001[Music] good evening I'd like to call to order the regular meeting of Newport News school board for Tuesday January 16th 2024 on behalf of the on behalf of the members of the school board and Dr Mitchell I welcome each of you present this evening and those who are watching on TV and online a quorum is present to transact the business of the school division however we do look a little lean this evening we have one member of the school board who wishes to participate in our meeting electronically as indicated in board policy be electronic participation in meetings from remote location the board member must make such request cite the reason for remote attendance and the board must approve the request by majority vote of the members present School Board member Marvin Harris has made such
002a request Mr Harris yes Madam chair yes um please share uh your with us uh yes Madam chair I request uh to participate in this public meeting from my home due to Medical thank you so hearing Mr Harris's request what is the pleasure of the board do I have a motion so moved a second any discussion please call the role aler for best for aman for brown for surles law for motion carries 5 thank you so that brings us to six members and now the seventh uh our our uh prayers and thoughts are with Mr Hunter he has recov-- is home recovering from very major surgery and he asked me to share to make sure that we all remember to get our screenings and our tests that are required of us annually so our thoughts
003and prayers are with him and we look forward to him joining us very very soon okay we will begin tonight's meeting with the invocation and pledge the flag here to do the honors are two students from McIntosh Elementary School Alandra Armstead carbello and Christian badio so I'll have the first one come up and do our invocation hi hi share a little bit about yourself and then you can share your uh devotion for us I love to do anything that I have time for I'm going to have to remember that yes I love that and I am and I would do anything for my family members I will cancel anything for them oh wow they're blessed to have you did you have something else you'd like to share with us today nothing okay well thank you
004for joining us ination good evening members of the school board and members of the audience my name is Alandra arms Carell and I am vice president of the St Council Association at MacIntosh elementary school thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today I believe that every student deserves a chance to learn and grow in a safe and supportive environment let's work together to continue to make new for News Public Schools a place where everyone feels included and valued thank you thank you and next we'll have Christian who will come forward and lead us in the pledge and Christian if you would tell us a little bit about yourself before you get us started with the pledge my name is Christian Billo and I'm a fth grade student at McIntosh elementary school and my
005favorite subject is science cuz I really like archaeology and that's one of my favorite uh one of my careers that I would like to do then I would also like to be a basketball star you can do both [Laughter] both please stand as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you so much Christian and I'd like to thank the families who have come to support our students from McIntosh would you all please stand thank you thank you for bringing them to share with us uh today and it definitely reminds us what we're here for so thank you oh is the assistant principal here
006too on the I I'm sorry I didn't see you thanks for being here to support your students thank you so the next item on tonight's agenda School Board recognition so Dr Mitchell will you please join me at the podium we do not do we not have we do we we have recognitions but we don't have to to go to the podium we can enjoy Michelle introducing Michelle [Laughter] price our director of communications executive director good evening on behalf of the school board and superintendent I have the pleasure of presenting this month's recognition Governor Youngkin has proclaimed this week Virginia school principal Appreciation Week a well-deserved nod that acknowledges the dedicated work of our School principals and their colleagues across the Commonwealth his Proclamation reads in part whereas school principals work cooperatively to direct develop and
007inspire all members of the school staff and student body and to communicate effectively with parents to engage them in the learning process and whereas principals serve as educational leaders managing the policies regulations and procedures necessary to ensure a safe and effective learning environment for all students in Virginia's public and private schools and whereas principes and teachers are entrusted with the opportunity and responsibility of guiding directing nurturing mentoring and imparting knowledge to our children while they're at school and whereas principals work collaboratively with teachers staff students parents and the community at large to proactively prepare students to be self-reliant and productive citizens whereas Virginia schools Appreciation Week is an opportunity to recognize the hard work of Virginia School principals and to recognize the importance of school leaders in ensuring that every child has access to a
008quality education and it is signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin each day in Newport News Public Schools our principals engage our students families and staff to ensure that our students receive high quality instruction that prepares them to graduate college career and citizen ready this is important hard work so this evening we salute and thank our principals and their for their commitment to our students academic and Social Development please join me in acknowledging our early childhood principals which you see before you sue Waxman from denbigh Early Childhood Center Dr Katie Smith from Marshall Early Learning Center and Amy Gulick from Watkins Early Childhood Center let's give them a round of applause [Applause] and our Elementary School principals Tara Charmers Harris at achievable dream Academy Kelly Stewart at Carver Elementary and Oriel Robertson Taylor at Charles Elementary and
