Prince William County School Board Meeting - April 2, 2025

001Okay. At this time, the Prince William County School Board will be called to order. A motion in order for the approval of meeting agenda. Mr. Blake. I move that the Prince William County School Board approved the meeting agenda as recommended. Do I have a second? I second. Miss Wall, any discussion, please vote. All in favor? Um, raise your hand. Signify. I. Any opposed? No opposition. Motion passes unanimously. Wilk absent. Um, moving on. Motion to enter close session. Mr. Vice Chair Blake, I move that pursuant to Virginia Code 2.2-3711 and 2.2-3712, the Prince William County School Board enter close session for the following reasons. One to discuss with staff the assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific public officers, appointees, or employees of any public body pursuant to Virginia Code 2.2-3711A1. two

002to discuss with division council and staff actual or probable litigation and specific legal matters involving staff students and other civil litigation involving the school division under Virginia code 2.2-3711 2-3711 A7 N8 and three to discuss and receive briefings by staff members related to the security of school facilities and the safety of persons using such facilities and actions taken to respond to such matters where discussion in open meeting would jeopardize the security of such facilities pursuant to Virginia code 2.2-3711 2-3711 A19. Do I have a second? Mr. Tim, I second. Miss Wall seconds. Any discussion? All in favor? Signal. Hands up in the air. Any opposition? Okay. No opposition noted. Motion passes unanimously. Wil absent. At this time, the Prince William County School Board will enter close session and return in approximately 1 hour. Heat. Heat.

003[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Prince William County School Board is now returning to open session from close session. A motion is in order for um close session certification. Vice Chair Blake. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that pursuant to section 2.2-3712 [Music] 2-3712 of the code of Virginia. The close session of the Prince William County School Board meeting of April 2nd, 2025 be certified by adopting the following resolution. Now there be now therefore be it resolved that the Prince William County School Board hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge one only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meetings requirements were discussed in the closed me closed meeting to which this certification resolution applies and two only such business public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were

004heard and discussed or considered by the school board. Do I have a second? Mr. Chairman, Miss Zar, Miss Williams, second. Any discussion? Please vote. Vote is eight, yes, unanimous. Motion passed. Moving on to close session action items and motions in order for 8.01. Vice Chair Blake, I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the appointments and releases of specific employees as presented in the closed session. Do I have a second? Mr. Chairman, Miss Williams, second. Any discussion? Please vote. go to school. Vote is eight. Yes, unanimous. Motion passed. Okay. Um, great. Next, moving on to pledge of allegiance. I'd like to invite our student representative, Allah Rashid, to lead us in the pledge. Miss Rashid. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which

005it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Moving on to Thriving Futures Focus. Good evening everyone. Thriving futures focus is an opportunity to highlight the exemplary work being accomplished in our schools fulfilling our vision that every student will graduate on time with the knowledge, skills and habits of mind to create a thriving future for themselves and their community. We dedicate this time during our meeting to recognizing students, staff members, and schools that have earned an honor or an award at the state or national level. We appreciate how these honores have positively represented Prince William County Public Schools and the school board is proud to recognize them publicly for their accomplishments. Tonight, the school board will recognize our state champions in winter athletics and we will first begin with

006Mrs. Lisa Zarapore of the championship Kohl's district. Thank you, Dr. Latif. The Kohl's district would like to recognize the Osborne Park High School girls basketball team for winning the VHSL class 6 state championship. Man, I am so stinking proud of you guys. Ah, congratulations to this outstanding team and head coach Chrissy Kelly. This marks Coach Kelly's third state title, adding to her previous wins in 2004 2006 at Forest Park High School. Sorry, Mr. Wilk. Head coach Chrissy Kelly, would you please introduce your team members and share a few words on their achievements, boys basketball coach as of yesterday. Congratulations, Coach West. I have junior Jaylen Gorum. I have junior key Rainey, sophomore Payton Walters. What's your name again? Just kidding. This is junior Samia Sneed. This is Teriana Hayes, junior. Kai Jones, freshman, one of

007our lone seniors. Um, Alex Brown, uh, sophomore Leila Twimman. I have junior JL West. Um, sophomore Marlo Hall. I have senior Taylor Hampton. Um, my assistant coach, Mattie Scarboro, former player of mine at OP. We got to a state championship together. We didn't win, but we got there. Um, and then I have Danny Jackson, another one of my former players, who we won a state championship together in 2006, and that was really hard, but I'm glad I got through it. Um, I think it is really really important to uh kind of acknowledge what people don't get to see behind the scenes with this group of people and the other ones that we're missing the work that they put in. Um, Julia Matthews, uh, Janie Selenus, Tierney Meyers, Grace, Justin, Justin. That's hard. Um, but really

008what these young ladies do behind the scenes and and when I say we've been going since March 2nd of last year to get to March 15th this year, the work that they put in, um, we went to Quanico, worked out with Marines, we worked out with Marines at OP to really test their mental toughness. Um, they're unwavering in their commitment. They don't always love me. Um, actually I hope they always love me, but sometimes they don't like me. Um, but I think at the end of the day, they know what we accomplished on March 15th is something that they'll remember for the rest of their lives because it was it's not something all high school kids get to do and they bought into something bigger than themselves. And I truly believe that they're going to

009take it on to every aspect of their life from going to college, business, teaching, whatever, whatever they end up doing. But they're a really special group to say the least. So, thank you for acknowledging this and having us here and celebrating with us and our representation of Prince William County. Thank you. Coach, I'm going to go out of order, but I'm the chair, so I can do that. Um, coach, lone senior, that means we'll see you guys back here next year. Um, we have three seniors. Three seniors. Three seniors, but um, you have a young team, it looks like. We do. Um, yeah, why not? Why not run it back? Huh? Very cool. That's the goal, right? So, we'll see. Miss Argapore, continue. I I do look forward to seeing you all back here next

010year. And um just I'm going to take a point of privilege here, Dr. Latif. Um, Coach Kelly, when I watch you with your team over the past several years, you build um such great sportsmanship and uh just a great um cohesion between uh players and they're very uh intent and when they're practicing in warm-ups and things like that, it just I I just I my com I'm commending you on such a great uh job of coaching them and I am looking forward to you guys coming back year over year. Thank you. All right. Uh so, additionally, we also want to congratulate Anna Coun of Osborne Park High School for becoming state champion in indoor track and field in the pull vault event. Our athletes are represented tonight by OPs principal Lisa Marie Kaine, indoor track

011coaches Jerry Makavoy and Daniel Kosoff. Would either of the coaches um care to share a few words? I I guess that would be me. Uh I am uh Anna's poval coach uh and have been for her entire time. She worked really really hard. Uh took a little convincing at at you know just before she she jumped at states. I had to make a bet with her and you know she was she was a little reluctant to to know that she could win the state championship. So, I had to put a little incentive behind her. And I told her that I would dye my hair blue if she took the state title, which we did a several weeks ago. I've since washed it out and got my hair cut. So, for a day, my hair was

012blue. Uh, and uh and Anna worked very, very hard and you know, and I think she has a a chance to do it again this spring. uh and uh you know her her work showed uh she she didn't miss anything until her final height and she wanted it and took it. So she did a great job. Coach, I think you should just do the blue hair for our Oh my goodness. All right. All right. Um I want to also offer congratulations to Alex Gro Graholski of the Charles J. Kan Senior High School for being a state champion in swimming the 500 freestyle and the 200 individual medley. Unfortunately, Alex is unable to join us this evening, but we have remarkable achievements from our students from Osourne Park and Kan. Thank you so much for representing

013the Kohl's district, your families and your schools so well. From the basketball court to the track and swimming lanes, these champions represent the highest level of dedication and talent. Congratulations. Thank you, Miss Argapore, Miss Wall. Thank you, Dr. Latif. The Gainesville District would like to recognize several champions from Battlefield High School, represented tonight by proud principal Dolores Lucas, assistant director of student activities Doug Bernie, and swim coaches Jay Thorp and Evan Brandt. Congratulations to Ava Rice and Brandon Murray for earning state championships in indoor track. Ava earned her state title in the 55 meter hurdles and Brandon won his state title in the 300 meter dash. Mr. Doug Mr. Doug Bernie um would you care to share a few words on Ava and Brandon's accomplishments? I'm thrilled to announce that the track coach actually made

014it from the track meet this evening. So, he will share his thoughts. Wonderful. Great. Hey, how about that? Uh thank you members of the board. What a great honor to be here today. Uh my name is Van Arnold. This is actually my first year coaching uh at Battlefield High School. And how about it? Right from the start, two state champions. Yes. You know, uh it didn't take long. I could sit here and talk about um you know, their accomplishments. Uh fifth in the nation. We're not just talking Prince William County and you know, the Commonwealth of Virginia. Fifth in the nation. Ava Rice finished this year in the 55 meter hurdles. 15th in the nation, Brandon Murray in the 300 meter dash. 15th in the nation, Brandon Murray in the 4x4 team from Battlefield High

015School. University of Virginia. Can't even tell you the combination of football and track and field colleges that are trying to recruit this guy right here. Um, and I think those are all great, but you know, the thing that I probably see in common that people don't talk about enough are the things that take place off the field. And one thing that I see in common when I look at all the athletes here, you know, whether it's on the court, in the pool, or on the track, is that these people understand one thing very well, which is the will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win. The achievements that these two have made uh for Battlefield Track and Field, it's absolutely it's absolutely a product of their lifelong commitment

016to doing all the little things right on and off of the track. And I think it's those little things off the track that a lot of athletes don't understand that separate them when they get to the finish line uh in these meets and why it is that they win. So, in honoring your achievements on the track, I'd also like to give you a big round of applause for the effort and uh this and the types of people you guys are off the track. Thank you so much. Well said, coach. Well said. Um congratulations. Uh returning to swimming. Um, congratulations to Madison Richardson, Amelia Edwards, Maddie Mercer, and Alyssa Seel for earning the state championship in the 400 freestyle relay. Um, I got more. I got more. Congratulations to Alyssa Seagel, Emma Young, Abby Hubert, and

017Sophie Hayden for the state championship in the 200 medley relay. And congratulations to Emma Young for being a state champion in the 50 free, which is amazing. Awesome. And a special congratulations to Alyssa Seagel for not only winning the 100 free and 100 backstroke, but also for breaking the state record in the backstroke. So that's also awesome. Mr. J Thorp, are you Jay Thorp? would you care to share a few words on your team's accomplishments? Yeah, thank you for uh recognizing all these great individuals tonight. Um we had a great season this year. The Lady Bobcats um were undefeated in their dual meet season. They won the district title, won the regional title, and were second at state and they won five of the event of the 12 events at state. Um absolutely phenomenal. Um,

018we started off the state meet, went in the 200 medley relay. Uh, that consisted of Alyssa Seagel, Emma Young, Abby Hubert, and Sophie Hayden. So, if you guys should show who you are. Then our second state champion was Emma Young. Emma won the 50-yard freestyle and continued our streak of winning that event at states for the last five years. Congratulations, The next event was the hundredyard freestyle which was won by Alyssa Seagel. And you can stay out there because she came back two events later and won the 100 backstroke where she set the state records. And in the last event of the day, Battlefield won the 400 freestyle relay. that really consisted of Madison Richardson, Amelia Edwards, Maddie Mercer, and Alyssa Seagel. And for the season, the icing on the cake is that all of

019these young ladies earned all-American honors in swimming. Thank you. Incredible performances from our battlefield swimmers and runners. Congratulations everybody. Breaking records and bringing home multiple titles is no small feat and we're really proud of you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Miss Wall, Miss Tennic. Thank you from the Brensville district. I would like to recognize Kayla Smith of the Brentville of Brensville District High School for earning a state championship in the 55 meter indoor track event. Unfortunately, Kayla could not be here. She was here last year which makes her a two pete. I think she might even be a three pete. Um, and if you ever want to watch a girl run and have so much fun doing it, I'm telling you, she's it. She's also a phenomenal um, student and

