001I would like to call this meeting of the Prince William County School Board to order a motion is in order for the approval of the meeting agenda Miss Waller I move that the principal County School Board approve the meeting agenda as recommended do I have a second second uh that was uh Mr Jesse seconded any discussion no discussion please vote there we go the vote is seven yes one absent Latif motion passed moving on to the motion to enter close session a motion is in order Madam chair I move that pursuant to sections 2.2 3711 and 2.2 3712 of the code of Virginia the Prince William County School Board enter Clos session for the following reasons one to discuss with staff the assignment appointment promotion performance demotion salaries disciplining or resignation of specific public officers
002appointees or employees of any public body pursuant to Virginia code section 2.2 D 3711 A1 two to review disciplinary matters for a specific student that would involve the disclosure of information contained in the Scholastic record for an individual student and to receive legal advice regarding same as provided by Virginia code sections 2.2 3711 A2 and 8 three to consult to discuss and consult with legal counsil regarding requests for religious exemptions pertaining to specific students under Virginia code sections 2.2 3711 a four to 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 section 2.2 3711 A7 and 8 and five to discuss and receive briefings by staff members related to the security of school facilities the safety
003of persons using such facilities and actions taken to respond to such matters where discussion in an open meeting would jeopardize the security of such facilities pursuant to Virginia code section 2.2 3711 a19 I a second Madam chair Miss Williams second William second in any discussion please vote the vote is seven yes one absent Latif motion passed the prince Willam County School Board will now enter close session return to open session in about an hour [Music] the Prince William County school aard is now returning to open session from closed session a motion is in order for closed session miss wall Madam chair I move that pursuant to section 2.2 3712 of the coda of Virginia the closed session of the Prince William County school board meeting of September 4th 2024 be certified by adopting the following
004resolution 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 business matters lawfully Exempted from open meeting requirements were discussed in the closed meeting to which this certification resolution applies and two only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening this closed meeting were heard and discussed or considered by the school board do I have a second Madam chair Miss William second second Miss William second is there any discussion please vote the vote is seven yes one absent Latif motion passed moving on to the closed SE session action item a motion is in order for the approval of appointments and releases Madam chair Miss wallt I move that the Prince William County school board approved the
005appointments and releases of specific employees as presented in closed session do I have a second Madam chair Miss Williams Miss Williams seconds any discussion please vote the vote is seven yes one absent Latif motion passed a motion is in order for the approval of the appointment of the clerk of the school board mentor Miss Williams thank you I move to the Prince William County School Board appoint Miss Laura Mills as Clerk of the Prince William County School Board to replace B Simpson do I have a second Madam chair I second Miss wall Miss wall seconds any discussion Madam chair uh Miss Williams I would just like to formally welcome Miss Laura Mills uh to her very first school board meeting thank you for joining us and welcome to Prince William County schools and I will
006get you started with my usual thank you for hurting cats in advance welcome uh Miss wall do you have something I was just gonna say welcome thank you we're glad to have you on board and um I I think all of us are really excited to have you here Mr Jesse yes welcome I hope you can keep that [Laughter] smile anyone else all right please vote the vote is seven yes one absent Latif motion passed [Applause] ah now it's really official you can't leave us now moving on to 903 an uh motion is in order for the approval of religious exemptions from compulsory School attendance Madam chair Miss wall I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the request for religious exemption from compulsory School attendance for case numbers re 24-1 re 24-2
007re 24-3 e 24-4 re 24-5 re 24-6 and re 24-7 do I have a second Madam Vice chair Miss Williams my second Miss Williams seconds any discussion uh please vote the vote is seven yes one absent Latif motion passed moving on to 904 a motion is in order for the approval to the request for readmission of student ms24 d9r Madame chair Miss wall I move that for the reason set forth in the student management and alternative programs Department's smpd letter of July 30th 2024 the Prince William County School Board approv smap's decision to deny the readmission of student MS2 24-39 R to a traditional Prince William County public school instead reassigning the student to an in-person non-traditional setting with the conditions and requirements detailed in the decision letter do I have a second mam chair
008Miss Williams second Miss William second any discussion please vote the vote is seven yes one absent Latif motion passed all right thank you that concludes our Clos session action items moving on to the Pledge of Allegiance uh since we have our student representative Allah rashed here uh here tonight on the Das would you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance so thank you um Allah rashed is a senior who is attending Unity read high school and she is joining us on the Das tonight we also have student representative Elana Alina Lor uh here this evening who is uh would you please stand um she's out in the yeah there you go who's a senior at CD Hill Hilton High School and our alternate student representative Kaylee Kaylee Tom is a senior at brinville District
009High School so thank you all for being here tonight we value your voice and your presence and we welcome you looking forward to working with you this year all right moving on to our thriving Futures Focus thriving Futures focus is an opportunity to highlight the exemplary work being accomplished in our schools that fulfill our V our vision that every student will graduate with the knowledge skills and habits of mind necessary to create a thriving future for themselves and their Community we dedicate this time to recognizing students staff members and schools that have earned an honor or award at the state or national level we appreciate how these honores have a positive ly represented Prince William Cal public schools and the school board is proud to recognize them publicly for their accomplishments tonight the school board
010will recognize our students team and individual state championships these awards show exceptional efforts to prioritize the school community's exceptional Athletics leadership and culture and we begin in the Kohl's district with our first Champions congratulations to the osor Park High School girls softball team for winning the state championship your hard work commitment and team spirit have paid off and you have made us all incredibly proud the victory is a testament to your incredible resilience and talent talent and the amazing work of head coach Patrick D roza activities director Keith Lane and principal Lisa Marie Kaine I wish to invite head coach Patrick D roza to introduce assistant coaches and team members here in attendance and share a few words on this team and their accomplishments hello everybody hello Gard um so welcoming my team here first
011off hey coach go over to the the microphone we can hear you better thank you hello everybody so first up Cordia Hershey starting Catcher from this year Ella onot starting first baseman Jenna Wilson starting first baseman third baseman Mia gamble second base Outfield every Outfield position gar SLE second base game-winning hit in the championship game josell first base catcher and Lydia tank Hershey starting third baseman Outfield multiple positions and uh the one assistant coach here Brock Hershey somewhere in the back uh so I'll make this quick but thank you so much for having us um the biggest thing that I can say about our team so we have seven girls here of the nine that are returning next year we only had 13 on the team we had a small team but uh all 13
012of them made a big impact for us this season I can't emphasize this enough I am so proud of this group they worked so hard they came into this season with a goal and they accomplished it um they deserve this they deserve all the Applause that they've been given all summer um all spring and I can't wait to be back with them next year and work with them again I love you guys I'm so happy for you so thank you for having us thank you coach D Roa congratulations to all of you I I am very proud of and I know that had to be a great moment for everybody I am looking forward to hearing about another win this year right so congratulations to everyone from the brentville district Miss Erica trenic please introduce
013your state champions thank you miss arore the brunville district would like to recognize two state champions one outstanding team and one phenomenal student uh first congratulations to the to the brunville district school high school girls soccer team um I had the privilege of going and watching the these girls play in that game and it was not an easy game they did not go down without a fight and boy can these girls play so coach um I'm going we're proud of your accomplishments and the legacy of the girls soccer coaches Doug silver and Scott Kars activities director Seth Cameron and principal Dr Katherine mes coach you can go ahead and say a few words uh thank you Dr McDade and the board obviously for having us here tonight and all the staff that set this up
014we've been in contact with some of the support staff as well so thank you for that and Miss uh Tradin was at our game all the way down in Charlottesville so we appreciate you being there to support us and you obviously are a parent of athletes at brentville so um you know what it's like so um tonight with us is um our assistant coach Doug silver who's been an assistant coach with me for gosh close to 20 years now so he's been helping me for a long time uh one of our returning Caesar uh seniors Izzy dimis one of our sophomores returning Lucy O'Brien we have uh one of our returning seniors Sammy Garver senior Carol laad senior Emma Cornwell and uh senior Haley Garber um and just to there are a lot of phones
015on the floor here um you know to kind of echo um the coach from osmer Park I mean it's so awesome to be here with all these champions from all the different schools and congratulate congrat congratulations to everybody here that's that's won um you may not know we were repeat Champions this year so we did win back-to-back championships this year um and this was a different year this was a difficult a more difficult year and I think it really um spoke to the perseverance of the kids and just you know to move off of Athletics just for a second if you're looking for Exemplar examples of student athletes uh these kids participate in community service projects they participate in the program and mentorship pro uh uh projects we ask a lot of them outside of
