by Michael Gale

Absent:  Board Member Laura LeRoy 

No speakers were at the Public Hearing on the Use of American Rescue Plan Act (ESSER) III Funds.

During the Public Comment period, Kirsten Vest stated that school lunches are being held hostage to the LGBTQ agenda, noting that Title 9 will expand to include gender identity. She requested that there be no signs in the elementary schools about LGBTQ not being discriminated against.

Action items include the following, all unanimously approved with minimal if any, discussion.

• Federal Program applications
• FY22 Revenue and Expenditure Appropriation – Cares Funding Reimbursement, 95% of funds were for HVAC, with the remaining funds for salaries for two teachers. Federal funds will only be available for two years
• Request for the new road extension of Oak Hill Drive to be added to the Floyd County road plan with VDOT
• Floyd County Public School’s budget includes 5% pay raises, a $1000 bonus for employees, and payment of the employee portion of health insurance. The budget can be accessed online at https://www.floyd.k12.va.us/Page/140. 

Dr. Wheeler, the Superintendent, reported that on June 22, work would begin to assemble the equipment for the Collaboration Career Development Center, noting that items were paid for before prices went up, and rooms will be set up by July 1. This summer, a free study with Trane will be done to look at the cost-saving plans to replace lighting with LED lighting equipment. All county schools have upgraded security systems, door numbering will be replaced with bigger and more visible numbers, and every door will be locked from the inside while the school is in session. County student enrollment on May 31 was 1686, down from 1762 in May 2021.

Mark A. Levy, Director of the Roanoke Valley Governor’s School for Science and Technology, shared information on their offerings and by-laws. The Roanoke Valley School has options for students needing challenges sooner than their junior year. Studies are STEM-based, with scientific research a big part of the program. If Floyd decides to partner with Roanoke, two 9th graders will be accepted in fall 2023; eventually, 2 per grade level will participate. There will be no cost to students; tuition is covered with state and local funds. If Floyd decides to participate, the program will be in addition to the Pulaski Governor’s school. 13 Floyd county juniors and seniors will attend the Governor’s School in Pulaski this fall. 

School Board policy revisions were provided as information to be approved at the year-end board meeting. Information is available at https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/floyd/Board.nsf/Public – click on meetings, June 13, 2022, agenda, School Board Policy Revisions.

The end-of-year meeting will be held on June 29 at 3 pm, and there will be no meeting in July.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 pm.