Special Board Meeting   12/1/2022

First, we'll have our school board members to introduce themselves, beginning with Ms. Osborne.

Ellen Osborne, Scottsville-Magisterial District Kate Acuff, Jack Jewett District Judy Le, Rivanna District Katrina Coulson, Rio District

And I'm Graham Page, Samuel Miller District.

Nice to meet you.

Thank you.

I wasn't sure if I was going to need to make a statement or anything.

OK, sorry about that.

So that was my motivation.

Now moving to our first question, Dr. Acuff.

Tell us why you're interested in the school board and how do you intend to represent the residents of Whitehall District?

You know we're pretty embedded in the community and we've talked to lots of parents and are part of a lot of community organizations and I see parents who really want to see their children get a great education and sometimes they're worried about the outcomes and I feel like as a parent with children who are school age I can engage with those families and their students and really work to see their children have an excellent experience.

Dr.

Parks, tell us something that excites you about our strategic plan, Learning for All, and something that gives you pause for concern.

And we need to concentrate on that and follow through with fidelity.

All right, Ms. Ellen Osborne will ask a third question.

in what ways do you think we have been successful in implementing that and in what areas could you help us improve?

And I think that this is a moment where we can make big changes and achieve improvements in those areas.

All right, Ms. Dale Caron.

Parks, it's nice to see you again.

Thank you.

And I'd like you to take into account all the different levels and aspects of education that you've worked at.

Do you mean the different levels, like the university level as well as the K-12?

Well, not the university, more the K-12, I'm so sorry.

They're not quite in the same place as other students were four years ago.

We'll allow you to ask us questions or maybe give us any other things that weren't covered in those questions, but if you have questions.

I would love to hear about that.

Okay, anyone want to jump in first?

Those would be the things that I think of next year.

and we've made some adjustments but we haven't done part two of that and I think we really need to focus on having a good environment for not only our students but for our teachers and other staff because we're all in this together and it's as successful as the good people that we can keep.

There'll be extra meetings, but it's an important process and one that we need to think through carefully.

We'll have to make sure that we come up with some plan, especially the urban ring schools, overcrowding.

Not the urban ring, the southern one.

The southern part of the urban ring.

We want to have that reputation, and like you said, the added population poses challenges as well as being a strength for the area.

Well, I got one, Mr.

We've gotten considerably better about that in the last few years, but I still think there's room for improvement in the way we communicate with parents and stakeholders.

Parks, from you?

I know you have a lot of candidates and I think that's great that there's so many people who are interested in being involved in education in the community, so thank you.

We really appreciate it.

Thank you.

I think it might be good to have, after we do the four set questions, to have us, if we have any follow up questions before we ask the candidate for questions.

But if it's follow-up specific to their answer, like if you're curious about what you mean, you're a professor.

But not to start a new thread.

OK. Yeah, and if we do, then we have to ask everyone else.

That makes sense.

Yeah, and Kate, the best time to do that would be at the time that the question is being asked.

Hi.

Hello Dr. Spillman.

How are you?

Thank you so much for applying for the position of for the school board seat from the Whitehall District.

Thank you for having me.

We really appreciate your application.

Thank you.

First we'll allow our school board members to introduce themselves before I describe the format that we're going to use.

Sure.

Okay, Ms. Osborne.

I'm Ellen Osborne from the Scottsville Magisterial District.

Katrina Kallsen, Rio district.

Graham Page, Samuel Miller district.

Nice to meet all of you.

The format that we'll be using, first we'll allow you some time to give us like an introduction or introductory remarks that you would like to make.

Okay.

So again, we thank you so very, very much for applying.

Kind of made me feel like I might have something to offer to the citizens and definitely to the people that I would represent in Whitehall.

Okay, thank you so much Dr. Spillman.

I wish I was a doctor, but I'm not, so I don't want to take that title from anybody.

Alright, our first question will be asked by Dr. Acuff.

You've started talking about this, but tell us why you're interested in being on the school board, and how do you intend to represent the residents of the Whitehall district?

I have the time and the capacity to devote to advocating for kids like my own and that I could probably have a lot to offer and so you know it's an interesting situation because it's not an election and so but with the intention that this isn't a short-term commitment and if I'm lucky enough to be chosen I would hope that it would you know continue on for a long time knowing that you know I might be able to make a difference

Thank you.

Based on what you just said, would you plan on running for the seat in November 2023?

