Prince William County School Board Meeting - June 21, 2023

001foreign County School Board to order a motion is now in order for the approval the meeting agenda Ms Williams thank you Mr chair of the meeting agenda do I have a second Mr chairman um any discussion okay all in favor or just please vote okay all in favor aye any opposed no motion passes um moving on motion enter closed session a motion is in order Miss Williams thank you Mr chairman I move that pursuant to Virginia code 2.2-3711 and 2.2-3712 the Prince William County School Board enter closed session for the following reasons one to discuss with staff the assignment appointment and promotion performance demotion salaries disciplining or resignation of specific officers and employees under VA code 2.2-3711a two to discuss with division Council and staff actual or probable litigation and legal matters pertaining to the

002school board and specific staffs and students under VA code.2.2-3711a 7 and 8 3 to consult with staff and division Council regarding actual litigation involving a public nuisance where such consultation in an open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the public body pursuant to VA code 2.2-3711a 7 4 to consult with division Council regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice pertaining to school board policy 273.01 pursuant to VA code 2.2-3711a8 5 to review disciplinary matters for specific students that would involve the disclosure of information contained in the Scholastic record for individual students and to receive legal advice regarding the same as provided by VA code.2.2.2-3711a 2 and 8 6 to consult with staff and division Council regarding the terms of the contract for the acquisition of real property for

003a public school within the Potomac magisterial District where such consultation and open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiation strategy of the school board pursuant to Virginia code 2.2-3711a3 A8 and 8 29 and 7 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 open meeting would jeopardize the security of such facilities pursuant to Virginia code 2.2 2-3711a 19. of a second Mr chairman any discussion please vote and Adele Jackson votes yes foreign County School Board will now enter closed session and return up session in one hour [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] County School Board will now re-enter Open session from closed session moving on to agenda 9.01 closed session

004certification emotions in order Williams I move that pursuant to go into code 2.2 712 the closed session of Prince William County school board meeting of June 21st 2023 be certified by adopting the following resolution now therefore be it resolved that the Prince William County School Board hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge one only public business matters lawfully Exempted from open meeting requirements were discussed in the closed session meeting to which the certification resolution applies and two only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the close meeting were heard and discussed or considered by the school board you have a second Mr chairman this is a second all in um any discussion please vote the vote is sick she has two absent Ralston wall motion passed moving on

005to closed session action item a motion is in order for 10.01 approval of appointments and releases of specific employees Miss Williams thank you Mr chairman I move that the Prince William County school board approved the appointments and releases of specific employees as presented in closed session do you have a second Mr chairman seconds any discussion please vote the vote is six yes two absent Ralston wall motion passed moving on to 10.02 approval evaluation the Ombudsman 2023-24 gold setting a motion is in order Mr chairman Miss Williams I moved at the Princeton County school board approved the evaluation of the Ombudsman and the goals for the office of the Ombudsman for the 2023-24 school year as presented in closed session and authorized the chairman at large to sign the summative evaluation do I have a second

006Mr chairman a second any discussion please vote the vote is six yes two absent Ralston wall motion passed moving on to 10.03 approval the evaluation the school board clerk emotions in order Miss Williams thank you Mr chairman I moved at the Princeton County School Board approve the evaluation of the performance of the clerk of the school board as presented in closed session and authorize the chairman at large to sign the summative evaluation to have a second it's chairman second any discussion please vote the vote is success to absent Ralston wall motion passed on a 10.04 approval evaluation and division Council motions in order thank you Mr chairman I moved at the Prince William County school board approved the evaluation of the performance of division Council as presented in closed session and authorize the chairman at

007large to sign the summative evaluation execute an amendment to the division council's employment agreement in Conformity with the terms approved in closed session do you have a second Mr chairman a second any discussion please vote the vote is sick she has two absent Ralston wall motion passed and on a 10.05 approval closed session consent agenda items emotions order Mrs Williams thank you Mr chairman I move that the Prince William County school board approved the closed session consent agenda items as presented in closed session any discussion or I mean a second Mr chairman any discussion please vote the vote is six yes two absent rosten wall motion passed was there one other student thing did I miss a student thing okay got it all right all right um all right that concludes uh closed session action

008items at this point we will ask that everyone stand for the Pledge of Allegiance uh Miss Jesse you want to lead us please tonight to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you Miss Jesse moving on to thriving Futures Focus We Begin one of our most enjoyable segments of our school board meeting launching thriving Futures 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 these honorees have positively represented our School Division Prince William County and the school board is proud to recognize them publicly for their accomplishments at as this is our last thriving

009Futures presentation for the 2023 school year we have a lot to celebrate and acknowledge this evening first I want to recognize the retirements of three esteemed individuals who've dedicated many years of service to our school division tonight we bid farewell to Dr Jocelyn Hart associate superintendent for Western Elementary Schools who's been a valuable member of our team for the past 30 years I would also like to acknowledge the retirement of Mr Bill Bixby associate superintendent for high schools after 35 years of service last but certainly not least we extend our gratitude to miss Rita Goss associate superintendent for teaching and learning for committing more than 32 years to pursuing Excellence for students and staff each of these individuals has made significant contributions to our school and students lives their commitment to Excellence and unwavering dedication

010will be missed we kindly request the families of our outstanding retirees to stand and be recognized for their unwavering support throughout their loved ones careers [Applause] [Music] I would like to invite Mr Bixby up first to make a few remarks all the all the families staff members and most importantly the students that I've had the chance to work with over the past 35 years I came here to the division in 1988 when believe it or not it was tough to get a job the world's really changed and this division has given me tremendous opportunities and it's been the pleasure and the honor of my career to serve the Prince William County community and I just want to thank all of you for that great opportunity thank you thank you Miss Rita Goss good evening chairman

011Latif school board members and Dr McDade thank you so much for allowing us to serve this amazing community and work in this school division for really what has been a sincere honor and blessing to serve the students all of our employees that we've had really a tremendous career here and there's not an employee in here in this school division that hasn't supported us over the years as principals and leaders and we've had the pleasure to serve alongside of so many Giants and like Bill I started here many years ago actually I did my student teaching here and so before I was even hired I loved this School Division and will continue to love and support this School Division in any way that I can we've stood on the shoulders of many Giants including our amazing

012superintendent that we have now Dr McDade and so many people to thank over the years it's been a wonderful Journey so I think all of you I think the students and the teachers and the staff here and teaching and learning at one time was student learning and accountability and for everyone that's been a part of my journey and I especially want to thank a former board member like all of you we've had people that tap us and see something in us that we don't even see in ourselves so I certainly want to thank Mrs Betty Covington who used to be on the board who was my principal at one time and she was that person for me who tapped me and saw something in me so I send my sincere thanks to her as well

013but it's been a pleasure to serve so thank you [Music] thank you Dr Jocelyn Hart maybe one day soon I'll become a public speaker but on a very serious note um chairman Latif and to the members of the school board and to our esteem superintendent coupled with the Madam Deputy superintendent and all my executive cabinet colleagues thank you I applaud you you are here for the right reasons you're here for Children and Families we are here as a team to do whatever it takes and I'm so thankful and blessed to have worked shoulder to shoulder with you all I do want you to know that retirement is starting to feel real good fantastic outstanding exceptional and I'm so blessed and thankful for a 41 year career that range from Maryland school for the deaf to

014Germany to Fairfax County oh I said the f word and then to Prince William County schools but it's been a joy to serve and make a difference with folks the learning has been reciprocated and again I am humbled I'm thankful and I'm looking forward to something called ROP I do want to say that perhaps the most significant person in my life next to my children is my mother and I'm blessed to have my 81 year old mother here with me she's the first teacher she's the first person that said you can do this girl you got this girl get up there do this do this and so Mama I love you and I thank you [Music] okay this time I'd like to invite our retirees to join us at the front for a photo and

015a small token of our appreciation lasting memory from this evening thank you we'll take a quick photo thank you I'm trying to shoot us how we'll get together oh he's in the camera I don't know I didn't get Mama I can't get it foreign okay now let's shift our Focus to the outstanding achievements of our students teams and coaches We Begin by acknowledging the exceptional individual performances in track and field from the Kohl's District we start with Mr Lisa zargapor Ms jargapore thank you Dr Latif it is my pleasure to recognize Naomi wilfuck from CD Hilton High School for winning the state champion championship in shot put Naomi is here tonight with her family uh Naomi would you care to come up and say a few words um first thank you all for taking the

016time to recognize me um I would just like to thank uh first and foremost God and all the many coaches that played a role in my success in the support of my family without this it would not have been possible it was definitely a long journey and it was really nice to finish off my senior year of high school with the State win so thank you congratulations [Music] I hope you stay with that too from Osborne Park High School we acknowledge two state championship winners Viviana Rodriguez in pole vault and Lena goodin in long jump Viviana is here correct yes with her mom no with Dad note with Mom okay sorry um whom I would like to ask her to stand in recognition sorry where is Mom tonight there is it there you go there

017you go thank you for supporting her [Applause] we also have uh you're the Coach Jerry McAvoy there you go Mr vacavoy would you like to say a few words yes and Viviana said be very few words this was a this was a really tough outdoor season she got hurt back in April and she worked her way back oh my goodness uh for for months trying to to get back into where she should be and she persevered so she's very tough and this is uh this is her third uh state championship so I hope to hope to keep it going so and congratulations to the other athletes uh I I see how hard they work and it's it's a a hard achievement feel good about it so thank you thank you no I'm just gonna add

018like one thing you know I I think it's it's noted we need to note that not only are they um they're going to be strong athletes they're going to be strong academic students as well they have a lot to they have to juggle so can we give one more little little round of applause because we know how hard they work foreign congratulations to Naomi Viviana and Lena my Mr Wilk I believe you wish to acknowledge track winners from your District the Potomac magisterial District thank you Dr Latif the Potomac District would like to acknowledge Forest Park High School Xavier Ogo for a state championship in the long jump Xavier is here tonight with his family I ask that they stand and be recognized savior's family thank you guys um also attending tonight with Xavier is

019principal Richard Martinez athletic director Bricker coaches Douglas Gilbert and Deanna Wells at this time I would like to ask one of Xavier's coaches to say a few words on Xavier's accomplishment all right thank you for having us and congratulations to everybody um Xavier is the hardest working person on the track and since I met him two years ago he's always shown that he wants to get better unfortunately our jumps coach Dorian coach can't be here today but I know he would say the same thing and over the last two years the two of them have worked X actually at the state meet they get six jumps he was in the lead the entire time and because of that he got to jump last the kid before him jumped a quarter of an inch further and

020with all that pressure on his last jump X jumped another inch and a half further and won his first state championship and did a fantastic job and that's a result of all the hard work he's done so congratulations [Applause] [Music] [Applause] okay congratulations to our four individual state championships sorry we have a lot of folks here tonight and and I want to make sure we don't miss anyone so so my apologies if we do just raise your hand and say I think it's giving me congratulations for our four individual state championships in track and field before we take a few pictures may I please ask the family members a guess again of our Champions to stand and be recognized okay um let's let's do a picture with our individual winners thank you very much all

021right sometimes okay so it is now time to recognize our team's championships in track and field along with our soccer teams we will begin in the Brentsville District but Mrs Adele Jackson Miss Jackson thank you Mr chairman I am so excited and proud to recognize the state champions boys track team from Patriot High School the team has bought considerable Pride to Prince William County schools by bringing home the class six state championship I understand that the team led by head coach James DeMarco accompanied by principal Dr Micah Bishop is here tonight Mr DeMarco would you please if you would like to share a few words about your accomplishment of their team thank you Dr Bishop good evening chairman Latif members of the board Dr McDade Patriot High School has had a very successful school year

022and the icing on the cake was our first ever boys AAA State Championship coach DeMarco and his staff pushed prodded motivated and were able to extract the championship at the last minute from every member of our team I'm very proud of these boys and want our school and Community to know this is our best group of kids all of these voices are recognition for their hard work and dedication and I'm honored to be a part of that tonight and I am proud to announce here tonight Henry Burge a freshman member of the team this weekend was recognized as a national champion in the 800 meter run in Philadelphia coach Demarco [Music] thank you Dr McDade members of the school board thank you so much for having us here tonight it's an honor to be before

023you we'd like to thank Dr Bishop Mr Qualls our athletic director and my exceptional coaching staff coach Gaskins coach Kalinda Hawk coach fell and then Jason Grant who is not here tonight but they have done an exemption exempt Chile job getting us prepared this year it was a lot of work we came out from indoor track in fifth place but we told the guys at the first practice that you know we got to find 24 points we got to get a little better and we went through those events and the kids you know took that and they kind of ran with it a little bit not quite believing um but some of our guys had a Instagram account that just said future state champions that they had made that was their group chat the group

024that they had and and they worked really hard they pushed it every day and then by mid-season we started seeing that you know all the pieces started to fall together we were getting a little bit better a little bit better inch by inch second by second and they were able to do it they were able to pull off a state championship and uh do something that at the beginning of the season I don't think they really believe they could do it and then by mid-season they the belief started seeking in and the hard work kept getting better and better and the team's commitment to each other got better and then by the end of the season they were able to pull it off so love to thank their parents for all their support and again