020person. She's so kind and so caring to her teammates and her brother. Um, and her parents are so supportive as well. So, I'm sad she can't be here, but I assume it's because she's on the field playing something else or doing something else. Um, also congratulations to Evan Cennady and Billy Tyler of Brensville for earning state championships in wrestling. They were also unable to attend, but Evan is another two Pete. He was here last year. Billy has worked his whole life to earn this title and um it's exciting to see these boys get offers for college and really uh wrestle year round and put their heart and soul into it. They are also phenomenal in the classroom and really really kind kiddos too. So congrats boys and Kayla. Um very happy for you and excited

021for you. Um we also have a big congratulations to Henry Burge of Patriot High School for becoming a state champion in the indoor track in the thousand meter. Henry is supported. Henry is supported tonight by director of student activities Brad Qu and head coach James DeMarco. Mr. DeMarco, would you like to say a few words? Yes, please. Dr. Latif and members of school board uh Mr. Qualls and I get to honor uh Patriots Henry Burge. Henry, this is his fourth time here. Uh he's been here for a team state championship and now his third individual state title. Besides being a very fast runner, he's also in our honor choir at the school, a fantastic singer and he's an A+ student. Um he's just such a joy to have on the track. Um as a leader

022for our team, his work ethic, um you know, when you're a superstar athlete, you automatically have the eyes and ears of the rest of the team watching everything you do. And he's just an absolutely fantastic person and leader for our program. I'm so excited to see where his journey goes off to. I still got a whole outdoor season and another year with him. So, we hope to be back here four or five more times to see you guys. So, uh Henry Burge, our the state meet record holder in the in the thousand meter run set last year. He repeated this year, but also was all state in the 4x8 and also the 4x4, helping lead our teams to high performances and uh has six school records already. So, uh, Henry, congratulations on a fantastic season.

023And another congratulations to Trent Daniels and Caroline Tribet of Gainesville High School for earning state titles in indoor track. Trent earned both the 1600 meter and 3200 meter state titles. And Caroline earned her state title in the 3200 meter. I do believe we've seen them here before as well. Our athletes are joined tonight by assistant principal Adam Daniels, assistant director of student activities Aubrey Quigley, and Coach Connor Lee. Coach Lee, would you care to share a few words? Absolutely. Thank you. Um, it's nice to be back. I'm sure these two are enjoying as well. Um, it's it's weird having these two uh in your program because they are exceedingly normal people um around their friends and around their classmates, but they are capable of doing very abnormal things on the track. Um, and it's really

024fun to get to watch them do that. Uh, Caroline defending her two-mile indoor state title, Trent defending his mile and two-mile indoor state titles. Uh, both of them doing so in meet fashion in the two-mile. Um, and Trent running under 9 minutes, uh, which is a unbelievable feat for a high school boy. Um, and Caroline breaking 1020 for 2 miles. It was incredible state meet to watch them run. Um, and seeing them repeat and seeing how strong they looked in the indoor meet. Uh, I think they're poised to be back here again in outdoor. Um, but more speaking again to the type of people that they are. Again, these are exceedingly normal teenagers. I cannot emphasize that enough. Um, but they are incredible role models within the program and they have provided an example for

025their younger teammates to follow uh both on the track and uh in the classroom and and as people. Um, Trent we fortunately get to keep for another year. Um, you know, three more seasons with him, four more seasons. And uh Caroline will be a big loss as she is off to Penn State next year. Um so again, congratulations Caroline. Congratulations Trent. The Brentsville Patriot and Gainesville communities should be incredibly proud. These individual champions have demonstrated extraordinary discipline, focus, and resilience in their events. Not only did you deserve it, but you most definitely earned it. Congratulations, Thank you, Miss Treenna. Congratulations again to all our state champions. But before asking our superintendent to share a few words, um I would like the parents and the family members of our students to please stand at this time

026to be recognized. All parents and family members. We know if it wasn't for your commitment to your children, to our school division, and to your communities, we wouldn't have these champions here. And for that, we are truly grateful. I now invite Superintendent Dr. Latana McDade to share a few words. Dr. McD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Well, tonight I'm excited to recognize the extraordinary achievements of our PWCS students. You have each demonstrated excellence in athletics across a variety of disciplines represented here tonight. From swimming to track to basketball and wrestling, you each are student athletes who have shown dedication, teamwork, perseverance on your path to becoming state championships winners. Your accomplishments reflect the strong support of coaches, educators, families, and school communities. And so, I do want to acknowledge all of our uh educators and school

027leaders here tonight, as well as our families and parents for your continued support as our students pursue their dreams and aspirations. Congratulations to each and every one of you. Thank you for representing Prince William County Schools with distinction and pride. We are PWCS proud. Congratulations, Thank you, Dr. McDade. At this time, I'll invite our honores to come forward for a group photo. We'll start with the um Osborne Park Championship High School girls basketball team and then Diana Galato will direct the rest after that. Right here. Uhhuh. Y thank you. Okay, let me hold up. Let me let me do this. Okay, see. All right, great. Everyone big smiles. Okay. Did all get yours? Mom and dad. We'll do Battlefield. You got your pictures. I used to watch those like Do you want to stand on

028top of it? Yeah, I was. Excuse me. Look up here. Yeah. Okay, we're good. You're good. Thanks guys. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. It was really nice. the secret. [Music] I won't Sorry. How are you? Okay, thank you everyone. Um that was excellent. Always a pleasure to do that. Uh moving on from our thriving futures focus, we will move um to the business action items tonight. Adoption of the consent agenda is up first. Um, Vice Chair Blake, please read the motion. I move that the Prince William County School Board approved the public meeting consent agenda as recommended. Do I have a second? Mr. Chairman, Miss uh, Zarapore, I second. Any discussion? Please vote. vote is eight. Yes. Unanimous. Motion passed. Uh moving on next to um acknowledgements and recognitions. A motion order. Vice Chair Blake. I

029move that the Prince William County School Board approve the acknowledgements and recognitions as recommended. Do I have a second? Mr. Chairman. Miss Williams. Second. Any discussion? Mr. Chairman. Miss Williams. Uh, Zark, he keeps doing that tonight. Um, I just want to bring to the attention so people can prepare appropriately. Uh, we have teacher appreciation week in May. It is May 5th through the 9th. Uh, get ready for that, please. And thank you. And National Nurse uh day, which is May 7th. We know these are hardworking people in our schools. and um plan now so you can shower them with the love which they should be showered with every day. Thank you, Miss Argapore. Please vote. Vote is seven yes, one abstain. Trident motion passed. Next up, citizen comment time. Those citizens who signed up in

030advance with the clerk may address the school board this evening when they are called to the podium. The citizen comment period for regular schoolboard meetings is one hour and citizens may speak on the agenda items or other topics germanine to the operations and policies of PWCS. Please use proper decorum and manners while at the podium or you will be asked to step aside. We ask that the audience please be respectful to each speaker and refrain from any clapping, cheering or cheering to avoid disruption of the meeting. If you do not do so, the board will recess and I will ask the room to be cleared to restore public order. Tonight, we have eight citizens signed up to speak. When I call your name, please come up to the podium and state your name and address

031for the record. I'll call up the first uh five and there are seats up front for you to sit up here up front if you choose. So, um while you're waiting to speak, Shawn Daly, Jessica Sher, uh Shar, Brittany Robinson, Francisco Esparza, and Edwin Lorerio. Sean Dailyaly. Thank you all for having me. Thank you. I apologize for not making the last meeting. I was in a burn hospital with my hand, you know. We have two very polar opposite professions. Your profession is selfless. It's valuable. And the most important weapon is our mind. And when it's engaged and you all are the fire burner for our youth, our children, that is selfless. That is a very admirable profession. And I am proud to be a product of Prince William County Schools. SJ High. Now you are

032high. Doesn't matter. It's still the same product. My profession, we all have standards of quality. I'm a United States Marine. I hold that title very distinguishly with the trust of the American people, retired or not. Standards of quality don't change. And the standards of your quality shouldn't change by the person. Shouldn't be discriminated against. because I'm a combat vet with PTSD with a service dog. Dr. Latif, you're the chairman of this school board. You are responsible for everything that happens and fails to happen. You've raised $825,000 in the last year. I've had formal allegations placed since August 14th, 2023. That's 547 days, 85 weeks. And I haven't heard one thing. But I understand because I talked to your risk management director after a year and understand the incompetence level now. But I've also had 400

033emails to congressman on bunsman associate professors or excuse me associate principles to our my own schoolboard official Jennifer Wall. We're going to try and remove that wall because when I asked for missing records for my own son, understand the definition of trauma. These allegations were failure to protect my son twice. Inappropriate relationships and fraud, waste, and abuse. I have your employees on my lawn on video. I have this man discriminating me on video. And all I want to do is be heard. I want to be heard to somebody who can tell me who's accountable and who's going to be responsible. Because in leadership, you can delegate accountability, but you cannot delegate responsibility. And I am holding you accountable for my son. And for the fact for 547 days, I haven't heard a word. But with

034the help of my constituents in my community, I am hoping to remove some of you. and I am firing the first shot for a revolution of change. I am making all of my videos public and my emails public so the world knows just how distraught this system is embarrassing. Thank Thank you. Moving on. Jessica Sh. Hi. Well, um this is going to be awkward starting with thanking the school board for upholding the core values of the Prince William County Schools. um equity, inclusivity, innovation, integrity, resiliency, and well-being. I'd like the school board to know that these are the shared values of our community, and we are happy that they are in place here in our schools, and we are so very lucky here in Prince William County. So, thank you. Um this evening, I come

035bearing gifts for all of our school board members. I have printed out copies of a report called the cost of conflict. The study was conducted by three universities and set out to answer the question, what is the cost of culture wars in public education? The researchers found that between 2023 and 2024, culture wars cost our schools $3.2 billion. Imagine what public school districts across the country could do with $3.2 billion. They could hire more counselors and teachers in schools, increase teacher pay, upgrade supplies and technology, provide more nutritious meals. This would give kids the opportunity to discover their passions and prepare for the future. Unfortunately, there are those who believe that they stand to gain political advantage by fostering culturally divisive conflict in our schools. America First Legal Foundation is a conservative nonprofit organization aligned

036with Donald Trump. They have filed more than 100 legal complaints against school divisions and organizations across the country. On February 12th, the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights notified Prince William County Schools that launched an investigation into allegations made by America First Legal. America First has said that allowing schools to use the bathroom and locker rooms based on their gender identity rather than sex violates Title 9 and Trump's executive order. Again, I am here to remind you that executive orders cannot override existing laws or the US Constitution. 378-5 is supported by Title 9, an equal protection clause, US Constitution. I've reached out to the ACLU as well as a professor of law who's both kindly given me resources to further explain Title 9 protections and I will email that information to all of you

037later. Um, we have a board member here tonight that has promoted America first legal on her ex account stating this is a step in the right direction to ensure student safety and keep the focus on academic excellence in our schools. And this troubles me because I would like to keep the money in our schools. I will end by asking that all of our board members support spending our tax money on kids, teachers, and schools in Prince William County and not on politically driven, divisive culture wars. Thank you very much. Thank you, Britney Robinson. Good evening to members of the board. My name is Britney Robinson and I am the mother of four children, three of whom are autistic. Their names are Ranger, Rivka, and Savannah and they are all students who reside in Prince William

038County and attended Prince William County Public Schools. I'm here tonight with one message. Awareness without accountability is just performance. What my children have experienced in this district isn't awareness. It's harm. It's neglect. It's injustice. Let me begin with Ranger, who just turned 11. He's twice exceptional, brilliant, sensitive, and full of potential. But Prince William County denied him special education for years. During that time, he was bullied so severely and internalized that he was a failure, he began having suicidal thoughts. Prince William County Public Schools did nothing despite his doctor recommendations of homebound. because he was unsupported, misunderstood, left behind. The suicidal ideiation continued. Autistic children are up to 28 times more likely to experience suicidal ideiation than their neurotypical peers. For twice exceptional kids like Ranger, the risk is even higher. The combination of giftedness

