[0:00] Great, great. So I want to thank you. And Diana, we love English a little bit.

[0:10] She's good now. But to be able, I mean, I just want to say like to be able to pass like the CNA classes and she's she's working to be eligible to take her CNA test. Right, Diana, that's something you're working on. And she's just had obstacles put in front of her that none of us probably could ever imagine. And she's just

[0:31] just so deserving of it.

[0:34] And it just, it brings tears to my eyes

[0:36] because I'm just proud and I told someone today

[0:39] if they would just take me and put me in a country

[0:42] that spoke a totally different language,

[0:43] I would be lost and I just need people that love us

[0:46] and try to communicate with us.

[0:48] And I think that's what we've done for her.

[0:51] And I think it shows.

[0:54] Thank you.

[0:55] Well, congratulations, Diana.

[0:57] And congratulations to our teachers

[0:59] who've made it possible.

[1:08] So, next we have an art presentation I understand.

[1:13] Yes, we have an art presentation from the primary school and from the middle school.

[1:17] So I'll turn it over to Mike and Donald.

[1:22] Good evening everyone.

[1:23] Thank you to the board for giving us opportunity to be here tonight to share a few things with you.

[1:30] And we do have a denounment with us tonight.

[1:34] And I know you will all recognize her as the art teacher from the primary school.

[1:38] But I do want to take just a brief opportunity to sing her praises a little bit.

[1:45] Denel, when I got to Madison County was our art teacher and strictly art teacher.

[1:52] And we were able to develop a steam class with Denel and that she has done such a super job with.

[2:00] And then we were of course, we're faced with these circumstances this year.

[2:03] and I want to thank Danelle for everything she's done to help with our virtual program overall.

[2:10] She has done art online. She has done steam for virtual students and she has also been doing some

[2:19] of our tiered reading intervention groups virtually. So Kudos to Danelle for taking all that on and

[2:27] having the courage to particularly tackle that reading intervention piece. That's certainly

[2:34] not something she was trained for,

[2:36] but she worked closely with the reading specialist

[2:39] to get things going and it's just been terrific.

[2:44] But Danelle does a great job keeping students engaged

[2:47] with virtual lessons as you might imagine.

[2:50] That's the challenge for all of our teachers

[2:51] keeping students engaged over the computer.

[2:55] And I knew that the middle school was doing a presentation

[2:59] with art and it seemed to tie in just fabulously.

[3:02] So I did ask to know to come and just share a little bit with everyone on the board about what

[3:09] she is doing virtually and to show you maybe a few clips of some of the things that she's done.

[3:15] So I will turn it over to Mrs. Nutter.

[3:18] Well, thank you, Mr. Pointer. And good evening, everyone. I hope you can hear me.

[3:26] I'm very excited to be here to share some of the things that I've been doing as a virtual

[3:31] teacher this year and I prepared a short video presentation to to show everyone. So if

[3:38] you would, I'll bring that up.

[3:48] This presentation I would like to share some of the techniques I have learned in engaging

[3:52] students in a virtual setting. First I'll explain how the arts team classes have been delivered

[3:58] for virtual families this year. These are the specials choice boards which include art

[4:03] Team, Music, Library, PE, and Social Emotional Learning.

[4:11] These boards are updated every quarter in classroom teachers share these with their students

[4:15] to use on their virtual days, in-person students on Wednesdays, and all virtual students select

[4:23] a lesson from any of the boards for their specials class.

[4:26] I also give all students the opportunity to join me for a live Zoom meeting on Wednesdays

[4:32] where I teach a virtual art or stain lesson.

[4:34] During this time, students can also share their finished artworks with me.

[4:41] I create demonstration videos on screen classified to supplement my boards

[4:45] and I've developed the educational blog to post these videos.

[4:48] The link to my blog is always posted on my boards.

[4:51] Students can go here and get a more in-depth view of the lesson.

[5:00] All of my classes are in Zoom and I've learned to use ring screen technology

[5:05] including virtual backgrounds and filters to show subject related visuals to

[5:10] keep my students engaged. Puppets and interactive websites are also

[5:14] great ways to keep students interested. I use many of the Zoom recordings from

[5:19] these sessions to create the movies for my blog. Using footage with the students

[5:23] has made the videos more fun and appealing to young viewers.

[5:31] Welcome to Princess Nutter's Art Studio. Are you ready to make something fun?

[5:37] Let's get started!

[5:38] The footage from my Zoom classes and screencasts by recordings are imported into a movie where

[5:43] I edit, add music, titles, special effects, sometimes using apps like Stop Animation or

[5:50] Shatter Fix to create three to four minute dynamic clips that are then uploaded to YouTube.

[5:56] From there I can create a safe share link and then ultimately insert into the blog.

[6:01] These videos usually start out about 30 minutes long and are quite a process to condense

[6:05] but they've been so much fun to make.

[6:10] This year has been different to say the least, but I've learned a great deal along the way.

[6:14] I'm excited about the future and look forward to sharing the skills that I've acquired

[6:17] through virtual teaching with students in the classroom.

[6:21] But it was so much fun seeing you guys again and thanks for joining me today.

[6:29] You're welcome, Billy.

[6:58] So yeah, everybody check out my blog and primary students. Please join me on

[7:04] Wednesday, Wednesday, 11. I'd love to have you.

[7:14] All right, I guess it's our

[7:15] tournament. All right now, I would like to take the opportunity and I'm going to

[7:19] embarrass Anna a little bit. Today is Anna's birthday. So I really want to thank her

[7:23] for taking the time to come out and present some of those things we've been

[7:26] doing in art. This year, Anna has been a one-of-four addition. She came to us here

[7:31] the last two years, I guess, and it seems like such a long time ago with the pandemic and everything,

[7:36] and it's been a wonderful addition to us. She's really been a bright spot for us and she's

[7:40] really got great ideas with some of the things that she'd like to do with our new elective programs

[7:44] looking at next year. She's going to talk to you a little bit about that, but that is one of the

[7:48] emphasis we have for next year is we want to be able to expand some of the elective programs for

[7:52] looking at a couple different master schedules. See if we can kind of bolster the arcs.

