001The time is now 5:48. Good evening and welcome to the December 17, 2025 operations, budget, and fiscal affairs committee meeting. I am Zakyia Goins Mccantz, committee chair, and district 8 board member. It brings me great pleasure to welcome everyone to tonight's meeting. For those unable to observe now, the meeting is being recorded and will be available for later viewing on the PGCPS YouTube channel. Miss Connley, please call the role. >> Board member Zakia Goins MC present. >> Board member Robin Brown >> here. Board member Ary, >> board member Lolita Walker, board member Tiffany Ander, Chair Jackson, We have three board members present. Thank you, Miss Connley. With a quorum present, the operations, budget, and fiscal affairs committee meeting will come to order. If there are no objections, the committee shall adopt the December 17th, 2025
002meeting agenda. There being no objections, the December 17, 2025 meeting agenda is adopted. If there are no corrections, the November 12th, 2025 meeting minutes shall be approved as distributed. There being no corrections, the minutes are approved. We have one registered public comment speaker this evening. Uh, Miss Katherine Sutton, Duval High School, school nurse position change. Do we have Miss >> Can you hear me? >> Yes, we can hear you. >> Hi. So, my name is Katherine Sutton. I'm a PGCPS school nurse. I've worked in this position since October of 2016. I'm also a PGCPS parent and I want to make sure our tax dollars are used wisely. There are talks of switching school nurses to 11-month positions. I understand that the school system loses a lot of potential money due to immunization non-compliance. Based on
003my almost 10 years as a school nurse, I don't think we need to work more months to keep immunization non-compliance numbers down. Also, the majority of PGCPS nurses do not want to make this drastic schedule change. In the most recent survey of PGCPS school nurses, only 30% of the 193 who responded said yes, they want to make that switch. I believe this change will interfere with retention, recruitment, and job satisfaction. Many nurses have said that they would retire or consider finding employment elsewhere if they had to work during the summer. Having to recruit new nurses, train them, and possibly depend on agency nurses could become a very arduous undertaking. I acknowledge that I don't don't fully understand the vast task of managing a budget for the school system of our size, but I do want
004to share some perspective for you all to consider. Here are a few of my ideas. Number one, utilize nurses already in the 11-month position role and summer school nurses. The initial non-compliance notifications can be done throughout the school year. Follow-ups can be done over the summer by the already already allotted 11-month nurses and summer school nurses. My understanding is that currently summer school nurses are paid by the specific program that they are covering. So they do not work on immunizations. Many summer school nurses tell me that the flow of students to the nurs's office is slow over the summer. So they would have availability to work on immunizations if the reimbursement aspect could be figured out. Maybe half of their pay comes from the specific program they're working and the other half could come from
005the budget being considered for this switch of all school nurses. Number two, make sure administration and principles keep up with excluding non-compliant students all school year. Immunization non-compliance is a revolving door because even once a student becomes compliant, they may show up on the list down the road for a follow-up or future dose. We have this happen often in the high school setting for students who are new to the country and they are on catch-up immunization schedules. It's very important step of the process that administration and principles continue to exclude students all school year even in May and June. so that the families realize it is a serious need that has to be addressed. I often find that people get more relaxed about immunization non-compliance as a school year goes on, which results in some
006students remaining on the immunization non-compliance list for months and then eventually even rolling over into the next school year. Staying on top of this issue all year will lessen the large push that is needed in August and September. These specific ideas may not work as outlined, but Dr. Sha Joseph keeps saying we need to get creative. This is about working smarter, not just spending money unnecessarily. I think collaboration and true communication can help us achieve our goals together. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Sutton. >> The chair now recognizes Dr. Coleman, Chief Operations Officer for the Office of Alternative Infrastructure Planning and Development Update. Thank you and good evening board member board committee chair goins mccantsz members of the board and community stakeholders. The office of alternative infrastructure planning and development or OIPD is responsible
007for the construction delivery and maintenance of schools built through the public private partnership or P3 model. These schools are being built on an accelerated schedule and will be maintained over the next 30 years through a comprehensive maintenance contract. Through phase one of the P3 program, six schools have been delivered and are currently in use. Under phase two, the school district is on track to deliver eight more schools by fall 2028. At this time, the OIPD director, Mr. Matlock will provide a program update for both phases one and two. >> Uh good evening board members. Um uh I um do you all have my presentation? Could you put it up? >> Yes. Give me one second. So what I'm going to do is um give you a brief overview of the activities happening both phase one
008and phase two. Um and um there are uh a number of uh of activities happening in uh phase one even though it's post construction. There are a number of uh items going on. We're going to talk about one um solar panel installation. uh two uh the school-based health clinics uh and three uh the changes in ownership of PGCP. Yeah. September. >> Miss Connley, it looks like you're sharing your screen, but it's blank to us. We can't. It's just a black screen. >> That is the most beautiful I'm >> not sure, Miss Connie. Did you Did you hear that? >> Yes. I'm sorry. My my screen is freezing, but yes, I did hear you. I'm gonna try to stop sharing and then reshare. >> Okay. Thank you. So whether you're >> Oh, there we are. So