039and disability is not a protection. It's a risk factor when schools fail to support them. When we finally fought for help, the district placed him in a school that uses seclusion and restraint against our objections. You refused to fund the placement where he's now thriving. So, we took it to federal court. Rivka is nine. A hearing officer ordered her to be placed at the Lindra Academy, a school that understands gifted autistic kids like her. You refused. You left a traumatized nine-year-old girl in limbo because preserving your position mattered more than funding her support. Savannah, my youngest, in kindergarten, just turned six. She was placed on homebound instruction, but you haven't sent her a teacher. She asked when her teacher is coming. I tell her that I am it right now. Her nervous system began to

040collapse under the weight of school. She started having nightmares. She began wetting herself and she was begging not to go to school. Prince William didn't respond with care. I They responded with truency threats, parental shame, blame. And at her IEP meetings this last month, you brought multiple attorneys to a meeting about a kindergarten about a kindergartener. What kind of system needs a legal team to deny sports to a six-year-old child? Every dollar spent fighting could have gone towards a solution. Instead, it's going to lawyers to resistance to bureaucracy. So, tonight on autism awareness day, I ask you, are you aware that failing to send a teacher is a denial of fate? The school refusal is a nervous the school refusal is a nervous system in distressed, not a parent problem. That threatening families with truency

041is retraumatizing and wrong. that spending taxpayer dollars to fight families instead of supporting children is a moral failure because I am. I've lived it. My children have lived it. I am their voice. It is your responsibility to provide faith and I will not stop speaking until this district stops treating autistic children like burdens. Francisco Esparza. Good evening everyone. My name is Francisco Sparsa. I live in Dale City in Prince William County and I am a proud representative of the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters. I have been a resident for over 20 years and I attended Prince William County schools including Hampton Middle School, Babel Middle School, and Garfield Senior High School. I also have family that have attended these schools and appreciate the school board making the bold investment you are to expand

042our schools for future generations while ensuring local workers who have attended and send their children to these schools are not forgotten. A project labor agreement is a great way to ensure local apprentices and journey person carpenters are building the community they live in while also ensuring all wages, benefits, and timeline details are agreed to ahead of time. Thank you again for putting our students and local workers first. I and my union proudly supports this PLA. Thank you, Edwin Loriio. Lori Lorero. Sorry. Close enough. Okay. Say it. It's Edwin Loreno. Oh, okay. Oh, sorry. Well, thank you members of the board. I'm here on an issue with uh a bus stop on February 26th of um this year. here. They stopped dropping off my high school student and told him basically he had to start walking

043for about a half a mile. On February 27th, my wife wrote an email to the transportation department. Uh later on, I wrote and I actually sorry called Mrs. Jennifer Wall's office and we got a response on March 3rd from um Mr. Lyron Woodard on the 4th. We set up a meeting. He came out the next day on um March 5th. We met with him and Mr. Robert McCully who arrived a little late from the transportation department where we walked to the stop and back. Um later on uh I've during this time I've been calling everyone in that I could get their numbers. Mr. Danny Y. Uh another lady I'll I'll read what I an email that I sent to them. Uh Mr. Woodard, this is dated um March 24th. Um, Mr. Woodard, I spoke with

044Tracy Gamble this morning. On Wednesday, March 19th, a car ran over a mailbox on the two curbs between Down and Downs, where my high schooler is supposed to walk in complete darkness. I have let people know of the danger of the cars coming down the street at 40 to 50 m an hour. This is not the first mailbox or neighbor has had to replace because of people running off the road. This fraud is dangerous during daylight hours, much more when it's dark. The drivers can't see the kids and we don't wear fluorescent uh shirts. You know, the kids actually wear dark hoodies and can't be seen. Uh earlier that day, I wrote to Mr. Woodard, "I've been waiting for the conference call with you and Miss Heather Hansen since the morning of March 17th, but

045still no call. I have forwarded pictures and videos of my children having to walk in complete darkness and still no response from you about this call or any other person in the transportation department. I spoke with Danny Y. He accidentally picked up my phone call with a blocked number on March 7th. When I spoke to him, he told me that they had done a review of the bus stop during the month of July 2024. When I asked about his assessment on March 4th, he had no idea what I was talking about until I told him that that was in the email where he had stated that he had been there the day before. Uh, the transportation has pre-made rejection letters set up to turn down parents requests. Thank you, Mr. um, if if I could

046just another second. The issue I have is my daughter Mr. Lero, you can email us or come back. I have, sir. I've emailed all of you. I've emailed everyone and no one seems to care. But my daughter doesn't have an arm and now they're making her walk. Thank you. 300 yards. Thank you. Uh next next uh three will be Ashley Ellingsson, David Douly, and Reena Stap. Ashley Ellson My name is Ashley Ellingsson. My information is on file with the clerk. Good evening, school board members. I'm here to address the overcrowding at Covington Harper Elementary School. The school's enrollment has reached 948 students, surpassing its design designed capacity of 900 796 students and has necessitated the use of eight modular trailers to accommodate the excess student population. Projections indicate that enrollment may surge to 125% to

047135% of the school's intended capacity, resulting in the need for approximately 12 to 14 trailers. This is absurd. While modular classrooms offer a temporary solution, they introduce significant safety and security challenges. First, there are emergency response challenges like evacuation and shelter in place limitations. Modular units present their own issues for evacuation procedures during severe weather events. These structures may not offer adequate protection, posing risks to students and staff during events such as heavy storms and high winds. It is not possible to timely shelter or evacuate approximately 200 kids in modular units. Furthermore, transitioning large amounts of students to modular units increases the time they're exposed to the environmental conditions such as high heat, storms, or freezing temps. It is not possible to limit exposure to the elements for 200 kids in modular units. Next, there

048are physical security risks, including surveillance gaps and access control issues. The placement of modular classrooms can create blind spots in existing security camera coverage, increasing vulnerability to unauthorized access. Additionally, unlike the main school building, which has multiple secure access points to classrooms, modular units only have one external access point to the students, making it challenging to monitor and restrict access effectively. It is not possible to prevent unauthorized individuals from engaging with 200 kids in modular units. Finally, the concern of traffic and transportation safety. The entrance and exit at Covington Harper and its limited parking are already pain points for many parents, staff, and bus drivers. An increase in the student body means more car riders, more buses, and more traffic, which will further bottleneck the school entrance as well as River Heritage B Boulevard boulevard.

049This may also impede emergency response vehicles from effectively accessing the school and/or residents of the surrounding community in a timely manner. The risk to the safety and security of our kids is just one part of the overcrowding problem, but I only have three minutes. I urge the school board to take immediate action by initiating the resoning of school boundary lines. This approach will effectively redistribute. Thank you, David Douly. Good evening. My name is David Douly Jr. and my address is on file. I'm a gay, white, married man to a wonderful, sometimes crazy husband of almost 17 years. I am also a proud father who raised h my two kids right here in Prince William County as well as in North Carolina, Germany, and Arizona. Yeah, I'm an Army guy. Both of my children graduated from

050Hilton High School and have grown into wonderful adults. I am also an uncle, a brother, a veteran, an army sergeant, a friend, a mentor, a human being, and last but certainly not least, a proud grandfather to an almost three-year-old girl. I'm here tonight to ask the Prince William County School Board and the Superintendent of Schools to continue supporting sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories for both our students and staff. Why is this important? If you're a parent, do you remember the first time you laid eyes on your child? The feel of holding their h tiny hands, cradling them, feeling that overwhelming joy. What about those of you who are happily married? Do you remember the mix of fear and joy? The first time you stood before others and declared your love, the joy

051of holding your partner's hand, exchanging rings, and sharing a kiss in front of your loved ones. How about the first time you finished a book, drove a car, hung out with friends, celebrated a birthday, or got a promotion? Do you remember that joy? Let me share a story. This past weekend, Equality Prince William, of which I am the president, along with others in our community, hosted a transgender day of visibility potlook. We couldn't publicize a location due to security concerns, fearing hate, potential violence, and disruption from those who would seek to harm people. Silly simply wanting to celebrate joy like the examples I have shared. And yet, despite that fear, we experienced that joy. We had love, laughter, karaoke, games, and a feeling of belonging. We shared resources, told stories, and welcomed each other like

052family. The warmth we felt chased away the darkness, and it was a beautiful thing. Unfortunately, the current f federal administration seems determined to stop people from celebrating anything that doesn't meet their approval. But what we must remember to forget our history is to repeat it. We should celebrate black history, women's history, the contributions of Arab and Asian-Americans, Pacific Islanders, pride, Hispanic heritage, Native American heritage, and all the other monthly observances. We are stronger when we embrace each other's histories and experiences. Thank you. Thank you, Reena Stap. Hi, I'm Reena Stap and my address is on file with the clerk. Um, first off, I am wearing blue for Autism Awareness Day. Um, the school I work at was doing that to um help bring appreciation and awareness to the students that are in the autism room.

053And I have many um I have family members who are my brother's autistic. I have friends and um neighbors who themselves and their children are autistic and I have worked in the autism and sped classrooms and I see how much time um the special education needs for their teaching supplies for their hands-on capabilities and the different methods they use with these students to learn and thrive. And I did look at the budget and it did I did see how there was an increase in um teachers for the special education department and I did want to say thank you for that. Um as someone who is personally impacted by some of these classrooms and events and some just getting another set of hands in a classroom can make a huge difference with some of these kids

054who just need a little bit more time and care. Um so thank you for that. Um, I did read through the monthly, um, release of all the things going on in the county. I also want to say, um, I appreciate all the inclusive and diverse programs that Prince William County has for the students. Um, I attended the heritage night at my student school and it was great to see the kids that I work with just so excited to share their foods and their history and their background. They're coming up to me and they're like, "Mrs. Stap, come try this." And I was like, "Oh my gosh, you speak Bulgarian." And so we just like made connections and spoke about different things. And that's one of the things I love about the school system here is

055just there are so many opportunities for the kids to express themselves. Um and in reading through what you all have visited this past month. Um I love the fact you were all in taking turns in viewing each other's district stuff cuz the you know the sporting events, the musicals, the robotics competitions are not always just where you are. you know, Woodbridge had the robotics competition and there was musicals all over the place. And um I appreciate being in a a county where the schoolboard is involved and isn't just there in the background. Like seeing you all at the schools is great and exciting for us and the kids. Um, and in being so involved, I want would my ask is that you reach out to the VHSL to ask that they reverse their ban on

056trans female athletes and return to the 2425 bylaws, which does not discriminate against someone by their sexual orientation. And I think coming from such a large county in Virginia, especially with all those winning students that you appreciated earlier today, so many made it to states and won. I think it would be a big impact if it came from this county being that we're just so winning, right? PWCS proud baby. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes citizen comment time. Up next is student representative time. Joining us tonight is Alla Rashid, our senior from Unity Reed High School. Miss Rashid, the floor is yours. Thank you, Dr. Latif. Good evening to the Princeoom County School Board community and Dr. McDade. I'm happy to be back on the day representing my peers again. To start off my remarks,

057I want to just recap and highlight two workshops the division held that I was able to participate in. Firstly, on March 19th, risk management held a workshop working with the Sandy Hook Promise team for safe clubs countywide. At this workshop, students were able to collaborate on issues within their respective schools as well as discuss how important it is to keep our local community safe, whether it is through social awareness and unity or direct safety methods. There were over 18 schools in attendance with each middle middle and high school countywide bringing club members. A few of schools also had been able to present and share guidance on initiatives their club have their club has taken with an example being my school at Unity Reed. At UNE we discussed our volunteer opportunities we have for students within

