001flag here to do the honors is our newly appointed um School Board student representative Razvan Verde good evening members of the school board superintendent Dr Mitchell Auditorium guests and our viewing audience my name is razvan I a senior at Warwick high school and I'm serving as the student representative to the school board as we begin a new school year I would like to share a poem called what will matter by Michael Josephson Ready or Not someday it will all come to an end there will no longer be any more sunrises no minutes hours or days your wealth Fame and power will shrivel to irrelevance your grudges resentments frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear so too your hopes and Ambitions plans and To-do lists will expire the wins and losses that once seemed so important will
002fade away it will not matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end it will not matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant even your gender and skill and color will be irrelevant so what will matter how will the value of your days be measured what will matter is not your success but your significance what will matter is not what you learned but what you taught what will matter is Every Act of Integrity compassion courage or sacrifice that enriched empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example what will matter is not your competence but your character what will matter is not how many people you knew but how many people will feel a lasting loss When You're Gone what will matter is not your memories but the
003memories of those who loved you what will matter is how long you will be remembered by whom and for what living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident it's not a matter of circumstance but of choice choose to live a life that matters now please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with libery and justice for all you may now be seated thank you and thank you Mr Verde and your message could not be more timely we do appreciate it and we are so thrilled that you are with us for this full year thank you before we get into the business of tonight's meeting um I'd like to recognize a
004few people who are here with us us uh in support um I think uh when the city goes through something we all go through something and when it hits home it hits the family uh I am very thankful that we have a mayor and um of course our assistant um city manager is with us and our police chief and I believe that we can get through all things but it is such a joy to know that you guys come when we need you to come so if we could just for a moment our city has gone through a challenge over the past week if we can take a moment of silence thank you and thank you all for your presence the next item on tonight's agenda is Schoolboard recognition so Dr Mitchell if you would
005join me at the podium good evening I have the pleasure of presenting this month's recognitions Newport News Public Schools apprenticeship program is a structured professional development and state certification program that combines Hands-On Career Training and practical classroom learning the program is designed to develop highly skilled employees during the 2-year process a apprentices gain a deeper understanding of the School Division and School Division operations and how their work fits into the division strategic plan and supports our students the program is the only one in Virginia administered by a School Division through the Virginia Department of Labor and industries apprenticeship office the customized courses enhance the apprentices skills and talents the School Division has programs in four occupational areas child nutrition services custodial Services transportation and clerical support tonight we're recognizing our most recent graduates now clerical
006Specialists these dedicated employees successfully completed a rigorous sequence of program requirements to earn a Commonwealth of Virginia certificate of completion of apprenticeship the certificate reads the name of the individual has satisfactory completed a Time based registered apprenticeship of 4,000 hours at the occupation of clerical specialist in accordance with the standards and approved by the Virginia apprenticeship Council and is by virtue of the statutes of the Commonwealth awarded this certification and it is signed by the secretary of the Virginia apprenticeship Council please join me in recognizing and congratulating our newly designated clerical Specialists those that we announce with an honors designation finished with the 3.5 or higher grade point average please join us in congratulating Jennifer barkers graduating with honors from Passage Middle School Miss [Applause] barkers Sher carway graduating with honors from richneck elementary school
007Adrina cus with honors from Mcintosh Elementary [Applause] School Christine fiser and achievable dream Academy miss [Applause] fiser Monica Hightower from Deer Park Elementary School [Applause] Beverly husband from Woodside High [Applause] School Tanya Owens from Discovery STEM [Applause] Academy Jessica peret with honors Woodside High School [Applause] Alfreda Ray with honors from Kiln Creek Elementary [Applause] School Michael Richardson from Yates Elementary [Applause] School Latasha Thomas from Hidenwood Elementary School Jennifer Zacharias from Sanford Elementary [Applause] School and rounding out our graduates is brinkin Williams and she's graduating with honors from Menchville High School she was unable to join us this evening but please give her a round of applause as [Applause] well during the two-year program these clerical specialist completed 288 hours of coursework and on the job training in customer service effective Communications English math Spanish workplace
008technology and Leadership skills the clerical apprentices also sharpen their skills in crisis training public speaking office management and event planning and again please join us in one more round of congratulations for all of their hard work before you return to your seat like to take I'm not doing job back [Applause] things is and as they return to their seats I'd like to take an opportunity to um acknowledge their supporters I know a lot of work went into this I spent some time the ladies and the gentlemen over the course of um three or four days but this has been a two-year process for them so we'd like to acknowledge their family friends um and school colleagues would you please stand and be recognized [Applause] thank you very much for loaning us them for a little
009while I'd also like to acknowledge uh Dr Nina ferrish Director of Human Resources and the director of the program Kimberly Hammond our training and development coordinator thank [Applause] you at this time we're going to take about an8 minute break so that our honores and their families uh may leave if you choose to do so you're welcome to stay the rest of the board meeting okay during this time our viewing audience will have an opportunity to view this month's Schoolboard Spotlight so we'll stand in recess for about eight minutes thank you [Music] there's nothing quite like it the nervous excitement mixed with the anticipation of a new school year makes the first day of school one of the most memorable days of the year for thousands of students their families and the dedicated Educators who lead
010the way in late August over 26,000 students kicked off the 202 4 2025 school year across Newport News Public Schools energetic students from Christopher Newport University helped make the first day of school A celebratory event starting early in the morning cnu's student athletes lined War Boulevard reminding commuters to be on the lookout for school buses and students as they make their way to and from their bus stops holding signs and representing several nationally recognized teams these Community focused athletes volunteered their morning to remind everyone to drive safely and put kids first for 20 years CNU has participated in the safe drive initiative as part of their kids first athletic Outreach giving students an opportunity to make a positive impact on the community of Newport News at several elementary schools CNU's student athletes were joined by
011Greek life students local churches and Community Partners who were all eager to greet students and staff on the first day of school whether students were hopping off their school bus or being dropped off by parents they were greeted with high fives cheers and signs of encouragement with smiles on their faces elementary students felt a boost of confidence to receive such a memorable and energetic greeting many of these student groups and community Partners will continue to give support to our schools as the school year continues offering our students fun opportunities to grow academically and socially preparing our schools and classrooms for a year of learning is no small task and since many hands make light work Christopher Newport university is instrumental in lightening the load for our hardworking staff for the 17th year incoming freshman to
