001good evening I'd like to call to order the regular meeting of the Newport News school board for Tuesday February 18th 2025 on behalf of the members of the school board and Dr Mitchell I welcome each of you present this evening and those who are watching on TV and online a quorum is present to transact the business of the school division we do have one member of the school board who wishes to participate in our business meeting electronically as indicated in board policy be electronic participation in meetings from remote location the board member must make such request cite the reason for remote attendance and the board must approve the request by majority vote of the members present School Board member Rebecca aman has made such a request Miss Aman are you with us she's not online
002okay if she becomes online we will pause tonight is somber for us in Newport News Public Schools we lost one of our finest Miss Michelle price our director of communications left us on T on Thursday evening this boardroom is not the same today I felt it the moment I looked over at Devon yes you did a fine job counting me down but for as long as I've been chair as long as Mr Brown was chair as long as Mr Hunter was chair that's who we look to to guide us in this space and to help us communicate who Newport News Public Schools really is she will continue to be part of our fabric part of who we are we've learned so much from her professional and the way she lived her life we thank that
003we are very thankful that we had her in our presence so if we could just have a moment of silence to honor Michelle price okay we will begin tonight's meeting with the invocation and pledge to the flag here to do the honors are two students from BC Charles Elementary we have Carter Murphy and Alex Alexander een first Carter will come forward and deliver the invocation and he will be followed by Alexander who will come forward and deliver the pledge so Carter would you come tell us a little bit about yourself I played basketball and I played football before and soccer U my favorite sport is basketball and I'm 10 years old thanks for joining us good evening my name is Carter Murray I attend BC Charles Elementary School I am in the fourth grade and
004a straight A honorable student I am kind I'm courageous amazing friendly strong encouraging grateful uplifting funny silly playful artistic smart and athletic and I believe in myself [Applause] I also believe in others I think it is important to be helpful and give Grace to people because it is the right thing to do you can't get mad or down on someone or make them feel bad if they mess up one time because no one is perfect in my church February is value month I value myself and others and my school of February is kindness month I I remember being a kind person ever since I was 3 years old in America February is Black History Month I'm a young black man I am black history I'm American history My Hope for you today is that you
005don't judge a book by it's cover don't judge a person before you get to know them they're probably a good person just need someone to talk to thank you for having me [Applause] thank you for joining us Carter Alexander would you please come forward and tell us a little bit about yourself I play baseball football basketball and soccer and my favorite sport is baseball I go to BC Charles and I'm in second grade aw would you lead us through the pledge today I pledge allegiance the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all awesome did what [Laughter] you next [Music] Carter and Alexander thank you so much for participating in tonight's meeting you both did such a wonderful
006job you're welcome to come back anytime you like to supporting Carter and Alexander tonight are their family members and their school families please stand and be recognized [Applause] thank you so much the board really does appreciate appreciates the encouragement you've given your students your children um and we thank you for bringing them to tonight's meeting it reminds us what we're here for thank you the next item on tonight's agenda are School Board recognitions so Dr Mitchell if you would join me at the podium good evening um it's going to be hard to top uh Carter and Alexander's performance tonight you really did a great job thank you for being here but we have a a really great uh group of people to honor and recognize tonight and I'm uh pleased to have the honor of
007introduce ucing this evening School Board recognitions and honores uh this week is Virginia school boards Association School Board clerk appreciation week and the school board would like to take a few moments to acknowledge the dedication of our school board clerk Miss Tiffany Moore Buffalo Miss Moore Buffalo would you please come forward [Applause] each each February the Virginia school boards Association designates Schoolboard clerk Appreciation Week to recognize and acknowledge the work and assistance that Schoolboard clerks provide to school board members superintendents and the school community at large school board clerks are responsible for keeping records of meetings documenting official proceedings preparing and posting meeting agendas organizing meeting schedules and providing administrative support among a whole host of other duties to sum it up uh Miss Moore Buffalo is a vital member of the smooth running operation
008of our Schoolboard team and she's also multi-talented she's the chair of the nor School Board herself so miss Mo buffalo on behalf of the school board Administration and this community thank you for your dedicated service [Applause] and we're going to get a picture now yes okay hold in Fr of your face over okay well thank you very much um tonight oops wait Miss more Buffalo to get back up there so she can document this well thank you and uh tonight I also have the pleasure of acknowledging uh the dedicated members of the Newport News school board February is School Board appreciation month in Virginia uh this observance was established by the Virginia school boards Association in 1989 to encourage public recognition of the roles and responsibilities of school board members and to highlight the importance
009of their of public education uh this year as in previous year the governor issued a proclamation officially recognizing February as school board appreciation month and locally elected school board members play an important role in our representative democracy as the decisions of local school boards directly influence instruction in Virginia's public schools as constitutional officers Newport News Schoolboard members are responsible for setting Ed educational policies employing Schoolboard personnel providing buildings and equipment operating a transportation system um and dispersing School funds among many many 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 giving every opportunity to excel through education and so tonight we express appreciation for our school board members and I'm going to ask each of them to come down
010to accept certificates of Honor from Newport News Public Schools the Virginia school boards Association and a small token of appreciation uh in recognition of their commitment and service so I'd like to First Call forth and she's already down here uh chairman Lisa sir sir law congratulations [Applause] uh Vice chair Dr Terry [Applause] best board member Marissa [Applause] Alger board member Rebecca Aman I think if she's joining us virtually let's give her a round of applause anyway board member Douglas [Applause] Brown board member rashina Harris [Applause] board member Gary [Applause] Hunter and our student representative of the school board rasvan verdy [Applause] so please join me in just one more time saluting all the members of the newp school [Applause] board thank you very much congratulations you for all that you do oh yes we'll do
011a picture first let me [Music] so for an educator receiving National certification is really a symbol of excellence in teaching and professional growth newer News Public Schools is pleased to announce that five Educators recently met the standards for National certification established by the national board for professional Teaching Standards that's a mouthful these educators will not only strengthen their profession but increase academic achievement and rigor in the classroom please join me in congratulating our 2025 national board certified teachers our first is Gretchen dewal please come [Applause] forward yes stay up here Mr wall is a science educator at War High School uh and she Reserve received her certification in science adolescence and young adulthoods congratulations thank you our next honor is Sarah Olen please come [Applause] up Miss olssen is an instructional coach of dual language
012immersion in the department of teaching and learning she earned certification in literacy reading language arts early and middle childhood congratulations again [Applause] our third honor tonight is Nancy [Applause] Peterson miss Peterson is a professional school counselor at B BC Charles Elementary School and she re received her certification in School counseling Early Childhood through young adulthood congratulations [Applause] again and our last honorary for the night is Tracy [Applause] Skinner oh and we have one more after that Miss Skinner is an English as a second language educator at M Elementary School uh she received her certification in English as a new language early and middle childhood so congratulations [Applause] again and last but certainly not least um Katherine Nicole [Applause] piland Miss pilin is an art educator at Sanford element elementary school and she earned certification in
