Coraggio Consulting
Albemarle County School Board Regular Meeting, Thursday, May 9, 2024

Date: Thursday, May 9, 2024
Place: Albemarle County Public Schools / School Board meeting, Virginia
Length: 3h 28m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MFPsGv4fDc

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-13. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:01] Welcome back. I call the May 9th, 2024 Elmoral County School Board meeting back to order. Do we have a motion? Yes, we do. I move that the board certify by recorded vote that to the best of each board member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the motion authorizing the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered in the closed meeting.

[00:00:30] I second. Moved by Ms. Osborne, seconded by Dr. Acuff. Could we have a roll call vote for that, please? Mr. Graham Page? Yes. Ms. Osborne? Yes. Dr. Berlin? Yes. Dr. Acuff?

[00:00:46] Yes. Ms. Spillman? Yes. Mr. Chuck Pace? Yes. Chair Lee? Yes. So moved. Okay, and we have a motion coming out of close? Yes. I move to nominate students A, B, C, and D to the role of student representative to the board.

[00:01:03] Second. Moved by Dr. Berlin, seconded by Ms. Spillman. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Not opposed. All right, so moved. Now we will start with a roll call, starting with Josiah Black. Good evening, everyone. I'm Josiah Black, School Division Counsel. Matthew Hawes, Superintendent.

[00:01:21] Allison Spillman, At-Large Representative. Ellen Osborne, Scottsville Representative. Rebecca Berlin, Whitehall Representative. Judy Lee, Rymano District. Kate Acob, Jack Jewett District. Graham Page, Miller District. Chuck Pace, Ryo District. Fernandez Snow, Student Rep. Claire Keiser, Assistant Superintendent. Daphne Keiser, Assistant Superintendent.

[00:01:43] Christine Thompson, Clerk of the Board. Roslyn Schmidt, Chief Operating Officer. I'm Officer Robbie Apple County, please. Thank you. Next, we will stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Careful with that. We encourage all of these, but that's the United States of America.

[00:02:08] Chief of the Pledge of Allegiance. The combination of the proud, indivisible, liberty and justice for all.

[00:02:21] Next we'll observe a moment of silence. We have approval of the agenda. Does anyone have a motion? I move we approve tonight's agenda. I second. Moved by Ms. Osborne, seconded by Mr. Page and Dr. Berlin. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approval. Agenda is approved. Next we have approval of consent agenda. Do I have a motion? I move we approve tonight's consent agenda. Second. Moved by Ms. Osborne, seconded by Ms. Spillman. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed?

[00:03:22] nope consent agenda is approved next we have our announcements we'll start with school board superintendent business chair lee i had a question on two items from the consent agenda not to pull them but just questions um for item four four um i wanted to know um what provisions we have to um ensure that we do or at least consider contract contracts for minority businesses when we approve contracts for certain things so what provisions do we have there what ways do we

[00:04:00] have uh measuring that or finding out anything about that yeah we'll do a more formal follow-up on that okay and then my second question is on um item 46 policy gcl and i wanted to know um how how much are we on target for um avoiding micro credentials and certification goals at this point

[00:04:30] according to the guidelines of gcl mr page i will present some data officially to the board regarding that all right thanks okay thank you very much um so next we'll have school board superintendent business ms lee i do not have anything official i'm going to cede all my time to uh the most important people that we have here tonight is uh our our teachers of the year and our

[00:05:05] education support professionals of the year so that's all for them tonight thank you same for the board um we have we'll start with a resolution for the national teacher appreciation week i believe mr page has that no i have nurses day oh oh i'm sorry check out it yeah so we're doing this

[00:05:30] them so I have the national teacher appreciation resolution and it's a little long so bear with me whereas teachers lay the foundation for our society by shaping the leaders healers innovators artists builders protectors entrepreneurs public servants and families of tomorrow and whereas teachers not only impart knowledge for me but also inspire mentor and empower

[00:06:09] students to reach their full potential by instilling in them the skills and confidence needed to succeed in life and whereas teachers often go above and beyond the call of duty working long hours investing resources and embracing innovative approaches to ensure every student receives a quality education and

[00:06:33] And whereas the dedication and commitment of teachers extend far beyond the confines of the classroom as they serve as mentors, counselors, role models, champions, and often friends for their students and advocate for their needs and aspirations.

[00:06:52] And, whereas President Biden noted in a proclamation recognizing National Teacher Appreciation Week, that teachers hold the kite strings that keep our national ambitions aloft and the future of our nation is in their hands.

[00:07:10] And whereas in 1980, the first full week in May officially became a national time of celebration of the contributions teachers make to the lives of students, families, and committees across our nation and the world.

[00:07:28] And whereas May 6th through May 10th is the first full week of May in 2024, therefore it be resolved that we members of the Albemarle County School Board hereby recognize May 6th through May 10th, 2024 as National Teacher Appreciation Week and commend the exemplary service and unwavering dedication of our teachers.

[00:07:56] and be it further resolved that during this week and throughout the year we encourage all members of Albemarle County Public Schools to join us in expressing the deepest gratitude to all teachers for their passion professionalism and profound and everlasting impact that they have on our society thank you very much it's also national school nurse day yes

[00:08:34] Chairly, and I have the proclamation recognizing National School Nurse Day. Whereas students of the future and by investing in them today, we're ensuring our world for tomorrow. And whereas families deserve to feel confident that their children will be cared for at school. And whereas all students have the right to have their physical and mental health needs safely met while at school.

[00:08:58] And whereas students today face more complex and life-threatening health problems requiring carrying school and whereas school nurses have served a critical role in improving student and public health for more than 120 years and whereas school nurses are professional nurses who serve on the front lines and provide a critical safety net for our most fragile children and whereas school nurses act as liaisons to the school community families and health care providers on behalf of children's health and whereas school nurses understand the link between health and learning and are in a

[00:09:38] position to make a positive difference with children every day and whereas Albemarle County Public Schools wishes to celebrate and acknowledge the accomplishments of school nurses across Albemarle County in their efforts to meet the needs of our students by providing and advocating the quality student-centered care and whereas we offer our gratitude to those who contribute to our local community by supporting students to stay healthy and in school. Be it proclaimed that we, members of the Albemarle County School Board, do hereby recognize May the 8th, 2024, as National School Nurses Day.

[00:10:17] Thank you very much. And it is also Mental Health Awareness Month. It's a busy month, yeah. We are recognizing the professionals and the conditions necessary to educate our kids and it doesn't it shouldn't escape your notice that tonight we're going to be talking about pre-k through 12 literacy and you're seeing school board members knowing how to read so bear with me proclamation recognizing May as mental health awareness month whereas mental health is an essential part of overall well-being impacting individuals families

[00:10:55] and communities across Albemarle County public schools, whereas more than one in 10 youth in the United States experienced depression that severely impaired function at school, at home, with family, or in their social life in 2023, according to Mental Health America.

[00:11:14] And whereas despite its prevalence, mental health remained shrouded in stigma, preventing many from seeking help whereas early intervention and access to quality care are crucial for managing mental health conditions and improving quality of life whereas Albemarle County Public Schools has committed itself to supporting student mental health and social and emotional development whereas May is recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month providing an opportunity to raise awareness combat stigma and promote mental health resources be it proclaimed

[00:11:52] that we members of the Albemarle County School Board to hereby recognize may as mental health awareness month in Albemarle County Public Schools and call on all of our members of our community to educate themselves and others about mental health conditions treatment options and resources challenge stigma by speaking respectfully and inclusively about mental health. Seek help if they are struggling with mental health and encourage others to do the same and create safe and supportive environments for open conversations

[00:12:27] about mental health. Thank you. Thank you very much Dr. Acuff. Next we'll have our spotlight on education. I have Claire Kaiser and Dan Redding. Good evening board members Dr. Haas and members of the cabinet and a very very full Lane auditorium full of amazing educators to support. This evening we're thrilled to

[00:13:04] present the nominees for Teacher, Classified Employee, and Leader of the Year as part of the Albemarle County Public Schools Celebration of Excellence. Embedded in our strategic plan, Objective 2, Strategy 3, is the development of staff recognition programs and recognition is an important part of employee engagement. Tonight, we will recognize almost 60 of our outstanding employees, each of whom demonstrates commitment to the mission and vision of the school division and to thriving

[00:13:39] students, to affirming and empowering communities of students, staff, and the broader Albemarle community, and to equitable and transformative resources and practices. To launch this process, principals and department heads were asked to run a process in their schools and departments by which staff could nominate a colleague through a collaborative process so that the teacher, the classified employee, or the leader who emerged as the nominee would have a groundswell

[00:14:13] of support from their team. Once nominees came forward, principals and supervisors worked with those nominees to submit a packet of information to human resources that included letters of support and recommendation from colleagues, from students, from families, and the teachers had to respond to two writing prompts, one about student engagement and one about current issues in education. Each packet we received described an Albemarle County employee who is

[00:14:47] dedicated and contributing at very high levels to student success. A committee of school-based and central office leaders, also with a parent, an AEA member, and last year's teacher and classified employee of the year, reviewed those nominations and rated them against the nomination criteria, which led to finalists emerging. From the finalists, overall winners were selected. This evening we're thrilled to be joined by our nominees and their loved ones who

[00:15:21] support them so what we're going to do is call the name of each nominee starting with our teachers of the year nominees we're going to ask you to come down just come down probably the center if you can dr. sorry whichever is easier dr.

[00:15:41] Kaiser has a plaque to present you that commemorates your nomination we'll ask you to proceed to shake hands with our board members and then to assemble we're probably over there for a photo and miss dunn if you would help us gather the nominees for a group photo we will finish each group with the introduction actually with a video first and then the introduction of the winner for that category and finally the teacher of the year the classified employee of

[00:16:17] the year and our leader of the year will take a few moments to address the board so i do want to ask the audience to please hold applause until we get to the end of each category just so we can get through the list in a timely manner and as an incentive and reward there are a lot of cupcakes and chicken tenders outside that are waiting for you when we're done but we'll we'll give thunderous applause to our collective groups. So without further ado, here are our nominees for Teacher

[00:16:52] of the Year. From Agner Hurt, Brittany Veith Mullenix. Please do hold that applause till we get through all the teachers. From Baker Butler, Deborah Zenter. From Broadduswood,

[00:17:21] Cape Gary. From Brownsville, Darcy Palmer. From Crozet, Suzanne Stevens. From Greer, Ashley

[00:17:55] Hoffer. From Hollymead, Cindy Hurstman. From Ivy Elementary School, Jamie Rowland. Mountain View,

[00:18:22] Charlotte Getty. Murray Elementary, Laura Richardson. Red Hill, Aliciava Cornelius.

[00:18:40] Scottsville Reva Allen Stone Robinson Lily Huchins I'm not sure that Lily was able to join us tonight from stony point Karen hecka thorn I'm not sure that

[00:19:13] Karen was able to join us from Woodbrook Hannah bud early middle school Shanika curry Henley John barber journey Chris Thomas lakeside Kate Sims

[00:19:43] And from Walton, Jennifer Graham. From Community Lab, Ida May Craddock. Monticello High School, Jeremy Dove. I don't know if Jeremy made it. Western Albemarle, Forrest Garrison. From the

[00:20:15] Department of Technology, Katie Broad. And from Special Education, Megan Athow. As we're getting ready to introduce our Teacher of the Year, we'll let everyone shake hands. I do want to thank our communications team who helped by helping us surprise the winners in each category and they took a moment to put together some really amazing videos so

[00:20:55] before we meet our teacher of the year I would like to share this incredible work with you and then we have someone who'd like to come down and introduce our winner thank you all so much for this for me alma is a place where there's a

[00:21:33] space for everyone and anyone and everyone can have success here and I feel really lucky to be a part of it and a part of who I work with teachers and students alike because we get to see everyone succeeding passing SOLs despite whatever challenges they faced before coming here. Maybe they haven't been in school for five years and then they come here and pass an algebra SOL within Six months, eight months, that's pretty amazing to watch.

[00:22:05] Hola, soy estudiante de Abramad High School. Mis Reyes fue mi maestra desde el primer año y siempre nos enseñó, nos ayudó en todo. Y ha sido una gran maestra con todos nosotros y siempre busca apoyarnos en todo momento y la queremos mucho.

[00:22:22] She just always makes an impact no matter what, especially on our Hispanic community, our kids in general. She's just amazing. She's an amazing soul to have. She's always brightening up everybody's day, so congratulations, Ms. Reyes, we all love you very much. Sarah Reyes is someone who deeply respects her students and their experiences, and they, in turn, love and respect her as well.

[00:22:47] Hola, soy Jeffrey González. Soy un estudiante de Albrecht High School. Y he estado con mis Reyes como por dos años en clases. Y ella ha sido una de las mejores maestras que he tenido, because she helped me to understand a lot of what you have to understand in this school.

[00:23:04] The entire community followed us in here today because that's how much they value and believe in Ms. Reyes and they know, more importantly, how much she cares and loves them. A veces siento como si tuviera una madre en la escuela. Me siento muy feliz por ella, por estar en esto y felicidades a ella por ser una excelente maestra.

[00:23:28] She has helped us a lot in the academic field, but outside of the academic field, she gives us a lot of advice and I'm grateful for it. Thank you. Her classroom environments are always lively and supportive in a place where students can make mistakes and try again.

[00:23:49] And she's just somebody who I look to as a model for how teachers should lead in a building. Sarah Reyes is fantastic. She's a wonderful co-worker. She's always open to anyone to make questions and guide them. I'm so proud of her in many, many ways. She's not just a wonderful teacher. She's a fantastic co-worker. And congrats, Sarah.

[00:24:17] It just felt really special and I feel really honored and grateful for everybody that I work with, students and staff alike, many of which are my friends. Alright, at this point I would like to invite Oscar to come down.

[00:24:55] Hey everyone, my name is Oscar Gomez, I'm one of the leaders of Latinx Club. Hi everyone, my name is Echon Arroyo and I will be interpreting the meeting tonight. Hola a todos. Mi nombre es Oscar Gomez y soy uno de los líderes del Club de Latinx.

[00:25:14] I would like to introduce the 2024 Teacher of the Year, Sara Reyes, and I want to say thank you for doing your best all the time.

[00:25:31] Quiero presentar a la maestra del año 2024 y la quiero agradecer por todo. Good evening. My name is Sarah Reyes and I'm an English learner teacher and department chair at Albemarle High School.

[00:26:01] I have been at AHS since 2016 and I have taught Spanish, ESOL, and Algebra and collaborated in Earth Science, Geometry, and English 12. I want to start by thanking the staff at Albemarle High School, some of whom are here.

[00:26:18] Beginning with Hannah Barron, who nominated me for this award, thank you, Leilani Keyes, for all of your time, guidance, insight, and your endless enthusiasm. Thank you, Dara Bonham, for your encouragement and positivity since the day you arrived at Elmorrow High School.

[00:26:42] Thank you both for always saying yes to our students and to us when we're being reasonable. thank you Dan Redding for leading this process thank you Helen and Patrick who patiently stayed with me through the anxiety of being interviewed on camera thank you to my family and friends both in school and outside of school who have supported me and also who are here with me tonight I'm honored to receive this title and to have this space to tell you a little bit about the students that I

[00:27:18] serve English learners who I will call EL or L students I originally grew up in Elmoral County, and I attended Meriwether and Murray Elementary and then Henley Middle School. Around 13 years old, I started to get a lot of questions about my identity. What are you, people would ask.

