[11:35] City County School Board. May I have a
member certify close session?
[11:40] » Madame Chair, I certify that to the best
of each member's knowledge, the
[11:44] Williamsburg James City County School
Board, while in closed session,
[11:47] discussed only public matters business.
business matters lawfully exempt from
[11:51] open meeting requirements as stated in
Virginia law and that only such public
[11:56] matters as were identified in the motion
convening the closed meeting were heard
[12:01] discussed or considered.
>> Thank you Mrs. Hunley. May I have a
[12:04] second
>> second?
[12:06] » Thank you Mr. Hosang. Miss
>> Mrs. Hunley
[12:10] » I.
>> Mr. Riffle
[12:13] » I
>> Dr. Fasos.
[12:14] » Hi.
>> Miss Chen.
[12:15] » Hi.
>> Mr. Hodgees.
[12:16] » Hi.
>> Mr. Hosang.
[12:18] » Hi.
>> Mrs. Honor
[12:19] » I we will move on to item 3.03 approval
of the agenda. May I have a motion?
[12:26] » Madam Chair, I move to approve the
agenda as presented.
[12:29] » Thank you, Mrs. Chen. May I have a
second?
[12:31] » Second.
>> Thank you, Mrs. Hunley. Miss,
[12:35] » Miss Chen,
>> I
[12:37] » Mr. Hodgees,
>> I
[12:38] » Mr. Hosing,
>> I
[12:40] » Mrs. Hunley,
>> I
[12:41] » Mr. Ripple,
>> I
[12:42] » Dr. Kassos, hi
>> Mrs. Donner,
[12:44] » I. We will now move on to our pledge of
allegiance and minute of silence. Uh
[12:49] please stand if you are able.
[12:55] » I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[13:01] republic for it stands nationy
[13:07] for all. Please remain standing for a
moment of silence.
[13:16] Thank you.
[13:22] We will move now to item 4.01,
uh, announcements and the superintendent
[13:27] report. Dr. Kever.
>> Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the
[13:31] board, community members. Pleased to
share a couple of items with you this
[13:35] evening. First thing I wanted to talk
about was reading with a hero. uh the
[13:40] reading with a hero program. WJCC
participated with the NAACP, the WJCA,
[13:47] Divine 9, and Barnes & Noble uh to be a
part of this community literacy event on
[13:52] Saturday. Elementary age students were
invited for story time with local heroes
[13:57] and left with a new free book. Uh as
I've said repeatedly, literacy is a
[14:01] communitywide conversation and we're
excited to build and extend programming
[14:05] like this across the city and county.
wanted to extend the challenge for all
[14:11] of our community folks to join our PTAs.
Our parent teacher association or at the
[14:17] secondary and high school level parent
teacher student association uh is and
[14:21] meets on a monthly basis as a council
PTAC uh and that group is composed of
[14:27] leaders from each of our building PTAs.
Uh we meet regularly to talk about
[14:31] division and PTA goals and initiatives.
New this year, we are dedicating time
[14:35] and space to extend collaboration
between PTA officers and their
[14:40] principles. Our first conversation was
earlier this month, and we're looking
[14:43] forward to our continued partnership. As
I mentioned in our last meeting, and
[14:47] we'll mention again, I hope that I can
challenge members of our community to
[14:52] join one or more PTAs.
Information on the joining process is
[14:57] available on our website. There are a
few tables that remain for our evening
[15:02] on the lawn celebration. We act, we
suggest you act now to reserve yours. It
[15:06] helps support the WJCC schools
foundation. Proceeds directly benefit
[15:10] our students and teachers most
significantly through innovative
[15:14] learning grants. That event is scheduled
to take place on October the 1st. And
[15:19] finally, I just wanted to mention
briefly that the fall sports season is
[15:23] certainly out and in swing. I had a
chance on Friday evening to spend time
[15:27] at the Warhill Jamestown football game
and last night took in a volleyball
[15:30] match between Lafayette and Jamestown. I
I did want to note that recently we
[15:36] shared communication with our high
school families regarding uh the need
[15:40] for our students to celebrate their
school and celebrate their teams in a
[15:44] positive manner. I've been made aware of
some issues where uh students visit
[15:49] other campuses uh perhaps under the
opaces of supporting their school uh but
[15:53] but leave behind remnants of their visit
uh that's could be considered vandalism
[15:58] could be considered trespassing and I
want to encourage our young people to
[16:01] make strong decisions. So encourage
families to take a look at that
[16:04] communication and certainly want to
support our students and student
[16:07] athletes. U Madam Chair that concludes
my report this evening.
[16:11] » Thank you so much Dr. Kever. Miss Chen.
Well, um, Dr. Cer,
[16:16] » sorry, Miss Chin, I apologize.
>> That's okay. Um, but since we both sit,
[16:21] um, on the WJCC Schools Foundation, um,
I promised them that on behalf of our
[16:26] WJCC Schools Foundation, I wanted to
make sure that you all know about the
[16:30] upcoming evening on the lawn event
October 1st. Um, it will be at the
[16:35] William Mary School of Business. The
event brings together community members,
[16:39] leaders, educators, business partners,
parents, friends of WJCC to support our
[16:44] students and teachers. So, our board
along with Dr. Kever have already
[16:48] reserved a table. We will be there in
attendance and we hope to see our city
[16:53] and county leaders there supporting with
their presence as well. Um, and any of
[16:58] you here or anybody listening, um, if
you can't make the event, uh, there are
[17:03] lots of ways to support our WJCC Schools
Foundation. I think we can all get
[17:07] behind being very generous to support
our teachers. The, um, the foundation,
[17:13] um, gives out innovative grants as well
as supporting the the supply uh, shop so
[17:18] that teachers don't have to spend their
own money on supplies. Um, and they also
[17:23] have lots of fun um, spirit events where
they partner with local restaurants. So,
[17:28] you can look out for those. I get those
flyers and peach jar as a parent of a
[17:33] WJCC student. So, I just want to highly
encourage participation in that. Um, my
[17:39] second quick announcement is um, as a
member on our special education advisory
[17:45] committee, just wanted to say a quick
welcome. will be um officially voting on
[17:50] our new members. But um just wanted to
say that those meetings are monthly and
[17:55] they are not just um open for our
members but also um for any students,
[18:00] families, teachers, anybody who is
interested in learning about special
[18:05] education advocacy and um touching base
with our central office leaders. Um as
[18:11] well as there's always a school board
member there. So um if that is something
[18:15] you're interested in, you can contact
Dr. Bowmaster. You can join us via Zoom
[18:19] or in person.
[18:23] » Thank you so much. Are there any other
members that have a report from any of
[18:26] their committees?
>> I know those are just getting started.
[18:31] So looking forward to those as the year
progresses. Uh we will meet move into
[18:35] our next set of items. Um our
information discussion uh 5.01
[18:41] our presentation for WHRO.
[18:50] Madame Chair, Dr. Kever, members of the
board, thank you for allowing me to
[18:54] speak with you tonight. Uh, my name is
Bert Schmidt. I'm the president and CEO
[18:58] of WHRO. With me is Elmer Seward, my
vice president of education. So, if you
[19:03] got the hard questions, he's here to
help me out. Um, before we get into the
[19:08] report, I do want to thank Mr. Riffle.
Mr. Riffle is the current chair of the
[19:13] 21 school division group that we call
Heretta, the Hampton Roads Educational
[19:18] Telecommunications Association. So
Randy, thank you for for all your
[19:22] efforts. Uh and little do you know what
you're about to get into. Thank you. Um
[19:27] I come to you tonight if you don't know
because you're one of the 21 school
[19:30] divisions that literally own the
broadcast license to WHRO. We are the
[19:34] only media company in the entire country
owned by collaboration of K12 school
[19:39] divisions. We work with all the school
divisions with superintendent,
[19:44] schoolboard members, and many of the
cabinet level folks to do things once
[19:49] for teachers and students rather than 21
times. We save taxpayers money and at
[19:53] the same time improve the services for
children regardless of zip code is the
[19:58] model from day one when we were founded
in 1961 as home room one which is what
[20:04] WHRO stands for home room one so it's
core to to who we are each year we
[20:10] provide you an impact statement you
should have one of these with you um I
[20:14] am not going to go through the whole
thing but uh in preparation for this
[20:18] meeting we have created a video that
does summarize
[20:22] this customized report that is
customized to the division. But with
[20:25] that, I'll ask that they play the video.
>> WHO stands out as the nation's sole
[20:31] public media station owned by a
collaboration of 21 school divisions.
[20:37] This distinctive ownership model places
education at the heart of our mission,
[20:41] influencing every aspect of our work.
Our team of educators is committed to
[20:46] offering students, teachers, and
families innovative, free, highquality
[20:51] programs and services.
One key service that WHRO offers is E
[20:57] Media VA, Virginia's leading digital
content repository. With nearly 100,000
[21:04] free top quality instructional
resources, E Media VA provides educators
[21:09] and students with videos, interactive
tools, games, lesson plans, images, and
[21:16] more. This platform is designed to
enhance personalized learning and make
[21:20] classroom experiences more engaging. For
our youngest learners, WHRO offers
[21:26] exciting educational activities to spark
their imagination. Our Education vans
[21:32] visit elementary schools with programs
tailored to Virginia's standards of
[21:36] learning covering literacy, numeracy,
scientific investigation, and
[21:41] technology. We also support parents and
caregivers, ensuring children are
[21:46] prepared for kindergarten and set up for
success in their early school years. For
[21:51] secondary educators, WHRO provides a
catalog of 30 awardwinning customizable
[21:58] online courses and digital resources.
These mediarich
[22:03] aligned courses are designed to
integrate seamlessly with various
[22:07] learning management systems. They offer
flexibility for face-to-face, flipped,
[22:13] blended, and fully online teaching
environments, enriching lessons with
[22:17] engaging content.
At WHO, we celebrate students
[22:23] achievements through competitions that
showcase their talents. The Great
[22:27] Computer Challenge, for example, gather
school teams from across the region at
[22:32] Old Dominion University to tackle real
world technology problems.
[22:37] Another highlight is the Town Bank
Regional Spelling Bee, where middle
[22:41] school champions compete at WHRO Studio
for a chance to advance to the scripts
[22:47] National Spelling Bee. The local
competition is recorded and aired on
[22:51] WHRO each April.
Elementary students also have an
[22:56] opportunity to shine through our PBS
Kids Writers Contest. This competition
[23:02] invites young writers to craft and
illustrate their original stories,
[23:06] fostering creativity and critical
thinking.
[23:11] Our student advisory board reflects our
commitment to student engagement. This
[23:16] group of high school students offers
feedback on WHRO's content and has
[23:21] opportunities to create their own
[music] influencing our online courses
[23:25] and e media VA resources.
We're equally devoted to supporting
[23:30] educators through our professional
development programs. Our workshops and
[23:35] training sessions provide teachers with
cuttingedge strategies and tools,
[23:39] empowering them to inspire and guide
their students effectively.
[23:44] Visit WHO's education web page to learn
more about how these amazing free
[23:50] materials, programs, and resources can
benefit you. At WHRO Public Media, we're
[23:56] proud to partner with our local school
divisions and the Virginia Department of
[24:00] Education to shape the future of
education, one student at a time.
[24:07] » Again, the impact statement we provide
you is customized to the division. So it
[24:11] has usage and the only thing it doesn't
has usage wise are the courses because
[24:15] we build the courses and then give them
to you and then they're in your learning
[24:19] management system. So your folks would
have to give you that together. Um as
[24:23] schoolboard members Oh before that uh
hopefully you know that we have an
[24:26] office here in town on Richmond Road. If
you ever need office space that's not a
[24:31] school building for some reason you need
to get out of a school building just
[24:34] give us a call. You're more than welcome
to use that space um being that we have
[24:38] this office here in town. Um, as
schoolboard members, you care about the
[24:42] money, the finances. On page 13 of the
report, it summarizes uh the financial
[24:47] relationship. You invest in WHRO last
school year about $3 per student and
[24:54] received savings of value of over a
million half dollars. It's a 37 to1
[25:00] return on your investment.
And with that, I'm happy to take any
[25:04] questions.
>> Thank you so much, Mr. Schmidt and uh
[25:09] Mr.
Uh Randy, do you have anything as the
[25:12] chair? And
>> of course, I could say a lot. At first,
[25:15] if you haven't visited WRO's like
location, I think it's just a great
[25:19] place to see like a community of 21
school divisions hanging out and
[25:23] building public media like PBS and all
those type of things that come to your
[25:25] TV. It was a really cool experience to
see that and I think it's there are
[25:29] opportunities for the public to see
sometimes. I I don't know, maybe I'm
[25:31] speaking for you all. Okay, great. They
can come visit. Um it's pretty sweet. U
[25:36] I just want to say thank you to both of
you all for being here and especially to
[25:39] you u for for your your work and and
efforts. I know you are retiring after
[25:44] this year. So I just wanted to thank you
for your your hard work as a um you the
[25:48] president and the person has led this
organization but people like Elmer and I
[25:52] wouldn't be able to do it without all of
us together. So thank you.
[25:55] » It has been an honor and my pleasure to
work with the division for 20 years now
[25:59] and so I really appreciate the
relationship. I mean, when I got in town
[26:03] 20 years ago, I tried to have people in
Williamsburg come to Norfol to be
[26:06] interviewed and nobody would. So, we
opened up that office about 17 years
[26:10] ago, and it's worked out great for us.
We do a lot of broadcasting out of there
[26:13] and have lots of meetings as well. So,
it's been a great pleasure to work with
[26:17] so many people over the last 20 years
from the division. So, thanks to all of
[26:21] you.
>> Thank you so much.
[26:23] » Take care.
[26:28] » We will go to our our next agenda item
which is uh 6.01
[26:38] spotlight on our kindergarten
[26:43] » kindergarten orientation model.
>> Yes, ma'am. Madam Chair, it's we have a
[26:46] video that we'd like to share. It's my
pleasure to indicate that our
[26:50] kindergarten orientation model expanded
from three schools to six schools this
[26:54] year. We believe it's helping students
start school with confidence. As the
[26:58] school year continues, families and
staff will be asked to share their
[27:02] experiences and feedback through a
survey that will give us some indication
[27:06] of how we can continue to improve that
model. Let's hear from families and
[27:10] staff about how that model supports
developing relationships and helps
[27:14] teachers get to know each child in their
classroom.
[27:17] » It's an important transition. I mean,
it's a milestone. I look back to my own
[27:21] children um and that [music] transition
to kindergarten. It's a time when kids
[27:26] become more independent. Um, and they
also get welcomed to be part of a
[27:29] community. And so it's [music] really
exciting for us as a school system to
[27:31] welcome kids and their families in so
they have a really positive experience
[27:35] with our school system and our school
community. We work together to create a
[27:39] community for the children. And so this
model allows us to really do [music]
[27:43] that from the first day of school so
that moving forward they they're well
[27:48] taken care of.
>> When I first learned about it, I was
[27:54] confused a little bit because I didn't
understand. and I had three other kids
[27:56] that go through kindergarten the
oldfashioned way. So when I was
[28:00] introduced to that one, I was just
confused on how it's going to work, like
[28:04] [music] how you really going to know
these kids after these days. We collect
[28:07] all of the kindergarteners together and
it is an all hands-on deck approach. So,
[28:12] in addition to the classroom teachers,
[music] there's the teacher assistants
[28:15] and the um school counselors, our um
even our speech and language
[28:19] pathologists, um OT, PT. Um every person
that does not have a classroom at the
[28:25] start of the year is supporting
kindergarten. We were able to assess
[28:29] their letter sound knowledge, alphabet
knowledge, um some number sense, [music]
[28:33] some beginning number sense knowledge,
and also we got to gauge their maturity
[28:37] levels and how they interacted [music]
with each other. It was a wonderful
[28:41] experience because we were each as
[music] teachers able to get to know
[28:45] every single student that came to our
kindergarten. So during the school year,
[28:50] we still have those connections and
those relationships. So even though a
[28:54] student may not be in my class for the
year, [music]
[28:56] we still have a relationship. I'm still
able to check in on them. They know that
[29:01] they have an additional safe person in
the building to trust and to communicate
[29:06] with.
>> Um, she enjoyed it actually. She got a
[29:09] chance to meet all the teachers. Made
her feel comfortable because she got to
[29:12] see all the teachers beforehand and
really get to know them before coming in
[29:16] because you know they're five, some
four, some six and when they come in
[29:21] they see all these faces already. So I
think it gives them a sense of
[29:24] comfortability. [music]
We were able to really make um balanced
[29:27] classes last year which helped
academically, it helped behaviorally, it
[29:31] helped socially, which is so important.
But we also got to know our students and
[29:36] I think forged even stronger
relationships with the families. Being
[29:40] that they're coming to kindergarten, I
think it's very scary for them. It's a
[29:43] new adjustment and I think doing that
doing it that way help them be
[29:47] confident, help them grow, too. Because
when you're confident, you grow. You're
[29:51] willing to learn. You want to come to
school. So, it's it's a big stepping
[29:54] stone for them coming from preschool.
>> Once the students did join our
[29:58] classrooms, because they were so
familiar with the environment, it's like
[30:01] almost like a second nature to them now.
Yes, we're still learning routines and
[30:05] procedures, but they're just so much
more comfortable in the class. We're
[30:09] able to get to know the whole child.
We're able to use observations and use
[30:14] data to inform our classroom placements.
And [music] that's really exciting and
[30:20] really special. I think families will
truly benefit from this experience. We
[30:25] had so much positive feedback come from
families [music] about how this
[30:30] benefited their child.
[30:34] » Madam Chair, I would like to note that
the [clears throat] VSBA has um also
[30:39] given us an opportunity to talk about
our kindergarten orientation model at
[30:42] their annual convention. And so we look
forward to sharing that with other
[30:46] school divisions and we'll come back to
the school board uh in and likely
[30:49] January to talk more about what does
2728 look like.
[30:53] » Thank you Dr. Kever. It's wonderful to
see that expanded from the pilot schools
[30:58] last year and what we learned from them
uh to our next three elementary schools
[31:02] and I look forward to being able to have
that across the division and love and
[31:06] love that we're getting to share our
innovation here uh with the other school
[31:09] division. So, thank you and thank you to
all of those uh all those kindergarten
[31:14] teachers who were willing to try
something new and uh made this pilot a
[31:20] success these these first two years.
Thank you.
[31:22] » Thank you.
>> Uh we'll move on to our next agenda item
[31:27] 7.01 citizens comments. Mr. Riffle,
>> thank you madam chair. Is at this point
[31:32] in our meeting where citizens are
invited to address the board. Those
[31:35] citizens desiring to speak have
submitted speaker cards to the clerk
[31:37] prior to the start of this meeting.
These speakers are asked to come to the
[31:41] podium when their name are called, state
their names for the record, and direct
[31:44] their comments directly to the chair of
the board. It is the board's interest
[31:47] and desire that all comments are heard
and respected. Hence, the citizens are
[31:51] asked not to engage in applauding,
verbal outbursts, or any audible
[31:54] demonstrations during speaker
presentations. Personnel matters are not
[31:58] considered in public meetings.
Therefore, the board request that all
[32:00] speakers refrain from making reference
to specific individuals in any form or
[32:04] fashion. Though the board does not
respond to your comments, your comments
[32:07] are heard and appreciated. Each speaker
is allocated two minutes to make their
[32:11] presentation. Board ask they respect
this time liotation. Also, please be
[32:14] reminded that no time may be yielded to
another speaker. Your acceptance and
[32:18] adherence to these guidelines will be
greatly appreciated. Thank you, Madam
[32:21] Chair, and my directions are concluded.
>> Thank you so much, Mr. Riffle.
[32:25] » The first speaker is Jamila Walker. The
next speaker is Hope Donnelly. Please be
[32:30] ready after them.
[32:39] Um, good evening, Madame Chair Donner,
members of the school board, and Dr.
[32:42] Kever. I'd like to briefly address the
request to do away with diversity. Every
[32:48] child deserves to be celebrated,
including those with differences. We
[32:52] celebrate gifted children, students with
disabilities, military children, and
[32:57] others for who they are. So, I have to
ask, is it really our plan to disregard
[33:01] these children because of their
differences? And I have one final ask on
[33:05] this topic. Please stop using famous
black people and people of color as a
[33:10] measure for what you want us to act
like. Our children are individuals and
[33:14] they deserve to be valued as such. Now,
the reason I'm here tonight is to talk
[33:19] about our students with disabilities.
Right now, our students with
[33:22] disabilities have so pass rates below
50%. Some may believe that is simply
[33:28] what we should expect, but that couldn't
be further from the truth. Students with
[33:33] disabilities are capable of learning and
doing the work, but because of their
[33:37] learning differences, they require
specially designed instruction to
[33:40] succeed. I appreciate the district's
professional development efforts and the
[33:44] hiring of an SDI coach, but we do need
to take it further. Give General
[33:49] education and special education teachers
protected time to collaborate and plan
[33:54] together. Ensure we have trained support
for assist of technology. Provide
[33:59] ongoing professional development for
everyone working with students with
[34:03] disabilities. And most importantly,
change the perception of disability.
[34:08] They are capable. They can learn. They
are worth it. Having a child with a
[34:13] disability gives you a strength you
never knew you had. As parents, we
[34:17] believe in our children so deeply that
sometimes people think we're out of our
[34:20] minds, but we believe in them anyway.
and I'm simply asking you to believe in
[34:25] them, too. Thank you. Thank you so much,
Mrs. Walker.
[34:30] » Our next speaker is Hope Donnelly, and
the speaker after that is David Herbst.
[34:34] Please be ready.
>> Good evening. Um, my name is Hope
[34:39] Donnelly. I'm a former AP art teacher,
um, mostly for Title One and Renaissance
[34:44] Schools in Florida. Um, I'm here in
opposition of the current redistricting
[34:50] plan. As a small business owner and a
creative consultant, I have experience
[34:54] with largecale city planning, mobility
studies, placemaking, historic
[34:59] preservation, and public art
installation boards for the city of
[35:01] Tampa. And I'm a mother of two, a first
grader and a sixth grader. Um, and I did
[35:07] two years of research before moving to
Virginia with my family, including the
[35:11] neighborhoods and the schools um that we
could move to and chose Kings Point,
[35:16] which is slated to be moved from Matthew
Whley to Laurel Lane. So, on an
[35:22] individual level, I am opposed to this
as well as on a district level. During
[35:28] the last redistricting, um my
understanding is that the Kings Point
[35:31] neighborhood fought to be zoned for
Matthew Whley. And one of the main
[35:35] discussions was the number of families
who prefer biking as well as the ease of
[35:38] traveling from Kings Point to Matthew
Whley versus Laurel Lane. And especially
[35:43] when the Colonial Parkway will be
completed, it makes more sense to cross
[35:48] 199 for a bike path to get to our school
than it does to travel along 199. kids
[35:54] will and families will no longer have
this mobility option.
[35:58] During this past year that I've lived
here, I've also participated in the
[36:02] studies, emailed the board uh with
questions and concerns, and reviewed the
[36:05] charts and demographics of schools with
the proposed changes compared to if
[36:10] there were no changes. I believe that
the negative changes to diversity,
[36:14] economic dispersement, and
disproportionate number of students with
[36:18] special services dramatically outweighs
the idea of keeping children together
[36:21] from K through 12, altering the bus
routes and the forecast number of
[36:25] students, which can't totally agree with
based on the areas of development that
[36:30] are possible and the areas that are not
possible. Some may disagree, but without
[36:36] the appropriate studies and additional
information, we are not making an
[36:39] informed decision at this time.
