Coraggio Consulting
Henrico County School Board Work Session, Thursday, October 24, 2024

Date: Thursday, October 24, 2024
Place: Henrico County School Board, Virginia
Length: 2h 22m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaTGNKCkyDk
Official meeting portal (Henrico County Public Schools, Diligent Community): https://henricoschools.community.diligentoneplatform.com/Portal/MeetingTypeList.aspx

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 2026-10-25. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:00:00] Good afternoon. Welcome to the October 24th, 2024 school board work session. Dr. Cashwell. Good afternoon, members of the board and those who are with us in the audience. We're going to begin with the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be followed by a moment of silence. If you would

[00:00:18] please stand. I pledge allegiance. If you would please remain standing as you're able for a moment

[00:00:46] of silence and that concludes our moment of silence you may be seated thank you dr cashwell the next item on the agenda is the approval of the agenda is there a motion i move that the school board approve the agenda for today's meeting thank you is there a second second all in favor say aye

[00:01:23] aye any opposed the ayes have it the agenda is approved we will move along to the next item on our agenda, which is closed session. Is there a motion to go into closed session? I move that the school board go into closed session for the discussion of matters covered under items A1 and A2 of section 2.2-3711 of the Code of Virginia 1950 as amended pertaining to the assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific school board employees, and the request for religious exemption from

[00:02:01] compulsory attendance that would involve the disclosure of information contained in scholastic records concerning individual students. Thank you, Mrs. Shea. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. The agenda is approved. I'm sorry.

[00:02:21] The ayes have it. We will now go into closed session. We will reconvene the work session at the conclusion of our closed meeting we're back and we will now certify closed session is there a motion to certify closed session i move that the school board certified by recorded vote that to the best of each school board member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the virginia freedom of information

[00:03:00] act and identified in the motion authorizing the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered in the closed meeting. Thank you, Mrs. Kinsella. Is there a second? Second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. Closed session has been certified. Superintendent, Dr. Cashflow.

[00:03:20] Thank you. For the first item, I'm recommending that the school board approve requests for release from compulsory school attendance for student case numbers 24-25-RE-4 and 24-25-RE-5 based on bona fide religious beliefs, and of course the names of the students are protected under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

[00:03:44] Thank you, Dr. Cashwell. Is there a motion? I move that the school board approve the request for release from compulsory school attendance for student case number 24-25-RE-4 and 24-25-RE-5 based on bona fide religious beliefs.

[00:04:02] Is there a second? Second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. - Aye. - Any opposed? The ayes have it. Closed session has been certified. Dr. Cashwell.

[00:04:17] - For the next item, we are going to engage in an activity whereby the school board will review previous legislative priorities and then identify priorities and agenda items for the upcoming 2025 legislative session.

[00:04:33] And shall we go ahead and move down? Are you gonna start the activity here? - We can go ahead and move down. And I was probably going to reiterate just what you said. All right. So if members would go ahead and move forward.

[00:05:19] Well, hello again.

[00:05:42] Can you hear me? Okay. For those of you who have been here the past several years, you're familiar with the process. I know we have two new board members this go around. But at your table, at your space, is a copy of the legislative priorities from last year.

[00:06:04] And an abbreviated scorecard, which is an excerpt from the session that we did in March to review the last legislative session. I've also included an agenda of the protocol to help us stay on task and adhere to the timeline.

[00:06:23] So this is a 45-minute activity. This is an activity, a professional development activity that we've adopted from our Department of Professional Learning. And the bulk of the activity is the 40 minute section in the middle.

[00:06:42] And if you flipped your page over on the back, you'll see that those 40 minutes and how they are broken out. So again, today's objective is by using the legislative priorities from last year as a baseline to gather your input from this year as we reflect on those And for us to be able to use that input to develop our new legislative priorities for the upcoming General Assembly session.

[00:07:14] We will go through each of the rounds and notice like and wonder where you have either four or five minutes to review and write down your reflections and thoughts on the appropriate card that you have there.

[00:07:31] and then we will go around and report out during each of these segments one at a time and it's not a purpose of this is the purpose is not to discuss but just to share briefly and then we'll go in a round robin format. Ms. Shea has agreed again to be our timekeeper for the third year in a row. And she does such a good job. No good deed goes unpunished. And so I will start at

[00:08:07] four minutes. And I'll ask you to take out the white card, which is the notice, and write down what your reflections are that you notice from those documents on your table.

[00:08:22] like what you see that you think is worthy of us to consider again or things that perhaps are

[00:09:58] missing that you would like us to include in legislative priorities and then the third round is wonder you wonder if you wonder what would happen if and then we can gather those all up so this first round is your white card and it's just what you're noticing about the priorities What you see there, what you see missing.

[00:11:35] I am going to start with Ms. Atkins and then we'll go around the room this way.

[00:12:35] If you want to share one of your notices and then we'll go around and if you have more than one, we'll just make another loop around and everybody can just say what the statement is.

[00:12:51] Thank you, Ken. I noticed from 2024 legislative priorities that they are still aligned with the needs for 2025. There's not much that I see to be removed.

[00:13:09] I know we're going to get to some wins, but I think for the majority of what I see, they're still necessary and aligned to the needs of today. I noticed there's no comprehensive changes to funding for the JLARC recommendations.

[00:13:29] I noticed PTR is not the same thing as class size. I noticed that the plan to get teacher salaries in Virginia to the national average was vetoed by the governor.

[00:13:59] I noticed that equity is used several times when talking about safe schools and student wellness. I also noticed in the space of special education that there's more that we can add to advocate for in that space on behalf of student staff and the entire system for Virginia.

[00:14:35] I noticed a lot of green check marks for things that we advocated for last year. I noticed that our diversity continues to increase, as do our numbers of multilingual

[00:14:58] learners and students with disabilities. I noticed that the sports staff cap removal was

[00:15:16] eliminated in the conference markup. I noticed that the barriers looks like they've been removed for a special education, even though more things can be done. I do notice that. Also notice that

[00:15:52] our advocacy for a fully funding staff and curriculum requirements have not been fulfilled. I noticed that the things we advocate for are things that we do every day as a division, even if we don't have the state support, because it's what's right by kids.

[00:16:15] I noticed that we'll pause.

[00:16:37] No, I noticed one of the items on here is to fully fund staffing and curriculum requirements, and I noticed that has not been done. I noticed that every politician in the state of Virginia ran on education, so they need to fund it.

[00:16:58] Thank you. And I want to say that we'll collect your cards. So if we didn't get a chance to get to all of the items that you highlighted there, we will make sure that we synthesize all those in the priorities that we developed, the draft priorities that we developed, that we developed, I should say.

[00:17:24] And I want to thank our Chief Communications Officer, Eileen Cox. I didn't mention her earlier for assisting in capturing your thoughts on the board. Okay, we are going to move to the like round.

[00:17:41] And again, we will have four minutes for you to share your reflections on what you like. As an example, you could say, I like how these priorities support a safe school environment.

[00:17:57] So something to that effect, more specific or general, however you'd like. And we'll capture those, and we'll do four more minutes, and then report out again.

[00:19:09] 34 seconds left.

[00:21:48] Okay. I think next time we'll do the Jeopardy theme music that might help us know the countdown.

[00:22:09] I'm going to start with Mr. Irving, since this is where we left off. I like that there were generally no unfunded mandates. The expansion of dual enrollment courses in public high schools.

[00:22:26] I do not want to take your thunder with Lucia Law, but I am very excited that that passed. I like that we were able to work with local legislators on both sides of the aisle to get things done this session.

[00:23:05] I like our opening statement last year that was a plea for two legislators to consider the workload and timing of new initiatives that impact our educators and ultimately impact our students.

[00:23:25] I believe some legislators missed the memo. I like the change in English language learner student-to-teacher funding ratios, which are now based on student proficiency levels.

[00:23:55] I like the continued focus on literacy when it comes to curriculum and funding. I like that with the advocacy of UCAN and many here and many on the admin team and that push to get increased funding for schools.

[00:24:37] I like that we continue to advocate to remove barriers to qualified teachers and get them into classrooms where they can positively impact students.

[00:24:55] I like the initiatives we've implemented and funded in Henrico. like the Henrico Cares Program, Career Ladder, and $25 an hour for our bus drivers.

[00:25:33] I like that our special education career switchers bill was signed into law. I like that Henrico County and HCPS cover a lot of gaps in funding from state, especially when it comes to mental health services and school safety.

[00:26:05] And this is not listed in the presentation, but from being in the GA and listening to many people champion for many things that's in this HCPS priority, that actually helped lead to the Consolidation Appropriation Act of 2024.

[00:26:29] And I'll give you a little bit more context after you read that, but that particular bill that passed is going to assist with key social safety net programs, and that includes food assistance, affordable housing, WIC, and also it's going to help with gender-based violence prevention, bullying, cyberbullying, all of those things. And so listening to folks really advocate for some of the things that Henrico County has in here leads up to some of the bigger legislation that goes into discussions. And part of this, I think this

[00:27:06] was carried by McClellan, led to some really great things in this space. And that is time. Time to wonder. Thank you. Okay. So the Wonder Round is where we can really look forward to adding additional items for next year that we can advocate for. And it's more where the first two

[00:27:41] were a little more reflective. This one is a little more forward thinking about what can we add or change so we have five minutes for your um uh review and writing of the notes on the on the card the colored cards and uh just as an example is um i wonder how we can reduce barriers to teacher licensure for for example so something like that that you'd like to see um that maybe is not in there it could be um something additional uh build on building upon what's already there so

[00:28:19] five minutes i think we left off with miss kinsella last time or was it uh see where to begin

[00:32:34] i wonder if and when universal free lunch will be available in virginia wonder why our pro education governor vetoed our teachers getting paid what they deserve wonder how much better our schools could be if we improve the counselor to student ratio benefiting both students and

[00:33:03] reducing workload there how much better our schools could be if we improve the counselor

[00:33:26] to student ratio, benefiting both students and reducing workload. I wonder how we could incorporate policies around construction that focus on wellness and develop formulas that tie back to the number of windows that are required for new construction and also tying that back to

[00:34:01] evidence base of the impact of sunlight and absorption of vitamin D, also increasing calmness in reducing anxiety and policies that ensure that we're using non-toxic materials in the

[00:34:15] construction process. I wonder how much education would transform if appropriate SOQs were actually

[00:34:45] funded by the state. I wonder how different it would be if the VDOE would provide complete models,

[00:35:24] guidance, and training before rolling out new initiatives. I wonder what it would be like if

[00:36:03] all students from kindergarten till 12th grade had recess. I wonder how much more impactful our schools could be if state legislators expanded funding and support for students facing housing

[00:36:27] instability and food insecurity. We would see if legislators truly understood and supported a

[00:37:16] positive code of ethics for individualized education programs, which promote a positive approach for parents and advocates while fostering excellence in conducive learning environments. And I'm specifically speaking to Senate Bill 1334.

