001[Music] good evening I would like to call to order the regular meeting of the Newport News school board for Tuesday December 12th 2023 on behalf of the members of the school board and Dr Mitchell I welcome each of you present this evening and those who are watching on TV and online a quorum is present to transact the business of the School Division we will be begin tonight's meeting with the invocation and pledge to the flag here to do our honors are two students from Hines Middle School Janelle Taylor and Derek Andress first we'll have Janelle come forward and deliver the invocation and you can come and tell us a little bit about yourself good evening school board members and Dr Mitchell thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here this evening my name
002is Janelle Taylor I am a seventh grader at Hans Middle School I ran track for the past two years my favorite subject is history because as a young lady I want to learn about my ancestors and what happened in the past I want to be a doctor that helps with tumors because I want to be able to heal people like the doctors he my mom now I would like to share a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson entitled meaning of success to earn the respect of intelligent people and to win the affection of children to appreciate the beauty and nature and all that surrounds us to seek out and nurture the best in others to give the gift of yourself to others without the slightest thought of return for it is in giving that we receive
003to have accomplished a task whether it be a lost soul healing a sex child writing a book or risking your life for a friend to have celebrated and laugh with great joy and enthusiasm and sung with exaltation to have hope even in times of Despair for as long as you have hope you have life to love and be loved to be understood and understand to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived this is meaning of success thank you very much next we'll have Derek Taylor uh I'm sorry Derek Andress come and lead us with the pledge but tell us first a little bit about yourself good evening school board members and drch thank you for allowing me to be here this evening my name is Derek Anders and I am
004in eighth grade at hind Middle School my favorite subjects are English and math because these are the two subjects that I excel in I was on a track year for I was on a track team for two years and I'm currently on the cheer team for the past two years and when I grow up I would like to be a real estate agent because it's similar to um entrepreneurship please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you seated thank you very [Applause] much well we want to thank the families for sharing Shing your students with us and giving us the honor to educate them
005in our school division um you make our our meetings focused on what we're about so thank you all for taking time to come and as for you right there we're going to have you come and do the pledge in a few years awesome so uh let's see family members I'll have you stand and if we have any of the school family members will like to welcome you [Applause] thanks again the next item on tonight's agenda is Schoolboard recognition so Dr Mitchell please join me at the podium good evening I have the pleasure of introducing this evening's Schoolboard recognitions ensuring that young people are financially literate is Paramount to prepare them for future financial success our next recognition showcases the school division's continued success in this area working in support of Education or wise is an
006educational organization dedicated to building financial literacy fostering business and social entrepreneurship and preparing students for college and the global workplace the organization's financial literacy program provides high school students with financial education and the opportunity to become certified financially literate by successfully passing the wise financial literacy certification test tonight we're recognizing nine Career and Technical education teachers who have been named named wise gold star teachers for 2223 they're so named because at least 93% of their students in at least one of their classes successfully pass the wise financial literacy test they're present this evening to join us please join us in congratulating from deby high school hope London Miss London [Applause] also from deby high school Lisa [Applause] mallister you's un able to join us from menchville high school Stephanie [Applause] galtney and Diane Cox from
007Warwick High School Reginal NE Mr [Applause] NE and also from war high school but unable to join us this evening Is Sheree fackin and Kimberly Grant so we want to congratulate them as [Applause] well from Woodside High School Tina [Applause] shorter and rounding out this dedicated group of Educators is Patricia Newman Ricks um who led our summer school program and also serves as a teacher at Denby High [Applause] School and most of these these ladies and gentlemen might seem familiar to you because they're um multi-year winners so we have to say congratulations for your continued success we know you work every hard work very hard every day with our students and we appreciate you making sure that they are certified financially literate our Virginia standards of learning for economics and personal finance require instruction in
008economic Concepts economic reasoning decision-making and problem solving high school students have to meet a state requirement um to complete a one credit economics and personal finance course prior to graduation with the help of these dedicated Educators students are not only satisfying a graduation requirement they're earning State and National certification so again congratulations to you and your students on this notable achievement one more round of applause [Applause] please okay take a picture [Applause] while they make their way back to their seats I want to acknowledge um the family members and uh School family members that may be present um if they have any family members would you please stand and I'd also like to acknowledge thank you thank you for thank you for coming um and I'd also like to acknowledge the school administrators uh Dr
009struther from deby um I know we have some from menil L Lisa eoff from Menville Dr Kelly Mason from Warick Dr Mary Hardesty from Woodside High School um our division-wide um Career and Technical education supervisor tonet Outland um and also Christy Hopkins and rata Bradshaw our CTE instructional specialist would you all please stand thank you thank you and again congratulations uh at this time we're going to take a short break so that honores and their guests may leave if they choose to do so you're always welcome to stay for the remainder of the board meeting um at this time our viewing audience will have opportunity to do this month's Schoolboard Spotlight so we'll stand in recess for about seven minutes thank you do we play music [Music] Student Success is built on a strong Foundation
010of literacy when children cannot read they can't learn making reading at an early age not only a goal but a civil right for all students in November a lunch and literacy discussion was co-hosted by E3 Elevate Early Education the City of Newport News Newport News public schools and Newport News Public Library at an achievable dream middle and high school an audience of elected officials school and city leaders Educators and invested community members heard from a panel that included nnps superintendent Dr Michelle Mitchell and Greenwood Elementary principal Ethel Francis along with Virginia superintendent of Public Instruction Dr Lisa Coons and director of the Newport News Public Library Anita Jennings the discussion was moderated by Newport News Mayor Philip Jones and included segments of the documentary the right to read the panel discussed the new Virginia literacy
011act a bipartisan effort to improve early literacy outcomes for all Virginia students in kindergarten through third grade they shared how nnps already uses state approved reading programs data to track individual student progress and advanced teacher training to consistently improve reading scores the panel also focused on reading as a community effort with Newport News Public Library giving every student a library card to utilize additional resources and by partnering with parents to reduce chronic School absenteeism improve communication and provide reading resources for families Newport News Public Schools is embracing a multifaceted approach to equip every young student with the tools necessary for success in school and in life for General Stanford Elementary located on Fort Eustace Veterans Day is a week-long celebration the PTA worked with Educators to decorate the hallways with patriotic displays and colorful student
012artwork third through fifth grade students involved in Blossom and Rise mentoring groups decorated paper leaves with kind words of appreciation for our veterans these leaves helped decorate a freedom tree to honor all who served fourth and fifth grade students and anchored for Life a peer-to-peer Club to support military connected youth created handdrawn cards the original cards were copied and duplicated so every preschool student at General Stanford could color the cards before melee in them to deployed service members near the end of the week fourth and fifth grades combined their musical talents to present a tribute to Veterans before the spirited performance principal Jennifer Harish who grew up in a military family introduced the guest speaker Newport News Mayor Philip Jones Jones has a strong connection to the military both his parents served in the Air
