001we'll um call this Prince William County School Board to order and pursuant to Virginia code 2.2 3708.2 and the school board policy 139 School Board participation in meetings by electronic communication School Board member Diane Ralston will participate in the meeting through electronic means due to medical condition that prevents her in-person participation the motion is in order for the approval of the closed session agenda Mrs argoport chairman I move that the Prince William County school board approved the closed session agenda as recommended do you have a second Miss Jesse of the Occoquan District any discussion please vote join the meeting folks oh miss Ralston how do you vote yes Miss Rosenberg yes mine didn't pop up yet so it's seeing no opposition will move to the next motion emotion um to enter closed session is in
002order Mrs argoport thank you Mr chairman I move that pursuant to Virginia code sections 2.2-3711 and 2.2-3712 the Prince William County School Board enter closed session for the following reasons one to discuss with the superintendent and staff the appointment transfer release assignment and promotion of specific employees and to receive advice on related legal issues as provided by Virginia code sections 2.2-3711a 1 and 8 2 to discuss with staff and consult with legal counsel regarding requests for religious exemptions pertaining to specific students under as provided by Virginia code section 2.2-3711a 2 and 8 3 to consult with legal counsel and actual and staff actual or probable litigation and specific legal matters involving staff and students as provided by sections 2.2-3711a127 and eight four to consult with the superintendent and legal counsel regarding legal procedures relating to
003the conduct of school board meetings under Virginia code section 2.2-3711a85 to consult with those superintendent and legal counsel regarding the implementation of federal regulations under Title IX as provided by Virginia code section 2.2-3711a8 6 to receive information and discuss with staff and legal counsel the acquisition and sale of real property for school purposes the discussion of which is an open session would negatively impact the school division's bargaining position as provided by Virginia code sections 2.2-3711a 3 and 8 and 7. to receive information and to discuss with staff plans for the security of the Kelly Leadership Center and other school facilities and the safety of persons using those facilities as provided by Virginia code section 2.2-3711a 19. do you have a second Miss wall seconds motion any discussion please vote and as she tabulated vote just
004to clarify for Public's sake the first motion on the agenda did pass unanimously with no objections Miss Ralston how do you vote on this one yes Mr rossen votes yes it is seven yes one absent Williams motion passed okay at this time the Prince William County School Board will now enter closed session return Open Session approximately one hour thank you [Music] foreign [Music] 2.2-3712 the closed session of the Prince William County school board meeting of November 3rd 2021 be certified by adopting the following resolution now therefore be it resolved that the Prince William County School Board hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge one only public business matters lawfully Exempted from open meeting requirements were discussed in the closed meeting to which this certification resolution applies and two only such business matters
005as were identified in the in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard and discussed or considered by the school board do you have a second Mr chairman Miss Williams second any discussion please vote Miss Ralston how do you vote yes Miss rossen votes yes the vote is eight yeah unanimous motion passed moving on to closed session action items Miss sarcopher 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 a second chairman uh Miss Jackson okay any discussion please vote Mr Alston how do you vote yes Mr Ralston votes yes the vote is date yes unanimous motion passed moving on to 10.02 Mrs sargapork Mr chairman I moved to the Prince William County school board approved the
006request for religious exemption from compulsory School attendance and case number re21-21 do you have a second Miss Jesse Jesse seconds motion any discussion please vote Miss frosting how do you vote yes Miss Rawson votes yes the vote is eight yes unanimous motion passed great moving on I'd like to call the meeting to the Prince William County School Board to order at this time we'll do the Pledge of Allegiance uh Miss Flynn if you would lead us in the pledge I pledge allegiance 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 next move on to the approval of the public meeting agenda motion is in order Miser report Mr chairman I move that the Prince William County
007school board approved the public meeting agenda as recommended you have a second Mr chairman Mrs Williams second any discussion please vote Miss Ralston how do you vote yes Miss Rawson votes yes the vote is eight yes unanimous motion passed moving on to the adoption the consent agenda emotions in order Mr chairman I moved to the Prince William County school board approved the public meeting consent agenda as recommended do you have a second Mr chairman Miss Williams second any discussion Mr chairman uh Miss Jesse or Miss Williams who who I'm sorry uh I would just like to thank my pointer appointee to the seat committee uh Mr Jason Rock and for volunteering to participate on this committee excellent Miss sargerporn so I just want to um make sure that people who brought it to my attention
008are aware that we did get the resolution the last line changed so it says that now therefore be it resolved that the Prince William County school board and the superintendent of schools Proclaim November 15th through the 19th 2021 as American Education week in Prince William County schools and recognize especially during a pandemic our School Employees selfless commitment to education and to our students and did we get a second on this motion right we got a second so that was a discussion please please vote Miss Ralston how do you vote yes Mr awesome votes yes the vote is eight yes unanimous motion passed okay great uh moving on to Citizen comment time those citizens who signed up in advance with the clerk May address the school board this evening when they are called to the podium
009the citizen comment period for regular school board meetings is limited to one hour with the first half hour reserved for comments on the agenda items only in the second half hour for comments on agenda items or other topics non-agend items or other topics Germaine to the operations of the policies of the Prince William County schools citizens signed up to speak on agenda items must speak to the agenda item they have identified or they'll be asked to step down we have one speaker on agenda items and 10 on non-agenda items speakers will have three minutes to speak please use proper decorum and manners while at the podium if you do not do so you'll be asked to step aside when you're called to the podium please state your name and address for the record the first
010speaker will be oveta Scott foreign good evening ladies and gentlemen of the board Mr chairman Dr mcday my name is obeda Scott and my address is on file with the clerk first Dr mcday I would like to thank you for the virtual option given to giving to staff yesterday those staff members who could take part in working virtually do appreciate the gesture however Please be aware there were some administrators that pushed against this option making staff members feel guilty and wanting a time to work virtually next I would like to express my thanks to the board for recognizing American Education week which was created and sponsored by the National Education Association as the theme of great Public School a basic right and our responsibility is being reflected during November the 15th through November the 19th
011is truly fits the condition of education at this time during a pandemic please know that teachers don't have to reaffirm their commitment to educating our youth because it's evident by the Readjustment of time energy and mental space that we have given since the beginning of this pandemic teachers who have stayed in this profession had endured the changes from traditional instruction to concurrent learning a great deal professional development and more computer application programs some teachers have answered a call to provide the high dosage tutoring to help motivate students as shared last week and I am one of them if we are fully going to be vested in the statement of Great Schools being a basic right and our responsibility then it starts at the top with leadership since our county is site-based management then the efforts
012are placed on the school admin team it is the admin that needs to be reminded of their responsibility as Leaders during this time of Crisis to inspire motivate and give support this does not look like nasty emails in all caps refusal of timely lead or using the power of the pen to threaten the staff with performance Improvement plan this does not look like admin having meetings after meetings abusing the duties as a sign in our contract or unprofessional retaliation against staff the affirmation needed from our admin team is empathy I know every situation is different but overall staff is operating at a pace of burnt out our students are different this year they must be retaught many necessary skills to get them not only on grade level but how to behave socially and emotionally in
