001January 21st 2025 on behalf of the members of the school board and Dr Rogers I welcome each of you present this evening and those who are watching on TV and online we send our very best to Dr Mitchell the superintendent this evening she is under the weather and we are going to proceed without her this evening we are very happy to have Dr Rogers uh with us very confident fill in and we're going to try to make it quick for you Dr Rogers so a quorum is present to transact the business of the school division we will begin tonight's meeting with the invocation and pledge to the flag and here to do the honors it's Dr Barnett executive director of secondary schools one of our rock stars in leadership the perseverance po author unknown when
002things go wrong as they sometimes will when the road you're trudging seems all uphill when the funds are low and the debts are high and you want to smile but you have to sigh when care is pressing you down a bit rest if you must but do not quit success is failure turned inside out the silver tint of the clouds of doubt and you can never tell just how close you are it may be near when it seems so far so stick to the fight when you're hardest hit it's when things go wrong that you must not quit thank you we ask that you please stand for our Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under
003God indivisible with liberty and justice for all weather uh in our area this evening so uh we have made a couple of adjustments to our agenda we'll make sure we point those out as we're going along but we will not skip over Schoolboard recognition so uh Dr Rogers if you would join me at the podium so you might have noticed that not only do we look a little different because we're missing our Dr. Mitchell but we do have some new newly elected officials with us and we actually have one who is brand new so tonight we have the honor of conducting the school board oath of office for our reelected and newly elected school board members whose term of office began they've already been doing the work January 1st 2025 being sworn in this evening
004are Mrs Marissa alger for the South [Applause] district attorney Rebecca aman for the central district and Mrs Rasheena Harris for the North [Applause] District so to present the oath of office please join me in welcoming Newport News Clerk of Circuit Court The Honorable Angela Reason who is also like family here in this building thank you Miss Reason and if you would join [Applause] us I'm G to allow you to take the podium how you doing good evening everyone um it definitely is my distinct honor to administer the oath of office to this evening to ms aman ms alger and Ms Harris um um not simply as the clerk of circuit court for the City of Newport News but most important as a proud Newport News Public Schools parent of three students so congratulations to each
005and every one of you I appreciate the work that you all do it does not go unnoticed and while I am not a stranger to the building I have been here a lot less with you all in office so I do appreciate your your you serving the citizens um if we can start this evening with Mrs aman and would do you want your family to join you also they're not here we did it together in December anyone absolutely all right I Rebecca aman I Rebecca aman do solemnly swear or affirm do solemnly swear or affirm to support the Constitution of the United States to support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia and to faithfully and impartially to faithfully and
006impartially discharge and perform discharge and perform all the duties all the duties incumbent upon me incumbent upon me as a Newport News Public Schools board member as a Newport News Public Schools board member for a term of office to begin for a term of office to begin January 1st January 1st 2025 2025 and to end and to end December 31st December 31st 2028 2028 according to the best of my ability according to the so help me god [Applause] and then we will proceed with board member alger I Maritsa alger I Maritsa alger do solemnly swear or affirm do solemnly swear or affirm to support the Constitution to support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia of the Commonwealth of Virginia and
007to faithfully and impartially and to faithfully and impartially discharge and perform discharge and perform all the duties all the duties incumbent upon me incumbent upon me as a Newport News school board member as a Newport News school board member for a term of office to begin for the term of office to begin January 1st January 1st 2025 2025 and to end and to end December 31st December 31st 2028 2028 according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God [Applause] I Rasheena d Harris do solemnly swear or affirm do solemnly swear or affirm to support the Constitution of the United States to support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the constitution of the Commonwealth
008of Virginia and to faithfully and impartially and to faithfully and impartially discharge and perform discharge and perform all the duties all the duties incumbent upon me incumbent upon me as a Newport News school board member as a Newport News school board member for a term of office to begin for a term of office is to begin January 1st January 1st 2025 2025 and to end and to end December 31st December 31st 2028 2028 according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations thank you all let for awesome thank you so much do everybody good so I would like to again thank Mrs reason for taking time to come and be part of this momentous occasion for us we do not take
