12/4/2025 - FCPS School Board Meeting

001Our $2 The time is now 7:38 and this December 4th regular meeting or December 4th, 2025 regular meeting of the Fairfax County School Board will now come to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance followed by a moment of silence and a performance of the national anthem by Sydney Walkup from South Lakes High School uh South Lakes High School student. I pledge allegiance. Say by the dawn early so proud we held at the twilight last stripes and bright stars. through the fight. We watched so the bombs bursting gave proof through the [singing] night there. [singing] Oh say that star Ang [singing] of the free and the home of brave. Can we have one more round of applause for our amazingly talented and patient student agenda item 3.02 announcements. If you would like to review

002a copy of the meeting agenda, please see the back of the auditorium. To obtain copies of any items or supporting materials being presented tonight, please refer reference the QR code on the agenda or visit www.edu/boards. Tonight's meeting is being broadcast on channel 99 and livereamed on YouTube and on our website at www.fcps.edu backlivestream. Tonight's meeting is also being broadcast in Spanish on YouTube at YouTube.com at or backfcps and espanol. Agenda item 3.03 inclusive schools week proclamation. I call on Miss Seismoreheiser for a proclamation. Whereas National Inclusive School Weeks aim to aims to honor and highlight the importance of in creating inclusive educational environments that welcome all students regardless of their abilities, backgrounds or challenges. Inclusive Schools Week is an annual event sponsored by the Inclusive Schools Network, ISN, and is held during the first full

003week of December. And whereas since its inception in 2001, National Inclusive Schools Week has celebrated the progress that schools have made in providing a welcoming, supportive, and quality education to an increasingly diverse student population, including students who are marginalized due to disability, gender, socioeconomic status, cultural heritage, language preference, and other factors. And whereas inclusion is a foundational value that promotes diversity, equity, and respect, fostering a sense of belonging and empowering every student to reach their full potential. And whereas inclusive schools provide students with opportunities to engage in collaborative learning, develop mutual understanding, and participate in activities that celebrate their unique strengths and perspectives. And whereas educators, families, students, and community members play a vital role in promoting inclusive practices and building supportive, adaptive learning environments that serve the needs of every learner. And whereas this

004year's theme quote children first, building a stronger tomorrow, quote, is rooted in the Messiah greeting kasaran engage which translates to and how are the children. We are called to focus on creating spaces where every child feels every child feels welcome, seen, and valued, ensuring that students with disabilities and all other students feel supported and can reach their full potential. And whereas Fairfax County Public Schools recommmits to the crucial work of fostering a culture of inclusivity, dismantling barriers to participation, and ensuring that all of our students feel valued, supported, and prepared to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board proclaims the week of December 1st through 5th, 2025 as inclusive schools week and encourages the entire Fairfax County community to participate in activities that celebrate inclusion, diversity,

005equity, and belonging. Therefore, be it further resolved that the Fairfax County Schoolboard reaffirms its commitment to creating an inclusive, supportive, and equitable learning community where all students are engaged, inspired, and thrive. Is there a second? >> I second. >> Thank you, Miss Dixit. I will call for the vote. All those in favor, Mr. Fresh, Mr. McDaniel, Mr. Meline, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismarhiser, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, and myself. That's unanimous for all board members present. Agenda item 4.01. Oh, we need to do the photo, right? Okay. Will members of the board please join us in front of the dis and all those here um to celebrate the proclamation this week. Can you please join us for a photo? Agenda item 4.01, community participation. The next order of business

006is community participation. We welcome all community members who are here and those who have signed up to speak this evening. Additional information about signing up to provide comments at schoolboard regular business meetings and public hearings can be found on the school board's website at www.fcps.edu/schoolboard. During the sign up process, community members acknowledged that they were informed of the school board's expectations for respect and proper decorum when providing comments. These expectations are also available online and with the printed agenda and meeting materials in the back of the room. We ask audience members to be respectful of one another. Shouting and outbursts will not be tolerated. Please hold your applause until the conclusion of a speaker's remarks. Audience members may not join speakers at the podium and should remain at their seats, including when recording or taking

007videos or recording video or taking photos. We are grateful to those who have come to speak to us today and thank you for your cooperation. Schoolboard members will be listening but not responding. Madame clerk, will you please call the first speaker? Student number one. Hello. I'm speaking as a student involved in a video made by the TJ MSA that has recently gained attention. The way Thomas Jefferson administrators handled the MSA video was improper and caused serious harm to the students involved. We were placed in inschool suspension conditions for 4 days before the investigation concluded, which is not allowed under the SRNR. Despite the investigation not being finished, the school sent an email to all FCPS families calling the video an act of anti-semitism and saying it had violated the SRNR. This meant the school made

008assumptions about us before knowing the facts. And because of our Muslim identity, they breached confidentiality and put us in danger. Administrators also spoke to several news outlets, including Fox News, worsening the situation. After the investigation, all nine students were suspended under violation RB3, posting obscene or inappropriate material, even though only two students were involved in posting the video. The school also claimed eliminationist symbolism because one student wore a hoodie with red, green, and black colors in the shape of a map. This was collective punishment and a false, unacceptable accusation rooted in bias and against Muslim and Arab students. These actions caused us to lose major academic opportunities. We missed nearly two weeks of instruction, harming our grades. We were impersonated online, investigated by the police, threatened online, and called terrorists. This caused deep emotional trauma

009for us and for the Muslim community. TJ offers a senior mentorship program that requires no suspensions, and the deadline is tomorrow. The wrongful suspension has blocked me and others from opportunities that will that will affect our future. So, I'm asking for four things today. Accountability for the harm done to Muslim students. removal of unjust discipline from our records, equal non-bias disciplinary practices across FCPS and countywide action against Islamophobia. Thank you, Daniel Glenn. Good evening. Thank you to the chair and board members for holding this meeting this evening. I recommend naming Western High School after Vienna native and female pilot pioneer and fan of lambs, Delta Ben. But I also speak in favor of two proposals regarding the Western High School boundaries. First, I support keeping Crossfield Elementary within the Oakton Pyramid. Second, I support allowing

010younger siblings to follow their older siblings in the school that they have chosen, whether it be a Legacy High School or the New Western High School. I'm in favor of maintaining scenario 4 comprehensive boundaries for Oakton and not moving Crossfield students away from the newly renovated Oakton High School to a school that will be under construction my children's entire career. Notably, Oakton is under capacity and predicted to experience minimal population growth according to Fairfax County demographers. While alternatively, schools along the Route 28 corridor and the Silver Line are at or above capacity already and are predicted to experience massive population growth for years to come. As such, the boundary should focus on Chantilly, Centerville, and Westfield high schools due to this predicted population growth. Additionally, while Crossfield Elementary's westernmost boundary is technically close to Western

011High, this is not taking into account that many Crossfield students cross high-speed and congested roads, including Restston Parkway and Fairfax County Parkway during rush hour to get to those schools. Finally, my children have been in trailers for the majority of their educational career during construction at Crossfield and overcrowding now at Carson. Western will also be under construction for the foreseeable future. Crossfield students have had enough construction and trailers for their educational careers. Please keep Crossfield and Oakton. Secondly, I recommend keeping older siblings and younger siblings together to preserve continuity for families and logistical concerns. Keep Crossfield and Oakton and siblings together. Thank you very much, >> Julie Corel. Julie Corell, Ken Balena. >> Hello. Good evening everybody and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. I just want to talk a little

012bit about adult and community education and my support of the community uh adult and community education advisory committee. As many of you know since you know I've spoken and addressed the school board many times before I have been a member of the adult and community education advisory committee. I was member for four years appointed by Megan Mclofflin and of course you know Miss Seismore continued my appointment and I'm very thankful that I was able to continue uh for that final year and now the current chair is an excellent pick by Dr. Anderson that's Holly Hazard and she has done a fantastic job of continue to carrying the torch and advocating for adult community education. Now their current report though uh says that there's still some unawareness by the school board in terms of you know

013the role that adult community education advisory comm community education plays and I hope that um the school board will continue to invest in that particular program in particular I would like to see that there's a greater alignment with the K to2 CTE career and technical education that's something that I explored when I was chair and that I know Holly Hazard has continued in her term as chair and that the ACE advisory committee continues to look at, but their annual report as well also says that they're looking at supporting federal workers who are potentially, you know, have been displaced and they're looking to retrain. And I would encourage a school board to invest resources into making that happen as well. So, greater alignment on the K to2 system, but also support for adult education, particularly among

014those who are on our federal workforce looking to continue to advance in their career and potentially retrain. So, thank you much so much for your time and I greatly appreciate it and look forward to seeing all the great things that the school board does to support adult community education. Molly Sullivan. Hi, my name is Molly Sullivan and I'm a teacher in the Springfield district and I live in the Sully district. I'm here to bring awareness to the situation that arose at the previous schoolboard meeting last month. Um I was honestly shocked and pretty disappointed at the conversations and infighting that were happening off microphone. Um I was most concerned about the question when um Miss Marin asked who writes the motions and it wasn't answered. That seems like a really clear easy answer for somebody

015over there to say. Um I'm just asking that again the same question. Who writes those motions between when you guys meet and when it's presented to us? Um it's unacceptable not to answer that. Uh it's all of our responsibilities as constituents and as board members to communicate openly and transparently with everyone. Uh you're creating more distrust with your choice not to answer questions like that when it comes to families and basic information and parents in this county. I appreciate Miss Marin for pushing for more transparency. Thank you to Mr. Fr who I found actually really the most diplomatic in the chaos to everyone involved going around and speaking to everybody and trying to like un to settle and unruffle feathers. Um, my hope is that you all took time to really reflect after that meeting,

016not only on your own point of view, but how you can work more cohesively as a unit. Um, as teachers, we're often asked to do so. And we also make an emphasis when we talk about POG skills with the children of Fairfax County, like collaboration and communication. Um, and I really just think that we should all be held to that standard as well. Thank you, [applause] >> Karen Bradford. Good evening. In the state of Virginia, we have decided that the age of 16 is the appropriate age to give a student a driver's license. We set that age because by then students better understand the risks, their brains, especially their frontal cortex and visual spatial reasoning. Exceptions to this rule are extremely rare. For just a moment tonight, I'm asking you to consider the same developmental

017lens when we talk about math placement. Right now, we are pushing many students into advanced math before they have solidified foundational concepts. As a middle school teacher, I regularly see students, including those in Algebra 1 honors, who cannot add or subtract integers without the use of a calculator. They are advancing, but they are not mastering. Historically, Algebra 1 has been a nth grade course taught when most students reasoning abil abilities are more fully developed. By accelerating large groups of students early and earlier, we are creating gaps that follow them for years. High school teachers tell me they see fewer students reaching advanced courses like calculus BC or IB IB higher level courses. Many students simply get lost along the way, which is why we have now have a class called Algebra 1.5 or AFA to

018retach skills that never formed. I say this both as a veteran teacher and a product of Fairfax County Public Schools. I attended um seventh a seventh grade at Throw Middle School and a teacher challenged us with rich logical and developmentally appropriate C concepts that later became what we call now discrete mathematics. That foundation mattered to me. As you consider initiatives such as offering algebra 1 in the sixth grade, I urge you to remember that yes, a very small number of students are ready that early. I teach them algebra 2 honors at seventh and eighth grade. Most students benefit from more strengthening con excuse me. Most students benefit far more from strengthening conceptual understanding, building number sense, and developing fluency before pushing ahead. Thank you for considering the real developmental needs we see in our classrooms

019every day. Amy Fernandez, Jihan Andani. Good evening board members. I'm here today to address a deeply troubling incident at Thomas Jefferson High School when Muslim and Arab student were removed from classes in a manner that reflects harmful discrimination. The video clip at the center of this incident was part of a widely recognized trend used in schools across the country and even by other clubs here at Thomas Jefferson. Yet instead of treating it as the harmless activity, it was only the Muslim international student were signal out. They were removed from classes, placed in a separate room, and even denied the ability to speak to each other. The unequal response raises a serious concern about the fairness and bias. Removing student from class because of their re religion or ethnicity is discriminatory. It undermine the principle of

020equal protection and denies the the these young people their right to live to learn in the safe inclusive environment. Action like this endor trust between families and schools especially among minority communities who already feel vulnerable. And sadly, this incident reflects a border pattern of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias that organization like care have documented nationwise. Every student deserve to be treated with dignity free from prejudice. Our children classroom must be places of learning not not exclusion. That's why I urge the board to take three cons concrete steps. Number one, conduct a transparent investigation into this incident and publicly share the information with the with the community. Strengthen [clears throat] anti-discrimination policies and ensure that staff receive training when >> Thank you so much, P. Katie Herman. Good evening. My name is Katie Herman and I'm the

021current chair of the facilities planning advisory committee. Uh tonight I'm here to ask the school board members to strongly consider two things regarding the agenda item 6.05 for amending the structure of the board's comprehensive planning and development committee and the role of FPAC. First, please defer tonight's vote. Second, I request that the school board and FPAC engage in future open and public discussions that were abs absent in the leadup to this motion. A joint school board and FPAC work session would allow for transparenc transparent assessment before any irreversible decision is made. We're not here to protect FPAC for our own sake. There's no status or professional gain serve in serving on FPAC. Our members are volunteers who are professional engineers, planners, an analysts, environmental specialists, and industry experts who offer their time because we believe

022in strengthening FCPS's long-term facilities planning. FPAC costs FCPS essentially nothing and yet brings unmatched independent analysis and recommendations to the board. The proposal in front of you tonight seems to assume that FPAC and CPDC serve the same purpose. But that was not the vision that is put or is in the governance manual which makes it clear that they are not the same. CPDC is designed to carry out delegated functions of the board preparing alternatives and offering recommendations. FPAC on the other hand exists to specifically provide advisory input to the school board that is focused on communitydriven and industryinformed analysis that supplements the the board's decision-making role. These roles are intentionally different and dissolving FPAC would eliminate the only structured venue for industry expertise. Thank you, >> Doug Taylor. Good evening. FPAC's researchbased guidance is an

023asset to FCPS that other school districts often wish they had the resident expertise to produce. Industry professionals who work with school systems around the country frequently cite FPAC as a model advisory structure that other school districts would like to replicate but often can't because of their size. They lack the critical mass of community experts in the relevant fields who are also willing to volunteer large amounts of their time. So given that FCPS has this unique asset in FPAC which has produced many recommendations that the school district has adopted such as improving procurement methods, strengthening sustainability efforts, and supporting more strategic use of limited capital resources, it would seem quite reckless to then discard this capacity without a clear evidence rationale for doing so. If the motivation for this proposal is structural around standardizing the committee

024process, I believe amendment three tonight might address those concerns. But regardless, it would be helpful to have an open dialogue about those options and trade-offs to allow for some public feedback prior to voting on structural changes. If instead the motivation is substantive, that some board members feel that FPAC's memos are offtarget, irrelevant, not aligned with the annual charge, we would expect to first have a conversation outlining where we're falling short and try to remedy that issue. But instead, the motion proposes jumping straight to disbandment as the solution to an as of yet unidentified problem and one that would be extremely difficult to undo. As the letter that FPAC sent to the schoolboard members makes clear, none of these conversations have occurred. No CPDC member has communicated that FPAC is advising on irrelevant topics. There's been

025no discussion that we're aware of in CPDC meetingings where FPAC's work was evaluated as misaligned or unhelpful. No rationale has been communicated to FPAC regarding the proposed structural change. The only communication came when the CPDC chair emailed the written motion to FPAC after it already been had been voted on. There are no follow-up discussions and when we emailed uh to ask for information, >> Kathy Hosek. Hello. I've spoken with several schoolboard members who have also said they don't fully understand the reasoning behind the proposal. Um, that alone suggests that the process has not been fully thought through. The why should be clear, debated, and understood before reaching the vote on FPAC and not discovered after the fact. If the board truly believes this proposal is sound, articulating the reasoning publicly should be straightforward. And if

026there are legitimate issues with how FPAC functions, we are fully ready to address them. A deferral simply allows conversations about that should have occurred but did not to actually take place. FPAC is not a favor to us. It is a tool for you. a tool that gives FCPS access to sustained, nocost technical analysis that supports long-term planning, capital forecasting, procurement reform, sustainability initiatives, and strategic use of scarce resources. Eliminating the only body capable of independent long- range technical research at a moment when FCPS is confronting major facilities challenges is a step that cannot be easily undone. A pause, a deferral is the responsible course. It ensures that the board protects its own capacity to make informed evidence-based decisions. And in my own words, I will say as an FPAC member for six plus years, um

027I really enjoy the work. Um I feel like it's useful work. Um and so a conversation about the future, the structure would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Emily Vanderhoff. Good evening. My name is Emily Vanderhoff. I'm the president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers. Um today I want to offer some reflections on your um joint um physical forecast meeting with the board of supervisors this Tuesday. First of all, I appreciate the collaborative tone that I saw from both boards. um that makes me hopeful about the process this year. I hope that you can come together um on one JLAC recommendation as Mr. Fish um suggested and as Miss Heisaris suggested perhaps SOQ's um that the state collectively is spending $6.6 billion um in addition to the state funding because the state is not funding

028uh our schools at the level of staffing that's needed and that that impacts all districts and so that can be you know a joint advocacy point. FCT is ready to join with you in that advocacy point. But it but like um Mr. Alhorn said, it takes um you know leadership who is going to to start that. So I hope that the um legislative liaison from each board work together to make a joint plan, bring the boards together on a joint, you know, one advocacy point. FCFT will join you in that. Uh SCF is going down to the to the state January 19th. We're bringing buses. We invite every single one of all of you to um come on our bus, join us for our lobby day. uh we're going to get that the state funding

029that we need together. And then um on the local side, if the county executive's budget does not fulfill the full ask, um we just cannot have the same situation we had last year where the community was suddenly blindsided by cuts with two weeks left in the budget process. Um and so I ask um that you be clear and specific about what cuts are being proposed. allow the community the gift of time to advocate, have a chance to make a difference in our funding levels early in the process. Um, and FCFT is ready to partner with you to ensure that year two of the FEU contract is fully funded without requiring further class size increases and cuts to critical student services. We have to do things differently this year. FCT is ready to partner with you.

