001[Music] good evening I would like to call to order the regular meeting of the Newport News school board for Tuesday May 21st 2024 on behalf of the members of the school board and Dr Mitchell I welcome each of you present this evening and those who are watching on TV and online a quorum is Pres present to transact the business of the school division we will begin tonight's meeting with the invocation and pledge to the flag here to do the honors are two students from Sanford Elementary School we have Omari Barton and Tony Boyd first Amari will come forward and deliver the invocation he will be followed by Tony who will come forward and deliver the pledge so Mari will you please come up and and tell us a little bit about yourself before you get
002started my name is Amari Barton my favorite subject in school is science my favorite thing about school is to make new friends and learn new things my favorite hobby or sport to play is football and when when I grow up I want to be a football player in the NFL great I'm ready for your invitation okay thank you the joy of learning I love to learn to explore and discover to grow and grow wiser there's nothing like a good book or a new idea to make me feel alive I'm passionate about learning it's what makes me happy no matter what life throws my way I know that learning will always be there for me a constant source of comfort and joy wow thank you so much for sharing so Tony will you please come forward
003and tell us a little about yourself before you share the pledge here you are my name is Tony Boyd my favorite subject in school is math because it helps you get sm so they can hear you are you ready for us to stand for the Pledge yes alance to the flag of United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God and invisible with liberty and justice for all thank you Tony you did a great job [Applause] I want to thank both of you for participating in tonight's meeting it made a big difference and it helps us get started on the right foot for our meeting I think you might have some uh family and school Leaders with you can you all please stand [Applause] thank you very much
004we appreciate you supporting them and bringing them to us this evening the next item on tonight's agenda is School Board recognitions so Dr Mitchell would you please join me at the podium good evening I have the honor and privilege of recognizing this month's Schoolboard honores the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation recognizes outstanding efforts by teachers administrators parents students and Community leaders who work together to ensure access to music learning for all students as part of the school curriculum each year the organization designates the best communities for music education we're proud to share that Newport News Public Schools is named to this list for 2024 present this evening to accept this honor are Katie shean Smith the supervisor of Visual and Performing Arts and and Tony Ma Visual and Performing Arts instructional Specialists would you
005both please come [Applause] forward Newport News Public Schools offers music instruction beginning in kindergarten at the elementary school level students are introduced to music through the use of songs movement and instruments in middle school students May take band Orchestra or chorus and join performance ensembles our high schools offer more than 15 music courses including advanced placement courses and high school ensembles perform numerous concerts every year Community performances are integral part of Newport News Public Schools music program student musical ensembles have played at the Ferguson Center for the Arts which this year hosted our all this year for the first time hosted our All City Music Festival they've also played at the Dow and gross Cultural Arts Center and at numerous Banquets Community celebrations groundbreaking ceremonies and dedications Newport News public schools has a diverse music
006curriculum which includes the summer Institute of the Arts a multi-week program in music dance theater and visual arts for Rising 8th through 12th grade students and of course the Arts and Communications magnet at Woodside High School this is the we know there have been numerous times many many times that the School Division has earned this designation so Miss shehan Smith Mr mm thank you and please share this acknowledgement with all of our music educators and our students thank you and again [Applause] congratulations our next honorees are school-based ambassadors of Newport News public school's diverse music program they lead awardwinning music programs building successful music departments takes a combination of dedicated teachers supportive administrators and parents and committed students and high standards this evening we're proud to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of not one but
007two high school music programs that have earned a top honor the music programs at Heritage High School and and menchville high school were awarded the Virginia music educators Association 2024 Blue Ribbon award present this evening to accept this recognition on behalf of the Heritage music program are coral director arcelia Simmons Miss Simmons would you please come forward of Applause and band director jir Brown Mr Brown we also inv invite the proud principal of Heritage Dr Earling Hunter would you please come forward Dr [Applause] Hunter we'd also like to recognize um the team at Menchville High School who lead their music program band director Deborah sarvay Miss sarvay [Applause] Orchestra director Anna Moyer [Applause] moer and the coral director Zab Mustafa Miss [Applause] Mustafa also like to acknowledge their proud principal Lisa eoff is Miss eof
008here oh oh please oh come on up Miss G thank you Miss Diamond G is here thank you the Virg Virginia music educators Association Blue Ribbon award is the highest award given to a school music program and recognizes a chief excellent in band Orchestra and coral performance to earn this designation all music disciplines in a school must receive a rating of superior during the state assessment in each of the top performing groups from every Ensemble earn a superior rating by performing two pieces of music from approved grade music list all perform in groups had to site read or sight sing to be eligible for the award during the association's district concert performance assessment which is not an easy achievement in addition to their performance during the district events the choral ensembles Orchestra and band have
009performed at numerous events showcasing their talents and bringing honor and pride to their school communities so again please join us in congratulating Heritage and menal for earning this designation and again congratul [Applause] okay so we're going to take a quick photo before you return to your seats [Applause] now we kind of we kind of did a little foreshadowing there because there were two banners um so also this year two of our high school bands earned top honors from the Virginia band and Orchestra Directors Association the Virginia honor band designation was created like 44 years ago to recognize High School bands with a comprehensive program we're proud to again congratulate Heritage High School and Menville High School both band programs earn designation as honor bands joining us this evening to accept this recognition again we're going
010to call back up um Heritage band director Mr jir Brown Mr Brown and again to accept this recognition on behalf of the menal band is their director Deborah [Applause] sarvay bands achieving Superior ratings at the State marching event band festival and at a district concert Festival are recognized as an honor band the highest award that can be bestowed upon bands by the Virginia band and Orchestra Directors Association Heritage is a back-to-back Honore earning the designation this is the first time she's back oh okay your first time multiple 10 10th time for [Applause] Menchville again please pass along our congratulations to your band members and the communities that you serve thank you very much congratulations let me okay our next dories you see there's a theme this evening our next honorees are gifted musicians they are
011among the best high school vocalists and an instrumentalist in the state and have earned the all Virginia distinction to reach this accomplishment high school students must audition and earn a top chair or place in a district event which makes them eligible to audition for an all Virginia Ensemble Newport News Public Schools is proud to recognize five students who have earned this honor tonight as I call your name please come forward to receive your recognition named to the all Virginia chorus from war High School under the leadership of director Lyn beloo Natalie Cameron was Natalie able to join us well congratulations to Natalie from Woodside High School under the guidance of Emilio pante is coral directors Taran wheeler [Applause] congratulations named to the all Virginia band from menchville high school under the leadership of Miss Deborah
012sarvay is um Abigail mayor [Applause] Abigail and Christian [Applause] winen and from Woodside High School under the direction of Brian GRE is Liam Barnstead [Applause] selection to an all Virginia Ensemble represents the highest honor that the Virginia music educators Association can bestow upon a student musician it is a testament to the hard work and discipline of our students the dedication of our music teachers and the constant support of their families these all Virginia honores participated in a two-day series of rehearsals featuring a guest conductor and participated in a full group performance so again congratulations to our all Virginia students who were named to these all Virginia ensembles congratulations congratulations and while you're making your way back to your seats I'd love to have your families stand up please with the students families please stand thank
013you for joining us tonight but we'd like to congratulate you as [Applause] well thank you so much for your support our next hore was recently named a state champion in debate John Steiner a junior at Warwick high school and a member of the debate 18 is named to the Virginia High School league class 5 Lincoln Douglas debate state champion John would you please come [Applause] forward the Lincoln the Lincoln Douglas is a one-on-one debate style and the topic was whether or not the primary objective of the Criminal Justice System should be Rehabilitation Lincoln Douglas is a moral debate and it's named for the famous debates between Abraham Lincoln and Steven Douglas John had to prepare both sides of the arguments which of course he performed successfully earning him the coveted State title congratulations John and
014also to the war debate team for finishing in second place and classifying as runnerup in the team standings which is determined by averaging competitor's placements to rank teams thank you and congratulations [Applause] so joining him this evening um our members of his family would you please stand and be recognized um and also from warwick high school we have Dr Kelly Mason and Miss Bean would you please stand administrators and I'd also like to acknowledge his debate coach Juliana Mortimer so we we also thank her for all her efforts too [Applause] thank and again we congratulate all of tonight's honores we're going to take a short break so that our honorees and their families may leave if you choose to do so you welcome to stay with us for the rest of the evening just thought
