001I would like to call this meeting of the Prince William County School Board to order a motion is in order for the approval of the meeting agenda miss araport Mr chairman I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the meeting agenda as recommended do I have a second Mr chairman Miss Williams I second any discussion please vote I'm not up I'm voting yes okay great moving on to the motion to enter close session a motions in order miss araport Mr chairman I move that pursuant to Virginia code sections 2.2 3711 and 2.2 3712 that the Prince William County School Board enter closed session for the following reasons one to discuss with the St with staff the appointment transfer release assignment and promotion of specific officers and employees to pursuant to Virginia code sections
0022.2 3711 a one two to review a disciplinary matter for a specific student that would involve the disclosure of information contained in the Scholastic record for the individual student and to receive legal advice regarding the same as provided by Virginia code sections 2.2 3711 a 2 and 8 three to discuss with division Council and staff actual or probable litigation and specific legal matters involving specific staff and students pursuant to Virginia code sections 2.2 3711 a 7 and 8 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 d37 711 a19 do I have a
003second Mr chairman Miss Williams I have second any discussion please vot vote please vote I'm still trying to get on B okay here we go yes unanimous motion passed okay at this time the Prince William County School Board will now enter closed session and return to open session in 1 hour thank [Music] you [Music] at this time the Prince William County School Board will reenter Open Session and we have to certify Clos session a motion for 8.01 close session certification Vice chair zarap thank you Mr chairman I move that pursuant to the Virginia code section 2.2 3712 the closed session of the Prince William County school board meeting of February 21st 2024 be certified by adopting the following resolution now therefore be it resolved that the Prince William County School Board hereby certifies that to
004the 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 the certification resolution applies and two only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard and discussed or considered by the school board thank you Mr araport second Miss wall second any um discussion please vote the vote is8 Yes unanimous motion passed moving on to to close session action items and motions in order for the approval of appointments and releases Vice chair Zar gapore Mr chairman I move that the Prince County School Board approve the appointments and releases of specific employees as presented in closed session do I have a second Mr chairman I second any discussion please vote vote is eight yes unanimous
005motion passed excellent um moving on to parent appeal of SM mapd recommendation for reassignment of student Sr 2483 action a motion order Mr araport Mr chairman I move that for the reasons set forth in the student management and alternative programs programs Department's letter of January 22nd 2024 the Prince William County school board approved smap's recommendation to reassign student sr24 -83 to the computer-based instruction program via remote access only based on charges of unlawful acts in the community do I have a second Mr chairman Miss Williams any discussion please vote and the vote is 8 yes unanimous motion passed okay so tonight we're running the meeting slightly different as was posted we will have a public hearing on the budget which is required by I don't know state law Carol somebody we have to do it
006okay so um at this point we will begin the public hearing so I will read the statement I declare that a public hearing is now open on the subject of the superintendent's fiscal year 2025 proposed budget any citizen who signed up to speak on this subject may do so when called upon and will have 3 minutes to speak we have a total of 14 citizens signed up for the public hearing when I call your name please step up to the podium and state your name and address for the record um now we'll hit the first one first one tonight uh lisan bod Miss bod okay the next uh speaker on the list is going to be Harry W Wiggins uh thank you Mr chairman members of the board Dr McDade uh Harry Wiggins 3525 wooders
007in Trail Lake Ridge Virginia aquan magisterial district uh I haven't been to a school board meeting in a number of years because there wasn't a need uh I thought the board was going in the right direction new leadership uh by at the chair new leadership at the superintendent level um but now I think we have a problem uh we had overcrowding we had trailers uh east of uh east of Hy road we had 28 trailers in elementary school including or not including the ouses that we required students to use uh that's changed that changed I want to thank uh former board member L Jesse for solving some major issues in the aquan district with additions to three uh elementary schools so we made a lot of progress uh now I think we're backsliding with this
008budget the uh uh I I want to thank the board for its uh support of teachers while it's not enough board hasn't done enough yet but I I see progress in terms of uh of pay and benefits I'm not seeing progress in terms of facilities and that uh bothers me that uh in wood at Woodbridge High School where uh one of my grandkids just graduated from and is at Virginia Tech we have uh nearly 20 teachers roving around the school because of the lack of classrooms kogan High School newest High School in the county we have roving teachers roving around the school because they don't have classrooms uh I urge the board to I want to say we're one of the wealthiest counties in the United States but we can't build schools and I don't
009get it I urge the board to speed up the process of building the 14th High School 2029 is unacceptable to the community should be unacceptable to this board uh we have overcrowding at Woodbridge we have overcrowding at kogan uh we need a new high school I know the passport under Milt John's leadership only Built schools in in the western part of the county it's time to get our share in the eastern part of the county Lou Jesse did her best in terms of adding on to uh Garfield and Woodbridge it's not enough uh I urge the board to support speeding up the building and opening of the 14th High School in addition I I urge the board to budget for Universal PK we have plenty of money in this County to do that it's up
010to the board to listen to the constituents and do the right thing if you don't do the right thing we'll be back thank you Rachel Freeman and it as we remember we don't have any clapping cheering or jering during public comment time or public hearings thank you sorry Rachel Freeman good evening my name is Rachel Freeman and my address is on file this fall I went to the back to school night at Woodbridge High School each class I went went to I noticed how full the classrooms were with desk when I got to my daughter's English class it was so claustrophobic that I asked how many kids were in this class and how did they even move around in here with so many desks the teacher replied they don't move around and in fact she
011must dismiss her students in phases because they have to climb over desk or move them out of the way to exit she explained she doesn't have her own classroom and rumor is the whole English Department will be without classrooms next fall because of the number of students at the high school therefore all of them will be teachers on carts with the English Department puts which puts them at a disadvantage for things such as meeting with students before and after school recently I read There are three new housing developments that have already been approved by the board of County Supervisors one 359 unit mix of single family homes a r development of the junkyard property on minville road two 81 town home units Redevelopment of the Kids Choice property on Devil's reach three 355 apartments on
012Kon Hill Road next to Sheets all three developments fall within a mile of the new High School site and fall within the current boundaries of Woodbridge High School there are two more projects submitted for approval as well I would like to know how Woodbridge High School with 2700 plus students already bursting at the seams the most in the county continue to take on more students how in good conscience can the new high school be delayed with all these new developments happening I have read the quotes from our school division that our population is declining yet all these new housing developments are creating a greater population density here is a quote from the school division's supervisor of planning when you are constructing fewer housing units in the county you are yielding less students I have lived
013in Lakeridge since 1999 and in my 25 years here I have yet to see anything resembling such a statement anywhere near me all I have ever seen is expansion expansion and more expansion do not put off the delay of the new high school due to false advertising I do believe that there's an opportunity to rezone the boundaries between Hilton colan and Forest Park to rebalance those student populations but even that will not prevent the need of the new school to be built near tacket Mill Jennifer tman good evening my name is Jennifer tullman and my address is on file I'm here to ask the board in fiscal year 25 to fairly compensate employees in the county with 19 plus years experience my story is just one of hundreds of employees who have not been compensated
014fairly as their younger peers are at the time of my hiring in August 2004 I was handed a chart reflecting my pay and how it will increase with each year of service in Prince mam County one year equals one step and one increase in Pay I was quite excited in fiscal years 11 12 and 14 all employee steps were frozen with no adjustment ever made by Prince County to ify it effectively leaving us 3 years behind on the pay scale in 2017 Prince William County began a 4-year process to adjust the pay scale for employees on steps 1 through four this raised the minimum pay for beginning teachers which is outstanding this change did not adjust accordingly for any steps above step four in fiscal year 22 Prince County renumbered the scale so years no
015longer equated to steps several year groups were banded together and we were told we would drop two to three steps this is false I was at year 17 that year but I dropped to Step 13 in fiscal year 24 teachers with 8 to 15 years experience not steps were given two step raises I had too much experience so I only got one moving me to step 14 with 19 years of teaching experience in fiscal year 25 pwcs proposes once again to offer teachers with 12 to 18 years experience years not steps two additional steps I'm very happy for my peers but I am now at 20 years of employment and I'm again overqualified for any additional boost this has been both demoralizing and disheartening there are hundreds impacted by these policies who are frustrated that
016at this rate we will never be able to retire at 30 years or even at age 67 I can only get guess that Prince Wayne County feels we are too vested in the system now to leave my thriving future is based on a we have you over a barrel policy furthermore there's no clear or defined path to move up the scale the chart I was handed in 2004 was a pipe dream we won't all stay under this system currently Manassa city is paying $5,000 more for my current job uh Fairfax county is matching years of service employees at My Level can earn 13,000 more per year who are you going to lose okay we are not staying young teachers who are starting out and watching how experienced employees are being treated highly experienced Mentor teachers
017who are helping the brand new teachers in our County thank you thank you Cheryl Thompson um good evening uh my name is Cheryl Thompson and my address is on file um I'm here tonight to speak on uh behalf of um uh opening not delaying the opening of the 14th High School um I live over on the Eastern side um my kids are zoned for Garfield and um we we are in need of uh another high school there I want to speak to the demographics that um have been that were in the capital Improvement program um and saying that there's going to be a decline in the population um as we all know population and demograph Graphics EB and flow um doing my research this County and being a military family this county is made up
018of uh 12% military families and um we uh come to this area from anywhere from 1 to 3 years and the things that military families look for when they're moving into a new area is schooling what is the best schooling for my child which school will provide my child the best education uh there's a lot of things we can't control but we can pick and choose where we live and um and then you can also be like me and then you choose to retire and you stay in the area and I have a child at orbridge elementary and actually we chose the house that we rented based on uh the great school the the report that you can find online from Niche and um Great Schools I know a lot of people don't put a
019lot of stock into those and I know that it doesn't really represent what's going on at the school but when you're coming from the other side of the country and you want your child to be going to a good school you'll look at those numbers and you go on the military sites and you ask people in the community what are these schools like and um I know that the two schools that are on our side of the county currently are older they're the oldest high schools in in the county um listening to the speaker previous to me I don't know what's going on in the high school I have an elementary age student ready to go to U middle school and then I have a rising eighth grader and we've been listening to um the
020different presentations of the P different programs around the county and um we went to fredland middle school we have an awesome time my kid's doing IB he's doing the Dual language program and he's on track and he wants to go to a good school that has uh science and I know there's different um Avenues in the different schools but uh a lot of people there's overcrowding at Woodbridge I know there's overcrowding at colan and other schools and I think if the school was built that would help with that and it would attract the kids and military families today on this side of the County instead of buying the homes over there cuz most of us are here for a short time and I think that would help with some of your demographics and overcrowding thank
021you thank you mag Mall herado good evening I'm magal ort um my address is on file with the clerk and on Wednesday you can find me here as a president and parent of two students in the okan district I am here again to express my concerns with the proposed CIP recommendations to delay for a third time constructions of the 14th High School the 14th High School would alleviate overcrowding in the Eastern of the county and potentially at our second newest High School overcrowded already because of short-sighted planning the lack of communication and cooperation with the county is evident I appreciate Miss Williams continued advocacy for a joint planning committee the okan district supervisor Kenny buddy has asked the county to reach out to the school district uh about restarting the joint committee on Capital Prince
022William County schools planning needs to work with the county instead of basing our CIP on one study the CIP recommends delaying construction of the 14 High School it also recommends making the 14th High School smaller than some of our overcrowded middle schools a high school smaller than our middle schools like lakeer middle for example this is in consistent with the information about the projects approved that will impact the 14 high school and the Woodbridge senior attendance area totaling 700 new 790 new homes plus the two recently approved developments um in Prince William Parkway and miniville and M far I printed that information I'm pretty sure you already have it um I ask our Schoolboard to look beyond your respective districts and reflect on what your position would be if this was being done in your
023District I Ur our board members to consider the fact that the capacity data in the proposed CIP is known to be incorrect to the point that it will be replaced later this year with a more accurate program capacity data it is disappointing that the school district is recommending this delay based on what they know is not the most accurate information but I hope our community can rely on our school board representatives to reject a CIP prepared with data that needs to be replaced We Are One County all of our residents deserve access to Equitable facilities Woodbridge has been overcrowded for at least a decade we owe it to our community to act now not in five years stop delaying constructions of the new High School in favor of maybe considering additions for schools that open
024way after overcrowding in high school started and I'm going to skip the last part of my speech to tell you to ask you to please do right for teachers like Miss Talman she thought my my kid he was excited to be in her classroom every every day we need teachers like here staying in the district and training our newest districts Miss Talman if you need to leave I'll be the first one to write a recommendation letter from a parent because you shouldn't leave you shouldn't stay at the expense of your well-being thank you Jennifer Reed hi um my name is Jenny Reid or legally Jennifer um I'm in the aquaa magisterial district U my address is on file already um so I just I think you're you're here because you believe that children are the
025future yeah I mean they grow up they become the adults um so literally what kind of future do you want um it's been proven sorry it has been shown in studies put it that way that uh children who come out of overcrowded schools do do less well uh academically in their lives some there's there's a higher incidence of children from overcrowded schools going to jail is this what you want for the kids are you trying to tell them that they're that they're just trash can be thrown away and the next group you know 10 years from now they'll be Oh They'll be worthwhile kids but you aren't is that what you're saying CU if that's not what you're saying then you need to build more space which means more schools uh putting putting the special
026needs students in a special Center would be great but mostly more schools that's what we need thank you oh also yeah um the teacher lady I didn't know this until she spoke but you could really do better with the with better pay for teachers too thanks thank you um Jen Donnelly um good evening my name is Donnell and my addresses on file the first thing that I'd like to address is teacher salaries well I believe that the 6.1 average salary increase is a good starting point I would like to hear assurances from the board that the increas is promised to staff sorry with 12 to 18 years of experience will actually be 8.1 to 9.1% these are teachers who understand the students and families in our community that isn't something that can be taught in
