Board of Education Operations, Budget & Fiscal Affairs Committee Meeting, May 28, 2025

001Yes. Good evening everyone. The time is now 5:31 and welcome to the May 28th operations budget and fiscal affairs committee meeting. I am Zakia Goyne McCants, committee chair and district 8 board member and thank you all for joining us today. For those unable to observe now, the meeting is being recorded and can be accessed on the PGCPS YouTube channel for later viewing. Mrs. Adelaide, please call the role. Miss GCS, present. Mrs. Brown, here. Mr. Briggs, present. Dr. Moss Chair Jackson. We have three present. We have a quum. Thank you. 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 May 28th, 2025 meeting agenda. There being no objections, the May 28th, 2025 meeting agenda is adopted. If there are

002no corrections, the committee shall approve the April 30th, 2025 meeting a minutes as distributed. There being no corrections, the committee shall approve the April 30th, 2025 meeting minutes. They are approved. It's me. We have no registered public comment speakers for today. So, with that, we will move on to our chief financial officer updates. And the chair recognizes Miss Howal, chief financial officer for the budget update outcomes of general assembly's decision. Good afternoon everyone. Um I'm going to turn it over to Siobhan Smith who will provide us with an update on where we stand. Um we do have some updates with regards to what came out of this most recent general assembly. Um we don't yet have our updated information from the state which outlines our finalized state aid funding um information and then of course

003we are anxiously waiting for the um transmitt of the uh county approved budget um by the end of this month. So but with that being said I will turn it over to Miss Siobhan Smith who will walk us through the latest update. Hello everybody. Good evening. I'm going to share my screen if that is okay. can you guys see my screen? Okay. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Loading. But yeah, I think it's still loading. Okay. Started, but we're still waiting. Okay, let me I'm going to stop sharing for a quick second. Let me get off a VPN because sometimes that slows everything down. Hold on really quickly. I apologize. Okay, let's see if that's better. Okay, just somebody can give me a thumbs up when they see Okay, thank you. Okay, so I'm just wanted

004to walk you through just a quick update on where we are with our budget. Um, so even though we are still in the month of May, um, as Chief How mentioned, we are awaiting approval from the from the county on the budget that we transmitted. In addition, we are also waiting for their final budget to be released. Um, we already had our budget hearings with the county council, um, as well as with, um, OMB. Um, and so now the biggest push is doing our final reconciliation. Um, we are closing out the school budget process. Um and now and as we await the final state aid document, we have to reconcile everything. So final revenue numbers, final expenditure numbers. Um so the goal for us um is to hopefully we we're not too far off. Um

005we're pretty we're usually pretty good with our revenue estimates. Um so we are not expecting much change. Um there are a couple of things that we asked the county to cover. So we will see when they transmit their budget. We will see um if they covered it. However, we are prepared knowing that nine times out of 10 we are going to get um the minimum funding requirement from the county. Um so we are we're making arrangements in prep in preparation for our final reconciliation. Um, but I want to mention that there are a couple of key dates um that we're striving to hit. Um, so this week, I know it says May 27th, but let's just say this week we got to finalize all school budgets um so that we can load it and start

006the reconciliation process. We have our final OBAFA budget update. I believe it's scheduled for June 18th. that will be our last time before we go before the full board with our FY26 um operating budget to be adopted by the board of education and that should happen on June 26th um during the final OBFA budget update by then we will have final numbers we will have reconciling items and we'll be able to go a little bit more in detail with the actual budget numbers so this is just going to be a highle kind of update of where we are um and where we're trying to So, we're we have to transmit our budget over to the county. Um, we usually try to get that done immediately after the the budget is adopted by the board. Um,

007because we also then have to certify the budget with the state. Um, and there's a series of forms and we have to and certification documents that we have to complete. Um, that has to be signed by our board chair, by our superintendent. Um, it is a process. So, we although it's due July 1, we we usually let the state know ahead of time. Um that we're going to be just a little bit late on getting that done. Um however, uh and they usually have a lot of grace for that. Um but our goal is to get it done as quickly as possible. As soon as the board adopts the budget, um we will work to get all signatures needed um from both the county and the board and the superintendent. And then shortly thereafter, our

008goal is to to publish our approved budget book so that the public and anyone who is interested can see um what our final approved budget looks like for FY26. So, it's a tight deadline, but Chief How, myself and our team, we're working really, really hard to hit all these target dates because there's just no room for slippage. Um, and I just, you know, my team knows that. They're aware of the tight deadline that we have. Um, so for FY26, we're just we're hitting the ground running. Um, starting with finalizing school budgets. So, speaking of school budgets, I mean, we faced quite a bit of challenges. Um, but we did have some successes as well um during the FY26 build of our minimum school funding. Um, as you know, we're trying to implement blueprint and that

009is there's a lot of pain points. There's a lot of education that goes with that across the board with us as well. We had a lot of um we had a lot of things that we had to really figure out how we're going to integrate these requirements into our existing process um and we have a lot more room to grow. So we're hoping that as time goes by as we're formulating 27 we will get even better um but now that we have a model in place um so trying to fit Blueprint into our school operating structure is very difficult. blueprint is very specific when it comes to how the funding flows, but it's not necessarily specific to how we necessarily, we being PGCPS, how we actually operate our school system. So at some point there

010is going to have to be a meeting of the minds and we are going to have to start making some decisions on how we're going to maybe adjust if we are if we are serious about meeting blueprint requirements which I believe we are because there are funding implications um if we do not but there are some successes um one of the successes is that it forces blueprint is forcing us to really understand school by school, what schools need, what schools have, where we are with them, and where we can go school by school versus just looking at it collectively, schools. Um, I see that as a good thing because it can help us provide a tailored structured guidance to each of our principles in my opinion. Um, in addition, we because we are we have

011that starting point, um, we are prepared to submit a waiver to the AIB. um knowing that we still have quite a ways to go before we meet all of the necessary requirements for blueprint. Um, so we want to submit a waiver. Hopefully it gets approved that will buy us just a little bit more time. Um, so that collectively between the board of education, superintendent and the administration there can be, you know, a methodical way of how we may need to make some changes in over a period of time. Um, so I see that as a success story. All right. legislative impacts. Um, good news is that a lot of the bills or a lot of the concerns that we were having going into the 2025 general assembly turned out okay. Um, for the most part,

012um, our funding was not impacted much. Um, so I know in a couple of Obafas ago we kind of talked about some of the House bills and Senate bills that were there and at this rate um the only real legislation um that will impact I think PGCPS. One is that the excellence in Maryland public schools act um there's a Maryland academic excellence program that was created but it wasn't funded. So more to come on that um and you can see the community schools expansion um to use funding for districtwide activities and admin purposes if an LEA has 10 eligible community schools or if at least 35% are community schools. um eleas, we have to provide each other school with an itemized list of services. Um none of these things are um career counseling. They extended

013the pilot for 2 years um with our workforce investment board. Um for the budget bill or House Bill 350, um this one, I mean, there's still impact to retirement. There's going to be more of a local share. The state share has been reduced. The local share has been picked up. We fully expect the county to pick that up. Um, same with non uh non-public placements. It was reduced. Um, hopefully the county will pick up that difference for Prince George's County. Um, more to come on that. We'll see when we when their budget is released. Um, and then the House Bill 370 for the Office of Integrity and Compliance. again waiting to see what the county puts out as their final budget. Um but we are fully expecting to still have to cover the cost of

014this office in its entirety for FY26. And then lastly, I just you've seen this slide um or a version of it in the past. Um, so I just wanted to reiterate um where we are right now for FY26 in our unrestricted operating budget. So just to reiterate that our schools receive a total of 87% of our total revenue. Um, and about 13% is reserved for centralized services. Um, so we are pushing down. We being Prince George's County Public School System, we are pushing down 87% of our budget um down to the schools, those services that are supporting the schools, the budgets that directly um are in the hands of our schools um they are receiving the bulk of our budget. And you know, 345 million may sound like a lot, but it's not. um that's

