[0:05] Good afternoon. I'd like to call the march 10th, 2026 school board work session

[0:10] to order. First, we have an update on esl from ms.

[0:14] jenkins. Good afternoon, vice

[0:30] chair, school board members, dr. Mary, dr. High. I'm so happy to be

[0:35] with you this afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to share an update on english learner services in

[0:39] chesterfield county public schools. Today, I will highlight our student

[0:43] population trends, instructional model, performance indicators, and strategic priorities moving

[0:49] forward. Our work centers on ensuring every multilingual learner has access to rigor,

[0:54] relevant instruction, and the opportunity to thrive

[0:58] within our division. Thank you

[1:20] for your patience. Our english learners are students who participate in english as a

[1:26] second language program. Our english learner population represents 16.4%

[1:31] of our total enrollment. And this growth reflects continued demographic shifts

[1:36] in our community. We now serve students representing 102 languages, and while spanish

[1:41] remains our largest language group, we continue to see growth

[1:45] in our top languages. This diversity is strengthening our division, and it requires

[1:49] intentional systems to ensure equitable access and strong academic outcomes. Not all

[1:55] english learners have the same needs. We consider the multifaceted nature of our

[1:59] english learners, with a focus on subgroups such as newcomers or recently arrived english

[2:04] learners, long-term english learners, students with limited

[2:09] or interrupted formal education, and dual-identified students.

[2:13] each group requires differentiated instructional supports, such as long-term english learners, who

[2:19] particularly need intentional academic language acceleration in order to prevent linguistic

[2:25] plateauing. Our federal guidance is clear. English

[2:30] learner programs must enable students to attain english

[2:34] language proficiency and participate meaningfully in grade-level instruction

[2:39] within a reasonable time frame. Our instructional model prioritizes grade-level access

[2:44] and academic language integration. We are intentional about aligning language

[2:49] development with rigorous curriculum, rather than separating the two. Language and content must be

[2:54] learned together. And master scheduling plays a critical role in protecting access and

[2:59] expanding co-teaching opportunities. Staffing for esl

[3:04] reflects an equity-based model under virginia's updated

[3:09] standards of quality. Support is not assigned solely by headcount. It is

[3:14] differentiated based on student proficiency levels. Schools with higher concentrations of

[3:19] level 1 and level 2 students require more intensive staffing, and that is reflected

[3:23] throughout our division. We currently have 319.7 full-time

[3:29] employees that are highly effective, quality teachers who

[3:34] are focusing solely on language acquisition. So they are language teachers.

[3:40] providing students sufficient time with qualified teachers remains essential for

[3:45] accelerating the language growth that we're looking to. We have had vacancies, but we work closely with our

[3:50] human resources department through job fairs and intentional programs to support. Building our own

[3:56] pipeline within the division. English learners directly

[4:01] impact multiple performance framework indicators. As an

[4:06] accountability subgroup, their performance is impacting academic achievement, growth,

[4:11] and graduation metrics, and we are monitoring both achievement and meaningful access within

[4:17] that grade level curriculum. We do have an official english

[4:23] language proficiency test. For the state. And that is the wida access assessment, which

[4:27] measures english language proficiency annually across four domains, which is

[4:32] listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students can exit esl programs once they receive

[4:37] a composite score or overall score of 4.4 or higher. As you

[4:42] can see, we are showing our proficiency level distribution. It is important to notice that

[4:47] we are seeing a decrease in our level one student population, which used

[4:52] to be our largest population. And we're in... On the other side, we're seeing a growth

[4:56] in our level three and level four students, which that's our developing and expanding

[5:01] language proficiency group. Movement upwards through the proficiency levels is driven

[5:05] by multiple factors, and we understand that. However, we are seeing an

[5:10] upward trend in our access proficiency growth, which is promising. We want

[5:14] to remain focused on accelerating growth for those students in level three and level four

[5:20] statuses, where the impact is both language and academic access. That point

[5:26] in their journey. Beginning for the 25-26 school year, wida

[5:30] assessments did reflect the updated 2020 english language development standards

[5:35] framework. Changes include new tasks and revised rubrics for additional accommodations.

[5:41] specifically, we're seeing new tasks in the kindergarten level, but

[5:47] the accommodations and the reflection for the new standards is a k-12 approach

[5:51] to the test, and that's seen throughout grade levels. It is important to note that a

[5:56] statewide recalibration will occur in july 2026 to align scoring

[6:01] with more rigorous standards. It's important to also note that shifts and cut scores,

[6:06] or proficiency growth targets, may impact our proficiency

[6:10] rates statewide, and we're preparing schools accordingly for what that data may look

[6:17] like. Sustainable improvement depends on system-wide capacity. This

[6:22] year, we expanded professional learning beyond esl teachers to include administrators, school counselors,

[6:27] and instructional designers. Administrators are monitoring english learner subgroup data

[6:31] more than ever and with an intentional focus. And

[6:35] so we are making sure that we are providing on-demand reports and support and master

[6:40] scheduling decisions to protect access for our students. This work

[6:45] moves us from isolated expertise to shared responsibility.

[6:50] family engagement remains a cornerstone of our programs, as

[6:55] we value our parents as a critical educational partner. We continue expanding family

[7:00] engagement through workshops, transition support, and community partnerships.

[7:04] and we've strengthened throughout our division interpretation and translation systems to ensure meaningful

[7:09] communication with families and parents of our students. Strong family engagement supports student

[7:14] academic achievement and graduation pathways. Title iii

[7:20] federal funds is a strategic partner with esl programs. We

[7:25] use title iii funds to supplement core services and

[7:31] support professional development, such as tutoring, newcomer outreach, and

[7:36] instructional resources that are embedded into our schools. Title iii

[7:40] also supports job embedded coaching, as well as initiatives

[7:45] for our families. Our investments align directly with, again,

[7:49] accelerating language growth, and improving student outcomes. So I do note challenges and

[7:54] strategic priorities for our future. When I look at challenges,

[7:58] I don't see them as obstacles, but I see them as those boulders. That are going

[8:03] to lift us to the next level of student academic success. That includes staffing

[8:08] pressures in high-growth schools, supporting entering students, and accelerating our long-term

[8:13] english learners. But our priorities outline... The division's area of focus

[8:17] to further english learner success and strengthen overall division performance. We will

[8:23] be focusing on access growth with the new recalibrated

[8:28] scores, strengthening co-teaching models, enhancing those data dashboards that our schools can

[8:33] use, and curriculum resources. We

[8:38] like to say within esl, every english learner, always and in all ways. Our multilingual

[8:43] learners bringing. Tremendous assets to chesterfield county. And

[8:48] by aligning instruction, staffing, and data monitoring, and including and bringing

[8:52] in our family engagement, we are building a system that ensures language is not a barrier

[8:57] to opportunity. I thank you all for your continued support, and at this time,

[9:01] I welcome your questions. Thank you, ms. Jenkins. Board

[9:06] members, is there any discussion? Okay.