013art early and middle childhood so again [Applause] congratulations so National School Board certification is the highest credential in this in the teaching profession so you have a awful lot to be proud of uh the certification process usually takes between one and three years to finish it's not an easy thing to get these Educators successfully completed the assessment process by preparing a portfolio of good teaching practices student work and multimedia examples a reflective written component looks at teaching goals methods and results candidates also have to pass an extensive series of rigorous written exercises so we are very proud of you for this honor and for all the work that you put into it at this time we would like to recognize the support behind the scenes uh people who help make this recognition possible and would
014the family members of these Educators please stand you had support thank you and I'd also like to acknowledge the presence of their principes and supervisors uh if you all stand when I call your name Tiffany Thompson at Warick High School Dr Dr Angela Rhett from teaching and learning [Applause] okay there she is Oriel Robinson Taylor at BC Charles [Applause] Elementary Dr Edward Van djk and Kamisha Davis at MacIntosh Elementary [Applause] School and finally uh would also like to publicly acknowledge and thank Wade woolly teacher coach in the department of teaching learning thank you and thank you all very much and congratulations on this fantastic achievement we'll get a picture now [Applause] more so a lot to be thankful for tonight just thank you uh ensuring that people young people are financially literate is a is
015Paramount to Preparing them for future financial success our next recognition showcases the School division's continued success in this area working working in support of Education or wise as the acon goes is is an educational organization dedicated to building financial literacy and preparing students for college and the global Workforce the organization's financial literacy program provides high school students with financial education and the opportunity become certified financially literate by successfully passing the wise financial literacy certification test tonight we're recognizing four Career and Technical education teachers who have been named wise gold star teachers for 2023 24 they are so named because at least 93% of the students at least one of their classes successfully passed the wise financial literacy test um and we have some of them present this evening for us to recognize for their great
016work so please join me in uh congratulating from from Denby High School hope Landon Miss [Applause] Landon well hope we're gonna do that over again it's m [Laughter] Miss please join us in congratulations from deny High School hope London this London place I I think I need some literacy help myself so uh also from Dem High School Lisa mallister who could not be here with us tonight please give her a round of applause uh from war High School Kimberly Grant uh and also from work Reginald Neely who also I believe could not be here tonight but again let's please give him a warm Applause uh most of these ladies and gentlemen have have won this award multiple times we want to thank you for your continued dedication to working hard so that every every group
017of students coming through our schools um is certified financially congratulations [Applause] well at this time we're going to take about a seven minute break so that our presenters and and and guests and their families may leave if they wish to do so but you're also welcome to stay uh during the break our viewing audience uh will have the opportunity to view this month's Schoolboard Spotlight so we'll stand in recess for about s minutes thank you very much get my phone [Music] Newport News public school students were invited to Showcase their musical talents on a worldclass stage for the second year the Newport News Visual and Performing Arts Department hosted the All City Music Festival at Christopher Newport University's Ferguson Center for the Arts over 600 elementary middle and high school students were selected to perform
018the event was open open and free to families School staff and the public thanks to a support Grant provided by the Newport News Education Foundation and the Newport News Arts Commission in the intimate setting of the pe's theater the Middle School vocal Ensemble Orchestra and band performed several songs while in the awe inspiring Diamond Steen theater each Elementary School was represented by the All City Elementary vocal Ensemble and high school students showcase their talents in choir guitar Orchestra and band all eight ensembles were led by guest conductors which included music educators administrators musicians and composers from different parts of Virginia including two local Educators with Newport News Public Schools supervisor of nnps Visual and Performing Arts Katie shean Smith thanked each composer for using their time in talents to teach and challenge our young musicians
019she also recognized the focused efforts of the dedicated music teachers across Newport News Public Schools who do an amazing job every day instilling a passion and love for the Arts in our students elected officials were invited to Warwick High School to learn firsthand how the city and state can best support our Scholars and educators during the annual take your legislature to school day elected officials toured the impressive learning facilities at Warwick's Governor's Health Sciences Academy but before the Intensive tour guests witnessed the signing of a formal partnership between Riverside College of Health Sciences and Newport News Public Schools through this partnership Riverside will expand their support of the 400 high school students enrolled in the Health Sciences acad AC's rigorous academic curriculum to help address the shortage of Professionals in the growing Healthcare Fields Riverside
020will offer meaningful clinical experiences guest lecturers and invite Warwick students to visit Riverside's multiple high-tech simulated patient care Labs graduates of the governor's Health Sciences Academy will even receive preferred admissions into Riverside College of Health Sciences undergraduate programs during the tour legislators spoke directly with students as they offered a fun Hands-On exploration of their classrooms labs and clinical settings students were excited to show what they've learned in their Medical classes and to share their hopes and dreams for further schooling and career Ambitions this interaction between students Educators and legislators will hopefully develop closer relationships between our schools local business businesses and elected officials to provide the best possible education for all of our students fifth grade students from each Newport News Elementary School were laser focused on completing their mission in December student teams were
021invited to Nome Park Elementary home of the Math Science and Technology Magnet program to compete in an engineering design challenge to qualify for this challenge each Elementary school held a qualifying event in late November involving cpacs normally cpacs are free take-home science and engineering kits that guarantee a fun learning experience for the whole family but this time every fifth grade class took time right before Thanksgiving to engineer and test their own wind-powered car in their classrooms the students who completed the build accurately and whose car traveled the farthest were selected to the four person team to represent their school on the day of the Citywide engineering competition the students were presented with the Maze Craze themed challenge taking on the role of optical Engineers the students worked collaboratively to design and construct a maze to
022precisely direct a laser beam to a specific Target this engaging challenge encouraged students to use problem solving critical thinking and stem skills to explore real world careers Jefferson lab partnered with the nnps stem team to host the challenge lending their expertise when students needed answers to tough questions when time was up Greenwood and Saunders tied for third place an achievable dream Academy earned second place and nolwood Meadows young Engineers were the top winners Educators in Newport News Public Schools will benefit greatly from a generous half million Grant BayPort Credit Union Ferguson Enterprises Newport News ship building and Virginia Natural Gas awarded a threeyear $500,000 Grant to the Newport News Education Foundation the Education Foundation Partners closely with Newport News public schools by creating business and Community Partnerships to enrich teaching and learning opportunities for students
