All right. Will you please join our school board uh school board student rep in leading us in the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you all. Our first um order of business is roll call. Madame clerk. >> Yes, Mr. Superintendent.
Miss Bryant >> here. >> Miss Burns >> here. >> Miss Coupe >> here. >> Miss Douly >> here. >> Mr. Meyer >> here. >> Miss Richardson >> here. And Miss Torres >> yes. >> And rep Miss J Craig Headway >> here.
>> Thank you. >> All right. Annually we do the board reorganization. Um we will start with uh 5.1 the election of a board chairperson. Um, do we have any nominations from the floor?
>> Dr. Gurley. Um, I would like to nominate Miss Lisa Torres as board chair. >> All right. Thank you. Are there any other nominations on the floor? All right. No other nominations. Now, can we get a
motion? >> I made a motion. So, we need to >> Oh, you did a motion. Oh, I'll second the motion. I wasn't listening. >> This is why this is the only time you >> Any disc any discussion on the floor?
>> All right. Can we >> Yes. >> Yeah. No, I I think uh Miss Torres, I'd look forward to uh having you as chair again. I thought you had done a previous role on you've done a great job at this previously and I look forward to your
facilitation as our chair again. Thank you. All right. Can we get a vote? All those in favor of Miss Torres being board chair say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? All right. Motion
moves forward. Miss Torres, you're the board chair. >> You all can switch seats and Miss Torres, you can take over this meeting. Thank you so much. Um, our next um, order of business is to elect a vice
chair. So, I would entertain nominations for vice chair. Chair, I move uh for Miss Amanda Burns to be our vice chair. >> Are there any other nominations for consideration? All right, accept that as a motion. We
have a second, please. >> Second. >> Second for Miss Bryant. All right, any discussion, questions? All right. All in favor of Miss Burns as our vice chair, please say yes. >> Yes. >> Yes.
>> Yes. >> Any opposed? All right. Thank you. The next order of business um is to appoint our clerk and deputy clerk of the board. Would you like to handle that, Dr. Gurley? >> Yes, absolutely. Um I would like to
appoint Miss Leslie Thcker as our um board clerk and Miss Julia Green as our deputy board clerk. >> I support that. Is there a second? >> Second. Miss Douly. >> Miss Douly has her second. All right.
Any questions, concerns, discussion? All in favor, please say yes. >> Yes. >> All right. Thank you so much. Um before we move on, I just wanted to take a quick moment to say thank you to to my colleagues. So,
thank you all very much. Um, and I wanted to acknowledge just to everybody um, that there's been a lot going on in the world. Um, and there are a lot of things that feel really heavy right now. And about eight years ago, I made a
choice to um, try and figure out where I was best suited to to do work and to show up to try and make a difference for people. and I chose to stay local and and that's when I kind of began my tenure here at Charlottesville City Schools on the school board. And fast
forward, here we are um in another similar situation. And I just wanted to acknowledge and say that I'm really grateful that I'm here. Um this is where I feel like I can make a difference. Um and I'm absolutely just honored to be
sitting with everybody here at the dis who also um I know is committed um with along with our superintendent, the administration and all staff to do the very best we can to continue to support every student um and this community. So
um thank you. All right. The next item on our um agenda is approval of this agenda. So, if I may have a motion for that, please. >> So, moved. >> Miss Burns with the motion. May I have a second, please? >> Second. >> Second.
>> Miss Bryant with a second. Thank you. Any discussion, questions? All in fa favor, please say yes. >> Yes. >> Any opposed? All right. Um, before we move on, I do want to pause ever so briefly, and I'm sorry. I
want to um also acknowledge our our student rep um who is beginning your tenure. So, thank you um for joining us. Also, I want to pause just real briefly to welcome Miss Bryant um as part of our board. Excited to have you working with us through the year and the next several
years. All right. Um, the next item on the agenda is student and staff recognitions and I believe that is Dr. Eley. Madame Chair, board members, Dr. Gurley, it's my pleasure to be here today
alongside Miss Lewis, our director of human resources to recognize the teachers of the year. Back in 2023, CCS began participating in the Dr. Mary V. Beuvaris Teacher of the Year program,
which honors teachers who represent the best in teaching in the Commonwealth of Virginia and across the nation. These teachers were nominated by their colleagues and selected at the school level. We are so fortunate in CCS to have such strong educators who go above
and beyond for our students every day. Our teachers of the year are educators who turn challenges into opportunities and classrooms into places of belonging and growth. They lead with heart, inspire with purpose, and remind us of the powerful impact one teacher can
have. And we enjoyed the reception just a few, you know, moments ago prior to this meeting um with our teachers of the year and their families and colleagues. And so we would like to recognize them. And we'll just ask if when your name is called, you come up here. Miss Lewis
will give you your recognition and we'll um have you wait up here until everyone has been called. from Greenbryer Elementary. Third grade teacher Bri Barnes and from Jackson Via Elementary, second
grade teacher Jessica Chow. Just stand right up here. And from Summit Elementary, we have second grade teacher Kelly Far. And from Sunrise Elementary, we have
first grade teacher Laura Sheay. And from Tall Oaks Elementary, we have early childhood special education teacher Hillary Bradley. She cannot be here with us tonight, but we still wanted to recognize her. And from Trailblazer Elementary, we have
special education teacher Michaela Atkins. And from Walker Upper Elementary, we have sixth grade teacher Emma Sutman. And from Charlottesville Middle School, we have band teacher Cody Logan.
And from Charlottesville High School, we have English teacher Amanda Williams. And from K-H we have ESL teacher Anthony Smith. And from Lugo McInness Academy, we have history and social studies teacher Nicholas Lyles.
And we're going to pause right here for a group picture. Let's give all of our teachers of the year another round of applause. Okay, stay there. Stay there. Stay there. Okay. Our division committee met to review essays by each candidate to
identify our Charlottesville City Schools division teacher of the year, who will go on to represent CCS at the state level. I'm proud to announce that this year's Charlottesville City Schools teacher of the year for the division
level is Emma Sutin. >> Thank you everybody. And you got your flowers and everything. Thank you very much and congratulations to everybody. All right, congratulations again. Moving on. Um on the next item on our agenda is
comments from members of the community and our first on 8.1 we open this up to comments from students. So if there are any students in the media center or online who would like to offer comments, you're welcome. Now okay, seeing none at this point, we are
then moving Oh. Is there a student? No. Okay. All right. Comments from members of the community is our next opportunity for um people to step forward. We do have a couple of people signed up and we'll start with Miss
Timmons. You come to the podium. Please state your name, your address, and you have three minutes for your comments. >> Dear board members, my name is Sabra Timmons, and I'm an English language teacher at Jackson Via Elementary. But this story starts back when I was at CHS
where I also taught English learners. And I want to give a special shout out to um Lisa Larson Torres because 2022, I came to her when we were in danger of losing KEK. I was worried and I wanted to talk and she met me in a coffee shop
and she listened. So, thank you for that. And I reached out and sent her an email and she said, "I think you should tell the whole board." So, here I am. I'm writing to thank you for moving these meetings to 6 p.m. to increase community access and to let you know that your hard work is noticed and
valued even when the room is in full. I especially want to thank the board for its commitment to the K-tech program. A few years ago, I was worried about the future of this partnership. Having taught English learners at CHS, I knew K-tech was often the bridge that allowed
students to turn an intimidating academic journey into a successful career. Today, I'm seeing the fruits of your efforts in my own home. Our son Max was not an academic student, but through KEK and the mentorship of Captain Bobby
Elliot, he found his calling. and he was recently hired as a full-time firefighter for the city of Stanton. Um, I have a picture and I'm going to share with you. But whether it is my former students becoming nurses and electricians or my
own son starting his career in fire services, the impact that your support for K-KE is life-changing. Thank you for everything you do for our kids. Thank you for sharing your story. All right, next we have uh Miss Horn.
>> Wow, that's so cool. Um hello. Um first, thanks to all who came to the public speaking lunchon. Thanks to Stacy Reedall for meeting with me this week. Thank you for the leadership of Amanda Williams. And boy, thank you
for that teacher workday after break. Much appreciation. This will be my final plea to rethink SBG in the humanities. We have a PD day coming up in February
and it would be excellent to have discussion roundtables with humanities educators gathering their input and thoughts about making standardsbased grading optional in their professional disciplines.
Much like the board and division leadership reopened the SRO conversation to school staff, students, and community members, this grading mandate could benefit from a bit of light. While grading via finite standards works
for math, it is not the same in humanities classes where mastery of understanding and owning literature, creating meaningful and original writing, being able to imagine a historical event from multiple perspectives
is an ongoing combination of standards that sometimes changes within an active effective class discussion. Math is finite and grading via its standards which are finite makes sense. In my discipline, if literacy study
begins and ends with identification of author's purpose, if that is deemed any sort of literary mastery, we are in trouble. Deep dives into literature and encouragement of original writing work
the standards regularly. It is an ability to combine multiple standards and to ideally push up against those standards that results in mastery. To imagine that there can be any sort of mastery of discrete standards is to
hamstring exploration to skim the surface. Our students deserve more really because to use an old education adage what we evaluate we value.
I value the VDOE's five C's. Critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, communication, citizenship. In the humanities, these all require that standards be flexible and ingredients ingredients for learning. Those
standards alone must not be considered the meal. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Um, we'd like to open it up to anybody else here in the media center who'd like to make comment. Please come on forward to the podium. State your
name and you have three minutes to make your comment. Hello. How are you? Can y'all hear me? Okay. My name is Ashley Kahan and I have a son who attends Jackson Via Elementary School. The concerns that I want to address are what resources you have in
place to help children who are below in grade level or who need the extra support. Um I personally feel that tutors are needed to ensure our children succeed um or the ones who are behind. Um, I
also feel like some type of workshop should be presented to parents who help support our kids. I'm not a teacher. Um, so I'm trying to show my son what to do, but I feel like he gets better understanding with the teachers and I don't want to confuse him. I feel like
that's probably a lot of parents that feel the same way. Um, I'm sorry. also feel I want you to let you know that I'm very active in his schooling. I have met with his teachers. Um I work with him at home but yet like I said
it's still a need for support with that. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else like to make a comment? Okay. Thank you. Please just state your name, your address, and you have three
minutes. >> Hello. Good evening. My name is Kiier. Um, I have a son who's in fifth grade who goes to Walker Elementary. Every teacher he's came in contact with has been amazing to his learning abilities,
but it would be nice to have something that I could do to help him at home. Um, yeah, to help me teach him at home would be nice. Um, he struggles with reading. He's not on the right level, but he's
he's passing. um and and I know that it's not going to help him in the long run. So, it would be nice to have something that I could do other than making him read for 30 minutes every day and me reading to him to be more engaging. Um if if I had help at school,
some things that you all do to help me help him at home other than just telling him um to read and me reading to him, something engaging. Um, but yeah, I thank y'all and thank y'all for this opportunity.