013Force Jones served in the Marine Corps and is currently in the Marine Corps Reserve he thanked the veterans and families for their service and sacrifice music teacher Morgan Cassidy then LED his talented students in a series of patriotic songs to thank the many veterans in attendance for their dedicated service the military's trok rock band also performed creating an evening of Celebration and thanks Coast Guard Admiral turned CNU Captain visited Riverside Elementary during one of his CNU Community walks Christopher Newport University's new president William Kelly is getting to know the neighborhoods and communities that surround the university through regular organized walks on his way to Riverside Elementary the retired rear Admiral was joined by CNU students faculty and staff along with nnps Educators city and state leaders law enforcement and other community members the spirited procession
014was greeted by Riverside's own boomman Bears drum line after The Talented student performance Riverside principal Tim Edwards thanked the community leaders for their visit President Kelly gifted the school with a cart full of sidewalk chalk to inspire creativity just as the school inspires the future generation of citizens and leaders for the second year Sedgefield Elementary partnered with St Andrew's Episcopal Church to feed students and families organized by professional school counselor Aima Muhammad this year's efforts doubled Expectations by serving almost 200 meals for over a month St Andrews collected frozen turkeys and food donations these were combined with fresh and canned foods donated to Greenwood through other Community Partners students in the SCA school staff and church volunteers spent a Friday evening organizing the Bountiful donations into boxes on the Saturday morning before Thanksgiving families were
015invited to drive through and pick up a box for a complete Thanksgiving meal School staff church members and college mentors from Hampton University all worked together to bless each family additionally 40 meals were delivered to families at their homes for a total of 190 meals served this Thanksgiving season the Virginia school boards Association recognizes November as take your legislator to school month this is designed to develop closer relationships between Public Schools local communities and our elected officials while encouraging further discussions about working together to meet funding needs for the success of all students so Newport News Public Schools invited state legislators their AIDS local leaders and members of the Newport News Education Foundation to walk's Early Childhood Center to see firsthand the wonderful options available to our youngest students in preschool superintendent Dr Michelle Mitchell
016welcomed the invited guests to Watkins which is not only one of four preschool sites in Newport News but also home to the Dual language immersion program where students spend their day learning in English and in Spanish elected officials and Community leaders visited multiple classrooms to see these unique learning opportunities in action as students completed their morning routines in two l languages and then rotated through Learning Centers legislators were welcome to talk with the students and receive unfiltered feedback from the four-year-old Scholars about the joys of learning at Watkins by inviting influential leaders into our schools Newport News Public Schools hopes to strengthen lines of communication with lawmakers to ultimately provide the best possible education for every student [Music] thank you I hope that you enjoyed watching our Spotlight for this evening I am going to
017move up our Personnel uh actions to 1.5 on our agenda so do we have a motion to present um the Personnel actions for the evening yes we do um Madam chair I move to approve the recommendation of the superintendent for Michelle Gunter for administrative assistant at Stony Run Elementary School okay second and do we have any conversation right please call the role for Al am four best four Brown four Harris s La four motion Carri 70 great thank you so much and Dr Mitchell please introduce us thank you very much I would like to introduce Miss Michelle Gunter as the new administrative assistant at Stony Run Elementary School and please stand Miss Gunter has Miss Gunter has a master of education degree in educ educational leadership with a concentration that spans multiple grade levels from
018prek to 12th grade from Regent University she currently works as an assistant principal at Southampton Elementary School with Richmond City Schools she also has been an assistant principal with Franklin City Schools she has been a teacher in nuk Delaware Northampton County and more importantly she has previously worked as a fourth and fifth grade Lead Teacher right here in Newport News as well as a pre kindergarten Lead Teacher welcome back to Newport News we're excited that you came back home thank you so excited to be back at newp news Where I Belong I'm never leaving again and if you have any family or friends that you'd like to acknowledge please do so at this time I have my husband here Vernon I have my past colleagues Dr Stafford and miss tulou and my daughter Alissa thank
019you so much and welcome back [Applause] home Madam chair I also would like to take the opportunity to recognize two people that were approved last month but were unable to attend I'd like to recognize Miss Lisa Evans director of School counseling and Miss Angela ciders executive director of elementary schools as I said they were both appointed last uh at the last board meeting so um thank you again for coming tonight we're excited Miss Ciders that you are also back home in Newport News and Miss Evans we're excited that you are joining us so welcome to the Newport News family yes welcome we're glad to have you with us and do either of you have anyone with you tonight that you would like to recognize oh her new team kids are taking their exams so they
020rather be here than doing that but that's their semester and my husband's under the weather a little bit but yes it's good to be back in Newport News I'm a product of Newport News public school so I'm glad to be back home wonderful okay thank you Miss Evans thank you so during our regular meetings we provide time for the public to address the school board these opportunities are scheduled in the early part of our agenda and towards the end of the meeting as advertised citizens May submit comments via email up to 30 minutes prior to our meeting time to be included in the official meeting record for those of you joining us in person the board considers this an opportunity to listen to your comments please understand that we will consider your concerns we ask
021that you comply with our 3 minute time limit as you begin your comments a green light will come on a yellow light signals that you have 30 seconds remaining and a red light and beep indicates your time is up so in a moment as your name is called please come forward I will take a very quick pause if if our awardees would like to our new our new hires would like to go and celebrate this evening you're welcome welcome to head out okay I'm going to call in threes I don't have quite that many cards but it seems to work and that way we know how we are prepared to come up I have Reverend Natalie uh Chamberlain I have Caitlyn O'Brien and Vivian Reynolds good evening to school board and uh Dr Mitchell I'm
022Reverend 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'm here to speak as Pastor one whose call is to care for those of my community my job description Probably sounds familiar if I'm not mistaken the description describes your jobs as well I'm here to ask two things of you first remember we do not live in a theocracy there should be a separation of church and state one congregation no matter how large or influential should have the right or ability to sway policy based on theology second I ask that you do what you've been elected to do and actually support the Educators and protect the students in your care I've seen a lot of playing
023word games is it a policy or a procedure is the change substantive at this point who cares if it's a policy or procedure the current set of guidelines is effectively the opposite of what was in place I'd say that was a substantive change they no longer protect anyone but they protect parents rights and the board's legal interests I find it incredibly offensive to have a diverse group of citizens including the two groups most affected by this policy trans students and Educators in Newport News schools dismissed as irrelevant the current policy procedure guidelines or whatever you call them do not protect trans students plain and simple following the governor's guidelines does not protect you from moral and legal culpability if and when a trans student is injured or dies history has taught us that you're responsible