015retained at the central office level for essential administrative functions um that we do um but for the most part I just want to reiterate um how much you know we are supporting our schools um in this budget cycle I will say um it has been a collaborative effort you know we have worked really really well with our principles we've worked really really hard and and closely with our associate superintendent across all three area offices is um to make sure that schools are supported, that they understand their funding and why. Um so again, even though it's been a challenging budget season particularly for our schools, it's also been very informative and incredibly collaborative. So I'm just thankful for everybody's support when it comes to this particular budget cycle. Um with that being said, that is all

016that I have for a budget update. Um, at this point we can open it up to any questions. Thank you. So, Director Smith, I was just going to add something real quick to the last statement that she made with regards to um, you know, our overall budget and, you know, being very um, flexible and adaptive throughout this process. We are still faced with a lot of uncertainty um even this late in the budget season, particularly at the federal level, but we can't wait for final decisions. And so we're making some assumptions, not really knowing exactly what's going to happen. So we'll be prepared to uh respond once final decisions are made with regards to federal funding. Um, but that did um certainly play a part into the budget development process and working very closely with

017our principles around those assumptions and what that would look like to make sure we we would be in the best position to support our schools going into the year knowing that there's still a fair amount of uncertainty around federal funding. Thank you so much for that additional context, Chief How. Board members, do we have questions? Vice Chair Brown. Yes. Thank you so much. Um, committee chairs mccants. Uh, great presentation. Really appreciate the information and non-information because I think we're all um just playing a waiting game, per se. I did have two questions. My first question was, you know, you talked about the implementation of the blueprint. Um, has the state at least provided you all guidance on how to approach that? Um, because I know that obviously we're not the only county that's going to

018be dealing with this new process. Um, and so I'm curious if the state did provide that or if you all inquired about um, them providing that guidance for you all. So I can take a stab at answering that and then Chief Hal, if there's something that you know I missed or or you want to jump in, please don't hesitate. Um so we have been we being the all eleas in the state of Maryland we meet weekly that includes MSDE to figure out how and the best practices for blueprint. Um although blueprint is specific in how funding flows it is not as clear with how to implement. I think that a lot of eleas are just like well this is what we did. Um, so we do get to collaborate with other other LEAs on how

019they're implementing blueprint, but we are all so different in where we are in this process. Um, so a lot of it has just been, okay, we know what the requirement is, but because there are unique things with Prince George's County Public Schools, you know, it has really been an internal push to figure out the best way to apply those requirements, this massive legislation, what is the best way to apply it within our district. Um but we do sit on a call weekly um and I think every other week we have MSDE um financial folks on the call who can help provide us with further guidance. And I do think that also MSDE they are also trying to figure it out as we go along. So there are points that we embrace that they have to

020get back to us with. Um but Chief H I don't know if you had anything you wanted to add to that. Sure. Um, in addition to MSCE, oops. Well, maybe not. Do you want me to continue or no? I'm sorry. No worries. Continue. Okay. Um in addition to MSDE, I was going to just state that um the um AIB, the accountability implementation board also participates in these weekly calls as well and they have provided over the course of this uh blueprint effort um implementation process. There's been guidance that's been provided um but it doesn't always come when you need it so you can plan for it. Um, and so it's it's we're building and flying the plane at the same time. And I think that's been the biggest challenge for all the eleas. Um, because

021when you don't have the guidance, you still have to move forward with it. And I'll just give you a brief example. Last year, as we're building out our budgets, you need our student count data by school. We didn't get that until for fiscal year 25. We didn't get until August. Well, the budget was already done. It was already approved and we're already into the fiscal year. So you have to make some assumptions without having that data that you need from the state in order to really kind of build out your blueprint implementation. Um so it is it is a challenge. Um and as Siobhan was saying each LEA is very different in terms of the systems that they have. The size um of the LEAs makes a huge difference. Some LEAs are really small and

022they're able to go through the implementation. Still challenges but in very different way than the larger districts. Um, so there's a lot of different variations. Our programming is different. Our our different school needs have challenges. Um, so there are there are different nuances that are not necessarily one-sizefits-all, but there's a lot of great um best practices, knowledge sharing among the CFOs as we're going through this effort together collectively. Thank you so much, Chief Hal. Board members, do we have any additional questions? Board member Boozer Strather. Yeah, thank you. I'm I'm just a guest board member this evening, but I did want to check in. Could you please clarify the um if the these budgets reflected an assumption of the withheld esser reimbursements and if that hasn't has had a negative impact and also can you

023clarify the the title one changes so schools that had been uh receiving title one funds the factors that went into if that was something the schools in individual schools not receiving this year. Thanks. That's a great question. Um, and that feeds into some of the uncertainty that we're trying to work through. So, the latest guidance that we received with regards to the ESSER reimbursement is that there was an opportunity for us to resubmit um, expenses through the end of April um, with regards to that. And so, we went through that process. That was an exercise was due last Friday. Okay. So, we get these requests all the time that are sort of, you know, quick turnaround. And so, we provided the information to the state um with an opportunity or with an expectation that we

024would receive reimbursement for the cost that we've incurred up until that point. Um, of course, we all want to know will there be another opportunity after that because May is still very early in the window of time. Um, we received, you know, an exp um an extended liquidation period and it was beyond May. It was through September 2025. And so, um, we're cautiously optimistic that there that that we're at least having some opportunity to be reimbursed for some of the costs that we incurred, you know, since the first, uh, notice came out back in February. Um, but it still remains to be seen how much one we might be able to reclaim of those expenses. With regards to Title One, there's a lot that we don't know, but we did make an assumption that our

025Title One budget will be cut by 20%. And so that factored into the allocation that each school received. Um we do know which schools have been identified as title one schools for fiscal year 2026. And we started with that assumption of a 20% reduction um from there, but it could be more, it could be less. Um and so that at least gave schools the opportunity to plan knowing at least 20% and how to be able to build their budget um based off of that assumption. But we have to may have another bite of the apple as more information becomes available. Thank you so much, Chief How. Um before we go to board member Brown for a second round, wanted to make sure everyone else had their opportunity for a first round. Okay, board member Brown.

026All right, thank you so much. I just had one question. I know you mentioned that the centralized services are at 13%. Um, do you know what they were before? Yeah, we've done a sidebyside analysis for fiscal year 26 relative to fiscal year 25 and it was around the same. Um, we didn't define it that way when we worked on the 25 budget, but as we're working on the 26, we did pull in the prior year actuals to see what that would look like as well. And it's it's been pretty consistent from, you know, the over those two years that we looked at the data. Okay. Thank you. Um I do have a couple of questions. I think part of it is as a followup to that you said we don't have it listed out that

027way, but from looking at the overall numbers, it's been consistent over the past two years. prior to that when looking at the numbers, is it pretty consistent? Did we have a higher percentage, a lower percentage, or is that something you'd have to get back to us on? Yeah. So, one of the opportunities that came out of this blueprint implementation that Siobhan spoke of earlier is really looking at how we present our budget in a very different way. Um because it's really important that we're looking at school-based costs, whether it's a cost that's directly at a school cost center or whether it's a school uh cost that directly supports students, but it's in a central office cost center. Um that exercise we did that with regards to blueprint. So this is really the first time that

028we really looked at the cost that might be sitting in building services where the majority of their budget directly supports schools. We have the call for induction coaches that's sitting in human resources that directly supports schools. You've got IT techs that's sitting at a central office cost center that directly supports schools. You've got academics. So, we really went through every single division to say even though it's sitting in a central office cost center, it's in direct support of students. So, let's look at our budget in a very different way versus central office cost center and school cost center. That's how we've always looked at it before and that's how we sort of defined central office, but that's not really how blueprint looks at those dollars. And so we went through that exercise for 26 and

029then went back to retroactively see what that would look like for 25 as well. But prior to that, we didn't evaluate our budget in that manner. That makes a lot of sense. And I think looking at what you all explained as your challenges going forward, what is it that you all need as a department to make sure that we can do this properly going forward? Because obviously the blueprint is not going anywhere and the requirements are only going to get more stringent, not less. That is a great question. I think there's a lot of advocacy that could be around really the intent of the law and really the benefit of what this is all about which is making sure the resources are getting to the schools and to support what the students actually need. There's