030We hope to see it through. Thank you, >> George Bera. Good evening board members. Uh thanks for giving me an opportunity to speak tonight. Uh trying to talk on two issues. First one is obviously the one about FPAC. Uh I have no knowledge if they're open and transparent. It's in your subcommittees or not. I'm not going to go into that. What I do do believe is that the way it's going to be structured the way it is if the motion is I just do not agree and I'll spend my time with MSC as co-chair advocated for FPEC to be my diverse over the years. It hasn't been. It is now now going to three members. It won't happen. Uh why the rush I I equate this to Mr. Fris and Miss Anderson and Kieran Corbert

031Sanders before trying to get governance committee and trying to get agreement in the man governance changes. good idea. I think somewhere there's maybe a misconnect of the advisory committee understanding what is going on now. Delay the vote, wait for the next term or if you're going to vote on the 18th, then the vote is why would you want to eliminate parents voices right now? And especially I hear I keep on hearing Superintendent Reed at all these boundary meetings say FP pack FP pack FP pack FP pack. That makes no sense to me if that's the biggest issue parent-wise that you're giving them credit to help on this that you're not going to still continue and over the year the boards maybe Mr. Moon and Mr. Fact has had two meetings throughout the year, the annual

032reporting during the mid. So it was such an importance you're going from that just three members under CPDC that makes no common sense to me. Either there's issues between you guys and FPAC. That's a different that needs to be talked about. The second part is I'm not going to be here the 18th obviously uh because I'm talking tonight. This is a no-brainer. Mason District should have an AAP center. Please, the Canterbury Woods parents, the small group that is there, don't affect the community that doesn't have an AP center. Grandfather Mint, I don't care if it's less than the full class size. Start it up. Deal with the the low numbers and then continue. But at least one magisterial district has an AAP center. Thank you very much. >> Please play the video submitted by AngelaRandlemir.

033Hi, my name is Angela Crandlemire and I'd like to comment on the boundary review, specifically the Western High School. The Crossfield Elementary community overwhelmingly opposes being redistricted to the new school and wants to remain zoned to Oakton High School. There's currently an online petition of over 450 verified residents and counting. Speaking on behalf of the cohorts of my own two children, the Crossfield 7th graders had three interrupted COVID years and two construction years. The Crossfield fifth graders had two co years and two construction years, so they've experienced an equally disconnected educational environment. For these reasons, staring down the barrel of four years of high school construction, initially no sports teams, and limited clubs, and the subsequent multi-year runup of getting those started is not appealing at all. Additionally, it sounds like you're okay splitting up

034families and not allowing younger siblings to follow older ones. My family's options based upon the enrollment timeline if we were to be rerouted to the unfinished Western experiment are as follows. Option one, send my oldest to Oakton where she wants to go, but my youngest wouldn't have a choice. So, she'd be required to commute across the Parkway and 50 to Western with no ride from her big sister and no connections whatsoever. My two kids would be in two different high schools for two different for two years. Option two, send my oldest to Western. Her friends won't go there, but my kids would be together. But they won't have sports teams yet, so she'll have to commute to Oakton for that. That is until Western becomes a VHSL school and she gets ripped off that team.

035More disruption. Stick with your goals. Relieve overcrowding at the three high schools that need it most. Recognize that this cohort of children needs a traditional high school experience in a community that they trust. Leave us out of the conversation. Keep Crossfield at Oakton. Thank you. Chair Anderson, that was our last public speaker. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. Agenda item 5.01, student representative matters. Due to an academic commitment, Miss McConin regretfully is unable to join us tonight, but her remarks have been placed on board docs. Agenda item 6.01, action item, certification of closed meeting compliance. In order to comply with section 2.2-3712 2-3712D of the Code of Virginia. It's necessary for the board to certify that since the Fairfax County School Board convened a closed meeting on December 4th, 2025, to the best of each member's

036knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements, and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered by the board during the closed meeting. Do I have a motion? Mr. Mavine. Do I have a second? Miss St. John Cunning. All those in favor? That is unanimous for all board members present. Agenda item 6.02, action item, confirmation of action taken and closed. I call on Mr. Frotion. >> Thank you. I move to expel the student who committed serious offense in violation of schoolboard policy by being convicted of an offense related to the Commonwealth's laws on weapons and an offense required to be disclosed to the division superintendent. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Moon. All those in

037favor, Mr. FR, Mr. Meline, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss um Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Mr. Anderson and myself. All those opposed. All those abstaining. Mr. M or Mr. McDaniel and Miss um Seismarheiser. I call on Mr. Fresh for a motion. >> I move. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Will the clerk please read the vote? >> The vote is 902. The motion carries. >> It's going to be a great night. Um motion two. Um I call on Mr. FR for a motion. I move to expel the student who committed a serious offense in violation of schoolboard policy by possessing and using a schedule uh one two controlled substance on school property by bringing marijuana and drug paraphernalia onto school property by making implied threats in writing to intimidate instigate violence, injury or

038harm to others at school by engaging in hate speech in written form. By engaging in gang activity and by engaging endangering the well-being of others. Is there a second? >> I second. >> Miss St. John Cunning. All those in favor? Mr. Fr, Mr. Molene, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, and myself. All those opposed, all those abstaining. Mr. Mc, Mr. McDaniel, Miss Seism, Heiser. Madame Clerk, will you please read the vote? >> The vote is 902. The motion carries. >> Thank you. Action item 6.03, secondary course offerings. I call on Miss Lady for a motion. >> I move that the school board approved changes to the list of middle and high school course offerings for the 2026 2027 school year as recommended by the course review committee

039and is detailed in the agenda item. >> Is there a second? >> Mr. Fr. Miss Lady, would you like to speak to your motion? Uh just briefly um I just you know commend staff uh and faculty folks who uh propose new courses. I'm very excited about what's uh what's listed. Um there are some I'm more excited about others. I'm like AP business. I'm pretty jazzed about AP business and I think AP um cyber security. Uh kudos to college board for putting those forward. But no, I'm just excited. I think the more offerings we can put in front of our children that help them with their pathways postgraduation are fantastic. Mr. Fresh, would you like to speak to your second? >> Sure. And while I anticipate that the board may retread the the conversation of the

040work session, um I do want to say that I encourage people to go watch the work session about this topic. um and look forward to the board's deliberations on how to proceed uh with uh course offerings in the future uh as it relates to our charge um and ensuring that we are being equitable about the distribution of courses and that people are very clear about why courses are offered and why they're not at certain schools. I also just one bit of advocacy for perhaps the future would be um that we take advantage of the technology we've invested in in our schools to ensure that coursework that may not be quite popular enough at uh a school uh that might be able to cobble together an entire classroom of students if you counted it among several

041schools uh could be offered in some kind of special virtual pyramid um or period excuse me um to ensure that we have greater access and by you uh by doing that perhaps even greater selection than we currently do. So that's for another day. >> Thank you, Mr. Fresh. Uh Miss Dixit, >> I'm very excited about the new offerings and uh I just want to say the first ones, the AI and uh other like business ones and artificial intelligence too. uh some of these are really really needed in our high schools right now and and I hope it it's uh it goes to like each and every high school and uh there's enough audience for it so there's a love sign up so we can offer that course and um one of the things I have

042been reading about is that the most uh career-wise in AI there's going to be AI front-end engineers job which is going to be the highlight uh and uh I I hope we can prepare our students and give that foundation and uh so they they can take it for f further in their life. Um so I'm really excited about this course offering and uh I'm thankful to the staff and everybody Dr. Reed's team that uh to put together this comprehensive list. Thank you >> Dr. Anderson. >> Um thank you. I did want to say thank you to Dr. Presidio and his team for the conversation we had earlier this week. It was quite enlightening. I I I'm glad to be able to be more informed about some of the processes um and some of the offerings

043and how they've come and how they've come to be. So, thank you. Um I did want to highlight one thing that I failed to say at the meeting is as we're discussing about accessibility u for our students. I I know that's something that's important to everybody here to ensure that our students are able to access these courses no matter where they are, whether it is um virtual or using technology. I I think there's a there's some space here to do a little bit more work. Um but at the meeting we discussed academy as an opportunity for students to um access um certain courses and I just wanted to raise the limitations tomies because unless there are five students or more from your school attending the academy you are not provided transportation and for many students

044that becomes a it becomes a nonoption because they cannot transport themselves and also we must recognize that the students who are able to attend mies must also have space in their schedule for that one period for travel. Not all students who may require some additional supports will have that free period. So there are some inherent limitations um with the current processes that I just wanted to raise for future conversation. >> Mr. Moon. >> Well, thank you Madam Chair. I'm I'm very excited about this new course offerings. It's not just artificial intelligence which I've been talking about it for last 18 months. So I'm excited to see this coming up in the next year but also equally excited uh I get at seeing a additional world language offerings. So when I see the a career applications

045I think we need to provide as we offer these new courses to our students. I I'm hoping that we can give our students some concrete examples of what might be contained in these new courses. >> Thank you, Mr. Mcabine. >> Well, I I want to echo the thanks of my colleagues for um the the opportunity to discuss this at a work session this past week. Um Mr. Presidio, this is the second time in probably two months that I've been extremely impressed with the work that your department has done um to really um be futurists um and in the work that we're doing, you know, that's been brought forward um first in our presentations on the Western High School and potential pathways um in that in that realm, but also for the coursework that we're providing

046to all of our students. And um certainly Dr. read. I I appreciate um the work you've done to to really push that that forward. Um as my colleagues have said, I'm I'm very excited to see um the artificial intelligence uh and aviation coursework incorporated into this. Uh and I'll echo Mr. Moon that um the career applications for each and every one of our languages um is a great addition. Um and I learned something too about um IBSL AIO, which I had not heard about before, which is an opportunity for um IB students to catch up in their um uh language learning um if they have not pursued it uh previously. Um so thank you again uh and um I'm very pleased to support this. >> Miss St. John County. >> Um I will keep this

047short and just say that I really want to thank the staff for all the thought and work that they put into generating new courses um with the leadership of um Dr. Dr. uh Prescidio, Dr. Pon, and also to, you know, give kudos to the fact that we also have some good course offerings that aren't new, but we're keeping them because they're working. And I think sometimes we get excited about the new stuff and we forget that we've got some good stuff that is working and we're maintaining that. And so, I just want to thank everyone for all the thought and work that they put into this. Seeing no others, I'm going to go ahead and call for a vote with the motion that's on the screen. All those in favor, Mr. Fresh, Mr. Meline, Miss

048St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismarheiser, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, and myself with Mr. McDaniel away from the table. Agenda item 6.04, action item 2026, Fairfax County School Board State and Legislative Program. I call on Dr. Anderson for a motion. >> I move that the school board adopt the 2026 Fairfax County School Board state and federal legislation program, the Slate program. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. McAfee. Dr. Anderson, would you like to speak to your motion? >> Yes. Very briefly, um, just for the public to understand what the legislative program is because we've had several work sessions on this. um which I've really appreciated because it really allowed us to iron out all of the um positions that we want to take. Um but I'd

049be remiss if I didn't say thank you to Mr. Mallaloy and his team and I don't know where he is if he's here. Oh yes, he is. Thank you for all of the work that you have put to getting us to this place. The legislative program is our opportunity to articulate to both federal and state legislators what our positions are on a number of things. It is a fairly thick document and we go through it with a fine tooth comb not just to reflect new legislation but also to reflect new events of the day and our program largely um some areas that I want to highlight are largely around our need for additional funding for the JLOG study recommendations to be adopted um for the federal government to continue to fund um the um title

050um programs that they are supposed to and to fund them at the full breadth that they're supposed to. Such as IDA, we have never received um that 40% that we're supposed to um receive in FCPS. None of the school divisions across the country are I do. I I believe the math on that was that we receive at most 11%. And they're supposed to um provide a little bit more for us to educate our students who have greater needs. Um so this program outlines again our intentions on a number of topics from the size of a meeting of a school board. For example, the regulation the sunshine laws says if we have three board members in a room it is it constitutes a meeting. Um for a board our size that is a very different ex

051experience than for a board of five. But it is the same rule across all of um across all of the Commonwealth. And so I do encourage for you all to take a look at that program because if there are things that we are missing as a board that we need to be thinking about and to include next year, it will be important for us to get that feedback. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Anderson, Mr. Mle. >> Well, I don't have too much more to say beyond what Dr. Anderson has already conveyed, but um you know um Mr. Malloy, we've been at this for many years and I'm really grateful for your decades of service on um on this work in particular. Um you know, we've we've seen how this document has gone from, you

052know, 100 plus page um tome to what we have now, which is down to about 30 pages, which is great progress. uh and our work on uh really narrowing down our legislative priorities um uh continues to make this a much more accessible document not only to to our legislators but to the community and really states this this board's priorities in a in a very succinct way. Um and I would I would just also applaud my board colleagues because um there has been more attention um and more advocacy stemming from this legislative program than I've I've seen in the past. Uh, and so, um, I think that's that's a we've we're setting a a a model for the community to follow. And as we've heard our friends from from ranging from union, um, workers to, um,

053to administrators all saying that they want to take the message down to Richmond. Um, we uh, certainly support that uh, and and applaud it as well. Um, and just I like Dr. Anderson, I would encourage folks to look particularly at our priorities um just in terms of the wide wide range of things that we cover from um additional sources to to support uh free school meals for students to improving um our facilities uh to improving assessments. So, uh please take a look and I'm proud to support this. Thank you. >> I call on Mr. Dunn for an amendment. I move to amend page 10, section J, Freedom of Information Act of the Legislative Program, by striking the phrase, adjusting the threshold for open meeting requirements based on a governing board size and inserting the phrase

054amending the definition of meeting under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act to require public notice for formal meetings or informal assemblages of 40% or more of members of school boards in its place. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Dr. Anderson, Mr. Dunn, would you like to speak to your amendment? >> Uh, briefly, uh, the governance of the school board is complicated by, uh, a state statute, the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, which prevents more than two of us from meeting at any point in time to discuss any issue without providing public notice. So, if the three of us here want to meet at a McDonald's um just to have an informal conversation, not to pass a motion because we wouldn't have quorum, we have to provide public notice and and provide at least 48

055hours public notice. I believe that greatly complicates the governance of a 12 member school board. Now, most school boards in this state are three members or they might be five members. when you have 12 members and I'm going to have, you know, 12 conversations, one person at a time and then if anything changes from my original motion, I have to go have 12 more conversations. And just the fact that many of us have day jobs, have family obligations, have other things going on our lives. It makes it extremely difficult for us to be able to reach consensus or actually develop ideas beyond the notional um before we come to the school board and have formal deliberations. Uh so this uh this is a not a change to a state statute. This is simply a change

056to our legislative program. So FCPS will go before the state legislature and have conversations so that a strict numerical limit, which doesn't make sense for a school board the size of FCPS, can be increased to allow at least 40%, which would be four of us, right? Which is still well less than half. And the idea again is to enable more effective, more efficient governance and better outcomes for our students, better outcomes for our school division. Thank you. >> Dr. Anderson, would you like to speak to your second? >> Just very briefly, the only other thing that I'd like to add is that if this position were to be taken up by the legislature and legislative body of um Virginia and it were to pass, it would also impact all of the other school divisions in

057Fairfax in um in Virginia because we do have some boards that have seven members and nine members that have similar restrictions. So, this is not just a Fairfax County provision. It could be a provision for all school boards across Virginia. Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Miss St. John Cunning. >> Um, so, so I do want to mention another component of this as some of our legislative legislative friends have found out that sometimes they want us to come speak to us and they can't speak to all of us. They have to speak to two of us at a time. So, that's six different meetings for them. So it's not just a function of us being able to get together to, you know, talk things out, figure things out, be more efficient, be more effective. It's also a

058function if some of the public wants to speak to us, they have to speak to us two at a time. And so in terms of scale of efficiency, time for everyone, uh, as some of my colleagues mentioned, some of us do have day jobs, so our time is limited. So th this is just trying to make it easier for us to work effectively, work efficiently, and serve our constituents in the best possible way. So I wholeheartedly support this amendment. >> Thank you, Miss St. John Cunning. Mr. McDaniel, >> uh I I appreciate the make of the motion because this is the absolute right thing to do. And I'm sorry. Okay. I No, this is the absolute right thing to do and I completely support this. Um, and as I as an at large member, I

059like to tell people everybody in Fairfax County has four schoolboard members, your district representative and the one, two, three at large members. Current law means that if you want to have a PTA PTO meeting with all of your representatives on the school board, you cannot do that unless it's publicly advertised and the entire population of Fairfax County has the right to attend that meeting. So there's a very real practical implication of providing constituent services that would be impacted for the positive should the general assembly hopefully fingers crossed take this up and approve this. So very happy to support the motion. >> Thank you Mr. McDaniel. Miss Dixit, >> I agree with uh this motion and amendment because um like this board I think has maximum number of working officials who have a full-time job or

060day job and um during our day job we we have commitments right that so we have it's very hard to make like if you're making a motion to make those 12 calls or 11 calls to all your colleagues and get consensus like uh Mr. done said and um um at the same time I will I'll also say that's a comment made by earlier uh here that um you know if you the communication can only improve if we can talk more than two people then we can say yes we can communicate communicate more right now communication is the hard right now within the board we only meet for work sessions and we and the close session and regular session that's the only meetings we have so if you see us disconnected are arguing and disputing. It

061is because we cannot talk to more than one person and I have a 9 toive job. So I have to only call the people at at night while they have they're having dinner or something else. So we have a full life. We we have a we work 12 15 hours a day sometimes. So I appre I appreciate the comments made earlier and I appreciate them but please understand that we are also humans and working professionals which is trying to do two jobs. Thank you, >> Mr. FR. >> Thank you. I just want to correct the record. 40% of 12 is 4.8, Mr. Dunn. So, [laughter] 4.8 of us can get together if this law passes. I do want to stress why this law exists in the first place. Um the notion of prohibiting a large

062number of a public body from meeting and getting together is to prevent boards from taking action in private and then doing a formality in public, right? So if you have too many members of let's say that the motion was to have uh 60% of our board, well then people could go into a back room, make decisions, come out and just be done, right? So I do appreciate the collegiality in the spirit that got this motion to this table. We had a work session, Mr. Dunn had other language and based on that conversation which was in public between colleagues. He adjusted the language and now here we are. And so uh we've had something similar in our legislative program for a while. I'm hopeful that there's a light at the end of the tunnel with the

063general assembly and the new governorhip. And so that I don't take a second turn, I'm also going to speak to the main motion um and just indicate that um like I said, there's light at the end of the tunnel. I'm grateful that my colleagues included my amendments uh at the work session. The two prime the two primary buckets that I put forward were number one uh that our board advocate in Washington for the restoration of Medicaid SNAP and other funding for people who uh are really suffering right now uh with the cost of living as it is. Um, number two, that we quit making it harder for young people to go to college or to grad school, uh, by restoring public service loan forgiveness, grad plus loans, income based repayment plans, which the administration in

064Washington has gutted. Uh and the final piece and this is something I'm hoping the general assembly will pick up pronto uh is to bring greater stability and collegiality and collaboration uh to public education in this commonwealth by changing the way that our board of education and our boards of visitors at the university level are appointed for the duration of their terms so that there are not these giant swings back and forth where people are playing political games. uh to make a point and instead we keep it focused on the kids. So I support this even if it is weird to have 4.8 board members talking um and I appreciate uh the motion uh and we'll gladly vote for it and for the amended program. I appreciate Dr. Anderson and Miss Marin who's not with us

065tonight for the work they did to get us to this point >> and Mr. Mallaloy as well. >> Thank you Mr. Fresh. Um I will call for a vote for the amendment that's on the screen. All those in favor, Mr. Fresh, Mr. McDaniel, Mr. Meline, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismar, Heiser, Mr. Moon, Mr. Dunn, Dr. Anderson, and myself. That is unanimous for all board members. Now, we are going to go back to the name. Now, the amended. Seeing no others, we're going to go ahead and vote for the motion which is on the screen. So all those in favor, Mr. FR, Mr. McDaniel, Mr. Mavine, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismore, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, and myself. That is unanimous for all board members.