[00:37:36] I wonder how we can help legislators understand the unnecessary barriers to dual enrollment instructional qualifications.

[00:37:53] Also, I wonder, even though we're out of time, if we can go around the table one more time.

[00:37:59] I wonder how we can better support our students dropping out of high school to work, and when will Virginia divisions get credit for these students that ultimately earn their GED?

[00:38:46] I wonder why all portions of accreditation going down to even playground equipment are not provided with funding by the state when it's something that they require.

[00:39:10] I wonder how we can strengthen collaboration with our state legislators, especially with three of them serving on the Education Committee.

[00:39:46] I wonder why legislators are not in full support of the J-LOC recommendations.

[00:40:04] I wonder if the same items appear year after year on our list because legislators don't notice or don't understand or are unwilling to fix them.

[00:40:58] That was all the way around. Sorry. Well, thank you so much for your input. And the last few minutes that we have are the reflections of Eileen and I listening to your input.

[00:41:22] And I'll go first. I jotted down some notes that seem to be recurring themes. And those are the consistency of our priorities over the years.

[00:41:37] And to go along with the last comment that you made, Ms. Shea, the repeat items, I think that because something that appears repeatedly isn't necessarily a bad thing, I'm not implying that you're saying it's a bad thing, but I think that it just sometimes you see something just on the board for a long time and before it is able to really gain some traction.

[00:42:07] But it's kind of the old adage, you know, you just keep knocking on the door and ultimately it, you know, hopefully it will rise to a higher level. Funding items are still a need, although I think there has been incremental progress.

[00:42:29] That's kind of always a moving target and always something that we need to continue to advocate for. Another theme was making it easier to recruit and retain teachers and other employees. Back to the funding, the true funding of SOQs.

[00:42:47] A lot of mention for advocacy to support things like housing instability, food insecurity, wraparound services. And I think on several occasions I heard the, what can we do to help legislators truly understand the issues that we have.

[00:43:14] And there's kind of along with that is the strengthening of the collaboration with our legislators, several of which serve on the education committee. I think the last thing I'll say is that your advocacy is very important, in addition to me being down there on a daily basis.

[00:43:40] And I will do my best to keep you all updated on when particular bills are on the agendas of committee or subcommittee meetings. I think there are times when, if it's at all possible, that you could come down and speak.

[00:43:58] or just contact the legislator via email or phone call or something. I have seen how powerful that really is. And I think the legislators respect local school board members very much.

[00:44:13] In fact, many of them are former school board members. And so if you're able to during the session and you can make time to do that, I think it would be worth your while. So our purpose in having some reflective time with you is to make sure that we're capturing or understanding appropriately the things that you've said so that we can go back and look at the priorities and bring them back to you.

[00:44:40] So if there's something that you hear from us that's not correct, please jump in, let us know. I think that what I heard was that you all have been strategic to this point so that the priorities don't change every year, right? So the priorities and keeping your eye on the ball, it's the same ball. You might have some additional priorities that come in, but we're not throwing everything out and starting from scratch. I also heard that you all appreciate the progress that we've made,

[00:45:15] but we're not going to become complacent and so you would like us to go back and at the topics that you selected in the wonder or in the like categories how do we advance that to the next level how do we build upon perhaps some of the progress that we've made but also look for opportunities to take on some of these new topics as well and and keep moving forward so that's what we're going to do our next step will be that we'll take this all back dr cashwell will have time

[00:45:52] to have input as well from the instructional perspective and also with the division leadership team and then we will bring that back to you ken will bring that back to you and i believe dr cashwell if you would like to also offer some thoughts before we wrap up just want to thank you you both for facilitating the activity with the board, and I know that it's very fruitful to have an opportunity to hear from board members directly in this format. And so as we're transitioning back to the dais, Mrs. Atkins, Chair Atkins, if it's okay with you, we take a five-minute recess.

[00:46:28] Yeah, we just have a quick where they get to go around. Okay, so after the, I didn't mean to cut the activity short, so after the one-minute wrap-up, then we'll take a five minute recess before coming back to the dais and getting settled back. Thank you. Perfect. So, Mr. Young, do you want to start us off? Sure. I guess to kind of wrap up things, I really like just keeping up with the theme that our priorities really hone in on what we want to see done. And it's really clear cut to me. And another thing is that we heard funding a lot and a lot of our problems come from funding. But I would also like to see some sort of

[00:47:06] committee that helps us solve problems that funding doesn't account for. I would like to see something thinking outside of the box of funding, what we can solve for issues, because that seems to be the barricade when it comes to getting our legislation passed. Thank you.

[00:47:21] I also want to thank you, Ken, and Eileen, and all of my school board colleagues. It's an awesome opportunity, not just for us, but for the public to hear our different personalities through our words and understand some of the things that we may have focus on or perhaps in this moment just are at top of mind. It's so healthy to hear each other's thoughts. I also

[00:47:51] feel very strongly that with funding, we can accomplish quite a bit. And when there is money, we should receive it. That is as simple as that gets. The other part is around wellness.

[00:48:10] I don't know if it's captured here, but I would like for it to be captured somewhere that we have stronger advocacy and push around wellness. I mentioned it just from a construction perspective. I would like for us as a division to push even stronger. We are still in recovery from COVID and we are in the midst of a mental health crisis with our children and so I do think having some level of of advocacy in that space as as we get into the General Assembly other than

[00:48:44] that we've had some major wins and we should acknowledge that keep pushing for that and I look forward to learning more about what you come up with when you summarize all of these things. Thank you. Similar to Mr. Young, noticing that really, much like last year, a lot of these focus around funding, right? And that can often be the barrier to getting things through. We should absolutely continue to advocate for appropriate funding for our schools. Absolutely. But also, I think one of the reasons we were able to have so many wins last year is that we advocated for

[00:49:23] a lot of concrete things that were not directly based in funding, and so things like Mr. Irving brought up looking into recess or dual enrollment, IBP process. While those may have some financial impacts, they're not rooted in major budgetary investments like universal lunch and SOQs and those things, which we should absolutely continue to advocate for, but how can we think outside the box and get wins that don't have as large of a budgetary impact, but make the difference

[00:49:55] for our students and our staff and our communities. I appreciate this session. I appreciate you two facilitating it. I really liked our priorities last year, and I'd like to continue to build on them, right, because the needs continue to change. And another thing that I noticed, because it is, a lot of it is about the funding. And to your point, Mrs. Chase, some things can be fixed by policy and other adjustments that are not monetary. But again, every single politician

[00:50:31] in the state ran on education. They do need to fund it. And then I just noticed, again, I know we talk about Henrico and how we work with our counterparts and how fortunate we are, because as our enrollment has leveled off or in some cases declined, our budget is approaching a billion dollars. So the needs of our students and families continue to increase. So we are fortunate to have our government counterparts here in Henrico to help us with the funding

[00:51:07] until funding comes from the state. So I thank you both for facilitating this. I think it's an incredible, useful activity, and it's always fun to kind of participate in an event like my students would in class. My reflection on this, I think, is that if you are a citizen of Henrico and you care about these things, and I truly believe that most of our citizens do care about education because we're one of the only localities to ever vote to impose a tax on ourselves for

[00:51:43] education. I think that when next year comes around and we do have our state elections, it's important to pay attention to the people who do support these things, because elections do matter. And the people that we get into state office are the ones that provide a lot of this funding that we're asking for. So it's important to pay really close attention to who shares your values and who supports the things that have been laid out here. Thank you. Thank you very much. I think just to wrap up, as you're further reflecting, if there is anything specific that you think

[00:52:22] could be fashioned into a bill, please let me know about that and we can try to be very specific and get somebody to sponsor such a bill. So thank you again very much.

[00:52:39] And I think we're adjourned here. And we'll take a five-minute recess. Five-minute recess. All right. That was a wonderful activity for the board.

[00:52:55] I'll now turn the floor over to you, Dr. Cashwell. Thank you, Chair Atkins. The next item I have is an opportunity to once again review revisions to policy P4-06-007. And again, as shared before, the revisions to this policy provided some additional clarity and protocol as it relates to maintaining a drug-free workplace.

[00:53:22] And then following the board's approval, if granted at this evening's work session, related changes will also be made to regulation P4-06-007R, which was attached in board docs for reference. Should there be any questions?

[00:53:40] Colleagues, do you have any questions or feedback? Mr. Young. Yeah, just a general question. If passed this evening, Dr. Cashwell, when does it go into effect? And are our faculty notified immediately? Yes, it would go into effect immediately, and we would make employees aware of the change.

[00:54:03] Thank you. And then update our language. Yes. All right. Dr. Cashwell. All right. With no other questions on that item, the next item is an opportunity, as we do annually, to take a look at the proposed capital improvement plan.

[00:54:22] And so we'll look at fiscal year 2526 CIP proposals. And as is customary at this time, we also take a long look in this case out to fiscal year 3435 because we understand that making decisions related to our CIP today means in tandem looking at a number of long range plans in order to help inform and provide context.