030a lot of reporting, a lot of accounting, a lot of data that does not necessarily provide any additional insight around um the intent of how those dollars are to be utilized. I think it's important that the money gets to the schools and that the principles have the opportunity to develop the programming that's needed to support the academic outcomes for those students. Um, blueprint has accountability requirements which I think are extremely important. Um, it gets to be really granular where we are required to demonstrate not only the budget but also the actuals by each of the different blueprint programs as opposed to be able to say if you got a dollar and you're required to at least have 75 cents of that dollar go to the school. We can demonstrate that all day long and the

031principal can then take those funds and bid out the programming that's needed to support those students. But instead, Blueprint takes it a step further and says, "No, we want you to show us how much of your email money did you spend? How much of your comped money did you spend? How much of your student with disabilities money did you spend?" Principles are not thinking about their budgets in that way. They're thinking, I've got students over here that I have to develop programming for. That's what they're focused on, not did I spend my compet. And so, there's a level of accountability, but it gets to the point where I think it's more granular than it's really sustainable. You think about the fact that we have a very old ERP system and even if we had a

032new ERP system, it is a challenge to be able to tag every single budget dollar to a blueprint program and every single expenditure that's at a school level to a blueprint program. Um there was actually legislation in this past session to be able to provide this um reporting in the aggregate by school and it did not pass. So we will be pushing for that again in next year's uh general assembly that the um accountability is at the school level in aggregate and not by program. Um it's just a level of detail that I it's really requires a lot of accounting um and manipulation to show the data in that way and I don't think you need to have that level of granularity to show and to demonstrate that we're using the funds as intended. The

033other challenge is that for us, we have a fair amount of our budget for schools, as I explained earlier, that's not sitting at a school cost center level. Um, and we CFOs have talked about this from the very beginning, like is there a different way that we can account for this? Because again, it's a huge accounting exercise to be able to say, I've got all these costs sitting in academics that directly support schools. So now we're going to have to do journal entries to move the budget and to move the expenses. What does that really demonstrate? Well, it shows the money follow the student to the school, but it's not an easy way in order to make that happen. And so because of that, based off of the way the law is currently written, it's

034a huge um impact to our team because we don't get additional resources to do all those different accounting exercises to support what's required by blueprint. Um, so when I think about at a very high level, those are probably two of the biggest pain points. There's a lot of accounting and a lot of manual accounting that's necessary in order to be able to demonstrate that we are um in compliance with the groupment law. And so we're hopeful that there will still be some appetite to re-evaluate some of the accountability requirements to make it easier to demonstrate that the money is benefiting and is following the student as intended. Thank you, Chief Hal. Board member Boozer Strer. Thank you. Um, could you go back to the AIB waiver? Um, and you know, when I hear waiver and

035what I'm seeing about how waivers are being, um, reported on, I think unfortunately they're now being seen as trying to get out of the blueprint, you know, trying to get around the blueprint, trying to have counties counties attempt to have their portion reduced. So, I just want to make make sure we're clear on what we mean by our potential waiver request to AIB. what what exactly are we asking to be waved? So when we started the implementation for 2025, which is considered the base year, the AIB and MSDE came out with joint guidance that outline we have three years to be able to demonstrate that we're getting from our current state to the minimum threshold of 75% 75% of the funds or in some cases 100% depending on the blueprint program has followed the student

036to the school. And so they realized the huge challenge of being able to do that in just one year. So they phased it in over three years. Um so 25 is the base year and then we are expected to demonstrate or show that we've achieved 50% growth from the base year to 2026 and then by 2027 we need to be in full compliance. Um so from a waiver perspective um well let me kind of just explain a little bit more. It's being able to show that the money followed the student to the school in aggregate and for the district but also by individual blueprint program. And so that is where part of the challenge comes from because you can be able to demonstrate that the money follow the student in aggregate to the school but

037maybe ML is at 60% and student with disabilities is at you know 98%. It might average out to 75 but by individual program you may not be in compliance. And so part of our challenge for this year will be to look at our starting point for 2025 where we believe we're going to be for 2026 and evaluate what our waiver process will need to look like. As stated before, it's a huge challenge to be able to do that by blueprint program. And it's also a huge challenge with regards to capturing those centralized school-based costs at a school cost center level. And so our exception, our waiver process is not to get out of it, but it's allow to allow us more time to get to that 75% requirement. Um, so that's really our approach um

038as we're going through this process. Okay, that that's very helpful. It's that we are absolutely moving along with the blueprint. We just might need a little more time. It's clear to you now and you just want to make sure AIB knows we know that. Absolutely. I mean, when I look at our blueprint program on paper, because we initially developed our plan in an Excel spreadsheet, it looks great. But to be able to get it from an Excel spreadsheet and implement that into Oracle, that's a whole different ballgame. And so, just it's just really needing the time um and the infrastructure to to be able to have the information captured in a way that it can be reported that we're meeting that requirement. Thank you. so much, Chief How. Um, board members, if we don't have

039anything else, thank you so much, Director Smith and Chief How, for you all's report today. Um, we will now move on to our chief operating officer update. Starting with our food and nutrition services report, the chair recognizes Dr. Coleman, our chief operations officer for the food and nutrition services report. Thank you so much and good afternoon board committee chair going mccants uh members of the board and community stakeholders. Uh as you can imagine, summer is a busy time uh for operations and that does include our food and nutrition services department uh as we continue to provide meals uh for students across the county during summer break. uh immediately began preparation for the upcoming school year by improving kitchen and cafeteria environments. Uh updating meal menus to encourage an increase in student meal participation and continuing

040to monitor and plan around available federal funding. Uh so at this time to uh really give some color uh to those areas, I'd like to introduce Mrs. uh Mary Kirkland, our food and nutrition services director. Good afternoon um board members. Uh my name is Mary Kirkland. I am the director for food nutrition services. Um and we'll begin. Oh, am I um Dr. Fley? Am I sharing my screen? If you have the ability to do so, yes, I do not. Okay, thank you. Um well I I will Oh just got it. Um is it working for you? Yes. Okay. Okay. Um, so a federal funds update for food nutrition services. Um, at this time there are no direct cuts to school meals programs um that have been finalized. Um, we are working with MSDE um every

041day um to get guidance on if there are changes. Um right now our guidance is that MSD advises us that operations should continue as usual. Um our reim we have not seen any changes to our reimbursements as it relates to school meals. Um and if we are to see that um that would be a notification that we will get from MSDE. Um however um there is proposed leg legislation in Congress um that includes potential changes to the school nutrition program um that if it is enacted it could significantly impact our funding and um our implementation specifically around C. Um so community eligibility um provision which is um the C program. It is federally funded um and this option is under the national school lunch program um and it enables us to provide free breakfast and

042free lunch to all students um without requiring them to fill out any meal benefit applications. In addition, it has other benefits because um it takes away some of the administrative task of um the schools having to reach out to parents to ensure that they're doing the meal benefit applications. It also gives us the ability to um group schools individual. Well, group schools together or use schools um one by one to then um get an ISP that will allow us to receive the highest reimbursement um for the meal for the students who fall under um uh specific programs such as SNAP, TANF and TANNIF. Um just to give you a little bit of the growth of C um within PGCPS um we have grown from 19 schools to 132 schools. Um the ISP has changed as

043of 2023 from 40% to 25% which has allowed us to add more schools. So now with Prince George's County Public Schools we currently have 60 63% of our schools um they operate this uh this program for our students. And we have seen great success in participation as well too as it relates to our meal programs allowing more students access to meals throughout the day and throughout the week. Um in addition um while a separate program does not fall under C it still allows us to then offer them three meals as well too. Um the proposed updates um that is that are being proposed um to with the changes for C. Um so currently they are um it's proposed to change the ISP from 25% um to 60%. The impact that has on Prince George's County

044Public Schools um is that we would go from 132 schools participating in the program to um 100 schools not participating in the program. So only having 32 schools left over. Um and that's only that that's impacts 69,000 students. Out of the state of Maryland, there are three a little over 300 um schools um in the state of Maryland will be impacted, but Prince George's County, we will see the biggest impact if these changes are to take place. Um what we have in place if this is to happen is that we still have other programs for our students to um that still provide our students um access to meals. So, a lot of these schools will still be eligible for our Maryland meals for Achievement program, which is um which provides them free breakfast every day.