066Okay. Action item 6.05, 05 amending the structure of the board's comprehensive planning and development committee and the roles the role of the facilities planning advisory committee or advisory council. I call on Mr. McDaniel for a motion. I move that the school board amend the structure as comprehensive planning and development committee to add three community members and sunset the board's facilities planning advisory council effective April 1st 2026 in accordance with the changes detailed in policy 1710 community advisory committee to the school board the board strategic governance manual and the board's community advisory committee operating manual as attached to the agenda item on board docs. I further move that the school board grant the clerk's leave to make technical and formatting changes to the aforementioned documents as necessary. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Miss Eismore.

067Mr. McDaniel, would you like to speak to your motion? >> I would. And uh before I begin, can the clerks put the item on the on the projector, please? Thank you. So, I first want to start off by saying I sincerely appreciate the role that FPAC has played since its inception. I appreciate the work of our community volunteers. I appreciate the expertise they have brought to the table. I appreciate the very valid issues they have raised and I appreciate that service. Um, and in that appreciation, this goal, the goal of this item is to raise that work and to raise the impact of those experts that are providing their time for free to the division and to the taxpayers of Fairfax County. And what you see up here is the existing FPAC CPDC structure on

068top. On the bottom is what would occur should this motion pass. What this motion does is take the function of FPAC, which is an expert input, and it injects it right to a standing board committee, and it gives those members, those community members, a vote at the table, a seat at the table to help the division inform facilities planning policies. So, this is not eliminating public input. It's not eliminating parent voices. It's not eliminating any expert input that we value as a school division. in my view it is elevating it, it is promoting it, it's enhancing it and is giving it a bigger impact. So that's why I brought this item forward. Um, obviously you know the current FPAC has 13 members. We we can't logistically add 13 more bodies to a standing board committee

069that currently only has five bodies onto it. So that's the logic behind going to three members. Um, that's a very practical logistical uh uh concern. Um but this proposal and if it passes, you know, my plan as chair of capital facil at the capital planning and development committee is to clear the agenda for the next CPDC meeting, have a meeting with FPAC, walk them through the walk them through and to continue to explain this item and then say all the work that you are doing, how do we work with you to get this right onto CPDC, get it right into our staff's hands, get it right into the hands of the people in Gate House that can help make all of that work a reality and a reality not nebulous but a very practical reality

070right now so we can get those expert opinions uh that seat at the table so uh with that I I will I will stop talking and I'm looking forward to the conversation >> Missheiser would you like to speak to your second >> yes please just briefly first I want to thank um FPAC for all its hard work over the years and because of the hard work and the advocacy and the expertise that FPAC has brought to our work around facilities. Um I actually think this is the time to elevate their work to lift them up into our um our actual board committee structure. For those who aren't as aware in the community, we have two sets of committee structures. We have our advisory committees where we have community members who are appointed by the boards

071and also community members representing organizations on our advisory committees. Those committees meet usually once a month. They pro get a report at the end of the year and they advise us. That report is not binding. There is no voting for the advisory committee members into the board's work. I served on one for eight years. So I understand very intimately the amount of work and community input and expertise and time and effort that goes into those reports. I helped write many of them when I served on the ACSD. So I really do understand the value that our committees bring. Then we have board committees which actually are comprised of board members. Our audit committee is the a example of what we're trying to do with the expertise on FC um on FPAC. Our audit committee has

072board members and community members on there and jointly together we review the information from our audit um our auditor general and make recommendations together. It actually elevates our community members to a level that our advisory committees aren't there. And that's what we're trying to do here with CPDC and FPAC. Recognizing the expertise and the value that the people on FPAC bring, we're trying to elevate them to the table with us at CPDC so we can jointly address the issues around facilities and have the conversation. So I actually look at this as a um recognition of the value that the work that FPAC does in a in a way to try to take it to the next level. So, I am grateful for the um dil diligence and hard work of my colleague u Mr. McDaniel

073in getting us to this point and I look forward to supporting this motion. But I do think you know it is it's all change is always hard but this change I believe is to make the work even more important and elevate the stature of the people who are on it for the community. >> Thank you, Miss Seismarhouser. Um I call on Mr. Dunn for a motion. I move to postpone the main motion indefinitely. >> Is there a second? >> Second. Dr. Anderson. A motion to postpone indefinitely has been moved and seconded is and is debatable. Mr. Dunn, would you like to speak to your motion? >> Yes. There's a process question here and then there's a substantive question. So, let me speak to process first. This committee has existed since 2010. This committee consists of

07412 13 actually dedicated community members who have dedicated countless hours to serving this community. Consists of parents with kids in the school system and they have had countless recommendations adopted by this school division over time, saving taxpayers tens of millions of dollars, making our facilities world class, helping us day in day out. They were never consulted. They were never consulted for for even a single minute provided an opportunity to consult about this motion that seeks their disillusion. To the extent that there are concerns about FPAC's performance, then let's have a conversation with FPAC. It's so disrespectful to rush to abolish a a group that has dedicated so much time, provides so much benefit. And so I'm bringing this motion because I don't think we're at the point where we have all the information. While I

075appreciate that um my colleague attended an FPAC meeting for 20 minutes, there was no discussion in the room at that time because there was an agenda speaker. We need to have a discussion because we're a deliberative body. Our absolute obligation to our taxpayers is to not waste a free resource when it will require us to hire consultants that will perform probably badly as many have recently and at a cost of millions of dollars. So I am bringing this motion so we can have an informed conversation both among board members and with FPAC and hopefully come to a compromise that resolves any concerns, strengthens EPAC and enables it to continue serving its essential function. >> Dr. Anderson, would you like to speak to your second? >> Yes, please. I'd like to read this little excerpt. Whereas

076Fairfax County Public Schools has the good fortune to have many persons willing to volunteer their time and services in our schools and our school sponsor sponsored activities. And whereas every school whether through formal or informal partnerships count amongst its volunteers those who give generously of their time to improve the academic culture and athletic environment of our schools, especially through tutoring, mentoring, advisory program. um etc. That's what we said in January of 2025 of our volunteers. And at current uh what I'm hearing is that we want to elevate the the group of um FPAC into a better position. That seems to be an unwanted promotion because we've heard from them this evening. And I think two things can still be true at the same time. FPAC has a purpose and some of the some of the

077um language that was provided regarding why this is necessary said it is working without coordination. Well, that is the role of the FPAC liaison from the board that the work is um it's disjointed failure to communicate. I'm sorry, not fail to communicate that it's not it's not well-guided. The board guides the work of FPAC and the beauty of it is they are able to take a task that we deem to be important and go into it in-depthly using all of their expertise. We have Mr. Fanshaw who we hired not once Dr. Reed but twice was an FPAC member for years. That's the e level of expertise that we get from that group. But I still believe two things can still be true. We can have FPAC continue to do that in-depth work using that level

078of expertise that they gladly give to us for free and we could bring whomever we want into CPDC as that three member panel as Mr. McDaniel explained it doesn't have to be one or the other because they can have different functions. Are they tangentially related? Absolutely. But the reason why the FPAC committee running as it as it does is really so helpful is because they can take a task and really spend the time to go in depth in a way that we cannot. It it really comes across as if we're silencing community voice. We have people who stood in front of us begging us to let us to let us help to let them help us. I I I'm like discombobulated over that. Where else do we have people of great levels of expertise and

079talents, professionals who are begging to help us and we're saying no? And we continue to say we're elevating you. They don't want it. They don't want that elevation. Minimally, we need to have more conversation to build some understanding to come up with the plan C. I do not think this is a decision that has to be made this night. >> Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Mr. Mackeine. >> So, I think it's uh helpful to take a step back and um review the history of CPD CPDC and FPAC. Um and certainly Mr. Moon is better placed to do this than me, but I will take a crack at it. Um when it was created, um it was, as we've discussed tonight, to bring together um an expert group uh to provide guidance on our facilities. The board

080at that time no longer had a facilities committee um and it was um devolving that power to the citizens which I think was admirable and the CPDC was created not as a facilities committee but as a committee merely established to appoint members to FPAC and oversee the work of FPAC. Um that mission has been lost uh and um uh CPDC is is no longer serving that uh original purpose. I've seen FPAC's work um over the years. I was a liazison to the committee for about four years from 2012 to 2016. Sat in hours of the meetings and I've seen a continuous improvement in the work. Um as we discussed at the FPAC meeting the other night, they're now producing memos that um have been have produced actionable guidance that we we took action on this

081past year under um Mr. Dunn's leadership of CPDC. Um my view is that uh you don't elevate something by decimating it. Um and to say um at the deis that we're going to speak with FPAC about this uh this motion after we pass it is is putting the cart before the horse. And I said this at the meeting on Tuesday night and I'll say it again. Um thank you um to the members of FPAC. Um all of our advisory committees do an incredible work uh in a voluntary basis. Um FPAC more than others. You have retreats. You engage with all all sorts of staff and different departments. Um and you bring us as I said actionable guidance uh and it's very much appreciated. Um thank you for your service which I hope continues uh on

082FPAC uh for years to come. >> Mr. Moon. >> Uh thank you, Madam Chair. I'm gonna support a motion to a motion to postpone. Uh thank you, Mr. Don, uh for putting up that motion. I do not I do not doubt a genuine intent behind Mr. McDaniel for bringing up your original motion to restructure the FP or CPDC. But I think uh first of all you know bold has not been adequately briefed and have had a chance to discuss about this amongst the board members at the board table or work session that is one but more importantly uh I attended along with a couple of the board members uh Mr. mentioned FEX meeting and Tuesday night uh because my appointee a extended an invitation and come and listen to their conversation and I was it

083was it was it was quite apparent that members who were in attendance having the conversation were very frustrated about a lack of adequate communication between a board members or board or CPDC and FPAC and and members serving on the FP pack on this particular issue. I as a longtime a schoolboard member I always value the service you know volunteers and who are willing to give their time and talent and efforts to help us do our job. I think we owe them cory. We owe them the opportunities they are seeking to have further clarification and communication and conversation with us. You know, deferring postponing this for a few weeks. You you can always bring it back you know uh Mr. year after having had having the conversation first to FP pack and and that will serve

084our school system school board a lot better than just making the final decision tonight. Thank you, Mr. Moon. Seeing no others, I will call for a vote to postpone indefinitely. All those in favor? Mr. Mine, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Miss Lady, and Dr. Anderson. All those opposed, Mr. Fresh, Mr. McDaniel, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismarheiser, and myself. Will the clerk please read the vote? >> 56. The motion fails. >> I call on Mr. Dunn for an amendment. I move to replace the language of the motion in its entirety with the following language. That the board amend the structure of FPAC to enable each school board member to directly appoint a representative for renewable one-year terms in order to ensure that the school board continues to have access to FPAC's worldclass expertise at

085no cost to taxpayers. I further move that relevant language in the strategic governance manual policy 1710 and community advisory committee operating manual be amended to affectuate the language of this motion. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Mavine. Mr. Dunn, would you like to speak to your motion? >> Yes. With a 41-year renovation queue and a $400 million infrastructure backlog, now is not the time to dissolve the committee that advises the school board on facilities management and construction issues. Narrowing FPAC's mission by restructuring the committee from 13 members to three on CPDC will result in more limited advice in a time when FCPS is faced with major facilities challenges and limited capital improvement resources. The school board has benefited significantly from the free advice provided by FPAC members and FPAC's work has informed

086FCPS facility staff as they manage 28 million square ft of building space. Restructuring FPAC is fiscally irresponsible. FPAC members provide free expertise that would otherwise cost FCPS millions of dollars in consulting fees. FPAC members understand FCPS and care about the school division's success in ways that outside consultants don't because they have a stake in the system. These are parents with kids in our schools, their community members who are invested in our success. FPAC can also help FCPS avoid costly mistakes. FPAC members have diverse expertise that provide significant value. FPAC members come from diverse professional backgrounds, allowing FCPS to benefit from a broad set of expertise. Narrowing 13 to three, you have a much smaller set of expertise. Moreover, if you add them to CPDC, you're going to be asking them facilities questions on the spot.

087And the FPAC members have stated affirmatively, they will not know the answers. They'll have to go and do research. Hence the purpose of FPACT as an in-house think tank that operates at no cost to taxpayers. FCPS's facility challenges are multiaceted and require a variety of perspectives. FPAC serves a critical research and translation function because many of the issues FPAC discusses are highly technical and far too complex for CPDC and schoolboard members who have no background in facilities, educational specifications, virtual power plants, new construction methodologies. These are all issues that schoolboard members would decline to discuss and did in the most recent CBDC meeting. FPAC conducts in-depth research on very technical topics including public private partnerships, new construction approaches, asset management, and renovation cues that is critical at a time when we're in the process of

088doing a facilities condition assessment to inform the development of a new renovation queue. And finally, FPAC provides access to industry networks and best practices from the private sector. We don't have any other resource that provides us that same resource, network, industry, state-of-the-art knowledge for free. For free. FPAC members have connection to those industry networks because they have day jobs. They work in the private sector. And FC FCPS as a public entity simply does not. For all of these reasons, it is the height of irresponsibility, the height of foolishness, frankly, to abolish this vital resource to FCPS as we face the greatest challenge in terms of facilities management in a generation. >> Thank you, Mr. Dunn. Uh, Mr. McMine, would you like to speak to your second? >> No. Thanks. >> Thank you. Will board members

089who do not wish to speak please turn their lights. Dr. Anderson. >> Um, yes, thank you. One of the other things that I want to share and Mr. U Dunn did I think a wonderful job really articulating uh many of the things. The reason why Oh, I thought something happened. The reason why it's important to also have the regional representation that FPACT currently exists, it's because it's like us in the boundary process. We know the nuances of our area and we bring that into the conversation and they will also bring the expertise as well as the nuance knowledge of the areas. We can restructure their work. We are fully in charge of that. This is this is just so disrespectful. I'm really struggling with sitting here I and saying that this is for your own

090good. Nothing has ever worked for me in my life when somebody's telling me what is for my own good but not listening to what I'm saying that I want. It is so high-handed to think that we are going to this is for your own good. We are promoting you. I I I I'm just really struggling with that. If we really value these individuals as we have said in the past, as you we have said tonight, let's pause and have a conversation. Again, I cannot stress enough. I don't think this night is the night where we have to make this decision. We lose nothing. We have no deadline pending. Let's at least show them the respect of a conversation by delaying this whole thing. >> Miss Dixit, I was not going to make comments on this,

091but um Mr. D, I mean, I don't think most of us are foolish. Maybe maybe I am I I'm just um surprised the use of language actually but I would say the original and I served on CBDC one year um I didn't see much purpose of CPDC alone itself I was also an audit committee at the same time and I did see the community uh members uh being on the same table as us and making votes uh like quoting on things uh and they were not put on spot they were just like us and uh they had the uh space at the place at the table um same but in CBDC I didn't see that I fpac kind of worked on his independent way and CBDC was independently working giving directions to FPAC and I

092wondered as a busy professional who has to go for a 7 o'clock CPDC meeting I used to think sometime that why there not many people here who get who are from the community and can actually discuss things with us and and vote with us. Anyhow, so I want to simplify things. This is just my style of working. I support simplification, less bureaucracy, more feedback and direct engagement. And I think this is a step in the direction, right direction. Uh change is hard. It's difficult. Um I appreciate all the volunteers from FPAC for supporting all these years. I was on advisory committee before I got on school board, too. I have volunteered all my life. I know how much it means to volunteer for someone and uh I appreciate all that. But this this point I

093think we should just uh continue this uh move forward and uh and make it as a comprehensive CBDC group with us uh you know community members at the table. Thank you. >> Thank you Miss Dixit. Mr. Dunn for a go back. >> Thank you. Um, if the concern is misalignment, having direct appointment of FPAC representatives by schoolboard members for renewable one-year terms, which would match how we appoint every other advisory committee, would achieve that alignment, that connection. But let me talk about what message we are sending to the community. In the last 12 months, we have eliminated this will be the third advisory committee in 12 months. the HR advisory committee, the family life education advisory committee, and now this. What's next? Are we declaring war on public engagement? Are we declaring war on the

094community? Do we not care what our community actually thinks anymore? Do are we so self-satisfied that we don't want to listen to the public when the public, especially on a very specialized set of expertise, has more knowledge, more skills than we do? What message are we sending? And why are we sending this message? There's a pattern here. It's not a one-off. And so I ask, what's next? Are we going to go to the statutory minimum as some elected officials have? I don't think that's the right direction. I don't think that's the right message. We have one of the most highly educated populations in the world. We can benefit from engaging them more, bringing them in more, and benefiting from their expertise and their willingness to do so at no cost to the taxpayer. I don't

095want more bad consultants. We've had so many botched consultants in the last 12 months costing millions of dollars. We just can't keep going down that road. Those consultants are hired guns. They don't have the public service motivation like the citizens in this county do, the parents with kids in this system do. Why are we doing this so quickly? What's the rush? What's the rush? What's the upside of abolishing this committee tonight without having a single conversation with the committee members who have dedicated so much time? Why are we manifesting such disrespect to the community? >> Thank you, Mr. Dunn. Miss St. John Cunning, >> I too was not going to speak tonight. Um, I want to say that my background is family engagement. I was a family engagement representative for 26 years. I also want

096to say that sometimes there's misrepresentations. The advisory committee for employment had to be disbanded because of collective bargaining. We all here are aware of that. We spoke with all of the members. We appreciated what they what they were bringing to the table. But things changed and that had to change. Family life education, there were other factors involved because of that change. This was not disrespect. Times change. We need new committees. We need committees, advisory committees on technology. Also want to clarify that some people think that I don't have a member on the committee because I knew it was going to be disbanded. I will tell you that I have put out flyers to get a member. I have reached out to different people in my district to try to get members and the qualifications that

097are required. There has no one that has that has stepped up to the plate. I know that other members on this committee have that same issue. This is a way to maximize and be efficient with the members that do have that expertise, but not everybody has the ability to put someone up for that because there are people that are not taking that up. I want to clarify that the reason I don't have a member on the committee is because I have not found someone to step up to the plate with the qualifications that are required and that is one of the few committees that requires very specific qualifications which goes to say that you are engaging specific people and not other people. Okay? Because I know there are other people that could be on that

098committee that may not have those qualifications on paper. I know that there are some members on that committee that don't have those qualifications on paper and actually are better committee members. So, I just want to make clear that there's a lot of hyperbole going on here and it's disingenuous. We are trying to be efficient and effective and public engagement is critical to me. It has been for the past 26 years, but we have to be thoughtful. We have to be conscientious. I appreciate the work of every person that does any kind of committee and volunteer work. I have been a member of these committees. But at the same time, we have to be realistic about what the reality is. We're trying to make this better. We are not trying to disrespect anybody. We are trying

099to elevate. And yes, change is difficult whether it's for the good or maybe not for the good. But this is something that is going to elevate what you do. And that cannot be clearer. And the information has been out there. The opportunity for you guys to respond has been out there. There was no responses. That's also not being talked about. This information was also out there. And until this week, one board member brought up things that went way ahead of the time. This board member was aware of it. So, let's be realistic here. >> Thank you, Miss St. John Cunning. Dr. Anderson, do you want to go back? >> Yes. Just very quickly, I I was hoping if you wouldn't mind, Mr. McDaniel. Um, how would this impact the plan if we were to not

100vote on this this evening, the plan that you've proposed? >> Mr. McDaniel, you can answer. >> I I don't understand the question. I mean, we've already decided that we're not delaying it. So, it's not being delayed, I guess. >> No, no. I'm just asking what would be the impact >> if we delayed it. >> Yes. >> We would vote on it later. >> I'm I'm sorry. >> We would vote on it later, >> right? In terms of getting the new plan in place. Would it create some sort of hardship to create this plan later? Because this is all going to be in place for the next school year, correct? >> No. Oh, April 1st, 2026 would be the rollover. That's in the >> Say again. >> April 1st of 2026, which is in the documents

101that have been posted publicly. That would be the rollover date. >> All right. Thank you. >> Seeing no others, we're going to go ahead and vote for the amendment. All those in favor, Mr. Mleen, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, and Dr. Anderson. All those opposed, Mr. FR, Mr. McDaniel, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismore Heiser, and myself. Will the clerk please read the vote? >> The vote is 47. The motion fails. >> Thank you. Um, I call on Mr. Dunn for an amendment. >> I move to amend the motion by striking the phrase three community members and insert the phrase five community members in its place. I further move to amend the accompanying documents on the agenda item to effectuate this amendment. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Mavine.

