Nottoway School Board - Monthly Meeting

001I have a tren really good. >> I said clean up Saturday in the morning. graduate fall. [Music] I want to get done quick. >> We got revival. >> No, I don't think I'm going to do things on it. >> My computer note in our phone doesn't remember what it is for you. [Music] I'd like to call the Thursday, August 14th, 2025 regular Conway County School Board meeting to order. We will have a moment of silence followed by a prayer if you choose to pray with us, followed by that pledge of allegiance. And we'd appreciate if you're able to to stand for that. [Music] Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you tonight once again for allowing our Nawway County School Board to come together to conduct the business of our county schools. Thank you tonight

002for our superintendent, for our clerk, for our board, for the staff that are here, our principles. Thank you for the citizens that are here tonight. We pray, Father, that we might have a smooth beginning to our school year next week. That you would continue to guide the students, the bus drivers, the staff, the cafeteria workers, the custodians, all of our children that you might guide them each and every day. We thank you for your grace and we thank you for your mercy and we thank you for your wisdom. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen. [Music] >> 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. [Music] May I have

003a motion to approve the agenda? >> Well moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> There are no awards and recognition at this time. I do not believe there was anyone that signed up for delegations from the public. I'll ask for a motion to approve the consent agenda items A through Q. It will be a separate motion for item R. So move any discussion hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Any opposed? Item R. is the appointment of the primary and alternate student liaison. Dr. Martin. Yes. So, um I'm not sure if it's in your copy of your printed packet, but it's on the online agenda this evening. Um the high school has two student

004liaison. The first one is the primary, which is Avery Klyburn. She is a senior this year at Nawaway High School. Um and the alternate is Anna Lee. She is a junior this year at the high school. Um so they they both are very eager and excited to be the student liaison. And then uh Miss Clber would start next month. >> Thank you. May I have a motion to approve our primary and alternate student liaison? So >> move second. >> Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. opposed by the same sign. Uh the resolution to rename the notawave football field. I'll be if you'll give me a moment, I will read the resolution. Whereas coach Joe May was the football coach at Nawway High School from 1970 when the high school

005opened until 2009 and served as the Nawway County High School athletic director from 1991 until his retirement in 2009. Whereas Coach May's overall football record was 285 wins, 142 losses, and seven ties. Whereas Coach May, excuse me, Coach May's teams won 15 Southside District crowns, six regional titles, and two state championships in 1991 and 1998 while finishing second in the state playoffs three times. Whereas Coach May was named Virginia High School football coach of the year in 1991, 1997, [Music] 2005, and again in 2008. Whereas Coach May coached in six Virginia High School Coaches Association All-Star Games. Whereas Coach May was introduced, excuse me, Coach May was inducted into the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame in 2003. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Nawway County School Board names Note County Football Field

006Coach Joe Mayfield. this 14th day of August, 2025. May I have a motion to approve the resolution? >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed by the same sign. Thank you. [Music] Uh the Burkeville Elementary School. We have discussed the Burkeville Elementary School several times. And when I say several times, over the past several months, we keep uh pushing this off for another month. I would hope that tonight this board would determine a date. I will suggest one. It could be modified. Uh, I would suggest that the board consider closing Burkeville Elementary effective November 15th of the current year. I would propose a motion to that effect and once there is if there is a second we can discuss it and

007if we need to change the dates because there's a majority would think that there November 15th's inappropriate we could have that but it would require a motion for that kind of discussion. May I have a motion to close the Burkeville Elementary School effective November 15th? >> So move. >> Is there a second? >> Second. Okay. Uh discussion. Uh I would like to hose a later a little more a later date right after the election. Um, maybe I'm out, but maybe like January or something. That's not appropriate. That's fine, too. But that that's what I think we should extend it out to January. >> I was thinking more along Janu end of January is what I was thinking as well. January 30th or January 31st. >> And we split the difference. January 15th. >> January 15th,

0082026. >> That's that would be good because it would give enough time for everything to wrap up. >> January 15th. And that's what I was most concerned just let let everybody just you know get yourself together and then you know so I I'll go with January 15th >> that I would propose an amended >> I missed out I have a question as well dealing with the date. Go ahead. >> Well I I was just going to propose we amend the motion to indicate that the closing date would be January 15 of 2026. So moved. >> Is there a second to that? Have >> a question? >> Well, let him finish the motion. >> Second. >> Any additional discussion? >> Um, the only question that I have is knowing that you know like Bill that you're

009really you know the electoral thing a lot better than I do. Does that impede with any of the dates upcoming or any of that? >> No. Uh the election if if my memory serves me correctly, early voting starts first part of September. >> Mhm. >> Okay. >> And we probably will not have anything uh until primaries in June. >> Yeah, I would think so. >> The November election, then canvas usually takes the balance of the week. >> Usually takes the balance of the week. It might not take the entire but the balance of the week. It would give uh everyone that has something to do with the school other than those of us in the school system that don't use it. Uh the opportunity to relocate uh it and especially for feed which may require

010a longer lead time to find another location. Right. >> But this January 15th gives them a number of months in which to do that. >> Mhm. >> Would that be everyone has vacated the premises on before January 15th? >> Honor before the 15th. >> Now, as I understand it, just to add, and I could be corrected if I'm wrong, feed is on a monthtomonth. the registar uh and I'll try to be politically correct in this. The registar didn't want to move, doesn't want to move. The electoral board hasn't given him direction to move and the county has a place for him to be relocated to. And to the best of my understanding, the attorney general did not complain or reject the move. and the uh Virginia Department of Elections did not say it could not

011be held in that location. Are there any other discussions or questions? >> I have one after Bill. >> We're good. >> Okay. Thank you. Um the only thing that I want to say is this would still allow in the event because we all received the 1 to 5year plan presented by um Dr. Green. So, this would still leave an open in the event that she's able to make a feasible presentation to us to where she could assume the expenses of the building. Um, and then moving forward with the community. I know that Heather, you've talked about, you know, different accounts that can be set up that where it could be self-sufficient and we not have to take it out of our budget because I recognize the very important need of having a community center having

012access, but I also recognize that we are fiscally responsible for the students and the taxpayers and that we as things are now a lot of services for our students are currently in question because of funding and we need to pinch every penny that we can and that's why I wholeheartedly support this. But the question is so this does still leave the door open in the event that she's able to make a presentation that if the board agreed upon then we could move forward further with that. Is that correct? Well, as long as the school system still owns the building. >> Correct. uh I have gone over the uh transformation project uh the 7 8 nine pages that were presented uh and it's in rather uh significant detail but I'm not sure that any of us

013on this board would know how to address uh Medicaid or Medicare uh billing uh or any of those other kinds of things that are here and there certainly wouldn't be a swimming pool. >> That would something that would have to be something that the um facilitator would have to be managing and not us. My biggest thing is making sure that a we're protected and b, >> you know, protected of all liabilities and b we're fiscally protected. >> That's right. That's right. We are there, Mr. Howl. Well, with regards to feed more and I agree that that is definitely something that is needed in Nawway County. However, we are in the educating business. We are not in the feeding business and we should not be involved in that in any way, shape or form other than

014something possibly like we are renting the facilities for that purpose. But past that, we have no business being involved in that. I think we've got enough on our plate without having to worry about that. I appreciate that. And I know that Mr. Alba made uh two recommendations at the last meeting. One was the Wilkinson warehouse, at least that's what I'll call it. Uh the facility that was adjacent to where they had their uh tire manufacturing facility that is now in Blackstone and the I'll call it the gym. It could have been something else. That's just as you're coming down uh 460 into the town of Crew. It's on the right hand side of the road. That appears to be vacant. Now, I don't know who owns it. Uh >> that's that's owned by the church.

015>> That's owned by our church. >> Well, then hopefully if that's available, uh Feedmore can discuss a deal with your church. Well, I'm sure there are many places that they >> Well, that's just those were the two that were recommended. >> Any other? Yes. >> Uh let's presume that at some point we vote to dispose of Burkeville Elementary. What do we need to do to make that happen? We need board of supervisors approval, I believe, to sell it. Uh, who gets the money and there are several questions along those lines? According to the code, >> I didn't mean to interrupt. Go ahead. According to the code of Virginia uh 22 1 129 uh whenever a school board determines that it has no use for some of its real property, the school board may sell such

016property and may retain all or a portion of the proceeds of such sale upon approval of the local governing body. And after the school board has held a public hearing on such sale and retention of proceeds or may convey the title to such real property to the county or city or town comprising the school division or if the school division is comprised of more than one county or city u which doesn't apply to us. the school board uh shall have the power to exchange real and personal property to lease real and personal property either and so on. So yes, it would require uh approval by the board of supervisors uh which would be different than what is has happened historically which is simply to declare it surplus and hand it off to the county. >>

017Okay. Okay. Well, then the next question then is do we have any idea of who might want to buy this? What type of organization, governmental, whatever? And what might we realize if we sold it? And I don't know that that's been looked into. I tried to call a couple realators, but they don't seem to be interested in selling real estate. So, I didn't talk to them. The the only thing that I can share with you is what the commissioner of the revenue indicates that the property has a current stated value on the books of $2.1 million. Well, I mean, they can put any MYIP price on there they want, but until we have a buyer, >> I appreciate that, but we we aren't anywhere near close to having the discussion on uh going after a