015I'd tell you that um during this time our viewing audience will have opportunity to view this month's Schoolboard Spotlight so we're going to stand in recess for about eight minutes thank you [Music] fittingly held during Teacher Appreciation Week Newport News Public Schools enthusiastically honored the 2024 to 20125 teachers of the Year held at a banquet at the Newport News Marriott at City Center the evening gave School leaders school board members elected officials Community leaders and families the opportunity to recog recognize 42 of the top Educators selected from each school from preschool to 12th grade these teachers represented every grade level as well as resource teachers special education services model teachers reading Specialists national board certified teachers professional school counselors gifted services and Career and Technical education and even after their day jobs end many of
016these dedicated Educators continue to serve students and families as tutors mentors or leaders of Afterschool clubs combined these teachers of the Year offer over 700 years of teaching experience after each educator was honored three deserving teachers were selected from each grade level with 17 years of teaching experience Kil Creek's Jessica Reynolds a fourth grade Lead Teacher was chosen as the elementary teacher of the year Washington Tanisha CZ a family and consumer science educator with 20 years of experience was recognized as the middle school teacher of the year and the high school teacher of the year is Lou Radford an algebra and math Lead Teacher with 14 years of experience from these three amazing candidates Jessica Reynolds was selected to represent Newport News Public Schools as the 2024 to 2025 division wide teacher of the year
017congratulations to all of our teachers of the Year talented student musicians and singers from across Newport News Public Schools came together for the first ever All City Music Festival organized by the nnps Visual and Performing Arts Department the evening of musical Brilliance Shone brightly at the internationally Renown Ferguson Center for the Arts at CNU over 600 elementary middle and high high school students were selected to perform based on their classroom dedication and recommendation from their music teachers to perform with superiority in a blended performance Ensemble with very little rehearsal time each student needed extreme focus and talent in the acoustically superb pees theater the Middle School All City Chorus Orchestra and band performed the elementary honors choir sang in the Jane Susan and Joe Frank Atrium to a multi teed audience and in the a
018inspiring Diamond Steen theater the high school All City Guitar orchestra band and chorus performed with Excellence each Ensemble had a day or two to rehearse together and was led by special guest conductors these talented leaders included current nnps instructors music directors from nearby school systems and retired music educators supervisor of Visual and Performing Arts katie shehan Smith and School board chairman Lisa Sur law recognize these special guests between performances and thank them for their time and CMU President Bill Kelly welcomes student performers and guests each performance was a wonderful Showcase of our students immense musical talents a true testimony to the amazing teachers and high level of music education offered across Newport News Public Schools the entire evening was free for families staff and the community to witness an elevated musical event proving once again
019why Newport News public schools has been recognized for the seventh year as one of the best communities for music education by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation it's been a year since Shonda Woods was honored as the Newport News Public Schools 2023 to 2024 division wide teacher of the year but this Rockstar integrated language arts educator at Crittendon Middle School continues to receive Statewide recognition for being a positive role model and making all her students feel accepted and valued in April Shonda Wood's class was invited to the library under the guise of hearing from the Virginia superintendent of Public Instruction Dr Lisa Coons instead Dr Coons and nnps superintendent Dr Michelle Mitchell surprise Shonda as the 2025 Virginia Region 2 teacher of the year Shonda was selected from 16 School divisions that form region
0202 and was among eight Regional finalists for State teacher of the year in attendance to celebrate this prestigious honor were senior staff school board members and elected officials as an educator for 25 years Shonda continued to work diligently to set an example of perseverance for her students while inspiring success and greatness in her Scholars community and among her educating peers to prepare all students to graduate college career and citizen ready Newport News Public Schools emphasizes achievement advancement and Youth Development and to help these young people grow as well-rounded and contributing citizens our schools and staff offer a variety of extracurricular activities after school clubs and service organizations for students to improve their schools and communities during the annual secondary star awards luncheon at the Newport News Marriott at City Center middle and high school students
021were recognized for their commitment to grow as leaders and to help others among the 17 schools and Alternative Learning sites that attended students in 41 clubs and organizations were recognized for the great work they are doing to make their schools and communities better places to live learn and grow in the audience School leaders elected officials Educators and proud families cheered on the student Representatives who are perfectly positioned to grow their skills as Future Leaders and contributing citizens during the month of the military child in April military connected students are recognized for their strength and resilience as they overcome the unique challenges of Parental deployments and relocations in mid April General Stanford Elementary which is located on Fort Eustace celebrated purple up day by creating an epic entrance for every student all of whom are military
022dependents purple is the combined color of all the military branches signifying a unified support for military connected children within all branches of the military Sailors with Navy cargo handling Battalion 1 volunteer feed their morning to cheer on every student as they arrived at school holding signs of support and handing out high fives meanwhile low tide the US Army trade o rock band pumped up the volume while playing a medley of classic and modern rock songs with purple smoke swirling rock music roaring and sailors creating a deafening cheer tunnel of support the General Stanford Eagles certainly felt like the rock stars they are as they were honored on this special day student scientists from three Newport News high schools were invited to Christopher Newport University to share their research findings with environmental Professionals for the last
0233 years Newport News public schools has partnered with Christopher Newport University on the fear to Hope research project this science-based response to rising sea levels receding shorelines and the formation of ghost forests along Coastal ecosystems prompted CNU to partner with high schools to study how Atlantic White Cedar saplings are affected by saltwater using science to find Hope among the fear of climate change the partnership started in 2021 with high school students at an achievable dream and has grown to more than 30 schools ranging from Maine to Texas during the third annual fear to Hope Coastal resilience Symposium on cmu's campus students at an achievable dream Heritage and Woodside High Schools were among eight schools invited to participate from the Tidewater region they were welcomed by Dr Rob Atkinson a professor of biology at CNU and
024architect of the fearto Hope research project students then broke out into mixed groups with other schools to have meaningful conversations about their authentic research and share their findings with their peers across the region students were also able to interact with environmental professionals college students professors and conservation organizations while also exploring possible career options and opportunities to further their education thanks to this amazing partnership with CNU our high school students are growing as scientists as they work diligently to find scientific solutions to real world problems that affect us [Music] all the youngest on just gradu I hope that you enjoyed uh this month's Schoolboard 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
025the meeting tonight we have quite a few cards so as we have done in the past the first section of cards will be uh devoted to those who reside in Newport News and then we will make sure that everyone gets the opportunity to speak um throughout our second session 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 please understand that we will consider your concerns we ask that you comply with our 3 minute time limit you will begin as you begin your comments a green light will come on a yellow light signals that you have 30 seconds remaining and
026a red light and beep indicates your time is up so as we begin tonight's remark I want to take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate the respectful decorum that we have collectively maintained in our past sessions it is vital for the productivity and the effectiveness of the division's work so we really do appreciate that that is how we dialogue um we've been through some challenging times and through some challenging issues and I personally very proud of how Newport News has managed our time through those I would like to remind us all that our purpose here is to work collectively for the benefit of our students and our community let us continue to focus on constructive dialogue mutual respect and of course the issues at hand so thank you all for your continued input and commitment
027to a positive and respectful environment and with that I will call our first 10 individuals and the first one is Reverend Chamberlain Natalie Chamberlain good evening members of the school board I am uh I'm honored to be able to be here again tonight good evening I am Reverend Natalie Chamberlain my pronouns are she and her and I'm the pastor of Hilton Christian Church as a congregation we strive to be radically welcoming and inclusive our denomination the Christian Church Disciples of Christ strives to be a movement for wholeness in our fragmented world we choose to welcome all as God has welcomed us on Thursday August 26th of 2021 I spoke before the school board asking you to implement the policy protecting trans students I'd like to remind you of my remarks it would be easy to
028address you tonight on theological terms but the issue before us is not religious or theological the question tonight has to do with the safety and well-being of Children and Youth entrusted to the board's care this community as represented by this board has a responsibility to care for every student no matter what we might think of any individual's race Creed color gender or gender identity as a citizen of Newport News a pastor a parent and a grandparent I recognize that this is about protecting vulnerables children so that they can get the best education possible that is a simple objective if you need judeo-christian foundation for doing the right thing Let It Be Jesus own words Master which is the greatest commandment in the law Jesus said unto him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
