Coraggio Consulting
Henrico County School Board Work Session, Thursday, May 8, 2025

Date: Thursday, May 8, 2025
Place: Henrico County School Board, Virginia
Length: 1h 55m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvuFOpmpB-I
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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[00:00:50] Welcome to the Thursday, May 8, 2025 work session of the Henrico County Public Schools School Board. The first item on our agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be followed by a moment of silence.

[00:01:11] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. you would remain standing as you're able for a moment of silence and that concludes our moment of silence you may be seated thank you dr cashwell the next item on the agenda is the approval of the agenda colleagues is there a motion i move that the school board approved the agenda for today's

[00:01:51] meeting thank you mr irving is there a second second seconded by miss kinsella all those in favor say aye aye any opposed the ayes have it the agenda has been approved the next item on the agenda is to move into closed session colleagues is there a motion i move that the school board go into closed session for the discussion of matters covered under item a1 of section 2.2 through 3711 of the code of virginia 1950 is amended pertaining to the assignment appointment promotion performance

[00:02:29] demotion salaries disciplining or resignation of specific school board employees including a personnel hearing for employee case number 24-25-e-3 thank you miss kinsella is there a second second second by mr young all those in favor say aye any opposed the eyes have it we are now in closed session we will resume in open meeting at the conclusion of closed session

[00:15:46] all right welcome back to the thursday may 8th uh 2025 work session of the hemrico county school

[01:11:08] board um colleagues do we have a certification of closed session i move that the school board certified by a recorded vote that to the best of each school board member's knowledge only business only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirement 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 mr young for the motion is there a second second second by miss atkins all those in favor say aye aye any opposed the ayes have it closed

[01:11:42] session has been certified dr cashwell thank you for the first item i'm recommending that the school board approve the petition for license revocation and employee case number 24-25-e-3 and authorize the petition to be forwarded to the state board of education colleagues give a motion i move that the school board approve the petition for licensure revocation and employee case number 24-25-e-3

[01:12:17] moved by miss atkins is there a second moved by miss kinsella is there a second second seconded by mr young all those in favor say aye aye any opposed the eyes have it the petition has been passed for the next item i'm recommending that the school board approve the appointment of administrative personnel colleagues is there a motion i move that the school board approve the appointment of administrative personnel moved by mr irving is there a second second second

[01:12:54] by miss kinsella all those in favor say aye aye any opposed the ayes have it the administrators have been appointed all right the board has appointed ashley council principal at dumbarton elementary school sarah blackburn principal ridge elementary school nicole freynt principal rivers Edge Elementary School and Leanna Moss Everhart Principal at Verina Elementary School okay for the

[01:13:26] next item we have an update on the proposed 26-27 school calendar that you have previously seen and we've held discussion on and we'll be seeking your approval of at our next meeting great well good afternoon madam chair members of the board and Dr. Cashwell this afternoon I'm pleased to bring back to you the proposed 2026-2027 calendar for your final review and consideration. As I shared in detail at the March 27th work session, the development of the proposed calendar

[01:14:02] was a truly collaborative and iterative effort this year, which included a wide variety of stakeholders and a great deal of input. Our HCPS calendar committee began meeting last fall to initiate conversations, shape the community survey, and develop recommendations.

[01:14:18] year we also engaged some of our advisory committees in new ways to gather their feedback including feedback from our student and teacher advisories as we shared with you previously the feedback we received from our students and teachers highlighted the need for more clerical time in the calendar and the benefits of a staggered start which would provide a different type of start to the year for our pre-k k sixth and ninth grade students as they adjust to new buildings and routines, and begin building relationships with peers and teachers alike.

[01:14:53] As we do each year, we also administered an online survey to provide our entire community an opportunity to provide feedback. This survey helps affirm some of our ongoing practices, such as our Thanksgiving break structure and our religious holidays.

[01:15:09] This was also the third year in which we requested feedback around a staggered start for our pre-k, kindergarten, 6th, and 9th grade students, and we saw growing community support for that model. Based on all of the feedback received, the proposed changes to the 26-27 calendar include the implementation of the staggered start, moving professional learning earlier in the year, and adding a full-person in-person clerical day in between the first and second semester.