[9:11] I do want to thank you. For the slide in which you had graphs,

[9:17] a bar graph on there, and they were individualized. There's a legend and different

[9:21] shapes to signify what was which. I greatly appreciate that. So thank you very much

[9:27] for thinking outside the box, so to speak, to make sure that anyone

[9:31] looking at that chart would be able to comprehend the information. I

[9:36] do appreciate it. My pleasure. Thank you, everybody. Next, we

[9:41] have a literacy update. From dr. Staines and ms. Carpenter. Good afternoon,

[10:00] vice chair, school board members, and dr. Murray. I am

[10:04] jasmine carpenter, the director of elementary curriculum development and support, joined by dr. Sainz,

[10:09] our secondary curriculum development and support director, and I am also

[10:15] accompanied by karen hoover, our division's elementary literacy curriculum support

[10:19] specialist, dr. Caroline canning. Our division

[10:26] secondary literacy curriculum specialist, and kate hundley, our division secondary

[10:30] literacy intervention support specialist. So today,

[10:36] we're excited to share our team's work across four key areas. Our core

[10:40] promise to students, how we have worked with the community this school year,

[10:45] our roadmap for next school year, and a status report on how we're leading the way

[10:50] with virginia literacy act. We last provided a update to the board in april of 2025.

[10:59] our work is anchored in the fundamental belief that all students must be equipped

[11:03] to be a critical thinker, an effective communicator, and a strong reader and writer.

[11:09] this isn't just a goal, it's a promise we've made to our community to ensure our

[11:13] students can truly influence the world around them through literacy. This year has

[11:22] been defined by partnership. We've collaborated with our school leadership directors and

[11:27] school improvement teams to work with our principals to track student growth more closely

[11:33] through regular data reviews. Our team has also worked with division partners

[11:37] to support our principals to monitor student growth. We've partnered with families

[11:42] to get more books into homes through our grant funds and family literacy nights. And

[11:46] finally, we've prepared our teachers to become experts in the new 2024 english standards of

[11:52] learning. By providing them with hands-on, professional learning to bridge the gap between

[11:58] research and daily classroom best practices. This continues to be a true team effort.

[12:06] for next year's implementation of the ccps literacy plan, we

[12:10] will move from implementation to sustainability and impact.

[12:14] we will unpack the literacy plan action steps with school leaders to ensure

[12:19] shared ownership and clear goals at every level. We will also expand family and community engagement

[12:24] through media spotlights and by developing our division-wide family literacy plan. Most

[12:31] importantly, we will continue equipping our teachers with the professional learning and tools

[12:36] needed to continue using evidence-based literacy practices.

[12:42] at the elementary level, we are focused on high-quality instruction

[12:47] for all students. We are engaging in... We are engaging in ongoing collaboration

[12:51] with principals, english as a second language staff, and the office of special

[12:56] education to support all learners. To support this, we've updated

[13:00] our instructional guides. We have also introduced the imagine, language and

[13:05] literacy digital tool, which provides every student with personalized practice

[13:09] tailored to their specific pathway. But we aren't just looking at data. Our division

[13:14] leadership team is joining school-based teams to conduct literacy instructional walks

[13:19] in schools. These visits allow us to support teachers with classroom practices that align

[13:24] with the high expectations of the 2024 standards. Together, these efforts are

[13:29] strengthening consistency in instruction and building confident, capable readers

[13:33] during their foundational years and beyond.

[13:46] at the middle school level, our literacy-specific focus continues to prioritize

[13:50] high-quality instruction for all of our students. We've

[13:55] continued to provide updates and refinements to our curricular resources to

[13:59] support our teachers who are supporting our students, and all align to the state's

[14:03] 2024 english standards of learning. Our teachers co-designed these resources

[14:08] using evidence-based strategies to meet the virginia department of education

[14:13] standards. Especially underneath developing skilled readers and building reading

[14:18] stamina. With our literacy intervention support specialists leading our now 19

[14:23] middle school reading specialists, we are building an

[14:27] articulated system that gives intervention strategically to our students as needed.

[14:32] with our recently adopted virginia department of education's approved literacy, supplemental and

[14:37] intervention resources. This year also... Students

[14:42] in kindergarten through second grade and select students in grades three

[14:47] through eight have been assessed on the virginia language and literacy screening system, also known as

[14:52] vows, to specifically monitor the literacy skill progress. I've also expanded student

[14:58] reading plans into grades four through eight. This work ensures that literacy

[15:04] development is vertically aligned and sustained beyond the primary grades. One

[15:08] of our biggest successes this year is efficiency. We've used technology

[15:13] to automate the data for student reading plans, and previously this was a very

[15:17] heavy burden on our administrative teams.

[15:21] with the data being pre-populated, reading specialists and families can

[15:25] spend their time focusing on the best interventions for those students instead

[15:29] of filling out the document. We want to largely thank our office of research and

[15:35] evaluation for their efforts in automating this for our teachers and our students.

[15:41] moving forward, we will align the upcoming virginia literacy act

[15:45] workgroup recommendations with our ccps literacy plan. And strengthen integration

[15:50] with multi-tiered systems of support to ensure a cohesive,

[15:55] responsive system of support. We will also elevate family literacy efforts and ensure

[16:00] interventions are tightly aligned to individual student reading plans. This work

[16:05] reflects our long-standing promise that every student graduates as a critical

[16:11] thinker, effective communicator, and skilled reader and writer.

[16:15] by aligning systems, strengthening partnerships, and supporting educators,

[16:20] we remain committed to advancing literacy for every learner. Thank you

[16:26] for your time this afternoon, as well as your commitment to literacy for all students in chesterfield county public

[16:31] schools. Ms. Carpenter and I are happy to answer any questions that you may have

[16:37] at this time. Thank you, dr. Steens and ms. Carpenter. Board members, is there any discussion? Mrs.

[16:42] chatters? Thank you, mr. Vice chair. I just had to... When I

[16:49] was talking to some reading specialists in the county, we were talking about how do we address the

[16:54] students who are still struggling. So if you have an individual plan for

[16:59] dominique, but now it's time for dominique to move on to the next grade,

[17:03] but we're still not at the reading level that we need to be, what do we have in place to help get the

[17:08] student there if we're going to move them to the next grade? Elementary

[17:16] or middle? I'll take both. So

[17:21] we have, we are currently in the process of developing our multi-tiered system of support. So I know that there are some schools that are

[17:25] implementing different interventions with students. So it really would depend

[17:30] on what is like identified in the student reading plan, what specific skills they're

[17:34] targeting. There are opportunities to work with a reading specialist.

[17:38] based on what's in that plan, based on if they are receiving any certain type

[17:42] of services as well. So it would be very student specific and based on skill. Targeted

[17:49] skill intervention. And that

[17:54] would be for elementary and middle? Okay. We also work very closely

[17:58] in the middle schools to ensure that the reading specialists and the teachers are working

[18:03] in tandem year over year. So part of that is ensuring that there's no gap in service.