I think that it is, it takes a long time to make a difference and it takes a lot of hard work and that would be the goal would be to, if I was chosen, to make this more than just a 10-month commitment.

Good question.

And from a personal standpoint, I feel like there is some room for improvement.

All right, Ms. Osborne.

And in what areas could you help us improve?

I appreciated Dr. Haas's email when those scores came out and I think that that's something that really needs to be, and I'm sure you guys are already doing that, is really looking into why did that happen and what can we do to mitigate that and close those gaps so that it's not just the upper class white kids that are performing well in our schools.

That's on a whole basis and then how it impacts your family.

I think hopefully a less divisive society as well.

Do you have any questions or any other things that you would like to

Well I mean I don't think specifically I think that you guys have a hard job and I think a lot of people it's easy to be an armchair critic and to sit back and criticize but I guess I would ask then you know what is it that you're most proud of because a lot of people sit and criticize and and want to point out things that you know you may not be doing but I think that there's a lot of things that are done really really well and I just like to know what you know you're most proud of from serving on the board.

Let's jump in first.

I know we have a lot of work to do, but I think we've taken on those supports that a lot of school divisions haven't been able to.

Thank you.

So I would agree with you on that wholeheartedly.

that I'm most proud of that the board has tackled or worked with.

Big things to tackle.

Do you have any other questions or any other comments?

Any other questions for me?

that you might be able to bring to the board whether it's budgeting or other areas.

Thank you.

And after that hearing, the person who has been selected to fulfill the position will be announced.

Is there anything else that you need from me in the time being?

If so, we'll contact you.

Thank you.

Can we clarify our thing on follow-up questions?

I don't care either way but I want us to be consistent.

I'm happy to not do that.

I just want to make sure that we are consistent with all the applicants.

Yeah, I did.

Okay, great.

Yeah, she took 17 minutes.

So we're ripping right through it.

All right, so we are at least almost 20 minutes ahead of our schedule right now.

Should we let them know that they can send in, well they're going to know now if they're listening, letters of recommendation because we have gotten those for some candidates and not others and if we're going to use those, I think it's worthwhile to put it out there that letters of recommendations are coming in for some candidates.

Okay, I was sort of assuming that maybe somebody, another they already knew since we had some, so okay.

Do we want to see if the next candidate is available?

Let's start if the next candidate is ready.

The first thing that we'll do will be to have our board members to introduce themselves, beginning with Ms. Osborne.

Hi, I'm Ellen Osborne from the Scottsville Magisterial District.

Judy Le, I'm from Rivanna District.

Katrina Kallsen, Rio District.

So please give us a few remarks, introductory.

So both professionally and personally, I'm very invested in what's going on in education, everywhere really, but in particular in this area.

Okay, thank you.

Do you plan on running for the seat if you were to be appointed?

Assuming people supported that and wanted me to run, yes, I would be interested in that.

Alright, our first question will be coming from Dr. Acuff.

And secondly, how do you intend to represent the residents of the Whitehall District?

Just from being a parent in all the parent groups, I have a good sense of some of the things that are of concern these days, but a more formal way, obviously, of doing that.

Thank you.

Any follow-up questions, or is there anything I did not clarify for that?

No, I was just very interested in your work with the Literacy Act because I've gone to a couple workshops on that and I haven't completely unpacked it myself.

I need to create several more classes because that's my specialty is reading and literacy and so within special ed that's kind of what I do.

Thank you.

Okay, Ms. Lee.

Tell us something that excites you about our strategic plan Learning for All and something that gives you pause for concern.

So the board adopted an anti-racism policy in 2019.

In what ways do you think we have been successful in implementing it, and in what areas could you help us improve?

you know, getting stakeholder feedback about what those might be.

Ms. Del Caro.

What do you see as the most important challenge facing public education in the next few years and how should it be addressed?

So I know all of those roles are important.

Do you have any questions or any other things that maybe those questions didn't cover that you would like to let us know, any questions that you would like to address to the board?

I'm not really sure if I know what.

On December the 15th there will be like a public hearing and after that hearing we will announce the person who has been selected to fulfill that position.

and I very much appreciate the Zoom options for the meetings.

Okay, any other follow-up questions?

The Zoom option is one of the benefits, the only benefit I think of COVID.

So I think that's it unless, like I said, there's any other follow-ups or...

We really do appreciate it.

Thank you.

Okay, five minutes.

Then we can bring in this free... She's here?

Not sure how that would work.

And we are moving at a much more rapid pace than I expected, so.

The straight pace.