018>> so we can pay taxes, >> a firm, real estate, or any of those kinds of things or even talking to the board of supervisors asking for permission to engage one of these activities. >> Right. Well, and also uh an idea that I had and I know all of you were made known of this idea that uh we reopen Burkeville as a primary school and that we would reaportion the primary schools to include up through grade five. And then we would have to redistrict, I guess that's the appropriate term, on where all of our students in grades preK through five would attend primary school. Uh now, and that would my idea was that that would free up the intermediate school for such things as the school board office and an alternative school. You know, I

019did have a con a discussion with Dr. Martin uh shortly after she took office and uh one of the things was that possibly we could get temporary school buildings to house the fifth grade at Crew and Blackstone. and uh which I think is a great idea to pursue. Is that still something on the table? >> Yes. So, um if I may, Mr. Chairman, um I would offer to the board to let the school board office staff present you with a couple of ideas or proposals as to what we feel once you close some options that you could possibly consider and look at. I would also um ask that you allow me to um contact our schoolboard attorney just so that I can make sure that we have everything laid out the way that maybe we

020should as we move forward after this with those options to make things make sure they're in line, but then we can work as a staff to give you some proposals and some possible um considerations and options as you move forward after the initial closure if that would work for y'all. And will that include expanding the scope of the alternative school? >> Yes. So I did share and this is a conversation too. So crew right now does not have the space for us to put fifth grade in it. They are at capacity. Um depending on what was decided to do. It would be great if we could have prek through five and crew and in Blackstone. And then as you said that opens up the intermediate school to um house the schoolboard office because we also

021know the schoolboard office doesn't fit in the schoolboard office anymore anymore. >> Um no we're we're busting at the seams but then that also puts us here at the complex with most of our schools and our students. That's an option. The alternative school that is now housed in the middle school could be housed there. some of the people that we have to house out in other buildings because we don't have room to put them could be housed there. We would have to look at space and capacity for sixth grade to be at the middle school, but we need to to look at the staff we have. Where do we move? Where do we adjust? So, I think the best thing for us to do for y'all is for us to work up giving a proposal

022of possible things and what what it would look like. And, you know, we feel comfortable that we could put fifth grade in Blackstone. talking three classes, but we can't in cruise. So then that's another cost to incur as to putting a modular there. And then the fact that okay, if you were to sell it, do you use the proceeds to put on an addition to crew? Heather's going to give you a presentation here in a minute though that is going to show you about maintenance and grounds and there's a lot of maintenance and grounds needs and issues that we have been experiencing. So, um, really looking at all of those different dynamic factors so that you have some information as you move forward as to what maybe you would like to do with that. So,

023all that I said just previously, does it play into closing Murkville Elementary January 15, 2026? Uh, and if we do, uh, I I would certainly think that the money, if we can sell the place, which I'm not at all convinced that we can, or at a good price. I just don't know. >> Uh, but uh, I'm Let's Let's just make sure we don't get the cart before the horse. Well, I I agree with that. Not getting the cart before the horse because all we're doing now is determining what date it would be closed. All of the other things that you've discussed, there have been some previous discussions. We know that it would cost somewhere around $13 million to bring Burke bill up to up to standard according to the Virginia Department of Education and all

024of the other folks that took a look at it. Uh, and I doubt that we'd get $13 from the board of supervisors. That's just my humble opinion. >> That's a lot. You say that again. That's a lot. >> 13 million. But why don't we defer all of this discussion to our coming work session in August where we can go through some of the ideas and discussions because January 15th of 2026 might cause a ripple effect once the board of supervisor learns it. Any other concerns or discussions? Well, if it be the pleasure of the board, uh, prior to our work session, I will see if I can contact some real estate agents and see if I can get some feel for the marketability of Burkeville Elementary School. If you'd like me to do it, I

025will. I don't personally have a problem as long as it's a uh uh >> You need a commercial. >> Oh, yeah. Absolutely. um whatever that >> would you like us to contact that way if they have specific questions regarding um any of the building specifics that we would have access to that and and Heather and her team and Robbie can give any of those building specifics and we can put some stuff together and they can feel out some of those people. >> I think that's an excellent idea and I was just offering some help because I >> No, I know. I just figured I figured they would be asking you questions and then we would have to get the questions back and then do that. So Heather and her team can work on that. I'm

026committing her to it. But uh >> should we wait until we find more work supervisors if they're going to give us permission so we're not taxing them with something that >> I think we can do some preliminary leg work. Maybe not go in depth with it but do some preliminary leg some informal checking. >> I I will tell you and I I think have an idea. >> Yeah, I shared it briefly at um the work session too. There was a conversation and it may be that you would like Mr. Bowen and he's willing to come to the work session to have the discussion. He did say depending on what happened and once it was closed and those type of things with the building of the the courthouse that they may need to temporarily move and

027he would be willing to rent or those type of things that facility. Um, but I would like him to speak to to that with y'all as to what those thoughts are after January and that long range and and things. So, if if you would like me to ask him to the next work session, you're getting reports from all the schools though. So, I don't know if that's if you're going to have enough time that evening. Isn't that right, Charlotte? To do this topic, which is pretty heavy, and five school presentations, which would might be pretty heavy, too. So would you like that in the September work session and that way I can make sure Mr. Bowen has time if you would like him to come to that one as well and I'll reach out to

028him. >> I think that's fine with me. Yeah, I I hear three okays. >> We need to devote so be it devote that time to that. And just one last thing that and I I keep going back to the old I guess it was the old central of Lunenburgg High School and I've been driving by that place for over 25 years and I've watched it go from a building that's something just from outward appearances could be dealt with to something that you might find trouble getting a bulldozer in there to push it all down. >> Mhm. >> And I absolutely don't want to see that happen to her. >> No, me either. >> Question. If we surplus it back to them and we surplus it back to them, why would they rent it from us?

029>> We haven't surplus it to anybody situation. >> Yeah. >> So, we need to That's Yeah. >> We do anything. We going to sell it. >> You're not in the real estate either. Well, you don't want to be either. >> No. No. Any other questions or concerns or discussion? Hearing none, I'll take a vote to close Bville Elementary January 15, 2026. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Hearing none. Uh, code of student conduct, Dr. Martin. >> Mr. Chairman, members of the board, um in your packet this evening, you have the 2526 code of student conduct. I did share with you changes at a glance. It highlights the the minimal changes that we have, but pretty significant changes of importance for you to to be aware of. Most of the

030other things are are pretty much the same. Maybe some wording edits and things like that. Um, but the three areas that I ask that you look at at the changes of a glance uh document is page 21 where it says chemical abuse. We did delete the wording of tobacco and or vaping products because that's on page 31. So that was just to clear up some miswording that was in there and how they relate to other things. Page 26 and 27, you will see the code on cell phones that has been put in place. Um while not yet approved, we've already been communicating this with students and staff um that it is a bell-to-bell policy. It is the expectations that it will be enforced and that people will be held accountable. I attended the football um

031meeting, parents meeting last night, and they highlighted it with the football players too that they did not expect to see a single football player get caught with their cell phone, earbuds, any of those type of things. and what the consequences would would be if they did not turn it over to a staff member when requested, if they did have it out. Um, and you can see our recommended consequences there for cell phone or media violations. Of course, the first offense is confiscation of the device by the administrator, parent notification, and we do give it back at the end of the day for the first offense. They'd have to come back and pick it up from the school office. The second offense, confiscate confiscation of the device by the administrator or designate parent notification and they

032need to come in and have a conference with the administrator, the parent and the student together and then we return it to the parent after that. Third plus offenses confiscating the device, parent notification, student privileges for having a device within school grounds are removed, parent and student conference with administrator and then it's returned to the parent after that as well. Um, there are different consequences for failing to turn over the device because then that becomes a non-compliance issue with staff if you were caught with your cell phone and you've not done it. The policy also says that um you it either has to be in a backpack or it has to stay in your vehicle, it cannot be in your pockets. It cannot be where it's visible and that's in line with what the um

033law says regarding it. Um, and then there's also the exception because there will be exceptions if there is a medical situation. And you can find that wording there on page 30, I mean, sorry, 27. But it says, "Any student pursuant to an IEP, section 504, individualized health care plan, or limited English proficiency plan, is permitted to possess and use a cell phone or smart device on school property, including in the classroom, from bell to bell, or to monitor or address a health concern or as an accommodation or assist of technology support. Parents of the students with a potential for an extenduating circumstance should contact the principal and student case manager to complete all necessary paperwork to request an exception to this rule. In addition to the paperwork, a conference or meeting will be held to

034understand the compliance with the extended waiting circumstances listed above and then it will be reviewed to determine approval based on that. So it's still not just a one and done type of policy. So you have that and then the final thing that you have that um was a a change for us is on page 31 and it's the tobacco products and nicotine vapor. Um, I will say that our instances of vapes went down this past year for whatever the reason may be. Maybe the newnesses were worn off or maybe they just found a different way to to hide them. Whatever it may be. Um, and I know there's some different laws. I know we met with our SRO's. There's some different things that are going to effect about vapes and all of these different things

035from that side, but um, first offense, they're going to be confiscated parent notification. We are putting in a required completion of a one-hour vaping awareness and prevention education course to teach students what it is about vaping. Um, and that's a $25 program fee payable to the school and two days of ISS on the first offense with it. Um, and just know that the school would pay the fee upfront for the course. It's a prescribed course through um DCJS, I believe. Somebody can Shandra can correct me. um they would pay the fee, but that is a fee that if it's not paid, it attaches to that student until they graduate. And so if they do not pay that fee prior to graduation, they will not walk for graduation. That is one of those fees that we

036will keep track of and carry on. Um hopefully after you pay the fee the first time and you've had this meeting and everything, you won't want to get caught with them again. Second offense, it would be confiscated. It's a parent and student conference with the school administrator. three days of ISS, they would do a completion of a vaping dangers and education course with the school resource officer and the parent. So, we are really looking at the expectations and the accountability of our parents being involved in these processes to help support us in what we're doing. Um, and so they would need to come in with their parent and meet with the SRO and the administrator and go through this course again at a different level with them. And they would lose all school-based activities for

03730 days. That means you cannot participate in any outside activities for 30 days if you're caught the second time with a vape, attending games, participating in sports, any of those type of things. Third plus offense, it would be confiscated parent notification, 5 days of OSS, parent and student conference with school-based personnel including the school administrator and that would be loss of all school-based activities for the remainder of the school year. So that means you couldn't attend prom. >> Amen. >> I mean any of those type of things. So really getting kids to understand that one, it's a serious and the health risks are are dangerous to them and we don't know the long-term health risk associated with some of those things, but again holding our students accountable, setting high expectations for them, enforcing those expectations.