025our exceptional School administration my coaches I got to work with uh just absolutely super human beings putting all their time into the kids and then the kids them so themselves make it an absolute joy to come to practice every single day and that's why we do it so thank you so much and congratulations guys [Music] congratulations again and thank you for the news Dr Bishop about Henry um congratulations also to the Brentsville District High School girls soccer team for clinching the class three state championship assistant coaches Doug Silva and Holly touche along with many of our Champions are here tonight accompanied by Dr principal um principal Dr Catherine meintz and head coach Scott cones who is unable to be with us tonight however we do want to acknowledge that he received the coach of the

026year award so congratulations to Scott cones Mr Silva or Miss touche would either of you like to speak on behalf of the team and again congratulations thank you board members and Dr McDade I'm Holly touche and along with Coach silver we're here on behalf of Scott currency sorry couldn't make it our girls had a goal right from pretty much last year's States we had a lot of changes last year quite a few seniors graduated and the leaders on our team knew that it was possible for us to win a state championship and right from there they started to get to work they were in the weight room all winter long starting this season really really strong zero seniors and we had five Junior captains with exemplarly leadership and really fun practices great focus and they

027took every game as a piece a step in the right direction and we went into the postseason very confident our girls are obviously very very talented but I would say some awesome things also about our team is that they have a positive climate a supportive system a wonderful leadership great academics great kids just to have in classes and in the school and they really were excited to practice longer than everyone else it's hard to go into the postseason you're the last kids on the practice fields but these girls that Lit their fire and I think that's really cool so last year we did not get out of the state semis so that was our Big Goal obviously we really really worked hard and the girls knew they could do it they truly believed so we

028went to the state finals and we won 1-0 and really exciting we scored over 100 goals this season and we only had eight scores against us which is I think a pretty cool highlight and super proud of these ladies coach Kearns just uh you know we had a really big hashtag and it was compete and that's what these girls did thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] well deserved indeed no pressure for next year I guess we don't have any seniors but I won't as our teams get in position so we can capture this proud recognition I asked those families and friends here tonight to stand in recognition of these state champions and give yourselves a hand for supporting efforts can I have the families please stand [Music] congratulations to our student athletes I invite our teams

029to join us up front for a few pictures and a small token of our appreciation for the lasting memory of the special evening thank you foreign all right congratulations [Music] numbers [Music] thank you can you take a couple from me she left my phone out there thank you foreign outstanding that is fantastic okay we move on to close our celebration of championships in the traditional Athletics with Mrs argopore Ms argopore of the Kohl's District the Kohl's district is proud to recognize Colgan High School's class Six States Championship in girls soccer a well-fought victory our championship team is here tonight with head coach Tom warziak and principal Dr Tim Healey would you too one of you two like to share a few words Dr Latif school board members Dr McDade thank you for having us it

030is an honor to come before the school board um the girls did win the class six uh state championship for girls soccer they were also the Cardinal District Champions the region 6B Champions finished with a record of 21-1 scored 108 goals with only three against clearly they are outstanding athletes but I think the most important thing especially in interscholastic sports is every single one of these young ladies is an outstanding person a fantastic student and genuinely people of the highest quality thank you [Applause] [Music] I wonder if the audience even knows that the day they graduated they had to go and play their championship games that was pretty interesting way to to prepare for that game uh thank you we also wish to acknowledge the incredible achievement of Colgan High School singles tennis player Matthew

031Staton who clinched his third consecutive Classics Championship Matthew was here tonight with his parents and head coach Travis wedge [Music] would you care to share a few words about this outstanding athlete good evening members of the school board Dr Latif Dr McDade thank you for this opportunity again to acknowledge a fantastic season not only one season but three um for Matt's consecutive class six state championships which is an incredible achievement um I have also with me today my assistant coaches Patricia Villas Mill Kristen misencheck and my mom Carolyn wedge who could not be in attendance this evening so I want to give them a lot of credit as they were there throughout the entire season um I'd also like to take a quick second to recognize rebby Villas Mill who is Matt's doubles partner who

032is in attendance tonight not only his doubles partner but his hitting partner because without ready there's nobody else who can hit with Matt and we wouldn't know what to do so uh I wanted to thank Rebbie very much thank you coach wedge and congratulations to the Kohl's District um I can say that um you know I I think we were missed to say that you know the the soccer team beat another one of our County Schools was Battlefield in the championship am I right about that yeah so we had two in that tournament that um that and and I would like since this is publicly on TV there's no better place in the country than Prince William County schools for girls soccer can we give a round of applause for that um you know just

033wonderful great three state championships in a row Matt that's that's amazing I I expect hopefully we'll see you here next year God willing and and we're excited to do that so at this point we'll invite you up for we'll do a picture with the team and then we'll do a picture with Matt and the school board thank you guys very much [Applause] [Music] I have to say a few words okay let's see ready to get down here right give him a selfie stick in the eye Travis love drones [Music] right all right [Applause] look at those everybody between her and Raven I'm like okay um I'm just gonna be good [Music] you guys are friends come on it's probably like the smallest amount of like annually do anything yeah where's your mama oh there she

034is [Music] like it does remind me yes sure [Music] right fantastic for all of our on the field athletes it is now our pleasure to acknowledge the success of students beyond the realm of traditional athletic traditional Athletics and for more we return to Mr Wilk of the Potomac District this one's really cool as a child in the mid 80s early 90s we're recognizing video games uh since Pac-Man video games have had a significant impact on our society our culture and our lives the rise of Esports and our division is an exciting and growing interest for our students the Forest Park e-sports program has gained recognition and respect in the state since the fall of 2021 the Esports team recently won the national play verse cup 2023 in Mario Kart 8 yes yes earning a new

035high score for Prince William County schools the team is led by head coach Nathaniel Fenson and there are a number of team members accompanying them today I also see principal Martinez and Bricker again congratulations to our Esports team on establishing your place as the best of the best I'll still say I think GoldenEye is the best game ever created we now welcome our Esports team to the front uh for a commemorative photo and a gif congratulations thank you [Music] well I'm not stubborn I'm sure you're not going to run up there [Laughter] thank you [Music] it would be fun at a beach certainly an exciting new space for Prince William County schools will be leading in and that is Esports speaking of leading the board wishes to acknowledge the extraordinary accomplishments of our robotics clubs

036we will begin with Mrs Lily Jesse of the great Occoquan District then Mrs argopore of the wonderful Kohl's district and then Miss Jackson of the uh amazing Brentsville District Miss Jesse I am thrilled tonight to recognize the Woodbridge High School robotics team for the Vex state championship I'm sorry for the vexate championship the tournament Champions Award is given to the two teams the lions that came in first place in the final match Alliance this is an exceptional group led by Carlos Castro also known as the Voice who names all the who give who reads off the names of every graduate of Woodbridge High School and Tara hilley while they they could not make it here tonight we congratulate them on another amazing season thank you Miss Jesse I turn the spotlight to Mrs argopore of

037the Kohl's District thank you Dr latify would like to acknowledge three schools that excelled in robotics field this year Benton Middle School who earned the first place Inspire award at the Vex World Championship led by Mr Lou and Miss Erickson the Vex worlds Inspire award is presented to a team that has inspired judges with their approach to the Vex robotics program this team will effectively communicate their passion for the VC VRC program and maintain a positive attitude through the event at this time I would like to invite uh Mr Lou and Miss Erickson to speak on behalf of the team hi good evening I was told to keep this short so I will highlight a couple things especially the folks that are behind me first our wonderful vice principal makes air Sin from Benton Middle

038School thank you so much for being here with us I'd like to introduce three of the six team members right from my right all the way to the right is Ryan Lou my son and then we got Alice Kim and serwani de Hall the three other team members could be here today which is the best Professor Charlie Gardner and also izon imitates they are all part of the team of six from the team 1231c the Astro tankers and they did a tremendous and wonderful work this entire school year but in addition to that not only did this team go to the Vex worlds Championship we also had two other Benton robotics team that went as well we had 1231b which is the banana boomerangs as well as 1231 F the metal heads they all work

039really hard so we had three teams that went to vexed worlds this year one of our best season is is completely wonderful I do want to highlight that for the inspired trophy besides reading off with the inspired trophy is I do want to highlight that at Benton Middle School was one out of 490 teams to receive sorry one out of 50 teams to receive a Vex worlds trophy they were the only Middle School team at Benton as well as Prince William County and the entire state of Virginia to win a trophy for for us so I want to congratulate the Benton Astro tankers for a job well done and much to you and your success and your permit for next year good luck and I'm gonna say this at the end coin from Benjamin Franklin

040when in doubt robot out thank you Parkside Middle School for their first place think award in the U.S national create Championship led by Marietta Soma and Stefan solanski the think award is presented to a team that has developed and implemented quality robot programming as part of their strategy to solve the game challenge although Miss Soma and Mr solenski could not be here tonight I do wish to recognize them for all their outstanding work with the Parkside middle schoolers I would also like to recognize Colgan high school for both their Excellence award at the Vex state championship and their first place Inspire award at Vex World Championship led by Dr Troy mink the Excellence award is presented to the top all-around team at the state championship the Vex worlds inspired award is presented to a team

041that has inspired judges with their approach to the Vex robotics program this team will effectively communicate their passion for the VRC program and maintain a positive attitude through the event uh wait a minute Dr it was mink right Dr Ming yeah their name's not correct on here Dr mink of Colgan could not attend tonight but I wish to congratulate the Colgan team and all of them on their wonderful work with our students families and community foreign thank you and Miss Jackson thank you Dr Teeth on behalf of the Brentsville District I'd like to recognize the great Gainesville Middle School for their first place and innovate award from Virginia Vex state championship led by Dana Powell the innovate award is presented to the team with specific unique engineering element that demonstrates out of the box thinking

042Mr Powell would you like to share a few words are you sure yes please okay no I want to thank the school board for their ongoing support and want to thank Mrs Carroll who's not here I want to thank my principal who says yes to quite a few interesting things that I've asked for Robotics and I want to thank the team this team has worked hard they are a focus team and they stay the course and as the gentleman spoke last they said keep it um short so I'm going to end with this part and just to let everyone know that robotics is not a Pastime but a passion it's not an obsession but an opportunity not just hard work but a lot of hard work not just fun but a lot of fun not

043about luck but about skills you guys got that uh not babysitting room number four which is what and occasional crying is okay but we want to thank you guys again for recognizing us for recognizing the robotics program throughout the county and just I'm sure you guys know but Prince William County has the largest robotics program in the state of Virginia okay and it's not going away it's growing so again we want to thank you for your support I've seen quite a few of you at many of our competitions and I thank you guys for coming out and the kids appreciate you guys showing up thank you thank you and and you know I want to take a quick moment to thank again our coaches we have Mr Ronald Lou and I see Mrs Lou back

044there Mr Powell Dr menku didn't come um you know we don't pay you enough I know you're not doing this for the money and and it is your commitment along with all of our other coaches who most of them don't do this for the money they do this for the love of the work the sport the training the teaching of the kids and you know as a um for a parent of of students who participate in robotics programs at at Benton and Colgan actually um in Marshall but um it's a great way to learn and it's a great way to teach our kids about Innovation Discovery critical thinking and interview skills and I can tell you each of you and for all of our parents watching if you're not encouraging your kids to do it

045think about it as as Mr Powell eloquently stated in his final remarks that it's an opportunity it really is one of the great opportunities and Prince William County schools is a Powerhouse in robotics in all the different types of Robotics that are offered around the nation we are competing at the highest levels and so congratulations once again and and if the parents of the families or the students who participate could stand up and be recognized we'd like to give you a round of applause as well okay before taking a few pictures with our robotics Champions I would like Dr McDade to say a few words thank you Mr chairman on behalf of the entire Prince William County Community I want to extend my thanks and heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to Dr Hart Mr Bixby

046and Miss Goss as you embark on this new chapter in your lives as a member of the executive leadership team I sincerely appreciate the countless hours that you've dedicated to our students to our staff to our schools and our communities I'm very happy for each of you I wish you an enjoyable retirement and you have left an indelible mark on the hearts and minds of Prince William County Public School students staff and families congratulations to you I would also like to recognize the outstanding achievement of our students and athletes first I want to recognize the exceptional individual performances in track and field congratulations to the state champions from Hilton Osborne Park Forest Park and Potomac High School your accomplishments serve as inspiration to your peers and highlight the immense Talent competing on our track and

047Fields Additionally the Patriot High School boys track team has also brought considerable Pride to Prince William County by bringing home the classic state championship they should all be proud of their well-earned accomplishments as we are proud of each of our students congratulations to Brentsville District High School's class 3 state championship in girls soccer and Colgan High School's class six state championship in girls soccer these are true Testaments of our talented athletes and coaches and I want to acknowledge the incredible achievement of Cogan High School singles tennis player who secured his third consecutive class six state championship what a legacy to leave behind it is also my pleasure to to acknowledge the success of our students beyond the Realms of Athletics Esports is an up-and-coming sport in our division and we have been promoting and supporting

