Coraggio Consulting
Chesterfield County School Board Business Meeting, Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Place: Chesterfield County School Board, Virginia
Length: 2h 6m (video)
Official meeting video (Swagit): https://chesterfieldschoolsva.new.swagit.com/videos/342593
Official minutes (BoardDocs, on the Jun 3, 2025 agenda for approval): https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/chesterfield/Board.nsf/pfiles/DH4QFM691D58/$file/DRAFT%20MINUTES%20-%202025.05.13%20Business%20Meeting.pdf

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 2026-10-24. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:00] aye and cover aye the motion carries good evening everyone i'd like to call the may 13th 2025 school board business meeting to order before we begin the meeting this evening i would like to thank everyone for attending the may 13th 2000 may 13th school board business meeting and remind the audience that comments to this board may only be made at the podium during the public comment period comments from the audience are prohibited and are in violation of section 18.2-415 of the code of

[00:00:34] virginia disorderly conduct in public places in school board policy 6141 i appreciate everyone's patience and understanding so that we can conduct the business meeting in an orderly fashion we will now have an invocation by mrs heffron followed by a flag salute led by mrs hudgens for tonight's invocation, I would like to recognize with a moment of silence the passing of Sherry Young, a reading specialist at Tomahawk Creek Middle School who joined CCPS on August 14, 2023. I'd also like to share some words that her sister shared with our board. Thank you for recognizing

[00:01:13] my sister Sherry Young with a moment of silence at the school board meeting on May 13. I would like to share a little bit about Sherry with you. Sherry began her career in Chesterfield County Schools and worked at Woolridge Elementary School and A.M. Davis before relocating to Atlanta, Georgia. She moved back to Virginia with her family in 2021 and was recently hired as a reading specialist at Tomahawk Creek Middle. I have worked at Tomahawk Creek since we opened and our other sister, Terry Faison, also worked here for several years. What a gift it was for all of us to have worked in the same building and she sent a picture of the sisters. She's missed dearly by our family

[00:01:52] and I am so sorry for the students in Chesterfield County who will miss out on having her as a teacher. I'm so thankful for the time I had with her at Tomahawk and that we could share her with the Tomahawk Creek community. Please join me in a moment of silence. Please join us at this time

[00:02:27] in the Pledge of Allegiance. For tonight, our consent agenda includes agenda adoption, approval

[00:03:01] of the minutes from our April 8th, 2025 work session, April 8th, 2025 business meeting, memo number 058-25 recommended personnel actions memo number 059-25 employee appointment list memo number 060-25 fy 2025 acceptance of new grants memo number 061-25 acceptance of donations memo

[00:03:30] number 062-25 2025-26 school year seat time waivers memo number 063-25 food and nutrition services 2025-26 lunch prices memo number 064-25 proposal to expand the schools eligible to participate in the community eligibility provision feeding program memo number 065-25 title one

[00:04:01] Part C, Education of Migratory Children 2025-26, Participating Regional Program Members Certification. Memo number 066-25, Deed of Gift for OB Gates Elementary School, New Sound System for the Auditorium.

[00:04:20] Memo number 068-25, Fund Transfer Request for Initial Programming and Conceptional Design Services, Dale Early Childhood Learning Academy. memo number 069-25 acceptance of donation are there any additions or corrections to the consent agenda madam chair there are no additions or corrections to the consent agenda are there any requests from a school board member to separate an item from the consent agenda for discussion and individual action hearing none may i have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented

[00:04:57] i make a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented is there a second second madam clerk would you please call roll on the motion? Scott Heffron. Aye. Dominique Chatters. Aye. Stephen Pronto. Aye. Lisa Hudgens. Aye. Ann Coker. Aye. The motion carries. Mr. Smith, would you please announce our new administrators? If I could ask Abe Jeffers to come forward this time. Madam Chair, board members, with your action this evening, you've appointed Abe Jeffers as the principal

[00:05:37] for Manchester High School effective July 1, 2025. Abe's education, a doctorate of education and Educational Leadership, University of the Cumberlands, Master of Education and Educational Leadership and Administration, University of Virginia, Bachelor of Science, Earth, and Environmental Science Education, University of Tennessee, most recently serving as the principal at Chancellor High School in Spotsylvania County Public Schools. Please join me in congratulating Abe Jeffers.

[00:06:02] Next, we have awards and recognitions, but first we want to congratulate our colleague, lisa hudgens our school board vice chair for being selected as a member of the first ever cohort of the virginia hunt state policy fellows a bipartisan group of emerging education policy makers local local elected officials and community leaders only 19 people through from throughout

[00:06:41] virginia were chosen for this groundbreaking program so tonight we celebrate mrs hudgens success. And next we have memo number 070-25, Mr. Smith. I could ask Chandler Randolph to come forward this time. Congratulations to Meadowbrook High student Chandler Randolph for being named

[00:07:20] Student Entrepreneur of the Year by the Richmond Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. A junior in the Academy for Development Entrepreneurs, Chandler launched an all-natural scalp care business called Crown Beauty and ran it successfully in her ninth and 10th grade years this year she worked as junior manager of the monarch market a new student-based enterprise offering at meadowbrook high school please join me congratulating chandler so if you haven't had an opportunity to go by the monarch market you're missing out okay so what we did is

[00:07:59] she did offer her services to our superintendent it didn't work for him but but it's working for other people so we have so many great entrepreneurs at Meadowbrook and what she's been able to do and be recognized for is outstanding as a small business owner myself I know how hard it is to manage all those things so can you tell us the best part about having your own business I think the best part about having my own business is meeting all the other different people who run different businesses similar businesses and just sharing similar experiences and just

[00:08:35] getting to learn more from others. Thank you. I could ask our James River High speech team to

[00:08:51] come forward this time. For the third year in a row, the James River High speech team won the VHSL state championship for class five with coaches Jesse Sanchez and Nick Whalen at the helm for the three state titles. Students competed in 10 different categories. Congratulations to team

[00:09:29] members. Rowan Milton Benoit, team captain, Kennedy Coffin, and Emily Acuto, who won first place in the category of Serious Duo Interpretation, Millie Cook, who won first place in the storytelling category, Luke Baker, Molly Gorman, Leah Wood, Kate Wayne, Raymond Vickery, August Peterson, Kendall Stussy, and Matthew Gosselin. Please show me congratulating the James River High speech team. Congratulations, you guys. This is absolutely astounding. I am so proud of

[00:10:05] you guys. I know you all are so proud of you. Where's the coach? There you are. Hello. Congratulations. This is amazing. We're not, you know, I know that you were pretty pivotal in this. So I think we're calling it a three-peat, but I mean, is it a three-peat?

[00:10:22] You've got four state champs in five years, right? I mean, and the one was a runner-up, so this is impressive. Four-peat. Four-peat, I'm saying. Anyway, congratulations. Do you all want to say a little, I don't know why I'm on this end, but I mean, it was hype.

[00:10:42] you know come on of course they do a little something maybe maybe um what your speech was or or something whatever you compete in i love it hey y'all i'm kate um i was in a humorous duo with my partner here raymond and we are both freshmen who just started very i started late in the season but he was he came a little bit before me yeah and we um competed in the humorous do a category which is basically we just acted out a little funny skit to impress the judges

[00:11:15] oh yeah i'm luke baker and i'm a sophomore here and i did the extemporaneous speaking which is where you're given a political topic and you have to answer the question within 30 minutes of prep time and then give a seven minute speech on it which was really cool um hi i'm kennedy my partner isn't here today she's at work um but we usually make people cry um um but i'm a senior this year um and i'm so grateful for the team and especially for our coach um and for our other coach who's not here today but um it's been a really great experience and i'm really grateful

[00:11:50] hi um my name is kendall stucy and i'm also a freshman this year and this year i've been competing in original oratory which is like a speech speech like like 10 minute long speech about basically anything you want and yeah my name is matthew goslin i'm a sophomore on the team and I competed in impromptu so it's a limited prep event where you're given a word or phrase or object and then you have to derive a broader theme. Hi I'm Leah Wood I'm a junior on the team

[00:12:28] and I competed in humorous interpretation which made my main goal of making my judges laugh all day so. Hi I'm Millie Cook I'm a junior and I do storytelling I basically just memorize a whole kids book and i act out all the characters and it's super fun thank you guys thank you all congratulations again well done and you have stay hydrated that's what this was ccps hydration

[00:12:56] machines there all right thanks guys if i could ask our project at project adam schools to come

[00:13:12] forward this time social hour but um yeah we have i think they're our schools continue to work

[00:14:05] toward achieving designation as heart safe schools through project adam this designation means that schools are taking steps to implement a quality sudden cardiac arrest program to promote a safe environment for students, staff, and visitors. Project ADAM, which stands for Automated Defibrillation in Adams Memory, is a national non-profit developed in the memory of ADAM, who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and died while playing high school basketball in Wisconsin.

[00:14:30] In Virginia, Project ADAM is led by the Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU, and Dr. John Phillips is here representing VCU. Congratulations to these schools for achieving their heart-safe school designation and for being prepared in the event of a cardiac arrest. Carver College and Career Academy, Cosby High, Thomas Dale High, both the main campus and the West Campus, Salem Church Middle, our first middle school to achieve this designation.

[00:14:54] Chesterfield High School is previously recognized for achieving their heart-safe school designation or Clarell High School, James River, Matoica High School, Meadowbrook High School, Millithian High School, and Monacan High School. Please join me in congratulating these schools. What an amazing accomplishment to add to our list of schools that have already received this distinguished honor.

[00:15:20] So proud of all of the schools to be recognized this way. I mean, what an important initiative to make sure that not only our students are safe when they are out there doing athletics, but also if anything were to happen with our audience and our spectators, you know, we are there to save lives.