024for doing the right thing even when you have been ordered to do otherwise oh God I pray that no trans student is injured or dies before you do the right thing with this policy Kaitlyn O'Brien hello uh my name is Caitlyn O'Brien and here in Newport News many years uh I'm reading remarks on behalf of another Resident of Newport News formerly of Gloucester County his remarks read my name is Gavin Grimm former ACLU plaintiff and Victor and Gavin gah versus gler County School Board the outcome of which cost the gloucester County School Board $1.3 million in fees to the ACLU the decision in this case was made in fourth Circuit Court of Appeals after the Supreme Court declined to comment it Remains the law in Virginia that discrimination against transgender students uh uh is unlawful
025there are no arguments not based in theology for which we have a separation between church and state in our nation it is bigotry and lies for example you'll very commonly hear anti-trans hate mongers suggest that allowing trans youth the same access to school spaces that their peers enjoy will lead to a to a rash of crime where men will go into the women's restroom to commit assault that argument is not supported by any available data or evidence after years of America and other countries have having trans affirming policies in place uh in you know in their locations it is also not supported by Common Sense as potential bathroom assailants are not waiting around for loopholes and crimes in the bathrooms are still crimes regardless of the purported justification indeed if the school board's strongest argument
026is that they could not adequately protect the children with this policy then they are either knowingly lying for a lazy excuse or openly admitting to incompetence the bodies of our children are the business of families and doctors not school policies all available evidence clearly supporting Transit confirming policies as the best educational outcome for all students with no correlating rise and risk to other any other population we can't make policy because we don't like or understand people and we cannot make policies that single out individuals for their personal medical information regardless this is a settled matter in the fourth Circuit Court it took six years to litigate my case it was expensive and time consuming for the school board if you choose a policy that is blatantly in opposition to established Fourth circuit precedent you are
027choosing to open yourself up to long and expensive litigation that will not go in your favor before a court that has already had this question asked and answered your choice is already had H your choice um is to torment an at risk minority group of students with physical and social exclusion or to adopt a policy in accordance with the affirming model policies suggested across the fourth circuit and other states in this country all of this hate and vit okay thank you very much Vivian Reynolds evening school board members and Dr Mitchell my name is Vivian Reynolds I grew up in the city of newport news I went to Hilton school to Riverside School to warwick junior high school and a graduate of Warwick high school and I'm a retired teacher with over three decades of
028teaching and I'm very concerned I've emailed all of you twice I've been out of town and have not been able to be here but I'm very concerned about the diversity that exists in the country in which we live we're not all alike we don't all have the same religious Faith but we've got to be respectful and we've got to be kind especially to Children I've watched over my years of teaching you can see a child being bullied but a child with this kind of a situation it's not his or her fault it's the way God created this person and I think that we make a grave mistake when we don't show love and kindness and respect that we have vitriol and we have people causing many of these children to commit suicide they're alone and
029they're sad sometimes their families accept them and sometimes they don't coming to school was a joy for me as a child as a teacher it was a joy if you can only imagine the pain and suffering some of these children go through so I appeal to you to think about this uh I've read what has gone on and I've read what this the policy is now but I would really plead and beg with you to think of the hearts of children especially at this time of the year thank Youk [Applause] you so the next three are Mary Voss Dr Ronald C or his the name of that's Lee Dr Ronald Lee and Reverend Michael D Bernett Mary Voss uh hello good evening to the board um and to Dr Mitchell um I am reading a
030statement on behalf of the nnea the Newport News Education Association the nnea calls on the Newport News school board to rescind its unnecessary implementation of Governor youngkin's discriminatory model guidance that targets trans and non-binary students trans and lgbtq plus youth are at significantly greater risk of homelessness and suicide than their peers due to discrimination and lack of acceptance these students already V vulnerable situation is worsened when their preferred pronouns are not respected at school and when School Employees are required to out them to unsupportive family members Youngkin's guidance cruelly calls for both these policies also undermine the relationship between the relationships between teachers and staff and their students um the nnps school board and administrative team have consistently emphasized the importance of building relationships with students yet requiring teachers and staff to out their students
031will adversely affect these relationships schools should be a safe haven where all students can feel comfortable confiding in trusted adults the following Virginia school districts have publicly announced that they will ignore yunin model guidance because it does not comply with federal and state non-discrimination laws Richmond schools Fairfax Prince William Arlington Alexandria and Fs Church none of these school systems have faced lawsuits from youngkin or from Virginia attorney General Jason Miyares for this Choice the following school systems also have not implemented Youngkin's anti-trans model policies without publicly announcing that they are ignoring it Hampton schools Portsmouth schools Chesterfield henrico and Lauden none of these school systems have faced lawsuits from Youngkin or miyares either this is not an exhaustive list just what um we could find through research there's probably uh other school districts who are
032also ignoring the guidance it is perplexing why nnps is implementing yonan's discriminatory guidance when other large urban districts across the state are publicly rejecting the guidance for being discriminatory or simply ignoring it nearby Hampton City Public Schools is quite similar to Newport News public schools in demographic size and location 13 News Now reports that in Hampton schools quote teachers are not required to share a student's gender ident identity with parents if the student is worried about their safety at home the student will then be set up with a support plan the School Division and staff will follow whatever gender and pronouns the students prefer in contrast to the yunan administration's empty threats established case law and Grim versus gler County School Board shows that breaking federal and state non-discrimination law can make school boards vulnerable
033to costly lawsuits um in a case that reached the Supreme Court in 2021 Gloucester County had to pay 1.3 million in attorney's fees and court costs for discrimination against transgender student Gavin Grimm um Brianna Diaz of the Virginia ACLU noted in a press release we are horrified that voe opted to move forward um with proposed model policies that at best invite and at worst require discrimination she cites virginity code 22.1 23.3 a that calls for evidence-based practices and in compliance with applicable discrimination laws these new policies fail both standards please resend them thank thank you for your time thank you Dr Lee I have a great dear respectful all of you guys individually hello again I'm Dr Ronald Lee and today I want to talk about data driven decision making anyone know what packing is
034packing is an unethical approach to data analysis by reanalyzing data over and over again to find statistical significance every person who has a doctoral degree knows what packing is packing is an advanced concept even a basic understanding of statistical analysis however is often lost to well meaning people and policy makers some people believe that if they can have 100 people make the same weak claim or show the same weak evidence that somehow evidence becomes stronger in reality a lot of crap data just makes a bigger pile of crap data some people conflate normative subjective and objective truth normative truth is what a group agrees to be true subjective truth is what you think is true for your world view objective truth is reality and can be tested and reproduced finding objective truth in the world
035is complicated we didn't know what sources to look at how data was collected and analyzed and what the scientific consensus of overlapping fields of study are therefore some organizations hire policy makers with doctoral degrees to help them make the right decision in a world of noise littered with motivated reasoning misinformation and disinformation if factual data is less important for an organization they can hire someone with a lot of experience maybe even somebody that dabbles in politics a little bit however here is an example of evidence-based recommendation which is supported by the objective truth which emerged from the scientific consensus of overlapping Fields the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends doctors screen transgender Adolescence in the following way given the high risk for abuse by parents and other adults providers should pay particular attention to parent adolescent
