ACPS Regular School Board Meeting - Thursday, January 8, 2026

Just can't talk little sinusy that stuff 12 hour. It's about 9 hours belongs to I think she's >> Oh, yeah. >> [laughter] >> at the top of January meeting school board in order since this is the first of the new term we will do reorganization night. So uh before that We will uh go ahead and have a moment of stand for a moment of silence and then just stand. >> 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. >> You couldn't hear me because I can't talk. [laughter] >> All right, members of the board, do we Do we uh need approval of agenda? Have y'all read the agenda? >> Yes, sir. Can I have a motion to approve the agenda? >> Move for approval of the agenda. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> All right. The agenda has been approved. First, next item on the uh agenda is elected chairman. At this point, we need To the board to nominate the chairman and elect the chairman for the

2627 school. 2627 calendar. >> Mr. Chair, I nominate David Childress for the chair position. Okay. Second that. >> Is there a second? All in favor? >> I >> I. >> Any opposed? >> All right. >> Give it up. >> Shuffle. [laughter] >> Come sit. >> Shuffle. [snorts] >> Well, first I'd like to say thank you. Uh, thank you to the board for um believing in me and I I promise to do my best um to um represent uh our community and and this board and all of our actions. So, thank you for that. >> Moving

[clears throat] on, we need um 2.02 elect vice chair. >> Mr. Chairman, I would like to um as a nomination for vice chair, Mr. Erica Rossi. >> Second. Okay, I have a motion, a second. Any discussion? All right. All those in favor? I >> I. >> Any opposed? All right. We have a vice chair, Mr. Rossi. >> Come on down. We're playing musical Chairs today. [laughter] >> We got it warm for you. >> Thanks. >> Hey, don't touch that. It's a bug on it. Don't turn it around. Turn it around. [laughter] >> Pardon the chaos

for a moment. >> I know. There's one in my house, too. >> Thank you. >> These two. There we go. >> Welcome, Mr. Rossy. >> Thank you. I'd like to say thank you to The board for uh nominating and choosing me as your vice chair. I will uh do my best and it is a great honor to be the vice chair of this board. >> All right, moving on. 3.01 student of the month. >> Yes sir. 3.01. Mr. Chair, we have student recognitions. I will come forward and uh do the recognition. >> All right. Again,

Mr. Chair, members of the board and our audience, we do want to recognize our students of the month. Our students of the month are are usually nominated due to the fact that they have displayed some type of ex outstanding attribute at school. Whether it's their behavior, whether it's how much they help other people, how they help their teachers, uh their attendance, all those things go into it. And when so when they uh they're rec they're nominated and recognized, it is a great achievement to be picked out of their whole school as a student of the

Month. So we'll start with Ammeris County High School. We have Phoebe Camp. And when I call your name, please come forward. I forgot to say that. Okay. >> Amoris Education Center. Hannah Welch. [applause] >> You have some You'll have some company in a minute. Right there's fine. Okay. All right. From Ammeris Middle School, Dearan Morris. I think he has a basketball game tonight, so he will not Be with us. From an Elsa Middle School, Esther James. [applause] [snorts] >> Congratulations. >> You're welcome. from Amazon Elementary. Mackenzie Martin >> from Ammerst Elementary. Abel Robertson. >> We

won't. >> Congratulations. >> Come on. You want to take that? Thanks. >> Central Elementary, Adeline Weber, [cheering] [applause] >> Elen Elementary, Skyler Kidd. [applause] >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Madison Heights Elementary. Quest Wright, [applause] Temperance Elementary, Malachi Humphrey. [applause] Come on up. Congratulations. And we will take a picture. Parents, if you want to get take a picture, you can kind of come up. Come to the middle. Mr. Charity mind coming down. Can we all shift to the middle? >> All right, everybody. One, two, three. Good. Good. Okay. [applause] Thank you. >> Next, we're going

to recognize our staff Of the month. And parents, y'all welcome to stay. If you want to see the board meeting tonight, be if you if you need to leave, I understand. All right. Staff of the month, uh, Ammeris County High School, Wanda Johnson. [cheering] [applause] >> [applause] >> Ammeris Education Center. Charles Johnson, [applause] [applause] Ammeris Middle School. Linda Zablowski, [applause] Mela Middle School. Sharon Childress, [applause] Amalon Elementary. Cheryl Over Street, [applause] Amoris Elementary. Alyssa Hayden, [applause] Central Elementary. Misty Drew, [applause] >> Elen Elementary, Ashley Hudson. [applause] Congratulations. [snorts] >> Madison Heights Elementary. Jada Buchanan, [applause]

Temperance Elementary. Morgan Wear. [applause] >> Not playing volleyball tonight. Is you, Jim? >> Not tonight. >> Okay. All right. Transportation Department. Evelyn Dawson. [applause] and from our office, Miss Ashby Baldock. [applause] >> And again, every one of these our staff members, Min coming up. Every one of our staff members has done something that really needs is deserving to be recognized. And um again, it's usually their work ethic, what they're doing in the building, how supporting students, how they're supporting staff. We just Want to appreciate all you do for our students and our community. Thank you.

[applause] >> Don't show favorites. [laughter] Oh, there's more. [laughter] [applause] >> Cheers. Now don't fall. >> All right. [laughter] Shannon, I should have had yours first. >> Sorry. >> All right. So, next I want to recognize Miss Shannon W. You mind coming forward, please? [applause and cheering] >> I'm going to read a little because um but make sure I don't forget something. So, Shannon was named the 20 2025 DAR which is department of aging and re real rehabilitative ser I can't talk [laughter] rehab services Uh across the state she was the 2025 DAR statewide community

partner champion >> so she was the my understanding was you won this across the whole state of Virginia for your work you have been doing [applause] >> so this and she was recognized what was the date of this December 11th I believe recognized in December. Uh we couldn't get her to the December board meeting so we want to bring her in tonight. But This just an honor for what she's been doing for our students here in Ammeris County. Um she has 28 years of service in education. She's built her career defined by innovation, compassion, and

leadership. And you currently serve as our instructional specialist for adaptive programs elementary through postgraduate. and she's also the transition coordinator all while furthering her own growth by going through um leadership lynchburg munia Leadership endorsement. So um when I was at Melis Middle School as principal she was there and worked for us there and she has continued to advance her career as we've gone forward. So I just want to congratulate you and say thank you and keep up the good work. >> Thank you. [applause] >> [applause] [clears throat] >> All right, that brings us to [clears

throat] 4.01 public comments and we have one person on the list, Charlotte Jennings. >> Adaptive leaving. [laughter] Sorry. Would y'all like to red close the door? Why? >> Leave it open. >> Leave it open. >> Good evening, Mr. Chairman, board members and administration. I [clears throat] am Charlotte Jennings. My address is 400 Deerfield Drive, Ammerst. I'm in the courthouse district. I hope to find you well from our season of viruses and illnesses and infections. Um, [clears throat] this is actually my first address to the school board ever. [laughter] I'm a lifelong resident of Ammeris County.

