001okay good evening I'd like to call this meeting at the Prince William County School Board to order um we have the pursuant to Virginia code 2.23708.2 in 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 a medical condition that prevents her in-person participation emotions in order for the approval of the closed session agenda I move that the Prince William County school board approved the closed session agenda as recommended you have a second Mr chairman Miss Williams a second any discussion please vote Miss Ralston how do you vote Miss Ralston how do you vote yes Miss Rawson can you hear us by the way I'm sorry I didn't know if uh hey Jason is uh is Miss
002Ralston um hey Mr Alston can you hear me okay yes sir we'll work on that all right so we'll just call that abstain at this point take your time Wilk so the vote is seven yes one abstain motion passed moving on to the motion to enter closed session Motion in order Mr chairman Ms Ralston we can hear you now okay good I vote Yes okay you vote yes thank you Mr Austin outstanding all right moving on to the emotion and or closed session Mr chairman yes I move that pursuant to Virginia code sections 2.2-3711 and 2.2-3712 that the Prince William County School Board enter closed session for the following reasons one to discuss with the superintendent staff the hiring appointment transfer release assignment and promotion of specific employees and to receive legal advice on related
003legal related legal issues as provided by Virginia code section 2.2-3711a one and eight two to discuss with staff and consult with legal counsel regarding requests for religious exemptions pertaining to the specific students under as provided by Virginia code section 2.2-3711a 2 and 8 3 to consult with legal counsel and staff actual or probable litigation and specific legal matters involving staff and students as provided by section 2.2-3711a127 and 8 4 to consult with a legal counsel and receive legal advice regarding proposed resolutions relating to the pandemic under Virginia code section 2.2-3711a8 5 to consult with the legal counsel and receive legal advice regarding pwcs non-discrimination policies and regulations under Virginia code section 2.2-3711a 8 6 to consult with a superintendent legal counsel regarding legal procedures relating to the conduct of board meetings under Virginia code section
0042. 2-3711a8 and 7. to receive information and to discuss with staff plans for the security of the Kelly Leadership Center and other school board facilities and property and the safety of persons using those facilities and property under the Virginia code section 2.2-3711a 19. do you have a second Mr chairman Miss Williams a second any discussion please vote Miss Ralston how do you vote Yes Mr rossen votes yes vote a date yes unanimous motion passed so at this time the Prince William County School Board will enter closed session and we will return in approximately one hour we will be out at seven o'clock so we're going to try to get this done and if we can't get it done before seven we'll go back into closed session at the end so we'll get it we'll be
005back out here at seven thank you foreign [Music] foreign [Music] excellent so at this point the um Prince William County School Board will now re-enter um public session and we have a uh hold on where am I yeah moving on to closed session certification emotions in order for Mr chairman I move that pursuant to the Virginia code section 2.2-3712 the closed session of the Prince William County school board meeting of October 6 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 new member's knowledge one only public business matters were lawfully Exempted wait a minute sorry about that only public business matters lawfully Exempted from open meeting requirements were discussed in the closed meeting to which this
006certification resolution applies and two only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard and discussed or considered by the school board do you have a second Mr chairman Miss Williams my second any discussion please vote Miss Ralston how do you vote yes Miss Ralston votes yes there it is the vote is eight yes unanimous motion passed moving on to the closed session action items 9.01 Mrs argophone Mr chairman I moved at the Prince William County school board approved the appointments contracts and releases of specific employees as presented in closed sessions do you have a second Mr chairman Miss Jesse Miss Jesse seconds any discussion please vote Miss Ralston how do you vote yes Ms Rosenberg yes the vote is eight yes unanimous motion passed moving on to
0079.02 emotions in order Mr chairman I move that the Prince William County school board approved the request for religious exemptions for mandatory School attendance for students in case number re21-10 through re21-19 do you have a second second Miss Ralston seconds any discussion great please vote Miss Ralston how do you vote yes Mr Ross and votes yes Miss Jackson's voting yes the vote is eight yes unanimous motion passed excellent okay moving on to um that was it that's it so I'd like to call the meeting of the Prince William County School Board to order at this point we'll do the Pledge of Allegiance and uh our student representative and Charlotte Flynn can lead us in the pledge please yeah I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for
008which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you moving on to 12.01 approval of the public meeting agenda motions in order missouripower I move that the Prince William County school board approved the public meeting agenda as recommended do you have a second Mr chairman Ms Williams a second any discussion please vote Miss Ralston how do you vote yes Ms rossen votes yes Miss Jackson how do you vote okay the vote is eight yes unanimous motion passed okay great moving on to adoption of the consent agenda emotions in order MS argopore Mr chairman I moved to the Prince William County school board approved the public meeting consent agenda as recommended do I have a second chairman Miss Jesse a second it's Jesse seconds in motion any discussion excellent please
009vote Miss Ralston how do you vote Yes Mr Ralston votes yes the vote is eight yes unanimous motion passed great next we're moving on to the uh citizen comment time those citizens who've signed up in advance for the clerk May address the school board this evening when they are called to the podium we have four speakers on agenda items and nine speakers on non-agenda items speakers will have three minutes three minutes to speak please use proper decorum and manners while at the podium if you do not do so you will be asked to step aside when you are called to the PO when you're called to the podium please state your name and address for the record I will call the first speakers up to um we'll just go the first speaker is Jennifer rokoski
010and then after her will be Riley OKC of Etta Scott and Melanie to chato so first is Miss Jennifer rokoski speak a little closer into the mic if you don't mind I think try my best and a little bit louder through the mask I will I will project as best I can good evening School Board um and superintendent my name is Jennifer rarkovski my address is on file with the clerk I reside in the Occoquan district and I work for Prince William County schools to start off my citizen comment time I'd like to read an excerpt from Trevor Noah's book born a crime in Germany No Child finishes school without learning about the Holocaust not just the facts of it but the how and why and the gravity of it what it means as a
011result Germans grow up appropriately aware and apologetic in America the history of racism is taught like this there was slavery and then there was Jim Crow and then there was MLK Jr Martin Luther King Jr and now it's done it was the same for us in South Africa apartheid was bad Nelson Mandela was freed let's move on facts but not many and never the emotional or moral dimension I was raised in the Jewish faith in a small suburb of Pittsburgh in school I definitely encountered lots of questions sometimes they were innocent like do you celebrate Halloween or Easter sometimes they weren't sensitive like did you have any relatives that were in the Holocaust but too often the appropriate marks came my way things like when a student said to me privately what Hitler did was
012right in 2018 the synagogue where I had my butt Mitzvah Tree of Life in Squirrel Hill Pennsylvania 11 people were killed and six were injured students learn empathy when they learn that we are not all perfect that we have done things wrong and that we try to do better differences do not tear a community apart they increase appreciation for diversity and reduce ignorance in the population our students already know that they are expected to do better with environmentalism in our community as they plan for the future I also hope they'll grow up expecting to do better with acceptance tolerance and inclusion I'm a member of the National Education Association and from the Nea at Justice website no matter our color background or zip code we want our kids to have an education that imparts Honesty
013about who we are integrity and how we treat others encouraged to do what's right we demand that our schools have the resources to meet every child's needs with well-trained and supported teachers and curriculum that helps reckon with the past and shape our future thank you for passing your racial and social justice resolution and having the committee thank you Riley ocasey good evening board members Dr McDade mcday Riley ocasey my address is on file I hope everyone is doing well it's been a while thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening Miss Williams I'm excited to see the update on your your racial and social justice committee I was absolutely perplexed during the last few board meetings as to why there were so many Prince William County residents and citizens speaking against critical race Theory
014where was this coming from the national movement from many politicians to limit the teaching of America's history has unfortunately come to Prince William County please let me assure you that we are not teaching CRT let me say it again we are not teaching CRT I am a middle school Civics teacher with 18 years of classroom experience and never have I considered teaching CRT however I teach my students to think critically to problem solve to collaborate with classmates to make wise decisions and most importantly I teach my students the truth and I teach them to rely on a variety of sources when researching topics I would strongly encourage those citizens by the way who are not all from Prince William County who spoke against CRT to spend a little more time researching the facts perhaps reading
