001Towards things like that, then I'm sure our schools are already doing. And for Section 5, I did want to make sure that we changed it from CEO to superintendent because it says that they're… And I personally liked some of the recommendations coming from PGCE. So, you know, I asked the question to Dr. Horton around like whether we should change it to kind of an annual versus a three years. I definitely get the rationale behind like, one, that there's like a law. I'm not sure if we cited that law, by the way, in the policy, but there's a law that we're referencing for the three years, but You know, I did want to just maybe see if you could look into That piece, Mrs. Welsh around kind of best practices that may exist around the three
002year versus the annual, just so that we can have like other considerations because that may be helpful. To have as like a… a reference. And those are my pieces that I had. Do you have any questions? So I just want to share that we did, I have added revisions based on the law that got passed last year that added more requirements and it does talk specifically about the needs assessment It gives a little bit more of a description about how that process is, as well as the fact that it should be reviewed at least, it says from the law, it says review the implementation plan at least once every three years. It doesn't necessarily say you need to do a needs assessment, but you could look at the implementation plan. And I'm guessing that schools
003probably do this, is that they look at their plan and say. Is this still valid you know or has anything changed in the past year that caused us to want to re-look at that? Because everything they do, all the funding you get for wraparound services and everything, it's based on this needs assessment. So you want to ensure that, you know. You're addressing whatever the needs are for that school. But that comes directly from the from the law and new additions that came in last year when that bill was passed. Okay. That's helpful. I didn't know. I didn't see it cited there. So that lets me know because obviously that's static. They can change. So that's helpful to know that that's one thing. But the other ones I would still just kind of recommend, but appreciate.
004And of course, like if you have questions, then let me know around what I meant by that but Those are my suggestions. I will tell you that the community school, the definition of community school, again, that's driven by law. And in the bill that passed last year, they did add more language into that. And that's why I have it in this version. Okay, got it. So that's all based on law. Okay, great. Okay. Colleagues, does anyone else have anything that we've not laid out already that we want to see? Okay, board member walker Yeah, this will be real quick. I don't know if this exercise that Mr. Briggs asked for is is in-depth or comprehensive or looking before we get to the next meeting. I'm not sure. But I do have concerns of us reducing
005it less than the three years. So I just wanted to put that out there. And the reason is because what I think I heard Dr. Horton say is that it's a very comprehensive needs assessment that takes place. It's not just a survey. And with that, I think that's why the law is with the no less than three or whatever it was, the recommendation, a minimum of three. And so if there's something that we want to maybe not the comprehensive that it is that you're looking for, because it is so comprehensive, which is how they do their plan. But maybe that they just make sure that they take a look at their work plan, for instance, of how they're going to execute their work annually or their work plan, something around that. I don't know if
006that meets your needs. What gap are you trying to solve for, Mr. Briggs? Maybe that'll help Ms. Welsh and Ms. I think Mrs. Welsh literally, when she said it's the law says it. Really, for me, there's no longer a debate because that's what the law says. So that would be like going to the state legislators, as you know, to get them to change it. So for me, there's nothing there. Oh, perfect. I thought you said I still want you to go back. Okay, my bad. Thank you. I do want to flag the board members. This policy will come to us again for This is, we are recommending it to to Robin to work on, we will see it in our next meeting again. So I do want to flag that. Any other technical questions so
007that we might get through this? All right. Ms. Adelaide, could you please take a roll call vote? Okay. Dr. Moss? Mr. Griggs? Yes. These Buddhist trailer? Ms. Walker? Bye. Foreign the affirmative. There are four in the affirmative policy 1100 community schools will be recommended to the policy sponsor for a revision. Thank you so much, Dr. Horton, for joining us this evening, and thank you for your incredible work. This committee will continue fighting for community schools. And thank you for being a great example for the rest of the state. No problem. Thank you. We thank you for your support and we look forward to representing PGCPS. Thank you. Have a good evening. All right, Dr. Horton, good to see you. Policy 9354, which is board members voucher reimbursement of expenses, the chair recognizes Ms. Welsh for
008an overview of policy 9354. Board members voucher reimbursement of expenses. So with that policy, and just as a reminder, that policy number will be changed to 8103 so that it's in your internal policies. But one of the questions that came, oh, Cindy, do you mind putting it up on the screen, please? So if you scroll down to page two under standards So one of the questions came up is number C, which had to do with If a board member has any doubt about what the expenditure is allowable, and this is prior as a pre-approval then the question was, shouldn't they contact internal audit So I did speak with internal audit and they said no, that they would not contact them because if they're telling you how that something's approved or isn't approved or You should
009do this or that. Then when they go in to audit the expenditures, they'll be auditing their work. So they can't be in the upfront doing this when the reality is they're really After the fact, auditing what has occurred. So what I did put in there was that they would get they would get the approval would be that I put whether because you're trying to find whether a proposed expenditure, this is just for clarity That obtain a guidance because I don't know that at this point if the so the recommendation was that you should go to the director of the board office so It's not the director's job to necessarily approve your expenditures. But certainly give you guidance about the expenditures. So I changed the language to a proposed expenditure shall obtain guidance from The… I
010can't… Hold on a second. Let me see if I can get rid of this thing. There we go. Expenditure is allowable. The board members shall obtain a guidance about the expenditure from the director of the board office. So if you're good with that. That would be good. And then if you scroll down, I think the next question had to do, it came back to this whole issue. I'm going to take you down to page three on E. Number 24 And it was about this whole issue of the distributing the flyers mailers. And then the question came up, you did ask to have non-recurring events put in there, so I did. And then I did again talk to internal audit the 45 days for primary and general elections, if that should even be there. And her
011strong feeling was that it should be for any political activity, any time that if there's because it doesn't necessarily mean have to be within that time frame that there should be um no No connection to any type of political activity when you're talking about reimbursement of expenses. So I put that language. I basically took out the, I did put the non-recurring in, but took out the 45 days of the primary election. So there's no restrictions there. It's whenever And the green is like the new language Because the other stuff was there before. And then… the next one, it is internal audit that does audit the expenditures. So they're looking at those um expenditures. As far as the mileage, that was the next area And we're all over the place on that because So internal audit.