I come to you this evening with gratitude for all the positive growth I have witnessed and experienced in our Ammeris County public schools. My Concern regards Ammeris Middle School Gymnasium. There is much history and pride in this school. I feel with the growth happening in Ammeris County that expansion is necessary and I'm confident that the board of supervisors and the school board feels the same. Ammeris Middle School needs a new gymnasium. I have [clears throat] sat as a spectator for many years on that onesided wall of bleachers Supporting those Cougars. The past two years supporting

my grandson's basketball team has awakened my concerns. Even last night, the gymnasium was over capacity. Chairs were brought in for spectators. Cheerleaders were in the corner where their own families couldn't see them. Several spectators escaped getting hit in the face by a basketball, by ducking, or having a great catch by a neighbor. It's a good thing to have outgrown this gym. Last night I worried though about safety, capacity overload, fire hazards, evacuations, injuries due to closeness to the playing court. One spectator voiced that they felt things were closing in due to the capacity. Unfortunately, I

felt embarrassed, too. I support this team at home games as well as away. Our gym appears to be the oldest and the smallest that I have visited in Lexington, Nelson, LCA, Sanduski, Appamatics, Rusberg, and Manelison. [clears throat] I'm sure that families, spectators, students, and staff are feeling some of these same concerns. Growth is here in Ammeris County. I do hope I get to witness the plan and a new gymnasium for Ammeris Middle School. I Have many more grandb babies coming through. Thank you for your time. I'm headed to AMS now for another packed night. Thank

you. >> Thank you. Any others that wish to address the board at this time that may not have signed up? All right, moving on to 5.1. >> Mr. chair, members of the board, we get the rest of our reorganization. And so, uh, item 5.01A through G can be approved as as one item, [snorts] um, which is basically the role that my my me and my staff play in in supporting the board. So, uh, we would ask that you, uh, have a motion to approve A through G and then we have to do the rest of

them individually. >> Okay. Somebody want to put that in the form of a motion? >> I make a motion we approve A through G As presented. >> Second. [snorts] Anyone? >> We have a second. Any discussion? All right. All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Motion carries. >> Thank you, sir. Uh, next is 5.02. Appoint a representative and alternate to the Laurel Regional Board. Currently, uh, we have Miss Lian serving On that board as the primary and alternate is Miss Justice. >> Okay. >> I'll make a motion that we approve uh both

existing members to the board as presented. >> Have a motion, >> second >> and a second. All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Thank you both for continuing to to Serve in that capacity. >> And Mr. Mr. Chair, 5.03 is appoint a voting delegate and alternate to represent Ammeris County School Board at the VSBA annual convention. Currently, we have Miss Lian serving as the representative and Miss Saunders as the alternate. I'll make a motion that we u to approve the two members who are currently serving uh to continue serving. >> Have a

motion. >> Second >> and a second. All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion [snorts] carries. Again, thank you both for being willing to continue to serve in that capacity. >> Mr. Chair, 5.04, appoint a representative and alternate to the Central Virginia Governor School Governing Board. We currently have Mrs. Justice as the primary and Mrs. Saunders as the alternate. >> Mr. Chair, I move that we continue with those who have already been serving so well. >> I have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> All right, we have a motion

and a second. All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you both for serving. >> All right. Next, we have 5.05. Appoint a representative and alternate to the Regional STEM Academy. We currently had Mrs. Thompson was serving and Mr. Arasi was the alternate. >> Mr. Chair, I nominate Mr. Jason Childris to be representative. >> I have a motion. What about the the the backup? >> Do we have a backup? >> Do that separate. >> Do we have to do that? >> You can do a separate motion if you want to. >>

It doesn't matter. I mean, >> or you can make the motion would be >> I nominate Mr. Terry [laughter] >> for the alternate >> way to speak up there. >> Wow. [laughter] >> All right. So we have but we need a second to that cuz we're amending it. Okay. >> All right. So we have a motion and a second for Jason Childris to be for the Stem and Mr. Terry to be the backup. >> We have a second. Okay. All right. All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> All right. Motion carries again.

Thank you both for doing that. >> Mr. Chair, next is 5.06. um consider continuation of the school board policy committee. Currently, we have we had uh Mrs. Thompson and Miss Justice serving on that Committee. Uh as you know, Miss Thompson is no longer on the board. So, if you want first you have to decide if you want to continue the committee and second, do you have to place uh another person on the committee? >> So, board have some conversation on that. Um, I will just I'll say I personally thought that this committee um was a

huge support and help uh for the board and I personally would like to see it continue. But >> Mr. Chair, I make uh a motion that the policy committee continue another year with the board approval. >> Okay. And do we want to go and put a establish in that who is going to be on the committee? >> I think we need to do a separate >> two separate ones. Okay. All right. So, we have a motion to continue the committee for another year. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> We have a motion and

a second. All those in favor? >> Any oppose? All right. So, we have the policy committee. So, now we need to determine who's going to be on the committee. >> I nominate Mr. Childress to be on the committee. >> Which one? >> Which one? >> Oh, dang. [laughter] Sorry. Mr. Jason Childris to be on the Policy committee. All right. Second. >> All right. Do we want to add anybody else to the policy committee or just Jason? >> I think we have to do two to keep it >> more than one. >> Yeah. So, >> I

nominate justice to be on the policy. >> All right. We have a nomination. We have a second. All right. We have a second for that. All those in favor? >> I. >> Motion carries. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you both for that. And in all serious that is a huge um help uh to the board because a lot of time is spent going through uh those policies really digging into the weeds of that and so I greatly appreciate the effort and time that you guys uh that you have spent and that you will spend uh moving

forward. So thank you very much. >> It won't get bad until April. That's when that's when everything comes out from general assembly. >> All right. So next we do have two policies uh as a second read for for approval request for approval. The first policy is policy JJ AG and that is a student athlete extreme heat safety and protection policy. Uh that is that code that we need to have this policy and it has to be reviewed by annually. And then we also have policy LBD the home Instruction. Again, that was updating that with just

uh changing some of the the verbiage and some of the vernacular of that as far as being all caps and not all caps and those very minor changes to that. So again, I would ask that you approve policies JJ A and policy LBD. >> Mr. David Childress, Mr. chair. Um, I'd like to ask that file LBD be separated out to the policy committee just so it can be looked into A little deeper. >> Okay. >> All right. >> You have to have one motion at a time, right? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, >> so we

have a motion to pull uh LBD to the policy committee. Do we have a second for that motion? Second >> and we have a second for that. Uh any discussion? >> Is this Mr. Chair? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Is this a second read on that? >> It is second read. But >> did it go to the policy before? >> This one did not. It was a change. It came late and we just brought it to you last month as a first read. So I'm fine with reading it. It shouldn't take be a very long discussion.

So we could I'm not don't have any issues with that. >> Okay. >> Any other discussion? All those in favor of LBD going to the policy committee for review >> say I. >> I. >> Any opposed. >> All right. LBD will go to policy committee. All right. Do we have a motion for JJ AG? >> Mr. Chair, I'd like the board to consider since this is an athletic policy. Is it Possible for us to add a reference to the um cardiomyopathy information that the government provides for athletes that there's a higher risk of cardiomyopathy in

minors in athletics? [snorts] >> I would recommend again if that's if you want to make changes. >> Yeah, if you want to make changes it needs to go back to the committee. Yeah, >> that'd be my recommendation if if the board so chooses. >> Um, again, we follow the the VHSL guidelines on this. So, we're there, but again, if you want to add to that to committee and we can discuss it and have further discussion. >> Mr. Chair, I move the policy be sent to committee for further research. >> Have a motion. Do we have

a second for that? >> Second. >> Motion and a second. Any discussion? All right, no discussion. All those in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? All right. So, JJ AG will also go to the policy committee. And so, if you two would go and schedule a time with the administration uh to go and review those and then we can have them present it uh back at the next meeting. Please, >> sir. Next, we have uh 5.08. Discuss and consider approval of proposed 2627 school calendar. Again, we gave you this uh last month, two months

ago, and then last month we had further discussion, and so now we bring it to you for approval. >> All right. And so, just um as a as a followup to that, we did send this out to staff. We got feedback uh from staff on it. So, we're not just willy-nilly passing a calendar. We we've got input from from all parties. Correct. >> Yes, sir. Feedback. >> Yeah. >> Correct. All right. Okay. So, we have a a calendar board. What's your pleasure? >> Make a motion to accept the calendar as presented. >> Right. We have