048this exciting activity within our schools and so I would like to recognize the Forest Park High School Esports program which has proven to be one of the best in the state since fall 2021 and their recent 2023 National Championship solidifies their position at the top of the leaderboards lastly let us not forget the extraordinary accomplishments of our robotics clubs the Benton Gainesville Parkside Middle School teams and Colgan and Woodbridge High School robotics teams have consistently demonstrated excellence in their respective competitions congratulations to each and every one of you on our robotics clubs on your remarkable achievements and continued success we are pwcs proud as we conclude this evening let us remember the incredible achievements the dedicated service and the collective spirit that defines the Prince William County Community congratulations Mr chairman thank you Dr McDade

049we'll take a moment to take our final pictures with our robotics teams please [Applause] hey get him don't move yet okay thank you okay well thank you everyone for your patience the last meeting of the school year is always one with lots of recognitions because of all of our spring Sports and everything wrapping up so I thank everyone for for that we are now moving on to 1301 the adoption the consent agenda emotion is in order Miss Jackson thank you chair Latifah um I moved at the Prince William County School Board approve the public meeting consent agenda is recommended do you have a second Mr chairman Mr a second any discussion yes okay actually I had Miss Jesse first and then she beat you yes I would like to remove item 1302 from the consent

050agenda and take it separately does anyone have any objection to the removal of that from the consent agenda okay as seeing no objection that we will vote on that later on there's no objection so we can move it all right right fine okay I don't we don't have to vote on that though okay got it so that's removed so you'll be voting on this motion without what was the number so Mr chairman if you'll give me one moment I'll move it and then it'll be correct when you all vote on it yeah okay that's 1302 correct okay and if you all will refresh your computers you should see it correctly on the consent agenda now okay thank you okay so everything was renumbered okay so um at this point uh we'll um put up the

051vote for this uh consent agenda I need a second on the approval of the consent agenda I only had Miss Jackson make the motion oh and I didn't get a second on it I think bizarre before a second she did okay yeah yeah and we had the discussion in now about yeah yeah um I want to just quickly speak to 1307 naming of Osborne Park High School Press Box um so Mike Foley is a teacher who has been well he's been at Osborne Park since I was there it's been a few years he was an outstanding uh professional educator in the business department for Deca he was a head coach for golf and wrestling tennis and assistant coach for softball and in many ways Mr Foley is Osborne Park and since 1986 he has been

052served he has served as the voice of the yellow jacket for all of the home football games so I just wanted to say that as congratulations okay thank you Missouri poor Miss Jesse did you have your mic on sorry your mic's on did you I didn't know if he had to say okay okay please vote if you haven't already so the vote is six yes two absent Ralston wall motion passed okay those Citizens We're now moving on citizen comment time those citizens have signed up in advance for the clerk May address the school board this evening when they're called to the podium this is in common periods for regular school board meetings is one hour and citizens may speak on the agenda items or other topics Germaine to the operations and policies of Prince William

053County schools please use property corpsman manners while at the podium or you'll be asked to step aside we ask that the audience please be respectful of each speaker and refrain from any clapping cheering or jeering to avoid disruption of the meeting if you do not the board will recess I will ask that the room be cleared to restore public order tonight we have 16 citizens sign up to speak when I call your name please come to Podium state your name and address for the record our first five if they want to grab seats up front or Vita Carroll Carl greiten Amanda Locklear Kimberly Melman Orozco Brittany Robinson so Vida Carroll okay Vita Carol Burnsville District um thanks to those of you up there who I think McDade just walked out but have been to I

054just wanted to thank you guys for coming out to the I can shine swim program this week my son is participating in it um and I appreciate you guys coming out this week um 15 months ago I spoke in front of this board regarding Dr latif's public endorsement of the digital Gateway as I stated in this room last year it was inappropriate that Dr Latif pinned a public written endorsement of this project where he cites his position as school board chair in the first sentence I'm now back in this room to raise concerns once again related to pwcs's continued inappropriate involvement with this project vis-a-vis the qts data center company which is the primary developer in May an email went out from the Prince William County School's work based learning in which pwcs and qts

055data centers invited students to attend a training overview and tour of their campus in Ashburn a bus was to take interested students on a Saturday to Ashburn my husband and I requested information via foia for two things first a copy of qts's completed application to be a work based Learning Partner and second information for the bus cost for the Saturday event to did qts pay for this Prince William County Schools Bus and or did the county pay for it and if the county paid for it what was total cost to the taxpayer the County's foia office told us that these two very simple requests both of which should be easily documented would take five hours of work to complete and wanted to charge us nearly three hundred dollars this is not in the spirit of

056foia and certainly makes one wonder if taxpayers are funding a bus trip to Ashburn for qts and if qts even submitted a formal or written request to be a work based Learning Partner a few weeks later the story broke that qts was placing flyers and notes with the pwcs logo in food donations for Title 1 schools the reality even though pwcs staff did not authorize this is that somebody knew what was going on either behind closed doors or with tastic approval or a head turning in the other direction our school board should not be a political body our school system should not be allowing access to students to children for purpose of political or financial gain our work based learning Partners applique education process should be transparent consistent why is pwcs showing a pattern of

057preferential treatment for qts and allowing qts to Pander to our students with taxpayer-funded field trips and handwritten notes and donated food email responses from many of you on this board have stated that you don't weigh in on land use decisions but this is weighing in on land use decisions in the worst way possible which is access to our children last night's elections for the local primaries made it clear that citizens are done with this pay-to-play style of politics I see a lot of politicking from some of you particularly a ten thousand dollar donation from an electrical union to our chair which is deeply entrenched with the data center company there's a yeah there's another one of you a few others getting donations let me can I finish my sentence thank you very much um your

058time is up all right well can I in is next up thank you unfortunately I don't think I'm going to get as much Applause for all this exceptional student athletes I'm Carl gretner I live in the Gainesville District I was planning a speech to help the school board have answers to the many deficiencies that have crept into our system during the last couple years of democrat rule from last night's Monumental election results that has changed my speech immensely have you heard the news last night was the epitome of David versus Goliath the incumbent Prince William County Board of County Supervisor chair has amassed a financial War chest of over 329 thousand dollars she also has the backyard Virginia Democrat Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner these Senators did not account for local opposition or citizen

059views Prince William County Citizens fought a well-funded juggernaut who has used developer cash and Shady Pac money to blanket the county with lies about her miserable record as the statement goes Ann wheeler do not let the door hit you on the way out not just thanks but no thanks for your service this primary election has started a change the eventual winner has a little over sixty six thousand dollars in her budget this winter is a newcomer to this political environment on the board of County Supervisors the final vote count will be announced after Friday's tally yet there is over a thousand vote difference congratulations for this step to Chandra Jefferson Prince William County Supervisors are not happy about Prince William County schools and decisions made by the school board we hope that you will find

060Solutions and resolutions for the below problems and we'll be back at the next meeting on 6th September 23 to evaluate your progress our students have had many problems during the last two years so we do not expect you to Simply vacation you have work to do resolutions needed for change failing scores gender identity Equity over Merit school security social ID ideology school lockdowns budget increases without substance gender mutilation diversity inclusion and Equity indoctrination you are currently evaluating the super superintendent so perhaps the above items are a few to evaluate do your job evaluate the issues make Corrections otherwise we have replacements for your position for the chair carry rist Princeville District Erica trednick Coles Steven Spiker Gainesville Jen Wall neapsco Michael petko akaquan Ryan Kirkpatrick Potomac Mario beckles and Woodbridge is coming soon thank you

061and enjoy your working summer thank you very much Miss Buckler good evening my name is Amanda Locklear my address is on file um everything happens for a reason find the reason this is what I tell my children all the time I believe in the idea of karma where actions have consequences it's important to remember that the energy we put into the world often Finds Its way directly back to us we're all connected Bound by vulnerability and our shared potential for greatness the decisions we make not only impact our lives but they Ripple outward affecting the lives of others the energy and effort I've spent navigating through The Mazes of paperwork reading Federal Regulations on special education attending meetings training seminars and engaging and mind-boggling discussions have been nothing short of remarkable this year I want

062to thank you thank you for opening my eyes thank you for waking me up thank you for empowering me forcing me to face obstacles head on has unwittingly reminded me how strong and resilient we all are in addition to the role you have played in my son's life you have inadvertently played a significant role in my life which will not only assist me with my children but with others as well you unknowingly became the Catalyst for personal growth and self-discovery unveiling hidden reservoirs of strength resilience and determination I never knew existed understanding and addressing the issues within the special education system is of the utmost importance I encourage you to take the time this summer to deeply think about the challenges that have been brought to your attention so far can bring about meaningful change

063and improve the experiences of students in need however it is essential to acknowledge the challenges and engage in open and honest conversations to Foster progress through Collective efforts we can create more Equitable and supportive environment for all students in life we often find ourselves standing at the crossroads of decisions faced with choices that can shape our past today I want to remind each and every one of you that you are just one decision away from a mistake life is full of choices and those choices should be approached with thoughtfulness compassion and a deep sense of responsibility life is filled with twists and turns as we navigate through a complex web of opportunities and challenges in these critical moments when you stand on the precipice of choice that your true character is revealed Choose Wisely thank

064you Dr Armel men Orozco thank you my name is Dr Kimberly momentarozco my address is on file um I thought a lot about what to say today this is my third time speaking this year and I wanted to start off on a positive note um launching thriving Futures we heard that a lot today we saw some wonderful Awards we saw some accolades and as a parent as a person who supports all children it is a beautiful thing to see and it's it's a wonderful moniker honestly honestly to have a slogan to have for a school launching thriving futures but in my experience and with my daughter and with many other children who receive Services Under the special education department here in this County that slogan might not necessarily apply to them earlier this year one

065of the incredible teachers that we have in the county and I truly do believe we have some of the best teachers in the state in Prince William County maybe even in the country we have some incredible Educators in this County I had a teacher reach out to me and tell me that my daughter's rights were being violated that her federal and state rights were being violated and she was not being provided services and in fact that kids were being systemically discriminated against in this County was a lower teacher like any concerned parent I reached out to you all I reached out to administrators I tried to get redress and at each and every opportunity I was denied it wasn't until I wrote to the Virginia Department of Education and they wrote back in on June

0661st they found that you had systemically violated the law systemic discrimination against children like my daughter and I was being told from this teacher it's because the administrators did not think that she was cream of the crop that should not be told to any parent no child should be made to feel that way back in this audience back there you have two 14 year old girls here on a Wednesday night the first week of spring break they're not here to receive an award they're not here for an Accolade one is here to speak and I hope you will listen intently to her the other is my daughter who was brought to tears during IEP meetings while she was trying to advocate for her rights that should not be the case for any child first week

067of spring break for summer break to be at a school board meeting wanting to advocate for their rights for wanting to advocate for fairness that shouldn't be the case and I truly do believe change is coming and I wanted to follow up by what Amanda said of thanking you I do want to thank you because of you I have met so many other incredible mothers and children who have experienced similar things to my family I've met justice-oriented individuals I met people who really are inspired to effectuate meaningful change and because of you all I'm now on The Ballad for the November election going for a chair of this board and so is one of the other mothers that will be speaking here tonight thank you Brittany Robinson [Applause] good evening my name is Brittany Robinson

068and my address is on file I have three children at Prince William County Public Schools and a fourth who is a four-year-old preschool who it just got approved for her IEP however there isn't a current provider available for her so we are patiently waiting for the county to find someone so she can begin services in the meantime she continues to accrue the services not being rendered they informed me I am originally from Utah that is where my husband and I were living when my husband got a job offer in DC I clearly remember friends and family letting me know how amazing the public schools were in Virginia and what an amazing opportunity this would be I was so excited and grateful that my kids would have such a good opportunity I wasn't worried at all

069when we moved here we were unprepared as everyone was for what would unfold with the pandemic and then enrolling our children to Montclair Elementary School after covid was over two of my children at Montclair have autism spectrum disorder ADHD and some learning difficulties both of my children were denied IEPs because the team claimed there was not enough data to support a need even with a medical team advising along with a therapist my son was doing half day since March because his autism ADH symptoms and school phobia was so difficult to manage we requested homebound instruction in March as the school was not honoring my son's medical accommodations the school denied our homebound request we continued our attempts to work with the school and drafted up a 504 plan which was implemented a few short weeks

070later my son's teacher was out for a week and he had several Subs one sub took it upon herself to question and then threaten my son's accommodations he was allowed a working lunch she told him that she didn't think that he needed this working lunch and asked why he had such a problem with lunch she wanted him to work through this with her otherwise he would have a terrible life if he didn't when the school was informed after I picked him up we sat down and had a meeting and the administration let me know that they failed to notify the sub of our students 504 plan whoops we are sorry not really a big deal to them at this point our son's medical team removed him from Montclair Elementary School as they could not even

071follow minimal accommodations and so now we have requested an iee and we received the approval we chose our IE provider and the provider sent out forms before school ended last week for the teachers to fill out so that we have relevant data on how to best support him in school the teachers never responded back to me or my follow-up email or my doctor my provider's emails the school year ended last year and still no forms were returned I reached out to school board members Justin Wilk and he has been supportive in helping me to get to the right people to help my children they say it takes a village and we really need a school Village to help my kids be successful thank you Yesenia Lassiter Bella Lassiter Solitaire Carol Jen Donnelly and Sylvia Becker

