School Board Meeting   3/27/2025

Good evening.

It is Thursday, March 27th, 2025, and I'm calling our school board meeting to order.

We will start with a moment of silence.

Thank you.

Please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge 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.

Thank you.

Ms.

Yes, Madam Chair.

Ms.

Burns?

Here.

Ms.

Cooper?

Miss Richardson?

Here.

I'm sorry, and Miss Ulrich?

Here.

All right, as we are moving on to item five, approval of the agenda, the agenda, I would like to move to amend the proposed agenda to move action item 10.3 to be ahead of item 10.1.

All right, a first and a second for the amended proposed agenda.

Any discussion?

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Wonderful, thank you.

I'm moving on.

We are going to move on to some student and staff recognitions.

Good evening, Dr. Gurley, Madam Chair, and school board members.

Tonight we recognize the hard work, dedication, and successes of these individual student-athletes from this past winter season.

Let's start with our exceptional track team.

our track team was led by two CCS employees in coach Terrell Mulford and coach Erica Pierce and so we're going to recognize some of our individual athletes this evening first we want to recognize Juliana Pierce

Juliana is a freshman runner who finished an impressive fourth in the 500 meters for class four.

She was also a member of the varsity girls basketball team and trained for track while also playing basketball.

Your determination and focus are evident in everything you do, and this finished fall shows your ability to compete with the best of the best.

It's a great job.

Next, we'd like to recognize Oliver Jackson,

Oliver Jackson finished fifth in the pole vault in class four.

Oliver has worked hard and can be found most days either on the CHS track or traveling to Richmond for pole vault training.

You've shown that consistency and hard work can elevate you to great heights, literally.

Well done.

And for track, we also had two state champions.

First, for the boys side, Sam Palmer.

Sam won the state championship in the 1600 meter race.

So he was the state champion in class four.

He's shown remarkable speed and endurance throughout his whole season, but even more impressive is his leadership amongst the track team and cross country teams.

His leadership has led others to increase their times, but also he's pushed himself and should be in a model of what hard work can do.

So great job, Sam.

Congratulations.

and our other state champion, Elena Pierce.

You all have met Elena numerous times.

She is a force to be reckoned with on the track.

This year she won both the 1,000 meter and then followed it with the 1,600 meter state championships in indoor track.

So she won one in both of those events and then literally hopped in the car, drove three hours and played in the state quarterfinal basketball game.

She's truly a spectacular athlete, but she also is just a great person and leads without this whole school and community.

So great job, Elena.

Next, we want to recognize our wrestling team.

Our wrestling team is led also by two of our CCS employees, Coach David Wilkerson and Assistant Coach Jolie Wood.

You know, the amazing thing about these coaches is they lead with caring, but also they're extremely passionate, right?

And that is what we want our kids to be around on a daily basis.

So thank you, coach.

And so we were lucky enough this year for our wrestling team.

We were able to send four wrestlers to the state wrestling competition.

And three of them came back with medals.

First, Adrian Pena, who is a junior, who is not here tonight.

He is on a church retreat.

Fought hard and he earned fifth place at the 113 pounds for class four.

Next, we have Walter Pilkey.

Walter finished fifth at 150 pounds and we're hoping to kind of change things.

He's a junior.

We're hoping to try to change things.

He keeps kind of getting weird injuries at these state championship meets and then it causes some issues where next year we're going to stay healthy on it and this year he actually got a concussion in one of the

And I know Roman is a freshman.

And yes, many are saying, wow, really, a freshman, as he walks up here.

But he placed fifth at 190 pounds in class four.

And this wrestling team, these athletes have truly represented CHS wrestling with strength, skill, and heart.

We are incredibly proud of our three.

of state qualifiers and medalists.

And thank you guys for your hard work, your perseverance and your leadership as we continue to build our wrestling team.

So great job.

And finally, we have one more to recognize.

This one is not necessarily a school athletic contest, but we want to call up Jacoby Lynch.

So not only is Jacoby one of our starting basketball players, first team all district basketball, but at the same time as he was doing that and also excelling in the classroom, he was training for the grueling 50 mile Belmonte endurance race on March 15.

Jacoby was the only competitor and finisher in his age group.

He prepared for this challenging race by waking up at 6 a.m.

for training before heading to school.

Then he finished his day with basketball practice or games.

And then obviously he ate somewhere in there and studied in there.

But, you know, just thinking about a 50 mile race is just incredible.

And so I wanted to call him out for just kind of being a model of how to balance

you know, your goals or what you want to do with school and still doing all the other things.

And so great job, Jacoby.

Thanks for being such a leader in the school.

Each of these athletes has displayed incredible skill and heart and discipline.

They represent best of what CHS stands for, commitment, passion, and excellence.

And so one more time, let's give them one round of applause.

Good evening, Madam Chair.

members of the board, and Dr. Gurley.

It is my honor to stand before you tonight to recognize the outstanding achievements of Charlottesville City Schools performing and visual arts programs.

Once again, Charlottesville High School has earned the prestigious VMEA Blue Ribbon designation, an honor that reflects the dedication, talent, and hard work of our student musicians and their directors.

This recognition is only achieved when a school's band, orchestra and choir each receive superior ratings in their district assessments, a testament to the excellence of CCS's music program.

Beyond this collective achievement, we are also thrilled to celebrate the success of several individual students.

Julia Krum and Michelle Wong have earned places in the All-State Band, while CHS Orchestra Concert Master L. Prolifka secured a spot in the All-State Orchestra.

L demonstrated remarkable leadership by directing the CHS choir as they earned straight superior ratings in their own assessment just last week.

An incredible achievement.

Our younger musicians are also making their mark.

The Buford Middle School Orchestra received superior scores from every judge, earning A's across all subcategories.

And just last month, we were proud to announce the 13 Buford students who were selected for the Junior Regional Orchestra.

In addition to celebrating our performing arts achievements, we also want to take a moment to recognize the incredible talent of our visual artists.

Each year, the Charlottesville City Schools submits three works of student art to the Virginia School Boards Association Art Contest, and we are proud to announce the students representing us this year.

You can see the images here.

In the elementary category, we have London Phillips, a first grader at Jackson Viya, with that fabulous portrait.

In the middle school category, we have Nadia Salazar Freire, an eighth grader at Buford Middle School, who was chosen for her stunning pointillism landscape painting.

And in the high school category, Elias Amaya, a 10th grader at Charlottesville High School, was selected for his large, beautiful landscape.

Each of these exceptional pieces will be included in our annual central office exhibit for the 25-26 school year.

And I would like to invite our three artists to come to the podium at this time to be recognized for their artistic achievement and to receive a small gift and a certificate.

All right, Ms.

Thank you and good evening, Madam Chair and Dr. Gurley and members of the board.

I am here tonight to congratulate four of our teachers for winning a regional grant from the Public Education Foundation of Charlottesville Albemarle.

They actually won more than four grants.

Some of these teachers doubled up in their grants and their willingness to lead amazing projects at their schools.

So before I even name the individuals, I would just like to thank the Public Education of Charlottesville Albemarle for their generosity and supporting innovation in our schools.

In particular, let's give a round of applause when I read these four names.

Jessica Scott of Burnley Moran, Jessica Peterson of Jackson-Baya.

It's actually five names.

I don't know why I was saying four.

I'm so sorry.

Ida Cummings of Jackson-Baya, Amy Wizkirk and Beth Bohannon of Walker.

their projects range from environmentalism to family writing projects to really just one that kind of touched my heart is just helping Walker finish out its run of being our fifth and sixth grade school in a very strong way.

So I just really appreciate each of these projects.

The support comes from Public Education Foundation of Charlottesville Albemarle, but it really recognizes teachers who support our schools.

Thank you.

We are going to move on to item seven, comments from members of the community.

And we will start with any students in the media center who would like to speak.

All right, seeing none, we'll move on to 7.2, comments from members of the community.

I've got two who have signed up already.

We'll start with you, Ms.

Horn.

Hi, my name is Jen Horn.

I'm a teacher here at CHS.

And tonight, I just wanted to say a thank you.

I talk a lot about talk to your teachers, please.

But equally important is talking to your students.

And that absolutely happened this week.

Not only were Dr. Malone and Maddie Bryant our guidance counselor at a meeting with students in my classroom on Tuesday, but Dr. Gurley was there, Dr. Odie was there, Dr. Johnson was there, Ms.

Dooley was there, and Ms.

Burns was there, and every other member of the board sent me a nice email as to why they couldn't be there.

That is true involvement, and I can't tell you how much I thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for the opportunity to come.

And next up, we have Alex Heintzman.

My name is Alex.

I'm a concerned parent of two kids in Charlottesville City Schools, and I'm here to comment on action item, I think, 10.2.

I've been following the conversation about SROs for over a year now, and I imagine by now that some of you think of me

as your adversary.

And I really want to say that we're actually on the same side.

I sincerely believe that every single member of the board wants to keep our kids safe.

I do.

None of you want children to be arrested or sent into the criminal justice system.

You don't want a culture of surveillance or lower graduation rates.

You don't want the use of force in our halls.

I've been told that SROs wouldn't even be involved in discipline, which is confusing.

And you certainly don't want all of those things to happen at higher rates to black, brown and disabled students.

And yet there is this substantial peer reviewed nationwide research that these things are what happen when you put cops in schools.

The board's answer to these concerns seems to be a sort of wishful and naive idea that it just won't happen here.

So I pulled some actual Charlottesville data instead of national stuff.

So there's a 2021 study of the CPD that found that Black defendants in our city face more serious charges than their white peers, even for the same offenses.

Black women, on average, spend 200 days longer than white women for similar charges in prison.

A 2014 evaluation of racial disparities in our juvenile justice system found similar patterns, that Black youth were disproportionately reported and arrested and faced harsher charges than their white peers.

So I just want to say it does happen here.

It will happen here.

There is no model that can magically transform an officer into a social worker.

There is no document that you can sign that gives a school principal power over a police officer.

So if you don't want our schools policed, if you don't want those things,

Then don't put police in our schools.

I urge the board to vote to discontinue this process today.

Whatever benefits there are to SROs, efficiency or communication or convenience of threat assessments, it just can't be worth that price.

Thank you.