058the community and how we weekly how weekly we go to local elementary schools such as innovation elementary school and assist in things spanning from dismissal to title one events. This was shared with other clubs countywide with many stating how useful they saw the initiatives to be. Workshops like this allow students to bring together their accomplishments in promoting safety and unity and are beneficial way to for people to collaborate countywide. The other workshop the division held was our third annual was our third student leadership workshop of the year. This one however had been a combination between middle and high school student voice committees to truly embrace working together on a countywide level. Two board members, Mr. Blake and Mr. Jesse, were also in attendance, as well as Dr. McDade. We thank you all for your continued

059support of student voice. At the workshop, each student voice committee presented what they had accomplished or an issue they wish to resolve in the future. This was done through round table presentations with each group having six to 10 guests, allowing for students to collaborate with other students and adults to share ideas and receive feedback. This opportunity was something each student involved enjoyed with many saying how it was a great way to collaborate on things and see how others are also influenced of the same issues countywide. Miss Fiola and her department worked to plan the event and provide the opportunities needed for student leadership to grow. Now looking into the future of the school year in the upcoming year, some students feel like policies vary widely between schools. For example, one policy that seems to be

060very different between schools is flex periods. Some schools do not enforce the no new work policy, leaving some students to not have the opportunity to properly complete their work when in school. On behalf of the students I represent, we'd like to see more consistency in how flex periods are utilized. May is also mental health awareness month. This is something many students believe should be emphasized because it because of its role in both our academic and personal lives. The importance of discussing mental health, particularly in May, must be highlighted and clearly communicated to students countywide and families. The division has already done so through its impulation of hazel health, the service that students do enjoy and tend to use. However, providing more in school opportunity opportunities, decreasing stigmas, and being open regarding the idea of mental

061health is something that would be beneficial for students countywide. That that will be all for my remarks this evening. Thank you so much, and I hope everyone has an amazing evening. Thank you, Miss Rashid. Up next, superintendent time. Dr. McDade. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good evening. I want to spend my superintendent time sharing some information about so many different events that are happening throughout the county as we enter into the month of April. I would like to invite our community members to a few upcoming events highlighting the amazing talents of our students and teachers. The PWCS All County Middle School Arts Festival will be held from 9:00 am to 300 PM this Saturday, April 5th here at the Kelly Leadership Center. The All County High School Arts Festival will be held also from 9:00 a.m.

062to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 26th. Also here at the Kelly Leadership Center, our annual PWCS all county arts festivals celebrate our vibrant and creative visual arts programs. The festivals highlight the artistic achievements of our exceptional artists with a diverse array of exhibits including paintings, sculptures, digital art, mixed media, and more. Artwork is selected by each individual visual arts teacher through a formal process culminating with a jured process at the arts festival. The elementary students shared their work last month and hundreds of visitors were very impressed with the talent and creativity that was on full display throughout our building. As we begin the month of April, I want to take a moment to also recognize a few important observances and reminders happening across our school division. First, April is Autism Awareness Month, a time to

063celebrate neurodeiversity and reaffirm our commitment to inclusive practices that support all students in reaching their full potential. Let us continue working together to create learning environments where every child feels seen, supported, and valued. April is also the month of the military child. We are proud to serve many military connected students and families in Prince William County schools and we honor their strength, resilience, and sacrifice. We look forward to honoring our military connected students and families at our April 23rd school board meeting where we will celebrate all of our purple star schools in PWCS. Also coming up this month is National Library Week, April 7th through the 13th. And I want to encourage our students and families to take some time to visit your local library, whether in your school or in your community. Libraries are

064not only places for books, but for exploration, imagination, and lifelong learning. And as we look ahead, I do want to remind all families, which I probably don't need to remind you of this, spring break is April 14th through April 18th with a teacher workday on April 21st. I hope that you each will take some time to rest, recharge, and spend quality time with your loved ones. When we return, we will be entering into testing season. And I know how important it is that we all come back focused and refreshed. Thank you for everything that you all continue to do to support our students and our schools in Prince William County Schools. Mr. Chairman, that concludes the superintendent report. Thank you, Dr. McDade. Um, next up is the revision of policy 132, regular, special, and closed

065meetings. We are now um this is board matter 1601. I need a um motion. Vice chair black. I move that the601. I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the proposed revisions updates to policy regular special and close meetings. Do I have a second? Mr. Chairman, Miss Williams second. Okay. Uh at this point we'll have a discussion. If there's amendments, we'll accept amendments at this time to vote on them. Miss um Tradenic. Uh Mr. Chairman, I move to amend section XA of the policy to include provisions that first requires board members to reserve their questions to the end of the presentation. And second, limits board members to speaking twice on a pending item of business for no more than three minutes each time. and third grants the chair discretion to extend the time

066if warranted. Do you have a second on Mr. Denick's motion? I second. Mr. Wilkins discussion on this motion. Um Mr. Denick, Mr. Latif I have noticed that we as a board don't adhere to the three minutes um when it comes to questioning and discussion during uh time frames and we do hold the general public to that three minutes. Um I also think that this would help with the fact that we do receive the same presentations that are being shown tonight. We already receive those in a one-hour plus meeting where we are able to ask any questions. Um, we want to ask for as long as we want to ask. Um, and staff will sit there with us, give up their time, their resources. They take the time out. We can email them with anything. out

067of respect for the staff that are here every night, out of respect for the public, out of respect for each other, I think limiting our time to three minutes is um not only respectful but needed. Uh and I think that it would be great if my colleagues would support that. Uh I think there's no reason that we can't get what we need said in six minutes of time after we have that much time. Thank you. Any other discussion on this question, Miss Williams? Is that three three minutes per the way the way you have it? So, um just for clarification, Mr. Dennick, I think you've asked for three minutes per round and it's two rounds for each member. No more than three minutes each time. And third grants the chair discretion to extend the time

068if warranted. So, if it was two round two rounds at two rounds, but if it was a hot topic, it gives you the discretion as well. Mr. Wil, I support this um with the condition of course that she added that the chair have the discretion to expand uh extend the discussion depending on um the topic. MRO. Yeah. My my question is is it three minutes of us asking and then the answer period can be whatever. Um would you like to clarify Mr. Tennic? is the three minutes inclusive of the answer from staff. I asked um them to model it after the board of county supervisors and that is included in the time frame of the question and the answer. Um again, we do get to ask questions prior. So that's part of why. Thank you

069for the clarification. Okay. Uh let's keep it short in the spirit of this even um discussion. Miss Williams. Um yes. Well, I'm aware that the BLCS has five minutes per turn, but I won't be supporting this because this is really the only opportunity the public has to see us be able to ask questions. Um, I do believe that the prep that we have ahead of time is for our knowledge and understanding being that we are the responsible representatives for our community. But um one of the things that I will say to this is when I first got on the board, I uh sometimes would get my first year a little irritated because I was, oh, our board members are up here asking questions for so long and how come they don't know the material. And

070I was reminded um by my dad who said, you know, you you get up there as a representative and you have access to this information, you have this knowledge base, but the public doesn't. and it's your job to be able to ask questions and have the information disseminated in a way that's digestible to them because this is the only opportunity that you ever have to do this. So, while you may um be a little irritated because you you have a sense of knowledge, the purpose of you sitting there is to educate your constituents and to bring up questions. And I'm not going to support this because a it's less time than even the board of county supervisors has because they have five minutes. Um, but B, I I would hope that we would as board

071members take that into consideration and some things do require longer times than others. Um, and we should be able to have the right to express ourselves because outside of this meeting, there really isn't the opportunity to do so. Um, so thank you. Thank you. Anybody else, Miss Swall? Um, I uh feel like the provision to allow the chair to extend time if warranted gives too much power to the chair when each board member has a responsibility, an important responsibility to fully thresh out the issues and express their thoughts and ask questions which I feel like three minutes just absolutely not adequate enough at times. Sometimes it's plenty of time but at times sometimes it's not. Um I remember um during COVID we had long discussions and um it was really important that we hear from

072each member of the board their thoughts, their concerns. Um and also when we talked about collective bargaining that was really important and when we discuss data um student progress reports and data and all of those things those discussions can be quite long but frankly they're really important. Um the 2 by two meetings are excellent but they are not the meeting. Um people cannot hear the public can't hear what I ask. They can't see if I've done any work on it or listened or prepared for those meetings. But the meeting that happens is the meeting that happens here. This is where the work is is done and where I learn what my other colleagues think. Um not just the person that I'm I'm paired with. So, um, in general, I'm not a favor in fan of,

073uh, limiting the speech of elected representatives. Um, and I think if we do have a problem with long-winded members or grandstanding or anything like that, there are internal controls where we can check ourselves and have those conversations and correct our behavior without having to have a hard and fast limit that is subject only to the decision of the chair. So I think in the matter of in the issue of preserving transparency for the public with our deliberations and our questions and our thought processes that I think it's important that we have um not hard and fast rules for our limits on our time. Mr. Jess, I uh I would say one thing on the the way the board of supervisor does and so forth. I do not if we are going to have a threem

074minute rule I think it should be uh extended if the response from the question is is taking up part of the three minutes. So that I don't like. The other thing is I I think most of you agree I'm probably the least talkative one on on the das here but uh I feel that it's important to be able to respond and talk uh even if it's your third time if necessary or if you have a disagreement with somebody that stated something that you didn't hear on the two and two we only hear yourself and the other person so we don't have how the other people feel about it until we come into this meeting. So, I'm not in favor of this. Thank you. Okay. I'll Mr. Dick. Yep. Sorry. Um I just wanted to clarify

075I I am not um saying that we can't ask questions or that we cannot um I I don't believe it's my job to educate the public. Um I do think having awareness and transparency is great. Um, and I think that that can be done within the six minutes that we have. Um, talking about what what we've talked about in the 2 by twos. Again, it's it's a lengthy discussion. Um, they give a great presentation again for us. So, being able to say um the highlights of the presentation that are important to you or ask a question that you asked in the 2 by two, which I've done for the public so that they can hear the question that I asked in the 2 by two um here as well with an answer. And I do

076understand that my colleagues don't want the three minutes to include the answer portion. I don't know how to go about making that not part of it. So that's why I went through it this way, but I appreciate everybody's dialogue on this and thank you for letting me bring this forward. Mr. Denick, I I appreciate the um the amendment. Um so my comments on this, I I won't be supporting it. And while I appreciate having more power um because you know that's great as a chairman I'm always appreciative more power um what I would say is that um for me um I have been very cautious to restrict free speech of um certainly of our elected representatives and of um our community members on topics and Miss Wall brought up there um the pandemic discussions went

077on very long and if I was you know to have that power I I certainly See, any chairman, not just me, could abuse that power in a way that he would restrict discussion on topics that were um he was against while um lifting the restriction on topics that he was for or she was for either way as a chair. Um so I I feel like this um the the discretion that the chair has is absolutely prone to abuse. Um and and certainly if you're in the minority, I think it can certainly be even more abused um against the minority. And so I I think at this time what I would say is that I appreciate your um desire to um have efficiency in our meetings. I do um while I don't like the long meetings

078as well. I think we have a responsibility the public to flesh out in discussions whether inefficient or efficient we are as each of us may or may not be. I think it's critical that the public get to hear um our questions out in the public as transparently as possible and and um and I I continue to um uh resist any restrictions on free speech and so I I won't be supporting the amendment though well-meaning as it is. Um I'll I'll do Mr. Miss Williams and then Met Do you have anything else? Well, yeah. Yeah, that'll be later. That's the second whole different um we have to vote on this one. Mr. Jesse, I think again it's very important that at opportunities when you hear some of the other board comments that you have a chance

079to respond to, which is exactly what you just did, uh you responded back to the comments from the other board members that you felt different. So I think it's important for us to have that ability to do so and not be limited. I just Point of clarification. I thought if you are directly like if in if someone is directing something at you, the other person has the right to respond in that was I guess is that part of that? Can I can I ask for a point of clarification? Um because this has been a problem for me personally up here. Um, when I speak here, I believe that we're supposed to address you as the chair or speak to the audience. We're not supposed to speak to each other. So whether one of my colleagues