[00:27:38] Why is your nose like that? Your skin is yellow, some would say. People would, and occasionally still do, call me Sarah Rees. I felt misunderstood at times, but even more importantly, these comments led to me questioning myself.

[00:27:55] Now, I teach students whose identity is also often misunderstood. Spanish-speaking students are often assumed to be Mexican when actually the majority of Spanish speakers in our school are from Honduras. Some people do not know that the country Honduras even exists upon hearing the correction.

[00:28:14] Afghan students are called Arab and even confused for Hispanic at times, prompting people to say something to them in Spanish. Names are mispronounced time and time again, signaling to all that you have never met someone with this name and/or that you will not take the time to learn how to say their name properly.

[00:28:34] More often than not, unfortunately, this leads to the person questioning themselves, their names, and even changing them at times to make it easier for others. Some people still don't know that most Latinos have two last names and they are not hyphenated.

[00:28:53] Some people don't know that many of our EL students who arrive here from other countries are coming to live with someone, be it a parent, uncle, aunt, brother, or sister that they have not known very well for most of their lives. Maybe their mother came here when they were a baby and they are reuniting for the first time after 15 years.

[00:29:12] Maybe they are living with an extended family member they had never actually met previously. Our students are navigating a new country, a new culture and systems, a new language, and new relationships at home. Many of them, out of obligation or guilt, are working difficult hours in addition to coming to school.

[00:29:32] Some of our young adults are paying all of the same bills we as adults are paying. A small number of our students have never been in school before and arrived to a high school in Virginia where they are not only asked to write essays about Macbeth or the Odyssey, but also to take the same state tests in history, math, science, English, reading and writing as everyone else.

[00:29:56] Despite all of these challenges, EL students are often the hardest working students in the room. They also come into the room with a big smile, a good morning miss, and of course shake all of their friends' hands before they sit down. They might have gotten off of work at 12 a.m. last night, or they might not have anyone to wake them up or get them on the bus in the morning because their parent or guardian is working 12 hours a day, but they show up, trusting in the system and trusting in us.

[00:30:25] Most of them succeed. Every year, I get to watch EL students pass SOLs that some people think they won't pass. I get to see EL students walk across the stage at graduation three years after arriving to the United States and not knowing any English upon arrival.

[00:30:42] Some people forget or don't know that EL students and immigrants are often the most resilient, determined people. They had to be to get where they are now. The students who do not succeed in this system, however, are not failing.

[00:30:59] We are failing them. It is our responsibility to know our students, to learn how to say their names, to know their needs, and to alter our systems with your support to leave our students finding success in these systems that were not created with them in mind. Our goal in the end should be for us to always question our systems so that our students will never have to question themselves.

[00:31:21] Hola, mi nombre es Sara Reyes y soy maestra de aprendizajes de inglés y también la encargada del departamento en la escuela secundaria de Albemarle.

[00:31:46] He estado en Albemarle desde 2016 y he enseñado español, EL y álgebra y también he colaborado en las clases de ciencia de tierra, geometría e inglés 12.

[00:32:02] Quiero empezar por dándole las gracias a los empleados de Albemarle, empezando con Hannah Barron, que me nominó para este premio. Gracias a Leilani Keyes por todo su tiempo, sus consejos, su sabiduría y por su entusiasmo infinita.

[00:32:23] También le quiero dar las gracias a Dara Bonham por su apoyo continuo y por su positividad. También por siempre decirnos que sí cuando estamos en razón. Gracias a Dan Redding por ser el encargado de este proceso.

[00:32:43] Gracias a Helen y Patrick quienes me motivaron y ayudaron de una manera muy paciente durante mi entrevista en cámara en donde me sentía muy ansiosa. Gracias a mi familia y a mis amigos en la escuela, al igual que afuera de la escuela, quienes me han apoyado durante mi camino.

[00:33:01] Estoy honrada en recibir, estoy agradecida en recibir este título y de tener el espacio de tiempo para contarles un poco de los estudiantes que sirvo, que son los aprendizajes de inglés.

[00:33:17] Originalmente crecí en el condado de Albemarle y asistí a Meriwether Elementary, la escuela primaria Meriwether, la escuela primaria Murray y también la escuela intermedia de Henley. Por los 13 años empecé a recibir muchas preguntas sobre mi identidad.

[00:33:38] "¿Qué eres?" preguntaban las personas. "¿Por qué tu nariz es así?" "¿Tu piel es amarilla?" observaban las personas. Me llamaban y todavía me llaman a veces "Sara Rees". Me sentía mal entendida y aún más importante, estas preguntas me llevaron a dudar de mí misma.

[00:34:00] Ahora les enseño a estudiantes con quienes también tienen identidades mal entendidas. Mis estudiantes, los estudiantes hispanohablantes, muchas veces son asumidos a ser mexicanos, cuando en realidad la mayoría de los hispanohablantes en nuestra escuela son de Honduras.

[00:34:19] Algunas personas ni siquiera saben que el país de Honduras existe. Tenemos estudiantes de Afganistán, a los cuales le llaman árabes, Y hasta son confundidos por hispanos en veces, haciendo que las personas les digan algo en español.

[00:34:38] Nombres son pronunciados mal vez tras vez, sinalando que tú nunca has conocido a alguien con este nombre y que no vas a tomar el tiempo de aprender cómo se dice su nombre bien. Muchas veces y desafortunadamente esto lleva a que las personas se dudan de ellos mismos, de sus nombres, y hasta que cambien sus nombres para que sea más fácil para los demás.

[00:35:02] Algunas personas aún incluso no saben que los latinos tienen dos apellidos y que no van con guía. Algunas personas no saben que la mayoría, que muchos de los estudiantes IAO, quienes llegan acá de otros países, están llegando a vivir con otra persona, sea pariente, tío, hermano, y que puede ser que esa persona no lo conocen muy bien por la mayoría de sus vidas.

[00:35:29] A lo mejor sus madres llegaron acá cuando fueran bebés y se están reuniendo por primera vez después de 15 años. Tal vez están viviendo con un miembro de familia extendido, quienes nunca han conocido en realidad. Nuestros estudiantes están navegando un nuevo país, una nueva cultura, sistemas, un nuevo idioma y relaciones nuevas en sus casas.

[00:35:55] Muchos de ellos, sea por obligación o por culpabilidad, están trabajando horas difíciles, además de venir a la escuela. Algunos de nuestros jóvenes están pagando los mismos biles que pagamos nosotros como adultos. Una cantidad pequeña de estudiantes nunca asistió a las escuelas anteriormente y llegaron a una escuela secundaria en Virginia, where they don't only ask them to write essays about Macbeth or the Odysseus,

[00:36:25] but also to take the same state exams in history, mathematics, science, English, literature and lecture, as well as the others. A pesar of these challenges, the EL students are many times the most working students in the class.

[00:36:47] Siempre llegan al salón con una gran sonrisa, un "Buenos días Miss" y por supuesto a darles las manos a todos sus amigos antes de que se sienten. Puede ser que se salieron del trabajo a la medianoche y que no tengan a nadie a quien les levante para que se suban al bus en la mañana porque sus padres o guardianes están trabajando 12 horas al día.

[00:37:11] Pero ellos llegan confiando en el sistema, confiando en nosotros. Muchos de ellos son exitosos. La mayoría de ellos son exitosos. Cada año me doy el placer de ver mis estudiantes EL pasar los exámenes del estado, las cuales algunas personas piensan que no lo van a pasar.

[00:37:32] Me doy el placer de ver mis estudiantes de EL caminar sobre el escenario en la graduación tres años después de haber llegado a este país sin saber inglés. Algunas personas se les olvida o no saben que los estudiantes EL or immigrant, many times they are the most brave and determined in the community.

[00:37:54] And they had to do it to get to where they were. The students who are not successful in our system, they are not failing. We are failing them. It is our responsibility to know our students, learn how to say their names, learn their needs, and change our systems with their support in dejar que nuestros estudiantes encuentran el éxito en estos sistemas las cuales no fueron creadas con ellos en mente.

[00:38:28] Nuestra meta al final debe ser que para nosotros siempre cuestionar nuestros sistemas para que nuestros estudiantes nunca duden de ellos mismos.

[00:38:43] We want to make sure we get a round of applause for all the nominees and we'll

[00:39:17] bring all of our nominees up. Just bear with us while we assemble the group for a

[00:39:37] photo. Congratulations to our teacher nominees and to Ms. Sarah Ray as our ACPS

[00:41:08] Teacher of the Year. Our ACPS Teacher of the Year will go on in 2025 to have her application submitted to be recognized as the Region 5 Teacher of the Year and the Region 5 Teacher of the Year will go on to compete for the Virginia Teacher of the Year for 2025. So this is very exciting. I think we have a fantastic nominee right at this point. We will go ahead and we will follow the same procedure to recognize our classified Employee of the Year nominees. Again,

[00:41:44] please do hold your applause until we have them all up and we're uh we're ready for our photo we'll start uh with uh our classified nominee from agner hurt miss heather ayers and from baker butler ms courtney zenter roddus wood ms dawn o'malley i'm not sure she came this evening

[00:42:20] brownsville karen shiflett she came from crozet annette shiflett congratulations out there from greer mayrem maldonado from hollymead sandra mitchell ivy elementary christina stinnett

[00:42:55] mountain view pam gardner red hill mason wells scottsville jessica lundgren congratulations stone robinson lisa spradlin stony point gary courtney sorry we got you guys backwards um

[00:43:31] woodbrook anthony johnson burleigh cj pasalacqua henley christian hanson journey janet hearns

[00:43:53] lakeside kara costello walton lutrice cooper simpson from albemarle high school pearl early community lab amy gunnarson monticello high school evan coleman western albemarle denise

[00:44:32] more building services norma pace child nutrition peggy morris from the department of technology gary moore from edep linda mcdaniel from human resources kim shikioka from special education

[00:45:08] ethel johnson and from transportation jeanette reynolds right and as we're getting ready to recognize i'll allow the board members to shake hands but as we're getting ready to recognize our classified employee of the year again our

[00:45:46] communications department has put together a video please enjoy we have a surprise for you carla we could not be more proud um to announce that you are acps's classified employee of the year and it is so well deserved

[00:46:20] You know, I just put my best foot forward every day. I try to treat everyone as I'd want to be treated. In the front office, I'm dealing with students all day and their parents. I also do the bus on the side still, so I see the students there, and I work at Western, so I'm very involved in the sport.

[00:46:37] So I just try to represent Amaral County and treat everyone as I'd like to be treated. Ms. Carla Dotson is one of the most dedicated office associates that I have ever worked with. I've been in the division over 20 years and worked with many, many individuals.

[00:46:54] And she is caring and loving and supportive. She knows every responsibility and how a building runs. She clearly has the best interest of every stakeholder in our community, from our teachers, to our students, to our parents, to our entire community.

[00:47:14] She is trustworthy. She can be counted on to do anything and everything. She does everything with high quality, and she's just always there for every one of us. - Well, Carla is the heartbeat of this school. She knows how to do every role in this school, and she has done every role in this school, you know, so she can sit in any chair.

[00:47:33] She can, she knows all the families. She knows all the students and just helps us to be able to do our best work because she always anticipates everybody else's needs and takes care of things, you know, big and small.

[00:47:50] So really this school could not run without it. - Gentlemen, yeah.

[00:48:07] Our Classified Employee of the Year, Ms. Carla Dodson.

[00:48:58] - Those great words that people have said about you. Good evening guests, colleagues, and our esteemed school board. I am deeply honored and humbled to stand before you as this year's educational professional support staff member.

[00:49:14] This recognition is not only a reflection of my own individual efforts, but that of the testament and dedication of my entire team. This means more to me than I can truly say.

[00:49:33] First and foremost, I would like to thank administration, leadership, and the school board, including the selection committee, for bestowing this prestigious honor upon me. The mentorships that have come before me have inspired me to be the best that I can be.

[00:49:54] They inspire me to push the boundaries that come and also to strive to continue to excellence. Thank you for believing in me and providing the resources, guidance, and opportunities needed to excel in this role. I must also extend a heartfelt thanks to my family and loved ones who have been with me throughout this journey.

[00:50:14] Your many nights of behind-the-scenes support do not go unnoticed. From being voluntold, you will be at another school event, for all the free-for-alls at dinnertime, and just putting up with the many hours I put into my job, your love, encouragement, and understanding are noticed.

[00:50:31] am forever grateful for you lastly i want to dedicate this award to all the classified employees who work tirelessly behind the scenes often without recognition and praise as i look at the list of nominees and those of you in the room tonight i am humbled to be among such a powerful group some of you have helped me as a student in emerald county some of you as a parent now all of you as colleagues it is an honor to represent you today as i accept this award i am reminded of the impact that each one of us can make when we commit ourselves wholeheartedly to our work and serving

[00:51:08] others the work does not stop with this award it is just the beginning let us continue to strive for excellence to uplift each other knowing it's all good and make a difference in the lives of those we serve thank you once again for this incredible honor i am truly blessed to be part of such an extraordinary community and i look forward to continuing the work alongside all of

[00:51:31] you in the pursuit of our shared goals. Thank you. Congratulations to all of our

[00:52:57] Classified Employee of the Year nominees and it certainly is appropriate to do this recognition during Educator Appreciation Week so I'm glad that that timing worked out. We have one more award to present and this is the first year that we've provided an opportunity for schools and departments to nominate a leader of the year. So we had a small number of nominations but all of them are most certainly worthy of recognition. I will call our nominees down and we'll play a short video and then recognize our Albemarle County Leader of the Year.

[00:53:34] Our first nominee was Lindsey Snoddy. I don't believe Lindsey made it this evening. Our second from Building Services. Our second nominee is Brody Downs from Human Resources. Hold that applause till the end. We're almost at the end as he is shaking hands with our board members. We have one more video to

[00:54:13] share. I think the best part of this job is surprising the winners. It's actually incredibly fun and actually very moving. I just want to congratulate you. You're the Alamont County Public Schools Administrator, Leader of the Year. I can't tell you how grateful I am that you stayed all this time, you're here with us, and I look forward to many, many more

[00:54:47] years of working with you. So thank you, Mark. Thank you. So being a leader for me means understanding what the needs are and finding ways to make those needs happen, supporting people that you work with to be the best versions of themselves, and really making sure that you take a collaborative approach to solving problems, to improving circumstances, and doing the

[00:55:20] work that we do. So leadership really is thinking outside yourself and making sure that the people that you work with feel supported. Nominating Mark for leader of the year was a really easy decision and when I suggested it to the team everybody jumped right in and decided like we're gonna do this. I think the hardest part was deciding who to narrow down the letters of recommendation to just because we knew so many people in the division would support us nominating him.

[00:55:54] So we're very grateful that Mark won, and we just knew that he was going to be the top choice. So congratulations, Mark. I've worked with Mark Leach since 2010. I don't know a leader that's more deserving of this award. He works very hard for staff and students, so puts a lot of time in, but also really focuses on high-quality work.