009if you will just advance down to the um the um fourth slide, please. Thank you. So um the solar panel uh installation is uh part of our CCAP. It's going quite well right now. Um we have uh currently uh we're currently installing panels on six all six of the phase uh one schools. The first two schools will receive energy over the winter break. Um the remaining four schools will receive u be ready for energizing by spring. uh the resiliency office will provide data so that we can demonstrate the energy savings. Um and this is all in compliance with our climate change action plan. Uh in addition um we are um uh this is going to result in some grant money uh coming back to the system um as a result of this um and uh
010and potentially some tax credits. So that's one thing that we're very excited about. Um next, um we have um if you can move on the next slide. Um we have the uh school-based health clinics, right? So um right now each of the phase one schools were built with a uh school-based health clinic designed for it. They're roughly about 3,000 square feet. Um they have equipment uh examination rooms, uh medical storage space, office and conference room space. and the the children's uh national medical center has been selected to operate the clinics. Um we expect that the the clinic the clinics to start um uh operating in in the following manner. Uh Walker Mill will open um in January uh followed by in March by Sonia Sotomayor and then in May Drew Freeman, Kenmore, Hyzesville and Coen
011Pal. So they all should be in operation by the end of 2026. Um and uh they will be um being again operated by Children's National Medical Center. Um next slide please. So um our our our partner in phase one is PGEC ECP or uh Prince George's County Educational Community Partners. Um and in late October u they informed us of their intentions or their desire to change its ownership uh group. Um Fengate and Gilbane uh will be transferring their ownership interest to another entity BBGI. Now none of PGCECP's obligations will change as a result of this to the ownership transfer. So there'll be no changes in the way the contract operates. There'll be no changes in obligations. There'll be no changes um to any of the the core elements of the deal, just the ownership of
012the equity. Um before this transfer can occur though, PGC um PGCPS uh through the steering committee must grant consent to the change in the ownership group. So um and that's per the project agreement. So PGCP has uh basically PGCPS has gone out and we uh brought in our consultants and our legal consultants and our financial consultants and they are digging into PGI and uh the contracts between the two entities and uh you know basically like their their their creditworthiness all the evaluations that we did for Gilbay and Fengate prior to entering into the agreement so far um after as after the initial ial due diligence uh results have shown no red flags. Nothing that we could actually raise to um um to uh objective to a consent. Uh the steering committee though still has an
013opportunity to review the information. We presented at our last steering committee meeting earlier this month and we've scheduled a meeting for January 6, 226 to vote on uh to advance the the the um the um consent. So that's when it'll occur. So next slide, please. So um phase two construction um is uh underway very much so. Um we're very excited. Um and if you go to the next slide, please. Oh, I'm sorry. We're already there. Oh, sorry. So, the progress um on the construction uh Margaret Brent uh Templeton, Robert Frost with the work including site grading uh and utility installation, foundation work, and structural steel deliveries. Uh we're conform uh conform conforming drawing sets to have been completed and delivered for all three initial school projects. Um we are we are at 95 cent uh
014design development packages for Brandy Wine K through8 Heightsville elementary school and Fairwood elementary schools with upgrading permits having been issued at Fairwood Brandy Wine and Fairwood's permit um accepted. Coordination is going on ongoing with DPI and uh the scheduled site uh pre-construction meetings. Um um there are several key activities uh uh reaching completion and others advancing toward major project milestones. Completed work included exterior framing, slab, metal work and this is at Margaret Brent um deck concrete, geothermal wells, underground medical mechanical um electrical and plumbing um systems. uh structural steel installation, sight grading, staircase installation, water and gas line installation, skylight framing um and the placement of dedicated outdoor um air systems or doaz systems. Current effort includes uh installing brick veneer, completing the MEP sprinkler rough ends, applying exterior sheathing and air barrier systems, installing
015roof installation uh and TPO ongoing site grading uh utility work and as well as interior framing, windows and door frame installations. Planned through March 2026 and involve the curtain walls um and the storefronts interior drywall uh finishing and drywall acoustic ceilings. So basically we're enclosing the building completely and then setting up the interior spaces. Um for um Templeton is very much in the similar position. Uh constructions continue that um the progress this quarter. Uh we finished the work um the comp comprised the demolition of the existing building concrete foundations um and waterproofing sanitary uh water man all that work has been done. Uh currently construction teams are working again on exterior and interior framing uh overhead MEP roughins roofing installation uh of exterior sheathing air barrier systems installation of brick veneer aluminum storefront systems geothermal
