Stafford School Board 10 9 18

001[Music] yes ma'am dr. chase educator yeah miss Egan here miss Hazzard miss healing here mr. micawber yeah Monsieur president I'm sure you have a quorum thank you would you please stand for the color guard presentation high school arms colors order arms [Music] right face forward march we'd like to thank tonight's color guard cadets Casey Drummond CJ Swartz Roberts Estrada Ramos and Finkel Bay for joining us from colonial Forge High School's Army JROTC do we have a motion to approve the agenda chairman I would like to propose an amendment to the agenda for tonight I would like a staff report 5.0 to elementary class size and walnut report to be moved to two weeks from now our next meeting okay I would also like to add to the amendment the public citizen's comment will be limited

002to 66 minutes to those that signed in outside before the meeting so that is 66 we will run it up to 70 minutes all right so we have a motion to approve the agenda with the item 5.0 to elementary class size enrollment report deferred to the next meeting and to limit the maximum amount of public comment to 70 minutes we have a motion by dr. chase and second by Miss young with dr. chase is that acceptable to you that that's acceptable to me all right all in favor of the motion please say aye aye all opposed motion carries unanimously brings us to awards and recognition we have a proclamation dr. chase would you like to read this force yes where's school is a significant problem in the United States in Virginia and where else more

003than 20% of our nation's youth are estimated to be involved in bullying each year either as a bully or as a victim and whereas an estimated one hundred and sixty thousand students in kindergarten through 12th grade miss school do a fear of being bullied and whereas building can happen on and off school grades and consume many forms including verbal physical and in cyberspace and whereas it is important for Virginia parents students teachers and school administrators to be a role of bullying and to encourage discussion of the problem as a school community and well as the Virginia School Boards Association has developed a model policy on anti-bullying to encourage positive behaviors and to eliminate bullying behaviors now therefore board proclaimed by the Stafford County School Board that it hereby designates October 2018 as bullying prevention month

004and call this observance to the attention of all our County citizens Thank You dr. chase that brings us to staff reports status report on the upcoming elementary school redistricting just let you know that we are we have received the four RFPs the committee has been established will meet on Thursday to review it we have our chief elementary executive director Madeline planning Nicole from technology to elementary principals and mr. Horan will serve on that when I would recommend to the board after we rank them and make a recommendation that you go back and I have a cop a paper copy for you it's obviously you could get it on board Docs to go back and look at the district organization philosophy and goals as it relates to school attendance areas have set a criteria for prioritizing

005your redistricting and just I think we should hold a no work session to make sure these are still your priorities and obviously we want you to meet with whoever gets the contract and make it clear what your expectations are and I think this would be a start of the conversation if I could just make a quick note on that one mr. hurryin I don't know where you are there you are we discussed pre-emptive redistricting if that those words can be also put in somewhere in the in the criteria for the contractor thank you and in fact my comment also Falls we this board who has been through redistricting before we know we have what 17 characteristic or sorry um well we have 17 actually things for us to look at in a redistricting um I

006believe that if we do look at this RFP and it says ensuring compliance with established goals I want to make sure that we as the board are establishing those goals or high priorities within those so I believe doctor because there that city I think what you were saying is in here that I think that's actually very critical but I also think it's something that we should make sure even if done in a work session which I believe that debate had and comment has to be that we do give the public some opportunity to come and opine particularly with respect to I hate using a word priority after what we just talked about back there but how are we going to organize these goals because meeting all seventeen we've known it can't happen so I just

007want to make sure that we allow the public the opportunity to opine on that piece the dr. Kuzma do you have a timeframe that you need us to meet to have that discussion the tailoring have us try to have the approved on the 23rd forward to you to the board on how we select and I would recommend that you take that time if you have meeting how to meet the contractor and ask any questions interact with that so to set those goals in early November would be our goal miss hall can you try to find a date that everyone is available all right thank you thank you mr. Harun all right before we begin the citizen comments that period I'm going to ask dr. Kisner to address the board and the public I'd like to

008read a statement that I wrote Stafford County Public Schools does not comment on individual student incidents in order to avoid divulging confidential information however I would like to make some brief remarks in a matter that I know is important to many people in the audience tonight and those watching on TV as well as the school board and me wherever there has been some inaccurate information shared both on social media and the general media media there's some relevant information that I feel obligated to share a recent lockdown drill at one of our schools should have been handled differently although I believe there was no malicious intent by any battle staff members we must ensure that all of our practices and procedures are built on a foundation of equity dignity and respect for all children and that

009the safety of everyone in our school system is never compromised we did not live up to my unwavering expectation that every child and adult regardless of race religion color disability gender and sexual orientation is treated with respect and dignity and for that I apologize to the student the family and the staff at community this unfortunate situation provides an opportunity for the community to work together and for the school system to reevaluate all of its safety and equity procedures and fairness to the staff involved I am Not sure they would given clear directions and expectations during this lockdown drill in retrospect they realized it could have been handled more appropriately and we are all committed to making that happen I will be reaching out to the LGBTQ committee community and other stakeholders to be part of

010the change process coupled with our equity diversity and opportunity committee there has its next meeting this month we will plan a series of appropriate professional development programs review our procedures and if necessary make policy recommendations to our school board I conclude by saying that as a superintendent I have unwavering belief that is followed by action and that everyone both adults and children are treated with respect fairness and dignity I thank those who have sent emails with suggestions to help us improve and I also asked those who have sent attackee emails to various staff members to please stop it is not helpful I also know most of the emails and postings are not coming from people in Stafford or even our local region I am confident that working together we will make our school system and

011community a more welcoming place for thank you [Applause] thank you dr. Kistner before we begin the public comment mr. micawber will you read our information please public comment individuals wishing to comment at this time they do so by responding to the general invitation of the Chairman speakers shall identify themselves by name address and Oregon organizational affiliation if the spokesperson who represents an organization speaker shall also announce the purpose talk topic of their comments three minutes shall be allotted to speakers the Chairman reserves the right to restrict the total citizen comment received at any particular meeting to a predetermined predetermined maximum number of minutes with the approval of the board citizen comment which is profane abusive or which threatens the imminent physical harm shall be ruled out of order by the Chairman although the board provides

012the opportunity for citizen comment individuals desiring to register complaints against division employees or division programs services or activities may also utilize the procedures outlined in Stafford County policy 1 1 1 3 public complaints Thank You mr. McCosker the public comment period this evening will be limited to 70 minutes if it actually may go up to 72 based on the 24 speakers who have signed up so when your name is called please come forward I'll read several in a row if you want to line up we will need you to stop when the red light goes on can you see is there a way to move that so they can see the lights I was sort of hidden under there so that we can give everyone who signed up the opportunity to speak this evening can

013you see that from the front I mean there's a one we can see the red light but who's there okay thank you very much miss aw all right the first speaker is the first speaker is Mary Gossie followed by Sam Hampton and third will be Jackson sheriff Parker madam chair members of the school board I'm Marie gauzy my home address is 246 which since run Stafford Virginia and I am the chair of the Stafford County electoral board in light of the upcoming November 6th election I am here tonight to thank the Stafford County Public Schools for their amazing continuing support I want to especially highlight the 15 schools which serve as voting locations on Election Day the high schools which encourage students turning 18 by the November election to register to vote and not least

014all the school staff who ensure safe and welcoming facilities enabling our citizens to vote from our board to yours a very sincere thank you for your schools partnership in the American election process thank you Sam Hampton followed by Jackson sheriff Parker no no Sam Hampton Hampton Crampton I'm just something like that just to make sure we don't pass you by all right Jackson sheriff Parker and followed by Jackson sheriff Parker be Reverend Beth hunts berry good evening my name is Jackson sheriff Parker my address is 1101 Potomac Drive Stafford Virginia the purpose I have no organizational affiliation just a resident good-evening county board members thank you for your service again my name is Jackson sheriff Parker I've been at Virginia resident for over ten years in the Stafford County resident for over six at face-value

015what does a 52 year old man know about being a transgender girl you see allegedly I was supposed to be a girl too even my parents thought so but back in the 60s transgender did not exist but neither did the internet cable TV or social media for 49 years I struggled hard with it why was that born in the wrong body why couldn't I be who my heart and brain told me I was during those 49 years I went ahead and pretended to be someone I wasn't I served in the military then there's a federal law enforcement officer where I'm still employed today currently at headquarters in DC four days before my 50th birthday I've only had the courage to change the course of my life I transitioned from female to male doing so I

016gave up my entire life's history you won't find my name on any of the major accomplishments I achieved and my birth certificate still shows I was born a female the Department of Defense in the state of Virginia corrected my identification paperwork show my name and gender as I present today my goal here in speaking unionize I hope I can change the stereotypes bias and fear that some of you may have a transgender persons and public bathrooms and locker rooms for those of you who feel uncomfortable afraid to share these facilities with transgender persons I say you already have you've been doing it for years you just didn't know it some of you shared the men's bathroom tonight with me before this meeting it wasn't too long ago that we told children and adults which water

017fountains they could use with no more reasoning and simple bias and discrimination it has come up again although this time you're endangering a young girl's life by telling her she's expendable when it comes to protecting her in a case of emergency there's no safe place for her in Stafford County schools the only difference between that little girl in me is that you have directed me to the boys locker room tonight and they've been have a lockdown which locker room would you direct me to now thank you for your time [Applause] if you could hold your clapping that will help with the timing here after a Reverend Beth hunts for a Christian Peabody followed by Kara Burford thank you so much friends for giving me the opportunity to just speak literally briefly my name is Beth

018Hansberry I'm an interfaith minister but more importantly tonight I'm a mom I have a son in high school here in stubborn he is gay I'm also a fierce RA and supporter of the LGBTQ community I've worked in this community for years I'm speaking straight from my heart no notes when I saw the news I felt like someone had punched me in the gut literally punched me in the gut this is Stafford it's not who we are I want to speak from compassion assuming no malice because I don't believe any staff member meant to harm anyone I do not believe that I believe that this is an opportunity for powerful change in growth some statistics tell us that one in 33 American teens are transgender one in 33 is a kid in every classroom this is

019not going anywhere and we have an obligation as as learners as parents as educators and especially as clergy and I love and web but we'll have so much closure here to protect our children these kids need to know that they are safe at school and when we do a lockdown drill and it's highly child and I know they didn't mean to tell this child this I know this but we do it but if someone comes into school and starts training people so you might not be as important as your friends might not have a place for you and without means to do that but this is a middle school that'll grow and that's all she hears now these kids are resilient I know this because I know them I don't know her but I know

020these kids and I hope she will take this and she will powerfully move forward and use this and she was healed but friends the back will be there she will remember we have an opportunity to do that same thing to Paris we move forward and change and that means diversity training inclusivity training and compassion thank you so much mr. Peabody after Kara Burford Jeff trigger to the members of the board the superintendent the educators staff County Public Schools those in attendance to NBC no one ever says hi to you Missy there is major concern my name is Christian Peabody I'm the president of Stafford Education Association I'm also the vice chair for Virginia Education Association's district you there's a major concern throughout Stafford County Public Schools regarding the clarity and equity of division wide anti-discrimination

021policy and practice by and for both educators and students for many of our own educators and students their school's only safe haven they know you know if our educators and students don't feel their schools are safe for them then what do they have rather than opportunities to thrive they're burdened with survival on a daily basis and sadly this speaks immediately to the situation some of our educators and students endure daily and it also speaks to the lost potential of empowerment our educators can offer our students yet it also speaks to the opportunity to division now can offer to help address and support this collective concern and we're then presented with a singularly unique opportunity of establishing implementing and supporting universal safety measures through across-the-board anti-discrimination training which can be fully delivered on a division wide

022basis by the end of this academic year while being supported by drafted or revised policy within the next few months and the Stafford Education Association is prepared to be that prime mover we're currently engaged with local state and national level level advocacy bodies associations and organizations to bring subject matter expert driven plans and policies for implementation in concert with Stafford County public schools that allow us to immediately support educators and students pleading for salvation and begging for guidance we need to break any perpetuation of a culture of silence regarding discriminating practices occurring within our school system through open and honest discussions as uncomfortable as they may be so we can see what's going well and we have a context and direction to target and amend what is not se wishes to serve as the broker

