School Board Meeting: February 17, 2026

001February 17, 2026. I present to the business of the school division. And now I will call on Miss Kyla Leggette, our student representative to the school board to introduce tonight's guest for invitation and pledge. Thank you, chairman Dr. Best. We will begin tonight's meeting with the invocation and pledge to the flag. Here to do the honors are two students from Huntington Middle School, Demetrius Farre and Adriana Brown. First, Adriana will come forward and deliver the invocation. She will be followed by Demetrius, who will come forward and deliver the pledge. Adriana, will you please come forward and tell us a little bit about yourself before you get started? Um, good evening. My name is Adriana Brown. Um, I am a seventh grade student at Huntington Middle School. Um, I do a lot of singing there. I'm

002in the chorus. Um, I am a dance student at a different dance company and I do a lot inside of my church. So, um, I go to Huntington Middle School and I'm honored to be here tonight. As we begin, I invite everyone to take a moment to reflect on the values that help our schools and communities grow stronger, such as kindness, care, and respect, understanding. Just last week, many schools like my own observed kindness week, reminding us how small acts of encouragement, patience, and compassion can make a big difference in the lives of others and help create spaces where everyone feels valued. This month also reminds us to recognize Black History Month, which is a specific time to honor the achievements and resilience of and the contributions of African-American leaders, innovators, educators, pioneers, and everyday

003people who have helped shape our nation, our schools, our communities, and their stories continue to inspire us to learn and lead with integrity and remain committed to building a future rooted in opportunities for all. I stand by you as a proud Viking and leader within my school, my church, my community. May we carry forward a spirit of cooperation and shared commitment to what is best for our students, our schools, and more importantly, one another. When we lead with kindness and care, we set an example that helps everyone see the promise of the future. Thank you, Demetrius. Will you please come forward and tell us a little bit about yourself before you begin the pledge? Good evening. My name is Demetrius Far. I'm a sixth grader, a sixth grader at Huntington Middle School. I like video

004gaming and theater. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. You thank you for participating in tonight's meeting. You guys did a wonderful job. Supporting Demetrius and Adriana tonight are their family members and school family. Please stand and be recognized. The board appreciates the encouragement you have given these students and we thank you for bringing them to tonight's meeting. All right. I'd like to thank you as well. And now we'll move on. The next item on tonight's agenda is school board recognitions. Dr. Mitchell, will you join me at the podium? Okay, good evening. I have the honor of introducing the first of this evening's school board recognitions. This week is

005Virginia School Boards Association School Board Clerk Appreciation Week and the School Board would like to take a few minutes to acknowledge the dedication of our school board clerk, Miss Tiffany Moore Buffalo. Miss Moore Buffalo, would you please come forward? Every February, the Virginia School Boards Association designates School Board Clerk Appreciation Week to recognize and acknowledge the work and assistance that schoolboard clerks provide to school board members, superintendent, and the community at large. School board clerks are responsible for keeping records of meetings and documenting official proceedings of the school board, preparing and posting meeting agendas, organizing meeting schedules, and providing administrative support among other duties. To sum it up, she is a vital cog in the smooth running operation of our school board team. She is also the chair of the Norfolk School Board and this

006year chair of the Tidewater region of the Virginia School Board Association. Miss Moore Buffalo, on behalf of the school board administration and this community, thank you for your dedicated service. Let's give her a round of applause. a long time no see. Tonight I have the pleasure of acknowledging the dedicated members of the Newport News School Board. February is schoolboard appreciation month in Virginia. This observance was established by the Virginia School Board Association in to encourage public recognition of the roles and responsibilities of schoolboard members and to highlight the importance of public education. This year, as previous years, the governor issued a proclamation officially recognizing February as schoolboard appreciation month in the Commonwealth. Locally elected school board members play an important role in our representative representative democracy as decisions of the local school boards directly influence

007instruction in Virginia public education. As constitutional officers, Newport News School Board members are responsible for setting educational priorities, policies, employing school personnel, providing building and equipment, operating a transportation system, and dispersing school funds among many other duties. Their job is not an easy one, but our school board is committed to serving our community and ensuring that students are given every opportunity to excel through education. Tonight, we express appreciation for our school board members. I'm going to ask each of them to come down to accept certificates of honor from Newport News Public Schools and the Virginia School Board Association and a small token of appreciation from the school division in recognition of their commitment and service on behalf of the students, staff, and citizens of Newport News and the Commonwealth of Virginia. So, I'd like to

008call forth Dr. Terry Best, our chair, vice chair Marissa Alger, board member Rebecca Aman, board member Douglas Brown, board member Rashita Harris, board member Gary Hunter, board member Lisa Surles law and our student representative to the school board, Kyla Legette. Please join me and saluting the members of the Newport News School Board. I'm going to have you all come to the middle and let's get a picture. All right. Okay. Newport News public school students took home first and third place honors and the 2025 third congressional district app challenge which was awarded by Congressman Bobby Scott. Thank you for being here with us this evening. Congressman Scott the state The Congressional App Challenge is a prestigious prize in student computer science. Members of the US House of Representatives annually hosts district-wide Congressional App Challenges for middle

009school and high school students, encouraging them to learn and code and inspiring them to pursue careers in computer science. a team from the Maritime Engineering and Environmental Studies Academy, which is a collaborative lab school partnership between Old Dominion University and NNPS that opened in the fall, won first place in the competition. If the following students will please come forward when your name is called. Sure. Want to come and join us, Congressman Scott? right next to Dr. Best if you will. Thank you. Malachi Finch Malachi Finch. I apologize. Amari Gatling. Amalen Lindsay Lipy I'm sorry and Damian Saunders. The Meesa team received first place for its creation of the library logistics app. It is an automatic checkout system for students that is designed to make library management smoother and more efficient for both students and teachers

010in their school as well as others while helping students to become more interested in reading. Congratulations to the MEESA team. Round of applause again. The third place winner in the app challenge was Owen Beningit. Owen, are you here? Come on up. He's from Menchville High School. Owen, if you would please come forward as he is. Owen's third place winning app is the Vista Tracker. It is a facial recognition program that can be used by students have forgotten their student IDs. He going to be popular when he get back to school. it allows students to have their faces scanned to be easily identified. Congratulations, Owen. We would like to thank their families and friends who may be with us this evening. Would you please stand? Oh, don't be shy. Also, we would like to thank MISA

011program administration Ter James. T James, would you way back? Thank you for being here. as well as their principals. Jason Hollar, stand up please. From Menchville High School, Debbie Hudgens from An achievable Dream, Dr. Dyron Ford from Heritage, and Tiffany Thompson from Warwick High School. We would also like to thank and acknowledge STEM instructional supervisor Tammy Byron. And again, thank you all for your support and supporting our students for Newport News Public Schools. We're going to come around and get a picture. I'm not sure. You all Okay, have a seat. Yep. So, at this time, we're going to take a short break so that our presenters and guests and their families may have an opportunity uh to leave. If they want to stay, they can remain at the remaining of our schoolboard meeting. You're so

012certainly welcome to stay. So, if you could stand in a brief recess at this time. Thank you. Thank you to everyone for your patience and again I would like to thank Congressman Scott for coming out this afternoon. we did extend um an opportunity for him to say something this evening, but he declined. So, wanted to just let you all know that, but we do appreciate him being here. Um at this time, I'm going to take the liberty to make a few remarks. And normally we do not do this, but we've had some interesting conversation in the community. And I want to make sure that those of you that tune in to the first part of the meeting before the public comments that um are able to hear this um because some people tell me they

013said we um start with the meeting, but sometimes they go on a little long. So, we have to tune out and take care of our family business. So, I'm going to take the liberty just to read a statement and then we'll continue um with the remainder of the agenda. As we continue our work to strengthen outcomes for every student across our division, we want to share an early update regarding our elementary school programming. We are committed to a transparent and inclusive process. We look forward to engaging our families, staff, and community partners as we gather input and explore options together. Your voices and perspectives will be essential as we consider what is best for our students and our division. Several factors have prompted this review. ongoing transportation challenges as brought to our attention by the

014division from our employees. Parent concerns about some students spending extended times on buses traveling across the division. the national, regional, and local shortage of bus drivers and concerns regarding equity, such as why we have one group of students that are not allowed to attend one elementary school for grades K through five, while their peers living in other areas of the city do just that. These realities require us to examine how we must most effectively and equitably deliver high quality instruction and support to every child. In our community meeting in October, we shared the data regarding enrollment, zoning, transportation, and the fact that we could not continue to operate in the same manner and expect different results. We had maybe four parents to attend. The recording of this meeting was also posted on our school website.

