Coraggio Consulting Henrico County School Board Monthly Meeting, Thursday, December 18, 2025 Date: Thursday, December 18, 2025 Place: Henrico County School Board, Virginia Length: 29m (video) Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4JAzOVRCRs Official meeting portal (Henrico County Public Schools, Diligent Community): https://henricoschools.community.diligentoneplatform.com/Portal/MeetingTypeList.aspx Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting. Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-25. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [00:00:39] GOOD EVENING AND WELCOME TO THE THURSDAY DECEMBER 18TH 2025 MONTHLY MEETING OF THE HIMRICO COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD THE FIRST ITEM ON OUR AGENDA IS THE APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA COLLEAGUES IS THERE A MOTION I MOVE THAT THE SCHOOL BOARD APPROVED THE AGENDA FOR TONIGHT'S MEETING MOVED BY MR. IRVING IS THERE A SECOND SECOND SECONDED BY MS KINCELE ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE ANY OPPOSED THE AYES HAVE IT THE AGENDA HAS BEEN APPROVED DR. CASHWELL THANK YOU GOOD EVENING MEMBERS OF THE BOARD and to those who have joined us welcome we will begin our meeting as we always do with the pledge [00:01:18] of allegiance and that will be led by students this evening who are from three chopped elementary school and they are joined by tamika campbell who's going to come to the podium and introduce the students who will be leading us in the pledge good evening madam chair board members and dr cashwell on behalf of our principal tracy spain of our proud cougars of three chopped elementary school we are honored to be here with you this evening despite the horrible flu we have two cougars who are here to lead us i would like to introduce to you our vice president of our student [00:01:55] council association sydney veda and we have she's in fourth grade and i'd like to introduce our treasurer miss akshara revkan who is a fourth grader thank you for having us all right if If everyone would please stand, and if you'll remain standing as you're able after the pledge for a brief moment of silence. [00:02:24] Remain standing for a brief moment of silence. That concludes our moment of silence. [00:02:46] How about a round of applause for our outstanding students from Three Chopped Elementary School. We're pleased to have you join us. While you're getting a photo, we're going to make our way to the front for our next item, which is a student performance. [00:03:02] and we have students from Godwin High School under the direction of Jacob Saunders Duvall who will be performing for us. [00:03:32] - Good evening Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Cashwell, colleagues and guests. My name is Christopher Mosley. I am the Education Specialist for Performing Arts and it is my pleasure to introduce for our performance highlight this evening, the Godwin High School choral students under the direction of Mr. Jacob Saunders Duvall. [00:03:52] Mr. Saunders Duvall is in his 10th year teaching in his seventh year as the Director at Godwin. He's a member of our National Association for Music Education, Virginia Choral Directors Association, and the Virginia Music Educators Association. [00:04:09] Members of the Select Trouble Chorus Choir, I'm sorry, A La Rosa, will be singing two selections, Taylor the Latte Boy, it's Mac Huff, Jingle Bells, arranged by Gold and Paik, adapted by Mark Hayes. [00:04:27] Tonight, we have an attendance, their very proud principal, Mrs. Lee Donovan. We ask that you please stand so we can recognize you. Thank you so much. And now, help me welcome to the stage, Alarosa. How are you? [00:05:36] Tonight, we are thrilled to honor Pullman Middle School's eSports program. [00:11:31] Please welcome to the stage, Coach Erica Kelly. Through her support, guidance, and leadership, the Holman Huskies eSports Mario Kart team is currently ranked number one in the Henrico district and number one overall in the Eastern Region among all competing middle school teams. [00:11:53] Joining his coach is Vihan Kolapara, who made history by claiming the division's first ever eSports title as the middle school Eastern Region Super Smash Bros. solo tournament champion. Vihan dominated the competition through weeks of intense single elimination rounds, which featured the top 37 middle school Smash Bros. player from across the entire Eastern time zone. [00:12:25] Making the victory even more extraordinary is Vihan's flawless record. He did not lose a single game throughout the entire tournament. This incredible feat has earned him the number one ranking for Smash Bros. player in the Eastern region on the Play VS platform. [00:12:43] Congratulations Veehan on your groundbreaking achievement and congratulations to the Holman Middle School [00:12:48] Esports program. [00:13:35] - And the next item on the agenda is the Henrico highlight. It was our opportunity to showcase the innovation, collaboration and life ready learning skills that take place in classrooms across the school division. Tonight we visit Short Pump Middle School where students are leading the school's innovation night to give underclassmen a sneak peek at course offerings at the school. [00:13:57] Take a look. for coming to our Learning and Innovation Showcase. Things happening in every nook and cranny of the building this year. Tonight is our Learning and Innovation Showcase, which we have kind of rebranded as our Innovation Night. It's our fourth annual event where students tell our community all about all the course offerings and just all the great experiences they have here. These are all of our committees. This is where we film the morning announcements every morning. We invite all of our incoming sixth graders, so all of our fifth grade families from our five elementary schools [00:14:35] in our feeder pattern but we also encourage all of our current PIMAs to come and learn all about the courses they could potentially take next year. Astronomy, all the planets. And our eighth graders do an amazing job as