029all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind this is the first and great commandment and the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself on these two Commandments hang all the law and prophets there is nothing that supersedes this law not any verse taken out of context not any denominational or individual teachings and not individual dislike so tonight as on that night in 2021 I hope you'll do the right thing and protect the vulnerable students who should be able to depend on you please approve and use the authority in policy CH to remove the superintendant's dangerous procedures and return policy jbp to the language of 2021 procedure the one this board previously approved thank [Applause] you good evening school board members I had a a kind
030of speech and you're going to hear a lot of speeches tonight about um a lot of the same things um I wanted to address something that you just said Miss Surles law um you talked about the safety of students really that's why we're here that's why we continue to come that's why we continue to speak we're really just here to protect the students our individual policies though I think most of us in this room are very accepting of students as they are is to help students grow and to feel safe um Governor Ralph northam's policies was an attempt at doing that and and you had passed that at one point and accepted that when Governor Youngkin came in he asked to remove those and change those to a um say more restrictive to be nice
031um policies that could potentially harm students I have two students in the school system right now they are too young to have even made any decisions about who they are in life I hope that they would come to me if they had any questions about who they are or who they feel and feel that I would be an open parent as somebody they can talk to and we can go through this journey together but there are many students who have gone through this who face discrimination who face hurt and they have nobody to turn to the current policies basically say that teachers have to report them I've heard although I haven't confirmed directly myself that if there's even a rumor there's the potential that that student has to be reported to their parents and I
032can't fathom and you're shaking your head no so maybe that's an untrue true part and and I understand that there's lots of back and forth of of what goes on what I'm here tonight is to please uh remove the Restriction that prevented you from voting on the um superintendent policies and reinstate the policies that were put forth by Governor northam thank you very much Lea Luen Le hello I am Leah lellan from the south District thank you for having me this evening first I want to talk to you as a parent of two Newport News public school children I want to express the relief I had when I heard of the virtual Learning Academy also known as the V I know I don't know if you remember what middle school is life but it's tough
033it can be really overwhelming there's a lot of emotions and a lot of things going on and I knew that my children could work through those highs and lows in the middle school years at the bla with its smaller class sizes in the hybrid setting while still receiving quality education they'd be learning without the distractions of traditional Middle School this was even more relief as school violence across the country continues to increase next I would like to address you as a virtual Learning Academy educator I would like to know that Newport News I feel as though Newport News mocked my co-workers and myself by stating multiple times that our students would be better served elsewhere respectfully I would like to know how better served when they're grieving the loss of a parent and will only
034leave their house for in-person support days better served when they're so horribly bullied in Traditional School that they feel safe to come in with us better served when their parent States for the first time their student feels and I quote normal better served when a student looks at us with a huge smile and says so this is what school's supposed to be like or better serving the child that gets to walk through our doors with a brand new heart something that simply wouldn't have been possible in a traditional school what about the admin transfers that are now excelling in the hybrid setting your decision is quite literally closing the door on all the positivity and hope that is overflowing at the VA the parents of our over 450 students need to be told a very
035clear clear truth of what this decision by nnps entails the facade of the vla isn't going anywhere needs to be addressed when this discuss when this decision was announced to staff we were told data was the reason behind this decision at the VLA we have regular data meetings we know the data we are impressed by the data and we are very proud of the data yet we can't figure out how data would close an entire school if the goal is to retain us as teachers that plan isn't working because the district is now losing some really amazing Educators to other districts and in closing I know when I turn and walk away sorry I've done everything that I encouraged my students to do I encourage them to speak up and to speak out and I
036will rest knowing that I have done everything for them to keep their safe place keep their teachers they know and trust and to speak up for them since their voices have been silenced Dr Rogers emailed the district in March and enthusiastically encouraged all of Newport News staff to tell our stories well this is mine I'm telling you our story since our questions are going unanswered and I encourage the board to please ask questions on our behalf please give us an explanation to the decision and please encourage Newport News to revoke their decision to close the hybrid vla thank you for your [Applause] time sha de rier thank you um I'm going to go ahead and speak on behalf of a fellow teacher who is unable to attend um my name is Jenner winther this is
037my ninth year in teaching and public education and my second year with Newport News Public Schools I have worked in two other school systems in the state of Virginia before coming to nnps my first impressions of the school system were excellent I was amazed at the resources and supports that teachers can access I was excited about joining the system with the decision to close the virtual Learning Academy my feelings have changed I have taught at the virtual Learning Academy since 2022 previously I taught in William Williamsburg James City council's virtual program and for virtual Virginia the education and support I can provide for students at the VLA is far more than I could have ever done in the previous virtual teaching experiences I've had our school provides a hybrid option so that students can come
038to the building interact with classmates practice social skills and get targeted instruction in a small group setting as a general education classroom teacher I was used to instructing over 30 students in one class at a time our unique program allows me to tailor my lessons to my specific students needs because on a typical in-person day there are up to 10 students at a time in one session this allows me to get this allows me to get to help each student individually and ensure they understand content I'm highly concerned about my students and how they will transition to Virtual Virginia as a previous virtual Virginia teacher I know how the program operates and I know that the resources we provide of the VA are bounds above what students will be offered in Virtual Virginia one small
039example is at the virtual Virginia PE class when I taught at virtual Virginia in the elementary program PE was a pre-recorded video I played from a video service and students were expected to follow along in our program students engage in physical activities like in an in-person classroom students learn about different sports compete physical fitness training testing and receive mental and physical health lessons I'm confident virtual Virginia cannot compare to our program's ability to engage with students and provide targeted instruction academically and socially since we were informed about the decision to close the school my sixth grade class has been forced transfer to students to enroll in our program from administrators one student was previously enrolled at the vaa because of behavior they spent about six weeks in our program before returning to their in-person school
040in their time in our school I had no issues with the student or any behaviors and the student performed at a much higher level than when they were in a Traditional School setting the student was happy cooperative and even told me about how they never felt smart before coming to our school in the contact log it is clear that a traditional setting is not ideal for the student because there are several notes about Behavior concerns since returning to a traditional classroom that is my time thank you so much thank you Pon Vic good evening Dr Mitchell um the school board thank you so much for your time this evening I just wanted to come um as a parent of my son attends Huntington middle school and you all started Middle School of football and sports
041this year and I just wanted to give a little bit of feedback thank you Dr best for attending a couple of the games um and I just want to tell you how wonderful this program has been so far for our students so many of our kids this is their first time being able to attend um extracurricular activities because some of their parents maybe couldn't take them to Neighborhood uh sports or you know it's so different now with the practices might be in a whole another city so so many of our boys and girls are able to play extracurricular activities for the first time and the best best best thing is that the coaches are in the schools and coaches walking around hallways makes everybody act a little bit better and I've noticed a change as
042a volunteer and a mom um I do want to also uh give special acknowledgement to Mr Eric battle who's the athletic director for our school he has been phenomenal in this program and I just hope that you got you all continue to support the after school sports thank you so much [Applause] David Brockman board please approve tonight's proposed amendments to policy CH and use that authority to restore protections for Trans students under the 2020 one implementation of procedure jbp um when revising this and other procedures please make a meaningful distinction between a policy and a procedure a procedure should provide specific implementations of a policy and not constantly make generic references to whatever the extent of all laws is it is not the responsibility of day-to-day staff members to read up on the 95 page
043Grim opinion and the rest of all laws to have to to try to find out what compliant behavior is um a procedure should prescribe that and pursuant to the overriding policy jbp and Title 9 a revised procedure jbp should restate and elaborate on how gender identity is a protected class for equal treatment under the law the adoption of yunan policies does not protect this district from lawsuits as the board might desire um young would love to subject this suit to make our school board School District a subject of lawsuits if he gets all of his supporters on a bandwagon to submit opt out requests to use single users facilities and overwhelm them we can't or by providing model policies that constantly state that access to bathrooms Athletics locker rooms and activities are to be separated