>> Thank you. It's okay. Hello. Take your time. Just state your name. I'd love to make sure that we have all three names of the parents. >> Okay. Um, I have two kids that go here to CHS and I have one that's in tall oats. My concern sometimes is the
grading, how they grade the kids. Um, it's very confusing because Canvas might say a grade, Power School says another grade. I'm putting kids on punishment for bad grades. So, if the grades is telling me two different things, I don't want to hold them accountable for something. If the grades just wasn't
updated or if both of them could say the same thing to equal out so parents are not confused on what grade is the correct grade, that would be so much more understanding. So then we can know really if our kids got a D, a C, a B, or a A cuz one thing say one thing, one say
another. So that's really like concerning because I want to stay on top of their grades and make sure they're doing it right. I had my son just started here. Um he's a freshman and he's battling with biology and it's more
so of they just put it on the board and tell us this is what we got to do. Some kids need more understanding, explaining to know what the work is to be able to do the work as needed to get the grade they need, you know, and that's the only thing sometimes certain, you know, just
a little better communication with the teacher, the kids, and I'm a parent call me, you know, just so we could help the kid before it gets to where they are now too far behind. And that's just like the main thing, communication and just really trying to help these kids be
successful. Thank y'all. Have a good evening. >> Thank you. Anybody else here in the media center? Anybody online? Mr. Ko, Dr. Gurley, it looks like Dr. Johnson was maybe making sure we had names. Is
there is it okay if I ask that we get some followup with these parents, please? Thank you. Appreciate that. All right. Thank you. All right. 9.0 is our student representative report out. So, this is
again um an opportunity for you to um share with us your thoughts and and of your classmates. So, glad you're here and it's your your time. >> Thank you so much. Um, as you may know, this is my first meeting serving as the student representative for the school
board. Um, I am a senior at Charlesville High School. My name is Ginger Craighead. As you can see, I have attended Charlesville City Schools since kindergarten at Trailblazer Elementary. And I would first like to say how honored and grateful I am for this opportunity to serve my community and represent my fellow students. I am very
excited to work towards a better academic environment for all chargeful city schools staff and students and hope to serve as a well-informed representative of my school. I would also like to extend a thank you for all the members of the public who attended and spoke at tonight's meeting. Your feedback is vital for our community.
As we come back from winter break, I know my peers and I are ready for a new semester and ending off this school year on a positive note. I would like to thank all the teachers and staff at CHS for making the end of the first semester as smooth as possible and for continuing to complete and submit final grades. However, I would also like to pull
attention to an issue that has been a constant complaint from my peers at Charlesville High School. The restrictions on viewing grades. While I appreciate the effort to simplify the grading process for teachers and access to grades for parents, the policy has unfortunately overlooked who grades
impact most, the students. Currently, students are unable to to view their overall grades on Canvas, but should be able to view their total grades on P school. While in theory, this practice should work well. Students can see individual assignments on Canvas and their current total scores on P school
to promote P school syncing from teachers and easier monitoring for parents. But this has failed to serve the CHS student body. Teachers are not syncing their grades to P school, leaving many students, including myself, in the dark for their overall grades. This prohibits students from knowing where they stand academically and often
leads to them receiving grades they aren't happy with simply because they didn't know they had those grades. Furthermore, at this exact moment, all CHS students are unable to see any of their grades as Power School is locked due to the end of the semester quarter grading. In the past, this was never an issue because students could still see
their grades on Canvas. But now, this closure results in students unnecessarily stressing over grades because none of us know what grades we have. I urge this attention that attention is turned to this issue as when I asked my peers if there's any issue they would like to be expressed at the board nearly everyone's first
thought was I cannot see my grades to conclude I am looking forward to continuing connecting the thoughts of students to this board and working along all alongside all of you to better the Charlottesville city schools. Thank you. >> Thank you so much.
All right. Our next um item on the agenda is adoption of our consent agenda. If I can get a motion for that, please. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion?
>> Miss Torres, if I could. Um yes. In the business financial reports, there's two new grants that are coming up. One, I think Miss Raznik can probably speak
to the $23,676 that will go to our Mckenn Vento homeless um students. And just if she could provide a little bit of clarity on what that money will be going towards and what that looks like for those
students impacted. Thank you. >> Yes. So, our um McKini Vento subrant allows us to provide um it provides funds to reduce barriers for students. So, it allows us to provide transportation um to our schools even
after students who are eligible move into other localities. Um it also allows us provide um extra funds for extracurriculars, summer school, summer camps and um material support. So, uh, hygiene items, support with obtaining
new birth certificates. Um, and we've gotten this grant year over year. Um, and we use those funds specifically for individual students and their families. >> Thank you for that information. >> May I also ask a question? Um, sorry. Um
so my question is how many students in our division are identified as being McKenna Vento recipients and how does um a family go about identifying their student for those services? >> So qualifications are made at the school
level by social workers. Um families if they believe that they are homeless they need to reach out to their school um and we'll take it from there. um we will help and and sometimes there's questions to answer just figuring out um how we
can support um and then I would have to go back to my computer to give you the number but I can do that and then um let you know before the end of the meeting. >> No worries. Um, I think my follow-up question would just be what are some of the ways that um, different staff
outside of like maybe guidance counselors or support staff are helping to identify those students or working with families to even know that those things are available like to spread awareness about it. >> Absolutely. So, um, a really key group of individuals is our school registars.
Um so we meet with them um and provide training to make sure that they um can Our registars are a key part of the process. They can really um they might see a student's application in our
registration portal and let um the school social worker know or school administrators um as well as like teachers and um like I know special education teachers um we provide training on a regular basis to all staff
on um through Project Hope um on um how to how to kind of spot the signs. Um, but I think there like we're talking specifically about the McKini Vento subrant like if you have a need like
reach out to your school because even if you don't qualify as a student um under that act like there are other avenues for us to support you. Um, and so, um, I would also encourage like members of the community if they're concerned, um,
reach out and our our social workers, um, are uniquely trained to be respectful and confidential and support families um, and not just during the school day, but really connecting with resources outside of the school as well.
>> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> All right, so we had a motion and a second. Any other questions, discussion? And again, this is for adoption of our consent agenda. All in favor? Did we I'm sorry. Was there another
question? Okay. All in favor, please say yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Any opposed? All right. Thank you. >> Um 11.0. No items have been pulled at this point. And we are now to 12.0,
which is our action item. Um and that is our 2026 2027 program of studies. Dr. Eley. Thank you. Um Madame Chair, board members, Dr. Gurley. Again, as you recall last month,
alongside um our administrators and division instructional leaders, we presented the program of studies for your review. um particularly highlighting um the pathways that we have for students. Um we're here today recommending action to approve that program of studies.
>> So I need a motion to approve it, please. >> So moved. >> Miss Burns with the motion. And I need a second. >> Second. >> Second for Miss Bryant. Open it up for discussion or questions.
Did you have any questions down there? I'm sorry. I'm going to say Miss Ginger. >> Okay, Mr. Meyer. >> Were there any modifications made from the presentation from last month? For the record, Dr. Eley said no
changes. >> Miss Bryant, do you have questions? >> Yeah, I do. Um, so I am looking forward to um hopefully approving this. But I guess my question is about again the entry points um in the high school um
for students who are interested in doing performing arts or like orchestra, anything like that. Um my understanding is that in order to be able to create that entry point, we would need another FTE. Um is that true? Like in the
future, like not this go around, but in the future that's something we could entertain? options of like um are there other types of courses within those arenas too that would be you know beneficial to our students. So um that is going to be um a
goal moving forward. Um we really really start you know planning the the next program of studies like we'll start that later this spring. So, you know, that that will be um um on our mindset going into the next one for sure. >> Thank you. As we move through budget season, I hope we can keep that in mind
and hopefully deliver that so that students have more options. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Yes. Um I just want to continue to advocate for languages. I know I spoke on that last month. I'll speak on it again this month. um that other
languages being offered are relevant to our community and our community includes our school and our community at large. Looking at Dari, Dari, Poshto and Arabic just as a way again to offer the course credit but also to foster community with
our student body um just to be able to um forge those relationships. So continue to advocate for that. um echo Miss Bryan's concerns about the entry points and pathway into band orchestra strings after middle school. um want to
acknowledge that um you know I know the department did a lot of work um losing the fifth grade element of orchestra and what that looked like and how do we continue to have robust programming and so if it's not in the fifth grade space
how do we potentially give some space and and pathway to that at the high school level um wondering where we stand with a JOTC C program. Dr. Dr. Girley and I have
talked about that on occasion and um you know I' I'd be remiss if I didn't say UVA has a nice property that they have acquired over on 29 that I believe was for ROC purposes and just wonder is
there um some partnership that perhaps could be explored with UVA to assist us in an ROC program um a robust program that I think we could have. >> Yep. And so, um, we we too have that
interest. Um, I think as I've shared with Miss Burns, um, all of my former, um, school divisions, we've had a very strong, uh, ROTC program. I think there's an opport I mean, we would love for there to be this leadership pathway
um, in our program of studies. um through our initial exploration of the um JRTC program, it does require us to have an interest of Dr. Mullen. I think it's about 150
to have at least 150 students express interest. Um it is a huge um it's a huge commit. I think I understand the why. It's because it is a huge commitment um both from the um the government side because they put money into the program,
we put money into the program. Um so I think there's some opportunity for us when we do uh when we do our as we take a look at the data and we we're also looking at a new career interest inventory system uh so we can look at
how many students are looking at the leadership pathway. Um but it w it does require that we have the significant number of students who will commit to it. Um because it's not just like the teachers, it's the equipment that goes with the program. Um so we have to be
fully ready to execute it in a in a sustainable manner. So yes, I think some partnership would be great. Um but it would it really would be nice to if we could figure out a way to get it off the ground. It just requires a lot of um making sure that we have a lot of
deliverables on the front end in terms of student interest. >> Thank you for that. I appreciate the additional context and just see what our students want and um what that looks like. And then last comment
um in regards to theater um that we currently do not have a state recognized CTE pathway um and I know that is of interest to uh that department and several of those students just demands in that produ production and entertainment design area and as it
stands we don't have a formalized um industry recognized credential specific to that skill set and so just >> wondering what that looks like >> I know Dr. health has addressed this and she can come to the podium. Um I know I can speak to it but she can talk about
the communication she's already shared with the teacher. >> Sure. So there actually is not um other than workplace readiness there is no longer a recognized industry credential for that single course. Great. >> Um the pathway includes carpentry which is at KEK um and then an engineering
course. So it's a single course. Um what we have is what is >> correct. Um there's an option for a drama stage craft course but that's not CTE. It is through uh fine arts. So >> great. Thank you so much. I appreciate
that. >> Um thank you. not really specific to the um program of study but and I didn't mean to um catch you off guard but Mr. I course. I was wondering if with the changes to band with the fifth sixth grade changes, can you just remind
everybody what um was discussed as far as how you're going to supplement or support um the elementary schools with music to kind of >> uh >> was there wasn't there discussion? >> Yes. Um so um we've been working
throughout this >> is that better? All right. Yes. So, we've been working throughout this year working with um in combination both with our general music teachers and our instrumental music teachers. We've been utilizing our PL days so that they have
been able to talk together and look at the curriculum, find where that they're there um just to understand what they're doing better and and hope not hope make sure that our students are where they need to be when they are making that decision
about um instrumental music. So we um we have been spending all of our PL to do that. But we in addition we've um looked at adjusting the field trip and field experiences. Um, traditionally we've been taking our fourth graders to um,
experiences and now we will be expanding that to all of the fifth graders so that they will be going to um, for example Tuesday evening concert series when they have a a performance here at the performing arts center or we'll take um, the our fifth graders or our different
grade level to um, the Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra so that they are aware of um, instrumental music um what what they look like. We are now taking all of our instruments that are no longer um able to be repaired and we
are putting them into the um music classrooms and the art classrooms so that they can be handled and touched so that they students have an awareness of these instruments. So those are some of the things that we've been working on. Um yes. And then when they come to the
uh sixth grade level um instead of every other day, these in beginning instrumentalists will have um uh they will have their classes every day. So that will help us uh tremendously in making up some of that lost instructional time. >> Thank you for the review. Appreciate
that. >> Sure. >> Yeah. All right. So any other questions, discussion, board members? Right. We have a motion. We had a second. We had discussion. Um, all in favor of of approving the program of studies, please say yes. >> Yes. >> Yes.