015or listening to multiple Media or news sites when one gets their information from Only One Source One stays ignorant our students know this my students know this they know the truth and they know the truth about America's history thank you ovada Scott good evening ladies and gentlemen of the board Mr chairman Dr mcday I'm smiling my name is ovetta Scott and my address is on file with the clerk first I totally respect our superintendent's call for all employees to be vaccinated this is a call to ensure a safeguard from covid-19 which is a deadly disease second the baby Bond time that can add to maternity leave and the security changes for our network with certain sites are both needed and appreciated tonight on the agenda there is a payroll review and I want to advocate
016for the review of Staff pay who are working Beyond normal contract time due to the shortage of bus drivers and the multiple runs staff find themselves stand with students past the school day persons like myself who are late to afternoon appointments must either reschedule or pay a late fee to offset the situation there needs to be an hour pay added to those staff members incurring this additional time to their day next the shortage of substitutes have led to a loss of planning time for teachers if teachers cannot have the time needed to prepare lessons work on grades or follow up with parents then we should be given additional pay for having to be the sub and perform work from home please consider these pay options because your employees are being impacted in a way that
017brings down morale in our buildings lastly ladies and gentlemen on the board I would like to state that in my 16 years or working for Prince William County schools I have always taught the Virginia standards of learning I teach my students the truth whether I'm teaching history or math last year my class was in my order um Dr Latifah I'd like to remind you that members according to the policy that speakers are supposed to confine their remark to the to the board item that they're um a deer signed up to speak about and so I think you're veering away from the payroll I did speak to that I'm at the end of my paragraph please all right go ahead and finish thank you um I have always taught the Virginia standards of learning I teach
018my students the truth whether I'm teaching history or math last year my class was in my students home parents were able to view what I taught how I taught and every mannerism that I portray so why the excitement over CRT when it's not in our state curriculum is beyond me thank you for allowing me to speak so as division Council points out we're going to try to stick to what um is on the agenda items for those folks who signed up for the agenda spots because they took those spots from people who wanted to speak on that so we'll go to Melanie deschato I'm sorry duchado sorry I don't know if that's close enough I'm Melanie du Chateau you have my address on file first I want to thank you for the expanded comment time
019the three-minute speaker time and the agenda transparency out in the lobby these improvements have not gone unnoticed so thank you and I also signed up to speak about payroll because your salaries are probably included in that so the salaries that we in this room are paying and most of us most of us feel that sometimes you aren't earning because you're not doing an effective job so first I want to I want everyone to know that at the last board meeting it was Prince William County Democrats committee chair Tanya James who caused the scene results in security clearing the room sorry the policy requires you to speak to the agenda item which is speaking about your salary I'm speaking about payroll because I believe that you have veered away right so just stick to the salary
020of the folks here in the the building please yes your salaries are included in the payroll and where I'm I'm speaking to how you are earning your salaries so it is effect it is it is applicable we at the parents are not happy about the arbitrary capacity limits for the board meeting so we'd like some explanation speaking of transparency and doing work once again ma'am you are veering you're not following the policy no and you're you're not are your salaries not included in payroll if you're talking points I'm is your are your salaries not included in under payroll to the topic of payroll and salaries but you are going beyond that to speak about I'm talking about the job that the board is doing for whom we pay the salaries okay so we're asking for
021more transparency with board with with the capacity limitations in the board meetings so while we've seen some improvements tonight we'd like someone to explain the reasoning behind the decisions for the capacity restrictions when there's no capacity restrictions out in the atrium second your job we're talking about salaries here your job is to provide an excellent education for our kids which a lot of us feel like is not happening you're too focused on setting the stage for highly controversial curriculum that's rooted Marxism Theory to judge others by the color of Mr Chateau you're violating the rules am I not speaking about the job that you're doing for for so to earn the salaries for what we pay I'm talking about your salaries and I'm talking about how we don't feel like you're earning them that it
022has absolute that has everything to do with payroll because we pay your salaries I understood that that understood but talking about capacity limits has nothing to do right now yes it does because we're asking for more transparency and better communication it is absolutely if you would let me finish you would you would understand how this all has to do with your salaries so can you can you please go ahead and wrap up wrap wrap up your remarks go ahead and wrap up your remarks okay so it's critical theory teaches our children to judge others not by the by the color of their skin that no matter the level of the effort the child puts into their work an equal outcome is the most important thing and then if you are of a minority race you're
023not capable of succeeding with hard work and determination you're teaching minorities that it's because of their skin color that they are not able to be successful without lowering standards and disadvantaging other kids third I want to address the recent vaccine and testing requirements for staff because we all know this will eventually be a requirement for our children I want you to ask yourself what is the purpose of requiring vaccines for staff or weekly testing for those that decline we're told that if you reduce the transmission of the virus thus protecting please finish you our our policy says if you want to speak on non-agenda items you can sign up for that time slot those time slots were taken the time slots that you were given were for a specific agenda items for this evening you
024are beyond that with the discussion on vaccines were you you are more than welcome to sign up for our next board meeting and you're more than welcome to send us emails and uplets and and they are and you spoke to that but the vaccines are not part of that so thank you ma'am the next speaker will be Denny Palmer Denny then Richard Jesse and then Emmett Fletcher a quick question to the school board Council um I put on the list that I am going to be speaking about covid protocols is that under agenda items you're on the non-agenda item list you can speak to anything on the agenda or non-agenda or rather non-agenda thank you my name is Palmer Denny and my address is on file come before you tonight to inform you of scientific
025findings that you may not be aware of on September 22nd Dr Martin Makari an oncologist at John Hopkins University gave an interview to WTOP in that interview he stated multiple facts about covid one being the efficacy of masks Dr Latif I do hope you will follow the science here as you claim to in the WTOP interview Dr Makari said that cloth and surgical masks are only about 11 effective at preventing the spread of covid 11 percent that is far too low to Warrant forcing masks on children as young as kindergarten further the mortality rate from covid in kids is 0.03 percent we don't take any extraordinary precautions like these mandates to prevent anything else for the risk level that low further have you considered the negative effects of prolonged mask wearing from another piece by
026Dr Makari those who have myopia nearsightedness can have difficulty seeing because the mask fogs their glasses masks can cause severe acne and other skin problems the discomfort of a mass distracts some children from learning by increasing Airway resistance during exhalation mass can lead to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the blood and mass can become vectors for pathogens if they become moist or used for too long these downsides alone all outweigh the 11 Effectiveness sorry 11 protection granted by The Masks I would also like to add that in our own County there have been little to no cases of students returning to school with lasting effects from covid covid is not the threat to children that you say it is 0.03 percent pediatric death rate and finally if these Protocols are truly as effective as
027you claim they are why is covet still running rampant through our schools I'll remind you that back in March of 2020 when we had two weeks to slow the spread which turned into two years when everyone was on board with staying home and wearing masks and social distancing and only going out when necessary why were the numbers of cases and deaths the absolute worst of this pandemic these Protocols are ineffective at preventing a virus that is turning into the common cold and as a student an employee who must live with this I strongly urge you to reconsider these ridiculous mandates okay [Applause] Richard Jesse foreign good evening member of the board my name is Richard Jesse my address is on file I want to talk to you about the mission of information and what happens
028when when that happens my kids were taught in high school that this person should be honored as a great American and you know we we understood that and we follow the rules and and the kids did honor them however let me tell you some information that was omitted about this gentleman he had sex with his slave who was 14 to 15 at the time had his first baby with her when she was 16. as six of the kids with her and even his own Foundation has substantial weighted that through DNA D DNA that these kids were his and yet we honor this man I have no problem honoring the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence I have no problem honoring the man who was the third president of the United States but the facts
029are that this man was basically a pedophile and a rapist and in today's terms we would not be honoring the person in fact if you look at it Thomas Jefferson High School the number one high school in the country is honoring a man that in today's terminology we would never honor that much because when youth have sex with a person in 14 or 15 have kids with them I don't know what to say other than the fact that you know the omission of information in our country is what's causing a lot of problems and when we say that we don't teach critical race Theory that's correct however this country omits things so that we think people are better we have no problems when Bill Causley used to be the father of the United you know