023at a surprise announcement at wkins Early Childhood Center the four partnering businesses presented the accelerating change together Grant to the foundation's board and members celebrating this transformational grant were Newport News Mayor Philip Jones nnps superintendent Dr Michelle Mitchell as well as school and city leaders and elected officials coincidentally the presentation took place during a new teacher Institute meeting which is the exact initiative this new Grant will support ensuring our new newest Educators received the training supports and skills needed to elevate their classroom experiences students in Newport News public schools are learning how to save lives through the American Heart Association Hampton Roads Huntington Engles Industries and its Newport News ship building division sponsored the gifting of 13 CPR in schools training kits to nnps middle and high schools these kits will be used in health
024and physical education courses to teach students the life-saving skills of CPR using an AED and providing additional first aid resources the presentation took place on world restart a heart day a global initiative to increase awareness about the importance of knowing how to properly administer CPR students from Warwick High School's Health Sciences Academy gladly accepted an invitation to participate in a demonstration of how the reusable Hands-On training kits can effectively prepare students to react quickly and knowledgeably in case of a cardiac emergency by training our students to be confident with the preventative and preparedness skills to Save a bystander's Life a person's chance of survival increases dramatically [Music] that's perfect I think I got yours yours we you didn't no not my phone oh okay oh no that is so good my phone is always on
025the verge of by the time I get myone a charge works out that's Co oh man we [Music] had thank opportun nice you are funny thank you thank you very much going until 12:00 11 11:30 1200 off the website take off oh I didn't even see it yeah I don't even know I'm not oh my hair looks like it's a we're always like theer oh you look great look at your eyes are beautiful oh I needed to I can't oh okay okay thank God I look better in person okay you're right I hope you enjoyed this month's School Board Spotlight and 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
026adverti Citizens May submit comments via email up to 30 minutes prior to our meeting time to be included Ed 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 that we will consider your concerns we ask that you comply with our three minute time limit as you begin your comments a green light will come on a yellow light signals you have 30 seconds remaining and a red light and a beep indicates your time is up in just a moment I will call your name so please come forward so we have two housekeeping uh things we'd like to do uh let's go ahead and uh get Rebecca Aman officially into our meeting so as I mentioned earlier as indicated in
027board policy be electronic participation in meetings from remote locations the board member must make such requests cite the reason for the remote attendance and the board must approve the request by majority vote of the members present School Board Rebecca Aman has made such a request Miss Aman are you with us I am now thank you oh wonderful and your request for the um yes yes Madam chairwoman I would like to request to be able to attend remotely due to a back injury we are sorry to hear I appreciate your dedication and diligence to the division do I have uh a motion yes Madam chair I move that we allow miss aman to participate in meeting remotely okay do we have a second second thank you Mr Brown please call the roll for Harris for Hunter
028for aler for best Surles law for motion passes 60 thank you so much so miss Amon you're still able to hear correct I am thank you thank you the other housekeeping uh task that I'd like to include whenever we have a previous board member in our midst we like to make sure that they are recognized as they served in this space so Mr Carlson Ashby is joining us this evening he is here supporting some of our students who uh shared with us earlier and got some recognition so welcome Mr [Applause] Ashby Reverend Natalie Chamberlain and then thereafter Jackie Batterson good evening members of the school board on I am honored as always to be here I'm Reverend Natalie Chamberlain my pronouns are she and her I'm part of a broad Coalition of citizens who have
029been attending these meetings for the past must be almost 16 months now we support equality and the respectful treatment of all children including trans and other lgbtqia plus youth I know that all of you are well aware of the political turmoil that's going on around our country what you may not realize is how close to home this turmoil hits our LG lgbtqia Community especially the trans Community several of the anti-trans actions are making their way through the courts but the federal government has basically erased trans people now some of you don't care about that but I know some of you do there are no federal protections left for making sure that the hundred or so trans students under your care are protected trans folks across this country are scared because they know that they are
030not valued by the majority of the population the incidence of suicide and attempted suicide has risen drastically including in Newport News in one of our high schools because with this new Administration has deemed these people are dispensable you have a chance to protect students in your care by some simple rewarding of a policy the edits are already in your possession if you won't help who will Jackie Batterson good evening Madam chair chair and members of the board my name is Jackie Batterson as you're well aware I've been here many times and I am a resident of Newport News I would first like to thank the chairwoman for co-signing the letter from mayor Philip Jones regarding the status of the immigrants in Newport News tonight I am expressing my concern both for our transgender children and
031for our immigrant children as I mentioned mened at the last meeting you do not sit in those seats because you were appointed by the governor or anyone in Washington you were elected by the voters of this city this city which along with the Commonwealth of Virginia did not vote for what is happening in Washington I have asked you repeatedly to be brave and recognize our transgender children for the people they are just because a president signs his name on a piece of paper does not make any group of people nonexistent be they transgender or immigrants there may be people here tonight who think that they need not care about transgender kids because they themselves are not transgender or about the immigration status of others because their stat status as immigrants was long ago transgender children
032and immigrant children must enjoy the same freedoms as everyone else in Newport News without fear of discrimination we have to be honest stand up and tell the truth as Leo too said wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it I won't pretend that I could ever possibly understand what it must feel like to be born in a body that you know doesn't belong to who you really are but I do understand exactly what it feels like to be hated for nothing more than what I think and feel and I will always be on their side thank you [Applause] Bridging the Gap youth program I'm not sure who this representative is by name and then Gabriel Mar after after good evening good evening members of the school board how are you
033all this morning and your name your name Tamar Wills I'm the founder of bridg the Gap youth program thank you and I'm not here to battle I'm here to bridge here to fight against violence that's going on in our communities with our with our youth good evening members of the school board Community leaders parents and students my name is tamaral wheels and I stand here before you not to battle but to bridge because our youth need more than debates and discussions they need action we had the opportunity to visit Woodside High School group called flourish in December and we also want to sponsor a DJ named G Hicks that is already working in your schools to bridge more opportunity for the community leaders like him so they have more resources to utilize btg YP is
034even in Paramount California right now with bridging with the btg classroom connection supporting a set of fourth graders because they are welcoming to the support from Community leaders we call on our community to join us tonight because what we've been hearing from parents and Young people firsthand through our your vote matters event we were overwhelmed by the number of parents and students who feel lost in this system who don't know how to advocate for Real Change education and opportunities and access to tools that they need to succeed what we did was is promoted that we were coming to the school board today we promoted it on social media and other places because we realize that parents don't even know where to come to even talk about some of the issu issues that they may have