044by perceived biological sex which is not the law even if in with exceptions for whatever all laws might require um is misinformative to school staff and sets us up to relitigate Grim under what yunan hopes will be a court that's more favorable to him but if we are counting on Maga to pay our legal bills we are likely to be disappointed um the Virginia Department of Ed education's mandate to or supposed authority to force us to De legitimize trans use at every opportunity stems from their responsibility to provide evidence best evidence-based best practices which by openly disregarding public and expert advice on the matter during their public comment period they have not done um trans people using regular bathrooms poses no additional risk to assist people using the same um there is no evidentiary basis
045for an opt out request um and encouraging parents to use quote unquote alternative facilities that promote the child's privacy and safety which is not possible because there's no such risk and making statements like students will use bathrooms that correspond to his or her sex even if immediately countermanded Ash chatting Young good evening Dr Mitchell members of the board I'm here to talk about Governor yun's LGBT policies yet again it has now been six months since Dr Mitchell unilaterally implemented junkan model policies six months of pain and suffering for transend students in your care tonight I want to focus on that one key word unilaterally Dr Mitchell made these policy changes without consulting the public who showed up unmasked tonight to protest policy jbp without consulting the school board whose job it is to hold the
046unelected school bureaucracy accountable to the public and without consulting nnaa or any district teachers who represent the professional knowledge and wisdom of our most honorable citizens this is a problem especially given the illegal discriminatory and unconstitutional nature of policy jpp in the past I've spoken before this board to urge you to do what is right and tonight you have an opportunity to take steps towards that on your agenda tonight is revised policy CH which will remove the power of the superintendent to make policy changes like the one she made to jbp without oversight from the board or the public I call on this board to adopt the revised policy CH and to use the power granted to them by policy CH to make things right I call on you at next month's meeting to vote
047on policy jppp I spoke a couple of months ago of policy C potentially being treated as a consolation prize and I think it Bears repeating that we won't settle for that the citizens who showed up tonight and many many more won't rest until you overturn jbp tonight's vote represents just one step on that path and we'll keep coming back until you do what's right even more so actually because you will now have the explicit legal ability to do so I don't think I need to define the word complicit to a collection of well-educated and intelligent board members but I do think it would be an apt adjective to describe any failure to act after tonight's vote we will be back and we will hold you accountable thank you Jackie Batterson Madame chairwoman school board members
048my name is Jackie Batterson my husband and I reside in the City of Newport News our three daughters attended elementary middle and high school in the Newport News public school system I do not like public speaking it is not my favorite thing however I feel the care of our trans youth is more important in my job I have written more policies and procedures than I ever want to remember I am here to discuss policy JB and procedure JBE I know po procedures and policies should match policy JB is from 2021 and respects the Dignity of our trans youth however JBE the procedure is a direction handed down from the administration in Richmond it does not respect the dignity or caring of our youth I would ask that you follow what some of the rest of
049our sister cities have done and follow policy JB thank you very much Jeffrey is it bird song or BD bird sing bird song good evening Schoolboard good evening superintendent I would just like to come up to say as a former um employee here at new new school board as a security officer um my name was put out there and uh and it was Scandal well thanks be to God I can say I was cleared of all charges and and so I would just like to say to the school board um if you can ask I either put inside your policy that there would be a thorough investigation on anything that any employee would do instead of waiting uh forcing someone out and I just ask that that you all would do that because I am
050a security officer was a security officer in newort news and I um been here over 27 years right here at the end of my years and this happens they could not wait until the court date come to find out what was the final outcome then they want to hold other things over my head which I had already had been previously uh dropped off since then I have been promoted my evaluations have have been good but this is what the system has done to me ask me to step out but I'm not asking for my job back I am doing better much better and but only thing I just asking that the school board would look at the policy on how to handle their employees and also stand behind the employees especially um security officers because
051they are in the Gap a whole lot some of you all do not even know how many um times that a officer has went inside that poket and helped the child out brought clothes brought food a lot of times myself I have been to the hospitals been there where kids have been shot prayed with the parents and whatnot you do not know the value of some of your security officers that you have in your school system so I just ask that they are will be appreciated and and know that they are love here at new Point news thank you for your time so thank you for your comments um this evening we will now move on to section three the consent agenda which includes 3.01 minutes from the work session of April 16th 2024 3.02
052minutes from the special meeting April 16th 2024 3.03 3 minutes from the regular meeting April 16th 3.04 Financial reports including the revenue report for April 2024 the expense report for April 2024 Child Nutrition reports for April 2024 3.05 the Personnel report 3.06 the budget transfer so at this time can we have a motion to approve the consent agenda yes Madam chair I move to approve the consent agenda as presented do I have a second second thank you Mr Brown any discussion Madame clerk please call the rooll Mr Hunter for Mrs aler for Mrs Aman for Dr best Mr Brown four Mr Harris Mrs Sur law four motion passes 70 okay thank you we'll move on to section five reports and information 5 01 new and revised policies Dr Mitchell thank you very much Madam chair
053at this time Miss Tracy Brooks um Special Assistant Federal funding we can do [Music] ital she's next she's right thank you Miss Miss Brooks is here to um I present new revised and reviewed policies and thank you for your patience Miss Brook oh thank you thank you for the opportunity good evening Madame chairman Madame Vice chairman members of the board and Dr Mitchell over the past couple of months the policy committee has reviewed or revised over 41 policies procedures and Exhibits in the students policy chapter so it is a pleasure to share highlights from several of the revised policies and procedures with you this evening but first I would like to follow up on two policies that this board returned to the policy Committee in February for further review and the first is called policy
054implementation and the second one is Administration in the absence of policy these policies address the superintendent's implementation of Schoolboard policy and the actions that the superintendent is authorized to take in the absence of board policy I would also like to share a new and related policy with you this evening that addresses the adoption of a policy manual now this first policy which is named policy implementation states that the superintendent is responsible for implementing School Board policies and for interpreting them to staff students and the public your input as a board led us to review policies from other school divisions and from the Virginia school boards Association policy manual from these sources we added language that the school board authorizes the superintendent to create and update procedures necessary to implement the policies adopted by the board
055we also added language that if School Board action is required by law or if the board asks that it approve certain procedures then the superintendent will recommend the procedures to the board for adoption now in the absence of School Board policy regarding a specific situation the policy authorizes a superintendent to use best judgment in arriving at a decision based on the spirit of other existing policies so we also made a minor edit to the policy to aligned with the language in the Virginia school board's Association policy manual that requires the superintendent to recommend whether a policy should be written to cover similar situations or incidents in the future now after doing research on the two policies that I just shared with you we realized that we did not have a policy that address the state
056Cod requirement for the school division to have a policy manual so we drafted a new policy that states that we will maintain an upto-date policy manual and IT addresses the school board's authority to develop policy and the superintendent responsibility to implement it we also use this as an opportunity to provide working definitions for policy and for procedure for policy development and implementation purposes and now to the students policy chapter and as you can see the chapter is in the fourth year of our timeline so we're excited to continue our review as scheduled the 41 policies and procedures that the committee most recently reviewed in the students chapter was F were focused primarily on four areas and we would like to highlight a policy or a procedure under each of them first under student admissions we
057will review the policy and procedure on the admission of students experiencing homelessness second we will share revisions to the student attendance policy and procedure third under student services and counseling we are proposing changes to the policy and procedure on child abuse child protection and lastly we will share revisions to the policy on student involvement and decisionmaking and the policy on student interviews interrogations searches and arrests so joining me this evening to speak to the policies and procedures under the first three areas is Mo Bell simra the executive director of special education and support services who led the policy committee through several of the revisions that we are proposing this evening so I'll turn it over more thank you Tracy good evening the first policy we would like to share is the admission of students experiencing
058homelessness the revisions to this policy and procedure were made to align it to the updated language and requirements in the federal mckenny vento homeless assistance act as well as to account for the recommendations made by the state in their 2023 audit of our mckenny vento policy some procedures notably we updated language related to the best interest determination of school placement for students experiencing homelessness in line with state and federal requirements it presumes that keeping Stu the student in their school of origin is in the student best interest in most cases with consideration also given to Student Center factors such as the impact of Mobility on achievement education health and safety the next item we would like to highlight is the revision to the student attendance policy and procedures the revisions increase our alignment with state
