Thank you so much. Are you ready? Um I would like to bring today's board meeting um on June 11th to order. Thank you so much. Apologies for the delay. Um uh we needed a little bit more time in close session. Um do I have any motions?
Do I have a motion bringing us out of close session? >> Yes, Chair Berlin. I move that the board certify by recorded vote that to the best of each board member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the
motion authorizing the closed meeting were heard, discussed or considered in the closed meeting. >> Second move by Miss Spillman, second by Miss Lee. All those in favor. >> Any opposed? We are now out of closed meeting. Coming out of closed meeting,
do I have any motions? I have one. >> Please go forward with your motion, Miss Osborne. >> I nominate David Foreman to be the principal at Stone Robinson Elementary, John Wheeler to be the principal at
Baker Butler Elementary, and Chris Liverman to be the principal at Stony Point Elementary. In addition, I move we approve the administrative appointments and tenure recommendations as presented. >> Second. Moved by Miss Osborne, second by
Miss Lee. All those in favor? >> I I. >> Any opposed? Congratulations to our new principles. The next motion on our uh agenda tonight is a roll call. We use this to check sound to make sure that everyone in the
audience can hear us as well as everyone um uh online. And we have a new protocol where we're we're double-checking and triple-checking that everyone online has both clear sound and sight so that they have it uh to listen to today. And so we also preserve our recordings uh for
future for those who need to listen to them. I'm going to start with uh Miss Daffany Kaiser. >> Uh Daffany Kaiser, assistant superintendent for school and community engagement. >> Jason Grant, chief communications officer. >> Kate Auff, Jack Dwitt, representative.
Judy Lee Ryana district, >> Ellen Osborne, Scottville district. >> Rebecca Berlin, Whiteall district. Allison Spilman at large representative. >> Jim Dillanbeck, Rio district. Uh Bob Beard, Samuel Miller district. Matthew Haw,
Josiah Black, chief legal officer. >> Tanisha Thompson, coordinator of office operations and executive support. >> Christine Thompson, clerk of the board. Raj Schmidt, chief operating officer. >> And thank you to our officers um who
serve us today to keep us safe here um and every day in our community. Uh the next piece on our agenda is our pledge of allegiance. Please stand if you are able. >> I pledge 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. >> We will now pause for a moment of silence for tonight. Um, I want to share some sad news for you regarding a student um
and a um uh the child nutritionist um at one of our schools. It is with great sadness that I share the passing our of our child nutrition teammate Anna Young. We were fortunate to have Anna join us through a work study program during her
academic years with Alamar County Public Schools and we were incredibly glad when she chose to continue her career with us following her graduation from Post High. Anna brought a wonderful positive energy and a bright smile with her each day and
she will be deeply missed. Please keep Anna's family and friends in your thoughts during this difficult time. For obituary information about Anna, please see Hillwood. I will now uh we should all now take a
moment of silence. Thank you so much. Thank you. The next item on our agenda is 3.0, approval of our agenda. Do I have any motions on approval of tonight's agenda? >> Um, chair, I am moving to amend tonight's agenda. I move that we will
immediately hear public comment and then resume our closed meeting. uh we will postpone the remaining business to another date. Second. So just to make sure everyone is clear what we are doing um instead of moving forward with today's agenda as a
whole if this moves forward um we will only have public comment and then we will move back into clo the board the school board will move back into close session. All those in favor of this amendment I >> I >> Any opposed? I'm um I think we do need
to also approve the consent agenda tonight. >> Yeah. Okay. >> So to amend that motion to include after the consent agenda. >> Does that work? >> Well, I have a second on that that
amendment. All those in favor of that amended. So we will so we will the order of the agenda will be this approval of the agenda. We will move immedi let's go ahead and do the consent. >> I will move immediately into a vote for the consent agenda and then we will move
to public comment and then we will move um chair >> apologies. One procedural clarification. Miss Spillman's motion is pending. >> Um and it was seconded. So that motion needs to be disposed of. >> Thank you. Before we can make an amendment,
>> I dispose of my motion and I raise a new motion to amend the agenda so that we will hear public comment. Move to approve tonight's consent agenda, resume our closed meeting from earlier,
and postpone the remaining business to another date. I think I got that. >> Do I have a second? >> Moved by Miss Spilman, seconded by Is that correct? seconded by Dr. Akoff. All those in favor? >> I.