045Um we would then also have to um make sure that we are campaigning with our schools, working in collaboration with our schools and different offices to ensure that our families know that um when they fill out the meal benefit application um that it doesn't go any further than our office. And so therefore, we have to ensure that our parents and our students take these uh forms home. they know that they need to fill them out because if they don't that will impact um that that can impact our farms percentage as a whole. Um meaning that most of our students could be um if they don't fill out the forms they could be paid they could um have a a farm status as paid. Um in addition to this, this could also impact our um just

046meal participation because what we've seen is that when our this with this program in particular with C, it has provided us um higher participation oh excuse me, higher participation within our schools. Um what we do know is when we did not have C, um there was significant change in participation at uh breakfast as well as at lunchtime. And so we are working to ensure that if this is to happen that we have um things in place to ensure that um we have parents are able to do their meal benefit applications as well as other programs um uh submitting applications for schools to be a part of other programs that still allow them access to u maybe not free lunch and free breakfast but at least free breakfast. um a update for our local food for

047school grant. Um earlier in I want to say March, you may have heard that there was um a billion dollars being cut um from um the local school like from local uh local food for schools. Um for the state of Maryland in general, we were given 8.5 million. 6.5 million of that was given to um MSDE for school meals. And so we heard that that was cut. Um however, as of the beginning of May, um we did find out that our local food for school grant has been extended throughout um throughout the rest of this year. I mean it will be extended through November of next year, but then also we got another notification that it will run through June 2026. So, what this allows us is to work with Moon Valley Farm, who is

048a local farmer um here in Maryland, to provide produce to our schools. Um, and that can range from any type of seasonal produce to introduce them to new fruits and vegetables. Um as well as um being able to just pro um you have have multiple um have multiple outlets to receive different produce but all outside of our uh produce vendor who is currently buoy produce. And so what this will allow our schools is to go in order local produce. right now they have um they're able to get strawberries, they're able to get fresh um lettuce, they're able to get a lot of different things that normally we wouldn't get from our regular vendor just due to pricing, whereas this here is through a grant. So, we're able to introduce new fruits and vegetables onto our

049menu um throughout the seasons to ensure that our students are introduced to those things and they're able to have access to those fruits and vegetables. Um as Dr. Coleman tal uh spoke about our summer food service program. We are gearing up for that. Um our program will operate um for the majority of our programs June 30th through August 15th. We do have two programs that start the week after school um lets out. Um to be eligible for um summer uh summer food service program, 50% of the children are eligible. They must be eligible for free and reduced price meals. So you have some sites that are open sites where those students are eligible um to participate due to the because of the area in which they are in but then you have closed sites where

050we have to get rosters from those particular programs and we have to qualify them based on their rosters. Um currently right now um and it's changing every day. We have a hund 151 PGCPS school sites and we have about 40 community sites that we are working with with parks and planning as well as um a few churches as well too. So it is growing. We are going to operate Monday through Friday. We will operate um all of our cafe sites meaning all of our sites that are inside of our schools. All of those um participating in those programs will receive um hot meals. Um whereas you have our community centers, you have our libraries and a few churches where we will we will be delivering meals um on a daily basis to them. So they

051will receive bagged meals. We are expanding um our menu to include more vegetarian options for our students um so that they have more uh they have more to choose from this um this summer to make sure that we are able to provide that um provide that um pro provide vegetarian meals as well too. Um we have not reached um the point where we can we have a vegan meal that we can provide. However, um if there is a student that has that, they can work with our office and we are able to figure out um how we can then provide a meal to them. Um also, we are also looking into having open sites within certain um communities. Um knowing that sometimes um students may not feel comfortable coming into the actual school to receive

052the meal while the program is going on. We are looking to establish open sites so that if we have students who are not participating in a summer food service program within one of our schools or community center, um they can go to these open sites, they can pick up a meal, they can eat it on site, and they can receive a meal throughout the summer. Um in terms of our summer projects, um we have uh PE Williams. Um there's a walk-in freezer installation. Um I'm sure that um CIP will go into the full kitchen renovations as well. Um but we have three schools uh receiving uh full kitchen renovations and we have James McHenry which will also receive a walk-in freezer. Um and one thing I do want to highlight is that um this um

053this past school year um or this current school year as well um we have um done school enhancements and that's um that has been a part of our beautifification initiative. So with that we completed 14 schools and the goal of this initiative is to create dining environments that support the overall well-being of the students through improved cafeteria facilities. Currently we have seven schools that are um that are left to complete these projects on um but we have completed them at 14 schools and it's something that we are looking to um continue for at least the rest of the high schools within the county which concludes which um includes seven schools. But that list right there below is a list of schools that have received um the cafeteria enhancements. And what that looks like is that

054um it's a full it's a full not renovation, but they get a full paint job um within the cafeteria. We do some changes to the tables. We also add booths, chairs, and the seating. It's customized per school um based on the amount of students that need to fit in the cafeteria. And so what students can expect to see is a lot of um it just it it kind of screams school spirit because you have a lot of the mascots that are on the walls um and it just incorpor it's just the environment in which students can come into whether they're eating or if they are in there doing a project of some sort to where um it's inviting and it changes it up. So then they want to come into the actual cafeteria and they

055enjoy a space that they're going to be utilizing or eating in. Um so also um one of what well our goal um is to increase our average daily participation for school breakfast and lunch um uh by 3% representing an estimated increase of 350,000 meals served. And so what that looks like when we go what that looks like as we reach that goal is that we want to develop student focus groups so that we have the student voice as well as for our menu we want to incorporate flavor changes. So therefore as we have um fall and winter then we have uh spring we want to make sure that we don't uh students don't come across menu fatigue. And so with that, we want to be able to change the flavors within the menu so that

056it keeps them interested, but also it also provides them um something new that they can enjoy when they come in for breakfast and for lunch. But also what we have heard is that our students want to be represented throughout our menu. And so what we have been working hard uh for or with um since November is ensuring that with our vendors we are um we are translating that message to them or communicating that message to them that we want to make sure that our menus are representative of our students. And so therefore we are also looking to bring on um items that are not just um not just what you would get every day but we want to be able to include our gluten-free students. We also want to be able to include our students

057who um who who request halal meals. We want to make sure that we can uh include our students who are vegan and not just our vegetarian meals. So, what you can see, what you can look forward to for our menu for next year is the menu diversity um with the voice of students from student focus groups that will also include flavor changes. Um thank you. And does anybody have any questions? Thank you so much, Director Kirkland, board members, board member Brown. Uh, thank you so much to um, Miss Kirkland, the presentation, um, the menus and all the conversation regarding food nutrition always means so much to me because I grew up as a farm student. Um, and so it's definitely has a special place in my heart to to speak about it. I think um

058there is a concern um because the moment I start hearing about menu this and things being upgraded of course after a budget conversation dollar signs start to to go up. Um and so I have a question about the cost um when it comes to the new menu. um if you can kind of explain that because even going to the grocery store when you think about gluten-free that's an additional cost and not saying that we don't need to accommodate of course to those students um but I am concerned at what the cost is going to look like uh for PGCPS. So that's just my first question. I'll wait for my second round. Okay. Um so you are correct in that um the price the cost of food is um increasing and we have um encountered some

059um increases in the products that we purchase from our vendors. However, what we have also done is that while there are some items that have went up in price um that we know okay do our students do our students like these items are they eating these items? Can these be replaced with something? So, we are looking at the items that have um we're looking at the items that have been fan favorites that we're going to keep. And then we're looking at items that we know that our students um they don't do. They don't um they're they're not consuming it. They're just kind of sitting on the line. Um but they're also not representative of our students. What we also know is that when we buy vegan meals, when we buy um meals that have a

060um that are tied to a specialty, those items can go up. So therefore, we're looking at swapping items um based on the cost um but also knowing that they can come in under cuz what we have seen right now is that we have seen an increase in our menu not our menu and food cost anywhere between 2% to 37%. Um and so with that looking at the items we have removed it we have removed um things that we're not going to bring back next year and we're looking to replace those things either coming in at the same value or under cost. Yeah, thank you. And if I could just add, board me board member Brown, we also have to keep in mind that we're talking about different uh funding streams. Uh the the financing for

