Board of Education Policy and Governance Committee Meeting April 29, 2025,

001Identifiable information is used in any AI tool. And then lastly, as we relate to exploring strategies and learning labs. Both the Division of Information Technology as well as the Division of Academics host what we consider our learning labs. They are innovation projects where we focus on innovative ideas with staff Or with… with central office team members as well to consider what AI looks like in and academics as well as within IT. Chief Zuckerman and chief and Chief White, we'll give you all some additional time to talk to finish the rest of your presentation. Okay. Let me see if we can. Expedite this. So I'm going to kick it to Dr. White in just a second. Just as we've gone through this process for the last two years. Our focus, as I mentioned earlier. Is it

002safe? Is it equitable? Does it support innovation and is it intentional? Those have been the four guiding principles as we've looked at AI tools. Which we have a bunch in place now and we'll get to that in just a second. On our website, you'll be able to see just our AI implementation framework and roadmap for the district. And I definitely encourage everyone to check that out. One of the things you'll find, for example, our AI tool guidelines for educators that our team has pushed out. We are constantly receiving requests, as you might imagine, from staff members all over the district about using this tool or that tool. And so we've wanted to build everyone's awareness around when we're looking at tools. What are the things that we should be looking for with respect to privacy

003and safety? And integrity. Dr. White's team has done a phenomenal job prioritizing AI literacy, and I'm going to ask her just to speak to that briefly. Before we close things out. Sure. I would just add to the conversation that when you think about things that we may do from a systemic standpoint, it's always going to be aligned to us picking tools that deal with the concerns or areas in the curriculum that we want to promote. So for example, if writing is an area that we want to promote, then we're going to look for AI tools that do that. From a systemic perspective, we're not going to say, oh, this tool is amazing. Let's just use it. It has to be tied to a standard. Or a need that we have in a district, but to

004Chief Zuckerman's point, we know that our teachers and our students are in AI all the time. So our responsibility also around AI literacy is how you'll hear teachers say, well, I don't want them using chat GTP because then if they know how to write, like what's the point? So then that's where we work to teach them how do you use it in a responsible way where you're teaching students what's plagiarism, what's their own work, or how do you teach a teacher how to prompt using it to get an outline and then how do you maybe change your pedagogy and your writing in class to get to that final project? So that becomes with the literacy. How do we train teachers and how do we train students to be responsible? And how to use it when

005they're building lessons and how do we make sure that it's making sense against the standards that we have in place. Thanks, Dr. White. And so just through this process, we've developed a number of critical partnerships. As I mentioned at the beginning, AIEDU has been instrumental in just that relationship that we have. Because that's provided these really strong professional learning opportunities for different stakeholder groups. We have a relationship with a group called Advanced Learning Partnerships through our work with Dell. Dell Corporation that provides has provided us guidance for crafting policy professional learning We have a partnership with a tool and a product and a company called Brisk AI, which is supporting implementation of ethical use of generative AI with teachers and centralized teams. So this is areas like lesson planning and unit planning and trying to

006make the work of teaching more efficient. Not to replace a teacher, I want to clarify, and not to teach students directly, but to help teachers behind the scenes. With all that goes into being a strong teacher. We partnered with the Harvard Graduate School of Education last year, and we had four doctoral students who worked with us and wrote a really robust doctoral paper on ethical implementation of AI that they have published and we're featured in that. And finally, this year we partnered with Khan Academy to provide licenses to Conmigo, Khan Academy's virtual tutoring assistant for all of our ninth graders plus select students in different courses at high school. Just to continue to expand the use of safe and equitable use of AI in the classroom. A question you might ask, and I'll just preemptively

007answer it. Currently on the PGPS network, generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot are not unlocked and open for students yet. Because we've been wanting to put these guardrails in place to make sure that We've got the right amount of AI literacy across the district and our teachers have the comfort level to engage our students in the use of these tools. And so as recently as this morning. My team was on a call with Laguna Beach California, which created in their district with some developers a google extension That helps teachers work with students around academic integrity and the use of generative AI. And we're really intrigued by it. And so we're going to meet with Laguna again and their developer. And that would be the kind of thing that we would want to put

008in place where we have Google extensions and other academic integrity tools in place When we launch and open up generative AI tools on the PGCPS network for students. So this is our last slide. So just overall, just in terms of our AI ecos We've promoted, we've produced a pretty robust framework, which I encourage you to look at. We've got AI guidelines, which are continually updated. We have… Our AI website, which is constantly being refreshed. We have multiple innovation labs and innovation mastermind programs in place where groups of teachers are coming together to Experiment with the tools and help drive our work going forward. And all of this is leading to just the next generation of teaching and learning. And so we're excited about it. We appreciate the board support. We think the board in Prince

009George's County has and continues to be. In the forefront of this in terms of policy and governance around this. So we appreciate that. And we're happy to answer any questions. Apologize for taking as much time as we did, Dr. Moss. All is well. It's you and Dr. White. So y'all can have all the time you need. But at this time, Ms. Welsh, do you have any more presentation around this before I Turn it over to the committee for questions. So the only thing I do want to point out there was any i only um And Cindy, if you want to pull up the policy, there's only two changes to the policy. That I made because it was pretty much basically on base was on topic as far as moving forward with what we need to

010do. And one had to do with the actual a work group that previously had talked about If you could scroll down, it's like page two cindy. There you go. I don't know what happened. I swear. Anyway, it previously had that it was going to be a cross-functional joint working group, and then it actually listed out every single divisions that would be involved in this. And so Dr. Zuckerman had asked that it be revised and say, convene an AI work group. To allow for flexibility because just as he was sharing tonight, he's had different people coming in and going into the work group to provide the information. And not always do you need the same divisions that are present So this is more functional. And then the last change, two small changes. If you'll scroll down,

011Cindy. To um Number six, yes. And then added the only thing that was added was teachers will guide and monitor student use of AI in the classroom setting and during instruction and non-teacher guided instruction applications of AI use by students in all educational contexts and that and really what that is discussing or saying refers to the fact that there's times when That students are using, teachers are having students use ai Where there isn't where there isn't let's say there isn't a teacher right there, but the students are conducting independent research or study or homework or internships when the teacher is absent so That is another piece of the process. So it's a little bit expanded. Other than that, everything else seems to still be appropriate for where we are with AI. Thank you so much,

012Ms. Welsh. I do want to remind the committee and the general public that one of our new processes as a committee is many board members have submitted modifications or addendum to these policies in advance of today's meeting. So I do, but colleagues, if something else do arise, know that we won't block you from being able to make those additions. But we have tried to make substantial changes in advance of the meeting. And so the question is, shall the committee recommend policy zero one two three artificial intelligence to the policy sponsors for revision approval? So at this time, we'll take some discussion. And I believe Board Member Walker, you had your hand up first. So I want to make sure I do that. And I want to say this as I get ready to recommend Board

013Member Walker. We do have board member Olivo and Board Member Brown who are on with us. If they have questions, they'll join at the end. But I didn't do this properly. Welcome board member Olivo to the board. Welcome to the policy and governance committee. We appreciate you being with us tonight. So I just want to formally welcome you and please chime in if you've got questions or concerns. Board Member Walker, the floor is yours. Thank you so much. You know. I'm so excited about this topic, guys. I think that not only is Prince George's County just leading the way, but I was really excited to hear about the partnerships and the amount of time that you all are spending to ensure that our scholars and our educators Are using it most effectively and efficiently. I

014think that this is work that we have to do because AI is here and I don't think we should shy away from it. So one, kudos on the work that you all are You know, I'm doing research in this space. So I think that's why I'm really excited about it. So I'm going to ask around Ai and cognition because one of the things that at least I'm seeing is that there could there's great things with AI. And I think that it will help us, but there's also the challenges and over reliance Sir. And over-reliance over reliance on on AI. And so one of the things I want to be able to do is ensure that they're still thinking. So for the cognition pieces, I'm thinking about how they perceive information, how they make decisions. And

015how it doesn't become a crutch or over reliance on this AI. So I was wondering if you all could talk about And board member Moss might tell me that this is not the time to ask questions about the AI program work you're doing, not just the policy. But I was wondering if If you guys could talk a little bit about how we're ensuring that students still need to think. They still need to do their work. And this is a tool to aid them in enhancement or better understanding. Yeah, so I think Andy and Kim said it best when they talked about that we're in year zero, year one. And all the different stakeholders you have to touch to make such something so robust, powerful. The tool that Andy mentioned that they were on with Laguna

016Beach will be a tool that, for example, I give a student I'm about to give an assignment and I am telling the student that they can only use a tool for this component in this component. Right. Which means that these other three things in that lesson, they will have to generate on their own. They're going to have to have pieces where that creativity, that goal directed, that global citizen mindset comes into play. So that's what we're working on to create that integrity that this whole assignment, I didn't give it to you and you could do, but how do you give them a little bit? So you want them to understand and you want them to use But you also want them to be creative and think. And so that's why we're searching those kind of

017tools that teachers will have as they're working to assign work to students. And board member walk i'll give you your time's out, but I'll give you a second round in just a moment if you've got another question. All right. Vice Chair Briggs Thank you so much. So I just want to say that first, thank you all for the presentation. And it was really comprehensive and helpful to know that there's so much that's been happening behind the scenes. About AI, and I know that I've received a number of questions from the community and other kind of stakeholder leaders that want to know what is Prince George's County doing to address AI. So it's great to see that that's happening. And it's pretty robust. I did just want to name maybe the elephant in the room that

018I think a lot of people, when they initially think of AI and technology comes to mind, which is privacy rights. I know we talked about this in the PII and information sharing. And gathering. I just wanted to know to what extent any of you could speak to what protections are we either considering Or what types of protections will exist for students to ensure that none of their information is being accessed or shared. And I also think like when we think about the You know, just the nature of technology, you know, phones in students hands. I think of videos and all the different things that happen. So can you speak to any of those concerns that parents or community members may have around PII? Personal identifiable information and steps that were taken to protect that. I'm

