School Board Meeting (Operating Budget Approval): March 23, 2021

001Good evening I'd like to call to order the  regular meeting of the Newport News school   board for tuesday march 23 2021 on behalf  of the school board and superintendent I   welcome each of you present and watching a  quorum is present to transact the business   of the school division the covid 19 pandemic  has had an unprecedented effect on all of us   we are all adapting to this new way of conducting  business and the school board is as well   personal barriers are installed between the  members of the board and our staff visitors are   masked in socially distanced in the auditorium  in compliance with the governor's orders   during this evening this evening's meeting some of  our participants will join us in person and others   will join us virtually including Mr. Marvin Harris and Mr. John Eley we are

002taking these   steps to ensure the health and well-being of our  staff and the public we value and appreciate your   partnership we will begin tonight's meeting  with the invocation and pledge to the flag   here to do the honors is ms rochelle moody pta  president at woodside high school ms moody good evening Dr. Parker chairman chairman Brown  vice chair Surles-Law members of the school   board and the extended nnps family as we continue  to get through this very difficult school year   I would like to leave these thoughts with  you struggle today for a better tomorrow   hard work pays you should always know  no matter how tough may seem the climb   keep moving keep fighting one win at a time  perseverance and patience go a long way   because for the sunrise even the longest  nights make way please join

003us as we do   say 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 well thank you so much ms moody the next item  on our agenda tonight is school board recognitions   and Dr. Parker I believe we have some distinguished  guests with us tonight uh thank you Mr. Chairman   uh we have uh recognitions this evening for our  uh 20 19 2019 2020 wise gold star teachers will   start there and we have one additional recognition  and I'll let Mrs Price recognize our individuals good evening I have the honor of presenting  this month's school board recognitions   ensuring that young people are financially  literate is paramount to prepare them for   future financial success our first recognition  this

004evening illustrates the district's success   in this area working in support of education or  wise is an educational organization dedicated to   building financial literacy fostering  business and social entrepreneurship   and preparing students for  college and the global workplace   the organization's literacy certification  program provides high school students with   financial education and the opportunity  to become certified financially literate   students learn more about personal finance then  they take the y standardized financial literacy   certification test our first honorees this evening  have earned recognition from wise two Newport News   educators have been named 2019 2020 gold star  teachers at least 93 percent of their students   in at least one of their classes passed the wise  financial literacy test which is also a Virginia   board of education approved certification  they're present this evening please join   us in congratulating tiffany smith an educator  at

005Heritage high school ms smith and michael   bellamy formerly of Warwick now serving as interim  assistant principal at Crittenden middle school the Virginia standards of learning  for economics and personal finance   require instruction in economic concepts economic  reasoning decision making and problem solving high   school students have to meet a state requirement  to complete a one credit economics and personal   finance course prior to graduation these educators  taught the personal finance course during the   summer of 2020 with the help of these dedicated  educators their students not only satisfied a   graduation requirement they also earn state and  national certification thank you for equipping   our students with the tools and life skills they  need to become college career and citizen ready there we go thank you thank you thank you and again  congratulations to ms smith and mr bellamy   and I'd

006also like to acknowledge the presence  of the career and technical education specialist   christy hopkins ms hopkins thank  you for joining us this evening our next honoree also received national  recognition the national art association   advances visual arts education to fulfill  potential and promote global understanding   each year the association recognizes one  outstanding member from each of the four   national regions for outstanding service and  achievement we're proud to share that our visual   and performing arts supervisor pat franklin  has earned recognition ms franklin has been   awarded the 2021 southeastern region art educator  award ms franklin would you please come forward the visual arts program in Newport News  public schools begins in elementary school   our art curriculum offers a comprehensive  sequential educational program that is designed   to develop and nurture creative thinking skills  through high school under ms franklin's leadership  

007a district-wide arts festival was established  and the popular summer institute for the arts   expanded she has raised the quality  of art education through curriculum   changes and support for her teachers she works  cooperatively with her counterparts in the region   and across the state to advance quality art  education through curriculum planning staff   development and idea and strategy sharing  during her decorated career ms franklin has   served the field of art education locally  statewide nationally and internationally   she serves on numerous committees and earlier  today she told me she scaled these back   the board of Newport News public art  foundation the board of Virginia's for   the arts americans for the arts the board of  Virginia coalition for fine arts education   the Virginia museum teacher advisory committee the  Virginia symphony community outreach committee the   national art education fellows and the Virginia 

008department of education fine arts steering   committee she's also a member of the Virginia art  education association the national art education   association the national association for music  education and the educational theater association   and she's also held several leadership roles  in many of these associations during her career   her knowledgeable inclusive leadership and vision  have been a great benefit to our students since   she joined the school division in 2002 ms franklin  again congratulations on this well deserved honor again we congratulate all of our honorees this  evening the school board will take about a seven   minute break so their honorees may leave if they  choose to do so you're certainly welcome to stay   during this time our viewing audience will  have an opportunity to view this month's   school board spotlight so we'll stand in  recess for about seven minutes

009thank you since almost a year ago students haven't set foot  in a Newport News classroom because of the ongoing   global pandemic and statewide restrictions  but on monday february 22nd 3 000 students in   pre-kindergarten to third grade along with special  education students and english language learners   took a huge step celebrating their first day of  school by returning to in-person hybrid learning   at each school educators went to great measures  to enhance safety protocols social distancing and   cleaning procedures to create a safe  environment for students and staff   even with masked faces students and  teachers were obviously excited to be   in the same classroom together after so many  months interacting through a computer screen   and since many students are still learning  virtually our hard-working teachers are   dedicated to teaching and supporting all of their  students no matter where learning

010takes place virtual learning is a new experience for  all of us and for our young scholars what   they're learning during online classes is just  as important as taking care of themselves between   each zoom link when teachers finish their  face-to-face instruction and before the   next online class begins students have several  choices to optimize their learning experience   if there's classwork to complete get it done while  the content is still fresh in your mind and since   most work doesn't have any time constraints take  your time completing the assignment accurately but   taking a break from the screen is important also  short breaks can actually improve productivity   attentiveness and reduce stress instead of  watching tv or zoning out on a smartphone   take a walk around the house get outside and  run around exercise complete a helpful chore   around the house

011or grab a quick nutritious  snack to keep your body and brain fueled   for learning when we move our bodies problem  solving memory and attention span improve   so try starting the morning with some fun  exercises ensuring a full day of academic success in recognition of youth art month two virtual art  exhibits showcase student artwork in elementary   and secondary schools online and across  social media these virtual presentations   replace the annual Newport News public  schools art show that normally takes   place in person but even online the students  talents skills and unparalleled imagination   shone brightly and beyond the student  artists it was evident that our highly   skilled and devoted art teachers haven't let  a pandemic quench their creative influence   through the difficulties and challenges of  distance learning art teachers at all grade   levels have effectively drawn every ounce of 

012talent out of these budding artists for all   to see and enjoy meanwhile student musicians are  able to shine during music in our school's month a number of schools recorded individual  and collaborative performances of their   talented musicians including bands choruses  guitar ensembles and orchestras all of the   performances were then collected into one  impressive virtual concert video posted on   youtube and shared across social media this  musical compilation brilliantly showcases   student talents across the city as  well as the dedication of the musical   educators who spur them onto greatness no  matter what form of learning takes place during the week of march 8th all grades  in Newport News public schools returned   to their school buildings for in-person hybrid  learning and students and educators couldn't   mask their smiles and excitement to  once again be together for learning   early in the

013week fourth and fifth grade students  completed the elementary school transition to   hybrid learning while middle and high schools  welcomed students on monday and thursday with   different groups of scholars swapping days between  in-person and remote learning at home to make   in-person learning a safe reality for students  and staff all nnps employees played a vital role   in ensuring safe transportation clean classrooms  and healthy food options along with effectively   implementing new safety guidelines even though it  may feel like a new start to the school year this   return to in-person instruction is a necessary  continuation of the great teaching and hard work   our dedicated teachers have provided students  over the last few months with learning now taking   place at schools and many students continuing  to succeed through virtual learning students   across Newport News have more options to fit their 

014family schedules and personal styles of learning all right well welcome back we hope  you enjoyed the school board spotlight   and uh 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 also towards the end of the meeting   the school board recognizes that during  the pandemic some members of the public   may not be able to join us in person as advertised  citizens may submit comments via web form email or   voicemail up to 30 minutes prior to our meeting to  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 and get back to you

015at a later time   we ask that you comply with our three-minute time  limit as you begin your comments a green light   will come on which is over there uh yellow  light signals that you have 30 seconds left   and it's time for you to wrap up your comments  in a red light indicates that your time is up   so as I call your name please come forward so as  mentioned previously we do have a 30 minute time   limit for this session and I'd have more than  10 cards so you do the math you know 10 times   3 more than 10 cards which means uh that some  of you may not be able to speak in this portion   of the meeting but we have another 30 minute  portion and item number six of the meeting   which is after

016our reports so if you don't get  a chance to speak if I don't call your name in   this section then uh please stay stick around  and we want to hear from you in item number six   of our agenda all right so like the first  car that I have is uh miss diane griffis can I keep the mask on or take it off you can  take your mask hi I'm diane griffiths my son   is a junior in the ib program at warwick high  school he has started in person recently two   days a week he goes on mondays and tuesdays  he is the only student in one of his classes   and one of only two or three students in all  the other classes the numbers are the same in   the thursday friday cohort so the total would

017not  even fill the allowable seats in the classrooms   there's no logical reason why he should not be  able to attend school on thursday and friday   he would not be taking the seat of any other  student and apparently the rules for who can   attend in person right now are governed by at  the district level and schools are unable to   make these decisions for themselves the result is  empty seats and empty classrooms where there are   students who want and need to sit in those seats  my son needs to be in the classroom although he   spends the majority of the day in zoom sessions at  school which is another issue just the increased   structure and a tiny bit of interaction he gets  with his one or two classmates with his teachers   with the school security officer it makes 

018an incredible difference in the quality of   his life there's no accountability when he's  at home assignments pile up online games get   played unless I'm looking over his shoulder at  all times which is really hard to do and keep   my job so now at least for two days he's there  getting his work done and connecting with human   beings I'm begging you to please allow the schools  to make decisions that meet the individual needs   of students and cohorts of students and  fill the seats that can safely be filled   on a final note I want to thank Newport News  public schools for your efforts in supporting   the vaccination clinics at cnu thank you dr  parker for publicizing your own vaccination   i urge you all to do more of this to even more  strongly publicize the vaccination of staff

019and   teachers and to actually take a hands-on role in  educating families in the district there are ton   of vaccine hesitant families out there who if  they saw and heard more from people they can   trust concerning the safety of the vaccine then  ultimately this could make a difference getting   more families vaccinated the coveted numbers will  come down we can solve all this and get our kids   back in the schools where that's where they need  to be so thank you very much I appreciate it   thank you ms griffiths all right the  next card I have is mr calvin griffiths hello I am calvin griffiths I am currently an 11th  grader at Warwick high school in the IB program   and I'm currently in cohort A so I  attend school on monday and tuesday   and as my mom said

020earlier I'm the only student  in one of my classes and there's only about two   or three maybe in one in my biggest class  there's three people including me so cohort   B has like the same amount of people there's  about two or three people in every single class   and I would not be taking anybody's seat if I  were to go on thursday and friday, same for them   the cohort B if they attended monday and tuesday  they wouldn't be taking my seat or any of my other   classmates so in person allows me to complete my  work after the zoom ends because I know as the   online students as soon as you click off the zoom  they just they'll take a nap to do whatever that's   what I did and in person allows me to actually  complete my

021work with my teacher's help and on   top of that I actually get some human interaction  which I do not get sitting in my bedroom at home   overall I think it would be a very safe  and in my fellow in-person classmates   favor to be able to attend in-person learning  four days a week thank you mr griffiths next card I have is uh mr magruder uh hello school board I would like to say hi to  Marvin Harris and John Eley they're online a lot of   y'all know me but uh for some of y'all that don't  glad to meet you for the first time mr Parker my name is gene magruder I'm political action  chair for local 888 united steelworkers at   Newport News shipbuild we represent the 13 000  production employees at Newport News shipbuilding   and with the

022largest local in the united states on  that saturday our membership voted to support the   local teachers of Newport News in their campaign  to get right to collect a bargain according to   the legislation passed last year I'm here to  tell you the benefits a lot of y'all don't know   maybe about collective bargaining but I'm here  to tell you the benefits of collecting bargaining   with your teachers the shipyard including  our president Jennifer Boykin and Mike Petters   both know the value of having a union in the  workplace there are two main reasons the   first reason being stability in the workforce  when our contract is signed at the shipyard   they know the employees have agreed to the  terms of the contract and they know they're   willing to work under those terms so there's not  much leaving the shipyard and

023coming back you   know because we know the terms we know what we've  agreed we've signed on to those wages and benefits the second reason that allows the shipyard to make  normal variable cost which concerns the school   board you'll have a lot of variable costs such as  wages and benefits and turn them into fixed costs   when we negotiate a contract  for carriers and submarines   we actually can go to the navy and  we can tell them on that contract   exactly how much wages and labor are going to cost  over them four years the terms of our contract   you're turning a variable cost for most  businesses including the school board because   y'all every year y'all got to figure out what the  teachers were like and what the teachers want like   you know or what you can afford or

