3/19/2026 - FCPS School Board Meeting

001The time is 7:00 p.m. and this March 19th, 2026 regular meeting of the Fairfax County School Board will now come to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance, followed by a moment of silence and a performance of the national anthem by Lake Bradock Middle School Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Diana Sha. I pledge allegiance to the flag Can we have one more round of applause for our amazing students? On behalf of the school board, I would like to recognize our student representatives in this year's student leadership development program who are attending tonight's meeting and ask them to please stand. If you would like to receive a copy of the meeting agenda, please see the back of the auditorium. To obtain copies of any items or supporting materials being presented tonight, please reference the

002QR code on the agenda or visit www.fcps.edu/boards. Tonight's meeting is being broadcast on channel 999 and livereamed on YouTube and our website at www.fcps.edulivestream. Tonight's meeting is also being broadcast in Spanish on YouTube at youtube.comfcps and espanol. Agenda item 5.03 women's history month proclamation. I call on Mr. Mleamine for a proclamation. >> Whereas Women's History Month began as Women's History Week in Santa Rosa, California in 1978 to coincide coincide with International Women's Day on March 8th. The goal of this event was to bring attention to women's historical achievements. Many communities across the country adopted this special recognition. This movement became so widespread that in 1987, Congress ultimately designated the month of March as women's history month. And whereas this year's theme, leading the change, women shaping a sustainable future, expands our understanding of sustainability beyond

003environmental concerns to include financial sustainability, community resilience, leadership succession, and intergenerational equity. Whether developing green technologies, advancing economic justice, strengthening education systems, or building civic power, women are designing blueprints for sustainable transformation. Through their efforts, they have served as an inspiration for all generations, both past and present. And whereas women of all races, creeds, and ethnic origins have contributed significantly to the history and development of the United States. These women include not only the notable Abigail Adams, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourer Truth, Rosa Parks, and Camala Harris, Yuchi Coochyama, Paty Takamoto, Inc. Mink, Dolores, Huerta, Sonia Sotomayor Mayor, Felisa Ringond Ga, Gouta, Hovita, Sylvia Menddees, but also the many other unsung heroins. And whereas women have led our country and made significant contributions to public life and the development of our county. In 2023, 26 women

004sought local public office in Fairfax County with 12 being victorious to to include seven members of the Fairfax County School Board. And in 2025, Virginiaians elected Abigail Spanberger as our first woman governor. And whereas women play a critical role in shaping sustainable economic and civic systems by advancing financial equity, building resilient communities, strengthening institutions, and mentoring future leaders. From expanding access to education and entrepreneurship to advocating for policies that promote long-term economic stability and intergenerational opportunity, women's leadership helps create systems that endure and uplift both present and future generations. Ensuring equitable access to opportunity and leadership pathways is essential to building financial sustainable families, strong communities, and a thriving democracy. And whereas Fairfax County Public Schools is committed to fostering inclusive, equitable, and empowering learning and working environments where all students and staff can thrive.

005Through our dedication to academic excellence, leadership development, civic engagement, and equitable access to opportunity, FCPS values the contributions of women and girls and strives to cultivate their voices, leadership, innovation, and full participation in shaping a sustainable and resilient future. Now, there be be therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board hereby proclaims March 2026 as Women's History Month and a time to remember and honor the countless women who fought relentlessly for the rights of all women in our great nation, Commonwealth, and county. We are proud to celebrate these women, past and present, who work for inclusion, equity, and fairness. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Miss Lady. I will call for a vote. All those in favor, Mr. FR, Mr. Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Meline, Miss St. John

006Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, for the first time, Mr. Dannon, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, and myself. That is unanimous for all board members present. Agenda items 5.04, school social work appreciation week proclamation. I call on Mr. McDaniel for a proclamation. Whereas the importance of school social work programs and services is recognized in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. And whereas school social workers are uniquely trained to support students who face barriers to academic success including disability, poverty, discrimination, abuse, neglect, mental illness, homelessness, bullying, family stressors, and other challenges to learning. And whereas school-based mental health services are critical for early identification, prevention, and intervention related to students mental health and behavioral health needs. And whereas fewer than one in five children in need of mental health

007services receive them. And research demonstrates that school-based mental health programs improve educational outcomes by reducing absenteeism, dropout rates, and disciplinary referrals while improving academic achievement. And whereas school social workers, licensed mental health professionals in schools provide essential services including assessment, intervention, counseling, family engagement, and referrals to community resources. And whereas school social workers possess specialized knowledge of school culture and climate, which is essential for effective school safety, planning, and student support. And whereas Fairfax County Public Schools school social workers use their skills to remove personal and environmental obstacles, ensuring equitable access and opportunity for every child to succeed in school life. And whereas the dedicated efforts of FCPS social workers, social work services staff to identify and dismantle barriers faced by our homeless and unaccompanied youth resulted in increased school stability and a remarkable 96%

008graduation rate during the 2024 2025 school year. And whereas FCPS school social workers are spearheading collaborative efforts resulting in reduced chronic absenteeism rates and the promotion of student engagement by fostering positive relationships and removing barriers to student success. And whereas these professionals manage vital partnerships with community providers to reduce barriers and increase access to essential community-based resources and services for students and families. And whereas school social workers serve as essential members of multiddisciplinary teams, facilitating evidence-based interventions, conducting clinical assessments, offering both staff and caregiver consultations, and promoting a trauma-sensitive school climate that maximizes student learning and well-being. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board hereby proclaims March 1 through 7, 2026 as school social work appreciation week and March as National National Social Work Month. And therefore, be it resolved that

009the Fairfax County Board honors the outstanding contributions and achievements of school social workers to the success and well-being of students across Fairfax County. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Mavine. A call for a vote. All those in favor, Mr. Fr, Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Mackavine, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Mr. Dannon, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, and myself. That is unanimous for all board members present. Agenda item 5.05 recognizing social and emotional learning proclamation. I call on mystics for a proclamation. Ferris social and emotional learning seal is the process through which young people and adult develop the knowledge skills and attitude necessary to understand and manage emotions set and achieve positive goals demonstrate empathy for others establish and maintain positive relationship and makes responsible decision and whereas

010seal strengthen academic learning promotes protective factors for well-being and supports safe supportive and inclusive school communities where every student can thrive. And whereas FCPS is committed to educating the whole child and recognize their students social, emotional and academic development are deeply interconnected and essential for to long-term success. And whereas FCPS educators implement signature practices and integral integrate social and emotional learning into daily instruction and school culture through developmentary um sorry FCPS educator implement signature practice and integrate social and emotional learning into daily instruction and social and school culture through developmentally appropriate practices including morning meetings and closing circles in elementary schools and responsive advisory meeting in in middle and eighth uh high school which builds belonging, strengthen relationship and foster a positive school climate. and FCPS empowers uh student voices and continuous improvement through the

011screeners helping educators strengthen support and enhance student well-being and whereas SEAL leads in every school ensure is integrated within the multi-tered system of support framework to ensure student receive proactive equitable and responsive support that addresses academic behavioral and social emotional needs and whereas FCPS provides students and with access to a comprehensive network of school counselor, school psychologist and so uh social worker as as well as evidence-based wellness programs and mental health support that promotes resilience and healthy development and whereas FCPS invests in professional learning for educators and staff to strengthen trauma informed practices, culturally responsive instruction and strategies that support student engagement. agement, well-being and positive relationship in the classroom. And whereas FCPS approach to SEAL is recognized as model practice at the national level by leading organization including the collaborative for academic, social and

012emotional learning. Panorama education and urban assembly and FCPS student and staff met with congressional staff on Capitol Hill representing quality student voice and implementation. various FCPS partners with families, community organizations and local agencies to support student mental wellness, reinforce skills beyond the classrooms and ensure that every student feels safe, valued, and supported. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Fairfest County School Board hereby proclaims March 23rd to 27, 2026 as Seal Awareness Week in Fairfest County Public School and encourage students, educators, families, and our community to recognize and celebrate the importance of social and emotional learning in fostering healthy, engaged, and a successful learners. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Moon. I will call for a vote. All those in favor, Mr. Fr, Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Mclavine, Miss

013St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Mr. Dannon, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, and myself. That is unanimous for all board members. I would also like us to give a huge round of applause because I went too fast. So, we need to thank our social workers for being here and thank you so much for all you do for our kids. I apologize. I was all business tonight. Um, agenda item 5.06, recognizing the 2025 bond citizen committee and affirming the importance of a AAA bond rating proclamation. I call on Mr. McDaniel for a proclamation. >> Whereas meaningful community engagement is essential to building trust, fostering shared understanding, and ensuring that voters have clear, accurate information about investments in public education. And whereas a AAA bond rating represents the highest level of creditworthiness assigned by national credit rating

014agencies and reflects local government's commitment to strong financial management, prudent long-term planning, responsible debt management, and a continued commitment to transparent governance. Whereas AAA bond rating is an essential financial tool that enables local governments to fund construction, renovation, and modernization of public education infrastructure by securing the lowest possible borrowing costs, maximizing available resources to support safe, high-quality learning environments for students while protecting taxpayers from unnecessary long-term expenses. And whereas Fairfax County's status as a AAA rated jurisdiction have saved taxpayers an estimated $1 billion dollar since 1975. Whereas the 2025 bond citizens committee served as a vital bridge between Fairfax County Public Schools and the broader community by engaging residents, civic organizations, and stakeholders in informed dialogue about the school board ref the school bond referendum. And whereas through intentional outreach, public education, and advocacy, the

015committee helped community members understand how bond funding supports safe, modern learning environments, critical renovations, and long-term planning for school facilities. And whereas the 2025 school bond referendum was approved by voters with 70.97% of those voting supporting the measure, reflecting strong community confidence in continued investments in Fairfax County Public Schools. And whereas the members of the 2025 bond citizens committee generously contributed their time, leadership, and expertise to support civic participation and promote informed decisionmaking. Now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board affirms its commitment to supporting sound fiscal policies that maintain and support the county's AAA bond rating and extends its highest commendation and deepest appreciation to the 2025 bond citizens committee on this occasion for their leadership and outstanding service to Fairfax County Public Schools and unwavering dedication to the children of

016this community. >> Is there a second? >> I second. >> Thank you, Miss Dixit. I will call for a vote. All those in favor, Mr. Fresh, Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Meline, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Mr. Dannon, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, and myself. That is unanimous for all board members present. I invite our 2025 bond committee and all those here in supporting or recognizing the 2025 bond citizens committee and affirming the importance of the AAA bond rating proclamation to please join the board for a photo in front of the dise We now invite our seal leads, staff, and all those here in support of the recognizing social and emotional learning proclamation to please join the board for a photo at the front of the Yes. We now invite our school social

017workers and social work staff and all those here in support of the school social work appreciation week proclamation to please join the board for a photo at the front of the dis. We now invite our school social workers and social work staff and all those here in support of the school social work appreciation week proclamation to please join the board for a photo photo at the front of the dis. Madame chair, that was our last proclamation picture. Agenda item 6.01, community participation. The next order of business is community participation. We welcome all community members who are here and those who have signed up to speak this evening. Additional information about signing up to provide comments at schoolboard regular business meetings and public hearings can be found at the school board's website at www.fcps.edu/schoolboard. During the

018sign up process, community members acknowledge that they were informed of the schoolboard's expectations for respect and proper decorum when providing comments. These expectations are also available online and with printed agenda and meeting materials at the back of the room. We ask audience members to be respectful of one another. Shouting and outbursts will not be tolerated. Please hold your applause until the conclusion of a speaker's remarks. Audience members may not join speakers at the podium and should remain at their seats, including when recording video or taking photos. We are grateful to all those who have come to speak to us today and thank you for your cooperation. Schoolboard members will be listening but not responding. Madame clerk, please call the first speaker. Alex Fetch. Do I just start? Hello. Okay, just go. Okay, sorry. Um, okay.

019I'm the parent of a first grader and I'm here with concerns about the onetoone device policy and growing amount of screenbased learning in our schools. Want to be clear that I'm not opposed to technology. I grew up in Certino, California, where the iPhone in your pocket is from. We had IMAX in my classroom from the time I was in second grade. Tech literacy was a core part of my public education. I strongly believe in teaching tech literacy, but I'm concerned about the county's increasing reliance on and promotion of screenbased learning, especially for our youngest learners. Currently, there's a onetoone device policy for all students, including kindergarteners. Kindergarteners and up are spending significant portions of their day working independently on computers. Research does show children can learn from these digital programs, but research also is clear

020on something more important. Children learn best from teachers. And these programs are most effective when an adult an adult is actively engaging with the students in the content. That's not how these programs are being used. Instead, students are left to work independently while teachers are pulled away to manage small groups or administer required one-on-one assessments. Computer-led instruction is replacing teacher-led instruction during a critical stage of development. The district is making large financial investments in these programs. Yet, there's no independent evidence demonstrating effectiveness, and reading pass rates for third grade have remained stagnant since its adoption. This raises questions about whether these programs are delivering meaningful results. We know screen time negatively affects children's behavior, sleep, and mental health. Yet, our current policies encourage daily, often extended device use, sometimes even incentivized through competitions. Resources allocated

021to devices and software could instead be invested in what we know works best, teachers, and stronger professional support for them. These changes would improve learning outcomes and student well-being, but also improve teacher morale and retention, issues this board has long recognized. I urge the board to reexamine the one-to-one device policy and roll back policies that encourage so much screen time. Our students deserve developmentally appropriate, human- centered learning environments, and I hope you will take action to ensure that's what we provide. Benjamin van Ever. Thanks, Alex. Hello. Thank you for your attention and your commitment to the education of our next generation. My name is Benjamin Vanvery. I am the CTO of an co-founder of a successful global company. I'm testifying today to directly ask that the school board rethink and reduce the use of technology

022and education. This past week, a member of the board said, "Opposition to this is like cavemen being afraid of fire." Please recognize that the difference between opposition the difference between opposition and a request for safety and deeper understanding of side effects. In 1940, the first suspension bridge was built. It was an amazing engineering feat spanning a deep river valley. I wonder, would you be the first person to drive across it? I hope not, because weeks later, that bridge collapsed on a windy day. FCPS's unfettered foray into edtech and now policy loose AI is driving the future of our children straight out onto that bridge. The difference, there's enough scientific research and international advocacy to know that it is not safe. Seven states have now passed laws to pair down edtech in schools with more on

023the way. FCPS has historically led the way and set national trends. Fairfax County was a magnet for wellto-do families looking for better future for their children. Parents are now questioning, is Fairfax still that place. Thousands of families have moved or pulled their kids out of FCPS and put them in private schools in the past few years. Is it because they don't want their kids to grow up with social anxiety, a social inability to meet and keep a girlfriend or boyfriend, an utter absence of patience or perseverance, a lack of critical thinking skills? Our kids get one chance to be kids and one chance to get an education. Let's please be less cavalier with that opportunity. Thank you. Mark Spooner. In February of last year, when raises for teachers were being cut due to budget constraints,

024this board met in a closed session and gave big benefits to yourselves. The meeting was unlawful and you tried to keep secret what you had done. Before the meeting, each of you had one staff aid. In the meeting, you added a second and gave them salaries of more than 120,000, which exceeds the pay of almost all your teachers. When word of this leaked out, I mailed emailed you three at large members asking a simple question. Did you approve new staff positions in an open meeting? None of you would respond. So I was forced to submit a Freedom of Information request. Your division council, Mr. Foster, stonewalled that. So I had to file a suit in the circuit court. And at the hearing, Mr. Foster testified that there had been a closed meeting, but he said

025you you made no decision and didn't even discuss whether to add additional aids. He swore that's not something you would even do. He said it would be the superintendent along with the HR department who would decide if you needed additional staffers. Now I knew that was false, but there wasn't anything I could do about it at the time. But now the truth has finally come out. Just your agenda materials for one of your recent meetings acknowledge that the hiring of your high paid staffers was in fact approved at this closed meeting in February of last year. Budget issues should be decided with cander and tough decisions in public, not with deception and self-deing in secret meetings. Fairfax citizens deserve better. We we >> Mark Beerworth. >> Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to assess the

026performance of Superintendent Reed. Over the last two and a half years, Superintendent Reid has presided over the mishandling of three major incidents. As the face of Fairfax County Public Schools, her mishandling of these incidents brings into question the integrity and stature of the school system and demonstrates a lack of competent leadership that has eroded the public trust. The 504 breach in the fall of 2023 affected our family directly. We were provided a phone number to call for more information. And when we called this number, we became further frustrated as this phone number turned out to be a call center where the call center employees only read bullet points from the email and letter that we received. We did not receive any details on this data breach and we're left to hope that our child's information

027would not be compromised any further. Secondly, the well-known scandal at Hayfield football team became an even higher profile incident causing unnecessary negative visibility on our schools. Superintendent Reed's actions and responsibilities to this scandal are well documented. Her mishandling of the scandal further put into question her leadership capabilities. Thirdly, because of the mishandling of the Hayfield scandal, Superintendent Reed's knee-jerk reaction to the Fairfax High School football team scandal led to unnecessary aggravation, humiliation, and hardship to the school and once again brought unnecessary negative visibility to our schools. These three distinct but related events demonstrate a clear and consistent failure of leadership at the highest level of Fairfax County's public schools. Superintendent Reed's handling of these crisis have been characteriz characterized by a lack of proactive leadership and failure to ensure accountability and a troubling disregard for

028transparency. The trust of the community has been broken. With the ongoing assault investigation at Fairfax High School, I am not confident that this incident will be handled any differently than these previous three scandals. The initial communications we have received from this administration appear to follow the same pattern as the previous scandals. For the sake of our students, our schools, and the future of public education in Fairfax County, it is time for a change in leadership. Superintendent Reid bears the ultimate responsibility for all actions of our schools. Our school system cannot endure another mishandled scandal. I urge you to call for the immediate resignation. Superintendent Michelle Reid. Our children deserve a leader who will prioritize integrity, transparency, and wellbeer. Good evening, Superintendent Reed and school board members. Uh came here for a suggestion uh under the

029weather so I didn't have anything prepared, but I'm just talk off the top of my head. Um as we have a new board, right? You know, with now Mr. uh Dannon added in uh maybe the suggestion of a new retreat uh that you guys always do at the beginning when there's a new term. And the reason I'm saying that is some of the be behavior that you guys have uh shown over the last couple months. It's really atrocious off camera on in these halls of schools. I understand there's passion, but sometimes passion leads into rudeness. And I've seen that the first time probably in the two decades I've been on, you know, and I understand that passion. So maybe to set up a retreat in your calendar next couple months. I'm assuming let's wait for

030maybe the new chair and vice chair in June to set that or in July to set that up. Uh but but with that said too, also the gamemanship that's being shown up in here. You know, don't forget the cameras are on. Even when you guys are off, when conversations start here and they end up there, when two go out there, then another one comes, another one comes, you you can tell where that's going. And if I heard this the other day that there's no factions on this board, that's a lie. Now two decades, there's always been factions on this board. that people don't know just like the board of supervisors are factions. You can still have what 21 out of 22 they're Democrats but you can still have factions within parties and that's what's happening

031here. Um so let's let's let's work on that. Okay. Let's let's with betterment for our children and our families. Uh with that said also the gameship is to vote. If we have a seven to five faction now if one side throws up one moves another side six sick motion fails. Oh maybe someone moved over. That's the gamemanship of of failing that motion if that wrong smaller size faction is has the motion or a 75 and some others who are on the smaller end say you know what I don't want to lose every vote so let's make it 84 let's make it 93 just to show people that's part of the gamemanship I don't want to see either stick to your morals and your beliefs vote how you always believe and always active >> Marie Maroon

032Good evening. My name is Marie Maroon and once again I come as a concerned parent of an FCPS elementary school student. Let me be direct. As parents, we have been asking this board and school administration to include us in developing an AI policy, to communicate your plans openly, and to pause long enough to have a real discussion before moving forward. Instead, you are steamrolling over us. You found the time to spend over two years on boundary discussions and even deliberate over naming a new school. Yet, when it comes to AI in our children's classrooms, a decision of far greater consequence, there is no such patience for the community's voice. You do not test the parachute after you've jumped, and that is exactly what you are doing. Three areas demand your urgent attention. First, parents and