If there's anyone else in the media center who would like to speak, please approach the podium.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Corey Eicher.

I'll be reading a letter today from a group of neighbors and community members.

We are writing to express our concerns about the current elementary school rezoning proposal and to urge the board to pause the current timeline to reconsider in favor of a solution that better aligns with community feedback and all stated goals of the rezoning initiative.

The pace of the rezoning process has been notably fast.

We are asking the board to take more time in evaluating potential solutions.

The current plan is different from all the options that were circulated in October, and in December, the new goal of balancing SES diversity across schools that had not been previously shared was put forth.

We believe that the timeline should be updated to reflect those changes, ensuring there is adequate time for awareness, incorporating feedback from the community about rezoning.

In support of the plan, the city has presented some data primarily focused on

capacity and SES rebalancing.

However, the proposed plan also negatively impacts walk scores, notably across the city, from 42 percent to 36 percent.

Leveling SES scores across the city negatively impacts other stated goals, particularly walkability and neighborhood preservation.

Current, future Berlin Moran students and families, as well as residents of the neighborhood of Locust Grove, are absorbing a negative impacts on these measures in comparison to other schools and neighborhoods.

US 250 bypass being proposed as a northern boundary of Burnley Moran zone, even though Burnley Moran school is on that boundary.

Residents north of the US 250 bypass are being fairly impacted by the current proposal, displacing a number of current and future students to a school that will not be walkable or bikeable.

In fact, the 15 minute drive across multiple other boundaries

including but not limited to the Meadow Creek Parkway, McIntire Park, Park Street, and the North-South Railroad line.

Increasing walkability is a proxy for many beneficial outcomes, including stronger communities, healthier students and families, students learning, healthier habits, reducing time, money, and resources spent on commuting, reduced local pollution, and also reduced negative impacts on global climate.

In fact, studies of 10 and 15 minute city models

argue that cities with higher pedestrian access to services, including schools, have higher degrees of equity and equality.

Increased walkability is also a priority in the broader city.

We believe that the alternative zoning configurations or that there are alternative zoning configurations possible that should be explored.

Alternatives that would balance the city's goals, including walkability, neighborhood preservation, bus efficiency, diversity and balancing

while working within the capacity of existing schools.

Thank you.

I believe I have 15 seconds.

Is that correct?

Proceed.

Thank you.

Examples include citywide analyses to maximize walkability and neighborhood preservation.

a professional transportation study that will facilitate informed decisions about transportation to and from schools.

We respectfully urge you to reconsider the decision about the current proposal for rezoning.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

If there are any other members in the media center who would like to give comment?

Anybody on Zoom with the hand raised?

Okay, we will move on to 8.0, our report from our student representative, Ms.

Good evening.

Last week I met with Dr. Malone to learn more about our equitable grading policy.

Many students express concerns about accountability and what the policy communicates to students.

The concern by many students is that the grading policy sets low expectations that will negatively impact them after high school, whether in college or in the workplace.

The committee agrees that there needs to be some refinement.

For example, what is communicated to a student that doesn't come to class and then gets a 50%, but another student regularly attends class, they complete the work, and they also receive a 50%?

And what does it communicate when a student plagiarizes or they cheat and then they receive a 50?

Is it possible for the policy to be updated so these expectations are raised?

And this means there could be cases when a grade of zero is appropriate for students.

Students want policies that set them up for success in high school and allow them to make mistakes and recover.

Students also want to be held to high standards so they're ready after leaving CHS.

Another aspect related to that that Dr. Mullen and I discussed was attendance and if that impacts a student's pass into the class or if a student needs to show they have demonstrated mastery on say 75% of assignments in order to pass or showing master quarterly.

How can the policy ensure that students can demonstrate mastery without creating a situation where students have grades that are so low they can't recover?

This speaks to a policy that provides scaffolding of support but holds all students to high expectations.

I've heard lots of appreciation from students for our longer lunch this year and the two periods so there's more of a chance that you're with your friends.

Especially more recently, we've had the rice bowls that the nutrition team has added, which has been extremely positive.

And I'm working with Mr. Rod and Dr. Malone to form a committee to elevate student voice with our nutrition team.

Students have also expressed concern about transparency with the proposed schedules for next year.

Some students have heard there's going to be an AB system or an eighth period and some are not.

Students are asking for an opportunity to give feedback that will take their voice into account and also students are concerned about BKT for next year as this has been kind of a controversial thing this year.

Another really important thing that I want to highlight is that it's been communicated to me by many departments that there's need for more funding.

Our English department needs real books.

We need more supplies all around and I want to work with Dr. Malone and others for this as the student body greatly cares about it.

I spoke last meeting about funding for CHS art and I spoke with Mr. Eifers today.

Dr. Malone has been very supportive of the art department, which is appreciated.

Currently, students are frustrated that art does not have the funding it needs.

There is not enough allocated at the CHS level, and I'm hearing that teachers are requesting more funding.

There are some instances when students have to pay for their own supplies, like an AP Art, which raises an equity issue.

I will continue to talk to my peers and work with my teachers, Dr. Malone and Mr. Eichhorst, so we can make progress in this area.

I'd like to close on a positive note tonight.

Multiple CHS students have taken trips to Greenbrier Elementary to work with the younger students, AP Psychology, Public Speaking, and Art.

And as an art student, I was at Greenbrier this morning.

This has been extremely positive, and it's wonderful for CHS students to have opportunities to connect with the younger students and for them to have role models.

Thank you.

So moved.

All right.

We've got a first and a second.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Thank you.

All right.

Good evening members of the board and all those assembled in the audience.

This evening, I want to bring before you the collective bargaining contract, which is slated, which we are asking to take effect for July the 1st of 2025 through June the 30th of 2028.

Specifically in this contract, it has provisions for employee rights, work days and schedules, compensation, how we address stipends and additional roles, and the rights of management, and many other things.

Before I go on, I think I saw Ms.

Gilliken back there.

If Ms.

Gilliken would join me at the podium.

And so I want Ms.

Gilliken, before I turn it over to the board, I want to say the following.

That this agreement signifies a collaborative approach to

in enhancing and ensuring fair work conditions, competitive compensation, strong partnerships between employees and the school division.

Your vote this evening will represent a commitment to recognizing the voice of educators and staff, fostering collaborative work environment, and ultimately benefits our students and the school community.

A successful agreement, which we know it will be, will enhance the recruitment and retention of teachers, improve staff morale,

and established clear expectations both for employees and for the administration.

By securing this agreement, this district demonstrates the dedication to equitable labor practices and a shared vision for the future of Charlottesville City Schools.

Thank you.

We have a first.

Is there a second?

Second.

All right, we have a first and a second.

Any discussion from board colleagues?

All right, Ms.

Yes, Madam Chair.

Ms.

Ms.

Yes.

All right, the motion passes.

Thank you all so much.

A very long road, and it's been a privilege.

So thank you to our amazing bargaining team and to your bargaining team that spent so many hours together at KTEC.

And we are just really grateful that we get to move forward and that we got to make history with you.

All my educators, get up here.

Thank you.

No, it doesn't matter.

You're an educator.

Come on.

Yes.

I think she wants to say something.

Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board and Dr. Gurley.

At the March school board meeting, I presented the local CTE plan for the 2025-2026 school year.

All right.

Thank you.

Wonderful.

So first and second.

Any discussion from the board?

All right.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Wonderful.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

All right.

And next up, I think, is Ms.

Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Gurley, I'll wait a few minutes for the supporting slides to get queued up.

So this is actually a

Follow-up action that's somewhat procedural, I believe.

So on February the 6th at the school board meeting, in conjunction with reporting out on our safety and security audit, there was a proposal to put forth this process to review the role that resource officers might play in CCS safety and security.

And so far in this process, we've just completed step one, which involves, you know, having the staff working group come together and really hone in on best practices and concerns that would need to be addressed if such a process were to move forward.

The staff working group, which had their first meeting on March the 12th, was a large group.

All of the different areas there were represented.

We had representatives from alternative education.

Our communications and community relations team, our equity and family engagement team was represented.

We had mental and school wellness personnel there, special education leadership, restorative justice, safety and security, school leadership, our principals.

We had good representation there.

And I mentioned student services earlier.

And then we did have members from the Commonwealth Attorney's Office there as well.

They had participated in this work previously.

and even in the current model, there are different situations where we've needed to consult with them.

And so we thought it would be helpful to include them early on as well.

The agenda for that first meeting, we talked about the pros and cons of school resource officers.

We made sure everyone shared their experiences with them from their careers to date.

We talked about the vulnerabilities and areas of concern that we have in the current model.

And we talked about what some effective practices and key considerations will be

if we move forward and then honed in on what the actionable next steps would be for the staff working group to continue the work of looking at this.

So tonight's vote is not a new action, but it's actually a required procedural follow up based on where we left things last March.

So I don't like to normally read slides, but I think this is worth it because it's really why this is on the board agenda.

So we want to make sure everyone understands.

On March 7th of last year, the board received a presentation from me regarding the safety model and stakeholder survey results.

And of course, this was following everything that happened in the fall here at CHS and so forth.

So we're really honing in on our safety practices during that time.

On May 18th, the board received additional information from CCS, from staff and Chief Kochis as we've been talking together about

again, what resource officers would look like in supporting the schools and reestablishing some type of MOU.

So at the May 30th school board meeting last year, Ms.

Burns made a motion and the board took action to just defer the decision until this meeting.

And so based on advice from council that that needs follow up.

And so

Again, I guess I'll just keep reading.

Based on the motion from March 7th, the board now needs to take a follow-up action to either postpone the decision again until we complete the proposed process that was presented in February, implement a school resource officer model, or discontinue the process.

So with that, I'm happy to answer questions, but that's why this item is on your agenda.

So I'm gonna put it back on that last slide because I think that's the

Thank you.

Chair, a point of order question here is, this was on the agenda as info and action, I believe.

Correct.

So regarding this and then the presentation here, on your previous slide, the second slide that is reviewing the, again, procedure that was outlined on February 6th, step one has a staff working group that includes the chief operating officer,

other staff, and CPD.

Okay.

Correct.

Dr. Early, would you like to speak to this or would you like me to?

Oh, I can speak on it.

So from the, so we did, we moved forward with all the folks that are listed there.

