Coraggio Consulting Albemarle County School Board Regular Meeting, Thursday, August 13, 2026 Date: Thursday, August 13, 2026 Place: Albemarle County Public Schools / School Board meeting, Virginia Length: 3h 22m (video) Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMlQo6KIsJ4 Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting. Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-13. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [00:00:00] - Good evening, everyone. It is my pleasure to welcome everyone to this August 12th, Albemarle County School Board Business Meeting. - 13th. - Says the 13th, right in front of me. [00:00:17] August 13th, 2026 School Board Meeting. Do we have a motion coming out of closed? - We do, Chair Berlin. 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 the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the motion authorizing the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered in the closed meeting. Second. Moved by Ms. Spillman, second by Ms. Lee. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? We are now out of closed session and we [00:00:55] have no motions coming out of closed session tonight. We always begin our board meetings with a introduction to make sure that everyone in the audience as well as everyone online knows our voices as well as our faces. I'm going to start this evening with Ms. Schmidt. Good evening, Roslyn Schmidt, Chief Operating Officer. Daphne Kaiser, Assistant Superintendent. Kate Acuff, Jack Jewett District. Judy Lee, Rivanna District. Ellen Osborne, Scottsville District. Rebecca Berlin, Whitehall District. Alison Spillman, at-large representative. Jim Dillenbeck, Rio District. [00:01:36] Bob Beard, Samuel Miller District. Chandra Hayes, Acting Superintendent. Josiah Black, Chief Legal Officer. Christine Thompson, Clerk of the Board. Mr. Redding. Oh, sorry. Deanne Redding, Chief HR Officer. And thank you to our officers who protect us here and every day in our county. We will now stand for [00:01:58] the Pledge of Allegiance. We will now pause for a moment of silence. Thank you very much. I will [00:03:19] will now, do I, the next, apologies, the next item on our agenda is the approval of the agenda. Do I have a motion for the approval of the agenda? I move we approve the agenda. Second. Moved by Ms. Lee, seconded by Ms. Osborne. Chair, we need to amend the agenda to include a policy update. [00:03:43] Thank you so much, Ms. Spillman. We have to do a policy update regarding our grading policy. apologies that I do not remember the policy letter. When should-- I'm just looking to my colleagues to see when we should add that within our agenda. [00:04:06] So Chair Berlin, the policy in question is policy AG. And any member of the school board can make a motion to amend the agenda, which would then get voted on by the board. OK. I move to amend the agenda to include a policy update on policy AG. [00:04:23] - Which is not the grading policy according to this. - Apologies, it's not the grading policy. - It is the-- - Sorry, professional boundaries. - Professional boundaries. - Is that policy, AG? - Yes, that's the one we're adding. - Second. [00:04:39] - Apologies, professional boundaries. - Second. - Moved by Ms. Billman, seconded by Dr. Acove. I apologize. All those in favor for amending the agenda? - Aye. - Any opposed? [00:04:55] - So we will go with the agenda, with the addition of doing a update on professional boundaries and prevention of sexual miscontact and abuse. Apologies that I misstated which policy we were updating. - Dr. Balloon, will that be on the consent agenda? [00:05:14] - No, we will need to do that. - We're gonna have a brief presentation on that. - Okay, thank you. - So we'll make that 8.5? - 8.5? - Yeah, so if anyone looking at the agenda, We will add an 8.5 to do a short presentation and a possible change to the professional boundaries and prevention of sexual misconduct and abuse policy. [00:05:38] We now move to 4.0 announcements. I am excited to welcome, for our spotlight on education, our ACPS Summer Coding Camp. I believe I have Clay Todd, our Director of School Technology Services, Jesse Miles, our Learning Technology Integrator, and Katie Broud, our learning technology integrator. [00:06:00] Thank you so much. We're excited to hear from you about all of the work that you did this summer with some of our students. Thank you, board, for having us today. It's a pleasure to be here, and we really appreciate the few minutes to share a little bit about our coding camp this summer. [00:06:19] The coding camp, it's been going on for a few years, aligns with our division goals of thriving students and informing and empowering our communities. I'm Clay Todd, Director of School Technology Services, and I supervise our Learning Technology Integrator Team. [00:06:36] You all have heard a little bit about our Learning Technology Integrator Team at previous board sessions, but these are the folks that are out there to ensure that division technology systems are implemented effectively through training and professional learning. For example, you may have heard that we recently have been implementing ParentSquare. [00:06:52] This team has been in charge of the training for that platform. They also support staff with helping to determine when technology is and is not the right tool for learning in school, and when it is the right tool, they help and sit alongside staff to learn how to integrate it in healthy and effective ways. [00:07:10] In a time where I know that we are all honing in on what effective technology use actually looks like in school, we look forward to working with you on ways that we can maximize our team's impact. But with that in mind, I'm going to step out of the way and actually introduce you to two of our LTIs who also happen to direct our coding camp over the summer. [00:07:30] Thank you Clay. Good evening. My name is Jessa Miles. I'm a learning technology integrator at Brownsville and Murray Elementary School. I'm also the program director of ACPS coding camp. Clay, Katie, and I have been a part of the program through its many iterations. [00:07:47] We have been a part of it as facilitators and other roles since it was known as Coder Dojo back in the day and now that I direct ACPS coding camp it has been my fourth summer doing so. And good evening, everyone. My name is Katie Brough. I am the LTI at Red Hill Greer and Ace Academy Seminole Place. And I have had the privilege of supporting ACPS coding camp since my first summer with the county back in 2017. And while Jessa and I are here as representatives of the administration of the camp, it's important to keep in mind that as learning technology integrators, our role is deeply rooted within Virginia's standards of quality. And there are one [00:08:27] of us for every thousand students across the Commonwealth. Awesome. So what is ACPS Coding Camp? It's a free summer program for students across our district and our staff that is licensed participate as facilitators. It gives an opportunity for accessible high-energy environment for the students to explore computer science. [00:08:48] It invites all skill levels through a lottery system and it's a perfect blend of offline problem-solving as well as hands-on coding. It gives teachers and students the opportunity to explore foundational skills such as sequencing loops conditionals and it's more than writing code it's an opportunity that emphasizes resilience in decomposing complex problems it gives students an opportunity for challenges changing challenges into learning opportunities that spark interest in computer science and gives them a passion for their future and while we understand that metrics are really important we think [00:09:27] it's just as equally important what kids are saying and doing when they go home from camp so we're going to share some quick testimonials with you from our families the first one just saying thank you so much our kids had a great time our student came home tonight and got onto one of the coding websites to make her own project and in this image you can see our elementary students in one of the ace computer labs learning how to program using a software program called compute it our next testimonial basically has family sharing about more than one and one of their students had an awesome time. [00:10:03] We made it fun and interesting for them, and they hope that it occurs again next summer. This is an image of our facilitator doing a screen-free coding lesson where they're teaching some of those coding foundational concepts of computational thinking. And then we have another one just saying, thank you so much for an amazing week. [00:10:22] Our kids loved it, and we're excited to share what they did each day. Everything was well organized, and our family's very appreciative of all the work that goes into this summer program. And here we have some students working their way through a breakout box, which is something we do both on and off screens. [00:10:41] - We'd like to share two of our favorite camp stories. And the first one includes the design thinking process. It has students starting to define a problem. They start to brainstorm and do a little bit of research. From there, they go through the iterative process of planning, building, testing, and then improving what they code. [00:10:58] At the end of that process, they communicate all of their research and their thoughts, their ideas. And the images, I'm not sure, oh, there we go. I was like, we have a video to show you as well. This is a student showing me all the different ways she used the cubelets, which are block-based coding, to make a light work with motion sensors. [00:11:19] - All right, and hopefully this graphic looks familiar. Back in the spring, we presented on the EdTech triangle. As a reminder, this framework that we use emphasizes the quality of screen time over the quantity of screen time. And I mention that because our coding camp does happen both on and off screens. [00:11:37] And none of it could happen without our facilitators, who are all Admiral County employees. One of my absolute favorite things about coding camp is that it is a true idea lab where we get to work alongside our students. We get to really deep dive into what is computational thinking. [00:11:55] What are the Virginia computer science standards of learning? We get to iterate. We get to design instruction. And the really, really cool part is what we notice with our facilitators is they then take that back to their classrooms. They continue their partnership with the learning technology team throughout the school year. [00:12:15] So this just becomes part of their process is creating transformative instruction using technology. - Now we'd like to share a set of goals we have for the 2027 coding camp. First, we'd like to increase access by hosting both morning and afternoon sessions. [00:12:33] We'd like to work with the transportation department to provide students from all over the county an opportunity for them to actually come to coding camp because that is a barrier currently. And also options for both elementary and middle school. The past iteration was just elementary school students. [00:12:48] We have had middle school students come in the past and we found that in middle school is where we lose a major number of our minority groups, such as women and people of color. And so due to interest, we want like, and access. So we would really appreciate if we could have students in middle school join us as well. And of course, we would absolutely love to have more facilitators and to be able to provide more professional learning for those folks. And altogether, our hope is that this will result in our ultimate bottom line, which is enrolling more students. We had almost 500 students apply to our [00:13:22] free lottery this past summer, and we were only able to offer spots to 125 of those students. And so our hope is that by improving logistics and being able to scale our facilitator program, we'll be able to also safely scale this program. [00:13:39] This is just one more picture of some of our on and off screen learning. And then we just want to say thank you. Thank you for having us this evening to talk about coding camp. [00:13:55] We would love to have all of you come next year to see this in action. And thank you to the families and communities for the partnership and getting students working together to be passionate about their future using technology. Also, big thanks to our supervisors for advocating for this. [00:14:12] Thank you for our coding camp facilitators. They are teachers, so they gave up precious time in the summer to come out and support our learning. And thank you to our students for having this passion. So thank you so much for another successful year of ACPS Coding Camp. We appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Are there any questions, Dr. Yelkeko? [00:14:30] You said elementary school. - What age, when do they start? - So if they've completed kindergarten, they are invited to join us 'cause they kind of understand schools happened and then rising sixth graders. - Okay, so for your goals, what is it that you need from us to reach those goals? [00:14:48] - Definitely your support, probably money. That would be great, especially for transportation, just to make sure that we're reaching all of our students in the county. - And if we wanted to be able to offer this to all the students that apply, what would that require? [00:15:03] Is it additional facilities? Is it obviously transportation and more facilitators? But what would be required to reach that goal? - That's a great question. Yeah. - I think facilitators is probably the biggest piece and then the budget. [00:15:20] Typically we're limited by the amount of funding that we can pay facilitators and that determines camp size just to keep class ratios at an acceptable level. So ongoing funds is usually the challenge. - Do students pay to attend? do not. We have tried to avoid that at all costs. We want to make sure that it's an equitable program. Great, thank you. How many facilitators do we have? Someone said that we have statewide about one per thousand students. Does that hold for ACPS? [00:15:51] That number is the number that applies to the LTI program, so one per thousand students in terms of LTIs. This is an optional summer program. Facilitators are comprised of LTIs and teachers and so and because it's optional and elective how many do we have this year was it close to 10 yeah 10 staff participate did you give us an idea of some of the cool programs that the students came up with 125 students over the summer yeah so in the past a lot of kids have come and wanted to do Minecraft this year we actually avoided Minecraft because we're like that's kind of what we're done we had a lot of unplugged opportunities [00:16:31] where people got to like solve problems kind of like an escape room where kids got to like solve these different clues and then break out we also had some plugged-in activities Katie had mentioned compute it that is a visual way for young students who may be a pre-literacy to actually use color coding to understand the coding concept of first you do this then this happens and then there's an outcome which is the basics of an algorithm so we use lots of different programs we use a little bit of robotics one of the days actually wi-fi went out and we were like oh no we're not going to go from camp but i was like oh more than half the programs [00:17:07] don't require wi-fi for kids to understand coding and computer science thank you so much and please make sure that you share with us kind of the the dates um next year and we can make sure that we we attend and learn some new new skills appreciate you so much thank you we now move to uh item 4.2 school board superintendent and committee updates. I'm going to give Dr. Hayes the floor first for her monthly updates since school started yesterday and then today for Broaddus Woods. [00:17:44] I know we have a ton of updates to share. Absolutely, so thank you Dr. Berlin. So on Sunday the Albemarle Foundation for Education held the Back to School Bash and it was a huge success, so thank you to the AFE, Dr. Kaiser, the numerous school and community volunteers for making the event possible. Their families were able to get vaccines and physicals and I believe, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, Dr. Kaiser, I think we only had three backpacks left at the end of the event. No backpacks left. Oh okay, so we were all out of backpacks at the end of the event, but it was [00:18:19] a wonderful day and the kudos to the communication team for getting a video out about that. The first two days of school have been amazing. Over the past two days I've visited 26 sites and each experience has been wonderful. The students, the staff, the families dropping off little ones for the first time was great. I only saw two crying kindergartners across all the schools and and but they made it in the door and so it was wonderful. So thank you to all of the teaching staff, the support staff, our public safety officers, and for our staff that worked overnight [00:18:56] night to make sure that Broadus Wood was back online and everything was ready to go for them to start school today. And so it was just a very positive start to the school year and we're excited for the things to come. I also want to highlight New Teacher Academy and Pre-Service Week. During the week of July 27th, through July 31st, ACPS welcomed approximately 190 new teachers to the division. Among the 26-27 cohort, there were about a total of 62 novice teachers, which is zero to one year of experience. This professional learning experience was a collaboration between the division leadership and school administrators. Consistent with previous new teacher academies, [00:19:35] novice teachers were introduced to the new ACPS Novice Teacher Support Network Program that will support the induction of our novice teachers throughout their first three years of teaching in the county. New this year is programming that we launched to a new induction program for veteran teachers to support their transition to ACPS and that program will span over two years which will include individual coaching to help orient and induct veterans into ACPS and the cultural competency professional learning standards for teachers. Many of our teachers and our staff commented how much they appreciate the conference style offered this year in our schedule [00:20:13] and they were excited and enthused and they were very hopeful for meeting their students. And during the week of August the 3rd, the 11th, all teachers across the division engaged in pre-service activities. These activities included a combination of division-based professional learning as well as school based experiences. On the division-led pre-service days on August the 4th and 7th, we hosted about 104 sessions for teachers and staff. And while there was a significant range of sessions that to meet the needs of our staff, all of the sessions were specifically designed to help support instructional best practices and curricular resource implementation to ensure high-quality learning [00:20:52] experiences for all our students. And I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Redding to provide an update around the professional boundaries policies training. Yeah, after the board passed that policy, a team came together led by Dr. Rusty Carlock, Dr. Keisha Lipscomb, and Ms. Danielle Livingston to design training for all staff, everyone from substitutes and coaches who are temporary employees to our day-to-day staff that work all year with students. Of the people who've been trained, we're at more than 93 percent completion, with many of those on [00:21:31] the list that are not complete are people where they simply haven't been marked yet by the school in the professional learning system. So that's very exciting for staff that are hired after this point. We've developed an asynchronous module that they will complete online before they start work. [00:21:49] So then that will ensure that 100% of our employees have an understanding of the policy and their rights and responsibilities under it. Thank you so much. Other board members? Just to add what Dr. Hayes has said about the back to school bash, the back-to-school bash this year increased, headed up by Dr. Kaiser and the Foundation, increased the number of backpacks available for distribution from 1,700 to 2,000, [00:22:29] and on the day of the back-to-school bash, all but three were distributed, and the last three, I think Dr. Kaiser had a phone call Monday, and she had, from parents, were unable to make it. But in addition to the backpacks, 85 vaccinations were administered by Blue Ridge Health Department. [00:22:51] 101 sports physicals were provided by Sentara. And 44 students had vision testing by, I believe, the Lions Club. And there was also two pallets of fresh produce and food boxes that were distributed by our CIS community and school staff as well. [00:23:13] as the food bank so it was a very successful affair and several of my colleagues on the school board were there and it seems to be growing about 3 000 people attended i think it was partly because it was moved to the jc penny empty jc penny building as opposed to downtown which made it much easier to park and we had a lot of vendors there as well it was about 3 000 people attended it was very successful great job yeah um i just wanted to update we had an aces committee meeting [00:23:49] last week that's our committee about environmental sustainability uh john coles who had been heading that up for staff is um has taken time for his family so we are matt wortman led that we mostly talked about our recycling program but how important the reduction is before you get to the reusing and the recycling so hopefully we can roll out a more robust reduction and recycling [00:24:20] program soon thank you so much i'd like to echo dr hayes comments about opening of the school yesterday i got a chance to visit five different schools and just seeing the excitement among the staff the administrators the parents were most excited to be leaving their kids at school amen to them it's you know it's a big deal we have about 14 000 students that went back to school well minus the broadest wood which started a day late and so it's just really encouraging to see [00:24:59] the good things that are happening and kids excited to be going back to school just a couple of other comments i'd like to highlight some of the concerns that we've heard from members of the community regarding the investigation that we initiated last tuesday not to be captain obvious. I think it's safe to say that everyone would like to know what happened to Hollymead and the related policies and procedures that led up to and followed those events. How were the concerns handled? What mistakes were made? And most importantly, how can we prevent this from happening again? While the team from Harmon Glader will be investigating the facts in this case, it remains [00:25:39] to be seen how much of their findings will be released to the public. As I mentioned last Tuesday, I'd like to explore the possibility of engaging the Virginia Department of Education to do a truly independent annual audit of our policies and procedures which involve student safety in particular and make the full report available to the public. While we're making progress with new policies and heightened awareness, I believe that we simply can't adequately police ourselves. That became painfully obvious this year. That requires an examination [00:26:16] from people outside of, in my opinion, disconnected from ACPS. We need to be willing to receive objective criticism and bad news as well as encouragement and good news we owe that to our staff and students and their families i also want to acknowledge that although we've been spending a lot of time and energy on the events of this spring we're aware of many other issues and challenges that have been mentioned over the course of the last few months including the grading policy and procedures we're working toward improving that we've heard from many many teachers [00:26:52] that that needs to be fixed we're working on that student behavior i'm still appalled at the news that we received from baker butler staff a few months ago that teachers are being physically attacked by students that's unacceptable and we have a responsibility to protect both teachers and students and i look forward to working with my colleagues to address that issue bus driver and staff retention i'm glad to see that staff are getting a four percent raise and other staff getting a four and a half percent raise and as a former teacher i can tell you that teachers don't [00:27:29] just want more money they want to be heard and so we want to be supportive of our of our faculty technology and computer use we're going to be looking at best practices assessing the costs and benefits of technology especially in the elementary and focusing on k-2 and then finally the achievement gap it's been persistent we're putting together a group of people from within and outside of the division to take a look at where we are and how we can close the gap and i believe we have a meeting scheduled for next week to start that process again 14 000 students [00:28:07] returning to school this week we have a lot of work that's both urgent and important stay tuned and can continue to give us feedback not just the negative but the positive as well thanks thank you I was just actually looking at my calendar since the last board meeting and one of the things we didn't mention is I believe is Mountain View opening occurred between our last meeting and [00:28:38] this meeting so we have so many things to celebrate so I did again opened our first school in 24 years so a huge call out to the team and and to honestly one of the things i know dr hayes said in her in her ribbon cutting was this school the decision to have two schools in upper and a lower school on one campus came from the community the parents and community members asked that we not split those schools into two pre-k5 schools so just so excited and [00:29:17] proud for that school to open and then just i've had the opportunity to to be at new teacher orientation a welcome day for ace academy at lands lane back to school bash southwood welcome and then i got to spend that morning yesterday with ace academy lands lane which is temporarily at the boys and girls club and spending all this time in the schools reminds me of all the work that each and every one of our 2 000 employees does to open school we decided we we found out [00:29:52] just a few weeks ago that we would have to delay the opening of ace academy at lambs lane and i think our building services janitors and technology team worked day and night and those teachers worked and stephanie carter worked day and night to make sure that's that the boys and girls club looked like an amazing school and i can tell you that all the students that came in all the teachers were so excited because one of the things we said it i said to them when i welcomed them was a school is in a building right and i think i copied this from dr [00:30:27] hayes it is that community and we have amazing communities all across our school district and i'm just so thankful for them and i'm thankful for the hours and hours and hours and hours of work our staff has done we put some policies in place less than 30 days ago and we i was checking in with dr hayes on a regular basis and those policies were reviewed with every school and every teacher they were ready to go for the first day of school so just a huge thank you and then [00:31:02] lastly a huge thank you to the boys and girls club to both the staff and to the board of directors who opened their their facilities for us to use for the next few weeks so just a huge thank you to our to our community and to our generous staff of hearts and minds. Thank you. I'd like to thank the schools that invited us all to open house to come and see all the excited faces. I went to several including the one where the power went out at Stone Robinson and everybody was still standing around talking in the dark and especially getting to ride the kindergarten bus was pretty cool [00:31:40] out at Scottsville introducing the kids to the bus and process and how that works and riding downtown and around really appreciate everybody inviting us to be a part of that excitement meant a lot thank you so did you did you miss Osborne sent us pictures were you actually riding the bus wonderful thank you so much okay I'm gonna go um so tonight's my final meeting of the the Albemarle County School Board so if you'll bear with me there's just a couple of things that I wanted to say. I've thought a lot about what I wanted to say [00:32:17] tonight, what deserves space in these final few minutes and what doesn't. The first thing I want to address is the cost of public service because there really is a cost. There's been a coordinated effort to lie about me, to smear my character, attack my family and target people simply because they are are associated with me. My children have been dragged into political attacks about things they had absolutely nothing to do with. There was a moment during one of the most difficult periods of this service when ACPS security called me to tell me that because of the threats we were [00:32:54] receiving, quote, we have eyes on all your kids. Think about that for a minute. I'm a mother of five and while I was sitting in this seat trying to do the work that this community elected me to do, I also had to process the reality that security personnel were watching my children at school because people were making threats connected to my public service. [00:33:19] No elected position should require a family to normalize that. And my children should never have to carry the consequences of their mother's willingness to serve. And I also want to address something one final time because repetition does not turn a lie into the truth. [00:33:35] I knew nothing about the situation at Holleyneed until the night before it became public. I did not cover anything up. I did not protect anyone. I was not part of some secret effort to conceal information from this community. It simply did not happen. [00:33:52] People who are committed to believing the worst about me will probably continue to do so long after I leave this dais. But everyone else deserves the truth. And while I'm saying that, I wanna say something about the people sitting up here beside me. [00:34:07] This board does not always agree. We have very different personalities. And we have different ways of approaching this work. Sometimes we agree about policy, and sometimes we disagree strongly about policy, strategy, process, and what our division needs. [00:34:24] But these are good people. They care deeply about the students in our schools. They do not come here with some ulterior motive. They're not sitting around plotting how to hurt children or teachers or families. They are human beings trying to make extraordinarily difficult decisions in an extraordinarily difficult environment. [00:34:47] They do not deserve the vitriol that has been directed at them. Disagree with them. Challenge them. Hold them accountable. That's democracy. But treating public servants as if they are monsters simply because you disagree with a vote is something very different. [00:35:03] And for the record, the suggestion that I have somehow spent my time here as a yes woman would be funny if it were not so detached from reality. Anyone who has watched me work knows better. I asked questions, a lot of them. [00:35:20] I pushed, I challenged, I disagreed, and I was fighting for a change in division leadership long before June. I did not come onto this board to make people comfortable. I came here to do what I believe was right for students and for the school division. Sometimes that meant standing with my colleagues, and sometimes it meant standing alone. [00:35:40] But I have remained the person I told people I was from the very beginning, and I am proud of that. I am also proud of the work that I did here. I went above and beyond what this position required because I believed this work mattered. The public often sees the meetings. [00:35:58] What they do not see are the hours and hours behind them. The emails, phone calls, research, constituent conversations, school visit, policy work, preparation, crises, and meetings before meetings. There were many weeks where this supposedly part-time elected position required 40 hours or more of work. [00:36:18] And I did that while also working a full-time job outside of the school board and parenting five children, including a child with significant special needs. And I don't say that because I want sympathy. I say it because people should understand what we ask of ordinary citizens when we ask them to serve. [00:36:36] The demands are immense. And when those demands are combined with harassment, threats, personal attacks, and attacks on your children, eventually something has to give. For me, it's time. But there's something else I want to leave you with tonight. Last October, I walked into this auditorium knowing I was about to say something publicly that was deeply personal. [00:36:57] I was terrified. I spoke about my child, about transgender students, and about why I believed they deserved adults willing to stand up for them. After I gave my statement, I sat through nearly an hour of public comment. [00:37:14] Some people supported our transgender students. Others were furious at me. One person accused my husband and I of having misguided love for our child. Another accused parents of transgender children of castration and genital mutilation. and when public comment finally ended i walked over to my husband hugged him and burst into tears and then i looked over his shoulder there was a line of people waiting to talk to me and the first one was a senior at my twin school she told me that when she came out to her mother [00:37:50] her mother drove her to the hospital and had her committed and then she asked me if she could have a hug and she told me that she wished she had a mom like me i looked her directly in the eyes and I told her something I've never forgotten. Earlier that evening when three quarters of this auditorium stood up in support during my statement, they were not really standing for me. They were standing for her. They were standing for every LGBTQ student who's ever wondered whether adults around them believed they are worth protecting. Then a non-binary teacher came to me and asked for a hug [00:38:26] and thanked me for standing up for teachers who felt attacked and unsupported. And finally a queer student handed me a pride flag and asked me whether I would keep it. I did, and I still have it. That night was one of the hardest nights of my life, and it was also so damn worth it, because that's what leadership is supposed to look like. Our students deserve leaders who will stand in the face of adversity for them. Our teachers deserve leaders who will stand in the face of adversity for them, and every student who feels frightened, marginalized, misunderstood, or alone deserves to [00:39:02] walk into an auditorium today and see an entire room rise to their feet for them. Not because it's politically convenient, not because there's applause waiting, but because they need to know that they matter. Apparently, a would-be podcaster recently thought it would be entertaining to place bets on whether I would cry tonight. So let me address that. I might. And I am not embarrassed by that. Crying is not a weakness. Sometimes tears are simply evidence that you cared enough for something to cost you. And I have cared deeply. I've cared about these students. I've [00:39:39] cared about these teachers. I've cared about this community. And I've cared about doing this job well. And there is nothing weak about that. In fact, I've come to believe that it is often the people who are willing to feel deeply, the women who weep and then wipe their eyes and keep fighting, who are going to save this country. I leave the board knowing that I gave this position everything that I had. I asked the hard questions, I fought battles people knew about, and many you never knew. [00:40:08] I made mistakes, I learned, I listened, and I stood my ground when I believed it mattered. And through it all, I remained the person I told this community I would be. So now it's time for me to give more of myself back to my children who are here tonight. They deserve their mother, and my family deserves my presence, and I deserve the opportunity to live a life which my physical, mental, and emotional health are not continually sacrificed at the altar of public service. [00:40:38] But I leave with enormous hope for this division, and I leave with one request. Someone has to keep fighting. Someone has to keep asking the uncomfortable questions. Someone has to keep standing beside the student who thinks no one sees them. Someone has to keep standing beside the teacher who feels abandoned. Someone has to be willing to walk into the room when it's hostile, stand up anyway and say these kids are worth it. I hope someone takes up that fight after tonight because they deserve it every single time. Thank you for allowing me the extraordinary [00:41:13] privilege of serving you. And I didn't cry. Thank you so much, Vice Chair Spillman, for your service. [00:41:33] I'm going to grab something, but if anyone wants to make a comment, thanks of Ms. Spillman. I would like to take a moment and celebrate our departing at-large school board member, Allison Spillman. Allison, thank you for your years of service to Albemarle County and our public schools. I will surely miss your voice, your business and school experience, and your extraordinary passion and commitment to ACPS, especially to our marginalized, our special education students and others. [00:42:08] I appreciate your bravery as a mother and a community member in the face of everything you experienced. You always focused on the welfare of kids. You and your whole family have been through threats and anger. So much pain and controversy over the last year would be impossible for anyone to bear. [00:42:29] But you did it and did it well and without losing your voice. You bore the brunt of criticism with grace and grit and intelligence, and that shows true, unflinching leadership. You and your family did not deserve what happened to you, and all of us in this county are poorer for the behavior of those who prefer hate over respect and compromise. [00:42:52] So in the spirit of what we like to teach our kids, I hope we can put down our anger going forward in this county and disagree in a constructive way. Our kids deserve no less. Thank you again, Allison, for taking on this mighty challenge. Well, now I'm crying. [00:43:07] Allison, I just wanted to share an apple and flowers as a thank you from the board for your service. Thank you. I appreciate it. [00:43:26] Oh, okay. Thank you very much. I really appreciate the kind words. I believe -- thank you. Thank you. I'm going to move these out. This wasn't on the agenda, but this falls under school board business. [00:43:43] We did fail to note that the applications for the appointment for the open seat that after today we will have have been placed online. So you will find that information on the ACPS website. [00:44:00] And then if you just Google ACPS school board, go about halfway down the page and you will see the information. We do have to place a, or seat a new school board member by the 28th of September, so we will have additional details regarding a special meeting for interviews as soon as that date is scheduled. But anyone who is interested in submitting an application for the open seat, please find that [00:44:37] information online. And if you aren't able to find it, please feel free to reach out to me directly and I'll send it to you. We are now going to move forward to public comment, but I am just going to grab the list so that I see how many [00:44:50] people are signed up for today. We have 15 people signed up for public comment. [00:45:23] Usually when we have 13 or fewer, we do three minutes. Because we're at 15, I'm going to give everyone usually we reduce it to two minutes when we're at 14 because we're at 50 and i'm just going to use chair's discretion and continue to give everyone three minutes so let me just read the albemarle county welcomes public input on matters related to school boards governments and division operations for tonight's meeting we have 15 people signed up each speaker will be given three minutes when you are recognized please come forward state your [00:46:03] name and magisterial district for the record. As a reminder, public comment should be addressed to the school board as a body and should relate to school board governance or division operations. Speakers may refer to individual board members, division leaders, or staff when the comments relate to official actions, decisions, or matters within the authority of the school board. Public comment is not a forum for debate. Threats, profanity, obscenity, disclosure of confidential student information or personal matters, or conduct that disrupts the orderly operation of the meeting are not permitted. We ask that all comments remain respectful and on topic. A timer [00:46:40] will be used to track each speaker's time. When your time has expired, please conclude your remarks promptly. Written comments and supporting materials may be provided to the clerk for the board's consideration. Help us maintain order and allow each speaker to be heard. Please do not clap who will otherwise audibly express support or opposition during public comment those wishing to show support may raise a hand or stand if they are able the board will not engage in discussion with speakers during public comment and board members may address matters raised directly during public comment later in the media under other business as appropriate our first three speakers tonight [00:47:20] are keith jackson from the samuel miller district amy jackson from the samuel miller district and Jimmy Ballou from the Scottsville District. Would you please come forward to speak? Keith Jackson is the first person. And then just as a reminder, some of us are short, some of us are tall, some of us are in between, and just feel free to move the mic up and down so that everyone both in the room and online can hear you clearly. Okay, and Amy is not here, she's stuck in Atlanta, so I guess you have 14 speakers. Okay, thank you for letting us know. Yes, yes, but good evening everyone. My name is Keith Jackson. I am from the Samuel Miller District and I'm a resident of [00:48:00] the Turner Mountain neighborhood. First, I want to acknowledge the recent email communication among board members as well as ACPS transportation department. I want to thank you for your attention to this issue and I also appreciate that transportation has already agreed to revisit the bus stop decision that was made last month. I speak on behalf of many neighbors when I say that we understand the Turner Mountain Road is a private road and we also understand that ACPS transportation has to consider route efficiency, driver shortages, and ride times. Those are real operational concerns and we respect that. However, we are asking ACPS to reconsider this particular stop because the actual conditions at Turner Mountain Road and Route 250 create a significant safety [00:48:39] issue concern for students. Route 250 at this location is a 55 mile per hour highway. It is heavily traveled during the exact morning and afternoon hours when students are being picked up and dropped off. The intersection includes a passing lane, limited