[01:15:40] These recommendations have not changed since the March discussion. entire calendar as proposed is attached in board docs and that concludes my formal presentation but i'm happy to answer any questions that board members may have thank you so much ms coy um colleagues i know this is our i think second third second review of the calendar um any additional comments on the calendar none from this side any from this side okay well i i have a couple First of all, thank you for your work on this calendar. I'll say I think I shared last time

[01:16:19] personally, like the idea of a staggered start needed to win me over. And fortunately, we've seen it a handful of years at this point. So I and it seems as long as as well as the survey respondents have warmed up to the staggered start. But when it comes down to it, this calendar is responsive to staff needs and things that we heard really being intentional taking it to various staff groups asking even outside the calendar asking what do you need how can we support you and these things rose to the top and we've made those adjustments and so and then also

[01:16:54] asking our parents how does this you know fit in in with your needs and your schedule as well so I just want to thank you and the calendar team committee for being so responsive to the needs that have risen out of staff feedback and parent feedback. So, while, you know, some of these might, some pieces of it, like a half day here or there may not be my personal preference, right? We're listening to what the staff and the students and the parents have advocated for is being best for our students and our families and our staff and so thank you for

[01:17:32] that anything else all right awesome all right for the next item we have a strategic plan update another item you've seen quite a bit of as we've developed our next strategic plan which will take us from 2025 to 2030 and we close out destination 2025 all right well wonderful so today madam chair board members and dr cashwell dr hinton is going to give us an update on our strategic planning efforts that started in the fall of 2023 after a thorough year and a half plan development

[01:18:08] process with many opportunities for input and feedback we are thrilled to be sharing the final version and to be asking for school board approval of the plan at tonight's meeting as you know the school division's current strategic plan will expire at the end of this school year when we started developing our new plan, the goal was to build on the successes of Destination 2025 and continue driving our progress forward. We recognized that the plan's success would depend on the collaborative efforts from students, staff, families, and the community reflecting

[01:18:42] our shared aspirations and needs. Since the fall of 2023, we have actively engaged the community to refine our vision, mission, and core values. We organized numerous focus groups and gathered insights through surveys to identify our strengths and areas for growth throughout the school year we collaborated with a strategic plan steering committee and work groups to develop strategic focus areas goals and detailed plans which were shared for community feedback in April this evening we will seek school board approval for the proposed in Raku County Public

[01:19:17] Schools strategic plan 2025 2030 followed by a launch of the new plan to our school leaders and community during the summer the plan development process involved in extensive input and feedback from various groups initial insights were gathered from focus groups on the divisions purpose and values and broader community input was gathered through our annual surveys throughout the school year the strategic plan steering committee and work groups refined the plans components identified focus areas and goals and developed strategies and

[01:19:51] measures of success once a comprehensive proposed plan had been developed in april in person and online feedback opportunities were provided and we met with several advisory groups to solicit feedback these efforts ensure that the plan reflects the community's diverse perspectives and needs the proposed plan was available for public comment from april 10th through the 25th and a summary report of the feedback is available in board docs the excerpts shown on this slide are just a few highlights from the feedback received some of the feedback noted that the

[01:20:26] vision mission and core values are clear and focus on students equity and belonging teachers also appreciated the inclusive message regarding focus areas and goals there was strong support for preparing students for both academic and non-academic challenges excitement about the focus on individualized pathways and positive feedback on the learning environment and the inclusion of mental and emotional health. The importance of staff feeling appreciated and heard with a focus on retention was also highlighted. The plan format itself was praised for its clarity and simplicity. This slide

[01:21:06] highlights recommendations received on the proposed plan. Many of the recommendations received included specific details and examples that can be used to guide the implementation of the new plan rather than inclusion in the plan itself. For the vision, mission, and core values, there was discussion about whether to include the term equity in the plan, with some suggesting another word might be more appropriate while maintaining focus on this area. Regarding focus areas and goals, recommendations included additional staffing to fully implement the new plan. There was also emphasis on supporting and

[01:21:43] rewarding educators. For the plan format, feedback suggested that shorter action steps need a more clarity, baseline data should be provided, and a glossary was needed to clarify terms. We greatly appreciate the community's input throughout the process, including the support of Ms. J and Mr. Irving in their service on the Strategic Plan Steering Committee.