016Athletics and um you know it it can't be understated how much character and being a wonderful person and a beautiful human being uh translates to going onto the field and winning championships so um and I don't want to leave here before we also congratulate Kayla Smith another one of our brunal athletes who's absolutely fantastic so congratulations to you too Kayla thank you guys so as coach said we're also going to extend a profound congratulations to Kayla Smith on her two State Track titles in the 100 meter and 200 meter dash I have seen this girl run um I've actually known her since she's been in kindergarten and like coach said she is not only a phenomenal athlete but she is a phenomenal young lady she is kind she is caring she is energetic um she
017also plays other sports and I cannot wait to see you Be A threee Champion young lady Miss coach Miss coach Tandra Beckman thank you thank you for having us all here um unfortunately I was not able to come the last time you guys honored her because we had a track meet so I was thrilled to be able to come tonight um this girl is just phenomenal and she's like are you going to cry no I'm not going to cry she doesn't just have two she has four championships um she's broken five school records and the the first time I saw her I was at a football game and she went running across the bleachers and I was like I've got to have this girl and we got her and you know her exploits on the
018field are wonderful but she doesn't do it just for herself she does it because she knows it helps our team she's willing to step up and run the 4x4 even after she's had a hamburger and fries um at the last minute just because she knows we need her um it has been the honor of my track career to be able to coach someone like her and um there's going to be more there's there's no stopping this athlete and we're so very proud she told me right before we came in here she thought about quitting the first week and now here we are so thank you for not quitting and we love having you and congratulations to our girls softball team some of those athletes are on our track team too soccer I'm sorry I'm sorry
019um some of their athletes are on our team too and you guys are phenomenal and congratulations to everyone else here thank you congratulations to our students our school and to the brunville district Community thank you ladies for being here all right thank you Mr denck I invite Woodbridge District representative Miss Lori Williams to speak on behalf of her District thank you Miss Vice chair or chairwoman for the evening um on behalf of the Woodbridge District I would like to recognize my amazing Stellar High School Freedom High School for their long jump state champion Ariana Thomas did I say it correctly Ariana awesome we are so impressed by the strength of character and will of spirit that has propelled you to Greatness as Ariana knows the long jump is measured by both distance it's measured by
020distance both measurable and immeasurable we look forward to your continued Journey this coming year congratulations also to Freedom High School principal chaveli Smith and activities director uh Mr a at this time I would like to invoke excuse me invite coach Kenya Hannah for to speak on behalf of this outstanding student athlete before you get to that mic I just want to say um Ariana it's a pleasure to see you in this boardroom yet again I told you when we saw you I think it was in the spring or close to the summer at the end of the school year last year that I knew I would be seeing you back again and as someone who cannot run or does not do Sports and barely makes 51 when I jump I am just all inspired by
021your commitment and dedication and for your returning visit to us so congratulations I'm always amazed by athletes and thank you again for representing Prince William County schools so well coach thank you uh thank you to the board um I've been coaching Ariana Thomas since she's been about maybe like nine years old so it's amazing to get her to this level um at the state championship she only got two legal jumps um and she was able to pull that title out um and I'm just very proud of her she was also third place in the 300 meter hurdles uh she was a long jump runner up indoors so for to come out here and get the state championship out there was amazing for her only being a sophomore so it's great um I'm also here join
022with Dr Keith Riley he's our M's coach and uh Dr darl Harris he's actually was my high school coach so it's amazing that I have these honors with you people and thank you to all athletes that are here today that's a wonderful full circle moment congratulations to y'all and Coach just for the record did I pronounce your name correctly sir yes okay thank you all right thank you Miss Williams Mr Blake from the neabsco district please introduce your state champion thank you miss zapor the neao district is proud to recognize Garfield High School's Joshua Kia Smith Virginia state champion for both the 110 meter high hurdles and the 300 meter hurdles Joshua your outstanding performance and Relentless dedication have led you to this incredible Victory and Honor you have shown exceptional skill tent tent and
023determination you have made principal Matt mat activities director Michael Payne and the entire Garfield High and Prince William County Public School Community proud a fantastic job I welcome coach Jamal Jamal or Jal latiny to share a few words about our multi- to state champion sorry about that you got it right um I'm joined by here by Mr Pay our Athletics director Mr Kenny Miller our assistant Athletics director Tyler Dickerson our head coach another head coach is myself and assistant coach Walter Harley um as everybody know Garfield High School is the Legacy when it comes to Prince County as far as Olympic and track athletes Kai he kind of stood out above everybody else this year Kai ran seven times under 14 seconds which hasn't been n in I don't know how long um he's also
024our state champion of three under hurdles which that's a race he does not like but does it for us anyways uh Kai is probably your most quietest athlete that you're going to have out there but he works the hardest in practice and now being his junior year he's taking on a leadership role running cross country and trying to lead the way for everybody else we are very proud of Josh and everything he's done and what he's going to accomplish in the [Music] future congratulations to the Garfield High School community thank you Mr Blake congratulations to all of our state champions as you continue to model the standard of Excellence in brince County School athletics I would like to invite the staff family and friends of our state winners to please stand in recognition of your
025support for these wonderful athletes before taking a few pictures superintendent Dr McDade would like to share a few words thank you so much uh Madam chairwoman congratulations to each of you our outstanding student athletes on your remarkable achievements to our girls softball and soccer teams your teamwork leadership and dedication have not only earned you the state championship but has represented your school and our school division with such excellence and we're incredibly proud of each of you for our track and field state Champions your focus and Relentless effort have led to an extraordinary Victory and you can overcome any obstacles put in your way and now you have the trophy to prove it Prince William County Public Schools continues to thrive both inside and outside the classroom you each continue to excel uh on and off
026the field and we are pwcs proud of each of you congratulations on a job well done thank thank you Dr McDade at this time I'd like to request our honores to come forward for a photo with the school board and to receive a small token of our appreciation we'll start with one photo that includes our Osborne Park High School girls softball team the second photo will include the brentville District High School girls soccer team and then we'd like to invite our individual state champions okay your kids are out come right this ol Des thank you oh yeah [Music] than and I can [Music] she said track and field Champs think yeah now the TR individual kids are going yep they're do right you [Music] thank you good me and Sh we share thank you so
027much for your support appreciate it sneak around congrat congratulations congratulations yes you think you can beat me in a race I 100% yes 100% congratulations thank you okay hold up hold up hold up hold up hold all right we are back uh now we are moving on to adoption of consent agenda a motion is in order Miss wall Madam chair I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the public meeting consent agenda as recommended do I have a second Madam chair Miss Williams seconds I'd like to Second any discussion Miss Williams um yes I just had a quick question about I think it was on yeah for um was it the C no I thought you said someone for a contract for track and field was that on here um regardless never mind
028then it's not I can ask that another time thank you okay all right uh any other discussion please vote the vote is seven yes one absent Latif motion passed thank you moving on to acknowledgements and recognitions a motion is in order Miss wall Madam chair I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the acknowledgements and recognitions as recommended I have a second mam chair uh Miss Williams I second Miss Williams second any discussion mam chair Miss Williams thank you since the beginning of the school year um I know that we do these recognition for the next upcoming month for those who are new to our system um so I just wanted to make that acknowledgement as well as um I'm just excited about the upcoming months that we will be celebrating I'm a
029science person and um someone who has ADHD and as well as my child and bullying is always top of our mind so I just wanted to acknowledge those so thank you uh any further discussion please vote the vote is six yes one exstension trenic one absent Latif motion passed all right moving on to citizen comment time those citizens who have signed up in advance 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 1 hour and citizens may speak on agenda items or other topics gerain 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 of
030each speaker and refrain from any clapping cheering or jering to avoid disruption of the meeting if you do not the board will recess and I will ask that the room be cleared to restore public order tonight we have four citizens signed up to speak when I call your name please come up to the podium and state your name and add or state your name for the record uh we have tonight we have four speakers Carl greton Chris funderberg shayen Clinger and Etta Scott good evening I'm Carl greton of the Gainesville District hopefully everyone is ready to begin the new school year as Citizens we thank the school board for moving in the correct direction to limit the use of cell phones in schools it unfortunate that we must wait until other school districts make their