>> Thank you so much, Mrs. Don.
[36:43] » You have comments, you may leave them
with the clerk. Our next speaker is
[36:47] David Herbst. The next person after them
is Brier Anderson. Please come to the
[36:51] end of the row so you can be ready.
>> Good evening. My name is David Herbst.
[36:57] I'm a federal technologist and data
architect, a veteran, and a concerned
[37:01] WJCC parent.
The history maps before you tonight
[37:05] cannot be recreated with WJCC data. That
is not an opinion. That is a forensic
[37:12] technical fact. The FOYA contained that
I reviewed 228 files, 16 shape files.
[37:19] Everyone delivered with zero geographic
features, no data dictionary, no
[37:25] methodology to create the maps, and the
fields needed to verify the boundary
[37:30] decisions were deleted three days before
the foyer was provided.
[37:35] That's documented in WJCC's own
timestamped audit logs of the data. Of
[37:40] the six guiding principles this board
has adopted, not one not one can in can
[37:46] be independently verified from the
WJCC's data records or how the guiding
[37:52] principles were applied or whether they
were even applied at all.
[37:57] That data was either deleted or
withheld.
[38:02] You're being asked to accept
recommendation for boundaries the public
[38:06] cannot audit, verify, or challenge.
That's in violation of Virginia 2.237.04
[38:13] Virginia Public Records Act 42.1-76.
I submitted eight forensic findings to
[38:20] the superintendent on August 31st. No
WJCC employee has explained my data
[38:27] findings, the data deletions, the empty
shape files or identified on the legal
[38:31] basis of withholding the empty capacity
data. No WJCC employee has identified
[38:37] which guiding principle that data
supports. And the superintendent has
[38:42] chosen to proceed with his
recommendation without addressing a
[38:45] single forensic fact of missing data.
I'm asking this board to halt this
[38:51] process immediately and investigate my
findings and provide the WJCC public
[38:57] with answers.
>> Thank you, Mr. H.
[38:59] » Thank you.
>> Next speaker is is it Brier Anderson?
[39:04] and then Ryland Guio is after them.
Please come to the end of the row so you
[39:09] don't have to walk over people. Thank
you.
[39:13] » Hi, good evening. My name is Brier
Anderson and I live in the Kings Point
[39:17] neighborhood. I'm a parent at Matthew
Why Elementary School, a former teacher
[39:21] and have the privilege of serving on the
PTA executive board at Matthew Whley.
[39:26] Tonight, I want to speak not just as a
parent, but as someone who has seen
[39:29] firsthand how a strong school community
is built. For years, Kingspoint families
[39:34] have provided leadership, volunteers,
and helped fund raise almost $50,000 a
[39:39] year to support every student at
Matthew. Those efforts make possible
[39:43] free school supplies, a field trip for
every student, student support programs,
[39:47] teacher appreciation, and community
events that strengthen our entire
[39:51] school. Like the title one night I just
came from, not just one neighborhood.
[39:55] That is why I'm concerned about the
proposed redistricting. Our schools do
[39:59] not all begin with equal footing. Some
serve higher concentrations of students
[40:03] with greater needs, while others benefit
from long-established community
[40:06] partnerships, volunteer networks, and
family engagement that expand
[40:11] opportunities and support student
success.
[40:14] Redistricting is an opportunity not only
to balance enrollment, but to strengthen
[40:18] every school community. As proposed,
these maps would increase the
[40:23] concentration of economically
disadvantaged students at schools that
[40:27] already serve higher proportions of
students with greater needs. While
[40:31] making some of the division's wealthiest
schools even more economically
[40:34] advantaged, they would reduce
socioeconomic and racial diversity at
[40:38] schools like Matthew Ay and James River
Elementary by removing neighborhoods
[40:42] that have long contributed to the
school's community and support systems.
[40:46] Rather than using redistricting to
narrow existing disparities, these
[40:50] changes risk reinforcing them by
concentrating both student need and
[40:55] community resources in ways that leave
schools on increasingly unequal footing.
[41:00] King's Point is just one example, but it
illustrates the larger principle. Every
[41:05] boundary decision affects more than
enrollment numbers. It shapes
[41:08] educational opportunity, community
support, and the conditions that help
[41:12] students succeed. We are asking the
board and Dr. Kever to ensure a map
[41:18] advances educational equity.
>> Thank you. Next speaker is Ryan Go.
[41:25] Sorry if I'm saying it wrong.
Next person after them is Molen Roberts.
[41:32] » Good evening. My name is Brenn Gio. I'm
a Kings Point resident. I'm also one of
[41:37] the co-founders of WJCC Redistricting
Advocacy Group. Many of here tonight.
[41:41] I'm also a mom of a seventh grade
student who receives special education
[41:44] services. I'm asking the board to
consider a critical question as you
[41:48] evaluate these redistricting maps. What
will the impact be on students with
[41:52] disabilities? We already know there are
significant challenges within special
[41:56] education in WJCC. Families have raised
concerns about specially designed
[42:00] instruction, transparency, the
district's response to data and
[42:03] accountability. As well, SDI has not yet
been implemented across all classes.
[42:08] While JCC currently has the capacity to
pro to provide co-eing in only about 50%
[42:13] of inclusion classes, the academic data
makes this even more important. The
[42:18] Virginia Department of Education's 2425
data on WJCC includes a specific metric
[42:23] examining the gap in proficiency rates
between children with IEPs and all
[42:27] students against grade level academic
achievement standards. Under that
[42:31] measure, the divor division performance
reported for children with IEPs was 35%
[42:36] in fourth grade English reading, 43% in
eighth grade, and 39% in high school. In
[42:41] math, it was 38% in fourth grade, 47% in
eighth grade, and 24% in high school.
[42:48] None of the grade levels shown met the
state standard. As a parent of a child
[42:52] receiving special education services,
these numbers aren't just statistics to
[42:57] me. They represent children who are
already facing academic gap and who
[43:01] depend on consistent appropriate
supports to be successful. So, when we
[43:06] redraw boundaries, we need to know what
happens to those supports. Will students
[43:09] have access to the specialized
instruction in inclusion, co-eing,
[43:13] staffing, and services identified in
their IEPs? Will some schools experience
[43:17] a greater concentration of students with
significant needs without the staffing
[43:20] and resources to support them? And what
happens to students who depend on
[43:24] consistency and already struggle with
transitions? Before approving any map, I
[43:28] am asking the board to conduct and
release a school by school equity impact
[43:32] analysis that includes special
education. It should examine IEP
[43:36] populations, staffing and service
capacity, inclusion and co-eing, student
[43:40] outcomes and discipline, and identify
how each proposed map would affect these
[43:44] factors. Our students with disabilities
cannot be an afterthought in this
[43:48] process. If equity is truly the goal,
special education needs to be part of
[43:52] the equity analysis from the beginning.
>> Thank you. [music]
[43:55] [bell]
>> Next speaker is Meline Roberts and after
[43:58] them is Jennifer Arie.
[44:04] So close. It's Melanie.
>> Sorry.
[44:06] » It's okay. My name is Melanie Roberts. I
have one student who's graduated already
[44:11] from WJCC and one who is currently
attending. I am here today to speak on
[44:16] behalf of changing school names that
honor enslavers.
[44:21] For the last two years, you've heard
everything there is to know about James
[44:25] Blair and have preferred to focus on his
good attributes and consider his role as
[44:32] an enslaver as a flaw.
Holding men, women, and children in
[44:38] bondage, forcing their work, profiting
from it, renting people out as though
[44:45] they were machinery or cattle is not a
flaw. It was the plan.
[44:53] That was always James Blair's plan. And
it including hunting down anyone who
[45:01] defied it. Just look up S. Cooper or
Solomon or any of the other people who
[45:09] self-liberated that the Blair family
continued to hunt down. Remember,
[45:17] that was their plan after all, not a
flaw. It was a plan that was rigorously
[45:23] enforced. And yet, this board continues
to sit up here and all but order
[45:30] children to walk into a building with
his name on it.
[45:36] Shame on you.
This community will not rest until every
[45:42] enslaver's name has been removed from a
public school building. Dignity for
[45:50] every student begins with the name on
the building.
[45:55] » Thank you, Mrs. Roberts.
>> Next speaker is Jennifer Arie. After
[46:00] them is Laura Bil. Please be ready.
[46:08] Hello, my name is Jennifer Arie and I
have one child at Laurel Lane Elementary
[46:13] and one at Berkeley Middle School. I
love this community and I served as the
[46:18] Laurel Lane PTA president for four years
where I observed how an influx of new
[46:23] families from a more economically
advantaged community transformed the PTA
[46:29] by enabling us to have a budget from of
about $6,000. I can't even imagine
[46:35] having $50,000
um to 20,000 about 20,000. With these
[46:43] extra funds, we were a able to provide
grants for all of the grade levels,
[46:47] centers, and special education, as well
as providing schoolwide celebrations,
[46:52] and rewards such as free books for every
student at each book fair.
[46:57] I would I would love to spend the
remainder of my two minutes going over
[47:02] how the stat the statistics of how the
new boundaries will decrease our
[47:06] economic and racial diversity in our
schools, which it will,
[47:11] but I'm hoping my other fellow community
members will
[47:17] will cover that. My children who wanted
to come but aren't feeling well today
[47:22] have asked me to plead with the school
board because despite the redistricting
[47:26] emphasis on neighborhood schools and
children going to school with their
[47:31] friends all K through 12 that is not the
case. If you super in impose the school
[47:37] level maps, you'll find there is a
section of Laurel Lane Elementary School
[47:41] students who who not only are separated
from their friends in middle from in
[47:47] middle school and high school, but will
now have to drive past this very school
[47:52] to get to their new middle school. And
that
[47:57] if you're in this car line, you know
it's a maddening long car line in a
[48:02] single lane road. And now we're gonna
have to drive through that to get to
[48:06] James Blair.
[48:10] At the request of my
>> Thank you so much, Miss Sarnney. If you
[48:14] have comments that you want to leave,
you can give them to the clerk or email
[48:17] them to her.
>> Our next speaker is Laura Blile. And the
[48:21] next person after that is Joe Bailey.
>> It's Bllye.
[48:25] » Yeah, it's a little hard to read. Sorry.
>> It's It's okay. I'm sorry. Good evening.
[48:29] I'm Laura Bllye. My daughter is a junior
at Lafayette and my family lives in the
[48:34] Poeton district. I'm here tonight
because I'm concerned that the proposed
[48:39] redistricting maps are not just moving
attendance lines. They risk increasing
[48:44] the separation that already exists among
our schools. We already have significant
[48:49] socioeconomic differences among our
three high schools. About 22% of
[48:55] Jamestown's students are economically
disadvantaged compared with about 30% at
[49:00] Lafayette and 36% at Warhill. That
disparity already exists. Redistricting
[49:06] should be an opportunity to reduce it,
not to draw new boundaries that make our
[49:11] schools even more economically and
demographically separated.
[49:15] If the result of our redistricting plan
is greater separation among our
[49:19] students, that should not simply be
accepted as an unfortunate side effect.
[49:24] It should be a reason to reconsider the
plan. I understand that the division has
[49:30] to consider capacity, transportation,
geography, and feeder patterns. But if
[49:35] we can measure all of those things, we
can also measure what a proposed map
[49:39] does to the demographic and
socioeconomic composition of each
[49:43] school. And we should because when a map
makes a less diverse school less diverse
[49:49] and a more diverse school more
concentrated, we aren't simply
[49:53] reflecting the residential patterns of
our community. We are using school
[49:57] boundaries to reinforce them. That is a
choice. Our children benefit from going
[50:03] to school with people whose lives,
backgrounds, and experiences are
[50:07] different from their own. That is part
of preparing them to live and work in a
[50:11] world that will not be divided neatly
into attendance zones. So before
[50:15] adopting any map, I am asking this board
to look what one more measure. Does this
[50:20] map bring our students together or does
it separate them further? If the answer
[50:25] is that it separates them further, then
we can and should draw a better map.
[50:31] » Thank you, Miss BL.
>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Joe
[50:35] Bailey, followed by Karen Beager. Be
Eagle Sal.
[50:41] If you come more than once, I can I can
get it right. I promise.
[50:44] Good evening. Um, my name is Joe Bailey
and I am a Kings Point resident and a
[50:49] WJCC parent. I'm here to speak about the
redistricting.
[50:53] Um, I'd like to use Kings Point and
Matthew Whley as an example of the
[50:57] broader questions I hope the board will
consider throughout this process. Our
[51:01] request is not simply that King's Point
remain at Matthew Whale. Our request is
[51:05] that every proposed boundary change be
evaluated for whether it actually
[51:09] advances educational equity. Under the
proposed map, Matthew Whale would serve
[51:14] a higher concentration of economically
disadvantaged students. That raises an
[51:19] important question. If another boundary
configuration could meet the division's
[51:24] goals for capacity, transportation, and
enrollment while creating a more
[51:28] balanced student population, why
wouldn't that option be fully explored?
[51:34] For my family, Matthew Wh.
My daughter's three older brothers all
[51:40] attended Matthew Wh. And between them,
our family has been part of this
[51:43] community for 13 years. We love the
school, its teachers, and the community
[51:48] that surrounds it. We purchased our home
with this school district specifically
[51:51] in mind. Now, while my daughter is only
in her second year of elementary school,
[51:56] that decision is being taken away with
no meaningful consideration of a
[52:00] transition or phase out for families
already enrolled.
[52:05] Many Kings Point students can walk or
bike to Matthew Whley. And while Laura
[52:09] Lane may be a smaller similar distance
on a map, it is primar primarily a car
[52:15] dependent trip. Those differences do
matter.
[52:19] King's point is just one example, but it
illustrates the larger principle. Every
[52:23] boundary decision has consequences
beyond enrollment numbers. We ask that
[52:27] the board look at full impact of these
proposals and whether it actually
[52:31] improves educational opportunity and
serves students and families better.
[52:36] Thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Bailey.
[52:40] » Next speaker is Karen Beagle. After that
is Alexandra Josie.
[52:44] » It's Karen Burke. Sorry,
>> I read the last name right. So,
[52:51] » yeah, there you go. Um, I'm Karen
Bergle. I'm a 36y year resident of
[52:56] Robert's district. I'm here to ask you
once again to reconsider changing the
[53:02] name of James Blair Middle School. James
Blair was notorious as the man who
[53:09] institutionalized child slavery in
Virginia.
[53:14] names have a special power. And to me,
the question is really just very simple.
[53:21] When I first heard this
um concern brought up by another
[53:29] citizen, her words were that no child
should have to attend a school named for
[53:36] his ancestors in slaver.
And that's exactly what we are asking
[53:42] some students at James Player to do
today.
[53:47] I'll be happy to come every month so
that Mr. Ripple can get my name right,
[53:52] but I'm going to have the same message
every time. Please, it's never too late
[53:58] to make the right decision, and it's
always the right time to make the right
[54:04] decision. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Miss Bzel.
[54:09] Alexander Josie is next. Professor
Alexander Josie
[54:14] after them is McKenzie Israel Thumbl.
>> Good evening. My name is Dr. Alex Josie.
[54:20] I am a public policy professor at
William and Mary and I am a parent of
[54:25] three kids, two at Clareboard Baker and
one at James Blair. I'm talking to you
[54:30] tonight about my expertise which is
called social network analysis. We study
[54:35] relationships that we, you know, as
people form and their impacts on bigger
[54:41] societal outcomes. Um, I have two
studies that I want to talk to you
[54:45] about. And the bottom line is that by
concentrating need in certain schools,
[54:51] we are going to end up with bad
long-term outcomes in terms of economic
[54:57] mobility. So the two studies, one of
them is a large N study from Harvard and
[55:02] it shows that the connections that we
make, the social capital that we um gain
[55:08] by our relationships with others,
specifically something called economic
[55:12] connectedness. This is when low
socioeconomic people and high
[55:16] socioeconomic people form connections.
It is the number one indicator of
[55:21] economic mobility. They controlled for
all kinds of things that affect economic
[55:26] mobility. And just that connectedness
that comes from relationships between
[55:31] people of different economic classes is
the number one indicator.
[55:36] The second study looks is a little bit
more case study focused. It digs into
[55:40] the mechanisms and it looks at both
racial and um economic disparities and
[55:46] it shows that kind of the mechanism. The
reason we see this is that when we're
[55:51] friends with others who are not like us,
it kind of it um shows us the
[55:55] possibilities of what we can do. And so
when you have a low socioeconomic person
[55:59] and a high socioeconomic person as
friends, you can see different
[56:03] possibilities just in regular
conversations.
[56:06] The report concludes by saying the
number one thing we can do is by
[56:10] creating local policies that bring
together these kinds of diverse
[56:15] audiences. School is a great way to make
friends. My friends have lots of my
[56:20] friends. My students Oh, my family has
great friends through schooling. Thank
[56:24] you, Miss I'll drop the reports off.
>> Um the next speaker is McKenzie Israel
[56:30] Thumbl followed by David Rudd Ross.
[56:41] Members of the school board, I am
grateful for the opportunity to speak
[56:44] tonight. I am a parent of two Matthew
children who are zoned to remain there.
[56:49] I'm also a faculty member at William and
Mary and a survey researcher. Along with
[56:53] a group of parents concerned with how
this process has unfolded, I fielded a
[56:56] survey to WJCC teachers and staff to
gather their views. Through reaching out
[57:01] to contacts and PTAs, 50 teachers and
staff members responded. Their opinions
[57:05] are illuminating. Overall, 80% of
respondents said they expect the
[57:10] division will worsen as a result of
these maps. Fewer than 10% said they
[57:14] expect the division will improve. Among
teachers and staff at Title One schools,
[57:18] 87% said that they expect their school's
quality to decrease compared to 44% at
[57:24] non-title one schools. Similarly, 60% at
title one schools said the new maps make
[57:29] it more likely they will consider
leaving their current position compared
[57:33] to only 20% of teachers and staff at
non-title one schools. Many of the
[57:38] respondents indicated their frustration
with the process, noting they were met
[57:41] with silence from WJCC leadership when
they sought to communicate concerns.
[57:46] Several said they were afraid to speak
out publicly. WJCC schools have
[57:51] long-standing problems with equity.
Families and community groups like the
[57:54] village have raised these concerns time
and again and the response has been
[57:58] underwhelming. These maps will
concentrate need at a handful of schools
[58:02] and the division seems to be asking us
to trust that resources will shift
[58:05] accordingly. I see little reason to
trust that the resources will come as
[58:10] the initial presentations of these maps
ignored the increased segregation they
[58:14] create. We need a concrete plan, not a
promise that one will come after the
[58:20] maps are approved. I urge you not to
approve these maps until there's a
[58:24] school-by-school equity impact analysis
and a clear detailed plan to ensure that
[58:28] every child at every school receives a
highquality education. Thank you. Thank
[58:33] you, Mr. Israel TR.
>> Our next speaker is David Red Ross
[58:37] followed by Steven Mains.
[58:46] » Thank you for the opportunity to provide
input on the school redistricting
[58:50] process. I'm a parent of two children
currently in the WJCC system. I'm asking
[58:55] that you not approve the redistricting
map without addressing the demographic
[58:58] change that will come about. Both the
May and August maps produce significant
[59:02] shifts in demographics of need at all
three levels. And in some cases, schools
[59:06] currently serving greater needs
populations are tasked with taking on a
[59:09] further increase in needs, whether in
terms of percentage of school
[59:12] population, the absolute number of
students with greater needs, or both.
[59:16] This is a particular concern at schools
already struggling to meet standards.
[59:20] Demographic change sadly was not
addressed initially with the May draft
[59:24] map and town halls. Spreadsheet data was
only provided after the fact and with
[59:29] the August map and September steering
committee presentation, but without
[59:32] useful analysis or discussion
with student population projections and
[59:37] a known resourcing matrix. The board and
community can and should see what the
[59:42] staffing and resourcing impact is to
representative students with additional
[59:46] needs at each school. Information such
as how does their classroom ratio
[59:50] improve or degrade? How does special
education staffing in a building change
[59:54] versus the new school population? What
does English language learning staffing
[59:58] now look like? Without this context, the
school board would be making a decision
[1:00:02] with only a partial view of the cost and
benefits. Thank you.
[1:00:06] » Thank you, Mr. Ross. Our next speaker,
Stephen Mains, followed by Matthew
[1:00:11] Haynes.
>> Madam Chairman, board members, Dr.
[1:00:15] Kever, I'm Dr. Steven Mains, a James
City County resident and son and brother
[1:00:19] of teachers. Uh, in the September
briefing on the so results, I'm sorry to
[1:00:24] say that that they were down. Reading,
math, history plateaued at unaccess
[1:00:28] unacceptable levels while science and
writing fell. pass rates remain below
[1:00:33] prepandemic uh state averages and York
County still outperforms us in reading,
[1:00:38] math, and science while spending less.
Dr. Kever said that these patterns
[1:00:44] cannot become permanent, but I would
submit that six years of flat or down uh
[1:00:49] scores is permanent. It's time for a new
approach. In 2013, Mississippi ranked
[1:00:55] 49th in the nation on fourth grade
reading. Uh and as of now, they've risen
[1:00:59] to ninth. uh adjusted for poverty and
demographics, Mississippi is the is
[1:01:05] first in the country in fourth grade
reading and math. And it's black fourth
[1:01:10] graders rank third in the nation.
Hispanic fourth graders rank first. Uh
[1:01:15] Mississippi did not uh spend a lot of
money. They did four things with
[1:01:21] discipline. Uh phonics, job embedded
coaching, early screening and
[1:01:25] intervention, and an end to promoting
third graders who cannot read. This
[1:01:30] division already has pieces of that in
in place. What we lack is a coherent
[1:01:35] divisionwide K through3 science of
reading program uh that uh that they are
[1:01:41] executing. I respectfully ask this board
to direct the administration to develop
[1:01:46] a written plan for implementing at the
semester break a plan consisting of
[1:01:50] phonics-based curriculum, trained
coaches for every elementary school,
[1:01:55] universal early screening and mandated
intervention in a third grade reading
[1:01:58] gate. Set the timeline, report progress
in public, and no excuses.
[1:02:04] We cannot stagger another year in this
plateau. We need to fix it now. We need
[1:02:09] a program that took the estate from 49th
to 9th and we need it today. Thank you
[1:02:14] very much.
>> Thank you, Dr. M.
[1:02:18] » Our next speaker is Matthew Haynes,
followed by C. Hannes, which you should
[1:02:24] put your full first name next time, but
I will allow you to come. Just kidding.
[1:02:29] You You always can come. It's how it
works.
[1:02:33] » Good evening. My name is Matt Haynes and
I live in the Kings Point neighborhood.
[1:02:37] I am here tonight to speak to the
planned redistricting effort that is
[1:02:40] currently underway. As the parent of
three children who have attended or
[1:02:43] still attend WJCC schools, I would like
to vocalize my support for the current
[1:02:47] redistricting initiative.
