Watch Live: Loudoun County School Board Meeting (Aug. 11, 2021)

001hear you. And I do not see Ms. King. Has Ms. King phoned in? What about Ms. Bartz? I'm here. All right. Can we get a status check on Ms. King? I have not heard from her. I don't know who is going to do that. Thank you. We're going to go ahead and get started. We left off last night after our public comment was completed. And so we'll go to item seven, the superintendent's report, Dr. Zigler. Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me just get to a point where I can present and share my screen. Thank you. It's a privilege to bring back the first report of the school year and share some of the good things that are happening around Loudoun County Public Schools. We'd like to offer our congratulations to John Tuck who was named

002new principal of Sully Elementary School on July 12th. He attended Bridgewater College for his bachelor's degree, Shenandoah for his master's in liberal studies. He served most recently as assistant principal at Rolling Ridge Elementary. Prior to that, He came to LCPS in 2010 from Charlotte County Public Schools and Cumberland County Public Schools where he taught third through fourth grades. Mr. Tuck was Loudoun County's 2016 Teacher of the Year and we welcome you to this new role and offer you our congratulations, Mr. Tuck. school board staff attorney, I'm pleased to announce that Robert Falcone will join LCPS as our new staff attorney. Mr. Falcone received his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2011 and his BA in political science from Virginia Tech, graduating Summa Laude. He most recently has served as counsel

003to Fairfax County Public Schools as a staff attorney. He has worked as an assistant county attorney in Fairfax and as an associate at the law firm of Blankenship and Keith. Mr. Falcone, welcome to LCPS. Um, in its eighth year, the program recognizes Loudoun city leaders. The selection committee the honorees received more than 200 class. The honorees will be recognized rations Farm in Bluemont on August 20th in the Times-Mirror the following day. Shaffer has been named to currently serves as a supervisor of community pretty humbled to be included. with the Loudoun Education Foundation. Costa Community Foundation for Loudoun. nominated grant for the honor. formerly of LEF, Clark Bowers, director was Susan Miller of No nomination. Congratulations, Mr. Member safety and security team Virginia on July 29th to further We'd like to offer a special thanks to

004our safety and providing security for This summer and Aldie began major renovations to 40% while improving the learning schools will be the first in the county to undergo a The work began at both locations on be completed in time for the start of the school year on August 26th. Aldie principal Tracy Steffen says, "We are excited and proud to be one of the first schools in Loudoun County and Northern Virginia to have a geothermal technology. Each site will receive new geothermal heat pump system installed throughout the school. In addition to the new heating and cooling system, Aldie and Banneker received a series of building efficiency upgrades such as LED lighting, upgraded electrics, electric services, and weatherization. The hope is that these upgrades enhance and improve the school buildings and learning atmosphere for the students." Robert

005Carter, principal of Banneker Elementary, said, "I remember teaching my seventh grade science class about responsible energy consumption 15 years ago." He goes on to say that geothermal energy was state-of-the-art, but an expensive pipe dream back then. Banneker will be 74 years old in March of this school year. This type of pledge toward long-term responsible energy consumption demonstrates the county's commitment to securing Banneker's future. Our community is so appreciative of the Loudoun of Loudoun County's investment in our building and in our students. Loudoun County Public Schools has spent 21 million this summer to upgrade HVAC systems and perform other energy efficient efficient enhancements at Aldie, Banneker, Catoctin Elementary, Middleburg Community Charter School, Broad Run High School, and Loudoun Valley High School. To help create a warm and warm welcome for students this fall, a group of

006students from Dominion High School and Seneca Ridge Middle School, alongside with Dr. Brewer and Mr. Cotton, rode over 21 miles throughout their community. These students and schools joined forces to get together for their #communitybiketour21. Congratulations to this team for connecting with students and families in their community in a unique way. Noel Coo, a junior at the Academies of Loudoun and Riverside High School, participated in the Summer Science Program, joining 35 other top science students from around the world online for academic challenge, collaboration, and personal growth. During five intense weeks this summer, she used wet lab techniques and modeling software to study enzyme from a fungal pathogen and to design small molecular inhibitors to protect crops from that fungus. Coo and her colleagues spent more than 300 hours collecting and analyzing data in teams of three,

007overseen by experienced researchers. They also had the opportunity to engage with prominent guest speakers, including two Nobel laureates, physicist Eric Cornell and oncologist James Allison. The SSP is operated by an independent nonprofit and includes academic affiliates like Caltech, MIT, and Harvey Mudd College. Most attendees go on to in earn advanced degrees and leadership roles in their chosen careers. Well done, Noel. Hearty congratulations to the Broad Run High School for your state championship in class four baseball. This win was extra meaningful to head coach Tommy Meyer, who is a Broad Run High School alum and player. And if that's not enough excitement, Broad Run High School assistant coach Pat Cassidy won the state championship back in 1991, 30 30 years ago. Congratulations to the Broad Run High School baseball team. We had seven student athletes and

008a coach from Loudoun County Public Schools who have earned recognition from USA Lacrosse following the '21 varsity season. Carter Ash from Riverside, Ryan Carlin from Dominion, and John Schroeder from Riverside each earned All American honors awarded to student athletes who exhibit superior skills and techniques while possessing exceptional game sense and knowledge. Sean Flavin from Loudoun County received the Bob Scott Award, which is presented to a player who goes goes above and beyond in the service to his team, his school, and the community. Nick Warak is the coach of the year after guiding Riverside to the Virginia Class 5 boys lacrosse lacrosse championship in 2021. Dominion claimed the '21 Class 4 state championship. Alex Ballenger from Loudoun County, Ryan Cain from Dominion, and Brian Zimmerman from Freedom each got garnered All American honors based on exemplary

009lacrosse lacrosse skills, good sportsmanship, and high standards of academic achievement. USA Lacrosse oversees the selection of the awards, which are based on voting by coaches with each geographical area. When we began sharing our students' achievement with the boards last spring, we could have not not have guessed that our state championships this year would exceed double digits and range from all of our sports to debate and e-sports. We congratulate Independence High School for their championships in state and state championships in baseball, class three, state champions in competition cheerleading, and state champions in debate. River Riverside High School, which competes in class five, has state championships in competition cheerleading, golf, lacrosse, and uh boys track, I believe. Stone Bridge High School, which also competes in class five, uh basketball and uh boys basketball, football, and football. And

010Loudoun Valley High School had uh class four state cross country, uh for the girls, state track and field for the boys, and track and field for the girls. We also have Dominion High School, state lacrosse, class four for the boys, and state lacrosse class four for the girls. And the girls' soccer team was the class four state champions. Freedom High School was state championship in gymnastics for the class five. John Champe High School for Rocket League, which is an e-sport. Loudoun County High School for state volleyball in class four. And Park View High School e-sports League of Legends champions. Finally, I want to thank all of our student school board representatives for their um representation through each meeting throughout the school year. Two students each month serve in this role, offering their unique perspectives and

011insights. Representatives from all of our high schools were welcomed to the role in an orientation held earlier this month. And with that, I'd like to give a special welcome to our August school board representatives, Karis Morris and Jamie Cain, um are visiting us from their respective schools. Karis Morris is a senior at Potomac Falls High School. She is the SCA president and was SCA's creative director, where she was able to brainstorm and create ideas to improve Potomac Falls. Karis is secretary of the National Honor Society, and a member of the Science National Honor Society. She's a leader of Potomac Falls Green Team, connecting local environmental organizations. She's a member of the Panthers varsity volleyball team, and also a membership of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Student Advisory Planning Team, UNICEF, and Best Buddies. Outside

012of school, Karis coaches volleyball, volunteers for Sunday school activities, and baby sits. Jamie Cain is a senior at Heritage High School. She has been a member of the Student Council Association for the past 2 years, and is now excited to be its president. Jamie is a member of the National Honor Society, the English National Honor Society, the Science National Honor Society, and she has participated in all district and all county chorus, and plays on the Pride's junior vice varsity soccer team. Jamie is also part of the Key Club, and the We Are We Are All Human Club. Welcome to our school board representatives. Madam Chair, that completes my report for this month. Thank you, Dr. Ziegler. As the Sterling representative, I would like to also extend um I normally I welcome new principals to the

