extra time Mr good evening Madam chair and members of the board I think everybody in Hampton rhods Knows My Name by now but I'll repeat it for Mrs P's timing I'm Gary Porter and I live in District 2 I need to start by apologizing for my ill-conceived foyer request with 2020 highsight it is easy to see how that innocent request from my perspective could be and was misinterpreted I had
096no ulterior motive or ill intent it was simply a request I thought would save me some time in getting to know who had spoken that night not just their names but who they were as individuals I'll be happy to stay after the meeting if anyone has further questions about this the policies change that this precipitated was long overdue anyway I've been speaking to this board for two years and every and nearly every time it was has been to war the board of disturbing Trends I noticed in public education across the country on the 22nd of August 2022 I spoke of the epidemic of gender dysphoria occurring among public school kids a trend that is literally killing some of them and I wondered aloud whether the public school system might be doing something even if inadvertently
097to encourage this epidemic a reported 600% increase in gender dysphoria in one city simply does not occur in a vacuum I closed my remarks that August evening with an intemperate remark about tearing the system down and starting over again a remark I truly regret it was long on bravado and short on wisdom and I expressed a view that I no longer hold these two years later I'm no enemy of public education like I hope everyone in this room tonight I want ycsd to be the best it can be teaching the rising generation to be productive and responsible citizens our Republic simply cannot be sustained without an educated citizen citizenry the founders of this country knew this and said it in their writings I have a Virginia teaching certificate a Masters in Education and I actually
098substituted here in York County in the early 90s when I was considering teaching as my post-military career if there had been an opening in biology High School position my the last 30 years would have been definitely different I came to the conclusion recently that my quite varied background from flying in combat to Flying for PanAm to teaching computer security to reenacting James Madison might be of interest to the students of ycsd and so I applied once again to substitute teach last Tuesday I had a wonderful screening interview view with assistant principal Sher vandagriff and Angelie Daniels NV from HR I was quite impressed with both ladies and particularly by the passion that Mrs uh vandagriff exhibited for her students in school we found we had some common connections in our lives and shared a great
099conversation I think the the substitute teaching intake program is much improved over 30 years ago there are other topics I wanted to discuss tonight other conversations I think we must have but my uh I'm learning in my advancing years that sometimes discretion is the order of the day so another time perhaps thank you for the opportunity to speak [Music] tonight see Gina Stevens hi I'm Gina Stevens I am in District three in Seaford thank thank you to our three new board members for doing what most people in York County would never do run for office you are commendable individuals undeserving of the hatred encountered by the public and others this is why the public views Politics as dirty I'd like to correct some misin misconceptions from the last board meeting the code of Virginia does
100not mandate School Board races be apolitical the law only requires candidates to gather voter signatures and appear on the ballot without party affiliation you did nothing illegal immoral or unethical in accepting donations from Republican or conservative groups the Virginia Democratic party and Affiliates spent over $240,000 to elect 12 Fairfax C County Schoolboard candidates that's at $20,000 each and $110,000 on Five louen County candidates at $22,000 each this information is available on vpap.org if you would like to look it up your $300 from the ycrc pales in com in comparison the demms also have put out sample ballots on the web making sure to point out that Democratic candidates your dist your victories were not the result of some minimal contributions from a political party you won by going door too you won listening to constituents
101you won sharing your goals for ycsd you won because your districts wanted change change seems to frighten some people but sometimes it's simply necessary stay focused on doing your best as God guides you in serving the school kids of this County the superintendent needs a chaperone in the room to talk to the board chair what kind of nonsense is that you make [Music] $272,000 a year with a benefits package a ridiculous benefit package of $400,000 a year that should be enough for you to get your job done with all the without all the shenanigans and another thing I wrote a letter to all five of you board members and at the bottom of it I asked for it not to be put on the let's talk you Mr Richardson sent it to the attorney and
102the attorney put it on the let's talk that's a violation of my rights and I don't appreciate it there thank uh no applause uh next speaker is Heather Stein Miller good evening everyone I live in District 4 my two kids graduated from York County schools and I was a division employee for 17 years as a York County resident and Community member I followed the latest activities of the school board with some trepidation quoting George Washington if men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter the freedom of speech may be taken away and dumb and Silent we may be led like lands to the slaughter I'm speaking tonight on behalf of teachers because of their fear of reprisal demanding the names of anonymous individuals who Express concern over the actions of the
103York picosen Community mission is bullying plain and simple one is only to look back at history to see the disastrous results of suppressing free speech teaching is not 9 to5 Monday to Friday teachers don't go home at the same time every day to cook dinner relax and watch TV nor is it simply plunking students in front of an electronic device no they are coaches Club sponsors de facto counselors they spend hours exerting themselves creating engaging lesson plans plans that require adapting at a moment's notice over and above the differentiation they've already built in teachers genuinely care about each and every kid that walks through that door this constant dedication does take a toll having to contend with outside threats only further adds to their daily anxiety it's time for school leadership to step up and
104address the toxic atmosphere that threatens to drown their already struggling teachers it's time for school leadership to consistently model the positive behavior they want to see in their schools it's time for school leadership to prove they have student wealth Ware at the Forefront and by extension that they have their teachers backs to that end let teachers do what they do best teach their years of education and extensive training more than adequately have prepared them let them teach without Big Brother looming over their shoulder let them teach students how to think not what to think students need to be able to gather and analyze data from multiple sources and then use objective judgment to formulate their views John 8: 7-1 Jesus said he among you without sin Let Him cast the first stone also judge not
105lest ye be judged it's okay to disagree not everyone shares the same beliefs but it is not okay to penalize and intimidate those that disagree with you we are all climbing the same Mountain we're just taking different paths to the summit thank you uh the next speaker I have it just says Tom District 5 excuse me just potentially expedite yes in a row yeah five names in a row I was thinking the same thing thought that that's all right um the ones to be ready are Sandra tuminello Donald streer Teresa vaness Jennifer register and mine barley what you can do is line up behind all right um Tom if you could please all right uh good evening uh Madam chair ycsb Court uh members and Dr shandor my name is Tom jet I'm a resident
106of uh Fifth District in York County I'm a parent of two adult uh young girls who both graduated from tab High School um I I'm a retired military officer uh served over 22 years been defense contractor for going on 16 years now I've talked to a lot of different people I've never talked at a Schoolboard meeting or any kind of political event or like like this I was moved to do so though after attending the 29th of January meeting and even more motivated after the February meeting watching it on uh close circuit TV I couldn't understand why some board members were throwing labels around like toxic train wreck I read the the Wavy TV coverage of this still didn't cover whoever's over here can just can't calm down but um I couldn't understand why after
107only 26 days of being on the board at the February meeting roughly words like that were being talked uh tossed around the board had bar barely had a chance to get seated and now uh there were these vitriolic attacks coming out so it was evident uh something was a foot and I was wondering who is really making the situation toxic I'd like to remind everybody we had a fair and open election in November all three board members were uh hard campaigners they won their seats fair and square they spoke to countless people they knocked on hundreds and hundreds of doors they won the votes of their constituents they turned out and won by sizable majorities of between 5.7 and 24% they're all good people I know most I know all of them running for public
108office takes guts as already been sort of alluded to tonight none of us have done it okay so give them a chance all three board members generally want to do the best for all of our kids one of them is literally the embodiment of the American American dream like many of you here I care about yourk County and our Public Schools I personally am concerned about our kids and whether their education is adequately preparing them for success in an uncertain future we may come to this situation from different perspectives but I'd like to ask everyone to just calm the heck down let the board member get their let the board members get their footing stop these personal politically driven counterproductive and hyperbolic attacks and I support the three new board members 100% thank you Sandra
109tuminello is the next hello Madame chairman School Board Dr Shan door I come as an educator a retired math teacher school counselor for over 30 years grandparent of two York high school graduates who had done very well I'm Sandra tanella from District 4 York County has spoken our new board has been elected you were chosen because people liked what you had to say the promises you gave the spirit that you represented and just remember you can't please everyone one all the time and still maintain the promises on your campaigns so I hope everyone in the whole room will remember that you promis Town Hall meetings open to all offering opportunities for civilized discussion problem solving listening to each other and no hidden agendas you want competitive pay for our teachers so York County can have
110the very best teachers and the pay they deserve reserve and administrative support for teachers and support staff and especially in the areas of discipline which I've heard from several teachers who have retired or left the school system because it had gotten so bad so we need to know that I mean we're the best but yet it's slipped okay when they want to help students develop and discover their new unique god-given skills and talents and graduate ready to enter the workforce in a field where they can Excel for the students to become low abiding citizens thoughtful well-mannered considerate intellectually curious academic chiever critical thinkers and prepared for success as adults I hope everyone in this room will remember those adjectives appreciate the uniqueness of America because of our Constitution and biblical Foundation it's time for everyone
111to ignore the derogatory divisive partial truths and outright lies that have been presented by social media and wavy to news come see and think for yourself give this newly formed board a chance to demonstrate what they can accomplish if you really want to be a problem solver pray for each of these people the school board members Dr shandor the students the families this County needs prayer and cooperation and just one one uh quick thing I want to say that all the talk that I didn't even realize we were we were in Cancun having a good time doing didn't know all this mess was going on got home and found out that some plant was sent to the family uh life parents meeting to take pictures and they were sticking a camera in people's faces I
112was the one there with the the only one with the camera and I can't even operate the thing I had to get somebody to show me how to do it on my iPhone and and I ended up taking pictures of my purse because it was turned backwards thank you Mrs Tel so give them a chance behave Teresa vaness everybody good evening Madam chair members of the board Dr shandor I'm Teresa vaness proud retired counselor counseling director at tab Middle School I have two I'm proud of two daughters who graduate from tab High and I live in Yorktown District 5 ready for timing I'm sure we can all agree we're living in unique times contentious and vicious even people always have had and will continue to have differing opinions so how in the world did we
113get to this place in which those with differing opinions are to be targeted and labeled as the enemy viewing the most recent board meeting and local social media posts and TV headlines we're seeing an ugly side to humanity with efforts to dehumanize demonize dis credit others by using exaggerations and untruths by manipulating public opinion and recruiting others to join in the effort to ostracize and isolate the targeted enemy our students would recognize this as intimidation and bullying members of the board as well as other individuals under attack are law-abiding contributing citizens of our community who have served our nation as military members Educators and business owners they are human beings with a strong sense of responsibility ility to community despite the risk involved in putting oneself out there agree with them or not they are
114being vilified with a message of we don't want to hear what you have to say so sit down and be silent our children are hearing seeing and learning from what we do and we all must do better to all Schoolboard members thank you for your courage and willingness to step up to this important role during this emotionally charged these emotionally charged times for asking questions when it certainly would be easier to nod your headson agree with everything for your efforts to define the separate roles of the superintendent and the board for an appropriate checks and balances while also committing to a shared mission to our superintendent and board members what could be learned from the last few minutes of that last meeting I think York count is better than that do we want intentional Division
115and distraction to be the focus here in York County to repeat behaviors seen nationally or can York County turn this into an opportunity to become a positive local example to our community by coming together and finding common ground what will it require of each of you to work through and resolve personal feelings to operate with integrity and honesty while thinking for yourselves to clear the air with each other and seek a path for Meaningful and productive dialogue there are some contentious topics out there with some strong opposing viewpoints but many students staff parents Educators and community members have views that fall somewhere in between how can we bring our community together so that all have a voice engaging and courageous conversation about the most polarizing topics will require sensitivity open-mindedness and sincere respect it won't
116be easy it will be uncomfortable at times it will require a willingness to empathize and compromise but I have in confidence in all of you and all of us thank you Jennifer register oops and I'm sorry it should be Don streer I don't I don't oh sorry it got it got stuck sorry about that my name is Donald streer District 5 I've never served as a school teacher I have served as a classroom instructor simulator instructor and flight and aircraft flight uh instructor pilot I'd like like to express appreciation for the Fresh Approach you're taking the particularly the transparency and getting questions out in the open so we all can know what is going on in our school system and I would like to emphasize that I believe this in the the long run will
117make our entire system better thank you thank you General streer uh Jennifer register good evening members of the board my name is Jen register and I live in District 3 and I am not retired and I have two children in the school system currently the core values of ycsd are engagement growth Innovation and take and safety as mentioned the first core value is engagement specifically collaborative relationships Miss Fairman made it abundantly clear at the last work session that she is only working for the portion of individuals that voted her into office I do commend Mr schaer and Mr Richardson on your attempts to mediate this situation but fear your efforts may be in vain the next core value is growth the new board has yet to discuss how to all allate resources in a manner