038Um, this came out of our administrative retreat when we reviewed it. So all of our principles and our administrators and our support staff that were in there in those roles um collectively came up with these together as to what we felt was best and what we needed to be seen. So I feel very confident in what we've presented to you this evening. Um and then of course as always refusal to comply that's a different set of consequences that can be used. Um and depending on the nature and severity always different consequences can go and more severe consequences. Yes. And that also, so that's the vape part, but if it's a and I'm not going to tell you this part, right, because I don't know all of the vapes and dab pins and everything else there

039there are out there, but if it has um an drug in it, that's a whole different set of offenses that it goes. This is strictly talking about the nicotine, vaping, pens, but when it crosses into that line of >> something with drugs, and it there's all different sorts of offenses um and consequences for those type of things. >> I was talking with one of the SRO's just in the last couple of days and he showed me something. He confiscated a vaping thing that looked like a magic marker and it had THC in it, which is marijuana. them as highlighters. I mean, we've done hidden in plain sight several times and it's very eyeoping as a parent. I did not go home and tear my whole son's room apart after that cuz I was like, "Oh,

040that's," you know, but I think Dr. Grayley was there and we all were looking going, "Oh my, like should we go check every lamp and book and everything in the house just to make sure?" But um it is it's very interesting and eyeopening as to what companies are marketing things to students and we don't know what effects these things will have on students but >> we do feel that we have put forth in the student code of conduct some some strong policies for your consideration this evening. >> So I would ask that y'all approve them. >> Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the 202526 code of student conduct as amended and mentioned by Dr. Martin? >> So move second. >> Any discussion? >> I have a question regarding the which I love

041it but I have a question regarding the requirement of them to pay or the legal >> for that. Yes, we I mean they have to pay other incentive fees. If we're in a situation where somebody we we'll take that all into consideration, but if they lose a textbook, they're required to get a textbook before they are able to graduate. So, we can carry the fees over, but I can verify that to make certain um that there's nothing >> um I wasn't I was unable to find anything that was for it or against it. Mhm. >> That's something that before um we apply a $25 fee to make them pay for it based on a discipline. >> Right. >> And I I would just want to make sure that we're in good standing with that. >>

042Yeah. >> I can do a check and verify that for you though. >> Any other questions? >> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Opposed by the same sign. >> No. and [Music] approval of the travel for superintendent Dr. Martin. So in your um packet this evening and I believe Miss Wood has given you just an updated list um our upcoming meetings um that have relate directly to this um the SOS statewide meeting that's a start on success grant that is the initial meeting for um our grant that we received for students with disabilities for workbased learning transition programs that is in September uh September the 16th in Richmond. the VSBA legislative advocacy conference um that is in Chesterfield. Most likely I'll be attending the virtual option that is here, so

043I don't need to to actually attend it in person, but it's there in case I I do need to. The region 8 superintendent meeting is in Farmville in October. You've already approved the September one. The VAS fall conference in Richmond October 26th through the 28th. Um I will only be attending I think it's on the 27th, but the date range is there for you. the VSBA annual convention in Williamsburg, which you each have on your calendars as well, November 18th through the 21st. And then I did add this one. I was asked to serve on the panel for the aspiring superintendence program um January 15th um to discuss pathways to superintendency and and how to prepare yourself for that. And and I would be excited and honored to serve on that. Um, and I'm also

044excited and honored that I would be able to serve on that panel because Dr. Lewis is going through that program for us as an a possible aspiring superintendent. So, I would be able to serve on a panel of a session that she would be attending to. So, >> I have a motion to approve the conferences and meetings as outlined in the program. So, move second. >> Any discussion? Yes, Dr. Lewis, that doesn't mean that you can leave. >> That's exactly what I said when we talked about her being in it. She's not going anywhere. >> Any other discussion hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed. There are no non-action items, information items, some summer internship program. Dr. Martin. >> So, um, this is one of always exciting programs that

045we have. Um, and I'm actually going to turn it over to Dr. Foster to present about the summer internship program. So, this was his last official summer in charge of the program. Um, he is handing it off to Lisa Hudson, who's the new school community coordinator. But this has been a very successful program that we started right after COVID. I think that first year we were able to start it with funds um from some of our ESSER funds to give students work-based learning opportunities. It has grown every year. We've had more student interest. We have built the program. we um when ESSER funds ran out, we were very fortunate that the board felt that it was a program that we needed to continue and we appreciate that support that we've had um to help continue

046to promote this program for our students and give them the opportunities. So, with that, I I I cannot speak highly enough about the job that Dr. Foster has done um over the years see overseeing this and adding to it and giving students the experiences and the training opportunities and how to write resumeums and interview and different things and so I'm going to turn it over to him to highlight the program. >> I appreciate the words. Mr. Abbott, members of the board, Dr. Thank you again. Um thank you for the opportunity to speak. That was very very kind. Um that doesn't work. That's great. It works now. So again, the goal of our program is to provide a a high quality work-based learning experience for our rising seniors and our graduating seniors. Um, we've had success

047over the last 3 years of uh finding jobs for our graduating seniors and some part-time positions for our rising seniors. Again, to be eligible, it's our students that are age 16 and above. Uh, valid driver's license. We we did have a student this year that didn't have a driver's license, but their placement uh really helped them out to ensure that they were able to uh finish the experience. Of course, be a rising senior member of the most recent graduating class. Uh the application process this year, we have 46 applications. Each student receives an interview. Uh there are variety of factors that um that go into the placement including the panel interview and the committee coming together to make a recommendation for their placement. uh but they also must ask a teacher for one letter of

048recommendation at least. Uh when we ask they ask them in person and they ask them well in advance before the due date. Uh students are placed really based off their career interest and the needs of our partner businesses. Um and we'll get more into them but their strengths as well. um for our students that um have different different interests, we want to make sure that they truly get the most out of this experience and it truly leads them down a path for their career. Uh again, it's it's no cost to our partner business. We're so grateful for your support uh to be able to fund uh some compensation for our students for 175 hours of this uh work-based learning. They receive it in two installments at 85 hours and at 175 hours. Uh we have

049one student that'll be able to pick up their last check this upcoming Monday. Um constantly evaluating. We evaluate our students in the classroom. We're also going to evaluate them through this experience. Check in with them weekly. Uh perform site visits, talk with their supervisors, talk with them. Any customers uh we get to see in the community sometimes. Um, and we talk about their timeliness, making sure they're on time to work, uh, or ready to be there, that they're professional, and then, of course, they're performing the duties that have been assigned to them and that they're interested in. This year, we had 20 students. Like I said, we interviewed each of the applicants and we were able to narrow that uh, field down to 20 across 14 of our local businesses and organizations. We had 10

050students that are going to be uh seniors this year and then 10 of our students that were graduating. Uh now I'd like to invite one of our interns, Miss Ava Martin, up to make a few remarks. >> Good afternoon. Uh this summer through the internship program here at NHS, I was given the opportunity to work at the nonprofit organization for the town of Blackstone Junth Committee. I learned so much about how a nonprofit is run and what it means to run your own business. I got to work alongside some very hardworking individuals that have definitely inspired me to do something like this again. The work I did was demanding but incredibly rewarding once everything came together. A nonprofit is not an easy thing to run, but I do believe they are so important for the

051community and especially one like this in which we're able to learn and teach about things we may otherwise not have known. All in all, I very much enjoyed my experience. I feel as if I gained some very valuable lessons from my time on the committee. I've learned skills of organization, emotional control, and task initiation that I'll carry with me that I'll carry with me. I have learned just how much effort goes into a huge celebration like this. While our committee didn't have a lot of time to prepare, we were still able to put on a very successful event. I also learned how draining yet fulfilling a long day of work can be just from the day. I from walking up and down the streets, making sure everything goes according to plan to just enjoying ourselves

052and having fun. It was a day I will never forget. That being said, I believe the internship program is very positive for not students to experience. It taught me and many others what it means to have a job and how to be a good employee. I'm very grateful for this opportunity given to me and all the lessons I will take away from it. I truly enjoyed my time as an intern and plan to stay on the committee to help with the Juneen event and other events like it. >> Thank you, Miss Mark. >> So, now you want to want to hear about some data and what we've done to recognize our students, right? So, uh Tuesday, July 29th, we were able to recognize our students. Mr. Abbott, thank you for attending the event. Um it

053was a beautiful, beautiful night. Uh each of our students received uh a certificate of completion and recognition in addition to our business partners um who've been such an integral part of this program. Um the the Junth committee um I think it's it's Clarksville Auto Supply now. Uh they they've been there since the start among some others as well. But it was it was a great opportunity to have everybody together, families as well to recognize and and celebrate our students. For our rising or I guess in total, we had three students out of the program that were offered part-time employment. We had one student that was offered full-time employment. One Miss Martin that's continuing as a volunteer with the Junth committee. And one of our students, uh, Miss Lauren Lee, that was placed with in-depth productions.