Chief Kochis did reach out to us.

He provided some resources, but in terms of the working group, he said that they would refrain from participating in the working group.

until we were further along in the process.

We've done, I mean, he's been at the table quite a bit throughout this process.

And at this moment, they just don't want to engage in the process until we are at a place where the board has made a decision whether the board will proceed forward or pause.

They will continue to serve our schools in the manner in which they are doing now.

Okay, another clarifying question on this because my understanding again the process we agreed or again agreed to was that this is not just about SROs this is about MLU with again the CPD on

Not just, again, on a lot of different things.

SRO is a part of it.

No.

So the MOU is directly related to school resource officers.

That's the, I mean, there are

I think as you, as he has shared, there are protocols and laws there.

They will continue to follow their normal protocols when responding to the school.

But the MOU, the work that you tasked the staff with, that MOU specifically addresses what it would look like if school resource officers were in the schools.

So to be clear on that point, Charlottesville Police Department Chief Kochis and his team want a directive from the Charlottesville City School Board either yes, we want an SRO model that then develops an MOU or no,

That's correct.

And if you recall the work, the work that you all tasked us with on March the 7th of 2024 was to draft

And I think this is just a little bit of a change.

Is that I think that's I think that's fair.

Your directive was for the staff and

He had, I mean, there's no obligation for him to, I mean, we don't direct the chief.

But I will say, I want to make sure that he has been very collaborative with us in this process.

So this is not him leaving us out there to do this work on on our own.

You know, he's just said, I've expended the resources.

And so you all can do the work.

And if you want to,

return resource officers, we will engage you in that process and developing that you have to tell us that if you don't, then we will continue to serve your schools in the manner which we are doing now.

If I may, they are not unavailable to us in this process.

If I have a technical question about something that we want and it's like, can you do, we can ask them questions and they'll, but they're just not going to come to, they're not signing up to come to a bunch of meetings right now, but they are, it's not like we don't communicate almost daily because of different things and we can engage them for technical support.

If a specific question comes up about, is this doable?

Is this feasible?

If we want it this certain way,

I believe we can get those questions asked and answered as we work through the process of what we want.

And we also have to be mindful that as we are doing this work, there are templates already out there.

And so

What you've asked us to do is, what would this work look like here in Charlottesville?

And we've, we are developing it.

And again, we are doing it in consultation.

They just are not attending the meetings.

I mean, I think that, yeah, it's not attending the meetings.

I mean, but would it be the case that you create something, they've been consulted, but we're creating something, we vote on something, but then

They don't sign it because they weren't involved in... Well, I would imagine... Because right now, I mean, sorry, real quick.

Sorry, finish.

Let me... He's not engaging in the process right now.

He's not engaging in the meetings, but I can assure you that if we are developing an MOU and before I would present that MOU to you, I would ask him to take a look at that.

I would not bring you something that has not been seen by the chief.

I would, I mean, I would not say, is this something that's doable for you?

I mean, and he would say, yeah, we can't do that last part.

Oh yeah, we can do all of that.

I mean, I would not bring you something that CPD has not seen.

Okay.

I would, I would hope so.

Yes.

Yes.

Whatever we bring to you, I'm telling you that whatever I bring to you, if this, if the process continues on, then whatever I bring to you, I'm running it by the chief because I don't want egg on my face by bringing you something that he's not seen, but you may decide at this meeting that you don't want to continue this process.

I mean, I think what the chief is saying is that he,

brought you the work back last year and it didn't move forward.

And I don't know, I just don't like speaking for other people.

He's not here.

A lot of energy has been spent on this.

Well, and I ask this because I, there is a process with Citi, not only on, I would say safety and carrier students with CPD, but on a lot of other functions that they provide to us.

And how does this fit into that work?

Because they're coming and working with you on all those other things.

Those other things aren't tied to the NYU.

Those other things are related to state code.

So the threat assessment is related to state code.

I'm sorry, I'm speaking to facilities, parks and rec, making sure our grounds are kept up or not.

All those other things that

transportation that they again provide to us.

So I met with my counterpart, James Frias at the city.

He's the deputy city manager, deputy city manager for operations.

And he brought that up that, you know, Kim, we're being tasked to review all the the old agreements for facilities and maintenance and so forth.

And so

We haven't started that work yet, but I mean, it could be one of those things where they, in prior city administration, it's not unheard of, like they took a pass at editing the agreements.

And it wasn't something we could go with because they, I think the person thought we were an independent school district with taxation authority.

This was years ago.

My point is, it's not unprecedented for one party to like,

do the work and hand it over.

But ideally, there's some level of collaboration all along.

And I just want to assure people that we have that collaboration.

We work with these folks daily.

I'll give you an example.

As we started to think about what might be in a new MOU, what it might look like, focusing on best practices from everywhere.

One of the things that occurred to me as a need is we need more traffic training for our crossing guards and

We would like for CPD to provide that for us.

And they've been somewhat hesitant before, mainly because of resources when we asked for it previously.

But if we move forward, that's if we move forward with a new MOU, I would like that kind of baked in that whoever our SRO is, that that traffic training for our CSAs and our crossing guards would be part of the services.

and it was like, yeah, whatever, you know, that's fine.

Put it in.

That's fine.

Like, there's no there hasn't anything that we've brought up as a question.

Like, would you be willing to do this or that?

There's not contention.

It's more of figure out what you want and then then we'll take a look at it.

How do you want this to work?

And we've been working together very closely.

You've seen the numbers, how often they have to, you know, all the calls and responses and all of that.

So

It's not that there's silence or anything like that.

But there was a there was a, you know, hey, you don't need to be part of these meetings.

Let us know what you come up with.

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out if this is the place for this question, but I just to the point of of

what's been in place and the chief's involvement.

I mean, and following the board's work, previous board's work to change our safety policy.

I mean, we did have a police and schools protocols and it was up on our site and we did have previous

Chief's sign that.

One.

Okay.

I mean the one at the time.

So I'm curious, you know, and again, I don't know that this is the place for this question, but I'd be curious because this really does go through protocols without an SRO in the building.

And I just, I mean, if, why wouldn't, you know, subsequent chiefs sign this?

Because that document was something that

In the moment when the changes were being made, the school building leadership, high school and middle school, especially at the time, were like, how are we going to handle all these situations?

We've got to have something.

And so all of the leadership that was very amenable to doing this at that time, we just did, we came up with, for lack of a better word, those are scripts.

Those are scripts that are written in advance to try to handle all the different types of things that we think will come up in schools.

And they are representative of all the different categories.

but the reality of what that document is like to work with is you basically are trying to script scenarios which are unique in different ways each time and the cast of characters is always changing because you're not going to get the same officers responding and that is really challenging.

It's challenging for our school staff.

Excuse me, and I don't mean to interrupt.

I'm sorry.

I mean, it is a template, but it is code and it is something that we've had.

I mean, and it's just, it's been disappointing to me to learn that this didn't hold any weight when it should until

this board figures out the direction that we want to go.

And, you know, I mean, we need to be important for people to understand because I think it's a great question.

I think it's a great question.

Why doesn't what is why isn't that type of document enough?

What are the challenges with it?

And.

The story is thinking my concern is, is

I think there's two problems to solve here.

And I think there's two questions.

There's the basic underlining MOU and understanding things because I don't want kids being perp walked out of here.

I don't want to, you know, we need pro pro calls, and I don't want kids automatically going into the justice system, etc.

So, you know, how do we deal with those situations?

And there's understanding that whether we have SROs or not, because not having anything, and so to me, I just want to make sure I thought we were

on February 6th, basically approving a process to a whole inclusive MOU.

That's not just about SROs, it's about everything that needs to be the relationship with the CPD.

And that's why I'm a little concerned that they're not involved with showing up for the process.

When in a parallel, it's a very similar type of thing, kind of type of problem we're about to solve is who's doing what and what is the relationship between the city who provides us a service and us

We're all sitting at the table.

And Sam has said, we're going to do that.

And so, in my mind, I was like, I don't understand why there's a difference here.

Mr. Meyer, my understanding of that is a little bit different.

My recollection, I mean, I really feel like Dr. Gurley, I mean, this was specific to the process of bringing us a draft MOU regarding the SROs, this process.

And when that would come to us this fall before the budget, our first budget work session, that would allow us the opportunity to either vote yes, we want or no, we don't.

And so that that could then be

staff, even if we, for example, vote no, we don't want this to continue regarding SROs, do we still get an MOU with the city?

So if we say no, we do not have an SRO model, then we do not have an MOU with Charlottesville Police Department.

That is my firm, Ms.

Powell.

Agree?

Yes.

Correct.

We will work, Ms.

Powell and the team, we will not have anything like that.

No.

No.

There will be no MOU.

Your other work will continue with maintenance and grounds and landscaping and such.

And we'll continue to work with CPD as we do now.

There will just not be clear, definitive guardrails, guidelines, expectations, and accountability.

Correct?

Thank you.

Call to order.

OK.

There's a motion to postpone until our October meeting.

We have a motion in the second, so open the floor up for discussion.

Yeah, colleagues, I think I'm not really happy with this process, and I'm not laying blame at

on the administration and staff for any reasons.

I think my concern is, in my mind, we have two problems to solve, and it's the lacking of a MOU or an understanding with the city around how CPD provides services to our schools.

And the second is, do we want SROs to be part of that process?

and unfortunately, based on my interrogation right now of kind of where we're at, the only way we can get an answer of what are the natural SRO program will look like and how that interacts with the entirety of the services they provide us is by having this working group.

And I think we would have some political work to do with our city council colleagues to ensure that CPD is accurately or not accurately, but adequately engaging in that process so that when we get a recommendation from the working group,

that we can know if we're voting on it, that will be implemented also by them.

So I will also note that I had requested that a school board member be part of this working group, and I'm not saying that there, and I think that's part of our problem.

And I would hope that the administration would consider adding, I think, two school board members to this working group to make sure we get a MOU that

I think we're all interested in and the community is interested in in October.

Yes, I talked to lots of students this week on this, as many as I possibly could, and a lot of students don't feel super strongly either way.

As I talked to students today, they said they would feel safe, especially having officers that are especially trained to be working with students, because I was explaining it like right now.