019going to let Andy. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah. Yeah, I'm going to ask um Yes, we can speak to it. And Ms. Robertson, why don't you start us off and I'll come behind you. Sure. So we do review, as I mentioned, we vet every tool that we open on our network for privacy concerns and we ensure that they are available at the age range where they're expected to be available for. So if it's a tool that's not to be used for students under 13, it's not accessible for them, same. We don't open it for students who are 18 and under within our district. So that's one. And then I think also socializing with our teachers, the importance of protecting PII. And sharing ways to actually create a prompt without including any personally identifiable information. We know

020that this is still a process. And people still need to understand what that process means and what that process looks like. But over socializing the idea that Essentially, we're using artificial intelligence don't become over reliant to the point that Dr. White was mentioning, not to become over-reliant on something that's artificial. It is a source that can support and help. But making sure our teachers understand the importance of that. I just want to add two just Thank you. I just want to add two things to what Kim was saying. I'm going to give you my time, Dr. Zuckerman And I'm glad that Ms. Johnson and others and Ms. Howell are on because when we procured, Mr. Briggs, when we procure software Our software procurement process all purchase of software starting a year ago now go through

021Ms. Robertson, me and our team. And we review it, number one for privacy security interoperability, does it work within our system, and accessibility for students with special needs. And there are times where we have not moved software forward because the software has failed on any of those domains. A lot of smaller ed tech companies do fail on the privacy front. And we say, nope, this is not going to be an approved tool here in Prince George's County Public Schools. So there is that piece. It's just a much more robust software procurement process. That we put in place starting a year ago. It's centralized now. And just the second thing I just want to say We updated and are continuing to update our students rights and responsibilities handbook so that you look through it two years

022ago, you wouldn't really see mention of AI. Now it's in there. Deep fakes and some other areas where we talk about just the misuse of AI. And so that's in there now. We're continuing to add to it. So I just want to reemphasize the importance of socializing these terms and concepts across the district. Dr. White, I think you got your hand up. You can have the balance of my time. And these are the steps we're taking. You muted, Dr. Wei. I wanted to just add that sometimes even when you're at conferences and vendors will approach you and tell you about something or another district that sounds amazing. Because of how strict we are when we look across for the same thing that board member Briggs said, sometimes that's why we deny certain things to use

023in our district for that exact reason. Thank you all so much. I've got 36 seconds left. I appreciate you all pulling this together. I'm most excited about the data, the literacy component around showing our kids how to use it, showing our educators how to use it. I think that's important. And I just want to appreciate and acknowledge the fact that you all haven't rushed this work, that you all actually decided to take this time before rolling out all these applications out. Thank you all for doing that. Other colleagues, do you all have additional questions before I go to a round two? All right. Colleagues on the committee, I'm going to let Board Member Brown go as part of the first round set of comments because I want to give them the same opportunity. To ask

024questions in the second round if necessary. Board Member Brown. Thank you so much. And thank you so much for the presentation. I think one of my questions that I've had, some of the call out that I've had just from my district schools is When lessons are embedded in the curriculum, and I'm thinking AI, a lot of times they don't have access to it. Those videos that are on youtube videos Or whatever have you, those videos that they should be able to play if ai is probably, if not… already embedded in the curriculum Are we going to have those type of hiccups? Is it going to be difficult for teachers? To continue the lesson plan Because that seems to be a hiccup. From what my constituents have told me regarding lesson plans. Sure. So I'll jump

025in and then Andy, you can follow me. So sometimes we have experiences in our curriculum with something like YouTube. And then we have to continually check. We just actually had a meeting about this. We have to continually check because that link Could drop. When it comes to AI, and that's why I always say from a systemic perspective versus a school perspective. Sometimes schools cheat our process to go through content curriculum and IT, and they're just trying to use their own things, which may not make it through the firewall. Right. That's why we have a process to vet digital tools and vet Just different AI things that we use in the curriculum. Those AI that we're purchasing from a systemic will be live in our curriculum. So we want to make sure, and Chief Zuckerman has

026started that process to communicate with schools that when they're interested in something that they have to at least come through our process so that we can see same reasons we're saying with you all for privacy and then give access if it will work. So they're probably getting caught on some of those glitches. Yeah, and then I have to mention privacy. I know that scholars have access to Twitter. Or X, I don't even know what it's called now. And so… Have we checked as far as like the privacy? Because I don't have an X account. As far as privacy is concerned, when our scholars do get on Twitter. Yes. It's interesting you bring this up because we're going to have a meeting with our communications team in the next few weeks around social media and web

027filtering and just see where we want to go as a district. We do that all of the privacy policies. And we just have to draw a distinction between sometimes what's happening, what's on our network versus what's not on our network or what a student might be doing on social media. That's outside and not a PGCPS email address and what we can and can't regulate. So that could be some of what is going on here. What I would say is that just one last thing on this, which is our web filtering. Which might catch stuff and block something. It's dynamic. Meaning that, like Dr. White said, a link could be broken because the underlying developer made an update. And that throws off the algorithm that is caught up in our web filtering. And when that happens.

028Teachers, all staff members have the ability to just click on the unblock page If they get a restricted page that comes up and it'll come to our team. We have a data protection team that will review it. And see what the issue is and very quickly resolve it. That is almost a 24 seven operation at this point. As you can imagine And so I do get some complaints once in a while from our users who might have had something that was available to them yesterday. And today it was blocked. And oftentimes a student update behind the scenes that we then just have to go back in and move the website into the appropriate policy group. So stay tuned on just the social media piece because we're going to come back and look at that just

029with respect to our network and our use. Thank you all so much. Colleagues, are there Any other questions in this first round? All right, seeing is there not, Board Member Walker, do you still want your second round? Yes, thank you so much. For the policy itself, I was just hoping, I don't recall if we can just ensure that we review this one annually That would be helpful just because AI is changing so often that this is something we should absolutely come back to. I believe we talked it before. So that's one thing I wanted to say. The second piece. Since my CFO friends is on, I just wanted to double check that this is whatever we need is inside of our budget already for this year. So when I say whatever we need, I mean

030the work that we're doing in year one. Is already covered inside of the budget or if there's anything additional that we need to do as board members to ensure that this work continues. And advocate for because I would be an advocate for whatever is needed. Let's answer that first. Yeah, Andy and I. Andy and I have included all the things that we need is included in one of our budgets. Excellent. Okay. Thank you so much. Another piece I was thinking about is And you might not be able to answer it now, but the work that you're doing around social media, I do know that our scholars are super smart. And they go on these sites in order to kind of get through to places where they can leverage it. Social media. And so what I'm

031wondering, or YouTube or whatever sites they're not supposed to go to on their computers. I was hoping from the protection perspective you know do we run reports monthly or quarterly to see what sites have Been leveraged so that we can know what our scholars not only are doing, but how we can best protect them. Yeah, so we actually do have a tool called CatchOn, which we look at, which gives us insight and analytics into all the digital tools. And that's So we do. We are looking at that. We're usually looking at it in terms of making purchasing decisions for the following year or where to direct resources to. With respect to With respect to YouTube specifically, we have different policy settings for YouTube so that younger students have a much more restrictive access, as you

032can imagine. Than our older students. So it's age appropriate and that's run through our web filtering system. So we are looking at it on a regular basis and And as I say from time to time, it's not a perfect science. I agree with you completely. We should be looking at this annually. And our students are incredibly smart and savvy and know how to move around all the different ways. And so we're constantly Just trying to stay one step ahead. And I think that's all of us who are raising students and educating students when it comes to the The evolution of technology. No, thank you. I can't ask my third one, but that's fine. I'll send you another one. Thanks. We're… I got you in a minute, Board Member Walker. Board Member Briggs Okay, thank you

033so much. I wanted to just come back to the privacy piece because I don't think I was, or I don't think the question I was actually asking was clear and it wasn't answered. So what I meant was more from the legal standpoint. I know that there, when I think of generative AI, I think of them collecting data to evolve their systems, right? They're wanting to get better at it. So to what extent, I know we talked about a lot of partnerships, to what extent are we partnering with individual organizations, companies that are collecting data for their own purposes. And then how is that being mitigated to whatever degree that happens was really the question that I was asking. Gotcha. Thank you. Thank you for clarifying that, Mr. Briggs. So that is the primary reason right

034now why ChatGPT and others are closed for students, quite frankly. We are piloting premium licenses for Gemini and Copilot for staff. Which at an enterprise level. When you pay for that enterprise license They are not using our data to train the model beyond Prince George's County. That data is staying with us. It is incredibly expensive. So, but that is the number one reason why we have not opened up the other generative AI tools to students for the reason you're saying. Conmigo, for example, closed network, closed system our data is staying within us, within ConMigo. It's being used to train a very limited Of model of Conmigo that is not attributable to any student, but it will not go beyond the Conmigo firewall. Kim, I know you've looked at this much more closely. Why don't you

035just chime in real quick? Just to add, in addition, we are Incorporating an AI addenda into every digital tool that we procure beginning July 1. Currently, that addenda is in place. So that any vendor has to disclose AI, we let them know that we don't accept tools that they're using our data to train their model. So those are not tools that we would procure. Got it. And I know the last thing I'll say is because just because I think that people will watch this and they may want to know this, so this may be helpful to your team, but the data breach that we had recently. With all of these partnerships, we're not giving any access to them to have access to our system in any way through those contracts. I think you mentioned, but

036I just want to make sure that that's the case. No, that's correct. Right. Thank you all so much. Looks like there are no more committee hands, but I do have some time and I'll give it to Board Member Walker for my time to ask whatever your final question is, Board Member Walker. So you can give her my time, Cindy. Okay, it'll be really quick. It was around and you don't have to answer it now. It's just work that I'm hoping you can work on as you talk to these vendors. Ai, as you know, is just getting so much more progressively smart and adapting to so many different things. And I'm wondering if we can look at it around bullying because I think that there's a place for that. And I'm just hoping that you all