080addresses me directly or not, my job is to not turn the microphone on and address them back directly. Yes, I can have free speech and yes, I can make a comment, but again, my comment was under 30 seconds and I did not address this is a discussion that we were having. So, if I broke Robert's rules and what I just did, my apologies. Part of me bringing this forward was also eliminating that nonsense. Point taken. Okay. At this point, um, please vote on the amendment. So, if you're voting yes, you're voting to support, uh, Mr. Dennick's amendment to policy 132. If you're voting no, you're opposing it. vote is two yes, six no. Motion failed. Moving on. Any other amendments to policy 132? Mr. Chairman, Miss Williams, thank you. I just wanted to offer a

081uh friendly amendment. Make the motion. Yeah. Yes. I just want to offer a friendly uh amendment to the current motion. Um under board matters um excuse me under board time just to extend uh the board time from 3 minutes to four minutes. Obviously we do not have to use the time if necessary but that's what I'd like to do. So the motion is to extend a board member time from 3 minutes to four minutes. Do I have a second? Mr. Chairman Mr. Blake seconds as well as Mr. Jesse. They tied on the second. Um, any discussion on this, Mr. Will? Hi. Um, I This one uh was what I kind of foresaw as a great way of making sure time was allocated to the board member. So, if we would have, you know, adopted that

082um amendment that Miss Trogenic made, um I will still support this because I was under the, you know, I was hoping this one would pass, but I still believe that extending the board matters from 3 to 4, uh would be appropriate. I I thought at one point it was five and that was going to be I'm happy that we kind of worked from five to four. So, I will support this, Miss Williams. What? Any other Mr. Denick? Can I just Can I just get clarification because I think I was a little confused. Are we just amending this to add one more minute is all we're doing? Same motion. Amending for one more minute. This is uh the what the amendment is. Um what's the section on this? Wade the This is section 13 of policy

08313. Did you write it up? No. Okay. What's the section? Section is third section 13 of policy 132. Uh and so the motion is to change the time allotted from board for each board member's board time from 3 minutes to four minutes. Okay. So this is different than the motion that I made. Totally different. Yeah. It's to it's different. Yeah. Yeah. It's a totally different. This is for board matters at the end of the meeting. At the end of the meeting. So we're adding an extra minute to the time where we already have three minutes. That is correct. That is the clarification. Yes. And can I also get clarification? There's eight board members. Yes, ma'am. And so if we add an extra minute of time each, that's eight minutes. That's an extra eight minutes that

084we're going to go on and on. Okay. And we don't have enough time in the middle of the meeting to already get our point across if it's unlimited because my motion failed. Our time is unlimited in the middle of the meeting. And now we're proposing to add an extra minute for us to hear our ourselves speak at the end of the meeting. I just wanted to clarify that. Correct. Your clarification is correct, Mr. Williamson. Thank you. Just to give a little background, um, several years ago when I started, there was unlimited board matters time. Um, it was then restricted to five minutes and then we brought it down to three. I'm asking for the extension of an additional minute because it is the only time we are allowed to speak on any topic um that

085we would like to speak on. During a meeting, we are restricted to conversations on the topic at hand, whatever the agenda item is. um as it is now, most of us attend a great deal of amount of events, whether it is a sporting event or a musical event or whatever have you. If you were to go through that list, um several of us sometimes never even get to any other important matters that we would like to announce to our constituents um because we are doing our events. That is the only time as a board member we have unrestricted uh messaging in our uh official capacity. So, thank you. Yep. Please vote. Please vote. Vote is seven yes, one no. Tradenic. Motion passed. Okay. Now we'll move to the full vote of the policy 132 with

086the new amendments. Does anyone have any discussion on the rest of the policy that wasn't answered in the last couple weeks on these discussions? Okay, please vote. vote is seven yes, one no. Tradenic motion passed. Next on the agenda, we have three policy revisions up for first reading. 1602, revision of policy 133, school board hearing procedure, first reading. 1603, revision policy 138, minutes and records of school board meetings. First readings 1604 revision policy 180 office on budsman first reading. Um councel uh Mr. Anderson do you have any comments on this? This is on for first reading. Yes Mr. Chairman, very quickly, um I'll point out that um as to policy 133, the change here, uh the substantive change is um uh to add a provision uh in accordance with video regulations that provides that in

087a dismissal hearing, the employee shall bear his or own expenses and the board is responsible for the expenses of the division superintendent. Um, and this is also part of the five-year review uh and the board's ongoing efforts to update and uh conform uh its 100 series policies to uh legal changes in section policy 138. The next uh topic is simply a uh to make sure that our policy is in compliance with Virginia code changes as it as it um with respect to electronic attendance at meetings. And uh then policy 180, the substantive change there uh is to allow the chair with the consent of the vice chair to designate another board member to meet regularly with the ombbudsman or the ombbuds sorry as reflected in current practice. Um and so our current policy limits that

088supervision. Um as you know the ombbuds is uh one of the four direct uh employees uh by the board and so part of the supervisory duties would be to allow the uh chair with the vice chair's consent to designate another board member to meet with the ombbuds. Again these are just on for action tonight. Thank you. If you have any questions, concerns, please. I'm sorry. And for information, if you have any questions or um concerns, please um uh contact division counsel or superintendent. Well, actually just division council or the clerk. Um and then we'll bring this back up for vote at the next meeting. Uh next up, 1605 pilot pilot project labor agreement resolution. Um 1605 motions in order. Vice Chair Blake. I move that the Prince William County School Board approve a resolution directing

089the superintendent to implement a pilot project labor agreement requirement for any public works contract awarded to for construction of the 14th high school. Do I have a second? Mr. Chairman, Miss Argore, I second. Any discussion? Uh we'll start with Miss Arore and then we'll go to Miss Williams. So, um I'm looking in this resolution. It does say that we the school board are authorizing um the superintendent to develop the procurement regulations uh contract bid specifications or other bid documents. I I just it lists things inside this uh for the if the public is interested. I trust your judgment. Yeah. Yeah. It's I'm just saying in in here it says now therefore be it resolved that the Prince County School Board um as authorized it it says directs the superintendent of schools to develop procurement regulations.

090So it's not the board it's the division. Correct. But I but I would like for we to be really clear about that because I would as a superintendent would not be um the person. It would be division. No. So we need to have way could you please bring some clarity to that? Is the question Morgapore that whether the board is directing it? It says in the thing it says hereby directs the superintendent of schools to develop procurement regulations. Who's developing it is all I'm asking. Oh, sorry. it would be the superintendent. So, okay, I just want to be clear. We're saying the regulations for procurement is PWCS. But I I want the board to be clear based on what I heard Miss Zarapor say. This is not unlike um the CBA. This is not the

091superintendent negotiating an agreement. So, I want to be clear that the board understands that that is not the that is not the role of the superintendent in the pro project labor agreement. Correct. the the the Go ahead. Go ahead. Wait. So, the direction here would be for the superintendent to adapt regulations on a pilot basis for the construction of the one high school that would allow for project labor agreements because there are multiple ways in which those could be done. That would be up to the discretion of the superintendent how that is implemented. Right. Thank you, Miss Williams. Thank you. Um it part of my concern was that how it's written in the resolution because resolutions and motions words matter. Is there u a an option to have it read the superintendent schools or her

092designated staff because the superintendent is not in our procurement department? Um and I think it's very important that the correct people be involved in this and I don't want the wording of the resolution to tie our hands because that does make a difference. So, this is we've left this very open-ended in the fact that superintendent can determine how we're going to move forward the project labor agreement and in the regulations she can outline exactly what the process would be. Is that correct, Mr. Anderson? That's correct. And the So, she would authorize whoever in in the regulations. Correct. It's not that the superintendent herself has to personally make the regulations, right? But that's how the resolution reads. And so that's why I'm concerned because you know I'm a stickler about words. Um and I think it

093is important that we have that in there. I'll be honest with Williams that's not how we read it when I read that was not the intent. Um but is it possible I mean is it would it be possible to have a friendly change to that just to if there's a motion to do so then the board would need to adopt that motion. Okay. Okay. Well, I'd like to make a friendly motion to um change the language in that to have it read the superintendent of schools or her designated or who whom she designates or her designates or her designates. Yes. Okay. Does anyone have any objection to the I have a second typo on that? Yeah. Can I Is there Can we remove her name and and do something else? Is that possible? Uh I

094just feel like we're we're still uh tying her hands a bit like we're still making it have to be her decision when this is not something she brought forth. Well, regulations are the purview of the superintendent. Yes. So, uh policies are the are the board's policies and the regulations are the superintendent's regulations implementing those policies. That's right. I mean that the the board is directing the superintendent to create regulations to move forward with project labor agreements. And the po the I'll just point out, Mr. chairman that the that it could be that there are multiple regulations that would this would be impacted depend on how it's implemented. Those fall under the purview of perhaps anybody from the COO to the CFO uh because they could be budgetary, they could be financial, they could be operational.

095Um so can I ask one more question? Yeah. Um if we go through with this, does that mean we have to build the 14th high school? Does this lock us into to making it that it is so? No. Nothing in this motion uh affects in any way other than directing that the procurement process used for the 14th high school uh should there be one uh that it include a pilot project on project labor agreements. Okay. Thank you Miss Wall. Um, going to the question at hand, which is the language in here. My understanding is we have other language that it's it's implied that when the board is directing the superintendent of schools to do something that it wouldn't necessarily be her, it would be under her direction, staff under her direction. I mean, I don't

096know if we necessarily need to amend it because I think it's implied that it would be anybody under the superintendent, but just it's neither here nor there. I think it could be fine how it's written, but if we wanted to add the language, it wouldn't hurt. I believe the motion's still out there on whether or not onto on amending the language to the superintendent of schools and her design. Does anyone have an objection to changing that in the in the language? No. If you vote, it's unanimous. Then does anyone object to changing the language to the way Mr. Anderson read it? Oh, I understand that. You can vote on that at the end. So, point of order. We're We're just considering the amendment at this point. At this point, we're considering the amendment on the

097wording. Can we vote on the on the I would suggest voting on the amendment with the new language. Please vote on the amendment that Do we have a second for that? Submits it to the designate. All right. We got a second from Mr. Yeah. Please vote. I This is on the amendment. This is on the amendment that we just did about lang. Yes. Vote a seven yes, one no. Tradenic. Motion passed. Okay. Um discussion on the full motion. Any further discussion on the motion? Miss Williams. Thank you. Um I appreciate the fact that this is a pilot um so that we have the opportunity to um sort of parse this through because it would be a first. Um, for many of us, my um, only concern is typically with PLA's um, there becomes an issue

098with having small local contractors being able to bid and participate um, in an agreement like this as well as retaining autonomy for oursel as a division. Um, I feel confident that there's um, alternate methods to get this done so that we can um, retain our our autonomy. Um but my concern is how do we ensure in this that um our smaller uh local contractors are not um excluded from bidding. Um and that is my main concern. So I'm wondering if in ex ex if in executing this there could be maybe a letter from a general contractor. We could ask you know I don't know the ins and outs to say yes we can or can't. Um, but I just want to make sure that in doing this that we're not excluding any small uh companies

099that are local and that they're able to also participate. Do we have any um knowledge or understanding on that? Mr. uh Jesse, my understanding is that it does not restrict who can bid on the contract. It just restrict that whoever does bid has to follow the rules that are laid out. Yeah, that is correct. Um, Miss Wall, I have some comments, but first I have a question. Are pro project labor agreements something we already do in Virginia or is this one of those recent laws that was passed and now we have the ability to do it? And if it is something that has been allowed for a while, how common is it in Virginia? And have we ever done it? I can answer the question as to the the law changed uh several years ago