013a positive manner in the words of author Brianne Brown empathy has no script there's no right way or wrong way to do it it's just simply listening holding space without holding judgment emotionally connecting and communicating that incredible healing message of you're not alone this is what we want for our admin during American Education week just listen and hear us thank you Kimberly Stewart and then after Kimberly Stewart they can if you come up to the front have a seat if you'd like to be close to my Kristen Gladhill Jessica Newton Stephen Amato Miss Kimberly Stewart first evening my name is Kimberly Stewart and my address is on file with the clerk I am here to demand your attention and respect tonight while I speak last time I was here too many of you found whatever
014was on your laptops and phones more important than listening to a concerned parent educator and mother who has had enough of your medical tyranny over parents and children in this district and who is here to demand that you find a way to allow more parental involvement in our schools as our teachers are increasingly screaming for help their mental and emotional health matters too tonight I am demanding that you lift all the intrusive and overreaching restrictions to your current policies regarding parent volunteers and substitutes in our schools so that our teachers can access the support and assistance they need that parents can immediately provide inside of our schools our teachers are tired burnt out overworked over stressed and need parents to be able to come into school again and support the daily work our teachers administrators
015and staff provide our students every day mask mandates and vaccination requirements should not hinder any qualified enabled parent to get back into our schools and support the work of our teachers with growing class sizes increasing demands shifting expectations shortages of substitutes and shortages of teachers it is vital that this board open our schools fully to allow parents back in to support our teachers and staff I'm here to Advocate tonight for both teachers and parents to come back together to provide a world-class education for our children that can be done safely without tyrannical medical requirements I'm also here to thank you this board for not mandating our athletes to be vaccinated in order to compete this school year for winter and spring Sports I do commend you on listening to the parent concerns regarding this policy
016and I urge you to continue to listen to parents and not mandate the vaccination on any of our students student athletes provide our schools with opportunities for greater achievement in the classroom increased recognition valuable character development and improve upon Healthy Lifestyles for our children not Manning the vaccine on these incredible students is appreciated and should continue as a policy of this District medical choices like vaccination and mass should always be exactly that a choice this does not I'm sorry enough is enough and we the parents are not going anywhere this is our school district to build together moving forward we the parents will continue to speak and we the parents will be heard your job is to work with us all Educators staff and Personnel along with our students to provide a world-class education if
017you do not want to work with us and all your stakeholders then I suggest you find another job next fall Kristen Gladhill I'm Kristen Gladhill my address is on file I'm a local mom of two I'm here to say no to the vaccine mandates for our children I'm not an anti-vaxxer I'm just an anti-mandate person our schools are not a place for medical care and no school should be a vaccination site we need to protect the rights of parents and respect their choice not to vaccinate their child this is not a deadly virus for our children and I'm sure you've all seen the numbers I'm not going to repeat them here are you here to take this Choice away from us are you willing to work with us there is still too much Unknown about
018the long-term risk regarding this vaccination for children and the studies were not done with large enough groupings to know fully whether all of our questions have been answered regarding safety and efficacy efficacy of the vaccine of young children the school district should not mandate this vaccine due to the high immunity of children naturally as well as the potential risks that are still unknown I personally have seen several preschools in Prince William County that followed the mask mandate with their two-year-olds and up where all faculty was vaccinated and they had outbreaks of RSV colds and even the even covid which wasn't even shocking I won't take anyone it won't take anyone here long to ask around or post in a few of the local mom groups on Facebook to find this information out classrooms were sent
019home to quarantine with mass children in fully vaccinated faculty and I can learn this on you know ballet and play dates and all these things how can we just overlook this you know these are facts these are real things that are happening so vaccination should be a choice that every parent and child makes in consultation with the doctor and it should not be forced upon anyone it should be should should not be conditioned to access a free public education in Prince William County some will argue well we've always had vaccinations for public schools it's just another one so kind of shut up about it well we always have had these but we've always had exemptions so I know a lot of my friends in their 30s who are not fully vaccinated adults but we still
020went to public school also enough with the agenda that we know is deeply rooted in our school systems plenty of us know what's going on here and we've said it a hundred times before culturally responsive training culturally proficiency training whatever you guys want to call it we know what it is having teachers in Virginia be paid and we have friends that are teachers so we can ask these things having friends in Virginia that are paid to take online courses were slides titled whiteness and bold with a ton of craziness under it asking questions if a black boy and a white boy were walking late to class in the hall which one would you stop first this is what this is what is in Virginia being asked right now that's a problem I mean there's no
021right answer either but a presentation back in March where Maria D Burgos shared a slide with all of this nonsense then at the bottom in really tiny fine print read adopted sources Minneapolis Fortress press colon critical race Theory today so there I said it the more the government and our school systems try to keep parents out and lie to the more parents join us in this fight of tyranny don't Gaslight us about teaching our kids racial essentialism and gender Theory by calling us racist because it will backfire as yesterday election proved Jessica Newton hello I'm Jessica Newton from Gainesville Virginia um so I'd also like to talk about vaccine mandates mandating a vaccine to get in schools is wrong for our children in so many ways hundreds of parents like myself are going to pull
022our kids out in defense of medical Freedom by the look of what happened at the polls yesterday you know there's huge numbers of parents that will not allow our children to be part of a medical experiment how can you move forward with the decision like this I can tell you right now we will 100 percent pull our kids out how can you in good faith knowing that outcome threaten the education and future of our children how dare you threaten the parents of this County by considering mandating medical decisions in exchange for free public school education that we're all and we all deserve did you know that the CDC estimates that at a minimum 40 percent of children in this age group 5 to 11 have already had covid does this vaccine offer any benefits to
023this group at all and for children that have had the Delta variant are you doing damage to their immunity by vaccinating them with a variant that's almost two years old we don't know if that's going to help or hurt their current immunity we don't know if it's going to help at all and yet you're considering mandating it myocarditis everyone knows is a huge concern with regards to this vaccine in our children out of 800 and 900 cases that the CDC reported and looked into they've only done two biopsies to try and see if there's any difference between regular myocarditis and vaccine-induced myocarditis did you know that most people who experience myocarditis aside from the vaccine are given about 10 years to live after its first occurrence so why are we doing this our children deserve
