Coraggio Consulting
Albemarle County School Board Regular Meeting, Thursday, June 12, 2025

Date: Thursday, June 12, 2025
Place: Albemarle County Public Schools / School Board meeting, Virginia
Length: 1h 58m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAjFBy98Y-4

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 2026-10-14. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:00] 12 meeting of the Albany County School Board is now in session. Do we have a motion? Mr. Page, please go to the mic.

[00:00:18] I move that the School Board of Albany County, Virginia, go into a closed meeting as authorized by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Section 2-23711A Dakota, Virginia, and the subsection 1 for the discussion, consideration, or interviews of prospective candidates for employment in the assignment or appointment promotion, performance, devotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific public offices, appointees, or employees of any public body. The purpose of this item is to discuss administrative appointments for the 2025-26 school year, a recent personnel issue in the

[00:00:57] selection of student representatives of the school board of the upcoming school year, subsection 8, a consultation with legal counsel and floored or retained by the school board regarding specific legal letters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel.

[00:01:13] The purpose of this item is the school division counsel to update the school board on the progress of contract negotiations with our model education association. Do we have a second? Second. Motion made by Mr. Page, seconded by Ms. Lee.

[00:01:32] Christine, can you please call the vote? Ms. Lee? Yes. Mr. Page? Yes. Ms. Osborne? Yes. Ms. Pryor? Yes.

[00:01:45] Yes. Motion passes. We're in closed session. And we're at 241? Good evening. This meeting of the June 12th meeting of the Albuquerque County School Board is back in session after a closed meeting. Do we have a motion?

[00:02:30] We do, Chair Acuff. 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.

[00:02:47] Second motion. Motion made by Ms. Lee, seconded by Mr. Page. Ms. Thompson, can you please call the vote? Mr. Page? Yes. Yes. Director Burman? Yes. Ms. Oxford?

[00:03:03] Yes. All right, Ms. Cohen is absent, Ms. Fryer? Yes. Sure you go. Yes. Okay. With that, do we have any motions coming out of the closed meeting? I have at least one. I move that we appoint student A, student B, student C, student D, and student E as student reps and alternate for the 25-26 school year.

[00:03:26] Do we have a second? I second. Motion made by Ms. Lee, seconded by Dr. Berlin. I think we can all in favor of this. I. Opposed. Motion passes. I do have another one. I move that we approve the appointment for the 25-26 school year of the list of school administrators that the school board reviewed in closed session.

[00:03:53] Second. Motion made by Ms. Lee, seconded by Mr. Page. All in favor? Aye. Opposed. Motion passes. With that, let us identify ourselves so anyone who's listening, can't listen, knows who we are.

[00:04:11] Ms. Schmidt. Rosalyn Schmidt, Chief Operating Officer. Daphne Kaiser, Assistant Superintendent. Judy Lee, Romana District, and Motion Hog. Graham Page, Miller District. Rebecca Berlin, Whitehall District. Kate Acuff, Jack Jewett District.

[00:04:27] Ellen Osborne, Scottsville District. Leslie Friar, Riot District. Clark Fizer, Assistant Superintendent for Organizational Development. Matthew Wallace, Superintendent. Josiah Black, School Division Counsel. Chandra Hayes, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction. Christine Thompson, Clerk of the Board.

[00:04:46] I don't know if the officers would like to identify themselves. They're all making sure. Thank you. Katie Pater. Thank you for being here tonight.

[00:05:02] Now let us stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Now a moment of silence.

[00:05:41] The next item is approval of the agenda. I move we approve tonight's agenda. Second. Motion made by Ms. Osborne, seconded by Ms. Lee. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes.

[00:06:03] Next are announcements by school board or superintendent business. Ms. Pryor, do you have something? Whereas, Claire Kieser joined Baltimore County Public Schools on August 2, 2004, as an assistant principal at Henley Middle School, launching a career marked by integrity, innovation, and impact.

[00:06:25] And whereas, her leadership and commitment to student success led to her appointment as principal of Holly Meade Elementary School on July 1, 2007, where she cultivated a school culture grounded in equity, joy, and high expectations. And whereas, Clara was promoted to Director of Educator Quality and Human Resources on July 1, 2012, where she designed and implemented division-wide initiatives to elevate the teaching profession, recruit, and retain outstanding educators and advance professional learning.

[00:06:54] And, whereas, on July 1, 2018, Claire was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Organization of Human Resources and Professional Development in Division Support, where she oversaw critical human capital strategy, leadership development, and organizational change across the school division.

[00:07:10] And, whereas, Claire's leadership has been defined by a deep respect for people, a relentless pursuit of excellence, and a steady hand during times of uncertainty. and whereas she has mentored and inspired countless educators and leaders who are always guided by the belief that school communities thrive when adults grow, connect, and lead with purpose.

[00:07:30] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Almond County School Board hereby expresses its deep appreciation and admiration for Clara Kaiser's exceptional service, strategic leadership, and unwavering commitment to the students, families, and staff of Almond County Public Schools. And be it further resolved, the school board wishes Claire a retirement field with good health, enriching travels, rigorous games of pickleball, and cherries time with loved ones.

[00:07:55] And witness where of the Almond County School Board hereby adopts and approves this resolution on June 12, 2020. Can you say anything about your sojourn here with ACPS?

[00:08:19] I just want to say that I am humbled and honored and thank you for the very kind words. and it really has been a privilege to serve the board and I think the opportunity. Thank you, Terry. If you mind, Dr. Acuff, I just want to also, on a personal note, particularly the sixth, whereas I would definitely count myself in that among the people that Dr. Kaiser has mentored and inspired and really worked with over the years.

[00:08:54] I've certainly known and worked with many staff for as long as I've worked with Claire, But she and I both started here in Elmar at the same time as school level administrators among a group of approximately maybe 15 others at that time, 21 years ago.

[00:09:12] And we're the only ones that are still here from that group. I have a professional bond with Claire that I think that few people get to experience in a career. And I'm sure that I've benefited mostly from it much more than you did.

[00:09:29] And I'm full of gratitude to have had Claire in my life all these years, particularly in the last meeting that we worked together in the central office. I'm going to miss her greatly, and I'm just joining up with everyone else and really thanking you for all you've done for the school system and for the kids.

[00:09:46] Thank you. Thank you. Again. The next thing will be a challenge, a spotlight on education. Ms. Thompson, do we have anything tonight?

[00:10:03] we have canceled the spotlight okay so with that we move on to public comment and ms osborne will read the rule um we have no public comment for the regular public comment okay so we will wait to read the rules until we get to the section on public hearing okay thank you the next item then on our agenda is approval of the consent agenda do we have a motion

[00:10:40] second motion made by mr page seconded by miss lee all those in favor of approving the consent agenda say aye aye opposed motion passes uh the next item is school board compensation and we have mr redding from human resources to talk to us about this

[00:11:03] all right good evening school board members and members of the cabinet i'm dan redding from human resources and i'm here with you this evening to talk about score compensation this connects to our strategic plan specifically equitable and transformative resources typically when i'm talking about compensation and focusing on this goal we're talking about staff salaries however

[00:11:41] school board compensation is also part of that we want members of the community to be attracted to this work and over time the work of being a board member has changed significantly as our community has become more engaged expectations of responsiveness to constituent concerns and attendance at school and community events continue to rise so we want to be sure that school board compensation matches the expectations of the community for the work that's being done.

[00:12:15] The basis of the determination of school board salary is embedded both in school board policy and in the Virginia Administrative Code. Both provide a pathway towards how school board compensation is determined and can be changed over time. Within the Code of Virginia there There are two different methodologies, and one of them, in order to have an automatic salary increase, the school board, I'm sorry, an annual salary increase, or the ability to increase regularly, the school board has to set a salary in line with the population of the community.

[00:12:57] Specifically, a county population has to fall within one of these buckets, and the school board may set a salary with the corresponding range. Note that the chair is eligible to receive an additional sum up to $1,800, recognizing the differentiated duties of the chair.

[00:13:19] The history over the past few years of school board salary is listed on this slide. The current salary is $7,915 per year. That's paid out in bi-weekly installments of $304.42.

[00:13:37] You can see that in 2022, when all staff received two increases, one midyear and one at the end of the beginning of the next fiscal year, the school board received a 10.2% increase.

[00:13:53] Prior to that, the board received an increase of 2.3% in 2019, and prior to that in 2017, a 2% increase, both of those in line with the increase that the board adopted for employees in their budget.