015We want you to know that we are not taking these matters lightly or attempting to move forward without indepth and accurate information and transparency. Discussion among the board and leadership staff have continued and timelines to include stakeholders and voices have been pushed back to allow more time for feedback. At this time, we are in the early planning and information gathering stages of reviewing our elementary magnet school structure. We have hired an external consulting firm to conduct an efficiency study. No final decisions have been announced simply because no final decisions have been made. Our current focus is on collecting data, listening to stakeholders, and carefully evaluating how we can best serve all of our students and families moving forward. Over the coming months, we will engage in a thoughtful process that includes examining transportation logistics and

016student travel times, including transportation equity, reviewing academic and operational data that includes zoning, magnet, and neighborhood schools at the elementary level. meeting with community and staff focus groups providing opportunities for family and community input. Our goal is clear: to ensure that every elementary school in our division is foundationally strong and equipped to serve all learners well academically, socially, and emotionally. To move forward, we must be extremely knowledgeable and include all factors when making decisions of this magnitude as it will impact our entire division and the city for years to come. Once again, no final decisions have been announced simply because no final decisions have been made. On behalf of the board, thank you for your continued support and we look forward to our partnership as we begin this important conversation. Thank you. And now we'll

017move on with the agenda. During our regular meetings, we provide time for the public to address the school board. These opportunities are scheduled in the early part of our agenda and towards the end of the meeting. As advertised, citizens may submit comments via email up to 30 minutes prior to our meeting time to be included in the official meeting record. For those of you joining us in person, the board considers this an opportunity to listen to your comments. Please understand, we will consider your concerns. We ask that you comply with our threeminut time limit. As you begin your comments, a green light will come on. A yellow light signals that you have 30 seconds remaining and a red light and beep indicates your time is up. As your name is called, please come forward. We

018will first have Miss Aaliyah Davis and she will be followed by Reverend Natalie Chambers. Chamberlain. Good evening everyone. My name is Aaliyah Davis. I'm a senior at Warwick High School where I participate in the governor's health science program as well as the IB program and various volunteer and athletic activities. Um because it is schoolboard appreciation month. On behalf of the students, I want to start by saying thank you truly. It's easy to see policies, meetings, emails, and decisions as just part of the system. But behind all of that are real people. people who are choosing every single day to work towards making our school better, safer, and stronger. I'm here to tell you tonight that your efforts do not go unnoticed. We see the improvements and we feel the impacts. Even when the work happens

019quietly in the background, it shapes our daily lives in ways that matter. The entire school board and administration, thank you for the time, the long hours, the difficult conversations, and the responsibility you carry. Creating a safe learning environment isn't simple. Supporting students with different needs, goals, and challenges is hard work, but also so very rewarding. Even at its toughest times, you continue to show up and do it anyway. And as students, we benefit from that dedication more than I can put into words. opportunities like I have such as IB, Governor's Health, and Magnets at all the different high schools and even middle and elementary schools, as well as opportunities such as dual enrollment and new AP classes are all thanks to you. I also want to give a very special thanks to you, Dr. Mitchell.

020Dr. Mitchell, the fact that you take time every single month to personally connect with students through Sage means more than you may realize. In a world where young voices are often talked about but not always truly heard, you go a step further. You listen. You ask questions. You follow up. And most importantly, you advocate. Sage isn't just a meeting. It's a reminder. A reminder that our opinions are not just tolerated. They're desired. That our concerns are not just acknowledged. They're taken seriously. And that we have the potential to turn ideas into actions. That kind of leadership builds trust, responsibility, and respect. And it's these core values that build stronger schools. As students, thanks to the school board, we feel heard and we feel responsible. When we feel valued, we rise to that expectation. And this

021culture starts at the top. I also want to briefly share something that I'm passionate about that connects to this idea of community growth. A garden initiative that I hope to implement. The goal is simple, to use school-based gardens as a way to instill agricultural knowledge within our community. It's about teaching students where their food comes from, about sustainability, responsibility, and about teamwork. It's about giving younger students hands-on experiences that connect science, health, and service. And beyond that, it's about creating something that belongs to all of us, something we plant, nurture, and grow together. In many ways, that garden represents what you all are already doing. You're planting seeds of safety, opportunity, and of trust. And because of that, students like us have space to grow. So again, thank you. Thank you for your leadership, your

022advocacy, and thank you for believing that young people deserve a seat at the table. Thank you, Aaliyah. And that is why we do what we do. Thank you so very much. Thank you, Reverend Natalie. And she will be followed by Lisa D. Lloyd. Good evening. I am Reverend Natalie Chamberlain. I'm part of the broad coalition that keeps showing up here for two plus years now. We are keenly aware of the welfare needs of the LGBTQIA community and we will continue to show up. The point I want to make tonight is it's really a question. When are you going to fix policy JBP? Every anti-trans bill introduced in the Virginia legislature this year has been defeated. Every one of the bills is dead. The courts have ruled on January 28th that it's legal for schools to

023require the use of preferred personal pronouns and to prohibit the outing of trans students to their families. On January 28th, the three-member panel of the fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a previous district court decision against Kimberly Pulk, who first sued Montgomery public schools in 2024. The MCPS guidelines require teachers to use trans students personal pronouns and to refrain from disclosing a student's trans status to parents without consent, which the plaintiff alleged was a violation of her first amendment rights to freedom of expression and religion. The court did not agree with her on that. It's about time that you as a board get on the right side of history. Even if getting on the right side of the ethical issue isn't an important thing for you. It's not going to go away and neither

024are your trans students who desperately need a safe place in the environment in which this country is living. And I'd like to close though with a celebration. I attended the gallery opening at the Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center for the uh student art show and I hope you've all been because it's fabulous. There is a fabulous collection of art from elementary, middle, and high school students and it will continue for another couple of weeks. So, if you haven't been, go. It is a wonderful display of the amazing talent of students all across the district. Thank you. Thank you. Lisa Lloyd and she will be followed by Cashandra White Mazelle. Good afternoon. This is the second time that I've stood before this committee on behalf of my daughter and representing my granddaughter, which I should not

025be here a second time because the issue that was brought before the school board should have been addressed the first time, not a second time. Right? There's only one person that has contacted my daughter. There's been email after email after email. And what I know is that I too have been a child. I too have stood before a committee. And I'm going to be brief because she has something to say. I want to say this. As a child, adults believe that adults are always true. we will lie. Something was told on me as a little girl and my mother prided me in being honest and we stood before the school board and I said, "Mama, I didn't do it." She said, "I believe her." That was an expulsion for me. I cried, but you know

026what? One thing about the truth, it stands all on its own. It needs no assistance. Only a lie does, right? and it came out that it I told the truth. The whole committee had to apologize to me, but as a child, I didn't want to hear it. Yeah, I got over it. But what I'm saying, children do tell the truth. We need to stop just looking because they're adults. Their mouth isn't a prayer Bible. All facts should be looked at and be considered. These children are our future. And we are responsible for them and their right to be right. And I hold you all responsible. Thank you. I'm I'm sorry. Just for clarification, you want to sign a card so you can have your full three minutes or were you just going to continue? I'm

027talking Shondaanda White. Right. So, you just want to continue with her time or did you want a full three minutes and my full three minutes? Yes, ma'am. Can you submit a card and we'll be happy to? This is the Oh, I'm sorry. So, you're just finishing up. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Thank you. Should I start? Wait for y'all to buzz. You can go ahead. Okay. Good evening, members of the school board and superintendent. I am here again just as I was at the last school board meeting to speak on matters concerning my special needs student who attended Booker T Washington Middle School. I will continue to attend each and every meeting moving forward until my attorneys advise me that I have done everything possible to address the serious bullying concerns that took place in that building.