009this oath lightly you might have seen that while each member was taking their oath the rest of us were smiling knowing what that commitment really is to the city and so it's a joy that we get to take that from you so thank you so much um I would also like to take a quick moment to acknowledge the family and the friends of our school uh members elect if they could please stand and be ready recognized I know they did come to the to the podium but we want to tell you that it's a true sacrifice that you make for us to do the work that we do and we thank you for that [Applause] too so this concludes our uh 2025 oath of office ceremony and we will continue with the board meeting and
010this will be the first adjustment of this evening we are not going to have the school board Spotlight I will take a moment if you would like to to leave um the chambers uh and then we're going to start um getting right into our our our meeting so you're welcome to stay if you'd like to okay so the next item on tonight's agenda um is going to be our comments and so 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 and please understand that we will consider your concerns we ask that you comply with our three minute time limit as
011you begin your comments a green light will come on a yellow light signals you have 30 seconds remaining and a red light and beep indicates your time is up as your name is called please come forward uh first on our stack here is Reverend Natalie Chamberlain good evening and happy New Year I'm Reverend Natalie Chamberlain my pronouns are she her I'm part of a broad coalition of citizens that you see here each meeting we support equality and the respectful treatment of all students including trans and other lgbtqia youth Edmund Burke is the one who originally said the only thing necessary for the Triumph of evil is that good people do nothing we have been coming to the Schoolboard meetings for 14 months asking that you make changes to policy jbp in order to protect the
012trans students under your care I understand that it's politically expedient not to act, yet there are students who need your protection especially now again the only necessary for the Triumph of evil is that good people do nothing we will continue to be present to remind you choosing to do nothing is not the best choice voice in the face of evil next we have Jim Batterson should be a familiar name he sat on this de and actually in this seat as chair so we welcome you back to the uh to the boardroom can't believe thank you good evening the issue I bring you tonight regarding procedure jbp is not about religious teachings and beliefs nor is it about political ideology or medical interventions it is simply about Newport News policies being true to the commitment and
013It Journey 2025 mission statement to meet the wellness needs of all of its students and its procedures support approved policies as written in this case policy JB equal educational opportunities policy JB addresses both sex and gender so first let's differentiate scientifically between sex and gender according to biologists the subject matter experts on science of living things in the world of plants and animals there are but two Sexes male and female in the animal kingdom males are defined as having the physical equipment for and producing small mobile gametes sperm while females are defined as having physical equipment for and producing large immobile gametes eggs but while virtually all biologists agree that there are only two Sexes among humans humans also display a spectrum of genders which are based on the individual's psychological feeling or self-identified sexual
014preference policy JB directs this board to attend both to sex and to gender issues including gender identity as I've underlined above since jbp is a procedure derived under policy JB it is expected to support that policy however currently this procedure does not support or in any way fully Implement policy JB and that the current procedure discriminates against certain individuals based on their gender identity if that identity differs from their sex as assigned at Birth for example those these individuals will not be referred to by the preferred name or pronouns thus negatively impacting their self-image Mental Health social and emotional equilibrium jbp's support for such individuals is limited to its state defined set of transgender students that is those 18 old 18 years old emancipated minors and students whose parents have an approved written request to
015the school system but the CDC and its most recent National Youth risk benefit Behavior survey tells us that more than 5% of high school students either self-identify as transgender or question or gender so in Newport News with almost 8,000 students in grade Gres 9 through 12 we could expect to have more than 400 of these children with only very limited subset those defined as transgender students in the procedure receiving Equitable Services from Newport News Public Schools when compared with cisgender children these transgender and questioning children were found to be significantly more likely to suffer bullying experience sadness or hopelessness contemplated or attempted suicide experience unstable housing and suffer a lack of school connectedness last month I distributed a proposed modification of pro procedure jbp the adoption of which remove your current procedure toward comportment with