[00:56:15] And I think our division has greatly benefited from his leadership. And his work as a leader, he has gained the respect of his entire team. It was his team that nominated him for this award. And they are strongly loyal to him.

[00:56:31] And together, they do some awesome work. We're really fortunate to have Mark not just as an employee for ACPS, but a leader. And I'm super proud of him for this recognition. It really is a great place to work. I truly do believe that we are making a difference in students' lives.

[00:56:48] And it's a pleasure to work with and support people who are doing exactly that. So thank you very much, and I'm very appreciative. Mark, come on down. Mark Leach, our leader of the year.

[00:57:10] Thank you members of the board for allowing me time to share my appreciation for the Administrator Leader of the Year award.

[00:58:01] While I prefer normally to remain in the background and generally shy away from the spotlight, I am grateful for this recognition. I want to start by thanking my family for their unwavering support. Over my 32 years in public education as a teacher, a technician, and an administrator, I've been very fortunate to have served many students, families, and staff along the way.

[00:58:22] Anyone who does this work knows that it requires sacrifices, and my family has been my rock and my encouragers throughout my career. The work we do in our schools is extremely important to our communities and to the world as a whole, and would not be possible without all of the dedicated and talented individuals who I am proud to consider colleagues.

[00:58:41] I especially want to highlight the members of the Enterprise Applications Team, who I work with side-by-side each day and who nominated me for this award. Being a leader is much easier when you have individuals that you work with who share a common commitment and passion to doing excellent work and are aligned in service to others.

[00:58:59] They're an amazing team that I've been blessed to work alongside. I'm also grateful to work in a department whose members value service, which is a core value of mine. This school division is full of other individuals who value servanthood just as much as I do. I have collaborated with building leaders who look for creative solutions to very difficult and complex problems every day.

[00:59:21] I often see teachers who listen intently to the voices of their students and families and seek to make them feel valued and important. I notice staff members who go above and beyond their assigned duties to bring compassion and joy to our school communities.

[00:59:38] I see student leaders doing amazing things that I never dreamed doing at their ages to make things better for both themselves and their peers. I've worked alongside division leaders who seek to position others for success while lifting them up and supporting them.

[00:59:54] Schools are designed to serve our students and communities, and it takes leadership at every level to fulfill that commitment. ACPS is fortunate to have individuals who exemplify these traits and seek to make a difference. One other important attribute of leadership is connectedness and building community.

[01:00:11] When we make connections with others, we find common bonds that pull us all together and alongside each other in this challenging work that we do. I'm proud to work alongside the other two individuals being recognized tonight and all the others who have been up here.

[01:00:27] It was heartwarming to see the people that I knew and worked closely with throughout my years here standing up here on the stage and sitting out in the audience. In fact, Ms. Reyes was my middle daughter's ninth grade Spanish teacher, and I often heard about how much Ms. Reyes cared about students and sought to get to know them.

[01:00:49] Ms. Dodson came to the county a few years after I did, and we've interacted often throughout the last decade. I've seen her quality work and how she cares for the members of her school community. I consider it a privilege to be recognized alongside both of them. Thank you for this honor and your continued support of the important work that we all do each day.

[01:01:30] I do want to thank the communications team for their support, especially making those amazing videos.

[01:02:11] And I want to thank the committee that helped review the packets. That is not an easy job. We lifted the names of 58 amazing employees this evening out of a group of more than 2,700 incredible and hardworking employees who do this every day.

[01:02:29] We're grateful for all of them. Thank you for letting us take this time to share them with you. Thanks for all your hard work, Dan. Thank you so much, Dan and Claire. Congratulations to everyone, as they are filing out to well-deserved cupcakes and chicken nuggets.

[01:02:48] OK, next on our agenda, we have public comment. And I'll be passing the gavel over to Ms. Spillman. I get the gavel. It's exciting. Thank you. All right, I am going to read the information about public comment, and then I will name the public commenters.

[01:03:08] We welcome public input at our school board meetings. To sign up to speak during public comment period, you can do so in several ways. Online, sign up is available from 9 a.m. on the Monday of the meeting week until 2 p.m. on the meeting day. By phone, call the school board clerk's office to sign up before 2 p.m. on the meeting day.

[01:03:27] And in-person, sign up at the meeting is available from 6 p.m. until the public comment period for in-person meetings only. Please note that public comment is not received at special board meetings unless specified on the agenda. Each speaker will have three minutes to speak, but the chair with board consent may reduce this to two minutes should there be 14 or more speakers.

[01:03:47] The maximum number of people or groups that may speak at a meeting is 20. In the event that there are more than 20 people or groups who wish to speak at a particular meeting, each speaker will be assigned a number and speakers will be drawn to determine which people or groups will have the opportunity to speak. Those who do not have the opportunity to speak at a particular meeting may sign up to speak at a subsequent meeting and or may submit written comments to the school board's consideration.

[01:04:12] Speakers should state their name, address, or voting district, address comments to the school board, limit comments to school board governance or school division operations, provide written statements, and supporting materials to the clerk. The school board will use a timer to track each speaker's time.

[01:04:28] Once the time is up, speakers are asked to wrap up their comments. to maintain respect please refrain from clapping or other audible forms of support you may raise your hand instead debate with the school board is not allowed the projection system is for staff presentations only okay um the first person we have is courtney stanley thank you my name is courtney turner stanley i graduated from albemarle high school in 1959 as valedictorian of my class

[01:05:08] and I was the assistant editor of the yearbook during my senior year. I earned a BA from the College of William & Mary and a master's and a master's plus 30 from the University of Virginia. When I returned to Appalachian High School in 1966 to teach mathematics, Mr. Hurt remembered that I had served as the assistant editor of the yearbook in high school and asked me to take the job of advisor to the yearbook for just one year.

[01:05:38] 21 years later, and after Mr. Hurt had retired, I resigned that position even though I continued to teach at Albemarle Mathematics until 2002 when I retired. want to emphasize that not once in the 22 years I worked with the yearbook did Mr. Hurt ever see any pictures or copy that appeared in the yearbook until he was presented with his copy of the

[01:06:12] published yearbook. Mr. Hurt was never a racist. The appearance of rebel flags in the 68 yearbook was taken at a football game, and it's a matter of sports, not race. We were playing Lehigh School of Stanton. They were known as the Rebels, and the flag was used to taunt the opposing team.

[01:06:36] Didn't work, we lost the game, but they tried. The appearance of a picture showing an adult in blackface was taken at a Boosters Club minstrel. The Boosters Club was an organization of parents whose children were in athletics at Albemarle and they helped fund it would have been impossible for Mr. Hurt to have denied that club the use of the auditorium. Albemarle was never a racist school

[01:07:07] thanks to the leadership of Mr. Hurt. In the 10 years following the complete integration of the students of Burley and Scottsville into the student body black students filled all of the leadership positions that were available at HAP.

[01:07:29] They were class officers, honor graduates, members of the Homecoming Award, Homecoming Queen, editors of the yearbook and newspaper, on all the athletic teams, clubs, and so forth. Black culture assemblies were given so that the blacks could share their history with their students.

[01:07:50] Finally, by a vote of the senior class, two black, one teacher, one administrator, were dedicated the yearbook so that those respective years since you were obviously thank you so much your time is up okay may i continue just finishing up nope sorry but you said we could wrap it up okay since you were obviously presented with incorrect assumptions about what appeared in the yearbook

[01:08:21] we simply ask that you reconsider thank you um next we have barbara fitzgerald passing a cane is a hazard when your husband is also 83. um i'm first i want to take a few seconds and say how happy i am to be here on this educators night because that was fun watching all those

[01:08:59] teachers being rewarded and i haven't seen that in a while i taught for many years as did my husband a good number of them at uh hbcus we taught at virginia state or he did and we both taught at virginia union and he retired from there we also taught university of georgia and the college at charleston and piedmont and uva and all over the place we've really enjoyed our hbcus so ordinarily i'd be on the other side of this maybe but what if you were wrong what if you were wrong what if

[01:09:35] mr hurt as courtney says know nothing about these yearbooks that's not uncommon i was added to the newspaper at albemarle and he never saw my newspaper until i handed it to him in the hall he was very busy particularly in the two years of the yearbooks in question because those were the years it was integrated school for the first time and also the merger very busy man all principles busy you know that a yearbook that's for the student by the students for the students of the students my daughter was editor of the yearbook in her senior class i said grammatical errors why

[01:10:14] didn't the sponsor get them not to sponsor spill duty it's ours it's a student publication there you go i could tell you about um the lions club it is not the kookooks clan believe me it's a humanitarian civic service organization that in in our time and maybe in this time it's an international group people were proud to join it was to their credit that they were there 70 years or whatever mr hurt was he was such i cannot tell you you didn't know him he was such a wonderful

[01:10:50] man when we moved back to the states and we both uh substituted when randy was working on his dissertation using the library at UVA. And I remember asking him, how did the integration go? This was in the early 70s. And he said, well, it went very well. He said, we planned, made a lot of preparations for it, but it was really, really hard for the students to give up barely. When they close your school, it's part of you, you know. Mine has been torn down now. It was a four-room

[01:11:24] school at Sismont, Mr. Hurt does not deserve this. When I said, what does it mean to ruin a man's reputation, even if you didn't intend to? If you say you're not judging his character, when you resign him from the school, take his name off, everybody says he must have been a racist. That's where you've left him. I'm so sad and so sorry. Thank you so much for your comments. We appreciate

[01:11:53] you're quite welcome um next we have randy fitzgerald i'm randy fitzgerald and i'm a proud graduate of the class of 1959 at albemarle i met mr hurt in the fall of 58 when i was a nervous transfer student from lane over to albemarle uh on about the second day he greeted me in the hall by

[01:12:31] name and i knew that this was going to be a great place over the years five decades really we have maintained contact. He's always checked on what I'm doing. He knows my family. And that's no unusual feat. All the kids that went to Albemarle knew that. I have to echo what the other two ladies said. He was definitely not a racist. In fact, we talk about DEI today. Sadly, there was no D and E

[01:13:06] for black kids in those days, but he certainly knew how to make you feel welcomed. I felt welcomed, and I know that all the students under his care did. Let me read you just to mention the yearbook, the 68 yearbook. What wasn't mentioned in the board's decision is this statement at the start of the yearbook, the forward. The most far-reaching change is the unification with Burley and Scottsville High Schools, an enrichment to our school. This merger added 210 Burley students

[01:13:43] and 98 from Scottsville to the student body of Albemarle High. Careful preparation was made to ensure that the new students would feel welcome in Albemarle. Mr. Hurt talked with the student body at Burley in order to increase understanding with our students. To strengthen the SCA, four Burley students and two Scottsville students were invited to be representatives. The man was definitely no racist. As I said, he kept up with me and over my career. I remember him inviting me to speak to a group of former educators that he was president of, and it occurred to me at the

[01:14:22] time that my former principal was there from Lane, and we pretended to know each other, but we really didn't know each other the way Mr. Hurt and I had done. Not a problem, just a different way of doing things. I wrote a column in 2008 on Mr. Hurt in a state publication, and just read just an excerpt from it. Ben Hurt is one of my heroes. Back in the 60s, when integration was about to take place

[01:15:00] at the school in all across Virginia, Mr. Hurt made a number of visits across town to what was in the black only high school talking with administrators faculty and students and had his own meetings also sponsored black history weeks when the students got here the man was no racist thank you so much time so um i just say as i say oh you cut me off nice um you can submit your comments to the clerk and then we can make sure that we read the rest of what thank you so much for your

[01:15:35] comments. Next, we have Patricia Napoleon. Yes, my name is Pat Spicer Napoleon. I taught for three decades in the county, and I'm a county taxpayer. I'm here again in honor of Mr. Ben Hurt. During my

[01:16:12] last appearance, you admitted for not even knowing Mr. Hurt. Are you aware that the Board of supervisors on January 5, 2011, when Ann Malick was elected chair, brought forth something very special. A resolution of appreciation was given to Mr. Hurt. A former school board chairwoman read and presented the honor. This board is currently thumbing a nose not only to Mr. Hurt and his family, yet also to the former boards with members who recommended and not nominated

[01:16:51] Hurt. Who are you to desecrate such recognition? Dictators having no intention for reconsideration comes to mind, and that's shameful. I have filed FOIA for a letter submitted to you from a Ms.

[01:17:09] Barnett who formally taught under Mr. Hurt. The lady's elderly condition prevents her from being here. But she had the greatest admiration for Mr. Hurt. It would have been nice to read her letter aloud since she couldn't be here to represent herself. As you promote equity and claim opposition to prejudice, you then perform an insulting hatchet job on a good man. Look into

[01:17:47] the mirror the avenue where you undertake name changes obviously favors some names of schools left standing over others whom you perfect people have hardly claimed made a mistake you completely and shamefully overlooked the thousands of good deeds here while modeling no conscience for reversing such a foul deed thank you thank you um next we have samantha shiflett just a reminder there's no applause. You can raise your hand if you're supporting the comment.

[01:18:27] Hey guys, my name is Samantha Shiflett from Scottsville. I'm a current senior at Monticello High School. I'm here with my group in regards to our community action project on bringing student resource officers back to all of our high schools and possibly the rest of our schools as well. While I know we currently have Officer Krivinski placed at Almaral and other officers that go back and forth between western and monticello but has never been seen in our building as a student that has gone my

[01:19:02] entire high school career starting in 2020 without an sro after they were taken away i have seen firsthand the effects it has brought to our schools and my group and i feel as though sros are an important part of ensuring our and the future almerald county public schools students safety and security at school there have been many instances throughout my time at monticello where there have been things such as fights, trespassing, threats, use of drugs, and other conflicts that could have been prevented or deterred with the presence of a badge and uniform in our

[01:19:40] school. I remember back when I was a little munchkin at Scottsville Elementary, our SRO not only brought a feeling of safety to me and my peers, but acted as a mentor and a friend. SROs not only act as protection but our respected mentors and influencers that can bring adequate things to our students. Officer Koenski at Almarl even quoted himself, "You have to be seen. You have to be out in the hallways patrolling in and outside of the school building and just have people know

[01:20:15] that you're there. It's more than just coming into the school and sitting in the office all day long and not being seen." With safety being our number one priority in school, this is the reason why I I believe SROs should be brought back to all high schools in Amaral County, as well as then bringing them to the middle schools and elementary schools as well.

[01:20:37] Thank you, guys. Thank you, Mr. Flett. Next, we have Vincent Kenney. Good evening.

[01:21:00] My name is Vincent Kenney. I'm from the class of 1964, and as such, I was the first black graduate from Albemarle High School. I first met Mr. Hurt in the summer of 1963.

[01:21:25] My parents and I visited Albemarle to get acquainted. Mr. Hurt impressed me as a person who respected me and my parents. That was the first of two meetings that I had with Mr. Hurt.

[01:21:46] The second was during the school year when I was asked to come to the office so that he could find out for me whether or not I was going to attend the senior prom if one was permitted. Again, he treated me with the respect and dignity that apparently he was allowed because

[01:22:22] I understand he was acting at the direction of then the county school administration. I never had another encounter with Mr. Hurt. And I left school, graduated, and left the area.