[00:54:49] So Mr. Pritchard is going to kick off our presentation and I'll have him go ahead and get started. Thank you. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the board, and Dr. Cashwell. Today, Rachel Thayer and I will share our capital improvement plan for FY25-26 through FY2034-2035.

[00:55:08] Each year, the board reviews and approves a capital improvement plan, the CIP, that outlines the anticipated funding needed for the maintenance and enhancement of our facilities, as well as allocations for transportation and technology infrastructure.

[00:55:26] While the CIP is funded annually, we take a comprehensive approach to its development. This includes presenting a long-term plan that spans for the next 10 years. This strategic outlook allows us to create and maintain a prioritized list of upgrades, renovations, and improvements, scheduling them as funding allows, and exploring the potential use of bonds to meet these needs.

[00:55:50] Although our plans and requirements may evolve annually with new CIPs, this long-term vision helps ensure we stay focused on keeping our buildings in optimal condition for effective teaching and learning. Before we dive into the proposed CIP, Rachel will provide an update on capacity.

[00:56:14] The following maps show each school's preliminary functional capacity percentages by level. These percentages are based on draft membership numbers from the totals submitted by the schools during the fall membership counts. And the final membership and capacity numbers will be released in November.

[00:56:31] At the elementary level, the preliminary numbers show that no school is over 100% functional capacity and that there are 14 schools between 90 and 100% capacity, primarily in the Tuckahoe and Three Chop districts. The highest capacity school at the elementary level is Trevette at 98.4%.

[00:56:50] For our middle schools, the preliminary capacity numbers are showing that all middle schools are between 60.4% and 87.6%, with Pocahontas having the largest percentage. At the high school level, the greatest influence on capacity is academic programming such as specialty center enrollment, international baccalaureate, and ACE Center participation.

[00:57:15] We're going to break that down in the next few slides, but the overall impact is that when you account for students attending these programs on any given day, Freeman is the only high school with a functional capacity over 100%, and it is close at 101.2%. This table illustrates the impact of specialty centers in the international baccalaureate programs at the high school level.

[00:57:37] It displays the total number of high school students residing in each zone assigned to their respective schools, the net change in the school's enrollment due to these programs, and the preliminary fall membership figures. Through participation in a variety of programs, we are in essence redistributing the student populations based on their interests.

[00:57:56] This can help balance enrollment numbers across various locations, reducing pressure on any one single institution. When you factor in the ACE Center participation, the true capacity of high schools is determined by adjusting day one and day two membership to accurately reflect student counts on campus each day.

[00:58:15] This adjusted true capacity is shown alongside each high school's overall capacity compared to total membership. Next, Lenny will transition to our current bond and capital projects. We are in the final stages of the 2016 bond projects, and I'm excited to provide updates on Adams Elementary School.

[00:58:42] This rendering showcases the newly relocated entry for improved visitor access along with a modified roofline that will enhance the visibility of the multipurpose room. Work has begun on the structural framing for the new front office and some of the classroom.

[00:58:59] This should be done in December. Other classrooms, the cafetorium, bus loop and staff parking area are complete. Ongoing work on Thurston on Thornhurst Street involves connecting a new water line from Laburnum Avenue with the underground portion finished.

[00:59:16] The project started in February 2024 with an estimated completion date of the fall of 2026. Construction is also underway at the campus of Virginia Randolph. The renovated ACE Center at Virginia Randolph opened its doors at the start of the school year.

[00:59:36] Meanwhile, the two-story expansion to the Academy at Virginia Randolph is ongoing. When completed in the spring, the campus will include collaborative learning spaces and state-of-the-art classrooms. You will recall that this project, which was previously listed as a future unfunded project in the CIP, is now primarily being funded through ESSER III grant money.

[01:00:00] We are also moving ahead with our 2022 bond referendum projects. Once again, we would like to express our gratitude to the citizens of Henrico for their overwhelming support in approving these bonds. This funding will enable school construction projects over the next six years to address aging infrastructure, accommodate potential growth and development, and create innovative teaching and learning environments.

[01:00:25] The slide lists the specific bond projects approved and their planned timelines. Year one projects have already commenced with the design of Longin and Jackson Davis Elementary School, which were approved by this board during the June 6th school board meeting. Both projects are set to begin this fall, with an estimated completion date aligned with the start of the 26th school year.

[01:00:48] Also included in the year one projects is the living building at Wilton Farm. The school board has approved the schematic design for this facility. As a reminder, it will be the first Living Building Challenge certified public K-12 building in the world. Site work is estimated to start in February 25, with construction beginning in September of 25, a completion targeted for the start of the 26th school year.

[01:01:13] The CIP cycle enables us to plan for future projects effectively. This slide presents a list of future projects not included in our current CIP draft. But with part of our long-range projections and planning efforts, these projects are identified as needed attention in years 8 through 10 of our plan.

[01:01:38] As long-range planning continues, additional projects may be added. The first five schools on this list were evaluated in our initial capital facility pre-planning study and are designated for renovations. The cost of these projects will be determined once a start date is established, taking inflation into account.

[01:02:01] The next five schools are the last five schools that are currently undergoing a capital facility pre-planning study to determine their priority order and whether they are better suited for a rebuild or renovation. If we stay on track through FY33, we will renovate it and or rebuild all schools in Henrico that were constructed prior to 1990.

[01:02:24] Looking beyond the next 10 years, we will revisit the first schools renovated in the late '80s and '90s. These schools highlighted in red represent some of our oldest original structures, which have undergone various additions over the years. They will also be included in a capital facility pre-planning study.

[01:02:47] Upon completion of the current school replacements and the elementary expansion, ACPS will operate 75 school facilities covering over 7.6 million square feet, Notably, 72.6% of our buildings are over 30 years old and 60.3% have been in use for more than 50 years.

[01:03:10] Next, I will shift focus to the meals tax projects. We continue to leverage meals tax funding for deferred maintenance projects at our schools. We remain grateful to both the school board and board of supervisors for this funding to help our facilities.

[01:03:29] To date, we have done 425 meals tax projects at a cost of over $87 million across all schools. The funding has been used for projects such as vestibule interway, a camera system replacement, gym floor replacements, bathroom upgrades, carpet replacement, lighting upgrades, and parking lot improvements.

[01:03:47] As you can see, the $9 million meals tax money has been and will continue to be essential to complete deferred maintenance projects at schools not covered in the CIP. Using Neal's tax funds, we have initiated plans to build three new auditoriums at our campus-style middle schools beginning with Tuckahoe Middle.

[01:04:10] The construction bid was released in the spring of 2024, but came back over budget so we value engineered the project and are in the process of reviewing a second round of bids. Once the Tuckahoe project is complete, we will use the same process for Brooklyn and Fairfield middle school auditoriums in subsequent years down the road.

[01:04:33] Moving on to mechanical and roofing, Until last year, these types of projects, though vastly different, were funded from the same CIP allocation totaling just $2.5 million annually. The $2.5 million was earmarked to cover all HVAC plumbing and electrical repairs in addition to any roof maintenance.

[01:04:55] This will not surprise you, but the $2.5 million wasn't enough to make a dent in the division's HVAC needs. Last year, we made two separate requests, one totaling $7 million designed for mechanical projects and another $3 million specifically for roofing projects.

[01:05:10] And thanks to the board and board of supervisors and our school board, for the first time since 1999, we were allocated more than the traditional combined $2.5 million. As I said, the current CIP includes $7 million for mechanical projects.

[01:05:31] For context, in 2019, ACPS identified a total of $44 million in mechanical work needed across the division. In addition to the CIP funds, we have used ESSER and COVID recovery funds and meals tax to begin to address some of the most pressing issues.

[01:05:48] As of October 1st of this year, we have prioritized a list of 70 projects totaling $56 million. Each year, we collaborate with Moseley Architect and their Mechanical Engineering Department through our annual contract to assess our HVAC systems.

[01:06:04] Together, we create a priority list of mechanical projects based on age, the frequency of repairs, and need for various issues. The list focuses on preventive, maintenance, and infrastructure replacement rather than simply identifying broken or non-functioning components.

[01:06:22] While age and problematic issues are both considered, We prioritize addressing critical issues first, even if they precede age-based replacements. In essence, our plan aims to replace mechanical items before they fail. That $7 million from the CIP, while much appreciated increases, barely scratches the surface.

[01:06:41] This year, we are requesting $10 million to enable us to undertake additional mechanical projects and address any unforeseen repairs. When it comes to roofing, replacing aging roofings at school is essentially for safety, structural integrity, energy efficiency, and health aesthetics and compliance, et cetera.

[01:07:04] The $6 million request allows us to proactively tackle roofing issues, ensuring that our schools can maintain a safe and supportive learning environment for years to come. The figures presented on this slide mainly focus on our metal retrofit roofing system, but also need to address some of the older slate roofing and low-slope membrane roofing that exists in some of our buildings.

[01:07:30] I would like to express my gratitude once again for this board and the Board of Supervisors for their support of the technology infrastructure funding. Last year's $2 million CIP commitment to the Capital Improvement Plan allowed us to continue our large-scale technology initiative, equipping HCPS classrooms with innovative and next-generation display technologies, particularly in those that previously lacked them or had outdated systems.

[01:07:56] Over the past three years, we have successfully added 2,030 new panels to our classrooms, and with this year's funding, we aim to add another 350 Promethean panels. I want to extend my gratitude to this board and Board of Supervisors again for their ongoing support in replacing our aging bus fleet.

[01:08:17] Last year's CIP included essential funding for bus replacements. Since the approval of the last CIP, we have utilized CFP and ESSER funds over the past five years to purchase 278 new buses equipped with seat belts and climate control. These investments have helped lower the average age of our bus fleet and reduce both fuel and repair costs.

[01:08:40] Additionally, improved driver workspace in the new buses featuring climate control and technology upgrades will enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of our transportation department.