033teachers deserve a seat at the table before tools of this magnitude and potential danger are selected and deployed. Second, the February 11th version of this policy lacks any mention of detailed safeguarding protocols in the classroom or beyond. We need concrete protections in place first, not weak aspirational language awaiting implementation. Third, the draft policy lacks description on what tools are approved, how student data is protected, or what happens when something goes wrong. It has no real accountability, and our students will be operating in a regulatory vacuum. pause any further AI roll roll out rollouts until a tech and AI advisory committee is established. A drafted policy is open to public comment then adopted and most importantly commit to transparency at every step. Our children deserve better. Thank you Jennifer Chang. My name is Jennifer Chang and

034I'm the parent of two fourth graders and a rising kindergartener. We love our school and our teachers yet are deeply concerned about the lack of transparency, communication, and accountability from the central office regarding technology use in classrooms. First, transparency. Most parents had no idea that FCPS provides iPads to kindergarteners. Many only learned this from their children who told them that iPad time, not recess, was their favorite part of the day. Soon after, these parents began noticing changes in behavior, difficulty regulating emotions, and craving technology more at home. Research shows that reading and writing on paper leads to stronger comprehension and memory than reading on screens. And while gamified apps keeps our kids engaged and quiet in classrooms, engaged is not equal to learning. I'm requesting an evaluation of the effectiveness of iPads and laptops in

035a countywide survey of teachers and parents on educational technology. Second, communication. Parents were also surprised to learn that students receive Chromebooks in second grade with access to Google Docs, chat features, YouTube, and a plethora of ways to play games and watch movies during class. Although filters exist, students widely share simple hacks to bypass them. When parents ask how much screen time their children receive, teachers and admin often cannot answer because there are no district guidelines. If FCPS provides these devices, it should also set reasonable boundaries. I'm requesting age specific screen time guidelines in opt out option for families who prefer it. Finally, accountability. Parents raging tech uh raising tech concerns are often redirected from one office to another with no one ultimately taking responsibility. We're following the proper channels and seeking collaboration to ensure technology

036supports learning, not distracts from it. Instead, we feel dismissed and unheard. To address this, I'm requesting the create, Megan Durst. Thank you, Dr. Reid and board members. I'm Megan Durst speaking on behalf of parents countywide who've shared these concerns. First, the pace of edtech and AI rollouts. The onetoone device rollout was presented as a way to ensure equal access and increased engagement, which sounded great. But equal does not always mean best. And not every student becomes benefited from frequent device use. The burden of monitoring schoolisssued device use cannot continue to fall on the shoulders of parents nor the teachers who are responsible for 20 plus students and devices. We are asking for a discussion of alternatives such as computer labs not only for greater ease of device monitoring but also decreased budgetary concerns. Second, while

037developers measure success by engagement, engagement with a device is not the same as meaningful learning. Research shows students retain less when learning on screens. They lose the benefit of physical text such as spatial anchoring and multimodal encoding and miss out on the interpersonal dialogue, real-time feedback, and human engagement that comes from teacher-led peer-engaged instruction. Third, the mental health impact of increased screen exposure. The stimulation and reward loops built into these digital platforms create artificial dopamine spikes, leaving kids disregulated and teachers and families like us struggling to limit screen dependence and its consequences. We're asking for responsible, intentional edtech use and that we learned from our experience of the 1:1 device rollout. Specifically, we're asking you to develop a more comprehensive and more detailed AI policy and to form a diverse tech advisory committee. These steps

038ensure decisions about edtech are made thoughtfully with proper oversight and constructive criticism. Thank you to Lester Riggs. Please play the video submitted by Sumas Perszada. >> Good afternoon. My name is Somas Perszad and I am a mother to a fourth grader and a kindergartener at Fairfax County Public Schools. We love our schools and we love our teachers. We value the amount of time, effort, and energy all of our educators pour into making our children's learning experience as best as possible. With that said, as my children have grown older, I have noticed that the exposure to digital media, screens, internet use at school has also grown. I come to you as our educational experts to help me understand as a parent the benefit of so much screen time at our schools. I am concerned and alarmed

039from what I have read about digital exposure in the developing brain and wonder if it's truly the best thing for the cognitive and social development of our children. I humbly ask that Fairfax County establish a tech advisory committee like neighboring counties in Arlington and Montgomery County composed of parents and academics so that we can better understand the recommendations the school board puts out in terms of responsible screen use at our schools. I ask that the school board assess the effectiveness of edtech and onetoone devices. Do they truly serve our students and help every Fairfax County child reach their full potential? What are the research and studies that support our current tech ed use? Lastly, what are viable options for parents who feel that their children are not best served through tech education exposure? Are there

040reasonable opt out options for one-to-one devices? If not, can the school board make this a reality? Thank you very much for your time and input. >> Chair Anderson, that was our last public speaker. >> Thank you. Agenda item 7.01. 01 student representative matters. I call on Miss McConen. >> Good afternoon, members of the board. I appreciate the discussion during the last work session on the SRNR. I want to highlight several areas where I believe further clarification and policy updates are necessary. First, many of our current digital policies such as the student use of FCPS network and internet resources have not been reviewed in over a decade. In that time, the digital learning landscape has fundamentally shifted. Artificial intelligence, online collaboration tools, and digital platforms are now central to student learning. I strongly recommend a comprehensive

041review of these policies to ensure that they reflect currently real realities and can guide the work we are doing now. Second, I want to address academic integrity in the context of AI. Allegations of AI misuse differ significantly from traditional forms of academic dishonesty. Unlike plagiarism, there is no often there is often no clear burden of proof. AI detection tools are inconsistent and there is currently no countywide standard for their use. As a result, determinations can vary vary widely depending on teacher and administration disc discretion. I personally have entered my own typed work into a variety of popular AI detectors and gotten varying results and I know other students who have had the same experience. Because of this, the appeals process becomes even more important. I recommend that the SRNR explicitly state that in cases involving

042alleged misuse of AI, students must be informed of the basis of the allegation and given an opportunity to respond before a final determination is made. This is a matter of procedural fairness. We cannot assume the opportunity will be provided to them. We have to ensure it. If a student receives a zero for alleged AI related dishonesty under the SRNR, this typically falls under academic grading procedures rather than the formal disciplinary appeals channels. That distinction should be clarified so students can understand their rights and options. More broadly, I recommend strengthening due process protections involving digital technology. This includes requiring written explanations of evidence, increased transparency in how decisions are made, and clear timelines for disciplinary actions. Additionally, clearer guidelines are needed on what constitutes acceptable AI use versus academic dishonesty at the county level. Without defined

043boundaries, both students and teachers are left navigating ambiguity, which can lead to inconsistent enforcement across schools and classes. Along with this, I recommend that the AI policy being drafted clearly directs teachers to not use AI in the grading of student assignments. The language saying that AI should not be used for final grades was removed from the policy. Specifically the words FCPS should include a clear system for communication when and how AI can be used by teachers such as staff may use AI to support lesson planning and instructional design differentiate and accessibility administrative efficiency but AI cannot make final consequential decisions like final grades disciplinary actions or similar high stakes cases. I think this language is important and should be included in the policy. The procedure section was struck from the draft and even that language

044not specific enough to me which concerned that I was which concerned me when I saw that it was replaced by the Fairfax County Board shall direct the division of superintendent the division superintendent to ensure that staff continue to monitor key areas of concern for use of artificial intelligence by teachers with and with students rigorous approval of all tools tools used by staff and students mental health and crisis protocols instructional framework alignment AI literacy training for students and ongoing professional development for teachers and staffs. I believe that this language is a little bit too general to assure the community that we have AI rollout under control. We have heard time and time, including today, about how families are not comforted by what information we are giving them on the policies that will dictate how their schools

045are run. The use of AI in schools raises questions about transparency, bias, and accountability that we have not yet addressed and can't fully because we don't build the algorithms of the AI platforms may utilize. At the same time, students stu still do not have visible centralized AI guidance on the FCPS website. The student AI guide is still not viewable on the FCPS website. We expect responsible AI use. We must provide accessible policies. Families should know what AI education their students are getting and it should be specialized for specific age groups. I recommend the board ensures that the student AI guide is clearly published on the FCPS website. The creation of a student AI honor code aligned with SRNR along with in-depth AI training for students that does not promote the already prevalent reliance on on

046generative AI and updates the policies surrounding the digital landscape as well as the addition of AI specific discipline rules. I also want to raise concerns about the jurisdiction over student speech in digital spaces. As more student interaction occurs online, we need clear standards for when off-campus speech falls under school authority. In particular, the definition of substantial disruption used in the SRNR should be more narrowly defined in digital context to prevent inconsistent interpretation. I recommend the development of a clear structure that includes a plain language breakdown of expectations and accountability, guidance on crisis or conflict management online trans and transparency standards for leadership structure and password ownership. Finally, I would like to know continued questions about the effectiveness and support systems surrounding the current gradebook platform. The proposed gradebook shifts towards a skill-based model that in

047practice may prioritize isolized competence over sustained content mastery. I said these exact words last meeting and I will continue to do so. When we ask schools to implement divisionwide grading overhaul once again, we have to ensure that we have strong backing, clarity execution, and a clear process for revisiting or adjusting the model if it does not work as intended. The structure that works well with Madison works well because the deliberate work put in over years to make the gradebook clear to students, teachers, and families. We cannot achieve the same results they have in one year with so many different communities and high schools. Grading reform should be deliberate and not experimental. What works for one school will not work for all. In summary, I strongly suggest the board reevaluates the gradebook model proposed for next

048year, update the policies surrounding the digital landscape, as well as the addition of AI specific discipline rules and clear student digital participation guidelines when it comes to social media. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Miss McConen. Agenda item 8.01, certification of closed meeting compliance. In order to comply with section 2.2-3712D 2-3712D of the Code of Virginia. It's necessary for the board to certify that since the Fairfax County School Board convened a closed meeting on March 19th, 2026, to the best of each member's knowledge, only p public business matters lawfully exempted from an open meeting requirements and only such public public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered by the board during closed meeting. Do I have a motion? Miss St. John Cunning? Do I

049have a second? Mr. Mackle. All those in favor, Mr. FR, Mr. McDaniel, Miss M I'm sorry, Miss Marin, Mr. Mackle, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, and myself. All those opposed, all those abstaining, Mr. Dannon. Will the clerk please read the vote? >> The vote is 1001. The motion carries. >> Thank you. There were no actions taken in closed meeting tonight. So >> I call on Miss Anderson for a motion. I move that the school board approve the additional school board member standing liaison and advisory committee liaison assignments for school year 26 or 25 and 26. Member comprehensive planning and development committee Tom Dannon filling vacancy. Chair, Vice Chair, Budget Committee, Kyle McDaniel, filling vacancy. Member Audit Committee, Tom Dannon, replacing Kyle McDaniel. Liaison to the advisory committee for

050students with disabilities, Tom Dannon, filling vacancy. Liaison to the successful child and youth policy team skipped. Tom Dannon filling vacancy. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Miss Anderson, would you like to speak your motion? >> Just briefly. Um, I'm thrilled to have our new board member, Tom Dannon, officially here with us in his position. This is the first opportunity to address vacancies on our as on our board liaison and committee positions following the departure of our previous colleague from the Bradock District um because we wanted to wait for the new member of the Bradock District to join us. Um, this will mark the third time that I've been involved in the decision-making process regarding committee and liaison assignments and I believe that I have precisely followed the previous iterations of this process throughout

051my time on the board, including when I filled vacancies left by departing board members at the start of my term. The decisions represented by the slate here both fill vacancies while also providing support for members who may have assumed new committee positions. I look forward to us moving forward and getting to work with Tom at our side. Thank you. Mr. McDaniel, would you like to speak to your second? >> Um, I will. I'm looking forward to working with Miss Dixon and her role as chair of the budget committee. You know, budget is a reflection of values. It's a reflection of what we have to prioritize year after year. And sometimes that unfortunately sometimes that means that we have to make decisions that are painful. um in in the last few budget cycles that we've had

052to go through have involved painful decisions and this budget cycle is going to be no different. I've spent a long time in this county around the budget process. I just moved forward a proclamation this evening affirming our rating to the AAA bond because that's how important I believe that is. This board has not brought forward a resolution ever, to my knowledge, affirmed the AAA bond rating, but I did that because I felt like it was the right thing to do in this environment because maintaining that rating is critical. But that's the knowledge and skills and abilities that I bring to the table in terms of understanding the bond, the budget, understanding this entire process. So, I'm looking forward to serving in this new role. And that's all I have to say. >> Thank you. I

053call on Miss Mayor for a motion. >> I move to divide the question into two parts. The first part would be the assignments to the membership of the comprehensive planning and development committee, the liaison to the advisory committee for students with disabilities, and the liaison to the successful children and youth policy team. The second part would be the assignments to the budget committee and the audit committee. Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. Seconded by Dr. Anderson. It is moved and seconded to divide the question into two parts. This is not a debatable motion. All those in favor of dividing the question, please raise your hands. Miss Marin, Mr. Mleine, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson. All those opposed to Mr. Fr, Mr. McDaniel, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Anderson, Miss Dixit, Mr. Dannon, and myself.

054Any abstensions? Will the clerk please read the vote? >> The vote is 47. The motion fails. The question is not divided. Since the question is not divided, we will continue to consider the main motion in its entirety and not as a separate parts. Is there discussion? I call in Miss Marin. So, welcome to our new Bradock member. In order to uh have a really collegial sendoff, I had asked the chair on Monday if we could split the motion because there are two things happening here. one is filling uh is our new board member receiving his assignments and the other is reshuffleling some assignments to fill one more vacant seat. However, I did not receive a sponse from the chair nor the vice chair to my query. So, I then sought this procedural move that did

055fail. My intention was to have unity on the board in welcoming our new member and determining our assignments. Uh, I cannot support I I will not be able to vote for this motion because the board member that is proposed to be the vice chair of the budget committee is currently involved with a legal matter stating that he stole money from a company. I am not confident in the fidelity of his leadership to navigate the board through this or any budget process while this is an active legal case. For just about a year, there has been this legal action about um this legal action pending against alleged embezzlement of $175,000 from a flight school company. As stated in the lawsuit, there was admission to in July 2024 of misusing the company's credit cards and bank accounts

056for personal expenses, including a payment back of 50 grand. My knowledge of the legal activity is limited to what I've read in media reports as I have not discussed this personal legal matter with him. Second, there has been a second troubling allegation concerning the member's management of FCPS resources. This regards his two staff members about whom it's been alleged to have conducted political campaign activities while working their regular FCPS business hours. Finally, the member did the right thing by the board when he stepped down as budget committee chair a year ago when the embezzlement allegation was known as it's a continued active legal matter. It is troubling that the chair and vice chair of this school board put his name forward as the vice chair of our budget committee and moreover did this without prior

057discussion with nor notification to every school board member before having it posted this past Friday night for action tonight. As such, I cannot support the process by which this proposal was made, continuing the pattern of disregard to schoolboard governant process and the commitment to posting new business to the public at least two weeks prior. Dr. Anderson. >> Um, thank you. Um, I also want to share that I well, first of all, welcome to Mr. Dannon. um happy to have you here uh to participate as the Bradock um representative and I was also hoping for a much more um welcoming opportunity for you as you receive your assignments and um I don't have any um any reservations about the assignments that you have received um but I do have lots of reservations regarding the budget vice

058the budget vice chair role in addition to what uh Miss Marin has just shared I I also feel that I am not going to be able to support this assignment because it is as a whole for prime for two primary reasons. One um this is a board in which we share leadership and Mr. U McDaniel is already the chair of a committee and we have other members who have not had any leadership roles since they've been on this board and two others who don't have any current roles right now. And so I think there's an opportunity here to be a little bit more um distributive with the leadership um opportunities that are available on the board. Secondly, the ongoing legal matters to which were referred, that just creates an unfavorable light onto Fairfax County Public

059Schools. It serves as a distraction and this is not how we want to proceed. We've had many other situations that as a board we have decided because of the unfavorable optics and the int and the potential for reputational risk that we would move away from certain activities. Um, and this is one of them to me and I don't think we need to put ourselves in a place where we are inviting that kind of scrutiny even if it's a private matter. It would be helpful to just let that matter be completely resolved which I understand it is not at current. We're just adding ourselves to a quagmire which does not engender public trust and so I will not be able to support this motion today. >> Mr. Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to welcome Mr.

060Dan, my district school board member, and I also serve on audit committee. If the motion passes, you'll be my committee colleague, and I look forward to working with you. Uh this is my 23rd year on the school board. on and off over three decades. uh have always given and having especially you and having served as a chair for three terms, vice chair for three terms, a committee assignments is one of those things very difficult especially when there are you know competing request you see uh you know trying to balance the needs of the school system and also seeing the individual talent you know what individual board members can contribute And and even in those years when I did not necessarily agree with the children by chair's decisions on committee assignments, I knew that I a

061as a member uh that children vice chair leadership on the board needed to have some latitude latitude. So I have always supported a committee assignments with that said and as much as I welcome my colleague Mr. Danon to serve on the audit committee with me uh uh you know put some you know assignments given by chair and by chair in the motion puzzle me at this point in time. So I am going to be abstaining from the motion that doesn't mean I'm not welcoming you Mr. because I do welcome you. Look forward to working with you. >> Mr. Mine. >> Well, I want to join the three previous colleagues in welcoming you to the board. Mr. Dan, very excited to to work with you uh in the Bradic District. Um and particularly on the audit

062committee. Very excited to welcome you um to that committee and Mr. McDaniel. Sorry, we'll be be losing you from that committee. Um uh I do want to apologize that that you're walking into this. Um it's an unfortunate way to welcome you and I do want to thank um Miss Marin for um working to avoid the division that is now present at the table by seeking to divide the motion. Um it was something that I strongly supported. Um grateful for that that effort to uh bring you bring unity to this board which has unfortunately been been absent um recently. Um so I will be voting against this motion uh and um look forward to uh what Mr. Mr. Bera very rightly called for in his public remarks which is um a resolution to this situation. Thank

063you >> Miss St. John Cunning. >> First of all, welcome Mr. Dannon. I'm very happy that you're on board. Um I was really worried that your family was going to try to stay here till the end with the kids. I'm glad to see that they went home. Um, I just really want to thank the chair and the vice chair for very thoughtfully going through this process. Uh, I know that they thought long and hard about it and that they followed protocols that have been um, used in the past. Um, and I just want to thank them for that and I respect their decisions and I will gladly support this motion. >> I see two uh, lights still on. If you don't want to go back. Okay. I don't see any more gobacks. Nobody who didn't

064speak wants to speak. There being no further discussion, I will call on the vote on the main motion which is not quite on the screen. Can we fix that? Okay, it starts at the top. Thank you. Um I'll call for a vote on the main motion which is on the screen. All those in favor u Mr. FR, Mr. McDaniel, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Anderson, Miss Dixit, Mr. Dannon, and myself. All those opposed? Miss Marin, Mr. Mackamine, Dr. Anderson. Abstensions. Mr. Moon. Will the clerk read the vote? >> The vote is 731. The motion carries. >> Thank you. Agenda item 8.04, new soul source contract, Washington Lacrosse Umpires Association, Girls Lacrosse Officials Service. I call on Dr. Anderson for a motion. I move that the school board approve a contract for girls lacrosse officials services

065and two authorize the division the division superintendent or the director of the office of procurement services to execute deliver and administer the contract on behalf of the school board. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Fresh. Uh, Dr. Anderson, would you like to speak to your motion? >> Yes. Briefly, u I I thought it was important to just pull this out because this is a second set of contracts of soul sortle source contracts that we've received in as many as two schoolboard meetings. And upon further inquiry with uh Miss um Burden, our chief financial officer, I thought it would be an important thing just to share because there are some changes that have occurred. I I'm not against the uh motion. I'm sorry, the contract itself. I just wanted to make sure

066that we understood what is the new occurrence when it comes to these contracts. So, Dr. Reid, if I could ask you to I don't know if Yes, she's here. Um to speak to why at this point we have these sole source contracts for activities that have been going on for years and years and years. >> Yes, ma'am. And it's uh fundamentally it's so soul source because it's the only group of officials that the lacrosse league will allow us to use. So by default it has to be the sole source. Why it's being brought to the board at this point as a sole source contract. I appreciate Miss Burton attending to that. Our team keeps track of what each individual school spends um on officials over the course annually. And this past year uh the sum

067total of those costs eclipsed what uh is now required for board approval. So we decided I believe to combine the contracts and the total then is uh required to bring to you as a board for approval. Uh because as in all things there's a cost of living um raise for officials and when you take the aggregate cost of officials across all the schools using officials it becomes a sole source contract. However, there is no other source. So, Miss Burton, would you like to perhaps add to that? >> Um, no, that is you're absolutely correct. The aggregate level um reached the threshold where the requires schoolboard approval and so we're bringing it to you to approve. And also, it's my understanding that previously individual schools would have their own their own contracts with VHSL because they're

068the only game in town. And the other reason why I wanted to highlight this because it's always been a point of um not necessarily contention, but of of interest when soul source contracts are um developed. And I the last thing that I want to make sure that I highlight is we should now expect to see this come across all of the sports in the coming weeks. Is that accurate? >> It um it will depend on whether the threshold of the some cost hits the threshold for board approval >> which given what you've just talked about with cost of living etc. It is likely because I know we've seen baseball and lacrosse just showed up here. But thank you for allowing me to be able to share publicly why we are leaning into this direction with

069these soul source contracts. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Fresh, would you like to speak to your second? >> There's something iron Yes. There's something ironic about the lacrosse mom on our board asking other people to speak to this, but to Dr. Anderson's point about uh some of the changes that have happened in recent years. Several years ago, before the board updated the contract and procurement policies, um when a contract went above, didn't start at but went above the dollar figure that would trigger a board approval, it didn't come back to the board for a vote, that's no longer the case. And so when we do approve a contract at a lower number, if at some point that contract reaches the threshold that it would have required a board approval at the outset, it now has

070to come back to our board. So that's another reason that uh we're here tonight and I appreciate the superintendent uh for bringing the knowledge and Dr. Anderson for opening the conversation. >> Miss Dixit, >> thank you Mr. and Dr. Anderson for this question from u from my perspective somebody who has been in the soul source and competitive world for a long time. There are some contracts which are soul source in nature just like Dr. Reed says there's that's one source. You can fa waste a lot of time and money to find another source or produce one. But not most likely the fidiciary duty of the contracting officer. Uh if it it it finalizes authenticates as only one source, they can go for it. Uh this contract is I believe for two years and four months.