[01:22:47] I was surprised a week or so ago, a little of a week ago, to learn that there was discussion that he had been removed from the name of one of the schools. And I wondered why. And as I looked, I found it emotionally disturbing. What had he done? And as I examined what was the evidence, I realized that he had done very little to change the status quo.

[01:23:22] He had simply gone along with what was going on. With a person as deeply loved and respected and revered in a position of authority, he had the opportunity to do more.

[01:23:39] He didn't. He just went along. And to find out that the year that Burley's closed and all of the students went over to Albemarle, that he was still permitting Confederate flags and swastikas in a disrespectful way to his whole student body, I was deeply disturbed. Thank you, Mr. Kenney. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have

[01:24:11] Sally James. Good evening. I'm Sally James from the Whitehall District, and I'm here to talk about the renaming of Agner Hurt. I don't have a comment as much as I have a question. I want to know, So what would it take for the school board to realize and admit that you might have made a mistake in these proceedings to remove Ben Hurt's name from Agner Hurt's school?

[01:24:47] How much evidence of Mr. Hurt's sterling character do you need to see that the so-called charges that you have made against him are irrelevant and, in fact, erroneous as applied to him as an individual, as some of the others have explained this evening?

[01:25:04] And having received such evidence, would you change your course? Is there any possibility that any of these public comments you obtain would have any bearing on the decisions that you make? Or is your role as public servants to serve this county as representatives of the people who live here, not as responsive community members, but as an autocratic body?

[01:25:28] There is something very wrong here, and our county is suffering as a result of our local government not functioning in this realm thank you thank you miss james um and last we have i think it's j.h jones j.h jones resident of white hall and a 67 graduate album all i'm not here to

[01:26:08] defend being hurt he needs no defense he did nothing wrong he said nothing wrong i didn't realize it at the time but i was involved in history i was there when integration occurred Mr. Hurt said, "Let us all be warm and welcoming."

[01:26:25] He was not being divisive at all. And just backing up one step, I want to say I've been in Albemarle County all my life, and they tell me I had ancestry going back to the Revolutionary War here in Albemarle.

[01:26:43] So history is very important to me. So, as I said, I didn't realize it was a historical event at the time, but Mr. Hurt was there making the history. He helped it go smoothly.

[01:27:02] Myself and other patriots are natives here, and you all are transplants. And you want to change our history to suit your ideology. As an administrator, Matt Hawes, you don't hold a candle to Mr. Hurt.

[01:27:19] I view your colluding with this board to be a high-paid lackey. I despise your renaming policy of these schools. If that is hate speak, let me be clear.

[01:27:37] I hate you all. I hate you all. Yes, I am mad. I am angry that you are continually attacking our outstanding elders. This is an affront to me and my home community.

[01:27:56] All right, that concludes public comment. Thank you all for sharing your views with us tonight. Your input is invaluable. Thank you. Thanks very much, Ms. Millman.

[01:28:15] Next, we have school division business. We're starting with senior stay day from Katina Dudley, Megan Maynard, Amber Roberts, and Dr. Eric Irizarry.

[01:28:31] Thank you.

[01:29:00] I'm Amber Roberts. I'm the Work-Based Learning Coordinator for Amaral County Public Schools, and I want to start off by thanking you guys for letting us present tonight on our Senior Stay Day celebration. Dr. Haas for recommending our presentation as well. This was one of the highlights of my year, so I'm very excited to share it with you tonight. And I want to start by saying its inception was really driven by a conversation I had with Megan Maynard about some data that Rusty Carlick had pulled for us regarding what the outcomes are for our alumni here in this

[01:29:36] area. And so before we start talking about all of the excitement of the day and how we got there, I wanted Megan Maynard to share briefly some of that information that really became our why. Good evening. So last fall we received results from the National Student Clearinghouse with regards to alumni outcomes from six years after graduating from our schools.

[01:30:06] Even though about 80% of our students enroll in higher education after graduation, only about 46% of this 2014 cohort earned a two or four-year degree. This led us to many questions, including thinking about how we're preparing students for successful post-secondary outcomes such as careers in addition to college.

[01:30:33] we knew we needed to do something different um and as a former avid teacher at ahs i knew that we were really good at informing and we were celebrating our students who were going on the four-year college path and as i was reflecting on the data the questions started to roll in how are students making those decisions do they know what's available in our community and how can we celebrate our students on their career paths even better and more boldly than we

[01:31:06] were currently so i took these questions down to eric who is often the person i go to when i have a harebrained idea and we started to envision an event to inform and celebrate our graduates staying in the area after graduation that would carry the same level of intention and passion as the ones held for those leaving and going to four-year colleges and universities elsewhere. And so this idea of Senior Stay Day started to emerge and it would be a celebratory event that would showcase local continuing education and

[01:31:41] training opportunities as well as connect our graduates with meaningful career employment in our community. And so we came up with this really intense vision statement that was really just very the very much the seed of what we wanted to do and with everything we do we wanted to make sure that it aligned with our vision we felt this program would be great for our students so they can become lifelong contributors and leaders in our dynamic and diverse society as our vision statement states and also build relationships with

[01:32:17] families and communities to ensure that every student succeeds and initially we wanted this to be a small pilot program maybe have it over at you know one of our smaller gyms or even at one of our schools we breached out to the equity center and laura duckworth over at uva facilities to try to figure out what can we do to to make this work thank you very much um and it was great you know uh the equity center is one of our largest partners um pathways of pipelines and pathways is one of our biggest partners they affirm the purpose and the vital role that the community partners can play in providing opportunities for our students and

[01:32:54] not just because they like us but because they believe in the purpose and what we're trying to do so laura immediately contacted us with pipelines and pat or connected us with pipelines and pathways and holly who put us in touch with their organization to pull together their employers and with ben allen at the equity center he was able to book the jpj uh the john paul jones arena for us as well so amazing event and we have a video and real quick before i hit play what am i clicking Christine the video this that no oh there we go I'll some experts do this but I do want to thank Patrick Huddleston is kind of behind the scenes

[01:33:31] and we've seen already three videos from Patrick so I do want to say thank you to Patrick Huddleston in our comms department and I'll see how long I can talk and filibuster and here we go yep we are here at John Paul Jones arena for our first annual senior stay day it is a partnership between us at ACPS and a lot of our community partners the Equity Center Pipelines and Pathways PVCC and

[01:34:07] the President's Council to throw our first annual events that is geared towards high school seniors becoming independent adults in our community we have this idea that we have so many students who are going to stay and become adult independent citizens of our local community and we wanted to throw an event specifically for them to welcome them into the community and help them engage with meaningful employment after they graduate. Growing up like in Charlottesville I've always been to like certain like parking recreational like events and stuff and like sport events so I was looking for a job like that to give back to the community what what it's gave to me. I'm looking for a

[01:34:46] a job at a hospital as a CNA and then also to earn, as I learn, going to PVCC to get my RN license. And it's really great to see them come out because then they can learn about the different areas that are offered not just for UVA but other areas that's here as well, but it gives them a chance to see and hear the opportunities and what employers look for so that it gets them better for when they do go to interview and help them to be better at what they do and what they're looking for.

[01:35:18] I've talked to UVA Children's Hospital and UVA Earn While You Learn program along with Martha Jefferson and so far they have been very helpful with getting me contacts and people to talk to. So this is a great connection with Albemarle County Schools to help their students connect to jobs at the university so we have Earn While You Learn programs where students can actually get paid to start a career with the medical center and then also we can help them explore job opportunities available in the entire community we feel that it is important to educate our youth to make sure that they have an opportunity to utilize the services as well as being able to utilize the different businesses

[01:35:55] here in the area there's a lot of kids don't go off to college but they have a opportunity to still be successful not having to necessarily work for someone else but they can also work for themselves as well just think it's good for the students and also for people to learn their options I'm going to school to play football, but who's to say, like, you know, I get injured, and I may, you always got to have a backup plan, no matter what, whether you play in the league for years, whether you play overseas, you got to always have a backup plan.

[01:36:22] In addition to employment, there's a lot of other workshops and things going on here to help students set up their lives after high school. So there's financial literacy and how to navigate benefits, and we also have individual support for employers and so they can get all the help they need to get their life started after

[01:36:42] they walk across that stage. Thank you. While Katina's doing that, I did, Eric had mentioned Patrick earlier and I do want to give a shout out to our communications department. Tomorrow is National School Communicators Day, so that'd be a good opportunity to thank Helen and Patrick

[01:37:18] and Lauren and that whole team so I just wanted to just reiterate that this was supposed to be a pilot and so with the tremendous support of those community partners I wanted to give you a few numbers about what happened we had 113 employers sign up to be there and that was with a wait list in addition to that. 208 of our ACPS seniors either registered to go ahead of time or at the

[01:37:54] event. Who knows how many also came in without registering or signing in. In addition, and those represented all of our high schools as well as our post high. So they all got to come. A lot of them came with their case managers and educators who helped them navigate what was a overwhelming experience for a lot of them and in addition to that because of those partners because we were able to have this event the way we had it and we invited our county our neighboring counties and school districts to bring

[01:38:29] their seniors as well so students from Greene County Charlottesville City Louisa Nelson and Buckingham were all present as well so I just want to reiterate that this was an event that was supposed to be a pilot, that through our community partnerships was able to become something truly amazing. And the thing that really inspires me about it is that everybody I talked to as I was running around and getting my 30,000 steps that day, employers, attendees, educators, people that were coming as volunteers, all said they were so

[01:39:08] excited to make this an annual event and that's what we really hope to do we recently met as a planning committee to kind of debrief and I don't think we could stop Eric and I could stop them from planning ahead and we were like we only have like five weeks left of school so we can only do so much until the summer but they really want to make this and what we want to see is making this as part of a a timeline of events that gets students prepared and excited and then prepare and then helps them as they fill those job applications and then I know Eric wants to share some of the other ideas we have yeah and we just

[01:39:47] wanted to reiterate this program you know we made it clear with the employers and pipelines and pathways that we didn't want employers there to give away you know to talk about part-time jobs or summer jobs these are careers most of which had some sort of on-the-job training as well you know with the majority of our seniors graduating and either staying in our area or coming back very shortly we want to make sure that we're feeding that pipeline what we're hearing from our families is it's it's tough economically we know cost of living is rising access to health care is a big thing as well if we can get our students in jobs that have benefits if we can get them in higher paying jobs with room

[01:40:23] for advancement we can build a stronger community and also stronger community stronger schools one thing we did not do and we're going to do next year is really involve our families we know that the families are that uh you know that cornerstone to our students success and even though there might be uh they might be seniors at the time they may have younger folks in the building so next year we're going to reach out to families directly to all of our families and let them know about the job fair the job fair in the morning was primarily focused on our students but in the afternoon was open to the public so we want to see more of our families uh accessing uh the same benefits that uh

[01:40:57] that the you know that our students had too so we're looking forward to it questions i think this is super impressive wow um two things one if you just go back to the last slide on the preparatory workshops for next year is that more like resume writing and things like that that they can hand out at the event is that what you're thinking yeah it was it was that and then in talking with pvcc having them explore some of what those trainings that line up with some of of those career opportunities that were being presented and so it's not just about making sure they have their resume but also making sure that they have a plan when they arrive at the event

[01:41:36] yeah i think that's great and knowing who's going to be there and let them how to do their research ahead of time and things like that is great and then my other comment was just on involving the families that was something i was going to say before you added this you know we go on college tours with our seniors this is probably something that parents would like to be involved with their seniors and help them make that next big decision so I think that you know my son didn't end up attending this but if I had known the parents had been you know involved in whatever I think it would have been really interesting to attend with my senior and see it so thank you for all that work it was amazing don't

[01:42:12] worry some of them did sneak in with their seniors we saw I'm not that I'm not that kind of mom but it said it looks like it was a great event and my question really goes to the timing in terms of May of your senior year versus we were talking about launching a career pathways you know as freshmen or eighth graders so I don't want to like drown it out with undergraduates but yeah the timing seems yeah we've made yeah we came up with the idea in at the

[01:42:51] end of January so it was more of just trying to go through the process but we've already talked during our debrief meeting to move it back to March and try to get it before spring break. It's a balance. You don't want to have a job fair. A lot of our seniors are trying to figure out what to do and a lot of the employers do not start hiring until March or April. So if we can back that up a little bit, especially before spring break, I think that would be a better window. And we've talked to Ridge over at PVCC. They have a brand new building opening up and we're going to take a tour and it will probably be hosted next year at PVCC on their spring break to

[01:43:30] allow us access to more of their campus as well. But we're trying to find that sweet spot for seniors and for employers at the same time. Are you going to do any kind of like a survey of how many students actually connected with an employer? As part of their registration, there was a QR code for them to do a follow-up survey. So we'll know what that is. So you've anticipated all my questions.

[01:43:54] will see what they fill out they are seniors and it is May but also I would add just to that the the reason it was at JPJ and we went with the date that they would give us so but yeah we've definitely decided that we're doing it earlier next year I was incredibly impressed by it I was overwhelmed I will say but I talked to I would like 90% of the tables and I asked them always like okay what do you have for someone who doesn't necessarily have a huge skill set coming out you

[01:44:32] know coming out just with the skill set that we give them but they don't necessarily have the training in your field and all of them had that on-the-job training and that is so important i know you mentioned that before but it really is and i did follow up with each of the employers and i was like do you have that on the job training does someone have to have something come here um so i i just i was very impressed and thank you very much i'm really sorry that i'm sorry i'm really sorry that i couldn't attend the event something that kate said um the career learning communities are you guys looking to plug into that i promise that this isn't a plant

[01:45:13] because we have uh both katina dudley and megan maynard to talk about how they're they're thinking about including this into our career communities great i mean perfect segue. Are there any other questions? Shout out to Ben Allen too for all his help, right?

[01:45:33] So kudos again to Eric and Amber for and our outstanding community partners for really taking a vision and making it a reality for students. I can't wait to see what the future holds for next year. As you heard, Senior Stay Day emerged in response to analysis of alumni data and taking action with community partners in order to better prepare our high school graduates.

[01:45:59] Similarly, we continue to look at data and gather feedback with regards to high school redesign through the career learning community model. This evening we're going to share a quick update on feedback that we've heard and some possible next steps. I believe Patina just shared some of the highlights of the information that we'll mention tonight. When we embarked on the high school redesign process, we started with a vision of what a redesigned high school experience could be.

[01:46:30] and our current fall panorama data continues to highlight that our high schools have opportunities to grow with regards to students valuing their high school experience in fact when we look at each of our high schools valuing school is the area of largest difference between acps and national averages of panorama participating districts digging into this a little bit more students do generally recognize that it's important to do well in their classes but don't necessarily see

[01:47:06] learning as interesting or connected to their lives. This data highlights the importance of the tenets of our career learning communities, which seek to leverage student interests, engage in innovative experiences, rigorous learning, and prepare students for success in high-demand post-secondary pathways.

[01:47:29] Katina Dudley will share some of the themes that we've heard in feedback, as well as some possible next steps. So as many of you know, this was our first year in launching the career learning communities. In addition to the panorama data, we've heard through feedback from students, families, and staff. As we've studied the feedback, several themes emerge that invite us to consider new possibilities for improving the career learning communities. Three that we will highlight tonight are incentives, champions, and communication.