024so much better than that which is why we're here to stand up for them and thank God we have a governor now that will stand with the parents in defense of medical tyranny and against your incessant denial of pushing critical race Theory AKA cultural competency training culturally relevant training Equity not equality whatever you guys want to call it pushing this on our teachers and students in this county is is insane and and everyone needs to just admit what they're doing stop lying let's talk about it let's have some kind of town hall with parents and get some open discussion around this issue in closing I just like to say let's go Brandon it's even a motto I'm Stephen Amato my address is on file good evening Prince William County school board members and fellow citizens
025my comments and concerns focus on the 20 October 2021 School Board passage of the revision of policy 738 non-discrimination and harassment of students specifically section g 22-123.3 of the code of Virginia requires implementation of the Virginia Department of Education model policies for the treatment of transgender students and Virginia's public schools I'm not here to debate the decision of the board of that night however in light of the Loudoun County Virginia case where a 14 year old who identified as a transgender student sexually assaulted two teenage girls the Prince William County School Board should assess lessons learned from this case and if the board legal counsel has not reviewed the case and the circumstances about this tragic crime then the Board needs to review the crime soonest as a citizen with three children in the school
026system and a fourth within three years to enter into the school system I am concerned what assurances are there in which my two female children would not be assaulted by a transgender student I ask does the board have transparent guidance on a sexual assault or harassment on a student by a student is it reported to a school official other than the victim's Guardian how and when is the victim's Guardian notified what are the protocols or processes if a student is the subject is this student suspended or reassigned to a different school what are the board's protocols or processes to notify the victim's legal guardian of the information the board has it would be extremely beneficial if the board is completely transparent on guidance and processes the school system implements when there is a student to
027student or Prince William County School employee to student assault the victim the legal Guardians and the entire family of that victim are dramatically affected by such an event and I encourage the board if those policies those Protocols are not transparent please please make them transparent that will help ease us parents on this decision thank you for allowing me to comment Jennifer rakoski and after that will be shital but then David sunkel and Jesse Graham Jennifer okowski good evening Dr McDade and school board members my name is Jennifer rakovski I reside in the Occoquan District regulation 562.01-1 certificated Personnel planning time number one reads planning time for all teachers is essential to an effective instructional program therefore under normal circumstances time allocated for this purpose will be used for instructional planning based on discussions social media
028posts and other forms of communication it sounds like planning time is not being used by certificated staff instead some schools are using plcs or CLT meetings as a way to work around this instead of allowing teachers to have planning time for their own use they are having these meetings to go over what they're doing and they have to prep for these meetings a few comments from teachers it's like we're screaming that the kids are having social emotional issues and they're like that's nice but do you have your I can statements done or your objectives and modules I literally have about 120 Minutes of prep for the whole week and when I miss prep I feel unprepared for the rest of the day we have to prepare for the PLC CLT meetings by filling out a
029form thus taking up more time of planning after hours this past week Monday and Tuesday instead of teachers having more time to catch up on grading or allocating the time towards parent-teacher conferences there was more professional development I spend a lot of extra hours at work for instance I was there until seven why because of summative election project there was due 10 days earlier was still being turned in when I went home I had a dozen or so emails from kids turning in work I still have 60 degree of 140 some have not been turned in I emailed kids where's your work crickets I do this because I care that a zero and summative will fail them I have many teacher friends um in the same boat and some of them have to do four
030hours of PD tomorrow this was Monday or Tuesday instead of grading the quarter closed Friday give us the courtesy of allowing us to finish grading there should be no meetings no PD of any kind I am frazzled I've been short with colleagues and students this last week the school year is hard the kids are struggling to reconnect teachers are being asked to do everything to level the field and guess what it's not humanly possible again I'm stressing to the school board the superintendent the superintendent staff that your staff are burnt out staff are still having to use canvas to create and update those lessons in case students are virtual the other issue is Tech teachers and Tas are the first line of defense for Tech which take a lot of time and getting Chargers to
031help them log in then there's all the behaviors on top of it having to relearn and the list goes on and on please look at the regulation 562.01-1 thank you for your time I only had three minutes to try to get it all in there thank you she told but good evening everybody my name is shital bad my address is on file with the clerk I stand in front of you today as a concerned mother constituent and member of this community I am disgusted and growingly angered by the political agenda of this District to weave critical race Theory here in the state of Virginia and in our schools critical race Theory racial practices and Equity disguised as segregational policies are present throughout the state and we have seen and have examples of how this is
032slowly creeping into classroom instruction according to the Virginia School Board Association your job is to I code maximize student achievement by taking a leadership role in education reform and Court this school board our County leadership and our schools are certainly introducing pieces and parts of it to our children through teach through through teacher trainings Equity statements and classroom instruction it is wrong divisive and it needs to be stopped at all levels in regards to mask and gender policies as a mother I entrust the school system to educate my child in a safe and secure learning environment where she can thrive in her learning Dr LaTanya McDade or Dr Latif are not my pediatricians you get to make decisions about Reading Writing math and budgets it is my job alone as a parent to consult with
033our medical provider and God to make Health decisions not yours you are not here to make these decisions you have overstepped your boundaries and we will not stand for it if members of this school board keep pushing boundaries into the territory of Parental decisions you will lose students it may be a wise idea to focus on the budget part of your job description schools should be looking for ways to provide all students privacy needed for themselves in a safe space that is not intrusive on other students boys do not belong in girls bathrooms and girls do not belong in boys bathrooms it is common sense and should be policy to create an alternative gender gender neutral space for all students to access for needed privacy that protects all students as a concerned mother and constituent
034I demand this board immediately review its current policies on mass mandates in our school the use of critical race theory in our teacher trainings and instructional materials and that you listen to all parents and create an acceptable policy in gender on gender identity in school restrooms and locker rooms in our County thank you David sunkel good evening I'm David sunkel Barbie I'm David sunkel I live in Bristol Virginia I want to address mask mandates and vaccine mandates mandates are not born of law the Constitution is the highest law in the land mandates are not enforceable by law so by their very nature they're not legal and you're enforcing something when you when you go along with the uh the current I guess you would call it an Administration uh what they're trying to do to
035force people to do things that are not lawful and are not backed by science is is um horrible Dr Peter McCullough is a a cardiologist he was chief of internal medicine at Baylor University and he's the most published author in his field of medicine and the history in his field and he has recently come out with Five Points about covid-19 the Wuhan virus is not spread asymptomatically fauci himself is on record saying so asymptomatic people should not be tested that's 0.2.3 natural immunity is robust complete and and durable the Wuhan virus no matter what variant is easily treatable at home current Wuhan virus so-called vaccines they are not vaccines they're experimental Gene therapies that are under emergency use authorization that demand and require informed consent informed consent is impossible because there's no science to back