>> Any opposed? >> So, I first want to sincerely apologize to all of our um school members, uh parents who came forward to to talk um on our business agenda, our our
cabinet members um and our principles. Uh this is not something that we normally do. Um but after hearing the discussion um at Hollyade yesterday um the public comments that we have had as well as the phone calls um the school
board decided that the best thing to do is for us to hear public comment because we um want to honor your voices um for those who came forward. Um public comment has not started yet. So if anyone else wants to sign up um but I do
have to say I am sorry to everyone. Um there are many things on our agenda tonight that were very important. Um including the grading policy. Um I know many staff and many many school uh some teachers, parents, principles have
worked hard on that. That is a very very important item for this school board. Um but we feel like we must um have a conversation about Holly me tonight. So again, I apologize for the preparation you did and the time you spent coming here.
um we will be in touch um that will either be moved to our July 9th meeting or we may have uh work with schedules to schedule and uh public meeting rules to schedule another meeting for that. So again we will be
moving into a vote on our consent agenda and then we'll be moving to co public comment and then be moving to a close session. So again, um please please uh I just want to apologize to everyone who took time preparing for tonight's meeting for those presentations. We will be doing them. They are very important
to us. Um and I will be working um with the clerk um to to reschedule those and we'll get back to you in a a timely manner um early next week. Thank you so much. Um the next piece on our agenda um we
have moved 6.0 um ahead to I guess that would be 4.0. O um is the approval of our uh consent agenda. Do I have any motions for tonight's consent agenda? >> I move we approve tonight's consent agenda.
>> Second. >> Moved by Miss Lee, seconded by Mr. Dillanach. All those in favor of tonight's consent agenda, please say I. >> I. >> I. Any opposed? Tonight's consent agenda passes. We are now going to move
immediately into public comment. So, just give me a second to get organized um and read the the rules and regulations. Um we have 13 uh people signed up for public comment today. So, everyone will have um a full 3 minutes. Um but I just
want to remind everyone of the guidelines. Um we welcome public input at our schoolboard meetings to sign up to speak during public comment period. You can do so in several ways. Online sign up is available from 9:00 am on the Monday of the meeting week until 2 pm on the meeting day. You can also call the
school board clerk's office and sign up or you can sign up in person until 6:00 um or until the public period comment period begins. Each speaker will have three minutes to speak tonight. We ask that you state your name and address or voting
district. And I want to just go over a few of the specific rules because I think they are important. Please address comments to the school board as a whole. Limit comments to schoolboard governments or school division operations. Comments may not be directed
to individual board members, division leadership or staff. So, I'm just going to repeat that tonight. Comment should be directed to the school board as a body and should relate to matters within the board's work and operation of the vision division. This is not a forum for
debate with board members or for cabinet members, for personal attacks or for remarks directed at individual board members or staff. We ask that all comments remain respectful and on topic. The school board will use a timer to track each speaker's time. Once the time
is up, speakers are asked to wrap their comments. To remain respectful, please refrain from clapping or other audible sounds of forms of support. You rem you may re stand you may raise your hand and please know that debate with the school
board is not allowed. Thank you so much. So as I mentioned um we have uh 13 speakers tonight. Um my first three are Megan Mitchum. Thank you so much for sharing your phonetic spelling. That is
very helpful. So I make sure that I I respect your names. um Bridget Rogers and John Rristen. Uh I I'm going to amend my note to uh be 14 speakers tonight and that is within our limit and everyone will have three minutes.