a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Right. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? >> All right. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? All right. Motion carries. We have a calendar for next year. Yes, sir. >> Thank you. Next, we have the consent agenda. >> Here, I move for approval of the consent agenda as written. Second >> motion and a second. All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Motion carries. >> All right. So, now we're up to our student reps. I'll turn it

over to them. >> Uh, good evening everyone. I'm pleased to say that the cafeteria is finally finished and hot food is being served. Um, many students are very happy about that. Um, in fact, the group that I sit with, they're super excited about it actually. [laughter] Um, also our basketball teams are doing very well this year. Our guys are six And two currently and our girls are 4-2. Hopefully our guys pull off a win Friday night against Heritage. That would be stellar for us. Be >> great. >> Also, me and La Mer, we both hope

to go to both the middle schools before next month. So hopefully we'll have some news on more of their activities that they're going to have. >> Um, good evening everyone. Adding on to what Wyatt said about construction, the Floor in the small gym is also done. So, the ninth and tth and I think there's an 11th grade advanced gym class that also uses that gym. Um, they're utilizing that space. Um, the new newly renovated space and also additional activities. During the month of December, our FCCLA put together a spirit month where we had a variety

of themes that engaged students across all grade levels. We also had our county's winter fest hosted at the high school which was a success Despite the delay and um because of the inclement weather we experienced. Um additionally we had um some activities for our seniors before break. We enjoyed a special cookie decorating activity before break complete with s'mores and hot chocolate in our um new cafeteria. And all of these initiatives reflect our continued commitment to enhancing the student experience both academically and socially for everyone. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Update on accountability

8.01. >> All right. It's going to be a tough fact to follow all year. Uh just a couple of quick updates for the board this evening. Uh we received an email Tuesday afternoon from the state with some updates regarding federal identification uh that came with a canvas course that the state produces with lots of information, forms, different things that are going to be available to us. Uh As we click through, every single page was still either under construction or access was denied. So we're still waiting on the actual information to come from that email. Uh

we also got some preliminary information about the school improvement grant. Uh the board will remember for all three of our identified schools last year we received an allocation. We're anticipating an allocation again this year for Central Elementary. Uh but we're going to find Out more about that a week from today on the 15th. We have a webinar with the state to get a little more detail. Hopefully get a little more access to that Canvas course, get what we need on that side. Uh so information is now coming to us. We're going have a little more

information for the board in February to update what that process looks like for Central. uh unfortunately still waiting for that webinar next week to really get into the nitty-gritty of All of that. Uh especially when it comes to the school improvement grant. Obviously, we're going to bring that back to the board. We are already in conversation uh with Mr. Profit and his team at Central. He's going to be joining us for that webinar next week. We want to make sure that we are taking all of that feedback into account as we're thinking about how we

might use uh some anticipated funds there. But as that develops and as more information is Available, we'll certainly be sharing that with the board. Uh I did also want to provide a quick update on our math textbook review. Uh so we continue to get good feedback from the community, from parents, as well as staff. Um as of today, I had Miss Matheni check for me uh from staff. We had 43 responses. Six of those are building administrators. So that was positive to see. Represented eight of our schools. So we're still pushing that out and we

want to make Sure we get feedback from everybody on that. But a good response rate so far. Uh we've also received 19 responses from parents in the community. Most of those have been parents giving us feedback. Central Elementary is actually hosting a review night tonight uh to bring folks in. So we're excited to see this cycle. I'm glad we left it open a little bit longer this time. We're already seeing a better response rate than we did with all of our literacy work the last couple Of years. So kudos to Miss Matheni and her team.

Kudos to the administration and their teams for making sure we have that out there and getting that feedback from the community. So on any of those notes, be happy to answer any of the questions the board might have. >> Mr. Chair, um thank you, Mr. Neighbors. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Um so we got 43 responses. Six of them were administrators, 19 parents um and community. The other 20 >> So actually the 43 was staff just by itself. Yeah. So six administrators in the balance of that were teachers, instructional assistants, other support staff in the buildings

and then 19 were parents and community members that have given us that feedback. So still want more. Want to make sure that's out there. Doing a good job pushing it out, but glad to see that feedback so far. >> Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Any other comments? Board. >> All right. Uh the second bullet tonight is our monthly update, the mastery of standards. Uh very happy to say we continue to see some positive trends. I'm going to highlight specifically science and history where we are really seeing continued growth. Got some high numbers in those

first two columns and very very excited to see that work being put in and students responding to that instruction. I will say with reading in Particular, I think we had our end of semester end of quarter assessment. So we had quite a bit of data dump into the system right there at the end of the semester before Christmas. Uh we could also see that we probably got hit a little bit by some of that inclement weather and students being out a fair bit before that. Even with it, we still saw a lot of good positive

trends with how students are responding to instruction and how ultimately with that Spiraling back of standards, we're continuing to see progress and more and more numbers really in those first two columns thinking about already having it mastered as well as at risk. So we want that red column to be as close to zero as humanly possible. So there's still a lot of work to be done. Uh but a lot of good positive data here. A lot of good positive responses. We're out in PLC's. We're seeing the data tell us that students are responding to instruction.

We're on that right track to be ready for those end of course assessments here at the end of the year. Um I did also have an opportunity to meet with Miss Justice this afternoon. I wanted to plug that there. I'm always happy to meet with the board, talk through the data. We do have uh quarterly assessment data coming up here before too long. Our next window for growth assessments will be essentially the month of February. So March will be our next big data Reporting out and seeing where we are compared to that winter uh date

or fall data I should say. So again if any questions from the board be happy to answer those at this point >> report any questions comments justice >> I just want to say thank you Mr. your neighbors for the time um that you spent going over the data with me and sewing showing the relationship between previous month's achievement which is is content knowledge >> and showing the upward trend and just give me that time. Thank you. >> Absolutely. I'm happy to do it >> and I encourage any board members to go and take the time

to look at it because it's a lot to wrap your head around. It >> is. Yeah. We spend a lot of time with the data and ultimately I'm just glad that we're able to represent something that is actually being used by our teachers. This is what they're looking at every week. This is what we're Talking about in PLC. So good representation of where we are in structurally right now. >> Yeah. So that's uh one of the questions I was thinking of is looking through it. Obviously we got showing a lot of growth. >> Um so

my my first question is is you know using your crystal ball because I know you have one in the office. >> That's right. Absolutely. Right back there in the back. >> Right there in the back. So, you know, pull that out and >> help us translate that. Right. So, what did >> obviously we don't have a real crystal ball. We don't really know, but the hope is is that this is going to translate into much better so testing results. >> Yes, sir. Y >> uh as we move forward and and so this hopefully will be

a good gauge for us if that does translate. >> Yeah. >> As we move forward uh you know, next year you know that this is a good >> measurement tool for the board to use. Uh and then second part of that is um ass never like to assume >> but looking at some of these where we're not where we want to be >> right >> right where we're higher on the red than we are in in the green and yellow >> the assumption is that we are putting additional supports and measures in place to retarget

those growth areas. Obviously geometry algebra y >> you know those are some of the the the harder ones. Um and you as we we look down uh through there and of course the sciences are are are hard as well. So >> absolutely. Yeah. And that's the what I appreciate about this and the functionality of this versus other data that we've probably presented in the Past. Right. This is a direct connection to what teachers and also administrators are looking at on a regular basis. So I think I made the comment earlier this afternoon to Miss Justice.