>> Any opposed? >> Okay. Thank you. >> No, Mr. Richardson. Okay. All right. Thank you. Um, we are now moving on to 13.0, which is items for discussion
and the first item is adoption of highquality instruction materials, the math curriculum. So, Dr. Eley and Miss Mitchum this down. All right, madame chair, board members, Dr. Gurley again. I'm here with Miss U.
Melissa Mitchum, our math coordinator in CCS, and she'll be presenting information on our math textbook adoption process and our recommendations to the board. So, I'm going to turn it over to her. Good evening. Just want to make sure it's not going to zap me. Um, Madame
Chair, school board members, Dr. Gurley, it's my pleasure to share with you our high quality instructional materials for math adoption process and recommendations. Adopting new instructional materials for math supports our strategic plan.
Priority one, strategy 8, provide a coherent and rigorous PK through 12 math program that is fully aligned to the Virginia Standards of Learning. This evening, I will share the context of our current adoption, the process and
timeline to date, recommendations for adoption, and estimated costs. The 2425 school year was the final year of our previous math curriculum adoption cycle. The Virginia Board of Education approved a list of mathematics textbooks
and highquality instructional materials that I'll continue to refer to as HQIM aligned to the 2023 math standards of learning for mathematics at its March 2025 meeting. Our current elementary math curriculum, math investigations 3,
was not put forth for consideration by the publisher. We did continue to use investigations 3 this year uh and continue to supplement it to align it to the 2023 math standards. In April and May of 2025, the CCS math
leadership team, which is the math specialists from each of our schools and myself, we developed a theory of change and created math curriculum look fors. We narrowed the list of approved HQIM to three for elementary based on so
alignment, particularly in those so tested grades. For secondary math, there were five highly aligned options indicated for approval by the board of education back in October of 2024. So, we had really a lot of time to consider
those options. The secondary math specialists and instructional coaches who support mathematics reviewed those five options based on our culture of learning look fors. So that was something that we created based on our current walkthrough tool and um what we
consider to be our vision for mathematics. Using that culture of learning look for tool. We narrowed that list from five to three. We also had time to meet with all of those vendors um that were highly aligned and indicated for approval. And
two of those were chosen for pilots at CMS and CHS this school year. In August, we invited educators, families, and community members to join the math specialists on the adoption committee. They could join for either
elementary or secondary HQIM. And we did have um at least one person who served on both. We had 14 secondary and 22 elementary members through that were onboarded in September. Committee members reviewed and scored each of the HQIM that we had
put forth to the committee. Based on their feedback, we then invited vendors to present to all of our educators. On our November 3rd professional learning day, secondary math teachers attended sessions for the two piloted
programs. Those were the strongest programs uh according to our adoption committee. So that's who they heard from. We had three vendors actually present to 99 elementary teachers. And then throughout the rest of November and into early December, uh the
secondary math teachers had a chance to continue to review those HQIM products, some of the ones that they had piloted and the ones that they had not piloted. They were able to discuss in their department meeting the strengths of both programs that they had heard from the
vendors on November 3rd before submitting their preference via a Google form. More than 100 elementary educators completed a focus review protocol with their math specialist that was specific to their grade level. The
educators were then given time to review physical and online resources for each of the two final HQIM, excuse me, three final HQIM before submitting their preference. We are pleased with the high level of teacher
engagement in this selection process. As you can see from our survey results, 92% of respondents preferred math space to EDIA for secondary math. Based on our adoption process and feedback from teachers, math
specialists, and instructional coaches, we strongly recommend adopting Mathspace Virginia for secondary next year. Mathspace is adaptable and provides extensive resources aligned to the rigor of the 2023 standards. We have had a very positive experience
with the pilot at Charlottesville Middle School, including feedback from students and teachers. Math Space has also been adopted by more than 50% of Virginia school divisions to date. Results from our elementary survey showed a split between bridges and stem
scopes with a very small percentage in favor of KDUm. In December, the adoption steering committee, which was comprised of Dr. Anna Eley, Miss Carolyn Swift, Dr. Allison Brown, Dr. Summer Thompson, the elementary math specialist, and me
reviewed the preference data by grade level. When we disagregated the data, um, KDUm was easily eliminated due to its small percentage of, uh, respondents who preferred it. We saw that Bridges was preferred mostly by early elementary
teachers um, due to its highly visual, hands-on approach that builds strong conceptual understanding and fluency. and that STEM scopes was favored by upper elementary for its inquirybased framework and real world rule realworld scenarios that explicitly support
advanced mathematical reasoning and problem solving. The adoption theory committee also considered each product's coverage of the 2023 math standards. This gets a little bit more involved, so I'm going to give you some background information. Each math standard has a list of
essential knowledge and skills that support the standard. So when we say that Bridges is highly aligned in early elementary specifically, I'll give you we'll start with kindergarten which includes 93.4% of standards. I mean all of those
subsklls. Okay? So, we don't just mean the overarching initial standard, but we mean every little bullet point that supports the full proficiency at that standard. First grade includes 89% of standards
and all the essential knowledge and skills. Second grade stands out in this list, so I want to address that specifically. Bridges does address every second grade math standard, at least partially. For example, Bridges includes lessons on SO
2.NS.1, which states the student will utilize flexible counting strategies to determine and describe quantities up to 200. However, it does not explicitly cover one of the nine essential skills and
knowledge. It does not cover 2. NS.1F describe and use patterns in skip counting backwards by tens from at least 200 to justify the next number in the counting sequence. So we would know
going in that we would need to continue to supplement as needed to hit all of those individual skills and standards. Third grade includes 73% of the standards and all of its subsklls. STEM scopes was much higherly more
highly aligned in fourth and fifth grade. Fourth grade for example includes 83% of the standards and all the subs skills and fifth grade STEM scopes include 76% of standards and subsklls. The adoption steer committee also
analyzed the strengths of each HQIM. Bridg's approach to building conceptual understanding aligns with our current beliefs and practices. The program incorporates visual models and hands-on manipulatives to support active problem solving. Number Corner promotes skill
building centered around the classroom calendar, reinforcing number sense. Feedback from school divisions who implement bridges is overwhelmingly positive. In particular, instructional leaders praise how the program builds mathematicians.
STEM Scopes is built around the 5e lesson model. Engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate. The engage phase of the 5e model provides lesson hooks they call phenomena to increase relevance and authentic engagement. Grounding the
learning in a real world context encourages students to discover the need for the a mathematical concept in the explore phase of the model. This promotes critical thinking and productive struggle. Charlottesville City Schools currently implements STEM scopes materials um in
their fourth and fifth grade science course. Our extensive curriculum review process led to two highly favored finalists for elementary. Based on the disagregated preference data from our teachers, we
are making a strategic recommendation to adopt a dual curriculum model. Bridges and mathematics for K through three, which was preferred by our early elementary educators, and STEM scopes math for fourth and fifth grade, which showed a clear advantage in the upper
grades. This decision honors the specific expertise and instructional preferences of our staff while ensuring that we align the optimal materials to the developmental needs of the students at every level. We do have an overall cost estimate for
a 5-year adoption. The estimated total cost for elementary and secondary combined would be paid from the division textbook fund and would be approximately $489,339.96. The 5-year adoption cycle would allow us to review new HQIM based on the
anticipated 2030 mathematics standards of learning. And this slide further breaks down the cost. So five years for math space for digital access for teachers and students which does allow us to customize materials
online and to print those materials. It also includes the their AI powered digital tutor. This would be for sixth grade through algebra 2 at a cost of $169,9566. Bridges K through three would include the classroom packages including all
required manipulatives. Um student books, there's actually three student books that we would get the first year, including one that would um be for home connections, which is pretty exciting because we don't currently have a product that works like that. So the
first year would be $171,455.75. Um, I've estimated the cost of just the student practice book um for the next 2 to 5 years at $18,960. Uh, we would need to see if we would want to continue purchasing the other books, including one that goes with
number Corner. The total estimate there is $190,415.75. That leaves us with STEM scopes for fourth and fifth grade. We would recommend purchasing the fluency and foundation kits, the student books, and the online access and physical manuals
for teachers at a total of $129,1855. Physical samples are now available um downstairs in the annex lobby for community members who would like to come in and review those materials. They'll be available through January 30th in order to give me time to coalate
the data and share that with you before your February meeting. Individuals who would like to participate but don't want to come to the annex are welcome to do so by accessing the materials online and that is posted on our division homepage.
We would um request schoolboard approval at the February 5th meeting and immediately begin implementation planning. >> Thank you. Um Miss Doulie, we'll start down there. Do you have any questions, please? >> Um do you have information on the cost
of this program relative to what we've been using? Is it like budget neutral or >> we had paid we had paid initially um for seven years for both secondary and for um elementary for so for math
investigations we had paid a flat fee for seven a seven-year adoption and we're then we received those the workbooks that we needed every year but maintained our online access for teachers. So it was a one chunk kind of seven years ago we paid out of the
textbook fund. Um, but at just as an example, and I could get you the exact dollar amount if you'd like. Um, to continue investigations this year, we did have to purchase sort of all a cart uh at about around $45,000 for one year.
>> Miss Richardson, >> I appreciate the presentation. Um, I really don't have any questions at the time. I'm interested in getting my hands on the hard copy materials to review as a parent myself just to see the difference changes that we went from
last year to this year and yes >> how it's formatted. >> Yes, if if we can gravitate the students are going to gravitate to the material. So, >> thank you. That exactly does it appeal to the students? Is it relevant to our students? That was one of our look fors and so the materials that are downstairs
are primarily studentfacing materials. Um there's an a sample of what the teacher manual looks like for all three products, you know, in case that's something also of interest. Um but we really felt the community would be most interested in how the student would interact with the the curriculum.
>> Thank you. >> You're welcome, >> Miss Cooper. >> I just had a a quick question in reference to this seems like um a lot of like online tutorials and so I would have a question of like how are the
teachers engaging with students and how much of this is screen time and how much is of this is actual teacher teachers teaching children. >> Thank you. Um >> I think one of the reasons that our elementary teachers were not drawn to
KDUm was because they were really used to doing very much hands-on math. And so I think Bridges would continue that. We're definitely that's imagine a classroom of first graders who are at the carpet and they each have their own sort of what we call a wreck and wreck
and it's beads that were sliding and we're really we're doing the math live where the teacher can actually see the students thinking because it's right there in their hands. Um so the products for elementary are very much hands-on. So even the phenomena that I mentioned with stem scopes would be like a short
video. It would be something that would be like relevant to a career pathway or perhaps sort of a oh what do you think's going to happen next? Make a prediction and now let's try to figure out can we model this physically in the room but they're they're very handson
um curricula. So we we definitely want to continue that. We don't want our students to excessively be on screen time. the secondary product. It is more appropriate there when a secondary teacher has many more students
especially when we right now we're assigning very short assignments like 8 to 10 questions uh per week at the middle school based on the topic that's being taught in the class. So the student has all week to complete those 8 to 10 questions, but then this the teacher has a rich data dashboard that
they can go to and say, "Well, this student might need more help. This student's ready to move on." So it gives us a a chance too for the student to get that immediate feedback. And that is one of the things that the students have said they liked about math space is that there's actually a little avatar that
comes up and we'll kind of coach them. So but again, it's balance. We really still want students doing mathematics on paper and we still want even secondary students modeling mathematics with manipulatives. >> Anything else?