[7:57] We've got our traditional electives that we've been doing for the past few years,

[8:01] what we really want to try to get into some more authentic concepts as I say

[8:05] Anna's gonna talk about this so much to the funder but Anna I'm trying to

[8:10] over to you but once again happy birthday from the Wetzel family we want to

[8:13] make sure to get that out everyone so thank you very much and here's Anna.

[8:18] Thank you.

[8:20] Thank you everybody I'm so happy to be here and share with you what I've been

[8:24] doing at Wetzel in the high school it's been really fun so I'm gonna share a

[8:30] presentation as well.

[8:34] And it's at the bottom. Don't peek. Oh,

[8:50] what's a middle school art this year?

[8:53] Thank you again for letting me be here and show you what we've been doing for school this year.

[9:00] Let me just start with presenting some of what you are going to see. I have been putting together a

[9:06] virtual art gallery since we all have been faced with the doing things a little bit differently.

[9:13] It's definitely been interesting to figure that out on the art end. But each of my students will

[9:17] be creating a room of virtual art gallery that looks sort of like this here. So they can design and

[9:24] decorate how they want and each student will put in some of their favorite artwork that they've done

[9:29] throughout the year. And that will be something you guys can look forward to towards the end of the

[9:34] year when all the students are finishing up.

[9:39] So just exactly what I just said, they're adding

[9:41] some of their own touches and putting their actual artwork into there. So exciting, can we

[9:46] for you guys to see it? So this year, my focus has shifted a little bit to putting some of the

[9:54] online activity in there, some digital art. And I would like to show you guys some of the things

[10:00] that the eighth grade classes specifically have been working on because they are all virtual

[10:04] with art. So that it's been fun because having the opportunity to teach online with them

[10:14] created the little hurdle to go over and so digital art I've been using only Google draw because

[10:21] that's something that the kids have access to and it's actually pretty fun to use if you learn it

[10:27] and the kids had been doing really awesome work with it.

[10:31] So, here's some examples of their work.

[10:34] The digital mosaics that we put together,

[10:37] where they take an image and then break it down in mosaic style,

[10:41] but all digital.

[10:42] That one has had some awesome results.

[10:46] And I don't know if anyone has seen,

[10:48] but we did a little Andy Warhol pop art soup can labeling.

[10:53] So they did all their designs digitally.

[10:55] I also allowed them to do a hand drawn design as well if they preferred that and then we actually had a food drive in front of the high school and I was able to display some of their work there.

[11:10] So we actually got two boxes full of canned goods and donated that to Mesa. So it was really good opportunity to work with the community and also showcase some of their awesome work.

[11:21] So that was really fun.

[11:24] And I just want to take a moment to talk about some of the opportunities for next year.

[11:29] Thank you so much for allowing me to purchase some new items that are going to be super,

[11:36] just enhance the program and allow me to work a little bit more digitally with the students.

[11:42] Specifically in photography, I actually minored in photography in school, so I got some cameras

[11:49] that I'm very excited to introduce as an introductory level class for the kids and also having

[11:56] access to Adobe Creative Cloud is going to let me teach the kids some basic editing tools with

[12:04] photography. And it's a professional level program so it's really cool if they have that experience

[12:09] to work in that program. And hopefully that's a class that we can offer that the students can pick

[12:17] as one of the electives, instead of just regular art, if they not everyone's always hands on,

[12:23] so having the opportunity to work more in a digital fashion is really nice for kids as well.

[12:29] I also was able to get some tabletop easels, which Ms. Nutter, you'll be excited to use those as well,

[12:35] for gallery opportunities. In the future, we can use them to display work, and also it's just another

[12:42] way to, for the students, kind of like flexible seating in a classroom. They have the opportunity to prop up their work and work in a different manner. So it's kind of exciting to have that.

[12:53] And other opportunities as well with that one.

[12:57] And then pottery wheels for the middle school.

[13:01] I'm excited about this one, it just takes it to the next level where the students can have a little more hands on in class, hopefully next year when we are a little bit more back to back to our normal whatever normal will be.

[13:17] with that's exciting. And thank you again so much for all the support this year and for allowing me to get some of those items and looking forward to expanding that. Thank you guys.

[13:34] Thank you both, Ms. Nutter, Ms. Mann, appreciate the way both of you have taken lemons and turned them in the lemonade in this really challenging year.

[13:48] One of the questions I have is as I'm suspicious that the things you've developed and learned

[13:56] this year out of necessity are probably things you will continue to use even when we go back

[14:05] to normal, so to speak. It will be different on the other side of this and better in some ways

[14:11] because of this experience. Comment on that if you would. I mean, does that seem right,

[14:15] Freeman, do you think you'll continue to use some of this even after we're back to more normal

[14:21] sort of face-to-face education? Absolutely. I'm excited to use the green screen. I've always

[14:29] I've been taking classes and courses in different professional development conferences but I never

[14:36] quite had the confidence to do some of those things and now I feel like I can take that definitely

[14:41] with the primary kids and do some of the stop animations.

[14:44] The thing that I've been teaching myself to do,

[14:47] I'm definitely gonna bring that into the classroom

[14:49] and teach that with the primary kids too.

[14:53] Yeah, I agree as well.

[14:55] I just think it's always been there,

[14:57] but it just because we had to use it so much.