024what you can't  afford I mean but we can concentrate on shipyard   on such things as cost of materials  new technology to go into these boats   but we don't have to worry about wages  and benefits because they're in writing   currently in Virginia Newport News the school  board is handicapped by the current system of   yearly fights over wages and benefits I've  been a part of it it just goes every year   back back back every year uh it's never ending  process causes too much hate and discontent   between the two groups that are most important to  our children's education that being the teachers   and the school board the current system is shown  to be very bad for stability in the teachers   workforce because no one knows what the beginning  or end results will be the school board has zero  

025clue what rage wage rate or level of benefits  is necessary to retain teachers they will know   once they finish the budget and they get a rate  and see how many leave or stay with the collective   bargaining agreement both bodies will know  exactly what will keep them teaching all right   thank you the teachers would have agreed that's  it yeah I hope I see you all out on that yeah   thank you mr magruder thank you all right uh  the next card I have is uh mr mike macaluso good evening thank you for your time I'm here uh   really in support of mrs griffith's initiative  um my son is a middle schooler a sixth grader at   booker t washington and the exact same issue there  there's only a couple people involved classes   the virtual thing wasn't working for

026him  he spends all day on on xbox he doesn't   study he's got younger sisters so he's shot in  his room and the walls kind of cave in on him   somehow he makes straight a's despite all  that but his benchmark scores have been flat and I think he could really benefit actually  the two days even with only one other person   in his class has actually been helpful for him  and I think he would benefit from going all four   days and secondly I wanted to uh just advise that  it would be helpful if we had the plan for next   year going forward as early as possible so we can  all figure out what we're going to do from there   thank you thank you mr macaluso all right  the next card I have is mr eric silverman well

027thank you all this has been a  very difficult year for all of us and   you've provided a fine education from the the  first day the first monday I was so surprised that   you provided uh packets for our elementary  school students so thank you for for doing   your best for us um I do want to say I'm so glad  that we're back in the the school room now with   the hybrid model with my children being able  to be there two full days a week I have three   children in Newport News public schools one  in Menchville one in Woodside and one in Yates   um I want to support the the the griffin's  proposal that if there are seats available   on four days I would love that for my children  uh I want to encourage you throughout uh

028the   the days ahead the more we can be open the more  we can have opportunity for that uh the better   um I think we've reached a point in this pandemic  where uh there are two threats the the threat of   the pandemic has been uh and covid has been  obvious to us for quite some time uh but those   of us who rely too much on the isolating  video schooling um this is just an inferior   experience I'm afraid I myself am an educator  at the university level and I first thought   on on video uh on the internet 15 years ago and I  noticed the best students could still do just fine   but for 80 90 of them that were less motivated  the virtual schooling was just not as good   because it's completely on the student's initiative  and

029this is on the university level with 18   through 21 year olds I imagine how self-motivated  an eight-year-old is or a 12-year-old   I mean I believe it when I hear about kids  on xboxes um I know my kids are straight a   students and good kids but they still like to roll  over at 8:29 and turn on the computer at 8 30. and   I told them from day one that they're not going to  learn as much that way and I pressured them to do   the work anyway and not have the video game  on on their phone while they're watching uh   the the video screen um so all that to say uh  please guard us against this other threat the   threat of the isolation the the the obesity the  the depression that can come from being isolated   um

030there are a lot of negative correlations  with this from obesity to depression to anxiety   so please bring our kids back as quickly  as we can but thank you for your service   I know this is of all the times to be  uh in a position on the school board   this has got to be amongst the most  challenging so so thank you all very much   thank you thank you mr silverman all  right next card I have is ms christina silverman   all right we'll then we'll uh move forward to  the next part I have is uh ms heather snow take this off thank you good evening everybody  all right so the commonwealth of Virginia has   enacted new legislation which now allows for  public sector unions to bargain for employee   rights and their conditions of employment on may  1st

0312021 Virginia's new law will take effect will   take effect dr martin luther king is quoted to say  the freedom of collective bargaining has improved   wages and working conditions for everyone  wherever these right-to-work anti-collective   bargaining laws have been passed wages are lower  job opportunities are fewer and there are no civil   rights the labor movement did not diminish  the strength of the nation but enlarged it   those who today attack labor forget these  simple truths but history remembers them   through collective sorry end quote through  collective bargaining working people in unions   have higher wages better benefits and safer  workplaces in the united states three-quarters   of private sector workers and two-thirds of public  employees have the right to collective bargaining   teachers and 88 of the country  currently have collective bargaining   now is the time for the state that's ranked dead 

032last for workers to join the rest of the country   we all know teachers pay is on the low end  of the scale and virginia teachers especially   as we rank 32nd in the nation for teacher salaries  I thank you Mr. Brown where are you Mr. Brown for   your advocacy in the past for higher teacher  staff and teacher and staff pay but I would   also like to know will you and the rest of  the school board allow teachers the ability   to join the rest of the country to advocate for  themselves for better pay and benefits will the   board go on record today in support of restoring  the balance of economic power in our country   through collective bargaining agreements for  teachers and staff thank you thank you miss now the next card that I have is a ms

033mary boss mary vos nnps a parent teacher and graduate  the cdc guidance even after recent updates   continues to call for a reduced attendance  hybrid model to drastically reduce the spread   of potentially deadly covid 19 transmission  in schools with african american and latinx   populations at five times greater risk of severe  covid it is important to follow the cdc guidance   to protect public health schedule changes are  also confusing for families and tend to worsen   student attendance with just 11 weeks left  in the school year it doesn't make sense to   change students schedules once again I definitely  understand the frustration with this pandemic and   wishing it would be over but many people are  still unvaccinated and still at high risk as   much as we may wish things to be back to normal  also tonight I want to speak

034about collective   bargaining please support collective bargaining  rights for nnps employees virginia is one of   just three states in the nation that prohibits  teachers staff firefighters first responders   and other public employees from having a seat at  the bargaining table to negotiate their contracts   this sad state of affairs contributes to virginia  ranking dead last in the nation and workers rights   please keep in mind that teacher staff working  conditions are student learning conditions so   allowing educators to negotiate for better  working conditions also benefits students   approving collective bargaining would  also make nnps a highly sought after   district to work for this may first it becomes  legal for localities to opt in to collective   bargaining for public employees please support  this important labor right that is already enjoyed   by virginia's private sector employees and  by most education workers across the

035country   and I'd like to share some research on  collective bargaining educators bargain for   the common good whether it's smaller class  sizes less screen time more social workers   or additional after school programs labor unions  and teachers unions bargain for the common good   collective bargaining is a standard labor practice  the right to negotiate contracts through unions   and education associations is an industry standard  for educators in the vast majority of the country   Newport News can position itself on the right  side of progress by ensuring its school employees   enjoy basic labor rights collect a 2018 study  found that collective bargaining is associated   with higher test scores on standardized tests  in areas where educator contracts are strong   collective bargaining helps retain and  attract the best talent this helps us to   increase property values to create a prepared  workforce high quality

036education improves the   well-being of any community so collective  bargaining is good for the community as well this was a really significant statistic uh  22 percent of teachers in virginia currently   without collective bargaining only 22 percent  returned to their school after their first year   this number increases to almost  50 percent after four years   unfair contracts lead to teacher burnout  collectively bargain contracts help improve   working conditions and prevent educator burnout  thank you for your time thank you miss moss all right the next card  that I have is a chanel hurt hello thank you for having  me I hope you all are well   my name is chanel hurt I'm a middle and  high school teacher and proud union member   tonight I'll be speaking as an individual in  support of collective bargaining legislation that   becomes available for public education

037workers as  of may 1st virginia comes in dead last for workers   rights and conditions we have a long history  of anti-labor and we would be perpetuating many   systems of supremacy if we denied public education  workers the opportunity to collectively bargain   anti-labor laws and support were created  so that the wealthy elite could protect   their property and profits over the lives of the  people who maintained that property and profit   being anti-labor is classist and racist and  prevents change for the people that carry   the society to agree to collective bargaining  with your employees is an opportunity to play   an even more active role in dismantling  those systems by supporting and allowing   collective bargaining we work towards structural  change in our workplaces changes that benefit   all education workers just as a doctor's working  conditions or a patient's healing conditions  

038or servers working conditions the eating and  drinking conditions of their patrons educator   working conditions or student learning conditions  and by improving the working conditions of staff   we would be better supporting students and their  families collective bargaining is just better for   business collective bargaining is negotiation it's  communication it's a real relationship that looks   to understand the needs and wants of one another  it's transformative a new way of doing things   one that would move us away from the trauma  we have felt in this seven day period alone   collective bargaining is a physical form of  love understanding and compassion it's love   for a better way for all of us it's understanding  that we all deserve a life where our basic needs   are met it's compassion for the other human  being across the table it's an alignment of   values

039and even more than before it's important  we take every chance to do that so that people   cannot question who we are or who we are not they  will see the work we do the values we live for   and know that we truly want the best for  education it's what can propel our district   forward by supporting collective bargaining you  are coming to the aid of public education in   Newport News and surrounding areas and it comes at  the perfect time as we look for creative solutions   to school reopenings it's virginia history  in the making and we should be a part of it   thank you for your time please have a good rest of  your meeting and take care thank you mr I want to   thank everyone for complying with our time and  so as we have not

040run past our 30 minute time   limit yet we may be able to get through the rest  of our cards so the next speaker is william um you pronounce that pretty well nice job   good evening my name is will huberto and  I teach 11th grade English at Warwick high   school and I'm speaking to you very briefly today  to encourage your support of collective bargaining   for all teachers and staff to have a fair say in  their contracts and to lead clear expectations of   our responsibilities and rights while performing  our heroic duties and I really think the simple   ask should be enough I considered giving you  a learning target and some success criterion   but I realized this needn't be a lesson  this doesn't even need to be a long speech   it's just a simple request we want collective 

041bargaining you have the power to give it so please   do it's plain simple fairness courtesy and best  practice in labor relations thank you thank you   all right next speaker I  have is a mr john krakorian thank you uh I just uh wanted to echo some  sentiments of my um some friends and neighbors   who also have students in our school system  um with the experience that I've had over the   last uh month with my three children um you know  one month ago there was an incredible amount of   fear and anxiety about going back to school and  what I have seen in drop-offs and pickups and   and interactions with teachers and families and  my own children is an incredible sense of um   just renewed purpose and spirit uh and confidence  that we can do this and that

042we can do it safely   and we we would not be doing that if not for  our teachers and our staff many of whom are   here some are of my own children and I couldn't  be more thankful to all of them that this is an   incredibly difficult time to be a teacher and  to witness firsthand walking to the school to   see the sacrifices being made by all of them to  make this work has been inspiring so thank you it has been wonderful my goal today is just to  help you understand that I think we can push   it forward with the cdc guidelines that  we've recently seen in the studies and   three feet possibly being just as safe and  effective as six I share the same experience   with my middle school and high school daughter  where they're

043in a class of two or three people it is my belief that if we have empty seats and  we have students that are willing and able to fill   them we should aim to fill those seats and then  just as soon as we can we should be adding seats   if we can do it safely equitably I really believe  that this will help us some might say we only have   11 weeks left and then it'll be summer three  months is a long time in the life of a child   and we can accomplish much in three  months to continue to eliminate the   fear and anxiety and show that we can do this  so that we can have the confidence to say yes   in the fall might not be normal but we can have  full-time in-person learning opportunities for  

044the students of Newport News thank you thank you  mr corey our next card is uh miss elizabeth berlin thank you for allowing me to speak I have a bit  of a departure from the rest of the comments this   evening uh restraint policies and practices  are a direct threat to our children research   shows that disabled and or bipoc children are  disproportionately higher risk of being subjected   to restraint and therefore injury or death we  cannot have a policy that allows restraint and   refuses to acknowledge that truth from  reports between 2014 and just last year   npr june 2014 national data confirms cases  of restraint and seclusion in public schools   an analysis by propublica and npr of data for  the 2011-12 school year from u.s department   of education shows restraint and seclusion were  used at least 267 thousand times

045nationwide that   includes 163 000 instances of in which students  were restrained mechanical restraints were used 7   600 of those times in 75 percent of those cases it  was kids with disabilities who were restrained or   secluded in a paper published in advances in  neurodevelopmental disorders may 2020 titled   exploring the disproportionate use of restraint  and seclusion among students with disabilities   boys and students of color quote in schools with  reported use of restraint or seclusion students   with disabilities were 200 percent more likely to  be subjected to restraint or seclusion relative to   their peers similarly black students were almost  200 percent more likely and hispanic students were   45 percent more likely to experience restraint  or seclusion than their white counterparts   in vice november 2020 deadly restraints are  being used on children at youth homes and schools   quote in 2012