012So the problem is we probably need a tax attorney to to Dissect the IRS code because the issues come down to where's your major place of business? And it's… And ultimately, is it the Board of Ed or is it your home And I have spoken with both internal audit with our chief financial officer and with OGC and did also then And I'll let him talk if he's still there. Your board's attorney And at this point, we don't have clarity on that. So I don't know if, Arthur, if you're still on the line, if you want to jump in here. Hey, can you have him to speak to both questions that we have in the interest? Yeah, that's right. Sure, go right ahead. That's fine. Yeah, thank you. And I do apologize that I do have
013a hearing at six o'clock, so that's why. I appreciate it, Mr. Chairman, for moving this matter up. I agree with Ms. Wells with reference to the uh The IRS code is that clear, but it seems based on the case law that they refer to that if the board member Legitimately maintains their principal place of business at home. And has no other fixed location. Then it would be something that mileage can be taken from that point. But since The SAS availer is probably the principal place of business It's arguably that that's really the base in which should be taken from. But again, it's not clear because they do allow for You know, for mileage to be taken from home there was a case that we saw i'm not sure it's point, but they're talking about a
014police officer once he uh she leaves their house and their vehicle and gone. Then malice can be accumulated because they are doing work but uh even though they have a precinct. But that was a little different situation. And so again, it's not clear. And I understand that it's been determined various ways within the agency but If I were to opine it would be that conservatively, and I'm not tax attorney. It would be the principal place of business being Sasser. For the mileage. Then the other issue. And again, I have… place this in writing and we'll put it in writing if you like. Reference to the reimbursement of compensation for board members Section 3-1. 003 of the Maryland Education Code. Sets your salary. As to how much money and people are getting a raise here. So
015well deserved. But it also puts a cap annual allowances for $7,000 for incidentals for traveling expenses. And that cap seems to be… fairly, well, it doesn't seem, it is fairly specific in the uh And the code and so Andy… compensation or reimbursement beyond would have to fall under a category that is allowed Under a policy of the board. Necessarily allowable the handbook, but allowable under the Section 3-1003. Seems to be fairly specific. However, the statute says that you will be entitled to was normally provided to other employees in the school system but they specifically listed things like health insurance. And then the code does require you to participate in conferences and all. The question becomes whether the question becomes whether conferences and all could be paid or reimburse beyond that $7,000. And, uh. As I
016suggested, you know, in a email to the chairman at the time who asked You know, for your sake as a representative of the But we need to be conservative in our opinion And 7,000 caps should have Rule the day uh but i would highly recommend a letter to the attorney general ledger for an interpretation of an interpretation statute so that to see if there is any wiggle room or flexibility in that determination because again it It can be interpreted another way. Based on the actual language of the statute. It seems to have a hard cap at $7,000. Attorney Hoyer, I appreciate you yielding your expert counsel here. I know you have to run. But colleagues, I thought it might be fitting to table this item until we can get additional guidance. I wouldn't want us
017to move on an item Without having that expert opinion from the attorney general around this. Partly because this practice has been in place predating many of us on the board. And so I just think we need to get clear about it and not do anything illegal. But that's my recommendation tonight. So not to go too far in the weeds on this is what I wanted to offer us. Board member Walker, I see your hand. Yeah, I'm with you on that. Absolutely. I will to postpone it until we get some expert opinions on this. I guess the only thing I just want board members to remember is that we might have to then go back and visit depending on what the outcome is. The amendment that I put through for $500 minus $500 per budgeted line
018item to take it to $6,500. So I think some of what I'm hearing in between the lines is that this line item will not only include the things that we leverage it for, which are clearly outlined, but will also include the required by law trainings, professional trainings that we also have to get throughout the course of the year. With that. I would want to figure out how I can take back the amendment. And I hate to do that, but it was also driven by not knowing where we might have to go depending on what comes back from the attorney general. That's just a heads up for us. Yeah, I've also got to turn this over to Board Member Briggs. As I have another meeting I have to urgently get at. But Board Member Boozer Struther,
019I will hang on to be able to vote on this item. Yeah, I'll be really quick. I just want to make sure the attorney general knows that we do not have actual you know the 10 desks or offices like we that we are truly remote employees And I mean, I just have to bring up again that the further away you live from Sasser. You as a board member have an opportunity to make a big profit off your mileage. I know I would be starting… With many, many miles before I left my door to go a mile to a school in my district. So I do think there's some serious implications around this. That's all. Thank you. Thank you. I apologize after the run, but thank you. Okay. So is he pulling together the Attorney General
