Prince William County School Board Meeting - March 20, 2024

001I would like to call this meeting the Prince William County Schoolboard order motions in order for the approval of the meeting agenda Miss Z report Mr chairman I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the meeting agenda as recommended have a second I second Miss Miss wall seconds any discussion please vote all in favor I any opposed no opposition moving on motion enter close session uh motion's order miss zor Mr chairman I move that pursuant to 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 appointment transfer release assignment and promotion of specific officers and employees pursuant to Virginia code section 2.2 3711 A1 two to discuss with division councel and staff

002actual or probable litigation and specific legal matters involving staff and students pursuant to Virginia code section 2.2 3711 A7 three to discuss with division Council specific legal matters pertaining to civil rights pursuant to Virginia code section 2.2 3711 A8 and four to discuss and receive briefings by staff members related to the security of school facilities the safety of 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 do I do I have a second I second Miss wall seconds any discussion okay please vote do you want us to click this one okay all in favor I I any opposition none so motion passes unanimously um at this point the Prince William County

003School Board will now enter closed session return open session in one [Music] hour [Music] the Prince William County School Board is now returning to open session from closed session a motion is in order for 7.01 Clos session certification Vice chair zapor thank you Mr chairman I move that pursuant to se I move that pursuant to section 2.2 3712 of the code of Virginia the closed SE closed session of the Prince William County school board meeting of March 20th 2024 be certified by adopting the following resolution now therefore be it resolved that the Prince William County School Board hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge one only public business matters lawfully Exempted from open meeting requirements were discussed in the closed meeting to which his certification resolution applies and two only such public

004business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard or discussed heard and discussed or considered by the school board do I have a second Mr chairman Miss Williams second any discussion please vote the vote is8 Yes unanimous motion passed okay moving on to close session action item of motions in order for the approval appointments and releases Vice chair zarap for thank you Mr chairman I move that the Prince William County school board approved that approve the appointments and releases of specific employees as presented in closed session that was second Mr chairman I second wow Miss wall any discussion please vote the vote is 8 yes unanimous motion passed okay at this time um we will move on to the pledge of allegiance that concludes our close session items and um

005we don't have a student here Dr McDade you can lead us in the pledge tonight to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you and moving on to our thriving Futures Focus folks we have a lot going on tonight thriving Futures focus is an opportunity to highlight the exemplary work being accomplished in our schools that fulfill our vision that every student will graduate with the knowledge skills and habits of mind necessary to create a thriving futures for themselves and their Community we dedicate this time during our meetings to recognizing students staff members and schools that have earned an honor award at the state or national level we have quite a bit to celebrate this

006evening as our students are excelling in academics the Arts and Athletics tonight the school board will first recognize exceptional choir students We Begin our recognition with Miss Lori Williams of the great Woodbridge District who will introduce our first award winners Miss Williams well thank you chairman at large Latif uh the American choir director Association or the acda is an organization dedicated to inspiring excellence and neutering lifelong involvement in Coral music for everyone through education performance composition and advocacy elementary middle and high schools from across 11 states submitted over 1,700 auditions to participate in the southern region honors choir as a part of the 2024 American choir is it coral Coral excuse me Directors Association southern region conference in Lewisville Kentucky 19 Prince William County School students choir students were selected having the opportunity to sing

007in advanced Coral ensembles led by prestigious guest conductors while making positive connections with other students from across the region with great honor Woodbridge would like to recognize first three student excuse me would like to recognize the first three students among 19 winners Ripon Middle School students Abigail dwin sixth grade youth trouble choir natal Natalia quinon Ortiz sixth grade youth treble Honor Choir and yarin mass uh masao gartman and please forgive me if I mispronounced your name I would love the correction sixth grade youth trouble Honor Choir The Woods District would also like to recognize directors Daniel Kos and Julia stubs representing Ripon Middle School we welcome assistant principal Dr Tom Alexander congratulations are those the students in front of you Dr Alexander are those the students in front of we have so many students if

008you could just raise your hands from Ripon so that we could thank you so much and congratulations thank you Miss Williams from the Kohl's District's Vice chairwoman Miss Lisa zapor please introduce our awardwinning students thank you Dr Latif the Kohl's District recognizes the following Charles J kogan Junior High School choir students that's a mouthful there Abigail Barnes 12th grade Advanced satb Honor Choir Maddie burn 10th grade Advanced treble Honor Choir hope Cary 12th grade Advanced treble Honor Choir Destiny Kahan 12th grade Advanced satb Honor Choir Alysa keer 12th grade Advanced satb Honor Choir ra Melvin 12th grade Advanced treble Honor Choir and Anika Thompson 11th grade Advanced treble Honor Choir I would also like to recognize director Carrie Staley and unfortunately she is unable to be here this evening so we will welcome Karen riddle

009from the coligan high school congratulations to you all excellent thank you Miss arore Miss Erica trenic please introduce our award winners from the brentville district thank you Mr chairman first from Gainesville Middle School we would like to recognize Isabella necastro 8th grade youth SA ATB Honor Choir and her directors Alton Peters and Alexandra Berkey representing Gainesville Middle School we welcome principal Mary Katherine Graham if you guys want to wave Gainesville Middle from Gainesville High School under the direction of Christina Shepard we have Mara cin 12th grade Advanced satb Honor Choir Alexis catrell 10th grade Advanced treble Honor Choir and Isabella Laxon 10th grade Advanced treble Honor Choir representing Gainesville High School we welcome principal Neil Beach and assistant principal Adam Daniels and from Patriot High School under the direction of Elizabeth Selby we have Megan

010Bergeron n9th grade youth satb Honor Choir lyanna Cruz 9th grade youth satb Honor Choir David Jensen 9th grade youth satb Honor Choir Cameron McGee 9th grade youth satb Honor Choir and Becket wessell 9th grade youth satv Honor Choir representing Patriot High School we recommend we welcome principal Dr Michael Bishop thank you and congratulations to Gainesville Middle Gainesville High and the director Elizabeth Selby yes thank you guys wonderful thank you Mr trenic I wish to invite Dr anamarie Bolino supervisor of the Arts to share a few words on behalf of the students accomplishments hi good evening Dr Latif members of the board Dr McDade I'm delighted to be here once again with you to celebrate the remarkable achievements of our talented singers the acda honors choir is an amazing opportunities for our students to sing with

011other highly motivated singers from across 11 states in the south eastern part of the country I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our amazing choir teachers thank you thank you for their guidance and nurturing these wonderful singers without our Educators and without the support of our building administrators our students wouldn't have access to these incredible opportunities it is with it is with immense Pride that we share in your ACC compliment students and may your Melodies continue to inspire and resonate with us all do you like that little musical tibit yeah thank thank you wonderful thank you so much we're always very excited to have our art students succeed at at such tremendous levels thank you very much Mr Justin wil of the pomac district will now oh hold on no first would

012the teachers family and friends please stand in recognition of support all of our families teachers and supporters please stand to be recognized the these students certainly wouldn't be here without you all and we can't thank you enough for the support you do for our students and for our choirs and for our schools thank you very much uh Mr Justin wil next of the pomac the wonderful pomac district will introduce our next award recognition thank you Dr Latif part of the University of Cambridge in England Cambridge assessment International Education partners with school schools and districts around the world with a shared goal of making education transformation a reality students in the Cambridge program participate in an Innovative International pre-university curriculum and examination system that can be tailored to their interest courses are based on an investigative

013approach to learning with students using initiative and creativity in problem solving Cambridge has been recognized has recognized six pwcs students with their prestige Cambridge scholar award for outstanding Scholastic performance on the 2023 exam series only 3500 awards were distributed to students for their academic success in the US and the world on the behalf of the pic District it is my honor to recognize pic high school and five Cambridge Scholars Anthony Vu MD Ramen Selena Chay Vanessa Thomas Sarah Don representing pomac High School is specialty program coordinator Jeffrey McDonald and my favorite Michigan Wolverine principal Brandon BS thank you Mr wil Miss trenic please recognize your cambrid scholar thank you from the brinville district I would like to recognize brinville District High School's Aiden Partridge for earning the prestigious Cambridge scholar award representing brentville District High

014School we W welcome principal Dr Katherine mes and assistant principal Matthew carbo who is also the coordinator of specialty programs congratulations Aiden outstanding thank you Mr trenck I would like to invite now Kelly Brown supervisor of advanced academics and specialy programs to speak on behalf of our brilliant students good evening and thank you for the opportunity this evening to highlight the accomplishments of our Cambridge program students and to share more about the Cambridge program in Prince William County schools this is one of the advanced academic opportunities that our students are afforded and brunville District High School and patomic Senior High School are the only two high schools in the state of Virginia that offer students the opportunity for this internationally recognized curriculum the program allows our students to tailor their academic Journey based on their

015interests and their abilities whether they're budding scientists future diplomats or aspiring artists students can find what works best for them and they can find that passion for education in this curriculum our students are encouraged with an investigative mindset and rather than just absorbing the information shared with them they have the opportunity to question explore and seek answers fostering that critical thinking and creativity our students develop oral communication teamwork and project management abilities and they apply that knowledge in real world scenarios preparing them for the challenges of higher education and the professional life okay the Cambridge program is about nurturing curious minds fostering resilience and shaping Future Leaders we're excited this evening to be able to recognize some of the hard work that our students have put forward and again we'd like to thank the school

016board for recognizing those student Scholars as well as providing congratulations to the students their families and the teachers that have supported them along the way thank you I would also like to take a moment to recognize the family members of uh who contributed to the success of our six camers students would you please stand and be recognized all the family members of our Scholars thank you all for your tremendous support next in recognition of our state championship athletes I return the spotlight to The bomic District in Mr wil thank you sir I'm back again the student athletes here tonight represent the Zenith oo there we go Diana the Zenith of talent dedication and perseverance among the 2324 winter Athletics each student play first in state competition having triumphed over a competitive field our pwcs students

017showcase exceptional skill and master in their Sport and embodied the pwcf profile of a graduate a pursuit of Excellence through continuous Improvement on behalf of the pomac district it is my honor to begin with our state champions from once again the pomac high school taek Buie indoor track boys triple jum and Maha Adams girls wrestling unfortunately taek Coach Jeff Foy and director of student activ activities Melissa Banker were unable to attend this evening we wish taek the best of luck as he is currently on a recruiting trip to Hampton University congratulations taek no no oh Mr Jesse told me oh sorry H let the record stand sorry uh let's go back we wish taek the best of luck as he is currently on a recruiting recruiting trip to Hampton University congratulations Tek Maha Jeff Foy

018coach Matt munz and thank you principal bulls for representing them thank you wonderful pretty good Mr wil Zenith Triumph mastered Excellence good job I now invite Jennifer wall representative of the wonderful Gainesville District Miss wall thank you Dr Latif on behalf of the wonderful Gainesville District it is my pleasure to recognize three student athletes from Battlefield high school we have ran grof for gymnastics floor and Alyssa Seagle swimming girls 50 yard freestyle in 100 meter backstroke and Ava rice for indoor track girls 55 meter hurdles Battlefield High School is represented tonight by principal Dolores Lucas director of Student Activities Jason kooch and coaches Scott Baker and Mary Henry congratulations to you all on your historic accomplishments thank you Miss VA wall Vice chair Lisa zaror please introduce our award-winning students from the outstanding Kohl's District

019the Kohl's District would like to recognize two colan high school athletes Natalia Shirley in gymnastics for the vault and Alex graholski swimming 500 meter freestyle kogan High School is represented tonight by assist principal Karen riddle director of Student Activities Nathan Staples and Coach Taran Thorton coach Christian Christen vendek is unable to be here this evening congratulations to our state champions outstanding okay that is great miss arore now on to the amazing acaan district and Mr Richard Jesse who will recognize our four state champion recipients over there the AO Crown District very proud to recognize woodrige High School boys 4 by 800 meter relay team Owen winest Nathaniel mcol uh Cameron McDuffy Hayden Goodman Cameron where are you are you Cameron okay Cameron is the only one of the team who could attend tonight as the