036up that it's safe the cdc's own data makes it abundantly more than clear that this thing is not safe to even consider it for children 18 or under is Criminal and I literally mean criminal and if you all support such a policy and a child is forced to take a vaccine and is harmed by it I can promise you I'm going to lead a legal Army to hold every one of you accountable in a court of law I'm just about out of time so I'll have to cut it there Jesse Graham [Applause] my daughter is actually going to speak for me because I have an email saying I wasn't speaking she got an email saying she was so I'm giving my time to my daughter well you guys both have time so I have is
037that made syngram I got an email saying I'm saying well I got you guys both on the list so you're happy to each of you speak as you wish okay Madison Graham and I am a student at Patriot High School I'm here tonight to push to remove the mask mandate in our schools are you aware that in the U.S over 4 000 kids a year die in car accidents that means students are at least 15 times more likely to die in a car accident than from coven 19. what are you gonna do next Banis from riding the school bus every day or taking our cars to school every day did you know about a thousand kids a year die of drowning in the US should we not be allowed in your water without a life
038vest on so far since the start of the pandemic there have been somewhere between 362 and 600 kids that have died from the virus however I cannot find a definitive number on this that means between 240 and 400 kids per year have died from covid which is a tragedy and I don't want to minimize the death of any child but I want to be realistic deaths do happen for a variety of reasons to kids should we force kids to wear these masks when the survival rate is 99.9973 percent covid isn't even in the top 10 causes of death for children in the U.S it's actually much closer to the amount of deaths from the flu on an average year for children you have been so focused on making re on making us wear these masks
039has anyone actually read the two major masks studies the Netherlands and Bangladesh have both done large studies showing no major difference between cloth masks and nomats and no masks at all yet no one seems to care about the toll masks are taking on our Mental Health the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and and the Children's Hospital Association have both declared a national state of emergency and Children's Mental Health suicide rates have increased drastically during the lockdowns in 2020 by a 31 percent and somehow have continued to rise in 21 and 2021 by 50.6 percent don't you think these masks represent an irrational fear you have instilled in US I've witnessed many of my friends and acquaintances slip into depression not only through the lockdowns but also since we've been back in school where
040we are constantly told how dangerous how dangerous life is even through even though it's a major exaggeration thank you Mr Graham did you want to say anything you do have three minutes I I'm not sure why you got the email but a minute I'm probably won't take all three I'm Jesse Graham Bristol Virginia you can look at my address on file um again my daughter said most of what uh what I would talk about I can go a little more into the Bangladesh study um the Bangladesh study actually did was 000 individuals were studied a third of them were given n95 masks a third were given cloth mass and a third were mask free in the study it proved The n95 Masks did show about a 10 to 12 percent increase in reduction of transmission
041there was absolutely no difference between cloth masks and no masks so every day you guys send our kids to school with cloth masks most of these kids don't even wash their masks on a regular basis you talk to I talked to my daughters I have twin girls most of those kids at best once a week wash their masks Florida Atlantic University did a study on how hazardous masks can be if they're worn on a regular basis without being washed or cleaned so we're actually putting our kids at risk by sending them to school in these cloth masks every day if you guys want to give them a brand new mask when they walk in the door every single day and after they eat lunch every day then maybe it would make a little bit of
042sense but we're putting them in masks that don't fit them that don't work right and we expect this to make a difference I mean really that's like putting kids in car seats that are it'd be like putting a kid in a booster seat that's an infant it makes no sense at all you take a look at all of this these kids what what's I see it in my kids they can't stand the idea of not seeing people's faces every day seeing their teachers seeing it's not good for them suicide rates depression every mental health problem has skyrocketed through this thing for what for a disease that really has no effect on them and I know most people say well we're protecting the teachers the teachers are vaccinated we believe in this vaccination so much then
043why are you so worried about the teachers at that point do what's right for the kids that's what's cool that's what you guys are supposed to do is do what's right for the children they should be the number one priority that's all I have to say [Applause] Shannon Garrity [Applause] good evening board members and Dr McDade I'm Shannon Garrity my address is on file think about this we're not going to get new teachers if we don't take care of the ones we have and you're going to lose those if you don't listen you want high dosage tutoring during the school day but we don't even have enough planning as it is we're already doing the impossible we're drowning and you want us to do more there is no time everyone in this room is looking
044for ways to improve student learning and address gaps that can't be met by an overworked and overwhelmed staff all of the new ideas and programs roll down to us teachers assistants esps I'm not sure how many of our ideas actually make it to you so I'm hoping you will listen to us now see we have to implement Implement all these Innovative programs but we're asking ourselves where do we find the time the end of first quarter is a good time to reassess what is working and what is not at this point we have all been putting in an unsustainable number of hours and many of us are still not getting it all done it's having an unfair unhealthy effect on all the teachers so what can be done to gain time you need to carve
045out time and going back to flex for the high school schedule is the answer it gives concrete hours that can be used for tutoring I know there are issues with dual enrollment but I don't believe those are insurmountable the only play in the schedule is flex it is something that helps everyone teachers can regroup we can get things done you can deliver the high dosage tutoring students can get extra help work on assignments or just take a mental health break it's a win-win and all it takes is a schedule change it's not impossible just a pain and it can be done everyone I know faculty and students are talking about the positivity of flex it will address remediation and fill in gaps for lost learning this is doable it will be appreciated because it gives
046us all what we need time last year our students had Mondays off late starts every day and no due dates this year they are struggling mentally and academically and they are not alone think of it as triage on a population that needs a lifeline Flex can be implemented now we are good at connecting with our students but we can't give our best if we're wiped out I was short with my kids last week it wasn't their fault well not entirely and Saturday I cried at Giant food at the pharmacy I'm worn out and I'm not alone teachers have great ideas but those are snuffed out before they reach the destination they need to arrive at or they're voted down dismissed or watered down also we need more than three minutes twice a month to be
047heard as you can see we need a place at the table I'm willing to pull up a chair until it's permanent teachers can help and we will speak truth it won't be what you want to hear but it will be real as teachers we should be able to directly influence this educational community the access we have to decision making is minimal at best we want to speak without an intermediary so we know what gets through it's about time to invite us in thank you okay at this time um are we moving oh okay 1601 annual school calendar Dr McDade thank you Dr Latif tonight in preparation for the 2022-23 school year we will be sharing options for the school calendar and it's my pleasure to introduce Dr Jennifer Casada director of research and account accountability
048and strategic planning and she will be sharing more information on our calendar selection process as well as options for consideration thank you Dr mcday good evening chairman Latif school board members and Dr McDade tonight I will present you with options for the 2022-23 school year as Dr McDade said by way of some background our starting point for this next year's calendar options where our current was our current calendar that you approved as a board back in October of 2020. by way of other background it's important for us to notice to note some requirements Virginia requires that school divisions have 180 days and 990 hours of instruction a school year we can only go below that when we have an emergency situation um in addition we had a change in 20 in the night 2019-2020 school