[01:08:55] In past years, the transportation line item in the CIP was inclusive for buses and the division's fleet vehicles. For clarity and for record keeping purposes, we are making a new separate $1.5 million CIP request for vehicle replacement that will enable us to update and maintain our aging work fleet, ultimately enhancing our school services, or services to our school, I'm sorry.

[01:09:25] To further our efforts in addressing the aging playgrounds at our elementary schools, the CIP requests $1 million to establish a long-term replacement plan. The playground projects were first added to the CIP in FY24, following a one-term appropriation of 500,000 for FY23, which was made in September 22.

[01:09:47] This plan aims to ensure that playground equipment is replaced every 11 to 12 years, meeting current safety standards. With the $1 million, we can replace playgrounds that three schools each school year, each school has two playgrounds, one for grades K through two, and another designated for students in grades three through five.

[01:10:07] Replacement costs are approximately 300,000 per school. This concludes the presentation. We'll be seeking the board's approval of our preliminary CIP at the November monthly board meeting, and then we'll provide our proposal to the board of supervisors so that it may be considered during their budget deliberations.

[01:10:29] Once approved by the supervisors, they will return to this board for your final approval. And we will be glad to take any questions you have at this time. - Mr. Purchard, thank you for the presentation. If I might note as a point of clarity that we're seeking approval of the 25-26 CIP at our December 12th meeting.

[01:10:47] - Oh, thank you very much. - I think you stated in November. Thank you. - Thank you for the presentation. We'll begin discussions to my left with Mr. Irving. - Didn't know I'd go first. Thank you all for the detailed presentation.

[01:11:04] Um, it's greatly appreciated as always. So I'm going to have, I think quite a lot of questions. So I apologize in advance. Um, so if we, if we start off with the capacity, uh, and the first three slides with elementary, middle and high school, um, ideally what level of capacity do we want at each of our buildings? Well, our buildings are built into function at a hundred percent capacity. And that's what we work to work at. So ideally we do want the buildings to be as close as possible to 100%. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I think that makes sense. You want to use the

[01:11:44] functional space that's available. Do the specialty programs make projecting enrollment patterns difficult? It doesn't necessarily make it difficult, but it is something we consider during the projection process to make sure that we are as accurate as possible to what students experience the next school year. So the reason I ask that, for example, is Deep Run High School has 2,289 zone students. And they have, I believe, a functional capacity of 1,850. So if there were to ever be a change in the amount of specialty program participation, that would throw them over

[01:12:23] by a lot. So that's the reason I ask, like, how predictable is it in terms of, like, mapping that out for, you know, any considerations? Well, I can tell you as a former principal of that school, I mean, when you looked at the first numbers, their numbers are staggering. I mean, at 24, 2,500, 2,600 kids at one particular point in time. But relying on the specialty centers and the programming, we were comfortable at that point in time. I mean, we would always have some over, particularly after 2008, when some things happened and we were fine with numbers. So it was really

[01:12:58] fun. I mean, we went into building the master schedule knowing that these numbers were going to change dramatically. And I would just note that, you know, while certainly it's another factor that we can't predict with 100% accuracy, just like we can't guess sometimes the number of kindergartners and so on who will be enrolling in any given year. We can certainly look at trends and most of our specialty centers have a track record for some time. So we're able to look at enrollment over time and predict what that looks like, not only annually from all schools, but by magisterial district and feeder high school. So that gives us something to start with. And certainly

[01:13:38] this board over time and previous boards have really advocated for continuing to offer and expand seats at specialty centers. I don't think I have to reemphasize the recent efforts around expansion of ACE, for example, and so all of those opportunities are wonderful for students in creating that life-ready learning experience, and it also provides relief for capacity challenges that any individual school might have as we create, you know, more space for students.

[01:14:08] Sure, sure. So a point of question about the ACE Center impact. So with students going to ACE, you know, part-time in terms of their homeschool, high school participation, and then going to ACE, how is that mapped out on the numbers on terms of like, because there's more students in the building some days than there are others based off of ACE attendance.

[01:14:25] So how do we look at those? It's actually mapped the day one and day two. And so you can see. I missed that. No, that's all right. No, I mean, it's a lot of numbers to see. Oh, I took that as day one attendance and then day two attendance in terms of, like, us tracking who is. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Well, that's great.

[01:14:41] A small quibble about the map colors, because it's, like, somewhat confusing, because we wouldn't, green to me means great, but we don't really want our schools to be under 80% capacity. So, I guess just, you know, that's just a small quibble in terms of, like, how the coloring works out, and I don't know if there's a way to, like, ideally map that out, but just in my mind, I'm like, oh, these are great.

[01:15:03] And then I'm like, oh, no, it's actually we don't want less than 80 percent in a given building. OK, so if we can move down to the facilities is slide HCPS facility overview.

[01:15:18] I noticed that 60 percent of our facilities are over 50 years old. What types of issues does that play in terms of school environment and impact? Well, I think one of the things that we've all seen over the last few years, schools generally that old, to meet capacity in the past, they've had add-ons, additions built onto the school.

[01:15:43] So that has created some HVAC issues. When you try to tie in five and six different systems all into one, it does become very problematic at some time. So that is probably the biggest issue that we have. And are there issues with the physical size of classrooms, given when most of these buildings would have been built over 50 years ago, we would have had smaller amounts of students attending the buildings?

[01:16:06] Does that ever play a role? No. If you travel around our school, you go to the different schools. Some of our older schools have extremely large classrooms. Okay. I mean, particularly at the elementary school level, they're huge. That's interesting. Yes. Okay. Well, that's great. Okay. And then if we could move to, um, the mechanical and roofing. So I knew, I didn't notice for 25 years, um, we received a combined $2.5 million for mechanical and roofing. So that'd be a hundred thousand dollars a year. Um, it strikes me that it would be much more expensive

[01:16:45] than a hundred thousand dollars a year too. No, it was, it was annually. Oh, I read that is 2.5 combined okay okay okay then i retract that because i was like oh that's that seems that seems bad um yes yeah no no no no no it's not good i've just and and i did find it interesting that it took a global pandemic for actually us to reach a level of funding that seems reasonable for adequately replacing these things in a timely manner um could you just explain to me what all goes into mechanical like

[01:17:22] that's a broad category what is that exactly like in terms of everything that's built into it i have learned more about this than i probably thought i ever would when i took this job but it is a it is it is huge when you start talking about um the units themselves when you start talking about chillers when you start talking about boiler so when when you start talking about air handlers the venting system that goes through all of this stuff i mean it is very complex um and and very massive within a school. A lot of people just like to think that our HVAC systems are just like their house. They're just, they're not that simple. They are very complicated. There's a lot

[01:17:59] of moving parts to it. You know, depending upon when the school was built or when the systems were upgraded, it's depending on how the system runs. When you've got, we've got some that are dual temperature HVAC systems, which can be issues, we could have issues at times where it's just not flipping on and turning off at the right, at the appropriate time. Um, there, there's a lot of stuff, but I mean, it is very extensive, very detailed. I will say that those are just the highlights of our, of, of an HVAC system. Certainly. Um, so how much of the requested 10 million for mechanical only, like how much of that is just playing catch up on what we need to

[01:18:38] renovate? Some of it is just, it's taking some of that funds too, and, and, and being proactive and looking at that list of what we can do and take care of. Some of it is going back and being reactive and fixing things as they do break down.

[01:18:55] They're mechanical. Those things are going to happen. So we will put as much money as we possibly can into putting a dent into that 70 projects that we do have that equal $56 million. I do want to be sure to clear, too, to understand that this is work that we cannot do in HCPS.

[01:19:13] We have to rely on outside vendors. and asking for a lot of money up front, it probably wouldn't matter because the vendors don't have the people to do that amount of work. So you have to break this up and space it up over time. So that's why we prioritize and look at our most difficult projects that we need to tackle.

[01:19:31] So in terms of the outside vendors, because I do understand that plays a large role, especially with the HVAC systems, and you may have decades-old agreements that have lapsed and such that make it difficult to fix some of them. What is the feasibility of setting up a future program where it's more easily able to get these folks on call rather than trying to wait however long it is for a vendor to reply? I mean, we can definitely look into that. I know that basically, I know that we function off of contracts and what's existing, what's available to us.

[01:20:07] Okay. Yes. Okay. In terms of the roofing, so let's combine 9 million for this year and next year. And then we have over 50% approaching the end of its effective life, 40 plus years old. How much of that will tackle that 50%?

[01:20:25] Because I'm assuming that we're triaging and going off of, you know, dealing with what's almost unusable. And I might note as a point of clarity that previously roofing and mechanical, that allocation covered all of those projects.

[01:20:41] So the dollar figure you mentioned for the number of years that we received was for mechanical and roofing. Coming to terms with the mechanical expenses and breaking that out, you know, so we saw a very welcome increase last year, and that did allow us to accelerate our work along with leveraging some ESSER funds and other meals tax project monies and so on.

[01:21:06] You know, the roofing projects are becoming significant enough, as noted here, that we felt we needed to break that apart and be clear about what the estimate of work is. So this is giving you an idea of how much was spent previously and we believe will need to be spent in fiscal year 26, that $6 million, in order to accomplish the prioritized work.

[01:21:28] And this may be a strange question, but how much of that 50% will come offline once the new buildings and the new expansions are completed, if you could ballpark? So, like, for example, if Jackson Davis can have a rebuild and their roof is probably one of those ones that's – That's exactly. That's just it as we go through. I can pull all that information for you and get that to you.

[01:21:48] Yeah, because, I mean, that obviously makes it a bit easier to tackle the other ones. Bus replacement. Okay. So, okay. And I kind of want to look at bus replacement and vehicle replacement. So first of all, what is the average age of our 460 vehicles? Do we happen to know that? Of our fleet vehicles? Yeah, the non-bus vehicles. Yeah, the 460 fleet vehicles. Do we happen to know the average age of those? I can find that out for you. Okay. That'd be useful.