[00:15:42] So thank you for this initiative, and I'm going to pass the mic to you. Yes? Hi, I'm Dr. Phillips. I'm one of the pediatric cardiologists at the Children's Hospital of Richmond, and I'm so proud to be invited for my second year in a row, and I have a feeling with the leadership of Heather Snyder, we're going to be doing this year after year until all the schools in Chesterfield are designated.

[00:16:06] The other thing to mention, this year the Virginia legislature did pass a law that requires all schools to have cardiac emergency response plans and do a drill and be prepared for sudden cardiac arrest. And your schools in Chesterfield County that are designated as Project Adam Heart Safe Schools will be in compliance with that law.

[00:16:28] So again, congratulations by far. I'm glad it's spreading throughout the state, but by far, Chesterfield County is my most active county. You have 11 schools designated and more to follow. And Heather and her team have just done it right. So congratulations.

[00:16:49] Thank you. Congratulations. If I could ask Patricia Zoldork to come forward this time.

[00:17:35] Each year during National Nurse Week, Chester County Public Schools honors the School Nurse of the Year in recognition of all that school nurses do to keep students safe, healthy, and ready to learn.

[00:17:52] Patricia Zoldork of Manchester Middle is a 2025 CCBS Nurse of the Year. Nurse Z has worked in nursing for 34 years. with nine of those years as a school nurse, and says, quote, My philosophy of school nursing is simple. Take care of everyone to the best of your ability, helping to maintain physical and mental health, end quote.

[00:18:10] Please join me in congratulating Patricia. So when we went to recognize her at Manchester Middle School, she was shocked, but not anyone around her was shocked.

[00:18:26] Every single person was like, oh, yeah, oh, yeah, that's a good one. Oh, yeah. And then I knew that I was going to recognize you, And so I said, hey, can somebody give me the letters of rec or something? Just something to, you know, personalize it. Five, like, really long.

[00:18:44] A lot of people took a lot of time to write a lot of amazing things about you. If we get one or two, it's amazing. This was, people could not speak highly enough of you. And so out of every, the sea of information that I got about you, I have a little something that, I can't even remember everything.

[00:19:03] It was just incredible. Everything that a nurse would be, she is, and some. But here's a little something that stood out to me, because it's not necessarily exactly what we would think. So, Nurse Z excels in nonverbal communication. Her calming presence, attentive body language, and comforting tone help ease students who may be feeling anxious or afraid. When interacting with students she always makes sure to convey empathy and understanding through her actions and demeanor and I feel like that just wraps you up in a nutshell and we are so grateful for you

[00:19:42] for what you do for the students but also the teachers and the administration whoever you run into whoever you come in contact with you you make a difference and we are grateful for you and we celebrate you thank you so much and do you have a little something to say come on no thank you so much um it's actually an honor because i work with you know the whole county of wonderful nurses um we all put forth the effort every day to keep our kids safe and healthy and um it's just

[00:20:21] an honor to be chosen between all those wonderful nurses in the county thank you so much next up I could ask Melissa McCoo, Ramsey D. Heck, Justin Tyler Warren, and Richard Trosak to come forward

[00:20:47] this time. Each year, Cheshire County Public Schools recognizes four beginning teachers as the best among their peers. The Beginning Teacher of the Year Awards recognizes new educators who excel in instructional planning and delivery and creation of a learning environment and professionalism. This year, 29 of the 301 new teachers working in Cheshire Old Schools

[00:21:23] are nominated. Tonight, we're announcing this year's Beginning Teacher of the Year Awards. The elementary school beginning teacher of the year is Melissa McCoo, who teaches third grade at Crestwood Elementary. The middle school beginning teacher of the year is Ramsey Dehek, who teaches sixth grade English at Bailey Bridge Middle.

[00:21:48] The high school beginning teacher of the year is Justin Tyler Warren, who teaches guitar, piano, and orchestra at Matoka High. And the overall CCPS beginning teacher of the year is Richard Trosak, who teaches at Chester Early Childhood Learning Academy.

[00:22:14] Please join me congratulating these beginning teachers. We were just debating what's the fun part, the conversation piece or handing out the awards.

[00:22:31] And I think it's both to recognize such great talent that we have, but also to hear from you. I know you've been teaching all day. However, we want to hear from you. One, congratulations. Outstanding job.

[00:22:47] And thank you for wanting, right, wanting to be a part of Chesterfield County Public Schools and wanting to instill in our kids value of education and partnering alongside of them as they continue to grow, regardless if they're early childhood or they're seniors getting ready to graduate, you play a pivotal role in their life.

[00:23:07] And so thank you for doing that. But the question I have for you, if you don't mind, for each of you, if it's okay, what is it about teaching that drives you both literally and physically to school each day, right? What is it about getting into the classroom that you have found your passion?

[00:23:26] That's a really good question. Well, for me, I don't know, the old saying of to take your own passion and to give it to others. I mean, that's, I think, in my definition of what teaching should be. You know, teachers, good teachers are the only reason why I'm here.

[00:23:46] You know, when I was a kid, I did not see myself being a teacher, and it took some really good faces to change my mind. And I'm very grateful for it. And this first year has been such a rush and a lot of fun. First and foremost, I would definitely have to say my relationships with my students.

[00:24:11] The smiles, the laughs, the giggles, the slang words that just come up every single day in sixth grade specifically. And then also, I have a really great support system. Bailey Bridge has been an amazing home, and I'm grateful that I got it. So there's a lot to look forward to every morning.

[00:24:33] Like these two said, I think you're just always inspired by the people that you're surrounded from the students to the teachers. And the teachers I've worked with at Crestwood have always inspired me. And I just, I remember being really young and my dad asking what I wanted to be when I grew up.

[00:24:50] And I was like, I think it's really sad you have to be one thing. And as teachers, we kind of get to be everything. And I try to bring that same curiosity and to the class. And I think if we just keep inspiring each other to search and learn and share, then we're going to live in the world that we want to live in.

[00:25:09] And so that's kind of what I try to go into the classroom with every day. For me, I'd have to say it's just being able to see them every single day, walk through the door and just meet them where they're at in that exact moment.

[00:25:26] Whether it's happy, sad, angry, you know, take them into the classroom and just help them begin their steps in learning. Well, on behalf of the Chesterfield County School Board, congratulations.

[00:25:41] We look forward to many more years partnering with you as you educate our children. So, again, thank you. One more round of applause, please. If I could ask our representatives from Omega Disaster Restoration and SWIM RVA to come forward this time.

[00:26:29] Local businesses have the power to shape community attitudes about public education. And the business honor roll of the Virginia School Board Association is one way for local school divisions to recognize businesses for their support. During its March 2025 meeting, the Chester County School Board nominated two businesses to the business honor roll.

[00:26:46] Representatives of these businesses are here tonight to accept certificates and resolutions. The Chester County School Board recognizes and thanks to these partners. Omega Disaster Restoration has partnered with Chester County Public Schools since it was founded in 2021. A core pillar of Omega Disaster Restoration is commitment to community, and the organization has been involved in elementary, middle, and high schools for career awareness, career exploration, and career preparedness activities.

[00:27:11] Swim RVA is a nonprofit dedicated to making aquatics accessible throughout the community. Through regional initiatives like Drowned Proof Richmond, Swim RVA has taught thousands of Cheshire County students how to swim. Swim RVA has also been a steadfast partner with our work-based learning program. The organization regularly participates in career fairs, sends guest speakers, and provides internships to students.

[00:27:32] Please show me in congratulating and thanking these local businesses. Clerk, would you please read the resolution being presented this evening?

[00:27:52] 2025 Virginia School Board Association Business Honor Roll. Whereas public schools and local businesses are an integral part of this community, and whereas many local businesses play a crucial role in supporting our schools, and whereas the economic health of our community, state, and nation depends on a strong public school system, and whereas collaboration between local public schools and local businesses strengthens schools and the business community alike by providing a well-trained and highly educated workforce,

[00:28:23] And whereas an excellent public school system is vital to the quality of life in the community and fundamental to preserving a strong democratic society now and in the future. Now, therefore, be it resolved that Cheshawil County School Board names Omega Disaster Restoration and SWIM RBA to the 2025 Virginia School Board Association Business Honorable, showing appreciation for the ongoing support of the community's public schools.

[00:28:55] Your work has aided this community in focusing on the goal of providing the best public schools we can for every child who attends them. Thank you so much for all that you guys have done for our community and for strengthening our working, our business and school partnerships.

[00:29:17] I would like to give you an opportunity to just share a little bit about what you're doing, what motivates you, why you do this work, and partnerships with the school. My name is Amy Kalos. I'm on the Swim RV team in development.

[00:29:34] And I was first involved as a board member for about six years and retired from a long-term career and was so passionate about the mission, the Learn to Swim program that we founded in partnership with CCPS in 2012 when we opened our doors on Ridgedale Parkway at our flagship facility, that I really just wanted to dive in, so to speak, and do it full-time.

[00:30:00] And I've so enjoyed seeing the growth thanks to our partnership with CCPS. We've not only been able to teach over 12,000 second graders in Chesterfield County schools how to learn how to swim since 2012.

[00:30:19] We continue to grow that. Our partnership begun in 2016 with Carver for the Lifeguard School, Workforce Development Initiatives. Those are continuing to expand. And we so look forward to our time when we have the high schoolers either practicing at the facility on Richdale Parkway or participating in swim meets.

[00:30:42] So your role has helped us just cover the gamut and inspired us to further our programming, now reaching five other jurisdictions in the Richmond region with the goal to drown-proof the area.

[00:30:58] Thank you so much. All right, so I'm one of the owners of Omega. I was born and raised in Chesterfield County. My wife and I met in Chesterfield County schools. She's a school counselor at Spring Run. I have three kids in the school system right now.

[00:31:16] So one of the parts of Omega was I wanted to give back to Chesterfield County. So when we first started Omega, I reached out to Katie and said, how can I get involved in the schools? And, man, that was a loaded question to ask her because she has loaded me up. But it's been a whole lot of fun. She's always like another boss, you know.