Anyone, if police are called, it could be anyone in the vicinity versus this person would be not only interested in working with students but trained to work with students.

Some students are apprehensive, maybe they want more information and many also remember positive experiences when we used to have SROs in elementary school.

I would prefer we move this to May 1st.

I think we have continued to talk about this time and time and time again.

And we need to make a decision as a board.

What way we're going?

Do we want SROs and we want Dr. Gurley and his team to continue to do this work to develop a draft MOU?

Or do we say no?

We appreciate the work that's been done thus far.

We understand that an MOU with CPD is not going to happen unless there's an SRO component to it.

And we give Dr. Gurley and his team time back to work on the other more important matters of the district, if that's the will of the board.

but either way, I think Dr. Gurley and his team along with all these folks that are coming to the table should know where the board stands before they move in one direction or the other.

Ms.

Burns, may I ask you a question?

open to that, but also think we're missing Miss Cooper, a valuable member of our board that lives in communities that often are not represented or spoken for.

And so I appreciate her input.

And so, unfortunately, she's not here.

And so I would like her voice to be heard.

Ms.

Mr. Meyer, I believe you would.

Then it's been seconded, so I think you would have to amend to May 1st.

It would be raised.

It would have to be seconded again.

And then we would.

Madam Clerk, if you could check on procedural point of order there, that would be.

Who amends it?

So it appears after some consultation that I would move to amend the motion brought forth by Mr. Meyers that we vote on SROs in Charlottesville City Schools at the May 1, 2025 board meeting.

So there has to be.

I'll second the amendment.

I haven't offered my discussion on either as of yet.

But if somebody else would like to say so clarification on your amended motion, is that on May 1, the board would be voting either yay or nay to SRO, the SRO model or adding SROs back to the safety model.

Yes, ma'am.

All right, on to my comments.

So I took some time to just write some things down for people.

First, what I know, that a decision was made to remove SROs and pursue the new model back in 2020.

That there was in 2020, the joint CCS and CPD statement ending the MOU that provided SROs.

And all of the archived work that went into that is available on our website.

The work that the committee put into that was very thorough, and they were tasked to determine what a new model would look like for Charlottesville City Schools.

The committee that was involved in that was very robust, including division leadership, administration,

principals, two school board members, mental health professionals, CPD liaison, community members and UVA, parents, and there was student voice involved in that.

So there were a lot of meetings and again all of that is available to review.

Some of the what I feel like important committee outcomes just that worthy of review with that there was consensus around Charlottesville City Schools wanting a mental health component to what was present within our schools.

and since then, there has been continued investment and an increase in our mental health supports within the school division.

There also has been invested and continued support for restorative justice work within the school division.

So all of those things were prioritized by the committee.

Another thing that I found interesting was at the time there was a lack of clear evidence or efficacy of SROs as related to enhancing school climate or safety outcomes.

I think it's worthy of noting, though, that I think feedback that I've heard from Dr. Gurley and other people was that there is a question around just duties and responsibilities and maybe some of our mental health professionals feeling like they're being asked to do or expected to do

I don't know that expected is the right word but feeling like they have to do something that might be out of the scope of what they should be doing.

Same thing with some of our CSAs right that there's some clarity and work around what that job description looks like and whether the training is adequate.

I mean, I think those points are worthy to note.

I think that's work that can be done.

I don't think that an SRO needs to be in the building necessarily to answer those or to make those adjustments to those things.

I think we have shown time and time again that we're a division that can work outside of the box and look at things and maybe potentially come up with a new and different model that

I mean if we're looking at the model and maybe there are gaps or deficiencies in some opinions or by certain people, whereas maybe we look at them as opportunities to do something better.

So maybe there's something different, a different model that we can come up with.

in and during the process of evaluating what we wanted our new model to look like.

I also felt like it was important that we acknowledge that 100% of a survey that went out in January, 2021, 100% survey respondents expressed interest in the Toronto model, which is what we modeled the CSA after.

So I feel like we went the right direction.

We followed where there was an interest.

Things that have changed since then, and I think it's important to realize where we were at.

We were at post-2017, in August 2017 here in Charlottesville,

We also had COVID kind of right there in the middle of all of that.

So all of those things really shaped and continue to shape and

the experiences of Charlottesville, of the residents, of parents, of students, of employees, the perception and the real experiences of what some people had with police.

And this is no dig at current police.

Again, these are times of change.

Times are a little bit different, but we need to remember that.

Other things that have changed, some staff, some of the principals.

We have a new superintendent, we have a new chief of police.

We had a president then, we had a new president, and we're back to that president.

And I think that's important to realize that the current political climate impacts the safety and the security of what some of our neighbors feel, what some of the students in this building might feel, that they're actively students and community members throughout this country being picked up

on student visas.

I mean, this is something that we need to remember.

I mean, this is a big decision.

The other thing that I think is important that we remember is that I was the only board member when this changed, current sitting board member on the board.

And so I am very vested in this and committed to hearing and doing the work.

This is not a time that I personally feel comfortable putting SROs or putting police in our buildings for a lot of those reasons.

I am inclined to not

I would have been inclined

who for whatever reason maybe have a different opinion of what an ideal safety model would look like.

I'd love to hear that or receive that information and I don't know that I will.

Anyway,

I supported the change then and I'm really comfortable.

I think we've done a great job with our CSA model.

I think, again, if you looked at some of the slides in the presentation, once they kind of landed on the fact that this is the direction that we're heading, we said it was going to take time.

We said we wanted more mental health.

I think we're just now beginning to kind of hit our pace with the current CSAs and the model that we have.

So Ms.

We would be voting to give direction to the superintendent, and the direction is either we are in favor of SROs returning to Charlottesville City Schools, please move forward and create an MOU in cooperation with Charlottesville Police Department, or no,

We do not want SROs in our schools.

Please continue to make us safe and work through the channels you're working through with and for.

So just to understand, we would still get

No, it would be Dr. Gurley presenting his MOU and possible budget implications, I believe, if the work were to continue.

What that looks like, and then if your suggestion of having two board members on that committee

So yeah, I'm juggling one.

Miss Torres, I really appreciate your observations there, reminding us kind of how we got to this point and all the work they got done before and the concerns that were addressed then.

I don't think it's good legislative practice necessary always to be changing things up.

At the same time, it does seem to me that the model which evolved to include a CSAs of understanding since correctly, what we're proposing potentially is a model that continues to use CSAs, but as SROs and in different manner, functions, selection, criteria, all the things that kind of, I think we went over

And the literature that I reviewed is kind of the best practices of how you're going to utilize them.

That was what what would be going into this MOU.

And according to staff, that that would be filling the gaps that they're seeing now with our CSA model, you might say, the current model.

So I'm interested in that.

I'm also cognizant that we can't micromanage everything.

And at the same time, I don't necessarily want to vote on something that I don't know if it will actually implement all those changes that we were asking the new model to be, which is a bit concerning to me.

Because I don't see in this, for example, maybe it's there back in,

March of 2024, where we said, these are the six specific things that we want to see included in the model.

And then that's the guiding principles that we would expect.

I think the guidance was go create something and bring it back to us.

My apologies.

I think that's the guidance we provided, Dr. Gurley, was here are the criteria that we are asking for you to include in an MOU.

And my hope is that he would consider to consider those things and have meaningful discussion with everyone at the table to make sure that they were there.

It's in his best interest to follow what we ask him to do as a board.

I don't know.

Mr. Meyer, sorry.

I mean, to your point, you reminded me of some things.

So part of what I think we tasked Dr. Gurley with, too, was to do a comprehensive just review assessment of Charlottesville City School safety.

So we've had bits and pieces of that.

So some of that has already occurred and we're following up on those things.

but I think part of what we had asked was to show us the why like where's the data that really warrants an SRO in the building and part of that consulting firm that came in and I mean they just made a statement

You know, we recommend SRO.

Sometimes we don't.

Sometimes we do.

In your case, we do.

But there was no data, in my opinion, the way I read it.

And I've read it several times.

So I mean, personally, again, I don't see the data.

I've heard the reasons and I'm not trying to discount the reasons of why.

No, just why you feel like it's important.

And I mean, I'm just trying to honor that.

I mean, I understand that there's taxing

parts to what happens within the division.

And so I am respectful of that.

And also to some of the points, you know, great points that were received in emails, you know, I mean, this is there's a funding component to this, too.

There is instability big time at the federal level as far as the Department of Education and big ol question marks over my head regarding funding, you know, and just

what we need to be doing and focusing on instruction and support to our students.

So again, I just, I wanted to at least add those to my comments.

Can I just follow up quickly on Ms.

Torres' comments regarding data?

I'll take it in a different way.

One of the topics or the issues concerning our safety model is like

What are our measures?

And that is something that's important to me, regardless if we have SROs or not.

I do think it's very important of what are we trying to get to?

And I've asked this in a couple of different ways regarding CSAs.

What do we want to get out of it?

How do we know if that program continues in five years?

Same thing with SROs.

How do we know that program continues in five, seven years?

What is our ultimate goal?

I mean, I think we, you know, we presented data to this, to the board, to the community and, and several different ways.

And I just, I just honestly think that you know,

At the end of the day, first I want to say that I heard Ms.

Torres and I've heard members of our community.

It's not our position that we want to abandon our current model.

I mean, that's not been any of our talking points.

It's been about we were charged

back in March to go forth and look at an SRO model and build an MOU around that and bring it back to you all.

And that's the work that we've been working on.

You can delay this vote into May, but we're not coming back with that information.

We have brought to you all, we brought data about the number of times we've called the police and this and that.

and even down to the qualitative data no one cares about.

I mean, you know, we have people sending emails that, you know, thank you Mr. Morris for your feedback, but you're only one black voice.

and so I think we can continue to thank someone share with me about the meaning of kicking the can down the road I mean I have no interest in doing that I think either this is moving forward or it's going to I mean we just continue the model as it is and I assure you what I've been tasked with

doing is keeping all students safe.

And I'm going to continue to do that.

The gaps will remain the gaps.

And if it were as easy as people insinuate in email that we should be training, we should be training principals to shut down students, that's absurd.

It's absolutely absurd to ask CSAs to do things that are required of the police.