[01:22:20] Because I'm just thinking about in terms of replacement. Do we currently have a 10 to 15 year plan to commit to replacing our entire bus and vehicle fleet with renewably fueled vehicles? No, sir. And then in terms of the buses and the funding that we're looking at being, you know, remaining constant, have bus prices increased over the past couple of years?

[01:22:53] Yes, they have. Important to know. Okay. And then lastly, I just want to talk about playgrounds real quick. It's wonderful that we have a playground funding stream because, you know, as I learned when I came on to this job, they are required for accreditation. So it's incredibly important, especially to our communities.

[01:23:09] And I know that my daughter loves them and I can't imagine, you know, having to have a broken slide and not being able to use it for a day and the tears that are shed over that. So in terms of playground and that being a constant million dollars, are playgrounds more expensive than they have been over the past few years?

[01:23:26] Yes, they are. Okay, well, then it's, you know, for me, when I see constant expenditures, I always think, well, that then covers less over the previous years, because if things become more expensive, then you're just losing value over time, and it's not actually covering what it used to cover.

[01:23:44] So I think that any future arrangement should include a COLA adjustment, because, you know, if things become more expensive, we have to equate that to what it would have cost over time. Thank you guys for the presentation. I appreciate this.

[01:24:00] Yes, thank you. Mr. Young right thank you for the presentation I'm gonna apologize ahead of time if I move around and I'm not in order it's a lot of information to kind of unpack I did want to start with what's probably my top priority which is the HVAC systems we we've talked about it and making sure the systems work well should still remain a major focus of ours so Lenny I have a question for you do we have sufficient staff to handle when problems come up I know we have to outsource for some things, but do you have sufficient staff to take care of problems as

[01:24:36] they come? I mean, we have people, but we have not filled all of our vacancies. That part I can tell you. Okay. And so part of my question, I worked at Philip Morris for years. I was a machine operator. We did this thing called preventative maintenance. I'm sure Henrico County does PM as well on our HVAC unit. So how often are we doing this PM? Are we so backed up handling the emergencies that we are now no longer sort of doing the PM on these operating machines?

[01:25:03] No, because the money that we do get, like if it does go through, the money that was given to us last year, we have started the preventive maintenance aspect on that and then dealing with the stuff that comes up as it does on a day-to-day basis. And like I said, our people can't do any of that work. We can't put in a chiller. We can't put in a boiler. That has to come from an outside vendor. Right. But once they're in, you guys can do the maintenance on them.

[01:25:26] Okay, so in the funding that we're asking for here, does the project include any staffing? Well, if we contract out to purchase a unit, that would include the cost of the installation.

[01:25:41] But the estimates we have put together for total HVAC mechanical would include things like preventative maintenance, systems we know are about to age out that we've planned. We do have a replacement cycle that we, again, he mentioned Mosley Architects works with us to study all of our systems and prioritize those for us. And so we're working off that list. But to Mr. Pritchard's point, then there are the unexpected repairs and issues that come up, which it's more about the dollars, I think, than the manpower, right? And trying to maximize how much of that list we can get through in any

[01:26:21] given year given any unforeseen projects that may pop up okay i just wanted to see if we had a sort of a staffing issue there as we do in other areas the other the other good part about buying new stuff is that it comes with warranties that the vendor has to provide service for so you're getting that part of it in in the purchase of the new stuff so yes i do have a question um why are we having a hard time finding hvac technicians it's just a high demand industry well can we not use our CTE. Well, I think that's part of it too. And I know that we've been looking into this stuff when we get into this, but there's just not enough people going into that field in the private

[01:26:59] sector. So we're competing with the private sector to meet with our own. And as wonderful as our benefits are in Henrico County, I need to make that plug too. It's tough to compete with that. It is, but I would note this is an area we continue, as I've mentioned, across all of our employee categories, when we're seeing shortages or gaps like that, then that tells us we need to take a look and do a market analysis. So this is something our HR team is looking at. And sometimes there's a supply and demand issue. Sometimes it's looking at whether a market adjustment is needed. And while we know we may never be able to compete with the private sector

[01:27:35] in some arena, our benefits and some of the other perks of working for Henrico County Public Schools may outweigh that if we can find the right market balance and it is a unique you know area of expertise so we understand that in our recruitment efforts and I would note to your point about CTE we certainly love anytime we can get our students as official apprentices or whatever that might work alongside experts and I know that's something that Mr. Pritchard and Mac Baton have actually been collaborating on. And so as students come through our own programs and work with maybe some

[01:28:12] of our private sector partners, there may be an opportunity for us to function as a private sector partner in that kind of a way. Okay, perfect. Thank both of you all. If we go to the roof and replacement, I see $3 million for fiscal year 2025, $6 million for 2026. Has there been any thoughts about the window replacement on our schools or any budgetary line items? I know that we've been using primarily, that would be a deferred maintenance project that we've been using meals tax funds in the past to do that. So we have a number of capital projects that wouldn't be

[01:28:46] reflected in the CIP. And so, yes, I mean, all aspects of a building, you know, we want to make sure we're maintaining. And so while the CIP really reflects the larger dollar funds and asks, in three broad categories, so that transportation, technology, and then our roofing and mechanical.

[01:29:09] And so we would be leveraging other parts of our general fund and or meals tax as deferred maintenance to handle other projects. And we do have those mapped out by building. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about that. What part in this either CIP or meals tax does landscaping come into play?

[01:29:28] You know, I want to see well-maintained campuses, greenery, flowers, striped lawns. Like, does this come in anywhere in our allocation? You sound like a football coach, not a basketball coach. But we do have a budget line, but that funds is stretched out over all of our facilities.

[01:29:49] So it's something that you have to share and divvy up. But it's not within this budget. No, it is not. But we can provide you additional information. But that's not part of what's considered for this. Good. And then I know there's a study done by a third party in which I guess renovations and rebuilds. I haven't had access to that yet. Can we make sure? Absolutely. Because I would like to see some of my schools, particularly like Laburnum or Radcliffe. We are working, and I don't know that Mr. Pritchard noted it, but of the schools that had not yet been studied, that next group will be. And one of the reasons, and I know this may be repetitive for some, we engage in that is

[01:30:27] So we certainly could say we want to begin replacing buildings by age and stack them up by the year they were built. But we know that it's a little bit more complicated than that. So what's being examined in this study is not just the age, but the condition of the facility and the conduciveness for teaching and learning in current environments and mapping all of those things out.

[01:30:46] So I think, you know, given the number of buildings we have, our aging infrastructure, certainly that's an important step in helping us prioritize projects. They also look at the feasibility and potential costs for a rebuild versus a renovation and have made some recommendations there.

[01:31:05] Certainly we understand that as the time of study is done, the market can change drastically two or three years later as this board then maybe began to prioritize projects, but that is how we prioritize projects for the last bond referendum and we continue to list them and priority order based and grounded in that study, lest other factors may come up later.

[01:31:29] Thank you. Thank you for that, Dr. Cashwell. When looking at Virginia Randolph, I know it's supposed to come on board spring of 2025. Are there any plans for renovating the current building that they're in, that side? The whole campus has been either renovated or rebuilt or added onto, So the whole thing will have been touched.

[01:31:52] By 2025? Correct. So that would be completion? Yes. Okay, perfect. And then any timeline for Fairfield Middle School auditorium yet? I know it's Tuckahoe, then we had Brooklyn, but. Given the delay and the change in the market, I think we're going to need to get through the Tuckahoe process to be able to give a good estimate on that.

[01:32:09] I believe we have them parsed out over the next three to five years. That was even just for planning, not building. So we'll reevaluate that once we have been able to readjust to the market. Okay. And then my final thing was capacity at the high school level.

[01:32:28] Looks like Henrico High School has about 888 zoned students, 1,191 when we include programming. This probably is a question more so for Dr. Cashwell, but I would like to see some additional programming or specialty centers to increase the enrollment in Henrico High School.

[01:32:46] I think we have room for another 700 kids. And I know my principal over there, I know she wants more students. My teachers want more students as well. So just want to throw that out there to see if we can increase enrollment. - I appreciate that. And I mean, the good news is our students across all high schools want more options and programs.

[01:33:05] And as we continue to look at what are those instructional areas that are cutting edge, where we see the job market booming and maybe there's a high demand industry, that we're not yet aligned with or preparing an experience for, we're beginning to think about how we might develop specialty center programming to match that.

[01:33:25] And then we would look at where is capacity available to be able to do something like that. So certainly lots of conversations going on on that front and we'll keep you posted. - Thank you so much. And then the last thing that I have is on the bus replacement slide.

[01:33:40] Mr. Fritchard, I'm guessing what's the longest a bus is kind of in in movement when it comes to like how many years 15 20 30 how long do we use a bus it all depends i'm being honest with you it all depends on that particular bus it's just like a car i mean we have we have some buses that that are very reliable and usable that are 2008 okay yes so i mean we have a few of those but most part i would say anywhere 15 year max is probably what you're going to get out of a bus okay perfect um i may have some redirects coming but that's it for

[01:34:14] now thank you thank you thank you mr young mrs shea thank you so much um my colleagues previous to me have done such a thorough job um really excellent job um and i know that um miss kinsella and uh miss atkins will have plenty of facilities questions so i only have one facilities question and then want to move to capacity um so my facilities question is on everyone's favorite topic, HVAC. Is $10 million enough? I think given where we are and the ability to do the work,

[01:34:52] you know, I think that's the important piece of it and tackle those projects. I think 10 million is right now. Now, being that this is all new and these gradual increases are happening, we'll be able to determine what we could ask for for the following CIP as well. But I think this is a good starting point in addressing some of those projects that we want to get underway.

[01:35:12] My request is very simple in words, understandably very complex in implementation, but I want to ensure that all schools have adequate working HVAC. And so whatever you need, if it's $10 million, if it's more than $10 million, we want to know.