If Dr. Crawford wants to go into master connect and look at biology for example, he can drill down to one specific class or one specific class period I should say for a teacher and determine where we are within that last assessment that was given. He also has that trend data. So He's looking at the exact same thing that we are and able to target those things. We can have different conversations with our administrators and our teachers because of that. We're really all speaking the same language from that data that we're looking at. So that has

been tremendous. quarterly reviews, other meetings we're having. It just allows us to target that and get that support in there much quicker than we normally would be able to. So, >> and so have we changed the um you know, in the past, previous years, the PLC's were it was almost like punishment >> got >> for our teachers, right? Mh. >> And so have we changed that now that it's really an opportunity for our teachers to really, you know, dig into the data and figure out >> without feeling like it's being punitive to them? >> Functional,

I think, is the word that I would use. It's meaningful time, right? There's no wasted motion. There's no wasted conversation. We're looking at this data. We already know where we are in some of those respects. We're spending that time learning from each other, learning new strategies, moving everybody forward as a part of it. And I'll give kudos to administrators with that. What we've seen with that lean in this year of them really guiding and Facilitating a lot of those conversations. I think that's led to better outcomes on the back end and frankly teachers thinking, okay,

that was worth my time that I just gave up with that. Still a work in progress. Still continuing to get better with it, but definitely a different mentality and different feedback that we're hearing on the back end. >> So, one thing we're trying to do is the PLC's professional learning community, And it's not just a data dig every week. It's what are we learning from each other and how can we do better? That's kind of one thing we've tried to emphasize this year. >> Yes. >> Good. Okay. >> Awesome. Board, any other comments, questions? I

didn't mean to take the whole time, but >> All right. Thanks. >> Thank you. Thank you, sir. >> All right. Next, we have administrative. Dr. Hoden again is not able to be with us this evening, so I will take over uh his role here tonight. But first, we do have construction update, and I'll turn over to Mr. Ro and kind of go through some of the changes at the high school. Good evening. Uh good evening members of the board. Uh over the last month, a lot of significant changes have been made in the high school

and while most of the uh staff around Ammerst County schools were Enjoying break, we were continuing construction at the high school. A lot of technologies been added, I'm glad the student reps are enjoying the new cafeteria and while they were gone over the break, uh we've added additional uh 18 TVs between that and the serving areas. We had 13 in the cafeteria and up the main street area. And then uh we also added five in the serving area uh to uh put the menus and things like that up on. They're still not up and running

Yet. They're all powered up. Uh the visionary technology we are uh installing uh the contractors installing uh will actually allow us to um take things that are in auditorium, display them out into the uh cafeteria and those type of things as well. So a lot of technology going on there. Uh this is the picture of the serving lines. um you know the five TVs sort of hard to see from y'all's perspective but the uh the five uh TVs over each one of Those and we'll be able to change the menus and and uh the cafeteria

staff will take care of that as we progress each day. Also out in the cafeteria we now have a projector screen projector and screen that was installed over break as well so that they can do staff meetings or we can have smaller community meetings and those type things in that area. And again um this will be tied to the system and it has its own uh this has its own audio system and Everything. So we do presentations right here as well in the office area and actually Miss Wentz is uh the one of the new

offices is this in the uh old old um auditorium area. Uh they are occupied now as well as one of the classrooms is currently occupied. This is the nursing lab. Uh we've added uh the curtains for the individual uh workstations in the nursing lab have been installed back in The far corner back there. You can see washer and dryer. And then this is a classroom up with the bulletin boards and and uh chalkboards, everything like that up in there uh ready for the students. Some of this equipment will be coming in over the next couple

two or three weeks and uh we anticipate moving uh the nursing lab from the existing location into here hopefully within the next two weeks or so. And I need to talk to instructor tomorrow in reference to That cosmetology. Uh the picture on the left was a month ago and looked like a construction area. And now we're pretty much in the finished product. This is the the picture on the right is the classroom area and as you can see it's floors done, painting's done, little touchup here and there, cabinets in and uh the boards up as

well. So that is progressing. And this is the uh uh lab area itself Where the uh cosmetology students will learn to do uh their crafts and and skills in there. And this is the uh picture as it is today. Actually some updated pictures. This is actually complete. The contract is finished this afternoon. All the mirrors are up. Everything is in place now and uh and pretty much ready to go. You can see the picture on the left would be a reception area as well as a merchandising area. The shelves against the wall on the Left.

uh that we'll be able to have product and sell and things like that. Uh and then the workstations on the right, there are 20 workstations uh like those on the left there. I mean, excuse me, on the right, 20 workstations throughout the cosmetology lab. Four on the wall to the left, six right there in the center. There's three of them back to back. And then along the front wall, uh which is the the parking lot side of that area, which is the old band room. You have another tent station across there as well. And then

this is uh of course the washing stations and um on the back side of this they have the styling stations and then in the far left corner they actually have um you know stations where you do nails and those type of things as well. Finished cosmetology here in the next couple weeks. Uh install all the equipment and move into nursing again. That's in the next couple weeks. Uh we plan to we we're developing a plan now and I got the school on board and and the contractor trying to line things up. We'll begin demo of

the old nursing lab here in the next two weeks or so and uh then of course continue construction agriculture lab. There's really been a lot of changes in the a lab itself in the last month or so. Um we've been trying to work out some engineering uh concerns with water flow and and Drainage and into the pipes and everything. So we're we've got that resolved now and uh so here in the next few weeks we should the see the floor being poured back in there. But all the electrical is done, the HVAC is done, and

uh so pretty much getting the plumbing finished up and getting it painted, and that's pretty close to finishing as well. Any other questions? >> Or any questions? >> Just one comment for me. Uh great work and it's a it's a lot to do. Um [clears throat] I do a lot of the similar stuff for my other uh job and so I know it takes a lot of effort to stay on top of that. So, kudos to you and the team for doing such a great job. >> Yeah, thank you. Like, and I've said it multiple

times before, I keep asking Joy for an office up there, but it uh hadn't found one yet, but it is coming along. It's great to see the technology and some of the finishing touches going back into the cafeteria and uh with the screens and the technology part add in as you can appreciate um the folks that are coming in there on for different contracts and stuff are just amazed by you know what has been built and also you know thank you to the uh school board and to the board of supervisors as well for allowing

us the opportunity to do that so that uh we're getting there. >> Thank you. And when we do our uh fouryear training and PD on the 15th, we'll be using the one of those new classrooms in the in the old auditorium. It's now a new classroom space. So get to use some of that. >> Uh next, uh we had the discipline board change for the second semester. So Mrs. Lian, Miss Justice, and Miss Saunders are it for this semester. And Mr. Terry talking with uh Dr. Hoden, he said, you Know, there you could fill in

if if there was a need for a fill in. >> And uh M Mr. Jason Childris, um we will try to, you know, get you in so you can see some of the how it operates so you're not so you don't understand that part as well. So we'll we'll work that in with your schedule too as we go through. Okay. [snorts] And then from the Verizon wireless update, the tower um everything on our side has been signed. It is now In the county side. So, they'll do whatever they need to do for their meetings and

hearings and things like that as that moves forward. But, we have completed our requirements. Now, it's with the county and how they work out their aspects of it. Any questions on that? >> Questions? >> All right. All right. So, next I want to have Miss Bleco come up and she's going to share uh some Information regarding our communications and how things have how things are looking. So, I'll give it to Amber. Amber, [snorts] >> good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. I come to you tonight with some very exciting uh information to share with

you with regards to communications. So, last year we worked through what were we going to do with the website? It wasn't meeting our needs. we were having Some struggles with it. So, we took the time um we were very thoughtful in how we approached the new website. Um we made sure that the new website is an external facing communication tool. There were a lot of internal specific information on that website and we went ahead and pulled that off so it's not confusing. Um and then we started with that migration. Um we did end up going

with parent square as our website provider and that was a fantastic Transition. Um it is a great product. It is very easy to use. It is very userfriendly. All of the web managers have um been very open and very happy to work with it. Um and a lot of the feedback that I have gotten from our internal folks as well as external stakeholders has been very very positive. Um with the new website we did do a lot of new training. Um I had to get them trained on how to use the new platform correctly so