046the department of education  published guidelines principles for those sorry   for the use of all types of physical restraint  they're supposed to be for emergency safety   interventions and only used when a child puts  themselves or someone else in imminent danger   but it is hard to tell whether this guidance is  being followed there is no comprehensive data   on how often physical restraints occur or what  prompts them nor does the government track how   many children are injured or killed in restraints  end quote how can you suggest that any proposed   policy that continues to allow restraint of  children is based on best data and practices   when the preponderance of evidence that does exist  shows a lack of transparency and disproportionate   threat of harm and death among marginalized  children thank you thank you ms burleigh   and before I go to

047our last speaker I'm just  going to ask we have any additional cards   no additional cards all right well our last  speaker is a former student rep and so um when   you are a former student rep you get uh you get  to have as much time as you like so mr lambert   we're so excited to have you come back and and   speak to us it's been a few years since  you've been on one of our student reps and speaking to you all I know most of you and I  am sure I will get to know those that I don't um   and I promise not to abuse your time privileges  so there are a lot of issues that you deal with uh   meaning to meeting budgets curriculums a variety  of puzzle pieces that you need to fit

048together   to find the best answer because there's never one  right answer there's never an absolute right or an   absolute wrong in what you do except in very few  cases and this is what we're talking about tonight   absolute right and absolute wrong article 23 of  the united nations declaration of human rights   reminds us that the right to collectively bargain  belongs to all this is a worldwide statement not a   provision but a statement of the principles to  which we all hold already it has long been the   peculiar institution of three states in Virginia  North Carolina and South Carolina to deny this   freedom in labor we need uh little education to  see why it was those three states alone that did   so following a war in which their infrastructure  was torn in which they needed workers it was  

049convenient to keep these public sector workers  from enjoying any rights even if they had to be   paid they could never have a voice at the table  not then not ever but the confederacies never has   come to an end and you have the power to make to  push that further beginning in may uh you will all   have a chance to change that last vestige of the  confederacy and jim crow you will have a chance   uh to inscribe your names forever as the men and  women who looked at the outrageous origins of this   ban and the outrageous effects of this practice  and said no more a hundred thousand union members   around virginia are wondering which side are  you on there will be no important more important   vote that you take this year or next year and  quite

050possibly in your tenure on this board   it is not difficult to see the consequences of  this peculiar institution teachers everywhere   work hours far longer than they are capable  of far longer than they're paid to they have   budgets that require them to pay out of pockets  for supplies their overtime pay is non-existent   the standard steps and their pay raises have  not been met the answer to this from all of   you and I have taken it in good faith when I have  heard it from every single one of you has been we   don't have the money the budget can't be stretched  further it's wrong and there's nothing we can do   so if this is the reason that our teachers are  treated so poorly that there is no other way   without money on hand then empower them to

051do  something about it if you are as angry as our   teachers are about the shortages that come from  the city and the commonwealth in their funding   about the dilapidated buildings that I  and so many others had to go to school in   then let them join you in this advocacy we  all trust our greatest asset our children   to our teachers every day  whether it be uh virtually   or at some undetermined date soon in person we  make that commitment so let's extend that same   hand of partnership to trust the teachers  to sit at tables where decisions are being   made that affect them and act responsibly  as adults thank you thank you mr lambert all right do we have any additional cards no  sir no additional cards then we will move on   uh thank you all for for

052speaking tonight and we  will follow up with you uh superintendent will be   following up with uh with you at a later date uh  we'll move on to uh section three of our agenda   which is our consent agenda it includes 3.01  minutes from the work session on february 16 2021   3.02 minutes from the regular  meeting on february 16 2021   3.03 minutes from the joint meeting with  the city council on february 3rd 2021   3.04 financial reports including the revenue  report for january and february 2021 the expense   report for january and february 2021 and the  child nutrition services report for february 2021   3.05 the personnel report 3.06 our vsba business  honor roll nominees which are bayport credit union   life enrichment center and lighthouse church and  3.07 budget transfer at this time may I have a   motion to approve

053the consent agenda Mr. Chairman I make a motion to approve the consent agenda as   presented thank you madam vice chair is there a  second a second thank you dr best any discussion all right madam clerk would you please call  the roll mrs amen for dr best four mr ely mr harris robin harris four mr hunter gary hunter  four mrs searle's law four mr brown ms brown four   motion carry seven zero all right thank you so  the next item on our agenda is section four action   items and that is our proposed school calendar  and dr barker do you have a presentation before we   yes Mr. Chairman uh we at the last port meeting we  mentioned that we were administering a survey for   our public and our staff regarding on the two  options for a proposed calendar

054mrs brooks is here   to provide that data for the uh for the viewers  this evening and the board and we will ask the   board of to take action tonight on one of those  options mrs burks okay thank you Dr. Parker good   evening Mr. Chairman madam vice chairman members  of the board and again Dr. Parker I'd like to thank   you for the opportunity to share highlights from  the community survey that we conducted to gather   input regarding our two calendar proposals  for next school year this was the first time   that the calendar committee proposed two options  for your consideration given the challenges that   next school year has presented as well as the  opportunities last month we reported that there   were several school divisions on the peninsula  that were considering a start prior to the labor   day holiday

055which as you know is now allowed  by the code of virginia so we included that   option in our survey as well as an option to start  after the labor day holiday so in terms of the two   proposals the pre-labor day option of starting  schools on monday august 30th would allow our   schools to more quickly address the learning  loss that occurred due to covet 19. now starting   after the labor day holiday on wednesday september  8th would allow students to begin school on the   same day and have a common first day of school  experience given the religious holiday that occurs   during that week so we conducted a very brief  survey during the last two weeks of february   that contain information about both  calendar proposals and these are the results   so of the 2999 responses received 74 percent

056were  from families 23 percent were from employees and 3   percent were from students and other community  members regarding when school should begin   53 of the respondents preferred to start  school on wednesday september 8th versus 37   of the respondents who favored a pre-labor day  or monday august 30th start now over 600 comments   were submitted through the survey by far the most  frequent comment or concern was the lack of notice   given to families and employees that the school  division was considering a pre-labor day start   families employees and others stated the need  for more time to plan more appropriately for an   august start now there were frequent comments  that starting school in august would yield a   much earlier into the school year like around the  memorial day holiday but in both of our proposals   we went into the

057second week of june and teachers  working in our robust summer instructional program   would like less time off this summer before  returning to school would have less time off   this summer before returning to school in  the fall under the pre-labor day calendar   now other respondents stated that starting  school before labor day was a great opportunity   to ease the transition back to a regular  routine for students and many individuals   also commented that students who could  not return this current year for hybrid   instruction for medical or family reasons  would benefit from an earlier start in the fall   now regarding the wednesday september 8th or  post labor day start many people commented   that it was essential for families to have a more  traditional summer break after this pandemic year   and respondents also stated that starting school  in september would

058give students and families   more time to get fascinated now maintaining the  traditional school schedule was frequently stated   as a way to help students transition back to  school fully in person and lastly there were   several comments in support of the post labor  day calendar because it would allow students   with summer jobs more time and opportunity to work  through that last major summer holiday so when we   surveyed the school divisions on the peninsula  and as you know for the past three years we've   worked together to have a regional calendar but  as we state it next year has been a very pro very   different in terms of all of the opportunities  that it's presented us but we surveyed the school   divisions on the peninsula regarding their  start dates for next school year and as of   today only pocosin

059williamsburg james city county  and york county have board approved calendars and   of those three school divisions williamsburg  and york county will be opening pre-labor day   so that concludes my report Dr. Parker was going to  provide next steps thank you thank you mr brooks   so Mr. Chairman we uh we've uh taken the the steps  to get the information to the board necessary to   at least make at this point make a decision uh  if the board is uh in agreement to uh either   select a pre-labor day or a post-labor day  start for the 21-22 school year uh however we   do have some because we will be um our one-to-one  school division device to student school division   we will have opportunities next year to  provide some level of professional development   for our teachers and we would like to

060make  sure that the calendar that is passed that   is uh passed by the school board reflects  any professional development days for staff   in that calendar that is approved rather than  adding days during the school year next year we'd   like to give our parents and our staff as many as  much notice as possible in that calendar so what   i am proposing and requesting mr um chairman is  that the board make it uh make take a vote to uh   uh on whether they support a pre or post labor  day and if you are so inclined I would like to   have my staff take the calendar back to the school  um calendar committee and work with our teachers   and our administrators to come back with the  calendar for the board to approve in april   thank you Dr. Parker

061so uh with that at this time  what we will do is we will vote on a pre or post   uh labor day calendar and then in april the  superintendent will bring back the revised   calendar for the board's approval of the uh of  the detailed calendar so at this time we have two   dates that are before us uh because we have two  dates may have a motion uh to approve a september   8th start to our school year next year may have  a motion for that date Mr. Chairman I make a   motion that our start date for next school year is  september 8th all right is there a second a second   all right thank you Dr. Best all right  time for uh discussion any questions all right there being none uh madam clerk would  you please call

062the roll? Mrs. Aman? For. Dr. Best?   Mr. Eley? For. Mr. Harris? Marvin Harris - for. Mr. Hunter? Gary Hunter - for. Ms. Surles-Law?   Lisa Surles-Law for. Mr. Brown? Douglas Brown - for. motion carries 7-0 for post labor day start   all right so with that then our start to the  next school year will be september the 8th   uh Dr. Parker is going to go back and do a revision  to our calendar to provide a detail counter that   will have all the professional development days  in there as well as all the school holidays   so we'll have that for action in the april meeting  and then as I understand Dr. Parker the board is   interested in looking at a pre-labor day start for  the following school year so at this time we would   like ask you to work

063for the 22-23 school year on  a pre-labor day start calendar for that following   year and Mr. Chairman if the board is so inclined I  would like to my staff to have the flexibility to   bring that calendar to you in the fall I think one  of the uh we've surveyed our constituents twice   and in both of those surveys it we uh there  was indication that getting the calendar to   the community in in the april time frame does not  allow enough time for planning family engagements   or other things so if we if the board is so  inclined we will bring a calendar in the fall to   the board which is not has not been our protocol  in the past but it will allow enough time and   flexibility if the board is so inclined to act on  that

064calendar to give almost as close to a full   year of notice for staff and families if there is  an adjustment and start in the school start time   thank you and as we understand it those are the  majority of the comments in the survey were that   parents and other stakeholders in the community  wanted more time to prepare themselves for a   pre-labor start so the fall of next year will  give us that opportunity all right all right   then the next item on our agenda is uh 4.02  which is a policy chapter f revisions and uh   Dr. Parker do you have a presentation for that i  think Ms Brooks has presented that information   there was one uh policy that was uh that has  been tabled for further discussion uh if the   board has any questions regarding that Ms 

065Brooks is standing by to answer any questions   all right and as I understand I believe that's  policy fb and that has been tabled so the policies   that are in your packet are the policies to be  revised and so what I would ask at this time if   board members have had a chance to review those  policies would you want to please have a motion   for the policies that are in your packet on  chapter f it's chairman I um move that the   policy chapter review will be approved all right  thank you for the uh motion is there a second   morgan second thank you Mr. Harris all right  time for discussion are there any questions yes yes madam vice chair I just have  a comment I just want to say thank you   to facilities um and others collaboration 

066to get our policies up to date in this area   of our policy work so thank  you Mrs. Brooks for leading that   all right yes yes absolutely all right  any other any other comments or questions are there being none then madam  clerk would you please call the roll   for Dr. Best? For. Mr. Eley? For. Mr. Harris? Marvin Harris. For. Mr. Hunter? Gary Hunter - for. Ms. Surles-Law? for Mr. Brown? Douglas Brown - for. motion carries seven zero  all right then that will move us on to the large   item of this evening which is 4.03 our fy 22  budget approval and Dr. Parker I do believe you   have a few words before we vote on that uh yes mr  chairman uh since when we presented the budget to   the board at the mark um earlier this march

067we uh  just received uh additional information from the   state on that same day so we have had a chance  to process that additional state information   and tonight Ms. Roaseau will uh get will present  uh just some adjustment to that proposed budget   for fy 22 which uh it was favorable uh for the  for the for the school division and our staff   so Ms. Roaseau if you present that new  information um the board has uh for the   board's consideration as we look at passing  the approval of the fy 20 2022 operating budget   thank you Dr. Parker I'm happy to do that evening  Mr. Brown Mrs. Surles-Law members of the board   as Dr. Parker said since we presented the budget  information to two weeks ago we received updated   information from the state and based on that  information we

068expect to receive 12.1 million   dollars in new revenue from the state instead of  the 10.7 million we report it to you previously   that is a 5.9 increase over this year in  state revenue and a 3.7 increase overall so we have some suggestions for you this  evening about what we might do with that   um we're recommending a few more changes  to compensation here this evening   first as we reported to you previously we had  not finished the work on the teacher scales   we were able to get our goal of one and a half  percent between each year of service from 15   to 30 years and still had years 1 to 14 to do  we're recommending this evening that we take 1   million dollars of the additional 1.4 million in  additional revenue and adjust the teacher scale   for

069years 12-14 that leaves years one through  eleven at one point two five percent apart   with all other years at one and a half percent  apart we're also recommending some adjustments to   our nurse and bus driver scales to ensure that we  stay competitive in the market for these critical   positions the adjustments that we're recommending  for the teacher scale will result uh to remove   the next slide michelle thank you adjustments  we're recommending for the teacher scale will   result in teacher raises ranging from 3.7 percent  to seven point five percent earlier the range was   three point seven to six point seven percent so  this is an improvement for many of our teachers   in the table at the bottom of the slide you  can see that the grade adjustments for nurses   treatment nurses bus drivers and bus assistants  will