With the decrease in federal education
[1:02:52] funding and cuts to SNAP benefits that
will reduce funding for free and reduced
[1:02:56] lunches, I appreciate that the board is
assessing organizational and operational
[1:02:59] changes that will allow the district to
rep prioritize existing funding and
[1:03:03] leverage existing facilities to provide
equitable and high quality education to
[1:03:07] all WJCC school students. Thank you.
>> Thank you so much, Mr. Haynes.
[1:03:13] » C Hannes, if you're here,
After
[1:03:24] Mr. Haynes is Megan Steinman
Stein Men.
[1:03:35] I'm Chuck Haynes and I live in Kings
Point. U education of our children is
[1:03:41] probably the most important government
responsibility we have in every
[1:03:47] increasing demand
and we're always short on resources. So
[1:03:52] I commend you on your regististering
solution. I think the best thing all of
[1:03:57] us can do is to support. Thank you.
>> Thank you Mr. Haynes.
[1:04:03] » Next speaker is Megan Steinman followed
by Quinn EMTT.
[1:04:10] » Good evening members of the school
board. Um my name is Megan Steinman. I'm
[1:04:13] a resident of the city of Williamsburg.
I have two children who attend Matthew
[1:04:18] Whley Elementary School. And for
context, my children are not currently
[1:04:21] affected by the proposed elementary
school redistricting, but have been
[1:04:26] redistricted for Berkeley to James Blair
for the middle school. And you should
[1:04:30] absolutely consider changing the name of
that middle school.
[1:04:34] My comments tonight are simple. The way
the maps are currently drawn could lead
[1:04:38] to negative outcomes for our students if
they are not met with adequate
[1:04:42] resources.
They have the potential to deepen
[1:04:46] opportunity gaps across schools, create
unequal teacher workloads, and
[1:04:50] concentrate students with higher needs
in certain schools.
[1:04:55] They can have long-term effects for kids
across their lifespans. Everything from
[1:05:00] whether they graduate high school to
college attainment to their ability to
[1:05:03] get a good job. The board should
consider and make a plan for investing
[1:05:09] in these resources. things like hiring
more staff to lower the studenttoteer
[1:05:14] ratios in the schools that would be most
impacted by these new maps or the board
[1:05:19] needs to consider redrawing them all
together.
[1:05:23] As you consider this decision, I ask you
to not only think about how to most
[1:05:27] efficiently utilize the building space
we have, but to think about how to
[1:05:31] ensure that every school has the
resources they need to give every child
[1:05:35] in our community a fair chance. Thank
you.
[1:05:38] » Thank you. So, thank you so much, Mr.
Steman.
[1:05:40] » Our next speaker is Quinn EMTT, followed
by Jacqueline Bridgeworth Williams.
[1:05:50] » Good evening. Uh, my name is Quinn EMTT.
I'm a WJCC alumnist, actually alumnest
[1:05:56] of this school, uh, and parent of three
curtain students. Um, I have sought
[1:06:01] since the beginning of this process to
not only use your own math, uh, the math
[1:06:06] you've actually shared with us, uh, to
shape my arguments that this process
[1:06:09] does not only, uh, fail to achieve the
desired outcomes for long-term building
[1:06:15] utilization, but fails to do so while
unnecessarily adversely affecting
[1:06:19] students and families who are already
disadvantaged in a district with many
[1:06:24] existing issues and disparities. Um
there's a pattern I keep finding going
[1:06:29] through everything. Um which is that as
a gentleman before noticed much of the
[1:06:33] data arrives to us at least uh very late
or after the fact or after a decision uh
[1:06:38] it was meant to inform if we receive it
at all. Um there's one exception uh and
[1:06:44] it's why I'm here. Your road map lists u
this next bit under the phrase your own
[1:06:49] slide defines as prior to the school
board vote which again is supposed to be
[1:06:53] October 20th which is anticipate
potential impacts on title one based on
[1:06:58] proposed map configurations which the
end of the quote um on September 1st the
[1:07:04] recommendation itself included a title
one slide and staff said uh I'll
[1:07:08] paraphrase here uh that as economically
disadvantaged students shift so will the
[1:07:12] resources to support them which is
Uh I agree with that. Uh that is the
[1:07:17] point. Um but redistricting brings this
not division no additional federal
[1:07:23] dollars. That money follows how many
low-income children live here, not which
[1:07:27] building they sit in. Um so seven of our
nine elementary schools already receive
[1:07:32] title one. Uh by the economically
disadvantaged table in that same
[1:07:35] recommendation, those seven schools
would hold about 130 more economically
[1:07:40] disadvantaged children uh than they do
today. about 10% more. Uh the two
[1:07:45] schools that received no title one, Mata
and Stonehouse, go down by about 120. Uh
[1:07:51] but divisionwide the total stays flat.
So Moka's enrollment goes up by about 68
[1:07:55] students low income.
>> Thank you so much, Mr. EMTT.
[1:07:58] » If you have anything you'd like to
share, you can leave it with the clerk.
[1:08:04] » Our next speaker is Jacqueline
Bridgeworth Williams, followed by Andrew
[1:08:08] Huckabe.
[1:08:13] Good evening board members,
Superintendent Kever, and Madame Chair.
[1:08:17] I'm Jack Wimbridge, Forth Williams,
founder and executive director of the
[1:08:21] Village Initiative, a local 5013C, where
our center focus is social justice and
[1:08:27] educational equity in WJCC schools.
[1:08:36] First, I have three points I'd like to
make. First, redistricting. The proposed
[1:08:40] maps raise serious concerns that
existing disparities and inequities in
[1:08:45] our schools may be exacerbated beyond
redistricting. Our community wants to
[1:08:51] know what special solutions, resources,
and measurable supports will be put in
[1:08:58] place to address these inequities.
Moving students by itself does not close
[1:09:05] the opportunity or the achievement gaps
that have ex existed here since uh prior
[1:09:11] to integration.
Second, James Blair. I continue to stand
[1:09:15] in solidarity with those calling for the
removal of James Blair's names from our
[1:09:21] school. James Blair has a place in
history and that history should be
[1:09:25] taught truthfully. But the name of an
enslaver does not have to remain on our
[1:09:32] schools where our children learn and
grow. Child slavery was horrific.
[1:09:39] We cannot acknowledge that history while
ignoring the impact and the symbols it
[1:09:45] continues to have and how it impacts our
descendants and our community. We can
[1:09:51] tell the history without honoring the
name. Third, accountability. Our
[1:09:58] children deserve more than promises.
They deserve action, transparency, and
[1:10:04] measurable progress. WJCC has an
opportunity to be a beacon of hope, an
[1:10:10] example for our children and our young
people. We can do better. We must do
[1:10:15] better. And our children deserve better.
>> Thank you, Mrs. Williams.
[1:10:19] » Thank you so much.
>> Our next speaker is Andrew Huckabe,
[1:10:23] followed by Amy Quirk.
[1:10:28] Hello, my name is Andrew Huckabe. I am a
former student of WJCC and I know you've
[1:10:34] heard everything about the issues with
the new map. So, I'm not going to repeat
[1:10:38] that. But I am going to say that this
board has been in possession of these
[1:10:42] maps and they have seen the demographics
and the shift in demographics and I
[1:10:48] think there should be a call to action
because these numbers have been seen.
[1:10:52] But it seems like action has not been
taken. and maybe we can all admit that
[1:10:57] we've been wrong and rethink these
drawings and everything about them.
[1:11:02] Thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Huckabe.
[1:11:05] » Our next speaker is Amy Quirk, followed
by Rachel Tritner.
[1:11:11] » Good evening, superintendent, members of
the school board. My name is Amy Quirk.
[1:11:15] I have two children that attend WJCC
schools and I'm a member of the village
[1:11:19] initiative. Um, I'm here tonight um
because I have significant concerns
[1:11:23] about the inequities across our schools.
And I want to be really clear, these are
[1:11:27] long-standing inequities. The village
has been around for 10 years coming to
[1:11:31] schoolboard meetings talking about these
inequities. Um, and so it certainly does
[1:11:36] feel more urgent that we're um
considering redistricting maps that um
[1:11:40] will exacerbate these inequities at
elementary, middle, and high school
[1:11:44] levels across our schools. And I'm
concerned that um if these masks go
[1:11:49] forward, we don't have a strong track
record of um funding our schools um with
[1:11:55] equity in mind. Um so I'm here to urge
you to do one of two things. One, it's
[1:12:00] not too late to reconsider these maps.
It's a good um teaching moment for all
[1:12:04] our students is that we can take a pause
and say maybe there's a better way to do
[1:12:08] this. Um and alternatively, or not even
alternatively, no matter what maps go
[1:12:13] forward, we need a bold plan to address
long-standing inequities. And this plan
[1:12:17] should have been in place a long time
ago. Um such a plan um should include
[1:12:22] student teacher ratios of 15 to1 in
schools and classrooms with the highest
[1:12:26] needs and the most classroom complexity.
Our current ratio at James River is 19
[1:12:31] to1. Research suggests that will not
move the needle on our deep achievement
[1:12:35] gaps. Um secondly, we should revisit the
funding formula that provides additional
[1:12:40] funding to to schools per economically
disadvantaged student. This funding
[1:12:44] formula was introduced in fiscal year um
2022. And I would like to ask if that um
[1:12:50] formula has been revisited since that
year and does it need to be revised to
[1:12:55] improve outcomes? Has that is that was
that enough funding to actually um
[1:12:59] change anything? and how will
redistricting um be should it be revised
[1:13:04] because redistricting will generate more
cumulative disadvantage and reduce PTA
[1:13:08] support in some schools. Thirdly, I
don't understand why a dual language
[1:13:12] learner program has not been piloted 10
years ago at James River and Mass.
[1:13:16] » Thank you, Dr. Core.
>> And fund the restorative center as
[1:13:19] promised.
>> Thank you. Rachel Titler is next
[1:13:24] followed by Sarah Ren.
[1:13:29] Good evening, school board members. Um I
my name is Rachel Tritler. I've lived in
[1:13:34] Williamsburg for 13 years. I'm a Matthew
why parent and have been generally quite
[1:13:38] happy with um my school experience. But
I'm incredibly disappointed, frustrated,
[1:13:44] frankly sad, um at the choice that this
board has made in redistricting in a way
[1:13:48] that allocates the exact same student
population in such an inequitable way.
[1:13:54] Um it's hard for me to find a reasonable
explanation that a group of people that
[1:13:58] has been tasked or even elected to look
out for the um equity of all students in
[1:14:05] WJCC schools to make a choice that
increases disparity. Um that removes
[1:14:10] families with higher economic resources
from a handful of schools that already
[1:14:15] have higher um percentages of
economically disadvantaged students. Uh
[1:14:20] we're moving in the wrong direction. As
many have commented tonight, there is no
[1:14:24] reason that a school should see an
increase of nine or 12 percentage points
[1:14:29] in the percent of economically
disadvantaged students when other
[1:14:32] schools stay the same or significantly
decrease in those same factors. Um the
[1:14:38] board will be hardpressed to make up for
the removal of volunteer and economic
[1:14:44] contributions with this increase in
disparity using district resources.
[1:14:49] You're making your job harder. You're
making the students job harder. You're
[1:14:52] making the teachers job harder. And we
should and can do better. I hope that
[1:14:56] you hear the range of comments that you
have heard tonight in this same vein as
[1:15:00] so much more than the discomfort that
I'm sure you're expecting will come from
[1:15:04] any redistricting process. It is a
community that is upset about a choice
[1:15:10] to move in the opposite direction of
community building, of equality for all
[1:15:16] students. And if you do move forward
with this choice, we need to see a much
[1:15:19] more robust plan of how you aim to
fulfill your duty to look out for the
[1:15:24] equity of all students um and promote
learning outcomes at all levels. Um
[1:15:30] please reconsider. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Kitler.
[1:15:34] » Next speaker is Sarah Ren followed by
David Ren.
[1:15:43] » Hi, I'm Sarah Raiden. Um, I'm a student
of Matthew Wh. I don't want to do the
[1:15:51] redistricting because I'll miss all of
my friends in [snorts]
[1:15:56] Matthew Wh.
>> Thank you so much, Miss Raiden.
[1:16:02] » Our next speaker is David Raiden,
followed by Zachary Raiden.
[1:16:16] Hello, my name is David. Oops. Way down
here. My name is David Braden. Uh we my
[1:16:23] family lives in the Holly Hills
neighborhood um just about five six
[1:16:27] minutes away from this uh school. And
with the proposed redistricting map uh
[1:16:32] sending us instead of Berkeley to James
Blair, that increases the commute time
[1:16:36] for my kids uh to 12 minutes uh from
about the five to six minutes it took us
[1:16:41] just to come down this road. As well as
the you know bike lanes that are being
[1:16:47] worked on here. Uh my son currently
loves biking to Matthew Willie where he
[1:16:51] currently attends. Was excited to bike
to middle school and that would take
[1:16:55] away that opportunity. Uh besides all
the disparity in the test scores and
[1:17:01] everything else that's been discussed
already here tonight, uh I just
[1:17:04] encourage the board to consider other
options. Think outside the box. For
[1:17:09] example, at Matthew Willy, currently
there's a huge athletic field of which
[1:17:14] the children are not allowed to fully
use for recess. Uh they don't use it for
[1:17:20] PE. It's not being used. There's raw
land that's there. uh that could be a
[1:17:26] place where trailers could temporarily
go for the pre kindergarten uh which is
[1:17:30] essentially a big part of why this
redistricting is being discussed in the
[1:17:35] first place. While there's plenty of
room to build uh secondary outbuildings
[1:17:40] at Matthew. I know that from Matthew
Willy, but I don't know all the other
[1:17:45] schools. I haven't visited all the
schools in this district, but perhaps
[1:17:49] there's similar land that's available in
those school yards, in those areas to
[1:17:55] think about a better long-term plan
instead of a shortsided thing that might
[1:18:00] create more hassle as some of the other
people have said in the future. Thank
[1:18:05] you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Raiden.
[1:18:07] » And this is Zachary.
>> Um, hi, I'm a student of Matthew and you
[1:18:15] do the redistricting. Then once I go to
middle school, then I won't be with any
[1:18:21] of my friends and
um I just basically won't know anyone.
[1:18:28] Thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Raven.
[1:18:30] » The next speaker is Jennifer Raiden
and the person after that is Jake
[1:18:36] Lambert Lambert.
[1:18:41] » Hi, my name is Jennifer Raiden. I'm also
a mom of two Matthew Ellie students that
[1:18:47] you just heard from. I'm here to express
my strong opposition to the currently
[1:18:52] proposed school attendance zone
redistricting areas. The current
[1:18:56] proposals raise serious concerns for our
community and our students. The main
[1:19:01] concern that others have already raised
is the equity and diversity. The
[1:19:06] proposed maps risk creating wider
economic and academic disparities
[1:19:10] between schools rather than fostering
balanced and inclusive learning
[1:19:15] environments.
This proposed redistricting also impacts
[1:19:19] student well-being. Many students have
formed strong connections with peers in
[1:19:24] the schools that they currently attend
and this creates stress and anxiety for
[1:19:30] children who are navigating critical
developmental years.
[1:19:34] Um, I also am really opposed to the
additional length and distance that many
[1:19:40] of us will have to now travel nearly
double from our existing schools that we
[1:19:45] are districted for. Um, so I would
really like you all to strongly
[1:19:50] reconsider the redistricting proposal
and look outside the box for other
[1:19:54] alternatives to better serve our
students. Thank you.
[1:19:57] » Thank you, Mrs. Raen. Our next speaker
is Jake Lambert, followed by Renee
[1:20:02] Vogghan.
[1:20:09] Good evening, Madame Chair and members
of the board. Uh, thank you for your
[1:20:12] time tonight. My name is Jake Lambert
and I'm the father of two Matthew why
[1:20:16] students. I want to talk about what
redistricting does to equity across the
[1:20:21] division. Looking at the demographic
projections, several schools including
[1:20:25] Matthew Whley, James River, James Blair
Middle, and Lafayette High, will see
[1:20:30] meaningful increas increases in their
share of economically disadvantaged
[1:20:35] students under this proposal. James
River's English language learner
[1:20:39] population, already the highest in the
division, grows further. At James Blair,
[1:20:44] the increases of in economically
disadvantaged students appears large
[1:20:48] enough to exceed the steering
committee's own stated goal of keeping
[1:20:52] only singledigit shifts and under 10
percentage points, a threshold the
[1:20:57] committee set for itself and one of the
only places in the map where the
[1:21:01] threshold seems to be broken. I
understand the division has real
[1:21:04] long-standing problems with building
utilization and bus routes. Those are
[1:21:08] legitimate constraints. But what is
missing is the other half of the
[1:21:12] equation, a funding plan that matches
these shifts. There's no staffing ratio
[1:21:18] commitment, no dollar figure, no
resource allocation tied specifically to
[1:21:21] the schools now absorbing more students
in poverty, more English language
[1:21:26] learners, and more students who need
additional support. The district's own
[1:21:30] transition roadmap doesn't begin
staffing planning until December after
[1:21:34] family notifications and two months
after the board is set to vote on maps
[1:21:38] in October. Whatever that planning
covers, it isn't published equity
[1:21:43] specific funding commitment and none
exists today. I understand that funding
[1:21:47] is fluid based on a number of factors,
but it seems necessary to present at
[1:21:51] minimum a proposed funding and staffing
plan along with the overall vote on
[1:21:55] redistricting. you're being asked to
approve where the need goes before
[1:21:59] you've seen a plan meeting it.
One more thing that is worth noting, the
[1:22:05] James City County Board of Supervisors
voted to terminate the joint school
[1:22:08] contract with Williamsburg after the
city studied operating its own school
[1:22:12] system.
>> Thank you, Mr. Lambert.
[1:22:16] » Any additional comments can be left with
the clerk. Um, Renee, sorry, I cannot
[1:22:20] pronounce your last name, but Von.
>> Von. Okay, you're next. and your last
[1:22:24] speaker.
[1:22:27] » Members of the board, my name is Renee
Vaughn. I'm a community member. I'm also
[1:22:31] the mother of a 5-year-old
kindergartener who unfortunately is not
[1:22:35] currently attending kindergarten in the
county. Um, we're having to pay another
[1:22:39] year of private school tuition in large
part basically because of the
[1:22:42] redistricting issue because we felt
uncomfortable putting him into James
[1:22:46] River Elementary and then potentially
having to pull him and move him to a
[1:22:49] different school to Laurel Lane the
following year. Uh, I just I I didn't
[1:22:54] get to prepare remarks in advance or
practice them, so I won't be as eloquent
[1:22:57] as some of your other speakers. Um, but
I just wanted to share with you that
[1:23:01] when my husband and I moved to Virginia
a few years ago, we were very excited,
[1:23:05] enthusiastic to participate in the
public school community here. Um, we
[1:23:10] were however taken aback uh when we
started talking to community members and
[1:23:15] telling people, oh, you know, we're
James River parents, we live in
[1:23:18] Kingsville.
If it is, if you're not aware, there is
[1:23:22] whether a warranted or unwanted
stereotype already out there about James
[1:23:26] River Elementary School. We were very
taken aback by the reactions we got when
[1:23:31] we said we were going to be a James
River family. Um, and they were
[1:23:35] predominantly negative reactions.
However, when we talked to our own
[1:23:39] community members in Kings Mill, they
were incredibly supportive, incredibly
[1:23:43] enthusiastic, went on and on about how
wonderful the faculty is, how wonderful
[1:23:48] the teachers are, what a wonderful
experience their children are having
[1:23:51] there. And so, we were very excited at
the thought of being able to support
[1:23:56] James River Elementary with both our
time and our money when our son was old
[1:24:00] enough. To my point, um during today's
meeting, I actually received a message
[1:24:06] um discussing the fact that the uh all
of the PTA administration for James
[1:24:12] River Elementary will be moving to
Laurel Lane next year if you sustain the
[1:24:16] proposed map uh for redistricting. So,
they are currently trying to figure out
[1:24:21] how to implement strategies and actions
that can be sustainable when all of them
[1:24:26] leave.
uh the budget or the amount of money
[1:24:29] that they've taken in is roughly 10% of
what other schools.
[1:24:33] » Thank you, Miss Vaughn. Thank you.
>> That concludes the speakers for tonight.
[1:24:40] » Thank you to all of our speakers who
came out this evening. We're going to
[1:24:43] stand in a fivem minute recess.
[1:33:15] I will now reconvene this meeting of the
Williamsburg James City County School
[1:33:18] Board. We will go on to our next um set
of action items. Uh act number eight,
[1:33:25] the consent agenda. Um on the consent
agenda this evening is 8.01, 01 approval
[1:33:31] of financial report and monthly bills
and payroll June 2026
[1:33:35] 8.02 approval of financial report and
monthly bills and payroll April August
[1:33:40] 2026
8.03 approval of minutes from work
[1:33:43] session at 9126
8.04 approval of resolution R-9-26
[1:33:50] bullying prevention month item 8.05 5
approval approval of resolution R-20-26
[1:33:58] National School Lunch Week. Item 8.06
approval of revisions to policy AE
[1:34:05] school division goals and objectives.
8.07 approval of creation of policy EA
[1:34:11] Aad use of school buses. 8.08 approval
of revisions to policy I A instructional
[1:34:17] goals and objectives.
8.09 09 approval of revisions to policy
[1:34:23] IG A teaching about drugs, alcohol, and
tobacco. 8.10, approval of revisions to
[1:34:30] policy IG AJ, driver education.
Item 8.11, approval of revisions to
[1:34:37] policy IIA, instructional materials.
Item 8.12,
[1:34:43] approval of creation of policy IK,
academic planning and course selection.
[1:34:48] Item 8.13,
approval of a creation of policy ILBC,
[1:34:55] College Board School Day Program. And
item 8.14, approval of release from
[1:35:00] compulsory attendance case number
R262705.
[1:35:05] May
um does anyone want to remove anything
[1:35:09] from the consent agenda? If not, can I
have a motion to approve?
[1:35:13] » Madam Chair, I move to approve the
consent agenda as presented. Thank you,
[1:35:18] Mrs. Hunley. May I have a second?
>> Second.
[1:35:20] » Thank you, Mr. Hosang. Miss Aller,
>> Mrs. Hunley, I.
[1:35:26] » Mr. Riffle,
>> I.
[1:35:27] » Dr. Kvassos,
>> I.
[1:35:29] » Miss Chen,
>> I.
[1:35:30] » Mr. Hodgees,
>> I.
[1:35:31] » Mr. Hosang,
>> I.
[1:35:33] » Mrs. Donner,
>> I. We'll now move on to our action
[1:35:36] items. Item 9.01, approval personnel
actions. May I have a motion?
[1:35:43] » Madam Chair, I move to approve personnel
actions as presented.
[1:35:46] » Thank you, Mrs. Chen. May I have a
second?
[1:35:48] » Second, Madam Chair.
>> Thank you, Mr. Riffle. Miss Holler.
[1:35:51] » Miss Chen,
>> I.
[1:35:53] » Mr. Hodgees,
>> I.
[1:35:54] » Mr. Hosang,
>> I.
[1:35:56] » Mrs. Hunley,
>> I.
[1:35:57] » Mr. Riffle,
>> I
[1:35:58] » Dr. Kvassos,
>> hi.
[1:35:59] » Mrs. Donner,
>> I.
[1:36:01] » Item 9.02, approval of minutes from
regular meeting on 81826.