020rest of the athlete and coach Kelly mcrill are at a track meet also representing our uh Champion athletes tonight we have director of Student Activity Kyle Jake it is a true honor to recognize such amazing students especially when they have achieved as a team [Music] excellent thank you Mr Jesse and congratulations to Woodbridge High School uh next up I invite Miss Lori Williams again of the Woodbridge District to speak on behalf of her Champions thank you chairman Latif with great honor I the wood District would like to recognize our four student athletes from Freedom High School who captured the state championship in the girls 4 by 400 meter relay Amanda bang did I say that right all right Ariana Thomas Nyla aeria Anderson and S Jones rep representing our team athletes tonight we have principal

021chaveli Smith director of Student Activities Thomas a CO coaches Kenya Hanford Joe Williams Keith Riley and Daryl Harris congratulations to the freedom team for representing the very best of Prince William County schools thank you very much W Miss Williams we are now on to the brinville district and Miss trenck I'll say it again the brunville district is showing up strong with these state Champions we're recognizing eight of you from the brunville district first from Gainesville High School I don't see you guys Gainesville High School under the director of Student Activities Jason written hour and coaches Connor Lee and Sarah Joiner we have Trent Daniels with the impressive boys 1600 meter run and the 3200 meter run that's two things great job and Caroline tribet the girls 3200 meter run representing Gainesville High School we w

022we welcome principal Neil Beach and assistant principal Adam Daniels from Patriot High School under director of Student Activities Brad qus we have Henry Burge boy 1,000 meter run representing Patriot High School we welcome Dr Michael Bishop and Coach James Demarco great job and from brentville District High School under director of Student Activities Seth Cameron oh and Coach Tandra Beckman who is out of track meet I hope um we have Kayla Smith with the impressive indoor track 55 meter dash and 300 meter dash um side note brentville High School is a 3A School Miss Kayla Smith is crushing records even on the 6A level so I just have to say that as a side note she she is an impressive uh runner there so great job Kayla Smith All right we also have um representing brentville

023District High School we have principal doc Dr Katherine M and Coach Brett Stein yeah and I'm going to go back and talk about our wrestlers we have may Kyler Kyer who is a girls wrestling state champ two Pete or three Pete three Pete state champ May Kyler and we have from boys wrestling Evan sonat great job thank you and congratulations to our students our coaches the Gainesville Patriot and brunville District high schools Community thank you Mr trenck next I would like to invite Dr Martin Grim director of Student Activities and management to speak on behalf of our absolutely brilliant and fantastic athlete students student athletes great thank you good evening and and thank you for uh recognizing our student athletes today and I could not agree more with the words Zenith as we all know

024uh it is rare eror to have a state champion our state champions have experienced a lot of Victories and and some some defeats and all through the way they've had to show perseverance to become state champions they have spent countless hours and I can't emphasize this enough countless hours practicing conditioning studying before after practices and games and sacrificing time uh with family and friends and all these commitments usually Co unnoticed and not around people cheering for them but due to hard work and commitment to their goals and we are immensely proud of you as we celebrate this accomplishment today I'd also like to recognize in the support systems the coaches the teachers the parents who have made sure that they've been able to get to practices get home from practices that their uh grades are

025up that they're uh feeling good when they win but not too high and feeling not too low when they lose and are ready to go after it again the next day um that can't be understated and if I could just address the athletes for a second to you our student athletes I can express how proud We Are of your achievements uh you have shown through hard work perseverance and commitment to Excellence in everything you do and you are truly role models for our peers and for us as well congratulations on your remarkable accomplishments your dedication and determination have set you apart and all of these will serve you well through your academic career and Beyond thank you for being shining examples for all of us thank [Music] you thank thank you Dr Grim I'd like

026to once again take a moment to recognize all the family members who supported our student athletes along their journey to their respective championships please Rise um all family members and Friends uh to be recognized all right before we take a few photos Dr McDade will share a few words doc thank you so much Dr Latif congratulations to all 19 Southern Regional honors choir students for your exceptional accomplishments this accomplishment highlights not only your musical talents but also the vital role of the Arts and education enriching your academic journey and personal growth congratulations to our six Cambridge Scholars Award winners and we're so proud that we have the only two high schools in the Commonwealth offering this opportunity to our students this prestigious honor is a testament to your academic excellence and Relentless pursuit of knowledge

027and it also underscores the importance of high educational standards and critical thinking skills in shaping informed Innovative and responsible Global Citizens Bravo to our 23 State sports champions your Triumph encapsulates your hard work discipline and teamwork the essential role of physical education in developing resilience leadership and a healthy lifestyle complements your academic Endeavors and personal development and can be applied to all facets of your life congratulations to all of our exceptional students across all of these categories to our dedicated staff we thank you and we also thank our supportive administrators and our amazing families for all of your support we succeed when we all achieve and we are PR pwcs proud of each and every one of you thank you Dr MC at this time I'd like to request that our state champions to come

028forward for a photo with the school board and to receive a small token of our appreciation we will begin with the choir students first then we be followed by the Cambridge Scholars and then we'll conclude with our athletes um Diana galato will direct you she's right up front in the purple how's friend get we'll give you all a chance to gets n know Anthony not for real e [Music] hey said he was going to teach me once and I was [Music] like [Music] up up it [Applause] up go we're taking pictures too yeah picture [Music] what so let's start with um Jenifer walls District so that would be Battlefield Sports and who else okay so let's start with the battlefield group sorry about that camon camon Cameron out okay this this picture should just be

029Battlefield we want you in there yeah get in there we go all right this is Battlefield with the whole board all right you got it to all right next up is going to be the Kohl's District so that'll be colan Hilton who else that's it wouldn't be Freedom okay no all right next is Cole's District so that's colan Maria yeah but I'm trying to make sure they didn't have any other from the dist fre G l p e them then I'm ready tired I got Stu to do you want to do it outside or here I'm going here he's going this way I haveen okay um that was wonderful again congratulations to all those tremendous students and student athletes and student artists we are now moving on next to Vice chair Miss Lisa zarap would

030like to share a few words um miss zapor about lilan orick I'm sorry thank you Dr Latif um I have the privilege and honor to recognize doc uh to recognize Miss Lillian orick or Miss o as she was called a true legend of Prince William County public schools and a foundational pillar of the Osborne Park High School Community I'm going to read from went to her her memorial service on sun uh this weekend I'm gonna read some of what was here it says Miss orlet grew up in Manhattan New York and moved to Manasses in 1950 to start her career in education her accomplishments Awards and honors received throughout her lifetime are too numerous to mention her influence and many attributes offered to the students of the Manasses and princee County areas will be present

031for generations to come I believe they said that she taught six generations of of students she she was my guidance counselor when I was a senior and two of my daughters um had the pleasure of knowing her as well U because they went to osbor park um those who knew her will appreciate that she made the following request um that in her um obituary would include the following statement I am survived by the many lives helped and touched by my teaching loving and caring and it's notable uh we were awarding students tonight with the Cambridge award uh she was one of the first people to bring AP to this County as well so it is with a grateful heart that I ask for a moment of reflection of this true superhero educator thank you thank

032you Mr arap okay um superintendent Dr MCD would you like to conclude tonight's thriving Futures with some words about Miss orleck yes thank you Dr Latif um Miss zapor I appreciate your touching tribute to miss lilan or or affectionately known as Miss o Miss o is an inspiration to all and her dedication commitment and love for education and her students will be remembered as her Legacy my thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends and I know her Legacy will live on through the many memories that she has left behind thank you Dr McDade okay moving on um to the business part of meeting thank you um we will move on to adoption of the consent agenda motions in order Miss arore I move that the prince Willam County School Board approve the public

033meeting consent agenda as recommended do you have a second Dr L Miss wall I second any discussion okay please vote the vote is8 Yes unanimous motion passed now moving on to 12.01 approval of acknowledgements recognitions on for Action Miss zaror thank you Dr Latif I move that the prince Willam County School Board approve the acknowledgements and recognitions as recommended do have a second Dr Latif yep I second M wall second any discussion please vote the vote is seven yes one abstained trenic motion passed all right moving on to Citizen comment time those citizens who signed up in advance with a clerk May address the school board this evening when they're called to the podium assistant common period for regular school board meetings is one hour and citizens may speak on agenda items or other topics

034gerain to the operations and policies of the pwcs please use proper decorum and manners while at at the podium or you'll be asked to step aside we ask that the audience please be respectful of each speaker and refrain from any clapping cheering or cheering to avoid disruption of the meeting if you do not the board will recess I will ask that the room be cleared to restore public order tonight we have 12 citizens signed to speak when I call your name please come up to the podium and state your name and address for the record I'll call the first five up they will be Chris Barker Amanda ler Bernice Bernice Ash Belinda Ash and EMT Fletcher Chris Barker good evening I'm Chris Barker my address is on file I'm here to ask this board this

035board to start construction of a 14th High School immediately so it can open in 2026 excuse me Woodbridge High School is dangerously overcrowded to make matters worse the board of County Supervisors has already approv construction of 2,000 more dwelling units in the aaan and the absco districts which means more families moving in and more crowding at Woodbridge High there's been talked recently about the 19 roving teachers at Woodbridge High who do not have permanent classrooms and instead teach from carts in the Virginia Department of education's design guide for high schools the number of students that a school can serve is based on the number of permanent teaching stations in a building actual classrooms each typical classroom can accommodate 20 25 students the fact that Woodbridge High needs to Shackle 19 teachers to carts with no

036permanent station at 25 students a piece means Woodbridge High is over capacity by at least 475 students those are 475 extra students packed into the hallways every day my son's currently in eth grade at Lakeridge Middle School he'll start at Woodbridge High in August and I'm concerned not academically my wife and I are very lucky our son's a great student he'll succeed wherever goes no I'm concerned for his physical safety speaking with staff and students at willbridge high school I've heard universally that bathrooms and hallways are crowded and unsafe fights are common teachers and staff have been threatened and assaulted and the library is closed 20 out of 36 weeks of the year for testing because there's nowhere else to put the students my wife and I recently spoke with two of our neighbors young

037ladies who are students at Woodbridge H about the overcrowding their response was that my son he's tall so he'll be okay cuz he can see over the crowds in the halls and see where he's trying to go these ladies who are somewhat short uh often feel trapped in the hallway crowds in fact they even said that the crowds are so densely packed that they've quite literally been pulled up off their feet and carried by the crowd through the Halls like they were drifting with a wave at the beach this is not safe you the Prince William County School Board are neglecting your duty to keep our children safe by allowing these conditions to exist if there were a fire or some other emergency our children would be in more Danger from the crowds than from

038the actual event itself the continued residential development throughout the county contradicts the studies used to justify postponing the new high school additions to Colgate and Forest Park are nothing but an expensive Band-Aid while the building of a new school now will be a much more appropriate long-term solution admittedly starting construction today would not help many of the current Woodbridge High students cuz they'll graduate before the new school opens however for today's fifth sixth and seventh graders the new high school would allow this board to fulfill its obligation to keep our children safe thank you thank you Amanda ler hi my name is Amanda lir and my address is on file this is the 12th or 13th time I've come and spoken at a board meeting the first time about a year ago all of them

039had been inter in regards to issues we've faced in Prince William County with special education the first time about a year ago I explained that I had worked my way from the bottom up I told you the people that I had reached out to organizations departments I mentioned that you needed to look at the policies procedures best practices surrounding special education um I invited you to reach out to me to use my son as a case study so I could help you I heard from no one after spending about $35,000 of my own money this summer trying to work it out with you all and get my son what he needed this summer I started filing state complaints in the matter of six months Prince William County was found out of compliance on at least