061the uh food nutrition services department comes out of a nonoperating budget. Uh that is not the same as the operating budget that Chief Hal and director uh Smith just reviewed. So you can think of the food and nutrition services department as a a business uh where they have a separate pot of money that they are working through uh with reimburseable meals of course from the federal government but it's not touching the operating dollars that were just discussed. Thank you got cut off. Board member Brown were you just saying thank you? Yeah, I was just saying thank you. I'll wait for my second round. Thank you. Um, thank you for that clarification. Uh, Dr. Coleman, board members, do we have any additional questions for first round before I ask mine? Seeing none, I think, and this

062is to both of you all, Dr. Coleman, uh, Director Kirkland, in that vein, in looking at the differences in the menu changes, the grants and things like that that are changing, moving from the USDA uh, grant to the one from the Department of Defense, how much of that is going to be impacted by our possible changes in this uh C I think it was C. I apologize. C. Yeah. Um so just so I will say in terms of the DoD funds that we receive and then the local um school food grant, those are not tied um to C. So they're all their different entities. And so, um, c those two, um, if we lost, I guess if we did not receive the funding for those two, if we lost funding for DoD or if we

063did not receive, um, our local school for local food for school grant um, for next school year, that wouldn't impact C simply because C um, C is kind of tied to SNAP. It's a food program. uh uh it falls under um the school school it's an actual program and how we feed the students. Those are additions to um our meal service program in general. And so C wouldn't be impacted. The only thing you can see that would impact C would be the changes to SNAP. And so with SNAP, understanding that um our students who qualify for SNAP or TANNIF um and things of that nature, they are our direct search students. Um if changes are to um change to SNAP that would then impact those students who are directly certified which then impacts our C

064numbers therefore bringing our direct search down and then therefore those schools maybe not being eligible for C at the time. In addition to um if SNAP changes um what we could see in those C schools. Right now we have more of our students in those C schools who qualify for um a free status. So that gives us the highest reimbursement. If SNAP is to change, we can see we will see a change. So the amount of free students would reduce, the amount of reduced students would go up and then reduced students could then change to paid. And so therefore it impacts there to where it would from a a fiscal or financial standpoint it would not probably be to our benefit to operate C in those schools because therefore we wouldn't be getting the highest

065reimbursement that we could get and it just makes sense to go back to them doing the U meal benefit applications and going with their regular farm status as free reduced and paid. Got it. I think maybe and I can't read mine so I don't know if this is where board member Brown was going with her question but I think in terms of what I am trying to figure out in terms of the overall budget that is happening and all of these things that are up in the air things that are moving that seems like a lot of schools will be losing that C overall and we have money being spent in different places obviously not to say that that's not important but if a school as a whole is being removed from this program that

066means We are not getting the money to feed those children for free, which means we are now relying on those families to pay for their lunch and breakfast. No. Well, we're relying for them to fill out their meal benefit applications. And based on their income, therefore, they would then be um that's how we would verify if they are free, reduced, and paid. So they their meal status could stay the same um based on the income um the income eligibility guidelines, but it just means that they they have to do the meal benefit forms to get their free reduced or paid status. And therefore, yes, that could change due to um the SNAP benefits. Got it. We wouldn't have as many direct search students through SNAP. That makes a lot of sense, Chief. Pal. Yes. I

067just wanted to add to um the discussion around the impact potentially to the operating budget because we do plan for a subsidy of funding into the food nutrition services non-operating fund as well. um for the last several years because our reimbursement rate has been at the higher end because of the increase in C schools, the amount of subsidy that's been needed from the operating budget has been reduced. Um so to the extent there are changes in those reimbursement rates, but the cost of operating the program are still high, it eats into the fund balance and therefore there may be a requirement and I say fund balance, not the operating fund balance, but the non-operating fund balance for food nutrition services specifically. Um, so then that may require that um, subsidy continue to be provided from

068the operating budget. We haven't had to do it for the last several years, well last couple years um, at least maybe two or three. Um, but we have used part of that subsidy, which is a whole another conversation to help cover the impact of student lunch debt, which I'm also concerned that is also another impact that could be a byproduct of of changes to the SNAP program or to the CAP C designation, which does make it easier to have those students counted for free and reduced meals. And so, um, student lunch debt can run pretty high. Um, and so we want to ensure that our families who are eligible receive the funding that they're required to that they can receive to help support those. Um, but for those who are not eligible and required to

069pay those meals, there's still an impact because sometimes they're not paid. And so we, you know, try to support those schools as best as we can to um cover those lunch debts as they're incurred. And if I could just add to that, that's why we have purposefully been increasing the number of C schools across the district uh because it does put take pressure off of our families uh and allows uh uh it lightens the burden on everyone administratively because otherwise you're dealing with the meal benefit applications at each of these different sites. And so it just is a better position for the school district to be in. So if this change is made to the eligibility criteria to be a C school, it will have an impact on us and families. Thank you so much,

070Chiefs How and Coleman. Um board members, do we have any more questions for our first round? Seeing none, moving to second round questions. Board member Brown. Yes. Um, thank you so much. I don't know if I heard this, but for the summer uh, food program eligibility, do they have to do an application or is just based on the application or the information that you have for the students already in the system? Um, they don't they do not have to do an application for summer meals. Um, it is based on um, the information that we already have. So, we have schools that have a farmer's percentage where 50% or more of the students within that school um qualify um well 50% or more are free or reduced um they automatically qualify for free meals or they

071are they're eligible for free meals. However, if you are in an area where you do not qualify because your farms percentage is under 50%. If you submit or if a roster is submitted with the students names, we can qualify them by that roster. So if 50% of the students on that um roster um qualify um for 50% of free or reduced, that site is then a closed site for only those students enrolled because based on that roster, they uh qualify for free meals. Now, the school, I'm assuming, but I want to make sure that I ask, is that they're getting this information and disseminating this information to the children and their family so that they're aware. Um, cuz I think there might be a possibility of misinformation or people may not have known. Um, but

072is this information that is like well known throughout the schools um for them to be able to get those meals? Um I believe well we will have like all the sites that are eligible where we will be having those meals. We will have that posted um on um our website so that student so that families can know where they can go um to get those meals. In addition to as I was speaking about we were looking at having um open sites um in areas where they qualify but there may not be a site that is operating the summer meals program. So therefore that open site will provide um a bagged meal um to students who can come in and they can receive a meal. They would eat it on site. Um they can come in

073Monday through Friday. Um then we just have to identify those sites and then those will also be posted to say these are open sites um from a certain time to a certain time from breakfast and lunch for them to receive those meals. The only thing is that the meals have to be eaten on site. Um because that um we are uh we are not non- we are not a non- congregate. May I continue? You can finish your statement. Um because we are not a we in summer for those heights we won't qualify for non- congregate meals. Um meaning that they have to eat them off site. Director Washington, is that a hand? Yeah, I just Yeah, I just want to emphasize I know um some of the questions related to the development and the change

074of the potential menu with um you know uncertainty related to reimbursements and and uh the uh the qualifications going forward. Um we will make sure that these choices and changes will be will not be made in a vacuum and we're just going to move straight ahead no matter what. Um I think it will be a um what uh director Kirkland didn't say is that you know she'll be and her team will be looking at this throughout the summer and we are expecting to get more information uh related to uh the the federal approach and the federal tax bill and all of that that will really drive these changes uh over the next few months uh before anything would be implemented. So that before there's a wholesale change, um it's it's really more around getting feedback

075on if we make these changes, what are the changes that need to be made? Uh and what can we do around the edges without making full board changes immediately? Uh but we are and and director Kirkland has made it clear is that you know uh this is a precarious time for us but at the same time we want to make sure that we are providing you know meals that students want to eat you know and uh and and that uh is reflective of all of the communities that um are represented in our schools. And so so I do want to say that that balance will exist um and that uh this is more of a roll out that will probably take uh multiple months as we go forward. Uh but uh it will definitely be

076you know cognizant of potential changes and potential financial impacts uh based upon the cost of commodities and uh the reimburseable rates or um that we will receive from the federal government and and also what MSDE is instructing us to do as well. um they provided a great backs stop so far. Um and the hope is that they will continue um to step up specifically around C um and to support us as we uh continue um to offer their program to uh schools across the district. Thank you so much, Associate Superintendent Washington. Um board members, do we have any additional questions? I just wanted to do a quick shout out. Buouie High School looks wonderful. So, thank you for the upgrade. Yes, they are absolutely the cafeterias are absolutely beautiful. Um, I just had well technically