013park, but as you indicated, Mr. Tuck has been in the park since he came to LCPS, first as a teacher and assistant principal at Rolling Ridge, and now the principal of Sully. And I know that the collaborative cluster of um administrators in the Park View cluster um have already welcomed him, and he is oriented, and already off to a great start, and I look forward to his leadership at Sully. So, welcome welcome to your leadership position, Mr. Tuck. And now, Ms. Reese, I believe you have a comment. Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to take a moment to welcome Mr. Falcone as our new division counsel. I had the opportunity to sit in on the panel interview for him and I can extend a warm welcome and say that we're very excited to be able

014to have you on board with us and help us figure out um how to effectuate all of the different and wonderful new ideas that we have for making LCPS a better place for our staff and our students. Thank you. Board members, we'll now move to item eight, our student school board representatives comments. We'll begin this evening with Caris Morris from Potomac Falls. Caris. Good evening. Potomac Falls has been working on rebranding and renovating throughout the building. Both the main gym and auxiliary gym have had their flooring changed over the It's also been repainted and possesses a new design in the center of the gym court. The school is changing each panther and Potomac Falls logo on campus to be identical to one another in order to better establish an ultimate emblem that is able to

015best represent us as a whole. This change is significant because in the past there were numerous variants of the panther that stood for our school, but as we enter into this coming school year, we are able to unite and recognize the individual logo that is planted around the building. Furthermore, we are continuing with panther with panther traditions in order to create a spirited, inclusive, and friendly environment for the upcoming freshman and sophomore classes. As most of the students were not able to attend hybrid or in-person learning last year, it is important for the staff and SCA to make sure that the school is creating a safe environment where the students feel comfortable and ready to learn and grow more each day. In order to do so, Potomac Falls Link Crew will lead our freshman orientation

016where the incoming class of 2025 will be able to familiarize themselves with the school staff, their fellow classmates, and upperclassmen who are willing to help with any needs or questions. Our SCA and various staff members are also holding an event titled the Sophomore Stroll, where the class of 2024, which contains a majority of students who have not ever entered the school, are able to come in to also learn to navigate the building, be introduced to their teachers, and ask any questions they may have. We will also continue with our traditions of the tailgates before home football games, in which clubs and various school organizations are able to have booths with fun games, activities, and other events in front of the school before the game. The tailgate assists in bringing the community together to ensure that

017we are all connected and that everyone feels a part of something greater. We hope to host many more events throughout the school year in order to help keep school spirit high. Potomac Falls is also continuing into our third year of teaching the AP Capstone program. This is a two-year program that very few Loudoun County schools currently have available in their course selections. The course is broken up into two years, as previously stated, AP Seminar the first year class, and AP Research the second and final class. Having personally completed both years of the AP Capstone course, I can say with experience that this program is an amazing way to exper- to prepare for the rigorous and independence required for college-level learning. These classes allow students to explore how to better their writing, research, and critical thinking

018skills. Students who enroll in this program are able to write numerous papers using various writing strategies throughout the AP Seminar year, along with an oral presentation project. Through their AP Research, the students are able to construct a single focused research paper, an oral presentation, throughout the year. Hopefully, in the nearby future, the opportunity for students to enroll in the AP Capstone program and other accelerated courses will expand all across Loudoun County schools. Thank you. Thank you very much. We're happy to have you here and participate in our meeting as you wish. We'll now go to Jamie Cain from Heritage High School. Thank you and good evening. Like many schools, Heritage has worked has worked to find ways to keep our activities going through the past year, even through the pandemic. Athletes were able to play,

019and some of our teams reached the state level, including field hockey, which made it to the state tournament for the fourth year in a row. Heritage theater produced two great virtual shows. Our choirs and bands performed, and SCA provided lots of school spirit activities. Heritage has been working on creating the best atmosphere possible for the return of our students this upcoming year. And one major upgrade is the major renovation of our library and main office. I'm so excited to go back and see these changes. I'm so excited to be able to build authentic relationships with my teachers again, as well as my peers. I can't wait for our football games and finally be able to cheer in the stands instead of commenting great job at the end of a live stream. I'm excited for the

020little things, like walking in class with my friends, waving to my favorite teachers in the halls, and eating lunch with more than just my dogs. I can't wait to see what our school's new normal looks like, and I'm truly looking forward to going back to school this year. And finally, I'm excited to hear the discussions that will go on tonight as each topic, in my opinion, are extremely relevant and important as we enter this year's school year. Thank you. Thank you both very much for being here this evening. Again, we look forward to your comments and participation on any of our items. Board members will now move to number nine, our action items. We'll start with the 901 from student services and attendance awareness month and proclamation. I'm going to ask Ms. Reaser to make

021the motion and read the proclamation. I move that the Loudoun County School Board adopts the proclamation recognizing September 2021 as attendance awareness month as follows. Whereas good attendance is essential to student achievement and graduation, and we are committed to dedicating our resources and attention to reducing chronic absenteeism rates, with a focus starting as early as pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. Whereas chronic absence, missing 10% or more of school for any reason, including excused and unexcused absences, or just two or three days a month, is a proven predictor of academic trouble and dropout rates. Whereas compulsory attendance requirements are set forth in Code of Virginia 22.1-254, and we are committed to proactively engaging students, providing support, and tracking attendance during the 2021-2022 school year. Whereas improving attendance and reducing chronic absence takes commitment, collaboration, and tailored approaches to

022particular challenges and strengths in each community. Whereas chronic absence predicts lower third-grade reading proficiency, course failure, and eventual dropout. It weakens our communities and our local economy. Whereas attendance gaps among groups of students often turn into opportunity gaps that undermine student success. Chronic absence particularly exacerbates the differences in achievement that separate students in low-income communities from their peers. Since students from low-income communities are both more likely to be chronically absent and more likely to be affected academically by missing school. Whereas absenteeism also undermines efforts to improve struggling schools, since it's hard to measure improvement if students are not present in class or during virtual learning to benefit from instruction. Whereas schools and community partners can reach out more frequently to absent students to determine what barriers they face to attending school and what would help

023them attend more regularly. Whereas health care providers can share the importance of school attendance with families and can offer proactive preventative care to reduce absences. Whereas chronic absence can be significantly reduced when schools, families, and communities work together to monitor and promote good attendance and address hurdles that keep children from accessing learning. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board proclaim our school division will stand with the nation and recognizing September as attendance awareness month. We hereby commit to reducing chronic absenteeism to give all children an equitable opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive academically, emotionally, and socially. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Mr. Mehedvi. Is there any discussion? Ms. Cain, we'll start with you. Thank you. I think it's amazing that Loudoun County could produce an attendance rate as high

024as 97.35% even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. Attending school is obviously the first key step to a successful education, and I believe that Loudoun County did an excellent job at accommodating and adjusting to such different times this past year. I believe that having September recognized as as attendance awareness month will help further promote the idea that attendance and participation are key components to a successful education, as well as motivate students to continue to attend school. Any other discussion? All right. Seeing none, all in favor of the motion to adopt the attendance awareness month proclamation, please raise your hand and say I. I. I. And then, Ms. Corbet, I'm going to ask you to record your vote. Yes. And Ms. Barts? Yes. That motion will carry eight zero with Ms. King absent for the

025vote. Board members, we'll now move to 9.02 from Student Services, Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Ms. Reeser, would you please make the motion and read the proclamation? I move that the Loudoun County School Board adopts the proclamation recognizing September 2021 as Suicide Awareness Prevention Awareness Month as follows. Whereas youth suicide is a major public health concern. Whereas across the county and in Virginia, suicide was the second leading cause of death among adolescents between the ages of 10 and 18. Whereas in Loudoun County, our community has been impacted by teen suicide. Whereas youth suicide warning signs include talking about or making plans for suicide, expressing hopelessness about the future, displaying severe overwhelming emotional pain or distress, showing worrisome behavioral cues or marked changes in behavior that include significant withdrawal from or changing in social connections and situations.