>> And how is this program different from what we're already using? >> For secondary or elementary? >> Uh for both. >> Okay. Um for secondary we were using Envision which wasn't as flexible. I I would say that's
one of the things. I mean, Envision had a similar way of trying to launch a lesson that was more open-ended and sort of got the students thinking about something and then you come in with the mathematics. So, there's some similarities there. This mathbased product though was written for Virginia.
A lot of the curricula are adapted for Virginia, but this was designed specifically for our standards. So, that's that's a difference. elementary. There are a lot of similarities with bridges and investigations.
What's different about Bridges is the way that it lays out the lesson and the progression for the teachers. It's more digestible. What we're hoping is that the teachers will internalize this curriculum more easily than they have investigations,
making them more effective in implementing it. And one more question, would this program allow access for parents to support children inside of the home? >> I don't know. Digitally for all of them math space. I you know if the stu if
they had access absolutely you could log in and see that um the student could show you that at home but that's why I'm excited about the the home connection book for bridges. >> Thank you. Thank you. That's all the questions I have. >> Miss Burns. >> Sure. I wonder if you could speak to any
data. Is there any data that shows um you know, as a district, we're really trying to address the achievement gap with our black and brown students? Is this the best for those students or is there is there data that speaks to that?
>> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Um, bridges actually wasn't originally on our short list because it's it doesn't cover enough of the fourth and fifth grade standards. What bridges uh but we found a school
district Campbell County out to the west um that has been using bridges for years. And so even their fourth and fifth grade students are outperforming our students. And I mean specifically their black students. Excuse me, I should have said that because that's exactly what the data
that we looked at. Uh so that coupled with the math specialists really taking a deep dive into the curriculum and saying we're just we really want to be sure that we're building mathematicians early. It's almost like getting that foundational fluency in reading and now I'm going to go and apply that and
become a really good reader because I can decode and and I can read fluently. So, we're really kind of looking at a similar situation with mathematics. >> Thank you. I appreciate that the thoughtfulness that went into, you know, being intentional for those groups of
students. So, thank you. >> Thank you so much for your presentation. Um, I had a similar question about the equity component of this and um, thank you for referencing Campbell County. I would need to do some more like research on my own to see if those demographics
for their black students match ours or similar. I think that you know socioeconomic status is a very ranging issue and that's important too to think about the wealth of the area and all of those things um before we can like make
such comparisons. And so I think I would be interested to also look at the u materials as um as was mentioned before. or I would like to be able to like see how they work and everything like that. And also, as we had some parents speak earlier um about wanting training to be
able to support their students at home and to build those bridges between home and school, um I would love to see how maybe this could be implemented in those trainings as well. >> I appreciate that. Um, I would like to add we did I did speak to um an instructional leader with Nashville uh
Tennessee public schools and they're using STEM scopes because we know that Campbell County is more rural than we are, right? So when we we tried to sort of engage, you know, I we spoke to a couple school divisions in Minnesota. I spoke to someone in Georgia. I s you
know so if it wasn't being used here in Virginia where was it being used? Um, so we agree. I agree. We STEM Scopes is showing success with growth in Nashville. They're still not where they need to be in terms of proficiency, but
they are um by Tennessee metrics showing exceptional growth. >> Thank you, Mr. Meyer. >> Yeah, thanks. And and appreciate the presentation. Lots of permission here. Am I correct to understand that sixth
graders through I guess or 12th graders will not get a math book or everything's digital? >> It we can purchase textbooks. So the next step would be to determine this was an estimate based strictly on online but we do have the physical some samples of
physical textbooks downstairs. So that's a conversation really with the math teachers with families with students. Is there do we want a class set of textbooks? Do we need to go back to having a textbook? The beauty of the online component, of course, is that
it's adaptable. So, a teacher can choose how many questions they want at an easy level, how many at a medium, how many at a high level. So, I like the adaptability and obviously that would be the core would be the digital product, but we do have the option to purchase textbooks.
>> Okay. uh you know there's a lot of analysis being done around using screens and educational results. How did you take those into consideration when selecting these curricula? >> Well, even with the um the pilot at at
CMS for math space, it's not that the student is necessarily learning the math on the screen. So the the teacher has access to an a lesson that they could present um using their Vonic board. The the student would still be doing math,
you know, there would still be manipulatives, there would still be pencil paper. Um they would then be able to again sort of during their win time or during their independent practice time answer some questions online that that then would give us data to move forward. They could then take an online
assessment that would give us data to move forward. But it's not that the the online component will teach the student. The teacher will teach the student and the students will work together. >> We talk about here an AI powered digital tutor.
>> Yes, we did not pilot that. Um but that is included in this particular quote. So that's again a little bit more research that we would do. There was a it's similar to the EDIA product that we in terms of the digital tutor. So, we
piloted EDIO with algebra 1 here at the high school because it translates into so many um native languages or heritage or home languages so that students if they needed to to actually get the math um presented to them in their um home
language, they could do so. That is a really robust um tutor. So, basically it it really learns the what the student is putting in. So, the student is typing in their work so that the tutor can learn from it. We have not you utilized it for
a math space. So we would want to take the next step would be to reach out to divisions who are using it to see if it's something that we think would be a good fit. For now mathsp space is programmed. So if a student makes a mistake and it knows like oh if you put in 13 it's
because you added instead of multiplied, right? So then it would kind of kick out a prompt that said be careful which operation did you use? So that's the kind the level that we've used this year. the the the tutor would get a little more indepth.
>> I guess I mean I have a child at this age group and >> I also had a child that went through learning on a screen for three or four or how long it was during COVID. Right. >> Right. >> We saw results on screen learning during
COVID not be robust as I think as we wanted. Right. >> Right. Uh, I'm glad to hear that we have print options. I mean, I went through an experience at the middle school where we asked for no, we didn't our child want to have a Chromebook and then we were
told we have to have a Chromebook to be able to do math >> in the classroom. So, I'm a little skeptical, sorry. Of like there's uh when I just see digital access includes a print option and it sounds like the option is at the determination not of
the families but of the teachers if they want to use this and a lot of what you just explaining is like well it's easier for the teacher to do this not necessarily this gets us better results for our >> children. I don't think we our teachers haven't been overutilizing the online practice. And I think that's the online
learning versus online practice. We're in-person learning. That that practice piece where the students going to get immediate feedback. So if we have a class of 28 students at the middle school, the teacher could be working with a small group that she knows needs
extra support in a particular area. And then the other 23 students could be doing online practice and getting immediate feedback on math space, but it would take up 20 minutes of the 80-minute block. It would not be 80 minutes and it would not be every day.
That would just be a tool at their disposal. >> So is there a way to monitor with these curriculums how much actually we screen time versus and we could then be aggregating that and track that like are we actually this kids during classroom
on screens all the time or are they actually >> doing something else? >> Absolutely. I know we can um get the weekly minutes um but our I'll work with our rep. We I'm going to actually meet with um them tomorrow so I can just clarify that we can separate it from
anything that's done at home. We do have some um algebra 1 and geometry students at the middle school that enjoy doing all the practice on math space that's assigned to them. And sometimes we'll complete that at home before the week even starts, before the instructions
even started because they like the feedback that they're getting. They like the challenge of of doing the work before the teachers even introduce the lesson. But in my instructional rounds at the middle school, and I'm at the middle school a lot, students are working together and there's manipulatives and there's paper and
there's pencils and there's they're up writing, you know, on vertical surfaces. So, it's not I don't walk in and see just students on the computer. >> I appreciate that and I like that. And and one of my concerns goes to I mean when there's the curriculum and we're doing all that and but we're using also
and this is broader not just to the math curriculum I'm sorry but basically and I see this with my own child is using an example of we're doing we finish the problems we do great we finish up and it's a great way for again teachers to differentiate classrooms but then for the last 30 minutes he's playing video games because
the Chromebook's open and he just you know went from one window to the next >> right >> uh so you know again tool tools, but and I'm I'm not necessarily convinced it's going to give us better educational results. Um, >> but I think this is what we have. So,
>> I could call on Pat for the There we have tools that allow the teacher to see what the student has open on their Chromebook. So, that could be a matter of just coaching the teachers to make sure they're monitoring. Thank you. >> Yeah. So, >> you good. >> We recognize the importance of
face-to-face learning and and you know, hands-on instruction. Uh we do have a tool that's available to all classrooms across the division. It's it's our filtering tool called classwise and linewise. And classwise allows teachers to completely turn off access to the
computer or to limit the windows and tabs that the student can go to. And that also can generate more reports than you'd want to read in a week or a day. But it does give teachers control if they need that ultimate classroom attention and the computer is down. If
the computer is open, you can press a button and completely eliminate um the wandering or the the going someplace else to uh to do that work. And there's also a home tool available for parents who can also use that tool. If their students bring or the children bring
their device home, they can set hours and parameters so that it's used in the parents best interest. >> I appreciate that and I think that's good. But if the teachers choose to use it, >> if I didn't hear that if >> Yeah. So I mean it has to be used by the
teachers, right? And programmed by the teachers. >> Yeah. Then I've probably trained 30 to 40% and I know. Yeah. But yes, there are lots of people you lots of teachers using it. And yes, I agree that is as good as um the teacher who uses it. For sure.
>> Thank you. Um Ginger, do you have any questions, comments? >> Yeah. Um I think that the all the involvement that you've done with teachers and with math specialists and also with the community is absolutely great to sort of really get to the core understanding of what the students need. Um when I saw the AI power digital
tutor, I was also concerned. I know how easily AI could be manipulated and also how it can sort of supplement as a teacher and we can be breaking these really important bonds between teacher and student about teaching these math uh physical things. So I was just wondering if you have any more information that
you could share with us about I know you talked about a different AI tool that we've been testing is would this AI power tool be similar to that and the way that like it sort of can tell when if you put in a wrong number like why was it wrong is it something similar to that or >> right a lot of the secondary products
use a similar um technology that basically is learning from the student you know based on their mistakes and then can redirect them can can prompt them Um so it is similar but is this is something that we'll work with the technology department and we would want
to make sure that it's within our AI guidelines. Um but again so we have multiple quotes from them that's sort of the most inclusive of all the digital products and I would also just as a further up to that sort of wondering if um I know in like either further math
education some responses are required to be typed down sort of explaining like what this variable means and whatnot. Would the AI also be able to adapt to the standards for certain like so testing and certain like AP testing and stuff like that? Do we know any information about that? >> Um, math space only goes up through
algebra 2. So I I do want to clarify that. Um, and again we haven't had a >> we did not get a demonstration of that component. So we would need to do that. We would need to look at that with the with the math teachers with the department chair just to ensure that we
feel like it's a tool that we actually need. we're not going to pay for something that we don't think is in the best interest of our students. Um, but it isn't included there. >> So, can you like purchase a package with all the stuff minus the AI power thing? Okay. >> Yeah, that's what we did at CMS this year. We did not purchase that that
component. >> Great. Yeah. And um I just wanted to do one final comment about I know how important online supplementals are towards just general learning. I know that in my own middle school education at uh Charlottville City Schools, we did do a lot of physical work on paper, but
also having homework on our computers and having the ability to use like Desmos and other sort of online power tools is very important as well as um online textbooks are also very important for students so they don't have to, you know, lug around a giant thing they so >> yes, math space offers um a variety of
notes formats as well. So if a if a parent or wants to help a student at home, they would have access to all that information on the student's computer and really be able to help them digest the information without having to reread the notes. I don't know how many of you take really nice notes, but some of us
don't. So >> thank you. Yeah. >> Does the feature offer um voice where it reads out? Because again, some of our students and parents struggle with reading. So does it have the feature? Does it have an audio feature? I can find out.
>> Okay, >> that's true. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I'll repeat that. We do have a divisionwide extension for Chrome, right? That will read any screen and trans and languages as well. >> Yeah.