072the next five up next to yessenia Lassiter foreign Lasseter and my address is on file I'm a mom of two who both attend Prince William County schools I'm here because over the last two years I've had to fight tooth and now to get just a sliver of services my daughter is entitled to under the idea and because over the last two years she has been discriminated against and denied fate over the last two years I've watched my daughter lose hope that things will eventually get better due to the lack of accountability transparency between our special education department within our County my daughter was born with a rare genetic mutation and it causes her to have a medical disability part of her treatment over the last year she was taking chemomeds at the height of her

073pain which was in her seventh grade year she was absent from school the majority of the time when I ask for home-based services I was told that she had to be absent for three consecutive days in order to receive one hour of home-based services I told them that this was not enough to cover the material that she missed and was continuously denied request to increase this time when I called to complain to our cluster's administrative staff after my daughter had a medical emergency at school during her PE class where she was coughing up blood and was told to keep running because she was fine after expressing concerns that she felt like she couldn't breathe which ultimately landed her in the ER that evening the response was well it wasn't in her 504. I was shocked

074and I responded back that it wasn't rocket science to call 9-1-1 if a child is having trouble breathing and is coughing up blood when my daughter was put on chemo meds this year the school had trouble finding teachers to teach all the subjects that she missed um which were language arts Civics and about she missed maybe three-fourths of algebra I still have not received a response on what the school plans to do about it despite me asking many times they didn't have an answer as of recently as two weeks ago when we had our last meeting our daughter also applied to Colgan high school she has wanted to go there since her artwork was displayed there when she was in elementary school she was given no accommodations when applying after being denied I appealed stating

075that they take her medical disability under consideration and I was told by Dr Healy that he felt that the Prof that the process was fair and applied correctly in her specific situation I was stunned the school thinks it's more than fair to compare and judge artwork created by a student with a physical hopefully you guys will hear my daughter out because we'll go yep Bella Lasseter um my name is Bella grazlasseter my address is on file and for the last three years I have attended Gainesville Middle School so I figured it would only be fair to pay a tribute and share all have learned I have learned is okay for principals to lie over and over again with no remorse or Consequences I learned that it's perfectly fine for your teacher to publicly shame you

076in front of all your peers but is considered disrespectful to advocate for yourself in your own defense I learned you can only receive medical attention for coughing up blood if it is written down as an accommodation in an IEP and or 504 I learned that needing accommodations makes me an inconvenience to others I know now that because I learned differently others take priority over me I learned that opportunities can and have been taken away from me because I am quote unquote not cream of the crop I learned I am not wanted unless I benefit the school I learned that bullying will be dismissed as just girls being girls but as far as useful education goes I did learn one thing Newton's Law at its states for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

077so when the people in power do the action of abusing their power for self-benefit I am believing the people they hurt will have the reaction of removing them from power so Tick Tock November's on its way moving on I would like to talk about homebound Services one teacher came to my house gave me a packet told me to study then whipped out her phone and started to play Candy Crush for the next hour we had together may I remind you that to even qualify for an hour of homebound Services I had to be absent for three consecutive days by the way the whole three days equals one hour thing was completely made up by my IEP team and is found nowhere in PWC as policy I hope that this small glimpse of my experience with

078pwcs comes as a surprise to you all hopefully I have tonight showed you something that you didn't already know hopefully you all weren't complicit in the failure to provide a safe learning environment for everyone including those of us with disabilities free of judgment and discrimination however if we are being completely honest we all know when parents and students share our grievances of discrimination nothing is ever done but it's okay because November just got three minutes closer and we need a new board that cares for all children not just able-bodied ones so please vote for Kimberly Melman Orozco and yes any Laster for school board thank you Solitaire Carol okay thank you Jen Donnelly good evening my name is Jen Donnelly and my address is on file I am appalled by the stance that many on

079this board are taking on restorative justice practices they do not work your claim to have a commitment to a positive climate and culture for all yet as is seen in most of our schools restorative practices are having the exact opposite effect children see that there are no consequences for bad behavior and is causing escalations of disruptions in the classroom and further hindering our teachers from doing their jobs you and your policies are creating hostile work environment for our teachers here's a portion of the feedback that I got from one teacher a teacher must stop teaching to take time during instruction to fill out a bark form and get a student's signature when asked to sign the form students who misbehave typically argue about the offense justify it and disrupt the classroom more there must be

080four bark forms filled out before the student is allowed to be referred to the administration and then at the end of every term they get a clean slate and then they just start all over again so all the effort that the teacher had to fulfill the requirements of an administrative intervention the class is back to square one and the disruption continues it's hard to be committed and diligent to the process when the end of term ends with without an intervention most teachers rarely use spark forms and misbehavior is rampant despite having engaging content Rich lessons prepared admin frowns on referrals as the county thinks that there if there are less documented discipline issues the school is doing a better job of keeping kids in line to learn even turning turning in the bark forms doesn't

081mean a referral is documented the principal Bragg did a recent faculty meeting that referrals were down when in reality behavior is not better but far worse than it has been in almost 30 years fewer referrals is not an indicator that there is less disruption or that there is an environment conducive to learning and growth students continue to be disrespectful entitled and refused to comply with simple expectations of classroom Behavior every quarter these infractions are wiped I'm sorry the irresponsible policies of not reporting bad behavior and crimes in the classrooms results and there not being a paper trail of a pattern of bad behavior every quarter those infractions are wiped clean there should be rules warnings and consequences none of which are effectively outlined in the code of behavior kids need adults to enforce rules not

082sit around and talk about their feelings about why they threaten disrupt bully and cause chaos this is an election year and I will make it my mission to support candidates who support the safety and Welfare of our students and teachers Sylvia Becker okay the next five will be avetta Scott Jennifer rokovski Marty Weaver Jalen custis Richard Jesse and then wrap up Monique saruti so um avetta Scott all right good evening ladies and gentlemen of the board Mr chairman Dr McDade my name is alvetta Scott my address is on file with the clerk as a member of the code of behavior committee I was disheartened at the comments made at the presentation of the revisions given to this board at the last meeting as stated in the presentation the code of behavior is a document that

083is updated yearly to keep in line with State mandates that are imposed upon the education process the code of behavior are the principles expectations and or rules that are given to students and parents to ensure that execution a proper conduct for the school setting when I heard someone say that they will not vote for the revisions of this document that outline such policies and procedures it was bizarre to me the coded Behavior provides clear communication to both students and parents the consequences when a student violates a standard of conduct that is expected of them so when I heard someone said that this document lacks teeth when it comes to processing of enforcing penalties to students it is not the role of schools to discipline Someone's Child that role belongs to the parent however parents need

084to actively engage to ensure that their child behavior doesn't disrupt the learning process for others it was this board that welcomed the research program positive behavior intuitions and supports known as PBIS School staff suffered tons of professional development book readings conferences to establish the PBIS tiered approach to addressing students behavior due to our Cries From a section of the community phrases like zero tolerance and my favorite there's no gray area we're stated towards an updated code of behavior we are talking about children who are growing and changing in a society that is now overwhelming thanks to the smartphone there is no perfect rule document or way to raise children there will always be a gray because behaviors are learned and children are the product of the environment that creates them teachers want to be able

085to teach and have the support that their admin will enforce the code of behavior admin needs teachers to demonstrate they have exhausted redirection coaching and contact with parents to process a referral parents want Communications on the punishments that are being imposed on their child as it states in our strategic plan we are Partners in education and we must commit to fairness and equity for all of our students so I encourage the members of this board to vote Yes to the revisions of the code of behavior thank you Jennifer rokowski all right good evening chair Latif school board members and Dr McDade my name is Jennifer rakoski and I reside in the Occoquan District thank you for passing the lgbtq plus pride month resolution which says the month of June is recognized as lgbtq plus pride

086month by the National Education Association Prince William County public schools has proposed a resolution that encourages the belief that diversity equity and inclusion are our greatest strengths I'm grateful that pwcs has this resolution and includes no discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation as a part of the non-discrimination policy but more can be done to achieve strategic commitment to positive climate and culture for our lgbtq plus students I'm co-chair of Bea's lgbtq Plus ad hoc committee and a steering committee member with the Nea lgbtq plus caucus and I'd like to see pwcs offer training for staff on how best to support transgender and gender expansive students bdoe is still reviewing the comments from the proposed changes the 2021 model policies for the treatment of transgender students in public elementary and secondary schools but that

087shouldn't continue to delay training for staff vea has developed a training we could help bring and there are other organizations like Casa Brumar equality Virginia the Trevor Project Human Rights Campaign and more that could offer training and help answer questions let's fix what's called gang style bathrooms where it has the partitions they don't offer much privacy so let's have taller partitions and doors which would hopefully offer more privacy eventually let's replace them with gender neutral single stall bathrooms this would create less stressful environments for students and perhaps reduce incidence of inappropriate behaviors like smoking or vaping or other misconduct locker rooms could be updated too consider creating a gender neutral locker room or private changing rooms that have walls floor to ceiling when you were a student were you comfortable changing in front of your

088peers there have been increased attacks on lgbtq plus Youth and adults especially our transgender and gender expansive ones you can help by using correct pronouns and names if you make a mistake apologize and correct yourself and move on educate yourself I'm still learning I grew up in a binary world and I've learned so much talking with gender expansive or non-binary individuals transgender persons have been documented in many indigenous Western and Eastern cultures and societies from Antiquity until the present day yet some naysayers say the simple simply genetics but we're not talking about sex we're talking about gender identity I have two quotes I want I want to share first from federal judge Moody who struck down in a ban on gender affirming care in Arkansas rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics the evidence

089showed that the prohibited Medical Care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that by prohibiting it the state undermines the interest it claims to be advancing and to quote Tony Award winner Brandon Uranus to anyone who is a parent when your child tells you who they are believe them thank you Marty Weaver okay freedom is the topic my husband told me that I needed to tell you what I'm talking about this time because last time I spoke about validating the delusions of pride month and that you are facilitating the 31 Flavors of crazy and he didn't think that you all figured that out on your own I said that you were smart enough for that at least I sure hope so freedom freedom from oppression freedom to try our hardest our best Avail

090ourselves of all opportunities to succeed maybe even make an opportunity for ourselves by moving out of our comfort zones even in the face of resistance from our own selves or others but we are absolutely not free to force others to demand results that are not merited there is no freedom to oppress to intimidate to bully our kids parents teachers using CRT and die or whatever else you want to call it this week we are not divided by factors like skin color unless you force us to be by what you're teaching and how you teach it now you expect Equity equal outcomes because of historical ills in this country I talked before about privilege well my family mine and my husband's has had the privilege of serving in our military and every generation since the Revolutionary

091War including the present our son serves in the Air Force and four of our great grandfathers and numerous uncles and cousins served in the Civil War along with many many others who did the right thing fighting for the freedom of someone other families I also had family who are part of the Underground Railroad so my family says you are welcome for your freedom and now some people still want to call me an oppressor my son an oppressor my grandkids oppressors some of my ancestors weren't even here in the U.S until after the Civil War so not a part of the ills what more does my family owe someone they risk their lives to right or wrong they didn't cause the wrong we today are not responsible that all people don't have equal outcomes when is

092enough enough we all have the freedom to try but not to equal outcomes America is not perfect but I have lived overseas in West Germany seen a concentration camp in Dachau and I thank God when I came home thank God for all of the blessings that we have here America is a work in progress as always how about instead of constantly bringing up the past ills demanding reparations from us who didn't commit the crime how about using that freedom that my great-great-grandfathers and relatives fought to get yours how about using that freedom working hard and moving forward stop the victimhood mentality God Bless America Jalen custis good evening Dr mcday Mr chairman and members of the school board my name is Jalen custis and I reside in the Woodbridge District I'm here tonight to reiterate

093a few topics brought up this 2022-2023 school year I want to highlight some few topics that I have heard over this year's school board meetings and topics that are near and dear to my heart the first is Safety and Security I'd like to once again thank you all for passing the Evolve systems which is a great step in the right direction however we spent 10 million dollars to solve one solution while drugs are another part of the issue as I have heard from parents before adding drug sniffing dogs is a good idea they did it when I was in Middle School why did it stop we must strengthen our security to ensure drugs are kept out of our school to ensure that children aren't overdosing their bathrooms we must continue to do more for our

094children bullying and accountability I was stunned to hear several incidents from parents about their child being bullied and nothing being done students cannot learn an environment if they are being bullied bullies won't stop if they aren't being punished I don't know I I don't know what has happened from when I was in seventh grade to now but discipline has declined greatly I was suspended from school before I was written up before and I had detention before all in middle school if I did not receive disciplinary actions while I was in Middle School or any at all where would I be today I learned and I have grown from my mistakes that's what we must teach our students as soon as music students must be taught that their actions have consequences if not now then in

095life they will have a very hard time succeeding finally I spoke about this last meeting we must go back to pencil and paper learning we are relying too much on these laptops which are a distraction I remember seeing students in my class playing Minecraft watching YouTube and doing other things besides their work we are straining students Eyes by having them look on the computer eight hours a day five days a week also if they forget to charge your computer or if the computer goes out for some reason they have to sit there and just wait because all their work is on one space canvas so while my computer is down and the teacher has assigned me to work on my laptop I have to sit there and wait for my computer to act right missing