035going on with their students one major example is a recording studio that's in Brooks Crossing Innovation lab a space that Bridging the Gap youth program requested and helped develop the first year as a part of the innov Innovative initi initiative concerning music and stem we know that music schematics aligns with ship building schematics yet GED students are not even given access to that technology and they're in the same building with that technology especially when we have 2.4 million unfilled stem and Innovation jobs waiting for skilled workers why aren't we equipping them with the tools they need to build their future for over 13 years bridg the Gap youth youth program has worked to clean up the message in music with DJ Jack casade from 103 jams recognizing how much music influences our youth but beyond
036that we need real structure real opportunities and things that will Empower our youth that they want to connect with it it's meeting them where they are I was able to speak to a parent before I came here and one of the things that she requested was well I'm at my at the end well she requested more innovational things like gaming opportunities AI technology and things like that and what we want to say to you all is we're here presenting ourselves because we do want to go into the schools in the future and I just wanted to say how much we enjoy working with the new city schools so thank you for your time thank [Applause] you here comes Gabriel yes uh good evening to the board and The Honorable cherl M Miss law my name
037is Geral Martez though I am sure you all know me at this point I like to think that we've uh become acquainted after more than a year I'm once again speaking on behalf of the Tai water chapter of the DSA of which I am a co-chair I'm here once more to speak on the issue of human and worker rights uh it has been more than a year and the public has not heard any progress on the deliberations for policy JB and procedure jbp many in the community remain concerned and I ask that the board please prioritize address addressing these Collective concerns uh the current political climate has enabled attacks on the rights of minorities they become more prevalent and uh if the school board is unable to act to protect trans students who make up
038a u you know an important but a small minority I fear for its ability to protect other marginalized groups uh I pray I won't be back here one day to ask the board bring back recognition of a black history month and Mental Health Services but these are uncertain times uh I also ask that the board listen to the demands of the N for particularly the bus drivers who have been speaking for months about their working conditions which are intolerable and uh please support their push for collective bargaining the workers here present tonight are the backbone of our society and do some of the most important work that I can think of they're not having these rights already is a reminder of our society's hostility labor as well as the legacy of Jim Crow in the
039South they deserve to have their voices heard and their needs address thank you for your time and your consideration have a good evening David frankman and then Mary boss good evening David brakman he him demanding changes to procedure jbp now that the White House inaugurated itself with the same salute as the Nazis who knows what they meant by that I hope you all can anticipate being asked to do more of the escalating d legitimization isolation and eraser of groups deemed an affront to God and or country and I hope you can prepare to say no to it uh to everyone who would like to do something but can't because yunan threatened to sue us for Rich Neck let me be clear it is not our kids's job to take the fall for you or any
040administrator it's just rest try being sued for doing something good it builds character it's not a incidents that the heroes of the Civil Rights and women's suffrage movements were convicted criminals or targets of law enforcement the current situation is a big part of what history books are for which is why they're under attack across the country particularly to the board's new member Miss Harris whose poll Greers promised teaching quote true history and wrong from right I want to note a historical truth I wasn't taught here Magnus held's Institute for sexual science which performed gender forming surgeries was was burned by the Nazis on May 6th 1933 before the larger and more famous book burnings on May 10th gay men and trans women were treated as the same group ultimately identified with the pink triangle and
041were a majority of the Concentration Camp population in early 1935 when first they came for this is who they came for so I'm asking you to do the right thing in motion to reverse most of the November 2023 changes to procedure jpp instead to the board uh and and to the superintendent's office instead of trying to make the perfect comprehensive revision on some ever receding future date take one step by today striking from section three G2 the phrase quote that promote the child's privacy and safety end quot trans people using gender affirming restrooms as they have for years in this and other states introduces no risks to others privacy and safety are not why you're allowing people to opt out of being in the same restroom that trans person once was continue to allow the
042opt outs for now if you must but stop repeating the false propaganda justification and put the actual one if you like quote that promote the election of magga candidates and hopefully avoid accountability for failing to protect teachers from gun violence end quote thanks hary boss and next we'll have uh Joyce blow and Vivien Reynolds uh hello good evening Mary Voss an NPS teacher parent and graduate and proud Secretary of the Newport News Education Association um first of all I want to say condolences um to the board on the passing of Miss Michelle price um I remember as a student in nnps uh 25 years ago it was her voice on all the announcements and it was her voice on the snow days so um this is definitely the end of an era for sure and
043my condolences to everyone uh the n&a continues our campaign for contract negotiations also known as collective bargaining rights to give nnps teachers and staff a seat at the table to negotiate for stronger contracts districts with contract negotiations have achieved improved working conditions that benefit both students and school workers such as smaller class sizes more planning time increased health and safety measures and more we now have for employee groups that have majorities of authorization cards signed Transportation custodians Plant Services and security with nurses and teachers approaching majorities quickly as well and NPS s employees both Union and non-union can visit Newport newseducation association.com and scroll down to authorization cards for information on how to sign and support uh in the current political climate it is more important than ever that nnps leaders respect and protect vulnerable
044students as much as possible including gay gender non-conforming and trans students who sadly must contend with cruel and cowardly politicians who attack them children for cheap political points please please stand up for these vulnerable children and teens by striving for the most non-discriminatory uh non-discriminatory policies possible um such as the changes to policies um that were recommended by other speakers tonight uh standing up for vulnerable students also means standing up for immigrant and migrant children in nnps I'd like to say a big thank you to Schoolboard chair Lisa caw and to Mayor Philip Jones for releasing a joint statement that affirms their commitment to protection of all residents regardless of in um of immigration status um thank you and this is a great first step I'd like to encourage the board um to take a
045step further and consider the National Education association's safe Zone schools resolution and model policy which would enshrine protections for immigrant students into policies and procedures and would create a mechanism for informing families and community members about the policy to quote the Nea it is the right of every child regardless of immigration status to access a free public K12 12 education when Federal immigration authorities aggressively pursue enforcement activities honor around school property and transportation routes it harly it harmfully disrupts the learning environment and significantly interferes with the ability of all students to access a free public K12 education Nea has developed a sample resolution and District policy to help local school districts create their own safe uh safe zones resolutions the language language is closely tied to the Supreme Court case pler versus doe which is
046is the foundational president I will send the board um information on Nea safe Zone schools and a sample resolution in District policy thank you so much for your time thank you Joyce blow good afternoon my name is Joyce blow I am a bus driver I've been driving for 20 years um I'm going give you a bit of information without bus drivers students would not get to school without teachers student would students would not be taught without cafeteria workers students would not be having lunch without custodians students would not have a sanitized school would not have a sanitized school without security they would not be safe so without all these components and groups the school would not f function but therefore these particular people in the school system are being disrespected and not getting what they