023for reconciliation of those concerns if our educators feel protected then our students will feel protected advocated for as they grow and learn about themselves during a remarkably beautiful and pivotal time in their lives every educator is our educator and every child is our child every student is our student and it is our wish and our hope that SDA have the distinct privilege of becoming that agent of change in partnership with this board and the division on behalf of the collective community thank you for your time we look forward to providing any service we can to this board and everyone else good evening school board members and dr. Kuzma my name is Carol Buffett I live at 1:1 808 Camelot Way Fredericksburg I'm an educator with staff at County Schools SCA vice president I want everybody

024here to imagine one of the greatest joys in your life many of you probably are thinking about your children or significant other for many adults their greatest joy would be their child oh the joy they bring when they look into the eyes and you know they love you or that moment they crawl into your bed and wake you up in the middle of night these connections should never end for parents now imagine never being able to have these moments again because you had to bear your child this will end up being the worst day for a select few parents I can speak from personal experience this is not a day that any person or parent should have to go through in his or her life however is a very possible chance to have another parent

025join this group if Stafford does not create policy that helps protect all students no matter the race gender gender religion or LGBTQ status many educators understand that this can easily become a true reality for parents and they believe all children should be protected no matter how they identify themselves this is because educators understand these children and children can struggle with having their own voices heard however educators not being made aware of any written guidelines and they struggle with how to handle situations whether you agree with these issues or not these are children until you suffer the loss of one of your own you might not truly understand the magnitude of this situation it is a fact that as students and educators are not part of the majority are being treated differently and educators are left

026to their own to make possibly life-altering decisions we need a policy to help ensure that educators feel safe to support all children we need actual guidelines that do not allow administrators to break under pressure and neglect the well-being of children we need policies that allow educators to support these students we need training to help assist educators so they are able to understand how to handle issues that might arise we do not want to be the district where parents children or educators have to suffer it is up to this board to decide what is more important do you create your policy that has only protects children but also educators that support these children these educators are trying to prevent a loss do we want to be the district where is acceptable to lose children destroy educators

027when all that is needed is training and policy si is willing to partner with the district to help create policies that will ensure that educators are provided the support they need to ensure that students are provided a safe learning environment thank you after mr. trigger a Carol Medawar followed by Leslie cook hello my name is Jeffrey trigger and I live at 518 Clint Lane tonight I speak to you as an educator and a proud member of the Stafford Education Association and of equality Stafford Stafford County Public Schools as one of the fastest growing populations in the Commonwealth and with that growth has come an increase in diversity of the population unfortunately our policies have not kept up with the changing population and is almost non-existent when it comes to the lbgtq populations within our students

028and staff quite frankly I'm tired I'm tired of not being able to openly support students if they have questions about themselves I'm tired of students being afraid to be themselves I'm tired of not being able to address these issues in a productive manner with fellow staff members because honestly most do want to give equity to all of our students I'm tired of people feeling excluded just because policy doesn't exist in support lastly I'm tired of people worrying that they might get fired because they're caught in between doing the right thing and quote what the rules are as educators often times we end up being the mentor to students especially those in unique situations whether it be a lack of parental supervision poverty bullying special education or being a member of the lbgtq community according to

029the APA suicide attempts among the lbgtq student community are among the highest in the country when compared to other subgroups and yet studies show that just having one person show they care drops their chances of self-harm in half oftentimes that responsibility falls on us the educator tonight we are taking our first step in writing our previous wrongs as I speak the Stafford Education Association and a Qualis inequality Stafford are putting forth a deadline all scps educators will have lbgtq training by the end of the 2018-2019 school year the training will be done by an independent third party organization side-by-side this training is not to shame our employees but to empower them to make the right decisions when working with our lbgtq students and staff simply stated I'm tired of being tired [Applause] good evening my

030name is Carol Medawar and I reside in the george washington district welcome to dr. Kittner i imagine you must be wondering what have I gotten myself into only one month into the job and the news is full of negative stories involving Safford County just Simpson history I stood here in 2015 regarding policy that school board was putting in place that allowed a student's gender to interfere with their safety I don't blame the staff at the school because you are responsible for the policy discussion and the tone that this school system have set in place I know that some of you were not on the boy at that time and certainly dr. Kuzma you were not with us then still the pattern was the same a long list of speakers stood here at the podium and

031pleaded with the board to set a policy that makes a student but that has changed transgender feel safe at school at that time information was presented to you about students and what may happen if they are not supported by their school community many presented statistics about bullying and risk for suicide at that point three years ago we urged you to understand that this was a life-and-death discussion the board decided to create a separate but equal policy which history has told us is just another name for discrimination you allowed many outside groups that promoted fear and divisive 'no stume anil ate you into thinking that there was a danger in doing the right thing by our students you as the policy leaders are responsible for setting the tone for this division you have the power to

032set policy and you have the power to change that policy I heard excuses in 2015 that you wanted to wait and see what happened in other parts of the state well you were elected to protect the more than 26,000 students right here in Stafford County and protect them now you can do better this time if this had not been a drill you may be responsible for an unspeakable tragedy many other students and staff across our schools are counting on you to set the tone at the top that Stafford County public schools are safe places and inclusive places not just physically safe but a place that's also emotionally safe in addition to a policy that addresses the specific safety concern and accesses to various places in the school you must also address the of climate the

033professional development of staff and create opportunities to educate our entire community you set the tone it's your action that results in the news stories that are created we have practice drills for a reason so that we can identify weaknesses and make changes thank goodness it was a drill please don't miss the opportunity to learn from what happened and promote that growth mindset we ask our students to learn from their mistakes and make changes and do better I believe you now know better please show us you do better in closing I want to say these news stories do not represent the good things that are going on it's stafford has a previous teacher here and a parent I can speak firsthand that this is not what should be defining us there are amazing things happening every

034day's in our schools your previous decisions the bickering the politics only make it harder to tell those positive stories stop the political football with our kids get the tone at the top corrected for only then we have a better chance at changing the narrative in Stafford County I will email you my remarks and I welcome the opportunity to work with you on these policy changes thank you after Leslie cook Amy a followed by Becky read no iPads could keep getting bigger but they have alright hello everybody 34% of LGB I'm sorry I'm Leslie cook and I'm on Jay mark court in Stafford Canyon and I'm here as a mom and as a member of equality severed 34% of LGBT kids are bullied on school property every year that's a nationwide statistic LGBT kids are 140

035percent more likely than straight peers to not attend school at least one day per month because they're afraid they might be physically harmed in their school a hundred and forty percent more which is a number I can't fathom forty one point five percent of trans adolescents will attempt suicide during their teen years half in our schools in our state that number increases to 54 percent in adulthood 54 percent for kids that have openly supportive teachers at school that risk is cut in half regardless of whether their parents support them or not when they can go to school and know that they're safe and know that they're good and there's overt policies to support that their risk of suicide drops that's how important you all are students in schools with adequate anti-discrimination policies and inclusive teacher

036training and guidance experienced far less depression reduce rates of suicide better school attendance and better grades and that goes for all students so schools with those policies see a jump in academic performance in school attendance and lower depression rates for all students regardless of LGBT status at least 13 other states have already enacted inclusive policies and detailed guidance on how to support LGBT students in schools these trainings are most often free some are not free but the not free ones are cheap they are easily implemented and they are sustainable the increased graduation rates test scores overall mental health outcomes for all students we have an opportunity right now in Stafford we have a huge opportunity in Stafford we have a chance to lead on this issue not follow don't miss this opportunity our kids need

037you [Applause] I'm Amy a a me a here no miss Reed you're up you're next then miss Reed following miss Reed will be Pam Lightfoot good evening staff and school board members about 40 years ago I was sitting where dr. chases City was so many the school board from Falmouth district I was here in 2015 when we were talking about a transgender child and at the end of that I thought there would be policy changes and I hope that one of the changes would how many of the changes would make transgender children feel more safe and more comfortable that does not seem to have happened with the lockdown I would think we would be directing children to the safest place we need to send them but evident aim we did not include all the children

038I believe that you are committed to making some challenges with this and I hope that you do because I know Stafford County better when we have done in the past in this area thank you after Pam Lightfoot Suzanne Richmond followed by Reverend Leon AIA good evening board of school board and that and the new superintendent nice to see everybody here tonight I am Pam Lightfoot I live at 17 ceratin Court and Stafford in the Park Ridge subdivision I'm not going to be as eloquent as a lot of other citizens here my children are not trans but it's when I saw the news in Yahoo I was just astounded and it's odd that October is bullying prevention month because I believe what happened to that poor child is a case of bullying frankly to have ostracize

039ur ostracize her from the other children as you know probably we've had publicity not on the school board level but on the county level being the laughingstock of the nation regarding the Confederate flag on 95 so it seems every time you know it's not like you're just airing very laundry and staffer to the citizens everybody in the country is watching and why shouldn't they be you know military want to move here if they pcs here something people might want to do something they go boy Stafford is really you know they look up the big news of Stafford and this the flag and it's this kind of incident so you know one part of the story I dread was the assumption that they had to separate the trans student for everybody else's safety and that was

040very disturbing it's basically the Ergo there's an assumption that trans students attack others which obviously is incorrect and I think that again the training that's been suggested I wasn't here in 2015 but if the board was notified or suggested that policies be put in place and they haven't been then it's time to do that now and if the members of this board don't feel up to it and perhaps we need to look at upcoming elections for people who actually want to take action instead of going on now you know a long time for for things that damage our our children so again again it's one of those things were any citizen regardless of I am you know I again my kids aren't involved but for just equitable sake I as most of these other citizens

041hope that the board does the right thing and establish policy to make sure students and faculty whatever Nate whatever sexual orientation they have are safe in any situation thank you very much [Applause] good evening school board members and dr. Kisner my name is suzanne richmond I'm a local pediatrician I've been a pediatrician for 30 years and I've taken care of Stafford County children for the past 20 years it's an extraordinary privilege to help parents build strong and healthy families over the years I've learned a lot from these families and one of the most important things that I've learned is how much we all have in common babies to teenagers children make us laugh cry and fill our hearts with love it doesn't matter what race sexual orientation religion or beliefs you have parents love their

042children and those children need our love kindness and guidance to thrive in this world it's a universal truth I've had many LGBTQ kids in my practice over the years it's hard to be a child and to figure out who you are in this world it's even harder if who you are doesn't fit easily into society's preconceived norms it takes incredible courage to stand up for who you are when others may bully or ridicule you one word a friend a kindness or a bully can change your life LGBTQ students are nearly twice as likely to be called names verbally harassed or physically assaulted at school compared to their heterosexual peers LGBT adolescents are more than three times as likely to attempt suicide as heterosexual fierce transsexual youth are nearly six times as likely to attempt suicide

043as heterosexual peers this is a heartbreaking problem so what can we do throughout history people are most easily victimized when they are perceived as other or when it's seems okay to treat them different when the school system unequivocally states that all are respected and have value when it puts into policy the discrimination due to sexual orientation or gender identification is also unacceptable and will not be tolerated that is when we begin to make it better we can make it clear that everyone has value and a place in our community we can teach our staff and children that we are stronger when we embrace our differences and work together then no child will be left to sit alone humiliated by the actions of school staff in a hallway separated from their peers ever again thank you

044the next speaker is Reverend lien Ida and followed by Nate Eve arts and Kenya Wallace my name is I am here to speak about the same issue and I won't give you all my address for security purposes I lived in this area for 20 years I'm a member of eyesight of xbg southerner so new ground and I do language justice interpretation for the Virginia anti-violence project and I come here in solidarity with this child as a trans person myself and to learn help with their family as a parent of a trans child myself one appearance biggest nightmares have become true for this family that their precious child is mocked left as you're feeling safe in the place where children should feel the safest and I say that with a heavy heart as I watched my