054She has opened her own business, captured by Lauren. Um, and she is she's taking clients now. Um, so we're we're very pleased with that. For our seniors, we have five of them that will be attending college or trade school full-time. Three plan to work part-time and attend community college, and one student plans to enlist in the Navy with the final student planning to enlist in the Army uh very soon. Again, I thank you for your time and for your support. Without Without your support, this would not be possible. I'm excited to see how this program will grow and the success of our students in the future. >> Thank you. >> And I will digress for just a moment. If we notice uh Mr. Colberg, you say, "Who is that strange individual standing next day?" Young

055lady, >> did not put himself in his own newspaper. very humble over here, >> very modest, >> but as a an employer in the community, it's uh great to have the support uh for a student in our division. And I will say this even further, >> I'm going to guess that's your mom. >> Thank you. We're very grateful >> for doing what sometimes seems to be a challenge and that's called parenting. >> It is obvious that she has a good role model to uh look up to. >> Yes indeed. >> I appreciate that. >> What you going to say? I was going to say our intern was punctual, professional, courteous, had the pleasure of writing her several letters of recommendation for a scholarship and we're already kind of brainstorming next year if we're able to

056participate how to make the experience even better for the intern. She was she did everything I asked of her. Just Chicago Watson bright future. >> Thank you very impressed. >> Thank you again. Uh the uh I got this right. Summer school updates. Dr. Lewis. Good evening, Mr. Chair, members of the school board. Um and Dr. Martin. Um thank you for the opportunity to share information on summer school. U Miss Clary was our actual summer school um liaison and and lead admin for the summer, but she's on vacation, so I'm her standin and I will have the pleasure of um leading summer school next year. Um so tonight I want to share just a little bit about the program, participation, instructional focus, academic and testing outcomes. Um they did do some STEM activities, so they have

057some photos. Um but the primary purpose of our summer school program is to provide target academic support enrichment opportunities for students grades 1st through 12th. Um the program did go through July the 7th through July the 18th. It was Monday through Thursday for those two weeks. Um we did have a large participation. We had 250 students participate in our summer program. We had 76 from Blackstone Primary, 43 from Crew Primary, we had 54 from Nawway Intermediate School, 32 from the middle school, and 40 from the high school. We did have some students take their SOS during the summer. Um, so we did have that data here. Hold on one second. We had two 11 to pass the algebra 1 test and we had two to pass their biology test. So that was a success. Sometimes

058they come and they're not they just don't make it, but this was very intense. We had teachers that were certified that provided the remediation. Um the students were very attentive. They came they participated and we did have a great success which changed some of their schedules for the upcoming year because now they can move on to another course and another um so that they need to graduate. Um so the the program did follow the SOS. Um our primary schools and intermediate school, middle school did of course um encouraged the phonics, fluency, comprehension strategies and the foundations of math skills. Um and then the high school focused on the recovery. Um teachers did do a a survey and that's in the presentation. I couldn't really see all the numbers so I'm going to let that play

059so that you all can see the numbers. we're going to stop it so that you can at least view it. Um, but in closing, our summer school program continues to play a vital role in supporting our students academically and socially. Um, and I would like to thank our teachers and staff and families for their dedication and commitment to student success and allowing their students to participate. Teachers did participate. We had 27 teachers here this summer that participated. Um, I did not mention, but we did have our early um, extended school year here. So, we had some students with disabilities here that participated. They were here. They received lunch. They interacted with their peers here as well. Um, so I would also like to share the video that Miss Clary did of course put together. So,

060it's a great presentation. So, we're going to play that for you right quick. [Music] some of our students presenting their STEM activities and different activities that they did um to show how they were excelling academically. [Music] >> That's the teacher the school teacher evaluation. So, Miss Clary was um very diligent about how it was working, what we need to work on for next year. Um, so this data will be shared with me um and I will use it next year to improve our program um for the 2026 school year. [Music] >> That's why I didn't write it down to go with the larger side of it as the as the positive side of it stuck. But you know she didn't put it so I didn't want to give misinformation. I respect that. Yeah, I respect

061that. But I but I wanted the higher end to be the positive end. So, but that's what I would say. I didn't want to get this, but we will use that data. I will get with her to to get what those numbers um represent and then use that data to improve our program for next year. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Any questions? >> Thank you. >> Maintenance and grounds report. Meer before that treatment in the world. >> Good evening, Mr. Chair, members of the board, Dr. Martin. Um, so this evening, I'm going to present to you some information about our maintenance and grounds. I do have some pictures in here. Um, we'll talk about some of the um interesting things that we have had to deal with lately um to give you a picture of of

062just where we are with our facilities and the needs that we we do have. Um, so I'll kind of go over a couple of things. There's a couple of new laws out that are going to affect us. Um, House Bill 2278, which was passed in the spring, um, is an ADA compliance review that we actually have to do and have submitted to the state by November 1. Um, that is one of the current requests for proposals I have out right now, which those are on our website, as well as AR in EVA, which is the state's procurement platform. Um the other new law is House Bill 2618 which will require um indoor indoor air quality um testing every so often. Um so right now we are in discussions with other schools within region 8 as

063well as um a few vendors as just how to best go about this, what this is going to entail, what the process is going to be um so that we can really get some information. there's no um deadline as to when this has to be started. Um so right now we're kind of in that fact gathering stage of how this is going to actually um be processed and how we're going to to start managing it. Um you know going forward. Um so we have currently right now two requests for proposals out. Um I said both of these are listed on our website but they're also in the EVA platform which is the state procurement platform. One is for a company to come in and do an ADA compliance review for us of all of our

064grounds and facilities, athletic, school, everything. Um, the other one we have out there is an RFP for elevator maintenance, service, and inspections. Um, the current elevator company that we have is non-existent. Basically, they don't respond. Um, they don't help. We have two elevators right now that are down. Um, they came out, they looked, they said they ordered the parts. A month later, we found out they didn't order the parts. They gave us a ridiculous quote. We asked questions and they've not responded. Um, so now our maintenance team is actually going to um repair the elevator, which all it is is the little key where you turn it to call it. Um, so it's not any of the major elevator mechanisms, but we do need an elevator company that can come do preventative maintenance every year,

065that can do service calls within a reasonable amount of time, and can do our yearly inspections. Now, I will say this came out of the fire marshals, you know, response. A lot of them are just they're no good. Um, so I'm hoping by us putting this out and it went to 69 different elevator companies. I've already been contacted by two. So, I am hopeful that maybe we will be able to find um a good elevator company that will work with us. >> Elevators require uh a periodic uh inspection and >> a yearly inspection >> and a certificate of >> suitability. Yes. And the state fire marshall will tell you that a good chunk of companies and businesses that have elevators technically are out of compliance, but because of the known issue with elevator companies not

066responding um they haven't it hasn't been hit on a lot of the fire um inspections that they've done because they it's a known issue. Um, so we're hoping that we can get a really good company. I've had one from Virginia contact me. I've had one from Texas contact me. So, at this point, as long as they can service us and they can service us appropriately and in a timely manner and don't cost us an arm and a leg, I don't care what state they're from, as long as we can get what we need from them. Um, so I am hopeful that we will be able to um, you know, get something good and positive moving forward because our elevators are needed. That's another ADA thing that we need to make sure we have up and

067operational. Um, so just wanted to give you a heads up about what we have out there right now. Um, just kind of going back and doing a little bit of just yearin review from last year about some of the projects that we did. Some of these were projects related to our department energy grant. Um other ones were um just repairs that we have done or upgrades that we did with the state um construction money that they gave us a few years ago. Um, so we did new doors at Crew and inter intermediate school, new boilers here at the high school, a new boiler at crew, um, new LED lighting across all schools, bathroom upgrades at Blackstone and crew, um, roof repair roof repairs at Blackstone um, to take care of their leaks that they had.

068And I'm might I'm sure I have missed them, but those were some of the big ones. And I wanted just to provide you some pictures of some of the things we've done. The top two, the green is the before. Those were wooden doors that were starting to rot at the bottom. The new are the steel doors that we put in. This actually leads out to the wait room in the playground at the intermediate school. Um, so a drastic difference. Now the doors are no longer that tan color. They have now been painted. Um, but that's just a before and after picture of of that. The bottom two are of our um some of our exterior lighting, which we really did lack in. It wasn't that bright. Um I will say the one is the student

069parking lot right outside at night, especially for football games or any other sporting events at the at the um stadium there. Having that lighting really makes it a lot more secure. Um and then the other one is just the front of Crew Primary there. Again, it is just nice and lit up. um makes it much more secure in the event that we have a nighttime program there or heaven forbid you have to come out in the middle of the night and you know answer a fire alarm call or something else. So um it it does just help with security. Um some of the projects that we've already done this school year um and one of the things we've been working on through the last several years is removing all the carpet out of our schools.