040eight issues there's still no remedy so I've initiated a due process hearing it's open to the public I'm here today to invite each each and every one of you to that due process hearing at the Spring Hill Suite on April 8th April 9th April 11th and April 12th starting at 9:00 a.m. no one was willing to call me last year to work this out as a team so now I invite you to come listen to the story there's always three different sides their side your side and the truth come listen to the evidence and form your own opinion I hope to see you there thank you Bernice ash good evening my name is Bernice shast and my address is on file I am currently an IB student at Garfield High School and this is my

041final year and quite frankly over the years the number of students at Garfield has increased substantially I feel that the school has become overcrowded despite published claims of unenrollment and an example of this persists at overcrowded lunch times in which students are packed into lunch periods where they are unable to receive an adequate amount of time to eat their food this is not due to a lack of accommodation by the cafeteria but in fact there are not enough seats and not enough accommodations for students due to the large number of due to the large number of students present at the lunch period this year a 5 minute reduction time has been imposed on our lunches the large waves make it difficult to secure a lunch and eat it in a timely manner and some cases

042I myself must scarf down my food in order to ensure that I make it back to class on time such an obstacle has even dissuaded my own peers from lunch due to the inconvenience imposed by crowded lunch shifts quite frankly transition periods have become a constant battle due to the overcrowded hallways with students moving in different directions these problems can not only be fixed by building the 14th high school high school but putting time effort money into Garfield I believe that once this once this occurs the wonderful things that occur at Garfield High School can not only be acknowledged but can be improved upon the staff do their best to create a safe learning environment the connections I fostered have opened up new opportunities for me students can only thrive in this environment by ensuring

043that their needs are met I encourage you all to visit Garfield for at least a week and if a week is too much than a day and if a day is too much than one hour to witness the mistakes that you all are ignoring thank you but Linda ash good evening my name is Belinda Ash and my address is on file I am also an IB student at Garfield High School and I'm also a senior at the start of the school year garford had announced that they had hired a significant amount of new teachers while I recognize the efforts that the existing staff are making to ensure that the new staff adjust to their positions teachers forfeit their classrooms during their planning periods the defaulted to bathroom security call duty which does not realistically afford

044them time to plan their lessons as they must check that every student has a valid pass additionally some teachers have forfeited their classrooms altogether forcing them to teach out of cards and in other teachers classrooms to to the teachers who forfeit their classrooms it becomes difficult for students like me who have pressing questions to find their teachers we are made to wander the Halls taking time that would have been dedicated to our lunch periods to find our teachers when the effort has become futile our questions either go un unanswered at or we must either allocate time after school to find our Solutions Garfield Woodbridge and other schools alike bolster specialty programs that allow students to challenge themselves these challenges are posed by our teachers and when they are unable to create them the Integrity of

045programs such as the IB program can be diminished these programs allow also allow students to Foster long- lasting student teacher bonds which provide guidance as we discuss postsecondary plans College experiences and career paths I believe that a failure to keep the 14th High School on the previously approved schedule of a 2020 2026 open sends the message to the Eastern side of the country that the board does not support their needs if they are choosing to allocate funds to schools like Hogan it is not fair for the board to delay the building of the high school without visiting Garfield to witness the conditions because I can assure you that the statistics that detail under enrollment do not exist at Garfield thank you EMT Fletcher good evening my name is EMT Fletcher Mr chairman Schoolboard members Dr

046McDade the question is about Woodbridge High School it won't go away as the gentleman said approximately 19 or more teachers do not have classrooms they are they are called Rovers using carts as classrooms for the last 15 years that's a long time wood Woodbridge High School has been waiting more than 15 years that's a long time well someone to solve their overcrowding condition at their school and the problems still exist it seems like they they just keep they keep the can further down the road but as the citizen said here this evening we're not going to go anywhere we'll be here Prince County have new resources I saw it somewhere I read in one of the communications says Prince County have new resources in the budget and it says learning and achievement now you have

047overcrowding conditions and you have 19 Rovers in the hall I don't know how you're going to learn very well with that um it's pathetic and we talk about getting better teachers and new teachers if I was in the education field and you told me I had to teach from a cot and look for a classroom I would go to Fairfax of some other jurisdiction in years past we said we were world class education that faded out and then we said um I think one of the communication said that uh each student achieve learning and achievement for all learning and achievement for all is that true I see the board members set up here every school meeting and as Citizens talk it's like you turn us you're not thinking about what we're saying this is serious

048even more important With Kids in the Hall what happens if it's emergency major emergency and kids it's already out of control at Wood Bridge what happens if you you have a child a child that's disabled physical challenges and has to go somewhere for safety in an overcrowd in school I think what's happening is you're setting yourself up for liability I believe that as a member of the acquin community I want to thank Mr Jesse for standing up sometimes you have to stand up alone Dr King stood up alone many times and a lot of times you have to do the same in your local community can Woodbridge teachers effectively do their job I don't think so and we'll be back later until we get it done five years is just too long to wait thank

049you Mr Fletcher next five Rachel Freeman Elijah Porter Jennifer Gilly Curtis Porter Clara Freeman Rachel Freeman hello my name is Rachel Freeman and my address is on file by all accounts it appears as though the elected school board will once again Kick the Can down the road regarding the current overcrowding at Woodbridge High School it also seems as though the Center for the Performing Arts specialty program that was ripped from Woodbridge without replacement will continue to be an unresolved gaping wound inside of the last 5 to8 years I have witnessed School expansions Justified and made at both Oldbridge Elementary and lak Ridge Middle both schools are feeders right next to the high school and the schools my children have attended since 2004 my youngest tourist slated to graduate in 28 so I've been around for

050a while I do not know what logic increases the square footage of these feeder schools but denies the eventuality of either increased space planning or population remediation at the high school level the School Division has continue to site biased future population studies convenient to their own desires while the students they are supposed to serve suffer the consequences there is a problem to fix right now it should be driven by the school board Bo and that plan should be made known everyone is tired of hearing it undetailed we are working on it especially when no results are in sight this seems to have been a pretty effective stall tactic what I've heard about our budgetary constraints and the impeding population collapse that is supposed to happen over the next 10 years none of you are probably

051going to be around at that time leaving a wake of missed opportunity for our students I wish a majority of you would be accountable enough to step up and assume the responsibility of fixing these issues right now or hiring suon who will Elijah Porter uh good evening members of the board my name is Elijah Porter and my address is on file I'm a member of the military and I own a home in Lakeridge near uh Woodbridge High School I've been in the area for several years and the military plans keep me here for several more I currently have two children attending Woodbridge High School and we'll have another one attending in a couple years and then another after that and if we stay here longer another after that and another after that I would like

052to address the decision to delay the building of the 14th High School based on enrollment projections uh the school board must reject the proposed budget and build the 14th high school now Woodbridge High School is overcrowded and attendance will increase in the area as new as uh in the area the new school will serve I'd like to add my voice to many who have already expressed frustration about neglecting the uh to include planned housing developments in the area in addition enrollment is likely to increase um uh because Woodbridge is a prime area for military members seeking easy access to I95 and affordable housing compared to housing closer to other military uh employment locations I see the effects of overcrowding at Woodbridge and it should not continue getting into school takes longer students wait to pass

053Mel detectors Woodbridge has five School period lunch periods starting as early as 10: a.m. to accommodate overcrowding there are no Gathering spaces because there are too many students for the Antiquated layout of the school uh not only will the new school help Woodbridge but it will ease overcrowding across the district I know several high schoolers in the proposed 14th High School boundaries who have chosen to attend other high schools such as colan based on the Allure of new facilities and Equipment uh the new high school will attract students from other areas and increase overall overcrowding I you I urge you to to reject the proposed uh budget and build the 14th High School to address overcrowding and provide opportunity on the east side of the school district stopped stop overcrowding uh stop overlooking overcrowding in

054the east side of the school district we need a solution not another postponement thank you Jennifer Gilly good evening my name is Jennifer Gilly my address is on file I'm a mother of four three graduates from Woodbridge High School a military spouse of a retired Air Force officer and a homeowner in East Wood East Prince William County I became a concerned parent after seeing other high schools in the county while my boys played football for Woodbridge the disparities in school was disgraceful so we decided we started advocating for the Vikings and other schools that had also been overlooked by the School Board we were told that we were heard and that things would change for our community the sports things changed we got our turf field for our school and the others in the county

055we also got a new basketball multi-purpose gym at both Garfield and Woodbridge I hear the windows that our 50-year-old school has never had will be coming soon as well we also promised a new high school to be built on the Eastern side to alleviate the overcrowding at Woodbridge my boys all endured the overcrowding classrooms some where kids had to stand against the wall all class period long because there wasn't space for another desk they also had the roving teachers as well we advocated for our new high school back in 2016 but are now being told we were stuck with at least another four more years of even more overcrowding with no relief or faith that you all are doing anything about the situation your excuses I hear that you are stating the number of children

056are leveling out in our area but don't base your data on birth rates in the area many of US military families that come to the area already have children that will attend school immediately when they arrive they are already born I had three Elementary School student School AG children when I arrived in the area do you look at that data too you need to revise your numbers based on military housing not the numbers of children just born in Prince William County hospitals you're probably thinking lady you said your kids graduated yes I did but I still own a home in the Prince William County area and we all know people with children will move to the the good school area we are the first high school as was stated as you come over the county

057line off I95 a great place for military families to live a 50-year-old school with some updates just doesn't compare to a brand new school with all the bells and whistles our kids deserve the bells and whistles too Curtis Porter Mr chairman members of the board superintendent McDade my name is Curtis Porter and my address is on file 50 years ago I took the football field at Woodbridge High School as a defensive end for the Osborne Yellow Jackets not the Osman Park Yellow Jackets but that's another story that night a halfback by the name of Russell Davis ran all over us in their 63 to6 victory that night was not all bad for us though we were one of the few schools to score on Woodbridge that year so never in my wildest dreams that I

058think I would be here in support of current and future students of Woodbridge High School and their parents the school board must not delay in building the 14th High School in Prince William County according to the Prince William County demographics office Prince William County's current population is 495,000 and still growing the median age of Prince William County residents is two years younger than the DMV three years younger than those in the Commonwealth of Virginia and three years younger than those in United States of America a younger per a younger population adds up to more children the residents of the aawan magial district cannot wait another five years for a new high school to relieve the overcrowding at Woodbridge High School therefore I urge the Prince William County School Board not to delay in the construction

059of the 14th high school thank you for your time um Clara Freeman and then after her will be Isabelle Eaton and um Kate Olsson Flynn Clara Freeman hi my name is Clara Freeman and I'm a senior at Woodbridge senior high school and my address is on file Woodbridge is one of the most populated schools in Prince County and has been for the longest time we do not have enough classrooms or spaces for example in my English English class we have 36 kids in a small triangle classroom that is shared by three different teachers my current English teacher floats between multiple classrooms throughout the school day if I need to speak to her outside my own class period I'm not sure exactly where she will be located so if I ever need to talk to her

060or make up work I cannot find her we have 19 roving teachers on carts this affects the potential achievement of their students these teachers must navigate the crowded Halls to get to their next classroom which all but eliminates instructional instructional time with us before and after class as a student being able to have spaces other than classrooms to study or focus on school is important at Woodbridge we do not have access to this other than our library our libraries closed often because of testing especially SE second semester last year alone it was closed 20 weeks 20 weeks of the actual school year last oh when the library is closed it not only creates lack of study places but it also closes our Tech Shop our Tech Shop is located inside the Library so when testing

061happens and you have a problem with your laptop you cannot do most of the work assigned as a student athlete I travel to other schools when walking through them I see all sorts of different areas where kids can work it doesn't seem right in my four years at the school I haven't seen any work towards making our situation better at Woodbridge why are other schools and new schools ever recently been built getting these resources while we sit here trying to make the best with the situation while other schools who do not need them have much more room we haven't promised a new high school since 2018 since you aren't going to give us a new high school now what will you do to improve the school Isabelle Eaton hello my name is Isabelle Eaton and