[18:08] so, when students are part of a literacy intervention in grade 6, we want to make

[18:12] sure that the 7th grade teachers are aware. Going in of what specifically that student needs, and that's part

[18:17] of their reading plan. It's also why we administer vows typically to those students in sixth, seventh,

[18:22] and eighth grade in the fall, so that we can see any growth that might have happened, especially if a student

[18:27] attended maybe a summer intervention or a remediation program, or even summer school. We

[18:32] always want to use the most up-to-date literacy information to help really provide wraparound services

[18:36] for the student. So if we're... You move dominique

[18:43] to the second grade, the second grade teacher knows that dominique is struggling a little bit, this is her

[18:48] targeted skill area that we're trying to work on, and dominique's still not getting

[18:52] it. Now it's time for third grade. Does dominique move on to third grade,

[18:57] knowing that I'm not advancing in the targeted support? Like, how does that work?

[19:01] there are several different measures that ultimately happen of moving a student along, and it isn't just based off

[19:06] of their reading. So, for example, if the parent and the teacher are agreeing that

[19:11] they do have enough of the acquired skills to move on to the next grade level,

[19:15] they may move on. However, there may be an enhancement of the intervention system

[19:19] starting on day one for that student. And then my

[19:24] last question was about non-digital products. Are we incorporating

[19:28] non-digital products to help students with their reading development? And if so,

[19:33] which ones are we using? Yes, so ocr has a physical component to it as well. So we still

[19:39] value having books in hand. We also have the decodables that

[19:43] students can access in the classrooms as well. We

[19:47] are partnering with the family and community engagement office to also make sure that we are providing books to families as well. So there

[19:53] is definitely a physical component through ocr, which is our core resource

[19:57] at the elementary level. Thank you. Dr. Darby. Thank you,

[20:06] mr. Vice chair. So there are only so many hours in the day. And I love reading

[20:11] and I wish our children could all gain all these skills. But I know that

[20:16] at some point something has to go. So I'm curious, how many students are we

[20:21] talking about who have these reading plans? And who is

[20:25] responsible for monitoring them, and when

[20:30] during the school day is this type of support? You mentioned summer school, but that's the

[20:34] only one that I heard. That's like an outside of school time type of activity. Well, I can speak

[20:41] specifically about middle school. For our students who currently have a

[20:46] student reading plan, let me just make sure, or else kate's going

[20:50] to jump up and correct me. We recently tested.

[20:55] in our fall subtests, 4,116

[21:01] middle schoolers. So as we think about that number, that is 6th grade, 7th grade,

[21:05] and 8th grade across the district. I love that you highlighted, dr. Darby, that it isn't just summer.

[21:10] in particular, in the middle school schedule, we offered three different

[21:14] options for our students to currently receive intervention this year. The first option,

[21:18] well, really, two of the options were during flex time. That is our

[21:23] extended day, where the students get an additional 20 to 30 minutes, depending

[21:28] on the school. And they were coming out of their traditional flex times and they were going into a specific intervention

[21:33] experience. The third is really when we are thinking about,

[21:37] are there other times during the day? That we may be able to specifically move them,

[21:42] not moving them out of an english class, but what could that look like as a supplemental resource

[21:46] for them as well. We also always encourage before and after school that, as you can imagine, especially

[21:51] at the middle school level, that can get really complicated with transportation. And trying

[21:55] to ensure that students still get to participate in after-school or before-school

[22:00] activities. So we do try to provide families an array of different opportunities that

[22:04] they're able to participate in. Very similar

[22:09] to elementary school, with the options that we have, we are, some of the schools are

[22:14] identifying it as wind time that they're using, which is kind of the adjacent

[22:19] to a flex time that you would see in a middle school. Classroom, so we know that

[22:24] students are getting time there. We're also doing before and after school

[22:29] through our all-in funds, as well as our eiri tutoring, that's happening

[22:34] before and after. And I know that elementary teachers are masters of multiple contents,

[22:39] but they are very much focused on literacy through all content areas as well. Thank you both

[22:45] and I appreciate your support of our students. Okay, thank

[22:51] you guys. Appreciate it. Thank you, mr. Vice chair. I

[22:55] appreciate it. Thank you all for your patience. Next, we have our school board

[23:01] self-evaluation, code of conduct and governance manual discussion. So, if we want to,

[23:16] we're just going to go down, read the list, and... Do we want to go in the same order or do we want

[23:20] to move it down? Okay, sounds good. All righty. So I'll read

[23:26] the question and then you answer. Okay. So, number one,

[23:31] our board is committed to a vision of high expectations for student achievement and quality

[23:38] instruction. So I know our scoring was strongly agree, agree, disagree,

[23:42] or strongly disagree. So

[23:47] for this. I said, strongly agree. I will agree as well. I

[23:56] strongly agree that this is not only a commitment and a vision,

[24:01] but also emphasis on expectation for student achievement and quality

[24:07] instruction. So I do strongly agree. I was in between,

[24:12] agree and strongly agree, just because I tend to be very optimistic and

[24:18] like to... Pull myself back, but I do believe that we have

[24:24] high expectations of student achievement and quality

[24:28] instruction. So I'll just give it a halfway hanging on that line. I said, strongly

[24:35] agree. I strongly agree.

[24:44] next, we have. We have defined goals toward our vision

[24:48] of high expectations, and you need to identify one

[24:53] of those goals. So I scored us a strongly agree. I said,

[24:59] with the work between staff and the board and what we have done with our new strategic plan

[25:03] that we started for. The school division demonstrates that we

[25:09] have a defined goals towards our vision and high expectations. I also said,

[25:17] strongly agree. The goal identified was our truancy and the amount of work time.

[25:24] financial commitment and leadership on all levels of our education in cheshire

[25:30] county to lower that number which we have. So that was identifiable goal that I

[25:35] thought we excelled at. I said,

[25:40] strongly agree on this one. Um, and I do not have a goal

[25:49] that we did. Did. I did not have that one. But, um, you

[25:55] know, I think of the one that you're talking about, truancy,

[25:59] and I'm talking about absenteeism, which is the same thing, and that is, it seems

[26:04] like if the kids aren't in class, they aren't learning, and that is pivotal

[26:09] to everything, and I've noticed across the board, we have

[26:13] brought those numbers down. I

[26:18] also said, strongly agree. I was looking at our goal of... Having

[26:26] graduates who are ready to engage as productive citizens. And I'm particularly excited

[26:30] about the new cte programs at cte hull street. And the

[26:35] work that has to go into that in budgeting for construction of the new buildings and hiring

[26:40] new employees and the opportunities that the students will get in those programs. I

[26:48] also just strongly agree, and I referenced that same one, but I focused on the cip portion of it. That

[26:53] the collaborative work between our board and the board of supervisors is evident

[26:58] of our high expectations. Because we're actually working towards building the relationships we need to build

[27:02] in order to make sure that we're providing the types of schools and space and things

[27:06] of that nature that our students deserve. All right,

[27:13] so number three, um. We have

[27:17] strong shared beliefs and values about what is possible for students and their ability

[27:22] to learn. And of the system and its ability to teach all children

[27:27] at high levels. And then identified one of these shared beliefs. So I

[27:33] said, agree. One of the shared beliefs is the support that we have for the initiative. To

[27:39] make sure that each student takes an honor ap dual enrollment course before they

[27:44] graduate so that they can see their potential and their

[27:49] successes. I strongly agree.