012CNU spent their first days of college serving their new community in and around Newport News during day one of service 373 freshmen enrolled in the president's leadership program volunteered their day at 44 sites across the peninsula helping any way they could these sites included over 15 schools in Newport News allowing cnu's student leaders a chance to prepare School supplies organize classrooms clean up Outdoor Learning spaces and assist teachers and staff as they prepare for a great start to a new school year day one of service was organized by CNU's Center for Community engagement and the president's leadership program office at each site upper classmen faculty and staff served as site team leaders but also played a pivotal role of informing the diverse Freshman Class who are new to Newport news about the great offerings found
013around the city for shopping Recreation and entertainment as students continue their involvement with the president's leadership program at CNU they will have many more opportunities to engage with citizens in our city and schools while preparing for a life of leadership service and civic responsibility the Newport News Public Schools technology department plays a crucial role in equipping over 26,000 students with the necessary tools for academic success in the 21st century classroom since 2020 the technology staff has provided mobile devices to every student in Newport News Public Schools a staggering accomplishment logistically the work starts in the Summer where Technology support Specialists with the help of student summer interns work diligently to clean refurbish reimage and quality check Chromebook and iPads in preparation for the start of the school year they also purchased brand new devices to
014replace units that are Beyond repair from the previous year during the first four days of the school year over 40 TSS techs visited every middle and high school to distribute thousands of Chromebooks quickly and efficiently every secondary student received their own personal device and charger to use in school and at home for a majority of their everyday learning for preschools and elementary schools more than 12,000 iPads and Chromebooks were distributed to classrooms before the start of the school year allowing students to use these devices to complete learning activities in their classrooms thanks to months of planning working and distribution the nnps technology department ensures all students are well equipped for a year of academic success students stand staff and an excited Community are already gearing up for the 2026 school year and the grand opening
015of the brand new Huntington Middle School in early September school and city leaders elected officials Huntington alumni and members of the community gathered for the official groundbreaking of the historic school over the course of two years Huntington will be reborn as a 600 student education center with a focus on STEAM and include student learning Studios state-of-the-art labs and open collaboration areas the groundbreaking ceremony was a celebration of the next chapter of Huntington's enduring Legacy where students will have an amazing facility to build their own Bright Futures for participating elementary students Camp Elevate offered a Summer full of fun interactive and enriching learning activities at the end of the 5 week summer experience all four Elementary sites invited families to celebrate the accomplishments and growth of their Young Learners during Family Day hundreds of families saw
016firsthand what their students learned in literacy math and science at the learning showcase students and families also enjoyed the Community Partners exploration where local businesses and Community Partners shared learning activities and valuable resources to support families family day was an engaging celebration for everyone involved giving families an opportunity to support their Elementary summer Learners who are continuing their incredible Learning Journey this summer Hines Middle School was the central location for the steam center where 529 Rising 3rd through 10th grade students participated in 11 different enrichment Steam camps designed to sharpen their critical thinking skills and Inspire creativity on the last day of the 4-we summer camps an expo was held for families and Community Partners to tour the variety of projects completed over the summer throughout the school students shared their immersive summer experiences by
017showcasing their robotic designs describing the steps taken to code their projects and guiding guests through fun stem challenges at each interactive station students demonstrated leadership skills and confidence in their budding knowledge while family and guests enjoyed learning about all the unique educational opportunities students experience through their summer steam camp [Music] you I hope you enjoyed this month's School Board Spotlight during our regular meetings we provide time for the public to address the school board these opportunities are scheduled in the early part of our agenda and towards the end of the meeting as advertised citizens May submit comments via email up to 30 minutes prior to our meeting time to be included in the official meeting record for those of you joining us in person the board consider ERS this an opportunity to listen to your
018comments please understand that we will consider your concerns we ask that you comply with our 3 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 beep indicates your time is up please be cognizant of the beep as your name is called please come forward and I am going to call delegate Shelly Simonds as she is coming to uh the podium I must share we are really excited to have her with us Shelley got her start right here at this dais in fact she was one of my mentors so it is quite a joy having you join us and she is currently serving as a delegate and her heart is totally about education which she's also the
019vice chair of the education committee and she fights for us daily and since you do that Shelly you do not have a three minute time [Laughter] limit thank you so much for that lovely introduction it's so nice to be back with my team that's the way I feel every time I come in I bring greetings from the Virginia legislature I'm delegate Shelley Simonds I am a former teacher a former School Board member who now represents Newport News in the Virginia house thank you for allowing me to say a few words tonight as a delegate I'm able to put in requests for Newport News in the state budget this year I submitted a request for $1.5 million to do Renovations at richneck elementary for Safety and Security upgrades to the school building they really needed these
020Renovations and we really want to show our Richneck teachers and students some love the exciting news that I want to share with you tonight is that we recently found out that we got $1.5 million in the Caboose budget this is in addition to over $2 billion Statewide for public education and the funding for 3% teacher raises so um and and just to conclude I know that politics can seem like a lot of negative Doom and Gloom these days but my message to you all is really that at the local level we're working together we're moving in a positive direction and by working together we're really getting things done so I am delighted to be your partner up in Richmond thank you so much for all that you do every [Applause] day thank you so much
021for fighting for us we do appreciate it Natalie Chamberlain good evening I'm Reverend Natalie Chamberlain pastor at Hilton Christian church and part of a loose Coalition of folks that have started coming since jbp has been on the agenda I come tonight with a word of encouragement this is something that was written by a colleague of mine Reverend Christy seier McGuire and she wrote it for the beginning of school but I think it's especially appropriate this week beloved future dreams do not have deadlines change and transformation are happening find the good can you see how far the generations among you have come slow is fast and Fast is slow breathe you are a good ancestor you are a good friend you are a good child the world is full of goodness I don't know what this
022moment feels like to you I do know that you are giving it your all in the valleys and the mountaintops in which you dwell the Divine loves you tell all in your midst this great good news thank you Crystal boio is it B okay okay hello nnps school board members my name is Chrystal boet I currently have three children in nnps and I come to you as a concerned parent I hold a degree in social psychology and I'm here this evening to discuss the security and safety of our children at nnps as of today multiple measures have been implemented in the name of safety these include clear backpacks metal detectors and Wands School IDs here comes the bus apps and new cell phone policies none of these have altered or hindered the violence that continues
023to occur both on our school grounds and throughout the hallways within the schools the burden of This falls to the administration and you folks here today on the school board some of you who've been here for 10 years and I'm here to say that the only achievement that has been accomplished is successfully making our children feel that they are prisoners of a system that they have no power or voice in every policy you've implemented mirrors our jail houses and our courtrooms children are treated guilty until proven innocent altercations are swept under the rug if we're informed of them of all at all and to end it all the most recent policy takes away the one Outlet our children have to the only people who stand behind them and all all in the name of their