071So the annual u per you know uh the cost is $145,000 for all the schools who are participating. Am I right? >> I will defer to Miss Burden on the exact amount, Miss Burton. >> Uh yes, that's correct. >> Okay. And while we're at the topic at Soul Source, what is the percentage of Soul Source in the all the contracting uh dollars we spend every year on just a percentage? >> So, we've really worked to um minimize soul source contracts over the last decade. And I know I believe we're at 14 currently for the year. some of which are for example this contract and you've seen others IB College Board testing like there isn't another group to sole source college board contracting to. So Miss Burton do you want to hazard a guess or do

072we want to get back to the board um with that percentage? >> Yeah, I would I would like to get back with the a percentage amount but but you are correct. This year we fiscal 26 we have about 14 and uh we've made great strides in reducing the number of soul source contracts over the last few years. >> So while it is not the ideal thing to do soul sources but you know I've been working in federal government space for a long time and my colleagues are too here and uh there are soul source happening all the time there too. So there is uh absolutely the discretion of a contracting officer to find there's only one source available and they do it. So I believe that's the case here. So I'm I'm supportive of this.

073Thanks. >> Thank you, Miss Dixit. Seeing no others, I'll go ahead and call for a vote on the motion which is on the screen. All those in favor, Mr. Fresh, Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Mackle, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson and myself. All those opposed. All those abstaining. Mr. Dannon. Will the clerk please read the vote? 1001. The motion carries. >> Thank you. Agenda item 9.01 performance review safety and security EL13 monitoring report. Each year, the school board assesses the superintendent in part on the basis of the school board's or the school's division's reasonably reasonable progress towards achieving the 2023 2030 strategic plan goals in adherence to a set of 13 executive limitations found on pages 14 through 31 of the board strategic governance manual. The superintendent provides

074annual monitoring reports to the board for each executive limitation. The board then votes on whether the provided report is in compliance or if a corrective action is needed. I call on Dr. Reid for the monitoring report on executive limitation 13 safety and security. Good evening, Madam Chair. Bless you, vice chair. Uh members of the board and the public. Uh tonight I'm going to be presenting executive limitation 13 which discusses safety and security. I do want to say before I start that I want to thank uh many members of our safety and security team who've joined us this evening. just want to take stand up for a minute so we can recognize you team. Thank you. These are some of our hardest working staff members in the county and um their hours are often a little

075unusual and they put in a tremendous amount of dedicated effort to keep our students, staff, and community members that are in our schools safe. Uh reminder that executive limitation 13 uh states that it's important to have plans developed to ensure students and staff are provided with a safe and secure learning and working environment that supports student achievement. In this case, I believe that um to the best of my knowledge, information and belief, we have gathered information and evidence that I believe supports compliance with the board's exe executive limitation associated with this topic. and I'm going to be sharing some highlights this evening. For those of you watching online, we have the full report is posted to board doc so you can follow along on the full report or the PowerPoint. A reminder that there are

076seven areas of executive limitation 13. All parts of item one can be seen on this slide. I think we had a lot of subtext when we were putting this together. Um and the next slide shares the remaining items in EL13. Although I'm going to be sharing highlights this evening only. The entire report again is on board docs. So I want to begin by sharing some of the new or newly added information on the next slide. Thank you. Um so enhancements have been made. Actually we've been very busy um in our safety and security office. Want to note that we have new console radio software that's allowing us now to monitor and communicate directly with schools walkie-talkies which is really important not to have levels of interace. It has the capacity to connect to schools walkie-talkie

077systems because we have many schools that are adjacent to one another approximal geographically. So it now allows them to communicate with one another. We're working with the Fairfax County Radio Shop with support from the Fairfax County Police Department to begin encrypting FCPS radio traffic. This new upgrade to our system provides greater security in radio communications used within the school division. New public service radios were programmed and delivered to each school. The new radios are Wi-Fi capable, which should eliminate up to 98% of poor reception spots. This is important because we want to make sure that in an emergency situation, we're able to have clear reception. It would not be a good thing to have gaps in a conversation and not hear every word. So, really appreciate the hard work of our team. And we've replaced

0783,500 radios assigned to the elementary schools in the last year. That would be 3,500. New officer radios were added that include tracking software which enable us to see where our safety and security officers are and allocate resources more quickly especially in emergency circumstances. Other new um information um on the next slide is that as part of our ongoing commitment to strengthening layered safety and security programs over the last year, we have phased in weapons detection systems across all middle and secondary schools and high schools. Um, in the school division, the high schools and secondary schools were completed in September of 2025 and all middle schools were completed by November 2025, a month ahead of schedule. Want to share the information around our new Raptor um security and the Raptor wearable emergency response buttons. The ERBs

079are the newest enhancement in our layered uh approach to school safety and security. And this new emergency management system supports rapid coordinated emergency response by enabling staff to discreetly request help if standard methods of communication are not accessible. When activated, these alerts um are able to alert emergency responders and on-site staff, providing location information within the school, identifying where emergency response button was activated. Um, and it includes wearable ERBs for FCPS staff working at schools. Um, and only works on school grounds. But I think another feature that is a strong positive is it's not just within the school, but also out on our fields where we often have um, staff and children. The infrastructure installations are now complete at all schools and the system will be going live later this spring. Stay tuned. Uh to

080ensure impacted staff understand how and when to use this, a mandatory virtual training estimated to take 15 minutes to complete was assigned to all impacted staff. The standard response protocol cards were developed to ensure a coordinated effective response during an event and to promote consistency of the response by using a common specific vocabulary for emergency situations. and these are being issued to members of the school-based crisis management teams. Our K-9 detection program was established as an added layer to our comprehensive security approach. Uh this K9 detection program um actually was used today in a circumstance at school because we know our resources in the county are limited. So, this is a nice uh partnership with our Fairfax County Police Department uh where we're able to have Zeke, our K9 um let's see, how am I

081going to characterize him? Our K9 protection um employee um our K9 protection uh member uh is able to detect firearms, components, ammunition, and illegal drugs. And uh for those of you watching in the community, as we've had um over the last couple years threats of explosives and other incidiary devices or the possibility of um weapons, Zeke is able to very quickly and efficiently um be able to search these so we can give peace of mind much more quickly to students, staff, and families. And he works for um very limited kibble um which we're uh also uh pleased about. Um he does support school-based safety assessments and assists in divisionwide operational safety activities consistent with FCPS uh policy. The K9 team uh we have a uniform K9 trained safety and security officer with Zeke. U they've

082completed weapon searches training at schools and now available for school requests as a follow-up. And Zeke has actually been uh relatively busy um over the last several months. Uh finally, we're looking at the implementation phase of deploying mobile data tablets on our school buses. These tablets are introduced also as a part of phased approach to strengthen transportation safety, communication, and operational consistency. This helps support making sure we have the right students on our buses and that we don't have non- studentents boarding our buses. It also makes sure we're able to have um rerouting centrally when we have accidents or emergency circumstances, weather, trees over roads, etc., and supports our substitute drivers with their um routing. It also um allows drivers who might be substitutes to have a fallback fail safe so we don't have students

083accidentally getting off on the wrong uh bus stops. So, this is a a very important new safety uh feature. It's integrated with existing GPS, radio, and safety protocols. And again, these tablets represent an additional layer in our comprehensive transportation safety and security. So far, we've provided our bus routes. We have over 3,000 bus routes and 45,000 bus stops to the Virginia Department of uh Transportation for inclusion on their geographic mapping system. And this was new in the last year, the addition of these uh routes and stops. And this allows the VOTE crews to better prioritize our routes and stops when conducting inclement weather preparations and cleanup. And we've talked about this really um Mr. Muick and Mr. Lambert, Mr. Gordon, our team. Uh Mr. Muick worked directly with VOTE and this is a first for

084a partnership to have all of our routing on their maps as well. So, we're um really excited to have that partnership and VOTE has been a great partner for us um this winter and honestly on a regular basis. We're grateful for their partnership. Um in August 2025, we published the FCPS weather safety page um again following a compre comprehensive review of its prior content and we continue to update that. Uh in the spring of 2025, after our last report, we began implementing implementing uh the school board's recommendation for an annual school traffic and pedestrian safety assessment, which is led by the OSS safe routes to schools program by launching an initial pilot with six schools. These assessments include a data analysis based on data collected uh through the first annual school-based traffic and pedestrian safety

085assessment. Again, this is a new process this year to identify recurring safety concerns, particularly during student arrival and dismissal times. Um, this includes illegal vehicle movements, unauthorized drop off location, speeding, and infrastructure limitations. I will pause here for a moment because I did meet a uh sixth grader at Lorton Station Elementary whose science project was to revise the kiss and ride process. And she created a an app actually apparently that um will minimize and eliminate um a lot of congestion for our kiss and ride um loop. So we're looking forward to perhaps um building on um the work of our student at Lorton station. Uh finally, safe routes to schools initiated a development of a school specific walking and biking route maps. Again, laying the groundwork for long-term improvements. So, madame chair, um this concludes

086the presentation for executive limitation 13 and look forward to answering any questions the board has. >> Thank you so much, Dr. Reid, I now call on Miss Lady for a motion. >> I move the school board finds that the superintendent is in compliance with executive limitation number 13, safety and security. I further move that the school board approve the monitoring report based on the superintendent's reasonable interpretation of executive limitation 13 safety and security as outlined in the strategic governance manual. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Uh Miss Lady, would you like to speak to your motion? >> Yes, I would. Um well, this is uh very extensive. Um, you know, certainly evidence demonstrates a vigorous layered approach to security characterized by significant technological upgrades and rigorous personal monitoring. So,

087uh, a couple things I really want to highlight is uh, the raptor response buttons. I really like our little SR uh, SR ERP uh, cards, especially the back of them with has the emergency contacts for so many uh, anything you would need. Um, and you know, having worked in schools for 30 years, you always have that flitting thought when something is happening somewhere else and your heart is breaking for that community and thinking what would I do if it were here if it was my school and you go through your own where would I go and have this on my person would be is an amazing step forward. Um, I also really want to compliment the FBI wrapback program um that we were the first in the state. Are there other jurisdictions in the state

088of Virginia that are doing that uh FBI wrapback program? >> I will uh defer to Mr. Lambert. I believe we're the first and maybe still only, but Mr. Lambert. >> Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Solomon. >> Uh thank you for the question, Miss Lady. Uh FCPS continues to be the only school division in the state of Virginia that is using Rapback. And once again, Rapback is continuous fingerprinting monitoring. So rather than fingerprinting somebody one time point in time, it's continuously reviewing their fingerprints. We were the pilot and we continue to be the only school division. >> Yeah. I I I just can't say enough about that, right? I mean, I got fingerprinted, you know, my goodness, back in 1995 and you never fingerprinted me ever again. So, had I done something in my 27 years in

089Fairfax, you would have never known. Um, and that's a scary reality. and and and to think that we've got 37,000 faculty uh staff employees who are part of this um and in a and in a system where we employ that many people sadly there are going to be some things that are going to bubble up um and I'm grateful that they do because we're addressing them in a very timely and efficient fashion um and holding them accountable and and and therefore again this this endeavor this commitment is is for me among the safety and security the biggest commitment to the safety of our children um initially in terms of of threats. Uh so I really appreciate that. Um the other thing I wanted to comment on is as you did is the transportation and the

090relationship with VOTE uh mapping our our uh routes. Um we've had a difficult winter with Snowcrete and other things and um you know certainly uh that relationship I think has been very beneficial. I also think it's fascinating you just shared a sixth grader >> has created an app. >> It's true. >> Sixth grader. I I I really really like the idea of limited screen time. I'm a believer in wait till 8 or wait till you have a driver's license to have a cell phone people. But I will tell you without putting some type of device in that child's hand, she wouldn't have that creativity to create that. So we I also believe for those people out there in all kinds of safety protocols. But that's pretty impressive stuff. Um, and I think that uh, oh,

091also the other thing was um, the the bus safety tablets. I think that's fantastic. I know that there were times uh, well, let's put it this way. I look forward to these being on every bus so that we always know exactly who is on each bus uh, and when they when they get off. Um, given as many children as we transport on a given day, I think it's essential for us to track them, each individual student. So, I really appreciate the work by staff and uh this great report. Thank you. >> Dr. Anderson, would you like to speak to your second? >> Yes, surprisingly. So, um thank you for this information. I I wanted to just kind of piggyback a little bit on the VOTE relationship. I think I missed that a little bit. Does

092that mean they're going to prioritize our our routes when it comes to snow removal? >> Yes, ma'am. they were um the commitment was they would prioritize the routes other than private HOA areas obviously they can't utilize but of of those roads that VOTE was a party to or that they have a responsibility for um there were several things one would be prioritizing the routes and two really attempting not to dump the snow piles at bus stops if they were aware of it I don't know that's probably a better way of saying >> so the bus stops are going to be kind of tagged in some way so they kind of be mindful of those intersections or locations. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Well, that is definitely optimistic news. Thank you. Um, I wanted to ask about

093the the K9 usage or rather deployment. How is that going to be used here? Because I think I talked to you about um when I worked in a school in California, there was a K9 that was regularly deployed to schools on an unscheduled uh manner to just walk around and sniff lockers and do different things that really enhance I think security. And so I wanted to ask how are you thinking it's going to be deployed in our schools here? Well, currently Zeke has been uh deployed to uh schools for um explosives detection, um weapons detection. There are times perhaps um you know there was a thought that maybe an individual might have dropped a weapon out on a playground, maybe a community member and Zeke has been um the K9 on the spot and has

094been able to uh utilize his uh training uh to support just that type of work. We have not really um contemplated at this time uh anything beyond that, but I think as Zeke is accustomed to the work and as we see how much time we'll have of Zeke, it's certainly something we could consider. Um although I think when you and I spoke about it, one of the things we discussed is uh often lockers were the um areas that um were searched and so a lot of our schools don't use lockers any longer. So there's certainly there's a little different condition. Uh but we really think just the safety and security um aspect is important, but I I will ask Mr. Lambert if he'd like to comment on Zeke's expertise kind of and what we're using

095him for right now because I I just think that's important. Mr. Lambert. >> Thank you, Dr. Reid. Um we have him working a Monday to Friday schedule when our students are in school. Um, but Zeke does live with his handler, so he's able to go out at any time and is expected to to come out if something is needed. We've also started to um socialize his skills with the different principal groups. Um, particularly as we know that our schools are used for community use. Um, Zeke is available to go out perhaps before the school day starts um as needed to run through a school and give that comfort that uh although we screen students in our middle and high schools every day that Zeke has a chance to run through and give that confidence level

096to a school and he's been used already as Dr. Reed said um ironically for a lot of um loose shell casings that are found and it helps the school quickly get a comfort level that there is not a gun nearby that bullet casing. >> Okay. >> Right. And Zeke um does not he he's not limited to a 40hour week. Is that what I >> That was my next question. Does he work a 9 to5? >> I think gets kibble and a half if he goes over 40 hours. Well, his handler may be limited in time, though, right? >> Indeed. Yes, ma'am. >> Yeah. Um, can you speak a little bit more to the mobile tablets? I I just want to kind of picture what what I'll see. So, the tablets are in front of the

097driver and they will have a list of all students who are supposed to be on the bus. So the tablet actually is going to function very much so like a GPS like I program into my um phone actually the map and it gives turn byturn signals right ways envision ways that type of thing um so it'll give them turnbyturn signals when they actually stop there's students will be issued in the fall an RFI card so they're going to swipe the side of the tablet and we did a bit of a video which I probably need to resurface here, but they're going to swipe and the tablet will know who is assigned to the bus. So, it'll e and it'll bring up the picture of the student. So, a driver can see the picture that comes

098up and the student to make sure that the student is the right they're on the right bus. And this is particularly important for our young children in the early part of the year because sometimes they get confused and we don't want to get them on the wrong bus. And it's also important for um some of our um adolescent youngsters who um I don't know that they forget which bus they should be on, but sometimes um want to get on a different bus. Uh and that also make, you know, drivers are aware of that. And sometimes it's a substitute driver, right? Our regular drivers are so great. They know our children. They're professional, but they're, you know, they sometimes have a sub who may not know. Um, and then lastly, you know, recently there was an

099issue actually several years ago in one of our counties in Maryland where there was a person that got on a bus who should never have even been on a bus um actually with a gun at that point um up to no good. So this again should provide a layered safety uh protocol so that drivers have good turn uh routing and if there's an accident or the road gets closed. We had the flooding on the bridge Monday on the Wood Wilson Bridge, right? So just it really it reroutes buses in real time. Um and we should also better understand who's on the on the bus. >> Sure. I think it's definitely a nice layer and I think it will be very helpful particularly for our littlest um writers, but I'm just concerned about those kindergarten students