ambassadors kind of leading the event. [00:14:52] So they speak to all of the courses that they are either in or have taken while they've been. [00:15:05] so there's a little bit of everything you can learn what it's like to take life science as a seventh grader or geometry as an eighth grader or health and pe as a sixth grader it's all it's all there so our family and consumer sciences students in seventh and eighth grade work together to build out what is effectively an amazing Victorian architecture experience or a haunted [00:15:38] house complete with a bedroom a nursery a living room a library space you know exterior features based on everything that they learned in real time so our students are effectively leading the event they are sharing all of what they have created the experiences they have in class projects they may have done activities that they do you know across all of our coursework and the teachers are just facilitating those experiences to help kind of lead [00:16:06] families through all of the opportunities that we have tonight it is great to see students so engaged and confident in their learning what a fun experience for students and their families confidence engagement and belonging are also hallmarks of tonight's part of Henrico where the 100 man challenge is helping [00:16:34] shapes shape students lives at Highland Springs High School. Take a look. So we had our annual 100 minutes challenge had an opportunity to get some folks from the community who came out to really welcome the young people into the building today. It's a great opportunity just for our kids to see the community show up for them, understand they have their back. We're here to support you do [00:17:09] best job they can. But also they see police officers, lawyers, doctors, just different people who have different jobs, who are not teachers, who are not someone they see every single day, and it makes a difference. They brought the excitement, they brought the juice, they made sure that the kids knew that you have folks that have your back, they want to celebrate you, you're in school, you're showing up on time, and they really want to be excited for you for the but the fact that you're showing up in your hair at school today. [00:17:41] They see our young people out. They see them all the time. And now, oh, I know you. I've seen you at church, or I've seen you in the store, or I've seen you as a firefighter or a police officer. Now I see you in the school building and greeting me as I'm coming in. So it makes a huge difference for our young people in the other city. Many thanks to everyone who came out to Highland Springs High School as part of the 100-Man Challenge. [00:18:08] how incredible that everyone gave their time and energy that day to support our students. You could feel the love and positive vibes just by watching that video. The Highland Springs administrative team is not here with us this evening because of tonight's basketball game against Hermitage High School and we certainly wish both teams the best of luck and we will get them their Heart of Henrico bags. [00:18:34] Madam Chair, that completes our highlight for this evening. Thank you so much, Superintendent. Mrs. Kinsella, would you please read our mission statement? In Micah County Public Schools, through engagement with our families and community, equip students with the knowledge and skills to be ready for life and a successful future. [00:18:58] Thank you so much. The next item on our agenda is public forum. This is the time where citizens are invited to address the school board on any matter of concern about the school division. Citizens have signed up in advance and will be given three minutes to address the school board speakers will be called to speak in the order in which they signed up and they may not relinquish their spot to someone else we ask that each speaker come to the microphone and clearly state your name and school affiliation if applicable after stating your name please place the number you were given in the cart next to the podium speakers must present their remarks to the school board not the audience and may provide copies of their comments to the school [00:19:37] board clerk the use of obscenity or defamation is strictly prohibited and will be ruled out of order to assist you in tracking your time there is a time keeping system displaying the elapsed time on the screen i will also indicate when your time has expired the school board is here to hear from you we will not be responding to speakers concerns or questions during public forum however a hemrico staff member will follow up with all speakers stakeholders have also had the opportunity to PROVIDE WRITTEN COMMENTS THROUGH AN ONLINE FORM IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING. THOSE COMMENTS WERE SHARED WITH THE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS PRIOR TO THIS TONIGHT'S MEETING AND ARE POSTED IN BOARD DOCS. [00:20:14] EQUAL CONSIDERATION AND ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO BOTH WRITTEN AND IN-PERSON COMMENTS. WE APPRECIATE YOUR ATTENDANCE HERE THIS EVENING AND FOR PROVIDING YOUR INPUT. OUR FIRST SPEAKER IS SPEAKER NUMBER ONE. IS SPEAKER NUMBER ONE PRESENT? SPEAKER NUMBER TWO. GOOD EVENING. I'M TOM HARRIS, the drama teacher at short pump middle school proud member of a group of dedicated theater arts educators here in henryker county this could have just as easily been a part of the budget [00:20:54] hearing earlier look around this amazing technical abilities that are making this meeting happen and think about how you would react if the lights sound computers and projections were not working fully i'm here to talk about the condition and lack of maintenance of the hcps performance spaces and how it's affecting our ability to give the students the experience they deserve and that you and i promised them the cut this conversation is not new at spms it started the day i walked in the door six years ago assessed the space and started asking questions but in the last few years it has intensified individually we have advocated for