Coraggio Consulting
Henrico County School Board Work Session, Thursday, February 27, 2025

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2025
Place: Henrico County School Board, Virginia
Length: 2h 43m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JE3iTe35JI
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.

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[00:00:02] - Good afternoon and welcome to the Thursday, February 27th, 2025 work session of the Henrico County School Board. This meeting is not only being held in person, but also being live streamed on the HCPS website. First item on the agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance and moment of silence.

[00:00:21] - Thank you Chair Shea, members of the board. Good afternoon. We'll begin the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be followed by a moment of silence. If you'd please stand as you are able for the Pledge of Allegiance.

[00:00:37] - I pledge allegiance. - To the flag, United States. - If you would remain standing as you're able for a brief moment of silence and you may be seated.

[00:01:10] - Thank you so much, Dr. Cashwell. Colleagues, the next item on the agenda is the approval of the agenda. Do I have a motion? - I move that the school board approved the agenda for today's meeting. - Thank you, Ms. Kinsella, is there a second? - Second. - Seconded by Mr. Irving, all those in favor say aye.

[00:01:25] - Aye. - Any opposed? The ayes have it, the agenda has been approved. The next item on the agenda is to move into closed session. Is there a motion to move into closed session? - I move that the school board go into closed session for the discussion of matters covered under item A1 of section 2.2 through 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.

[00:02:05] you so much moved by miss atkins do we have a second second moved by or seconded by mr young all those in favor say aye aye any opposed the eyes have it we are now into closed session we will resume this meeting at the conclusion of closed session welcome back to the work session from closed session um colleagues can i get a certification of closed session i move that the school board certified by a recorded vote that to the best of the school board members knowledge

[00:02:38] Only business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the motion authorizing the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered in the closed meeting. Thank you for the motion. Ms. Kinsella, do we have a second? Second.

[00:02:54] Seconded by Mr. R. Irving. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. Closed session has been certified. For the next agenda items, I will turn it over to the superintendent. it thank you madam chair members of the board for the first item we're pleased to bring back for your review the proposed fiscal year 26 budget and you'll recall we had an in-depth look at that previously we have another review with some additions which we're excited about particularly related to compensation not to steal mr wax thunder and we'll be subsequently seeking your

[00:03:30] approval of this recommended financial plan at our monthly meeting this evening. Mr. Wack. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, school board members, and Dr. Cashwell. This evening at the monthly meeting, we'll be seeking school board approval of the superintendent's fiscal year 2026 recommended budget with some additions. The recommended budget was presented on January 23rd, and our full 151 page budget document has been posted since that afternoon. And we also held a public hearing at the February 13th school board meeting. So briefly, the fiscal year 2026 recommended budget reflects the following notable changes from the current year. Our general fund budget is increasing by

[00:04:09] about 29.8 million or about 4.2 percent compared to fiscal year 2025 adopted and that was based on the target amount we received. Our debt service budget associated with previously approved capital project debt is essentially remaining flat. The school nutrition fund is increasing by about 3.5 percent due to food costs and our state and federal special revenue budgets are increasing by 2.5 percent and that's primarily due to more funding for the Virginia preschool initiative so overall the operating budget from all funds is growing by about 3.8 percent noting that these fiscal year 2026 figures don't yet include funding for pay raises those will be incorporated in the county

[00:04:46] managers budget proposal which will be presented on March 11th following input from various stakeholders we asked the school board make two additions to the fiscal year 2026 recommended budget before approving it this evening. We would like to incorporate the following. Add 100 full-time exceptional education instructional assistants to the general fund personnel complement through the conversion of 150 temporary IAs into full-time and add 10 more English language learner teachers which would allow us to add a total of 25 new ELL positions next school year. This can be accomplished without changing the total general

[00:05:23] fund budget by increasing the savings assumption related to vacancies and attrition. Next, I'd like to give the board an update on the state budget process for fiscal year 2026. As previously noted, the governor's budget proposal would add about $45.8 million more revenue than is included in our fiscal year 2025 adopted budget.

[00:05:44] As we wait for the Virginia Department of Education to provide an update financial planning tool, we do anticipate the conference report budget that was approved by the House and Senate will provide over $11 million more in fiscal year 2026 revenue than the governor's proposal.

[00:06:00] So looking forward to the finalized state budget, we expect to receive about $57 million more in state aid than the current year's adopted budget. Now I'd like to summarize the fiscal year 2026 pay plan adjustments that were highlighted by the county manager and the superintendent on Tuesday.

[00:06:20] All returning full-time employees will see a 6% salary increase, and that includes a 3.628% wage increase plus one step. Meanwhile, over 1,000 full-time employees will see market adjustment increases between 13.8% and 19.3% when combined with the wage and step increase.

[00:06:39] The impacted positions include our custodial workers and custodians, our maintenance assistants, and both our general and exceptional education instructional assistants. Also, in addition to the 6%, we plan on giving market adjustment increases to our school-based school nutrition services staff, which can be accomplished without any additional funds.

[00:06:58] These market adjustments will be announced soon while the school nutrition services budget is finalized alongside the general fund. Now that concludes my brief presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr. Wack. I'm sure all of my colleagues, or many of my colleagues, hopefully all, will have the same feedback.

[00:07:19] But we're real excited about this raised announcement, and we're real excited that it was able to come forth in February. I don't know that that's been the case any of my time on the board. It's had to wait until later in March or after. And so this is really exciting. This is really exciting for our employees to be able to plan and hopefully decide to stay in Henrico for next year.

[00:07:41] So thank you for both your work on that, the budget team, and Dr. Cashwell and her collaboration with the manager. I will start with other questions and comments to my right with Mr. Irving. Thank you for the presentation. It's great to see an update with the recommended pay increases included.

[00:07:58] Mr. Wack, would you be able to provide for us any of the roles that are highlighted with the additional market adjustments? What accumulative raise, say, one of those individuals who had been with us for three years now would have experienced over the past three years? So if someone had, for example, a 13% raise in the two prior years, this would be layered on top of that.

[00:08:20] So they could be looking at 27% to 32%. Yeah, so that could be a 25%, I mean, a quarter of your entire salary going up over the past three years, which I think is huge. That makes us a regional leader, and I would assume also a state leader in that category, so I'm incredibly thankful for that.

[00:08:40] I love adding 100 full-time Exceptional Education IAs on top of the raises that they're also going to be experiencing. I think it shows that, you know, we see them and we hear them and we appreciate the work that they do and are prioritizing them the way that they deserve.

[00:08:57] So I truly appreciate that. And then, you know, having taught English language learner and having taught previously and now teaching English language learner students, I love that we're adding 25 additional ELL teachers.

[00:09:13] I think that's huge. I hope that we're able to fill every single one of those openings so that those students can really benefit from their expertise. The other thing that I would like to see is, as we move forward, maybe in an off-cycle adjustment, ensuring that our front office staffs see raises as well, commensurate with the roles and the many hats they wear.

[00:09:40] I know in my building, sometimes they could do as many as five jobs in a given day. So I think, you know, just making sure that those people experience the same type of financial benefits is a priority for me moving forward. And I'd also like to see as we're evaluating moving forward and figuring out our staffing allotments, figuring out how we can get school staffed in such a way where classes such as like a biology class or an English class or whatnot can be capped at 28 students and whatever the staffing levels need to be to accomplish that, we can kind of try to set that as our

[00:10:18] future target for upcoming budgets. Yeah, that's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Irving. Ms. Kinsella? Yes, thank you. I'll start by asking Mr. Irving, class size is capped.

[00:10:33] I would imagine you're speaking to high school based on the class size numbers. I should have clarified, yes, 28 for secondary high school education. Yes, yes, not elementary or middle school. Right. - Thank you so much for that clarity. Echo what Mr. Irving said.

[00:10:53] It's extremely nice to see that the team was responsive to board requests to add additional English language learner positions. I too hope we're able to fill them because our students need them.

[00:11:10] And again, not just adding 100 full-time exceptional ed, instructional assistants, but the conversion from part-time to full-time. You know, we did a big study last year that was more intentional around employee voice, and we heard quite a bit for our instructional assistants. So I just appreciate the team's responsiveness to all the feedback that we received. We are nimble and responsive in RICO, but as we all know, money does not grow on trees. So it does take time. I also want to thank

[00:11:46] the team for stipend adjustments, the clarity the team continues to bring to the pay scale in response to employee feedback. It is important that our employees feel seen, heard, and valued.

[00:12:03] I would continue to encourage the team that not only in financial ways, but also in non-financial ways that we can um value our employees that we continue to be committed to that effort and then um that's all i have except for true excitement over this budget um in my sixth year on the board this is really exciting and i share mrs shay's excitement over the timing i don't think i've ever seen it announced this early so thank the team for everything thank you miss kinsella miss

[00:12:37] Atkins? So I concur with most of what was said. This is a significant step forward as we continue striving to enhance experiences of our students and our staff and our school communities. And so, Mr. Irving, you spoke to office personnel. Dr. Cashwell, can you get further insight into raises for our nutritional workers? Sure. So, you know, every year annually in and out of the budget cycle, our team is committed to making sure we are monitoring pay and doing market analysis

[00:13:17] to make sure we're competitive and that we are paying our individuals who are so amazing as part of our Henrico team the best that we can. So you'll see that these specific market adjustments this year focus on the groups on the screen. We've heard the mention of our clerical staff. We are working on actually on an analysis for that group now, as well as some others. I think they were last adjusted in 18. So that's ongoing work that we engage in. And as Mr. Wack noted, school nutrition services, while their budget is self-supporting and not part of our general fund, it's considered

[00:13:54] alongside it, that timing. And they have worked to give increases, market adjustments, as we are for the other employee groups mentioned here as their budget moves along so thank you for that so during my tenure as chair in 2024 i had the privilege of working with each of my wonderful colleagues here and other key decision makers to bring critical issues to the forefront and so whether we're talking about collective bargaining working conditions or employee engagement ensuring

[00:14:31] Transparency and fostering open dialogue is a responsibility that I absolutely take to heart. And so to Verina Sanston and Highland Springs and beyond, I want to be unequivocal in my support for collective bargaining as well for meaningful improvements in working conditions as well as in employee engagement, thanks to the many who have already undertaken extensive efforts, whether it was through surveys or discussions, analytics, all types of policy reviews.

[00:15:05] All of this lays a strong foundation for progress. I also want to give a shout out for the launch of the new dashboard on the HCPS website. It is a testament to commitment. It is a testament to transparency and accountability, and even with all of this, I find myself reflecting on a vital question, which is, are we effectively communicating the work that we have accomplished?

[00:15:33] Are we effectively communicating the work that's on the horizon so that our communities and our employees are informed and can be more engaged? I want to make sure that with all that's happening, and there's quite a bit, that we also keep communicating all the work that's being done behind the scenes.

[00:15:57] It is time to bring it to the front. And so that really is the question. Are we doing enough in the space to share what has been done, what we're doing now, and what's on the horizon? May I respond to that?

[00:16:12] Absolutely. I want to make sure I was not out of turn. So certainly, I don't know that we can ever say we're doing enough when it comes to communication because we know we need to adapt to the moment, the time, the messaging, and make sure that we're being responsive.

[00:16:28] And certainly, to your point, related to employee voice and much of what we learned over the last year and based on the board's directives coming into October, knew we had a lot to focus on. Employee compensation, you see a big outcome here, prioritizing employee groups that the board mentioned related to market analysis and that staff also prioritize bringing those outcomes to play.

[00:16:53] And we actually have a presentation planned for our March meeting, our very next board meeting, that will highlight a number of the efforts that we've been working on alongside a lot of our staff advisories. I think, you know, one of the important things, yes, is certainly communicating what's going on and how we're working on these initiatives, but equally important is involving our employees in the work.

[00:17:17] And so that often takes time. And so through our advisory committees and other avenues, we've really committed to spending the extra time to involve them in conversations to make sure that any adjustments that we're making are responsive to their needs, are meeting their requests.

[00:17:35] And so we're very excited to share progress on that at our next meeting. I'm really excited about that because so much work has gone into surveys. So many conversations have taken place, and it's important to share what's going on right now and what we expect in the future.

[00:17:55] So I appreciate your response and look forward to the presentation in March. Chair Shea. Thank you so much. Actually, I have one more thought before you turn the floor over. Go ahead. I wanted to catch it before you went on.

[00:18:11] Dr. Cashwell, for that presentation that's going to be shared in March, will there be a slight recap of how we got to that point? If not, please consider that. For folks who may not have been tuned in in the past, I think it's important that you always put just a little bit of a recap in that presentation as well.

[00:18:35] Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you so much. Now Mr. Young. Mr. Wack, thank you for the presentation. I echo a lot of my colleagues' sentiments with 6% raise and the market adjustment, 13.8% to 19.3%. We spoke about raising the floor.

[00:18:53] I don't know if it's private or in public, but raising the floor, the minimum wage and HCPS. Did we accomplish this with the market adjustment? So the wage increase will apply to all of our temporary and part-time employees. A lot of our, we have a large number of school nutrition services employees that are part-time, That would see benefit above and beyond with the regrade.

[00:19:16] But, again, the wage would be for every single employee. Perfect, perfect. Thank you so much. I'm excited about the backbone of our schools, those custodian workers, their IAs, maintenance assistants. Super excited about it. You guys, I mean, you did an outstanding job getting us here.

[00:19:32] I think everybody up here is super excited for our employees here. So I don't have a lot to share that everyone else hasn't already shared. Thanks so much, Mr. Young. Again, thank you for the presentation, Mr. Wack. A question, which actually might be better for Dr. Cashwell. When we look at converting these part-time IAs to full-time IAs, which I think is very exciting, I know the overall scheduling will change a little bit because from being, you know, part-time for part of the school day, condensing that to people full-time,

[00:20:10] Do we still anticipate having, like, the adequate coverage as these roll over to have the classroom coverage and the student coverage that we need as that looks different? Absolutely. Sorry, I wasn't very clear there. Yes, I think so. And I think what you bring up is an important point in that the staffing of these positions to meet the needs of the exceptional ed students building to building is nuanced.