024mental health today at 8:24 a.m. my daughter texts me from her middle school English room because her sister wasn't answering her messages after she was informed by the teacher that there was a shooting near her sister's school and that the school was in lockdown she messaged both myself and her stepdad to ask if she was okay my husband then spent over 15 minutes trying unsuccessfully to get through to the school when he reached out to nnpd to be told that there was a shooting but it was not on school grounds when he finally got a hold of the school the admin told him there was no lockdown sounded like she was reading from a note card no information was given and we had to learn what was actually happening from social media and the news
025before we were ever given a phone call or an email from the schools my children have been attacked in classrooms accosted verbally by teachers and students and sexually assaulted in the hallways the one common denominator were school officials telling me that was it really that big of a deal my kids are honorable students and have some teachers asking about them years after they've left the classrooms in schools they're not troublemakers asking to be put into these situations but are continuously let down by the people in the schools who are supposed to be there to support them and instead are the ones to have to change schedules and classes to accommodate the sources of the problem I could go on to name other issues about related school shootings and bullying and things that have happened between
026gildersleeve Hines Middle School Menchville just to name a few but I'm sure we're all well aware as they keep popping up after incidents that happened this morning to conclude your safety policies have done nothing to make our children feel safer they come home daily telling me that they have no support system in their schools the only thing that they've accomplished is ingraining into our children that they are nothing but a number on an ID to be searched and have personal belongings seized with no rights to privacy all because you don't want to take care of the actual problems the mentality of treating them like criminals in a jail cell is going to do more harm to them than anything else thank you thank you for your time Lena Lamont hi I'm Lana lont I basically
027came from New York I'm a new resident here and I'm working in Greenwood my concern here is about the sped Department there's a rapid turnover and it doesn't seem like people want to work in this system my question is are you training more people to work in the system that they remain in this system because I've worked in the system for 20 years and these kids are something some people small people that I really love and I want to see a difference that is my goal thank you I believe this is ariela Lucas hello ariela hi hi do I start now yes you may good evening members of the school board teachers and parents my name is Ariel Lucas and I'm a sixth grader at Crittenden Middle School I here to talk about my experience
028so far as a new Middle School student when I first started Middle School I noticed longer Halls stairs that don't just lead up to the roof in a bigger cafeteria I thought Middle School would be absolutely stressful but what I found it was not that bad once all your work is done one of the biggest challenges have been A and B days and having seven different teachers than my usual three in elementary school it's also been different making new friends and getting used to a way older kids and a cacophony of noise during class transitions one of my favorite Parts about Middle School is band and lunch even though those two things don't go together so far I've learned how to stay organized keep up with my work and have more patience I've also gotten
029better at my math and English and having straight A's so far as I continue through Middle School I'm really looking forward to participating in school sports and clubs one of my goals is to keep up with my straight A's thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak tonight middle school has been a new and exciting journey and I'm excited to see what's next thank you [Applause] Reverend Michael Bernett school board members thank you again for the opportunity to speak to you I too want to offer a word of encouragement we've been having an immensely difficult week frankly immensely difficult several years here in Newport News and all across the country even globally I know that you have no small task set set in front of you to secure the security of our students while
030respecting the inherent worth and dignity of each one of them as human beings I Harbor no Envy for you but I also have faith that you will be able to do what you need to do and I want you to know that you are being supported you're being prayed for you're being talked about we're lifting you up in every way we possibly can because you not only is this task momentous it is immensely important there are no easy solutions I don't think anyone could could tell you how to fix the problems we have we need to not only disarm people but to disarm hearts in our culture and unfort fortunately in so far as violence is occurring in our schools This falls on you so thank you in advance for everything that you do toward
031that goal of disarming the hearts of our students of disarming the hearts even of our Educators and our staff I hope there is peace within each and every one of your hearts so that you can share it and if there isn't I hope you can find it thank you Marilyn Willis Marilyn Willis the next one will be um Ash see good afternoon Dr Mitchell and the current panel um I'm marn Willis I've been in the school system eight years I'm a custodian at Jenkins Elementary uh my question was I was just in question about we're not getting paid for overtime but we're being offered comp time so I was just in question about that you do have a few of us that do go above and beyond and make sure the schools are open on
032you know clean and open on time ready for the kids to come in we go Far and Beyond um I know I put in extra hours up at BC Charles and some more of us did make sure the schools open on time so the kids can start on time so I was in question about that and someone else brought up something about the kids it do bother me about the kids I worry about the kids all the time um that what happened this morning I mean I just don't know sometime I be in the hall the kids upset I be like well baby what's wrong you know what sometime I do ask them what's wrong ... we don't know what a problem coming from I mean something just need to be done so um going
033forward I just hope we all could come to a conclusion and get something done about the bad behavior in the school system one thing I know it ain't nothing like it was when I was in school you act up if you want them somebody gonna be waiting for you at the house you better believe it so I close mine with um our closing statement will be I guess all us could work together come up with a solution and try to do what's best for the kids to keep the trouble down and the gun violence and stay in prayer most of all I close with that thank you thank you Miss Willis for your service Ash tagong I did I'm going from memory not from what you wrote I'm so sorry um so hi um my
034name is Ash um good evening Dr Mitchell members of the board uh and special Welcome to our new student representative it's good to see you I don't think I've met you before um I don't have any prepared remarks this evening I didn't originally even intend to speak tonight um but I do want to say that I am glad to be here again and I wanted to say thank you for doing some good work over the past couple of weeks and months I've heard some good news some positive news out of uh discussions with the Educators Union in the City of Newport News and I want to say that I'm very happy to hear that things are progressing on that front and I want to thank the members of our board and the members of our
035Educators Union for working together to make a better school system for our employees and and for our students uh and set a different tone from the usual Doom and Gloom that I bring to these meetings um but thank you very much for your time uh keep up the good work and I look forward to hearing more good news in the future thank you Ash Jane Martin Jane Martin and then the last one for this section will be johra Woods Jane Martin hi hello good evening everyone I am Jane Martin representing my daughter Emily wam darn allergies and I'm here for my third visit I'm again requesting the ban keeping my daughter from every Newport News school be lifted if the ban from all the schools cannot be lifted I'm requesting that the it be modified