009Mary Joe Anastasia at Deer Park Travis humble Discovery STEM Academy Karen Brown at Dutrow Jennifer Harish General Stanford Ethel Francis at Greenwood and Megan alond at Henwood Elementary troley touch at Hilton ebony Griffin at Jenkins Dr Angela Montpas at Katherine G Johnson Elementary Paula McConnell at Kiln Creek Dylan fail at Knollwood Meadows Kamisha Davis at McIntosh Dr darla White at Newsome Park Dr Melanie cam at Palmer Jackie Barber at richneck tim Edwards at Riverside Dr Edward Van dyke at Sanford Shannon Pipkin at Saunders continues with Elizabeth galbreth at sedgfield Karnesha Ford at Stony Run and Suzanne Ramirez at Yates let's give a good congratulations and thank you to our Elementary School [Applause] principal we also extend our thanks and appreciation to our Middle School principals Ramona Brower who serves as achievable dream middle and high
010school principal Matia Smith at crittenden middle Dr Micah Smith at Ella Fitzgerald Roland Noel at Gildersleeve Lisa gats Daniel at Hines Dr Regina Stafford at Huntington jamaa Russian at jamaa Ruffin at passage and Karen basemore person at Booker T Washington Middle Schools to thank you also to our Middle School principals and our high school School principals Dr adrea Struthers at Denbigh Dr Earling Hunter at Heritage Lisa egoff at Menchville Dr Kelly Mason at Warwick and Dr Mary Hardesty at Woodside congratulations to them as well thank [Applause] you and rounding out our school leaders all alternative and Specialty program principals William Taylor at Enterprise Academy and Chris Smith at Point option virtual Learning Academy thank you you and congratulations to them as well so we gave our principals a night off they didn't all have to
011come but we did want to acknowledge their hard work and to our dedicated principals thank you for your tireless efforts for your support guidance and encouragement that you provide every day to our students please join me in giving them one more final round of [Music] applause thank you and that concludes tonight's recognitions but we'd like to take a moment and I'm going to invite our School board chairman and our superintendent to come down to the podium um because we'd like for Alandra and Christian to take a picture before you leave for the evening um they delivered our invocation and pledge very beautifully so would you please come forward thank you just take just a moment your opportunity I know that's what put GL rest thank you good night drive carefully do do we have do
012we have a we don't have that's what I there's AE while we're spotl you want [Music] to [Music] for [Music] for [Music] all right well during our regular meetings we provide time for the public to address the school board these opportunities are scheduled in the early part of our agenda and towards the end of the meeting as average vered citizens May submit comments via email up until 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 three minute time limit as you begin your comments a green light will come on a yellow light signals that you
013have 30 seconds remaining and a red line light and beep indicate your time is up as your name is called please come forward Reverend Natalie Chamberlain good evening I appreciate the opportunity I have to speak here I'm Reverend Natalie Chamberlain pastor of Hilton Christian Church a congregation who welcomes and Embraces people of all genders and gender identities I'm a citizen and a resident of Newport News I've spoken to you the past two months as pastor about the moral and ethical problems with the superintendent procedures implementing the policy for protecting trans youth the procedures not only don't protect trans youth youth they actually harm them and as far as I can tell that's the intent of the policy I'm here tonight as the parent of a trans child who survived to adulthood Against All Odds maybe
014my story will soften hearts of those of you who are parents my child came into my life when they were 16 they grew up in a home that was abusive in every way that abuse can be defined the parents abused them under the guise of care and with the permission of the parents church the church attempted to fix my child with counseling that was in reality torture packaged as conversion therapy it didn't work it can't work the church then tried exorcism when this didn't work they were banned from the church they were also kicked out of their home the details of all of this are horrific but they are not mine to share in the midst of all of this the school system also failed them instead of showing any kind of care for what
015their life might be they were placed on home study they had too many absences to attend school any longer when I met my child they were teetering on the brink of destruction I and the congregation I served at the time chose to love them unconditionally exactly as they were they found stable footing that did not mean that all the issues disappeared they remained depressed and at times suicidal but they did now have an anchor in their storms the suicidal ideations and attempts ended when they began their physical transition this most certainly hasn't ended difficulties and hardships but it has given them the necessary sense of self to live with or overcome the difficulties they face I am so proud to call this incredible human being my child they have not only survived but they have
016found ways to make life better for others in their communities they refuse to give up because that would mean that those who harmed them in the Name of Love and appropriateness would win that is Unthinkable for them and for me thank [Applause] you as Ash chagnon I know I'm butchering that last name and I think I've done it more than once Ash tell me your last name uh well if you're going to pronounce it the fancy French way it would be shago shag going to say that we pronounce it we pronounce it shagon for you're doing no harm trust me thank you all right good evening Dr Mitchell members of the board I'm here tonight to talk about Newport news's new propane bus grants and commend the city for taking steps towards a Greener future
017except I'm not really here to talk about that I'm actually here to talk about Governor Youngkin's transgender policies again but did you feel that did you feel that brief spark of hope that we might get to talk about something else tonight? I certainly did and I certainly wish I could be here to do that but as I said last month as long as you allow Governor Youngkin's policies to remain in place you are failing your students it has now been two months since Dr Mitchell unilaterally implemented govern Youngkin's model policies two months of pain and suffering for transgender students originally I was going to talk about the disappointment I feel in my elected officials but the other day I had a conversation that changed my mind I had the opportunity to talk to a supporter
