New Kent County Public Schools board meeting, Sep 1, 2026
1 h 08 min · 2 public speakers
This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 08 min.
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What happened
What happened at this meeting
New Kent school board hears SOL results, takes up gifted plan and budget appropriations 24:10
- Recognitions included the state title-winning baseball team. 8:17
- A district staff member presented SOL performance results and said the division outpaced the state in pretty much every state subject area. 24:10
- Board member Heather Mae Donbrosky used board comment time to respond to three questions raised at the August 4th meeting about the PragerU Book Fair in a Box event. 55:30
Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →
Item by item (14)
- Opening and closed session certification 1:55
- Heather Mae Donbrosky called the meeting to order and asked for a motion to come out of closed session. 1:55
- Gregory B. Reimer read the certification that only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements were discussed in closed session. 2:26
- Heather Mae Donbrosky excused the board chair, who was traveling. 4:14
- Recognitions 4:25
- The division recognized its Region 3A Athletic Director of the Year. 4:25
- A staff member recognized the state title-winning baseball team, which won the state title 8-3 and finished with a 25-2 record. 8:44
- The staff member also noted National Hispanic Heritage Month, World Physical Therapy Day and IT Professionals Day. 13:24
- Consent agenda 21:52
- The consent agenda included minutes from the August 4th meeting and the superintendent's recommendations on 17 personnel matters. 21:52
- Crisis management and emergency plans 22:33
- A staff member said each school maintains crisis management, emergency and evacuation plans that are reviewed and updated, and that the item was for the board's acknowledgment. 22:52
- State test performance update 23:42
- A staff member reported a division reading pass rate of 80.87, 6.42 points above the state average, math at 83.33% and writing at 92.6%. 24:10
- Gregory B. Reimer asked what accounted for the middle school's performance and what was being done to address it. 28:23
- A staff member said the division added a reading specialist position at the middle school this year. 28:58
- Per pupil expenditures 31:18
- A staff member said the data is based on the 24-25 school year and that New Kent ranked 127 out of 131 school divisions in total per pupil spending and 59 in the local portion. 31:38
- Budget and fund balance appropriations 32:49
- A staff member said the school nutrition fund drew $32,059.74 from its fund balance after 10 snow days and asked that the funds be appropriated into last fiscal year. 32:54
- The staff member said state revenue came in higher than anticipated and also described an appropriation for the school-based mental health grant. 34:10
- In response to Gregory B. Reimer, a staff member said the mental health grant funds 2 positions. 36:37
- Policy updates first reading 37:57
- A staff member presented a first reading of policy updates, mostly tied to new legislation passed by the General Assembly. 38:04
- Gifted plan second reading 39:38
- A staff member said the biggest change in the plan is the addition of a gifted elective at the middle school, and that the division has exactly 3 gifted specialists. 40:12
- A staff member said identification is approximately 13%. 41:06
- Gregory B. Reimer asked whether the gifted population was being underserved, and a staff member said 2 additional staff would be needed. 43:17
- Citizen comment 46:01
- A speaker at public comment suggested a high school program that would let students try different trades such as welding and pipefitting. 46:47
- Another speaker thanked staff for the start of the year and said comments on transparency and board governance would be held pending a reply that evening. 49:12
- Action items 49:37
- Board member comments 50:54
- Response to public questions on book fair 54:34
- Heather Mae Donbrosky said the comments were personal and not on behalf of the board, and that the PragerU Book Fair in a Box was a one-time event with no financial commitment. 54:34
- One board member said it was not a program or curriculum adoption, so a public vote was not considered necessary. 57:33
- Donbrosky said an agenda item request would be submitted to discuss possible board governance training. 1:02:47
- Closing comments and adjournment 1:03:21
Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.
What was said
What board members said, in order
At what point So we're, you know, we're medium-sized school, but we have a large relative to the whole population gifted population. At what point does it merit a program all of its own in terms of a self-contained program?Gregory B. Reimer · Board member44:07
Other meetings
Other meetings of this board
Video: posted by the district as “School Board Meeting 09/01/2026”