that It stays looking the way we need it to look. Um we also began doing um ADA compliance training. Um that was something that had not been done before. Um there are some new rulings that came out in 2024 that will have an effect on us um based on our community size starting in 2027. But I am pushing them now. We are starting to do them and we will continue to do them. So, every time I meet with the web managers, we are having refreshers and talking about Something new or something that's changed to make

sure that we stay ahead of the game if we can. Um, and that we're being very, very proactive. We also did some training on photos because we wanted to have a focus of really telling our story and showing people the fantastic things that are going on in our buildings. And so we've worked with our um not only our web managers but our social media managers to make sure that those photos are accurately reflecting The wonderful things that we do have going on. So leading up to going live, one of the things that we wanted to

make sure was to communicate that change to make sure that nobody was surprised um and that people knew what to expect. So we actually had a marketing campaign that took about six weeks. Um we had um teasers that led up to it. They were not only division branded, but they were branded for each school. So they went out on all social media platforms, Information went home, we had launch posts a week later. We reminded people to go and look at it. Um and then we kind of sat back and waited to see what what was

going to happen. So I am happy to say the following information. I shared this information at our leadership retreat in July with um school and division leaders and admin. And this was very very exciting because those of you who were on the board last year when we first talked about the Website the 12 months of 2024 we had we only had data to show that we had 6,900 visits total on our website nothing more. What these numbers show you the these numbers show you the first eight days of July 2025 and the numbers went through

the roof. This was very very exciting to see that um even our smallest school temperance they had a thousand visits in a week. Our divid the division page we exceeded what the visits we had exceeded the 12 months Prior. So that was really really exciting. But what is even more exciting to share with you guys is that after the first semester so our website was live for six months. These are the numbers at the end of December and they have consistently gone up. So it's very exciting to see that those numbers from the first week

it was not a flashfire. It was not a quick one and done like it is continuing and we are getting the traffic and even our smaller schools are Getting the traffic. What is really exciting especially for the high school is with the old website the high school actually had less visits than some of our than our middle schools and some of our elementary schools. The high school now has more visits which is what you would hope that being the biggest of the schools. So this is very very exciting. This is what we want to continue

to happen. This is telling us that people are going to the website they are fi Hopefully finding the information but it is being used which is fantastic. Um looking at the division site a lot of times people like to ask well which websites or which pages are we actually seeing the most hits on? The homepage by far is getting the most hits. Um, but HR, congratulations. You guys have three of the top eight pages that are being seen. So, people are coming to find out what is it like to work for Amherst County Public Schools?

How can I become A substitute? What if I want to chaper own or volunteer in the schools? So, the fact that we put that information out to help our stakeholders, it's working because they're going there. So, that's very, very exciting to see. Um, child nutrition is getting a lot of traffic. the um calendar so people know when we're in school and attend good attendance is important. Um looking at website analytics, this one um kind of knocked me over just a Little bit. Um after the website went live, I did make sure that we could continue

to track similar analytics with Google um so that we could kind of compare apples to apples. And I thought these analytics were staggering to see how much increased engagement we are actually having with the website. And it's not only people just landing, but it's people landing and then clicking around or people landing and actually reading the information and engaging the Information. Um, I believe where over on the far right where it says we have a 414% increase and average time on site. Previously the average visit was maybe 30 seconds. It's now up to over 3

minutes. So that in itself is very very positive. Um there is a note there that you know these do seem pretty drastic. Some of it is the fact that the website is redone. It's more user friendly. Um and some of it is that the new website does have some analytics built into it. So it works a little bit better and we have some search engine optimization features to make it easier for people to find the information and so that's helping to lead to it. But all in all very very positive. Just so you can see

some of the feedback. We have gotten feedback from staff. We've gotten feedback from parents and community members and across the board um it has been very very positive. Um still open to feedback if Somebody has a thought or an idea. Um the website is it's not static. It is not a oneandone. It has to evolve over time to stay relevant and stay current. So I'm always open to feedback to having conversations for and for looking for ways to make things better as we continue to move on. Social media has also seen a very positive uptick.

Um, and we've been really focusing on making sure that we are telling our story and not leaving it Up to somebody else to tell it. And we are encouraging engagement with our families and with our community. Um, so one of the two big focus folky that we've had this year is to stop putting static images and use our social media accounts as bulletin boards. We are focusing on getting actual pictures of our students and our staff up there and then getting video clips so people can actually see them in action so we have the movement

because that is what is Attracting people on social media and getting them to pause for the 3 seconds before they go on and it is working. Um, one of the other things that we did is with the communications committee that we have is we started a communications calendar to have a more organized approach for how we are promoting information, especially on the division social media accounts. So, we're not having times where we're putting out, you know, 10 posts a day and then going Multiple days without posting anything. But we're trying to be very thoughtful and

intentional on how we organize and making sure that all of our departments know that they have an opportunity to get information out and it's planned out so that they can plan for it and we're not constantly playing catch-up. And that seems to be working really really well. Um [snorts] I did go ahead and pull some Facebook data for you guys just so you can see the improvements in Our um engagement and our social with social media and this is only on Facebook alone and this is during first semester. So, from the first day of school

to the end of um December. And again, you can see that we've had some pretty drastic increases in the views, in the viewers, in the interactions, in the visits, and even people starting to follow. And as people start to follow us and link us and link to us and share with us, that's how we get broader Engagement and how it will show with the algorithms, it will start showing up in other people's feed and they will see that information. So, that is very very um exciting. um wanted to highlight a couple of the success stories.

Um for those of you that may not be on social media, so you have an idea of what we're doing. Um this year we have implemented two new weekly campaigns. We do a Tuesday treasure every Tuesday where we have a an inspirational quote that has Some tie to education that we have paired with either a photograph or a video clip from within one of our schools. And so we post that out there as kind of an uplifting like it's so refreshing to see something positive on social media. Um, and it's fun to see parents and

grandparents and folks see the people that they recognize and tag them and reshare them. And then we've also started doing throwback Thursdays, which has been a labor of love. Um, Going through old yearbooks and we have photographs dating all the way back to the 1920s all the way up. And um, we've gotten we're starting to get some really good traction with those of people tagging each other and seeing um, themselves or their friends. And we've had a few requests, hey, about how about the year I graduated from school. So, we're trying to be random, if

you will, and how we're doing it, but also being very thoughtful To hit all of the decades as we go through. Um, but we have content to keep that going for a while. So, that's exciting. Um, we continue to recognize, um, holidays and awareness on the recognitions calendar. And then, um, in the fall, we also started doing a reel every month of the students and staff members of the month that are recognized. So after the meeting, we put a reel up where we make sure that they're out there as well so that Everybody can see

them. Um not just the folks watching or who happen to be part of the school. Um and those have been received really well. Um some two other specific successes that I wanted to highlight is um in September we did an a an attendance awareness campaign and we did the same thing last year. Last year it was a little more static. It was just data and graphics and it was it was okay. Maybe a little boring, yes, but you know what? It was the first time we'd done something and we can only get better. [snorts] So

this year um I worked with our so our division social media lead um Miss Naomi Giles and we worked with um the social media managers at the schools and we decided to put out a series of videos to make it a little bit more interesting. And so we had three videos over the month and the first one went out and it was pretty exciting. We got 10,000 views and we had over a hundred Reactions. We're like, "Oo, this is exciting. We're going to wait to see what happens here." And then week two went out and

there was a little bit of a dip and we're like, "Okay, not a big deal." And I had gone to Naomi with an idea that I had seen because, you know, we work smarter, not harder. And I said, "Do you think that we could create one of these? It's a Tik Tok reel where people do something funny." I said, "You think we can get some staff together?" So, it was on a teacher workday. we were able to get people together and we did a Tik Tok reel and it was talking about the um excuses for

a student being absent, what's considered excused and unexcused. And I don't know if you guys have seen the video, but you can actually click on this link and it will take you to the video on Facebook. And we we sent it out there on a Thursday. And on Sunday, I checked it and we had like over 10,000 views. Like texted Naomi, I'm like, "Have you seen this?" And then it was 50,000 and then it was a h 100,000. We've had over 7 million views and almost 20 what? 23,000 just over 23,000 reactions. That's huge. Now,

of course, we're sitting here wondering like what in the world are we going to do to outdo that? But just the fact that we got there, um, and it's it's funny because as people are seeing it and then they're sharing it and more people are seeing it, it keeps ticking up. and even Now four months later you'll see it continue to tick up. So that was pretty exciting to see. Um and it was our staff being willing to help us out with that one. And similarly another success story um I attended a virtual one-day conference.