030the greatest father in the world on the TV series but once we found out about his sexual habits people take names off the buildings and so forth all I'm saying is that for history purposes and what we teach in school we should be accurate in what we say and our full disclosure thank you Emmett Fletcher good evening Mr chairman school board members Dr McDade it's a real pleasure to be here this evening to witness the peaceful meeting that we're having compared to the last meeting I want to thank the school board and the school Personnel for all they are doing for our kids it's been a tough two years like someone has already said I work with Omega Psi Phi and we've been in a lot of schools in Prince William County doing mentoring programs
031we miss going out to the schools and although we did it two years almost two years online and the kids enjoyed it but we missed the personal interaction with the kids and taking them on field trips and we look forward to the in-class students getting back to in in class also some of the kids that I know and throughout the county they lived in the county almost two years and some of them are still doing you know the education with zoom when I went to school it was very important for me to meet my friends some of those friends became lifetime friends and that's important for the Social Development of our children I understood what Mr Jesse said and that's history what he said uh and we need to recognize that also we we live
032in a different time right now we're in the 21st century and we all have to get along whether we black white Jews the Gentiles we have to get along and some of the Educators said she teach the facts and we have to teach the facts I've been living in Prince William County for over 40 years and we've always been a community that's been very positive and been very Progressive although we have had differences but we get along and it's really nice to see uh the board and the members that attended this meeting behave as grown-ups and I think you should be credited for that also it's very important for us to check our behavior when we come in the door make sure that we are proper role models for the kids we do have some
033little kids running around here and I'm sure we have children that's watching this on TV so I asked you to continue the behavior that's been demonstrated here this evening I asked the members that came to speak that they demonstrate Behavior because Prince William county is a good County and I think we can lead the country by showing example and I thank you for your time thank you for the opportunity to speak to you Makia little gonna have to do a bit of speed reading so I'm going to remove my mask good evening my name is Makia little my address is on file after watching the past month of school board meetings and observing last night's unsanctioned Prince William County racial and Social Justice Commission Town Hall I felt quite a few things need clarification when
034my children attended West Ridge Elementary School for three consecutive years I had to deal with an assignment they each received to pretend that they arrived at Ellis Island to tell their classmates from where they had come so before I was even ready to have the talk with my kids I was forced to teach them that the story of their ancestors had nothing to do with Ellis Island the tone deafness of this assignment made the unfortunate assumption that everyone experiences our nation in the same way and forced parents who look like me to develop our own curricular Frameworks to teach our children their own history that was lacking from their public education at the time in 2019 while preparing for the Virginia studies Sol my youngest brought home a study guide that taught her to memorize
035that the history of her ancestors was unknown and that they were either slaves or servants by this time I had had enough and brought my concerns to this very board however recognizing that curriculum is established at the state level I took my concerns to the governor's office and was appointed as a parent in HBCU advocate of the African-American history education commission one of the commission's tasks was to develop supports for culturally responsive teaching to ensure that tone deaf assignments such as the Ellis Island project were eliminated from lessons plan lesson plans to ensure that students throughout the Commonwealth could see themselves reflected in the state's level curriculum cultural competence is now as it should be a requirement of all Virginia's Educators because Virginia students are not a monolith all of our ancestors did not come
036through Ellis Island and culturally responsive teaching acknowledges that despite what many may feel or believe it is not and I repeat it is not to put pit children against one another simply put culturally responsive teaching acknowledges that the world does not revolve around a single culture or experience several parents who spoke at the last few school board meetings and even last night attacked an andragogical concept called critical race Theory also referred to as CRT as a member of both the governor's African-American history education commission and as a charter member of the Virginia superintendent's African-American advisory Council I want to attest to the fact that critical race theory is not being taught in Virginia's K-12 Public Schools as it is a legal framework that seeks to critically examine the intersection of race and U.S law and
037would be a developmentally inappropriate topic so if you are attacking CRT I respectfully ask that you clarify as to which CRT you're referring because critical race theory is not being taught however culturally responsive teaching ensures that I will not have to supplement my child's education by teaching them the full story of our nation's history and how it fits how they fit in it if you are claiming that culturally responsive teaching has no place in our schools than what you are in fact saying is that there is no problem and I would like to thank you as little the time is up I would like to extend my partnership to the board to host a sanctioned town hall and discuss the matter Jason I need that clock set and it needs to continue reset the clock
038Heather McCann Jessica Newton will be after that Isaiah McCann then after that so Heather McCann next and then Jason's our folks um set the clock so they can see it it stopped it in in the middle there or at the end I'm gonna go hold on one sec do we have a clock guys okay all right um go ahead the the clerk will start the timer and she'll give you a warning in one one minute is that okay yeah Heather McCann all right Miss Heather McCann and my file with the clerk thank you for letting me speak tonight I do obviously want to speak about what happened at the last school board meeting um that was shut down due to a destruct A disruption a Democrat committee chair had as mentioned previously her name was
039Tanya James she and many others that are teachers with this County or staff members were here with her they all look to be together the first ladies that spoke here tonight at the podium were in that crowd parents did not shut this meeting down the meeting was delayed due to a closed session prior to us coming out for this meeting so we waited while waiting at one point a veteran in the room asked the vets were present which several were and proceeded with singing the national anthem after we were done singing Tanya stood and shouted at the gentleman sitting behind her I don't know why and others sitting in the crowd she also yelled at um when we were done singing she shouted more at the gentleman behind her along with other people in the
040crowd yelling Fu and sharing some other vulgar words we called for security quite a few times which never happened the security didn't come until the rest of the people that were with Tanya showed up and then we were dismissed from the meeting all of this was on video and has been shared several times in many ways on social media news platforms what I what seems suspect to me that night was there were several news channels news stations that were there that seemed odd to me that were recording this footage and the footage was manipulated in several ways even one of the news stations posted a picture of me and my son front and center exposing not exposing but spreading lies which was what they said did not happen once we were all outside since we
041were told to leave we were talking amongst ourselves and shared one minute warning okay thank you my son's broke spoke bravely in front of the crowd he is sitting behind me tonight one of the one of the ladies in that crowd with Tanya James heckled at my son and yelled at him while he was speaking which was incredibly rude and no adult should ever talk to a child that way how dare these women who are apparently County staff members and teachers act in such a way would you do that to your children or your students my son respectfully responded with telling all of them that he hopes they come to the Lord and may God bless them again there are videos for proof he continued to say that we shouldn't have to come to this
042and we shouldn't shout at each other as his mother I am incredibly proud of him for that moment my child didn't react with Revenge instead he was respectful and glorified the Lord how my son I was extremely disappointed at how my son was yelled at and how this meeting was wrongfully dismissed I am proud to stand here with the parents behind me tonight so we can discuss how we feel because that's time Miss McCann all right thank you Jessica Newton I'm Jessica Newton from Gainesville Virginia you guys have my address on file I've been so conflicted on how to present this information all week because I cannot bring myself to or write some of the most explicit lines in this book but because I feel parents may have no idea need to be informed I'm
043going to power through Lawn Boy is a book by Jonathan a vision that you can check out it in many high schools in our County on page 19 of this critically acclaimed novel quote not that it really matters in fourth grade at a church youth group meeting out in the bushes I touched Doug goble's D and he touched mine in fact there was even some mouths involved on page 91 what if I told you I touched another guy's D what if I told you I sucked it I was 10 years old but it's true I put Doug Gobles D in my mouth I was in fourth grade it was no big deal he sucked mine too and you know what it wasn't terrible I do believe that everyone here would agree this is pretty x-rated