037can talk to them, whatever softwares you're using or whatever vendors you're using. How can one use this in bullying situations and how do we mitigate that up front? And it might be part of our trainings. But I think that within the tool itself that it can be extracted and then leveraged in so many different ways. So if we could just keep an eye on that. Now, we can't fix all problems and anticipate all things, but I think that there's some things we can do. I'm talking things like deep fakes. That you already mentioned, things that can appear that someone said it and they didn't really, at least we'll be able to backtrack that and find out what's going on. I can just imagine as it continues that it will only get more iterably accessible. Okay,

038thanks. Yeah. Thank you so much, Board Member Walker. I think the staff, you caught that right. We can check back in on another time around that. Ms. Adlai, we could just probably add it to the tracker too as an action item from our meeting. But thank you all so much for your presentation, for your energy coming to us again. Thank you. So glad to hear that PGCPS is a leader in this and it's because of you all's leadership So the question is, shall the committee recommend Policy 0123, artificial intelligence, the policy sponsor. Ms. Adelaide, please take the roll call. Most. Instagrams? Yes, aye. Hi. Would you strother. Ms. Walker? Aye. Following the affinity. That policy has been recommended to the policy sponsor for revision approval. Thank you, Chief Zuckerman. Thank you, Dr. White, for being

039with us tonight. All right. That's two nights in a row, Dr. Zuckerman. We've gotten to hang out. Good to see you. Thank you, everyone. I know. We'll see you tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow night. All right. No way. No way. No way. All right, we're going to move to policy 323 purchasing. This policy was before us last time. We provided immense feedback on that. With detailed line-by-line feedback. And so tonight's conversation is an opportunity for the administration to come back and give us feedback around this. But we worked through this policy the last time. But certainly want to give the administration an opportunity to do that. So Ms. Welsh If you could present this and then we'll create an opportunity for board members to ask additional questions. Just so you all know, given we have

040so much, I put time on tonight. So Ms. Adlake, did you give them Time to begin this. And if we need more, we'll deal with it. But I want to keep us accountable for time tonight. Ms. Welsh, have the floor. Thank you. So I want to say that I had Cindy post this one policy that has every track change we've ever made. But what happened was I think there's so many track changes at this point. In that policy that it quit accepting anything I was putting in. So I couldn't get a board member Walker's comments in. So I said, this is really a mess. So first I had an attachment with hers. So then Cindy texts me and she said, what about if you go in and accept everything that's there and then add in

041board member Moss's and Board Member Walker's comments so that we can see clearly where these comments are. So I did that and then we posted that also so that you sort of get a sense of both. So Cindy, so it would be a waste of time really to try to figure out all the track changes. Let's go to the one where I accepted and then it shows specifically the actual comments. They are proposals. And I did keep in, because it was new from the last time. Oh, and we also had some requests from The sustainability and Resilience office related to when we are purchasing things as it relates to sustainability and climate control. So I did incorporate that language too as a new change. And so they're all in track changes. But I did keep

042the changes that were required through the OOA audit because that's from our last meeting. I had that and I put them, I just highlighted those so you could see everything. So as you can see in the first sentence. In terms of what purchasing at the best value to me, operational, educational and sustainability needs of Prince George's County Public Schools. And then if you scroll down, Cindy, to the purpose statement. Then it also says that in addition to that school administrator's office supervisor obtained goods equipment services essential for effective operations of the school system in the most sustainable manner possible to minimize toxic and harmful components. So those were recommendations from the sustainability and And resilience department. And then if you scroll further down There was a quest also to add And that was from the

043LLA audits i'll just keep having you continue down Because we discussed that at the last time. And this is from the LA audit and keep going And then they also requested that we have language that talks about sustainability development. And so that's an actual definition. But it's really a comprehensive approach to living whereby the needs of the current generation are met without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. I'm not going to read the rest of it for you, but then the other one has to do with sustainability purchasing, which is why this is all here is that making the effort to purchase products or services that have lesser or reduced negative effect Or increased positive effect on human health and ecological environment and social economic well-being when compared with

044competing. And if you can scroll down, Cindy. With products that serve the same purpose. So those were the sustainability additions. So then, um. And now I have no idea what happened to all the things I crossed out. Well. Anyway, you have to look at the next one. Hold on one second. It might… No, it doesn't show. Okay, so what I did was previously it said that the policy was going to, for equipment, materials, services, and supply. Which are considered sort of small items that the change in law, the reason this policy came up was to upgrade this to it's currently at 50,000, but to upgrade to 100,000 as the benchmark as the limit for what could be purchased that once it hit 100,000, then it would go to the board and there would be a

045need for a formal bid. And Chair Moss has requested that the policy, his recommendation was that it would be actually moved down to 50,000, keep it at 50,000 the way it was previously and not add the not add that, not add it to the 100,000. And so in both those areas and the language that was there previously said That it was going to meet the requirements of Education Article 5-112, which actually is the law that we have caused us to open the policy. For increasing it to 100,000. So all of that was taken out. And instead, it was just the 50,000. And then if you go down to number three The language was added and the participation and accountability requirements for underrepresented businesses as outlined in this policy. That language was actually from Board Member

046Walker, where she had requested if we would put that into that particular statement. So that wasn't included there. And then if you scroll down further. Okay, so then this language, this highlighted language again comes from the OLA audit. But in addition to that. There was, can you scroll one second, Cindy, to see if I'm missing anything? No. Okay. So then all contract actions would be reported to the board on a quarterly basis. I think prior it said biannual twice a year. So now this would be on a quarterly basis. And then in addition to manner procurement vendor award amount, it would also break it down by participation of business type and funding source. Local, state, and federal. And I think, again, that came from board member Walker. And then again, as you scroll down, we

047have the 50,000 as the limit. And then with construction being at 250,000, but then it would have to all of this would be reported to the board on a quarterly basis. So that was added in because previously I think it just said a report to the board. And then if you can scroll down cindy. And again, this all came from the OLA audit. So then we get to instructional materials and supplies And the… So what it is, is when the anticipated purchase price specific instructional materials or supplies is less than originally we had two million dollars And so Chair Moss has requested that it be place to $1 million. And so what that means is that anything up to $1 million, the superintendent could move forward and approve it and there wouldn't be a need

048for a formal bid. But if it was 1 million. Or more, then of course it would have to be bidded out as well as it would have to um They would have to be approved by the board. So then if you can scroll down further. Excuse me, Ms. Welsh, just one quick clarification. It was originally 1 billion. Yes. Correct. The administration requested 2 million. My request was to Back to 1 million. I'm sorry. Yes, you're correct. Thank you for correcting me. It's so confusing because you know what happened? I just realized when I went and accepted everything, it took out all my crossouts because So now I'm like, oh, wait, I got to get back and look to see what was there before. So this is like getting, this is being pretty… Pretty challenging to

049be able to read through this. This isn't the right one, Cindy. Okay. There we go. And then, so that was the That had to do with um instructional materials. And then the next one If I am correct, it had to do with Can you scroll down? Okay, here. So then this one, when it's typically… Can you scrub one second so I can see this other piece of this? So this has to do with staff development, instructional and staff development contracted services. And what was there was And I'm guessing because I can't tell from this version, but I guess it was originally 250. We requested for it to be moved up to 500,000. And then Chair Moss is asking that it be at 250,000. So meaning that anything less than 250,000 superintendent We'll approve it and

050it will approve it And there's no need for a formal bid. But if it is $250,000 or more, then it will go to the board for approval as well as to the As to the um uh… I just lost my train of thought. We'll go to the board for approval as well as for bid. So if you can scroll down further And that, again, was from the, oh, can you scroll up one second? Because I have a change here. So then again. Something got lost here. This was actually what it was saying was that there would be, this would be all contract actions within this category. I'll have to put that in, shall be reported to the board on a, it was bi-weekly basis. And now it's going to say quarterly basis. So I will

051put that language back in there. I'm sure it's in the other version, but we'll get that in there. But anyway, any place where it said buy annual has now been increased to quarterly so that the board would receive reports on a quarterly basis. And then when you get to professional services, this again was um has been at 250,000 since I want to say 2022. And Chair Moss requested that it be again decreased to 150,000 so that Anything more at 150,000 or more than would be required board approval as well as a formal bid process. So then if we can scroll down further. And all of this, and again, all contract actions within this category shall be reported to the board on a quarterly basis. And then you'll see all the things that need to be

052included. And again, this is all through OLAs. Requests. And then if you scroll down further Okay. And this, again, was OLA, all this highlighted. And continue further. And now we're starting here is the request from board member Walker and It talks about accountability and participation of unrepresented businesses. A verifiable goal of a minimum of 6% of the total annual value of all purchases of goods and services shall be awarded to underrepresented businesses The superintendent designation to ensure that good faith efforts are made to increase access to procurement opportunities for underrepresented business, which include And my understanding is that these things are being done now. But anyway, advertising procurement opportunities and media media. It should be outlets that reach the underrepresented communities offering outreach sessions, training, and bid preparation workshops for small and underrepresented vendors, maintaining

053and utilizing directory Or certified underrepresented business from state and local agencies and providing information and guidance on The certification process. And then if you scroll down further. Oh, I think that's it. I think I included everything because the other request you had were in the body of the of the uh of the policy. But board member Walker did ask the question as it relates to their legal requirements and also with Mba and like for women, those contracts and stuff I did reach out to to operations and We have a whole office that deals with this. And I have not heard back from them yet, but I know that when it goes through legal review, OGC will probably have their contract people look at just to make sure that it is legally correct because, of course,

054we don't want a policy that doesn't meet the legal standards that it should. Thank you so much. So those were the changes. So I do know that i do Ms. Howe is on the line as well as Ms. Johnson. And I think Quincy's still on. And I think, I don't know if Mr. House is on but um I'm assuming, Dr. Moss, this would be their opportunity or first we have questions or What's the next step? We'll move to, I mean, you presented the policy um Do you have anything else you need to share as it relates to it? And then we can move into questions. No, I think, you know, I wanted to incorporate everything that you all had provided. And then um and then certainly this is an opportunity. To um for um staff

055that they want to, not at this moment, but whenever you want them to, but an opportunity for them to also share information. I will tell you one thing. I did go and look through every county. Their policies just to get an idea. What they have as the standard and 11 out of the 24 counties actually have 100,000 dollars as they're using actually the education article 5-112 And then four are at 50,000, four at 25,000. One is of 75,000. And then there were a couple God how man, I must say, God help their constituents and their public and their community because I looked everywhere on that website and could not find their policy section, which is so odd. But I just thought I'd share that. But other than that, no, I have nothing else. All right.