027college it it's also imperative that we have these season teachers in our schools to be mentors to the new teachers sorry the second thing I would like to address is the funding for special education programs while I'm not directly affected by this issue I have sat in this boardroom meeting after meeting hear hearing parents beg for improvements in following their child's IEP these kids are among our most vulnerable in the schools and I would like to see additional staff and other resources applied to this portion of the budget the third thing I would like to see are changes that correspond directly to student safety I was once a big proponent of the evolved system until I saw it fail in numerous ways including knives being found in classrooms and a student being beaten while unconscious
028as the staff of the school was Manning the evolved machines I believe that our money would be better spent by having SRO in all of our elementary and middle schools I also believe that double lock doors with Access Control Systems would be an effective solution most of our elementary schools have this type of entrance but the middle and high school offer full access to the entire school once someone opens the front door finally I believe that we need to focus on renovating and or replacing more schools on the Eastern end of the county kids can't learn in an environment where there's failing HVAC and faulty Plumbing I believe that there's a lot of waste in our current budget and I could be more specific in my request of changes in where the funding goes if
029the board was more transparent and line by line expenditures I think that we could find a lot of fluff and inflated salaries for positions that aren't directly affecting students and their education and until we get all of our kids reading at or above grade level we need to tighten the belt on expenditures thank you thank you next Dean Latif good evening Dr McDade and the school board members this is my first time at a Schoolboard meeting and I'm eager for you to hear um the opinion of a middle school student on this proposed budget so my name is Dean Latif and I'm a seventh grader at Benton Middle School although I'm not sure if you will take me quite as seriously as the other commenters I hope you will acknowledge my concern I'm happy to
030be here to support the superintendent budget for the next year but I'm I'm really here to ask you to provide more and better food options in the cafeteria for middle schools and every other school level many students I know have formed quite strong opinions on the quality of of the menus and the quality of the food and I think it's vital that we really solve this issue because many students rely on these school lunches and they may not have another option and I am also sure that many students in elementary school appreciated the re the recent return of chocolate milk there may not be much in your ability but I think spending more time of this year's um improved budget um would make all students in pwcs happier thank you thank you next up Vivian
031Quint hello good evening I'm Vivian Quint a senior at kogan high school I'm here to support super the superintendent's proposed budget for the next year as a first generation Hispanic I'm happy and thankful to see new spending on English learning students it's not only a great Misfortune but a major disappointment when I personally see these students unable to succeed academically because of a language barrier with this new spending I believe superintendent McDade recognizes this barri barrier as a crossable one as one that can be surpassed it makes students like these English Learners their families and onlookers like me more hopeful as a first generation Hispanic who has taken over 20 Advanced courses I'm Overjoyed to see new spending on the effort to increase the number of kids specifically minority kids in these Advanced courses these
032classes have been the source of of many of my Achievements not only through the skills I develop and the onp paper benefits but through the people I meet many of my achievements including an acceptance to Yo University I'm very thankful to all the people on this panel for wanting to challenge the status quo of the types of kids who attend these classes in fact in my school with the help of many of the leaders on this panel today I've started a mentorship program called M which operates through the club Latino Student Union which I'm co-president of it aims to foster a community of academic achievement among Latino students through peer-to-peer peer-on-peer encouragement unfortunately this is my last year as a student in Prince William County however one day I hope that the School Division would
033consider supporting programs like these across the county it's true several kids like me won't always completely understand the complexities of handling a county countywide budget but I can at least speak for the kids like me that we recognize these efforts for minorities and would like to say thank you thank you Mr EMT Fletcher I don't move quite as fast as your son take take the time you need my friend take the time you need good evening Dr Latif members of the school board Dr mday my name is EMT Fletcher and my address is on file and I'm coming here tonight because of the fact of the 14th High School um Woodbridge High School was built in 1975 that's a long time and we talk about equity in school but I don't see Woodbridge getting that
034it goes back to the practice field for the athletes to practice they had big holes in the field and I thought we were making progress over wood Woodbridge but it seems like that Woodbridge high is the last school to get any kind of update or even with the teachers don't even know what's going on um some of them think that we still going to get a a new school at Woodbridge and they don't know some of the students feel that way some of the parents feel that way and a lot of of the people that U have kids going to Woodbridge High School they they don't have transportation to come to the board meeting they don't and what I'm suggesting number one is to have a town hall meeting in the acaan area in that
035school district ask the citizens to come out the people that have kids going to school yes I know what the budget says but I agree with my friend Harry Harry wi wickens uh we need the 14th school I know what the study says but a lot of times you can't always you got to take another approach and at this time I think the the school board and Dr McDade need to take another approach to include all the citizens of Prince William County and the citizens that live in the aquan district also when I I used to be in social work and I heard Meals on Wheels and then when I came to Prince William we had trailers but now we have classrooms on carts this is a very affluent County and we should not have
036that and and this is something to think about we really need the 14th School pushing this out 5 years to 2029 is too long long too long and who who will suffer from them from pushing it out so far the kids you've heard the teachers they they want more money and then we're losing teachers because of the salary we need to up our game it's all about the kids it's all about the kids even kogan who we thought we had resolved a lot of the problems in Mid county and the eastern part they have the kids now in trailers we are hurting Woodbridge High School is busting loose at the scene and we're saying let's wait another 5 years I know what the CIP says I understand but if you go up and down uh
037Prince William uh County Parkway thank you Mr Fletcher you see all of the uh buildings hey thank you Dr thank you sir Cheryl McBeth good evening my name is Cheryl McBeth and my address is on record I'm here tonight as a constituent and as the parent of two students to respectfully request that as it pertains to the proposed budget the school board not delay the construction of the 14th High School the need for the school doesn't seem to be in question only the timing I'd offer that if the need exists if the county has acquired the land and construction costs will only in increase then delaying the school any further is really a missed opportunity for Prince William County students and has already come at a great monetary cost too in March of last year
038WTOP reported that between fiscal 2023 Capital Improvement program and the plan the school board approved last week then March 2023 estimates for the County's 14th high school went from 157 million to 280 million the latest proposed Capital Improvement plan cites the cost of the original capacity currently at 288 million meaning that delaying the groundbreaking has already cost the county 131 million from the time of the CIP the January 10th proposed CIP for 2025 to 29 indicates that certain current high schools are overcrowded so I urge you to consider the option that includes exploring the feasibility of mitigating overcrowding by way of redistricting through the combination of the 14th high school and additions if needed or feasible but please don't wait to do it the fact remains the necessity for this high school was identified years
039ago in this new building this Catalyst for more educational greatness on the Eastern side of the county has already been the victim of previous delays at one time it was thought this new school could open in 2025 but the current plan suggests suspending to 2029 think about that that's an entire graduating class missing all four years of potential attendance at the school forging ahead with this project has been deferred a couple of times and what has really been gained to date I wonder by those earlier postponements I am in favor of building the 14th high school as soon as possible whether at the original or revised capacity values though I encourage collaboration with the board of County Supervisors to ensure consistent projections regarding residency and enrollment levels as a determining Factor the pwcs vision 2025
040launching thriving future strategic plan includes the commitment to prepare all students for postsecondary education in the workforce and the objective that PWC schools as a found for our community will continue to prepare students to be citizens and Leaders of Tomorrow who will create thriving futures for themselves and their communities building the 14th High School forth with is an excellent way to make good on those promises again the need for the additional High School seats in the eastern part of the county exists now and I ask that you reconsider any further delays and instead prudently support the earliest possible construction of the 14th Prince William County High School for the County's deserving teenage Learners thank you thank you next Sam Villa hi my name is Sam via my name should be on or my address should
041be on file um I uh noticed that we're spending um 1.5 million on Dei programs uh in the district and uh please correct me if I'm wrong I don't want to rant for three minutes on a number that's incorrect um so first of all I I think that's just fat that we can just cut right out of the budget we don't really need 1.5 million for uh diversity equity and inclusion I mean this is Prince William County Virginia we just look at the school board look at the audience like my daughter alone is Mexican IR and Japanese we have plenty of diversity we don't spend money on diversity second um uh inclusion well F we um I had this in my own life I noticed that um there's sometimes you have kids up here sometimes
042you have kids down here for one reason or another and so you have to allocate resources to these kids down here to try to bring them up to this level but really what happens is these kids get discriminated against and they just kind of come down to this level and you say oh well we met our goal but did you really I mean not so much and then inclusion that one just kind of makes me laugh um so you're telling me that you guys were not including certain kids beforehand but then Dei wrode in to save the day and now all of a sudden everybody's included I don't think that was what was happening uh we don't need to spend 1.5 million to make everybody feel included um and obviously there's a lot of people
043here that want a new high school um built I didn't even know that was a problem until tonight um but I could see that you know this there are a lot of kids in this district and yes they they deserve to have the classroom the classroom room that they need and um if uh if that's the case I'm not saying 1.5 million is going to build a high school but it'd be a place to start um because uh I would imagine that some fat needs to go away um and um when when uh when everything said I mean when uh when we're really about it slapping Dei on something is really just virtue signaling it really is um it it's uh which is why a lot of companies and corporations have basically got gotten away
044from it since that big push in uh 2021 um the only places where Dei budgets are being increased are places like School boards and other government agencies that receive taxpayer funding I mean really uh because you're you're eventually you guys are going to get more funding the Prince William County School Board is NE or district school district is never going to go belly up you're going to get funding again at some point so you can waste money on worthless programs like Dei and uh uh yeah we the average Joe honestly does not care about Dei which is why a lot of people move away from it anyways thank you for your time thank you at this time that um the last uh I was notified the last speaker will not be attending and so we
045that this point um there being no other citizens indicating they wish to speak on the subject I declare the public hearing closed so at this time we will start the beginning of our regular meeting and we will now stand for the Pledge of Allegiance uh and we have Fernand morante on our student representative for the evening to lead us in the pledge this evening Miss morante I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and for the repblic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay thank you forand next we're going to adopt the consent agenda uh motion is now in order Vice chair zarap thank you Mr chairman I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the public meeting consent agenda
046as recommended Mr chairman do I have a second second Miss Williams any discussion please vote the vote is8 Yes unanimous motion passed thank you we're moving on to acknowledgements and recognitions motions in order Miss zarap for Mr chairman I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the acknowledgements and recognitions as recommended do I have a second Mr chairman Miss Williams second any discussion yes sir Miss Williams um I would like to see the uh approval of the acknowledgements and recognitions under the the um excuse me the agenda if we could list them back out again I think it's important that the public doesn't have to dig for them considering we are in education and this is um important that we recognize all of all of the members of a public who we are
047um educating and their surrounding families this has always traditionally been a highlight um especially for me and for members of the public because so many years and time and effort was spent in adding these resolutions so for recognition um just for example this is Black History Month the amount that this country underw went just to recognize black Americans next month will be women's History Month it's still a cons considerable struggle considering women now are born with less rights than when I was born so I think it's important that we continue to um not only highlight but make sure that it's written out so that we fully acknowledge um and set a good example for the students that are here and especially being in the 10th most diverse County in this nation um I I just
048can't imagine why we would bury them so I if the board doesn't object if we could continue to list them out evenly I think that that would be um really important and I have heard from my constituents that um they are upset by not having unanimous support anymore and and I explain you know everyone has a right to F their field and that should be allowed that's part of the reason why we celebrate different things so if we could just list them out again I would think that would be wonderful thank you thank you moving on to um the vote please vote did I where's launching thriving Futures when do I do that it's not on my script it's not on my script is it why am I on 14 then can we vote did
049you put up the vote the vote is seven yes one obain trenic motion passed okay all right excellent motion passes um we will I did skip it by the way I was supposed to do right after Pledge of Allegiance no one caught that except me that's okay um that's all right we're we're going to do thriving Futures Focus my apologies um okay everybody thriving Futures focus is the 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 future for themselves and their Community we dedicate this time during our meetings to recognizing students staff members and schools that have earned an honor or award at the state or national level we appreciate how
050these honores have positively represented Prince William County Public Schools and the school board is proud to recognize them publicly for their accomplishments tonight in honor of Black History Month the school board will first recognize the finalists and winners of the recent Martin Luther King Jr oratory competition We Begin our rec recognitions with Vice chairwoman M Lisa zaror of the Kohl's District who will introduce our first honores Miss zapor thank you Dr Latif sponsored by the Prince William County alumni chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated the competition is held each year on the MLK holiday in honor of Dr Martin Luther King Jr students study with a coach often a teacher and begin early in the year to prepare and practice their speeches in anticipation of presenting in the tradition of the acclaimed oratorical
051skills of Dr King these prestigious awards show the exceptional efforts to prioritize student voice the Kohl's District would like to recognize the accomplishments of n9th grade student and finalist Alyssa Godfrey of the Charles J colan Senior High School Alyssa is here tonight with colan principal Dr Tim Healey Alysa would you care to share a few words on your accomplishment good evening I would like I would first like to thank my principal Dr Healey for this opport for encouraging me I would also like to thank my coach um and I also like to thank my community at my school for being so supportive while I was going to while I was while I was doing this I would also like to thank my of course my family my mom my dad and my brother they're my