070result in many of these employees getting   more than the three percent general increase  most individuals in these groups will receive an   experience adjustment based on where they should  be placed on the new scale some are already where   they should be placed on the scale but most  will receive an adjustment uh you can see the   range of adjustments for nurses is three percent  to 10.7 percent for treatment nurses the range   is three percent to 10.6 for bus drivers 3 to 7.2  percent and for bus assistance from 3 to 7.8 those   adjustments will be effective for those employees  july 1st you can see that the adjustments are   largely from the change in the grades for  those positions you can see the nurse grades   and treatment nurse grades are going from 35 to 37  and 28 to 30

071respectively bus drivers from grade   21 to grade 22 and bus assistance from grade 11 to  grade 12. so hopefully these changes will meet the   school board's approval because we're going to ask  you to approve the budget this evening the funds   that require your approval are shown here and that  completes my comments uh this evening Dr. Parker   thank you Mary Lou so Mr. Chairman we stand by  for any questions that the board may have uh   and ask for your support and approval this  evening all right any questions at this   time yes madam vice chair so Dr. Parker can we  make sure it's shared um if you would review   again what the range of teacher possible salary  increases will encompass we've had a couple of   questions from uh the community regarding  that certainly uh the the next

072slide mrs price   uh this slide rep the second the next slide  represents the at the top represents the   resulting salary increases for teachers based  on their experience level in the school division   those ranges would be three point  seven to seven point five percent   uh as you aware uh previously our most experienced  teachers great um years fifteen through thirty one   we needed to do a little more to make sure  that their salary was more competitive   so our veteran teachers will probably see the  more higher percentage as they move up on the   um to 1.5 percent separation on the on the salary  scale this is the second year we've been able to   make such an adjustment um beginning april 1st  when we um we made the same similar experience   adjustment in this year's budget the fy21 budget 

073so we feel that we've made some adequate progress   and representative to school divisions  in this region and making sure that our   teachers have a very competitive salary  thank you Ms. Aman um so just to clarify   from april 1st to what they can expect next  year you're going to have three and then this   in addition to yes Ms. Roaseau do you have those  percentages for this year um in front of you   no I don't but when I recall for the teachers  Dr. Parker was three and a half to five point   two percent this year and then three point seven  to seven point five for next year I think those   are close okay so that's on top of that yeah  yeah yes those are attitudes that's for it   all right additional questions really  in fact actually they're

074really better   than additives because the increase for  next year is on top of the increase this   year so it's really more than human with  us in terms of adding for something yeah all right well mr so this  uh the question I have is   in the uh in the era of raises is  this where does this rank in the   uh in the level of raises that we've given is  this the largest or amongst the largest ever um it's probably real close to the largest during  my tenure uh Mr. Brown all right so I'll just to   summarize in an era of a pandemic and when we  receive no additional funding uh gross dollar   amount from the from our locality uh we have been  able to give the largest raise that we've ever   been able to give to

075our to our teaching staff so  I just want to uh well we haven't voted yet but tell which way we're headed to the board I um I do appreciate all the the work  and the effort into the staff Dr. Parker appreciate   all the work and the effort that's gone into this  year and uh and and making it what it has been   up to this point all right so with that I'll ask  for a motion to approve our budget Mr. Chairman I   have a question I have a question mr um tamara oh  yes mr healey um being that there is extra money   in the budget is it possible that we can allocate  some of that money towards insurance premiums so   insurance premiums to stay um the same as theirs  right now instead of going up on

076employees   so Mr. Eley uh we certainly could make that um like  make that action and so what I'll recommend is   that we'll take our motion and if you would like  to amend the motion uh then you could you could   do so but uh just just to be clear there there is  no extra money and we presented a balanced budget   so it's uh so the budget is balanced based  on the recommendations for the increase for   bus drivers and uh and school nurses and work on  and the compensation on the further compensation   on the scale so it it's either or not an am  right um in terms of that in terms of that work all right thank you okay thank you so I believe  that uh madam vice ... you have made a motion   yes uh Mr.

077Chairman of make a  motion that we adopt the budget   as presented by the superintendent as  our budget all right is there a second all right all right any discussion all right there being none madam clerk  would you please call the roll Ms. Aman? For.   Dr. Best? For. Mr. Eley? For. Mr. Harris?  Marvin Harris - for. Mr. Hunter? Gary Hunter - for. Ms. Surles-Law? Lisa Surles-Law for. and   Mr. Brown? Douglas Brown - for. motion carries carry 7-0  thank you and so now I will say congratulations   uh it's it is an honor to preside over our largest  budget increase that we've ever done and uh and   really appreciate that all the hard work and  effort that's gone in during a pandemic to to   make this happen uh very appreciative of the the  work of my colleagues here

078on the on the board   all right we'll move on to section 5 reports and  information and 5.01 is an update on our return   to learn plan so Dr. Parker I'm sure there's lots  of interest in this one yes Mr. Chairman and I'd   like to say thank thank our staff for pulling uh  uh again another report together for the board   and the community on our return to learn I'll  preface the uh the presentation this evening   by reminding uh the community a few weeks ago when  we presented our revised return to learn uh plan   I quoted the governor as saying that we needed to  remain flexible in terms of how the how we respond   to this pandemic there will be new information  coming out periodically that requires us to   rethink and readjust our approach to providing  quality

079education under these circumstances   and since that saying that a few weeks back  we've had two adjustments come out from the cdc   we've had a new guide further guidance from the  vdh and the virginia department of education   and we just had the this information from the  cdc come out with three foot separation so we   are continuing to look at how we can continue to  manage instruction in our classrooms the safety   of our staff and students as we move forward with  new information new studies and a better approach   so I continue to encourage the community to remain  flexible we will continue to make adjustments and   we'll continue to listen to you and the needs of  your children as we move forward with our return   to learn planning so with that without further ado  I'll turn it over

080to Ms. Roaseau she'll she'll go   over some information regarding our safety aspects  and um and uh statistics and then we always   include some instructional information  in our return to learn updates so mr okay thank you Dr. Parker good  evening again board members   I would like to start our update with the a look  at the case rate and positivity rates that we have   for you this evening as perhaps you know the cdc  has revised the indicators and thresholds used   to report community transmission of covid 19. the  case rate and positivity rate are still the data   points that are used to track our progress in  containing the virus but they are now presented   on a seven-day basis instead of the previous  14-day basis the chart on the left is updated   on a weekly basis and the cdc

081provides this  data for use by school divisions in determining   what mitigation strategies are recommended  based on the level of community transmission   you can see that there are four levels of  transmission low moderate substantial and high you can see where Newport News is at the moment  and we're in the high level of transmission you   can look at our case rate 136 and our percentage  of positive tests is 10.2 percent both in the high   rate of transmission the term on the right is vdh  data and is updated daily so it has more recent   data you can see the date on the left part of  the slide is 313. these are I took these from the   website this morning and the and  the data on the right is dated today   so it is more recent data it tracks

082the  same two data sets case rate and positivity   but you can see that it reports the daily  case rate so that 23.9 is the daily case rate   it also reports the trend in both data  sets and both of them actually show the   trend from the beginning of pandemic so you  can see that the lines are fairly similar   but the vdh data also shows whether the trend  is increasing or decreasing or fluctuating   you can see that our case rate has been increasing  for the past 10 days uh and if as long as it's   been under 14 days consider that fluctuating so  you can see that that will be reported on our um   dashboard that's fluctuating uh the case rate  here is shown as 9.5 percent and it's decreasing   and decreasing for over 70 days and that's

083a  that's a good sign of a little concern that   the case rate is been up for the last 10 days but  hopefully that will get back to a downward trend   looking at the next slide there are four  thresholds as I mentioned low moderate substantial   and high and you can see that case rates greater  than 100 are considered high transmission   and as I mentioned in the earlier slide and we're  at 136 currently in Newport News so we are still   considered to be in high transmission our case  rate is currently 10.2 percent so again it's   also the high level but you saw on the vdh data  that our case rate it was nine and a half and so   should it trend down we would perhaps next week  being a substantial transmission but note that   the note at

084the bottom if the two indicators  suggest different levels the actions corresponding   to the higher threshold should be chosen so we  would still as long as our case rate is over 100   the cdc guidance recommends that we operate under  high transmission guidelines so looking at the   next slide as Dr. Parker indicated there have been  some recent changes to the cdc guidance and the   most impactful for us and for everyone probably  is the physical distancing guidance that lowers the   space between students from 6 to three feet in  some circumstances and we'll look at that a little   more closely in just a minute also there was some  clarification that ventilation is a component   of strategies to clean and maintain healthy  facilities which we've been working on that   um they removed a recommendation from physical  barriers and we've done

085a limited amount of that   because of the science around it um they've  clarified the role of community transmission   levels we've just talked about those in  decision making and then added guidance   on interventions when clusters occur so let's look  at uh what they haven't changed on the next slide   are the prevention strategies that they recommend  still to reduce transmission of covid in schools   and they're very familiar to you now and to all  of our staff and students most important probably   universal and correct use of  masks and physical distancing   we have required students and staff to wear masks  I'd like to remind parents this evening to please   remember that your students are expected  to arrive at the bus stop surrounding a bus   or to school wearing their masks masks are required  on our buses and in our

086schools for both students   and staff physical distancing we've been using six  feet and six foot guidance up until now and we're   now working to determine how the revised guidance  can be implemented in our schools hand washing and   respiratory etiquette is something we continue  to emphasize to all of our students and staff   our custodial staff is continuing to  clean throughout the day in each facility   I've heard many compliments on how clean our  schools are so I want to thank our custodial   staff for their hard work making that happen  and on the issue of contact tracing I want   to thank our nurses who've continued to work  with the health department on contact tracing   this is important work to keep  our staff and students safe   in addition to the training that our nurses took  on contact tracing many

087have also stepped up to to   be vaccinators to help our staff and other members  of the community receive their vaccinations   heard nothing but praise for our nurses so I  want to thank them this evening for the work   that they've done uh you can see that no matter um  the changes in the cdc guides it's the two things   that they continue to highlight as being the most  important or correct and universal use of masks   and physical distancing to be maximized to the  greatest extent possible so let's look at what   the new physical distancing guidelines say so the  distance that is recommended between students in   classrooms in elementary schools is now three feet  and that doesn't matter it doesn't matter for that   what the level of transmission of covid is in the  community so for our youngest

088learners they can be   safely three feet apart in middle schools and  high schools though uh the recommendation is   that students should be three feet apart unless  the community transmission is high in which   case six feet of fiscal distancing should still  be used so remember that we are still in high   transmission in Newport News so at this time  the cdc recommendation for our secondary schools   would still be six feet and they still  recommend six feet of distance between adults   and adults and students at all times in the  school building as well as when masks cannot be   worn and during certain activities as you can see  on the slide I asked our plant services staff to   look at our most common classroom sizes at each  level of school to determine what our classroom   capacities would be at

089three feet of distance  between students and those are shown here for you   I just want to explain a little bit so you know  we do not have one universal size of classroom in   any school and I think most of you realize that so  these are the most common sides of classrooms in   our schools and let me also say that some of our  classrooms you know may have a row of cabinetry   down the side they may have additional equipment  in the classroom so this is for example an early   childhood 16 by 20 of clear space and in that  area you'd be able to place 10 students at 3 foot   distance and so it goes throughout the rest of  this so this gives you an idea of what their range   for capacity would be in each size

090of classroom  and how many kids would be able to get there   safely at three feet now remember it's secondary  right now in Newport News based on the cdc   guidance it's still recommended that we have them  at 6 feet of distance so hopefully we'll get to the   point where three feet is safe and particularly  when we return to school next fall so you can see   what type of capacity you can accommodate at  that point the next thing I want to update you   on this evening is case investigation and contact  tracing it is an important part of our mitigation our buildings one thing I want to  make sure that you understand is that   as we consider reducing the physical distancing and  that is the definition of a close contact if you   note the last bullet on this

091slide schools  that use less than six feet between students   in classrooms still would need to use  the same definition of a close contact   which is someone who was within six feet for a  total of 15 minutes over a 24 hour period so if   students are sitting three feet apart and a  student has covid symptoms or is positive   those within six feet of that student will need  to be quarantined so it would perhaps expand the   number of children that would be quarantined if  we were to have a positive case or a child with   covid .... so I just want to make sure  that the community does understand that I want   to talk a little bit next about the quarantine  guidance again this is guidance from the cdc and this is the guidance that our  health department

092has recommended that   we follow particularly while the area is in high  transmission any student or staff member that is   identified as a close contact I just gave you the  criteria for that of a positive case or a close   contact of someone that is presumed to be positive  will be quarantined for 14 days if the individual   that is presumed to be positive is tested and  receives a negative result or is diagnosed   as having another condition those that were  quarantined will be notified that they can return   to ... I'd like you to note the underlying  comment if staff have been fully vaccinated   or tested positive in the last three months  and don't have symptoms they will not have to   quarantine we have seen the benefit of many of our  staff being vaccinated just in the past few