>> Yes. >> Right. Thank you. So, just quickly um thank you. Great questions everybody. Um, specific to bridges, any concerns or understanding as to why the second grade um, stand it only meets 65% of the
standards at second grade? >> I think it's because it's it's probably more closely aligned with Common Core. Um, Virginia has some unique things um that it asks students to do that other states simply do not.
Um so even other products in second grade were kind of weakly aligned. It wasn't just bridges. So those are things that we would need to supplement. A lot of them are around um geometry sort of things that other that common core would
introduce in third grade we introduce in second grade. So we would want to maintain that rigor. Of course we're already supplementing some of those things with investigations. So we would continue to use the resources that we've built to do that. Great. Thank you. All
right. Any other questions, concerns? And will you um have some like a followup as far as the um looking at that AI component? >> Yes, I'd be happy to send an email with more information. >> Be great. Before before next month be
great. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next up, we have um our community schools update with Dr. Johnson and Dr. Jones Lewis here. Good evening, Madame Chair, school board
members, and Dr. Gurley. I'm excited to be here tonight to introduce Dr. Jones Lewis, our community our director of community schools, and Abigail Ferguson, our family and community engagement outreach specialist, as they share important updates related to our community schools initiative.
When we talk about community schools, we're talking about schools that are deeply rooted communities. These schools provide services and supports that fit the specific needs of the communities they serve. Community schools models work best when co-created and run by the
people who know our children best, community partners, educators, families, and students themselves. The community schools approach is grounded in four pillars outlined by the Virginia Department of Education. The
first pillar, integrated student supports, is about making sure supports don't live in silos. Schools help coordinate academic, social, emotional, health, and basic needs supports so students and families
can access help easily and consistently without having to navigate disconnected systems. The second pillar, expanded and enriched learning time and opportunities, recognizes that learning doesn't stop when the school day ends.
This includes after school, weekend, summer learning and skilluing opportunities that are shaped by student voice and aligned with their interests and needs. Some examples include the work of our awesome community organizations,
tutoring and mentorship run by Abundant Life at Tall Oaks, and the reading clubs that Wanika Howard of the Charlottesville Department of Human Services has started at Trailblazer and Summit. The next two pillars focus on how we
work together to support students. Active family and community engagement is about moving beyond traditional involvement and towards true partnership. Families and community organizations are seen as experts and collaborators who help shape the
supports, programs, and opportunities that exist within the school. For example, we are working with First Baptist Church per a request from their pastor and congregation members to host a crack the code event focused on
helping families and community members better understand education data and school reports such as so results, map scores, and curriculum tools like HMH. Rather than simply presenting information to families, the event is
designed as a two-way learning space where participants can also ask questions, interpret data together, and connect what the data shows to their children's real experiences in the classroom. First Baptist will also work with us to
create a more literacy-rich environment by transforming an existing classroom into a small community library, leveraging donated books from community partners and school-based resources, and creating space for ongoing literacy
activities such as hosting literacy mentors and further parent and family engagement. This leads into the fourth pillar of collaborative leadership and practices which emphasizes shared responsibility.
School leaders, district staff, and community partners align around common goals, use data to guide decisions, and regularly reflect on what's working and where adjustments are needed to better serve students. At the division level, we focused on
bringing district, school, and community stakeholders together around shared priorities, including literacy, attendance, and student connection. We've established an advisory board made up of equal parts community members and Charlottesville City School staff along
with working groups that are primarily composed of community partners with select Charlottesville City School staff included to strategically support alignment and coordination. We've also planned for parent engagement through existing networks and trusted touch
points such as Seville Tulips, City of Promise, Abundant Life, Charlottesville United, and the Citywide PTO. A key part of this work has been listening directly to students. We've collected and reviewed student feedback at CMS, CHS,
and Lugo McGinness Academy with additional student input being gathered from Pathways W uh Walk and Lugo in January. These insights help us understand belonging, identify barriers, and pinpoint where students need additional
support, as well as what they love about Charlottesville City Schools and what brings them joy. We are also working to better align existing supports. We've started coordinating literacy, attendance, and mentorship efforts that are already
happening across schools and community organizations. Rather than adding new standalone programs, the focus has been on reducing fragmentation by strengthening connection, communication, and follow-through. We are also excited to announce that we chose and purchased
a van that arrived in Charlottesville on January 7th. It will support student and family transportation as well as transporting goods when needed. At the relationship level, we're deepening partnerships with community
organizations and trusted adults who support students through mentoring, enrichment, and academic reinforcement. For our elementary schools, the confidence and comprehension club is being rolled out using a datadriven approach. We've looked we've looked
across schools to understand where literacy needs are greatest and use that information to guide a phased implementation. Supports are tailored to each school on both need and readiness. That includes supports like literacy
kits, literacy mentors, relationship mentors, and other community-based services. To support coordination, we've identified a community school's point of contact at each school along with a volunteer point of contact who helps with recruitment, placement, and
follow-through. This structure helps ensure that supports are well coordinated and responsive to each school's needs. Importantly, we are listening to school administrators and staff to understand what their schools need as all of our schools are so
unique. In addition to school-based efforts, we're working with community organizations to think differently about when and where literacy supports can happen. We've begun conversations with partners
such as Boys and Girls Club, Abundant Life, City of Promise, and faith-based organizations about serving as community-based literacy and mentorship hubs. The goal is to build on existing programming rather than layering on
something new. By aligning confidence and comprehension club supports with current youth and family programming, we can strengthen communication, reduce duplication, and create clearer shared expectations. This work also includes being
intentional about roles, responsibilities, and points of contact across schools and partners while building in accountability so the model is ready to grow and scale over time. For our middle school students, we are
focusing heavy heavily on relationships and belonging. And so we are taking notes from our our um friends and partners at the Charlottesville Department of Human Services to understand how to best work with our youth. Um Misty Graves, Charles Stratton, and Wanika Howard, who's here,
are um already coordinating and conducting deep and meaningful social emotional development work for our students. and we're working with them to build understanding around and across um our staff and partners who serve Charlesville
Middle School students. Um the work really centers on shared expectations engagement strategies, relationship building and coordination. Um we are work we are aligning with partners across crazy and to huntos boys and
girls club city of promise and others and we will actually begin some student engagement starting next week. Um we have folks who are coming in to lunches Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. All of this work has been guided by uh by Dr.
Jordan and in collaboration with uh folks from the innovation hub as well. Bridgebuilders also includes academic and cultural enrichment. And so we're working to support CMS with their positive school culture days. Again, those are days that were already going
to going to happen. So we're figuring out how our community partners can be additive um in helping to support that work. And we're coordinating with the innovation hub on real world unit planning that is aligned to our state standards. So not saying we're going to
focus on this problem so that we can have something to do. Making sure that that is fully aligned to the standards that our students need to be learning for high school. And um we are really focusing on something that we're calling the lab. And the lab uh really works on
preparing our students for life after graduation. We've already had some conversation today about the 3E framework that the state is using. And so they're looking at enrollment, employment, and enlistment after high school. And so we
are trying to deepen our work with folks so so that we can really improve opportunities in those areas. Um, we've been meeting with Sarah Morton in order to better align with Virginia Career Works and to get her more more access to
our students earlier so that she can really tap in to the um workforce innovation and opportunity act. Um, that is money that we have paid for with our tax dollars that we should be using for our students. um and they are really
focusing on applied learning, credential exploration, workforce readiness and credit completion. Of course, we know that many of our students will will graduate and and go on to college and so we will have some college and career nights that we are looking for um our
high school students to to really give us some input on so that that they can have those opportunities as well. And then we are also working on how we can improve um at at least student knowledge to access about what enlistment might
look like. Um we are also working on a student connection tool in partnership with PBCC. Um so this would be PBCC already has a workforce readiness uh tool that they use to make sure people are ready
to enter the workforce. And so it goes over things like do you have a driver's license? Um are you um able to get to work? Do you have access to transportation? Things like that. So we are actually trying to work with PBCC on
a version that we could use for our students that would be more student appropriate. the the good thing about this tool is that it would allow folks um who are connected to the student to really be aware of what is going on with
them. So that's not just school-based personnel like counselors and teachers, but also their parents and maybe if they have an auntie or a neighborhood member who's really invested um in that student, they would be able to track that progress as well. And if they do
things like miss their appointment that they were supposed to um to have to to go and get their learners maybe, then it would flag us to say, "Hey, we we need to go pick up such and such and get them over at DMV or better get DMV over to
them. Um, okay. students have also completed questionnaires at CHS and CMS during lunch periods. Um, and so we're really working on gathering information like like we said to understand what our students need and want, but also what
makes them happy, what what brings them joy. um we will definitely connect with our new um schoolboard member here, but we're also trying to make sure that when we're having conversations with our students, it's a wide breath of
students. Um we have another plan focus group um with our walk students and um we are also circling back to Luga. We had such a good time talking to our kiddos over there. They said, "Please come back." This was in November and we said well we can come back in December.
They said no thank you. Please come back in January. So we will be back in January. All right. Sustainability is really about building systems that um that last by aligning resources re re
relationships and responsibility. There's a lot a lot of really good work already happening here in Charlottesville city. Um, I mentioned the Department of Human Services. We have a crazy amount of CBOS who are
really nose to the wall, getting it done. Um, we've been also having conversations with PHA and with FAR and and with other folks. It's not about adding a bunch of extra things. It is really about um making sure that that everything we're doing is well aligned
and sustainable. Um, one other thing that I'll mention is actually Rachel Rasnik and I um are helping to support uh UVA Health to work with Charlottesville City Schools and with the city and other partners as well to
come up with a um a sustainable hopefully free or close to free um way that we can track what our opportunities are related to to physical and mental health and kind of who who has what hand in what pocket type of thing. So, we
don't need need to keep on offering glasses in this way and in this way and in this way if you if they're going to show up and and offer that service. We just need to make sure people know about it. And that's where the work with our CBOS is most important because they have
the the most ready contacts with our um our students and our families. Um the other thing is just really really looking at funding. There is funding that is that that currently exists. I mentioned the the WEOA funding. There's
there's there title four funding. There is also some Virginia community schools grants. Um and those are things that that we can look at, but I really want to emphasize that a lot of this work is already being done um by people who are
really good at it. Um and so really working with those people to make sure that their sustainability evaluation so that we know what is being done, how well is it working and then we can report that back out is is really what
we think makes makes us most sustainable. We are so excited about the opportunities this planning grant provides and it has only deepened how grateful we are for the partnerships that make this work possible. We believe that community this community schools model will significantly strengthen our
collective efforts to support students and families across the city of Charlottesville. We are happy to answer any questions or any thoughts you may have at this time. >> Start down at this end. Ginger. >> Uh thank you so much for your presentation. I think it was really great and I would love to talk more with
you about connecting to Charlottesville High School students. Um I was just wondering if you could talk more about your lit your uh literary kits, your literacy mentors, your relationship mentors that you mentioned previously. I would just love to know more information about that. >> Absolutely positively. So um two types of mentorship we're looking at. One is
relationship mentors which is what I think most people are familiar with. And so it's having a a mentor to like maybe take you to the park or talk talk talk to about literacy mentors are mentors that are actually trained by um folks at
UVA and some and and some of our partners to teach students to read. And so these literacy mentors are not necessarily relationshipbased. They are really in place to to be able to like we said earlier we have have some of our
students some very specific groups of students who are not reading where they should be and so we need to be connecting with them. Um we are really excited about um our literacy mentors being both um a combination of students
but community members as well. Right. And so um a good example is if uh is we have already talked to our bridgebuilder staff who is Boys and Girls Club and um help me
um abundant life and other staff about them being actually trained as as literacy mentors because they already do hold a a lot of those relationships. Um what we sometimes find is um if there's
someone who can teach kiddos to read but they don't have a relationship with them, they can't even get them to sit down to like start. And so we have to be really cognizant that it's going to be relationship involved so that we can be making sure
that they are learning to read. So I went over the literacy mentors and the relationship mentors and the the the literacy kids. >> Yeah, the kids. Yeah. Um Stacy Reedall um is working with each individual school. We had um conversations with
leaders from each of the schools to really understand where we can make impact. What we've found is that a lot of our students who are reading um pretty far below grade level are being inundated with support and so they are
in school and they're just and read this and read this and read this and read this and read this. um and that there are some students in the academic middle who we know from re from research if we don't support those students as well um those students will become the students
who are kind of at the bottom and so um we are working with um principles at the schools to be able to identify those those focused students at their individual schools. All of this is very um differentiated because our schools
are so different and our school level administrators and staff have identified that they need different things. >> Do you know they're like a series of >> Yes. Um the literacy kits are a series of of books that are really
differentiated to the child's reading level. And so, um, this is not like a they're in third grade, they get a third grade literacy kit. Um, it you the reading specialist puts in information
about their individual literacy profile and then that is how how the literacy kits are created. >> Thank you. Uh, Dr. Jones, great to see you here also, Dr. Johnson and great presentation also. Thank you. the we had some public comment earlier at the top
of our meeting talking about the need for support at homes would just think how would which program would be for example is that the triple C you know would that be helping these parents kind of connect with these resources then is that what we're talking about here is is that included in here
>> yes and I think that um if we think about the confidence and comprehension club that's really for our younger learners but our our parents and and we heard them here want to be able to support and connect across all grade levels and so we need to be finding ways
to do that. One of our our things that we have noted as something we need to work on is being able to have again parent involvement. We um we want to make sure that that we're talking to parents whose students are are really
being impacted by lack of resources, lack of lack of support. So, we already are going to connect again with uh City of Promise um because those parents who who spoke here today have already started to identify some things that
they need. And so this um working with the community to not just put out information, but to put out the information that parents are asking for and to really open up that two-way communication is what we are seeking.
