School Board Meeting   3/7/2024

And if you will now stand and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

And Madam Clerk, could you please roll call for board members?

Mr. Meyer?

Here.

Richardson?

Here.

Torres?

Yes.

Heapie?

Now, if I may have a motion for approval of tonight's agenda.

I move that we accept our agenda as proposed.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And now we have Miss Thomas.

All Charlottesville fifth graders deserve to be provided this amazing opportunity to begin band and orchestra instruction in fifth grade as generations of Charlottesville students who came before them have been.

Thank you.

Please state your name, your address, and you have three minutes.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I don't know if Catherine Starks is there.

No, but if you are online and you would like to speak three minutes at this point in public speaking, just please raise your hand so we can promote you to a speaking role in this.

Maggie.

Thank you as always and we appreciate you.

And that would be Miss Rasnick.

Thank you.

And now if I may have a motion for adoption of our consent agenda, please.

I move that we adopt the consent agenda as presented.

I'll second.

All in favor, please say yes.

Yes.

And now we move on to items for discussion.

Thank you both.

And for instance, Charlottesville Community Bikes was our organization this year can then be infused into the UVA Innovation Hub curriculum.

So thank you very much, and we are open for questions.

on Monday, the approval process, just to bring the board up to speed with that.

and this past Monday we just went up for our second review with the standing committee and we have been past that and so they have now recommended that we go to the Board of Education on March 28th to present the lab school and it might be one and like it might be a first and final review so if we get approved by the Board of Education on March 28th then there is a 90-day clock to get all our contracts and memorandums and understanding and all that in place.

Mr. Meyer.

What I just heard was that everything is going through UVA.

and then the personnel that we're embedding into Charlottesville Middle School are going to be UVA employees, so paid by UVA.

because there's a lot of responsibilities we have there.

So there's quite an additional 20K per year for those people that are working on the Innovation Hub experience for students.

That's part of the agreement that's going to come through?

And those will go directly, pass through directly to CCS.

or is decision making process going to be a consensus?

Yes.

So we're just not being used for sample data?

And so, yeah, we'll definitely want to have the educators, especially that are involved in this as part of it, students, parents that want to be involved for sure.

So when there's papers that are published, CCS staff will be on as authors also?

They'll be on them.

Thank you.

Could you share a little bit how that was determined?

So I think it's our best guess right now.

But what do you expect to see at this moment in terms of what skills are going to be built or what tools will they be using?

So it could be robotics, it could be a coding project, it could be lots of different things.

I don't know.

And now having been through it, I think we agree.

OK.

And then the numbers, I mean, these are numbers we got from city staff.

Thank you.

So all that aside, so what are like, how are we going to make sure that we are actually staffing this incredible program that we're building when we haven't been able to do so?

So, you know, we're hopeful that we can find folks to do it, but it is a challenge.

I will say we have recommended someone to fill the vacancy for next year, and they've accepted the position.

I mean, I wish I could go back to school and take science over and participate.

It took me a second to catch up with that, but I love it.

And I want you all to know that that's who's doing the work on our end.

Yeah, and I would just echo that this would not be possible without this wonderful partnership that we have with CCS, so we really appreciate it.

Please speak to that.

And then they decided it was.

So thank you both very much.

She's up with our Career and Technical Education local plan for the 24-25 school year.

This concludes my presentation and I am happy to answer any questions you may have at this time.

Mr. Meyer?

Do you have any observations why that might be the case?

So a lot of students aren't able to either maybe take an AP or DE class or be a CTE completer or pass a credential, or maybe they don't have the time to do a work-based learning experience because they already have things set in their day.

And we're seeing participation in classes is staying high or where we want it to be.

So we are seeing really great numbers, which is great.

We know that students are working but they might not be recorded and how we can kind of bridge that gap because I think that might be like an easy solution but maybe you can give some more information of how we do that in CCS.

So we become best friends in the summer with all of the documentation that we have to do.

Does that still fit within tracking?

So, yeah.

I think we just need to connect that communication piece so that it goes into our records as well.

Thank you.

Maggie.

I don't know what JROTC programs we have.

It is just a VOE definition, so I just put it on there for the members of the board to know.

and I know kids love it and it's amazing but I don't know I know there's some clubs but I don't know like is the CTE program working with like I don't know BSA is a club I know of just like promoting diversity and equity in these fields for the CTE courses especially in like stem-based learning things again I'm awful at math so I'm not the one to know about this stuff but that's my question

So yes, they are aware and we are doing the work.

And that really will help to diversify the programming here at the high school.

Referencing back to the JROTC, I'm curious why we don't have that or why that is a space we don't currently have.

Because just kids just haven't seemed interested.

I just wonder, you know, if if there was another approach to that, that, you know, we could fully understand that a little bit better.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

But maybe in the future, could we get a breakdown of either or maybe both completer plus credential and work based learning in regards to our SPED students?

I can get that to you right away.

You don't need to do it right.

Yes, sir.