Let's just give um uh the clerk just a minute to get back. Um and just a reminder, we're all different heights and sizes, so um just make sure you pull the microphone as close to your mouth as you're comfortable. um so that um we everyone in the audience as well as online can
hear you. >> Can you hear me? Okay. >> Yes. Thank you very much. >> My name is Megan Mitchum and I live in the Rio District. I am a graduate student of social work at VCU specializing in neurode divergent and LGBTQIA plus populations. I've lived in
the county for over 20 years and I've been a Woodbrook parent since 2019. Before I get into the bulk of my remarks, I want to acknowledge that there are two schools impacted by the child sexual abuse allegations and one of them is a title one school that's not getting any attention. But that is not
the focus of my comments tonight. I would like to start by acknowledging how grateful I am as a parent, social worker, and a human that I live in a county that has a written policy on the treatment of transgender and gender expansive students in county schools. I am grateful that this policy has withtood pressure from both state and
federal forces that would like to see it eradicated. And I'm grateful for the ACPS staff and school board members with lived experience who put themselves on the line in service of all of our children every day. The policy, as written, leaves it to each school principal to ensure compliance with the stated policy. As a result, there's a
significant variability from school to school and application, which leaves the burden on impacted families to advocate for their children. We are at a moment where the federal government is subpoening the medical records of MITER children and increasing its attacks on this vulnerable population in an attempt
to eradicate trans and gender expansive people from existence. Nearly every week there is a new attack that sends families of trans and gender expansive youth into an existential spiral. And the families uh sorry I lost my spot. And the local families that have access to resources are using them to flee
public schools, the state, and the country. The families that remain are often the least resourced to publicly or privately advocate for their children, and they are depleted by the constant fear for their children's safety and survival. These families need you all to step up and ensure that each and every
one of your schools remains a safe harbor for all students, including trans and gender expansive students, and that ensuring the dignity and worth of each child is the central duty of all school principles, even if it makes them uncomfortable to do so. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Our next speaker is Bridget Rogers. My name is Bridget Rogers, Holiday Mom, family council representative, and I live in the Ravana district. Dr. Hos, Mr. McCaulay, your incompetence to serve in your roles was on full display last night at the holiday community.
>> I do ask I I do ask that you speak to the school board as a whole. >> I am. >> And not direct any comments. I'm not directing comments. >> Dr. Hos had 5 months to alert his board of this issue and proactively create a plan to revise policy to begin to
address systemic issues that led to this point. Instead, he showed up at Holly empty-handed with nothing of substance to say. >> I am asking that you do not direct a statement to a person or call out an an
individual person. please keep them to the to the topic um and address the whole school board. The principal had five months to communicate with families and develop a path forward. As a parent representative, I've met with them over the course of the school year and
experienced refusal to address parent concerns firsthand. >> I am sorry, Miss Rogers. I want to hear you, but I have asked you multiple times not to call out individual people. Okay, school board. School board, it's unclear how long you've known about this incident, but what you saw and heard
last night should make this crystal clear for you. It's time for you to vote. And if you four of you cannot find it in your hearts to do the right things for our kids, our teachers, and our families across this entire school system. We request a public list of how every single member voted um as to
whether to keep Matthew House as as the superintendent. Thank you. >> Thank you. And I am going to repeat myself. We want to hear from you. I ask that we follow the rules that have been set up for this conversation and every
other conversation that we have and that we not do not call out individual people. Please address the school board as a whole or we will have to stop public comment. I do not want to do that. >> I I do not I ask that you follow the
rules. We are governed by rules of the state of Virginia that I can't change. I I cannot I and I cannot. This is not a discussion. We are governed by rules of the state of division of of Virginia for
public open meetings. I do not want to have to ask people to leave. I want and all of my colleagues want to hear from you. We just ask that you do. Apologies, sir. I just ask that you do not call out individuals by name. That is our policy.