031decision before PWC will make ours it appears that the school board members are delaying due to decisions that may affect election decisions the governor has put a date of January 1st for a decision and we hope Prince William County can decide prior to that have you Incorporated questions from artificial intelligence we I will attach a file on my email to you with a possible answer part of the answer is about parental controls on cell phones have you heard about the situation in California in which illegal aliens are congregating at bus stops how is Prince William County bus driver going to determine if adults at bus stops are illegal aliens or not the school system is responsible for students from portal to portal please make a forward-thinking decision on how the school system will handle the
032situation we are excited for another productive year following superintendent mcdade's report on a 2023 2024 year we do not necessarily need to be see Improvement after one year out of the co lockdowns we would like to see a comparison to preco years of 2018 to 2019 we hope that Prince William County School Board is also working for the following goals remove perversion out of school books and off the shelves harsher punishment for bullying eliminate the fentanyl problem set the bar higher for better grades forget D minus strive for A's no boys and girls Sports no boys and girls bathrooms or showers remove Dei and divert money to school security reverse the renaming of schools decrease attendance problems and most important include Merit excellence and intelligence for all students please do not support the radical weird
033wals he wanted to put tampons in boys bathrooms thank you thank you Mr uh funderberg good evening my name is Chris funderberg and my address is on file I'm back uh welcome to the 2024 25 school year and I look forward to spending a lot of time here with all of y'all tonight you'll be voting on whether to keep a book in the school library that contains sexually explicit content as defined by the state of Virginia State Department of Education and your own policy while this book is popular and doesn't genuinely have a bad story it delves into adult sexual content in a way that doesn't add to the overall story it's simply gratuitous and although tame for adults should not be available to 13-year-old children in case you haven't read this book here's a
034small sample of what is contained I'm sure your voters will be curious if there are any kids nearby um put your ear muffs on quote my night andb gown had become hitched around my waist but I didn't care I hooked my bare legs around his running my feet down the hard muscles of his calves the fingertips of his other hand slipped beneath the waist of my undergarment and I sucked in a breath he hesitated at the sound pulling back slightly but I bit his lip in a silent command that had him growling into my mouth with one long call claw he shredded through Silk and Lace and my undergarment fell away in pieces the claw retracted and his kisses deepened as his fingers slid between my legs coaxing and teasing I grounded against his hand
035yielding completely to the writhing wildness that had roared alive inside of me and breathed his name into his skin he paused again his fingers retracting but I grabbed him pulling him further on top of me I wanted him now I wanted the barriers of our clothing to vanish I wanted to taste his sweat I wanted to become full of him my own breathing became steady as I raised my na gown over my head and tossed it to the floor utterly naked before him I watched his gaze travel to my bare breast peaked against the Chill night to my abdomen to between my thighs a ravenous unyielding sort of hunger passed over his face I bent a leg and slid it to the side a SL a silent invitation he let a low growl and slowly
036with predatory intent raised his gaze to mine give me everything I breathed he lunged a beast free of his tether we were a tangle of Limbs and teeth I Ted his clothes until they were on the floor then tored his skin until I marked him down his back and his arms his claws are out but devastatingly gentle on my hips as he slipped down between my thighs and feasted on me stopping only after I shuddered and fractured I was moaning his name when he sheathed himself inside him powerfully slow thrust that had me splintering around him I'd appreciate it if you didn't make me have to do this again in the future thank you shayen Clinger is shayen Clinger here okay moving on to Etta Scott good evening ladies and gentlemen of the board Miss
037chairwoman and Dr mate my name is Setta Scott and my address is on file with the clerk hooray another school year I want to say thanks for the improvements that have happened within the last year like the new leaves benefits Flex timing and frontloading sick leave I enjoyed that summer school schedule begin earlier in the season now even with all those wonderful gloves there's always room for growth tonight I would like to Spotlight some area of concerns first there are several schools that are piloting instructing students with the iPad unfortunately the logistic structure that was designed for Distributing this new technology and the training for staff and students use of this new device was done ineffectively it feels like my students colleagues and myself was given a new toy and we must figure it out
038along with keeping with the pace of the new curriculum last year this time I spoke about the super women and men of our building which are our custodial staff tonight I want to share with you I want to tonight I want to make you aware of Another unsun Hero our school registar currently I learn that this person works the entire year without a break the mighty school registra is responsible for the heartbeat of our foundation which is the school records this individual is accountable for incoming outgoing of student files scanning them into our system translation assist covering the front office communication with other schools and problem solving to validate student addresses maybe we can fix the turnover rate that the school regist the fix the turnover rate of the school registra if they will recognize
039an essential staff member that received time off during the school year lastly I would like to highlight a rise in school sport within our County and that is robotics I know some great robotic coaches that have made names for themselves at the local and state level the only downside about the sport from a coach's perspective is that it's not value as the other top Athletics like football basketball soccer are you aware that at the middle level if you are a coach if you coach a nwe sport like football you earn $3,000 but a robotics coach who operates their program for the entire school year earns 1,200 the robotics team has competitions that are on the weekend not during the week they must fund raised to obtain Monies to support their program since this is one
040of the fast and Rising academic Sports we consider we should consider making it a part of the intramural sport Community this would ensure that all coaches are value for the work that they put into their High achieving Athletics thank you thank you all right moving on to 1501 I'll turn this one over to Dr McDade thank you madam chairwoman I would like to bring forward Shaquille youf our Chief Financial Officer and he'll share more information on the vpsa uh Bond sale good evening uh Miss zapor members of the school board and Dr McDade um we have before you um a resolution for information today on the sale of vpsa bonds in the amount of 144,000 144 mil 500,000 which will be used to fund our CIP uh projects and we have a list of those
041projects also available um this resolution will then be presented to you for approval uh at the September 18th meeting as you may recall at the February 7th 2024 Schoolboard meeting we presented in initial CIP uh uh funding amount of 169 m555 dollars with thanks to additional funds received from the bccs board of County Supervisors we have been able to reduce the amount of bond sales uh bond funds needed for our CIP projects um and uh the other piece of it you will see is that the county typically asks for additional Monies to refund outstanding bonds um in this case it's $215 million this is like a placeholder that they put uh the financial benefit of refunding or refinancing depends on um what the interest rates are and what cost savings we can realize uh so
042incl in conclusion I respect respectfully request that you your approval of this resolution I'm happy to answer any questions right if there's no questions now I'm sure we can also submit them to you um in the over the next couple weeks thank you all right thank you all right moving on to student representative time uh joining us on the Das tonight we welcome our student representative Allah rashed a senior at Unity read High School aot the floor is yours welcome thank you so much good evening to Dr McDade the school board and the principium county community I hope everyone is doing well my name is all rashed and I'm senior at Unity read High School who was honored to be one of the student representatives for the 2024 to 2025 school year excuse me sorry
043I hope to exceed all expectations in this position and be a welcoming face to the students of Prince County Schools a goal of mine as a student representative for this school year is to maintain inclusivity we all make up this community and we should all feel welcome amongst one another no matter what the School Division displays this idea of inclusivity by imp ing student voice committees or svcs all in all high schools and growing its future throughout middle schools this year in these committees students are able to Advocate not only for themselves but also for their peers through this I have expanded my own personal knowledge of the School Division and the opinions of others as it gives me a rare chance to speak to people I would not normally see oh my God sbc's
044also give my me and my fellow Representatives the feedback needed to speak on behalf of the student body lastly we are now working on the first ever student Bill of Rights displaying the growing leadership the division promotes in its schools overall sbcs have allowed students to grow not only a student leaders but also as advocates for themselves showcasing the step forward the school division is taking for the future of its students now speaking of the future this new school year welcomes change as we all must adapt to the new cell phone initiative implemented by Governor Yan's executive order it is one of the most significant changes the school year as many students are still judging to this new policy these first few weeks the policy was put in place to better us as it allows
045students to be more engaged in class increasing both productivity and communication after reaching out to the Student Center for feedback which is composed of one to three students from every High School in the county I've seen the new policy has slowly become a new Norm in schools with them saying how has mostly been followed and students have begun to understand the reasoning why it was put into place however concerns are still present as the use of technology in schools grows every year a big concern for students is that many websites such as canva and Pinterest can be blogged on school computers at times and students need access to these websites for school assignments classes such ASC or art have used these websites can now not do so leading to as phones are Bann during instructional