100keeping track of whatever that swipe card is uh regularly unless it's going to be some sort of lanyard that they'll have to bring in back and forth. Um my next question is regarding safe routes to schools. Can you speak to um the pilot which included six schools? What are some of the typical supports that are provided by central office from the findings? >> Yes, ma'am. That's a great question. Who would like to provide a couple of those typical supports? Mr. Lambert. >> Yes. Thank you, Dr. And um Kiss and Ride is by far far and away the largest challenge that uh is faced at any school. Um those numbers of folks using kiss and ride have only increased following the pandemic and many of our schools uh were built at a time uh inside of

101neighborhoods, small neighborhoods. So congestion trying to compete with buses coming in are the largest challenge. Uh we have folks who regularly go out and meet with the school staff and brainstorm on ways to route the traffic and you know move these folks in and these folks out and where do folks sit. But far and away it's um kiss and ride issues that are are the primary. >> And do you also give some supports with when the kiss and ride line snakes into the neighborhoods, blocks traffic or uh blocks driveways? Is that still under your jurisdiction since it's a little bit off campus? >> We work with the principles who are doing a great job working with their communities to try to message about ways to to resolve it. Um, unfortunately it's not always something that

102we can control, but we try to work through the communications from the principal and most of the time that's been largely successful. There are just limits at some of the schools when you get inside of the smaller neighborhoods. I and I raised that because that continues to be a significant point of concern in our neighborhood over multiple schools where community is wanting some very strong action as it's off-campus and don't realize that we're somewhat limited. And my wondering is are some of these supports um do they include connecting with the police department to help support some of these off-campus um activities? >> Yes, ma'am. In some instances, obviously, we don't want to make that our first attempt, but we do work with the police department, the local station, particularly in instances where we find parents

103will park their car and get out and walk and leave it blocking. Um, one of the more creative responses that the safe routes to school team is trying to work on with some of those schools is finding parks or locations that are nearby and doing what they call a walking bus. Um, so it does two things. It gets the kiss and ride away from the school, but it also encourages walking to school. So, that's one of the techniques that when they go in into a school that they try to see if they can get support for. >> Oh, that's very interesting. Um, my next question is about the um student safety lessons that were highlighted. Is that done through the HPE curriculum? Is that health and is that also part of the opt out for

104parents or everyone will receive those lessons? So, Dr. Prescidio, you want to comment on those lessons, please? >> Yeah, thank you, Dr. Anderson. Um, yes, th that is part of the health and PE curriculum. That's not an opt out. Our opt out is for family life education. >> Thank you. Um, I don't know how much time I have, so please put me on a go back. Um, I wanted to also talk about the school visitor management system. I know in the beginning of the year this was a thing that created a little bit concernation and there were some um I guess adjustments. Where are we now with that? Because it's another layer of security. >> Yes ma'am. I think there are um two things. the volunteer management system was I think we had some fits

105and starts because in the wrapback program as we were fingerprinting and running prints for um 40,000 staff at the same time we were trying to fingerprint volunteers we really hit a log jam this past fall um and that's more so in the volunteer management system because it's the first time we've put our volunteers in a major database. The visitor management system is what visitors who may just be coming onto campus need to swipe. And we're transitioning to a different product with that that we will be piloting um that's connected to Raptor and will save us money not having another proprietary system. >> I think I did mean the volunteer. So is that >> we feel like we've got a handle on that now. it truly the con um how do I want to say the

106intersection of 40,000 staff being fingerprinted and moved into wrapback at the same time we were um fingerprinting a large number of volunteers and contractors has been a a challenge but we think we've moved beyond that at this time >> I'll take a go back please >> thank you Dr. Anderson u Mr. Fresh. >> Thank you. I think we're all dying to know what collective bargaining unit is Zeke a member of. >> Um, Zeke is not bargaining at this time. Um, >> is he bargaining? >> He's begging. Bargaining. >> All right, we'll leave it there. Uh, Zeke is much more intimidating a name than like Officer Buster. Um, when I was growing up, my high school had metal detectors, and this was just five or six years ago. Um, and it was a transition for me

107because I'd never had those in school before. They had it at all three entrances. We had uh a back entrance where cars came in, a side entrance where cars came in and students were uh through those detectors before entering the school, and we had it at the front entrance where kids getting off the bus uh went through it. Um, this was the largest campus in Los Angeles Unified School Division. Um, and nothing really changed with how they administered the process, but a few weeks in, student behavior about how and when they got to school changed. At the beginning of our use of these systems, there were a lot of backups um at school entrances uh because there were just lines. How has that evolved over the course of the year? >> Yes, sir. That's a

108great question. And I um we started I think as we began to learn the system and then students better understood what types of things might trigger the system for a secondary check and therefore there's been a lot of adjustment and the lines became a lot shorter. I will also say we um I'm not sure I'm supposed to talk about the intensity so I don't uh I think we sent letters home right? We did shift the intensity of the weapon screener in the sense that it now um actually even has a more sensitive uh detection. And for a while that sort of slowed us down again, but now I think we've gotten back in a groove. And I think Mr. Lambert can share the actual uh percentage of secondary searches because that's what slows the process

109down. But Mr. Lambert, >> thank you Dr. Reid. Um and you're right, Mr. Fr. Um the student behavior did change. I was out at Westfield very early on and talking to then principal Dvari and he was telling me that previously, you know, students rolled in and walked through the door as the bell rang and they quickly adjusted to arrive and park their cars and come in quicker and so students really are the most adaptable and they adapted extremely quick uh quickly to it. Um what we're doing that I I would want to share is each of those devices gives us data for each school and by each tower and we have each tower like labeled. So we get a report every morning when the high schools and middle schools have loaded in and we can

110see by school um what percentage of people are actually alarming and so that enables us and uh Steve who's here took that on as a project and went out to schools that were having difficulty to help refine their process and sometimes that was technical. you know, we're too close to an electrical area, but that data really allows us to focus on areas for improvement so that we get all schools more moving toward the lower detection rates. And while I got the microphone, I have to say, you know, Miss Karns at um Lake Bradock is processing um more students in a single day through weapon screening than any school in the United States of America. I was going to say I bet you can also measure uh how many fish are swimming through the stream uh

111in a given day and what the volume is over time. Uh, it's fascinating and you know, I'd be I'd regret not mentioning that we we don't get too specific during our conversations about this because we don't want to telegraph anything to the public. But >> speaking generally, um, can you describe at a high level how the division evaluates whether the overall safety strategy is working? Obviously, it's hard to prove a negative, right? So, we're seeing, you know, real or false positives, etc. But it's hard to prove a negative. How do we determine if we have the appropriate level of redundancy or um effective measures if if it's a difficult thing to measure when you're not necessarily having incidents? >> Yes, sir. And I think um the difficult uh well, I'll just use March Madness for

112example. Um, when the officiating is amazing, no one notices them, right? You just notice the game. And when our safety and security team is at its best, no one notices because everything runs smoothly. And we don't often hold big celebrations and big, you know, uh, banner events to announce things are running smoothly, right? We just don't do it. Uh, but they do. And um we've uh certainly found weapons over the course of this year. Um and we haven't, knock on wood, had a major um weapons incident this year. But Mr. Lambert, do you want to elaborate at all on how the team evaluates effectiveness? >> Sure. And you're asking a very valid question. It is difficult to prove. Um I I would say that we haven't had a um firearm come into our schools this

113year. Um which you know we we had had in previous years. Um there there is some evidence from some other school divisions who had some data that they were able to look at. Jefferson County, Kentucky. Um they had 28 firearms found in their school in the 22 23 school year to four in the school year after. Um, I think one of the things that was kind of informing for us is when we looked at some of the data regarding firearms is to think about TSA, which is something everyone can relate to. And in 2005, there were 660 guns caught at a TSA checkpoint. A place you know that you're going to be screened. Again, 660 in '05. In 2023, that number was 6,737. And so I I think that you just have to look at

114the possibility that somebody could have a weapon coming in when you have that many going to an airport. Um is a compelling reason that you would want to add this this layer of security. >> And I accept that that was a sports metaphor that I'll talk to Miss Lady later to understand. Um I I'm curious if we do have this data about uh these you know for lack of a better word alarms or what have you. What are we doing in the culture in the school to ensure that schools where this is happening people don't feel the need to bring something like that whether for safety or for other reasons. >> So I think uh this evening you did a proclamation around social emotional learning and curriculum materials. I think that's a huge part of

115the conversation. Uh we also appreciate all the families in Fairfax County who secure their firearms. We know that uh 85% of school shootings occur with a weapon a student has brought from home. So we appreciate our families who secure their weapons at home in our county. I do think that um we also have I think the most incredible staff in the country. Our educators, our support staff, our drivers who know our students, our support staff, our custodians lunch, our educators. We honored our social workers this evening who spend countless hours uh with families and students. Um so I think you know the best prevention is a you know a healthy school and community culture. Um and as we are able to provide activities um whether they're middle school after school activities, athletics, theater, music, uh

116robotics, career and technical ed, the more things our children are engaged in, um I think the better in terms of uh an educational experience that's free from violence. Uh, I appreciate you mentioning uh secure storage of firearms. Several years ago, our school division became the first in Virginia to require the annual notification of families reminding them of their legal obligations. And thankfully, two of our former colleagues, Lauren Cohen and the House of Delegates, Stella Picarski in the Senate, passed legislation this year uh that will require that statewide. So, uh I'm grateful to see that work continuing. Last question. Uh a few years ago, the board uh requested an annual traffic and pedestrian safety assessment similar to the CIP. I know that that's something that's been in the works this year. We were given a preview

117of how that process would unfold uh over the last year. Are we close to being ready for the first uh issuing of that that assessment? >> Yes, sir. I believe we did six schools um this past year. Um and was at I'm sorry, Mr. Muick, Mr. Mr. Lambert, which one of your offices conducted that, Mr. Lambert? Okay. >> Yes, ma'am. Uh, in the spring of 2025, we did the six school pilot and then this current school year, the 2526 school year, was the first year of that iteration. And so, we let the schools get acclimated during the month of September. October was data collection month where we also sent out templates to the schools to solicit feedback from their community. Um, as well as principles filling out surveys. Um we partnered with VOTE to take

118some different um vehicle counting machines to some different schools. Uh November and onward was an analysis section. Then they looked at a select group of schools to focus on with the goal of producing a report and meeting with VOTE F DOT and others to talk about the common themes that are being developed but to pick about the 10 worst schools to focus on every year. and then by June memorializing the report. So it it is meant to be a October through June cycle where we would uh give you something around June with the u this year's actions >> and I think what Mr. Lambert meant was the 10 schools that perhaps had the most congestion around them. Yes. >> Uh very much appreciate that news. That is an example of work that's happening uh because

119of compromise. I had initially wanted to have an assessment for one of my elementary schools. Miss Omisha, a former board member, said, "I've talked to board members and they all have something like this in their school. Why don't we do it for everybody?" And so, uh, brought forward a forum topic to lead to something like this and grateful to hear this is coming. Uh, kiss and rides were brought up. And in Providence district, there are several elementary schools where kiss and rides result in huge backups um in neighborhoods. And it is a constant refrain. and I'm grateful to hear that we're moving forward with a report that's looking at how we can prioritize the work to address those. Thank you. >> Yes, sir. Mr. Moon. >> Uh, thank you, Madam Chair. Thanks for the presentation

120and talking about kiss and ride. I think I was at a at an elementary school yesterday in Ann there after early release. I mean, I'm I'm sure this happens every day, but long long line of you know, parents and others picking off. Uh I just couldn't believe how long that was getting onto the uh little you know larger a not just ones directly going into the school. So uh uh immediately felt that something some something needed to be done per you know it is it's not going to be just that particular elementary school but perhaps throughout the county creating a a lot of traffic jam and also felt that might also create a safety issues as well. So with that I I wanted to ask you some questions regarding weapons detection systems. I think some

121of the questions were already asked by Mr. fresh and appreciate that uh weapons detection systems we have that in all our mid and high and secondary scores placed it correct and and that required obviously us you know investing our financial resources to that I mean this is a resource allocation is for me first of all of course saving you know preventing uh any any tragic incident uh is utmost important saving a people's lives is you know I mean money cannot compensate that but at the same time uh we are putting in not just for the hardware but we are putting in steps time to step the weapons detection system where students go through every day every morning and every afternoon wherever people come they go through that. So when would you think you would feel

122as a superintendent comfortable enough? comfortable enough not to staff at those weapons detection system as much as we are currently doing because that is taking a lot of time away from what the staffs normally used to do whether they are administrators or they are counselors counselors who could be using their time to meet with the students for their academic counseling or college advice. ing or postgraduation plans and etc. Uh so those are some of the things I was hearing from you know students and others. So again I want to know I want to know when what would you use to gauge your point about recommending to the school board to reduce or do away with the weapons detection system. So, it's a great question. I at this time, uh I think there's also a benefit

123for staff um to greet students every morning. Um it reminds me of my principal days. We our admin staff was out, you know, meeting buses, greeting high school students. I think there's a benefit to that. You get to see students first thing in the morning and you get a sense of how the day might go in some cases. Um I think that schools have latitude in how they choose to staff um the open gate in the morning and it's true it is taking more time. Um but I also think that the benefit of that layered protection is important. Um so I don't think I will be recommending removing that anytime soon. Um I so I think that would be my answer right now but I'll certainly give it some thought. Mr. Moon, >> you know,

124Dr. Reed, perhaps I should give you a little time to think about this and get back to us later time. Thank you. >> Yes, sir. >> Miss Dixon, >> thank you Dr. Reed for the presentation. Um I actually uh have seen the the rap the cards the raptor cards um in the school getting the installation done and and um I I think this is like the best thing possible for the safeguarding of our students um in case of emergencies getting that information out um because I know sometime sometime the brain doesn't work right you you get like a brain freeze u in some situation and just knowing that you can press a button and and you know that that something will happen. So I wanted to actually know um about the this raptor's technology is

125it uh going to provide it to key key personnel persons in school like principal or or the all the staff members the raptor technology. >> Yeah. >> So the raptor technology is really for every staff member in the school and we did a a test was it was it this morning or yesterday? I think it was this morning at one of our schools and a test also for us, right? I have all the schools on uh my Raptor app. So when there is an alert, there's a text that comes across my phone immediately um from whatever school and it comes across uh Mr. Lambert's phone and other key people who have that alert on their phones even as it goes directly to law enforcement. But I'm going to let Mr. Lambert who knows a lot

126more about it than I do. Uh but the idea is that anyone anywhere could um activate this. Um Mr. Lambert, >> thank you Dr. Reed. Um Miss Dixit, we're very excited about it because it's going to put knowledge and the ability to call for an emergency into all the employees staff at a school. So pick whatever school you'd like. If somebody starts that alert, everybody who's in that school, should they choose to have the app or on their uh FCPS computer, it notifies them immediately, uh, for example, Brian Lambert has just pushed the button. >> Everybody else from that school can then have communication in the app and understand what it is that's happening. And so, just to give you a comparison, right now, if a principal were to put a school into lockdown, for

127example, uh, the teachers in the rooms don't know what's going on. they just know that they're in a lockdown. This provides an opportunity for real-time communication where they can communicate, hey, you know, this is what I saw or this is what is happening. Um, and as Dr. Reid said, uh, key leaders can choose which schools that they want. Obviously, myself, Dr. Reid, and others will be getting the alerts for all of the schools. And we we did do the test today. It's like an Amber Alert, so it's not like you're going to be focused in a meeting and miss it 30 minutes later. It lets you know that something has uh happened. >> Thank you for sharing. So I know parents are very u concerned sometime in you know this recently happened in Maryland school

128when you know incident happened. Uh can this technology be used to inform the parents also there as an alert system? >> So I know Brian or Mr. Lambert's going to answer that in a minute, but I do believe there's a feature because one of the things we want to do is real time communication in a interval fashion. So, Mr. Lambert. >> Yes, ma'am. And I I believe I just read recently that at um one of the unfortunate incidents in Virginia that a parent was able to get some information about what was happening at their child's college or university as a result of it. Uh the the product actually has so many features to it that we're going to be unpacking over the next year. Um reunification being one of them that that it provides in

129there. So it is a very adaptable tool and we are very pioneering in how we used it. This tool was actually built as a lockdown tool and we went to the manufacturer and said we don't we don't want a lockdown tool. We want an emergency tool because an emergency takes many forms and you know one response of putting everybody in a lockdown may not be appropriate for the emergency that you're seeing and so the company was adaptive and built it to fit Fairfax County Public Schools and now other school divisions are looking at how we are amending it. >> Oh that's great. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Um the other uh thing about this obviously we have the great weapon detection system right now. Um and and like you said it has stopped

130live uh fire firearms. Um we have protecting the high schools I understand with this technology. Um our vulnerable population is our elementary schools. We don't have full-time SRO I believe in our elementary school either. Um or so is it a possibility of extending this to elementary or is it too difficult of a system to to bring it to our elementary schools? >> So the raptor system is in the elementary schools. >> No, sorry. I meant to say the weapon detection system. >> The weapons detect detection system. We want to make sure that as we look at data um also the number of firearms generally that a student would bring is a very very low percentage um given 143 schools um to outfit with that um equipment. Uh but Raptor allows that early detection. I do

131know we're looking I'm going to let Mr. Lambert respond to that. We're looking at some other uh layered safety features for elementary Sure. Um and Raptor was of course something big for elementary schools because we recognize they don't have as many resources. Um there's a lot of talk about AI over cameras and I am excited to share that the technical security team is in a pilot right now where they are um have AI over some of our lenses that look for things not just weapons but slips falls um things that are out of order and like the large langu language models do it takes several weeks for them to see an area and learn from it and so we believe that foundationally weapon screening is best done through the laborious task of of open gate,

132but we believe like other people are that using the tools that we have and Fairfax County has over 10,200 unique views right now from cameras that that is a frontier for us that we are looking to explore and we're piloting that right now. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. And lastly, I'll just say about Zeke that I'm looking forward to meeting him in one of the school may be welcome for to the board meeting where we all can say meet pro officer Zeke and um I do have a German Shepherd which could be a friend to Zeke if they they ever get to meet each other. >> I think Zeke is flying solo at the moment. >> Thank you, Mr. Exit. Mr. Dannon, >> thank you very much and thank you all

133for the earlier welcome on the school board. I very excited to serve with you all and I'll share more later. But um I wanted to state for the record that I do believe that Zeke is a very good boy and um if your dog and and Zeke and our foster dog would like to have a playd date sometime, let us know uh before he gets adopted. Um and a couple questions. Uh one was around the ERB devices. Can you just share your sense what you've heard from staff? I recognize that they've all been trained or most of them have been trained on these devices. Um what's the sentiment that you've heard from staff, positive, negative, neutral? >> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Dan. And um at this point, the ERB devices have not yet been fully

134rolled out. The training has been, but the devices have not. Um they're currently a limited divisionwide feedback from teachers and staff because they haven't been uh fully rolled out. That's going to be later this spring. During planning for this, staff raised questions focused on privacy and implementation um including how personal data is managed and whether staff have to install the app on their personal devices. Uh these questions helped inform the rollout approach uh with an emphasis on clear communication uh privacy protections and options for staff. Um so as the implementation progresses, we're going to get more substantive feedback um which the team will monitor and adjust for. >> I appreciate that. Um and then second item was around um school safety and security specialists. So separate from the SRO's um most of us know that

135having a trusted adult can make a huge difference and is a big part of that layered approach as we've talked about um so far. Uh can you talk a little bit to the training and um support that those personnel are given um both on the outset? I know that they get a few days training um when they start. Um but is there any uh ongoing inservice training to help them with forming relationships and so forth in schools because um again as part of that related approach uh a child that you know learns that there's somebody giving tattoos in the bathroom or something like that is much more likely to come to a trusted adult like those personnel. So can you just speak to um how we're working and training up those personnel for that? >>

136Yes, sir. Um the school security officers are actually school-based staff um who work under the leadership of the principal. So they do report directly to principles. Uh their role is actually intentionally designed uh to balance safety and relationship building to your point Mr. Dan. And uh it the role supports enforcement of school rules uh while also serving as consistent trusted adults within the building. And honestly relationship building is a core expectation of this role. Um these officers are encouraged to engage with students in non- enforcement settings. Uh this in hallways, cafeterias, participation at school events, and their collaboration with counselors and administrators. They do receive initial and ongoing training. Within the first 60 days, they must complete certification through Fairfax County Public Schools under the authority of the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. This