045own child goes to school every day not knowing that this could be the last time that I see them because we all watch the news no long faces and schools anymore with this much violence being perpetrated against our delicate children from all fronts these new threats and stressors bring a lot of anxiety to young minds these active shooter drills bring that too you can talk to children and they will tell you how affected they are to presume like a bad person is coming into their school to hurt us these are the words of my five-year-old child I thought that the staff here is trauma-informed enough to be able to detect and help children who are responding on road to drills and that they understand that this was beyond the clear transphobia in this issue I

046sing that because it's obvious by the staff actions that they do care about the safety of the student don't you think that they can choose or they think that they can choose which child to care for their actions led to this child and to all of us here that this life that their life isn't safe and their care that they would rather argue about building facility usage gender issues which they're clearly ignorant and I'm trained to do and a child's anatomy which to me is very disturbing and it's only right to be sure I'm going to be sure that this child is safe in my line of work I have been to schools that have the proper training to treat and value all people with dignity and respect from a joint young age middle school

047is hard enough for a child without transphobia when teachers choose to act violently toward students they are saying to the group that this is allowed this is okay this cannot be tolerated with people that work with children at minimum staff nurse to be trained to do better and nothing less than all that the family asks for in this community is asking for will be giving in order to have restorative justice thank you Nate Evy warts hi I'm Li everett's I live in Sanford County and I would like to speak about LGBTQ issues so I was here last year and I spoke about bathroom issues and I heard that nothing has changed so I'm back now last time I brushed over the slightly but safety is a big issue LGBTQ kids are targeted for bullying all

048the time and it's a big problem bullying isn't dealt with effectively teachers and administrators just say stop that and that's not okay but they really do anything that works I should know it took multiple attempts from myself meeting with teachers and my mother humming this whole before on several occasions before my bully stopped I'm looking it didn't come to physical violence because too often it does when it comes to LGBTQ kids they have it worse I don't have to worry about policies protecting me but LGBTQ kids do several County Public Schools policy is don't protect them LGBTQ kids should get the same protection others do now an incident occurred recently during a lockdown drill I'm sure you know what happened so I'll spare you the details I want to say I don't think it's the

049teachers fault they're scared of the backlash they might get especially without support they shouldn't hesitate to put any student in any safe place regardless of the space being labeled boy or girl if shooters coming down the hall policies need to be changed and training needs to occur so that doesn't happen again I hope to see policies change to meet these needs thank you for your time after Kenya Wallach Joanie Wilson followed by Jane Ellen teller good evening my name is Kenya Wallach I am a parent I live in the family district and I'm a parent of three wonderful and amazing children they are both all three of them are biracial they're all mine there are biracial and they're Jewish they're proud descendants of enslaved Africans and they're Protestants of survivors of the Holocaust two years

050ago my daughter my eldest daughter who is currently in eighth grade now she's dead before you guys and she talked to guys about two issues one was about dress code and she greatly appreciates the fact that you guys did take that seriously and they changed that the second was about diversity and the need for this school district to think about and really engage in conversation surrounding diversity due to the treatment that she had received in sixth grade and prior to that by adults and others within this school system in order for you as a body to really work to try to end issues of diversity within our school system we must model that behavior from the top all the way down to the last person in this bit in these buildings that means from my

051standpoint that means that no one should be allowed to have these views not views when it's a views I don't have anything written down but I would say no one should be willfully discriminatory against another group of people regardless of what they look like no matter where they're from anything I do not care they should not and so I ask you politely to please take a look at who you have employed within these schools in the school system all the way through and if they have the likelihood if they are willing to discriminate against another child or adult teacher or whomever trained them properly send them on their way however if they continue on that path please get rid of them because my children deserve better I do not want tolerance of my children because

052of their brown skin and the fact that we I'm not sure to learn Hebrew and that we go to synagogue and we don't go to church I don't want tolerance I don't care about tolerance and this child that we were talking about today she doesn't deserve tolerance tolerance is not acceptable I don't want you to tolerate me nor my children or any other child within the school system I don't want there to be a principal a teacher or an administrator in central office to tolerate my children or any child you should accept them for who they are how they were born how they accept themselves having see themselves that is it you don't not you as in you individuals but you as in this entire society does not dictate anything to these children or to

053these parents thank you [Applause] good evening board my name is Joni Wilson I live at 6:09 Stewart Street in Fredericksburg Virginia I'm going to read a statement that was given to me by a family member it was written by this student that was involved in the incident with the school lockdown dear board members I am the student who was involved in the school lockdown on September 28th and I am also the student who was banned from the girls bathroom when I was just 10 years old now four years later I'm still having to deal with being separated and being treated like an outcast what happened that day was the most humiliating and embarrassing thing I have ever dealt with I had to have teachers debate my safety when it is just common sense they kept

054telling me if it was a real lockdown they would just quote just shove you in the safest place if we were practicing our safety why was I first made to sit in the gym with a teacher then later sit in the hallway of the locker room facing a wall alone by the door the door in which if there was someone armed in my school I would have been the first one gone I felt like an afterthought if the whole thing wasn't bad enough the embarrassment caused me to have a panic attack in front of everyone I do want to thank the only coach that day who apologized and told me what was done was wrong and that she was on my side this wasn't the teachers fault they are doing what they've been told to

055do blame is pointless now I want to stop being treated like an afterthought I want you to stop treating me like I am a predator it is time for you to fix this thank you after miss teller Marvin Stern's followed by brandy quark hello I'm Jane oh and teller I live at 32 Ponte Drive in Fredericksburg but I have five children who went all the way through Stafford County Schools many years ago I came here very angry and I have a very angry thing that I wrote but my anger is a bit diffused because of your apology and I appreciate that and I'm assuming hoping that that speaks for everyone here I can't imagine really that it wouldn't but Stafford County has you know done some things in the past so I'm just gonna not

056read that it's kind of but I would like to speak directly to what I think is the root problem here I know that you know training and and is is important but I think the policy of the bathroom separation is the root cause of this we and they situation this the the the trans children who are forced to go to the bathroom of their birth certificate is that the way it's defined right I think that is the root of the problem and when you when you force a boy who someone who identifies as a boy to go to a girl's bathroom or a the family bathroom you're making a separation there that causes this policy of not being accepted so I I think this bathroom policy should be looked at again and it's very detrimental

057I happen to have a my daughter and her family live in Massachusetts she my daughter has a ten-year-old and a six-year-old and I just spent last week with them and this six-year-old is a fully transitioned trans boy he calls himself Hank that was not the name he was born with but by age four and a half to five he transitioned and he has not met any resistance at all he went to nursery school he went to kindergarten and now he's in the first grade and people there don't know him by anything but a boy he's a boy when I was there we had a little conversation about well you know he his parents were in Europe and he said oh I think it'd be nice to live in in France that would be really really

058nice I'd like that and I said well yeah it's a good place but just be sure you don't move to Virginia and he said why and I said well because they would make you go to the girls bathroom and he went that was that was horrible to him thank you for your time Marvin Stern's followed by brandy work hello my name is Marvin Stearns and I live at 18 piers in place Stafford Virginia I graduated from Stafford High School in 2017 I went to Stafford County Public Schools my entire life and I am now a substitute teacher in autism classrooms here in Stafford County when I was in high school there was another tree oh I'm a trans boy and in my high school there was another trans boy and he he was like full-on

059he had a beard he had a mustache he had he was told that he could not use the boys restroom he was going to be given a pass to use the women's restroom so me not passing very well knew that I didn't even have a chance of going to the men's restroom so I went into the women's rush to a couple times and several times I was asked by classmates Marvin why are you in here boys aren't allowed in this restroom i if it weren't for my art teachers and the drama teachers at Stafford high school the drama teachers allowed me to use the single stall bathroom in the drama department I can't imagine what it would be like for anyone who didn't have that because if I didn't have that I would have been

060part of a statistic I don't know why I'm sorry I don't know why I had to fight for my right to pee I just want to go to the bathroom I just I just want to be a normal person I'm not here to hurt anybody I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable but I just I want to be treated as a normal person and for the girl in middle school middle schools middle schools rough more even more rough than high school and it's just hard to be a regular person in middle school nothing nothing extraordinary about you but being trans in middle school or being LGBT it must just be it's just terrible so I just heard from the support of my teachers I didn't end up being a statistics and it's because of those

061teachers I was in the drama department so I was there every day after school and on Saturdays I was with my teachers every single day and their support is what kept me going and if the teachers need to support us the teachers need to be trained on how to accept us and how to treat us with respect and it's extremely important because those are the people we spend the most time with those are the people that we need to accept us and to work with us and that we need it so badly we just we just want to be normal we don't want to be singled out I don't want to be singled out I'm just me after mrs. Quirke a reverend joshua cole followed by e david gent good evening superintendent Kistner school board

062members my name is brandy cork I live in the George Washington district I haven't been in this exact building in 29 years this is awesome I've come full circle I went to middle school here this is our library I'm a proud alumni of Stafford elementary dolphin's Stafford middle school Spartans and Noor Stafford Wolverine and now here I am I bought my family back I'm raising a nine year old and a five year old I'm also a proud daughter of a 31 year veteran of the Stafford County teacher Superintendent cousin er I had some questions already drafted as I was preparing to speak and I think you've answered two of them and I hope that there's follow-ups in the meeting minutes with with the action items as the the dates are identified the first one is

063when is the first meeting to discard to start discussion of what to do next and I think you did answer that with maybe some some meetings that are going to be held the second action item is when we're drafting start to update policies to be all-inclusive however sir when you did speak you said if necessary make updates to policy if necessary sir if you don't mind me asking what qualifies is something necessary to update inclusive policies and to include the appropriate training for all leaders involved and caring for our children being social workers for our children being mothers for our children fathers guardians for our children every single thing that my mom did for 31 years in this county if you don't have an answer tonight for me sir then maybe maybe there's a follow-up

064in another meeting that provides that answer and if I can't attend that meeting that there are many minutes that are then published to the public so that we can refer to those and then move forward ladies and gentlemen there's no blaming who's what who's what's wise it's about the future and those inclusive policies and training I'm a proud citizen of Stafford I left to go to college I went to Brooklyn I'm back here with my own family because I'm a proud citizen Stafford County thank you good evening not one preaching minute madam chair thank you dr. Kissinger and welcome to Stafford school board members thank you my name is Joshua Cole my home address is 1138 James Madison Circle in Fredericksburg under the Falmouth district um I don't really want to talk about differing beliefs

065and differing opinions because we know we all have them I'm a proud product of a Stafford County public school system started at Falmouth elementary sees me the head start Falmouth elementary drew middle school South Stafford then graduated in north Staffan in 2009 and the entire time I was here in Stafford County we've always talked about how special we are how individual we are how unique we are how peculiar we are then we were celebrating our individual differences and who we are if I could offer just a faith perspective the Bible tells us that a couple different passages for we are fearfully and wonderfully made that greater will see that's in me than he that's in the world we hear all these different passages of scripture that tells us to celebrate who we are and then

066every day I wake up and I hear different stories coming out of Stafford County from the school bus to the Confederate flag to the incident listed here and then I wonder what happened to what we were taught in Stafford County Public Schools that you ought to treat others as you would like to be treated then we ought to celebrate our deficits because we are great we are individual but then I'm also reminded that when Jesus was talking to a group of crazy radicals he told them to leak what you do to the least of these you do to me so if every time someone is disenfranchised and Stafford County Public Schools in my mind Jesus is disenfranchised every time someone is obstructed against Jesus is obstructed against and so for this particular incident Jesus was

067held outside and told that we don't know what to do with you we're trying to figure it out just just give us a moment where we're trying to figure it out but we don't know what to do with you Jesus and I want to remind you that as we move forward everywhere else around us is moving forward Fredericksburg City Prince William County and here we are in Stafford County one of the wealthiest Nate counties in the US and we're still stuck in the 50s in the 60s and the 70s and now it's time for us to catch up I just want to remind you that you guys have the power you guys have the authority and for many of us we voted for you and we're relying on you to do what's right for our