077it's a compound question so I will try to simplify it as much as possible. How are parents being involved in the communication? So like with the menu development, I see student focus groups, but I don't see anything about how parents are being involved in that, especially like thinking about our elementary school kids. And then for the summer meals, uh you touched on it a little bit, but how are parents able to know? For example, if I have a third grader, a 10th grader, and a kindergartener, can they all go to the same place to eat? Do they I need to send them different places? What does that look like? and how do I as a parent know? Um, so I'll I'll answer the questions from your last one to your first one. So if a

078parent has three students at three different schools um as long as the students are 18 years or younger um or if they are up to the age of 21 with a disability, they can go to any of our sites and receive a meal. And so this information um as I said will be on our website. However, we can reimagine the other avenues in which we can utilize to get this out to parents. So then they are aware of how they can receive those summer meals. Um and then your um can you remind me your first question one more time? I'm so sorry. First question was how are parents being engaged in the menu update process? Um and so how how we have brainstormed this happening is when we when schools have like a like a

079a parent not a parent night like a math night or a reading night where they're there with their student. um we would then target those schools to say okay you know as a part of FNS uh FNS would like to come in we would like to do um do a f not a focus group but get feedback from parents on these menu items um so that we get this we get the uh the parents can actually either be a part of after the students choose and say this is what we would like the parents can then taste it or they can be included to say okay this is what they you know this is what they enjoy this is what they know their student would enjoy X, Y, and Z. Um, so they will be

080included in those realms, not necessarily bringing them in in the focus group, but we would try to target those um specific um nights where they do they focus on reading and math and things of that nature where the parents are um there at the school. So then we can um we can focus on that group of parents, but all over the county as well. Can I just make a suggestion on that point that there be some sort of a asynchronous way for them to have input and give you all feedback because I know a lot of our parents are still involved but might not be able to physically make it to every math night, lit night, etc. And we definitely don't want to be leaving them out either. Absolutely. I think we're still in the

081planning stages of how we are going to um how we're going to roll this out. And so therefore, I think we um not think we are open to the idea to listen to getting ideas to brainstorming how we can then make sure that our our footprint is throughout the county, not just to our students, but to our parents as well, too. So, appreciate that, Director Kirkland. Board members, do we have anything else in this section of our meeting? Seeing none are going mccent real quick. Can I one plug to also piggyback on your uh second question on getting the word out. We are more than happy to provide you know um little snippets that I know uh board members have newsletters uh have uh correspond uh with their communities. So if there's anything that we

082can provide that you all can push out um that has usually been the best way of spreading the message. I know we will have it on our website but you know I we we we all are busy and folks don't really have time to go search it on the website for stuff. So if you can ju just you know that's something that we can prepare with communications that is available uh that you know you all can can highlight in in uh monthly newsletters if that's something uh we're more than happy to to be a resource there as well. And uh we because we want as many people to know about this uh as possible because we do not want uh children going hungry this summer because they did not they were not aware of opportunities

083uh to get meals. Um and and that's that's something that uh uh we're very uh committed to making sure that we spread this message uh as far as wide as possible. That is greatly appreciated and I know several of my colleagues will be looking forward to seeing that. Thank you so much. Chair recognizes uh Dr. Coleman for our CIP summer work project update. And thank you so much, board member. Uh we're also grateful for the opportunity for the Department of Capital Programs uh to have the an opportunity to provide an overview of the summer projects planned for 2025. At this time, I will turn the presentation over to capital programs project management supervisor, Mr. Will Smith to provide this update. All right. Can you guys hear me? Yes, sir. Presentation. All right. Perfect. Well, thank

084you for that introduction, uh, Dr. Coleman, and good evening, uh, committee chair going, board members, uh, staff, etc. Um so tonight we'll go over the uh summer projects planned for FY25 or this upcoming summer. Um and and we'll go through kind of two things. We'll do just overall what the breakdown looks like and then we'll go through just the facility report uh broken down based on board of education areas as well. Um give me a minute extract this a little bit further. And so uh my name is Will Smith. Uh as Dr. Coleman mentioned I'm the project management supervisor for the department of capital programs. Um, underneath my team, our division for project management, we have roughly 13 or 12 project managers, uh, nine of which are full-time FTEEs, three contractors as well that help

085us, uh, get out the, uh, deliver all of our our work and, um, finish our projects, uh, for our program. Uh, in addition, we are we work actively in collaboration with our building services department. uh some of our team members we lift listed here uh because they kind of handle some specialties uh related to just getting messages out or coordination of facilities things of that nature. We have Andrew Kidwell uh who is instrumental in our FS direct system with scheduling access. Uh and then we have a host of different supervisors and specialists that kind of help um you know lend a hand to make sure that we get the work done for summer projects and and overall uh um other projects as well. went went blank. Sorry about that. Uh so for 20 FY25 or

0862025 uh facility summer improvement program, we have roughly 25 I'm sorry 55 projects overall. This is a decrease uh from past years where we would have upwards of 80 90 sometimes over 100 projects. Uh this is definitely um you know a result of some of the funding challenges in which we have been seeing and the reduction of our uh funding going from roughly $200 million down to $105 $110 million. And so you're starting to see uh some of that impact on um not so much the major projects, but definitely some of these smaller projects, the systemic projects, those projects that we we do band-aids and make sure that our facilities kind of stay functional uh for the school year, that we can address all those um other issues that have direct impact to just um

087you know, teaching adequacy and and disruption of our students and learning, things of that nature. Uh and so as we're talking about 55 total projects projected for the summer out of those those are a hybrid between um summer projects only and and summer/phase projects. And just so you guys uh provide context around that. So summer only is is pretty much what it says, right? Those projects are summer specific. Those projects really are just one phase. They're really just our summer blitz to get in during the summertime months, do the work, uh finish it up during the summertime, and then from there we close out those projects. And so roughly there's 33 uh projects uh related to that type of delivery. Uh 22 projects are more of our phase projects. So those are going to be

088projects that extend not just through a summertime that they go through the various portions of the calendar year. They could be multiple years. Um and so those would be anything from like a modular project, renovation project, um new schools, you know, so like a a student high school, um Philly Cy Williams where we swung those would be those type of projects that are really extend more than uh the three months or or really eight weeks that we have for summertime in order to deliver construction. Um and so that's that. So a breakdown of those projects are roughly three uh are the new and and new schools or replacement schools. Uh and so that's going to be the William Schmidt. Uh that will also be you know your uh William Wart finishing up the last phase

089of the demolition of William Wart uh and finishing that project up. Uh that will also be Suland High School. Um four renovation projects. So those would be anything uh from just major renovations where you're doing more than just one system. And so when I say system kind of like a mechanical system, right? That would be considered one system. And so for for that you would have uh Charles Flowers. So, Charles Flowers, we are doing an expansive HBAC uh and and modernization project where we're doing a roof replacement, we're doing ceiling tiles, we're doing some painting, HVAC replacement, and that is a um a hybrid project. So, that is a phase project. Those will also be some of your modulars as well. And so, there's a few modulars that we have actively uh ongoing at Benjamin

090Tasker and Thomas um I think it was Thomas Johnson and and those other type of schools there. Um two are environmental projects. So those would be like your asbesus abatement type projects you know so going in and doing abatement whether it's sealant towel whether that is flooring things of that nature uh that would be more of your environmental it could be buried uh fuel tanks as well um and then 14 projects are HVAC replacement so that's going to be some component uh or all of a HVAC system that so that could be um anything as as simple as uh controls or boiler replacement HVAC um you know VAVs things of that nature, rooftop units, or it could be replacement of the full system itself. Um, co- corrections, those would be kind of uh like your