016horizontal connections uh retaining walls uh washing gas service and Pepco primary server are also in progress. Upcoming work through March 2026 will include construction of bioponss, site concrete placements, installation of metal panels, site electrical lighting, and wall and ceiling closings as the building moves further towards enclosure. Um, that's group A. Um, next slide, please. Robert Frost K through8 um is um hasn't it hasn't topped out yet but it's coming close to that. So um this past quarter the construction team completed asbestous abatement interior demolition and full raise of the entire existing uh of the ex of the older building uh rough and final grading building foundations phase two um 2A and 2B storm drain installation below grade masonry and relocation of the storm and sewer lines managed by WSSC were also completed. geothermal well drilling
017with the associated circuits, vaults, construction of concrete masonry units, uh, CMU shafts in areas A and B and D. Uh, slab on grade placements some and in the same areas were all complete as well. Current construction efforts are focused on the installation of the 88 Fth Avenue waterline, the phase 3 site utilities, the underground MEP systems um, in the kitchen structural steel installation across all areas as you can see here. slab on metal deck placements, MEP ruffins and interior exterior framing and sheathing. Looking ahead, uh upcoming activities through March 2026 are set further into transition to project enclosures, site development with planned work including slab ongrade in the kitchen, roofing, air barrier installation, parking lot site work, site contract, brick veneer, and the installation of window windows and storefront systems. Um the next slide is
018Fairwood Elementary um which is not quite as far along. Uh we have site grading and underground MEP roughins in area A where completed markings and keystone milestones for earlier foundation work. Ongoing efforts include construction of the CMU air stair towers and continuing MEP roughins in area B, installing storm water and sanatory utilities, pouring of concrete building construction activities at the Fairwood Elementary School progress steadily in this quarter. The site and grading and underground MEP roughins in the area A were completed marked by key milestones for early foundation work. Ongoing efforts include construction of the CM stair towers, continuing MEP roughins. Uh looking ahead, um planned activities through March 2026 include um placing concrete footings and the and the slab on metal deck, erecting structural steel, installing cold form metal framing, and completing uh remaining MEP
019rough ends. Next slide, please. So Brandy Wine uh 3 through8 school um the site building and pad was uh uh completed this quarter. All along with the installation of uh aggregate uh geopers construction and activities are currently in progress include building foundation workgrade CMU masonry underground MEP slab ongrade preparation foundation waterproof erection of structural steel. Uh wet site utility work is also underway supporting continued progress on core building systems, site and site infrastructure. Upcoming activities will include the erection of structural steel, the installation of coal um form metal framing and the installation of MEP roughins, work on geothermal wells, sheathing and metal decks is also anticipated. Our last uh group C schools which are um James Duckworth Elementary School and Spring Hill Lake Elementary are approximately 95% through construction documents development. Uh demographic changes and
020site conditions required some redesigns. Uh construction is scheduled to start summer 2026. James Duckworth will move uh uh temporarily to Old Kenmore Middle School uh building and uh Spring Hill Lake will temporarily move to the old Green Mil Middle School building. And so in addition to that uh next slide, please um we had uh we've developed um project planning committees uh for all our projects. These are committees that that uh made up of PTA members, school administrators, staff, and in some cases students. uh and they meet on a regular bas basis to allow us to communicate to ask questions um and to and to work on um school specific uh issues related to these buildings. Um we've also had town hall meetings uh which are quarterly virtual town hall meetings uh hosted by PEP um
021through their community engagement teams where we provide updates and information about the projects. Next slide please. So the program is is uh is doing very well in other areas as well. We've gotten uh several awards and recognitions. Uh the blueprint phase 2 program and PEP earned national recognition receiving Proximo's North American social infrastructure deal of the year for 2024 and for its innovative financing model. uh PGS blueprint schools phase 2 program was recognized as best social infrastructure project at the 2025 P3 awards in October of 2025. The program included the largest taxable municipal bond financing for social infrastructure projects in North America with opportunities for local residents to invest in directly and that program will be rolling out um I believe at the after the um after the completion of the phase uh of the
022group A schools and in 2025 PEP received the Edward uh Kirkby award at the four A4LE um north northeast regional conference for uh its um high performance school delivery model through a public private partnership. So um those are some good things that are happening with the program around the program. Next slide. So if there are any questions uh I'm open to them now. >> Board members, do we have any questions? We will start with Vice Chair Brown. >> Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for the update. I did have three questions. Um, so hopefully I have enough time. My first one was about the school-based health clinics. How did you all choose them? Because in my mind, I'm thinking, well, are those community schools? Um, because I would think that they would
023have to be serviced first, but can you kind of give a little bit more detail on I guess how they were chosen? So, the community um uh the organization that's running them is under a contract with the county health department. So, we don't actually run the clinics. They're run by the community health department by by by I I guess statute. Uh and they they were uh they had thought they had a provider. Uh at one point they had multiple providers, but for some reason the contracts didn't uh work out and it took them a while. The school's been open now for almost two years or two or three years and so now they're they finally found a provider that met their requirements and so they will be staffing um the all six schools. >> Okay.