our own buildings through proper channels collectively [00:21:34] we assembled a spreadsheet of needs and theater teachers met with county administrators in the summer of 2024 and again in 2025 the dialogue was broad but included discussion of facilities use of functionality staff student and public safety and general operating conditions on february 12th after putting in work orders and emailing the building supervisor in an effort to get the lights and sound working properly i sent an email attached to my specialist the director of facilities and my principal which laid out the major issues we were facing at the time [00:22:09] One question was, can we get a contracted vendor out to look at the lighting and electrics as county electricians had tried, but had no lasting success. This resulted in another trip from county electricians and some of the same issues exist to this day. In the meeting this past summer, we were told there were multiple contracts that could be utilized. [00:22:30] On November 4th, as I began preparing for this year's musical, I sent an email to the team and then a follow-up on December 3rd and included the chief of operations. asking simply for information and to return to requests that were already submitted. [00:22:46] With the exception of my principal, I have received no communication from any of the recipients. My goal speaking here tonight and with each of the emails mentioned was to bring attention to the lackluster conditions of multiple auditoriums and the inability to maintain them at industry standards through the years. [00:23:05] These systems are incapable of functioning as intended with some becoming more unsafe. We continuously offer our assistance as trained and knowledgeable resources who are intimately aware of the needs of our spaces, yet we are left out of the conversation to the detriment of the school and its students and ultimately at the expense of the county. [00:23:28] Thank you for giving me a chance to speak with you and I look forward to further discussions. - Thank you, speaker number two. Speaker number three, speaker number three, Speaker number four, speaker number four, speaker number five. [00:24:04] - Good evening again. My name is Marlene Sherlock and our family lives in the Fairfield District. Redistricting, it's over for now. Earlier this afternoon, you voted to move a few hundred students around to rebalance enrollment at a few schools. [00:24:21] And in doing so, you've met the requirements of your own policy P10-08-002 and its associated regulation you heavily revised just this past spring. What I found most odd in the process are three things. One, that Freeman High School, who according to numbers has been at or over capacity for years, suddenly doesn't need as much relief as originally intended. [00:24:47] Two, other schools are also right up at their limits. So much so that the County Board of Supervisors is using it as an excuse to deny rezonings, yet those schools were completely ignored in this round. And three, that far too many people believe are entitled to attend the school their house is zoned for when they purchase it with small relief you're offering freeman flip-flops a neighborhood back to godwin from whence they came and that highlights the issue any neighborhood that's on a border faces this round they're at this school and next round they're at another as for my second observation particularly about deep run and glen [00:25:27] allen high schools being ignored in this process you've just kicked the can down the road developers will pressure the supervisors and they will and certainly should pressure you to deal with the at or near capacity of west end schools and the under enrollment at east end schools adding or moving specialty centers around will not fix the problem finally i'll throw just a bit of shade on my fellow henrico residents a house purchase does not guarantee attendance at a specific school any more than having a fixed real estate rate or value but i get it no one wants to move their [00:26:06] child from a school that's on track to one that's off or at least on paper what we've learned in our journey of almost 15 years that's about to come to a close is that while a school is yes a building it's mostly made up of people who can and do change over time teachers and students alike there are good ones even great ones and some well not so good ones that's life not sure there's a point in all of that just that i think you did the least you thought you could get away with [00:26:39] and that sometimes that's okay b's aren't bad and c's still get degrees on a more personal note i hope each of you and all henrico county public school staff members have a safe and happy holiday season enjoy the break and come back renewed for 2026 thank you thank you speaker number five um this concludes our public format or forum the next item on the agenda is um the consent agenda [00:27:13] colleagues this includes items 9.01 through 9.12 are there any of those items that you would like to separate it out for separate discussion or consideration all right hearing none um is there a motion for the consent agenda i move that the school board accept adopt approve and or award items 9.01 through 9.13 on the consent agenda as presented moved by miss kinsella is there a second [00:27:51] it's the end of the year the end of the evening moved by miss atkins anybody want to second that i'll second miss kinsella thank you very much all those in favor say aye aye any opposed the ayes have it the consent agenda has been approved the next item on the agenda is unfinished business any unfinished business colleagues the next item on the agenda is new business any new business the final item on the agenda is the announcement of meeting dates our next meeting will be [00:28:25] January 8th, 2026 at 3:00 PM work session right here in the New Bridge Learning Center Auditorium. The meeting time may be adjusted as needed. This meeting and our meetings for 2025 are hereby adjourned. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Coraggio Consulting ยท aguyonx.com