[01:48:09] With these themes and feedback, we are working with students, staff, and building leaders to identify opportunities to increase distinction for participation, to increase value by infusing additional graduation requirements, and to provide additional time, resources, and support for building level CLC leaders. We also want to improve communication in telling the story and the benefits of participating in career learning communities. Now I don't know how to

[01:48:45] do this part. Got it. One of the clearest themes that emerged from stakeholder feedback was with regards to communication. We are currently working with a community partner to help us create a unified identity for the career learning community model with unique identities for each pathway that will be used to create awareness and understanding of the benefits of these experiences for all of our stakeholders. As we continue to meet with stakeholders, we continue

[01:49:22] to ask, what do we believe the high school experience should be? This partner that we're working with asked us one day in 2030 what experiences are students having in the career learning communities and it really made us think about where we want these to be in 2030 so we want to use this information and we want to continue to calibrate the design to best meet the needs of our students today and in the future so in front of you we have some of like our current where we're at

[01:49:58] and then we have some ideas for some possibilities in the future and then And again, we'll be meeting with faculty, teachers, and students in the coming weeks to address some of these possibilities. We do have time for maybe a question or two, but I think we're going to be back in the fall to continue to provide updates, but if there's something that you particularly want us to bring back in the fall, we're also open to hearing those ideas tonight as well.

[01:50:25] katina there's one thing that i do wonder um is there any this is something that's going to be potentially happening across the state do we have any uh school divisions that are ahead of us in implementation implementation yeah in that binder you'll see some of the school divisions that are already providing models that we're using some of those school divisions are in virginia but we've also looked at some national models as well and then one of the appendices in the back actually has some information on what those models include and so we're having

[01:51:02] conversations with all of those stakeholders to look at the different components of those models as well it's actually pretty easy we've visited a few of these sites as well over the years that have current models so I've always wondered beyond the data that you know we graduate 95% of our kids how well do you know five years out do they think we actually prepared them so it would be

[01:51:37] very nice to have sort of baseline data you know graduates like five years out and then see how well the career learning pathways you know help that or did it or you know what is the effectiveness of that in getting through school and getting jobs don't know how to do that but it's an open query I've had for a long time we do find that as important so we're investigating ways to and we've got some programs um that is at the heart of some of the work that Megan Maynard is doing so she cannot agree with you more right and I was I

[01:52:17] was also I guess it's not part of this it's part of the earlier that 54% of our students either don't go to a four-year school or don't finish and it would love I would love to know why that's the case could we do better but I don't even know what better means i mean maybe it means more senior you know fairs uh and maybe anyway it's an

[01:52:47] interesting path thank you very much thank you all right next we have a 10 minute break so we will

[01:52:57] be back at according to the computer 832 so check your phones we'll see you back at 832 it's 832

[02:02:45] we're calling this meeting back to order um we have high school center two with matt workman good - Good evening, members of the board. Dr. Haas, members of cabinet. My name's Matt Wertman. I'm the deputy director of building services.

[02:03:00] Pleased to be here with you tonight. We have several other staff members with us tonight that are here to answer any questions that may come up. Jeff Rahm, our assistant director of operations. David Vaya, our supervisor of facility systems, or as we like to call him, our HVAC guru.

[02:03:17] We also have Kagan Squire, who's the senior project manager for this project. We're also joined this evening by our consultants from Quinn Evans Architects, Charles Tilley and Kylan Shirley. Our agenda for this evening, we'll briefly go over the project planning and community engagement that has taken place since we were last before you earlier this year.

[02:03:40] We'll take a review of campus planning, which is intricately integrated with the Albemarle High School campus, Lambs Lane campus. We'll then review the proposed design for High School Center 2. And then finally, we'll conclude with project logistics and a brief overview of the school naming process.

[02:04:00] Of course this evening, we are talking about goal three of the strategic plan, equitable and transformative resources. I wanna briefly take a moment to remind the board why we're here. This is, we are here under school board policy FA, which states that all major CIP projects involving new construction or major renovations require school board approval at conclusion of schematic design and design development phases.

[02:04:28] People often ask, well, what's the difference between schematic design and design development. In short, schematic designs are schematic in nature. They're conceptual. We're exploring ideas. We're trying to confirm the programmatic needs of the facility and trying to translate those programmatic needs into physical architectural space.

[02:04:50] We start exploring key design options, including HVAC systems, room adjacencies, and things of that nature. And we start gathering data on material options and material choices. Design development is a continuation of those initial explorations.

[02:05:08] Plans become developed in much greater detail. We finalize the details within individual spaces, such as casework, individual finishes, and things of that nature. And major design decisions are finalized in the design development phase.

[02:05:23] And finally, a final selection of material choices are made. So I'm now gonna turn it over to Kylan Shirley from Quinn Evans Architects, who will walk you through the plans the conclusion of the design development phase okay thank you matt and uh appreciate the opportunity to be here and talk to you about this project that we're very excited to share so we've been working with matt um and his team since january when we last saw you what you see here is just a glimpse of the front door of high school center two and a few more images will be coming in a

[02:05:59] moment but taking a step back high school center two still the main mission remains to serve 400 students per day. That is a 60,000 square foot building at two stories and we plan to accommodate future expansion up to 600 students and 90,000 square feet in a future project and as always the project will be adaptable to future planning, future student cohorts and future needs as a primary objective. We've continued to meet with various stakeholders. Our list of community engagement meetings has continued to increase. Most recently Matt and his team have met with neighbors in the Georgetown green development to the south of Albemarle

[02:06:38] High School about some of the impacts to their neighborhood. We've met with students at the recent student senate meeting here in this building and shared furniture options with them and gathered feedback on the design. And we spent a full day working with internal Albemarle County project stakeholders on the complete package of design development documents to gather additional feedback and review the specifics that Matt described in his design development explanation so through all of that the core values of this project have been maintained community collaboration authenticity and equity in all the ways that the design

[02:07:13] creates an educational environment and that has resulted in the same list of spaces that we started with really so i'll be explaining some of these spaces in some detail that we shared them with you before as well matt mentioned that we are collaborating very intensively with the folks at Albemarle High School to make sure that our project is integrating into the campus.

[02:07:37] It's very complex and a lot of things happen there. In red there, kind of the bottom right, is our High School Center 2 site right on the south side of the campus. And as you all know, it's complex. There's a lot of people that come and go each day, so that has been a very important topic of conversation as we've designed the project. Traffic in particular and how vehicles move through the site is something we spend a lot of time on. This diagram shows a few different circulation patterns for parent pickup and drop off through the site which is when the highest intensity of use is so we've been working very hard with that our main goals are to increase options for vehicle movement reduce pinch points and dead ends throughout the site and basically

[02:08:15] allow folks who are there to enter and exit the site most easily and and avoid the backups that happen so you see a blue loop and a red loop that can kind of move in opposite directions and allow for student pickup and drop off in a new location for Albemarle High School on the back side of the building provide an additional exit pathway out of the campus as you see in the top left going past the new parking and practice fields out to Lambs Lane and then the loop in blue is a loop that we think will mostly be used for those driving students off at high school center too but we're also trying to provide options so that because there's so many ins and outs and so many

[02:08:53] many different types of activities that happen here providing options will allow the school to be operated differently and traffic to be managed differently in different scenarios you also see on this image on the far left of the image new practice fields and new parking this parking out here in between the tennis courts and the new practice fields will be mainly for Albemarle High School teachers that separates teachers and staff from the parking lots up on hydraulic road which will be mainly for students both of Albemarle High School high school center too separating that traffic was important because if people are coming and going at different times and also they'll use different entrances exits from the site to again

[02:09:32] reduce conflict another aspect of the project will be improving the existing tennis courts they're due for improvements anyway so we'll incorporate it into this project throughout the site we're working to better pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure making safe places for students into arriving on foot or by bicycle to move about the campus and to enter into the site removed from vehicle traffic.

[02:09:58] So they have their own kind of safe pathway. You see in TAN this pathway moving right between the High School Center 2 building and the existing parking lot and hydraulic. There's a new pathway that traces the existing driveway into the site. It's a pathway that will bring students directly into the heart of this campus space that will be created between Albemarle High School in the top left of the image and this new building, school center two in the center of the image at the bottom of the image is a new entry drive from that southern entrance into the campus it's reoriented kind of out and around high school center two and this road is imagined to be kind of the start of this future loop road that's planned

[02:10:36] to wrap around the southwest side of the entire campus at some point in the future so we're planning for that to happen in the future in addition to pathways throughout the site for for both vehicles and people.

[02:10:52] We're also trying to dedicate as much outdoor space as we can to student use. So you'll see a courtyard space that you see centered right here in the middle of the image. This pedestrian pathway mentioned is right there in the foreground and it creates an edge to a courtyard that is dedicated to high school center too.

[02:11:10] The other two or three sides of that courtyard are framed by the building. So that really came out of a lot of conversations with students, both about how they really enjoy find a benefit from outdoor space, but also from talking to the administrators at Albemarle High School and how valuable the breezeway there is to students. So we want to make sure we incorporated that into the project. You see how the pathways move around the building. To the right of this image is the front door of Albemarle High School. You see the Georgetown Green neighborhood beyond, and then off to the right, upper right of the image, is the existing field house and football field. So we've connected all the pathways between those spaces. In the foreground here is the main

[02:11:48] entry to the building on either side of that is flanked by the administrative suite and wellness functions like clinic and counseling in the center of the building is a two-story student commons and then to the south as you get to the left of the image is the two-story academic wing all those spaces have outdoor access to that courtyard the building faces a bunch of different directions here it faces this hydraulic road it faces out to the mountain views to the west of the site and it addresses the main entry of altmar high school in addition to those kind of views and pedestrian vehicle pathways the building is also shaped by our efforts to make a very sustainable

[02:12:25] building we're targeting lead silver which is a very high level of sustained building the lead ranking and certification system to do that we are incorporating a solar panel ready roof a large large roof ever hangs that shade the building from the sun on those face on the south and west faces. Daylighting clear stories on the north faces to bring daylight and outdoor light into the building and enhanced building insulation. The envelope of the building will exceed the building energy code for insulation values and we're connecting the heating and cooling systems to geothermal wells that will transfer heat into the into the earth for a very efficient system.

[02:13:04] We also have electric vehicle charging, bicycle infrastructure, and native landscaping that absorbs and retains much of the stormwater and rainwater that falls on the roof and on the site there on the site to prevent it from just blasting out into the nearby streams and causing watershed erosion we'll have a series of diagrams now that walk through the interior spaces and how they're distributed this the yellow blocks focus on student support spaces such as the wellness and counseling offices administration focus rooms and collaboration rooms and teacher work rooms that are distributed throughout the building we wanted to make sure that those spaces

[02:13:42] were accessible in different areas of the building and we heard that from students it was important to them to not feel like they had to go up to the front to where all the adults were but that the adults and staff kind of came to them throughout the building in red here are the specialty studios that are an important part of the building we have a culinary lab and advanced manufacturing labs that teach classes like the culinary of course and engineering classes those have access to outdoor spaces and dining common spaces to help support the programs project studios are kind of the more intensive of the academic classroom spaces that have project

[02:14:20] and material storage sinks work tables flexible furniture and several will be set up as science labs to teach more advanced chemistry type classes learning studios are kind of centered in the academic wing here those are you know most basic of classroom spaces they're flexible some of them have expandable operable partitions to grow and shrink the size of them as needed and they'll have flexible furniture to be adaptable to different classes.

[02:14:45] A few of them will be set up as computer labs to support classes that are more technology intensive, such as GIS or graphics and CAD and things like that. This slide focuses on these spaces that are almost third spaces in a school, not a classroom or an office space, but the spaces that are really student-owned, where students are breaking out of their classrooms, working on projects together, either in between classes as part of a class meeting with each other maybe meeting one-on-one with teachers so we work very hard to distribute these spaces throughout the school and incorporate a different a variety of different sizes shapes of them to accommodate different needs and uses

[02:15:23] looking at the floor plan here this hasn't changed overall very much since last time we shared with you we've continued to refine the specifics of spaces with the project stakeholders for instance looking here zooming in on the main entry the administrative wing in this image on the left has been refined to incorporate storage safety and security features and just kind of accommodate the day-to-day needs of operating a school on the right side of the screen are clinic counseling spaces we spend a good amount of time working with folks that work over at albemarle high school to refine these spaces to make sure they're meeting the needs of both the the staff

[02:16:02] as well as the students and the things that they experience on a daily basis as they're at school that relate to social emotional health we're now zooming in on the first floor academic wing on the left hand side in kind of a yellowy orange color you see the main kitchen loading dock and dumpsters and things to the left of that outside we've worked with food service staff and custodial staff to refine those spaces making sure they meet the needs of serving 400 students lunch every day now but also 600 students in the future so we're planning for that growth looking across the plan to the reddish colored spaces those are our two specialty labs culinary and advanced manufacturing

[02:16:41] we've worked with culinary teachers on the culinary lab to make sure we have the right types of equipment in there to teach the classes that they are already teaching but also to provide future opportunities to expand those programs and do things like serve events that might be housed or held in the commons here and be kind of exploratory and not limit them to anything really give them the potential to kind of go wherever they might want to with that program similarly the advanced manufacturing lab has been refined with engineering teachers and folks that had worked in the mesa program and other programs you know that already exist to understand what they're teaching what their aspirations might be for the classes they teach and provide spaces that can

[02:17:20] support that this is the second floor of the academic wing it's very similar to the floor below some of these project studios in the bottom right of this image are those that will be able to accommodate advanced science classes and chemistry with things like fume hoods and prep rooms and chemical storage but on the top left of the image is the idea center and the career center and those are two spaces that really capture the essence of the building and what the program is all about this is where students will have access to resources that kind of expand beyond the four walls of the school where mentors and advisors from business and community programs can come meet with students. They'll have access to equipment that they can check out to

[02:18:00] help support their own kind of passions and interests that relate to their learning objectives. This is kind of the hub of this kind of break down the walls of the school and connect with the business community aspect of the programs. On a more kind of functional and technical note, the building will also have a partially below grade level, a walkout basement if you will, where the mechanical systems and electrical systems of the building will be housed.