137certification requires ongoing education, including professional development um that focuses on strengthening relationships with students and staff. They're typically assigned to a single school to ensure continuity and build sustained relationships. And some schools also incorporate advisory and mentoring roles. Regarding the staffing, um there's school-based positions and the coverage during absences can be a challenge because of that because we don't have a substitute pool. Um but we're exploring other options like regional approaches to sharing um staff. >> I appreciate that. Keep us posted what you need as far as a substitute pool because I recognize having staff that are familiar with at least a few schools and not just to mention the students but also the school itself would um go a long way towards that layered approach. So, thank you. >> Yes, sir. Mr. McAfee. >>

138Uh well, thank you for the report and thank you so much to the security team for all the work they do um day in day out um at all hours. Uh and um I think uh it's um it's not hyperbole to say that um we are receiving more and more notices than than we ever have in the past about security issues, employee issues. So um really we do appreciate Mr. Lambert and all his team team does. Um, you know, I think about the uh detector um devices the same way um historically we thought about the um security cameras. So back back in 2013 when Mr. Moon and I were here debating whether we should have security cameras in schools at the high school level um there was a lot of community push back and um

139similar um to what we kind of heard about um having medical detectors in schools, but over time people realize the importance and necessity of having them and they just become part of our overall um package of um pre preventative work. Um so I think um ultimately they are um a necessity unfortunately in these times. Um but um without spending much time on it, I would just say I echo Mr. Fish and Mr. Moon and the the concerns they've raised. Um I think we're all hearing them just in terms of staffing and other issues that hopefully over time uh we'll be able to work out and I I know you know as chair of audit committee um we have had an audit on our security issues um and my understanding is we'll be bringing that to

140a close meeting soon so we can discuss some of the specifics of that. So um I look forward to that and certainly the help of um Mr. Lambert and his team in that audit process. um to talk a little bit about safe roots to schools. I know we had a um a change in that office. Uh and I heard initially a lot of um community concerns about a lot of the historic efforts that had gone into that work, whether it was organizing bike trains or things like that. Um do you have a sense of how has that improved? Um are we still having issues? >> Yes, sir. That I remember that too as soon as you started talking about that. I uh Mr. Lambert uh thoughts on that because I do recall we had a

141staffing transition in the safe routes to schools office. So >> yes ma'am. Yes sir. Around the time I arrived, there was a um there's a bit of movement of where it where it rested and it came over to the office of safety and security. And since that time, the senior manager was able to onboard actually a former SRO and police officer who has a a passion for it and two part-time students uh who recently graduated from college. And so the four of them together have been very excited, very energetic. Um they're doing a lot of creative things um beyond just the the training that they do. When I was prepping for the session, um there are somewhere north of 700 bicycles that they are moving around the county, getting to schools, getting children trained on

142on how to ride them appropriately, getting them to children sometimes who need them, running uh donation programs for people who are getting rid of their their bicycles, finding volunteers who refurbish them. Um during the summer they initiated a thing called Puzzle Hunt which was a creative way to get families out together looking for different things in the community and and and to win prizes. Um as Dr. Reid mentioned in the outset, they're also going through the different regions and mapping out each school and putting together like, hey, these are some good walking and biking routes um to do as as a family. So they they are uh very very busy. Um and I think Dr. Reed may share with you today. I think one of the really special things is they sit over at the

143sideburn facility next to Robinson and they worked uh today with um groups of children who were um special education and getting um meaningful jobs and they worked today to pack the bags um the trailers to get the bikes ready to go out for some uh different training that they're doing. and it was a special way that they were able to connect with that program at Robinson. >> That's great to hear. Um that never rises to our level. So it's it's good to know. Um and I think that um you know that's one piece to the um kiss and ride issue, right? Is is getting people trained on bikes. So that's that's great work. But another piece to the kiss and ride issue is VOTE and um the police department. Um we continue to have um

144and you know as as a parent advocate in the past um just uh unresponsiveness from VOTE when we bring concerns to them through the supervisor's office um getting you know we at my elementary school for example uh we worked uh for several years just trying to get some speed bumps installed um winkatics um and the best VOTE would do for us would be was to repaint existing crosswalk Um, and I think that's a story I hear over and over and over at our schools. And I know you're developing a deeper partnership with VOTE on snow removal and other things. So, um, I really do hope we can get a a better partnership with them on these things. >> Yes, sir. We'll work on that. And it also reminds me, we probably should do a maybe

145a strategic plan update on what's happening with safe routes to schools because I think the team is working really hard um, you know, with the routing. So, can make a note of that. Miss John Cunning, >> thank you. Um, first of all, I think that um I guess our most popular security asset now is Zeke and Luna will be on that schedule for a play date. Uh, I guess following my two other board members um requests. So, um, one of the things that I actually do want to talk about too, I mean, a couple of things when we talk about how kids are coming through the weapon detectors. I've been at schools like at the beginning and where we've progressed and everyone's like, when when are staff not going to be there? Um, or I

146don't want to say staff, certain staff members. The reality is it's a staffing issue. I mean, if we had monitors, the monitors would be there instead of the counselors. Uh, and it's it's we need people there and we don't have money to fund them. I mean, that's just the sad truth. Um, the other thing I want to talk about is kiss and ride. That has been brought up by a lot of people and our schools were not designed to support kiss and ride. And I know the safe walk to schools is a way to try to encourage parents to not do that. And I I just don't know security-wise because I know security has worked with me on several of our schools where we've had issues and vot and you know they just say this

147is not the expectation that these kids should be walking to school or maybe they're missing they're they're missing their bus or don't want to be on the bus. But our schools were not defi designed to handle that many cars coming to drop off kids. And I just don't know how we can solve that situation because we need community support with that. And we need parents to be able to understand what the true options are, >> right? >> And feel safe and secure with that. Um, I guess that's just a statement, not a question because, you know, if anybody can put their heads together and figure out how we can do that, that would be something that would be very workable. I do want to commend all the work that's being done. Um, like Miss Lady,

148I when I first got into the county, I was fingerprinted, was never fingerprinted again uh until I got this job. And I think that that has been one of the best things that we've ever done because I know that through that process um we have gotten a lot more information and I have seen the iterations that have been happening in terms of all the security features and kudos to getting all the you know uh metal detectors uh done early. Um but my question goes more to um when when are we going to see the completion of the vest vestables because I know I still have some schools in my district that don't have those and I get questions about that and I know it's a process and I know there's a cue. Um what what

149does that look like? >> Yes, ma'am. So, we um I believe have been the commitment was to continue that work in phases and I know we just approved a recent phase and I'm going to ask Mr. Gordon where we are um on our current vestibule queue. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Uh, currently there, you know, a five-phase program. We're currently getting ready to start the uh third phase of it. We've completed roughly, I think, 40 uh um vegetables and this current phase will have 21. I think phase four will have additional 20 and the fifth phase will have roughly 16. So, a total of 98 uh vegetables will be done. And how are they prioritized by who gets >> um I think there's a soization so it's an even spread across the regions. So if I

150look um you know if you include phase three uh region one will have 11 uh fa uh region two will have eight ra I think region uh three will have nine complete then region four will have 10 region five uh I'm sorry region four have will have 12 region 10 will have 10 and then region six will have seven so it's a fairly even spread across that and prioritization was done uh basically um there was an architectural you know analysis that was done and put forth and uh I can't give you the specifics on of what what was done more so than what uh screening criteria but I can look into what kind of screening criteria was used to develop that prioritization list. >> Yeah, Mr. Gordon is new this year. I do know that

151there was some collaboration early on in the development of the queue by looking at some of the community data in terms of safety within certain communities across the county with some nod to wanting to make sure um that there was some priority schools that uh occurred sooner than others. Um but other than that then it you know it really defaulted to making sure we brought all regions um on board similarly. >> Thank you. I I just really want to, you know, commend the team because I think that um at least with my tenure and what I've seen, you know, oh, I'll just it's okay. I just want to say thank you. You guys are doing great work and I think we are doing the best we can to mitigate any kind of issues and that

152our kids are safe. Our kids and our staff are as safe as they possibly can be. >> Thank you, um, Miss St. John County. And I know there's been there have been some recent uh narratives out there about our schools maybe not being safe in terms of the recitation of some of the adults over the last several years that have made bad decisions, made criminal decisions. And I would say that uh the wrapback is one of those features that enables us to know immediately. And even with those um extraordinarily disturbing circumstances with 40,000 staff um that still represents less than uh 0.03% of our staff that have engaged in those uh behaviors. So I also want people to understand that we are proud of our professional staff in all roles. Um and we're an extraordinarily

153uh safe school division with professionals that care deeply about um what's best for our children. I'm going to take a quick turn. Uh I just wanted to say that along with my colleagues, I am extremely impressed with the number of things that we've been able to accomplish as quickly as we have. Um that is in no small part to your direction and I appreciate the work that we've done to ensure the safety of our students. The other thing that I love about what we're doing is that we're diversifying the type of investments that we're putting forward towards different things across the division that is the layered safety. Um it doesn't negate the fact that you know we still need our kiddos to do exactly what they need to do and listen to us when we

154tell them how to keep themselves safe was which as a parent is always the most difficult part. Um, so I would ask though, um, one of the questions that I have is related to the Raptor system because I know that we're about to come online. How are substitutes being included in the both the training and the availability of the cards? Like is that something that we'll give them with the same badge that they receive in order to do the rest of their work throughout the day? >> So, it's a great question, u,, Madam Chair, and I will defer to Mr. Solomon. Um, in terms of how substitute teachers will be involved in the ERB or Raptor andor Mr. Lambert, I know Mr. Solom's office oversees our uh substitute teachers and Mr. Lambert the Raptor. So,

155honestly, one of the successes too is just the the uh working across departments. It's been so important. So, whichever one of you wants to take that. >> Thank you, Dr. Reid. um substitutes. We will eventually have a pool of them at the front desk so that when you arrive for the day that you would be issued one um training would take place in the same way the the my PTE but we were focusing first on the the core uh 25,000 uh teaching staff. >> Wonderful. I think that that's absolutely the layered approach that we need to take. Um I would definitely make sure that particularly when we have professional development days at schools where we may have more um sub substitutes in the building that substitutes are an important aspect to make sure that we're

156we're able to do what we're trying to do. So I just again I appreciate I and I agree with you that watching our staff work together with the issues related to how to keep our kids safe from everybody from facilities to our chief operating officer to you know obviously security but also HR. So, I really am just wholeheartedly impressed with how we're working together on this and I know that we're increasing the safety for our kids. So, I appreciate it. Um, we are now going to move to Miss McConen really fast and then we have a go back. >> Thank you so much for the work you're doing on this. Following the other three board members, I can throw my puppy Angel in there. Not sure if she's invited. Um, I think I've seen students

157get a little bit exasperated with the security system and try to bypass it. And I've also seen students not open the door for them. It's actually very funny to witness. So, good on us. I think the Raptor system is wonderful. I have questions about the elementary school safety thing. Um, I know we're not really predicting that a second grader is going to come in with a weapon, but my thing is for the visitors to those schools, um, would the AI lenses be used as a substitute to that? and would they have the same reaction time as the weapons detective system or the Raptor? >> So, it's a great question, Miss McConen, and I appreciate that our students care about safety, right, to not open the door. I think um we have um there's a a

158high interest on our students part about that. So, I appreciate you sharing that. Mr. Lambert, do you want to comment on the pilot that the very limited pilot we're doing um with the AI perhaps in the lenses? >> Sure. It it's a an amazing tool um that does give real time if it once it learns what it's looking for and it gets used to the environment a notice to whoever you've set up that somebody has it. Um like any tool it is just one layer and so it has its own limitations. It obviously can't detect something that's concealed. Um it would you know pick up something that's that's um openly displayed. But just to speak about how quickly that technology is changing just uh 15 months ago when I took the job most of the

159business cycles were set up around AI that it had to go to a call center where somebody in the middle had to interpret what they were seeing and then notify the school and companies have quickly u evolved that so that it's coming immediately to the school. So in other words, if it were an elementary school and AI were employed, the school office itself would get the result and not wait to go through a third party. Thank you. Would you guys be looking to implement the sort of weapons detective detection system that we have at like the high schools and the elementary school at the elementary school or is that something that's not really >> Are you referring to the open gate weapons detection? >> Yes. >> I I think right now um from a budget

160standpoint and cost benefit, I'm going to always trust our security experts. Number one. Number two, we have to look at what is are the most effective interventions for elementary school, right? And I do agree it's more often than not been someone who's come to the school who's not one of the the children assigned to the school, but um Mr. Lambert, do you want to speculate or do we not want to speculate on that at this time? Yeah, I I think right now we're still focusing on we've still got some work on the middle schools to do and sit back and evaluate that and the technolog is developing so quickly. You know, what's over the horizon next may be something even better. >> And I just want to end with something to think about. I was

161remembering this when Mr. Moon brought it up earlier. I remember when TJ students came here and they were saying how the weapons detectives detecting detective I'm a little bit tired guys detection system was overwhelming the staff to the point where the counselors who were who used to be able to meet with students in the morning were not able to do that and it was to the point where one of the TJ students I one of the ones we met with actually um the MSA meeting was telling me about how one of their counselors was actually thinking about stepping down because of the overload of commitment and that's just something to think about just like Mr. Moon was saying because I do see the positive. I really do like having me personally at my school having

162my teachers and administrators greeting me in the morning saying hi but also at certain schools it can be a bit of a burden on them. >> Yeah, I appreciate the I appreciate that and I do know that um it would be great to share that workload too, right? So that different staff have an opportunity to be uh supporting that system. Uh so I think that there clearly there can be more conversation on that. That's why I agree with you. >> Thank you, Dr. Anderson Ferg. Go back. >> Thank you. Not to put a damper, but this is the part where I talk about the bad calls since that was your example earlier with the with the referees. >> Yes. >> Um just a couple of um just a couple of points. I I think one

163was raised just a little bit earlier regarding the vestibules. I also think that I'm hoping for a little bit more thoughtfulness with the vestibules because originally um when that was done with the prior board, it was to really spill the visitors into the office and we've had some vestibules and Mr. Lambert has been very responsive which I very much appreciate that kind of did not get a chance to do that and I understand in places like this building where it's really really challenging but there were some other opportunities I think were missed at some schools that I'm not going to name here for the purposes of security. Uh but when you are not installing that direct path into the office that second layer is not provided. Um, and I would also be remiss if I

164didn't talk about some of the security concerns regarding our use of technology. We've heard about it from parents tonight. We heard about from parents last time and we are getting emails as we're developing our own policies regarding AI or technology. Just ensuring that we have systems in place before we move into implementation. I I think that's a a point that has to be raised. One question that I did have regarding the risk and threat assessments in the report, one of the concerns that has been raised to me over pretty much multiple years since I've been on the board are our schools that have um their great, you know, a greater share of risk assessments and threat assessments. And anybody who's working in the building will know that very often those activities not only take a

165lot of staff resource, but they kind of shut down the day for certain individuals. It could be the administrative staff. It could potentially be a teacher, a case manager. How is that data when it is collected and it's evaluated that a school has multiple assessments across um a given year? Are they provided with additional support, additional personnel? because not having the time to do your job because you're you know to do the job that you want to do on a daily basis and being responsive to the things that you have to be responsive it leaves a gap. So threat assessments are part of the job um for staff. I do think that um the central office does provide support in that area. I'm going to ask Dr. Prescidio, how sometimes those central office teams come

166out to help support schools in those circumstances. Uh Dr. Prescidio. >> Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think it starts with the central office provides an oversight um committee that does look at the overall processes and how well they're working in our schools. And that's an interdisciplinary team that's got folks from safety and security intervention and prevention services, counseling, psychology services, uh legal uh counsel as well. So we do look at that um and we are responsive to supporting the schools not just with the training but if there are additional needs that they need assistance with in terms of conducting threat assessments, risk assessments or following up on the actions, we do have staff available to support schools with that. I think that was my time. Thank you, Dr. Anderson. I will see no others. I'll

167go ahead and call for a vote which for the motion which is on the screen. All those in favor, Mr. FR, Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Mavine, uh Miss St. Jen Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Mr. Dannon, Mr. Moon, and myself. All those opposed, Dr. Anderson. Will the clerk please read the vote? >> The vote is 101. The motion carries. >> Thank you. Annually, the board will review each executive limitation at the time of the monitoring at the time the monitoring report is provided to determine if revisions are needed. School board members may offer amendments to executive limitation at any regular meeting provided they send the final amended amendment language to the board and clerk at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting to which it's be to be considered. At this time, no

168amendments have been submitted in advance of this meeting. So, executive limitation 13 safety and security was placed on the consent agenda for the later approval tonight in tonight's meeting and to maintain the current language for the year ahead. At this time, the board is going to take a few minutes um to document their individual feedback. So, we're going to go ahead and take a 10-minute recess, but a real 10 minutes. And so, I will see you guys back here at 9:42. Thank you. I know. Board members, please take your seats. Okay, kicking things back off. Agenda item 10.01, 01 fiscal year 2026 third quarter budget review. I call on Dr. Reid for a presentation on the FY26 third quarter quarter budget review. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um it's my pleasure to have our worldclass

169chief finance officer, Miss Lee Burton, uh to present our third quarter review this evening. Um so, Miss Burton, enlighten us, please. >> I will. Good evening, Chairman Anderson, school board members, and Dr. Reid. The third quarter review offers an opportunity for revisions to the fiscal 26 budget based on revenue or expenditure changes after midy year was completed uh in December. The purpose of the quarterly budget reviews is to provide the school board with information about the funds under their control and allow an opportunity to review all school department and centralized budgets to determine if any adjustments are needed. Typical changes are on the revenue side with accompanying expenditure adjustments and some examples of that would be like new large grant awards, uh large increases to existing grants, any unanticipated revenue increases and some examples of

170those would be like FEMA uh insurance settlements, projected changes in state revenue, those kinds of things. But for this third quarter, we do not have any large new or increased grant awards or any other unanticipated revenue uh or changes to expenditures. So the third quarter review in front of you is very simple and the fund statements in the appendix reflect the same data that you approved at the December meeting when we did midyear. Um, I do want to say that the lack of third quarter budget changes is testament to our accurate budgeting for revenue and so great job budget team and we convey this information to the county for inclusion in their third quarter packet to the board of supervisors. That's it. Thank you, Miss Burton. I don't see any lights, but I may in

171a second, but I'm going to go ahead take my turn really fast. Um, I do want to say that I am incredibly impressed with the fact that we're we're doing a great job in terms of recognizing where our funding is going to come from and actually figuring out how we're going to execute it and then following through with that plan. So, I I commend you and your staff for all the work that you do with that and I'm extremely impressed with with how how things are going. So, thank you for all your hard work. >> Thank you. >> U, Mr. Moon, >> thank you. Thank you. Uh I want to congratulate the financial staff and superintendent for being able to predict exactly where we going to be uh at the end of the >> we're

172not here end yet. >> Uh but but at at the same time at at the same time I have never seen no adjustment for any of the fund categories. >> Me neither. Straight down. Anytime. >> Anytime. >> Nope. >> As if. Like it's like a made of numbers. 0 0. Just do you want to do any adjustments? Just put all the zeros down as if not even not even a single scent left or right. Wow. >> Yeah. We we do not have any changes. I know. It's it's it's unprecedented. >> Yeah. Just incredible. I find because I you know I was I was going I did ask my staff because I just couldn't believe these numbers and that never once did have we had anything like this. >> Yeah. Not to my knowledge. >> Thank