I'm sorry. I do not want >> or position >> or position >> or position or ma'am. Ma'am, I am sorry. I want to hear from you, but I will have to ask someone to remove you if you speak out in a public meeting. That's just the rules and I have to carry them out. So, please, I ask of you to not
identify a name or a position. Just share your concerns with the entire school board. We are here to listen, but I need you to follow those rules. I I can't I this is not a dis this is not a debate and I cannot answer a question.
>> Thank you sir. I >> Hello. My name is John Rristen. I'm in the White Hall district and uh I'm calling to I'm coming I'm here today to uh ask you for a 3-day extension on the June 1st deadline for uh getting an exchange student application in. Um we
hosted an we were fortunate enough to host an exchange student last year. Uh he was a member of the youth exchange and study program. Um he uh had to come over to our house during the second semester. Uh he had to leave the ho his previous host family through no fault of
his own. He went to Western Alamar High School and he made such an impact on the students that they wrote a petition to to allow him to walk at graduation. Um, I wanted we uh decided to host uh
another two kids this year and uh we waited to make our decision because unfortunately last year I was laid off and there's whispers of layoffs again and uh my wife was unclear about what was going to happen in her job and uh we
just decided uh Kadir return our student uh Kadir also known as Keegan he uh returned on the second and we decided then that we were just going to go ahead and we'll take it as it comes. Uh we talked to our uh coordinator on the 3rd.
She got the application in on the 4th and was informed that the deadline was June 1st and they were not going to budge. Um let me tell you a little bit about this program. This is not a program where rich kids pay a lot of money and come. This is a merit-based program from the US Department of State
kids. There is a rigorous application process. The best and the brightest kids from their countries come here. This was a program started at the when the Soviet Union fell. And these students uh these students come here and it's a diplomatic
exchange program. The point of it is that they'll come here, they will learn about they'll learn about America, they will go back to their countries and when they become the future leaders in their countries, they'll have a much more favorable opinion of our country.
So, for those reasons, I'm humbly asking that uh you all grant me a three-day extension. The paperwork was in by June 4th, and uh allow us to uh host these two students. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. The next three speakers I have are Helen
Dempsey Hener, Ashley for Lisa Rodaway. Good evening. My name is Helen Dempsey Hener. My pronouns are they them and I am a parent of Alam Marl students and a local mental health practice owner. I had planned to be here to talk about Pride Month and the importance of
supporting LGBTQ students in my role as a social worker and owner of a practice focused on intentionally inclusive care. Acknowledging Elmeral County school policies that express a commitment to uphold and respect the identities of transgender and non-binary students which were targeted in a statement
issued by this year from the White House given my responsibility to mental health care in our community. These sort of statements rattle me and also I've never been prouder today. People are angry at the elementary school both of my children
Wood Brooke attended. My kids are now in their teens and young adulthood. Current students have reported sexual violence at the hands of a teacher. That deserves anger and focus. It is also not lost on me that at the core of sexual violence in schools and
the way we fail LGBTQ students is the same issue. From where I stand, both involve denying young people agency over their lives and experiences. What is sexual violence if not the stripping away of one's own agency?