[00:14:10] when we talk about compensation for our employees we go back to our comparative market back in 2022 as part of our division-wide compensation study the board adopted 15 school divisions that we will compare ourselves to those 15 divisions were chosen based on the similarities of the population of that community in terms of education educational attainment within that community

[00:14:42] proximity to major colleges and universities and in different communities the diversity and size of the student population we received responses from 13 of the 15 comparative divisions when we surveyed we did not get a response from either Augusta or Rockingham but you can see the range of salaries for school board members and we included the last known adjustment if they share that information with us we've also put the student population that that school board serves

[00:15:20] you can see it's a pretty wide range within that data we note that hanover county their last change was in 2006 the board did attempt to increase salaries in 2023 but that attempt failed charlottesville City recently voted to increase school board member salaries from the current $8,500 to be $10,000 effective January 1st.

[00:15:54] Just pause here if you want to take a look at this data. We can come back to that in a moment. So our market compensation philosophy that we adopted, we strive to provide compensation that is at the 60th percentile.

[00:16:20] When we rank those 15 divisions, highest to lowest, we want to be at the 60th percentile, not at the middle average, but above that. The average school board salary for the 13 divisions that responded is $14,608, and the 60th percentile would be $15,600.

[00:16:45] I mentioned earlier there are two options that the board may use should they wish to adjust their compensation. And per the different code sections, they can set a new salary, and they must vote prior to July 1 annually if they wish to increase that salary effective July 1 of the next year.

[00:17:11] In option two, it can set that salary per that chart we showed earlier, not to exceed $13,000 with the additional $1,800 for the chair, and then enact annual adjustments that may not exceed 5% after a public hearing.

[00:17:31] Such a vote must take place between May 1st and June 30th during the year. That's a lot of information, but with that, we're open for questions and discussion.

[00:17:48] Thanks for pulling that info, Dan. So it looks like for both options, there would need to still be an annual vote? There would still need to be an annual vote, yes. Well, if I may, if you select option two, you can adopt this year an automatic inflation increase for each successive year of up to 5%.

[00:18:16] Oh, I see. It doesn't have to be 5%. It can be 2%, 4%, anything in between. But option one, under which you can exceed the $13,000 cap if you want, that would require a new vote each year.

[00:18:34] The other clarification that I wanted to make is that under section 1414.3, the board is allowed to also pay an additional stipend to the vice chair of $1,200, if that's of interest.

[00:18:51] And finally, Dr. Hayes alerted me as we came in this evening that Hanover actually just voted two days ago to double their salary. So next year, their school board members will receive $17,400 and change.

[00:19:07] So the average is actually a little higher than what we show in our presentation. Late breaking news, it came out after I had to spit the presentation. All right. Mr. Black, just to clarify option two, if we set it at that, we could peg it to the increases to what the staff gets provided. It did not exceed whatever percent? Five percent?

[00:19:35] Yes, sure. So that could be, if they got a two percent, we'd get a two percent up to five. Correct. As long as it's capped at five percent. okay and under option one there's no potential for an additional stipend for the chair or vice chair no actually you can pay whatever additional stipend you want to the chair and vice chair under option one the financial this is money that comes directly from the schools that the state doesn't give us any money true i don't know the answer to that it's my understanding that this is

[00:20:13] all out of operational funding yeah i would just say that you know on a percentage of total budget We're talking about a very, very small percentage.

[00:20:29] Seven members times your current salaries is less than $100,000. I mean, I'll just go ahead and start discussion. I feel like as someone who has served both as a member and as a vice chair and as a chair, I have always felt like it's so important to us to pay people for their work except us.

[00:20:54] And I think that I can understand that, but I also think that it would be very hard for someone who didn't have the amount of privilege that I have to serve in a role like this. And I think that that really diminishes our power to truly represent our constituents.

[00:21:16] So I am for whatever decision I'm for, being able to attract people who might not be able to put this time toward this, if not. for that reason. I would just say, although no one does this job for the money, I certainly agree with Ms. Lee that for some people there are some financial challenges to taking the

[00:21:48] time to participate. I think the comparative data is pretty powerful, and I guess we will make a decision after we get a public hearing. But do we have any more questions for Mr.

[00:22:14] ready there are any more comments i guess i just i'm curious about members of the board if one or two are more attractive i would lean toward two even though it's less money than the ceiling because if we could craft it so it would be automatic with uh staff increases up to a ceiling of five percent and i would uh additional stipend for chair and we have a new chair in january and and this wouldn't go into effect until January.

[00:22:48] - I thought it was July 1. - I think it's January, isn't it? - Any change that you adopt tonight cannot be effective until January 1st. - Right, right, so it would be the next round. And I also, I've served both as chair and vice chair, and the vice chair gets almost nothing.

[00:23:06] I mean, I think the payment for the vice chair who has to attend a lot of extra meetings also is only if I am stricken ill and the vice chair has to wield the gavel, she gets $35.

[00:23:26] So I think that's happened once. And so I would also want to increase that to reflect the amount of additional time. I think a lot of members of the community think we just show up twice a month, and this is the tip of the iceberg of what we do.

[00:23:45] I don't have a strong opinion for either option one or option two, but it occurs to me that it might be worth it to deliberately think about this every year, which option one would force us to do. Would you go back to the comparison data? Just because that handover was an outlier.

[00:24:15] And for anyone who is curious why we're doing it at this meeting, and Mr. Black can correct me if I veer off, these decisions have to be made between May and the end of June on a year where at least two members of the school board are running for election, or there's two people running for school board seats.

[00:24:54] So it's not every year that this can be changed, and this is the first one since we started talking about this two or three years ago where the stars aligned. Yes, that's correct. And one further nuance is that code just requires that you adopt a change under method one by an affirmative vote in an open meeting. Our school board policy currently says that we'll also go through the exercise of having a public hearing and invite public commenters do what we're doing now. We don't have to have the public hearing. You could decide to change school board policy so that it

[00:25:31] be done just by motion and vote are we finished with our conversation here we can go straight to the public hearing thank you mr ready hey i have public comment guidelines for this we welcome public input at our school board meetings to sign up to speak during the public comment period you can do so in several ways sign up online sign up is available from 9am on the monday of the meeting

[00:26:05] week until 2 p.m. on the meeting day by phone call the school board clerk's office to sign up in person you can sign up the papers will be out there until the public comment period 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 the maximum number of people or groups that may speak at a meeting is 20. speakers should state your name address voting district or voting we don't need to know both. Address comments to the school board, limit comments to school board governance or school division operations, and provide written statements and supporting

[00:26:44] material to the clerk if you would like. And we'll be using the timer. Once the time is up, you're done. Tonight we have two speakers, Mary McIntyre and Heidi Gilman Bennett. Is the giant timer working on it?

[00:27:08] Oh, you know what? Because everything is out, I'll just time it up. Just behave. Just I'm Mary McIntyre. I live in the Rio District. I'm the mother of two ACPS students and I'm the president of the Alamoral Education Association, but tonight I'm speaking to you as an individual.

[00:27:27] First, I want to point out how wonderful it must be to get to decide your own compensation. I have never had that privilege, but I think you should have saved your discussion by having your discussion already. The message is that you don't really care what we have to say,

[00:28:04] whether you meant it that way or not. And I feel conflicted about this issue because I know that in order to get more people who have to work for a living, who aren't wealthy or retired, to be able to run and serve in public office, it has to pay enough to make it worth their time. I logically know that. But that doesn't mean that there are not serious concerns, both budgetary and morally, with what you're considering tonight. While I, of all people, do not begrudge people the right to be pay fairly for their work. There was a decent amount of relevant information that could have been provided in the slides about this topic and it was not included. For example, how many hours

[00:28:41] do school board members spend on school board duties? How many school visits do school board members normally complete? Do our board members respond to every email from people in their district? Do board members still get paid even when they miss board meetings? When we, the ACPS staff, come and beg you for raises, we have to justify why we deserve them, often explaining how many hours we work above and beyond what is expected, how many additional duties have been added to our workloads, etc. It would be really helpful for you all to justify the raise you're requesting to the taxpayers about Morrow County and to your own employees, not simply comparing yourselves to what other people are getting paid. Now, I have no idea

[00:29:20] what amount or percent of a raise you plan to give yourselves tonight, but I want you to seriously think about how it will look and feel to your staff. In a year where we face budget cuts so severe that FTEs were cut, people lost their jobs, and beloved programs were ended because of costs. If you choose to raise your salaries to the maximum allowable, you will be giving yourselves approximately a 64% raise if my math is correct, compared to my 3%. I'm not saying you don't deserve a reasonable raise, but this is not the year to give yourselves such a large raise. I believe you should consider giving yourselves a smaller,

[00:29:57] more modest raise, and come back when our budget situation is dramatically different to raise her own salaries so dramatically. It will be more in line with the experience of your own hardworking employees and it will not put additional pressure on a budget that is already extremely tight. Thank you.