020letter? What's the clarity on if somebody can wrap it up. Yeah, we would need to have our attorney to be able to do it. So Attorney Horn would be pulling that together. And I will say from past experience of trying to get attorney general opinions on different things, it would have to though he would, and we did discuss this, he would have to do it and then go under the chair's of the board's signature. Okay. Absolutely. So the question is, shall the committee table policy 9354 board members voucher reimbursement of expenses to the Should we table it? There's no additional discussion. Ms. Adlai, will you call the roll? There is. Can you amend that to also say the piece about the attorney general? Absolutely. I accept it. Also, amended. So table is actually different from
021postpone. So I think you're just supposed to say postpone. Which is what you said initially. All right. I'll say it completely over again. I was wrong twice. Shall the committee postpone policy 9354 board members voucher reimbursement of expenses um to and instruct the attorney to craft a letter to the attorney general in response to the questions from the committee members. I think I got it right. All right. Miss Adelaide, will you call the roll? I think so. I'm Dr. Morris. Mr. Briggs? His bullet strutter? Please welcome. Bye. Aye. There are four in the affirmative policy 9354 board member voucher reimbursement is postponed. Pending information from the attorney general. I'm now going to turn it over to Vice Chair Briggs for item 3.0. All right. Thanks so much. So the chair recognizes Mrs. Welsh for the
022legislative update. Thank you, Mrs. Walsh. So as far as the legislative update, right now, there's not a lot happening because the crossover is coming and then lots of things will be happening. But right this moment, we're sort of everyone's sort of holding still. I will say, though, that As far as House Bill 504, that'll be moving into the Senate. And today in a meeting that I was on. And so it's a Bazan meeting they that what came out was that came out The Senate is very focused on long-term affordability. And because of that. There is a possibility that all the amendments that were made to the bill could could possibly be undone when it hits the Senate. So people are just waiting to see what's going to be happening for the future. In terms of
023that funding. There is a provision though in the bill that they made a change in it. So the bill originally allowed for I think 50% to go to administrative costs the community schools funding to go to central office like administrative costs to administrate the community And they specifically, when they were making their amendment, they specifically put in language that says. Not, you may not use that money for that purpose. So there is a question about whether or not there will be impact for our school system. And unfortunately, I have contacted uh Ms. Howe, and I think she's been extremely busy. I know today she was in in interviews all day and yesterday she had a county thing. So I have not, I have not heard back from her yet to find out what the impact
024is for us on On that change in language, because that might be something that we would want to be, you know. Making like, you know. Giving testimony or whatever to say we're not in favor of that amendment. But I think it's going to be critically important to watch to see what just happens with the amendment I mean, with that bill as it progresses um when it makes the switch over to the Senate. Because there could be some changes. I will say that as far as for the The MSDE picking up like all this stuff with recruitment and everything that that has been a lot of that has been squashed in the bill, at least right now as amended. And most school systems are like, we don't want the board, we don't want MSDE. Recruiting our
025teachers. This is our job. Let us do the recruitment. Don't tell us to apply for a grant to get some money for this because first of all, every time you tell us to apply for a grant, that's a heck of a lot of extra work for us. Which is an administrative burden, which you're talking about staff time used to have to to not only do all the paperwork to apply for it as well as to monitor and manage the grants. That was a positive thing to move it out. There is also a lot of concern related to their leadership training because of the fact that They want to keep pulling principals out to come in and get all this training. And number one, and this again came up today that where superintendents said, there's no
026way we can't afford to let all our principals go and get all this training. We need our principals in our schools. So that is one that they're very strongly will be advocating And I think, a lot of effort out there right now to maybe limit MSDEs purview over all these different areas and not, you know, build up their own little University or college in terms of all the things that they're planning to provide because the impact ultimately will be negative for the schools if you're pulling staff from our schools. So it's one of those things we just need to keep our eyes open and watch to see what the next step is for it. There are a lot of people are paying a lot of close attention to it, so we should be getting information