036to allow Emily access to Kiln Creek Elementary School where my granddaughter Jasmine is a special education student I've been thinking about what I can say to you that I have not said previously tonight the theme is fairness I believe that we all want to be treated fairly I attempt to treat people Everyone that way uh but that's not my recent experience with nnps I would not be here if I could get someone in the school system to talk with me about this situation it seems that that is not going to be an option on Friday September 6th Jasmine was not feeling well and went to the school Clinic where she is not a frequent visitor Emily was called she lives 5 minutes away from the school and was not permitted to pick up Jasmine due
037to the ban Emily tried to call Jasmine's father and he was unavailable she tried to call me and I was unavailable she reached my husband who was in line to have groceries put in his car and could not get out of line of the line or we wouldn't have gotten our groceries um when I got to my phone I saw that Emily had called I rushed over to get Jasmine she had been in the clinic with a headache for one hour with her mother five minutes away upholding this ban against Emily is a heartless act and in no way Fair the consequences my nine-year-old special needs granddaughter suffers in May Emily was called to meet with HR concerning her Facebook post which was terrible I'll admit I have no problem with that I went with
038her we were shown paper containing the charges against her the paper had a phrase after completing an investigation Emily asked what investigation would that be there was apparently an investigation conducted in which the primary suspect Emily was not involved how is that fair Emily's fate was determined by a committee who made a recommendation to Dr Mitchell I asked if I might meet with that committee and the person with whom I spoke didn't didn't know who they were how is that fair so let me review an investigation was conducted where no one spoke to the primary suspect Emily a committee who had never met or spoken with Emily decided her fate based solely on her Facebook post they took away a job she loved and banned her from school property what is fair about any of
039this I'm pretty sure the answer is nothing I wonder how any of you would feel was someone you loved had been treated this way we live in a country where everyone is entitled to a fair trial and I guess that does not apply to NNPS thank you Mrs Mar okay thank you Chanda Woods our teacher of the year Regional Teacher of the Year good evening Dr Mitchell uh members of the school board parents and community members MERS um I've had the privilege of teach in middle school for 26 years and tonight I want to share some positivity about why I continue to teach and um how my students inspire me every single day so my kids our students have been an amazing source of inspiration for me they touch my heart so deeply that I
040wanted to share them with everyone uh when I shared this with them in the classroom told them that I want to come speak about them they wanted to speak for themselves to share their experiences about middle school and how they're growing each day why do I teach the the answer is simple our students um I've had the pleasure of being part of the lives of these incredible young people who teach me just as much as I teach them they are sweet loving kind General respectful humble argumentative and pre-teens who show up every day eager to learn by the end of the day I sit in my rolling chair exhausted but happily so because they pull out of me everything that I pour into them but they did not come to this place on their own
041I also have the privilege of working with their amazing families who respond to my daily JoJo messages just as dedicated they are as just as dedicated to their children's success excuse me sometimes we focus on the challenges we face but tonight I want to share a story of positivity let me tell you about the moment I realize just how special that my students are on the first day of school one of my children was upset he had his head down he walked up to me and he was he was sad he said he just wanted to have a good day and I picked up his head and I gave him a hug and I said it's going to be okay he started to cry and then he looked at me he said I believe you
042it reminded me of how much our children believe us when we tell them that things will get better that moment stays with me all the all the time those moments remind me every day while I teach while I'm teaching them reading and writing my students teach me P patience and perseverance and the power of kindness they push me to be a better teacher and person for that I'm forever grateful I'm so excited for what lies ahead for my students and their families they are full of potential and ready to take on the world with their bright minds and compassionate Hearts it is important for all of us to see that while there are challenges there is so much good happening in our schools every day thank you so much to the Newport News School Board
043Newport News staff parents families Caregivers for helping us get off to an awesome school year and for supporting the implementation of our VOE initiatives including the literacy act and executive order 33 We Are One Newport News thank you thank you we really do appreciate all comments this evening we will have a second section for comments we'll get on with the business of the school board we'll now move on to what section three the consent agenda which includes 3.1 minutes from the work session August 3.02 minutes from the closed meeting August 3.03 minutes from the regular meeting meeting August 3.04 financial report including the revenue and expense reports for June in August 2024 3.05 the Personnel report 3.06 the budget transfer at this time can we have a motion to approve the consent agenda Madam chair
044I move that we approve the consent agenda as presented second thank you do we have any comment or question okay please call the role Harris four Hunter four aler four aan four best four sir law four motion carries 60 thank you we'll move on to section five reports and information 5.01 teaching and learning update Dr Mitchell do we have a presentation yes we do Madam chair tonight we have a presentation on streamlining the curriculum we have coming to the podum Mr Daryl pancratz he is the executive director of teaching and learning and he will kind of tag team with Miss Lori wall who is the director of Elementary teaching and learning thank you Dr mitell and good evening Madame chair s's law Vice chair Dr best and Schoolboard members as well so tonight I'm very
045excited to be able to share an update with all of you on the prek through 12 curriculum that we've been working on and we'll continue to do in streamlining the nnps curriculum as we began this work we looked at the previous curriculum audit conducted in 2022 in particular we looked at interviews with teachers about the current curriculum platform templates and overall functionality an initial step that each of our curriculum supervisors addressed was to identify the vision goals and instructional approach for each content which aligns to the videoe standards of learning and are inspired by the profile of the learner this provided the F Foundation of our redesign and served as our North Star on this slide is the vision goals and instructional approach for our elementary English this information has not only been folded into
046our curriculum redesign but is also forward- facing on the elementary and secondary English websites for our families and Community all other subject areas are currently in process to mirror the same look on the external curriculum site for our community the next steps involved our curriculum supervisors learning about the design of what we call a storyboard a storyboard is a visual approach for all stakeholders teachers families students and community members to experience an overview of the grade level subject or course and tells an engaging story of the learning then we designed the lesson level template which became the curriculum writer template and teacher unit instructional guides what you see on the screen now is an example of our secondary storyboard each storyboard contains a purposeful title a compelling image that helps tell the story of the
047unit and a narrative explanation with a through line that is accessible to all stakeholders in an effort to be transparent to All Families it also includes the standards of learning that are taught within each unit what you see in front of you now is the forward-facing elementary English page where storyboards are posted and are accessible for our families and Community this allows for all stakeholders to engage with the story and unit information with their student now we'd like to show you what the teacher is able to access through the internet curriculum site in order to create a streamlined curriculum from the start we have designed a more accessible curriculum site where all curriculum is housed on on the internet for our employees notice the three buttons in which staff can choose from elementary secondary K