018of Governor Youngkin's policies during that conversation I approached the issue with an open mind and with the willingness to be wrong after all if we're going to be intellectually honest we have to be willing to admit when we're wrong that's not how the conversation progressed though it rapidly deteriorated I was told that being LGBT is a kind of virus that queer people like me are mentally ill and a blight on society and that that I was ludicrous to say that gender can change and I was told biological sex is the only thing that matters I'm not here to debate the veracity of these claims you're all smart well-educated people and I you don't need me to repeat ad nauseum the fact that these are not true instead I want to challenge you to put yourselves
019in the shoes of a young transgender kid a child now being subjected to policies backed by and supported by people who think all of the hateful things that were said to me I'm not going to lie to you the things that were said to me hurt I myself am non-binary I have struggled with my gender identity and expression for years took me years to finally figure out who I was but I'm an adult and I'm nearer to the end of my journey with gender than the beginning but imagine a 10-year-old being told the things that I was said imagine how you would have felt in elementary school if you were told that you were broken or evil and destroying Society by simply existing as who you are imagine if one of your kids was told
020those things well here's the thing right now you you are the people telling the kids those things trans kids aren't stupid they aren't ignorant of adult politics they know about the rhetoric being used against them they know about all the people who would say all of the horrible things to me to them if they got the chance and they know that those are the people that are backing the policies that they are currently being subjected to every single transgender kid in Newport News is being told through your inaction that you support the hatred being displayed against them finally tonight I want you to reflect on the toxic environment that these policies have created for your students I said that last month that you the board have the opportunity and the power to stop this and
021stop telling our kids that they don't belong and that they're lesser as Ivan the Terrible of Russia once said silence is consent now I know it doesn't feel great to be called out from Beyond the Grave by one of history's most infamous tyrants but trust me when I say your trans kids are suffering much worse every day thank you Reverend Michael Bernett good evening Madame chair Madame V Vice chair members of the board Madam superintendent I know we're back here talking about the same issue we've been talking about for several months now I'd apologize if I felt bad about it but I'm here so obviously I don't and I'm not going to give another another echo of another big posos or ethos argument I'm not here to make some big Grand ethical point there have
022been plenty of those made they've been very valid they've been very good we don't necessarily need another one of them in the course I'm I want to make a very pragmatic statement and an outright political one especially as nonpartisan elected officials I know that y'all are very wary of being seen as catering to special interests and when we're talking about protections for minority groups that word that phrase special interest gets banded about a lot the irony is in the discussions we've had in the last few months in this room since last fall with very few exceptions every voice that I've heard arguing in favor of adopting the policies which you have adopted has come from one special interest group they've even identified themselves with uniform stickers they made it very clear they're from one organization
023they had a rally right here in town attended by some of our members of our school board about this very issue ahead of the October meeting they are a well organized well-funded and Powerful special interest group sure but they are ultimately one special interest group a political activist group whose political action parent group has a as part of their stated priorities a mission of installing members of one particular religious persuasion in all levels of government these meetings don't fly under the radar I've seen the YouTube statistics they get seen hundreds of times which inevitably spawn thousands of water cooler conversations over the course of a month folks know what's going on in this room the voters are paying attention and they're going to notice if a plethora of voices representing an entire cross-section of this
024community including the voice of your own employees parents of children in your schools folks from diverse sociopolitical orientations and religious or non-religious Persuasions not to mention the voices of your own Educators Union and the ACLU are being drowned out by one activist group representing one sociopolitical orientation and one religious persuasion and seemingly even one particular congregation as nonpartisan elected officials I understand the hesitance to be seen as catering to special interest groups but the truth is if you're really worried about cozying up to special interests you need to be worried about where you stand right now it's not too late repeal the procedural changes made back in November and at least put this issue to the vote it deserves so the voters can see who stands where thank you David Brakman um I'm here to
025implore the board to reverse the 2023 changes to the jbp policy regarding transgender students uh it turns out that trans students hate this it is harmful to them um if you are motivated only by the states threat of legal action um ask that at least you repeal the prohibition on gender-based participation in sports in section 3E of the jbp uh since the state law you're deferring to uh in Virginia code 22.1 explicitly applies to activities and events that do not include Athletics um more broadly children who do not come out to their parents generally have a good reason not to um rejection by the family has a causal link with homelessness abuse um and suicide and a student's right to safety is a higher priority than a parents right to information um the protect every
026kid Lobby who is successfully agitated for this is a transparent all lives matter dismissal of the need to protect people most evidently under attack um in addition to trans students hating this your constituents hate this and since its passage without a vote I've been asking who's supported it um largely not received answers um and from those from whom I've received answers in the negative I'm still waiting for public action against it thank you [Applause] [Music] Caitlyn O'Brien this is a letter that I delivered to the board uh last month from the ACLU dear school school board you are being given this letter because your District adopted the Virginia Department of Education 20123 model policies on ensuring privacy dignity and respect for all students and parents in Virginia Public Schools School boards have an obligation to