[00:31:31] She's always given me something to do. She's been a huge support. So it's been great. So thank you. Thank you to both of you. Don't leave.

[00:31:47] I've got bags.

[00:32:06] Next, we are going to recognize our outstanding driver performance, Dr. Fry. Good evening, Madam Chair, board members, Mr. Roberts.

[00:32:29] It's my honor tonight to present to you our Drivers of the Month. There were many drivers that could be recognized this month, but each transportation area manager had to make the tough decision of selecting a single driver who would exemplify excellence and dedication to represent their area. We'd like to recognize and honor the following drivers.

[00:32:48] Lamar Clark, Area 1, bus 37, one and a half years of service. Lamar's office team shares, Lamar is dependable and always goes above and beyond to support his team. He's outgoing personality, helps him quickly build strong connections with students, making every ride enjoyable, not just for him, but for his students as well.

[00:33:13] Kelly Jones, Area 2, bus 770, 26 years of service. Assistant Manager Matt will be accepting her award. Kelly is committed and dedicated to CCPS and her students. After all these years, she is still making a difference in students' lives and always puts her students' safety first.

[00:33:32] Area 2 is grateful to have Kelly on their team and appreciates her 26 years of service. Michelle Yates, Area 3, bus 888, 20 years of service.

[00:33:48] Accepting her award is her manager, Jacqueline. Michelle says, do what you love and love what you do. Her area manager says that Michelle is selfless and has given up her routes twice this year to allow a new driver to work at locations where their children attend.

[00:34:06] Michelle is a valuable member of team transportation. Jeffrey Johnson, Area 4, bus 946, one year of service. CECLA staff members say Mr. Johnson is a wonderful addition to their team.

[00:34:22] He knows each child and always has compassion for them. Mr. Johnson's students can count on him to greet them every day with a smile. Jeffrey's area office says Jeffrey has been a positive addition to team transportation and comes to work every day with a great attitude and is always there to help.

[00:34:45] Larissa Newhouse, Area 5, bus 964, eight years of service. Larissa says, I enjoy driving for CCPS in Area 5 because I love my kiddos and their families. I love implementing, with the help of my fantastic attendant, Paul, the learning environment created on my bus through social studies and educational programs.

[00:35:11] Let's give him a round of applause. Congratulations, and thank you. Thank you for often being the first smiling face that kids see in the morning, And, you know, the last goodbye as they leave, they end their school day.

[00:35:33] And I want to go down here. We always ask, you know, we know we've heard how, you know, 20 years that we have over here. So I want to ask you a different question. I would love to hear about, you know, the best part of your day.

[00:35:50] But I also want to hear what your favorite challenges, your obstacle is in the rodeo, in the bus rodeo. well you can pass it down i did not participate in the rodeo so i can't answer that question the challenge is special needs area five is turning a kid's day around sometimes it's even just getting them to get on the bus and once they're on the bus we read social stories to

[00:36:22] adjust to our day and we play games like i spy to learn colors and items and i've been with the same kids for three and a half years, and it's just amazing watching them grow and learn. I didn't participate in the rodeo neither, but just, I feel like I'm giving back. I'm giving back. I'm helping the school board. I'm also helping the kids, and when I see my little ones

[00:36:57] get off the bus and go into the school, it just makes me feel good, and I say, those might be one of those kids that give me a hand one day well i can certainly tell you about the rodeo so probably i would think the most difficult part of the rodeo would probably be parallel parking the bus in my opinion but yeah i have participated in the rodeo many times many many

[00:37:32] years ago but it is such a fun event um we encourage all the drivers to come out and just and you guys can come out too i'll share my shoes but it's a really fun event i will say i have also driven the rodeo a number of times and all the all the parts of the course are challenging but the great thing i think about the rodeo is is that it gives all of our drivers a chance to come out in a safe environment and test their skills this makes them a better driver on the roads and it

[00:38:10] makes them safer for the kids in the county i'm good at public speaking but uh i did the i did the rodeo once i enjoyed it uh that was last year i didn't do it this year uh but for me i just i'm just honored to be the area one driver that is a that's getting recognized this month because it could have been any driver and my main thing is safety um getting the kids to and from school each and every day and one of those kids is my daughters because like that's one of the perks

[00:38:47] of this job i get to take my daughter to and from school as well congratulations again and thank you so much for all that you do. And now we'll have recognition of our outstanding food service

[00:39:14] employees, Mr. Dunbrek. Evening, Madam Chair, board members, Dr. Murray, Mr. Roberts, thank you as always for the opportunity to recognize some of our outstanding food nutrition services team members.

[00:39:33] In over a decade working in school nutrition, I've seen a gradual evolution of the staff members that work within our field. Traditionally, a school's cafeteria was staffed by stay-at-home moms looking for some additional income while their children were in school, military spouses, and individuals that had already retired from a primary profession and were looking for slower paced part-time positions. While we currently still employ many individuals that could fall within one of these categories, we have a large number of individuals who have chosen to make school nutrition their primary profession. Furthermore, we are starting to see individuals transitioning into school nutrition from other career fields. When we ask these individuals why

[00:40:09] they are interested in making the career change, we receive an almost unanimous response across the board. I always thought I had to be a teacher to work with students. I never thought about the other options that were available to me. We are extremely fortunate to provide one of those options, and we are also humbled to be working with the outstanding individuals to make sure our students have access to breakfast and lunch every day there at their school. We had four of our honorees that are able to attend tonight. Unable to join us this evening is Bun Thiep. Ms. Thiep is our assistant manager at Matoka High School, and she's been with the county for three years. She says, I absolutely love working with the students. After working for 18 years as a manager at Chuck E. Cheese,

[00:40:50] Hiring and working with high school students made it so much easier for me to transition into a high school. I absolutely love serving and cashiering because I get to interact with the students. Next, we have Sonia Chavez-Garcia. Ms. Chavez-Garcia is a food service associate at Tomahawk Creek Middle School.

[00:41:09] She's been with the county for one year. She says, I'm very happy in any position. I don't have any issues. Our staff is amazing. Every co-worker is wonderful, and everyone is always willing to help. The ambiance here is excellent. Next, we have Javier Dubon.

[00:41:29] Mr. Dubon is a food service associate at Falling Creek Middle School, and he's been with the county for two years. He says, I truly enjoy working for CCPS Food Nutrition Services. I enjoy working with my kitchen staff and preparing and serving food to our kids. Next, we have Sharice Felker.

[00:41:49] Ms. Felker is a food service associate at Winterpock Elementary School, and she's been with the county for four years. She says, I enjoy interacting with the students, learning their personalities. The students make me laugh, and I love their jokes. And finally, this evening, we have Kushane McDaniel.

[00:42:09] Ms. McDaniel is our assistant manager at Salem Church Elementary School, and she's been with the county for nine years. She says, I take great pride in the service that provides nutritional meals to our students on a daily basis. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction to see how appreciative they are for the services that we provide. So I have four little people, two at Hopkins, one at Monacan, and one at Manchester Middle School.

[00:42:35] So I hear a lot about what they get to eat, and I've been invited to come eat with them, which means it must be good. And so I'm happy that you're giving them something they're going to eat so they don't come home starving to me every day.

[00:42:51] So I appreciate that. And then one of the other things that everyone might not know, but to date, we have served, and Mr. Dunbar can correct me, 8.7 million meals thus far. A little bit more than that. I'm sorry. 8.71 meals served so far to date.

[00:43:11] And that is at the hands of you all and the managers and our great food service team. So, we thank you so much for nurturing our children, pouring into them, and making sure they get something in their belly so they're not disruptive in class. Because we know hangry people are not good learners.

[00:43:28] So, I normally ask, what's your best part of the day? But you'll always say, seeing the kids. So, now I want to know, what's your favorite meal? How about that? French toast.

[00:43:50] Yeah, that one's pretty good. I actually like the spicy chicken sandwiches that I had today. That's pretty good. In Tomahawk, favorite meal is sometimes cheeseburgers, sometimes the mac and cheese, sometimes chicken sandwich.

[00:44:13] Everything. Everything. Todo, todo. Okay, I don't care about rice, origin, raza, or whatever. I'm working hard for each children every day because I have three children, four, somebody working, somebody giving food.

[00:44:44] And then I'm working right now for somebody. I'm working every day, every morning I go, my heart, for everyone I want to see, same thing. I know how different for anyone, for color, for race, for whatever.

[00:45:05] I say thank you, God, thank you, Chesterfield, for this opportunity, working in my life, something I want to like for children. Thank you.

[00:45:21] Gracias por todo. Thank you. Next, we have public comment.

[00:45:43] For this meeting, citizens were given the option of submitting their comments online or in person. Comments submitted via the online form were sent to the board prior to the start of tonight's meeting, posted to board doc site, and will be included in full as an addendum to the meeting minutes.

[00:45:59] In-person comments will be summarized by the board clerk and included in the official meeting minutes. Documents submitted along with in-person comments will, upon request, be distributed to the board, but not included as a part of the board's official minutes.

[00:46:15] Madam Clerk, would you please announce this evening's in-person speakers? Madam Chair, we have 11 speakers this evening. They are Barry Height, Riley English, Claudia Korex, Elizabeth Simpkins, Jake Corey, John Patterson, Annette Mellett, Kara Abbott, Alejandro Ayala, Charles Anderson, and Mike Karabinos.

[00:46:44] Each speaker will have four minutes to address the board. There's a timer set up on top of the podium that will turn green when you begin speaking, yellow when you have 30 seconds remaining, and red when your time has expired. As a reminder, no personal belongings other than a cell phone and speaker notes are allowed at the podium.

[00:47:01] Please have your materials organized in a manner that as you arrive at the podium, you're prepared to start speaking. Please note that comments equivalent to campaigning for any public office are in violation of school board policy 1110 are prohibited. May we have Barry Hite.