[15:00] More with students. I can tell you that the kids are already so excited about photography and just having that opportunity to not only be hands-on, but also expand that a little more is very exciting. And definitely we'll be using any

[15:19] other board members have a question or a comment. The only comment I have is aren't certainly has changed through the years. Thank you guys for adjusting and moving forward.

[15:31] work. I would be so excited to be in either one of your classes. So thank you for everything you do.

[15:37] Thank you. And thank you for being here this evening. We very much appreciate you're

[15:43] taking this time out of your schedule. My pleasure. And once again, happy birthday.

[15:50] Happy birthday. I will not ask the board to sting having never heard of it. Go ahead,

[15:58] June.

[16:07] Next in our recognitions is a very special resolution board members hope I hope you looked

[16:16] at this already that did all of you look at this.

[16:23] So basically the school board association and

[16:26] and the Superintendents Association working together,

[16:31] agreed that this is such an incredibly unique

[16:34] and special year,

[16:36] and the challenges that our Superintendents were facing

[16:39] across the state were so rare,

[16:42] that it really made no sense

[16:44] to sort of go through the normal process

[16:47] of identifying a Superintendent of the year.

[16:50] So this resolution that we were provided

[16:54] by the Superintendents Association and the School Board Association acknowledges in all of its

[17:03] warehouses the challenges that all of our Superintendents across the state faced and our Superintendents

[17:11] faced. And then the resolution involves our agreeing to recognize our Superintendents,

[17:20] Miss Anna Graham as a Virginia Superintendant of the year for 2021. Now to officially move on this,

[17:29] somebody needs to move it and and read the resolution. I think in the interest of everybody's

[17:36] sanity, we don't read the whole resolution that is to say all 13, whereas is, but simply now that

[17:45] therefore be it resolved. Unless school board members, you've looked at this and you think there

[17:49] there are a couple of those where as is it really need to be read. I will invite a motion

[17:58] that whichever one of you makes read as much or as little of this resolution as you'd like.

[18:06] Anybody want to make the motion?

[18:11] You know as I look down through them I agree that each one of these it would be so hard to select

[18:17] one or two because Anna meets every one of them and she does it in such a

[18:24] pleasant, efficient, professional way that I'm so glad the Commonwealth

[18:29] decided to go ahead and recognize all the superintendents but for our special

[18:34] superintendent of Madison County. Now therefore be it resolved that the Madison

[18:39] County School Board does hereby recognize Miss Anna Ruth Graham as the Virginia

[18:45] is Superintendent of the Year for 2021 as designated by the Virginia Association of School

[18:53] Superintendents. It's adopted on the 19th day of April 2021 by the Madison County School Board.

[19:02] Ms. Allen has moved. Is there a second?

[19:07] A second.

[19:08] I was afraid I was going to have to say it dies for one of a second, but I thank you.

[19:13] It has been moved by Miss Allen, seconded by Mr. Green.

[19:21] Is there any further discussion or comment by our school board?

[19:27] Congratulations.

[19:30] You know, this, you know, this COVID time that we've been in, you know,

[19:37] you had no blueprints, no game plans, no nothing on how to lead doing a pandemic.

[19:43] And I felt like you gathered your troops and and you let us in in the direction that we needed to go and for that we will forever be indebted to you.

[19:54] And would you say for all your hard work and open mind in this throughout the whole process and.

[20:01] And constantly always keeping the board informed on everything that that means a lot to us as well.

[20:08] once again congratulations and we truly appreciate you and we and we do love you.

[20:16] Thank you, Arthur. I'm glad you said gathering the troops because that's what was missing out of

[20:20] that whole resolution as it was not anything about me. It was everybody here. We were all hands on deck and

[20:27] still are because we're still seven weeks out and we're starting to get ready for next year. So thank you and

[20:33] and vast in the VSVA, but really this was to all of everyone that works at Madison County did a great job this year.

[20:41] Well, I know you're incredibly humble and don't touch your own horn and we're trying to tut it for you.

[20:49] So, and you're right, I know and we appreciate your team, but you have created a sense of teamwork among the team.

[21:01] that is rare and unusual where all of the administrators working under you are working together,

[21:12] working cooperatively rather than competitively and particularly then to enter into a crisis like this,

[21:18] having created that sort of an atmosphere and that sort of relationship among the people under you.

[21:24] I don't know that we could have faced this year without you're having you're having pulled that off, you know, in preparation for the year you didn't know it was coming.

[21:35] So we very much appreciate you.

[21:38] Thank you.

[21:41] Are you prepared to vote?

[21:45] All in favor of approving this resolution, say aye.

[21:48] I pose same sign, Ms. Graham, you are a stupid intent of the year.

[22:03] Now it's time for public comments. Have we had any public comments come in?

[22:09] Not in the info email on Ms. Patterson. Did you have any?

[22:13] No. Is there anyone from the community that's participating here on Zoom that wants to say anything I don't, it looks to me like everybody that I am.

[22:27] I think kind of does it.

[22:28] Oh, it's to Jackson.

[22:31] and he left a book that he wrote in the front office.

[22:39] And I read it because I'm a huge book reader, everything.

[22:42] I read everything.

[22:44] And I wanted to tell you for a kid your age, your book was great.

[22:50] And I would like to have like your next book, or a couple books,

[22:57] or whatever you're going to read.

[22:59] because for a kid your age it was very well-written. So anytime you look just

[23:05] bringing on by the high school. Thank you very much. I'm actually working on

[23:11] revised versions of my first three books and I should be getting them finished

[23:16] within the next couple of months or so and I've finished my most recent one my

[23:21] fourth one. You need to keep writing because you're very talented at it. Thank you

[23:26] much. You're welcome. And that's all. I'm out. All right. Thank you, Heather. Thank you, everybody.