027shortly. As it progresses. And there are minimal number of bills that there's some hearings next week, but it's very right now it's it's Right now, it's sort of dead But I did want to talk a couple of minutes because I know Dr. Moss had asked about what's happening for Advocacy Day. And I did the agenda. Cindy, can you post it so we can The public can see it also. So we have two different classes coming in that will become their CTE programs that um our students from their policy and law program. And quite honestly, I read emails from the teachers and they're very excited about this. This is like they just feel like this is an excellent opportunity for their students because it's right in line with the What's in their educational programs for those
028students And of course, the focus will be on funding for us and support for school construction. So if you can scroll down. They'll be leaving. They're going to be arriving by like eight in the morning and they'll have a welcoming welcoming opening remarks. Mr. House will be there and uh hopefully Mr. Jackson. And of course, there'll be conversations about school instruction and how important that is, what the ongoing challenges are for our school system, as well as how important it is for us to receive additional funding and support. And then there will also be a conversation about the legislative process work and importance in their advocacy efforts. So in all of this, although the students are advocating for Prince George's County Public Schools and our construction needs and everything, it's also, this is considered a
029field trip for them. So it is an educational experience for them in terms of Even the whole process. And then there'll be legislative meetings where they'll have the opportunity to meet with different legislators. And Shelby McRae in my office is working just to get all this set up for them so that they can meet with the different legislators and talk to them. And, you know, urge them to prioritize school construction. And then they'll have lunch and networking, which will be right after that. If you'll scroll down, Cindy. From 1030 to 1130. And again, they'll have some opportunity to talk to legislators. They'll be informal but um it still will be a good experience for them. And then after that, if you just go back up, Cindy for a second. Then they'll have a, there's going
030to be a rally and a press conference So everyone will get together and um have the conversation and then legislators hopefully too will be there so that we can get some photo ops And then there will be a tour. We were able to get a tour set up. Of the of the… of the you know the whole legislative area and where they're going. If you scroll down a minute, Cindy, let me just see if there's anything else there. Okay. And so what was very nice is, and this is a tour that is put on by in Annapolis Regularly, but they have lots of different packets of learning materials and stuff, which the teachers again were very excited about and are going to be reviewing with the students so they're well prepared for their trip up
031to Annapolis. And then, of course, there'll be closing remarks. So it's pretty fast and furious, but I think it's going to be, it'll be, I think it'll be quite… impressive for our legislators to have our students there talking to them about this, as well as I think it'll be an excellent learning experience for the students. So for that. All right. Oh, thank you so much. Are you finished, Mrs Walsh? I am, yes. Thank you so much. Colleagues, do you have any questions? Okay, I see board member booster strother. Well, one, I just want to say that I really like this plan that came together. And I do think bringing our students into school construction and maintenance funding advocacy is a really important. Important. So thank you to everyone. I'm sorry that I'll be out of
032town and cannot be there to support. I did just want to ask if we Is this our only agenda item for legislative because Chair Moss was going to Bring up for us HBO. 93 Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day. I have an update on that Oh, okay. No, that's fine. Can I just say one thing real quick? I want to give credit where credit's due. It was, I think the work a shelby McRae put the whole plan together who's in my office, as well as Roderick Adams worked to get all the students get together and get all that coordinated. So I didn't do anything just to be fair. So they were the big, the ones who did all the work for this. But no, we can absolutely talk about that bill. Mr. Board Member Briggs,
033Vice Chair Briggs. You have a minute and 30 seconds, so feel free to To share more. Sit under already the climate change action plan because it's a walk to school safety thing as well as a historical education Bill, but as this Ruby Bridges walk to school day bill was introduced by Delegate on the House side, and it is just about to pass the House. And it's grown In sponsorship and it came out of Mount Rainier Elementary and Thomas Stone Elementary participating in the National Ruby Bridges walk to school day event, we would not be the first state in the nation to adopt this as a as a commemorative day Where MSD promotes it the 24 local school systems promoted to their school buildings to plan for this day. All the resources exist from all the