>> Thank you. Uh I I know some relationships with different CBOS, community based organizations will be more formal, others will be less formal. Uh are do you imagine though? Some having do you imagine reviewing those and
checking I mean doing some vetting and and reviewing. Okay. >> Yeah. And so um we have someus in place and we are also doing some some some trials with some folks. Um there there are some folks who we need to just
work on our relationships with. Um what I can say is that every single person in every single meeting has been kid focused. So every person has been focused on these are our children and we need to do what's best for for them and
their families and that um really helps us to get over a lot of the barriers. Um there there there is a lot of support but us being able to work together towards um common goals is just
paramount. when we had our meeting on Tuesday um to solidify things for Bridgebuilders, everyone was in the room really listening deeply, I think in ways that don't normally happen to what what the
other organizations h are already offering as we were building together what we were going to offer together. And that piece of really understanding, hey, this person if if we need this a kid or a family to to get blank, we
don't have to do that. They're already doing that. So, we just need to to refer and to open up that pipeline. So, yes, someUS um are already in place. You want to go? >> Yeah. And and others we are really
working on our re relationships. I do see as part of the sustainability plan to haveus with I'm I'm going to say all but some of them are like smaller touch points but many of those orgs and on the formalized part of it one of the things
we've done as a division is to create a a standardizedou and data agreement process and so as these relationships continue we want to look at impact align impact and align goals we'll have that in writing as we go along Miss Brian,
>> um, thank you for your presentation. Um, I am really looking forward to seeing this come to life more. Um, I have a couple of questions. So, my first question is about the kind of like
tangible care um, work that's needed in our division. and that was mentioned at the joint budget work session with city council. There were some comments about that then. Um I think one of the things that I've been struggling with as someone who like went through our
schools and has also participated in quite a few of the programs that you have listed in your presentation like worked with some of those community partners as a student um is that there isn't this hub that has the institutionalized access to certain
things, right? So like to the grants to the like the staff and the capacity to do what maybe the school could be doing that the community is not able to do. And so I think that that's the piece that I'm interested in hearing more
about because yes there there is good work going on in the community. However, like it is important to name that Black Achievement is still in a very rough spot and those community organizations are not brand new. So, with that being said, it's not that they're not doing
their best or they're not doing their job. There's just a missing piece I think from our divisional um or from the division's capacity. And so, I would like to see more of those like gaps filled or more of those blanks filled
in. And um so I'm hoping to see like with more presentations from you all like more of those types of um services that could be offered. Um I also think that
black achievement is not like there are various student groups and demographics that need um work. So I don't just want to like only focus on black achievement, but I know that it is one as we discuss the achievement gap. do talk about black achievement in um comparison to white
student achievement. And I'm I'm wondering how can um partners like City of Promise that is supposed to be modeled after the Harlem ch children's zone and has like that educational aspect like how can that genuinely be
supported um without it coming across as like monitoring from the schools in a way that's limiting for those organizations. I just want us to be like very careful about that too. And to also like make sure that all of these partnerships are mutually beneficial in a way that they actually benefit the
students at the end of the day, not just whose territory it is to do certain work. Um I think that that's also a challenge that we have in a city like Charlottesville where it is so small, but there are so many organizations. We're very overresourced in a way, but there are still those disconnects. And
so I would be interested to hear more about like how strategically that will happen because I think unfortunately like the bigger idea that I'm addressing here is that like students do need help with reading but also if they haven't eaten or they don't have basic needs
that's going to still be last on their priority list for themselves maybe for their families. And so how do we address that? Do we work with the city more? Do we lean into some of those supports that the city could offer? Like that's kind of the question that I have here. But again, I really appreciate y'all's
presentation. >> I have a I do have a question, Miss Bryant, just so that as I'm working with them that I understand what your ask is. So, are you asking I just want to make sure I'm hearing correctly. So, as we work with the community organizations
like So, I think we we're during our presentation, we're saying how we are engaging. So like we know all of these things exist and we so we're we've strategically identified that these are all of the services that they are
providing and these are students who need support. So the thing you're you're looking for in terms of because I kind of feel like we're presenting like this is how we are moving differently. I think um Dr. Jones talked about like how
everybody came to the table and they're like, "Oh, I'm hearing that other people are doing." So, in terms of us like the what's the thing that you would like to see like what's the different part? I want to make sure that that's the part as I'm supporting them.
>> Yeah. I think um I I'd say just from a student perspective and again one who has worked with some of these these organizations myself like as a student and benefited from their services I don't I wouldn't say that the main priority in our community right now
needs to be like routing people to like those resources I think it's actually like getting the money the funds the infrastructure in place for those resources so I envision and mentioned during our budget work session that well
y'all's budget work session um that I would like to see like something in the building for students like a resource hub in the building for students to be able to go to and I know that was kind of like mentioned in this presentation as well but like what does that actually look like and I guess like we would have
to wait to see right or we would have to see like more specific plans for that a more like you know expanded presentation about that but like that's what I feel like students are missing at this point because there are organizations that come over for the lunches and they come
over for the conversations and there are the summits and the forums like I don't think that there's a shortage of those. I think what there is a shortage of is for students to be able to say hey I've been my family's been unhoused for 3 plus months which is why I asked a question earlier about the grant that
exists for students who are unhoused and being able to help them. Like I think that there's like like what so what do I do about it? like how can I actually get back on track with my grades and how can I connect those dots for myself? And so there's like a student advocacy part like but then there's also like I I just
feel like there's a lot of different things and I don't think that this presentation is bad at all. I'm not saying that it's missing anything. >> I I I didn't get that at all. That's not what I thought. I just wanted to make sure I was as I support them. I think the one big thing that has been my takeaway through this process is like
>> um so as Dave stated like there are and we've all you just said too like there are all of these organizations within our community and I think we're talking about like okay we've identified how we work differently and I think what the opportunity is is that every organization also has to do that right
um I think Miss Burns and I had a conversation about like on snow days if if if everyone's closed on snow days, then like what's the is there an opportunity for everyone to think differently on a snow day, not just the
school? Like if everyone's business hours are 8:30 to 4, then there's a gap, right? And we've identified that there's work that we can do after hours like when people are sitting in the room like
like so do we have some hours on Saturday? Do we have hours in the evening? And then that's what that's how we all are like moving differently in the space. And I think that that's what the opportunity is like you said as we as we lean into like what are the resources from the city like how do we
all use this moment to support the community different differently. >> Yeah. And the and the bigger point that I'm making, sorry I'm gonna move on to the next person, but I think the biggest point that I'm making too when I talked about capacity is that the school board has a different way of getting through
to the city and and saying and stating those priorities and stating those needs, be it monetary, budgetary, all of those things in ways that certain private nonprofits do not. They do not have the ear of the city in that same way. And so they're they're going through a typical grant process to try
to get funds from the city, which a school board is doing as well, but there's at least those joint budget work sessions that these nonprofits are not privy to having. Um, so I want to see the school have that kind of like rapid
response um, measure in place. So, like you said, when there are snow days or when there are closures that happen for the schools, like yes, the schools should be talking with community partners, but also the city has like we pay tax dollars, right? So, like we need to hold that accountability there, too,
and not let up on that. And that's all I'm suggesting that we do. Thank you. also Maslo's and we need to make sure that people's basic needs are are met completely and and totally agree. Um one
of the the the first pillar of community schools is those integrated supports. So really is like the kid has to have food and housing and all of those those other things and um in order to fully support them. So like I said, that's some of the
work that Rachel and I are doing, some of the work that that we're we're doing with community schools, but I've said it before and I'll say it again. You cannot have community schools without the community and you can't have it have it without schools. And so we have to be
really working together to problem solve that. Um access to capital is something that we can um as I'm thinking about the sustainability plan. I've already been looking for are there and not just like
one-time grants but but sustainable grant funding or or other sustainable pathways for monetary funds for this work that we can tap into. >> Thank you so much. you, >> Miss Burns.