044content not appropriate for any grade level so I'm just curious after the national attention this has obviously gotten in the past few weeks why you just haven't taken the initiative and removed it until it can be reviewed it's almost like you're endorsing it by ignoring this glaring issue I and many more of your conscious constituents have lost trust in the school board Dr Latif I'll never forget reading the text messages in a foia request where you say I don't believe in transparency or public discussion in August superintendent Latonya McDade said a vaccine mandate is quote worth exploring but that she wasn't working on it then Weeks Later unanimous vote goes down after not allowing any parents to weigh in on the subject I've heard more than one of you speak out against it in the
045past I'm legitimately scared for my children at this point I'm finding out that the FBI is being pulled in will start investigating parents that come here upset if any of their actions are deemed harassing violent or threatening seems innocent enough unless you know that Prince William County schools are putting teachers through cultural competency trainings that label Maga toting citizens as overtly white supremacist who knew supporting the last sitting president was white supremacists I have quite a few Maga hats should I be worried as a mega hat threatening I feel that the lines are becoming blurred and because of the extra security we've been having here lately especially I haven't seen or heard anyone threatening a school board remembered any of these meetings calling one a liar maybe thank you and with the last 54 seconds
046I'm going to finish the rest of Mel's speech we're told that it's to reduce the transmission of this virus these vaccine mandates thus protecting point of order what the CDC has been very clear about is that the injection does not prevent transmission it says only it prevents a serious case of the illness so one could be infected could be asymptomatic attend school and transmit it so I ask you how is this requirement protecting anyone if that is the goal then the entire staff should be tested regularly especially the vaccinated because they may not show symptoms which would normally trigger them to call in sick and stay home on the other hand if the requirement is to protect the individual then leave it to the individual to make this very personal decision where there is risk
047there must be choice and there is always risk with pharmaceutical products our young children are at the lowest risk of serious infection and highest risk of serious cardiac related Adverse Events like myocarditis lasts me lastly let me remind you again that you work for us you are our active representatives and you thank you just that representing us thank you Isaiah McCann [Applause] oh okay good evening my name is Isaiah um my address is on file my main point is this is coming straight from the heart what I believe our school board should be doing to fix our County and stop what is going on right now here are a few points mainly stay in your lane you do not have to get involved with political agendas you do not have to get involved with public
048health although it is good to keep people safe education is free in America so if anyone was ever to going to contemplate any type of vaccine mandate or anything else that was going to limit students from going to school that sounds like discrimination to me and I it's not good for our County because of how it it's just not good I don't get it how we have to get the protection to protect the um to protect the unprotected and to protect ourselves at the same time it doesn't make sense to me why like we haven't even talked about it but still I feel like that is going to come along the line very very soon because we already see other people starting to in um Implement what's the word they're already starting to put it
049in my second point is the racial and social justice board does not do anything it does not glorify black people it does not help us in any single way or form Equity is not equality it does not help anyone in any way because putting in political agenda books putting books about social justice in a high school that is no play that has no place in any school you are you are only to teach history math science history Math Science and language arts um it does not glorify me as a black person to see these divisions of the school board being put out because I do not need to someone else to stand up for me I am not a victim there is no need for this board and everyone who was on a lot of
050people one of the people that was on that board was here last week and he was recognized and didn't say anything my third point I'm making my phone actually never mind my third point is you are not listening to what your people are needing your people need someone who will stand up for them who knows that they serve them alone and that we do not serve the school board we do not serve you you serve us and if you are not going to listen then there's no point of you being in these seats thank you Mr McCann numbers John of avalis obelis [Applause] close enough thank you good evening everybody um my family settled in Prince William County after my wife retired from the military and since then I've been proud to be a Community
051member uh Prince William County Schools parent and a frequent substitute teacher and volunteer in the schools and Community I was telling some kids the other day boy if I didn't enjoy being around kids and supporting the future of this community I've made some bad life choices uh so first thank you thank you to the schools for your effort to bring back all the teachers and students in person this year last year was truly miserable and uh was a terrible time for my kids um the enforcement of the mass mandates the vaccine mandate you passed last month and all the other Common Sense policies supported by experts and supported by past practice these all make me feel safer they make me feel better about having my kids in school and make me feel more likely to
052substitute because as you all know there's a desperate need for Subs in our schools right now keeps our kids in school and learning personally I would like to see the board add the coveted vaccines to the list that students are required to have as they're approved for use in those age groups and as they as they reach full approval along with MMR polio every other vaccine that I got let's go ahead and add covet to that list for them we can even have clinics in the schools once they're approved hopefully this fall I'd love to see the school board start working on that I hope the board continues listening to Good Sense and expertise and all their decision making I'd also like to ask you all to keep making efforts to improve bus service for
053all students including our special needs kids I had a great conversation today with transportation office I think they share the urgency we feel in the community that we can't have changes day after day it's very hard my family's lucky I can drive my son to high school not everybody's that lucky they depend on those buses and they can't be standing outside um I'd love to see more transparency from the top about what's being done about buses um just so that's what we're talking about out there day to day at the bus stop we're talking about boy who's in quarantine are our kids getting a ride to school today that's what's on the minds of people out there in the community and in the schools the teachers also and you know what we're not talking about
054we're not talking about manufactured controversies sustained by national media for money and outrage we're thinking we know what our kids are learning we're talking to our teachers we see what they bring home every day we're involved parents so we're not listening to the National media we're not listening to all that thank you all so much thank you Mr Johnson Mr Jeffrey Fuller Jeffrey Fuller okay so that that wraps it up I was notified the last one's not here as well okay so at this point we'll move foreign no I don't have any further sign ups this is um what we were given and this is what we're going with thank you if there's been any confusion you certainly can sign up for the next board meeting but as far as from the clerk's office with
055the new current policy this was the sign up list we've gone through that he can sign up at the next meeting sir uh why not thank you very much we're going to move on to the student representative part of the meeting at this point Miss Charlotte Flynn good evening school board members in Prince William County tonight I want to address the matter of student participation within schools since the beginning of the school year I have seen so many clubs brought back from the pandemic these activities have increased student participation and influenced mental health creating a positive and inclusive environment that all students can enjoy I encourage pwcs students to be more involved in extracurricular activities especially after being isolated for a year however with this in mind it is important to be considerate of the
056faculty and Facilities being used I want to highlight the destruction of the bathrooms and other facilities this has been a recent Trend among high school students but these actions are unacceptable and damage the integrity and reputation of pwcs schools please be considerate of the janitors and cleaning staff that work to resolve these issues and remember that school is a place of learning this is for the well-being of the student body and the staff thank you for letting me speak to you tonight on this subject I appreciate your time and hope to see I hope to continue to see inclusivity and respect within our schools thank you thank you Charlotte we really appreciate that um moving on to superintendent's Time Dr McDade I would like to begin the superintendent's Report with gratitude the past six weeks
057have been filled with many successes as well as some challenges thanks to the hard work and dedication of our pwcs leaders Educators support staff and the entire School community our students are continuing to learn alongside their peers both virtually and in person it has been a joy to witness and there's so much to be proud of this year for example we open two new schools this school year last week I had the privilege of attending Gainesville High School's ribbon cutting and I'm looking forward to another ribbon cutting tomorrow night at Potomac Shores Middle School I enjoy participating in events that celebrate the growth of our School Division and Community as well as state of the Arts facilities for our students and schools we continue to Grapple with the complexities of covid-19 and remain committed to
058implementing layered mitigation strategies tonight the school board approved contracts for the procurement of air purifiers and water bottle fillers this will allow us to air add air purifiers to all of our portable classrooms and begin the process of replacing water fountains with water bottle fillers throughout the division we are pleased to announce that we are partnering with the Prince William Service Authority who is generously donating 1 000 water bottles for students who may need them we appreciate this partnership tremendously the air purifiers and water bottle fillers will support our efforts to prevent the spread of covet 19. I want to address some of the questions that we received about quarantine we will continue to follow guidance from the Virginia Department of Health on appropriate quarantine processes when quarantine is necessary it is always our goal