027comply with various federal and state laws that prohibit discriminations on uh discrimination on the basis of gender identity the 2023 modal policies fundamentally conflict with those laws and their adoption could expose your District to Legal liability school boards should unequivocally Express their commitment to prohibiting discrimination against trans non-binary students and their policies should be consistent with their legal obligations to do so the equal protection Clause of the US Constitution and Title Nine of the education Amendments of 1972 Title 9 both prohibit discrimination against transgender students which is considered discrimination on the basis of sex in 2021 the fourth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a school boards discriminate discriminatory restroom policy and held that Gavin Grim a transgender student must be permitted to use the restroom that aligned with his gender identity Grim versus clester
028County School Board uh as amended the court made clear that there is no evidence upon which school boards can justify discriminatory restroom policies and that such policies are based on sheer conjecture and abstraction further title two of the American with disability Americans with Disabilities Acts um prohibit discrimination and ensure equal opportunities for persons with disabilities in state and local government operations including public schools in August 2022 the fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that gender dysphoria meets the definition of a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act Williams versus concade um many though not all transgender people experience gender dysphoria as a result School will often be required to provide accommodations to transgender students in order to provide access to educational and extracurricular programs for those students and avoid discrimination these accommodations might include use
029of the students affirming name and pronouns access to restrooms and other facilities that align with their gender identity participation in programs and activities consistent with their gender identity um and confidential access to school counselors all of which the 2023 model policies functionally dictate withholding from many transgender students the 2023 model policies contain only vague references to these obligations under federal law and frame them as exceptions to the general policy mandate set out in that document as a result school districts are left to determine the reach of both the model policies and federal law for themselves especially where the model policies appear to mandate outcomes uh that conflict with federal law I have somebody coming up to gotcha next we have Mary Voss hello uh Mary Voss teacher parent and graduate um in nnps uh from
030the Newport News Education Association um and I'm speaking on behalf of our nnea president Dr James Graves tonight tonight I am reading the rest of the ACLU of Virginia letter to school boards that miss O'Brien uh began reading before me all right uh for example the 2023 model policies require schools to have policies that would delineate restroom and locker room usage based on sex which is defined as simply as biological sex however in most cases involving transgender students this default rule will conflict with the fourth circuits holding in grim and therefore will conflict with the school district's obligation not to discriminate on the basis of gender identity another section of the model policy similarly provides that when a school program event or activity including extracurricular activities is separated by sex students must participate according to
031their sex rather than gender identity the establishment of this default rule will necessitate a case-by case analysis to determine the applicability of federal law to each scenario making unlawful discrimination and litigation more likely than if the default rule were simply to allow students to participate in activities and use facilities in accordance with their gender identity the next section is titled Virginia law prohibits discrimination against transgender students this previous section was about how federal law prohibits it so moving on to state law the Virginia Human Rights Act VH prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and public accommodations which are defined as all places offering or holding out to the general public goods Services privileges facilities advantages or accommodations the purpose of the Virginia Human Rights Act is to safeguard all individuals within the Commonwealth
032from unlawful discrimination in places of public accommodation including educational institutions the 2023 model policies directly conflict with the Virginia new Human Rights Act by requiring districts to disregard students gender identity and force participation in activities and Facilities access based on biological sex only because biological sex is not defined in the 2023 model policies and is not always determinable by clear and objective criteria the application of this policy will inevitably be inconsistent resulting in discrimination finally the 2023 model policies if adopted by your school district will cause transgender students real harm schools that do not protect transgender and non-binary students from discrimination see lower School attendance lower self-esteem higher rates of depression and higher rates of physical and sexual assault than schools that affirm and include those students please rescind this cruel policy thank you for
033your [Applause] time Ron Lee hi hi good evening to you guys I gave a little hand out out um to you guys and I sent an email with a bunch of um resources earlier today this is a portion of the Virginia policies which were compared to each other I just want to go over a couple statistics and couple statements um 275 State bills have been um pushed this year already and 2024 for targeting trans individuals um over 500 in 2023 uh scotus has rejected today to listen to a bathroom bill from a school this one was in Ohio um they keep rejecting these um transgender School bills and um federal courts have overwhelmingly supported transgender rights for students and upheld that transgender rights um actually um gender identity is a title 9 protection so I