048through 12 related arts also under those three buttons are quick links for our teachers to access as well let's take a look at what the elementary curriculum looks like after clicking Elementary our employees are navigated to this screen in which they can select the grade level of their choosing this allows for teachers to find all of the subjects that they'll be teaching on on one page and makes it an ease of access for them let's take a look at what the fifth grade link looks like after selecting a grade level employees are then taken to that grade level landing page from this point all items have been developed in Google which allows for Meaningful planning planning and real-time Updates this page contains VDOE Resources Division resources for General and subject specific to Elementary education and
049on the bottom of the landing page the select ction of a course subject can be made let's take a look at the English story board after clicking the English link the fifth grade English storyboard will appear this give teach this gives teachers and other staff the opportunity to understand the through lines of the curriculum as well as dive deeper into each unit once at the storyboard clicking on the title of the unit will'll take teachers to our unit instructional guide the grade five first unit instructional guide is shown here this is the instructional guidance document for teachers which includes a piece of that storyboard that you previously had seen the unit the pacing the learning targets the essential questions core resources assessments and notes for teachers under the core resource document section are what we
050call slide decks in the slide deck teachers are able to see a daily lesson with all lesson component included this provides the teacher an aligned curriculum to deliver to all students while allowing them to differentiate and customize as needed for their diverse Learners now we're going to go back and look at the secondary so much like the elementary site when employees click on the secondary button they are taken to this screen this screen lists all of the courses offered in each of our core disciplines as we continue to streamline our curriculum new courses will be added using our new curriculum documents and storyboards we're going to take a look at English 10 the English tin landing page shown here contains the same resources as the elementary landing page but includes the subject specific storyboard at
051the bottom this is the division landing page template that all of our prek through 12th curriculum will use to be consistent across the division teachers will click the unit title in the storyboard to access the unity instructional guide much like in elementary the English 10 first unit instructional guide is shown here notice this has the same components as the elementary ones that you had seen previously and will be used again across all of our prek through 12 documents and much like Elementary they also have access to the slide decks which provide those daily lesson components and gives the teachers a Daily Guide as they're teaching their lessons so going back to our slides sorry my driver is doing a great job by the way as you can see as part of the streamlining process we
052have developed documents that are clear concise and consistent for all teachers and staff in nnps in conclusion we want to remind everyone that we are still using the Hampton curriculum in elementary math science and social studies and in K to2 English we are using what you have previously seen the process and templates and continue develop and post new curriculum units on a designated timeline throughout this year in addition other secondary courses are also in the process of using this new curriculum document as well so miss wall and I stand to answer any questions that you guys may have and thank you so much for allowing us to share this with all of you board members do we have questions I do among others um thank you is there anywhere for parents if they're curious to
053get I noticed some things in the T Story Board that might have given people some question marks is there anywhere they can go to look and see sort of what's expected to be taught so if they have questions like for example social justice research project if people have questions or concerns who would they reach out to how do they learn what's the content of that what activism might my kids be doing absolutely so essentially for the parents in the community all they're seeing is the title they're seeing the narrative that's there to tell them what they'll be learning throughout that unit and then identifying those standards from that point forward everything else is in house that a teacher may post on canvas or wherever else they're posting for then that way you can get out
054to the further from there but as far as just for the community it's just that front storyboard page but the recommendation would be though that those parents could reach out to the Lead Teacher absolutely the teacher or the Lead Teacher for that content area or like teaching and learning to The English Department so they could reach out to the classroom teacher who then can share here the activity like the lesson series that we will be studying um throughout this 15-day unit or 20-day unit so a teacher could give the specificity the storyboard is like the 10,000 foot view if they wanted the ground floor view that would be a question for the classroom teacher and would there be different like 10 foot views in that one teacher might choose to use this option versus that
055option like they're different things you can pick to teach in the instance of English that we gave you the curriculum slide decks would have given the choices to the teachers so they would be able to say within this unit our curriculum says we can do X Y or Z I've selected X so there wouldn't be something to say x y or Z and I chose a that is here right but they teacher a might have selected material X and teacher B might have selected Z so your kids could technically be approaching it from different material they could but it would be within the curriculum it would be choices they're making that are within the curriculum and that's really that custom customization and differentiation piece that we talked about so they get the curriculum and then
056they're able to customize it for their Learners in their classroom and I believe that the Virginia Department of Ed has support for parents as well um as far as the pacing guide so if they go to the the standard there I mean I believe that there are places where they can get activities to support the learning family the Family Resources piece surrounded around the bigger standard yes right yes okay other board members comments questions concerns I I just want to say that it looks really organized and I appreciate that I love the assessment piece I'm curious to see you know how that aligns with with everything else including the um you know Theos but we also know that there are changes on the way in terms of accountability and everything else so you know kudos
057to you guys for for the work because there's a lot that I'm sure that still needs to be done to kind of clear out some of the wrinkles as the state department is making decisions along the way yeah always a work in prog we always say it's a live document and so the teachers know that when change if changes are made or revisions are made or additions are added we share that with our our teachers Lifetime and that was one of the main re reasons moving to Google is that our curriculum supervisors can log in and make real-time adjustments that teachers see automatically that day good that's great thank Dr best what kind of feedback are you getting from teachers G to share Elementary first we did uh at our lead meeting last Tuesday we
058we shared hey you heard a lot of information in August from us but we need to hear from you um and so we did some lead feedback around successes and obstacles brought that back to the team to say what are some things that um is are working for you and then we are also working on a direct feedback link they typically will email as well but we're putting a feedback link on the curriculum site so that any point they can just go to that link and provide direct feedback so right now we're hearing thank you for streamlining thank you for hearing um our call and keep doing more of this and so we will continue to take their feedback throughout the process this year um and continue to strengthen our platform thank you very much
059the same in secondary yes okay I just had a quick question is this within buil the part of the content in this is that Benchmark Advanced or where are we on that yes so um Benchmark Advance is the core program so the story board is um heavily designed around those units of study so when a family sees um on that family page it's those story boards are under curriculum but under the family and partner uh families as partners tab it talks about Benchmark advance and we are adding um links that say here are some of the activities that would support the storyboard work so it is fully aligned to Benchmark okay so like if a parent wanted we don't look at textbooks anymore be great as you could but yes it is you know we