036relationships when treating transgender adolescents because some families are rejecting if their child's gender identity. providers should assess gender identity privately without parents if possible this approach will limit the chances that interactions with providers could increase family Discord related gender identity which has a potential exacerbate childhood abuse amongst transgender adolescents what drives Newport News policies is it politics or a normative truth it definitely isn't the objective truth you hired a superintendent with an ed to utilize their skills or to make your organization look more capable and professional while Simply Having this person alter policies to avoid a public vote Dr Mitchell is capable of data driven decision- making obviously this did not happen or you ignored the objective data to benefit your politics your religion or your re electability at the detriment of marginalized minorities you
037have been informed that your policies create harm not acting on this information is unethical and shows the moral deficit of the board regarding the safety of children which continues to contribute to the erosion of human rights in individually I respect you guys as a board those are my words okay Reverend Bernett and then after that we have as Ash chagan and Mark bear m chair Madam Vice chair Madam superintendent thank you again for this opportunity I am Michael Bernett local Pastor there's a bit of rhetoric I've heard getting kicked around this chamber over the last few months fortunately not much tonight but it's really been eating at me and I can't not address it at this point I've heard this phrase God created male and female nothing besides nothing between that of course comes from
038the first chapter of Genesis in fact some of the first lines of the Hebrew Bible and it is is ostensibly a faithful argument it says right there God created male and female nothing else but if we're going to use Genesis 1 to create policy decisions and when we read about God dividing the creatures of the sea the creatures of the land and the birds of the air hearing nothing about anything in between or besides what are we to make of flightless birds or amphibians when we hear about God dividing the darkness from the light the day and the night nothing besides nothing between are we to deny the beauty of a sunset or a sunrise are we as a city to stop scheduling things for dusk or Dawn because nothing besides nothing between right when
039we hear about God dividing the waters in the dry land are we to ignore our Wetlands our estuaries are our marshes of course not this is sort of a tongue and- cheek conversation but it points to some real truth and that truth is that not everything can be sorted into strict binaries in fact the Revelation I would argue in the Bible the revelation of creation itself is that nature and God do not work in binaries and that Humanity just like the remainder of creation is best viewed as a kaleidoscopic rainbow not as a clearcut black and white but these are theological and philosophical conversations what matters to us here today the most immediate lesson is that maybe just maybe applying the scientific and cultural binaries of Millennia ago isn't as useful as we would like
040to comfort ourselves that it is maybe the most useful thing the most sensible thing dare I say the most moral and the most faithful thing we can do is to make policy decisions based on datadriven evidence and the voices of those most directly impacted by them there's one more big preacher word I have for you tonight and that word is repentance it's a big scary churchy word but it comes from a Greek word that just means to change your mind to repent is to see something from A New Perspective to realize you might have been wrong and to think about it differently moving forward it's a course correction and if I've learned one thing from my Journey of Faith is it's never too late to repent so many of us here tonight are here to
041call this board to repentance and that's not to make a judgment it's just to say it's not too late to undo the ongoing harm that is being done it's not too late to change your mind I implore you as a pastor a parent and a human being to rescind the recent modifications to jbp thank you thank you Ash Chon Madam chair members of the board thank you I know I'm not dressed as formally as I was when I spoke last month I came into town today took a special trip from Newport News away from my family during the holidays to speak speak on this issue that's how important it is to me I come to you tonight in opposition to Governor Youngkin's model policies on transgender students last month when I addressed you I asked
042you to have empathy and compassion today I'm asking you to have courage it has been one month since Governor Youngkin's policies were introduced in Newport News schools one month of pain and suffering for young trans students in your care I don't know how many of your students have been dealt irreversible trauma in the last month or how many have been outed to abusive families against their will but I don't need to one is too many and I can guarantee that there has been at least one that's why I'm here today to ask you to do the courageous thing and stand up for the students that are marginalized and hurt by this policy it's deplorable that I even have to be here to ask this of you but here I am here we are I wish
043I could stand before you today and commend Dr Mitchell on the excellent work she's doing for our stem programs or to talk about bus transport in Newport News and how to make it more effective and better connected between our schools but I can't as instead I have to talk about the policies that are hurting some of the most vulnerable people in our community the bitter truth is that no matter how much good work you do if you are enabling a policy that condemns some of your students to trauma abuse and even suicide you are not doing your jobs you are failing in your duty of care and you are betraying us we put our trust in you as a community to take care of our children and you are betraying that trust I ask you
044to have the courage to end this you have the power to do that tonight if you so choose and failing that I ask you have the courage to say that you won't to put your support out in the open and go on record saying that you want this to continue I'm ashamed that my elected representatives will sit behind a veil of Silence instead of taking a stand or taking accountability and I'll be forced to assume that until you hold a vote on this matter every single one of the members in this chamber is in support and I'll remember that and hundreds of vot voters like me will remember that and we will not forgive you for your negligence thank you for your [Applause] time last is Mark bear sorry to wait I'm dressed but I
045work later hours because I put my child in out of public school into private school um just want to let yall know that uh I don't know about all the other stuff but what I know goes on in school is you can pull up passage fights and look up there's 15.5 million viewers um on Tik Tok on Instagram everything else there's why these kids have phones in school and allowed to have them out they're elementary school kids middle school kids they don't need need phones in school they don't need to have them out and I don't need to have my daughter going to a guidance counselor asking to transfer to another class and everything you tell me is secret no you don't tell my daughter that's not a professional word to tell my daughter I
046I I I don't take that very lightly and um you know my son at BC Charles got just got a assaulted and in the bathroom guess what they told me the kids going to be in school suspension because we know his we know his home life I don't care about his home life I'm sorry you know I grew up in rough my mom raised four kids by herself I grew up and did what I had to do I took my my my responsibilities I did what I needed to do but when we sign that conduct thing doesn't say we're going to put your home life in no everybody should get the same treatment you know if you do something wrong you should all be you know same treatment across the board and you know my
047daughter she's thriving at p uh private school now but I shouldn't have had to take her out I I'm like them the people to left they they're glad to be back with Newport News Public Schools I product of Newport public schools and I had great years here but this is ridiculous these kids they you're your metal detectors I walked in through with this my keys you know it doesn't detect it and it can I I I challenge the the you your security people I challenge them to give me a every time they check check those they're supposed to be checked at least before every event or once a week for what you're looking for I guarantee yall don't have a a a piece of paper stating that you check them I guarantee you um I