[00:20:34] And it looks a little different. So we have a number of temporary IAs, for example, who work nearly a full-time schedule, but not quite for them. It's a slight adjustment. We have exceptional ed students who have varying needs and varying schedules. So there is still some place for a temporary IA, and we would remain, the division would continue to hold those positions so that they could be leveraged as appropriate.

[00:20:57] But certainly, you know, we would want individuals who currently fill these roles, who are interested in going full-time to do that. And for some, it may really be a minor adjustment as, again, their schedule may be every day for just five days a week, but just under that threshold for full time.

[00:21:14] Great. I appreciate it. I think this is right by staff. And I know students are always the focus of everything you do. And so just like you said, it's nuanced. I just wanted to make sure that we had checked those boxes to do best by our students as well. And then just, again, echo the appreciation for really the close work that you and the manager have done to be able to bring this 6% to our employees and on this timeline, I think it speaks a lot to the positive working relationship between us and our counterparts to be able to bring this number forward and be able to bring it forth at this time. So thank you for all of

[00:21:52] your continued work there. And then just to echo some of the excitement from Ms. Atkins and Ms. Kinsella, about the ongoing work that you've also been doing on these other pieces that we heard back from the employee engagement survey in the fall. In our budget, we see the compensation. We see pieces being added for staff recognition. So I know that was in the last presentation and not highlighted here, but it speaks to the budgetary pieces of some of that. But also, Ms. Kinsella,

[00:22:29] I working in policy, have gotten to see some drafts of some other things that you've been working on through various staff groups and various advisories and really look forward to that coming through as well as, like Ms. Kinsella said, continued clarity on the pay scale for you to really spell out for us today and for employees that it's 3.6 to 8% plus a step.

[00:22:53] And so while that totals to six, so the outcome might be the same whether how it was done for them to understand you know what that looks like on on the chart i think is really helpful and i really appreciate that so thanks for continued um work there um that's all for me colleagues do you have any redirects or additional questions or comments thank you so much thank you all right thank you mr wack members of the board the next items are related to policy and items 6.01 through six point zero five are items recommended for your final approval at tonight's monthly meeting and

[00:23:30] these are related to grading and assessment practices they've been previously reviewed by the board and of course out for public comment for a length of time are there any questions on these items miss atkins so i just had very small um recommendation so specifically for review of proposed revisions to policy p10-02-005 continuous improvement plan section chapter 10 general

[00:24:04] administration services the second sentence is that correct we're not quite there yet uh we'll be there soon okay um we're just uh i'm trying to move us along yes i'm just kidding but you gave us a good preview of what question is coming one through five under six okay well then i'll hold doll. Awesome. All right, next chunk. Oh, yeah, Ms. Gonzala. Well, not really a question, but a statement in regard to policy P709-001, Student Evaluation Reporting Promotions Grading System.

[00:24:40] I would just, I'm glad this has been reviewed, especially the regulation that accompanies it, because consistency across our division not only for our students to master the information they're supposed to be learning right I'm just appreciative of all the work the team has done on this I know it's been in policy and board members have had a chance to review it but consistency across the division is important but thank you for how like you know for having it here thank you thank - Thank you, Ms. Kinsella.

[00:25:18] Any other items on this chunk? - All right, onward. - All right, the next set of policy items are 6.06 through 6.09, and this package of policy revisions is related to field trips in Henrico County Public Schools, and they're, again, all recommended for your final approval at tonight's monthly meeting having been reviewed here previously.

[00:25:43] - All right, any questions on those items? - All right, none, let's go to the next section. - All right, the next set of items Items 6.10 through 6.22, and these are instruction-related policies found in Chapter 7, which have gone through a comprehensive review.

[00:26:00] This first batch of policies are recommended for final approval at tonight's meeting, and, of course, you can expect to see additional batches of instructional policies from Chapter 7 in the spring as we continue to be committed to working towards revisions there. Any questions on those items?

[00:26:19] Seeing none, we'll move along. All right, the next item, 6.23 through 6.33, are new items before the board for the first time today, and these are from Chapter 10. This package includes both regular reviews and substantive reviews to policies.

[00:26:36] Upon the request of the board, they will be brought back for final approval at the March 13th work session. Any questions here? Ms. Atkins. Yes. All right. So, going to review proposed revisions to policy P10-02-005, Continuous Improvement Plan, Section Chapter 10, General Administration Services.

[00:27:00] And I want to make sure I'm on the right one, which is 6.25 for everyone, if you're looking for it. So, the second sentence states, the plan will also incorporate with director input. So for clarity, can you please specify the intended purpose and identify which director's input would be incorporated?

[00:27:22] Mrs. Coy is coming forward. Just one moment. Good afternoon. I believe that this is intended to reflect particularly director input from the Division of School Leadership and the Division of Learning. But we can specify that if it's of interest.

[00:27:39] was going to ask because depending on which lens you have on or what the circumstance is I was wondering if the director would change but if it's spelled out in here I think it really clarifies the intent absolutely and then the second so the next one is 6.29 which is review of promote proposed revision to

[00:28:17] policy p10-08-003 long-range planning the second sentence states such projections shall have taken into consideration factors of the remaining but for clarity just consider revising the sentence to include not limited to hmm I think that if you give just a little bit more flexibility dependent upon extenuating circumstances that would provide better guidance as well so just something to

[00:28:51] research and consider wonderful thank you and that's all I have noted thank you and while we're on that one Miss Coy can we look at changing shall to should which is sure Miss Kinsella often reminds me of that so I thought I would elevate that as well thank you other items in that chunk, Ms. Kinsella? Yes. First, I'd like to, the basis of what my comments are regarding to

[00:29:26] item 6.28, review of proposed revisions to policy P10-08-002, institutional planning, school attendance zones. In the suggestions for board action, it says at the request of the school board. This is where, as an individual member, I need to go on the record and say, I do not support this chapter of policy, and specifically item 6.28, coming back to the board for approval on

[00:30:01] March 13, 2025, as that's just 14 days from now. But I'd also like to highlight why I feel that way. On other items that affect our public and our employees, for example, item 6.01 through item 6.22 have been out for public comment and review since January 23rd, 2025.

[00:30:32] This practice of giving the public time for feedback and consideration, it's typically a 30-day time frame. I support that time frame and just wanted to go on the record that I value feedback. And on an item as important as this one concerning boundary adjustments, I believe the public deserves the opportunity to give us feedback in at least a 30-day window.

[00:30:59] So, thank you. Thank you, Ms. Quintella. appreciate that feedback. For clarity, I do want to loop back and see as a board if we would like to change that recommendation, that timeline, or continue it. But for clarity, Ms. Kinsella referenced some policies that have been out since January for public comment. Either Ms. Coy or Dr.

[00:31:25] Cashwell, do you know if we received any submitted comment to the policy office on those during that time? Not on that particular batch. Thank you. Colleagues, Ms. Kinsella has brought up perhaps changing the date from March 14, 2025. Can we just do an informal straw poll on whether we would like to keep that date or change it so just informal in terms of

[00:32:01] making sure we're giving the superintendent of the best directive if I won't roll call but if anybody would like to share their thoughts so we can make sure we have a majority directive for the superintendent on that date and so mrs. Kinsella I appreciate your feedback as always however I do remain committed to what's already been presented for many reasons I think about the climate that we're in and also think about the potential for even more growth than what we have

[00:32:35] already and having at the genesis a solid consolidated plan. We do have something already, but this refines it. And for me, I believe the sooner the better, especially in making decisions pretty soon around school boundaries. Thank you, Ms. Atkins. Any other colleagues have opinions to keep or change the date so we can be clear for the superintendent.

[00:33:04] Okay, we'll definitely loop back with you, Dr. Cashwell, about the timeline of that. I also, for the clarity for the public, I want to be very clear that what we are looking at to vote on and take action on as a school district, or sorry, excuse me, as a school board would be the policy. The regulation, which has a lot of the kind of nuts and bolts, is how the policy is implemented, and that is not something the school board votes on. That is developed by staff. That's the implementation. That's the how that they ensure complies with the policy. So what

[00:33:44] we would be voting on, perspectively on March 14th, would be the policies in Chapter 10, including P10-08-002, the policy. We do not vote on regulations, just to be clear.

[00:34:12] And I think to what Mrs. Shea said, it's also important to point out that this policy does not do anything in and of itself. It requires action in the future, but the policy itself just sets a broad structure, which then the regulation fills as if roots digging underneath the ground. But the policy itself is just a structure. It's not the actual changing of any boundaries themselves. So I think it's important to recognize that any comments that come forward, it just is a structure. It's not a decision to do anything per se.

[00:34:49] Thank you, Mr. Irving. Yes, Ms. Kinsella. I would just like to highlight that, yes, the board, it's not regulation, which is how a process would be executed that we're voting on. But the policy, while not significantly changed, is completely redlined.

[00:35:10] And I just feel strongly about giving the public the opportunity to comment whether or not the public does. I feel strongly about giving the public the opportunity of 30 days versus 14. Thank you, Ms. Kinsella. And whether it is acted on in 14 days or 30 days, you know, we're obviously here to hear from the public during that window. So if our constituents have feedback about the policy, you know, I encourage for them to send it in so that we can all consider it as we look at this batch.

[00:35:47] Any questions, further comments? All right. Back to you, Superintendent. minute. Thank you. The next item we are pleased to bring forward is an update on our Opportunity Schools Initiative. And as you know, when we began this program, we promised the board a full analysis and review in three years. We are not at the three-year mark yet, but the work has been going along quite well. We wanted to provide you an interim update in advance of that more comprehensive three-year review and particularly want to note that this is important given the

[00:36:23] board's continued continued investment as we see in the proposed budget to this initiative and the addition of two additional schools so wanted to highlight that dr. Grant and dr. Champ are here to provide that overview dr. Grant thank you good afternoon chair Shay members of the board and dr. Cashwell my name is Ingrid Grant chief of school leadership for Henrico County Public Schools and I'm joined today by dr. dear champ direct of middle school education as you know Henrico County remains committed to exploring innovative solutions to the

[00:36:59] ongoing teachers shortage while all schools feel the impact some particularly those in the Fairfield and the Varina Magisterial districts experience higher vacancy rates placing additional workload on teachers to bridge this gap and strengthen support for staff and schools ACPS launched the opportunity school's designation in August 2023. A long-term strategy aligned with the career ladder and the

[00:37:34] strategic goal to recruit, retain, and reward educators. Developed through data analysis, school leader engagement, teacher feedback, opportunity schools provide targeted support to schools who persist persistently have higher vacancy challenges in the second year we are pleased to share more about the opportunity schools and highlight the ongoing efforts to support staff and students as a reminder nine

[00:38:10] schools were designated as opportunity schools in 2023 2024 school year based on specific vacancy data points for the 2024-2025 school year highland springs elementary was added to the opportunity school's designation bringing the total to 10 schools once identified schools hold this designation for three years regardless of any changes in their vacancy rates or the number of provisionally licensed teachers this stability ensures consistent support resources to strengthen

[00:38:49] recruitment retention and instructional quality to have stabilized staffing enhanced instruction and foster long-term success opportunity schools receive the following a thirty three hundred dollar annual incentive, a teacher fellow, tailored professional learning, additional permanent substitute, a student support interventionist, and an additional associate principal and principal

[00:39:22] leadership support. Now let's take a closer look at these initiatives and their impact. I will now turn the presentation over to Dr. Dia Champ, director of middle school education. Henrico teacher fellows are highly effective educators who divide their time between teaching students and supporting first-year teachers provisionally licensed teachers annual resident educators and board substitutes their classrooms serve as learning labs where new teachers can observe research-based instructional strategies beyond their classrooms teacher fellows provide

[00:39:58] instructional support by model modeling effective practices and co-teaching with novice teachers and providing feedback and strategies on instruction they assist with classroom setup student engagement small group instruction and lesson design ensuring new teachers have the tools and support to succeed principals describe them as game changers recognizing their impact on new teachers their expertise in leading school-wide professional learning and their ability to foster meaningful connections between new hires and veteran staff assigned full-time to a single school

[00:40:32] teacher fellows collaborate with administrators instructional coaches and teaching and learning specialists to ensure instructional continuity and support principals also shared that teacher fellows serve as the glue for new teachers and board substitutes especially mid-year hires helping them build confidence refine instructional skills and navigate the day-to-day responsibilities of teaching one of the essential elements of an opportunity school is targeted professional learning provided by Henrico staff and when applicable in partnership with external resources

[00:41:07] to support both educators and students. In August, Opportunity School staff welcomed Hamish Brewer, a nationally recognized turnaround principal and former Virginia State Principal of the year. Hamish's powerful and emotional session reinforced the importance of engaging students through respect, relationships, and the highest expectations. Additionally, his message seamlessly connected to the school quality process, emphasizing strategies to increase student achievement at each school.

[00:41:38] Along with this focus on student achievement, Division-led professional learning is strategically designed to support each school's school support plan. Individual school plans include areas such as CHAMPS for classroom management, improvement science, instructional clarity, evidence-based interventions, and PBIS systems, ensuring professional learning directly impacts classroom practices and student outcomes as professional learning strengthens instructional practices the partnership between school and central office teams further support school quality efforts through direct instructional support

[00:42:14] and targeted interventions a key component of this work is data driven planning which remains a priority and opportunity schools teachers receive support and utilizing real time data from platforms such as iReady, iExcel, and Lexia to inform instruction.