118that will best support growth for our students and staff but miss Fairman and others seem very interested in utilizing school system resources to do the job they didn't fully understand the breadth of before running for office I agree Mr schaer I too have not heard anything come out of the meeting so far regarding what's good for our children what's good for our parents and what's good for the staff of ycsd next up Innovation Miss questions why students still need laptops and devices this far postco this question alone should show how incredibly out of touch she is with current educational methods fortunately for this core value Miss Fairman was the only one completely out of touch then we have integrity Miss Fairman has already stated that things she said during the campaign were just that quote
119when you're put on the spot during a campaign those things happen hopefully the thousands of people that voted for her heard that comment also miss Fairman mentioned very pointedly that she handw wrote apology notes to the guidance counselors however she forgot to mention was that as of that work session and one month after the event itself she had yet to mail them and finally safety between our guidance counselors feeling very unsafe and intimidated at the January meeting as well as speakers from the last school board meeting such as myself feeling very unsafe due to the numerous Foya requests from a supporter of the local militia not to mention all the strife and dysfunction Miss fairman's Le board have experienced in their short time as a board leading to discussions on the need for taxpayer paid
120mediation this PO this board has become a train wreck and as a reminder the core value we're discussing is safety so just to be clear train wrecks are not safe thank you thank you and as meline barley walks up uh the next people Danielle or DaNell Francis Margaret Annette Caitlyn is it bble uh Corey Martin and Carl Waller will be the next ones up on board Miss barley hello school board members and Dr shander my name is meline barley also not retired also with kids currently in ycsd I'm from District 3 and I appreciate being allowed to speak this evening m Farin and Miss Goodwin you land you ran your campaign on promising for Change and I'd like to thank you for your commitment to bettering our schools but I would like to suggest some
121changes that the ycst parents are most concerned with one make our teachers want to work here there's no shortage of great teachers within ycsd and it's imperative that we do not lose our excellent teachers due to salary concerns toxic work environments lack of support or a fear for speaking up for our children's best interests I fear there'll be a mass Exodus of teachers and administrators if any premeditated plans of firing our delightful superintendent are come come forth we can't sustain a national teacher shortage and I can say that I for one cannot homeschool my children based on the covid uh you know schooling I don't even know what the Bossy R is or all any of those things can't do it two we want our children home at a reasonable hour I implore you to
122fix our division's transportation system the only solution is more drivers so that our children are not routinely double routed my kids if they were taking the bus in the evening would be getting home at almost dark 5:00 p.m. as at one of the last stops in the neighborhood unless we pay our bus drivers more a meaningful amount more than surrounding districts it's not going to happen transportation is sick and tired of my emails and bless their hearts but they have to have more drivers and to get more drivers we have to pay them more three we want our children to be safe as I sent three of my four babies to school every morning I never let them leave without kissing them goodbye Sandy Hook and many school shooting since left a per permanent scar
123in our hearts I please plead with you to ensure our schools are equipped to handle the unthinkable and with a local militia recruiting children as young as 16 we need to make it a priority four we want our children to be in classrooms that are not overcrowded especially our children in Title One schools where classroom size is a pillar of success please work with the Board of Supervisors to prevent further developments unless a new elementary school is also built the need is highest in the northern part of our County McGruder and Yorktown Elementary cannot wait any longer to decompress please note that the original map drawn for redist redistricting plan a does not sufficiently address that a group of parents from every single Elementary School along with many principles worked very hard and gave about
124many evenings with their families to find the best possible plan was plan e and I urge you to accept this proposal finally we want our children to see adults treating each other with kindness and respect we don't deserve the current lack of focus on our children and I plead for you all to work as a team in closing I'd like to paraphrase a favorite artist of mine OA Jackson you better chickity check yourself before you wreck our schools thanks thank you denil Francis good evening my name is denil Francis District 2 I myself am a product of York County Schools spouse to a York County teacher of 25 years and my child niece and nephew are York County student students I am here to voice no confidence in Miss fairman's capacity to serve on our
125school board her behavior has been irresponsible and unprofessional at best our school board is no place for her to settle her personal scores When Miss Fairman was employed in our schools students and parents described her as mean unkind cruel and demeaning so how can we now trust her to serve our School Division we cannot miss Fairman spoke on a podcast about removing our superintendent and is now unable to meet with him individually she misled voters about her true history in our schools and her motives so how can we now trust her to serve our School Division we cannot miss fman Pro proposed removing student recognitions from board meetings for the sake of time then designated time for prayers where politically charged religious extremists led her and other board members in prayer so how can we
126trust her when she has no commitment to actual Schoolboard responsibilities we cannot miss Fairman TS fiscal responsibility at the sacrifice of Education suggesting removal of school issued devices but then suggests funding a board dedicated secretary a position never before needed so how can we trust her when she is focused on redirecting funds away from meaningful student access to learning to serve herself we cannot miss Fairman sent militia members to a school event intimidating staff and families then said she didn't know her friends were associated with a militia so how can we trust trust her when either her Integrity of character or basic competency is so lacking we cannot miss Fairman has sent egregiously unprofessional emails in her rle as chair she used language that would be grossly inappropriate in any professional context so again I
127ask how can we trust her to serve serve our School Division we the parents staff and students the heart of York County School Division cannot trust her thank you thank you Margaret Annette good evening Dr shandor Madam chair and members of the board my name is Maggie Annette and I'm the junior class vice president at tab High School although I'm not yet old enough to vote I'm very eager to be able to practice my civic duty by getting a chance to speak tonight I would like to start off by addressing the recent discussion of shortening the accent on academics and changing student recognition to be primarily an in school recognition when I was a fifth grader I was honored to receive the student service award mostly though it was extremely rewarding it was an extremely
128rewarding experience to be able to get that award here my teacher and family were able to attend and it was a very special moment that I can still recall to this day additionally getting to watch the seniors of the month from each School get recognized and getting to hear all of their accomplishments was something that was pretty inspiring to hear at 10 years old that tradition of Excellence of York County students faculties and faculty and volunteers is something that should be celebrated not diminished second I know the I know a goal of the new school board members was to make sure that the tax dollars of York County residents go towards Student Success and in classroom support I would like to ask that we all remember this when it comes to proposing new per prop
129sorry positions for the division such as the board clerk although the clerk would be beneficial to the board I don't see how that would directly benefit students or faculty which is the ultimate goal of the school board next I would like to say that I have had some amazing teachers at tab high school so far in my junior year my favorite thing about my classes is how my teachers have helped me shape my identity by providing me with some amazing different perspectives about topics something that has been emphasized onto students is that as long as we can use our resources to back something up it's a valid Point lastly Dr shandor has had an extremely positive impact on the School Division the best thing about him is that his actions speak louder than his words
130for example this past Friday we had a unified Tigers basketball game at tab where special educu special education students got the opportunity to play a basketball game in front of the whole school Dr shandor told me he would be there and he was he took time out of his day to show that each and every student of this County matters to him he not only makes a point to personally get to know faculty from ycsd but the students too he means a lot to us I urge everyone sitting before me to put their differences aside and work together to achieve a common goal which is to engage students so that they can Pro they can make positive contributions to our world and provide teachers with the resources needed to make that possible thank you thank
131you Caitlyn bble okay good evening my name is Caitlyn bble I live in District 5 tonight I would like to discuss the behavior of the new new board members specifically how it violates the ycsd handbook in the handbook it states that as students we are required to not use technology to antagonize bully harass or stalk people Miss Goodwin on social media you called Dr Carol and Dr shandor a piece of sh you also stated that you do not believe slaves were unhappy and asked for proof this is ignorant and uneducated miss good Goodwin your posts are cruel and immature our handbook defines bullying as aggressive and unwanted Behavior intended to harm intimidate or humiliate Mr pich moed motioned to remove student recognition from meetings Miss Fairman you ignored Mr Richardson's concerns about board Unity Miss
132Goodwin you dismissed Mr Schaefer's love for ycsd all three of you publicly stated that you want to remove Dr shandor as superintendent Dr shandor is adored and respected by the entire County for his interactions with students and simply being excellent at his job he is also regularly seen in the school buildings interacting with students and teachers here is him at the unified tigers basketball game this past Friday if us students are expected to abide by the handbook then why is the board not required to do the same Mr M would frequently visit the schools as well miss Fairman how many times have you been any of the schools in your District all of these are examples of aggressive and unwanted Behavior as students we have the right to a safe and orderly environment Miss Fairman
133by aligning with a militia and prioritizing your needs over the needs of the students you have not provided us with a safe or orderly environment the behavior you are showing is a threat to our safety and learning and it currently looks that no student will benefit from you being on the board you also motion for prayer to be concluded in meetings despite the previous motion to remove student recognition from meetings prayer is not the same in every religion therefore this motion is not inclusive and violates the ruling of separation of church and state it is imperative that public schools consistently uphold neutrality in religious matters to align with the First Amendment as reiterated by the Supreme Court lastly I would like to discuss the core values for ycsd engagement is cultivating relationship voting to remove
134students from board meetings is not engagement growth is investing in students prioritizing your wants over students needs is not growth Innovation is advancing progress caring more about time on laptops versus quality of instruction is not Innovation Integrity is mutual respect making racial and cruel statements on social media is not Integrity safety is providing a secure and supportive environment aligning with a militia does not make any of us feel safe or supported from what we have seen so far it seems that you believe believe you are above the rules and do not believe in the mission and values of ycsd thank you thank you Cory Martin Corey Martin District 4 good evening Dr shandor and members of the school board my name is Cory Martin and this is my 17th year as a teacher at tab
135High School I come today with a concern about comments made by the chair of the board a person who purports to represent the citizens in her District district 5 at the work session on February 12th Mrs Fairman discounted the public comment section saying that 20 or so people speaking at the meeting does not counteract the larger number of people who voted for her I assure you Mrs Fairman that any speakers who come to this Podium to speak counter to positions you have taken and remarks you have made since being sworn in as a York County Schoolboard member represent more than just ourselves in fact I represent 80 teachers and staff at tab High who have signed off on these comments I speak not as me but as us tab high is an amazing School in
136fact all the schools in Mrs fairman's District are Great Schools it's a shame Mrs Fairman hasn't taken the time as our new board representative to see just how great we are to my knowledge she has not made an effort to walk our Halls talk with our teachers or students or come cheer on our students in any of our many extracurricular activities such as our inclusive United Tigers basketball game last Friday in fact as reported by our local school Channel Wavy News News Channel Wavy News instead of showing up to support her constituents she she sent known followers of a local self-proclaimed militia in her place this group videotaped the meeting and likely intimidated the great Educators trying to inform the community certainly this is not the public face you want your County Schools to have
137and I can't imagine these are the kind of stories about ycsd any board members want to keep seeing in the news Mrs Fairman talks frequently about her constituents and listening to their concerns while the students and staff at tab high are your constituents in our school we teach accountability hard work and honesty we teach students to own up to mistakes and to do better the next time we teach them to honor each other no matter how different they may seem on the surface for example at T high this month we have been celebrating Black History Month each morning we honor and recognize a black historical figure in their contributions to our country we also teach leadership us and Virginia history biology and language and composition classes all of which teach about good citizenship valuable life
138skills and knowledge that some of our board members seem to be lacking since Mrs Goodwin thinks there there is no historical evidence that enslaved people were unhappy according to her social media post maybe she would benefit from also stopping by our school to learn a little bit about accurate history I can assure you from a common sense perspective we won't be sharing any Black History Month fact of the day stating that slaves were happy to be enslaved our schools deserve better leadership several of you have proven to represent only a few and ignore your who your job really should be about the students families and School staff of your County Schools not militia groups who want to push a national political agenda we all deserve better leadership please do better or step down to make
139way for someone who will thank you and have a great night all right uh as Carl Waller is walking up Monica mcy Carrie is it Chi or chai I'm not sure Nicole living nariel living and Tammy deerberg please get ready hello my name is Carl Waller and I live in District 5 tab good evening members of the school school board and Dr shandor tonight I urge you to open your hearts to the reality of what happens when mental health support is neglected a reality where the desperate cries of students often go too unheard until it's too late and they're being lowered into the ground or placed on a mantle in an ear mental health counselers and programs like the signs of suicide program that some members want to reduce to basically nothing are the unsung