060we um if they wanted to kind of see what's going to you know what the kids are going to be learning would they reach out to the teachers would she be able or he be able to provide content that they could kind of see what the kids are reading so they're actually going to see exactly what the kids are reading it's going to come home because the textbook that used to be in a basil all the stories in one book are now consumable and so at back to school night we shared some slides with teachers that they can share with families that say one go to the storyboard that'll tell you about the Big Ideas two every time we finish a unit every three weeks those stories that consumable um text is coming home so
061that you can see exactly what they read reread those things and on the back cover are activities that go with that unit of study for families to reinforce that so transparency wise they're seeing exactly what their students are reading and then actually activities to go with it while they're in the unit since those consumables will stay in the classroom and they'll be working through those that's the letter that says we're about to start unit three here are some ways in which you can support unit 3 it's around XY or Z so they'll be uh during before they start the unit look at the story board during the unit do the activities from the letter after the unit here are the activ activities and what they read so and if parent wanted to preview because some
062may want to and have those kinds of questions could they reach out to the school or the teacher or would there be something they could come and take a look at or something copy in the library of course so the teachers have access to all of the materials that they could show to a family to say here are the pieces of text they'll be reading um for this unit of study yes so it's there if you want to want to it is there for you to see excellent I want to just add one piece as um Daryl as you went through it and you scroll down I think it's important to note that there are activities for students who are in gifted programs there are also activities for students who have special education services so
063it's a One-Stop shop for all teachers yes the and that's our Universal Design is to say entry for all kids into the Core Curriculum well those were my two comments is that um I like the usability of it at from the you know the 10,000 foot level and I know I picked up quickly on the differentiation within the story boards and as we got down to what the teachers were able to select from and that is that's some heavy duty work so thank you all thank you thank you we'll share with the team yes we we appreciate that thank you okay thank you we'll move on to um 5.02 the membership report board members you have received a copy of this report are there any questions specifically hearing none we'll move on to 5.03 the
064construction report board members you've also received a copy of this report are there any questions hearing none we'll move on to item 5.04 comments by the superintendent Dr Mitchell we're excited to hear from you thank you so much mam chair I first want to take the opportunity to thank our staff for their passion their commitment and certainly their flexibility that they have exhibited not only every day but especially currently through some difficult times um our staff have really been there for the students and they've been there for the parents and it is greatly appreciated I also would like to share that today is National it Professionals Day so our professional technology staff that supports teaching and learning they maintain our Hardware software networks and student information system and they ensure our network security so special
065thanks to our technology team for all that you do to keep everything running smoothly for our students and staff National Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15th through October 15th and the school division is recognizing the achievements and contributions of Hispanic American Champions who have inspired others to achieve success over the next few weeks our schools will be commemorating the obser observance of special events and activities and we will share some of those on social media as well as our website Madame chair this concludes my comments for this evening thank you so thank you Dr Mitchell we will move on to item six another opportunity to hear from the public I do have some additional cards but if you have any that are still out there if you wouldn't mind bringing those up Harrison I think
066this is Matthew Matthew matt Matthew Matthew okay got it good evening members of the school board teachers and parents my name is Harrison Matthew and I'm a six grader at Kinton middle school and Miss Woods is my English teacher I'm here to talk about my experience as a new Middle School student when I first started Middle School I noticed that the school was much bigger and all the different classes and teachers and sometimes I forgot which way to go I thought Middle School would be scary at first but it turned out to be fun one of the biggest challenges is moving from different classes and having a different mindset on that subject it is different making new friends and getting used to different classmates in each class and having good friendships one of my favorite
067things about Middle School is English class we always have fun miss Woods is awesome at what she does so far I've learned how to stay organized and make new friends I've gotten better at staying focused and having a positive mindset as my sixth grade year in middle school goes on I'm really looking forward to being at a lot of clubs one of my goals is hopefully to get on the basketball team this winter thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight so far middle school has been new and exciting and positive journey and I'm ready to see what's next I am so proud of our young people Paul Crawford thank you for the chance to speak I was here in March to bring attention to a problem with pay in Plant Services uh
068that problem still exists some adjustments were made but only moved a salary compression around a little bit without fixing the system why is it that the hourly pay scale is so convoluted that an employee can't look at their position and number of years and see their pay the teachers can do that with their pay scale and just make sense that the RO support staff should get the same treatment I heard there might be another review coming where HR Compares NNPS paid to other systems see where we stand I hope this happens and I hope they share the results but it would be nice if we felt the efforts were transparent and fair to everyone another issue we have is when a person is promoted to a lead there are years of experience reset and the
069next adjustment ignores all the time they serve before the promotion this seems like a penalty for doing a good job and getting moved up if a custodian is promoted to a custodian lead they are still cleaning mopping and dumping trash why is this considered a different job same goes for painters plumbers or Carpenters if they don't move to a completely different line of work it seems only fair to give them a credit for the years they put in NNPS want employees that can be trusted with the keys to the building trusted around kids not to use tobacco drugs can pass background check have good driving record and computer skills good employees need to be paid well I have a question about insurance costs maybe you've heard all this before I don't know we pay a
070lot more for a premiums than city employees I'd like to know why that is from what I can see online the only difference is the amount that the employer pays towards the premium employee only plans are pretty equal between the city and the schools as long as the a as you take advantage of the wellness credit employee plus spouse plans are between between $ 2,800 and $3,100 more per year than the city even with Wellness credit employee plus family plans are between 31 to 3500 more a year for the city also with the credit most of our plans are between two and a half and four times what the city pays for a similar plan from the same insurance company I understand it may not be possible to match the city's rates but it is
071a huge drag in our income and feels unreasonable when compared with other employees working for the same municipality any movement toward parody would be appreciated I've had a family plan here for 12 years that's cost me more than $40,000 more than if I had worked for the city of newport news in a s similar position that's more money than I take than my total take-home pay in any year since I've worked here my gross last year was 20,000 more than my takehome than my net a third of that goes to taxes $4,100 to retirement but 7,300 goes to Insurance before you even go to the doctor the first time just like the last time I was here I'm not trying to start a fight I don't want to throw anyone under the bus I just
072want you to remember us and some of the concerns that we have I think I speak for most of my co-workers when I say that I just want to make this a better place to work and provide for our family and to feel good enough to recommend these jobs to others happy Employments are your best recruitment tool thank you thank you Jaden Johnson like getting Bingo isn't it my friend was he also saying that too good evening members of the school board teachers and parents my name is Jayden Johnson and I a sixth grader at crittenden Middle School Miss Woods is my English teacher I'm also here to talk wait no I'm also I'm why do I keep on saying El it's okay I am here to talk about my experience as a new Middle