046time this then leads to attention within students as they cannot always complete assignments on time leading to an overall decrease in productivity a solution that may be fit for this would be have would be to have students be able to advocate for what resources they need on their computers through their svcs so they do not need to interfere with the state mandate as it as it gives them a chance to interact with their student voice committees while also giving them the chance to speak on their on their behalf this would give students some input on this mandate as it was swung on to a during the summer kind is surprisingly another concern is the need for cell phones in emergencies whether a personal or schoolwide issue some students have felt that they cannot always reach
047out to a trusted at all as it is a new school year and we're still adapting to some changes an example would be going to the office for a personal matter rather than just sending your mom or dad a quick text since this concern is vast and how it can be handled a solution that may be fit would be to approach it on a school and classroom level an example of this be having copies for phones and options for communication if it doesn't interfere with the state mandate thus I hope these concerns bring more of the student perspective to this new Endeavor made by both the School Division and state of Virginia as it has the potential to benefit the student body heavily now reflecting on the first few weeks of the school year I
048would like to I would like to welcome back all the amazing families present in the prince W County Community I cannot wait to be an advocate for you all opportunities are for students are growing yearly as the division steps up to provide provide them from the sbc's to college resources put into place but in order to truly take advantage of these possibilities we all must be present at school attendance is such an important issue that is necessary for success in the future in order to make change we must acquire the knowledge necessary for it so I urge all my peers to strive to be present throughout the school year and set new goals to challenge themselves lastly to conclude my remarks I would like to speak on upcoming events in the county with Hispanic Heritage
049Month beginning in a little over a week on September 15th it is always remarkable to see all the fun events and activities each school has that promote culture and inclusivity an example of this would be at my high school Unity read as we host we are hosting assemblies and our first ever Hispanic haage night for the school year this night will be celebrated with nearby elementary schools displaying a sense of community and inclusivity throughout the school division I hope to see this idea push throughout the division as I grow my presence as a student representative that concludes my remarks for this evening thank you again for this opportunity thank you thank you Allah we now move to the superintendent's Time Dr McDade the floor is yours thank you so much Madam chairwoman um first I
050want to uh welcome and congratulate our new student representatives to the board aladina Allah and Kay Le uh welcome congratulations I look forward to working with you this school year learning about your priorities and goals and collaboratively making sure that student voice is represented and value throughout the school system so welcome aboard I'm excited to kick off another school year in Prince William County schools we welcomed more than 990,000 students through our doors on August 19th thank you to our amazing Educators and support Personnel for their commitment to Excellence for our students and their families we're entering the fourth year of the pwcs Strategic plan Vision 2025 and like any strong strategic plan we must assess our current state to determine if we're making adequate progress towards meeting our goals to identify and refine our
051priorities and significant actions the true measure of success of any school system is in the graduation rate and the ability for our students to experience post-secondary success because our job goes beyond the classroom and Beyond handing off the diploma on the stage it is to ensure that when our students depart from princip William County that they can realize the vision to create a thriving future for themselves and their Community I will provide more specifics on our student academic performance in our state of the schools presentation which we will share in October along with accreditation but I want to share the 20232 24 school year data for our wildly important goals in pwcs we currently have an all-time high graduation rate of 94.3% we've reduced chronic absenteeism by 5.4 4% our English Learners ontime graduation rate
052has risen by 99.6% we've also reduced English learner Dropout rates by 99.6% and we've had rises in so Pass rates in each subject reading at 76% which is 3% higher than the the state average writing 79% which is an 8% increase from last year and 3% higher than the state average history and science coming at at 71% that is a 1% increase from from last year and 6% higher than the state average math at 73% which is a 2% increase from the prior year 2% higher than the state average and in science we're currently at 68% 2% increase from last year and on level with the state average our students achieve when they are present in school and connected to our teachers so let us continue to support Student Success and Achieve our strategic plan
053goals for 2025 September is attendance Awareness Month um and we're spotlighting U multifaceted improvements that are coming with higher um attendance more and consistent attendance rates lead to more success for graduation better academic achievement and overall student well-being so we're asking to please recommit this year although we saw improvements in chronic absenteeism the work is still um not finished we want to get that rate down right now we're currently at about 16% at we concluded the year at 16% so we want to continue to decrease that number so we want to recommit this year to ensure students are on time in class every day because we know that students who are on time in class every day will be on time for graduation we continue to create Pathways for success for students in their future
054our instructional development extends beyond our organization and into the Partnerships that we have with other educational institutions currently Prince William County schools and Northern Virginia Community College have teamed up to Pilot the Collegiate High School um when Dr Sullivan came on board this was one of her big uh priorities and we're so excited that in within the first year she was able to get this off the ground we already had a robust partnership with um Nova and so they were excited to partner with us on this endeavor and right now qualifying students from Freedom High School are now attending classes and activities on the Woodbridge Nova campus so they walk right across the street each day to earn college credit towards a degree at no cost to their parents also starting with the class of
0552025 pwcs has partnered with George Mason University to help simplify admissions for students at 8 pwcs high schools this partnership is a part of a strategic commitment to increase access and opportunity for students pursuing higher education and our hope is to see this pilot program expand to more pwcs high schools more information can be found on our website at pwcs.edu or our families can reach out to your local school to see if your student qualifies for this opportunity as we begin this new school year let us commit to starting strong and maintaining that Mo momentum throughout the year by setting clear goals building strong relationships and fostering a positive climate and culture we can create thriving environments for teaching and learning consistency and routines is key and focus on continuous Improvement Will Keep Us grounded
056and growing we are doing our part to improve transportation for for our students and families and we're pleased to report significant improvements in our student transportation services particularly in achieving ontime status I know that these enhancements any change in any school system are always challenging but it was necessary to make significant changes with Transportation so that we can better serve our students and families and ensure that we're getting students to school safely and on time and this was part of uh several strategic initiatives that we've implemented over the past year first we under took a comprehensive review of our bus stop consolidations including a full scale safety assessment to ensure the well-being of our students which have optimized our routes contributing to more timely arrivals and departures secondly we introduced a signon bonus incentive for
057new drivers to address Staffing challenges which resulted in a well staffed transportation department directly contributing to more reliable and and punctual bus services this is the lowest um bus driver vacancy rate that we've seen um coming out of the pandemic third we've leveraged the here comes the bus app to improve communication with parents this app pro provides real time updates on bus travel times allowing parents to track their child's Bus location and estimated arrival times this transparency has improved parent satisfaction and helped us maintain our schedules more effectively and I do um have some data around student transportation we've been tracking it and making comparisons to the prior year to be able to assess whether or not the changes that we've made you know are making a significant difference with on time rates and I'll
058share those with you today so for example in 2023 for the first day of school for All Buses serving high school students we had an ontime rate on day one in 23 of 78 77.8% so 77.8% of the buses serving high school students for the first day of school in 2023 were on time this year opening the school year in 24 we had an ontime rate um of 85.1% on the first day of school which is significant because the first day of school is a time where drivers are getting accustomed to their routes students are learning uh stops and so we we expect on the first day of school that we'll have some hiccups there but our 85.1% um on time rate is the highest that we've seen in three years and it is significant
059we are on time by the end of that was the first day for the the new school year by the end of the second week for high school students bus riders we had an ontime arrival to school at 91 points uh 91% for the first day for middle school students uh bus riders last year 2023 our Middle School uh buses had an ontime rate on the first day of school of 72.4% for the start of 2024 the first day of school that number for Middle School was 79 .2% on the first day of school that were on time when we concluded uh the end of the second week of school last week our on time arrivals improved to 93% for middle school buses for the first day of ele School in 2023 our on time