[23:33] Thank you.

[23:39] All right. Are we ready to move on to business approvals? First item here are the

[23:44] policy updates, which be staff reports. Can I skip staff reports? Oh, excuse me. We got two.

[23:52] That's right. We got two sections of public comments, and I got ahead of myself there.

[23:57] I guess we've got to have staff reports.

[24:01] The primary school renovation update.

[24:03] Yeah, I see several folks here who'd be very disappointed

[24:08] if they didn't get to tell us how great things are going

[24:11] to primary school.

[24:12] Right.

[24:13] We will turn it over to Tim and Steve.

[24:16] Evening, get to see everyone and congratulations

[24:19] to all the folks that she's meant to have done.

[24:23] And I sound like great things going on in Madison.

[24:28] We also have great things going on at the middle school.

[24:32] I know each of you have seen the report, but I'm going to make, I'm going to comment what's

[24:39] having since this report was written two or three weeks ago.

[24:44] But anyway, all the ceiling tiles have been installed except the kitchen area, the cafeteria.

[24:52] Painting is complete throughout the building. I'm sure there'll be some touch up. Plummers are pretty much done.

[24:59] They're moving into the gym getting ready to paint the gym. It may be being, it should be being painted this week.

[25:06] They got it all cleaned up last week, flooring contractor. When I was there last Thursday, Friday, all head left was the cafeteria.

[25:16] The HVAC units have been started up.

[25:20] The testing and balancing of the air throughout the building is ongoing.

[25:26] It's really looking like a real school now and finishing up.

[25:33] A lot of things are still to finish up.

[25:38] The case work for the classrooms once it was approved.

[25:42] than it is now in the process of being built so that it can be installed.

[25:49] We still feel like that the contractor will finish his contract work except the kitchen

[25:55] by June 1.

[25:59] To comment on the kitchen, we are still waiting on the contractor to give us a quote for

[26:06] the work so we can release that work.

[26:18] We still have about $678,000 in there, so the project seems to be healthy and we're all working on a few PCOs that just came out. I just received some today and things are working very well.

[26:37] Any questions for me and then I'll turn over to Steve and see if he has anything to add.

[26:46] Any questions board members, Mr. Green and I have heard most of this and seen it previously at our CIP meeting, but this may be new to some of you.

[27:01] No questions.

[27:02] Okay.

[27:06] Okay. Well, thanks. Thanks Tim. And thank you all. Honestly, I really don't have anything to add. I think Tim did a great job of covering the details of progress and the quality. And I would simply echo that that we agree things are coming along really well quality. The work is good.

[27:21] Everything's on time on schedule. Looking like it's going to be a great project for you all. We're really happy with things.

[27:28] But happy to answer any questions if anyone hasn't.

[27:33] Steve, my biggest question is, did we just really mess up when we created the budget

[27:38] by putting, you know, $675,000 into contingencies when it's very clear that we haven't had anywhere

[27:46] close to change orders to use that up? Did we do a bad budgeting job? Well, no, no, not at all.

[27:54] Actually, you know, I think the, you know, the numbers of things that have come up that have

[27:59] cost additional, you know, are very, very within industry standards for this product of this

[28:07] size and scope. But you've got, has some things that really worked well in your favor too, your

[28:11] owner direct purchase process in which you were able to save the dollars on by purchasing things

[28:17] yourself and thereby saving the taxes on those material purchases. You got a lot of money back from

[28:24] that. We had a couple of areas where we had some contingencies, some allowances, just in case

[28:30] there were additional costs in these areas, like, you know, we had an allowance for moisture

[28:34] mitigation in the slab that it was determined we didn't need, so that money came back to you.

[28:39] We had a very large ad there for an ad alternate for all those concrete sidewalks

[28:48] around the perimeter of the building, which you've decided not to do, because that's going to be

[28:52] part of a future project with the redoing of the parking lot. So you've had a number of things

[28:57] coming back to you. So with the amount of credits that you've received, you've been able to

[29:04] account for all the little additions that have been added. So as things are right now, you're just

[29:11] really in balance, but I would say it was very good job of budgeting, not a bad one. Not agree.

[29:21] So we're basically minus the kitchen is mostly cosmetic stuff left. Painting and flooring and stuff like that basically.

[29:29] Yes, it's, you know, the kitchen, the cafeteria area, that still needs or ceiling tile put in and the flooring on the stage flooring still needs to be done.

[29:41] I mean, they've got the carpet in the office and offices and it's really looked good.

[29:47] It was not carpet in the office, but the flooring in the office looks great.

[29:52] The carpeted areas look good, I think.

[29:54] It's a really nice looking building.

[29:57] And Mr. Corner, I believe we heard...

[30:00] The CIP meeting that some of your teachers have been able to tour the building. Can you tell the board a little bit about that? Yes, we've we've had two tours. The most recent one just about a week or two ago. And we were able to really get a good look at what the finished product is going to be. The teachers just love it. They've been excited about getting in there all year, but the boy that really

[30:30] That really helped the excitement after getting through there and seeing the progress has been made and just how beautiful everything is, they've been great.

[30:40] And also, you know, I know we put folks out when we go over there and we're going through there with 50 people and two different shifts and hampering their process for several hours and we certainly appreciate them accommodating us as well.

[30:56] So, board members, any questions for Tam or Steve or Mike?

[31:04] Anybody about this project?

[31:08] No questions. I just can't wait to see it.

[31:10] I don't want to hinder progress, but I can't wait to see it.

[31:14] I need to do this. Let us know if you want to make a slight visit.

[31:18] Thank you.

[31:20] Anything

[31:24] else before we move on to our instructional report?

[31:29] All right. Thank you guys for being here.