016its authorizing policy JB Newport news's Journey 2025 and the Virginia Department of Education direction to equitably serve the needs of all students I respectfully ask once again that you modify po procedure jbp thank you thank you jaie batter Madame chairwoman Schoolboard members my name is Jackie Batterson and I a resident of Newport News congratulations you are all elected board members it is difficult to run for office it takes huge amounts of time and energy it's expensive and lots of times you have to speak with people you'd rather not you are not appointed by the mayor and Council like previous boards you are not appointed by the governor of the state and definitely not by anyone in Washington you ran for the office and once you were elected by the voters of Newport News you accept
017the responsibility of the job that responsibility extends to making sure that your policies and procedures address the needs of all the students in the school system this is not happening as a nurse manager who has written many policies and procedures I knew that if it came to our attention that we needed to address the needs of patients in order to keep them safe that would be our first priority to be addressed this is not happening in this school system you have trans students who enter the school every day afraid of being bullied physically and emotionally there are simple things that can be done recognizing and addressing the student by their chosen name and the pron Now by which the student identifies hurts no one as the former Newport News principal and assistant superintendent endent Mr
018Henry Godfrey always said you must always treat students with dignity and respect over the months I have sat through these meetings and listened to the consent agendas for finances Personnel reports and new and revised policies never once has this procedure been addressed even in Matters by the board where any one of you could comment on or address this issue in any way it has not happened Martin Luther King said a man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right a man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice I will continue to stand here and advocate for these students who deserve the grace and love as every one of the students in the Newport News school system thank you [Applause] Rend michelette members of the school board thank you for
019the opportunity I'm G vent a little bit tonight because I'm going to be real honest I am sick of politics at least what passes for for politics and our present culture I'm sick to death of multi-billion dollar syndicates masquerading as political parties hijacking our well-meaning Civic institutions for the sake of Sensational sociopolitical theater leaving honest to God civil servants like yourselves unable to do what you know is best for the people you serve because it doesn't match the Optics and the hollow culture War victories that get folks reelected maybe I'm sick of politics because I don't have the stuff that traditionally makes politics go I don't have money I'm not going to show up with a six figure check for you I don't have connections I can't I can't make a call and have a
020vice president of a of a Statewide advocacy group here I don't have leverage I don't have blackmailing any of y'all I I can't do any of that intrigued stuff all I have is the truth and the truth is that I've watched this board be yanked side by side by whatever party is in control of Richmond adopting whatever model policies they put out for the sake of placating them and making sure you have the support because explicitly or implicitly there's always a threat from Richmond that says if you don't tow the line you might not have our support and when Newport News is in as vulnerable a condition as we are that means kind of a lot doesn't it but the truth is that trans and non-binary youth are 30 to 40% less likely to kill
021themselves if they have even one accepting adult in their lives and usually that's not a parent that's often a teacher and the truth is that procedure jbp as is as it is now written prohibits teachers from being that accepting adult from using that child's preferred name and pronouns it pits the well-being of their student against their continued employment the truth is that by changing a few lines not by eras ing the entire last reevis revision but by changing a few lines of this procedure you could Safeguard both the safety of your students and the liberty of your teachers and probably not tick Richmond off too badly the truth is the folks in Richmond don't know what's best for Newport News students you do the truth is that Richmond doesn't get to write Newport News procedure
022you do the truth is it's in your hands I hope I hope you do what's right for your students and for your teachers I hope you live into the commitment to serve Community rather than party bosses thank you Adam marrow good evening ladies and gentlemen and any others of the board it's been a little while since I've come up here to talk to you but uh thought I'd remind you of the story I shared last time about a friend who was who came in who spoke in confidence about his sexuality to to teacher who was then required to report it to parents who then who then hurt him I'm policy jbp would currently require teachers to do much the same for something that's just as controversial today with many parents I and as was previously
023mentioned directly puts many children in danger by denying them the support of an accepting adult or the potential support of an accepting adult I should say can't speak for the personalities of your teachers although to be frank many of most who I've interacted with have proven to be upstanding and ethical individuals of high moral character I'm I'm asking you to be the same and overturn policy jbp thank you thank you Mr Morrow um your card says you were going to speak on teachers union Chang my mind sorry okay I guess we'll see you another time Barry Voss hello hello uh Mary Voss nnps teacher parent and graduate and Secretary of the Newport News Education Association uh good evening board members and congratulations to recently elected or reelected members uh the nnaa continues our campaign to