[00:30:23] Hello, Heidi Gillen-Bennett, Samuel Miller District, also chair of Family Council, but tonight I'm speaking as a private citizen. Having spent many hours working to recruit school board candidates for many of your seats, I am actually in support of increased compensation.

[00:30:40] I would like to see Albemarle County move toward a more professional school board that is actively working to achieve its goals. It takes significant time to do the job well, not only to show up to these meetings, but also to actively prepare for the meetings, show up for the photo opportunities, but more importantly, to meet with ACPS leaders and your counterparts on the board of supervisors, as well as respond to emails and calls and meet with opinionated members of the public like me.

[00:31:10] I'd like to see a board that reflects the diversity of our community. Committing to all the time required to do it well with so little pay is a real barrier. I've tried to recruit some amazing potential candidates who just couldn't make it work because of the pay involved and the need to pay bills and the need for health care.

[00:31:33] These are really strong considerations for members of our community. However, I must express concern that I've heard from other community members. that raising compensation now during a budget crunch is a bad look. I also need to share community skepticism that increased salary may not actually produce better outcomes for currently seated board members.

[00:31:56] We would like to see, we being members of the community, would like to see a school board that is more actively engaging with constituents and accountable to the public, such as town halls, the ability to sign up for emails when there's a school board agenda posted, accurate calendar of school board advisory meetings, attachments on agendas that we can review and share ahead of time, those types of basic things. My personal preference is actually to put a larger salary increase into effect based on the number of hours actually required to do the work, but to have this take effect following a public vote when each of your seats are up for

[00:32:36] renewal my personal opinion but thank you for all that you do i know it's a tough job issue of school board compensation thank you miss osborne the next the next item on the agenda is item 8.3

[00:32:59] employment engagement and we have miss j carter shiflett here tonight all right good evening

[00:33:34] thank you school board members cabinet for attending health tonight i will be sharing with you just a brief overview of gallup engagement survey data and as we think about our mission vision values and goals our strategic plan elaborates on what we aspire to achieve around equitable transformative resources this is elaborated in goal three and one of those resources is the gallup engagement survey excuse me can you just pull your mic down a little bit

[00:34:08] thank you how about now perfect okay so looking at focusing on goal three the equitable transformative resources the gallup survey is the national norm tool and it provides the school division with valuable employee feedback through a rating scale that gives us results indicating levels of satisfaction in regards to national results this helps the acps division recognize the experiences and work environment within departments and school buildings and how employees perceive their success with the system structures and resources

[00:34:45] available to them. Then our state interview, a best practice that ACPS has successfully implemented for the past three years, allows staff members to expand on these survey results by offering deep insights into the frequency numbers from the rating scale. This is our fourth administration of GALF engagement survey and it has allowed us to, one, provide our leaders with data-driven insights to inform their decisions. It has added to our division goal of creating a culture of listening and acknowledging our staff, and this resource supports our strategic plan and district goals. Later on in this presentation, I'm going to share

[00:35:24] a little bit in depth about intentional partnerships with a couple of our schools and departments. In those partnerships, we analyzed Gallup engagement data with the goal of improving school department engagement and climate, targeting support where was needed most, and aiming to reduce staff turnover. All of these efforts went towards the division's ultimate goal of enhancing student achievement. So this is our Gallup Engagement Survey dashboard for the entire division.

[00:35:55] For this school year, we had 2,229 respondents to the survey. ACPS is in the 39th percentile, which is a 3 percent percentile increase from last year. The trended mean also increased by Last year's trended mean was 3.83 and this year it is 3.92.

[00:36:19] The two highest items for the division are Q2, I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right, and Q5, my supervisor or someone at work seems to care about me as a person. Gallup also identified a couple areas of opportunity for growth.

[00:36:38] Q4, in the last seven days, I've received recognition of praise for doing good work. And Q6, there is someone at work who encourages my development. I want to point out there are a few celebrations around ACPS's Engagement Index.

[00:36:55] When we look at the percentage of our engaged employees, it increased by 4%. It went from 38% the previous year to 42% this last year. The percentage of our employees not engaged decreased by 2%. It went from 49% down to 47%. And are actively disengaged also decreased 2%, going from 13% to 11%.

[00:37:26] Gallup shares that when organizations reach the four-to-one ratio, meaning there are four engaged employees for every one actively disengaged employee, this is the tipping point where engaged employees can offset the negative impact of disengaged employees.

[00:37:46] The ACPS engagement ratio has increased from 2.92 to 1 to 3.82 to 1. So again, as we can see, the increase in overall engagement and the overall engagement mean over the course of four years, the ACPS engagement ratio increased by 0.9 last year, which is our biggest increase, by the way, I want to point that out.

[00:38:16] Our Gallup collaborator wanted to point out with meaningful change being at 0.1, we're so close that he acknowledges the 0.9 as meaningful change. Overall, there has been an increase of .19 since the beginning of implementation four years ago, and there has been a shift in the right direction each year since.

[00:38:42] Again, Gallup is ACPS's nationally normed survey tool used to indicate levels of engagement of our staff. In comparison to other education organizations participating in the Gallup database, ACPS is ranked at the 48th percentile range.

[00:38:58] And compared to others who are also in their fourth year of administration, ACPS is ranked at the 33rd percentile range. A few items to notice. First, there was an increase in each of the Q12 items.

[00:39:17] The bolded mean represents significant change for the organization. That bolded mean is in the second-to-last column in the chart. The overall satisfaction of respondents in this year's administration increased by .16.

[00:39:33] Our Gallup representative explains that this Q item usually relates to pay, commute, and logistical topics. The next two rows, highlighted in yellow, represent ACPS's two highest items with significant change in the mean.

[00:39:51] That is Q8, the mission and purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important, and Q3, at work I have the opportunity to do what I do best. Lastly, even with all the positive increases, this data presents ACPS with a couple opportunities for growth.

[00:40:11] Those rows are highlighted in baby blue. Q6, there is someone at work who encourages my development. And Q4, in the past, in the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work. These three additional items are questions that ACPS attached to our engagement survey.

[00:40:34] The NA for percentile rank indicates that there are not enough other organizations to compare that item to. Each of the three additional items, as you can see, show significant increase in mean from the previous administration of the survey.

[00:40:53] Lastly, as requested by our superintendent, we had a few intentional partnerships with the goal of collaborating on Gallup engagement. Myself, Dr. Sarah Lynn, Jason Sears, Dan Redding, Jennifer Weller-Kim, and David Bruce worked with the six identified schools and departments regularly to discuss their Gallup data and plans to increase engagement and climate.

[00:41:21] I want to take a moment to highlight a few partnerships that show tremendous growth, keeping in mind that Gallup says .2 is the most significant. According to Gallup, that change of .2 or more between survey periods represents a meaningful change for our organization, our departments that have 100 or less respondents.

[00:41:46] That was transportation. We can see they made more than meaningful growth. Henley Middle School, and our international and EL programs. And thank you so much for allowing me to share this update with you all.

[00:42:04] Thank you for your time. I would love to open up for any questions or feedback that you would have at this moment. I'm just curious about next steps or steps that have already happened about how things are being shared with individual schools and individual departments and then what they would put into place as a follow-up.

[00:42:28] Yes. We've had the pleasure of collaborating with Pat McLaughlin and the Department of Strategic Plan to set up folders that allowed all of our managers to see their data right away. We didn't hold that. So they were given access as well as Superintendent Hoffs as soon as the survey ended.

[00:42:49] From there, we've also been collaborating around their school strategic plan and department strategic plans to make sure that they were supported with their Gallup engagement goal. Lastly, the collaboration with each individual department or school leader was given that opportunity.

[00:43:10] They're working on 90-day action plans right now, and that goal is being, the language was put in there as part of that, and strategies have been, we're helping them with strategies to meet those goals. Also, the division has created the opportunity for Dr. Sarah Lennon, myself, to go to receive Gallup's CliftonStrengths training that we also will come back and implement with our leaders in the division, as well as professional learning and development around that to support

[00:43:48] with increasing our engagement goals and ultimately the student achievement goal. and this was a key focus of our leadership retreat we on the first day of the retreat we had our representative come from Gallup to give a overall presentation that was pretty similar to what Shay just shared he kind of he presented from the view of the overall district and then at the same time they were analyzing their data from their school he walked us through a pretty good professional development around how to look at the division-wide data and

[00:44:23] then have discussions at the table with the people who were at the table, identify an area we wanted to work on, talk about the causes of it, and then come up with a simple plan to do that. So we know that 70% of the way a person responds is in direct relationship to their manager, the person that supervises them directly.