049year when Virginia removed the prohibition on school divisions guarding school before Labor Day Without a waiver School divisions can now start up to two weeks before Labor day but must have that four Day Labor Day weekend as part of their calendar if they do so next I'm going to describe the calendar development process so we annually convene a calendar committee this committee includes parents students teachers central office staff other staff Representatives representing different associations so as I mentioned the starting point for this calendar was the current calendar other options were included for consideration that made some minor modifications a virtual calendar meeting was held on September 20th of this year the calendar committee discussed these initial options ask questions and provided suggestions that the same committee was then asked for their feedback electronically in order
050to inform the executive cabinet the executive cabinet then approved two options for consideration by the school board once those two options were considered input from the public has been gathered through a poll about these options it's important to note that this year the school board did add some new holidays to the student calendar and in September of this year the governor had a task force that released a report this task force on the culturally inclusive School meals and calendars and the report recommended best practices regarding school calendars and religious observances so Prince William County and some surrounding jurisdictions incorporate multiple religious and cultural observances as student holidays this is one of the best practices our official calendar does not list these holidays by name but our annual School guiding calendar publication lists these holidays as
051well as many other observances some that are school holidays and some that are not other jurisdictions in the area and in the state include some of the religious observances as school days but with rules excusing absences limiting homework and avoiding the scheduling of major events the four holidays that were added to the school year this year they were added to reflect the diversity of Prince William County Public Schools and both calendar options for 2022-23 include these same holidays in the these holidays include Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Diwali and Idol fatir in both proposed options for 2022-23 the winter break does incorporate the Christmas holiday and the spring break incorporates Good Friday Easter and the beginning of Passover next I'm going to show the calendar options at a glance so the first thing that you
052see in italics is the current year calendar and then the two options option A very much mirrors the current year calendar and option b includes minor changes such as a slightly shorter winter break an addition of an additional teacher work day at the end of the first semester and then School actually ending one day earlier this is a verbal summary of those same those same points of information the start and end dates for students um in both options the start date would be August 22nd of 2022 and the end date would be either June 14th in option b or 15th in option A and the total number of days as I mentioned was 180. the key difference is option A mirrors the current calendar and includes a full two-week winter break option b is very
053similar but includes a slightly shorter winter break but an additional student holiday as I mentioned at the end of the first semester these adjustments were made because these are some of the topics that are often discussed and considered by the calendar committee as I mentioned once the committee met and options were discussed they were then asked to provide input via a feedback form afterwards and 18 of them responded they were asked to rank the three options that were under consideration at that time option A the one that parallels the current year was ranked highest followed by our current option b there was a third option but it was so far distant that it didn't make it out of committee committee members were also asked to identify their top two factors in considering what they wanted
054in a calendar the highest priority was maintaining a two-week winter break other high priorities included ending school as early as possible in June as well as keeping the holidays that were added this year as I mentioned we also conducted a public poll about the two options that are under consideration for right now this poll was conducted in October where 3 700 respondents completed the whole poll the majority strong majority chose option A again the one that parallels this year and you can see that that was 79 percent and that was pretty consistent across groups 76 percent of parents 84 percent of staff and 80 percent of students some key themes emerge from Those Who provided some suggested changes and this was less than one-third of the respondents total providing any type of comment so again
055in keeping with themes we've heard before folks like to end school as early as possible we see a lot of comments about keeping a two-week winter break there were some comments about reducing the number of holidays and days off in General within the school year so school can start later and end earlier and there were some comments about setting spring break at a fixed time the first week of April which in the proposed calendar options is when spring break Falls even though that's not its typical fixed time those are the options that we have for you the next steps for in this process the board is scheduled to approve the calendar on November 16th at that point the calendar is used excuse me to develop all of the employee calendars and will be published and
056available to the public as of now the board docs for this meeting and the next one do have both calendar options in graphical format as well as this presentation thank you very much excellent so this was the the first presentation we'll be bringing this back next at the next board meeting to vote on does anyone have any questions for Dr Casada okay um Miss Williams Dr Casada could you tell us um so the school calendar committee that's made up of like generally whom um it includes parent representatives there were students there are teacher Representatives um other staff Association Representatives um and HR Representatives um yes thank you Miss wall um in these two calendar options do we have the same number of teacher work days built in or is there I guess one of them
057said there was an additional teacher work day option b builds another one additional one during the actual school year yes at the end of the first semester to have two days off ledge parallels the end of the first quarter and then um is there pretty much a teacher work day after each quarter yes ma'am Mr Wilk yeah one thing came up since we last spoke um with some of the Consulting work I do um I know particularly like the state of Indiana has adopted what we call e-learning days uh they're primarily meant for asynchronous instruction and meant to give teachers a little bit more bandwidth and time for example the kids log into canvas do their work there might be some office hours towards the end of the day but that gives teachers the ability
058to use that day to have faculty meetings for staff meetings so far in the normal school day their planning isn't possibly taken away as a result of some of that stuff if we were to do something like that would that count towards instructional minutes to put something like that on a calendar for consideration like to put an e-learning primarily asynchronous day for the purpose of like different you know bandwidth of teachers just you know the workload and stuff to give them time potentially to catch up by having modules that many of them have already spent a lot of time in built on canvas but making it primarily like an asynchronous every now and then again to give teachers some time to do more additional work and support for the planning purposes what I can speak
059to right now Mr Wilk is what the state has in place for this year and they're not any further ahead of it than what I'm going to say is my understanding the state's allowing for um on potential unscheduled remote learning days that could count to time up to up to a total of 10 but those are to cover things including unexpected covid closures of schools where schools would shift if a school is closed or a School Division is closed heaven forbid to fully virtual instruction they haven't provided any guidance for long term in terms of what this would look like for years in the future but I can certainly research that okay thank you Miss Jesse hi uh we know we always kid around about the month of November there are so many days that