It was so nice.

Upper free.

I believe that.

Hello, Dr. Fried.

Hi, how are you?

We are running a little bit ahead.

Yeah.

But first our board introduction, so beginning with Ms. Osborne.

Hello, I'm Ellen Osborne with the Scottsville Magisterial District.

I'm Katrina Coulson from the Rio District.

So please give us any remarks that you would like to use to introduce yourself or to make us more aware of you as a person.

So I would be excited to work with you on what you are trying to do and what you are achieving.

All right, as a follow up to your remarks, Dr. Fried, would you plan on running for the position in November?

If you all think I have been a help, I would run.

All right, our first question is from Dr. Acuff.

Tell us why you are interested in being on the school board, K through 12, and how do you intend to represent the residents of the Whitehall district?

We have parents, we have families, we have our communities, we have our religious organizations, but it's really only the school system that can bring everyone together and help them work together.

The second part of my question was how do you, you know, how will you represent your specific interest in Whitehall?

Thank you.

Ms. Lee.

Tell us something that excites you about our strategic plan, Learning for All, and then something that gives you pause for concern.

The fact that the students came up with the policy, I think is terrific.

Ms. Osborne.

In what ways do you think we have been successful in implementing it, and in what areas could you help us improve?

But can you measure, one of the things was achievement gaps, and I don't see that that has yet happened, nor could it given COVID.

What do you see as the most important challenge facing public education in the next few years, and how should it be addressed?

But then you have to think of the future and though none of us is going to be around 20 years from now, I think we have to start thinking what is the school system going to look like then.

Do you have any questions or any other additional comments that you would like to address?

What do you feel would be most helpful to you?

Board members, who would like to jump in on first?

So someone that can meet those qualities.

and another thing might be sometimes you might have to commit to going to other meetings or having other things outside of the two meetings that we know that we're going to have each month so visiting schools or doing some other activities in the community representing the school board would be something else that would be probably what we'll be looking for also

I understood that from Mr. Acarlo and I assure you I have the time and the energy.

Any other concerns that you have or any other statements that you would like to make?

No, I don't think so.

Okay, again, thanks so much for your application.

Thank you for having me.

So thanks again so much for coming and applying.

The next candidate's not here.

It's not here?

Okay.

Yeah, because we are a good 35 minutes.

Yeah.

I don't have the schedule in front of me, but if there's a break, we're probably even at the end of the break, not going to be able to win.

There's a break right after this next person, Mr. Alderman.

And when is he supposed to start?

5.45.

Then we take another break, and another break.

If you're out there, show up early.

All right, so we're going to take a break until Mr. Alderman arrives.

Is there anyone out there?

So first, with our board members.

Hi, I'm Ellen Osborne from the Scottsville Magisterial District.

Katrina Kallsen, Rio District.

John R. Alcaro, At Large And I'm Graham Page, Samuel Miller District So again, Mr. Alderman, thank you so very, very much for applying And if you have any introductory remarks you'd like to make, please do so at this time

Okay, thank you.

Our first question will be coming from Dr. Acuff.

Tell us why you're interested in being on the school board and how do you intend to represent the residents of the Whitehall district?

I wanted to make sure that there was at least one candidate, I hope there would be more and I'm glad to see that there are, who cared about making decisions based on evidence, based on facts and based on what was best for the kids rather than on some outside philosophy or political bent.

And the second part of the question, thank you for that, but the second part of the question was how do you plan to represent your constituents in the Whitehall district?

I would want to make decisions that would benefit every student in the district, including those in Whitehall.

Thank you for that.

Judy Le, Member, will ask the next question.

Tell us something that excites you about our strategic plan Learning for All and something that gives you pause for concern.

And I would love to see the board, if I got on, assuming it was legal, assuming it was compliant with labor laws, explore possibilities to maybe enable collective bargaining for things other than salaries, things that are within our control, if only as a show of good faith to the many hardworking employees in the district.

Thank you.

Would you be interested in running for the position in November 2023?

Provided that I find that I can do the job as well as it deserves to be done, then yes, sir, I would.

Alright, our next question will be asked by Mrs. Osborne.

In what ways do you think we have been successful in implementing it, and in what areas could you help us improve?

Judging by the racial disparities and the achievement gaps that we're seeing, it's clear that we have more work to do as a county and as a school district to try and take the good ideals that are in the anti-racism policy and translate them into positive results that close those achievement gaps.

Thank you, Mr. Ogleman.