026Changes in sleep, increased or decreased. Anger or hostility that seems out of character or out of context. Or recent increased agitation or irritability. Whereas many people who have died by suicide never received effective behavioral health services for various reasons, including the difficulty of accessing services by health care providers trained in best practices to reduce suicide risk. The stigma of using behavioral health treatment and the stigma associated with losing a loved one to suicide. Whereas LCPS supports and implements comprehensive suicide prevention and partners with others in our community to raise awareness, provide education and resources, and connect individuals to effective treatment. Whereas the superintendent has directed staff to create a task force to support the mental health and wellness of LCPS students with the goals that include providing mental health resources and directing services to students

027experiencing trauma, anxiety, and loss as a result of COVID-19. To support mental health needs to successfully navigate the transition from distance to in-person learning and to steer the creation of a comprehensive plan to expand school-based behavioral health programs and services to facilitate social emotional development and removing barriers to learning. Whereas the Loudoun County Public Schools unceasingly addresses youth suicide prevention through services provided by the unified mental health teams in each elementary, middle, and high school to support our youth and refer students who need behavioral health treatment. The implementation of evidence-based suicide prevention programs such as the SOS Signs of Suicide Prevention Program, so students and staff learn the signs of depression and suicide and respond in ways to keep students safe. Efforts to develop resiliency, protective factors, and other social emotional competencies in our youth

028through upstream prevention programs such as Sources of Strength, positive experiences, and educational relationships, and social emotional learning. Ongoing professional learning for teachers to identify and effectively respond to at-risk students. Training for school mental health professionals to conduct evidence-based suicide screenings and make appropriate community-based referrals. Partnerships with professional organizations, community agencies, and universities such as A Place To Be, the Ryan Bartel Foundation, Prevention Alliance of Loudoun, Suicide Prevention Alliance of Northern Virginia, Loudoun County Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Developmental Services, and George Mason University. And strategies to engage parents as partners in effective prevention through the sharing of resources and providing education through the Mental Health and Wellness Parent Seminar Series. Whereas we believe that one suicide is one too many and that many of these deaths are preventable. Now therefore be it resolved

029that the Loudoun County School Board designate September 2021 as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in Loudoun County and promote greater awareness and effective suicide prevention strategies to address this serious public health problem. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Mr. Serotkin. Is there any discussion? Ms. Kane. Recognizing September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in our schools, I believe it'll be very beneficial to the student body. There unfortunately will always be people that suffer in silence and having an entire month dedicated to suicide awareness, providing mental health outlets, and most importantly prevention will be huge for so many young students. I believe it will make them feel more comforted and cared about in their school, and give them that recognition and confirmation that their struggles do not go unnoticed and that they are not alone. Thank you.

030Is there any further discussion? Ms. Morse. Uh I agree with Jamie. I believe that dedicating a month to such a prominent issue is very important. It will definitely make a difference to help aid the students, especially those who are not able to get access for um issues at home to have an outlet and create a more safe environment, and not just where they don't feel stuck. Thank you both very much. Board members, is there any other discussion? Right. All those in favor of the proclamation of suicide prevention awareness month, please raise your hand and say I. I. Thank you, Ms. Corbo. Ms. Barts? Yeah. Is that your vote? Yeah. Okay, Ms. Corbo, I have your yes. Ms. Barts, can I hear your vote, please? Yeah. Thank you. That motion will carry 8-0 with King absent

031for the vote. We'll now move to item 903 from support services, abbreviated secondary school attendance zone change process. Mr. Serapkin, would you like to make the motion? Sure. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the Loudoun County School Board immediately assigns LCPS planning zone DSO8, which includes the Hartland and Lenah Circle East communities, to the Mercer Middle School John Champe High School attendance zone. The attendance zone changes will take effect in fall 2021 with the start of the 2021-2022 academic year. Mr. Serotkin, can you clarify that unless I misheard you, I that is not what is in the motion in board docs includes DSO 8.4 is It is not what's in board docs, it's an alternative motion. It's an alternative motion. Thank you. Is it listed in board docs at all? It is not. All

032right. Is there a second? Second. Was that Ms. Corbo? Yes. All right. So, Mr. Serotkin, would you like to speak to your motion? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. So, as I mentioned during our June 22nd meeting, um I felt I could support the staff's staff recommendation or the planning services recommendation to rezone DSO 8 for the Champe Mercer cluster, but given that DSO 8.4 is so proximate to the Brambleton and and Independence cluster that it's it's literally adjacent to it, I felt it was um would not be advised to move that given that it will almost certainly move back to the Brambleton cluster when we consider the MS 14 rezoning. So, I was planning on making this as a substitute motion, but since you called on me to make the motion, I just made it

033as the the prime motion. Would you be sure to provide the clerk and PIO the actual language you so that I don't get it wrong when they ask me. Thank you. Is there any further discussion on the motion? Mr. Morse. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, Mr. Serotkin, looking at the numbers that were on the uh staff recommended plan, the one that was uh put It currently shows the enrollment scored at 109% in 20 Uh Independence High School at 108%. What is the impact of your I I will def They can answer that question rather than I I I don't want to speak charts on what we discussed, but it's probably best to Thank you, Madam Chair. that first chart in the item, do we in that um in each of those app Wood North and

034DSO8. So, the construction is is a way the numbers reflect what is there. times, we do think it'll be a couple of years before see that it'll make a difference of 70 middle school students to those total numbers. So, 100 of about uh 2,000 Yes. Yes, sir, but I will point out that as this build-out happens the town or the county and then gets the houses homes get built, but at that point, too, we will be nearing the opening of the other schools where the uh attendance zone processes that Mr. Surratt referred to will be will be taking place. So, um I think that the board will have a chance to to realign those if it's necessary. Okay. Uh I would have preferred to see the numbers uh for Mr. Sorokin's plan, but because of

035this uh uh the impact on on Mercer and John Champ appear to be manageable, uh I will I will support the motion. Thank you. Mr. Lis, I just want to get clarity for everyone that staff does not have a see an issue with us um as Mr. Sorokin has moved. That's correct. Thank you. Thank you. Is there any further discussion? Hello, Ms. King. Thank you for We're happy to see you. Did you have um Did you want to speak to this item? No, thank you. Just letting me know you're here. I appreciate it. I apologize for being late. I was on a board We're happy to have you here. Thank you. All right. Is there any further discussion on the motion? Ms. Bartz, I don't want to leave you out. I'm good. Thank you. All

036right, board members, all in favor of the motion that I can't quite repeat cuz I don't have it in front of me that Mr. Sorokin just made um regarding the abbreviated secondary school attendance zone change process, please raise your hand and say I. I. Ms. King, can you I. And Ms. Bartz. I. Thank you. That will carry 9-0. Uh board members, we'll now move to item 904 from People Services Committee, the adoption of policy 8040, rights of transgender and gender expansive students. Ms. King, you're just in time to make the motion as the chair of that committee if you would like to. Please read it directly out of board docs. I'm still getting up. So, Mr. Morse, would you read it, please? I will not read it because I will not be supporting the motion.

037Actually, I'm Mr. Serotkin, I'd be happy to read this one if you don't mind. I move that the Loudoun County School Board approve and adopt policy 8040, rights of transgender and gender expansive students. Second. With several seconds, but I will go with Mr. Serotkin cuz he was the loudest. Let's All right, I made the motion, so I will speak to it first. And I am going to support this policy. I think it is long overdue, and I'm great very grateful and do want to point out that we have a Senator Jennifer Boysko, who was the sponsor of this bill, and we have Julie Briskman, who is a Board of Supervisors and in Loudoun County representing Algonkian district here as well, here to support this policy. And I'm actually going to make a motion to amend.