[01:35:30] We want you to ask for it. We want to make that happen for our students and our staff. And then, you know, dovetailed in outside of CIP, but dovetailed into that, really clarity and for the communication process on those work orders as we, when a challenge does arise so that it can be resolved quickly.

[01:35:53] But we want our schools to be first-class learning, places to learn and work, and HVAC is a big part of that. So you make the ask and we want to make it happen. Thank you for your support. All right, pivoting now to capacity.

[01:36:11] If we can just go to those, oh, first of all, I want to say, Rachel, these, well, and Mr. Pritchard, these new slides that are introduced this year with the Specialty Center and the ACE numbers are really, really helpful to see.

[01:36:28] And so I want to, this is a new iteration of information with this year's capacity, and I just want to say thank you. It really helps us understand how students are moving across the county, so thank you. If we could go to the maps. One of these things is not like the others. There is one school on all of our maps in red, and that is Freeman High School. It's currently 104, 105 percent over capacity, and this is untenable. It's been on an upward trend since at least 2018. I pulled

[01:37:07] all the numbers. Looking at, starting in 2018, approximately 100%, 103%. Even in 2021, when enrollments dipped during COVID, it was at 100%, up to almost 103%. The last two years, between 104 and 105%. Do we see a significant, obvious relief coming in cohorts behind the students who are in high school specifically in this matriculation pattern? Not overall trends,

[01:37:44] but do we have some sort of obvious bubble that's going to pop? I would say looking at the projection numbers, not in the next five years. I appreciate that insight. And I really appreciate you. You are on it. You know everything about capacity and building usage. And so I really appreciate your expertise in bringing these numbers to us a little bit early. The impact on the overcrowding at Freeman is obvious when you go in the building. You see impact on class

[01:38:21] size, which I know is a lot more complex than just capacity. There's complement of teachers and that sort of thing, but at some point you run out of places to put teachers. A senior shared some of their class size numbers with me, and this was just one that shared AP Calculus, 36 students, economics, 34 students, a whole schedule of almost over 30 students in every class for that senior.

[01:38:51] When we see building usage for Freeman in pretty much every department, there are floating staffs. a lot of teachers aren't able to be in their classrooms during planning, but also lack office space to relocate to during planning because of overcapacity. There are directed studies happening in the gym, which is obviously a challenge and not conducive to being able to study.

[01:39:18] It's challenging navigating the building. The original building, for those who aren't familiar with it is similar to Moody or the Oak, that center hub. It was made for far less than 1,800 students to be able to navigate it. We've heard, I have heard advocacy from the community, from staff, and from students about the overcrowding at Freeman. Last year, a panel or a group of juniors looked into this as their research project and hosted a panel I was able to be part of

[01:39:54] and dug into the overcapacity at Freeman and how they have seen impacts in class size, how it may have impacted attendance, school safety, teacher retention, and more. So we have a lot of advocacy coming around this problem, and it's not due to development in that area.

[01:40:13] And as you shared, there's no obvious bubble that's going to pop with matriculation or relief. And so I bring up a topic that's really hard, and I don't bring it up lightly. But I think it's time that we look into possibly moving some students out of Freeman.

[01:40:36] Godwin, which is right next door, has space. It is under 80% when we adjust for ACE Center. So, Dr. Cashwell and Mr. Pritchard and your team, I would love to know in the coming meetings if that is perhaps a solution for Freeman.

[01:41:00] Again, Godwin has space for relief. I am not talking about a countywide broad process. I'm asking for a limited adjustment, very similar to a couple years ago with Colonial Trail and Twin Hickory where it was very focused to resolve a specific need.

[01:41:22] This doesn't need a big outside firm. We have the capacity within Henrico to look at and solve this project. can be, you know, very focused without lots of dominoes, I believe. And I would also like us as we're looking at this as much as possible to limit the disruption for any students who have already started at Freeman. Because it's not a big, you know, countywide with lots of dominoes, I'm hoping that we can accommodate students who have already started at Freeman while still

[01:42:01] providing relief for that community. And then additionally, to understand this within the scope of adjustments that may need to be made as new buildings come on online, right? And with the CIP projects that we looked at, because we never want to, you know, do things twice in a row. But I do not bring this up lightly. I know that this is a challenging topic for all of us, but

[01:42:31] we have to do what's right by our students and um so thank you and mrs gonsella i'm not even going to apologize for how many questions i'm going to ask and my colleagues have done a tremendous job um really in in elevating things and getting explanations um to how things work especially since um so many of our line items have changed have changed and are growing so i

[01:43:04] appreciate learning those things. And Mrs. Shea, I just want to start by redirecting to you about Freeman because I looked at whatever slide number that is up there. I saw your red at Freeman and I just want to remind everybody that when we get to this point of year, I know it's one of our favorite times where we do comprehensive. One of the things that's been a priority for us in our five years on the board is comprehensive budgeting, planning.

[01:43:38] Dr. Cashwell has added the studies in her time here. She's added long-term planning in addition to short-term planning. So I just want to highlight and remind those who may be freaking out once they hear what Mrs. Shea just said about variables that impact capacity and what she really just asked the team to do before perhaps adjusting anything. I know Mr. Young has mentioned programming.

[01:44:09] So we don't typically move programs. I don't think that really applies to Freeman, right? The center is staying there. So I hope no one listening freaks out about that comment. So that's not really an option for us, but there are other things.

[01:44:27] For example, short-term solutions to provide, in short terms, I'm just going to say it. I'm not going to call it a learning cottage. I'm just going to call it what it is, which is a trailer. Are there any trailers, Mr. Pritchard, at Freeman? And is there any land for said trailers?

[01:44:44] There are not, and it would be something that we would have to look at in an evaluator where we could actually put one. Okay, because I think that that's important. I know I've never been a fan of trailers, but I do know that sometimes, I know you said it wasn't a bubble because you looked at the trends, but as the team really analyzes it further, if trailers could be an option, I'd like for us to consider that.

[01:45:11] Anyway, enough about other solutions. I apologize for interrupting you. However, it might be wiser to continue this discussion on this topic before you delve into new topics. And I want to offer the courtesy to Mr. Young and Mr. Irving. If you had any redirects specifically on Mrs. Shea's topic, you're welcome to do that now. Do you have any? Okay, perfect. All right, Mrs. Kinsella.

[01:45:42] And I would just, again, emphasize that to Mr. Young's request for additional programming considerations, and Henrico is not the only school, for example, there's still capacity. If you could go back to the map slide, because it's just easier to look at the green schools, right? We still have space in Verina. As we've said numerous times before, we have capacity.

[01:46:07] it may not be where we need it. So then we get creative before we change boundaries and move students and disrupt things. So we do have space at Henrico, Hermitage, Godwin, and Verina for additional programming opportunities that perhaps some of our Freeman Mavericks may be interested in. Anyway, thank you for letting me just speak to what could impact capacity for you now.

[01:46:38] I don't even know where to begin. Okay, so I guess I'll begin with capacity. We used to, and it's gonna start with a request, because I don't have all the pieces of the puzzle that I need. For example, again, new programming, right?

[01:46:58] Or any programming that we may be looking at that isn't as relevant anymore, so I need any additional programming. I would also like, we used to receive a watch report. if it was over 95%, I would like that.

[01:47:14] And then I would also like the trailer report, which ones are being used for instruction, which ones are being used for pullout services. Capacity is what I'm really after, but I know the board used to get that report and I think it would be really helpful if we had that.

[01:47:35] Oh, and there's one more, because that's another piece to this puzzle. Class size report. I would like to know across Henrico County Schools what our class sizes are because as we know, even though they're outdated at the state level and they're also unfunded at the state level, we also tend to go over the class size in some of our schools.

[01:48:01] So that's another piece of this puzzle. So thank you for that. And then let me see. I would like to highlight just so much progress that we've made. You know, wow, mechanical heating and cooling requests.

[01:48:18] I mean, just to break it down, and I appreciate your $10 million reference, like, is that enough money? For those that may be listening, what was it, the Oak Avenue Complex, right? Those 13 units just at Oak Avenue Complex cost $2.5 million of meals tax funds.

[01:48:36] Am I right? Yes, ma'am. So those, that's a lot of money just for one location, right? One location. And then, of course, the bus replacement.

[01:48:52] I mean, with the seatbelts, the better working conditions for our bus drivers, right? How many new buses do we have now? I think it was 256. 256 new buses out of how many? Close to 600.

[01:49:08] Thank you so much. So half the fleet is new. We still have work to do, but I'll tell you, we've made progress there as well. Let me see. On slide six, back to capacity for a moment, it says preliminary membership report.

[01:49:27] I thought membership was as of September 30th, so that's not final. These numbers really aren't final? No, they're not. We used current membership to provide a preliminary number because we knew that was an important part of this puzzle, to your point, to give you as much information as we could.

[01:49:44] But those won't be finalized until the end of this month, and we'll do that in accordance with VDOE guidelines. Okay, so when will the board receive that information, and do we expect them to change much? I wouldn't expect a drastic change.

[01:49:59] So when we have our November board meeting, we'll provide that along with this package of information as an additional final membership count. Okay, thank you for that. On slide 11, I'm sorry, slide 10.

[01:50:18] Okay, so the bond referendum projects on our CIP, they're listed separately, right, with the design and then the cost.

[01:50:35] But it's all still bond money. And then speaking to this study for Johnson is a renovation, and the campus looks a lot like Longin. Is the study for Johnson still relevant?

[01:50:56] Because these studies were done, I mean, have they been revisited? Because then my next question is going to be about hermitage and that study being revisited. So the studies are current? Yes, ma'am. I mean, yes. So a renovation is still, I mean, I'm not going to, a renovation is still good for Johnson?

[01:51:14] Yes, ma'am. Okay. Okay, so next. All right, slide 11. Let's just get right to it. There's no funding for any of these projects, right? No, ma'am. And I would just like to say that, okay, the original plan for Hermitage was renovation, correct?