024win contract negotiations for nnps teachers and staff contract negotiations give staff and teachers a seat at the bargaining table to negotiate for better pay benefits and working conditions such as smaller class sizes more planning time more restroom breaks and seniority and job security uh nnps employees who may be watching please visit Newport newseducation association.com and scroll down to authorization cards to sign uh both members and non-members can sign uh next I'm going to read some excerpts from the National Education association's report the benefits of collective bargaining and public education that highlights how School boards and Educators unions can make great Community Partners to benefit our students and schools Nea members negotiate for more uh than just our Economic Security through collective bargaining we are also securing vital resources to help communities bring in more public
025resources to improve education the benefits of unionization are crucial to those who work in education through collective bargaining Nea members and that includes vaa and n&a members as well advocate for let's see uh union members tend to be more engaged in Civic involvement and tend to be more likely to fight uh for Vital public resources to adequately fund our public schools in good or bad Economic Times a collaborative public education employer can better serve students and the community by negotiating in good faith with its Union uh basically we can work together to get better funding from city council and increased funding from Community organizations working with a broad group of stakeholders including parents and other Community Partners during the negotiations process Nea Affiliates develop proposals to secure critical resources for students and ensure that all
026students have the support they need um no matter what ZIP code they live in and by the way uh female and minority School workers especially gain from collective bargaining because it reduces ra uh wage inequities as well um finally I'm going to move over in closing um to ask that you protect our most vulnerable students amidst the new presidential Administration trans and other lgbtq youth should be treated with respect um other speakers have recommended changes to jbp that would allow for more dignity for these students who are at increased risk of homelessness and suicide um and who should be protected and not attacked our immigrant and migrant students should likewise be treated with respect and their data should be protected from bigoted politicians please protect these innocent children and youth instead of throwing them under
027the the bests to scor cheap political points right is right and wrong is wrong regardless who's in the White House thank you so much for your time you so thank you everyone for your comments and thought this thoughts this evening um we're going to move on to section three the consent agenda which includes 3.01 minutes from the special meeting December 17th 202 24 3.02 minutes from the regular meeting December 17th 3.03 Financial reports including the revenue and expense reports for December 2024 Child Nutrition reports for December 2024 3.04 the Personnel report 3.05 budget transfer 3.06 Newport News norms and protocol at this time can we have a motion to approve the consent agenda to approve agenda what a second thank you Mr Brown any discussion sir clerk please call the role thank you best four
028Brown four Harris four Hunter four aler four aan four sir's law four motion carries 70 thank you so much so we're g to move on to section four our action items for this evening 4.01 FY 2526 new course proposal Dr Rogers so yes if you remember the last meeting we did have uh Mr panr come and bring forth for consideration uh of course to be added to the 2 2526 course guide and that is AP africanamerican History if I'm not mistaken yes I capture that correctly I hear head KN I see head knes or to hear head KN um for your consideration so we ask that you support the proposal okay thank you Dr Rogers do we have a motion Madam chair I move to approve the FY 2526 new course proposal and do I
029have a second thank you miss aler any discussion please call the role best four Brown four Harris four Hunter four aler four Aon four sir's law four motion carries 70 that is wonderful thank you so now we'll move on to 4.02 as listed in the agenda for revised policies um our board works board members have submitted questions to the superintendent about several of the policies on the action agenda and so for that reason we will defer action on the policies to the February regular board meeting which will give the policy committee time to field those questions that we have proposed so thank you for that we'll move on to section five did you have yes Mr Brown Madam chair I because the uh it is en listed an action item uh to that end I'd
030like to make a motion to delay uh delay action on item 4.02 revised policies to the February okay 2025 board meeting yeah let's do it officially and a second okay have a second from Dr best any remarks please call the role best four Brown four Harris four Hunter four aler four aan four Char law four motion carries 7 zero great thank you and thank you Mr Brown so we will move on to section five reports and information we were going to have inperson reports for 5.01 the Newport News public school's comprehensive attendance plan and 5.02 connecting the dots collaborative leadership for Student Success you have uh hard copies as well as a copy in our um board docs packet and it's also available for those who are viewing this evening to review we do have