038Board members, under D, professional development and training, I would like to strike school mental health professionals and insert LCPS staff. So, the sentence would read, "All LCPS staff shall complete training on topics relating to LGBTQ+ students, including procedures for preventing and responding to bullying, harassment, and discrimination based on gender identity and expression. Is there a second? Second. It's always nice to get a bunch of seconds, but I'll go with Ms. Reaser. She was first this time. I would just like to quickly speak to this motion. Um while I appreciate the fact that um having our mental health professionals in trained on um supporting our transgender students, I also feel that it by only citing those in the policy, that it is designating trans being a transgender person as a mental health issue, and therefore um

039language to bring forward. I also believe and feel that many people have demonstrated a lack of understanding regarding our trans student, not just community members, but all many of our community and I want to ensure that um all of our transgender students will be respected and affirmed when interacting with any of our staff in Loudoun County Public Schools. So, I ask the board to support this amendment. Is there any further discussion on the amendment? Ms. Morris. Uh question for staff. Do we have specialized training for special needs children for every employee as well? What other what Mr. Morris, you're out of order. I've called on Ms. Morris to speak next. Oh, I see where we went astray, but I was looking at Ms. Sorry. Ms. Morris. Thank you. Um I believe that it's very important

040for schools to be a safe to be a place where students feel safe and accepted, and the stress of anxiety the stress and anxiety of where an individual should use the restroom or change for PE class should not need to exist on top of the already existing worries that each student undergoes. Respecting the identity and having gender neutral facilities available is the least we can do in order to make each student feel safe and accepted. Mr. Morris. Thank you. For staff, I was curious as to what other training we hold. Do we hold training for all employees as well for other topics and what are those topics? Uh specific to the needs of the of children such as special needs, gifted, etc. Dr. Jones, um any one that wants to answer Dr. Jones, you look

041like you were moving towards your mic, so we'll start with you. Sure, thank you, chair. Uh we have a number of trainings that are available for all staff, um annual trainings each year on a number of topics. As far as uh the professional development that is preparing we are preparing to ensure the rights of students uh have a safe learning environment as it relates to transgender rights. We are using materials from the Department of Education as well as a current um materials through uh a vendor that we're using through Cognita, which is the mental health awareness and supports. Okay, so Madam Chair, uh if I could, uh I did not hear that we are providing training to all employees. What I heard is that in other areas it is optional. We are providing materials that

042they can review. Is that correct? I believe the question was what professional learning do we provide for staff, and annually uh there is professional learning that is across a number of areas for all LCPS employees. As I understand uh what's the motion for this particular policy is that it will be available for all staff and staff will be able to meet that expectation. So, let me rephrase and and state that what you're telling me now is that for instance, special needs training is provided to all employees as a requirement similar to what we would be doing here for professional development training under paragraph D. Is that correct? Madam Chair. I Alice I do have an example. Yes, there are specific trainings that are required of all staff members. For example, um sexual harassment and discrimination

043training and equity training for all staff. Go to Ms. Cain next and then Ms. Reeser. Thank you. When I saw on today's agenda You have two Kings. Oh. All right. Ms. King, I said Ms. Cain and I will try to speak more clearly and use first names. So, I'll go to you after Ms. Reeser. Okay, Ms. King? Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. Cain. Thank you. When I saw on today's agenda that the rights of our transgender and gender expansive students were being discussed, I was thrilled. I was thrilled because of how relevant and important it is to focus on the lives and the treatment of our transgender and gender expansive students. All students deserve in a school where they feel welcome, they feel safe and they feel cared for. Teaching and training staff about the

044procedures that will help to prevent and respond to bullying based on gender gender identity and expression is a great and an important step forward. It's important for all students to know that our county acknowledges their struggles and works their hardest to prevent them. Ms. Reeser. Well, it's very telling to me that we have a student school board member who spoke to training before even knowing that there would be an amendment. And I just want to speak to the amendment alone at this point. Um we have heard a lot from our staff and some staff who are struggling with these policy changes and I think that training is an opportunity um for learning and understanding and conversation and so we are supporting the staff um that may not understand the need for this policy and therefore

045I'll be supporting the motion because I see it as a way of supporting our staff. Ms. King. Well, Ms. Risher said pretty much what I was going to say. I believe that um that the training is needed so that they understand what this policy is trying to do. And uh if they do by accident call somebody by an opposite pronoun, it's a mistake. It's not intentional. We're looking at intentional and that's not nice. So, I'll support the motion. Is there any further discussion on the amendment? Mr. Mehedvi. Thank you, Madam Chair. So So Dr. Ellis and Dr. Jones, is that So would this speech I guess this is one of the questions I asked um in in the committee meeting because I I too was concerned that the training was just focused on mental health

046and sort of not being available to to all staff um to how to address it. So is this going to be included as part of equity training, Dr. Ellis, or is that going to be a separate training that staff has to take? This would be separate training. So do again I I go back to wouldn't this be part of a comprehensive training that we educ- I'm sure that we should be already educating our staff in dealing with all students from different cultures including the LGBTQ? Don't we already have policies or don't we already have training that addresses these students uh make sure that they are uh there's an understanding about these students already in place today? Yes and I don't want to speak for Dr. Jones but I will say that there is equity training

047already planned and in place and I believe Dr. Jones and her team also have training regarding this policy planned and in place. In the future those those things could be combined um but right now they would be two distinct examples of something that would be required of all staff members. So so can I ask like what why would we have two different trainings to address the same thing? Shouldn't this be part of the comprehensive aware- education of our staff in general? Dr. Jones, thank you. Yes, the training that staff is currently um working to develop would be very specific to this policy 8040 so that uh our staff understands the implementation of the policy and associated regulation and also uh how to create welcoming and affirming environments for um our students who are transgender and

048gender expansive. Those trainings as I mentioned a moment ago are supported by the Virginia Department of Education. There's a website with uh associated partnerships that provide information on how to address gender pronouns and other concerns related uh to this topic. Thank you. Is Is there any other on the amendment? Ms. Corbo. Um, thank you, Madam Chair. I, um, do believe that when we, um, are are introducing a new policy to our staff, um, it is critical that we have training that goes along with it, um, hand in hand. Um, I was, um, assuming that we would have that, um, as part of our regulations, but putting it in the policy, I think it's even better. So, I think it's, um, critical that staff knows how to, um, understands the reasoning behind it, but also understands,

049um, how to support all of their students, and also to enforce this policy, um, to the best of their ability. I know that staff has, um, a lot of staff members have questions about, um, specifically about how they are to enforce this, and, um, and support it as well. So, um, so I will be supporting, um, the amendment. Thank you. And Ms. Bart, because I can't see you, I don't know if your hand is up. Did you have any comments for the amendment? I know, thank you. I will be supporting. Thank you. Any further comments? Seeing none, all in favor of the amendment to strike school mental health professionals and insert LCPS staff, please raise your hand and say I. I. So, I believe Ms. Corbo, you were an I. Ms. King, can you state

050your vote? I. Thank you. And then Ms. Bart, I. And those opposed? Mr. Mars, did you vote? I didn't Are you abstaining? Or I voted I. You voted I. Thank you. So, that will carry 8-1 with Mr. Beatty opposed. All right. Are there any further amendments to the policy or discussion? Mr. Sorokin. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move to add to amend by add the following by I move to amend by adding the following language at the end of section C access to facilities. LCPS shall modernize school restrooms and locker rooms to improve student privacy and promote the creation of single user restrooms that are available to all students in a ratio appropriate for the enrollment and size of the school. LCPS shall form an advisory group to make recommendations on improvements to ensure privacy,

051modesty, and safety for all students in these spaces. New schools shall be designed and constructed in a manner consistent with this policy. Second. Second, I'm going to go with Mr. Mahadevia on that one. I heard him first. Mr. Sorokin, would you like to speak to your motion? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. So, this is a a a slightly altered version of a recommendation that was brought to the board by the Community Levy Association and I wanted to recognize the work of that group in bringing stakeholders together over the last few months and putting together a series of recommendations that were unanimously unanimously supported by the the diverse I think this is common sense. I we've talked before about especially at some of our older schools and I think it really just codifies in policies a

052lot of the work that we're already doing and and we could see that was progressing from Mr. Lewis's presentation from our June 22nd meeting. So, I I will thank the Community Levy Association for the work and I'm I'm happy to bring this forward as a an improvement to the policy. Is there any discussion? Mr. Morse. Yes, I have an amendment to the amendment. I would propose that we add a time frame into the amendment to make it within the next 5 years. Can you be specific with the placement of the language? front of me because my computer's rebooting. So, Would you like to see it online? If you'd like to go ahead and read the last sentence. It says new school shall be designed and constructed in a manner consistent with this policy. All school

053construction projects will be completed within 5 year. So, you're saying renovations will be completed within 5 Correct. So, make sure we capture that. All school renovation will be completed within 5 years. Second. Seconded by Ms. Racer. Here to speak to your amendment? Yeah, just briefly. Uh should the should the policy pass, I think it's important that stakeholders all stakeholders that we're able to provide uh the levels of privacy that that the students can expect uh throughout their years so that they can focus on education. Thank you. Are there Is there any further discussion on adding the language that it will be completed in in 5 years? We'll go Racer then Sirotin and then King. Um I I support Mr. Morris's amendment because this is something uh internally um I I think I voiced it it