062I am currently a senior attending woodbrige senior high school and my address is on file today I would like to address the overcrowding and lack of programs at my school over the past four years the population at my school has severely increased it went from being crowded to completely overflowing it has gone to the point that my teachers do not even have a classroom to teach in they are forced to share with their fellow teachers or be considered as s around the school by some of my teachers not having their own classroom it affects the number of resources they can provide to help benefit my learning for example in my AP research class my teacher is a Rover teacher who goes all around the school in my class there are many technology issues with setting

063up presentations and projecting online materials on the projector board it creates this problem because of the switching of different users from teacher to teacher in students computers in turn this results in portions of class time being cut and losing teaching time in this specific class we also use previous research students work to reference certain re research methods my teacher had over a 100 different poster portfolios hanging up along the walls that he had in his previous classrooms which I have been in in previous years he would ask us to reference these all the time during class but now all these scholarly poster portfolios are sitting in storage because he does not have have a classroom since I was in Middle School we have been advocating for other academic programs yet we are with only one

064academic program AP Scholars however this is not specific to Woodbridge because all of the other schools have AP classes I've had friends leave Woodbridge to pursue different academic programs at other schools because my school didn't offer anything as as a student athlete I would also see firsthand the impact of my team success as these students leave and go to other County high schools for different programs I know by by sating these issues it will not impact me further but my goal is that it might help a younger students at Woodbridge thank you for your time Kate Olsen Flynn Kate Olsen Flynn okay sorry that will conclude uh citizen common time and we'll move on next to uh 14.01 the fiscal year 2025 budget and CIP approval uh um that is next and I will turn

065it over to Dr MCD I'm sorry losing thank you Dr Latif the budget team and school board have worked together to develop the fiscal year 2425 budget and Capital Improvements program we have aligned our investments in continuous support of our vision 2025 launching thriving future strategic plan in early February our team presented the fiscal year 2425 proposed budget and CIP to the school board the school board held a public meeting on the proposed budget on February 12th followed by a public hearing on February 21st on March 13th we conducted a work session for the final markup of the fiscal year 25 budget I want to thank our school board members for your time attention and Collective input throughout this budget process the board has reviewed and analyzed the proposed budget and provided critical feedback and

066suggestions for improvement their proactive involvement and thorough review of this proposal ensures it Contin its continued alignment with our strategic plan based on board member feedback a few additional Investments have been added at markup including student telea health services for all students to support mental health needs across all schools an additional assistant stem and Robotics coordinator software and consultancy services to support ecovery and document review retention uh preservation and production to support Freedom of Information Act work and Records law compliance an additional position within the School Board office aiming to achieve a more effective One to2 support ratio for each School Board member additional funding for the Communications Department to promote respective School specialty programs through a variety of marketing strategies an additional human trafficking specialist an additional language art supervisor in student learning the

067student learning Department to support the Virginia literacy act in addition additional administrative uh interns at all of our middle and high schools an additional 3% step increase for teachers with 19 and 20 years of experience the proposed budget includes increases for teachers with 12 uh to 18 years of experience um and now it will be extended from 12 to 20 and then lifting The Experience cap for years of teaching service to 25 years these additional investments will add approximately $8.3 million to the proposed budget our Chief Financial Officer Shaquille Yousef and Chief Operating Officer Vern Bach are here to answer any questions that the board may have on the proposed budget and CIP for fiscal year 24-25 thank you Dr M Dade motions in order Vice chair um zarap thank you Dr Latif I move

068that the Prince William County School Board W approve the fiscal year 2025 CIP project by project and the fiscal year 2025 School School division budget in the a total amount of 2 B25 mil 286,00 245 and further two approve the revenue sharing agreement between the prince willum Board of County Supervisors and the Prince William School Board County School Board that provides 5723 per of General County revenues to be transferred to the school division for the operations of fiscal year 2025 and and further three direct the superintendent to forward the requested school budget by funds total fund totals to the Prince William County sorry Prince William Board of County Supervisors and further four request the Prince William Board of County Supervisors to approve and appropriate the fiscal year 2025 School division budget by lump sum appropriation

069in the amount of 2 bli 25,28 $6 6,245 by fund totals as in previous years do I have a second Mr chairman M Williams I'd like to Second any discussion so at this point we'll move on to discussion um so I'll see who's taking first any any sure well first if anyone has all right why don't we start with Tracy Blake do you have any comments or if not move on okay all right Miss Williams thank you Mr chairman um I do have a few comments um first I'd like to thank Dr McDade and the staff as well as the board for and the public for all the commentary and time spent and developing this budget making it accessible to anyone um and everyone throughout the county all the hard work I know that this

070starts from the moment we approve it uh for the next year and there are so many dates in between um including September 30th which is our drop dead date for enrollment and some other physical um physical needs um I'm very excited uh that this budget contains addition additional support staff for robotics as someone who's advocated that for the past few years as well as additional staff for our um Schoolboard office as this role as a board member continues to grow and change I appreciate the forward thinking that has gone into supporting that office um also what I'd like to address uh too is the CIP portion and the 14th high school because I believe that there has been um a lack of uh entirety of communication to the public when it comes to the school

071the main uh reason if this budget is approved by the board because we haven't voted yet that the school will have to be delayed is because it will be a smaller footprint we do not have building plans for a smaller high school and therefore it will have to go through the entire bid process to develop an accurate building site plan and all the things needed to ensure student safety I also want to remind our public that um in addition to Woodbridge uh Freedom High School Osborne Park uh kogan high school and some of our other high schools all are overcrowded one of the main reasons that I am supporting this is because it we for the first time since I've been sitting on this board for 10 years will have the opportunity to study our

072enrollment in a research databased approach that will give this board the the ability to make an extremely informed decision on our boundaries how we utilize not just Woodbridge and I'm a graduate of Woodridge and it was the same student population while I was there so in addition to all that and being the person who sat on here for seven years advocating fighting for attending meetings giving hours of my life for the land that the 14th High School is sitting on I am proud that we will have data and information to make an informed decision moving forward that we have never had the opportunity to do as on the school board at least not since I've been a member and not before and that's important because one of the things for me and giving up all

073of that time is my life not only sitting on this board but on joint committees driving around um looking at trailers sitting with Miss Jesse our former board member serving on those committees with her it we've never ever had the opportunity to really do a deep dig um and this is important because it not only affects our teachers but it it affects our St staff the morale and and every other member of this Administration that deals with facilities or planning or student enrollment um it's also a smart decision when it comes to being physically responsible because if we continue to build high schools and then do boundaries in a peac meal fashion we will have what we have now which is an inequitable boundaries we will have overcrowding in some schools undercrowl in others we

074will not be able to acknowledge uh we need to come up with a better system of acknowledging what what happens if the board of County Supervisors approves development after we decide to make a school we have no backup for that and it's far past time for us to be able to make those decisions to look at those instances and be smart about it because the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result and that's exactly what we've been doing and it's not fair to anyone who has to set foot in our high schools um so I'm very proud uh to be able to vote in support of this um I hope that we never find ourselves in a situation in Prince William County where we build a

075school and it continues to um exacerbate in inequitable boundaries um space usage and funds for our students and impacts our staff and our student morale so I hope that our budget passes as it is been voted on I thank you for your time thank you Miss Williams Miss wall thank you Mr chairman um my Reflections on the budget generally are that it's a great budget it's a good CIP um it places priority on strategic Investments and promotes learning and achievement and will help us further the school division's mission and vision many of the things that I advocated for are in here um including things that were added on in the add-ons and I appreciate that um the inclusion of those things um I'm particularly happy to see the new spending in the budget um for

076teacher salaries um and the other things in the learning achievement category 125 new special education teacher assistants 15 and a half new reading Specialists administrative interns at the elementary middle and high school level 23 new kindergarten teacher assistants new assistant robotics coordinator um and then the other funding commitments to Safety and Security and family community engagement the magnetometer lease magnetometer leases um additional social workers the new Global Welcome Center human trafficking Specialists and additional drug vention specialist these are all oh and assist assist additional assistant director of Student Activities at each of our high schools I think these are all things that will directly impact the experience for our students they will promote learning and achievement for all of our students and will create more opportunities for our students to be successful in whatever level

077they're at and so I think those are things I really like about the budget I do appreciate all of the attention to detail reflected in the budget and CIP I know taxpayers appreciate that we're being mindful of where our money comes from and that it is their money and that we're working hard to make sure we're putting it where our greatest needs are and not engaging in needless spending um so uh overall I think this is strong advances our strategic priorities and helps us ultimately improve education for children which is our goal and so I will be in support of this budget Mr Jesse thank you uh Mr chairman I want to tell the public why I'm voting know on this budget before I do I want to say this also because I exposed the

07819 robers at the Woodbridge High School does not mean that the Woodbridge needs or want trailers if the executive staff is now considering this please meet with all the past and present teachers who are or have been Rovers and get their opinion they are the stakeholders and the people who will be impacted now to why I am voting no the CIP reported Woodbridge High School was overcrowded by 110 students this year and by 2030 31 will be 130 students underc capacity both numbers are based on the planning capacity method which the office of facility service no is not correct their presentation to the board in 2017 clearly documented that the older the school using the program capacity will show significant increases in overcrowding for non School related for a non-school related example a TW bedroomroom

079home can be overcrowded or not depending on the four members living in the homes if you have a husband and wife and two teenage boys or two teenage girls it can work the parents sleep in one room and the kids sleep in the other bedroom so it works it's not overcrowded per se but if you has a husband and wife and two teenagers one a boy and one a girl is probably not going to work because what you would end up doing is have the parents sleep in one room and then you have a a teenage girl and a teenage boy sleeping in the second so that house is probably overcrowded and that's the same thing that we happen here in school program capacity will determine how each room is to be used and when

080there isn't enough room for the class the school is overcrowded the fact that Woodbridge High School has 19 teachers without a classroom came as a shock the central office facility staff and Senior staff appeared to not know that both seemed unaware of the wiser use of robers not just at Woodbridge High School but throughout the county at most of our our schools most board members in particular did not have any idea about the number of Rovers trailers are shown on the CIP but not Rovers and it has been suggested that they will not be shown on a CIP I don't understand the rationale for that it's not clear what is included in the calculation of the facility condition index score however in the calculation or somewhere else trailers help determine if a school is overcrowded

081so should the number of Rovers regardless of what is or isn't going to be done woodb high school has been and will continue to be overcrowded for at least another five years I support 99% of the budget but the not the portion delay in Woodbridge High School and in the CIP data this is the eighth or ninth delay for the 14th High School there is no guarantee that the 14th high school will be relieved of overcrowding even if the school is built because until the boundaries are done we don't know which school will lose students to the 14th High School also newer High School are being considered for additions there is no plan for Woodbridge High School if for some reason we don't build the 14th high school or the boundaries are such that most

082students are not coming from Wood's high school we will still but there's no second alternative it appears once that the Prince William County at one point got the UVA study and then they went to two sources to support it they didn't collaborate with any of the County Planning Department staff and didn't include the county opinions than their presentation to the board numerous citizens have presenting pending velopment that should have impact on our data and if I recall correctly my colleagues to my left here and she's going to kill me for pronouncing her name wrong Miss trenck uh question the non-consideration of a large development in her area trailers are returning to aaan elementary school we fought hard and long to get ready of the trailers and we added three additions but this uh increase appear

083to be the increase in special need preas students in elementary school and the lowering of classroom capacity due due to the I think it's called a prek grant grant this should also mean that future High School will have to house less students per classroom which will raise the program capacity number lower classroom size requir more classroom not less and special need classroom required more classroom with fewer students yes there are some high school that are not overcrowded now in the CIP planning capacity method but I'm willing to predict that they will not be uh under crowded once the program capacity is done and is used and also many of them probably have Rovers yes the transition of students to the specialy program can have a countywide impact don't believe that the enrollment of regular class