[00:44:47] And so we know that for us to be able to keep shifting, not really shifting the data, but shifting employee engagement so they feel good about coming to work and feel good about their day-to-day experiences, which then translate into a great experience for kids and families, is to work with the direct supervisors. So we will do the same plan this year where we look for hotspots in the school system, schools and departments where they seem to be standing still or maybe have gone maybe backtracked a little bit or aren't as high as we'd like them

[00:45:22] to be and we'll provide that kind of assistance because it really was effective and a lot of it was effective because of Shea Carter-Shiflett and Sarah Lynn and members of the HR department jumping in there and really this has been so much more than just let's give the survey every year and see how we do, they have really made intentional moves, leadership moves, to help our employees.

[00:45:46] Really, that's the goal, is to help our employees. So, thank you. Thank you. Anybody have any? I mean, I think the three exemplary programs that you pointed out, Henley, EL, and Transportation, bravo to them, and I think having Jamie Gellner over at Transportation, when we have had so many challenges with transportation. I mean, not necessarily management, but she clearly has taken hold of that department, and I'm very impressed with that.

[00:46:23] What did she do? Or what did any of these success stories do? I mean, a lot of praise, I guess, must have been Kevin Allen. So, I'll just speak on behalf of Jamie. She was actually going to be here in July meeting, as far as just a general transportation update. She took it seriously. She looked at the Gallup data. I mean, she's going to be more articulate about it, but it's an intentionality. So pick her brain.

[00:46:53] And also, I want to point out that she spent a lot of time with her Gallup coach. It wasn't a one-and-done. We gave the survey, and then, as Dr. Haas requested, we set up continuous check-ins, feedback loops, spice them off at a minimum, and also she did not see it as let me raise the score. She had a conversation to really understand the data and put that before her leadership team to really help them, let them help her analyze and understand the data and then make

[00:47:28] changes, intentional changes and shifts in her, what she was doing every day. I'm going to have to say One of the things I thought when we had year one of the Gallup data was, yikes. And, you know, not only yikes, but yikes about, you know, showing it to the public.

[00:47:46] You know, like we could have sat back and said, oh, we need to work on these things. But we've always been quite open about this, essentially a diagnostic. I have a question just about the survey design. Why is our response rate so low, and how does that impact the outcome data?

[00:48:08] Our response rate actually was really good based off of the number of respondents from last year. When I did, when I compared the raw numbers, we were only about 200-ish respondents less than we had last year.

[00:48:26] Gallup says the minimum threshold that they want to see responded at was about 75%. So we not only met that, but we exceeded it, and we maintained it very closely this year. Okay, I think I must have misheard it before. That is a good response, right?

[00:48:41] Thank you. And, of course, we can keep doing better. And I think one of the things we wanted to be sure we did this year when it was over was to thank everyone for doing it and also send out a brief note to the school system just thanking all of our employees for taking time to do it and then give them some of the preliminary results so they can see things are moving.

[00:49:02] And I think that goes back to one of the issues that we really tried to tackle from last year to this year was my opinion seems to matter at work. And I think the key, really, and we've been hearing it for a long time from public comment or from emails we get, that people want to be heard and they want to know that they've been listened to.

[00:49:25] And, again, at that supervisor level, and I think that was one of Ms. Gelmer's key successes, was making it a structure in her department, not a hit or miss, you know, tell me what you're thinking when I have time, but really setting up structures and putting them in place so that staff members could voice their concerns, share their ideas, and then see the results from it.

[00:49:51] Meaning, yes, we can do something about that, so we're going to work on it, work on it as a team, or no, we can't, here's why, that's what people really, I think, see as being heard. So we had a nice jump on that one as well, and I was proud of that because we worked on focusing on that as a school system.

[00:50:14] I'm also curious about the EL. Do you have any sense about what spurred the success there? I was not their Gallup collaborator. I'm going to invite Dan Raddy up for that. I think that's a really interesting question.

[00:50:36] Yeah, you can pull this up. Sorry, that's an interesting question. I don't know if it's easy to pinpoint one specific thing. I believe in their data, much like the school division's data here, they increased on virtually every indicator.

[00:50:52] I do know that there were some changes in terms of how the team was working together that I think made it more cohesive and improved communication in the department. I have yet to debrief, though, with Ms. McLean on the specifics of what she sees and her thinking about what changed.

[00:51:16] Any more questions? Well, thank you, Mr. Redding, and thank you, Ms. Carter-Shiflett. Make sure I get your name right. Thank you all for your time. Thank you. Thank you, Shea. Well, with that, we have a second closed meeting.

[00:51:44] Oh, this one, item A is not there. I have it. I move to the school board of Elmoral County, Virginia, go into a closed meeting as authorized by the Freedom of Reformation Act, section 2.2-3711A of the Code of Virginia under subsection 1 for the discussion, consideration, or interviews of prospective candidates for employment and the assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific public officers, appointees, or employees of any public body.

[00:52:20] The purpose of this item is to discuss whether the school board should adopt an increase in the compensation to be received by its members in the 25-26 fiscal year, and which method of adjusting such compensation shall be used in future years. Do we have a second? Second.

[00:52:36] Motion made by Ms. Lee, seconded by Ms. Osborne. We are now in closed session. Of course we do. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed?

[00:52:52] Thank you, Ms. Thompson. Motion passes.

[00:52:55] We're now leaving this meeting of the June 12th meeting of the Albuquerque County School Board is back in session after a closed meeting.

[00:53:33] Do we have a motion? We do, Chair Hickoff. I move that the board certify by a 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.

[00:53:51] Second motion. Motion made by Ms. Lee, seconded by Mr. Page. Ms. Thompson, can you please call the vote? Mr. Page? Yes. Ms. Lee? Yes. Director Berlin? Yes.

[00:54:07] Ms. Wellsmore? Yes. Ms. Bowman is absent, Ms. Breyer? Yes. Sure you go. Yes. Okay. With that, do we have any motions coming out of the closed meeting? I have at least one. I move that we appoint student A, student B, student C, student D, and student b as student reps and alternate for the 25-26 school year do we have a second i second motion made by miss lee seconded by dr berlin uh i think we can all in favor of this

[00:54:41] i opposed motion passes i do have another one i move that we approve the the appointment for the 25-26 school year of the list of school administrators that the school board reviewed and closed session second motion made by miss lee seconded by mr page all in favor aye proposed motion passes uh with that let us identify ourselves so anyone who's listening can listen knows who we are mishman rosalyn schmidt chief operating officer daphne kaiser assistant

[00:55:21] superintendent julie romana district and motion hogg graham page middle district rebecca berlin Whitehall District, Kate Acuff, Jack Jewett District, Ellen Osborne, Scottsville District, Leslie Ryer-Ryo District, Scott Kaiser, Assistant Superintendent for Organizational Development, Matthew Hawes, Superintendent, Josiah Black, School Division Counsel, Chandra Hayes, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, Christine Tom Carton-Borne. I don't know if the officers would like to identify themselves.

[00:55:57] They're all making sure. Thank you. David Pater. Thank you for being here tonight. Now let us stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

[00:56:09] now a moment of silence the next item is approval of the agenda i move we approve tonight's agenda

[00:56:58] second motion made by ms osborne seconded by ms lee all those in favor aye opposed motion passes uh next are announcements by school board or superintendent business ms prior do you have something whereas clare kaiser general alamo county public schools on august 2nd 2004 as an assistant principal at Henley Middle School, launching a career marked by integrity, innovation, impact, and whereas her leadership and commitment to student success led to her appointment as

[00:57:34] principal of Holly Meade Elementary School on July 1st, 2007, where she cultivated a school culture grounded in equity, joy, and high expectations, and whereas Claire was promoted to director of educator quality and human resources on July 1st, 2012, where she designed and implemented division-wide initiatives to elevate the teaching profession, recruit and retain outstanding educators, and advance professional learning.

[00:57:59] And whereas, on July 1, 2018, Claire was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Organization of Human Resources and Professional Development in Division Support, where she oversaw critical human capital strategy, leadership development, and organizational change across the school division.

[00:58:15] And whereas, Claire's leadership has been defined by a deep respect for people, a relentless pursuit of excellence and a steady hand during times of uncertainty and whereas she has mentored and inspired countless educators and leaders always guided by the belief that school communities thrive when adults grow connect and lead with purpose now therefore be it resolved that the alma county school board hereby expresses its deep appreciation and admiration for clara kaisers exceptional service strategic leadership and unwavering commitment to the students families and staff of Almond County Public Schools, and bid further resolve that the school board wishes clear a

[00:58:52] retirement field with good health, enriching travels, rigorous games of pickleball, and chairs time with loved ones, and witness where of the Almond County School Board hereby adopts and approves this resolution on June 12, 2025. Do you want to say anything about your sojourn here with ACPS?