048challenge them and I'll come back and eat my words if they can show me a piece of paper they check every week in school that those open gate metal detectors okay thank you thank you [Applause] do we have any additional cards no mayam so thank you for your comments and thoughts this evening we will now move on to section three the consent agenda which includes 3.01 minutes from the regular meeting November 14 2023 3.02 minutes from the work session November 14 2023 3.03 minutes from the special meeting November 14th 2023 we also have 3.04 Financial reports including the revenue report for November 2023 the expense report for November 2023 as well as the Child Nutrition reports for November 3.05 Personnel report 3.06 budget transfer at this time can we have a motion to approve the
049consent agenda Madam chair I move to approve the consent agenda as presented do I have a second second thank you Mr Hunter any discussion please call the rooll hunter for aler aan four best brown Harris s law motion carry 70 thank thank you the next item on our agenda is 4.01 okay 4.02 we moved 4.01 um TW 2024 legislative priorities may I have a motion to approve the 2024 legislative priorities Madam chair I move that we approve the 2024 legislative priorities as presented do I have a second thank you any discussion please call the rooll hunter aler aan four best four Brown four Harris s's law motion carries 70 thank you we will now move on to section five reports and information we have 5.01 take your legislator to school presentation Dr Mitchell thank you
050very much as you stated we have several presentations tonight and we are going to begin with Mr Pat feran he's going to come and share with you a little bit about take your legislator to school thank you Mr feneran thank you and good morning chairman of law sh best uh members of the school board Dr Mitchell and all those watching at home and here uh it's a pleasure to be here to talk about this particular subject uh take your LS later to school day is something that the School Division has done for a number of years now as a way to um invite our legislators and other elected officials city council members uh and some business folks into the school and see what we're doing in in different ways so it was a great uh
051day this this year at um Watkins Early Childhood Center and just had a chance to show at this particular School legislators um how our students begin that that really strong foundation for learning at at the earliest years uh let's see if so so uh as you can see from these examples we have a nice welcome and greeting from our superintendent and um and our Schoolboard chairman as everybody came in along with other board members but I think the biggest uh the biggest hit was the nice welcome presentation that the students made to everybody I think they were um the really the hit of the day so they were so cute yeah they were very very very cute it's hard to argue with that um and I think oh I wanted to mention though that we
052did um have our instructional supervisors anamarie hanran and suzan Susanna Bailey who are not pictured here they're pictured elsewhere uh provided some really good context for the visit they provided an overview of the preschool nmps preschool program and the dual immersion dual language emerging program and I just want to tell you a little bit about both of those programs as provided to me as they provided to me um the preschool program is a free full day program available to four-year-olds in in Newport News there's 41 classrooms spread across the city in uh four different schools that's at Watkins Denby East E Marshall EC EC and also at General Stanford Elementary um this school year the program has 820 preschool students and if you're interested if there's anybody watching right now would like to learn more
053about it or enroll their student we' love to have your your application and that process will begin in late February of this year so stay tuned to this channel um or the the website for for information now the nnps um offers the preschool dual language immersion program which is just what it says it's it's taught in two languages um at deny ECC for the preschool part of it um in that program students learn in each language for 50% of the day um and 50% of the students are native Spanish speakers and 50% are native English speakers and in doing this way these students can actually be teachers themselves throughout the day so the students can help each other with with the languages that they're most fluent in uh n news uh currently offers this uh
054dual language emersion program not only in prek but all through 9th grade and at Watkins of course Demi Early Childhood Center Saunders Elementary School Katherine Johnson Elementary School Gilder SLE middle school and menal high school and it's a great way for our students to become bilingual um during their school years uh so shown on this uh slide are some of our dignitaries uh elected officials just engaging with the students they were actually able to talk with them learn learn about what they're doing students were very responsive and and gave some really good answers just showing that they know what's going on with their day um here we see um delegates Shelly Simons councilwoman Tina Vic school board members Dr Cherry best and Douglas Brown uh education found our education found Foundation director Myro leg was
055able to be there and representatives from delegate Mara Marcia prices excuse me uh and Congressman Bobby Scott's office were also there to participate in the activities um in addition to showcasing these great programs it also gave our legislators and City Council Members a chance to see where their Investments begin in our school system and see to see the faces of the children who will benefit um from their support over the next 12 13 years and it also gave us a chance to show how these students as they move through their education will need modern classrooms and libraries up-to-date technology great teachers supportive staff and a safe and secure learning environment and that's where we got into some of the um legislative priorities and we talked bit a bit about those in in this context um
056students made some great handmade signs to present to all of our our folks um and it was really a nice way for them to interact with u some of our our leaders um in in the community and actually got to talk to them and uh so what I'd like to do now is we have a quick one about one and a half minute video from uh wvec which is one of our uh great Media Partners and they came out and did a story on this so let's T take a quick look case for several four-year-olds at Watkins Early Childhood Center in Newport News Local Representatives stopped by to bring attention to an issue impacting Educators and parents new at 6 Emily Harrison gives us a look We Are Stars yes indeed St Watkins EC it's
057all smiles for the students at Watkins Early Childhood Center four-year-olds welcomed local and state legislators into their classrooms showing off not only their skills and friends but their bilingual abilities switching between English and Spanish we really wanted them to see up close and personal what we do with our earliest Learners so that they have a vision of what we do so they can advocate for us a recent report by The Joint legislative audit and review commission found the majority of Virginia parents cannot afford child care it's why teachers say programs like this are so important giving relief to parents and structure for young children essentially they're teaching each other and they're learning from each other it's just it it's so inspiring to see Virginia State Delegate shelle Simon joined Newport News City Council and school
058board members meeting some of the city's youngest students in the program she says she has a few ideas she would like to bring back to Richmond we've got 82 students we need to expand that students gave legislators handwritten cards thanking them for coming Emily Harrison 13 news now the first students to go through the bilingual program at Watkins Early Childhood Center are now in the ninth grade and they're set to graduate in so so we thank um WBC coming out and spending the the uh the morning with us and and broadcasting this on their show if you have any questions or comments that I can answer at this time I'd be happy to but thank you for allowing me this time to make the presentation any questions board members on behalf of the board I
059Just Want to Thank You Mr feneran for organizing it and using the team to put help put us our best foot forward for this event thank you so so much thank you very [Applause] much okay uh next we'll move on to 5.02 FY 2425 new course proposal believe we have a presentation Dr Mitchell that is correct we have Dr Joanne Jones executive director for secondary teaching and learning she is going to share with you two new course proposals and one revision thank you Dr Jones good evening chair Sor law Vice chair Dr Beth Schoolboard members and Dr Mitchell this evening I will share two course proposals and one revision for your review and approval for the 2425 school year for the 2425 school year we have two course proposals the first one is international languages