visibility, hills, and a high volume of traffic entering and exiting the neighborhood. [00:48:58] Many neighbors have experienced close calls there and some have even had accidents at that intersection. We also understand that VDOT previously reviewed the passing zone in this area in 2017, and neighbors have now reached out to VDOT again to request information about that prior review. I do not know whether VDOT has specifically evaluated or endorsed the placement of a school bus stop on this stretch of Route 250, but given the speed limit, passing lane, traffic volume and the fact that a stop school bus interrupts traffic volume on a major corridor, we believe ACBS should consider whether VDOT would view this as an appropriate location for a routine school bus stop. These past two days we [00:49:35] have observed the morning pickups and afternoon drop-offs. The morning stop requires students to wait very near the edge of Route 250 or in the turn lane into our neighborhood. The afternoon drop-off is even more concerning because students have to cross the passing lane and westbound traffic to return to the neighborhood. During parts of the school year that afternoon timing also coincides with sun glare and reduced visibility for westbound drivers. Moreover, eastbound vehicles backed up and traffic may use the passing lane to get around a perceived slow driver before they see a stopped bus. In prior years, the bus entered the neighborhood and stopped at the Turner Mountain Road and Turner Mountain Wood Road intersection. That prior stop is [00:50:14] four-tenths of a mile from Route 250 and removes students from the highway environment. We believe that small additional distance provides a much safer place for children to board and exit the bus. We are not ask, we're not complaining about the walking distance from any of our children in the neighborhood to get down to Route 250. We are just asking ACPS to weigh efficiency against the specific safety risks at this particular intersection and to restore the prior neighborhood stop, or if not, to identify another safe interior location. I do ask that when transportation reevaluates the site, they do so between 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. or 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thank you for your time, your [00:50:51] consideration, and your service to our children and the community. Thank you so much. Amy Jackson is waving her time. Mr. Jimmy Ballou. Good afternoon. I'm Jimmy Ballou from the Scottsville District. First, I want to thank Ms. Spillman for her service to the county and wish her well in her future endeavors. Now down to business. For months, parents and community members have stood here asking [00:51:28] for transparency, but tonight I want to focus on something much bigger. Chief Deputy Commonwealth Attorney Lawton Tufts told the court that he had reason to question the trustworthiness of Albemarle County Public Schools. Let that sink in. Those are not my words. Those are not words of an angry parent. Those are the words of the Commonwealth Attorney stated in court. If that doesn't concern every person sitting on this board, I don't know what will. This all comes down to one thing. Can the public trust what we are being told? Look at what happened with Michael Sweeney's investigation. This board asked Dr. Hulse to resign in part because he did [00:52:06] not tell the full board that Sweeney was under criminal investigation for alleged sexual misconduct. But now we have learned that at least one board member was aware that you cannot hold Dr. Hulse accountable for not sharing the information and look the other way when the board member did the exact same and remember what the commonwealth attorney said he had reason to question the trustworthiness of acps that is exactly why the investigation into what happened needs to be truly independent but this board chose harming clater a law firm that already has a [00:52:44] relationship with maybe they will conduct a fair investigation but that's not the point the point is the public should not even have to question it when trust is already damaged when a prosecutor is raising questions about the trustworthiness of ACPS in a courtroom, you must choose an independent investigator with no ties to ACPS, period. There shouldn't be a question. [00:53:06] I believe there is far more being covered up within the school system that we are not aware of. So give us the answers. Who knew? When did they know? Why wasn't everyone told? And mostly, the important thing, what is this board going to do to regain the trust of the public? Because right now even the commonwealth attorney's office has given us a reason to question it one positive note since we want to have positive notes these folks at stone robinson elementary david foreman chrissy craft and miss casey ryan went above and beyond to get my kid back in school who hasn't been there since december so that's one of the greatest things ever so they are the best and [00:53:44] everyone knows i've had a number of issues with stone robinson but i thank god that it has worked out. Thank you. Thank you so much. The next three people, Christina Ra, Sarah Paulsworth, and Nathan Moore. Good evening. My name is Christina Ra, and I live in the Ravonna district. [00:54:21] I'm first speaking as a parent. Holly Maid and the four girls. The prosecutor told the court that all four came forward before any of this was public. He said they had no connection to each other. Four separate children coming forward on their own about the same adult. To those families and to the school community we see you. [00:54:41] We're not going to let this go quiet. The chief deputy commonwealth's attorney said he had reason to believe, reason to question the trustworthiness of this division's Title IX report. He also said the division was less than forthcoming during a criminal investigation. [00:54:58] This division cannot investigate itself. An independent review requires three things. First, release the full report and redact student names. No summary, no briefing, no board-edited findings. The report. Privacy laws protect children, not institutions. [00:55:17] Second, the firm must be independent of this division. A firm that has ACPS as a client owes a duty to defend ACPS. An investigator owes a duty to the facts. Third, publish the scope before the work begins. No one under review should help write it. [00:55:35] Anything less is not an independent investigation. Hollymead, Woodbrook, people across this county are speaking now because they finally feel safe enough to. All of this points to how this division is run. Compromised policy and oversight that didn't prevent this. [00:55:53] The investigation exists to name those failures. Boundaries, yes, but well beyond them. We're carried right now by families, exceptional teachers, and administrators who show up and hold a firm line anyway, and they deserve a system that works as hard as they do. [00:56:09] Now I'll speak as a family council officer. This spring, we surveyed 355 families across 24 schools. Technology was their top concern, over 56%. More than 60 written comments came back to the same point. Our kids are losing the ability to focus and think. In May, our officers voted to ask this board for a screen time policy. I'm submitting a request and writing tomorrow and I'm asking the board to set a date to take action. [00:56:37] Beginning an evaluation in fall 2027 means findings in 2029. Technology doesn't care about our calendar, and by then, what was studied will be outdated. A kindergartner today will be in third grade. One report or one policy vote won't settle this. [00:56:55] The work has to continue as the technology changes, and families belong at the table for all of it. Thank you, and thank you to Ms. Spillman for your service. Thank you very much. Sarah Paulsworth. [00:57:17] Chair, members of the board. My name is Sarah Palsworth, and I am the parent of a Holly Meade student. I am here tonight because the Albemarle County Public Schools continues to exhibit a deeply troubling pattern of secrecy, avoidance, and institutional self-protection. [00:57:40] Only now, through selectively fulfilled and improperly rejected FOIA responses, and through what is emerging through courts, are families beginning to understand the extent of the division's pervasive incompetence and perhaps even criminal negligence. [00:57:55] From one 222-page stream of emails we finally wrestled free from ACPS, it has become unmistakably clear that the former Hollymead principal, Joe McCauley, and possibly this entire district, did not understand how to file a report in accordance with Virginia's mandatory reporter laws. [00:58:16] One email dated 10 March 2026 from a DSS investigator to Joe McCauley and Human Resources Deputy Chief Brody Downs is especially damning. It is DSS stated that they still had not received a report for the conduct that triggered the Michael Swinney criminal investigation, adding that CPS was now way outside the mandated reporter time frame, a delay that could contribute to a further delay in our current investigation. And there were also emails that showed Joe McCauley and likely other leadership within this district were aware of concerns about [00:58:54] Michael Swinney's conduct with students as early as March 2025. But instead of contacting CPS or ACPD, Joe McCauley's response was to merely have a difficult conversation with Michael Swinney and then most recently despite all of this in the midst of widespread community alarm about McCulley's handling of the Michael Swinney case ACPS removed McCulley's contract this past June for another year out of one side of its mouth the district was demanding that dr. Haas resign and out of the other side it approved mr. McCulley's contract [00:59:30] extension it makes no sense let me be unequivocal the conduct at the center of this criminal investigation regarding Michael Swinney's interactions with students should have been reported immediately to CPS and ACPD. It was not a quiet hallway conversation that Joe McCauley should have had with Michael Swinney. Today, the Albemarle County Circuit Court in the Albemarle County Circuit Court ACPS's malfeasance was once again on full display. Commonwealth Attorney Tufts stated he had reason to question the trustworthiness [01:00:06] of acps's um title 9 report i'm disgusted but not shocked where does the incompetence end i was the co-author of a community petition but more than 600 people signed and we asked for an independent investigation but you have not fulfilled that and that's what i'm here to request today thank you so much for your comments nathan moore i asked that we got them we can raise our hands but as i said to follow decorum, we are asking that people not clap. Nathan Moore. [01:00:41] My name is Nathan Moore, and I live in the Woodbrook neighborhood in the Rio District here in Albemarle County. In fact, my kids went to Woodbrook Elementary. I'm here to share my gratitude for Allison Spillman. Allie, thank you for your years of board service. Allie understands that a school board is supposed to govern the administration. [01:01:01] Good governance means sometimes asking uncomfortable questions. I think the terrible events this year show us how important that really is and was. Allie knows that. She's shown it through her work. Allie believes that good schools depend on treating teachers and staff as respected professionals, treating them as if their voices matter. [01:01:21] My parents both spent their entire careers as teachers in another state, and they almost never felt respected by the upper administration. And I wish, I really wish, they had been in a school district that had Allie as a school board member. And there's one more thing, and it's the most important thing. Allie put herself on the line for vulnerable students. [01:01:40] There are trans young people in my life who I love and care about very much. They just want their human rights respected. They want to live good lives like anybody else. But in this county, there is a cruelty caucus, a cruelty caucus who does not respect the human rights of my people, who does not see them as full human beings. [01:01:59] I am so grateful that Allie was willing to be a fearless fighter. Last year, that Cruelty Caucus told trans kids that their identities were not legitimate. But an adult in authority said firmly that those kids mattered. Thank you. And then Allie was punished for that. [01:02:15] The Cruelty Caucus came out and harassed her family, sent her threats, and I am so sad about Allie's harassment. It took a human toll she did not deserve, and I'm also sad for our county and the state of our civic life. But Allie, I'm proud to know you, and I am glad that you're doing right by your family and your self-care. [01:02:35] And for all of you here on the board, please don't shrink. Do not shrink from supporting all the young people and families of Albemarle County that the cruelty caucus tries to marginalize. Every kid deserves an adult in power willing to stand up for them. The queer kids, the trans kid, the disabled kid, the kid struggling with mental health, the kid who doesn't fit neatly into the system. [01:02:57] And so please continue to be those adults that stand up for those kids. Thank you. Thank you. The next three speakers are Superintendent William Coles, Joe Ellen Pizarczyk, and Bill McCaskill. My name is William Coles, Superintendent Coles from the Ryle District. [01:03:22] I want to thank you for your response. Relative to our concerns, having been made aware of how awful this division has performed relative to the education of non-white children. Worse in the state, absolutely unacceptable. [01:03:39] It is a sincere hope that the 25-26 data shows considerable improvement. Per the letter you have received, consider it a working document. It is our intention to drill down into each item outlined therein. [01:03:57] It is our hope that there will be systematic changes that will ensure the optimal educational experience of all students. Ultimately, we would like to see this division be the benchmark for school systems in Virginia, not the worst. [01:04:16] but the best and I hope this school board will accomplish that before you all step down. We will be inviting you to our meetings when we have questions relative to school improvement plans or whatever instrument that you are used to govern the school outcomes. Thank you very much. Thank you. [01:04:48] Joellen Pizarczyk-Whitehall. Since June 24th the trauma and scope of sexual abuse in our schools When the trauma began to emerge, this community has asked for two basic things, transparency and genuine accountability. [01:05:13] Instead, on August 4th, the board chose to hire Harmon Claytor to conduct a so-called independent review. The firm has a long-standing history defending Albemarle schools in court. Clearly, hiring your own defense attorneys to investigate yourselves is a textbook conflict of interest. [01:05:33] It protects the district over children and erodes public trust. But this isn't just a local trust issue anymore. The ground has shifted. On July 10th, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights launched a national K-12 initiative to protect students from adult sexual abuse in school. [01:05:55] The numbers are staggering and widespread. One in six kids impacted. Federal authorities are actively looking at districts that try to cover up or quiet victims or staff. Frankly, whitewashing invites scrutiny. [01:06:14] Failure to conduct an independent investigation exposes us to formal Title IX investigations, federal compliance monitoring, and possible loss of more than $12 million in federal funding. Frank, to everyone in this room and watching, especially staff, teachers, and affected families, you do not have to rely on this board's investigation to get answers. [01:06:41] Report information regarding sexual conduct, sexual misconduct, cover-ups, or institutional failure directly to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights at ed.gov. Note, no non-disclosure agreement, non-disparagement clause, or pressure can prevent you from reporting civil rights violations or child abuse to federal authorities. [01:07:08] Federal whistleblower protections override any paper this district has ever asked you to sign. Understand, Board, right now it's not too late to rescind or reverse course. Rescind the contract with your firm, retain a truly independent, neutral body with no prior ties to ACPS, and give our families the honesty they deserve. [01:07:31] If you refuse, expect that many members of this community will ask federal authorities to do it for you. We must protect our children. Thank you. And I have information for anybody that needs it. Bill McCaskill. Please step forward. [01:07:50] My name is Bill McCaskill. I live in the Samuel Miller District. Good evening, Chair, members of the Albemarle School Board, Superintendent, and members of our community. [01:08:14] Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. To encounter problems, we can either curse the darkness or light a candle. Tonight, I'd like to light a small candle by asking you, as a school board, consider allowing LifeWise Academy to operate in Albemarle County through a long-established practice of release time religious instruction which started in 1952 with the case Zorich versus Clausen in the United States Supreme Court. LifeWise Academy is a non-profit organization based in Columbus, Ohio. [01:08:54] It's interesting that in just five to six years as they first started in the COVID year 2020, they have grown from 1 to 1,500 different schools in 40 states. LifeWise Academy would provide biblical education to public school students during the school day. [01:09:24] Participation is entirely voluntary, requires written parental permission, and takes place off school property during school hours, and is totally self-funded. Costs the school board, in the school district nothing. [01:09:42] This proposal is about respecting parent parental choice and giving equal access for all students. Beyond the legal and financial considerations, many families believe that biblical instruction reinforces qualities that every community values. [01:10:07] Honesty, compassion, respect, responsibility, forgiveness, and service to others. Whether one shares every religious belief or not, these character traits strengthen families, schools, and communities. [01:10:25] Albemarle County has long valued educational opportunity, parental involvement, and respect for diverse viewpoints. allowing LifeOz Academy to serve interested families who reflect those same principles by providing an additional voluntary option without diminishing the educational experience of anyone else. [01:10:51] Thank you for listening. Thank you so much. The next three speakers, Nancy Koenig, Bridget Rogers, apologies, Ms. Rogers, and Sidney Martin. Nancy Koenig from Scottsville, thank you all for your public service. [01:11:15] At the beginning of a new academic year and a new administration, you have many opportunities. You have the opportunity to refocus your attention on the falling academic achievement of students and the continued gap in scores between students of families of differing incomes. [01:11:33] You have an opportunity to restore the trust of the taxpayers by conducting a transparent investigation into the handling of the recent indictments. handling of the situation by the superintendent and principals of the schools as well as by yourselves will the investigation be independent and transparent when the firm hired has represented the school board previously will the public be given a full report without redactions [01:12:06] or a claim of attorney client privilege you have the opportunity to see the taxpayers are given a full transparent report. We have guidance counselors to, quote, assist all students in acquiring the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to become effective students, responsible citizens, productive workers, and lifelong learners, end quote. The counselor's job description leads to strong student achievement, which should be the goal of the schools, and there is no need [01:12:43] for a social emotional coach you have the opportunity to abolish this position as i assume you know the coach is not required to have a teaching certificate nor a degree in counseling incidentally i recently heard of one of our guidance counselors being required to leave the instruction of students to give a classroom teacher a mental health break i wonder when the counselor's duty was changed to guide the teachers rather than the students multiple times it has [01:13:20] been reported that websites for one political party have been blocked by the county schools computers while the other party sites have been accessible to the schools when reported to the division the excuse was given that a third-party company was responsible for the programming. You have the opportunity to rectify this situation to see that students are given equal access to political views appropriate to their age. [01:13:51] You have the opportunity to refrain from further construction of new schools. The student population in Virginia has decreased every year from 2022, leading to a 17,955 student decrease, and 2030 is projected to be 3% less. Thank you. Thank you so much. Bridget Rogers. [01:14:19] Bridget Rogers, Urbana District. Thank you, Allison, for your service. I'm really tired of talking about the same thing and hearing about the same thing, so I really hope that we see some change. I'm going to talk about consent tonight. Consent is voluntary, informed, and clear agreement or permission given by a parent to a school system to do something. [01:14:49] The new one-on-one policy doesn't require parents to consent. It only provides the opportunity to opt out. The family life policy does not require parents to consent. The