056Well, board members, the question is, shall the committee recommend policy 3323 for purchasing To the policy sponsor for revision approval. Is there any discussion at this time? This is an opportunity for board members to committee members to ask questions. Board member Walker, and then Vice Chair Briggs and then Hey, Robin, thank you, Ms. Welsh. Thank you so much. This was a lot of work. And I know for this one, we gave you significant amount of input. So sincerely appreciate you pulling it together. I did have a question. One of the things that I think we did want to take a look at, and this can be, I'm fine to vote on it and then we talk about it if needed at the board meeting. I'm happy to do that. But I know that the shifts

057in the 250,000 versus the five hundred thousand and a hundred thousand 1 million versus the 2 million. I just wanted to see on average how much how many that is. Is it 50% more of the contracts we will be looking at as a board? Is it like, what is the… Level of what the contracts are at those stages, just for help with the board work. I am a fan of additional accountability and oversight by way of fiscal responsibility. I just want to understand what the workload will look like so we can plan accordingly. Absolutely. I don't know if you have that data now but And i i I will pass that over to pass that over Ms. Johnson and Ms. Howe, and maybe they can share that information Yeah, I can briefly chime in and

058then uh And again, if you don't have… I can chime in and then Director Johnson can add any additional insight. So I guess. Number one, relating to the decrease in the threshold from 250,000 for contracted services down to 150,000. We do have a number of procurements that are above that $250,000 threshold right now. Overall, our total contract that we issue that are above the 250,000 mark is 120. If those were to be lowered down to 150, there is a population of contracts within the range of 100 to 250. Which is another 160 contracts. So to have that exact sweet spot of if it's 150 and above. We don't have that exact data point. But just generally speaking, knowing that within the range of between 100 and 250, For last year, we had about 160 contracts

059that fell within that window. So there's a certain percentage of that that would move to that next threshold that would require board approval. I remember… We'll get you on a second round with Board Member Walker, Board Member Briggs uh Do you have a question? Okay. Thank you so much. So I wanted to say, and I guess this is also for Chief Howe and Ms. Johnson, but You know, I really think it's important that we make decisions with enough information And I vaguely remember, I think we might have had a discussion about this in 2024 before June of 2024 about the funding amounts for You know, for purchasing and for procurement. I just want to understand a bit more, what would be the implications if we did have more contracts around programming and just the process

060you all have in place, will there be any unintended consequences to any of these changes? Will this kind of stifle The ability to kind of move quickly. Can you just speak to any of those things? Yeah, I think that's a great question. And thank you for that. We'd love to be able to have some time to pull that analysis together, particularly within that 150 to 250 range. So if we kind of bump it up from Bump it down from 250 to 150 what would be the potential impact and by area and the types of services it would have an impact on. So we'd like to get that information back to you. I'm not sure of your timeline to get through final decisions on this board policy, but we need some time to pull that together

061and we can certainly provide it back to Robin. So she can then share it with committee members so you have that data point. Ms. Johnson, did you have anything to share? No, I don't have anything additional to add to that. Okay. I would love to get that information because I think that that was part of the discussion we had in 2024. So it'll be good to just revisit that for everybody. So thank you for that. You've got time left, Vice Chair Briggs. Do you need it? Nothing for me yet. Thank you. All right. Thank you so much. And thank you all to who worked on these revisions. I was also going to ask some similar questions and I appreciate that we'll get some of that data around impact and timing of moving work forward through

062these contracts. I appreciate the addition of the sustainable materials preferences in the policy of the climate change action plan I did want to ask Director Johnson about if there's how there's opportunities to be proactive about that if there's purchasing of you know say plastic items where there's now a more sustainable Option is there? Is there a proactive outreach to the person in PGCPS making that purchase to alert them. To that option. Is that something that your department will be able to do? All right. I think that that is actually a really great question and we are in the process of notifying the communities of the changes that we have in the sustainability of our contracts. Have done two different things. One, posting onto eMaryland marketplace which is where requirement is to post up all of

063our solicitations and we are also updating our solicitation documents where it will show the sustainability requirements. In addition to that, we are also working with some of the Departments that we have inside of PGCPS. And so they are actually taking a look at some of the statement of works and then they are also helping us to provide language, helping us to develop scoring criteria around sustainable materials and those of the likes. So those are just right now a couple of the things that we're doing right now. For this effort You got 20 seconds left, Board Member Boozers rather you're good? I do have a couple of comments I want to make around this work. One, thank you all for taking these revisions. I do want to name that our neighboring district in size of us

064That's the same size of us Montgomery County has a $50,000 threshold across all these line items. My work in revising this policy was hypercognizant of some of these as somebody who's worked in the school district, I understand the contracting process. But I also think this board has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that we're being good stewards of our dollars. So I am going to ask the committee to advance this policy through the process, but that we also advance it so the full board can have an opportunity to engage and weigh in around this. I'm also going to make a request that when we do make that presentation, I'd like to know how many contracts were awarded right at that dollar amount. You know, just to be transparent, sometimes we tell vendors and we ask vendors

065to Don't go at this threshold so we don't have to take it before the board. So when we do that analysis, I will ask for, I'm going to ask for an analysis across all of our contracts. And how many are right there at the threshold and significantly close to the threshold. And I'm also going to ask us to list out the contract names and vendors and locations. I think we do need to have a full conversation around contracting. We owe that to the general public. We are consistently, folks often have narratives about us that aren't necessarily true about the way in which we're spending dollars. So any opportunity to be transparent I think we need to do that. And so I think this process, this board policy. Moving it forward gives the full board an

066opportunity to engage with the general public because we have nothing to hide. But I do think You know, I made these recommendations. I think they're reasonable. Other places have I mean, they don't even have a million dollars for instructional materialism in Montgomery County. It's still $50,000. So I just wanted to make those comments. I don't have any questions for the administration. Relative to this, but I did want to make those comments about why I moved those thresholds to be presently where they are. Board member Olivo. Thank you so much, Chair. And I just want to say I deeply appreciate all the work that has gone into this in advance of me joining the conversation. And I do realize I'm coming in at the 11th hour, but I wanted to ask some questions about Section 7,

067the accountability and participation of underrepresented businesses, which it looks to me like it is an addition probably thanks to other board member comments. So I appreciate that. My concern is that my concern is that While we use this term underrepresented businesses here, there is not a definition at the top of what underrepresented businesses are. So at the top, we we explain the certified minority business enterprise and county-based minority business enterprise. So I would make the assumption that those are considered our two categories of underrepresentative businesses, but I think it would be important that In those definitions, they are, if that is the case, that in those definitions, they are deliberately mentioned as underrepresented businesses so that those two categories are then held accountable um in the bottom. So that's my first comment and then um

068I wanted to also ensure that in the reporting requirements. I would love that the reporting requirements are also do include whether or not these are certified minority businesses and or certified county-based minority businesses in the reports that are required. And then my final comment would be that I would be looking in future years as we review this policy to see an increase in the 6%. Thank you. Yeah, thank you board member. I'll leave up for your comments. You're already such a great contributor to the work that we're doing. So thank you. I do want to flag this. I'm glad you pulled this up. I believe our last conversation was that we would use our equity policy To support those definitions for underrepresented groups. I don't know how we missed that. Colleagues, if I'm wrong about

069that, let me know. But I do believe we mentioned Talking about our equity policy for that. So I did want to Do you want to speak to that, Ms. Welsh? You may have included and it got lost in your Documents. I want to give you an opportunity to respond to that. So actually, I did intend to put the definition for underrepresented. And so I apologize. So I'm glad you brought that to my attention because when I thought, oh, because Board member Walker did have it in her comments, but it wasn't an appropriate place. So I wanted to put it in. So I'm glad you brought that up. But I believe That in terms of the report. Because I remember, I think what member Walker asked for this and I thought that I had included that

070um Oh, I know where it was. It was in the I think in the beginning there Prior to issuance of invitation for bids, requests for proposals or solicitations. So they have to determine participation but then Wait a minute. I guess that's what I was thinking of. But no, we can add that too. That is not a problem. Oh. Absolutely. Robin, it's in a draft that was sent. Okay, got it. It's in there. Oh, I know what it was. So it is there. Yeah, because what you had referred to it as a breakdown of participation by business types. And so I did include that in there. But I mean, I can clarify it more. I was really just picking up board member walker's language at that point in time. Thank you, Ms. Walsh. I just wanted

071to give you an opportunity to clarify because I know you had done some of that. Yeah, but I can add a little bit more in there for the reports. Board member Thank you so much. I believe it was Board Member Briggs and then Board Member Walker. If I'm wrong, y'all please correct me, but I believe we were in that order. Vice Chair Briggs. Thank you so much. I just want to double click on what board member Olivo, and correct me if I'm wrong in pronouncing your name. Okay, thanks. Shared because I was thinking the exact same thing. So I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I also want to mention that I was curious about the section 7a where it says the verifiable goal of a minimum of 6% of the total annual

072value of all purchases of goods and services. I know that'll probably be a large amount because it's an annual value. But I just want to ensure that we're not skirting through our minority business enterprises and giving them really deep, robust opportunities to engage with Prince George's County Public Schools. So I want to just echo the sentiment that I would love to see that 6% increase at some point. And I think that was also mentioned by Board Member Walker for our minority business enterprises. I also thought it was pretty vague, the definition, but I think you all mentioned that. And then the last thing I wanted to do is just clarify with Committee Chair Moss around your point around moving this policy to the board. Because I know that one of the things I want to