So I think in this moment, you know, either, you know, what we brought forward

is enough and we're doing the work that was assigned and for some reason now we are changing that narrative once again we're changing the narrative about what needs to happen in this moment we are doing exactly what was asked and if you ask us to stop we will stop and we will focus on

what's pressing in this moment.

But this is not us trying to create this narrative.

I've worked in school divisions with police officers, with brown children.

I know that's the talking point every week when we get an email about what happens to brown faces when there are police officers in the building.

And it's absurd.

And I'm not going to I'm not going to belabor this point anymore.

This works.

either continues with a a measurable outcome or we stop it.

So at this point, we have a motion to postpone this decision until our May 1st meeting that has been seconded.

And so

I think it's time to vote.

So, Ms.

Yes, Madam Chair.

Ms.

Burns?

Yes.

Ms.

Ms.

and Ms.

Dooling.

Okay, just making sure.

Ms.

Real quick, I want a discussion on that real quick, please.

It's a new motion, right?

I did not.

waiting for the MOU at the end of October.

As you said, colleagues, as we, I think

We're discussing now my original motion to, again, delay until October.

I actually feel better about that because then I feel like I'll be voting on something that I have more detail on.

While I don't think that necessarily will give the signal to CPD and chief Kochis that it sounds like he's requiring, my understanding the work on developing, again, the model MOU will continue.

And we will then have a clearer picture, I think, on what we're supporting or not supporting.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

All right, Ms.

Becker, can you call the roll again?

Ms.

Ms.

Ms.

And Ms.

Dooling?

Alright, so that failed.

So we are back to the beginning.

We have a motion to approve.

Development.

OK, I will certainly say that correctly.

So we have a motion.

You have a motion and a second.

Ms.

Ms.

And Ms.

Yes.

All right.

We are going to move on to items for discussion.

Eleven point one, the twenty five twenty six special education annual plan.

Ms.

Good evening, Madam Chair, Dr. Gurley, members of the board.

We're here to present the special education annual plan and provide an update on our special education program for this year.

I wanted to start by introducing my team.

Each of them may step up to share some information tonight.

It's not our whole team, obviously, but many of our school leaders in special education.

So we have Heather Grunton.

She's our intensive program specialist.

Dr. Leslie, who is one of our special education coordinators, and then Lauren Diggs, who is also a special education coordinator.

This morning, I got to spend some time in the garden with our urban farming program to introduce a new adaptive walkway for our garden.

And it just reminded me about how grateful I am to work for a school division

to work for a superintendent, to work for a board that really values inclusion of all students in all spaces.

Some tears were shed on my part, to be quite honest, but it is hard work.

It's imperfect work.

We work at it every day and we make mistakes and then we work to fix our mistakes and there's joy and there's sadness.

And so

The visit was this morning.

I have pictures if you want to see afterwards, but it'll also be covered by the news.

And it was just quite a moment for our school division, our students and our school.

So I will start with just a verification of our December one child count.

So we presented some preliminary numbers in December, but this is our final count at that time.

A lot of special education processes, including funding, are tied to

information on December one.

So, as you can see there's not a significant change in the number of our students with disabilities and there's just a slight change in how much special education service they receive.

So then moving on to our annual plan.

So we present this to you each year.

The Special Education Advisory Committee reviewed it last week.

And Lisa was there with us when we reviewed it.

When we apply for this federal funding, we make assurances that we have policies and procedures that are in alignment with federal and state policies and regulations.

And so that is a large part of the annual plan.

And then we set we outline how we're going to spend those funds on the students who attend our schools, as well as how we're going to expand the required proportional set aside for students with disabilities who attend private schools within the boundaries of the city or home instructed and live in the city.

So this year, our allocations will change a little bit.

We base our total amount on what we were allocated this year, which actually changes after we submit the plan.

So as we get updates on our total allocation, we adjust the plan accordingly, but we don't ever actually have to submit a new annual plan to align with that amount.

This year we're increasing the amount that we would like to allocate to personnel services and employee benefits.

We're doing this because we are planning to increase Charlottesville High School special education teacher staff to open a new structured teaching classroom.

We'll talk more a little bit about that later.

Based on our review of expenditures over the past few years, we can reduce the amount that we allocate to purchase services as well as materials and supplies.

Those are two things that over the course of the years, we've ended up having excess in those areas.

We use these funds right now to fund six teacher positions in their entirety, four TIA positions in their entirety, one whole coordinator position, as well as 90% of three teacher positions.

When we apply, we say in whole or in part because obviously we don't always know how much people are going to make before we hire them, and so that allows us to increase what percent of that person's salary and benefits we cover each year.

We use our purchase services to provide a teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing and interpretation services for IEP meetings and conferences for special education students.

Materials and supplies are predominantly used for curriculum as well as for specialized things that students with disabilities require on an individual basis, assistive technology and things like that.

Our other services encompasses travel and other related expenses to our staff attending training, what we include in this annual plan, and as we have last year as well.

is for teachers to be able to attend the TEACH five-day classroom training in North Carolina.

That's a really large expense per person, but it is an exceptional immersive training experience that includes their ability to work with students.

So it's a pretty unique opportunity that we want our teachers to take advantage of, and we'll have one teacher attending this summer.

And then in terms of our capital outlay, that is primarily for larger purchases that are needed for students, such as communication devices, switches, and adaptive equipment.

Just for transparency and in response to some questions that we had at the Special Education Advisory Committee,

Nine out of our 78 teachers related service providers and administrators are included in the annual plan.

So the majority of those, a very large majority are included in local funding.

And then four out of our 46 instructional assistants.

We also get a very small amount from the federal government for supporting preschool students with disabilities, and we allocate that almost entirely to one teacher.

It doesn't cover her entire salary or benefits, and she actually serves our two-year-olds in a developmental playgroup and is an itinerant special education teacher who serves students at Jackson-Bryant.

So as I shared last year, and I think you all know from being in our building, our largest expense is on our staff, on supporting our staff, and on training our staff.

So I'm just going to go through how much, how many special educators we have at each level, just for context.

So in early childhood special education, we saw a substantial increase in the number of students we serve this year, which was really exciting.

A lot of them are going to kindergarten next year.

So we serve 76 students ages two through four with six special education teachers, a preschool evaluator, and seven special education IAs.

Our elementary speech language pathologists serve our students in early childhood special education

and then we have one speech language pathologist who serves students in the community.

So she goes to preschools in the community as well as have students walk in for services at Burley Moran.

At the elementary and secondary levels, we have a wide range of services to meet the needs of students with disabilities across their least restrictive environments.

Since last year, so we have the same number of special education teachers at the elementary level.

But we've increased our staffing by two instructional assistants.

We keeping, you know, thinking about having the same number of students that really indicates to me that there's a higher level of support needed for them to access the general education setting.

At the secondary level, we have one fewer special education teacher, but we increased by four instructional assistants.

And so, again, that's how are we supporting students with disabilities accessing the general education setting.

and meeting their individual goals.

And then we added a transition specialist this year, which has been a real joy.

She's incredible and she's been working really hard.

And Dr. Leslie is going to share a little bit about her in a few minutes and her work.

So in addition to teachers, when you have an individualized education plan, you often access related services.

Related services encompasses physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychological services, speech language services,

and a few other things.

So this is our related services staff.

We have the same number of people as we did last year.

The really exciting thing is that we filled our BCBA position.

Ms.

Eubanks is incredible.

She's been such an asset to our teams and she provides direct services, consultation and coaching.

and so we're very appreciative that we've filled that role and that we can provide that support to our students.

Additionally, division wide, we have two coordinators.

There's myself.

We have an administrative technician and then an intensive program specialist.

We added this intensive program specialist this year because our greatest strength and our greatest asset is our staff and our students and supporting staff is a huge part of our strategic plan.

and we realized that the way that we needed to support people was to be able to have someone to coach and model.

Heather's been with us for a long time.

I had the privilege of being the coordinator at Jackson-Biah and being able to take what she did at Jackson-Biah and spread it around the school division has been a real joy to watch.

And she's still at Jackson-Biah almost every day.

They're very grateful for that.

They've been okay.

I think it was stressful at first to think that Heather was not going to be there all the time, but they've done awesome as well.

So we continue to have our Life Skills Education and Adaptive Curriculum program, LEAP.

The enrollment right now in grades K through 22 is 49 students.

We do have a full early childhood special education class that will be part of LEAP when they come to elementary school.

And then the really exciting news in programming is expanding our structured teaching program through the high school.

So we'll now have that level of support for students pre-K through age 22.

Okay.

All right.

This is honestly probably a snapshot of everything that she's been doing.

She just jumped straight into this work and has embraced it probably more than we could even imagine when we filled the position.

But just to note some of the things that we're seeing happen just this year and projecting into coming years, the utilization of DARS has just increased exponentially.

It is

Rupesh

There are classes set up for students to meet with the DARS rep and take care of not only training opportunities, but also just that relationship building that's going to carry them through post-graduation because that's who we're going to hand off to for many of our students.

She started building community partnerships, tours to employers, getting students out and doing site-based assessments.

and she's just seeking to increase the number of partnerships we have in the community.

We know we have a huge asset within our city and we just want to really build on what they can do for our students.

The utilization of the PERP program, for those of you who are familiar with that, that's an assessment program where we can send students to Fishersville, Virginia at the Wilson Workforce Center and they can get comprehensive evaluations.

In past years, we really haven't even been using any of our slots.

And this year she's projecting she may have to ask for more.

So that's really exciting.

Making sure that she is taking advantage of any funds available to us through WIOA that's in partnership with the DARS.

But that Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act offers us opportunities to provide some training or even possible pay opportunities for students.

So it's just

figuring out one how to navigate that and then getting those set up.

The community based instruction has continued with our specialized programs, but I think to Miss Hackster's credit, she has been on the boots on the ground like she's in those classrooms.

She's going places with the kids and really understanding their comprehensive needs.

She is seeking in the next year or so to develop kind of a warehouse of materials for

People to either check them out physically or to have online resources particularly for transition assessments because we recognize that as a weakness and that ties into that assessment piece is it was just a critical need to make sure kids were getting assessed and Everything was being identified rather than having the generic goal she has been helping us beef up our transition plans and just the last thing I would note is that

This isn't contained just to CHS.