In a recent survey of LGBT LGBTQ youth in Virginia, 49% of LGBTQ youth reported wanting but not receiving mental health care. The most commonly reported barrier was that they were afraid to talk about their mental health concerns with someone else. In school, students are
learning not just academics, but whether they can expect people to respect them, to listen. The logistics of how we do better as a community may yet be unclear. But healing these harms requires us to move in a direction of
accountability to honor each child fully as a person deserving of agency. I wish each of you and all of our children safety, relationships that take accountability for their impact, and a
celebration of all your identities. Happy Pride. Thank you so much for your comments and happy Pride Day to everyone. Pride Ashley for
Hi, I'm Ashley for um White Hall District. I'm an Albam Marl County resident of 13 years. I'm a UVA graduate and an Alam Marl County public school parent. Since I apparently need to address the school board, I wanted to catch some of you up on what you might
have missed last night. Holly families and teachers bravely shared their experience. They begged for guidance and they turned their lives around in order to be at an evening meeting in person on short notice. They were met with
rudeness, push back, and it was appalling. As a parent at Brownsville Elementary, I realize now that based on the current policies that it could have easily been any one of us sitting in their shoes last night. This issue is not unique to
Holly Meade Elementary. And all parents of Alarl County Public School students should be concerned. I was horrified to learn last night that there is no policy in place to prevent adult staff members
from being alone behind closed doors with a child. It is especially concerning because after talking to many parents in the last 24 hours, many of us have been under the impression that there is a policy. We were all wrong. We
have been operating under assumptions. And I am so thankful for the brave students and teachers who came forward to report what was happening, for the adults who listened, and for the police who are finally investigating this. You have opened our eyes to an opportunity
to make positive change. I'm asking the school board to consider implementing a safety and numbers policy that would prevent children from being alone behind closed doors with a staff member. I'm also asking the school board to do a
complete walkthrough of the school buildings with someone from an outside agency, a police officer, a victim advocate, somebody who is trained to know what kind of physical areas need more visibility or when a camera or a large window should be added. While a
safety and numbers policy would present logistical and financial challenges, after hearing what has happened to the children at Holly Elementary and Woodbrook Elementary, I just don't care. We made what we thought were impossible
changes in 2020 in the name of safety and we as a community are able to come together as parents in Al Marl County and do incredible things for our students. Thank you. Thank you so much, Lisa Broadway.
Sure you all recognize my name from the email you received. My name is Lisa Broadway and I'm a parent of children in the Elmer County Public School District. I'm a special education teacher. I'm here tonight to make a formal request for the public record. I am not
asking the board to disclose anything. A formal preservation request has been sent to ACPS today by me regarding concerns related to an employee arrest, possible prior concerns at another school, a title one school that is being ignored, and the employees transfer or reassignment within the district. I am
asking for four immediate actions. First, preserve all records related to this matter, including emails, text messages, HR reports, Title 9 records, transfer or reassignment records, reports of outside agencies, principal
communications, superintendent communications, board communications, and records held on districts issued or personal devices used for the district business. Second, ensure that all relevant information has been referred to the appropriate outside agencies, including
law enforcement, CPS, the VDOE, and any applicable Title 9, any Title 9 or civil rights office. I am under no I am not naive enough to believe that my son's race and his
autism diagnosis were not the reason that it was easy to target him. Third, retain an independent outside investigator, not district leadership, to determine what ACPS officials knew, when they knew
it, and whether and whether or not required reports were made, why any transfer or reassignment occurred, and whether any administrator failed to do their job correctly.
Finally, I ask the direct staff to bring I asked district staff to bring to the board within six weeks a public framework for proposed student safety policy revisions addressing staff student boundaries,
one-on-one interactions, closed dooror meetings that should not be allowed, visibility, documentation, supervision, reporting obligations. and the enforcement of those things.
Everyone involved in this has failed these children and I have failed my child as well. If ACPS's current policy is that there is no policy preventing an adult staff member from
being alone with a child, that is a huge oversight and a massive gap in your preparation here. Thank you so much and thank you for your email and we have a record of those three recommendations. I appreciate you
sending those. The next three speakers are Conandra Ber, Judy Brley, and Sarah Paulsworth. Good evening. I'm Cassandra Ber. I live in the Ryana district. I'm Holly made parent. I'm
also an ACPS educator of 19 years. And I'm tonight I'm speaking as a parent and stakeholder who like many others isn't entirely sure if my child has been affected by the massive failure of leadership at all
levels in this situation. I want to bring up a couple points. Um and the first is that yes, we need more transparent and clear coherent policies governing these types of scenarios.