068students remember they are beautiful they are individual they are celebrated imagine if this was your child how would you feel that same anger that same zeal you were put into it put it into this decision because that's Jesus that's your child and we have to fight for everybody dr. Martin Luther King said injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere thank after mr. Ghent Ben Litchfield and Jen Coolidge I appreciate your time this evening my name is Dave Ghent I live in Spotsylvania County but I'm a seventh grade teacher here in Stafford County I came here today for a few reasons the first is I was recently reminded that a faculty meeting no less that if there's change you want to see in this county it's not enough to just talk about it you have

069to show up to these meetings and advocate for it the second is I'm here because there's a lot of people at my school and two other schools I'm sure who are not comfortable to be their own voice they won't change but because of who they are or the positions they hold they lack the support in our schools I showed that what I wrote to several teachers and they all said the same thing I hope you're ready for the backlash they fear some kind of social reprisal for doing something like this and I hope it's not true but I'm afraid that it might be when I spoke to students about this that was one of the places that broke my heart I've spent the past week talking to students what their experience is growing up as

070part of the LGBTQ community some wrote letters others spoke to me directly and I keep hearing the same things over and over I can't talk about it here was in a letter from an asexual student it's not safe for me from a non-binary student they'll treat me differently if they knew the truth from a gay student it's not the truth of the statements themselves that breaks my heart we've known about bullying in the LGBTQ community for a long time what broke my heart is that in most of those letters and statements they weren't talking about the other students they were talking about the staff the faculty of the schools were the people that are supposed to be their role models their guides through life I teach English and social skills in equal measure we want

071them to grow into confident strong young adults who will be citizens of our community in the very near future training addresses that issue training makes sure that if teachers do not know what to do or what is expected of them they at least know where to find out we get trained in how to identify child abuse mental health issues bullying because we recognize that those are risks to our students training saves lives it can do the same here the last issue is that when I ask these students what solutions they wanted to see what they all said pretty much unanimously is what they needed was a space a space where they could be themselves a space where they could learn about themselves and how their lives are going to progress to advocate for their own

072needs somewhere that helped them learn about what was down the road for them if training is for the staff organizations like GSA's or for the students beyond providing leadership opportunities and extracurricular activities these can provide straight students a chance to learn about their peers thank you [Applause] good evening my name is Ben Litchfield I live in Falmouth district I also happen to be chairman of the Stafford County Democratic Committee and let me say there is no distance there is no separation between the Stafford Democrats and equality Stafford on this issue I'm addressing you tonight because of recent news reports detailing the treatment of a transgender student during a lockdown drill this story has garnered national attention and is being widely shared over social media it was recently shared by celebrity activist Alyssa Milano to her

073three point four three million Twitter followers suffice it to say this incident does not cast Stafford County Public Schools or our community in a good light it is shameful and we must do better not only for this student but for all LGBTQ students all students the United States Supreme Court once said the Edit education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments it is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities even service in the Armed Forces it is the very foundation of good citizenship today it is the principle instrument of awakening the child to cultural values in preparing him for later professional training and in helping him adjust normally to his environment in these days it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life

074if he has denied the opportunity for an education such an opportunity where the state has undertaken to provide it is a right which must be available to all on equal terms that comes directly from the unanimous opinion in Brown versus Board of Education in Virginia we have a long way to go before we live up to the courts command of real equality in Brown Glisson reports that 70% of LGBTQ students in Virginia face some form of verbal harassment as a result of their sexual orientation 13% report physical assault just think about that 13% over 50% report verbal harassment as a result of their gender expression with 10 percent reporting physical assault this includes harassment from staff it should come as no surprise that when faced with these types Challenge is over 60% of LGBTQ students

075report feeling sad or hopeless for extended periods of time without supports in place these students are at increased risks of committing suicide for a moment just think about what we are doing to these children on a human level they expect us to stand for them as their parents and teachers and instead we deny them human dignity it is cruel and wrong LGBTQ students have just as much right as anyone else to receive a decent public school education all that they ask for is to learn an environment that is inclusive and welcome welcomes them this treatment of this student is appalling Stafford County has dabbled in transphobic policies for over three years now it is a stain on our community and I ask that it stop tonight here and now the school board needs to take

076proactive measures to support diversity and inclusion in our schools including system-wide training and the creation of student alliances our LGBTQ students deserve no less thank you [Applause] well I don't even know if I can follow that all right well my name is Jen Coolidge and I live in Fredericksburg Virginia and I want to share a story with you all I have a 35 year old daughter at 12 years old we're driving home from somewhere and she says to me mom I have something to tell you and I after I tell you this you're not gonna love me and I said sweetheart there's nothing that you could do or say that would cause me to not love you I love you no matter what and she said screwing up as much courage as her 12 year

077old little body could muster she said I'm gay and I said me too I'm happy all the time and she said mom I'm a lesbian and I said sweetheart she said I know you don't love me and I said it doesn't matter what you are you were made this way that's where lady gaga got it by the way anyway with that being said I watched my daughter suffer 20 years ago with going to school in Fairfax County and struggled with the abuse and the bullying and the physical abuse that she suffered to the point that she wound up dropping out of school and it has shaped her life to where she is now behind she's still struggling we have so much further to go you know there is a song in South Pacific you have

078to be taught to hate and fear it has to be drums in your dear little ear and we need no go no further than what we saw in Mississippi on that stage last week with President of the United States calling out a woman who was sexually assaulted and berating her mocking her and behind him were parents and community leaders like yourselves are just that silent and like you know that too but there was one face behind president oh I'm not going to go there mr. Trump thank you and it was a child and he was watching everyone laugh in support of the mocking of dr. Ford who has yet to be able to return home because she's still receiving death threats children are watching what you all are doing the eyes of the world are

079literally on Stafford again like we're not dealing with the Confederate flag enough you know we're better we need to do better there is there has to be equality Thank You Pamela looking but thank you we can do this that that brings our public comment period to an end for citizen comments we are now at the board committee reports and member comments madam chair can we have a five minute point of privilege five minute break I don't see any objection we'll take five minutes promptly back here at 8:25 all right we're going to take a five minute break the public comment period is closed well we had a motion at the beginning of the meeting to limit the public comment period to the 22 people who had signed up so okay okay well let's look we're

080gonna take the five minutes here we have closed the public comment I know okay well deal with that when we come back thank you you then close the public citizen comment period and come back to the board for board committee reports and member comments so mr. Hampton thank you for letting me speak I apologize about being late I was in traffic but something to point out is that it might be nice to ask someone what pronouns they Hughes I used to see them rather than him but thank you my name is Samson Hampton and I understand I'm an outsider I'm not from Stafford I'm from Rhode Island I am here because America has heard what is going on here in Stafford and were outraged I have with me letters from people from all across the

081country who are concerned about what's going on in Stafford the treatment of trans children here needs to be addressed there needs to be trading there needs to be professional development I am I am an advocate and activist and I have done trainings for over ten years I have it's been ten years since I was in high school and I would really like to think that things have changed since then but apparently they haven't and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to change it to make it so there's children that are in school today don't have to go through what I had to go through so I am going to connect you with whatever agency is that you need whatever resources that you need so that you can get the professional development that you need

082not just teachers the school nurses the social workers everyone needs training they need to understand what LGBT means there's a lot of letters in there and they have a lot of different definitions for them so there there's a lot there's a lot that needs to be done I've heard about the bathroom issues and I I don't belong in the women's room that's for sure but I'm wondering though I'm wondering if your schools have gender-neutral bathrooms okay that's something that that you can work on to make students feel safe safety is is as a key thing for students I think should be your number one priority and that apparently wasn't the case in this instance mental health is one of the top was one of the hardest things for the LGBT community and the only security

083net that students have is their school and you guys need to be there for them so I'm willing to help you get connected with national organizations who know how to write policies that are effective and and save lives I mean save lives because lives are at stake so I have letters I have copies of the letters for each of you and I would just like to say that I don't want to speak to you guys right now I want to speak to the students of Stafford we hear you we see you we you are beautiful and we love you thank you [Applause] thank you that brings us to board see you can miss Hauser do you want to talk a little bit about the CIP advisory since I was out of state really nothing to

084report they met they had the organizational meeting and will be meeting again monthly okay dr. chase yeah the Finance and Budget Committee met on October 4th and I want to thank miss hazard for attending the meeting for mr. Kator staff presented possible solutions for modifying the 12-month employee work calendar so employees would be compensated for the correct number of days it was the consensus of the committee to support staffs recommendation to add additional holidays to the 12-month employee calendar we discussed the need for some mid-year staffing adjustments in finance Human Resources and the north had headstart early childhood special education center with the shorter summer this next year additional staff are required to hire teachers and take care of payroll I believe dr. Kittner will be following up with the entire board on this item

085we also received a FY 18 year end budget update the annual external audit is currently underway we learned that our year-end balance was lower than is customary this is because the state has pushed off certifying sales tax receipts until December staff expects about 1.5 million to arrive at the county in December remember miss Eagan mentioned it I tried to I thank everyone from coming out that night there are quite a few people that came out and the classes were failed so I hope they continue to come out I try to go from one class to the other I think I hit three I hit the CTE which is I hit the career technology education I hit I think Technology Advisory Committee Head Start and capital improvement so I try to go and and they were

086very entertaining I think the one the CTE for example they had a lot of individuals there that had impressive backgrounds and technical qualifications that I fully want to understand what they do so that we could use them for the future and try to figure out how we could kind of merge them and what we're trying to accomplish with with CTE in terms of Technology Advisory Committee I believe that you know I've been one of the school board members and Sarah I think you also joined us in the past but they want us to try to join them in some of these endeavors that they go to the different schools to see what's there so that we could understand sort of when we vote on technology we understand what we're voting on so that did invite

087us to come out so I think we need to you know try to meet some of those meeting that's all on the Advisory Committee are we coming back for any other committee reports miss hazard just a quick update um we had approved the legislative priorities last week I think I had said in sort of anticipation of being able to be included with the Board of Supervisors I did attend their meeting and it was good to see that several of our initiatives made it as what I would consider some of their top priorities talking about the VRS and waiver for that for school protection officers there was a very interesting discussion about the cost to compete but one of the interesting ones is a recognition that we need to be working with the state because the

088average teacher salary nationally is like sixty thousand 483 if I can read my own handwriting and Virginia we are at fifty-six 861 and the Board of Supervisors put that in as one of their lobbying positions we were cautioned of course it is a biennial but at least there's a real recognition with some numbers and I believe there's a broader discussion but I was at least encouraged that we have been at least successful in bringing that issue to light just quick update on the joint working schools committee that that'll be on Monday to 22 October I think we're over there I'm gonna double-check cuz I can figure that out or we're over at the BOS the but this is an all-call for any topics that you're gonna email to miss hall that you might want the

089the Joint Working Committee to discuss things I think an update on school protection officer that may be one of them even though they went forward with the legislative but just to say hey can you give us an update and then we could bring that back to you all but just any topics do you think we want to discuss with the Jake Joint Working Schools please give it to miss Hall that's it thanks thank you miss Hauser do you want to start us with oh did you have anything mr. Kator no mr. Ezard would you like to start us with board member comments I would love to defer but come back to me I'm sorry for me mr. Kator you're welcome hi thanks for coming out tonight guys thanks for your understanding hopefully and the fact

090that we did limit the time but if you wanted to speak and you weren't signed up I would personally invite you to come back if there is an award for the person who cries the most when my term is over I think I've won it as of now so I just I had a lot of things to say and I too felt comforted by doctor kizza nurse comments at the beginning we made an error in judgment last week that has made news outlets nationwide last year I set up here and listen to your advocacy I along with Holly promptly met with then superintendent and gained support for the equity diversity and opportunity committee to be formed I spent little hours meeting with parents and stakeholders who wanted nothing more than education compassion and training when