059requirements and Regulatory language related to the treny intervention process while there are no substantive changes to the process itself the revised language provides increased Clarity to school Personnel on the intervention steps to be taken when a student reaches a certain number of unexcused absences we also added new language on the steps schools must take to address IC absenteeism these include the establishment of a school attendance team and the development of a school attendance plan to guide a multi-tier strategy at the universal targeted and individual levels these changes are in line with best practice recommendations provided by the Virginia Department of Education as well as the governor's task force on chronic absenteeism additionally we added language to account for students engaging in flexible instruction time flexible instructional time or fit allows schools to receive an adjusted
060chronic absenteeism rate based on chronically absent student participation in out of schooltime learning recovery efforts while this does not adjust an individual students attendance record the change in our procedures requires principles to consider fit participation when granting waivers for middle and high school course failures due to attendance next I would like to share the revisions to the child abuse child protections policy and procedures the Revis policy clarifies that all School Employees of newer News public schools are required to report any suspected cases of child abuse and neglect and the policy will direct the superintendent to ensure that this legal requirement is met the revise procedures adds the use of an online portal as an alternate option to a telephone call for reporting suspected cases to Child Protective Services it also clarifies the role of the
061school principal or design in the reporting process to ensure that reports are not unnecessarily delayed and now I will turn it back over to miss Tracy Brooks to take us through the last two highlighted policies this evening the next policy that I will speak to this evening addresses C on school division property as well as the process for interviewing interrogating or arresting students on school premises for criminal investigations we added new language to the policy to encourage law enforcement to conduct student interviews and interrogations away from school property for acts committed in the community to minimize interruptions through the instructional program at our schools and we also Incorporated new language that when students are being served with with an arrest warrant for actions committed in the community the arrest should take place away from school
062property and outside of the school day the staff will collaborate with the police department over the summer to outline a process that works best that works in the best interests of our students staff and the community the last policy that we would like to share this evening is on student involvement in decision making acknowledges that students are in a unique position to make positive contributions to improving the school division's educational program and it encourages students to participate in school organizations that offer opportunities for students to express their ideas and opinions such as the sca or various student C students and in accordance with the state code we added the requirement that the student representative will serve at an on voting advisory capacity representing the interests of students in the school division so in terms of
063our next steps we will continue to solicit feedback from the nmps community and school board on the 44 policies and procedures before you this evening and we will revise the drafts at need as needed then we will bring the policies back to the school board for Action at your June 18th meeting and once approved the reviewed and revised policies and procedures will be posted on our school division websites and disseminated to schools and public libraries so this concludes our report this evening Miss Simer and I will be happy to respond to your questions and to note your suggestions so thank you m you have questions at this time I know there have been several of us that did call once it showed up in our in our docket any questions at this time I know
064you'll be hearing from us okay great thank you very much thank you we appreciate all of your hard work so we're at um reports at information 5.02 Federal funding applications Dr Mitchell thank you very much Madam chair tonight we have Miss vinda Robinson our program administrator for federal programs and Mr Reggie Austin coming before you to present the federal funding application Dr Austin will be doing the presenting Miss um Robinson will be there as a backup yes and I believe you are going to begin yeah the presentation absolutely um and if you recall every year someone from federal programs comes before you to um talk about their proposed plan for spending for title fund funding thank you very much thank you good evening School Board chairs Miss s law superintendent Dr Mitchell and school board
065I am verenda Robinson the federal programs administrator and I am joined by my federal programs team together we c um we are committed to supporting our educational Community by strategically utilizing and managing funds allocated to Newport News Public Schools through federal grants Dr Bon supervisor of federal programs will provide a comprehensive overview detailing the scope and funding of each Grant under our purview our aim is to ensure that these resources are leveraged to maximize the benefits for our students staff and community at this time I would like to turn it over to Dr Austin good evening uh board chair Vice chair board and Dr Mitchell I will share information on the federal title grants that are monitored and supported by our team which include Title One Part A and D titles two three and four
066part a uh this evening's update will include the purpose of each Grant a breakdown of allocations and some illustrations of Grants supporting student learning in action each Federal Grant provides an opportunity to embrace and support the goals of Journey 202 2025 our current strategic plan grants support Equitable opportunities for students and complement the evidence and research-based programs and interventions utilized in our schools while all strategic goals are supported through each Grant this table shows where each Grant is most closely aligned it is our goal that funds are used to develop and Empower students and staff for success create environments for students and staff Wellness through Supplemental Educational opportunities cultivate employee expertise Foster Partnerships in and outside of nnps and finally we Steward all resources and alignment with the greatest student learning needs the funding provided
067for the 2425 school year for title one is approximately $12.1 million title two approximately $1.5 million title three over $225,000 and title four just under $930,000 for a total of approximately $14.8 million additionally all of the grants managed are formula grants meaning they are non-competitive award allocations based on student population and or other census criteria however these allocations are subject to final approval by the Virginia Department of Education this slide highlights the trend over the past three school years this year's total federal Grant award package of approximately $14.8 million represents an increase of 4.5% over last year and an increase of 7.6% going back two years the purpose of Title One Part A is to improve basic programs in public schools with high numbers or percentages of children from lowincome families to help ensure that
068all children meet challenging State academic content and achievement standards Title One is our largest Grant serving over 8,800 students across 18 Title One schools which include three Early Childhood centers 13 elementary schools and two middle schools this grant supports about 34% of all of our students Title One funds are primarily allocated to Personnel costs which allows the district to provide additional support to enhance the quality of instruction in our schools this instructional support in part is accomplished through additional staff this includes interventionist and specialist who support students in math and or reading instructional Specialists who who support teachers instructional practices and family and Community engagement Specialists who plan and facilitate events throughout the year to further connect our families with the school Community Title One one also provides for other staff to include prek administrators
069vs assistants pair professionals Technology support homeless liaison and Grant Management staff additionally each Grant supports other allowable expenses such as mileage and printing cost the following two slides illustrat some of the activities funded through Title One including parent Outreach reach parent Outreach stem activities and book vending activities to support literacy the purpose of title two par a funding is to is to improve student achievement through professional development for teachers and school leaders this grant provides supplemental funding to support effective instruction to one enhance teacher and principal quality and two to increase the number of properly license and endorse teachers in our classrooms title two funds are utilized to support staff and students in grades K through 12 and are allocated to Personnel private schools set aside and various other allowable grant program support funding supports
070professional development to improve teacher and principal quality as well as division level instructional coaches and Specialists who assist teachers in all core content using best practices as required by federal regulations a portion of funding is provided to eligible private schools to to support their academic programs and to ensure Equitable Services this slide illustrates some of the ongoing professional development our team's ultimate goal is to strategically connect Resources with student learning needs title three part A supports language instruction as well as enhanced opportunities for English English language Learners and immigrant youth funding is used to address English language proficiency and the academic achievement of English language [Music] Learners Grant funds are allocated to professional development personnel and other support costs which include private schools set aside title three funding supports family and Community engagement specialist who
071Focus specifically on the English language learning population ongoing professional development through two split teacher coaching positions as well as professional development for teachers and administrators title four part A provides funding for K through 12 student support and is intended to improve students academic achievement by supporting students in three areas one a well-rounded education two improve conditions for learning or a safe and healthy environment and three improving the effective use of technology to enhance digital literacy for all students title four funding funding is broken down into three categories as I mentioned like title two and three the title 4 Grant has a portion of funding provided to private schools to support their academic programs in these areas as well in the well-rounded area funds are allocated for instructional coaches in secondary schools to support AP and