047need for as a bonus higher pay and raises there is a high volume of call outs on drivers some days is 100 drivers that have called out drivers are doing double and triple runs when they're constantly called to do double and triple runs the next day they will call out therefore they are tired and they're not coming back for a couple of days so the pattern keeps on and on and on and instead of fixing the problem and figuring out why driver drivers are calling out and resolving the issue the pattern is just going to keep going on and soon you gonna have a lot of kids and no drivers spraying perfume on buses with drivers that have allergies and Asthma asmatic and allergic reactions are going to happen instead of but um buses being
048in houses they going be in stores and in ditches when a driver has allergic reaction or asmatic attack after constantly telling a child not to spray perfume or any kind of body spray on the bus so some kind of rule or policy need to be set in place with that what is a referral I have no idea what that is cuz when you write a referral they tell you you have to constantly keep writing a referral in order for something to happen which nothing is going to happen because the child is still put back on the bus with no accountability doing the same thing what a seniority when another driver who just walks through the door can get whatever they want and a driver that's been here for 35 or 30 years it looks the
049other way stop putting drivers who have health issues on Old buses that are mded and smelly that's asking for asthma attack I'll see you next month Vivian Reynolds and then uh Reverend Bernett Michael Bernett good evening Madam chair school board members my name is Vivian mberg Reynolds I'm a product of new News public school starting with Hilton all the way up to old war High School move with the war Farmers I have over 33 plus years of teaching I'm retired but with all the climate that we live in now our public public schools are of the most important Essence we need to provide a good solid public education for all children in our community and this business of providing money to private Charter Schools needs to be overlooked and to be stopped because we need
050to put our our money and put our everything that we have into making our Public Schools work and as the ladies have said tonight the first and foremost thing we think about our children who come to these schools and we are grateful and thankful to the teachers all the honors we've heard tonight it's a lot of work to be a school teacher it's a lot of work to have a lot of children in your classroom and I think they need to be valued and what we've just heard from the lady who talked about the other members the cafeteria workers the nurses the bus drivers the custodians I probably left somebody out all those people do need to be Val valed so we need to look at our resources that we have to make sure that
051we can hold on to the people that support them and again I come to you as I did once before about these lgbtq trans children once again they are human beings and they are who they are they're not going to hurt anyone but people hurt them and we've got to try and stop this I'm so sick of hearing people say it's disparaging to say Dei diversity equality inclusion I said well why don't we try democracy education and integrity but it's very alarming to me that we are attacking Public Schools doing away with the Department of Education what are people in poor districts going to do so I applaud what you do hang in there look out for our students and the children in the city of newort news and value the people who work every
052day for you thank you [Applause] Michael Bernett good evening Madame chair Madame Vice chair members of the board and Dr Mitchell first I want to commend I suppose the board as a whole but especially Madame chair sir's law for your joint declaration along with mayor Jones uh regarding our immigrant students I think standing up for a school being a safe place for children safeguarding the progress of our youth even in the face of orders from our governor and from the White House I think that shows courage I think that shows integrity I think it shows leadership that is unafraid to set aside culture War nonsense and political theater for the the sake of the students in your care and at the risk of echoing what's been said so much already tonight I hope this board
053can muster that same courage and integrity in leadership when it comes time to revise procedure jbp and I hope that time can be sooner rather than later thank you I want to thank everyone for your your comments and time coming out this evening to share your thoughts we'll move on to section three the consent agenda which includes 3.01 minutes from the work session January 21st 3.02 minutes from the regular meeting January 21st 2025 the financial reports including the revenue and expense reports for January and February 2025 the Child Nutrition reports 3.04 the Personnel report 3.05 budget transfer 3.06 the easement for Denby High School at this time do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda yes Madam chair I move to approve the consense agenda as presented do I have a second second
054thank you Mr Hunter any discussion Madam clerk please call the roll Brown for Harris for Hunter for Alger for Aman for best for surles law for motion passes 70 thank you we'll move on to section action items 4.01 revised policies uh Dr Mitchell yes we we have some revised policies that had previously been presented to you by Miss Tracy Brooks and at this time um we'd like to have action taken on those revised policies okay thank you very much do I have a motion for our new and revised policy starting with policies um related to parental engagement is that our first one yes okay no it's j f is right above it oh j i I'll start with that one JF which focuses on student admissions to school yes so do you have a motion
055for that one yes Madam chair I move to approve policies related to parental engagement and that includes policy Dr B it's just number one JF looks like number one student admissions to our school I'm sorry JF JF student admissions to school yes do I have a second second thank you Mr Hunter any discussion Madam clerk please call the role Brown for Harris for Hunter for Alger for Aon for best for surles law for motion passes 70 thank you now do I have a motion for policies related to parental engagement yes ma'am Madam chair I move to approve policies related to parental engagement to include k a school home community relations KB parent involvement in education kba every student succeeds at parent involvement for Title One schools and English language learner Learners programs kbe relations with
056parent organizations kcb Community involvement in decision Mak and KDA concerns and complaints he do I have a second second thank you Mr Hunter any discussion uh Madam chair I just want to say uh on all these policies uh that were uh being presented tonight I want to thank the superintendent and Miss Brooks and the entire team the policy committee for uh um all the work that has gone into them and uh for listening to the various revisions uh that I offered up and listen to my comments so uh because I feel like you know my comments uh were very well reflected in the revisions I you know feel very comfortable with these policies tonight so as you can say a clock is right twice a day right so you mark the mark the date and
057the time I don't have any problems with the policies uh this evening whereas normally I'm I'm pretty boisterous about the uh the policies so um you don't have to break any more of them up on my account because I'm I'm good with them well thank you thank you for that Mr Brown and I and I do appreciate your continued confidence that we can get this right uh and I I do Echo Mr Brown's thanks to our policy um committees committee members it takes a lot to get this sounds like we're just reading a bunch of policies it took a lot to get here all right any other comments Madam clerk please call the roll brown for Harris for Hunter for Alger for Aman for best for Surles law for motion passes 70 great so the
058customary uh way that we do divide our policies up I actually kind of like it because it lets the um the public see that they're kind they are in batches so we'll continue with our batching it's only two more this evening so policies related to media relations um Madam chair I move that we approve policies related to media relations which include KD public information and Communications KDC School sponsored information media kdd media relations KDE crisis management/ Communications and K judicial review of board decisions do I have a second second thank you Mr Hunter any discussion please call the role Brown for Harris for Hunter for Alger for Aman for best for Surles law for motion passes 70 thank you and finally policies related to activities in schools do I have a motion yes Madam chair