140heroes of our educational institutions yet let's confront reality headon without them it's like playing Russian roulette with our lives I speak from personal experience mental health has been my own difficult Journey which for most of I've had to endure in silence and on my own having someone to confide in it's been a Lifeline literally I recall not knowing where to go and feeling like giving up is my only option but amidst the darkness there were beacons of light my friends who recognized the signs of my struggles and knew knew how to help their understanding and empathy were invaluable guiding me towards the support I desperately needed their knowledge of mental health issues allowed them to offer for a compassionate year and practical assistance they were the ones who encouraged me to seek help to confined
141and trusted adults and to take steps towards healing were it not for those counselors and my friends standing as pillars of support I might be a mere memory etched on a tombstone a life extinguished prematurely picture that desperate Soul your child or peer reaching out for salvation only to encounter closed doors doors which were closed by some of our Schoolboard members those who claim to know what's best for our students it's plainly evident that mental health is not a priority for the 12,996 students in the York County School Division and shame on those who gamble with human lives and what's truly confounding while dismantling Mental Health Resources attention is diverted to the buoy man of indoctrination in the Crusade against critical race Theory yet in my years within the York County School Division I've yet
142to encounter such a claim of indoctrination it's a smoke screen plain and simple rather than addressing genuine needs precious time and resources are fritted away on political grandstanding it's exhausting and embarrassing to constantly hear about absent non-existent issues plaguing our community so let this be unmistakable and Crystal Clear mental health cannot be swept under the rug nor can we be duped by obvious political charades it's time to prioritize what truly matters the well-being of our students or so certain newly elected members of this board try to Proclaim contemplate the profound pain and anguish thrown upon parents in the community should a child lose their battle to the hands of mental illness Envision burying your own child seeing a vacant spot at the dinner table or witnessing an empty desk in the classroom each and every
143morning it's not merely a tragedy it's an enduring Legacy of pain and heartache and let me remind you in case you have not made this realization you all were voted in by the parents and community members not the students the current School Board whose job is to shape the educational trajectory of students like me does not have the support of the student populace in the York County School Division thank you Mr thank you good evening my name is Monica mcy and I'm a resident of District 3 a concerned employee of ycsd currently teaching five different Career and Technical education courses at York High School I've been an educator for over 22 years in school divisions on the Southside and the peninsula during the February 12th work session Mrs Fairman stated that nothing is personal as
144a teacher I take exception to the statement as a former educator Miss Fairman you should know better teachers are encouraged to make personal connections and build relationships with the students in our classrooms education is personal parents entrust us with their most valued treasure their child they trust us to provide the best personal educational experience and learning environment that will lead to academic achievement how is that not personal one of the core values of ycsd is integrity demonstrating mutual respect and trust between parties the messages coming from newly elected school board members are lacking that Mutual trust and respect instead this group appears to have personal agendas and a desire for control and power in the name of change the incumbents Schoolboard superintendent and the Schoolboard staff are genuinely concerned about all the stakeholders of ycsd
145the students the parents the teachers and the staff we as employees are reminded we are the face of the county and are expected to represent ycsd positively always the same expectation should apply to the school board members when the local news station reports on ycsd and uses the headline quote train wreck new Schoolboard leadership in York County it is a disgrace and a disservice that will only tarnish the reputation of ycsd in York County please stop embarrassing ing us to hear new board members oo and awe about programs that they did not know we offered caused me concerned because many of the programs and Community Partnerships have been in place for many years were you unaware of the variety of programs offered in the division that you decided to run a political campaign to help
146lead were you unaware of the amazing students and outstanding employees that cultivate them on a daily basis were these oversights part of your short-sighted campaign strategy remember you were elected to represent all of the citizens of your District regardless of their age and voting preference it was suggested to do away with onetoone technology or reduce the said technology to only 10% of a class period I'm guessing 10% sounded pleasing to the constituents who have no direct contact with a member of the ycsd family to a classroom teacher who teaches courses that require computer use that's an absurdity FYI in a high school classroom 10% is 9 minutes after board members visited schools to see students were to see if students were entranced on their laptops it was reported by those members that they were amazed
147to see genuine learning activities instead of YouTube videos Carri Chi good evening I'm Carrie Chi of District 4 alongside many concerned parents Educators students staff and community members I'm troubled by the recent Direction the board has taken under the guidance of the three new members Within These past two months the school board is meant to function apolitically prioritizing the needs of students Educators staff and parents to provide quality education unfortunately Linda Fairman Kimberly Goodwin and zaran PC have politicized ycsd educational governance prioritizing their own agendas over the well-being of students and staff Miss Fairman Miss Goodwin and Mr PC all touted fiscal responsibility as a key element they would bring to the board yet two months into their term the wey school board has already been put on notice for at least two legal concerns
148and is also considering an unnecessary extra board clerk position the first legal concern is about bringing prayer to school meetings case law has long upheld the Constitutional wall of separation between church and state the freedom from religion Foundation staff attorney sent a letter to the board urging it to resend the decision to include prayer in board meetings indicating it would pursue legal action the foundation even referenced a similar case in Chino Valley California that resulted in the school board being ordered to pay $275,000 to cover the foundation's attorney fees and Associated costs is this to be the next next expense for ycsd then there's the potential suit for superintendent shandor on a claim of retaliation although we the public are not privy to the exact cause for this claim it is known that Miss Fairman
149was let go by the York County School Division as a substitute teacher the the public deserves to know exactly why Miss Fairman was let go from a teaching position parents and former students alleged that Miss Fairman insulted students stating things such as you'll never be a success in life because they did not know cursive and telling a student in front of a class don't come talk to me in that homosexual voice and even telling a York High School class that the Holocaust never occurred and that York County School should stop spewing lies about history shouldn't egregious acts like this leading determination qualify someone from ever running from the school board especially in this division in which they were ousted the toxic hostile work environment created by these board members including actions like inviting militia representatives
150to intimidate staff exposes ycsd to further legal risks I commend Mr Richardson and Mr Schaefer for their leadership during this crisis and Express gratitude to superintendent shander for supporting ycsd staff and students Mr PC who isn't here but please distance yourself from this toxic rhetoric and align your directive with rational evidence-based dises in making for York County School Division although Miss Goodwin and Miss Fairman are clearly not history Buffs based on their past social media and spoken comments I remind the board that this is Yorktown and we the people have a long history of standing up against tyranny and misuse of power thank you thank you Nicole living good evening my name is Nicole living I'm a York resident District 3 in the interest of furthering our dialogue this evening I'm going to use some
151big words I would share the definitions with you but since I wasn't there when the language was invented I'm sure you wouldn't believe me instead I'll just share examples of recent Schoolboard behavior that exemplifies these traits instead the first word is hypocrisy both the chair and vice chair have called and continue tonight to call for deorum and respect from other board members and the public yet they are on record on multiple occasions being disrespectful and rude to District staff the lack of respect the chair shows to other members even tonight makes your repeated requests for decorum laughable but we should be nice to you hypocrisy the next word is cowardice Vice chair Goodwin's abhorent comments about the history of chatt slavery in the United States have been well documented by now but when faced with
152a direct response in person when a black woman took the floor last public meeting to speak to y'all with a frankly undeserved kindness and Grace about the importance of inclusive and accurate history lessons the vice chair never looked up never gave the constituent the respect of acknowledging her comments or even looking her in the face a pattern I note that continues tonight cowardice next we have hubris the gall of the current chair and vice chair to fully disregard the experience of the sitting board members and vote themselves into positions of authority while continuously fumbling the simplest of parliamentary procedures is incredible hubris waving a copy of Robert's Rules around is not as impressive as you might think y'all can't even manage an agenda and you have the chair seconding motions hubris my next word is
153nefarious in spite of comments to the contrary by Law School Board elections in Virginia are meant to be nonpartisan but the new board members still appeared on a partisan sample ballot it wasn't official so it wasn't illegal but it certainly violated the spirit of the law I guess transparency accountability only apply to people you disagree with or from whom you want to rest power for yourselves the last word is subterfuge the only reason y'all are disavowing sending that militia to record the fle info session and refuting reports of your connections to them is because you got caught and that's all I'll say on that subject but it speaks volumes hypocrisy cowardice hubris nefariousness and subterfuge these are the themes of your terms so far after watching the session Tonight I almost wanted to add to
154quorum you keep on using that word but I do not think it means what you think it means in the interest of our time I'll skip that lesson for tonight do better or better yet step down thank you narel living my name is nariel living I live in District 3 and I am a parent of a student board members I was pleased to see that two of the board members recently tried to get this group back on track since you have had such a disastrous beginning I would like to point out that you might not have had such a contentious relationship with Dr shandor if you perhaps used a better tone in your Communications have a conversation instead of issuing imperious directives for example I will read an email sent by Linda Fairman to Dr
155shandor where she insists on a list of Demands being met within hours and at the end minutes on January 17th of this year at 1:32 p.m. four and a half hours before the event Linda Fairman wrote to Dr shandor good afternoon I understand there is a Family Life Education preview night presentation for parents and citizens at D Elementary School this evening 177 January 2024 beginning at 6: p.m. in 4 and a half hours please Direct ycsd Communications staff to video record this entire presentation including the entire question and answer period and post on the ycsd website with any accompanying slideshows and handouts by 10: a.m. tomorrow morning 18th of January 2024 in addition please provide copies of this presentation slideshows handouts and all citizens specific comments and questions along with the names and titles of
156all presenters and staff participants to all York County Schoolboard members by noon tomorrow please respond to this email within 15 minutes of its receipt board members your behavior is a very serious matter research shows most people move to York County for the school systems because of that our real estate prices are a little bit higher if you derail our school systems as you seem intent on doing we will be faced with a very somber housing crisis leaving all citizens of York County struggl Ling once again I am here to tell you that I expect better of you as board members and I expect better of you as human beings thank you well uh Tammy deerberg walks up the next ones are Barbara Haywood Lawrence goson Liz Montgomery Charles Gates and Terry Fowler m evening Madam
157chair members of the board and Dr shandor my name is Tammy deerberg I live in District 2 God help us I have viewed the uh past two months work sessions online excuse me I appreciate the questions the new board members are asking this shows you want your decisions to be as well informed as possible I don't think anyone would object to that I have witnessed the new board members doing their best to learn this job in a very professional manner in a short amount of time I have discovered the monthly work session meetings bring clarification to what takes place during the business portion of tonight's meeting and has given me a greater appreciation to the scope of work involved in running a school district so I'd like to thank the school school board and the
158York County School Division Administration staff for all of your hard work I care deeply about the youth of York County and our nation they are tomorrow's future I pay close attention to our school district and others Across the Nation I'm asking this board to make it your mission to focus on providing an exceptional education for York County students I'm asking this board to honor the parents of each student as a supreme authority over their children that God gave them I'm asking this board to make the physical safety of each student excuse me a priority I believe each of the board members and this Administration align with my requests but I think it's important you hear the requests of citizens like me I am saddened at the personal attacks against the three new school board members
159during last month's Schoolboard meeting and online these divisive attacks do not benefit anyone so much of what I have heard even tonight has been misinformation or quotes taken out of con context like a sound bite I believe each of you ran for this position out of a passion for what is best for the children of York County the entire York County School District staff and the families of the students I witness fair and honest campaigning going door too speaking to the citizens of York County the voters cast their ballot if anyone degrees disagrees with policy changes that's fine but disagreement should be handled in a respectful way isn't that the example we want our students to learn and follow we better than this thank you thank you Barbara hywood Madame chair board members Dr shandor
160my name is Barbara Haywood and I reside in the brutin district of the county I commented when I left this board after 30 unopposed years of service that I may come back on this side of the dis I've had the opportunity to view your organizational meeting your last board meeting and your last work session this is why I stand before you this evening while I do not need to give you my evolution of appointments and elections to this board I would like to you to know that I've had the opportunity to work with many different board members and four different superintendents over the 30 years regardless of how you enter this position your responsibilities include governance policy development financial accountability and working closely with the superintendent who you hire and evaluate and who manages the
161division on a daily basis your goals first and foremost is the educational opportunities the division provides for all of the students and the dedicated employees providing these Services it is your job to collectively work together to make a positive difference in all 19 schools while each of you have different and varied life and experiences and backgrounds you bring these differences to the board table one can only pray that you leave that board table maybe not as a unified body but as a body that can has found a favorable consensus for our students again I have been where you sit I urge you to engage in an any approved School Board training through the Virginia school boards Association to better prepare you for this role you're not here to micromanage one of the biggest mistakes any