072IB training and to support evidencebased instructional practices for improving School conditions fund support School leadership and Youth Development training and in the effective use of technology area funds support staff development Title One Part D is a subgrant of the title one part a grant and supports the Newport News Behavioral Health Center a Residential Treatment Center for Youth ages 11 through 18 the purpose of this grant is to provide prevention and intervention programs the federal programs department is responsible for managing this grant of just over $71,000 which is allocated to Personnel cost contracted services and other uh various allowable costs at the center so this concludes our formal presentation this evening our next step is to seek board approval of our 2425 Grant applications highlighted this evening by June 18th after which we will submit our
073applications to the VOE by July 1st for final approval thank you so much for the opportunity to share on behalf of the federal programs Department you have any questions we'll be happy to address them at this time qualif for title one is based on economic uh threshold am I correct on that just a percentage of students that are economically disadvantaged that's right for a school to qualifi has to be between 35 to 40% of the population has to be free and reduced lunch so um one of the things I'd like for us to look at is possibly expanding that because I'm looking at schools like I I notice uh the number of schools that are here um but like for example with middle schools I just looked at the um like for example I'm just
074using this as an example um Hinds the percentage of students that are economically uh disadvantaged um I personally like to know how did they not qualify y uh versus other schools that do qualify and is it possible to expand um so that's just something I I know I inquired last year or one one previous time but I I'd like to inquire about that again we can certainly explore yeah look into that and then right and see if there's any way we and and it's not just that school but uh I recognized that there's students that have great needs that are sitting in schools that perhaps are are on the cusp um but you know I I wonder if we can loosen those qualifications we can certainly look into it but we do we are required
075to follow the criteria that is set by VOE but we can certainly look at the data right and um certainly come back to you right with a answer great okay thank you thanks for that question others thank you for your time we appreciate it so we'll move on to 5.03 the attendance report 5.04 the membership report 5.05 the construction report board members you have copies of these reports are there any questions at this time okay hearing none we'll move on to item 5.06 comments by the superintendent there Dr Mitchell thank you very much I want to start out my comments by reminding parents that we do have some summer learning opportunities um through multiple programs we have the summer school that this year is called Elevate um and that is for elementary and middle school
076students and I see a teacher in the audience smiling and nodding um beginning June the 26th through July 23rd we also have two High School sessions as we typically do we uh June 24th through July 11th and then a second session July 15th through August 1st with the high school sessions there's opportunity for credit recovery as well as credit advancement we also have in addition some really exciting opportunities through our steam camps and I would really encourage parents to take a look at all of the opportunities but we have the Mariners adventure camp we which is a partnership with Old Dominion University we have the youth Tech camp which is a partnership with the Virginia Peninsula Community College and then we also have a string summer program that is in partnership with Miss Joanie Ivy
077and I know that I went off script and so now I'll get back on script okay so earlier this month we were fortunate to share the evening with 42 talented and dedicated Educators who represent their school as the teacher of the year during the banquet we had the opportunity to recognize each of them for their service and commitment to our students it was an enjoyable evening and I congratulate all of our teachers of the year do want to give a special shout out to the teachers of the year who were announced that evening by level so congratulations to Jessica Reynolds who was honored as the say that again all right you teach at the same school yes yes um Jessica is a teacher um currently at k Creek she is a fourth grade teacher So
078Not only was she selected as the elementary teacher of the year she also was selected as the division wide teacher of the year so again WooHoo for her um we're really proud of her congratulations are also in order for Tanisha Coons um she's a family and consumer Sciences teacher at Booker T Washington who is recognized as our Middle School teacher of the year and then Lou Radford who is a math teacher at Heritage and he was named as the high school teacher of the year so congratulations to each one of us a big congratulations to our very own Aaron Lynn our Student please stand Aaron Aaron is our student representative as you know to the school board but what you may not know is he has been chosen as a 2024 gate scholar program recipient
079by Bill and by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation the gates scholarship program provides full College scholarships he is currently the Woodside High School valy Victorian and he will attend Yale University in the fall so congratulations congratulations to the new Newport News public school students who received job offers from dozens of businesses and Industry Partners during our New Horizon's Regional Education Center's career selection Day on May the 9th 38 Newport News public school students receive Le offer letters and Company hats during the event congratulations to our students and a special thanks to the 26 Regional employers who pledge to hire our graduating seniors thank you for your partnership a few weeks ago our Youth Development Department hosted the secondary star awards which celebrate student leadership and volunteer volunteerism the awards recognized 120 middle and high
080school students representing 41 clubs and organizations who are truly making a positive impact in our schools and communities so congratulations again to our honores for their initiative service and activism May is National mental health awareness month and I do want to acknowledge and thank our national award-winning social emotional support team our student support Specialists our mental health therapists our school psychologists and school social workers for all that they do for our students Also may is better hearing and speech month so in commemoration we acknowledge our speech language Pathologists and the teachers who support our students who are deaf and hard of hearing Newport News public schools has a wide range of resources to support and Advance the students and I'd like to thank all of our dedicated support um student support services staff and one
081final thing we invite everyone to join us for stem Community day it is presented in collaboration between Newport News public schools and Christopher Newport it will be held on Saturday junee the 1st from 10:00 a.m. to 2: p.m. at the Freeman Center on the campus of CNU if you have never attended it it is an amazing event for families um the free event will feature interactive ex exhibits for all ages displays information about stem careers Hands-On science activities robotics community and school exhibits and food trucks and we hope to see everyone there and that does conclude my comments for this evening Madam chair thank you very much I'm looking forward to that stem fair we will move on to item six another opportunity to hear from the public I do have a stack of cards
082here are there any others in the audience okay moving on to the first one Ivon be Ivon be after that will be um Reverend Michael Bernett good evening good evening H this is not first time so y'all just please bear with me I am um veteran I am um grandmother mother and I was a former bus driver and now I was a I'm an aid forced into it because of stress from the bus forced me into a aid and I was just told to come and you know say something about whatever I know cuz that's all I can talk about is what I know and I didn't understand why there's a $5 cut and pay going from a bus driver which I did for years over 20 years to an aid which is no easy
083feat when you have bills that coincide with your other pay I didn't understand why $5 I didn't understand the cut because I still have my CDL I still come to work dedicated I don't take $5 off my duties that have I don't take $5 off my accountability or my determination my my pref my um persistence I come I come and I show up in spite of in spite of the teachers and in spite of the children because we're we looked as as the bottom of the totem pole people don't want to think that but we are we feel like we are the bottom of the total Poole every time you hear somebody talking about somebody it's about the teachers we don't hear anybody talking about the the AIDS on the bus which I'm an aid
084and when you on my on the job description I looked up today it said an aid is a person that helps us un unload the children on the bus and put the children on the bus then you have a master Aid which I had no idea there was a master Aid a master Aid is a person that makes sure the kids get on the bus in harnesses car seats wheelchairs assist them that way we get bit we get bitten we get scratched we get kicked we get spit on we get cussed out just like the my fellow bus drivers back here in the audience you know we get we get we get the worst of the worst and we're looked down upon teachers don't want us to go to the restroom we get to some
085of the schools they're like we're ready to go I'm like well we just been on the bus for an hour and a half we had to absorb a hundred runs this year that's why we got drivers um on buses out of the first school instead of doing that one school the high school you got one run and so on down to the Middle School to the um Elementary now you got drivers doing two and three runs out of one school two and three drives out of your out of your second school and so on and then you got you got the little kids getting home late at night parents are ticked off because they wonder where my child at and then people saying oh the bus drivers don't want to come to work it's not
086the job you wouldn't have drivers that's been there 40 plus years 30 plus years you know 10 plus years it's not the job it's what you got to put up with and and live up and then when you get we get a raise sometime it's like what am I supposed to do with that not to complain just explaining it's hard to go from $5 cutting pay which no nobody explains to you why it's $5 you know what I'm saying I I just see something say something I just want somebody to make it make sense to me and I'm not the only one these bus drivers we we have to we have to I'm sorry I'm done thank you thank [Applause] you R Michael Bernett after that will be Ron Lee thank you much members of
087the school board Madam chair Madam Vice chair Dr Mitchell everybody else thank you much for having us back here again today y'all know I'm here to talk about jbp and a little bit about policy CH my colleague Natalie was was absolutely right this is not necessarily a theological issue but I think most can agree that when it comes to how best to serve a particular population love is a pretty good guiding principle and as a follower of Jesus as a minister in the Christian church Disciples of Christ the best example of love I've ever known is Yeshua of Nazareth sometimes called Jesus Christ Yeshua whose harsh harshest words of rebuke were for those who took the name of God in vain properly understood as co-opting Divine authority to Force One's will over another Yeshua of