024Thank you. Awesome. And then my second question was when you talked about equity ownership on slide seven. >> Yes ma'am. >> Can you kind of explain a little bit when it comes to that cuz when I heard that I was like yes the name is changing but except for there's going to be equity ownership. So can you kind of give a little bit more of an explanation on that? >> Sure. So when uh when you fund a P3, most of the funding for the initial capital investment is done through um debt financing that that the um that the group the the financial group takes out on their own. So they own so let's say a million if it's a it's a for example it was $100,000 let's say $75,000 of it will be debt financed,
025right? And then uh the equity owner has to contribute roughly 25 10 to 25% of that overall contribution and as a result their their return on investment goes to the equity owner and debt uh or interest is paid to the to the debt owner. So in this deal, Gilbane in the first phase one, Fengate and Gilbane were the equity owners and what they want to do is and and the reason why they're chain swapping out is because the fund that they were using uh they intended to transfer internally to themselves, but their regulators told them that they couldn't do it. So they had to put it on the market. So that's why they're it's going on to the market because they couldn't sell it back to themselves. And so um the winning bidder from what
026I understand it was BBGI. Um they are a global um P3 company. Um this is what they do as well. And they like operational side. They usually try to get in on deals after they're constructed and which is what they're doing here. And so they will own then that the equity ownership in the deal um and will operate. >> Perfect. Thank you, >> Chair Guys McK. I do have one more question, but I will yield for uh other members that might have questions. >> Um, you can have my time to answer the rest to ask the rest of your questions. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. Uh, my last question just was, do you have an update on on Woodmore Elementary because that's another school that's being reconstructed and all the things and that's
027also in my district. So, can you kind of give me an update on the status? Yeah. So they will be going to Fairwood once Fairwood is completed. >> Got it. >> And um that as I said before there that is uh one of the group B schools and it is um right now um they are uh they're getting a lot of most of the site work done. They're starting to put in the um the MEP work and the um the geothermal work. Um and um we've had um a matter of fact, we just had one of our um um PPCs with them uh this past week with the both the staff and the community. And I know there's been some issues about um um uh some of the signage up blocking some site views for
028the drivers uh on a couple of roads and we're working that out with them. But other than that, everything's moving quite well. it's on schedule and um they are um you know pouring the slabs and getting the MEP work done there and so you'll it probably about it'll be a little bit before you see structural steel we we should start seeing structural steel go up um sometime between now and March. >> Okay. And then how's the demolition for the old Woodmore building? >> It's gone. >> Okay, good to know. Thank you so much. Um, are there any more questions for first round? Seeing none, board members, are we interested in a second round? >> Thank you so much, Mr. Matlock. We will now move on to our chipmunk update. The chair once again recognizes Dr.
029Coleman. Thank you, board member Goins McCann. So, the Department of Transportation and Central Garage has been working diligently to transition our transportation system from the Transfinder routing system to the bus planner routing system and from the Stopfinder parent app to the Chipmunk parent app. This week, the transportation team will be transitioning our remaining bus slots, schools, and students into the Chipmunk application. This final group coming into the system means that all 85,000 plus students and families will have access to the Chipmunk app to track the location of their bus. We encourage all families utilizing transportation to download and utilize the Chipmunk app to give them ready access to timely bus information. Tonight, Director Baldwin will walk through the online resources that are available for parents and guardians so they know how to access and effectively
030use the Chipmunk app. At this time, I'll turn it over to Director Baldwin. >> Thank you, Dr. Coleman and I am just going to share my screen. Okay. Can everyone see the the screen? Perfect. So, thank you um committee chair going mccants, board members uh for the opportunity to present. Uh we have presented uh in October and last month just about the operational um concepts of bus planner and chipmunk. Tonight we decided to just give a firsthand um view of how parents can access the resources. We've tried to funnel them into one location which is listed on our district website. Um as you can see here where parents can just go to our district work website. You can use the search button to click on chipmunk or find it in our uh banners as you
031come across the screen here. So from here we arrive at the chipmunk portal. And so this is a simple um list of what the app will do. Um talks about our key features, things that we are hoping our parents will benefit more from the live map view, the ETA summary, the custom alerts. We do have now a very good video tutorial. It's about three minutes long, but we now have it in Spanish as well as in English. So, we're hoping that helps to guide many of our families. We have information on our phased roll out. As you know, we started this process in September with phase one where we rolled in our special education routes and in November 17th, we started with our phase two with the comprehensive routes in which we have spent from
032November 17th up until this week to roll out uh all 12 of our bus lots into the bus planner system. there for being part of the Chipmunk app. And if there's questions, I'm going to just follow suit here and see the bus lots along with the route numbers and the dates of when we roll this out. We are in the middle this week of rolling out the Douglas, Goddard, Bladensburg, and John Hansen bus lots. Information is available in uh for parents now downloading the Chipmunk app. come back here. And so spend a little time just talking about how to access the Chipmunk app is very important as you must have a parent view account in order to activate the Chipmunk app. And so in this portal we have a great support uh for parents to