052biggest supporters and I couldn't have done this without them and I would also like to thank the pwcs alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Incorporated for giving a voice to the youth and showing them that they really do have a say and what happens in our future I feel like it's very important that's one of the true reasons that I keep continue to participate and will continue to participate through my high school career and also like to thank the school board for for your leadership and dedication to the students of the county it's really appreciated and we see it we might not know but we do see it so thank you so much congratulations Alyssa on proudly representing the Kohl's District your family and yourself and colan High School uh can we have alysa's family
053please stand to be recognized her parents thank you very much for sharing her with us excellent miss zapor Mr Justin wil of the bomic district next thank you Dr Latif your benevolence is greatly appreciated see to the camera right there on behalf of the pic District it is my honor to recognize Ashley Gutierrez Garcia 7eventh grade student at Graham Park Middle School who was a finalist Ashley is supported this evening by her MLK sponsor Tara funches principal yika Walker sends her regrets for not being able to be here tonight Ashley would you please share a few thoughts on this experience good evening everyone I would first like to start off by thanking my school board my principal and Miss funes for this great opportunity I am tremendously grateful to be here standing right in front
054of you and speaking to all you guys I would also like to thank my family for this for their amazing support they have provided me along this journey and I believe I would enjoy participating next in the future Years thank you Mr wil will Ashley's parents if you are in attendance please stand to be recognized or Guardians thank oh right fantastic outstanding thank you thank you thank you thank you Ashley for making the pomac district very proud and gr Park go lons good job out standing Mr wil uh next we have up from the neabsco district the wonderful neab District Mr Blake Tracy Blake thank you Dr Latif the neapco district is proud to recognize Brooklyn Sanders ninth grade student and finalist from Garfield High School Brooklyn is here this evening with principal Matt mat
055and Anthony Amero am maruso MLK sponsor on behalf of the neapco district I want to thank you Brooklyn for your accomplishments in the MLK oratory competition and contributing to the great legacy of Dr king would you mind sharing a few words with us tonight on what this opportunity meant for you Brooklyn hello everyone firstly I want to thank God for being in this room with you all um it's so amazing seeing local leaders at work um secondly I would love to thank the Delta Sigma Theta sority Incorporated for putting on this amazing event every single year we should really truly um honor and hone the creativity and talent of the students in this District I want to thank my school oratorical coach Mr maruso he's been the biggest help Mr mat he's been a wonderful
056support system and of course my mother um she's supporting me in everything that I do so and I just it's just such an honor as a senior at Garfield singer high school to be able to leave this Legacy behind and as a second year participant in this is just such a blessing to be able to do this and I really hope that the Legacy continues so thank you so much for having [Music] us Brooklyn Sanders parents please stand and be recognized congratulations Brooklyn and the whole Garfield High School community and I apologize about saying you were in the ninth [Laughter] grade outstanding Mr Blake she sounded like a Schoolboard member the way she approached that Podium this evening I'm ready uh next up Jennifer wall representative of the G gainville District Miss wall thank you
057Dr Latif so on behalf of the Gainesville District it is my pleasure to recognize ebener Ben Samuel eighth grade student from Ronald Reagan Middle School for receiving the best before the judges Middle School award Ben is represented tonight by principal or sorry is principal is beam is Chris Beamer in the house no okay so by assistant principal uh David okasa and Blake lesty social studies teacher Ben I'm hoping you will also share some of your Reflections on the importance of the oratory competition to you um good afternoon um I would like to thank of course the school board for having me here um it is a huge honor to be standing here talking to you guys and uh I'd like of course I'd like to thank my grandparents um Vera and EMT fetcher and I'd
058also like to thank my coach m stepanie for having me I'm like for coaching me and uh I don't think I could have done anything of this without her so I really look forward to participating next year [Music] though so can we have Mr Ben Sanders family parents grandparents everyone stand who's in attendance with him to be recognized thank you Mr Mr Samuel congratulations Ben on your amazing accomplishments in the MLK oratory competition and the Gainesville District hopes to see you again soon I now invite Woodbridge District representative Miss Lori Williams to speak on behalf of her Honore thank you Mr chairman with great honor I would like to recognize and please forgive me if I do not say your name right I hope you will correct me if I mispronounce it rababi Raz razai
059r when you get to the mic it's important that we get our names right so I apologize but correct me when you get up there um you are an eighth grade student at the wonderful Ripon Raiders Middle School uh you won first prize at the middle school level and you are the recipient of the best before the audience and the Joseph bagner drum major award representing Robbie tonight we welcome principal Kristen Donahue and Coach Leah Rawlings would you like to um come to the podium and tell us about share excuse me about your experience good afternoon everyone um my name is RAB RZA um I would just like to thank you all for this wonderful opportunity and I am just so lucky to be here tonight and I would like to thank my coach Miss
060Rawlings and my principal Miss Don Hugh for coming out and showing their support tonight and I would like to to um continue doing this competition I would like to thank the um members who started this competition in the first place because I would not be here without you and um yeah that's all I have to say thank you so much for everything and I will be continuing this on next year in high school um but I really hope that Ripon continues this Legacy and thank you so much for having me Miss rza's family please stand for recognition I just want to say um congratulation on your impressive wins and we look forward to more outstanding accomplishments in your bright future I hope to see you again next year expect nothing less from our Raider families
061and you made a good point we do have living history in the audience with us miss ly Jesse behind you was one of The Originators of the mltk oratorical competition so you were right to give that now thank you Miss Williams congratulations to all the incredible orators tonight recognize this evening and to their families we can't we appreciate you and all the work you do to help our School Division really achieve at the highest levels and we we couldn't do this without the parental engagement and all of our students you guys are the best and special thanks to the teachers and everyone who sets up this program I should also recognize as Miss Williams pointed out I want to thank the alumni chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated also miss Jesse are former
062Schoolboard members in the audience with this sority and to thank them for putting on this incredible event one more round of applause for everyone thank [Music] you at this time I would now like to turn our attention to the brentville district and Miss Erica trenic Miss trenic thank you I'm excited to recognize Dr Drew Miller program director of brunville turf grass and his amazing students brunville District High School's tiger Turf program has been recognized as the winners of the 2023 Sports field management association football field of the year the sfma includes a group of professional and dedicated industry workers with a mission to advance professionalism in sports field management and safety through education awareness programs and Industry development officially formed in 1981 the sfma has sought to be the recognized leader in strengthening the sports
063field industry and enhancing members competence and IGN knowledge of their professionalism the students traveled to the National Sports field Management Association conference in Daytona Beach to accept the field of the Year award on the program's behalf it is also important to share that the brunville students completed competed in the Collegiate Turf Bowl against the top Collegiate turf grass programs from across the country and did an incredible job placing 15th 17th 15th and 17th out of 30 teams two students also gave a presentation alongside the head grounds Keeper of the New England Patriots and Reno Aces tonight to stand in recognition of the sfm a field of the Year award we have Elizabeth rice Zack sedac Jack Cundiff Charlie Monfort Katherine Lambert Mason trenck Max Aiza and Addison Butler Dr Andrew Miller is the program director
064and the principal is Dr Cat mes congratulations students on this award that recognizes the dedication commitment and love you have for your field and your program the brentville district would also like to recognize Dr Andrew Miller for being named sfma 2023 George Toma golden rake award the George Toma oh sorry guys it was a lot there's a lot the George Toma golden rake award acknowledges the superior performance of a sports turf crew member in on the job activities and in community service this national award encompasses the and then some attitude highlighting the above and beyond work of Dr Miller and the tiger Turf program Dr Miller would you care to share a few words on behalf of your team uh thank you guys for having us here tonight um I just want to thank you
065for all your support uh everything that we've been able to accomplish is because of our students and what you guys do for our kids is unparalleled and there's really nothing more that I can say to that but I truly appreciate each and every one of you and all that do for our kids um they were went above and beyond for this trip uh they studied for months before the event they took the time out of their own schedules uh to ensure that we did perform well and 15 K Turf programs you know we placed ahead of them that's pretty impressive uh most people down there were like we're just impressed you're walking in the room so uh again major props to them and everything that they do to make sure uh everything works perfectly uh
066to the field of the year um a lot a lot of people don't quite comprehend the amount of work my students do when it comes to the actual care of turf grass in the fields and the grounds and everything at brentville um and this this field of the Year award is a very uh uh lofty goal of ours uh we actually use the application as a lesson in class we do go through different testing from surface hardness to uh tension strength for athletes and obviously there's a lot that goes into it uh and our students are extremely proud of being the last you know natural grass playing service in the stadium uh and it they take great pride in everything that they do and the impact they have on the community going to different schools
067helping them with their natural grass planing surfaces uh just overall facilities uh everything is because of them uh including the award that I received which I still am unsure why but uh uh I was in shock when we we were down there uh you can ask the kids I was like we we got across the stage without tripping we're good to go get to the hotel and we're done all right and uh they announced me and I was like yep I'm going to fall it's going to be great um but you know I couldn't do without them I also couldn't do without my family who's here tonight um and everything that they do for me uh for educators in prin County at the high school level uh across the county which we're proud to be
068princip County Educators um I also can't do anything without my admin team uh Dr mes and Mr Cameron Miss Alice Mr carbo uh their support in the building in the community making sure that we can accomplish everything that we're hoping to would not be possible without them and I'm babbling so I'm going to finish up with this um one of my students at the uh alumni actually he's uh taking a job in the NFL here when they graduate in the fall spring sorry um asked me like hey you know this award you're kind of done after that right there's nothing else to do I was like I think that uh at brinville with the brinville tur program we're just getting started we got a lot of great things coming down the pipeline and we're super
069excited with different opportunities hopefully with World Cup coming working with different programs with that got a lot of great things for our students and I do believe that we truly are only getting started at brentville so thank you again for having us thank you Dr Miller I ask the friends and family members of Dr Miller and our award-winning students to stand and be recognized I just want to uh again thank you all I've got to see that firsthand this program and how much work uh Dr Miller truly does put in the extra hours and the time that he devotes to making sure that these students um are successful in this program and then afterwards is amazing to set them up to actually have a love for this industry and then to really make sure that
070they get to walk into the next phase of life doing something that they love um it's an excellent way to uh get them involved in something different outside of the classroom and even inside the classroom as you teach them life skills uh and and the dedication that these kids show I'm so proud of you guys uh and I can't wait to see what else we do with that Turk program thank you Mr trenic Fantastic congratulations Dr Miller Dr M students outstanding job and you know I um I think you do I will say this I shouldn't but I'll say you probably have the best Twitter account in the county so not official not I don't know if it's an official Twitter account but it's a great Twitter account so if you're not following the brinville
071district Turf Tiger turf grass tweet Twitter it's it's outstanding very exciting so anyways thank you guys very much um at this time uh and again congratulations to our five MLK orator uh honores and before taking a few pictures superintendent Dr McDade will share some final words thank you so much uh Dr Latif Cong congratulations to the five MLK oratory competitors for your inspiring performances and Powerful expressions of Dr King's Legacy and I can say I was in the room to witness it all it was simply nothing short of phenomenal you each uh have a skill a talent that and your Brilliance really shine through uh during the competition and we'll continue as you continue on this journey um to lift up your voices to speak out and so we are so incredibly proud of you
072I also want to thank the illustrious women of Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated uh the alumni chapter for putting on this event um the everything was so well organized from beginning to end it was not only a Showcase of talent but a celebration of the legacy of Dr King and something that I will cherish every single year that I'm able to attend and thank you to miss Jesse when I first became superintendent the first thing thing Miss Jesse said to me was you have to go and see the the MLK oratory competitors because they are amazing and at the time it was virtual and so being able to be present in the room in person and witness your Brilliance on display um it was so breathtaking and refreshing so congratulations to each and every one
073of you and thank you um to Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated for putting on this event for our amazing uh School Board former School Board member Miss Jesse always School Board member Miss Jesse uh for your continuous support of our students and bringing their talent into full display also a welld deserved congratulations to our winners of the football field of the year um like Miss Jesse I also had some other individuals in the county as soon as I matter of fact I think before I even started day one Dr Miller was one of the first people that reached out to me and invited me to come um to see brinville uh program and it was absolutely amazing I had never seen anything like it he is so passionate about the program which is why he
074he I know he reached out because he wants everyone to see the amazing things that our talented students are doing and so uh for our students your your exceptional efforts in maintaining and innovating your field have not only enhanced the game but also uplifted the spirits of players and fans alike so you are to beele celebrated and commended and you will go so far continuing to do this work your commitment to Excellence is evident and greatly appreciated by the entire Prince William County's Community and we're so incredibly proud of you lastly I really want to recognize Dr Miller even during the pandemic your work in building a name brand and Empire known as brinville tiger Turf and putting pwcs on the map nationally uh and internationally as a CTE Global destination for for field Turf
075science all while earning your doctorate from Liberty University is truly amazing you truly embody the qualities of our profile of a graduate always leveling up yourself your students your school and our School Division so once again congratulations to you all we are all pwcs proud keep shining thank you Dr McDade at this time I'd like to request the honorin to come forward for a photo with the school board and receive a small token of our appreciation we will start with uh the first photo include our MLK oratory winners and the second FL photo will then include Dr Miller and his Turf crew keep my thumbs out of my pockets you like I didn't really know I kind of just occupied the same space it's a interiew start and a guy walked by so I and
076you were like was I bad I was shaky there in the [Music] middle Z wants you to beat him up break first of all I didn't say first of all I never said golden bre you have to say golden Rak I didn't that sounds super good is this thing still on is this on should I hit it right that's what I I yeah see you no think do phot congratulations cug all right moving on to Citizen comment time those citizens who have signed up in advance with the clerk May address the school board this evening when they are called to the podium the citizen comment period for regular Schoolboard meetings is 1 hour and citizens may speak on agenda items or other topics gerain to the operations and policies of pwcs please use proper decorum