073School student when I first started I noticed most of my teachers were cool and friendly and I like the learning environment I thought middle school was going to be boring but what I found was that it was actually fun one of the biggest challenges has been more homework and changing classes it's been different making new friends and getting used to having new classmates one of my favorite Parts about Middle School is my STEMclass and band so far I've learned to work with my teachers by asking asking questions I've also gotten better at English as I continue through Middle School I look forward to field trips and new experiences one of my goals is to try to get at least three 100s thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight middle school has been
074new and exciting and positively in a positive journey I am excited to see what's [Applause] next very good next I have crew Campbell hi crew hello good even good evening members of the school board teachers and parents my name is crew Campbell and I'm a sixth graders and I a sixth grader at Crittenden Middle School my English teacher is Miss Woods I'm here to talk about my new experiences as a middle school student uh when when I started Middle School I noticed there was many new people and a new environment to in a whole new environment to to explore I thought Middle School would be a scary place but I found it was not scary and it had a nice environment um I've also gotten better at well trying harder in elementary school didn't really
075do that much and I've learned to work on that and as I continue as as I continue through Middle School I'm looking forward to making new friends one of my goals is to join the volleyball volleyball team this winter and I'm trying to get straight A thank you school board for giving me this opportunity to speak tonight we appreciate you all coming to speak tonight Valerie fashion good evening Dr Mitchell and school board members my name is Valerie fashion and I'm an advocate for my grandchildren and the Thousand of children in the school districts first I'd like to thank you all for all that you do for the children in our school district I have a grandson that's in the first grade and he entered kindergarten in 2023 in August and I'm really concerned about
076the lack of spelling words that these children are being given he has not been given a spelling word yet since he's been in school and the spelling words that I'm working him with was the fly fry and adult spelling list from the words from those list and those are not the words that's located in Your youly Foundation program that you all are using after my research I found out that youly is a phonics program and they were developed by the University of Florida Institute the youly foundation Florida right now is not concerned about education educating its students and they are limiting the number of books students can read in their school districts they are Banning books as of April 2024 according to American Library Association nearly 2700 titles were challenged in Florida's school and public
077libraries Florida school district pulled nearly 2,000 books from his shelves including some dictionaries and encyclopedia so why are we using programs that's being developed in the State of Florida all students need to know the basics reading spelling writing arithmetic the demographics of the new new school system have changed how is this issue being addressed parents teachers and students should be given workshops on the classes are the type of program that newa news is offering right now the students do get these paper books that do not go home so therefore the parents a lot of times do not know what is being taught to the students in the classroom room it's important that you that the administration re-evaluate the current specially the spelling curriculum that is being used and the importance and place the importance of
078educating our children for Success first without an education our children will be eliminated for opportunities in education entrepreneurship Corporate America and the public sector thank you for your time thank you very very [Applause] much uh Lisa hedge please Lisa hedge Lisa hedge okay my apologies jeie Lyn um badowski okay Mary boss there she is Hello uh Mary Voss an NPS teacher parent and graduate also proud Secretary of the Newport News Education Association um first of all the nnaa stands in solidarity um with youth victims of gun violence and their families here in Newport News um as a community we must do all we can and to protect our children from gun violence and violence in schools and I know we've put some things in place but we just got to um keep moving and keep
079working at it and not give up uh the nnaa is continuing our campaign to win contract negotiations for nnps teachers and staff in districts with contract negotiations School workers have won things like smaller class sizes more planning time more restroom breaks seniority and job security reduced unnecessary testing and more um teacher and staff working conditions are student learning conditions so contract negotiations benefit students in the community as well um nnps employees if you haven't signed your n authorization card yet to help us win contract negotiations please visit Newport newseducation association.com and scroll down to authorization cards both members and non-members can sign um I'd like to next discuss um teacher concerns about the mandatory literacy course required by the Virginia literacy act which mandates that all K through eight Educators receive training in evidence-based literacy
080instruction um and while it is a a valuable and informative training um it's also very time consuming taking at least three to four hours each month outside of our contract hours um as classroom teachers we already have so much on our plates um paperwork and Grading and other required trainings um that often we do in the evenings and on weekends um it would be very helpful if nnps would take something off our plates for each new thing that's put on for example n NPS could give us the gift of time to work on this course by allowing us to work on it on um the teacher work days that are scheduled instead of making us responsible for additional trainings on those days um we implore you to find ways to lighten our load instead of
081piling on more um one final item I'd like to address today is the need to reinstitute a sick leave Bank option for employees uh I know some amazing teachers and staff and nnps who have pre-existing conditions and who run out of sick leave through no fault of their own they then have to go unpaid when they are ill which can make it difficult to make ends meet at home um this is unnecessary when many other employees have more sick leave than needed and we're willing to share it um the following school districts local school districts provide a sickly Bank option for their teachers and staff Hampton City Schools Williamsburg James City County Public Schools Virginia Beach Public Schools norick public schools and suff Public Schools here's an example of the sickle Bank policy available from
082um online from wjcc public schools uh to become a member of the bank employees must donate at least one day of their sick leave um please consider this option for NPS to better attract and retain teachers and staff thank you for your time [Applause] okay David Brakman thank you Dr best and members of the board I'm here to continue to ask for gender affirming revisions to procedure jbp I appreciate your having addressed me um today and on other sessions as Mr David brakman and I want to ask why did you do that you didn't check my birth certificate you didn't carot type a DNA sample you just took me at my word when I said who I was and you didn't compel the government to investigate or tell me that I'm wrong about that at
083every turn imagine growing up surrounded by that kind of hostility since last year trans students in nnps can only be addressed by corrected affirming pronouns if they get if they and their parents spend months getting a court order or a passport to say so there's no need for this except to serve the MAGA agenda of weaponizing the government to reject the existence and dignity of trans people similarly the section prohibiting trans students from playing sports with their friends of the same gender is beyond what Youngkin's already dubious guidance attempts to require of us this this is not the Olympics the point of school sports is to stay happy and healthy by running outside with your friends the point of a procedure preventing that was designed to be cruel instead no thank you thank you Ron
084Lee I'm talk about gun violence if there's any kids that might be sensitive to that give you an option to leave you guys have an impossible job um they force some of you guys off this board the teachers in this room but probably know a kid that dies kid that you had underneath you from gun violence um a story about myself I was at a restaurant New was on church shooting in Southerland Springs soon my phone goes off one of my Airmen who was deployed in Africa lost eight family members in One shooting I go to the funeral with him after we got him back from Africa I saw Hello Kitty caskets Matchbox car Matchbox car spray painted caskets Superman caskets bunch of kids bunch of dead kids and it's the most horrifying thing in