So, Miss Fitzgerald, if you do have it and can email it to the board later, I mean, if it's something easy to get, if not.

Yeah.

She will give us a strategic plan update slash data dashboard update.

And thank you all for allowing me to present to you this evening.

Thank you, Dr. Johnson.

Sure.

Mr. Meyer?

right also so is that going to fall under your office and your responsibilities or I guess who in the staff for Dr. Burley you know who in the staffs can be responsible for keeping this updated?

Mr. Cuomo is easing his way down here because it will be staffed in his office it will still be a team effort in combination with the people names but Mr. Cuomo's department will take the lead on it yeah it'll

We'd be just using the existing data that we're determining and putting it in this public facing, in these public facing graphs.

And then you're imagining updating this every

So I think as data becomes available, it's going to be an intentionality thing where we take that and update things so people can continue to see the most relevant picture of the data that we're presenting.

I mean, what, what do you need from us?

The only thing I need is if you have any feedback on what you like the visual product to look like, or you have some ideas of what you imagine the dashboard to look like when you pull it up, just go ahead and share that with me at your convenience and we'll continue to work hard and try to keep it in the loop of where we are.

Anybody else?

Perfect.

So May 31st, but to see like a rough draft so that we or do we just kind of keep checking in and then can give you feedback along the way?

Sure.

So from the new strategic plan, when we're looking at goals and targets and whether we're meeting those, that that remains fixed as we roll an update from year to year.

But if that's different than what you're thinking, let's talk about it.

Yeah, thank you.

Sure.

Yeah.

This is our community strategic plan for the people by the people, right?

So thank you again.

The middle school project.

I'm happy to take questions.

Go ahead, Mr. Meyer.

Are we on schedule?

We're just in a little bit of a wet period right now so they're dealing with some mud but on schedule and despite the rock I don't see Michael Goddard panicking so we are within budget but we certainly hope we're done with rock soon.

Questions, comments?

And is it possible at some point to get a sneak peek?

But we have the concepts, I believe, nailed down.

And remember, the next meeting is this month, so it may be the May meeting, probably the May meeting because the April meeting is this month.

I can tell you that it's based around Charlottesville and images that are meaningful to the people who live here.

Thank you.

And so you'll see that in this presentation, in the updated presentation.

and so that is the recommendation around weapons detection.

Pardon me?

It's probably easier to do them one at a time.

Okay, anybody have any questions or comments about this particular recommendation?

So in terms of like Buford sporting events, we're not considering that right now.

You could do that.

Would we use them for that?

I mean, if the general idea is that whenever you have larger crowds coming together for events that you want to do the screening, we certainly would have the flexibility to do that.

And if there are private groups such as soccer or youth little league football, are they able to use them or is that strictly going to follow?

It's not rocket science, but still.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So to that extent, I feel like that part of it was something that I considered as we discussed these recommendations.

I know that there's only so much you can do with a survey, and I know that there was a lot of push to get

from different backgrounds all landed in that category of actually wanting it at both, which surprised me.

Another question I have is, I guess, if the recommendation is just to proceed at athletic events, I mean, what's, if the clear bag policy is still in effect, I guess, what is the dramatic change that is, you know, saying we need the weapons detectors at these events?

And clear bag doesn't solve that.

I guess why is that the recommendation?

and not make any move, that's certainly the will of the board on that.

So this recommendation, is it the board's, like, is this a board vote or is this you're telling us what you plan to do?

Most certainly something that can be implemented at the staff level, unless collectively at the board, you all say you want to weigh in, whether it happens or not, in which that does happen in some localities.

Have we had instances of weapons being found on persons at school or at extracurricular events?

got feel on that whole situation was it reminded me sort of like one time I went to fly and I forgot I'd been carrying around a tiny pocket knife for my husband's that I forgot was in my purse and I lost it to TSA which I know he's still very upset about but I almost think for some people it's like they're just not even thinking so CHS admin did a really nice job we posted signs to remind people that it is not a place to carry your weapon even if you're a company used to doing that elsewhere that happened recently

Excuse my ignorance of this, but at football games, basketball games, at CHS, there's usually a CPD presence.

We do pay to have off-duty officers support our major, big athletic events where we have big crowds, correct.

And so if there were these there that, I guess my assumption would be the operational kind of protocol would be they would be supporting at some of that point in addition to patrolling.

And that's those type of events, the level of events with that level of community involvement where we have officers are typically the ones are the same types of events where you would potentially want to have the gates.

So with the gates, will that change?

Question?

And I'd like to know what those things are before I would weigh in.

We're making progress every, every year, every month, but it is quite a list.

But if you're saying 40,000 for these two units and what, what specifically is that going to bump off or bump down the list?

And we've already got our dance card pretty much fully loaded through the summer.

want to ever hear or know but I mean I do want to know for sure that this is not going to impact that.

And the CHS staff is aware of that.

And can you re-explain, just for people that are listening and for the board, when you say door projects?

So it's a combination of adding the interior readers and the audible alarms.