077and manners while at the podium or you will be asked to step aside we ask that the audience please be respectful of each speaker and refrain from any clapping cheering or jering to avoid disruption of the meeting if you do not the board will recess and I will ask that the room be cleared to restore public order tonight we have one citizen signed up to speak when I call your name please come up to the podium and state your name and address for the record so tonight we have Lori Pollock good evening my name is Lori Pollock I am at 7744 Visionary Court in Manasses Virginia salm bonis and good evening Dr Le Miss Dr McDade and Schoo members my name is Lori Pollock I'm a physics and teachers for tomorrow teacher at kogan high
078school and this sustain board recognized me a few months ago as a full bright awarde I'm here tonight with just an update for you I when I served as an elementary Sumer School principal a couple years ago I wanted my students to understand why it was important to learn how to read write and do math we embarked on a global education with explorers from around the globe my students were extremely successful because my staff embraced and my students enjoyed their Journey around the globe I am fortunate that my full bright experience will expand the world for our students when I head out for two and a half weeks in April I plan to zoom and post on canvas and interact with my students and the Moroccan students last week I learned that I'll be traveling
079to mecnet Morocco it is east of the capital of robot I've learned that in high school students are are going into trades learn science in Arabic those going to University learn science in French hence my pronunciation uh it made me think about the gap of equity that must exist and I wondered if this influenced their educational Journey my guiding question for research is does stem pbl project problem or place-based learning influence the culture of global education in fact Ling through the lens of global education is the theme for my Virginia Association of science Teachers Conference in November you're invited Global education is the route of future education as our economy world and people become interconnected as we reach toward thriving Futures shun mercy and thank you for your time very good thank you and I
080think that was just one speaker this evening correct okay um back to the meeting we will now get on with see if I can get us back on track here so tonight we have our student representative Fernanda morante joining us on the Das she is a senior at the great Forest Park High School thank you Dr Latif good evening Dr McDade school board members and Prince William County Community um I want to start by wishing everyone a happy Black History Month um I'm a fan of the pwcs YouTube channel and every time I check it um during the week there's always something new in our schools um I saw uh my school Forest Park hosted um a spirit week with fun themes sponsored by our black student union Rosa Parks Elementary School celebrated Rosa Park
081birthday and okan Elementary School hosted an African-American Story Time session for their students and um different HBCU visited Hilton High School and talked about post-secondary education um it is exciting to see celebrations around the county as our students and staff members commemorate the culture history and achievements of the African-American community in our country I hope the celebrations continue throughout the month and we celebrate this special some time of the year on this note um I'm also very excited about this um topic but International night season is starting I'm really happy that more and more schools host their own um culture nights International nights um close to the spring I know the I'm pretty sure the first one is at Woodbridge High School this Friday um Forest parks it's next Friday on March 1st and cgans
082is next next Friday on March 8th and pmic shes is also hosting one March 14th so it's really exciting to see these type of events um I hope I can attend a couple of them um it is a great way to Showcase A diversity present in our County um and demonstrate students leadership skills as these events are usually student L I also hope everyone had the chance to spread love and kindness this past week during kindness week I have enjoyed seeing all the activities held around the county uh my school's uh leadership class class held different activities during lunches we did rock painting during um lunches we gave out flowers for our student body uh handed out like Rice Krispy Treats um so our students were really happy about that I know student from osor
083Parks high school they host a spirit week as well um in Patriot High School visited Victory Elementary and they just engaged in different um kindest theme activities but on this kindest note I want to take the opportunity to encourage my fellow students to always spread their kindness on and off school grounds before during and after school hours it is no secret that we often see student altercations in different schools whether these are verbal or physical where's my camera is it there yeah okay this needs to stop I encourage students to make use of their resources available to seek mental and emotional support if needed the anonymous tip line is is available 24/7 and you can use it to submit reports about possible threats to yourself others or the school environment including but not limited to
084personal crisis sexual harassment self harm and depression the system enables School administrators in law enforcement to create effective interventions and intervene upon at risk individuals to prevent violence suicide bullying self harm and other forms of threatening behavior to submit a report you can call the tip line at 18445 say now or by visiting www.s something.net your counselors and School administration are also a great resource that you can seek support from as a pdcs student we are surrounded by people that care about our well-being there is always a solution for everything and you're not in this alone conflicts do not have to end up in altercations with other students or staff members I encourage our student B to reflect on our school climate and be mindful of how our words and actions can impact others on
085another note I'd like to give a shout out to our winter athletes as their seasons start to come to an end um in February and March sorry if I missed any sports but congratulations to all of our wrestling basketball dance gymnastics cheerleading ice hockey indoor tracks swim and dive athletes thank you for representing yourself your school and Prince William County to the best of your ab ability and now that spring sports are having their tryouts our wish all of our Crew soccer baseball softball lacrosse and tennis teams a great start to an even greater season finally I'd like to encourage our Junior and Rise Rising Junior and senior students to take the risk and apply to be the next student School Board representative the applications will open on Monday Fe February 26th through April 2nd
086being one of the unud reps has been a great experience and if you're passionate about advocacy leadership and government definitely consider this opportunity there is a sponsor in every high school that can support you throughout the application process so don't be afraid I applied to this as a joke and now I'm sitting here and it's really cool so just do it it's really fun um that is it stay safe and don't skip school guys I know it's I know it's cold in the morning but you got to go to school thank you thank you Fernanda now we will move to uh superintendent time with Dr mcade thank you Miss sore as a brief reminder a final school board work session on the proposed fy2 budget will be conducted on March 13th additional information may be
087found on our website for the proposed FY 2025 budget I am proud to announce the association of school board officials International has awarded Prince William County Public Schools the 2324 meritorious budget award for the preparation and issuance of the budget for the fiscal year 2324 this award reflects Prince William County's commitment to sound fiscal management budgetary policies and recognizes the amazing people working in our finance department I also want to thank the Virginia Department of Education who awarded pwcs a $350,000 Grant last week to support our continued work with Virginia Commonwealth University through the grow your own teacher apprenticeship program the program a major innovation in teacher education is based on the national apprenticeship model and is meant to help address teacher shortages by removing cost barriers and providing quality teacher preparation as a school-based
088teacher prepar ation program the apprenticeship will cover tuition provide a full salary with benefits and pair participants who aspire to become classroom teachers with a strong Mentor teacher pwcs will receive $350,000 to support up to 25 apprentices we aim to address teacher shortages and build a sustainable pipeline of passionate talented and knowledgeable Educators through collaboration and partnership with local academic and international organizations Prince William County Public Schools is a destination workplace known for its commitment to Excellence and education Innovative programs and a supportive community that values the growth and well-being of every employee February is Career and Technical education or CTE month and we just learned we just learned more information about our award-winning program at brinville high school CTE programs are critical in preparing our students for employment in fast growing Fields such as
089computer programming engineer Health Science and skill trades currently there are 644 students with active enrollments in CTE dual enrollment classes CTE career clusters include business management and administration for which we have 170 students enrolled manufacturing there's 36 students currently enrolled in science technology engineering and Mathematics 24 enrolled Education and Training 183 enrolled and an information technology 200 132 students enroll with information technology being one of the fastest growing Fields February is also financial aid awareness month and now is an exciting time for our seniors receiving early admissions and college decision letters along with the celebration of acceptance letters paying for college is top of mind for our families in recognition of financial aid awareness month I want to invite you to find out more about grants scholarships loans and work study programs by contacting your
090students college and career counselor or by visiting our financial aid website I'm excited to share that pwcs will soon deliver personalized electronic student Vision profiles to all students and families in grades 6 through 12 and we are so excited about the release because this will be an amazing resource for our students and for our families these profiles are designed to serve as a resource for students and families to support postsecondary plan conversations at home and to involve families in the essential steps of launching thriving futures for their soon to be graduates this is a huge step forward as we continue to build authentic Partnerships with our families and communities I want to invite our associate superintendent of student services and post-secondary uh success Denise hner and director of College and Career and student support Becca
091schlater and I know she has additional members of her team here um to present on the student Vision profile so good evening um vice vice chair zaror members of the school board Dr McDade I'm really here just to recognize the amazing work not just of the ladies that are over here that will you will hear from shortly but from the entire division the collaboration that's occurred in order for this tool to come to life This truly was one of the very first um many many Visions but one of the first visions that Dr McDade spoke to that I was like hm that that's a world of possibility and we could get better at getting better and do that and so look at that smile on our superintendent's face um really puts a smile on my
092face because I think as a parent how um useful this tool would have been and it really is just one example of the many many things that we are doing differently now as we focus on achieving our goals so I'm going to turn it over to director schlater and her team so you can be wowed by this amazing tool thank you good evening my name is Becca schlater and I serve as the Director of college career and student support so good evening I don't see chairman Latif right now but I do see Vice chair zarap and uh members of the board and Dr McDade I'm so excited to stand before you this evening to share information about the pwcs student Vision profile tonight you will hear from several members of my team who have been
093instrumental in creating this resource I hope that you will hear and feel our passion for the students of pwcs and see that we are working hard to bring to reality the pwcs profile of a graduate our vision for students shown here is not just words for my team and I it is a force which drives our work each day in our time together this evening we will walk you through this new Resource as we prepare to launch it for the first time as you may know students are required to complete an academic and career plan port portfolio in elementary school and an academic and career plan starting in seventh grade the creation of these plans and portfolios and the activities associated with them provide us with the content needed to create the student Vision profile
094reports so when we look at our why for the student Vision profile this work was fueled by the launching thriving Futures strategic plan I would be remiss if I did not also mention that it is fueled by the passion and desire of two leaders who want the best for every student in Prince William County schools their passion is contagious and their heart for this work makes me want to be a better employee each day thank you to Dr McDade and Dr fenard for creating the conditions for me and for so many in Prince William County schools to engage in this important work when we reflect upon our first commitment learning and achievement for all we see multiple goals tied to the information we will provide to students and Families in the student Vision profile we
095are turning up the volume on this work by ensuring that all students have opportunities to succeed in any post-secondary path they choose when we reflect upon our second commitment positive climate and culture we see connections with the importance and relevance that College and Career planning bring to the educational experience starting in kindergarten our teachers administrators school counselors and other support staff are plan in Seeds of Hope the hope for a better future has been proven to be one of the most important aspects for a human being to overcome adversity and Trauma when students see the connections between their classroom learning and their thriving future they become more engaged and are more likely to regularly attend school it's just that simple the student Vision profile report weaves together much of the work being done to promote
096a positive climate and culture in Prince William County schools our third commitment family and Community engagement is an essential theme in the work we completed to prepare the student Vision profile this resource is created for the students and families of pwcs it is designed with them in mind and will hopefully Foster more engagement and understanding of the educational experience in Prince William County schools and the options for Life After High School we have a goal in mind when delivering this information to students and their families we want to amplify and inform the conversations that occur around the dinner tables in the car and in those moments where children and their families dream about their future my team and I would not be standing with you tonight if it was not for a focus on our
097fourth commitment organizational coherence here you see the names of the many un sung Heroes who work in Prince William County schools these are wonderful people who care and Find meaning in the work we do every name listed on this screen symbolizes a person who took time from their already busy schedule to support this work evenings weekends and early morning conversations have been occurring over the past few months our parent volunteers made space in their busy schedules to provide us input this project was successful only because of the team approach and the coherence of work for individuals from across pwcs I want to thank the directors Who oversee each of the Departments listed here on this screen Dr Sarah Martin AJ Phillips Dr Amy Hollow Dr Wendy Martin Johnson Diana Gada Dr Tim Neil Dr Ashley
098Kamp and Dr ly cologne their leadership also helped to create the conditions for this collaboration I will now turn the presentation over to Dr anade Sha Dr shaver serves as a supervisor of College and Career Services and is truly the Beating Heart behind this project beat away thank you Miss Slater good evening chairman Latif members of the board and Dr McDade my name is Dr Reade shaver and I am so excited to share information with you this evening about the new student Vision profile the student Vision profile is a resource Source document that we will deliver to families of all students in grades 6 through 12 in the next few weeks to create this profile we brought together information from a variety of sources Navan is the platform we use to guide our College and
099Career Readiness planning PR behaviors starting in grade six students use this online tool to take assessments create their academic and career plan and learn about themselves through self Discovery career exploration and to develop a plan for Life After High School students view information about their career interest and post high school education my team works with all School counsellors to ensure that activities are delivered to students within a developmental framework in a specific scope and sequence we closely monitor the work completed at the school level to ensure that all students have an equitable experience regardless of the school they attend we have collaborated with an external vendor Pearson Spotlight to bring the student Vision profile report to life the team at Spotlight supplements the work of our students with information about Workforce Trends and post High