[01:22:07] The feedback gathered over the last year and a half has been invaluable in shaping this plan. Since sharing the draft in April, we have made several changes, including incorporating clarifying language where needed and adding a glossary to help clarify terms used throughout the plan additionally we will share the collected feedback with division leaders as they develop implementation plans ensuring they are aware of the community's input and can integrate it into their work this feedback will also be used to inform our communications about the progress of

[01:22:41] the plan fostering transparency and ongoing engagement once approved we will work closely with our communications team to ensure the community has a strong awareness of the work ahead including regular updates on our progress lastly we are thrilled to unveil the new strategic plan logo created by our communications team this logo embodies the journey ahead and our unwavering commitment to students success the colors are aligned within rico learner profile symbolizing

[01:23:15] our dedication to equipping students with the knowledge skills and experiences they need to be ready for life once approved by the school board the final plan will be branded accordingly and that concludes the presentation and at this time i'm happy to answer any questions thank you so much dr hinton for your presentation and your exhaustive work on this over the past couple years i'll start to my left with miss atkins i don't have any questions thank you for your work. I like the new logo. I like the triangle. It symbolizes many things,

[01:23:55] and so I think it is appropriate here, but thank you for your work. Thank you. Mr. Young? Thank you, Dr. Hinton, as well for the work. I've seen everything that everyone has put into this over a year and a half, so I'm excited to vote on this this evening, and I did read that comment. Should we have equity in the plan? And I see equity as a core value, so glad we were intentional enough and bold enough in this time frame to keep that as part of our core values at hcps so i'm excited about this evening thank you thank you mr young mr irving

[01:24:31] yes thank you for the presentation i i was very glad to have been a part of this committee um and seeing this kind of go through the process and and be involved with it it was a wonderful experience i did see and i did like in the implementation considerations in the focus areas and goals something that i have i have set up here previously the commitment to lowering class size is by increasing teacher allotments per school and trying to set that at a given classroom

[01:25:06] level that we're wanting however i did not see that make it into the plan itself so would you like to just note that that's something that I would like in there. I do think that's important for us to be constantly striving to, you know, effectively ensure that our core competencies, especially in secondary, are not going above a certain size and setting our staffing levels at those, you know, to create those appropriate class sizes. Otherwise, you know, I think everything's great. I would, you know, echo what my colleague Mr. Young said about equity. I think it's important

[01:25:41] for that to be included. It's a core value. It's something we believe in and we should never shy away from that um yeah everything else is is great and thank you for for all of this thank you Mr Irving Ms Kinsella yes um I concur with my colleagues and I hear you on the lowering of class sizes I believe that's also in our public comment feedback as well today and I know it's something that each of the board members have spoken about um do we feel and I know the process over the past year and a half has been exhaustive but do we we still feel confident even though just

[01:26:20] 141 individuals participated in the community survey do we feel that's um that justifies moving forward and approving it that we we truly have heard from our community i mean and again going back to the slide that shows how many focus groups and committees and um just how exhaustive the process was if you could just speak to your confidence level so throughout the year and a half process it hasn't just been a one one and done feedback opportunity right so we've had multiple opportunities to engage in focus groups with our advisory committees our superintendent

[01:27:00] committees we've had several iterations of surveys so this one is has not been the only one we've collected input through our annual survey we had a survey back in december to collect input on our core values there and our vision and our mission and then we gathered input again this spring in both the form of meeting again with some of our advisory committees as well as that survey so while that survey didn't have a lot of responses there were multiple opportunities throughout the process to engage and i just like to highlight how it's just the language in it is i appreciate

[01:27:39] the glossary of terms you know response to feedback but also the language being used is easy to understand which came specifically from our student superintendent student advisory committee that the students basically said hey it needs to be this document is not something that any student would want to read and just the readability of it so thank you madam chair thank you miss Kinsella again I just want to thank you Dr. Hinton and Ms. Coy for your exhaustive work

[01:28:12] with this and as well as Dr. Cashel's commitment to this strategic plan I know in slide seven you gave a little bit of ways you've responded to feedback but to be honest that doesn't even really begin to touch how many things you have adjusted with with feedback it has been iterative meaning you took it out there you took it to committees you heard feedback you adjusted it you took it back out you heard more input you adjusted it it's been a continual um draft um being edited and being responsive you know again the word responsive um like we talked about with the