[00:47:21] Good evening. I'm Barry Hite. I'm a father of two, a kindergartner and a second grader at Reams Road Elementary School, which is a Title I school.

[00:47:41] This past April, our dean of students, Matthew Sedita, was justifiably promoted from the dean of students at our excellent school to an assistant principal position at Moseley Middle. Mr. Sedita is, to put it frankly, he's awesome.

[00:47:59] He had a tremendous impact on supporting behavior, discipline, and the sort of social, emotional needs of the students at REIMS Title I school. And tonight I'm here to speak on behalf of some other families, many families and staff, who are concerned about next year and have voiced concerns about the loss of this third administrative position.

[00:48:25] We understand that this third administrative role at the school is typically staffed for two to three years. However, since the current dean, Mr. Sedita, Dr. Sedita now, was promoted before the end of the school year, Reams has already had a taste of how it's going to be without the dean, and it has become a bit of a burden on the teaching staff and the administrators, in my opinion.

[00:48:54] Principal Eberts and Associate Principal Thomas, like, they're great, and they need to devote the majority of their time to supervision and instruction, not behavioral challenges, which is sort of already what's happening without the dean. The principal and the associate principal are both great at their jobs, as I've said, but without that third administrator who can be flexible and sort of supporting behavior and, like, discipline and the social-emotional needs of the kids, there will be a negative impact on metrics that you guys, I know, keep track of,

[00:49:30] like discipline referrals, school culture, and likely staff retention and morale. The current administrators are, to their credit, they're great, but they are relatively new to the school and deserve that support. We know that the CCPS strategic plan has a focus on decreasing disproportionate discipline and promoting positive school culture.

[00:49:53] And we feel that the dean position at REAMS has been essential for both of those goals. Basing this kind of staffing decision purely on enrollment numbers is not equitable, obviously. Individual schools should be taken into account. But we know that REAMS, a Title I school, needs this support.

[00:50:09] The Title I money goes to things like people. It goes to people, reading specialists and math specialists who will next year be an instructional coach to help backfill the loss of the dean. But simply put, it's not enough. We need more people. I understand that other schools need more people, too.

[00:50:26] And we're not asking to take anything from anyone else. But please reconsider removing a critical resource from this Title I school. And obviously, I can't speak officially for the staff. But on behalf of the greater school community, I ask that you find a way to keep this position for this third administrator at REAMS.

[00:50:45] The previous dean at REAMS, as I've said, Dr. Sedita, huge asset to the school, grew his skills, developed as a leader in that role. And it's unfortunate that we, like, developed that talent in a Title I school only to eluse it to a school like Mosley that does not have the same level of need or behavioral challenges.

[00:51:04] I know that's never the intention when these decisions are made and when we have staffing issues like this. I just know that is, like, that's the upshot of this situation. I hope that by being smart and creative people together, we can all do what's best for our students.

[00:51:20] And it's just not meeting our own standards, so I just want to ask what we can do about it. I yield my remaining three seconds. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you, Mr. Hite. And we have Riley English.

[00:51:44] Riley English. Claudia Corax. Evening.

[00:52:08] My name is Claudia Corral. I am the mother of a beautiful, confident little boy named Liam. And Liam also has, well, first of all, I'm autistic with a comorbidity of ADHD. And so, both of my boys have the same diagnosis.

[00:52:28] And so, I'm here today because my youngest, who is in kindergarten, that has, as of now, he's been suspended twice, and he's been written up several times, essentially being criminalized, documentally speaking, as far as behavior.

[00:52:46] And so, for me, I'm here because I'm a behavior therapist, professionally. and it blows my mind when the principal told me that ABA and OT is not allowed to come into the school. His biggest deficits are social engagement and interaction with peers and with adults. It's documented. It's written in all of his diagnoses write-ups, his BCBA. These are his biggest deficits, and the fact that he is not able to have the support that he needs in the school system

[00:53:21] is mind-blowing to me as a mother and as a behavior therapist I worked in rib before I recently had to resign because of the behavioral issues that have been going on because the first strategy that was being used was the check-in check-out system well when it was started the check-in stuff that he came in he was the expectation was set at five tokens and then reinforcement was supposed to be given to boost his morale for the beginning of the day. Well, when he started that strategy, the teacher set the expectation of the five tokens. And then after he

[00:53:59] had finished the five tokens, the teacher said, oh, I think you can do two more. So then, then raised the expectation with autism, ADHD. He also has the comorbidities of ODD and PDA with, Especially with autism, I can tell you, having an expectation not met, especially after it's been set, is extremely devastating for any human being.

[00:54:24] But it's even more so for someone with those particular diagnoses. And so he then escalated. You know, the teachers are unaware of the precursors and things of that nature because they are able to have the collaboration that is needed with the behavior therapist, with the OT therapist.

[00:54:44] We all need to be a team. We all need to be working together, hand in hand. They need to be the same verbiage utilized. Programs that we use at home need to be generalized and utilized in the classroom. The teachers should be learning these things.

[00:54:59] I say that because as a behavior therapist working prior to River City, we used to go in the Mariko schools, we used to go in, help the teachers learn these strategies that we use the first in strategy things of that nature help to generalize them for the classroom so that the teachers can implement them not for just that one student so that student doesn't feel singled out but for the entire class and it's it's useful it's helpful and it also helps for the teacher to have the support of the behavior therapist in the classroom because we are trained to manage

[00:55:34] unsafe behaviors or adverse behaviors we we understand we can automatically jump in to redirect said behavior so i'm um trying to figure out as a parent um how do i go about getting him the support that he needs in class because this is his this is his future and if he's being written up consistently for unsafe behaviors behaviors that are occurring because he doesn't have the support that he needs because he doesn't have the understanding and compassion that he needs

[00:56:08] in the school thank you elizabeth simpkins hello my name is elizabeth simpkins and i come today to speak for the queer student body impacted by the revisions to policy 1015 which is the policy in regards to the treatment of transgender students in schools the new rule of thumb for nicknames

[00:56:46] states that parental consent is necessary for a student's name to be respected furthermore according to the email sent out to staff and families on december 12th of last year it is no longer consider discrimination to deadname a student if their name isn't officially documented with the school. However, I feel compelled to respectfully ask what qualifies you to determine what counts as discrimination against trans youth and what doesn't. I am aware that this change in policy comes from the governor's office. However, it is a gubernatorial election year here in Virginia, so the permanence of this policy doesn't have to be set in stone. It is also worth noting

[00:57:25] that our current governor will be unable to run again this year due to our state's constitution preventing this. With that in mind, this policy doesn't just impact students. It is also an inconvenience for teachers, some of which are now obligated to betray their morals to comply with their visions made. In 2023, according to the Trevor Project, 41% of LGBTQ plus youth seriously contemplated committing suicide. In 2024, that statistic only dropped by 2%. Policies like this one are directly endangering the trans kids in your schools, especially the ones that don't have

[00:58:04] a proper support system at home and aren't going to agree to letting them change their name at school. We just won't. That is why I come to you today. There are lives on the line. To put it simply, if I called you by any name other than the one you use daily and feel comfortable with and you're known by, would you not be at least a bit shocked by my audacity? A name is a valuable thing and no name should be taken lightly. Thank you for your time and I hope you take this into

[00:58:33] serious consideration. That is all I have to say. Thank you, Ms. Simpkins. Jake, Corey, John Patterson.

[00:59:09] Hello, my name is John Patterson. I'm a graduating senior at Matilka High School, and I'd like to share a quick background why I'm here tonight. In ninth grade year, I took a World History 1 SOL for the first time and did not pass. I took it two more times in 10th grade, but also in my 10th grade year, I was diagnosed with scoliosis and kyphosis. I participated in intense physical therapy, which contributed to me missing school one day a week for half a school year. During my 11th grade year, I was informed by my doctor that physical therapy worsened my condition and that I had to have major surgery. The surgery consists of placing two rods,

[00:59:49] 26 screws and bolts into my back. This was a very traumatic experience for me emotionally and physically and mentally. Two weeks prior to my surgery, my grandfather passed away suddenly. During the same summer, I attended summer school for two weeks in an attempt to pass the World History 1 S.O.L. yet again. This took place about a month after my surgical procedure. At the beginning of my senior year, I got a job to help me get back on my feet. I have worked 55 hours in one week. While being in school, I volunteer and help my community out whenever I can and as they need. I'm always helping other teachers out around the school, making copies for them and running

[01:00:22] around the school. As of today, I attempt to pass this S.O.L. 18 times. That means I have taken this World History 1 SOL 18 times after passing the class in ninth grade with a C. I am still processing of taking this SOL because it's a requirement for me to graduate and graduate on Monday. I have struggled with all my SOLs that I have taken. My two English SOLs were satisfied because of my Quirk Keys test. My math SOL was satisfied during COVID when they lowered the SOL score. For my biology SOL, I received the credit because I was close to passing. At this point,

[01:00:59] I'm still required to pass the World History 1 SOL, which as of this date, I have taken 18 times as I previously stated. I am now scheduled to take the World History 1 SWL test tomorrow morning, which will be my 19th attempt to pass. If I fail, I will not graduate on Monday. I am standing before you pleading for any grace or opportunity or miracle that you can help me with.

[01:01:18] I have an amazing remediation tutor and that I've been working with consistently since I last tested this past Friday. She recognizes that I learned differently and she is helping me remember small information about the SWL instead of giving me a packet and cramming it like the other previous tutors.

[01:01:35] At this point, I am asking for the school board to grant me the credit for the World History 1 SLO so that I can graduate. Taking the test 18 times, the evidence of my due diligence, interpretation, my energy, and effort to pass this SLO to graduate on Monday. There's a possibility I may not pass this test, which will result in me not graduating.