060rates I'm embarrassed to say were 31.4% so on the first day of school for Elementary bus riders we had an ontime rate of 31.4% % this year 2024 the ontime rate for elementary school on the first day of school was 57.6% but I'm excited to um announce that at the end of the second week of school once buses stabilized our ontime arrivals for elementary school is now 92% so we are making some significant improvements we've we've received certainly we've received um concerns about changes to the stop which we knew that change would be challenging but um consolidating those routes has definitely contributed to a more efficiency in getting our schools students on time um and these initiatives have collectively led to a marked improvement in our performance ensuring that students arrive at school and are
061returning home safely safely and uh punctually we remain committed to continuously enhancing our transportation services we certainly appreciate the board support the patience of our families as we started the new school year um we know that in the start of any school year it requires some time for our bus drivers our students and our families to get acclimated to the new Transportation routines and the routes this has been a big adjustment but one that certainly was needed I do want to thank um our transportation team under the direct direction of Robin Marshall and I want to thank Mr Vernon Bach our chief operating officer this was a huge effort we don't we have a large school system I think over 75 ,000 bus riders of the 90,000 students over 990,000 students that we serve but
062the transportation team is very small and so um I just want to thank them for all of the hard work and effort that went into this we did hear all of the feedback that we got over the last two years from our parents and a change was absolutely needed and we've been working hard to respond to any additional concerns that families have I would encourage everyone to continue to use Zen desk that is the best way for us to track tickets track track response track customer service and make sure that we are serving our families well and that we're responsive to the needs of our families but we are committed to improving Upon Our stabilization for our students families staff and community that concludes the superintendent's report Madam chairwoman all right thank you Dr McDade
063we will move on to board matters our next item up is 1801 appeal of challenge to instructional materials before we take action I will turn this back over to Dr McDade thank you I would like to invite our associate superintendent for teaching and learning Dr Stephanie Sullivan who will provide an update to the process for challenging instructional materials thank you Vice chair Zar gapore members of the board Dr McDade thank you for a few minutes of your time today and I believe this is going to magically work so first want to point out that in the linked presentation and presentation is a strong word it's just a couple slides for our constituents we wanted our families to be able to link directly to the library website that is a public website it's not an internal
064one that has an abundance information for our families that have questions or concerns um in terms of tonight's reconsideration request wanted to give the board a just brief overview of the process I do want to highlight that um this book request was uh started in the old process so we wanted to honor that entire sequence for the petitioner as the board may remember we modified that regulation this past spring to simplify some of the challenges that both our schools and our petitioners faced in the previous um process and so for this uh request a school-based committee was formed those committees are inclusive of parents teachers student and librarian and somebody serves as the committee chair person in this case it was an assistant principal at the school after reading the book engaging in discussion the
065committee determined that it should remain in circulation um we did receive an appeal for that decision and we then convened the district level committee and the district level of committee further reviews the findings of the school-based committee also reads the book of course reviews professional journals and articles um prevailing guidance by the American Association of school librarians and of course regulations and circulation statistics after their review um that committee uh voted to for the material to stay in the school libraries and accessible to students um I do want to highlight the fact that in both the school level and the division level it was emphasized that it should be maintained in high schools only so I do want to clarify that um so the division level committee affirmed it and then it went to the
066superintendent the superintendent reviewed all those same materials the books and the findings and affirmed the uh both school and division levels um decision for the book to remain in circulation and so the next step of course is the school board and so now today you will consider your perspective in the decisions that were made before you in the new process um the petitioner is able to go directly to the division-based com committee I want to remind everybody that in the past the petitioners had to go to several different schools and that created a lot of um burdensome um actions for both the petitioners and the schools so the new regulation will allow the petitioner come directly to the division level so just wanted to point out some of those changes in what was the original
067process and what is our new process and then finally um something we're really excited exced about we really want our parents to be engaged in selecting what their children read and making it a smoother support for schools into supporting those decisions um and our vendor has made adjustments to our library circulation system so parents can create their own accounts attached to their child and they can put in whatever restrictions match their values and their belief system for their child we very much support that and encourage all of our parents to go into the system and do that um it has been communicated through our traditional uh mechanisms but also provided a link here for our parents to have additional guidance on how to set up their account and we really encourage uh families to use
068those resources to help them feel more comfortable about the choices their child is making all right thank you any questions for Dr No well no but there but she just presented so no motion's been made just in referring to Dr Solin right we're asking her questions yes hi Dr Sullivan thank you for that um so as a parent I have not received a notification to use this program yet okay um I have two kids in the system I have not received a notification I spoke to multiple parents today they have also not received a notification well we will most certainly amplify that um I did just try to use the system just now while I was sitting here to see um it appears to me and again this is in the 2 minutes that I
069was sitting here that if I want to block my child from reading a book I would have to type that title in and then select block there's no pre-done list there's no check all there's no correct one book yeah as a parent or um author so a lot of parents have found success in putting an author title um I believe there's some ability to look at genres as well okay um and so the parent is basically creating an account alongside the student account right and they will input those selections the school cannot override that and the system will not allow a book to be checked out in that circumstance so um we've tested it a number of times and it has successfully worked it truly will red flag the student's ability to check it out
070and again only the parent can remove the restrictions and so we will certainly do another round of communication um and make sure we want parents using this we want visibility into it and so we will certainly amplify our efforts in that yeah um as a as a parent you know there is a list of sexually explicit books on the Prince County website there's over 161 titles on that list um I you know there are some really great parents out there that have a lot of time and a lot of uh commitment I do not have enough time to read every single one of those books um nor do I have time to type in each one so as a parent that method for me it's it's not the easiest method for other people maybe it's
071great um may I kindly suggest out loud which I I again I just got here so this is my first chance at at even speaking about this publicly but I know our our neighboring jurisdictions like faaker County they give the title of the book to the parents when they check out it goes into their thing so you can see which book your child has checked out whether it's a book that you deem appropriate or not you can see the title so as a parent I would then be able to look at my child's book to see if I deem it appropriate and then while my child is in my house I can say hey I don't really want you reading that book Let's return it to the library that gives us as parents the option
072to be the person who decides what's appropriate for our kids or not now going through the entire Library I I can't even I don't even know how many books are in our school libraries but going through each one and looking for explicit materials would take forever um we can tell parents what their children had for lunch that day I know when my kids get extras I know when they grab an extra milk because I'm charged for it I also know when I owe you money for a book that's checked out then you can tell me the name of it so I know that we could have a way to make this system work where you tell us what our kids have checked out and then we can look it up yes ma'am that that is
073which was sorry which was suggested to me also by Librarians who have talked to me about how much work this whole process has caused them um and and where we can meet that works for everybody um because I know that this is a point of contention um and it bothers some people that that we're even having this discussion about this book so my offer and suggestion and ask would be that we are able to see what our kids check out yeah thank you we we do have that capability with our um platform right now we don't currently have that module I am more than happy to collaborate with Dr McDade and share with her the information from our platform that does have the availability in that module we have the same system as the other
074districts um so yes it's in entirely possible and I will follow up with Dr MCD thank you Dr yeah no worries Miss Williams yeah just a question I don't want to turn into a library discussion but it was my understanding it was pretty transparent um for libraries you as a parent or Guardian you can always see what your child checks out even if it's not electronically you you we have the capability to provide that information well yeah we can certainly provide the information um we are pleased to say that our vendor Partners have done a really nice job of up dating the software um to stay current with you know the requests of parents and the availability of it we certainly Embrace that just like we now can see where a child is on the