034resources this national organization that Ruby Bridges herself founded. So the bill is moving swiftly. Senator Benson will take it through the Senate side. We'll go back. To um speak to the Senate committees and i know Board member Walker has said that if time aligns that she would like to speak As well. And of course, we have Tim Meyer who has been the the lead advocate on this with Delegate Fennell. What I'm asking for is if we can do a letter of support at this point. Great. Thank you so much, Board Member Booster Struther. And I'll make sure that we can get that over to Dr. Moss as well. Jontell, who is phenomenal in crafting letters for us. Board member Walker. Thank you so much. Yes, I'm in support of that. I was telling Board Member
035Booza Struther that My mother was in the first integrated school In her area and in high school and it's just such a a phenomenal story to be able to kind of bring it to life and see it, especially when we have a living legend in Ruby Bridges, who, by the way, we might can even get here for kicking off next year. I think we can start working on that. All right. That's not the piece I was going to say. I was actually going to ask Ms. Welsh if we could get some talking points, if you could work with maybe Shelby to help us get some talking points for next week. That would be really helpful, I think, for our scholars as well as for us to be able to craft the same message. And I'm
036specifically talking about now the two pieces of legislation we'll be talking about. So which are you're talking about which you're talking Oh. Full construction we're So Shelby, I mean, I'm sure we have them. I just think it would be great if they had a sheet of paper with some bullets on it literally to be able to talk to those key pieces. But you can ask her what her vision is. It's not led by our committee, it's led by PGCPS. So whatever they want to do, I'm all in. But it might help as we kind of navigate different places and talk to different legislators. You're talking about school construction. I can do that. It's simple. And Ruby Bridges, which I think we already know. We can probably put those together. Okay. Thanks. All right, colleagues, any
037other questions? Okay, we're going to move on to item 4.0 policies for first consideration. So there are three more items for discussion. Each member will have two rounds per item during the discussion and each round will last two and a half minutes. Item 4.1, work plan review, incorporating a hybrid modality policy. So colleagues at present, two policies, policy 9364, participation in meetings electronically. And the rules and procedures. Mention a hybrid modality for board meetings, but neither provides details on how it operates or on participation. In the open session. The question is, shall the committee add a new policy or revise policy 9354 rules of procedure to include a hybrid modality to the work plan? Any discussion? I see board member Walker and then who's a struggle. Yes, I will touch on this. I didn't see
038anything attached for that. So definitely, and I will say that the chair did call and talk to me about it, that he wanted to kind of introduce it for a broader discussion. And maybe that's what we're talking about here, just to move it for a broader discussion. I'll say publicly that I do have concerns on moving to a hybrid for our business meetings. I think that just as elected officials to be inside of our building to conduct business where our public knows how to be there to be able to have a voice in front of the board where it's not virtual is value added for us. And that really is Probably one meeting a month where we're asked to be in person for those and the remaining, I'm all in for committee meetings or the
039budget hearings or our other requirements to be done virtually. But for our in-person meeting, I'm not a fan of having that as a A model such as that. So I just wanted to say that. And then I don't know how the hybrid modality pieces in detail will happen, but I just wanted you guys to know at least where I was. Thank you so much for sharing. Board Member Busa Strother. Yeah, thank you. You know, I also think that for the, you know, we are basically down to meeting in person Four. Well. Board member Boozer Street. We can't hear you if you can hear me. Don't meet. Here. No, you're in a really bad location if you can we heard probably 1% of what you shared. Can't hear you. We can see you. We can't hear
040you. Board member Walker, did you have any, or Mrs. Welsh, did you have anything to share here as just additional context about the the policy proposal. The only thing I had shared with Dr. Moss was that um Because it's not on our work plan. And normally what we do is we put it, we then, if there's something that someone wants, we end up putting it as one of the first items for the next year on the work plan. But that he strongly would like, I think, I think he would like to have it move forward immediately And I said, then I would think that since the committee voted on the work plan for what policies they wanted to address this upcoming year, then I would think it would need to go back to the committee
041to have a conversation about whether or not they want to They want to add it on for a policy to do for this year. And now we're here. Okay, great. That's helpful context. Board member Booster Struther. And revote on that. Well, first I want to test the sound. We can hear you, but maybe just keep going. Yeah. Okay. So yeah, I just wanted to speak more to that policy that we are now down to about you know, 16 in-person meetings a year After, you know, prior to the pandemic the board met in person at the SAS for building And for budget hearings in high schools as many as 40 times a year. So I think the fact that We are down to so few meetings compared to historically, and we've moved so much to Zoom.