[27:56] so some of my colleagues had cte as number two. I have cte

[28:00] as number three. And the reason for that is we are focusing

[28:06] on their success and in particular, ability to teach children

[28:11] at high levels. And so if we're strictly to a classroom with the basic function,

[28:16] functional subjects, and not thinking outside the box. And bringing in outside companies

[28:22] to work with our teachers, staff, and children, we're missing the mark, and I

[28:27] don't think we're missing the mark in that realm. Because that is a shared belief that we

[28:32] have in ensuring that our students are learning at a higher level. Because

[28:37] we're meeting them where their skill sets are, where their interests are, and

[28:41] then helping them advance that as they continue to move on and graduate. And then,

[28:45] for the most part, for those cte students potentially transitioning into a job offer

[28:50] by the time they graduate. Because of the companies that were here

[28:54] within ccps. So for those reasons, I said, strongly agree. For this one,

[29:00] I said, agree. I do believe that we believe every child has

[29:05] unique strengths, and I was less specific. I'm just more

[29:09] global. We believe as a group that every child has the

[29:14] ability, the unique strengths to succeed. And that is what

[29:20] it's our responsibility to, as a division, to allow them to

[29:26] realize their full potential

[29:32] and be fully formed beings that

[29:36] are ready to go out into the world. And that is, I

[29:40] believe, that every single thing that we say is having

[29:44] that in mind. I agree on that.

[29:51] I strongly agree. I was thinking of maslow's hierarchy of needs that. We all believe

[29:56] that our children can succeed, but they have to have the basic necessities

[30:02] of safe schools. And things like the priority put

[30:07] on major maintenance in the most recent budget talks, and the priority

[30:12] for adding a school for communities. And schools

[30:16] show that belief in supporting students in all the all the ways that allow

[30:21] them to achieve all that they can achieve. I also said,

[30:26] agree, and the shared value, or the shared belief, was the

[30:31] infinite learner mindset that we talk about and how we're executing that

[30:35] with our l students. And the work that we're doing in there

[30:39] and the effort that we're putting in there, the resources that we're putting in there. To make sure

[30:44] that we're not leaving any student behind on our path to getting them

[30:48] to the ultimate goal

[30:54] of graduation. So, number four, our board is accountability driven, as evidenced by the fact that we spend more time

[30:59] focused on policies to improve student achievement than we do on operational issues. I said,

[31:07] agree. I also agree

[31:12] with that. This is always a

[31:16] tricky fence to walk, if you will. Because you can

[31:20] easily find yourself on the operational side. And I think sometimes I find myself

[31:25] on the operational side. Because potentially a policy maybe isn't as well-rounded or

[31:30] as defined as maybe it could be. To help navigate some

[31:34] of those things. And so, you know, although we do our best

[31:40] to not get into the weeds of things, potentially when we find ourselves... I do remind

[31:45] myself, okay, let me go find the policy about this. What does that say?

[31:49] does this make sense? And so I do agree

[31:54] with number four. I agree with number four. Similar

[31:59] to what mr. Bronto said, it is very easy to move into

[32:04] that operational. I almost hovered on the in-between line

[32:09] because it is very difficult to do. But I feel like as a board. We've gotten

[32:15] better. I know I've tried to get better. And so I'm going to give us an agree

[32:22] on that. I also said, agree. Well, I said, disagree for the

[32:27] examples that you both gave. Because of the magnitude of the emails and the phone calls that

[32:32] we get that are operationally based questions and concerns, sometimes there is not a policy

[32:36] that directly relates to what they're calling us about or emailing us about. I

[32:42] said, disagree, because I'd say it's 50-50

[32:48] on how much time I dabble in the operational and dabble in the policy side,

[32:53] right? I pull myself back up out of the operational side once I hand it over

[32:58] to the proponent, who needs to take care of it. But

[33:03] for being honest, I think it's a disagree. And honestly, if you're doing the job right,

[33:08] it's probably a disagree. Because you're going to get complaints or concerns, or questions from constituents

[33:12] who don't have. That is not

[33:17] related to policy at all. And so it makes it a little bit hard to help them because I can't refer them

[33:22] to a policy right away. Because we don't have one that talks to mr. Paranto's point,

[33:26] to that level of detail or that well-rounded language that we need. And if I could,

[33:31] I'll just add to your your comment, um. But I think once you pass that over,

[33:35] then you have stepped back out of that operational side. So that's where I see that it is a

[33:41] dance and you can find yourself in that operational space very quickly.

[33:45] but as soon as you pass it over to staff where it should be, then you're back

[33:51] in where you need to be in your role. And then we can go and address a policy if that's the case

[33:55] at that point. Okay, number five, we have a collaborative

[34:00] relationship with staff and the community. I so strongly agree.

[34:10] I also said, I strongly agree. There isn't a staff member that I have not

[34:15] met that has not been

[34:19] outstanding in their role. To the point of listening to what the concern is,

[34:24] potentially offering suggestions, and then the follow through and coming back

[34:29] to say, hey, just wanted to keep you in the loop. We did x, y, z,

[34:33] which they didn't have to do. I could have prodded and asked those questions, but I didn't.

[34:37] I don't find myself having to because I do get the feedback from staff. And it's

[34:42] not just, you know, dr. Murray, dr. High, it's the chiefs, it's the directors,

[34:47] it's the principals, you know, teachers themselves, you know, whoever it might be. That want

[34:53] to collaborate and want to make sure that we're heading in the right direction. So I

[34:57] strongly agree with number five. I strongly agree with

[35:02] number five. I also strongly agree. Strongly agree. All

[35:09] right. Number six, we have a strong communication structure

[35:14] to inform and engage both internal and external stakeholders in setting and

[35:18] achieving district goals. And please provide an example if

[35:26] you can. I said, agree. I said that we are all responsive to both internal and external

[35:32] stakeholders. I agree. If you

[35:39] have not received an email from ccps about something,

[35:46] can you please raise your hand? Exactly my point. We, I do

[35:50] think to a certain extent, have a lot of emails out there

[35:54] from the district, from the schools, from the teachers, which it's

[35:59] all great. I am a firm believer that you can never over-communicate. But I do think there are times when the

[36:04] communication can be more finite in what we're after versus leaving maybe things a

[36:09] little bit broader for interpretation. That then might leave some wondering,

[36:14] okay, what does that mean? Or how do I get more information on this?and so I think maybe

[36:20] that's an area for us to go back and look at,

[36:24] but it is an agree for me. I'm going to agree

[36:34] on this. I think, to your point, mr. Pronto, that we get a lot

[36:40] of information coming from the county, coming from the district. There's a

[36:45] lot going on and there's a lot going out. I was somewhere

[36:51] yesterday that we, the county,

[36:55] the district, we thought that we were communicating something, and it turns

[36:59] out we weren't. And so there's always room for growth. But,

[37:04] you know, I'm thinking about the town halls that we just hosted, the budget town halls,

[37:09] and they have historically, or,

[37:15] you know, recently, not been as. Well attended, as maybe we would have liked,

[37:19] and so we clustered them together now. That was probably due to the snow,

[37:23] but we were doing that anyway. Um, and and we had a robust um attendance and conversation,

[37:30] and it felt, um, it felt like the engagement level was

[37:35] heightened. Uh, and I think that can only be good

[37:40] for us as a as a district.