070um because well carpet just gets in school gets nasty um and it's harder to clean. So this summer we did the the library at the middle school um and that looks fantastic. Hopefully next summer we'll have the funding to be able to do the high school library and then after that there's just a few little odds and ends um classrooms that still have some carpet that we want to pull out. Um we did painting at the complex. This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time. We tried to hire a painter that really wasn't successful. Um, but we did find a company on the state contract that was reasonably priced. Um, they came in this summer and I mean they they worked very diligently. Um, and they painted the main auditorium. Um,

071and I'll have a picture of that to show you. And that room really needed a lot of assistance. You saw that the the tape from the um drywall joints was starting to fall off. It just it it needed it needed a refresh, but they also painted all the halls and stairwells, trying to give the school at least a little bit of a refresh um with what we can. We know there's still a lot more painting to do with classrooms, bathrooms, all that. But it's a start. Um we did the halls at Crew Primary last school last summer, so we did the complex this summer. Next summer hopefully we'll have the funds to be able to do the halls at Blackstone Primary. Um just so we can kind of keep the momentum going and doing some

072some of these small painting projects every well they're not small but some of these painting projects every summer. Um some of the repairs that we have done we have replaced an astronomical amount of ceiling tiles and I will go into a little more um detail about that. Um we have replaced some pipe insulation on chilled water lines at the middle school, the intermediate school and Blackstone Primary. um on these chilled water lines because they condensate. Um there's a special insulation wrap that has to be on them so that the condensation does not leak um through the insulation onto your ceiling tile or ceiling. Um that insulation that was on those was old. It had become fragile. It had been torn. Um so we were having little drips every time, you know, we'd have a temperature

073change and we'd have some condensation. So this summer we were able to finally find a company who would come out and repair that. And um I know they're not finished. They're still working. Um so hopefully they will be finished in the next couple of weeks so that we can get those areas looking all nice, neat, and um back to normal. Um we have done a lot of repair on HVAC pipes at Crew Primary. Um and I'll go into a little bit more detail about that too. Um we've also repaired walls at Crew Primary. So we have really come to realize in the last I don't know month and a half just the indepth issues that we have in that school building. Um so Mr. Templeton brought it to Dr. Martin and my attention um when

074we did a walk with him through all the schools that it was discovered this summer in two of our classrooms where the wall had shifted exterior wall. Um and it was it had let some of the insulation that was in the cinder block wall out into the classroom. Um you go outside and you looked outside, you could actually see the wall bowing. Um you could even see one of the drainage um the gutter pipes had actually bowed out. So um we got with a a class A contractor and a um structural engineer had them come out and look at it. Thankfully the actual foundation is still structurally sound. The building is structurally safe. So I do want to reiterate it is structurally safe. Um and they recommended um something that we could do to fix

075it. And a lot of it really is one several years ago prior to me ever being here um there were trees out front. They cut those down but they left the stumps. Well, when you leave a stump, the roots can still keep growing. Um and so they had started growing into and pushing the foundation. The other thing is the drainage at Crew Primary cuz it's built below the road um is not the greatest. That's one of the reasons why their geothermal wells failed is because of the the drainage on that property. Um so the structural engineer gave us some really good ideas on how to address the drainage issue on the front and I'll have a picture when we get to the grounds part to show you um what that looks like. Um so that

076has been addressed and it is something that we will continue to monitor on a quarterly basis just to make sure there's no additional shifting. Um if there does show additional um shifting then the next phase would have to be put to put in helical piles and I don't even want to know what the cost of that would be. So, we're really hoping that just addressing the drainage, taking out the the tree roots um that were there will stop or slow the process, but it is something that we're going to have to inspect on a quarterly basis. Um now, the HVAC system at Crew, it is 30 years old. Um and with Crew Primary, you have two roofs. You have your original flat roof, which is which is where all of your um water source heat

077pump units are at, and then they put the pitched roof over it. Um so it makes it extremely hot to get up there and work. Um it's miserable for our HVAC technicians. It's miserable for our maintenance people, but um those units are at end of life. And one of the things we found out this year is, you know, we put in because the geothermal wells have failed, we had to have an alternate source for our heating. So, we added a boiler, which was done with that Department of Energy grant. Um, well, boilers put, you know, some pressure on your pipes. Well, pressure that it wasn't used to seeing on 30-year-old pipes. It did cause some pipes to rupture. Um, more than once we've had a flood in that building. We've had two in the span

078of three weeks. Um I did not put the video of the last one in here where it was literally raining inside the building. Um some of the other issues that we've noticed and train is starting to look at this. There are brass fittings connected to PVC fittings and maybe the PVC fittings are not really rated for the PSI for the temperature that that attict that attic space gets. Um, it's rated for the pressure we need, but it may just not be rated enough for the temperature that that attic space gets. Um, replacing fittings is a lot cheaper than redoing all the plumbing. Um, but we are going to have to look at doing something to that HVAC system. We're going to have to look at doing something. We're replacing those units. One of the things

079that that Doc Mr. Templeton and I really would like to look at is instead of doing all these water source heat pumps where there's one for every classroom is doing a big HVAC unit kind of like we have on the halls here at the high school um where it would sit outside. It wouldn't be in the attic space. It would be easier to maintenance, maintain um but it would be a lot of repling. It would be a lot of um new duck work. Um, but it would resolve a lot of issues that we're currently having. Um, not to mention, you know, just today we had an electric electrical failure there. Transformer blew 3 hours prior to, you know, the start of open house. Um, luckily we were able to get Dominion Power out. They were

080able to fix it. They were able to get it up. But it has been known for several years that the electrical service in that building is not adequate. Um it's to the point now between, you know, they've got smart panels, Chromebooks, and anything else in that room. They have to strategically know they can't plug it in all in one area cuz they will blow a breaker in a heartbeat. Um and to have to put that burden on our teachers to make sure that they don't plug two things on this wall and, you know, one thing on this wall, it's a lot to ask of them to to to have to worry about. Um, so we know the electrical service in that building is just not it's not good. Um, not to mention when you talk

081about just the grounds themselves. Um, this summer we had to do an emergency and I I called it an emergency repair on the playground because it was not safe. Um, I kid you not, there was one hole that came up all the way to my knee and there's a playground spike that holds the trim in that was way up. It wasn't safe for our kids to play on. Um so we had a contractor come out regrade um fix that. So there is just a massive amount of drainage issues, HVAC issues, electrical issues. We have the the foundation issues. This is going to be a school that we are going to have to do some serious looking at um to determine really what the future of it is going to be, what we need to do

082with it. It might even be, and as much as I hate to say this, a school that we look at literally replacing at some point because of the issues so that it can be honestly built up to the level of the road, regraded um and just revisited just because the issues just keep piling up there. I mean, we have issues at our other schools, but that one has taken the cake this summer. I mean, Dr. Martin, Dr. Gravely, myself, several of my custodians, maintenance. I mean, we spent a Sunday there, hours and hours sucking up water, mopping up water. Um, and I'm very thankful that our crew secretary found it as quickly as she did and Mr. Paige was able to call me and we were able to react as quickly as we were. But

083it it was it was a massive undertaking. Um and Train got someone right out there on site to help us get the the plumbing fixed and the attic space from the HVAC um pipes that that literally sheared off and ruptured. Um so we were very thankful for that and they were able to get the units back up and running so the air the school had air. Um but it has been a very stressful summer. Um, I know for for for me, I know for the admin at Crew Primary, the teachers there, it it has been a very stressful I would say really since probably January that we've had a lot of the the HVAC issues. Um, so this is a school that we are going to have to do some serious um, conversations about as

084we go into budget season, capital improvement planning. Um, and just having those conversations is about what we're going to do with Crew Primary. Um, so some of the positives that I would like to show you. Um, talking of positive always. >> So this is a picture of one of the bathrooms re we redid. Um, new fixtures, new partitions. We went with an epoxy coating on the walls and floor that can be pressure washed very easily. It actually wipes off very easily. It cleans very easily. Um, and that's what we want for our custodians is something that's just easy to manage. Um, some of these old bathrooms with old tile, it just takes a lot of scrubbing. Um, because, you know, the shiny finish is not on there anymore. So, it takes a lot more elbow

085grease to do. And I mean, I hate say it, my custodian staff is is an aging population. So, to be able to provide something one that looks nice for our students and our staff, but also something that's easy for them to maintain is very important. So, that's one of the pictures I wanted to show you. The other one is um of our um main auditorium. You can see the plastic all over the chairs. Um they did a beautiful job in that. So, it's something we can really be proud of again to have um host things in for our high school to host things in. Um so, wanted to make sure that that looked really good. And Mr. Simpleton went back and looked in his records. He couldn't even find the last time it was actually