042That this board really needs to be committed to those in-person meetings and the And anyone who runs for this office, the calendar is posted. There's no surprise. This calendar has not really changed for years and years and years. It's Thursday nights. So I do not for the board business meetings i would You know, I would not support Okay, and my additional, I could be supportive either way here. I do definitely understand the rationale that now to know that we have… a lot fewer, actually more than half. Of the original meetings that we had in person is helpful context. Without additional information about why exactly we would want to have this kind of hybrid modality, I mean. And because we're voting here as a committee, so I would be outvoted if I went against it. I'm
043probably likely going to agree here. So I think Ms. Adelaide, can we please take a roll call vote? I can give a little perspective on what he did share with me, if that's hopeful for people's vote. I know how I'm voting, but I can share it with you in case you didn't know. One of the things he said was in the last meeting, I don't know if this is the only reason, but he did in the last meeting, one of the board members was sick and couldn't come in and therefore couldn't vote. And as a result, he wants to, for items when people are sick or when there's something that they do have that flexibility. And what I share with him is that flexibility is always great. However, then who's the decision maker? Is it
044always going to go to the chair to decide? And that just gets a little funny in how we play this role as a board member. So that's a piece of perspective that he shared with me. It might be other things as well, but that's just that piece. And I think I had like a few seconds left, but I did just have a question like um for uh for board member Walker. If you can just share more about when you say like, who's the decision maker, I wasn't clear about what you meant by that. Oh, yeah, for attendance. So, or for if you're sick. So for instance, the scenario he gave me was a board member was sick. I wasn't at that meeting. So a board member was sick. They had to call in, but because
045our You have to be present inside of our policy states that you have to be present for our board meetings. And so that person wasn't able to vote. And so if a person's sick. In this modality, if you grant them yes, you can come for this particular meeting, then who decides if I say I'm sick three times? Who's the decision maker to say, yes, okay, you're able to do it? Somebody has to be able to say, yes, you can do it. So I was asking him, who's the approver in that situation? You understand where I'm going with that? Slightly, but it looks like board member booster and I think my time's up. So I'm going to be respectful of that. Oh, okay. It's just somebody has to decide if it's an excused absence or not.
046And then what does excuse look like for you to be able to have that modality. Yeah. And that makes a lot of sense. Board member Boozer Struther. Debates here around that of, you know, art, you know. Trust, you know, that you're really sick and not on travel or whatever. You know, there's just so many issues and But I think the bigger one is that our public You know, who watches us and who elected us and You know, who are very, and particularly we have some of our very engaged uh residents of this county who actually come to the physical building And watch the live cast. They want to see us together. I mean, and we just had You know and you know a very visible negative scandal on this of a former board member. I
047mean, that is so top of mind for people. They do not want to see us shirking our responsibility. I mean, the one thing When you run or, you know, say in the past appointed that you know before you say yes is the schedule. It's posted on the website. It hasn't changed for Ever. And you can miss up to 25% of meetings and still be a qualified board member that you would not be seen as neglecting your duties. So I just think this is you know not All right. Well, I think unless there are any colleagues, are there any other questions? Looks like everybody is kind of clear where they are. So Ms. Adelaide, please take a roll call. Oh, sorry, just to be short. What we're voting on is if in fact we allow this
048to be discussed at a board meeting. Is that what we're talking about? Thanks for clarifying. I can repeat the question. So the question is, shall the committee add a new policy or revise policy 9364 rules of procedure to include a hybrid modality to the work plan. Ms. Adler, please take a roll call vote. Ms. Will this trailer? Mr. Briggs? Ms. Walker. All right. We have one in the affirmative. Okay. So the committee will not, so the question is, shall the committee postpone Um… We didn't move forward, but the question is, shall the committee Actually, it didn't move forward. So I think that we're just not going to move forward with that. So thank you for that piece. We're going to move On to item 4.2, policy 0124 E-rate management. I recognize Mrs. Welsh for an
049overview of policy 0124 E-rate management. Sydney, do you mind posting it, please? So Palsy E-rate management When I pulled it up, I almost died. Because I've never seen such an extensive policy with 20 million pieces of what should be happening in the policy. And so I contacted IT and I said. This looks like an administrative procedure and all these different things. I mean, and this was done back in 2011. I'm like, is this even valid anymore? So it turns out that way back then, when, and I don't even know, I think they said Superintendent Hyde maybe. Evidently, we almost lost. I think for a short period of time, we must have lost our E-rate funding. Because we didn't really have a policy that laid out all the specifics And they weren't really following anything either.