>> Thank you. I appreciate the work that the three and minus one four I know she's out there are doing. I just cannot say enough what a dream team this is and I hope our community hears that loud and
clear um from from the board and to Dr. Gurley just the tremendous undertaking that this is and the passion and the work that is going into this. Um I have no doubt um that that change will be made and that families will be enriched
because of it. Um I think where I lean in is the community part. Um so often schools are asked to do so much if not all of it. Um and we forget some of us
that there is a community our friends in the city um and also University of Virginia they are part of this community and they have a strategic plan that says they're going to be good community partners and so I hope that we
can add them to the list of good community partners. I'm happy to hear that they're doing some work with mentorship in the literacy program and I'm I'm just wondering maybe is that an avenue that we can get some help for our parents to be tutored in this way um so
that they can become literacy coaches in their community and in their home. And so, um, I just really want to lean in to all facets of our community and and really, um, cannot stress that enough
that this is not to be 100% on the division that we have got to enlist every single piece of this community to do this work. Um, and so I could name a lot of folks I'd like for
you to reach out to. I'm sure they're already on your list. Um, and the community, I hope you're ready to answer the call because some one of these wonderful ladies will be calling you. Thank you. >> If not me, thank you,
>> Miss Cooper. >> Um, thanks for the presentation. Um, I'm excited. I think this is, um, one of my visions of why I joined the school board. um you know, if you've ever had a conversation with me, bridging the gap
between community and schools is uh one that's I'm very passionate about. So, I'm just glad to see that some work is being done. Um but also just like kind of thinking about like the community um and some of like the resources that are
out there. I would be interested. Um I know you talked about like looking into grants for longevity of like finding grants that you can partnership with some of these org just because um you know lack of funding to support um the need is um something that I think a lot
of organizations struggle with um especially with a lot of the federal funding being cut. So just like thinking about ways that we can maybe be looking at grants to partnership with some of these community organizations um to kind of support the work
especially um if we are seeing the outcomes of some of these orcs that are doing excellent work um and also I'm glad that you all had the listening session because I think it's important to bring some of these community partners together because um a lot of people are doing similar work and I
think that if you could bring them together and that we can see like who's doing what um and then you know kind of capitalize on that. Okay, if you're doing this then we'll focus on this. Um and then we're working together and we're actually talking to each other. You're going to see power within
numbers. And so I'm excited to see what's to come. Um and that's all I have. >> M Richardson, >> I want to echo what everyone else has said. I'm always excited to see you guys up here. you bring back so much
information and just being involved in the community because that's my work and I I'm in the community working in the housing sector. So, I understand the importance of making sure our students have a place to live, have food on the table, then come to school, hitting the ground running. So, I appreciate all the
work, cracking the code, working with um First Baptist Church. I was excited to hear about that and just to see all the wonderful work you guys are putting forth because I see it and um our children and our students really appreciate it. So, oh, but I did have a question. Um, as far as the literacy
training, how what does that process look like and what are those steps? >> So, we are still working on that. Um, there have already been some literacy mentors trained for another iteration of something, but we are working with um Stacy Reedall is working with the folks
at UVA to to figure out what's going to work for us, right? And then we need to decide to do we want them to train everyone or do we want them to train trainers so that people have then the capacity to like further train. Um we
are going to use like I said a combination of students so UVA students and PBCC students um and then folks who are already working with our students at our CBOS and other places as well. And
so that's um next on our radar. We got a we got a lot of trains leaving the station, but we are working on it. >> Thank you, >> Miss Dulie. >> Thank you. Um I was trying to not lose the thread from an earlier discussion,
but wanting to make sure that our community- based organizations are providing what we or our students need um and not vice versa. um that like it's great if there's a philanthropic
mission, but if it doesn't actually impact our students and help our students in the way that we need in this moment, then it's not really helpful, >> right? >> Um I also I feel like there's so much institutional memory housed in your
brain um and others some on this board um that like you mentioned that we have a lot of these things already in place. Um, I don't know if there's a way to create like some sort of visual or a web or something that helps us see, you know, if it's food insecurity, then
it's, you know, these elements, if it's lit, you know, parent support, just something to be able to track what exists. Um, and then along those lines, I'm not sure if there is work that you have to do to track this grant. Um, but it would be helpful almost like a
strategic plan to just I'm having a hard time following like what has already been done, what is in progress and what is coming. Um, you know, divided into these different subcategories. So, I have no intention of putting additional work of creating a strategic plan, but
if there's something that you guys are already doing to track this grant and your work, that would be helpful. >> I want to Yeah. Um, I over track everything. Um, all of this is on a Trello board on separate cards with dates and times and people responsible and everything is tracked. Um, that's
not uh that is something that that we can figure out a less confusing format for people to be able to look at um for for us to share that out. Um, we tracking tracking tracking is important
for the project management. It it it's crucial for the evaluation so that we can say we did this and it had blank impact, right? And and and it either worked or didn't work, but at least we we'll know what worked and what didn't
work. Uh one of the things that we worked on um with our bridge builders folks this week was really looking at after we have have these engagements at the lunch times like like that's not new, right? like like going in at lunch,
but having a focus, having a format, and then reporting back, what happened? Are there referrals needed? Is is is there something different? That's the piece that needs to be done if we want to continue and to try to make an impact.
So, um yes, I'm also working with UVA. Um there are some folks from from school of ed who are helping me with a full evaluation plan. Um for example um we don't want to overburden anyone but there is already social emotional
learning um uh survey that we are that is published and taken each year. So we are looking at how do we parse questions from that to be able to see yearover-year change um based on our effort. So that's just just one of the
things, but yes, we can share out more information because we have it. >> Thank you. >> Thank you everybody. Um just I'll try and be quick with my comments and questions too. So, a little bit on the evaluation piece and and once you get everything established and again coming
back to literacy, um just curious as far as the literacy kits, are they I'm assum assuming don't like to use that word too often, but being paired with the students who have the reading plans with the identified reading plans and I mean I don't
>> right now we are thinking that literacy kits are actually going to students in the academic middle with um students with reading plans already. we feel like that's going to overwhelm them. Um, and we don't want to confuse parents or guardians or other caring okay adults.
>> Yeah. No, I I heard that. I just wasn't sure if that middle group had some reading plan students in there as well. >> Um, and then just curious about how if you all have figured out or if we figured out yet how you do evaluate and
track the progress specific to to the literacy. I mean, how how are you going to see that if it's a a kit or um that's being sent home um andor outside tutoring? You know, what are the what's the rubric? What are we what are we looking at?
>> What's the mechanism, right? Um, and not that I'm going to say this out loud, but a lot of education data, um, you there what you have to do is to make sure that we have a, um, a control
group, which we will because the students are being chosen um, individual by school. But what we can do is compare their progress to students who did not get those um additional things. Right?
That's the only thing we can do because um whether a kid reads or not to Z's point is is there are hundreds of factors, right? And so we try to impact the the ones that we have some control
over. Um but whether a a kid shows up and does well on any assessment or whatever there there are lots and lots of factors that impact that. Um we know that some of them are related to them having their basic needs needs met. Some
of them are directly related to whether they can read or not. And so we need to not ignore that piece. And so that's what we are trying to tackle. Um some of them are related to to teacher relationships and to other things, right? A and so it's it's really important that we are able to show
correlation um and not confuse that with causality. And so we will look very deeply to be able to understand what the inputs were that had an impact and why and what the inputs were um that we can't tell if
they had an impact or maybe they didn't have one. >> Great. Thank you. Um, so in kind of incorporating I heard comments on on both sides, great questions and comments from everybody in our interactions. I number one, Miss Cooper and I several
times have talked about and being at forums and hearing people say we need this and we need this and so and so is doing that. And the fact that this is an effort to kind of bring those people to the table, I think is just wonderful. and the fact that we can continue to um
fine-tune this and and do better and make it better, right? But to get input from everybody. So, I think that's that's just huge and that's a great great win just for starters. Yes, I agree. We need to focus on what we need to do to support the kids. But
in our interactions with families and families who are doing outreach and saying, "I need this." and we're going to we're going to now follow up with families in different ways and get them these resources. What um what types of supports, if any, are we doing with those families to make
sure they understand what what and how to use those resources? And then as an adjacent, as we're spending time with families, we notice that there are other needs. Um, are we as part of this
community school then tapping in or or saying we need this group to touch base with this family because we see there our needs outside of just academics but are impacting um and affecting the students and the families.
>> I would say absolutely and also the other way. So, as our partners are are working with families who may be struggling with housing stability or food or other things, they may say, "Hey, my kid kid is really struggling in school. Can you help with this piece?"
And so that that kind of open pipeline um to be able to just care for our families um for and with because our families are very capable but um being able to to meet people's needs in ways
that that allow us to be flexible but also also allow for not one person or one organization to Amanda's point to have to do everything because that that part is not sustainable. Yes, thank you. Um and and to
everybody's points here and to Miss Bryant's comment, we have um on multiple occasions highlighted with our meetings during city council joint work sessions that there is a need, you know, for their support for community. I think
this is a great program. I hope at some point we're able to kind of give them a little snapshot of of what you're doing, of the great work that you're doing to support our kids, but also to kind of remind them that there are these community partners out there, but we also rely on council to help support
them and and our community as a whole. So, thank you. Any other questions, comments? >> All right. Appreciate you all so much. >> Thank you. Before I leave the podium, just one last. Um, when we say the work we are doing, we mean all of us,
including all of our CBO partners. So, thank y'all. >> Yes, absolutely. >> I just had one question, Miss Bryant. >> Well, yeah, real quick. Um, would there be a a future opportunity for maybe some of those CBO leaders to maybe join you all and then give more of an in-depth
like presentation back? >> Awesome. Thank you. The actual ask is that they do that they start to do schoolboard presentations and discuss their impact and the work that they're doing. >> That's great. So that and could we also maybe see theou like an example of that
in the future as well. Okay. Thank you. >> Absolutely. I'll pass it on. >> Thank you all. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> All right. Um thank you for for both of those items for discussion. That was good conversation. Um the next item on the agenda is our board response to
written reports. Um we have school board committee reports, our chronic absentee written report, and the 202526 recruitment report. Any questions, comments from anybody or are we okay?
We all said Mr. Meyers. >> No, I I think our written reports are are a great source of information and want again appreciate the staff putting together. Uh I want to know our December chronic abetism. Uh it looks like all our elementary schools are uh would be
in the green almost if I understand how that uh so and they're trending downward in a good way. And so glad to see that. I would note our middle school has 25% of our students are chronically absent
and the high school's at 28%. Uh the middle school's at worst than it was last year and and we're doing much better at the high school, but anyway, I still like we have some room to work. I I will note that I did get reminders and
a notification how many days my students have been out of school. So, I do appreciate that and those are definitely new things that we've taken and I think are helping. >> Thank you. Okay. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Any other comments?
>> Yeah, I just have a comment about the um middle school chronic absenteeism. I would like to see us be a little bit more innovative um with like rewards or incentives for students to come to school. I feel like that's something that's been discussed, but I mean I've
seen some examples of other districts that have like really cool incentives that are actually working for their students. I mean, um, Miss Burns mentioned to me before that there's one division where there's like a trophy that goes around. Like, I mean, for middle schoolers, that could be
something that's innovative and could work. But also, I saw recently um a community um partner mentioned that he wants to bring back like the Friday Night Live dances. And that that could be an interesting idea where we create like these hangout opportunities for
students outside of school, but you have to be in good standing. you have to be present in school and be at a certain attendance like level in order to attend. But that's just a way to to incentivize fun things outside of school, but to make sure that students are coming and to again work with
community partners to make sure that the folks or the students who are going to their events are in good standing, too. Like how do we if we can't control that or we can't we don't have capacity to host those events, how do we work with other partners to do that? I think that would be great. Um, but it is a concern
because the middle school is like such an important era of school. Like it's such an important part of K through 12 education. And as we think about tracking, we some of us went to Miss Horn's class and we'd heard students say to us that there are the same concerns
that there are the same students who are taking AP and honors classes and the same students who are not included in those classes. And so if we're not thinking about this at the middle school level, we're really doing a disservice to our students, to our families, to our community. And so I think that this has to be a part of the conversation that
we're having about chronic absenteeism. How do we incentivize students to come to school and how do we empower them um to take more agency over their educational journeys? Um I I was just going to um I just want to remind folks we are in
flu season. Um a really high level of sickness in our community and nationally. And just if we see this number bump a little bit, Mr. Meyers, just know the flu is rampant out there. And I hope that our students and
facilities team, I'm sure they are well prepared um for that, but just want folks to be mindful that sometimes we see highs and lows because of community viral illness. And so just hold hold
your hat, Mr. Meyers. We're coming into the flu season. Thank you. >> All right. Are we good? Any any other questions? I just wanted to to throw out another idea because I saw this on the news. Since we're talking about incentives, um
I saw a school division. It was another state, but they were giving students like $30 gift cards for perfect attendance. So, we're we're we're going to put out ideas. We might want to throw that in a bucket, too. Maybe if it's in
the budget. If not, you know, >> chair, I would like on the retention report. Sorry, >> go ahead. >> Move on to the next one. But, uh, I do want to give kudos to Miss Lewis and the HR team. You know, there's trending towards, uh, high levels of retention. I
think you're almost at 90% your target. So, uh, congratulations. you know in that report also it noted how I think we're almost near 100% lensure also for all of our teachers uh in the classroom which was a significant improvement from
a couple years ago during co when things were down so uh nice job HR team Miss Lewis Dr. girly, you know, everything that you guys are doing there, you know, I think that's going to we're going to see those results and our students results also in the near future. Thank you.