[01:51:36] Yes, ma'am. And as I prepared for this presentation, honestly, my list started small, and it was little things like, oh, well, some lighting would help Herm, and some paint would help Herm. But then every time I walk my school, then I'm thinking, you know what?

[01:51:56] the HVAC. That's a cost. That's an expensive item. Then I start thinking about the plumbing, and I start thinking about the electrical, and I start thinking about how expensive all those things are. And I would just like for my colleagues, I would like to thank my colleagues for listening to me because I've spoken to you a lot about Hermitage recently, and I would like to request that Hermitage be moved on this list as priority rebuild, not renovation,

[01:52:28] priority rebuild number one in year one or earlier, should any additional funding become available? Would any of my colleagues like to say anything about that publicly?

[01:52:46] Mrs. Shea, and then I'll provide a comment. I support you, Mrs. Kinsella. And when you say year one, you're talking about for our long range planning here year one, correct? Correct. Correct. That's why I went to the unfunded slide of projects. Yes. I would like for it to be moved to 2029, 2030, first project year one, or if money should fall from the sky sooner. Yeah. I think we all have schools and we all understand the schools in our district. And sometimes there are acute needs that rise up.

[01:53:25] And I appreciate the support of the board as we walk through that Wikiochus Inn. And I know this has a similar passion point for you for hermitage and similar needs. And so, yeah. If I might, just for clarity for staff, as we're making that consideration to make a shift of an item from the 2030-2031 column to the 2029-2030, Of course, all of those projects were based on projected costs in those first columns.

[01:53:55] Understanding the market adjustments over time would be significant. They were grouped according to trying to balance the cost over those first few years. So I would just want to note that if we're shifting something in, it generally means we'd shift something out.

[01:54:12] So hearing your consideration, I mean, understanding what's feasible to tackle in one year, to your point of having Hermitage potentially studied again, you know, even though it was part of the last study, it wasn't included in that first swath of bond projects that we're working on now.

[01:54:29] I mean, given its projected date here, that is something, understanding the market changing, and it was recommended as a renovation, not a rebuild. We could reanalyze Hermitage, and it may be that we could look at perhaps analyzing some of the schools that were put in those same categories at the same time, reevaluating those to get a better understanding, because I want to make sure we do our due diligence.

[01:54:54] For example, for our folks at Carver in a 1966 school, understanding the impacts of shifting projects on all school communities. And then I'll also add that I support your request, and I'm hopeful that we will move forward and be creative and find a way to make that happen.

[01:55:17] Can I chime in? My district feeds hermitage, so I would be excited about a new hermitage. But also pointing out that Ace in Highland Springs, brand new school, Ace in Virginia Randolph, brand new school, Ace in Irm, still in the same spot. So I would support that, Ms. Casella.

[01:55:36] Having taught at Hermitage High School, the building has a lot of charm, but unfortunately a lot of things do not work. So I would be in support. Thank you so much, colleagues. I appreciate your support. And Dr. Cashwell, I appreciate you highlighting that as is feasible and not to displace any of our other schools or priorities.

[01:55:57] But this is a high school. Everything else in year one is an elementary school. This is a high school. And when I drive by Tucker, I walk in Glenallen, or I walked in, you know, Han Springs this week, and then I walk in Hermitage, and I just lips, as John Montgomery used to say, you know, lipstick on a pig.

[01:56:18] I'm not going to, I would like to be fiscally responsible and support a rebuild, subject to the study, of course, which I think will support a rebuild. Okay, so let me continue on. I know you probably thought I was done, but I'm not.

[01:56:36] Okay, so next on my list is the second floor of the ACE at Hermitage. Lately, I've been getting questions specifically from some of our business, those in our business community, perhaps, that I thought it might be helpful to speak to the plan for the second floor and how the plan is to have our students involved, and perhaps also mentioned funding, because publicly the public does not see a funding source, right, because it's not meals tax or it's not CIP. So if someone could speak

[01:57:12] to that, Mr. Pritchard. I'd be glad to. Just recently we have started to work with Mac Baten and Susan Moore and Dr. Grant to start looking at what we're going to do with that space and ideally identify the funding sources that would be available to start that project.

[01:57:29] thank you yes and then on our meals tax for fiscal year 2526 all those zeros going down the meals tax line item that i see is for the chuckahoe auditorium correct yes ma'am are we are we expecting to see that we're not expecting to see those zeros in the next two years of any kind of deferred meals tax are we we very well could if we don't identify funding for the

[01:58:05] Brooklyn and the Fairfield auditoriums. Okay. So good to know. Thank you for clarifying that. Okay. I'm going to loop back quickly to capacity because I truly need more time to fully digest the development summary. So, and the effects that it's going to have on capacity across Henrico

[01:58:36] County is the board received some of the background on development, right? And to that, I'm seeing that home prices have jumped drastically since the pandemic, causing some families to switch to apartments and condos.

[01:59:00] Do you believe your 3% to 5% yield is still relevant from some of the communities, from some of the urban mixed use? As of now, that is what our numbers show. I review all of our urban mixed-use developments each year during our yield study, and that is a current number of what we see from areas like Rocket Landing or Libby Mill.

[01:59:24] So we are watching all of our urban mixed-use and urban-styled apartments. Typically, families are moving into townhouse or condominium-style apartments, which is why we have two separate designations for those. No, I appreciate that. And again, Mrs. Shea, you've been a tremendous addition to our team and following all these projects. And I look forward to asking you more questions, but I won't take up any more of your time. Thank you so much for this presentation.

[01:59:54] And before I jump in, I do have a very healthy list of questions and feedback. But before I delve into that, I do have a redirect for Mr. Irving.

[02:00:12] So things that were said made me think of other things. So to misconcelle his point about the class sizes, if we could receive a report that's by school and then broken down by department with the average class size by department. So, like, how many kids are in the average biology class in that building?

[02:00:29] Yeah, okay. And then the other thing was, and maybe we already do this, but thinking to our grow our own program, because what Mr. Young said about the lack of, you know, employees for certain classifications. And while we're doing that for teachers, which is tremendous and we should continue to, I'm thinking about that for, you know, trades like HVAC and those folks as well and guaranteeing employment for that program to try to, you know, maybe think that that could be, even if it's just folks working for us for three to four years, that still can create a cycle that's fortuitous for us.

[02:01:01] Yes, thank you. And now I'll turn the floor back over to Ms. Shea. Redirect from the redirect from Mr. Irving. I don't, Dr. Cashwell, I don't want your team to have to generate a report that's a heavy lift. So if this is a heavy lift, ignore it. But he asked for by school and by department. I would almost prefer just if we have a report that could just run the raw class size, you know, for all the sections. And then that way we can see it and sort it as we understand.

[02:01:36] We will work to prepare something that, and we're happy to do the lifting on getting it to a point and be the most usable and helpful for the board based on your request. We can work on that. Ms. Kinsella, ask, if possible, in Excel. Thank you.

[02:01:52] Noted. All right. Do we have any more questions or feedback based off of what's been shared so far? Okay. Well, I will go ahead and just delve into a few things. As we consider solutions for funding for both near and long-term projects, and this is probably more geared to you, but I'll look this way just in case.

[02:02:16] Could you please share the amount that has been placed in reserves from state funding over the past few years? It may be an opportune time to explore using a portion of these funds to support CIP and address critical needs within the division as we continue to work towards a more equitable school system.

[02:02:34] So what we're prepared to speak to now, and I can certainly get back to you, so the CIP funds are directed and earmarked for CIP-specific projects, and I think you're talking about potentially tapping into other funding sources to meet our needs.

[02:02:51] Yes. Let me endeavor to make it very clear. So the way that our funding works from the state, we're very unique. It goes to the Board of Supervisors, and then they do a job of appropriating the funding. A percentage of that funding goes into reserves. I'm interested in understanding how much money has been placed in reserves over the past 10 years.

[02:03:13] I can work to provide you that. - Thank you. And then I'll start with the Mills Tax project request. I know for Rolfe, there's one, two, three already on the list. For Rolfe, we have funds requested for pavement improvements and interior components, which includes painting.

[02:03:34] I'd like for us to add lighting as well. It's interesting, a phenomenal job has been done with CFI, our Center for Innovation. I'm very proud of that. However, what it also does is show a bit of shade to the other areas that may not have as bright of lighting.

[02:03:54] So I'd like to match the lighting throughout the building. The second area with Montrose, there's currently a request for pavement improvements at Montrose along with components that include interior painting. That's on the list and that's accurate.

[02:04:10] With Sandstead, there's funds requested for mechanical improvements, specifically the cooling tower, I'm wondering if there are other mechanical needs that may not be on this list. And that's a question and if you don't have a response, if you could just follow up with Kim or with the principal there just to make sure.

[02:04:30] - Absolutely. - And I would just note that there may be mechanical projects for that school listed on the master mechanical list, not funded separately through that source. But we can certainly provide it. just want to make sure that it's captured if not on the list here just validate that it's captured on whatever other lists that you have and then the three that are not on here that i did hear from principals or other individuals on and again i believe they are on other lists but i just need

[02:05:04] validation marina it would be the auditorium the interior components of the auditorium fair oaks and this is probably on the other list just wanting validation fair oaks have interior components or requests for funds for interior components for painting and then mayford they're on that other list i believe as well for interior components regarding painting so i just want to validate that they are on the list and then understand the priority of those yes ma'am all right and thank you mrs kinsella then next i'll move on to the development summary and the

[02:05:43] effects on school capacity. So based on the summary for the Varina District, I want a better understanding of how would an approval of over 1,500 new residential units, including 1,094 single-family homes, 315 townhomes, 99 apartments, along with some developments that are happening in Fairfield that impacts Highland Springs High School.

[02:06:10] Can you please share with me in terms of capacity resources and community needs, what that looks like. - Of course, yes. And I do want to just clarify on that summary that not all of those projects have gone through the final stages of their approval processes.