However, this was in essence a failure of leadership in many different ways. Parents are heartbroken and enraged because each separate, as yet unnumbered, individual tragedy is the product of human error.
There was a policy requiring Mike Sweeney to document every interaction he had with our children and for him to notify those whose children were being serviced. And that did not happen. No leader, no supervisor, no evaluator
knew or care to find out. Involved in diligent oversight by self-reflective leaders who are wise enough to value, honor, and respond to staff and parent concerns could have prevented much, if not all of this.
Leaders whose perceptions aren't clouded by hubris, who recognize that leadership means owning everything that happens, whether it's in a school or a division, can prevent unimaginable things. Good leaders ask hard questions of
others and themselves. And when the unimaginable happens, we look to our leaders for accountability and action, or at a bare minimum, the willingness to stay at the microphone and continue confronting hard realities and questions. even though they're uncomfortable. And if you have no idea what to do
because this is hard and unprecedented and nobody really knows what to do, then ask other people. And that brings me to my second point, which is to talk to the teachers. Talk to the people who have worked in that building, some of them for decades, and have much to offer
about what they observed, about their own experiences at every point in this entire disaster. And talk with them. Don't outsource those conversations to HR or to division
leadership or to other people who can filter and they need to be heard. I'm running out of time, but as someone who can't imagine having referred children to that man,
my heart is with them and all good will and faith that the parent community has for ACPS and for Holly me lies with them. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Judy Bradley. Is Judy Bradley here?
Just want to give one more minute. If Judy Bradley is not here, we will move to Sarah Paulsworth. Right. >> Good evening. My name is Sarah Paulsworth and I am a parent of a Holly Elementary student. Patrick Henry once
warned the liberties of a people never were nor ever will be secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. In light of the sex crimes committed by Mike Sweeney against students at Holly, these words take painful relevance today. It feels more
accurate to say the safety of our children in Holly and throughout ACPS never was nor ever will be assured when the actions of school and district administrators are concealed from parents, caregivers, and the community.
On June 5th, I submitted a foyer request to ACPS Holly and Woodbrook. Although the official response deadline has not lapsed, ACPS's communications officer has already informed me that much of what I requested may fall under
exemptions. That early communication raises concerns and those concerns exist alongside a broader longstanding issue. The district's persistent lack of transparency, a lack that risk creating an environment of impunity.
I will not accept impunity, especially when it concerns the safety of my children and the children of my neighbors and friends. Virginia's boy Law is unambiguous. It states, "The affairs of government are not intended to be conducted in an atmosphere of
secrecy since at all times the public is to be the beneficiary of any action taken at any level of government. All public records and meetings shall be presumed open unless an exemption is properly invoked. The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to
promote an increased awareness of all persons of governmental activities. This chapter shall not be construed to discourage the free discussion by government officials or employees of public matters with the citizens of the
Commonwealth. All public bodies shall make reasonable efforts to reach an agreement with a requesttor concerning the productions of records requested. So, let me be clear what I'm seeking and what our community deserves. Were there
prior complaints, Title N or otherwise, involving Mr. Swinny with students or anyone in the ACPS community were past and current complaints regarding Mr. Swinny handled properly under Title 9 and Virginia mandatory reporter laws.