075bus same idea we certainly appreciate the the new transparencies that Technologies offer us today um and again we have not purchased that module but we will certainly have that further discussion thank you I appreciate it because I I just want to make sure that had not changed um because I know my parents were able to to request that information when I was a student and I um as a parent always known what my child has access to for Library um for Library days Elementary gets trickier in high school there are things that are manual and there are things that are automatic and we certainly embrace our available tools okay so there's been no removal with the new systems and things of that nature then of act information no no ma'am okay I just wanted to
076check yeah no ma'am thank you um Can can point order after us to the motion as well something yeah I was just going to add that that you know typically when we have contracts it's we may pack purchase a particular package but if it offers other you know resources that we can use or other tools that we can use we can always add on so we definitely will look into seeing if there's a function that we can have where you can see the whole list of whatever your child's checking out I don't think I think that that's something we definitely look into and make the additional ask of the vendor and I just just want to be extra crystal clear I can't see what my child checks out I also don't know when my child
077goes to the library and if you have multiple children I don't know how you could possibly know when they're going to the library because they go at will when they'd like y so I don't have access to what my children read and never have been able to see what books they check out unless I go into their backpack and look myself yeah I just want to be clear as to what my ask was I understand notified what our kids are checking out cuz I think that makes the process a lot smoother that's what I was asking if no I'm very familiar um with what you're asking for very familiar with what the vendor has available and we will follow up um and of course just to mention that all of it has a cost um
078so we'll we'll collaborate with Dr McDade on all those items and and it probably what what I understood you to say is even showing the history of like what they've checked out it'll the new systems will alert a parent when their child takes takes out a book so you you are correct in what you're describing and I know our vendor has that capability Miss wall yes thank you um so I I did have a question um but I'll start out just making my comments first I think that's great that we have the capability and that we're going to look into allowing parents to have more transparency life is busy and you know if parents don't mind or they like that capability that would be awesome um and if they want to be able to monitor
079that on a regular basis so I think that's great um and uh going back to the communication through traditional channels could you elaborate a little bit more on that um how we put it out the first time I mean I so scoop always scoop comes first we also have given pre-made Communications for schools to send out to their families um so we wanted to attack it from both lens um some schools directly uh the the parents are more in tune so we've done both both scoop and um school-based communication um but soon as I hear that not everyone's getting it we will we will double down and work with Communications on our ability to send more direct information to parents that is not a problem at all and I know they'll work with us that's
080great because I'd also heard the same thing that parents were like hey that thing you were talking about like did that happen yeah well we definitely we all of those resources we want our parents to be aware of and be able to utilize so we will definitely amplify um the communications and do those come through like uh directly from the school as like an email or is it coming through so hey check our newsletter out and then somewhere in the newsletter it's probably somewhere in something and so what is loud and clear is that we will pull it out of being embedded somewhere and add a a little Spotlight on it because we do think it's important yeah that's great we'll take care of that um and then my other question is when a parent
081creates an account alongside their students account if they have multiple students does it link that with all students or do they need to create a parallel account for each student that sounds kind of complicated but I don't know because I don't have a student currently I I don't want to speak to that off the top of my head um but I can certainly follow up on that and we'll make sure that is Crystal Clear in the guidance I think it is clear on that website that I've linked to that explains how to do multiple kids um but I don't want to speak to without having in front of me okay thank you but we'll make we'll make sure all of that is in our is our refresh communication I appreciate that thank you very much
082yep you're welcome all right uh a motion is in order Madame Vice chair um William Madam chair one for the evening Excuse Me Miss William I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the superintendent's decision of affirming the division level committee's recommendation that a that the book a court of thorn and Roses remain in circulation for high school students only do I have a second Madam chair U Mr Blake I second Mr Blake seconds any discussion um Mr Den thank you so this is a point of uh contention among the board a matter of fact I was approached before this meeting and yelled at and pointed to in regards to who I've appointed Mr funderberg who spoke today um no other No Other Board member has taken as much flak as I have
083for who they appointed much of you are in the room today again thank you for being here you are some of the only people that come every single month to these boring meetings and I appreciate you and thank you for your advocacy for our children I am here because you elected me to be here I am here and I promised that I would do this job I would promise that I would fight for our kids I promised that I would be an advocate for things that matter to parents today I was told that it was ridiculous that you were coming to speak and read that book if that book is appropriate for our children it is apprpriate for you to stand there and read it that is my point my other point that I made
084very calmly and very smoothly to miss Dr Sullivan Sorry Miss Sullivan Dr Sullivan is that we as parents should get to decide what our children read if you don't want to decide that that's fine for you but I should get that decision as a parent I just gave a solution that after talking to Librarians worked for them and should work for us once again Mr funderberg thank you for coming general public may not know this Mr funderberg ran against me and then I turned around and appointed him to a committee because I know that he cares about our kids I know that he's willing to fight thank you for using your three minutes and your freedom of speech the way that you wanted to I appreciate you for doing that and I'm sorry that this
085has to be a point of contention I'm sorry that other board members feel the need to be rude to me regard in regards to situation and that we differ across this it's okay for us to differ it's okay for us to have differing opinions when it comes to fighting for something that we believe in that's okay what's not okay is to be rude and condescending to each other in regards to it thank you Miss Williams thank you um Vice chair Zar gapore I um respect the uh petitioner's right to challenge uh any book that we have in our school division Vision um as much as I respect all of the Librarians and professional organizations and everyone who made the decision to put the book in the library um we all are different and we have
086different values and that's what makes us great as a public um but I do feel with all of the controls in place and um parent or gardian involvement in your students life and asking questions and finding out what it is that they're learning and reading about um as well as um keeping a breast of all the information that we send out I feel that we fully uh provide enough information for a family to make that decision in their own home and as a School Division we have put in proper protocols um so that those decisions can follow the student into our building um I will always support books in our libraries because I believe diverse books makes for critical thinkers and that's what makes our nation great um and as one constituent told me um
087in support of this as long as religious books are in the library we should always strive to continue to have as much diversity as possible for our students for their growth and then for learn their learning um because the library is not the place that most students spend the majority of their time in as our student representative said earlier most of our culture is on digital platforms um so I appreciate any student that takes the time to go into the library interact and learn and discover what could be in print and held in their hands and I appreciate that our division takes the time out to uh note that everyone is different and put those protocols calls in place so um because the professionals who go to school and um dedicate their lives to determining
088these uh this information have voted for it I will um be in support thank you Mr Jesse Yeah I just want to say that uh I'm not sure if you implied it this way but when we when you're talking about advocacy for your kids and so forth uh I respect that and you should but also I don't want it to be implied that because you Advocate that we don't we just have difference of opinions we have different reasons but we are advocating for our kids and what we believe thank you U Miss wall thank you um so speaking directly to the book I've uh read some of this text I've done my research on it I got a ways into it uh didn't have time to read it not my genre um but I have
089done my due diligence um reading reviews parent reviews purchaser reviews looking around what people like about the book Etc um and reviewing uh content for its appropriateness for content for children and teens um I know that this is the first in a six series book the sixth book is not yet written coming out next year and from what I've learned of the book and the series the content of the subsequent book in the series I I do not feel that it is appropriate for children um there are many books that are not in our school libraries for various reasons including appropriateness for children um and I think this book I cannot support this book in our libraries and I think it should be taken out of circulation um the other books in the series uh
090appear on our sexually explicit content list and I think it's important to note that most parents I talk to are surprised that we have a list like this at all um that we have this list and most of them are kind of unaware of it unfortunately um I I believe it is important for healthy child development to read books that are age appropriate inappropriate material at a too young of an age can be very harmful and disturbing to Children most children do not have the cognitive and emotional ability to comprehend and process difficult adult mature content and I am uncomfortable with inadvertently exposing children to content at earlier ages than is appropriate for their understanding and the truth is most parents are relatively unaware of what their children are reading so I do really approve