102Uh Mr. Dunn, would you like to speak to your amendment? >> Uh yes. When this uh motion was first brought um I discussed uh with um M Mr. McDaniel the possibility of uh increasing the number of uh community members to a larger number. We discussed at that time four to five members. Hence, I've brought this uh amendment. Uh if it is the will of the school board to abolish FPAC and move to a model in which we have community members, I believe three is simply too few given the vast range of expertise uh that currently exists on FPAC. Everything from environmental specialists, environmental energy management specialists, architects, engineers, construction folks. Um you know, there's just to deal with 28 million square feet of building space which is what we have in our portfolio today that

103has a value of nearly 10 billion dollars. Uh we really need a a a set of experts at the table so that CPDC discussions can be informed by a broad range of expertise. Uh I I suggest that three is simply too few and you're not going to get the expected benefits of having those community members at the table. So having five would allow a greater possibility that you'll have the necessary expertise to fully inform CPDC's work and hence the school board's work. Um I also want to note that um there was an email sent from FPAC to uh the school board on November 11th. No one ever responded to that email. So those questions about the motion tonight was never responded to. Thank you. >> Mr. Mleene, would you like to speak to your second?

104>> Um I I have a questions um for the maker of the original motion which is um under the original proposal. Um how did you envision those three community members being appointed? >> Mr. McDaniel. So the as outlined in the documents, the appointment process mirrors the appointment process, the the appointment timeline in the appointment process, the application process mirrors that of actually the audit committee which you chair. So basically I took the audit committee process. I put in the criteria for FPAC which is the current criteria in the FPAC application process for qualifications and kind of for lack of a better phrase Frankenstein those two together using audit committee as the logistical driver of the application process. >> Got it. And um what is that application process consist of? Is it are we taking the

105same credentials that we expected of the current committee? Is there any sort of geographic representation incorporated? >> So no, there's no geographic representation. They're all technically at large. they will all be full appointees of the full school board instead of individual district or at large appointments. Um, and the professional qualification requirements was drawn from the existing professional qualification requirements on FPAC. Now, there is going to be an amendment later which I'm happy to support to expand that and stipulate the professional qualification requirements more, but currently in the documents um that's that's the way it's outlined. Then under the current process, each board member chooses their own uh appointee. Um we we sorry each board member recommends appointees to CPDC for for um appointment um and then CPDC makes that decision. But how would that work

106in this process? Would would how are board members? >> It would be identical. So what would happen is we would put out a call for applications. The applications would come in. They would be vetted by staff. Again, the same thing as the audit committee does. be vetted by staff and then staff would bring the list of people that meet the technical qualifications to CPDC. CPDC would review those applications and then recommend to the full board for approval uh the three members that would take the seat on CPDC. So the full board would have final say on who actually sits on CPDC. Okay. Thank you for all these clarifications. Um I appreciate the conversation. Um so um my one major concern for me is as Mr. has mentioned is this takes away the geographic uh representation

107from around the county. Um a unique thing about FPAC is that it also has a Fairfax city representative. Um and again I think having that that breadth of knowledge and um geographic diversity is is useful. Um so I think uh having more than three members would be very useful. Thanks. >> Thank you Mr. Makovy. Miss Desmer Hazer, >> thank you. Um, I'm not opposed to expanding the number of members. I I agree with adding, you know, having more space for adding expertise. However, I have a question regarding this that um I don't know if I can turn the make for a motion, but are you may I So, absolutely. Are you anticipating that the five community members would have an equal vote to the four board members on there? Right now, um, we have, uh,

108on CPDC, uh, a representative of the city of Fairfax School Board, Caroline Pitches, and there are matters, uh, regarding FCPS and its governance where, uh, that representative of City of Fairfax, doesn't get a vote. And so, I believe I would have to defer to my colleague, Mr. Macke, who heads the audit committee, which is the current model for uh, Mr. McDaniel's proposal to understand whether there are situations in which the citizen members can essentially overrule the schoolboard members. But I believe if you put together in the bylaws and the strategic governance manual how those uh community members would vote, how their votes would be weighted and precluding uh their votes from ever overriding the schoolboard members, that can be accomplished without having to worry just greater numbers of schoolboard members or community members. So that

109can be worked out in bylaws and such. >> Well, I I I appreciate that and that was the reason I brought this up because on the audit committee there aren't as many community members as board members. There's two community members for this very reason having served on the audit committee for a couple years. I think there's three um two thank you having served for a couple years in the my previous term for this reason because the difference and one of the reasons this elevates our community members is that CPDC votes on things to send to the board and votes on issues directly for the board. So when you add five members to four, including Miss Pitches, you are adding the community outweighing the board members. Now, I would feel more comfortable with this motion if

110it had in there specifically the waiting of votes, but it doesn't. So, I put to my colleagues, are we and I I've not had a phone call about this, so I didn't I'm not sure what your thoughts were. That's why we're discussing it here, but I am not so comfortable creating a new structure that doesn't exist on any of our other committees. So, and I don't think we can amend this here, but that is my concern is adding more community members than board members on any committee. >> You can amend it here. Actually, you can you can offer an amendment. >> So, I'm happy to offer an amendment to say that we would have five community members whose votes would count as half potentially. So, it doesn't outweigh the board members. Yeah. So you two

111and a half 2.5. >> We're gonna take a brief recess. >> Take a brief recess and figure out the number. But >> yeah, I mean maybe Board members, please take your seats. Okay, bringing us back. I call on Miss Seismarheiser for a secondary amendment. I ask for unanimous consent to amend the amendment by inserting the following language after the phrase quote in its place end quote. I further direct CPDC to create a waiting system for CPDC voting such that a community member vote does not outweigh a schoolboard member vote of the committee. There too many votes in here but >> thank you Miss Seismarheiser. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Uh Mr. Done. Without objection, >> Miss Anderson, since it's with unanimous consent, we don't need a second. >> Thank you. Seeing no

112objection, we will go ahead and adjust the amendment to include that language. So, now we're back to discussing the new amended amended amendment. [sighs] Mr. Dunn for a go back. >> Um, sorry. I withdraw my go back. >> Okay. Thank you so much. Seeing no others, we'll go ahead and vote. Wait, >> I'm so sorry. I just wanted a little bit of clarification. Can you share again what this is going to accomplish? I I think I may have missed it. >> Misser. >> Yes. We don't have any schoolboard committees vote on things to send to the to the back to the school board. It's it's different than our committees, our advisory committees. We don't have any schoolboard committee that has community members in greater numbers than schoolboard members. So the purpose here is to make

113sure our community members votes do not outweigh the vote of a schoolboard member. On our audit committee, we only have two community members. So you know instead of trying to figure out at the dis what exactly that waiting system looks like I'm just asking CPDC to come up with that waiting system and come back to the board. >> So is the waiting system still going to be comprising of the five members that are proposed? >> It's still the five members. It's just a waiting system for the vote. >> Got it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Seeing no others, we'll go ahead and call for a vote on the amendment that's on the screen. All those in favor, Mr. Fresh, Mr. Mr. McDaniel, Mr. Meline, Miss Seis, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss

114Seismore Heiser, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, and myself. That is unanimous for all board members. I call on Mr. Dunn for an amendment. I move to amend the subsection E of the criteria section in new appendix L of the strategic governance manual by striking the phrase be quote be knowledgeable about FCPS facilities policies and procedures building construction and management and capital financing end quote and inserting the phrase quote be knowledgeable about FCPS facilities policies and procedures and be an expert in architecture construction, engineering, facilities management and capital financing, permitting and procurement, land use planning and development, or related subjects in its place. >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> A second. >> Mr. McDan or Mr. Mavine. Mr. Dunn, would you like to speak to your amendment? >> Uh, yes. Thank you. briefly.

115Um, in designing this amendment, I looked at the current application to become a member of FPAC and I closely mirrored the language for the topics that we look for in in um potential comm community members to become a member of FPAC because during the discussion there's been uh discussion about FPAC as a separate organization but there's been no um assertion that FPAC members ers are unqualified or don't have the right expertise. It's simply to have them at the same table as schoolboard members on CPDC. In addition, I wanted to provide flexibility because it was correctly observed uh earlier this evening that sometimes one or more members of FPAC don't necessarily meet some of these criteria. So the last phrase or related subjects provides kind of a catchall that someone who has expertise for example in

116school boundaries might be well positioned to become a member of uh one of the community member spots on CPDC or someone in a topic such as energy management which historically might not have been considered relevant to facilities but with the growth in solar uh rooftop and also virtual power plants and related subjects that might now be relevant to facilities management whereas in previous years and decades it was not. So the the goal is to be expansive to make sure that CPDC has the discretion um to uh bring on board the necessary expertise at the right time to inform the schoolboard member deliberations on CPDC. Thank you. >> Mr. Mcabine, would you like to speak to your second? >> No. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh, Miss Seismarheiser, >> I'm pretty sure know the answer to this,

117but my lawyer brain wants to clarify. You're looking for an or for between all these, not an and, right? I just want to make sure they don't need to be experts in all of these things. >> Uh, yes. By having uh or before related subjects means all of them have an or. >> That's what I wanted to make sure of because I've seen it both ways. I just wanted to clarify at the dice in the public before we're trying to look for someone who's an expert in all these areas. I appreciate that. As as a former law clerk who wrote a lot of judicial opinions, uh I and as the son of a nap English teacher, uh I use language very carefully. Thank you, >> Dr. Anderson. >> Yes. Very quickly, I apologize. I failed

118to do this earlier. Uh but my colleague asked me to read this and so here goes. From my understanding, committee members do not feel that I'm sorry. At the CPDC meeting, I committed to supporting a process to retire FPAC that must include respect and gratitude towards committee members. From my understanding, committee members do not feel that this has happened. This pains me as they have been dedicated volunteers just as our appointees of HAC for which we aim to retire them with respect and gratitude. I will not be present in person or virtually for the regular meeting. If I were, I would express my interest in delaying any action regarding the committee until the transition conversations could be had amongst the school board. Um, this is what Miss Marin asked me to read on her behalf

119because she wanted to communicate that to you all. Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Okay, seeing no others, we will take a vote for the amendment that is on the screen. All those in favor, Mr. Fresh, Mr. McDaniel, Mr. Mavine, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismarhiser, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, and myself. That is unanimous for all board members. Okay. Now, we are going to go back to the main motion as amended, which is on the screen. I am going to take a tiny tiny turn and then we'll vote. Um, I just want to say that I I support this because honestly I've been listening hard when I've had some community members on this particular committee talk to me about the fact that the the charge has changed so significantly since the

120when the committee was started. And so I've really listened a lot and as we enter the boundary or as we're in the middle of the boundary work that we're doing, it really had shifted quite a bit. And what I don't think anyone here is suggesting that FPAC isn't hugely important and the community members and the work that they've done aren't isn't hugely important to the work that we do. This was more about making sure that we could be more agile with the actual feedback. And no one is expecting anyone on the spot to be able to answer a question. That's not the intention. We are not put in those positions either. And so I just want to first thank you all. I'm sorry that the process didn't go as smoothly. Um, this is a hard

121thing to kind of figure out because you guys are our committee and so we need to be able to utilize the folks on the committee in the way that makes the most sense for the committee um, and for the board and that's a hard that's a hard line to to kind of figure out what the correct order of things, but I'm sorry that we got it wrong here. So we will do everything that we can to ensure and I look forward to hearing about how you guys are consulted in terms of talking about the integration that's going to hopefully happen here. So I am um looking forward to the to what the next um phase of all of this is particularly as we move into the next adventure with the facilities planning and all all

122the fun. So, um, thank you guys really so much for all the work that you've done for us. Okay, so we have a few others. Miss Seismarheiser, I just asked if you could scroll so I can see the rest of it on the screen because I can't see the amendment we just voted on if you don't mind. Okay, thank you. Yep. Thank you, >> Mr. Dunn. I just a clarification. I don't see the amendment that we voted on to direct CPDC to to do that. Should it be part of this main motion or something different? >> So, it's embedded in the amend the second amendment. So, we'll have it the way it was done. It was it was amending the second amendment. The so it wasn't embedded in the main motion, but we can make

123sure that we will have it as part of the minutes. so that it's there. >> Madam clerk, >> point of order. >> I appreciate what the clerk is explaining. Just to perhaps make it clearer, um the other amendments were not part of the actual text of the amendment and so you wouldn't see it reflected there. But the motion could have um and perhaps the parliamentarian can tell me if I'm wrong, it could have something up there that says uh you know after the initials of folks um we could list the other amendments on screen and indicate that we are voting on that package together. Correct. >> So that we have the it's hard because it's uh Mr. Jackson, if you could highlight it right before the I further, we have the as amended to encompass

124all of that because we've got multiple things that are being amended. To Mr. Frisch's point, we've got the strategic governance manual that's being amended. We've got the uh community oper. >> Madame Clerk, what I would what I would recommend is that we put another I further move that the school board grant. And so can we just put it at the end that says I further move that we will send I mean I understand what we're saying but I I think that board members will feel more comfortable if we can go ahead and fix the language here. So we're going to take another very very short five minute >> we're not getting up. Everybody just >> if the board is willing to do it with unanimous consent we can just add it to the end if

125that is the request. >> Let's do that. Without objection, we will take the sentence that talks about taking the how to incorporate the five members and we will put that at the end of the motion. We will ask the clerk to add that. Everybody stay put for just a second. the information or this the second part of the amendment has now been added to the bottom of the amended motion. Um so we're going to now go ahead and vote. >> Oh wait, Madam Chair, I was still in the middle of my >> Oh, I'm sorry. Um, I I I appreciate the uh some sometimes uh watching how the sausage gets made uh you know is is not fun and it also involves a lot of recess which I think elementary school students would enjoy. Um

126multiple recesses in the day but uh I just want to go back to what Dr. Anderson said which is one of the two people two schoolboard members who originally uh sponsored moved uh the CPDC to caused this motion to be before the board tonight has ad is advocating for a delay and I think that again shows that there should have been a conversation and so it's unfortunate that tonight we witnessed the the end of FPAC and um but I will be supporting the motion as as amended. Thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Dunn. Seeing no others we are going to vote for the amended main motion that is on the screen. All those in favor, Mr. Fresh, Mr. McDaniel, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismheiser, Mr. Dunn, and myself. All those

127opposed, Mr. Mc Mr. Meline, Mr. Moon, and Dr. Anderson. Will the clerk please read the vote? >> The vote is 83. The motion carries. >> Thank you. I call on Mr. Dunn for a follow on. [clears throat] I move that division council provide a written legal opinion to the board on the potential roles, responsibilities, and restrictions of community members serving on CPDC before any changes are made to its structure. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Point of order. >> Perhaps the parliamentarian can oblige me. We just voted on a change to the structure. So, how does that work? The structure has changed effectively. >> I I don't think the structure will change until we come up with a proposal for the waiting of votes. >> And and also it's April substantively a member has

128made a point of order. The chair should rule on whether that means that the motion is not in order and the he can proceed either accepting the ruling or appealing it. So it's it's judgment call. >> I I will sustain or I will I agree that the that with the point of order. So, we're going to go ahead and we will hold on the follow on. So, we'll we'll table the follow on. Thank you. Um, agenda item 7.01, performance review, human resources EL4 monitoring report. Each year, the school board assesses the superintendent in part on the basis of the school division's reasonable progress towards achieving the 2023 2030 strategic plan goals in adherence to a set of 13 executive limitations found on pages 14 through 31 of the board strategic governance manual. This the superintendent

129provides annual monitoring reports to the board for each executive limitation. The board then votes on whether or not the pro whether the provided report is in compliance or if corrective action is needed. I call on Dr. Reid for a monitoring report on executive limitation for human resources. Thank you, Madam Chair, and good evening members of the board and public. Tonight, uh I will be presenting EL4, which discusses human resources here in Fairfax County. Uh the schoolboard executive limitation 4 is shown on this slide and at the time of this report to the best of my knowledge, information and belief. We have gathered information and evidence that I believe supports compliance with the board's executive limitation associated with this topic and I would like to share some of the highlights tonight. For those watching from home,

130the full report is attached uh to board docs. There are five areas of executive limitation 4. And on the slide, we see areas one and two. And on this slide, the remaining items are shown. And obviously, these are three, four, and five. Tonight, I'll share some highlights within this executive limitation to include selected new evidence, updated evidence, or newly added evidence. Um, so first I'd like to highlight some updates to our recruitment and retention efforts. Uh, and before I go any further, I would like to recognize that our chief HR officer, uh, William Solomon is here, as well as a number of our HR staff. If you want to wave in the back, I uh, that's an intrepid group who's worked extraordinarily hard um, since our last report. So, the annual instructional hiring calendar has

131been accelerated in various ways, which has contributed to recruitment and retention of our Fairfax County staff. I think some positives we've seen are that our staffing sheets were provided to principles nearly three weeks earlier than in prior years. And that's important because we know the sooner we're out hiring candidates uh for the future year, the better. Additionally, the transfer deadline was moved from June 1 to the beginning of April, which therefore stabilized staffing earlier in the season. We significantly increased overall recruitment activity for the 2425 period, holding two job fairs a month between January and the end of May 2025. We also hosted a federal worker and contractor information fair in February of 2025 for many of our neighbors and community members in Fairfax County who are federal workers who face layoffs. Recruitment teams also