060cultures and and relations proposed by Susanna Bailey intern the instructional supervisor of world languages the second new course proposal is Introduction to Social Work proposed by Linda asq supervisor of student support and mental health care services we have one new course one course revision music technology proposed by Katie Shen Smith instructional supervisor of Visual and Performing Arts and International languages cultures and relations is an interdisciplinary course that focuses on multiple languages government art and history in regions across the world in this course students will develop an understanding of the role of language and culture and international relations students will also enhance communication and cultural competence across languages languages and cultures they will also develop a global understanding of the forms of government currency and policy development all resources materials including an international teacher will be
061funded by the Department of Defense Grant this grant also supports our military connected schools at Dei Menville and Woodside High Schools the second new course proposal is Introduction to social work this course will Foster an interest in the field of Social Work introduce students to the history of Social Work and increase knowledge of human the human mind and behaviors the purpose of providing this course is to increase the pipeline of students pursuing the field of Social Work and mental health services and school settings this course is recommended for students in grades 11 and 12 um and we are exploring opportunities for dual enrollment opportunities in grade 12 it is a year-long course and the prerequisites are introduction to psychology or sociology resources materials and teachers for introduction to social work will be funded by the
062department of education grant in addition the grant will pay for tuition reimbursement for Newport News public school students interested in earning a bachelor's degree in social work the introduction to Social Work course is very similar to our teachers for tomorrow program which encourages students to take courses in high school earn bachelor's degrees or master's degrees and then return to Newport News public schools to work in our schools this course will be offered at all high schools we have one course revision music technology this course is currently offered at Woodside High School as a general elective non-magnet specific course the current curriculum focuses on basic Sound Engineering audio interface technology and beginning level techniques of sound support it is offered in grades 9 through 12 it is a year-long course and it does not have any
063prerequisites the new revision will expand the curriculum using digital audio workstation mixed music musical instruments and digital interfaces using software for marketing and production the revision is to have this course offered at all high schools in grades 9 through 12 and as a semester and a year-long course in summary tonight's presentation includes the proposal of two new courses International languages cultures and relations and introduction to Social Work One course revision music technology do you have any questions yes Mr Brown uh congratulations on the grants um that will fund the international relations course and the social work course that being said uh because they're Grant funded what is the long-term intentions once the grants run out what's the long-term intentions for the courses well we will have an opportunity to reapply for the grants and if
064the students are showing great interest in the course then we would of course want to embed it in our current um budget and what kinds of connections uh do we have for the students who are going to do these three courses clubs or activities that they can engage in to connect to these three courses to be feeders for the courses I'll take that one Dr Jones so we do have a plan of having clubs after school that are based on the content and I do know that the um current social workers at Nori state are willing to do an after school Social Work Club to actually get the students involved in the community um involved in elementary schools and you know working in community agencies or volunteering so there is um a mindset that we
065have of we will in fact have um clubs clubs and activities after school based on these courses and for the international languages and cultures we actually um have family activities that we actually engage the families in currently now with our dual immersion program and with this opportunity we will engage families even more the last question is just about the the college support students will be able to apply um for this college support while they're in high school or they'll how how is this awarded to to know that they're going to get this reimbursement for the for puring a degree in social work we currently have anou with two universities and so we already have that partnership with them for students who are interested in pursuing degrees in social work and those particular students will have
066the first opportunity when people apply if they had already been in the coursework here in Newport News then that kind of gives them extra credit if you will or extra points to be able to be accepted into those two universities okay thank you I uh let's see Dr West oh okay mine is regarding the music technology course I'm kind of excited about that one um the revisions for that um I think I shared with you and Dr Mitchell I went to a Broadway play and as I was leaving I observed the young lady in the back and she was working with computers and the keyboard and she was just telling me all the amazing things and I said oh this is a good profession so I'm excited that our students are going to be exposed
067to that because it was something I had never actually thought about so I I think that's really really good great thank you samon yes I just have one question we kind of touched on this a bit I think in our earlier conversations um some may be familiar with sort of your traditional international relations class that some students take in high school so could you could you sort of give a explain sort of how this might differ from sort of your classic international relations class well because it will actually be an international teacher teaching the course it will provide them with um exposure to multiple languages and cultures and actually being able to consider careers in international relations other questions or comments by the board um one thing I I would just piggy back on this
068because we have the five years it might be interesting a few years in to the program to sort of compare the different classes and see if there are things we might want to pull into our traditional class that we've learned from this and vice versa to you know strengthen both of them yeah oh one one more question M chair which is just around this these electives versus other electives what electives are these electives competing against in terms of students that we're going to lose from other electives just a in a broad sense well one of the things that we're doing with um all of them actually well two of of them is that they'll be offered as semester courses which allows students to pair it up with another class sometimes students will take something in
069one semester and they have um difficulty finding a course to pair it with so it will actually give students more flexibility to offer um two of these courses as semester courses further questions okay Dr Mitchell is requesting that this course proposal be moved to a vote um on the agenda as an action item this evening so um I think the first vote we need to take is are we willing to entertain that that vote so Madam clerk would you please call the I guess we have to have a motion for that yep so Madam chair I move move the FY there we go 2425 new course proposal to an action item okay and do I have a second a second thank you Mr Brown any further discussion on moving it okay please call the role
070Hunter four aler four a four four Brown four Harris four Sall four motion carries 7 Z thank you great we needed a unanimous vote to be able to move it to an action item so that's half of the battle the next is we actually need to take a vote um on the now agenda item so Madam tier I move to approve the FY 2425 new course proposal as presented okay do I have a second second thank you any discussion Madam clerk please call the role Hunter aler amen four best for brown four Carris s La four motion carry 70 thank you thank you very much you're very welcome we will move to 5.03 Youth Development update I think we have a presentation on that we do we have coming to us right now miss Bridget
071Adams director of Youth and Family engagement and I think that um we will all find this very um stimulating and exciting and I think it will speak to Mr Brown's question about clubs and activities um it will speak to the power of clubs and activities so I'm kind of happy that he asked that question because our students being engaged engaged in um after school activities pays great dividends for our students so miss Adams thank you so much thank you good evening chairperson s law Vice chair Dr best members of the board and Dr Mitchell uh in the past our update has always been about Youth Development programming but today I want to celebrate the evolution of Youth Development in Newport News public schools and demonstrate how yd supports the division's Strategic goals and positive outcomes