>> All right, we are moving on to our next opportunity for comments from members of the community. So, if we have anybody here in the media center andor online, now is your opportunity. I don't see anybody jumping up in the
media center and I don't believe there's any raised hands there online. So, we will move on to comments from the board. I'm going to start down with Miss Douly, please. >> Um, my only comment is a reminder that
the general assembly starts next Wednesday. Um, so be mindful of um the updates coming out of Richmond. Thank you, Miss Richardson. >> Um, I just want to say happy new year to everyone. Um, I'm glad to see we all
back in in our seats. Uh, congratulations to Miss Bryant, Miss Burns, Miss Torres, and um, I'm happy to be here for another year. Thank you, >> Miss Cooper. Um, I just have a couple comments. Um, I
too was able to attend u Miss Horn's public speaking class and I was able to listen to um students um be able to present and I just want to say that again my heart was filled. we have some
amazing students um that was able to articulate their points, but not only that, they were able to offer um solutions. Um and so, you know, when we I would hope as a school board and as a division that when we have students that
step up and put in that amount of work that we're listening to them and then we're taking what they uh present to us into consideration. um some things we may not can do um but if it's things that is in our power or our wheelhouse
um I would like for us to see like for us as a division um to see what we can do to support our students. Um I also um was able to attend um new pathways um for their um before break celebration
where I also saw some amazing students be able to present um and be able to sit down and break bread with some families um and be able to connect as a schoolboard member just to kind of get a sense of what was on their heart. Um,
and so, um, what brings me joy is being able to attend different events and connect with parents. Um, kind of seeing what the needs of of the community and seeing ways that I can support. Um, and so I just appreciate both um, Miss Webb
and u, Miss Warren for the opportunity um, to connect with their students and happy new year to everyone. Welcome Z and Ginger. Miss Burns, I'm sorry, Miss Bryant.
Thank you. >> Yeah, thank you. I um happy new year. Excited to see everyone back. I think our kids are excited to be back. I've been able to visit some of our littlest learners um over at Summit and our older
learners over at Lugo McGinness and have been just excited to see them back and in a routine and excited to be here and excited to learn and our teachers to be here and just want to encourage the community to continue to lean in um to
lean in and to listen to what the needs of our students are and how we support the work that Dr. Gurley and his team do. And as we enter into budget season, this is the time um this is the time that the community needs to really come
out and and firmly stand in place behind Charlottesville City Schools and behind your students and to advocate for um just your students and their needs. And so when there are budget sessions, when there are city council meetings, um we
don't write the checks, we ask for the money. And so I'm asking that our community stay engaged, be engaged, show up to those meetings, be a part of those conversations, and tell the story. Tell the story of your student, of their
success. I was so happy to hear um of you know our young student went to KEK is now a firefighter contributing to the community. Um that's the story that's the success and we want to provide those opportunities for every single student
here and unfortunately we we will always do the best that we can with what we are provided. But um it costs money to do this work and and we really need our community to come together and and continue to advocate and so I'm I'm
hoping that folks will do that and look forward to what the semester has to hold. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Bryant. >> Yes. Um I really appreciate all of the presentations we had tonight and the
discussion. Um it was really insightful for me as a new board member. Um, and I'm looking forward to seeing how all of that work will continue. Um, a couple of things there see like participatory budgeting workshops that are coming up that are being hosted by the city. I would love to see um community members
come and speak with schoolboard members who will be staffing that table um for the nights that are available. So like please come out and share your ideas and and engage about the schools because as we are in an actual budget season like
that's important um for us to be able to engage with the community. Um also um it's scholarship season. I mean, scholarship season is all year long, but especially as we're now in second semester. Um, it's important for students and and families in our community to just be aware of the
opportunities for students to get their their college paid for if that's what they're choosing to do after high school. Um, there are a lot of great community organizations that give out scholarships and I just want people to remember that because there are a lot of resources out there in the community.
Please take advantage of them. Um, and then lastly, I'll just say like I'm really excited at all of the students who I'm excited to see all the students who are stepping up to share their ideas, their concerns. Um, it's so important that we elevate, we amplify student voice and that we center it, but
that we also take action on the things that they're saying. Similar to um what Miss Cooper just said, like it's important for not just our students to know that we care and that we're actually taking action, but also staff. And that's a part of retention. like to know that staff all the way down from support staff all the way up to our
highest, you know, our our administrators know that they're well supported is really important and that's an important piece um and a crucial piece for retention. So, I just hope that we can continue to support each other. We can work with our community partners to do the work that needs to be done um and to remember that diversity
is a beautiful thing, equity is a beautiful thing and we are an inclusive school division and I hope we continue to be that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Meyer. >> Yes. Uh colleagues, happy 2026, Miss Bryant. Welcome. Welcome to the side of the dice. Also, uh
the couple things on my minds, colleagues, and and just policy items I hope we we we think about early in this 2026 year. But the retention policy was something we talked about at the end of our last academic year. And u we haven't
really, I think, dug into that yet. And I I do hope we dig into that in as much uh we make some changes to it that would impact next year's retent I mean retention. So um throwing that putting
that out to you and asking you that we again maybe prioritize that in the near future. Uh you know earlier in the meeting I really dug in around screen time. You know, I that was specific to a math curriculum, but I do think we I would like to have a better understanding also of kind of what is
our policy in general with screens and how is it I mean is a tool, but it also can be distraction and and kind of you know how are our u educational I mean academic pedagogical experts here thinking about that and integrating it
and think and do we need to make some changes around that. Uh, finally and and building off of some my colleagues who I think are asking for the public to engage in the budget process. You know, I from our meeting in mid December and some of the news I've seen, you know, I
think the city is projecting a $6 million increase in its total budget, which we are part of. Uh, and that we might have a $2.53 million piece of that. So about half, I'm hoping. uh we haven't seen that exactly yet but you
know and I guess explicitly some of my our stakeholders especially the unions you know your increases in your contracts are I think going to be budgeting more than that $6 million total projected increase for the city. So uh that math's not going to work and
we're going to have to figure some stuff out uh or make some changes to that top level budget number for the city. So, um I just say there's going to be some harder conversations over the next couple months and we are not in the same kind of I would say easier budget times
that we had in the last couple years and uh I look forward to collaborating with everybody to figure you know kind of tackle that situation but we will need people to show up if we want to support and honor those contracts. Thank you. >> Ginger did you have any comments at the end here?
>> Yep. just uh thank you for uh this opportunity and thank you for everyone who presented today. All the presentations were amazing. Really great information and I'm uh looking forward to hearing more. Yeah, >> thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you um board members for all great questions and comments and perspectives
tonight. I appreciate all of that. Um again, I will just kind of reiterate a bit. So, next week, um, city manager Sanders is offering three different community budget forums, which a couple of us have mentioned. Um, I believe the
first one is Tuesday, and that'll be held at city space from 6:00 to 8:00. So, it's open to all community members to show up and kind of get a sense, and you get to play Monopoly, I believe. Um, but you get to see big picture funding and and where that money has to go and
what the city's responsibilities are. So, I think it's a great opportunity. Um and then Wednesday um similarly 6 to 8 but that's being held at Walker and then Thursday I believe is at the middle school again 6 to 8. So three
opportunities for the uh community and there will be some of us showing up um to answer questions and just to represent Charlottesville City Schools. So I want to um thank you all for your comments and and a great meeting tonight and thank you for all of the um reports.
And now Dr. Gurley, I believe we're on to you for your comments. >> Sure. Thank you. Uh, happy new year to everyone. Um, I want to just start by saying want to just start by saying that Miss Hoover and I were at the um, VAS,
which is the superintendent association, and the VASBO, which is the business officials. U, we were at that conference on Monday and Tuesday. So, we did hear a lot about the state of funding for um, the state of Virginia. Um, we're going to be working really closely with the
school board and and just making sure we continue to engage with the community about, you know, what the funding levels look like and and how we will continue to prioritize schools. Um, even though it was about funding, one of the things that they did talk about, um, they
talked about the joint legislative audit review commission, the JARK. They talked about the JARK study as it relates to the accountability system. Um, and so I will u definitely send that to the board on tomorrow so that you can take a peek
at it. Um, but I mean it I had a chance last evening to get through the whole document and it's very eye opening. Um, the presentation was really good that they did for us, but I mean they made a lot of recommendations to overhaul the accountability system. I know we've
talked about it a lot. I know we talk about black student achievement a lot. Um, and I think what what they've pointed out is that um what they pointed out is that there's a lot of adverse impact um to our students in schools. And and I will continue to say that the
most the students who are most adversely impacted um are black and brown students um students who are marginalized. Um, and so I am hopeful that as Miss Douly talked about as we go through this general assembly session that um, a lot
of the things that they said that people will advance these bills so that we can really turn some of this back and and not have these um, these negative impacts on our schools. So, I'm definitely looking forward to that. Um I know we uh many of you started off with
the things that you're excited about and so um I am really excited about the people that I'm surrounded by. I know I say this often but um we are having um some really good not just good meetings, good action sessions. Um when we get
together um I will tell you that we don't get together just to talk um in the central office. Um there are tangible next steps and products at every meeting. And what really brings me a lot of joy is that every single conversation that we're having, every
single meeting is about opportunities for students. And you hear that as we talk about communities and schools, we talk about pathways for students. Um so I feel like I'm like really getting in my groove now of being the superintendent because it's like, okay,
now we see um how all students benefit from the things that we're doing. And and again, we're not shying away from those hard conversations and we're calling them out and we hear school board call schoolboard members calling them out. Um and we're also saying and
here's how it looks different. So um you're going to see more and more of that. Um and and as we talk about communities and schools and we saw that presentation, I'm really thankful. Um I I heard that echoed here, but we I am thankful for all of our community
partners. Um, I know that, um, I want to publicly say I want to thank, um, City of Promise because I know we had some weather right before we got out for the break. Um, we were able to use that space, um, to meet some families um, and just from all over the school division
and pass out um, at meals. We also did that over at um, Mount Zion as well. So, just thank you for our community partners. Thank you for the people who continue to lean in daily. And that is all that I have.
>> Great. And I wanted to say uh a quick thank you uh to um I know Miss Jordan was there when they gave out the gift cards for Thanksgiving Thanksgiving. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I didn't hear anything about that, but yes, the community loved that. Thank you. Uh we should try to do
that next year. Thank >> All right. Thank you. Um work session wrapup. I don't think we have anything, Miss Swift. Thank you. And our upcoming meetings, we have a couple listed. We have Thursday, January 22nd is our
schoolboard budget work session. Um that will start at 5:00 and that's at Walker. And then Saturday the 24th, we have a school board development work session. That's at 8:30 at KEK. And then we jump to next month, February 5th, for our
next regularly scheduled meeting, which will be here um at 6:00 p.m. again. And that will be the presentation of the superintendent's proposed fiscal year 2027 budget. Um and
with that >> I have one so I did have one thing to add to the um wrap up that um the follow up on the AI feature for the um high quality instructional materials. I think I kind of heard that a couple times
about how that AI feature works. >> That'd be great. >> And Miss Mitchum said she would provide that. So, just want to make sure we note