[02:18:25] We've worked hard with those folks at Building Services to study a number of different heating and cooling systems studying upfront cost return on investment and efficiency of various systems and we're working to select a final system and all the equipment that will connect to that geothermal well field now also on this level is the data center for the entire school division so that is a really important part of the project although it doesn't necessarily relate to the kind of day-to-day operations of an experience of the students this is a great place for it this on this partially below grade space is very protected from the weather and the environment

[02:19:01] which is good for protecting these systems i'll have extensive waterproofing to keep it dry of course since it's below grade we've worked hard with the technology team to understand their needs to make sure that we have adequate space and we've also worked with them to find a and plan for a temporary location for the data center b until it can move in here it's also a great space because or great building put the data center in because it's very energy intensive it uses a lot of electricity both to run the systems and to cool it and because we have the geothermal system here it's going to reduce the energy cost of running those systems so it's a great place for it to be all right now we have a series of illustrations that kind of give you different views of the

[02:19:41] building and how we experience from around the campus here we are at hydraulic road kind of at the top of the driveway that leads down to the front door of albemore high school which you see on the right with the views to the mountains beyond on the left is high school center two it sits down the hill it's a little bit hidden a lot of large existing trees as well as the parking lot kind of obscured a little bit so it sets back from the road but it is visible here we are at the southern entrance off of hydraulic road into the campus right adjacent to georgetown green georgetown green is off to the left behind the fence you see there on the right hand side you see that pedestrian pathway that goes right down into the center of the campus to the front door of these two buildings

[02:20:18] this building in albano high school and you see the two-story academic wing of the building right there in front of you this is the south face of the building so there are shades that protect the windows from that sun as it moves through the sky throughout the day and this is the new roadway or driveway that can become in the future that loop road now we're kind of going to the other side of the building here we are standing at the front of albemarle high school hydraulic road up to the left up the hill and you see the front door of high school center two directly in front of you through the trees so what you see kind of in the mid-ground of the image is this almost park-like space that once the trees grow and are mature will be shaded in these pathways that connect the two schools to make for very clear circulation between the two

[02:20:58] buildings and collect people coming in on foot right into the center of the campus here this is the front door of high school center to large canopy and glassy entrance lets people know kind of from whatever direction they're coming that this is the front door guides them in you see the lower to just single story volumes of admin on either side of that entrance you see the courtyard off to the left behind some landscaping and a fence. And then in the foreground are these bioretention kind of rain gardens that collect all that rainwater from the site and kind of hold it there

[02:21:33] and absorb it before releasing it out beyond the site. Shifting up to a bird's eye view, you can see all those components better and how they'll relate. Here we are up about halfway up that pedestrian pathway looking into the courtyard. You can see how a lot of the spaces within the school have immediate access out onto hardscaped areas here in the courtyard for students to bring their work outside work on messier projects or just have lunch outside in a shaded area moving inside this is just inside the front doors almost admin on your right clinic on your left and you can see into the common space the stairs up to the second level and then that space in the center of the image up

[02:22:10] beyond on the second floor is that Career Center and idea Center where outside advisors and mentors will come and meet with students so it's very visible helping people find their way to where they need to go here we are in the commons which will serve as space for lunch breakfast as well as you know gathering throughout the day for different events where students will attend lectures and talks host science fairs and compete with each other in robotics competitions and things the space will have a robust audio-visual setup to support speakers and presentations you can see the screens on the wall beyond and walls and ceilings will be treated with acoustic materials to make sure that you know the sound is adequately managed throughout the space

[02:22:49] here we've jumped over to the first floor of the academic wing we're in the space we're calling the learning commons which is really the corridor between the classroom and project learning studios but it's not really just a corridor it's kind of a wider space it will have flexible and adaptable furniture in there for students to use and meet between classes or during breakout writable walls and lots of visibility into spaces such as this fabrication lab that you see in the foreground where things like 3d printers will be sitting on counters and students passing by I can see the work of other students getting built live right before them so be a great opportunity for learning to be

[02:23:24] on display and for the work of others to be visible throughout here we are on the second floor similarly this is that learning common space it's wide quarters there's a series of smaller you know partially enclosed or all the way enclosed or completely open types of spaces for students to meet in different arrangements and numbers and do different types of work with each other and then you can see this clear story in the upper left of how you know we'll be bringing daylight into this center part of the building where otherwise you wouldn't have windows and that was our last illustration so on the schedule uh we are right at the star uh right in the middle of the image here finishing up design development we'll roll

[02:24:02] right into construction documents with your approval uh where we'll continue to refine this and create the construction documents that will be used to advertise to bidders uh in september when we'll receive bids in the meantime we'll be pre-qualifying contractors so be a specific group that are invited to bid we anticipate construction to start in the november time frame and last through quarter three the summer of 2026 so that school can open for the fall of 2026.

[02:24:32] so in between now and then we'll also be working with local code officials on getting the building permit issued and continuing to you know get everything approved so that construction can start on time next is the budget we've had two separate cost estimates completed by two independent companies they were almost exactly the same number which is a good sign and that average of those two numbers is just below the construction budget so this budget is a little bit different than last time matt and his team have worked to secure some additional funding so we're on budget we feel very good about that but we are going to still work as we move through construction documents phase to

[02:25:08] find places where we can reduce the cost further just kind of take a scalpel to our scope and detailing so that we make sure that we're in a really good place in september october when we we get the bids we want to make sure we hit the numbers we need to all right i'll hand it back to matt thank you just to clarify what kylan said thank you for your leadership and and advocating for getting more funding i don't think we'd be able to do these projects if it wasn't for that additional funding so thank you um want to briefly just go over the new school naming process uh for

[02:25:42] for center two um this will be completed by uh karen waters a project manager on uh for the for this the school naming and will be done in compliance with school board policy fa considerations will include previous community input from the design committee as well as all the various stakeholders that you saw on the previous slide staff are currently working on a holistic branding for the entire high school center model program i know that megan and katina are here with us tonight and they're really helping spearhead that and we have gathered and we'll continue to gather

[02:26:19] feedback from diverse students teachers and interested citizens so the timeline for this process is to be able to make recommendations to you at either the july or august uh 2024 meetings and and the reason for that schedule is we're doing our best to try to get the signage into the bid package so that it's part of a comprehensive uh bid package for the contractor so with that thank you we're happy to answer any questions you might have this was amazing so i mean i never thought I want to go back to high school but like looking at these pictures we actually think I want to go back to high school right like I mean in that I mean it is a you know kind of the team that was talking about like kind of the

[02:26:59] career work and Amber and Eric like you know it really is I knew you're starting to see these projects that are pieces that were you know kind of where all where the seeds would grow initiatives all kind of coming together so I'm really excited and I can see everyone working together on this so I so appreciate this so a teeny tiny question because that made me think when you said that about the naming are we potentially renaming center one please as part of this please or is that out of scope my understanding is that it's a branding for the entire center model is that correct yeah

[02:27:34] okay great awesome thank you sensor a thank you thank you thank you we'll find some money to make a sign for the new center one I know you mentioned the furniture too and I just wanted to give a shout out I was at the Student Senate and the students were really engaged and like really excited about trying out the different furniture and I think it made them excited for the whole new center and like what it's gonna look like and how it's gonna feel so I'm excited for them as well it was really cool plus the one Judy and I were commenting there was one that like locked out sound when you sat in a chair I was like I need that for my like everyday life it was amazing

[02:28:10] yeah it was great a really picky in question and it's probably because I have citizens advisory committee meeting on Monday night we talked about the drainage pond of the drainage system and I know one of the complaints Georgetown green had was the existing stormwater pond or retaining pond yes we had heard that same thing and if I can get back far enough as I said it was picky in this whole project but not for that neighborhood yes right so what we

[02:28:49] understand is that people's backyards get a lot of water and they're at the bottom of the hill and at the top of that hill is a big paved lot as part of the building services facility there and so I think we're gonna do a pretty good job of resolving that for them because this roadway that's you know across the bottom of the image here it's gonna have curb and gutter on it and storm drain inlet so instead of a big hard surface where water just sheet flows down in their backyard it's gonna be captured by that curb and gutter system and just and sent elsewhere so i i think we'll resolve that that's good um the other the geothermal the

[02:29:22] geothermal wells or whatever we're going to do will that only be enough to power center whatever it's called or at this time yes they'll be we're still refining the number they'll be on 90 wells that are 450 feet deep that send water down and back up and transfer to the earth there's no ability to expand that for Elmira High School as well not in this project probably but yeah we it's a great question and I think it's something that we would absolutely love to do would be to convert more of our existing schools to geothermal the system and the technology has really proven itself at

[02:30:00] Crozet which is the first we did but to answer your question yes that would that would require additional wells to be able to tie into dollars attached to that. Yes. I'm fascinated with the geothermal as well, but Kate already asked. So I just wanted to say that as a former teacher, employee at Albemarle High School, the parking that you redesigned is brilliant. Thank you. Okay. I have a question about the lobby and is there any place in the

[02:30:34] building where there'd be like an open ceiling or open floor from like the floor up to the top of second floor you know like an open space completely yeah let me jump ahead here yeah in the comments or so here you see you're standing in the entrance so this is kind of a double height space a two-story high space and you can see beyond up to the second floor in the far distance okay the design is really beautiful thank you I'm looking forward to school board meetings there with the

[02:31:09] culinary arts students giving us our dinner rather than Papa John's I guess that's a quick question I had is that mean that culinary moves from KTEC to Center to no no I'm just curious because we have a culinary here additional capacity it would be additional capacity okay they've several I was waiting for Katina and Megan to mention it but several of our staff went to visit a really big technical center in Ohio I can't remember the name of it Butler Tech and they of course had a culinary arts program where they serve

[02:31:48] dinner a few nights a week so I think that I just want to say that's my dream that we it's right there on hydraulic that and right now Malik Poindexter is serving dinner or he was at least last weekend at Alma high school in the in the atrium where you come in for athletics the students play in the menu they run it like a restaurant I think it'd be great so if we're doing that now like could do it before as part of that whole hospitality right career pathway right so just like that relevant the real life experience the kids would be

[02:32:27] getting up in the morning thinking I'm gonna be you know serving dinner tonight so they'll come to school and be excited about it well I think you've got a board very excited so Matt what do you need from us on this tonight is just for info only without objection we'll bring this back to you at the next board meeting for action approval on the consent agenda perfect great thank you and then next we have you

[02:32:54] back for the southern theater pattern elementary school hello again um in addition to the staff that uh previously mentioned we also have with us this evening our senior project manager gerald harris uh is joining us and also our consultants from vmdo architects uh ken thacker and kelly Callahan so our agenda for this presentation we will briefly go over the schedule and community engagement update we'll give you a project update on the

[02:33:32] design where we are a brief budget update for this project and then again just a brief overview of the school naming process and again like Center two we are talking about strategic goal number three equitable and transformative resources so with that I will turn it over to Kelly Callahan to kick us off Thank you, Matt. Can you all hear me okay? Yes. As he said, I'm Kelly Callahan. I'm an architect with VMDO Architects and joining me tonight is my colleague Ken Thacker with VMDO and on behalf of VMDO Architects and our whole consultant team, we just want to say thank you for the opportunity

[02:34:09] to continue to work alongside of ACPS on this awesome project. We're both Albemarle County residents. We've raised families here. Our kids are graduates of the school here. So this is particularly meaningful project to us so we also presented to you in January about four months ago schematic design and so we're going to talk with you about schedule our process and share with you the design update so the blue line shows where we were when we presented last at schematic design and tonight we come

[02:34:44] before you for a design development review this as Matt said is an informational presentation to you and we'll come back to you in two weeks in hopes of an action item the rest of our schedule looks like what you see here which is on to construction documents with the intention of bidding the project putting that out on the street to general contractors in September and getting in earnest under construction in December in order to have 18 months of construction and open in the fall of 2026 so what have we been up to community engagement started really early on this project and continued through the

[02:35:21] design development phase. We continue to meet monthly with our design committee members and I'm really happy that many of them are here joining us tonight. We've also met with a variety of your staff, your leadership, your teachers, and with the sole interest and really in ensuring that this is a comprehensive design that meets the needs of all of the students at this school. And what that looked like a little bit so we've met at open houses meetings steering committee meetings with teachers we met at Mountain View Elementary School with the third fourth and fifth grade teachers and this school will be a third fourth

[02:35:59] and fifth grade school so it will Mountain View current the current school will become a pre-k through two school and this new school will be serving the third fourth and fifth graders we also engaged the students in surveying them around playground equipment and we will continue to engage them in the environmental graphic design process along with staff so you'll recall an aerial view of the site outlined here in white the site is very close to the

[02:36:35] existing Mountain View elementary school and proximal also to Monterello high school which is shown higher up on the page access to the site will be through Mill Creek Drive from the north this is our current site plan and we're going zoom in here for a minute so you can see that path coming in the vehicular path coming in from founder's place which comes off of mill creek drive and as we zoom in this is our current site plan configuration so in general this site slopes high from the north side which is page up and

[02:37:11] slopes quite a bit down about 40 feet down to the south which is page down so all vehicles are coming into the site from the north side. Cars will arrive and queue up a nice long queuing lane that gets you up to the front door of the building on the north side and buses will come deeper into the site and actually drop in elevation so they'll actually come into a bus loop and drop the kids off curbside outside of the dining commons which is one floor level lower than the front door of the building on the north side. We're gonna zoom in whoops back again also want to

[02:37:48] Don't call your attention to the building is essentially in the middle of the site and extended outdoor learning, play, and recreation spaces are off to the east side of the site on the right. And then also a U10 soccer field is on the west side of the site up high on the hill.

[02:38:04] We're also prioritizing community connections by providing footpaths around the site. From the north, we're providing a bike path that comes in along the road and gets you into the front door with bicycle parking by the front door.

[02:38:20] And then there's also a foot bath that connects to the Galaxy Farm neighborhood just to the south of the site. You'll recognize the floor plan. This is a three story building, and this is the first floor plan. Should be very similar to what you saw in January.

[02:38:36] Again, we've just developed the plan further. Coming in in the big blue triangle at the top of the page shows the front door. And essentially, the building plan is very simple. a north-south main spine connector and then extending out to the east we have two learning wings that are kind of quieter learning neighborhoods the public shared spaces in the building are all off of that main street in the middle and so the library is really the heart of the school right between the two learning wings and opposite that is a two-story gym and then all the way at the end of that corridor you're overlooking a two-story dining commons which as as I said, is down on the lower level.

[02:39:16] Art and music are also on this floor level. And these floors are connected by these dynamic open stairs. And you'll see in a moment as we share some interior views that at the north and the south side of this connector corridor, those three-story stairs connect all of these learning spaces together.

[02:39:36] So the learning neighborhoods themselves are comprised of five classrooms in each wing, on each level, and that are supported by distributed student small and resource spaces as well as staff support spaces.

[02:39:51] If we drop down one floor level, so we take either stair down, we see a retaining wall as we're building into the earth. All of the classrooms on this level, except for two on the south, actually are on ground, they're all on ground level, but all of the ones facing the courtyard have exterior doors.

[02:40:11] So all the blue triangles are showing an opportunity come directly out of those classrooms out to a learning courtyard we're also seeing here the dining commons on this floor level that extends out to a covered outdoor dining terrace and connected to the kitchen and then of course the mechanical space that is right along that retaining wall and then come back to the first floor just to orient you and then we're going to go up one floor level so you'll see that the floor gets smaller the white spaces with X's in them show that you're overlooking two-story spaces so we're getting a

[02:40:48] chance to peek over the library on the right side and peeking into the gym on the left side classroom learning wings are stacked as they are on the first floor up on this level and then the pink spaces are the distributed student services spaces so OTPT and counseling and guidance and also some staff support space is a big workroom space up on this level. These learning wings really focus your views out to the east and we have incredible views to the south and to the east of Carter Mountain. So if

[02:41:23] we take a slice right through the building, this is an east-west building section looking back north toward the front door. You can see how the building has the two-story gym on the left side on grade and then steps down the hill for that main north-south spine that we're cutting through.