It was actually based in Wisconsin, Nebraska, somebody in somewhere in the Midwest. And they were it's they were talking about the use of social media and engagement. and They were going through using examples of exemplars, what has worked well. And as I'm sitting there, I was multitasking, listening, and doing some other work. All of a sudden, I hear an Amherst County Public Schools out of Virginia, and I look up, and they had gone to our website, and they had seen a post that we had made um with regards to the welding program that we have

at the high school. And they had used it as an exemplar at this national conference to Show how when you highlight your programs and your teachers, how what a positive reaction it can have and talking about the number of views, the number of comments that it had. And so that was that was pretty amazing to see that we got that national recognition. Um, you know, and it's for one of our teachers doing what he loves. So again, there's a link if you actually wanted to see that post there. So, we've we've Definitely had some positive

um when it comes to communications um especially our our digital communications. So, thinking about kind of where we are and why things are working so well and what we can do moving forward um I would say that these are some of the things that I think our success can be attributed to. I think one of the things that Amherst County Public Schools does really well is the collaboration. Um communication is in my title, but this is not this is Not all me. There is a great support structure. There are fantastic people that I have the

opportunity to work with who help make these communications um possible and it really is a collective effort. Um from Dr. Wells and Mrs. Mcernney um being willing to humor me and listen to new ideas um trusting me and being flexible with doing some things that have never been done before in this division um is very nice. We have a communications committee with the Three of us plus Dr. Rose and Dr. Mr. McInness and Mrs. Giles who meets monthly and we're able to go in and bounce ideas off of each other and use it as a

sounding board and kind of get the ideas. Do we think this is going to work? Should we make a tweak before it goes goes live? Um, but working together to do that. All of our schools have dedicated web managers who have been phenomenal in accepting the challenge of working with a new website, having to Deal with me and ADA compliance training, and they have done a fantastic job. Um it's an ongoing process and we're going to continue to work to get comfortable, but they have done a fantastic job. And then on the social media front,

we have our division social media lead um Naomi Giles as well as all the school-based um social media folks who are willing to try new tools, who are willing to try new things and work with us when we send a quick email of, "Hey, can you go get us a picture? Can you go help us get a quick video?" So that we can really make this all come together um and make the communication work for the division. Um, I think seeking out the feedback and listening to the feedback before we made any of these changes,

especially when it came to the website was instrumental. Um, and continuing to seek that feedback is important and is going to continue to be important with the communications. Dedicating the time on the front end and being very thoughtful on how we do things and how we develop things and thinking them through and then doing the afteraction plans. again the training and then also making sure that we never forget that it is not a oneanddone. The communications, the website, the sim social media, it's constantly evolving and making sure that we are staying on top of that

and willing to change and um make adjustments as needed. So, I Appreciate everybody's collective effort. Um wanted to share these some highlights with you guys and then also see if you have any questions that I can answer. >> You don't have a question but I just want to do a sh The best one was the snow days or the lack of snow days. [laughter] That was great. It was It was genius. >> Microphone. >> Keep it up. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Any other thoughts, questions, board? >> Mr. Chair. >> Yes, ma'am. >>

Thanks. Um, so one of the stats that stood out to me was um that 30 seconds was >> what it would was the general longevity of a stop. And I can just attest to that that as a new school board member four years ago 30 seconds was long enough to Figure out you could not find the information you needed and you needed to call someone. So I just want to say good job and the and the comment of it works so well on my phone really spoke to me as my phone is my computer that

I carry with me everywhere and so thanks for your hard work. >> Thank you. [snorts] >> Any other comments? Awesome work. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, [clears throat] next 9.03 is student suspensions for December. They're posted. If you have any questions, I'll be glad to try to answer. >> Want any questions on suspensions? >> Only that it's too many. >> It is. It always is. Yes. uh student services updates. So we want to give you and uh some information on best labs and so you can see

the best Lab data it is again it's it's attached um so again we can the analytics are showing that students are utilizing it and it is helping overall behaviors to kind of reduce some of those suspensions. So glad to try to answer any questions and also uh Dr. Smith is here. I think he can answer some questions also if you have any. >> Any questions, comments on the best lab report or best lab in general? >> Just uh one comment on that or a question. Um and I've asked you before. Um we're we're not seeing

this as a I just want to get out of class uh type of um service for the kids. It's it's really being >> utilized to support the needs of our kids whether it's they need a timeout >> uh or they need to go talk to >> yes >> uh someone uh so >> yes that's that's the trend data we have You know a lot of times are morning or right around lunchtime where students are going there just to to have that person to talk to but then there are also times when there do need that

break because of there's some stuff going on that they go there, but it's typically from what data we have is not being abused um as just a way to get away from get out of class. >> Yeah. Good. Okay. Thank you. >> Yes, sir. >> Uh next we have uh finance M cottage. [clears throat] >> Good evening, Mr. Chair. Congratulations members of the board. Um before [clears throat] you tonight, we're going to talk about the financial reports through December. So, we're halfway through the fiscal year. Um we had talked about the calc tool that's going

to be coming out. We did get an updated calc tool for this current year in December. Um it reflected some technical Updates and adjusted for the division's fall ADM um which we had said their ADM was trending higher. So the update does show that and if we're able to maintain that higher ADM until we get to the March 31st funding ADM, we will see an increase in state funding for this fiscal year. So we're going to keep our fingers crossed on that. Um on the expenditure side, there was a couple on the object code summary

that was showing um over budget. We do have a Supplemental appropriation that needs to be come before you all for approval for several grants um some deferred revenue from last year as well as the CIP transfer um into operating that was put into the budget last year. So I'm going to be bringing those to you and it will um take care of some of those overages. So I wanted to point that out. Um the only other thing I want to say about this year, um one item that's on my watch list is our health insurance

Costs. We've had um a a spike in new enrollments members, our employees enrolling in our health plan. Um as well as we've had a couple months of high claims and being self-insured is definitely something we got to keep looking at. um just remind you we do have the reserve at the county but that's what we want to use as a last resort. We want to look within our current year's budget um to adjust if we need to. So I just wanted to let you Know and make you aware um that that is just one of

the items that we're looking at. Do you have any questions on my first item of this year? >> Yeah. So actually I do have a question. So, thinking through that, the increase in the ADM, uh, would that help offset the some of that cost? >> Yes, sir. Um, it would it would not cover it, um, if if if the trend doesn't get better, obviously, but right now it would look like around 400,000 would Come into um, of additional revenue. And we'll just have to see. It could it could completely switch in the second half of

the year. It's just one of those unknowns. So, we'll just we monitor every month anyway. We're just going to keep doing so and updating you. And I'm sure we'll dive into it during the um budget retreat process >> with some of the items with the uh marketplace and insurance for general population folks. Some of our family Members have come on as a family plan as opposed to having our own separate insurance. So, that's kind of caused that increase in participation with staff uh this year >> board. Any other questions on that topic? >> Thank you.