[01:01:54] From this information, this is a devastating thought. Considering how hard I've worked to get here, I'm asking for Cheserbrook County School Board members to help me find a way to receive some form of credit for the 18th attempts that I have made to pass some form of credit for the scores that I have already accumulated or my highest score to be accepted. I am pleading for your help. Thank you,

[01:02:14] John Patterson. Thank you, Mr. Patterson. Now we have Annette Millett. I thank you, sirs and madams, for letting me come before you today. My name is Annette Millett, and I am the new PTA treasurer of Carver Middle School. As that, in April of last month, I got the news that

[01:02:53] one of our most beloved counselors was going to be sent to a different school. Instead of being at Carver Middle School, she would be sent to Falling Creek. I'm before you today to ask you to retain our counselor.

[01:03:11] She has helped us through three deaths of children last year, and she has continued to work diligently in our school as all the teachers and the students before me have spoken tonight i have written a petition that says as a parent with the chestfield county school system i am deeply troubled by the impending relocation of our school counselor to another school performing multiple roles serving the academic social and emotional needs of the students school counselors are irreplaceable assets their value in shaping our children's future is

[01:03:49] immeasurable. According to the American School Counselor Association, a student-to-student counselor ratio of 250 to one child is recommended to actively address the comprehensive needs of students. We have approximately 1,083 students in our school.

[01:04:06] It is supposed to be 250 students per one guidance counselor. So I'm asking you to keep our guidance counselor at our school instead of going down to two i feel like not only would this have um this child that the council guidance counselor was taken from have to retell you know why they're in the office and tell their mental you know news to somebody else i just ask you to um help as well guidance counselors help with the academic and the socialization of these

[01:04:46] children. And when you uproot a guidance counselor to send them to another school where they're needed, and I understand that completely, I'm just asking you to keep the guidance counselor at the school. I've talked to many of the students, and they're lost because, like I have stated earlier, they've helped with a lot of mental episodes that the students have had, especially the three deaths of the children last year and i just ask that you um look at the academic and the socialization of these children and the fact that they're going to be uprooted from a trusted adult

[01:05:24] to have to tell their story all over again to another complete different um adult so that to me is a lack of trust when you have to sit there and be uprooted from um one adult to another adult um taking the counselor from one school to another accommodates the needs of the other school but undermines the vital support structure in place for the students such moves disrupt the report counselors build with their students building i mean breaking the trust and causing negative

[01:06:00] implications on students academic performance and mental health we implore the chesafeel county school system to decision makers to consider the ramifications of such an action let's prioritize the stability of our students and their emotional well-being please retain our school counselor and let's keep the school as a community we're our theme is all in and i feel as the pta treasurer we have a great school and i just want to come before y'all to just kindly ask y'all to lead the counselor so the children will have somebody that they can bond with and they can thank you

[01:06:39] Ms. Mullen. Thank you. Kara Abbott. Good evening. I spoke last fall in regards to the matter on the weapons detection system. My child still has significant anxiety going to school. She's

[01:07:18] finishing middle school this year which has been extremely difficult and with her anxiety I worry about her starting high school next year. I know this is on the vote for tonight and so I thank you for listening and for hearing the concerns of parents and students and staff until things change in this country as a whole I think this is the proper next step that we need to protect our students and our teachers so I just I don't know if all of you have your minds made up I just implore you and I hope that you'll vote yes for this initiative to bring this to our school

[01:07:52] I know it's not a perfect solution sorry but I think it's the step that's needed so I hope your vote, yes. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Abbott. Alejandro Ayala. Good afternoon,

[01:08:28] Ms. School Board. Dr. Murray. My name is Alejandro Ayala, a student resident of the Bermuda District, and I come before you today to speak about research, results, and recommendations that I'm part of and I have gathered from the school policies. We'll be speaking about career preparation services within Chesterfield County Public Schools, and more specifically talk about the awareness of these programs and their effectiveness among students.

[01:08:55] We did a survey on policies 4185 and 3051, which both focus on post-secondary preparation. The names of these policies are college and career readiness and career and technical education. The results indicate that while students receive information about colleges and trade schools, 44.4% of students are uncertain about making an informed decision about the future and can use more guidance.

[01:09:23] We asked, do you feel that your school provides enough career exploration opportunities to help you decide on a future career path. 57.3% of students say somewhat, but there could be more. Also, 46% indicated that they need more help developing job seeking skills, like resume writing and interviewing skills. While these numbers show that students feel somewhat prepared for where we're outside of high school, there needs to be more. For example, one person says, our school system focuses too much on checking off boxes and not enough on career readiness and general life skills. I don't know how to pay a bill, and that's something I'll have to do in the

[01:10:01] near future. There are several other examples of deficits in our education. They make me feel as if I'm jumping through adulthood with little preparation or guidance. Another response, I think school staff, specifically counselors and senior management staff, should communicate more with their students on events that can and can be attended. Especially for students in the CTC center, it seems like they pay no attention to the students in the technical center. Counselors should also be true to the word and not promise students anything unless they are 100% sure

[01:10:37] they will give the student an answer. Another person mentions, this school does somewhat tell you of the opportunities, but the student has to spend a lot of time trying to figure out things on their own due to information not being spread in a meaningful and student-accessible way.

[01:11:00] Additionally, while there are announcements for programs like technical center or summer programs, this information is often spread very late into the program timeline, making people have to rush to get things done because they didn't know about it. One final thing is that classes don't focus enough on functional skills, such as resume or research, essay writing, and students, faculty projects, leading students not knowing how to do it. Thank you for your time, and we look forward to hearing back from your students about updates and further recommendations. And now soon, you'll hear from my policy partner, Mr. Charles Anderson,

[01:11:40] who will provide additional data and anecdotal evidence. Thank you all for your time. Thank you, Alejandro. And we have Charles Anderson.

[01:12:04] Good evening, members of the school board, Dr. Murray, and distinguished guests. My name is Charles Anderson. I am also a student and resident of the Bermuda District, and today I would like to talk about the policies for CCPS students. Before I go into that, I do want to give a thanks to all of you, the teachers, drivers, lunch people who just help us every

[01:12:44] single day. I am a senior. I've been here throughout almost my entire 12 years, and I I would like to just give a final thank you. You're very unappreciated, but the work that y'all do here make the things move. And I do want to let you know from me and the student body that we do appreciate you, even though you may not show it sometimes.

[01:13:08] But to build on what Alejandro has shared, I've talked to a lot of people who have graduated high school and who are out in college and doing jobs and whatnot.

[01:13:24] And what I find out a lot of that, what a lot of them is, is through their time through Chesterfield County Public Schools, they don't, they never really got an informative disinformation on what they wanted to do past high school.

[01:13:51] I myself and I can speak for Alejandro as well that we are we're both seniors by the way we are both still in that phase of trying to figure out what we're what we're doing after high school with all the people I've spoke people who've gone to college even really really good colleges Yale Howard all those good colleges VCU UVA what I find out in a lot of them is, is that coming out of college, they're going into college because a lot of people are telling

[01:14:28] them to go to college right after high school. And what I, what I find is, and just speaking to some adults who've just graduated college is that they're going, they're coming out of college and they're not really sure on, they have a degree, but they're not really sure on what to do with that degree. I'm pretty sure a lot of people can relate to that. And I just really just want to come here and say i'm not really reading stuff on my paper so uh i'm sorry about that but um i just really wanted to say that uh as a if anything as a recommendation if maybe we could somehow

[01:15:07] get a way that we can really touch students early on and like really teach them what the job is how to get there and early earlier than high school like middle school elementary and teach them like what ap classes are what high school credits is and how it leads to being able to pay for college and all these different things um but really just to conclude um just want to just really want to

[01:15:40] say that you've all done a good job um but we could do more um together uh thank you for your time thank you mr anderson mike carabinos it's been about five years since i first stood up here in the heat of the pandemic and closures and with Virginia Public Education Partners, I think that

[01:16:20] first time we were presenting ideas on how to safely open at the time, at a time when we had almost no guidance from federal or state officials on how to operate a school. The reason I wanted, I ended up doing that because I worked in operational readiness and incident management for oppression. So I was asked to help out with that effort. The key in those fields is a clear unemotional view of the facts and a clear, decisive course of action. And I'm pleased to say that both of the boards in those five years, for most cases, have followed the guidance through

[01:16:59] turbulence time and through sensationalized controversies over the years. And despite immense pressure from super PACs, irate commentators, even from up 95, this board has mostly stuck to careful adherence to best practice and it has with the exception of one word in 1015 avoided bowing to the voices of malice um too bad the same can't be said of our state and federal

[01:17:35] leadership not nowhere is perfect but i am proud to send my kids to chesterfield schools because of that so thank you um i was just thinking about what those two young men were talking about and the fact that my own daughter went to the career technical center for veterinary medicine It's a great program. I also just went through, like a lot of people in our country right now, a period of unemployment. Coming out of that, it was quite an eye-opener. It was my first time on

[01:18:11] the job market in 18 years. Now, I never graduated college. I kind of brute-forced my own career in the technical trade through a lot of grit and a lot of working hard and learning the hard way.

[01:18:27] the school of failure, has been a big friend of mine. But over that time that I'd recently been on the job market, it's clear to me that the world has changed. And I do not envy any young person going out to that job market today unprepared. So to what they say about writing resumes, the soft skills are absolutely something that these schools at the high school level needs to teach. On the career and technical side, we didn't make sure that the education that we're providing, and in this case, I'm going to focus on IT because that's my own field,

[01:19:01] are up-to-date and current to what the market needs. Right now, over the past few months, what I've seen a lot of technical certificate requests in the security field, Security Plus, CISSP, if we can offer preparatory classes for those, that's giving students a leg up entering the job market. Cloud technologies. We have partnerships with different vendors. Microsoft, Amazon and Google all have their own branded cloud technology certification programs.