060the committee address that is there anything that we can do in that in that particular area so um November is a tricky a tricky month um and so there would not be a week what I can say is that the options that are under consideration do not include a week like this one where there would only be two days of students in school so there would um there's adjustments for that made um there would be days there'd be several weeks because of the end of the first marking period Veterans Day and Thanksgiving still fall in the month of November but an adjustment was made for the end of the first quarter to not have um a school week like this one where you had three days off and two days of school that was the
061accommodation made okay um well Dr Assad I'd like to thank you I mean it was just one year ago we were here approving this year's calendar which is really a a new calendar for the county and um if we recall last year the two most popular items were the two-week uh holiday Christmas break in the two week and then the the recognition and taking the day's off for the other holidays I'm glad to see that 3 700 respondents felt very similar about that and we appreciate the options that you've given us last year's selection of a calendar went extremely smoothly and I think the community was thrilled with what we did and it seems like they are validating our work from last year again with this year's counter so thank you very much school board
062members and into the public this is up for um vote in two weeks so the school boards open to taking comment by email um and uh buy online stuff through the clerk's office and at the next School meeting as well thank you very much okay next we'll move on to our student representative um doc I have here we have Charlotte Flynn this evening from Woodbridge senior high school Miss Charlotte Flynn take it away if everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend tonight I want to address the many positive outcomes of the first quarter that I have noticed in our schools I want to highlight the efforts of the teachers and cleaning staff for keeping schools safe throughout the day teachers and Associated staff have maintained clean classrooms and enforced coveted guidelines successfully keeping our students in school
063thank you so much for your hard work and dedication your effort is very appreciated and we are so grateful for your support students congratulations on finishing the first quarter on a positive note I know it was difficult to fall back into the routine of school but your time and commitment to showing up every day and trying your best is noticed let's continue this good work into second quarter lastly I want to give a special shout out to all Prince William County's teachers thank you for taking the time out of your planning periods to assist with subbing and other classes and helping out with the bus system and other special duties we recognize how important this work is especially with the bus and substitute shortage and we are extremely grateful for your service to our students
064thank you for letting me speak tonight I'm so grateful for the work that our students and teachers have done and I hope to see more of it in the future thank you thank you Miss Flynn um Dr McDade superintendent's Time Dr Latonya McDade thank you Dr tonight by again thanking our teachers administrators and support staff for their hard work their dedication to students has ensured this year has been a success with the end of the first quarter report cards will be going out soon the division's academic achievement data from the first quarter will be shared publicly during the November 16th school board meeting I'm very proud of how we have navigated through this pandemic our objective at the start of this year was to provide a quality educational option for all students ensuring that all
065students had the opportunity to return to in-person learning to our classrooms we have achieved this goal thank you to our employees students and their families who continue to follow our mitigation strategies this has not been easy and has been a challenging time for everyone and we appreciate all of your cooperation an update on covet 19. last night the CDC approved the availability of the covid-19 vaccine for children aged five to ages 5 to 11. the vaccine is a pathway out of the pandemic and they are the safest measure we can take to prevent the spread of covet 19. families and caregivers are encouraged to consult with the medical provider regarding vaccination to determine if your child is eligible for the vaccine as I have stated since I was first appointed to this role our work
066will be guided by core values including a commitment to equity a key step forward in that commitment is the creation of inequity office I would like to announce that Dr Lucretia N brown our new Chief Equity officer will join the School Division officially November 15th I look forward to working with Dr Brown to continue to explore how we can champion and Implement educational equity and an inclusive environment in our schools Dr Brown joins us from Allentown Pennsylvania where she served as Deputy superintendent of equity accountability and school Improvement for the Allentown School District as Chief Equity officer for pwcs Dr Brown will serve as a member of the executive cabinet and will develop and Implement short and long-term Equity goals that support the division's Mission Vision and four-year strategic plan Dr Brown's office will also
067oversee our equal employment opportunity work as well as Title IX compliance I look forward to the coherence of Dr Brown and her office will bring to our Equity Focus lastly I would like to acknowledge two very important days that our School Division will recognize with staff and student holidays Diwali tomorrow and Veterans Day next week this school year is the first year we have observed a volley one of the major religious festivals in Hinduism Jainism and Sikhism with a staff and student holiday for Veterans Day our schools hold a wide variety of activities to honor our veterans this time of year in closing on behalf of Prince William County Public Schools I would like to share our immense gratitude to those who have served and are currently serving in the armed forces thank you to
068all the veterans and their families for their lasting contributions to our country Mr chairman this this concludes the superintendent's report thank you Dr McDade we'll move on to revision of policy 711 1901. this is on for a first reading does the school board have any questions I think this one is fairly self-explanatory I think Miss Huebner and Dr McDade are here to answer if there's any questions on this and this will also be voted on next week and this is just to make enrollment um less burden easier essentially and withdrawal easier correct is that right okay any questions on this for the staff yep Miss wall so I think byproducts of the pandemic but there may still be situations where that's really difficult for families is it still possible to show up at a school
069and register in that fashion or is it does it really it says it will begin registration via the online registration process um can you speak to that and um or do we just I guess if they show up the school do we direct them to fill out the process on a computer yes Mrs wall you're correct we do recognize that for some families it may be challenging to access online our school of Staff stands ready if our parents are able to come to the building we will facilitate with that online registration process all right thank you okay thank you miss siemer all right um that wraps it up we'll move on to board matters I think we'll start with Miss Jesse this evening thank you usually on board matters we share events that we attended
070and tonight I'd like to devote my time to to share about an event I did not attend but one that through some communication situation I was not there but this particular Hall of Famer his name is a Victor a Cahoon and I think I have a slide uh Dr McDade and I were talking about the number of children we've lost and this is the late Victor Cahoon he was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Osborne Park I came to know Victor and his family because I hired his mother Thelma Cahoon he passed away 18 years ago and I would call him a triple A type students I'm sorry I'm getting pretty emotional about this but a for academics Ava athleticism and also a for just attitude he was an all-around athletic person he was
071not just a football player he was a track star he did everything when he graduated from Osmond Park he went to Arizona State and Arizona state was in the Rose Bowl and because Mrs Cahoon and I had known each other for so long I remember this is my first time actually observing a student in the Rose Bowl Rose Bowl and they won that game he went on to play for the Washington Redskins and sometimes in life we leave a legacy that's greater than the life our life accomplishments and only because this family has continued to support the school system I know Mr Cahoon has always continued to support the school system she worked for me and as a title one teacher and she also worked at central office they have dedicated to the school system
