Portsmouth City School Board

7 meetings on our record, 3 of them from the past year and 3 with unconfirmed dates · 13,161 students · 9 members on our roster

Latest · Aug 20, 2026: Portsmouth school board hears CIP updates on PACE, Norcom complex and restrooms Play 12:28
Newest meeting we have: Aug 20, 2026 · District's board page ↗ (it may list later ones)

Also on the board: Irene S. Boone, Board member · Quniana D. Futrell, Board member · Melvin Cotton, Jr., Board member · Arnette D. McSwain, Board member · Lateacia A. Sessoms, Board member · Tamara L. Shewmake, Board member · Jaclyn T. "Jackie" Walker, Board member

Recent meetings

What the board took up lately

Board meeting · 1 h 03 minThursday, August 20, 2026Portsmouth school board hears CIP updates on PACE, Norcom complex and restroomsSpeakers: Cardell C. Patillo, Jr., LaKeesha S. "Klu" Atkinson, Lateacia A. Sessoms, Jaclyn T. "Jackie" Walker

Board meeting · 3 h 04 minWednesday, July 22, 2026Budget cuts and layoffsReading and test scoresSafety, weapons and policeSpeakers: Cardell C. Patillo, Jr., LaKeesha S. "Klu" Atkinson, Irene S. Boone, Arnette D. McSwain and 2 more

Board meeting · 1 h 22 minThursday, November 6, 2025Speakers: Cardell C. Patillo, Jr., LaKeesha S. "Klu" Atkinson, Quniana D. Futrell, Arnette D. McSwain and 1 more

The board

Who talks on this board

We compare who talks only where members sat for 8 or more meetings on our record; this board has 3 from the past year on our record.

Runs the meetingCardell C. Patillo, Jr.Chairman · shown, not ranked4meetings where we identified their voicenamed at 4 meetings

Members · listed by nameLaKeesha S. "Klu" AtkinsonVice-Chairwoman5meetings where we identified their voicenamed at 5 meetings Irene S. BooneBoard member2meetings where we identified their voicenamed at 2 meetings Quniana D. FutrellBoard member1meeting where we identified their voicenamed at 1 meeting Melvin Cotton, Jr.Board member2meetings where we identified their voicenamed at 2 meetings Arnette D. McSwainBoard member2meetings where we identified their voicenamed at 2 meetings Lateacia A. SessomsBoard member2meetings where we identified their voicenamed at 2 meetings Tamara L. ShewmakeBoard member2meetings where we identified their voicenamed at 2 meetings Jaclyn T. "Jackie" WalkerBoard member3meetings where we identified their voicenamed at 3 meetings

Meetings on our record

All 7 meetings on our record

Meeting time

Where the board's meeting time went

Budget and finance27%0%–48%

Ceremony and recognition5%0%–16%

Safety and discipline1%0%–2%

Public comment0%0%–4%

The two readers didn’t agree on 16% of the time; it counts toward no topic, so every share above is a floor.

Not shown: facilities, closures and enrollment, curriculum and instruction, student services and special education, labor and personnel, governance and policy, routine business, other subjects, whose checks haven’t passed

Public comment

Of the 7 meetings on our record, we counted public speakers at 6; 1 had at least one. The busiest, on Nov 6, 2025, heard from 1.

1 on Nov 6, 20251 speaker1 speaker0.2 a meeting on average

Attendance

The roll call at 3 of the 7 meetings on our record: the ones where we could read it

Roll-call attendance, member by meeting
Member	Aug 20	Jul 22	Nov 6
LaKeesha S. "Klu" Atkinson	Not recorded	Present	Present
Jaclyn T. "Jackie" Walker	Present	Present	Not recorded
Cardell C. Patillo, Jr.	Present	Present	Present
Melvin Cotton, Jr.	Present	Not recorded	Present
Irene S. Boone	Present	Present	Present
Quniana D. Futrell	Not shown	Present	Present
Arnette D. McSwain	Present	Present	Present
Lateacia A. Sessoms	Present	Present	Present
Tamara L. Shewmake	Present	Present	Present

PresentNot shownNot recorded

Federal district ID 5103000 · student count from the federal 2023-24 count · meeting videos posted by the district