[01:28:49] calendar and some other things being responsive to staff feedback and parent feedback and student feedback. I don't think there's one stakeholder group that you did not touch multiple times. And while some people may not have been, all stakeholders were represented in all of the focus groups and the committees. But if a certain individual wasn't, they had the opportunity to participate in surveys. So literally everyone in this county has gotten the opportunity to have their voice heard in different ways. And so thank you. Thank you for that. Thank you for being responsive because we know as a board that this isn't just a document full of words we really use

[01:29:26] this to drive the direction of the division with presentations to the board um dr cashwell has been very intentional um the past at least five years on showing how each item brought forth in the budget or other updates aligns with our strategic plan and is driving towards those goals that we've all agreed to. And so this is truly an important document. And, you know, to echo some of my colleagues' support of equity being one of our core values, I appreciate that not only did we

[01:30:04] use the word equity, but we defined it in terms of what we want to see for that in Henrico. We didn't just throw out a word. We gave it context and we gave it teeth and we gave it meat to say we create opportunities so all students will engage in meaningful learning that meets their unique needs so anyway no no questions I've given you plenty of those along the way just appreciation and just highlighting some of the the details of the the work that y'all have done anything else

[01:30:37] colleagues okay thank you so much all right thank you next you'll see the return of a number of policy related items that have previously been reviewed first we'll look at 6.03 through 6.17 this is a batch of policies of which there is a summary provided in board docs and again have previously been brought before the board that involves some language updates a consolidation as well as some additional language related to a comprehensive review of policies related to

[01:31:13] contracts and compensation and we'd be seeking your approval of those at this evening's meeting. Dr. Katchel, I believe these have been out for review since March. I'm getting a nod from our policy guru over there. Since March, I know you all got a lot of feedback on the front end as these policies were drafted and reviewed. Have we gotten any additional feedback through kind of our policy, email, where we get it put. Have we gotten additional feedback since it's been posted?

[01:31:48] Not specifically to the proposed language here. All the feedback was on the front end. So nothing further since the first review. Great. Thank you so much. Colleagues, do you have any questions on this batch? I know we had some questions first go around. Any additional questions on our second review? All right. Thank you, Superintendent.

[01:32:09] Thank you. The next policy is a first look or review at a new proposed policy P9-28 Take-Home Vehicle Program, and this really aligns with current practice, and again, we wouldn't be seeking your approval on this until June 12th, but wanted to bring it forth for your review at this time, and happy to take any questions.

[01:32:35] Colleagues, any questions on this policy? Seconds. I did have a question on section four limitations on HCPS vehicle use it's a minor recommendation but one that I think you may want to explore it says vehicles may be used to travel to and from lunch if the distance traveled is reasonable I think we want to have a conversation on what reasonable means and I think we may want to explore instead of specifically saying lunch

[01:33:07] perhaps just say meals so just two things I think that may become very important as folks utilize this opportunity to have that defined just a little bit better great we'll take a look at that Ms. Kinsella I have a question just in follow-up to what Ms. Atkins just requested I believe during when we discuss this policy and policy committee are we not trying to be in alignment with our

[01:33:41] government counterparts also on this policy. Correct. Could you provide some description on that please for me? I'd be happy to. So as you'll see, both the policy and the reg are all in red ink. They are new proposed policies to govern an existing program. And as we developed the policy, you're exactly right, Ms. Kinsella, we strove to align with county policy for their take-home vehicle program. I can't speak to the intersection on those particular notes that you raised, for seconds but happy to look into it and while maintaining that alignment yeah i'll give you a

[01:34:16] few examples of the differences between what the county government does and what our hcps bus drivers do and whether it's and perhaps government employees offer rise for extracurricular activities recreational activities or athletic programming however for those that do and they take home vehicles it may be that they're going to get dinner while a sport or some other activity is taking place so i don't know i'm bringing this forward because i can see how if this specifically says lunch and yet we have individuals that are providing and take home vehicles for other things