[01:19:32] Partnerships with those might be a good way to go. And I know the English teachers across the county are going to say, when I say this, AI prompt engineering. There are ways to avoid and detect AI usage within your documents.

[01:19:52] However, the ability to manipulate and use these large language modules effectively are going to be key roles in the future. Did not intend to include that in my address tonight, but I think those are very good points that have been brought up.

[01:20:11] Thank you, Mr. McAvina. Madam Chair, that concludes this evening's public comment. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Next, we have this evening's superintendent's report, Dr. Murray. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[01:20:29] Tonight, we have one presentation, and then I'll follow up with some more of my remarks later this evening, which is on how schools throughout Chesterfield County have embraced the house system as a way to build strong relationships and encourage good choices. The house system is also transformative in its positive impact on campus, climate, and culture, connecting staff and students more deeply to the school and one another. Houses have different names, different emblems, and different colors, but they all create

[01:21:04] spaces where students connect across grade levels, achieve common goals, and make happy memories. Houses support their students by encouraging them to do their best and celebrating their success along the way. Enjoy this month's meaningful moment.

[01:21:20] Many of our school leaders went down to the Ron Clark Academy and were inspired to bring back the house system, which is a strategy to divide the students into teams or houses.

[01:21:50] The houses compete for points and kind of create a team environment in the schools. each team you know they create spirit they create opportunities to have a connection in school i've been to schools where students on their very first day are selected and put into a house they have an immediate connection to not just students in their classroom but to students across the school it just it's exciting i mean every school has a different personality so every school has

[01:22:30] different names for their houses. So their houses might be named in another language. I've seen schools that their houses are the regions of Virginia. Some schools do a selection on the day you're enrolled. Some schools will do a school-wide selection for each grade level. So kindergarteners watching them get their house in that first month of school, they may not even know what they've become a part of, but they know it's exciting because everybody's representing Most schools that have houses they have you know they're all in colors or they have t-shirts.

[01:23:05] They feel a part of something. It's fun to belong and I think that that's what kids are experiencing. You know we do expect our schools to operate under the PBIS or Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports framework. This falls so naturally in that framework because it supports all of those tenants. We've had many administrators and teachers go down and see it in action in other schools, in schools here in the division, schools locally in the Chesterfield or Henrico, Richmond

[01:23:44] area. When you see the impacts of it in students' faces and their actions, it's inspiring. And so many of the house systems in our schools are being led by the teachers because they get excited about the opportunity it brings for our kids.

[01:24:03] Some of our initial implementers started the house system several years ago, and what their colleagues are seeing is the impact it's having on behavior across the school.

[01:24:25] Again, when students come to school and have an immediate connection to others in the school, it's like a club. It's like a family. And so you will see schools at the end of marking periods have house days or house reunions, where all the kids across the school will come together in their house and perform activities or dances or celebrations.

[01:24:51] And for a student, when my behavior has an impact on my family or my house, they have a sense of responsibility and accountability to others, that my behavior doesn't just matter to me as an individual, But it matters to the people in my class, the people in other grades.

[01:25:11] And those are skills we want to teach kids. Thank you, Dr. Murray. Board members, is there any discussion?

[01:25:30] Mr. Pronto. Thank you, Madam Chair. I love the house idea. My youngest is in Halisi, I believe is how you pronounce it, and it's orange. And so they have Orange Day. And the drawback to this is I have learned very quickly that orange spray paint for your hair, it takes a while to get it out of the carpet and also takes a while to get it out of your kid's head, too.

[01:25:56] So, however, the spirit of that, the sense of belonging and the pride that goes into representing your house with your peers has that unity that was mentioned. And so hats off to CCPS for implementing that, and I think it has taken flight, and I'm just very excited to see, you know, we're obviously about the academics, and we want our kids to do extremely well academically.

[01:26:23] This being introduced in partnership with that goes a long way for our kids, and so it's one of the things I know, at least in our house, we're Team Halisi, and we're very proud of that. Yes, I agree. I love the house system. And I'm proud to say that I am in two houses at two different schools. So looking to be in more. Next, we have action items. Dr. Pope.

[01:26:50] Good evening, board members. This evening, we have a very quick presentation for you. The purpose of this short note presentation is to follow up on the work session in April when each chief had an extended period of time to present proposed updates to the current CCPS strategic plan imagined tomorrow.

[01:27:25] The timeline of the work is noted here with us at the point of the bottom of this slide, the item bolded, and I'd like to draw your attention that since you last saw the strategic plan workbook presented last month, we have made a few additional edits based on the feedback received.

[01:27:43] Those edits are on page 17 and 49. One is a revision, meaning it's in blue, and the other is an addition, meaning it is in green. First, as we looked at the feedback that we received, we considered suggestions as were they pertinent to the proposed revisions because that was the direction given when we solicited feedback, please make it directly related to the revisions that we've reviewed.

[01:28:12] We also looked at what was submitted and said, is this something that we can do within the budget and the anticipated increases in our budget between now and 2028? A lot of great ideas sometimes cost a lot of money, and it wouldn't be wise of us to put something in the plan that we didn't think feasibly we would be able to afford.

[01:28:34] And then the third thing that we looked at with the suggestions we received, if we adopted one of those suggestions, would we no longer be in compliance with SOQs, SOAs, state, or federal legislation? And, of course, as a school division, we would never want to be in that position.

[01:28:50] So the feedback that we received from our community did not have multiple mentions, which we would call a theme or a trend, nor was there a large amount of feedback received from our community. So where we stand right now, after giving that final opportunity, we have before you the second draft of the strategic plan.

[01:29:13] It's dated April 2025. And what has changed since what you saw in March? Well, the red line content that you saw in March has been removed. The green text that was proposed has now been converted to black ink. The April 2025 version has the new cover, and you'll notice that we've incorporated into that cover the new title, Imagine Beyond Tomorrow, which would take us from 2025 to 2028.

[01:29:44] I guess we've summarized everything else up there as far as the blue and the green. And that really gets us to the point of, of course, this format is still not what we would finally post on our website. We'll truncate it a little bit more, make it a little bit more condensed for our public that may want to read it at any time.

[01:30:02] It won't be the multiple, multiple pages. We have some great people who design things that are a little bit more streamlined for on our website. But where we are now finally in this process is before you, memo 077-25, entitled Chesterfield County Public Schools Strategic Plan Update 2025-2028.

[01:30:25] With your approval of this memo, the strategic plan will change in name to become Imagine Beyond Tomorrow and extend through 2028. It will reflect the voices of this board, central and school staff, as well as community members. Its successful implementation would not be contingent on increased funding beyond what we anticipate our annual increases to be between now and 2028.

[01:30:51] And it is recommended that after the time that has been spent and the thought that has been invested, that this board take action to adopt Attachment D to this memo and make Imagine Beyond Tomorrow the 2025 through 2028 strategic plan to guide the work for Chesterfield County Public Schools.

[01:31:13] Thank you, Dr. Pope. Board members, may I have a motion to approve memo number 077-25 as presented? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Board members, is there any discussion? Ms. Heffron?

[01:31:30] Thank you. Dr. Pope, thank you so much for the work that you have done and invested. I like that. I like you using that. It is an investment, not only in the work, but in the division. And I think that this is a phenomenal step for us to go beyond tomorrow.

[01:31:53] It represents all of us, and I think it's going to be an amazing plan. So thank you all as well. There has been a motion and a second. Madam Clerk, please call roll on the motion. Todd Heffron. Aye. Dominique Chatters.

[01:32:09] Aye. Stephen Paranto. Aye. Lisa Hudgens. Aye. Ann Coker. Aye. The memo is approved. Next, we have memo number 078-25 for Mr. Davis. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Murray.

[01:32:34] We're here to talk about your approval of our procurement of weapons detection equipment. Dr. Murray has worked hard in the last six months to keep you informed of all of our actions to evaluate systems, to make tentative choices, demonstrations, and so forth.

[01:32:54] So let me give you just a little bit of background and offer some praise to some people. Again, we've been evaluating solutions that will help prevent deadly weapons from being carried into schools. That is our intent. We visited high schools that already had systems in place at Hopewell City, Henrico County, and we conducted demonstrations of two separate systems.

[01:33:19] The system at Hopewell is by a company called Evolve. OpenGate is a product that's being used in Henrico. In January, we had each of those systems demonstrated at both Meadowbrook High and Robius Middle School for two full days or two full mornings where staff had been trained in the afternoon and assisted us with running a good portion of the student body through these systems on those two days.

[01:33:46] Our intent is to procure the equipment for all of our middle schools and high schools and to screen all arriving students. And so we would have lanes at bus entry points, parent drop-off points, and we would keep a lane available for later arriving students and visitors throughout the day.

[01:34:08] We'd have anywhere from two to eight lanes, depending on the size of the school and its population and the way it's laid out. The open gate system is the system that we've chosen. It offers flexibility. It offers good throughput. It has rechargeable lithium batteries.

[01:34:26] It detects those items that we are looking for through electromagnetic means. If students know what will set off the alarm, they can set that laptop to the side or that Stanley Cup or that three-ring binder.

[01:34:44] We saw just in the matter of two days students figuring out what they needed to pass to the side. and we didn't really have a remarkable number of pings from the little red light but the red light's very visible staff is able to watch that then take students subtly to the side take a quick look in terms of what they're carrying so they can discover what in fact set off the system so we saw how it worked very very well i want to praise and give kudos to our school leadership both from central office and at the schools dr high dr phillips dr merriam and dr wasdock they were all

[01:35:21] in place watching this demonstration underway. The schools themselves, their administrative teams were trained in the afternoon. And the faculty in particular, beyond the administrative teams, they were enthusiastic and they believe that this system is needed. They are ready to participate.