034just wanted to say that since that was kind of relevant today um children are coming out sooner than in the past as being transgender that's that's caused a weird thing to happen um historically um lesbian gay and bisexual individuals have had higher levels of Education um we're seeing that opposite effect for transgender kids and the reason for that that they think is probably because of bullying and a lack of inclusivity representation in schools and curricula a transgender youth is 3.7 times more likely than a cisgender youth to experience bullying and 3.3 times more likely to miss school due to safety concerns we have built a systemic problem which hold back stigmatized youth I think everybody should have an equal shot at the basket but we need to stop making some kids jump hurdles before they
035get to the free throw line so here's some statistics about um transgender students in Virginia The Washington Post estimates that there are 4,000 transgender students in Virginia NNPS is 2% of Virginia Department of Education roughly so if we peanut butter spread that number there should be 81.6 transgender students in Newport News public schools so how does that number relate um you have 91 Native American students you have 96 Pacific and Pacific Islander and Hawaiian students 81.6 trans Menchville high school has 81 mixed race students NNPS residential programs have 91 students in 2022 30 nnps graduates received a GED and 15 dropped out which is a crazy low number congratulations on that but that means that we have twice the amount of trans kids than dropouts and students who earn GEDs NNPS has um has 41
036schools oh sorry anyway those are just some statistics I want to throw out there they're out here they're not seen thank you I have a an incomplete card but I'm going to call the name or what I have um Effie from ... effie from Norfolk okay uh good evening my name is Effie and I'm here again like many you have already spoken tonight uh to speak out against Youngkin's uh transphobic guidelines and their implementation here uh to that end I wanted to read an exerpt from a Texas trans teens testimony against transphobic policies uh that were being enacted in their own state but which I think are certainly relevant here quote my name is Kaden Asher and I a transgender Foster student alumni I came out for the first time at 13 growing up I
037acted the part I was told to when puberty hit my body started to change and I began to hate myself I could feel that there was something wrong with the way I looked and that's when I realized I was trans when I was 15 I met another trans person my school and decided to finally come out to everyone when I did my assistant principal called my father and outed me without my permission that day when I got home we got in a huge fight that led to me being held down on my own bed so I wouldn't move while my father yelled at me it got to a point where I couldn't breathe because my dad's girlfriend was sitting on my chest and I screamed my dad slapped me and told me to stop exaggerating
038end quote the story only gets worse from there as you can imagine to the point that this teenager had to be placed in foster care for their own safety and only after years of being in foster care did Kaden seek out the medical transition that seems to be the fixation of those who wish to strip trans students of their rights to privacy for those who may not be aware being trans is not just about hormones and surgeries and especially for children and teenagers the most important thing is to be socially accepted as the person they are and I see no reason their privacy should be breached during an incredibly vulnerable time in their lives especially scenarios like Caden's are an all too common reality. students' safety and privacy should be safeguarded and upheld and Youngkin's
039policies adopted here do the opposite of that so I ask that you repeal them immediately thank you thank [Applause] you so I want to thank um everyone who came to speak this evening we do appreciate um your words we will now move on to section three the consent agenda which includes 3.01 minutes from the special meeting December 12 2023 3.02 minutes from the regular meeting December 12th 3.03 Financial reports including the revenue report for December 2023 the expense report for December 2023 and the Child Nutrition reports for December 23 2023 we have 3.04 the Personnel report 3.05 appointment of Deputy Clerk of the school board and 3.06 budget transfer at this time do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda yes Madam chair I move to approve the consent agenda as presented second
040thank you any discussion at this time okay please call the rooll Mrs for Dr best Mr Brown for Mr Harris for Mrs surles law for motion carries 6 0 thank you that's me we'll now move on to section five reports and information we have 5.01 the elementary English K through five instructional materials Dr Mitchell thank you very much Madam chair tonight we have Miss lorri wall our director of Elementary teaching and learning she's going to come before you to share with you the recommended Elementary English K5 instructional materials thank you Miss wall thank you sure this is good evening Madame chair Surles Law Vice chair best Dr Mitchell and members of the board my name is Lori wall director of Elementary teaching and learning and I'm here this evening bring forth a recommendation from the
041elementary English textbook adoption committee last April we shared with our board that the adoption committee had made a recommendation for a new Elementary English core program the textbook adoption committee was formed and included representation from all across all schools and K12 collaborative departments the committee was comprised of two teachers from each grade level K Garden through fifth grade and teachers were selected by their administrators to serve on this committee additional members included two reading specialist two administrators an ESL and special education instructural specialist and the elementary English supervisor the committee received textbook proposal packages from nine vendors and reviewed them with a common rubric that evaluated three components component one alignment component two instructional design and student experience and component three instructional planning and support the three vendors with the highest scores were selected to