[00:59:24] I just want to say that I am humbled and honored and thank you for the very kind words and it really has been a privilege to serve the board and I think the opportunity. Thank you. Do you mind Dr. Acuff? I just want to also on a personal note particularly the sixth whereas I would definitely count myself in that among the people that Dr. Kaiser has mentored and inspired and really worked with over the years. I've certainly known and worked with many staff for

[01:00:01] as long as I've worked with Claire. But she and I both started here at Elmoral at the same time as school level administrators among a group of approximately maybe 15 others at that time, 21 years ago. And we're the only ones that are still here from that group. I have a professional bond with Claire that I think that few people get to experience in a career. And I'm sure that I I benefited mostly from it, much more than you did.

[01:00:33] And I'm full of gratitude to have had Claire in my life all these years, particularly in the last many that we worked together in the central office. I'm going to miss her greatly, and I'm just joining in with everyone else and really thanking you for all you've done for the school system and for the kids.

[01:00:50] Thank you. Thank you again. The next thing with the agenda is a spotlight on education. Ms. Thompson, do we have anything tonight?

[01:01:08] We have canceled the spotlight. So with that, we move on to public comment, and Ms. Osborne will read the rule. We have no public comment for the regular public comment, so we will wait to read the rules until we get to the section on public hearing.

[01:01:30] Okay, thank you. The next item then on our agenda is approval of the consent agenda. Do we have a motion? I move that we approve the Consent Agenda. Second. Motion made by Mr. Page, seconded by Ms. Lee.

[01:01:49] All those in favor of approving the Consent Agenda, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. The next item is School Board Compensation, and we have Mr. Redding from Human Resources to talk to us about this.

[01:02:08] All right. Good evening, School Board members and members of the Cabinet. I'm Dan Redding from Human Resources, and I'm here with you this evening to talk about school board compensation.

[01:02:32] This connects to our strategic plan, specifically, Equative and Transformative Resources. Typically, when I'm talking about compensation and focusing on this goal, we're talking about staff salaries. However, school board compensation is also part of that.

[01:02:49] We want members of the community to be attracted to this work. And over time, the work of being a board member has changed significantly as our community has become more engaged. Expectations of responsiveness to constituent concerns and attendance at school and community events continue to rise.

[01:03:08] So we want to be sure that school board compensation matches the expectations of the community for the work that's being done. The basis of the determination of school board salary is embedded both in school board policy and in the Virginia Administrative Code.

[01:03:30] Both provide a pathway towards how school board compensation is determined and can be changed over time. Within the Code of Virginia, there are two different methodologies. In one of them, in order to have an automatic salary increase, the school board, I'm sorry, annual salary increase or the ability to increase regularly, the school board has to set a salary in line with the population of the community.

[01:04:01] Specifically, the county population has to fall within one of these buckets, and the school board may set a salary with the corresponding range. Note that the chair is eligible to receive an additional sum up to $1,800, recognizing the differentiated duties of the chair.

[01:04:21] the history over the past few years of school board salary is listed on this slide the current salary is seven thousand nine hundred fifteen dollars per year that's paid out in bi-weekly installments of three hundred and four dollars and forty two cents you can see that in 2022 when all staff received two increases one mid-year and one at the end of the beginning of the next fiscal year. The school board received a 10.2% increase. Prior to that, the board received an

[01:05:01] increase of 2.3% in 2019, and prior to that in 2017, a 2% increase, both of those in line with the increase that the board adopted for employees in their budget. When we talk about compensation for our employees, we go back to our comparative market. Back in 2022, as part of our division-wide compensation study the board adopted 15 school divisions that we will compare ourselves to those 15 divisions were chosen based on the similarities of the

[01:05:39] population of that community in terms of education educational attainment within that community proximity to major colleges and universities and in different communities the diversity and size of the student population we We received responses from 13 of the 15 comparative divisions when we surveyed.

[01:06:05] We did not get a response from either Augusta or Rockingham. But you can see the range of salaries for school board members. And we included the last known adjustment if they share that information with us. We've also put the student population that that school board serves.

[01:06:25] You can see it's a pretty wide range. Within that data, we note that Hanover County, their last change was in 2006. The board did attempt to increase salaries in 2023, but that attempt failed.

[01:06:45] Charlottesville City recently voted to increase school board member salaries from the current $8,500 to be $10,000 effective January 1st. Just pause here if you want to take a look at this data.

[01:07:11] We can come back to that in a moment. So our market compensation philosophy that we adopted, we strive to provide compensation that is at the 60th percentile. When we rank those 15 divisions, highest to lowest, we want to be at the 60th percentile, not at the middle average, but above that.

[01:07:37] The average school board salary for the 13 divisions that responded is $14,608, and the 60th percentile would be $15,600. I mentioned earlier there are two options that the board may use should they wish to adjust their compensation.

[01:08:02] Per the different code sections, they can set a new salary, and they must vote prior to July 1 annually if they wish to increase that salary effective July 1 of the next year. In option two, they can set that salary for that chart we showed earlier not to exceed $13,000 with the additional $1,800 for the chair and then enact annual adjustments that may not exceed 5% after a public hearing.

[01:08:36] Such a vote must take place between May 1st and June 30th during the year. That's a lot of information, but with that, we're open for questions and discussion.

[01:08:53] Thanks for pulling that info down. So it looks like for both options, there needs to still be an annual vote? There would still need to be an annual vote, yes. Well, if I may, if you select option two, you can adopt this year an automatic inflation increase for each successive year of up to 5%.

[01:09:20] Oh, I see. doesn't have to be 5%, it can be 2%, 4%, anything in between. But option one, under which you can exceed the $13,000 cap if you want, that would require a new vote each year. The other clarification that I wanted to make is that under section 1414.3, the board is allowed to also pay an additional

[01:09:51] stipend to the vice chair of $1,200. That's of interest. And finally, Dr. Hayes alerted me as we came in this evening that Hanover actually just voted two days ago to double their salary. So next year, their school board members will receive $17,400 in change. So the average is actually a little higher than what we show in our presentation. Great breaking news. It came out after I had to spit the present.

[01:10:21] Sorry. Mr. Black, just to clarify option two, if we set it at that, we could peg it to the increases to what the staff gets provided. It did not exceed whatever percent, 5%?

[01:10:40] Yes, sure. So that could be, if they got a 2%, we'd get a 2% up to 5%. As long as it's capped at 5%. okay and under option one there's no potential for an additional stipend for the chair or vice chair no actually you can pay whatever additional stipend you want to the chair and vice chair under option one the financial this is why it comes directly from the schools that the state doesn't give us any money but true i don't know the answer to that i mean it's my understanding

[01:11:17] that this is all out of operational funding yeah and i would just say that you know on a percentage of total budget basis we're talking about a very very small percentage seven members times your current salaries is less than a hundred thousand dollars i mean i'll just go ahead and start discussion i feel like as someone who has served both as a member and as a vice chair and

[01:11:50] as a chair i have always felt like it's so important to us to pay people for their work except us and i think that i can understand that but i also think that it would be very hard for someone who didn't have the amount of privilege that I have to serve in a role like this.

[01:12:12] And I think that that really diminishes our power to truly represent our constituents. So I am for whatever decision I am for being able to attract people who might not be able to put this time toward this, if not for that reason.

[01:12:39] I would just say, although no one does this job for the money, I certainly agree with Ms. Lee that for some people, there are some financial challenges to taking the time to participate. I think the comparative data is pretty powerful, and I guess we will make a decision after we get a public hearing.

[01:13:16] But do we have any more questions for Mr. Redding? Is there any more comments? I guess I'm just curious about members of the board if one or two are more attractive. I would lean toward two, even though it's less money than the ceiling, because if we could craft it so it would be automatic with staff increases up to a ceiling of 5%, and I would additional stipend for chair, and we have a new chair in January, and this wouldn't go into effect until January.

[01:13:52] I thought it was July 1. I think it's January, isn't it? Any change that you adopt tonight cannot be effective until January 1st. Right, so it would be the next round. And I also, I've served both as chair and vice chair, and the vice chair gets almost nothing.

[01:14:11] I mean, I think the payment for the vice chair, who has to attend a lot of extra meetings also, though, is only if I am stricken ill and the vice chair has to wield the gavel, she gets an extra, she gets $35.

[01:14:31] So I think that's happened once. And so I would also want to increase that to reflect the amount of additional time. I think a lot of members of the community think we just show up twice a month, and this is the tip of the iceberg of what we do.

[01:14:49] I don't have a strong opinion for either option one or option two, but it occurs to me that it might be worth it to deliberately think about this every year, which option one would force us to do. Would you go back to the comparison data just because that handover was an outlier?