Why was Mr. Swinny transferred from Woodbrook to Holly? Why were parents, especially those with students whom Mr. Direct Mr. Swinny directly interacted with, not notified sooner about the ACP investigation? This is not what we're asking for. It's
what we're entitled to. None of the questions I have raised nor those of the many community members here tonight or 500 individuals who signed involve any are seeking any HIPPA or P I PI. We're tired of your vague assurances and your
platitudes. They're insufficient. Our ch children deserve better. >> Thank you so much for your comments. Uh, the next three speakers are Nancy Koig, K I'm sorry, Nancy Kernig, Tanisha Hudson,
and Reed Chbach. I'm Nancy Kernik from Scotsville. I retired from the county after teaching for more than 30 years in three schools and I'm a parent of a Montichello graduate. From listening to proceedings at previous meetings and looking at the
scores posted on the county's website, I wonder if the focus of ACPS is in line with the Commonwealth, which states that we have high expectations and excellence for all learners. Certainly, the opportunity for a teacher to give a zero to a student who does not hand in
assignments is not a matter of high expectations. That policy takes away from the self-respect of the student and rest that restricts the opportunity for the student to feel the accomplishment of having taken on a task and having
succeeded. I also note on the website that many schools are off track. Five elementary schools as well as one middle school. Two other elementary schools need intensive support. For how long has this been true? I could not find reports
of previous years on the VDOE website. From reading books about teaching different ethnic groups and students from low socioeconomic groups, as well as from my experience, I wonder if the lack of comparable achievement by black
students to their white peers is perhaps a matter of culture and the economic status of some of them. When comparing the reading and math scores of black students with that of economically disadvantaged students, I see a great similarity.
One of the authors that I read, Lisa Delta of Harvard, discusses the teaching methods and words needed for teaching various ethnic groups. She proposes explicit instructions rather than words of implied intention and appeal. for
instance, put those scissors on that shelf rather than is that where the scissors belong. Thomas Soul of Stanford University reports of many schools throughout the country that show that high academic standards, high
expectations, high demands by the teachers, no tolerance of misbehavior, and explicit instruction of phonics versus whole language are responsible for the success of minority and lowincome students. None of this says
that there is just one way of teaching all students. Successful schools with minorities and lowincome students make sure to teach basic things that are neglected when the focus on academics is not present regardless of ethnicity or
socioeconomic status. New principles with old-fashioned ideas about education, direct instruction versus discovery, and teachers versus facilitators are ideas agreed on by all authors. Perhaps renewing some of these
strategies would raise the score as well as quell behavior problems. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, >> Tanisha Hudson. >> Good evening. As someone that put two kids through Alamar County, I am really
appalled. And I want to look at each one of you up here and say, you got to get a spine. And I'm going to tell you why. As a mother of a black child who was on an IEP, I have watched black kids get lynched by the school district for almost 18 years. And then when white
women cry, y'all ready to fire somebody. But then when I come to you for IEPs and kids who clearly have been with teachers, instructional assistants, special ed staff alone, predominantly black kids,
as she just stated, I don't know where she went with the dresser on it just low socioeconomic children who are on IEPs. They go with teachers alone all the time. And they're talking about Hollywood who went along
with this man by theirself. How many black kids was harassed? Do we know? Did you ask? Did you investigate? Did you do any of that? No. But y'all ready to fire somebody in 2017? Y'all all were screaming for change. Some of these people probably were too. These probably
the same people that led the no imagery campaign. They didn't want hate crimes posted in Albamar County schools. Well, the Trumpster has spoken and he stepped on Albamar County toes because you all said, "You know what? We haven't done it
right for 1,800 years. We ain't done it right. Black people been treated the worst." This county has not had a black board of supervisor since it been established. And we want to talk about racism, right? We want to talk about DEI that was just somehow mysteriously taken
away, right? That's what we want to talk about. I want to say this that I want to be clear when I say this. White women are not the only women that cry. White women are not the only women that speak for transparency. Black women
been doing it too. And you didn't give it to us. And so if you didn't give it to us, first of all, let me give them a little lesson. Okay? I'm not speaking to y'all now. I'm speaking to the crowd. As an ongoing investigation, you can't speak on what's happening. And I'm pretty sure that the school district
reported what happened before anybody reported it. They don't know that. You know, they swear up and down they never got in trouble, right? They never got arrested. They don't know how the law works. It's two cops here that can tell them. I'm pretty sure y'all reported what Mr. Sweeney was doing. And I don't want to say his name, but everybody else
did. So, I might as well, right? You can't speak on open litigation. let them know that you can't speak when somebody is going to court because unlike how they think you innocent until proven guilty. You can't automatically say what
a person did or didn't do until they get their day in court. So I say this and I'm going to end with this. Before you think to fire somebody, you put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself if it was you on the chopping block for your job, what would you do? How would you
act? How would you advocate for yourself when people want to fire you because things are not going their way? They going to do this every time. >> Thank you so much. I appreciate your comments. >> Every time they going to do this. >> Thank you so much. Our next speaker is Reed
Chorbach. Please correct my spelling. Not my spelling but my pronunciation. Is a Reed Shorebach here? No. Um the next speaker is Melinda Smith.