[31:30] Appreciate you taking your time.

[31:42] So this evening I have an instructional report and we'll be talking with you about teacher evaluation and licensure requirement changes.

[31:53] Our science textbook adoption process where we are and also our spring SOL testing schedule.

[32:01] So first of all for teacher evaluation going into next school year.

[32:07] added to the teacher standards is a standard called culturally responsive teaching and equitable practices.

[32:15] And this was added by the Virginia Board of Education in March.

[32:19] And the new standard states the teacher demonstrates a commitment to equity and provides instruction and classroom strategies.

[32:26] The result in culturally inclusive and responsive learning environments and academic achievement for all students.

[32:34] And so when we think about culturally responsive educators, this is a list that was put out and I thought it really summed it up well.

[32:44] They will reflect on their own cultural lens.

[32:47] They'll model high expectations for all students.

[32:51] They'll promote respect for student differences.

[32:54] They'll recognize and redress bias in the system.

[32:57] So, challenge stereotypes, prejudices, racism, and other forms of intolerance and oppression.

[33:03] They're change agents for social justice and academic equity.

[33:08] They cultivate relationships beyond the classroom that are anchored in affirmation, mutual

[33:13] respect, and validation.

[33:16] They engage in reflection of their beliefs, behaviors, and practices, and they communicate

[33:22] in linguistically and culturally responsive ways.

[33:26] And so the standard looks like this in the teacher evaluation handbook, and it has seven

[33:36] performance indicators, and I'm not going to read those word for word, but I will summarize

[33:40] them.

[33:42] 6.1 talks about the use of data to identify learning needs of all students.

[33:49] 6.2 focuses on fostering classroom environments to create opportunities for access and achievement

[33:58] for all students.

[34:00] 6.3 talks about relationships which we know are critical in equity and equality.

[34:07] 6.4 talks about the use of inclusive curriculum and instructional resources to represent

[34:14] and validate diversity, and I will read this one because I think it's important.

[34:17] It's from all rings of cultural, including generational, gender, religion, class,

[34:24] nationality, race, ethnicity, native language, ability and sexuality by connecting classroom

[34:30] curriculum and instruction to cultural examples, experiences, backgrounds, and traditions of all

[34:36] learners. The next standard is analyzing, selecting an integration of text materials and classroom

[34:45] resources that reflect cultural inclusivity. 6.6 is using communication strategies that are

[34:53] inclusive and 6.7 is teaching students the skills necessary to communicate and engage with diverse

[35:01] groups in ways that support the eradication of discrimination and bias while mitigating against

[35:07] classroom power and balances. So that gives you an overview of the new standard and what it stands

[35:14] for on what it means. And then teachers will be rated on eight standards. There were seven,

[35:22] and now we have this new culturally responsive teaching and equitable practices. Each standard

[35:28] is weighted equally. You may remember in the past, the academic progress was weighted at 40 percent.

[35:36] That's no longer the case. And also, the rating descriptors are now highly effective,

[35:43] effective, approaching effective, and ineffective, and those are new terms they've changed just a bit.

[35:57] And then as far as licensure requirements that go along with the teacher evaluation,

[36:02] is that every person seeking an initial license or renewal of a license will complete instruction or training and cultural competency.

[36:10] And also every person seeking initial license or renewal of a license with an endorsement in history and social sciences will complete instruction in African American history as prescribed by the board.

[36:24] And we are awaiting more information on the training piece that's supposed to come out shortly.

[36:31] And these do go into effect all of this goes into effect for next school year.

[36:35] Our principals will be going to training put on by the Virginia Department of Education this summer, so that as they are evaluating teachers, they have a very clear understanding of what that next thing.

[36:50] All right.

[36:51] And so the next topic is our science textbook adoption.

[36:57] You may or may not remember earlier this year.

[37:00] We talked about the fact that this was a science textbook adoption year.

[37:03] And I want to thank Brandy Nesbitt, Stephanie Eutz, Kim Adams, and Jen Reem.

[37:08] Because they each led to science textbook adoption review committees at each respective school.

[37:14] And just saying that the last time we had a science adoption was in 2013-14.

[37:19] And all of these options were discussing, come with a seven year license for the electronic

[37:24] books and all the resources that come with them.

[37:28] And so now I'm going to share with you the choices that have been made.

[37:32] All of the textbooks that were reviewed came from the Virginia Department of Education's approved

[37:38] list.

[37:39] And we'll say at the high school level, for some courses, there was only one textbook that

[37:45] had been approved.

[37:45] So the choices were slim in some areas, not so much at the lower levels, however.

[37:51] At the primary school, for pre-K through second grade, they chose to go with level readers from Pearson,

[37:59] rather than textbooks. These are short non-fiction books that they can integrate science with their literacy program.

[38:07] And so I think that's spectacular. At Waverley Yowell, in third through fifth grade, they went with five ponds press,

[38:14] and they'll have textbooks and e-books.

[38:16] At what's a middle school, they went with Sabbaths,

[38:19] which is formally Pearson.

[38:21] So I'm sure you're familiar with Pearson.

[38:24] And they will have textbooks and e-books as well.

[38:27] And then at the high school level, these are the courses.

[38:32] And as I said, in some of these areas,

[38:35] there weren't many options.

[38:36] But we still thoroughly reviewed what was there

[38:40] and went with these choices.

[38:42] Earth Science also is taught at the eighth grade level, and those will be digital textbooks

[38:47] to discover the education, and you can see the rest are textbooks and e-books.

[38:54] The prices vary because different courses have different numbers of students and different

[38:59] teachers in the program.

[39:03] They wanted different numbers of textbooks versus e-books, and so that's why in some cases

[39:08] the prices look a little more drastically different than others and so that is what we will be

[39:15] adopting and we are on the verge of pushing the go button and getting those in for next school year.