059to return our students to the classroom as quickly and safely as possible following bdh quarantine guidelines there are opportunities to reduce quarantine times for students who are healthy if a student must quarantine they can test on the fifth day allowing them to return to school after the seventh day we also encourage parents to share with schools when their student is ill and that illness has not been confirmed it's confirmed that it is not covet 19. additionally we are working diligently to connect our families to Community Resources to provide support and as a School Division we have signed up for the vdoe Vista program to support additional covid-19 testing it is also important to note that currently 1.2 percent of the students in the division are in quarantine which is a very small percentage of the
060overall School population which is close to 90 000 students attending in person most of the students required to quarantine are not eligible for the vaccination which is why it is reassuring to learn last week's news from Pfizer we now have data that confirms the two-dose vaccine is safe for children ages 5 to 11. this is critically important as some of our elementary age students will soon be eligible for vaccination we will continue following the science closely and urge everyone to get vaccinated when eligible we know that this is the best mitigation strategy and eliminates the need for quarantine in most cases I am excited to share an update that will have a positive impact on our staff members who have been working so hard during the pandemic to provide a quality education to our students
061pwcs will now permit employees with accrued sick leave to use up to four weeks for baby bonding in addition to the paid leave for the medically necessary period for the parent giving birth both parents are eligible to use a crude sick leave for up to four weeks pay leave for baby bonding the changes are effective immediately this recommendation was based on employee feedback feedback and suggestions and as part of the continuing pwcs commitment to creating a positive climate and culture for all employees we will continue to listen to our employees and respond to their feedback this includes acknowledging that school buses continue to be a challenge as we struggle with Staffing shortages that are experienced by school divisions Nationwide we want to acknowledge that we are aware of employees remaining Beyond contract hours to supervise
062students due to bus delays and we are working towards a resolution to address these challenges as quickly as possible and our employees should expect to hear more about how we will address this in the coming week we value the hard work of all of our employees and appreciate their unwavering commitment and will continue to be responsive to their needs Prince William County Public Schools responsibility and my personal commitment is to ensure every student in the division feels a sense of belonging and has access to Safe spaces that are conducive to learning earlier this year the general assembly passed the Virginia Human Rights Act requiring the policies of educational institutions including Prince William County Public Schools to safeguard all individuals within the Commonwealth from unlawful discrimination because of race color religion national origin sex pregnancy childbirth
063or related medical conditions age marital status sexual orientation gender identity military status or disability in places of public accommodation the school board is updating policy 738 in accordance with Virginia law case law and federal law this update ensures the division's policy statements pertaining to non-discrimination are consistent with state and federal law and extend to transgender and gender non-conforming students the policy also makes clear that Prince William County public schools are required by state law to implement the Virginia Department of education's model policies for treatment of transgender students in Virginia Public Schools pwcs Administration is studying our current regulation in response to feedback from staff and community members based upon additional review and the feedback we've received the regulation associated with policy 738 will be reissued with the goal of addressing concerns raised while also ensuring
064alignment with the Virginia Department of Education model policies for treatment of transgender students in Virginia's public schools additionally training for staff will be delivered this school year all Prince William County School students have a fundamental right to access educational programs and Facilities that are safe and supportive of their physical emotional social and academic needs it is our mission to ensure every school Community is inclusive appreciates diversity students have a sense of belonging and are affirmed in their identity this is the only way we can ensure a positive and welcoming environment where every student can learn graduate and create thriving futures for themselves and their community Mr chairman this concludes the superintendent's report excellent thank you Dr McDade thank you very much we will move on next to the update from Miss Williams on the racial
065and Social Justice Commission where she sits as a representative thank you Mr chairman just to update the School Division and members of the audience the last full commission meeting was held on September 23 2021 the commission held two listening sessions one was the community survey results that was hosted by Prince William County government the second was the 20 update on for the 2020 census status just a little fun fact if anyone missed it Prince William county is now the 10th most diverse County in the entire United States the chief of police gave a report on the use of force brought and we also discussed Robert's Rule of Order regarding a previous motion critical race Theory cultural cultural responsive teaching was discussed the discussion entertained the difference between the vods we also discussed the difference between
066VOD vdoe excuse me suggested materials versus the mandated curriculum commission deemed CRT is not within the scope of the full commission staff and Lead participation in supporting committees was also discussed the education now I'm going to move to an update on the education committee which is a subcommittee of the commission we met on September 20th and again on October 4th at the September 20th meeting a presentation was made by a battlefield student Mohammed Yusuf on excuse me on the pers student perspective on racial and social justice race and education presentation was made by Mr Paul Lott a representative for the National Society for the advancement of black Americans at the October 4th meeting the education committee began a work session on information to be submitted to the full commission for the December commission report the
067next working session will be held on Monday October 18th at 6 30. the McCourt building and then a town hall was held on October 5th at Patriot High School that was I want to make clear that was not an authorized commission meeting the main focus of the Town Hall was related to schools and I also want to assure the public and be very clear in stating that no Prince William County School staff member or School Board member provided input on the materials that were presented nor were the materials representative of Prince William County schools or authorized by Prince William County schools the next meeting of the racial and Social Justice Commission and its full body will be October 21st at 6 30 pm at the McCourt building thank you Miss Williams moving on to revision
068of policy 651 School counseling services it's on for first reading pull that up does anyone have any questions for Dr McDade or this staff regarding this one and this on your on your computer will be 17.02 um the justification is in the public document section as is the red line of the changes this will be on for first reading and the school board will vote on this at its next meeting there's time for public comment via email and board members to address with staff and Dr McDade if there's any questions okay moving on to 1703 which is um much of what Dr McDade discussed in her superintendent's time was the revision on policy 738 this item is also on for Miss for information um and uh we'll be voting on this in two weeks again
069this is open for public comment um again documents are posted to the board docs and members can continue to ask questions concerns voice their concerns to each other or the superintendent and we will be back here in two weeks to vote on this okay at this point uh we will go to board matters which we have skipped over the last few meetings and so I promised the board members time and so um we'll go five minutes is that okay is everyone okay with that five six minutes okay so we'll put the clock on for five and we'll just um and go down we'll start with um with Mr Wilk oh okay wow um he he might take 10 minutes no I won't I'll take what you need I'll follow our guidelines um uh first um
070I've been able to visit every one of my buildings uh at least once uh during the day to make classroom visits and talk to teachers talk to students I had the pleasure of being in Miss garrity's room at Forest Park always welcome there to talk to her AP Government students read books to younger students interact in a in a music Circle all the good things that come with being a board member and being able to go to schools I'm also able to talk to my principals about the direction of where things are and solicit feedback on how things are going when it comes to the actual practice of the policies we pass as board members I'll get to some of that in a second uh we also many of us will probably highlight and talk
071about all the back to school nights that have stretched uh back a couple weeks starting and commencing with high schools so I've been pleased to be hyperactive and gone most nights of the week but attending Forest Park Potomac High Schools Grand Park Potomac Middle School Potomac Shore Middle School Ashley Montclair and Henderson and then there's one after the ribbon cutting I will be leaving early to make sure I'm at Swans Creek tomorrow and then there's more next week so my goal is to make sure I'm at every one of them handing out a widely popular back to school calendar magnets that are division that I have um so that's that so I will continue that process and I've also enjoyed talking to parents parents are very approachable they come to me ask me questions about