072for our Newport News public school students tonight I'll review the yd the youth development mission and vision and outline the youth development infrastructure that distinguishes us from other school divisions in the state I'll share just a few examples of innovative programming and how Youth Development strategic Partnerships are increasing the number of experiential learning opportunities for Newport News public school students one of the most important facets of positive Youth Development is intentionality which is reflected in our mission and vision statements the definition of positive Youth Development is embodied in our mission which is to promote positive experiences relationships and environments for every Newport News public school student staff member and family this aligns with our vision which is that every Newport News public school student feel seen heard valued loved and affirmed for 16 years Newport
073News public schools has created space in its educational and organizational strategy for positive Youth Development velopment in 2007 the primary focus was on clubs and activities and how they could support asset development in youth as opposed to focusing on deficits like negative behaviors during the 2012 13 school year the division established a Youth Development lead position a dedicated staff member in each school to coordinate positive Youth Development efforts in grades K through 12 yet for several years the division did not have a Common Language around what positive Youth Development looked like in action so in 2019 our department created the Newport News Public Schools Youth Development Model A framework that serves as a North star for those leading the work across our division since that time we have increased division-wide implementation of positive Youth Development
074and are now recognized by other school divisions and organizations as leaders in Youth Development practice behind the Newport News Public Schools Youth Development vment model's eight key features are evidence-based strategies which are shared with school staff to help improve student experiences relationships and the entire School environment you might ask how we know that the model is sound well in 2020 we connected with the University of Virginia youth next Center to promote effective Youth Development which consists of researchers who support Youth Development practitioners around the country for about 18 months they met with us bi-weekly by monthly at no charge um and coached us on effective practice evaluated our infrastructure and model and concluded that Not only was our model evidence-based but that they had that they had not encountered any other School Division in the
075state nor the country that have the infrastructure and intentional Focus that Newport News public schools has on Youth Development we continue to partner with youth youth next on a variety of other initiatives and the Senate director is a member of our newly formed Med Youth Development advisory Council so what is this Youth Development infrastructure and how does it benefit our schools students and the community Newport News public schools has the only embedded network of dedicated staff members in each School including our alternative schools and juvenile detention who are centrally coordinated and charged with fulfilling the division's positive Youth Development goals I should point out that only the five Youth Development team members have the central office have full-time responsibility for Youth Development all of the other positions hold primary roles as teachers school counselors media
076Specialists and other roles for their leadership of Youth Development programming most of them receive a stien so how does this infrastructure benefit our students schools and the community the journey 2025 strategic plan includes a Student Success goal which has a measure and this is a quote to provide multiple opportunities for students to develop and grow through extracurricular activities the infrastructure increases student access to empowerment activities that build skills and connects them to nurturing adults it also helps us to provide the support needed to achieve Fidelity and Youth Development practice across the division increased opportunities for youth leadership service and contribution Empower student voice in New Port News Public Schools other benefits include an intentional daily focus on improving School culture and strengthening employee expertise in Youth Development practice one of the greatest benefits to the
077community is that the infrastructure makes it easier for schools and Community Partners to collaborate and for our department to coordinate and evaluate School community and division level sponsor programs like our blossom bloom flourish and rise empowerment and mentoring programs that are available to grades 3 through 12 each program's curriculum is designed to build pro-social and other schools other skills excuse me that students need for lifelong success these initiatives along with many others coordinated by our schools and Community Partners promote Student Success as outlined in the district's strategic plan and helps to achieve the Newport News Public Schools profile of a learner who in addition to being academically prepared is also an emotionally intelligent resilient equity-minded Innovative and reflective leader because of the intentional focus on Student Success in our schools last year 964 clubs Sports
078and activities were available to students in grades K through 12 in Newport News Public Schools you can compare this to any other neighboring School Division of this size and you won't find a comparable amount and diversity of opportunities for for students as our youth development teams find creative ways to increase access to programming schools are seeing increases in student participation we're not quite back to our pre-co participation rates but definitely trending in the right direction for example middle and high school participation in 2022 and 2023 increased by 21% with high schools showing the greatest increase since 2019 we should also note that average days of absence also decrease which makes sense students are more likely to come to school when they have a sense of belonging and when they can they are able to contribute
079to their school Community here we see the difference in student outcomes for Newport News public schools high school students based upon the number of activities in which they are involved the first section shows results for students who have no involvement in clubs sports or activities followed by those involved in at least one two or three four or five or more than five clubs sports or activities you can see the number of average days of absence the dark blue column decreases significantly as student involvement increases while the number of discipline incidents the blue the light blue column drops slightly most notably average grade point average the green column increased from 2.34 for students with no involvement to a high of 3.61 for students who are involved in more than five club sports or activities although there
080are many factors which contribute to achievement data data is data here is a similar view of middle schools illustrating absence and discipline incidents a less significant decrease in average days of absence but a decrease nevertheless the number of incidents stay flat Behavior incidents stay flat middle school students do not have a g PPA we do plan however to examine other indicators of academic achievement for Middle School Stu students involved in clubs and activities we have just begun to capture student involvement for elementary schools in Synergy so we expect to have measurement data for them as well in the near future Youth Development efforts also support the student wellness employee expertise and enhanced partnership strategic goals in 2022 2023 1,65 students participate at in Newport News Public Schools division level Youth Development empowerment programs including 414
081students in specialized programming that I will highlight shortly the Live Well student wellness program promotes emotional social and physical well-being of students in each of our schools in addition to two annual empowerment conferences including the more than a princess Conference held for 500 students in November and the rise male empowerment conference that will take place in February Ary students lead campaigns to promote kindness inclusion and a sense of belonging across the division including Operation Kindness week that is coming up in February and celebrate me a division-wide celebration of cultural Health Heritage that will take place in early March our efforts to increase employee expertise in youth development theory and practice include monthly professional development for Youth Development leads a Youth Development certification program that our friends at youth vaa helped us to develop and our
082first ever Youth Development conference Thrive that was held in October one of the reasons we have been able to accomplish what we have is because we have developed extraordinary relationships with Community Partners this year we established the first Newport News Public Schools Youth Development advisory Council which is made up of 20 business government educational and nonprofit leaders in the region and Beyond before I close I just want to highlight two examples of innovative programming that are making a difference for our students Newport News Public Schools My Brother's Keeper and My Sister's Keeper and level up are designed to engage youth in evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies and activities that develop and strengthen skills to include de deescalation decisionmaking and pro-social skills that promote positive life outcomes moreover both programs increase youth access to nurturing adults