073make sure I'm clarifying, but I just want to say this before you speak, that I believe director… Adelaide mentioned that all kind of work on policies will now happen in the committee. So I just want to clarify, are we moving it forward to vote or are we moving it forward to discuss? Because then I wonder if it's a backwards plan of bringing more board members to the committee to kind of discuss This and that'll give the administration more time to provide us the information we requested to. Yeah, so when we vote today, we'll be moving it forward in the process, which is not the full board yet. So this would just be a continuation of the process. Our new board policy actually requires that all the work actually happens in committee. And then when it

074gets to the full board, it's actually for a vote. So any continuation of this work gives an opportunity for the public to engage. It gives our committee an opportunity to engage. So I do apologize if I misled you to believe that this is going straight today. We still have a process that we follow. Before it even makes it to the full board. So, you know, today's vote is just to continue that process, not to advance it to the board for a full vote. Sorry if I misled y'all. Board Member Walker. Oh, yes. It was a little, I didn't understand. That's exactly what I was saying as well. I just think we need to have a recommendation. Anyway, you already beat that one down. Thank you for saying it's staying in committee. And if we want

075to invite other members to join, that's fine too. I think it's going to be very important for us to understand the data. And I'm big on no data paralysis, right? I don't want to get extra data just to get data for us to take a look at. I don't think it's value added, but I do think that we need to understand the number of contracts, which I think we heard today. As well as the impact and how we can make that work by way of processes like what we have to do as a board in order to make this fiduciary responsibility work for us. As well as understand, does this mean, which I think I heard that we also need to get RFPs for each of these as well. And so I just want to

076make sure that in the process. That we are very cognizant of what the flow is, the impact and if financial and managerial pieces of that. And I can definitely be, when I have that information, I can be more supportive of where it is that we're going for sure. You got time. That's it. Thanks. Oh, okay. I never have time in the spaces that I really, really need, but that's all I wanted to say on this piece. Denver. I'll put that in your safe and your penny bank for you and I'll give it to you later. So we got a minute. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments from colleagues during this round? I'll just articulate that I think as we move this forward, those data points will be super important for

077us to be able to see I'm deeply committed to seeing the threshold. So not only the amount that we would have to, but also the process that the board would have to go through I mean, as someone who's worked in the system, I recognize that this takes force planning. It takes a lot of planning on behalf of our offices and our teams to be able to do that. But that should not negate us from having strong accountability processes that ensure that we do our fiduciary responsibility So I do know the work might be greater, but as many times as this board can display to the general public that we're being accountable for every dollar and we're watching every dollar and cent. It makes it easier for us to request more of those funds. So this

078is tied to our public perception as well. Those were my efforts in this. So at this time, the question shall be, shall the committee recommend policy 3323 purchasing to the policy sponsor for revision approval, which means they'll make more revisions to this and then it'll come back to us. Did somebody have something to say? Ms. Adelaide, could you please call? Yeah, to submit. I'm sorry. Just for clarification, it's going back to them, but can we be clear on what exactly we're asking them or tasking them with doing and by when? So by our next committee meeting, we're asked, can you just go over that, please? So we're clear? Got you. I got you. So we are sending it back to them for revision approval. I do expect to have this back on the agenda at

079our May 29th meeting. So where we can discuss this, where they'll come back. With data points relative to the impact of this work, the number of contracts, what it would mean for the board in terms of governance, and the amount of contracts at certain thresholds relative to what we've proposed in terms of numeracy. I think I included everything folks asked for. Tell me if I didn't. Mom was there. Thank you. I'm sure that's what Ms. Howell wanted to ask too. And Board Member Olivo, did I capture yours? Okay, Board Member Briggs, I got you. All right. I want to make sure, board members booster. I'm sorry I'm doing this, but I don't want to leave nobody out. Okay, so Ms. Adelaide, could you please take the roll call? Ms. Howell had her question, I mean,

080her hand up just as a heads up in case you didn't see it. I'm… Oh, I didn't. Miss Howell. I'm sorry. No worries. Thank you. I just had a clarifying question and maybe it'll be something that will be addressed later on. I know I'm not a part of the committee, but just thinking about the impact on our current process. So the recommendation that was added for Section 7 about underrepresented businesses and that a contract value of 6% of our business would be awarded to those types of businesses. Wanted to know, is that in consideration of our current policy with regards to IFBs and RFPs. That those contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder Or the lowest bidder or highest technically rated bitter. So didn't know if that is in addition outside of those parameters or

081is that inclusive of those current parameters? Board member. And if so, it might need to be clarified so it's not just saying it's going to be awarded because we do have a parameters around which those awards are supposed to be approved. Well, Member Walker, do you want to address this or do we want to hash this out a little bit later? I want to make sure I give you the basics. Yeah, let me do, I want to do some thinking on it. I think it'll take more than our two and a half minutes. But I think that's a good thought on that. And I will come back with a recommendation that I'll send to Ms. Welsh for sure. So that we can think through this a little bit more. And we can talk to offline.

082Dr. Moss, if you had any thoughts, but I definitely do have some thoughts around it. I just want to craft it. Thanks. Thank you so much. I think it's a legitimate question that I don't know the answer to. It sounds at odd, but supportive. So I guess we'll figure it out together. Yeah. Yeah. I think this is an opportunity to clarify our policy change last year as it relates to this committee. The board policy now articulates that based on what we've done, the administration would come back with a memo to the board around this policy. We will be able to get this based on our board policy. Our board policy says the administration, if it's at odds with any of these recommendations for the next committee. A memo should be coming. That's outlined in our

083policy. So does the administration feel like they have what they need to be able to do that prior to us taking this photo, we can talk about it later, but I do want to make sure y'all have what you need to accomplish your task. Chief Howe? I think we do. I mean, just based on what I heard today, I think we have what we need. We certainly have the takeaways jotted down and I'm very much aware of the recommendation to change one of the thresholds, but we'll get you the data point to support that. Absolutely. And just a moment of personal privilege real quick. I believe Director Johnson is new. Like, did you just come to us? Is she the new employee? Don't we have a new employee from somewhere? Doing this office? Is this

084right? I guess fairly new. Yeah, fairly new. Just about a year. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank you for jumping in the fire with us. I just want to tell you thank you. Sorry for doing that then, but I thought you were new, so I wanted to honor that. Ms. Adelaide, will you please call the roll? Dr. Moss? Mr. Briggs? Hi. Is with a strother? Ms. Walker. Aye. For the affirmative. I just had some i'm sorry. Let me close the thing. Thank you so much. The policy 3320. Policy 33. Policy 3323, purchasing. Oh, was that of me? Will be recommended to the policy sponsor for revision approval. Board member Walker, you need to say something to me. I got you. Come on. I do. Thank you. It was really to Ms. Howell because as

085I think about this question, it's such a good question that we need to think through. And I will send something to Ms. Welsh tonight. If you have any thoughts, just knowing where it is we want to go in the intention, that would be helpful too. Okay, that's it. Thanks. I can provide that feedback to Robin. To Ms. Miles. See, you do. All right. That means Miss Chief Howe is coming back to hang out with us on May 29th. I appreciate the invite. I didn't say all that. But I'm glad I feel welcome. So thank you. She's like, I didn't say I was coming back. We appreciate you, though. Thank you for hanging out with us tonight. I got to hang out with you yesterday too. I know you're tired of seeing me too, but good

086to see you again. Thanks for coming too. Let's do the legislative update. If there are no more questions or comments from the committee, y'all good on this? All right. Sounds good. Now let's go to the legislative update. The chair recognizes Ms. Welsh, and I think she brought uh the chief herself is informed tonight, who's going to be helping us with the legislative update. So Ms. Welsh, I'll let you do the honors. Good evening again. And I do have a PowerPoint to share with you that just basically provides an overview of what our plans are in the legislative arena for the remainder of this year and then the beginning of the new legislative session for the 2026 legislative session. I think probably most importantly because of the fact that We want to be working collaboratively. So

087I think it's really important that you are aware of what we are moving forward and how we can do it together. So Cindy, if you could please put the presentation up for us And to Ms. Welsh real quick, to the committee, we won't vote on this plan tonight. We'll just talk about it and give some small general feedback. But then you will also have an opportunity to email Ms. Welsh what thoughts you have around this, and then we'll come back In May and talk about if any of it needs to be approved or what approval these good folks need from us to be able to do their work effectively. But tonight, this is just an update and opportunity for us to give feedback and ask any questions of them. Sorry, Ms. Welsh, I didn't say

088that before you started. Oh, no, that's okay. I think probably the biggest area that I won't just as a piggyback to what you were just saying, the biggest area where we absolutely need for the committee to vote on as well as the board would be the legislative platform because that's the critical piece in all this work. But let's move forward. So this is just 2526, let's say plan And it's a draft and certainly it can be revised at any point in time. And this just shares the people who are doing the work behind chief uh Boyd, myself, and also Administrator McRae. So you can scroll down cindy. I keep going. And then I wanted to first talk about Again, why this whole collaborative communication is really extremely important. Because Prince George's County Public Schools is

089committed to maintaining open, transparent, and proactive communication And the work that we do through the policy and governance committee and throughout the legislative session. And I know in the past we've had lots of conversations as bills were coming and going. And of course, this year was much more active than past years. We really never move forward unless we were all in agreement in terms of of the different bills that were being proposed at that time. But our concern is that our interest is that by fostering a collaborative environment, we can ensure that the committee is regularly informed of all the legislative developments and any of the emergency policy issues and advocacy efforts that impact the school system. And I think we did a fairly good job in having that communication back and forth in terms

090of, because I know as board members, you visited many many legislators throughout the legislative session. And so And shared a lot of that information, which was extremely helpful. So any updates, you know, regular updates, briefings, strategic discussions. Well, that are held to align legislative priorities are going to be really important and also support timely decision making and respond effectively to evolving legislative activities. I see. Sheep boy's hand up. I know. I'm so sorry. I said that I wasn't going to speak during this time unless there are questions, but I just wanted to just add this soft comment that this statement and in my team developing this statement, it was very intentional. Because I actually want to give a shout out to the Policy and Governance Committee. It's the one area It's one of the many