091that Committee passed and was to be formed I set up here smiling at the specific parents who I felt I was forming it for I was so excited to begin training helping our teachers and staff become better prepared to educate and include all students unfortunately we're here having this conversation again but the time to have these conversations isn't now it wasn't then it was a long time ago ignoring it is that making our children feel more safe or better educated or our staff more understanding or compassionate I can only look to myself as someone with an opportunity that not many people will have to sit in this seat we provide the direction for everything that occurs in this county and I'll just say that I would support the sei and their deadline to begin these

092efforts thank you this hazard how long did you want for your deferral I can go now my comments that were in here somehow have disappeared but most people know that I am no I'm not I'm not Jamie anymore even though I wish I could have given your comments so I'll adopt them is mine at the beginning of the meeting our computers were switched so she had mine and I had her so that's why we're laughing I would like to always say to those who come I appreciate you I appreciate that you write to us I appreciate you take the time the best way for us to know and to hear things is to hear directly from you as I have told many people in my district and other places I don't take judicial notice as

093I would have called it by a random thing write to me specifically then I can write back to you specifically because there is a lot to be gained by dialogue I believe one of the many things that we have learned in the last few we need this dialogue and it does not appear right now it is occurring I believe some of us thought some things were put into place to start that dialogue and perhaps they have not judging by this evening been there but doctor kizza who have spoken with this week thank you for coming and saying not what not only what you said but to also lead this board in getting to the right place wherever that may be I appreciate those that you reached out to and more importantly the fact that you

094didn't wait you reacted immediately and for that I am eternally grateful I believe we need to move forward I need we need to examine and we need to have the dialogue that's where we need to be I can't promise you something tonight if you are waiting for something from me tonight I don't know what that is but I know it needs to be better that much I can say moving on to other topics because there are many our division and I think that we have to look in general with about a lot of our students this is a particular segment but we have a really broad and changing community we need to be looking broadly across the board even though things are the things brought up tonight we need to look at very very broadly

095and not in a vacuum in one area we need to mean when we say all we need to mean all and I've said that before and I hope we can move towards that in that in that vein I would also just like to thank the so many people that have made really though by and large the first month of school a lot of moving pieces happen I do want to thank our educators and I know we have challenges within our division I know transportation is one we have other things though that come up but the main way that we can make change in the main way that we can make our voices heard is to talk to each other join together and then talk to those who can also help us some of that resides

096here with the seven of us but there are other areas too that don't just reside with us that we as leaders can all band together to make change because I believe there are policies not just in the school division but in this county we forget we are part of a County those policies may also need to be examined thank you defer this is a new one is it miss again do you want to defer or speak I will just keep it extremely brief how about that I just want to thank the VA and the SCA for coming out and extending the offer to help and I hope that you'll all get with dr. casler and and get involved in this and the committee that we've got and dr. Kaiser I hope that there's an existing

097member list for that committee and I know that two people from that committee hadn't received notification that a meeting was scheduled so if we could maybe find that list and send it out to all the members that would be helpful that's it thank you my seeing dr. chase I just wanted to say that one of the things that has struck me since I've gotten on the board I know we've heard some negative things about Stafford but is the fact that so many members of the community really do care about the children of Stafford County and I regularly get emails whether it's about buses that are maybe polluting the insides of buses and being worried about children or whether it's something like this incident with one of our students so I'm very encouraged by the fact

098that that so many people to reach out to let us know what's going on and then on another note I just wanted to share with the board that last night I was at the PTO meeting for the CGS Commonwealth Governor's School and I was very encouraged that our new director has across all four counties looked at how students are selected or the application process for getting into this program and they've modified it so that ACT extracurricular activities are no longer part of the admission process and this is important because for students who maybe have a single family single parent home they may not be able to participate in as many activities or there may not be the money for them to participate in all of those activities so I'm very encouraged by this change that

099it might make CGS more accessible to all of our students thank you thank you dr. chase for the good work on that and the team so first of all thanks so much for all everyone to come out tonight it's not easy coming here it's not easy getting up to the microphone and to talk about issues and so I do appreciate that we do and we do hear you we do hear you you know after being in you know some of you won't like this but after being in the military for 20 for years as a retired army guy you know we we work together and no matter who we are you know despite what policy says right yeah because when the bullets are flying you don't care who's to your left or your right you

100just want to make sure they take care you're right so so policy is something that this board has and then I and I echo some of the comments from our board members here about you know policy is a piece but we still have to make sure that that policy is getting down to the lowest level and we need to make sure that our folks are are doing the right thing by our students because I think everyone up here is apparent everyone up here has kids I have four kids they're all well want to went through the school and two are still in it right and so it's tough work it's tough work and but you all helping us out the sca the VGA I know I have a bunch of constituents here and I mean

101and we'll move forward with this you know we'll learn and we'll move forward I mean it's it's it's not a good thing right and and so okay so now - it's a school renovation business for fairy farm because everyone knows that I won't I won't go too many minutes without saying something about fairy farm right so I just wanted to give a quick update okay yeah thank you thank ya I like that too right okay or or you know my kid up I went to one of those fancy schools that my kid goes to they do all that right okay okay okay awesome renovate fairy farm update right so and I'm gonna read this right from dr. Kissinger's update to us just so we're just saying on the staff staff here has held a design

102development meeting on the 27th of September with the school administration and the bottom line up front is fairy farm is one of our oldest schools 1955 it's kind of been on and off the rebuild renovation list for a long time and so it's kind of you know hard to see and stuff like that the kids are it's an old school and it really needs to be okay yeah and so that it really needs to get updated out really happy about a 30 about a 10 million dollar upgrade that that the board here approved and the Stafford Board of Supervisors was approved and so that's moving forward that 10 million dollar update and we're all very excited whatever a little thing we can get done in the school we're so happy about because it's old school

103and so one March will be the final construction documents will be done so folks that are at ferry farm now they'll see surveyors out there taking and I'm getting constituents to : how is the ferry farm pool you know Jeff rouse the gold medal is swam there and you know it's been around since 55 right that pool is gonna be fine we're gonna have the parking right mr. Harry where's mr. I ran that part we're gonna have at least a little bit of parking for them that whole first row did you say yes sir okay I'm just making sure that it'll the truth didn't change right it's so so yeah so we're moving forward with that and I'm so so happy about that and it should be open what's what's the date we're looking at

104September 20 August 20 August right because we have a new early calendar so all the time all the times we've said we're gonna open September we're going to September and then someone wants some of the smart board members here said hey we're going early next year we'll all be in school by August 13th so we got to open August so we'll be open by August 20 I didn't look at you I did look in your direction thank you I'm done all right miss young your turn so the reason why I was hesitating to say anything because I was still in an emotional state you know they say women were emotional so I didn't want to say anything and I don't you know I'm not gonna talk a lot about it it's about action it's about

105making change so I'm I'm not gonna sit here and and talk through it it's about the haves and have-nots and it's about equity and diversity and for some of you that know me know that this is person thank you thank you miss Joan I want to also thank everyone for coming out and sharing your thoughts if you did not have an opportunity to speak we welcome your correspondence we have a meeting every first no the second and fourth Tuesday so if you want to come back come on back I also want to just thank dr. Kistner for his leadership in this very difficult time for Stafford County Public Schools I mean we're all very proud of our schools but something happened that we're we're not proud of and I and I appreciate dr. Kistner not

106pointing a finger at someone it's not the staff it comes back to this board because it is a matter of policy and it's time it's time to come back I know one of the speakers said you know mentioned that if necessary well dr. Kissinger still our new superintendent I guess will give you two months to be the new man on the block but but this is something that I think the the board is responsible for mr. Kator said you know we have the unique opportunity I'll call it a challenge because it is challenging it's it's it's not as easy as one would think to make change but I think this is this is his time to be addressing this and I will be looking to the committee which was established a while ago but to

107specifically look you know into this come back to us and I would certainly ask that it be some time before you know this school year is is done to give to give us time to consider it I can't speak for the board but I can say that I want to look at this and I think we we've heard we've heard the message and that the message is clear we care about the students everyone here cares about the students and I would say that everyone at that school cared about the students it may not have been demonstrated and dr. kisna apologized I think we'll all apologize not only to the student that was involved but to the families to the community and we we do need to do better so thank you dr. Kistner I think

108if you all take a look into his record he is a amazing man he impressed me during our interviews when he talked about you know his passion for diversity and for making sure that every student has an equal opportunity no matter where that student falls on the spectrum economy anything and I think with dr. kids nurse leadership we can move forward and I would ask you to allow us to move forward we're not going to brush this off you know we're not going to say it didn't happen but we have to learn from it and that's the only thing we can do from a very difficult situation is to move forward and to make things better from here on so we'll be looking looking for dr. Kissinger but we're we're very grateful that he is

109still here with us because he's had what a hurricane I mean there's been so many natural disasters in in the short period that he's been with us but he's still here and I and and he is he is a sincere man and a an amazing leader so we'll be we'll be looking for great things here so it brings us to superintendent's comments we're not going to count the earlier statement because that okay so when you when we hear hear from the public we're where we know we're posted here here not debate or answer questions but I will use this opportunity to maybe address some of your questions which I think the board has alluded so in my orientation of life in my 20 years of superintendent I guess I've come to the conclusion that policies

110have a place but best actions and common sense have a greater place and I think we could accomplish what we heard tonight from everyone with policies aligning behavior and decisions that will not only benefit transgender children but all children so it's not that I was saying if we need policies as I just think we can move forward well we move forward yesterday but we can afford to get tomorrow we go without a policy that's really my whole point but I will bring the board after consultation with stakeholders and I do think people have shared things tonight policies I don't want to rush it I want to do best practices that people could really understand changing real quickly I do want to just mention something that dr. chase mentioned the board from the day I got

111hired made it clear that we got to gear up for the next school year faster okay and I know it's like early October but before you know it it's going to be July and so I want to talk very briefly about these positions and this is just another policy discussion that we could have it another time there are really competing policies in our policy manuals that says what I can or cannot do is superintendent as it relates to personnel physicians I'm just being honest with you and if you want a list of the competing policies email me and I will give it to you and you could tell me if I'm interpreting wrong but we need to move forward especially on certain ones that get us ready for the new Early Childhood Center that will

112be in no Stafford we have to have staff hired after the Christmas winter break assistant principle was discussed a bookkeeper and we're recommending an early childhood special coordinator so we have one two four the whole division recruiting okay we're going to take a short summer recess and we got to have teachers in place for new teacher orientation professional development and so on HR DDS for another position I've gone back to HR after so I know I've spoken to each one of you either individually act or email ask them to reassess their current staff to see if they could get that position by redistributing some responsibilities the other position is in finance specifically working with VRS and other areas the hybrid was a call to hybrid employees was that VRS - I don't know this so

113that is a position and I could tell you with no reservation I've been here enough Saturday's to see finance people working to get the work done and that really isn't how we wanted to treat our staff so I will send you a very specific list of staff members I know I had a chance to talk that's a committee and individuals very very quickly somebody mentioned transportation that has been obviously a challenge I do want to put things in context I think it's always important to put things in context according to our directive transportation we have a 220 to 230 buses on the road every day we transport over 17,000 students ok and we do value every time we get feedback on our performance but I just want you to realize that we are doing a

114really good job getting most pig kids to where they need to be on time and safe we also need to acknowledge that we do have some challenges when it comes to getting staff and keeping stiff and we had a meeting yesterday of finance transportation HR and we're going to explore Region four and Region three Northern Virginia and our region to learn what they are doing in the area of Transportation as relates to incentivizing people to work for them and to stay with them and in two week because we want to move fast on these recommendations or at least to be aware of it as we prepare for the budget some of these things may really be things moving forward for the following year the other thing I just want to thank you and I really