083and expand their circle of support the program is funded by the gun violence intervention prevention or gvip Grant offered through the City of Newport News program participants experience a minimum of 100 minutes 180 minutes of monthly programming focusing on positive mental health skill building through extraordinary experiences future orientation positive self-image coping strategies accountability and academic support this is accomplished through a number of community collaborations including some with fellow gvip grantees 2022 23 outcomes for the more than 250 My Brother's Keeper my sisters keeper participants are highlighted here 55% had approved improved attendance 48% had fewer discipline incidents and 62% achieved an increase in their GPA the same is true for level up 59% of students in grades 3 to5 who participated in level up also had fewer discipline incidents another unique program is emerging leader
084Institute which is designed to equip students with skills to think and act like global leaders last year Eli members participated in highly specialized professional development to help prepare them for Extraordinary experiences that they had including oneon-one one meetings with legislators at the state capital A specially designed experience with top leaders at Nasa Langley research serving as wi Youth Development interns and as of yesterday delving into research as part of the University of Virginia youth participatory action research project this abbreviated list of Partners who support our work and with whom we collaborate throughout the year increases the number of experiential learning opportunities that Newport News public school students are able to have daily we are truly grateful for them and their support of Our Youth Development efforts and I would be remissed if I didn't take
085a minute to say how grateful I am for the Youth Development central office team that's way there in the back of the room but I'm going to ask them to stand because they work so hard every day to make all this possible first yes Michael Nichols who is Our Youth Development supervisor Christina Buckingham who is Our Youth Development Special and the newest member of our team William Shackleford who is also a Youth Development specialist so we're yeah thank you we're a small team but we have the best job on the planet because we get to do some of the greatest work um that I have ever experienced in my lifetime finally I'd like to close by sharing our next steps we will continue to focus on creating relationships with external partners that benefit our students
086and our families creating highly effective mentoring opportunities for our students and implementing evidence-based Frameworks like relationship centered schools will Empower us to fulfill our mission of promoting positive relationships and experiences for all students we will continue to measure the effectiveness of what we are doing and doing our best to equip our nnps team with what they need to help students Thrive through creative staff development opportunities this concludes my presentation this evening and I welcome any questions you may have thank you so much for your time thank you you're very welcome questions or comments comments oh okay Miss Hower did you have no I just wanted to say congratulations first of all and thank you so much when I attended the conference uh in November it was outstanding and it was outstanding to work with your
087team as well thank you um and I I just want to share real quick um you know to see the girls uh 500 students and all of them eager to learn about leadership that's what we need right a lot more leadership it was just inspiring so uh what you're doing here is quite unique I want to say that and I'm I dare to say I'm not so sure if it's happening in surrounding districts to the level that I see here uh and I can attest to that because I i' I work and and and I mean I've seen different uh districts operate and and you guys uh have it going so thank you so much thank you thank you so much excellent okay yes thank you so much for caring for our students very welcome
088did you want to say something I did oh go right I just wanted to say thank you as well I attended the conference um on Friday night um with the girls and it was just energizing and amazing to see them so pumped up and eager to learn and then to see the older ones what they have developed into like vice presidents at James Madison University I remember when students like that started um but that a couple of weeks later fast forward I went to a feeding 5000 program at new Beach Grove Baptist Church and two young ladies came up they said I just got to get in that program I just got to get at first I didn't know what they were talking about but they were talking about the bloom conference their friends had
089told them all about it and so at SFI I gave them my word I would try to see what I could do so heard yeah but they were so there's so much excitement so much positivity and it's just a shining star for new new public school so I'd like to commend the department and keep up the good work is is really um something that benefits our students in our community thank you we appreciate and we appreciate the support we really do you are more than welcome thank you oh Mr Brown always uh very encouraged to hear about programs that make Newport News public school special place to be that separate our division from um from others and so I really appreciate the impactful work and especially the result driven um uh the uh dat driven
090results where we're reducing reducing chronic AB chronic absenteeism and getting more kids involved in clubs activities and sports uh very extremely positive absolutely thank you thank you so much you're very welcome thank [Applause] you we're moving on to 5.04 attendance report 5.05 membership report and 5.06 construction report board members you've received a copy of uh this report are there any questions hearing none we'll move on to item 5.07 comments by the superintendent Dr Mitchell good evening again and thank you madam chair as Mr Hunter says there's great things happening in Newport News so I will try to be brief but we have a lot to talk about last week was Computer Science Education week and our students spent time coding as the School Division launched n n PS codes all students were encouraged to participate
091in at least one hour of coding activity during the week whether it was at home or at school across the School Division students practiced their coding skills by programming robots and utilizing animation programs so a big special thanks to our stem instructional team and the instructional technology team for a great week of Hands-On activities I know that at feran came before you our legislative um liaison about take your legislator to school day but I do want to extend the special thanks to delegate Shelley Simons the representatives from Congressman Scott's office and delegate Marcia Price's office City Council Members Schoolboard members and members of the Newport News Education Foundation for their attendance and their continued support dozens of our high school students participated in the temporary Arts Network Junior apprenticeship program two weeks ago this apprenticeship
092was a great opportunity for our students to work together to create a public art project students from each High School painted and decorated a window in City Center that embodies this year's theme Let it Glow the window murals were unveiled during the lights at the F at the fountain event on December 1st and will be displayed through January so please when you're out in City Center take a look at the amazing artwork that the students from Newport News have done um all schools this is really important everybody in the room and those viewing students and parents all schools and offices will be closed from December 18th through January 1st for winter break Tuesday January the 2nd is a teacher planning day so no students report on that day but teachers do return on January the
0932nd for planning all students return to school on Wednesday January the 3 and I wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season thank you madam chair thank you we're at item six another opportunity to hear from the public are there any cards no ma'am okay we will move on to our student representative Aaron uh the second meeting of the superintendent student Advisory Group on education was held last week with students representing all of our high schools we had a segment where students share what's great about my school and students from achievable dreams and point option presented what was unique and special about their respective schools our first meeting topic on riger and high school our first meeting topic was on riger and High School curricul which was led by Dr Rogers our chief academic officer
094in the second meeting topic addressed stress and student mental health which we discussed with do with Miss ASU and Miss power from the schools division student support and mental care services we are looking forward to our next meeting which will be just before our exams in January thank you and I wish everyone have a wonderful winter break yes thank you and the board echoes those sentiments have a wonderful and restful break meeting [Music] adjourned [Music]