059I move to approve policies related to activities in school SCH which include kcd public gift donations to schools kfb Community use of school facilities kg business and industry involvement in education KH solicitation in schools khb advertising in schools KH political materials Ki visitors to school and KJ relations with Community organizations do I have a second second thank you Mr Hunter any discussion please call the roll brown for Harris for Hunter for Alger for Aman for best for Surles law for motion passes 70 thank you we'll now move on to 4.02 Personnel actions Dr Mitchell thank you very much this evening Madame chair and school board members I am recommending Miss Brandy day as the Executive Director of Human Resources Miss day has a master of education and policy planning and Leadership from William and Mary
060Miss day currently works as the Director of Human Resources business partner at William and Mary she has previously worked as the chief Talent officer at Williamsburg Landing Director of Human Resources with ol of White County and supervisor of Human Resources with Williamsburg James City County Public Schools okay thank you do I have a motion yes Madam chair I move to approve the superintendent's Personnel recommendation for Brandy day as the Executive Director of Human Resources do I have a second second thank you Mr Hunter any discussion please call the role Brown for Harris for Hunter for Alger for aan for best for Surles law for motion passes 70 thank you we're now on Section Five reports and information 5.02 the 2025 2026 proposed school calendar Dr Mitchell did I I feel like I skipped something there
061it is we will move to section five reports and information there it is 5.01 human resources annual report which is very important Dr Mitchell thank you madam chair at this time Dr Nina ferish is going to come before us to provide the annual report she will give you some updates on human resources um some positions vacancies and a lot of other good stuff thank you m Dr fish thank you good evening Madame chair s law Vice chair Dr beess board members and Dr Mitchell this evening I am going to share the annual Human Resources update the human resources initiatives come under our strategic goal stewardship of resources we strive to establish processes and procedures to recruit hire reward and retain highly effective staff all directed toward helping our students become college career and citizen ready
062tonight I will cover instructional and support support staff vacancies hiring Trends and Staffing initiatives Virginia school divisions have been required to report the total number of full-time equivalent positions in administration and instruction and the number of unfilled positions for the last three years the report is called positions and 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 PE is submitted in the fall and at the end of the school year the fall submission reports all FTE full-time equivalents held by licensed and unlicensed Personnel the number of positions and the number of unfilled te as of October 1st the end of year PEC reports only full-time equivalent licensed positions the number of
063unfilled positions on the last day of school and the number of that left employment with Newport News Public Schools between July 1st and June 30th for the purposes of this report the vdoe defines teachers as personnel with direct responsibility for student instruction and learning in previous presentations you have seen the nnps has historically had triple digigit teacher vacancies here you can see the teacher vacancy percent for the last three years the areas of greatest vacancies are Elementary special education math and English now how does that compare to other re uh divisions in the RS div um region I'm sorry we are region two 2 which consists of 15 School divisions this chart shows a comparison of the VOE data for Region 2 overall and divisions of similar size to nmps this data is as of
064October 1st 20123 for the 2324 school year here is the same data as the previous slide however with a three-year comparison of the nmps and other Region 2 divisions of similar size based on vdoe reporting hirings after October 1st of each school year do not count toward vacancy rates the October 20 2425 data has not been posted by vdoe however I have added what was submitted for the 2425 school year as of October first teacher vacancy data nnps has several grow your own initiatives to help with teacher vacancies we currently work with candidates that have their bachelor or master's degree and need to complete their lure requirements we also work with instructional assistants substitutes and career switcher candidates who want to become fully licensed teachers we provide practicums observation hours and to I reimbursement or
065paid internships and direct hires in various instructional positions our emerging teacher program also includes it teach an alter alternate vdoe approved route to lure it te is a non- Col program accredited by the council for accreditation of educator preparation focused on offering aspiring Educators an accessible and affordable route to full lure currently we have approximately 100 teachers enrolled our teacher apprenticeship program last year we increase the grow our own programs adding the teacher apprenticeship program tab this grant-funded program creates a pipeline for apprentices to earn a free bachelor's degree in two years become certified and hard to staff positions and participate in a multi-year residency experience while being a full-time employed instructional assist assistant teacher apprentices commit to teaching in our division for 3 years after successfully completing the program we partner with AIT University
066Mary Baldwin and ODU student teacher University these future teachers learn from our very best teachers and engage with our students our practicum and student obser observers will dedicate over 5,000 hours in our classrooms by may we continue to partner with CNU to host student teacher University offering future teachers the opportunity to learn about engaging diverse Learners using instructional technology implementing successful classroom management strategies and building strong teacher student relationships we are proud to place 100% of cing 's student teachers we are excited to welcome 37 Hampton University education Majors into our school for this practical placements in elementary education music biology English and math this partnership provides an additional 520 hours of student uh support for our teachers and students we also have a partnership with norick State University for social workers completing their practicum
067hours with us teacher residency this is our eighth year implementing implementing our teacher and residency TI program we partner with CNU and William and Mary to provide scholarships for master's degree programs and paid year-long internships after completing the master's degree program and residency tis receive full license year and are committed to teaching in nnps for three years since 2017 we have had a total of 90 teachers through the ti program program we also hire teacher candidates from Virginia teacher preparation programs such as ODU William am Mary and CNU a teacher candidate is a first year provisionally licensed teacher who completes their master's degree program under the supervision and support of their University program and nnps new teacher program after their first year of successful services and program completion they receive full lure support staff we
068also have some hard-to-fill support staff vacancies here is a comparison of where we were when schools excuse me when schools started and current to date we continue to recruit for all vacancies throughout the year while we have made positive strives with many of these vacancies we still have challenges with bus drivers and nurse vacancies the bus driver challenge I will also say in speaking to my counterpart is not just specific to Newport News Public Schools recruitment initiatives include social media radio Billboards retire solicitation International recruitment job fairs walk-in interviews on February 1st we had an nnps sponsored job fair there were 82 instructional candidates in attendance we gave 28 offers on the spot there were 78 support staff candidates and we gave 51 offers on the spot also we have military Partnerships with Hiring Our
069Heroes a US Chamber of Commerce foundation and skills Bridge they have a fellowship program the program allows ex exiting military members an opportunity to work in a position related to their skills and talent if the fellowship is a success for both the employer and exiting military member a formal offer is given we also partner with troops to teachers we have participated in hiring events with the veterans employment center Joint Base Fort Eustace and lingley Air Force Base from July 1st 2024 to December 31st 2024 we have hired 19 veterans and 31 military spouses recruitment is a joint effort I want to say thank you to not only the human resources staff uh family members School leadership principals assistant principles staff from Departments of teaching and learning and some of our teachers substitute teachers and interns