028Concerns that to this point no one appears willing to properly address. What is most troubling is that I have documentation to support these concerns. I have reports from other parents and students as well as audio recording that demonstrates staff members have not been truthful or forthcoming with information that they have provided. This is deeply concerning and unacceptable as our district has individuals in leadership positions who seem more focused on holding titles than fulfilling the responsibility that comes along with them. These roles are meant to serve and represent the district with integrity and support the community when legitimate concerns are raised. During the election cycle, we hear promises of changes and committed to serving the people. However, I have yet to witness meaningful or positive change, particularly when it comes to accountability and student safety. Our

029children, especially special needs students, deserve to feel safe at school. When concerns are raised, they deserve to be taken seriously and addressed with transparency and accountability. Leadership is shown when difficult issues are confronted directly, not ignored or minimized. The last superintendent that represented this district well was Dr. Kilgore. She took her position very seriously. If any issues reached her, she did her own investigation. Since her departure, we have seen several lawsuits, ongoing issues, ongoing investigations where staff members are not being held accountable for their actions or lack thereof until it is far too late. That in itself is a serious problem. Once again, I'm formally requesting that the facts be thoroughly looked at and reviewed. Upon completion of that review, all parties involved be held accountable for their actions or inactions. Our students deserve safe,

030honest deserve safety, honesty, and leadership that prioritizes their well-being above all else. Thank you for your time, attention for for this matter, and have a great evening. Respectfully, thank you. Thank you, Miss Jackie Batterson. and she will be followed by Miss Katherine Carter. My name is Jackie Batterson, a resident of Newport News. I am also a member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Peninsula of Faith Community in Newport News. I am here again requesting that you change the wording in your procedure JBP to correspond to the policy JB. The policy states you will respect and ensure the rights of every child in the Newport News school system. By denying our transgender children the right to be addressed by their chosen names and preferred pronouns, you deny them that dignity. For the past decade, there

031have been bigoted politicians and destructive right-wing pundits trying to convince the American people that the worst things happening to our country are the use of pronouns and trans girls in sports. I think we all realize that's not what it is. Polls taken during the last election in our state showed that only 3 to 7% of the voters considered trans issues in making their choices. You no longer have a bigoted government in Richmond dictating their conditions on how you write your procedures. In the spring, you will have transgender graduates who have spent the past four years living with the result of your decisions. They have not felt seen or respected. There will always be those who refuse to recognize the truth, who surround themselves with like-minded people. However, the time has come to make a choice

032between what is right and what is wrong. what is ethical and what is immoral. The time has come to change the procedure so that our transgender children receive the same rights and respect as every other child in this school system. I will close with this quote from Mahatma Gandhi. When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they can seem invincible but in the end they always fall. Think of it: always fall. Thank you for your time. And she will be followed by Mr. Jonathan Carter. Hi. I have never addressed a school board before. Um, but my name is Katie Carter. Um, just for a little background, I grew up in Newport News. I attended Newport

033News public schools from elementary through high school. I'm the daughter of a retired Newport News public school teacher. And my son was recently accepted this year in the third grade program at Hilton Elementary magnet program. And I have a daughter who is a rising first grader and I hope she will be able to join her brother at Hilton next year. I'm also a practicing local family law attorney. Um, I'm here today just to speak in support of the magnet programs. I've been made aware of I think what I've heard tonight has been kind of the the most information I've heard up to this point, but been made aware of the beginnings of a plan to modify access to or discontinue the programs altogether. Um, which I think would be a sincere tragedy for elementary school

034students. Um, I looked at the policies and procedures manual and the section IHBH was entitled school program options. Newport News Public Schools recognizes in that provision the importance of students having the opportunity to choose, and I'm quoting here, um, educational programs aligned with personal interests and career aspirations." End quote. Um, it points out that many students benefit from varying instructional models to support individualized learning styles. It's a mistake to exclude elementary school students from the opportunity to have choices to pursue their interests and to seek like-minded, motivated, and specific instructions based on their goals. Uh the specialized curriculum has significantly benefited my child specifically, but has also benefited many many children over the decades since the magnet program was originally instituted. Um, I was reading the fine print when I reapplied my daughter for the

035magnet program this morning and I saw like as was referenced here the intention of the board to undertake the efficiency study from an external consulting firm to determine if the program was going to be modified which it looks like is also in keeping with the policies and procedures section IL-P on evaluation of existing programs. I understand this is sort of a precursor to what it takes to modify or to terminate programming. So, I'm alarmed. Um, I don't think most Newport News Public Schools parents or other interested parties have access to the information or intentions involved behind instituting um, a study like this or even the wide ranging impact that instituting um, changes to the magnet program could have not just for magnet families, but for thousands of other families as districts or students um, as

036districts are redrawn and zones are changing, removing children, magnet children and non-mag magnet children potentially from wellestablished school environments. Um, one of my biggest concerns would be the transparency and communication which ultimately should be taking place through not just, you know, random whispers at PTA meetings and schoolboard meetings, but in a way that allows parents to participate meaningfully in the process and to give feedback on the ways in which their children have been benefited by these programs. Um, I think that is my time, but thank you so much. I appreciate you allowing me the opportunity to speak. Thank you. Followed by Reverend Andrew Mard. Good evening, members of the board, Chairwoman, Dr. Best. How you guys doing? Real quick, on proxy of my son, he asked if we were going to change anything with schools.

037He would like a half day of recess year round. So, I'll start with that. I also had a speech prepared, but it's hard to follow up my wife. She's way smarter than me and I didn't pay attention in school. My son didn't either until this year when he started at Hilton. We've wrestled year after year trying to find him home, a school that he could call home. He's found it. He works. He works hard. He's excelling. He's on honor roll and improving daily. I would argue I would ask you I was going to come up here and argue policies and procedures. I'm a docking pilot at the shipyard. So me arguing policies and procedures of the school board with you guys would be like y'all telling me how to dock an aircraft carrier. I don't

038think that's right. But I am here to plead on behalf of the magnet program for elementary school. It's highly beneficial to us personally and I cannot be the only person in this city. We cannot be the only family in this city that's not impacted by the magnet program in a positive way. He's got congressional recognition for four of them. in the high school level and they all started somewhere and uh these directed studies these directed it it's created a new person out of our child specifically the impact is a data point that can't be measured by your third party evaluating you can't measure it that's not a number on a spreadsheet the effects of cancing the magnet program citywide that the impact to our community it there's no equation there's no formula that can figure

039it out. So I'm here to plead in favor of the elementary magnet program and continuing it. Uh I think there's going to be challenges with transportation no matter what. It's a national shortage. We've got Amazon. You can go get a a job making more money than a bus driver at Amazon. So, it's a hard competition. It's hard. It's hard to fill those roles with reliable people that you trust our children with. And I appreciate y'all's support. I appreciate the public service. You know, what you guys we don't what you guys do, we don't take lightly. It's much appreciated. And uh you know, thank you for your time. I'm not going to go much further without rambling. So, I I appreciate it. You'all have a good night. Thank you, followed by Miss Mary Boss. Good evening.

040My name is Andrew Meard and I'm the ordained minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Peninsula in Newport News. We are a welcoming congregation which means that we practice full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer plus individuals in our congregation, including children and youth, some of whom attend Newport News public schools. My daughter, who is in eighth grade, has been bringing a school friend to our RE programs, including to our progressive human sexuality education program, because he knows that we will not misgender or dead name him. Procedure JBP adopted under and under threats to school divisions from Governor Youngkin requires teachers to misgender and deadname students. Lieutenant Governor Hashmi recently noted that former lieu tenant governor earl sears's attacks on transgender people failed to get her elected. We are learning that not only

041has a has anti-trans policy and rhetoric been deliberately created as a fake culture war issue to distract everyone from real issues. But much of it was concocted by Jeffrey Epstein and the evil men who were part of his child trafficking and sex crime ring. It is all but certain that Governor Spanberger will remove Governor Youngkin's guidance. Whether that's to go back to Governor Northam's guide recommendations or something else, I urge you to get ahead of this so you can say you did the right thing, the moral thing, the compassionate thing before the state told you that you should. Thank you. will be followed by Mr. David Breman. Hello. Uh Mary Voss, an NPS teacher, parent and graduate. Um good evening to the board and to Dr. Mitchell. Um to start off tonight, I'd like to

042address the issue of some non-security employees being required to work weapons detection stations. A couple months ago, an employee spoke about how non-security teachers and staff at her site and at other sites have been required to work weapons detection stations at the metal detectors at the front of schools. Um, some schools make this optional. A number of schools do make this optional, which is great, but there are some there are still some schools where it's not optional, and I believe that needs to change. Um, multiple employees have gotten rotator cuff injuries from the repetitive lifting of student items that cannot go through the metal detectors and working weapons detection at the front of the building is also a more dangerous job um given the tragic increase in school shootings in recent years. Um, my understanding

043is that NNPS recently considered a stipen for personnel um who are required to work weapons detection, but the the district um ultimately rejected this idea. Um, I would suggest, um, that NNPS should now pivot to making the weapons detection position voluntary across the district. You could talk with principals where it's already voluntary and figure out what um, how they're doing it or what incentives they might use at the school level. Um, this would uh, make things more fair and less problematic given the increased risk and the physical challenges associated with the position. Um, moving on to the topic of leave donation. Uh, leave donation policy benefits um, the school system by promoting compassion, stability, and workforce retention. Um, it allows employees facing serious illness or family emergencies to remain in paid status after exhausting their

044own leave, reducing financial hardship and stress during already difficult times. Um, this support helps experienced educators stay in at these schools in education. um which in turn preserves institutional knowledge, minimizes turnover and maintains continuity for students um without them having to leave because of financial distress. Um I'm going to touch on just a few of the policies that um Hampton already has uh for a leave donation policy. Um in their policy, an employee may request of the employee by building administrators, department heads or human resources, not by the employee directly. Um, donated leave is applied to cover absence. It's entirely voluntary and confidential. Donors must retain at least 40 hours of sick leave after donation and donated leave may not be used for routine pregnancy or elective medical procedures. Um, in my final seconds here,