[00:42:32] Additionally, PLC teams analyze student data before planning, allowing for more intentional tiered support, progress monitoring, and instructional adjustments that ensure responsiveness to student needs. This collaborative effort led by school teams, district teams, and teacher fellows ensures opportunity schools continue to prioritize professional learning and implement strategies that drive students success my apologies in addition to targeted professional learning staffing enhancements have played a key role in strengthening opportunity schools to ensure

[00:43:08] schools have the resources needed to support both students and educators additional positions were added to enhance daily operations and instructional capacity at the secondary level an associate principal position was added with responsibilities tailored to each to tailored to each school's specific needs for some schools to position focused on operations while in other schools the position provided content specific instructional support ensuring leadership resources were used efficiently at the elementary level schools received a student support interventionist ssi who works with the students demonstrating high referral rates for behavior concerns

[00:43:47] these interventionists focus on teaching self-regulation skills fostering positive behaviors and providing strategies to support social emotional growth helping students develop the skills needed for success in the classroom to address the ongoing impact of unfilled positions each opportunity school was assigned an additional permanent substitute when not covering classes these substitutes provide instructional support as needed the addition of this position helps to maintain continuity and stability for both teachers and students opportunity school principals

[00:44:22] engage in monthly leadership meetings designed to foster collaboration and support among colleagues facing similar strengths and challenges. These meetings provide a trusted environment where principals can openly share strategies, problem-solve barriers, and connect with key district staff for support across instruction and operational needs. Through these ongoing conversations, principals have direct opportunities to request resources, discuss staffing priorities with members of the human resources team attend recruitment fairs at various colleges and universities and work closely with the school quality team to navigate the school improvement

[00:44:59] processes including state and federal monitoring requirements beyond discussions principals have taken an active role in exploring strategies and best practices by visiting each other's campuses and observing instruction student engagement and successful programs this collaborative approach fosters shared learning reduces the isolation of often felt in higher need schools and reinforces a unified commitment to continuous improvement and student successes as we move through the final slides we begin to highlight the opportunity schools initiative progress can be measured

[00:45:35] in multiple ways reflected in percentages of growth with some gains more significant than others at the end of year three we will take a comprehensive look at data including staff retention the percentage of fully licensed staff and student achievement today we focus on the strides made over the last year and a half one significant benefit has been the development of a cohort of dedicated school leaders who have had the space to collaborate share expertise and access resources that directly support student achievement school leaders are second only to classroom teachers and their influence on student success and we are proud of how they have embraced this

[00:46:14] responsibility with focus and commitment. While the full evaluation of opportunity schools will take place next year, early results already demonstrate how this initiative is equipping school leaders with the tools, resources, and collaborative partnerships needed to build strong, high-achieving learning environments. Since the addition of teacher fellows, nine out of nine principals have agreed that this position is making a significant positive impact on new and provisionally licensed teachers in their schools.

[00:46:45] Furthermore, when comparing baseline data from the onset of the career ladder, opportunity school staff participate in district professional learning at twice the rate of staff in non-opportunity schools, particularly in the micro-credential program. This increased engagement has also led to observed growth in specialization, enrollment, and national board teacher certification.

[00:47:06] Strategies learned and shared are immediately transferred to practice, positively impacting students. Building on these successes, we have also strengthened support specifically for provisionally licensed teachers through the HCPS Teacher Licensure Cohort, TLC. At the start of the 24-25 school year, there were 134 provisionally licensed teachers in Opportunity Schools, 68 of whom were invited to participate in TLC.

[00:47:33] TLC, a collaborative partnership between Henrico County Public Schools and ITeach, offers provisionally licensed teachers the opportunity to complete required professional studies coursework asynchronously at no cost. Additionally, through TLC, Henrico's staff provide targeted professional learning experiences, bridging theoretical coursework with practical classroom application.

[00:47:56] Of the 68 teachers invited, 50 elected to participate. Those not invited or who opted out either pursued a different licensure pathway or deferred their participation to the following year. Of the 50 enrolled, 45 remain active in the program, reflecting a 90% retention rate for TLC participants from Opportunity Schools.

[00:48:18] This retention suggests that up to 45 new teachers could achieve full licensure by the end of the school year. Thanks to initiatives like TLC, the introduction of teacher fellows, and additional targeted supports, classroom teacher vacancy rates have decreased in six of nine opportunity schools since launching this initiative in 2023.

[00:48:38] The addition of permanent substitutes has helped relieve classroom coverage responsibilities, benefiting colleagues by giving back the time needed for instructional planning. When comparing the 22-23 discipline infractions to school year 23-24, there was a reduction of 30 out of school suspensions at the elementary level, a reduction of 143 out of school suspensions at the middle school level, and a reduction of 135 out of school suspensions at the high school level.

[00:49:06] Also, all 10 schools have reported a decrease in discipline referrals. Glen Lee Elementary and Verina High School successfully transitioned from conditional to full accreditation, with Verrina High School also earning the Exemplar Performance Award from the Virginia Board of Education.

[00:49:24] Of the eight opportunity schools that have been designated since the start of the 23-24 school year, this excludes Highland Springs Elementary School and AVR that's a program. Seven of the eight improved in at least one school quality indicator, and five out of eight schools improved in two or more indicators in their first year as opportunity schools.

[00:49:45] Pride runs deep among the staff and students at our Opportunity Schools. While progress is evident, our commitment continues, ensuring that all 10 schools receive the support needed to prioritize student success and sustain staff retention. Now let's hear directly from the leaders and teachers at our Opportunity Schools.

[00:50:04] They are the professionals at the heart of this Opportunity School designation. - We are an Opportunity School because we've had difficulty in staffing. So I believe we had maybe 12 board substitutes, my first year. This school year we have 25 new staff and so all of them are requiring support. We have a lot of opportunities connected to hiring highly qualified teachers. Over the last three school years we went from having

[00:50:35] 11 board substitute teachers down to eight. When I came here we had quite a a few vacancies. And so that, you know, the recruitment bonus, which is like $3,000, I believe, was super helpful for helping us recruit. But also with recruitment, we kind of have some extra perks, you know, having that teacher fellow to provide professional development, having an additional ASP to focus on the instructional side of things and just trying to help our teachers grow. Those things have been super beneficial. And so I think that helped us to get more teachers to come to our school.

[00:51:14] We have a lot of opportunities connected to hiring highly qualified teachers. So some of you use the terminology of being hard to staff, but we see that as an opportunity. What are you doing? Which one are you doing? I've always had a student teacher. I liked working with student teachers.

[00:51:30] And Teacher Fellow presented itself, and I was like, this sounds like the perfect job, like the perfect role, the perfect way to still stay in a classroom, but also help other teachers. I sit in plan-ins with teachers. Most grade levels, especially three through five, I will jump in classrooms when I'm not teaching my own classroom and pull small groups or co-teach or just however a teacher feels sees the need for me in the classroom. We have between 25 and 30 teachers that are provisionally licensed or in some stage of the process to becoming fully licensed. So a

[00:52:06] lot of the folks I speak of have not gone through the traditional teacher prep programs, So they're kind of learning on the job still very talented individuals certainly smart individuals But they just might be missing some of the things that our traditional teachers pick up in college It used to be you know We'd go in and we interview people we're asking all the questions, but now people have questions for us So that's one of the things that a lot of new teachers ask is what supports do you have for a new teacher?

[00:52:32] And so being able to say that we have a teacher fellow You know we have an instructional coach here and we have other supports that are kind of poured in We're able to say we have all of these extra things that are going to help you to be better and make you feel supported as a new teacher. People know they want to teach and like sometimes we just don't know the proper ways to go about it to get all the licenses and stuff like that.

[00:52:55] But like I said, the people here like really want to be here and work hard and show up every day for our kids. Well, contextually speaking, we know that schools like Lindley Elementary School, while we are considered an opportunity school, we are hard to staff. And so again, going from 11 board subs my first year here to now my third year to 8, we're getting closer to zero.

[00:53:13] We're getting closer to have fully licensed teachers here at Glenley Elementary School. And because of that, we were able to achieve full accreditation. Since I've gotten here and since we've become an Opportunity School, we have become accredited. So I think this has helped encourage people to kind of step out into the unknown.

[00:53:29] And the folks are pleasantly surprised once they get here. And so our goal is to continue that push, to remain on track, and we are grateful for all the support from the Opportunity Schools. Okay.

[00:53:44] As we conclude this afternoon's presentation, we sincerely thank you, the school board, for your continued commitment to all Henrico schools and for supporting the intentional investment in our Opportunity Schools. The year 25-26 budget reflects ongoing support including the addition of Ratcliffe Elementary and Brooklyn Middle School as Opportunity Schools for next year, reinforcing the need for continued investment through the operating budget to sustain this work.

[00:54:19] Your advocacy and leadership make the Opportunity Schools initiative possible by understanding that each of our 74 schools and program has unique strengths and challenges you ensure that resources are strategically directed to meet their individual needs this intentional approach provides the targeted support and funding necessary to move all schools toward full accreditation with thriving students and staff again thank you and at this time dr champ and i will answer your questions

[00:54:55] Thank you so much, Dr. Champ and Dr. Grant. I will start with Mr. Young. Of course. Thank you for the presentation. I don't know where to start. It was a lot of information, but I think we were proving that investment works. And when we commit resources to students and schools that need it the most, we see real academic and social growth. For those of us that weren't here in 2023 when this was created, can you walk us through how schools are chosen to become opportunity schools or some of the challenges that some of the schools may have

[00:55:29] had previously. It was basically determined by the vacancy rate of those schools. So we took the top tier schools that had the highest vacancy rate and we selected those schools. It was a metric related to vacancy turnover and the number of provisionally licensed teachers. Okay, thank you.

[00:55:51] Although I'm always wanting more money for our teachers, I think everybody knows that. But what you've proven is that it isn't just about the money. This is targeted. It's data-driven. It's resource-oriented. We have teacher fellows.

[00:56:07] We have ASPs. What I've just seen in this presentation is amazing for what we're doing individually, meeting schools where they're at. And board colleagues, I still would encourage us to look into spending a little bit more money, even if it's incentive-based, having a base of 3,300 and maybe some incentives to kind of raise that stipend that we give our teachers and our leaders in those schools. But I'm excited about this. I mean, you laid out everything. I don't have to repeat everything. We had two schools become accredited, Glenn Lee and Verona. They came and they spoke with us, and they all love the teacher fellow. Maybe we need another one in each one of these schools, right? So maybe if I

[00:56:46] don't get my wish for increasing the stipends. Maybe we can look into maybe still improving on the steps that we've already done, but this is amazing. I love the concept. I'm in commercial real estate. We have what's called opportunity zones, and it's similar to what the opportunity schools is. It's driving development. Same thing we're doing here is driving results, so thank you for the presentation. I probably will have a redirect after my colleagues go, but I definitely appreciate the conversation. I would note that the amount of that incentive does increase as we give

[00:57:21] employee across the board increases. So it's actually 3,500 for the next school year. So I would mention that. Thank you. And I actually want to redirect myself. Can I ask another question? The two new schools, Brooklyn and Radcliffe, of course, I'm excited about it, but is that just one year for them? And then we're... No, it's a three-year designation at the point at which you enter.

[00:57:41] Perfect. Thank you so much. It's all good. It's all good. Well, I'll start by saying I found your presentation very thoughtful.

[00:57:58] From the colors that were chosen to the individuals in the presentation, I found it very aesthetically pleasing. And the content was a beautiful blend. So the way in which it was presented, I wanted to give you and your team kudos for that.

[00:58:13] And the ability to absorb so much with so few slides is the skill. So thank you so much for the effort in which the way you presented your material today. I also heard you say pride, I don't know why I did that.

[00:58:31] I also heard you say that pride runs deep, but I also want to say to you as well, so does the pursuit of excellence for each of those leaders in that slide. And so I appreciate it.

[00:58:47] I do have a few thoughts. I don't know if this one is more directed to Dr. Cashwell, so just wanted to kind of warn you. However, I know Senator Aird has been seeking a million dollars in the state budget to expand our opportunity schools.

[00:59:03] I think it would be wise to share for the general public a status update on that. Yeah, I don't believe it. While we were grateful for the support of this idea, I believe it did not pass. Is that correct?

[00:59:20] Yeah, it did not pass, unfortunately. Okay. Well, the work and fight continues. The fight continues, but I was receiving questions about that dollar amount, and I thought it would make sense just to share with the public where we stand with that.

[00:59:36] So regarding strengthening outcomes on that particular slide, are these the primary success indicators that are going to guide our analysis moving forward? They will be. Would it be possible, or actually let me rephrase that, I would like for us to consider academic as one of those indicators, maybe, you know, for number seven or however, but just for consideration is an academic indicator, one of these as well?

[01:00:07] It is, and it was simply not presented in this presentation, given we weren't working off a full three-year set of data. So while we did nod to some of the academic achievements, you're absolutely right. one of the monitoring factors and the data meetings that are held regularly at our opportunity schools are around academic achievement.

[01:00:23] That's an important point. And so that was the only area that I found myself having many questions on, and I would suggest, even if it's not readily available, it's okay to just put the indicator on the slide to give a nod that it's being paid attention to.