[37:47] um, you, I said, agree on this one? I echo your statement about emails and I would add to

[37:52] that social media and I think that there is a robust communication system. I was

[37:57] stuck on the idea of it being

[38:01] toward setting and achieving district goals. And I think that we are really great at

[38:06] celebrating really great things publicly and communicating that information. But I think

[38:10] achieving goals also implies that we have to. Say where

[38:15] things aren't going great, and invest time into communicating

[38:19] with stakeholders about how we can work together to improve and achieve the

[38:24] goals that we have set, which are great goals and lofty goals, and it takes work

[38:28] to get there. So I think communicating, maybe not through social media and email,

[38:33] but communicating those types of steps along the way is an important thing. I had a agree

[38:41] for this one, and I'd say that we've gotten better.

[38:45] over the last, this is year three, we've gotten better in how we're communicating,

[38:49] but I would agree with mr. Paranto about a finite message. Because sometimes,

[38:55] and I've had constituents, once I talk to them, acknowledge, you didn't read

[38:59] the email all the way through, right? Like, it's all the way down at the bottom,

[39:03] second paragraph from the top, right? We might need to do a better job in conveying information that's

[39:09] more important, succinctly, right, so that people can get it. And I would agree. With dr.

[39:14] darby's assessment about when we're talking

[39:19] about achieving district goals, when we're falling short, that should be discussed as well, right? We're not trying

[39:25] to mask where we're having struggles. We should discuss them the same way we discuss

[39:31] our wins so that the community can help us achieve those goals. So we have buy-in on all

[39:36] things that'll get us there.

[39:43] so, number seven, our board is data savvy. We

[39:47] embrace and monitor data, even when the information is negative, and use it to drive

[39:52] continuous improvement. And if you have an example,

[39:59] that would be great. Yes, so I said, agree. I said, obviously

[40:04] we use data lots of our decision-making, even in the tough ones. And lots of times our data is year.

[40:10] obviously we look at it year over year. And even in the tough one, when we had

[40:15] to do away with year-round school, right? So we looked at that data

[40:19] over a multi-year period to decide that that was the best move. I should strongly agree.

[40:25] we have a lot of data, and this board uses a lot

[40:30] of data. And if it's not presented, we ask for it. Mrs. Chatters and I more often

[40:35] are the ones that are asking for specific data points. And we use that to tell the story.

[40:40] of what we're looking for, or heading towards the

[40:44] direction of which we want to solve. And it doesn't matter who's presenting. You know,

[40:51] if we've asked for certain information, it is given right away,

[40:56] even if that department, through that information, may not look good, if you will.

[41:01] their acknowledgment of that, I think, is also extremely important

[41:05] to say, yeah, we know this is where we are, and the goal is to get here. But you asked for the data,

[41:11] so here you go. So for those reasons, I believe it's a strongly agree. I too

[41:19] strongly agree. I think we, it feels

[41:24] like everything is data-driven. The most recent one that I can really think of is the

[41:29] learning cottages. Our trailers, classroom trailers,

[41:35] we, no one is going to say that that is a great thing

[41:39] to have plunked down on your schools, but in our case, it's a necessity. And so that

[41:44] would be data that is something we don't want look at. Except what we did was we have it as a

[41:50] goal in our strategic plan to have, by, you know,

[41:56] the next five years. For for our students to be all in

[42:01] under a building instead of in a classroom. And so that's that's a place where we are

[42:05] looking at the data and we are saying, okay, not saying what we want. We

[42:09] want to move forward another way. I said, agree. I have a

[42:15] much shorter time in this chair than the rest of you. So my most recent

[42:20] understanding of the use of our data was dr. Wataka's

[42:25] talking about the facility condition assessment and using that to inform the decisions

[42:31] that we make moving forward with improvement of our buildings. I said,

[42:37] strongly agree, and I like that. We don't just take

[42:41] the data for what the data says. Right, because our students are more than just data points.

[42:46] and so we're looking at the whole student and the whole impact of what we're doing.

[42:50] and my example was the newdale district elementary school, right? To ms. Hudgens'

[42:56] point about the number of trailers or the learning cottages, we're able

[43:01] to get rid of them, right? A significant amount of them out of my district

[43:05] in particular, and take 150 children off a waiting list who want to get an opportunity to get

[43:10] into pre-k. And we wouldn't know those numbers. If our team didn't do the research and have

[43:15] the data to support it, so that we could provide it to the board supervisors.

[43:20] to get them to buy in to why this is important and why it's needed. So I think we did a

[43:27] great job with that. Number eight, we work to align and sustain resources

[43:32] to meet district goals, even in the midst of budget challenges. I said,

[43:37] strongly agree. We have a great financial team. Enough said.

[43:45] I'm just going to say, ditto with mrs. Coker. I greatly

[43:49] appreciate our financial team, our operations team,

[43:54] and the collaboration that goes in that to say, okay,

[43:58] what do we need? And we heard it several times this budget season, not only from mr.

[44:03] meister, but also from dr. Murray, the ask

[44:08] of chiefs and directors to go back and say, hey, what can you acknowledge that you

[44:13] can cut? What can we do without? So that we can focus on these other goals. And it

[44:19] was an overwhelming response that was given. And so I think that's extremely valuable to

[44:25] remember when we're grading this, and that's why I say I strongly agree. And I also

[44:32] strongly agree

[44:37] for things that you guys, similar, it's just a great team and it feels very aligned

[44:42] across. Frankly, the cabinet. And so I was very impressed,

[44:49] as you said, with the red papers going back and telling me, what can we drop? What is

[44:54] no longer either working for us? As you know, the time has come. It's very

[45:01] rare outside of, or in, you know, a public setting,

[45:07] for that to happen. And I find that remarkable. And we found

[45:12] money, so that was great, and so I strongly agree. I also

[45:17] said, strongly agree. I said, strongly agree,

[45:25] and I was hovering between agree and strongly agree, but I would say that we've made

[45:29] progress, so that's why I went with strongly agree. There are a lot of challenges

[45:37] in certain districts, right? I would say that mine has. The

[45:41] most challenges, unfortunately, for different reasons that are not this board's

[45:47] responsibility, right? This was inherited things, um? But I appreciate the work that

[45:52] mr. Meister and our superintendent, dr. Murray, have done to try

[45:57] to close the gap on those challenges. Close the gap on the differences and the inequities between what my

[46:02] district has and what other districts have and I. The conscious effort to put that

[46:08] there speaks volumes. To thank you. Both teams looking at the big picture and

[46:15] seeing how we can make this better for all of our students. How can we do that? And I truly appreciate

[46:20] all the work that went into... Making miracles happen, to not have a list of things

[46:26] on the side where we can't do for the first time, felt really good to look at. And I appreciate all the work

[46:30] that went into making that happen.