072the division and that's one of the nice things I like about being at all these events is making myself available I'm not mentioning the three different PTO meetings I went to in person at various schools because a lot of times those are very active parents the ones who definitely have some topics they might want to address with you I have also some highlights of some things that I've been able to do in other events is of course I've had the pleasure of going to three High School football games two thus far at Forest Park and one at Potomac High School being a part of the stands seeing the new band uniforms that I sponsored and supported two years ago in Dr waltz's budget just great to see the recognition the work that's being done at
073those schools Forest Park is finally about to unveil it's been a lot of work a lot of delays with construction as a result of kova 19 but we will be back in business and have our first home game in a long time on Friday night homecoming if anyone goes there you'll see a state of the art excuse me state of the art new turf field and a beautiful royal blue track which we do not have in this County so that is finally getting done Forest Park is also one of the two schools that I was able to advocate for to open our high school tracks and make available to the community and taxpayers and that will reconvene once the track is finished there another couple events that you know looking at things that I'm very
074proud of is Triangle Elementary had an outdoor Fall Festival the other night right before some of the back to school nights and triangle is a title one school and a lot of times these back to school these Title One nights are often tough to get people and Reach people but I'm very proud of the work principal Deavers and his staff did there were over 150 families at this outdoor Fall Festival event so I'm very proud of the work I got to work at the Pizza Station and the water station for about an hour and a half or so and helped the families and it was a great night great collaboration talking to the families there um you know another big thing uh that's unfortunately made the news is a misconception about the 911 committee that
075Miss wall and I sponsored well over nine ten months ago well before the state issued watered-down policies that were not mandates that we did not follow as a School Division they were not requirements as might have been heard at a racial social justice committee but it was great to be in those buildings I want to recognize Potomac Shores Middle School their entire staff had 911 commemorative remember shirts that every staff member was provided there uh so I thought that was a great event I also want to mention uh that I was at Dumfries elementary for a dedication of a bench for a long time front office secretary Miss Jackie there who passed away but it was a great dedication ceremony Dr McDade was there as well so lots of great happenings just to wrap things
076up a couple things I you know I know people want to address it's been talked about already 22 seconds the quarantine policies Dr McDade already brought up some changes potentially in looking at that the other concerns and looking at the nurses they are spending a lot of time stretch very thin with the contact tracing and working into the nights and weekends I want to look at something for them that we can help that doesn't come out of the site-based budget uh and then uh finally again this is an obvious issue but I think as a board we need to look in the future of how to how to attract more bus drivers because uh that is not only a Prince William issue but that is a national issue as uh Illustrated on the news cycle
077so I'm a little over I apologize Dr Latif but it's been a while since I got to talk absolutely Miss Adele Jackson Brentsville District thank you Dr Latif um it was a busy last month as 97 of our students have returned and about 2 2 700 are learning virtually I continue to be very grateful for all Prince William County staff including those supporting our virtual students I know the pandemic has been incredibly hard and staff students and families and I appreciate the examples of Grace and kindness I see every day I also have attended a bunch of Baptist school nights and extend my gratitude through Administration and staff for giving me a tour or taking time to meet with me during this busy night and I really have enjoyed meeting the community members at the
078schools it's my smart goal to attend all back to school nights and I have a bunch more to go I am I had the privilege of attending a wonderful event at Patriot High School which honored the anniversary of two wonderful schools which was T Clay Wood and Patriot High School so I just want to send another congratulations to them and then last week I had the honor to attend the ribbon cutting at Gainesville High School and the dedication of the library media center to officer gwyndon and the Student Services Center to miss orlich it was a it was a wonderful event it was a beautiful display honoring officer gwendin and I want to thank the Cardinals and principal Beach I too have attended a bunch of games including last weekend at Burnsville District High School
079and congratulations to them for their win my family and I really enjoyed attending the event it was their homecoming game I try I'm going to try to attend games at all high schools I know that a few of our boards like miss zagabor and miss wall have also attending some of them with me and it's hopefully at some near points some games at middle schools so it's just a variety of sports and I just want to thank my fellow board members for also going to the games with me um thank you to the division for the extra four weeks of baby bonding I really appreciate that um it would have really come in handy when I had um twins lastly I want to thank Administration for taking the time to prepare materials and sharing materials
080in advance of these meetings and for being open to take all questions ahead of time especially for including some of the questions in the presentations it really does help ensure that meetings are productive and allows for me to apply pertinent emails from constituents and ask or relay questions with the goal to reach a broader audience thank you thank you Miss Jennifer wall Gainesville District so recently the board approved policy 117 School Board code of ethics Professional Standards and protocols so in the interest of helping the public know more about the board and how we operate I would like to share item number one school boards members shall one model professional Behavior at all times in their interactions with each other with the administration and with the public and adhere to the Professional Standards of conduct
081expected of all employees of the Prince William County's Public Schools as provided in policy 503 and Regulation 503-1 Code of Conduct as far as happenings that affect the Gainesville District I want to congratulate principal Beach and staff on the successful opening of Gainesville High School I know it's not in my district but it doesn't bear the name of my district and a lot of students from my district attend Gainesville High School it's a fantastic School beautiful and I'm so excited to finally see it open my own high school students have attended Battlefield high school during its most crowded crowded days for a number of years so for my family this has been really exciting it has given much needed relief to the overcrowding at Battlefield Patriot and unity read and I loved the ribbon cutting
082ceremony and the dedication of the Ashley gwendon media center and the Lillian orlik Student Services Center so congratulations to those both of those in families for those for those honors so back to school nights we've already talked a little bit about that those are in full swing I've been able to stop by Battlefield Bull Run Reagan Unity Braxton Sudley and Alvey so far I'm looking forward to to visiting the rest of the elementary schools in the given coming weeks it's given me a chance to visit with Administration staff and parents and get a better idea of what people are talking about what their concerns are how things are going and I've really appreciated that fall sports are also in full swing I love sports so it's been really fun I can't tell you how happy
083it makes me feel to see our athletes succeeding on our fields and our courts I even got to attend a band competition at Woodbridge hosted by the Woodbridge Vikings and I mean I don't even have a student in Band anymore but it was so awesome to attend it it was fantastic and hearing those bands and seeing those kids marching around playing was just like the highlight of my week I want to reflect for just a few minutes um on what a difference a year makes last fall we were overwhelmed with the enormous task of figuring out how to do school in the midst of crippling fear and educational upheaval and I'm reminded of the opening lines from Dickens A Tale of Two Cities it was the best of times it was the worst of times
084except a year ago some could reasonably argue that it was simply the worst of times as I reflect on all we've been through together and where we are today when 97 of our students back in buildings learning in classrooms with our teachers I'm reminded of another Dickens quote sorry I love Dickens reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has plenty not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some in the spirit of reflection on blessings I'm grateful for our school families who have been patient with late buses missing teachers restrictive mask rules and especially quarantines I'm thankful to citizens who reach out through email phone calls social media and even in person you help us remember that we represent you I work every day to listen and help I may not
085always succeed I may not always agree but thank you for helping me see those problems and issues because of the pandemic this is my first opportunity as a board member to attend those back to school nights across my district and I do appreciate the chance that I've had to meet with people and hear your concerns and see your beautiful classrooms and the students I know are really appreciative of the teachers and the efforts that they're making I'm thankful for Dr McDade and her division leadership and I'm confident that we're in great hands to citizens who spoke to the board tonight I will carefully consider what you have shared you have a right to speak to petition us to share your concerns and I appreciate you are exercising that right um and lastly in all I
086believe we're off to a great start we have many challenges but to quote the first lines of my dad's favorite poem it's the steady constant driving to the goal for which you're striving not the speed with which you travel that will make the victors sure it's the Iron Will to do it the steady sticking to it so whatever your task go to it and life's purpose you will win thanks to everybody good night feel like I should Applause uh Miss Laurie Williams thank you Mr chairman it has been uh quite some time since we were able to do this um so I just want to give a special shout out to all of our virtual students who we just don't talk about enough as well as the staff that supports them I want to be