>> She's not here. >> Um the final speaker that we have is Danielle Richardson. I'm sorry. Daniel Richardson. I apologize, sir. Thank you. I'm Daniel Richardson. I'm a father of a student that goes to Holly
and I I live in Holly. Um I'm here because I was angry last night after the meeting that we had at Holly and I think that's probably understandable. Um I felt like there was a lot of information that was revealed at this meeting that
could have easily been sent out to all of the families and that's why I'm here today is to talk about that. I think there were details, probably not specific details, but details that we could have shared. I think I got three, maybe four emails
from the county talking about what happened. I mean, it was the the generic statement saying, "We arrested somebody at the school and we can't say anything else." That's that's pretty much the gist of those emails.
But you could have told us that there was a long list of people that we were going to contact who were seen by the teacher. And you could have also said that there were reports that the abuse was happening in
the halls and at the playground because I'm sure parents were telling you this. you probably could have shared more information with us and that probably contributed to this feeling
that parents have that ACPS isn't being transparent. We say it in all of the emails that we're being transparent, but it doesn't feel like we are actually transparent with our actions and the content that's in those emails. So, the
thing that I'm asking for is that the action plan that you guys made, you sent it out in an email today. I want you to continue to be transparent with as you know as you as you actually
do those things on the list and think about what it means to be transparent and think about if you are actually telling us if you're accomplishing those things on the list. And lastly,
because I'm angry about all of this and my daughter roamed those same halls as the person that was arrested, I got advice yesterday at a leadership meeting that said that we should replace employees that
are not contributing to the safety of our students. And I would encourage the school board to do that same assessment with anyone on the cabinet, especially anyone that was involved with the communication
plan for this incident. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. And thank you to everyone who provided public comment today. We are now going to move into the next part of our agenda
um which as we mentioned um is to reconvene is to do a vote to reconvene into close session. >> Chair I move that we resume close session for the reasons stated earlier.
>> Second move by Miss Spilman, seconded by Miss Lee. All those in favor of resuming into close session >> I. >> Any opposed? We will now move into close session. after and then I'll I'll
Thank you all for staying with us. Um, we are back from close session. Do I have a meeting come? Do I have a motion coming out of close Do I have a close session certification coming out of close session? Yes, Chair Berlin. I move that the board certified by recorded vote to the best of each board member's
knowledge. Only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the motion authorizing the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered in the closed meeting. >> Second. >> All those in favor?
>> I. Any opposed? We are now out of closed session. I have an announcement coming out of closed meeting. It is this board's obligation to rebuild the trust with this community and because of that we have asked Dr.
Hos for his resignation and we are we have instructed our legal officer to work with us Dr. Hos on the details. An interim superintendent will be named in the coming days. Thank you so much. I also want to acknowledge that in addition to managing
the superintendent and the budget, our third responsibility as a board is to um manage our policies and practices. And we will be uh looking into and amending
our policies as necessary uh to deal with the issues that have been raised uh in the Holly me and Woodbrook community. uh and hopefully we will have um be able to move forward with that uh in the next couple of weeks. >> Thank you, Miss Bman.
>> Do I have any other comments from the board before we close this meeting? Seeing no other comments from the board, um I am now closing this meeting at 8:30. Thank you so much.