>> Okay. So, I have a second item and it's for the upcoming budget process. First thing I want to let you know is at your place you should have a revised budget Calendar. Um the original budget calendar that you adopted um had a lot of to be determined because at that time we did not have the board of supervisors um their budget calendar timeline. So, this is updated to reflect their dates. Um, and we did had to we did have to make some adjustments and they're in the March area. Had to shift the March board

meeting, but I just wanted to give you an updated list um updated calendar so You could review that. Um, also we did get the calc tool for the 2628 bienium and that is from the former Governor Yncan's proposed budget. Um, that budget proposal did include a 2% compensation increase for your SOQ funded. Um, one of the things that did change for us was our composite index did increase. It went from 3015 to 3128. And as you know, if your composite index goes up, it means the locality gets to pay a greater share. So that's in

there And is one of the factors. Um we are eagerly awaiting the House and Senate proposed. Um I think they said the crossover was at the end of January. >> Um we typically get the C tools from those in February. So we're we're curious to see if that's going to be a big change. Um, but as we're looking at that towards the future, I just want to go back in time a little bit just to keep this on everyone's radar that there was budget action taken last year. That's, you know, that's in this current year

that when we went through the budget process, um, things were done to balance this year's budget. So, we had one-time funding of operating expenditures that was placed into CIP that the CIP funds were going to fund that. So, when we get started and I just want to keep that on the on everyone's mind that that was almost a million dollars that um for us to maintain status quo, it's going to Have to come back in there. And we still have also like the all in Virginia funds that were ending this year that did your summer

school had had a several positions. So it it it is going to be um you know we're going to work through it. But I just want to keep that on your mind as as we're looking at this c tool. We're still going to have to go back from last year where we didn't get the full funds that was needed for the school division and try to adjust within That to see where what we can do. So, it sounds like it's going to be a very interesting budget uh conversations. >> Absolutely. We're going to work really

closely together >> and uh thinking about the uh composite index, that's one of the the few times that the higher number is not in your favor. >> So, I think a lot of divisions has seen that number go up unfortunately. So, >> board any other comments, questions? >> All right. Thank you, Mr. And again, on that note, just remember that we feel Governor Yncan's proposed budget will probably the worst case scenario moving forward. We do anticipate additional funding coming through the general assembly, but we won't know that until it goes through. They don't come back

into session till the 14th. So, we won't be we won't have any idea until after that. All right. Next, we [clears throat] have human resources, Mr. Gallagher. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Chair, Mr. Vice Chair, members of the board. Hope it's not too late to say happy new year and good evening. Uh we have several items tonight. The first is the the monthly vacancy memo and you can take a look at that and if you have any questions I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Okay, I'm going to hand this over to Dr. Rose.

>> You want me to do the rest or you're gonna you're going to jump in? >> Yeah. >> Okay. In front of you also, Mr. Chair, vice chair, and board members. Happy new year. Um, you see the recruiting memo that's been attached inside the board docs. It kind of lays out what our plan is to do face-to-face meetings at the recruiting events that are being held at many of the colleges and universities. We've also made some shifts in who we are actually going to face to face. So, at the bottom are the ones that we're

kind of trying to create a different type of relationship, staying connected with them as we see job openings and communicating um job postings as well as opportunities in some instances for December graduates to come in and apply for positions that might be available. Um, we're going with the mantra retention is the new recruitment, but we Have strong relationships with all the universities and have people that we can connect with them as far as recruiting and job opportunities within our division. So, if you have any questions about that memo, I'll be glad to answer them. >>

Are any questions on the memo? >> Thank you. >> All right. And we are tag teaming this evening. So, a few more items are really for your awareness. The next one is the The teacher and support staff of the year recognition dinner which is January 22nd. We think we've discussed it in the past but wanted to remind you that's a 6:00 at Sweet Brier Prothrow in the Josie dining room. Um I'm hoping that all of you can attend as many as possible. It's just a wonderful event. we get to recognize and discuss and talk about

uh the characteristics of the amazing winners from each school that we have in the division and we will select The division winners and and uh we'll present that that evening. So it's a great evening. Uh the next is uh that we have Virginia school principal appreciation week coming up and January 12th through 18th. So uh just we we'll do some things to recognize our amazing leaders out in our schools in this next week and moving forward. So, just an awareness there. You should see some social media posts as well. And finally, for just uh notification,

the education Career fair uh Saturday, February 7th, uh many of you have come by uh to participate in those. It's a great event as well. We hopefully get a lot of traction and and put that out there and get a lot of great folks coming so that we can fill any vacancies that are upcoming. We did recently just put out our intent survey so we can get a grip on an idea of who may be um you know retiring or or intending to leave. Um we had a good responses so far and thus far We

have very few individuals that have noted that they're they're leaving. I hope it stays that way. Uh but that's a nice event and I do hope that you all participate in that as well and that will be held at Ammerst Education Center. Correct. Uh this year so um that'll be a nice venue central to the to the division. So, any questions? I'd be happy to take those. >> Miss Gallagher, what time is the career fair? >> That is 9 to 11, I believe. >> 12. >> 9 to 12. Thank you. >> It should be at

the bottom of your recruiting memo. >> Okay. >> Okay. [clears throat and snorts] Board. Any question, comments? >> Thank you, Mr. Galler. >> All right, Mr. Chair, members of the board, 12 superintendent matters. Uh, since I can't talk much, I'll keep this Short. Um, schoolboard professional development I mentioned earlier will be January 15th at the high school in the where the old auditorium used to be, which is now classrooms and offices. We'll meet you out in the hallway and make sure we know where we need to be, but it's right there in the main hallway

in front of the school. Um, it has 3:30 on here. That's when we're going to start for training if y'all could be there 3:15, 3:20 to get all the Logistical things out of the way as far as call meeting to order and things like that. Mr. Wright will be here at 3:30 and he'll do the four year training at 3:30. So 3:15 3:20 would be great. And yeah, >> at the high school. >> At the high school. Yes, ma'am. [snorts] Right there in the old auditorium. Where used to go in the old auditorium where the

ticket booth used to be, there's now a hallway and we'll be on The room on the left, but we will we will meet and greet you there. [snorts] Additionally, we have a state statement of economic interest reminder. [clears throat] Yes, I know I have to do it, too. And it's due by February 2nd with a wet ink signature. It can't just be a dra, you know, it can't just be you type it. You have to sign it and get it to Miss McNary by the 2nd. Um, if you need to see your old I think

she already sent those to you, but if you need your Old one to know what to work off of, she can print those for you and send them to you. Uh, one things you will do though is send it sec in a secure status if you want it. That way no one can jump in there without having a secure status through Google. So that'll be sent secure. If you want to come by and get it, we can print it off for you as well. And then uh another date reminder, the community dinner is scheduled for

February 5th at 5:30 and that will also Be at Ammeris County High School. We will open up the registration. It's already open >> tomorrow. tomorrow or Monday um to get us. We've already had a couple phone calls about it, but it's not officially open yet, but that'll be at the high school in the new dining area and uh we'll have that there on the 5th of February. And Mr. Galla, you already talked about the toy Soy. I would, you know, it is great if y'all could all be There and uh it'll be a great night.

Nobody nobody knows who won until we read the names. So it'll be a good night for them and a good meal and way to uh celebrate all of our teachers and staff of the year from each each individual building. So that is all I have unless you have any questions for me >> any questions for Dr. Wells. >> Thank you Dr. Wells. >> Thank you sir. >> We'll move on to committee reports and We'll start with Miss Saunders. >> Be glad to. I have no reports. Um makes it simple since we're moving along. so fast.