162board member can make in your organization meeting you freely use the word constituent and not students while I am aware that the citizens of your respective districts voted you into this position the students are our most are the main focus and responsibility the students all 13,256 of them are the reasons you are in this extremely important elected and honored position ladies and Gentlemen please keep your politics and your personal agendas out of our schools you have been given a tremendous responsibility of overseeing a quality educational environment for all of our students this is absolutely not the Euro County that I have known love and am willing to stand up for I am here to offer my assistance any way possible as you face these issues you have published the 2023 24 test fast facts make
163sure you live up to what is printed you would not have achieved these accomplishments without the superintendent and his cabinet and if they leave I'm sure they would have not find any problem finding the position anywhere Lawrence goulson thank you Miss Hayward good evening School Board Dr shandor uh listening to these young folks a little while ago uh it reminds me of an African proverb that says that a child not embra embraced by The Village will burn it down to fill its warmth so I stand in solidarity with anyone who supports these young minds these young voices and advocates for the same and get away from anything that does not relate to that my name is Lawrence golsen I am your York James City County Williamsburg NAACP president and I excuse me it has come
164to our attention through various media reports and social media posts as has been stated that some members of the school board have stated amongst other things that people of color should not feel oppressed because they have put themselves in that situation and they should take a lesson from the Jews who don't run around claiming they are oppressed and victims because they work hard hard and Rose above it and who also wrote that they have not seen any proof that enslaved people were not happy while also completely discounting discounting the groundbreaking work of the 1619 project presumably because its narrative does not match a certain political agenda based upon these and other disturbing messages our organization is making our voice heard under the education priorities provided by the Virginia NAACP we will continue to advocate for
165the highest standard of learning safety and equity in the Virginia's public schools which includes defend the teaching of Americans history which includes black history and support accurate interpretations of US policies social Moray and laws that have run counter to the promises of American democracy to emphasize developing or augmenting existing policies that ensure accountability of School Employees who actions and or inactions contribute to racist School cultures understand literacy as a civil rights issue support School libraries that do not censor American history and culture require recurring cultural competency training as part of the teacher certification and professional development processes with standards determined by a diverse group of Education civil rights and Community leaders and I will add to that also School Board while the school board is composed of individuals with their own beliefs values and opinions
166once those individuals are elected the board becomes one your private thoughts and beliefs when shared publicly no longer represent you as an individual only they now reflect the entire School Board therefore we will address our comments to the entire School Board instead of addressing individual board members I will yield my time to miss Liz Montgomery but I want you to know that we see you we're watching and we expect accountability thank you thank you Liz Montgomery good afternoon I am Liz Montgomery I live in District One um in York County my kids went to muda Queens Lake and brutin I moved here 51 years ago to come to York County schools because I heard how good they were and I want you to know that we produced in York County three young women my daughters
167who are doing exceptionally well Christy Coleman if you don't know that name is the director and executive director of Jamestown New Yorktown Foundation she graduated from brutin my other daughter Shandra graduated from USC and she is has her Masters in law my daughter Angela graduated at 6 and from brutin high school and she is an electrical engineer so ladies and gentlemen I'm here to tell you York County has produced some good students of African-American descent and I'm not the only one sitting in here that can say that that wasn't part of what my president wanted me to say and I'm also first vice president of the NAACP so you will not forget Miss Liz Montgomery it is disturbing to our York James City Williamsburg NAACP branch to learn that the York County School Board is
168presenting alternative theories regarding slavery the York County School Board should publicly address this issue your comments reflect your character insight and your ability to make decisions regarding the education of all our children has the school board thought about the impact these statements regarding the the uh functionality of our standard American history and our black history we have on our black students not just our black students but all our students erasing the truth of our shared history is an attempt to erase us as African-Americans I'm not having it school board members I am not having it it is an attempt to deny this systemic nature of racism and to avoid addressing racial disparities as a result of slavery and Jim Crow law not 200 years ago but for over 200 years in January the education Committee
169of yjc w NAACP Branch presented presented a school Equity report for York County schools and will the School Board address the findings of this report we will be looking forward to that the rest of of my time I will yield to the third vice president of the NAACP Charles Gates Mr Gates Dr shandor school board members my name is Charles Gates I live in torano again I am the second VP for the local NAACP up up until now your County Schools have been a shining star in our region but State statements and actions such as the one put forth today put that standing in doubt further the disparity study provided by our education committee that presented here just last month shows inaccuracies in Opportunity representation and best practices for black students when Governor yunan visited
170Colonial Williamsburg to celebrate the move of the brace School building the oldest building dedicated to the education of black children in the United States he said we should teach all all of our history the good and the bad that's what we expect that you encourage and facilitate the fair just and soundness of Academia inclusive of recounting our history's truth it will be uncomfortable at times and painstaking at others but if we do not engage in that necessary exercise we are doomed to repeat history I submit to you that we the people are better than that we the people have expectations of our elected leaders we expect you to hold yourself to a higher standard we expect you to learn about history we expect you to understand and take action to our needs we expect you
171to listen and act on our concerns we expect you to your actions to reflect our values we expect you to understand that words matter we expect you to understand that there are consequences to every word post and action we expect you to understand that you will be held accountable we expect you to understand that you will be held accountable we expect more from you thank you Mr Gates as uh Miss fer comes up the next ones are uh Greg wasnik Teresa Woodward s Ray Dr Lesley hogland and Todd hogland Miss fer good evening Madam chair and board members elections change the way things go I'm Terry fer I've lived in this great Community for over 20 years and have children that have graduated from the schools here I live in District 4 I was one
172of the few people in this room room that was at the meeting where the board chair simply asked if someone could attend the Family Life presentation because she could not attend several volunteered knowing what questions the parents asked at this meeting would be beneficial to see what's on their minds and to further enhance the relationship between parents and the board it was her priority unfortunately a false narrative was created by certain individuals to try to undermine the new chair and other new members the bottom line is that elections have consequences what many people see is a small group of people going through the natural phases of grief this emotion and sometimes painful process isn't suited to mediation it warrants select parties to seek counseling to facilitate processing unpleasant feelings and hopefully resume performing one's duties
173as opposed to the public having to witness embarrassing emotional out outbursts and misinformed accusations furthermore the current complaints about the new board members are being posted on let's talk app software that ycsd is paying three $35,000 per year out of taxpayer dollars this app allows Anonymous complaints from both in and outside York County it allows anyone to anonymously liable or slander without legitimacy or truth and without a accountability it therefore allows grief stricken individuals the ability to hide their identity and the origin of the complaint is this where you want your taxpayer dollars to go many parents and taxpayers look forward to watching and supporting new board to facilitate improving ycsd Student Success and the 88% literacy rate that was detailed in the last month that was shockingly low and should be addressed immediately it's
174hard to believe that the number three School District in the state and the number one in the region is failing 12 out of every hundred students in their reading skills to that end I also look forward to learning about the new literacy agenda we must do better than 88% and I believe the new school board and its excellent leadership will do just that thank you very much Mr wasnik hi Greg wasnik uh District 4 and uh thank you for all letting us all speak here tonight um I just want to say I've heard uh tonight a lot of uh very bad and false accusations being thrown around about the new school school board members that's one thing and secondly I think that uh Wy 10 you know should not be involved in any of our
175school boards business or our County business because all they have have all they have to do is uh please their audiences and that's all they care about now what I'd like to see in Mr District 4 over there I'd like to see all of you guys start working together and maybe go to a closed area away from the public eye and get all your grievances settled together once and for all and start working together as a cohesive team over here now my interest in the school is I have a special needs student here and I think the special needs staff is awesome in the school you know that's my opinion there and I think they also need more tools for their job as well and I think uh bus drivers need a better raise and
176I think the teachers need a better raise too and the sooner we stop this nonsense with this WAVY 10 BS because that's what it is we can move on and do our business and take care of our kids that's all I've got to say thank you all Teresa Woodward um I'm Teresa Woodward and I live in D um I don't like public speaking at all and I wrote a speech but it feels really irrelevant at this point um I have been to a lot of school board meetings over the last four years and I have noticed that they are not run now the same as they were in 2020 21 I noticed that but um yes everyone got along very well but I also didn't really see a lot of issues that came up that
177you guys had different opinions on you guys have been working together it looked like for a little while so you'd worked out any of your differences but these guys just started and they have day jobs he's at the schools all the time that is his job that's why he makes the money he makes because he's there all the time they only make $99,000 a year and they have day jobs so they have to go to all their trainings and they're expected to be in the classrooms and email everybody and call everybody like I feel like people are being unfair in their expectations were there dumb things said when they were running for office absolutely we've all said dumb things before they shouldn't have said them it doesn't mean that's who that person is that's not
178the center of their character I know all of the new board members and I've met the other board members at different functions I think they all have the best interest of all the children in their hearts but I think this all started even before they took their oath the last meeting in December the outgoing board members were very unprofessional very Petty and I felt like it was wrong for them to call out Miss Goodwin and zoren from up there talking about they need to be careful who they associate with based on things that were seen on social media that were taken out of context I found it interesting that Miss Laurel when she was giving her going away speech said that she didn't wasn't going to miss the bullying and the inability to defend herself
179because when you're up there they can't say yes I did that no I didn't do that we need to keep that in mind they have to be quiet they don't get a chance to defend the lies and I was a parent at that family life meeting I can assure you I'm a parent I'm not part of a militia and there was no there was no aggression nobody was unprofessional the teachers and counselors did great and the lady that tried to film she was trying to help Miss Linda do better for the people that voted for her cuz she couldn't make it and I can assure you nobody was trying to do anything that is being accused thank you thank you uh Sam Ray good evening to the citizens of York County my name is Sam
180Ray and I reside in District 2 I will open with a quote from Dr Martin Luther King Jr he said nothing in this world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity I stand before you today to address the members of the York County Virginia school board I am concerned that rhetoric from a member of this board has reached an alarming Plateau rhetoric that is downright disrespectful to every African-American student and citizen in your county and this should be alarming to every student and every citizen in York County and M of this board has allegedly posted on social media that she did not know if slaves in this country were happy or not because she was not there and she never had the opportunity to talk to One it bothers me because this member
181has been asked about her statement and has chosen not to offer an apology for it using her mode of thinking I would like to know if she thinks if Jews were persecuted or murdered during the Holocaust if so how did do she know was George Washington the first president of our nation if so how does she know did she talk to any of those folks to verify those events took place there is a movement in this country to erase and deny the history that portrays the founders of this country in any negative manner for example Texas attempted to refer to slaves as unpaid workers and now a member of this school board expects you to believe that folks who were kidnapped from their Homeland murdered at Sea robbed of their culture beaten mercilessly raped and
182had their children stat snatched up from them Were Somehow possibly happy we will not stand by and let that narrative live in York County I'm asking the entire board to denounce her statement I'm asking that she apologize to the students and the citizens of this County I am asking the board to remove her from her leadership position if each board member or this board does not denounce her statement that will only lead me to believe that you agree with and stand by her willful ignorance at this as uh and to everyone who now who is now listening to the words that I'm speaking I will leave you with two final quotes the first is from Governor uh yunan he said we should teach all history the good and the bad and finally another quote from
183Dr Martin Luther King Jr in the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the Silence of our friends thank you thank you Dr Lesley hogland school board members I'm Dr Lesley hogland a resident of District 3 I'm also a 1995 graduate of York High School I attended Yorktown Elementary and Yorktown intermediate schools as well I received excellent education here and it is the major reason why we moved our family back to York County in 2017 since then our oldest son has graduated from York High School in 2021 with with two more of our children graduating this year and our youngest being in fourth grade with eight more years to go my husband is a special education teacher one of the hardest jobs to fill in these days in public schools we