unofficial practice followed by every PA teacher that I polled in my unofficial polling is to send two emails and then teach family life anyway. [01:15:08] The field trip policy does not explicitly require consent to take kids off school grounds. The technology policy says nothing about parental consent or opt-out options for the use of educational technology and curriculums. PowerSchool is being sued over claims that it tracks and shares student data without consent. [01:15:26] iReady is being sued for mass student data harvesting and false advertising regarding its academic efficacy. Other edtech companies on the list of active lawsuits include Google, YouTube, Illuminate, and Seesaw, all available to all 14,000 plus ACPS students today. [01:15:44] Your job is to create policy, and right now you have no policy that requires consent to use these systems. Even worse, most of these learning platforms that are used every day in the school system and every other one across the country are owned by private equity. [01:16:00] Private equity exists to make money. They don't have the best interests of our kids in mind. A few that come to mind, H&H, our reading curriculum in elementary schools, Lexia Core 5, Intervention for Reading in Elementary Schools, Magma Math, heavily backed by Glow Equity Venture Capital, KITM, our math curriculum in elementary schools, also Venture Capital of us backed. [01:16:23] EdTech is everywhere in every kid's hands for hours each day, but we don't know how many hours per day in this district. When I reached out to Christine Diggs about software use and to track and monitor each child's usage last year, I got vague answers and no response. [01:16:39] Over 11 emails back and forth, and I still don't have an answer on how I can understand as a parent how much time my children spend on their AIDS CPS-issued device. The only thing I learned over those emails was that there's a list of programs available to every device that's so ridiculously long, I couldn't possibly count them up. [01:16:57] Many of the most progressive school districts across the country have listened to parents and provided the option to opt out of ed tech. This isn't something coming in the future. It's been implemented right here in Charlottesville City Schools this school year. So I'm here tonight to request that there's a, I would just echo what Christina said earlier because I don't have time to get into the rest of this. But anyway, thank you so much. [01:17:20] thank you Sidney Martin real protection is never dishonest when an institution claims to protect a child by hiding the truth it is no longer protective special education teacher Kelsey DeSibor bypassed division protocols to execute an unauthorized out of district enrollment for my child central services was fully complicit and Tanisha Thompson approved this enrollment in direct violation of Virginia law and school board policy this was done with Ms. DeSibor [01:18:00] falsely presented herself as my child's mother. To hide this, Ms. DeCebo placed an unauthorized, restricted contact status on my son's power school account. Despite a clear court order and zero board policy backing it, the administration blindly enforced it to block me from my son's school. [01:18:16] The gravity of this is staggering. A special education teacher tasked with writing IEPs and protecting vulnerable students willingly bypassed state regulations for a personal agenda. What is she doing behind closed doors children who could not speak for themselves. When I wrote my complaint to Bertie Downs of HR, he claimed on a recorded call that no paperwork existed. He later admitted he never looked at the evidence he was supposed to be investigating, choosing instead to take the word of Central Services. Mr. Downs remained entirely indifferent when informed that Mrs. Seabor had misrepresented her identity to a provider and obtained prescription medication for my son. Instead of addressing [01:18:53] his actions, Mr. Downs closed the case because protecting an employee's actions was prioritized. my son never received his required specialized education services or an evaluation. The administrative failures deepened during the FOIA process. After accepting my fees, Jason Grant and Jennifer Butler bypassed standard IT protocols and allowed Ms. DeCivore to act as a custodian of her own records. [01:19:16] This severe conflict of interest allowed an employee under investigation to manage the very emails that proved she and the Red Hill Bookkeeper transmitted restricted student data without authorization. Your response to these documented policy violations has been absolute silence. Yesterday, you placed Ms. Seabor back in control of vulnerable children. [01:19:35] By letting this happen, you have created an unconstitutional custom of deliberate indifference. Thank you. Thank you very much. Our next three speakers are Danny O'Day, Phil Reese, and David Storm. Evening, school board. [01:20:00] I'll keep it short and sweet. My name is Danny O'Day. I do not live in the county, but I did graduate from ACPS, as did my four siblings, and my wife is currently a teacher at Greer Elementary School. I had the distinct honor of working on Alison Spillman's campaign because I saw in her someone who had the courage to say what was right and the fortitude to stand by it when things got hard. Many people think they have that strength, and most of them don't. They'll never know until they're tested, and she was someone who was tested again and again [01:20:34] with the intention and vitriol of the worst of the nation talking down to her and she held strong and it is a huge loss to this community that she's stepping away i wish her and her family nothing but the best in the future thank you so much mr phil reese good evening madam chair and members of the school board my name is phil reese this morning i was in court attending the bond hearing from michael sweeney i heard allegations that made me sick to my stomach but i also heard [01:21:13] the prosecutor tell the judge that he questioned the trustworthiness of Elmow County Public Schools. He said the division failed to meet its mandatory reporting obligations to police and Child Protective Services and had been less than forthcoming during the criminal investigation. [01:21:32] When a prosecutor tells a judge these things in a court of law, this board should take notice. I am here tonight because that same lack of candor that this prosecutor has experienced exists within this school board. Two months ago, this board asked Superintendent Matt Haas for his resignation. One central reason was that he failed to inform you of the criminal investigation of Michael Sweeney until the day before his arrest. That investigation began in late January, but it has since been revealed that one member of this board claims they were told by Superintendent Haas [01:22:09] months before the rest of you. Who is that school board member? If that member will not come forward tonight, then I ask the other six to tell us. This culture of secrecy cannot continue. Parents have a right to know when each of you learned about the Sweeney investigation. To the six who were kept in the dark, consider what was taken from you. For five months you made decisions about this division without information your superintendent was withholding from you. And if a colleague beside you also held that knowledge, then you were failed not once but twice. [01:22:47] first by Superintendent Haas and a second time by a fellow school board member. But the real victims were the students. The sexual misconduct policy that you passed last month was the very protection our children needed from the start. Had the whole school board known about what was going on in our schools, you could have passed that new policy much, much earlier. But here's what we do know. On June 11th, all seven of you went into closed session to discuss Superintendent Haas' future employment. When the board returned to ask for his [01:23:21] resignation, only six of you came back. Dr. Kay Acuff was not in this room. On the most consequential action this board has taken in years, Dr. Kay Acuff was not here. We deserve to know why and we deserve to hear from each of you tonight when you learned about the Sweeney investigation and we want to know which one of you was told months before the rest of your colleagues. Thank you. Our last speaker tonight is [01:23:51] David Storm. Good evening members of the school board. My name is David Storm. I'm a resident of the Scottsville district. You may recognize me as the chair of the long-range planning advisory committee for the board on which I've served for eight and a half years now. I'm coming today though excuse me, as a parent of a Mountain View Elementary fifth grader. As I was reviewing [01:24:28] for my comments this evening, my first email that I have about expanding what was then Kale Elementary is from 2017. And here we are at the 2026-27 school year and we have opened a brand new school for the first time in a quarter century and I want to thank you all for your dedication and your support of this. This was first proposed pre-COVID and we had to postpone because of the reduction in the CIP at that time because no one knew what was going to happen. But your dedication and commitment to the students of Albemarle County first through the expansion at Crozet, [01:25:08] which we had to postpone as well until this school, shows that dedication. Having been and talked to many of you at the ribbon cutting last month and then been at the open house on Tuesday, It's an amazing school, the light, the openness, the classrooms, the bathrooms, the single stalls that are used. [01:25:30] Watching the children smile as they're coming through during the open house and exploring the space. It is a truly impressive building that the division has created for its students. [01:25:47] I'd like to thank Matt Wordman and Gerald Harris in particular in building services for running the program. And I do wanna say that I am appreciative of the school board's willingness to keep the community together. [01:26:06] When we first started talking about this and we talked about what do we do with a community that's got such a diverse population with the families that we're living in trailers in Southwood and using the dual language instruction and the ability to keep that together as we went from perhaps creating a new school to doing an upper and a primary school, something the division hasn't done before. [01:26:33] And it took courage to be able to do that and to change the way the school runs. And I'm very appreciative of that. The last thing I will say is that having been in the school and been in many of the schools across the division my role on the long range planning committee is every school, every student deserves a school like this that is open, that is airy, that is welcoming, that is something that all of them can look forward to coming to every day. Thank you for Mountain View. Thank you for your service. Thank you so much. That concludes our public comment for tonight. The next item on our agenda is the approval or [01:27:11] consent agenda. Do I have a motion for the approval of our consent agenda? I move we approve the consent agenda moved by ms spillman second i'm sorry uh i have a question before we uh second by judy by ms lee um i know that mr dylan beck wants to make a just a comment you have a question so okay uh my question is regard regards the class about renewable energy i just [01:27:44] wondered what it was going to be called and if it it also is a pvcc class i believe all doc oh can you uh that is the second one on the list yeah yep um i believe they are all pvc pvcc uh courses but i'm going to look towards not sure where i'm going to look towards part of the solvent yes yes [01:28:11] yep apologies yeah we just we just want to pull pull it up dr hayes i assume it's part of the pvcc stuff but i believe it is but i don't don't trust me they know better than i do what was your question again this sounds more so on the list of the new courses which all look incredibly interesting the second one about renewable energy sources [01:28:46] uh as part of the solve and blueprint program pathway i wondered if that was also a pvcc course and what the name of it was because the title and that information was missing it is a pvcc course but i have to get the actual name that's fine i just assumed it was in the similar vein um but you don't want to pull anything no clarification okay perfect i can send that information i can get that from dr lips going to send that to you tomorrow so is that okay oh sure [01:29:22] yeah i just wanted to make sure they were all similar weighted and i know mr dylan best i just asked you if you could make a comment yes just a quick comment from item 6.6 personnel action athletic coaches i just want the public to be aware that we have offered stipends very very modest stipends to about 110 coaches for the fall season and as a former coach at albemarle high [01:29:54] school i can tell you that equates to about 25 an average of 2 500 for the season and if my math is right it's about minimum wage so i want to say thank you to the 110 coaches that are sweating out there every day and oftentimes on the weekends to help the kids in this community in athletics and cheerleading and lots of other sports they are woefully underpaid and [01:30:28] underappreciated so thanks to the coaches and in the winter and the spring we'll probably have a similar number of coaches stepping up as well so thank you thank you so much so we have an open motion on the floor um and i'm gonna it's seconded by ms lee and moved by i i moved it miss billman sorry i just wanted to move by miss billman second by miss lee um all those in favor of tonight's consent agenda all right any opposed tonight's consent agenda clearly passes [01:31:05] we are going to take a break before we move into school division business we will reconvene at [01:31:13] 817. Thank you so much. We are now moving on to school division business. Our first [01:32:10] item is at fiscal year 27 budget updates. Ms. Maya Kumazawa, our director of planning and budget, is before us to give us some news. Good evening. I'm Maya Kumazawa, director of budget and planning, and I'm here this evening to provide you some updates with regards to our current year FY 27 budget. This item aligns with our strategic plan learning for all and with particular emphasis on strategic goal [01:32:44] number three equitable and transformative resources this is a repeat slide from what i shared earlier in july when the state adopted their budget we were able to update our revenue projections for the current year and there were four major components as part of that update the first was an increase in the compensation supplement that provided the state share of a four percent salary increase for fy27 the second was an increase in sales tax projections the third is an increase in the infrastructure and operations per pupil fund and the fourth is an increase in [01:33:23] special education add-on funds what this means in the context of our school fund revenues is shown here. We're projecting to increase our state revenues by about two million dollars overall, which is a 2.4 percent increase in state revenues. If you look at the school fund as a whole, that two million dollar increase is about a 0.6 percent increase compared to what was adopted. [01:33:50] On the expenditure side, these are some recommendations on what to do with the two million dollars. The adopted expenditures are 308.1 million dollars in the school fund. This was approved by you as part of the FY27 adopted budget. In July you approved an additional salary increase of 0.25 percent on top of what was adopted at a cost of about half of a million dollars and that was approved in July. The 1.4 million dollars remaining is recommended to be [01:34:25] appropriated into an expenditure contingency area as there are some areas that we are still a little uncertain about as of today and as a budgeting practice we can manage this fund as a year moves on so some examples of this are listed here enrollment is one example if student enrollment is higher than projected you would have to add staffing which increases expenditures higher than what's budgeted. If enrollment is lower than what's projected, that means the state revenues would actually go down less than what we had budgeted. And so on the [01:35:02] expenditure side, you can hold back spending that money to account for the decrease in state revenues. The next item is fuel. That is an area we're still watching closely and don't have certainty on how the year will end up because this is a budget for 12 months. [01:35:19] We did increase that budget going into this year and we were not yet sure if that's going to be enough or if we'll need more so we'd like to hold on to that flexibility. The third item that's an example is policy training as you all received an update this evening about all the extensive trainings we've provided for not only regular employees but substitute and temporary employees that will come at a cost that was previously not in the budget. And then the last example is technology replacement. This is here as we start thinking about not just this year but next year as a part of a multi-year budgeting strategy. You may [01:35:57] recall that we reduced the technology equipment transfer by 1.4 million dollars but maintain the program for this year using one-time funds. So I'm looking forward to FY28 and beyond if you all decide to maintain that program this would provide us with a little bit more flexibility in being able to fund that program with recurring money. So this is also a tool that we can use that's not applicable just for this year, but for future years. And so this money would be appropriated during the consent agenda at your [01:36:35] next meeting or the request for the appropriation. So these changes total $310.1 million in total expenditures and that equals the increase in anticipated revenues on the previous slide. So as I mentioned we would put appropriation requests on the next board meeting and then in November/December we would provide you with the first quarter report. So that would show you how we were performing relative to how much is budgeted and give you a first kind of glimpse at the financial situation for this fiscal year. We'll also start thinking about next year as they're [01:37:13] They're all related, and we're tentatively planning to discuss the process and priorities for the FY28 budget process during the next meeting. Any questions? Any questions? I have a few dozen questions. [01:37:30] Just kidding, I'm sorry. Thank you for the work. Thank you very much. Our next agenda item is 8.2, Race Matters in Community-- in School Community Series. Jean Cash, CEO and Executive Director the Counseling Alliance of Virginia and Latasha Edwards, HR Coordinator Counseling Alliance of Virginia. [01:37:54] Good evening, Chair Berlin and Vice Chair Spillman. It is my pleasure to welcome Jean Cash, Executive Director of the Counseling Alliance of Virginia and Latasha Edwards, the CAVA Human Resources Coordinator. [01:38:11] Over the past three years, CAVA has partnered with Albemarle County Public Schools through the Race Matters in School Communities series, creating opportunities for staff, families, and community members to strengthen relationships, deepen understanding, and build skills to engage in meaningful and constructive conversations across diverse experiences and perspectives. [01:38:35] At the heart of this partnership is a shared commitment to creating welcoming school communities where students and families feel valued, relationships are strong, and we are better equipped to work together in support of student success. [01:38:51] Tonight, Jean and Latasha will share some of what they have learned through the Race Matters Partnership over the past three years and provide a preview of the next phase of our work together. During the upcoming school year, CAVA will engage with both the school board and Student Senate through professional learning designed to strengthen communication, build understanding across diverse perspectives, and support thoughtful dialogue around issues that can sometimes be difficult to navigate. [01:39:24] We are grateful for CAVA's continued partnership and for Jean and LaTosha's willingness to support our school community in this important work. Please join me in welcoming Jean Cash and LaTosha Ebert. - Thank you so much. [01:39:40] - We did have a couple, apologies to interrupt. We did have some requests from the audience saying, sometimes it's difficult to hear people, both on the dais and at the mic. So just a reminder to make sure if you're, to speak as close to the mic as you can, as well as to speak up and speak slowly. [01:39:59] - All righty, thank you, thank you, thank you. And I'm glad you said that 'cause I speak softly wherever I go. - Oh, there you go. - So I need to speak up. And Dr. Kaiser, I appreciate the introduction and I appreciate the board, I appreciate Dr. Hayes and everyone who's been a part of this journey. [01:40:15] And I am glad to be here. And if I can speak candidly, I think is Judy Lee. Yeah, you were a person who helped us get here. And I appreciate your tenacity. I appreciate your courage to speak about something that we do not talk about in this country. [01:40:33] And your school board and county has been doing this. I've been to San Francisco, I've been to Vermont, I've been to all over this country. And I appreciate what you guys have done over the past three years to create space for race for an all different level. [01:40:50] So the Black Student Union was here, the kids were talking about it, but I think in that one meeting you said, hey, it's time to do something different. So I appreciate that. I want to acknowledge that for you speaking up and the board to