091areas, but it's probably the primary area where I felt with a strength. We always knew when you all were headed to Annapolis, what meetings you were going to be at. And we also were extended an invitation to be present at those meetings as well when it was appropriate to do so. And I just want to… challenge my team and as an administration, it's going to be the ask that we move forward in that way and that you all receive those same invitations. And so it was why I asked for this to be here. And I really actually, I'm going to be quiet until there are questions and I'm going to let Robin finish. Okay, thanks. So then in terms of communication and support, definitely providing monthly legislative updates And sharing also information with the leadership,

092briefings with leadership and the Board of Ed related to any kind of evolving legislative dynamics. And then monitoring and the feedback feedback loop, you know, collecting updates from chiefs on implementation progress and obstacles And then stakeholder engagement, preparing parents, staff, and community partners for legislative advocacy as needed. Because many times it's really important to have those people behind us because they can make a major impact with the legislators As well as I think it will be important to provide any feedback related to implementation of the bills that were passed this past year, especially obstacles, because that can help form our positions in terms of supporting or opposing for upcoming legislation that's coming through. So Cindy, you can go to the next one, please. So as far as this is basically a timeline We would start

093off with having receiving, we have received quality feedback. I know that Ms. Mcrae, she has had an opportunity to talk to different legislators relating to our engagement and our advocacy. And then, of course, we have been planning, as you'll see, as we work through this process, because there's a lot of behind the scenes internal planning But in terms of all the work that's related to this. And then we will be definitely scheduling meetings with the division chiefs And we'll meet with their departments to review the bills that have been passed. So I generally will, what I do is I take each bill and break it down and actually provide for them step by step what it is that needs to be done so that we're in compliance with any of the bills that passed. And

094that's just to support their work. They will develop implementation plans in which they're going to discuss any challenges or opportunities in the preparation and establishing the implementation plans because sometimes Because the bills passed so late and like they passed, like the super the um Governor still has, I think, three more times that he'll be signing bills. And so then you're talking about mid to the end of May before you You know, for a fact, yep, they're going to be a bill, but they then are enacted and begin July 1. So many of these things have to be in place July 1. And that is oftentimes extremely challenging for our divisions. And then virtual legislative review session, we intend to provide which would host we'd host it and it would be for any stakeholders within the

095community with much of this information provided to them in terms of Not specifically the implementation plans, but just the challenges and what we plan to do. So then if we go to the next page, it gives you the specific times, the dates So as you can see, the first date is Thursday, May 8th. And that will be a legislative exchange will be coming out of our office this monthly newsletter detailing our bill position. So that'll talk about the bills that passed and what our positions were and then Let's see, then Monday the 19th, there will receive All the requirements that they'll each have for the bills that pass that impact their divisions. And the intent is for them to get that by the 19th. And then by the 30th, they will begin developing implementation plans

096for each of their divisions. And if you go to the next page cindy. And then… Go ahead. Yes, please. Well, Robin, can… Chairman, one comment. I know we're on time. I just want to emphasize the importance of if we go back one slide cindy No, I'm sorry. The next one. Yeah, the implementation plans and requirements for each bill. One of the things that came back from my colleagues this year is often Sometimes there's this like this like unknown of when exactly prior legislation, like what's the due date by when does this need to be implemented? In some cases, Robin, correct me if I'm wrong, I think there's one that's like an early summer. Implementation like prior to the start of the school year and what has been challenging for chiefs is to understand, hey, is

097this just by fall or by the start of the school year or is there a particular date? And so Robin and Shelby did a really great job of meeting with chiefs last year, but it was a piece of feedback that they provided. And I think streamlining those processes are going to help For us to be able to speak to our legislators and say, as we get ready to approach the next legislative session, here is what the implementation for this bill, this bill, and this bill have actually looked like with our division chiefs and how it's been rolled out across our school system. Well, and actually, you're correct. The majority of the bills actually need to be, they're enacted July 1. So they go into effect. So we're supposed to have things in place by then.

098Okay, Cindy, if you can scroll to the next one. Oh, I now reshared that. So I guess we're going to the next one. Okay, so then the pre so then we're moving into the Pre-session. I'm sorry. We must have missed this one. So then on May 9th, that's when I, now I did share this, didn't I, Cindy? Where are you? Did you jump back? You got to go back, Glenn. You didn't do the June 9th, went back when that yeah Okay. Oh, there we are. Okay, thank you. So then in Right. Thank you. So June 9th. So this one, what we did last year and we will continue to do is we set up meetings starting beginning of June with the division chiefs and we sit down and talk to them about their legislative priorities

099from their perspective as well as Any of the results, what Chief Boyd just said in terms of newly passed bills and what those what are issues related to those that impact operations and instruction and budget. And then we're also going to look at the unpassed bills. From this past session because there were a lot of bills that did not pass this legislative session. And there's a high probability that they could be coming back to us in the next session. And so it's really important to get their feedback. And work with them on that because that'll help formulate what our positions will be. And of course, the summertime, of course, is time when people also take leave for the summer, you know, they're taking their breaks and stuff. So we'll work around that and work through

100this summer. To get that information. In addition to that, we want to also, by June 7th, send out a legislative priority survey to to the board, to all of you, the board members for your input so that we, because there may be things that you are feel really, you know, these are important things that we should be addressing so that we can upfront put that information into the legislative platform. So you will be receiving a survey related to what your priorities are for the platform. And then if you scroll to the next one. And then as far as August. Ms. Welsh, I believe… Oh, Chief Boyd had her hand up, or maybe she was letting it down from previously. I'm sorry. We have… You know, I'm a bad student. I just, if we could go

101back Just really quickly, two things I want to mention here. Number one. When Robin and Shelby start to engage with our division chiefs around, hey, what are some of the priorities that might be important for legislative session? I know maybe it's charter schools, maybe it's immunizations, maybe it's something around curricula. Those priorities are always going to be aligned on our side. At least to the superintendent's sort of strategic vision for our school system. And right now we are in the process of working with our strategic planning team to determine what our next strategic plan is going to look like. And so I just wanted to say this year in particular is going to be a really unique year as we sort of plan Because we're in this space and place of planning for the future

102and we want to make sure that it is collaborative and it aligns with what the board's vision and the board's priorities are. And so I just wanted to name that there. The second thing that I wanted to name is that We list this as a survey. I think in year one. Dr. Fields, who was leading this committee at that time. I think it was a survey, but it doesn't need to be that. It can come in the form in which the board feels like it's going to be easiest to provide feedback. If that's a document that ultimately ends up being redlined, I mean. Will adapt to whatever the board's preference is in providing that feedback. Okay, Cindy, you can move forward to the next one. So then by August 1st. We are working to have

103a draft legislative platform completed And at that point, we will be incorporating everyone, all stakeholders input And it'll include analysis of current laws and emerging needs. So then by August 25th, the platform will be finalized um Again, the draft is based on the additional input and review. But the important thing in August, I think, which is critical, and I have spoken to Cindy about this, is that It will be really important that the dates of the policy and governance committee is prior to the first August board meeting. Because in that first August policy and governance committee meeting, that will be the opportunity for all of you to provide your feedback, make any revisions, do whatever. I don't know if you recall, but back when we did it last year, I know on board member Walker,

104board member business rather and and Briggs, all of you were there and you provide a lot of feedback. Which we made some extensive revisions to the platform to incorporate your input. And we want to make sure we have the opportunity to do that. But then be able to move that platform then to the full board for their consideration and vote because they need to approve it at their first August meeting because If you move forward, if you go to the next slide. Cindy, September 12th will be Legislative Day. So we have to have the platform approved and voted on by the board. For that date because that's what's driving much of the conversation with the legislators. When Legislative Day occurs. And then during the months of September through November, that's a critical time to have

105pre-session meetings with targeted state delegates and senators. First of all, to have the opportunity to approve the platform because they reached out a lot last year asking, what's our thoughts about this or what's that? Or, you know, they wanted to know the information because that's the time where a lot of times they'll go. And have their bills. You know, developed by DLS. And then we will build support and answer their questions. A lot of times they have lots of questions. Related to certain aspects of the school system. And then we can identify bill sponsors and legislative allies as we move forward in the legislative session. And then in the wintertime, say December to January. We begin meetings in the offices with delegates and senators regarding introduced bills. And I don't remember if you recall, but

106back in December last year, we had a lot of pre-file bills And so those conversations really do start in the beginning of December. And then February 11th would be Advocacy Day, which we would like, we're hoping that that, I don't know the date of crossover yet at this point for next year, but this would be, our goal was to have it before the crossover this time. Oh, I'm sorry, Chief Boyd. Yep. One quick overlay for the fall, the legislative meetings Shelby and Robin are going to coordinate those in a way that is by legislative and by board district. And so I just want to name, though it's not, I don't see that it's listed here, is that this is another one of those collaborative opportunities where We can't do this without the board because we

107do want to be able to ensure that the board member representing District 21 of the legislative district is present. We will also at these same meetings invite, quote unquote the expert So we will have chiefs available for those pre-coordinated meetings. Sydney, can you scroll to the next one? And so then we also just wanted to remind you, and I know we had shared this with you last year, but we do have the legislative toolkit Which has that like lists out many different things in terms of legislative priorities, the legislative maps. That they have position templates, testimony tips, the legislative newsletters, just a wide variety of things as you can see. And then if you go to the next The next slide. I think there's one after that. I'm happy to overlay it's just uh Picture.