[46:36] yeah, to your point, ms. Chatters, I was at a meeting last night and I was very

[46:42] pleased to say someone asked about the column.

[46:46] of the things that we can't, you know, if we get extra money. And I was like, we don't have that

[46:51] column this year. Oh, it's fantastic. All right, number nine. We lead as a united team with the

[46:56] superintendent, with strong collaboration and mutual trust.

[47:02] I said, strongly agree. We have a great relationship with the superintendent,

[47:08] with really all of cabinet and all staff members, you know, doing our job. Not to reach

[47:14] out and get into those weeds. But if we, you know, had a question. The response is

[47:19] immediate. So thank you. I also

[47:26] strongly agree. I think we have a very good rapport with our superintendent. That

[47:31] speaks volumes of this board, but it also speaks volumes of our superintendent. He's

[47:36] dealing with five very different personalities, and we all have our individual goals

[47:41] and what we think ccps should look like, and the different

[47:45] things that we'd like to do. And he has to juggle all that and figure out, okay, I hear

[47:51] you, but this is important, and would you please look at this? I want to explain why

[47:56] the answer might be no right now, but I'm not hearing you. And I think, you know,

[48:01] that goes a long way for someone to not only process the information,

[48:06] but then get one, be confident in giving feedback. But

[48:11] in addition to that, then explain the why. A lot of times,

[48:16] it's just very easy and quick to go, no, we can't do that. Okay, what else do you have?

[48:20] but why? Right? And I don't find myself very often asking why, because

[48:25] in my conversation with him, I find out the why. And kudos

[48:30] as well to dr. High. It's similar. I know it doesn't say your title in here,

[48:36] but a group of the both of you together. What you get from one, you get

[48:41] from the other, in my opinion, and I greatly appreciate that about you. So thank you. I also

[48:54] strongly agree. This is, you know, we're starting our year,

[48:59] year full, first year, but it's really a year and a half that.

[49:04] you, how long were you interim? It

[49:08] did. It did. Sorry. It's been a while. So, you know, I feel

[49:12] like we as a board have gelled and this relationship has also

[49:18] grown, and it is, I think, fruitful. Strongly agree. I

[49:24] also said, strongly agree. I also said,

[49:29] strongly agree for some of the reasons, mr. Paranto mentioned that managing. Same

[49:34] thing with elkie, having to manage five different personalities and five

[49:38] different calendars. Both of you managing five different personalities, five different

[49:43] calendars, five different objectives. We don't agree to disagree. We just disagree, right? And I

[49:48] think that's better. I don't like the term, let's just agree to disagree.

[49:53] no, because I have strong opinions. We all have strong opinions. Superintendent and

[49:58] deputy have strong opinions. But I appreciate the way that they're communicated to us. I appreciate the fact that we're

[50:03] not just shut down. With the idea. Crazy it may seem, but they entertain it,

[50:08] right, briefly, and then explain why it can't be done. And that's fine. And I

[50:13] appreciate the willingness to have the dialogue in the first place. So I said,

[50:18] strongly agree. Madam chair, if I may, something else to add

[50:23] to this that stood out to me, when it talks

[50:29] about mutual trust, and when we

[50:33] were at ctc, in the auditorium, in front of numerous staff members and

[50:39] teachers, a lot of stakeholders in leadership of ccps, and when it was

[50:43] announced that dr. Murray was going to be the superintendent

[50:48] and board members, I don't know if you recall this or not, the place erupted. It was

[50:53] deafening. It was deafening. You don't get mutual trust, in my opinion, from somebody if

[51:00] that's not the response you get. Right? If it was crickets

[51:04] and it was like, oh, dear god, right? Then mutual trust

[51:09] might be of concern. I just bring that up to say,

[51:13] not only are we trusting our superintendent, but I firmly believe those that are

[51:18] under him trust him as well. And I think that's extremely important to highlight

[51:23] in this. Number nine. Thank you. All right, on to number

[51:27] 10. Our board takes part in team development and training

[51:32] to build shared knowledge, values, and commitments for our improvement efforts. I said,

[51:41] agree. It's a line on disagree, agree. I see that

[51:47] look, dominique, because I think we could do more. Yeah,

[51:52] definitely think we could do more. I should disagree. I'm

[51:57] not on the line. Look, we do. We do. We go to williamsburg.

[52:02] that's an experience in and of itself. We attend the vsba conference. And it's on us as

[52:08] individual board members to attend the other vsba things that are presented virtually.

[52:14] if you can't go in person, I know I had gone to the... There was one centered

[52:21] around school board law, and, you know, that was very informative. I don't feel the

[52:26] need to go that again the next year and the next year. But, you know, that's something that

[52:31] I had interest in. So I don't expect, you know, mrs. Hudgens if you're not

[52:36] interested in that, you know, for you to go is not going to be a value to your time.

[52:40] and if you're, you know, more into, you know, let's say transportation or

[52:46] something, and I'm not, I'm not going to necessarily attend that. But I do think it's important that

[52:51] when we attend these things, that we do some kind of,

[52:55] nothing extravagant, some kind of report or some kind of email to the board members

[52:59] of what was learned, maybe something that was of interest,

[53:04] something we'll look into for our own district, school district, division-wide. So I

[53:09] think we can get better at that. Now, I also recognize that I also have a full-time

[53:15] job. And so I'm not always available to attend a thursday

[53:20] afternoon session in person, you know, down in virginia

[53:25] beach, for example, right? And it's not offered virtually. So there are some things that,

[53:30] because of our commitments, we do miss out on. But the things that we can attend, like

[53:35] there was one this afternoon that was virtual for board docs, I think that's extremely important. And

[53:40] from what I saw, pretty much all board members, including our...

[53:44] superintendent, we're in attendance for that. So things along those lines are good,

[53:49] but I do agree we need more of that as much as we can. So I

[53:55] called mine a week a. So I guess that's, I mean,

[54:01] it's the same. So hovering on the line. We did that

[54:06] professional development together, the team building in that first year, and I think

[54:12] that was really helpful. I don't know if that's something that we wanted to look

[54:18] into again or what, mr. Pronto is talking

[54:22] about is individually learning for our, you know,

[54:27] for this job, which is always, always good. And I remember

[54:33] back when I was a yearbook teacher advisor, we would go to

[54:38] conferences and no one was allowed to attend the class as much.

[54:43] you know, together everybody had, and we divided and we conquered, and we came back and reported.

[54:47] and so that, um, to your point, would be a really good plan for us to do, if there are

[54:52] things that are beneficial. Um, so that's that's why, um,

[54:58] I gave us a week. I said,

[55:02] agree. I also again have a much shorter time in this seat than anyone here.