[1:36:06] May I have a motion?
>> Madam Chair, I move to approve the
[1:36:09] minutes from the regular meeting on
81826.
[1:36:13] » Thank you, Mrs. Hunley. May I have a
second?
[1:36:15] » One second. Thank you. Dr. Kavazos, Miss
[1:36:21] » Mrs. Hunley.
>> Hi,
[1:36:22] » Mr. Riffle.
>> Hi,
[1:36:24] » Dr. Kavasos.
>> Hi,
[1:36:25] » Miss Chen.
>> Hi,
[1:36:26] » Mr. Hodes.
>> Hi,
[1:36:27] » Mr. Hosang.
>> Hi,
[1:36:29] » Mrs. Donner.
>> I'll abstain. I watched the meeting, but
[1:36:31] I was not in attendance. Uh, we'll move
down to 9.03, approval of fiscal year
[1:36:37] 2026 year end financial report and
proposed commitments of the fund
[1:36:42] balance.
May I have a motion? Madam Chair, I move
[1:36:46] to approve the fiscal year 2026 year-end
financial report as proposed commitment
[1:36:52] of the year end fund balance to the
healthc care reserve fund.
[1:36:57] » Thank you, Mrs. Hunley. Is there a
second?
[1:36:59] » Second, madam chair.
>> All right. Any discussion?
[1:37:03] All right, Miss
>> Mrs. Hunley.
[1:37:06] » I.
>> Mr. Riffle,
[1:37:08] » I
>> Dr. Kasos.
[1:37:09] » Hi,
>> Miss Chen.
[1:37:11] » I
>> Mr. Hodgees.
[1:37:12] » Hi,
>> Mr. Hosang.
[1:37:14] » Hi,
>> Mrs. Donner. I we'll go on to item 9.04,
[1:37:18] approval of the 2026 2027 textbox
textbook selection and adoption
[1:37:23] proposal. May I have a motion?
>> Madam Chair, I move to approve the 2026
[1:37:27] 2027 textbook selection and adoption
proposal as presented.
[1:37:31] » Thank you, Mr. Hosang. May we have a
second?
[1:37:33] » I second.
>> Thank you, Miss Chen. Any discussion?
[1:37:36] Seeing none, Miss Aller.
>> Mr. Hosang,
[1:37:39] » I.
>> Mrs. Hunley,
[1:37:40] » I.
>> Mr. Ripple,
[1:37:41] » hi.
>> Dr. Kvassos,
[1:37:42] » hi.
>> Miss Chen,
[1:37:43] » hi. Mr. Hodes.
>> Hi,
[1:37:45] » Mrs. Donner.
>> I item 9.05, approval of request to
[1:37:49] modify and extend construction
management services for two preK centers
[1:37:53] to Mcdana Voliard Pek MBP. May I have a
motion? Madam Chair, I move to approve
[1:38:01] the to modify and extend the contract
for construction management services for
[1:38:07] two preK centers to Mcdow Ballard Peek
MBP for the cost of $263,840.
[1:38:17] » Thank you, Mrs. Hunley. May I have a
second?
[1:38:20] » Second.
>> Thank you, Dr. Kavazos. Any discussion?
[1:38:24] Seeing none, Miss Aller.
>> Mrs. Hunley.
[1:38:26] » Hi,
>> Mr. Riffle.
[1:38:28] » Hi,
>> Dr. Kavasos.
[1:38:29] » Hi,
>> Miss Chen.
[1:38:30] » Hi,
>> Mr. Hodes.
[1:38:31] » Hi,
>> Mr. Hosang.
[1:38:33] » I
>> Mrs. Donner,
[1:38:34] » I. [clears throat]
>> Item 9.06, approval of calendar year
[1:38:37] 2027 schoolboard meeting dates. They
have a motion.
[1:38:42] » Madam Chair, I recommend move the
approval of the proposed school board
[1:38:46] meeting scheduled for calendar year 2027
as presented.
[1:38:50] » Thank you, Mrs. Hunley. May I have a
second?
[1:38:52] » Second.
>> Thank you, Mr. Hodgeges. Any discussion?
[1:38:56] Seeing none, Miss Aller.
>> Mrs. Hunley.
[1:38:59] » Hi,
>> Mr. Riffle.
[1:39:01] » Hi,
>> Dr. Kabasos.
[1:39:02] » Hi,
>> Miss Chen.
[1:39:03] » Hi,
>> Mr. Hodgeges.
[1:39:04] » Hi,
>> Mr. Hosang.
[1:39:06] » Hi,
>> Mrs. Donner.
[1:39:07] » I We move on to our next session section
information discussion items. The first
[1:39:12] is 10.01 annual recruitment and launch
report.
[1:39:17] » Madam Chair, administration is excited
to present this evening an annual
[1:39:21] recruitment and launch report. our chief
human resources officer, Emily Haywood,
[1:39:25] and our chief strategy officer, Elena
Trot, will take us through this
[1:39:29] presentation. We're excited to share
with you the amazing work that's
[1:39:32] happening across the division. Emily,
good evening, Madam Chair, Dr. Kever,
[1:39:37] and members of the board. Tonight, we
are pleased to share a recruitment and
[1:39:40] launch annual report. This presentation
reflects the collaborative work of human
[1:39:45] resources and organizational development
to attract, support, and retain
[1:39:48] high-quality employees across the
division.
[1:39:54] Utilizing an FTE neutral approach, we
strategically reorganized the human
[1:39:58] resources department to better support
recruitment, onboarding, employee
[1:40:02] engagement, and operational
effectiveness. Two talent acquisition
[1:40:06] coordinators with educational
backgrounds now provide focused
[1:40:09] recruitment support for elementary and
secondary schools. Their experience
[1:40:14] allows them to better understand school
needs and strengthen candidate
[1:40:17] engagement. We also added an employee
experience coordinator dedicated to
[1:40:22] onboarding, employee support, and
retention initiatives. A former human
[1:40:26] resources coordinator position was
realigned to a new human resources
[1:40:30] operations coordinator role to focus
specifically on operational staffing
[1:40:34] needs. Finally, we transitioned an
administrative position into an HR data
[1:40:40] analyst role, improving our ability to
leverage workforce data and make more
[1:40:44] informed decisions. Together, these
changes are designed to shift HR from a
[1:40:48] transactional model to a more strategic
and service service focused approach.
[1:40:56] One of our primary measures of success
is ensuring schools begin the year fully
[1:41:00] staffed. This year, we open school with
99.6% of teaching positions filled with
[1:41:05] only four teaching vacancies division
divisionwide.
[1:41:09] Support staff reached 95.3% and
administrator staffing reached 99%.
[1:41:14] This result these results reflect
improvements over the last year and
[1:41:18] demonstrate the effectiveness of our
recruitment efforts.
[1:41:24] Retention remains one of our most
important workforce indicators. Our
[1:41:28] target is 90% retention and we have
showed continued improvement among
[1:41:31] teachers and support staff and retain
nearly 90% of our administrators. It is
[1:41:36] important to note that each year a
certain amount of turnover happens
[1:41:39] through relocations, retirements, and
family needs, not factors related to
[1:41:44] working for WJCC.
These results suggest our retention
[1:41:48] strategies are having a positive effect
while also highlighting opportunities to
[1:41:52] further support staff retention.
[1:41:58] Our teaching workforce continues to
demonstrate a strong commitment to
[1:42:01] professional growth and excellence. We
currently employ 48 National Board
[1:42:06] certified teachers and more than 640
teachers with a master's degree or
[1:42:10] higher. This year we hired 141 teachers
and nearly 18% of those hires
[1:42:16] contributed to increasing workforce
diversity.
[1:42:19] 17 of our new hires came from support
staff transitioning to teaching which is
[1:42:24] an important grow your own strategy. 22
of our new teachers are working on lure
[1:42:29] through alternative routes as associate
teachers. These numbers reflect both the
[1:42:34] quality of our current staff and our
strong recruitment results.
[1:42:40] We launched a new recruitment campaign
called Purpose Starts Here to create a
[1:42:44] unified brand message across all
recruitment platforms. In addition to
[1:42:48] digital recruitment efforts, we piloted
community-based advertising initiatives
[1:42:52] to reach potential candidates in new
ways. This approach strengthen
[1:42:57] strengthens awareness of employment
opportunities and helps position WJCC as
[1:43:01] an employer of choice.
[1:43:07] Our redesign careers website provides
candidates with a more engaging and
[1:43:10] informative experience. Applicants can
quickly access information about career
[1:43:15] opportunities, benefits, certification
pathways, resources that highlight our
[1:43:20] area, and support programs available to
staff. This website serves as an
[1:43:25] important recruitment tool and helps
candidates better understand what makes
[1:43:29] WJCC a great place to work.
[1:43:35] We expanded access to benefits
information for both prospective and
[1:43:39] current employees. Employees now have a
centralized location for reviewing
[1:43:43] benefit guides, videos, planning tools,
and detailed plan information, improving
[1:43:48] transparency, and helping prospective
and current employees making informed
[1:43:52] choices.
This year we also continued access to
[1:43:55] our onetoone benefit coaches with over
224 employees taking advantage of
[1:44:00] individual appointments.
[1:44:05] This year represents the second phase of
our three-year compensation study
[1:44:09] implementation. We continued adjustments
to teacher compensation and salary
[1:44:13] progression while maintaining alignment
with recommendations from the study. We
[1:44:18] made further adjustments to placement in
titles in the unified scale and provided
[1:44:22] across the board adjustments to stipens.
Year three will provide an opportunity
[1:44:27] to fully implement the study and
position us to better maintain our
[1:44:31] scales moving forward. As a reminder,
the average teacher increase was 5.2%
[1:44:36] for teachers with a bachelor's degree
and 6.7% for teachers with a master's
[1:44:40] degree. These changes support
recruitment, retention, and market
[1:44:44] competitiveness.
[1:44:49] Employee wellness remains a key
component of employee engagement and
[1:44:53] retention. We established a divisionwide
wellness team with representatives from
[1:44:57] each school, expanded events throughout
the year with challenges and
[1:45:00] initiatives, enhanced our former
benefits fair into a wellness event, and
[1:45:05] launched a new wellness resource through
the vitality website and app. These
[1:45:10] efforts reflect our commitment to
support to supporting employees both
[1:45:13] personally and professionally.
[1:45:18] We continue to modernize HR operations
through technology and process redesign.
[1:45:24] New digital workflows, applicant
tracking, records management systems,
[1:45:28] contract delivery, and substitute
management tools have improved
[1:45:32] efficiency while creating a better
experience for both applicants and
[1:45:35] employees. These changes reduce
administrative burden and increase
[1:45:40] accountability across HR processes.
[1:45:46] Student teachers represent one of our
most important future recruitment
[1:45:49] pipelines. This year, we expanded
university partnerships and currently
[1:45:53] have student teachers from William and
Mary, JMU, CNU, ODU, and Longwood. We
[1:45:59] conducted student teacher orientation,
enhanced technology support with
[1:46:03] laptops, provided mileage assistance,
and developed incentives to encourage
[1:46:08] student teachers to join WJCC upon
graduation.
[1:46:12] These investments improve the student
teacher experience and future hiring
[1:46:16] outcomes.
[1:46:20] Our teachers for tomorrow program helps
cultivate future educators directly from
[1:46:25] our student population. Students gain
college credit, real world classroom
[1:46:30] experience, industry credentials, and a
clear pathway to entering the
[1:46:34] profession. This year, we strengthened
incentives and employment opportunities
[1:46:38] designed to encourage participants to
return to WJCC as future educators. This
[1:46:44] is one of our most promising long-term
workforce strategies.
[1:46:50] The recruiting and retention
accomplishments highlighted today
[1:46:54] represent the collective efforts of our
supportive schoolboard, school leaders,
[1:46:58] human resources staff, and division
employees. Together, we have
[1:47:02] strengthened our recruitment pipeline,
improved employee support systems,
[1:47:06] expanded wellness initiatives, and
implemented strategic organizational
[1:47:10] changes that position us for continued
success. While there is still important
[1:47:14] work ahead, these results demonstrate
meaningful progress toward attracting,
[1:47:19] developing, and retaining exceptional
employees who support student
[1:47:22] achievement. I am now going to turn to
Elena Trot, chief strategy officer, to
[1:47:27] tell you more about our launch program.
[1:47:32] Good evening. In the spring of 2023, we
enlisted the help of four dedicated lead
[1:47:38] mentors from across our schools. I'd
like to honor them tonight. Alisa Smith,
[1:47:43] Lindseay Ambrose, Abigail Neely, and Amy
Zerovi. These four ladies helped to
[1:47:49] design a comprehensive induction and
mentoring program to strengthen teacher
[1:47:53] recruitment and retention in WJCC.
Guided by authentic feedback from new
[1:47:58] teachers, mentors, and administrators,
we kicked off WJCC's launch program in
[1:48:03] the fall of 2023.
Since then, it has evolved into a model
[1:48:08] of inspiration for other new teacher
programs across the Commonwealth.
[1:48:12] Tonight I am pleased to share an update
on launch and its growth from a new
[1:48:16] teacher mentoring initiative into a
coordinated system of onboarding,
[1:48:21] mentoring, professional learning and
lensure support.
[1:48:25] Designed for teachers by teachers,
launch is anchored by the program's
[1:48:30] goals that reflect what new educators
need to begin well and continue growing.
[1:48:35] First is belonging. We want each
educator to feel connected to WJCC and
[1:48:40] welcomed into our community. Second, we
build competency through personalized
[1:48:45] mentoring and professional learning. And
third, we support autonomy by helping
[1:48:50] educators recognize their strengths,
make sound professional decisions, and
[1:48:54] build a sustainable career within WJCC.
Together, these goals promote a gradual
[1:49:00] release of teachers entering the
profession and developing their
[1:49:04] craftsmanship as educators both in and
outside of the classroom.
[1:49:13] Launch is informed and aligned to the
Virginia Board of Education's guidelines
[1:49:17] for mentor teacher programs.
Additionally, as active members of the
[1:49:22] Reach Virginia network, a consortium of
47 school divisions and 10 university
[1:49:27] partners across the state, we have
continued to enhance our program through
[1:49:31] training and shared problem solving with
other practitioners focused on preparing
[1:49:35] the next generation of teachers for
success.
[1:49:39] Our new teacher mentor program advisory
includes diverse perspective, including
[1:49:44] our school board representative, Mrs.
Hunley, higher education and I teach
[1:49:49] Virginia partners, school-based
administrators, lead mentors, novice
[1:49:53] teachers, and members of the
organizational development, human
[1:49:57] resources, student services, and
teaching and learning departments at
[1:50:00] central support. The advisory meets
three times a year to review new teacher
[1:50:05] data, feedback, and recommendations for
continuous improvement.
[1:50:10] Just as we expect our teachers to
embrace the whole learner in their
[1:50:13] classroom, we've designed Launch to
strategically meet the holistic needs of
[1:50:17] our adult learners entering the
profession.
[1:50:20] Components of the program address
teachers needs for instructional,
[1:50:25] institutional, physical, and emotional
supports. Speaking of emotional
[1:50:29] supports, we know the first year teacher
can often the we know the first year of
[1:50:35] teaching can often feel like a roller
coaster as evidenced by this line graph
[1:50:39] from the new teacher center on the
phases of firstear teachers attitudes
[1:50:43] towards teaching. With this research in
mind, we have strategically designed a
[1:50:48] timely, human- centered approach to
anticipating our new teachers needs at
[1:50:52] specific points in the school year and
intentionally normalized these emotions
[1:50:56] so they understand they are not alone
and we're here to support them for the
[1:51:00] entire journey. Our program is a
balanced approach to sheltering our new
[1:51:05] teachers by simplifying the job so that
it's manageable while they improve their
[1:51:09] craft and developing their effectiveness
through mentoring, coaching,
[1:51:13] professional learning, and a gradual
release of autonomy.
[1:51:17] From the very beginning, we want our new
teachers to feel part of the WJCC family
[1:51:22] and have a clear understanding of what
they can expect throughout the induction
[1:51:26] process. Once they are hired, they
receive an onboarding checklist that
[1:51:29] outlines essential tasks they must
complete and provides the point of
[1:51:33] contact for each task. Next, they attend
a 4-hour pre-boarding session where they
[1:51:38] receive information from human resources
and payroll, obtain their laptops and an
[1:51:43] introductory training from our
instructional technology team, and learn
[1:51:47] about the launch program and the
supports available to them. Next, they
[1:51:51] attend school launch day, a full day
opportunity for them to tour their
[1:51:55] buildings, meet with their school
leadership teams, have lunch with their
[1:51:58] mentor, and even get assistance with
setting up their classrooms. During that
[1:52:03] time, they form initial relationships
with the other new teachers who are
[1:52:07] joining their school faculty. Those
budding bonds are special to witness
[1:52:11] when they come to the division launch
day the next day.
[1:52:16] At division launch day, Dr. Kever
facilitates a community building welcome
[1:52:20] session to set the tone for the
family-like culture we strive to foster
[1:52:24] here. Next, they spend time with their
teaching and learning coordinators,
[1:52:28] discussing all things curriculum,
instruction, and assessment. It's then
[1:52:32] that they begin to form relationships
with new educators from other schools
[1:52:36] who have similar teaching assignments as
them. The day concludes with an ice
[1:52:40] cream debrief with their principles, a
sweet conversation, and final check-in
[1:52:44] before pre-ervice week officially
begins. We also offer a bonus session
[1:52:48] for our elementary educators that
includes a deep dive into our benchmark
[1:52:52] advance and KDUm math curriculum so they
have everything they need to be ready to
[1:52:56] collaborate with their colleagues on the
first unit. It's important to note that
[1:53:01] we provide summer pay compensation for
all of the days that I just outlined.
[1:53:06] Once the school year begins, our lead
mentors take it from there, hosting
[1:53:09] monthly pull-in support sessions,
monitoring our mentor mentee pairings,
[1:53:14] and managing requests for coaching
cycles and personalized professional
[1:53:18] learning days. An opportunity for our
new teachers to get a substitute for the
[1:53:22] day so they can observe other rockstar
teachers in action. At the division
[1:53:27] level, we also host a series of tier 2
professional development sessions for
[1:53:31] teachers for specific target audiences.
This year we have 148 new teachers
[1:53:39] attending our pull-in support sessions
and receiving one-on-one mentors. As you
[1:53:44] may notice, this number is slightly
higher than the number Mrs. Haywood
[1:53:48] shared earlier because it includes both
classroom teachers, school counselors,
[1:53:51] and related service providers. Within
our 2026 cohort, we have 18 elementary
[1:53:58] teachers and 36 secondary teachers who
will attend our first launch and learn
[1:54:03] tomorrow. in an which is an indistrict
program consisting of five half-day
[1:54:09] sessions specifically designed for
firstear gener general education
[1:54:13] teachers. It's fun to watch these cohort
members develop their own mini learning
[1:54:18] community with other educators in the
same stage of their teaching careers.
[1:54:23] The sessions cover topics such as
student engagement, classroom
[1:54:26] management, technology integration,
collegialism, and managing their own
[1:54:31] well-being. Parallel to Launch and Learn
is RISE, our tier 2 program designed for
[1:54:36] special education teachers. Our RISE one
cohort will have 12 teachers this year
[1:54:41] in their first three years of teaching
and our RISE 2 cohort will have 24
[1:54:46] teachers who have more than three years
of experience in special education but
[1:54:50] are new to the division. We also use
RISE 2 for our year 2 teachers who may
[1:54:55] need some follow-up supports. And
finally, this year we'll have 20
[1:54:59] participants in William and Mary's CERN
Novice Teacher Academy. This program is
[1:55:04] for second and thirdyear teachers who
are new to the division or have been
[1:55:08] recommended by their principal. The
novice teacher academy affords these
[1:55:13] teachers with the opportunity to connect
with other new teachers from across the
[1:55:16] region and receive ongoing mentorship
from a master teacher in the field.
[1:55:21] We're proud to have five of our very own
educators serving as master teachers in
[1:55:26] the CERN novice teacher academy this
year. And finally, as participating
[1:55:31] divisions with the as a participating
division with the I teach Virginia
[1:55:35] program, we've been able to offer our
novice educators coming into the
[1:55:39] profession through alternative pathways
with a lowcost self-paced option for
[1:55:45] obtaining lensure. And even better,
using our tuition assistance program
[1:55:49] benefits, these participants can receive
100%
[1:55:54] return on their investment through this
lensure only program after three years
[1:55:59] of service to WJCC schools. The
reimbursement schedule is broken up over
[1:56:04] the course of the three years so they
have benchmarks to meet along the way as
[1:56:08] they obtain their renewable license.
Because the I teach program has rolling
[1:56:13] enrollment. This has also been a viable
option for recruiting mid-year hires to
[1:56:17] fill vacancies.
We also offer passage preparation
[1:56:21] licenses to our employees who are
studying to take the practice
[1:56:24] assessments free of charge. And finally,
we know that starting a new career and
[1:56:29] balancing work life demands is
difficult. So this year we've started
[1:56:33] quarterly advising sessions with all
provisionally licensed teachers to serve
[1:56:38] as compassionate accountability partners
to support them in completing their
[1:56:42] required coursework for lensure. And ju
just as an awareness so far since we've
[1:56:47] joined as an I teach division we've had
34 employees who have received tuition
[1:56:53] assistance reimbursement through that
program.
[1:56:57] So how effective is the launch program?
Let's take a look. Each year in the
[1:57:02] fall, we conduct an onboarding survey
for all of our new teachers, both novice
[1:57:07] and experienced, to gather their
feedback. We wait until 30 days have
[1:57:11] passed and they've been acclimated to
their new schools, students, and
[1:57:15] classrooms to ensure their feedback is
informed by their actual experiences in
[1:57:19] the field. So that the survey actually
is going out today for our new cohort
[1:57:25] members uh that joined us uh a month
ago. But here you can see the onboarding
[1:57:30] survey data from last year's cohort.
This question asked them to rate the
[1:57:34] level of support they received from each
component of the launch program using a
[1:57:39] fivepoint liyker scale. The lighter
shade blue represents a more favorable
[1:57:44] response. But I think it's important to
note that the highest ratings came from
[1:57:48] the support they received from their
school's lead mentors and individual
[1:57:52] mentors. A testament to our people being
our greatest resource. And I also want
[1:57:58] to thank you board members for investing
in those mentor teacher stipen increases
[1:58:02] over the past few years.
This question, the launch onboarding
[1:58:08] process has made me feel welcomed and
valued. Had a weighted score of 4.4 with
[1:58:14] 91 uh respondents agreeing or strongly
agreeing which is evidence that our
[1:58:20] belonging goal is working.
this question. How did your onboarding
[1:58:25] experience with WJCC compare to previous
onboarding experiences in other school
[1:58:31] divisions? This question was only asked
of teachers who had experience but were
[1:58:35] new to the division. With a weighted
score of 4.12
[1:58:40] and 47% of respondents saying that our
program was much more favorable, we are
[1:58:46] proud to put our competition behind us
and put our new teachers first.
[1:58:51] We also conduct end ofear surveys in May
for both our mentors and mentees. This
[1:58:57] data represents our new teachers
perceptions of their experiences with
[1:59:01] their mentors. With a weighted score of
4.43 again at the end of the year, our
[1:59:07] mentors have done a phenomenal job with
supporting our new teachers along the
[1:59:11] way.