031Representatives who can take questions from us at this time though they will provide an audience for us at a later time if we have additional questions we're going to also move on to 5.03 in this section the attendance report 5.04 the membership report 5.05 construction report and board members you do have a copy of these reports are there any questions on those as well so hearing none we are going to move on to item 5.06 comments by by Dr Rogers on behalf of the superintendent yes good evening thank you madam chair I do want to begin by acknowledging and congratulating the Heritage High School band The incomparable marching storm for their outstanding performance in Rome during the New Year's Day parade and Festival in Rome over the past year the band has worked diligently to
032prepare for that trip as well as their performance it was truly a community Endeavor and we do extend our thanks to all of the organizations as well as individuals who generously donated to the band's fundraising efforts we also thank the band's support team the parents the band boosters chaperon and what we refer to as the Heritage 5800 and that's their F uh the heritage family for their support the members of the band represented Newport News Public Schools the city as well as our state very well following parade the Heritage band as well as other invited musicians had immersive had an immersive week in Rome where they visited museums as well as other historic SS next we have the government Finance Officers Association that has again awarded the distinguished budget presentation award to Newport News public
033schools for the budget document for the fiscal year 2024 that award is considered the highest form of recognition and governmental budgeting and congratulations to Scarlet Mento and she's in the back with her members of her team maybe here scarlet no she is our Chief Financial Officer and the budget team for once again meeting that organization's nationally recognized gu lines for Effective budget presentation congratulations so next we have this week wraps up the second quarter of the school year and our Middle High School middle and high school students are taking exams this week and well this is kind of precluding something I'm going to share in a minute but I do want to remind our families that high school students uh will dismiss half day Wednesday through Friday and that is if we are in school
034when through Friday um and also on that note Monday January 27th is a teacher and staff work day and Tuesday January 28th is a professional development day and our students do not report to school on Monday and Tuesday of this of next week and we will Rec welcome all of our students back to school on Wednesday January 29th for the first day of our second semester and keeping that in mind I've been communicating back and forth with our superintendent who is of course not with us today she's ill and she did ask me to share the following message to our our our board as well as to our community members who are listening due through the forecast inclement weather all schools will be closed tomorrow however we will have a virtual learning day and additional
035details as well as instructions will be shared with our students families and staff we thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we navigate the details that are associated with this as well as how we handle exams uh where our students have already started taking them today so thank you madam chairman that's all I have for the superintendent today wonderful thank you so much we'll move on to item six another opportunity to hear from the public are there any additional cards no thank you now we'll move on to Matters by the school board it's always a joy to hear from Mr ver our student R so if you would let us know what's going on good evening everyone I wanted to share that um we had a very productive Sage meeting uh the superintendent Advisory
036Group on education last week on Wednesday and we discussed with Mr pancratz a lot of different um course opportunities and uh new course ideas and in addition the superintendent Dr Mitchell um show uh explained to us in detail the process behind how school cancellation Works in inclement weather and finally let me tell you it is not a decision that is uh taken lightly uh there's a lot of research and planning and um just so much work behind the whole uh that goes behind it um I hope that everyone has a safe trip home and good luck on exams for students thank you Mr Hunter oh hello welcome Happy New Year to everyone uh great things are happening in Newport News public schools first I would like to uh again congratulate miss aler miss aan and
037welcome Miss Harris as our new uh elected school board members um I want to thank you and again drive safe and I will leave my time for others to uh to say Miss Ammon sure um well similarly happy New Year and um welcome to Mrs Harris and I'm glad to be continuing to serve with everyone and Miss aler um I know I have a I have students at home that are thrilled with the news it was just share even though I wonder how exams are going to work out but got to reprieve for one day so everybody stay safe log on to make sure you're not missing anything for virtual learning and we'll see you hopefully Thursday thank you Mr Brown all right well I'm gonna say three things tonight welcome to Mrs Harris really