093weeks   several that have been identified as close  contacts have not had to quarantine so that's   really helpful to all concerned and you know I want  to thank all of our team that have been volunteers   both our nurses as well as a lot  of our hr staff who volunteered   at the cnu site to help our staff get  vaccinated it's really helped a lot of people so uh next I want to look at um change the  topic a little bit to child nutrition update   and first looking at our meals to go schedule  I think most folks are familiar with this but I   just wanted to give you a brief update when  students are learning virtually meals are   still available for them monday through friday  one to two pm at all of our elementary schools   the marshall early

094learning center and the middle  schools are listed on the slide and then from 4 30   to 5 30 they're available at the high schools that  are shown here um all the meal service information   is on our website so it's easily accessible by  everyone I do want to mention some additional   food assistance for our families this evening  though this is a little more recent information   in addition to the meals that we provide we  want to let families know that they will be   again receiving pebt assistance for those that  received the benefit earlier in the year or last   year the benefits will be available on the same  cards for newly enrolled families a card will be   sent in the mail this program is managed by the  virginia department of social services they began   releasing benefits last week

095retroactively  for october through january later this week   they'll release benefits monthly through july  so families can look forward to that assistance   and if you have questions about that the virginia  department of social services is really the best   source for answers but our staff will be glad to  help if they can so Dr. Parker uh that completes my   part of the presentation and I'll turn it over  I thank Dr. Manglicmot thank you Dr. Manglicmot good evening Chairman Brown, Vice chair Surles-Law, members of the board   pleasure to be here tonight Dr. Parker my  my goal tonight is just to provide you   a glance into our enrollment um for in-person  instruction but since I'm here I'm also going   to talk a little bit take a short period of  time to talk about some of the good things that  

096are happening within our buildings and across the  division since we began in-person instruction you   can see that our numbers really mirror what our  intent survey data from our families provided in   december shows us so you can see that our largest  enrollments are in our early learners and in our   special populations and then as our students get  older they our numbers dwindle but that's kind of   to be expected because as students get older they  become more self-directed in their learning style   and they take a little bit more ownership of their  learning but having said that with the low numbers   we have an opportunity to think a little bit  more creatively and strategically about how   we can optimize our space and provide  more focused supports for our students   we're currently pulling detailed reports to  share with building

097principals and their teams   we are looking at enrollment trends and not just  trends by the building but actual in classrooms   too so what do the classrooms look like we're  utilizing the vulnerability index indicators   and I know you don't know a lot about that but  Dr Gerald is going to speak to that tonight and   she'll tell you a little bit more about that and  we're blending that data with also our mid-year   data for our mathematics and reading diagnostic  tests so with all of that pulled together we're   going to provide data to our buildings so they can  work more strategically to provide those focused   supports to students who are not finding success  whether they're at home or they're in person and   to provide other supports for students who have  different needs based on the vulnerability index   our

098plan is to personalize our supports and  to reach out to specific students and their   families to develop academic plans through the  rest of the academic year we are also currently   working on extended learning throughout  the summer our summer learning plan is not   yet finalized but once it's finalized we'll  bring that to you for um for you to look at   so as of tonight we have been in person  for 22 days for our early learners   and just a little over two weeks for our secondary  students and I'd like time now to just highlight a   couple classrooms and other additional news to  bring home the idea that whether we're at home   learning or we're in person great things  are still happening for kids in Newport News   the next slide you can see Mrs Lisa Brooks  she's an

099outstanding second grade teacher   at Dutrow elementary school and she says the  in-person students are adjusting really well to   everything and they're actually doing an  awesome job following our covid rules   she wanted to highlight how  concurrent learning is going for her   at the elementary level you have to remember  that the only concurrent learning takes place   during the morning session and the morning session  focuses on the social emotional learning lessons   so the way that she's organizing her  classroom is she has her in-person kids   open their computers and log into zoom and at the  same time she has her kids at home log in to zoom   and she posts them up on the smart board for all  the other students in class to look at their focus   on classroom community respect mindfulness all  those great social emotional learning

100things   she really likes to utilize chat between the  at home and in person kids and yes they're   only in second grade but they love using the chat  feature and they talk to each other they say hello   and she says that she's really noticed  that the kids that are a bit more shy   and intimidated speaking out to others are really  really vocal on that chat she likes to play games   to get them to turn on their cameras she likes  to play funny face games or have them mimic their   specific favorite animal and then they turn on  their cameras to really engage in the lesson   she has what's called a dolphin of the day  dutrow dolphins as you can see here and that   is a special little helper that is I'm going to  pick the secret word

101to end the morning meeting   and they also get to choose the brain break which  is like a go noodle video and if you're familiar   with those are just like these cute little  videos that kids get up and get the wiggles out   I think that she says I think the children  really value this time together so they can all   spend time and see their friends whether they're  at home or in the classroom she says being back   in person with students has been great we  can do projects and activities together and   we made a stained glass egg the other day by  following written directions and we created   faces imagining we had animal characteristics  she says second graders still need practice   using scissors glue and crayons and it's nice to  be able to help them hone those fine

102motor skills   the next classroom I'd like to talk about  is a really dynamic sixth grade English team   at ... at booker t washington middle school  this English team worked together collaboratively   to create a blended research module that embeds  playlists for students to follow whether they're   in person or they're at home the great thing  about this is they got this idea from caitlyn   tucker's playlist design which was a division-wide  pd we gave to teachers in the fall caitlyn tucker   the the concept is each student works from an  individual or assigned playlist of activities   and it pulls together a mix of activities that's  designed to build specific skills and students   get the opportunity to control the pace of their  learning and the teachers customize the individual   learning paths with the playlist model so  these teachers work together

103to create an   engaging project that incorporated data analysis  scaffolding it allowed for student voice and   choice it personalized opportunities for varying  learning abilities and it ensured both our in-home   and our in-person students were engaged in the  learning and meeting the same learning objectives   you can see at the bottom mrs amy  coggin is working with a student   um and in the classroom and at the top you  have mrs grace rivera working with her student   while the student teacher is working at  home concurrently with the other students   another really exciting thing that happened in  Newport News is the first lady of Virginia came   so Mrs Northam and Dr Underwood which is the  chief diversity equity and inclusion officer   at the governor's office visited watkins early  childhood center on march 18th both Dr Underwood   and Mrs Northam read

104stories to pre-k classrooms  and also went to the kitchens to thank our child   nutrition staff at this moment I do want to put  in a plug to all those parents listening at home   that our pre-k registration is now open shameless  plug and you can go online and register right now   if you don't have access online or can't find  it please go to any Newport News school and   go to the office and they can send you to the  registrar and they'll help you get registered the next thing is that the national art education  association and the national association for   music education promoted the month of march as  youth art month and music in our schools month   and how perfect that Mrs Pat Franklin was just like  recognized here at the board meeting and the same   month

105so that's really kind of fun um Newport News presented our annual district art show   and they are doing their music performance  all virtually this year so while we're at   home that's now stopping us in Newport News right  we're still we're forging ahead and you can see   that all schools and all our teachers participated  in the monthly activities I mean all that's great   and we have our elementary virtual art  exhibit a secondary virtual art exhibit and   a virtual teacher art exhibit and all of  those can be found online on our website and   on individual school websites so look for those  links right here you can see that three of our   students represented Newport News and they're  in the virginia school board association   student art show you can see here on the left  that third grader picture

106is kailan saunders   in third grade at saunders elementary school  the middle is sarah zang in eighth grade and   she's a crittenden middle school student and  on the right you got tina wynn from 12th grade   woodside high school so congratulations to those  students they have beautiful artwork on the next   slide I just want to let you all know that it's  um we have our virtual concert it's happening   premiering on youtube tomorrow at 11 30 a.m the  link is right there but again it can be found on   the website and we encourage all of you to  take a mindfulness break tomorrow at 11 30   and listen to our students give a  musical performance to all of us and lastly one of close near and dear  to my heart as Ms Surles-Law knows   we have science fair and

107who would think that  science fair could be virtual but again that   didn't stop us covid is not stopping us in Newport News we had a virtual science fair take place we   had 41 students submit projects to the all city  fair and then we had 12 of our students submit   to the tidewater science and engineering fair  and you can see that six projects had won awards   we had one first place for second place and one  third place so congratulations to our students   and the teachers that supported them along the  way the very last slide is just for all parents   that are listening out there again Dr Gerald is  going to come and talk about our assessment but   just reminders that we do have grade 8 writing  and and of course writing that is taking place   up

108to spring break then after spring break we  we're we're jamming we're rolling we've got sats   we got psats cte industry um testing and of course  our sol testing and of course testing taking place   so that ends my presentation to the board tonight  um any questions all right any questions from the   board yes madam vice chair just one will the um  art and music exhibitions be put on social media   oh that's a good question we would have to ask  Pat is she still oh Michelle I I don't know for   putting and I'm sure yes right here from our  community okay great great I'm excited thank   you all right additional questions Mrs. Aman yes I  do and I'm not sure who this is for so please feel   free whoever to take it um on you know looking

109at  where we are and where we might be able to go even   within the six foot distance are we looking at  maybe giving we're looking at giving principals   some of the flexibility I'm thinking in I think  of the IB program if you have one or two students   it may make sense to not separate teachers and  students if that program needs more in person   to get as many kids and that that so that the  building principals might have some flexibility   within programs too if they needed to we've got  we've seen classes of three to seven percent I I   really think that parents made a made a very good  um a good example tonight of where is where our   schools can be a little more flexible now keep in  mind uh you know when we when we

110implemented this   a few weeks we're in two weeks two weeks in we  knew we wanted to collect some some data initially   before we made any adjustments so our principles  have given us that uh have been a little bit you   know very hesitant to make more adjustments in their  buildings one to make sure their teachers had the   consistency also that students had consistency  but we know that we'll start rolling out   some adjustments in the near future based on  where we are right now we have a lot of space   in some of our classrooms where students are  still learning virtually we were hoping and   still are hoping and I hope for those listening  out there right now we're still hoping that the   students will come back and we'll take fill some  of those seats however uh in

111cases like this I   think we're going to meet as a team and we'll talk  about uh what we can do at the site level to allow   some flexibility and adjusting schedules um and  everything as to their schedules and the devil's in   the details you know with transportation and other  things so we want to make sure that we have a good   conversation with the with transportation with our  the principles to make sure that they can manage   any adjustments to student schedules without  uh for lack of better terms creating a mess   so we want to make sure we we were very thoughtful  in how we go about providing that opportunity but   I would I definitely hearing that young man this  evening I would definitely want to make sure that   if he can sit in a classroom for

112four days and  there's space available in that class and it helps   him instructionally I would want to make that  happen for him absolutely thank you thank you yes   I'll go ahead Mr. Harris oh yeah that was a  great segue for what Dr. Parker just said I guess   my question would be as a division do we have  data on how many administrators teachers have   actually uh took the vaccine or is planning on  taking the vaccine or those that are not going   to take it and and the reason I said it is because  you know it starts it starts with us at the top   feeling confident uh so I don't know if that's  one of the reasons why parents might be headaches   send their kids back I'm sure there's probably  multiple reasons but I would definitely like

113to   know what is our percentage that's a very good  question that's a very good question Mr. Harris   and we have our uh vaccine crew here mrs Hautz  and mr Wright who've been leading that charge   and they'll be happy they'll be happy to share  some data sure okay thank you this evening we   estimate at this point that only 15 of our staff  have opted out of the vaccine so we're very good   much more than the 25 that most people are  feeling we've we've got more than that um   and of those staff members who have chosen to take  the vaccine we are at this point probably about 98   have received their first vaccine and around 90  have received the second um now as a friday when   we vaccinate some more people that number will  go up so

114that's where we're at right now okay   appreciate it okay thank you very much appreciate  that thank you thank you Mr. Harris uh Dr. Best   my question was about the education plan  she talked about after the assessment   who will develop the plan um you talked about  the plans for the remainder of the school year   who will develop the plans who will monitor them  and will it be uniform across the division the   expectation will be the same across the division  we're developing division plans right now but we   also want to personalize for students too based  on their mathematics and reading diagnostic tests   so it's a little bit of like we'll help develop  the the structure of which they can work but   then it will be a partnership with our building  principals their teams and our teachers developing  

115those plans for individual students thank you the  monitoring and dr best we have the the software   that does a lot of the monitoring for us so it's  the interpretation of the data from the system   is what our teachers and our building leaders  do okay okay thank you additional questions   all right does that at this time end item 5.01  just just a general remark Mr. Chairman that uh   what we will be doing in the next few days is  where we are expecting the vdh and vdoe to come   out with some more phase guidance uh twice in a  month but uh uh based on the cdc information so   one upon upon receipt I had a meeting with the  state superintendent yesterday morning and uh he   mentioned that there will be further guidance  coming out to address the