054would have been nice to have done it while the kids were in distance learning and to have just taken care of it over the last year um since we weren't able to uh to accomplish that, I think it's important that there is a firm timeline so that the community and the students can know exactly what to expect and when to expect it by. Mr. Sirotin. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, I I I support the concept of the motion. I just want to make sure that it staff believes it's a realistic timeline. I'm just imagine I'm just recalling how long our school vestibule project has taken and and how long it's taken to roll that out across all the 95 plus schools that we have. So, I just wanted to check with Mr. Lewis to to

055see whether you felt that was an accomplishable time frame. Mr. Lewis. Thank you, Madam Chair. I do have a concern that um as Mr. Schrocken included his language to provide a advisory group to decide what needs to be done. That could equate to quite a list of projects that could be subject to the capital improvements program, which then is subject to another approval by the school board and then ultimately by the Board of Supervisors. So, I do have a concern about putting a time frame on it for that reason. Mr. Morse. I and I appreciate that, Mr. Lewis, and and I do understand more than the actual projects themselves. And given that, what I'd recommend we do is we could proceed with this and if you ran into such a situation, you would simply come

056back to the board and say, "This is what I need. This is a time adjustment that I would propose." and let the board assess that at that point. Thank you. We'll now go to Ms. King and then Ms. Reeser. Well, then my question is is that acceptable? Mr. Mr. Lewis. So, certainly that's up up to the board. Um from from our perspective, um you know, it would be easier not to have it in policy to have to change, but we can certainly come back to the board and and work on the policy language. And I think we'll have that discussion as we go through the CIP work sessions this fall and then and maybe even in the next year depending on how long it takes but we will have that recommendation from the principal advisory

057group uh fairly soon I would think. Um we we do recommend and what we're phase one of the work that we're doing right now. I think Dr. Ziegler's going to speak to that a little bit about where we are with this fall but we also want to make sure that we take time for the principals to experience in the in their schools how the the first phase goes before we might be able to make a recommendation for the long-term plan. So it it may be a while before we'll have a a concrete plan to recommend to the board. Thank you. I mean there's a lot involved and my feeling is it should not be in the policy to put a time on it. I believe that that is something that we can be updated on

058part of operations. It's not part of policy. I believe the amendment that Mr. Rock made is fine but I don't believe there should be a time limit so I won't be supporting the amendment to the amendment. Ms. Reeser is next and then Mr. Mahadevi. Um so I I I could think this might be a question for you Mr. Lewis. Is there um is there anything that prevents us from giving a timeline to the advisory group by which they have to make decisions or to which they have to adhere? Uh certainly not. I mean that's you can provide them guidance may may help that group. I think they've been very very very helpful. We've had a number of meetings so far and and the um the experiences they have have been very helpful for us to

059provide the first phase of the plan so I think uh that would be something we could certainly give to them and and help that conversation along. So I'm thinking that this will be an advisory group that is going to be formed under the amendment from Mr. Serotkin. I Since it says shall be formed, um, so I'm not sure if we're talking about the same group of people, but I would just propose that if we have a 5-year timeline that the advisory group be just be given a timeline by which they have to make decisions and they are making decisions to advise, not to implement. So, ultimately, the timeline remains the in in the custody of the school division. Is that correct? Yes, and it would be up to the board, obviously, the the makeup of

060the of the advisory group. We have a group in place already that's been very helpful, but certainly that that membership could change over time, but I I do believe we've satisfied the the the motion in in terms of having that advisory group already. I see what you mean. Thank you. Mr. Menhaden, you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I think put putting a time frame, I I think it to start with, I think it would be really helpful. We are already behind, um, I mean, again, by many regards. I'll come back to speaking on my thoughts about the policy and which I plan to support tonight. But, overall, I think we do need to have a plan and we owe it to our Loudoun County residents to be ahead of it, not always catching up on

061things. So, I'll be supporting the I'll be supporting Mr. Morse's motion to make sure that at least we start over with a timeline and then we have a plan of actions when we when we plan to complete this. Thank you. Any further discussion on Mr. Morse's amendment? Ms. Corbo. Thank you, Madam Chair. I, uh, will be supporting, um, this amendment. Um, I think single-use restrooms are long overdue, um, for all of our students to access. Um, so I appreciate, um, putting a timeline to this to make sure that, um, that we do have, um, an expectation to get this done as soon as we possibly can. Thank you. Any further discussion? Okay, seeing none. All in favor of the amendment made by Mr. Morse to add in the language. Could you just repeat it, Mr.

062Morse? Yes, it was to complete all renovation projects within 5 years. Thank you. Please raise your hand and say I. I. Ms. King? Oh, you weren't an I, but Ms. Bartz? I. All right. All opposed? Opposed. Thank you, Ms. King. So, the motion will carry 8-1 with King opposed. We'll go back to Mr. Sorokin's motion and his amendment. Is there any further discussion? Mr. Beatty. Thank you, chair. Mr. Lewis, who is makes up this advisory committee as it is uh today? So, I do not have the list of folks in with me right now, but we have the level directors at each of the middle school, elementary school, and high school, as well as a a number of principals, and I think there were as many as 10 or 12 principals on that list and

063part of the group. Thank you. Any further discussion? Seeing none, board members, all in favor of Mr. Sorokin's motion as amended by Mr. Morse's motion, please raise your hand and say I. All those in favor? I. Ms. Bartz? I. That motion will carry 9-0. Thank you, board members. Is there any further discussion on the policy as amended. Mr. Beatty. Thank you, Chair. Uh so the motion that Mr. Serotkin provided came from the community levy association. I had the opportunity to be a part of one of those groups, and I think it was a wonderful opportunity to try and build trust in the community. I think uh given that we passed one of those amendments, I think it's possible that more uh opportunities to come for people to come together, find trust, and uh may perhaps

064find more uh common ground on this. And given the fact that other school districts have already decided not to pass a transgender policy this time, you know, we wouldn't be alone in not implementing something immediately. And I remember from the pupil services committee, we had this discussion that we thought that it was very important that we pass this immediately because we have legal obligations, but you know, given what we know all throughout Virginia, I don't think we're under that sort of timeline that we thought maybe we had in June. And so that I'd like to make a motion that we move this back to the pupil services committee to give it more time to for people to come with their concerns so that we can find something that's beneficial for everyone in Loudoun County. Second.

065Mr. Beatty, can you clarify that's a motion to refer back to pupil services? Yes, that's correct. And Mr. Morse has seconded it. Did you care to speak further to your motion? Uh no, thank you, Chair. Any further discussion, Mr. Morse? Yes, uh after reviewing the tapes from the last meeting, what I discovered was two of the committee members had questions that had gone unanswered, and that the committee actually never voted on this, never provided uh their approval to to forward this issue to the full board, that it was moved forward based on a on the time criticality. And now that we know the time criticality is no longer a factor, it would make sense for the committee members to be able to receive the information that they needed originally from other stakeholders such as the

066LEA uh before it comes to the full board for for further discussion. And I would also like to point out that while many stakeholders were involved in the equity committee and the uh uh other committees, there was uh a missing voice from the community. We did not have community representation in all those discussions. We heard a lot a lot of voices yesterday that uh were not expressed in the committee, did not have that voice. So, I would encourage others to should we be able to send it back to committee that everyone who has a stake in this decision should be able to provide some feedback. I too appreciate the effort that the community levy association has made. I think that's a model for how the school board should be addressing this concept. We have two

067sides that can come together with mutual mutually beneficial decision uh such as the motion that Mr. Srocken just made and I think there's more to it than just that one. And I would like to have the opportunity for the community to be involved in that. Thank you. I would like to now ask um I have two questions. First one is for Dr. Jones, the second one is for Dr. Smith. Dr. Jones, can you please review for the public and for the record the process that this um model policy went through with the Virginia Department of Education? And then Dr. Smith, I'm going to ask you to review our own policy review process that is available um over the last couple of months. So, Dr. Jones, if you could just give the timeline and the availability