091fire alarm replacement projects, things that you want to go through and and upgrade or replace to make sure that uh that you're bringing those systems up to code uh and to protect kind of um you know, the the safety of our students and staff and our facilities. Um, as um uh we were talking about earlier on, we have eight kitchen and food services projects. So, those are going to be uh for the most part all kitchen renovation projects and in walk-in freezers. And so, those are uh eight of those type of projects. Uh we have three athletic projects. So, those can be anything from u track uh replacement all the way to a full stadium uh renovation uh that we have at Frederick Douglas High School. Um uh starting actually right now. Uh we have

092three playground replacements, nine roof replacement projects. So I guess just so you guys are aware, we have a huge inventory of facilities and and many of our roofs are well beyond its life cycle, extended beyond 30 years and have active uh leaks uh on a daily basis. So, one of the initiatives I know that we've been pushing here as of late is to make sure that, you know, funds are provided to make sure we can get in and do those full replacements of of those facilities and make sure that we are containing uh any cont um extending deterioration or damage uh and and really just providing a a a um a dry space for our students uh to be able to learn. And then five will be some of our minor building repairs. So that

093could be something as simple as um exterior brick uh that we're replacing and things of that nature. So now we have just a breakout of all of the projects to 55 um you know kind of filtered by board of education area. Um in the past I've gone to go I've gone through kind of these line by line. I'm not sure if we have time for that tonight. Do we have time one line by line or you guys just want to go kind of just overview on what those projects are per uh district? Can you do an overview? Will Okay. So, so we'll do overview. So, um uh district one we have uh different run chiller replacement really just one project in that area. Um district two there's a total of seven projects and so as

094you see there there is a host of just a variation of different projects and you'll probably see the same thing as we go through but you have some fire alarms. So, some of the code replacement projects, uh, you have HBAC projects, we have a gym fan installation that is scheduled at Parkdale High School, and then also you'll see the William Word there as well. Uh, district three, we have seven projects. So, that's a hybrid of the roof replacement, HVAC projects, kitchen renovation, things of that nature. Um, we have district four, there's a total of six six projects. So that's once again that is some of the roof replacement projects, ACVAC, uh we have the mechanical projects and the kitchen renovation at Benjamin Stoddard. Um district six we have 10 projects and so I mean there's

095everything from chiller replacements uh control project uh control replacements uh at Dwell Brooks playgrounds um piping replacement uh roof replacement in that district as well at William Pekka. We have a kitchen renovation there as well at William Pekka. Um walk-in refrigerators, etc. Uh and then also Phyllis Williams, we are at the tail end of that project. So that project will be wrapped up this summer. Uh the the last phase of that uh is really going through a electrical upgrade. And so that is scheduled with Pepco for July of this uh this summer. uh district 7 uh roughly four projects. Uh roof replacement that is also inclusive of Suland High School. Um as everyone is aware that is one of our um you know our school system priorities uh department priorities uh related to just the

096magnitude of the project the phasing the sequence and things of that nature. Um we have district 8 we have roughly uh six projects. So that's going to be your you know crossing high school. We're working to get the stadium lighting uh under contract to for construction this summer. Hopefully have that ready for uh the fall sports. We have a few different roof replacements uh occurring uh in that district as well and a fire alarm replacement. And then uh finishing up, we have district 9, roughly 10 projects. Uh once again, it's a hybrid. So everything from code corrections, football stadium renovation at Douglas, roof replacements, uh we have two gym fans uh being installed, one at Frederick Douglas, one at Gwen Park for their gym just to help kind of relieve some of the uh humidity

097concerns that we have been getting from some of the stakeholders and and students there. Um and then also William Schmidt, that is the the phase project uh that um hopefully we'll have done in the next I think 12 months somewhere around there. All right. And that is the presentation for summer projects that we have for the spring. Of course, uh this fall we'll have just a a wrapup of um you know, this is more so the projected. The fall will be more so what was completed, what was actually in construction. Uh we'll have a breakdown based on of course BOE district. We'll have funding associated with it, pictures, things of that nature. Uh and but for tonight, that's that's what we have for today. And I guess um turn it over. Any questions? Thank you,

098Director. Smith, board member Brown. Yes, thank you so much for the presentation and the explanation. Um breaking it down by districts was was very very helpful. Um I did see Buoie High School up there, so I want to make sure that I take care of my people. Um, they have obviously been complaining about just the ventilation when it comes to the gym and I think part of the cafeteria which has been extremely hot. Um, I've been in it a couple of times and was very concerned just for the students. Do we know when these installations come in like is there a date? Is there a time? Is there a timeline? Um because I feel like the a lot of the complaints from my constituents have been we always ask for it, it doesn't get done

099or they say that they have the fans there but they're not installed like how does that information get disseminated so people know no we are getting fans it's going to get fixed um and it's going to happen this this summer. Yeah. So for uh related to that one in particular so typically I'll just go over you know what do we do as practice. So our project managers um you know they work with our you know design teams our contractors uh in order to develop just a a schedule project schedule um based on all the parameters whether it's design permitting uh construction things of that nature. Uh during that process they engage the enduser usually the principal or if there's a you know for this case it may be athletic director if it's an athletic uh

100type of um uh project um in order to just week you know meet with them on whether it's a bi-weekly a monthly cadence um as progress is moving forth as we're getting ready for construction or if this just input during the design phase. Uh of course once we get in construction there is active coordination and just updates being provided. they meet in person uh you know I would say probably bi-weekly as well uh some more frequently it just depends on the type of project and and the availability of the principal or who they have identified to be the um the corresponding person uh related to those projects um related to to Buoie High School we we in all of those schools uh for the gym fans so all of the fans have been delivered they

101are on site uh and so the contractor is working to secure their permitting related to that uh so they are able to move forward with construction this summer. Uh I do know that there has been um some concerns raised uh from uh the u the ad at Buoie High School regarding just installing the fan and and some of the concerns that uh that she has related to it. And so we have on our on our schedule to meet with them and to just kind of talk through some of the her concerns, what are some of the best fit uh that we can have in order to try to mitigate that or and and and also to see if you know how do we move forward from there. I mean ultimately we heard the concerns about

102how u humid those space that space was and and the need in order to do something fast. uh we met uh with past board members and this you know the PTA president uh the principal and other members of the community to come up with this solution uh and so I think now we just got to work through uh um what does that look like going forward for Buoie High School. Thank you so much Director Smith board member Boozer brothers. Yeah, thank you so much and thank you for this report. Um, what one of I have some overarching questions. I wanted to know if any of around opportunities for climate change action plan implementation around any of these projects like are any gas, you know, kitchen or uh boilers being replaced by electric um are any

103of those opportunities able to happen with any of these projects listed? So, I would say we can go back and just verify which ones um you know, check the boxes for some of the CCAP initiatives uh to make sure we're speaking to it um you know with with accurate information. I will say all of our you know HVAC equipment um and and majority of equipment that we're putting in are going to be efficient um and so it's going to meet certain parameters related to just lead and and green clean energy and efficient energy things of that nature. Um, but in terms of the specific items in the CC cap to make sure that we are clear, that's something that we could probably bring back to you to just to verify. All right, great. And and

104also I do remember Maryland had a, you know, roof replacement plus solar grant opportunity going. Are any of these roofs in that program? I'm not sure if we if the timing and all of that worked, but I don't know if if you know if we received grants for any of those. So, we did receive um alternative funding um but they weren't via that grant that you're speaking to. So, a lot of these were passed or or funded through the healthy school uh facility fund uh through um state of Maryland and and so um they weren't part of our tra I mean they were additional funding. I'll just say that. And so, that's how we're able to really move forward with uh the vigor that we have to to hit many as facilities as possible. And

105so that has been a a pot of money that we have exhausted uh for the past I want to say three years that has been available and we have maximized it each year with uh you probably submitted 20 to 30 projects and trying to maximize as much funding as possible to supplement you know some of the other funding that we know that we're not receiving. Yeah. Great. And then going back to your initial statement around funding and the the the disinvestment that we're in again, can you give a little context around how these 55 projects compare to when say we we are at 250 million investment what that looks like? Because I you know I think this is something we really need to be able to explain globally to our to Prince Georgians. Yeah. I