[01:00:42] So something for consideration. And then also something that I was thinking about your consideration as well is currently schools maintain the status for three years which you've shared regardless of staff changes but has there been any consideration to extend this to four years and I'm gonna speak specifically to academics so I know you're monitoring this but it takes at least in my opinion a good two to three years before you can have solid results which means that pushes you to the fourth year to share them. And so I wonder if any conversation has been had on

[01:01:21] the impacts of extending it from three years to four years, impacts financially, academically, and with the other indicators that are presented on the slide. Absolutely. So we knew that three years would be the minimum. It doesn't mean that it couldn't be extended, but we did want to commit to analyzing the investment in staff. I mean, it is a significant monetary investment, and we wanted to make sure that we were seeing alignment to success related to the investments and then would certainly be able to hear direct testimonies as we have at this touch point from our Opportunity School staff so I'm looking at the length of the structure the structure itself is it the right

[01:02:00] structure the right number of supports the right monetary incentive so all of those things would be analyzed and it may be at the juncture which we look at that at the three-year period for that, particularly that large initial batch of schools, it may be that there's a recommendation for continuation for a longer period of time or any other alterations to the structure itself that would best serve schools.

[01:02:25] So here are my thoughts with that. And so part of me knew a little bit of that, of course. But the other part is if you were to wait, you would be almost already in your fourth year. My recommendation would be to present the information that you have now to allow for the board and the general public to understand this analysis as well so that we can all move forward on the journey before you get to that end of the three-year mark.

[01:02:54] Not all of it needs to be shared, but I do believe if you were to wait until the end of that three-year period, it kind of prohibits some other decision-making. And so when you're thinking about the financial analysis the investment that have been put into this understanding where we are today will help in giving guidance and decision-making and letting the public understand why this is such a win does that make sense it does i agree and that's part of the reason we're here today sharing this presentation and really wanting to underscore that as we've begun to look at early successes we felt confident enough to continue to build this initiative into the budget and are grateful

[01:03:33] for the continued investment, but it's a conversation we should keep at the forefront rather than simply waiting until the end of the three years, so we'll continue to do that. Outstanding. And then lastly, some of the things that has been shared with me was around the usage of the extra resources, and so it's always wonderful to have the extra help, but sometimes it can cause a little bit of confusion and understanding what are my specific roles in this specific space have you heard any feedback similar to that we work excuse me we work with our principals and

[01:04:11] small group on asset mapping looking at all the resources human resources in your building and how to strategically place those resources to meet the needs of the school so we do work on we have a lot of resources and we try to work with our principals to use those resources effectively and in the right places within the school thank you for that because what i hear is more so it's the the placement and then making sure it aligns with the role and responsibility that's expected to be delivered

[01:04:47] so i'm very pleased to hear about the asset mapping that's taking place with the leadership team and also with growth and opportunities to learn. So thank you so much. That's all I have to share. Thanks, Ms. Atkins. Ms. Kinsella? I certainly do appreciate this presentation.

[01:05:06] For me, in a kind of follow-up to what Ms. Atkins just said about the asset mapping, I know in the beginning, even feedback that I was hearing was that it was so many resources. And I know that the team got involved in trying to coordinate um i guess is maybe a simple term instead of asset mapping maybe coordination right yes feedback in the building each different building what you know what do you need and the coordination of all the resources has is truly an ongoing effort it is if

[01:05:43] i'm not misunderstanding flexible right fluid um i think uh outside of the testimonial videos which really helped me as a member. This slide nine lets me know right now, even though we're not to year three, right, and we don't have a starting point and look at where, you know, look at how far we've come. Slide nine is trans, it's transformational. And I look forward to the continued tools, incentives, resources, supports, and collaboration so that slide nine just

[01:06:20] continues to look better on the outcomes in these schools, and I'm excited about adding two more in this next budget. Chair Shea. Thank you, Ms. Kinsella. Mr. Irving. Yes, thank you for the presentation. I truly appreciate it. I think I have the distinct pleasure on this board of having taught at one of the opportunity schools prior, so that kind of guides my lens and just being a teacher myself, and I do have some questions and then some maybe things that I think could be more beneficial moving forward in terms of not just increasing stipends but also

[01:06:58] extra support. So what is the average or if you can even provide median vacancy rate reduction across the six schools that experience them? We happen to have those numbers. We can get it for you. I don't think we have that on hand. Thank you. I would appreciate that. I'm looking at the strengths outcomes and the reduced disciplinary referrals on here and it says that all 10 schools reported a decrease in disciplinary referrals. So I think on the face of that, that sounds excellent. But as a teacher, I think, well, what is the cause of that? Is it an early intervention

[01:07:34] and support? Is it an implicit emphasis on writing fewer referrals? Is it a systemic compositional effect of moving out of COVID and the overall reduction that we've seen in behavioral instances since the early exit of the pandemic to now? What do we think is driving the reduction? Well, they definitely are receiving more support with the teacher fellows in regards to how to run the classroom, how they set up the classroom and instruction. But then also we have PL that focus on classroom management, such as CHAMPS. So there's just a more intentional focus

[01:08:10] on the PL that each school can receive. Okay. I appreciate that. In terms of things that I think moving forward, if we were to see, you know, success, and I guess my question would also be, What is our break-even point from a dollar spend standpoint to improved metrics on what we would see as this is enough success to validate that this was a worthwhile decision to make?

[01:08:38] Like, how are we, from a metric standpoint, saying this is a large enough effect size based on the dollar spent to warrant it moving forward? I don't think there's one factor identified. I think it's a compilation of those, you know, understanding both the metrics involved here, but the teacher, the staff experience, right?

[01:09:00] That the feeling of being supported, what we know about the research when it comes to teacher turnover, particularly in those first five years for a new teacher and the reasons teachers are leaving. You know, we don't only want to retain them. We want their satisfaction rates to be high, to continue to pursue the field, to remain in the field.

[01:09:20] So I think it's a number of those factors combined rather than, you know, one factor being the tipping point. Of course, we'd love to see improvement in all of those areas, but I think it's really the totality of those and the positive impacts they have, not just on student outcomes, but on staff retention, staff preparedness, and ultimately their satisfaction.

[01:09:45] Yeah, and I didn't mean for it to come off as if there's one defining number that we'll look at at the end of the day and that'll be the decider but I would like us to receive you know what are the metrics upon which this will be evaluated and what do we view as a significant enough increase to warrant the I mean because it is a big financial investment and I'm absolutely think it's worthwhile if it has the intended effect that it's supposed to but I just want to make sure that that's that we know how it's going to be assessed moving forward. My suggestions would be I think just being in a building adding more permanent subs and I think maybe even just

[01:10:25] calling them floaters I know that in my building it's nice when you have somebody who you can move around as you need and I think having more of those individuals who are you know full-time pay and benefits is wonderful some people like that role of a changing every day is different and I think from a administrative standpoint it's certainly nice to be able to have multiple people who you can move around, I think adding more student support interventionists could also be worthwhile in lieu of just more financial compensation for the people who are in the buildings.

[01:10:59] And something that I would also like us to take a look at is a concept called a coach on demand program, which is a duty in my building essentially, if you're assigned it, you're typically a teacher who has great relationships with students and your duty period is essentially to be on call so that if you get called to a classroom for a student incident, you can step in the first time and watch the classroom so that the teacher can step outside with the student and have a conversation with them.

[01:11:26] Sometimes it's both people need a break and you can walk the student around the building and let them catch cool air and it's just a new person who has entered the situation and from a kid's standpoint, it's like, well, why would I be mad at this person who just got here? So I think that can help diffuse situations that sometimes become tough and I would love us to look at a trial and an expansion of such a program, because I do think it could have a good impact on teacher and student relationships. But otherwise, I appreciate all of this.

[01:11:57] Okay. If I can add, some of our schools do have more than one permanent substitute, and we have provided additional funds for interventionist tutors within those schools. Okay. Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Irving. I love how you explain this as an intentional investment at the end of the presentation. I think that's really what is different from this than just investing more money. It's investing it intentionally in ways that, like you said, are both data-driven and based on school leader feedback as to what schools really need. And I think that's why we're

[01:12:37] seeing this be a game changer. And as it was described, and I've heard over and over again, And these teacher fellows are really a pivotal part of this being a game changer. Back in the fall, I put our Glenn Lee and Verina administrators who had come when we did the accreditation part kind of on the spot a little bit.

[01:13:00] But they graciously accepted it and did. And they also mentioned specifically that the teacher fellows were a game changer in the piece of going from conditional to full accreditation. and really the heart, a big part of the heart of this program.

[01:13:15] And so I'm excited about that. I'm excited as we reach the three-year mark to get not only the data, but the input on kind of evaluating this program and what positions may be able to roll out to schools beyond opportunity schools, why we may not be able to provide all the supports, what are the key supports we may be able to offer to schools that are not opportunity schools, as well as what supports we may double down on in opportunity schools and that sort of thing.

[01:13:45] And so I think, like Dr. Cashwell has said, that this three-year initial commitment to really dive deep in the program is so important. Piggybacking on what Mr. Young asked, just to be very clear. So our initial cohort that came on in 2023, in 2020, around 2026, around 2026, they will be evaluated to see if the Opportunity School is still a necessary and good fit for their school.

[01:14:18] Is that correct? And then Highland Springs would be evaluated in 27, and then Ratcliffe in Brooklyn would be evaluated in 28. That's correct. And I think it's fair to say if after the three-year period for the initial set of schools, we were to modify the Opportunity Schools program, then that would also apply to the school still within that earlier period.

[01:14:43] Great. And I also appreciate you clarifying that the raise applies to the stipend. So we're now up to 35, Mr. Young. We're, you know, we're getting there. One point of clarity and one question.

[01:14:58] So one of the slides mentioned a signing bonus for some teachers. Is that the same thing as the stipend that's being received? Okay, yes. I just wanted to have clarity there. And then when we look at these teacher fellows, from being a secondary teacher, I can kind of imagine what that looks for their schedule to have a reduced teaching load, and then the sections that they're not teaching, they can use as their teacher mentor blocks.

[01:15:24] I would kind of assume that's how it works. Can you help me understand what that would look like at an elementary school level when they don't necessarily have, you know, class blocks in the same way? So I guess my question is, what does a, thank you, Dr. Weston, what does a teacher fellow in the elementary school, typically, I know all of them aren't going to be the same, but typically what would their schedule look like?

[01:15:48] He's responsible for it, so we're going to let him. Yes, Dr. Weston, welcome to the podium. So it is a great question. So at the elementary level, if a school is departmentalized, the teacher fellow may be a specific subject, which, like Lynn Lavernum, that is the case. So our teacher fellow works with fifth grade, primarily science.

[01:16:06] So she would work with all teachers in fifth grade science planning. And that's about 25 percent of her time. So 25% would be professional learning. 40% would be with our new teachers, our board subs, our annual resident educators, and new teachers.

[01:16:25] And then 10% of that time is really working district-wide. For schools that aren't departmentalized, they are working with a specific grade level. So it may be pull-out, it may be co-teaching, it may be second grade, it may be third grade. Based upon the need of the school.

[01:16:41] Great. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Thank you. I think, I think that is all from me. Really excited, really excited to see some of these strengthening outcomes and as we look to see more specific data coming in as we get close to that third year mark, really, really excited about this.

[01:16:59] I was able to, at VSBA, kind of nudge some division leaders and superintendents from other, and I was like, Penrico's got a great thing going on with these opportunity schools, you should ask Dr. Cashwell, and so that was fun. Any redirects?

[01:17:16] - Yes. Let's go. I hate to beat a dead horse, but will we get this presentation at the same time next year? Because that would be the end of the three years, correct? My only concern is what Ms. Atkins said. It would likely be earlier, yes. We timed it with the budget this year because of the addition, but we'll certainly begin our data analysis and work prior to now and we'll have some updates for the board.

[01:17:37] Okay, because it is a budget item. Yeah. Yes, okay. So it'd be well in advance of the budget planning. Okay. I think that's what you were getting at as well. That's exactly what I agree. Yeah, you know, so because it is a large investment, it's so important to get the raw data earlier.

[01:17:56] Like I said, I fell in love with the presentation. So the presentation is also necessary, but I think as key decision makers, getting that raw data around the academic performance is a must. And that ties right into investment.

[01:18:13] And oftentimes, that's how you determine whether, to Mr. Irving's point, how are we determining, how are we measuring the return on investment? And we would need the academic performance data and some of the vacancy data, so forth and so on, sooner, in my opinion, than that end of third year for many, many, many reasons.

[01:18:34] But that wasn't why I wanted to redirect. I just was kind of vibing off of Mr. Young's thoughts. I wanted to know if you could provide the academic performance data information at some point within the next few weeks for these particular opportunity schools.

[01:18:55] Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Anything else, colleagues? Thank you so much. You're welcome. All right. Thank you. The next and final item from me is a presentation that's responsive to the board's request made at our February 13th meeting.

[01:19:16] related to proposals to address rebalancing enrollment between godwin and freeman high schools and future growth and plan developments impacting henrico and highland springs high school and so i believe got a hard copy of some information coming to you that's also in board docs and we'll go ahead and begin that presentation thank you good afternoon madam chair members of the board and dr cashwell today i will be sharing a response to the board's directive to provide information about potential boundary adjustments at the high school level in two specific cases.

[01:19:53] Might I have you pause for a moment and make sure the mic's up so we can hear you well? Thank you. Apologies. As you'll recall, school capacity was previously presented to the board during the capital improvement plan process back in October and November. At that time, staff did not bring forward any recommendations for redistricting, though discussion points from various board members did center around boundary adjustments at the february 13th meeting a directive was issued to dr cashwell and hcps staff to review the boundary lines between freeman and godwin and henrico and highland springs high schools and prepare possible adjustment options

[01:20:32] for your consideration today we will share those options including a potential community input process and student transition considerations first let's look back at the capacity information shared in the fall and the trends we've seen thus far in the current school year. This map shows the preliminary functional capacity percentages at the high school level after ACE Center programming is accounted for, as was shared in the fall during the CIP process. These figures have since been updated as they were finalized in November. As a reminder, functional capacity percentages are

[01:21:10] calculated using the fall enrollment counts that are reported to the Virginia Department of Education every November and the optimal seat count for that campus based on VDOE's formula. The ACE Center program affects the number of students physically attending their zone schools on certain days. Once ACE is accounted for, the functional capacity percentages across all nine high schools decreases. Those percentages are what is shown on this map. The preliminary figures we shared in the fall saw Freeman as the only high school over 100% functional capacity after ACE is accounted for. Due to the impacts of the ACE program and the fact that schools are constructed

[01:21:48] to operate at 100% functional capacity, staff did not recommend any boundary adjustments when the CIP plan was discussed this fall. We did commit to continuing to monitor class size and programmatic additions, such as adding a new specialty center at Henrico High School in school year 26-27, and new ACE seats to continue to positively impact high school capacity.