091of the changes we've made um or at least the tools that we've given parents to um be more aware of what their children are checking out um because I think generally parents trust us to have materials in the library that they they would be considering un unobjectionable um I do I I am thankful for the fact that every parent now has that capability and the opportunity to monitor their children's School library book access I'm encouraged that we're going to continue to promote that because I do feel like that is under underknown whatever word I'm trying to think of um it's just it's I don't think parents have grasped that we've done that yet um because um because some of the content in our school libraries may be cont IAL and objectionable to some parents and
092appropriate for some students so um yeah going forward um I do um have I do I already stated what I think about this but my ultimate goal is that we do need to protect children and as they develop um and that we consider carefully what we offer and that we help parents um be more aware of what their children are accessing so that they can have those conversations with their children and reinforce it in their homes um and be there for their kids when they do stumble across something that is inappropriate for them all right Mr jck um along with what Miss wall had just said too when when I was looking at this book prior to this as well nine other books from this author are on that sexually explicit I know Jen just
093mentioned that somewhere on there there are nine other books from this author that are on that sexually explicit list this one is just left off so that's why I will be voting um no against this because I do also agree that the content is above a 13-year-old level um I I wouldn't want my 16-year-old reading this either if I'm being honest again that's my choice but um I am supportive of of removing this from the list as well um so I'm sorry or adding it to the list um thank you all right let's uh please vote 5 yes two no wall trenic one absent Latif motion passed all right thank you on to our next agenda item 1802 is a policy um on for a first reading so I will turn this one over to
094Dr McDade as well all right I will have Dr Atkins come um to just give a brief update on the changes that were made to the policy and answer any questions that you might have good evening Madame Vice chair Dr McDade and members of the board before you we have um updates to policy 507 specific to discrimination and harassment and employment supporting our employees we have an update to align with updates to federal guidelines so that we are in compliance as a school division with some of the mandates that have changed in regards to support for employees whether or not they're discriminated against by other employees and or students and so the updates that we have before you are proposed to support the updates to regulations are there any questions right now all right so
095remember we can read through these we can email our questions all right all right I'm moving on to 1803 a motion is in order Madam chair that's me oh sorry I got it Miss wall sorry okay I move that the Prince William County School Board require a corporate shity bond B in the amount of $110,000 for the clerk to the school board conditioned upon the faithful performance and discharge of their duties with the premium for such bonds to be paid for by the school board do I have a second Madam chair Miss Williams I second Miss Williams seconds any discussion all right please vote the vote is seven yes one absent Latif motion passed all right moving on to board matters uh let's start on way over Yonder with Mr wil thank you Miss zapor
096uh just highlighting some events since we've started the school year there was a resource night at Forest Park uh well-managed very organized I was very impressed with it this year um there was back to school night at Forest Park the first one I had uh there was a rescheduled football game on Saturday at pic High School congratulation Gainesville on your Victory um but still fun to be there uh yesterday I visited six schools on quote unquote my day off of work um starting at Graham Park um watching really it was um the evolution of the Evolve as I say watching the seamless transition of students come into the building in the morning and just as streamlined that as that is it was great to see it went to Triangle next saw went into some classroom
097observations dumri I met my new principal Miss Williams cumington Harper I ran into to an old friend Ron whiten is there right now uh good guy who opened that building up um Swans Creek great building Renovations that's undergoing with the CIP and then Mary Williams uh visited a classroom uh in each grade level uh so the summer um some highlights it was nice to kind of disappear um and be away from the political Fray and just kind of spend some time with my family um but there's some great things that occurred this summer and then also tragically kind of in a sense how it ended on Labor Day in a sense with events that happen I mean we started the summer watching the Triumph uh and the patriotism and the strength of being a country
098watching the United States take 126 medals at the Olympics in Paris 40 gold 44 silver 42 bronze overall the number one we're currently uh in the par Olympic Games USA currently has 63 medals there are historic moments whatever side you're on in the presidential campaign uh this will be definitely one for the history books looking back at what occurred this summer um then we had you know very interesting Sury temperatures uh not only in Virginia but I saw that there were a number of cities that have the highest recorded temperature uh Phoenix Las Vegas San Jose uh making them the hottest Summers uh ever from an entertainment side uh was able to see Deadpool Wolverine it uh decimated the Box off records of 41.1 million globally 211 domestically I don't know it was a good
099movie I liked it whatever um Garfield's own chaboi uh has spent eight weeks on the number one and the Hot 100 uh so that's exciting um and then lastly you know I it overshadowed uh Labor Day weekend for me but um has no relation to school but uh um Johnny gud and his brother Matt gudo two hockey players and Johnny gudo is a famous hockey player um they were home in New Jersey to be in their sister's wedding um over the weekend and they were killed senselessly by a drunk driver um leaving behind his two children his brother's unborn baby um so it lingered all week uh all week and and in the end my quote I know I'm over that I'm thinking it has made me more reflective and will come back is you
100know in the end we only regret the chances we didn't take the relationships we were afraid to have and the decisions we waited too long to make and that's by lwis Carroll so thank you thank you Mr jck Justin always does a good job thank you for that um news in the in the moments of our summer um You did leave off Tommy Richmond who is also a Prince William County grad who sings million dooll baby or raps million doll baby but that I would say is the song of the summer if I had to get to choose but no offense it was very good um thank you again for all of you that came and sat through the meeting um again you got to see on display us voting and having a differing opinion
101um and that was that was nice to get that out and speak about it and it is an important topic that matters to you all so I'm glad we were able to do that unlike Justin I did not keep a log of all the schools that I went to but I did get to visit a lot of them for back to school and see how the first day ran um I've heard great things about transportation and um buses all arriving at the same time and leaving at the same time um I did get to hang out with some staff from glenkirk elementary school on the first day of school and um we do not tout our front office staff and our teachers enough for all of the different hats that they play they are not
102just front office staff they are not just teachers um they then become after care workers if a bus is late and um problem solvers and all of these things that they do to uh keep our kids safe and um entertained when uh there's issues at all with the buses and things like that uh I have gone to a couple of football games and I've been to one back to school night I am very excited to come watch your kids play volleyball to see some of the compet itions go on uh please don't hesitate to invite me to certain events I've gotten invited to a lot of different events that aren't always the most popular ones and I really like to attend those so please continue to invite me to those things I would appreciate that
103and um I hope everybody continues to have a great first few months of school thank you all right Mr Jesse well the summer is over but uh you know really this for teachers and principals and administration administrative people we don't have a long summer and there's always something to do the nice thing about being on the school board you choose what you want or what you don't want to do so I was busy but I just like to first of all highlight the fact that uh like to thank Mr Bach and his team for the wonderful work that did at Woodbridge High School uh I actually put an article in uh the Oldbridge Observer of all the things that they did uh uh for Woodbridge High School I did mention to him that uh I
104want you to be careful because I don't want this to uh knock out a renovation at some point okay so but they did a lot uh went over took a tour and I know uh during the back to school night which I think they're having late this year they're going to have the parents uh be able to see and it's a major difference so that's exciting one of the most exciting and unexpected event that I went to and originally I was not going to go to uh because uh the africanamerican uh Festival over at Mets El uh midle Middle School is a big event and it's I've been going there for years and I was saying I'm not going to this community event and it turned out that that Community event was helped us organized
105by Mrs gtis who my wife uh worked with at the her very beginning when she started with a food truck but there was over 6,000 people there I I drove up and I said my God you know uh I was happy that I had the reserve Parking Spot somewhere but it was it's wonderful it was just wonderful to see and all the work that went into it and all the people that were there so that was the highlight of my summer one of my goals this year is particularly at the high school level maybe somewhat at the middle I want to attend every sporting events and some of the other activ activities that I normally I went to my first uh field hockey game uh I've never seen one of those before so I that's
106one thing I checked off but I want to see all the different sports and support all the stuff particularly the women's uh activities so that's it thank you not your turn yet yeah no it's Miss Williams doing that way yeah it's you Miss Williams well thank you well I'd like to welcome everyone new to our school Division and welcome back um all of our returning uh families and students and staff I just want to take a moment um as we kick off this school year to just give pause and uh take a moment to reflect and appreciate everyone who has gotten us to this point in time um I have been on the board what seems like an eternity in in the best way possible and what I haven't noticed that we've really done is