[01:34:56] it may end up being another meal outside of lunch so i just think to be covered just say meals but explore it perhaps the policy committee and the government side also do similar activities that's where the you know Mrs. Shea and Mrs. Kinsella that's where you will be exploring that and then defining what reasonable means means maybe having some level of a definition to go along with this because to assume that a person understands that going from here to short pump is reasonable they would be right if it's not defined so that is my recommendation for the policy committee to explore

[01:35:34] we will do that anything else colleagues on this and thanks and as a reminder this is not part of the consent agenda tonight as this is just our first review superintendent all right thank you the next item is a review of the fee and tuition schedules for the upcoming school year for which we'd be seeking your approval and mr wack will come forward to provide an overview of that i know you've we've previously shared information related to this proposal and be happy to answer any

[01:36:08] questions that you have good afternoon so before the school board we have two schedules one for mandatory fees and one for voluntary fees the mandatory fees does include language around our out-of-county tuition which would be increasing slightly based on our budget six to six thousand two hundred dollars next year and there are some other minor changes and they're all essentially related to cost recovery for the program offerings. Happy to answer any specific questions.

[01:36:37] Colleagues, any questions about the fee schedule? Ms. Kinsella? I just have a question. Number 11, senior health and medical health assistance. This is a new program offering. That's why it's showing up as a new item that's being offering through our programs. Okay, thank you. Ms. Atkins?

[01:37:03] and so what's exciting is that our commitment to hands-on learning remains strong and commendable i do notice the significant increase in certain areas and specifically driver's education family and consumer sciences trade and industrial education and class dues specifically for our seniors of 12th grade i was wondering if we offer sliding scale fees for the higher cost programs so for driver's education the fees would not be increasing but in terms of when when when students

[01:37:38] aren't aren't are able to demonstrate that they they have their have financial challenges that we can allow for the waiving of some fees in certain areas yeah something specific maybe we could follow up thank you for that correction I just went back to validate it so it's not driver's ed so thank you for that the other area that i wanted to ask about or thoughts on to assist with

[01:38:10] cost is if we collaborate with local employers or even trade unions to sponsor toolkits or for uniforms do we do that specifically with for a school or can we do this more broadly as a district i'll note and we can follow up certainly with some more detail i do know that many of our business partners particularly those who partner in the trades with some hands-on work experiences apprenticeships and ultimately many of our students become

[01:38:43] employed which is wonderful as we saw at signing day they will often provide access to tools kits equipment etc for students to use while they're in training and then even gift them those as part of their package as they go into employment and i know mr wack noted that someone who may have financial need that there are considerations made and i know that particularly with many of these hands-on programs as you've noted in career and technical education the foundation and the staff in our cte programs are really good at understanding and getting to know needs and helping bridge that gap and make sure individuals who want to participate in the

[01:39:22] program have access to the tools they may need if the fee is a barrier i think that's outstanding especially for those that are already in the program and have decided to be a part of the program i'm offering a perspective of a lens of a student or family that may not be as astute to what the program offers so for the family that's looking at the list of options of discussion for what they want to enter into and then they see the schedule it may be a deterrent so i wonder if collectively as a division, do we share or what our process is to share that we have these partnerships

[01:40:01] in advance and perhaps that happens with counseling. That's a great point and I'll certainly follow up with our team and make sure that particularly as they're out, I know they do a lot of recruitment across our schools and middle schools even to get kids excited about these programs and have communication for families.

[01:40:18] We can make sure we're including information so that this wouldn't be a deterrent. Thank you. Thank you. Colleagues, anything else on this item? you mr mr yes so the uh the out-of-county tuition for approved variances when under what circumstances would someone pay this um for example if um a senior in high school then their parents move halfway through the school year we we can prorate this tuition if they want to maintain uh if they're the resident of another county but one want to finish out the school year that would that would

[01:40:52] be an example and again we it's a rare circumstance okay and and how much do we spend per pupil um 14 six ish that yeah i think that's that sounds about right so this is covering the the non-state portion of so it seems like a pretty good pretty good deal if you have to do it though um yes and i believe we have approximately 60 of our employees are taking advantage of the the clause there at the bottom as a recruitment and retention tool wonderful thank you um i'll i'll tag onto that

[01:41:24] to say that i am delighted to see this continue to be in our budget for our employees students to be able to bring them if they live out of the county to hamrico schools i think our employees are they invest so much of their time and their heart into our schools i fully support them being able to bring their own children to benefit from their passions so

[01:41:55] If I may, Mr. Wreck, how long have we been waiving this fee? I know this is an annual schedule that comes forth before the board, but how long has the board, hasn't it been at least three years that we've been providing this opportunity for our employees?