086painted. Um so, it it was nice to have a little refresh in there. without. >> So, yeah. Um, so, so talking about the issues and concerns, the HVAC system, the electrical, we also have roofs that are going to need to be replaced. Now, we did do repairs at Blackstone and it has stopped all but one leak. Um, and that one leak is is an issue with the flashing and the gutter. Um, so that's going to have to be really taken care of whenever we go to replace that flat roof section. Um, so we know that that's one that has to be replaced. Um, the intermediate school has pockets in their roof that is starting to fail. Um, one we just found this week and we're able to get at least plugged for now. Um, but

087plugs only last for so long and then you have to plug other things and then so eventually we're going to need um, roof replacements. The middle school also has um some roof leaks that are starting to pop up here and there, but there again, those roofs are getting towards end of life, so it's expected to start popping up. Um but what we don't want to do is to have torrential downpours inside the building. So, we try to, you know, >> try to catch them when we can, but that is not always the case. >> I know, right? >> Um so, those are just some some upcoming issues and concerns that we definitely have. I will say um one of the things that we found out about last week, Dr. Martin, myself, and Mr. Temples met

088with three members of the U. Virginia Department of Education this week. Um we were I won't say awarded. Um the Virginia Department of Education was awarded a federal grant. Um I do not know what Sassy stands for, but it's SAS SI. um where they are able to come in and work with school divisions to teach them how to do facility condition assessments and they will create a dashboard. We were one of 15 chosen and part of that's because of our local our um local composite index um our poverty level our free and reduced lunch numbers as well as we had to do a surveying in the spring. Um and based on those answers we were one of 15 chosen. Um so we met with them to try to understand what the program does you know

089this that and the other. Um, so what they will do is they will contract with a company to come out here and do a facility condition assessment of one of our schools. They've typically targeted the high school, but they did let us know that if there's one that would make more sense other than the high school, we can change that. Um, but in that process, they'll have the company do the facility condition assessment of one school, but then they will train us on how to do it for the rest of the schools. They will also provide us with a dashboard where all this data goes. um that will help us also with you know determining replacement costs um timelines for replacement. So I think it'll go a long way in helping us really assess our

090our schools um provide us with some data that we can provide to you all so that you know kind of what we're looking at in the future. data we can provide to the board of supervisors so they understand truly where we are at um with our schools and our our our um conditions. So I'm excited about that program and actually being able to be taught how to do something um I think will be a very meaningful a meaningful process and that is um something that you know we will continue to move forward with them. They're paying for it all so it's no cost out of us. is literally truly a learning opportunity for us to be able to to learn how to do something. Um, so that is one thing. Um, so going into kind

091of our grounds, you know, one of the things that Dr. Martin and I talked about is really trying to do some landscaping, making our schools look much more invitable. Um, and keeping this a yearly thing. You know, we started out small this year. We want to keep every year kind of expanding, you know, what the landscaping looks like at our schools. Um, so that's one of the projects we did this summer. Um and and we did we started out small and then hopefully we will branch out. And then obviously one of the repairs I talked about was the drainage at crew primary. Um so here's a couple of things. So crew primary which is the first picture prior to this that was all grass grass and tree stumps. Um the tree stumps were taken out.

092Um all the grass and about 2 in of dirt were taken out. They went in, regraded, packed it down, and we put rock and it is sloped so that the water drains away from the building um and into the the really into the bus loop. Um just to keep the water off of the building foundation. Um so this will be something that, you know, we'll continue to monitor and I mean we'll have to refill rock here and there because we know that'll wash away a little bit too, but we did put border to try to keep it in. Um, but it does look really nice cuz one of the other things that I really want to do is I want to remove the grass that is next to all of our brick buildings so that

093we're not mowing up next to the building. We're not weed eating up next to the building. Um, so hopefully we can come in here and we can, you know, we can plant some flowers. You know, the kids at Crew Primary could, you know, add some little painted rocks out there and do a really cute rock garden. So, I mean, there's some things that they can do to really, you know, spruce it up and make it look a little extra special, but that is one of the um projects that we did this summer. Um over the second picture, that is the circle out um between our middle and intermediate school where we actually um did some landscaping, shaped up the bushes, added some mulch. Um really trying to make it just look nicer than what it

094was. Um and we will continue to do this. We did some mulching at at um Blackstone Primary School. We have one more mulching project to do right before school starts, which is right out here in front of our high school, which is around those two rocks that they have and around their their um sign out front. And then Department of Education, they have a list of recommended shrubs and pl and flowers that you can plant that don't grow very big, so they're not a security risk for anybody hiding behind them. And we're really hoping that Mr. Rash's class can kind of help us with doing some plantings around the school um all the schools in in that aspect. So the landscaping is something that we will continuously try to build on every year um just

095so we can make our buildings look really nice and inviting um from the road for the students you know I mean every little bit of of you know ray of sunshine we can give to them is is important so they make sure that they they want to come to school and they are have pride in the school that they attend. Um, so that is my update for this evening on that. Um, if you have any questions, I will be glad to answer. [Music] Since I've been on the school board, I have heard an awful lot about all of the grants that we receive and uh, I mean, kudos to everybody that's had a hand in all of that. My question is, how do we stand with all the other school divisions in the state as

096far as being so proactive and getting grants? I mean, like I'm I I just have to think we're up toward the top, but >> I mean, we do a good job of going after grants, but a lot of our grants don't fund, you know, building projects. We went after the Department of Energy grant which did but I don't know you know how much the federal government's going to sustain any of that going forward. The state has construction grants but the problem with those they give us 30%. We have to find the other 70 and that's a huge chunk of money to have to find. Um, and other school divisions, even ones that that are as rural and as, you know, have the low LCI, I mean, even some of those get the, you know, capital

097improvement money from their their counties. We don't. Um, so we really rely on >> That's really where I'm going with all of this is that we do not get the support from local government that a lot of counties and other school divisions. >> Exactly. Correct. We >> look what we're doing in spite of that. >> We really on the money that we may have left over from salary savings or any other savings throughout the year to really try to do some of these projects. Um and we don't have a maintenance reserve fund. Um you know that's most school divisions don't um unless you're like allowed county, Fairfax County, a large school division, but that is something that most major universities and colleges have. They have a maintenance reserve fund. state requires it. The state does

098recommend, Virginia Department of Education does that we reserve 1 to 2% of our budget for capital improvement. But when we're already at a situation where we can we already had to cut things last year, our salary scales are not where they need to be for teachers, it's hard to reserve that knowing that you have so many other things that you need to do and accomplish. And I'm very, you know, thankful that Dr. Martin has been able to find already some some savings this year. Um, and I'm hoping going into budget season, we can really hunker down and look at some things and have some, you know, some ideas outside of the box that we can we can think about. Um, but it is it is tough to budget for this. And heaven forbid, you know,

099we do have something that goes down and cannot be repaired. Really trying to find, you know, those funds. Um, you know, we have these forest reserve funds that we have we have used for major emergency repairs. Those have dwindled. We still have some left and I'm trying to hold on to those um because I know that without a maintenance reserve, that's all the emergency funds that I have to use. Um, so it's it's difficult this it's to be able to budget this stuff. Are we doing any kind of job in making sure the public knows all of this? >> Well, that was one reason why Dr. Martin wanted me to present tonight. >> Yeah. That to get that out there, >> right? hearing what we're doing and as you said with the little funds that

100we have um and the dedic and I'm going to speak to it in my superintendent report but the dedicated staff that we have that I mean comes in on a Sunday afternoon and I mean everybody's working to get water out of a building and so we're very fortunate that we have dedicated staff members across the division that keep our buildings up and running and are focused on these things. But I mean, at some point things are exposed. They're aging buildings and the community needs to be aware of. Yes, our the we do a lot of work to keep what we have in in good shape and good condition, but that doesn't sustain us forever. I mean just like with this recent water damage at crew and the conversation I had with the company was okay

101well and we actually have a meeting with them next week train and their executives u one of them are coming down they're doing a walk with us Heather and myself and having a conversation I said okay the problem is fixed but my concern is long-term damage to the building to the infrastructure inside water seeping in things the mold possibly the mild like all of these things that we don't see a lot of damage. >> Water can do the damage the health of our kids and our staff. Um >> the damage to the teachers things that are in there that we're having >> to replace continuously with that and our teachers are dedicated and they they spend a lot of time and to have to keep going back and doing I heard their frustrations. I I

102heard Mr. Pa's frustrations. Um, I know he's frustrated with it over and over again. I'm frustrated with it over and over again. So, um, yes, it needs that's that's one of the things behind this for people to see we're doing a lot with the very >> little and it's because of the dedicated staff we have here in the school division that is doing those type of things because we do take pride. I go back to we're committed to what we're doing. Not everybody's always like that though and you know we have to take but we have to show what we have but we also need to share what are the needs and so my goal moving forward like Heather's focus tonight you know we've heard from sped we heard from athletics you know HR where

103are like all reports from every student services I know Dr. Lewis and I have talked about every other month discipline update so people know what we're doing. Want to get the good out that we're doing as well, the positivity, but we do people need to understand what we're what we're working with and what we're working behind the scenes on to ensure our kids are safe and our staff are safe. And I will say train is installing a second boiler at crew at their cost not at ours because they realize that I mean through no fault of their own because of our old system there that that one is just it puts too much on the system and it really needs to be split to two. So they are actually this fall going to be installing