068of public input at the state level and then um Dr. Smith at the local level. Thank you both. Thank you, Ms. Sheridan, and I might ask um legal counsel, Ms. Haney, to assist me with the timelines. However, I will remind the board that we spoke about this model policy when we were developing back in January of I believe 20 2020 the policy regarding um um equal access and 1040 policy 1040. This particular policy was brought to the pupil services committee in May of this last school year and also to the school board's equity committee in June. It also returned to the pupil services committee for a second reading in June as well. The using the LCPS policy public feedback forum, the policy draft policy was posted as early as um mid-June 10 day Excuse me,

069mid-May 10 days prior to the first pupil services committee review for public comment and it has remained open for public comment on the website up until um last week. Ms. Haney, did you want to review the process it went through the Virginia Department of Education and input there? Uh not not unless you have a question about that specifically, Chair, but I I could provide some clarification regarding what the legal requirements are. I just wanted that the public to understand that this policy has been under review for over a year and that it started at the state level with tremendous input from across the state and I maybe I'll do it for you. And then um and that there was a task force established at the state level. If you could just give a little perspective

070on that, I would appreciate it. Yes, so so this was adopted in the 2020 session of the General Assembly. It was it was actually signed by the governor in March of 2020 and then went to the Virginia Department of Education for the development of the model policies and then the the last thing that I will add is that if you look in the code you won't see a deadline but if you look at the actual acts of assembly in the enactment clause includes a requirement that every school board adopt the policies required by the code no later than the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. Thank you for clarifying that. Dr. Dr. Smith, do you have anything to add to the local input availability? Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Chair. As you know, we we have

071undergone an extensive review process internally that we put in place this year. The teams put together a draft. They reviewed the Virginia School Board Association as well as VDOE input. Our policies are reviewed by division council and also by our cabinet, our executive leadership. Our individual teams, in this case pupil services, review our committee and then it goes to extensive feedback both from a lot of our internal committees as well as our community stakeholders. As Dr. Jones pointed out, this policy was on our website for public view and input for an extended period of time and once we even if we put a deadline on our policies for review people can still comment on any policy that they wish and what we did when we funnel that feedback directly to Dr. Jones and our team

072and they incorporated that feedback for for the pupil services committee to review. So, this was probably the policy that got the most feedback and had the longest public comment period before it went to that pupil services committee and then it came here to the full board. So, I would offer that the community had ample time to provide feedback as well as internal and external stakeholders. Thank you all for your clarification and information. I will not be supporting motion to refer. Mr. Mehedvi. Thank you, ma'am Chair. So, Dr. Smith, I I know there was I think as you mentioned it's probably one of the most amount of comments we got uh from the community. What changes did we do based on the comments to the policy? What Can you identify any changes in the policy that

073were made based on the feedback from the community? I will uh Madam Chair, I'll offer a comment and then I will defer to Dr. Jones um as um the liaison with the committee. Um what we do with the feedback is we provide that to the school board committee for their review. Um the school board committee then determines how to incorporate that policy based on themes, based on the outcomes that we're expecting to support all of our students given the nature of the policy. Ultimately, the school board has final authority for all of our policies. So, at the end of the day, that feedback that's included or excluded is up to the purview of the board to decide on how that's incorporated. I'll defer to Dr. Jones in case she has any further input. Dr. Jones?

074Uh I would just add to that uh it was discussed during the development of the drafts prior to bringing it to the People Services Committee. And also some of the talking points were included for clarification and information in the regulation as well as in will inform the professional learning uh that will be provided to staff moving forward. Is there any further discussion on the motion to refer? Ms. Corbo? Um thank you, Madam Chair. I um was wondering if this policy went to the LAA for um for review. Um I Dr. Jones? Yes, the school board committee that it went to for review and feedback was the Equity Committee. I had the opportunity to uh present it and take questions and feedback and the Equity Committee was afforded an opportunity as well to provide information through

075the online format. I believe Carbo's question was LEA. Not Equity. Not specifically. Not specifically to LEA. But our our I If Miss Carbo, if I could just clarify that the um ability to comment is open to everyone on our website. Is that correct? Dr. Smith is shaking his head. Yes, Madam Chair. That is correct. And there are times when policies are up for review that will have additional committees or community groups contact us specifically with feedback and we most certainly take that feedback and provide to the board committees. So, I I just want a clarification with um the when we talk about the new policy review process, um my understanding was that we include LEA, the Equity Committee, and others. Um is Do we just pick and choose or or do all policies go through

076those groups? Dr. Smith, did you have an answer? Thank you, Madam Chair. A lot of times the committee themselves, the board committee, will determine specifically which committees will they'll respect feedback from or will ask for feedback from. Often times it'll be specific to the actual policy. So, in this case with the student policy, we make sure we look at the Equity Committee. Um they're a broad committee to provide feedback. We make sure that we get um community feedback um in general. And so, in this case, that was the primary committee to get feedback. And as um we indicated, the community had extensive opportunities to provide feedback via the website. Um okay, thank you. And and and part of my question is just to to clarify that if we're talking about this new policy review process

077to make sure that all groups are included but um but you said that the committee that that it's decided which groups it these policies will go through. So, if for example, if I was interested um in a committee um during a committee policy review, um would it be up to the board members to request um these different groups for that process for for the policy to go through um during the process? Is that where that would take place because if if LEA, for example, LEA is not included um or was not included in this process um would how would would a board member get an organization included? Madam Chair, if I could respond to that. Thank you, Dr. Ziegler. So, um it's important to keep in mind that the Equity Committee, MSAC, and SEAC are

078advisory committees to the school board and so they are sometimes given preferential treatment in their role as advisory committee to the school board. The LEA, while an important organization and certainly their opinion is valued and valuable to LCPS, is an outside organization that is not given preferential treatment. So, for the normal feedback, um just like in your board packets tonight, there's some I'm guessing 50 pages or so of um feedback provided through that public input process and there are multiple groups that are represented uh throughout that feedback and so for us as administration to try to find every group that may have an interest in a policy would be um would not be expedient and would not not lend itself to a a process because we would ultimately leave somebody out. So, for outside organizations,

079that public comment process is open and as Dr. Smith um and Dr. Jones have already pointed out, the process for this particular policy was open a longer than any of the other feedback policies for proposed policies that are under consideration by the board. Thank you, Dr. Ziegler. Ms. Reese, sir. Oh, sorry, Ms. Corbell. I didn't get my question answered. Go ahead, Ms. Corbell. I didn't realize you weren't finished. Go ahead. Corbell, thank you. And now I I I just wanted to know, um, you know, with with HRTP policies, we do include the LAA. With this one, they weren't included. And if if a board member wanted to specifically ask a group to be included and um and to get feedback, would that be done in committee um and would that be requested by a school

080board member? Madam Chair. Um Ms. Corbell, um school board members are um permitted and welcome to solicit feedback from any group that they want and that could be as an individual school board member or as a committee. So, if um a board committee wanted to solicit feedback from a particular group, they're certainly um within their realm of power to do that. It is also certainly within the purview of an individual school board member to seek feedback from different groups. Okay, thank you. Ms. Reese, sir. Well, first I just wanted to thank you again, Dr. Smith, for and the rest of cabinet and staff for um employing the new comment policy that we've had online for some months now and um grateful to my colleague for asking the question about how that information is used and

081I'm happy to hear that we use it both in the development of policy and regulations and also that we'll be able to use this information in training. So, the public has um unparalleled and unprecedented access to influence what we're doing and I I know that was important to many of us sitting up here on the dais and and to many of you. Um and I just wanted to remind everyone that I believe we heard from the president of the LEA during public comment on this policy last night. Thank you. Mr. Morse. Thank you, Madam Chair. As I recall when I listened back to the committee meeting from several months ago when this was forwarded to the full board, I recall one of the committee members asking for the LEA position. Uh so, we had actually

082reached out to LEA to get an official position. So, it bothers me somewhat that one of the largest stakeholder groups that represents uh all of our employees uh was asked to provide that information and that for whatever reason either staff or or or the board did not reach out to the stakeholder group to get their official position. So, I'm a little distraught about that. I would also point out that uh the governor signed this in March of 2020 and he told the state VDOE that they needed to provide a product. And they provided that product 4 months late. So, you're looking at the time frame when we were told to have our policy in place. Yet, we received the official uh VDOE model 4 months late. And I don't recall that there was any repercussions