050So there was nothing to follow, but they didn't really follow the rules either. And so they went ahead and they did this policy, which I did share with them that this is important information. Much of the there's a good part of it that's out of date now. They went through for me and double checked. And took things that are no longer in existence out of the policy. But the fact is is that much of it is still in the administrative procedure. And the administrative procedure is in great depth also. So I'll go through it of what we um What we're looking at. So first of all, this is just your policy statement, which says, of course, that the board is committed to providing safe, productive, equitable learning environment for all students and work environment for
051staff. And that includes a network infrastructure that has been designed to support effective academic and business practices for the school system. And then the fact that the board recognizes that the federal E-rate program supports bringing technology to to the classroom at a discounted rate. So the purpose of the policy, if you can scroll down just a little bit, Cindy. The purpose is to provide guidelines for the required district-wide application for E-rate funding in lieu various school applications. So to be clear, at one point, I guess what I understand is that, again, way back when there were all the issues came up. Individual schools were just applying for E-rate funding. And the first thing that was a problem was that We actually lost funding that we could have received because it was like just a school
052here and a school there. Because it's all based on the number of students that are receiving forms. So some schools could do it because they had the right number of students receiving forms, some couldn't. So it's much more beneficial to the school system to be doing as a school system. So that's the one thing in terms of making it district-wide as well as that we do satisfy all the complex rules and compliance requirements associated with E-rate funding. So then I have provided some definitions because they are interjected throughout the policy. So we have the E rate discount level. And this level is based on the school system's participation in national lunch program For free and reduced price meals for farms. And then there is this FCC form 471, which is very important. It's a key
053form used to assure schools and libraries receive appropriate universal service fund support. And comply with eligibility requirements and take steps to use services effectively. And then if you scroll down further. We have also then the federal E-rate program And this under the E-rate program, schools may have received discounts for eligible services to include high speed data slash dark fiber, internet access, internal connections. And basic maintenance of internet connections. And overall, nationwide E-rate annually provides $4.9 billion in technology discounts based on the percentage of students eligible for national school lunch. School lunch programs at school lunch programs at Actually, I missed a period out of school. So this is just across the country. So there's a lot of money going through this program that really do support all the school systems across the country. And then
054as far as the high speed data, dark data, this refers to, there's another type of the speed of the connection of the internet service And then E is internal connections. That's the infrastructure equipment that allows for access to the internet. And then internet service is a service that allows users to connect to the internet and use applications like email and worldwide. And then USAC slash SLD is The Universal Service Administration Company slash Schools and Library Program And it's designated by the Federal Communications Commission as the administrator of the Federal Universal Service Fund And schools and libraries program, the SLD of the Universal Service Fund, commonly known as E-rate is Administered by the USAC. So that's a mouthful. Anyway, as we go down as far as our standards and what we have to meet in order
055to ensure that we do receive the funding. I have here the superintendent. So what you see, anything that's in the dark print is were things that I pulled from the old policy and then the new is all the new information. And I will tell you, I had a terrible time with my computer today in trying to line anything up. So I do apologize for numbers showing up in all crazy places. And I think when I send it to Cindy, then it must have switch. These were in line when I first sent them. Anyway, the superintendent design is responsible for ensuring that PTS meets the eligibility requirements for E-rate funding for the entire school system by meeting the USAC SLD select criteria. I do have here, I did add this language because this is very important
056overall for the entire school system that no school, including charter schools, shall submit an independent application for E-rate funding requests. Then the superintendent designee, because one of the criteria for receiving this funding is that you certify that you are enforcing internet safety that addresses the following. It has to address access by minors to inappropriate matter of the internet. Second, the safety and security of students using electronic mail, chat rooms, and other forms of direct electronic communications. And then unauthorized access, including so-called hacking and other unlawful activities by minors online. And then on authorized disclosure use dissemination of personal information regarding students and then Can you just scroll up one second? Thank you. Measures restricting students access to materials harmful to to them. So that comes directly from the law. So that's the first thing that
057has to be in place. And then secondly, the superintendent designee shall calculate the discount level that the school system is eligible to receive according to the appropriate calculated E-rate discount level. Again, that is really based on our number of farm students we have in each of the schools. Then the superintendent designee shall request discounts for the following eligible services. So these are the things that you can use the money for basically iSpeed data slash dark fiber. Internet access, and I scroll down, Sydney. Internet connections. And basic maintenance of internal connections. And then the next thing has to do with conducting open competitive bidding process to select a service provider. So although we, I mean, we already have a policy, the purchasing policy 3323, that's definitely Talks to the fact that there should be open and
058fair competitive bidding process. But everything you read in terms of this whole process of getting providers to you know based on this E-rate funding criteria I felt that it was important to reiterate that the superintendent shall ensure that all procurements executed under the E-rate program must be open and fair, competitive building Bidding process that and that the quality of service and price must be the primary factors when selecting a vector, which we already do. Additionally. The superintendent does need to ensure that the E-rate competitive seal bidding process Although similar to the process identified in AP3323 meets the definitive differences for E-rate competitive sealed bidding process, which includes the bidding time when the award can be made. And the mandatory requirement to submit various E-rate forms at various times. So I'm not giving you any of