085the world to think about and nothing that you guys do here can prevent that in the future but when it happens there will be blamed for you guys whether it is Justified or not so I want to give my heartfelt um gratitude for the tough job you do because that will be a hard day if it ever comes and I'll be thinking about you guys during that time I would like everybody to think about four five minutes on your way home what can I do to prevent gun violence um you know I'm from Germany from past talks Germany has 89 million people in it America has 333 million people in it so just a little bit more than a quarter of the population is German they had 214 gun violence deaths in 2023 214 people
086out of 83 million were killed in the entire country of Germany I don't know I don't know how many were killed Newport News Newport News and Hampton combined in 2023 but it might be close the problem is guns and nothing you guys do over there can prevent that in America we have 380 million guns floating around take that for what it's worth but I thank you guys and you have a tough job and I pray safety for all of you guys out [Applause] there thank you for everyone's comments this evening they have been both sobering and uplifting we're going to move on to Matters by the school board uh we're going to begin with Mr Verde our reason for what we do what we do Mr Verde firstly I just wanted to thank all of
087the wonderful students who spoke today about their amazing um starts to their middle school um I also wanted to let all of my fellow high schoolers know that recruitment for the superintendent student Advisory Group on education is underway and for any of you wondering what this is we meet with Dr Mitchell our lovely superintendent over here once a month and we uh we discuss what um concerns we may have and possible solutions and things like that um this recruit recruitment process will be ending a week from today on Tuesday September 24th and interested high school students should contact their student support specialist for an application I will be meeting with the superintendent in upcoming weeks to plan for the first SAGE meeting and um also on a a brief last note I very much enjoyed
088participating in the Southeast Community date parade earlier this month and I'm looking forward to participating in the Denby Day parade and meeting more of our community thank you wonderful thank thank you so much Mr Hunter no comment okay Miss aler um I just want to share I I just have so many mixed emotions today uh this morning with the news that we got uh and um and then listening to our teacher of the year to our students um hearing about the important stuff in terms of uh what are kids are learning and uh and that um it it lifts my spirits to know that we've got so much goodness out there so many uh good things in spite of of you know the things that the the tragic events that occur um I want to
089thank every teacher uh you know we had a custodial staff here to talk about you know the importance and how they reach uh in terms of relationships so the custodial staff the the folks that work every single day with kids and build those relationships it's so important because you just never know so I want to thank you for pouring each and every day into their hearts into their souls not just what uh the standards of learning but the fact that you care and and to be able to carry that out into the community is very critical and to make sure that we work with our families so thank you you all um I today has been an incredible lesson for me and I want to thank uh Dr Mitchell who's been such a warrior uh
090through all of this today because I know that this was a hard day so thank you Miss zon sure um I'll picky back off of what uh Miss aler said it is a day of mixed emotions and there's been um a lot a lot happening and I too was heartened by the middle schoolers coming in sharing their stories that's a big jump and to see their excitement um and the positive experience they've had this far was was really wonderful and really heartening and I do I just want to say I appreciate everyone all the staff members the teachers everyone Community parents who's been pouring into the kids um and school school is going on we're coming up on uh there'll be some tests maybe some mid middle of the quarter and and a quarter test
091so and it's and games and tournaments and you know it's easy to get caught up into aiming for the end goal so I just want to encourage uh everyone and this and the students you find joy in the journey find find joy in in the preparing in the day-to-day as you reach for those goals um and I think everything will be more rewarding thank you Mr Harris uh thank you madam uh super I'm not superintendent but uh chairwoman I wasn't gonna speak but I've been contemplating after hearing the our young students come up um actually it took me back uh to days going into combat and you have young soldiers with you and they're bright eyed bushy tailed uh no fear honest um but you As Leaders know or we as Leaders know that you
092know on the outside of these walls are people that do not mean them any good so listening to the young folks come up uh speak bravely uh even uh supporters that have always came to to the school board uh even you that have really you know told us how you really really truly feel which is great um even you recognize that this is a tough job I consider myself a pretty tough tough fella but after being on the school board um it is a humbling experience why because you entrusted with individuals that came up here to speak those young kids I'm not usted with 30y olds that well safety yes but when you're dealing with kids that puts you in a different type of position uh you don't have time for the mediocracy you don't
093have time for the showand tell uh you don't have time for what your neighbor thought or whatever the case may be it is all about security of those kids in excess of I think 24,000 24,000 so every day when I leave here or I'm sure my colleagues too you worry about the phone call you know you you you worry about the phone call and when it happens only thing you can do is retrospect why because you couldn't stop it and just like the gentleman said sure we know what's coming um so I ask that we continue to do our best uh there are times that we must um not be here for likes you know my mother used to tell me all the time son me loving you means me telling you know sometimes and
094I think we've uh you know as Leaders you have to get back in that habit of looking people in the eye and say no if you can't come to campus no if the law says you can't show up because of your actions no and that's all I have mam thank you thank you Dr best okay um good evening everyone I too contemplated if I was going to say something and exactly what I was going to say so I'll just share a few words from my heart so this morning I woke up very happy and excited because today was my great niece's thirdd birthday and she was even more excited than I was she she woke up good morning and she was happy and just excited about what the day would bring and I'm I'm the
095type of person I don't carry my cell phone the time so I sometimes I'm behind with the messages so I received a call from Mrs alger and she informed me what had happened again and it was like a air somebody had put a pin in a balloon and the air had went out of the balloon and then I looked at my great niece with all all of her hopes and her dreams and her aspirations and her just looking forward to today and tomorrow and then I received a phone call also from Mr John eley and he called a meeting together of some of the people some of the leaders and some of the people that work with youth in the Southeast um community and I left that meeting with a sense of hope um as
096well then I came to this meeting here and our students that spoke tonight a lot of lot of times they they'll bring it right back home for you and let you know exactly why you are here so although my heart is heavy for what has happens I still have hope and and every day that I have breath in me I'm going to continue to fight for those kids so that they can have a brighter future and keeping them safe and I too want to thank the parents and the students thank my colleagues because what we do is not easy but we're trying to do what's best and what's right for our students so that's all I have to say thank you Dr Dr best um I think the only thing that I would like to
097add for my colleagues this evening is how proud I am of our students who are also looking out for the collective safety they are doing the job that shows that they still believe in us they let us know when they see something they say something and they expect us to do something about that so I'm going to take what uh Mary Voss said she said um we just can't give up so we're not going to give up we're going to make sure that we are being what our students expect us to be and that is the biggest gift that we can give them in our school division meeting adjourned [Music]