070have come out to our recruitment events to help us at this time this concludes my presentation I am happy to answer any questions members do you have questions at this time Mr Brown I'll just make uh one comment going back to slide seven because it uh we were talking about our budget earlier tonight uh so on that if we can go back to that slide on neighboring vacancy rates and so just I'm just pointing out um you know point of emphasis we can see the divisions that we saw that have the highest pay have the lowest vacancy so so I'm just I'm hammering home a point I was making earlier this evening that uh salary increases do make a long-term difference in your Division and your vacancy rate because we the evidence is right there
071in front of us of uh we can see the divisions that have the highest pay they've got the lowest down there so that's just my comment thank you Dr best thank you for the report and I would just like to say thank you and it made me feel good to see that noric state and Hampton University University are on board I think we need to take advantage of of course all of our local universities but there's a shortage of minority teachers so that will fill that Gap so I was happy to see that in your report yes ma'am thank you welcome other comments thank you so much for your report we really do appreciate it thank you now we're going to move on to 5.02 20 25 2026 proposed school calendar Dr Mitchell thank you
072very much Miss Tracy Brooks is coming forward to share with you the proposed 2526 um school calendar you know Miss Brooks comes before you every year she works collaboratively with the surrounding districts as they work together to try to come up with a a calendar that would be um acceptable I'll say thank you Miss Brooks thank you Dr Mitchell good evening Madame chairman Madam Vice chairman members of board and Dr Mitchell I would like to thank you for the opportunity to share highlights from the division wide calendar being proposed for next school year but before I review the calendar and for the sake of the viewing audience I would like to speak briefly about the team that developed the draft calendar the process we used and the factors we considered and planning the calendar that
073is before you this evening now the draft calendar is the work 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 provide a valuable input on the draft and they will continue to work over the next several weeks to revise the calendar as needed I would like to thank our committee members for their hard work and striving to balance the various needs of our students our staff and families and de veloping the calendar draft that I will be sharing with you this evening now this slide shows our calendar planning process which began with meetings with the six School divisions on the peninsula last fall we incorporated the recommendations along with the input we received from our own calendar committee to
074develop 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 families and to our employee students and Community advisory groups for their input through March when the calendar will come back before the school board for approval now there are several factors that we considered in planning the calendar first and foremost is the instructional program so we developed a calendar that will support our work in preparing our students to graduate college career and citizen ready excuse me then we base the calendar on the state requirement of a minimum of 990 instructional hours per year which we exceed Additionally the state allows us to count up to 10 inclement weather days as virtual learning days since we have a virtual learning plan in place and
075we 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 our teachers as required by the state code and lastly we worked within a 245 day contract or appointment period for our 12month employees I'd like to pause here to speak more about our instructional hours because as committee members we're often asked about ending the school year earlier since our school calendar exceeds the number of instructional hours required by the state however in calcul ating the instructional hours we have to consider factors such as the number of hours factors other than the number of hours from the start of the school day to dismissal time for example we are required to subtract time
076for certain activities such as lunch periods bathroom breaks and time between classes in addition the instructional hours must occur within certain content areas for high school primarily we must have 140 instructional hours per credit bearing course 560 instructional hours for Middle School Court classes and 680 instructional hours for elementary core academic disciplines with a proposed calendar containing 178 days we come very close to the 140 instructional hours for our credit bearing courses you may also recall that we've had fewer than 180 student days in our calendars for the past two years to allow for two full planning days for our teachers while continuing to maximize instructional time for our students now as I mentioned earlier our six Peninsula School divisions work together to maintain many cons as many consistent calendar dates as possible for next
077school year all six School divisions will open pre- Labor Day on Monday August 25th according to the drafts that our neighboring School divisions have shared with us thus far just as a reminder under state law school divisions that open prior to Labor Day must also close schools on the Friday before the holiday weekend so our calendar proposal reflects that schedule as well and while we have many requests to have schools closed for the entire week of Thanksgiving all divisions will have schools and sessions on the Monday and Tuesday of that week with schools closed on Wednesday November 26 through the 28th 8 next year all Peninsula School divisions will be observing a two-week winter break from Monday December 22nd through Friday January 2nd of 2026 and for spring break all School divisions will continue to
078observe the break as the first Monday through Friday in April which will be April 6 through the 10th now there were three 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 maintained the number of student days at 178 days for next year second we continue to include time for teachers to imp plan instruction throughout the year and to take advantage of professional development opportunities the draft calendar also maintained the 14 pre-service and teacher work days at the beginning of the school year in August for our 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 show that daily
079absences tended to Peak on half days so as you know attendance matters for instruction so with the exception of high school exams next year's calendar will contain only three half days for all students and now I would like to share highlights from The Proposal post calendar starting in August our new teachers will report on Monday the 4th and returning teachers and teacher assistance will report on Thursday August 14th and as mentioned earlier the first day for students will be Monday August 25th with schools Clos on Friday August 29th in keeping with the state code on October 10th schools would be closed for students while teachers will have a half day for professional development in the morning with family conferences in the afternoon and then looking at November the fourth is an election day for several
080State offices and will be an EC commute teacher work day to close out the first marking period and later in the month schools will be closed on Wednesday through Friday November 26 through the 28th for Thanksgiving observance with a half day for 12-month employees on the 26 to meet their contractual obligations and as we enter 2026 and based on the positive feedback we've received from teachers we continue the teacher planning day for the day after the winter break ends which will be on Monday January 5th with students reporting on January 6 and at the end of the first semester Monday January 26 will be a teacher and support staff workday and Tuesday January 27th will be a full day for professional development M which is consistent with the other school divisions on the peninsula and
081as I mentioned earlier spring break will continue to be observed as the first Monday through Friday in April at which will be April 6th through the 10th for all Peninsula School divisions and like this current year we have designated a teacher planning day for the day after spring break ends which will be on Monday April 13th with students returning on Tuesday April 14th and in closing out the year the calendar schedules graduation ceremonies for Saturday and Sunday June 6th and 7th and next year we will end the school year on Tuesday June 9th as the last day for students and Wednesday June 10th as the last work day for teachers now this is a visual representation of next year's calendar it includes our grading period dates in the Box in the lower leftand corner and
082to the right of it are the religious observances that occur during the school week as well as symbols for our early dismissals school closures and other key dates now for next school year and over the past three years our schools open on the fourth Monday in August and looking ahead to the next two school years 2026 through the 27 and 2027 through 28 the peninsula calendar committee notice that the fourth week of August will result in an unintentional two week school start prior to labor day however the August 24th date would continue to align with the start dates of our past three school years and would not reduce the number of weeks that students and teachers typically would be off during the Summers of 2026 and 2027 we also noticed that if schools started on