continue to support what we've been doing. [01:41:07] As I say, making healthier and true authentic connections. One of the things when you're talking about having authentic conversations and connection when it comes to race is we have to risk. We have to risk what we've been doing for 400, 500 years. [01:41:26] We have to take a risk. And our path in understanding and addressing racially-based trauma, as a clinician of over 30-something years, that was not on my agenda. We were serving and caring communities with traditional evidence-based trauma-informed care wherever we went. [01:41:45] And then in 2017, we had to pay attention. happened in Charlottesville was very impactful to my career, to my staff, and to this community. And what we decided to say is enough is enough. And we started turning our lens, our eyes, towards how do we pay attention to racial trauma and how it impacts everyone. And when I say our path has been around racial oblivion, we've been taught, we've been indoctrinated not to talk about [01:42:19] it not to see it but when we see it we don't say it so one of the things the next point that we move to is racial awareness is many people if we can start becoming aware of how race racial awareness and sensitivity and how it impacts our souls and our humanity I believe people can start making a true authentic change and then the racial sensitivity part part of that continuum is once you see it, see it, name it, change it. [01:42:53] If you can't see it, you don't name it, you can't change it. And when it comes to sensitivity, how do you do it when people are uncomfortable in conversations, the privileged, the subjugated, white, black, Asian, when we all struggle just to talk about it and we don't have the words, we don't have the language to be able to do it. [01:43:16] And then after you start becoming more aware and sensitive, Then my whole goal when I started doing this work, and my work is based on Dr. Kenneth Hardy, I always give straight respect to him and his training and me, is to become racially responsible and competent. [01:43:37] And I believe if we all, of all races, can start becoming more racially aware, racially sensitive, and racially responsible, we can truly impact humanity and our kids. And when I walked into your schools, I think one of your school board members talked about the energy. [01:43:58] Bringing CAVA and ACPS together has been enlightening to me because when I have clients come to my office, I just see one lens. But when I walked into Albemarle High School, the energy was wonderful. [01:44:14] I appreciate it. And I'm sorry for what's happening with Holly Mead and all those kids and those families. And when I walked through that school as well, I was paying attention to how race was impacting those kids and those elementary students. We've been to Burley and I think we I'm talking about a scope of work. [01:44:31] I'm sorry, I'm going fast. But we also went to Almar County, Western Almar as well. So one of the things that what I appreciate about your bellwether report and your anti-racist policy is to eliminate all forms of racism from the division. [01:44:48] in conjunction with related board policies pay attention to because policies structural policies impact how we treat and teach our community and our kids so one of the things I appreciate is that that is in your policy to help eliminate it to create a space for stronger cross-racial authentic conversations among students parents teachers and school administrators I was I was there over the summer working with a group of your students, the pre-students, the eighth graders coming in. [01:45:28] And my question was to them was how do you identify racially? People, some kids didn't want to be white. Some kids didn't want to be Asian. And black kids didn't want to say a word. [01:45:43] So that told me something. What is happening in our world, in our community, when people have a struggle finding their home? Psychological homeless impacts us all, and it's because how we're living and how we're operating. [01:46:00] So one of the things I want to do, we want to do, no disrespect, we want to do is create space for people to be their authentic selves and not carry guilt and shame for our history and walk in pride of who they are, all races, everybody. And I definitely just want to augment your current efforts that you're currently doing. I'm proud to be here for three years, especially during our current climate, that you still stand tall when it comes to issues regarding race, [01:46:35] race relations, and being anti-racist. It's just even being here is a testament to what your community is doing. And last but not least is one of the things I push wherever we go, And when I look up there, the picture is one of our Race Matters cohort members, and she also spoke up. [01:47:00] Because one of the things is that we have to change the racialized lens. Our history of saying, it happened a long time ago, slavery, enslavement. The other thing that we talk about is, poor slavery, poor slavery, no, is what is the racialized lens we have to turn to? [01:47:29] We have to pay attention to the attitudes, values and beliefs of people who are making policies. I want to change it just a little bit. I want to look to the left. I want to quit looking at us. I want to look at all of us, okay, and what we can do to shift the narrative that has been happening in our country, okay? [01:47:48] So and then I'm gonna give it to Latasha to talk about some of the things we've done. Good evening. Thank you once again. Just echo what Jean said about, you know, the opportunities that we've had for the last three years. Couldn't have done it without the support of you all, especially Dr. Kaiser and community engagement and Ayanna Mitchell. This work started, I do like to point out that I am a parent of three Albemarle County Public School graduates. So thank you for your work. But as a [01:48:25] parent, and now as someone who does this work, just talking about the scope in which we started, it started with a racially abusive transaction that happened at Agner Hurt, and I'm imagining you all are aware of what that was. And there was a desire for, as Jean mentioned, a shared language, tools. How do we navigate this from the administrative level to the parents, to teachers, and students. And so we had an opportunity to speak at one of those PTO meetings and just again [01:49:00] introduce who we were as an organization and what we were able to offer. After some time we, that became an opportunity to create these cohorts that Jean has mentioned. We've done three of them thus far. Like I said, been really grateful with probably 20 or less people, but it's been really impactful for those who have been a part, and it has been a makeup of teachers, again, parents and community members, and even having, you know, sometimes school board members join us. [01:49:35] But yeah, we have appreciated that. We've been able to take the time to really develop, as Jean mentioned, those connections with each other, and that happens in a variety of ways. Yes, we're presenting the information, but we're giving it time and space and the opportunity to truly apply what's being presented. So we're hoping to do a fourth, of course. We've also done, I'll let Jean talk about maybe the leadership cabinet, but we've also done a professional development day, again, sharing with the teachers what this work is and got positive feedback from [01:50:12] that. And when we were able to present to family council, it was just another opportunity to expand the reach that more PTOs were familiar with it and there was a lot of interest it was towards the end of the school year but there was a lot of interest in how can we bring this to our school and we would remind them of the cohorts but yeah there have been many opportunities to share the work and the information if you want to talk about some of these others that you were able to be a part of yeah the leadership we met in this building actually and I really appreciate it [01:50:45] Because one of the things about making transformative change is the leadership has to be able to become more racially aware, racially sensitive, pay attention to their own biases, explicit, implicit biases that carry out policies and structure for the school system. [01:51:04] And that was an intense meeting, I'm not going to lie. People were having to ask and ask themselves, pay attention to their own thoughts, their own attitudes, values, and beliefs that they probably never even thought about. And so, and I appreciate that time that I had with them and I believe that helped concretize us being here today. [01:51:24] We also met with the Student Senate and the first day I just watched and I paid attention to the students and how they were interacting with each other. I paid attention to the leadership, which I got to throw hats off to the equity change team leaders and people involved in that Student Senate program because they really created space for the kids to pay attention and to start looking at race and um the equity change team was powerful because there was a young girl in there who was at the unite the right rally and the [01:52:03] terrorist attack that happened and she broke um she cried she was in pain and um that's the first time she was able to talk about it and the cool part is she was surrounded by seniors and juniors that supported her and what i can anticipate her being a part of that process is that she will grow starting to look at look at her pain healing her pain when it comes to racial trauma because sometimes a lot of times racial trauma does not get talked about it it's not ventilated enough [01:52:39] so this one of your students has started on that journey in ninth grade and hopefully by the time she becomes a senior, she will be more racially aware, racially sensitive, and racially responsible. It was a great time being with those students. And the other thing that sticks out to me is my time with your diversity resource teachers. I stepped in and leaned into that group. Once again, there's a culture [01:53:11] that exists in this school system and I really want to help that culture be more racially aware sensitive but also inclusive and belonging when I could see the demographics of that group and I can see the alienation that was occurring and the pain that came up during that session we got to do better we got to be better and I think one of the things that makes it harder is that we're not [01:53:46] aware of because we don't talk about it but I really like that diversity resource teachers I really believe they have power and impact in the school systems but I believe they can they deserve more training and support as they are going out doing something that's part of your mission and your vision and support your anti-racist policy. The turning point event was also eye-opening paying attention to the GSA, paying attention to how many African-American kids, black or brown, being in that school system and then having such a challenging topic coming [01:54:24] into the school. Hats off to you. What the school system did to create safety for kids and to be able to have those things of those two challenging topics coexist. I really appreciated Dr. Irina Mitchell. I appreciate everybody there who was really supporting the kids and bringing support to help deal with that topic. [01:54:50] I'll just leave it there. And we've analyzed your Bellwether report. We've looked at it. We have probably some, a lot of recommendations around it. But the one thing that that Bellwether report did not name racist attitudes, values, and beliefs in a way that could really have effective change. [01:55:10] And I believe your anti-racist poly is something we reviewed. And I believe that can be beefed up as well. Sorry, Don. And then Race Matters, What We Heard. Yeah, and I hope you enjoy some of the pictures that are scattered throughout to show you kind of, again, the participants that were willing to be a part over the years. [01:55:32] Before I read what's here, and I know you all can read it, I just think about, again, the time together. And that seems to be really important. And the time we were able to break bread together, have meals, almost every session included participants staying afterwards to ask follow-up questions and to engage more in conversation or we often ask them to bring back scenarios that they have found themselves in and talk about how they were applying the work that we were doing. And so again, I just want you to know that this is a process and the way in which participants show up to that first meeting where we generally ask, how do you identify racially? [01:56:11] And the way they leave is often different. And often we say that once you see, you can't unsee. And so that's some of the impact that we're able to have. And so one of the participants says that this program was beautifully organized and brilliantly presented. [01:56:27] Should be a must for all members of the community. I learned so much and how much more I have to learn. There were practical tips and thoughtful advice on how to proceed. I can't say enough how enlightening this was. And I would believe that there are many participants who would echo those sentiments just because they have shared those with us both verbally in written format and generally at the end of the program. [01:56:55] So it is impactful. It does make a difference for everyone involved. And one of the things I just want to add is there were people who did not want to be there. There were people who had a hard time hearing the things that we were saying. [01:57:11] And we created space, we try to do our best, but sometimes people are on a different journey. And one of the things I want to create is that whoever you are, however you stand up, I want to meet you where you're at. But sometimes you can't touch people who've been part of this society for their entire life. [01:57:30] One of the things I think about sometimes, I had a white person ask me, Jean, why should I care? Because she lives in an all-white community, she works at an all-white school, and she says, so why should this matter to me? I said, that's a good question, because if you're a bubble or your sphere, it doesn't come up on your radar. [01:57:50] But I believe humanity is on everybody's radar. And I said, you have to care because if your kids or somebody you work with is being impacted, that's your sphere. So sometimes we had people who had a hard time. It was OK, because I understand when you're trying to have a change, a mental change for people to reorganize their thoughts, attitudes, values and beliefs. [01:58:13] While a lot of times we had people leave because their husbands didn't want them involved, right? This is what we heard because they were bringing in something that wasn't, wasn't part of their paradigm. So I just want you to know we heard that as well. [01:58:30] And we respect people who have to struggle, but we're here to help and support them. So some of the recommendations, definitely race matters in schools, cohort number four, I believe would be very advantageous for the school system, for your kids, and for the community. [01:58:50] Definitely having really, really increasing the attendance, the participation, and yeah, I don't know. I've always brought this up, it potentially being mandatory for certain positions. [01:59:06] I do think that is important, but I know you may have other challenges with that. but I believe this work is mandatory for my staff and my clinical practice. It is mandatory, and I do have people leave because they don't want to participate in it. [01:59:21] However, I believe that change is necessary and important to the souls that we protect and take care of. The other thing, coming to you, coming to you all, I just watched for the past two months what you endure, and it's a tough position for you all. [01:59:44] And I believe offering you support tools when it comes to racial relations and being able to see things that you haven't seen before, I think it'll be helpful to your job and what you do. So coming to you guys and offering you training is something I think that's important. [02:00:02] And then the student senate and the equity change teams. Coming to the kids, really providing them with support. They're eager, they would like it. I didn't get much pushback. All I got is space, tears, and thank you very much. [02:00:18] so i believe the students are your heart that's why we're here i believe offering training to them and support is essential and one of the things about standing up something like racial awareness and sensitivity training or changing your paradigm is you have to have a core team of people with leadership involved so i'm also recommending that you have a monthly core team that gets taught and that can carry out the changes in your anti-racist policies to support the policy and push for accountability. But also the core team is there to catch anything that is [02:00:57] not supporting what you need to do. And I believe providing that training will help that core team be successful and have something that's transformative in your school system. I won't read all of these, but I do believe there's an immediate impact, an intermediate impact, and a long-term impact. [02:01:24] Increase in positive cross-racial relationships and self-confidence when it comes to talking about race, racial awareness, and any type of diverse issues. I believe understanding that and being able to talk about it, that happens in your Race Matters cohorts. [02:01:45] People leave with a different lens. People leave with language and tools to be successful. And then the intermediate impact of that is fair, equitable, education, instructional, disciplinary outcomes for all students, black, brown, white, all will be treated equitable and fair and no one will be getting special privileges and no one will be subjugated and [02:02:18] pushed out of the school system because your teachers, your employees, your principals will have a better racial understanding i really believe that is key and the long-term effect what we need in this country is increasing humanity in our education judicial financial realms and that's the whole goal of why we have educational systems is to teach our kids how to be better citizens and better people so that's the long-term effect that will happen for what [02:02:58] the work that you guys have been doing over the past three years we would just like to deepen it have it really be truly transformative reach one teach one we all need we all need and deserve to grow just know what we're growing from we're going from a history that has been built to divide so let's do something different and I think that's it okay any questions wonderments or comments or pushback mr. [02:03:38] cash you mentioned some feedback and thoughts on the bellwether report I I couldn't quite hear what you said. What were your comments about the report? It lacked insight into, and if I can speak candidly, it lacked insight into the tenets of white supremacy that existed in that report. [02:04:02] And if you don't have or understand those tenets that exist that supports racist attitudes, values, and beliefs, that report is not going to get you what you need. And I believe if you highlight those tenets for a school system, I think is like 80% or the 80% white, if we cannot reach those people who have been taught, who've been indoctrinated, we can't shift the narrative. [02:04:34] So that's what I saw on the bell web, just one thing I saw. Yeah, thank you. You're welcome. Just to follow what Mr. Dillenbach asked, you also said that you had some specific suggestions about beefing up our anti-racism policy. [02:04:49] And from the list of activities you had, there was a lot more proactive training and a core, you know, racism, that's not what it's called, but team, leadership team. Were those the types of changes you were talking about? Yes, yes, yes, yes, that's what I'm talking about. [02:05:08] I'm trying to see your name, but I can't see it that far. Kate, Kate. I can't. Yeah, and one of the basic things is naming whiteness, naming what is actually the problem. one of the things when i talk to my clinicians on any family see it name it change it because if you can't see it you can't name it so you won't be able to change it so i think some of the things i think we need to add to your policy your policy's good but i believe there's some things that we can add to it to help it more powerful impactful and transformative i mean it's very i have not reviewed it lately i have to confess that but i was on the board when we developed it or adopted [02:05:47] it i mean it's very much don't do this and don't do that as opposed to more proactive you know training of school board members or leaders in in having the responsibility for carrying it out yeah maybe maybe i maybe that's not right but i think that's close when you bring that up i think of the my board my uh counseling and i supported social work and how we have to get ce's every year. And when we went to that board, I said, when I went to go get my C's in Richmond, some training, [02:06:22] I said, this is not culturally responsive training for our clinicians. And they said, Jean, I said, what? She said, how come, Jean? Black people wrote it. And I said to her, that doesn't mean white supremacy tenants doesn't sit in black people. [02:06:42] We tend to say things to make the majority comfortable. I don't know if that helps. it helps i mean we it's been what five or six years since we adopted the policy and we all said at the time you know we want it to be more than a poster on the wall like don't be a racist um and maybe we need to put some more thought to how we can improve it okay can i add one more thing i was a clinician for 25 years before i started paying attention to race before [02:07:20] So I knew what the tenants were and how to start manipulating it. So the ratio of living is real and what you guys created is awesome. It's a start. But as I continue to train in this work and see people and the souls of people, it deepened my awareness and understanding and how we can make it even more powerful, impactful. [02:07:42] I hope that's what happens over time. When you do this work, you become more insightful. Can you draw me a picture about how this work can influence our work in tackling the achievement gap that we have in this county? [02:08:02] I believe in your instruction with your teachers, having them be able to see where their racial biases that show up when it comes to black and brown students. I believe if they were given the time and energy because they could see them differently, I believe that will help the instruction that is being offered to them. [02:08:25] And also when it comes down to your disciplinary and what kids get discipline, what kids do not, I believe those changing of the attitudes, values, and beliefs of your teachers will help that gap decrease. [02:08:46] - You made a comment before the recommendation slide when you were talking about the 23 to 26 work, just about additional training needed for our resource teachers. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about that. That was one of my most powerful groups. [02:09:02] And when I saw the culture of your team, of those teachers, and them walking in racial oblivion, and the lack of diversity of your team, you had majority white, you had Asian, you had Indian, and you had one black person. [02:09:25] And that was powerful, to see the alienation. And I don't think people were doing it on purpose. I think people were just living their lives. And when you don't see somebody that looks like you, or you see somebody that looks like you, you tend to gravitate. [02:09:41] Even in my own staff meetings, right? Black people on one side, white people on the other. It's a natural pull. And one of the things that I believe that happens, and what I saw that day when I came, is that pull. and everyone's over here connected, and people are being isolated. [02:10:01] So I believe people starting to become aware of that and start changing the culture and being more inclusive and belonging is essential. That's what I would definitely teach them. And that comes from becoming more racially aware and sensitive. - Thank you so much. [02:10:16] I appreciate that comment. - You're welcome. - How would training for this board help us become, training to help us become more racially aware. Can you give us examples of how that would influence the division, the work we do in division in terms of instruction and the way people feel connected, the way students and teachers feel connected? [02:10:41] Can you talk a little bit about that? - Yeah. - I mean, if the board were to be trained, how does that spread out? - I believe when you're navigating these challenging issues that you have coming at you, that you'll have a lens about how the white supremacy tenants impact, also the tenants of the subjugate, the marginalized group, and you have more awareness around how this impacts the entire system that you guys are operating out of. [02:11:16] And I don't know if it's a joke, but I ruin everyone's holidays, right? I really, Thanksgiving I ruin, July 4th I ruin, and Natasha knows, and her family gets mad at me. - I'm a witness. Because I'm going to offer you a lens that you probably never walked in. [02:11:35] And so when you say happy July 4th to me, that's not going to mean much to me. You know? So I believe the more aware that your team becomes, the more sensitive you will be to your community. Thank you. You're welcome. [02:11:50] If I could just add, as you mentioned, the achievement gap, I can't help but think about our advanced placement classes. And again, that comes from both a personal perspective and once upon a time, many, many years ago, I was a teacher. [02:12:11] But I have witnessed, again, my own children be the only black children in those advanced placement classes. And so I think that when the lens changes, the selection and the support and the opportunity presented to marginalized children, it will shift. [02:12:33] will change because I've never believed that it should only be my child for instance or the one child that there is or the few that there are and so I think it's worth looking at that and something that I would just always be an advocate for and I think it would as you mentioned earlier as you all do the work you're going to influence the policies that are created and implemented and enforced and that is going to make the difference. I think it's it's very hard for us to work on the achievement gap if we do not have this understanding and [02:13:11] this racial awareness. So I'm very much looking forward to whatever you have to offer this board. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And in my clinical practice I see these kids who are in the AP classes and the struggles they talk about being the only, having to assimilate, not being seen, not being heard. It's real. It really is real. [02:13:39] So your help to help them will definitely be powerful. So any other thoughts, wonderments, questions? I mean, I too am looking forward to this and I don't know what form it will take, but I know in 2020, the members of the board who were here, I think just three of us, went through some racial sensitivity training and my feeling out of that and the feeling that i've gotten from people who've done our culturally responsive teacher training [02:14:15] educator training is i didn't know what i didn't know i still don't know what i don't know and that's how i feel too um i got so much out of the training in 2020 but i still don't know what i don't know so i really appreciate your work with us thank you thank you i feel like it should be a annual mandatory training for us because we like we did it in 2020 and a little bit here and there thereafter but you stop thinking about it you get on to worry about other things and for me it needs [02:14:47] to keep showing up in front of me to think about this ellen is just like cpr and first aid when i worked in corrections and i worked in the hospital that was an annual training that we had to take so we can get better at it. And I agree with you. I say that wherever I go, it should be annual and it should be for all staff. Agreed. Thank you so much for your words tonight and your presentation. Just a follow up. I will make sure we get a date or dates [02:15:21] scheduled and working with the board on this. January. That's a member. Yeah. Okay. So both what we need to do right now, and then what we need to do on an ongoing basis, right? Can work on that. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. The next piece on our agenda is 8.3, equity through collective responsibility, building the conditions for every student to thrive update. I'm going to introduce Ayanna Mitchell, Director of Equity Education, and I will let her introduce her team. Good evening everybody, and Allison, we will be sorry to see you go, [02:16:00] but thank you for your support and the work you've done thus so my name is Ayanna Mitchell I'm the director of equity education before I talk about my team who will be coming up I do want to say that when Gene and I were talking about his presentation I told him it dovetailed well into our presentation because it really put a light on some pieces that you know know in our culturally responsive education programming we really are talking about instructional practice that meets all students needs and how we [02:16:33] create engaging learning environments and how we how we embed our culturally responsive cultural competencies into curriculum and practice but it does not get into racism it does not get into racial inequities deeply because we're really talking about student experiences with instruction. Not that it's not touched, but that is a very important part of what is mandatory in understanding the sustainable long-term change when we're talking about closing achievement gaps and moving this work forward. With that being said, I am very [02:17:11] happy to invite my team up to talk to you about the work that they have been doing around equity through collective responsibility and building the conditions for every student to thrive. We have Dr. Melissa Hairston, John Will Donnelly, who is our newest team member, and pickleball champion Megan Washburn. So I'm going to turn it over to them. Madam Chair and members of the board, before we get started with our presentation I'm glad that Jean went [02:17:49] back and had a seat because I really cannot put into words how powerful that training was with our diversity resource teachers and they are just really on edge to can we go into year two so I just wanted to say that before we got started that it was a powerful training and they are looking for more so we hope that will make that connection again this year real organizational change is built on a foundation of deliberate steps over time when we look back at the historical milestones of our equity department we see a legacy built by [02:18:27] dedicated leaders and equity specialists now called equity coordinators who work tirelessly to elevate awareness establish dedicated frameworks and center the voices of our students today we want to tell the story of how we are continuing to build a unified path forward where every educator is equipped and every student is positioned to thrive. [02:18:53] That brings us to this defining moment in our journey where equity and instruction truly became one. For a decade, equity and instruction operated as strong partners walking side by side. [02:19:10] Today, they stand integrated. The convergence isn't just an organizational shift. It's a fundamental change in how we define excellence. By embedding equity directly into core instruction, we are taking a direct evidence-based approach to ending the predictive value of race, class, gender, and special capacities for all students. [02:19:39] And we've identified four strategic opportunities, that being strategic alignment, coordinator partnerships, shared learning, and expanded collaboration. With this strategic alignment, are bringing our instructional goals and culturally responsive practices into complete harmony through coordinate coordinator partnerships we are building daily shoulder-to-shoulder collaboration between equity and content coordinators through shared learning we are designing professional development as one unified team and through expanded collaboration we are deepening our daily [02:20:19] connection with school leaders on the ground to move forward from alignment to daily practice our team sought to bring in many voices we wanted to bring all those voices to the table so we collaborated with instructional coordinators with department leaders with school administrators to craft the 2026-27 cultural competency framework and um miss mitchell presented that earlier [02:20:53] this year and that was approved by the board so you have had that interaction with with that new framework this gives our entire division a single shared vision common language and clear expectations that are tied directly to our divisions mission and goals the 2026-27 cultural competency framework wasn't created in isolation so again as i said a moment ago wanted to bring in all of those voices so that we have everyone has that common language across the district [02:21:30] it was co-created and we had employees across every role helped to shape it at our leadership retreat we actually heard the that um that communicated out we heard someone said i can see myself in this framework so you know that was that was the benefit of continually bringing in those voices working together with others and making sure that this as gene was saying earlier that this work lands and makes sense for everybody, not just our educators, not just our administrators, so that we're able to reach all students. And so just [02:22:08] want to leave you with this thought. This is for our team. This is our North Star. So when we think about instruction, equity has to be at the center of that. It's not an initiative that sits beside instruction. It's a defining, excellent piece of instruction. So when we think about that instruction, if we're thinking about moving these gaps and closing the gaps and touching all of our students and reaching those different groups that we mentioned in our mission, then we have to look at equity this way and it has to be our North Star [02:22:42] and yours as well. Hello, Porn. Thanks for having us tonight. In order to move instruction and change practices mr cash gave some words that i wish i could put up here now see it name it change it this is essentially the work that we do we create awareness we help people learn then that leads to application and then leadership and that helps this work expand to distributed leadership over the years we have started to expand the way that we offer learning [02:23:21] for teachers and we have started to create in collaboration with instructional coaches and professional learning the novice teacher programming and the new teacher programming that will help increase awareness and learning for teachers as soon as they come into the school division but our goal isn't just simply to create knowledgeable educators it is to create educators who can translate this knowledge into action so we're also expanding our programming around application and these are the ways that that teachers dig into the work we're in school [02:23:58] supporting principals and teacher leaders and our diversity resource teachers and other staff who can help to facilitate coach analyze problem solve within their own contexts so the goal here is to create leaders who can who can lead with equity in mind [02:24:22] we're also how do i get y'all what do i do here i am a mac user thank you no you're good no i want that slide right now thank you um and this year we started to expand [02:25:02] even further and we're moving beyond traditional instructional roles to partner with technology and edep teaching assistants school resource officers and other classified staff because students don't experience school in departments, they experience it the moment they step on the school bus. [02:25:23] So being able to have conversations with bus drivers about what it means to be culturally responsive starts our students days off in a really positive way. They come into the school ready to learn and now we're owning this work together as a division. So I did want to talk a little bit about some of the data. Since 2016, these programs have been in existence. These are the number of people that have engaged in our programming. We've had 197 certifications, [02:26:01] 1,280 micro-credentials, and 1,521 folks have engaged in our book study. And as we're thinking about this data, it's not about who's completed it. This is about who's committing to the work. [02:26:19] Every CRE credential and micro-credential book study represents an intentional choice by an educator to reflect on their practice, examine their bias, strengthen their instruction, and consider how their actions may or may not create barriers for students towards their success. [02:26:38] Thinking about division-wide this past year, these are our numbers. We have 54 percent of the division has a credential in some way. 30 percent are in progress. That means that they've done a a book study or they've done at least one of our courses and there's only 15% left that haven't started yet. If you look at our schools, we need to look at where participation is particularly strong and there's a significant [02:27:16] movement. Behind these numbers are adults who are learning together, school leadership teams, diversity resource teachers, and teacher leaders who are creating space for reflection and learning. And this is important because the goal isn't simply to have a micro credential. The goal is to have schools and teachers and leaders who are asking what is my impact, what might I be missing, and what are the barriers that students might be experiencing, and how can I shift what I'm doing to help support students in their growth. I did [02:27:50] want to take a minute to highlight some of our schools this year. Burley, Journey, and Walton had some of the top movement and earning credentials this year, and and that's a testament to their leadership. The school's new administrators and existing administrators have really put in a concerted effort to help support teachers through this process. And then our elementary schools, as you know some of the teachers have an extension, they don't have to particularly go through it right now, but these three schools really had a [02:28:27] lot of movement this year, so seeing those numbers is pretty incredible as well. And then Lakeside, henley and broadestwood elementary school you can see their total completion right there but these schools have 100 engagement meaning that everyone in their building has started a book study or a course thank you guys for letting me be here um when we talk about our work uh one of [02:29:03] the most important things and the shifts that we're making is recognizing that equity isn't just another thing that we're asking our educators to do it's about building upon what we're already you doing in the classrooms so rather than creating equity initiatives that live alongside instruction our changing vision is asking how does equity show up in the way that we plan how does it show up in the way that we build relationships the way that we respond to and use data and the way that we design learning experiences for our students that means working as part of the [02:29:41] curriculum and instruction to think about professional learning instructional design, data, relationships, and leadership moves to create conditions for us to end the predictive value of race, class, gender, and special capacities. [02:30:02] And this is where the work becomes tangible. When an educator says trust starts with listening, that isn't separate from instruction at all. In fact, that is instructional practice at the heart. [02:30:20] When a teacher creates a classroom where students feel safe enough to take risks, that directly influences their ability to learn. When an educator examines who in my class is participating, who is being challenged, who is being supported, and whose voice may actually be missing, that is equity work, but it's also simply high quality teaching. [02:30:48] So it's not about building equity on the side of instruction. It's about helping make equity inseparable from the way that we teach, lead, and the way that we improve. [02:31:07] - All right, that's sort of the fun part. And so this is just some pictures from when we were presenting at the National Alliance for Partnering in Equity. And we connected with this organization two years ago. So two years straight, we have been asked to present. [02:31:26] And in the bottom corner there, you'll see that we had highly attended in both of the years that we were presenting. And actually this year tripled the number of participants in our session. So I'm not saying all that to brag. [02:31:42] I just want to let you know that what work is, is being representative of Albemarle County Public Schools in other spaces. So I just want to bring that to your attention. And so, Ms. Mitchell has a knack for how she hires her equity coordinators, because for some reason, it seems like our top Clifton strength is Lerner. [02:32:05] Her top Clifton strength is Lerner, so is mine, and so is Will's. And so with that being said, not only do we show up every day to do this work and do the designing of the curriculums and meeting with teachers and building those relationships, we also want to make sure that we are deep learners in the work that we do. [02:32:28] And so I mentioned the NAEP conference and the pictures that you saw on the previous slide. We've also had opportunities to present at AMLE, which is the Association for Middle-Level Education. And I also want to just thank Dr. Kaiser. [02:32:45] Dr. Kaiser every year gives us an opportunity to do that presenting and get, actually got that presenting bug in all of us when you invite us to present to Teachers of Promise. So we thank you for that opportunity. And then coming up in November, in December of this year, we'll be headed to Dallas, Texas for our first opportunity to present at Learning Forward. [02:33:12] And so as I named, we are all learners, and so we don't take this work lightly or by happenstance. We're looking for what are the best practices, how can we embed those practices in our classrooms to make impact for students, what is the best research evidence and best practices, and that is what we try to model and share and provide through our professional learning [02:33:37] so that that impacts our teachers and ultimately our students and families. [02:33:54] So moving forward isn't just about keeping momentum. It's also about embedding our progress deeply into the foundation that it becomes how we all operate. That seems and that means taking high standards and equitable practices and treating them as one and the same. [02:34:13] It also means giving our teachers and our principals the agency to remove real learning barriers in real time. Ultimately, it's about constructing resilient systems that outlast any single school year and deliver long-term results for all. [02:34:28] So some of the critical goals for us and the work is how does those translate to the commitments in the daily classroom reality? [02:34:44] We're focusing on three intentional drivers right now, expanding. As you've heard, there's a lot of new pathways for our novice teachers that are new to the profession, pathways for new teachers to ACPS, as well as professional learning structures for all of our elementary and secondary legacy teachers. There's work