115think the community is thanking you and we don't talk a lot about it well maybe we do I am we haven't talked a lot about since I've been here so I had a opportunity to go to Richmond today for a meeting that was sponsored by the Virginia early childhood Foundation and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce talking about the remarkable value of early childhood education and there was a neurology a neuropsychologist that spoke of areas related to brain development and then there was a leading business member of our state talking about it as it prepares young people even the little kids birth to three as our future workers so the investment and you've probably heard that every dollar invested in early childhood has about a fourteen dollar return so as we're looking to expand our early

116childhood opportunities I just want you know Stafford is going the completely right direction and I would continue to encourage you to keep going that direction I'll stop there thank you dr. Kittner that brings us to the consent agenda do we have a motion for approval motion to approve motion second all in favor please say aye all right all opposed motion carries unanimously brings us to action item 10 point O 1 approve the school board's FY 20 but priorities dr. chase would you like to make a motion yeah move that we approve the FY 2008 priorities second motion by dr. chase I think miss Egan got that second in master is there any discussion here just one comment good good work by the team on this I think every single goal in here is appropriate and

117needed once again for the sixth year in a row my priorities are educational professional pay number one and number two reduce class sizes thanks all right Thank You mr. McCosker any other comments yes one hazard um we we discussed this very briefly at the at the fab I believe that the priorities that we have here are very solid so I and I appreciate dr. chase taking my little niggly stuff the the one thing I do think we need to discuss and it may be intrinsic contained in here is the essays coming to us with the 5% across the board are we do we want to within the context of this I don't think approving these tonight limits that but I do think we as a board need to examine are we looking for a budget

118that has that 5% in it because one of the things I would want to note and I thought in dr. chase you were right on on this on the part about saying what is our comparison market and I believe the discussion that we had thank you not thank you Jamie for not coming but thank you for letting me sit in and and hear that our market is really a part of what the issue is remember our teachers and I'm speaking just to teachers at this moment but that does not I please know that that does not say anything against other staff but teachers we tend to have a lot of more data what we are seeing is you professionals come out some of you come off with college debt all that and it will take

119in Stafford County almost 16 years for you to make $50,000 if go to the north to Prince William County it will take you four and I think that we have to be real in terms of figuring out what our real market is I understand why we started with the nine because those are the same ones as our funding body at that time we needed in my opinion to make the case you compare yourselves to these nine where do we fall that was a great starting place but I believe and Sarah I will say thank you for really making that a big deal because that was a great start but just like the other things we've discussed tonight we need to move forward and I think that changing of the market which is highlighted in this

120is very very critical so I will be supporting the motion but I do think as a board we need to have some discussion I don't know if everybody has read those attachments which were very well put together by the SCA and I would just wonder if the fab or somebody would like to have a dialogue with the SCA on those because I believe they brought very very detailed information I don't believe a dialogue here is the best perhaps the fab might consider that that would just be my suggestion thank you any other discussion no I just I'd like to thank dr. chase and the fab for all your work and putting this together I think this is a a very well stated position for for the priorities and goals for the FY 2008 and I

121appreciate all the work that you all did in putting this together now it's going to be up to us to advocate for you all right then we'll bring this to the board for a vote all in favor the motion to approve the school board's FY 20 but priorities please say aye all right all opposed motion carries unanimously that brings us to item 10 point o to approve the superintendent's proposed revisions to policy 1120 a boards / superintendent communication do we have a motion second motion by Miss young second by mr. McCosker do we have any discussion I would like to offer a substitute motion I'd like to offer a substitute motion to defer consideration of the new superintendent's policy until the completion of the superintendent's first hundred days to align with his recommendations about reorganization

122and realignment of duties and after additional interaction with the board and members of the community do we have a second second all right so we have a substitute motion and is what do i understand correctly miss hazard you want to defer action on this proposed policy for 100 days maybe not the one do I just make sure I'm great to align with doctor kizza nurse talks about his implementation of his hundred day plan that he had indicated several things he was bringing that this policy to me seems like it might be part of the big package of the fruits of his hundred days of what you've learned about us what we've learned about him and making sure that we don't have the thing a have what occurred as dr. Kaiser is pointing out certain policies

123that have come in and they're done in a vacuum I haven't done a full look at all the policies of saying if we approve this are we going to find something somewhere else that says we should be doing something else and it's not please know it is not against dr. Kistner or this pulse you actually have policies in your policy manual that already give me address this truthfully our policy management needs are remarkable ordered and this policy is your 2013 policy with a little tweak and in so many areas this is the best practice this is the vsba practice this was your practice in 2013 this is what your superintendent needs to be effective and I lead it to leave it to the board to make the final determination but I would just share with

124you that again I would offer you to spend the time I've been spending reading our policies and you will come to the same conclusion that what we are consistent about is inconsistency yes all right is there any other we discussed this correct mr. Nelson and then we vote or any discussion on the substitute motion I'll just add to the discussion I didn't wasn't prepared for a substitute motion but oddly enough I was I was going to ask that we revisit this a little a little further into your time here because I I truly don't feel like I've had an opportunity to work with you and see how you work and see how you operate and how you manage others and I I just felt that it was a little bit quick and I I am

125with you that our policies need to be reviewed and I also understand that at times sometimes you have to fix you know you know a broader policy for it to snowball and make the rest of it efficient I don't think that this particular policy is one of those cases that's going to prohibit you from becoming more efficient in other you know policy review and and so I just felt like personally and I know I said this at our work session too personally I just I wanted hopefully for us to have a little bit more time to work together Andrea dresses and I I'm certain that I could probably support it just given what I know about you now and how I've seen you so far but but it's only been you know a month and

126and so I'm just I'm asking for a little more time before we change this discussion dr. chase I guess my reaction to this is that you know we I I look on it as I have two employees and there Missy and dr. casler and that I need to provide them with the resources they need to be effective in their job so I don't really feel like too during this because I feel like dr. Kissinger's asked us to do this in order to be effective so I I'm going to probably vote no to this delay and yes to passing the policy any other discussion no all right I'm I'm going to not support the substitute motion because dr. kids nurse asked us to take this action in an effort to streamline his management of the organization

127and I don't think it will adversely affect the board's ability to communicate you know with their their schools and I want to support dr. Kissinger now if this turns out to be something that you know doesn't work or may not be needed we can always come back but at this point this has been before us for some time and I have not heard anything from you know anyone on the board suggesting that you know there was an issue with this so I'm I'm going to be voting no for the substitute in support of dr. Kistner and I agree with dr. chase we have two employees which is fortunately there they're both here and they're sticking with us so thank you miss Egan I'm fine either way but what I a couple weeks ago I brought

128to everybody's attention that I wanted something added to the work session which we didn't have time for which was to sit and have a work session about how we were going to go forward with plans on what is doctor kizza nurse you know what what is our expectation of him we don't want to just send him out into the wild and not give him a set of expectations that we can you know a year from now measure his performance on so I want to make sure that we're not forgetting to get that done while we're looking at all this stuff so just a little that's a good point and miss hall put that on one of our future sessions and in the not too far future all right if I could just have a final

129comment I do think that the board raised many issues in our work session that we did raise concerns about not having a response time from the superintendent also about the approval also means disapproval not to not go into the schools and I think that was of some concern or at least it was raised as I said I think best practices I would like us to work as a board to do that I am you know I I understand you know where the board is and I certainly know that I believe dr. Kissinger and I talk but I just in terms of organizational management this just gives me some pause so I just feel I have to be honest all right so do you want us to all right now what we are voting on is

130a substitute motion so you can vote if the substitute motion passes then we're we will vote on it if it doesn't okay if it doesn't pass then we could revert back to the original demotion all right so just to be clear what we're voting on is a substitute motion to defer the I'll say consideration of the superintendent's proposed revision to the policy 1120 board superintendent communications for 100 days okay all right so that's what we're voting on that motion well all in favor aye all opposed no no all would you pull the board I anticipated no mitigator I I miss I miss no mr. micawber no miss young no your motion fails all right then that brings us back to the well it brings us back to the original motion which is to approve the

131superintendent's proposed revisions of policy 1120 board / superintendent's communications all in favor of the motion to approve say bye oh I'm sorry just one comment on this motion apologies I didn't want anyone to comment on the comment anybody else had wants to comment well come back and we got plenty of time so I think this is a well written communications you know the superintendent's is in charge he's the operational boss of all the schools he owns all he owns quote unquote owns all the superintendent's or all the principal's he's asking here for school board members to let him know when we're gonna go into the building's because you know there may be some there may be some pressure from employees of the schools when school board members just any time they feel like I just

132run into the building started asking questions start gaining data and that's that's been happening okay I'm not saying that's a bad thing in sparse and and occasions but all you have to do is just with this policy says hey boss dr. kids there I need to go visit my school and I give me 20 because you know what sometimes when when school board members run in the school the principal is in the in meetings with like three parents deep about special education meetings they're in meetings with the parents they're they're busy teaching kids right so it is it is a an issue so this kind of gets after that by just kind of putting the school board members in a box saying hey listen guys you're my boss but you know what you don't just

133run around all 17 elementary schools and all the high schools as you see fit badging yourself in and just running around the hall that's not our place our power comes as when we sit all seven of us here at the board that's where our power individually our power is Zippo okay individually our power is Zippo we are power that's derived from the board and this is an old policy about the old 15 minutes standard that dr. Benson jumped on so so so eagerly and if you're gonna if you're gonna have a this long process that you're going to burden my staff with I least let me know what it is and so that really hasn't changed here in this policy and so those are the reasons that I'm going to happily support this I think

134Michigan is calling for the question in this ad yes yes please all right thank you mister McCosker we call for the question all right all in favor of the motion to approve TenPoint Oh to the superintendent's proposed revisions of policy 1120 say aye all pose no dr. chase aye I just apologize no but the principal's like me in there and I thought I was helping out but after hours when I need to get in there dr. kisna I have your number right here so I will be dialing up then you know when I need to get in there for energy agreement with Trane energy systems to identify energy conservation and or operational efficiency measures through the energy performance contracting process motion into a 10-point o3 okay all right I got mrs. Egan I'll leave that

135second up to you miss hall sounded like mr. Kator all right is there any discussion on this item any substitute motions no okay all right all in favor the motion to approve the energy audit agreement with Trane energy services say aye aye all opposed all right no need to pull the board 10.04 proved the award of a professional service contract in the amount of $167,000 using VPSA funds to ascent engineering group of Roanoke Virginia for designing construction administration services for the repair of mechanical systems at Rock Hill Elementary School I'm I move that we approve you second motion by mrs. Decatur second by dr. chase any discussion all in favor please say aye all right all opposed motion carries unanimously ten-point o5 approve the proposed revisions to the joint capital improvement plans CIP policy this

136is the policy that we discussed in our work session earlier this evening I move that we approve 10.05 second in motion by dr. chase second by miss John any discussion yes I have discussion I think we need to start somewhere working together with the Board of Supervisors so we can move forward and get work done I mean I've said this every night that we've had it on the agenda I don't believe that this has been a joint process I think we can I think we can do better but I think that having the Board of Supervisors pass the policy before sending it to us does not smack of a joint process to me it just does not I believe that there is not again a recognition of the challenges that the school district has we

137do not have enrollment figures that are usable or the projections excuse me till November I believe it is very difficult for us to pick out CIP projects when we don't have new enrollment figures and I and I do understand that it's tempered with we only have to look five years out but to me the process of the CIP is to plan and we have to start planning and we have to start planning with good numbers I believe that us and the Board of Supervisors can come up with a workable plan I will certainly you know participate obviously because I want what's best for the school district but I don't believe that it addresses the challenges of the school district with the best information and I am concerned that a small group of people can override

138the school board with our I'm but our committee needs to go in and fight for us so fab members please fight for us but I am very concerned that we're gonna come with numbers later that can be overseen and the three hour program I am still not absolutely convinced how that has to be handled in the budget in relation to how this has been brought forward to us I'm still just not clear how we're handling it so any other comments no all in favor the motion to approve the proposed revisions to the joint CIP p-- policy say aye all opposed no that was an i10 point oh six approved this FY 20 - FY 29 CIP large project and infrastructure project priorities do we have a motion by mr. Kator second second by mr. Keegan