045I want to urge the board to fully dismantle Governor Youngkin's discriminatory, anti-LGBTQ plus guidance and policy JBP. There is no reason for the division to continue adhering to harmful, stigmatizing guidance. Thank you very much for your time and consideration. Thank you, Mr. Brakman. Good evening, Super Mitchell, board members, staff. I'm David Brakman, he him, a Newport News resident, speaking in support of NEA's red for campaign. Please implement collective bargaining for school staff, requesting budget as appropriate, and please revise procedure JBP to better respect respect trans students. We can put our money where our mouth is and support the resolution of issues that staff have been raising at these meetings by adopting a decision-making framework more conducive there too. Uh the current contracts for unlimited other duties as assigned produce unsustainable demands that have harmed our

046ability to retain essential staff and that have been done away with and um and other parts of the country that that have adopted collective bargaining. Um, please also revise procedure JBP to replace Youngkin's dismissive and discriminatory language toward the safety and legitimacy of trans students and allow using in casual conversations people's preferred names without permission slip through the same courtesy afforded to everyone else. Thank you for your comments and thoughts this evening. We will now move to section three, the consent agenda, which includes 3.01 minutes from the work session, January 20th, 2026. Minutes from the closed meeting, January 20, 2026. 3.03. Minutes from the regular meeting January 20th, 2026. 3.04. financial reports, including the revenue and expense reports for January 2026, child nutrition reports, 3.05, the personnel report, 3.06, budget transfer. At this time, can

047we now have a motion to approve the consent agenda? I move to approve the consent agenda as presented. Get a second. Second. It's been moved and second that we approve the consent agenda. Any questions, discussion? Miss Buffalo, call the role, please. For. Brown. For. Harris. For. Hunter. For. Surlaw. For. Alger. For. Best. For. Motion passes. 70. Thank you. We will now move to section five reports and information. 5.01 01 human services annual update. Dr. Mitchell. Thank you, Madame Chair. Each year, the school calendar represents one of our most important decisions that impact academics. It determines how we protect instructional time and how we create stabilities for families in terms of days that students are in school. The proposed 20 26 2027 calendar reflects collaboration with our Newport News Public Schools calendar committee and alignment with

048our peninsula partners. It prioritizes the state required instructional hours um and attempts to protect teacher planning time especially following major breaks and maintains consistency with our surrounding divisions. Our goal is very simple. Maximize learning, support staff excellence, and ensure predictability for families. So, tonight, Tracy Brooks will briefly walk you through the proposal and next steps towards gaining community feedback and a March U board action. Thank you, Miss Brooks. Good evening, members of the board, Vice Chairman, and Dr. going to come back to. It's a pleasure to be before you this evening. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to share highlights from the division calendar that we are proposing for next school year. But before I review the calendar and for the sake of the viewing audience, I would like to speak briefly

049about the team that developed the draft calendar, the process we use and the factors that we considered in planning the draft calendar that is before you this evening. Now, the draft calendar is a result of the work of the calendar committee that consists of elementary and secondary teachers, administrators, parents, and representatives from our instructional areas and our support services who provided valuable input in developing the draft and they will continue to work over the next several weeks to revise the calendar as needed. I would like to take a moment to thank our committee members for their hard work in striving to balance the various needs of our students, staff, and families in developing the draft calendar for next year. Now, this slide shows our calendar planning process, which began with meetings with the six school

050divisions on the peninsula last fall. We incorporated the recommendations along with the input we received from our own calendar committee to develop our draft. We've posted the draft on our school division's web page for public feedback. And we'll continue to reach out to the PTA and to our employee, student, and community advisory groups for their feedback through March when the calendar will come back before the school board for action. Now, there were several factors that we considered in planning the calendar. First and foremost was the instructional program. So, we developed a calendar that will support our work in empowering every Newport News learner to succeed. Then, we based the calendar on the state requirement of a minimum of 990 instructional hours per year. To address inclement weather, the state allows us to count up to

05110 days as virtual learning days. Since we have a virtual learning plan in place and we provide a device for every student. Now, once we had our student days in place, we added teacher work days, planning days, and opportunities for professional development for up to 200 days for teachers as required by the state code. And lastly, we work within a 245day contract or appointment period for our 12 month employees. Now, there were three key calendar considerations at the forefront of the committee's work on next year's draft. And they were first to maximize the time for students to receive high quality instruction. So, we maintain the number of student days at 178 days for next year. Second, we continue to include time for teachers to plan instruction throughout the year and to take advantage of professional

052development opportunities. There are 13 pre-ervice and teacher work days at the beginning of the school year in August for new teachers and seven days for returning teachers. And third, we consider the impact of half days on student attendance and our families since our data showed that daily absences tended to peak on half days. And as we know, attendance matters for instruction and is also a factor in school accreditation. So next year's calendar will contain only three half days for all students. So what's new in next year's school calendar and what are we continuing? The most noticeable change is that we are proposing to open two weeks before Labor Day on Monday, August 24th, which is consistent with all Peninsula school divisions and is also consistent with our most recent starts in previous years such as

053Monday, August 26 of 2024 and Monday, August 25th of 2025. Now, what's interesting is that the earlier start will allow the same number of weeks for students and staff during the summer like we've had in previous school years. And that will be the period between the last day of school on June 8th of 2026 and before the proposed first day of school on August 24th of 2026. And lastly, the draft calendar maintains our commitment to providing the teacher planning date immediately following winter break on Monday, January 4th of 2027 and after spring break on Monday, April 12th of next year. Now, when we look across the peninsula for next school year, and as I said, we work together as peninsula school divisions for consistency whenever we can. All six school divisions are proposing to open

054on Monday, August 24th. According to the drafts that our neighboring school divisions have shared with us thus far. During the week of Thanksgiving, Peninsula schools will be closed on Wednesday, November 25th through Friday, November 27th. The following month, Peninsula school divisions will be observing a two-week winter break from Monday, December 21st through Friday, January 1st of 2027. And for spring break, we will continue to observe the break as the first Monday through Friday in April, which will be April 5th through the 9th of 2027. And now I would like to share highlights from the proposed calendar for our students, staff, and families. In August, our new teachers will report on Tuesday the 4th, and returning teachers and teacher assistants will report on August 13th. And as mentioned earlier, the first day for students will be

055Monday, August 24th. Now, in looking at September, you can see that Labor Day will be a week later than usual in 2026, which informed our decision to start school the last two weeks of August. And in keeping with the state code, schools will be closed for students and teachers on Friday, September 24th, prior to the Labor Day weekend. Now, October 9th, schools will be closed for students so that teachers have a half day for professional development in the morning with family conferences in the afternoon. And looking at November, Tuesday the 3 will be an election day for federal and local offices and will be a teacher work day to close out the first marking period. And later in the month, schools will be closed on Wednesday through Friday, November 25th through the 27th for Thanksgiving

056observance with a half day for 12-month employees on the 25th to meet their contractual obligations. Now, as mentioned earlier, Peninsula School Divisions will have a two-week winter break beginning Monday, December 21st, and ending on Friday, January 1st of 2027. Now, as we enter 2027, based on the positive feedback from teachers, we continue the teacher planning day for the day after winter break ends, which will be on Monday, January 4th, with students reporting on January 5th. And at the end of the month, which is also the end of the first semester, Monday, January 25th will be a teacher and support staff workday. And Tuesday the 26th will be a full day for professional development in Newport News and with our neighboring school divisions. Now, as I mentioned before, spring break will continue to be observed as

057the first Monday through Friday in April, which will be the 5th through the 9th. And like this current school year, we have designated a teacher planning day after spring break ends, which will be on Monday, April 12th, with students returning on Tuesday, April 13th. And by starting next school year on Monday, August 24th of 2026. The school year will end on Tuesday, June 9th of 2027 as the last day for students and Wednesday, June 10th as the last day for teachers. Now, this is a visual representation of the draft calendar. It includes our grading periods in the box in the lower left hand corner. And to the right of it are the religious observances that occur during the school week as well as a key for our early dismissals, our staff development and teacher planning

058days and our holiday observances. So in terms of our next steps, we will continue to solicit feedback from the community on the pro proposed calendar through a link to the calendar on our school and division web pages with the opportunities for viewers to ask questions or post suggestions. And based on that feedback, we will revise the draft if needed. Now, the final draft calendar will come before the school board for action at your March 17th monthly meeting. And once approved, we will publicize the calendar through school newsletters and our electronic communications such as news breakak newslines and board briefs and on our school websites and on our school divisions web page. And beginning next year, we will join our Peninsula school divisions in working together to prepare draft calendars to cover two school years to

059provide a larger planning window for our students, staff, and families. So, in closing, I would like to thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share the draft calendar with you and our viewing audience this evening. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Brooks. Have any questions? Yes, Mr. Gr. Dr. Thank you, Dr. Best. So, I would just ask before the March um board meeting if we could if I could find out um what are the actual number of instructional hours that are in the calendar. Uh I don't expect you to have that number calculated right now. Um and you mentioned the 178 instructional days. uh and the 200 roughly 200 staff days. I've noticed over the years we've been on the higher side of 180 days uh normally like 184 185 days instructional days.