[01:22:12] To provide the most relevant information today, staff compared the fall student membership previously presented to the board in the fall to the January 30th membership counts. This map shows the overall functional capacity as of January 30th after ACE programming has been taken into account.

[01:22:33] As you can see, the overall functional capacity has not changed drastically since the fall. However, from the preliminary figures shown during the CIP process, Tucker has increased in total enrollment since this information was presented in October, leading to it being at or over 100% functional capacity even after ACE programming is accounted for.

[01:22:56] Tucker is above that percentage point only on day ones. Both Tucker and Freeman are operating at or below 101.5% functional capacity on both day one and day two as of January 2025.

[01:23:15] Now that we've looked at updated functional capacity at each high school, I'll share information related to the board's directive for potential boundary adjustments for four high schools, Freeman, Godwin, Henrico, and Highland Springs. To arrive at the presented options, staff considered several factors the functional capacity of the schools historic enrollment trends and the projected enrollment through the use of grade progression ratios were utilized as the foundation for the requested options we also looked at feeder patterns and programmatic impacts through specialty centers and ace along with transportation logistics and residential development influences

[01:23:54] any of these variables separately or together can impact the long-term viability of any adjustments made to school attendance boundaries and as requested by the board staff considered how many how any adjustments would minimize transition impacts for students and options for gathering community input now we will share those options for your consideration we will begin with the requested option for henrico and highland springs this boundary adjustment review is related to a planned residential development located on the former glenwood golf club this residential development is currently zoned for student attendance boundaries to be split between

[01:24:33] both Henrico and Highland Springs. Highland Springs High has fluctuated between 90 and 100% functional capacity in recent years, and there are also other residential developments proposed or planned within its zone. Henrico High has had a lower functional capacity percentage during this same time frame. As requested by the board, staff reviewed a potential boundary adjustment for the entire residential development at the old golf course to be part of the Henrico High attendance zone, removing that current split. Zooming into that requested proposed area of adjustment,

[01:25:09] the fairways development split becomes more clear. The area in light blue is the original parcel of Glenwood Golf Club that is being subdivided for up to 291 single-family detached residences. This map also shows that there is an existing neighborhood behind the redevelopment, which does have current HCPS students living there. Due to the location of the fairways development, in order to adjust the boundary lines for those newly constructed residences to be zoned for Henrico, this neighborhood will also need to be included in the boundary adjustment.

[01:25:42] There is also the consideration for pupil transportation. The lots found west of Gordon's Lane were included in this recommendation due to transportation logistics. Their inclusion makes the bus line transfer from Highland Springs to Henrico logistically more feasible. Staff utilized the finalized fall membership counts to understand the number of middle and high schoolers currently living in the requested recommended area of adjustment, or RAA.

[01:26:12] to better inform the transition options and enrollment projection impacts these changes would have. For our current school year, there are 130 middle and high school students living in the recommended area of adjustment, with an approximate cohort size of 20 students. In addition to that, it is estimated that the fairways development will yield 63 high school students once it reaches development build out, estimated to be at the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027.

[01:26:38] With this information, staff then reviewed capacity and began making projections for how this boundary adjustment would impact Henrico and Highland Springs over the course of the next four years. Currently, Henrico is at 64.5 percent functional capacity and Highland Springs is at 90.7 percent. The new Henrico High Specialty Center was also taken into account as that center is opening in school year 2026-27. Staff estimated that this will increase Henrico's enrollment by 40 seats per year for four years as the program grows and allows for each grade level to participate

[01:27:14] while simultaneously taking into account students that are already zoned for Henrico participating in the center. Using this information, staff calculated that from school year 2026-27 to school year 2028-29, Henrico will increase in capacity by 4.3% annually for a total of 12.9%, and Highland Springs would decrease in capacity by 1.1% annually for a total of 3.3%.

[01:27:41] This leaves Henrico High to be at a projected 77.4% and Highland Springs at a projected 87.4% by school year 2029-30 prior to ACE programming impacts. These are projections, however, and other factors can influence these figures.

[01:28:00] With all this considered, staff propose implementation options for year consideration of a school year 2026-27 start date in order to account for when the fairways development will be completed and grandfathering for current Highland Springs High School students should be considered by the board for implementation through school year 2028-29.

[01:28:24] Moving on to the Freeman-Godwin request, this boundary adjustment option is proposed to address the functional capacity percentage at Freeman High, as the concern was raised by one board member. Freeman High has been at or over 100% functional capacity since school year 2018-2019.

[01:28:46] Godwin High has been on a trend of decreasing enrollment since school year 2021-22. While Godwin was in the mid-90s range prior to 2020, since then it has experienced a slight decrease in enrollment of about 1 to 2.5% each year. The school board requested staff present a boundary adjustment recommendation to balance the enrollment between these two schools.

[01:29:08] Due to the locations of these high schools and the elementary schools that feed into them, elementary feeder patterns were reviewed and used as the foundation for this potential recommendation. Staff chose this route in order to maintain cohorts as much as possible. This map breaks the requested recommended area of adjustment into four sections, labeled with the zoned elementary school.

[01:29:31] Two of these sections are found in Jackson Davis' zone, one for Pemberton and one for Pinchback. This is to assist with calculation methods for this potential recommendation and allow for other potential scenarios to be reviewed based on community input. While sections 1 and 2 are both in Jackson Davis' boundary, staff are using Pemberton Road as the divider line as that is the minor arterial roadway through this area.

[01:29:54] Section 3 is composed entirely of the portion of Pemberton's attendance zone currently zoned for Freeman, and Section 4 is comprised of a portion of Pinchbeck's zone, utilizing Gaskins Road as a hard boundary line. This proposed area of adjustment harkens back to the Freeman-Godwin boundary lines prior to the 2010 division-wide redistricting.

[01:30:16] For our current school year, there are 310 middle and high school students living within the recommended areas of adjustment, with an approximate cohort size of 40 students. Staff reviewed how these scenarios would impact the feeder patterns. Elementary to middle school feeder patterns would not change, and some of the middle to high school feeder patterns would change.

[01:30:39] Currently, Davis feeds into Tucker and Freeman. Under this option, all the Davis students that are currently zoned for Freeman would move entirely into feeding into Godwin. Additionally, under this scenario, Pemberton would feed completely into Godwin instead of being split between both Godwin and Freeman.

[01:30:57] And finally, Pinchback would continue to feed into both Godwin and Freeman, but the proposal shifts a small increase in the percentage of Pinchback students going to Godwin. All of these elementary schools currently feed into Kweakwason, which already feeds into Godwin as one of its three feeder schools. Thus, these cohorts would continue to traverse through the school system together with a similar cohesion as seen with the current boundaries. School year 2024-25 had Freeman at 104.5% functional capacity and Godwin at 86.5% functional capacity. Using a similar

[01:31:33] calculation method as the Henrico Highland Springs recommendation, it was found that Freeman would decrease by an estimated 2.2% annually and Godwin would increase by 2.4% annually from school year 2026-27 to school year 2028-29 from these potential changes. This would place Freeman at 97.9% and Godwin at 93.7% functional capacity in school year 2029-30 prior to any A's programming impacts being accounted for. Though, once more, these are projections and can be influenced by

[01:32:09] multiple other factors. With all this considered, staff propose an implementation options for your consideration of a school year 2026-27 start date, and the board may also wish to implement a grandfathering program for students already attending Freeman High School through school year 2028-29. Additionally, the board may elect to provide students in the RAA the option to attend Godwin in school year 2025-26 ahead of the implementation date. At the board's directive

[01:32:45] to minimize impacts on students, staff, we have prepared transition options for your consideration. These options include a grandfathering period for students that are currently or would be attending the previously zoned high schools at the time of implementation for the potential boundary changes. From school year 2026-27 to school year 2028-29, students that began at Freeman and Highland Springs would be allowed to graduate with their cohorts from those schools, while all incoming ninth graders in the potential recommended areas of adjustment would transition to their newly zoned schools. Another option is an opt-in program for incoming

[01:33:23] ninth graders during the year or years leading up to implementation of the potential boundary adjustments, where they are welcome to enroll in the newly zoned school before the boundary adjustments are implemented. HCPS staff would work with these students to enroll them at the newly zoned high school and assistant scheduling classes. Lastly, pupil transportation options were considered for these boundaries adjustments. Previously, HCPS has offered bus transportation to either school for students in similarly impacted neighborhoods. Using this option, students grandfathered into their previously zoned school would still have a bus route available to

[01:34:02] them for the three years grandfathering would be in effect, as well as all the newly zoned ninth graders. An alternative option would be to have students who are grandfathered into their current school use the hub system that is already in place. Given the board's requested timeline and the isolated nature of the two boundary adjustment scenarios, we have proposed some community input options that prioritize those families impacted. If the board opts to move forward with the proposed boundary adjustments, options for input include hosting in-person

[01:34:39] and meetings in March, leveraging online surveys, and creating a dedicated email inbox for comments, along with the traditional public comment options at scheduled board meetings. Again, this information and boundary adjustment options have been provided at the board's request per the February 13th directive.

[01:35:02] Understanding boundary adjustments are the purview specifically of the school board. Staff stands ready to provide the board follow-up information related to options shared this afternoon, and/or support the work of the board if you continue the conversation about making boundary adjustments.

[01:35:17] This concludes my presentation and I will be glad to take any questions you have at this time. - Thank you so much. I know you have worked tirelessly on this, looking street by street and at all the matriculation patterns and all of the options and everything real estate trends and that sort of thing.

[01:35:35] There are a lot of layers that go into this other than just drawing lines on a map. And so we recognize that you are an expert at what you do for our schools, understanding communities and all the layers you worked out, but also understanding how every single room in every single school is being utilized.

[01:35:56] I don't know how you do it, but you know all the things. And so we really appreciate the time that you have taken on this to really look at all the options and the thoughtful way that you brought it to us, outlining it, looking at how it is a launching point for a discussion between the board and the community.

[01:36:16] So before we get into all the nuts and bolts, I just wanna thank you for your work on this. I know it's hard work, I know, but you are, you know so much, and so we appreciate your work. Thank you. I'm gonna start to my right again, this time with Ms. Kinsella, please.

[01:36:33] - Thank you, Chair Shea. As a board member who neither of the districts or mine, that were in the presentation for consideration. I will likely have maybe some questions and comments, but I look forward to hearing what Chair Shea has to say, as well as Ms. Atkins and Mr. Young, since their schools would be impacted in the other scenario.

[01:37:05] I will start out by saying I appreciate the data through today, because we certainly see changes, which highlight the need for me to speak to Tucker.

[01:37:24] Tucker is now, in day one, over 100%, and again, I'll defer to Mr. Irving, but having watched Tucker for years, and also watching Tucker with three programs in it, and watching the growth in those programs, Over time, both before I was on the board and since my time on the board, I'd like to learn more about that.

[01:37:50] I was interested to see the projections for Freeman are expected to decrease by, what, 2.2% a year? With this proposal, okay.

[01:38:07] But with grandfathering, net changes initially are expected to be what? It would be that 2.2%. we took the grandfathering into consideration when we calculated those percentages. So it would increase once the grandfathering is finished, but only slightly at that point. So the last, before comprehensive redistricting was paused due to the pandemic, and we just did pocket adjustments. The last one I recall being involved in as a parent was the 2017 middle seven school,

[01:38:44] middle school redistricting, right, when we opened Wilder, the gifted center at Wilder Middle School, did we offer opt-ins and outs, if you will? A grandfathering is essentially an opt-out to let you continue. Did we offer that choice to the public at that time? That is something I will need to look into. I studied the 2010 division-wide redistricting versus the pocket middle school redistricting? If we did not previously offer that option, I just raise it as to just to have

[01:39:20] it on folks' minds that if we are going to set precedent by offering something not previously offered, then I think about the fact that we are building new capacity at Jackson Davis Elementary School and Longin Elementary School scheduled to open fall 2026. Both of those schools will have additional capacity. And in fall 2025, the board will be continuing this boundary adjustment discussion to address those two schools. So I raised this setting precedent in this particular

[01:39:55] case because I don't know that opting in or out with a grandfathering is going to be available to the public when those boundary adjustments come forward with new capacity. So that's of interest to me learning more about that or at least having it on the radar for discussion both with the board and with the public and with the team to see the impact that that decision would

[01:40:24] make. I remain interested in we're expecting an additional 400 seats in the next two years at our Hermitage A Center with the completion of the second floor being available for high school students that would attend. It would be a day one, day two impact is my understanding. Is that correct, Dr. Caswell? That is correct. And then also, as was noted earlier, the new specialty center at Henrico High School where the enrollment would increase over a four-year period. So I'm

[01:40:59] interested in understanding maybe some projections there across our schools as this conversation continues because 400 A seats making a day one, day two impact with that being complete over the the next two years.

[01:41:15] That's interesting, plus the new Center for Cybersecurity at Henrico High School. That impact is interesting to me. I feel like at this time, I'm missing pieces of the puzzle. I'm still interested. The board received a class size update.