100School options finally we use information in the Synergy student information system to personalize each student Vision profile student student grade point average and college preparatory test scores will be included in each High School report the student Vision profile document will be delivered electronically to all parent and Guardians and students through parent view and student view account we are partnering with our School parent Liaisons to ensure that we are poised to support any parent Guardian who does not yet have an active parent view account parent Guardians or students can navigate to the document section to view their report the profiles will be translated into the desire correspondence language for the top nine languages spoken in pwcs by SPO by pwcs families parent Guardians will also receive an English copy of the profile these documents were created
101to be viewed on a computer or a tablet in the document students and families will find many embedded links which take them directly to resources to support their learning and post High School planning if necessary the student Vision profile can be printed and viewed each school will have the capability to produce paper copies if requested we are working day and night to prepare for the official launch of our first student Vision profile report in the next few weeks all students and parents guardians of students in grades 6 through 12 will receive an email from their school principal announcing the delivery of the profiles in this email there will be specific directions about how to access the document we consider the first report delivery to be a personalized preview of what will become a resource that
102is sent to families twice per school year each time a report is delivered readers will find the date of the data included in the report report at the bottom of each page for this initial report the data used was as of December 2023 we understand that some data points may have changed during the time between our upload of data to the delivery of the profile we ask for everyone's patience as we embark on delivering this new resource for students and families we are committed to continuous Improvement a second updated version of the profile will be delivered at the end of the school year it is our hope that students and families will be able to review the information over the summer months and consider how they can take steps to begin the planning process for
103Life After High School summer vacations present a great opportunity to visit colleges in different areas and research careers of interest in future years the profile will be delivered to families in early January the delivery date will coincide with the academic mic advising process which we will now call student Vision meetings it is our hope that this tool also supports the process of choosing a specialty program and supplements the already existing information that is sent to all students and their families the student Vision profile will also be used by our school counselors and career investigation teachers as they deliver a highquality instructional experience to students because this is a new resource we have a few Innovative school counselors using the tool in academic advising this school year in future years it will become a standard resource
104in the delivery of School counseling lessons at each grade level and individual and group student academic advising SLV Vision meetings when the student Vision profiles are delivered to families they will see a direct link to our web page this web page was designed to to serve as a resource to navigate the document viewers will find links to feedback surveys to include translated versions of each survey background information about the profile sample documents for viewing tutorial videos that walk the viewer through the profile an important part of this process is seeking feedback from our community this is our first time creating this resource of this magnitude and we are open to feedback we see this as a tool that can be improved over time with the ultimate goal of it becoming a onstop shop for all
105middle and high school students after students and families receed the profile report we ask that they navigate to the web page to provide feedback about their experience and the document as Dr McDade always tells us we have to commit to get better at getting better I will now turn the presentation over over to Tracy Maine Tracy serves as our Middle School career counseling specialist she works daily with middle school counselors across the county to ensure that every student has experiences to plan for their thriving future Tracy will take time to zoom into specific parts of the profile to provide in-depth information thank you Dr shaver good evening chairman Latif members of the board and Dr McDade my name is Tracy Maine and I'm pleased to be with you this evening to navigate the student Vision
106profile report on this slide you will see a view of the first page of a profile report I want to draw your attention to the yellow box on the right hand side of the page throughout the student Vision profile you will see yellow boxes that provide cues for the steps that may be taken with the information presented much of what you find in this document ment is intended to be a conversation starter we hope these proactive reflective prompts will help families engage in meaningful conversations in part of the document you will see prompts to get moving encouraging you to take an action you will also see prompts to think about it urging you to give some thought to the information presented finally you will see prompts to explore resources which you can do with the
107many web links that are embedded in the document for our middle school students the vision profile provides information about the work students are doing to explore their interests likes dislikes and workstyle in grade five students complete the academic career plan portfolio the acpp some of the acpp data will transition to the middle school student Vision profile document when we zoom in we see personalized information about our Middle School student Jane Jane has indicated that she wants to pursue a career right after high school later in this document Jane will see information about next steps she can take to start learning about this pathway when Jane took the career key assessment which is a career personality inventory she scored highest in the the conventional area this means that Jane likes to work with numbers or machines
108in an orderly way Jane may want to think about career Pathways that align with this aspect of her personality finally we see that Jane has a career interest in Health Sciences depending on the level of post high school education that she chooses to pursue she's presented with information about various Health Science careers on page two we see Jane's top three career interests Jane may want to consider these when thinking about which pwcs High School specialty program she wishes to apply to when we zoom in we see the map of pwcs and all the high schools with a listing of their programs Jane can now see all the options available to her to include Governor school at Innovation Park in Manasses and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax on page three we
109see a variety of action steps Jane's action steps are tailored to match her chosen pathway plan since Jane selected the career pathway plan there's a check mark next to that pathway let's zoom in to see more because Jane is in middle school we see information about steps she should take to ensure a successful transition to high school Jane is being urged to look at options for taking a high school credit course while in Middle School Jane has many opportunities to learn about pwcs offerings by attending various College and Career related events and applying to a specialy program Jane should also plan to attend any available High School transition events to help minimize stress and confusion finally Jane should continue to refine her study habits to ensure academic success on the final page of the Middle
110School profile we see important information about the pwcs profile of a graduate we want Jane to know who she will be poised to be based on her experience in pwcs let's zoom in to see more Jane needs to build a good foundation and these Mission critical launchpads will help her do just that Jane and her family members are encouraged to attend pwcs family engagement events and can click right here to browse our offerings and register Jane is reminded about the importance of good attendance Jane can learn more about what she will need to do in high school to earn a diploma and finally Jane can quickly access free tutoring Services when needed through paper online tutoring anytime the School Division makes changes to the free tutoring services available to students new and updated information will
111appear here I will now turn the presentation over to my colleague Alyssa Bridges who serves as the administrative coordinator for College and Career Counseling Services Alyssa will take you on a journey through our sample high school student Vision profile thank you Tracy and good evening chairman Latif members of the board and Dr McDade as Tracy shared my name is Alysa Bridges and I'm excited to be with you this evening we are now going to walk through a high school student Vision profile on page one you will see a variety of information about our student John Let's zoom in John has a grade point average of 4.0 9 this is a great start and he gets a positive message to support his hard work the GPA included in the student Vision profile is calculated at the
112end of each Academic Year and includes only grades from the completed courses John is currently on track with his graduation status other students may see approaching on track or off track on their profile by clicking the words graduation stat St us John and his family can enter parent view or student view to see exactly where he stands towards meeting the graduation requirements any student who is off track or approaching on track is being monitored by School staff as a part of our tiered graduation support initiative John is planning to go to college to earn a bachelor's degree and his profile will give him lots of ideas for his next steps JN is interested in an career in Health Sciences and will receive information about this pathway in his profile finally John's top strength as reported
113from his strength assessment is achieving at the bottom of each page you will see a date to represent when this data is pulled on this next page we see information about John we see also he has a career pathway recommendation based on on his interests let's zoom in in-depth information about Jon's learning style is only a quick away we see his Myers Briggs personality type with a short description John is an extrovert who is flexible and tolerant finally we see information about Jon's chosen Career Cluster and his Holland personality type as artistic which is a research-based career classification on this page we see more personalized information about JN encouraging him to dream big and reflect on his best fit for Life After High School John receives information about the pwcs College admission profile where he
114can compare his own GPA and SAT score let's zoom in John has worked hard during his high school years and we can see that his GPA has increased steadily each year in the circle John has provided a visual representation of his GPA and how his GPA is impacted in preparation for applying to colleges during his first semester of his senior year this knowledge is essential to John's planning and vision for a thriving future I will now turn the presentation back over to Dr shaver to share information about the applied studies diploma profile thank you Alyssa it's important that the student Vision profile provides youthful information for all students and families in support of our first commitment learning and achievement for all we have created a unique version of the profile for our high school students
115who are pursuing the applied studies diploma as you can see we have the same tips for families to use the document and we provide an enhanced unique glossery of terms that are related to the transition process afforded to all of our students with disabilities let's zoom in here we see that Jerry is on track towards pursuing the applied studies diploma each year his individualized education program or IEP is updated to ensure that goals are set to match his interest for a thriving future our transition specialist will use the student Vision profile document when meeting with students and families to complete the students transition plan Jerry has multiple career interests as shows here to include manufacturing and marketing I want to point out a specific example found in Jerry's report that other students and families may
116see in their profile Jerry has not yet taken the strengths Explorer assessment this may happen when a student has transferred into Prince William County school after a time which the assessment was administered in Jerry case he enrolled in pwcs in 10th Grade after the time which this assessment had been required Jerry shouldn't worry if you see an assessment has not been taken and therefore results are not available we have provided a link to take you directly to the assessment any student may complete any unfinished assessment on their own time or may even work with their teacher or counselor to take a missed assessment on this page we see information about specific skills that we want Jerry to master before he leaves pwcs we also see Career Information let's zoom in Jerry has been provided information
117about jobs that are found in one of his chosen Pathways Jerry may consider going directly to that career After High School or he may desire to seek further education we have provided links to recommended colleges that Jerry may wish to consider the colleges listed here would have programs of interest for Jerry by studying this section Jerry can also see how more education May mean May mean more money in his pocket on this page we find helpful information about Community Resources who stand ready to support Jerry and his family let's zoom in and take a look Jerry has been provided direct links and phone numbers or emails for resources linked on this page Jerry will see that he has local and state resources he can use to connect with the launch of his thriving future here
118we see an example of action steps that are listed on both the applied studies and high school student Vision profiles if a student has selected their post High School pathway plan in game plan survey in Naviance it will be highlighted with a check on this page we know that students plans change over time so we provided information about all pathway plans let's zoom in here we can closely examine specific steps that students should take if they wish to go to college links are provided to support the process of paying college paying for college and for students to sign up to visit with colleges at their own School these action steps are intended to Pace students with specific actions throughout the school year student voice was included in the process used to create the student Vision
119profile we would like to sincerely thank our student senate members and student school board members for their assistance at this time I am going to ask student senate representative Fernanda morante to join me at the podium Fernanda has received an advanced copy of her student Vision profile and to give her an opportunity to share her thoughts about what it means to her to have this information at her fingertips this is like a teaser trailer trailer teaser all right let's do it Fernanda thank you Dr shaver um hello again but from the other side yes um it's been awesome um receiving kind of like the first draft of the student Vision profile in one of our Senate meetings um a few months ago I believe now and then earlier this week I received uh my own
120student Vision profile so can of see in the feedback that the student voice um gave Dr shaver and her team in the actual document was really really cool so thank you for considering all of our feedback and suggestions um as a student the student Vision profile allows us to access our assessment information and other resources all condensed in one place which is something that we have not had before so if I wanted to see my GPA I had to go to my student view if I wanted to see my SAT scor I'll go to navian or college board and everything was oh everything was in different places um but this document has everything condensed and it also encourages students to complete self-discovery assessments during class lessons um we complete a bunch of Navan uh assessments
121and surveys here and there um a lot of students asked ask themselves why because we don't really see how they're used um for us we know that the division uses it for data and those kind of purposes but we don't see it how they're used for us but with this student Vision profile we can literally see our own results on paper and how we can use those to succeed um Post Elementary Middle or High School it also allows students to explore things that might interest them more opportunities to research different options we might have available to us and even discover new interests my student Vision profile um notes that I want to take College steps um go to a four-year institution but it also includes what steps I have to take if I'm interested in
122going into the military so if I just randomly decide to go to the military I still have the resources even if that was not my um kind of first interest but we still have the information there and it's really easy to access this resource can also be used to assist students with course request selection during um academic advising uh once your counselor has your kind of like this your student Vision profile I'm sure it's going to be way easier and not digging through like student student view and then go into your college board to see what your SAT score is like um so everything is Con just in one place and I know counselors have a lot of students in their hands um so it will be more efficient um it also makes it easier
123to explain to parents what pathway a student may want to pursue um as an immigrant student this um document is really helpful I can just show it to my parents and say maybe we didn't have this before but these are our options now and kind of this is a path that I want to take so it's um really important as especially as an immigrant student makes me really excited um it's way easier to explain and it's in different languages so I have mine in English and then I can show it to my parents in Spanish because that's the language we speak at home so it's really exciting it's a very useful tool it Al and it might even make parents aware that out of options that they might not even know they exist um that
124is it I think it's very helpful I am very excited for all of the students to get them and then I can have Bragg and rites because I had mine before but um I'm really excited and I will ask my brother be he's an sixth grade student so I will ask him for his student Vision profiles um because I won't get them anymore because I'm leaving but yeah it's really exciting and thank you Dr saer thank you for sharing your valuable perspective Fernanda I'm now going to turn the presentation back to backa schlater for closing comments thank you all very much um for taking this journey with us thank you Fernanda for sharing uh your information uh Dr McDade we did not pay her just so you know I want to go on record that