096vital learning time we must return we must return to how it used to be when I was growing up that seemed to work out pretty well if I do say so myself I bring these topics up to stress the fact that just because they were talked about months ago doesn't mean that they aren't still important today I hope you all have heard my concerns and take action come to 2023-2024 school year thank you again and my name is Jayla custis and I reside in the Woodbridge District Richard Jesse my name is Richard Jesse and my address is on file I've really this evening just want to make a request we have probably in this room right now six candidates for the school board and we have six members of the board most of them are

097running again I looked at the policy that you're going to discuss tonight I think it was 9 56 or 26 and I was trying to figure out what can a candidate or somebody do in the school system and what shouldn't they do and that led me to another policy to look at and I looked at that what I would like and recommend is that it's going to be a lot of folks running and a lot of folks going to schools a lot of folks doing things it would be nice and I think appropriate if we had a simple easy to understand exclamation of this is what you can do as a candidate on school board property and so forth can you talk to kids can you do this can you do that and I think

098it would be useful for that consistency so that everybody knows what they should and should not do because I tell you right now you can't find it in your policy it is too confusing and does not make sense but it is a problem I've been uh this is my third election the school board on the school board working with my wife and I know there's been candidates that did things that they shouldn't do and your principals and administrators do not always know what they need to do so I just ask you to take that into consideration and I hope that you have a good summer thank you Monique saruti saruti correct so I know I'm last so I'm going to try to go through this quickly so I am here because of my athlete originally

099I thought I was here on the on a bad evening because of all the the children that were here but it actually supports um why I'm here my daughter is a figure skater and it is not a sport that is supported by the school system and I understand that she has gold medals silver minerals bronze medals she's fallen and hasn't gotten any medals but the challenge is she's a competitive individual skater but she's also a member of a synchronized skating team the competitions for uh competitive skaters tend to be in the summer months and so that doesn't conflict with school but the problem is with synchronized skating um our our school system only has excused and unexcused absences U.S figure Skating will provide a letter identifying that the skater is participating in synchronized skating the

100majority of the competitions that we go to are in Boston area which means that's not a day trip and they tend to be in the during the week and on partial weekends one of the challenges is I don't want to have to say my child is sick and she's not sick so she can go to synchronize skating um and just so you know how how challenging it is and how hard they work spring training we were at the MedStar center in Arlington at 6 a.m on Saturday morning till 8 A.M for eight weeks my daughter is nine years old and she wants to do this from 6 to 8 A.M every Saturday we were at the skating rink and that was just one practice she practices five days a week as a nine-year-old a rising

101fourth grader so I don't want to have to have unexcused absences on her um official record and she's not playing hooky she's not pretending like she's sick so she can participate um what I'm asking for is some kind of other qualifier because all of these children amazing children that were here this evening they are in school supportive activities well she's an athlete as well and I would would ask that there's if even if it's an unexcused absence if there can be a qualifier because if she's going to have 10 unexcused absences on her official record every year your people are going to think she's playing hooky she's not showing up her school um she this happened last year and I got the nasty gram about come talk to us because we want to find out

102why your child is not in class every time my child was out of class it was because it was for ice skating figure skating and it's not like she can at 16 well okay thank you thank you I just would I just want to qualify or just something so they know please email and we'll follow up with that um at this point we are moving on to the office of associate superintendent for student services and post-secondary success in this evening we're going to move on to 1501 proposed 2023-24 code of behavior this item is on for Action this evening uh After we receive an update on the revisions the code of Behavioral turnover Dr McDade thank you Mr chairman so tonight we are bringing for for final consideration the code of behavior this follows our

103extensive conversation at the last board meeting where we took time to consider feedback from the school board and the public and so as a result of that feedback since the last meeting we have made some revisions it's important to note that these revisions do not compromise the body of work that was brought forward by the committee that developed this document what we have sought to do is to bring some clarification based on questions and concerns that families had that board members had that brought to bear the fact that there were some consequences in the levels one through three in categories for more serious offenses where principals administrators would not use those lower level um consequences for more serious behaviors and so in the document we've made some revisions to clarify that to make sure that

104all of the consequences in each category are appropriate for the actual infraction and we believe doing that will resolve some of the concerns that were brought forward around confusion as to whether or not a level one or level two consequence would be applied in a situation when you have a more serious infractions so we are going to present to you today the revisions that were made that align to practice that's already in place but ensures that the actual documented policy matches the practice in the school division so I think you'll find that it'll bring great clarity and response it's responsive to the feedback that we agreed with when we got feedback from parents and from the school board after reviewing we saw where there could be greater clarity to ensure that there was no confusion

105in how we're applying the consequences in the code of behavior so I'm going to have Dr Ms Huebner come forward our associate superintendent for student services and post-secondary success she'll review the changes she will also share with you what some of our parents had to say about the code of behavior in terms of needing more clarification so we'll bring some direct feedback and then our response to that we also have here our associate superintendent for special education Dr Ashley ryer who will address any additional questions around the components of the code of behavior beyond the um the infractions that we're going to cover so uh Miss heebner if you want to start out and then we'll entertain questions from the board all right thank you good evening German Latif members of the board Dr McDade

106I think Dr McDade captured it very eloquently so I will jump right into the revisions um for those who are watching or would like to access this these are posted in board docs and available for viewing so first you'll see um to capture some of the concerns that we heard a community concern about the consequences may be inappropriate for potentially dangerous actions for some of our students and just to clarify Prince William County schools for the most serious offenses we do not utilize the lower level consequences and so in the final version that's proposed the code of behavior we've revised those to reflect this practice and to ensure the clarity in that another Community concern that we heard brought forward was around category E and F noting that the majority of these behaviors should result

107in automatic expulsion or higher level consequences and their students shouldn't be allowed to do most of them in those categories and not to expect some severe consequences such as Arrest or expulsion so our response is that the final code of behavior has been revised for category e and have to remove the lower level consequences to create clarity a summary of those can be found on this slide so I'll give you a moment just to review so we have added level four administrative responses to categories B and C we have removed level one responses for category D we remove level one and two administrative responses for category e and level five b administrative response and tiered response from category f so category F has been updated which includes the most serious Behavior such as assault with

108a firearm malicious wounding the only option now for that is expulsion that does require US map tearing so I hope that you can see that we do value the input of our stakeholders and value the partnership of our parents and I think that these changes will provide Clarity to the implementation of the coded Behavior thank you all right we will take any questions that you have about the revisions um question um thank you Miss hubner for providing us with the update with the removal of the tier one and tier two my concern is if Elementary School students and I know there are other Provisions in the code of behavior obviously they're you know if students with other impairments could you just speak briefly to that I don't want our um general public thinking if there's

109some sort of infraction where um a five-year-old has done something they don't understand or has a documented history that there are other places in the code of behavior that address that and then um in addition to that I appreciate the update to F I think one of the things that's not mentioned is those behaviors also um we have have consequent legal consequences and there is a state requirement that when a student breaks the law if they're in Jeopardy if you could talk a little bit about that as well correct I'll start with that one because we're ending on that one so in category F which are persistently dangerous those do require referral to law enforcement and there is additional consequences and um sanctions that would go in place not just under Virginia code for the

110schools but also from the law um as far as addressing Behavior it is complex it's not a one-size-fits all but we do take into consideration the age of a child the developmental ability but consequences or Consequences and do need to be um put in place when severe and and violations of the code Behavior do be occur in suspension you can look on page 39 of the draft and it will outline at which what grade level pre-k through three there are limitations on um suspension that is for certain circumstances there are egregious situations such as Weapons drug offenses or aggravating circumstances where safety is a concern that with appropriate um documentation we are allowed to to suspend beyond the three days but in all situations we expect all those developmental things be taken into consideration for

111discipline thank you I appreciate that because I think that often time it it's looked as like a black and white issue but they're we don't discuss enough the requirements that the state puts on us with regards to that and the fact that we do have to um be sensitive to each situation and I just again want to appreciate thank you and appreciate all the hard work that's gone into the update of the code of behavior um I think the the thing that we've heard most um loudly from the general public is that there isn't any consequences for actions but we know that that is not the case and and really majority of these updates um when it comes to discipline there's there's not a tremendous change from what we've had in the past several years

112A lot of it has to deal with um either legal requirements of the state code General assemblies pass new laws or trying to find more effective ways to correct and address student Behavior because we know behavior consequences of the past like zero tolerance and things like that do not help students and actually a hurt marginalized community so I'm happy that we're able to be in compliance with the law of the state of Virginia but also to be very forward-thinking and understanding that children need consequences but they also need the ability to change course for their behavior and be provided a pathway to do that so I appreciate that thank you Miss Jesse first of all I want to thank you for responding to the out of Christ from the community as a principal when I

113inherited the school I had 600 discipline referrals and referrals were kids walking down the hall getting out of line and then I walked in a library one day and I saw 26 kids being who had had minor discipline referrals being kept away from school because they had disciplined for all so they weren't allowed to go on field trips I think to me it's a matter of balance and each school is going to be different I remember the the worst disciplinary situation I had was child I had a child who screamed 45 minutes every single day and it was disrupted for the classroom it was disrupted to bring him into the office so as a principal you've got to make a decision on what you're going to do teachers want you to support them but at

114the same time they don't want their classrooms disrupted I think my concern has always been do teachers going to really get the restorative practice uh elements of that and how is the training is going to be done so they actually there is some Fidelity and consistency in what we're doing Zero Tolerance by itself does not work and we know it does not work if we if it did all we'd have to do is just be more strict with our kids that we wouldn't have the problems that we have in society but the balancing act so The Balancing Act for me is whether the culturally relevant practices that needs to be defined a little bit more I think and the restorative practice tell me again because the last time I think I looked at you and

115I said and everyone looked at me and is that Mrs Jesse is not getting it and if I don't get it I don't think other people get it tell me about the research on restorative practice and what it's going to look like I'm going to invite Dr ryer and one of her team members Dr Darwin Barker who is our director of tiered intervention and supports to speak to restorative practices because that does fall under intervention and prevention good evening Miss Jesse I can address your question just in emphasizing that restorative practices as part of a multi-tiered system of support namely the positive behavioral intervention and support is really to get ahead of student behaviors occurring in the sense that we are encouraging and working with schools to teach students the expected behaviors so that students

116don't then in turn violate the code of behavior so it's working with schools to teach students ways that they can demonstrate the expected behaviors positively might be members of the school community and in a way that prevents violations of the code of conduct from happening so it's very different than replacing consequences when students do demonstrate those behaviors again can you tell me how it's going to be implemented for the public who's going to train these teachers and how is it going to be done and when is it going to be done absolutely so I have Dr Darwin Barker who's our director of tiered intervention and supports and is part of our strategic plan we'll be rolling out training for schools on mtss and positive behaviors he has a team of Staff who have undergone training

117and will be working directly with schools so I'm going to ask him to come to the podium and share those details with you briefly good evening as the Director of tiered interventions and supports I am responsible for leading a group of 13 Behavior Specialists and a 23 mtss coaches we have been trained as trainers to provide proactive intervention supports and services in the area of restorative practices as we embark on the 23-24 school year I guess my last concern is that I've been in the school system and we looked at the disproportionality studies and the previous code of behavior I guess Nationwide we have this problem where there are more African-Americans more lower income kids who get discipline referrals have we looked at the disproportionality in Prince William County schools at present and do you

118expect to have a change in that because when you look at zero tolerance when we look at it the research audit shows that there's an increase in those students who are marginalized marginalized and in those community that are lowering common African-American and ell absolutely Miss Jesse so the research on PBIS absolutely shows a reduction in discipline of students in those groups that you're referring to but it's due to them responding positively to the relationships that they're forming with school staff demonstrating a greater understanding of what the expected behaviors are and feeling a part of that school community in a way that will prevent them from then engaging in negative behaviors it might result in the need to issue a consequence finally I will say this that 20 years of working with kids I have found

119that when kids are learning at a higher level my discipline referrals just went nowhere I mean they were it was drastic I went from 600 to 100 but those kids who needed to go home those kids who disrupted a classroom they were never allowed to disrupt a classroom or to be bullied and when I look at what the superintendent has done I think she's a zero tolerance when it comes to guns because she has the Evolve system so I don't think you could say that we're going to be tolerant of kids who bring guns and knives and fight kids and create physical op physical problems for kids when in terms of their safety so I want to compliment you on the making the changes but I think that you know you could have ignored the

120parents and presented this again but I think I appreciate the fact that you came back with the second and listened to the parent in the community input thank you Jackson the last few years our schools have become a microcosmos like what is going on in society from like the you know the division the pandemic hunger discrimination all of that seeps into our schools and I we benefit as a school system when we support families and stakeholders to keep everyone safe and that's why I appreciate the conversation they're having tonight and the time that the division is taking to collect feedback this as a division we've added security we added evolved added social workers but none of the change will work without a partnership because we are limited by funding impacted by what's happening in neighborhoods

121and online and granted a limited Authority because of the dental law state so we have to comply with state laws and ensure that our code of behavior reflects these laws while being transparent and listening to the varying concerns of our communities so my questions tonight and I I can I don't need to ask all of them now I can ask some and then okay so my questions tonight are for clarification and to address maybe some Behavior concerns related to me by staff students and families that were addressed that maybe need to be you know said a little bit more so um my first question has to do with um as it pertains to bullying and um I know I've mentioned it before in this boardroom and I believe a little bit last time and in