How many CSA positions do we have vacant right now?

That's right.

But there was a desire for more, correct?

I just learned about that this afternoon.

Okay, so are we ready to move forward to the next topic and then we can come back and decide if we want to weigh in?

Question, if we move forward with this, when would we implement these?

It's also our understanding that we're hearing from colleagues that Albemarle is planning to move forward, starting at AHS with the same thing.

Absolutely.

So I don't know if she can top that, but yes, messaging would be very important.

and providing that guidance one way or the other.

I'm not prepared to vote right now.

So thank you.

Okay, let's move on to the next.

And we did remove a resource from the building that some students and families found to be helpful when it was in the building.

Mr. Meyer.

So, thanks.

Dooley.

So that's my two cents.

Richardson?

Like, I'm curious to understand the process for that.

Absolutely.

Burns.

Just how do we take bits and parts of that and apply it to the scenario here in Charlottesville?

reference that we're unable to meet.

mandatory reporting determinations and following through on that.

Um, and then could you speak a little bit more to the bullet point that says, um, prioritizing system thinking above, above the feelings or perspectives of any particular group or individuals?

I'm grateful for all the lessons we've learned, but I think if there's any place where we need systemic thinking and not feeling or fear-based thinking, it's safety.

And then potentially that they're making decisions or they're making statements?

Because I was instructed that was the will of the board.

And I see the link.

So that's all I'm saying.

Like if that's what you were told.

Thank you.

We've talked about that for other things.

This is the time we walk those streets with the chief when he does his community meetings and have conversations with people where they're at to hear from the people.

I don't know if there's any other questions, comments on this, Mr. Meyer.

Or is that not necessarily?

Were you still thinking of that being part of this process as far as the Cambridge?

But our voices are not the voices that tend to be amplified here in Charlottesville, and we have to do better.

So until we start thinking outside the box of how we get to those voices, we're going to get the same result.

And I will tell you too, Ms.

We can reach more people in more innovative ways.

So I think you'll have diverse opinions, but it'll come down to the voices you want to center at that time.

I would also like for the school board to do some of that work.

They've been trying to form a group to focus on climate culture, but this is just, you know, trying to dovetail in with that.

Go ahead, let's start.

This would be a policy change, so it does require a vote, correct?

We got to come up with the policy first.

Sorry.

We would have to decide what that policy needed to look like first.

Because we have a policy already that's in place.

Heapie?

Are you guys familiar with that?

I'm going to need to defer to some of my colleagues on the status of that piece because I didn't work with the vendor.

draft a policy based on this and put whatever guardrails in place and then bring it back for board approval if we are going to respond to both the survey data and respond to the qualitative input that we've gotten from stakeholders.

Is that what we're thinking about?

You mean with like yonder pouches?

Just the off and away but just during class.

And that would be a longer timeline, I would think.

Your recommendation is to follow the survey results, which would require us to, if we were going to follow that, follow the recommendation and then allow the cell phones in the hallway and in the cafeteria, then we would just make a policy change and we could present that when we do all of our spring policies.

I'm sorry, I may have misunderstood the question, but yeah.

Thank you.

Richardson?

Yes, I wanted to know if you had any examples of the activities that you guys are spearheading.

So you were talking about the climate.

I think when we talk about school culture, is that what you're thinking?

Yes.

If we're saying we're doing that.

Yeah.

I mean, we had talked about within the committee doing, I believe, class meetings or cohort meetings, and I don't know that that ever happened specific to cell phone information and education.

So I would need to.

to really get us to where we are and I think we owe it to our students, to our kids to put that out there and for that to be part of it and wherever we land I'm asking and I'm hoping that we can make sure that that happens.

the way people want to move.

So, yeah, I'm not.

to be successful off and away in the classroom.

My opinion, thank you.

So is that what's going to happen?

Which second bullet?

Right, okay.

Sorry, Maggie.

OK, any other comments, Mr. Morse?

And so that was like my reason for asking, is this something that we're going to change next school year at the earliest?

But we can address all that through our domain, through the domain work and creating those expectations.

So it's sort of an aspirational policy that we leave in place, I guess, guiding star of sorts.

Students and teachers and parents.

So if a new policy were to come up when we're dealing with policy in May or June, does this still fit within an appropriate time to discuss, or would it, in your opinion, wait another year?

So could a policy come up for May?

I just prefer to stay consistent in our expectations, if that makes sense.

The majority of that CSA staff is new and just being really mindful of the people who have to do that work of implementing the policy.

Sorry, I mean,

That's what I'm basing my decisions on.

I completely understand that, but I just think it's important to really, it's a complicated issue and you need to, I think everyone needs to acknowledge that.

I can have a little bit of perspective in that space too.

There's no recommendation to change a policy at CMS.

Absolutely.

All right, thank you.

So wrapping up.

Thank you.

Richardson.

Thank you.

No.

So thank you.

One more thing.

You're set.

So please take advantage.

Yes.