083to the state VDOE for not delivering that model on time. What that did was that shortened our timeline by 4 months. Now, obviously, we we were just saying how how thorough we went through this, but we didn't we didn't do the we didn't ask the LEA and we didn't get their inputs. But for some reason uh the model contract rolls out 4 months late and something else is going Oh, yeah, COVID's going on and so our families are engaged in other places perhaps and not aware of of exactly what was going on because I'll be quite honest, I didn't know that this law passed in March of 2020. I was unaware of that because we were a little busy at that time and I'm willing to bet most of our constituents had no clue that

084this was being passed at the state level. So as we look to provide our local uh inputs on this policy, our our attorney points out that uh that we're required to adopt the policies. We are not required to adopt this policy. We have in place policy 1040, policy 8210, 7560, 8250, 8610, and 8640 which cover the content of the requirement that's being levied upon us within this this new policy. What we're what we're doing is we're singling out a single group of our of our constituency and we're creating a whole new policy for one segment. And what we're setting up now is the expectation for every other group in Loudoun to get their own policy. Instead of doing the smart thing and consolidating them and addressing them in a single training policy and in a

085single anti-harassment, anti-bullying equity policy. That's the way we should be handling it then. So, we're not required to adopt this policy. Many people across the state have already rejected this. And I'm not saying rejected out of hand, I'm saying that we could take it back to committee. But I I won't support the way it's written today. Thank you. Is there any further comment? Ms. Bart, so I don't want to leave you out. No comment. All right. The vote is on the motion to refer back to committee. Please raise your hand and say I if you're in favor. I. All those opposed, please raise your hand and say nay. Nay. Nay. Thanks. Ms. Bartz, can you tell me your vote? And board members, can you keep your hands up so for nay. That'll be six nays,

086two yays. That motion will fail, and Mr. Mahedavi, you're an abstention. Is that correct? All right. Those opposed were Sorokin, Reaser, Sheridan, King, Corbo, Bartz, and Mahedavi abstained. All right. Board members, we're back to the base motion for 904 as amended. Is there any further discussion? Mr. Sorokin, then Mr. Mahedavi. Thank you, Madam Chair. Enacting a policy consistent with the VDOE model policy is the law required under section 22.1-23.3 of the Code of Virginia. And while sending it back to committee might result in some minor changes, given the fact that it's very prescriptive what we have to comply with, I have a hard time believing that sending it back to committee would have resulted in a substantially different policy coming back before us today, because it's the same VDOE policy model policy that we have

087to comply with. Additionally, in the past just in the past few months, we've seen court decisions from across the country affirming transgender rights in the Gavin Grimm case and in others stating in no uncertain terms that equal protection under the law means exactly that. Even if it was not the law, it would still be the right thing to do. The American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics have issued policy statements emphasizing the importance to the health and well-being of transgender youth to affirm their gender identity, to use their preferred pronouns. And they've warned of the dire effects that not doing so has on those children's mental and physical health. Even the president of the International Genetics Foundation, Dr. Philip Batterham, has taken to occasionally weighing in on social media to correct erroneous oversimplifications about

088sex, gender, chromosomes, and genetics as it relates to transgenderism. We are by no means the first school district in the country to enact policies like this. We're not the 10th. We're not even the 50th. There are millions of students across the country living and going to school in school districts with these protections or those like them already in place. And the fears of nefarious activity happening in bathrooms at any sort of scale due to policies that project protect transgender students is simply not what occurs in reality. But I I cannot say it any better than Judge Floyd did when he ruled on the Gavin Grimm case. The proudest moments have been when we affirm the burgeoning values of our bright youth rather than preserve the prejudices of the past. How shallow a promise of equal

089protection that would not protect our transgender students from the fantastical fears and unfounded prejudices of their adult community? It is time to move forward. So, for Max, for Sully, and for so many others, I will vote yes on this motion. Mr. Mehedvi. Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, today today we are in in the county again, we are back here divided on this very topic that's concerning the kids. It's not about adults, it's about the children. Yet, you know, we saw the comments that we've been seeing over the period of months that really has divided divided the county, which shouldn't be. Again, we're dealing with the kids here. As elected school board member, you know, I'm not here to define what the students' gender are. I'm here to make sure that all students provide they

090get a safe space to learn that include all students, religious students, non-religious students, black, brown, white, and LGBTQ kids. For that, again, I'll be continuing to support the policies that support our kids. Having said that, I think as Mrs. Serkin pointed out, the current policy that the at least the premise everything that we've gone through, it's a Virginia law. At least that that model policy how it came through and what's being recommended that we adopt, it's not something we as a school board are making up. I think that's a big miscommunication, misunderstanding that is that has happened or it was allowed to happen, I'm not sure where that goes. But it's it's not again, it's not something that we as a school board are creating a policy to do that. So, it's a law. Miss

091Senator Boysko is here. She's one of the sponsor of the bill. I believe Senator Boysko, you were here about 2-3 months ago and you you addressed the school board and and the constituents saying, "Hey, if anybody has any concerns and issues, they should come and talk to you or they should go talk to the delegate and senators." So, I tell Loudoun County, if you have concerns, issues regarding this policy, you should speak to your delegates or senators. Having said that, many school districts have already adopted the video policy. It's it's not we're not the first here. But here we are. I think it's the process of how we went through to come to a point where the entire approach of this policy was supposed to help the transgender kids, yet it put a big big

092target on the back, which it should never never would have should have happened. We are responsible for that to making this community divided on when Prince William County on June 5th this policy and not a peep comes out from anybody about it. And there was a there was approaches to do that. There's so many laws that happen at the federal level, at the state level, we adopted and we move on. But somehow we wanted to make this an issue. I I'm not sure if really was looking to provide us, you know, safe space or affirming for the trans kids. But I think they did the opposite of that. So, I I don't believe it's a you know, again, there were a lot of comments made about it being a minuscule community. I I took a

093little offense to that. I think there are a lot of communities which are minuscule. And I think we if we start um discriminating against one minuscule community, then where does it lead other one? So, I think I'm again, it's a I'm going to I'm going to support this policy to meet the law of the Virginia. And again, continue to fight for all kids and make sure that we have privacy and safe environment for every kid. Thank you. Ms. Cain. Thank you. I would just like to say that as a student who has always been able to use the girls bathrooms and the girls restrooms freely and able, I would feel no fear and no intimidation from transgender women being in the same bathroom as me because transgender women are women. These are not people that

094are coming into the bathroom to look at us or creep on us. That is not the goal of this movement, and I think that that often gets confused. And I understand why. I understand the fear, but that's not realistic, and I I pray to God that's not what's going to happen, but I really do not see that happening. I cannot imagine the fear that transgender women and transgender men feel going into the restrooms that they do not feel is their appropriate gender. I cannot imagine the fear that that holds. So, I would absolutely like to see change, and I think that that is coming in our future. Thank you. It is always the students that leave me speechless. Is there any further discussion? Mr. Baby. Thank you, Chair. I'd like to make an amendment on

095section A that after the first paragraph at the end, it says use a name and pronoun that correspond to their consistently asserted gender identity, and I'd like to add at the end to the maximum extent permitted by law. Mr. Baity, can you clarify where you are? I wasn't looking when you started. Sure. I'm on page one, I'm at section A, student identification, names and pronouns. In the first paragraph, and at the end of the first paragraph there, it says use name and program that correspond to their consistently asserted gender identity and I would like to tack on at the end of there to the maximum extent permitted by law. Is there a second? That's going to fail for a second, Mr. Baity. Is there any further discussion on the policy 8040, rights of transgender and

096expansive students as amended? Mr. Morse. Tonight's a difficult night for our community. Under the guise of inclusivity, we are taking action on a policy that's unnecessary, it's ambiguous, it's divisive, it's anti-family, anti-privacy, anti-teacher, and it's inconsistent with VHSL, our sporting authority. What that means to Loudoun County community is it detracts from our focus on education and most importantly it hurts all of our children. All of our children whom who need to be protected. That's contrary to comments from other another board member. We've all listened to hundreds of comments through email, voicemail, some of them are so offensive you can't even imagine. Most of them directed at the chair. None of them, none of them should we have to tolerate. But there are a lot of good reasons and a lot of good messages and a