184care very deeply about the reputation quality and outcomes of York County schools and living here is the investment we have chosen to make to make in our Public Schools I'd like to take a quick minute to offer a numbers lesson on the election as a reminder that while the majority of votes within each district were awarded to each of you it was not absolutely a mandate for your political agenda as arrogantly said during the work session held on February 12th pivic got 2,000 votes Fairman got 2,847 votes Goodwin got 3,53 votes schaer got 4 4,501 votes Richardson got 5,441 votes out of a total number of 51,000 registered voters the three new board members received a total of 7,900 votes and two incumbents received 9,942 votes while running un opposed more than 46% of the
185county of eligible voters did not even show up to vote for those of us that did we are appalled ashamed of your actions rhetoric laziness and alliances please stop pretending that you have some kind of mandate or majority here it just doesn't exist you all get an equal vote on this school board and those matters should be about protecting and elevating the public school system here and in your tenure thus far you have manipulated and contined to man manipulate the focus towards your radicalized agenda while Al ien ating disregarding and humiliating the wisdom and experience that surrounds you those individuals who have been academically prepared and trained to enhance develop and sustain public education in this County now this is not about disagreement this is about accountability you are grossly out of touch so unconsciously
186incompetent with the realities of our schools the faculty and staff and most most importantly our students my children your arrogance and failure to listen are going to get you recalled because we are not going to put up with this for four years find some humility please or resign thank you as Todd huglin comes up um Christy Chamberlain Carrie Snider Lan brell Dr Amy Brown and Deb Wesley are next up Mr hogland Excuse me uh Todd hogland District 3 um Schoolboard members and Dr shandor hi I'm I'm over here no oh hi um so I'm here again to address the behavior of the school board uh last month I outlined a functional Behavior assessment to determine the function of your behavior and asked you for evidence of your Al sandish claims um I was going to
187continue with my cute little analogy but I got too much to say to be cute this school board continues to have persistent and severe behaviors that are interfering in the work of the Board District staff teachers and students the Board needs to learn the following replacement behaviors number one you need to improve your communication please answer emails with actual human responses to questions and comments don't use chat GPT or a simple copy and paste to send to all emails Mrs Goodwin really advertised well that she would ensure open communication Channels with parents teachers and students despite 11 days without a response don't dismiss those that come here to use their voice to speak up for what they believe in at least four teachers I spoke with are too afraid to come here and speak because
188of fear of retaliation from the board or because a militi member is sitting there writing down their names Mr pyit campaigned very well and said support active involvement and relationship building between parents teachers and the school Community as a whole number two perform positive actions towards teachers and students go to our schools attend classes praise our teachers and lift up all of our students not just the ones that fit in your neat little boxes number three conduct yourself to match what you campaigned for don't push public prayer at Schoolboard meetings Mrs Goodwin's campaign site says education should prioritize teaching children how to think critically rather than promoting a specific ideological agenda don't spend our tax dollars on hiring an unnecessary clerk to do your work Mr pivix campaigned under the idea of committed Financial leadership
189to maximize program resources while improving transparency and accountability don't send militia members to elementary schools accuse our teachers of indoctrination without evidence or publicly call for someone's job just because they impose disciplinary action on you the county is watching if you cannot follow these behaviors please resign Christy Chamberlain good evening my name is Christy Chamberland and I'm a parent of three ycsd students and I live in District 4 I am here tonight to voice my concerns about the hostile environment that is being cultivated by the new school board members across our division which I believe is affecting staff at all levels starting directly with our superintendent and filtering down through the School Board office administrators teachers and other support staff I know for a fact that there are many teachers who are too afraid to
190speak tonight due to fear of retaliation because at the working session on February 12th it came out that our superintendent himself has concerns about retaliation from the new board it also came out at that meeting that a member of a local Constitutional Militia has foed all the names and positions of the staff members who spoke at January's meeting of course the teachers are scared since I am not employed by ycsd I have the luxury of speaking tonight I'm happy to be the voice for those who feel that it is too hostile an environment for free speech I also had the luxury of having some foyet emails given to me myself I have had the opportunity to read the emails between the new school board members and Dr shandor post election and they are very concerning
191in an email dated November 17th Miss Fairman responded to Dr shandor's congratulatory email with a two-page email ordering him around she started by demanding that first he stop using the firsters singular pro pro possessive form when referring to ycsd employ employees so she's dictating his speech right out of the bat she made many demands such as having Schoolboard office staff print out three copies of the Freedom of Information Act conflict of interest act and public records act and this is a direct quote have ycsd Schoolboard office staff print for each of us hard copies of these complete statutes in at least 12o type and make arrangements to deliver them to us no later than 300 p.m. on November 21st she indicated that her time was too valuable to look up the acts on the links
192that Dr shandor had provided in the emails in that same email she made two other demands for Schoolboard employees Schoolboard office employees to stop their work print out hard copies of information that the three could have just looked at online and have this information delivered to them all in three pronged binders within certain times apparently they also don't like trees because everything had to be printed out hundreds of pages at another point in the email she chastised Dr Dr s shandor because the times that he had set aside to meet were not convenient for them and she stated that she would only meet during the times that she provided the message is clear their time is more valuable than anybody else's in the division in my opinion the tone in that email was completely inappropriate
193neither Dr shandor nor the Schoolboard office is your servant there were many other concerning emails that I cannot fully reference in my three minutes such as Linda fairman's demands to use ycsd resources to film The Family Life Education event at darl elementary because she couldn't make the time to be Snider good evening board Dr shandor I would like to First address our transportation situation the fact is that we do not have uh enough buses in York County our children get to school 20 to 30 minutes late which is unacceptable there must be a way to recruit bus drivers however to get bus drivers and keep them as well as being fear of losing the great bus drivers we currently have the way they get paid needs to be addressed as well after covid they were
194taken from salary paid employees to hourly this has caused us to lose several bus drivers it also has put them put some drivers in a hardship due to the pay being in a re the bus drivers are receiving checks that are $5 $10 or less due to the typical items taken out of their pay how does one meet obligations or even s survive such low pay with such low paychecks this continues several months from the beginning of their year in August to December after losing several bus drivers parents were asked if they had the means to drop off and pick up their children daily because it would help the bus driers shortage this should have been a temporary situation not a permanent solution due to the drop off and the pickup the Sheriff's Office must
195direct traffic AM and PM if we had enough bus drivers we could eliminate the cost of the sheriff's office which I bet is not a low cost the funds going to the Sheriff's Office could go to our new bus drivers SE Elementary fifth graders have the privilege of reporting the school Bulldog News Daily my granddaughter is my granddaughter gets very excited when it is her turn to be the news anchor for the week however there are many buses do not make it to school in time for the students to participate in these activities I encourage you to research the buses and bus drivers lack thereof and find a solution secondly I would like to say I hope you have realized the way you are train the way you are treating Dr shandor was uncalled for
196I was embarrassed for all of you for the words and actions especially when you said you would remove Dr shandor as a school superintend attendant I hope this is this is still not your intentions I have been in York County School System since 2003 I have been on the PTA boards yearly including York County PTA board what I have seen as well as heard from other parents we have never had a superintendent so engaged he is there for our students parents staff community and more the last few years alone he has had to handle school fire pandemic and other crisis in a timely reasonable manner in which students missed minimal educational hours those days alone had to be very taxing yet would he would never you would never know it speaking to him in passing
197he act like it was just another day with his Pleasant self I hope you all have have be removed your bitterness and see that Dr shandor is an asset to your accounting hi my name is Lane brell I live in District 3 I'm here as a parent of Elementary School students and as a constituent Miss Fairman has emphasized that the new Schoolboard members won their election and that this means they represent their constituents I would like to remind you all that while you received thousands of votes there were thousands of people who did not vote for you and even more who didn't vote at all we are all your constituents the turnout for this meeting makes it clear that there are many many parents teachers and students people with a current connection to York County
198Schools who are concerned about the direction the current schol schol board is taking of all of these voices I especially hope that you will listen to the students they are your most important responsibility speakers have highlighted a variety of concerns tonight I too have concerns based on what I've seen in the Schoolboard work sessions and meetings I hope that the new school board members can recognize these problems and that you will change course to focus on prioritizing the students teachers and administrators who make our schools amazing rather than trying to change things that aren't broken I hope you will turn to our experienced Schoolboard members for leadership that you will trust in the experience of staff and administrators and that you will prioritize the needs of our students the parents and teachers who came to
199this meeting are all here because we want to protect and support the students of ycsd I hope that you will all demonstrate to us that you're here for the same reason thank you thank you Dr Amy Brown good evening Schoolboard members and Dr shandor I'm Dr Amy Brown a national board certified teacher resident of District 3 and the proud parent of two ycsd students a few weeks ago someone stood before you and made two points which I agree with first the school board serves at the pleasure of York County Citizens second the election is over so I am here to implore you to quit your politicking and do your job in case you have forgotten that job is quoting from the white icsd Schoolboard website to work together to inspire all students and staff to
200explore paths to Leading leading to personal and Collective success to ensure every student is valued supported and challenged through learning experiences which prepare them for a successful future your community is watching you and what are we seeing I have seen the board spend more time discussing changing seating arrangements to convey a power Dynamic eliminating opportunities to highlight the excellent work of our students and Educators at public board meetings and in adding a position of clerk to do a job that is already being done then I have seen you really spend time in meaningful conversation about the business of valuing supporting challenging and preparing our students for a successful future while while you all proudly reference the school division's current ranking which has been earned let's be clear through excellent previous stewardship by the board and
201superintendents of this division the board has been slower to admit that the reputation of the school board is being tarnished and the community's trust in you diminished by the conduct displayed in the last two months honestly there are so many issues to address I had trouble deciding what to talk to you about I had trouble sleeping last night about it so I will speak to the discussion of creating a separate board clerk role questions of conflict of interest and getting things done in a timely manner have been addressed less than 25% of the superintendent secretary's job description deal with the responsibilities of the board clerk role are you really going to spend more time valuable time of this school board on creating a whole separate position for and relx allocating funds for something that's already
202being done and quite capably I mean no disrespect to miss Ford when I say it's a clerk it's a clerical position not your research assistant the board clerk is not your assistant to do research you should be doing your own research and educating yourself about the issues that is your job and it's your responsibility to make time for it thank you as Deb Wesley comes up the next one are Melissa Madrigal William is it dugay Carolyn harro Randy Eaton and Alexandra Howland Deb Wesley good evening members of the board and Dr shandor my name is Deb Wesley from District 4 I am a citizen parent 34-year ycsd veteran educator and president of the York Education Association in thinking about what I wanted to say say tonight I went back to the ycsd Strategic plan and
203reviewed our mission and vision leadership throughout our division should be inspiring all students and Educators to explore paths leading to personal and Collective success we should all be ensuring that every student is valued supported and challenged through learning experiences which prepare them for a successful future I fail to see how worrying about where people sit at meetings whether or not we have prayer before a meeting creating a separate position for your sole benefit and sending citizens to videotape parent information sessions have any direct impact on our students a speaker at the last meeting indicated that the election is over and we should move forward I certainly agree with that but remind you that you now represent all of the citizens of your District not just the ones that voted for you we must work together
204with cohesiveness and Trust to solve the problems and concerns that truly impact our students and Educators as an educator my job is to teach students the academics social skills and character traits to be successful adults we need to know that our leaders are acting professionally and ethically and are focused on what's best for all of our students in ycsd I want to thank you very much for listening tonight and for agreeing to allow all of us to say our peace thank you thank you uh Melissa Madrigal my name is Melissa madreal and I live in District 2 to save everyone the trouble of a foyer request I teach math in room 407 at Grafton High School I work at a long side fellow teachers division leaders students and family members Business Leaders in the community
205to complete this to create the Strategic plan for your County School Division in 2022 the Strategic plan was formulated Based on data from a survey of stakeholders and the committee determined the Strategic plan should focus on four priorities as I've watched the meeting since January I've wondered if the new board members are aware of these new four priorities since their actions don't seem to indicate that they are the first priority is collective commitment this means that students staff families and community members are invested in student outcomes and actively engaged in meaningful collaborative relationships to support Student Success how exactly does eliminating recognition of our seniors volunteers and staff from the Schoolboard members support this priority supportive culture means that our schools provide safe welcoming and caring environments in which all students and staff have a