033understand if you have not set up your parent view account. Here is the site that gives you information about the why and the how to be able to set up your parent view account. And as we've said in the past, as you set up your parent view account, uh there's an email that you associate the Chipmunk app to, which is your parent view email. And so very important that once you download the Chipmunk app, you use your email that you created in parent view as your username. The password you can create yourself. And once that information has been entered successfully, your child's information should sync from parent view to the Chipmunk app seamlessly. So that has been very good so far uh with the parents who have subscribed to it. So we want our parents
034to make sure that you follow these steps to gain proper access to the Chipmunk app. Here again in this section we talk about where you can download the Chipmunk app, the App Store or the Google Play Store. And then we have these user guides for our parents. And I'm just going to click here. there. Very simple. Uh for those folks who need to read it like directions, understand like a user manual, you can come here and go through all of the steps. They're written out for you with images to support. This guide not only is in English, but it is also in Spanish as well. We have just to take a look in our invitations, in our appearances at town halls, uh some of our community events. We've been able to produce a a brochure
035that is a quick one sheeter that talks shares parents how to sign up, what are the steps they need to go through to download and access the Chipmunk app. And so these are some of the flyers that we've been able to use um throughout this implementation. And again, it's been posted um on the site to use as well as the brochure here in Spanish and also in French. So, um very um shouts out to our translation department and our PAS that have been so successful in working to disseminate this information to parents. um and in our um events that we have attended as well. So once you've downloaded the app, you're looking, of course, you're going to have questions. Um what has been helpful this year u so far is that we have a chipmunk
036help bot. This is um more like a chat GPT for our families where you can come and ask questions. They have included the user guide, the rollout plan that you can use to help ask questions. So, I'm going to do a little live demonstration here. Uh let's see new chat. And I'm gonna ask uh when will my route 011 be in chipmunk? Just as simple as that. 011 is associated with the Douglas lot which came online this week. And so as you can see 011 available went live December 15th. if you don't see it yet, here are steps that you can use. So, we're hoping to with this support, it adds to the um information availability for our parents to use as a resource to gain more information about learning how the chipmunk works and
037any other questions that they may have. And so, all again, this is here on the web page. This is actually the link if you want to uh use the link separate of accessing the web page of all you can have. We do have the user guide again and we have frequently asked questions. The good thing about the app is that you can send feedback once you've downloaded the app operating. There's a feedback button. So you can send feedback related to logging in to the student assignment to just I don't like how the screen looks. You can put that type of feedback into the app. That information goes to the vendor then comes to our transportation department need be to help resolve it as much as possible. So we are trying to make sure that we
038have proper avenues where parents uh can provide feedback and then that feedback is assessed, reviewed and um appropriately addressed. So from here these are all of the resources that are available for our parents um to access the app. What I would like to do, Mr. Pleasure Board, is actually just play the video and let you see uh what in the video what I just covered within this page is all covered within the video. Welcome. Today we are taking a quick tour of the Chipmunk parent app, part of the bus planner ecosystem. This app is designed to make your mornings and afternoons easier by giving you real-time updates on your child's school transportation. From estimated arrival times to important alerts. Before getting started, make sure you've registered for your Synergy parent view account. You'll need a
039few details handy. Your email address and phone number, your child's student ID, birth date, school name, and street address. Once that's done, head to the App Store on your iPhone or the Google Play Store on Android and download the Chipmunk app on your mobile device. After installing, you'll be greeted with a short welcome message summarizing what the app can do. Tap next. Then read through the disclaimer and terms and conditions. Once you're ready, tap I agree to continue. Next, select your school district. In this case, Prince George's County Public Schools from the drop- down menu. Tap next when you are ready. Select create an account and register with the same email address as your parent view account. This is what will bring your child's details from parent view to Chipmunk. Your password can be different
040from what you have on parent view. Once you've logged in, all students linked to your account who are phased into Chipmunk will appear on the screen. Rest assured, only you can view your child's information. The app is designed with privacy in mind, so no one else can access your child's data. Tap the green check mark to confirm and proceed. Welcome to the main page. You'll find four key sections: map, ETA, my students, alerts. Let's start with the ETA screen, the heart of the app. Here, each student is listed with live bus tracking. For example, Olivia's bus just updated. It's 2 minutes away. And yes, you'll get a push notification even if the app isn't open. Once the stop is serviced, a timestamp is logged so you know exactly when the bus arrived. Tap on the
041map button in the bottom left to open the live map. You'll see the bus moving along its route, street by street heading toward the stop. ETA updates live. 2 minutes becomes one. And just like that, you know it's time to pick up your child outside. You can click on the arrow above to change which child's bus you are tracking. Want more details? Tap my students and click on any child to view their school name, home, and alternate addresses and full transportation schedule at the bottom. Next, the alerts tab keeps you updated on route delays, cancellations, and school closures. Anything the transportation office shares with you. You'll also receive push notifications for new alerts. For example, Route F01 is delayed 15 to 30 minutes. Want to tailor the app to your needs? Tap the menu icon