059the details specific to that because that all is in the AP, but these are the requirements from a from a procurement perspective that have to be met if we are wanting to get the funds that we can receive through the e-rate management system. And then the second thing is the superintendent designee shall select the most qualified cost effective provider of desired products or services eligible for support with quality and price of the eligible goods and services as the primary factors And all documentation pertaining to the competitive bidding process and vendor selection must be safe for five years from the last state to receive service. So these are all requirements, again, to receive the funding. Then if you scroll down. Further. The superintendent shall submit the FCC form 471 form for program support, which is in
060the definitions. But this FCC form is referenced over and over and over again. And it's actually, it's a very important form. So I wanted to have it in the policy just so, you know, that's the major thing in terms of getting this program support. And then I also included that the superintendent designee shall periodically evaluate the school system's tech technology initiatives and services to optimize funding opportunity and maximize participation in the E-rate program. And then, of course, the last thing is the superintendent is authorized to develop an administrative procedure to implement this policy. So are there any questions? Okay, seeing no questions. I did have some comments, Mrs. Welsh. Uh-huh. And this was around, so I want to just appreciate you for sharing that this was a pretty dated policy because, I mean, we've definitely
061been through two administrations since that's changed in the federal law that was actually mentioned in the old policy, No Child Left Behind has been away for some time. Right. That brought some concerns for me because I wondered if that was the board policy that they were operating under and some of those requirements came from what was mentioned in No Child Left Behind, which has been replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act, as you know. It made me concerned about what the IT department was doing for some time. And then I was wondering what your thoughts are around whether we'd be Whether it would be beneficial to have someone from the department come to share what they've been doing up to this point, given that things have changed significantly. I know you talked to them. So
062can you just share more if you think that's a good idea or what you've talked to them about? So the last thing I said was… So don't be surprised if I call you back up And I see if you can't possibly come to a policy and governance committee because this is not an area that I have expertise in. And if there's any questions, you all would be the best to have the conversation with the committee members so they can get better clarity on it. So I can certainly ask them to come. Okay. Okay. And then I did want to say like the other piece I had a concern about was just, I mean, this could be a quick turnaround for them because I know that when we kind of vote on the policies, the offices
063have to get up to speed on changes. I was just So that'd be a question I'd want to ask them as well. In addition to the fact that who knows if the FCC will even be in existence next year. I mean, at this point. Wow. That's a blessing. Right. You know, agencies are being cut left and right. Or downside. So those are all things that I know as we're making these changes, these are implications around the policy. One record. So just so you know, interestingly enough, the administrative procedure is actually, they just reviewed it recently and we didn't even ask them to. They just did it. And it's pretty much up to date. So they are really, even though the policy was out of date, they were moving forward on what they need to do
064currently Mainly because, you know, we don't want to lose our funding. But I definitely will ask them Okay, that's great to know. Board member booster struther. Yeah, thank you. I was also going to add that I think, you know, we've seen some unfortunate articles about some introductions to actually cut E-rate or end E-rate that would have major harm to libraries and school systems so Vice Chair Briggs is definitely Write about that, that this is another one of those things you know that we may look very different soon you know and i was just looking through searching through our regular business meetings because we do vote on the e-rate Yeah. Contract on a regular basis, right? You know, so I was just sort of looking at when we do that annually and some of the text
065in there but But yeah, I agree. I would like to hear from the experts in the system and they could also give us some idea of what they're seeing with changes in the law. That might be coming. Okay. All right. Any other questions? Board member Walker. Just a comment, not a question. I just want to be mindful that Well, this administration, there's so much happening every single day. So I think that we just need to be mindful of creating something that's going to be everlasting. And if something's demolished, then we just let it go versus Crafting it in anticipation of what might happen. What we recognize is that minute by minute things are happening in this administration and we can't let it shut us down or stop us and what we need to do for
066our scholars Appreciate that. All right. So the question is, shall the committee postpone policy 0124 E-rate management to the next policy and governance committee meeting. Any discussion? Okay, Ms. Adelaide, please take a roll call vote. Mr. Briggs? Ms. Willis brother? Bye. Ms. Walker? Three and the affirmation. All right, there are three in affirmative policy 0124, E-rate management will be postponed until the next policy and governance committee meeting for further consideration. We're now going to move on to item 5.0, policies for second consideration. There are none this evening. And item 6.0, policies for third consideration, there are also none. This evening. I'm sorry, there is one item for consideration. So item 6.1, new policy developing curriculum documents. For instructional programs in elementary and secondary schools. The question is, shall the committee recommend new policy developing curriculum
067documents for instructional programs in elementary and secondary schools to the full board for public comment consideration? Any discussion? Okay, Ms. Adlay, please take a roll call vote. Mr. Braves? Ms. Bullet Struther? Bye. You're welcome. Three from a team. Bye. There are three in the affirmative new policy developing curriculum documents for instructional programs in elementary and secondary schools. Will be recommended to the full board for public comment consideration. We're now going to move on to adjournment. I, the vice chair, informed the public that the next virtual policy and governance committee meeting would be on March 25th, 2024. Please continue to check the Prince George's County Board of Education website for meeting information updates. I want to thank you all for a great discussion in attendance this evening. To our viewers, thank you for watching. There being
068no further discussion. The time is now 641. The March 11, 2025 Policy and Governance Committee meeting is adjourned. Thanks, you all. Take care. Thank you. Hey, Robin. Can we