206sense of belonging and purpose how's how does starting a meeting with prayer support this priority when our students families staff and Community includes people of many faiths some Christian some non-Christian some Believers and some non-believers does the chairperson think that sending people to um to film a family life presentation with no warning warning makes the staff feel safe or cared for highly effective Talent states that the division will attract and retain highly skilled compassionate diverse and committed team members in the last week there have been numerous news reports that do not reflect highly on y York County Schools is this the plan to attract new teachers to our division does the vice chair think that her comments about slavery are going to attract a div a diverse pool of candidates is name calling and threatening
207to fire the superintendent that teachers trust and respect the plan for retaining highly skilled teachers already employed by York County Schools the last but not but the last but most important priority is Future ready graduates which states that students will acquire knowledge skills habits and traits necessary for success in future educational experiences the workforce and life is this even something the new board members have considered other than a question about the necessity of onetoone devices I haven't seen much from the new board members regarding this priority could it because they have little to no firsthand experience of what's happening in our classrooms are these not the priorities of the county anymore what are the priorities it appears that the new board members are attempting to replace these priorities with some political agenda that has no
208place on the school board I urge the board to abandon their political agenda and refocus their work on the four priorities of the Strategic plan thank you and we're going to take a five minute recess uh for a restroom break real quick all right thank you we're back out of recess uh continuing the citizen comments the next person that I had was um let's see we already had Melissa magal right yes so the next one is William duu okay so he is William D outside all right Carolyn harro thank you Dr sandor Mrs chairman and members of the school board my name is Caroline har I'm speaker number 38 and I reside in District 3 my husband and I moved to York County 20 years ago to raise our family in large part because of
209the reputation of the public school system as parents we believe that our children have had an amazing education here thanks to the incredibly talented and dedicate dedicated teachers staff and administrators although I although I haven't always agreed with their decisions I have known that the Schoolboard members have had the interests of the children and teachers in in their hearts when sitting policies however I'm here tonight as a parent and a voter to share that I no longer feel that way since the election of the three new members here are some here are some of my expectations and concerns number one I expect board members to act professionally and civil towards one another to focus on the students and the teachers and to discuss topics as a board and not as factions the apparent lack of
210communication and cooperation from the three new board members towards the return members and the superintendent creates an environment of polarization and dysfunction that distracts from the business of the board and is an embarrassment to our community number two I expect the school board of a public school system to encourage an inclusive and supporting environment for students families teachers staff and administration however two of the new members quote unquote lead from a position of fear and intimidation as demonstrated by inviting people involved in a militia to a meeting at a school and their comments towards superintendent shandor I am fearful that many teachers and administrators will leave which would have a devastating effect on our community number three I expect members of a school board to be fiscally responsible as we've heard tonight there are many
211priorities for a public school system with limited funding the proposal to hire a separate clerk for the school board is not a prudent use of funds it's the responsibility of each board member to do their own reading and research on issues that come before the board and if board members need clarification they can requested from the superintendent in conclusion this community deserves a board that puts the students families teachers staff and administration first and ahead of their personal agendas I expect the board members to be focused on student learning and not on their own political aspirations thank you thank you Randy Eaton I believe he's left Alexandra howan is Alexander how in here all right the next ones uh Richardson Tony Siri Jennifer hadock Shotz Robert Gage and John black Jen Richardson please good evening
212Dr shandor um Madame chair Vice chair school board members uh I'm Jen Richardson I am the counseling director at Crafton middle school and I'm also the sixth grade counselor before uh I was rafton Middle School I was an elementary counselor and as a matter of fact I was um a colleague of Mrs Goodwin as a counselor I'm I'm here as a counselor speaking uh because I watched the work session and um it was um it was troubling to me and um I just want to remind Madame chair uh and our board members and Miss Goodwin because I know you were there with us um school counselors have a hard job we are trying to graduate successful students we are trying to prevent bullying we are trying to help kids resolve conflicts we are working with
213kids who have experienced trauma uh mental illness so our job is hard um so when I watched that work session uh it it saddened me and I just want to remind you that we're working with you we are here for our students we don't want to be intimidated as school counselors um please remember that and um Madam chair I um agree that if um you unable to um um find a way to work with everyone I also support that you step down thanks thank you uh Tony Siri Cherry it's pronoun just like that's quite all right um Madam chair members of the board Dr shandor Tony Cherry District 5 have grandkids in the uh school district and right now I wish one of them would be a little bit bigger this is a little tight
214um speaking about the students and I think have all left but the students that presented tonight oh my God you guys were so good powerful oratory from high school students I'll give you 5 Seconds of my time for Applause so then as long as I'm talking about General people you know we're all here because we want to be and the police and y'all are kind of stuck sorry it's going to be a long night you know um so then one other thing that I want to talk about with y'all is the talk about Dr shandor and removing him and I want to address that specifically so military guy moved around a lot got to know a lot of superintendent wife is retired special ed teacher got to know a lot of superintendant that way she
215was a PTA president president middle school knew more superintendents and I was a PTSA president of a high school yet more superintendents Bar None best I've ever met Dr shandor by my metrics unbelievable so let's talk about that a little bit he's present he's in the schools he's talking to the students he's talking to the teachers they know him he has an influence every day he's at after school activities same thing neighborhood activ activities he never shuts down he's always available to talk so then let's talk about some things that have happened Grafton High School or the Grafton fire the school district barely missed the beat students went back to school it was successful large part because of his leadership covid oh my goodness take a look at the national stats we did great compared
216to almost everybody in the nation certainly better than people in Hampton Roads it's because of Dr shandor and when did we go back to school we were amongst the earliest in Hampton Roads and amongst the earliest in the nation it's a great thing you can't get a guy like that and our stats we've talked about those Tonight third in the nation this second this it's great that's the kind of leadership we want so I'd ask everybody reconsider anything that you had in mind with Dr shandor he's one of the main reasons of the success of the school district and I'll leave you with that thanks thank you thank you Jennifer hadock Shotz thank you for getting my name right oh good yay hello my name is Jennifer from District 2 and I am the happy
217mom of a happy first grader at Coventry Elementary we've lived in Hampton Roads for over two decades and when we started considering School options for our child we were thrilled that we could send her to one of the best divisions in the state simply by moving here to York County through research and Word of Mouth we learned about the top quality education that ycsd provides but our daughter's academic Journey at Coventry has exceeded all expectation my husband and I are software engineers who excitedly started teaching our first grader basic math years ago but she started kindergarten unable to read now thanks to both her kindergarten teacher Mrs Morris and first grade teacher Miss Holm her reading skills have soared right along with her enthusiasm for books just a year and a half after not being
218able to read anything at all my kid excitedly comes home to read chapter books without any prompting from us and it's not just excitement over reading that her teachers have instilled in her but an overall passion for learning she joyfully shares with the details of her school day whether it's practicing how to sing this is me from the greatest showman or learning about an important Virginian like Maggie Walker on top of that Miss Holm is giving her the chance to work ahead of grade level in math and as stem professionals we couldn't be more grateful for this extra effort in keeping our daughter engaged and challenged with our favorite subject but my gratitude and love for Coventry goes beyond academic instruction the staff there wisely realizes that in order to effectively teach the basics of
219reading writing and arithmetic children require a safe and nurturing setting conducive to learning from the anti-bullying program the school ran this fall to the Coventry cougar positive character traits of practice safety act responsibly work hard and show respect that each student is expected to practice daily the staff is creating the perfect setting for academic success and in the process the kids are learning how to become both exemplary citizens and kind respectful tolerant human beings further every time I have walked into that building every single staff member I've encountered has modeled these values to me the students and each other I couldn't imagine a more supportive and caring educational environment for my child and I know other parents feel the same finally it is clear that this ideal academic environment is able to flourish and Thrive
220because of our division's superb leadership team administrators like Mrs Galo and our superintendent Dr shandor have undeniably created a positive respectful and affirming workplace that makes it possible for our dedicated Educators to give their best to our kids every day so to our newest board members we don't just have a good thing going we have an amazing thing going therefore I please implore you maintain our current leadership and collaborate with them to keep York County Schools as one of the best divisions uh in the state thank you thank you Robert Gage and before you begin uh the next two I believe have already left John black and Nancy black I wanted to call the uh the next ones up so they know they're coming up if you don't mind is it Pam puso Phyllis Henderson
221alen Kennedy and Danielle cousins thank you Robert Gage District 5 York County um I'm the parent of two York County students currently attending uh tab middle school and tab High School both of my kids began as kindergarteners at Mount Vernon Elementary uh my wife and I chose to live in York County because of the reputation of the school system and our experience has been nothing short of exceptional the quality of the instruction and the dedication to helping our students succeed and Thrive is demonstrated every day by teachers and staff in our schools I was lucky enough to be able to Mentor some of our students in the first Lego League robotics competition at both the elementary and the middle school teams I witnessed firsthand the sacrifices that teachers and staff make including giving up sign
222ific time they could be spending with their own families to help our kids you don't attract and retain dedicated teachers like that without an Administration that values teachers and students Above All Else Dr shandor demonstrates that every day and I am incredibly grateful for his excellent stewardship of our school system I see him present at many many after hour school events most recently it was at the York County uh science and engineering Fair supporting our science teachers and our young scientists and Engineers Dr shandor has faced significant challenges in recent years years including the electrical fire grafting complex and a global pandemic um he and his staff met those challenges and continue every day to make our schools some of the highest ranked in the in the state I incredibly concerned by the adversarial attitude
223that this school board has demonstrated against the superintendent I hope that Dr shandor recognizes that the views expressed by some members of this board do not in any way represent the views of the majority of parents and students I would like to thank board me Members Mr Richardson and Mr Schaefer for their efforts to correct the situation um to Mr pavic I thank you for supporting our students and teachers at the science and engineering fair but I hope you draw from that experience some courage to stand with our teachers and students in the future to the chair and co-chair of this board I suggest you focus on what you can do to help support our teachers and students instead of rearranging seating plans and pulling more resources away from our schools to support your request
224for a personal assistant thank you thank you pampo show I am Pam puso a former York County School Board member and resident of District 4 Matthew 66 and when you pray you shall not be like the Hypocrites for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets that they may be seen by men assuredly I say to you they have their reward but you when you pray go into your room and when you have shut your door pray to your father who was in the secret place and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly and when you pray do not use vain repetitions as the Heathen do for they think that they will be heard for their many words therefore do not be like them for
225your father knows the things you have need of before you ask him so I ask the Christians on this board do you not believe in the instructions found in the Bible why the need for public prayer other than self-gratification from the behavior of new board members both before the election and at the board meetings the citizens of York County should be very concerned individual school board members even the chair have no Authority that is separate from the entire board there is no executive Authority it seems that political agendas are influencing your votes rather than the people you represent and you represent all the citizens of the county not just those that voted for you on average over 42% of the voters did not want you to sit on this board ignoring them is not acceptable
226you are not superior to the superintendent or the staff if you do not understand that they work with you not for you you will not be successful you need to recognize that they will be you will be relying on their expertise on a daily basis there is fear of censorship in the classrooms and libraries implementing further discriminator discriminatory policies against lgbtq plus students rewriting history books ensuring gun rights supersede the safety of students and faculty preferring the bigotry of banning diversity rather than embracing a diverse population thinking the time you spend at meetings is of Greater importance than honoring the students who Excel firing staff because you perceive them as too liberal and the embracing of conspiracy theories and idiotic disinformation such as vaccinations are harmful and we are teaching CRT in elementary schools rather
227than in law schools you are required to run for office as Independence yet you made it obvious that the Republican party was the party you were running with as shown in allowing your names to be on their sample ballots and the donations of your campaign funds to Republican candidates and the Republican party this shows a deep lack of character if you want the support of the community the division employees and the students you will need to change your very ignorant and narrow points of view your job is to serve the people not to dictate thank you Phyllis Henderson Alan Kennedy good evening uh thank you madam chair um my name is Alan Kennedy uh I live at 116 steg street uh for those uh militia folks who are keeping track um don't attack dark teachers
228attack me I can take it I serve in the military um our teachers did not sign up to go into combat don't treat them like they did I would also like to offer you U perhaps a little bit of a history lesson um there the uh I know you want to ban critical race Theory I teach critical race Theory you're welcome to join my class on critical race theory in the First Amendment it sounds like you need a little bit of help on both the vice chair hasn't even looked up in the last half hour that concerns me a little bit as an educator um and I wanted my recommendation is start with a book like the 1619 project oh wait you want to ban that too you want to ban critical race Theory you