042in the top left corner and go to settings. Here you can adjust how often the ETA refreshes, manage notifications, and more. If you have any questions or need support, feel free to contact the transportation office at 301-952-6570. From live bus tracking to real-time alerts, the Chipmunk parent app gives you the info you need right when you need it. Thanks for joining us on this quick tour. Okay, so that being said, uh I just wanted to end with showing that video and just know that our team um has worked hard. They continue to work hard with this transition. we've managed to transition 85,000 students into a new platform within four months. Um, and that's a story to tell. So, just keeping in mind that we're still integrating and implementing. So, we're going to have some good
043days and we're going to have some not so good days, but the important part is that we're here. We need to hear the information, good or bad, so that we can make sure that we're moving in a positive manner uh moving forward. So, >> and director, before we close out for questions, can you speak to uh we know that the push notifications, the bus tracking, the alerts are going to consistently work, but we also know that there will be challenges with the ETA feature and we need to call that out right from the outset. So, can you talk about that a little bit? >> Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you, Dr. Coleman. So the ETA uh you within the app happens when the bus crosses the geo fence that's set in the screen and that's when you
044get those messages. Uh we have to continually work with our drivers because that this is a a different uh request of them from the past and being able to u basically run the run sheet, run the run um the way we need it listed on the sheet versus them being able to make on the-fly adjustments. Um as we know, traffic happens in the county and so some days it will work just fine, some days it may not. And so as we u work to improve to be more efficient utilizing the chipmunk in the bus planner system, we may experience uh minor inconsistencies dealing with the ETA app, the ETA portion of it. Parents still will be able to see the bus and track the bus. Um but there may be some minor glitches when it
045comes to the ETA up front. And they will also still receive the push notification that the bus is nearing the stop so that the parent can still, you know, go out to the stop at the time if they want to meet the bus. Is that correct? >> Correct. Correct. You will still see that. Um, usually the I think the max is about a 0.9 um or you know n10 of a mile to notify that. So it gives parents time. One last thing I did want to remember to mention as related to the Chipmunk app. If our families have their phone set up in a different language other than English, the app will automatically pick up that translation as well. So if I if it's already if my phone is in Spanish, when you download the
046app, it will come in Spanish. The wording will be in Spanish as well. So, that's a good added push uh just to help encourage our families to download and use this app. We we want this to be theformational app uh because we're working very hard to make sure the information that's there is true and accurate. All right. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Director Baldwin. Um, I see we already have a question. Vice Chair Brown. >> Yes. Thank you so much, Chair Guys McCants, and thank you so much, Chief Baldwin. This was an excellent presentation. I love how you navigated uh families through the website. That was extremely helpful. As I am a parent, I have not downloaded the app yet. And while you were doing it, I was going along with it. And
047so, uh, it's very userfriendly. So, thank you so much for doing that because I think sometimes it can seem intimidating doing something new, implementing something new and to I did not realize you had to have the parent view um credentials in order to do the chipmunk. And so, this is definitely a speaking point that I'll make sure I uh tell my constituents about this cuz this is extremely important. I did want to um say I did not see my route on there in particular. When are we going to have a 100% roll out for everybody? Can you speak on that? >> I will tell you when by the time we come back um start from the holiday break, everybody should be in the system. Um we are working this week. We uh tomorrow is the
048true roll out where we're planning to have every route listed. Uh we we've not when we rolled out the session, we've not done it on a Monday. It's been more of a Wednesday Thursday um and a soft roll out to allow our team and the vendor to really fact check those bus slots to ensure that we have consistency and we soft roll it out. And so um if you're not seeing your particular route right now today, um I would check tomorrow. If not, give me a call. >> Okay? Okay. So, he can make sure that that's in place. Um, and that's where it's been for the most part um throughout this process. >> Excellent. Wonderful job. Thank you so much. >> And I would like to also say that um beginning in the next semester,
049uh we are open to invitations from school PTO's. Um I know that we are on the agenda with some of our uh family excuse me, our our peas and and coming to their schools to speak on transportation. And so it gives us an opportunity to meet our families. We have a great time when we can talk oneonone and we can talk about the app and and see and download and talk about it together. Uh those functions work well with us and for us and it helps build um some trust with our families as we want to make sure uh that we have good trust with them. So >> excellent. Thank you. I just have one quick follow-up question to that specific statement. Where should our uh PTSAs reach out if they would like to host
050you for a chipmunk session? >> I would ask they reach out to their school principal and their principal reach out to us in transportation. >> Thank you so much, Director Baldwin and Chief Coleman. Uh board members, is there any interest in a second round? Seeing none, thank you all again for your presentation. And we will now move on to our general budget update. The chair recognizes Ms. How our chief financial officer. >> Thank you, committee chair Gins McC. Um good evening everyone. Um happy to have the opportunity to provide another update as we prepare to transition to um the second phase of our budget process which will continue once we return from winter break. Um I will turn it over to Director Smith who will walk us through um the latest updates around our process.