125was all from the heart as a board member that didn't do it either couldn't ask for better thank you um so I want to thank uh Dr shaver Alysa Tracy and Fernanda for this wonderful presentation this evening thank you for setting aside time this evening to allow us share information about the student Vision profile reports as I stated at the beginning I hope you feel hear and see our passion for this work and for the students of Prince William County schools I want to thank the wonderful team who stands sits stands beside me um for their tellor work I also want to thank Denise heer for her encouragement and vision as our leader I leave you with the sentiments that will be shared with each student when they see their student Vision profile your road
126map toward a thriving future begins here this guide is designed to support you as you engage in meaningful conversations about life After High School in pwcs a student's trajectory is Limitless the information provided in this student Vision profile report will ensure that all students and their families have the tools necessary to navigate the road that lies ahead thank you again for your support outstanding I'm going to I'm going to turn it over to Mr wil because he's he's asking to speak first and uh but but I I I I'm going to say this before before and I'm going to introduce him on this because I I do want to credit Mr wil for um you know early on he he's in education Tech and he understand you know he worked with navian and you know
127he he brought to my attention sort of quite regularly what is a student profile what is a profile of a graduate what should that be and really until we got Dr McDade here and and Justin's really you know strong support on this that that helped us create sort of the the framework that Dr McDade has helped launch with launching thriving Futures that is the the the the embodiment of the work um we we we do and so I want to thank and credit Mr Mr wil for that because that pushing I think demanded much of us in the work that has led to this so Mr wil wow thank you that was a great intro um um I I'm trying to put words I'm not trying to be a sick andent about this because when
128I'm upset about something I express it I am very very happy um just overwhelmed I know that came out right I I'm completely overwhelmed by this work a and to give people some context cuz to to give people some context of this is and Dr Latif mentioned um I I worked in sales and as a consultant and government relations for navian uh before it was bought out by power school and I've traveled all over the Midwest I work with districts in Illinois Michigan Kentucky I'm trying to think Florida Ohio um I did Consulting work Dr MC would know u46 Elgen the second largest uh division in Illinois I've never seen anything like this I have never seen this type of comprehensive report pulled together I'm not going to ask the techie terms because I I
129have no idea how you're integrating all this and pulling this into one source that's that's just unbelievable legally um it's how you pull no no that's not what when you integrate all these programs together that's what I'm saying like the student information system and navian and all these other different components it takes a lot of work on the backend side um so AJ her team and all that whoever is working on that that's that's amazing because so often I think people you know this integration thing when you're using like a navian or other programs like that that could be a major hurdle uh for divisions so I think that's amazing uh also you know when previously before Dr Dr MCD came on um uh joined um our um illustrious School Division I I did talk
130about you know about the need for a profile of a graduate I actually even cited um Dr Aaron Spence PRI previously when he was at Virginia Beach's profile of a graduate and said we need to create something like this this is phenomenal work and we we don't need the generic Virginia required one we need our own Prince William County one and I also felt at the time that you know and this is post navian I was done but I felt like we were underutilizing the platform doing just simply e dos and a career interest profiler was not enough and looking at this report I see you know strength finder do what you are career interest inventory cluster finder learning styles I I'm just enthralled the fact that all these are now being used and integrated
131and part of building this profile of a graduate which is is almost like the buttress to the overall strategic vision of launching thriving Futures so I'm going to stop cuz I just I'm so floored by this and the community I I hope you know once people start getting these their students start taking these you know as Fernanda mentioned they realize the work that goes into this and the importance of this because you are literally now given an outline to talk with your student about their future plans whether it be postsecondary military career uh trade amazing work thank you I'm gonna go down the line because I have I'm going to go to we're just going to go down the line folks and we'll be here all night talking about this I have no problem staying
132here all night on this one okay so you might want to sit stand whatever you want get comfortable Miss trenic I would like to go home and see my children but um I want to thank you guys for the for the work on this um I want to take a minute and just say we do have great counselors in our in our school system and some of our counselors are already doing a lot of what this this is offering but I think this is going to really help them be able to you know streamline it but we I I do have to give credit to to my kids counselors personally um over the years have done such a good job really um highlighting our kids' strengths and um speaking life into those strengths and and
133encouraging them to um follow those paths and um it's it's kind of interesting to you know knowing kids change so when they take this in middle school and then again in high school you know those tests that they take it's funny to hear my kids every year come home and and say it told me that I should go do this or and NH year it's changed a little bit and I'm like well I can see that you know in them but um just kudos to our our awesome counselors um this will also help our students you know if you have high schoolers take these assessments seriously now because they'll come home and ask you know I don't even know why I did that or what I was doing that before now they can see like
134she was saying they can actually see that the time that they're spending on these is worth it um so that's great and and hopefully they take advantage of that um I have a few questions I don't know if we're allowed to ask questions but um I'm curious will all of the same information the children can see also 100% the parents can see 100% okay yes and then 100% parent view and student view same thing is this information accessible to anybody outside of the school system no this because this has uh protected student information this is part of the student educational record that's why it's in parent view and student view and can your teachers see this information only if a parent or a student chooses to share that information okay thank you thank you guys
135for all your hard work Mr Jesse well you know I think you were here a few weeks or a few meetings ago and I was saying this is really great uh this is great have you guys applied for a patent on this know I'm serious I this is something you should look at because this is a marketable marketable item that is wonderful and I really think you should consider a patent on okay the second thing I I want to say is that uh my apology to miss Patell I rushed today and I was reading and I looked at this and I looked at slide three and four and I said all this stuff is old stuff I want to know what's is you know what's the results of that and I didn't look I you
136so I wrote a note to saying you know we need to do that and and uh I don't know how are we going to find counselors and staff to do all this well you found the way this has taken a load off of a lot of counselors so they can now talk to the students about this is what you need to do from here rather than spending hours getting them to where you getting so this is wonderful and again I apologize for my Note uh you know I have to read a little better because I skipped over the headings and just looked at the stuff and so forth so but you know this again I'm serious we really do need to look at this for a patent thank you Miss wall thank you Dr Latif
137so this is really exciting this is really cool um I think if it if it works as intended it's going to be a game changer actually for our students and um we've been trying to do this in lots of different ways but it's really cool to see the technology the the knowhow and I'm assuming this is a lot of AI in here to come together to connect with students and their families to help them make decisions so um if students will use this which I am sure they will um especially if we have counselors that are encouraging them to look at it and it's used and brought up regularly um then they will be empowered to reach their own personal academic goals and that is just awesome because I think if we can have make
138it so that every student knows what they're doing when they leave Prince William County schools then we'll know we've been successful so I I appreciate that so much um and and the presentation was great um I have I can't wait to like really dive in and look at it a little bit more I did have one question um on slide 10 um the service delivery tool I um so some of our students are using this with it says Innovative counselors volunteer to use it so some students are already kind of piloting this right and some counselors are P piloting this but when will when is it that the majority of our students will get their first student profile I don't want to get my cart before the horse and go announce that these are like
139imminent or anything like that so just to make sure I understand right what what is the timeline when this will be so um we we're not giving a specific date there's a lot of moving parts from a technology standpoint I appreciate what Mr wil said um if you could count the circles under all of our eyes the work that has gone into the technology piece we're in the final step now of uploading the information um these files are Graphics heavy um thanks to Matt Gil foil for putting up with us and so I we're we're saying in the next couple weeks um that these should be uploaded and school students and parents will receive an email directly from their principal for the students that are participating in the pilot working with our counselors and some
140of the students that are going to see them yes we will have some students who do get it early and working with the counselors in March but um we're saying a few weeks at this point and we'll certainly provide updates to Dr McDade okay that's great that's great news um my only regret is that my kids have now graduated this is amazing and would have been so useful um you know we fared decently well without without it but I think especially for families that maybe they they're not they didn't go to college themselves or parents who didn't go to college themselves or maybe they you know they have kids who have interests that are different than the path that they took this is is going to be really helpful because it helps it's student driven
141right and but it involves the parents in helping have those conversations to tailor what the kids are interested in what their skills are what they're good at what they want to learn to move forward so I I just commend everybody for your really hard work in the vision in bringing forth this student Vision thank you Miss arapo ah thank you for this uh I was calling back in I don't know whenever I was in Middle School in the ' 80s we took a test and I think everybody got farmer as a future career it's yeah it was it this is oh my gosh um my my really my only question uh left is you know the obviously the back end work that you all did is is a lot um how much is it for
142the counselors at this point are they it's it's like student input is is there like it doing stuff in the the background and they just kind of go print here or how how is what what is their work is their workload lightened or changed or in any way uh we hope lightened as the people who lead school counselors um I will say that M much of this is coming from the students so the students are inputting information into Naviance we're just doing some fancy work with the data in the background to bring everything together in one place so counselors are not having to enter data for this it really is all the normal processes that are run to produce many of the student record elements that we use so no extra work on anyone's part
143except people like us and the IT team um but uh that's what's so great about this is it it really should change some conversations and make it a little bit easier for the counselors to have everything in one place as they're working with the students so next up is an app right just kidding an app yeah not Williams okay I'm going to try to um keep it together over here but I'm start by saying congratulations do the old boy scout Round of Applause this is I think one of the single most Equitable um programs applications series of sets of information that this School Division has ever released ever it is absolutely game-changing you are not dependent on on on a counselor not no offense to counselors but they're already overloaded and inundated it removes the
144bias from futured like that just that part alone could absolutely change a student's life as um Miss dapor was just saying I actually still have thanks to my wonderful parents the old um black and white printout with the little X's that you got and the percentage of where you could go um I was not expected to go to college or earn anything and um surprised we all know that that's not how it worked and there wasn't a lot of guidance for my family the first one in my family to go to college um when I was going through this process with my oldest son helping I remember distinctly helping my friends some of who had gone to college some of who hadn't but didn't understand because the information was not in one easily accessible Place
145nor was it down to its lowest common Den denominator to make it understandable and easily digestible for whoever came across it and it definitely was not in multiple languages um bridging all of those gaps now give students whether they have guardians or parents at home to to be able to have those conversations they're able to now take that Reign for their own um future and academic progress or career and work Readiness progress um themselves which is something that I had to do and it's nice to nice doesn't even really begin to scratch the surface of it but we're really giving our students the opportunity to take control of their own Futures and make decisions and know um from a 360 view what is out there and available to them and what they can and can
146achieve I'm I'm sincerely touched by the the third column on um I can't think of what slide it is but it's student GPA track your progress it just the little self-esteem note boosters you're on your way you're having your progress if it this was something that was available when I was in school it would be me reading this because my parents would think oh well you're you know you're not failings this is great kind of a thing not to minimize my parents and just use make an example but it it's a booster for those students who don't have that at home so there's so many moving parts and components to this it's just amazing I am especially touched by the inclusiveness of including our special need families in this the the struggle that they go
147through now to try to navigate transition after they graduate high school and to to have them included here I think it's the first time I've ever seen this type of recognition for those families that puts them on the same footing as every other student which they should be and should have been all along um just a simple acknowledgement of that I can only imagine how many families are able to now take a deep breath and relax a little bit because they're not forced on their own to just happen to come across a teacher or run into families who have gone before them I cannot thank you and your team Dr McDade this is something you said right when you started that you wanted to eventually accomplish and to be here right now I mean you
148ladies every time you come I'm I don't know what to say every time I see you now I'm just so excited about what's to come next I do have a few questions because of course um I noticed that this starts in sixth grade what conversations are we having with fifth grade families to prepare them cuz um in my own bias I've never been more excited to have a middle schooler ever because I'm going to see this um so what are we doing to help sort of um plant the seed for our fifth grade families and our fifth grade students and understanding why they're filling out what they're filling out um you know again I think some of those items are certainly work in progress but I I want to highlight that these three ladies here
149um have done multiple family engagement series sessions this school year and we're going to use that venue to continue to educate our community about the student Vision profile so I can see us definitely doing something for fifth grade parents as the students are going into sixth grade to prepare them for this um I know that some of the team are also working to make sure we're integrating uh we use a different software at the elementary level for for the academic and career plan portfolio so making sure we're integrating and pulling in that information as well so that when the student gets to sixth grade they see that work that they did third grade fourth grade and fifth grade so again um we will offer education around that most likely through the family engagement series but
150also um through information that the school counselors will be a conduit for in the schools thank you and I'm not asking these any questions to a slight like I I'm always harping on fifth grade because it's it is the beginning um really the end of fourth grade is when a lot of elementary school teachers start talking about s sols and getting ready for fifth grade and getting ready to select specialty program so that's why I'm constantly bringing up not that you haven't thought of it because I absolutely sure that has been a conversation um the other thing I would like to bring up is As we as you roll this out and um it gets more stabilized and and you were able to implement it division wide to considerating to consider adding things and it