[01:35:41] And so we know that we have folks that are at the schools that will be the enablers of ensuring that our students only bring safe items into school every day. They are committed. So we're here to talk a little bit about the procurement and funding and eventual approval. We have a quote from a local vendor for just under $2.8 million to buy 149 lanes that will be distributed over the 28 schools. We've been having conversation with county staff, Board of Supervisors members. They're prepared on May 28th to appropriate the funding that's

[01:36:20] necessary to implement the system this summer. And I'm here to seek your approval of our decision memorandum 078-25. I'd be happy to take any questions before your consideration of that vote. Thank you, Mr. Davis. Board members, may I have a motion to approve memo number 078-25 as presented? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Board members, is there any discussion?

[01:36:52] Mrs. Chatters? Thank you, Josh. I just wanted you to, for those schools that have mega trailers, Can you explain how that would work for them so they understand that they would be part of the screening process as well? They would be part of the screening process.

[01:37:08] The mega trailers would not be open for immediate entry directly off the bus or the student. They would have to go through one of those lanes. Then you might say gather and let's say at Cosby, for example, our team has gone out and looked at the path that they would walk. and we have to perhaps put some barriers up in place to prevent infiltration or direct routing to those megatrailers.

[01:37:31] So megatrailers or individual trailers or even the other doors, those entries just would not be permitted without the screening process taking place at first. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Perranto. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[01:37:48] Josh, thank you to you and your team for the extensive work behind this, the tests and working with procurement, but also kudos to Dr. Murray who has had this conversation ongoing before this school year even began and so I do want to highlight to the public that this was something that was already in the making prior to some very unfortunate incidents that occurred this school year and so it's the world we live in unfortunately it is the world we live in and you know we we value our safety when

[01:38:26] we go to fly and when we walk into a bank and when we go to see a sporting event um and i think it's extremely important that our children uh feel safe and our staff feel safe uh this is not an answer that will cure everything in regards to their safety but it's definitely a tool that we can use and so i greatly appreciate the opportunity this evening to uh put that forward so thank you there has been a motion in a second madam clerk will you please call roll on the motion dot heffron

[01:39:01] aye. Dominique Chatters, aye. Stephen Pronto, aye. Lisa Hudgens, aye. Ann Coker, aye. The memo is approved. Next, we have memo number 079-25 from Mr. Meister. Thank you, Madam Chair, Vice Chair, Dr. Murray, other members of the board, I'm sorry, for the opportunity to come talk to you about memo 079-25. I walked through this presentation this afternoon. I'm going to highlight the next step

[01:39:41] slide to help guide you through what is in front of you today on this memo. What you see in front of you is our year-end memo, which talks about expected end-of-year FY25 results and appropriation adjustments that sit there. So what you see here is on Schedule A appropriation changes. What this reflects is the allocation of approximately $3.4 million of incremental revenue in FY25 as a result of increased local revenue to the tune of about $1 million, and higher state revenue driven by

[01:40:15] increased ADM, or average daily membership, which is the foundation for our state funding vehicle. What you also see in this memo is Schedule B, which is our FY25 preliminary year-end usage. As we went through the end of March, we looked at our fiscal projections, both the revenue that I just mentioned, that additional $3.4 million, as well as another about $8 million of expense savings. And I walked you through where that came from this year. It's mostly in personnel savings and instruction, offset by some higher expected costs in operations. What that leaves

[01:40:50] us with today is a line of sight to about $11.5 million of projected year-end savings in FY25. As I said this afternoon, and as I'll say it again here, these are not audited results. We still have about six weeks left in the year and the entire end-of-year audit to go through, but this is our projection for where the year ends. And what you see on Schedule B is a schedule of essentially establishing a recommendation for the school board and eventually the board of supervisors for what we might use that surplus for when it becomes available after the audit in,

[01:41:25] say, November. The proposal in front of you today suggests $7 million towards, it's labeled here, future school needs but it really is uh front funding the fy27 budget uh debt reserve about four million dollars for debt reserve this is to help manage the bubble of expected debt service costs as we go through our aggressive uh uh cip program and the remainder of about 600 000 for bus replacements uh for uh this uh coming year and finally schedule c a reserve list which includes $17 million for currently budgeted items in FY25 that we expect to continue into FY26.

[01:42:05] The bulk of that funding is related to all in. If you recall, we've got about $22.7 million about a year and a half ago for all in. We are through once FY25 is finished with the first two years of that program and expect to be about $12.5 million used, which leaves about $10 million left for FY26 that we're requesting as part of this carryover. The remaining seven are more traditional items that you see in front of the board pretty much every year, including items like funding for grants and curriculum, etc. So what sits in front of you today is memo 079-25 that contains schedules for each

[01:42:44] of those three items, and I'll leave it to the board for any questions and consideration. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Meister. Board members, may I have a motion to approve memo number 079-25 as presented so moved is there a second second board members is there any discussion there has been a motion and a second madam clerk would you please call roll in the motion son heffron aye dominique chatters aye steven pronto aye lisa hudgens aye and cooker aye the

[01:43:20] memo is approved next we have memo number 080-25 mr meister i'll stay here thank you madam chair What you see in front of you in memo 080-25 is a request to approve and a resolution to the Board of Supervisors for an additional $6.7 million of state funding to support an SOQ instructional bonus.

[01:43:45] This is funding that is provided from the state as part of their final budget negotiations that has recently been approved. This $6.7 million was earmarked for, as I said, instructional positions as outlined in the actual state language to include teachers, guidance counselors, librarians, instructional aides, principals, and assistant principals.

[01:44:09] We have, of course, taken that list and amended it for the appropriate titles within CCPS. And what you see before you today is a request to appropriate that $6.7 million for that particular $1,000 bonus, prorated if you are less than a full FTE, but that $1,000 bonus for each of those currently staffed positions at CCPS.

[01:44:33] So with that, I'll leave it to the board for questions or comments on 080-25. Thank you, Matt. Thank you, Mr. Meister. Board members may have a motion to approve memo number 080-25 as presented. So moved. Is there a second? Second.

[01:44:49] Board members, is there any discussion? There has been a motion and a second. Madam Clerk, please call roll on the motion. Scott Heffron. Aye. Dominique Chatters. Aye. Stephen Pronto. Thank you, Bob. Aye.

[01:45:05] Lisa Hudgens. Aye. Ann Coker. Aye. The memo is approved. Next, we have items for board review. Madam Clerk, would you please read the items for this evening? Madam Chair, tonight's agenda includes the following items for board review. Number one, Magisterial District Improvement Funds, FY 2025.

[01:45:24] Number two, FY 2025, March Expenditures vs. Appropriations. Number three, Budget Change Request Summary Across Categories, March 2025. Number four, Board Committee Reports. Number five, Pre-K Update, March 2025.

[01:45:43] Thank you, Madam Clerk. Next, we have this evening's superintendent's remarks, Dr. Murray. Thank you, Madam Chair. As usual, I just want to thank our speakers for coming out and having their voices heard. But in particular, I want to thank our student speakers.

[01:46:00] It always takes, in my opinion, just a little extra courage to get up in a very public forum and deliver your opinions, thoughts. So I want to thank Elizabeth, John, Alejandro, and Charles for joining us this evening.

[01:46:17] Very respectful manner in which they shared their feedback with us. Next, I want to just give you a host of updates and acknowledgments. When we had initially planned for tonight's agenda, we had put on there a placeholder for a budget update, not the ones that Bob has spoken about tonight.

[01:46:46] We took it off, and I'm just going to give you the update in these remarks because it's good news. And it was when the General Assembly had sent their budget back to the governor, and we were anxious about what his veto authority might mean.

[01:47:08] For us, we were kind of in limbo on $8 million. He did not come back and veto anything related to the support cap. And then, of course, the funding tethered to special education and English language learners remained as it had previously.

[01:47:27] So we're in good shape. Bob can breathe easy, which means I can breathe easy because I base how I'm supposed to feel about money on how Bob feels. So good job, Bob. Thank you, sir. Next, I wanted to share but also appreciate Scott Carson, our director of construction, who will be heading into the private sector to be a partner in a firm.

[01:47:57] So he's been poached to do some pretty cool work. But when you're good at your job, a lot of times new opportunity, new exciting opportunities come knocking. So this will be Scott's last week with us. I shared with leadership the other day that while I was attending the superintendent's conference a few weeks ago, one of the superintendents that was retiring after many years was celebrated for many things.

[01:48:26] But the one that had me chuckle was when they said in during his tenure, he oversaw the renovation of all five schools. Well, Scott has six projects right now coming out of the ground, and that's just this year.

[01:48:44] We've got many more projects on the horizon. Big shoes to fill, but we wish Scott all the best as he moves on from CCPS, but not Chesterfield County. Graduation season is upon us. So Friday, we look forward to kicking off with the Recovery Academy completer ceremony.

[01:49:07] And then next week, we have our two-a-days, taking you back to your football days, Steve, two-a-days at both VSU and VCU to carry us through the week. But I mentioned that to thank Belinda Merriman or Dr. Merriman for her hard work and her annual shepherding of that process.

[01:49:29] And she would want me to ask each of you to bring your own water bottle with you so that you can refill it because the water that you take out of the cooler costs us four to five dollars a piece so if you would like dr merriman to give you a compliment bring your own water bottle that's that's how we do it so thank you dr merriman next i just wanted to illuminate maybe more broadly for the public, that we are a very appreciative partner with Conexus.

[01:50:05] Tim Gresham and his eye care facility, they come out and they do annual screenings at the majority of our schools. I think they did over 15,000 screenings this year and then gave to our students almost 2,200 pairs of glasses. And I was able to attend one of their dispensing days where the kids were coming in and many of them were getting glasses for the first time. And I was kind of filled with

[01:50:42] mixed emotions because it was powerful for all the right reasons and had me questioning to the gaps that go unnoticed year after year because I watched a middle school dispensing and I watched a young man stand eight feet away from a board that had a sentence written on it and he could not make out any of the words.