[39:25] And then our final topic is our spring so well testing. We really yow testing starts on May 4th

[39:32] and runs through Friday, May 21st, and you can see in fourth and fifth grades, those are divided

[39:41] up by the cohorts Monday to Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. All students will be in the building,

[39:47] who are typically in the building on those days, and it's just hard to believe we're at this point

[39:52] in the year already. We'll move to Wetzel, and at Wetzel, all middle school students will

[40:02] become virtual students during the last three weeks of school.

[40:06] And you can see that the last three weeks of school every day is a testing day.

[40:10] And as you all know, space is at a premium at the high school.

[40:16] Teachers are sharing rooms.

[40:17] And so it just made it difficult to bring in whole grade levels for testing

[40:21] and getting that accomplished while still having our other students in the building.

[40:27] And so they've done the best they can and have communicated that early

[40:31] and often to parents and so you can see their schedule as it stands. And then the same at the high

[40:39] school on these testing days, only students are testing or report to school and then non-testers

[40:46] and also at the middle school I didn't say that but non-testers will be learning virtually from home.

[40:52] And so this is the high school schedule and we will probably blink and this testing will be

[41:02] through and it will be at the end of this school year and it's just really hard

[41:06] to believe. Do you guys have any questions for me?

[41:17] Questions anyone?

[41:17] It's a well-skinned around so fast. I know. That's what I think. And yet was so long.

[41:27] Just a sort of a comment, a question about the new cultural

[41:33] competence standard for evaluating teachers. Part of it worries me to, I guess I put it this way,

[41:48] might teachers perceive this as springing something on them, sort of without a lot of time

[41:55] for preparation.

[41:58] But then I'm also thinking when I look at what they're being asked to show

[42:03] competence in, any of them that have gone to any to college in the last 20 years have already

[42:10] been getting this, in some extent. So it would just be a matter of sort of demonstrating on paper

[42:22] what they're already, what they're, what they've already been trained to do in some respects.

[42:31] That's correct. And the states that I'm going to be providing training for divisions that we can offer our teachers, we're supposed to know more about it as we get closer to July 1st.

[42:41] And that's also something that equity task force is taking on. One of the subcommittees is going to be looking at training for teachers and then once we know what's going to be provided from the state, we have our teachers that are going to be on a certain subcommittee.

[42:55] that will look at it and determine if they even feel like they should offer more.

[42:59] There will be lots of things coming.

[43:01] We're going to be empowering our teachers to meet the standard.

[43:06] It might be a good way to think of it.

[43:10] It's definitely nothing that should frighten a teacher or worry them is one more thing.

[43:13] We will not be looking at it that way. It's not punitive.

[43:20] I was also wondering about.

[43:23] I can't remember how you put it, Kathy.

[43:25] what the exact wording was. It used to be that 40 percent of your evaluation was what?

[43:33] Was student academic progress. So, SOL test scores, teachers would set goals,

[43:39] and then whether or not they met those academic goals accounted for 40 percent of their evaluation.

[43:45] And quite honestly, that's a whole lot scarier than this new standard. That was hard.

[43:50] and so. I was thinking as I heard that then of course this is beyond us and we

[43:57] we could not say no we want to stick to the 40% we couldn't do that if we wanted

[44:01] to but I can imagine some people hearing that and saying oh this the schools are

[44:08] are not valuing basic academic achievement or basic academic progress in the

[44:15] way that they, that they have passed in a way they ought to, I mean, how would you respond

[44:23] to somebody who sort of had that sort of criticism of this new, you mean, because the emphasis

[44:31] is off of the academic progress that we're saying, 40% is now just one among six, yeah.

[44:38] Right. Right. Well, I think anytime you're measuring somebody against one test on one day,

[44:47] on one moment in time, I think that's a tough pill to swallow anyway. So I think there were some

[44:56] unfair elements to that process in the first place.

[45:00] So that would be my take on that. So it might be a helpful way to interpret this is not that in, in no respect is the state or the evaluation of teachers devaluing student progress. What it's doing is lessening the measurement of that strictly in terms of a standardized test on one day. I would say that's exactly right.

[45:29] It's measuring the whole process of how it got to that in the first place.

[45:33] And I think there's lots of parents that are tired of their children being a test score as well.

[45:38] Is that pressure on teachers led to pressure on students for a test in a moment of time?

[45:45] And that's not what's healthy for kids and it's not what's healthy for our teachers.

[45:49] So, you know, ultimately, I think this is a move in the right direction.

[45:53] Any

[45:57] other comments or questions for Ms. Jones school board?

[46:04] Are we ready to move on then?

[46:09] And now we're at the second time of public comment has any public comment come in and

[46:15] responsive things people have heard in the meeting. All right, now we can move on to these business approvals.

[46:23] policy updates. Of course, these are all things that we had available to us a month ago.

[46:32] Many of them are just changes in wording.

[46:40] Any questions or comments or rather is there a motion in relation to these policy updates?

[46:49] I'll make a motion to approve the policy updates as presented.

[46:54] Mr. Collier has moved. Is there a second?

[46:58] Seconds.

[47:00] Dr. Eichelberger has seconded any further discussion.

[47:04] All in favor say aye.

[47:07] Aye.

[47:08] Aye.

[47:09] Opposed, same sign.

[47:11] Hearing none, they are approved.

[47:15] The Perkins Grant paperwork.

[47:20] Again, I'll entertain a motion and then if there are any questions or comments.

[47:24] Once we have the motion on the table, we can do that.

[47:27] So is there a motion related to the Perkins grant application?

[47:31] Yeah, I'll make a motion that we approve the Perkins plan for career and technical education

[47:37] for Madison County Public Schools for the 2021-2022 school year as presented.