084classes zone for the either the 14th high school or Woodbridge High School has a significant impact on the entire County it does not a domino falling only has an impact on other dominoes if it is close enough to impact the other one if not it simply failed and that's it I hear that is being said that Mr Jesse only worries about Woodbridge High School and isn't concerned about the other school I publicly supported the picomic shers elementary school and questioned the delay for the renovation of the prince real high school even though I knew that neither of my two colleagues were going to support me I do not and will not support adding addition on to other new schools that have been built unless the overcrowding at Woodbridge will be taken care of one way

085or the other I am saying I have I am saying on behalf of the parents the students the teachers and particularly the rers that enough is enough as one of the colleagues stated last week the CIP is a living document and infer that it cannot can be changed without official public discussion and vote why should anyone trust that it will be executed as voted upon if that is the case most importantly wood bridges in my district and particularly when I believe that from an equity point is not being is being sure change you can expect a fight thank you Mr trenck okay sorry that that's a lot to cover um I'm going to start by saying I I know a lot of you that are in the room probably did not watch the the budget

086hearing that we had um it's recorded and not live and so I did state that I was going to Reas a couple of things that I said um just to because I think it's valuable for the the public to hear um one of the questions that I asked in regards to the budget overall I'm happy with the budget um and where we've gotten to I did have a lot of questions because it is my first budget season and it's my first time going through the budget so I had some questions um one of the questions that I know I I feeled from um people in my district too is about the certain increases and decreases in the budget and one of the main ones being um the increase of 48% to the diversity equity and

087inclusion Department which was a eight $117,000 increase um can I just I know that the time for questions was before but again sorry sure no problem so the so the Dei office first I want to um make sure everyone is aware is um a comprehensive office that doesn't just focus on one one area of diversity Equity inclusion but the entire school system meaning that in addition to our diversity Equity inclusion framework to ensure that we have a positive of climate and culture where all students have not only a sense of physical safety but social emotional and psychological safety as well we also house our uh Federal um uh title 6 and Title 9 departments in Dei so you'll see there in the budget several things that are under the Dei office such as um that's

088a part of that uh increase that you just mentioned the $800 plus, um there's an increase in funding to Support Compliance Investigator training so every year making sure that our our investigators um are trained to Pro to report uh write on reporting writing um and compliance for titles um six7 and nine and then also what where anything that has to do with um policy or students having access to Opportunities where we see disparities throughout the system we fund through the Dei office so for example we uh added $65,000 in off cycle Investments to the Dei office which is a part of that $800,000 that increased funding to support High School Equity team supplemental pay and these are teams that are supporting um students who are firsttime um Advanced course Seekers to make sure that they

089have the support to not only get access to that opportunity but also succeed we also for the first time covered funding to support in-person SAT prep for high school juniors this is the first year that we made sure that every single student had access to take the SAT that all of that work and and we cover that cost and all of that work is housed under the Dei office that was to the tune of about $256,000 we also increased funding to um strengthen educator and system leader capacity to remove the barriers for belonging and success in uh Secondary School rigorous college preparatory coursework to the tune of $281,000 that was a new new investment from the Equal Opportunity schools which we previously funded with Esser dollars but now the Esser is going away we're picking

090that up in our operational dollar cost and it is housed in the Dei office we also included an additional $50,000 to support translation and interpretation services in compliance case management so where we have cases that might come in and we have to send reports home we have translation services which is pretty costly for the for example just one case uh translation to Cambodian cost us $7,000 so we have to put significant funds there we also increase funding to support our family engagement Series so that we have educational series monthly for all of our families and we have um transcription of recorded sessions that's posted to the website and interpretation services for any families that sign on for those trainings and in addition for all of the salaries in that office there will was a 3%

091increase for inflation for uh salary increases so all of the the raises were covered there you you see that across all the Departments as a matter of fact not just Dei when we increase salaries you'll see those budgets go up and then there was a 3% increase for inflation on contracts and collectively all of those different categories equaled up to the 800 plus thousand actually it it was a little bit under eight but that was where the the increases came from so de I is throughout the entire organization it's not this Standalone elusive idea but it is the way that we underg the entire system to make sure that we're addressing inequities in policy in practices in student access in academics so across the board that's the role that the Dei office serves and our

092federal compliance departments are also a part of that so um so those are all of the things that make up the increases thank you for that um so in part of the budget process we as Schoolboard members get to um talk to the division and put in requests and some of our requests happen some of them don't um one of the ones that I'm most excited about is the additional 3% step proposed budget um that 12 to 18e Gap they were able to add the 19 and 20 year teachers um and ultimately hopefully if we get more funding we'll be able to add the 21 through 25 um so I'm really excited about that and I hope that the teachers are as well um another huge excitement and I know a lot of this is

093going to be repetitive so my apologies but um each of us have our own excitement so the the new Global Welcome Center is huge um for me I was able to visit them and um they definitely need a new space and because they're outgrowing that current facility and they do amazing work um they provide service like unlike any other so um if you haven't research that I I suggest that you do because it's a really really cool um place and the way we welcome our families that are coming in um I think another great addition as someone else mentioned is the student director of Student Activities um the addition to that I think it's going to make a huge difference for students and activities at the high school level and as much needed um transportation's

094always at the top of everyone's mind so adding a bus driver sign on and referral bonus will hopefully help a little bit um with that and and getting more uh bus drivers for us um it's no secret I'm a huge fan of brentville District High School Turf and agriculture program provides a unique career path and skill set for students that can take them far in life I'm excited that we're adding a turf management facility at brunville High School so they can um grow that program even more uh and it's an award-winning program as well so uh the additional human traffic specialist much needed and I can't I can't wait to see what else they're doing with that um and the in the administrative interns is also a great ad um I do want to address

095since since it did get brought up the uh CIP um I I have said this multiple times through this process um reiterating my concerns in regards to the CIP and how we plan for our future schools um the school division is aware of the things that I'm saying um I know that they're working towards new Solutions and figuring it out um Prince way county is growing as far as incoming development um that's a fact like I've said before in the planning process we have now we have four over 4,000 units and homes in the brentville district alone that will come before the board in the next year currently the way the schools are districted this will cause overcrowding at our elementary middle school and high schools in the brunville district redistricting could solve some of

096this but part of the problem is what we have planned in the CIP if we wait until all these developments are voted on and they start building them it could be too late and we'd be facing some of the same problems that we've had in the past um the incoming growth and major overcrowding we need to prepare and plan I know that the like I said the school division is aware and we're working on things and we're trying to come to a resolution um to protect and prepare for the future I know and I trust the plan is to be more proactive instead of reactionary and overall I'm really excited about the budget and all the things that we've worked towards as a team um and I hope that we can move it forward Mr

097wil thank you sir uh in the efforts of not not being too loquacious I have broken down these a little bit more so I want to hit on some of the key points that we've been talking about here um not to be repetitive or redundant here um but from a broad standpoint and I'll talk specifically about the pic District in a second you know if we look at our budget and we look at our core values breaking it down with Equity uh which I think Dr McDade just gave some very poignant examples answering Miss trenic questions inclusion um I think you know inclusionary practices are broad they go all different whether it's uh different socioeconomic groups different ethnicities for me as a a parent of a special needs uh child you know I look at

098our inclusionary practices not just with level one students who are in pull out and resource room but I look at our inclusionary practices with our level two students who are are self-contained students like my son when I was at back to school that Atomic Shores uh my wife and I were just completely uh astounded by the opportunities of inclusionary practices for our level two students um you know I I was I was in awe knowing that you know that we have uh Encore classes uh whether it's uh chorus band uh the the I apologize I'm going to call it shop class but I know there's a better term for it but uh different uh programs that you know even my son at his level can still be part of the general population so the more

099we're pushing with inclusionary practices uh as long as it benefits the students I'm very happy with inclusion uh Innovation uh you know I don't know where you know you can see this anywhere in our County I mean of course you know we look at kogan and the Performing Arts programs uh if we look at any of our other specialty programs Cambridge was in here from pic today uh our it programs have evolved and now Encompass uh you know graphic design uh gaming different things that are more up to speed with what our students are learning on today uh you know and I I like you know where we're heading especially with the Arts programs uh I think we again have to re re-evaluate some of our resources to look at how do we further innovate

100our Arts programs at our schools uh Integrity is another core value uh I think this budget process has been very transparent uh we've had uh work sessions we've had the markup uh we've had citizen comments that come and speak about the budget alone uh so that resiliency you know every year you know we continue to focus on helping our students become more resilient whether it's adding a College and Career advisor more counselors to the building social workers psychologists and so we're doing a great job I think addressing resiliency especially of our students and then the well-being of course we can think of that tied with the the well-being of our students but looking at our staff and the raises that we've been able to compile and focusing on some of our uh areas of the

101kind of the middle step group of offering um additional step to try to get more in competitive nature with our other surrounding jurisdictions uh We've also added increase to stiens so these are all areas again that I think we're focusing on not just the well-being of our students uh but our staff our commitments remain learning and achievement for all which I think is reflective in our budget positive climate and culture family and Community engagement Mr jenck brought up one of the great programs we're rolling out out um with the Welcome Center uh and organizational coherence I said it uh last meeting um or at our markup session um that is online on YouTube um and if you are so bored you can go look at it um but uh looking at organizational coherence is you

102know one thing I I I applaud our system on is that when we hire a lot of these positions that are often designated by as central office positions again using the word Innovative we have an innov approach to that because although these people are classified or categorized uh as central office they're not actually working here they're out and about in the schools uh helping coach teachers uh demonstrate best practices run professional development and so when I look at organizational coherence yes we are growing we are a large school system uh in a lot of our areas I think before Dr MC McDade came uh like our human resources department we saw during the pmic that it was definitely underst staffed and so we're we're catching up and I really appreciate the organizational coherence you know

103and and I want to specify since you know we we've all talked a little bit about our own districts you know uh the pic District as of today has a countless number of classrooms throughout our district we have the fastest growing community on the Eastern end of the county which is pic Shores at our elementary school which is only 7 years old cumington Harper we currently have five modular classrooms with an anticipated additional 150 to 300 students next year adding three more modular classrooms uh to this community this is an extremely diverse Community with currently 2,152 residents within our uh pic Shores but the plan is to reach 3,987 there is a stark need with the overcrowd Ing and future overcrowding with the pic Shores Community this proposed CIP uh does include the plan to

104build pic Shores Elementary and move it up an additional year as it was always planned but now the funding is freed for purposes of that uh I am fortunate that our division uh and our County Board of Supervisors were able to streamline this process to make this a reality um I can't make the speech without giving thanks to uh my counterpart On The Board of Supervisors supervisor Andrea Bailey uh who helped streamline this process uh and get us through what would be kind of the bureaucratic red tape of this so that we're able to build this school uh one year sooner uh because this school there is actually the physical evidence and the data to show there is immediate need to address the overcrowding in pic Shores ultimately in the end our goal as we

105say on our profile of a Prince William County graduate is to ensure students have the habits of mind to create a thriving future for themselves their Community every pwcs student will develop the Knowledge and Skills throughout their prek to K12 experience excuse me to graduate with all the quality qualities vested in our profile of a graduate and so as I conclude every year with my statement uh pursuant to the Virginia state of local conflict of interest act I required to declare the following regarding adoption of the budget number one my wife is employed as a teacher in our school system and I therefore have a personal interest in this transaction number two I'm a member of a group of three or more persons affected by the transaction and three I'm able to participate in the

106adoption of the budget fairly objectively and in the public interest thank you sir thank you Mr wel Mr zore thank you Dr Latif I I'll keep this very brief thank you for all the work that we um you know that the whole division every Department puts in um I think some several board members mentioned that this process starts early um there are people who have emailed recently very recently as in like a couple days asking if we can put certain things in the budget it it's really th this this isn't the time to ask but we can start thinking next year and I want people to know that um you know not everybody gets what they want um and not everybody gets what they want when they want it uh and getting what we need

107need it can be a challenge too uh as the representative of colan High School uh I would like to just briefly point out that we not only have trailers but we have over 20 roving teachers as well uh so overcrowding is a problem in a in a very new school and uh I'm not aware of any additions being mentioned for my school I I never heard that but um I I think this is also an opportunity to make sure that we're making the best decision we can uh with what we know about our demographics uh I also have Hilton High School that is uh enrollment is is lower than it than it should be so there's some potential of of some solutions that we can look at with boundaries we can look at different programming