038excited to be working with you in the north and you know we're sad to we were sad to see Mr Harris depart but really excited about having you on the board and excited about the work that we're going to be collaborating on to to do together uh I G say the same thing that I say around this time January every year every year that I've been on this board we have had a raise and I expect this year to be no different uh so we just had our budget uh work session and went over the budget and that's what I'm my goal that I'm setting which is a set every year we'll do raises and then as well now it's January it's time to start thinking about summer school so we talk about U making
039sure that we think about it early and we talk about it so I'm all excited and ready to see the plan for summer school and uh ready to see how we're going to increase the number of students who are attending summer school this summer and uh the students who are doing not only uh makeup work but credit advancement as well so excited about seeing that and looking forward to a great 2025 thank you Mr Brown Zer yes um I just want to say uh it's it's never lost on me uh moments like what you witnessed uh in terms of making a promise to the community and to me that's very important and I want to congratulate my colleagues uh for for helping us to keep that promise because uh we want to make sure that
040we continue to serve our children uh and of course our school communities and and serve them well as well as our families so thank you um and thank you all and uh and just one little uh secret that would be I did find out that we both share the same birthday and I wanted everyone to know and I think that's super special so I thought that was so cool but anyway congratulations and uh and thank you for sharing my birthday that's awesome Miss Harris good evening everyone um just wanted to say how excited I am um to be a part of this amazing team um it has been a journey and I'm glad to be on this side of the room um thank you for everyone that's come out to provide comment um and to
041give us additional information about what is going on and what is important to you uh thank you so much to everyone who's been so warm um this transition has been seamless and um I just thank everyone that's kind of rallied behind me uh welcome to the reelected individuals I I look forward to working with you um and my mentor Dr best thank you so much already taking phone calls and streaming information um looking forward to working with you as well well Douglas um it's it's been interesting already just all of the different um activities and things that I've kind of plugged myself into I did want to let people know um that I'll be hosting kind of like my first event I would say um with the Winter Fest that's going on in Newport News
042where we'll myself and and councilman Harris uh who is my husband uh will be uh working collaboratively to collect uh School items for uh students across the uh across uh Newport News uh that's February 1st so I just wanted to let folks know you can drop off your donations um to deby Community Center or um Safe Haven Empowerment Center um but thank you all so much I look forward to learning a great deal um orientation is coming up and all of those good things um but thank you and I appreciate um the constituents um trusting me thank you so much for GL Happ you Dr best good evening everyone and first I would like to say congratulations to Mrs Harris and congratulations to miss aler and miss aan for your reelection looking forward to working
043with everyone on the School Board second thing is i' like to congratulate again to the Heritage High School Hurricanes who really represented us well in um Rome Italy I actually was supposed to travel with them but I had a family emergency and I was unable to um go with them but they did a fantastic job and I just want them to know we're very very proud of them the Third third thing is for students and parents even though school is not open tomorrow students you still need to get in bed so that you can get up tomorrow morning and be ready to learn and hopefully you if you you should have books at home but if not hopefully you have something from the library so you can do some extra reading um tomorrow but be
044safe out there and if it does snow get out and enjoy the snow but everyone get home safely thank you so I I'll e Echo everyone's comments about the excitement I think when you get new board members or you have board members coming back for another term there's an excitement uh that happens and a a joy in the work that needs to be done and knowing that uh that the newly electeds have newly committed to getting this work done so I'm very very excited to be working with you three um this uh past week has been uh somewhat challenging for the Newport News public school family as we've had um Community uh issues that have gone on in some of our locations one thing that I can say that uh is very very comforting to
045me is to be able to get a call from our mayor or make a call to our mayor and him be in the discovery of how we're going to address what's challenging our community uh and not siloing it um into different areas of the community but for us to work together and so that commitment is very energizing for this board uh I made the comment to Mayor Jones that it allows us to F focus on the work that we have to do specifically for our students for our teachers and our community knowing that he and his team are taking care of the community at Large so I just wanted to uh make that comment uh my last comment is to be safe uh these cold temperatures are are really pretty detrimental so take care of
046children take care of pets take care of yourselves and drive home safely and I'm adjourning this meeting early