[55:07] and so I was reflecting on, um, the williamsburg bsba

[55:12] conference. As well as the new board member. That everyone

[55:17] weighed in on whether that would be helpful to someone

[55:21] from a larger division. And so I do feel like we have many more opportunities that we

[55:26] could seek out, but we are maybe agree. I

[55:33] like your week a, but I don't think that was on the chart. I said, disagree,

[55:39] because it's about team development and training, and we haven't. I know we had

[55:45] talked about in our governance document that the vice chair might be responsible for

[55:49] spearheading how we do our team development. I think we could revisit that and codify that a

[55:55] little bit more, but the team development is important. And to mr. Peranto's point,

[55:59] I do sometimes take the classes too, the individual ones, but I look at the price tag of how much it costs. And then

[56:04] I'm like, the bang for the buck on whether or not I'd rather use that money on a team development. So that

[56:10] the five of us can do something with, because the one we did before, when merv was here, that one

[56:15] was really eye-opening. I think that was, and I'm sorry you missed that, dr. Darby,

[56:20] but it was really good, and so we should revisit doing things like that. Again. Madam

[56:26] chair, if I may, mrs. Chatters, I appreciate you bringing up the price. Because

[56:30] when we're spending the people, you know, our constituents

[56:35] money, we have to be able to speak as to why. And if we can't add the value to it,

[56:40] I don't think we need to be spending it. So, yes, that is also another reason I

[56:45] appreciate you pointing that out. Thank you. Now we have our

[56:53] long answer portion. We have

[56:57] two questions. First one is, what do you believe is one of your board's greatest

[57:03] strengths? Second one is, you know, we've got the glow, now we'll have the grow. So

[57:09] first time is grow, glow. So one of, what I wrote here for

[57:15] our greatest strength or strongest strength, is the answer. Actually back up

[57:20] to number nine, which is the relationship with. The superintendent and leadership team, you know,

[57:25] we have clear understandings of each other's role and support those roles

[57:30] in a respectful manner. One of,

[57:35] I believe, our board's greatest strengths is the diversity of our passions and what we're

[57:41] after. And, you know, if we can find ourselves, I

[57:46] think, sometimes siloed, but if we take a step back and look at what we're all collectively

[57:52] doing, we're after the same goal, which is our students. We just go about it differently. I

[57:57] wouldn't go about it the same way. Maybe, dr. Darby would, but she gets

[58:01] to the same point that I would eventually get to. It's just a different way of doing it,

[58:07] which is not wrong. It's just different, and I like that about this board. We bring

[58:11] different backgrounds, from education to military, to operations, to teaching

[58:17] at a collegiate level. Working in the business world. And, you

[58:22] know, all of that has its values that we utilize as a

[58:26] board, whether we recognize it or not, because of what we're saying to each other when we're

[58:32] interacting or making decisions. And it's a different viewpoint that maybe I don't

[58:36] think of, but because somebody else on the board said,

[58:41] whatever that is, it's like, okay, well, let me understand why that person believes that

[58:46] or thinks that, or, you know, for me to understand. So that we have that opportunity

[58:51] to continue moving forward. So I do think that's one of the board's greatest strengths. I

[59:00] remember last year, that's the one that I took. That's always a big piece

[59:06] for why this works. What really

[59:10] stood out to me this year, as I was thinking this through, was our respectful collegial

[59:16] relationships. To ms. Chatter's point, agree

[59:22] to disagree, or just flat out disagree, but remain a respectful relationship. And I

[59:27] believe that we, I think that's what we do. And

[59:31] I think that when you can do that in an atmosphere of how

[59:36] great are you if you always agree and you're nice

[59:42] to each other? But when we don't always agree, and yet we remain...

[59:47] respectful and having this goal

[59:53] of our students, you know, the student success remaining at the center of every single

[59:58] decision that we make. And I think a lot of times, that's

[1:00:02] how, you know, we understand. Hey, you might. We might disagree, but I know in your

[1:00:07] heart this is your goal, and so that's how we can remain

[1:00:12] mutually respectful. I said this board's desire

[1:00:17] to listen and discuss, especially as you all have

[1:00:23] worked to get me up to speed, your willingness to share information, your willingness to share time

[1:00:29] and suggestions. I think it shows this board's willingness to work toward a vision

[1:00:34] of a common vision,

[1:00:38] where we are a thriving board, where every member is.

[1:00:43] active, where it wasn't just that I was going to fill the seat. You wanted me

[1:00:47] to be able to be active, that we are a thoughtful board,

[1:00:51] a respectful board, even when we don't agree on things. And I have really

[1:00:56] appreciated being a part of that. I said,

[1:01:01] resilience because of the things that have gone

[1:01:06] on for this board. And we've received our fair share of

[1:01:14] attacks and name-calling and

[1:01:19] visceral comments from the community to us,

[1:01:23] and we're still sitting here. So I think our resilience to the goal, which is to make

[1:01:29] ccps the best that we can for our students and our teachers. That is why we're still here.

[1:01:35] but resilience after it's been a rough some moments, right?

[1:01:42] and so I think we're resilient.

[1:01:48] okay, final, you, what do you believe is a growth area for your board? Pulling

[1:01:54] from the questions above, I did say we need a team building exercise. Sorry if I took

[1:02:00] yours. I think it would be

[1:02:04] worthwhile. Not educational, right, but then just adding a

[1:02:11] little fun in there, too, learning about each other. So

[1:02:16] we're going to go paintballing and mrs. Chatters and I are on the same team. Good luck

[1:02:21] to all of you. You'll need it. In all seriousness, I believe

[1:02:26] the growth area and not to repeat what mrs. Coker said,

[1:02:30] but it was the only one that I disagreed with in the survey, which was our development

[1:02:35] together as a team. And so as a vice chair, which I'm honored to be, but, you know,

[1:02:40] with for. This board is looking into that development and reaching out

[1:02:45] to the individual members to say, hey, what interests you? Do we have the same level of interest

[1:02:51] in an activity or what? Have you? To mrs. Coker's point, to have some kind

[1:02:56] of academic spin to it, but then also, I have found

[1:03:01] in team building, relationships grow out

[1:03:07] of just the spontaneousness of the occasion, right? You

[1:03:12] know, doing rope climbing, I'll just pick

[1:03:17] on myself. I might be afraid of heights, and dr. Darby isn't, right? So she's coaching

[1:03:21] me along and what have you. Those are things that you wouldn't think somebody might

[1:03:26] step up to the plate and do. But through that, you realize, okay,

[1:03:30] we have a common goal here of success, to see ourselves forward. So I

[1:03:35] do echo, mrs. Coker. I do think number nine. 100% is my growth

[1:03:41] area for the board. And as I said, as vice chair,

[1:03:45] we will dive into that in 2026. I appreciate this board's

[1:03:50] willingness and want to do that. That's also extremely important. Thank you.

[1:03:56] and it will include. That's referee. Yeah. So I hearkened

[1:04:06] back to one of the previous ones, where.

[1:04:11] and I don't think we're terrible at this, but I do think it's easy

[1:04:16] to slide the clear boundary between governance and management. And that slide that

[1:04:21] we, I feel like we have to beat it back every day. And

[1:04:27] so I think that it's something that we have to be aware of.