[01:15:19] And for anyone who is curious why we're doing it at this meeting, and Mr. Black can correct me if I veer off, these decisions have to be made between May and the end of June on a year where at least two members of the school board are running for election, or there's two people running for school board seats.

[01:15:58] So it's not every year that this can be changed, and this is the first one since we started talking about this two or three years ago where the stars aligned. Yes, that's correct. And one further nuance is that code just requires that you adopt a change under method one by an affirmative vote in an open meeting.

[01:16:21] Our school board policy currently says that we'll also go through the exercise of having a public hearing, invite public commenters, do what we're doing now. We don't have to have the public hearing. You could decide to change school board policies so that it can be done just by motion and vote.

[01:16:41] Are we finished with our conversation here? We can go straight to the public hearing. Thank you, Mr. Reddick. I have public comment guidelines for this.

[01:16:58] We welcome public input at our school board meetings. To sign up to speak during the public comment period, you can do so in several ways. Sign up 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.

[01:17:16] In person, you can sign up. The papers will be out there until the public comment period. 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. The maximum number of people or groups that may speak at a meeting is 20. Speakers should state your name, address voting district or voting district, we don't need to know both.

[01:17:41] Address comments to the school board, limit comments to school board governance or school division operations, and provide written statements and supporting material to the clerk, if you would like. And we'll be using the timer. Once the time is up, you're done.

[01:17:58] Tonight we have two speakers, Mary McIntyre and Heidi Gilman-Bennett. Did you have a timer? Oh, you know what?

[01:18:14] Because everything is out, I'll just talk about it. Just behave. I'm Mary McIntyre. I live in the Rio District. I'm the mother of two ACPS students, and I'm the president of the Alamoral Education Association, but tonight I'm speaking to you as an individual.

[01:18:32] First, I want to point out how wonderful it must be to get to decide your own compensation. I have never had that privilege, but I think you should have saved your discussion already.

[01:19:06] The message is that you don't really care what we have to say, whether you meant it that way or not. And I feel conflicted about this issue, because I know that in order to get more people who have to work for a living who aren't wealthy or retired to be able to run and serve in public office, it has to pay enough to make it worth their time.

[01:19:24] I logically know that. But that doesn't mean that there are not serious concerns, both budgetary and morally, with what you're considering tonight. While I, of all people, do not begrudge people the right to be paid fairly for their work, there was a decent amount of relevant information that could have been provided in the slides about this topic, and it was not included.

[01:19:44] For example, how many hours do school board members spend on school board duties? How many school visits do school board members normally complete? Do our board members respond to every email from people in their district? Do board members still get paid, even when they miss board meetings? When we, the ACPS staff, come and beg you for raises, we have to justify why we deserve them, often explaining how many hours we work above and beyond what is expected, how many additional duties have been added to our workloads, etc.

[01:20:13] It would be really helpful for you all to justify the raise you're requesting to the taxpayers of Albemarle County and to your own employees, not simply comparing yourselves to what other people are getting paid. Now, I have no idea what amount or percent of a raise you plan to give yourselves tonight, but I want you to seriously think about how it will look and feel to your staff.

[01:20:33] In a year where we face budget cuts so severe that FTEs were cut, people lost their jobs, and beloved programs were ended because of costs. If you choose to raise your salaries to the maximum allowable, you will be giving yourselves approximately a 64% raise if my math is correct, compared to my 3%.

[01:20:51] I'm not saying you don't deserve a reasonable raise, but this is not the year to give yourselves such a large raise. I believe you should consider giving yourselves a smaller, more modest raise and come back when our budget situation is dramatically different to raise your own salaries so dramatically.

[01:21:08] It will be more in line with the experience of your own hardworking employees, and it will not put additional pressure on a budget that is already extremely tight.

[01:21:27] Hello, Heidi Gillen-Bennett, Samuel Miller District, also chair of Family Council, but tonight I'm speaking as a private citizen. Having spent many hours working to recruit school board candidates for many of your seats, I am actually in support of increased compensation.

[01:21:45] I would like to see Albemarle County move toward a more professional school board that is actively working to achieve its goals. It takes significant time to do the job well, not only to show up to these meetings, but also to actively prepare for the meetings, show up for the photo opportunities, but more importantly, to meet with ACPS leaders and your counterparts on the board of supervisors, as well as respond to emails and calls and meet with opinionated members of the public like me.

[01:22:15] I'd like to see a board that reflects the diversity of our community. Committing to all the time required to do it well with so little pay is a real barrier. I've tried to recruit some amazing potential candidates who just couldn't make it work because of the pay involved and the need to pay bills and the need for health care.

[01:22:37] These are really strong considerations for members of our community. However, I must express concern that I've heard from other community members that raising compensation now during a budget crunch is a bad look. I also need to share community skepticism that increased salary may not actually produce better outcomes for currently seated board members.

[01:23:00] We would like to see, we being members of the community, we would like to see a school board that is more actively engaging with constituents and accountable to the public, such as town halls, the ability to sign up for emails when there's a school board agenda posted, accurate calendar of school board advisory meetings, attachments on agendas that we can review and share ahead of time, those types of basic things.

[01:23:24] My personal preference is actually to put a larger salary increase into effect based on the number of hours actually required to do the work, but to have this take effect following a public vote when each of your seats are up for renewal. My personal opinion, but thank you for all that you do. I know it's a tough job.

[01:23:47] issue of school board compensation. Thank you, Ms. Osborne. The next item on the agenda is item 8.3, employment engagement. And we have Ms. Shea Carter-Shiflett here tonight.

[01:24:17] Sorry, good evening. Thank you, school board members, cabinet, for attending talk. Tonight, I will be sharing with you just a brief overview of Gallup engagement survey data. And as we think

[01:24:52] about our mission, vision, values, and goals, our strategic plan elaborates on what we aspire to achieve around equitable transformative resources. This is elaborated in goal three, and one of those resources is the Gallup Engagement Survey. Excuse me, can you just pull your mic down a little bit?

[01:25:13] Thank you. How about now? Perfect. Okay, so looking at, focusing on goal three, the equitable transformative resources. The Gallup survey is the national norm tool and it provides the school division with valuable employee feedback through a rating scale that gives us results indicating levels of satisfaction in regards to national results. This helps the ACPS division recognize the experiences and work environment within departments and school buildings and how employees perceive their success with the system structures and resources

[01:25:50] available to them. Then our state interview, a best practice that ACPS has successfully implemented for the past three years, allows staff members to expand on these survey results by offering deep insights into the frequency numbers from the rating scale. This is our fourth administration of Gallup engagement survey, and it has allowed us to, one, provide our leaders with data-driven insights to inform their decisions. It has added to our division goal of creating a culture of listening and acknowledging our staff and this resource supports our strategic plan and district goals later on in this presentation i'm going to share

[01:26:29] a little bit in depth about intentional partnerships with a couple of our schools and departments in those partnerships we analyzed gallup engagement data with the goal of improving school department engagement and climate targeting support where was needed most and aiming to reduce staff turnover all of these efforts went towards the division's ultimate goal of enhancing student achievement so this is our gala engagement survey dashboard for the entire division for the for this

[01:27:02] school year we had 2229 respondents to the survey acps is in the 39th percentile which is a three percent percentile increase from last year the trended mean also increased by 0.02 last year's trended mean was 3.83 and this year it is 3.92. The two highest items and for the division are Q2, I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right, and Q5, my supervisor or someone at work seems to care about me as a person. Gallup also identified a couple areas of opportunity for

[01:27:41] growth. Q4, in the last seven days I've received recognition of praise for doing good work, and Q6, There is someone at work who encourages my development. I want to point out there are a few celebrations around ACPS's engagement index.

[01:28:00] When we look at the percentage of our engaged employees, it increased by 4%. It went from 38% the previous year to 42% this last year. The percentage of our employees not engaged decreased by 2%.

[01:28:17] It went from 49% down to 47%. and are actively disengaged, also decreased 2%, going from 13% to 11%. Gallup shares that when organizations reach the 4-to-1 ratio, meaning there are four engaged employees for every one actively disengaged employee, this is the tipping point where engaged employees can offset the negative impact of disengaged employees.

[01:28:49] The ACPS engagement ratio has increased from 2.92 to 1 to 3.82 to 1. So again, as we can see, the increase in overall engagement and the overall engagement mean over the course of four years, the ACPS engagement ratio increased by 0.9 last year, which is our biggest increase, by the way.