She's reaching out to our students who are in placements, who need to be placements off of campus.

I got to hear her this morning.

She was quizzing kids while we were in the garden on the

what interview questions they might be asked at their K-UP interviews this week.

So we funded this by not continuing to have a contract with WorkSource.

And so there was some angst there.

And it has it was a good investment.

specific to this.

To its capacity?

I mean, I was excited to see that.

And I know I was I was around in the day when it was work, workforce or source.

I was really excited to see this on the slide in the sense that my young adult, with some encouragement from a mentor, reach out to DARS, and it took a little while post-graduation.

Mom really needed to like be hands off you know and that's really hard for a mom who's advocated so hard for that individual and got in and had a wonderful experience and had a wonderful coach and is coming up on a year

of a wonderful job that is a good fit for her.

And so I just, I know again, this is outside of, but this is looking forward to, I mean, we're, we're making those connections now.

And I can only, I'm just grateful that she, my student, my, my, my kid has that connection.

So I'm really excited because it's just been wonderful.

So we continue to access the Piedmont Regional Education Program, PREP, for a number of additional services.

It really does benefit us to work with PREP for these services because

We can share the cost with other school divisions.

Two things I wanted to highlight.

So the Parent Resource Center is really awesome.

Stephanie Hicks and her team put on a number of events that we could not pull off ourselves, being able to collaborate on those types of events, provide resources to our families.

There's evening events.

There's weekend events.

And she's also serving as our family liaison.

So that was a new regulation that was implemented this year.

And she really does help build consensus.

If families reach out to her, she is a parent of children with disabilities herself.

She shares that widely and she really

works with our families to work with us, which is a huge resource.

And then the other one is Ivy Creek.

So a large part of our prep budget goes towards purchasing slots at Ivy Creek.

Ivy Creek is a public separate school that serves students with

significant emotional disabilities in grades K through 12.

There are some changes coming to Ivy Creek.

They're moving location, but we're going with them to their new location.

We did look at our utilization of our slots and are decreasing the number of slots, and that's due to the investment we've made in opportunities for students in our schools.

Just a little recap.

It's really a privilege to be able to support students with disabilities and the staff that supports them.

Just a few things.

That's almost the finished garden walkway that you should definitely take a trip to in the outside.

We've got some students at the Tournament of Champions, which we'll go to again this year in Louisa.

And then it's an obscure object, but that is a switch-controlled drum.

So for students who have some ability challenges, finding ways for them to communicate and experience the same opportunities as their peers.

There is a switch-adapted chicken feeder and a switch-adapted watering can.

in the garden.

Although I learned today that the watering can does not turn off, so it can make a big mess and they love it.

We got big grins when the watering can got brought up, not brought out because it doesn't turn off.

Just some other celebrations for our special education programming.

We partnered with UVA this year to implement an FBA bit pilot for early childhood.

We've got our fourth group starting and we're really excited about the feedback we're getting from that.

It's a collaborative process with families and we really appreciate

I'm appreciative of their support and to be able to contribute to this statewide model.

There have been some peer observations in early childhood special ed that have been really meaningful and we are being trained on how to use the inclusive classroom profile, which is part of our work to make our preschool classrooms more inclusive for all students.

and then we've had really positive attendance at our program meetings throughout this year which is where we've worked primarily on our the results of our CSEA audit.

So a little bit of an update on our audit.

So the our VDOE monitors were able to validate our self-monitoring of over

They engaged in 13 interviews with staff.

They did 23 classroom walkthroughs.

And then they worked with us to do a transcript for review for our high school students.

So a lot of this was self-monitoring.

And I said at the beginning, we're not perfect.

And we're also pretty harsh on ourselves.

And so working with VDOE has been really positive because they've really helped us highlight where we can make improvements, but also acknowledge that there are many strengths in this division.

This is a quote directly from the report and having that team here and I think being able to share it with the staff.

I mean, I think I shared this last year as well, but they said we have the best program for students with significant disabilities that they've seen.

We're so appreciative of how students were engaged in learning and that's a testament to our staff.

So we've got this incredible resource in our students and staff and I want them to continue to thrive.

Some of the areas that we identified as needing program improvements and that we worked with them to identify what regulations we needed to pay close attention to were making sure that our students who are enrolled in the Virginia Essential Standards of Learning, who take the VAP assessment, are enrolled in a system of courses that show that each year they're taking reading and math.

We know in practice that we're teaching reading, math, science, and social studies, but that really needs to be reflected on their transcript.

So that came out of that transcript review.

So we made some updates to the program of studies, as well as some rostering updates.

Many of the areas of improvement were actually in the screening process, making sure that our screening process for hearing, vision, speech, and motor is well documented.

It was well documented K through four, and then wasn't as well documented for vision and hearing in the older grades.

So I worked with the nurses, speech language pathologists,

to revamp the screening handbook and make sure that those procedures are clear and that we're following them.

And then what has been a big focus of our program meetings has been positive behavior supports.

So this year we've worked to update our functional behavior assessment and behavior intervention plan process, make sure that we have supportive teams.

That's iterative.

We updated our guidance documents this week.

because we want to gather feedback and get information from staff.

We are doing regular internal audits to make sure that the IEPs are compliant for positive behavior supports, but also that the discipline information is being logged correctly and things like that to ensure that we can follow the proper procedures when students with disabilities

violate the student code of conduct.

And then we're updating our MDR process, which is our manifestation determination review process to include some guided questions that help the team make good decisions.

In addition to some program improvements, there were some areas of improvement that we could make in terms of documentation.

So we've updated guidance for eligibility documentation, extended school year documentation, IEP meeting attendance, IEP meeting notices, and record access logs.

Many of these things were things that we found in maybe one or two records.

And so it wasn't that it was wrong in every record we reviewed.

But if we found it in one place, we wanted to make sure that guidance was good and updated it.

And many of them were things where we were documenting in one way and needed to make the documentation more clear.

So for example, for eligibility, we were documenting in the summary, something that

We should have also been documenting in a worksheet.

So we're able to update our guidance.

Any case, any IEPs that needed to be corrected were able to be corrected.

Teachers got feedback, case managers got feedback, and we're really positive with what we've seen so far.

We'll submit that information back to VDOE in July for them to validate that we've

made improvements in the areas that were noted.

And then there's two other things that, or three other things that we initiated based on this process.

One was a big records retention project.

You know, you're thinking special education and records retention.

Well, yeah, there's a lot of records retention and confidentiality within procedural safeguards and within our special education regulations.

So working with Ms.

Powell and Ms.

Skipper and Ms.

Hackworth to update our records retention procedures.

And then we've increased our consultation with private schools and with homeschool families because we need their feedback to drive how we use proportional set-aside.

So we've gone from consultation once a year to I now send quarterly information.

And we've actually had we've had quite a few homeschool families reach out for evaluations.

And that's something that that's a big part of Child Find.

And if people don't know, they can't reach out and ask.

And that's it for today.

So, I mean, I appreciate this and I appreciate, I mean, it seems like a lot of it is procedural stuff, how you guys were doing.

And I was just curious if, I mean, any of those deficits or affected students.

I would say that none of the documentation improvements impacted students.

I can give examples for what each one was.

that doesn't impact how students get served, that there wasn't a record access log in their cumulative file.

That doesn't impact how kids get served.

In the area of program improvements, what I would say is the thing that has impacted students is positive behavior supports.

And I want to acknowledge that that is a very complex process meeting

and IEP in general is a very complex document, meeting kids individualized needs is the name of the game.

And so improving our positive behavior supports improves student achievement and student outcomes.

Many of the things that we identified were that the IEP contained a number of supportive, supportive pieces they had where students were getting

IEP wasn't as cohesive as it could be to make sure that those services and supports were clear and transparent and updated more regularly than the IEP.

So the great thing about a behavior intervention plan is that you can update that

every two weeks, every four weeks if you need to.

And updating a whole IEP every two weeks or four weeks would be very challenging.

Thank you.

And then quickly back to the funding part.

So thank you for taking my questions, spending some time with me at the SEAC, after the SEAC meeting, but just in the sense that there are some positions that are tied to those federal funds.

Can you speak to, and again, with again, the political climate and VDOE,

Yeah, the executive order surrounding that.

So my understanding is that the funds for next year have been appropriated to the state already.

We're not worried about next year.

I mean,

We're worried, but in terms of these funds, we're not necessarily worried about these funds for next year.

And as we get more information, we'll make contingency plans.

We're committed to having a high level of service for our students.

We are committed to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

We're committed to providing special education and Section 504.

I can't speak to what will happen if the regulations change, but we're committed to doing the right thing for kids no matter what.

We do have, in working with Ms.

Hooper, we will have a plan.

Thank you.

It's your whole team.

Next up is Miss Hoover speaking of whom?

Good evening board members.

This evening I will present to you the budget updates for fiscal year 2025 and 2026.

The General Assembly conference budget changed the governor's proposed budget in which we built our FY26 budget on.

They lifted the support cap on positions.

increased the staffing standards to support the positions from the governor's proposed budget of 24 to 27.89 per thousand and on base year of March 31st of next year.

And remember, basic aid is included in the calculation of LCI.

They also gave us additional money for the funding of the special education

And then there was an additive for this fiscal year's budget for a bonus payment to school divisions for SOQ funded instructional and support positions.

So let's start with the one-time bonus payment in the FY25 budget.

The state has allocated $471,712 to CCS, including Social Security taxes, to provide a $1,000 bonus for SOQ positions to be paid no later than June 1, and it's to promote and retain staff.

We have 526.59 FTEs beyond the state's SOQ funded positions.

To extend the $1,000 bonus to all instructional and support positions, we need to add another $449,998.

to the state's allocation.

We will utilize the fiscal year end funds to cover this need.

Based on February's projection report, we anticipate having 746,000 in vacancy savings, which would cover the additional amount needed.

You may recall in fiscal year 2023, the General Assembly authorized a one-time bonus for SOQ instructional support staff.

We're modeling the distribution of this funding based on those guidelines that we set out.

To receive the bonus, employees must be employed with CCS on the last day of school, which will be May 30th, and return to us for the first day of work on August the 4th.

The bonus will be issued through a separate payroll on May 30th.