I'm going to keep it moving along fast. So, um 2026, I see, is going to be the year of progress. I'm calling it now. So, thank you guys for um for all the hard work and and getting these kids moving forward to where they need to be. So, thank you all. And that's all I've got. Happy New Year. >> All right, the newbie on the board, Mr. Childress. Well, the good thing is I don't have any reports yet, [clears throat] >> but I'd like to thank everybody from Ammeris County for giving me this opportunity, and

I look forward to working with this board and this administration. >> Thankfully for greatness. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you very much. Um, the Central Virginia Go School has not met this Month and we have posted the listing for our new math. Let me get this here. read it properly. Mathematics and research instructor who will be replacing um Mr. Dr. Smith's math instruction position. Um I hope you all had a safe holiday. I'm thankful to be here. I appreciate the opportunity to s serve my community by being on the board and I look forward to

a lot of great things. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. >> Terry. Yeah. >> So, Mr. Childerson, Mr. Rossy, I'll look this way for Mr. Childish this time. Uh, congratulations on your new positions. Uh, got you back 100%. So, if you need anything, let me know. And Mr. Childish this direction. Uh, congratulations. Uh, it's a pleasure having you on the board. So, um, thanks to the staff to uh, give us the presentations. I I love hearing from the the students. Uh, the the things that they always bring forward. It's uh, they got a just a

different perspective than what we do. and [snorts] uh hearing it come from them is awesome and I look forward to hearing what they bring back from the the middle schools. That's going down to that level is is is a great thing. So uh um I do look forward to seeing the uh uh the career fair. I've I've been to it several times. It's a lot of fun. So if anybody's out there listening and is wondering what it's like, you ought to Come up and see it. It uh it brings some really good people to Ammeris

County and hopefully we can retain some of them. So thank you guys for everything. Well, kudos and and all of that from everybody else. And congratulations, gentlemen, this side. And congratulations this side. And we're all glad to be back another year. So much goes on. It's just good to be here. And I kind of like uh what you said, Miss Sa is a year of of Good things going on. And everybody said that. So, we're ready to roll. Last week, uh well, no, not last week. One day this week, I'm off still, so I'm confused.

One day this week, um Laurel had a ribbon cutting of a new um beautiful building that we've added over at modular building. Much space for offices and for student uh services in there to be happening. So, it was long sought after. We were excited to be a part of that. [snorts] Uh when I left The BSBA meeting in November, I and came here, I failed to mention one or two things that's important and uh we'll just shove them on down this way and that way. But there will be a regional meeting here um not here

in in this area um in March and it's coming to you and uh Danville City is hosting it I think. Am I right? Yes. >> Yes. >> Uh but good news is if we can make it we will host it next year at the high School. So did want to bring that to your attention and all the good things that occurred there. Hopefully I'm going to travel to Richmond uh at the end of the month for a capital conference. Get an idea of what's going on with the legislative things. I encourage you to check your

emails. Um, things come all the time from the BSBA this time of year about legislative positions and advocacy. And surely if you have any issues that um with any of those, please Let me know ahead of time and I will bring that to the attention. Just want to remind everybody it's flu season. We already know that. Only reason I'm even mentioning is because with the little people back in school, um, you know, lots of wiping of cabinets and sinks [laughter] should be in order and our teachers hopefully will stay well. We know it's a lot

of sickness going [clears throat] around already [snorts] and we don't have a magic to that except The flu shot was one and then lots of zinc and turmeric is another. I'm not a doctor but it works. Um [laughter] and so we're hoping that our staff and our students can stay well through this. And I was just wondering I usually don't ask something on on the spot but how many students do we have in early college? Do we know? And if not just email me tomorrow. Don't look stuff up. >> I will email you tomorrow. After

my long day I'm going to give you the wrong Number. >> No. That's why I say I usually don't do that. Someone asked me and um according to what I do on my other job, you know, >> I just know I'm going to give you the wrong number if I say >> but just checking into things and and by the way, CBCC will go back into session on Monday and we're looking forward to another year there. Dr. Caps gave his state of the union uh message this this past Wednesday and we feel confident uh With

the general assembly is going to give us some money for some additions over there as well. So everybody's on the same boat. Give me some money and uh we'll do great things with it. So, happy new year and I look forward to uh going a little further. >> Mr. Rossi, >> thank you. Uh yeah, thank the board for uh nominating and and uh choosing me as the vice chair. I look forward to serving this year and it's it's an Honor. Excited about the new year. Um construction, can't wait to see all that finally completed. that

uh that construction project was something a once in a-lifetime project I think and it it was pretty extensive. We got into a lot of things there and I think it's going to put our community on the map and the website it's pretty impressive. Uh I like the engagement That we're seeing and maybe the next viral video will get us monetized. I don't know, maybe we'll start selling t-shirts and coolers. I don't know. I think that would be kind of exciting. And uh yeah, looking forward to another good year. And um seeing the the staff rallying

together during the holiday was was good. And yes, the zinc definitely helps. My family decided to give everybody the flu this year. Uh I I did pretty well. I uh I survived it pretty good. A lot of zinc. A lot of zinc. And uh take it every morning usually when school starts and I'll lay off usually around spring right before the kids get out of school. But got to keep that zinc in you. And uh looking forward to another year, Mr. Childress. >> Thank you, sir. >> Well, first, happy new year to everybody. Um and

um I would also like to extend uh a huge thank you to Mr. Kerry uh who share who served as our chair uh previously and um all the work and time and effort that you put into that the many conversations that we personally had and communications back and forth and I appreciate uh your service and in that and I hope to live up uh to uh what you taught me. So uh thank you for that and and board. Thank you guys for for trusting and believing in me and uh and you know serving as chair

and and Again I I um I promise to to do my best uh in that capacity. Um I am excited this year. I will say um looking at the reports and you we kind of talked about it a little bit uh I kind of see a little bit of light uh at the end of the tunnel uh looking at the reports as as we look at those growth reports earlier in the year you know all the numbers were on the red side very little on the green so I'm extremely excited to start seeing those numbers

moving over and of Course the real test is going to be when we get the results back from from our so I'm looking forward to that. I'm hoping that we're going to see that that pay off and and I want to use this as an opportunity to continue to ask the administration to continue to look at ways to support our teachers uh in these endeavors. they are the ones who are they're in the trenches uh every day uh with our students and so we really need to figure out how do we support them Better provide

them the tools uh that they need so that we can continue to move uh this so that it it is a light and it it's not a train coming in our direction. Uh so again great work on that. I'm excited about the website. All the the effort they are staying ahead of the ADA stuff is extremely important. Uh and so kudos uh to you guys for that. So, >> all right. >> Go ahead. One more thing. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you. >> Oh, you're welcome. >> Now, I was talking and looking here and there.

Thank you for your leadership. >> Good friend parks beside me. You still parking beside me to football? Okay. >> Where you going park? [laughter] Just kidding. >> I'm parked in the grass. So on behalf of the school administration, I do want to uh welcome Mr. Childers, Mr. Ross on as chair and vice chair and also want to thank Mr. Terry for the work he has done the past couple years and in that chair capacity and look forward to working with you. So thank you and ready for close session? >> Nope. We have public comments coming

up 1501. >> So um if there anyone who'd like to make uh comments uh come on up. Three minutes individual, five minutes for group. >> Anyone? >> All right. Nobody's coming forward. So, closed session. Which is the black one? >> Pursuant [clears throat] to section 2.2-3711 A1 and A2 of the code of Virginia. It is recommended the board convene in a closed meeting for the following. A1 personnel matters, A2 student matters. Make a motion we go into close session. >> Second. >> Have a motion in a second. All those in favor say I. I. >>

Any oppose? We are in close. All right.