122preparation this meeting I just would like to talk about the bullying of students with some call invisible or hidden disabilities because I I know it's hard to combat this variety of reasons these disabilities include like health conditions ADHD autism and I know I've asked before um as a special educator I know that sometimes your your ability disability differences impact one's ability to recognize when you're being bullied and what to do when you're being bullied can you please speak to some steps we're taken to address harassment and bullying towards students with disabilities can you please speak to how we're helping students self-advocate I've seen firsthand the impact that a deficit a difference and interpreting behaviors can have on a student so I I want to make sure that we take the opportunity either now or later

123to clarify the difference between bullying and harassment and then if you could please also explain the difference between bullying and harassment right now as especially as it pertains to students with disabilities thank you we do have excuse me we do have regulation that clearly outlines our bullying and it is found in the back of the coded behavior on page 45 and 46 if anyone wanted to dig into that a little bit deeper so when we talk about bullying harassment ongoing repetitive imbalance of power these are there are bullying behaviors but it becomes bullying when it is repetitive in nature and there are a lot of different things that we do we will be training administrators again you know again digging into how we create an inclusive environment but also helping teach our children appropriate and

124proper behavior and how to respond when a situation is occurring so when a child is being bullied they can tell the bully very firmly stop you know I'm uncomfortable they can seek the adult that can help them adjust the adult in the building any adult in the building and you know we do have multiple ways to report it doesn't have to be that it's a written form that any adult in the building is able to help the child respond an awareness of what that looks like in monitoring the situation for all children not just children with disabilities but in particular making sure that our children who may not have the ability to communicate in the same way that they are also monitored and heard and we have avenues for them to communicate and that's through

125teachers forms counselors but really awareness of those students in the building and supporting that inclusive environment I um did you also did we address some of these concerns in the um revisions and moving the harassment to so on the chart of changes um I believe what you're possibly referring to is we did have in category a some different types of behaviors that could be categorized we did move those into a different category to allow for higher level responses yes I'm just emphasizing that our expectation is safety and focus in the classroom I appreciate that and then um so it sounds like there's some work coming about um helping students with IEPs about bullying and harassment my other concern and then I'll pause for other board members is we go out in recording a fight so

126taking photos of classmates without their permission I think that was also addressed in some of my questions so I just wanted to give you an opportunity to speak to that because it's I know it's been a concern from some parents sure so absolutely you'll find in the front of the coded Behavior we list a lot of things as almost definitions if you look under the use of electronic devices you know really it's not about the device itself it's about the behavior that computers accompanies the device and how it is used and so it does clearly outline the use of electronic devices to take pictures video record and engage in appropriate behavior on the school is strictly prohibited and that extends to the school bus as well exactly to see if I can take a pause

127I also part of my questions were in regards to that I'd you know asked about where in regards the implementation and um Dr did you want to touch on that before I asked my questions the like Dr flonard oversees the level Associates and so she will share what the level Associates will be doing around implementation good evening Mr chair members of the board Dr McDade a colleagues in community we are our beginning right in July actually part of our legal Hot Topics that is a required training for all of our administrators will be on the code of behavior from that point we also already have on the books and training that will begin August 7th we're really looking at the actual implementation of the code of behavior and the changes within and so that is

128also a required training for all of our Administration and then we're also adding an optional the keyword was optional uh teacher component for the code of behavior so they have an opportunity to really deep take a deeper dive into the code itself and the practices that they should be experiencing within the school the As We are continuing to do those trainings we're also going to be expecting that all of the level Associates will be gathering discipline data on a regular basis so that they can be monitoring what's happening at the school level and then we could be acting accordingly based on that that data itself so I have one follow-up question it has to do with what families and also staff what they can do if they feel that the administration and administrators are not

129following the code of behavior or not having to support say needed to follow the code of behavior like what's that staff and families can take and I know that it would be different certainly and thank you I think that's a really important question the steps are really to depending on who they speak to if it's a teacher then they certainly can bring that to their assistant principal as well as a principal if they've already spoken to a prince to their assistant principal as well as families they certainly have the opportunity to speak to the teacher first if it's a situation that has occurred in the classroom and then of course they have the opportunity to raise those concerns to the administration beyond that they also have the opportunity to speak to their level associate it

130would be absolutely appropriate for families to follow the chain of command to say I need further clarification or I need support and understanding the why behind certain discipline procedures okay I appreciate it thank you Mr Argo first of all I want to thank Dr McDade for you know when when we receive a lot of feedback having that conversation with me about the concerns that that I was hearing was really helpful um and I know I know behaviors um they were rough this year right I believe this is an adult problem it's parents it's teachers it's administrators we all have to work together to make sure that our kids are um uh getting the best instruction getting the instruction in academically but also behaviorally um and I want to just kind of make one suggestion I

131know in in where I work one of the things we do in our clts is we talk we we reserve a little bit of time for talking about Behavior if we're seeing something so we can share across classrooms or grade levels or whatever ideas for support for our students so it's kind of collegial and working with other adults but also in support of our students I do encourage uh for for all the adults for the for the teachers I know I know how it can be when you have um some interesting challenges in your classroom I I I'm the one who will just be like I need help so I I don't think that's a a bad thing I think doing what's best for our kids is what we should be doing so I want

132to thank you for for being real receptive and making these uh things more clear to parents and making sure that we're all on the same page so that we can do the best for our students Mr Wilk okay so I prefer uh prepared a few words and I shaved for this so it's important tonight uh this topic so um so first of all I'm profinely grateful um I feel heard I think a lot of people with this this revisions and the changes are going to feel heard I feel a lot of teachers who have talked to me and expressed some concerns will be heard I literally at one school had um not a teacher a staff member come out and literally pull out the code of behavior and show all this chart and these different

133tiers and saying like you know you can have a talk to if so kid brings a gun is an option I was like no that doesn't make sense you know and so I think this this is a great step the revisions and modifications I think implemented since our last meeting have played a pivotal role in dispelling dispelling the perplexity I pre-list experience and others regarding the tiered interventions and the underlying concept of punishable acts I'm not going to ask any questions you guys are you guys are like ready to go um punishable Acts um my primary objective again remains unwavering to ensure that any transgressions committed by students are met with the appropriate and proportional consequences even if it inconveniences parents as substantiated by the long-standing code of behavior grave offenses such as those involving

134weapons arson and related matters have allowed and showed the possibility of a defined tier one intervention however nevertheless when it comes to instances where students commit violent acts against their peers or staff members I do hold the firm conviction that tier one interventions are ill-suited and I believe we've all established that the gravity of such actions demands an alternative approach that unreservedly places the safety and well-being of our entire School community at the Forefront I'm equally delighted to observe that in the cases such as fighting and persistent bullying our tier intervention system promptly escalates to what I perceive as a more fitting course of action namely a tier 2 or 3 intervention I firmly hold the belief that students who engage in repeated acts of bullying or participate in physical altercations should not be subjected

135to lower tiered interventions I wholeheartedly endorse the modifications outlined in the updated coded Behavior the previously perceived misalignments between the severity and the act and its corresponding consequences no longer perplexes me so I've done some reflecting and in my personal investigation so I looked at some facts and did some research that for example The Institute of Education conducted an extensive analysis of approximately 2 400 Public elementary middle high and combined grade schools focusing on school behavior in the post-covid period the findings published in this recent report indicate that over 84 percent of surveyed individuals either strongly agree or simply agree that behavior development has been a firstly adversely affected by the pandemic moreover the report highlights a concerning Trend within the sampled schools revealing a staggering 30 percent increase in bullying incidents and a troubling

13633 rise in physical attacks or fights among students this is amongst the entire country these statistics underscore the significant impact of the pandemic on the school environments and emphasize the urgent need for Effective interventions and support to address these growing challenges in January the Brookings institution conducted a survey that shed light on the challenges surrounding student discipline amid the impact of coven 19. the survey revealed that 62 percent of schools surveyed like our proposed code of behavior employed strict disciplinary measures exclusively for the most serious School infractions such as carrying weapons or possessing illegal drugs conversely when it came to minor offenses the survey found that the alternative approaches to exclusionary discipline in line with our coded Behavior were prevalent in U.S public schools in previous years for instance 78 percent of the analyzed schools

137utilize positive behavior intervention and supports for minor infractions while 77 percent had implemented a multi-tiered system of support I firmly believe that programs like these are appropriate for addressing the minor offenses outlined in the coded behavior and we should strive to continue their implementation throughout our school system adopting being a strictly punitive approach and resorting to immediate suspension should not be the default course of all action and disciplinary matters last month the U.S Department of Education Office of civil rights issued crucial guidance to address the escalating disciplinary challenges faced by America's Public Schools within this comprehensive document the dot Department highlighted recent disciplinary cases that have resulted in the denial of equal educational opportunities for students numerous Studies have underscored the adoption of discipline policies Across the Nation that have perpetuated discrimination based on race

138color or national origin for instance an investigation conducted by the office of civil rights in 2022 revealed pervasive patterns of harsher and more frequent disciplinary actions against African-American students compared to their white peers at Victor Valley Union High School District in California the guidance also documented a case involving Madison County schools not Virginia Alabama in 2022 where barriers were imposed that impeded equal opportunities for African-American students similarly the Davis School District in Utah faced scrutiny in 2022 when the Department of Justice determined that African-American students received harser disciplinary penalties than their white counterparts for comparable offenses of equal severity as a division it is imperative that we remain viligent about our practices and consistently analyze our disciplinary data for the purpose of review and re-evaluation in conclusion is Paramount and we convey unwavering support to

139our principals and all staff assuring them that they have the complete backing of our school system in implementing the updated coded Behavior I extend my heartfelt gratitude to those who reached out to me throughout the year sharing their concerns and insights which have been invaluable in shaping our approach thank you thank you Mr Wilk I just have a few brief comments you know when I joined the school board it was a few years after I think Prince William County was found to have the highest expulsion and suspension rate for um minority students in the Commonwealth um and and that was a problem and as Mr Wilk nicely elucidated with very good evidence um that um you know discipline historically has been and in this County even um uh not applied fairly and justly in any

140School Division large School Division or large organization I think the greatest frustration for the customers or the students or the parents is the um real and perceived lack of consistent application of rules and um that's frustrating my wife reminded me of my son my oldest who was when he was in sixth grade and I think there's a principal here who was his principal in sixth grade sitting there over there um he was bullied persistently on the bus and um you know reported it and principle and the assistant principle um I think the student who was the one doing the bullying lost bus privileges for a couple of days and the parents had to bring the kid to school that was something that we could see actually happen right so we saw that the the student

141who did The Bullying consequences happen I can't say you know in other instances with him my kids or their friends that we were able to see the consequences of actions of an offending violator student someone who does something wrong because the law requires that we cannot reveal you know what was done so then it becomes frustrating to us as parents when we can't see what happens um when I got elected I felt like you know the biggest thing we had to do was ensure that the leaders in the school division uh were acting in a way that uh they were doing the best they could to implement policies and regulations evenly across the division and applying them fairly and justly we have probably 300 or so assistant principals um there are many of them are

142the ones in charge of applying the code of behavior and as Dr flonard nicely stated that you know each year we we have updates to that and each year there's going to be training with the principles and the assistant principles and you know it is bound that the new rules and regulations because the old rules and regulations weren't followed with Fidelity um and consistency across the division it'll probably continue to happen in some ways I can tell you that in conversations this week with the school board and I want to thank Lisa zargapor specifically who's gone through the code of behavior line by line and and really committed some time in each of the board members who brought up their issues of Dr McDade is committed to to I think me certainly and and to

143others on the board a commitment to Fidelity um and and uh and a commitment to making sure that whatever changes we do we really do the training to apply these things consistently so that there is less perception or less real um lack of uh fairness Injustice and I think that's really important and so I appreciate Dr mcday's commitment to that we have come a long way it is better than it was um is behavior bad I think Mr well pointed out nicely and you know one of the reasons we implemented the Evolve system is weapon carrying is up something like 60 percent 70 percent um since the pandemic return and we continue to pick up the pieces from you know that pandemic and what happened and the choices we made there and that does require

144some flexibility um some new training and a commitment to um you know working through that but the one thing that I do appreciate the most is we are closing out on two years of Dr mcdade's leadership here is a commitment to a strategic plan that was developed by parents by teachers by you know input from all aspects of the community did we all agree what ended up in the document no um did we all were we a hundred percent in agreement with different portions of it no but was it a document that embodies the broadest core values of our community and our commitment to those absolutely and the disciplined implementation and commitment to the words in that document I think you are seeing here in the code of behavior modifications along with following the law

145and what you know the governor's changes are and what the Virginia Department of Education have have recommended so we we continue to do that I have the full trust and faith in our Administration in their commitment to really try to you know apply this new code and as evenly as possible and um and and and I like you all um you know over the years you know have found episodes where I may be frustrated where I felt like things were not were not done appropriately but I think on on average and on even you know on on Keel the the division is working hard and and I want to ensure to the public that this board is committed to making sure we work closely with the superintendent her Administration to really have some Fidelity to