[01:42:12] Yes, I believe this will be the third year. Yes. Thank you. Excellent. Yeah, I get emails from a few employees in my district every year as they're looking at options. They're like, do you think this is going to be in the budget? And I can't say for sure until we approve it, but just heard really good feedback from some of the educators in my district about this.

[01:42:35] So, okay, other items? Thank you, Mr. Wack. - All right, the next item, don't go too far, Mr. Wack. It was an opportunity to review the proposed school meal price increases. There are nominal increases, though, for the upcoming school year.

[01:42:53] And as noted in the materials shared with the board, are minor increases that are necessary uh due to making sure we're keeping pace with uh rising costs but still remain competitive um and even lower than most of our neighboring counties mr whack yes so uh we're taking school board approval just to increase the the brec the school the student breakfast price uh 25 cents to a dollar 75 and for lunches full price uh to to three dollars by increase it by 10 cents three dollars we have actually held back on increasing our breakfast

[01:43:29] and lunch prices in in recent years despite despite the inflation and so this is just a portion of cost recovery for for the school system and as Dr. Cashwell mentioned we're either at or below all of our neighboring counties when it comes to the to these prices and I'm not sure if they're going to increase them for next year but that's for the current our new prices will will be at or below their current year prices thank you mr wack i appreciate the context of how it compares to other divisions also just for clarity which it says in the boilerplate but this is for the full price meals students who would receive free or reduced meals um would not pay

[01:44:08] this cost as well as our cep schools correct correct so the students that are 49 cep school community eligibility provision schools will do not pay this and then those that qualify for free reduced lunch it's free there isn't there isn't a reduced price so we've been able to grant those meals for free thank you so much colleagues questions about this Ms Atkins so while we're on the topic of nutrition this is not specific to the meal cost however Dr Casual I would like to hear an update on the quality of nutrition in the foods that we serve our students so as we talk

[01:44:45] about costs going up I think it's key that we also talk about the quality of the food that we're serving absolutely and um i know the board's aware that we have to follow very specific guidelines related related to our school nutrition programming and fda related to sugar and fat content and salt content and so our meals are certainly every meal that we serve meets those guidelines and as you'll recall there have been a number of fun initiatives over the past few years to really encourage students as they're making selections on the food line to even go for the fresh fruits and veggies

[01:45:20] you know with unlimited fruit and veggie bars and those sorts of things I know that school nutrition has had a a couple of other initiatives underway also just to help entice students to take advantage of the school lunch program rather than maybe a snack from the snack machine if you will so I will certainly provide you and board members an update on their efforts thank you for that I think you know as we talk about cost increase and align the quality of what we serve too so i really appreciate that thank you miss atkins any no mr orving so i i

[01:45:58] think it's wonderful that we've held off on increasing the cost of this for as as long as was feasible i'm looking particularly at the adult prices and having been an adult in a building who has paid this price before what do we and you may not know the answer to this but i'm i'm gonna put on my economics teacher hat what do we think the price elasticity for the adult lunch is like at what point would we if we were to increase it do you think we would lose more than we gain by increasing the price so the the school board doesn't necessarily need need to act

[01:46:33] on on the adult prices but I will say they have they have been increasing sure so they increased to the current year to where we are and then we mentioned in the boilerplate yes it's going up to 285 and uh to four dollars and 85 cents next year um in terms of elasticity i would i would would we be able to increase them enough to offset some of the student prices or is the volume just not there from the amount of adults that we have purchasing i think it's really based on cost recovery and we actually have employees that ask why do i have to pay uh to eat dinner with my students but that's yeah not what how the program is designed is for but it's a good deal yes it's

[01:47:12] a great it's a great deal that's why i was asking for less than five dollars yeah yeah mr wank just briefly because i know board members um have have more information than is presented on this slide these prices don't just reflect the cost of the food correct don't they also cover employee costs some of our employee costs the whole yeah school nutrition services has approximately 500 employees so yes that's that's part of the cost of operating the system so overall our school nutrition fund is