What do you see as the most important challenge facing public education in the next few years, and how should it be addressed?

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr.

Page, Mr. Alcaro, Ms. Carlson, Ms. Lee, Dr. Acuff, Ms. Osborne.

Thank you.

Lunch, dinner has been provided over in room 235.

Okay, we will call our session back into session rather.

Are the mics on?

Dr. Berlin, can you hear us?

Oh, okay.

Thank you so very, very much for being able to join us via Zoom.

And I'm seeing how large my face is on this big screen.

Stage, screen and television, right?

Yes.

No, like four.

beginning with Ms. Osborne.

I'm Ellen Osborne, Scottsville District.

Katrina Carlson, Rio District.

And please give us some introductory material or any statements that you would like to make.

So thank you.

Alright, our first question is coming to us from Dr. Acuff.

Tell us why you're interested in being on the school board, and second, how do you intend to represent the residents of Whitehall?

So that's really why at this point I put my name in.

The second part of the question was, do you have any specific ideas about how you're going to represent your Whitehall district?

And so it's another thing that I would love to bring is to figure out how do we increase the program that's already started in the county about Grow Your Own and teachers to make sure we really have the faculty and the staff that's needed to support the growth that we're seeing and the needs of our kids.

Thank you, Rebecca.

All right, our next question is from Miss Lee.

Rebecca, tell us something that excites you about our strategic plan, Learning for All, and something that gives you pause for concern.

and then how can I as a part of the school board be supportive of both the work that we do as a county but also work with, it would be an honor to work with the state to continue to figure out how to legislate and to advocate for increased funding for the schools, particularly for those needs.

Great, thank you very much.

Our next question will be delivered by Ms. Osborne.

In what ways do you think we have been successful in implementing it, and in what areas could you help us improve?

Thank you.

Hi Rebecca, it's good to see you again, if only virtually.

What do you see as the most important challenge facing public education in the next few years, and how should it be addressed?

as well as the mental health needs because these kids are, we're not going to make the academic benchmarks that we want for all of our children unless we can make sure that all children feel safe and secure and that their mental health needs are met.

Is there anything else that you would like to tell the board or do you have any questions that you would like to ask of us?

And if there's any other questions that I can answer in the future, I'd be happy to.

So thanks so very much.

Thank you for allowing me to appear virtually.

Okay, thank you.

Have a good afternoon.

Good evening, Dr. McDermott.

Let me get pulled in here.

Okay.

Thank you.

So please tell us anything that you'd like for us to know introductory-wise.

I don't know how long my statement can be, but perhaps if I pass it back and if there's additional questions.

Alright, board members will now introduce themselves and then we'll start with the questions.

Hi, I'm Ellen Osborne, I'm with the Scottsville District.

My name is Kate Acuff and I am with the Jack Jewett District.

Katrina Kallsen, Rio District.

So our first question will be coming from Dr. Acuff.

And the second part, how do you intend to represent the residents of Whitehall District?

Thank you.

Next, Ms. Osborne.

In what ways do you think we have been successful in implementing it, and in what areas could you help us improve?

So I guess I guess that we just caution that we need to be careful on that.

Ms. Dale Carer.

What do you see as the most important challenge facing public education in the next few years and how should it be addressed?

I think that's a problem and again that's why it ties back to that excitement in the career learning clusters that if there is something that can start addressing that perspective so that they are interested in school so that they want to go to school so that they see the value in school you know I think that that's something again that could help address that sort of perspective that that some students have.

Is there anything else that you would like to tell the board or do you have any questions that you would like to ask of the board?

So I guess, I mean, the questions are what perhaps does the board see as going to be the most significant headwinds going forward over the course of the next year.

It's that yes, yes we need to support our staff, our teachers, support the mental health, but we also need to invest in our learning environments.

And so I think that's going to be one of the biggest challenges we're going to face.

I don't know, so if kids are riding the bus longer here, that's something that ties into that as well.

Thank you so very much, Dr. McDermott.

Thank you.

So again we thank you so very very much for your application.

Are you thinking, if you did get the seat, are you thinking of running for election next year?

Thank you.

Thank you.

We're still five minutes ahead.

And we have

Just about completely on time now.

that will be followed by the introduction of our school board members and then we'll have four of the members to ask you questions that's related to accepting the seat and then finally if you have at the end of those questions if you have any other information that you would like to pass along or any questions that you have of the board we'll have time after that for those things so please give us first like a brief introductory statement

You know, it feels good so far, and I'm looking forward to answering any questions that you might have.