If an employee doesn't return to the school for the new year because they submit the resignation over the summer,

The $1,000 bonus would be deducted from their FY 25 contract payout.

The structure is intentionally designed to support and promote staff retention, aligning with both the state's guidance and the local priorities.

So moving forward to FY26 budget, we're receiving an additional $385,077.

The superintendent is recommending that we add three FTEs to enrollment growth at the elementary schools and one FTE for attendance officers.

With the addition of the $385,077 will be amending our FY26 budget.

The total funds will be $125,301,367.

And at the next school board meeting on May 1, the superintendent will be recommending to take action on authorizing the $1,000 bonus from the FY 25 budget to staff and amending the FY 26 budget by $385,077 for the additional FTEs.

Open up to the board for questions.

Thank you, Ms.

Huber.

Maybe this is a question for the attendance officer.

What is the scope of that person's new role?

So that person is providing tier three.

It's the equivalent of the truancy officer role.

We previously had the truancy officer.

One of the things that we talked about at the last meeting, I believe it was, we looked at the attendance data.

And so one of the things that we know has been a heavy lift is our students who are chronically absent.

So this position is

Relieving, what's currently happening is some of our mental health providers are doing the truancy work and it's causing some very blurred lines with families.

They are forming these relationships with families, but then our mental health staff are then having to take these folks to court.

And so we don't believe that these, we don't believe that these staff persons should be the same.

It compromises the trust with our families.

Ms.

Razny could probably give us a

I don't know if increase is the right word.

I think the consistency.

Well, and it's long before 14 days.

I'm going to jump in.

So the court process is about accessing services.

That's the big reason that students might be referred to court services.

Court services can take the case or divert the case.

But we are trying to use a preventative model to where students who

who needs support can get support.

There is, it does come a time where the support that the student needs needs to be mandated.

And that's when we access court services so that the services, maybe their mental health services or other services get put in place.

And then there's the expectation that the parent engages with those services.

We don't take a substantial number of students and families to court at this time.

We have a multidisciplinary team process that works with court services as well as our CCS staff to determine what services need to be put in place and whether it's an appropriate referral.

But it's an extensive process that takes a long time and a lot of maintenance from somebody.

Just something, we're adding this position, which is we could be, there's other, obviously a lot of other needs our students have, and I am worried about attendance, but I'm wondering again, is there actually enough work for this person for a full-time position?

Yes.

I'm seeing there would be, okay.

And I do agree that

you know, we need to, there need to be some characters, for lack of a better word here, a stick, to start, I think, holding parents accountable for their children going to school.

So if this is part of that solution, I think we need to meet it.

So I want to interrogate that a little bit, but thank you.

No one knows that.

Different question.

Ms.

Hoover, what is, when you have here, you have this General Assembly approved

They stipulate SOQ, instructional and support staff.

Are we having a, Dr. Gurley, a problem with retention on our, in our administrative staff?

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah, school counselors, principals, we just exceed, we just, we just exceed the SOQ.

I am not in that.

I'm not in that number.

But we do exceed, we exceed the SOQ.

And then I know we do that in a lot of, again, we have lower classroom levels and a lot of in support things that we be on with an SOQ level, I guess.

I'm concerned that, well, this money, if we don't spend it, technically we have to split it in half with the city, but I don't necessarily think staff that are based, not working day to day, let's say, with the students in the district headquarters necessarily need a thousand dollar bonus.

That's my personal opinion.

How do you pick who's, nobody walks around with a stamp that says I'm an SOQ?

I mean, who's going to make that decision?

In my mind, it is if you're in the school every day, then you're in the school every day.

If you're not in the school every day, if you're in the administrative side of things, and to a certain extent, I would define that usually as people earning over 100k.

I think the issue is it says for SOQ funded positions and so baked into the money that they're giving us are administrative SOQ positions which are connected to students, even though they're not in the building with students.

I think I also just want to interject that I'm very uncomfortable with

a lack of respect for non-student-facing positions, that they are not worthy of the same retention that we want to extend to our teachers and our other staff.

And I would hope that's not what you were intending, but I think SOQs are not just teachers.

I appreciate that.

I also think there's and not trying to degrade the and or excuse me, the the work that all those folks are doing.

I personally don't think we need to be, for example, giving bonuses, though, to staff that make on more than one hundred twenty five thousand one hundred fifty thousand dollars a year.

So and I think we can repurpose that money.

And I don't think we have a retention problem with that level of staff.

earning that type of money.

So I was just trying to understand a little bit better if there's a different destination there, because I think how it's presented is that, and I appreciate the clarity provided around SOQ, what that actually means and staff, but it should just be all staff rather than instructional and support staff.

Okay.

That's all I had.

So the basic aid is directed towards the FTEs.

Special education is an add on to the basic aid funding.

Correct.

OK, just

And moving on to our last item for discussion, 11.3.

Ms.

Good evening again.

For elementary school rezoning, there's no new information being presented this evening.

This first slide for the viewing public just shows our current boundaries,

The table at the top details all the different metrics that we were looking at throughout this process, even when the initial four scenarios were put out to start getting feedback to figure out how to solve these problems.

The low SES has always been in the mix, and it did become, emerge as our top priority.

But all of these things are important.

We wanted to get the best outcomes we can with all of them.

And the big thing is the red box up there, which just simply means that if we were to do nothing, taking all of the development information that we have in hand for everything that's approved and actually in progress in some cases, we would ultimately within the next 10 years, we would be exceeding the capacity of summit by over 40%.

and Summit is the one school in the entire district where there's absolutely no opportunity to expand it.

So I think it's just kind of good to remember why we started here.

I'll also say that the South First Street redevelopment and expansion also had started out as a top concern, but we're actually not gonna see the consultant's work showed.

We won't see as big of an impact there as we were initially worried, but that was one of the reasons we started the process.

as early as we did because of how that development's coming online.

So this is just a look at the metrics and a reminder of why we undertook this process in the first place.

We started back in September.

We were talking about it before then, but the first official presentation at one of your board meetings was back in September.

And then this slide just recaps the recommendation that was put forth by the superintendent in January.

It shows how this set of boundaries

impacts each of those metrics at the top.

And then the bottom table shows the number of students that ultimately move to different schools with this proposal.

Phasing is a really big part of the proposal that's being put forward because the idea is that there's no need to move families too soon, given that everything we're doing is based on construction.

and certain housing developments in particular are projected to have significant impacts and so you don't want to move students or families too early because then you end up with schools that are underutilized or you know before they there's just no need to do that the whole idea is to minimize

transitions, disruptions, and to give families options.

So this slide details, you know, how families can look at the information once everything is decided.

And they can determine if they want to move early to the school that where they would possibly, you know, where they would be attending, or they will be able to apply for exemptions and continue and finish out at the school where they currently attend.

And with these types of phasing, transportation is not necessarily guaranteed, but the option is up to the family if they want to put forward an application.

And so in a later slide, we're going to talk about adjusting the out-of-zone policy to accommodate those family choices.

This is the chart that actually details when the different changes in the boundaries would take place by neighborhood.

And the main takeaway here is that most of this doesn't happen until 2930.

There's some changes that were recommended right away where no students currently live, but it just some little tweaks that cleaned up, clean up the boundaries.

And then it's actually 2728.

So not next year or the year after, but the following year.

where we start to

One of our overarching desires is that whatever decisions were made in this moment, looking at the data we have available, that it be good for at least 10 years.

Charlottesville has not had to make any decisions regarding boundaries for elementary schools since Jackson Viya was constructed back in the 1970s.

So that's an amazing track record for not having to revisit your boundaries within 10 square miles.

but there's just a lot of high density development that was focused on the Summit School District that we have to get ahead of because to the extent that it actually materializes and the funding continues and those units come online as they're planned, there's just nowhere to expand Summit to accommodate those numbers.

So with the phasing, we need to make a change to policy J.C., which is school attendance zones.

And I don't know if we want to go to the full view of the policy or just talk about what it is.

It's really just it adds rezoning as a reason that families may apply for a student to attend an elementary school outside of their zone of residence.

New online applications will be made available online.

Presently, it was just a paper-based process through the school offices because there really weren't that many folks who applied to do this.

It was just two reasons in the existing policy.

One is childcare, and the second one was if you started in like you were living in one area of the city and your child started in a particular elementary school, you could apply for your student to stay.

Those were the two reasons that exist in the policy.

This adds the rezoning and the parameters around that as a third reason.

So this factor is kind of projected up.

It's not a lot of changes.

It was actually when we looked at it pretty easy to tweak the existing policy to accommodate this new situation.

So for this year, the application for out of zone for next year, it won't open up until after you all take action at the May 1st meeting.

In future years, we'll want people to put in their out of zone applications

in April, but that won't be the case for this year.

But because you only apply one year in advance.

Some families may wish to use the out of zone application this coming May.

And so these are the examples of family whose oldest child will be in kindergarten or first grade this coming fall.

If they want to go ahead and apply to their future school for August of 2025, that would prevent their family from having to make a shift later.

That's just one example.

And again,

That previous chart is what those links go to.

It shows the proposed phasing and timing by neighborhood.

Ms.

Thacker had projected the complete policy up there, but people can link, you know, get to that through this agenda item if they'd like to take a closer look at the exact changes.

And I believe that's the last slide in the deck.

Thank you.

Again, no changes since what I think we last received, correct?

Correct.

Thank you.

I would like to make just a quick recommendation for the policy in section A. I think it's the fifth bullet point.

A limitation on participation.

Thank you.

That was an oversight.

You're right.

That is not applicable because for us, we only have zones for elementary school.

I was curious, and I can't remember, so help me out.

Have we talked, or has anybody talked about this becoming a more cyclical process?

Like, I know we've said, we'd love to not have to do this every

I believe that's already or is that in their policy?

It's in the policy.

I'd already I forget the exact language, but the policy already states that that it might be in the very top.

Leslie, if you go to the first paragraph are established by the board and it says something about the periodically reviewed, I thought

It's not about the out of zone partisan.

I think it's about Miss Torres is referring to the general like it's going to be periodically reviewed.

The very opening paragraph that you were up there.

Well,

I did make changes so that you wouldn't have to revisit it too soon after reconfiguration.

I will say that.

I've seen somewhere policy.