[01:47:50] is primarily funded by by federal funds there's a small state component but and no local taxes so but it's again based on cost recovery okay thank you all right thank you I just want to make sure everyone had a chance thank you Mr. Watt all right members of the board that concludes items from me thank you superintendent the next item on our agenda is unfinished business colleagues any the next item on the agenda is new business Ms. Atkins so colleagues I do have three

[01:48:26] items to bring before you today for conversation now or perhaps conversation later the first concern that I want to share is around implementation and accountability measures related to marijuana use in vaping. I have received more conversations and feedback around the use of marijuana use in vaping. So one thing that I would like for the board as well as Dr. Cashel and the leadership team to consider is perhaps evaluating and potentially upgrading our smoke detection and prevention systems.

[01:49:05] To better address some of this, I am aware of vape detection devices. They have smart sensors in them and perhaps putting them in the restrooms, but wanted to just bring that to your attention for consideration, thought, and discussion.

[01:49:22] The second is around, and specifically Mrs. Shea and Mrs. Ginsella, I know this is more of your wheelhouse because you're on the Policies Committee, so something just to consider is around Lyft and Uber, because we're in the Lyft and Uber and ride share world now.

[01:49:39] I have seen an uptick in students using Lyfts and Ubers to get to school, and so I'm wondering from a policy perspective in keeping our students safe, if some level of a requirement of written parental consent, particularly those who are under the age of 18, something to look into.

[01:50:03] The other area is perhaps having a designated zone on campus for Lyfts and Ubers and rideshares. I don't know currently if we have anything in policy around this, but I'm giving it to the board again, just for exploration, something to think about in perhaps a discussion later on.

[01:50:24] The last one here is something that I've had several conversations about. And I share this from a place of deep care for our students and ask that the board consider appointing student representatives and they would be selected from amongst our student body to serve in a non-voting advisory capacity.

[01:50:47] Of course, the terms and structure would be created by the board and discussed, but I definitely want us to consider this. I think this opportunity would not only enrich understanding as a board but also nurture a generation of students so that they feel seen and heard so giving this to you with the hoping you have a willingness to listen deeply take time to consider it and perhaps at another time or if you want to discuss any of what i brought forth

[01:51:21] in this moment to discuss now colleagues um anything you would like to discuss in this moment or um any other new business so i just wanted to touch on the the ride share component for a second my my question is why do we think the ride shares are occurring because one thing that comes to my mind um having coached football is that can often occur when kids are not living in the zone that they're that they say that they're living in um and they're not able to drive and are we you know

[01:52:00] looking into yeah so i can speak on behalf of a rhino sanston highland spring since i was elected transportation is a constant issue and whether you're a working family a lift or ride share option might be what you use to get your kid to school and so i think there's a combination of reasons why a lift or ride share may be used whether it's for school or recreational activity and they're valid to me um the use what i'm bringing forward is making sure that we keep our

[01:52:37] students safe that use this option and especially if you're not 18. if you're under the age of 18 i wonder if there is something as a school division that we help keep them safe especially you know leaving school hopping in a ride share would be very difficult to track them because they're not on a bus and we may not have anything in their file to reflect how they left the building so i'm giving this to you as i hope that answered your question but i see ryan you want it i would i would chime in along with mr atkins a lot of after school and before school events is where we

[01:53:15] see a lot of lyft and ubers um just speaking as a coach we practice at 6 30 and 1 and half my team would arrive at, on an Uber or Lyft. So I do, I would like to explore this a little bit to see where we can kind of take this, but it is quite popular in the Fairfield district for afterschool activities or morning activities that, that happened prior to school. That was, that was my point of clarification was, do we also see this happening during the school day because a parent can't get the student? Okay. So that makes a lot more sense. Yeah. I was just going to add that

[01:53:53] i know in the brooklyn district i've had students use um alternative methods of transportation if they've missed henrico transportation right provided during the school day to them that i've seen that or heard about it at the secondary level um but thank you for bringing that forward in the seconds colleagues any any further any other items all right hearing none we have reached the last item on the agenda which is the announcement of upcoming meetings our next The next meeting will be our monthly meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. right here in the New

[01:54:32] Bridge Auditorium or live streamed.

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