173you >> Mr. Fr. >> Thank you. I turned to Dr. Reed and I said I don't think this has ever happened in my time on the board. And for Mr. moon to say that. I mean, that's like the history of the elected school board right there. So, my question is, um, you probably didn't need to give a report if there was no change. Uh, but I think it's a testament to the work of your team, the superintendent, the school division that we're at this point. Can you speak a little bit to the discipline and foresightedness that is required to get to a point where a third quarter budget review is static? Uh yeah, because there is quite a bit of work that goes into this point. Um I may let uh Miss Wiggington speak to

174that because she's a lot closer to the uh to the actual work that's done on it. But I do know that all of the budget staff spend a couple of weeks reviewing each department, each line item, um projecting what we think we're going to spend to the end of the year. Um, Alice, do you w to >> Sure. >> elaborate on that a little bit? >> Um, yes. So, um, despite there not being any adjustments, I'm I'm sorry, Mr. Fish, I'm short and so I'm over here. But, um, we do monitor every single fund, um, on a quarterly basis uh, throughout the year along with our program managers. Um, we review trends. Um, they, uh, give us a heads up about anything that might be forthcoming that we might need to recognize. And so um

175in this year we are managing everything within the budgeted funds that we currently have which is why you don't really see any adjustments but the monitoring is continuous um throughout the year for the current year while we're also developing the budget for the next year. >> Thank you. I just one more time thank you for this. I I know that this is not necessarily something that's going to happen every uh quarter, but um I think we should celebrate it and particularly the hard work that went into it. >> Thanks. >> Uh Dr. Anderson, >> thank you. Um in all the time that I've been on the board, I don't think I've seen this either. So, I did want to throw that in the conversation and I do applaud the work that's being done to make

176sure that we are as close as possible. But I think a side effect of this or rather an unintended consequence, it's because very often adjustments are made because of additional grant monies that are coming in and those other adjustments. So that's kind of a negative that we're not having anything new coming in or adjusted or bumped up. Can you speak to that a little bit? Yeah, we do have some small grants that changed, but we maintain as all school divisions and counties do. We maintain a grants reserve in the budget, which is a dollar amount for that's set aside for revenue and a dollar amount that's set aside for grant expenditures. So if when we get little small grants that have increased that are coming in, we can use that grant reserve to go ahead

177and fund those because we have an appropriation for those numbers as part of the larger budget. It's really only the big grants that come to you all for approval because they're they're too large to fit within the grant reserve. because I do remember in years past we've had some changes in um primarily ACE you know $600,000 here or $700,000 they've come in because of again of adjusted titles and block grants. So I kind of worry that not even having those changes it I it's that part is not positive. >> The the last couple of years actually the last three or four years we have handled any changes to ACE at your end. >> Thank you. >> Agenda item 10.03. >> Oh madam chair. >> Oh no 10.02. Sorry about that. Strategic plan update. >> Madam

178chair, I have my light up for a question. >> Oh, okay. Thank you, Miss Mayor. >> Thank you. >> So, I can address my comments to the superintendent as she walks up. Okay. Um, so regarding the midyear budget, um, you know, I I'm I appreciate that the accuracy and this this new uh occurrence. I was thinking about in October of 25 when we looked at EL5 for financial planning. That was one that I found not compliant because um there wasn't enough forward planning um to really be financial planning. I think we need as a board to spend more time looking at you know expenses and where we could be saving money. There were a few things I wanted to ask the superintendent about. Um you know and using this opportunity as a time to say

179review what we're spending on technology. Um, you know, we seemingly have over 700 resources and are all of those worth their money? You know, I heard from parents last night in the South Lakes pyramid that there are so many different platforms and there's confusion and parents are trying to navigate parent view and cysts and Google and schooly and they still can't help their kid at the end of the night. So, um, and I did just, uh, see that Schoolagy, uh, the contract is through June of 2026. What's the status with that contract? Are we, is there a process in place now to actively extend it as is allowed, I think, for two years, or are we seeking a new RFP for that? So, um, I think I'm sorry. Anyhow, I in terms of I know

180you emailed today and asked about the schooly contract. I believe uh Dr. Prescidio, we have a response to that. I think it's up in June 26. I think it was the response we provided and um I know there's a process for outy years to add to the contract and I'm not sure what the exact plan was. I know that was a contract developed prior to my arrival. So, I wasn't entirely sure what the >> working plans and we haven't had a chance to talk about it since the email just came in today. >> Yeah, that was just right before the board meeting when I saw that. So, I don't have all the contract information. Um, what I can tell you is though we're going to review that. We'll provide a response to Miss Marin and

181to the board members in terms of timeline and process. So, what I'm hearing is there isn't information top of mind by the superintendent and chiefs about the learning management system contract that is due that is expired in June. >> Well, it's not technically expired. I believe Dr. Prescidio has indicated that there are there were agreements in the original contract to have add-on years. Um, but I don't want to make it up tonight on the spur of the moment with very little notice. So, I want to make sure that we provide accurate information to the board. >> If I can clarify, I'm aware that the contract is through June 2026. I'm aware that the contract has two one-year extensions, and I appreciate your quickness in responding to that. My question is, it seems that the superintendent

182and chiefs are not able to speak to whether the intention is to extend schooly and if we have the budget to do that or if we will going through a new RFP process. In other instances like when we were recompeting health care, I can remember a chief financial officer talking to us in advance and letting us know that this was coming. So again, this is an example of how when we do quarterly reviews, it's an opportunity for us to talk about our expenses and um given everything that's been shared tonight by parents and such about tech, I would like to know more about the spending on that. So um but I we need to know if we're going to be recompeting schooly or not. So we will provide that information. This came in this afternoon

183as a request. So we'll provide that information next Friday. If I could finish my statement, please. >> We were going to provide that next Friday in the weekly update. It's very possible the answer already sitting within the department. I just wasn't prepared this evening to uh present on that. >> I'm aware you sent me a response. I've already thanked you for that. You've told me two or three times that you got the question this morning. The thing is if there is a contract for the learning management system of this board that is up for reconsideration by June, we should know post haste what is happening. Please do not put it in a Friday letter. This is what the public discussion is for. Friday letters are not public. Thank you, Miss Dixon. Again we're talking about

184contracts. So I'm just going to mention that schoolology contract has two years option on it. Um so it if this contract doesn't end in um this year right so you have to see the whole length of contract that's what we were doing with the previous contract soul source one that it was two years contract or three year two years and four months. So I don't think we can just go in and uh cancel in the middle. There's there is a whole uh issues with that uh the whole system will crash. What we are trying to educate our student we can discuss this and continue to discuss this until the uh next two years then the contract can be ne renegotiated. That's how it works in the contracting world but because people can actually um cause

185problems and like you know say that you guys breached the contract to us as well. So the the vendors so I think uh you know having a contract just one option you're ending in June is not the end of the contract. Just wanted to state that. >> Miss Marin you still have your light on. Would you like a go back? >> Uh sure. Thank you. Just to clarify I'm not suggesting the contract end. To be clear our contract has a a date of 2026 on it with two-year options. I've worked in procurement. I've run federal grant programs. I get it. I know how contracts work. What I don't know is if the superintendent plans to continue schooly or if she intends to recompete the proposal for our learning management system and if she if she

186wants to do one or two years since last night I listened to parents tell me how difficult schooly was and how inconsistently it is used. This is very top of mind for me. So, while we're talking about budget, I thought it was an opportune time to ask that question further. I welcome the opportunity for us to discuss it at length. Thank you, >> Dr. Anderson for go back. >> Thank you. just kind of reflecting back on other major contracts that have been um switched since I've been on the board. One of the conclusions that I'm coming to, and you don't have to tell me if I'm right or wrong, is that we would not be moving from schooly at this time because we're already in March. And if this contract is ending at the end

187of this year, particularly having to move things over, that takes a little bit of time. So, I would anticipate um exercising at least one of these additional options for an extension um even if you were planning on moving elsewhere because we still need a we need we still need some time for transfer of data of training and all of that. So, it would just be my conclusion that these options would be exercised in the very near term just because we are already in March of 2026. I just wanted to share that thought. I'm not asking for a confirmation. >> Well, I I would just offer that a decision of that magnitude, the learning management system for an entire school division would not be a unilateral decision. Um, and there is a process for that. I

188also want to make sure that um I have that I'm thoughtful and measured in responding publicly about that because I know uh our department um that works with schooly likely has information that I want to make sure I go back and check in with them uh prior to providing more uh public comment on the on that particular contract. >> Sure. Absolutely. That kind of leads me to another inquiry. My wondering is how do you in not being unilateral about that decision- making who are the stakeholders who would be involved in providing feedback to help inform the decision? Obviously those who are inhouse in the technology space is there space for parents to give feedback, teachers to give feedback onto its usability and you know user friendliness etc. I am not entirely sure who was originally.

189Again, I wasn't here when it was originally selected. Uh Dr. Prescidio, do you want to elaborate perhaps on the stakeholders or the groups perhaps that gave feedback or how that process might evolve? >> Yeah. So again, this is a multi-ep departmental um collaborative initiative. It includes the instructional services department, the technology department, financial services with procurement. The RFP process is many months long where we begin the process with gathering our user requirements for what we need the particular product to do. So we solicit feedback from all of our stakeholders to do that. Um we did that um with the original contract. We would do that again. uh we would use that information to build our user requirements and then there would be a a committee that would um work on the RFP process supported by

190financial services uh who would handle all the contractual negotiations and everything in response to the bids that we receive. But it is a lengthy process um to be sure. So again, given that none of these things have been initiated, I I can kind of just signal, at least to myself, where I think we're heading. Um, but I do want to just take this opportunity to just plug in um just doing an evaluation of Schooly and its usefulness. And I I know that um the schools, at least where my children go, teachers are constantly pushing um parent use of Schooly as an opportunity to remain informed of what's happening in their classroom and to check in. And I think we've even said that here, but there's a lot of gaps and I would welcome an opportunity

191for an evaluation. >> Yes, ma'am. I know Dr. Prescidio and I talked about that this evening as we were reviewing how to best respond to the the questions posed. Agenda item 10.02, strategic plan update. I call on Dr. Reid. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I am thrilled to present our strategic plan update for March. Um, and as a reminder to our public, each month we share an update on our work around the strategic plan. Uh, to highlight the efforts in FCPS as we per uh pursue our strategic goals. Excuse me. I know. Thank you. Um, I am really thrilled tonight uh to have two of our key members of our uh fine and performing arts uh staff here. Erin Stratton, our senior manager for fine arts K12. Thank you, Erin, for being here. And Tara

192Taylor, our educational specialist for theater arts, and they are both going to be uh phone a friend colleagues this evening. Uh, and I told Tara she might even need to sing a response if we uh if we're really what? Yeah. So, and you know, I just want to say that our theater, our fine and performing arts staff are some of our hardest working staff. The evenings, the connections with children and young people, the safe spaces for our young people to take risks and learn new skills. It's amazing the work that's done. And I honestly think Fairfax County Public Schools, that is one of our um most serious points of pride. So, I'm just I'm very proud of the work that um they lead. Um so, this evening, we're going to connect our update to goal

193two um which is this supported, included, and empowered goal. Um and really this conversation around inclusion and a sense of belonging. And um I love that uh we talk about um each of our students have what we call our Friday night lights, right? and the thing that makes them shine and be excited about school. And for many, it's theater. And I have the opportunity to many evenings uh throughout theater season to have a chance um to see uh the work of our young people and the many many adults that um are behind these enormous productions. And it's fabulous to see students behind the scenes, in front of the scenes, on the stage doing the sets. Um it's pretty incredible. Uh we're one of the few divisions nationwide to offer a comprehensive middle school theater curriculum

194actually um which is very important. Uh we have approximately 4,500 students enrolled in middle school theater courses during the school day and we have more than 4,000 students participating annually in extracurricular programs which include music, short plays, drama clubs, theater arts trips. Uh, and these programs develop foundational performance and technical skills, confidence student leaders, and they strengthen the pathway to high school theater excellence. It's really just an amazing um community. Uh, so I'd like uh for the clerk for us to have a chance to see the impact of our middle school theater programs. Let's actually hear from some of our middle school students who participate in them. Madame Clerk, please play the video. Good afternoon. My >> is so special for me because it's a place where you get to express yourself through the eyes

195of a character, connect with who they are, and step into someone else's story. And the amazing part of theater is that it is so much more than just performing on stage. It's a place where you can be your truest self without feeling judged. You can make lasting friendships just by singing or dancing together and bond with others over one shared passion. >> I never really wanted to do theater, but my mom pointed it out at the course selection sheet and she said it'd be fun. So, I was like, why not? But because I've done theater, I feel like I've had so many more skills and opportunities I wouldn't have done. Like learning both the technical theater and theater appreciation side of things has helped me become a better person, whether it be more outgoing or

196being more productive. >> Theater has helped me in school by helping me find my people and the community that I would like to put myself in. It's made me look forward to school more and I'll be really sad when the school year ends. But I know that I will have friends within theater that will always support me. It has helped me with like self advocacy like confidence and like me trying to put myself out there for new opportunities. I saw tech theater and I said that looked fun cuz I have I kind of have stage fright and I don't like really being on stage but I thought that would be fun to be part of the magic that happens backstage. There's so many people backstage working to make sure the show runs smoothly and it's

197just like I never do that before. Theater has just helped me be happier overall as like a person. And my school programs have also helped me reach out to community theaters, community churches to help out with programs and there which helps me make new friends and meet new people that will help me continue theater. We do have shows throughout the year for middle school. We have one in the fall and we can participate with the high schoolers for one in the spring and then we have a summer show. We also do courtyard at our show which is where a bunch of kids come together. We make our own skits. It's definitely helped me strengthen my social skills like problem solving, making friends. All the people there are really in like inclusive and they're like really

198open to new people. >> A full-time theater teacher in public schools is not a common encourage. That's what makes Fairfax County Public Schools truly unique. Theater builds communication, collaboration, creative and critical thinking skills. But most importantly, the opportunity that theater provides to a student is to put themselves in another's shoes, to learn a story, to learn about another culture, to empathize. And what I love about Fairfax County is that we believe that that is a skill we want to promote and continue to cultivate with our students which is going to make a better world for all of us. >> Excellence, equity, and opportunity. >> Yeah. You know what? Um that right there is some that's magic, right? That is magic every day. I particularly love the young man whose mother saw it and thought it

199was a great idea. kind of uh brought back some memories. Um but anyhow, this is uh our strategic plan report. Uh March 26th will um well, let me look here. April 7th uh is our next equitable access and opportunity goal for work session and we'll be talking about goal two um on March 26. So, Madam Chair, that concludes this month's uh strategic plan update. >> Thank you. Uh we're going to kick things off with Mr. Fr. >> First, uh thank you to the amazing team that's here with you tonight, Dr. Reid. Um people may not know this, but they do more in this room than just hold schoolboard meetings. Um last year I had the the pleasure of attending a production of Mean Girls here at Luther Jackson Middle School. Um complete with the use

200of Ardas as part of the set. Um and >> exceptional work. Um Stacy Jones, the uh theater arts teacher here, is a gift to our school division. Uh this year in the first semester, they had Alice in Wonderland uh here and more than 900 people came to see Alice in Wonderland. And if you're thinking, gosh, I'm so s sorry I missed that. The Wizard of Oz is coming up in April, April 30th, I believe, uh here at Luther Jackson. to go to the Luther Jackson Middle School website if you want to attend one of these uh opportunities. And one thing that's really great is seeing the thread of the middle school students who really catch fire in theater in in middle school and continue on into high school where we also have incredible productions uh

201every single year. So, thank you for being here on behalf of all the educators who make our middle school theater arts programs run. We couldn't do it without them. And you know, we encounter the students here at Luther Jackson every week it seems like at the beginning of the year as they're practicing on this stage uh in the hours before the public meeting here starts and they're always enthusiastic and it's fun watching them get into character. So, thank you. >> Thank you, >> Miss Dixit. >> Thank you, Dr. Reed, for the presentation. Again, uh as a theater mom myself, wait, I'm not Rajna. >> Oh, sorry. Nice. >> So, I wanted to say something else though. I recently went to Rocky Run, a middle school after school program and they were practicing for their play

202and the room was um just so in you know engaged and in their learning and uh it just makes them whole middle school experience um I think very very um fun for students because it's a very quick two years and I think when students go into middle school they're like looking for a place to belong and I think one child said that my my people and you you get you find your own people in different you know clubs and theater of of course is the biggest club uh other than like volleyball I saw that day and um I'm looking forward to their uh show which is going to be next couple of months um so I appreciate the team here and thank you for all the hard work you do for our our students because

203I know each and every students enjoy them. Thank you so much. Dr. Anderson, >> thank you. That was fantastic to watch. And I particularly like the fact that not only where were front of um the house kids featured, but the back of the house kids were featured as well, uh because we often do not see them as part of the core theater program, but they are the the crew counts just as much. Um two quick questions. one, are all of our schools, as you've gone and evaluated theater, well, not evaluated, and observed theater programs, are they all similarly positioned to do a a fall, a spring, and I heard a summer um program for the school that was featured here? Do we have any disparities across our programs that must be shored up? >> So,

204that was an interesting example because that was a student from Hayfield. So, they have the luxury of secondary school. we're in the same building where they can have I'm so sorry, got to use my theater voice. Uh that direct collaboration. Um but thankful to the school board and leadership and the implementation of the stipens over the past few years. Yes, there's a shared expectation that every middle school program does a short play or dramatic piece, then a mainstage musical, which is often a junior. Most all of our middle schools are doing some sort of an improv club and then many of them do offer some summer opportunities or collaborations with the high school to build that recruitment and vertical articulation. But our secondary schools are very specially placed. >> Okay. Thank you. I thought that

205was unusual and you actually captured my second question, >> Mr. Moon. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh Dr. Taylor. Wow. I knew you were good, but I didn't know you were that good with the teaching dancing. You know, growing up, one thing that I never had was moving with my bodies. Somehow my body parts never never would cooperate with mades thinking. So, uh, >> well, you know, just to put it, I'm the theater and dance specialist. So, if you need some lessons, let me know. >> So, uh, I should take a lesson from you. uh uh with that since a doctor Dr. Karen mentioned equitable access. Uh a few years ago I happened to be at one of the high schools in the county and they had you know special program for ESR students ES

206students. You know we have many students from different parts of the world who may be struggling the learning the language but they may have a passion. They may also have a talent in acting and singing and dancing as well. But when they're competing, when they're auditioning with native born, you know, students, they may not be always successful in in getting the roles. So this school created a special program for for students and that was very touching. I think you know more and more of our school should be you know should provide such such program for the ESO students and students with the disabilities as well. >> I love that you brought that up Mr. Moon. Thank you. So that was actually Anandale was our first school to do that. It was called >> that was

207where I went. >> Yeah. Thank you. Um, and it was created by an Esau teacher in collaboration with the theater teacher. And as we've tried to build more accessible, inclusive classrooms and our programs throughout the district, it's been really interesting to see where we've been able to pinpoint the schools and communities where those particular programs are really helpful. We also created a planning and pacing guide that was built for our teachers to support Esau inclusion that we've made available and provided teachers for with um so that's helped a lot. The adaptive theater curriculum that we've been working on has been a big ask from schools over the past three years. So we have seen particularly at the high school level a more demand to provide adaptive theater courses that we're looking to provide more resources

208for. You know that particular night at Elander High School, I also saw school community spirit right there completely supportive of these Easter students, you know, performing. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Dannon. >> Thank you very much. And just want to echo everybody's thoughts that we appreciate all the work that you do. Um I think in a world uh where social media and technology are having the effect of pulling us apart um these programs uh teach kids critical life lessons, critical thinking, creativity um and uh and I use this word purposely. Uh they're they're essential, right? And so um I also appreciate Mr. Moon bringing up about um equity concerns. And so I'd love to talk at a later time about um where you see those gaps and what we can do as a as a