116cdc's recent changes   so we will be making some adjustments we will be  communicating and working with our staff and uh   to uh principals and and hearing from our teachers  regarding any adjustments but our goal is to try   to get us to get students into school of as soon  as possible in four days four days a week if we   can manage that safely and uh for those students  who would like to be in school so uh if we can   manage that and manage the logistics associated  with it um we'll try to make that happen within   the guidelines that are that are provided by the  vd video emvdh so hopefully we'll be providing   board with some more updated information once we  hear from uh here from our uh virginia department   of education thank you Dr. Parker and

117we'll move  on to 5.02 which is our special education annual   update and that would be Dr Mitchell who is  joining us virtually uh Dr Mitchell are you with   us yes I am good evening Chairman Brown, Vice-chair  Surles-Law, school board members and Dr. Parker I   am pleased to be here this evening to provide  information pertaining to the division special   education flow through application oftentimes  that application is referred to as the annual plan   tonight's presentation is an annual requirement to  inform the board of the proposed spending plan for   funds allocated by the federal government based  on the requirements outlined in the application local education agencies are required to submit  this application each year pursuant to the federal   provisions of the individuals with disabilities  act of 2003 as well as state regulations governing   special education and related services

118to students  with disabilities prior to the submission of the   plans the virginia department of education  requires that local divisions review the plan   with their local special education advisory  committee as well as our local school board   an important part of the application always  includes verification of adherence to a list   of assurances that have been delineated  by the virginia department of education   these assurances assist us in maintaining state  and federal compliance and they include providing   a free public and appropriate education providing  an individualized education plan for each student   which we typically call an iep ensuring that  students with disabilities are educated with   non-disabled peers the maximum extent appropriate  and implementing policies and practices to prevent   misidentification of students with  disability by gender race or ethnicity we currently provide services to students in  13 distinct categories totaling 3

119685 students   based on the most recent december 1 count we are  only down by 34 students compared to last year   in addition to the assurances the annual plan  requires the division submit information on   selected programs and expenditures one  such program is the local jail program   where services are provided by certified special  education teachers to students with disabilities   who are incarcerated additionally we are required  to maintain the same level of state and local   funding for students with disabilities as in  pre in the previous year otherwise known as   maintenance of effort in collaboration with local  private school representatives a determination is   made to identify the most appropriate use of  proportionate set-aside funds for students   with disabilities who are parentally placed  in private schools those private schools are   private schools such as zenbe baptist or hampton  roads academy

120not to be confused with private day   special education schools like rivermont and  east end in most recent years including this   year the private schools have requested that the  funds be allocated for speech language services the grant is broken down into two parts part b and  part c part b funds are designated for preschool   through 12th grade special education programs  where part c is is significantly I'm sorry is   specifically for pre-k special education programs  only we receive approximately six million dollars   from this grant and are recommending that we  continue to utilize the funds for personnel   costs to include salaries and benefits  for a variety of instructional personnel again the part c grant is designated for  preschool special education programs only   and we are also recommending the  funds be allocated for personnel our next steps include seeking

121approval  of the spending plan at the april   20th board meeting with submission to the virginia  department of education no later than may 14th   this concludes my presentation and I am happy  to answer any questions you may have at this   time I have a question all right yes Dr. Best can  can you go back and just reiterate that private   school funding just to make sure I'm clear on  my understanding absolutely so with the private   school funding this the state requires that we set  aside a proportion and amount of the funding for   students whose parents have decided that they want  to place them in a private school and because most   private schools do not provide special education  services there's a pot of money designated   for those students so the heads of each private  school meet with a

122representative from Newport News look at the amount of money the state has  indicated we need to set aside and then together   they determine what will those funds be used for  and so in this year as well as recent years the   heads of the private schools have decided they'd  like it to be spent for speech language services   so if you if they have a student who attends  Denbigh baptist but needs speech language services   the parent will bring the student to the closest  school or to their zone school if they like at   the designated time that they have agreed  upon with the speech language pathologist   and actually receive the speech services right  there and then they go back to their school   okay and can you tell me the difference again  between the two schools you you talked

123about   uh hampton roads academy and east end   academy tell me the difference again   yes the the um other schools east end academy  or rivermont that are private special education   schools only they receive their  funding from a different source   so they already have speech language therapists  there they already have special education teachers   there so those students are able to receive those  services right there at their school whereas the   other private schools they don't typically have  special education teachers so if their child   needs a service then the heads of the schools  will help determine what service that will be   now let's say that a parent enrolls their child in  Denbigh baptist and they have a learning disability   then that parent will have to make the decision  whether they're going to keep them at Denbigh baptist or

124if they're going to enroll them in  public school if the head of their school has not   determined that they will use their funds for  learning disability okay thank you you're welcome additional questions uh yeah I got I got one more mr yes mr ...and  that also includes schools that may be in hampton   correct or if there are schools that happen so  in theory we could a mother a parent from Newport News can have their kid sent to hampton for  specific education and we still have to cover that   charge that's a great question so if  they have their student enrolled in   up in a school in hampton but they live in  Newport News then they would need to come   to Newport News to receive the speech language  services okay all right thanks you're welcome thank you

125Mr. Harris additional questions all right thank you Dr Mitchell thank you  very much all right then we will now move   on to item 5.03 which is our assessment update  thank you mr Mr. Chairman and we have Dr Shmmika   Gerald here and uh mr joe ellis our competent  and capable and trusty accountability team   to provide an assessment update uh this evening  and they have some new information to share in   this update on some processes they have their  department has developed to provide to identify   students uh we call it shining a flashlight  sometimes on specific students based on need   to make sure that we are responding  accordingly to the needs of our kids   so ms dallas will kick it off and dr gerald  thank you for joining us this evening as well   good evening Chairman Brown, Vice-chairman 

126Surles-Law, members of the board and Dr. Parker   as Dr. Parker just alluded to my name is joe  ellis I'm the supervisor of instructional data   for Newport News public schools and tonight  I'm pleased to present our plan to utilize   multiple pieces of data to provide a broader  picture of our students and how that broader   picture will better provide our students  with needed supports and interventions the purpose of our work is to develop a  data-informed process for identifying students   in need of additional support the need for such  a process did not arise because of the covid 19   pandemic however its importance was brought to  the forefront as a result of the steps taken to   protect the health and safety of our teachers  and students we have all experienced struggles   over the course of the last year but

127our students  not only experienced similar personal struggles   they learned to learn all over again here's  a picture that I feel sums up the situation   this is my son logan he's seven  years old and he's in first grade   while he loves learning his body language in the  picture tells a different story one that I think   we can all sympathize with that being said we are  all adults and we have a greater capacity to adapt   we've asked students especially our youngest  learners to be mature beyond their years and   take greater ownership of their education now that  we are back to providing in-person instruction it   is incumbent upon us to support them and ensure  they are on track for success with that in mind   we have two points of focus we must consider the  whole child and not

128simply focus on academics   including their social and emotional well-being  and its effect on their success and in the spirit   of equity we must prioritize students based on  their individual needs not the perceived needs   of certain demographic subgroups this process  squarely aligns with our strategic plan journey   2025. it supports student success in using data  to inform instructional decisions and implements   a tiered system of supports for our students it  promotes student wellness by focusing on growth   and providing the supports necessary for students  to flourish finally it ensures the equitable   distribution of resources throughout newport  news public schools addressing the needs of our   students individually rather than reinventing the  wheel our process relies on guidance provided by   the virginia department of education's recover  redesign restart plan while the document was   designed to help in planning for students to 

129return to in-person instruction it contains sage   advice for developing strategies to identify  and support students under any circumstance a notable feature of the recover redesign restart  plan is its clear focus on educational equity   as a call to action in support of that  focus the vdoes return to school equity   planning subcommittee made two key recommendations   rather than rush to collect new information we  were challenged to evaluate existing data to   identify students most vulnerable to learning  loss and as we move forward focusing on student   growth and designing diagnostic systems to  measure progress and establish accountability these two recommendations form the  basis for a need to adjust our focus   we must meet the needs of our vulnerable learners  by stressing quality over quantity with regard to   our instruction and assessment championing  equity through a focus on student growth

130with an eye on adjusting our focus we look  to address the first of the return to school   equity planning subcommittee's recommendations  to do so we developed the vulnerability index   using our existing data to capture characteristics  that point to potential learning vulnerabilities   I will now turn the presentation over to Dr  Gerald to provide you with some additional details good evening this summer the virginia department  of education posed the question what are the   various populations of students who will need  targeted ex targeted attention throughout all   phases as they may be most impacted by the  extended school closures in addition they provided   six factors to consider in the identification  of vulnerable learners the return to learn   assessment committee reviewed the information and  quickly realized that nnps would develop a more   focused metric to prioritize vulnerable learners  in a

131phased return to in-person instruction   the Newport News public schools vulnerability  index takes into consideration the general   guidance from the virginia department of  education and incorporates unique factors that   impact elementary middle and high schools in our  division once the factors were identified members   of the school leadership team student advancement  curriculum and development and technology teams   were asked to rank the factors from the greatest  impact to the least now we recognize that each   factor plays a role in student learning outcomes  and each factor earned a weight in our final index an important part of this work is  identifying which indicators could impact   any learner and which ender can indicators  only impact certain learners as an example   the team felt that families experiencing  homelessness during school closures   are immediate need of critical support and  supported and critical support

132and weighted   homelessness is the highest indicator  of vulnerability for all learners michelle and I talked about this we knew this  would happen tonight at the elementary level   powell's identification applies to our  earliest learners literacy levels as you   can see this indicator is not included in the  calculation for middle and high school learners   at the secondary level research indicates that  the transition from elementary to middle school   and middle to high school can have a significant  impact on learners and should be considered as a   priority and decisions regarding returning  to in-person instruction now this is not an   exhaustive list of our indicators but a sample  to give you a better idea of the work completed   to prioritize our learners for a phased return  to in-person instruction in alignment with the   virginia department of education's recommendations  please understand

133the tool was developed based on   early guidance provided in prioritizing learners  returning to in-person instruction we are now   using this tool to prioritize and intervention  resources for our summer programs and beyond   I would like to point out that the vulnerability  index is not meant to replace the professional   judgment of our educators but serves as one  of many data points used to inform decisions   related to supports needed  leading to more equitable outcomes   Newport News public schools technology team  took the weighted factors and created a weighted   vulnerability index let's look at a fifth grade  let's look at fifth grade students in Newport News   for a brief demonstration of how the index works  jason does not have any of the vulnerability index   indicators identified in our previous slide and  is a student who will be considered in tier

134one of   our phase return plan tier one includes students  with a vulnerability index of less than ten   nicholas is considered a twice exceptional  student as a student with a disability and   identified as gifted nicholas was also identified  as chronically absent during the 18-19 school year   nicholas would be indicated as a tier 2 student  tier 2 students are with greater uh have an   index vulnerability index greater than or  equal to 10 but less than 20. now sophia is a   multilingual learner or English language learner  and is identified as economically disadvantaged   sophia would be considered in tier three tier  three includes students with a vulnerability   index of 20 or greater you will see sophia and  jason in a few minutes as we demonstrate how   the vulnerability index can be triangulated with  academic factors and is being used

135to inform the   work of the remediation and intervention committee  led by dr stennett byrd overall at the division   level 30 percent of nnps students are identified  as being in tier one this is the lowest level of   the vulnerability index close to half of our  students are in tier two and twenty five for   twenty five percent of students are in tier  three the highest risk for vulnerability   as you can see our elementary schools have the  highest percentage of students in tier three   elementary students in grade three are and below  receive additional weighting in the vulnerability   index as early learners as indicated by the  virginia department of education additionally   being below grade level benchmark on pal's  assessments also adds additional weight as   you can see as we move up through the levels of  schooling the percentage of

136students in tier three   decreases while the percentage percentage  of students in tier one increases currently   our technology and student advancement  teams use the vulnerability index in   conjunction with other data points to  prioritize the allocation of resources   for our families in a moment mr ellis will share  an example I have of how the vulnerability index   is being used with current diagnostic data to  inform our work before I turn the presentation   over back to mr ellis we would like to take the  opportunity to thank the members of the student   advancement curriculum and development school  leaders and school leadership team we could   not have done this work without their input a  special thank you goes out to our technology   team especially tracy leonard who waited and  coded the indexes so we would have access to   this critical information

137at a click of a button  mr ellis will now take you through the diagnostic   assessment data and how the vulnerability  index can be used to support the identification   of students in need of resources thank you dr  gerald again keeping an eye on adjusting our focus   we addressed the second of the return to school  equity planning subcommittee's recommendations   by forming collaborative groups to represent  elementary and secondary academic concerns   gathering input from school leadership curriculum  and development student advancement and technology   our initial brainstorming sessions yielded  a list of many different demographic   attendance literacy math and social emotional  indicators differentiating the academic focus   for the individual school levels we will use  diagnostic assessment data for the literacy and   math components where available these assessments  provide us with information relative to each   student's present level of performance as well 

138as allow us to track student growth both over the   course of the school year and over the course of a  student's journey with Newport News public schools   we will use course performance at the  secondary level to capture how students   are performing in the core subjects this  will allow us to keep a pulse on students   at risk for becoming credit deficient  and off track for graduating on time concerns over the academic effects of  school closures in the wake of the covet   19 pandemic are palpable not just within the  Newport News community but at the state and   national levels as well in fact there is no  shortage of research examining these effects   a quick search on google scholar for  covid 19 impact on k-12 education   returns over 15 000 results with  major publications from nwea   education week