106think, you know, for us it's uh I mean, you see it, I mean, it's when we have the the 200 plus or even the 180s and 190s, you know, you're really seeing the large cons concentration of funding to go towards some of your major projects, but there's still a huge portion that is able to be distributed amongst your smaller projects and your smaller project categories. So, that can be all your systemic projects. So that whether that's HVAC uh replacements, um AC upgrades, whether that's roof replacements, you know, definitely your co- corrections, your playgrounds, your ADAs, your your kitchen renovations throughout, um you know, elevator lifts, you know, uh I mean there's a host of them, right? PA system upgrades, um you know, plus your a your athletic, right? So the state doesn't even contribute towards

107athletic uh you know, upgrades. That is something that is fully funded by the county, right? And so, you know, even the redu even though the county has been, you know, a good steward and and really supported just the initiative with funding, uh, the athletic programs, uh, especially like the stadium renovations, things of that nature, but, uh, just the reduction of funding that, you know, you know, you're stretching money from the county to be able to do some of these other initiatives where before we had the state, uh, support. And so if we're looking at a $200 million uh you know budget in past years and now we're at you know 105 uh I mean that is a $95 million uh deficit right or reduction in and just funding in order to deliver projects. And so

108that is that is huge. I mean because you if you're thinking about you know playgrounds I mean you you know I think playgrounds were somewhere around 60 $70,000 uh and you know if you have $500,000 you're able to do you know nine or 10 of those right? uh in time nine or 10 sites uh if that is reduced down to you know $50,000 I mean you're really just touching one site right and so that is the impact that we have especially with having over 200 facilities right and so the need uh to maintain um functionality of our facilities uh while we're you moving forward with uh you know comprehensive updates and and replacements uh you know I think everyone knows that we have one of the oldest inventory in in the state Um, and uh,

109unfortunately we just don't have the funding at this point in order to um, you know, tackle everything that we need. Uh, Director Jackson, I think you were going to add something else. I saw the look. I was and then I got confused about whether it was too late and there was not enough time on the clock, but I'll just go for it. So, just like you said that before, there are times where we've been over a hundred um, and this is 55. It's just there's so much attention that we have to spend on the major projects that this is just that opportunity to broadly touch and improve so many different schools in our system. So that's why I think the summer projects have a a special place for us. So we like to see um

110you know just broad improvements across our our entire district. And one thing you'll also note in this list, you see a lot more just necessary to keep the door open project like secure the envelope, replace the windows, get the um roof, make sure we have a fire alarm, and you see less of the locker replacements, the gym renovations, the um new tennis courts, even the parking lot repavements, and you see less playgrounds. And those are important um enhancement projects that, you know, they get shafted over these type of priorities. less of those kitchen renovations that change that really a cafeteria renovation that changes your whole dining experience in school and even a few less security upgrades. So it it does it does hurt and it's something that is impactful across the district. So and that's

111a very good point you know because you know from from an architectural standpoint many of these you know will not be noticeable uh from the end user from the students right you know those are things that on a day-to-day basis you don't even notice you don't notice if you have a co-compliant fire alarm system if you have a new roof yeah you know if you're not if it's raining and you're not incurring any leaks but you know it doesn't really you know change the in-class um you know experience you know as versus how we had it before we had a host of you uh funding categories to do renovation projects. You know, we had some of the SSR projects. We had pod conversions, right, where you'll be able to go in and do u renovations

112of uh you know, large portions of the school uh over a course of a few summers. And then I mean, you're really touching everything from the IT, the electrical, the HVAC, the you know, the architectural, you know, uh the element and and so for replacement, ceiling, tile, paint, the whole nine is really a comprehensive renovation. So unfortunately we're experiencing less of those but as you said definitely more focus on the essentials at this point unfortunately but thank you for that question. Yeah and and I was going to say I think I you know I can really see that and I have certain schools you know that I'm thinking of that you know there's no projects projects going on and we know you know what's needed in them. You know, I think about, you know, the

113the next, you know, some years we need to keep High Point functional and there isn't money for bathroom renovations for these old high schools. Like I I don't see bathrooms and I don't see there's a lot I don't see and it's very, you know, it's very concerning. It also should be, you know, we need this for the advocacy. Um, you know, we need it for, like you said, the students don't feel a lot of this. They might feel cooler. They might know that the the fire alarm bells are going off normally, but that is not their daily life in these buildings. And we're not seeing that at all levels, you know, from the playgrounds to to bathroom renovations and cafeterias and, you know, other other things that they can feel. So, um, you know, it's

114just so, you know, I can't sit through this wi without, um, you know, feeling the the urgency and and that, um, that the student the student voice is going going to have to be louder about their experience because the adult voice, we're not we're not we're not delivering with our adult expertise. Um, it, you know, we just there's just more we have to do in our advocacy to the state and county. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you so much. I see a hand raised, but I want to make sure that board members have gotten at least first round questions before I go to Associate Superintendent Washington. Okay, Mr. Washington. Yeah, we're just going to um regarding the the question regarding uh solar and roof um replacements. Uh we are looking at that. Um and so we

115have um engaged um u a contractor to look at uh potential first steps in in solar uh implementation across um multiple schools and what that looks like. One of the funding streams that we are exploring uh through OIPD uh is uh utilizing um uh roof replacements and solar uh together uh to accelerate uh the condition of and the replacement of many of our roofs. And so that is something that we're looking at. Uh nothing to report now, but I just want to let you and let all of the board members know uh that that is uh one of the avenues that we're exploring uh to um uh modernize and uh create some sustainable schools here as quickly as possible. Much appreciated, Associate Superintendent Washington, because that was about to be the first question um in

116my list. And um I know we're short on time, so I just want to ask one follow-up question about how we are prioritizing these things versus the other things that aren't being done. For example, you mentioned like lockers and locker replacements and all of those types of things cuz I know I've had um one building in particular where parents and students are like there mold in mold in the lockers so we can't use them. Um so how are we prioritizing those? And then what's the best way do you all think for us to make sure to board member Boozer Strut's point that our students and by extension parents are feeling like in terms of all of our uh facilities improvement we are making sure their safety is in mind first in terms of priority. Uh

117Director Jackson, you want to talk through some of that? Sure. Sure. um it's something we're talking about now because what we did in the past um and just several years ago we weren't building as many new schools and it is it is important to have a modernization program or the need for these projects just grows like out of hand because you're patchworking what really needs to be bulldozed and replaced. So I'm not I'm not advocating going back to this period, but there was a period where this is the majority of the capital program was doing all of these little projects. And so the prioritization process that we did at that time was very different. It was these they came in from our our different um departments like building services, you know, like they have the

118ground shop. They'll tell us which schools need parking lot replacements or repavements in what order. Code corrections came in the same way. Um, shoot. Everything came in the way. Security had their camera list, kitchen, food nutrition had a kitchen list and that information was just just synthesized into the CIP and we just requested it all and we did whatever was funded. What we're looking at now, and we've just started this across kind of our operations division, is knowing that we're restricted in our ability. The the common sense approach was, okay, we've got to focus on life safety. we've got to secure the envelope or the costs and the ability to instruct will be compromised, but it's it's still not satisfactory. So, we're looking at coming up with a tier system to prioritize across the um

119categories that I mentioned because right now everything is categorized within itself. So, we know the order of playgrounds that's recommended by our schoolside staff and building services. We know the order of roof replacements in part by age, but also, you know, by failure. But we don't have a a mechanism to transparently decide who gets their window and door and is it above this roof and then when is it above this playground, you know? So like that's something we're trying to solidify as an organization especially in this budget crunch. Um but right now it has of course been life safety and securing the envelope at the top of the list. Thank you so much Director Jackson. Um, board members, anything else for Dr. Coleman and his team overall? Seeing none. Oh, wait. Is that a hand?

120No. Okay. So seeing none, um thank you all so much for these presentations. This was incredibly helpful. Um especially in terms of the questions that we get between the differences between this budget and our other budgets and how all of those things play together, how we have so this was incredibly helpful. Um with that we will move on to adjournment. The chair informs the public that the last virtual operations, budget, and fiscal affairs committee meeting for the school year will be on June 18th, 2025. Please continue to check the Prince George's County Board of Education website for meeting and information updates. Thank you all for the great discussion and for being here. To our viewers, thank you for watching. And there being no further business, the time is now 7:12 and the May 28th, 2025

121operations, budget and fiscal affairs committee meeting is adjourned. Thank you again.