that we're doing with departments across the division to build that cultural competency and growth. [02:35:14] And second, we're also expanding in our roles with instruction. So the collaboration that we're doing with teams in instruction. what does it look like in the EL departments? What does it look like in the SPED departments? What does it look like for a secondary math and the list goes on? How do we deepen those connections and those relationships so that silo and that work doesn't live by itself and it's collaborated and it's with equity in mind? Second, we are deepening the work by strengthening with partnerships and leaders to support 90 day planning, data informed conversations, collaborating [02:35:53] learning walks to help teachers share and receive feedback about their practice and more just today i was at acel having these conversations with the language arts teams and the conversation that really hit home for me today was one of the teachers saying not starting in a traditional classroom uh already made the journey that much different uh it didn't have the traditional walls and the desks that we think of when we think of learning uh that that already kind of shifts [02:36:27] your mind and how do you sit in that space as an educator and present work that is relevant and meaningful and creates a sense of belonging for our students in a way that is deepening them and their learning um and uh third our aim is to sustain it by embedding the cultural competency framework and making certain that all roles across the division are represented as you guys saw we ensure that this work remains permanent. So this brings us to the core conviction behind [02:37:03] our approach. Our goal is not to simply have this as a checkoff for training requirements. Train is just a vehicle. The destination is to create clarity, consistency, and shared responsibility throughout the division. When equity belongs to all of us from leadership across the division to the classroom, it becomes our standard operating procedure. That is how we we build a system where every single student gets what they need to succeed. [02:37:35] Y'all didn't think I would get through this without talking about pickleball, did you? I have found that when I get better at pickleball, I get better at my work. And when I get better at my work, I get better at pickleball. [02:37:51] So this is one of those moments. I've been fortunate to be a part of several championship pickleball teams. People often assume championship teams are built on talent. Talent matters, but that's never enough. What I remember is the culture that we built long before we even stepped on the court. [02:38:08] We cared for one another, we checked in with each other, we celebrated together, we supported through setbacks, and created a shared vision of what we wanted to accomplish together. We learned to trust one another and lean into each other's strengths, and recognized that each person on the team had something valuable to contribute. [02:38:27] Looking back, I realize that championship teams are built long before championships are won. They're built when people stop playing for themselves and start playing for one another. They're built when every person understands that success belongs to all of us. [02:38:43] And I've also learned something else. Champions aren't defined because there's, sorry, every championship season has a defining moment. A moment when you're behind, a moment when pressure rises, a moment when the outcome is uncertain. [02:39:01] Champions aren't defined by those moments. They're not defined because those moments don't come. They're defined because they make a choice. They choose to adapt instead of break. They choose to trust instead of retreat. They choose to keep moving forward together. [02:39:19] And as I think of the year ahead, I believe that we in ACPS are approaching one of these moments, and we're ready for what's next. We've spent the last couple of years building the culture, the trust, the shared language, and the leadership that championship teams require. [02:39:36] We've expanded collective responsibility so that this work no longer resides with one person, one office, one principal, one leader, one bus driver, one teacher, now comes our choice. We can continue to strengthen the conditions that allow every student to thrive and by trusting one another, leaning into one another and staying committed to the work even when it becomes difficult. [02:39:59] Because just like championship teams, our success will never be determined by one person. It will be determined by what we choose to build together. So with that being said, Dr. Hayes, we are ready. anchored in service and driven by excellence and board I just want to say thank you for your continued support in this work and the things that you want [02:40:25] for students we can't do this without you thank you questions comments oh yes we see this list every year about the schools I don't have the previous ones in front of me but have you seen some schools go up and has there been a great deal of change or are the ones that we looked at three years ago that were [02:41:01] probably not focusing on it as much as others or that are they still in that lower band of lack of participation or has there been much change are you when you say when they're going up are you talking about engagement like the process here yeah every year we get this are there some schools that are outpacing others and improving the amount of people that are participating from year to year that does change so that's why i wanted to make sure i highlighted these schools these three [02:41:38] middle middle schools and these three elementary schools this year have outpaced the other schools in the division in terms of engagement and completion is that does that answer your question yes yes um you could go further into the pickleball world tell me where these schools would be if they were um teams and how those brackets would work i would say they were advanced maybe a 4.5 or 5.0 i i don't know if we should read any because we get this every year i feel like we should read [02:42:15] something into it about the individual schools but I don't want to read too much that is not there. So I think when Megan was doing her wrap-up and just talked about conditions, I think instead of looking at who's moving and why and you know why does this always stay at the bottom, that some of the systems and conditions like the partnerships between the equity coordinator and the principals and the administrators. Also just thinking about 90-day plans and [02:42:51] some of the other conditions and things that have been put in place in the Department of Instruction. Just going back to what I said at the very beginning, instead of having us running parallel, we're now converged together. So just having that comprehensive look across both the equity lens as well as the instruction lens, that has led to some of the changes that we're noticing, too. [02:43:15] And I just to shout out Henley, for example, just thinking about the planning and executing of helping your your staff move through these the modules or they move through the courses. Like, for example, they they clustered by grade and so being a competitive admin that they are out at Henley, you know, one was like Well, you know, all of our people are going to get done. [02:43:43] So just those little kind of bantering back and forth, you know, the tongue-in-cheek kind of, you know, those kind of incentives would get people going. But then at the heart of it, once you got into that work, you know, just really diving in deep and seeing some awesome work from those administrators. [02:44:01] So to answer your question, a number of different things, systems being one of those things and improving those systems leads to some of the results we're seeing. I think kind of going off of what Ellen was saying, I've noticed that some of our more diverse schools are the ones that have the lower credentialed or in progress. [02:44:27] is there a correlation or is that just a coincidence and is there a plan to try to get those more diverse schools more into CRT? Unfortunately one of the things I could tell you is there's very high turnover in many of those schools yeah so and I think you know that yeah so I think when you're asking that question that might not be the correct question for that particular situation because if we had long the teachers stayed there over time you'd probably see a larger number of completion per school per year by percentage and these are [02:45:05] percentages so schools that have less teachers it's there's going to be a percentage that looks different even when I think about Ivy they've gone to a hundred percent then they've dropped down and then there's new staff and then they're in the program so there's different ways to look at it I think ultimately when I think about the completion I feel excited about completion but my big question keeps being so now that you have all these people completed what are we going to do with it and I think that's the more important question is how are we going to be able to really support schools that keep having these ebbs and flows and numbers I think the new novice teacher [02:45:43] programming with the cultural competency training built into it will really allow for that to look different. So even when we're looking at percentages like at a Woodbrook, their percentages may or may not be high, but they also have a higher turnover rate, and those new teachers and novice teachers that are coming into their building, which oftentimes end up becoming brand new teachers that are coming in, they're actually getting their cultural competency training built into their programming. So those percentages look like that because of the legacy programming that we have but that doesn't mean that they're not getting [02:46:18] trained. Great point, thank you. The data that you show is really looking at the micro-credentialing or the credentialing or the book study of our instructional staff, but that's only about half of our staff in terms of, well it's only about half of our staff. So what's happening with folks in the front office or driving the school buses or other important jobs? Great question, so thank you for that too. We're doing a lot of work right now to kind of lay that [02:46:54] foundation. We're doing the partnerships with the directors of transportation, with school resource officers, with EDEP, in these sessions of how do we align the work, how do we build this cultural competency across, for all to get this and receive this this learning. Because even for me when I kind of think, when I came into this position, right, I was really hungry to work with the departments because a lot of the attention as we've addressed is on the teachers where it lies and lives in the classrooms but kids are around people every single day and it was so powerful for me to be in that space with EDP and [02:47:31] talk to them about how it's not just after school it's extended learning and what does that extended learning look like for our kids that are there in those pieces so that is work that we're continuing to do and continuing to grow as we step forward with the new cultural competency framework and laying the foundation for that across the division and all operating staff, operational staff. [02:47:55] I do need to add something to that. I hate to jump in their story, but we also only have those three people doing all of this work. So I think that if we're talking about what does that look like moving forward into other departments, we also have to think about prioritizing where our staffing is and who they're helping. [02:48:17] And as much as we would love to be able to go into departments and do deep work there as well, we right now are even struggling to prioritize which buildings need to get them to be in the spaces to really support and coach the teachers and work with the PLCs. [02:48:33] Because each of them right now are carrying nine buildings individually that they are working with and sites that they are working with and supporting. And that includes the DRT, that includes the building administrators, And that includes everybody who's going through the programming, which as you saw in the previous slide here, the 30% that's in progress, they are specifically supporting, reviewing and giving feedback to. [02:48:59] And the numbers of people that went through last year that they highlighted, they actually give individual feedback to each one of those individuals. So one of the biggest challenges we have when it comes to really embedding this across the systems in the ways that we want to and seeing the impact and the change in student achievement for years has been that we have a very small staff who is really working with a very large group of people to get the impact that we're trying to get. [02:49:28] So they do wonderful work with the resources we have, but the resources are very small. And as we cut instructional coaches and we cut other programs that's there to support us, that means they have to pick that up. So that becomes a challenge. [02:49:44] So right now, we are actually trying to prioritize which buildings they're even going to be able to really spend their time in as we think about closing student gaps, because that becomes the more important part, although we are finding ourselves still supporting other spaces. [02:50:01] A pretty powerful advocacy statement there, Ms. Mitchell. I've been doing this a while. That was going to be my question. I don't know if anyone else's questions, but as we begin to look at budgeting and what are those things, with this eye to what are those things that are supporting closing that achievement gap and lifting up the achievement of everyone, that was going to be one of my questions. [02:50:26] what you like beginning like it sounds like additional so additional teachers is it uh additional equity coordinator positions that are needed and i just want to chime in um to say thank you to this group um aiana stole a little bit of my thunder because i was going to say the same thing they went from a team of i believe five at the time equity specialists down to three um and in addition to working with the staff in the schools the different departments they also have to get folks like me across the line, and I'm probably not the best student, Ms. Mitchell stayed [02:51:02] on top of me for my homework, but I was able to complete my micro-credential this past year and it really was an eye-opening experience, not just about, you know, thinking, I came in thinking one way about culturally responsive education, and it really challenged me to think about my beliefs as a person from the South and how I love to work together and be collaborative, but realizing some people are individualistic, and that was a challenge, And so how to work through that, past that, and then how to become a better leader through that process. [02:51:32] And so I just say kudos to them and to watch them pull together in one room leaders from departments all over the division to make sure this work spoke to the individuals that do different things, whether it is technology, transportation, food service, human resources, so that each person could see themselves in this work. [02:51:52] So just thank you all to everything that you do for the collaboration you have now with the Department of Instruction. I'm a little biased still, I still call them mine. They're all mine, but I still call them mine. But thank you for everything that you're doing and just keep up the good work. [02:52:10] - Thank you very much, appreciate it. - Thank you so much. - And the next item on our agenda is a 8.4 attendance update and year end data review. Dr. Daphne. - Good evening again, Chair Blinn and Vice Chair Spillman and board members. [02:52:28] Our next presentation focuses on an area that is fundamental to student success, attendance, and ensuring that students are connected to school and learning each day. Over the past year, Albemarle County Public Schools has continued to strengthen this approach to attendance by improving procedures, using data more intentionally, and building a tiered system of support that brings together schools, families, and community partners to address barriers that may prevent students from attending school consistently. [02:53:04] Tonight, Dr. Russell Carlock will share an update on this work, including what we've learned from last year's attendance data, the progress we are seeing across our schools, and the ways we are continuing to strengthen proactive data-driven systems to support students and families. [02:53:24] And Dr. Carlock, I will turn it over to you. - Thank you, Dr. Kaiser, and thank you members of the school board. Good evening, I'm Rusty Carlock, and I work with attendance in our school division, so I'm excited to share with you our data from last school year. So we're gonna look at some of the changes that we implemented in 2025 and 2026, review the data from that school year, look at our multi-tiered system of support, and some ideas about going forward in terms of building more proactive data-driven systems. [02:53:54] then we'll have time for any questions. So first of all, let's look at what changed in 2025 and 2026. We revised our administrative procedures around attendance for clarity and also made them more available for our division attendance teams. We created a division attendance team that reached out regularly to our schools and were able to provide direct support to our attendance teams at each of our schools. We adopted a tiered support structure that deepened our partnership with community agencies such as Region 10 and Family Support to help families and children that were having attendance challenges to overcome those challenges. [02:54:30] We also improved our systems to connect schools to the attendance multidisciplinary team, which I'll talk about in a little bit. That was implemented two years ago, so last year was our second year of implementation, and that's a partnership with DSS, Department of Social Services, Region 10, Charlottesville Department of Human Services, and Court Services as a way to prevent students' involvement in criminal justice system. We also created additional resources for families to better understand attendance procedures in Elmoke County. First, a few definitions before we look at the data. So first, a qualified absentee rate. So this is what [02:55:06] the BDOE publishes. It includes only students enrolled 50% or more of the school year. That's different from an effective rate where you see all of the students who may have been chronically absent for that particular year. Another [02:55:20] Another important issue with looking at the data from the state, it includes flexible learning time. So this is out of school learning used to buy back missed school days. This was a state run program that was introduced during school closures in the pandemic. It has now been into its fifth year and the state is continuing it. When we look at the data tonight, it will not include that flexible learning time. The reason for that is it gives us a better historical look at our data because the state's data, everybody's data is inflated now is one way to look at it because that flexible learning time allows you to count one full school day [02:55:58] for three hours of flexible learning time. So the data I'm going to be showing you is not including that flexible learning time and we also don't have the updated video we report on flexible learning time included yet so that will be coming out soon. Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more the school year for any reason. That's important to distinguish from truancy which deals only with unexcused absences accrued by a student. [02:56:24] Both of these are important. One important shift in looking at this is understanding that any absence, whether it's an excused absence or an unexcused absence, is lost learning, and we need to have systems in place to support students to get caught up when they're not in school. [02:56:40] So let's take a look at the data. First I want to highlight that we do have a historical chronic absenteeism dashboard that's available that has that VDOE data is directly from the VDOE data that we get and we were able to create a dashboard so that the public and you and anyone else can use it to look at each of our different groups in our schools so it provides a much deeper look at our data if anyone is interested and it is available to the public again right now it goes up to 24/25 because the state hasn't released the 25/26 figures yet. This is our data from last year so [02:57:19] I want to highlight that it was one of only two years in the last decade in which we improved our chronic absentee rate. Our chronic absenteeism rate fell by 12%. And I want to give a big shout out to all of our teachers, all of our bus drivers, everyone who is working to get our kids into school because this improvement is very much a result of their work. Absenteeism is often a symptom of something else that's going on and the best way to resolve that symptom is through student engagement. And I also want to thank all of our parents who work hard [02:57:54] every day to get their students up, ready to go to school, onto the school bus. As a parent of two children, I know that that is a struggle every morning and we are deeply appreciative of everyone who contributed to that. This dropped, our chronic absentee rate dropped across all groups. So for all students, for black students, for our English learners, for our Latino students, students with disabilities, white students, we saw improvements for all groups. And this is important because it shows that the work that we did last year was broad-based. It wasn't just at one or two schools, it was across Albemarle County Public Schools that we saw improvement. Again, when we look at [02:58:33] our different levels of schools, elementary, high, and middle, we also saw improvement across all of those levels, especially in middle school. We saw a huge jump in attendance in middle school last year. High school is a place we still want to work on. Elementary already had some improved rates from previous years. That being said, they still showed improvement. So we had broad-based improvement. Some key metrics. So in 2024-2025, we had 2,000 chronically absent students. Last year, that number was down to 1,679. When we look at our overall attendance rate, so this is [02:59:09] different because it's not just looking at the students who aren't coming into school. This looks at everyone and it looks at what average attendance looks like in the school division and we went from 94.25 to 94.58. That may seem like a small jump but it's a substantial meaningful change. It's 7,809 additional school days for our children and a cost savings of around $703,000 based on economists estimate that each school day is worth about $90 of what you would have to spend in tutoring and other remediation services to catch up for that lost learning. [02:59:45] This is looking at all of our school's qualified chronic absentee rate for 2025, 2026. Again, flexible learning time is not included in this number. And you can see that we have a wide variation. So our school with the lowest chronic absentee rate, it was 3.56% of students were chronically absent. [03:00:05] At our elementary school with the highest rate, it was nearly one in five students. So that's something we need to work on. We have too much variation across our schools, and we need more of our schools to do a better job, and we all need to work together as a community to get our kids to school. [03:00:22] When we look at improvement, it's important not just to look at where schools are, but also where they've been. So this is looking at percentage improvement in chronic absenteeism for all of our schools. And one thing that's really exciting about this chart is 22 of 24 Albemarle County Public Schools improved chronic absenteeism last year. [03:00:42] 92% of our schools showed improvement. And I really want to focus on that top school, Greer Elementary School, 42% is a remarkable jump. That is a huge improvement in attendance. And so we reached out to their attendance team to learn a little bit more about what did you do last year that really got kids into the building, into the school in a different way than you had before. And a few things that we just wanted to highlight that the Greer Elementary team did. They had weekly attendance meetings using overall and individual data. So not just looking at the school, but looking at individual students data [03:01:16] and looking at assigning tiered support to data trends. This is really important at looking at not only where a student is, but where they've been and recognize an improvement. So you might have a student who is still chronically absent this year, but last year they went from a 20% rate to let's say they only missed 11%. That's almost doubling the amount of school that they're getting. So looking at students and not just seeing them from a deficit mindset, but thinking about how can we improve and we can support you getting to school more. The other piece is assigning the right supports for what's going on in a [03:01:56] student's life. So really digging in and understanding at an individual level what are the challenges facing a student not coming to school and making sure that you're giving the right support. Because if a student's not coming to school due transportation, giving them tutoring is not going to make a difference. We really need to dig into what the individual level challenges are. They also did a lot of individual and class prizes for high attendance, recognizing students with 100 percent attendance. We have many students who come to school every day and recognizing those students for that hard work that they're doing for coming to school every day. Also proactive classroom teacher outreach and communication. [03:02:30] Parents often say they want to hear from teachers first. Teachers are the best ones at showing the academic impact of absences and also the emotional impact. Kids miss their friends when they don't come to school and a teacher can provide that perspective in a way that an administrator or other people that have don't have those relationships with the students can't do. [03:02:50] Also the use of the minivan that they have to drive to homes. Sometimes they would have home meetings and home visits with families. It could be for example that the family took their child somewhere that they needed to go to but didn't have transportation to get them back to school. they were able to find out what was going on and then could actually get them back to school that same day. So I want to talk a little bit about a tiered support system that we use. So our tiered attendance support system is to make sure that everyone gets support when they need it. And the first level is tier one. This is really about celebrating success and building community. So doing some of those things like giving prizes to the classrooms that have the highest attendance [03:03:28] level, recognizing students, and really just building relationships and understanding what kids need so they're engaged and they come to school. The next level is making a plan and monitoring progress. Some of these are come from state mandates but it's also really good practice. So when a student has five unexcused absences we're required by the state to create an attendance plan. Again that's it's not just a document it's something that we use to have an empathy interview with the family with the child to understand what's what's the barrier to coming to school and how can we support you so we can listen to families and we can understand how we can better support their children coming to school. Tier 3 [03:04:08] again this is a state mandated piece but it's also something that is really important and this is where we move into looking at other community supports outside of what we can do in the school that can support a family or student. Oftentimes there are issues there could be an issue for example with mental health for the either the child or someone in the family that's impacting attendance, and so we can work with our Region 10 partners around that to provide support for the family. There could be also issues with poverty, with not having access to basic resources, and working with our family support workers who work for the Department of Social Services. They're not involved [03:04:45] with Child Protective Services or anything like that. They're specifically to help families get access to the resources they need in the community, and that's also a place where we can connect families to those kinds of supports if they need it. And then the final step and again this is new so this is prior to it used to be that a school would refer directly to a court around truancy for extreme cases. Now we have a multidisciplinary team that includes directors and people at leadership levels from our community partners so that they can fast-track for example if we have a student that's on a wait list for a mental health appointment and they come to this multidisciplinary team [03:05:25] this can be fast-tracked so they get access to the mental health support they need prior to to prevent involvement in the criminal justice system. That being said, this is a look back to all of our students who based on the state's definition would have met the definition of being truant and therefore could have been involved in some capacity. You can see those numbers really jumped during the pandemic. They've since come down some, although they're still too high. The last two years is when we implemented the multidisciplinary team. [03:05:57] I do want to highlight one aspect of success is last year we referred fewer students to court and fewer parents to court than we had in previous years while also reducing chronic absenteeism. So we reduced court involvement and reduced chronic absenteeism in the same year. That being said, you can see that there's very small numbers or percentages, proportions of students who have been referred to the multidisciplinary team, so we do think that there are more students out there that could benefit from those additional services, and so we're continuing to work with our schools to ensure that they, everyone understands the opportunities that are available to students who really need it. [03:06:32] So going forward, we want to have more proactive outreach, so use data to identify students who are having trouble coming to school earlier, so that we don't have to wait until it's a bigger problem. We can get them the support they need sooner. Increase division level support to school attendance teams, increase fidelity to the tiered system of support as we mentioned making sure that we have the right supports matched to the individual needs of the students and families and increasing collaboration with our community partners we also are going to support our high schools to develop common practices around tardies as that was an issue that came up last year and we know that tardies are [03:07:09] associated with attendance so now we can have any questions if you have it really impressive first you mentioned the minivan can you Talk a little bit about what that involves. [03:07:24] Yeah, so a few years ago, each school was provided a minivan that could be used for transportation services, and it can be used from anything from field trips, for sports activities. Many of our schools use it for issues with attendance. [03:07:40] So if there's a child who's not in school, and they call home, and they find out, actually this child could be in school, they're ready to learn, they're home for another reason, not sick they can go and pick that child up have a home meeting with the family and then bring the child to school and is that a teacher is that a counselor or the administrator that it's that trip it's usually not a teacher because the teachers are busy in the classroom it's usually an administrator that does the attendance runs for example at greer but there are also some other [03:08:13] staff members that could help with that too yeah i want to give a shout out i'm glad you mentioned Greer. The work that Steve Saunders and his APs and staff have done, just tremendous. Looking forward to continued growth with Ms. Browdy. That's great. Other comments and questions? I'll just make a quick comment. Just thank you for the depth of research around what are some of the challenges and the reasons for success. And I just want to say thank you to the team, Community [03:08:53] Partnerships, for your engagement at the different events. If you think about the schools that come come out to back-to-school events, back-to-school bashes, to set up tables, to engage with the families ahead of school starting, to make sure that the students show up and are encouraged and excited. That's because of the work you all do. [03:09:09] So thank you. So you know how much I love data. And to answer this here, but one of the questions I think about is you showed some of the changes by school, the changes by elementary, middle high, right? [03:09:28] High school, it's going to be a harder one to move. The movement we've seen in middle school, I think, is huge. And so I think about, like, what are those year-- we need to improve attendance across the board. But there are some years that are very specific, right? There's research out there that says pre-K attendance-- actually, pre-K and K attendance-- is very important because it-- right, it both-- I use the word trains, but trains both the family and the child. [03:09:54] Like, going to school every day is important, right? And so if you see cohorts that have good pre-K and K attendance, there's kind of hope that you, we're kind of changing that cycle that we've started in during COVID. [03:10:09] Same with middle school, right? It is hard, like, you know, luckily my high schoolers are not out of the house, but it's really hard, you know, for high schoolers, for many different reasons, including mental health reasons, to come to school some days. but kind of when you begin to do work in middle school, I hope that transition. [03:10:29] So I think one of the things to think about is, can we look at attendance, like look at some of this data at some of those grade levels to say, hey, is there extra energy in some grades that we wanna push forward to help that long-term trend continue? [03:10:47] - Yeah, that's a great point. And if you look at the data by grade level, it's really interesting. It's on both ends where we have the highest levels of chronic absenteeism. It's in kindergarten and it's our seniors, which makes sense in some ways. And so to your point about pre-K, we last year brought into our division attendance team a member of our pre-K team. [03:11:06] And for this year in our administrative procedures for elementary schools with pre-K programs, we were requiring that a member of that pre-K team be a part of our attendance team, which isn't something that always happened before, even though they're not a part of Virginia state law in terms of the compulsory education law, we can still provide the same levels of support and do everything we do with our other students in our pre-K classrooms to build that culture of attendance. [03:11:31] Thank you so much. And I definitely, again, thank you to everyone for the work on this. As I look at national data, as I look at state data, we are making significant improvements around more than others. And so a huge thank you to everyone, every principal, every attendance officer, every office manager, and every parent out there who's helping make sure coming to school every day is so important. [03:11:57] Anything else on this one? Thank you. Just as a reminder, we added 8.5, an update to our professional boundaries and prevention of sexual misconduct and abuse. [03:12:14] I think-- Dr. Karloch, do you have a quick presentation, or somewhat like-- I do not have a presentation, but I can introduce it. Well, you can introduce it. Sorry, I don't mean to-- Dr. Kolak, I do have it posted on the screen if you want to pull it up. [03:12:31] Oh, sorry, you're ahead of me. Yeah, if you just want to share what kind of came up as the training was happening in the moment for-- and the challenges we came out and kind of the recommendations for addressing it. [03:12:53] Thank you. Yes, so by and large, the training has been a wonderful success, and very thankful to all of our administrators, all of our teachers, all of our staff members who have participated. It has been quite an endeavor to roll out a training for that many people that quickly, and it has gone quite well. [03:13:11] That being said, the board received quite a bit of feedback around two particular issues in the policy as it was written. One was more an issue of clarity around what is a one-on-one meeting and how do we distinguish that from everyday interactions with students. [03:13:29] And so one change is to define a one-on-one meeting for clarity in the policy itself. And this is the definition as the policy is proposed to be amended. A one-on-one meeting is an intentional isolated encounter between an adult and an individual student held outside of normal group instruction, typically in an office or a closed room with a window. [03:13:53] The second issue that arose was around CCing parents or guardians on every email received or sent to a student. And the primary concern around this was safety for counselors especially, that email can be used often by students as a way to reach out for help around personal safety, around issues of self-harm and other issues of grave safety that counselors were very concerned about and other staff as well. [03:14:29] And so the proposed amendment there is, rather than these systems must allow access to parents' guardians to observe all communication with their child and including them via email, it says all emails to students by adults will be provided to parents upon written request to the principal. [03:14:46] And it continues to reiterate that adults must restrict one-on-one electronic communications to platforms that are provided by and accessible to Albemarle County Public Schools. It also reiterates that adults shall not use personal phones to communicate with students unless using an application provided by Albemarle County Public Schools that allows for accessibility to parents and guardians. [03:15:09] These are the two proposed changes. I believe these were shared with the school board before. [03:15:24] So I'm looking at you guys, because I was like, and just for the public, as the staff was going through the training, we had a number of people could reach out to the board, but also directly to Dr. Hayes and Dr. Karlek to just say, I'm in support of this. [03:15:47] But as I think about it, some of these were already exceptions or different things we kind of brought up. you heard us grappling with when we did this and so we had asked you know them to look at all the recommendations and questions and make some suggestions to this the board has seen this before this meeting but wanted to because it needs to be part of the official policy wanted to bring it forward have a discussion if there's any questions if there's any edits to it so [03:16:24] This is not, the board hasn't seen this for the first time, so if you're wondering why we may not have a lengthy discussion about this, this is why. I'm just grateful that it's an ever-evolving document and that we are taking feedback and adjusting it as necessary. [03:16:40] I think that's a really important step in the right direction. Yeah, and just on that, I mean, because a number of people have brought this up to me as well, is this, you know, oftentimes people see us only updating, changing, editing policies and bringing them forward at a five-year cycle. [03:17:01] And I think this is one of the changes you'll see happening is what are policies we need to bring forward for revision, and even if they're revised last meeting, as we begin to implement them and see what are the unintended circumstances, the challenges that we're facing, working together with the school system to make sure that we continue with the policy, but also make sure they are able to implement them to the fullest extent possible. [03:17:33] Do we need to make a motion to adopt this policy as amended? We do need to make a motion, thank you, to adopt this policy as amended in front of us, or however we want to say that. I move that the school board adopts this policy with the redlined modifications as presented by Dr. Carlock. [03:18:00] Second. Moved by Dr. Acoff. I'm going to say seconded by Ms. Spillman. Because we did a roll call on the first, I'd like to do-- on the original, I'd like to do a roll call on this, if Clerk Thompson doesn't mind. [03:18:18] Ms. Osborne? Yes. Ms. Spillman? Yes. Dr. Acoff? Yes. Mr. Beard? Yes. Mr. Dillenbeck? Yes. Ms. Lee? Yes. Chair Berlin? Yes. The motion carries. Thank you so much. And thank you for everyone working on training and implementing this policy. [03:18:36] We truly appreciate it. Our next item on our agenda is other business. Do I have any other business in front of me? i do i do have two things that just a couple questions that came to me during our break one is i we have been talking about doing a work session on technology in schools particularly k5 and the research behind what is is coming out i'll be working with dr hayes [03:19:15] on the and clerk thompson on the schedule probably in october or november but we can give a we can kind of confirm that with you and either share it in an email or share it at the next board meeting because i know we've had a number of it's something that mr dillenbrook has spoken up a lot about i have thought about and we've had a number of both public comments on it as well as emails about it the other piece was someone asked me to just read the timeline for the school board [03:19:48] vacancy application it is on it is online you can get it from on the website for clerk Thompson or for me but right now the application period is August 10th to the 21st so it will close on the 21st and again remember this is an uh this this is uh you can live anywhere in the county um because of the type of position this is you don't have to be restricted to white hall or rio you can live anywhere um we will be doing candidate interviews um and again i'm reading from the website so um [03:20:27] those will be on thursday september 10th we will be in contact i can get and i can follow we will do a follow-up with those people who apply about information about that we will be scheduling a special meeting that a public hearing we're required to do a public hearing and just because of the timing of when we need to do this we will be scheduling a i told dr hayes and clerk thompson that we would do this as soon as school got, we got through the first two days of school. [03:21:00] So next week we will be posting that. We're working on schedules right now, but it will be the week of September 14th. That is when the public can speak in public comment about any of the candidates. [03:21:20] And then we will do the board appointment on Thursday, September 24th. so that is the schedule i promise next week we will get more details around the interviews and the public hearing date um and again that can be found on the um the website um school board website as well as the the albemar.org website but if you have any questions um clerk thompson's number is there you can also email me at rberlin at school board so seeing no other comments I will now adjourn this meeting. [03:21:59] Thank you so much. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Coraggio Consulting ยท aguyonx.com