151may already be in there because this is a high level view um things options for some of these students like some of our College Prep programs like EIP and some of the other universities also offer those for first generation students or minority students um that is another Gateway to College I'm sure there are also Workforce internships and programs that if we could incorporate that information into this that is another way that these programs get exposure students can help plan for their thriving future um as they matriculate through the system so I have no expect expect no that's a great suggestion and we won't make you fill out the form we'll take that down tonight cuz there's a form a feedback form I'm horrible you don't have to do it I will though but no I
152just appreciate that because I I've just I'm so blown away and I feel um especially thankful not only as a princip County Parent but as a board member to um be here and be able to see this and and to share the excitement I love how you talked about paper and I figur since you were integrating all the things that might just be one more layer to integrate As you move forward cuz I can't believe you're standing here this is just a tremendous amount of work I just again want to um say thank you for this uh as a board member as a parent I can't wait to use it and have those discussions and to participate in some of the um parent education series as we move forward hope this is a session at
153the title one Camp um when we have the next one so thank you so much I appreciate it thank you and I did want to um the the brains back here told me is IP information already in the Middle School one and these ladies back here have been responsible for working with spark to expand our seats in EIP we just did that recently I know I saw him so excited yes and that that's that's these ladies right here well thank you and congratulations um I appreciate all of your hard work and effort as a EIP alumni I can tell you how impactful that program is to uh students as they go forth in the future so thank you so much Mr Tracy Blake uh thank you very much um I just want to reiterate what
154everybody else has said on this board this is wonderful and as a a parent and a school board member um I just really think this is good you're empowering students to take uh control of their own destiny as well as helping parents um be able to track and be able to track and see where to go the courses that they need to take and things like that cuz I know when I was on those advisory councils there was a lot of things that parents didn't know oh I I need to take this they need this class or oh I didn't know that we needed this class but your kid was already in eighth grade and they couldn't you know they need to take this class in fifth sixth grade seventh grade so um I just
155really think this is good and it's really going to help the community and just keep up the good work thank you Miss Baron any further comments a little bit I think yeah oops sorry I think this would go more for the students once they have their um student Vision profile but I really think it would be helpful for teachers to have it um especially since it includes their learning style um so I'll probably add it to my remarks whenever um after we get it um but I know a lot of a lot of students won't go up and tell their teacher I don't I don't learn anything if you're talking for an hour and a half um not to be like shady but there are some people that don't learn like that I don't learn
156like that um so I think if they take their document and like say here it says I learned better better this way or this way um it would be more helpful for for teachers um to support them um so I just thought about it right now thank you very good suggestion Randa thank you that's personalized education right at its best and so thank you um one thing I'd ask you to do is once this becomes live to share this with the other board members and take it over to the student Senate and maybe have a presentation with the Senate so the Senate can socialize it among student councils and the rest of the the division um okay well I'm going to go next and and first of all thank you this is amazing this I
157think is my uh I would say most proud one among the most proud moments um here in the six years I've served on the school board of programs that we have outlined I think as wil said overwhelmed I think he captured that correctly I think Mr trenck talked about you know the counseling and how great our counselors already are and they are amazing but this will be a tool to multiply their great effect right and so I think this has a powerful way to um make our counselors even more effective than they were to make their work more um um more work effective so they're not spending as much busy time and then they can get into the student profile with the student and and start really hitting it right as they get started so
158I think that's exciting you as Mr Jesse said let's patent this this is fantastic great work Miss wall talked about um you know wishing she had this for her kids and and I 100% agree that you know this this would have um taken our children to the next level um you know on her comments too one one of the things that that concerns me um is that you know as as our students are getting ready for the future the challenges are much more competitive getting a job is not as easy as it was it's a lot harder the credentials the the things they need to do to to even become you know something that was much easier to become before you know what if you were into coding now you have six more more languages
159for coding you needed to know than four years ago which is one and now they're telling us we don't need coders cuz AI can do it so now we need to get our kids ready for something different should we be teaching them coding so we you know all of these things are now here you can find these things if you look in in this program and to help set us up so it's becoming more competitive you know it's it's like an arms race almost for parents as they try to get their kids ready like how can I get my kid tutored enough and and we're offering tutoring access through these portals and saying look this is available so getting it to the parent to show them this is available you know College and Career counseling
160is a billion dollar industry now because they have stepped in to where public schools are not meaning we're not you know we have a ratio the ideal ratio is 250 students to one counselor I mean I don't know who came up with that ideal number I know it's the national counseling but that still seems way too high for me I mean and I think every counsel would say they would love that number to be 100 to one or 50 to one you know that would be great but this gets this can help us move that ratio down and so this whole industry pops up and people are spending thousands of dollars on the things that this program actually presents and and I'm one of those parents who spent some of that money and one of
161the things these Consultants do the first thing they do with the kids is give them a Myers Briggs you know sit down and talk to them about where they want to go who they are what they want to be and we're doing that here um and we're providing this for our students we're doing it at no cost we're doing it at as something that um this will save families money and I think you know then moving on to to to what um get my glasses here what Miss zapor said you know again she talked about being making the counseling easier and and even smarter right so working smarter so the time they do spend is far more um uh return far better return on investment Lori talked about Equity I think this is an equalizer
162this program can equalize and and to to to to what Miss wall and and Miss William said about you know families who don't know like I don't know how to tell my kid to be a lawyer I have no idea I only thing I know how to do is be a physician that's it I don't we a scientist I don't know anything else and and I have to go and ask people what should my kid do what should he here you're providing a framework for a start right an incredible opportunity you know as Tracy said you know echoed all the comments and and and that that his kids are going to have access to something like this so powerful and I'm just excited to hear what Fernando's um experience was and so so you know
163as I think about you know the savings the access for tutoring the the all the whole the whole environment as Justin talked about is just absolutely incredible it has a powerful multiplier effect um you know this combined with the catalog you presented last time at your fingertips now is all so much of the information you need to find success right it's not hidden behind a door anymore we're not waiting for someone to tell us we're not waiting for a notice or a letter to come home we can go find it and and um and so this you know for all of us who you know is raising children is challenging it's daunting this is exciting and it really is incredible and I'm going to use a quote um you know Becca you you miss Slater
164you you ended with you know a quote about you know the fact that this is Limitless right what we could do with this right you know Thomas Jefferson said you know in a different word for limit Lis he said this institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind you know for here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead nor tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it this program allows our students to free their mind to go and chase their dreams to search for truth to search for their own Truth where do they want to go and I think this is a great start for our School Division it's a it's a great program and I just I mean I I can
165sit here like Mr wil and be a sick sick of Fant I don't even know what that means but but yes I think that's what I meant um all night long so anyways thank you um does anyone have anything else further to add M well Dr McDade let's hear from the doctor herself um one I just want to thank my team publicly for all of their hard work and and you know they keep saying it's a lot but you cannot imagine how much time and energy went into this um I really appreciate Mr wil's comments as a Content matter expert in understanding what it takes um to bring this together because most systems lack interoperability to be able to to bring all of the the tools together so um both the individuals you see standing
166here tonight as well as those behind the scenes that are not here I just want to extend my gratitude um not for just pulling all of the work together but for believing in the vision of Prince William County and believing that our students and our families deserve um these levels of support and resources uh the impetus behind this really stemmed from my own personal experience as a a stu a child of immigrants where like Fernand said you know I had to figure all of that out on my own not because my parents didn't care or that my parents weren't concerned they didn't know how to navigate the public school system because the American school system can be very complicated for immigrant families um and then there's all these different places to Source information so when
167you look at this and you see like best fix colleges based on where you what you want to study like I didn't even know where to start as a 17y old to be able to tell my parents well I like this maybe I should go to this college so it was really just just searching looking for colleges what programs they offer what do I need to be admitted what's the interest what's the tuition all of that having it where a student can sit with their parent and have this conversation the value of course for our counselors to sit with um with our students but there's also tremendous value in strengthening our partnership with our families as authentic Partners in education because I always say you know the school system is just um the just one
168of the systems that work for a child to be successful the micro system is the family and so our our families have to be involved in every step of the way and we have to remove the barriers and the complexity in them being able to be involved and and I believe that this is really a strong step forward to doing that and so we'll just continue to get better at this this is our first iteration I'm sure we'll get a ton of feedback even um as users start to use it uh in addition to the fact that you know the the pull of data here is um from December so another report will go out in June but I just want to thank the board for your support of so many of the different things
169that we've been doing as a part of the launching thriving Future Vision cuz this wouldn't be possible if you didn't believe in the work and knew that this is work that we should should be doing um but then just the hardworking employee staff uh not just on my team but in our schools our counselors I wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for a counselor who made sure I got to college when my family didn't know how to get me there and so I feel so indebted um to our students to make sure they each have that opportunity to sit down and have a a informed conversation with a knowledgeable adult on how to plan and chart their future because I know that when students graduate and have a strong concrete post-secondary plan in their
170back pocket that just increases the possibilities for them so thank you all so much for the incredible work for presenting this to the board but just believing that every single student in Prince William County can graduate on time with the knowledge skills and habits of mind necessary to create a thriving future for themselves and their Community since I try to summarize everyone else is Dr McDade I um I'm going to say what Jen Wall said to me when you said um it's complicated for children of immigrants you know it's complicated for all of us too right like even everyone as you point out this is for every single child and the power of this this is for every single child in the county and and I and and I I think it needs to be
171reiterated that this program will help give families the freedom and children the freedom to do what they want in their with their focus and their future it's not us telling them what to do it's them dictating their own terms and then following the the resources that are available and it's for every single one and and you know Dr McDade said she wouldn't be here without her counselor I wouldn't be here without my counselor even if I had parents who were you know maybe college educated they just you know without my counselor without the folks mentoring me I think each of us at each point of our career no matter who we are need mentoring and counseling and and it's all of us and so this provides that sort of backbone to the work we need
172to do I can't thank you enough I think this is amazing so um without further any discussion we'll close up that discussion and move on to um something far less exciting and that's committee reports um moving on committee updates Miss wall you can um take the floor on safe schools thank you all very much by the way thank you I think they should have a round of applause or [Applause] something yes this is less exciting sorry everybody um the safe schools advisory Council met on February 5th um and we met from 6:30 to 8: um Mr WL was also on that committee with me um unfortunately the committee was not able to get a quorum so no official business was transacted so for all of us if we can make sure our people show up
173that would be really good um our appointees to the safe to the um safe schools advisory Council um anyway on the agenda was to be a discussion of the bylaws for the council which was postponed until the next meeting which will be March 11th but we did proceed and here we were able to hear from Jacob Edwards who is supervisor of Crisis management who discussed the division's crisis plan and training and this meeting was extremely informative and I believe the information that we received is on the school division's website under um crisis um management one highlight was hearing all of the various ways that Safety and Security has been enhanced over the last 2 years and a lot of people might not be aware of this but there has been a significant investment in Safety
174and Security in our school division um a lot of resources a lot of additional folks with additional expertise and a lot of training and um training of students and staff and uh hard and soft security measures um a whole multi-layered security approach so um it's been really great and so we were able to hear some of that a second highlight was um that we do an amazing um job working directly with students and teachers um and teaching them the principles of Crisis management safety and we talked a little bit about how the training that our students receive can prepare them for when they're at College where they won't get that kind of training or when they go out into the workplace like this kind of training that they receive can help them through through the
175rest of their lives um a third highlight was hearing that after any crisis incident there is always an after action view including with administrators to go over all Lessons Learned because I can't remember exactly how it was but we're going to we got to get better at getting better and that also applies to our security posture and our Safety and Security plans so that is built into the way that security and safety is approached um and that was really great to hear um and so I don't know if Mr book has anything else to add but um the the safe schools advisory Council meets uh monthly that was beautiful yeah than thank you all right let's uh move on to board matters let's start U Miss wall you want you want to go ahead and
176start I know you just talked let's have you sure I will go first okay good evening greetings from the Gainesville District um on the 9th I'm going to go through a couple of things I've been able to do the last couple weeks I got to see a real life author Matt Hagerty author of lumber Dracula work his magic at Mountain View Elementary um on the 11th I attended District 9 honors choir um and on the day before I was at Bull Run meeting with the newspaper club and doing an interview with them and I caught the middle school students rehearsing and they had a full-on dance party going on so it was awesome um it's always hard warming to me to see the fruits of our investments in arts education so it's one of those