051Thanks, Chief How. Good evening, everyone. I'm going to share my screen. Okay, thumbs up. Can everybody see my screen? Okay. Yeah. Okay, thank you. Okay. So, we're going to just kind of walk through uh the budget process and timeline um upon return from break, what's supposed to happen, who what are everyone's roles, responsibilities um and ultimately what is our end goal. So, screen my screen is stuck. Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna reshare. Sorry everyone. You gotta love it. Hold on. Okay, let's try this again. Okay. So, as you know, the superintendent is expected to present his proposed budget for fiscal year 2027 at the end of January. I believe it's January 22nd. Once that happens and the proposed budget is out there, there will be a budget book published um and available for both board
052and public consumption. Um and at that point in time we enter into um the budget work session and public hearing phase of the budget. Um and so we have three work sessions. Um and there should be focus. We want to maximize efficiency. Um, as you remember, um, I briefed publicly, I believe last Obafa meeting, um, where we think we're going to be when it comes to projected revenue, um, as well as where we may where we think we need to be as far as, um, budgeted reductions. Um, and so during the work sessions, that's a great opportunity to want to understand what changes happened to the budget. Um, public hearings usually immediately follow the work session. That's an opportunity to hear back from uh the community, try to understand their thoughts, their concerns. Um, and
053the whole purpose of it, of course, is to not just get feedback, but ensure transparency in our process. Um and then ultimately um the amendments that may be proposed by the board um will be in direct response to the community reaction to the gathered hearings. So as we keep going um the first step is just making sure that we orient the board to the budget and we're trying to do a lot of that uh groundwork now before even so as we are going to the board meetings and presenting the budget not just to the board but also to the public um to get an idea of where we are where we think we will be and what we are actually doing where we're thinking about reductions. Um all of this is we're laying that groundwork
054prior to the release of the budget. There's also um once the budget is released, you'll have an opportunity to look at the budget book. Um see what changed year from fiscal year 27 to 26 to 27. Um we call it major change. So you'll see kind of the major change um or the major changes. Um and then we enter step three is our work sessions. Um and this should be very specific topic based. Um understanding what is in our base budget and what changes are on top of that. Um if there are alternatives um any risks to the budget based off of any proposed reductions um understanding where our investments lie um how they align to any strategic priorities, things of that nature. Um listening to the community voice is our next step through the
055public hearings. Um listening to public testimonies, making sure that we're notating um any concerns that are specific that our communities bring to the table. Um and then let them know how their feedback is incorporated or will be incorporated through any board amendments that come through. And then finally, we are going to ask the board to adopt their board of education requested budget for fiscal year 2027 on February 26th. So, I just want to make sure that it's clear kind of where our works with during the work sessions, what are the roles? And so, for the board, we want to make sure that they understand the consequences of the funding decisions. They're focused primarily strategically and on impact. Um, so our board members, we want to make sure that they understand, like I said, the funding
056decisions that were made, what tradeoffs are happening, um, understand what our baseline costs truly are, what changes are on top of that baseline. Um, and any potential risks. um while at the same time superintendent um and his administration we're focusing on the data the implementation we want to all of which is collaborative and transparent um we can provide deep dives into certain topics depending on some of the questions that are coming through it would be great you know in order to understand the base budget u making sure that our chiefs um really are prepared to present their budget or at least talk about the organizations at a high level. And again, we're trying to lay that groundwork early so that by the time we get into these work sessions, at least, you know, our board
057members have a general idea and understanding of what changes were made. Um, and they can just focus on deep diving into that and asking any questions that they may have. Um, and then of course we're data we're data driven. So questions that are asked, we will come to the next work session prepared to to answer with data. Um our goal is for a seamless process for these three uh work sessions that are all happening in February. So prior to the board adoption at the end of February, we have three work sessions and public hearings um the 5th, the 12th, and the 19th. And again, we just want to provide the board and the public with multiple touch points and and opportunities to really understand what we are proposing, what the superintendent is proposing in the
0582027 budget. Um, again, our goal is transparency, clarity, which is a tough feat. You know, budget data is not the most interesting um for everybody. It can be quite dense. Um it can be a lot. It can be a little technical at times. However, we are going to try our hardest to ensure that we are clear um and concise in our delivery. Um and again, just meaningful engagement. There's key opportunities I think that's going to happen through what we're calling the requested cycle. Um so again, right now we're in the proposed cycle. Once the proposed budget is presented um and out there for the public, we now transition into the requested cycle and that will help us uh understand again and share where we are with revenue. Um and again we're again laying that groundwork