088Nazareth who at least in the stories we've heard about him exhibited a particular love which was never characterized by control restriction repression or coercion but which rather showed forth in subversive invitation conversation affirmation and liberation now told you taking the name of God in vain to me is telling people what God wants them to do I'm not here to tell you what God demands that you do but I am here to remind you of what my standard of Love looks like and to tell you that when I look at procedure jbp and especially when I heard the voices of those who supported it and helped put it in place I neither see nor hear this kind of love so my question is if you're gender nonconforming students who are some of the most vulnerable of
089the students in your care read proced your jbp if they were to watch the recordings of these meetings and hear the voices that help put that procedure in place would they feel loved several of the youth that were with us outside before the meetings certainly don't I'm happy to see policy CH being put forward I'm glad it made it this far I hope you voted in and I hope it represents a more accountable culture shift for the board but first and foremost I'm here about procedure jbp and I'm going keep showing up as long as it's on the books so I implore you as always to take a stand for loving care for those you have been elected to protect and resend procedure jpp thank you Ron Lee and then after Ron Lee we'll be
090Tyler Eldred good evening board I just want to encourage everybody to vote for the protection of trans rights for our students that are vulnerable um I Heard the lieutenant governor say that some kids today don't know if they're boys or girls and every trans person knows if they were born as a boy or a girl they see themselves in a shower they have birth certificates they're not that's not the issue that is a lie um they don't feel comfortable inside their own body they are very stressed out about their Optics and I think they have a right to um be who they want to be um I'm a doctor with a mohawk uh I don't look like what some people expect of me when they see my resume um when we talk about parent rights
091it's equivocation that is a term that they are saying in order to make what they're trying to advocate for seem better um parental rights means shutting down transgender students in our schools taking a pronouns away it means not having to vaccinate our children it is not a real thing um human rights come before for parental rights and human rights are given to us because we were born um I don't want to go back into last week I into last month's meeting uh but you know at that um event with the lieutenant governor they asked all politicians to stand up in the room and introduce themselves you introduced yourself Mr Brown said you work on the Newport News school board how long you've been doing that and you ensured that you serve Jesus first always in
092everything that you do and a lot of people believe that way and you know there's nothing wrong with that except everything else that that represents you know in your case with the church and the politics and the views um a representative from Virginia Beach was at that meeting and said so great that a church finally let some politicians in and I feel like that should have been a pretty good indicator that you know this church is politics so I am concerned about your vote um that it is biased that there is some influence that is against trans rights and I hate that you know if the equality act becomes a thing that your beliefs are counter to the laws of the United States but that is basically what happens when there's a law protecting trans
093kids um people of all kinds of ideologies so I wish the best for all of you guys and hope that you guys vote for humans thank you Tyler Eldred and then we will have Sarah George good evening my name is Tyler Eldred I am a Community member at War High School alumni an organizer with Tidewater Democratic Socialist of America and a proud husband to a non-binary spouse I believe it was Archbishop Desmond Tutu a famous Champion against partide who had said if you are neutral in situations of Injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor and many of us here see a situation of great Injustice taking place we see books on queer identity and the Civil Rights Movement being pulled from the shelves of schools in Florida at every education level we see
094a woman dying because she was banned from accessing life-saving Medical Care in Texas we see a non-b binary student who was beaten and bullied to the point of death in Oklahoma on topics such as these our conscience cannot bear to allow us to be neutral we cannot bear the Injustice that Governor yunan imposes on our youth we cannot bear when that Injustice is adopted into our school systems we are choosing to take a stand against Injustice and we expect our Representatives here at this school board to do so as well at these meetings you have heard us warn of the rise of fascism and other forms of hatred and we know that fascism is opposed in million different ways of a million different moments of people taking a stand for what's right so we gather
095here because we are not neutral in situations of Injustice in order to remind you what is right for justice and to implore you to revise the policies to allow you to do what is necessary to take a stand with our youth ER George and then it will be Eric Burton good evening um Dr Mitchell and staff and board my name is Sarah George and I am an ex Army officer and um a supervisor at the post office so leadership is all I know I've always been in leadership I'm here as a concerned parent I have a grandson that attends VLA and I'm here Con on concern that I'm asking you all to reconsider um getting rid of or vla going away I'm caveat and all of those young ladies that came name up VLA is
096a hybrid program and it is there is a need for the VLA program my main concern is I feel like it's being forced the VLA is being force fed at the public for to the parents to the students and also um to the staff there um my first knowledge of the VLA was the beginning of May and then now we're transitioning over to VLA next year what about those Rising seniors that are at the VLA program now that have already picked out their schedules for next year now you're going to now you have added extra stress my grandson has an IEP so as you all know when we went through the covid school system was on a a roller coaster basically and we all had to do online teaching I mean they had to do
097online teaching and so that was one of the worst experience we as parents has to experience because we as the parent we had to become the teachers so the VLA program is is not your traditional uh School setting but it's the perfect School setting for those children who need the hybrid program um Point option was created for a reason 55 years ago it gives an option to those students who are bullied picked on and other things that they have gone through I'm retired I've been retired since 2012 so I have a grandson that I'm raising my grandson does have ADD ADHD and some of the other things going on but I'm one of those grandparents that have nothing but time on their hand so trust me I'm sitting out in my car waiting on my
098grandson when he goes in for in and my grandson has been to two Behavior Centers he's had a roller coaster ride with his mom who was on drugs all the time we just got him back may of 2023 out of foster care so for him to be accepted into the VLA system that was perfect for him to put a child out of um oh my time is up sorry just reconsider please the timing of it all is not right for the rising seniors that's all I have to [Applause] say good afternoon Eric Burton correct y i I do have to say thank you all I know I've came up here several times over the last couple months and I do know that some of yall have been listening and some of yall have invited to
099speak with some of us and I appreciate that I also coming up here because I have also been approached recently by our own HR department to say to basically don't be involved go away as a union representative for the nnaa I have a lot of drivers special need drivers AIDs that call me sometimes crying don't know what to do they just got cursed out by that parent yelled at by a teacher yelled by a principal yelled by a supervisor and they don't know what to do emotions could be running high but I was told I cannot even tell them what to do are we not supposed to be like friends family here help guide these children help them grow help them learn but yet we can't even help each other we have more bickering inside
100our own system than we do than these kids do on the buses a lot of times we should be supporting each other not tearing each other down and I hope when we come up for collective bargaining y'all support us with that we have a large percentage and it is just growing and we just ask for your support thank you next is Mary Voss and then Alyssa kleene uh good evening superintendent Mitchell uh board chair CA uh Vice chair Dr best and members of the board um first I'd like to start with comments about youngkin's discriminatory guidance um sorry my name is Mary Voss uh NNPS teacher parent and graduate um first I'd like to start with comments about Youngkin's discriminatory guidance that ... targets trans and other lgbtq plus students uh please rescind these bigoted
101procedures most of the large school districts in Virginia are wisely ignoring Youngkin's guidance since it breaks federal and state antidiscrimination laws um in fact his guidance has already led to two lawsuits in local school systems by the ACLU of Virginia most of the large districts in Virginia are ignoring youngkin's recommendations and nnps should too uh please also support the recommended changes to policy CH to allow the board to vote on controversial procedures such as the implementation of Youngkin's guidance um the public deserves to know where our elected officials stand on this issue please show us that you stand for equality and for protecting all students uh next as proud Vice chair of the nas organizing to bargain committee I'd like to share an update on our authorization card campaign to win contract negotiations for nnps
102employees um contract negotiations would give staff and teachers a seat at the table to negotiate for stronger contracts including better working conditions uh such as smaller class sizes more restroom breaks more planning time reduced unnecessary testing Union representation meetings with supervisors increased safety measures seniority and job security and much more um since teacher and staff working conditions are student learning conditions contract negotiations are also good for students and the community uh staff and teachers who are on the front lines working with students often have great ideas on how to improve our schools I am very excited to announce that three employee categories now have majorities of cards signed in their departments Transportation Plant Services and custodians um a big congratulations to these departments including to our amazing nnaa bus drivers um some of whom are