177reasons one of the reasons why I go to those concerts um also on the 11th I dropped by the PW Prince William Rowing Club urg Sprints never seen that in my life before before that was a great opportunity to see competition rowing in action on the 16th I attended a pre-assessment concert with reag in e8th grade and Battlefield bands um they're going to do a great assessment also on the 16th I stopped at Mullen Elementary School's International baloria Global night and this is one of their most well attended events and the food was amazing um last night I went to an event hosted by the Civil Air Patrol and learned that they have um participate they participate in a program where any educator librarian can apply for um stem kit stem kits and can use
178these in their schools so I think that would be a great opportunity for librarians gifted teachers classroom teachers stem teachers um it's a great program check it out I want to highlight some of the things that have been on my mind lately um February 15th was school resource officer appreciation day and here in Prince William we are fortunate to have exceptionally trained dedicated men and women in law enforcement who serve as school resource officers in our middle and high schools I know you go above and beyond to develop trusting relationships and reinforce the standards and Norms of behavior and you serve as positive role models and provide valued support to our professional School leaders so thank you for all that you do I continue to be um concerned about um student behavior and in particular
179cell phone usage in schools especially during instructional time I'm very concerned about this is particularly at the high school level and I continue to be interested in a comprehensive districtwide policy addressing cell phone usage while in school with the aim being to refocus our students on their learning over the last few weeks I've been thinking more about the message shared at our last meeting by Dr Bishop and his students about kindness I think it's something we need to be very intentional about not just for a week but all the time um asop in his memorable fa fable about the lion and the mouse concluded that no act of kindness however small is ever wasted and I believe this is true in every sense no act of kindness is ever wasted in fact it is exponential
180and there's a children's song that goes like this I want to be kind to everyone for that is right you see so I say to myself remember this kindness begins with me and kindness begins with each one of us and thank you and good night thank you Mr Jesse thank you madam uh it's it's really important for me to to say that I want to thank the people who came out to speak in behalf of uh the Woodbridge High School uh the school is in desperate need of uh relieving the pressure they're going to make it work one way or the other but they've been doing that for well over 10 years and so we need to really look at this and it's just hard of me you know I get discouraged sometime because you
181can't get people to come out and talk you can't get people to stand up for themselves but uh you know you got to begin and and they they're beginning to see that if you don't ask you don't get and we got to ask for what we want and we got to demand for what we want you know Justin and I are close friends but we told each other you you got to do what's right for your district and I got to do what's right for mine unfortunately we can't win one one of us got to lose and more than likely it's going to be me in the Woodbridge High School but that school needs the help and I want you to understand that and I want you to figure out something and perhaps if we
182got a patent they could pay for the school you know but uh that's something that we really need to think about the other thing I want to say is that I sent out something and there's a lot of data in there I did not ask the principal of Woodbridge High School what's her thoughts were and so forth this was something I mean we have a number of friends and people I get information from thing but please do not say that the principal told you to say that cuz that's not true at all uh thriving Futures you know I like the fact I I hate when the kids are standing there 12 10 to 12 kids and they just stand there and we read off their names and then we let the principal talk I hate
183that let the kids at least say their names first of all it helps me because I can't pronounce their Nam but second all it gives them a moment what we did with the MLK students today they got a chance they took some pictures while they were standing there I think that's important something that we should consider to do uh again thank you for the people who spoke and thank you I I hope to make as I tell people I hope to make you proud that I served on this committee thank you Miss trenic brentville District thanks to everybody who hung in there for this meeting uh February has been a great month I was able to attend Ellis Elementary School steam night that was Valentine's theme they had an amazing turnout lots of candy and
184of course some math the teachers and staff did an excellent job I was thoroughly impressed and can't wait to go back and visit Ellis again uh my first budget season with the Schoolboard has been an interesting process and I appreciate the feedback I've received from parents and teachers alike I brought forth your concerns the largest being teacher pay and steps espe especially for veteran teachers um I'm just going to side note and talk about a little bit because tonight I heard a lot of speakers uh speak on growth in the county and what's happening um specifically I can speak towards the brunville district there's major growth on the horizon over the last decade we've seen the approved construction of 3,000 homes so that's in 10 years 1,800 were multif family dwelling units there are plans
185astonishly for 3,000 homes in the brunville district that have been submitted for just this year of the 200 countywide projects the brunville district accounts for more than 25% of them so growth is happening all across the county um schools are overcrowded in different parts of the county um so there's a lot that's going to go into placing where those schools are and it's going to take some time and thought um and I and I I of course could go on about that I have more things to say but um I also enjoyed watching the Gainesville girls basketball team brunville girls basketball team girls and boys track brinville wrestling um congrats to the state wrestlers Evan sady being one of them um that's a big deal a lot of kids go to those and um I
186know we have some boys and girls State Bound for track and regionals State Bound for basketball um which has not happened yet but we're headed there I wish you all the best of luck in these coming weeks I'm excited to get for it to get warm and to go visit people on the spring Sports Fields as well as the upcoming Musical and drama performances a big congratulations again to the turf and agriculture students um mine especially at brunville and Dr Miller we are lucky to have you as such a fantastic program for our students in the brunville district um I also love seeing that new student Vision profile thanks for your work on that it's been a privilege to serve you over the past couple of months please feel free to reach out to me
187for anything Mr will um yes uh I I really haven't um highlighted a lot of my events actually going all the way back to January 5th I'm not going to go through them all now um and be Superfluous with everything that we're doing uh but I do uh just want to pick one or two uh just talk about some things you know the last month and a half that's been pretty um basketball has pretty much dominated my schedule between the pic District I believe is probably the strongest basketball magisterial District between pic high school and uh Forest Park between the two divisions I think we've dominated most of the Cardinal District title the last 10 years to be fair so anyways so probably going to about 10 to 15 of those over the last month
188and a half uh there's been some other things too I do want to highlight and congratulate of course patomic for being the Cardinal District champions again uh and they knocked out Gainsville the other night for the first round of the regional we'll be at brookpoint tomorrow night in the next round of the Regionals long story short a lot of great events uh we referenced the fentanyl event last two weeks ago uh that Miss wall and M trenic were at as well in the pomac district uh want to you know pomac Middle School had a great event are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader that I was able to partake in and I got actually the sixth grade science so question wrong that was great um the atlanic Indoor Winter Guard Association competition a big Regional
189event was actually hosted in the patomic district at Forest Park so that was a great event supporting both Forest Park and pics teams uh going through you know uh in the effort of just slow and uh getting out of here a little early I yield the remainder of my time where am I going next Miss Williams thank you Mr chairman um as we bring Black History Month to a close I just would like to remind everyone that black history is American history um celebrating um our own Prince William County black history I have a few notables that I'd like to recognize our current state senator and former delegate Jennifer Carroll for boy who was instrumental in having the erra passed in the state of Virginia as well as passing Virginia's very own Crown act which
190I honor every year since it's been passed by continuously changing my hair because it's no longer illegal to fire women or other or men or anyone else in between for whatever type of hair that they'd like to have as it was before um our very own border County Supervisors dendra Jefferson the first chair woman black chair woman Andrea Bailey and Margaret flank excuse me supervisor Margaret Franklin who were elected uh the first black women elected to the board of County Supervisors our very own Dr McDade who is the first woman superintendent and black women super first female and black women superintendent in Prince William County schools history uh earlier tonight our very own former Board member Miss Lily Jesse member of Delta Sigma Theta soror Incorporated who was instrumental in starting the MLK or aoral
191competition uh and then they say if you don't toot your own horn no one else will so myself included for not only being a Prince William County school graduate and EIP alumni uh one of the longest serving members on the governor School Innovation Park and now one of the most senior members um of the prince Willam County School Board I also think it's um instrumental to share a little bit if you don't know I encourage our fellow Prince William County residents to check out um and learn about the history of the chin family the porter family um and Fitzgerald as well as so many other instrumental and notable African American families right here in Prince William County moving on to some of the art the exhibits or events that I went to I had the
192pleasure of attending the Student Art Exhibit at the Hilton Performing Art Center always a pleasure our students raging from elementary to high school um have their Arts displayed on the Upper Floor at the Hilton Performing Art Center if you have not had the opportunity to go visit I highly suggest that you do it's amazing on Valentine's Day uh our School Division and lvania Elementary was was honored to host the state superintendent as the announcement was made that princ County Schools was one of only eight School divisions in the state to receive a grant to support our apprenticeship program for new teachers um I'd also like to make note that um those who are unsatisfied with our school food you may attend the school food and nutrition show on March 7th please register it's at colan
193I know for a fact as having a son who is now a chef who went regularly and commented vivaciously that changes can be made based upon your input as a student so please exercise your voice I would like to give a special shout out to Riley SEO and all of our student uh high schoolers who are on a bowling league they just celebrated um their competition and tonight they were getting their Awards ceremonies um I just like to encourage all of you to attend our upcoming budget workshops and learn not only about how the budget works but um share your input thank you Mr Tracy Blake theava District thank you Mr chairman good evening everyone in the recent weeks my experience within our district has been both enriching and enlightening I had the privilege of
194visiting uh CD Hilton High School where I was deeply impressed by a black history exhibit which was curated by the Air Force Junior RTC instructor Chief Tracy Washington this exhibit traced a journey of black Americans from the Middle Passage era to to the present day highlighting their significant contributions and enduring Legacy I also attended the brother Curtis B Taylor Senior Talent hunt at Woodbridge High School hosted by the mega Sci-Fi fraternity Inc the event showcased an immense Talent of eight high high school finalists with a standout performance by my own Beville Middle School Imperial step team their energy and precision were truly captivating and embodied the spirit of Excellence I also had the honor of attending with uh Miss wall Miss zapor and Mr Jesse the Civil Air Patrol Cadet promotion last night which was
195a great um opportunity to learn about their youth development and Aerospace education programs which Miss wall talked about their commitment to nurturing young leaders is truly commendable and I just also want to give a reminder to our community that the open enrollment for Head Start and VPI programs for the 2024 25 school year began on February 1st with more information available on the Prince William County website and lastly reflecting on last week's Virginia kindness week I'd like to share share a thought kindness weaves our community together turning moments into connections uh just everybody be kind and and thank you for the opportunity to share these updates and I look forward to our continued efforts to enhance the educational experiences in my district and princewood and County Schools thank you and good night all right so
196we've gotten everybody so it's my turn um uh first uh kind of back up I went to the ear growing event at Woodbridge High School um only vaguely aware that it was you know on machines but it's the one thing that our um rowers do that's an individual event and it's they're working for their personal best so I thank the colan coach for explaining taking the time to to explain all that and I cannot wait to go to a rata this spring um I've never been to one and I look forward to attending at least one maybe two um I got to attend Hilton's Black History Month Museum um there's a a teacher there who who these are his um this is his collection and um he's got a foundation called United crowns Foundation Incorporated
197he had everything he had black panthers he had uh shackles he had um toys that that kids would have grown up with um album covers a a guitar from Prince I it's just an amazing the amount of items he had uh so I really hope next year Hilton opened it up to have anyone in the community come in the evening I hope um people take advantage next year because it was amazing um congratulations the girls o op basketball for winning their game this week and I believe they're playing colan tomorrow so I will see you all there um I'm going to talk briefly about the Civil Air Patrol uh it is a Civil Air Patrol is a congressionally chartered Federal funded 501c3 nonprofit corporation and the civilian auxiliary of the US Air Force uh we
198were invited by first lieutenant Bridget Moritz uh who has been involved in this she invited me when we were in the pandemic when the kids were doing online exercises she invited me to come see that then and I was so impressed because the kids were running their own little training sessions and it was all virtual at that time and I really grateful that we got invited again so um appreciate uh being able to see the ceremony last night and learn a little bit more about the program they do have stem kits for our teachers they are $35 I think if um maybe we could work out talking to a PTO or something we can uh work that out but if you pay the $35 use the kit and you report back to um basically the
199Air Force I believe um the next year you get another kit they don't charge you uh you report back the next year you'll get another kit so it's a really good deal um they'll even send people out to help with the kits last thing I want to uh mention tonight is it is clerk appreciation week and I have be sitting over here be Lily and Anna I don't know what we would do without you you keep us you keep track of us you keep track of our stuff you remind us of all the things I know for me I'm grateful you always answer my questions and you're always there for us thank you so much and there's nothing uh we could do to appreciate you even more thank [Applause] you thank you Miss arore um
200I'd like to recognize uh Joanne bonares she is out there in the audience wave Miss Joanne she is the founder and helped start the Martin Luther King oratorical program for the um the the Delta sori did I get it right Delta Del Delta Sigma Theta Incorporated if I don't get it right I'll get yelled at um soror outstanding thank you I want to recognize her um for her great work it's a great legacy it's an outstanding program my my son did it when he was in seventh grade he never actually qualified it was very competitive to get to the final but it was just a great great program and taught him how to be a a better speaker and so thank you that's it's a great legacy and it has an impact that will generate
201um success for students way off into the future um great program today Dr McDade um very excited about the um student Vision profile reports this is very exciting again I think this puts the power of um your education in your own hands in your family's hands and I think that's the best thing we can do as a school division is to continue to to work towards that I'm very excited um and then I'm just going to keep it short there's a very exciting event happening this week and I don't know if someone can can help me with this B it's that there's a drone competition at Unity read High School where is it Unity it's a Unity read High School I think it starts in 9 in the morning we have I think a middle
202school at least one or two a couple high schools one or two competing in a drone competition where they're I I they're flying them they're building them it's it's a whole day thing from 9:00 to 4:00 so if you're interested in seeing some cuttingedge um programming cuttingedge uh extracurricular stuff you come to Prince William County because that's where we have it and um and and I want you to go to Unity read High School to watch that I think it should be open to the public like most robotic competitions okay um and and should that should be very exciting so um with that I will um adjourn the meeting thank you