083Monday August 31st which is the fifth Monday in that month then the school year would end around June 16th of 2027 for students and the June 17th for teachers which is about a week later than we typically end so the peninsula calendar committee and our school divisions calendar committee will continue to discuss potential start dates for the 2026 school year so that any new proposed start dates would be shared with the school board for your consideration and with a public a year ahead of time or as early as June of this year so that our students staff and parents May plan accordingly so in terms of our next steps we will continue to solicit feedback from the community on the proposed draft through a link to the calendar on our school and division web pages
084with the opportunity for viewers to ask questions or post suggestions and BAS based on that feedback we will revise the calendar if needed the final draft calendar would come before the school board for Action at your March 18th monthly meeting and once approved we will publicize the calendar through our school newsletters and our electronic communications such as news break news lines and board briefs and on school websites and on the school division's web page and as we continue to work together with the other Peninsula School divisions to propose start dates for the 2026 27 school year we will keep the board informed so I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to come before you this evening and I would be happy to respond to your questions or to note your suggestions thank you again
085thank you so much board members do we have questions at this time that must mean we'll have questions later okay thank you thank you so much for your report we're in still in Section 5 5.03 the attendance report 5.04 membership report and 5.05 the construction report board members you've received a copy of this report are there any questions hearing none we'll move on to item 5.06 comments by the superintendent Dr Mitchell thank you very much Madam chair I'd like to start my comments by acknowledging the contributions of Michelle price she was not only a beloved colleague but also the voice and the Heart of our School Division her contributions to Newport News Public Schools were immeasurable her kindness her professionalism and deep love for this community made a lasting difference we honor her Legacy and
086we extend our heartfelt condolences to her loved ones I want to personally acknowledge and thank our dedicated school board members for their work on behalf of public schools in our city and I also want to thank our board members and I want you to know how much I appreciate your commitment and your support to students family staff and our School Division as a whole to Miss Moore Buffalo thank you for all your dedicated service to the school board to and to our division and to me the Virginia General Assembly recognized Newport News Public Schools youth developments accomplishments and contributions to the community by passing a resolution commending its efforts at the state capital on February the 12th delegate Chad green introduced house joint resolution number 556 and was joined by delegate Marcia price and Senator
087Danny um Diggs as co- patrons green acknowledged the youth development staff student representatives and Community Partners in the gallery and ask them to stand as he summarized the resolution which passed by unanimous vote so we are really proud of Our Youth Development Department I'd like to recognize the importance of February as Career and Technical education month and I want to thank all of our CTE Educators they lead more than 70 courses that prepare our students to earn industry certification and marketable job skills so we want to thank you for ensuring that our students are college career and citizen ready and once again Youth Development we want to acknowledge our youth developments department they hosted the fifth annual rise male empowerment conference on February the 8th and it was held at Heritage High School more than
088400 students in grades 6 through 12 connected with nurturing adults throughout a day of interactive workshops activities special guests presentations on topics such as entrepreneurship leadership positive identity managing emotions and financial literacy and we want to have a give a special thank you to Congressman Bobby Scott mayor Philip Jones city councilman John eley board members Dr Terry best Miss Rasheena Harris and the dozens of male mentors for their participation and support and that's a great picture Kelly I don't know if you took that picture but whoever took it it's a great picture uh newport News Public Schools also raised more than $7,000 for the United Way of the Virginia peninsulas 2025 campaign and that yes those were student donations the United Way supports local organizations that serve our community our student representatives from each School
089announced their schools fundraising total and presented checks to the United Way officials at a celebration which was held on February the 6th so congratulations to our students for caring about others in their Community just a quick reminder that Friday March the 7th is a half day for students with family conferences in the afternoon but I also want to remind our families that tomorrow will be a remote day and at this time I this concludes my remarks for the evening thank you Dr Mitchell and we do appreciate your fast dedication to our our School Division so we'll move on to item six another opportunity to hear from the public are there any cards no ma'am okay we will move then uh to Matters by the school board and we'll start with Mr Verde let's hear what
090is going on with our students thank you madam chair I hope the second semester has gotten off to a great start for my fellow high school students I would like to share that at our superintendent student Advisory board meeting next week representatives from the American Heart Association will be attending to discuss a student CPR awareness challenge among our six high schools we also will be working with School attendance staff members on a student attendance campaign to improve chronic absenteeism in the school Division I hope everyone will stay safe and warm in the days ahead thank you thank you Mr Hunter um no comment today thank you thank you Mr Brown uh no no comment tonight miss Alger I don't have any comments tonight than you Miss Harris um I just wanted to take the opportunity
091to uh thank everyone who comes out and gives comment and um keeps us informed and and letting your voice be heard um I just think it's an important piece I also also wanted to um shout out the City of Newport News and um all the school board um members and collaboratives who came out to the winter carnival um for the reup uh program uh to uh engage uh the community in giving out school supplies for the second semester um myself and councilman Harris collaborated on the event and it was very well attended um it's something we look forward to and it grows each and every year so just wanted to thank other the community for coming out and collaborating with that and all of the partners involved um also wanted to thank Noble the elementary
092school who invited me to their National Elementary Honor Society um induction ceremony which was um totally uh amazing um to see uh all the young people who uh took part in that so thank you to no wood um and also the rise conference um that was actually my first year attending and my son also attended um as a Elish sherald um seventh grader and so I didn't sit in the session with him I didn't want to embarrass him um but uh thank you to all the administrators and staff and and faculty and administrators that help put that conference together very well done thank you Miss Aman there we go thank you um just a short comment just want to uh say I hope everybody stays safe and warm um tuned in for their um as
093is learning and then can maybe enjoy a bit of time in the snow tomorrow Dr best yes just one shout out to the Mrs um Aman I'm sorry Mrs Alger um and ms surles law and myself we had an opportunity to attend the artistic verses Awards which was held last Saturday at Christopher Newport University and the way that I describe it is OMG it was absolutely amazing so a special shout out to all of our student participants the parents and a special shout out to all of the staff that supports that amazing program and thank you to our um guest artist um that keeps inspiring our students as well but it was amazing event and again thank you thank you so much and my comment is a big thank you to Mrs Moore Buffalo she
094keeps us going I know I'm your biggest problem child but you really um are a support for us to do the hard work and we do really really appreciate you I Lobby the superintendent that we get a full snow day tomorrow uh but we will be doing a little bit of studying do get out and enjoy uh the snow I think we are in for a treat meeting adjourned