108but it's a bigger communic it's a bigger um discussion than just at these board meetings we we need to talk to our communities as well um thank you Dr mcade for listening to uh concerns board members uh last time I spoke about the having the um tella health is going to be really important that's something that uh I'm hoping will help some families um we have uh it is hard to get appointments it is hard to be seen and if it helps alleviate someone's suffering and and help some families along it that it's well worth it uh thank you for making sure that our teachers are taken care of and I know there's more we need to do uh there's only so much money that comes in but we but we um have heard tonight

109that if there's a little bit more uh that comes to us in the budget there's um plans to address uh more of the teaching uh the pay scales and um the uh human traffic position is vitally important uh because these things are happening to our middle schoolers and our high schoolers and it's um something that we've had people in our community advocating for for a very long time thank you for all of that I'm I am done M Dr Latif okay great I got a couple quick questions uh Dr McDade if the um conferee budget which is the budget that the general assembly passed is signed by the governor do we have any idea how much more roundabout we may get we don't have the Cal tool is not up yet you want to take

110that uh uh Mr Yousef the Cal tool is not available with the specific school by school amount we are anticipating that we would get some additional dollars an exact dollar amount I don't have but Mr Yousef is better positioned to answer that question uh I think you're right Dr McDade we do not have the Cal Tool uh and that uh that is the gold standard of determining it we do have a uh a sheet that that gives us a dollar amount but that would be pre premature to rely upon because without the calc tool there are certain required local matches that we have to come up with so to give a net number it would be very premature and it would not be accurate on our part okay but but the current budget that we

111are um voting on this evening is those numbers are solid we don't expect anything even if the governor were to veto the budget and it went back to the conferees would we lose any money based on our current what we're voting on today so what you're voting on today is based on revenue from the governor's budget okay from the governor's proposed budget from the governor's proposed budget fine and also from estimates from the County and to my knowledge the governor will be reconvening the the general assembly on April 17th I believe and then obviously this will be dependent on if the county changes their tax rate or does anything that can impact the current budget we're voting on yes they they are also having a markup session on a recap session on April 9th um

112so if there are any changes we will definitely uh through Dr McDade bring it back to the school board perfect thank you very much for that I really appreciate that um this is you know I'll be voting in support of this budget um this will be uh my seventh budget overseeing um as chairman of the school board and it has been um a budget that has been historic in one way or the other every single year since I've been here we've had record increases in teacher salaries over the last s years um we have you know made that a strong commitment of of of the work that we do here and and and in this budget it continues to address um increasing salaries to try to catch up to our neighbors IT addresses changes in

113um scale uh at different levels and we're trying to increase those and improve those um it is worked on improving benefits it is also um worked in consideration of the collective bargaining agreement that we have all signed and we have spent a lot of time over this year U committing to our our staff and our our teachers and as being the largest employer in Prince William County this is absolutely critical so I appreciate the Investments that the superintendent has proposed in the budget and I I fully support them when it comes to um teacher pay salaries and an investment but you know investing in our schools is investing in our future and it is absolutely clear in this budget that we have committed to do that along all four commitments in the Strategic plan the

114budget is remains in strict Fidelity to the plan it is um strongly aligned with the work that we have been doing and the work that we need to get done and where we're going and so I'm very proud to support this I want to point out that you know I want to thank the superintendent and her staff for addressing the mental health issues I think this tellah Health work will be absolutely critical um you know this is continuing to be a larger and larger problem you know we're going to try to step up some stuff with um uh with the um uh we added somebody to help with uh drug enforcement drug drug counseling and um in the human trafficking we already have a first-in-class operation that the Attorney General visited us about a year

115ago on our human trafficking program has highlighted our program as one of the first- in-class programs maybe in the nation and people come here regularly and so we're going to strengthen that um and and continue to invest in the things that we're doing very well so I'm very proud of the work that we're doing here I do recognize the concerns of the folks who've come meeting after meeting and member Mr Jesse about um the delay in the 14th High School I recognize the concerns and I understand them and and and and and while you know as chairman at large I have to represent the entire Division and the concerns I have um that have been brought up by the proposal by the staff in numerous meetings that we've talked about I feel justify the delay

116of the 14th High School it will be built but it'll be two years later that is the goal and that's what we're going to try to commit to here in in this CIP that's what the CIP has and so I'm committed to that work and and and so it is really um important for the board to take the advice in counsel the superintendent the staff evaluating and looking at all the data that is available for us to make these decisions and So based on that I I will be supporting it but I do recognize the concerns and and have asked the superintendent and and and the board to look into what we can do you know in the meantime you know whether it's adding adding as Mr Jesse said you know if we're going to

117add trailers we should ask the community and find out what what we can do there in the short term but I have heard that so at this point um I don't have anything else to offer and I think we should take the vote um did Mr Blake yes I was just going to say that I I will be voting in support of this budget um this is also my first budget um and I want to say I'm happy with the investments in the new students in schools especially you know my my heart is for the little kids the prek and I'm I love the investments in the special education prek enrollment um and um that's it I'm I'm I think that this budget aligns well with our strategic commitments like everybody else has said um

118shows integrity and shows that we care about these kids in their Futures thank you anything further Dr mcdad nothing further Mr chairman okay please vote the vote is s yes one no Mr Jesse motion passed moving on to 1501 student representative matters tonight we have student representative Fernando morante uh Escobedo joining us on the Das tonight senior at Forest Park High School M than you Dr Latif um good evening well good evening Dr McDade school board members and Prince William County Community um I want to start by acknowledging and wishing everyone a happy neurodiversity celebration week um this is a worldwi initiative that challenges stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences it aims to transform how neurodivergent individuals are perceived and supported by providing schools universities and organizations with the opportunity to recognize the many talents

119and advantages of being neurod Divergent while creating more inclusive and Equitable cultures that celebrate differences and Empower every individual I encourage students to take this time to reflect and really take a second this week to celebrate and unify as a student body as you may know some of our NE neurode Divergent friends are part of the special education programs in Prince County Schools um the special education department supports our County as they provide an equal educational opportunity for all students and for those who are interested there's a special education advisory committee um they determine the needs of children with disabilities within the county um they develop priorities and strategies for meeting those identified needs and they advocate for special education teachers they hold meetings monthly here at the KLC and allow for citizen common time

120as well and for more information on how to participate you can visit the special education advisory committee section on the pwcs website on another note I would like to share what the student Senate has been working on for this past month um one of our goals as a student Senate is to create a student Bill of Rights to present to the prince Willam County Schools community and eventually put in use um by all students at pwcs as of now we have curated a tool with a specific set of criteria that these rights should follow they go from is this right even legal to what do the stakeholders um think would uh potentially think about that um and we also developed the categories that these rights might fall under um in the student in the structor

121of the Bill of Rights we also have been planning the upcoming student leadership Workshop to be held here at the KLC on April 3rd during this Workshop we will start brainstorming and drafting these rights using the analysis tool to drive our discussions um that the Senate has previously created I would like to give a shout out to Miss Viola aski Dr shaver and Mrs Shaw who have been part of this exciting process it's been really hard um there's so many things to take in into account it was crazy but um I think we have a very uh good team in the Senate and with our advis so I'm really excited for this upcoming um leadership Workshop um similarly it is part of my duties to advocate for students in the county and their thoughts and

122ideas if you remember from the last school board meeting we had the pleasant visit visit of some of our elementary school friends advocating for Middle School recess uh I see catala over there Hi um they have created a committee and they meet uh the Panera off 2:34 every Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and this past weekend I attended one of their committee meetings um to hear more about their initiative um I met with catala who's here tonight um as well as Zoe and Michelle uh all three of them are fifth graders from Kyle Wilson Elementary School and they started this Middle School recess initiative last school year when they were in fourth grade they are well aware of the diverse studies providing the benefits of recess and have done high level research on the topic it's

123it's very impressive they have like a file with all the studies and everything that they've read I was it it was very impressive um they have also collected hundreds of signatures from community members um students teachers and parents in support of Middle School recess um they believe that recess will only benefit both students and teachers eventually and could be implemented as soon as next school year together we produce a proposal that they will soon share with the Schoolboard members and other County officials as well as there soon to be Middle School principles um all three of them have already reached out to their to the principles of their future middle schools um asking questions asking for statistics and um some of them have g a response um and what we meant um we thought about

124a plan that um would allow the students having a recess while still keeping a good amount of their instructional time um I'm sure they will share more specific details um in future school board meetings um but one of our ideas included um reducing class periods for about 2 minutes so all the all that time combined would give you about like 10 to 15 minutes for recess um my brother he's a sixth grader at putak Shores um he has seven class periods that in if we cut those periods by a couple minutes then they he has like 14 minutes of recess um um so there's a lot of stakeholders a lot of to think about but um the fact that these three fifth graders came up with the idea it's really impressive and I I was

125really proud of them um as a high schooler sometimes I need a mental break from classes and activities so I cannot imagine how much middle schoolers need that break as well um this initiative is not advocating for like full on Rees like let's go like to the monkey Barce and play sports and like play tager stuff it's more as a mental break from their Learning Journey so they can feel more relaxed and motivated throughout the school day um we thought about um recess being held in the library or outside if it's a like if it's not out if it's nice out or in the auditorium or um just places where class is not um in place um so I think it's definitely doable um and I strongly encourage all stakeholders involved uh with these types

126of implementations to evaluate the benefits in enactment of Middle School recess catala soe and Michelle and the whole Middle School recess committee I am extremely proud of you all for taking leadership and speaking up about what you're passionate um I have no doubt that I will see some of you sitting in this student repap chair in the future and uh the work that you guys have put in is amazing and I really appreciate um the initiative it's um I'm sure it's I hope it's going to make change in the county um speaking of which applications to serve as the next student School Board representative are still live applications will be open through April 2nd and all Rising Juniors and seniors are encouraged to apply serving as this year student rep has been an honor so

127definitely check out this opportunity um and this is also a chance to be part of next year's student Senate and participate in the implementation of student Bill of Rights um so and applications are live in the website um also I want to wish the best of luck for all our Juniors who will be taking the SAT tomorrow during the school day the SAT is a good opportunity to demonstrate your academic abilities and a good score improves your chances of being accepted into an educational institution post High School however if standardized tests are not your strength I get it believe me I'm not a great sat uh test taker don't be so hard on yourself everyone has different abilities and strengths U maybe test taking is not yours and that's completely fine um but just make

128do your best and that is more than enough remember to charge your school issued laptops tonight I've gotone like a million emails about it so don't forget to charge your laptops um as the SAT will be digital uh our seniors we have an asynchronous day but we still have um assignments to complete and these will be um used for attendance so if you do not turn in those assignments you will be uh considered absent and attendance is mandatory tomorrow still just um online uh finally I'd like to remind students and parents that the end of the third quarter is soon coming to an end um so make sure you're turning in those assignments on time keeping up with your readings and doing one last effort before Spring Break um to go back to the work

129that the Dei does um that Dr McDade uh was talking about earlier I wanted to offer a little bit of my student Insight on how I can see these improvements um at my school and around the county as well I have heard uh a lot from my fellow classmates about how grateful they are that they ke to take um an SAT for free and during the school day um especially those who are economically disadvantaged and the fact that it's on a school day makes it extremely um easier for them uh usually SATs on a Saturday and if you don't drive or if you don't have someone that can take you that's um that's um a problem so the fact that it's during the school day during school hours is um it's really beneficial for all

130our students um as an immigrant student and I immigrated from Peru at the start of my 10th grade um the Dei programs were extremely helpful for me to make a smooth transition um to the US school system and the translation portion of the work that the Dei implements is also extremely vital for the support that my family provides me to succeed um my home language is Spanish and I have never once had my parents ask me to translate some some um communication that they get from the county because they get them directly in Spanish um and if you're your family speak a language other than English you probably know how much it means to get an official Communication in a language that you can understand um so I can definitely see and feel the work