087very clear in stating that I know that it got off to a rough start for a lot of families who are doing virtual but it has continued to improve and I expect it will will continue to improve throughout the remainder of the school year I want to know I want to make clear also that the many families had started the school year off feeling not very included but that I do believe that the tide has changed there have been many wonderful instances of celebration of our virtual students during virtual classrooms and I know in our household that we have felt very much in touch with our base School the communication has improved and been cleared and feel very much a part of our Bay School family I want to give a special shout out to
088Freedom High School I was able to stop by there not only for the 911 event ceremony which was beautiful and I want to come in the Junior ROTC on their ceremonial activities but also for back to school night I'm not sure that many before I do that excuse me I also want to say to my other remaining schools I have not been as active this year in back to school nights as I have been in the past but I will be making my rounds and you are not forgotten I appreciate everything that you do and look forward to being able to stop by and see you in person um I'm not sure that many of the public are aware but many of us board members also participate participate in a lot of trainings and conferences
089outside of our time here on the diocese I was able to participate in the vsba legislative advocacy conference as well as the vsba conference on education and there were other few non-vsba trainings and conferences that I took part in since July really up until now next month in November is when most of this board will be participating in the vsba state conference I would like to remind everyone that upcoming if you have not yet registered thanks to Mr Wilkes speaking about title 1s and family engagements there is a family engagement series on October 12th that is families as literary literary Partners I would highly encourage everyone to sign up information can be found onshore on our Prince William County Schools website as far as community events go it is something that most of us do
090as school board members as we not only participate in school activities and games and such but other activities where we have opportunities to interact with members of the public and to allow the public to know that we care in different ways I was able to attend the first annual Prince William County Police and unity event which was a wonderful partnership between the County government and the police and the community there were lots of children in attendance so it was really nice to see some kids out and to to see the Prince William County Police there in person in all of their different departments and interact with citizens in the community it was a lot of fun we also had another recent first in Prince William County which was the Prince William County equality Pride day
091which was held in Manassas again it was nice to see lots of different types of families and interact with members of the public and then previously before the school year started there were a few events that were held for backpack drives and Community within my district I was very proud to participate in Omega sci-fi actually was in partnership with one of them so it's nice to see the continued work with members of the mphc and the School Division because it's all about partnership and lastly I just want to piggyback off what Ms wall said encourage everyone to read all of the code of ethics that were recently updated because no one is more important than the other and they all matter and to remind the public as well that the use of technology is here
092to stay we've had a lot of or I've received a lot of comments about continual laptop user use of canvas and it's important to know that we hear from business partners in the community that they expect us to produce digitally literate citizens and canvas and use of laptops is very much a part of that and to check for recent updates on what your child can and cannot access on their laptops I believe Guidance just went out and the last thing I want to say in regards to public Concepts comment as there seems to be some misconception about the only time that people can make comments to the board is here at board meetings and I want to remind the public of our newly pass policy and that you are more than welcome to call email
093text however video to this board we listen to comments just because you are listened to does not mean that we are going to act on every comment but that does not mean that you are not heard thank you and I hope you all have a good night Miss Jesse and then after Miss Jesse will do miss Ralston Miss Jesse Occoquan district and that was just miss Williams from the Woodbridge District Sorry Miss Jesse coin Master thank you very much first of all I'd like to start off with the the first visit that I actually had was a sad visit it was the death of Mr Fred Moore a coach at Woodridge High School I want to commend the Woodbridge High School staff and the students and the football players how they celebrated the life of
094this young man who was also a bath teacher in this school and Dr McDade was there and many of us were there there was a celebration during the football game the following Friday evening I was not in attendance but Mr Moore was an Omega and his favorite colors were purple and gold and everyone in the all the students wore purple that night the following weekend however we had a Hall of Fame celebration of the athletes at Woodbridge High School and there's a wall where they frame all of these they provide a framing wall for all of these Hall of Fame entries and I my husband and I attended that I want to start off with something a little bit different because I think you're going to notice a difference in this boardroom and the responses
095of the board not just because of the code of ethics but because of the tremendous leadership we're receiving from the superintendent uh you want to find that many of the questions that we asked in the past we're no longer going to ask need to ask because she and her executive staff has established a communication plan which includes timeliness and transparency in the form of briefing meetings with board members prior to the actual board meeting I want to thank you Dr McDade for giving us that opportunity because you know me in particular I do have a lot of questions and you try to answer all of them and Laura and I are together and that creates kind of a situation but uh I'd rather ask the questions in private and get the answers and then to
096ask them in a public forum the other things I've been on this board uh I'm probably almost veteran member rank I don't want to say oldest but I am too much but anyway I want to say that we received the preliminary data we have the data because the instruction is important and I have a slide of a quote that I think you guys have in there that I wanted to share with you because I think it says everything about who what we miss Dr McDade and her staff and it said I received this from a special education uh person probably 15 years ago and it says our job is to teach the kids we have not the ones we like to have not the ones we used to have those we have right now all
097of them and I want to thank you for because I think that's your philosophy secondly on school visits I attended all of our schools and I have this thing about waiting until the dust settled because I was a principal and I know that first week of school is crazy and you don't have time to talk to people and I I heard a lot and there's such dedication and professionalism and I have to tell you that it was stressful last year it's still stressful and that's what I heard and I think other board members heard the same thing I want to congratulate all of you because you stepped up to the plate you did the work and you continue to do the work I think we left last year thinking everything is going to be great
098once the kids came back the one theme I heard was that we're glad to have the kids back but they are stressed out the nurses are stressed out there's so much going on and the newness of all the the covet the covet situation is really causing situation and I brought that information back to Mr mcfave Dr McDade an example of celebration there's still teachers are doing wonderful things I see them just creating opportunities I was at springwoods elementary and I think I have a slide for from springwoods this is their celebration trophy in the hallway and they have these different houses and they celebrate and I'm not sure how frequently they celebrate but when I went to all the schools I saw this type of thing the buildings are beautiful the buildings in fact I
099was at Jenkins and I said wow the custodial staff I wanted Mr shiroki every building I went into I said wow look at this building the floors were shining and someone said this is how all Prince William County schools look so I wanted just to share my cup of gratitude to all of you we are looking we understand someone said just tell us that you are aware what's going on and that you care about us I want to say thank you thank you thank you for being you thank you Miss Diane Ralston niabsco District Miss Ralston okay next we'll go to miss uh the vice chair Mr Lisa's argoport Kohl's District um has been a sit here and do board matters they 'll come here to speak at public comment time it is important that
100we hear what you have to say and please I don't want to speak for the rest of the board but I will take emails listen to what you have to say I'm happy to do a phone call just so you know because sometimes it feels very it's well right now it's super physically distanced in this room but even just coming and speaking to us has a certain formality and if you if you want to reach out I'm happy to speak now I'm going to get a thousand things to do aren't I so it's all good um Dr McDade thank you so much for the uh the information that we received before these board meetings the intent is to make sure that we are able to do the Public's business more efficiently so this has been
101a great start to the school year I'm very appreciative of that um this was a a rough school year and like Miss wall said uh you know now we can we can start a new a year ago it was completely different had the opportunity to watch the Hilton boys soccer team win the world or excuse me the state championship they were invited to Richmond in July and I went with them to receive a resolution that was commending their uh win they also just had their ring ceremony at their last football game so uh congratulations to the boys soccer team I've had a chance to go to Colgan Hilton and op's back to school nights and met lots of teachers and parents who were very excited to talk about the school year and how things are