097lot of important information that our constituency is providing to us. So let's move past the rhetoric and let's address the issues and concerns and let's clear up some misconceptions. Tonight one of our our board members says it's That's absolutely not true either. It's about kids. It's about the teachers and staff. And it's about parents. And I'm going to come back to So I mean It's uneven because if you are an LPS student being you are protected from bullying, from harassment, or from abuse. That's already in code. It's already policy and we strongly support that. We're protecting to the best of our ability. With the approval of this policy we are establishing a precedent of individual victimization policy. We created a new burden on staff. and every insecurity. For every marginalized can get there. So now

098we think we can that's going to resolve this issue. We don't. and see which is where we need to focus. That's critical. We have to increase our ratio. With resiliency, with the counseling, and with the protections that we are on the path to success. How must a child demonstrate their sexual identity? policy. What is the definition of question? legally apply. And how is that legally applied? The word is not yet defined. The word protect Legally, where does that leave this board? Two or five ambiguous statements from the model. A student is considered transgender if at school the student consistently asserts a gender identity different from the sex assigned at birth. What does consistently asserted mean? Who assigns sex at birth? I'm going with God because that's what I believe. Declaration of of number two, declaration

099of gender identity does not require necessarily require any substantiating evidence. Nor any required minimum duration. But to justify the claim that a student can be asked to provide information that supports the request. Isn't an information request the same as substantiating evidence? Number three, established gender identity can present differently. What does that mean? Does that mean that we have to provide different venues and different responses? Because that's nowhere. That's somewhere else that we're going to need to address. and transgender students use multiple sets of pronouns under different situations. Different moods, are we legislating this? And I'm not being facetious. I'm genuinely interested in trying to figure out how we're going to navigate through this. Number five, in the situation where when parents and guardians of minor student under the age of 18 do not agree with

100the student's request to adopt a new name and pronouns, school divisions will need to determine whether to respect the student's request or abide by the parents' wishes or an alternate that respects both the parent and the student. At least the model policy included parents. But based on LCPS's policy and based on staff's comments at the last board meeting, parents don't need to be notified. So, taking it to an extreme, you have a 7-year-old They can make a decision that will have has the authority to keep the parents in the dark. The rights of a few hundred students will They They're all together. All wrapped in a COVID blanket right now. Okay, a speaker from the community love you so this topic. They came up with real with the discussion together and they provide which we

101just voted and approved. Thank you, Mr. Because that's a solution that we all agree agreement. Everyone was positive unwilling to negotiate. attacks parents with a comment about off the followers of Jesus. Facebook group starts a hit list asking for information on spouses children of their neighbors. And when school board members have the courage to stand here on the day members that were flagged attacks and condemn the community hated. This is 3 months anti-family. What does to make. What about a parent-teacher may support the child. based on staff's interaction with the parent. But more likely from the single point of mature student with a partially Can anyone name one other parents of an issue concerning their child? No approval is needed for Tylenol. We are failing the family. they do. anti-private student alliance club and they

102told They wanted to be safe. I heard everything I can to keep them safe. school to get to a bathroom. And I will work to that. showers or forcing kids into school board proclamations. As the chair of the finance committee 3 years ago next single occupancy fact Unfortunately, the board's priorities change much faster than our school facility And now without time to implement changes you would open locker rooms, dressing areas forcing this upon our most vulnerable students when they are embarrassed to the changes that are anti-teacher. student who uses multiple sets of pro 50 years of reinforcement on the fly. How many mistakes are there Probably depends on how much they've embraced. Do they protect a child from a different gender because they cannot ask. And at a parent-teachers conference knowing they are res- big

103secret. VHSL has set limits on both the transition which biological males can play. compatible with the intent of uh A- clusion of VHSL from the law is clearly an embarrassing omission by our didn't want to address the sports issue. A legal challenge ensues. Yet, we are pushing ahead full. The stories we heard from transgender speakers last night were horrifying. fell from the law is clearly legally indefensible. An embarrassing omission by our legislative friends in Richmond who didn't want to address the sports issue. It is only a matter of time before a legal challenge ensues. Yet, we are pushing ahead full. The stories we heard from transgender speakers last night were horrifying. Stories of bullying and harassment. They're stinging indictments of a school division from years past. Compared to Comparing that to today's classroom and today's

104workforce is like comparing technology of 1980 to today's technology. Our teachers, administrators, and counsel- to identify issues and provide But, this board is losing teachers like that I want to teach my children. children, whether they are transgender, Whatever they may be. monsters who pick on at-risk kids to love their students. They are A couple final comments. The push to remove with allowing students to identify with characters with the pornographic sensationality authors are using to lure in our diverse. We There are don't have these award-winning, acclaimed trash novels that are nothing but filth that are going into our classrooms and into our children's hands. We need to have our children see themselves in books, all of our children, and we all agree on that. And that didn't come out of the Community Levy Association, that came

105out of me. But the bottom line is our children need to see themselves. Don't listen to the vocal minority. Boy, I can't tell you the number of times I've gotten that email. Wow. Now, imagine it was 5 years ago and we were talking about issues like this and the transgender community came forward and they were vocal. Would I not listen to them? I will always listen to the minority, vocal or not. And for us to ignore a segment of the population is for us to not do our job. This policy meets the minimum state requirements. No, this policy goes well beyond the state's model policy. Policy is not needed. Policy does not solve the issues it's purported to solve. The policy has forced our focus out of education and I will not support it. Thank

106you. Ms. Reeser. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um providing a safe and inclusive learning environment is the first step to a child being able to learn. They have to feel safe and welcome in order to be able to reach their full potential and give back to our community when they're done here at LCPS. I always look at our policies and the votes that I'm taking with the best interest of the child in mind. And earlier tonight we passed a resolution saying that we believe one suicide is too many and that many of these deaths are preventable. I think that taken together with the idea of the best interest of the child makes it very easy to understand why we need to support this policy. I will piggyback on to the comments that my other colleagues have

107made and that I'm sure Ms. Sheridan will expand upon it and turn the mic over to her. Are there any other comments on the policy as amended? If not, uh Ms. Corbo, go ahead. Um thank you, Madam Chair. Um I also um sent an email to um Dr. Ziegler earlier um today and it with with some concerns um that that were brought up um just now. And and to me, I feel like supporting this policy is the first step. And a lot of the questions that that I have and and things that um Mr. Morris just brought up um would be addressed in a regulation. And I think that's where our answers would come, but this is the first step. Um and and I feel like this is very important, especially after hearing um Ms.

108Kane share her comments and her experience and um and also speaking with a lot of other students in the community, they feel the same way. Um so I know I understand that there's fear and I understand that um that this This a challenge for many. Um however, I think it's the first step in doing the right thing. Thank you. Any further discussion? Mr. Surratt. I just wanted very briefly respond to two two I can't respond to everything. It was quite a long speech, but to respond to at least two of the points that I heard Mr. Morris make. You asked if there were any other major decisions student make in school that the parents might not be notified. And you know that there are. We had the same discussion from the dais not more than

1096 months ago, I think. I used the example of and talked with staff about a student that comes out at school or other member of their unit or system at school and plan for notifying the parents immediately based on the students be safe to do it at all. We hope that it is. Try and put a plan together. I don't I don't know how you could There are no other decisions where of of choices that the student in the last year and said I really hope that this was not your intention. You seem to imply that nation against LGBTQ thing of the past and doesn't happen today. You believe that I would encourage you to to and transgender students because with a straight face. remind board members to um Thank you, Mrs. Rotkin. I I

110would respond that have any uh transgender children are suffering. thing is that we are doing all the to address those issues. What I'm saying including that behavior. thing we can to stop that behavior and change behavior overnight. I said when we were at the uh at the DNI Our generation has a lot to learn from have a lot of built up biases. And in some that is built up from families and that continues and that continues I think that what you're seeing is the vast majority to support all of our children. marginalized And that's what the chance We want to all to forward. dead in our tracks to identify up in front of everybody else then may be another We're trying to all move forward to siveness and an organization over So, yeah. community and

111to prevent And we will fully support you. or staff member That'll happen. The day has come for for to provide that. comments and I did not that there no uh facing. I'm going to make sit here and complain about the emails and voicemails So, I want to address it because ability to bear the burden of the next voicemails and threats that I've received.