146the words on the document you know the changes in the document really aren't that big you know massive change over last year but Fidelity to the document whether it was last year or this year and really the training that goes into it is really the most important thing and so um you know it's not easy it's hard work but I I appreciate all the work that's gone into this and so with that I will be supporting the changes and modifications in the code of behavior I I thank you Dr McDade for the work you did over the last couple of weeks um to to continue to work with the board um hear the parents listen to the concerns did we get to where everybody in this room or outside the community want um I'm not

147I I highly doubt there's not a single vote that I've taken that we've received outside of evolve which was pretty darn close to um unanimous but but we we do commit to listen to the community and we are working hard on that and so I want as we wrap up the school year and this final vote on this I think it is important for the community whether they agree with me or not to understand that we have and we do listen you know it's awkward citizen comment time it's awkward and sort of this well we can't respond and you know you don't you don't hear anything back um but we do listen the folks up here take notes they're committed to having discussions about what we hear whether and what emails we get about what

148our community is saying and that's whoever writes to us and who whatever side they're on and there are always not just one side of an issue not just two sides of an issue there are multiple sides to an issue and it's our job to try to assimilate all of those and appreciate all them and and weigh all the perspectives so with that um I'll stop talking and and let's take a vote on this code of behavior please vote we didn't have a motion yet oh I didn't we have a motion oh Miss Williams I moved to the Princeton County school board approved the proposed 2023-24 code of behavior do you have a second Mr chairman seconds any discussion outside of what we just did okay please vote the vote is six yes to absent Ralston

149and wall motion passed um at this time I'm gonna a number of members have asked me to just do a recess for 10 minutes um just because we've been up here a while I just 10 minute recess and then we'll return for superintendent's time and board matters thank you outstanding if we can sort of collect back up here um yep excellent and then we will um reconvene and we'll go straight to superintendent's Time Dr Latonya McDade oh thank you Mr chairman as another remarkable school year ends I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our students teachers staff and families for their unwavering support and commitment throughout this year our Collective vision is to see every student graduate with the knowledge skills and habits of mind necessary to create a thriving future for themselves

150and their community this Vision cannot come to fruition without the belief and commitment of the entire pwcs community together we have emerged stronger than ever and the future is bright for pwcs this year has been a testament so the resilience and adaptability of our school community we have remained steadfast in our pursuit of Excellence our students have continued to learn grow and Thrive academically socially and emotionally I am immensely proud of the dedication and creativity displayed by our teachers and staff they have gone above and beyond to provide quality education and support to our students their unwavering commitment to our students success is truly commendable I would also like to recognize the engagement collaboration and partnership we have fostered with our families and Community businesses your involvement and support Have Been instrumental in ensuring the

151continuity of learning and the well-being of our students let us celebrate the milestones we have reached the challenges we have overcome and the bright future ahead now it is my pleasure to introduce our end of the year video this video is a celebration of the moments accomplished moments accomplishments and memories we have created together throughout the school year it displays just a fraction of the talents achievements and spirit of our incredible students and the dedication of our exceptional staff good morning I'm so excited for the first day this is always such an exciting time thank you My Philosophy on education is building a good relationship with students respect and trust and setting the tone for the thriving future that they will morning I'm so excited for the first day of school this is always such

152an exciting time My Philosophy on education is building a good relationship with students based on mutual respect and trust and setting the tone for the thriving future that they will have ahead of them [Music] the future is not just going to be College the future is also going to be what type of technical skills can other children accumulate as they go throughout so you're fine [Applause] congratulations to all of our finalists all of our winners this is absolutely the best School Division in this countrywave [Music] [Applause] also to all the students who decorated this boardroom wow this is this is quite the explosion of color and gratitude [Music] there are some kids that that have a really hard time communicating and the two speech teachers that that I do have are great and the best

153[Music] I'm really happy and I'm really amazed at what they are doing in the school [Music] foreign [Applause] I would like to wish everyone a safe relaxing and rewarding summer break and I look forward to seeing everyone August 21st for those attending summer enrichment programs we look forward to seeing you over the summer and for those attending the high school launch program we look forward to seeing you on Monday June 26th thank you Mr chairman this concludes the superintendent's report thank you Dr McDade so just um we will move on to board matters and and then once board matters is completed the board has to reconvene in closed session for um we'll have a motion for that at some point so we'll start with board matters with Miss Jesse we'll do um five minutes today

154it's the last meeting of the school year just like we normally do every year thank you it's Jesse good evening I think I have some slides I always have slides of course these lies are nothing but gratitude for Mrs Jesse this represents first of all Mr Walker Mr Walker you know you've gone to schools where you have no parking at all this man meets me every time I go to to Woodbridge High School and I asked the principal I said if if Mr Walker didn't come to work versus you not coming to work which one do you think you would miss most and I the whole idea is that we need to show gratitude to everyone including teachers and to we need to recognize the meritorious performance of teachers and those young lady on the

155left is Taryn wood she's the conductor she does a phenomenal job and I think she's going to be nationally known this is uh Mr Burnett he is the ROTC person at Woodbridge High School and of course they got 398 the highest score I think in in the region for the ROTC he's retiring and this is I hate to say this is my sorrow Sheila Coleman who has been a principal assistant principal in this County for more than 30 years so these cups of gratitudes were given to them and earlier I gave cups of gratitude to the three persons that are leaving may we see those slides these are Miss Jocelyn Hart Jocelyn Hart was one of those people that I found and picked her and just kind of nurtured her and realized that if you

156just give people that one little ounce of encouragement because someone gave me that ounce of encouragement and she is one of my picks she started the uh we had a building leadership capacity and I want to say to the superintendent we need to grow our own administrators in this County because there are lots of people in this County who want to be administrators or they want recognition Bill Bixby love Bill Bixby have known him for quite some time I gave him a special cup because Bill bill is just honesty when I think about Bill Bixby and everything he's done for the school system so when I said why are you leaving he said I'm tired he said I just need to rest and then of course there's a reader Reed and I've been together forever

157and Rita has gone through all the various uh programs everything we've tried in this system and never really held on to anything so I'm hoping that you will stay with us and create this consistency in one program and one feature that we can all buy into in closing you can take the slides down in closing I'd like to say to everyone in a school system that I have been in the school system for quite some time and I've seen things change Dr McDade I call you a miracle and you are a miracle to me because you have brought consistency to the system you I laugh and we talk about your organizational coherent I'm not sure I'm always organizational coherent and I sometimes break the rules and you remind me but you have done a phenomenal

158job in this system and to all the teachers the custodians the cafeteria workers the bus drivers all of those people again when you look at the classified Personnel who've done so much in this system who would you miss the principal or the guy who cuts the grass first I think you miss the guy who cuts the grass first so I want to give a shout out to all the people in this system who has made the system work and I will be back next year and I'll be here for until the end of November I guess and then my time will be up but I cannot I can't say anything more than nothing but gratitude for the opportunity to serve this County to serve this community and to find leaders and to find students who

159can learn when I said earlier that discipline referrals do drop when you have higher levels of learning because I didn't have discipline referrals at volume they said what's your plan my plan is for all the kids to learn when kids are learning at high levels you don't have those problems but you do have those problems that you can't manage and I think our responsibility as Leaders is to make sure that every child has a right to learn Without A disruption my little screamer would scream for 45 SEC 45 minutes straight and then he would just stop we didn't know why and we call his mother and I said he said to me Mrs Jazzy I can't tell you anything I told you my mother's the queen of the castle don't call her but at some

160point we had to put him in a situation and we had equipment a special program sometimes kids need special services but most kids just need high levels of learning thank you you all right I guess I'll go next um wait for our timer I just want to end the school year by um piggybacking again on what Miss Jesse and Dr mcday said by thanking all of our Prince William County School families staff students admin but I want to give a very special shout out to our Virtual School families and participants in my home this year we are wrapping up our final year of virtual school and I cannot speak more highly for and so thankfully for the elementary Virtual School teachers and staff in our Virtual School principal Mr Gillespie the programs that were held

161throughout the year were extremely inclusive and educational I know from my home I had a student who was so anxious that he didn't want to return to a building that now has learned to self-advocate has come up in his reading grade level and can't wait to be in a building next year and that's all a testament to the staff that helped him all throughout the year and that is also to include his base school because it's a collab it was a collaborative effort well my own um little Elementary schooler was home doing virtual school I had plenty of other family members in school for what really was truly a first full year in the building full-time for over 97 percent of our student body and um I I just think that really and truly we

162all need to give ourselves some Grace for coming through the conclusion of the school year it was at times trying for some of us and at times we're celebrating but I think the mental health situation and coming out of the pandemic just was not spoken of enough in the fact that it really truly was our first full year for the majority of our students and I really want to extend my deepest gratitude to everyone that made that happen um I I think we really should be thankful that we came through it together um at the end of the year myself and I'm sure almost every board member here and as well as other elected officials throughout the county attended graduations I know I attended 11 of them myself I wanted to give a special shout

163out to Independents um this was the first time that we had judges attend our independence non-traditional graduation I thought that was a nice upgrade I also attended plenty of promotion ceremonies from fifth grade and eighth grade they're always a fun time and to our retirees I wish you all the best especially to some near and dear in my heart which is Dr Hart Mr Bixby and Rita Goss there are other division staff that are retiring as well I can honestly say in my time served here those named and a few others have made an indelible mark on my life as a parent and also made me a better board member and I appreciate them for their service I also want to spend send a special shout out to all of my title one schools who

164continuously go above and beyond every single day for their students and their families I can't tell you how often it is that I pass by school and they're doing something special and extra because our families need it the extra dedication it takes to have food banks and watch families line up across the block some of them on cars and vehicles and some of them walk over a mile to get to the school so that they have extra food for their so they have food for their family's needs and that's not something that we are responsible for as a School Division but it goes to speaking to our strategic plan and meeting the needs of our families and meeting them where they are and I just cannot extend enough gratitude to all of my title one

165schools and really all the schools in my district whether you're a title one or not because you are more than likely right on the line but they all do exceptionally well I also want to make mention um as Dr McDade said we are having our thriving our summer school programming whether it's launch or academic based high school again starts on Monday but K-8 starts in July July 10th and then also we will have a summer school graduation which I think is a fantastic event so I wish all those who are not attending a summer break I hope you sign up for the library reading program and I want to extend a special thank you to our Clerk and the entire office this year we've had so many changes and upgrades for the better and I

166appreciate all the work that you do to support us to enable us to do our job and how much you work with the rest of division and our individual schools as well we don't speak on it enough and I just want to take the time out to appreciate you I will be attending the vsba conference on education in July I will also be holding office hours throughout the summer and I just want to again thank this board for bringing in our pride resolution as we bring June to the to a close I think it's important that we continue to make our schools a safe environment for all of our students and I am especially proud of this board for including our pride resolution our commitment to Dei cultural competency and things that make everyone feel

167safe and welcome in our schools and I look forward to seeing most of you in September thank you Miss Jackson all right um thank you I want to sign another congratulations to Brunswick District High School girls soccer Patriots boys track team for both of their state championships and to Henry for his success at Nationals and of course the Gainesville Middle for the success with the Vex team um thank you for all of them coming tonight to be recognized finding Futures is a wonderful time to recognize the exceptional work being done by divisions by staff students and celebrate the partnership of family and stakeholders who support these efforts yesterday the board received the annual sea act special education advisory committee report and I want to take a moment to thank brunch for ciac representative Beverly Hicks

168who um is leaving and replacing her I really just appreciate her time her advocacy and her service these past few years in bringing her knowledge as a former special educator I'm excited with the new um addition to the CIA representing bradsville who is a parent and a former special educator I sincerely want to thank all siac advisory council members for sharing the special education recommendations and I just want to review some of the highlights that they included on this briefing for the 2022-2023 school year this school year the pwcs who structured leadership and the department of special education to Target goals set forth and the Strategic plan and to increase the focus on compliance with state and federal regulations so we have approximately 12 000 pwcs students who have an IEP and I just want

169to say I've been a proponent of this restriction for a long time and I'm excited to review the long-term impacts pwcs impaired a full-time audiologists and increased assistive technology Specialists there's a four-year Strategic investment and to add support including 100 teachers assistants were added for 2022-2023 and 75 additional for this coming school year they added two full-time positions to support going need for specifically related to services in early childhood special education and then the Unified sports that we talked about during budget which was a direct result of advocacy from conversation from miss van Echo who's on the CIA committee and something that I also advocated for which also see acted which is the thousand dollars type in first staff with it caseload management responsibilities um changes that this board is collaborated on specifics that I've

170advocated for the goals in the Strategic plan that the community worked with and stakeholders and Dr McDade the work of the superintendent and her team I believe um are in recognition to this student school system's commitment the change is and why's still needed we can can and should continue to build on existing and development systems we should always be striving with the goal that every student has a fundamental right to a thriving future and I believe that we are we have that value this journey this commitment to educational equity and inclusion is incredibly important to me as a current special education teacher I left the profession not only to bring my knowledge and experience but also to be an advocate for all students with special needs so I was excited to read the accomplishments documented