060So if you um I suppose uh what was some of the thoughts about going below 180 instructional days? I think for for the past few years, Mr. Brown, we have been around 178. We went one year at 176, but that cut us too closely to the instructional hours that were needed for like high school classes. Um, in addition to the 990, you have to have instructional areas, instructional hours in certain content areas at each level for high school, middle school, and elementary. And even though we exceed the 990 by uh well over a thousand, it's we're still very close in terms of those hours for content areas, but we have not been at 180 for the past four years. So we've been maintaining around 178. This will be this is our second year at 178

061and then next year will be our third. And that's that's where that's it's somewhat odd because I recall when we finally uh did change the school start times and at least my thought process around that time when we changed when we started earlier was that we would have more instructional days but it sounds like since we've moved the start time up we actually have less instructional days than in the in the old days instructional days or instructional days because instructional days like like I mentioned used to be on the you know north of 180 instructional days. So since we've moved the school start time back to August, now we have less than 180, right? But the start time in August, it it's really the shifting of the days and this year is, you know, it's

062like Labor Day is coming two weeks later. So it's really the movement of Labor Day versus what we're actually doing. So it seems like it's we call it an two week start, but it's really the shifting of that month in September. and it's still bringing us very closely. If we start school August 31st, we will have students in school June 15th and that's like the third week of June. So, it it's been interesting the way the days shift every year and I understand what you're saying. Um, with the earlier start, we were hoping for earlier, right? More more days. Yeah, exactly. Can I uh also add a couple of things I've uh noticed with the calendar which I I I I kind of like I like it because what you've done is and everyone knows

063this once you test at the end of the year with SOS I'm sorry the kids turn it off and what you've done is you've shifted to give us or give the uh educators more instructional time. Exactly. by doing that. That's one thing. The other thing we need to consider is the fact that we've got virtual learning on snow quote unquote what used to be snow days. Yes. And so that's shifted as well. And so the combination of the both of both may be given us more instructional quality time with students. And that's how I'm looking at it right from the standpoint of uh what's happening in the classroom. Yes. And and thank you very much for that, Mrs. Alger, because at one time we did build in like 182 days and two were inclement weather

064days, right? And so we did not count those days or we would reduce school either by a day at the end of the year or a Friday before the Memorial Day weekend, something of that nature to bring us down to the 180. So you're right, we have gone as high as 182, but it was for the inclement weather days and that does help us tremendously as we said that we have a virtual learning plan in place and the state allows us up to 10 days as inclement weather days so that we can count those instructional hours or count those days. Okay, thank you Dr. Best. I'll just echo what or not. There we go. Sorry. Um, I'll echo what Miss Alger said. As a parent, once you get through those tests, the SOS, um, or

065or any of those, it is very challenging to get kids to want to go to school because our tests are done. We're we're watching movies or whatever it is. But I like the and especially if you think about students taking AP tests, I would imagine IB testing is very similar. Though, the AP tests are scheduled on a certain day. doesn't matter when we start our yearact, they will be on that day. So, it gives more instructional time, you know, get ready for the school year, refresh and teach up until the test, and then there's less dead time, if you will, on the back end, which as a parent, I really like it. Makes it easier. So, those last weeks or two. Kylie, did you have your hand up? Okay. And I just have a comment.

066I'm just kind of throwing it out there. Um, Miss Brooks. So, a couple of people have approached me and they asked, they said, "Why can't we get out Memorial Day weekend?" Because in places like North Carolina and there are other divisions, why do students even have to come back? Because just like Miss Alrick said, pretty much after testing is done, yes, they're turned off. And I said, I think you might have to come to school like beginning of August, right? And they said, well, we would rather do that and get out Memorial Day. So I'm just giving you some future just and so I just wondered have you all ever discussed that option any other divisions but I've heard several people they they you know brought that up and I'm not suggesting you do it.

067I'm just wondering has there been some conversation and is testing a factor we just will never be able to do that because of the way testing is set up in Virginia? Well, quite honestly, we have been watching Norfolk because they instituted the earlier start and to be done um by Memorial Day, but we haven't had any conversations in terms of our school division doing that. And also, we have more planning days for teachers and there are other um other days that we schedule that other school divisions do not. So it it is a balancing act but we have not had that conversation in the calendar committee in terms of going to that model. I think we would all like to do that but it would we would probably have to start um if we maintain

068all of our planning days for teachers, our professional development days um and our breaks start maybe the second week of August. then it works us into July which is our summer school time and so there are a lot of other concerns or factors that we would have to consider. So it's something that we can start looking at and we did as I said we've been looking at Norfolk's model and it's worked well for them but we have different sets of days that we are not in session than they have. Okay. Thank you. And I like the two-year calendar. I I really like that. Yes, we're Yes. So, we're looking forward to doing that. And the second year is typically just called the planning year, but still it gives families and staff an idea of the

069direction we're going in and and really with the requirements from the state and really taking into consideration all of the recommendations that we got from our teachers and parents. Our calendar has been very similar from year to year. And so having that planning calendar, I think will still be helpful for families and for staff. So that's our goal. We're doing that as a as the peninsula. So we're working on that and looking forward to it. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? Thank you, Ma Madam Chair. And I could sit here and say I was checking to see if Tracy and Dr. Smith were on their toes, but that's not what I was doing. I you and I could feel it in the room like I was like, what am I doing wrong? No one said

070you got the wrong presentation at the wrong time. But okay, we roll with flexibility. So, um at this time, we're going to have a uh update on recruitment and staffing initiatives. Um, academic excellence of course begins with having a strong qualified adult in every classroom and um in in a support role. And so this evening you will hear from our executive director from human resources, Dr. Evet Smith, and she's to share with you our progress and where we are in terms of staffing. Okay. All right. Good evening, Madame Chair, Dr. best vice chair, Miss Alger, board members, and Dr. Mitchell. This evening, I'm going to share the annual human resources update with you. Tonight, I will discuss the instructional and support vacancies, recruitment, and staffing initiatives. The human resources initiatives come under the strategic plan

071elevate 2030 1.1 1.4.1 and 1.4.2. We strive to implement a comprehensive teacher recruitment strategy of early hiring, university partnerships, residency pipelines, military pathways, and incentives for hard to staff positions. Newport News public schools along with other Virginia school divisions have been required to report the total number of full-time equivalent positions or FTEES in administration and instruction and the number of unfilled positions for the last four years. The report is called the positions and ex exits collection or PEC. The Virginia Department of Education collects data from school divisions regarding employment trends. Additionally, this reporting helps identify critical shortages by subject area, geographic region, or school division. The annual PEC collections is submitted in the fall and at the end of the school year. The fall submissions reports all full-time equivalents held by licensed and unlicensed personnel,

072the number of positions, and the number of unfilled full-time equivalents as of October 1st. The end of year PEC reports only full-time equivalents for licensed positions, the number of unfilled unfilled positions on the last day of school, and the number that left employment with Newport News public schools between July 1st and June 30th. For the purpose of this report, the VDOE defines teachers as personnel with direct responsibility for student instruction and learning. In previous presentations, you have seen that Newport News Public Schools has historically had tripledigit teacher vacancies. A vacancy is an unfilled position that the district is actively seeking to fill. Here you can see the teacher vacancy position for president for the last five years. For the 202526 school year, we have a 3.7% teacher vacancy rate as of October 1st. The areas

073with the greatest number of vacancies are elementary and special education. Now, how does Newport News public schools compare to other districts in the same region? On the next slide, you will see that we are region two, which consists of 15 school divisions. This chart shows a comparison of the Virginia Department of Education teacher vacancy data for region 2 overall and divisions of similar size to Newport News public schools. This data is as October 1st, 2025. The salaries that you see are the beginning salary of a teacher with a bachelor's degree and zero years of experience. As you can see in comparison to our neighboring school districts, Newport News Public Schools is recruiting teachers to teach in our school divisions and we are making great strides. some of our grow your own initiatives in Newport News