132created targeted advertising in March um of 2025 to have breakout sessions for federal workers at traditional FCPS job fairs. Finally, we're pleased to see and really to note that our employee retention rate has surpassed 90% for two consecutive years, which is higher than our prepandemic retention rates. So, I think that's a real vote of confidence uh board and um our HR department and all the support you as an elected school board also provide for our staff. With regard to our hiring practices, um, beginning in March 2025, HR implemented a standardized job offer process. And this process provided standardized formal written job offers via email to applicants um that actually included a draft salary and description of benefits and had our candidates accepting offers through a standard process. Also, these job offers provide documentation for individuals

133who are seeking to rent or purchase a home, as well as for other income guaranteed requirements. Starting last spring in 2025, our HR and transportation teams also began working together in a much more collaborative approach to develop a one-stop shop that expedited hiring for our transportation staff. Mr. Muick is here, our chief operating officer, who collaborated with Mr. Solomon and their teams worked together to make sure that candidates could pre-qualify for hiring by completing many of their screening activities, including taking their physicals via a partnership with INOVA Health Systems. Strategic initiatives such as this resulted in a 50% improvement in filling beginning of the year transportation vacancies. In FY25, we started with 121 vacancies and in FY26, only 65 vacancies. So between July 1 and September 30 of 2025, there are over 500 applicants for

134bus drivers and nearly 140 have been hired and placed in routes during that time. HR has also introduced the manager roadmap to onboarding operational employees this past August. This guide provides leaders with a clear strategic framework for supporting new hires and outlines key roles and responsibilities. highlights best practices, including practical tools such as checklists and has timelines for covering the first week through the first year. We have new information as it relates to onboarding in FCPS and actually have worked very hard to cut the average amount of time for onboarding which has decreased in recent years as shown in the slide. And this was a really important data point uh having gone from 46 days to onboard in August of 24 um to 24 days by June through August of 2025. And this is a

135key performance indicator that our human resources department can be very proud of. The anchor induction program is a divisionwide initiative that standardizes the onboarding and support of administrative assistance as well. So this is a new program. Um it began this year for school-based administrative assistance with expansion to central office administrative assistance planned for next school year. So you're here seeing a theme in our HR department around uh really working hard to develop systems for uh very important uh HR roles. Several new resources are also in place uh to support our employees. On the next slide, we'll be able to Thanks Kevin. Um HR released a new quick reference guide to provide a clear overview of key services, functions, and contacts across HR offices. And this is important so that our employees and our staff know

136who to contact when they need assistance or support. We've also published our first ever divisionwide employee handbook. Uh, and this comprehensive resource provides guidance for new and veteran employees that help staff better understand their responsibilities and easily access key information. One of the uh key um attributes as well that we created after the uh corrective action memo last year with H uh with the executive limitation for is we now have a centrally created handbook for athletic coaches which is being developed to include applicable FCPS policies and regulations as well as opportunities for schools to include their own sitebased procedures. We've provided updates to teacher evaluation materials, revising the teacher indicators used to evaluate standards one through five, um, and supporting professional growth within the FCPS instructional framework. We've also modernized the evaluation matrices for instructional

137resource professionals for the first time since 2014. So there's a lot of detail work that isn't obvious, I think, at first glance, but um I'm really proud of the team for working on sustainable systems that will generate long-term gains. We have just a few more updates tonight. Um first, we've leveraged the Guardian platform to support uniform and consistent application of VHSL transfer rules. Um and this is a big move from the prior year. I want to recognize Tom Horn who's here. and Tom want to raise your hand. Thank you. Our executive director of athletics and activities. Um and Tom has been absolutely instrumental in establishing a division level doc division level document collection and processing platform for all transfers within the division that uh have VHSL implications. Also, this ensures a first level of athletic

138eligibility review for all transfer students at the division level, which previously had only been done at the school level. So, this is an extra level of review we've put into place um this fall for the first time. And uh there's also a compliance oversight for all transfer eligibility requests that's provided by doc uh Mr. Horn's office. And we did attach a document um that had data for this year. So, I know if you have access to post that um Kevin take a moment to share that with uh you as a board and I know the first thing I'm going to get asked is well how does this compare to prior years and we don't know because we've never done it centrally before and the data has always been kept at school levels and um is

139not uh collectible at this point. Uh but here is Thank you, Kevin. This is the new process and just to share the um data on this, we've had 650 cases processed to date. Uh you can see in June of 2025, they're probably fewer uh processed. And at the beginning of a particular season, there are more processed. So these are being tracked monthly and centrally reviewed uh by Mr. Horn's office. So thank you, Kevin. We can go back to the PowerPoint. We also um have a few updates around new teachers. We have a beginning teacher support provider and this is an optional layer of support for locally licensed teachers in their first year. These grantf funded positions are experienced former FCPS teachers who are available to engage in coaching cycles specifically focused on classroom management with

140both uh with general education locally licensed teachers. And we had a summer internship program designed to invest in the division's future workforce by supporting current FCPS high school students and graduates who are enrolled in post-secary education programs. This past summer, we had 20 earn interns participate in the six-week program for the first time, and it was a really exciting time to get to meet some of these young people. And I think there's nothing more uh magical and uh inspiring in a contagious way than when you see the excitement and passion of our young people who are interested in education roles, be they in HR or business or the classroom or procurement or the warehouse. It's just really exciting uh to see people excited about a career in FCPS and supporting our important missiondriven work. So,

141thank you, Madam Chair. This uh concludes tonight's presentation of executive limitation number four. Thank you, Dr. Reid. I call on Miss St. John Cunning for a motion. I move the school school board finds that superintendent is in compliance with executive limitation number four, human resources. I further move that the school board approves the monitoring report based on the superintendent's reasonable interpretation of executive limitation 4, human resources as outlined in the strategic governance manual. Is there a second? Dr. Anderson, Miss St. John Cunning, would you like to speak to your motion? >> Um, yes. I know that we have seen a lot of great changes going on in HR and I as someone that visits schools and talks to our employees I know that they have felt the difference and that I think is really the

142testament of the work being done. I want to thank Mr. Solomon for doing that work. I love the fact that we're also providing internships which is an innovative idea uh and getting our community students involved. So I really want to thank the work that our HR office has been doing. all of you that are sitting back there, thank you. I know sometimes it's thankless work. Uh but it's important work because in one way or another, you touch every employee and I know that a lot of us have questions that we don't understand, including me sometimes going, "What does this mean?" And it's just work that is not maybe seen by everyone, but it is critical. So, thank you for everything you do. >> Dr. Anderson, would you like to speak to your second? Um yes

143um thank you for the presentation. I'm just going to jump in a little bit to a couple of questions that I'm hoping you could guide me a little bit. Um the first part of this e which speaks to the creation of a working environment and culture um that is consistently outlined you know through a to you know values employees seeking staff input etc. The question is how what do you what measure is used to evaluate whether or not these things are occurring? >> So I think that um I'm going to ask Miss uh Neil to offer the first start on that and then I will go to the actual document and pull up the measure we used. >> Yeah. So Dr. Anderson, I think that um a lot of that evidence was in prior year's

144reports, so it wasn't necessarily highlighted in the presentation this evening, but I think some of the evidence included in there, and Mr. Solomon may want to build on this, is um some of the various ways that we um have employee engagement going on throughout the system, um different opportunities for our employees to provide input on things like curriculum, things like our textbook adoptions, different ways that we're providing pathways for employees to provide um feedback and information. Certainly, Dr. read has several opportunities to engage with different um employees in regular um settings. So I think there's different evidence throughout the report that provides some of that information. Certainly Mr. Solomon may want to add >> I shared that that is spot on. But I think we talk about the stack meetings are um which continue on

145a regular cadence as well as um employee conversations and um I think the the various types of committees and feedback loops. >> Sure. I'd like to dig in a little bit more. I definitely think that there's a lot of activities. There are a lot of opportunities for people to give input that are presented by by you and your staff. There's a lot of activities, but how do we evaluate whether or not these activities are meeting these standards as written? Like what are you using to evaluate whether or not you are getting what you are looking for out of all of the activities that are being provided? >> Well, I think one of the things we looked at was the retention rate. Um, because I think that in general, the more engaged employees are, the more

146that uh they feel valued and the more likely they are to stay. And since we're at the first time, even since pre- pandemic times at a 90% retention rate or better for two consecutive years, that would be a data point that would seem to indicate that um people uh employees are feeling valued or they would likely work somewhere else >> or Yeah, that's true. They that certainly could be an indicator or it could be an indicator that, you know, jobs may be scarce. I I guess I'm just looking for something that's a little bit more connected um rather than more of a conjecture. Um one of the things that I saw here that could potentially speak to that, that's where I was thinking you were going um on page six of the report where you're

147discussing the employee engagement survey. Does that have questions that are aligned to what we're trying to accomplish in section one? >> We could check that out. Okay. Because I think that would be helpful because this engagement survey is it says it's provided every two years. I also think there's an opportunity there to reconsider especially if it's a line and you're reporting on this every year for it to be provided every year. And the other clarity that I'm seeking is this um engagement survey says it is administered through school employees. So only people who are in the buildings have the opportunity to complete it or is it for everyone including those in Willow Oaks and Gate House? >> I don't administer it. So I'm not entirely sure. Mr. Solomon, >> uh the engagement survey is administered

148to everyone. >> Everyone. >> Okay. So it's not just the principles. Um can you also speak to the VDOE school climate and working condition survey? How does that come to play to satisfy um sections 1 A through D? >> I would have to check in on the connection there. We don't select those questions, so it may not be a match to the particular eel. >> Do we get the results, however, or do they just get are sent to video E? Because I don't know if I familiar with this one. >> I will check into that and get back to you. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, on page nine, uh, I think one of the things that you've outlined here was the expansion of of the TFA program. And I I can't miss the opportunity to

149raise my objections to this because as I've talked about when the board voted to put this in place, these are individuals who are not as prepared as most as we want our teachers to be in terms of they have a five-week program and I know that there's some supports that are provided throughout the year, but it's a fiveweek program before we place them in front of our neediest kids. We continue to say that we need to put our best teachers in front of our neediest kids. I think this runs counter to that. And so to me, I don't see this as a win, per se. It might have been a win if we were able to place them in places where our kids were not as challenged, but being that we're placing the least what

150I consider to be the least prepared individuals in front of the most challenging title one kids, that troubles me. And I think that was my time miss. So Dr. Reed, thank you for the presentation. Um is a lot of work goes into HR uh and the the size of the organization. Uh we have a lot of work here and it's done meticulously. uh people are get paid on time and and they're happy to work and they're coming to work every day and and teaching uh our students and working with our student any capacity. Uh I had a question about the HR portal. I know there was a lot of investment done into the modernization of the HR portal. Uh where are we with that right now? >> So the HCM project uh we are still

151working on that. That was a multi-year project and continues to be a multi-year project and it's a collaborative one with our uh human resources department, our budget and finance department, and our um IT department. So, we continue to monitor the progress of that uh work. Uh and I think we're still a couple years out from seeing uh that program roll out. That's something that's so important because it connects business, finance, HR, our core business services really. So, uh we're a bit uh out still from that, but I can certainly we can provide an update um in an upcoming Friday alert. And one thing very um it stood out for me obviously we have a very high uh rate of filling the seats opens positions but the bus drivers um I know for longest time I

152knew that we always were looking for bus drivers uh in the county so it just uh it's a great uh progress in that direction too to see the uh very few uh positions uh on that on that front. Um I also wanted to ask about the anchor uh program. Would if somebody can talk a little bit about that. >> So that would be great. Is that something you would like to share a little more about Mr. Solomon? >> Absolutely. Uh so an administrative assistant position at a school is I think everyone here would agree one of the most critical positions that we have because your administrative assistant is really the right arm for a principal and for a leader. um they're the ones who are making sure that the work is uh advancing and moving

153forward and that everybody in the building has what they need uh to really be successful. And at the same time, one of the things that we were noticing was uh a level of dissonance, for lack of a better word, wanting to make sure that um our administrative assistants uh were onboarded properly, had the level of training and development, but also had uh the level of community that they needed to be successful to solve common challenges and problem of practice, problems of practice. And once again um really just uh the depth of the understanding that they need to achieve their goals. To give you one example uh when we had our last uh administrative assistant uh meeting through the anchor program uh with about 80 um administrative assistants for principles, one core problem of practice that

154they brought up was every day when they have substitute teachers come into the building, there were so many things that they needed to coordinate and compile. Everything from teacher schedules to the bell schedule to where somebody needed to be. And that was a problem that really surfaced for us and was helpful. So we were actually able to uh work together and collaboratively and use AI and put together uh something in Google Gemini so that they so that schools can upload their information, their bell schedule and other things so that everything is ready to go for substitute teachers when they come in so that they uh have what they need and so that administrative assistants um are growing and developing their skills um have access to the tools that they need, have access to community um

155and also really feel like they're achieving and advancing in their profession. >> Thank you. Thank you so much and I like the use of generative AI like uh you mentioned. Um I was also happy to see that employee handbook has uh been rolled out first time in the district. I was surprised to see that actually because like small organization have employee handbooks. I was one like we didn't have one that kind of surprised uh but I'm glad that we have it here first time. Uh lastly I'll say the great uh work with the interns uh 20 uh though you know is a great numbers to start but would would this is is it possible to grow that number to more students next time who can work with us HR I guess team >> uh we

156will absolutely take a look at what's possible >> okay thanks >> what he's not saying is I've limited the number because of the budget but I think the team would love to expand it and I've said we have to be budget conscious, but we're also, you know, we could find a partnership perhaps to support larger numbers. >> Miss Seismarhiser, >> thank you. And I'm happy to support this, Dr. Reid. I think um I remember your first year, the year that I was chair, and we were both sort of navigating your, you know, orientation to FCPS together. I think every chair's meeting we talked about the history of FCPS. Um but one of the things you said that year was that HR was one of your first priorities just to address some of the many um

157needs around consistency and so what I see here is a lot of that good work. We talked a lot that year about how long it takes to onboard how people would apply for jobs and their applications. it would be kind of a black hole for some people. And so to see some of the consistency you brought I mean an employee handbook the um evaluation process that you brought for employ I mean there's just so much in here that largecale organizations human resources should have and that you've brought it this year. So I I just want to applaud that good work here that you're doing. Um and I appreciate the honesty about the internship program. It's it's many of the things that I think we would love to do in in better budget times. Um, and

158the but the retention rate that you've also had and you talk a lot about the retention rate here, but I think what I hear when I go to school visits is that new teacher coaching program you've put in I think has really helped with the retention rate of our new teachers to get them from new to experienced teachers. Um, I did want to just ask a question which is why I raised my light. Um, you mentioned in the work session just very briefly about a program that you're working with HR around um, workplace um, poss workplace um programs for some of our students in our step Davis pulley maybe maybe the new standard course offering EF FEO um so I'm wondering one if you could tell me a little bit more about that and two

159if you're also looking to expand that to maybe partner with some of our new graduates who are who have gone off that cliff as they often call it right to um helping recruit them for job opportunities so that maybe didn't have this program in existence when they were in FCPS. >> Yes, ma'am. So, in fact, we've talked a lot about that. Um, Mr. Solomon, Dr. Pon in particular, and Dr. Edmond's heard um have uh been strategizing because we know there are models out there to employ our recently graduated neurode divergent students who um have been in the step Davis or pulley programs or not who've graduated and still um you know have they have tremendous gifts and skills that we could benefit from as a division and um we're looking at a variety of areas

160be it in the warehouse Um the I think we have a lot of interest in shelving books in the libraries. There's a lot of interest in working um either in kitchens, cafeterias, supporting classrooms. Uh there just, you know, it's an open-ended list. I know we met this morning with a possible community partner. Dr. Pon, I don't want to name them because that wouldn't be appropriate this morning, but you want to just comment? I know you're setting up a meeting. Uh we had quite a probably a halfhour conversation this morning on just this topic with a community partner. >> Um yes this is it's very promising. I cannot name it because still they are uh has to go with the process but they were offering they have a more than 16 uh centers here just in

161Fairfax also uh they're working with um university George Mason uh Nova and they have more than 32 places in Washington DC and it's not just restaurants but also some other centers where uh we are looking for that opport opportunity. We're very excited about it. >> I think within the next probably two to three years before the 2030 strategic plan uh northstar moment uh you're going to see a significant expansion in that program work. >> Thank you. And and just I would just leave you with a thought around that work. If when you're looking for when you say tremendous gifts and and talents to bring to our division, I would really encourage you to look at both IT and logistics. transportation there is I've seen it there's research around it around the the memory for logistical

162pattern recognition um I mean if we did intelligence work I'd be the other one but we don't do intelligence work here in SCPS that I'm aware of um >> no we don't but it transportation >> warehousing anything around logistics I would highly I mean I think sometimes we often look at you know kitchens and library book but I there's a whole population maybe that didn't go into Davis Pulan step but may are part of that 80% unemployment rate >> right >> and we have great needs in those areas so I would just facilities and transportation I would highly encourage you to look at those as well and partner with our own facilities there >> we're excited to look at the options and I um we had a graduate in a another division I worked in

163who knew every street name and so to your point around routing um knew every turn to get it was incredible. Um it was better than I it I could ask him quicker than I could pull up the routing software to know exactly which turns to make. >> There are whole Facebook groups who follow the where's the bus app. I'm telling you it is a hidden is whole messenger groups around and they have your transportation system better memorized I dare say than you do. There is a hidden talent there. We may need it tomorrow if we can't see the roads in the morning. >> Mr. Moon. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, as always, thanks for the presentation. And I have a few questions to ask. >> Some of the questions have been already asked by

164my fellow board members, so I'm not going to ask them again. But the as to the internship, I'm glad that we're studying. Uh but with us being what? Second largest employer in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Are we second or I third? >> We're large. >> We are large. Yes. And then as we as we ask a a uh private sector businesses, provide more internships, a more a workplace experience opportunities for our students. I think we should do our job to what he asked from private sectors. You know 20 is a good start but I wouldn't be satisfied with just having 20. I know budget is a factor but private sectors could say the same thing when he ask for those opportunities for our students or retention rate. I'm I'm happy that you know last couple

165of years uh it's uh you know higher than before but and I also know that I based upon upon the report that number of teachers who are retained showed higher number for the last couple of years as well which is good but at the same time I want to be able to see a little deeper data who is staying with us longer whether We are having a less people retiring or we are having a more younger people staying here with us longer or who are deciding to stay longer. Is that is that again is that is that just a job market situation with the federal layoffs and etc. Is that what's affecting us or because they are just happy with us basically? That is why and that's some of the data I would love to