171an annual report and I look forward to learning about new stats and next steps I believe the restructuring and the recommendation in the full briefing is needed in the future so I I just like for consideration that we have a full presentation perhaps in the fall to discuss ciac and recommendations um on special education successes and and challenges I'm thankful for the conversations that we had tonight regarding the code of behavior and for the time that the superintendent and the team and the board took to in like listen to All Points of View and to make some changes I was able to also attend I think over a dozen Burnsville and pwcs graduations and I want to wish all graduates a happy graduation kindergarten 8th grade all you know fifth grade of course seniors is

172my absolute privilege to watch all of you celebrate your success and listen to your former teachers listen to your family listen to your friends and sharing their excitement um I want to Echo that there are update on free meals over the summer I was excited to read the post that was very informative and um there were sites listed and how like the times that it would be served on the first come first served basis so have a wonderful summer and safe um wonderful summer and safe summer to everybody congratulations to Dr hope Miss Goss and Mr Bigsby again I am truly thankful for their service and wish them well on their next chapter love and respect to everyone thank you good evening as I uh start tonight I want to recognize Mr Bixby Miss Goss

173and Dr Hart's time attention dedication to Prince William County Public Schools my children benefited from it thousands and thousands of children benefited from it and you'll I I hope you have a great retirement I hope you come back and visit us bless you whoever sneezed in the room here um I also want to thank my board members for uh we've been through a lot with the pandemic and I really enjoy working with the folks up here everybody has something really unique to contribute I just want to thank my board members for their ear their voice their thoughts their prayers sometimes whatever it may be but thank you for all the work that you guys do I want to also thank the staff who come in and do the work behind the scenes to create all

174the presentations that we get throughout the year um the executive cabinet for all of their hard work that they're doing Dr McDade all the work that you do for our students I also want to thank Liliana Anna and B for all of your support of us I always I don't remember to thank people I'm very thankful but I just don't so I wanted to try to make sure I got these in tonight so the night we were supposed to recognize you I was like oh hey so but I do appreciate all of you um you know it's summertime and I I'm a geek I I went back I'm going back to get a doctorate so I'm taking two classes for the summer and I am taking a training for my own job but yesterday I

175wandered over to Colgan high school and just I took a a dip at their dip conference and I got to see Dr Salva this is somebody that I read some of her work and follow her on Twitter and I got to watch one of her sessions and I learned about the seven steps so I'm very excited about that for my classroom next year so I'm appreciative to Prince William County for having these great presenters and things that I can learn I also learned some great things that I can do with my objectives as a teacher so that's that's going to deepen my practice um I Echo the the all of the stuff that um Ms Jackson just talked about was special education um I I love that you mentioned everything um thank you so much

176for bringing the attention to that we have so many programs here in the county that benefit our students and we do need to take a look at what what we're doing well uh and also what needs work and and iterate and make sure that we're doing better each each time we we do this work as I think about this is the end of the school year for for all of us some of us are graduating and moving on in the world and I have a little um that's not a poem it's a lyrics to a song it was sung at one of our graduations as an extra Mr izo did this at Osborne Park's graduation so I'm going to read some of these lyrics it's called I Hope You Dance um I hope you never

177lose your your sense of wonder you get your Phil to eat but always keep that hunger may you never take one single breath for granted Lord forbid Love Ever Leave You empty-handed I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean when one door closes I hope one more opens promise me that you'll give Faith a Fighting Chance and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance I Hope You Dance have a great summer everyone see you in the fall Mr welcome thank you everyone we are at our last meeting so uh just some highlights of events these last couple weeks it's been a for everyone the last couple weeks have been extremely busy and it was filled with kindergarten graduation promotions for fifth graders graduation ceremonies for the art

178high school students so I was trying to be as in many places as I could be on June 8th I attended the Montclair Elementary School kindergarten graduation night on June 9th I first started off at Covington Harper for their kindergarten promotion Parade from there I went to uh the Potomac High School as an annual tradition called Grill on the hill where the seniors before walking at graduation there's a big cookout Inflatables games a whole bunch of great stuff I was able to be there for that event uh Ashland also had their kindergarten graduation ceremony on that day that I attended and then lastly the Potomac Shores Middle School had another one of their eighth grade dances it was really nice it was catered by Olive Garden so your ticket got you like a cater dinner

179and a dance it was really nice so those were that was on Monday June 9th on June 10th three months ago it seemed like a great idea to sign up for a 5k Fun Run I was like yeah I'll train um and the time came around and we were at our husky Fun Run and someone said not only does a board member come he runs and I was like oh boy lucky me so so I was like pull the Band-Aid off so you know I did it I finished and uh under 30 minutes for a 40 year old I guess you know most of my buddies in high school would not have done that so I'll take it um uh so anyways after that we went uh a number of my colleagues and I we

180were at the Potomac Senior High School graduation ceremony that was a great event uh June 12th uh the triangle fifth grade promotion ceremony occurred I went there and then also was able to attend Swans Creek for fifth grade promotion ceremony that same night on the 13th I was able to attend um the triangle kindergarten promotion ceremony in the morning and then the evening split my time went to the Henderson fifth grade promotion night it was really cool they do an outdoor one and the kids walk over like a bridge as symbolic and the parents hand the kid the Baton and that was a promotion from fifth grade and then I made it to Mary Williams fifth grade ceremony uh that night as well the 14th uh the morning of it was nice at least the

181ones that were able to space these out Patty Elementary had their fifth grade ceremony during the morning at 9 00 a.m uh that evening was special because Ashland Elementary had their fifth grade promotion ceremony and um I attended there as a school board member but also more importantly as a parent um it's it's remarkable to think um two years ago my son who's non-verbal on the Spectrum was um putting his head through the wall in our house all the time because of anger and it got to a point where it was so frequent that instead of patching it every other day we just literally waited till the end of the week and um we did it all at once after he went to bed if he went to bed and so you know when people

182talk about the pandemic and a big reason why I always fought for the option in-person learning is that was my struggle that was my world and Dominic has come such a long way for him to be at the under the balloon arch when he came out to stand there to wave and to come down it was it was really a really special moment um and it really goes to show the growth of two years with behavior and just overall improvements um for Dominic so it was a very special night for us as a Wilk family as as well last things uh you know I was proud to be on the Juneteenth planning committee for this past weekend in Dumfries um for those who don't know Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S and

183honors the indomitable Spirit of African Americans past and present it was an honor to be on that committee to work at the parade have so many participants it was great thank you clerks our team um oh my goodness be Anna Liliana you guys have done an amazing job of bringing things like my calendar idea to fruition I know you guys have thousands of things you have to book for us uh so really appreciate that um and all the work you guys do uh and then lastly as I wrap up time flies in five minutes uh I want to thank Mr Bigsby uh Miss Goss and Dr Hart for their years of service they're in a Facebook impression that they've left on the school system so thank you very much thank you Mr Wilk um just

184one reminder from Miss Williams we we didn't have a committee meeting uh discussion on the agenda this time we'll have uh an update on the racial Social Justice Commission in the fall and their meetings will start up in September again um okay well folks we are done with another school year it's been a terrific school year um um as noted in our commencements this year we had a record number of scholarship dollars one each of our schools really worked hard and and our students worked hard and they received a lot of rewards and they were very excited about that we had some terrific commencements that we wrapped up with and very excited so now we're on to the summer and our Juniors need to start thinking about applying to college and getting their common application

185essays worked on now colleges will start accepting your applications in August meet with your counselors you know you can email I mean you know I'm sure they've each of the counselors in the school division have sent out information about what what kinds of things we could do in the summer and then also start thinking about what to do in the fall and and as we go into our senior year we expect all our seniors to have a post-secondary plan and meet with their counselors to talk about you know what what am I going to do am I applying for College Community College military getting a job finishing my career Technic Tech Career Tech Ed requirements getting an apprenticeship getting an internship so many different things I want our seniors to take advantage of those and

186even our Juniors to start thinking about taking advantage of those for all our other grade levels as Mr Wolf pointed out graduations promotions up you know coming up take this summer opportunity to read there's the public libraries are wide open get in there get some good books there's museums here locally you don't even have to go into DC to go to them get on your bike take a walk get on your skateboard and get out away from your devices last week I made a my board matters sort of talk about the case for public education this week I want to spend a little minute or two talking about dispelling some of the myths that exists about public education and this week I'd like to dispel the myth that parents don't matter um of course they

187matter I'm a parent of four children and before I became a school board member I was very active and still am involved in the ptos at all of my children's schools my wife and I and we committed to work hard with those ptos like many of our parents to to build out after school programs before school programs robotics programs volunteer with the different teams the coaches the Odyssey of the Mind the debate practices and you saw a little bit tonight of all the parents that have helped build our athletic programs that have helped build our robotics programs you saw that in launching thriving Futures so parents matter and they are an integral part of our schools and our principals and our you know counselors and our teachers you know welcome them in and they make

188this community go and and it's why Prince William County schools one of the best places to school your children and so parents do matter and um you know every member on this board is a parent or a grandparent and six out of eight of us had a student or grandchild in the school year school this past year um or in in last year and then um and and during this term and so we are parents um and we have a say we're at the seat we have a seat at the table and we advocate for parents um and so this board has included parents ever since I've been on this board at every different level we have advisory councils we have committees we have special ed ptas we have school ptas and ptos we have

189task forces we have superintendence advisory councils and each of these councils include parents we have book review committees we have parent Liaisons which is a new thing that we started where we where we actually hire parents now to help work and get into our communities and and help us engage even more because we believe parents matter our strategic plan which I believe is really a strong document that outlines where this division will go will go um was put together by parents teachers and many of our teachers are parents I might add many of our principals or parents I might add who are actively having children in the school Division and we all take this seriously and we took parents opinions very seriously I'm going to give you a couple examples where this board really listened

190to parents um and and let's rewind to the beginning of the 2020 school year when this board met in August to vote on whether we would offer in-person learning to our special education students it was a tough Vote many of our board members chose to take that vote and I I think it was near unanimous where we opened the schools for special ed students and we have um we're the only School Division in Northern Virginia to do so and we are the only School Division not sued in a class action lawsuit for restricting fape in special ed because we listen to our parents you know we we did the modification on the code of behavior tonight we listened to parents we implemented the Evolve system we listened to parents we are evaluating our grading practices

191because we hear from our parents and students so these are all great examples how about this school board believes parents matter and um in in and incorporate everything they say and do in the work we do whether it's as listening to them reading their emails and all of that and so I think um it's important that everyone understand that and I'm excited to be a part of a board that Anna's School Division and a superintendent and an Administration who does that so well and I want to thank all of you for this great school year and I know I went a little bit long here but um at this point I will entertain a motion to re-enter closed session Miss Williams or is it it's written foreign to Virginia code 2.2-3712 the closed session of

192Prince William County school board meeting of June 21st 2023 that's the certification sorry 180.1 right um excuse me Mr chairman I moved that person went to Virginia code 2.2.2-3711 and 2.2-3712 the Prince William County School Board enter closed session for the following reason to consult with staff and division Council regarding the terms of a contract for the acquisition of real property for a public school within the Potomac magisterial District where such a consultation and open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the school board pursuant to Virginia code 2.2 section Virginia code sections Excuse Me 2.2-3711a 3 a 8 and a 29. second Mr chairman a second any discussion okay all in favor say uh please vote anyone okay I yes all very any opposed okay uh we will re-enter closed

193session and hopefully come out in a few minutes I don't know all right Mr chairman uh emotions uh we're now reconvening an open session and um uh Miss uh Williams will you please read the motion to certify closed session sure I moved that pursuant to Virginia code 2.2-3712 the closed session of Prince William County school board meeting of June 21st 2023 be certified by adopting the following resolution now therefore be it resolved at the Prince William County School Board hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge one only public business matters lawfully Exempted from open meeting requirements were discussed in the closed meeting to which this certification resolution applies and two only such public business matters as we're identified in the motion convening the close message excuse me convening the closed meeting were

194heard and discussed or considered by the school board do you have a second Mr chairman any discussion okay please vote you vote Yes Miss Jesse then certify the vote is six yes two absent Ralston and wall motion passed that was a certification that was close the certification no no we we didn't get to the motion yet now we'll move on to the closed session action item for 2201 Miss Williams thank you I move that the Prince William County school board approved the agreement for purchase sale of real property that includes the purchase of six acres from Harbor Station communities LLC for the construction of the Potomac Shores area elementary school further the chairman at large and the clerk authorized to sign any necessary documents pertaining to the agreement or settlement subject to approval as from

195as to from only the division Council only by the division Council any discussion okay please vote the vote is for yes to no Jesse Williams to absent Ralston wall motion passed at this time without further business in front of this board we will now um adjourn what oh hey yeah I'm sorry so well just want to thank all of our it folks and everyone for helping us with the meeting I want to thank the clerics and everybody you're the best I want to thank our security team Ron Crowe director risk management security providing support and we'd like to thank Jim Lepp supervisor interactive media Creative Design and his team for all they do in the meeting that includes Mike Davis Raul Rosado Jimmy Davis John Jimenez Marcos Salinas and last but not least thank you

196to RIT support for meetings which includes Kevin Sarah geoli Andrew Choi Fuentes Ocasio Chris Steinbeck alaju on Sims we cannot do with all you appreciate all that you do to support us there being nothing further we now adjourn