102going and how grateful they are that the kids are back and ready to go and Saunders Ben Benton and Parkside I got to meet many more teachers and I just want to say Parkside still has teachers who are also driving a bus I'm not suggesting this is a solution there might be somebody who wants to do it but we are we've already heard multiple times tonight that we have a lack of bus drivers so it is a definitely a job that we have positions for I encourage urge people to apply we also need substitutes and we also need teachers so anyone who has any passion for this kind of work please please consider Prince William County as your opportunity that said I also have been able to get into the elementary schools they're finally having
103their back to school nights I went and saw uh what was it um oh yeah it's just two so far McAuliffe they had a book fair and of if you have a book fair I will come and I will buy books because I love books and I went to Kohl's last night and I look forward to going to the rest of them in the next couple of weeks I went to see marching band competitions at Woodbridge with Miss wall and I went to see the marching band competition part of it at Colgan and Dr Latif was there and what was really cool is there was a marching band that has some of my former students in it so that was a real thrill to be able to see them grow into these positions and see
104where their education is carrying them I met with so many different teachers and parents and I know everybody is still we're still in the pandemic and I would expect that things will still change although not maybe at the pace that we saw last year remember last year we used to get get a little bit of guidance and something would change and everyone would be but how do we do this wait is it three feet is it six feet what's okay now so I expect there will be a change in guidance in terms of vaccinations distancing things about the masks as a teacher I do get tired of wearing my mask all day long so I do appreciate the folks who come here advocating for some flexibility in it I do understand this it's hard to
105hear it's hard to speak I get it and then you've read you've also expressed other concerns but I just wanted to let people know that I can relate on some level there too um went to Gainesville for the ribbon cutting ceremony and Patriot had their 10-year ceremony I just said I wasn't going to use all this time so I'm going to finish up here in just a second um I watched at the elementary schools that parents were signing up for parents as partners that is something that did not exist when my children were young and I wish it had it looks like a great program and last thing I have to say because Dr Latif would be upset if I didn't while we're in the school buildings wear your mask wash your hands keep whatever
106distance we're supposed to be keeping because that guidance seems to be changing if you choose to please get vaccinated and stay well thank you fantastic missouripower that will continue to help Drive our rates down um welcome to the new Academic School year um the number one thing I think all of us have heard and seen or people are just thrilled and our students are thrilled to be back and I think that is a resounding feeling from the East to the west from the south to the north from middle school to high school to Elementary um as I think about the job I have to do and the board has to do I think about them in four buckets I've always done so um there's a lot of noise out there in the general National debate
107about schools School opening reopening we struggled through that last year as Miss wall pointed out that last year one year ago was a certainly a different day in a different time but the buckets I like to think about things in is Student Success the number one two three thing I wake up every morning and I know Dr McDade does as well is our plan to get our students to recover to re-engage and to accelerate that is our mantra for this year that is the work our teachers our our division leaders our principals are working on I can't tell you how important and how many parents who've come to me and talked to me about the recovery part of it the recovery part of it sounds like a fascinating word but it is the behind the
108what we didn't get last year and the year before the last normal year uh 11th grader had would have been in eighth grade the ninth grade quarter last quarter school didn't finish the way you know there was no new material 10th grade um you know was a struggle last year for for some of our 11th graders now our 11th graders are going into their most important year uh worried about their grades worried about college admissions next year and as they think through these things they are as many of our board members talked about stressed out they're concerned and there is a lot of catching up to do and especially some of their courses especially like math and so I hear from parents quite regularly on that concern and students on that concern more than I
109hear about on all the other things we're hearing about in the National stage or even on the local stage that is what I hear about I hear directly from parents and students so our work continues and that is going to be the biggest part of our effort this year is that recovery that re-engagement in that acceleration that is Student Success Safety and Security I've talked about many times the safety our mitigation efforts the work we're doing to keep school open keep school going keep schools safe our staff safe has been nothing short of incredible as Miss Jesse points out we have done a terrific job last year we're doing a terrific job this year I have continued to be very impressed with Dr mcday's leadership our quarantine numbers we continue to do really strong work
110so so we'll continue that regarding Safety and Security I have you know continued safety and and it is um you know the efforts that Dr McDade announced that we voted on earlier on making sure that we have better ventilation in our some of our trailers and and that that work is being being done we talk about space and infrastructure you've heard we open two new schools this year Gainesville High School and Potomac Shores Middle School we've had some terrific openings great principles wonderful facilities in those students are embracing that and the families are embracing that fully and we're very excited about that effort and continue to support them I want to congratulate you know since we're talking about space and infrastructure Patriot High School celebrated their 10th year um anniversary opening Dr Bishop and his
111staff put on a terrific 10-year celebration invited many of the board members we attended it was a spectacular event held with a festival for the students near the beginning uh September 10th and it was just a fantastic weekend for everybody involved and I want to thank Patriot High School and Dr Bishop for being so kind to have us out there and celebrate with them um you know we we talk about salaries that's the other thing I spend a lot of time working on and you heard from Dr McDade some efforts on making sure we're hearing from our staff on concerns we continue to address we have a strong record over four years of working with our staff uh on making sure we're trying to do the very best we can with the budgets we have
112this board I know is committed to continuing to do that as we move forward um the other things besides Student Success that I in in all of those buckets is the bus driver shortages we think about every day the staff shortages we think about every day and the continued safety we think about every day those are the things that this board you know when you try to differentiate the signal and the noise that's out there those are the signals we are heavily working on and what Dr McDade is working on and I continue to thank our staff for spending the time working on the non-sexy non-sexy aspects of making sure this division continues I think it's important to congratulate our finance team and the finance team for the county this is where I get into
113the boring details they put out and sold some bonds last week 60 million dollars worth of bonds at 1.68 which is the lowest interest rate we've ever had that will make sure that we have continued savings as we move through Capital Improvement projects they're putting out more refinancing debt at the current low interest rates if we do that Mr Wallingford and Dr McDade will bring the school board savings that we can all enjoy so I want to congratulate that team and especially our County staff who go out to to New York to do all of that work and Chris Martino and the entire team out there we really appreciate everything they do for the schools I think it's important to talk about quarantine I have you know I I have it's not a secret I
114I have concerns about you know quarantining and policies for quarantining from the state level I think our school division is doing an excellent job making sure we're doing it in the right way I have voiced my concerns to the governor and the Secretary of Education on ideas to help reduce quarantining I think there's some states in some areas doing tests to stay policies I think the state ought to look at that um and and so and that's another thing I hear about from from folks as Miss argofor said there's a job fair this weekend October 9th please come tell your friends all about it we are looking for everything so you know there's College fairs coming up they're on the college the calendar I think one at Colgan high school and one at Woodbridge High
115School is that correct coming up in the next few weeks for our seniors and juniors and sophomores and freshmen please go to those College fairs and I'm going to make one comment I'll take an extra minute on Miss Jen Wall's comment from Charles Dickens on counting your blessings when they are there and and I think in these times um such polarized political times I don't think it's a secret that Miss wall and I share different political Shades come from different political spectrums but I can tell you we share almost the exact same values um and and she has a ninth grader an 11th grader and someone who just graduated last year I have a ninth grader 11th grader and someone who just graduated we share similarities we talk regularly about our concerns for our students
116not just our own but their friends and all the ones in the county about the issues when we work together even though we come from different sides we do it as in as civilized in a fashion as I have ever been able to find I count that blessing the opportunity to work with someone as smart as sharp as committed to taking care of everything for our students in this County and so as she talked about Charles Dickens tonight I think it should point out that I am and I think this board and the school division is lucky to have Jennifer wall on the school board so I appreciate that with that being said um have a wonderful evening everyone this school board meeting is adjourned