166see whether if you have those you can provide to us. >> Yes sir. We'll uh look at I'll I'll ask the team to look at how we might break the data down in some way to see who's staying more um unless you happen to just know off the top of your head. I'm not seeing any nodding. So we'll look at the data and break it down further. So when your staff provides us with more information, could I also ask you you about uh al you know those individuals who are taking alternative path to teaching lensure whether we've seen the growth and if we are seeing growth you know what alternative path are most popular more beneficial to these people who are using those paths. Yes, sir. We can get that as well. >> Okay. Thank

167you. >> Uh Mr. Dunn. >> Uh thank you. Uh I want to know if FCPS has ever conducted a workforce analysis to determine uh in in the federal uh workspace. Um I led workforce analyses to identify the percentage of federal employees who are likely to retire in the next five years. Uh also to look at the demographic makeup, not just racial composition, but also generational to say, are we bringing in young people and are they staying or are they fleeing? Because if you have many people near retirement age, as is true in the federal workforce, and you're not bringing in enough young people, you're essentially losing at both ends of the of the generational spectrum. Um so I wanted to understand if this type of uh very sophisticated and also very standard analysis in both

168private and public sector organizations is being performed by FCPS. >> Yes sir. That's a good question and I know we tend to do it by department rather than by generation. So um and we also tend to do it by uh employee group for example principles. Um, I know that was what, two years ago, I think that we sat down and did a review of how many of our uh, elementary, middle, high school principles were nearing retirement and what does our bench strength look like and as we're developing leaders, which I think I believe that led to a year ago working with our assistant principles very intentionally, uh, which we hadn't necessarily been doing as a division for several years. So what we're trying to do is make sure that we're matching that analysis that you're

169talking about with making sure we have programs to the degree we can within our budget um that develop key um next u I guess we call it our bench strength uh key next bench strength members. So we've been doing that in several sectors and I can provide you a Friday letter update on that. >> That would be great. Um, I also wanted to ask about the uh equivalent of the federal retired annuity program. I'm sorry I don't remember the name. It's EF ERFC to allow people to start earning their retirement while remaining an FCPS employee. Um, has there been analysis of the employees who have uh taken advantage of that program, enrolled in that program to be able to continue working and has an analysis of, you know, the makeup of of the participants been

170provided to the school board? >> So that's the drop program. I think you're referring to. And so I I think we gave the board numbers a year ago. I don't know that there was a big analysis, but I'm going to go back to either Mr. Smith or Mr. Solomon. Mr. Smith, do you want to start that one? >> Certainly. So we can uh and good evening everyone. Uh we can certainly work with the ERFC board. Uh that analysis is done on a monthly basis and provided to the ERFC board and we can provide information in the Friday letter to the board. >> That that would be wonderful. Thank you. Um I want to also ask about crossing guards. Um because we have faced uh an increasing shift of crossing guards, which I know are county

171employees, from police officers who have the ability to direct traffic to contractors who do not have the ability to direct traffic. I know historically FCPS was reluctant to take on the burden even though we might get the dollars for that program. Has there been any shift in thinking as we get an increasing number of contractors? Because having school safety performed by school officials or school employees or school contractors might be preferable so we can ensure that we are directly responsible for ensuring the safety of our students that are crossing major roads. >> So my understanding is that only a member of law enforcement can direct traffic or stop traffic. So uh further my understanding is that only um FCPD officers are official crossing guards. So uh in fact I was meeting with a several parents

172this week um about one of our schools and they had pictures and um not sure if it's in your region or not, Mr. done, but uh they've been working to try to get uh crossing guards at this particular crosswalk and I think they're continuing to advocate for that. Um but I don't believe we have any contracting or contractor crossing guards, Mr. Muick, do we have any contractor or is it Mr. Lambert? >> Yes, ma'am. This year uh the police department has hired a company to outsource what was previously a lot of police given law enforcement. So there has been a noted transition I think that Mr. Dunn is picking up on from uh armed uniform police officers to a contracted company. >> So are we going to have an opportunity to add more of those

173folks on? I think is that your question? Well, if if there is going to be a contracted function and as as you point out, Dr. Reid, those contractors, even though they're working for FCB PD, do not have the ability to direct traffic. So, if we're going to have contractors out there, shouldn't they be under control of FCPS since they're directing the safety of our students across the street? Well, I think that at this time the county funds and operates the mission and I do believe they're very tightly connected still to the police department which has its benefits. But I'll ask Mr. Lambert to share his thoughts on that since this definitely is the strength here >> and and the police department still has in addition to the contract that they've moved to, they still do

174have full-time um police department employees who are titled crossing guards as well. So for the interim period, the police department has police department hired crossing guards as well as the contracted ones. >> I do know that uh and thank you Mr. Lambert. I do know that uh Chief Davis is fully committed to safe, you know, crossing for all of our students and I think is simply trying to within budget parameters and also staffing parameters find um solutions. And I I think at one point there was a discussion that sometimes if it's a uniformed officer and they're down staff and there's an emergency, we don't have a crossing guard, right? So, and I think that was a bit of a benefit for the contracted folks because that's their assignment and they'll be there. Um, but I

175do think that it's worth a conversation. I'm happy to go back to uh the chief and also ask Mr. Lambert to connect with liaison and we can get back to you on that. >> Thank you. Um, is is there any ongoing effort uh as part of a routine assessment to look at benefit packages that are offered by surrounding school divisions and national school divisions who were competing uh with for employees the the best and the brightest whether they're teachers or staff to ensure that our benefits package m you know is remains competitive not just in terms of salary but you know maternity leave and and other types of uh policies. >> Yes sir. In fact, we've just upgraded some of our uh benefits packages. And I'm going to turn to Miss Burton um and Mr.

176Solomon to collaborate on some of our updates we've done to employee benefits to match our surrounding divisions and in some cases maybe exceed um our surrounding division benefits like types of leave and health care and so forth. Which one of you would like to take that? >> Well, I can start. Um, [clears throat] of course, paid parental leave comes to mind first and you know we u began providing that I believe um a year ago. That was a initiative that Dr. Dr. Reid started. Um in addition to that we give all of the leave upfront instead of asking people to acrew it over their 12 months. Um, >> oh, and then we did some sharing. >> Yes, we do allow donated leave um among staff members. If somebody runs into some sort of medical problem

177and and need additional leave and don't have it, then their colleagues can donate to them as well. I'm sure we can get you an exhaustive list. I've just >> We also, I think, I believe as a result of bargaining have a committee now that reviews uh benefit packages. Mr. Smith, do you want to comment on that? And then Mr. Solomon, you'll close us out. >> Yes, we have a a healthc care committee and as part of that committee, they review uh uh recently reviewed during the RFP process uh the health packages that were provided uh and will newly be provided to staff. Uh we also have a labor management committee as part of collective bargaining uh that also provides uh union input on issues that that employees are facing and that we in FCPS then

178uh react to those issues and also collaborate and work very closely with the union. >> And then just to add to that uh Mr. Dunn, we have health benefits that rival school divisions not only in the Northern Virginia region but throughout the nation. And I'm talking about our medical benefits, our dental benefits, our vision benefits, absolutely everything. Uh the other thing that I would add to that is um and I would add that most employees associate their employment with their health benefits. So by virtue of uh being a large employer and being a self-insured employer and being able to offer those competitive premium rates in close collaboration um with our uh health and health committee, um it's one of those things that really sets us apart. Outside of that, when employees are in what I

179would describe as a time of need, when they're needing to be on short or long-term disability, um, which runs concurrently with FMLA, um, most school divisions in this region only cover about 67% of the employees salary. We cover anywhere between 90% and 100%. >> That's great. Um, and I would also add we have an extensive employee assistance program uh that many of our employees take advantage of to cover things uh that range from finding daycare to elder care to uh legal advice. And so that is also an important benefit that we provide staff. >> Thank you. That that's wonderful. Um I finally wanted to ask uh there was a new um volunteer registration system set up this year and I know it was suspended although we're still checking driver's licenses and such. um is that

180planned to be implemented next year or the following year and with sufficient planning to ensure smooth roll out? >> Yes sir. So I think that uh we took on two very ambitious background checking uh projects at the same time which in retrospect uh we could have phased better. Um, we, as you recall, uh, were enrolling all of our staff in the wrapback program, uh, which we actually didn't talk about as a new this year because we started it last year. But the reality is it started very slowly because of some barriers that we had uh, you know, working with some of our our friends in other parts of the Commonwealth. And so, um, I know we had some intercession by several of our elected officials, so we were able to smooth that path, but that

181set us back a bit on the wrapback. And when you're enrolling 41,000 people in the FBI fingerprint background, that took a lot of our HR staff time at the same time that we were rolling out the volunteer management system, which had been planned for the beginning of the year, assuming some of the wrapback work would be completed. So because of the delays they collided and I think that there's a limit to how effectively and quickly that those background checks can be done. So uh and the other good news is we have so many community volunteers that want to volunteer which is great news for us because our community is so involved and we so appreciate that um that it really overwhelmed the system. So, um, we've made a lot of progress, but as we continue

182the year, we're going to try to, um, make sure that we're able to have the staffing available to adequately support those level three, more significant background checks. But we're still using the swiping um, systems. Um, but, uh, absolutely, we're we're going to soldier on with that topic. We just uh once the wrapback uh rush is out uh I think it's going to free up time for us to make sure we can smooth that process. >> And finally, I just want to compliment you and Mr. Solomon on all the changes that you've been leaning to transform how HR is governed and on boarding people and providing them the support they need. It's it's absolutely revolutionary and it's amazing work. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you. The team's worked really hard on it. >> Miss

183Lady, >> thank you. I'll be brief. Um mostly just want to give kudos. Um the communication with candidates I think has been uh a great improvement. That in turn is also uh once hired. The onboarding I think is much smoother. Um the retention is amazing. I mean there are plenty of jobs in education out there. Just about every system is looking for people and ours are choosing to stay here. Um I think that says a lot about their experience. Um, I also, you know, kudos to the to HR. You know, a company of our size, our HR department should probably be four times the size it is. Um, I see you. >> Well, I'm just saying I we everyone every department in in this county does does amazing work because we have to and we

184all could use more. I mean, everywhere. But I just want to acknowledge that and I I I hear a lot of requests for certain types of data from my colleagues which I understand. I mean certainly we want evidence of things. Um but I also want to make sure that you know we keep the main thing the main thing. Um and that is being available to employees who need who need things and to the extent to which we can use AI moving forward around collection of data. Um I think that's important. Um, but you know, I just I just those folks that are sitting here, I see you. I do know um how how how hard you work. I know uh that sometimes when when we call you, you're you're busy and and yet you still

185figure a way to get back to uh employees. So, I just wanted to say thank you because I know you're working incredibly hard um and really proud of of the direction that that that we are and the place we are at um in terms of HR. So, just thank you, >> Mr. Fresh. >> Thank you. Dr. Reed, how long have you been superintendent in Fairfax County? >> This is in dog years or [laughter] years. No, >> I prefer to count in human. >> All right. So, four years. >> Four years. >> So, I want to thank you uh and Mr. Solomon and all of HR to put it in context to completely transform everything happening to hire and retain staff in FCPS, the third largest employer in the Commonwealth of Virginia. And to see the

186retention numbers that we are seeing year-over-year is a tremendous accomplishment. And I am extremely grateful to have you, to have Mr. Solomon, to have the entire HR team. And by the way, we have a new admin committee on our school board and they have been incredibly responsive and helpful in the work that we're doing to figure out how to manage uh school board and schoolboard office staff. Um, so thank you. Um, I want to talk a little bit uh pick up a little bit where Dr. Anderson left off on high need schools because we run into the same issues not only in high need schools but also high need classrooms right um often ending up with uh teachers with less experience etc high burnout levels etc and so as I've been kind of thinking about

187this I I've done some initial you know research on it um and many of the best practices that I've found in you know reading through materials we're doing here, right? And so mentorship, for example, um you know, I've been to the Great Beginnings Conference several times. I've talked to mentor teachers in our schools. Um early contracting. One of the first things I remember happening uh in HR was changing the contracting window because we could have better, quicker access to new uh educators. Um, you know, we've just talked about all these different surveys and everything else that we're using to kind of check the pulse. Uh, and that speaks to climate and working conditions and you know, the list goes on and on. One area that, uh, the research shows would be helpful, um, is remuneration

188for service in those high needs areas, right? And so I remember when we were dealing with sub shortages, which is no longer an issue. Thank you for that as well. Um, uh, I believe we did pay extra for hard to fill, uh, sub positions. Um, perhaps if we had an infusion of cash, [laughter] we could we could do the same for these hard to fill positions, which in essence is the extended contract for some of our special education teachers, right? they do a lot more work and they're being compensated for it. Um, but as far as Teach for America goes, I I appreciate that we are trying every single thing to get teachers in the door. Some of those people do stay and become longer term teachers. I'm curious what more we can be doing

189to address this specific issue though of high needs classrooms and high needs schools because most of the things I found we're doing but what more can we be doing? >> So I know we have a group looking at that. I think again in our current budget time what we do know about our high need schools in more often than not our title one schools there are extra funds and I know that uh Dr. Pon is working uh with the team and with our title one schools in terms of uh allocation uh planning and scheduling and the use of those title dollars um because I think that often it does enable smaller class sizes and more direct explicit instructional support um in those schools. But I um I know we're also working on turnover data uh

190both for teachers and principles in our higher uh need schools. And I don't I don't know if there's anything you'd want to add, Dr. Pon, to that. Um how we're But I I think we still have ideas to come. Right. What's interesting is it's not always what we think it is that's going to be the best support. Sometimes it's more time, right? And we've had models where some schools have access to more time, but again, more time means more money. But Dr. Pon say, anything else on our high need schools? >> Uh, no, actually you said everything. Uh, sometimes I know um and I don't want to call title one schools because it's just uh school with a special needs. Uh we have been uh looking for ways to totally utilize every single dollar differently

191because sometimes we spend some dollars and not necessarily direct instruction which that's what really looking right now to make sure that every single student get what they supposed to be getting and have extended time as well. uh intervention, Saturday tutorials, after school tutorials and uh online tutorials as well. >> Fair point. Thank you, Mr. K. >> Uh m Dr. Anderson for go back. >> Thank you. um on the page where you talked about um benefits and retention. I think I'm I'm pretty sure I don't see it, but one of the things that I think is missing here is the ERFC because that is an unusual um provision that only Fairfax County provides. Um, and I think highlighting that will create a more attractive um, package because nowhere else is it and I know I usually

192get this wrong, Miss Burton, somewhere between six and 7%. >> Yeah, it's about 6.5. >> So that's significant and that's above and beyond the current compensation package that is provided. Lowden does not provide that. Alexandria. This is Fairfax specific and I think that needs to be uplifted a little bit more in these um documents. The other question that I had um is regarding the retention rate and thank you for sharing what is happening with special education teachers. Are you seeing similar um rates across all employee groups all across buildings? Are there differences um across sites or particular groups outside of the special education that you've already outlined here? Yes, ma'am. So, I we outlined that in particular because that's been a hard to fill position and we were very pleased to make progress there and

193we've added supports for um you know our new special ed teachers as well. I I know another board member had a question around those the demographics of who was staying. I think it was Mr. Moon was asking that. So, we will collect those and provide those in a Friday letter. >> Just speak a little bit to the supports for new new special education teachers there were always well not always several years ago there were the teacher mentors is this in addition to that >> so um Miss Neil do you feel you want to talk a little bit about our beginning mentor teacher program or is that a Mr. Solomon, which one of you want to take that? >> No, I can talk about it. So, um, two, I think two years ago now at this

194point, we did some refocusing of our instructional coaches that are centrally funded. So, schools can fund instructional coaches, but we had a small cohort of centrally funded instructional coaches and refocus their work on working with novice um, teachers. So, teachers who are in years sort of zero through three. um and that is really being in the classroom providing that modeling that instruction hands-on supporting the teachers in the classroom. In addition, we also have um as Dr. Reed highlighted retired teachers who are also working with new teachers. We have we received a grant. We received a renewal of that grant again this year. Um so we're able to fund some of our own FCPS teachers that come back and work with our teachers who are provisionally licensed or locally licensed. I don't know if Dr. Presidio,

195anything you want to add on? >> We actually have brought back some of our retired principles to support classrooms and structures, particularly with our literacy program. Uh, it's actually been great because I, you know, in many ways they have the time, maybe a little different level of patience and experience. Um, and just really love being back in our schools. It's been a fabulous culture boost. >> If you're retired out there and want to be, come join us again. So what I think I'm hearing is that you've actually lowered the ratio because my initial concern with the teacher mentors again during our first term was that um each mentor served a kind of too many uh mentees and so they were not able to be as effective. So you're utilizing all these individuals in order to

196narrow uh to lower the ratio. That's what I think I'm hearing. Is that accurate? >> I believe that's accurate. Yes, ma'am. More targeted and strategic. Miss Neil. >> Yeah. So, when we looked, one of our schools, for example, had a very high number of new teachers. And so, we recognized that that not only affects all the new teachers in the building, but also the veteran staff who are in the building who are trying to support a large number of new teachers. So, really being strategic about placing those supports in the buildings where you have a high volume and need additional staff members in the building. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, the next question that I had, again, this is on page eight, was regarding the dedicated portal for employees to file union related grievances. Walk

197me through that a little bit. Do these are these con are these grievances once they're received, they're just discussed with the um labor management committee. How is this processed? So, what we're trying to do is be very transparent about our labor relations processes. And I'm gonna ask uh Mr. Smith or Mr. Solomon to explain the dynamics here. >> So what you're seeing in uh the section of executive limitation 4 uh is our guardian portal or our staff connect portal. And essentially when an employee or when the union has a grievance um essentially that something is violating an article in the CBA, there's a process which what I would say is incredibly employeefriendly. And the reason I say that is because when um an employee is feeling that something needs to be challenged or when they

198are feeling that something is uh violated, there's a process for them to uh seek resolution, there's a process for them to file a grievance and say it's this article in the CBA and I would like to move through this process so that somebody can hear my grievance and make this objective determination. I I would also add that the labor relations team works closely with employees to help them understand if their actual complaint is grievable uh and then helps them understand where they can go if it doesn't actually fit within this particular process. And then that same team works with the uh program managers to help them through that entire grievance process until it uh has some sort of resolution or uh some of those grievance processes go all the way to a step five which

199is to the superintendent. >> Okay. So this is kind of I think I've confused that with the labor uh management committee which is just I guess a routine conference or does that only come together to deal with the grievances? >> The labor management committee is separate from the grievance process. Uh the labor management committee is a committee that was established through the collective bargaining agreement. It's a committee that's made up of representatives from uh management and the union and they can't address issues that are related to the collective bargaining agreement but it's not necessarily the it's not the grievance process. >> So it has its own cadence. Thank you so much for that. Um I had one more question but then I'm not able to find it. Um so I think I will stop here.