[1:04:32] and we have an incredible staff. There's an incredible

[1:04:37] staff out there who's able and willing to help us. So just top

[1:04:42] of mind. This seems like a really cruel joke. That

[1:04:48] I've been sitting here for two months and y'all are like, what's an area of growth? So, I

[1:04:53] can't really speak for much from my limited time,

[1:04:58] but what I would look forward to post-budget season is an emphasis

[1:05:05] on instruction and the ability to reflect on the goals that

[1:05:09] have been set. And some of that more proactive planning and

[1:05:14] reflection on the data that revolves around the goals that have

[1:05:18] already been set and instruction. So we all have the

[1:05:23] same answer for the front of the group. For the team development, I

[1:05:28] also think that's really important. And we have an amazing resource in carmen. So

[1:05:33] perhaps something that is related to diversity, equity,

[1:05:38] inclusion, since it is also... Part of our mission and our goals,

[1:05:42] we can incorporate that into a team development opportunity. So that we can understand the

[1:05:46] different perspectives and how that impacts how we do what we

[1:05:55] do. That would be really eye-opening as well. Okay, I

[1:06:01] would like to thank my colleagues on the board for their input today. Next, we

[1:06:07] have announcements, communications, and school board comments.

[1:06:12] members, are there any announcements or comments?

[1:06:17] okay, the next school board business meeting will be held this evening, march 10, 2026,

[1:06:22] at 6.30 p.m. Here in the public meeting room. If

[1:06:26] there is no further business, we will enter into closed session, which will be held in

[1:06:31] the public meeting room's conference room. While in the closed session, the

[1:06:35] board will recess to attend the reb banquet in room 502 of the county

[1:06:40] administration building. After the banquet is over, the board will resume the closed

[1:06:45] session here in the public meeting room. Madam clerk, please announce the items

[1:06:50] for today's closed session. It is my understanding that the school board desires to enter

[1:06:54] into a closed session. In accordance with section 2.2-3711.a of the code of

[1:06:58] virginia, the virginia freedom of information act, and specifically,

[1:07:04] under subsection 1, the discussion and consideration of personnel disciplinary matters,

[1:07:09] and 2, the discussion and consideration of student matters that would involve the

[1:07:13] disclosure of student records. Members of the board, you've just heard

[1:07:18] the items requested to be discussed in closed session. Do I have a motion in that regard? So

[1:07:23] moved. Is there a second? Second. Madam clerk, would you

[1:07:27] please call roll on the motion? Ann coker? Aye. Jennifer darby? Aye.

[1:07:31] dominique shatters? Aye. Stephen pronto? Aye. Lisa hudgens? Aye. We are now

[1:07:37] in closed session. The recess

[1:07:42] has ended. Do I have a motion?

[1:07:53] the recess has ended. Do I have a motion to reconvene in open session? So moved. Is

[1:08:01] there a second? Second. The board is now in open session.

[1:08:06] madam clerk, would you please read the resolution certifying the closed session? Now,

[1:08:11] therefore, be it resolved that the school board hereby certifies that, to the best of each member's knowledge, 1.

[1:08:16] only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements

[1:08:21] by virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting to which this certification resolution

[1:08:25] applies, and 2. Only such public business matters as were identified in the motion

[1:08:30] convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered

[1:08:35] by the school board. Is there a motion to adopt the resolution?

[1:08:40] I make a motion to adopt the resolution. Is there a second? Second. Madam

[1:08:44] clerk, would you please call roll on the motion? Ann coker? Aye. Jennifer darby?

[1:08:50] aye. Dominique chatters? Aye. Stephen pronto? Aye. Lisa

[1:08:54] hudgens? Aye. The motion carries. Is there a motion

[1:08:59] regarding the student matters? In case numbers 2025-26-re30,

[1:09:05] 2025-26-re31. 2025-26-re32. It

[1:09:13] is recommended that the superintendent's recommendation be upheld. Is there a second?

[1:09:18] second. Madam clerk, would you

[1:09:24] please call roll on the motion? Ann coker? Aye. Jennifer darby? Aye. Dominique chatters? Aye.

[1:09:28] stephen pronto? Aye. Lisa hudgens? Aye. The motion

[1:09:33] carries. Is there a motion regarding the first personnel matter?

[1:09:37] in case number 2025-26-56-hr,

[1:09:42] it is recommended that the superintendent's recommendation be upheld. Is there a second?

[1:09:48] second. Madam clerk, would you please call roll

[1:09:52] on the motion? Ann coker? Aye. Jennifer darby? Aye. Dominique chatters? Aye.

[1:09:57] stephen pronto? Aye. Lisa hudgens? Aye. The motion carries. Is there a motion

[1:10:02] regarding the next personnel matter? In case number 2025-26-57-hr,

[1:10:09] it is recommended that the superintendent's recommendation be upheld. Is there a second?

[1:10:15] second. Madam clerk, would you please call roll

[1:10:19] on the motion? Ann coker? Aye. Jennifer darby? Aye. Dominique chatters? Aye.

[1:10:24] stephen pronto? Aye. Lisa hudgens? Aye. The motion

[1:10:29] carries. Is there a motion regarding the next personnel matter? In case number 2025-26-58-hr,

[1:10:37] it is recommended that the superintendent's recommendation be upheld. Is there a second?

[1:10:42] second. Madam clerk, would you please call roll on the motion? Ann coker?

[1:10:47] aye. Jennifer darby? Aye. Dominique chatters? Aye. Steve impronto? Aye. Lisa

[1:10:51] hudgens? Aye. The motion carries. Is there a motion regarding the next personnel

[1:10:55] matter? In case number 2025-26-59-hr...

[1:11:01] it is recommended that the superintendent's recommendation be upheld. Is there a second?

[1:11:05] second. Madam clerk, would you please call roll on the motion? Ann coker?

[1:11:10] aye. Jennifer darby? Aye. Dominique chatters? Aye. Stephen pronto? Aye. Lisa

[1:11:15] hudgens? Aye. The motion carries. Is there a motion regarding the next personnel

[1:11:20] matter? In case number 2025-26-60-hr,

[1:11:24] it is recommended that the superintendent's recommendation be upheld. Is there a second?

[1:11:30] second. Madam clerk, would you please call roll on the motion? Ann coker?

[1:11:35] aye. Jennifer darby? Aye. Dominique chatters? Aye. Steve impronto? Aye. Lisa

[1:11:39] hudgens? Aye. The motion carries. Is there a motion regarding the next personnel

[1:11:44] matter? In case number 2025-26-61-hr,

[1:11:50] it is recommended that the superintendent's recommendation be upheld. Is there a second?

[1:11:54] second. Madam clerk, would you please call roll on the motion? Ann coker?

[1:12:00] aye. Jennifer darby? Aye. Dominique chatters? Aye. Stephen pronto? Aye. Lisa

[1:12:04] hudgens? Aye. The motion carries. Is there a motion regarding the next personnel

[1:12:10] matter? Madam chair, I move that the decision in case number 2025-26-02-ph be

[1:12:17] reversed. Is there a second? Second. Madam clerk, would you

[1:12:22] please call roll on the motion? Ann coker? Aye. Jennifer darby? Nay.

[1:12:28] dominique chatters? Aye. Stephen pronto? Aye. Lisa

[1:12:34] hudgens? Aye. The motion is reversed.

Mar 10, 2026 March 10, 2026 - Work Session - 3:30 p.m.

Agenda

Transcript