131that the de office provides and I'm very very grateful that this apartment is being included in the future steps regarding our education and our County um also the work that the student health and wellness department does regarding drug and Substance Abuse Prevention is also evident in high schools a few weeks ago my classmates um in the senior class and I received training on um how to identify a person who's high in opioids and how we can help them they even um offered us the just like a device that can save someone's life they offered us for free yeah mhm so they offered it to us for free we um we have all the tools so I think that the work that um is being put in besides like um our class time it's extremely helpful

132as well and I truly believe that these implementations are adding to the efforts um to create a thriving future Focus for the pwcs student body uh thank you for your time and have a wonderful spring break is that thank you Fernanda fantastic excellent comments and a lot for us to think about um tonight um we are moving on to superintendent Time Dr MCD thank you Dr L during the first weekend of March 140 of our students who are part of the pwcs growing our own Teachers Program along with their teacher leaders participated in the annual Educators Rising student leadership conference and competitive events Educators Rising Virginia is a Career and Technical student organization focused on training and teaching future Educators in Middle mid school high school and college and I'm proud to share that pwcs

133had 25 first place winners from CD Hilton uh High School uh Charles J kogan Senior High School Gainesville Osborne Park Unity Reid and Woodbridge high schools and 15 second place winners from kogan Forest Park Gainesville Garfield Hilton Osborne Park and unity Reid high schools first and second place winners are eligible to represent pwcs and our Commonwealth at the Educators Rising national competition in June and I'm very proud of our future teachers our program graduates our program graduates who return to our classrooms and our teacher leaders for their amazing contributions to our schools the Kelly Leadership Center bustled with excitement this past weekend as pwcs hosted the Prince William Manasses Regional science fair the pwcs vision 2025 launching thriving future strategic plan includes a goal of increasing student participation in Regional State and international science and

134engineering fairs 235 students 79 judges and 21 outside organizations participated in the science fair there were 182 projects on display among the standout projects were five uh representing five schools for Grand Prize winners each addressing important issues with creative and scientific rigor and the five schools um that will be advancing two students are from kogan one from Battlefield one from Osborne Park and one from Patriot High School and we'll be acknowledging uh those students by name and their project and their project titles um in a future meeting next week our students and staff members will observe a well-deserved spring break and I hope our staff members as well as our students and their families enjoy a restful break and take advantage of the time to recharge and those of you who are traveling please be

135safe Mr chairman that concludes the superintendent's report thank you Dr McDade moving on to committee updates wall has an update on safe schools advisory Council thank you Mr chairman I'll be really brief um safe schools met um a week ago Monday and we had a quorum finally so thank you anybody or everybody who got their representatives to show up to that meeting um and we attacked the bylaws so we it's in the bylaws it says that we will annually review our bylaws and so we attempted to do that and we got quite far into it um and the committee was tasked with they were given access um in order to finish it given access to the document and are encouraged to make comments on improvements and suggestions and amendments to the bylaws so that's kind

136of where the committee is right now and that's pretty much all that we were able to accomplish but it was um good progress on an important thing that we need to get done so that's all outstanding thank you very much at this point we'll go to 1801 um on the board matters agenda ratification of collective bargaining agreement which is on for Action emotions and Order Miss arore thank you Mr chairman I move that the Prince William County School Board ratify the collective bargaining agreement with an effective date of July 1 2024 do I have a second Mr chairman Mr Blake a second thank you sir any discussion Mr trenck um I understand that the collective bargaining agreement has been voted on and approved by the pass board tonight we're being asked to ratify this agreement

137I'm not a fan of collective bargaining for public service employees but I'm a huge fan of paying teachers more and I'm glad we were able to do that with this budget I firmly believe that this raise could have and would have been accomplished without this agreement I believe there are certain aspects that need to be protected in regard to management rights and I worry this agreement can put those at risk because of these reasons and because of the fact that I wasn't part of the initial vote implementing collective bargaining I'm going to be voting no tonight thank you okay any further comments Miss wall thank you very much um I will Begin by stating that I recognize and support the specific benefits that are included in this agreement for our teachers such as the historic

138salary increases in supplemental pay and stipend and while I greatly lawed the positives of that this agreement has yielded I uh continue to express my opposition to the process my position should come as no surprise to anybody who has been paying attention to this issue for the past year back in 2023 I expressed my opposition to heading down this road and I expressed my support and I expressed at that time my support of the then existing process of meet and confer which was working well and which was serving our division admirably and was also may I note a highlight or an an exemple for other divisions around Virginia they would often be um Consulting with our staff on how we did meet and confirm we were a model of how it should work so as

139I have um said throughout this process I maintain that collective bargaining is bad for the school system and particularly for kids and I encourage the board not to go down the path of collective bargain encouraging might be a nice way to say what I was doing actually so while I applaud our staff and all on the bargaining team for the thousands of Collective hours spent on this and all that they have endured and getting us to this point um it was painful and difficult and unpleasant to say the least thank you for doing what we asked you to do and I'm sorry you had to do it what I saw over the last year was not the best of what Prince William County schools is I have detailed many of my concerns with the process

140in past comments those are public records you can go back and see what I had to say and I add those concern to those concerns my current observations many of our teachers were highly distracted over this last year by this process a fair number were seriously distressed by the level of vitriol and negativity which reached an all-time high at the height of the conflict and we saw that in our boardroom week after week after week it seems distant now that's how memory works over time you forget how bad something was but as a board we endured months of negativity and reputational disparagement and I also think I'm putting that nicely it is my opinion that many inaccuracies prevailed in the public narrative due to this process and much reputational damage was also done to pwcs

141as a result of choosing to engage in the collective bargaining process I predicted that entering into the path of collective bargaining would lead to increased negative feelings between teachers and school division lead leaders which did in fact occur I also expressed concern about increased negative perceptions by the public about the teaching profession as a whole which also occurred many people asked me why our teachers were so miserable and why would anyone want to be a teacher after what they were hearing here in our boardrooms and I truly regret that because we have many wonderful teachers who love what they do I predicted that misinformation of data would be rampant and it was was very hard for us to win the news cycle um with the headlines and the stories that pwa was constantly putting out

142I predicted the education would be politicized and it was we experienced that here on the board I predicted that children and the quality of their education would not be the priority through the collective pargeting process and it was not it was never mentioned to my recollection again while iort the gains in salary and other Financial benefits I maintain that we should not have gone down this path in the first place and had we not I strongly contend that we would have accomplished the same result with a lot less cost effort time and reputational harm that we had we stuck with meet and confir this is because the previous board and I believe this board as well recognizes the need to attract new and Veteran teachers keep our excellent teachers and compensate them well in order

143to compete in our region for the best test Talent so again while ultimately teachers do benefit from this agreement I continue to feel that the how we have chosen puts us on the wrong path and I am certainly willing to bring forth a motion to resend the resolution at any time and I'm making that as a public announcement thank you very much okay um any other comments okay well I you know I'm just going to say that this is fairly historic uh for Virginia for teachers for large School divisions to um I think we may be the first I'm not positive uh we're big I'm talking about big they're like a little Rinky Dink little place I'm not just I'm just joking the no no no for um I did they ratify yes they okay

144so yeah so we we are so we're we're one of the biggest districts to ratify a um collective bargaining agreement and I and I think this is um it's it's a good first step I have always stated that collective bargaining is a is a tool for us to improve our ability to um achieve what my ultimate goals were and have been is to increase our salaries and our benefits for our teachers which has been something that I've been consistent on for the last six years that I've been here uh we continue to be um competing with uh richer districts who continue to also pay their teachers more and so we it becomes extremely difficult for us to catch up we've made extra ordinary strides especially under superintendent McDade um where we are making we are

145catching up and we are doing a better job I think the CBA that that the staff has spent a lot of time on as you've heard and the superintendent has spent a lot of time on and the pwa has spent a lot of time on and I want to thank the pwa for their work in um being at the table it was not easy um as you've heard uh it has been difficult but um you know I I come from Ohio and and and I don't know many places where collective bargaining is is the easiest thing to do it is by its nature adversarial and difficult but you know if done well we can reach an agreement tonight I'm proud to support and ratify the CBA that we did come to an agreement on and

146I'm I'm excited that the pwa has also ratified it so I will be in full support of this and I I continue to believe that the CBA and collective bargaining is a good to tool for us to really work towards making sure us as the largest employer in the county is doing the best we can for the folks that are teaching the most valuable assets and the most valuable assets that the country has and the county has and that's our children so I will be supporting in full support of the collective bargaining agreement so at this point please vote the vote is six yes two no trenic wall motion passed sorry moving on to board matters um we are going to start with um Justin wil I'll be quick Mr chairman uh for brevity here

147um excellent yes I'll just State um you know I'm going to continue my commitment to being very concerned about bullying in our school division um the last couple weeks I have been inundated with a lot of uh examples anecdotal examples of bullying uh happening across all ethnicities all ages um and it is something um you know I'm looking forward to addressing uh with the code of Behavior Uh later on this year um you know I continue um soliciting feedback from uh teachers parents and having conversations with my principles um you know it's something again I I'm Resolute about it's it's a passion of mine and something I I'm committed to fixing um but in the effort of not being um all negative uh I never thought I would say this five years ago given the

148SE situation but I have a lot of great principles but tonight I'm recognizing one uh Miss yika Walker of gr Park this lady we want to talk about code of behavior Behavior she does not play her military background her extensive years experience as an AP at Grand Park it's unbridled energy she's uh personable energetic I I just can't say enough about her management and so I will put out again a one of my recognitions tonight um of uh one of my principles in my district I'll talk about events in two weeks so thank you Mr Denning this last weekend I attended the annual transition Fair which I've never heard of before it's hosted at Colgan high school at helps families learn more about employment opportunities for Youth and adult students with disabilities as they plan

149for Life After High School I was personally invited by Tate Jordan a Gainesville High School student he wanted me to come and watch as he presented the opportunities that our ctsos provide in middle school and high school um he talked about great great organizations like FBLA Future Farmers of America and the things and the skills that these organizations provide to students with disabilities to help them uh future their careers and and decide what they want to do next in their life um and I just thought that that was an amazing presentation so I want to personally say uh congrats to Tate Jordan on on taking initiative and calling me as your Schoolboard member to come um thank you for doing that I also went to Cedar Point and watched Aladdin huge huge kudos to Mrs

150lefur for directing such an incredible show um I did happen to watch three that weekend and so um I I just think she does a phenomenal job and she really um turns those kids into future stars um I also went to Piney Branch and watched the Wily Wonka musical which those kids could sing and that place was packed not a seat left in the house um I also went to marstellar to watch Annie Jr um where my favorite performer happened to be officer board he's super cute happens to be my kid too so um he did a great job I went down to Richmond to watch Patriot boys basketball Unfortunately they lost come on guys we can do it next year I'm sure of it um also one of my favorite things that I did

151this month was it was actually this week was tour the transportation Depot um super exciting they did say that they had never had a Schoolboard member before so I'm going to go on record saying that out loud okay everybody should go visit it's a really cool place um they have a lot of long-standing employees there uh it's awesome to see the great work they do they're they're the ones that get our kids to school safely and home and I think that that's extremely important to us as parents I can't wait to keep learning more I'm happy tonight that we voted unanimous unanimously to appoint members of the brunville district to multiple committees and Boards I believe that I have chosen a strong list of parents who have been involved present and advocated for students teachers

152and parents for many years I'm excited to see the work they can accomplish during their term I will say that I do wish that as Schoolboard members we have the opportunity to appoint both students and teachers to these various committees as well as parents because I believe having a variety of perspectives from each district would come in handy and I appreciate all the students that have reached out to me who would like to be appointed um I I have talked to the school Division and we're trying to figure something out um especially for the ones that we sitting I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Spring Break and Easter Sunday and that the students and teachers enjoy a much needed rest bit and have a lot of fun you enjoy celebrating with family and friends