100allowing project labor agreements um by public bodies including school boards. That was in 2021 I believe. Um and as to how common, I'm not sure I can answer that. I do I'm aware that Fairfax has perhaps the county did one. Um it was not a school facility, but there was. So I think it's fair to say they're not common, but again it's also new. So So do we know? It sounds like we don't know if any school divisions have actually done this. Um my understanding is no school division in the state has done it yet. Mr. Wil. Oh yeah. Yeah. No. Go. Miss. No, no, no. Miss Wall. Okay. Mr. Wilk. I can go back. Okay, enough. Uh, so I'm not going to hold I timed this for three minutes, but now that that's done,

101uh, it's time to pontificate a little bit. Uh, for those who don't know, um, like Dr. Latif, I'm from the Midwest. I grew up in the bluecollar state of Michigan. Uh, there is no secret about my love and affinity, excuse me, allergy season. My love and affinity for the working class and our laborers. Um, my dad was a UAWW member for 39 years at Ford Motor Company. Both my grandfathers were UAW members at Ford Motor Company. And growing up in a state like Michigan, you have the experience where it wouldn't be uncommon for my friends and I to have almost games in a sense in the 80s and 90s about representing where your father worked, whether it was Ford, GM, or Chrysler. Um, that was the big three. That was the buy American slogan. I

102remember my dad's next door neighbor, our neighbor, came over and asked my dad if it was okay if he was going to buy a Toyota. That that was not uncommon in these bluecollar states. I'm not going to go on about what has happened since then, but I'm highlighting my labor blood. When I was 16, I joined the food carriers associ a ger. I have been a part of a union ever since. Uh and so for me, I look at tonight as simply fighting for our working class and our communities in Prince William County. That's to me what I see this this is the real difference. making sure that we are implementing a PLA for our 14th high school because what we are doing is ensuring good jobs, fair wages, and real opportunities for our local

103workers. Our families, I think we've talked about this with the economy, are struggling to get ahead. Uh we heard about this over and over again about there's families, uh husband, wives, what have you, who can't afford their first homes anymore. They can't. And we heard all during the election like, "Oh my god, get my son out of my basement. He can't afford a house." And somehow that was just going to miraculously change, uh, you know, based off of the outcome of the election. Well, nothing's going to change unless we actually implement policies that help our workforce in our community. You know, we have people traveling and spending hours commuting to the District of Columbia or Maryland just to make ends meet. What do we do for like a person who's on a non-union job who's

104fighting for the wages she's owed? But we can help these people because by guaranteeing this PLA's ensure workers receive fair wages, benefits, and protections they deserve. They promote local training, key word, local. So parents in our community, people we see at the grocery store, at the soccer fields on the weekend, which is why my allergies are bad, they can work close to home, putting food on the table and still making it home for their kids events like soccer or even dinner. These agreements create real apprenticeship opportunities, giving our students a direct path to highpaying careers without college debt. We talk over and over again. I know we're releasing a new STR strategic plan soon or it's in development. We have highlighted our desire to expand career tech pathways. This aligns with that. And let's talk

105about something even more urgent with this. Let's talk about healthcare. No parent should have to choose between paying rent and affording med affording medication for their sick child. A PLA ensures that workers have health care so no family faces that impossible decision. PLA's are also mean safer work sites. No workers should have to fear that they won't come home because safety shortcuts were taken to cut cost. These agreements create can create better conditions, proper training, and a key word again the workforce that would know their rights, that would have a livable wage, that would have their healthcare. We are attracting all these students that we're putting out through our career pathway programs, whether it be the electrical program, the fire program, um the plumbing program, the carpentry program. We're putting these kids in the market

106right now. And now we're saying to them, hey, we want to hire you or we want to make sure that the people building our next high school or maybe even further down the road with our prek expansion program or other schools that we're building. You know, we are investing in our people. It's about keeping jobs local, giving families a fair shot, and making sure our tax dollars support our community. That's how I view this. This is fighting for the working class. This is where I think things were missed this last election cycle. We need to be there for the workers, for the people who are struggling every day because the wages aren't keeping up with inflation because they cannot afford a home. They're still losing all their money dumping money into an apartment rent. So,

107I urge my colleagues to please support this resolution. Thank you. Um, let me give others a chance. You spoke already. Uh, anyone else down there who hasn't spoken? Mr. Tennic. Yes. Um, so I'm a I'm a big fan of bluecollar workers. If I could think of the country song, I would sing it right now, but that would be a little much. It might go in over the three minute time limit. So, going back to God's country. I am going back to God's country. Yes. Um, I do I you know, I do appreciate Mr. Wilk and his passion. Um, I I do want to be clear that my vote does not dictate that I do not care for blue collar workers. Um, yeah, I could go into more detail on that, but I won't. Um, I

108I also think that career technical education does not have to equal a union. I think we we um have plenty of of kiddos that come out of our school system that go and work for um small businesses and things that are not involved in a union. Um, I did because I needed to know for myself. I did just use the Google and ask what percentage of blue collar workers are part of a union. In 2024, 11.1% of all wage and salary workers in the United States were union members. 11.1%. So, I just wanted to say that. Miss Williams. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, so I'm I'm going to support this because I believe in trying something new. Um, I I am doing so cautiously because it's always a gamble when you're the first out the

109gate. Um, I will say that when it comes to having a livable wage, that's what we did with the prevailing wage. Um, so that I understand that that can be included in a in a PLA. I do want to be cautious um and kind of reframe a little bit of what my fellow board member was saying because we we are not a tax generating uh or a revenue generating entity. So the PLA has to asssure that we um work within the confines of the amount of money that is already allotted for this project. Um and I would like for the board to also have uh updates on this because it's a learning experience not only for us as a board but for the community at large. My understanding is that or the main reason why

110I'm supporting this is because it gives an opportunity as my fellow board member said for our students who are coming out of the trades which number one fan of consistently the opportunity to work locally. Um, and I will say again, my concern too is ensuring that the RFP or the PLA, however it's designed, because we, this is a learning experience for us all, allows for um, you know, our local companies who are smaller to be able to participate. And I would like updates on anything that concerns staffing. um because our current society now we've had construction projects in the past that almost were over uh went over time or were not able to be completed because there was not enough people to complete the job. So I just would like some assurances as we go

111down this process which I think is a worthwhile one for us to do um to keep us informed um because again this is a learning experience and I want to make sure that if this is truly for our apprentices, truly for our students, truly for our union me our union laborers that everything is done um for that benefit and that if there are things that we need to modify next time or whatever the case may be that we are also educated on this process because it is important. We do need to support our trades. We do need to support the people who are building and and providing these environments and upkeeping these environments for ourselves and for our students. And we do have a commitment for all of the apprentices and internships um that we

112support here in the county, our commitment to those students and our commitment to the workforce. Um, and as I see it, I think this this could be a win-win for all of us, but it is al also an educational opportunity, and I would like for us to um to really be informed as this process goes along. Um, and I would also like some uh assurances or some reassurances if it comes to the point that we have to cancel or something is does occur with the 14th high school that that is also built in as well. So, thank you, M. Oh, Zarapur. Okay. Um, I'm assuming I'm the only union member of anything on this board. I'm actually in two unions. Um, and uh, because my unions are in education, I'm kind of bound by slightly

113different rules, but I decided to use the Google as my colleague said, and I was looking up uh, some some information about uh, project labor agreements. So, I'm assuming that the potential for a strike could happen. you can include in a PLA um clauses which ensure that their project is uh continuous so that there are no costly delays. Um it will kind of keep things standardized so that there's uniformity and efficiency across all the contractors who are working on the project and it can facilitate uh coordination between those different trades. It gives you a sk highly skilled not just skilled workforce but a highly skilled workforce which um I am concerned about because I do want to make sure that any of our buildings whether they are brand new or they are renovations are done

114really well and the craftsmanship the the accuracy and all of the you know electrical and and everything. Um because we know what happens when something isn't done right. has to be redone which is going to cost us time and money again. Um they can obviously we've talked about this uh support apprentice programs. We have recent graduates who can benefit from this. Um they also can establish safety uh standards and training requirements to make sure that our people are protected. So I will be supporting this. I just want to make sure that um this union girl Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You got something. I want to hear it. Google, Mr. Okay, Mr. Mr. Jesse. Sometimes make us wonder if we should have voted the other way. uh put to listen folks. Yeah. And and and besides all

115the side talking going on, listen with this agreement we talked about only 30% or whatever it was are our union members. Everyone benefits just like in this system here. You do not have to be a member of the union in Prince William County to receive the benefits that the union provided. And that's the same thing here. Everyone benefits when there's a separate wage. People can't be paid under the table less amount and so forth. So that's a very good benefit. uh everyone is protected. So you know uh we can say and and and our political people say they support the you know they support blue collars but action speaks talks cheap. Thank you Mr. Wilk. That was excellent. Thank you sir. Um my only thing was I just wanted to clarify. So, we did I

116did look up um both uh Fairfax, Lowden, and Alexandria all have PLA's uh but they are not they're not the schools. We would be historically the first school uh I believe in Prince uh in in the Commonwealth of Virginia. So, just wanted to point that out. I think this is a great opportunity. And I forgot Miss Agapora, I was actually the vice president of the Prince William Federation of Teachers. So, Miss Wall Well, I don't really want to throw too much water on this fire, but um first of all, I don't like that no school division has done this. I'm not thrilled to be first, especially based on the cautionary tale that is collective bargaining and how stellarly not stellarly that has gone. Um, I do understand the sentiment about our graduates going into the

117trades and wanting to help them out, but we are a school division. We don't have taxing power. We can't raise revenue. We have a fixed pot of money. And if we spend money on labor costs, that means less money to put into the classrooms, which I do not like because our first priority, our only priority is to educate kids. And while I appreciate the job, the the goal of looking after labor, that isn't our priority. It it just isn't. It is to educate kids. That's what our constitutional powers tell us to do and that's what our priorities should be. Um what if costs run over? How does that affect things? What is that what will what is going to happen with that? And is this going to put a lot of work on our staff?

118I have no doubt because we have to craft a whole bunch of regulations. We have to come up with new contract language. We have to do all of that. That's going to be a lot of work and time is money. And when time is spent on these kinds of things, it's not being spent on the things that are our first priority, which are the children and their education. So again, as a public school division, our priority is to ensure that every dollar spent on school construction and renovation, which is what we're talking about, and I think we know that we need to do that, um, is used efficiently to create safe, highquality learning environments for our students. However, my concern is the implementation of a pilot project labor agreement would increase costs. It would limit

119competition and exclude qualified local businesses to the detriment of our schools and our taxpayers. Again, going back to my comment, we have a fixed sum of money. We do not generate revenue and that's why no school divisions have done this. Whereas a local government like Fairfax government, Arlington, they can do it if they want. Um, PLA's impose union labor requirements that prevent many highly skilled non-union contractors, of which apparently they're a majority, um, especially small and minority and localowned businesses. They have trouble bidding on school construction projects because their margins are smaller. So, when you reduce competition, you drive up costs. And when costs for construction go up, that means fewer resources are available for classrooms, teachers, and student programs. In my research, studies show that PLA projects cost 12 to 20% more than comparable

120open bid projects, placing an unnecessary financial burden on the school division and taxpayers. That's a large amount of money if we're talking about a $200 million school or 160. I don't know how it is much it is now. I think when Kolgan was built it was like 100 million and it might be 200 million now. That's a lot of money 12 to 20%. I'd rather spend that money directly on our students in our classrooms and our teachers. I think the kids would probably feel that way too. Additionally, PLA's create workforce inefficiencies by forcing non-UN contractors to hire unfamiliar union labor instead of using their existing well-trained teams. This disrupts project timelines, increases compliance burdens, and delays muchneeded school improvements. Moreover, PLA's may require non-UN workers to pay union dues or contribute to union benefits that

121they will never receive, an unfair practice that discourages participation from a broad and diverse workforce. Public school construction should be based on merit, cost effectiveness. Again, it's taxpayer dollars here and it's a pot a limited pot pot of money and inclusivity, not restrictive labor agreements that favor special interests. This is government favoritism towards unions rather than a free market approach to contracting, which I am in favor of. Our school division should remain comp committed to open competitive bidding that maximizes taxpayer investment and ensures the best possible learning environments for our students. So for these reasons, I well I recognize the strengths of the argument on the other side. I strongly oppose the adoption of the pilot project labor agreement and I would urge this board to consider fairness, fiscal responsibility, and the long-term interests of