[47:43] Dr. Echoberger has moved.

[47:45] Is there a second?

[47:46] I'll second.

[47:47] Is Alan a second to any any further discussion all in favor say aye I oppose same sign hearing no opposition it is approved.

[48:06] Same thing special education plan part B that you all have had for your.

[48:12] I'll make a motion to approve the annual special education plan for the 2021 2022 school year as presented.

[48:20] second.

[48:21] Is Collier has moved? Is there a second?

[48:26] I will second that.

[48:28] Dr. Ackelberger has seconded.

[48:31] Any further discussion?

[48:34] All in favor say aye.

[48:37] Aye.

[48:37] Hi.

[48:39] Mr. Green, you wouldn't be any good on Jeffrey.

[48:41] We're going to hit that button quicker.

[48:43] I don't know about this.

[48:46] Sir, plus goods.

[48:49] Trying to remember.

[48:52] Yeah, just three, three items there that the cafeteria needs our primary school cafeteria needs our permission to dispose of.

[49:07] Is there a motion?

[49:10] I like to make a motion that we review the request to dispose of the following item that the Madison primary school cafeteria, which is

[49:19] a standing commercial mixer to flat-top stoves and a refrigerator as per the motion to approve the

[49:31] disposal of those units. I'll second. Mr. Green, move Mr. Collier, seconded any further discussion?

[49:38] All in favor say aye.

[49:41] Aye.

[49:43] Opposed, same sign.

[49:45] It is approved.

[49:48] Superintendent's design.

[49:49] Of course, this is just a usual annual action we have to take to authorize someone to fill in with the superintendent's authority in her absence.

[50:05] and the motion is to name Dr. Kathy Jones as the superintendent asignee.

[50:13] Could hear a motion with regard to that. The motion that

[50:17] we approved Dr. Kathy Jones's system superintendent to be named the deputy

[50:21] and authorized to sign all Virginia Department of Education reports, documents,

[50:26] requisitions, and other official correspondence as needed

[50:29] in the absence of the division superintendent for the 21-22 school year.

[50:36] Ms. Allen has moved. Is there a second?

[50:41] I'll second.

[50:42] Ms. Collier has seconded any further discussion. All in favor say aye.

[50:49] Aye.

[50:50] Opposed, same sign.

[50:52] Hearing none. Dr. Jones, you are approved.

[50:55] The supplemental appropriation and this is about asking for

[51:08] a supplemental appropriation

[51:09] of $110,000. Any questions about that before you make the motion? Has to do with security

[51:15] grants?

[51:20] Is there a motion?

[51:22] I'll make a motion to approve, to ask the county for a supplemental appropriation in the

[51:27] of $110,323 in 70 cents.

[51:33] Ms. Collier has moved. Is there a second?

[51:36] A second.

[51:38] Dr. Aguilberger has second. Any further discussion?

[51:42] All in favor say aye.

[51:45] Aye.

[51:46] Oh, same sign.

[51:48] And the supplemental appropriation request is approved.

[51:52] CIP appropriation.

[52:05] Dr. Penn Haller. The CFE appropriation is to finish up, you know, we had the

[52:11] middle school playground, had the back top and on, and the basketball court.

[52:16] So this is to finish up the play area. They have a grant to cover the actual

[52:20] equipment, but this is for the certain padding. Really the need to go under it. And if

[52:26] you'd like, I could just very quickly show you a quick picture of what this is

[52:29] going to look like so you guys know exactly what it is because it's worth seeing

[52:33] because it's awesome. There you go. That's what the middle school is going to have.

[52:36] It's equipment for five to twelve year olds. So most of the middle school kids will be able

[52:41] to use it. PE classes and when families are up walking on the track, it'll be a good community

[52:47] space to go. But this appropriation is for is for the the the grounding or the right. It has to have

[52:54] a certain thickness. Tina, do you remember how thick that padding has to be? It's pretty

[52:59] But I think it has to be four inches.

[53:04] I think, yeah.

[53:05] And I think a lot of it is like this, this rope, like a lot of the equipment, just in case there's a lot.

[53:11] I just wanted you want to see exactly what it is that you were.

[53:15] Any ready to approve.

[53:16] And again, this isn't asking for new money.

[53:18] This is simply asking to appropriate.

[53:21] We're left and we're see happy.

[53:24] All right.

[53:25] Is there a motion?

[53:26] I'll make a motion. I move that we request that the Board of Supervisors approve a resolution

[53:37] to appropriate $27,539 from the FY21 County Capital Improvement Budget that was set

[53:46] aside for school projects. Dr. Eichelberger has moved. Is there a second?

[53:51] I'll second.

[53:53] As Alan has seconded any further discussion.

[53:57] All in favor say aye.

[53:59] Aye.

[54:01] Opposed same sign.

[54:03] And it is approved reports.

[54:11] Arthur I see you on the top right hand of my screen.

[54:14] So I'll call on you first anything to.

[54:18] Report on.

[54:20] That's too bad. I actually feel bad today because in my last meeting with the Ed Foundation,

[54:27] I told them that the second Monday of each month doesn't work for me due to school board meetings

[54:33] and it's a lot. So they switched it for this upcoming month to the third and I had in my calendar

[54:42] that my school board meeting was on the 12th so they actually happened the Ed Foundation meeting

[54:47] today so I was unable to attend that but since the last board I was able to attend the CIP meeting

[54:55] which a lot of things that were discussed you know they covered that today in this meeting

[55:00] as well as the very first equity task force meeting that was you know get to know and throw out

[55:10] you know, your visions of the group and ways to improve, you know, the county and school system

[55:21] as a whole so that was very fulfilling and it's a lot of work. It feels like I get emails every day

[55:29] from it which is very appreciative but it's a lot of work but it's definitely looking forward to it

[55:35] and other than that, that's all Dr. Penn Hall.