072their time and efforts to to secure and not secure that's not the word I want to use to maintain The Life and Legacy of their son Victor so I want to announce that he there is a Victor a Cahoon track clax classic and a golf tournament where they raise fund for a scholarship in his honor to Thelma and Sam Cahoon I you are lifelong friends and professional acquaintances and to Victor I knew him when he was seven or eight and he was just a wonderful young man and I wanted to pay tribute to him tonight and that ends my my board matters thank you thank you Miss Jesse Miss William thank you Mr chairman um I just want to start by saying I appreciate the invitation from Vaughn Elementary School I was able to attend
073their crime and slime event which was a lot of fun to see I love math and science although not particularly math is not my favorite subject but it was really fun to get a chance to interact with students and parents and to see how the school took the both students and parents through educational exercises and making science making slime which is math related and science related and then using critical thinking skills to solve a mystery crime and then they appreciate all the hard work by the staff for the parents and the families that were able to come out but especially for the follow-up that was given to parents on things that they could work on at home to develop their students critical thinking the extra time and energy it takes for those type of events
074to be put on I don't think we give enough praise to our schools when they hold these type of events so thank you Devon Elementary School I also want to remind parents that the specialty program applications are open if you have any questions please speak to your counselors but I highly encourage everyone to at least go out and look at the multiple specialty programs that we have here in the county they are not only academic based but they're CTE I mean there's so many starting with middle school there's virtually something for everyone a lot of people talk about trades and school choice and things of that nature but Prince William County schools has continued to lead the way in providing a choice in academic and Career and Technical programs I believe in Northern Virginia and
075it's something that we cannot talk about enough I mean the availability from IB to agricultural programs to welding Cabinetry all sorts of things highly encourage parents and students to go review those programs and apply a lot of them it's as easy as one two three some of them require more in-depth applications but it's definitely worth checking out I want to say how excited I am about the division hiring the chief Equity officer this is something that I've been advocating for for several years and I'm very excited that we have someone in the position and then I just want to take the last few remaining seconds to say how appreciative I am of our School Division for recognizing the many various cultures that are alive and well within our School Division I think with our new
076superintendent I've never seen the amount of appreciation and knowledge about the differences of culture that we have here in Prince William County schools and I think I can safely say not I think but I know for a fact that it is appreciated I've received a tremendous amount of feedback on people who now feel seen and heard because of their religion who their backgrounds all sorts of things so I just want to say thank you because it's it's worth saying we are the 10th most diverse County and our School Division takes the time to recognize it and that provides value so thank you Mr agapore all right um we'll go to miss wall thank you Mr chairman I want to give I want to it's from around the Gainesville District in sports we have um this
077week we had a battlefield volleyball team where Cedar Run District Champs in last night's game was against Colonial Forge in the quarterfinals and they won three straight games so it was really exciting tomorrow the girls varsity field hockey team will compete in region finals and volleyball again in semifinals and cross-country will compete in regionals against Osborne Park so lots of good sports happening out there and I'm really pleased that Sports has been able to continue and we haven't had to shut anything down as far as I know I think that's really exciting Battlefield will score off against Patriot for the district Championship on Friday so that's going to be really exciting Ms Jackson I will go and cheer really loud for everything that happens on the field between us um Reagan Middle I want to
078highlight some of our Middle School sports at Reagan girls track boys soccer and football teams all won their Western regionals and girls track and football were undefeated this season so way to go at Reagan and I know they're a varsity cheer team at Battlefield is headed to States and we'll compete on November 6th I've also wanted to congratulate 38 students who are selected for the vmea Honor Choir I always love to see how music is rebounding one of those one of those things that's really important to me and I think is important to the development of our students is that they have opportunity to develop their Musical and Theatrical and other kinds of talents I enjoyed seeing Unity read Woodbridge Patriot Battlefield perform at their final marching band assessment and also was excited to see
079the progress in those in that program I want to highlight Unity Braxton middle school this week the 6th and 8th grade students at Unity Braxton participated in Amazon Tech week topics included an introduction to cloud computing and an introduction to artificial intelligence and machine learning so students were able to connect via moderated Zoom sessions with Amazon web service employees and participated in classroom activities focused on learning how data scientists and coders think when working with AI and working with algorithms and so this was a great experience and opportunity for all of our students it was possible due to a collaborative effort between Amazon web services pwcs supervisor of science Julia renberg Professional School counseling department at ubms and our business liaison Eric semenauer I want to give a quick shout out to ptos and ptas
080for your dedication to our teachers and schools the breakfast cookies notes of encouragement cards boxes of Kleenex activities fundraisers festivals and more you you really are a very important part of our school climate in response to those who spoke about masks and mandates and other things I hear you I have long felt that state and federal policy has sort of lost the lost the message a little bit and is drifting with no clear metrics in in the end go at in the end goal with the pandemic and at this point I feel it's my personal feeling that there is a badly needed adjustment at the state and federal level and I'm looking forward to that I hope that will make a difference for what we're trying to do um I have long felt that we
081have over we are over quarantining our students um however I do appreciate what everybody has said a focus is of course education the educational welfare and academic performance of all students is the highest priority that's in our code of ethics number two and I'll end with this quote from Benjamin Franklin who said an investment in knowledge pays the best interest thanks everybody and have a good night Adele Jackson thank you Dr ratif there were several resolutions on this week's agenda that I would like to take note of from recognizing American Education week International Education week education support professional week and inclusive schools week I just want to take a moment to thank all education support professional staff to the first faces in the building a parent interacts with to the last phase a student sees
082when they get off the bus thank you to all secretaries classroom aides cafeteria workers maintenance workers bus aides bus drivers and many others that directly serve our students last week I was fortunate very fortunate to attend the First Responders Center at Patriot High School I'm so grateful for all First Responders and the endless commitment to our community's safety and health I am thankful to be present for the wonderful speeches expressing gratitude including the student body president at Patriot High School and Dr McDade choral performances including the ASL Club who signed the national anthem Orchestra color guard and the band I am very grateful for the culinary students and Chef Stevenson for showing gratitude and love to our First Responders through wonderful food congratulations to Dr Jackson his first day at the Knoxville School and as
083always thank you to all Prince William County staff who continue to give the all during a pandemic and to those staff members who showed up after a long day to come and talk to them about their concerns and thank you very much to the IT staff at Prince William County schools who always help me make sure that closed captioning is up and running so that I can participate and hear everything everybody is saying so thank you um and uh thank you of course to the parents who came this evening and have a great night Mr Justin Wilk thank you chairman Dr Latif um quick things I do want to thank a couple people who are on my consent agenda for the appointments Mr David Miles he'll be serving on the CIA committee Mr miles is