[01:29:19] I want to point that out. Our Gallup collaborator wanted to point out with meaningful change being at .1, we're so close that he acknowledges the .9 as meaningful change. Overall, there has been an increase of .19 since the beginning of implementation four years ago, and there has been a shift in the right direction each year since. Again, Gallup is ACPS's nationally norm survey tool used to indicate levels of engagement of our staff. In comparison to other

[01:29:55] education organizations participating in the Gallup database, ACPS is ranked at the 48th percentile range. And compared to others who are also in their fourth year of administration, ACPS is ranked at the 33rd percentile range. A few items to notice. First, there was an increase in each of the Q-12 items. The bolded mean represents significant change for the organization. That bolded mean is in the second to last column in the chart. The overall satisfaction of respondents

[01:30:34] in this year's administration increased by 0.16. Our Gallup representative explains that this Q item usually relates to pay, commute, and logistical topics. The next two rows highlighted in yellow represent ACPS's two highest items with significant change in the mean. That is Q8. The mission and purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important. And Q3. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best. Lastly, even with all the positive increases, this data presents ACPS with

[01:31:12] a couple opportunities for growth. Those roles are highlighted in baby blue. Q6. There is someone at work who encourages my development, and Q4. In the past, in the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work. These three additional items are questions that ACPS attached to our engagement survey. The NA for percentile rank indicates that there are not enough other organizations to compare that item to. Each of the three additional items, as you can

[01:31:49] show significant increase in mean from the previous administration of the survey. Lastly, as requested by our superintendent, we had a few intentional partnerships with the goal of collaborating on Gallup engagement.

[01:32:10] Myself, Dr. Sarah Lynn, Jason Sears, Dan Redding, Jennifer Weller-Kim, and David Bruce worked with the six identified schools and departments regularly to discuss their Gallup data data and plans to increase engagement and climate.

[01:32:25] I want to take a moment to highlight a few partnerships that show tremendous growth, keeping in mind that Gallup says 0.2 is the most significant. According to Gallup, that change of 0.2 or more between survey periods represents that meaningful change for our organization, our departments that have 100 or less respondents.

[01:32:50] That was transportation. We can see they made more than meaningful growth. Henley Middle School and our international and EL programs. And thank you so much for allowing me to share this update with you all.

[01:33:08] Thank you for your time. I would love to open up for any questions or feedback that you would have at this moment. I'm just curious about next steps or steps that have already happened about how things are being shared with individual schools and individual departments and then what they would put into place as a follow-up?

[01:33:32] Yes, we've had the pleasure of collaborating with Pat McLaughlin and the Department of Strategic Plan to set up folders that allowed all of our managers to see their data right away. We didn't hold that. So they were given access as well as Superintendent Haas as soon as the survey ended.

[01:33:54] From there, we've also been collaborating around their school strategic plan and department strategic plans to make sure that they were supported with their Gallup engagement goal. Lastly, the collaboration with each individual department or school leader was given that opportunity. They're working on 90-day action plans right now, and that goal is being, the language was put in there as part of that, and strategies have been, we're helping them with

[01:34:27] strategies to meet those goals. Also the division has created the opportunity for Dr. Sarah Lennon and myself to go to receive Gallup's CliftonStrengths training that we also will come back and implement with our leaders in the division as well as professional learning and development around that to support with increasing our engagement goals and ultimately the student achievement goal. And this was a key focus of our leadership retreat. We, on the first day of the

[01:35:02] retreat, we had our representative come from Gallup to give an overall presentation that was pretty similar to what Shay just shared. He kind of, he presented from the view of the overall district, and then at the same time they were analyzing their data from their school. He walked us through some pretty good professional development around how to look at the division-wide data, and then have discussions at the table with the people who are at the table, identify an area we want to work on, talk about the causes of it, and then come up with a simple plan to do that.

[01:35:39] So we know that 70% of the way a person responds is in direct relationship to their manager, the person that supervises them directly. And so we know that for us to be able to keep shifting, not really shifting the data, but shifting employee engagement so they feel good about coming to work and feel good about their day-to-day experiences, which then translate into a great experience for kids and families, is to work with the direct supervisors. So we will do the same plan this year where we look for

[01:36:13] hotspots in the school system, schools and departments where they seem to be standing still or maybe have gone maybe backtracked a little bit or aren't aren't as high as we'd like them to be and we'll provide that kind of assistance because it really was effective and a lot of it was effective because of Shea Carter-Shiflett and Sarah Lynn and members of the HR department jumping in there and really this has been so much more than just let's get the survey every year and see how we do. They have really made intentional moves, leadership moves to help our employees.

[01:36:50] Really, that's the goal, is to help our employees. So thank you. Thank you. Anybody have any? I mean, I think the three exemplary programs that you pointed out, Henley, EL, and transportation, bravo to them.

[01:37:08] And I think having Jamie Gellner over at transportation when we have had so many challenges with transportation, I mean, not necessarily management, but she clearly has taken hold of that department, and I'm very impressed with that.

[01:37:27] What did she do? Or what did any of these success stories do? I mean, a lot of praise, I guess, must have been Kevin Allen. So I'll just speak on behalf of Jamie. She was actually going to be here in the July meeting as far as the general transportation update.

[01:37:47] She took it seriously. She looked at the Gallup data. I mean, she's going to be more articulate about it, but it's an intentionality. So pick her brain. And also, I want to point out that she spent a lot of time with her gal and coach.

[01:38:04] It wasn't the one and done. We gave the survey, and then as Dr. Haas requested, we set up continuous check-ins, feedback loops, spice them off at a minimum. And also, she did not see it as let me raise the score.

[01:38:20] She had a conversation to really understand the data and put that before her leadership team to really help them, let them help her analyze and understand the data and then make changes, intentional changes and shifts in her, what she was doing every day.

[01:38:38] I mean, I have to say, one of the things I thought when we had year one of the Gallup data was, yikes, and, you know, not only yikes, but yikes about, you know, showing it to the public, you know, like we could have sat back and said, oh, we need to work on these things, but we've always been quite open about this, essentially a diagnostic.

[01:39:00] I have a question just about the survey design. Why is our response rate so low, and how does that impact the outcome data? Our response rate actually was really good based off of the number of respondents from last year.

[01:39:22] When I compared the raw numbers, we were only about 200-ish respondents less than we had last year. GALA says the minimum threshold that they want to see responded that was about 75 percent. So we not only met that, but we exceeded it and we maintained it very closely this year.

[01:39:42] Okay, I think I must have misheard it before. That is a good response, right? Yeah. And, of course, we can keep doing better. And I think one of the things we wanted to be sure we did this year when it was over was to thank everyone for doing it also send out a brief note to the school system just thanking all of our employees for taking time to do it, and then give them some of the preliminary results so they can see things are moving.

[01:40:07] And I think that goes back to one of the issues that we really tried to tackle from last year to this year was my opinion seems to matter at work. And I think the key, really, and we've been hearing it for a long time from public comment or from emails we get that people want to be heard and they want to know that they've been listened to.

[01:40:30] And, again, at that supervisor level, and I think that was one of Ms. Gelmer's key successes, was setting up, making it a structure in her department, not a hit or miss, you know, tell me what you're thinking when I have time, but really setting up structures and putting them in place so that staff members could voice their concerns, share their ideas and then see the the results from it meaning um either yes we can do something about that so we're going to work on it work on it as a team or no we can't here's why that's what

[01:41:04] people really i think see as as being heard so we had a nice jump in on we had a nice jump on that one as well and i was proud of that because we worked on focusing on that as a school system i'm also curious about the el do you have any sense about what spurred the success there i was not their gallup collaborator i'm going to invite dan ready up for that i think that's a really

[01:41:39] interesting question um yeah you can pull this up yeah sorry that's an interesting question i don't know if it's easy to pinpoint one specific thing um i believe in their data much like the school division's data here, they increased on virtually every indicator. I do know that there were some changes in terms of how the team was working together that I think made it more cohesive and improved communication in the department. I have yet to debrief, though, with Ms. McLean on the

[01:42:13] specifics of what she sees and her thinking about what changed. Any more questions? Well, thank you, Mr. Redding, and thank you, Ms. Carter-Shiflett. Make sure I get your name right. Thank you all for your time. Thank you. Thank you, Shay. Well, with that, we have a second closed meeting.

[01:42:43] Oh, this one, item A is not there.

[01:42:59] I have it. I move to the school board of Elmoral County, Virginia, go into a closed meeting as authorized by the Freedom of Information Act, section 2.2 dash 3711A of the Code of Virginia under subsection 1 for the discussion consideration or interviews of prospective candidates for employment and the assignment appointment promotion performance demotion salaries disciplining or resignation of specific public officers appointees or employees of any public body the purpose of this item is to discuss whether the school board should adopt an increase in the compensation to be received by its members in the 25-26 fiscal year and which method of

[01:43:34] adjusting such compensation shall be used in future years do we have a second second motion made by miss lee seconded by miss osborne we are now in closed session of course we do all those in favor say aye aye opposed thank you miss thompson motion passes we're now the school

[01:44:12] board is back in session do we have a motion coming out of closed meetings to chair acuff i move that the board certify by recorded vote that to the best of each board member's knowledge only public business lawfully exempted from the open minimum requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the motion authorized in the closed meeting left were heard, discussed, or considered in the closed meeting.