[02:06:26] Some of them are still with the Planning Commission, some of them are still with the Board of Supervisors, and some of them are still waiting on the Planning Director. So that is the sum total of all of the projects, but not all of them have gone through all three steps of the approval process.

[02:06:43] terms of capacity concerns we go through at each step we provide comments to the planning commission the board of supervisors and then again to the planning director once things have kind of finalized what the capacity concerns are for each of the zone schools for every single development so those may change depending on where in the process it is as final unit types get determined as well as where they're being put in terms of how things are affecting specifically in the varina district there are a few schools that i personally watch due to the level of development

[02:07:22] over the past year specifically may fit in varina those are the two schools that have the most development in their zones for the varina district as i'm sure you saw i'm aware um as well as highland Springs High School. I specifically flagged that one due to capacity concerns as that is a school that fluctuates year to year. So we are keeping on top of the capacity concerns. Development is just a little bit difficult to track as once it passes through our planning department, it is in the developer's hands. So it is difficult to track when units will be coming online due to the fact

[02:08:00] that a developer can sit on it for however long they please. It's disheartening to hear because it makes it almost impossible to prepare. And so I would like an offline conversation for us to brainstorm what these impacts may look like. In essence, this is unfortunately normal, but I do want to try to find a creative way so that we don't have to be reactive and that we can continue to be in a proactive seat. And what I'm speaking to is just for Reiner, there's some things that may

[02:08:35] come in Fairfield to impact Highland Springs High School too. And I think this is an opportunity to do a little bit more brainstorming. Even if we end up on the reactive side, we can already have conversations on anticipation. And I know that process is a bit, it is complicated, but I also believe there are some things that we may be able to do in preparation. Let's see. So now I'll move

[02:09:09] into projects for long-term planning regarding Montrose. And I'll start with our outstanding principal at Montrose, Principal Willis. So Montrose was built in 1925. It was renovated in 1988.

[02:09:26] It's located on a corner of a very busy intersection, and I want to better understand what is going on there. Additionally, in April of this year, I know the Henrico Board of Supervisors approved plans for four warehouses and offices in the Montrose area.

[02:09:48] The first will total 176,960 square feet in size, and that's going to be located on Williamsburg Road. Another one is going to be 70,500 square feet while the other two will be developed and it'll be in phases but you'll have a 3,600 square feet for one building, 24,000 for another building and then the second phases this is going to go on and on and on. I'll let you look at the numbers if you have not already. I want to know what are the impacts of these developments for Montrose

[02:10:24] elementary school. And specifically, let's just start with traffic. If a traffic study has not already been done to understand the impacts of these major developments happening, we certainly are going to need one because the developments have been approved. And this is another plea around us being more proactive than reactive. We don't have to wait until the four warehouses and offices are built, let's have some conversations on what can we do. I understand it's limited, but I think we deserve to have this conversation and it is going to be a hard one. I understand

[02:11:02] that. And then I'll pause around the traffic study. Perhaps one has been done and if so, do we need to do another? I believe as part of the planning process, I believe several of those were rezonings. A traffic study would have been conducted during those. I can request those documents from the planning department for you. Thank you so much. I'm very interested in seeing that. And then also I have a question around air quality. Because of the particular types of

[02:11:36] developments that are coming into the area, I want an understanding of the impacts to the air quality of the building. Because that building was built in 1925, there were some renovations, but particularly depending upon the type of construction that's built on the street and that's around it, there could be a potential for air quality impact. Certainly to the community, however, I want to better understand the air quality impact within the school building.

[02:12:06] Yes, ma'am. Thank you for that. And then also on this slide, Montrose is listed for 2033-2034. As Williamsburg road continues to have development on that road once you conduct that once you get the feedback from the traffic study just be prepared because i may ask for a prioritization with that particular school because not just because of the school but because of the types of development that are surrounding it and if the air quality becomes unsafe if the materials that are used in the other

[02:12:44] buildings have some level of impact. Internet usages are things that I'm thinking of because it's spotty already. There may be some things that will happen in that area. And so once I get that information, I am again requesting a meeting for us to have a roundtable discussion. The next area that I want to dive into is around vehicle replacement. I think Mr. Irving touched on a few things, but I just want a better understanding of the near-term planning for EVs or electrical

[02:13:15] vehicles, not buses, but other vehicles. Just recently, we had taken or requested one from the government side, and we were using that in facilities and determining if it's valuable, if it's capable and able. That is probably one of our hardest areas, not to get the information, But it would be the hardest on the vehicle to determine what's the battery life on this thing.

[02:13:41] Is it going to make it from, you know, the East End out to Cackley Elementary School back, I mean, with a full load of tools and everything. So we started to explore looking into that within our facility vehicles already. So we're looking to get the data and start looking at that.

[02:13:56] So collecting data from a vehicle that's already in play with general government and really have a deep interest to continue to study what the impacts of our alternative fuel vehicles, both on the bus and the vehicle side are, and really considering what the infrastructure needs are.

[02:14:15] So as you would bring vehicles like that on board, what kind of charging facilities would we need to have? How would they need to be spaced and so on? So the team has done quite a bit of work collaborating with our central automotive maintenance folks and our general government counterparts to think about because a lot of those are, that's a shared efficiency we have with them now for fueling and so on.

[02:14:35] So to really determine logistics and best practices. And so certainly I know the board's aware on the school bus side, we're looking at both propane and electric vehicles and already have begun the infrastructure to begin to test that in our own fleet. And on the other vehicle side, are similarly looking for some early data from an initial test.

[02:14:56] Thank you for that. I was just curious as we're looking at vehicles and having that discussion. And let's see, what else do I have here? And that is all.

[02:15:11] Before you walk away, I just want to do one last round. Are there any other questions? I actually do have a redirect. Ms. Atkins, you spoke about development in the Fairfield District and then feeding Highland Springs. There's a new community. It's in Fairfield District.

[02:15:29] 0.2 miles away is another community that feeds Henrico High School. But this new community is feeding Highland Springs, and it's 0.2 miles away. When looking at capacity and Henrico being pretty much the lowest enrolled school, I can't understand how a new community could feed Highland Springs, which by color-coordinated map is yellow.

[02:15:49] So can we look into, I mean, I think it's almost 800 homes that's coming in families. So can we look into that to see if adjustment may be needed to alleviate some of the pressures on Highland Springs, but also help the growth of Reikos High School, who has the capacity to take on a new community.

[02:16:09] But that was it. Thank you. Thank you for that, Mr. Young. And with that, I think we have concluded this presentation. Well done. Thank you for your patience. Thank you to our presenters again. and board members will work to provide you the requested follow-up documents as we continue to consider working towards the approval of the CIP at our December meeting and then continued discussions around things like long-range plans, capacity, and so forth.

[02:16:42] And that concludes items from me. All righty. Well, the next item on the agenda pertains to unfinished business. we do have an unfinished business item. And first of all, I'll start with Dr. Cashwell.

[02:16:58] Thank you for providing last month's comprehensive employee engagement report that included collective bargaining in response to requests from the board and our dedicated employees. Since then, board members have engaged in thoughtful discussions, sought clarity, and met with the board of supervisors.

[02:17:18] Throughout this process, this feedback from our employees has been paramount in guiding our considerations. At this time, we do have an important update for our Henrico community. The board has not reached a majority consensus to advance a resolution for collective bargaining.

[02:17:41] However, it is important to emphasize that we remain determined to find solutions that align with the needs of our employees while considering the unique context of Henrico County.

[02:17:58] This process has provided us with valuable insights that will help us prioritize our actions. Action requires collaboration with the Board of Supervisors to ensure increased funding to meet the very real needs that exist throughout our county.

[02:18:17] It also requires us to look closely at our internal practices and policies to make changes rooted in employee feedback. This week at a joint meeting, the Board of Supervisors shared the availability of new funds coming into Henrico County and encouraged collaboration between both boards to leverage those funds to meet the needs of our schools and students.

[02:18:47] As noted at that meeting, this is a historic opportunity for us to ensure world-class schools across every corner of Henrico County. To that end, we want to be clear that our number one funding priority is additional compensation for all employees and salary adjustments for critical positions in order for us to remain competitive in the market.

[02:19:17] We must also intensify efforts to provide targeted, differentiated support, particularly through the expansion of our Opportunity Schools Initiative. Finally, as discussed earlier this afternoon, this means taking a hard look at our capital improvement plan and ensuring that funding provided from the Board of Supervisors reflects the division's actual needs in critical areas such as HVAC, roofing, transportation, and technology.

[02:19:55] A world-class education requires modern technology and facilities that foster an optimal learning and working environment. We call on the Board of Supervisors to fully fund our requests so that HCPS can continue to recruit and retain exceptional talent, while ensuring equitable, high-quality education for every student across Henrico County.

[02:20:27] In addition, Dr. Cashwell, we are directing you to execute the following priorities related to policies and operations. Evaluate current contract language for clarity and consistency. Create regulations and guidance to protect staff time, including ensuring adequate planning time.

[02:20:49] Diversify and enhance our employee feedback mechanisms. Update the employee leave policy and invest in automated process technology. Provide greater transparency into the pay scale. Also, we request the creation of a tool to track the progress of these priorities and future initiatives related to employee engagement.

[02:21:12] Lastly, Dr. Cashwell, we appreciate your leadership and commitment to fostering a supportive environment for all employees. And the Board looks forward to the positive changes that these actions will bring to our vision. Thank you. I would note, Chair Atkins, that your directives on behalf of the board have been heard, and I'll look forward to providing updates in progress as well as the tool that's

[02:21:47] been requested to track progress on those directives. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is new business items. Colleagues, do you have any new business items? Hearing none, we'll proceed to the last agenda item, which is the announcement of meeting dates.

[02:22:09] The school board's next meeting is this evening. It's today, October 24th, 2024, at 6.30 p.m., right here in New Bridge Auditorium. This meeting is adjourned.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Coraggio Consulting · aguyonx.com