042give presentations and host a Q&A session for the committee as part of the evaluation process after these sessions the committee voted and the two vendors with the highest scores were selected to enter the negotiation process at the conclusion of the negotiation process the committee deliberated and cast their vote in March of 202 23 and determined a recommended vendor for adoption however at the same time the State Board of Education had expanded the Virginia literacy act requirement for each local school board to provide a core program of literacy instruction that aligns with the science-based reading research and provides evidence-based literacy instruction from students in kindergarten through grade three to students in kindergarten through grade 5 to support the compliance of this requirement the vaa required the vooe to recommend instructional programs for approval by the Virginia
043Board of Education therefore in April 2023 we were unable to bring the recommendation forward because the Virginia Board of Education had not voted on a complete list of materials through grade five just last month a special Virginia Board of Education meeting was held and the State Board of Education approved the recommended list of instructional programs and the program that our committee recommended last April was included on this list therefore this evening I'm bring I'm here to bring forth the recommendation of the English adoption committee the elementary English textbook adoption committee recommends Benchmark Advance as the core instructional program for grades kindergarten through grade five the video released a recommended instructional programs guide that communicates the final results of a multiphase rigorous review process used to identify the best-in-class K5 core instructional programs Benchmark Advance receive
044high ratings across all grade levels since our committee began this process over a year ago in August of 2022 we are one of the first divisions in our area to complete the adoption process and make a recommendation sorry on this slide are a few of the strengths of the program that were also highlighted in the vdoe instructional program guide and just let you take a minute to review as you can see the program offers teacher Direction particularly for novice teachers to include clear guidance and support on the connection between instruction and assessment in addition students have opportunities to engage with text and task that promote knowledge building in the areas of science and social studies if approved we will begin implementating implementing the next steps for purchase training and curriculum development to prepare for the
045implementation as expected by the vdoe for the 2425 school year thank you for your time and attention this evening and at this time Dr Rogers and I are available to answer any questions all right questions from the board going once that's a key question yes go um thank you for those that may be watching and may not have the in-depth knowledge the those that have been in education for their careers could you explain um the difference between a a core instructional program and a curriculum because we saw in the last slide then we'll be developing a curriculum so can you kind of share how they integrate with each other that so the difference between a core instruction program and an instructional excuse me curriculum are two different things so the curriculum is the big context
046that we use to teach from day to day so a teacher would pull out a curriculum and follow the curriculum and of course our curriculum is custom and we use the Virginia St standards of learning to create the curriculum and instructional resource supports the curriculum so uh what we've put up for adoption is not the curriculum it's an instructional resource that supports the curriculum that teachers are teaching does that help sure okay any other questions but we want to thank you all for your um attention to to this serious matter for us because as you can tell we have been reaching out and letting Dr Mitchell know we had questions and you address each and every one of them in your presentation and we do appreciate that of course thank you so now we'll move
047on to 5.02 we have new and revised policies Dr Mitchell yes we do ms Tracy Brooks a special assistant to the superintendent is here to to present several of the new and revised policies I know you are quite familiar with Ms Brooks as she seems to come every other month um as she is updating um some of the policies and bringing us new thank you Ms Brooks thank you good evening Madame chairman Madam Vice chairman members of board and Dr Mitchell of the 25 policies procedures and Exhibits that the school division's policy committee reviewed it is a pleasure to share highlights from some of the new and revised policies with you this evening all of the policy related documents represent the work of the policy committee which includes two school board members principals teachers administrators
048and our school board and School Division attorneys we've placed the nine new and revised policies that I will talk to you about in three groups first are those that are required by new state and federal legislation second are the policies that we either develop or revise to support best practices in the school Division and third are the policies in the six policy chapter of our five-year timeline which is on General School administration now there are three policies resulting from recent legislation that I will share this evening and they address the school division's annual operating budget process our technology acceptable use policy or AUP and high school graduation requirements our first policy addresses the school division's annual operating budget the code of Virginia requires school divisions to hold one work session and at least one public
049hearing during the budget planning process the state code changed the requirement to publish notice of the public budget public hearing from 10 days in advance of the hearing to 7 days which is reflected in our policy revision the next State code change affects our technology acceptable use policy by prohibiting School Division students employees and contractors from downloading or using any application including Tik Tock or WeChat or accessing any website developed by bite dance or tensent Holdings on any device or equipment issued owned or leased by the school board including mobile phones desktop computers laptops tablets or other devices capable of connecting to the internet and this policy is a part of the state's effort to promote or to protect organization data and privacy now over the years the school board has worked to ensure that