139and the center for research  on education outcomes at stanford university   the majority of this research is focused  on decreased reading and math proficiency   levels and considerations for instructional  planning when students return to in-person   learning one such study is closer to  home analyzing early literacy in virginia so the phonological awareness literacy  screening better known as pals   is an early literacy diagnostic assessment given  to students in virginia it's administered by the   university of virginia in partnership with the  vdoe the pals office at uva recently published a   research brief entitled examining early reading  skills in the wake of the covid 19 pandemic   based on data gathered across the state during  the assessment administration in the fall   they found an increase in the percentage  of kindergarten and first grade students   at risk for reading failure when compared to  the

140previous fall in kindergarten the increase   was just over nine percent statewide while in  first grade the increase was just over 10 percent   this led the research team to note that it was  the largest single year increase in students   below the pals benchmark in the history of  pals examining our data along those same lines   we see a similar increase in our  kindergarten risk for reading failure   while at the first grade level we see a greater  increase risk than mentioned in the research brief   while this is almost certainly attributable  to the effects of covet 19 school closures   we must be prepared to address the increase  and get our students back on track for success with that in mind let's take a look at  the elementary level academic factors   first we use attendance data categorizing students  based on

141their number of absences as the number   of absences increases students tend to be less  successful so students in the upper categories   receive a greater weight our students in grades  three through five take their reading inventory   assessment three times each year with the reading  inventory we have aligned students lexile scores   to sol performance to develop our own performance  bands students currently in the beginner   performance band receive the highest weight with  the weight decreasing as they move up the levels   students in grades two through five take the  math inventory assessment three times each year   students are categorized based  on their quantile score again   with the greater weight placed  on lower levels of performance now that you've heard about what we will use to  measure elementary students academic performance   let's take a look at some of the data

142first  you see the elementary attendance percentages showing that the majority of nnps  elementary students have between   zero and four absences this is a similar  percentage when comparing to last school year   there is an increase in the percentage  of elementary students in the 15 or more   absence category so on the one hand we have  kept more than half of our youngest students   in the lowest absence category through  the period of full virtual instruction   but we also have elementary students that struggle  to stay engaged with virtual learning next you see   our third fourth and fifth grade students current  performance on the reading inventory assessment   the chart is showing how students are categorized  into the nnps performance bands based on their   most recent lexile score like friday it  is important to note that students are   categorized according to

143the spring benchmark  score so in essence what we're doing here   is when they take the test we're measuring  whether they are already reading on grade level   each student is assigned a growth goal after the  fall administration and their progress towards   that goal is monitored throughout the school  year we round out our elementary data with our   second through fifth grade students current  performance on the math inventory assessment   similar to the reading inventory chart above  students are categorized into performance groups   based on their most recent quantile score again  it's important to note that students are being   evaluated against the end of your benchmark  score just like with the reading inventory   students are assigned a growth goal and their  progress is measured throughout the school year now let's look at the middle school academic  factors again we use

144the same attendance   data categorizing students based on their  number of absences and giving students in   the upper categories a greater weight middle  school students like their elementary peers   take their reading inventory assessment three  times each year in middle school students are   categorized based directly on their lexile scores  with students at the lower levels of performance   receiving the highest weight and at the middle  school level we start to include course grades   in the four course subjects as each grade is on  the same grading scale and we begin to contin   introduce credit bearing courses students will  have their previous year's grades count for   one-third of the weight while the current year's  grades will count for the remaining two thirds as we examine our middle school data  let's first look again at attendance   close to 70 percent of

145nnps middle school  students have between zero and four absences   comparing these percentages to last year shows a  large movement of students from the five to nine   absence category into the zero to four absence  category this points to increased levels of   participation and engagement in the middle grades  during virtual learning next you see our middle   school students current performance on the reading  inventory assessment just like with elementary   students middle school students are categorized  into performance groups based on their most   recent lexile score their reading levels are being  assessed against the spring benchmark score and   each student is assigned a growth goal and their  progress is monitored throughout the school year   for the course grades we categorize  based on the number of f's   students have received with a greater weight  placed on students with a greater number

146of   f's the distribution of students based  on the number of f's they've received is   shifted towards the higher categories when  compared to last school year this mirrors a   national trend in education during the  first half of the 2020-21 school year finally let's look at the  high school academic factors   we use the same attendance data categorizing  students based on the number of absences   and at the high school level we rely on  course grades in the four core subjects   just as in middle school high school students will  have their previous year's grades count one third   of the weight while the current year's grades  count for the remaining two thirds of the week examining our high school data let's  look at attendance one last time   close to three quarters of nnps high school  students have between zero and

147four absences   comparing these percentages to last  year shows a large movement of students   from the five to nine and ten to fourteen absence  categories into the zero to four absence category   this points again to increase levels of  participation and engagement this time in the high   school grades for the course grades we keep with  categorizing students based on the number of f's   they've received again with a greater weight  placed on students with a greater number of f's   when compared to last school year the  distribution of students based on the   number of f's they've received is shifted  towards both ends of the spectrum so for our   9th through 11th grade students there are both  more students who did not receive an f and more   students who received five or more f's however  the increase in the percentage

148of students with   with without an f is greater than the increase  in students with five or more f's for our seniors   the percentage of students who did not receive  an f increased by about nine percentage points okay so if we remember that the purpose of this  work is to provide students with support based   on their individual needs doing so requires  that we utilize both the vulnerability index   and those academic factors we  just reviewed allowing them to   work together to provide us with a means  to make purposeful data-informed decisions so dr jail explained how the vulnerability index  was originally developed to guide our decisions   on which students to prioritize when phasing in  in-person instruction and now that we are back   to in-person instruction we can continue to use  the vulnerability index to provide students with   remediation

149and intervention supports additionally  our academic factors shine the data flashlight on   student struggles so we know how to support their  growth rather than combining the two measures into   a single all-encompassing score we are keeping the  two parts separate but allowing them to intersect   focusing on the intersection of a student's  potential vulnerabilities and their current   academic performance gives us an opportunity to  provide purposeful targeted supports to give you   an idea of why it is so important to consider both  factors I'll take you through two quick examples   so one of the most important reasons for  keeping the vulnerability index and the   academic factors as distinct pieces  is to guard against implicit bias   bias is inherent to the human condition  but by remaining objective we can eliminate   misconceptions about our students remember sophia  one of dr gerald's example

150fifth grade students she's a tier three on the vulnerability index at  the highest level of risk for potential learning   vulnerability we could simply assume that she is  struggling because she's a multilingual learner   and economically disadvantaged  and put her on a watch list   or in a course of remediation but examining  the academic factors tells her complete story   she doesn't have perfect asset attendance but  she's on the lower end of the scale she is an   excellent reader scoring in the advanced  category on the reading inventory assessment   and she has been an excellent reader  showing consistent lexile growth over time she is doing well in math scoring in the high  category on the math inventory assessment   and while she didn't show growth last year she  did show growth based on her fall assessment   sophia's data speaks to an

151important  truth that having some characteristics   of a vulnerable learner does not  condemn a student to academic struggle conversely our biases can also  run in the opposite direction   remember jason another one of Dr Gerald's examples he's a tier one on the vulnerability  index at the lowest level of potential   learning vulnerability and in fact jason has none  of the vulnerability indicators however jason does   have a troubling number of absences and is in  danger of being classified as chronically absent   he's a struggling reader scoring in the beginner  category on the reading inventory assessment   his test history speaks to his  struggles as a virtual learner   as he showed growth last year and his  performance has since declined jason is   showing a similar pattern with the math inventory  assessment currently scoring in the low category   he showed growth last year

152and his performance  has since declined with the math inventory as well   jason's situation cements the truth we saw  with sophia that knowing a student's potential   learning vulnerability is not sufficient to  protect predict their academic performance these two examples speak directly to the  importance of considering the individual   circumstances of each child as we make  decisions regarding their course of study   for sophia we could monitor her attendance  to reduce any additional missed days   we could monitor her English language progress  to ensure she successfully exits the program   and we could determine whether she is currently  receiving talented and gifted services as a means   to enrich her academic progress for jason we  could schedule time with a student involvement   specialist to encourage consistent attendance  and participation and with a professional   school counselor to support his social and  emotional needs

153we could also initiate the   student support team process to begin a closer  and more intentional monitoring of his progress so I've talked throughout this presentation  about making data informed decisions   and showing you two examples  of how we can do just that   I want to stress that we do not choose  the phrase data informed lightly   while we want to ensure a level of objectivity to  minimize bias in our decision making we also want   to acknowledge the relationships that our staff  members work so hard to build with our students   making data informed decisions means using the  data as one piece of information in the puzzle   but also honoring the professional judgment of our  teachers and administrators their daily work with   students provides them with a deeper understanding  of the individual circumstances that play an   important role in

154supporting that supports they  need so at this time I'll turn the presentation   back over to Dr Gerald to preview what's on the  horizon joe gets to talk about all the cool stuff   now that we've discussed our tools to inform our  work we'll close out with a review of what data   will be gathered during marketing period 4 and  the testing that will provide this information wait did I click it I'm gonna  just let you click it Ms Price   um during our last quarter of the 2020  2021 school year we will continue to   gather data to inform our work as we move  into summer and into the 21 22 school year   students will participate in division diagnostic  assessments identified in blue and state required   assessments identified in black the board in our  community can expect an update

155on these results   later this school year in addition the nnps  assessment calendar is available on the newport   news public schools website and can be easily  accessed by scanning the qr code on your screen   you may be wondering about our third  marking period benchmark assessments   the primary function of our benchmarks is to  inform instructional decisions and identify   supports for each learner as we transition to  in-person instruction it is critical that our   phenomenal instructional staff has the opportunity  to develop relationships create routines and   provide high quality instruction newport  news public schools has allied its work with   three recommendations from the u.s department of  education and the virginia department of education   in partnership with curriculum development and  student advancement guidance has been provided to   use shorter assessments that are available online  and are offered over an extended period

156of time   our curriculum leaders have developed a list of  formative assessments that has been shared with   our teachers and our building leaders on march 2nd  the virginia department of education announced the   release of the virginia remote student progress  test v r s p t one more acronym for you to learn   as a tool for schools and families  to remain informed on our progress   the vr stp is a traditional online  assessment that assesses grades   reading and math for grades three through  five in science in grades five and eight   in previous presentations I share that reading and  mathematics achievement and science participation   are accountability meta measures under the every  student succeeds act of 2015. the vrstp will not   replace sol test performance under federal or  state accountability measure accountability   measures the vrstp is required to be offered 

157to students in grades three through eight who   are receiving all of their instruction remotely  and whose families refuse to have them come to   school to take sol assessments a plan for newport  news public schools is currently in development   and as updates are available we will be sure to  communicate that to you and our school community at this time I would like to take the opportunity  to thank the board our school leadership our   students and our whole community for your  flexibility and your partnership as we take   on assessments in a whole new environment we're  also ready to take any questions you may have   at this time thank you dr gerald so questions  from the board I have a question yes I miss   amen so you're hand first oh no go ahead dr best  i think you

158counters okay um can you tell me how   these virtual the virtual remote student  progress test not the test yet how   we we talk about looking at the whole student  so how this for your student support team how is   that different because didn't student support team  look at the whole student as well like how is this   and then as as well as um testing data didn't  look at everything as well how is this this   is just a new measure that they're able to use  that combines instead of looking pulling several   reports together like pulling the attendance  report pulling the grade report pulling all of   these reports whether a student is economically  disadvantaged or homeless or pulling all this is   one metric now so we have combined those things  into one metric so it supports the sst

159process   for our schools by providing a more concise  picture of students okay and then who how I mean   where how and who can you tell me how this will  work if I'm a teacher let's say if I'm a teacher   okay or an administrator can you tell me how it  works yes ma'am the administrators we we want to   make sure we have um gone through a validation  process with the vulnerability index to ensure   that it properly properly functions and identifies  students in partnership with our technology team   so we have finished that validation process  and we will then roll it out to the principals   through training because what we want schools to  understand is that the vulnerability index and   the academic tiers are not the only tool that they  must use their professional judgment still I take  

160for example i'll use jordan for example since he's  here jordan can come to me as a building principal   today and say dr gerald I have this this this  this and this going on before I can enter into the   computer so the vulnerability index gets updated  as a professional I can call dr mitchell and say   Dr Mitchell I need crisis support at my school  I need these supports wrapped around my family   so this is just another piece of information and  as the building principle it'll be available in   synergy analytics so it'll be available online to  the building principles and and teachers as well   at this point we have not made that determination  about rolling out to teachers we're really using   it to to make division level and building based  decisions and we'll discuss that moving forward  

161but that is a great suggestion thank you okay I  was just trying to process in my head like how   how over okay that's that's it for now well just  just keep in mind and uh um think about it this   way as a teacher you would have access to yours  to your students records but we also protect a   lot of information on students from people who  do not necessarily need that information so um   but who would not normally through prop through  other means have access to that student's academic   or or record um so we want to make sure that we're  using the vulnerability index in a in a way that   benefits that identifies how we can better serve  the student but we also don't want to make sure   that it's just something that's going out to