074public schools. We have several that are focused on addressing teacher vacancies by developing educators from within our community. We currently support candidates who already hold associates, bachelors or master's degrees and need to complete their lensure requirements. We also work closely with instructional assistants, substitutes, and career switchers who are interested in becoming fully licensed teachers. Through these pathways, HR provides practicum placements, field experiences, student teaching, paid internships or tuition reimbursements, and opportunities for direct hire into our instructional positions. One of our key pathways is the emerging teacher program which includes I teach a Virginia Department of Education approved alternative route to lensure and I teach is an online accredited program that's approved by the council of accreditation educator preparation and designed to be both accessible and affordable for aspiring educators. Currently, approximately 150 Newport News public

075schools teachers are enrolled in actively working towards school lensure through this program and over 40 are now fully licensed and working in our classrooms. Our teacher apprenticeship program continues to expand one in one of our grow your own efforts through the teacher apprenticeship program or TAP. This is a grant-f funded program that builds a sustainable pipeline for elementary and special education teachers. During the 2324 school year, we applied and launched the registered teacher apprenticeship program in partnership with the Virginia Department of Education, the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement, and we received approximately 300,000 in grant funding through TAP. Apprentices earn a tuitionfree bachelor's degree in two years, receive a certification, and participate in a multi-year residency while working as a full-time paid instructional assistant. In return, participants commit to teaching in our division

076for three years. Our first cohort will graduate seven apprentices in May of 2026 with an additional eight apprentices completing the program in May of 2027. Partnerships with Avery University, Mary Baldwin University, and Old Dominion University make this work possible. Another grow your own initiative is our student teacher university. Over 300 future educators enroll from 20 teacher preparation programs learn aside alongside our strongest teachers while actively engaging directly with Newport News public school students. This year our pract practicum and field experience students will contribute over 5,000 hours of instructional support in our classrooms by May. In partnership with multiple universities, Student Teacher University provides targeted learning on engaging diverse learners, instructional technology, classroom management, and building strong teacher student relationships. We are proud to place 100% of student teachers from both Christopher Newport University and Hampton

077University in our classrooms. Overall, Newport News Public Schools is supporting 64 student teachers this year from 10 Virginia universities and two out ofstate online programs, strengthening our long-term teacher pipeline. The 64 students are completing an undergraduate or graduate degree and a teacher preparation lensure program. As we continue with our grow your own initiatives, this year marks the ninth year of our teacher and residency program. Through partnerships with Christopher Newport University and William and Mary, we provide scholarships for master's degree programs along with paid year-long residency experiences. After completing the program, participants earn full lensure and commit to teaching in Newport News public schools for three years. Since 2017, 95 teachers have completed the teacher and residency pathway, and we currently have six students in the program this year. We also partnered with Old Dominion University

078through its redesigned elementary teacher residency program. Bachelor's degree candidates complete over 140 hours of targeted field experience with upper and lower elementary teacher coaches, followed by a full semester of residency. Newport News Public Schools provides tuition support in exchange for a two-year commitment to teaching within our division. In addition, we continue to hire teacher candidates from Virginia in preparation with programs as Old Dominion University, William and Mary, Christopher Newport University as well. These provisionally licensed firstear teachers complete their master's degree while receiving structured support from both our university and the Newport News teacher program and then transitioning to a full lensure after a successful first year. Why this matters? This these layered partnerships allow us to recruit, prepare, and retain highquality teachers while reducing vacancies and strengthening instructional quality and building a sustainable long-term workforce

079for our schools. As we move to our support staff, we see the vacancies there in Newport News and we know that they are critical to elevate our mission. We are very appreciative of all of the work that go into our staff. We continue to recruit for all vacancies throughout the year. We have made very positive strides with many of these vacancies while we still note that we are still in need of hiring bus drivers to transport the students, our custodians to maintain our facilities, our nurses to care for the health of our students, and child nutrition to feed our students as well. While these vacancies are not unique to New Partners public schools, we continue to make efforts at all job fairs to hire for the vacancies in support of our staff area. The vacancies

080that you see there fluctuate based on various factors such as resignations and retirements throughout each month and each year. Some of our recruitment initiatives that we do in the human resources department include social media, radio, TV, retirey solicitation. Newport News public schools hosted job fairs, college campus recruitment intended college and universities, community event participation, military partnerships, sign on bonuses for critical areas, walk-in Wednesday interviews, and international recruitment. In partnership with our marketing and communications department, we conducted geo fencing. This is a process where you focus on an area or a region where you pay a company to target a region so that people will be notified of our advertising content for a region or a period of time whether on your cell phones streaming on your computer surfing the web. It is done by a

081zip code and this leads them to our website where they can review and apply for our online vacancies. We can then schedule them for virtual interviews for hiring opportunities. Partnering with the communications department allows geofencing to provide us data on how many people we reached and how many people viewed our advertisement. In our first attempt of using geo fencing, we had approximately over 80,000 people who saw an advertisement to hire for our vacancies. And with this expansion and in collaboration with our communications department, we will continue to use geo fencing as we extend our reach and to recruit and hire for Newport News public schools critical areas of support. Our military partnerships. We have military partnerships with hire vets now and hiring our heroes. Chamber of Commerce Foundations and Skillbridge. Skillbridge has a fellowship program

082and the program allows exiting military members an opportunity to work at a position related to their skills and talent. If the fellowship is a success for both the employer and exiting military member, a member is given a formal offer. We also partner with the Virginia Works Veteran Services, Hampton Rose Workforce Council, Veterans Employment Center, and Troops to Teachers. We have participating in hiring events at the Joint Base Langley Air Force Base and Fort Eustace. And as you can see, our hires from July 1st, 2025 through December 31st, 2025, we have hired 18 veterans and 30 military spouses. And we are proud to say that we have hired Robert White, our executive director of public information, and Mr. Moses Toliver, two retired veterans who have joined Newport News Public Schools. Recruitment is a joint effort. I

083want to say thank you to my dynamic human resources team, family members, school leadership, principals, assistant principals, staff from the department of teaching and learning, our teachers that also help us recruit substitute teachers, interns, and our board as well for helping us with these recruitment events. At this time, this concludes the human resources update and I am happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you. Wow. All right, this was long. I just have a comment. I think the I get excited to see this presentation every year because it really dispels the the the noise and what we hear about teachers leaving in droves. However, we do all we can to keep that from happening. Um, it is a joy to see that we are are doing okay. Um, the part that I

084really like is about grow your own that has grown over the years and that's been really exciting to see how we're putting in back into the community and supporting teachers to come and be here and to stay here. So, so thanks for that big highlight. Yes. You're welcome. Thank you, Mr. Brian. All right. So, I'll ask the I want to ask a question about uh it's slide seven in regards to this those salaries. I would just be interested to see the same chart with median uh salaries on it just to um give an idea because those are starting salaries. That is so just be interested to see the same chart with with median salaries. But um I just make a comment. Uh we can go back to slide six just because that's I think tells

085the tells a great um story. um we don't brag enough in Newport News and this is a you know phenomenal just fantastic trend to see for our division. Um and so I just want to give an opportunity for you all to brag about how fantastic Newport News is in recruiting and how we're outperforming other divisions in the uh in vacancies and recruiting staff. And so uh please comment on why does why are we continue to go down every year? uh whereas that doesn't necessarily happen in all the other divisions around us. Yes, I will say coming into the division um and I give kudos to this team as well and that's why I brought them here um Kathy Westfall with employment as well. Um Joanne Armstrong with also what you do as a board with

086looking at the salary increases which goes back to that as well. When you look at the vacancies, they have declined. Also we're very competitive with our salary and also what is happening inside. We have discussed what is also happening here in collaboration with our curriculum department and the support that they give to teachers to stay um as well. But we have looked at various ways with grow your own all of the initiatives that we are doing. Um we are partnering outside increasing that effort also with tuition reimbursement um with the followup and support with our teachers. there are many initiatives where we are partnering and targeting on every aspect um to bring in candidates into Newport News public schools. Um so we are very appreciative of that comment and thank you for your support but

087we will continue to do our work in hiring and recruitment in this upcoming year as well. And thank you to this team for their work. We because we meet and talk about that and what we can do and we look at each school individually as well in collaboration with the curriculum team that comes to the table about vacancies as well. And Mr. Brown, I will also add and Dr. Smith talked about our teachers. They are some of our best recruiters and they do talk about the fact that we have teacher coaches and instructional specialists and college career specialists that some other districts don't have. So, we have some additional I see somebody shaking their head. Um, who who works in our schools every day. Um, and I think that our staff, they're they're uh pleased