[1:59:15] This question, how satisfied were you
with the support you received from your
[1:59:20] school's lead mentor? Again, shows the
value of our lead mentors in
[1:59:25] facilitating sitebased supports. And
this series of statements with a
[1:59:30] weighted score of 4.32
also indicates that the majority of new
[1:59:35] teachers felt welcomed, supported, and
understood by their building
[1:59:39] administrators throughout the year. And
finally, when asked what their plans
[1:59:44] were for the 2627 school year, last
year's cohort, 82% of the respondents
[1:59:50] who completed the survey shared that
they planned on returning to teach at
[1:59:54] the same school this school year. The
eight respondents who selected another
[1:59:59] option noted one or more of the
following reasons why they would not be
[2:00:04] returning. One was an increase in salary
to another school division. Seven noted
[2:00:11] personal reasons such as a relocation,
family or illness. One noted inadequate
[2:00:17] support and two noted difficulties with
student discipline. In all, however,
[2:00:23] last year's cohort provided
overwhelmingly positive feedback about
[2:00:27] their experiences in the launch program.
In a spirit of continuous improvement,
[2:00:32] we have planned several enhancements for
the 2627 school year, including
[2:00:38] collaboration between the organizational
development specialists and our two new
[2:00:42] talent acquisition coordinators, all
three recent teachers transitioning out
[2:00:47] of the classroom to support our new
teachers entering into the classroom.
[2:00:51] They'll be working on triaging lensure
needs and tiered supports for new
[2:00:55] teachers. We also are revising our
launch and learn curriculum to ensure
[2:01:00] alignment with teacher performance
evaluation standards and professional
[2:01:04] development on co-eing structures and
balanced learning. We're expanding our
[2:01:09] year 2 teacher supports to include
coaching cycles and learning walks. And
[2:01:14] we offered an in-person option for
mentor training which we provided in
[2:01:18] August which allows our mentors choice
in how and when they receive training on
[2:01:23] coaching and mentoring.
In closing, launch has evolved
[2:01:27] substantially since its initial
development in 2023. It now connects
[2:01:32] recruitment, onboarding, mentoring,
lenture, professional learning, and
[2:01:35] retention in a more coherent experience
for new educators. The survey results
[2:01:41] show strong levels of welcome, mentor
support, and intent to remain at the
[2:01:47] same school. We will continue to listen
to participants and adjust the program
[2:01:51] as needed for our educators. Thank you
for our your continued support of our
[2:01:56] new educators. I'm happy to answer any
questions.
[2:02:00] » Thank you both for that thorough
presentation. Uh it's wonderful to see
[2:02:04] the supports that our new teachers are
receiving and understanding how those
[2:02:09] first few days or uh weeks can be really
challenging. So, thank you for sharing
[2:02:14] that as well as um being getting more
creative about how we uh work with our
[2:02:20] new teachers and student teachers and
expanding our programs. Um, any comments
[2:02:24] from the board? Yes, Mrs. Hunley.
>> So, I have been most excited because I
[2:02:28] started with them in 2023. And I'm not
trying to be the poster schoolboard
[2:02:33] person for the launch program, but they
never shied away from any results. They
[2:02:38] got on surveys. They always went to get
better. Whatever they said, they said
[2:02:43] how they would already start working.
How can we make that better? Um, I was
[2:02:48] super excited that um, Miss Chin and I
got to go to all 16 schools and our the
[2:02:55] principles knew we were going to talk to
new staff and that wasn't just the
[2:02:59] teachers. It could be cafeteria, it
could be um, custodial. Everybody was
[2:03:04] just so happy and thrilled with their
mentors, how things were going. We did
[2:03:08] tell them we're gonna come back for a
checkup because, you know, in the
[2:03:12] beginning it is easy. So, um, but we
but, uh, one young man, a high school
[2:03:18] teacher, we had to kind of like push him
back in the classroom because he was so
[2:03:21] excited and we're like, "You got kids in
there. You you need to go back in
[2:03:24] there." But, um, also for me, everybody
knows whenever this report was done. Um,
[2:03:31] so, Miss Haywood, uh, I was very
impressed with the 17% diverse staff at,
[2:03:37] you know, being at the initial, uh, new
teacher thing with Miss Chin. men,
[2:03:43] women, uh new teachers, uh seasoned
teachers, some teachers came out of
[2:03:49] retirement. Um that diversity is also
needed. You don't want all new and in
[2:03:55] the buildings the teach the the
principles were saying that the new
[2:04:00] people brought energy and even more
excitingly there is an art to teaching
[2:04:06] and there are there are people that have
never taught never had a student
[2:04:11] teaching experience that were doing
amazing things and their principles were
[2:04:15] just just saying you got to come back
later and see what they're doing and I
[2:04:20] think the thing that touched my heart
the best was that um I know that I saw
[2:04:25] five of my former colleagues children
who are now teaching for the first year
[2:04:31] and I don't know if you all know that
when you you know with the way you know
[2:04:36] teachers teaching is going now with all
the opportunities kids can go into and
[2:04:42] to watch a parent go through what
they've gone through and then the child
[2:04:46] say I want to be a teacher that's that's
that's huge and that I I did notice I'm
[2:04:52] like, "Wow, isn't that awesome um to
have them here." So, I just commend you
[2:04:58] all. It it's um it has definitely
evolved and it's only going to get
[2:05:03] better and I'm excited to touch base
with those teachers later on to see um
[2:05:10] I'm sure the enthusiasm will still be
there, but I know whatever inks they
[2:05:14] have, your team's going to work it out.
So, thank you.
[2:05:19] Any
any other board members having comments?
[2:05:23] Yes, Mr. Hodes.
>> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, the saying
[2:05:27] goes, I believe you only get one chance
to make a good first impression and by
[2:05:31] the looks of things, it seems like we're
doing a really good job with that with
[2:05:34] our new teachers. So, just kudos to
everybody involved in the program and um
[2:05:38] I look forward to seeing how it
continues to grow here in the future.
[2:05:41] » Thank you, Mr. Hodgees.
[2:05:45] » See no other comments. Thank you so much
for that presentation and all that
[2:05:49] you're doing to support.
We'll move on to our next action item
[2:05:54] 10.02, elevate 28 strategic updates. Is
that truly 50 slides?
[2:06:00] [laughter]
>> I'm proud of the work that we're doing.
[2:06:04] Madam Chair, [laughter]
>> the way I heard it, y'all do it anyway.
[2:06:09] We we initially had had this
presentation slated for September the
[2:06:13] 1st and because of a number of other
items on the work session agenda, we
[2:06:19] shifted it to this evening and I look
forward to sharing in detail all of the
[2:06:24] fantastic things that are happening
relative to Elevate 28.
[2:06:27] » We love that. Anybody need anything
before we go into this? [laughter]
[2:06:31] » We want to make sure there's full
attention.
[2:06:33] » Take your time, Dr. Kever. We don't want
to miss a thing.
[2:06:38] Thank you. I just I tease.
>> Yes, ma'am. [laughter]
[2:06:40] As as you will recall, in May and June,
our team provided strategic updates on
[2:06:45] several of the strategic initiatives we
implemented over the course of the
[2:06:48] school year. The purpose of those
presentations was to provide a year in
[2:06:52] review and celebrate the collective work
accomplished towards our strategic
[2:06:56] priorities. Tonight, several members of
our leadership team will share the 2526
[2:07:01] quantitative data related to key
performance indicators or KPIs outlined
[2:07:06] in our plan. These are the metrics that
were previously adopted by the board to
[2:07:10] measure how well we're achieving our
supporting priorities. These indicators
[2:07:14] not only reflect where we stand today,
but also help us guide decisions as we
[2:07:19] continue to raise the bar over the last
two years of the strategic planning
[2:07:22] cycle. In addition to reviewing our
progress, you'll also hear about some of
[2:07:27] the strategic initiatives we will
prioritize this particular school year
[2:07:30] initiatives designed to enhance safety
and security, support and engage our
[2:07:35] staff and community, and ensure every
student has the resources and
[2:07:39] opportunities to thrive. I'm proud of
the work that our team has done and the
[2:07:42] focus that they maintain on what matters
most, student success. With that, I will
[2:07:47] turn it over to Elena Trot, our chief
strategy officer, to begin the
[2:07:51] presentation. Welcome, Elena. Thank you,
Dr. Kever. And again, good evening,
[2:07:55] chair, daughter, and schoolboard
members. Throughout tonight's
[2:07:58] presentation, you'll see what we've
colorcoded. You'll see that we've
[2:08:01] colorcoded the year-over-year change in
each KPI. Before we get started, I want
[2:08:06] to clarify that a change shown in green
represents progress toward the KPI
[2:08:12] target. And while a change shown in
orange indicates movement away from the
[2:08:17] target, not too many of those. Our first
update this evening will focus on our
[2:08:22] fully integrated approach to safety. One
that protects the physical environment
[2:08:26] while also supporting the social,
emotional, and mental well-being of our
[2:08:30] students. There are seven key
performance indicators that help us
[2:08:35] measure this priority. These include
data relative to the implementation of
[2:08:39] safety and security recommendations,
uh, student perceptions of belonging,
[2:08:44] school counseling services, suspension
rates, attendance rates, and
[2:08:49] participation in the school healthy
initiative program. I've got an all-star
[2:08:53] lineup behind me. So, we're going to
start with Mr. Brian Weaver, followed by
[2:08:58] Mrs. Jessica Walter and Dr. Adam Brown.
[2:09:06] Good evening.
>> Our first KP KPI related to safety and
[2:09:10] security is to implement the identified
safety recommendations from the 2022
[2:09:15] threat risk vulnerability assessment. So
far, we have completed 54% of the
[2:09:20] recommendations with many others
currently in progress and nearing
[2:09:23] completion.
Because several of the recommendations
[2:09:26] are being implemented in phases and can
take several years to complete, we
[2:09:30] anticipate seeing a more substantial
increase as 2028 nears.
[2:09:34] [snorts]
We will continue our progress this year
[2:09:38] by debriefing the live reunification
drill that was conducted in July and
[2:09:42] implementing next step recommendations
before conducting the next drill. We
[2:09:46] will also continue installing loading
dock cameras at all schools, updating
[2:09:50] universal signage on school properties,
and posting campus speed limit signs.
[2:09:55] Additionally, we will begin the RFP
process to conduct another threat risk
[2:09:59] or vulnerability assessment in the
spring of 2027. These updates, combined
[2:10:04] with staff training and feedback on
recurring drills, will enhance our
[2:10:07] safety processes across all campuses.
[2:10:14] » Good evening.
Our goal for KPI 2.3 is to ensure school
[2:10:19] counselors spend the majority of their
day providing direct services to our
[2:10:23] students. Due to an interruption and
service for the platform used to track
[2:10:27] school counseling hours, we were unable
to collect year-long data related to the
[2:10:31] percent of hours. However, as an
alternative, school counselors were
[2:10:34] asked to report the number of students
on their case load who received direct
[2:10:38] counseling services last school year. In
total, 98.7% of all students in grades
[2:10:43] preK through 12 received direct
counseling services last school year.
[2:10:47] The variance of 1.3% represents some
students enrolled um in certain programs
[2:10:53] at the restorative center or bright
beginnings who were not reported as
[2:10:57] having received those direct services or
students who are full-time virtual or
[2:11:02] privately placed in an alternate
setting. Of that total, 975 students
[2:11:08] across the division participated in
small groupoup counseling sessions.
[2:11:12] While that number declined slightly from
the previous year, our work with
[2:11:15] counselors has helped us better
understand some of the barriers that can
[2:11:18] make these tier 2 supports difficult to
access. One challenge we're seeing
[2:11:23] across all levels is finding time within
the school day. Each level has its own
[2:11:27] unique scheduling complexities and
changes to master schedules and
[2:11:31] instructional requirements have created
some additional constraints. We're
[2:11:35] working directly with counselors and
school leaders to identify the specific
[2:11:39] barriers within each building and find
practical ways to reduce them.
[2:11:44] As we look ahead to this school year,
our focus is on strengthening a
[2:11:48] coordinated system of school counseling
and student supports across the
[2:11:51] division. A significant step forward is
the addition of a coordinator of school
[2:11:56] counseling and student supports who will
provide dedicated leadership to school
[2:11:59] counselors across all levels and support
across departments in creating and
[2:12:04] implementing additional student supports
in alignment with the superintendent's
[2:12:08] transition plan. We will continue our
work in designing a graduate action
[2:12:13] planning process to help students
intentionally prepare for life after
[2:12:18] high school. We'll also conduct student
mental health focus groups with students
[2:12:22] and adults to better understand needs
and identify opportunities to strengthen
[2:12:27] support. Finally, we're continuing to
build staff capacity to support student
[2:12:32] needs by hosting 12 youth mental health
first aid trainings, strengthening our
[2:12:37] school-based mental health teams, and
creating PLC opportunities for
[2:12:41] elementary counselors focused on
classroom counseling.
[2:12:47] There are also several pieces of new
legislation that impact the work of our
[2:12:51] school counseling teams this year. At
the high school level, new requirements
[2:12:56] expand our role in post-secary planning
through financial aid workshops, SAT
[2:13:00] school day, and required communication
with families about course requests. New
[2:13:05] legislation also strengthens our role in
student mental health, including
[2:13:09] coordinating supports for students
returning to school following treatment
[2:13:13] in a mental health facility and ensuring
students have access to culturally
[2:13:17] responsive mental health supports.
Collectively, these changes reinforce
[2:13:22] the important role counselors play in
helping students successfully navigate
[2:13:26] both their academic journey and their
overall well-being.
[2:13:36] KPI 2.4 monitors the percentage of
behavioral referrals that result in a
[2:13:41] student's suspension from school. This
year's data indicates a 23.8% suspension
[2:13:46] rate which is slightly improved from the
baseline.
[2:13:50] We are committed to reducing the use of
out of school suspension and to achieve
[2:13:53] this we know that supporting student
behavior starts with having the right
[2:13:56] people in place. We've onboarded three
new behavior specialists, bringing our
[2:14:00] total to six, along with nine elementary
behavioral pair professionals. Starting
[2:14:05] in October, we'll begin meeting monthly
with principles to review discipline
[2:14:08] data talks and work through necessary
supports. We're also strengthening our
[2:14:13] supports around our students. Our mentor
mentoring program design team recently
[2:14:17] held a second meeting to look at an
official roll out for divisionwide
[2:14:21] mentoring. Additionally, we're re
reimagining our student assistance plan
[2:14:25] process to better meet the needs of our
students across the division. We
[2:14:29] continue to focus on students returning
from long-term suspension. And finally,
[2:14:33] we have a team exploring alternatives to
suspension for our elementary age
[2:14:36] students and looking at non-traditional
pathways for them. We're looking also to
[2:14:41] redesign our alternative classroom
setting program that are offered at the
[2:14:44] middle and high school levels.
KPI 2.5 has two indicators. The first is
[2:14:50] related to the average daily attendance
percentage and the second is related to
[2:14:54] the percentage of students identified as
chronically absent. Our target is at 95%
[2:15:00] daily attendance rate and a 3% decrease
in chronic absenteeism by 2028. I'm
[2:15:06] happy to report that we made gains on
both indicators last school year.
[2:15:10] Improving attendance takes all of us and
will continue that work and has been
[2:15:14] making a difference in the neighborhoods
where our students have higher levels of
[2:15:17] absenteeism.
We are maintaining our second
[2:15:20] multid-disiplinary team meeting each
month so we can respond to student needs
[2:15:24] quickly along with offering a virtual
options to make it easier for parents to
[2:15:28] take part. We continue to track
attendance improvement plans and synergy
[2:15:32] and continue to hold conferences for
students before the school year starts
[2:15:36] who are chronically absent the year
before. What's new this year is a
[2:15:40] student activities KPI or key
performance indicator. We've established
[2:15:44] a work group to design a process to
promote extracurricular activities at
[2:15:47] each school. monitor student engagement
and participation and connect students
[2:15:52] with opportunities to get involved. We
know students who feel connected to
[2:15:55] school are more likely to be there and
we look forward to collecting baseline
[2:15:58] data for this new KPI this year.
[2:16:05] KPI 2.6 seeks to measure student
perceptions of our learning environment.
[2:16:11] We want students to feel heard,
supported, and belonging. Our goal is
[2:16:16] for 90% of students to affirm that their
school provides a safe, healthy, and
[2:16:20] well-maintained positive environment.
Data for this KPI is collected through
[2:16:25] the Elevate 28 stakeholder survey. And
this data uh was conducted last fall, so
[2:16:30] we're almost a year out from when this
data has uh been collected. We are
[2:16:35] conducting that survey again next month.
Statements from the survey that measure
[2:16:40] student perceptions include, I feel safe
at school. My school is well-maintained
[2:16:46] and overall my school is a good place
for learning. The percentages shown here
[2:16:51] represent those students who rated these
statements a three standing for agree or
[2:16:56] a four representing strongly agree.
Overall, we saw increased affirmations
[2:17:02] on all three indicators and an overall
improvement of 4.7
[2:17:07] percentage points. This is my favorite
slide in the entire presentation.
[2:17:13] To enhance belonging, we continue to
create more intentional opportunities
[2:17:17] for students to feel connected, valued,
and empowered within our school. We'll
[2:17:22] once again host the student voices tour,
giving students across the division
[2:17:27] opportunities to share directly with
division leaders about their experiences
[2:17:30] and ideas. We're also expanding student
leadership development experiences by
[2:17:36] increasing the number of students from
each high school on the Superintendent
[2:17:40] Student Advisory Council to 14.
Continuing to send high school students
[2:17:45] to the Virginia Center for Inclusive
Communities Summer Connections Institute
[2:17:50] and the VHSL leadership conference.
Hosting in district student leadership
[2:17:55] workshops for elementary, middle, and
high school students. and providing
[2:18:00] opportunities for SEA adviserss to
collaborate and attend advisor
[2:18:05] workshops. We are also hosting three
captains council meetings bringing
[2:18:10] together the athletic co- captains from
all three high schools to sh to create a
[2:18:15] shared vision for sportsmanship and
leadership. We'll also host our second
[2:18:20] leadership connect day, which allows
students to shadow leaders throughout
[2:18:25] our community and learn firsthand about
leadership in action. Finally, we're
[2:18:30] exploring additional internship
experiences within the school division
[2:18:34] to provide students with opportunities
to develop real world skills while
[2:18:38] contributing to our school community.
[2:18:45] Finally, in this supporting priority,
KPI 2.7 seeks to ensure that 95% of our
[2:18:50] elementary students participate in a
SHIP sponsored activity. We have met our
[2:18:55] established KPI and we attribute this
increase in participation this year or
[2:18:59] last year due to the SHIP's
collaboration with the Department of
[2:19:02] Special Education to adapt the
curriculum to access more self-contained
[2:19:05] programming within our elementary
schools.
[2:19:08] Looking ahead, our SHIP team will
continue to look at ways in which a
[2:19:11] healthy balance of movement within the
classroom can be achieved. And we know
[2:19:15] students learn and behave best when they
have chances to move. So, we're
[2:19:18] expanding non- tech incentives for
classroom behavior through movement
[2:19:21] activities and games. These
opportunities will continue to enhance
[2:19:24] our alignment and focus on implementing
our division's wellness policy. We'll
[2:19:29] also train our elementary pair
professionals on in-class movement
[2:19:32] strategy so they can build these breaks
into the day and help students reset and
[2:19:35] refocus. We're also continuing our work
with special education teams to adapt
[2:19:40] SHIP programming for students in our
self-contained elementary classroom so
[2:19:43] every student can take part in a way
that fits their needs.
[2:19:48] We'd like to pause at this time to see
if our team can help answer any
[2:19:51] questions that you may have about safety
and security.
[2:19:55] » Thank you so much. Opening it up for
questions.
[2:20:02] Um
I don't know if I want to open this can
[2:20:05] of worms. Um the with some of the
student behavior, will we get a more
[2:20:11] in-depth conversation about how that's
kind of splitting out in terms of
[2:20:16] suspension rates?
>> Yes, we can provide that to you. I don't
[2:20:21] have it available currently, but we can
get that to you.
[2:20:23] » Okay. Thank you.
[2:20:28] » Any other questions?
>> Okay,
[2:20:33] part two. The aim of our human capital
and positive culture supporting priority
[2:20:38] is to recruit and retain an exemplary
workforce by creating an environment
[2:20:42] where transparency and trust are the
norm. There are five key performance
[2:20:47] indicators that help us measure this
priority, including the percentage of
[2:20:51] personnel hired by the first day of
school, annual employee retention rates,
[2:20:55] our salary ranking compared to
neighborhood divisions, employee
[2:20:59] perceptions of WJCC being a supportive
work environment, and professional
[2:21:03] learning opportunities. Miss Emily
Haywood will now share some updates
[2:21:07] related to this priority.
[2:21:18] While our goal is always to be 100%
staff, to begin the 2627 school year, we
[2:21:23] were just four teachers short or 99.6%
staff for classroom teachers. While
[2:21:29] teachers are a critical for focus of our
workforce, we were also extremely well
[2:21:33] staffed for support positions at 95.3%
and we were at 99% staff for
[2:21:39] administrators. Our teachers and support
employee fill rate is higher than it's
[2:21:43] been in the past three years. While our
administrator rate is under 100%, all
[2:21:47] building administrator positions were
filled at 100% and the one opening was a
[2:21:52] central support position that was being
reviewed prior to recruiting.
[2:21:59] We want our employees to grow and be
supported in their career paths and to
[2:22:02] maintain commitment to WJCC.
To begin the year, we retained 87% of
[2:22:08] our teachers, 81.9% of our support
staff, and 89.4% of our administrators.
[2:22:14] We have continued to make progress on
retention of teachers and support. These
[2:22:18] are all increases from our previous
year's retention rate. Our administrator
[2:22:23] retention did decline slightly. Out of
the out of the 10 total departures, two
[2:22:28] were due to retirements, two were
position changes, and six took
[2:22:31] promotional opportunities at other
organizations.
[2:22:38] By June 2028, our goal is for WJCC to
lead the region in salaries for
[2:22:43] teachers, support staff, and
administrators. Competitive competitive
[2:22:48] pay is critical because when we invest
in our people, we invest directly in our
[2:22:51] student success. We have made progress,
but we know there's more work to do.
[2:22:56] Currently, our teachers rank four out of
six divisions in starting salary. Our
[2:23:01] entry level support staff, custodians,
cafeteria workers rank second in the
[2:23:06] region and our administrators are third
out of six. These numbers remind us why
[2:23:10] this goal matters. To attract and retain
the very best talent at every level, we
[2:23:15] must continue to move forward so that
WJC is not just competitive but the
[2:23:20] clear leader in our region.
[2:23:25] This year we will seek to implement the
third and final year of the compensation
[2:23:29] studies recommendations. Additionally,
we will be seeking input from stipen
[2:23:33] holders to evaluate placement within the
stipen framework. We will continue to
[2:23:38] focus on wellness initiatives with the
launch of our vitality app, wellness
[2:23:42] committee, and ongoing wellness
activities.
[2:23:45] In the area of recruitment, we've
scheduled a February alternative
[2:23:49] pathways night and job fairs, including
a VIP teachers event where we will where
[2:23:53] we will invite our student teacher
candidates to meet and greet with our
[2:23:56] principles, a Saturday job fair in
March. We are also reshaping how we
[2:24:02] recruit support staff with targeted
recruitments. These efforts will help us
[2:24:06] attract and retain the highquality
employees our students deserve.