[01:51:12] They put glasses on this young man for the first time. The smile, the joy that lit up as he read the sentence perfectly. It just revealed to me how many of our children are people like Tim helping Stand in the Gap for who sat in a classroom probably very quietly because they just couldn't see what was going on.

[01:51:40] And to think that that happened until this young man's seventh grade year and how many more there are like him, it just kind of hit a little differently. But Tim's doing great work. Conexus is a valued partner. I would encourage any of you to get out to one of those dispensings if you haven't in the past.

[01:52:01] So 2,200 glasses approximately this year for our kids, and that's an annual effort. I also want to just kind of soak in. This is our first meeting when we have our new Magisterial District art on the wall, proudly displayed, but also wonderfully created by students.

[01:52:21] Of course, we had them out to talk us through the meaning behind each of those pieces, but to know that they will live here for the guests in this room to remember what brings us all here, and that is to support our kids.

[01:52:39] Just a very powerful statement on the wall. I do appreciate the two speakers this evening who were advocating for positions. and, frankly, people who have done a great job.

[01:52:59] That's what we want. I will say that our staffing is, at least initially, formulaically driven. There are exceptions that we consider, but not until that formula has been applied. We have begun looking at staffing exceptions, as we do annually.

[01:53:22] But I just wanted to provide a point of clarification for the record that while the ASCA model for school counselors might recommend a 1 to 250, the BDOE has now just brought their ratio down to 1 to 325, which is what Chesterfield was doing prior to that new threshold being set.

[01:53:46] So 1 to 325 is the counseling ratio for next year about the Commonwealth. But factored into that, we have school counseling coordinator positions. Those are factored in to any caseload ratio.

[01:54:03] So that is also very important when we consider how our secondary schools are staffed. And then lastly, I just want to give a shout out to some of the staff at Matoaka High School.

[01:54:19] There was a bill passed of this general assembly on triage kits. if you, my language, I don't, I forgot what they're calling them. We called it Stop the Bleed. And Kelly Mahan, who was a former high school Chesterfield Teacher of the Year, partnered with VCU and Matoaca High School, was the first school in the Commonwealth to create these kits and have students certified that if there was a moment where this type of treatment needed to be

[01:54:55] administered there were staff and students who were trained and there were kits provided now those kits have to be in every school across the commonwealth of virginia and we like to think in large part due to kelly and mvcu's efforts six or seven years ago so job well done to them it's a hidden gem down there in matoka mr paranto as you know but i wanted to give them their flowers as well and i think that's my lengthiest remarks of the year save the best or second to last i guess

[01:55:31] thank you madam chair thank you dr murray next we have announcements communications and school board comments school board members are there any announcements or comments this evening miss chatters thank you madam chair so i wanted to start with alejandro and charles i really appreciated what you came to the table to talk about and if it makes you feel any better i'm not going to say my age because that's not important but we still figure out what we want to be when we grow up like i don't think it ever just stops right but i appreciate the fact that you were

[01:56:10] cognizant enough to notice it and come here and speak on it and i appreciate that and what i have to offer you is the second part of my announcement i wanted to thank one of our community partners one of the non-profits in our community that continuously is pouring into our children the ladies of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated are here I'm not sure if you heard of the Meadowbrook Youth Explosion or Civics 101 or things of that nature but they are doing programs to bridge the gap to try to help our kids so one recommendation would be to follow the page to find out information because I agree with you when you came up here and said about getting the information in a timely

[01:56:50] manner, right? They offer scholarships. There are many organizations in the Divine Nine in Chesafeel County that offer scholarships, but getting that information out to you in a timely manner is important, right? So I appreciate you saying that, and that's going to energize. I know the ladies of Delta Sigma Theta will be energized to make sure we communicate that, and I'll make sure that we spread the word everywhere else so that the information is getting out to our students. So I really wanted to thank you for bringing that to our attention, and I wanted to mention the stop the bleed part that you were talking about. So at Meadowbrook, we have the Claude Moore Scholars program. So that program also helps children figure out what they want to do. So that's also

[01:57:30] a part of what Charles and Alejandro were bringing up, is trying to figure out what you want to be and what you might want to do. Both of my two oldest children attended that program as rising eighth graders, which made them decide they wanted to go to Monaghan for that program. So we do have so many things to offer in Chesterfield County. I think marketing and advertising realizing what we have will help make you feel a bit more comfortable about the gaps that you saw, right? Because we do have answers for them. And so we just need to lean forward and make sure that we're harnessing all that information and putting it, as you said, in a place where you're going to see it, right? Not just where you're not going to read the Sunday newsletter. So I get it. We got to

[01:58:09] put it where you're going to see it. So thank you for that. Mr. Bronto. Thank you, Madam Chair. To our Dr. Murray stole the thunder, but that's all right, because I think it sounded better coming from you thanking our students for being here uh this evening and speaking and um mr ayala mr anderson uh kudos to you for coming up here and uh addressing the board all of our students for addressing the board um you came presented uh presentable your attire right eye contact

[01:58:43] i mean it was picture perfect you guys did an excellent job um and i i hear everything that you say uh we we do have a great program in ctc but we always have the opportunity to improve what we're doing and the communication out there so our students understand what programs are available to them when are they available how do they apply so forth and so on um i don't think anyone really writes a check anymore but i can remember when i was in high school and i looked at a checkbook and i didn't know what to do right those are those are soft skills that we can we can easily teach

[01:59:20] and it doesn't have to be a design classroom for that it it can be in conversation and showing you know one another right as we each learn we teach and that's extremely important as you go through your journey in life so again just want to commend all of our students from from coming up here i'm going to point the two of you out because you stayed for the whole meeting we don't see that all the time really we don't so kudos to that also graduation coming up we're very excited

[01:59:55] And I would be remiss if I didn't thank our partners for VSU on Monday, for our Matoka High School graduation, and then VCU, pretty much everybody else. And we're excited about that, excited for our students and our families as we continue to move forward with the school year.

[02:00:13] One of the best parts are shaking hands as those kids come across the stage and knowing that their four-year journey might be ending, but their whole life is just getting started past CCPS. CCPS. And hopefully they all go to college and become teachers and come back and we don't have to worry about having a shortage in that area. With that, Madam Chair, thank you. Mrs. Hutchins.

[02:00:36] So I swear that I had this thought before everyone else said the exact same thing, but it is always really heartening to hear from our students. So I do appreciate all four students who spoke they did it all respectfully and well they were well spoken but the two of you who I can see who are still here and remained which is a big deal trust me look around you you came up and I one of the things that I remember is say it even though your voice is shaking so not that your

[02:01:15] voices shook. You were strong and wonderful, but I know that it took courage to do. I admire what you did, how you did it, how you presented yourself, and what you said. I'm a former high school English teacher, and I taught seniors, so I recognize you, and I really appreciate what you said uh the thoughtful way without bitterness you know you you might have missed out on some things that you're just looking back and saying hey here's some gaps that maybe we need to fill and

[02:01:52] you can clearly see i don't in my tenure we've never addressed to my knowledge people in the crowd and every single person apparently is going to say something to you too you you said something we heard it we appreciate it and i'm going to let you know you guys are going to do great what no matter what y'all are impressive like so there you go that's that's all bye um but then the second thing that i was just kidding the second thing that i had to say last week was teacher appreciation week and it was everywhere um you know just saw it all in my facebook feed and you go into schools

[02:02:28] and everybody's getting all kinds of things um and as a teacher it's an awesome time to be a teacher it's wonderful but I didn't say anything from up here and I just want to acknowledge I know everybody's job is difficult in the whole world but I'm gonna say being a teacher is really hard it's like parenting it's really really hard and really really rewarding and maybe not all on the same day so thank you to our teachers thank you thank you for what you do I know that it's a labor of love and I know that every single day you go in with that smile on your face

[02:03:03] whether it's real or fake it doesn't matter you do it and you do it for the kids and they feel it and they know it and you're making a difference whether you know it or not and so i thank you from the bottom of my heart we all thank you and we obviously wouldn't be here without you thank you stay please stay bye mrs effron um well i mean i feel like if i didn't say something but i did too. Also was moved when our students spoke.

[02:03:35] But no, truly, our students are our primary stakeholders. And as the decision makers, it's really important for us to get that feedback from the people who are most directly impacted. And that's the only way that we can get better and make better experience for the entire reason that we're doing this, which is our students.

[02:03:56] So thank you to everyone who brought their voice to the podium tonight, and I just also want to just express how excited I am to celebrate our class of 2025 graduates next week. We're so proud of you, and I look forward to, in particular, celebrating the Clover Hill Schools, Clover Hill High School, and Monacan High School on Tuesday, so see you guys there. Last but not least, but I got a sneak peek at the presentations that

[02:04:33] Alejandro and Charles did yesterday and I have to say that Thomas Dale students are going far and y'all did an amazing job yesterday and as did the rest of Mrs. Smith's class so thank you to you two for coming here tonight and giving the same presentation I know that that was a little bit uncomfortable in the beginning but y'all did an excellent job absolutely excellent job so kudos to both of you. And again, you're going to go really far. Thank you. And also to our teachers

[02:05:10] and teacher appreciation week last week, but we appreciate you every single week. So thank you for all of our teachers and staff and everything they do. And pray for me for Monday because I have a senior graduating and I am super excited for all of our class of 2025. And Thomas Dale is on Monday and Carver College and Career Academy is the following Wednesday thank you everybody the school board will hold a work session on Tuesday June 3rd 2025 at 4 p.m. here in the

[02:05:45] public meeting room it will be followed by a business meeting at 6 30 p.m. if there's no further business we need a motion to adjourn so moved Madam Clerk would you please call roll on the motion Todd Heffron aye Dominique Chatters aye Stephen Pronto aye Lisa Hudgens aye and aye the motion carries the may 13th 2025 school board business meeting is adjourned

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