088with the support that they have and they share with surrounding districts and people that they know in other places that if you come here, you you will have some additional support that you may not find elsewhere. Okay. Yes. Wonderful. So, I think it's fair fair to say uh teachers may be leaving the profession in droves, but not in Newport News. Correct. Not right now. They are not. Right. We are at what is it? 3.07. 3.07. Yes. Okay. Any other comments? Can you go back to the slide about the I think it had incentives up there. The way that we recruit. There was one. Keep going. Um sign on bonuses and incentives and Okay. Wednesdays. I I don't I don't know if this is a conflict of interest or what, but I have a um teacher

089that I recommended and she is doing extremely well and I didn't get any sign. You the chair. You don't get a bonus. We we just finished our conflict of interest training and certification. So, I think it would be a problem, but we might have to rewrite the policy or something. I don't know. Okay. I'm I'mma leave that. All right. I'm sorry. I had to do it. Okay. Any other comments or questions? Thank you, Sarah, so very much. Keep up the good work. Appreciate you. All right. Thank you. And we will now move on to section five, reports and information 5.02 02 20 26 27 I'm sorry, excuse me. Thank you. 503 the attendance report. Board members, you have received a copy of this report. Are there any questions? Thank you. 504 membership report. Board members,

090you have received a copy of this report. Are there any questions? Thank you. 5.05 construction report. Board members, you have received a copy of this report. Are there any questions? Madam Chair, I just make I'll make one question. I believe we got some confirmation tonight on the expected completion date for Huntington Middle School. And so I just wanted to uh confirm for the viewing audience that we do expect to still open Huntington Middle School in the fall of next year. Is that is that accurate? No. She said not exactly. Okay. It will not it will not open in August. Let's say that. But we are pushing hard. Yeah. So the fall we are pushing hard for the fall. You were late. Yes. But thank you. But the work continues. There hasn't been a stop. They

091are still working on building the school. Exactly. And I passed by literally every day. So a lot of progress is being made. Thank you, Mr. Brown. And hearing none, let's see. Mr. Brown, we'll move on to section 5.06, comments by the superintendent, Dr. Mitchell. Thank you, Madam Chair. Before I get into my formal remarks with my slides, I do want to pause and speak directly to the board. Um, to each one of you, I want to thank you for your long hours. I want to thank you for all the reading that you do, policies, and other other things. I want to thank you for listening. to uh families and um students and staff. I want to thank you for uh wrestling with the hard questions because as stated earlier, public service is definitely not easy

092work and it's rarely done quietly, but you show up all the time and you are thoughtful and you are focused on children and I appreciate that. I want to say to our amazing student representative that thank you for your voice and thank you for your courage. Um, thank you for sitting at this table and for representing your peers and for speaking from a student perspective and you do remind us in real time who this work is about and who this work is for and we are incredibly proud of you. We are incredibly proud of you. um to our amazing board clerk, Miss Moore Buffalo. Um and you can go ahead and put the You know what? I'm behind pictures. All right. So, let's go to Miss More Buffalo. She doesn't know her pictures up there.

093Thank you. Um your work happens behind the scenes, but it is very foundational for the work of the board and for my work. Um you you are organized, your precision, your calm presence, and your steady guidance for all of us. You keep us aligned, you keep us prepared, and you keep us moving forward. And we are better because of you. And you don't hesitate to tell us when we're going off track, and we appreciate that. And so, moving on with my other comments, February is Career and Technical Education Month, so we certainly want to lift up our CTE educators. And for our viewing audience, we offer more than 70 courses and there are thousands of students in those courses. They earn industry uh credentials. They have real life skills and it clears a pathway for

094them for the future. And so when we look at it as educators, it's not just programming. It's really an opportunity for our students to choose, to compete, and to thrive. And we want to thank those teachers for what they do. Moving on, it was mentioned earlier. I think it was um Pastor Natalie that mentioned our um amazing amazing children in the art show. And as she pointed out, we have until Saturday, February 21st to visit the citywide youth art show. If you haven't gone, please do. It is free. Um walk through the gallery. You're going to see creativity, courage, and brilliance. Our students are scholars. their innovators and their artists. So, please take a moment to go down and see their work in action. February is also National Black History Month. It is a time

095to reflect and recognition. And we certainly honor the contributions of African-Americans who have helped to shape our schools, our city, and our nation. And I want to take a moment to thank the board. I asked them to make sure they wore some red today. So, thank you for wearing red in recognition of February as American Heart Month. Through our partnership with the American Heart Association, we are promoting wellness. We are promoting uh wellness education and lifelong healthy habits through our physical education class and our health classes. And then looking ahead, March the 6 will be a half day for students. Family conferences will be held throughout the week and that afternoon because we believe that family engagement is not an event. It is a partnership. And when schools and families work together, our students win.

096And so I know our students are looking forward to a half day. Um but we are looking forward to conferences with parents. And madame chair, that concludes my remarks. Thank you, Dr. Mitchell. We'll move on to our student representatives. See, I'm not going to forget about you this week. Hi, thank you. In honor of school board appreciation month, I want to thank the school board for all the work they put in for our community. Your dedication to supporting our students doesn't go unnoticed, and we're fortunate to have such a high caliber team to guide our students. So, thank you. I also want to thank our community for your support. Um, it's unwavering. It's continuous and over this past month, I've had the opportunity to visit and engage in different environments throughout Newport News. And at

097each event, I've been grateful to see so many friendly faces, some who are in this crowd tonight, um, showing up for our students. So, we're truly so blessed to have so many people care about our future um, and put in so much work to ensuring the future generation doesn't go unnoticed and we're are always supported. um and self selfish promo. I don't know if this is unprofessional, but I made it into the citywide youth art show. So, I went at the debut and I was humbled. We have so many great artists in Newport News. Um it's truly such an amazing show. We definitely have future painters. Um, and it's just beautiful to see so much artwork on display um, that has such great commentary and different uh, points of view to display. So, I really

098do encourage you to go see that and experience it. There's so much beautiful artwork on display. And that's going to end it for my comments tonight. Thank you, Miss Harris. Good evening, everyone. Um I first wanted to say um thank you to everyone that supported the reup um school supply uh drive distribution um project that went this was our ninth year uh collaborating and doing it. We had to shift a little bit um and pivot and have the the actual event at Patrick Henry Mall. So again, thank you to the uh Patrick Henry Mall for helping us adjust because of the cold temperatures. We couldn't have it outside at the winter um festival. Um it what what made it different was that we really captured a lot of different divisions that everyone comes to the

099mall. So um that was an interesting piece. But I I I especially want to thank my colleagues up here. Um several of you stopped by, donated, came through just to support and it really just does mean a lot when I see those familiar faces out and some of you in the audience and the citizens that came together. So thank you all. Um the I wanted to put a shout out to uh Tiffany Bole who conducted her Red Sand project um at CNU uh a couple days ago um to bring awareness to human trafficking and domestic violence. It's an initiative that's been going on for about three years and I think this was like my second year going um with my colleague uh Dr. Best. Um and just that initiative and that awareness is very important

100to to our community. Um the New Horizon's ribbon cutting ceremony um was also actually an exceptional event as well. The Marines uh service technology department um where we actually had a student demo of how to fix the boat motors and and how to diagnos do a diagnostic and they talked to us about industries and how much money they would be making, you know, and those great things. So it was cool to see students um get their certifications and do the ribbon cutting for that program. Um, I do want to invite everyone, um, Councilman's Corner, um, that Councilman Harris, uh, hosts every quarter is on March 16th, um, this next ne next month. And the, uh, special guest is going to be school board. Yay. Um, so we'll be there to take questions and to talk

101to citizens. So, I want to invite um, you all to to come out to that. And lastly, this school board, um, this team, having been in this for a year and some change, I do want to publicly say this is an exceptional group of professionals. Um, I feel full every time I am around you all in a work session. Um, it's been it's just been insightful and warm to be around such knowledge. Um, so just thank you. We appreciate you. You all work very hard. Thank you for taking all my questions um getting me out of trouble um and all the things. But we I really do appreciate this group and this board. Thank you, Mrs. Amy. I'm actually gonna spare you guys. I'm getting over something. I'll spare you another coughing fit. So, I'm

102say no comment tonight. Thank you, Miss M. Hunter. Oh, thank you, Miss You know, I'm a I believe that the reason major reason why many of the teachers not leaving here to our school division because great things are happening in Newport News public schools and I think this is why teachers are staying here. We got to pay. We've given teachers training. Uh I just believe that the passion of this board and the superintendent and our clerk and our student representative, it's just the wonderful things that we're doing here. And if we keep saying that great things are happening, we're going to continue to see, you know, scores go up, teachers leave, teachers not leaving, just a wonderful time for all. That being said, another great that happened uh a couple Saturdays ago, the RISE program