139any discussion so I I would personally suggest that we approve this list as is send it over have it scored it will be brought back to us I understand I asked the question do we then have to approve it I understand it will be bought back to us and I believe we can make tweaks at that point and we also have the three of us in this committee that will be working on it all year and I well I asked this in the work session yes ma'am so I was so certainly the process brings it back to the board for consideration as you've discussed the fab members will be participants in the OSC as part of the process I do want to point out to the board that the County is requesting all of the

140project candidates projects that the board wants to forward over to have detailed information associated with that and that means the year in which we desire the project to be so that we can fill the data sheets out properly so that we can identify the cost of the proposed project we will not be able to do that unless we have some idea when the school board would like to have those projects considered we will not be able to nail that cost down because we do have current cost but we do not have the proposed year that you would like to support that project in we instruct the work session that we would be able to get that back and then and then go ahead and assign I don't recall saying that if I did where did

141the ears come from that are already on there just real quick sorry the years that are already listed on there where did those come from old day that will data we suggested from a need perspective based on the projections for new construction based on the enrollment projections that's where the high school elementary school and to some degree Hart would rebuild Hart would next year the other project that's right the other projects are subjective there are all renovation projects and the need date from the facility perspective is as soon as we can get them done and so we listed those as a starting point for discussion in 2020 realizing it as what the superintendent said that it's not realistic to try and support all of those in 2020 we know that so that was the intent

142to stimulate the discussion in the work session which we were did not achieve did you have something you wanted to obvious documents had write the other column we left it blank today we had completion anticipated completion dates they were subjective and they were provided by staff right so you have seven board members you got how many projects no you do the math there's gonna be a lot of calculations to figure out how you open agree on the order I count 10 I'm sorry I guess what I'm just suggesting is is Lao staff to put dates on it come and I know so they could move forward on the other side because this is the process doesn't mean the process can't be amended and then at the next board meeting show you the dates that staff

143concluded and if anybody has real concerns with those dates we'll adjust it and get it back downtown I mean cause the street I'm fine with that are you yeah I'm fine so we do have one one priority here that high school supposed to have you all I didn't hear any number one no I mean I it didn't matter to me so that was one and did we say I thought renovations if they were needed why don't we just go with the high school because I thought when we left the work session we had agreed that we would send it over with without the need date on there because I think the need date is a little misleading in terms of you know priorities because if you just looked at the need date then the high

144school and could come and I just ask one more question before we move on from that I'm sorry that I'm interrupting I really am but when we put a need date on there it it's kind of known void anyways when we start balancing it because it slides right I mean it's it's basic you got potential we certainly know that in the first five years there's a portability balance in the second five years the need date is not dependent on affordability so you can you can in theory have four or five projects identified in year 27 and 28 that aren't dependent upon affordability and they could be presented as part of the formula approved CIP that it's there it's recognized as a requirement we don't have to have it balanced as it gets closer to being

145in the first five years then you started with some serious thought and discussion in both boards as to afford it okay can ask a question everybody agreed on the high school what where you all stand these renovates that are 2020 and how much different would it change when the staff takes it over what would that date be for those renovates those there's one two three four renovates including 34 I think that's an excellent question but that's a question that we need to ask dr. Kissinger to address with staff and come back to us who's writing for it at the next meeting okay because I don't want to put mr. Rand on the spot again he works for dr. Kistner so the work session I think I heard another board members say I'd rather not move

146renovations first I'd rather add additional space okay guys okay so we could conclude if we want to if you want to I work for you guys so I could stay here I just go upstairs tomorrow I have extra time so the the question that I think Scott I would offer you this you and this is the problem he's telling us and I understand that they want to know the date so they could start doing their preliminary calculations okay and it doesn't appear we're ready to offer the date and what I would maybe respectfully suggest is I'm not sure another two weeks is going to make a break the process okay can I offer it and so if the board wants to make this final determination knowing that again these are more aspirational than real okay

147is to give staff date give time to put dates on it and then we'll get you the information before the next two weeks well could I could I offer maybe a trying to figure out a way to do the middle of the road how about as a potential middle of the road I believe if we put that the high school construction we don't I think the message that I may want to make sure we send to the Board of Supervisors because if we put these dates we may be viewed as saying we think these are more important than something you've already put in in the approve whatever document we have right now that is my fear of sending it with these dates as I stated the 20 the 2020s and stuff it seems like what

148we should be saying is after 2025 we believed this group of projects are the ones we want to go with now Scott I can't tell you which date of those but at least if somebody in any of our jurisdictions came in and said okay mine cuz I know high school is very important what do you mean we're doing and nothing No okay any of them will be controversy can we make the document say after 2025 I know you need to calculate custody but at least it gets you we know were five years out on costing these items and then how the priority prioritization balls will play with it is that a somewhat middle-of-the-road so I let me smoke on the matter yet so it's in its support so you're right for the first five years

149we're kind of locked in for a look for a little bit of money and then the five years out 25 to 30 as mr. herons told us a couple times now that's where we're we're fighting for that extra money in that miss hazards idea is not that bad the supervisors need to know what our priorities are for the next okay for the next ten years five years now why I'm a kind of excited about your your idea is because I realize that phase two fairy farm may only be six million or maybe it's maybe it's something we do something down south with drew or more Melcher's or something like that within the five year window we may only have 17 million dollars extra extra money that isn't accounted for so but you're right you can't

150start off with 17 million dollars from now five years out you can't start a new high school for 150 million dollars that doesn't work so so that's one point but my second point is this is on the three our infrastructure list I would definitely like to see more for melters more for fairy farm in there because there are some years about that we're not getting anything and we discussed in the in the work view work meeting that in 2007 the study said hey you need ten million dollars between 2007 and 17 and because we were on the rebuild we didn't get most of that right and now here we are in 18 and we're gonna get a ten million dollar rebuild but I will I want I want this renovation and I want to say

151for the record that a full renovation that Mont cure was costed at was almost 30 million dollars so the same renovation that followeth got the same renovation that Stafford L got and the same for innovation that Grafton village got will cost thirty million dollars right now and so you know we knew that we weren't gonna get much but I'm taking the nine point nine million dollars and could do in that first phase of the renovation but you know what I don't think it's fair to say okay fairy farm you're off the rebuild list here's your ten million dollars of renovation be happy with it and we'll come talk to you in ten years right that's not an option so I would like the at least phase two to get done in fairy farm number one

152or if it can't happen at least make sure on the infrastructure list you were given five million a year fairy farm isn't down for zero for a couple of years I mean you know the dishwasher that half works all the time I mean that's the kind of stuff that and I know we know about it but you can't you can't you can't like take both you can't take all the money for the renovation and not give any three our infrastructure project listed to it to it to an old school like that so but what is it what is all this what is all this what are they seven under my that you okay that's my thought I know that didn't help our situation here too much but maybe we do need to maybe we do

153need to leave come up with a list right now pull up and pull the three our infrastructure list because if our list if the board decides like for me I would just please give me the opportunity if you say hey we can't get ferry farm phase two done because we don't have the money please give me the opportunity to say okay but at least add me start adding on 23 and 24 you know five hundred six hundred thousand dollars out of the five million to make sure I'm trying to catch my my students up with being equitable I mean really and we have to do that with all the old schools and all the old schools you know they gotta make it yes farm is the only one that's left I mean ten years ago

154this board said we have five schools to either renovate or rebuild Berry Farm was the last on that list and you're right it got left out hopefully we will be moving forward now and we know we got phase one but we've got phase two three and four in here they're all say they're needed in FY 2008 snot going to happen in FY 2010 is whether we want to send the list to the supervisors with the high school identified as our number one priority which I didn't hear any disagreement from anybody on this board without a priority order on the other or if we want to wait to send this over later now when dr. chase and I met with mrs. Baum key doctor kizza nur and the County Administrator she made it very clear that

155if we did not send this less that action would move forward without our input and that's why I was trying so if we're going to defer this I would suggest that we be ready to take action at the next meeting at the latest I I know we've wife I know we've we've had his work session after work session after work session but if we if we want to prioritize and we're gonna have to do it other than the high school I don't think the high school is there's no no issue on the high school right everybody agrees that's number one that's also the most expensive yeah you know item on the list and I would just go back to sort of my comments of saying based on what we've been told the five-year window we

156still want to stick with where we are with high school number five it's tough it's got high school number six the remaining projects we believe based on but gosh if there's money available we'd love to fund something earlier but I just don't want there to be any perception within our community or that that we're coming off of number one if we put those FY I'm trying to come up with a way that we can have something we can send over tonight because I think that's important that can we have some kind of asterisks on there but I I will support mr. McCosker on the 3r because most of you all know I have concerns there but I think we need to say these are priority projects we know they can't be under the current before

157the five year but they need to then be analyzed I'm trying to give the broadest but I think if we put the 2020 I really believe it gets you can't be confusing so two things are just real quickly you don't want to put projects in my opinion before the high school because that's going to decrease the funding unit again for the high school you got to do it right that's a new building I think your recommendation early it made sense to me at least because you're saying let's push everything out after the high school if I understood you correctly after that if the money is not there for the high school if the money's not if you stop putting down a $20 there anyway this is there so it's gonna get spent so if we

158don't have okay one in twenty times better well I mean you have one project the addition to Frederick's for a Christian 2026 do people feel comfortable with that number pushing it to the 2026 I mean we could you have constructed elementary school eighteen to twenty twenty eighth do you feel comfortable with those dates I mean you could probably not forth five of these off right away if you feel comfortable with the need eight because the need date is so far out it could be the realistic date because what they're gonna do is are going to put it in that ten they have that that ten-year CIP it's already costed out inflation they gonna start was they're gonna choose the dates for you well unless the Board of Supervisors needs priorities from us that's what they've

159asked for what they asked for a project list I mean we've all agreed on the high school large party we want to identify a number two priority after the high school elementary elementary school elementary school 18 yes do we want to leave it for FY 2028 right now that I do yes okay all right what about rebuild heartwood elementary school do we want to leave that on for FY 2028 if it's gonna add capacity and it's going to be 2028 remember we're not we're not restricted to a a dollar amount it's the first five years right what happened today we're not restricted to a certain dollar amount in terms of the the county meeting it's budgetary constraints what does this dark line means doctor kizza nur Scott one two three and then there's that in

160mind what did you mean by that that was a holdover from the previous chart it has no meaning on this trip okay I I guess I would be in favor I would ask the board to consider rewording heartwood to rebuild or renovate and then that can be discussed at some point does that make sense benefit renovate as the rebuild or renovate yeah well I don't I don't think we'll get approved for renovation I did ask Scott to bring back you know to bring the yeah but the issue is that it's not in the urban services area so why would we why would we renovate something that's not it that has no services I don't think the Board of Supervisors will allow us to do that that would be foolish of them just just my opinion

161I just wanted to see what it cost in order for me to make a decision one any time miss young I'm just saying in order for me I was in here I'm here now I want to see those numbers so I could make a realistic assessment and decision what numbers Scott knows which numbers I mean so the availability of funds within the first five years and the availability of funds as estimated within the second five years that would be out but it doesn't have to balance after the first five years but but if we find out like I mentioned that we have the courthouse went down and we have 17 million maybe the ten classrooms are Gary melters down south so we have a balanced early childhood educational facility in the county and then and

162then maybe we can get some phase 2 done so we can complete the renovation of Faerie farm I mean that money in the first five years is not going to go to the high school prioritize those put you know fairy farm elementary school as number four but change the date to change the date to you know five years out that that way it doesn't have to agree on some sort of prioritization after the first one two three after that dark line can we kind of just figure something out as far as priorities for those and date them I will do the one I'll do the one and two - I want information on three yeah no I I think I know what you mean I would be I'd be happy with one and two right