050students transferring into our schools from other states are evaluated to determine the number of standard and verify credits earned to enable them to graduate on time a new federal law weighs specific courses required for graduation for children of certain federal employees if similar course work was completed satisfactorily in the student's former School Division so under the new law the superintendent May accept exit or end of course exams required for graduation from the student's former state or nationally normed reference achievement test and L Virginia tests so we've added these requirements to our current graduation policy now next I'd like to highlight three policies that support best practices in the school division first are revisions that we are proposing to our current student and staff wellness policy followed by two new policies one that addresses student participation
051and commencement ceremonies and another on voter registration opportunities for our high school students we revised the student and staff wellness policy to better align it with Federal requirements for participating in National School lunch breakfast and summer feeding programs and with our current School Division best practices these include the designation of a wellness lead at each school and workplace to provide programs that promote healthy eating and physical activ activities for students and staff and providing guidance on school sponsored fundraisers nutrition awareness physical activities and environmentally friendly practices such as using locally grown foods and developing School Gardens and in complying with federal law the revised policy also requires the school division to evaluate the implementation of the wellness policy at least once every three years now next is a new policy that addresses participation and commencement
052ceremonies and we all look forward to recognizing the achievement of our high school students the policy states that participating in commencement is a separate process from graduating and that students who have completed all of their diploma requirements must then be deemed eligible to participate in their commencement ceremonies now under the eligibility process students who have set satisfactorily met the school division's requirements to earn a high school diploma but have been charged or found guilty of an offense under Virginia law requiring them to attend an alternative education program May participate in commencement only if the student is found not guilty and the charges are dismissed the student must also provide documentation of the dismissed charges to the school division at least two weeks prior to the date of the scheduled commencement exercise in order for the
053student to participate in the ceremony our next new policy addresses voting and the school board support of education programs that teach students the right of citizens to vote and the role and importance of voting in Civic engagement the policy allows for nonpartisan voter registration programs for our high school and adult education students and encourages the Newport News voter registar office to hold voter registration opportunities in our high schools on a regular basis the last three policies that I will review with you this evening are a part of our five year review of our 11 policy chapters and we're excited to be in the fourth year of our review which will begin with our chapter on General School ad Administration now many of the policies in this chapter were reviewed in 2020 so most of our
054revisions were to update and streamline the policy language for greater Clarity and to reflect current School Division best practices in the procedures the three policies taken from the general School administration policy chapter address the schools the superintendent's evaluation and two annual reports the school School Division state report which is a new policy that reflects a current practice and the school division's report to the community now the code of Virginia requires school boards to evaluate their division superintendent annually using the state's uniform performance standards and evaluation criteria so in keeping with this requirement we revised the school division's seven performance standards in the superintendent evaluation to reflect the eight performance objectives adopted by the state and you may recall that we updated the teacher and administrator performance standards during our review of the human resources policy
055chapter last year now our next policy regarding the School Division annal state report is new but it reflects a current requirement that the School Division has complied with over the past several years the report covers the work of the the division for the preceding year particularly in compliacet with the Virginia standards of quality and is submitted to the state superintendent of Public Instruction in the Department of Education this last policy was renamed from the annual report to the school division Community report this report covers the activities and accomplishments of the school division students staff and Community Partners over the year and it's submitted to the school board and submit it and disseminated to the public annually so in terms of our next steps the new and revised policies will come before the school board at
056your February 20th meeting and once approved the new and revised policies and procedures will be posted on our school division websites and disseminated to schools and public libraries so this concludes my report this evening I will be happy to answer your questions or to note your suggestions so thank you for the opportunity thank thank you comments or questions yes just to make a comment I'm um very thankful to the policy committee for taking on the student voter registration I think in terms of we've talked about this for a number of years uh and this supports students being citizen ready so very excited that we have I know we've informally had a voter registration but now it's good that we'll actually have a formal policy on uh encouraging students to uh for voter registration and becoming
057citizen ready great thank you thank you for your suggestion yeah and can I add um it's aligned with State codes based on what I could see uh also the state code allows for the opportunity to complete an application form during the course of the day so um perhaps we can even deepen uh the policy some more yeah thank you any further questions or comments thank you for keeping us aware great thank you very much we are at 3.03 attendance report 3.04 membership report 3.05 construction report board members you have received a copy of this report are there any questions hearing none we'll move on to item 5.06 comments by the superintendent Dr Mitchell thank you Madam chair the national archery in the schools regional tournament was held on January the 6th at achievable dream middle