So now we'll have the board members introduce themselves.

Hi, I'm Ellen Osborne from the Scottsville District.

I'm very nice, Kate Acuff from Jack Joe District.

Midland, Judy Le from Rivanna.

I have no joke, just Katrina Clausen from Ryan District John O. L. Caro, At Large And Graham Page, Samia Miller So again, we want you to feel completely relaxed during this whole process Okay Alright, our first question is coming from Dr. Acuff

Yes Jessica you've started to answer it I think but the first question is tell us why you're interested in being on the school board and the second part of that is how do you intend to represent the residents of the Whitehall district?

I genuinely care about people and their well-being, everyone included.

Do you have any specific ideas about interacting with the constituents in the Whitehall District?

And I do feel like, again, I'm gifted in that sense where I can sort of remove myself from what is most important for a set or a group of people and consider what's best for the greater good of the community.

Jessica, tell us something that excites you about our strategic plan, Learning for All, and something that gives you pause for concern.

not serving our students well at this point.

Thank you.

Alright, Ms. Osborne.

In what ways do you think we have been successful in implementing that and in what areas do you think we could improve?

Was there a second part to that question?

In what areas could you help us improve on implementing the anti-racism policy?

I think by and large it happens at home, and so I think that transferring or bringing it to school is also very important, but I do think that the family unit is really the driving factor there.

You as well.

And how should it be addressed?

And what was the second part of that?

And how should it be addressed?

It could be possible but I think we'll need more bodies to do it, more trained professionals to do such.

Or do you have any questions that you would like to address to the board?

I just appreciate the opportunity.

Okay, thank you.

I think I'm going to make it.

All right, thank you so very, very much.

Thank you.

So that's on December the 15th.

That sounds good.

Okay, thank you.

Great, thank you.

All right, yeah, we are still a little bit ahead of schedule.

7-20.

We ask him to be here at 7-10.

I'm very stressed by you.

People are trying to titrate you.

I think if anyone could drive by a dead bear on the side of the road and just keep on driving, we've had years of stress.

My mother and stepfather visited us when we lived in Atlanta and on the route home.

through Alabama, they saw a dead camel on the side of the bridge.

I never know those things.

No clue.

All right, Mr. Tavares, thank you so very, very much for applying and for being with us this afternoon.

It's dark outside.

All right, so since we had nine applicants, we are allocating like about 20 minutes or 20 minutes rather for each interview.

Perfect.

So first, maybe a few introductory remarks from you.

I don't know if there's anything else if you want me to go in more detail or if there's I know it's only 20 minutes so I don't want to take up too much time but that's kind of my rationale for why I want to join the board and be part of kind of the decision-making and just help making the experience of education a better place for all those students that go to school in the Whitehall district in the broader county.

But first to introduce board members.

Hi, I'm Ellen Osborne from the Scottsville District.

Katrina Kallsen, Rio District.

So our first question is coming from Dr. Acuff.

Good evening.

I know it's evening Tell us why you're interested in going to this running for the school board or being on the school board and Secondly, how do you intend to represent the residents of the Whitehall district?

But that's my initial thinking around how to represent the folks appropriately.

Thank you.

Who have you thought that for?

sophisticated at this point in time.

Next question from Ms. Judy Lee.

Tell us something that excites you about our strategic plan, Learning for All, and something that gives you pause for concern.

So those are things that pause the cause of the plan, although I think it's not a reflection of the plan itself, but more of how do we do a better job of communicating the benefits and addressing some of the issues that might not be related to student, to increasing the ability for students to learn in the classroom.

Thank you.

Ms. Osborne.

In what ways do you think we have been successful in implementing that plan, and in what areas could you help us improve?

Sometimes I kind of go on tangents and I apologize if I didn't.

We never go on tangents.

Mr. Tavares, good to see you.

What do you see as the most important challenge facing public education in the next few years and how should it be addressed?

make sure that they're as protected as they can be so they can do the job that they're hired to do.

Mr. Devara, so do you have any other information that you would like to pass on to the board that maybe wasn't covered in those questions or do you have any questions to address to the board?

There's not much more behind it than that.

And Ms. Carlson, do you have...

as well as subsection 3 for discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for a public purpose or the disposition of publicly held real property where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body and subsection 8 for consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel.

Ms. Johnston.

Mr. Ocaro.

Yes.

Much passed.

All right, so we will go into closed session.

Across the hall.