[02:41:40] you're seeing a classroom and a cut through that two-story library overlooking the courtyard and the classroom wing beyond and we're going to cut through the building in the north-south direction now looking east and so you'll get an opportunity to see a section cut through the front door that entry canopy welcoming you in on the left side that three-story central stair on the north and then you're seeing the library with student services above it and classrooms below it another south three-story connecting stair and then the two-story dining commons which is really

[02:42:19] a destination room that gets you these incredible views out to the mountains beyond this is the north elevation so as you approach the building if you're dropping off in a car and coming into the front door you're seeing the the admin suite is the one story piece with a big overhanging roof to welcome you in and on the left hand side you're seeing the north classroom wing and on the right uh a skewed view of the uh the gymnasium and we're circling around the building now in a

[02:42:54] clockwise fashion so we're looking at the east elevation you're seeing the ends of the three story learning wings exterior stairs at the ends of those learning wings get you out to those learning and play spaces and then carved deep into that courtyard you're seeing the face of the library on the left you're seeing the edge of the dining commons as well and all the play spaces in the foreground and again rotating around the building to the south and looking back you're seeing the dining commons right there in the middle the two-story glassy element on the corridor up above that connecting to the learning communities a three-story learning wing on the right and then

[02:43:32] art and music classrooms are on the left hand side over top of the kitchen and the loading area and then finally on the west elevation you're seeing a two-story gymnasium face with access out to play fields and then the admin wing on the left hand side we've got some three some 3d views coming as well that will help you to understand this touching back on the sustainable design features of the building we're really proud also to be tracking leads silver and we're doing that

[02:44:05] in a in a bunch of different ways we're creating connected site elements through protecting land providing accessible paths and promoting walkability providing covered bike racks ev charging stations the infrastructure for that stormwater biofilters and then also a super high performance building, we're conserving energy and water through a high performance building envelope, high performance mechanical systems.

[02:44:34] This project also has a geothermal well field, all LED lighting, occupancy sensors, low flow plumbing fixtures, and a solar ready roof. And then finally, really making smart material selections, protecting the comfort and health of the students and the staff in the building by sourcing healthy materials recycling and composting program is really strong here in Albemarle we've been working with your staff to accommodate that demand control ventilation to make sure we're getting fresh air when and where we need it in the building providing operable windows and individual controls for lighting and then of

[02:45:12] course it's really really important that we get abundant daylight and views to nature so i'm going share with you a few three-dimensional views some renders of the building as it stands now this is the view from step founders place looking at that corner of the admin suite the three-story learning wings off to the left and you're seeing the profile of carters mountain in the background here and dropping off by car this is what it feels like to arrive at the curbside a little bit closer underneath that entry canopy really welcoming entry lots of eyes on the street from the admin

[02:45:52] suite and as you come into that entry lobby here's the first stair that you encounter that connects all three floors beyond you're seeing the glassy corner of the library on the same level and just to the right of the gray wall that's the entrance into the gym this is a typical double classroom so we have some operable partitions to give you flexibility over time so this shows actually two classrooms combined together you see the partition there and every classroom has that built-in resource bar for water and hand-washing

[02:46:29] and student belongings this is a view of the library so the learning courtyard is through that blue portal to the left and a maker space on the right-hand side another view of the library from the other side seeing those students support spaces up above overlooking this space and also an opportunity to peek into this space from the public circulation and then finally the destination space the dining commons two-story with a screening element and you're seeing lots of the play equipment that's being developed right now outside of the

[02:47:06] glazing server is on the right if we step outside of the dining commons this is what you'd see if you're standing on the play field so the three-story learning wing to the right and the dining commons straight ahead the outdoor learning courtyard the library and the classroom doors that open directly to this space and then stepping further back we have a great little bridge that crosses over the bio filter the storm water runs through and you're seeing to the place to play scapes and those exterior connecting stairs a view of the

[02:47:46] gymnasium side of the building so there's a rec field here and then finally the budget update and the last time you saw our budget it was a little lower and again we want to express extreme appreciation for your work to to recognize that that there's been incredible on construction escalation and so our current budget is 38.2 million and we have a reconciled cost estimate we also have two cost estimates that we reconciled for 38.4 million so slightly high we're continuing to work

[02:48:24] but that cost does include those three additional classrooms that are bid alternate one so we will continue to go in the design and at this time I'm handing it back to Matt for school naming Thanks, Kelly. I just want to add one other thing too. I think one of the things that's really nice about designing a new facility and all the community engagement that we've done and stakeholder engagement, it's really allowed us to design a comprehensive school, and this is true for Center 2 as well, that really encompasses all the needs of the school division. So at this

[02:49:03] particular school, the example I like to share is our special education needs. A lot of our special education programs have really specific needs. And so, you know, when we're trying to retrofit an, you know, an existing school whose special education needs are growing, it becomes really difficult. And we're really kind of having to shoehorn a lot of those programs into existing spaces. The nice thing about this, you know, being able to design a new facility is they're designed intentionally to be able to accommodate those needs. So I just wanted to point that out that that's I think it's a really great benefit.

[02:49:40] Like center two, the school naming process for this school will be implemented by project manager Karen Waters in compliance with policy FA. It will also include consideration of the grade configuration decision, as well as proximity with respect to the current Mountain View Elementary School.

[02:49:58] We'll consider previously gathered community input throughout this entire design process. We'll also be consideration given to school colors mascot with the understanding that you know because of the grade configuration you know mountain view colts with their green white and blue colors is a precedent that there's a factor in this as well as additional community feedback as needed and like center two the timeline for this will be to bring you recommendations at your july or august meetings again so that we can incorporate the signage into a comprehensive bid package so with that we're happy to answer any

[02:50:34] questions y'all might have. Two quick questions um one is I know that we had we acquired most of our solar panels through public-private grants and we're building this to be solar panel ready are we going to in parallel be seeking funding for solar panels so that we can start it out that way I think it'd be great to have both solar panels and geothermal I mean it's a real statement to the community about environmental position. Absolutely. Thank you, Dr. Acuff. It's a great

[02:51:09] question. One of the things that we're planning to do would be to actually bid a solar array as an additive option for both of these facilities. We would do that through a delegated design measure. But if for some reason bids are unfavorable and we're not in a position to be able to purchase a solar system we would absolutely seek to pursue a PPA which heads up we have some of those coming y'all's way in a couple couple months but we would seek to utilize that mechanism to be able to get solar onto

[02:51:44] this facility to reduce our energy usage and to realize some operational savings as well. And the second one is just I can't remember what the original acreage was for the founders place and how much of that whole acreage was the footprint of the school on the playground you can answer later and it's about 16 acres yeah that's a good size and we are preserving some of the existing forest and then we are also planning for Nomo meadow area a native

[02:52:21] meadow area on the site that's great thank you you're welcome and on that I I think the answer is that there's not a way because of the way those two parcels sit and that we don't own all of it. But there's no way to move from one place to the other without going out and around.

[02:52:39] Is that because they kiss, right? I think the word you use is they kiss. Yeah, we have studied it. And that is if Seth Kennard, the principal of Mountain View, were here, he would tell you he absolutely would love to have that path.

[02:52:55] We want the path. I think it's something that we're going to continue to pursue. There are a lot of legal challenges with that. We don't have property. There is an existing road there, but we don't have clear title to it. And it's really unclear. There's at least, I think, like 30 different claimants potentially to it.

[02:53:14] So it's not going to be a simple process. It's something that at some point in the future we would love to see. It's just probably not going to be part of this project. a question regarding the stairs on the interior and is there the open style is um i immediately go to a safety concern for kids can you address that i mean i like it but thanks yes um on the upper floor we have floor-to-ceiling glass to to mitigate that but also the guard rails which are

[02:53:50] by code required to be 42 inches about three and a half feet tall we're going to full four feet on the guardrails as well uh in order to further safeguard that looks nice so the stairways were one of the things that we sort of compromised on as a change back in january um did we continue with uh you said this this new um that what we see we're seeing today includes the alternative

[02:54:25] classrooms that we talked about um what about the bathrooms in those classrooms are they still gone individual bathrooms i assume you're asking about yeah um no the um the classrooms have been redesigned to accommodate the third fourth and fifth grade configuration so at the knuckle of each learning community we have um bathroom suites if you will they're open to the corridor

[02:54:56] in terms of the sink area and the mirror area and then there are individual every toilet space is an individually occupied space but they're not located in the classroom as they would be if it was a pre which was something that we were hoping to retain just to have flexibility in the future but that's that's what we have to do thank you no other questions thank you so much um we'll look forward to seeing that on consent next time. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks Matt. Thanks Matt.

[02:55:32] Okay next up we have ACPS pre-k to 12 division literacy plan. Exciting. Michelle Kastner and Karen Heathcock. Before you get started I just want to thank you all for staying so late. I know it's been late. Good evening Chair Lee and members of the school board. Thank you so much for this

[02:56:04] opportunity to present our pre k-12 literacy plan i do want to recognize and acknowledge all of my teammates my very smart teammates who worked on this project with me karen hefcock who's the lead coach for elementary language arts lisa molinaro lead coach for preschool monica kabarkas is my lead coach for secondary language arts craig domer director of instruction and tiered supports and i also have stephen turner who's equity education specialist so i also want to thank

[02:56:38] the communications team for helping to kind of finalize the way it looks today so what i would like to start by saying is that this was truly an inspiring project for me probably my favorite of the year when dr hayes and i first started talking about the the literacy adoption i think about a month later she's like Michelle how are we going to inform our families about all the shifts that

[02:57:10] are happening in literacy and so we really began this project with the idea of our families so even when we came together as a larger committee the message around that was how are we going to communicate what literacy instruction will look like at the elementary actually preschool elementary middle and high and that was our main goal when we started and i want to point out that we had at least 25 literacy experts from across the entire division and we also had a program specialist

[02:57:47] from big brothers and big sisters and that was latara raglan and she's also a parent so how it began that's my steering team that's the division representatives the question was why now why are we Creating this literacy plan. Well first point was the Virginia Literacy Act is requiring changes to occur at the elementary and middle school levels to obviously improve reading outcomes. Our goal is to partner with our families to make sure that we're moving every student towards being skilled

[02:58:25] readers and writers and we also want to show how evidence-based literacy instruction will positively impact our students reading Achievement at every level. So the purpose of the plan initially was we wanted to define and come to consensus on our Literacy beliefs that are grounded in research. We wanted to define evidence-based literacy instruction at every level.

[02:58:49] We wanted to define our tiered support systems, define how professional learning will improve student outcomes. We wanted to define how we will engage all families and our community to value and participate in literacy development for all of our students and of course to create a family-friendly literacy guide to distribute in August of 2024. Now I'd like to introduce Monica Cabarcus and she's gonna share with us what process we went through. Good evening. As we've began this embarked on this journey to create and design a literacy plan

[02:59:29] we looked at some of our state and national organizations that represent the full literacy spectrum from early phonemic awareness to more complex critical composition and rhetoric. We looked for commonalities and statements with four themes. We looked for themes regarding the science of reading, equity, communication skills, and other lifelong learning outcomes that we would fully anticipate our students would leave ACPS with.

[02:59:54] These three organizations that we looked at were the International Literacy Association, it's the Parent Association of the Virginia State Literacy Association, and then the National Council of Teachers of English. So from those four themes, we collected about 16 different statements.

[03:00:13] We surveyed these 16 statements to over 100 pre-K elementary and secondary ELA teachers. They prioritized which statements they felt were central to the core literacy beliefs and which were maybe less disconnected. We collected open-ended responses from reading specialists and interventionists as well.

[03:00:32] The steering committee looked at all of that data and they came to consensus on seven core beliefs. These are our beliefs, with our first and foremost statement being we believe literacy is a human right. We believe literacy development is strengthened through partnerships between schools, families, and communities, which aligns with many of our family engagement practices.

[03:00:52] We believe reading instruction includes explicit, systematic teaching of both word recognition and language comprehension, which aligns with many of the programs that we've introduced this year, such as UFLY and the use of SIPs in schools. We believe integrating reading, writing, research, communication, critical thinking, and collaboration and literacy instruction deepens student learning. We believe literacy is the act of constructing meaning from text. Literacy instruction is the responsibility of every educator across all content areas in all grade levels, and this aligns with many of the VLA updates that will require elementary and middle school principals to receive training over the summer and in the fall.

[03:01:29] It also aligns with the training that will be expected of many middle school teachers in ELA and content areas. We believe the ultimate goal of literacy is to ensure that every student becomes an independent reader, writer, and communicator, and to explore and fully participate in a global society. And last, we believe that every student is entitled to receive evidence-based literacy instruction opportunities and resources. With these steps moving up to the end of the process, we moved on to step four and five. We broke out into different teams that cover different topics that are the sections of this literacy plan. We wrote drafts,

[03:02:04] we received feedback from the steering committee, the larger committee, and we made revisions, which left us with this final draft that will be distributed for feedback. And next, I'm going to introduce Lisa Molinaro, Preschool Literacy.

[03:02:20] Good evening, everybody. I think I want to start first by saying how excited I am that when the decision was made to make a literacy plan in Albemarle County, it wasn't a K-12 literacy plan, but a pre-K-12 literacy plan. I think there isn't a single person in this division that doesn't understand the important role that preschool plays and how we prepare our children for learning from kindergarten through grade 12. So when preschool literacy was being talked about by the team we look to the research but we also look to what we know is best in preschool and preschool is a time

[03:02:58] that children get to build an understanding and awareness of the dispositions that they have to have to become a reader and so when you think about those dispositions, you think about things like children being in learning environments where there's rich vocabulary. They're building a deep desire to listen to stories and to talk about those stories and to make connections about those stories to their personal lives. There's opportunities for them to become exploratory in playing with words and in writing. So when you look at those dispositions, it's the classroom that

[03:03:35] begins for kids to kind of dive into that to have experiences while we do that and this particular document explains to families how yeah the science of reading research is at the core of what we do in our instructional practices things like vocabulary development things like comprehension phonemic awareness but when you're four you got to think about those things through play and so what our teachers do anytime you go into a preschool classroom you're gonna see classrooms that are rich with teacher talk you're gonna see classrooms

[03:04:11] where storybook read-alouds are are constant there's many of them you're going to see centers where there's dramatic play and you're gonna see kids engaging in fun and enjoyable ways with songs and poems all of these things are fundamental to creating not just the dispositions and that we're working on but the skills that get them ready to go to kindergarten and we look over time using our own creative curriculum for preschool that's a pathway for all of this to occur I encourage you guys to come into preschool classrooms whenever

[03:04:47] you can I promise you will laugh you will probably have a handprint or two on you when you leave, but you will walk away with knowing that the environment in our Albemarle County preschool classrooms are very focused on developing their early literacy skills. And we test those through the VKRP. We have our VALS assessment that serves as one indicator, but probably the most important thing that this document talks about when it comes to assessment is observation. Preschool teachers, I like to say, are scientists. They are constantly observing their students and they're paying attention to what those children

[03:05:26] are doing and saying and they're thinking it against what our curriculum is our SOLs are called the ELDS the Early Developmental Learning Standards everything about what we do in preschool works to create the dispositions and skills that make our children kindergarten ready I think the other thing that I'm really really excited about this document we're not at a place yet in our country where we have universal pre-k so pre-k isn't open to everybody but this document is a great resource for our families whether they have a child in private preschool or whether they have a child in public

[03:06:04] preschool or whether they don't have anybody they don't have access to preschool one of my favorite things is the QR code at the bottom of the page that families can actually scan and it gives them ideas of things they can do in their own home to help foster these skills. Thank you. And since you've probably heard a lot about elementary this year, we thought this was a great opportunity to focus on secondary literacy. At the secondary level, our students continue to progress across the spectrum of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills, and they grow with increasingly specialized

[03:06:42] content vocabulary as they move through those those content courses. Middle school students read to explore increasingly complex concepts and begin into question elements of perspective and bias. Students must be able to construct meaning across multiple literary landscapes in today's society from digital literacy to financial literacy to media literacy.