122our schools and community with our primary purpose in mind, which is to educate students. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Wall. Um, so I'm going to have the last word, I think, here, Miss Williams. Sorry, Mr. Chairman. I could hear the disappointment of your voice, but I'm going to keep it short. I just want the public to be aware that when we do construction projects, there's been a lot of mention about safety requirements and fair pay. Um I don't want the public to think that we don't adhere to a stringent safety requirements. There are some by law, OSHA. Um they're very important. So it wouldn't be something specific to a PLA that we just invented because that's not true. Um I also want to remind the public that we do have prevailing wage and we do

123pay um you know there there are things set in stone. So that's not specific to just a PLA. these would be enhanced benefits that are included into the PLA, not that they don't exist at all. Um because I don't want anybody out there to think that we don't do any of those things. And I just for the last reminders, I would just like the board to be updated on this um because it is a new process and I think it's very important that we u work collaboratively with everyone involved. Thank you. Excellent. Thank you, Miss Williams. I just have one more question. Sorry, Miss Tennic. Um I I don't know if this is something Wade can answer or not. If if this were to go in, does this eliminate us being able to use the

124local companies? That's what I'm I'm understanding. No, it does not. But I and I can't I can't answer a lot of the details in that because a lot of the details are going to be determined by the superintendent's regulations. Okay. Can I also ask will will this come at a cost to the division? An extra cost to I'm not able to answer that. Not able to answer that, but I'll take a few extra attorneys if you'd like to. Okay. Okay. Um, great. Thank you. Any more questions? Okay. So, I think I might be able to answer some of those questions for you. So, first of all, I appreciate Mr. Jesse's comments on the fact that um good labor practices not only benefit unions, but they benefit everyone. Um our teachers are a great example. It's

125a minority who are actually members in the PWA. Yet the 61% increase that I've overseen in their salary since 2017 or 18 has directly benefited every single member of the teaching faculty, the staff and the administration in the school division. The holidays that the school division voted on for Yam Kipper, Rasha Shana, Eid, and Dvali benefit all students and families. And just like Labor Day, which we all sort of forget, um is a day to um recognize the the hard work of Americans and and the work that we do. America still to this day is the engine that runs the planet. We have uh the most work days, the least vacation days. Um we continue to churn out high productivity and work worldwide where we don't have uh great health care for everyone. We don't

126have uh great vacation times for everyone. We don't have child care for everyone where many of the industrial countries have solved these issues that um and have strong social safety nets. Um a project labor agreement here um will offer a number of things and and I think we should be clear on what these are. It's a prehire agreement negotiated before work begins on a project um that sets the stage for how we're going to move forward with the project. You can have incentives built into these agreements to include womenowned businesses, veteranowned businesses, local businesses. We currently have no safety uh valve or a regulation that ensures local businesses in the county get current bids on current contracts. So, I've been on this board seven years. I think it's about 10 schools we've constructed. Um there

127is no current, to my knowledge, policy that guarantees local businesses have the option in a project labor agreement. We can include incentives to hire local businesses, to include apprenticeships, to include internships, to include opportunities for local people in our communities to get to work here who get to then enjoy the um facilities. So, that is something that everyone is. Is it a form of collective bargaining? Sure, it is a form of collective bargaining. And it's on top of the fact that we already have prevailing wage. prevailing wage, which this board voted to approve a couple years ago, already sets the stage for making sure the workers on the projects that are contracted out by the the school division are getting prevailing wage. There will be no further cost increases in a PLA over in the

128fact that we've already done the project labor group. Frankly, the greatest cost threat and uncertainty to this school division that everyone should be aware of, which we talked about last night in the budget um uh presentation of the board of county supervisors, is the fact the tariffs are going to drive up construction costs, cost of steel, cost of supplies, cost of things that are going to do just like they did in the pandemic. And if you remember, we had estimates for the new high school being around $360 million during the pandemic. those have come down dramatically um since pandemic inflation on construction costs and supply chain issues have been resolved since but those may go back up due to the tariffs imposed by um the current federal government. Um, yes, they will involve unions, but

129many of the workers on these projects may not be union workers, but just like our teachers who are not members of the PWA benefit from an increased salary, so will any worker on these projects. And so, it benefits all workers. It ensures stability and efficiency. One of the things that I asked when we when I got on the board first is they wanted to spend in a new school an extra $5 million on the roof. And I said, "Why are we doing that?" Well, say they said, "Dr. If that's going to ensure the roof lasts um 40 years rather than 20 years, we'll save money on having to not replace it in 20 years. That same philosophy, we then approved our energy and sustainability initiative with the idea to go to solar that that initial

130investment on solar will pay off because we will then have savings 101 15 years out. In the same way, there are many studies, white papers that show projects built with PLA's um have better work, better results, better skilled labor, um finer crafting, long longer term um uh less maintenance issues in the long run. And so I firmly believe this is consistent with the work that I've done on this board is that if I invest in early, which sometimes might be a little higher, we get a longer term return on investment. And I believe frank firmly that a project labor agreement does that. Um it also has built-in dispute resolutions on time and budget project completions are typically higher in PLA's. It re guarantees a skilled workforce, reduce labor disputes, improve worker safety, and it has

131community benefits. as I've discussed already and um inclusion and diversity uh frankly you can include womenowned businesses, veteranowned businesses, minority owned businesses um and there's opportunities for training advancement. So for all of these things I believe a project labor agreement is consistent with our strategic plan on positive culture and climate on family and community engagement. I believe strongly that our modeling of good labor practices as a school division um and as a um uh steward of taxpayer dollars, having to be a good steward is a good model for our schools, our students, and our community. And I think it is a responsible way to ensure that um we do the best we can for the division. And so that is why I'm supporting the um resolution and ask the superintendent to develop project labor agreements

132on the new high school. And with that, I will ask the board to please vote. Vote is six yes, two no. Tradenic wall. Motion passed. Motion passes. Moving on to what are we at? Board matters. Uh we're starting with Miss Argreport today. Still only three minutes. Yes. Um good evening, Prince William County. I would like to uh remind us four minutes on the timer. I'm not going to use all four. Um, you're welcome, Miss Trojanic. All right. The month of the of the military child is at hand. I'm wearing purple this evening, and you may or may not see the same purple in two weeks. Who knows? Um, if you uh need some ideas in your community on how to how to celebrate, you can choose a day to wear purple and have a purple

133up day. You can feature your military connectedness on your school's website. You can do community events. You can have your kids make um cards and and and pictures for the military families. You can um recognize military families at some kind of school event. I know um my school is a purple um star school. We have done all kinds of things where we've had like coffee for the military families. the um kids have been able to participate in different activities. So, those are some things that our schools can do. I am looking forward to seeing um some musicals as we get into the springtime and um been to a couple of the international nights and those were a lot of fun. I also um know that we're coming down into this fourth quarter so everybody uh

134it's going to both feel like it's flying and dragging I'm sure to some. So, let's make sure that we're we're attending our our our classes with um a mindset of success. We're getting ready for whatever your SOS or whatever tests you have. If you are looking at graduation this year, I um hope you have gotten your plans lined up for the uh after you graduate, whether you start in the summer or the fall. Um, and I'm hoping that uh we will all get to the end of the school year and take that uh little bit of our spring break to to refresh before we push to the final uh point there. So, I am going to just end right now and and yield my time to whoever else would like it. Thank you, Miss Lagapore.

135Miss Williams, thank you very much. Um, I am not going to take my whole four minutes either. I just don't have a lot to say this evening. I again would like to piggyback off of what board member Zagapore said. Um it is that time of year. We just finished uh the grading period. So it's so time um review get ready for the end of the year, your AP test, all of those good things. Um and look forward to spring break. I just want to make special mention to the virtual programs that we do offer. There are some really good ones coming up. Um there's an instructional job fair, Virginia Cooperative Extension information. Um but more importantly, there's one for parents of teens. There's understanding your teen, which is a parent guide uh family engagement series.

136Um and I just want to um make a a special designation at the moment. Uh last meeting I ran out of time. So I just want to acknowledge um the passing as schoolboard member Blake did, Vice Chair Blake for Dr. Howard Goolson um as a member of the Divi Divine Nine. He was also a member of Alpha Alpha fraternity. um he had a special designation in our county as he was the first um black individual be to be promoted to administrative position in the county after integration um and received an award from the NAACP for that. Often we forget the people who have made the moments um for us today possible. So I wanted to give special recognition to him as I neglected to do so in the last meeting. And then I will end

137with a point of privilege in saying congratulations to my youngest who is now a member of the track team. Um that is a phenomenal achievement in my household because I am as about as non-athletic as it can get. So I look forward to seeing him throw the shot put on the field and learning how to buy track shoes. So I hope everyone has a uh good evening and we'll see you here again in two weeks. Miss Wall. Okay. So, I'm going to give one small rebuttal. Um, considering with my extra minute, um, considering the importance of competition to keep costs down, it's it's already the case that we pay more for labor as was pointed out with the, um, prevailing wage provision, which I also opposed and which we passed, and which is also led

138to escalating costs in our school division for construction um, and labor costs. But it's also important also um as pointed out it is there is an uncertain market um in construction materials and so it's even more important to keep our costs down. I can't I can't understand why we think this is a good idea. So I know it passed but I'm not happy about it obviously. Um I think it's a political giveaway to unions rather than a fair way to manage public projects. So keeping our mind keeping in mind our highest priority priority which is not managing labor markets but educating kids. Um I just wanted to say that. Okay. I'm going to move on to um the activity I want to highlight this evening is Prince William Manassus regional science and educa engineering fair

139that took place on Saturday the 22nd here at the KC. I attended this event. I was so very proud of each and every participant. Your projects were amazing, so advanced, so interesting. I'm really just so proud of all of our students. It takes a lot of work to come up with a topic, organize your project, gather all the materials, run your experiments, and then review what you've learned and compile your results, and then present and defend your science research to judges in a competitive field. So, science fair represents so many different important facets of learning and life. So, I'm very proud of all our schools that sponsored science fairs at the school level and encouraged that their and and who encouraged their students to participate. and I'm very proud of all of our winners. Well

140done as you head into the next level of state competition or even international competition. I wish you all the best and I'm sure we will be hearing great things in the future. Shifting gears, I appreciate hearing from community members on matters that are of greatest importance to them such as quality instruction, transportation, safe and welcoming schools, course programming and services, or how to crack down on vaping in school bathrooms. And yes, I am hearing that this is still happening and we need to get a handle on it for the sake of our kids and their health. Thank you to members of my community who have spoken to me specifically about their concerns with the Casset program at Battlefield. This program is a PWCS highlight and I encourage the division to do all we can to

141support this program so that students for years to come can take advantage of the wonderful opportunities that my own children and those children who are in college and in the workforce now were able to take advantage of. When all is said and done, what I've learned is that families care most about a few things. having excellent teachers, having safe, welcoming environments for school, and wanting their children to have as many opportunities to develop their unique talents and interests. I want to speak to the class of 2025. You are so very close. We have fewer than 10 weeks to go. I remember when I was a senior, my friends and I used to joke, "Life is hard and then you die." Um, and rather than this sardonic motto, I recommend King Lear's attitude to challenges where

142he says in act three, scene four, pour on, I will endure. I take it to mean hard work. Get those assignments in. Be prepared for your exams and quizzes. Retake if necessary. And to the seniors, keep pursuing your grad goals and your scholarship opportunities. A few words of advice to all. Be patient in your challenges and endure them well. Remain steadfast in your focus in the pursuit of your goals. and you will find an inner confidence that comes through having gone through hard times, having done hard work, and having gained the reward. So, I look forward to seeing you across the graduation stage um at the culmination of everything we do, of every dollar we appropriate, of every meeting we have. With that being said, to all, good night, Mr. Jess. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