059early. So we have revenue. We've been talking about enrollment counts and how that impacts our revenue blueprint, how that impacts our revenue as far as per pupil amounts, um our expenditures, where we may have to revise some of our assumptions, adjust the base budget down, um based off of current um the environment that we are currently in um and any fiscal constraints on top of that. But we also want to make sure that we clearly outline and and you understand as the superintendent would say accelerants. Um there's going to be investments that we need to make. It can't all just be cuts. So we so there's going to be both. Um that will all be outlined. Um and there will be an opportunity to really engage not just with the administration but also with the
060public. Um we want to make sure that again major changes are understood from the fiscal year 26 approved budget which we are currently executing. Um the impact of the investments on our students uh the schools and our staff. Um and then any trade-offs. Um because again our new reality is that we don't have as much funding available to us as we once did and there's a lot of reasons that has been outlined um in a multitude of ways. And so we're gonna have to do a lot of reimagining. Um but we want to do it in a safe, transparent way. Um and then again, engagements, several engagements. Um it's not just these work sessions that we have with the public. We have um tomorrow night there's a dollars and decisions. I think uh there's going
061to be multiple opportunities for the community to get involved. Um but at the same time we can the board can ask us clarifying questions and the administration will provide the board um clear responses and answers to any questions that they may have. Hopefully um I would I will I'm trying I'm trying to trying to word my phrasing properly. I want to phrase my words properly. Our intention and our hope is that as we get into these work sessions that in the public hearing that the public, our schools, our staff, our board, the administration, we are all on the same page. That's the goal that we can be on the same page. We may not always agree. There may be discussions, but we would like for everybody to at least be on the same page. No
062surprises. um nothing everything above board. That is our goal. That's our hope. Um and we've been working to make sure that there have been multiple touch points across the board with a lot of different sectors um to make sure they understand why we're saying what we are saying, what it means, um what impacts potentially it could have. Um but also what our goals are, what our strategic priorities are. Um that we're going to stay focused and our budget will be aligned to. So the outcome of course is to have a clear understanding of the FY27 budget um and make sure that the board feels confident and comfortable in order to adopt the budget at the end of February once that adoption happens and then we have to transmit the budget over to the county um
063by March 1st. So the adoption should happen during the board meeting on February 26th. Shortly thereafter or on that date we will like to or the very next day that Friday we will transmit over to the county and then ultimately the county executive she has to transmit the county's budget um by I think it's May 1st um I believe and but we are hoping that we will receive the governor's um the governor's budget by mid January. We'll get the state aid preliminary state aid document um also mid January that will help bridge some of the gaps that we currently have. And so by the time so even through the requested budget cycle, we'll be able to incorporate um some of the changes based on the final state aid or the preliminary state aid document. And
064that really what we're waiting is for like the wealth equalization um data so that we understand what the local share versus the state share is going to be. And so just again just want to outline the timeline. January 22nd superintendent proposed budget presentation for fiscal year 2027. February 9th, 12th, and 19th. I think I got those dates right. You guys please um correct me if I if I got those wrong. I believe there's going to be three budget work sessions and public hearings. On February 26th, the board adoption and transmitt of the FY27 board of education requested budget. Um, and then ultimately uh the state and the county will finalize their budgets. And so at that point in time, that concludes my presentation and I'm open it up for any questions you may have. Thank
065you so much, Director Smith. Board members, do we have any questions? Seeing none, thank you so much uh Chief How and Director Smith for your presentation. The chair would like to invite members of the public to provide feedback. Um, chair would like to invite members of the public to our dollars and decisions event tomorrow night at Sasser Administration building at 6:00 p.m. Please be advised that our next virtual operations, budget, and fiscal affairs committee meeting will be on January 14th, 2026. Please continue to check the Prince George's County Board of Education website for meeting information and updates. Thank you all for the great discussions and for being here. To our viewers, thank you all for watching. Um, there being no further business, the time is now 6:54 p.m. and the December 17th, 2025 operations, budget,
066and fiscal affairs committee meeting is adjourned.