209board to help support you because um and I appreciate again you you bringing up um adaptive programming. I'd love to hear more about that as well because I'm very glad to hear that. So I also got a chance to see Mean Girls at uh Robinson. My first time ever. I never saw the movie. So um I got all those references and um I like to think I'm a cool dad, not a regular dad. But um thank you all very much for all the work that you do. I really really appreciate it. Mr. Mackeine. >> Thank you, Dr. Reed. Thank you, uh, Dr. Taylor. Um, I got my drama start at middle school on the same stage where you taught, um, Dr. Taylor, um, under the direction of Linda Clag, who preceded you by a couple

210decades maybe. But, um, it right. Um, but, uh, middle school drama was such an important program for me. It taught me confidence. It was really a place where those who didn't necessarily fit in other places could fit in and find find their people. So, just as we heard in the video. So, that was so powerful. Um, I'm also so grateful to you for including my dad in your productions over many years and I'm sure he's watching at home tonight and um very happy to see you there. Um, so thank you all for all you do. >> Thank you, >> Miss Joe Kenny. >> So, I am drama mama. Um, all of my children were very involved in theater and actually one went on to um major in musical theater and is in New York right

211now. Uh, and it all started at the schools. I was really lucky to have my kids attend Rose Hill Elementary that has had a elementary school play for years. And so they actually started in elementary school. Um, and I would love to see the expansion of theater in elementary schools. And I understand that Disney is now offering grants for elementary school theater programs. Uh, so that's something that we can look into. Um, but I really want to thank you for your work and I know we featured um theater, but my other daughters were also involved in band and um choir um tri orchestra, but that didn't work out. So all of the performing arts are just critical and I I really want to thank you for the work that that you do because not every

212you know kids feel safe and supported in these kind of programs and sports is not always the answer for everyone and I was one of those that sports wasn't the answer for and the fact that they have these outlets and the fact that I know my neighbor was a tech person in at Edison in high school and now that's his business. That's what he does. And I know that some of our kids are on Broadway right now. Um, so the confidence, what it does for our kids, what it does for our communities, how it brings parents together, because these productions don't happen just with the staff. I mean, the the parents are bringing in props, they're doing costumes, they're they're helping with all of that. It is such a community builder and I just really

213want to thank you for all the work that you do. I know that um my kids are very artistically inclined and it skips a generation. That's and and I say it skips a generation because you do need people to be in the audience. You know, you do need people that cannot perform and I am one of those uh and a huge supporter and just thank you. I know that across the board and I would love to see this in elementary schools. I was just at Rose Hill's play Friday and I know another one of my schools is also doing a play at um Bran Cone Elementary and again what it does for those kids, what it does for the community. Thank you. I I I just can't thank you guys enough. >> Miss Lady, >>

214thank you. Thank you, Tara. Um we've known each other a long time. We've come a long way, haven't we? It's fantastic. I'm was a drama mama myself uh with my kids at Marshall. um and the talent and the I'm just also going to highlight u what my new colleague uh recognized which there's no devices in their children's hands when they're doing this nor in nor in music orchestra or band and I bring this up because as as families move from middle to high school something happens to our parents or they suddenly think oh high school's the real thing we've got to take the real like the impressive to college electives and I just want to tell Tell everyone out there that four years of marching band or four years of band, four years of orchestra,

215four years of theater, four years of the arts, fine or practical, colleges absolutely love. They love you in the arts because you are doing all of the things including ensemble work and creativity and collaboration and standing and delivering a line, all the things you have to do in life without a with, you know, offscript uh because you've learned it. So I think that's fantastic. And I also just want to reiterate because I've I've gotten some inquiries around the arts and some um advocacy not to cut the arts. And I'm I can stand here and tell you that I will never vote to cut any of our arts programs, but I just want our parent community to understand that the children pick the classes. And so we need students to select choir or select theater um

216to justify a full-time position as opposed to sharing perhaps a position between two schools. Um because as we've talked about before fiscally we're in some some rough shape um and we have to run classes at 30 31 and just so keep that in mind which means 150 students in middle school need to pick theater for full-time theater teachers. So, I I I hope that happens. I just advocated for that to happen. I believe that the arts are amazing. Um, and I've just seen in my years of of with my own children, but also supervising performing arts, the success that those students meet with is just is just phenomenal. So, again, thank you for what you do. Um, keep doing it. Appreciate you. >> Thank you all so much. Moving on to agenda item 10.03, 03

217academic matters. I call on Dr. Reid. >> All right, Madame Chair, I am thrilled uh to provide an update on our walk to read program, which is a targeted early literacy initiative uh currently operating as a pilot program. Uh it's focused on strengthening our grade three literacy outcomes and our project momentum early literacy schools are where we're piloting this instructional model. It's not new materials. It's not new um any kind of technology. It's about a structured approach to how we're grouping students and responding to data in real time. This work reflects our continued commitment to ensure that every student is reading proficiently by the end of third grade. So, just want to share for a minute. It's a skills-based grouping model that really um enables and has all staff, all hands on deck within a

218a third grade grade grade level. Students participate in a dedicated 30 minute interv intervention block separate from core instruction. And the walk part means they actually walk to different locations, different classrooms within the building uh to receive instruction that's aligned to their specific reading needs. While all schools provide structured literacy interventions, Walk to Read differentiates their approach by implementing this coordinated grade level model um that actually pools all instructional staff. It the intervention model operationalizes collective responsibility, which is really important when we're talking about our children. Staff with more expertise and reading intervention are assigned to students that have the most intensive needs or the most ground to make up. Students are grouped using multiple data sources including benchmark assessments and ongoing formative data. The intervention groups are formed around the common skill needs, not

219class rosters. Um, and so that enables students below grade level to get targeted skill specific instruction. The intervention group size is generally more uh it's intentionally smaller where the needs are the greatest. We have um if you've had a chance to walk through one of these schools recently, you'll see their data boards where each student in third grade has a um data tile that the staff routinely and weekly review. Uh they regroup students regularly based on skills and the skill growth. Schools use these visible data boards like the one in the U slide to track student progress. So, what we want to see is students uh moving into that green section. And I know when I'm visiting schools and our leadership team has recently been out visiting schools, we've had an opportunity to sit with

220staff and review their data boards. Um, and this is just another way to think about progress across the course of a year that isn't sort of snugged into a a a computer um file. So, if we could for a minute, let's take a look at walk to read in action. um at Holland Meadows and I know Dr. King and I both were recently there visiting with our principal Hibbi Cruz and her staff and wow they are knocking it out of the park. So let's take a look at Holland Meadows. Madame Clerk, FCPS elementary schools provide 30 minutes for daily intervention in addition to core reading instruction. Walk to Read intensifies this intervention block for schools needing support to reach the strategic plan goal of reading by grade three. Let's take a look at this approach

221in action at Holland Meadows, one of the 29 schools that have been using Walk to Read for the past three months. >> We take all the data from the assessments and then go over it together as a team and kind of decide if students need to be moved, you know, um up uh around from group to group and to kind of make sure that their group is fitting their needs better. Recently in a data dialogue we had we were really excited about these students who were showing moderate and high risk in their academic screeners and now are showing success in meeting and exceeding expectations in their reading. >> We know what they need and we you know got all the humans we needed to make it happen. And so there's just there's just no way

222for us all to be able to do that with just the classroom teachers alone. the teacher is not feeling torn by working with students at a small group and then having to worry about managing students that are sitting at their desks doing other tasks. Everyone's engaged in the same um skills and learning. The administration came up to me and said, "Hey, we need as many people as we need to help with our third graders." I said, "Sure, not a problem. I love our kids and I want to help." Then I started working with the reading specialist and she was helping me um learn what I needed to teach my group. I talked with the other teachers and they told me about the kids that I would be working with and what would help and trying

223to do what I can. Well, I think what to read does is catch students before they fall or before they're marginalized and left behind. So basically, it's when people start walking to other classrooms to learn more about maybe other stuff that they're teaching, but they're not teaching their own classrooms. >> So before we walk to Read, I could like spell only like five sentence, but now I can spell like a lot. Since I started walk to read, I was having a little bit of trouble reading words that have um very hard stuff. But when I started with but when I first came to Walk to Read, she helped me like sound them out, she teached me new tricks. So that really helped in my improve my reading very well. So that was really that was

224really helpful. I noticed it when I started seeing, oh, that's really easy now. >> Instead of calling it walk to read, we could almost call it run to read because I feel like as soon as it's time for walk to read, the kids are like running out of the classroom ready to ready to go to their group. Um, they're just super enthusiastic and excited about this transition during the day. >> They get to work with different students and different teachers. And I think that that's been a huge thing for a lot of them. I love the like collective and the shared responsibility um that Walk to Reading has created for our team. Um I also love that we get to interact with students across the grade level. Um I remember like us feeling at the

225beginning of the school year like how are we going to meet this wide range of needs. >> I think they're really excited. They love sharing what they've been learning in their groups >> and I feel like it also has built their confidence with the core instruction. like some of my students who were feeling less confident in reading are able to access the tier one instruction, the whole group instruction, um, and feel more confident in that setting. >> As teachers, I'm giving my tier one instruction. And it's really helpful knowing that all students, including the ones that have reading plans or ones that don't, um, they're all getting the help that they need. And especially those ones on reading plans, my two students that you saw, um, earlier, they have gone from high risk to on

226grade level. Walk to Read has really helped with planning because you are focused on one group and one skill and you're not trying to pull from all over the place. So, it does kind of relieve some of um the burden of planning when you're focused on one and meeting one group in that time of the day. But now we're rocking and rolling with Walk to Read and I'm so happy to say that 10% more of our students are reading on grade level which is aligned to the initiative that we have as a county with all students are reading by third grade. So we are tracking that progress, connecting everything with the reading plans and just making it all work as a team. The teachers feel empowered. Anybody working with the kids can see the difference.

227Well, I think everyone's really loving on each other's kids and we're one like it's sort of like a I guess a happy third grade family. I think it is has brought people closer because we come together, we look at data for all the kids and we're all moving their names around and just checking their progress together and we all celebrate when kids are making really great growth. And so what Oh, nice. Thank you, Dr. Pon. Um, I do want to throw out a big shout out to Marie Lemon and Dr. Pon and Miss Neil and I'm going to say a number of our leadership team, Mr. Smith, Dr. King, Miss Neil, Miss Huntstead, many people have gone out to look at programs and walk through classrooms and our principal, Miss Cruz, that you heard from

228um our principles are really uh they're just doing a fabulous job working with our educators in this and I couldn't be prouder of the efforts. So as we look at this is just a pilot in a subset of our schools but you can see here that uh the percent increase of students that are already at endofear expectations or above um would be the uh early literacy folks. We've had an 11.9% for example decrease in students below grade level. Um 11.9% that uh our midyear expectations are above and we really believe that uh this program is growing the green um at a similar or faster rate than the division overall. So we are thrilled with the progress and I also want to thank the schools. this was extra work a couple months ago when we said

229um we really think this structure could support stronger outcomes for children. Um and so I really want to thank um the staff that took this on and made this a a really I think a positive project right now. So I'm happy to answer any questions. Madam Chair, >> thank you Dr. Reid. We're going to kick things off with Dr. Anderson. >> Thank you. Just a couple of basic questions to start with. You mentioned all hands on deck. Who participates? >> Well, every child is part of this and >> in terms of I guess the adults who are the hands. >> Yes, ma'am. Um I'm going to let Miss Lemon respond since she um I know we had a few conversations about this and the team rallied to train 29 schools worth of staff in a

230staff workday. Um so I'll let Miss Lemon talk about that. that's been so crucial is that we have had two um planning days with principles in schools to make this very clear and aligned across all 29 schools. And because third grade is our target, that is where all the resources go. You'll probably hear some schools say we've expanded to second grade or we've expanded to all of our grades. And we've given permission to do that as long as they can make third grade still be the priority. And the staff supporting at third grade are the classroom teachers, typically the reading teacher. Some staff use the librarian, the AERT, um sometimes even um u um um instructional coach. So there's definitely staff to um spread around to make sure that we have all the children covered.

231And then based on the children's needs, there might be smaller sizes and teachers with more specificity. We've also used the high impact tutors so that they can get targeted instruction. >> And is this daily? >> Yes. >> This intervention block is daily >> every day. >> If you could speak a little bit to where does it fall into the reading block? Because I know very often I I've worked in schools my entire career sometimes in order to offer the intervention block the time has to come from someplace else. Is it part of the reading block or are we kind of taking some time? >> It's outside the reading block. So the reading block still remains 90 minutes and then it's outside the reading block. >> So then that time must be coming from writing or

232science or something else because >> this year we've asked elementary schools to have an intervention block during the day. >> So it's that we're taking that specific intervention block. >> And how does this connect with the reading plans? Because I know we we received the report last year where some schools had thousands and thousands of reading plans. Can you talk a little bit in terms of how that dovtales? >> Yes. So, every child that has a reading plan automatically has things updated in their MTSS CIS plan and this is additional support. So, the children already have a reading plan and then what we can do is use what's in their reading plan to provide targeted support. Some of the things that are in reading plans are more long range goals and al oftentimes this could

233be a long range goal but it could also be a short skill based upon like the benchmark unit they just took and analyzing that and seeing a child has a need for this specific skill and then we teach that specific skill during walk to read. >> Thank you. And are you finding that this kind of targeted work is unlocking the black box that often comes with when you're speaking with staff in terms of why student is struggling with reading um knowing whether is it fluency and is it because they are having issues with encoding or decoding or is it comprehension is it a matter of making connections or summarizing. Sometimes it's hard for teachers to kind of pinpoint you know what the issues are where the weaknesses are. Are you finding that this is helping

234to provide that deeper level of knowledge? >> I would say yes for two reasons. One, because we're progress monitoring so often, it's really building the capacity of the staff to do that analysis and to see like, okay, we think it is decoding. So, we're going to put this lesson in place for two weeks to do did it work, right? And then if that were showing overall growth, then yes, it did. And we can continue that path. And if it didn't then it helps us go back and look and examine again as a team to think where's our next path. Uh the other thing I would say just the data that Dr. Reid just shared from the vowels for midy year we are showing an outpacing growth compared to the rest of the district. So that

235makes me feel really good that we're on the right pace for getting accelerated growth in reading. >> And I was glad I'm glad to hear you say that um this is um really targeted. And the other thing that I I'm a big fan of that I saw here is the data wall. Uh I I think having that visual representation and reminder of where students are, it it just really helps to I guess increase a sense of urgency that is around this work. >> I give kudos to Dr. Reid for that suggestion. Having it visual and not in a computer screen, but being having it tangible and being able to move the magnets, >> it it makes a world of difference because you can't hide from it. Uh but the thing that I just almost lost

236my train of thought with that I appreciate you sharing was that regular evaluation opportunity because very often intervention intervention intervention and nobody monitors is that intervention working but taking the opportunity to stop after an appropriate period to evaluate is really key because otherwise you can't determine whether you need to do something else and you can't move on to a different skill because you don't know how what you are intervening about. you don't know how it's working. Um, the last piece is the data that you talked about in the last slide. Is that val or I ready? I got a little confused. >> I believe that is Val's data. >> Okay. Because this the slide says I Ready grade level performance. >> Well, let me double check that then. That would be I Ready. But we've

237talked so much about vowels. We're seeing similar similar results with vowels. >> All right. Very good. Thank you. Mr. Dan, >> thank you very much for this and um I really appreciate the efforts that you all have made to get kids reading by third grade which no one knows is absolutely critical. Um related to somewhat related to Dr. Anderson's question um as I heard this is a very people intensive program. Um do you have enough resources to continue this? And you know if this pilot works what else would you need from us? So great questions. Um essentially right now the focus is third grade and the people involved are in the school. We're just saying that we need them to do this for this 30 minute period. Right? And to the point that Dr. Anderson

238was talking about as well, it's so difficult for a teacher who may have 25 children to differentiate effectively every day for all 25 when they're potentially behind, if that makes sense. So the idea about having these very locked in groups where that's the one thing they're working on with that group of children every day, we know that direct explicit instruction is going to make a difference and it is. So to expand that to other grade levels requires scheduling to be done very thoughtfully. Um master schedules at high schools I think are complex. Uh schedules for elementary schools are I think even more complex in some ways. Um, I think we could always use more resources, but at this time in our budget world, I think we're trying to make the most of what we do

239have. So, I think stay tuned. Um, but uh I think the more intentional um the time that we can spend with the children, the better the results are going to be. That's just how it works. when even if we retain it at the or expand it at the third grade level amongst the entire division um is there an opportunity or a need for us to engage with groups like grand involve or PTAs or whatever to get more folks in I understand not for the more advanced groups but um >> I you know I'll defer to uh Miss Lemon I think when I mention all hands- on deck like we sometimes have admin we have you know like so I don't know Miss Lemon thoughts about grand involved PTA >> you You know, I think it

240is a really about training because we have a lot of high impact tutors doing this and they've participated in several hours of training to be able to run some of the programs, the researchbased programs we're asking them to do to really effectively be able to support the students and to be able to collect the data that we need to make sure the children are learning. >> I would love to I would just say I would love to have more retired teachers. Yeah. Um, we've uh really had some retired teachers come back to give time because it's a limited amount of time during the day in a smaller group, but some of our retired teachers have been some of our most amazing small group um instructors. So, if you're watching the board meeting and are retired

241um or if you have a friend that is, we would love to, you know, talk about you coming back and supporting this. You know, I spoke with a really great group at Woodley Chase and they were ex very excited, got everybody perked up about getting to help out in their school. So, um, recognizing again this is this is a pilot, um, what have you learned, um, regarding students with disabilities, um, and separately, um, multilingual learners and how can we make sure that they're included and supported? >> Well, um, if they're in third grade and the school has a program in third grade, they're in it. Um, so, Marie, do you want to talk a little bit about that? And you know, it's again, I don't want to miss the point of being able to say

242we actually now have materials benchmark express materials for multilingual learners. So, we're thrilled that we can use those. So, Marie, >> yes. So, no matter what your need is, your needs are going to be met during walk to read. And I think the real benefit of this is we've tiered the students based on different criteria like bows or I ready to say like did they start the year kind of below grade level or on grade level or above. But what we're doing is every two weeks we're looking at grade level standards. So, even if you came into the school below grade level or you're um you're on a plan because you're you're not where you need to be right now, we are still making sure you're accessing grade level material and you're working towards those

243grade level standards and we're actually assessing you on those grade level standards and we're really thinking that is going to continue to support closing the achievement gap. >> I appreciate Thank you. >> Yeah. I I would just ask Dr. King, I know you were at Holland Meadows and Dr. King, Dr. Pon, Dr. Prescidio, Miss Neil are part of our closing the achievement gap team. What were some of the things you saw? Because I know you came back kind of excited, honestly. >> Yeah, it was well organized. Students were excited about the opportunity to go and learn with different classmates. And just like the two students that were in the video, um, students were able to understand why they were why they were moving from class to class and what they were able to accomplish during

244that time. I really enjoyed it, not only at at that school, but um, at um, Hiba Valley as well. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. >> I'm going to take a very fast turn. Um, so I heard about this originally when I was talking to you about another concern that I had um, related to some of our special education kiddos and you talked to me about this was something um, that you kind of had pushed the team to try, which I love. Um, and what I appreciate is that I said, "I really want you to tell the board about this." And you did. So you came and talked to us. And what I see this doing is a couple of different things. when you have teachers that are working with small groups, oftentimes you have to

245figure out how to keep other kids entertained in the classroom in order to be able to do that work. And some of the time that's where a little bit of the screen time often can come in. So what I loved about that is all those kids were engaged with adults in the building and they weren't on a screen. They were all just working on different things. So I think that we're absolutely paying attention to those things across the division and looking for opportunities to make that happen. The other thing is we're creating more trusted adults within our buildings for our kids. And that cannot be understated because it could be that maybe you're fine in second grade, but you need more help in third grade. And understanding that the reading specialist or somebody or you