[01:44:35] Second. Motion made by Ms. Lee, seconded by Mr. Graham. Ms. Thompson, will you call the vote? Ms. Spillman is absent. Dr. Berlin? Yes. Ms. Lee? Yes. Ms. Osborne? Yes. Mr. Page?

[01:44:51] Yes. Ms. Pryor? Chair Acuff? Yes. is there another motion yes chair i move to increase school board compensation in line with our albemar county 60th percentile market basket that will bring compensation to 16 249 dollars and 20 cents included in that motion is the increase of the chair stipend to 2 000 and the vice chair stipend to 1 000. do we have a second second motion made by dr berlin seconded by miss lee Do we have a, shall we do a roll call vote?

[01:45:32] Chair Acuff, the Vice Chair side, but I didn't quite catch that. Apologies, Clerk. $2,000 for the Chair and $1,000 for the Vice Chair. Thank you. Ms. Osborne? Yes.

[01:45:48] Ms. Pryor? No. Ms. Spillman is absent. Ms. Lee? Yes. Dr. Berlin? Yes. Mr. Page? Yes. Chair Acuff? Yes. With the vote, 510, motion carries.

[01:46:08] Thank you, Ms. Thompson. You're welcome. Pardon? I mean, the vote was already taken, but I do want to note that a lot of the work that we do, I mean, it's here, obviously, but a lot of the consideration that we do in the past, many of us have considered life and death issues.

[01:46:39] We're considering enormous issues for our community. and a lot of that happens when we're not here so I feel like the amount of work that we do going to schools, going to committee meetings considering what is best for our community is something that is worthwhile and worth compensating so I'm glad you did this thank you, I earned in not having a discussion before we took the vote but I think we probably don't do a good enough job

[01:47:16] and informing the public of how many hours this job takes to do it well many many meetings many many nighttime meetings there are many school visits visits with community members we all have committee assignments as well and i think everyone on this board takes this job seriously. And together, I think all seven of our salaries would put us at about the same rate as

[01:47:51] one FTE, right? I think that's, of course, my math's not all that great. Okay, with that, we have adopted the new salary. And is there any further business? We do have a couple of really important resolutions that Dr. Kauser would like to read through the board.

[01:48:21] Good evening, Chair AFEF, Vice Chair Berlin, and school board members. Tonight, we have the honor of recognizing two significant proclamations that reflect Albemarle County Public Schools' commitment to equity, inclusion, and the celebration of our diverse community.

[01:48:39] These recognitions not only align with our values, but also uplift the voices, history, and contributions of individuals and groups. who have shaped and continue to enrich our schools and broader communities. I will begin by sharing our proclamation and celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, followed by our recognition of Juneteenth and several meaningful community events connected to this important holiday. Whereas Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,

[01:49:14] transgender and queer pride month lgbtq plus pride is celebrated annually in june to commemorate the 1969 stonewall uprising a catalyst for the lgbtq plus rights movement and continues to promote equal justice and opportunity for lgbtq plus americans and whereas the virginia values act signed into law on April 11, 2020, made Virginia the first Southern state to enact comprehensive

[01:49:48] non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ plus individuals in employment, housing, public accommodations, and access to credit. And whereas Albemarle County's mission is to enhance the well-being, quality of life for all citizens by providing high-quality public services and responsible stewardship of public resources.

[01:50:13] And whereas Albemarle County Public Schools affirms its mission, working together as a team, we will end the predictive value of race, class, gender, and special capacities for our children's success through high-quality teaching and learning for all. We seek to build relationships with families and communities to ensure that every student succeeds and we will know every student.

[01:50:37] ACPS's core values include equity, excellence, family, and community and wellness that guide this mission. And whereas ACPS is committed to fostering an inclusive, affirming, and equitable school environment that allows all students and community members, including LGBTQ plus individuals, to thrive and be celebrated.

[01:51:03] and whereas LGBTQ+ individuals have enriched every dimension of American society, including government, education, science, the arts, business, public safety, the military, and more, and their continued contributions strengthen our local and national communities.

[01:51:23] Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that we, Albemarle County Public Schools, reaffirm our commitment to equity, belonging, and excellence for every student and staff member and proudly recognize the cultural richness, resilience, and contributions of the LGBTQ+ community to the vibrancy and success of Albemarle County. And signed this 12th day of June 2025.

[01:51:51] And then just a reminder for our students that are listening who may feel as though they have no one to talk to or that they have no one to turn to there is support through the trevor project www.the trevorproject.org a national crisis and suicide prevention resource for lgbtq plus youth offering text chat and call services and then our proclamation recognizing juneteenth whereas

[01:52:28] Albemarle County Public Schools affirmed the fundamental belief that all people are created equal, endowed with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And whereas on June 19, 1865, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, were informed of their freedom, marking the effective end of slavery in the United States.

[01:52:59] And whereas Black Americans have commemorated this date as Juneteenth, a celebration of emancipation and resilience, which is now recognized nationally and by the Commonwealth of Virginia as a day of remembrance and celebration. And whereas ACPS honors the enduring legacy and cultural significance of Juneteenth by uplifting the stories of perseverance, progress, and community shaped by generations of black Americans.

[01:53:29] And whereas Albemarle County Schools recommit to the ongoing pursuit of racial equity and justice, acknowledging the vital role of educators, activists, civic leaders, and community members who have worked to advance freedom and dignity.

[01:53:47] Now therefore, be it proclaimed that we Albemarle County Public Schools recognize June 19, 2025 as Juneteenth and we celebrate the historic triumph of Black Americans in claiming their freedom while committing to a just and inclusive future for every member of our school community.

[01:54:08] sign this 12th day of June, 2025. And just a couple of community celebrations to make the board aware of. This evening, the Brooks Family YMCA had a Juneteenth celebration and as a valued community partner and current early middle school school champion, the Brooks Family YMCA hosted their Juneteenth celebration. It was from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. this evening

[01:54:43] at the McIntyre Park facility, and this was a free event to the Albemarle Charlottesville community members. It included guest speakers, performances, they had a bounce house, catering, it was a great celebration. And this celebration is an opportunity for families to come together in the spirit of freedom families and friends and reflects the ymca's ongoing commitment to community inclusion and youth and then the 100 black men of central virginia

[01:55:19] and the m cubed summer academy events startup next week the 100 black men of central virginia their organization's purpose is to improve the quality of life within the community and advocate for eliminating the achievement gap of African American male students through mentoring by its members.

[01:55:42] The organization will host 50 scholars from Albemarle County and Charlottesville City Schools for the upcoming 2025 MQ Summer Academy. And the programming will be Monday, June 16th through Friday, June 27th from 8.30 a.m. until 3.30 p.m.

[01:56:06] at journey middle school and the mq summer academy is an algebra readiness program that supports the group's mission to eliminate the achievement gap of african-american males in grades k through 12. the 100 black men of central virginia invite the board members and their families to join our scholars and their families for the annual juneteenth freedom day and mq community cookout And that's scheduled on Thursday, June 19th from 3 to 5 p.m. at Darden Town Park.

[01:56:41] And then in addition, we would be honored to have school board members attend the culminating celebration of achievement ceremony on Friday, June 27th from 12.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel on Hilton Heights Road.

[01:57:00] These events celebrate excellence, build community, and honor the scholars' commitment to academic success in alignment with the 100 Black Men of Central Virginia's mission. These proclamations are made even more meaningful by the strong partnerships we maintain with organizations like the Brooks Family YMCA and the 100 Black Men of Central Virginia.

[01:57:24] And I encourage our board members, staff, and families to join these community-led events and show our shared commitment to equity, inclusion, and student achievement. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Kaiser.

[01:57:40] A lot of important stuff that you brought to us. Anyone else have any? One point of clarification. The luncheon is at the Omni or the Doubletree. No, Doubletree. Doubletree. Thank you. I heard one and broke down the other.

[01:57:57] And then just the other thing, I just have to say how proud I am. to serve on a school board that continues to respect, support, appreciate the diversity of all students, and think about all of the challenges that they are facing all the time, but particularly right now in our country.

[01:58:16] So I have to say, I'm very proud. Thank you for doing that. And thank you for all the support that you and all the members of the leadership team and the school leaders and teachers and paraprofessionals and bus drivers and everyone included provide to our students. it's truly needed and it's so important yes here here anything else they're getting no no further business this meeting is adjourned

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