[2:24:16] KPI 3.4 measures perceptions of WJCC
schools being a supportive work
[2:24:24] environment. Data for this KPI is
collected through the Elevate 28
[2:24:28] stakeholder survey which again was
conducted about a year ago last fall. We
[2:24:33] will conduct that survey again next
month. Statements from the survey that
[2:24:38] measure employee perceptions included,
the administrators in this school care
[2:24:42] about staff well-being. I feel supported
by teachers and staff in this school.
[2:24:47] Overall, my school is a good place to
work and a good place to learn. This
[2:24:53] percentages shown here represent those
who rated these statements a four agree
[2:24:58] or a uh I'm sorry a three agree or a
four strongly agree with a combined
[2:25:03] average of 85.3%
representing a 5.7 percentage point
[2:25:09] decline from the 24 survey. That change
is important for us to acknowledge and
[2:25:14] understand.
Rather than waiting until this year's
[2:25:18] Elevate 28 stakeholder survey, we
followed up in the spring with an
[2:25:22] open-ended employee survey that asked
staff to share their wins, wishes, and
[2:25:26] wonders. This gave employees an
opportunity to move beyond a rating
[2:25:30] scale and provide more specific feedback
about what's working well, where they
[2:25:36] see opportunities for improvement, and
what they would like us to consider
[2:25:40] moving forward. What we heard through
this survey gave us important context
[2:25:45] behind the numbers. Among the wins,
employees highlighted collaboration and
[2:25:50] teamwork, student academic growth,
increased communication and
[2:25:54] transparency, student voice, and
positive school cultures. When asked
[2:25:59] about their wishes, some of the
strongest themes centered on competitive
[2:26:03] compensation and retention, additional
planning time and workload management,
[2:26:08] increased support for special education
and student behavioral and mental health
[2:26:12] needs, and continued attention to
staffing. And through their wonders,
[2:26:17] employees reinforced the importance of
continued communication and
[2:26:21] transparency,
but also raised an important question.
[2:26:25] How is our feedback influencing
decisions? They want to see greater
[2:26:29] visibility into how their voice
translate into action. It's also
[2:26:33] important to note that these categories
weren't mutually exclusive. Some topics
[2:26:38] surfaced as wins, wishes, and wonders.
For example, employees recognized
[2:26:43] improvements in communication and
transparency as a win while also
[2:26:47] expressing a desire for continued
improvement and asking how decisions are
[2:26:51] made and communicated. This tells us
that progress is being recognized, but
[2:26:56] there is still an expectation that we
continue to build on that progress.
[2:27:01] We've also disagregated this feedback at
the school level and individual school
[2:27:05] data has been provided to principles who
were recently appointed to new school
[2:27:10] buildings, giving them an additional
source of employee voice as they get to
[2:27:14] know their new school communities and
identify areas of strength and
[2:27:17] opportunity. All of this provides an
important baseline as we prepare to
[2:27:22] administer the Elevate 28 stakeholder
survey again next month. We'll be
[2:27:27] looking closely at whether employee
perceptions have shifted and where there
[2:27:31] are additional opportunities to
strengthen that support well-being and
[2:27:34] connection. Maintaining a positive
workplace culture requires ongoing
[2:27:39] attention and will continue using
employee feedback to inform both our
[2:27:43] division level efforts and the work
occurring within individual schools. The
[2:27:49] feedback we've received directly informs
our employee engagement priorities this
[2:27:53] year with a focus on strengthening voice
connection communication and
[2:27:57] recognition. At the school level, every
school will have three school-based
[2:28:02] advisory groups and host monthly staff
meetings, creating more consistent
[2:28:06] opportunities for employees to provide
input, engage with school leadership,
[2:28:11] and be recognized for their
contributions throughout the year. The
[2:28:15] addition of our employee experience
coordinator will also help to open lines
[2:28:19] of communication between employees and
human resources and promote employee
[2:28:24] wellness and morale efforts. And through
our new helping hands initiative, Dr.
[2:28:29] Kever has set the expectation that every
central support employee will spend time
[2:28:34] working alongside colleagues in our
schools at least two days this year,
[2:28:39] increasing our visibility in schools
while also helping central support staff
[2:28:44] stay connected to the day-to-day
experiences of the employees and
[2:28:48] students we serve. Finally, we're
expanding how we celebrate our employees
[2:28:53] from enhanced recognition for National
Board Certified Teachers and other staff
[2:28:58] accomplishments to divisionwide
recognition and a new Oscars ceremony
[2:29:04] celebrating our operations services
employees. Next June, we're being more
[2:29:09] intentional with ensuring our employees
feel heard, connected, and valued.
[2:29:15] KPI 3.5 measures employee participation
in meaningful growth professional growth
[2:29:21] opportunities. And we're pleased to
share that we have exceeded our goal of
[2:29:24] 95% with 96.7%
of our team members engaging in
[2:29:30] professional development related to
their work. Within professional
[2:29:34] development, our focus this year is on
improving the quality of our learning
[2:29:37] experiences while continuing to build
leadership capacity. We're strengthening
[2:29:42] how we evaluate professional learning
through a new facilitator and presenter
[2:29:46] evaluation tool as well as a revised
session evaluation survey developed with
[2:29:52] input from our professional learning
focus group last year. Additionally,
[2:29:57] with the launch of our new profile of an
empowered learner, we're building
[2:30:00] capacity to engage students by hosting
an Elevate Ed conference for our
[2:30:05] secondary teachers this spring and
embedding strategies that develop the
[2:30:09] five attributes into our professional
learning corner publication. Our teacher
[2:30:13] learn leadership and cognitive coaching
cohorts will reach 160 educators as we
[2:30:19] empower them with strategies to lead,
mentor, and develop others. And this
[2:30:24] winter, we'll host our third Pathways to
Leadership listening tour, where we will
[2:30:29] visit schools to meet with aspiring
leaders to learn more about them, their
[2:30:34] goals, and their pathways for obtaining
an administrative endorsement. Finally,
[2:30:39] we're exploring new partnerships,
including the possibility of a reading
[2:30:43] specialist degree cohort to continue
creating meaningful pathways for
[2:30:47] professional growth within our
organization.
[2:30:50] We're also focused on ensuring
professional growth uh to our in beyond
[2:30:55] our instructional staff through parah
pathways which is the new parapro exam.
[2:31:01] We'll continue offering assessment
preparation and on-site administration
[2:31:05] to help paraprofessionals pursue
additional credentials and pay
[2:31:08] advancement. Pending title 2A funding.
We also hope to establish
[2:31:13] paraprofessional lead mentors to provide
more structured peer support. And more
[2:31:18] broadly, we're expanding professional
development for non-instructional
[2:31:21] employees and strengthening onboarding
for our support staff so that all
[2:31:26] employees have the tools and connections
they need to be successful. And finally,
[2:31:30] we're continuing to improve the systems
behind the professional learning by
[2:31:34] digitizing our pro process for
conference and travel requests, making
[2:31:40] it simpler and more efficient for
employees to request these
[2:31:43] opportunities. We're going to pause here
to see if you have any questions for
[2:31:47] human
capital and positive culture.
[2:31:52] Thank you so much for everything that
you've walked through here. Uh questions
[2:31:56] from the board
or comments.
[2:32:01] I don't have a question, but I I
appreciate seeing the orange that we're
[2:32:07] not hiding anything and I know that
we're going to um turn that orange to
[2:32:12] green, but I do appreciate the
transparency putting those orange
[2:32:17] numbers up there. Thank you.
[2:32:27] » Any other questions?
[2:32:32] All right. Third quarter. Here we go.
Here we go.
[2:32:35] » Communications and engagement. The aim
of this priority is to cultivate a
[2:32:40] culture of open and effective
communication to inform and engage all
[2:32:44] stakeholders. There are four key
performance indicators that help us
[2:32:48] measure this priority, including the
number of communications that highlight
[2:32:52] student and staff success, division
news, family participation in division
[2:32:57] sponsored events, volunteer
participation, and community
[2:33:01] partnerships. Mrs. Cara Wall will now
share updates related to this priority.
[2:33:09] » Thank you and good evening. This
indicator reflects the number of
[2:33:12] communications we share, including
newsletters, press releases, website
[2:33:16] stories, and social media posts. Each
item aims to celebrate student and staff
[2:33:20] success or share important school
division news. Our year-over-year growth
[2:33:25] reflects not only the efforts of the
communications team, but also the
[2:33:28] support of school leaders and staff who
are actively sharing stories from their
[2:33:32] classrooms and buildings. While we
remain ahead of the 15% growth target
[2:33:37] set for 2028, we will use this momentum
to further refine our storytelling,
[2:33:42] enhance transparency, and engage our
community in the success of our students
[2:33:46] and schools to sustain this level of
output.
[2:33:51] We saw growth in attendance at
engagement events we hosted, which
[2:33:55] continues to be driven by our
kindergarten registration family fest in
[2:33:58] April. And while aggregated participant
satisfaction dips slightly across our
[2:34:02] events over the year, we're still
pleased to report that nearly all
[2:34:06] attendees receive content and resources
that meet their expectations through our
[2:34:11] engagement events.
[2:34:14] Prior to last year, we did not deploy a
formalized data collection process to
[2:34:19] tally volunteers impact in totality.
This baseline data represents our new
[2:34:24] monitoring program through Raptor that
took effect late last fall and
[2:34:28] represents our volunteers support of our
classrooms, schools, and division
[2:34:32] initiatives across the last school year.
During the 2526 school year, 1,294
[2:34:39] individuals tallied 10,69
volunteer hours. A dollar amount can't
[2:34:45] fully quantify a volunteers's worth and
contribution to our schools, but it does
[2:34:49] represent one measure of their impact on
our system. Independent Sector, a
[2:34:54] national organization representing the
nonprofit and philanthropic sector, and
[2:34:58] the University of Maryland together
estimate the value of a volunteer hour
[2:35:02] in Virginia is worth $36.99.
Meaning the value of WJCC's volunteers
[2:35:08] last year is more than $392,000.
[2:35:14] We are also pleased to report that the
number of formal business and community
[2:35:18] organization partnerships increased by
70% representing 48 new partners each of
[2:35:24] which contribute to student learning for
which we are deeply grateful.
[2:35:31] This year we're investing more
intentionally in school-based engagement
[2:35:35] by increasing stipens for our
school-based digital communications
[2:35:38] liaison and family and community
engagement liaison.
[2:35:42] We're also conducting school-based needs
assessments to better understand the
[2:35:46] unique engagement needs of each school
and more intentionally connect them with
[2:35:50] resources that support their school
success plans. We're also strengthening
[2:35:54] the partnerships that support our
schools. A new community literacy
[2:35:58] collaborative will bring together
external partners who have expressed a
[2:36:02] desire for a more coordinated approach
to supporting literacy. In addition,
[2:36:07] we'll expand opportunities for community
members to volunteer in our schools and
[2:36:11] host a legislative breakfast to
strengthen relationships with our local
[2:36:14] and state policy makers. And finally,
we're continuing to strengthen how we
[2:36:19] communicate and tell the WJCC story.
That includes elevating student voices
[2:36:24] through our digital communications and
publications while also personalizing
[2:36:28] our employee internet insider so
employees can more easily find and
[2:36:33] access information that is most relevant
to them.
[2:36:37] We'll be happy to pause again for any
questions related to this priority.
[2:36:43] » I have a question for you, ma'am.
>> Um there was 1,294 individuals. How many
[2:36:48] of those folks made a contribution to
literacy programs?
[2:36:54] » I can get the information to you. I
don't have it readily available in front
[2:36:56] of me. That represents engagement at
schools in individual programs as well
[2:37:01] as divisionwide initiatives.
>> Big number, small number in between.
[2:37:05] » I wouldn't want to quantify it without
having the data in front of me.
[2:37:09] » Okay.
[2:37:16] What other comments are out there?
[2:37:22] I'm pleased to see the number of
partnerships that have been that have
[2:37:26] increased between businesses and
community organizations.
[2:37:29] I think especially as we've been
rebounding from COVID where people got
[2:37:34] disengaged from our schools just
nationwide. This is great to see that we
[2:37:39] had such a uh a huge increase and I know
that there's a lot of work that's being
[2:37:44] done um to be intentional about that.
So, it's wonderful to see.
[2:37:52] I also say that I I try to stay off of
social media, but I do enjoy the WJCC
[2:37:58] posts and every now and then I see
familiar faces of students that I know.
[2:38:02] So it's I think it's those are some of
the fun joyful things that are on social
[2:38:07] media. So thank you for all of the
engagement around that as well.
[2:38:13] Great. Any questions?
[2:38:18] Fourth quarter.
>> Fourth quarter indeed.
[2:38:21] The aim of our organizational efficiency
and effectiveness supporting priority is
[2:38:26] to optimize just that by establishing
and strengthening processes and systems.
[2:38:32] There are seven key performance
indicators that help us measure this
[2:38:36] priority, including the percentage of
budget reversion funds, the number of
[2:38:40] vendors who are paid electronically, the
percentage of capital improvement
[2:38:44] projects completed on time and within
budget, the meanantime to repair
[2:38:50] maintenance work orders, our bus ontime
rate, the average time that our network
[2:38:55] is accessible and operational, and the
average repair time for all division
[2:39:00] issued computing devices.
Mrs. Renee Ewing, Mr. Marcella Snipes,
[2:39:05] and Mr. Brian Landers will now share
updates related to this priority.
[2:39:14] Our financial goal remains to keep
budget reversion at or below 2.5%
[2:39:19] annually, ensuring that funds are
directed where they are most needed.
[2:39:22] This year, we improved our percentage of
reversion funds to 2.2%, showing a
[2:39:27] slight improvement on this indicator
from fiscal year 25.
[2:39:33] KPI 5.2 focuses on transitioning toward
100% electronic vendor payments by 2028.
[2:39:40] Initiated in 2024, we are pleased to
report that 90% of all eligible vendors
[2:39:45] are now paid electronically. This is an
increase of 26 percentage points,
[2:39:50] getting us even closer to our goal.
[2:39:56] Within budget and finance, much of our
work this year is focused on modernizing
[2:40:00] processes and making routine
transactions easier and more efficient
[2:40:04] for both employees and schools. That
includes implementing a new fundraising
[2:40:08] management platform, digitizing the
approval process for contracts and
[2:40:13] agreements, and transitioning from
employee self-service to the new
[2:40:16] employee access platform, which will
also allow us to digitize employee
[2:40:21] reimbursements, reducing paperwork, and
streamlining the process from submission
[2:40:26] through payment. Finally, within child
nutrition services, we'll conduct a
[2:40:30] community eligibility provision analysis
to better understand the feasibility and
[2:40:35] financial implications of expanding
access to meals at no cost to students.
[2:40:40] Collectively, these efforts are about
improving efficiency behind the scenes
[2:40:44] while creating simpler, more
user-friendly processes for the people
[2:40:48] we serve.
[2:40:58] It's a little quiet in here. So, in
honor of football season is fourth and
[2:41:02] one. Got one to go. Uh measuring the
timeliness and stewardship of our
[2:41:08] capital improvement projects are KPI 5.3
and 5.4 respectively. I'm pleased to
[2:41:14] share that 100% of our CIP projects were
completed on time and nearly 88% did not
[2:41:20] exceed 10% of the allocated budget. It's
important to note that there were 13
[2:41:26] projects in 202425
and only eight projects in 202526,
[2:41:32] thus impacting the denominator for this
indicator.
[2:41:38] KPI 5.5 focuses on meantime repair
maintenance work orders.
[2:41:44] We did see an increase in our meantime
repair maintenance work orders this
[2:41:47] year.
This was driven largely by staffing
[2:41:50] vacancies in two critical trades,
electrical and carpentry, which reduced
[2:41:56] our capacity to complete work orders as
quickly as we would have liked. Filling
[2:42:01] and stabilizing those positions will be
an important will be important to
[2:42:04] improving response times and moving
forward.
[2:42:08] Because the type of assets being
repaired vary, the time to receive parts
[2:42:13] is dependent on supply chains and some
work orders require the use of external
[2:42:18] contractors. Please note there is no
industry standard for meantime repair.
[2:42:24] However, our operations team is striving
to ensure maintenance response times are
[2:42:29] at or below seven days, ensuring that
the building issues are resolved quickly
[2:42:34] and learning environments remain safe
and functional.
[2:42:41] The staffing challenge also points
directly to one of our priorities. As we
[2:42:46] look ahead, we're exploring new ways to
build a stronger pipeline into our
[2:42:50] operational areas, including growing
your own opportunities,
[2:42:55] student internships, and entry-level
maintenance assistance positions that
[2:43:00] can introduce individuals to careers in
the steel trades. Beyond staffing, our
[2:43:05] focus in operations continues to be
maintaining and improving the facilities
[2:43:10] and services that support students every
day. that in includes continued
[2:43:14] investments in child nutrition services,
completing construction of our two new
[2:43:19] prek centers, and advancing a number of
capital improvement plan projects across
[2:43:24] the division from HVAC and roofing
replacements to storm water repairs,
[2:43:29] painting, and other facility
improvements. Together, these efforts
[2:43:33] are focused on strengthening our
operational capacity while continuing to
[2:43:37] invest in safe, functional, and
wellmaintained learning environments.
[2:43:44] KPI 5.6 measures the percentage of buses
that arrive no later than 10 minutes
[2:43:49] after the school's dismissal time. We're
pleased to see meaningful improvements
[2:43:53] in our transportation performance with
on-time bus arrival rates increasing by
[2:43:58] 6.6 percentage points last year. We
attribute much of that improvement to
[2:44:03] our success in recruiting and hiring
additional bus drivers. Increasing our
[2:44:07] driver capacity allowed us to more
consistently cover routes, re reduce
[2:44:13] disruptions, and ultimately provide more
reliable transportation for our students
[2:44:17] and families. This is a great example of
how investments in our workforce
[2:44:22] translate directly into improved service
for students.
[2:44:27] Building on that progress, our
transportation team is focused this year
[2:44:31] on using data more intentionally to
improve both reliability and the student
[2:44:36] experience.
We are monitoring and making adjustments
[2:44:41] to improve our on-time AM rates as well.
We're enhancing our Zonar on time
[2:44:48] dashboard and establishing a monthly
review of transportation data at the
[2:44:52] central support level so we can identify
trends and respond more proactively.
[2:44:57] We'll also take a closer look at
individual routes where student needs
[2:45:01] may require additional supports.
At the same time, there is a significant
[2:45:07] planning underway for the future
transportation.
[2:45:11] will design for the future.
Transportation will design new routes to
[2:45:16] support the opening of our two preschool
centers and begin the extensive routing
[2:45:20] work required for the WJCC United
Transition. I'm available to answer any
[2:45:26] questions if you'd like.
>> All right,
[2:45:31] questions.
[2:45:38] I have a fourth quarter question.
We do have one more person. So,
[2:45:44] » yeah, it's Mr. Riffle. Thank you.
>> Great work.
[2:45:47] » Thank you, Mr. [laughter]
>> Everyone has been behind me and beside
[2:45:52] me, and now I'm handing it off as I'm
>> see a touchdown here. Yeah,
[2:45:59] » we're almost at the goal.
KPI 5.7 measures the average time the
[2:46:05] network is accessible and operational.
Our technology infrastructure
[2:46:10] continues to perform at a high standard
with a 99.45%
[2:46:14] uptime across the division, ensuring
reliable access to digital learning and
[2:46:19] operations.
5.8 monitors the average repair time for
[2:46:24] all divisionisssued computing devices.
Last school year, we were able to reduce
[2:46:29] that time from 4.9 days to 4.7 days,
continuing to meet the target of less
[2:46:36] than five days for this indicator.
KPI 2.2 is related to network security.
[2:46:44] Our aim is to always prevent any
attempted data breaches and we were we
[2:46:50] are pleased to report that we had no
successful breaches during the 202526
[2:46:55] school year. Our
technology priorities this this year
[2:47:01] center around three areas. Making better
use of our data, strengthening digital
[2:47:06] safety, and improving the systems that
our employees use every day. We're
[2:47:11] expanding Synergy's data analytics
capabilities to provide stronger
[2:47:15] progress monitoring at both school and
division levels. We're also enhancing
[2:47:21] Lightseed to give teachers greater
classroom management capabilities and
[2:47:26] amilies more visibility into their
students technology use while continuing
[2:47:30] our broader analysis of screen time and
purposeful instructional technology
[2:47:36] integration.
Behind the scenes, we're strengthening
[2:47:39] network security through enhanced
Microsoft tools and continuing
[2:47:43] improvements in Ununice with a
particular focus on accessibility and
[2:47:47] data integration across systems.
Finally, a new employee data workg group
[2:47:53] will bring departments together to
examine how we collect, access, and use
[2:47:58] employee data, helping us create more
efficient and interconnected data
[2:48:02] systems across the division.
And we'll pause here for any questions
[2:48:08] in this area.
>> Well,
[2:48:13] appreciate that we haven't had any data
breaches. I have tried to I didn't say
[2:48:18] that I have tried access from abroad and
shut down in all different ways. So,
[2:48:24] appreciate all that that has been done
and everything that we learned um from
[2:48:29] the one incident.
>> Madam Chair, this concludes the
[2:48:34] strategic updates for our supporting
priorities. We look forward to sharing
[2:48:37] additional updates on our key priority
of academic achievement, college and
[2:48:42] career readiness, and educational equity
with you at the October 6 school board.
[2:48:46] » Thank you so much, Miss Trot.
[2:48:51] Um, you know, when it's this is the uh
I'm trying to get my football. Are we at
[2:48:57] We're not even at the two. We're at the
kind of the fourth quarter.
[2:49:00] » I believe this would be considered
overtime, Madam Chair.
[2:49:02] » We're at overtime. [laughter]
>> Yes. Because we have um I mean we have
[2:49:07] the exciting superintendent's
recommendation. We've got a review
[2:49:12] advisory committee appointments. We've
got a lot. Stay tuned in the audience.
[2:49:17] We are going to take a break for the
people and we will return. We will stand
[2:49:21] in recess.
[2:57:17] convene this meeting of the Williamsburg
James City County School Board. I would
[2:57:22] love to just say thank you. We still
have six people in the audience
[2:57:26] » live. So, true and
>> [laughter]
[2:57:32] » real but really appreciate it and we
know we have a ton of people who are
[2:57:36] still watching at home or watching the
replay but just want to thank you all
[2:57:39] for uh hanging in there with us. We will
move on to our next action item or sorry
[2:57:46] proposed agenda items 11.01 review
advisory committee appointments.
[2:57:54] Madam Chair, that's an opportunity. We
did talk about it in closed session, but
[2:57:57] it's an opportunity just as an agenda
item for the board to have this in front
[2:58:00] of you. We will ask you to take action
on those appointments when we get back
[2:58:04] together again on October the 6th.
>> Thank you. Is there any discussion or
[2:58:08] questions from board members?
[2:58:13] Okay, we will move on to 11.02,
superintendent's recommendation for
[2:58:18] school division redistricting.
Good evening, Madame Chair, members of
[2:58:23] the board, and members of our community.