153and rejoicing in the resurrection of Jesus it's almost the last quarter let's finish strong Mr Jesse I'd like to just just say that for many years I used to wonder why you look at politicians and you very seldom see their spouse with them and after being going with my wife for 11 years to most of the event I know why it is a lot we go and we attend a lot of things we get paid basically nothing uh but we we still go and one of my goals is to go to some of the events that uh people don't normally go to and I I want to see some of the things that uh stuff and and my wife is uh you know as I said I went with her and you might be saying

154well doesn't shouldn't she come with you and she deserved to have a rest and I want to make sure she that does that and she's doing some other things so I'm not going to list all the things I did but the one thing I do want to say is that I did attend Mrs o uh ceremony at uh the uh High School it was very well attended the lady would get up at 3 would be at school 3 or 4:00 in the morning all day long and she was just a wonderful person and I was thrilled and a few months a month or so ago I attended the uh ceremony funeral for Mrs Gravely and that was an honor to be there also so we get to do a lot of nice thing we get

155to see a lot of nice things but it is a lot of work but it's something I volunteer I do not know how the people who have jobs survive this year after year cuz it is a lot of work to do thank you we are Miss wall right yes Miss wall I will take it um to start um I want to say I'm sure our thought all of our thoughts and prayers are with the driver of the bus who was injured today by that tree that fell um during the Windstorm that we got this afternoon I really hope that our that bus driver is is going to be okay um I wanted to start also say the artwork that is on display here comes from battlefields AP portfolio prep class and from battlefields art one

156classes so um great job all the students who made these amazing artworks um the 3D book projects are to help them understand the creative process that they will utilize in their AP course next year um and the others these art one Picasso esque sculptures are to help students explore the elements of color and shape and form so I have artists in my family um one of my graduate pwcs graduates was an AP art student so it's really fun to see it decorate the boardroom good job everybody um last week I had the privilege of attending the Arts the sorry the award ceremony for the principal in Manasses Regional science and engineering fair and I want to give a big shout out to Dr Julia renberg supervisor of Science and her entire team for all of

157the hard work that they put in and making sure that that happened um furthermore I want to congratulate all of the students who participated and especially congratulate those first place winners and the students the five Overall winning projects um that will advance to National and international competitions um this is really exciting science fair is hard and it takes a lot of extra effort but it's real learning and it's so valuable so it's really neat to see um I also recently attended Unity Braxton's content night and science fair and jaguar night both of these Unity Braxton events were awesome and they brought so many parents and family members into the school school to engage with learning that this school is working really hard to improve the lives of its students and I I thank you for

158allowing me to see this in action last evening I attended a pyramid concert at Bull Run and it was with fifth and sixth graders and it caused me to reflect on how important music education is in its music education month anyway um and how fun it can be and on the topic of fun one of the songs that was composed by our very own Mr Sam rolson it was called the rubber chicken dubstep which really brought the kids alive um and it gave me a chance to reflect that my own bass player who only seven years ago was in a concert just like that um and who incidentally was his first base teacher was Mr Sam rolson so kind of a cool Circle um children can't always see it but they really do change and

159learn and grow so much over the course of just a few years and um it's really exciting and now for instance my son is a base principal bass player and a concert Orchestra at a four University so that's the value of a principal County Education um Dr Seuss is credited with saying sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory this fourth quarter soon we're going to have many students Crossing that graduation stage once and for all so from a mother who's been down this road I say emphatically cherish every moment Miss William thank you Mr chairman um as we close out the month of March which is women's History Month uh the theme this year here is women who advocate for Equity diversity and inclusion I would just

160like to acknowledge a few women um who practice this live this and advocate in um our society in our County at large uh myself included as that has been my primary focus the entire time that I've been on the board but I would like to also honor a few um in no particular order but of course our outstanding superintendent uh our three three Board of Supervisors members um supervisor Franklin Bailey and our uh new chair Jefferson I'd like to uh also recognize Maria Bergos for all of her hard work both as a former School employee now as a County employee um and constant collaborator collaborator M little Denise Carroll our female student Representatives that um have served us on the board and have served us well that uh continue to uh give me hope for

161the future uh as well as our fearless recess Advocates who been coming here that I know will carry the torch well um into the future uh for all of our women and then uh lastly I think there's a picture that I asked Communications to put up I just want to honor this young lady Miss Erica Ortiz she is a Woodbridge District resident she is the first in her family to participate in a dog show she won the first time out the junior Handler who speaks for herself righteous bully award uh so she is the 2024 recipient first time ever entering a dog show one and is super proud uh she is um one of our elementary school students in the Woodbridge District so I just wanted to pay her special mind because that is an

162outstanding accomplishment um and then for events there were so many um that have occurred within the district but I just want to give a special acknowledgement to fredland Middle School's girls varsity basketball they had an undefeated season and they were champ ions thank you to Amazon um for allowing us to get a sneak preview of the future science lab that will be coming in Lowden County that our School Division students will be able to tour um big shout out to Featherstone drama club The Drama teacher Mrs garu I have never seen a teacher encompassed by all of her drama students and yelling and screaming and get more standing ovations than the actual um students who participated in the plays uh so congratulations to her there will be no j meeting this month uh on Thursday

163will be uh racial and social justice and I would like to um just make sure that the vote for the consent agenda was recorded correctly because I did not vote in favor for it and I W hope everyone has a wonderful spring break for all those who celebrate um all the religious holidays that overlap spring break and I would like to continue to advocate for this board to learn more about our process of building buildings and the CIP thank you waade Wade Anderson Mr Williams I just want to Circle back on something you said about your vote being incorrect on the consent agenda if that's the case then you need to uh because you voted yes you need to either move to reconsider or ask if anyone if there is an objection to changing your

164vote to correct the correct vote I I would like to do that because that the so I I'll ask it because I'm the chairman um does anyone have any objection to Miss Williams changing her vote to no on consent agenda okay as seeing none it's done can I just ask is it is it on a specific item on the consent agenda Ian at this point she doesn't I mean I'm just asking sure I'm I'm happy to answer so the information that was presented I was not aware of the way that certain items were pulled off the consent agenda so there were several items that I did not agree with um and so I wanted to make sure that that was recorded accurately thank you Mr Blake uh thank you Mr chairman over the past couple

165weeks I've had the privilege of attending several events within our community each contributing to the enrichment of our educational landscape and fostering valuable connections uh the 32nd annual food show held at kogan high school provided a platform so show uh for showcasing culinary talents and Innovation I believe that nurturing our students with quality nutritious meals is fundamental to their success both in and out of the classroom a heartfelt thank you to all the talented individuals involved in bringing this Vision to life your commitment to excellen is Paving the way for a brighter future in school nutrition uh and my favorite dish there was the uh Hala the Hala Burger so and then uh at Garfield High School they had the 46th annual Prince William County Spelling be was held and it showcased the remarkable spelling

166abilities of our students witnessing their dedication and proficiency and spelling was a testament to the quality of education and support provided by our schools uh and we also so the winner was a repeat winner she won last year and she's WN won again this year and she will be representing Prince William County at the scripts spelling be in Washington DC and another highlight was witnessing the team Central collaboration day at minville elementary school where there where it was the fifth grade science teachers and it was actually seen what Dr solivan had described to us in the prior board meeting um the power of collaboration professional development um and seeing the tangible results It produced further underscored the effective effectiveness of such initiatives this collaborative effort eort emphasized the importance of teamwork and interdisciplinary learning and

167fostering a deeper understanding of scientific Concepts and the teachers were like ecstatic to be there um I know Miss uh they had more teachers than were expected it was just a great thing to see and then uh I went to minville Elementary's sccl night which exemplified our commitment to family engagement and positive kind and culture this event provided a platform for families to engage in meaningful discussions and activities aimed at nurturing social emotional skills and fostering a supportive School Community I also had the pleasure of chaperoning the field trip uh with Miss Ste second grade class to the science in the park at Lake Ridge Park despite the brisk weather The Experience provided invaluable Hands-On learning opportunities reinforcing classroom teachings on adaptation migration and habitat for example and then like M Williams said uh we

168I attended the launch the future reception that was hosted at the Amazon headquarters and the northern Virginia Science Center and it highlighted the invaluable Partnerships between our schools and businesses the event underscored a myriad of opportunities available that will be available for our students in the future and I just thanks to support of organiz organizations like uh AWS and in conclusion these events represent the diverse array of opportunities and Partnerships that contribute to the holistic development of our students and the strengthening of our educational Community I look forward to continuing to support and participate in such initiatives that enrich the lives of our students and enhanced educational experience within Prince William County everybody have a great spring break and good night Miss zort so this weekend I had a chance to uh see the science

169and engineering fair and because I wasn't sure what time we were going to be able to see the um displays of the projects that the kids worked done I came a little bit later than I should have but I did get the opportunity to talk to several students and um I learned a I learned a lot um some of our students are taking very rigorous classes in subjects they don't necessarily want to go on and study but they know that the practice of learning how to research and design a study and learn everything about a topic and present it and come up with a conclusion and think about the application of it is a really important skill for whatever they're going to study so I appreciate all the students that I met who uh took

170the time to talk about their projects and I learned a little a little bit more about what they do in their daily um classes some of these projects were Capstone projects some of these are just interest that they've just had and and they were curious about um I got to go to a chess tournament with Mr wil uh the I think the elementary kids were they were beating us weren't they we we can't compete we cannot compete um I went to the pwcs food show uh there were so many delicious things to sample there I really liked the breakfast walk that was very delicious and um want to thank the the food services for finding halal meat um we have a very diverse community and looking for Halal and uh kosher food uh to for

171our students for those students who uh have religious dietary um interest I I really appreciated that they were able to sort of Branch into that I know it's not on the menu permanently but thank you for doing that um also want to mention that I went to Hilton High School's first musical in like 16 years and the the the the joy of not just the kids but the audience was was just excited the staff who were helping were so excited uh congratulations on a fantastic performance of Mama Mia and what I thought was really cool about what was going on at Hilton is last year one of the teachers Mr Troyer started this as just an after school club and over a hundred kids showed up and now it's three classes that'll be offered next

172year Year yes I know it's this is outstanding and again we're providing spaces for these kids for their interest this is going to build on skills they need for whatever they do so uh I hope everyone enjoys their spring break uh come back refreshed to get through the end of the school year and I'll see you on graduation stage okay wonderful thank you um great evening we passed a major budget this is the first time I think well I mean is this the first time we've crossed the 2 billion Mark all in so that's a big deal um we will now move to the um County board board of County Supervisors to present our budget in the first week of April and um look forward to um you know making sure this passes I look

173forward to seeing that the governor's budget well that the the confere budget gets passed I think it's absolutely critical speaker Don Scott leader um Scott sural chair toan chair Lucas have spent a lot of time on working on that budget that is absolutely critical it's more money for schools across the Commonwealth it's a significant bump for us as well it will allow us to do some of the things we still need to do in this budget that um will help us get to the Strategic plan endpoints sooner and faster and so I'm hopeful that um they will come to a resolution in Richmond relatively soon so that we can see you know that we can um get more money to do the things we need to do um that you've heard about and so uh

174I am excited and thrilled about the budget I think tonight's news you know is really this budget this is an incredible amount of work that has gone into this I want to thank the staff I didn't thank them earlier Shaquille Yousef Dr McDade the whole team Finance everyone all the budget holders in the division all the folks who put the time and energy into um putting together this work um this is absolutely critical and I can't thank you all enough for doing that since our last meeting Ramadan began so Ramadan mabarak to everyone who's celebrating uh Happy Spring break today is noro nor Nuru nus which nus which is the Persian New Year so nus muar happy New Year for our Persian community and Afghan community and all those who celebrate norus um we have

175Easter coming up we want everyone to have a wonderful Easter and enjoy the holidays enjoy their Spring Break um and um I'm very excited so let's um adjourn this meeting and go home