246you miss a concept in fourth grade that you need a little bit of help to get back back with. um understanding that those are adults that are there to help you is is a significant thing within our schools because we know how it it's creating that community even faster. So, I just want to say that I'm really impressed with how this is kicked off. I'm looking forward to seeing whether or not this is just a promising practice in um particular schools or whether or not it's a best practice that we can roll out across the division. So, I'm really excited to see where we go from here. So, thank you. Thank you. >> Um agenda item 11, consent agenda. Our adopted rules of parliamentary procedure. Robert's rules provide for a consent agenda listing several items

247for approval of um of the board by a single motion. Many items have gone through a board review and documentation has been provided to all board members and the public in advance. Items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board member prior to the meeting. The consent agenda items are on the screen. Is there any objection to approving the consent agenda? Hearing and seeing no objection, the consent agenda is approved. Agenda item 12, new business. The following are new business items. There will not be a vote on these items this evening, but action is scheduled at a future meeting. Agenda item 13, board committee reports. I call on Mr. Meline for a report of the audit committee. >> Thank you. Uh we reviewed our annual audit report uh and we

248heard some business process audit updates. Uh and as I conveyed earlier tonight uh we will be bringing to the full board and a close meeting an update on security audit. Thanks. >> Thank you. I call on Mr. FR for a report of the administration committee. At long last, the administration committee completed its work around a redesign of the annual evaluation um process uh for schoolboard office and school board member staff that'll be coming to the board for consideration in the very near future. >> Miss Marin for a report on the governance committee. This past Tuesday, the governance committee reviewed two really um important hot topics. One is uh AI policy, which could also be being refrained as instructional technology or um innovative innovation in instructional technology. And the committee further reviewed the version that the

249superintendent uh provided in February and talked about um a different version and how else to um work on that. and the superintendent will be coming back on the next meeting on April 14th with feedback uh from that discussion and we also talked about the calendar policy and the board excuse me the committee will continue to discuss that. So basically we're going to keep talking and considering and gathering feedback so that when we return on April 14th we'll be able to talk about those two policies more in depth. >> Thank you Miss Marin. Agenda item 14, superintendent matters. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I think I'll be relatively brief this evening. Um, just a lot of school visits since last we met. Uh, community conversations, employee conversations, um, and just a lot of fun activities with

250students, uh, some theater, uh, and just, uh, I hope the staff enjoy, um, our three-day weekend. Uh there is no school tomorrow and uh next week, it's hard to believe, but it'll be the last week prior to spring break. So anyhow, thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Dr. Reid. Agenda item 15, board matters. Next on the agenda is board matters, and I will call on each school board member to speak. We're going to kick things off with Dr. Anderson. >> Yes, Mr. Moon was just asking me, are my kids excited about the day off tomorrow? Yes, they are. Um yes um March is equity and education month and I want to take an opportunity to share that this would be a time to continue our increase of awareness and support for an education system

251that embraces diversity and ensures equitable opportunities and uplifts every student. And advancing equity in education is particularly important for students that are impacted by economic hardships and other barriers to learning. When the inequities are reduced or eliminated, the effects extend beyond schools, improving workforce readiness, community quality of life, and the community's long-term economic vitality. Um, this month offers us the opportunity to be reflective on our progress and to share our successes and collaborate in ways to drive meaningful change. Um, I also would like to take this opportunity to recognize Glasgow Middle School's band director, Mr. Andrew Sherak, who is a recipient of a Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts Grant. This grant provides the unique opportunity to commission a u a composer who will create original composition for the students to perform as a

252world premiere on their at their concert in June. Glasgow students will also have the exciting opportunity to work directly with the composer. Congratulations to Jeremiah Nelson from Anendelle High School for winning the VHSL 6A high jump state championship. And also congratulations to another Adam, Darling Saravia, who is the V VHSL girls wrestling state runnerup in her weight class. Go Adams. Um, congratulations to PO Middle School Counseling Program for earning the RAMP designation for the American School Counselors Association, which is a wonderful designation and very rigorous and robust um process. This designation recognizes schools that are committed to delivering a comprehensive datadriven school counseling program in an exemplary educational environment. Um, I do want to lastly say congratulations to the students who um were awarded as this year's student peace awards for Fairfax County for their

253work to bring kindness to the world around them. Our students are doing wonderful things to try to seek peaceful resolutions to challenging issues and using their own personal stories to drive what they are embedding in their schools. Um it was wonderful to be there with many of colleagues that are on um at the dis tonight to congratulate them. And I have to highlight from Anendelle High School, Lily Rump from False Church High School, Gabriella Henriquez. And from um Justice High School, the student journalist including Andrew Budenbeck. Um my very last thing is a reminder for families to please register for the VIP summer camp for middle schools. It is five weeks for rising middle school students. Um it will be taking place for the Mason District Schools at Glasgow Middle from July 1st to July

25430th. Transportation is provided and it is a really really good fee um at $100 for those five weeks which includes field trips and lunches. Thank you. Good night Mr. Moon. >> Thank you Madam Chair. I was happy to join Dr. Anderson at the peace awards a presentation and along with Marcia Sanging and also Simma Dixie, Mr. Mavin and Miss Lady. Am I forgetting anyone? Okay, it's good. Dr. read. I want to report one thing to you is on Tuesday, a couple of days ago, I think that was a Tuesday or was it yesterday, I was at performing arts center at the George Mason University, you know, seeing seeing hundreds of hundreds of our third through fifth graders uh uh enjoying a music and other presentations from Fairfield Symphony Orchestra. I think that is a really

255good partnership we are having with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra that I saw you know how those adult musicians right adult musicians were engaged in the young students. Uh we did we did sing along. We did a playalong with the recorders. And we also did move along which was basically dancing and they also intro was introducing opera and in other you know major symphonies and etc. And and you know coming out of that coming out of that that day, you know, in even for a county like ours, Fairfax County, there are a lot of students who may not have a chance to go listen to major symphony orchestra and major performances and and and then seeing how uh Fairfax Symphony was working with a title one scores basically and giving that opportunity to our students who

256may not otherwise you know get to see those that uh I think I brought this up to your attention some time ago at least a couple of times is long long ago when we had you know all our fifth graders be able to go to uh wolf trap yeah and where you know many of those kids never have chance to go to warf trap and then we do provide we did provide we used to provide in working with the orchard better those opportunities for our our young students I think I am I'm hoping that and and and not to you know far distance in the future that we're consider working with a you know place like a roof trigate since you know we're going to be losing another performing arts center in Washington DC soon

257and consider that as a a alternate venue uh to continue giving our young young students of an opportunity to experience a a performance at a venue like that. Thank you, >> Mr. Dannon. >> Good evening. So, uh I'll start with just some logistical items. Um first, we we've got a new principal coming to Irving Middle School, so stay tuned for an announcement and um welcoming them. Um we've got a whole slew of upcoming events. Um, if you missed a theater production or if you want to get another one in, um, we've got upcoming events at Annadale High School, Fairfax High School, Lake Bradic, uh, Lewis, Robinson, West Springfield, Woodson. Um, so if anybody wants to join me, let me know. Um, uh, we've also got several high school pyramid art shows coming up. Again, I'll

258put all this in in my upcoming newsletter. I'm grateful that my first votes were very easy ones to recognize Women's History Month and School Social Work Appreciation. Um, I'd also like to wish a Ramadan Mubarak to everybody who is celebrating the end of Ramadan. Um, I had the chance to fast for two years when I was overseas in in uh Morocco and uh it was one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had. Um uh wishing as well uh happy Persian New Year to everybody celebrating that uh tomorrow um and a happy spring break um coming up in a couple weeks here. uh a number of Bradock bravos. Uh several uh students uh received 2026 US presidential scholar uh candidates uh from Lake Bradock. We've got uh Joshua Lee, Mas Perryi, Ta Ranggerero from uh

259Thomas J, sorry TJ, Moira Clark, Ibrahim Haritch, Pton Morris, Ethan O'Hara, Rachel, and Rachel Trang. Uh congratulations to you all for your nominations. Uh and then we've got uh 79 students from um Annadel High School, Fairfax High School, Lake Bradock Robinson uh and TJ and Woodson um are participating in the uh 2026 regional science and engineering fair. So um kudos to them. Uh and I also uh want to share I was really grateful to have my very first um albeit unofficial school visit to Anidel High School with uh my colleagues uh Dr. Anderson and Mr. Moon. And um if you've never been to Anidel High School, you walk in, the vibes are very are very good. It is a really great school and uh I got to go witness Fan Quest which is a really

260great event uh showcasing the importance of inclusion and it was just such a beautiful thing to see the the kids working with each other and and cheering each other on and the gymnasium was rocking and it was it was great. So um I'm grateful to you all for your kind words uh uh these last few weeks, few months getting started. Extremely grateful to all the work the staff has done to help get me on board. Um, I'm gonna try and be very thoughtful of all my all my questions so I don't overburden you all. Um, and I just I'm reminded lastly of of uh my predecessor's words and I'm I'm I'm grateful for all of her work. Uh, it's funny uh a year ago uh I approached this board on the other side and um

261I did it the same way I'm hoping to do here where I'm I I want to stay focused on the kids. Um I I know having spoken with all of you that you all feel the same way and we're going to have disagreements and so forth. Um, but I I do feel in my heart that we are all working hard to put our kids first and uh seeing events like at Anidal High School was a great reminder of why we're doing this. And so, um, thank you everybody for the time, >> Miss Dixon. So, I'd like to start from there. I would like to welcome our new Bradock District School Board member, Tom, to the board. I look forward to collaborating and working together as we continue to serve our students and our community. I

262also want to take a moment to recognize the outstanding women leadership throughout our school system during this Women History Month. It is especially meaningful to acknowledge the women who lead, mentor, inspire every day, including FCPS staff, my fellow board members, and all those who continue to break barriers and shatter glass ceilings. Uh it has been a tremendous month month for the student achievement uh across our school. So, I'm not going to go to all the specifics, but I'm here to acknowledge appreciate all the students who are who have achieved in all the schools. And I do want to give a special shout out to Westfield High School boy basketball team for their incredible state championship last week. Congratulations to the player coaches and the entire Westfield community. Also want to congratulate especially today for the

263Oakton girls wrestling team who are the 2026 state champions. Thank you very much. Good night everyone and yeah Ramadan Mubarak. Missing John Kunning. Thank you. Um so I'm just going to go over some of the things I did this week. We have not done a lot of board matters, so there's going to be a lot missing. But on Friday, I was able to go see the Rose Hill Players at Edison High School with their original musical Rock Bottom, which was really a blast. The Rose Hill Rockets definitely rocked it. Uh, I really want to do a shout out to Danny Adams who directed all of my daughters when they were in elementary school and also directed this play. I think he's been there for 38 years and he really is such a big part of

264that community. I want to shout out to Key Middle uh Key Middle School, their theater class, and the theater arts director, Ashley Prmsel for performing a preview of their student written play, The War of the Winter, at Gate House. Um, school visits that I had this week werew uh Quander Road School, Island Creek, and Hayfield Elementary School. And I also was really happy that I had the opportunity to visit with principal dear at Hayfield and introduce him to uh Supervisor Rodney Lusk. We had a very productive meeting. Um I was happy to join Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchek last night for a Spanish language budget town hall. Uh it was really encouraging that we received a variety of questions from our Spanish speaking community and I was really um thankful and grateful for this engagement

265opportunity. I hope that we can have more of these kinds of um outreach opportunities in different languages so that people can ask questions in the language that they're comfortable with. Uh I want to highlight a very special scholarship opportunity that is earmarked for Lewis High School students. It's the Irene Rosenbomb Memorial Scholarship. It provides $5,000 per year renewable for up to four years to Lewis High School students to support their po postsecary education. The application deadline is April 17th and more information can be found on the FCPS scholarship website and in my newsletter. And Mrs. Rosenbomb was a community volunteer at Crestwood uh elementary for many years and the mother of one of our staff board members and this is very generous of her to leave this kind of legacy generous of her family to

266live leave this kind of legacy. Um um I'll be attending the Ed Duo Gala tomorrow. uh their uh theme is courage for a cause and they're very integral in how they help support our students um and empower our underserved youth and families and have really helped with mentorship and with reducing uh chronic absentis absenteeism in our schools. So I want to give them a shout out. Um I also want to say that uh on tomorrow oh not tomorrow Saturday March 21st there's going to be a free STEMfest at Newington Forest. Um it's a free event that people can go to from 11 to 1 pm. Uh also our student leaders are going to be doing their watershed cleanup um with FCPS um from 10 to 12 and I'm really excited about that. One last thing

267I mean there's a lot more that I have but one last thing that I want to say that I'm really excited about is I am going to be a judge at the Edison um culinary school chopped challenge. So that's going to be on Wednesday. So, that's going to be a lot of fun. With that, I'll say good night. And for all of those that celebrate um Eid Eidafetar, uh this three-day festival that marks the end of Ramadan, and it is the Ramadan monthly hol of fasting. So, that's it. Good night, Mr. Mvie. >> Thanks. Um I just want to address some questions. I didn't get a go back during the um safety um conversation so I don't expect answers but um uh Dr. Dr. Anderson had raised the issue about the volunteer management system. Um

268so I'm left with the question, are we going to try that again? Um and when is that going to be implemented? So if you could um let us know that. Um and then secondly, um just along with the staffing concerns with the um open gate system, are the staffing concerns with bathroom monitoring um staffing staff being pulled out um and during their planning periods and other things to do that? Um, and along with that issue, the the issue of locking bathrooms. Um, just yesterday I was in a school with Mr. Moon walking around trying to get into a bathroom and I couldn't. Um, and so if I'm having that problem, I know our students are having that problem. Um, you know, historically, um, we've had had those situations where coming out of the 80s and

26990s, the solution was to remove the stall doors in the bathrooms. And I, you know, I have my whole advocacy history on that. But, um, you know, the solution should never be to to lock bathrooms or to remove stall doors or to do anything that that, um, impedes our students rights and, um, privacy and ability to access necessary facilities. Um, so I'll leave it there. Hope to have that conversation again. Thanks. >> Thank you, Mr. McWine. Uh, Mr. Fresh. Thank you very much um Eid Mubarak for all who uh celebrate. Um and um I'm grateful that we have the opportunity to provide uh our families and uh staff the time to celebrate this with their families. Um I've had a busy couple weeks here in Providence District. Uh, I was able to read Hey Little

270Aunt to Miss Jill Day's third grade class at Mosaic Elementary School, uh, for Read Across America Week, which was fantastic, as it always is. Anytime you get to read, uh, with kids, uh, it's great, especially a book like that is open-ended. It doesn't have an ending to it, so they kind of get to write the own uh, destination that we end up at. That was fun. Um, and the school, by the way, thank you, Fairfax County taxpayers. It's almost done and um Dr. Aie cannot wait to be finished. Um I also attended with Dr. Reid the Manua Elementary School PTA basketball finals which was fantastic. Um and watching all of our Manua Elementary School students uh work their hearts out uh was really delightful. Um even getting to hang out with the mascot, our our

271raccoon um was great. Um, we had the Providence District budget town hall meeting. We had about three dozen people there. It was fantastic conversation about uh the budget and the needs of our schools. Many educators came out to uh ask questions and and talk about uh how we should be investing tax dollars in our students and and the success that that we owe them in our schools. Um, and then this morning, uh, I attended the Virginia School Board Association hot topics conference in Charlottesville, uh, on AI and cyber security. So, got to, uh, participate with schoolboard members from around the Commonwealth, uh, and then hop in my car and drive quickly back to Northern Virginia for tonight's meeting. Some congratulations are in order for uh, Providence District students. Ehane Moanti and uh is a fourth

272grader at Mosaic and Sprihy Moanti is an eighth grader at Luther Jackson here. Uh they both uh were third place winners in their age groups in the National Park Service Frederick Douglas ortorial contest. So kudos to them. Uh Emanuel uh Beul uh a ninth grader from MLAN High School was the grand prize winner of the seize the moment student AI innovation challenge for his project my compass and AI powered bot designed to support users through cognitive behavioral therapy. Um, Janice uh Mahenni, an 11th grader from Oakton High School, was named a 2026 Fairfax County Student Peace Award recipient for his outstanding work with the Oakton Pantry. And Allison Hagen, a 10th grader at Oakton, won the VHSL class 6 girls wrestling state title in her division. So, a lot of great things coming up in

273Providence District, and I can't wait to see people out and about uh as we head towards our next meeting, which is next week. Thank you, Mr. Fresh. Uh, Miss Lady, >> thank you. Um, I want to welcome our new board member, Tom Dannon. Uh, pleasure to have you finally, and I hope you enjoyed your first meeting. Also, because I know there's a pool over there in terms of what time this is going to end, there are 57 Drainsville students who were recognized with the science fair awards from H. Hearnden, Langley, Marshall, Mlan, Thomas, Jefferson, Westfield, and False Church. And I'm going to do a very dramatic reading of all 57 names. Just kidding. Um, but I will say congratulations to the Drainsville Grand Prize winners who are eligible to compete in the Regeneron International Science

274and Engineering Fair in May. Uh, Langley High School winner Lang Schwang in an LLMs know when we are watching a lightweight framework to qual quantity evaluation process. Bennett Huang and Jason Pawn harnessing method Jasmotine epigenetic defense modulations through an autonomous robotic precision spraying system for targeted pest control. uh Marshall High School, Pelina uh Anilof agent-based modeling of Alzheimer's combination therapy in the hippocamp hippocampus and then Thomas Jefferson and we needed Jack Jack Gow um tour site transitioning from tor to tornado detection to prediction through pre- tornado signatures. So Dr. Reed, you might want to get in touch with Jack from TJ for future um early closings. Um, also on the athletic fields and on the mats, uh, congratulate Langley High School boys swim and dive for their state championship. Also, uh, Westfield boys basketball for

275their state championship. And we've had several individual winners for wrestling and track and swimming events. So, congratulations to them. I I've been out and about. Uh, I certainly enjoyed attending the student peace awards. I think that is one of the uh most uplifting things that we do. uh to look at what our students are doing, what they care about both locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Uh it's very impressive the awards and the things that they enjoy um how they enjoy helping in their community and making a difference. I certainly enjoyed reading to Alder Elementary School classes. Uh earlier this month, I've been meeting with multiple constituents. Uh, as I indicated before, I attended the science fair award ceremony, which by the way, when these finalists get announced, it's like winning a district title. Uh, and

276it is exciting. So, if you haven't been before, um, it's it is it's very exciting for these kids. Also, uh, attended a meeting with the MCA Education Youth Committee. Uh, looking forward tomorrow night for the Eddie Futuro Gala. Um, Mr. Moon, if you're going to be there, perhaps we can get a dance together. Um, I'll be attending the Drainsville budget town hall on Monday. Uh, and the last thing is that, uh, I sent out to a lot of folks, but Fairfax County's Department of Transportation. Um, there's a survey where each magisterial district has, uh, wants you to share your prioritations on potential new pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects. Many of these projects are near our schools, so the survey closes March 31st. Please make time to fill that out. Thank you. I'm gonna take a

277rare moment and I apologize. Um, but I'm going to go ahead and after a long line of elections within the Bradock District, we finally have our new school board member. Um, and it is my distinct honor to to welcome Tom to the Fairfax County School Board as um, so you join I know you join us with a lifelong connection to public education in lots of different ways. Um, and I appreciate the your beginnings within Fairfax County as related to leadership with the PTA because I came from the very same route. Um, and I love all the stories that you share about your time in the Peace Corps and so I think that you are going to be an incredible addition to our board. Um, stepping onto a school board is particularly at this moment is

278a significant commitment and it's one of the most impactful ways that you can serve your community. So, I am thrilled to have your voice, your expertise, and your passion for our students added to the board. Um, so I cannot I cannot tell you how excited I am to be able to finish out our term together. Um, I did a lot of things over the last couple weeks and it's been a very busy time and I'm not going to rehash them all because you all want to go home. Um, so at 11:16 p.m. we are adjourned.