Tonight, I'm going to present my
[2:58:28] recommendation regarding attendance
boundaries for the 2728
[2:58:32] school year. Before I do so, I want to
review the circumstances that has made
[2:58:37] this work necessary.
I want to go over the process to develop
[2:58:41] the proposed maps, the feedback received
from our community, and the unanimous
[2:58:44] recommendation of the redistricting
steering committee. I'll then describe
[2:58:48] the independent review that I conducted
and explain both my boundary
[2:58:52] recommendation and the commitments I
believe must go with it. I recognize
[2:58:57] that redistricting is not simply a
technical exercise. In fact, it's a very
[2:59:02] human one. Attendance boundaries affects
students, families, employees,
[2:59:08] neighborhoods, and school communities in
deeply personal ways. That reality has
[2:59:14] remained at the forefront throughout
this process.
[2:59:17] On the personal side, when I was a
student in seventh grade, I learned that
[2:59:23] I would be redistricted in junior high.
I spent junior high in seventh and
[2:59:26] eighth grade in one building, moved to a
second junior high for 9th grade, and
[2:59:31] then back to a different high school for
my high school years 10 through 12. I
[2:59:35] know the impact on redistricting that it
has on a family, on a community, and I
[2:59:41] have approached that work incredibly
thoughtfully. Although we recognize the
[2:59:46] personal connections that people have to
their schools, we must also consider the
[2:59:49] needs of the school division as a whole.
Following several years of discussion
[2:59:54] with our funding partners, we reached an
agreement to construct two dedicated pre
[2:59:59] kindergarten or bright beginning
centers. Together, these centers will
[3:00:03] allow WJCC to serve approximately 100
additional pre kindergarten students
[3:00:09] while providing our youngest learners
with spaces designed specifically for
[3:00:14] them. Moving bright beginnings out of
five elementary schools will also create
[3:00:19] additional classrooms within those
buildings. That gives us an opportunity
[3:00:23] to address overcrowding, serve more
students within our permanent buildings,
[3:00:28] use available space more effectively,
and improve feeder alignment across all
[3:00:33] three levels. An adjustment like that
allows us to consider a comprehensive
[3:00:38] systemic approach to boundaries and zone
alignment, addressing yearslong
[3:00:42] fracture. from my perspective of cohorts
across various levels. We've used this
[3:00:48] slide throughout the process to
illustrate projected elementary
[3:00:52] enrollment beginning in 2027 compared
with each building's capacity.
[3:00:59] The five schools outlined in pink are
current host of our bright beginnings
[3:01:03] program. Each school except DJ Monagu
Elementary is projected to have
[3:01:08] significant vacant space through 2035
under our current attendance zones.
[3:01:15] Stonehouse is already operating above
its permanent building capacity and uses
[3:01:19] classroom trailers. Enrollment there is
projected to continue to grow as
[3:01:23] approved residential developments come
online. DJ James River Elementary and
[3:01:28] Matthew Why also operate at high
utilization levels and use classroom
[3:01:33] trailers. At those schools, there is
limited physical space uh to contain our
[3:01:38] ability to potentially uh reduce class
size or add additional teachers. The
[3:01:44] central issue to me is particularly
clear. The division will have available
[3:01:48] classroom space, but it will not be
located where student enrollment is
[3:01:52] currently concentrated.
[3:01:55] The divergence in capacity versus
projected utilization at the secondary
[3:01:59] level is seen across this slide both in
27, 2030 and 2035. Across the projection
[3:02:05] year, some schools retain available
capacity while others approach or exceed
[3:02:09] their permanent building capacity. The
projections reinforce why we cannot
[3:02:14] consider elementary boundaries alone.
Changes at one level move through the
[3:02:18] system and affect middle school and high
school enrollment over time. Our current
[3:02:23] boundaries also produce several
fragmented feeder pattern systems. In
[3:02:27] some cases, relatively small groups of
students separate from most of their
[3:02:31] classmates when they transition to the
next level. This visual shows that
[3:02:35] overall pattern. The next slide uh
illustrates what what it can mean for
[3:02:40] students from one particular elementary
school. Clare Bird Baker currently
[3:02:45] serves more than three of our excuse me,
students from Clare Bird Baker currently
[3:02:51] move to three of our four middle
schools. Those middle schools then send
[3:02:55] students to two or three of the high
schools. These splits can be incredibly
[3:02:59] difficult for small groups of students.
They also make it harder for schools to
[3:03:03] build consistent academic programming,
mentoring activities, and tr transition
[3:03:08] supports across grade levels. Improved
feeder alignment will allow more
[3:03:13] students to move forward with a
meaningful cohort of classmates.
[3:03:18] Recognizing these challenges, the school
board administration, our consulting
[3:03:23] partner of MGT, and the redistricting
steering committee have worked on this
[3:03:26] project for nearly two years. The
committee's work was guided by six
[3:03:31] principles which we have talked about
previously. Those principles helped
[3:03:35] organize the work, but they also created
uh push and pulls as we've discussed at
[3:03:40] quite a length.
The steering committee presented its
[3:03:45] first draft maps in May and revised maps
in August. Following each release, the
[3:03:50] division invited the community to review
the maps and provide feedback. The
[3:03:55] committee used the feedback to consider
particular boundaries, assess possible
[3:03:59] alternatives, and evaluate proposed
changes how they would affect the entire
[3:04:04] system.
The division offered three online
[3:04:08] surveys at key points in the process.
Nearly 6,800 students, employees, and
[3:04:14] family members participated in the first
survey, which occurred in November of
[3:04:18] 2025. The two map specific surveys
generated more than 3100s responses.
[3:04:24] Community members had the opportunity to
participate through information
[3:04:27] sessions, schoolboard meetings,
individual correspondents, neighborhood
[3:04:31] meetings, and direct conversations with
members of the board, administration,
[3:04:35] and myself. The feedback was extensive,
but it wasn't uniform. Different
[3:04:40] communities often expressed competing
priorities and preferences for how we
[3:04:45] move forward.
After reviewing the August survey
[3:04:49] results and evaluating possible changes,
the steering committee reported on
[3:04:53] September 1st that it could not make
another boundary adjustment that
[3:04:57] meaningfully advanced one guiding
principle without compromising others.
[3:05:01] The committee therefore voted
unanimously to recommend its August maps
[3:05:05] with no further boundary changes. They
made that recommendation to me as
[3:05:09] superintendent. That unanimous
recommendation was significant, but it
[3:05:13] did not conclude the decision-making
process. It then became my
[3:05:17] responsibility to review the committee's
work independently and determine what
[3:05:21] recommendation I believe should be
presented to the school board.
[3:05:26] My responsibility was not simply to
accept and transmit the committee's
[3:05:31] recommendation. It was to examine the
recommendation, consider the full body
[3:05:35] of information, and determine what I
believe best served the entire school
[3:05:39] division. That required balance
balancing multiple and sometimes
[3:05:44] competing considerations.
Current and future building utilization,
[3:05:48] class sizes, student supports, student
safety, proximity, transportation,
[3:05:55] feeder pattern continuity, our capital
investment program, and the long-term
[3:05:59] sustainability of the school division.
No map can maximize every single
[3:06:05] consideration. A boundary change that
might benefit one neighborhood can
[3:06:09] affect enrollment, transportation, or
feeder alignment elsewhere. My task was
[3:06:15] to determine whether the committee's
recommendation achieved a reasonable and
[3:06:19] sustainable balance across the school
division.
[3:06:26] As I noted, the division received
extensive community feedback. I have
[3:06:31] read every single survey response. I've
also reviewed the presentation and
[3:06:36] analysis provided by MGT and the
steering committee along with emails,
[3:06:40] letters, questions, and proposals
submitted by members of this community.
[3:06:45] That review reinforced the tension
amongst the guiding principles and the
[3:06:49] challenge of this work. Different
communities understandably placed
[3:06:53] different weight on proximity,
continuity, capacity, transportation,
[3:06:59] and minimizing change. Again, I took my
responsibility seriously to consider
[3:07:04] those various perspectives while keeping
the needs of current and future students
[3:07:09] at the very center of the decision.
[3:07:14] I've also reviewed an extensive amount
of data, our enrollment trend data and
[3:07:18] projections, feeder pattern projection
as cohorts move from one level to the
[3:07:23] next, but also what areas and where
those areas of cohorts remain together
[3:07:28] for their entire K12 career. I reviewed
anticipated impact numbers and
[3:07:32] understand the feelings of change that
our families may have with students
[3:07:37] proposed to move schools within the
level they currently attend and those
[3:07:41] who may level up to a different school.
I've reviewed and approved I have
[3:07:46] reviewed approved and projected
residential development, the complexity
[3:07:51] of our physical locations relative to
schools in this community and the
[3:07:56] attendance zones in relation to those
school locations. I've also examined
[3:08:01] individual group and neighborhood
requests. In many cases, those requests,
[3:08:06] as I've mentioned, have conflicted with
one another or produced additional
[3:08:10] impacts elsewhere.
Attendance zones uh operate as one
[3:08:16] system. As such, no single request can
be evaluated in isolation.
[3:08:24] Two distinct areas of feedback I've
heard throughout related to building
[3:08:28] utilization.
>> Does this work consider future
[3:08:32] residential development? Yes, approved
developments are absolutely incorporated
[3:08:37] in the projections, much of which is
connected to the upper county. Whereas
[3:08:41] Stonehouse is projected to be at 131%
utilization in 2035 under current
[3:08:46] boundaries, the committee's
recommendation predicts Stonehouse at
[3:08:50] 100% in the very last year, 2035.
Why do some schools experience wider
[3:08:57] variance from 27 to 35 than others? It
goes back to residential forecasting,
[3:09:02] goes back to future development, birth
rates, enrollment rates, all play a part
[3:09:06] of that equation. Jamestown is projected
to open at 103% utilization under the
[3:09:11] committee's recommended map, nearly the
rate it opened at in this past school
[3:09:15] year. That region of our school division
is projected to experience a decline in
[3:09:20] school age population, yielding a
projected 77% utilization in 2035.
[3:09:26] Expanding the attendance area to have
higher utilization in 2035 would further
[3:09:30] drive the 2027 utilization higher.
Shrinking the attendance area to have a
[3:09:36] lower utilization would further reduce
the utilization in 2035. The recommended
[3:09:41] maps do not produce identical
utilization at every school in every
[3:09:45] year. They provide a reasonable balance
across schools projection years and the
[3:09:50] other guiding principles.
The committee recommendation also
[3:09:54] improves feeder pattern alignment at the
elementary to middle school transition.
[3:09:59] It eliminates several small cohort
splits. James Blair, for example, would
[3:10:04] receive students from three elementary
schools rather than six. This creates
[3:10:08] better and stronger opportunities for
vertical planning and articulation,
[3:10:12] student mentoring, program alignment,
and more intentional transitions between
[3:10:16] schools. The same improvement is evident
from middle to high. The recommend the
[3:10:22] recommendation from the committee does
not eliminate every single split, but it
[3:10:27] significantly reduces the fragmentation
within our current feeder system and
[3:10:31] allows more students to transition with
meaningful groups of classmates.
[3:10:38] As a result, after completing my review,
I recommend that the school board adopt
[3:10:42] the redistricting steering committee's
August maps without any additional
[3:10:46] boundary changes. This is my
recommendation reached after
[3:10:50] independently reviewing the committee's
work, the underlying data, the community
[3:10:54] feedback, and the alternatives
presented. I sincerely recognize that
[3:10:58] this recommendation will disappoint some
families and communities, and I do not
[3:11:02] minimize that impact. I concluded,
however, that additional boundary
[3:11:06] changes would shift impacts from one
school or community to another without
[3:11:11] improving the overall balance or
long-term effectiveness of the proposed
[3:11:15] attendance zones. For those reasons, I
believe the recommended maps represent
[3:11:19] the most responsible divisionwide
solution.
[3:11:23] Our recommendation also includes a
transition option for members of the
[3:11:27] class of 2028 whose high school
assignment would change. Those students
[3:11:31] would be permitted to attend either
their currently assigned high school or
[3:11:35] the high school assigned under the new
boundaries. WJCC would provide
[3:11:40] transportation for either option. Of the
87 students who responded to our initial
[3:11:45] outreach, 73 or approximately 84%
indicated they would prefer to remain at
[3:11:51] their current high school. 27 of those
students indicated that they would need
[3:11:55] daily division transportation and 16
indicated that they would need support
[3:11:59] for extracurricular transportation.
Senior year carries important academic,
[3:12:04] extracurricular, and re relational
considerations. This option recognizes
[3:12:09] those circumstances while also allowing
the new attendance zones to take effect.
[3:12:15] With my recommendation, I want to
underscore an important commitment.
[3:12:19] Staffing and student supports must
follow students. I want to say that one
[3:12:24] more time. Staffing and student supports
must follow students. When enrollment
[3:12:29] changes because of redistricting, the
needs of our students do not remain at
[3:12:33] their former schools. We must adjust
staffing and resources based on the
[3:12:37] students enrolled in each building and
the services that they require. Subject
[3:12:42] to the school board's approval of the
attendance zones and through the annual
[3:12:45] budgeting process. I will direct the
development of the 2728 staffing plan to
[3:12:50] account for school enrollment and
economic need continuity of
[3:12:55] interventions and tiered supports
services for English learners and the
[3:12:59] requirements contained in students IEPs.
We will also consider the needs that a
[3:13:04] standard formula may not fully capture,
including student success supports,
[3:13:09] behavioral resources, administrative
capacity, and school operating
[3:13:14] resources.
[3:13:18] More specifically, this table displays
elementary class size targets and caps.
[3:13:22] This table is published in our budget
book and outlines our practice to staff
[3:13:26] and allocate resources across buildings
to meet each child's needs. Our staffing
[3:13:31] model has long been built on a tiered
approach, lowering the studenttoteer
[3:13:36] ratio at schools with larger populations
of students receiving free or reduced
[3:13:40] price meals. As students from
economically disadvantaged backgrounds
[3:13:44] may shift, so too will resources to
support their needs.
[3:13:51] Similarly, our staffing at the secondary
schools is based on the corresponding
[3:13:56] class- size targets also related to free
and reduced price meals.
[3:14:01] In addition, federal funding through
Title One recognizes that schools may
[3:14:05] have different levels of student need.
Title One Part A provides supplemental
[3:14:10] resources to schools with higher numbers
or percentages of students from
[3:14:13] economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Schools may qualify for schoolwide
[3:14:17] program or targeted assistance.
Resources can be used for additional
[3:14:21] instructional supports, staff
interventions, and family engagements.
[3:14:26] As the numbers shift across our
buildings, so too will the resources we
[3:14:30] allocate through title one andor the
operating budget.
[3:14:34] Independent of redistricting, staffing
allocations and resources follow need.
[3:14:39] ML or English learners have have English
language proficiency levels ranging from
[3:14:45] a one to a six. As shown on this chart,
a student's level is determined by the
[3:14:49] WEDA screener when they first enroll or
by their annual WEDA access assessment.
[3:14:56] Instructional models vary based on each
student's level, including sheltered
[3:15:00] instruction, in-class support, and pull
out class resources.
[3:15:07] In May of 2024, the general assembly
adopted a revised staffing model for
[3:15:12] English learners. As a result of that,
WJCC increased its LEAP staffing
[3:15:17] allocation to meet student need across
language levels. WJCC will continue to
[3:15:22] follow these staffing requirements,
though the school where the students are
[3:15:26] served may shift. As such, the staffing
may shift.
[3:15:32] As we talked about last time when we
met, special education staffing is
[3:15:36] determined through case load points
models that accounts for both students
[3:15:40] disability and the level of service
required. Consequently, two schools with
[3:15:44] the same number of students with
disabilities may require different
[3:15:48] staffing allocations. The determining
factor is not simply how many students
[3:15:52] are enrolled, but what services those
IEPs require. The IEP remains the
[3:15:57] governing document for each student. As
enrollment changes, staffing will be
[3:16:02] adjusted to ensure that required
services continue without interruption.
[3:16:08] Tonight, I'm presenting my proposed
attendance zones to the school board.
[3:16:12] The school board will hold a public
hearing at its October 6th work session
[3:16:16] providing additional formal opportunity
for community comment. The school board
[3:16:20] is scheduled to act on the proposed
attendance zones on October 20th with
[3:16:25] with respect to the board's
decision-making authority. At the same
[3:16:28] time, its responsible implementation
administratively cannot wait until after
[3:16:33] the vote. Uh the board and community
received an initial presentation on the
[3:16:37] WJCC United transition roadmap on
September 1st and the next update will
[3:16:41] occur on October the 6th. If the board
approves the attendance zones as
[3:16:46] recommended, we'll move into a detailed
implementation involving staffing,
[3:16:50] transportation, student transitions,
school culture, family communication,
[3:16:55] and program continuity. That work will
continue throughout this school year and
[3:17:00] be beyond the opening of the 2728
school year.
[3:17:06] I recognize some members of the
community will disagree with my recommen
[3:17:09] recommendation. I respect that
disagreement and appreciate the time
[3:17:13] people have taken to study the maps,
participate in surveys, attend meetings,
[3:17:18] and communicate with us directly. I take
my responsibility seriously in terms of
[3:17:22] making a recommendation to the board
based on the needs of the entire school
[3:17:26] division including every school level
both in the in immediate and long term.
[3:17:32] I believe this recommendation addresses
our most significant capacity imbalances
[3:17:37] improves feeder pattern continuity and
makes effective use of the facilities
[3:17:41] our community has provided. If the
school board approves the attendance
[3:17:45] zone, our focus will turn fully to
implementation and the people affected
[3:17:49] by these changes. We will approach that
work with transparency, careful
[3:17:53] planning, and a commitment to supporting
students, families, and employees
[3:17:57] throughout. Whenever our student
wherever our students attend school,
[3:18:01] they deserve to be welcomed, supported,
and challenged.
[3:18:06] You have my word and pledged. That's
what will occur. Ladies and gentlemen of
[3:18:10] the board, thank you. Thank you so much,
Dr. Kever. I will open it up to any
[3:18:16] comments or questions from
[3:18:23] » Yes, M.
>> Um, so I just hope that uh the viewing
[3:18:27] public will try to embrace the
possibility of something great that's
[3:18:32] going to happen through these changes.
And um I'm just not wired to receive all
[3:18:38] of the things that will
that have been brought forth that will
[3:18:44] potentially go wrong because I have seen
the implementation transition plan and I
[3:18:48] have faith that that will address a lot
of the um questions that the public may
[3:18:54] have. Um
I also know that um we've heard some new
[3:19:00] things tonight and we'll continue to
have hear new things and I'm quite sure
[3:19:04] the impleation implementation
transition folk are um are getting on
[3:19:10] that as well. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs.
Hley.
[3:19:14] » Yes, Mr. Hodgees.
>> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um maybe it's
[3:19:18] too early to answer this question and my
apologies if that is the case, but um at
[3:19:24] the last work session, we got um we got
a United WJCC United transition um kind
[3:19:31] of layout. Um I'm just kind of curious
what um the October 6 presentation, what
[3:19:36] do you expect to show there that maybe
we didn't see at the last one and what
[3:19:40] sorts of things that the community can
expect to see during that?
[3:19:43] » Yes, sir. Thank you. At the the last
presentation we did, we tried to break
[3:19:48] down the the transition into various
phases and what you'll see on October
[3:19:53] 6th is the awareness phase being flushed
out in in more detail. Uh, I think it's
[3:20:00] I think it's important for for me to
restate and and I' I've said this in
[3:20:05] some public settings. I've said this
when I first got hired. Um, my goal for
[3:20:09] WJCC is not just to have good schools.
My my goal is for us to have great
[3:20:14] schools and for this to be a premier
school division. So, the steps that we
[3:20:17] take between now and October 6th and now
in August of 2027, I believe will
[3:20:23] position us to become a premier school
division. So, you're going to hear more
[3:20:26] about the awareness phase and and
understanding what happens as we move
[3:20:31] into that phase when we get together
again on October 6th.
[3:20:33] » Wonderful. Thank you.
[3:20:38] » Other questions? Yes, Mr. Ruffalo.
>> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I just thank
[3:20:43] you, Dr. Kever, for sharing your your
knowledge and and your perspective on
[3:20:49] the maps. I just wanted to kind of maybe
kind of reiterate some points that
[3:20:53] already been spoken, but this is like
the first time the board really gets to
[3:20:57] see kind of all the work and what we
didn't know like your decision until
[3:21:01] tonight, right? It's not like we have
meetings beyond the meetings you see.
[3:21:05] Um, so now it's like kind of the crucial
month. It's it's prime time where people
[3:21:10] get to kind of tell us the last minute
like what the thoughts are. So I just
[3:21:15] want to welcome people to our public
sessions. Um, and our inboxes are open
[3:21:19] to that type of response. We really, you
know, we're not taking your feedback and
[3:21:24] doing nothing with it, but there's a
point in which we want to know, but
[3:21:28] there's a part we've done a lot of work
to get here. It's not unnecessarily
[3:21:33] useless. It's just it's good to know the
growing pains and and and then what is
[3:21:37] an actual pain, you know, so depending
on your situation. So, I just wanted to
[3:21:42] speak to some of the
things asked of us tonight. I think
[3:21:46] there is a need for us to have a bit
more of an equity based plan um when it
[3:21:50] comes to schools. I think is it's a bit
tough for I mean I I've seen the
[3:21:54] presentations and I can I can't really
articulate you know to individual as
[3:21:57] they ask me besides saying like trust me
right that's like a scary conversation
[3:22:02] to have as a whatever people believe in
government or not but I do I work in
[3:22:06] public service and I like policy and
this is fun for me but I would I would
[3:22:10] ask for that type of presentation to be
even given before the public comment
[3:22:15] like the United road map I think there
was a lot of people commenting tonight
[3:22:18] that didn't have understanding of where
we were in the process
[3:22:21] And that one might be important to do
before the public comment just just so
[3:22:25] we have a chance to cover as much as we
can. I don't know if people want to
[3:22:27] watch these fun long episodes at the
school board meeting, but you know all
[3:22:31] this is available on the website. It's
not like it's not easy to find and there
[3:22:35] are going to be critiques everywhere
about how the process works. So um that
[3:22:38] would be my recommendation is having at
least the United presentation given
[3:22:42] before the public hearing so that you
know it's going to be a long one but
[3:22:45] it's worth hearing again. it'll be our
fourth time or maybe our third time
[3:22:49] after we have our joint meeting that
moment. So, um yes, that that's my
[3:22:55] recommendation. I just I just want to
ask a bit more and I know it's a lot to
[3:22:59] kind of come out but the plan is the
bold plan is really something I think we
[3:23:03] all kind of understand a bit as members
and we can kind of see a larger vision
[3:23:07] for 12,000 people but it's a bit tougher
to kind of have a side park conversation
[3:23:12] with a neighbor about you know I don't
think we're going to get there even with
[3:23:15] FAQs or whatever else but um that's how
can we make it digestible for people who
[3:23:20] are just tuning in you know so
>> thank you
[3:23:25] other comments.