[01:41:33] Mr. Irving spoke to it earlier during the budget presentation where he'd like to see class sizes lowered. If we actually lowered the class sizes in our high school I know some study halls in some schools, for example, Tucker, exceed 100 students, whereas in core classes, in core classes in Deep Run, Glenn Allen, Freeman, Godwin, and Tucker exceed there in the mid-30s, mid to upper 30s, and those are core instructional classes.

[01:42:11] So I'd like to see the impact of that in our high school because I am watching the trends, specifically Deep Run, Glen Allen, Freeman, and Tucker. This came up during the comprehensive redistricting that was paused by the board in 2020, started by the previous board.

[01:42:31] At that time, I believe we had five to six middle schools feeding Tucker. And in this presentation, I appreciate the way you did highlight continuity, right, from elementary to middle to high. And I would like for the team to look at continuity for our students that attend Tucker High School, as well as programming.

[01:42:54] With three large programs in that school, I just, like I said, I feel like there are pieces to the puzzle that I'm still missing to really be able to comment any further. And if I might add, I think you bring up some important points about programmatic impacts on our buildings and their functional capacity.

[01:43:13] And I think, you know, you were a big proponent of really looking at how programming and expanding programming can impact capacity, particularly in some conversation many years ago in the prior redistricting effort that you mentioned, and particularly looking at Glen Allen High School, for example.

[01:43:31] I know you were a big champion of not just career and technical education on its merits, and we know it's wonderful. We want to expand those opportunities, but we saw how programmatic shifts, and we added a new specialty center at Varina High School. We began to see several high schools that their enrollment did shift related to the way we handled programming at the secondary level.

[01:43:52] And so that continues to be a strategy for us. It's hard to get an exact prediction, but we can guess that based on the number of seats that will be available, for example, at the expanded ACE with the second floor at Hermitage ACE and the Cyber Security Center, that that will have a similar effect to attract students potentially out of their home high school and continue to make impacts, as we have already seen when we do the day one, day two with ACE.

[01:44:19] I think that's a good example of that, as we've looked at over the prior years, and we'll continue to provide those data points. And if you would, also, you know, programming is important. Everything is important before we do a boundary adjustment, right? The master schedule and looking at the class size report that the board received, there are some creative things being done at different schools with the master schedule, with the space in the building.

[01:44:47] So I highlight maybe some analysis there of what's going on in some of the buildings of concern. And I look forward to hearing what my colleagues have to say. Thank you, Chair Shea. Thank you so much, Ms. Kinsella. Ms. Atkins? I concur with the amount of work that goes into presenting this level of data.

[01:45:13] It certainly is meticulous and takes time in understanding that adjusting school boundaries is a strategy for managing growth and enrollment. And it is bigger than just schools. looking at growth of Henrico County as a whole, and then understanding new development coming in and as things change. But I do endeavor to be very clear that I do not support adjusting Highland Springs current student enrollment at all at this time. I do believe that it is wise to take a look

[01:45:47] at the new development around Creighton Road and looking at how and what we can do as far as having any family that chooses to move into that community to attend Henrico High School. I do support that. I also want to share that I continue to actively have conversations with families Verina Sanston and Highland Springs around boundary adjustment I also launched a poll so that families can tell me and assist with my decision

[01:46:24] making and my comments in this particular space on this particular topic at this specific time and so I did pull two of the questions out of the poll it's still ongoing so more information continues to come in but the two that I thought may be helpful in understanding Verina Sanston and Highland Springs and the feedback that I'm getting from family so far. So from one of the questions is, do you believe school boundary adjustments should be considered as a long-term strategy for managing enrollment growth in Henrico

[01:46:58] County? Why and why not? And so I tried to summarize some of it. And so the response is the majority of responses emphasize the importance of considering school boundaries carefully many respondents stated that boundaries should be adjusted with a clear long-term strategy in mind as they influence where families choose to live and the learning environment in schools the other part that was highlighted extensively is around overcrowding in schools and classrooms were also highlighted as key reasons that they

[01:47:34] felt school boundary adjustment should occur, but align with long-term strategy, not isolated. The other question was, what factors are most important to you when considering school boundary adjustments? And participants had six options to choose from. Those options were school capacity and overcrowding, school proximity to home and transportation, academic programs and opportunities, commute times, impact on school diversity and equity, and community and neighborhood

[01:48:11] cohesion. The top two factors that were identified were school capacity and overcrowding, the one that I found extremely insightful that I would not have selected, but that's why you ask the questions and do the polls. The second highest is community and neighborhood cohesion and ensuring that when you combine schools, that you're paying attention to the character and the culture of the schools.

[01:48:38] So I only share those two with you. This is still in process as I continue to get feedback from families on what are their top concerns, what are their priorities. And so it's important for me to receive the data, but sometimes there's information that you just can't get from raw data and you have to have the conversations. And so that led to my opening statement of at this time, in this moment in time, where I do not support moving any Highland Springs

[01:49:11] student or family school boundaries. Absolutely willing to entertain any new development because it gives family the choice. And also as more information and data comes in, that could change if that's what Highland Springs, Sanston, Verina communities want to do. And so I opened the floor because that was a lot to share in this moment.

[01:49:36] I welcome the dialogue at this time or in the future from any colleague. Are you, is that the sum of your comments? Okay, I just didn't want to interrupt your flip. Yeah, that was the sum of it all.

[01:49:53] Unless colleagues to my right have some specific comments or questions, I thought I would roll to Mr. Young since y'all have, you know. It seemed like some open dialogue, because you referenced a poll that was taken by you, Ms. Atkins.

[01:50:11] Did that include around the district's constituents? Because when I'm looking at the map on the proposed area, it looks like that's more fair fair district constituents, meaning that they live in my district, but they potentially go to a Highland Springs high school.

[01:50:29] So our only question is, do we know where we're hearing the feedback from your poll that you ran? Yes, so you're accurate. So in the poll, they're identifying if they live in Verina, Sanston, or Highland Springs, specifically.

[01:50:46] So in essence, you didn't poll anyone from this area in red? Correct. Okay. Correct. Okay. I didn't have any more questions from Ms. Axe. I just wanted to know more about the poll. If I can shift into sort of speaking on the redistricting or the rezoning of this area, it was initially brought to me from families living beside the new development that they were now building a new home and that they found out that it was zoned for Highland Springs High School, even though it was 0.1 or 0.2 miles away.

[01:51:18] And I think that looking at this map, it's kind of hard to digest, but it's literally if you see the top line, I don't know if Ms. Burton can put it up. it would probably help for, I mean, if you see the top line, it's running literally through a neighborhood. You can see streets running in between as opposed to a hard boundary. It's almost like neighbors are not going to the same school. If you look at the top line, I'm not sure if everybody can see it, but it literally runs right through where one side of the street goes to a school and the other side goes to a different school, right? So I think it's important to look at those things. And I also think it's important that we look at a new community when Henrico High

[01:51:57] school is below 70% when it comes to enrollment. And I don't want to see Henrico High School, even though I'm excited about cybersecurity, I still want more of the community in the actual school than the programming coming in from all over, infiltrating the school, right? We still need a solid base of community and collaboration with the children and the students that live nearby. I know programming helps, and we're excited about cybersecurity. I promise we are super excited about it but we want to make sure the community stays going to their schools and

[01:52:34] that's the biggest thing that I that I want the community to hear and I want my colleagues to hear as well is that you know Henrico is getting squeezed we're in the middle of the county we're getting squeezed from the left side we're getting squeezed from the right side and it's slowly shrinking in to the point where we don't have enough students there and that drives culture I know the band enrollment is down Henrico High School can't fill a varsity baseball team they have eight children right now no jv and this is all it's a little systemic let's be honest but this is all coming from basically being squeezed from every angle of the county and not having

[01:53:10] enough students to to be involved in these programs no matter what the program is the enrollment is low so i would encourage my colleagues to continue to you know talk to me have these discussions if we need to ride through neighborhoods i encourage us to all go out and let's go and let's take a drive on a weekend or during the week and let's look at what we can do because it's not just some right I'm on the other side I'm under enrolled I know a lot of you all are over enrolled but I think it would do all of us justice to for lack of a better word let's go take a trip let's go look and see what's going on in our schools and our neighborhoods and all of these controversial points it's hard to see on a map but I think it would be it would

[01:53:49] do us just to to really go out and look at each other's communities and kind of what we're explaining and what we're trying to pull off. I don't have anything else to say, but I do have a question. It would only affect seventh graders currently if this was to be put into place.

[01:54:04] It would only affect seventh graders, if I'm hearing that correctly. It would be your decision as to when it would be implemented and whether there would be any considerations for the options we proposed related to grandfathering. But in this proposal, it wouldn't be effective until 26-27, So the current seventh graders, yes.

[01:54:26] And I do support grandfathering current students only because if our goal is to minimize disruption, I think that achieves that, if that's our goal, right? I know that's my goal, but if it's a collective goal, I think grandfathering students that are already in their high schools, because high schools have sort of a finality to it.

[01:54:46] It's the ending of schooling, and I think switching 11th grader or 10th grader out of the school that they plan to graduate from, I do think that's a little harsh. That's a little tough. So I do support that. Elementary school is a little different, but high school is kind of the ending, and maybe you grew up from kindergarten all the way through with these students and these childhood friends.

[01:55:08] So I don't have anything else to add. Maybe we'll have a redirect shortly, but I wanted to put that out there. Thank you. mr young can i ask you i'm showing the spot a little bit so feel free to decline and that you want to think about more but since you offered your opinion on the grandfathering do you have an opinion on the opt-in um if students um know they're in the zone that would move if we if we made that decision for them to be able to um start a year earlier at their school yeah you did put me on the spot and say you would like to think about it more that's fine no no no no no i I know I think it's important that we have the dialogue here today if you're

[01:55:47] gonna eventually go to the school opt-in version should be appropriate now I don't know what that does the transportation maybe they have to get themselves there but if you're gonna go there in 10th grade I don't see why we can't opt-in in 9th grade but we have to see if that other disruptions I just sometimes doing one thing changes other things so on its surface it makes sense to me okay great sorry to put you on the spot I just thought while we're dialoguing anything else uh that's it madam chef mr irving i'm going to come to you next please thank you yeah thank you for this presentation uh the the level of detail as my colleagues reiterated is

[01:56:26] impressive and i think useful i i would also like to face i mean thank all of the tucker educators who reached out and advocated for the conditions that are in their schools which allowed us to pull the updated enrollment numbers to see that Tucker is in fact also over 100% on their day ones and you know I can tell you as a teacher on a day two of 99.4% that feels awfully similar to 100.3% and so I appreciate their advocacy, it allowed us to be more

[01:57:02] aware of what is happening and allowed us to amend the presentation to add the involvement of all the high schools so that we can get an accurate picture of what enrollment is in January rather than October that's especially important in a school like Tucker which has a very transient population where students move in from other communities they have a high English language learner population which leads to a lot of students being enrolled throughout the school year so I felt that it was incredibly important to get an accurate picture of what their their current enrollment looks like and what that means is a as a point of

[01:57:38] functional capacity. So I really do want to thank those educators. I think that looking at this, it is a bigger conversation than just two particular moves at this time. I think that redistricting or boundary adjustments is the toughest thing a school board does. And I think it is the most emotionally charged thing. So I think it can never be taken lightly. And I think as such, anything that can be done to reduce functional capacity that is not moving people to new buildings, unless it's through programmatic changes, which is, you know, a student and a family's choice.

[01:58:18] I think those are always the best ways to move. Some, you know, suggestions that I guess I would have for Tucker, just given their situation, is we could, you know, potentially adjust the overall capacity by, you know, maintaining or decreasing the number of specialty center slots available to all three programs.

[01:58:36] to Tucker, beginning with the cohort of freshmen entering the 26-27 school year, so current seventh graders, so not something immediate. Expand the number of internships and externships for students to provide life-ready learning experiences and alleviate the number of students in the building, particularly in first and last periods of the day.

[01:58:56] And I think central office leaders should continue to partner with Tucker's school leadership to examine schedules and maximize the utilization of every space in the building, particularly collaborating, particularly collaboratively learning experiences, hard word to pronounce.

[01:59:14] These are non-classroom spaces. This would align Tucker's participation in the NEXED Workforce Partnership, which seeks to provide a transformative approach to high school education by redesigning the teaching and learning experience with innovative team-based teaching models that provide students access to multiple educators, diverse expertise, and personalized support.

[01:59:35] these models also use physical space in innovative ways. A team from Tucker will be traveling to Meza, Arizona this spring, along with other HCPS high schools, to see these innovative models in action and bring back ideas for their own redesign. So my overall takeaway is that I think that this is a large conversation, and I don't think that in good conscience I could allow students from one school to be able to opt into switching to another school, but not as well have that opportunity offered to students at Tucker as well. And so I think at this time, I would not be able to support

[02:00:15] an opt-in for moves at other schools, just purely on the grounds of, I think it would be unfair to allow for some, but not for others. When I also think that this conversation is larger and there can be options that we can learn about that are not physically moving kids to schools that they're otherwise out, that's not their choice to move through programmatic changes or other measures. So I would like us to have more options brought to the table and always consider boundary adjustments to be, you know, a last resort. Thank you, Mr. Irving. Is that all at

[02:00:54] this time? Okay, great. Rachel, I have a couple specific questions for you about kind of the development of the plans and some things that were considered along the way, and then to kind of continue our board dialogue. So Ms. Burton, could we go to the option one, two, three, four? Not option, excuse me. Yep, right there, right there. Great. All right, thank you. So I appreciate you kind of highlighting these different sections and explaining, you know, giving some context.