084a Dumfries resident and a special needs grandparent he will be taking a seat being vacated by Miss Brandy Workman I do want to thank her for her service to the committee I do want to thank Pamela Lockridge for serving on the equity Council she will be filling a seat vacated by Roseanne rothenblum thank you Roseanne for your service to the military and for our school system a couple events that I went to First on Halloween Eve I did not just attend but I participated as a parent and family in the Ashland Trunk or Treat event over 700 students plus attended and what a great event we dressed up as Marvel um and it was a great time the Marvel characters with the truck um I got to uh go out to Patriot to watch our
085Forest Park girls hockey team field hockey team first time a to be very transparent I had watched the sport still learning a lot but congratulations uh on the Bruins for making regionals uh did attend Potomac High Schools football homecoming where I was granted the privilege to Crown the homecoming king and queen that was a great event I was told that close to 900 kids went to potomac's homecoming dance it's great to see the kids are back in school going to events I want to recognize the Patty Elementary which has one of the strongest ptos I think I've ever worked with for their fall book fair it was a great superhero theme and a huge turnout from families and students I want to thank the team and the principal for doing a safe process for having
086the kids come in it reminded me a lot of like uh what like the couple days before Christmas before Amazon on Prime came with shopping so retail stores what used to be but it was a good event I also want to thank supervisor Andrea Bailey my esteemed counterpart on the bocs for having me attend her virtual Town Hall a quick uh you know as the long-standing member of safe schools committee I do want to recognize and that I acknowledge the parent emails and concerns about the number of increased fights in schools and behavioral issues I've spoken to principals about it and they've told me the numbers are up I do understand that we did have some clearly unfortunate time out of school because of the pandemic but as a safe schools member we will work
087and move forward to work and support our principals with these behavioral issues and then finally with my last 10 seconds I have to mention as a former Civics teacher I was extremely proud yesterday to get all the Selfies from former students I feel really old that they're all they're voting now whether it was for red blue or whatever color it was I was very proud to see uh many of my former students exercising their student their civic duty all the way across from Gainesville to Woodbridge so thank you Miss Ralston oh okay I'm sorry um no let me just ask but I'm glad I am glad to be back from being ill Fantastic Mr Olson we are thrilled to have you back I'm glad you're feeling better uh we'll next move to mississaugapore Vice chair
088thank you Dr Latif um I had an opportunity to go to the first awards banquet for Osborne Park High School I am a graduate of Osborne Park so it was really nostalgic for me to be able to sit there and listen to um people these these athletes who are awarded for things that they did in times before I got to that school and a little bit after and I was struck by a few things um first of all I I miss Jesse I went to I was in classes with Victor Calhoun he and I had I think was a math class together and then two years later I went to Arizona State and ran into him at football game so yeah yeah so so it's a weird world isn't it um I was struck by
089that by the the um the way that the athletes talked about how their experiences shaped them they all had an attitude of gratitude and they all recognized that they weren't there alone that they had a team with them the entire time who pushed them to be better another thing that was a common theme was that the lessons that they learned as athletes transformed every everything else in their life from personal relationships to jobs to college to businesses they may be running so it has an impact on our lives on our life and I I think that um it's really important that we recognize as we're we're getting more and more adapted moving through this pandemic I mean we've got more activities that the kids are able to get in into these are lifelong experiences they
090shape who we are so I think these are all excellent things and in the spirit of an attitude of gratitude I want to express my gratitude to all the staff who've been working so hard and teachers I I have been hearing you about your time the clts the the planning I convey those things as much as I can to division staff so I know I got you parents I hear you I know you're concerned about health and you're concerned about kids missing time maybe to quarantines and things like that um trying to I'm hopeful that we will be able to have like a little faster path back in the classrooms um oh the other thing I did want to say about the the thing at Osborne Park what also struck me was that the people
091who were the coaches were there for 20 30 years in one school that's not something we really see anymore and it's because the face of education has changed quite a bit so um I want us all to think about how we're not going to wear out our teachers and our staff I also want to give a quick mention we did have elections yesterday so congratulations to everyone who ran everyone who won those of you who are going to Richmond either you're representing us new or you have been there before please remember that we're your local school board we want to be involved in the legislation and the decisions that you all make that affect us so be wary of how you talk about budgets and and perhaps unfunded mandates that's my little two cents there
092I'm gonna yield these last 10 seconds to Miss Williams because she didn't get a chance to mention something important thank you Mr Kapoor Vice chairs excuse me um I do want to say that in from hearing there response from the public and from a parent who came I will be hosting with several others a town hall on culturally responsive teaching that will take place here at the Kelly leadership building on November 15th at 7 pm more details to follow thank you okay good evening everyone um I'd like to Echo Dr McDade statements on Veterans Day we are thrilled to recognize our veterans and especially our students who've gone on to become veterans and folks in our community and parents and and as Dr McDade points out a lot of our schools will be having some
093activities around that uh May Diwali burn your bad times and enter you into good times tomorrow to all of those celebrating Diwali in our community uh best wishes regarding our sports teams I get to root for all of our teams and I get to win in every match because I'm chairman at large so we have some fantastic sports teams great fall season that is wrapping up and some playoffs that are happening please get out there and follow them um and go see our teams and and participate in all their activities they're doing um vaccines I like to Echo Dr mcdade's statements please check with your pediatrician your doctor your family physician on how best and when to vaccinate your children if you so desire I think it's very important it'll help us reduce quarantines it'll
094help us get back to normal and it is critical it is a choice the school board has not made this a mandate for any of our students at any point and I think it's important to remind everyone but we do highly encourage it and we do believe it'll help us get to a place where it is the ultimate mitigation and so please check with your pediatrician those for 5 to 11 year olds will be starting to roll out I think as early as this Friday um thank you to our teachers and our students it was a rough first quarter it's been a tough re-entry into in-person learning it has been tough from many standpoints and so I congratulate all of you of getting through this first quarter it wasn't easy it's been tough on everyone
095but we are getting there and we continue to hear your concerns and I can tell you that the superintendent and the staff and the school board continue to hear it and we're working diligently to try to find solutions to the many challenges we face as a School Division lastly congratulations to governor-elect Glenn Younkin I am um excited to let everyone know that this school board will continue to work to Lobby Richmond regardless of who's there and who's uh working in the general assembly uh on the behalf of our students here in Prince William County we will continue to work hard to get the funds we believe we need to run a world-class education we will work with anyone and everywhere in whether it's Richmond and here in our County to do what we need to
096do with for what's best for our students and so I commit to working with our new leadership this January as they get inaugurated and again thank you to all those that ran and um and um and best wishes on uh no November no what is it no school November we call it um and Miss um um I'm going to go back I'm going to give a couple seconds here to Missouri before she forgot to remind people okay regardless of what you believe about the mass wear your mask wash your hands your distance get vaccinated if you wish and uh everyone stay healthy and well have a great evening everyone thank you very much meeting adjourned [Music]