>> I mean, I think I'll just say that what
[3:23:30] I'm hearing from the public and I think
as board members, each of us has gone
[3:23:34] through this in our own way. It's it's
the classic change curve of, you know,
[3:23:38] as as you're going through the denial of
we really redistricting, going through
[3:23:43] the anger and blame portion of it. Uh
the fear and bargaining, well, can you
[3:23:48] just make this change? Um, and then that
depression piece of I can't believe
[3:23:52] they're doing this. This is going to be
awful. Um, and so I think I personally
[3:23:56] understand that change curve and had to
go through my own change curve and you
[3:24:02] know, but with that change curve and you
can cycle a little bit, but at some
[3:24:06] point, you know, we start getting to the
exploration of what could this look
[3:24:10] like? Um, and that decision of okay, we
could make this work and then being
[3:24:15] bought in. And so um one of the
challenges I would put to the viewing
[3:24:21] public is that as you have raised
concerns um what things should this
[3:24:27] should this go forward as is and what
kinds of things could you do as an
[3:24:33] individual as a parent to start to kind
of mitigate what you think are places
[3:24:39] where we need support you know I've
heard a lot about PTAs you know well
[3:24:43] just because you go to a different
school doesn't mean that you can't
[3:24:46] support the PTA from which you came. Um
there's lots of you know when we talk
[3:24:50] about the socioeconomics that was
brought up. Um I always ask the question
[3:24:55] of who's in your back seat when you talk
about those interconnectedness. Um how
[3:25:00] diverse is your back seat and what are
you doing to proactively of reach out
[3:25:05] and and have those um those connections
with families that are different from
[3:25:10] yours. And so I think there's
there are things that as individuals
[3:25:15] people can step into to really um
embrace this and make this successful
[3:25:22] across the division. We're a board of
seven and so we are contemplating this
[3:25:27] and thank Dr. Kever for the information
and for all the public comment and we
[3:25:32] have two more of
options for public comment as well as
[3:25:36] our email list as Mr. Riffle said. Um
but then also thinking of the how could
[3:25:41] you make this work and how could you
contribute to making this successful for
[3:25:44] all students? Uh because if it's one of
those situations where kind of sitting
[3:25:51] in the back and I told you so or I told
them so um that doesn't that doesn't
[3:25:56] bode well for anybody's child or
anybody's student. So how can we come
[3:25:59] together as a community to make this
really successful? That's my comment.
[3:26:05] All right.
Yes, please.
[3:26:09] » Um,
thank you, Dr. Kever. Um, I know that um
[3:26:15] this has been a a long process and I
know that um your recommendation came
[3:26:20] with um the utmost fidelity and and
reading every single one of those
[3:26:26] comments. I know that we have had
extensive conversations um some hard
[3:26:30] conversations around the redistricting
efforts. So, um just want to reiterate
[3:26:37] um that
um you know,
[3:26:42] Mr. Hosen and I we we kind of were on
the we were board members kind of part
[3:26:47] of the committee as well. And so I think
it's important to reiterate again um
[3:26:53] that our committee was comprised of uh a
diverse group of community
[3:27:01] representation and expertise in both the
city and the county and that committee
[3:27:07] came together and we spent many hours.
We were very focused on educational
[3:27:13] equity, academic and opportunity,
growth, students, you know, these were
[3:27:18] all things that we had conversations
in addition to those guiding principles.
[3:27:25] Um, and student and staff safety was at
the top in terms of like utilization.
[3:27:32] Um, so I think it's important for that
just to be said over and over in terms
[3:27:38] of trying to encourage positivity and
trust around the process. Um,
[3:27:45] I think a huge challenge is that
our schools are built
[3:27:53] in various locations across a very large
area. Um, and again, these are all
[3:27:59] things that have been said and repeated,
but um, since, you know, we're on the
[3:28:05] topic, I think it's important to just
continue to reemphasize that these were
[3:28:10] huge challenges for the committee. And I
imagine when Dr. Kever did his
[3:28:15] independent review, um, you know, that
was all part of a divisionwide holistic
[3:28:22] approach to this process. Um, another
huge challenge is our neighborhoods and
[3:28:27] where our students live and the
diversity of our students is not
[3:28:31] socioeconomically diverse. Our
neighborhoods are not. And so that also
[3:28:36] presents a huge challenge in trying to
balance um the guiding principles set
[3:28:42] forth for this process. Um so I would
just repeat that educational equity
[3:28:49] um is was a priority the committee is a
priority of our board is a key priority
[3:28:57] of our strategic plan. Um and that
equity across the division um continues
[3:29:03] to be what drives our work um to make
sure that every student can succeed. Um,
[3:29:10] so just wanted to make sure that that
was expressed and appreciation for um,
[3:29:17] Dr. Hver's recommendation tonight. Thank
you so much, Mrs. Ch.
[3:29:22] Any other comments?
[3:29:26] » Well, uh, we look forward to to the
public hearing on October 6th um, and
[3:29:32] your continued comments from the
community and we will take your
[3:29:36] recommendation under advisement.
We will move on to our next uh agenda
[3:29:43] item 12.01
board member comments.
[3:29:48] I think this is triple overtime.
Who wants to start? I'll start with Mr.
[3:29:54] Hodgees who I gave him a hard time last
time.
[3:29:57] » Madam Chair, you took my joke. I was
going to open with a double triple
[3:30:01] overtime joke, so you beat me to the
punch.
[3:30:04] Um, with the school year well underway
at this point, um, I want to start by
[3:30:09] saying that I hope that our students and
staff are finding their groove both in
[3:30:13] and out of the classroom. Personally, I
find this time of year very exciting.
[3:30:18] You can start to feel a slight crisp in
the air out at night, you know, not so
[3:30:22] much during the day. Um, fall sports
have kicked in at high school, college,
[3:30:27] and the pros, and there's a sense of new
opportunities and experiences every day.
[3:30:33] And new opportunities and experiences
can be scary. Trust me, I dealt with
[3:30:39] anxiety disorders for a good chunk of my
childhood and all of my adult life. I
[3:30:43] still do. The anxious mind hates nothing
more than the unknown. So, the prospect
[3:30:49] of something new or unfamiliar and the
fear and uncertainty that comes with it
[3:30:54] is nothing new to me. And I say that
because having done a lot of therapy
[3:31:00] sessions in my day, I've become pretty
adept in sensing anxiety in both myself
[3:31:04] and others. It's not the superpower I
wanted, but it's the one that I got. But
[3:31:10] it doesn't take a heightened sense to
recognize that there are still chunks of
[3:31:13] our community that are feeling a lot of
anxiety over the proposed redistricting.
[3:31:17] Case in point, by my account, we had 22
citizens come out tonight speaking in
[3:31:22] opposition to it. And so I want to share
a lesson that I've learned in therapy.
[3:31:27] Not just because I think it could apply
here, but because it's one of the most
[3:31:30] valuable lessons I have learned from my
years of therapy. And it's this.
[3:31:35] Catastrophizing about the future tends
to lead to distorted expectations. And
[3:31:39] the thing you were fearing is almost
never as bad as you were expecting. And
[3:31:44] I don't say that to say that these maps
are perfect. There is no such thing as a
[3:31:48] perfect set of maps when it comes to
redistricting. Like it's been said a
[3:31:52] million times before, there are too many
factors to juggle to please everybody.
[3:31:57] And with and those with concerns are
valid in their desire to express those
[3:32:01] concerns. But what I am saying is this.
With change, there are often tremendous
[3:32:06] opportunities for growth that we might
not see at first and previously wouldn't
[3:32:10] have thought possible. And with that,
Madam Chair, I conclude my remarks.
[3:32:14] » Thank you so much, Mr. Hodgees.
Appreciate you bringing that perspective
[3:32:18] in. Dr.
Yes, ma'am. Um, there were a couple um
[3:32:24] comments tonight about literacy. So,
staying with my theme of literacy, I
[3:32:29] just want to make a few comments. Um,
reading is a critical skill in learning
[3:32:34] and proficiency needs to be accomplished
by the third grade. In general, the WJCC
[3:32:40] so overall pass rates for reading for
all students declined declined over the
[3:32:45] past 14 years from a high of 94% in 2011
to 2012 to the present level of 78% for
[3:32:52] the most recent school year from 20 2025
2026.
[3:32:57] In particular, the WJCC grade three
reading so test rate for 2526 school
[3:33:04] year was 70.2% 2% which was a 3.5
increase from the 66.7% pass rate from
[3:33:11] the previous year.
The nine elementary
[3:33:16] third grade students performance on the
reading so tests this year ranged from
[3:33:21] 42 to 89%.
Seven elementary schools increased their
[3:33:25] scores from the previous school year and
two schools decreased their score from
[3:33:29] the previous academic year. Most notable
improvement was a Matthew Wy was Matthew
[3:33:35] why which increased their score by 19%.
Contrarily James River Elementary had a
[3:33:41] 14% decrease in their pass rate from the
previous year. The pass rates for the
[3:33:48] remaining seven schools ranged from 66
to 76%.
[3:33:53] Stonehouse Elementary School had the
highest pass rate with 89% and James
[3:33:57] River Elementary had the lowest pass
rate of 42%.
[3:34:04] 823 third graders took the SO test this
year and with a pass rate of 70%, 578
[3:34:10] students passed the test and 245 did
not. Given that I am not a reading
[3:34:17] specialist and do not know all the
nuances of the so test, I don't know if
[3:34:21] these 245 students will have a different
trajectory of performance in their
[3:34:25] future academic endeavors. However, I
would suggest that having passed the
[3:34:29] test was a meaningful accomplishment.
with the results of the of the
[3:34:33] division's academic performance on the
so the superintendent stated these
[3:34:38] results are not where we need them to be
and those patterns cannot become
[3:34:42] permanent conditions
WJCC school chairman said some pass
[3:34:48] rates aren't just aren't just a
reflection of what's happening in
[3:34:51] classrooms but what families are able to
provide kids academic-wise after school
[3:34:57] she asked community members watching the
meeting how they can think of after
[3:35:01] school programs for students needing
additional help.
[3:35:07] She commented, "Some kids are privileged
enough to get extra help outside from a
[3:35:12] a variety of places. And how do we help
support some of those other children?"
[3:35:18] I attended a volunteer recruitment
program last night at a different school
[3:35:21] division and had a lengthy conversation
with the group leaders. They commented
[3:35:25] on a particular elementary school which
had a minority demographic
[3:35:31] and they had improved their so reading
scores for the third graders at that
[3:35:36] school from 29 to 79% in two years which
is an incredible achievement. They felt
[3:35:43] the major contributors to the rapid
increase in scores included the use of
[3:35:47] the University of Florida literary
institute reading program or newfly for
[3:35:51] 30 minutes in combination with benchmark
for 30 minutes. They discontinued
[3:35:56] discontinued the use of digital devices
for grade one through the first half of
[3:36:01] the second grade. Balance testing was
accomplished three times a year and
[3:36:05] there is a consensus that a third grade
gate was a viable option as a method of
[3:36:10] accountability. In other words, if the
student did not pass the third grade so
[3:36:15] reading test, they would not be advanced
to the fourth grade.
[3:36:19] Thank you.
>> Thank you so much, Dr. Kasa.
[3:36:24] Mrs. Hun,
>> I just want to thank Miss Chin for being
[3:36:27] my bopsy twin for we spent 15 hours
together in schools and I know I stole
[3:36:32] her thunder, so I apologize. Um, but a
lot of the teachers would say, "Oh, we
[3:36:37] saw you and you and they commented on
and you're the one with the camera." But
[3:36:42] I wanted to do a shout out to Emma
Hartley and um, Miss Donner did mention
[3:36:48] in her comments about the WJCC
videos that are out. She has that nice
[3:36:55] camera and she has taken some phenomenal
pictures and I enjoy going and seeing
[3:37:02] all the different schools. I think she
picks a different school and just
[3:37:06] captures all these beautiful moments.
So, it's nice to have another keeper of
[3:37:11] the stories out there. And also, um,
there are things on Instagram. I don't
[3:37:16] get on Instagram much, but they have
hilarious things on Instagram that the
[3:37:22] different schools have put out, and I
love the ship ones. Ship, I mean, I'm
[3:37:27] always hungry after looking at all the
things that they're doing with the
[3:37:31] children. So, um, If you haven't had a
chance to get on social media in that
[3:37:37] way just to get another glimpse of
glimpse of what's going on in schools um
[3:37:42] do that and Lafayette High School has on
Wednesday it's called what did you learn
[3:37:46] Wednesday and Mr. Townson has he just
randomly stops high school students and
[3:37:52] said what did you learn and then he
gives them a follow-up question. So, the
[3:37:58] thing I love is what I'm seeing on
social media is exactly what we see when
[3:38:03] we're in the schools. It mirrors what is
really happening. And um it it's just
[3:38:08] exciting and it it it if you want to be
excited about what's going on in WJC and
[3:38:14] not anxious about it, I encourage you to
to just click on some of those videos.
[3:38:19] Thank you, Madam Chair.
>> Thank you so much, Mrs. H. We'll go to
[3:38:23] you, Mr. Hosn.
>> Yes, Madam Chair. [clears throat] I'll
[3:38:27] keep it uh short since we're in the
third or fourth over time I think right
[3:38:31] now. Um at the last meeting I raised an
issue regarding some contracts that we
[3:38:36] had uh previously approved uh with some
my issue was some documents that we
[3:38:41] didn't have uh regarding those and I
just want to thank uh Dr. Kever and the
[3:38:44] administration for providing those
documents to us showing that those
[3:38:48] contracts were extended uh for this
school year. So there should be no
[3:38:52] issues with us going forward with those.
I just want to make sure that the public
[3:38:55] and the board if they didn't see that uh
were are aware of that at this time.
[3:39:00] » Thank you so much for that
clarification, Mr. H.
[3:39:02] » No problem. Thank you.
>> Uh uh Mrs. Chen.
[3:39:07] » Um Mrs. Hunley, you can always steal my
thunder. I tell everybody you are our
[3:39:13] MVP. Um is that right? So yeah, MVP. I'm
very tired right now. So yes, you are
[3:39:19] our most valuable player. uh you bring
light and positivity um and it was an
[3:39:25] honor and a privilege, probably the
highlight of my year um and my board
[3:39:30] work to visit all four all 16 schools
with you in four days and um you know as
[3:39:38] I go into my last year next year I hope
we can do it again. So let's do it
[3:39:43] again. Um it was wonderful to welcome um
our teachers and new staff and to say
[3:39:50] hello and to make good on our promise to
try to shake as many of those new staff
[3:39:56] hands as possible. Um and my takeaway
from that was that all of our schools
[3:40:03] are incredible places for kids to learn
and grow. Um,
[3:40:09] I don't think people realize sometimes
how lucky they are to have this
[3:40:15] community um and to have our schools and
to have the people here um who are
[3:40:22] working um endlessly um till all hours
of the night. Dr. Cooper, I'm not sure
[3:40:29] if you ever sleep, but um all of our
teachers were prepared. They were
[3:40:36] encouraging. Um, and we met teachers and
staff who went to WJCC schools and
[3:40:42] several teachers who have parents who
work in WJCC and who also work at the
[3:40:47] College of Boyment Mary. So, that just
felt really full circle and encouraging
[3:40:52] to see young people choosing a
profession in teaching
[3:40:56] um, and committing to that. Um, I had
one quick comment to make in reflection
[3:41:02] on the slides that you shared, Dr.
I didn't say it earlier because it
[3:41:07] wasn't related to our board vote for the
boundary lines, but as we continue to
[3:41:14] um present to the public monthly a more
detailed transition plan, um it was
[3:41:20] mentioned tonight. It was interesting.
There were some research articles
[3:41:24] mentioned regarding um
social sort of uh social interactions
[3:41:33] for children as well as um educational
research, longtime education research
[3:41:38] around
classroom size and the ratios and the
[3:41:44] need for, you know, pretty aggressive
class sizes like a 1 to 15 even to to
[3:41:49] see academic change in literacy and math
and things like that. So, that's just a
[3:41:54] curious of mine. I'm wondering um it's
not something that needs to be discussed
[3:42:00] anytime soon. It would be something that
maybe we could think about during
[3:42:05] staffing or budgetary or just looking at
research-based evidentiary things that
[3:42:10] are out there that have worked. um and
also neighboring divisions who have done
[3:42:14] similar sort of aggressive approaches
and that would fall within the board's
[3:42:18] purview of budget and staffing and that
would be on administration to make those
[3:42:23] recommendations that they deem best. Um,
and then the last thing I'll say, um, is
[3:42:29] I I have done a lot of reflecting, so I
did prepare some just a brief comment.
[3:42:34] Um, and I'll just reiterate, and I've
said this many times, we are one big
[3:42:39] neighborhood, and we should treat each
other with love and respect as neighbors
[3:42:43] to support the success of every child.
So, as we go into this next month where
[3:42:48] it is now up to our board to make a vote
and to ensure that um we can get as much
[3:42:55] public support as possible. Um all of us
are serving because we want to be
[3:43:00] better. We want to do better for our
students from preK all the way to 12th
[3:43:05] grade. And all of this is being driven
by exciting two new preK centers that we
[3:43:10] are all excited to go for that ribbon
cutting ceremony very soon. So, we're
[3:43:15] opening the pre-K centers. It's the
beginning of a new era for our
[3:43:19] collective WJCC neighborhood. Um, and it
can only be successful when we all can
[3:43:26] support a very ambitious vision for
change for our community. As was already
[3:43:32] stated tonight and as we all can
experience and as a parent who has gone
[3:43:37] through the process of K through 12 in
WJCC and have another one coming up, we
[3:43:42] have longstanding
disparities in our community. So that I
[3:43:48] recognize and and I do believe we as a
board in our administration, we are
[3:43:54] trying to
foster that change in academic
[3:43:59] achievement and opportunities for our
students. So, I want to encourage our
[3:44:04] community to be invested with us as we
prepare for these changes and I want our
[3:44:09] community to trust the process and
believe and invest in the possibilities.
[3:44:15] » Thank you so much, Mrs. Chen. Mr.
Riffle,
[3:44:19] » I don't have much else to add besides
what I said earlier. Um, besides that, I
[3:44:24] heard this this analogy I've ever said
probably correctly, but um, someone
[3:44:29] mentioned that education is like a tree,
especially things like redistricting. We
[3:44:33] all know trees by the way they look.
Like I know my favorite tree is the
[3:44:36] eastern red bud and they grow beautiful
purple flowers, not red. Um, but a tree
[3:44:44] also has roots and there's things you
just can't see. But the idea is that you
[3:44:49] can trust a tree. you can trust that
it's going to grow both ways, the fruit
[3:44:53] side and the root side. And
redistricting is part of that. There's a
[3:44:56] lot of things that you cannot display in
a presentation. You there's a lot of
[3:45:00] things you can't do or ask staff to do
in this format. Like there's just things
[3:45:04] that has to happen in group settings in
each building within families. Um and I
[3:45:10] think I think we're all here that we
trust that narrative. Um, and so I trust
[3:45:14] the roots of our cis school system just
as much as I trust the the beautiful
[3:45:18] leaves and trees and as they fall off
this year, it's something I thought was
[3:45:22] kind of symbolic and kind of meaningful.
So, um, but there's a lot that goes on
[3:45:26] to run a school system. This is it's not
seven people sitting up here directing
[3:45:30] every day. Like I step into a school
building maybe once or twice a month.
[3:45:34] Like the people do this every day and
it's not us. Our job is to oversee it
[3:45:39] and we have very specific powers
described to us in the Virginia
[3:45:42] Constitution of what we can and cannot
do individually or how it works as a
[3:45:46] team. I think we exercise those as much
as often and possible u mostly in
[3:45:51] through the budget is our big big big
lever. So I'm excited for the public
[3:45:55] comments. I'm a big believer in doing
that and hearing people. Um but there is
[3:46:00] a point in which we have to make a
decision and I don't think we're going
[3:46:03] to slow this down as much as people want
us to. there's a lot to mle over um and
[3:46:08] it's exciting to be able to have all the
the full picture now at this point with
[3:46:11] Dr. Kever's recommendation. So,
>> thank you, Madam Chair.
[3:46:15] » Thank you so much, Mr. Riffle. Um
I have I I think I've there's one thing
[3:46:23] I do want to correct on the record. Um I
thank you Dr.
[3:46:28] for talking about literacy and um I just
wanted to make sure the viewing public
[3:46:32] um remembers that back in March of 2024.
Um it one of our speakers said that we
[3:46:39] didn't have a that we weren't doing
science of reading and we actually did
[3:46:43] vote on that as a board on March 5th of
2024 and that was implemented in the
[3:46:48] 2425 school year. And if you go back to
last month's presentation or last last
[3:46:55] uh work session's presentation, we did
know that from that implementation it's
[3:46:59] starting to to tick up. So I think it's
just such an important thing that as Dr.
[3:47:03] Kavasos talked about where he saw it
down in Newport News it was UFly and and
[3:47:08] benchmark advantage and that's what we
also um purchased here. So I think be
[3:47:13] being able to bring those learnings
forward and I know the viewing audience
[3:47:16] doesn't remember all of the votes that
we take but I do think it's just
[3:47:21] important to remind everyone that um we
do we have implemented science of
[3:47:26] reading and that was required by the
state of Virginia in 2024. I think when
[3:47:30] you look at places like Mississippi
they've been doing it over a decade
[3:47:36] longer than we have. And so when you
look at those those increases and gains
[3:47:41] that they've had to u that they've
gotten uh you know we're about 15 years
[3:47:45] behind at this stage from a state of
Virginia. Um and so really thinking
[3:47:51] through how do we uh how do we support
literacy
[3:47:57] within the classrooms? But as Dr.
Kavasos and I are both on the same page
[3:48:01] of after the school bell because we can
only do so much bell to bell. Uh with
[3:48:06] that we will go on to 13.01 upcoming
events. Um
[3:48:13] the VSBA legislative
advocacy conference on uh my gosh I'm
[3:48:20] tired too. September 17th, all day
starting at 9:00 am at the Double Tree
[3:48:24] by Hilton Charlottesville, 990 Hilton
Heights Road, Charlottesville, Virginia.
[3:48:30] Policy Committee meeting on September
18th at 11:30 a.m. That will be
[3:48:34] virtually via Zoom. And then an evening
on the lawn benefiting the WJCC Schools
[3:48:39] Foundation on October 1st, 5:30 p.m. at
the Raymond A. Mason School of Business,
[3:48:44] 101 Ucrop Way, Williamsburg, Virginia. I
will put in one last plug. Please go and
[3:48:49] buy your tickets for a table. It is a
lovely event. Our um item 3.02 upcoming
[3:48:55] meetings.
Our work session action items with the
[3:48:59] redistricting public hearing will be on
October 6, 2026. Uh please note that
[3:49:04] this is a time and location change. We
will call to order and close session at
[3:49:08] 5:00 pm in room 300 here at Berkeley. Uh
the we will open we have open session at
[3:49:15] 5:30m in the auditorium here at Berkeley
Middle School. So the um closed sessions
[3:49:22] at 5 and then the public hearing will be
part of the open meeting open session at
[3:49:27] 5:30 p.m. Uh we have a joint meeting on
October 9th at 8:30 a.m. with city
[3:49:34] council and board of supervisors. That
is at Legacy Hall uh in New Town. And
[3:49:39] then our regular board meeting will be
October 20th. Call to order in close
[3:49:44] session at 6 PM in room 200. And then
open sessions at 6:30 p.m. in the
[3:49:49] auditorium at Berkeley Middle School.
With that, this meeting is adjourned at
[3:49:54] 10:14