200Thank you. Okay. I think this is more of a celebration because I get to see these individuals quite a bit and I had the opportunity to be here when the first cohort started just the retention the ambassador teachers. I still remember the first teacher that came in that group from Argentina that was placed at Glasgow and I still see him three years later there. So, I think that's a group that's been really um they're experienced. They're folks that are highly skilled and they are remaining in our system. So, I I just wanted to make sure I highlighted that. Thank you. It's been a big effort and a big lift uh with Mr. Solomon and the team. >> Okay. Thank you. Um I will call for a vote of the motion that's on the screen. All

201those in favor, Mr. Fresh, Mr. McDaniel, Miss Mr. Mine, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Seismheiser, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, and myself. All those opposed, Dr. Anderson, will the clerk please read the vote. >> The motion is 101. The motion carries. >> Thank you. Um annually the board will review each executive limitation at the time of the monitoring port that the monitoring report is provided to determine if revisions are needed. Board members may offer amendments to executive limitations at any regular meeting provided that they send the final amendment language to the board and the clerk at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting as at which it's to be considered. At this time, no amendments have been submitted in advance of this meeting. executive limitation for um human resources was placed

202on the consent agenda for approval late in later in tonight's meeting to maintain the current language for the year ahead. We are not going to take a break because we have four presentations this evening and so we are going to move right through and I'm going to remind my colleagues that it is up to you how how long we spend on each one. So agenda item 8.01 01 boundary review phasing and transportation. I call on Dr. Reid for a presentation on boundary review phasing and transportation. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh members of the board and the public. Uh tonight I'll be presenting um the um my recommendation really as to what we ought to consider moving forward relative to this topic. So, I want to remind uh those watching that the school board approved

203an amendment to policy 8130 in July for the phasing option by grades depicted on this slide. I don't think I'll read it to you because of the hour. Uh but the decision before you this evening is whether transportation will be provided if a student elects to remain at their original school. So, I want to clarify this isn't I'm not making a recommendation on whether we're going to phase. That's that decision's been made. What I'm going to be making a recommendation on this evening is do I recommend that we pay for transportation to support this um amendment. So, as we move to the next slide, I want to share um some of the data from previous adjustments. And to illustrate the cost implications, we wanted to show just three previous boundary adjustments, their phasing, and actual

204transportation costs. So, let me take a minute and walk you through those. Kent Gardens and MLAN elementary schools boundary adjustment impacted 245 students, grades 2 through six, with 178 choosing to stay at their original school. This necessitated the addition of five buses and drivers for a cost of $916,199. And this cost was based on the bus five-year lease to own maintenance and driver salaries. So that's one example. Um, and essentially as you look through those topics, you can see that at any given time, uh, if you're going to be double running bus routes, which essentially is what this phasing implies, it's going to create, um, a significant cost. So, as we look at the next slide, um, our team put together really they extrapolated and created by using the same approach for scenario four. We

205looked at um the impact of close to 3,000 students, which would be having the option to remain at their school based on the phasing um decision that's been made. The estimated cost for this would be over $10 million for 57 buses and drivers to support the almost 3,000 students that are likely um to take advantage of the phasing in the areas to date um that are likely uh to be moved in terms of boundaries. And I have three primary concerns as I really contemplated the possibility of this. And um I know Paul Andrad is here from transportation and thank you Paul Mr. Andrad and Mr. Muick and uh they met with their teams and obviously number one is our budget concern. Uh number two um is the driver availability to add potentially close to 60

206more um drivers and then the availability of parking for additional buses. Um that uh you know that actually is a bit of a hardship. We recently, as you know, uh continued to approve some leases uh which pay for extra parking for our buses. And um I think at this point trying to identify $10 million to fund this uh based on a choice that a family's making, knowing that all of our schools are outstanding and excellent schools, um gives me pause. uh the driver availability. While we've done a great job of reducing our vacancies, we actually still have 51 vacancies while we're remaining in the midst of a nationwide bus driver shortage. providing transportation out of outside of this adjustment would double the vacancies with an increased risk of doublebacks, late arrivals, longer route times, and

207quite honestly um I'm not sure that we would as we think forward even to our start time work that we've um you know paused with the boundary work, but as we move forward there's a limit to how much we're going to be able to do and keep run times uh reasonable even if we could af afford the $10 million, which I I in the upcoming budget season do not believe that's realistic. The bus parking, we have currently three bus depots that house just under 600 buses. The remaining 1,000 buses are parked at schools and throughout the community. Overnight and midday parking is already challenging. So, my recommendation this evening, as much as it pains me to recommend this, is that uh we really um um provide transportation only based on the new boundary adjustments that

208we continue to allow the phasing decision that you've made. Um but really uh families who make that choice um I believe we'll need to find transportation uh for that choice. I just can't recommend using limited budget dollars uh for this project at this time. So I'm happy to take any questions, Madam Chair, but that is my recommendation. >> Thank you Dr. I also wanted to quickly inform the board that the motion that will happen on the 18th is specifically that the recommendation will be adopted as it's noted here. So, um, Mr. McDaniel, >> just a quick question and I think I know the answer to this for the benefit [clears throat] of the public is still watching this at 11 o'clock at night. Um, this does not Can you kind of explain how this would

209fold in this recommendation here would fold into the proposal for the new Western High School? Absolutely. The new Western High School boundary will be drawn and recommended to the board likely in June, May or June of the coming spring. And once you as a board set that boundary, uh we will be uh bus routing to that boundary only. So what I also um so students who opt in who are within that boundary who opt into the western high school will have transportation but if students opt in to the western high school and are outside the boundary they too will have to provide their own transportation and that's going to be made clear uh to students and families in the upcoming um open registration process time. What might be unique in the Western High School is

210because it's only opening for ninth and tth graders is that the bus routing to take juniors and seniors to their current base school must continue because uh students will continue in their junior and senior year. But um we will only route to the new boundary at the Western High School. And I guess that that leads the next question because the busing is already going to be occurring for juniors and seniors in the western boundaries to the previous high school, not the western. That would be where kids that are in ninth and tth grade that do not want to go to Western would be able to go to that original base school. >> Yes, sir. That's correct. At no extra cost. >> No extra cost. That's the key here. And it's an unfortunate um I I

211agree with your recommendation here. It's unfortunate. I think it's an equity issue. um the parents that have the time and the means will take advantage of it and those that don't uh will not be able to take advantage of it. But budget is an unfortunate reality that we're in. So thank you for this. >> Yes, sir. Mr. Moon, >> thank you. At least we have a number from a superintendent which I asked for at the last session. Thank you. Thank you. But I have a couple of questions and then more detailed questions I will submit that in writing to a superintendent and also share with my colleagues as well. Uh but just couple of quick questions. Uh looking at the slide number four you have driver cost. Is that is that annual cost? This is

212this whole thing the annual cost. Is this aggregate cost? >> So that is uh annual cost. cost. >> Yes sir. >> Okay. And okay, understood that part. The second portion is for the bus and maintenance. If this is that again the annual cost. So we are saying 100,000 basically $100,000. >> Yes sir. >> Per year for first five years. >> But we generally keep our buses longer than five years. Correct. >> Yes sir. We uh we get our buses on a fiveyear lease to own. So if it's a so if it's a >> for five years this these buses will have been fully paid off. >> Yes sir. >> Okay. Understood that. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I'm gonna submit the rest of question. >> Yes sir. Thank you Mr. M. >> Sorry about that.

213Yes ma'am. >> Dr. Anderson. >> Yes. Very quickly. So I just want to make sure I understand this. So, if a student is a rising junior or senior and they're opting to remain at the school where they are currently, we will not be transporting them. >> I would have to go back to the boundary slide here. Let me look if the rising it looks like rising 10 through 12th graders can choose to stay at their school. Um but we are we wouldn't what I'm recommending this evening is we're not going to be paying for any transportation that would support this phasing amendment. >> Right. Uh that that's what I thought I understood. I just wanted to make sure. You know, one of the things that I think you and I discussed, this was a few

214years ago, you may not even remember. I came back from a skip meeting where Carla Bruce had um offered a presentation. She was the former chief equity officer for the county. And um I I shared it with you was this little chart where with every with every decision that was being made, it was these little boxes of all these subgroups that they would look at in terms of what is the impact to these subgroups. if I do this thing, what is it going to mean for each of these groups? I I would really implore you to take another consideration because um Mr. McDaniel took the words right out of my mouth. This is an equity issue because now we're going to turn around and make phasing a privilege opportunity. I I I cannot stress enough

215how concerned I am that I could potentially have seniors who cannot get to the the the old school. They'll have to finish out their final years elsewhere. That literally breaks my heart. And I understand all of the budget limitations. I do. But I'm really asking for a strong second look because now we are making we are making phasing a privilege option. And I know it's not intentional, but I I I just cannot I can't wrestle with the fact that I'll have juniors and seniors in their final years not being able to do the very important things that we've all talked about that are important to them for continuity because they can't drive themselves. Their parents can't drive. They are going to be locked out of this opportunity. I I'm struggling with that. But I realize

216the the the budget climate. I'm just asking for another hard look. >> Yes, ma'am. I'll take another hard look. I I don't know how many juniors and seniors are impacted in this number. So, we'll take a look at that. >> Mr. Dunn, >> um I'm trying to understand this presentation. Would we have to buy new school buses, additional school buses on top of what we have now, >> Mr. Muick? >> Yes, sir. >> And we'd have to buy 57 new school buses. >> We would not necessarily have to buy all 57 new buses, but that is the starting point. It depends on um the maintenance of the other ones, the aging. We haven't um replenished fleet uh in a in a year or two in terms of diesel or anything. So it it's kind of

217a it's a very dynamic um environment and I Paul am I getting that? Yeah. So >> is is this considered a conservative assumption or uh is this you know like how how is does this reflect kind of middle of the ballpark of of a range of estimates of school buses or is this kind of the maximum or the minimum? This is definitely the conservative because the iterations of students moving in the scenario four options, this 28.94 was on the low end. Some of the other iterations in scenario 4, which is changing all the time, uh somewhere about a little over 3,000 all the way up to 4,000 students that could be moved depending on which iteration of scenario 4. So, we went with the lower one. >> And and we already have the largest bus

218fleet of any private or public sector organization, right? >> Um Um the we're we're in the top like nine or 10. >> The largest of any school division in the country. >> Well, you said like I thought you said any organization. We're we're in the top three because I we just saw some recent numbers that we're trying to make sure that they're valid. We may have slipped a little bit, but we're still in the top three. >> All right. Well, I mean there there's no benefit to being number one in terms of having the largest school bus fleet in the country, is there? I don't No, sir. I think we have the side. Oh, go ahead, ma'am. >> No, I was just going to say we have more bus stops. We have over 45,000 that

219we're going to be looking at tomorrow morning. >> Um, can I ask does does one of these two figures include the cost to actually purchase the bus? Because I see like bus/maintenance, but does that include the cost of actually purchasing the bus? Because $6 million for for 57 buses seems like a pretty good deal. Yes, sir. The um the five-year lease to own on the buses, if it's a diesel, that's $57,000 a year for the first five plus 17 a year in maintenance. If it's a electric bus, those first five years, it's $102,000 on the 5-year lease to own. 102,000 a year plus about 4,000 in maintenance. On year six, the lease costs go away and it's just $17,000 in maintenance a year for the next 10 years for the diesel and 4,000 in maintenance

220for the next 10 years on the electric. >> Does for the diesel buses does do these numbers 10,000 sorry 10 million uh 444,000 10 million does it include the cost of diesel to actually run these buses? >> Yes, sir. >> Really? >> Wait. When you run it, meaning the fuel. Yeah, >> I think the fuel might be the only thing that we didn't put in this. >> I'm looking at Paul, right? >> Wouldn't that be a significant expense that should be in factored into this calculation? >> Yes, sir. >> We can add the fuel for the updated slide for the next meeting. >> Um, can I ask why did we provide transportation in the three examples that are on slide two? >> Because the board voted to do that at that time. because it if

221I can echo my my colleague Miss Marin, she's not here to speak. Uh it seems like we should have a policy somewhere or something in a policy, right? Um but I guess there's no policy, no regulation saying whether or not we provide transportation. >> I don't believe it's required for phasing. I believe we looked at that, but I think it's been more of a practice um that's been voted on on a case-byase basis. >> Yes, ma'am. I think that's correct. And and Mr. D, if you look back like the MLAN High School one or the Kent Gardens one, uh, or we'll go with the Kent Gardens that Dr. Reid went through before, you had an impact of 245 students and 175 had a a choice to make. That was a whole lot easier number and

222to deal with in that small amount. When you're looking at the the whole boundary, the comprehensive boundary adjustment, you know, it's just a just a bigger um amount to have to figure out. >> Thank you. Yes, sir. >> Miss Lady, >> thank you and thank you for this uh data. Um I'm sorry that the previous board voted to phase as much as they did for Kent Gardens with that price tag. Um but I also want to just elevate again um lift up the fact that we have talked a lot about healthy start times. We've also talked about um protecting taxpayer money. Um given the numbers before me, um I just think that it would be um I can't see any way how someone can justify not supporting your recommendation regarding to this particular item. Um

223it's it's an unknown number. Uh first of all, we already have 45,000 bus stops. Um we don't need to add to that. Um, and again, I I I will say the only thing I have a little bit of sensitivity to and I just would want to see the numbers is perhaps a rising senior who can't get themselves there. Uh, having said that, uh, I will tell you that throughout my years in different schools, um, and even my, you know, going back to when I went to school, um, a lot of seniors, should I say this, very few seniors ride a bus. um because they have pe they have peers who drive um and they work that out and and I can tell you just um the way in which um I'm just this might not

224sound like it's but it makes sense in my brain is when my kids were at Marshall um they often were in plays or on sports teams with other uh classmates or teammates who couldn't afford to go to the Marshall McDonald's experience after a game or after a show and those kids took care of each other similarly uh to make sure that their peers could be there that they could you know experience that socially um so some of the kids who had better means took care of those kids. So I do think that our kids would uh would would do that. We we we we do not have enough parking places at any of our high schools because the number of kids who want to drive. Um so again I just don't know how you know

225looking at this number and the extent to which because this phasing is we we have in the in this a lot of phasing. Um I don't know how we would ever get to healthy start times. Um and I don't think it would be uh you know we're not being good um fidiciary um cons you know um taking care of taxpayer money if if if we weren't able to just accept your so I fully support what your recommendation is because I don't see any other path forward economically. Thank you >> Mr. Fresh. >> Thank you. All right. particularly for high school. Uh the county uh connector student bus pass program could probably be tapped. It's free bus rides for students 12 and up. Um perhaps there's some coordination that could happen with our our transportation team

226and the county to connect those students with those opportunities so that um they have easy access to or at least they know about the program. Um it may not be as convenient as hopping on the local uh school bus, but uh in some cases it's more convenient depending on where you live. Um and it's free and the county pays for that. So uh perhaps we could work something out there. uh on the question of uh you know the the equity issue. Um you know the biggest equity issue in all of this is that for generations the most active uh school communities were the ones that got boundary adjustments to deal with the problems that those schools had. And oftentimes we moved some kids out of one school into another and 30 years later we look

227at that and we're like how the heck did that happen? Continuing to do this work will make these types of problems less severe over time. So everything is going to be harder this time because we haven't done it because it just wasn't on the agenda and now it is. So it's going to be harder this time. It's there's going to be things that we can't do that we'd love to be able to offer. But those needs are going to be smaller and smaller the more that we consistently do this and stay on top of it. Um so it is not easy. Uh but nobody said that any of this was going to be easy. Um and uh I do appreciate at least the cander of bringing back the idea to Mr. Moon's point with the

228numbers that uh were requested. Um uh and uh you know it's a it's a huge dollar figure and um it's tremendous food for thought. I hope we can partner with the county on the Q system uh to connect families so that uh it is more equitable. That's something we can do. >> Yes, sir. I'll ask staff to look into that. Miss Jen Cunning. >> Okay. Okay, I'm probably dating myself here because I know that we went through a boundary change when South County was built and I I don't believe busing was provided and I don't know what why or what and I don't know if we could do some research on that. Um I do understand the equity issue and that is a concern for me but by the same token so is the financial

229impact of this. Um I think that whenever there was busing provided for the example we had maybe there was it it was a different fiscal time and you know there may have been more funds available. We weren't like you know looking at everything to the bone right now, $10 million is a lot of money. Um, and I I concur with my colleague um who's who says that a lot a lot of high school kids do not want to be caught dead riding the bus. It it's just not cool. It's now I know some have to. I understand that. But it's interesting how resourceful our high school students can be when they don't want to ride a bus. So it's not even a function of it's there, they won't even use it. So I think that's

230something that we have to be realistic about. I I do appreciate you bringing us these numbers. Uh and I concur with my other colleague that this first time it's going to be difficult. I I also have a question. So, if we were to do this, if we had the money to do this and we purchased an extra 57 buses and at the end of the phasing period, would we still use those or would that be excess? >> No, ma'am. It would get worked out because then as we just wouldn't have to buy as many buses in those out years to keep up with the aging fleet >> to replace. Okay. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, I think one of the hardest things about sitting in this seat when I have sat or

231stood on the other side as an advocate is making the hard decisions. Because in a perfect world, I wish we had the funds to do this. In a perfect world, I wish we didn't have to make the choices that we're having to face right now. Um, and these aren't easy decisions to make because I completely understand how it impacts a lot of lives, but at the end of the day, I think in the grander scheme, we're all trying to do the right thing long term for all of our students and for all of our families and for our community to where these issues um do not get to the point that we've let them get to in the past 40 years. So again, thank you for this. Um, not an easy decision. I preferred standing

232over there as an advocate. [laughter] >> Uh, Dr. Anderson for a go back. >> Yes. Just a quick question. Would it be possible u Dr. Reed u Mr. Muick for us to have some data regarding high school bus ridership? >> I think we could current bus high school ridership >> just to get a sense. I mean our we can we'll get something put together maybe not by tomorrow's Friday letter but for sure within a week. Yes. >> Just a wondering just so we could be working from some data point. >> Yes ma'am. >> Thank you Dr. or thank you Dr. Reid. Um agenda item 8.02 FY26 midyear budget review. I call on Dr. for a presentation on the FY26 midyear budget review. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. And I'm going to ask our incredible Commonwealth

233renowned chief finance officer, uh, Miss Lee Burton, to come down and present the midyear budget review. Um, and, uh, I look forward to hearing more from Miss Burton. Good evening, Chairman Anderson, school board members, and Dr. Reid. Uh, the midair review primarily offers an opportunity for revisions to the fiscal 26 budget based on um adjustments that came after year end and any other new information we have. And the data is as of October 31st. On page one for school operating fund revenue, there are a couple of changes. Um the beginning balance change is due to a sales tax increase of 1.4 million. Uh this change is due to notifications that occurred after year end and is being allocated to the beginning balance to offset expected state revenue losses uh in the current year that we'll

234find out what the number is for that on December 17th when the governor introduces the caboose bill which adjusts fiscal 26. The other revenue change is for grants that support the school operating fund with um reductions to the idea grant totaling about 700,000. Um as far as the expenditure changes um the recommended expenditure changes, the 700,000 for IDA, we're not going to get that revenue, so we're reducing the expenditures as well. and then a transfer from the school operating fund for this uh phase four of the security vegetable installation. That's $5.5 million. And this just moves those funds from the school operating fund into the construction fund. I don't normally go over the um other funds because they represent multi-year programs whose funds flow from year to year with fund balance and stabilization reserves. Um