104a second boiler at their cost not at ours. Um which is a huge thank you and blessing to them. Um, >> it helps that Myra Quick's from here. >> It it it does. We have a really good advocate, but you know, we've also, you know, those those relationships with with the community, with the vendors is very important. Um, and I mean, she was there with us Sunday in the trenches, cleaning, pushing water. Um, so, you know, having having, you know, that that that community behind us that's locally. Um, and then you know having a major corporation but that's to support us like that is very is very important and they want to do right by us and they want to you know make sure that we're up and running um is very is very important

105to us. >> I have a question regarding crew primary and the wall that you said that was bowing. >> Mhm. >> You mentioned something about um you could see insulation or insulation came through. I guess that that was all fixed on the interior. Um the contractor that we contacted came in um chiseled out a bunch of the mortar joints. >> Mhm. Refilled them, resealed them, um patched painted. So all everything that was done in that that needed to be done inside to seal those areas has been um so that was that was the first thing we did even before addressing the outside was making sure that that was done just in the event that the outside couldn't be addressed until after school started but we were able to get it done before we really wanted

106to make sure the inside was taken care of so the teachers could come in and set up their rooms. [Music] >> Thank you. >> Just going to stand right here. >> You're next. I know. Um I do not have anything to report to you this evening on the feasibility study. Um I don't really have an update on that and you know based upon what you all voted on this evening and what we're going to work on as far as you know some options. We can go further in depth on on some of that stuff whenever we do that at a work session. Um but don't really have an update on the feasibility. >> You're still up. >> I am still up. Um so budget update. I don't really have an update on actual numbers cuz

107I'm not closing out FY25 until October until after August 31st. That's because the sales tax money we get in August technically belongs to FY25. Um so once that is done um then I will close out the fiscal year and in September you will get an update on where we end where we ended with revenue expenditures, what carryover is going to need to be um addressed and all of that stuff. Um, so you'll get that update in September. Um, I will provide you an update as far as the conversations between us and the county and our EDIs and our bank account and all of that stuff. Um, Dr. Martin, myself, um, Mr. Bowen, Miss Rayford, and um, Miss Presley, make sure I get her last name right. Um we all met, sat down, talked about the

108pros and the cons of of every type of option we could. Um at the end of the day, we did come up. We are keeping our bank accounts. Um money will still flow into our bank accounts, but the flow of money will change. Um so we are going to give the EDIs back to the county. That should be in effect September 15th. Um I have already provided the stuff with the state. Miss Rafford will then transfer that money to us. Um she will copy Dr. Martin and myself on the email where she requests a transfer just so we know when it when it's done and she's actually already done that once when she transferred sales tax money. Um she hasn't had to transfer anything else yet. Um all communications to her as far as all

109reports and information that she needs is coming directly from me. Um so I'm going through it verifying you know what it is. I mean even I still miss things here and there. um but trying to streamline some processes with her. Uh making sure that she's able to reconcile um her stuff that she needs because we had already fixed the reconciliation process with the county administration office. Um so now we're working on fixing that. So we came to a mutually agreed upon that we can all work with, we can all manage because we still at the end of the day we maintain our bank account, we maintain paying our payroll, paying our bills um and being able to do initially what we wanted to do which was to pay our bills and our and our um

110and our payroll and not have to worry about paying it out of a county bank account. We're able to pay it out of our own. Um so that's where we're at with that. As of right now, everything seems very copathetic between everybody and we hope that that will maintain that. Um, but if it doesn't or if anything changes, we will absolutely bring that to you. Um, but that's my budget update for this year. >> I I will add just and I didn't have this for Heather earlier, but just some enrollment numbers so you know because this will affect budget. Now, I do want you to keep in mind we're very fluid right now because we haven't started yet and those could fluctuate. So, just so you know that I'm going to give you the ending

111year numbers first for 2425 and then I'm going to give you what we are projecting as of today, what we're seeing, what the schools are seeing in enrollment and what we have waiting in our enrollment school that we haven't gotten to yet. So, last year um and this is the report that went to the state for the enrollment and I wanted to keep in mind this is not ADM because ADM is what budget is based off of. This is enrollment. So as long we want enrollment to be as high as possible continuously. We finished the year with and that was at the high school 502, the middle school 261, the intermediate school 270, stone 365, and crew 371. And I will email these to you as well so that you will have them after. Yes.

112As well as the presentations. I will email those to you after. That's where we were at the end of last year. We're 2526 right now. Very fluid numbers. High school is 503. Middle school is 276. Intermediate school is 261. Blackstone is 367. Crew is 367, which gives us enrollment of 1774. But we have 42 students sitting in the enrollment school that we're still going through paperwork on. And so that we house them in this school that we got to get their paperwork and stuff. So we have 42. So when you add those numbers in, we're at 1816, which is great >> to be starting higher. We want to start as high as possible. >> 1816. Um that's six sitting in the enrollment school for the high school, three for the middle school, eight for the

113intermediate school, nine for Blackstone, and 16 for crew right now. um in the enrollment school to the point that and you have the names presented for you. We have to add two kindergarten teachers because we're over numbers. That's why you are seeing some additional names tonight because one, we cannot risk losing our um >> class size reduction funds. Both schools, we normally would not do this this early, but we feel very confident at both of their schools where their enrollment numbers are sitting for kindergarten. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to be a kindergarten teacher with 25 kids in a classroom. >> And let me remind you on the first day of school, they're not five, they're four when they come in. Our class size reduction numbers are at 20 and

11421, I believe, for them. With the numbers that we have, we have to add two additional teachers there. >> Both schools, >> one to each school, a teacher at each school. >> We we will fund it this year. Of course, we're going through salary savings and where we're moving funds. Worst case scenario, we can fund from our textbook for a one-year thing, you know, to to sustain and then we can move where we need to do. So, we're very confident in that. Um, but it's great to know our enrollment numbers are increasing again. Now, there's going to be some that fluctuate and go in and out. And like I said, we look at what's taking seat on the first day and we get updates every day for the first two, three weeks of school to

115know where we are and things start to level out. But every day they're getting new enrollments um in their buildings and like, okay, let's let's figure out what we need to do. But like I said, the kindergarteners are starting to they're coming from everywhere now. Um, so just so you have some perspective and I'll send you these numbers too because that will play in as we start talking about budget. Yep. >> Thank you. >> ENTC report. Mr. Outlaw. >> Uh, off to another really good start at ENTC thanks to Miss Lzinski. Uh they had a really huge open house the other day, a welcome back to school event with 107 in attendance to that which I think is almost all of the enrollment which that's very good. The participation and excitement level is very high.

116The carpentry class uh is up and running. Uh, one of the big events there is to put a a mini split, which is a small heating and air conditioning, a heat pump, uh, in, and that's that's all done. Uh, and, uh, did I miss anything? >> Today was our first day. >> All right. >> We had a almost a 90% turnout um, including like from Nawway and Amelia. So, which is excellent considering we started a week ahead of you guys. That's very good. >> It's up 100% from last year. >> And I went in there the other day and we we we got two people actually more than that with Mrs. Slidzinski. I don't know where most of the paint was on what she was painting or on [Music] so dedication. dedication uh and something

117needs doing, she jumps right in and does it. Very good. Thank you. The Governor's School, Miss Duncan. >> Um thank you. Sorry, I had to reread my notes. Um we had our meeting on 72325. Um we did have a reorganization meeting. All um members stayed the same. All invited um attendees has been accepted. Um they did have to utilize four alternates. Nawway was unable to fill all of their slots this year. Um now we do pay for slots regardless of um and if I'm incorrect, I want to be corrected, but regardless of usage, we still pay for those slots, but we did not fill all of ours. um we cannot change our slots without a 2-year notice prior, but I don't anticipate um that being an issue in um the future. Um there was a

118tuition increase for the college of an additional $4.90 per credit hours. Um we have created well they created I did not take part in this but there was a strategic plan that has now been created. um has been adopted and through the funding that they have 130 new iPads um through the VPSA state funds have been purchased um security checked locked up um and they did this because um it made it difficult with our system communicating with the college's system um so they felt it would be better just to supply with iPads so then that way they can go ahead and be successful in their work and I don't have it. I wasn't able to grab hold of it this time, but I do have a very nice um ad that our governor school um

119has been um publicized in. So, I'd like to next month present that so then that way they can see it. >> And uh Zak report, Miss Duncan, >> there's nothing new on that um front as of yet. Um meeting dates have not been publicized as of yet. Um as always um it is open um to the public in general. Um and members with children with IEPs are invited um public with children with IEPs are invited to be members of the special education advisory committee. [Music] >> Very good. And uh superintendent report. Dr. Mr. Chairman, members of the board. So, this evening I want to highlight the amazing support we have as we started this school year. Um, and or as it's getting ready to start. I mean, it's been busy to say the least. Um,

120but it's been exciting for us. It's it's one of the few places that you get to to start over every year and welcome new people in and start fresh. So, the new year is always exciting. But last week we welcomed an amazing group of new staff to our schools. Um we're excited about each one of them joining our family. They were here last week. The only um new staff that were not able to be here yet are our uh teachers coming from the Philippines. The EPI, they have been some delays in visas, but they're all set. They're here. They will be here ready to go. Um I think they're supposed to finally be on site August the 27th. So we are opening with some long-term subs in some places until they they get here and