103here tonight and who have had a presence at the last two board meetings um additional employee categories are approaching a majority of signatures such as security officers teachers and School nurses numerous schools are also at majorities of instructional staff signed uh with more approaching majorities um to briefly speak to uh fellow employees who might be watching from home if you are an nnps employee and you haven't signed your authorization card yet please visit Newport newseducation association.com and scroll down to authorization cards um collective bargaining rights really aren't controversial uh please keep in mind that Virginia's private employees already have collective bargaining rights and most public employees across the country already do too um thank you so much for your time please support equality and labor rights in an NPS thank [Applause] you Alysa Kine and
104then we will have Effie McMillan first I want to St start off by saying um bear with me I got a lot to say in a little bit of time good evening my name is Alysa and I a senior at VLA I am here today to express my concerns for regarding the district's decision to shut down vla and transition to Virtual Virginia this DEC decision has left many in a difficult situation as there was no prior notifications to parents students or teachers before the announcement vaa has been a Lifeline for many students the mix of in-person support in Virtual learning has allowed many students to thrive despite their challenging situations prior to this meeting I reached out to my peers to understand why they chose vla one student shared that they had been severely bullied
105from all for all of their lives life and have severe social anxiety others mentioned that vla lowered their stress levels while some simply focused better in a virtual environment many highlighted the ability to choose their own schedules and in-person support days on Mondays and Thursdays as major advantages the environment created by Mr Smith and our teachers is unparalleled in this District the community at vla is extremely tight-knit students have strong relationships with all of the teachers even those who don't directly teach them this type of community cannot be replicated by virtual Virginia I have personally taken two virtual Virginia class classes and they were nothing like vla despite constantly advocating for myself as y'all can see I don't have a problem with there were constant issues with this program many of my peers face face
106similar issues finding vla to be an inadequate replacement or virtual Virginia to be in an inadequate replacement for vaa additionally the email that announced the transition was confed confusing and misleading the phrase after careful consideration was used but consideration from whom the decision seems to reflect the district's priorities over the well-being of students and teachers the lack of transparency in this decision is troubling teachers who are already under immense stress and receive little support found out about the closure just days before students and parents did this mistreatment of students or teachers Is Not Invisible to us students we see how burnt out and stressed they are and we understand the toll that this takes on their ability to teach effectively I'm fully confident that within the next few years this district will struggle to fill
107these teaching positions if this continues no one will want to gain substantial college debt to only be un underpaid and poorly treated it's crucial that we start teating treating our teachers with the respect and support they deserve in conclusion this program has been a vital resource for many students and it's really unfortunate that the district did not have the courtesy to ask for opinions for making such an impactful decision thank you for your time Fe McMillan and then Lisa King hi uh good evening my name is eie McMillan I don't know if I've fully introduced myself here before but I am the chairperson of Tidewater dsa's trans and Reproductive Rights committee and we have been working on organizing around this issue since last fall um I hope you all able to see our rally out
108here before the meeting and if not I want to let you know uh that we had a wide breath of people come out and support uh we had uh Community organizers Community leaders former students of the Newport News school system teachers and many more and there are so so many people who know that these procedures are harmful who understand that trans kids deserve better and who are willing to show up and make that known and we can and will keep showing up as long as these policies are in place we'll be here um I do want to reiterate how wrongheaded the procedures are concerning trans students uh we know that forced outings exclusion from Sports and misgendering can cause real and measurable harm to trans students however those known concerns have in these procedures been
109superseded by either imagined concerns of supposed unfairness in sex segregation Sports when we have no evidence whatsoever to suggest that trans people especially trans children uh represent some sort of inherent advantage or disadvantage in school sports or they're being superseded by trivial concerns like parents for some reason needing to always be the first to know about a student's identity when that doesn't harm the parent to not be the first to know except maybe harming their pride there or they are being overshadowed by entirely backwards concerns uh like the imagined threat that they might pose to CIS students when sharing uh facilities like changing rooms or bathrooms when in reality we have the numbers to show that if anyone is in danger in those situations it is the trans students and so these procedures from their
110very start from the very uh nature are wrong plain and simple not only do they cause harm not only do they um send the wrong message to trans students but they are also just based not in reality uh and so I encourage you to take the steps that you need to reverse these policies Thank [Applause] you Lisa King good evening thank you Dr Mitchell and board members and staff members I'm from norfolk Virginia and my two children went through norfolk public schools and I've been given blessing I've been giving blessing I'm sorry I have been giving my sons blessing to speak he was he's a transgender child and graduated from norfolk public schools in 2022 and um so I just want to say I decided to come up to Newport News today to say if
111you have any questions from a parent or a child we're happy to speak with you afterward um about our experience um because he graduated in 2022 it's it was right before youngkin came out with his educational policies um but we were very thankful not to have to have that with what we when we came through the school system um it was a very private matter for our family when when Gabriel came to us and said this is what he was experiencing and um so like any of you who are parents um we turned to The Experts we turned to the counselors we turned um to the doctors and we just just wanted to know how to support our child and then we turned to our school system and because there was no formal policy in
112place it was just easy enough we went to my high school and said this is what's going on we talked to his guidance counselor I sent emails to teachers and let's face it as you started the meeting out today and said let's all be polite to one another when we speak to one another so um that that was the I I don't know what I'm trying to say but the main thing of schools is yes we want to educate our children but we want to teach them to be polite to one another and we want our teachers to be polite to the students and this the policy that's come down from youngkin is basically stating that the teacher cannot have a respectful conversation with somebody who's coming up to them and saying I want to
113be called by this certain gender or this certain name most of us if I were to speak to you one-on-one and I would say please call me something different you don't even know me but you probably would say okay sure so you're basically putting your teachers in a position of being rude to their students and um it's just it's not a very moral thing um I'm also a Christian and so I turn to my church family and we've had nothing but support because God does believe that you know we're all God's children and we all come in different shapes and sizes and and let's face it our schools have always been that safety net um my child is fortunate he comes from a family that's very supportive but there's many children out there that who
114don't feel comfortable talking to their families about gender issues sexuality issues and so our teachers are the ones they turn to so please consider revoking the current policy and coming to us if you have any questions thank you still call me uh I think it's Beatles good evening good evening so my name is snami Beatles my pronouns are uh sh and I'm in English as a second language teacher right here in Newport News Now on paper my job in accordance with my state license and proven through the practice exam demands that I teach English acquisition fight xenophobia and help to secure aid for the families that I service but there are things I do every day in addition to what is outlined in this position I teach compassion I fight discrimination and I secure for
115all students the support and protection that they desperately need this Creed of inclusivity is Forefront in everything that I do and every student is always welcome I like to think I'm pretty good at that actually uh and it seems that nnps does as well I host a live Morning Show at my school I am the student council adviser and my face is on the recruitment flyer um asking Educators to come work for our district I want to believe that this era of inclusivity is what should draw more Educators to US policy CH which will allow you to vote on procedures gives you a chance to make that true the anti-trans procedure jvp accepted by our superintendent is not inclusive it is not compassionate and it is not safe or supportive for our students in fact
116it will actively harm our students and not just our trans students who walk through the Halls daily so full of potential but it will harm every student because the very Foundation of inclusivity and compassion they rely on in their school as their safe and supportive place will be gone and that is what should terrify every parent it certainly makes me ashamed to promote my district to other Educators for my face to recruit them to somewhere where they would be complicit in discrimination and a slippery slope toward legislated bigotry you have the chance to put this right and you should do so because if you cannot love and support every student you do not belong in education thank [Applause] ... want to thank everyone for coming and speaking to us this evening we do appreciate it
117we are going to end with our highlight down on the end we owe him a big congratulations I think he may have a comment or two I think you might need to take a sip of water thank you madam chair we held our last superintendent student Advisory Group um meeting last month uh this month May 8th and we elected a new student representative to the school board for the 2024 to 2025 school year his name is rason Verde and he is currently a junior at Warwick High School I wish him the best as he coaches the student advisory meetings with Dr Mitchell and attends the Schoolboard meetings next year although I have one more meeting a Schoolboard meeting in June I want to share that I will be attending Yale University studying economics and statistics
118in addition all four years of college will be funded by the bill and Melina Gates scholarship thank you aw well we will not tell you goodbye tonight we are just going to adjourn this meeting on that wonderful news Madam chair we have one more Tradition at graduation you know when you come stage that's we all get a picture yes we interrupt the entire ceremony for you thanks for reminding us Mr Brown you all have a good evening thank you all right [Music]