108Um… I don't know. Is that all you have, Cindy? It's okay. She might have dropped off, but for the community watching, for the committee… It's basically just a pick. There's another slide that shows the legislative platform Again, another collaborative opportunity, but what's important there is that um We just want to make sure if it is the will of the board that there's an opportunity for us to begin that legislative platform with a joint letter that would come From the superintendent, from the chair of the board, and from the chair of the policy and governance committee. So, you know, ultimately, obviously, we'll have to begin that process, but I just wanted to name That I think that that piece was really well received. And so we hope to be able to continue that. And I believe

109that was the last slide. Yeah, well, first of all. Thank you, Ms. Welsh and Chief Boyd, for all of your work on this. This is super great. So I'm going to turn it over to my colleagues and see If they have any questions, but I just can't thank you all enough for your collaboration over the last few days to get us to this point to be able to have a comprehensive plan And I'm sure my colleagues have thoughts um and I know I'm not over talking here, but I know Board Member Boozer Struther is happy to see Advocacy Day already planned for the spring. So, I mean, this year she pushed really hard for us to do it and bring our students. I think that's been a priority ever since you've been on the board.

110So I know you're excited about it. So I'll let the folks Here, ask questions, give feedback. I don't know who wants to go first, but if you raise your hand, I'll call you. Board member Walker, how did I know? Awesome. Can we put back up the slide for first thanks you guys. You know, we get better every single year. We get more granular. It's only improving. So thank you so much. If we can go back to the slide with the timeline. Please, the one that has it in written form, not the graph. Well, I can talk to it. Only because I don't see it shared, but Oh, no worries. Okay, I remember. Just a heads up, just a heads up, colleagues. Cindy's computer is like freezing and not. So if you don't I mean, that's

111what Pgcps advocacy day i haven't talked to my colleagues on this but i've I believe that we should move that up. And the reason why I say that for consideration is that we know that decisions get made way before the end of the term. Therefore, I think it would behoove us to have our students be able to talk to our priorities intelligently, but also with some influence. Because at the end at crossover. I just think it's a little late. That's my own input, to be honest. I don't know how my colleagues feel about that. That's for consideration. The secondary piece is still coming up. No, not that one. It's in written format. There's no graphs on it. Do you think it should be before February the 11th, the date that we have on there? Yeah,

112this is the one. I do. Oh, no, this is go to the next page of this one. The one that says PGCP. Yeah, I think it should be before February 11th. I mean, that is crossover, but I feel like so many things are already done. So what happens in my short estimation is that because something was already approved, then usually it gets approved. It's not a lot of pushback on a bill. At that particular time. It's got to be something major for there to be pushback if it's already passed from one of the houses. And we saw that with this major bill with 429. But typically what we see is that a lot of the advocacy is done upfront in whatever house it starts. And therefore, that's where the decisions get made. That's just what

113I've seen. Colleagues, I would love your input. So that was one. The other piece was the September, you know, I'm a fan of Legislative Day in September. Yes, yes, and yes. Thank you. The September through november time frame yep the share the border proof platform. I'm all in to share it early and then continue talking to it. And the last piece I'll say is. I think it's really imperative for the board to have specific talking points and focus areas. And of the PGCPS platform that we already are going to align to. The reason for that is because what we've learned is that when we get in front of our legislators, it's hard to give them 20 topics. We've really got to focus our energy and our time on three to five specific ones that we

114want them to peer their ears and eyes on. And then, of course, the advocates inside of the government relations is going to be all over all of the other ones with their own relationships anyway. So those are my inputs for our considerations as we move forward. Thanks. Your board member Walker, do any other colleagues have comments? I've got one consideration that really wasn't my idea. I'm shocked she didn't say it. Board member Walker and I were having a conversation and I actually supported somewhere in this timeline, if we could make room for the board to develop a particular bill for this year. So we have our own bill. I know that the time. Yeah, how did you get that one? That little september Right after that timeline where we're doing work and all right now

115it looks like we're just going to be responding to what they're doing If we could be proactive with our own proposals, I know that word is not there, but if we could be proactive with our own proposals, I think that would be good there. But that's the only I love it. It wasn't my idea. I borrowed it from board member Walker. So I just thought it would be good to highlight. Yeah, I love it. And the final piece is, you know, last year we kind of had, and I actually talked to Boardman Walk a little bit about this, haven't talked to my other colleagues about it. We kind of had two documents. It would be good if we, you know, we just had one, but we had a strong letter on the inside of ours

116that says. Back to her point around talking points I think that will be really good for us to really have a strong presence inside of there. Maybe a letter inside of that booklet that's like 20 pages where all the community members names on it. Like these are the ideas we support. Just because we don't run into, you know, we had some issues this year where people thought just one board member was supporting something when we all were on the same page about it. So as much as we can rubbish stamp the board's priorities, I think that'll be good. And I'm over talking now, so I'll turn it over to my colleague, Board Member Buzz Estrada. Yeah, thank you so much. And thank you all for the hard work on this. I really appreciate it. I

117think in terms of the lobbying night. I think I… I think I am a little more comfortable with later because… my memory of the when we go as Mabe, we went early this year. It was Monday, February 3rd. And it just felt too early. We went to have meetings with legislators and they hadn't even read bills yet. You know, it didn't feel like there was much traction in movement I feel like it could be a step along the way. So if we commit to when May, when we're there for MAVE again in the timeline and maybe it'll be earlier in the timeline Yeah. To get the ball rolling, but I felt like things really took off after that February 12th hearing. So I just wanted to put out that I think we need multiple touch

118points, but for the advocacy night. I feel like some bills, you just start to know the ones that aren't going to cross the finish line. Let's wait a little while as the May Legislative Committee meets, as we meet. And then go in for advocacy on what's viable. So I'm okay with a little later date. I just want to remind everyone that We have many ways to show up. And the MAVE event is one useful way. Yeah, both of them. Are you good? So I just, if I can respond to that Chairman, I just want to say that's great. And the good thing about this so um You know, sometimes it's a challenge to plan so far ahead. There's like this fear of People are going to be too busy. But guess what? We have the

119dates and they're tentative and we can change them if Strong Schools Maryland comes out and has, or Mabe has A date that they come out with and we learn about it in October. We can be flexible on these dates and um Certainly, Board Member Buza Strader, we can lean on to the recommendation that both you and Board Member Walker have. So we're not at all tied or married to these dates. We just wanted to get something on paper, which is what we were charged with. And I think it's going to be healthy And we can be flexible. I just wanted to, I would be doing a disservice if I didn't do this. Tim Meyer, I don't know if he talked to you about this board member booster, but he talked to me about this last

120night. And I'm thinking about a conversation board member Walker had with me in an email I read. Tim asked me about training parents to go to, and I know y'all said train them. Y'all actually have a slide on it. I think it might be a happy medium to take Tim's idea, what you all have, Board Member Walker's idea, and maybe Peacock. Have a day in Annapolis and y'all do the training because you already got a slide saying that Tim has already agreed. Like he came up to me and he was like, hey, I want to train all the parents to do what I do. And for those of you who are watching, you know what Tim does. He does the Tim thing, the Tim Obama thing, and gets people excited. So maybe a happy medium

121is to leave it the advocacy day where later and then bring our parents in a bit earlier. I know the PCAC folks and board member Walker have been thinking about how to deepen their engagement. So I'm just curious if that might be a solution. Podgepodge of everybody's ideas come into one place. Yeah. Yeah, I think I see board member Walker has her hand up, but I think that's just another opportunity to collaborate and lead. And it's a missed opportunity not to bring parents. You all had parents and a board member Walker had parents. On the advocacy day and even they were asking like, how do other people get here with me so i would support that and would support that Yeah, I'm a fan. I'm a fan. So I do think that leaving it at

122that later date works if we're doing the training in advance. So bringing in exactly who you just talked about And then that way we can get the community there. And we have representation from all of the districts. Or the opportunity in advance to have representation from all of the districts because that's always a question. And because we have this so far in advance, we can really do the planning accordingly and give that to the parent groups so that they go off and they run with that, which you all support. And then we'll be ready. I am aligned with that. I think we do need specific asks. What I realized is that I think it was because of the governor's bill that it was just so compacted. But I remember being there for the advocacy day

123And I remember some of the legislators saying, this is really good if the goal is To get them exposed to legislators, which is only one piece of a goal, right? The other part is for them to be able to talk intelligently about it. Yep, check that box. But to influence it. And to change people's minds about it. In my estimation, it was a little late. But I'm okay with having two of the three done and then we work for progression up until the influence part. And I think when we have more parents talking it That can help with the influence and the impact as well. So perfect. I'm in. Ms. Welsh had her hand up too. So Chief Boyd and Ms. Welsh, I don't know which order. No. I'm going to yielded to my team,

124my colleague first I just wanted to say the idea of training the parents on how to advocate. I do advocate. I do think that the parents in PCAC would be very interested in that. That in this past year when we met each month, I would update them on what was going on with the legislation and what we supported and opposed. And they were like, how can we help? How can we help? So I really think providing them some opportunity for training in that area and opening that avenue for them, I think they'd be very excited to do that. Yeah, I'll just echo that. I think we inform to transform and the goal is exposure but it's also to have an impact, I think… You know, people are excited about the way that we as a

125collective, our board, our administration, our students, more importantly, showed up. And I think we only get better from here. So I just want to acknowledge the fact that while this doesn't have a detail for detail in this timeline and this plan, we're also being mindful of expanding that exposure to students across our district. And I know we couldn't take everyone this year, but we're going to be mindful of sharing that interest form really early. And ensuring that parents from across all of our online districts Our Pgrass students and otherwise know that we're going, know when we're going, know what we're doing, and have an opportunity to sign up if it's something that they think they'd like to do. All right. Well, I appreciate you all coming and bringing this. Colleagues, I do want to encourage

126you to continue to send your feedback to them offline. But again, thank you all so much for doing this. This is really important to the committee and thank you all for having a robust plan. That we can point to. And I just can't say thank you enough for your leadership in this and uh We look forward to continue moving together as we think about our legislative advocacy work. All right, colleagues, I'm going to move to policies for second consideration that are moving the public comment. That's policy 0124, the E-rate policy Policy 3120, debt management. Policy 4135, activities, organizations, political. Policy 5150, student involvement rights and responsibility. The question is, shall the committee release the policies under agenda items 5.1 through 5.4 for public comment. Is there any discussion? All right. If there's no discussion, Ms.