[03:07:03] In order to gather accurate information, students need to become critical consumers of information, develop structured arguments to support their claims, and research multiple sources of information. As our students move from middle to high school, they continue to engage in a cyclical writing process of revision and feedback.

[03:07:20] Students refine their ability to communicate with clarity and develop arguments suited for different real-world experiences from writing a bill to creating a marketing presentation. Literacy skills of the ELA classroom come across multiple content areas and prepare students to effectively communicate and engage as members of a global society.

[03:07:42] And next I'm going to introduce Steven Turner who participated in the part about community engagement and he is our education equity specialist. hello we did switch our order up a little bit on the slide but um i'm here to share a little bit about our community and family engagement piece in the literacy plan um you know we know that people are resilient and they can thrive even when conditions aren't ideal but enhancing connections with families and communities linking learning in the classroom to what's going on at home does create facilitating conditions for literacy development but also general academic

[03:08:20] support for students so for that reason we've included in our divisions and in our plan our divisions commitment to working together with families to support literacy goals by providing resources to support learning at home celebrating literacy at school events developing partnerships with community organizations that can support literacy outside of school and outside of school hours and also connecting families with these community resources that they can a part of as well in addition to that we also state our commitment to share literacy data with families in understandable ways so that they can know how to best advocate for their children and

[03:08:59] support their children as they navigate school and develop their literacy skills we also share our commitment to put information out to the community and share information to promote accountability towards both our school and division literacy goals so thank you Craig Doomer, Director of Instruction, is going to come up to share.

[03:09:26] Thank you. Good evening. I'm Craig Doomer. I'm the Director of Instruction for Tiered Supports. We met recently about the budget initiative around our FTEs for intervention. So a lot of this overlaps, but I just wanted to highlight a couple things from the literacy plan.

[03:09:42] One is to just lift up the passion that our reading specialists have for literacy and kind of the enjoyment and engagement they bring to all these tasks when they were debating kind of our core beliefs. They got into kind of a rigorous and in-depth conversation that was a joy to participate in.

[03:10:02] And I just wanted to lift that up. And our group, Supporting Success for All, also really got into the work. And I think one important question that they asked at the very beginning of the process that I think you'll see highlighted in our section is, they said, are we writing what it is currently or what we wish it to be?

[03:10:19] And I enthusiastically said, going to write what we wish it to be right as we move towards bellwether as we move towards systematizing codifying a system of tiered supports around literacy instruction what is it that we're going to guarantee at the division at the school and the student level to make sure that we're supporting students equitably across the division and so that's what our section kind of represents and and then the third thing I just wanted to lift up and highlight It's kind of our, I know it's not moving.

[03:11:00] The mouse doesn't work, sorry. This is the same chart we shared in the budget presentation and was shared with the Board of Supervisors. But it is, we made an effort this year to screen more students, particularly all 6th graders and 9th graders using the DIBELS.

[03:11:19] Next year, according to our literacy plan and our goals and our budget document is we are going to screen kids K through 9 as appropriate using the DIBELS and the VALS assessment. But you can see that kind of across all grade levels, once we get to third grade through ninth, we kind of hover in that 25 to 30 percent of kids that are either failing the SOL or requiring significant intervention, according to the literacy screener.

[03:11:47] And so we're going to use this as our baseline data as we go forward with this literacy plan, as we go forward with implementing the Virginia Literacy Act.

[03:11:54] in order to kind of improve our outcomes, we'll look at this data kind of year over year and make sure we get down to that kind of orange line, which represents the research base of 20% of students should need intervention in literacy. And now I think we'll open it up. Questions? Open it up for questions. I just have a quick question. The document is impressive and extensive. I'm curious who the intended audience is. Right. So they, when

[03:12:32] Dr. Hayes and I first met we really desired this intended audience to be our families but of course it's going to you know be shared with our leadership team and of course all the teachers because we had representation from across the division and so it's really though in my mind for families so that families can understand what does literacy look like now I'm a little concerned if that's the case that it may be pretty high level for a lot of our families and it's very

[03:13:08] dense and again I think it's impressive but I'm worried that it may be too dense or too much for our families we really dive into you know what what literacy means any right so the communications department and I and dr.

[03:13:24] Hayes we've been in conversations about maybe creating a briefer version of it in a pamphlet form, and then it's kind of highlighting the key points and then what families can do if they have questions regarding literacy. Yeah, I think that's a great idea, because I do think that if someone wanted to delve in more, it's got amazing information, but I'm afraid that we might lose some of the parents who just want to know, like, what does literacy look like in the secondary or whatever, and then get lost in the terms and whatever and just push it aside, which I would hate to see because you guys obviously put a lot of work

[03:14:01] into it so i would encourage you maybe to get some feedback from families or and and um yeah make it as accessible as possible yes thank you we actually have thought about something thank you i would just end just on that i would say i think this is a great opportunity to use video and audio right um you know to is a supplement to this um to support kind of that families accessing that. Yeah, I agree. This is very impressive. I was impressed simply by conceptually

[03:14:39] framing it as a human right. Right. And and also impressed with the level of passion that all of you have for this project. I mean, I think that's the kind of driver we need to actually make it happen. Sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Thank you all very much. Okay. I am also very impressed by this and i echo allison's thought um it's difficult because there are so many audiences that you have right so and here you are presenting it to us and we're a completely different audience

[03:15:12] um and so on that note um this is separate from this document certainly but um you know i'm curious as you move forward with this pre-k-12 literacy plan like what it looks like with the state of literacy like what goals you're looking to accomplish um you know what metrics um and what timelines you have and again i know that's separate from what today um but i would like more information on that in the future absolutely thank you um i think my question is a little

[03:15:45] in the weeds can i can i email you sure all right thank you thank you very much thank you all thank all of you thank you thank you yes um next we have other business by board members and or superintendent do you want me to go first okay um i know that we're all here late so i'm going to try to make this quick um mine just had to do with um dr haas your um email that went out this week on the cell phone um enforcement policy uh committee um which i think is fantastic um

[03:16:23] i have a few requests or concerns that i wanted to just bring up one i think um one thing that caught me was that it wasn't going to start meeting until august i think it's really important that we try to tackle the cell phone policy before the beginning of the school year so that we have a really clear policy and enforcement across all of middle school and high school before the start of the school year um and so i don't know what that looks like but that's something that i keep hearing from constituents and emails that we get and people that are talking to us is that it's becoming an ever-increasing issue with them um and i think that it would behoove all of us to go into the

[03:17:00] next school year with a clear policy um because i've heard that a lot of people don't even know where to find our cell phone policy or what it is and what it clearly states um and if we are going to make any changes to try to do that if we could before the next school year so i don't know if that's if we need to talk about that or whatever but i would hate for it to be an entire school year again before we're getting feedback and we've made any changes to this and also i would encourage it to include all forms of technology and i don't know if that's a separate thing but i am also

[03:17:33] hearing that there is a lot of concern around access to websites and students are really smart and they're figuring out how to get around things and so even when they're on their laptops at at school, they're shopping, they're playing games, they're doing all these things under the guise of, oh, well, I'm on my school laptop, and I know one of my kids paid for a VPN so that he could circumvent the school blocks, and yeah, I found out about that.

[03:18:04] But I do know that that is happening, so I want to figure out how we can kind of tackle this technology issue as a whole, and really, if we're putting money into mental health resources our budget then i think this is really important that it goes hand in hand with that so allison maybe we should uh put that on our list of things to talk about at the summer work session because i'm getting constituents complaining about the technology as well yeah and i i mean i just don't know i don't want to keep putting it off and keep saying we're going to be talking about it we're going to be talking about it um and i'm really happy to see that we're we're doing this and

[03:18:39] we're trying to get feedback and things like that i just i'm not sure that waiting until august is the best test for perspective i think the key thing to remember is that we do have policies and protocols the mistake i think you know was to think that it was simple to just go ahead and create you know create all those if you if you look at the announcement that i sent out there is a link that you can click on that pretty much spells out everything that is supposed to happen at the school level the issue is that we didn't govern it we didn't create this type of

[03:19:13] committee that meets on a frequent basis to first of all define what does success look like for our cell phone policy and then meet and have constituents that represent all of our stakeholders from all of our schools to say well how are we doing with these metrics you know what kind of issues are we having and then to keep working on it and i think we would we would be in a different place right now had we been doing that so I think that the key thing to do as we head into the summer and and head into the fall is to simply communicate loudly and

[03:19:52] clearly that we do have this policy and that will we're going to enforce it I think the way to kick off the school year is to immediately have the very first week of school be a cell phone free week of school where we say for for this week you cannot bring your cell phone into the school under any circumstances and get our parents on board have the have the battles that we need to have if we were able to enforce all of our policies around covid with our employees we were able to we're able to enforce students must

[03:20:30] be vaccinated before they come into our schools I think we should be able to enforce do not bring your cell phone into the school for one week if we can't do it for one week we cannot do it so i think we need a big event to kick things off to get everybody's attention um with regard to technology i think it's really important um for the board to if you're going to start engaging around this is to really have more presentations on a regular basis from dr diggs because there really is every time I talk with her there's a great deal of work that's

[03:21:08] going on the last time I talked to her they and some of it is really a shift because for as a school system when we first brought on board the devices for students I mean it was just wide open and that was the philosophy that was the administration's philosophy was everybody ought to be able to do whatever they want really with their laptop and as a result of that there are there are multiple search engines that are allowable for students I mean I had no idea I only really knew about just a handful right you think about Google

[03:21:46] Chrome and Firefox and you know etc but there are there are dozens and students have had access to them and they're cutting them off now you're only going to be able to use the big three when you start accessing so I want to promise the board that there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to address these issues and they have committee work that's going on where they meet and they review their plans they review what students are going to have access to and they're continuing to tighten things up so I think that the board needs a lot

[03:22:26] more information from dr diggs and as you gain that information i think what's going to happen is you're going to be like so what are we doing what is the what's the national standard of like high level safety for kids and families and then what can we do next like what's our next step to try to address this keeping in mind as um miss spilman pointed out is the kids are always going to be ahead of us um but but that doesn't mean that we should just throw up our hands and as a superintendent you know i feel like at some point i'm guilty of getting overwhelmed by it and just

[03:23:04] saying you know what can we what can we do about this i mean it's it's absurd um even with my own kids it just two kids in my house it was very difficult to police uh the cell phone usage these things are there might as well be an appendage to the person when you try to remove it from their possession so we really need to do a lot to get ready i think the key right now and part of the reason why it's difficult to start before august is that most of the stakeholders that will be involved are out the door and they just you know i don't really want to bother i want to give

[03:23:40] teachers a break i want to give everybody a break but i promise you that we will as we get into the summer communicating loud and clear here's our stance and i want to talk more with board members about your appetite for even maybe it's not a week maybe it's just one day where we say every single person leave your leave your cell phones at home teachers included everybody and really see what happens see what kind of environment we could have that's so different from what we've gotten used to as a society we need to demote our cell phones you know spend

[03:24:17] less time with them and spend more time on other priorities but I thank you for nudging me and bringing it up it's with all the other priorities that we have as a school system I you know you we worry about reading we worry about the math but in the end this should be a number one priority because not only will it will address our students health and well-being but it's also an instructional strategy to get the cell phones out of the classroom and out or at least not interfering

[03:24:54] with um with the student learning so i appreciate the board uh staying on top of this and uh we will you know we will change our practices and we will make sure that we get um have ongoing governance of our policy and i'm sorry for talking so much about it thank you no i really look forward to to getting that more information. And I, I know I've said this before, but in the past couple of years, I think we've gotten a lot more information in these meetings. And I look forward to that because we haven't gotten much about technology. In the beginning, it was like, okay, well, who has access? You know, I mean, that was when we came in on COVID, who has access to broadband, who has

[03:25:34] access to, and we haven't really come around the other way, like, well, what is too much access? Yeah. So it's, it'll be a good time for that, I think. Thank you. Thank you. 20 seconds, just want to let our colleagues know Judy and I went to the Golden Apple Award yesterday afternoon in this auditorium where the Nunleys, Mr. and Mrs. Nunley, who have to be well into their 90s, but who have sponsored the Golden Apple Award for years and years

[03:26:07] and years, which we had a teacher from each of our schools, all of the city schools, and than all the private schools in the community, and it was really a great event. So it's all teacher appreciation, 24 hours.

[03:26:23] - Okay, now I have a quick announcement too. On May the 4th, last Saturday, there were 100 black men of Central Virginia awarded a record-breaking 48 scholarships to students from Charlottesville, Albemarle, and surrounding counties. We probably had about 20 students, I think, from Albemarle County who received these.

[03:26:41] So this was $1,000, 48 people. So $48,000. Yeah, it was awesome. And so, and there's a picture of Mr. Page in the weekly check-in tomorrow. So make sure if you don't normally read it. He was quite the, had a lot of funny comments to make as he made his observations throughout the ceremony.

[03:27:02] So I think he missed an opportunity there. Okay, thank you. Stand up. All right, so I also have a comment. I would like to address the name change for Agner Hurt Elementary. So in addition to what we heard tonight, we've gotten a couple dozen emails and comments about it.

[03:27:21] Some have thanked us for making the change, and others have asked us to reconsider. So I just wanted to address that directly. We have made that decision. We made it two months ago, and it's done. And while the school will continue to exist as Agner Elementary, as with all former namesakes, our naming policy ensures that Mr. Hurt is acknowledged inside the school.

[03:27:41] We've heard from some of his former students about the good impact he had on them, and that's wonderful. And where his name is or is not has absolutely no impact on that good memory that those students have. In fact, in this National Teacher Appreciation Week and on this National School Nurse Day, and having seen all of our Employees of the Year, having seen all of our Golden Apple winners, I'm reminded of all the teachers, the staff, our leaders, our nurses, our bus drivers, our other administrators who make a tremendous impact on our students and our community and who never see their name on the side of a building,

[03:28:20] much less for 50 years, and would never expect to. And that does not diminish their impact one bit. It is a fact that values change. The change is not always linear, but it is inevitable. And our job up here is to reflect the values as they are and to move the division forward.

[03:28:35] And that is what we are doing. Thank you very much. Thank you, Chair Lee. All right. Anything else? I get that. With no other business, we're out right at 10 o'clock. Good job.

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