[55:39] Thank you.

[55:40] Thank you.

[55:41] Ms. Allen?

[55:42] I don't have a report this month.

[55:45] Thank you.

[55:46] Dr. Eichelberger?

[55:49] Yeah.

[55:50] I went to the Career and Technical Advisory Meeting.

[55:55] So that was Bay Joe gave a presentation on like a lot of the things that they're hoping

[56:01] to do.

[56:02] So some of the new programs and classes have been very popular.

[56:07] So the integrated leadership class has been very popular.

[56:12] So they're planning to do an integrated leadership to class.

[56:18] They're planning to do, I think she's at summer school with the medication aid tech class.

[56:27] Some things that they're hoping to do next year.

[56:30] and advanced entrepreneurship for that would be a college credit class. The

[56:40] mountaineer teacher and cadet academy which would be, I believe, a dual

[56:45] education credit class. And then in the future, beyond next year, there was a lot

[56:52] of interest from students, they've been surveying students to find out what

[56:55] career clusters are most interested in. And there's been a lot of interest in like

[56:59] like sports medicine and personal training.

[57:03] So they're hoping to work some of that into the future.

[57:12] Thank you, Dr. Gagelberg, need of Gagger, anything?

[57:17] Yes.

[57:18] We, the prep board is searching,

[57:24] recruiting for a new executive director.

[57:28] Last year, we had an interim executive director.

[57:33] and we are in the process of recruiting for a new executive director and I have

[57:40] accepted the position of the chair for that search committee. So I will be I'll

[57:48] be leaving that search committee. I believe it's going to be two special ed

[57:52] directors, two superintendents and three board members I think is what it's

[57:59] comprised of. And so at the end of the month, that job closes. And we will move forward with

[58:10] with scoring applications and interviews and so forth and so on. So I will have an update

[58:17] in a few weeks after May 1st.

[58:21] Excellent. Thanks. Thanks, Ms. Collier. I wanted to just make a brief comment. Mr.

[58:28] Mr. Green and I are representing you all on the equity task force and we had our first meeting and first thing I wanted to say was just that the leadership of the co chairs Kathleen Gentry and Shania Breckenwidge has really been superb their commitment to the process is is is amazing and wonderful.

[58:51] And I was also particularly appreciative that at our very first meeting,

[58:56] should I, Breckenwidge, began with showing us the achievement gaps related to a number of

[59:05] groups of students. And all of those are really important and interesting way to begin and a really

[59:12] important thing to hold before us, because I think some people will tend to think that the work of

[59:18] the equity task force is kind of a distraction from our essential mission, but our essential

[59:23] mission is to educate all of our children and being aware that there are some groups of

[59:30] children we struggle with and sort of making our ability to address those achievement gaps

[59:38] or kind of a measure of the success of what we're doing, a measure, not the only measure.

[59:43] I thought it was a really interesting and important thing that she sort of she lifted before us right at the very beginning.

[59:55] The other thing to add, we met first just with as a

[1:00:00] But the staff people from our system, and then this week, we'll be meeting for the first time. We actually have two meetings this week Tuesday and Thursday. But Thursday, we'll be meeting with the community representatives for the for the first time. So next month, we'll be able to tell you something about that. So, yeah. Jackson, you have anything from a student perspective tonight.

[1:00:27] Like, well, I am excited to say that I have gotten my first dose of the COVID vaccine,

[1:00:35] Moderna.

[1:00:35] And I just wanted to say to anyone who is like watching this meeting, who does not necessarily

[1:00:41] know whether they want to get it or not, I would highly recommend it because I already feel

[1:00:45] a lot safer.

[1:00:46] And while the first dose I think is around 40% efficacy, it's better than zero percent.

[1:00:52] So I'm looking forward to the second dose and I encourage everyone who hasn't gotten it to make an appointment.

[1:01:00] So that includes students.

[1:01:03] Thanks.

[1:01:07] Ms. Graham, anything for the good of the order before we close tonight?

[1:01:12] Well, I just wanted to point out or let everyone know several of you do know that we are moving forward with now that the primary school will be finished with portions of the school board building.

[1:01:23] We're working to hopefully create an athletic training space and the old cafeteria gym space.

[1:01:31] So that's a project that we've kind of taken on here at Central Office and involving athletic director and high school and middle school administration.

[1:01:39] So it's something that we're working on it and hopefully it'll be up and ready for next school year.

[1:01:45] But as we get a little farther along, I'll bring you some updates on it, but we're very excited.

[1:01:49] we're very excited that our students and our staff are going to have a space where they can

[1:01:55] go get stronger and feel good about themselves and work together. You want to say a little

[1:02:01] something about your field trip last week? We did go down to another school division. We actually

[1:02:07] went to Buna Vista, a group of us. And I just wanted everyone to be able to see a space that we

[1:02:17] We were able to look at before and after pictures when we were there to a space that was pretty much

[1:02:22] as shambles that was able for not too much money, but with the effort of even students in the

[1:02:28] building trades program working on a space to see what could could happen if we all kind of work

[1:02:34] together and create a training facility. So I think everyone came back very excited and we know

[1:02:40] we can do it. So we're looking forward to letting you know more about it. Let's see it when it's finished.

[1:02:45] Excellent. The next. Okay. Anybody else want to find a word before I bang my virtual

[1:02:55] gabbell?

[1:02:57] If not, thank all of you for your attention and for a great meeting and I declare

[1:03:03] us adjourned.

[1:03:06] Go round the ears.

Madison County Public Schools, VA meeting

Transcript