I mean, it might be a different one, but that works as a periodically review.

It may not be this policy.

We can have that information as a follow up to find that.

Actually, I think I found maybe the paragraph that you're looking for.

So just under the bullet points, that might be the paragraph that you're referring to.

I mean, to date, it was sort of it's as needed, but we just have known that just looking at the housing developments that are coming online, we've sort of been foreshadowing that we might have a problem.

And then if that problem landed at Summit,

We can't be reactive.

I mean, I don't know what's reasonable.

I feel like, you know, if most of this isn't going to be kind of implemented, or we're going to realize it until that 2029.

And it's something that's more perhaps regulation, as part of all of this, sorry, we are going to annually be looking at

how the actual housing developments are progressing so that we could adjust the phases if that we're going to be monitoring it now if you want to memorialize that it's going to if we were to see something significant changing

I believe it's incumbent on us to advise the board, but we already have in our procedural plans that we're going to have to look at how the housing, are the housing developments coming online as expected?

Because again, we want to avoid underutilization as much as overutilization and balance all those metrics as best we can.

Yeah.

I mean, I think to your point, I am more interested in memorializing it.

Obviously, I think it's, you know, on everybody's mind that we need to do a better job and we have done, but continue to watch housing developments, the relationship, the communication with NDS.

I actually think the annual enrollment and debt update in the fall is going to be a really good time for us to talk about this.

I think it's going to naturally come up because I now have quarterly check ins with Piedmont and CRHA and NDS.

I've got a monthly with.

So, you know, we've established I mean, it's not the Planning Commission grant you and there could be new things that come up, but at least for what we're aware of that drove this particular set of decisions.

We have the regular meeting set up, and my thinking is that when you get your enrollment report out in the fall and October, that that would be a good time to certainly update the board on what we're seeing in relation to the data that underpin these decisions based on this moment in time.

Correct.

This is just a timestamp.

Our internal review.

I think I'd be interested in kind of seeing in the fall when you come back to this topic how this is included in that presentation.

And then, I mean, we are reviewing and modifying policy annually.

I don't know.

I mean, is this a question we can ask our consultants still for our best practice?

Sorry.

I mean, I don't do your point.

I don't agree.

We need to say every 10 years we have to do this and make everybody suffer through it or spend the resources and write it all.

involved with our annual enrollment projections going forward because that's a separate engagement.

But because of the housing development piece that's so significant in this, our enrollment projections up to this point have been done by me using linear regression models, and they work fairly well.

but when you have the type of movement going on and you need like more of a geo-located element to that work, we don't have those tools and that software.

So they will be part of just helping with providing the enrollment projections and so that we can actually also be, it's not like we lose access to them because we'll be talking with them in that work.

I have to provide them the updates from the folks that we're

All right.

Thank you.

Our next item is school board member committee reports, which can be found in ESB, and we'll move on to our second opportunity for comments from members of the community.

Diana Bryant, Charlottesville resident.

A couple of notes.

I'm tired of wasting time.

And I'm not amused by the political theater that has taken place this evening.

This notion that you aren't ready to vote or weren't ready to vote and make a decision is very aligned and on brand with some of the failures of this board.

There feels like there's a lack of transparency because the talking points from several of you during these meetings do not match your votes when it came time to make a decision.

The math isn't mapping, so to speak.

Thank you, Ms.

Torres, for your vote.

So as a result, the vote was rushed after multiple tied votes.

Now, my notes on processes and procedures.

You cannot expect partners and city employees to continue wasting time with you and engaging on matters that you plan to have no backbone or a firm stance on.

The idea that you haven't heard enough voices every time you're asked to make decisions, which is, I should note, what you're elected to do is interesting, especially considering the fact that there are always opportunities to engage with the public.

And I don't see these opportunities being taken advantage of by everyone on the board.

So what does she mean?

Someone will ask, I'm sure, and I'll share.

I attended the Black Joy event at Walker Upper Elementary School earlier this month, and not a single CCS employee, CCS central office employee rather, attended.

Dr. Gurley said he couldn't make it.

He had an engagement.

Ms.

Burns said she couldn't make it.

She had another meeting.

But no one from central office, including the people who are tasked with community engagement, were there.

and I think it sends a clear message.

It's not just about attending events, it's about engaging with the families and the students who matter in our community.

So if you say you're not ready to make a decision because you don't have enough information, you haven't spoken to enough black and brown families, well I would say that would be a perfect opportunity to do so.

We keep alluding to not seeing certain demographics in the room,

Well, the cafeteria was at capacity.

All chairs were filled.

It was a beautiful and diverse event with many black families, parents having dinner with their children.

And there was so much joy and y'all missed out.

So kudos to Miss Howard and the Walker staff for putting on such a great event.

And by saying this, if you care for the voices that we aren't hearing or the people who aren't in the room.

Maybe make a better effort to meet them where they are.

Be more strategic in engaging with community outside of these meetings or designated public comment sessions that you have for the budget or for rezoning.

Your vote tonight proved that you don't actually care to listen to all, but at least we have dropped the facade and a lot of things have been exposed tonight.

So to the people who are watching online, I just hope that you pay attention because November will be here soon enough.

All right, anybody in the Zoom room wishing to speak?

Okay, we'll move on to board member comments.

Ms.

Ulrich?

Yeah, I'd like to clarify, and I wasn't as articulate as I wanted to be around

I think the bonus question, I do think we have, I come at this from a perspective that I don't always think management needs bonuses, especially if they're already highly compensated, and that we can allocate our resources maybe particularly.

So I think a lot of my question is around trying to understand what the legislators were, and again, trying to define there, and do we wanna actually spend that

extra 20, $25,000, $30,000 or more on bonuses who I think on people who are highly compensated.

And we're not having a problem retaining.

Next topic, communication.

I do think we want to think about, and this is I think a relatively benign period at the moment in regards to

the challenges we're going to face around SOQs in the fall and in the winter.

And having a little bit more robust, proactive communication now around our successes for the schools and outreach, I think more politically by the school board members, but in addition by the administration, I guess, seeing a lot of things in the press and certain press that, unfortunately, I don't think

paint a clear picture necessarily or a fair picture of what's going on in our schools.

And I think we needed a better job of trying to proactively shape that.

And I hope we have a conversation about that and maybe at our advance here soon.

I wanna thank all the staff.

And I think especially not only the administration, but our teachers and leadership in the CEA for working on the collective bargaining.

You know, it's always to me a little anti-climatic when these things get voted on.

I know we had a nice picture here, but I think that I hope everyone understands and Ms.

Torres and I think some of the other board members here, Ms.

Dooley also, you know, you started working on this and excuse me, Mr. Morris also, you know, you took the vote a number of years ago to start that process and you've seen it through now and congratulations to you all.

But again, I think to everybody who did that, I think as

Ms.

Gilligan mentioned it is historic and I hope everybody looks back at it as the right decision also.

Finally, and I want to, the recognitions we had at the start today, I think made me think about the small grants that were received by a whole bunch of our staff, but

I think we need to think about board a lot more about our endowments and the foundations out there and who's supporting us and is there a coherent kind of strategy around that and is it efficient too?

There's all these different foundations that work with us, some of them more directly, some when we sit on some boards.

I'm thinking about Charlottesville scholarship program too that Dom and I sit on.

and are those being run in an efficient manner and maximizing the benefits to our district and our students.

And so I would like us to somehow maybe do a little bit of work on understanding all those and evaluating if they're, again, doing the most that they can for our district.

Thank you, Mr. Morris.

Ms.

Thank you.

Want to highlight for my colleagues and students specifically that may be listening.

I'm excited.

Ms.

Ehrlich and I have been hard at work at the high school making sure that we are

finding avenues to elevate student voice in particular and so wanted to share that Harper and I along with Mr. Rod and Dr. Malone have done some really great work developing

survey for students to point them in the direction of the board agenda, what's on the board, what's upcoming, what's happening, and giving them the opportunity to offer feedback and to ensure that Harper gets that feedback and can touch base with folks and then harness information.

I think the most positive feedback we've heard thus far is the rice bowls.

at the cafeteria and that was directly related to Student Voice and how the students were able to come together and share their experiences and make some really positive change there.

So just sharing that exciting work and

Also working with Harper, Mr. Rod, again, Dr. Malone, Dr. Odey will be in on this one as well, choosing our next student school board representatives for next year.

And that application will be coming soon.

So April 21st through May 2nd.

is the application window for students to apply.

The application will be sent out to students and then the SCA committee will review those applicants, narrow it down to a pool.

There'll be a group chat interview that happens at that point and then an announcement of selected representatives hopefully by the week of May 19th.

and then Dr. Odie looking to present those students at our June 5th meeting.

So I am excited about the work that's being done there and look forward to bringing those candidates to the group here in June.

I just needed a little clarification on the attendance officer.

Who would they report to?

Did I miss that?

Thank you.

I just was curious about that.

And then I do want to say that I was not expecting to vote on the SROs today and just a little disappointed on the outcome, especially since Ms.

Cooper wasn't here.

So with that being said, I am excited to see how everything will turn out in that area.

Thank you, Ms.

Yeah, just wanted to wish you guys have spring break right next week, right?

Wanted to wish everybody a happy spring break.

So hope you stay happy and healthy and enjoy your your break.

And I think that's it.

I just want to just give a shout out to Ms.

Horn's class.

I enjoyed, as with many things, double and triple books, but I did get to enjoy it.

About 40 minutes that I was with her students and just really elevating students' voice and really informing our work.

I was very impressed with our students on yesterday at the career fair.

Shout out to

Ms.

Health and just how our students were engaging with potential employers.

And then lastly, I must give a shout out to the fourth graders over at Trailblazer.

I got to read the legend of Tic Tac Toe this morning, and we had an ultimate game of Tic Tac Toe.

I'm sorry, I'm saying Tic Tac Toe, Rock, Paper, Scissor.

We had an ultimate game of rock paper scissor this morning after I read the book of Legend of Rock Paper Scissor.

And so I just want to give a shout out to those two classes.

Ms.

OK.

We have a little bit of a break from each other, guys.

Our next meeting are actually our school board visits to schools during the week of April 14th.

And then we will be back in May for our May 1st meeting since today is, in fact, our April meeting.