127Adlay, will you please call the roll for the aforementioned policies. Committee Chair Moss, I think there are questions from staff. Oh, sorry. I didn't see the hands. That's okay. I'll call the roll and then we still have to cover policy 4.2 and 4.4. Oh, I skipped two. Thank you for the flag. If we can take care of these, I think those, and then those would be the last two we have today. Okay. Yes. Yes. Dr. Moss? Mr. Briggs? Hi. Ms. Budestrada? Ms. Walker. All right. Bye. Those policies pass and they move for public comment. So items 5.1 through 5.4 will be released for public comment. All right. So I did skip policy 011, the sustainability plan. So the chair recognizes Ms. Welsh to provide an overview of policy 0111. Thank you. So the sustainability plan,

128which actually, so what I did was I shared this policy without the revisions at this point with the with the sustainability and resilience department and had a very healthy conversation about what was in this policy. Because, of course, they're quite an interesting group of staff because they're highly motivated and very much advocates for for the climate, the climate action plan and have been highly engaged with that. And they kept referring me to board member and that she would be the person that would know all this information and be extremely involved with this. And I said, I know she has been extremely important to her. But you have been so active in that climate action plan committee and they they're so pleased with that kind of support. So anyway, these changes are really changes that they

129asked to have incorporated into based on their experience. This is a very new department. And it was developed as a result of the Climate Action Plan and Because originally we had language about having a committee and everything. And then there was a decision decide to have a sustainability department. And really, there's so many pieces to the action plan, first of all, and it's so broad and comprehensive. That you really, if you're serious about as a school system, you really do need to devote staff to be very focused on this, because if not, it's very easy for these things to get lost in the process. In the policy statement, they also thought it was important to add the importance of healthy environment to achieve equity and excellence in learning. And prioritizing our students, the Prince George's

130County Public Schools has managed to incorporate cost-effective solutions to create healthy places to learn for all students. By reducing the energy used of buildings reducing waste and transportation. And then the board is committed to high level goals for reducing its carbon footprint by generating new renewable energy sources. And then it goes on, which is just the same. But these were Changes that they felt were critically important. And then, Cindy, if you'll scroll down And as far as the purpose to integrate best practices and lessons learned from Prince George's County, the county, because they're the ones that initiated this. And to implement a sustainability policy for PGCBS. So that was just some small language changes there. And then if you scroll down a little bit further. Let's see. So the Maryland Green School was there But

131this is actually the definition has been changed So that it's very clear about what the Maryland's green schools are about. I think previously the definition had more history related to it than what actually is the Maryland Green School. And what it is, it provides educational opportunities that empower pre-K to 12 grade students to take action to reduce environmental impact practice and encourage environmental stewardship and sustainability fosters environmental literacy, increases awareness of the impact of the environment. Of public health. And then there's a little bit about the the history and then the fact that schools that meet these different requirements They do receive Maryland Green School Awards and are basically labeled as a green school, which is really an important thing for a school to be. To have. So then if you scroll down further And

132then the definition of sustainability, that's been changed so that it says a responsible management of natural resources to fulfill current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It aims to balance ecology, ecological, economic, and social goals such as reducing carbon emissions, promoting renewable energy, and Let me scroll down, Cindy. In short, ah. Where did you go? Ensuring equitable resource access And then resilience was that it involves proactively preparing for and adapting to impacts of climate change including extreme weather events while maintaining a safe, effective learning environment for students and staff. And then if you scroll down further. So they felt that this was important as far as and managing energy by establishing robust district-wide energy data collection to accurately benchmark and calculate greenhouse gas emissions. And I do know that previously,

133because it actually showed up in the last OLA on it that there was not um there was there was no real effort in place to really collect energy data and really measure and compare from year to year and improve in that particular area. So this is This is a really important aspect of the entire program. And then relying on building automation to achieve desirable energy use intensity targets. And that's important too because that's important If you are able to automate that whole process of energy use, then you don't have teachers or staff or even office people Yanking the temperature up or down depending on how they feel, because that can be a big waste of energy. And then leveraging metering technology for accurate data management and performance tracking. And that has been a goal That

134has been in place in terms of really being able to attract our energy use. So then, and this last one, perform comprehensive energy audits on existing building. The language that was there previously was electricity and said, I felt strongly that electricity was very limiting and that what it really should be saying is district-wide energy. And use and then including metrics on total energy use and then because then you're looking at everything that we consume to have energy and then percentage of annual energy consumption derived from renewable sources. So that was another change. And then if you scroll down further. And then this was in addition, reduce harmful indoor air quality traits such as mold, lead pipes. Little to no air conditioning that impacts the learning ability and health of students, especially in disadvantaged communities. And

135I think that's very important. And we've many times heard in public comments that the board And in board meetings where parents have been quite upset related to air quality in certain schools. So I think that is an important part of this policy. To ensure that the board is saying that we have to make sure that we are not having indoor air quality that is harmful. And then if you scroll down further. Okay, so this, again, there was electricity there analysis to contract for new renewable energy to procure what cannot be produced on PG properties and prioritize reducing solid waste sent to the landfill. I will tell you that we have that So we just revised this past year, we revised the recycling administrative procedure And they just finalized the finalized administer a procedure on reducing

136like elimination of waste waste wasteful food. So there's a whole plan and administrative procedure where when kids are not eating their food and previously it would get thrown into the trash And that's what ends up in the landfills. Instead, if it's products that have not been opened and everything, this administrative procedure actually talks about setting up another table that other students may utilize, you know, have the food. And in an effort to really not waste food So which will be, I think, helpful because I think we do throw away a lot of food every day. So I think that'll be extremely helpful. And then They did add on, in addition to add on maximize all EM power. Maryland rebates to also take advantage of any grants that are out there and other available funding sources.

137And then if you scroll down further. And then the last one is, so this one has to do with implementation responsibilities oh And so if you looked at a little bit before there, this is language that was there before. It talks about that this policy should be reviewed every two years. And that's because of the action plan, which has very specific goals broken out by all the different years. So I think it's really important that as we move forward, there may be things that we feel that you all feel that need to be changed in the policy. To reflect what changes have occurred because of the action plan. And then the last piece is. That instead of the actual sustainable steering committee that the superintendent will establish a department to integrate sustainability and business operations

138throughout the district and implement monitor and evaluate and evaluate the priority goals of the PGCPS Climate Change Action Plan. So, I mean, it's sort of like putting your money up front there in terms of this we're committed to this and we're having staff now that are dedicated to just this work So I think that is extremely important in the process. So those were the changes to the policy Thank you, Ms. Welsh. Colleagues, I do want to let you know this is going to be The last measure we take up. Ms. Adelaide, we're going to have to move that last policy to the next board meeting. We're going to lose a colleague. And so the telehealth policy will have to come up on May 29th. But I do want to see um if if the committee

139has any questions or comments around this policy. So I do want to open the floor. Board member Booza Strathon. Yeah, just a big thank you, seeing all the climate change action plan work moving over to policy has been great. And definitely, I appreciate the shout outs and some of the areas. I did just want to note that this policy reinforces that we as a system should as a system really dig in on the National School Boards Association Magna Awards this year Wow. If you've noted, the Go Green initiative on indoor air quality, which is a Which is basically… it's not competing with the other districts. It's that we all are competing against a a process or a plan to improve air quality. And that is the Magna Awards this year. And I think PGCPS Obviously,

140we've been a leader in so many ways and i think we can really help promote that initiative and and of course do what we need to do to also win win the award. So I just wanted to note that, you know, for a lot of school districts, they don't have policies like this. And it will not be prioritized in the Go Green initiative and the Magna Award may not even resonate, which is unfortunate. It's something that I noted at the conference. So I just want to say how grateful I am that That we, in these last years have really moved to stronger policy on all of these climate action issues and particularly this indoor air quality issue because there's so much data and evidence that this is where we can show the academic How it

141impacts academics. So thank you. I guess it was more of a statement than a question tonight. Thanks. You get to do that, given all of your work on this. So not only do we thank the board for advancing policy, but your advocacy around it. I'm so shocked you didn't talk about the summit last week that you all had with students and leaders and parents all across the district. Thank you for your work and advocacy around it. I saw all the social media posts. And so we certainly are moving in the right direction. So much research around how air quality impacts math and reading scores. So thank you for pushing us in that direction. Looks like there are no more comments or questions from my colleagues. Ms. Adlai, will you please take the roll call to

142advance this policy for public comment? Dr. Moss? Hi. Yes, it works. Ms. Trevor. Aye. Ms. Walker. This policy moves to public comment. We'll take up the telehealth policy at our May 29th meeting. There are no policies for third consideration. First read of the board. At this time, I'm going to adjourn the meeting. The chair informs the public that the next virtual Policy and Governance Committee meeting will be on May 13th. 2025. Please continue to check the Prince George's County Board of Education website for meeting information and updates. Oh, Ms. Welsh, did I forget something? I just I want to let you know that it's just because we've changed the agenda around so many times that the sustainability was actually up for discussion. So it would be, we can't go to public comment yet because it

143has to go to uh the action plan where it goes to the superintendent and to og Oh, I'm sorry. The sponsor, I don't know your exact words you always say about the sponsor, but that's really what it should be versus public comment. Oh, maybe I misread. I'm sorry. Oh, yeah. Oh, it was under. Okay. I got you. This is my fault. This is the sponsor revision. So this has been approved. Yes, uh-huh. Colleagues, if you all are okay with that understanding that's what your vote was for. We don't have to revote again if you all understand that's what your vote was for. Thank you, Ms. Welsh. I'll start over. Please continue to check the Prince George's County Board of Education website for meeting information. Thank you all for great discussions and attendance to our viewers.

144Thank you for watching. There being no further business, the time It's now 717, the April 29th, 2025 Policy and Governance Committee meeting is adjourned. Thank y'all. Hey. Thank you.I