162to to  individuals who don't necessarily need information   on that student's personal circumstances so uh the  building level administrator the teacher of record   the school counselor who works with that student  or anyone who has that student on the caseload   will work out the processes on how that that data  point will be available to them and how they may   make decisions better decisions to  to provide service to that student   that may be needed but it definitely is something  we wouldn't want to put in everyone's hands   or make accessible to to uh staff who are  not in direct supervision of that student and we wouldn't do that with their academic  record either but same same concept okay thank you miss amen thank you um I have a  couple questions i'll try to keep it as concise as   possible

163um I guess first because we were talking  about sort of how it works the hypothetical   adjacent it almost seems like in the two cases  that you gave us the vulnerability index informs   academically struggling students because if you  see it and it's high but they're doing fine you   might have some parameters but the real key  is if they're struggling that may give us an   indication of why they're struggling and what we  can do and are there we the suggestions had to do   with monitoring I am assuming but I just wanted  to ask you know are there also parameters where   it may or may not be attendant so much as he may  just need help he may not be able to learn in a   virtual fashion versus a facebook yes that that is  also included and and

164what I would like to share   is one that the vulnerability index is a live  indicator so it changes our students change so   as factors in our students lives change we update  that information but we are also working on a tool   that will create an intersection so you would be  able to see how many students that are in tier one   are high academic needs students and vice versa  how many students in tier three really require   us to do some really deep diving into that record  to make sure that we're really getting like sophia   for example how many students are there that  we would just assume are tier three and need   extensive remediation based on some generalization  but really looking at her academic factors and mr   ellis found that sophia is in has already been  identified for

165gifted and talented services   so we're really using it on both ends  how do we identify support for students   but also how do we elevate and lift students up  who are already advanced and how do we keep them   moving forward in our school division in richmond  I heard you got a partner um and then I guess my   second question had to do with going jumping back  to the elementary factors and just looking at the   where the ranges for um the I think it's the  math testing how does some of this compare to   last year I heard you on like the middle  and high sort of some of the comparisons   but in elementary and on the math is some of that  attributable to our curriculum shift in this year let me just flip back here to that

166page the  reading inventory and the math inventory are   fairly um similar performance when compared  to last year which um you know as the guy that   does the data all the time I'm you know pretty  surprised to see that throughout all of the the   struggles that have been in the media and you  know nationwide about student performance that um   through all of that our students are  performing similarly to how they were   last year so when when we looked at when I looked  through you know like an nwea report that details   you know potential learning loss and what  we should expect when students come back   and then we look at from last year to this year  you know we're actually comparing student to   student not just third graders last year to third  graders this year it's literally

167looking at that   student's trajectory over the course of being out  and now that they're back we don't see that like   slump it's really interesting in Newport News that  our students have actually improved um while being   out on the pandemic with respect to their lexile  level in reading so speaking specifically to   the reading inventory third grade is pretty much  right in line similar performance to last year   fourth grade is better performance we have  more students in the upper advanced level but   fifth grade is the opposite we have slightly more  students in the beginner than in the upper levels with the math inventory it is fair again fairly  similar just let me flip back to make sure here and while he's looking after that the math  inventory is a fairly new assessment so   we the same company

168provides the reading inventory  now has a diagnostic tool that measures growth   in math over the course of the year and this is I  think we piloted last year correct me if I'm wrong   and we're administering it this year correct last  year we last year was our first first full year of   implementation but we didn't get that full year  because we got shut down in march of last year   but it is similar performance yes and is the  math inventory does that work with eureka like   it expects or is it from them well so the math  inventory gives you when when the student takes   the assessment they get their quantile score which  is a measure of what they're ready to attempt next   in their progression of mastering math concepts so  it does inform teachers as to what

169each individual   student is ready to take on and I certainly don't  want to speak for our curriculum department but   our the I know the eureka curriculum is is very  structured uh in the way that it's presented   so in certain instances those are going to  align and in certain instances they're not   and that's where we provide the students with  the additional supports that they need to make   sure we're getting them that growth to be  on grade level and mastering that content   because in essence it's supposed to be a math  literacy score uh score so it's showing growth   in math literacy over the course of the year based  on where that student should be in the third grade   or fourth grade it doesn't align necessarily  with a specific curriculum but what the kid   age appropriately shouldn't know

170in math over the  course and how they've grown from concepts at the   beginning of the year to over time similar to the  reading okay and I think we have our eyes open to   if what we're using is tracking with what they  should and if we need to tweak uh well since we   obviously missed the opportunity for that final  baseline uh date on the on both inventories last   year because we ended in march uh but now that we  have we're back and we have a full year of data   we'll be able to track over time the percentage of  students who are showing a year's worth of growth   half a year's worth of growth more than a  year's worth of growth as as we bring that   eureka math and our other tools online  so that should correlate

171and we should   start seeing improvement in those percentages  right so as Dr. Parker was alluding to it it's   it's akin to measuring math literacy and it's a  universal screener just like the reading inventory   or the pals assessment so it's not pegged to any  specific curriculum um it's curriculum agnostic   how well does the kid read how well do they  calculate or so it's it's confidence and   ability so the um before you get any questions  the point i'll um I think going back to dr best   question how can we use this information  that's provided tonight we obviously have   to uh will provide a robust summer experience  for our students and we will be addressing   not only uh learning loss over the pandemic  but also um also summer learning laws as well   how do we identify the students

172who and  what do they need we're really focused   and and equipping ourselves to really focus and  hone in on on students who we need to identify   for specific programs and opportunities if some it  may just be enrichment some it may be transitional   programs some it may be special programs for  our english language learners but knowing   which students necessarily who who we should who  need that that that um enrichment or remediation   is very important because you're you want to  get the right kids in in the into the programs   to get your biggest impact so we've increased uh  our ability to identify um students specifically   for what they need and not just using sol material  to to identify as one if that's just one other   data point uh in addition to these multiple  points that we're talking

173about this evening   thank you and I believe uh madame by sure you have  a question as well um yes common and question I'm   very thankful of the work that you and your  team did last year and year before where we   could look at students student to student so  that we're ready to hit the ground running   you know for coming back and for now i  mean because we're not just waiting to   make those changes later we're we're making those  now um for those of us on the board who love   love we really do he's not the only one who loves  data there are several of us else who do will it   be possible to get some of that um some of your  data on what you know you were looking at in   terms of what students

174are doing now and where  they were and because that's very helpful to us   as we're trying to communicate um the direction  that the board and the team need needs to go   so and that is part of the um work that  we're doing mr ellis and I have been working   on developing a hard copy report that has some  of that information in it for you as well just   because the pals information was so fresh and rna  ri mi came out friday we wanted to make sure the   presentation had the most update today information  but you can't expect a more formalized hand   submitted report that you can review the  information that um I know that you're used   to receiving but we want to make sure tonight  we got you the most up-to-date information   and and to speak

175to the point that Dr. Parker  was making and dr mclemont brought up earlier   that this information would be used to inform our  programs as we move forward and this is an example   of how we're developing new tools and resources in  combination and working cross-functionally which   is what the strategic plan is all about how do we  incorporate our work across departments to support   all of our learners in Newport News public schools  and make the best decisions we can for all of our   students but you will get a report mr ellison i  will work on that and make sure it gets to you   we want to make sure you have accurate information  in front of you tonight though thank you so much   we look forward to that update you'll be testing  uh the final the the last

176the spring ri mi will   take place when it is on the assessment website  I can pull it up for you that's I want to say   may but I may be wrong yes it's the end of april  end of april end of eight so sol's will take place   in may so we'll we're talking if not the may board  meeting the june meeting yes sir the june board   meeting and if all the dates have been updated  on our website as well so parents have access to   all of the testing dates it was on the qr  code it's on the testing website as well so   if there are any questions we we really have that  information try to be as transparent as possible   because we know parents have to plan around  that stuff all right any additional questions  

177all right well I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna  slow you down again go back to slide two I just want to point out that when I see slide  2 it really looks indicative of our entire year   I think that this picture is really capture  really captures the essence of the entire year   yes and you're going to want to uh um as  a dad I think you want to frame that and   hold on to that I think that really that really  captures the year yeah right there there we go and so then the other the question and I'm just  going to try to paraphrase some of our board   priorities uh in this area um and the I believe  the four areas that were identified were reading   math and science uh and it looks at that with 

178this vulnerability index we'll have a great way of   uh making sure we're comparing essentially apples  to apples from year to year and I believe that the   um the overall question is comparing from last  year to this year the questions are the question   is what is the progress level so if we go through  the tiers and we go tears math science and reading   across those various tiers and just look at last  year to this year and what growth has taken place   or has not taken place I think that that is I  think that's the overall question that a lot of   board members are articulating and then the other  question around that would just be how soon and   is it when is it possible and then two how soon  uh will be able to be able to

179get a table or a   chart like that well I'm sure we can put together  a table and chart really quickly um but I would   caution us against the apples to apples comparison  from last year to this year only because the   virginia department of education is setting this  year as our baseline when accreditation restarts   in the 2223 school year this will be our baseline  first year of accreditation and our three year   average now we can provide that information  but just understand that as we move forward   we will use this in Newport News as with the  state as where we start for our accreditation   as we continue beyond this point so because  accreditation was waived at the federal level   last year and no assessments were taken we  just kind of have to hit reset on that process  

180but we can provide that information to you just  understanding that as we move forward we will kind   of look back at that perfect all right wonderful  all right and I believe that that was that was   the last question and so we'll um thank you for  that uh great report and for that picture yeah so we'll go on to the next item on our  agenda which is 5.04 the attendance   report 5.05 the membership report and 5.06  the construction report board members you   have received copies of the reports in  your packets do you have any questions all right hearing none we'll move on to 5.07  which are comments by the superintendent   Dr. Parker the floor is yours and thank  you Mr. Chairman uh if I could take a uh   a moment of privilege here I'd like to

181ask for a  quick moment of silence for a student at Denbigh high school we were informed today that we  lost a student uh 18 year old who attended a   senior at Denbigh high school our teams were at  the school today supporting staff and students   uh due to unfortunate circumstances and for the um  for the privacy of the family I will not mention   the student's name but uh but I just want to share  that we are in support of the denbigh community   and the loss of this young man and we support  you uh we love you and we want to make sure that   the family gets that message so just for a  short moment of silence if you don't mind thank you very much so my general remarks Mr. Chairman I will get started here and

182uh say that i   uh we have a lot of good things going on in  Newport News um recently and we're very proud   of a lot of the work that our staff are doing  including our our staff who were acknowledged   this evening during the board meeting um I'd  like to congratulate the young men of distinction   at an achievable dream middle and high school who  earn first place in the 2021 black history virtual   trivia bowl the competition was presented by the  alpha iota chapter of omega sci-fi fraternity   incorporated and a trophy and individual medals  were presented to the young men of distinction   and they were pictured here congratulations  to the team their trivia coach   uh coaches and their their sponsor lloyd mckeithen  another congratulations to Mrs Kathy uh Alexander   now you may know Ms Alexander she is our 

183executive director of nutrition and wellness who   has been named the 2021 school meals school meals  hero by no kids hungry virginia Ms Alexander  and   the child nutrition services team have worked  tirelessly throughout the pandemic to ensure   that students receive healthy meals at schools  and mobile sites throughout the city the team   who maintain meals service during thanksgiving and  winter break they have served over 500 000 meals   since last spring congratulations to Ms Alexander   and I know she would if she were standing here   she would say it takes a team to make the  make that happen and we also congratulations well done the diversity and inclusion task force  is accepting nominations for the renaming of Epes   elementary lee hall elementary Nelson  elementary and Dozier middle school   as you may recall the school board  voted to rename these

184schools in   september because their namesakes do not  reflect the school board's current values   of diversity and inclusion students and families  and community members are invited to participate   in the nomination process by submitting a  suggested name before wednesday march 24th   which is we're one day away from that at 8 pm  so please visit our website for more information   at nnschools.org we look forward to bringing  recommendations to the board at the april meeting   this march march is student empowerment month  in our school division over the past several   weeks we have been encouraging students to  use their voices talents and experiences to   promote positive culture and community student and  family activities continue to continue this week   tonight the youth development team is hosting a  tribute to women in STEM and tomorrow there will   be a world changer wednesday

185empowerment session  for students in all grade levels I encourage all   students to participate in these activities  that they have been well attended um as I've   said and I've seen that firsthand and visit  our website for a complete schedule of events   and lastly a reminder for students families and  staff friday april 2nd is a half day for students   and april 5th to through the 9th is spring  break all schools and offices will be closed   and we would ask that families and students be  mindful of their safety do over spring break   come back ready to learn for that final push of  the school year and we are looking forward to a   restful spring break so that concludes my comments  for this evening Mr. Chairman all right thank you   Dr. Parker now we'll move on to item six

186which  is another opportunity to hear from the public   uh do we have any additional cards at this time  madam clerk all right there being no cards then   that will adjourn our meeting tonight we thank  you all for coming to see you all in april