[02:01:28] So sections one and two both go to Jackson Davis currently. Jackson Davis is split between Tucker and Freeman right now with three chopped being the hard boundary and so this is this would essentially be taking the two sections there section one and two that currently go to Freeman and moving them both to Godwin correct so we're not creating any additional divisions within Jackson Davis Elementary not in this proposed option okay so the the boundary from the last Before the last adjustment, so like 15 years ago, right?

[02:02:07] Correct me if I'm wrong, but that boundary was Pemberton Road. Correct. Correct, which would be Sections 2 and 3 from that area. But that would then cause Jackson Davis to split between three high schools, right, if that was pursued.

[02:02:23] Correct. So was that part of the approach, including Section 2 in the recommendation? That was part of the approach. We wanted to avoid splitting Jackson Davis three different ways. We felt like that was not going to be well perceived, and that's going to affect our learners of those cohorts having to be split.

[02:02:44] Even though they'll be going to the same middle school, as that zone won't change, being split once more after entering middle school, having those cohorts already be split three ways, but also having their elementary school cohort split again.

[02:03:00] And we wanted to avoid that as much as possible in these proposed options. Thank you. I really appreciate that consideration. Those matriculation patterns in Section 1, 2, and 3 highlighted are just tough. They're really tough when we look at the whole elementary to middle school high school.

[02:03:15] They already are and the ways things split. So I think an additional split for Section 1 and 2 that Jackson Davis would be really detrimental to their community. So I appreciate that consideration. And then section four is part of Pinchback.

[02:03:33] Well, let me not skip over section three. Section three is Pemberton. And so the rest of Pemberton lives over kind of towards Raintree and they are already at Godwin, correct? - Correct. - So this would unite that elementary school that was split up 15 years ago.

[02:03:50] - Correct. - Okay. The other elementary school I have that's currently split between Godwin and Freeman is Pinchback. And so a lot of that goes to the left that's already at Godwin over in like Whitaker Woods and Kingsley.

[02:04:09] And so I noticed that you included that section four there from Pinchbeck. Can you tell me a little bit about the reasoning to include that section? Yes. So looking at how the boundaries are currently drawn, that section four, the connector roads of that neighborhood go to Godwin.

[02:04:29] However, those houses are a little, they're divided in that neighborhood because they now go to Freeman. So we wanted to look at uniting those transportation lines back together for that neighborhood, the cohesion of that neighborhood.

[02:04:44] We also wanted to utilize kind of the hard boundaries that our main and minor arterial roadways in the county already create. Gaskins Road is a minor arterial roadway for us. So we wanted to prevent as much crossing of those roads as we could for this situation.

[02:05:03] Great. And so really when we're looking at those homes in Section 4, particularly the ones that are directly attached to Canterbury, kind of that larger idea of neighborhood communities keeping together. And then the rest of Pinchback is across from Gaskins, kind of just south of Section 3.

[02:05:21] Did you look into possibly what that would look like if, you know, that section was considered in some other sections? Kind of talk to me a little bit about that. We did look at that. We ran several scenarios regarding this proposed recommendation. We ran it without including Jackson Davis and including the entirety of Pinchbeck. However, due to the number of students being produced from both Pemberton and Pinchbeck, that would then push Godwin over 100% functional capacity, thus kind of not achieving the objective presented for us. The Gaskins Road boundary ended

[02:06:00] up being a good splitting point for that, where we could reunify that neighborhood while not pushing Godwin over 100 percent, while still maintaining Freeman being back under 100 percent. Thanks. I think that's a really important distinction to, you know, really speak to some of the work that you've done, that you have looked at, you know, all these different pockets, and certainly we don't want to move so many students from Freeman that we now push Godwin over the edge or get close to pushing over the edge that in a few years we would have to have the opposite of this. That's too much. We don't want to disrupt in that way, but I appreciate you

[02:06:40] articulating for the community that all of those pieces have been looked at and considered as you brought this forward um so um thank you for that and i have i've made so many notes as we went that i'm just uh i'm just flipping through i think that's all at this time for you specifically from me um i wanted to um speak a little bit uh to some of the considerations that came up from board members as we moved along um miss kinsella i really appreciate um your notes about tucker as

[02:07:13] As well as Mr. Irving looking at Tucker programs, especially the Tucker continuity feeder patterns. I know that's something that you and I have discussed back since, what, 2019, 2020, when we were looking at that and how that really impacts the community feel of a school.

[02:07:32] But even broader than that, there's a lot of tough matriculation patterns headed into Tucker. And so, I don't wanna get too far ahead of ourselves, but as we have noted, we do have new buildings and new capacity coming online soon in the next few years.

[02:07:49] And realistically, we are gonna have to tackle more complex boundary adjustments and matriculations in a few years in order to tackle that. And so I concur with Ms. Kinsella about some of these, and Mr. Irving about some of these Tucker issues, really urge that to be a significant consideration in the more complex adjustments as well as Mr.

[02:08:14] Irving's recommendation beyond boundary adjustments for Tucker on how in terms of some building usage and program agging and those sorts of things that could provide relief outside of boundary adjustments. So I think that is an important and complex discussion that we want to give the appropriate time to, right? To be responsive but not reactionary, right? And really do what's right by all of our schools, right? Like, not just Tucker, but, you know, that's an essential part of this conversation. But as we look at all of our schools, to do what's right by them

[02:08:49] and give that the time and thought that it deserves, right? To do it right. So I appreciate that but I also believe that these recommendations that have been brought forth both Highland Springs and Henrico adjustments and the Godwin and Freeman adjustments they are limited in scope and they are pocket adjustments and I think that we can do this in the lens of what's to come and not creating that kind of that flip-flop we talked about earlier by moving too many people

[02:09:24] i think as a board we are smart enough to be able to do pocket adjustments ahead of waiting a few more years for complex consideration to be able to more in a more isolated way discuss these two pockets without getting them conflated with you know the complex adjustments that are are to that may be to come with those new schools i cannot speak directly to him right go in highland springs because I don't know your area as well as I know mine, but I know for the Godwin-Freeman,

[02:09:58] what we're looking at, all of these adjustments are south of three-chopped, while the new capacity coming online as well as the Tucker zones are all north of three-chopped, and we use three-chopped in a lot of ways as one of those hard boundaries that you were talking about, and so I feel very confident knowing this area well and also kind of knowing some of the challenges with the matriculations and feeders for Tucker that we can tackle this without it getting messy with what is

[02:10:35] to come with a more complex. I confidently feel like we can tackle this pocket and I, you know, look forward to what y'all's reflections are in your areas in terms of getting that, you know, kind of that delineation. Speaking to master schedule, I don't remember if that was Ms. Kinsella or Mr. Irving or I don't know where that came from. I think you're right. I think there's some really creative things that can be done with master schedule. I know that Dr. Marshall and Ms. O'Neill at Freeman have done a lot of those really creative things with the master schedule

[02:11:12] and they are just flat out out of space. They are out of master schedule tricks. These classrooms are being used almost every period when a teacher has planning. There's another teacher. There's teachers who don't have assigned classrooms that are floaters. There's some study halls happening in gym spaces. There's some classrooms that have had approved by facilities walls put up to divide them to make more space. They have gotten as creative as they can. I don't think there's any more rabbits to pull out of the hat with the master schedule and space usage. They are at

[02:11:49] a tipping point where they really need some relief. If you think about the heart, I won't go on and on, but a little bit. If you think about the heart of that Freeman building, it's the same as the Moody Middle School, which was Hermitage High School, and the Oak, which was Highland Springs, and it was built for a much smaller student body, right? And we were able to add on classroom spaces and annexes and separate gyms and that sort of thing there, but when we look at things like the cafeteria and the auditorium and the halls and the arteries

[02:12:21] of the school, even the functional capacity number that we're working off of, of 1760, is a challenge because those arteries, some of those main arteries in the main part of the school were built for a population of under 1,000, you know, much like we see some of the challenges that you saw when Highland Springs was in the Oak, and that Moody has a smaller enrollment than a high school, but keeping those things in mind, we're at a critical point at Freeman that they need relief. We're seeing it reflected in class sizes, which

[02:12:59] you spoke to, Ms. Kinsella, that it becomes this point where there's not room to even add more compliment. And so, because I see this as a unique opportunity to be able to utilize the space that is right next door at Godwin to provide that relief. And I would like to do it in as least disruptive way as possible. I support grandfathering. I support opt-in for once a decision is made by the board, if we decide to move a section for the section that

[02:13:35] has already definitively said that their neighborhood is moving. Not for anyone who wants to opt in. But for neighborhoods that already know that they would be impacted, I do support an opt-in for those students who want to go ahead and move. It would allow us to have some relief to Freeman, perhaps starting next year, without a full implementation until the following year, as to give families more runway. I know we never got to the finish line in 2020, but that is

[02:14:12] something we kind of had talked, we had talked about a little bit about families that knew that they were going to be impacted to go ahead and start at a school earlier if they could provide transportation and those sorts of things. So I recognize, I fully recognize that what is, want some of these options to be considered are more generous than a typical grandfather, but I believe with the limited scope of these pockets, and I can specifically speak to the one in my district. I'm not trying to leave you all out again, but I'm kind of deferring to your

[02:14:50] expertise over there. Specifically with this pocket, with the limited scope, I think we can offer more generous grandfathering in than we can in more complex adjustments, such as a comprehensive or a seven school. This is two schools involved. It's a one-directional move.

[02:15:14] It will not create pinch points in other schools. I believe in doing what's best for kids and families with the hand that we've been dealt when we can, instead of limiting options that disrupt students on account of what might happen in the future. While I'm mindful about setting precedent, it would be a shame to disrupt families in ways that are unnecessary to cater to what may or may not be able to be done in more complex adjustments. To be clear, I think generous grandfathering

[02:15:48] in this scenario is not picking favorites. I think it's what's doing right by students and families to limit disruption, but to still be able to balance capacity. I think I hit all of my notes at this time. Any redirects that we would like to see at this time? Yes, Ms. Atkins.

[02:16:15] So I have a few thoughts as I'm processing. One, I've learned so much more as you continue to share, and it has prompted several thoughts, one of which, based off of what you shared, we need more information. That's one. The second thought that I have is around resources. So much of our conversation has been around the student, the development, the families, but I would like for us to engage, what is this impact on staff, and what is the impact on resources, and what is the impact financially if any that's information that I would want to learn

[02:16:55] especially with something like grandfathering and opt-in what does that mean for transportation what does that mean for the bus route that has that one student across town that needs to be picked up so I would need more information in that space I also will share with you that I am not a fan of opt-in I'm amenable to learning more and I want to share with you why opt-in lacks integrity when it's solely based on resources it also can also create a

[02:17:31] much larger gap in my opinion with equity when we make decisions based on a moment in time in one area versus a more holistic view I don't think that's where we want to go and I don't want us to start however because there's more information that i would want to learn from regarding opting in and i want to also understand what does the term expanding grandfathering mean my understanding is grandfathering is grandfathering but what does extending benefits within grandfathering mean

[02:18:08] so i think what i meant by that i appreciate the opportunity to provide clarity is in previous movements we've typically just talked about for elementary school fifth grade which again we're not talking about elementary and middle school here but just for historical fifth grade eighth grade 11th and 12th grade so that means there is a year of students who have started at a high school who would then have to move does that make sense do you know what i'm saying and so in this case because of the limited scope of this and the one way moves on either of our parts

[02:18:45] in either of our areas to be able to expand that too. If you have started at a school, you can finish at the school because it will not create pinch points with lots of dominoes moving like it is when we've got kind of everybody moving all the directions. Does that make sense?

[02:19:05] It does. It pushes me further to say that after that explanation, I lean more to saying no. I just just want to be very transparent after that very explanation around opt-in I just want to be specific what I'm talking about here because if you feel like it's okay for this moment will you feel like it's okay for the next and who gets to choose outside of this board I think if you are a family and you have the time to sit and pay attention to this meeting and learn all the terms and know exactly what they mean, you are better informed to make that decision.

[02:19:45] If you are like Alicia Atkins, and I have many, many priorities, this happens to be one. But it's not at top of mind all the time. So if this opportunity did come to me and I was not aware of all of the other things to come into this district, I might make the decision because of this moment.

[02:20:03] Because I'm unaware of all of the other things, the expansion at Henrico and Hermitage and some of the other things. If I'm not aware of all of that information, then I don't feel that it's fair that I would have to be as a family, as informed as the school board, to make the best decision for my family.

[02:20:26] So that's kind of where I'm sitting with this opt-in. Again, I certainly want to learn more. I think we are a board that focuses on doing the right thing, and what you're doing is advocating for an area that you were elected to represent. And that's what I respect. You're going to know your area because that's why you're there. That's speaking to your request of freemen.

[02:20:53] But what I'm speaking to is when we start to entertain practice that's not practiced holistically and equitably, it will continue to decrease in integrity. And that's just Alicia's perspective.

[02:21:11] also think when you set a precedence be prepared to continue it and I don't know that we could given where we are today and given the high priority of what families have to think about with changes from the federal to the state to the local all of the things that our families are thinking about right now what I can say is Henrico County Public Schools is that place that has been consistent from where they send their kids that's important to me and making sure that we remain a safe space, a consistent space, and knowing what school your kid is

[02:21:48] going to is important. So I look forward to the additional information that Mrs. Kinsella has requested. I look forward to some of the information that I have requested as well. I think this is much to process. Certainly couldn't vote on it. I couldn't. Let me just speak for myself. I would not vote on that. Speaking to Mr. Young and I, we are in conversation, so now I'm just going to speak to a little bit of Fairfield and a little bit of a Rhino-Sanston Highland Springs with your approval. So Mr. Young and I are working very well together to figure out

[02:22:27] how do we solve for what we see coming in the future, understanding some of the centers that are coming on board. So you have the cybersecurity at Henrico. We also have the living building that will be coming on board, which is very attractive to students. So that will probably expand some of the space at Verena High School. And I do believe, and Mr. Young will chime in and keep me honest, but I believe we're going to find solutions that are going to be a good fit based off of what families are asking for and based off of what resources we have today and potentially

[02:23:03] what resources we may have tomorrow and that cheer process will take some time and so just from that perspective i want to make sure that families know where we are today what we're thinking today and know that continued conversations will happen for what tomorrow may be mr young did i do us justice or did you want to add to that no you did you did a fantastic job um we're going to work together and figure out exactly what we can do for all of our schools in Eastern Henrico and speaking of Eastern Henrico I don't know too many people know that Armstrong High School sits in Henrico

[02:23:42] County and the students that live across the street from Armstrong High School attend Henrico County public schools I don't know if the board realized that either so it's a lot to untangle but I think that you know we'll get there but it's like she said program is coming on board And I still think that it's important that we listen to the community as well.