229want to ban Dei be you want to ban all the things except guns in our schools that's a problem I don't want I don't want militia members coming after our teachers or our kids I have young children who will go to the York County schools and I don't want them entering a school district that is a train wreck those aren't my words I want them to go to a school district where their diversity can be valued where their ideas can be valued where we're not just talking about Hope about thoughts and prayers where we're actually thinking thoughts where we're actually learning about the legacy of racism in America that goes back to slave patrols which was the original militias in Virginia of of white men with guns persecuting enslaved people that's the history of unorganized
230militias in Virginia that's what people who want to bring back militias in your county are talking about that's the history you want to ban that's the the history of slavery that you don't want to recognize I am proud of my the the school board member who I voted to elect um Mark schaer um I very much want to thank you for opening a can of worms um for shining a light on on this tsunami before it becomes a bigger train wreck thank you very much I hope that that will spread to the rest of you I appreciate you serving the people and the children of York County thank you Daniel cousins hi my name is Daniel cousins I've been in York County for six years I love the community I love living here um my
231kids went to public school for two years they're now at home um very thankful to be able to do that um so I'm here today to welcome the new board members and say thank you so much and great is your reward going to be in heaven for for doing what God puts you here to do and I thank you for that and I just thank everyone for their time here um I just want to read something real quick it says for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son whoever shall believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life and this life is eternal for those who do not believe because they love their dark dark nness the ones that Believe come to the light the ones in the darkness
232love their evil deeds and let all the darkness be exposed I just want you to know that um my kids had somewhat of a good experience in public school um my daughter was bullied um she came home with depression she came home with anxiety she came home with thoughts of suicide and thankfully Jesus has healed her um from that and I just praise him for it and I just um want to say that uh it's very interesting to me that every other religion every other idea is is mentioned uh and it talks about inclusivity but every time the name of Jesus is mentioned people are afraid and they call militias I just want you know that people are being murdered in Africa right now because they won't renounce the name of Jesus and we have
233that right here to say the name of Jesus and every knee shall bow and every tongue can confess that Jesus is Lord one day and that the enemy is afraid of the name of Jesus it says demons tremble at the name of Jesus so I'm wondering why people are so afraid of of parents loving their kids wanting them to be able to share their faith wanting to be able to stand to the morals that they believe I mean in ancient Rome they were afraid of Christians because when they put them in the den of lions they weren't afraid because they knew what was coming after we live on earth about this long and Eternity is forever so there's no reason to be afraid so I just say thank you for standing for truth and righteousness
234I just pray that the shield of faith will be upon you that the armor of God is with you and that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities Powers against rulers of darkness and evil in Heavenly places and that we all have one enemy and he's the enemy of mankind God created uh us for relationship because he loves us he wants a family okay he wants a family sin separates us from that and and people are just standing for for righteousness and truth and you're calling us militia for that so thank you for your time you guys have a great night thank you I believe that um that is the last of the ones who had signed up I'm going to read the ones who didn't uh come before just to
235make sure Phyllis Henderson John black Nancy black Alexandra Howland Randy Eaton and William duguay all right so that ends the I now close the public participation for comments of citizens at this time we have Matters by the board members and we'll go by uh our district numbers so district one Mr schaer yes I want to thank everyone for coming tonight um it's truly good to listen to everybody and I will tell you that um our board meetings have not always been watched by that many people sometimes it only average like 100 to 150 the last uh meeting that we had had 3200 uh so thank you for watching uh I just wish it was for the right reasons uh and the right things were going on and people were excited about what's going on with
236the students and uh staff of York County uh you know someone mentioned about let's talk earlier uh we had 203 let's talk dialogues in uh to the school board since the platform started in Fall of 2021 since January 20 uh January 1st of this year we've had 143 so I'd say that the that the people of York County are getting engaged again I wish it was was for uh the right reasons that you know brute and one another swimming Championship or something along that nature but uh uh I thank you all for being engaged and hopefully we can get things rolling to where we are uh we continue the momentum that the School Division has had thank you thank you uh District three Mrs Goodwin thank you madam chair um I'm going to read a
237little statement um before I get into the activities and things that I've been a part of this month I realized that over the last several weeks there has been a lot of turmoil and a bending within some members of the community over past events questions asked and decisions made unfortunately there also has been a lot of Hyperbole and just some outright incorrect information shared among the community so let me be clear on a few things that as they pertain to me I am not not part of a militia group and nor did I send a militia group to an elementary school I do not condone slavery or anything that would even resemble it I do not have an agenda to fire our superintendent I do not think there is mass indoctrination happening in our our
238School Division and as far as me being far right I am as far right as the Constitution as that is the oath that I took to uphold everyone has a philosophy or set of values that guide the decisions that they make every day and often times one person's philosophy and values are not congruent with anothers but that's okay life would not be very diverse or interesting if we all agreed on everything all the time my role is providing oversight as a lot as outlined by the Virginia code for school boards and to ensure we're fulfilling the Mission Vision and strategic plan in the best interest of our students My Philosophy lies in the following beliefs I believe schools exist to teach curriculum and not personal agendas so it would be hypocritical for me to have
239a personal agenda I believe we should teach all of history The Good the Bad and the Ugly for how do we learn if we don't understand our past and strive to do better I believe in teaching our children to think critically encouraging them on how to think and not what to think and I believe our teachers should be able to bring their creative teaching styles and lessons into the classroom to help achieve these a for these for mention goals I ran on these beliefs as well as oversight and advocating for for our teachers our paers our bus drivers and this resonated with the community oversight as outlined by our Virginia code comes with a lot of responsibility and in order to uphold that task you have to ask the hard questions you have to look
240at policy and you have to challenge the status quo I will not be a status quo or rubber stamp board member I was not elected to do that there are important tasks ahead of us like the 2025 budget and resoning just to name a few if we continue to get bogged down in the minutia and her herb and we continue to stir the pot we'll never be able to move forward Abraham Lincoln said A House Divided will surely fall we cannot remain divided and Achieve accomplishing the tasks ahead of us we do need to work together as a community and as a board for the good of the students I've heard many people say in comments we need to be focused on the students and I could not agree more so let's do exactly that
241in closing I hope you know as your board member that I'm here for all constituents and by constituents I me students parents teachers staff and citizen taxpayer regardless if you voted for me or not you're always welcome to email you can call me or you can even request to meet oneon-one if you would like to engage in civil discourse now let me talk a little bit about what I've been up to for the month of February it's been a really busy month uh I had the opportunity to attend the ysd ycsd job jamur earlier this month and I watched our H hour HR department deliver one of the best recruitment fairs that I have ever seen I attended our gifted education advisory committee meeting and I met some of our newest student volunteers I got
242valuable feedback on the process for interviewing and onboarding new members I attended a reception for the Arts to recognize K through 12 winners in various artistic categories and I saw the most amazing sketch by a middle school student I was truly Blown Away by the artistic creativity of these students I was able to visit York middle school and York Academy and once again really impressed with how well both of these schools were run especially a middle school and that is not an easy task last but certainly not least I had the chance to visit York Elementary School and watch family engagement night take place Dr Bolam spent the entire hour walking me around and showing me the various activities and teachers and staff had planned for the special event I was really encouraged by the
243amount of community excuse me mouth's getting dry I was encouraged by the amount of community participation I think this all speaks to the wonderful work that does take place in our schools every day thank you thank you and for um District Four Mr Richardson thank you madam chair I'd just like to thank everyone that came out to speak tonight it takes a lot sometimes to uh come out and speak in public but thank you so much for coming out uh and the essence of time I don't have any other comments thank you all right thank you and of course District Five that leaves me um want to say some uh basic things here there have been some inaccurate and false reports in the media let me set the record straight I neither belong to nor
244support any militia group statements saying I do are malicious lies the gentleman cited in the news reports retelling these false accusations has apologized and stated in writing that no York County School Board member has had any part in his organization the media reports have gone from malicious to Crazy to absolutely absurd the ultimate goal of those promoting these false stories is to negate the election disenfranchise the majority of Voters in our districts and silence any oversight our school board is supposed to do Under the Virginia Constitution and law I am dismayed and disappointed that two of my colleagues on this board chose to spread and perpetuate those lies but they are clearly not the only ones participating in this effort to discredit the new school board members the use of these crass political tactics to
245thwart the new school board members from performing our duties is reprehensible spreading lies via social media and email is cyber bullying we teach our students not to do that yet it's now being done by adults including some teachers and School staff on a daily basis some are hiding behind anonymous and hidden customer labels to fling the lies in IND innuendo and spread it to the media what is this teaching our students the new members of the school board were elected to bring change and transparency into the operations of the School Division and make sure we are focusing on student achievement for academic success I understand that change can be difficult especially when that change exposes areas that need to be corrected and improved if York County Citizens were truly satisfied with the way our schools
246were being handled the outcome of the elections would have been very different the majority spoke that they were against the status quo and wanted change a change to a backto Basics approach that focuses on academics and student achievement enforcing discipline to ensure a safe learning environment making sure our money is spent wisely for a positive return on investment that is measurable for academic success and total transparency throughout the process while that may frighten some people that is what the voters chose parents and taxpayers have every right to know what is being taught and how it is being taught in the schools they have every right to see the textbooks lessons computer apps and programs being used to teach our students they have every right to watch the presentations that are given to ask questions and
247even to take pictures of those public and open presentations it is time for us to focus on the real business of the Schoolboard making sure our budgets support student achievement we need to be focused on academics and making sure our students are at or above grade level for reading and math so they can succeed in all of their classes and not just showing some progress that is below level we need to make sure that our plans have measurable goals ensuring the money we are spending is having a positive result to help our students achieve in the classroom and in life I do look forward to working with my colleagues on the school board with the ycsd administration with the faculty and staff and with parents in these important areas to ensure student achievement in academics
248with with full transparency that is what we were elected to do thank you now moving right along we have financial matters and Mr Schaefer is going to discuss those at this time yeah this is when most people like to leave because this is kind of dry okay we have claim certified for payment for the month of January 2024 instructional uh related expenditures total $5 59,2 most of it was to seesaw learning for the annual renewal of the instruction platform uh technology was 87,000 if I can interrupt for one second sorry if we can wait for the room to vacate please folks if you could leave quickly and not discuss things on your way out so we can continue with the business I appreciate it thank you very much Financial matters are also on board docks
249uh so they're readily available um technology related expenditures total $7,100 and the biggest part of that was to Microsoft for renewal of our sport operational related uh expenditures total 34,000 and that's a payment arbridge Consulting for the resoning plan food service related expenditures total 27,000 uh and include a payment to Gold Creek food for USDA processed food supplies uh consideration of approval of the financial reports for January 2024 significant changes relating to the operating budget for January revenues state revenue increased by more than 4.7 million when compared to last year the the increase is a result of the 7% compensation adjustment increase in student enrollment and the addition of Allin funding state sales tax revenue for January uh decreased by 1.02 million when compared to last year this is a result of the change in
250economic activity which I hope does not keep on that way for expenditures and structal expenditures for January 2024 increased by approximately 4.3 million when compared to last year the difference can be attributed to the increase in compensation and benefits the spend down of federal Esser funds and the increase of fill rates for instruction positions for fiscal year 24 significant changes relating to this uh Food Service budget for revenues and expenditures uh local food service Revenue increased by more than 352,000 compared to last year this is uh due to the number of meals served uh consideration of approval of uh resolution 24-7 resolution 24-17 requires the board's approval authorizing procure of more than $50,000 there are eight items on a resolution totaling 4.53 million the details of which can be viewed on board dos Madam chair
251I'm now moved to approve financial matters as listed I'd like to hear a second on that please I'll second are there any further discussions on this it's pretty quick this one definitely Mrs Ford yes a motion was made by Mr schaer and seconded by Mrs Goen to approve financial matters as listed Mr Schaefer yes Mr Richardson yes Mrs Goodwin yes Mrs Fairman yes the motion passed 4 to zero all right um now under the consent calendar uh on this uh going over it briefly uh there was a p approval of personnel actions approval of minutes uh for all of the previous meetings um up through special meeting on February 22nd approval of donations in the amount of $575 approval of the 2024 25 school calendar approval of proposed changes to the updated program of studies