121get situated. that the schools have done a fantastic job of having a backup plan in place. Um I even think some of those teachers sent video messages that were shared this evening with the parents um because they could not be there this evening but wanted to welcome their students to their classroom for when they arrived. So very eager to get here and to get get started. This week we welcome the rest of what I call our family back. Um I don't look at it as staff. I look at it truly is our Naway family. Um, so we welcome them back for the 25 26 year. Um, I have to tell you that we have the best staff around. I don't think you would find a better dedicated staff. They're phenomenal in what they do um,

122each and every day. They hit the ground running at each school and they are ready to welcome students next week. Um, there's a strong commitment to setting the bar high and the commitment to our work that we have. It's been visible in our uh community partnerships, our teachers and our staff, our families, our board um and our central office staff. So, I cannot say enough about our admin team um from principles to assistant principles to supervisors to central office staff, their dedication, their commitment. um they've gotten expectations, they've communicated those expectations to their departments, through athletics, across the board, um in all areas that we have high expectations and that we are holding people accountable for for what we say and what we we do. So, um I have to say a huge thank you

123tonight to our maintenance staff and our custodial staff. Um they have been dedicated to ensuring that schools are ready, the walls are shiny, the walls have been painted. Um they've had to clean walls. So if they weren't painted by the outside company, they've been wiping down walls, different things. Um, they've cleared the grounds. They've cleaned. They have recaned due to just various work and floods, whatever else comes along, raining in the buildings, whatever it may be. So, I mean, they have cleaned and they have recaned and they have done it without complaining. The maintenance staff has has gone wherever we needed to do. They've stopped a project. today for example they had to stop what they were doing and go to crew primary like because we needed hands on deck there so I cannot say

124enough about the work that they have done they have worked on weekends they have worked at night um to get the projects completed and it's been a team effort to ensure that the best is in place for our staff and our students as we open school next week. Uh we had a fantastic turnout on Monday night for our parking lot party. I think it grows every year with the local support and each year we wrap a few more hot dogs I think. Um, and they just keep going and you know we have some hot dog wrappers that we need to train on how to to speed up the process a little bit there. But um, you know, it's always a system now for working at concession stands and we know how to wrap really quick.

125But we wrap a few more hot dogs each and every year, I think, and they never seem to stop. Um, but it's amazing to see our families in our community come out and support the school division together with that work. Um, again, the admin team there, your principles, your central office team, our APS aren't here, and some of our supervisors aren't here, but they have done an amazing job. I I have to say kudos to each of them for their dedication to their building, their hard work that they do. Um, and they're there each and every day, long hours past it, and there there's nothing less than amazing. We have a really good admin team working together. Um, so that commitment that they have. Um, I will tell you that our division leadership did something

126a little bit different this year. We've been doing school readiness walks. So, as a team, Dr. Gravely, Miss Meyer, Dr. Lewis, um Dr. Greger and myself have gone to each of our buildings. Um we finished up with crew and Blackstone today, but we have walked with the principles of the buildings and the APS. We have looked at every component of readiness while we are there from the cleanliness of the building to ceiling towels that need to be replaced um to nooks and crannies that we need to go back and clean to HR needs to student services needs to bus dismissal process. I think now they can tell me something different and they can tell you something different. I think that each principal found that valuable. I hope that we were there side by side walking

127with them, having the conversation as to what their needs are. Um, central office knows they've been told frequently, we're here to serve. We're here to serve our our schools and our staff and be visible and those walks will continue in those buildings and we will be visible in the buildings to help support them um with it. We happened to be at Crew Primary when it all was happening today. So, we were there hands-on to support him um and his his custodial crew and so we could see firsthand what was what was going on. And then we went to Blackstone and finished up um the school readiness walk there. So, we have a list of projects we followed up and that way we can make sure they have everything they need for the first day of

128school. Um and then finally uh well, I may be, maybe other people aren't, but we're super excited about convocation tomorrow. I mean, you know, I don't know about them, but I think across the division, people are pretty excited. It's a little bit different this year. Um, because it's about celebrating our staff. Our convocation is truly this year about celebrating our staff and the work that they do and the commitment that they have to Nawway County Public Schools. Um, and the work that we have to do as we enter the new school year. Um, so as we prep and complete our final touches for the new year, again, you see it on the buildings. We are not away and we're committed to excellence. And that's that's my superintendent report for this evening. >> Thank you, Dr.

129Martin. Matters of schoolboard interest. Uh, August 15th, convocations. If you didn't know, it starts at 10:30. Well, that's in the morning >> and it starts at 10:30. Be a few minutes early. starts at 10:30. August 27th will be a work session. September 11th will be the military appreciation night at the uh stadium starts at 6:00. A preliminary at 6:00, game starts at 7:00. We have moved the traditional meeting from September 11th to the 18th. I did ask at one time if there was a better date because the 18th is also the board of supervisors. Uh I didn't get a an alternate date, but so the 18th is currently standing. Uh September 19th is the VSBA legislative advocacy center in person or visually if you've signed up for that. 24th will be a work session. The

13030th is the uh fall superintendent evaluation workshop. If you haven't attended one, they have made some minor modifications. October 22nd will be a work session. There aren't any currently planned in November and December. We'll go to other. Let's start with Mr. Row. Nothing at this time, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Wilson. >> Yes. I want to shout out Nway. I had a I'm not going to call the division name, but a young person lived in this county and she brought her child here under you, Dr. Martin, at um when you was at the intermediate school. The reason why she brought it here because the child couldn't read. So she brought her here and the child is doing very very well. So I have to shout you out for that because that's that's great. So and then I

131had somebody that's come from a bigger division saying basically the same thing. So what's what's your what's your motto? >> We are not committed to excellence. Let's keep the excellent going cuz I want I really want this and I think this whole board want this school to shine. We don't want to be the light on the hill because there are good reports. I heard I'm probably say this wrong but top people saying bad things about the school and I'm not happy about none of that. So you guys keep doing what you're doing and do that excellent thing. That's all. >> That's right. Thank you. Miss Duncan. >> Um yes. Um um one of the things that I wanted to say is I had a conversation with somebody um and they were critiquing some of the

132um engagements that has been doing lately. And their response was, "Well, we tried to do this before and it just never worked." Um they had some other remarks and I replied to them that that was then that this is today and that you cannot change unless you allow change and they took that and I call it digested it and they come back later and they said you know you're right you know you have to give something an opportunity to work before it will work and that's what I wanted to implore the parents the publics, the other note officials. Um, we want to see it grow. I do see growth and be part of the change, not part of the hindrance. >> No problem. >> Thank you, Mr. Outlaw. >> Nothing tonight. I have just a

133couple of things. Uh, Dr. Martin covered a number of the activities. Uh I was fortunate enough along with Mr. Outlaw to attend the bright spot or starbrite uh >> star base cutting and while they got to uh have a discussion about some of the things that are going on to the county with some of the other divisions from surrounding communities. Uh we uh Mr. Outlaw and I were also able to attend both sessions of the teacher training. Uh and I'll be the first to admit that when I walked into the building, uh you would have thought that there was something else going on. There were cheerleaders lining the hall. There were little lights and a red carpet as people I mean these are new employees that were coming in and being cheered as they were

134coming down the hallway. Uh everything went uh beautifully. I I mean I don't know how else to say it. uh to watch the expressions on new people's faces uh because I'm confident that they did not expect that kind of welcoming activity for those two days. And part of that first day training was a session on bullying which was uh extremely interesting uh from my standpoint. Uh I wasn't the only one that attended the awards uh activity that brought together the businesses and the students. Uh Mr. Outlaw was also there. Uh and the the parking lot party. Uh Dr. Martin mentioned wrapping hot dogs. Uh, you get I didn't get to wrap any. I'll be the first to admit that. Uh, I had a tough time keeping up getting the buns out of the bag so

135that they could put them in the hot dog in the bun. And we went through 1,000 hot dogs. Wow. In addition, there was a substantial number of backpacks that were given out. And I can I only have one other parking lot party to gauge against and that was last year against this year. And this year was dramatically larger, more people, more activities. But there wasn't one person that's in this room today that wasn't doing something at that gathering. And there wasn't one person giving everybody else directions. Everybody was just pitching in and doing the kinds of things that needed to be done to make it a success. Uh I was uh uh ex extremely uh fortunate to be able to be there and my wife showed up and she even uh joined in trying to

136figure out how to uh do a little something for the school system. Uh >> she's an excellent hot dog rapper. Uh I was fortunate in that uh there's a lot going on. You can feel it. All you have to do is walk into any one building. If you get more than another person with you, you can feel that there's a there's a an eb and flow of change for the positive in Nawway County. Uh I can only hope that the board of supervisors recognizes that. >> Amen. >> And that they're uh they they have figured out that revenue isn't necessarily a problem. Sometimes it's spending. Uh having said that, uh I'll ask for the uh uh closed resolution motion, please. >> Pursuant to section 2.2-3, 2-3711A of the code of Virginia. I move that the

137board convene a closed meeting for the purpose of discussing the following specific matters. A1, the consideration of personnel for 14 appointments. Two food service workers, four substitute teachers, one head volleyball coach, one assistant football coach, one assistant girls basketball coach, one temporary instructor. fifth grade, one custodian, one instructional assistant, one temporary instructor, kindergarten, and one EPI instructor, elementary, one salary adjustment, one instructional coach, and one termination, sixth grade English teacher. >> Uh, you've heard the motion. May I have a second? Second. Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. I. We are enclosed.