058and high school and teams from richneck elementary Ella Fitzgerald middle and Menchville High earned first place in their divisions and are advancing to the state tournament in March so congratulations to our regional archery Champions it's important to note that more than 200 students from 10 of our schools participated in in this Regional Tournament so a really good showing on of our students as part of its ongoing Outreach our health and physical education department is hosting a webinar for parents and Guardians on the dangers of vaping this is tomorrow January 17th from 6: to 7 PM is co-presented by the American Heart Association and the webinar will address the dangers of vaping looks for and resources so please visit our website in order to register and then last week the EPA announced the Newport News Public
059Schools was awarded a clean bus clean School Bus Grant in the amount of $525,000 to purchase 15 more propane school buses so in in the past seven years Newport News public schools has been replacing diesel fuel buses with propane buses so propane not only reduces emissions which of course is better for our environment but it also saves our district thousands of dollars in fuels and maintenance cost each year Newport News Public Schools currently has 153 Pro propane buses and the additional 15 will then bring our total to 168 which is more than half of our total Fleet of 318 buses so a total of 67 applicants across the country will receive a share of the nearly 1 billion awarded towards the clean School Bus program grants competition and we are just really proud to be
060one of them and of course earlier today we've referenced the recognition in the recognition portion of our agenda this week is school principals appreciation week so I certainly want to take a moment to thank our School principals for their commitment to our students academic social development and overall success I've been a former principal I recognize how difficult that role is greatly appreciate the work that you are leading in your schools so thank you for your dedication and for families I'd like to remind you that on Thursday January the 25th it is a staff work day Friday January 26 is the professional development day so students do not report to school students will return on Monday January the 29th for the first day of our second semester so that concludes my comments this evening thank you
061thank you Dr Mitchell we'll move on to item six another opportunity to hear from the public are there any additional cards okay we are headed towards getting us out of here so we can get on our way safely home with the weather that we have outside um I am going to begin let's see with Aaron Lin this evening thank you our next superintendent student advisory meeting will be held tomorrow and the major topic will be school safety Mr mock Stewart the executive director of Crisis planning prevention environmental risk management will be attending to lead discussions I also want to wish my fellow students good luck on the semester exams thank you thank you Aaron Mr Brown all right well yes good luck on the exams as well I'll Echo that uh the went over in
062our work session tonight our budget so I'll say the same thing I say every January for the last 10 years every year that I've been on this board we have voted for a budget increase and this year will be no different uh on my part um and so excited about the budget I know that we have some we have some significant headwinds um that we face in terms of pulling our budget together but I know we'll we'll do it we always do uh we always do pull that together um excited about the capital conference uh the vsba capital conference um next week we'll be going up to I'll be going up to uh Richmond to talk to uh the general assembly and hopefully we will get some more support on school Construction in terms of
063that 1% sales tax and the uh uh um retention of cash Capital at the end of the year so um hoping to um Lobby well on some of those efforts and uh looking forward to that and as well uh look forward to before we see you next time the science fair all the scientists that's want to get into the some of the funnest parts of the year um so looking forward to the science fair and uh very much appreciate um the opportunity to shake your hands uh young scientists as you come across in that all City Science Fair so looking forward to that and we'll see you again in February great thank you uh Mr Harris do you have voice uh thank you madam thank you madam chair I don't have any comments at this
064time thank you thank you thank you so much for joining us miss Amon sure um I think some of my thunder has been stolen I was going to likewise remind everyone final are next week and for the parents that are listening finals are next week so make sure you get some sleep uh take care of yourself I know there are a lot of bugs going around so stay healthy get through finals welcome back from break thanks Miss alger um just want want to reiterate and say thank you to all the school principals um we've been out in uh buildings and seeing the hard work that's happening out there uh especially during this time where there are assessments happening uh and a lot of intervention so thank you all for your hard work great Dr Best
065pretty much Ms Alger just stole my thunder we have been out visiting schools again and again happy principal's Appreciation Week we've had opportunity opportunity to talk to some absolutely fantastic administrators who are very passionate about what they're doing very knowledgeable they've shared some things with us that we had not thought about or or that they thought you know were more important maybe than we gave value to and I just want them to know we really really appreciate um what they're doing and what they have to say great I'm going to since um Mr Hunter's not here I'm going to say great things are happening here in Newport News Public Schools wishing him a speedy recovery uh the last part is I'm just going to kind of lift up our our fearless leader here she has
066doing a great job um internally and externally recently invited by the governors to hear um his address only three schools in the state of Virginia uh superintendents were invited and and Newport News was represented at that table um and just the work that she is helping us undertake her and her very capable leadership team we really appreciate you guys focusing on I'm looking at Mr Wright back there in the back um just really appreciating all that you all are doing it means the world to us to stay focused on the thing that is a thing and that's our students so with that I adjourn this meeting [Music]