[02:24:05] So I see some community input sessions that have been placed up that the community will have time to share with us what they think about everything that we share here today, Madam Chair. Thank you. Two things. Dr. Cashwell, do we know what those input dates will be at this time or are we still?

[02:24:24] Well, it's at the board discretion, so I mean, I think at this point we have brought you the information you all requested of us in February, and we've provided information on what boundary adjustments could look at for both of the impact areas.

[02:24:40] We provided you options and potential timelines for implementation, and we also provided you some ways you may want to seek community input, so at this point, it would really be incumbent on the board to direct us for next steps and what it is you'd like to see. I heard some requests for some specific information, so certainly could work to bring that back, but would want direction from the board on if you would want to engage in moving forward with the options we brought forward, and if so, would you want us to begin an income community input process, and how would you want

[02:25:16] that to look. Well, it certainly sounds like we need more information. And Ms. Atkins, in terms of info on kind of the opt-in scenarios, it's sounding like, you know, and correct me if I'm wrong, that an important piece of information is how sustainable would this practice be, right?

[02:25:36] Correct. And so, and I also want to just re-anchor us in because opt-in is not a phrase we've used before that we've kind of talked about the philosophy of it before. And so just to, if I can briefly, to reread what's in the presentation to define it and kind of anchor all of us in the community discussion, that the opt-in option, if we went with it, would be beginning in the year prior to implementation. So if it's implemented in 26, this would be for 25. Incoming ninth graders and current students would be given the option to early opt-in one year earlier to the new school

[02:26:12] zone, knowing that their neighborhood had already been kind of voted on to be impacted. And then HTVS would provide assistance to students choosing the opt-in for scheduling courses, et cetera. So just to anchor us, it's not choosing on whether my family is impacted or not, it's choosing in, okay, knowing my neighborhood is impacted, let me just go ahead and rip the Band-Aid off and start a year earlier at the school.

[02:26:42] anyway, so kind of the reverse of grandfathering. Yeah, I, my interpretation is that, you know, your neighborhoods do impact your family. So I just want to clarify that for those listening. When you're engaged in this discussion, oftentimes you're already reading what the other person is trying to say. But just let me be very clear, your neighborhood and the decision of where you live impact your family. And I'm just speaking to that opt-in definition. So that reiterates my question around sustainability. It reiterates my comments that I made about the families that may not sit

[02:27:21] here and listen to this meeting and understand all the terms. Excellent. So Dr. Keshwell, and I'm kind of looking at my colleagues to make sure we have consensus. Flag me if I'm wrong. We're asking for some of this information to be brought back to us.

[02:27:38] Could I clarify the information I'm bringing back? So I know one of the questions was related to the impact on staff and resources, and I think we can certainly do that, and I do want to, I can speak to some of that now if it's helpful just for context. I mean, certainly not all of the impacts will be quantifiable, so I want to be upfront on that, and I think that's one of the things that makes this a challenging discussion.

[02:28:01] So we know that there are going to be transportation impacts if there is implementation. And so, for example, we note if you were to allow students currently zoned for a school to continue there, or grandfather as the term we've used, we could do transportation a number of ways.

[02:28:19] All of these are possible, all have different potential costs or impacts. So one of them noted here would be continuing to provide transportation for those students, which would mean we'd have two bus routes running through the same neighborhood. And you mentioned that example earlier.

[02:28:36] There is a cost to that. We couldn't quantify it exactly, not knowing how many would take advantage of it. It's something that is possible, though, and we've listed it here. Another option would be, since we're talking specifically about high school, that we could leverage the hub system that's currently in place for students attending a school outside of their zone school, so that would be possible and have less impact, for example, on the budget or on our transportation system because it's relying on something that's currently in place. So, you know, and as far as staffing goes, it also means during

[02:29:13] a time where students would be remaining or grandfathered into the school they're attending and not attending the new attendant zone, enrollment might fluctuate. So Rachel did a great job making predictions on what the capacity change would be. But again, those are guesstimates based on what we can, but the up and down 2% and 3% we can likely handle at both sites, the current and the change site.

[02:29:38] But again, it would mean making sure we're monitoring class sizes and staffing and that there may be some adjustments. So some of these things, to your very good point, should be discussed. They're impacts, but are hard to quantify. And so I just want to be up front while we can bring you some more considerations and information related to potential impacts.

[02:29:58] Some of them will be hard to quantify. I had one question regarding the hub bus option. It is a good option, but before that would be explored, would we resolve the current issue that we have with hub bus transportation? I think it's fair to note that a hub bus ride currently, depending on where you're going, can be a long one.

[02:30:20] In this case, since we know the impact at high schools, for example, it would be a more limited bus ride. So, you know, you would be going from the Highland Springs area to Henrico, or in this case, from the Freeman area to Godwin, versus some of the bigger challenges we have with hub buses.

[02:30:40] And I know some concerns that are very real and brought up are the longer rides when you're attending a specialty center a much farther distance from your home. But it is still, you know, certainly a choice. An individual and family would have to weigh the options on what's best for them if they were to leverage this option.

[02:31:04] All right. And then, oh, continue about any data. Yes. You're clarifying. there was some question related to impact on staff resources, other resources such as transportation. Also, more information related to class size and digging into that. Programmatic information, which we've talked about to the degree we know what current programming looks like with ACE and students removed day one or day two. We know the size of our current specialty centers. We know what's in the hopper and coming so perhaps the request here I'm not sure if you could just drill

[02:31:42] down to the I'd be happy to clarify with the living building I appreciate you adding that miss Atkins because I was just so focused really on the ACE those 400 seats over the next two years and on the new Henrico Center which is the number of seats coming on board and especially with when I'm looking at this I need to know the additional impact or potential impact of programming.

[02:32:10] And as Mr. Irving said, you know, a boundary adjustment is like the last thing that we do. And then hearing generous grandfathering, whether it's an opt-in the first year, potentially. But it's not going to take effect until two years from now.

[02:32:29] The capacity to which we're speaking of will be complete. The AIDS programming will be complete, right? As well, I mean, your living building at Wilton and will be online with the center at Henrico. So for me, I'm interested in those programmatic adjustments and having had one of my high schools exceed where the numbers are today with looking at the ACE impact of 100 percent, 101 percent on day one and day two at Freeman.

[02:32:58] My schools come back down, though I watch it just as closely as my colleagues are watching their schools, depending on growth in the area and so forth. So having seen what I saw in my school, I just need more information, because for me, it's premature for me.

[02:33:18] So looking at potential new programming, all the examples that have been mentioned, the number of seats each would have and the time frames they'd be coming online. Then I also heard suggestions from Mr. Irving, and concur with those, related to specifically Tucker High School and some of the challenges he's heard about from constituents, and we have as well, which is really looking at, you know, they have the unique situation with three specialty centers in-house, and we know that their current zoned enrollment is up, as we can see the comparison between our fall and our January membership.

[02:33:53] And that allows us annually the opportunity to adjust those seats. So that's certainly something we can do looking into the next incoming class and are prepared to do to make a more immediate impact there at Tucker, as well as looking at space utilization, next generation workforce, all of those considerations that can make a near-term impact on Tucker High School.

[02:34:14] And so I heard those recommendations. And I don't know that I heard any other specific requests for information. I mentioned the class size as well. Did I get everyone's notes? Okay. So next steps for staff are, are you wanting to first have information come back before you make any other decisions related to how we would proceed?

[02:34:40] You've heard the options you requested, so direction coming from the board on next steps for staff. Colleagues, I know that hearing from the community is an important part of this from us. Would we like to go ahead and give staff some ideas on how we would like community input so they can begin to plan those? Or is that something you want to wait on another two weeks? They gave us some options in the presentation. Ms. Burton, do you mind? Yeah, perfect. About what some options

[02:35:16] would be in person to have some listening sessions in each area or... And I would want to know, we We sort of suggest these as a package, not some of them, but I also, correct. And I would also note that we recommend gathering community input should you choose to move forward on implementing these.

[02:35:38] So I think that's a first question I have. I heard varying comments from board members making it not clear to me and would love will from the board on whether or not pursuing the two options is something the board would want to do.

[02:35:54] do and if so then i i think you need to you know engage in an input process that would have these major components and certainly we would defer to the board as to how you would want those designed and what that would look like okay so uh should we are you all okay with straw polling so that way our community understand our staff and our community understand um what direction we're we're asking for this i would i would like community input i'm hearing some whispers that it might be too soon but I don't want to speak for any board members. I would like community input

[02:36:29] to go ahead and be planned, other board members. So I'll hop right in. I think it's important to get the information so that when the community comes and when they share input we'll be more better informed. So I would prefer to receive the information before moving forward with community input uh to be clear just i'm not trying to play i just just to be clear do you want to get the updated information and then start to plan community engagement or do you want to get updated information before like go ahead and start to schedule community input and make sure we have

[02:37:05] information before that or do you want to hold off no i'll be i'll say it very clearly i would like information before any voting or decisions to be made so including my hearing that you're not ready to pursue the option that was presented without more information.

[02:37:22] Without more information. And the idea of an input meeting would be to present the options we just presented you and get input on those options. I think there might be a good balance here because it's also important, which is one of the reasons why I started polling early. Having the community's input is a part of the process before getting, in my opinion, to this point.

[02:37:42] So my question is, is there a way to do both? Well, I would certainly note community input is always an option, for example, at written comment and in-person comment at our board meetings. And we've seen individuals already take advantage of the opportunity to comment on this topic in that way.

[02:38:00] So I know that's ongoing. This board is committed to making sure there are frequent ways to be in touch and share your feedback. And so those exist now without a structure. structure is being recommended to accompany suggestions for specific boundary adjustments so if you were to move forward with those you would want to engage in a process that would likely include some of these components okay so thank you for the clarification so I would want information before moving forward all right thank you miss Atkins I will want a community input session

[02:38:39] I'm perfectly fine with moving forward just because we have a community input session does not mean that we've all voted yes it just means we've taken the next step we have the presentation we understand what's being drawn out right now I do understand the Tucker high school situation but that is a new one that has now been broached and that one that we asked for back in I think November so I would love to hear from the community at this point all right Mr. Irving? I would second what Mrs. Atkins said. Ms. Kinsella? I agree with Mr. Irving and

[02:39:17] Ms. Atkins. For me, I've just, I've seen it. I've seen the difference that all these other things can make in capacity adjustments when we're worried about capacity. So I think it's premature, at least until the board receives information to better understand before we, this is very upsetting for communities, school community, whether parents, students, employees in our buildings.

[02:39:42] It's a very stressful conversation, so I'd like to better understand before moving forward. So it sounds like majority is to hold off on scheduling official community input, but as a reminder, we're always available to hear community feedback.

[02:40:00] There's lots of ways to contact us. Anything else you need clarity on, Dr. Cashwell, regarding this and what we need? No, I've heard all comments, questions, and we'll prepare a response. Do you, in terms of a timeline of bringing some of this information back, are we looking possibly in two weeks or four weeks?

[02:40:22] Not to put you too much on the spot, but again, just to help our community understand what we're looking at. Based on the current requests, it should be attainable by the next meeting. Thank you so much. - Comments, questions, anything further, colleagues?

[02:40:38] - Thank you so much. Rachel, you've been very patient. Thank you so much. Anything else from you, Dr. Kashua? - That concludes items from me. - All right, thank you so much. The next item on the agenda is unfinished business.

[02:40:55] Colleagues, do you have any unfinished business? The next item on the agenda is new business. Colleagues, do you have any new business? - I do have two items for new business and I will make them as quick as I can. - The first is for consideration for the board, given the impact that state and federal legislation may have on our division.

[02:41:20] My question and ask at the same time is, do we feel it's necessary to receive a legislative update for the next few work sessions as more information come about? - Happy to update board members, both either through a meeting or in other ways on these important topics.

[02:41:42] - Specifically, I'm asking during work sessions so that our community can hear where legislation is and how it may or may not impact the division. - Certainly happy to provide that should that be something the board requests.

[02:41:57] - Okay, thank you for that. And then the second I just want to share to community and colleagues, I do have heartbreaking news to share. Mr. Robert Craig Lowery went on to glory on Sunday, February 23rd.

[02:42:14] He started his career in education and certainly helped shape the futures for students at Highland Springs, Virginia Randolph, as well as Tucker High School. And then he accepted the role of director at Maggie Walker Governor's School.

[02:42:32] And I can't emphasize enough the number of countless countless lives that he has touched. His spirit will continue to live on our hearts. We send hugs. We send love and prayers to the Maggie Walker School community, Mr. Lowry's family, and all that he has done and those whom he has touched. So I wanted to take a moment to share that information. Thank you so much for that update Ms. Atkins. The next item on the final

[02:43:11] item on the work session agenda is the announcement of upcoming meeting dates. Our next meeting is actually right here at 6 30 in the Newbridge Auditorium this evening. This work session is hereby adjourned.

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