103down in Newport News at Harris High School where over 600 young men uh students came out along with their fathers, their grandfathers, their uncles, their mentors, many of the fraternities uh came out uh pastors. Uh it was what a wonderful time and we heard this 20 yearear-old uh young man just speak from the heart and he was so exhilarating to the young men there and I just want to thank you for the programs that was put it on the rise program. Um Miss Adams, she's not here today but uh she did a phenomenal job as always putting that program together. So I do want to mention that. And thirdly, I was going to say, I'm going to piggy back on Miss Harris. Uh, we had the opportunity again to do board training at a retreat

104um about a week ago, a week ago today, a week ago today. And it is amazing to be a part of this board where each one of us have different ideas of you know but the all the ideals focus on the betterment of our students right we can agree to disagree but it's just the path that you know we think we all should go but no matter from Mr. Brown and to, you know, Miss Eldridge and to Rebecca and myself and whomever. Um, the passion that we had for about five or six hours between us like no other board I've ever been on. So, I want to thank you for being passion and we look forward to another year and continue this year. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hunter. Mr. Brown. All right. Well, tonight

105I want to um it is school uh board clerk appreciation week and I so I do want to say uh hats off to Miss Moore Buffalo uh and express uh I know that we all really very much appreciate all of the work that you do. Uh Miss More buffalo is available day and night. You can you can you can text her at any um time of the night and she will get she will get back to you. She keeps this board uh working. She made sure that all of us were wearing red today like we were supposed to for the American Heart Association. Uh she makes sure that you know the the board uh gets to eat. Uh she she you know does all the arrangements for travel and really and keeps me out of

106trouble. Uh tells me when reports are due even before the Virginia Department of Elections or others are saying that the report is due making sure that we stay on top of everything. So really, you know, that takes a a level of dedication that um it goes above and beyond the call of duty that she makes sure that it holds each and every single one of us up here accountable for did you get this reported on time? Do you have this together? Uh I need I need these things and and making sure that we are we are taking care of of the business of the people and making sure that that all flows. And so I just want to say publicly that your work is very much appreciated and does not definitely does not go unnoticed.

107Um she is one of the the key um lynch pins in making sure that communication goes out to the public. So when one of you contacts a board member and then the board is letting um the superintendent know that we've received this feedback, she's the one who makes sure that the superintendent gets back to that constituent and uh and talks and talks with them. So uh she is really um the the engine and the efficiency by which we are able to operate and we could not operate at a level of efficiency that we do without her and without her work. And that's why I want to also say publicly we need to make sure that Miss More Buffalo is entered into the competition for there's a VSBA uh clerk of the year uh award. She

108is she is uh there's an application due. she is deserving of that award and but based on her track record and what she has done and I um and so I want to say whole heartedly we need to submit her application for that award and and make sure that you know she gets it make sure that she gets the recognition that she deserves. I can't think of too many other board clerks who are u both a board clerk and a on a board member right uh and uh do as much you know in the community both in her own uh community where she lives and and as well in Newport News. So, I want to say that and and to Miss Legette, I want to say thank you. I believe she got cupcakes um for

109for all of us. So, thank you, Miss Legette, for the the cupcakes. Oh, she she did the little bag. She did. Oh, the the the little ch the chocolates. So, thank you, Miss Legette, for being a student rep. She she she takes she's also as well very conscientious and very um uh deliberate in the in the work. So for a student rep to know that it was actually school board appreciation month to take the time to um get something. No other student rep I think in the time I've been here has done that before. So you you are a first Miss Legette for having having the foresight to do that and you know I want to make sure that we say something say these things you know at the time that they occur and not

110just wait because you don't know if you have tomorrow. That you know you what you've done uh in your time here on the board as our student rep has really expanded student voice. uh we have been able to have uh Miss Legette as she introduces our students when they come up and give the invitation and give the pledge. Uh she has uh really u been a great conduit between us and the students and has increased the amount of student voice that we have that we're hearing from students uh to the board. So I want to say Miss Legette, you are doing an excellent job and setting a a very difficult uh act to follow because the next student rep is going to have to um pick up the same work where where you've left off.

111And so with that, thank you Madam Chair. Thank you Mr. as well. Well, I'm not going to echo all that, but thank you, Mrs. Moore Buffalo. I don't know what I would do without you. I just assume you're here just for me. So, thank you for all you really uh do for us. Um, there was a lot of wonderful things said tonight. And I think one thing that I really enjoyed from our work session was to hear how our students are doing academically. I mean, that is what we're really here about. Um, and to just to see that we know how they're doing and we're a we're able to assess how they're doing and we know what to do when uh we get that information. And so for Dr. Mitchell's team who is still here

112hanging in tonight, thank you guys. Thank you guys for supporting the students and making sure that they get where where they need to go. Um, this board is really a special group. I know we're kind of lamenting about that this evening, but um, I always say you're only as smart as using every brain that you have available. And that's what this board does. this board brings their expertise, their passion, and the just the desire to do the best that they can do um for students. So yet, if it gets heated, you just honestly realize that it's because everybody cares, you know, just that much about um what we're charged with, and that's with caring for students. The fun thing that I noticed with this board is that we like to show up. Um, and so

113on the weekends, we're kind of divvying up where we're going to go because there is just so much to do in any one weekend. Like we had the rise conference, we had the uh art opening um at Jefferson Lab. We had science bowl. Um we had science fair the previous week and we had the app challenge. All four of those things were on the same on the exact same day. So, this board likes to divide and conquer and we do that not just with events, but we try to do that with the tasks that are put in front of us and we're just really honored to serve you all. Um, the other thing I will say is uh I love giving Woodside a shout out. Um, thank you for shouting us out and for giving

114us the thank you they gave us. I'm going to borrow yours because I I didn't eat mine yet, but I don't have it. Um, they gave us sweet bun cakes and we just appreciate the words that are in the letter and we really I we were we needed to pass the tissues around um when we heard the student from war speak. That was touching. So, Thank you, Miss Alger. Uh, I won't take long. I just want to say thank you uh Tiffany. Thank you so much for all that you've done straight from the heart. We you know we talk all the time so uh it's always great and I want to thank my colleagues uh for all that you do. Um the celebration is every time we're together uh and every time we have a

115discussion and we do it uh with the focus on children and that to me uh um is what it's all about. So, thank you all um for that. Um and I also want to thank uh the student voices uh to have heard Aaliyah, to hear Kayla each time uh is the reason why we're here. Uh and I want to make sure that we always are driven by that. Um you know, uh it's when they come up, uh and we as a community have to listen to our our students speak. um they are the ones that experience day in and day out what's happening out there uh much more so than any parent much more so but what's happening in the classroom and um to have them to come here to take their time and to

116share their perspective uh is extremely meaningful. So um and that's it. So thank you so much and uh and thank you to my wonderful chair and uh Dr. Mitchell for a great meeting. Thank you. So, I won't be long. I won't repeat all the places that everybody um said they went because most of them or good half or more I was there as well. So, I'm not going to um repeat that. So, one of the things that I try to um share with students when I was an educator is that you have to remain humble. So, that that's a trait that will serve you um in life. And when you're humble, you take corrections or you take suggestions with bettering yourself or you don't take them personally. So, I did make a statement earlier today

117regarding our elementary magnet schools and I just want to make sure that I'm clear on a couple of things because I don't get it perfect or right the first time, but I want to make sure we walk away from here with the correct information. And so, one of the things is we have not hired a firm yet. Um, the request has gone out for a proposal. So I want to make sure that that is clear um before we leave. And then the second thing was that we will have magnet schools as they are for the school year. It's on the application. It's on our website, but I want to say that out of my mouth so that you'll leave with that understanding um as well. So I just wanted to clear those um two things

118up. I want to say thank you to Miss Buffalo as well because we are extra um blessed and fortunate because her being a school board member in addition to a schoolboard clerk, she just brings a wealth of information and literally she keeps us straight. She she keeps she definitely keeps us um she definitely so I want to say thank you. Um and I want to thank all the board members as well because the whole is better than the parts and um you all help me to to look all right. So I really really So, I really do um appreciate it. But for all the teachers and all the staff members out there really doing the hard work dayto day, daytoday working so hard. I I get I take it personal when people make little comments

119and I said they have no idea what it is people are doing in these schools and in these classrooms, but I just want you to know we see you and we do um appreciate you. And then to the students, um, Kayla and, uh, Kyla, I'm sorry, and Aaliyah. Again, somebody said it, but I'm going to say that. That is what it's all about. When it's all said and done, everything goes right back um to the students, and it just fill my heart to hear a student come and say, "Thank you." Just just so so we are people, too. And every now and then, we we'd like to hear it as well. So if all minds and hearts are clear, this meeting is adjourned.