163now and I know heartwood is going to be in the out-years so is 18 however it's it's very very possible right now that we'll put mm school capacity with elementary school 18 being off 17 or in that heartwood district and also the new heartwood being in the district and you have the old heartwood so you'll have we're asking the county to give us a capacity of 2500 students I thought in that in that hole so I mean I that's the elementary school 18 and the heartwood brand-new like both in the same year that kind of confuses me a little bit I thought every mom was supposed to get that number 18 was a sight on every mill yeah but but the need is right now I thought I heard earlier in the work session of

164we need an elementary school in the north and one in the south did I just say that's what I heard that's what I heard for the first time today but yeah well and I still I think with respect to elementary schools because we've purchased the Christian school and we're building an elementary school and our capacity numbers we corrected them to reflect what we're actually doing in our schools I don't really know when we need the next elementary school yet until until staff has presented us with those corrected numbers so and that's our challenge right I mean I'm very clear that that we need to construct Elementary School number 18 but I don't know when and if we want to rebuild or renovate hardwood right do we need to have a to get it done because

165it's we're not getting anything accomplished I say one and two and then the renovates why isn't it old boy Jamie well the the the only concern I would have about sending over one and two is not because they're our top two priorities but they don't identify any priorities in the immediate future which is when there is going to be some funding available and I think that that we need to what we want in the immediate future in in the next five years if we don't then we are handing that choice over to the board of supervisor with you but that's not something we're gonna get we're gonna be able to sit down and hash out tonight because that's involved right with a lot of stuff so one and two and renovates like can we vote

166can we at least see where we are with that who agrees with that anyone okay with one and two in the renovates well I think you've been with the renovates I think we're gonna need to prioritize them because we're not there's not going to be finally available to do all of these and we have so many needed two years from now so we need to decide what is our priority if we don't decided it will be decided by the supervisors and I think that would be derelict in our duty as it seems like everybody wants to get this off the plate now and if so if they're asking we can come back again but I would suggest if we want to come back for another work session that if we add a minimum we're gonna

167send over the policy we're gonna say we approve the policy it wasn't unanimous but we approve the policy we can say that we we have two top priorities which are the high school number six and reconstructed elementary school number eighteen that we will get back to the supervisors within the next thirty days if that's agreeable to the with a list of our other priorities I get even better what information that what why don't I sure you don't have now that you would like in two weeks or 30 days to help you would to make a decision that would be I'm not it you don't have to answer right now but that would be very helpful so we're not sitting here in two and four weeks having this same conversation right because you know I just

168think we all would agree to that okay so I would think at a minimum we're gonna need the dollar amounts okay I just want one will come in and I'll shut up right but need eight to me meant something regardless the staff put me 2020 yes that's yesterday sometimes we say we need something yesterday so when is the next time that we could say we need it then if it's not 2020 can we say twenty twenty to twenty whatever what so to me those renovates are important because they were important to decide but what we're gonna be saying is not that we don't need them then we're gonna say what are our priorities we've got five items here listed for FY 22 put them in priority order or they may not get them but at

169least we will be expressing our requests as a board for our priority they may turn around in the Oversight Committee may say no you know I mean I I appreciate the drew middle school and I'm sure there's a need there but I haven't had a chance to get more information on that I would like to get some information including the the space in the basement okay that is used for something else now is that potentially space to be used for that for the middle school okay it's something I would want to know before I could wait the priority okay that's that's that's fair but when we get that information let's be prepared and let's not wait until the work session to discuss it let's do some homework and when we get to the work session

170be ready to make decisions well because we're just dragging this thinking at the work session we will have a discussion at the board meeting we will make the decision I understand all of that but if we have to information before we could look at it and you know try to come up and make sure that we know what we're we're talking about when we get to the work session we could so anybody that has any requests for information please send it to dr. Kistner by Friday so he will have an opportunity to to get it together and as in his new communication policy he will be sharing it with all of us miss Healy I would support though what you said that something can go out after tonight's meeting do we need a motion to

171impact ascend because I do want us to look like we are struggling with this but it's big we do have two one and two I agree I mean I have further thoughts on things but I'm believe me I've got enough here to argue them but I do tonight oops a one and two and say the other projects we are examining in light of our enrollment and other information we want to provide a analysis of when this when this is and whether capacity in my opinion is is added I think the Fredericksburg Christian school is something we should not dismiss and as Healy and I completely agree as I stated in the work session renovate drew middle school I don't know if the private day school needs to be a separate block or part of that

172block but I do believe that is a discussion at some point we need to have as long you know as the board seems they want to expand whatever drew does not seem to be linked to you dr. chase on that but I think that's one have to do is to go back to the original motion and see if the motion maker will amend agreed to amend that motion to limit the the list to the first two as as the board's priorities with a second for the elementary school the target date is 2028 somewhere in there wherever the affordability is between those five years no you can put 28 but it doesn't matter who is what I'm saying yes that's true it's out five years twenty nine that's when we're gonna need to school and and

173I'm assuming that since that's here on this list it came to the board in our work session it's here for action that that is a valid and proper need date huh so your nevermind yeah it's the one that we've used from last year CIP we have no additional new information the rest of these dates was that the fab work session where we all sat in there and said let's go for broke we need these by these dates and we just we put those dates on there I don't recall that but I do know that the data available to us and they're only projections from last year is where we came up with Annie gates for elementary school 18 yeah okay so what do I need to do here amend the motion then amend the motion

174would you consider amending the motion to send the the large capital project list priorities of the school board only to include construct high school number six need and we're just gonna say that our date is that the open date is that correct the need date is the date to open and FY 2025 does that need date means open right just want to make sure the need day based on the enrollment projections if you recall is 2025 that's when the open it that's when the new data is now the affordability in the first five years is what pushed it to opening in FY 26 just so you know there's no ability right now affordability wise from last year CIP that we could open the high school in 2025 that's why it was deferred to FY 26

175this is a new year it is I don't I don't I'm not aware of any changes in the first five year of affordability that would cause us to change that but we can certainly report the need date if that's what the board chose five years out you know what I mean for the one or two no I I'm I'm getting confused myself it's getting rather late on mrs. Eakins I do have one of those four dogs no question so we spend all day or all evening talking about equity and diversity and equality and all that and on here I'm trying to get these renovates right the renovate edition for North Stafford high school fine art swing I understand it said Fine Arts that's things that every other school has and the school doesn't my question

176Maris yeah so yeah so my question is when that study was done yes way I know we're not getting penalized because it's a study right absolutely not it's a 72 but identified so it was that when we did this study last year and it was identified a few months after the CIP process initiated so we did it wasn't a candidate project because the study hadn't been done so we have that now it identifies the deficiencies to the Fine Arts program at North Stafford relative to what it said about the deficiency there was no what equality yeah there's certainly a space there was square-foot deficiencies deficiencies is a real generic term but they certainly didn't have I want to get this wrong but I don't think they had a course room where and three of our

177high schools didn't have that particularly room three years ago so we've been able to so they have two of the three rooms for the final programs I was looking for a cost to it that's correct you did not see a call I don't have my fingertips but depending on the year if it's an F at 25 it will be a certain amount if it's in FY 28 it'll be need 2020 what was the deficiency is today right there is a deficiency today so based on all these renovations and that particular project the need is now now whether we can afford it or not what is the question that here but it was build it today what would it cost I have that in this study yes ma'am it's in the study I can provide that

178come back to us that can be one of the information that did you want to come back I don't see we're going to be able to rise but that's my conclusion this evening other than constructing high school number six and constructing elementary school 18min miss Healy if I could just say I I would be very cautious of the board changing anything with the date on the high school six in FY 22 we have 5.1 million dollars already allocated then forty three million than sixty two then twenty eight then 1.3 I guess for close out if we move that date I believe that will shift its a year open does that change plan in place based on this schedule there I do not believe the initial enrollment figures that I have seen to date have caused

179me to change my mind about the high school and its need date so are you saying that will open up 426 I'm just saying this has been in there I if we keeping the date that's why I'm arguing over how about this much how about a substitute in this way motion to send high school number six an elementary school eighteen as the two initial priorities of the school board the school board is in the process of examining an additional eight projects to determine their okay and that's where the word how about I don't know if I call these the initial priorities I would call these as the current priority okay because if we say initial then it may be interpreted that it's subject to change which we don't want that okay I was trying to

180write something that we could get but I do think we need to address this again soon it if you think we can have the information for the next meeting oh my goodness three our infrastructure project list will get moved to yes that's right the only thing that would be going is construct high school number six and construct elementary school number 18 and I do we want to put I think we have to put the year to open I mean the need date is almost your irrelevant if we're not going to say it's gonna open when we need it it's do we know where they need it do you know well then you have to you have to keep those dates there I think I think we report it as a need date and if it's

181not affordable than back and say it's not affordable right I mean if we say a need date and then open date I mean that's settling if we want to settle that's okay if we can do it but if we we might not be able to meet it earlier then we should ask for it earlier right we will take the funding for it close to that date all right Randall no so is that clear as mud is that acceptable mr. Kator yes all right so we all know we're voting for to send a list with two items both with the open date and for the open date be 2025 for the high school is that what you want so what we're doing is motion to send a large capital project list with high school number six

182and Elementary so whoever in the marina's their priorities with the dates I got no way nobody listed to the board with the understanding that we're in the process of examining an additional eight projects to be prioritized and sent within I'd say 30 days but 30 days or sooner is even better anybody have a second to that thank you did you which are all the first motion I assume I assume we can't we can withdrawal the first motion mr. Nelson and then okay because I couldn't okay all right so this isn't the the motion we're voting on the only motion on the floor is the one just stated by mr. Kator second by Miss young okay everybody clear on that yes it does not include that project list it does include anything other than high school

183number six and elementary school number 18 that's all okay okay clear no project list you have all right on favor the motion please say aye I all pose oh right that brings us right to information items approve the division wide and subject area textbook adoption committees for mathematics k-8 drama 6-8 IB music IV psychology IB world languages Latin French German Spanish and IB anthropology this will be coming back to us at the next meeting I'd suggest if anybody has any questions they send them to dr. Kittner there is one item on this report that I had asked dr. Kissinger to highlight and they they put it in yellow which I thought was significant that's every parent who volunteered to be on this committee was put on the committee and that that's thank you very much

184dr. kinsmen I think that means a lot to the community so anybody has any questions on that send it to dr. Kistner and share them with the board 11.0 to approve the changing of the governor's school culminating research project to an elective accredited elective credited elective course for the 2018-2019 school year dr. chase do you have any comments yeah yeah I did want to say that when I asked I and I'm the person who asked for this to be brought to the board I was thinking next year not this year because the course is not currently in the program of studies so somewhere in the translation things got shifted but what we had a meeting the first meeting of the governing board and it was revealed that three of the four participating counties give an

185elective credit for culminating but Stafford does not and so the Virginia Department of Education gifted coordinator in charge of governor's schools really encouraged that as a regional program that all the regions should be doing the same thing so that's what I put forward and I invited the the new director Jennifer Grigsby to come answer any questions if people have any questions I have a quick question for you I think sure sent to all of us by a constituent asking us if there's a and option that we can look at and I and I reached out to Jennifer Grigsby to ask her and I think she come speak to that thank you for staying this evening hello thank you for having me tonight I did speak with dr. chase earlier about that question and so I

186think it would be feasible for students who would fall under kind of the grandfathered which would be this year's current sophomores and juniors they could elect to either take the course pass/fail or they could elect to take it and get their actual numerical grade so it would just be in a matter of making two different sections in synergy one would be pass/fail one would be numerical and so then they could still show on their transcript that they are completing a research course so just thank you because I do an opportunity to have a conversation with all five high school principals yes ma'am all right well this will be coming back to us with the with the change in in the at the timing it's not at all effective for this current year okay when it

187comes back any questions send them to dr. Kistner and any other questions if not we will announce the upcoming meetings we're going to have a busy week October 15th at 6 p.m. the fab C is meeting October 17th at 6 p.m. the listening tour at Hampton Oaks October 18th at 4:00 p.m. the discipline committee and October 23rd at 7 o'clock will be back here for the meeting and stay tuned because I will be shocked if we don't have a work session before the meeting we are now adjourned