252and approval of the York River Academy alternative accreditation plan A lot of these were described previously uh I personally I was a little concerned that there were still some additions and things coming up um even today at noon concerning the minutes um because I haven't been able to go through all of those um those things yet to make sure of them because there was a lot of information in all of those documents um regarding that uh considering the time and everything while personally I would prefer to pull out the approval of the minutes to have a chance to take a look at them um I do understand if the rest of the board uh wishes to uh just approve the consent G calendar is listed is there a motion I don't have any problem um
253I mean with you know I don't know if Jimmy or Mr Schaefer or Mr Richardson sorry have a an issue with that I I don't have any particular issue with delaying a vote on the consideration of the approval of minutes of minutes because I haven't had a chance to look at them since they were just done um I'm I'm sure that they're probably fine but it would probably be good for us to look over them just to say hey yeah they're everything's okay all right could I have a motion to um to remove the approval of the minutes oops I'm sorry I was just going to say I mean that's certainly fine you know because you hadn't had a chance to read them um I perused over them I didn't read them detailed like that
254and uh I'm I've been good for the last 7even eight years I've been on the board with uh the clerk doing the minutes I mean they're taking it right off the recording and typing it so if there's anything wrong it's typically could be a little typo or something to that effect but um I whatever you want to do you're a new board member you can you can do that I'm I'm fine with them yeah I mean are I'm fine with uh the minutes as they are I mean that it's it's never changes so I mean but if y'all want to pull them out that's fine I don't have a problem with that at all all right uh could we have a motion to uh pull the approval of the minutes out for the listing that's
255in here um and to table that until the next meeting I'll I'll sorry I'll approve I'll make a motion to uh pull the minutes out so that we can have a chance just review them before the next meeting if if that's could I have a second yes second uh but by the next meeting you mean a work session I'm sorry um work session okay yes thank you uh motion has been made and second any other discussion Mrs Ford yes a motion was made by Mrs um Goodwin and seconded by Mr shaver to remove the minutes from the agenda Mr I mean actually from the action the consent Mr schaer yes Mr Richardson yes Mrs Goodwin yes Mrs feirman yes the motion passed for to zero so I make a motion that we approve the rest
256of the consent calendar there a second he beat me to it a motion you want me to go and do that sure thank you a motion was made by Mr schaer and second by Mrs gowin to approve the consent calendar with the exception of the minutes Mr schaer yes Mr Richardson yes Mrs Goodwin yes Mrs Fairman yes the motion passed for to zero thank you uh the next on the action items is uh approval of a textbook adoption for the K through 5 English and language arts program uh Dr shandor sure I'll have Miss Skinner Dr Skinner congratulations Dr Skinner thank you very much good evening at last month's work session our associate director of Elementary instruction Christina head provided a presentation which outlined the requirements of the Virginia literacy Act act one of those
257requirements includes the starting next school year each School Division must utilize A literacy textbook and program at the elementary level from the Virginia Department of education's approved list since that time here is everything that's taken place up to this evening just to give you a little bit of the history um a committee of division stakeholders narrowed the vooe approved list down to three Publishers to take through the division's textbook adoption process which is outlined in policy iiaaa following the division's policy elementary teachers and reading Specialists reviewed and evaluated three proposed literacy program materials the results of the teachers evaluation ratings identified hland Mifflin hardcourts inter reading literacy program to recommend for adoption also as part of the IMR process parents and community members were provided the opportunity to review the recommended literacy program and provide
258feedback and comments for consideration 34 citizens reviewed the materials one citizen provided written comments and that comment was very positive no concerns were noted about the literacy materials within the um completion of the IMR process I'm requesting that the board approve the adoption of the hooton Mifflin into reading K5 literacy textbook materials do you have any questions for me thank you um I heard good things about the actual program my only concern was uh when you go to the website of hoton Mifflin um and hardcourt that I didn't see a lot of promotion of academics and reading and things like that it was another agenda it was all about Dei and I know when when I ran that was that was some of the things that were concerning to parents and uh the other citizens
259but like I said the the program itself and the textbooks we getting good reviews and things like that I'm just concerned about the the overall company that I guess if we can just keep an eye on it and make sure that you know we're focusing on reading and what what the students need and learning to read and things like that and it's not bringing in another agenda yeah the purpose of reading materials is to teach reading to our students and that's what we'll be using those materials for right um I can't speak to the concerns that you shared that those concerns were brought to my attention by any of our community members that reviewed it um but certainly we would be purchasing these materials to provide literacy instruction and the Virginia Department of Education has
260approved these materials as one of their um and it it has received very high ratings from um you know Educators yeah what what in these uh this uh one of the they had four or so four to six I think it was uh programs that we could use that vdoe supplied uh approval for and we we picked what two of them I believe we chose three to take through the process um went through a rubric and um involved various stakeholders in that process the one that was selected was the one that I've bringing this evening to the the group and um you know there's many other school divisions around us that are also using or preparing to use the same one but again we worked off the list that video provided to us because they
261had to meet certain academic rigor and expectations to even get through that process as you know the Virginia literacy Act is very rigorous and they have high expectations and that's why the state is moving to this process so that nothing coming into our schools isn't providing students with instruction that is at the expectation that Virginia Department of Education has right so there were 31 people that showed up to the library when we did the the book thing to so I can tell you we um we offered the materials at brutin high school and we offered them into the evening both evenings we were there uh we did not have anyone from uh attend the brutin high school um viewings and then we moved the materials and we showed the materials for five days at the
262Schoolboard office including four evenings um staff stayed um and we had uh four daytime visitors total the remaining um people that looked at our materials all looked at them online okay and out of all of those uh members and community members that looked at that one citizen left comment okay good information there thank you yes so everyone has had ample time with what you're saying everyone's had ample time to view this this far exceeds any time that we've given before um we follow the policy we wanted to make sure because this is a very important purchase for our School Division and for our students we wanted to make sure that we extended every opportunity online in the during the day and in the evening so our community could review those materials okay good great right
263I appreciate that um we'll need a motion right now to approve the textbook adoption for K through 5 English and language arts program I move approval of the textbook adoption for K5 K through five English and language arts program I second are there any further questions or comments Mrs Ford yes a motions made by Mr Richardson and second by Mrs Goodwin to approve the textbook adoption for K5 English and language arts program Mr Schaefer yes Mrs Goodwin yes Mr Richardson yes Mrs Fairman yes the motion passed for to zero uh let's see sorry about this juggling too many different things yeah we we had already scratched excuse me we had tabled uh until the next meeting the uh discussion and approval of the Virginia school boards Association policy Services um so moving right right along
264there's no um discussion policy discussion no first reading we do have a second reading on policy um consideration of approval of the second reading of the amendment to policy b d DZ the agenda format of the York County Schoolboard policy manual uh I'll need a motion in a uh second I'll motion I'll make a motion or actually the second reading uh for the I need to actually read it sorry well actually typically I I'll share there there's there's been no changes since first reading at our February 12th work session so this policy is ready for consideration for board approval this is the one adding the invocation to the agenda correct all right so juggling too many things here sorry about that um I need a motion to approve the second reading of the amendment to
265policy bdz agenda format of the York County School Board manual I will make make a motion to approve the second reading of the amendment amendment to policy B ddz agenda format of the York County School Board policy manual is there a second I'll second thank you Mr Schaefer motions been moved and seconded uh to approve the second reading of the amendment policy bdz agenda format of the York County School Board policy manual Mrs Ford yes a motions made by Mrs Goodwin and seconded by Mr schaer to approve the policy as stated Mr schaer yes Mrs Goodwin yes Mr Richardson yes Mrs Fairman yes the motion passed for to zero thank you at this time I'd like to ask for the report of the superintendent Dr shandor yes thank you m Fairman uh first I wanted
266to um to acknowledge all of the speakers that came this evening for um all three public hearings we had one on the resoning we had one on the budget and so certainly we had the last one uh for public comment um I want to thank all of the parents um all of the community members that came out and spoke um I know it takes a great deal of time to prepare your remarks I understand um how nervous people get behind a um a microphone um I just appreciate the time that they take to not only do that but then to drive down here and sit and wait all this time so um your voices are heard and I really appreciate those words uh but the the the point I want to make about the public
267comment I am so proud of the students that came here this evening I I know several of those students I've known several of those students since they were in uh second grade and to see their courage to come up to this microphone and speak so eloquently about the concerns that they have within our School Division um not just our unfortunate situation with with um the board Etc and myself but to really talk about real issues in the world and how it's impacting them um so again I'm I'm just extremely proud of those young people for coming here tonight and Having the courage to get up and do that um I do have a request to the board that I'm going to address in in um in in just a couple points um when board members
268uh continue to have request for staff um I as I said at the work session it does take staff a great deal of time to stop their current work to provide reports um in Friday notes we have we have provided reports and you you heard the even evening uh We've provided binders we've provided documents for for new board members and um all board members we um Mr bone and his team provided extensive information related to all the um expenditures from FY 23 FY 24 um we provided uh an acronym list because we wanted to make sure that our new board members felt confident with all of the acronyms what's frustrating to me at at times as super attendant is when we receive a request and then there's no questions followed up on that or um
269more importantly when a when a board member doesn't recognize that it was sent in Friday notes so I mean if we're going to be transparent then I'm going to be transparent as well and it it's very frustrating for my team to spend a great deal of time on reports that aren't read um so I'm going to switch that and talk a little bit about um National re across National re across America on March 2nd uh every year we encourage staff members to redo our students as a way to recognize this important event and to engage with our students I I have the opportunity I love reading to kids uh there's several teachers I saw here tonight that said I look forward to seeing you next Tuesday and I said what's next Tuesday and they reminded
270me I'm coming to read at their school um spent some time at Seaford Elementary School reading my favorite book um the legend of rock paper scissors it's it's my favorite um I'm looking forward so if you're if you're in our community and you're a volunteer or you're connected to our schools please get in and there read to kids it's so much fun and there's there's nothing that feeds your soul more than watching a teacher work with kids there's nothing that that feeds your your soul more than that so please go out and um participate in National read Across America day uh Dr Skinner I appreciate the Hat I didn't bring it because I didn't want to wear it in front of everybody I also want to talk about this time of the school year it's
271typically full of budget to discussions and a multitude of other meetings it was really nice change of pace to join Waller Mill Elementary School students on February 12th in recognition of Virginia kindness week uh from February 11th to the 17th I got to share a video message uh for their assembly promoting the importance of kindness I want to end my comments with well I have a few more comments after that but um I want to share a little bit about kindness kindness is treating people with respect it's taking the high road the road Road much less traveled the moments of kindness motivate those around us to keep moving forward in a world that can be unkind at times choosing words and actions that encourage others is an excellent way to live and I challenge you
272to be an example an example of kindness and we learn that from kids we learn that from our students every day in our schools and I think there's many adults in this world who can learn how to treat people kind and with respect speaking of kindness this is Miss Ford's last meeting this evening her retirement is effective March 1st sy's played a critical role for ycsd as the secretary to the superintendent and the board clerk uh for the past 12 years and with 17 years of dedicated service to ycsd Sandy started as a secretary 3 for student services um we all in ycsd all of our um staff members uh and I know past board members and I know Miss Heywood I see you in the back of the room you had great experiences with
273Sandy as well we extend our heartfelt gratitude to Sandy for her unwavering commitment and valuable contributions to ycsd as she embarks on this new chapter of her life we wish her success and fulfillment in her retirement um we all are hoping she enjoys quality time with her family I know you and Richard are going to certainly enjoy spending time with your grandchildren I also know that your mom Mildred is extremely proud of you and happy for you and make sure you let her know that I said hello Mildred's one of my biggest fans thank you Sandy for your exceptional service to ycsd and you will be missed that concludes my report I know Miss Ford has been invaluable in helping us get through the onboarding and the questions and all of that so really appreciate
274that at uh just want to remind everybody that our work session will be held on Monday March 11th here at York Hall and we're in need of a closed session so I will ask for a board member to please make that motion Madam chair I move that to York County Schoolboard convene and Clos session to to for the consideration and discussion regarding specific candidates for removal from the gifted education advisory committee pursuant to Virginia code section 2.2 3711 A1 of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act thank you do I have a second second oops I thinker beat you to that all right the motion has been moved and seconded to go into close session as stated is there any discussion Mrs Ford yes a motion was made by Mr Richardson and seconded by Mr schaer
275for the board to meetting close session as stated Mr schaer yes Mr Richardson yes Mrs Goodwin yes Mrs Fairman yes the motion passed 4 to zero the board is now in Clos session thank you