143Uh on Thursday, March 26, my wife and I went over to Freedom High School to thank uh the band director at Freedom High School. Uh and hopefully you will will see a picture here in a few minutes. Mr. Thoroggood and his drum major team participated in the opening medal ceremony for the fourth anniversary of the MLK celebration and the 35th youth ortorical contest celebration. uh sponsored by the Delta Sigma Theta Theta sorority. Mr. Thur thorough good and his team made it possible for the traditional medal ceremony to return and uh it was given one by Mrs. Jesse, former board member, one of the cups of gratitude that she's famous for. She was also the founder for this. So the picture right here is the picture of the three little girls who brought the medals in

144and as a ceremony. And then you we had the picture of the bottom right uh of the uh drum major from Freedom High School. And the uh other young gentleman was uh Mrs. Bonarice's uh grandson who uh she started the program. And then this is a picture of myself and my wife's. So that's uh good thing. Uh go ahead and get back to the timer here so I don't run over, please. One of the citizens sent a a note in to us and asked about the issue. Are we really concerned about all the graffiti and all the uh inappropriate things are being uh painted and put on our walls and stuff and I'm sure yes we are. But perhaps we need to talk a little bit more about that in in public that uh what's

145the consequences of doing that? Uh you know how many kids have gotten in trouble and stuff. uh it is a serious thing when we start damaging the school buildings and doing something and so I I do agree that perhaps we should give more public attention to what we are doing to prevent that. [Music] uh you know this the time is a a issue but uh I always sort of like to know uh how many people are watching online because they surely are not here. Okay. So we spend you know four minutes per person talking and we really don't know how many people we're talking to. So, uh, you know, it's important that we do go out and we we are seen and so forth, but I don't know if all this time that we spent

146is being watched by anybody. And I sort of like to know uh how many people now my wife and I were very surprised at how many people do watch this thing. And so, you know, it's sort of like the you used to go to church all the time, now you stay home and watch church on on TV. Uh, so maybe that's the case. But, uh, so at any rate, thank you. Uh, doc, by the way, Dr. Howard Goen uh was a good friend of our our family and uh we we will miss him and the best to his family. Thank you, Mr. Dennic. Um, so talking about schools, I just want to say congrats on a third quarter, a strong third quarter to everybody that um finished. You've got one more quarter in that rolling

147grade book to make it happen. Um, I I always love to hear uh from the kids on on how they make it work and make it happen as they go into this SAT time and testing time. I love to hear from them um about, you know, the challenges and then their wins. Um so, please feel free to share those with me. Um switching gears because I feel like we've gotten a little bit off topic sometimes, a little bit uh political and campaigny and um I do believe I was advised to not do that. So, I've been choosing not to do that. But um tonight I'm going to take a few minutes, three minutes and 15 seconds to be exact, to talk a little bit about how ridiculous I think the fear-mongu mongering speculation and scare

148tactics that continue to be used and how I have not gone through one schoolboard meeting in this room or any other room on a commission without someone using some sort of tactics to talk about the current administration and what's occurring. And it's exhausting. And I'm hopeful that maybe after six months we'll stop. I I'm not sure. I don't I don't recall the other side doing this this much. I don't recall all of this um what's the word they use? Pontification. Uh grandstanding. Uh again, fear tactics, fear-mongering, speculation. Um, tonight was especially political from um some of my colleagues uh going for this union uh PLA. Is that what it was called? A PLA. Um it it's interesting that this got brought into this arena because again I also echo Miss Wall's sentiment. It it does

149not belong here. This is not what we're here for. Um it was completely out of place and clearly um was a political strategy to earn more donations, get elected. Um congratulations. I hope it works. Um I just feel like this is not the place for campaign speeches. This is not the place to grandstand. This is not the place to earn more donations. This is not what we're here for. Um and I I also would like to be a steward of taxpayer dollars and again of people's time. So, um I would hope that we can get back to that after this and that there's not going to be any more of that going on. So, and I really hope we can let it go eventually. Mr. Wilk, moving from a little bit from that, um I

150do want to recognize uh the that this is I know it was said earlier autism awareness month. Uh today I actually believe today is uh international autism uh day awareness day. Um and uh which is why I'm wearing blue and I always say like the Regis Filman monochromatic who wants to be a millionaire look. Um I do want to talk a little bit more um about that uh not the clothing style about autism. Um and you know from a personal standpoint you know I do I think I've said it over again. and I am a special needs parent. I have a son uh who's 12 um on the autism spectrum. I believe Miss Williams has had godchildren on the many of them. And uh and so she understands and can be empathetic with this. And

151you know, I I'm very thankful um today. Um because my job job also gave us a day off for this. I decided to visit six schools uh with a keen focus on visiting for sure the special needs classrooms uh for today and for this week. Uh and you know and I when I do visit schools I typically do go into more of the self-contained uh autism rooms. And uh I I'm I'm very grateful starting from a high school this morning uh to seeing uh a little bit more about our presentation last week about you know preparing our students after they graduate from high school or phase out after 22 2122. Um the job opportunities and the career opportunities for our students with disabilities. Uh I think we're doing uh we're expanding our role as we

152saw last week with all of our partnerships um all of our programs and so starting off the morning at Forest Park was great and then I went to the other end of the spectrum. I went to the next school was Washington Reed our prek program. So you see it from uh start to finish. Uh and you know and and God love our prek teachers. I Godd love our special needs teachers, but all of our teachers, but I go into these prek rooms and I'm just like I I don't know. It's amazing what they do. Uh I love the inclusionary practices of, you know, students that are delayed abilities and speech and what have you. when they're in there with their peers who are on track to go to kindergarten and and seeing them interact with

153one another and building that empathy from day one and that inclusion that our students are together. It's a part of life. We're seeing a rise in autism. Uh one in 36 children in the US uh are now I believe that's the last stat. I didn't go to Google but um are uh diagnosed with autism. uh boys like my son are four times more likely to be diagnosed with it. Um and again, I know I'm going on kind of some tangents, but I I just because this month is so important to so many families and so important for all of our schools and our teachers. I I do truly want to thank our special education teachers. Um very difficult jobs. I mean today I I know ones had to clean up some accidents um that were

154occurring. I know that often there's students, you know, I mean their kids, they're throwing toys, they're doing they're it's crazy sometimes, right? And um you know, having to change diapers, things like that, and it's not the most glorious role, but they do it. They have a passion for it. Uh and I'm very thankful for all the work that they do, uh for our special education programs, uh our educators. Um, and so thank you very much as we celebrate Bless you. As we celebrate autism awareness, um, I just again want to thank all of our teachers and also thank all the families who work in collaboration with us with children with special needs. So, thank you, Mr. Blake. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, since our last meeting, I've just had the opportunity to engage with students,

155educators, and families at a variety of events across the county. It's always inspiring to see the passion and dedication that makes Prince William County School such a strong and vibrant community. At uh I was able to visit Napsco Elementary where I joined students and families at their book fair, cardboard challenge, and cosmic light. It was a fantastic uh combination of literacy, creativity, and science that brought learning to life. And then I went to over to King Elementary and visited their content carnival that they had that showcased an engaging way to reinforce classroom learning while keeping students and families actively involved. I um then I went to the 2025 Prince William Manasses Regional Science and Engineering Fair for my first time and the level of innovation and problem solving on display was nothing short of impressive

156and amazing. Um, like I said, there were there was the one group of students that found biomarkers for ciphop geo cancer. Am I saying that right? And uh once they get those validated, they'll be able to actually test for that to be able to find out if you have the markers for that cancer. But that was great. Those those kids were very awesome. And then um I was at Fitzgerald Elementary for their family enrichment day. It was a wonderful morning of connection, creativity, community. The families had a chance to uh participate in hands-on workshops, explore growing minds. Um and there was a special presentation from the Beamsteppers. So if you ever seen the Beamsteppers, they are very good. Um and then I went to Minville Elementary where they had uh Angela Dominguez who is a

157celebrated illustrator um that came through and shared her creative journey with the students. It was a very good experience for these students. These kind kinds of experiences are powerful and sparking imagination and encouraging young minds to explore their artistic potential. Um, and then like our student uh rep said, I I was able to go to the student leadership workshop again was amazing seeing these super high functioning kids walking around and just um the ideas that they had and and um the bill of rights that they came up with. It's just uh it's it's just amazing like these type of opportunities I wish I had when I was a kid and they they have them and it's it was again just a great opportunity to hear directly from the students about their concerns, aspirations and encourage

158my fellow board members to attend next year if they can because it was really a great opportunity. And then I also attended a juvenile detention graduation which was a powerful reminder of the resilience and second chances. Seeing this student reach this milestone despite the obstacles that they faced was a testament to the impact of education and the support system in place to help him succeed. And then finally, last night, I got to uh go to the board of county supervisors meeting with our school board chair and our chief education officer and her executive staff and present our um fiscal year 2026 budget. They did a great job and thank you guys for that. And then I'll just leave you with this with this little quote right here. Um, education is the most powerful weapon in

159which you can use to change the world. And that's from Nelson Mandela. And maybe that's why education is under attack right now. Thank you, Mr. Blake. Okay, Miss Wall used sardonic. I'll use prog uh prognosticate tonight. And um you know for each time that uh I have on this board uh voted for uh whether it's the energy and sustainability initiative back in 2017 or whether it was the um um prevailing wages or whether it was the effort to u implement a collective bargaining agreement just about a year and a half ago. And and by the way, the raises that we did do were long before collective bargaining, but they are here as well and included in the collective bargaining agreement. Now that we've done that, um the pro prog prognosticators prognosticators would have said that

160Dr. Latif is going to run the school division uh bankrupt and broke. And what we've seen rather uh since I've taken the board has been a division that has improved across all demographic groups on so scores. A division that has um uh increase teacher salaries so that we've become one of the most uh we've gone to being very strong in recruitment and retention, better than the state average on retaining our teachers. Uh school division that was ranked uh I think by Forbes magazine back in 2020 with the best school division to work for in the state. Um and I did similar work at the University of Virginia where we in the health system we were the number one health system to work for in the state as well in 2022. I believe very strongly in

161taking care of our um folks, the people that work here. We are the largest employer in the county, one of the largest employers in the state and I think how we treat our folks directly impacts how our students are taught by the folks that work here. Um, and that has been my philosophy and guiding principles since I've taken over the school board and become chair and I'll continue to um do that where I see fit. The appropriate use of that kind of effort I'll continue to do. So, as Miss Wall I says, life is hard then you die was what she said when they were 18. I I would say it doesn't have to be that way. We can have good labor days and strong um efforts to take care of our employees. So life

162doesn't have to be hard and die. Life can be hard. You can enjoy it and then you die. Um pour on I will endure. We can endure as long as we um take care of the folks here as well. And I always appreciate my colleagues animated uh responses and uh wellthoughtout um arguments. And I I truly do uh appreciate my colleague Jen Wall. Um, moving on. Uh, as she pointed out, it was a great weekend at this, uh, regional science fair. Folks, we are putting together, um, it was a record, um, science fair with a record number of entrance, uh, with a record number of schools participating. This weekend, we saw schools and high schools participate who had not participated um, at least ever or at least in the last 10 years, last decade. And

163they did and they competed. And when you compete, what happens? You win. And we had a lot of winners um winning uh and congratulations Unity Reed High School which had a grand prize winner that qualified for the international science and engineering fair which is truly exciting. Um so we we are thrilled with that work. I I firmly uh will continue the effort to um you know whether it's on the science fair, whether it's in swim uh the swim the swimming pools or on our tracks and on our courts as you saw tonight. We will continue to push our students hard, ask a lot of them, commit to making sure we do our part so they see success and can launch a thriving future for themselves and their families. Uh, with that being said, this meeting

164is adjourned. Have a great night, everyone.