107take a moment out to just really give thanks and appreciate everyone that makes this School Division possible since the pandemic no single employee no single student no single parent Guardian whatever your relation has had a moment to really catch a breath and have a steady anything except for get up and do it and I think that it it really hit home for me when all the newspaper articles started talking about the SOS and the amount of growth and my first thought was I mean it's amazing absolutely impeccable and then my second thought is oh my God now I feel like I have to go hug all of the staff all over again because we have a new literacy curriculum we have a new math curriculum we have a new accreditation standard of curriculum which doesn't
108even care about growth and that's what we care about and I think it's important to know all of all of the hard work from everyone whether you're a parent a bus driver a janitor anyone who comes into this Division and makes a difference in the lives of our students I mean just take a moment and pat yourself on a job well done to get us where we are now knowing there is so much more ahead and so much more opportunities and growth and learning and change but if you don't take a moment to um appreciate where you've been it's very hard to navigate in the future so I just wanted to open the school year by thanking all of you who continue to join us and for all of you who are new your your
109presence matters and I really do believe that that is the theme for this year partnership working together and engagement and it doesn't mean that we all have to agree but it does mean that sometimes we have to agree to disagree that we have to listen to hear and understand and not listen to respond and take a moment out to appreciate each other and to give Grace when we don't quite make the mark because none of us are perfect um and just with that um I want to encourage everyone if you haven't already to sign up for the parent engagement series attend your back to school nights um get familiar with all the new changes because there are a lot of them um and also um I just really really think it's important if you haven't
110already um you should but confirm your email address with the school division just double check it because there's so much information that goes out there and I think is the one the adult resp responsible for receiving the information it sets the best example possible if you take time out to learn what your what our division is expectations is of you and what is going on so that you can model that for your student and the last thing I will say is I've asked this for several years but I'm going to ask it formally here um I will be putting a request to extend our board matters time because 3 minutes is not enough and what we do is vote but we also have the least amount of voice time and we want our citizens to
111come speak to us and our citizens should be able to hear us not just read what we have to say and listen to our votes so I'm going to be asking um that we change the policy so I'll write that up but thank you Mr Blake thank you uh Madame chairwoman uh welcome to the new school year everybody good evening Prince William County families teachers and students and community members as we begin a new school year I just want to extend a warm welcome to each of you our district continues to thrive because of the dedication of our staff the Curiosity of our students and the steadfast support of our family and Community um and I I'm like uh Miss Williams and some of the other members said I'm just really excited about the growth
112and the the um just the yeah the growth of our school district the so scores the pal scores um especially in my district you know the schools have just working really hard and seeing enormous growth um I want to thank the facilities team Mr Bach and his team because of all of the uh updates the Ada updates at the appol elementary we got the new windows and uh Garfield and uh you know we got a new sign out there at Enterprise they love it so the community see that new digital sign so we appreciate all those things um also I was able to visit all of my schools the first two weeks and I was able to visit uh meet our new we have two uh three new principls one at belir Mr P uh
113pinsler and then we have a new principal at King Elementary Miss po and a new principal at Beville Middle School Dr Thomas so I'm really excited for them to take the lead and continue to take those schools to new heights and as we move forward let's continue to foster a nurturing and inclusive environment where every student feels valued and empowered together we can create a dynamic and learn a dynamic learning community that inspires growth and suc and success thank you for your support and for being an essential part of our District's Journey here's to a fantastic school year filled with new opportunities and memorable moments thank you Miss wall thank you good evening everybody welcome back to all our family staff and students it's great to be back um the first day of school was
114awesome I loved seeing the really bright eyes of especially the kindergarteners cuz they had no idea it was coming and the parents were you know kind of a mixture of happiness and tears and that was just it was just so it's so fun and and it's also so endearing so I really I really loved being able to be out on the first couple of days of school I was welcoming students it was a it was really fun really rewarding um and I and I really enjoyed seeing the tender care of our staff as they welcom those little kids into the classroom it was just it was just awesome so good job everybody on the first day of school um I so far I've had one back to school night I don't know I guess we
115we have more to come um and that was Battlefield there were a lot of people there they changed the format this year so it just the attendance was awesome and it was really fun to catch up we got some new faces in the Gainesville District um I want to extend a warm welcome to Dr Aon Sykes Thornton he or thirston sorry Eric's Erin th Sykes th taking the helmet Unity Braxton middle school and Dr Kesha TRL taking the helmet Samuel bravely Elementary um some highlights around Gainesville we have a bull run has a new security Vesti um this is really awesome um it's one of the very last to be built but um it I'm happy to see it completed and that extra layer of security is very much appreciated by the community Battlefield high
116school has a new digit digital sign and the community is very excited about this um as is the school because it will increase awareness of events and items of Interest Sinclair has a new parking lot for the staff to park in this is also very very much appreciated it's great um and I am really looking forward to the building of the global Welcome Center on site at Sinclair this is just going to be awesome for our new families who are new to Prince William and new to the country so that's what that Global Welcome Center will do and I think that's really wonderful um I'm C cautiously optimistic so far with the cell phone pilot I've heard some hilarious stories from kids um at each of our middle and high schools I encourage teachers to
117be to strictly enforce the rules of the pilot and I encourage students to cooperate it's really important that we but we have teachers enforcing and students cooperating if we're going to see this work um I know it's hard to give up your phone um and you know some things always and know lots of things feel like emergencies um but anyway I really encourage um a strict adherence to this because it's a pilot and we need to get a good idea of what we need to do Mr Bach I'm thrilled about Transportation thank you for the bus improvements and that Transportation data wow awesome it's amazing it's really amazing how those small changes make such a big difference for our students arriving to school on time and that stress of arriving to school late that really
118can carry into a child's day but if they're on time and ready to learn when the day starts it's just such a better start so thank you I want to thank everyone who has helped our students improve and work toward all those um improvements that Dr McDade shared um I know it takes every single person working towards our common goals so I really appreciate that and then just finally the kids are worth it they're always worth it and I appreciate all your efforts and thank you and have a good night thank you all right uh since topic of books was up um we read as a board we read the anxious generation and I I do want to read a quote from here because I think it's apt we've talked about libraries this talks about
119and we talked about cell phones and this is from the author himself um he says he's got oh let's see nonetheless there are four quote nonetheless there are four reforms that are so important and in which I have a such a high degree of confidence that I'm going to call them foundational they would provide a foundation for a healthier childhood in the digital age they are one no smartphones before high school parents should delay children's entry into the round-the-clock internet access by o giving only basic phones that is phones with limited apps and no internet browser before 9th grade roughly age 14 two no social media before 16 let kids get through the most vulnerable period of brain development before connecting them to a fire hose of social comparison and algorithmically chosen influencers three phonefree
120schools in all schools from elementary through high school students should store their phones SmartWatches and any other personal devices they can send or that can send to receive texts in the phone lockers or locked pouches during the school day that is the only way to free up their attention for each other and for their teachers and then four more far more unsupervised play and childhood Independence that's the way children naturally develop social skills overcoming anxiety and become self-governing young adults so if you would like to borrow my copy I'm happy to lend it to you um this was a great read um and ironically I do follow him on social media um I wanted to thank everyone for for all of your um attendance here tonight all of the discussions they're very important it helps
121us get to what we really need to do and that is making sure our kids get the very best education that we have our parents involved and that we have um those conversations between parents par and children about what's going on in their education uh before we leave tonight because I'm going to make sure I just don't use all my time I want to congratulate Miss Laura Mills for her first night as our Schoolboard Clerk and our student representative Allah for sitting up here and uh and and our we've got our Representatives out here still are we still here just one left okay thank you thank you so much um appreciate everybody's time attention um this the beginning of the school year is my favor favorite time of year until we get to the end
122and then that's my favorite time but this is my favorite favorite time I love the the newness of everything I wish you all uh the best school year ever and I call this meeting adjourned