235fund statements for each fund are included in the appendix uh beginning on page seven which are just the financial statements that display the changes in revenue expenditures and transfers. Page 17 provides some information about grant uh development and this will come to you for action at the regular schoolboard meeting on December 18th. >> Thank you Miss Burton. Thank you. Agenda item 8.03, academic matters. I call on Dr. read for academic matters. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. And this evening, I am thrilled to have a chance to uh share some updates. We're going to look at two areas uh from our board of education uh the so cut score impacts and proposed accountability revisions this evening. So as we move to uh the first slide I know over the several last several months I've shared updates

236on the state's work to revise these cut scores. On November 13th, uh the state board of education voted to delay the new reading and math cut scores until 2627 or at least the beginning of those. Um while um you know these future changes still seem to be in the offing, it is um I think it is a good idea that they will not be implemented midy year for sure um because it really gives no opportunity for um school divisions to be responsive. I want to remind the board and the community though that beginning in 2627 which is the upcoming school year, the revised cut scores will phase in over four years uh which will be fully phased in by 2930. And during this period there's going to be a temporary approaching performance level which will

237identify students close to passing. um and these approaching will count as passing for annual pass rates, school performance and support framework calculations and for awarding verified credit. This range will shrink each year until it's removed in 2930. The slides table provides an example for grade three reading. The blue row shows current cut scores and then you can see as you move down to 2930 how the cut score changes. The orange row is the 2930 and it gives the final um cut score changes that are uh planned. At the December 10th and 11th meetings, the state board is expected to address possible changes to locally awarded verified credit and expedited retake thresholds such as allowing them when a student scores within a specific point range of passing. In the next slide, I just want to share

238that um if nothing changed except the cut scores, divisionwide pass rates for grades three through 12 would drop from the high 70s to the low 50s, which is a decline of more than 25 percentage points, even with nothing changing. You can see on the graph, the math on the left and the reading on the right. The graph shows the impact of each phase in year using the spring 2025 so outcomes. Again, you can see the green representing passing, pink representing failing and the stairstep pattern of rising and declining pass rates each year. Um, you can also see that uh pale green approaching category which gets smaller until it disappears in 2930. the proposed revisions. Um, this update uh in the system uh it's a it's a very interesting topic right now quite honestly. In September

239of 2024, which was a year ago, the state board adopted revisions to the standards of accreditation and Virginia's ESSA plan to implement the framework for 2425. Unfortunately, VDOE has still not released last year's results. So, we're still in the position of trying to um adjust instruction to results we don't have to analyze. Um but the VDOE is now proposing additional changes outlined in a new amendment to Virginia's consolidated state plan. This amendment will be released for public comment this week. I'm sorry, we just got it. >> No, we believe I don't know, Mr. Moy, if we we haven't seen anything. Okay, dog gone it, spoiler alert. We still haven't seen it. Um, but this amendment will be released, well, it's got to be released tomorrow then because that's the end of this week. Um, with

240comments accepted through early January, the state board will review the recommendations next week and expects to act in January. With federal approval, these changes would phase in over the next three years, including impacts on this school year. So, we're looking forward to seeing those and having a chance to comment. So, some of the examples of the proposed uh framework changes um and when they would take effect are listed for you here. Most proposed changes are technical and affect performance growth and the 3E category. The most notable is the recommendation for recently arrived multilingual learners. As you recall, last year the reporting window was reduced from 11 semesters to three, which goes from five and a half to one and a half years, and we shared our concerns. The new proposal would add one more year

241or two semesters before these scores will count in performance. It's not a full return to the original timeline, but it is a step forward. For the 2627 proposed changes include two new indicators and a major shift in the high school performance model. The biggest change is the return of a history indicator which was removed in 2017 and it's back. This would require additional so tests at all school levels because we don't [clears throat] test enough right now. Um for the school year BOE proposes expanding advanced coursework reporting in middle school uh to include students taking earth science and rural geography by 8th grade. Again, we expect more information and are on the edge of our seats awaiting the December 10th and 11th state board meetings. Madam Chair, that concludes tonight's academic matters. I encourage you

242and those watching to uh pay close attention to these meetings and these notes because they will be impacting our students classroom experience. >> Thank you, Dr. Reid. I don't have any lights on, so I'm gonna take my turn really fast. Um, I'm going to say the same thing I've said every time we've talked about this is that when we are watching our standards change and watching the tests change and and then all of a sudden now we're going to cut changing cut scores, it's hard to see any other path than it's just trying to set us up for failure. even though our schools are doing amazing work. And so I encourage us to keep that in the forefront of our minds as we're working forward is that these are outside sources and outside judgment and

243we know inside what's going on. And so we should stay in that position as much as humanly possible. And because the thing that kills me about this most of all is that the kids are listening. They're paying attention. They're watching the SLL scores come in. They have they have their own goals and ambitions and wanting to pass and they want to be successful. And if we keep changing the line of what successful means, not because we don't want growth, but because we're just trying to change the line to make the system look like it's failing. We're failing them just for the act of doing that. So I am deeply disheartened but I'm hopeful because we are on the precipice of change in our state and I am hopeful that we will be able to see

244that change enacted quickly. So, >> yes, ma'am. >> We have one light. So, Miss Seismore, >> I'll just be quick because the hour is late. Although, I think there's maybe some um some ideas of foot to make all of you lose in your um your bets tonight for how late the meeting is going to go. [laughter] >> Well, I've sent some home who will be up early on the snow watch. Um, when you say they're adding a history so is that as part of the graduation verified credit requirements or do we not know that for sure yet? >> Um, I can turn that over to Dr. Prescidio or Miss Neil, either one. >> So, it's just changing basically the sequence of when the courses are offered. So, it's basically moving a high school credit down

245to the middle school level. Um, So if the state reinstates an so test uh for that that could count as a verified credit. We've submitted advocacy already to the department of education and the board of education that we want to retain the local performance assessment in lie of the SOS. So it's a little unclear exactly what those options are going to be because the board's not going to address that until next their meeting next week. Um but the idea is that they would move um a high school credit down to the middle school level and a student could earn a verified credit for that is our current understanding. I mean I think I agree with my colleague you know Miss Anderson. I think this I'm not sure what the purpose of raising cut scores without

246providing time for schools to change standards. And there's I'm not sure it really demonstrates better accountability as much as it's aimed to demonstrate failure regardless of actual performance. But I am worried about the locally awarded verified credit. Is there room for advocacy around that as well to for have we put in advocacy on local? Yes. So, we've already submitted um again uh written testimony to the state department of education and the board of education and we're hoping to actually speak again at the upcoming uh board meeting next week. >> I mean, I'm all in favor of high standards for students in schools. I think we all are. And I I I know you all are here. I'm all in favor of accountability for school systems. I'm just curious because what I haven't seen is what

247data and research went into and I I know these are state changes so you wouldn't have this answer but I'm curious if you have seen what data and research might went into how they decided what cut scores are appropriate to for students to demonstrate the knowledge that they're saying they need to demonstrate to be a high school graduate. Do you know if the state has released what data and research it did to come up with the changes? I believe that's unclear to us >> if there's a way to ask sort of what is underpinning the changes like how do they get to these change numbers and what's the data I mean I'm I'm a big believer in data driven right changes and again I know you guys didn't make these changes so please don't think

248this is a question that you I know you can answer but if there's a space for us to advocate to understand better because maybe there is some data and research behind this and we need to up our game perhaps but if there isn't Then what's the purpose behind this? >> Well, we're still waiting to see our data from last year. Um, >> so they don't even know what the data was from last year to determine whether this is even an appropriate benchmark. >> Well, there is a theory that if you haven't been able to look at accurate data, it's difficult to chart a new path. And we've >> I I agree. And I would just add again a lot of this is a little bit of blackbox to us, but it's our understanding that the

249state ended up actually having to bring in an outside consulting group to help them re-evaluate the standard setting process and how they arrived at some of these cut scores and that was part of the reason for the uh phase in process. >> Shouldn't they have brought the outside expert in before they did the changes, not afterwards? Again, I don't have all the details on that, but I just to just to speak to your point. Um I I think there are a lot of questions that we have about how um the state arrived at at these new cut scores. >> I ask all these questions because I don't want the public just to think that because the cut scores were raised, we think that they're trying to make public education look bad. But with the cut

250scores being raised without knowing even what the scores were last year and without releasing the data and the research and the evidence and the reasons behind it and how it leads to actually showing a better showing of students demonstrating their knowledge that we they should have before they graduate and with the state having again I'm a lawyer look at evidence having to bring in somebody to sort of fix things and delay it tells me I wonder what data and thought went into it which gives further further evidence circumstantial I know to Miss Anderson's point and I believe circumstantial evidence is good evidence to Miss Anderson's point about um maybe there's other motivations behind this than data and research >> miss John Cunning So, I wish I could be as positive as my colleague. I I

251really think that this was done for a very specific reason. Um, and I think our students and our schools and our teachers are being used as pawns. And I think that's very unfortunate because at the end of the day, we look at data, we look at scores, but our children are not numbers. Our teachers are not numbers. They're people. They're human beings and a test score on a certain day is a snapshot of a certain time. And working in schools, we know that there are different things that can impact that score. As my colleague said, people watch this and they think that our schools are not working. And that is there's nothing further from the truth. And our data shows, and I would be remiss if I did not say this, which is the one

252thing that I'm always harping on, is our data shows that when our multilingual learners get the time that they need, they outperform our native speakers. And if we follow this, it's going to look like we are failing them. And there's nothing further from the truth. And I think that that's important that we remain positive and that we are the ambassadors to the public and to our community and that we tell our teachers, we know your work and your test. We're not going to judge you by your test scores because we know you're doing the work and we tell our students, "You are not a test score." Because we do things in Fairfax County that takes the entire child into consideration. We have programs like Portrait of a Graduate. We have programs that look at kids

253as a holistic kid and not just a score. And I think we've got to remember that and focus on that. and um we need to keep lifting that up for our whole community to see. >> Thank you, St. John. >> Thank you so much, Dr. Reid. Agenda item 8.04, strategic plan update. I call on Dr. Reid for a strategic plan update. >> Well, thank you, Madam Chair, and members of the board and the community. Uh this evening I'm excited to share our strategic plan update for December. And we're going to talk um a little bit about supply chain and how that works in uh Fairfax County and our warehouse operations. Uh it's my pleasure to introduce Angela Brown, our senior manager, too for warehouse operations. And Angela's in her second year, I believe, here managing

254our warehouse under Mr. Muick's uh chief operating office uh leadership. So, I want to share that we have um this uh we're going to look at our four pillars uh this evening and we're looking at pillar D, our culture of equity, excellence, and accountability. So, let's take a look at some data around our Fairfax County Public School warehouse. Um Miss Settler, could you please advance the slide? Thank you. Um so our warehouse team is dedicated to supporting schools and offices across the division operating 13 large distribution trucks and nine smaller pony trucks which are used for delivery all across the the division. Uh the team handles approximately 500 deliveries and pickups every week. And over the course of a school year, that adds up to roughly 24,000 deliveries and pickups, illustrating just how central the

255warehouse is to our daily operations. To make this possible, our distribution trucks travel about 200,000 miles each year, and our pony trucks log an additional 133,000 miles. When you look at um the duties in general, the warehouse is responsible for managing and delivering core educational supplies, including custodial, physical education, fine arts, and science materials. And we've added in the past two years a warehouse for our theater arts program, which the warehouse is also supporting, which is a board priority from a couple years ago, and it's happening. Our daily internal mail services ensure that confidential records, employee badges, technology and weapons detection systems are where they need to be in a timely manner. And our team delivers. Finally, they manage surplus inventory and asset recycling to ensure that we reduce waste and maximize financial returns. So

256to see this work in action, let's take a look at the dedicated team members who make sure elementary science kit materials reach every school on time. and ensure that all teachers and students have access to the resources they need. Madame clerk, please play the video. >> These are all the same species of ladybug. >> Having ladybugs in our classroom was pretty fun. When we first got them, they were like hatching out of their eggs. They're just so cute. How do they get those much ladybugs? How do they know how many to give? Do they just get them out of the ground? >> Ladybugs are here. >> Every order, whether it's textbooks, supplies, or science kits, comes through this warehouse. We also distribute surplus items, run the school division's internal mail system, and handle specialized requests.

257With 50 staff members, 13 distribution trucks, and nine pony trucks, we support over 200 schools and offices. Our goal is making sure every student has access to the same highquality learning materials no matter where they are in the county. When FCPS launches new initiatives, the warehouse is the hub that makes the roll out happen. The science kitting operation is a prime example. Our team assembling and distributing thousands of kits each year. Each kit has dozens of components. We work together with instructional services to schedule deliveries so every elementary classroom has their kits before lessons begin. It's a complex operation, but it's all about our students. We love what we do. >> We've just received our Ladybug Larae, and we're now going to start packing them for delivery. Our in-house sevenperson production team is responsible for

258packing each order. They're broken down by schools and by teacher. Each box will be packed and then it'll be placed into a mail bin which after we place it in the mail bin it will get delivered into the pony mail service and the pony mail service will also make the delivery to the schools. Our pack and pool and distribution teams make sure that every order whether it's journals, music items or lab supplies is picked, packed and delivered with accuracy. The science kit are a great example. A lot of people don't realize that everything that we get in the warehouse that we touch every single piece of it. So, it comes in in bulk item, maybe a thousand boxes of straws. The science kits that we pack every quarter. Well, each kit may only take eight

259straws. This is easy because it's going per school. Sometimes we have it per teacher. So, it's 500 plus boxes each grade each quarter. So, we're looking at thousands of boxes that go out each quarter. >> Today, we're delivering Ladybug larvas to all the elementary schools uh in Fairfax County. I love doing this. I love, you know, delivering mail. I love, you know, serving the community, being able to make the teachers day. >> Oh, there are some of its wigs. >> The kids day, delivering fun learning stuff, tools that they need to succeed in life, >> you know, just serving Fairfax County Public Schools, you know. >> Hello. Ladybugs are here. >> Thank you. >> He breaks out of his case. It's one thing to look at a time lapse of a ladybug growing, but it's

260a different thing entirely to get to witness it with your own eyes and see it go through all of those different stages. >> Well, we were doing our observations even today. Some of my students were asking, "Where did they come from?" And I was like, "Well, that's a great question. They're delivered to us by awesome people in Fairfax County." And I know, especially thinking about how it's not just ladybugs in third grade, but all the science kits that we use all year. It's an accomplishment. Y'all are amazing. >> That many people just get containers of 17 ladybugs. >> Wow. >> Excellence, equity, and opportunity. >> I have Miss Brown make a couple comments. >> Thank you. So, for the warehouse, the student at the end who was just like, "Wow, that's why we do it."

261Um, yesterday I was in supporting the mission and Mr. Smith was actually uh was there and you know, he asked, "What is it that we do?" And you know, I went through the usual we just deliver supplies. He's like, "No, deliver the the supplies that keeps the students curious." And I was like, "That's exactly what we do." The ladybugs, for example, the other things that we deliver. So, um, you know, I'm happy that we were able to our students. Um, and thankful to the team. I'm excited that everybody got a chance to see what it does. We're gonna kick things off with Miss Lady. We have >> We have Miss Lady. >> We have [laughter] >> Angela, I may need help. >> We have several folks that have some lights on. So, we're we're going

262to be here just a second. >> Well, I was going to make the point that of course the delivery of the ladybugs. What an important science lesson. Um, actually, uh, thank you for that teeing that up for me. Um, no. As a former test coordinator in Fairfax County back when everything was hard copy, uh, I was often over at the warehouse with all of those, you know, we counting and collection of answer sheets and and and delivering things. And I will say I got to know quite a few people over there. Um, and it's an amazing operation. um and just uh everyone I've ever interacted with um were positive, were helpful, were patient, and were part of believing in the mission. So, I just wanted to uplift the ladybugs um and uh all science kit

263lessons and everything you do. So, just I really appreciate it and you all do great work. Thank you, >> Mr. Dunn. I love the spirit and the dedication to public service that's part of this um organization. So, thank you so much for everything you and your team do on a daily basis. Um just looking at the video, it seemed to be a very manual process and obviously there's been a lot of um innovation by Amazon and other companies and uh integrating robotics and and machinery. Uh and I just didn't see that in the video at all. Can you just talk a little bit about whether you have any, you know, technology that's being used there and if there's any effort to work with industry to see what's out there in terms of automation, robots, etc.

264that might enable your staff to do more with, you know, uh, time that might be liberated by integrating some of that technology. It's >> a great question, Mr. Dunn. Um, so just a quick background on myself. I've been in the warehousing industry for probably over 20 years and coming to FCPS that's one of the things that I discussed with uh Mr. Muick is how do we move forward with technology uh within the warehouse. Um an example is right now with our um FileMaker system that's used by the science uh team we're working um on looking at some different things where we can upgrade that system. We are in the process of looking at automating more of our work. >> Great. Thank you. Uh, Mr. Tix, >> I would like to lift lift up sorry [laughter]

265>> I would get it right. I would like to lift up that this is an amazing work they've done by the warehouse operations team and um I I don't know if we can compare you with Amazon with billions and trillions of dollars they have to you know automize and rob you know have robots in their warehouse but yes uh little automation would be great to see that but uh it is uh like really amazing to see from the warehouse to the students uh how there it's the whole whole assembly line and everybody looks so happy doing the work they were doing and that's what we see it in schools that in FCPS when we go and in events uh and even in the warehouse which who would think their warehouse people would be so happy

266working in the doing you but it is it's a part of public uh service I guess uh and public education is the best so appreciate this thank you >> thank you >> miss seismheiser >> thank you I couldn't resist since you mentioned it Dr. Reed to ask about the performing arts warehouse and just say how thrilled I am because it is an equity issue, right? To be able to both an equity and an environmental issue, right? Both to not throw away as many items, but also to be able to have schools share items. So, I was just curious how it was going in terms of usage both from schools storing things and schools using things. because I know we had talked when it was first when we're first doing it about the communications aspect, making

267sure schools know how to use it and then have the resources to get things there or get things out. So, I was kind of curious about that. >> We do work with instructional services um specifically the theater department um and uh Dr. Taylor does a great job of working with my team letting us know what needs to go out. Um and we you know do our normal process where the schools will put in the warehouse We'll load it. We'll deliver it to the schools and then transfer it among the schools as needed. And as far as space in the warehouse, like I said, we do work with her on what's coming in and then the team will allocate space to make sure that we have it available for them as items come back to the

268warehouse redistributed. >> And and this might be more of a Dr. Taylor question, but is there indexing of the items? And is there a way that we share the indexes with the school so they know, hey, I'm looking for this particular type of set piece or this particular era costume? um you know to make it as easy as possible for schools who may not have as many resources right to know what they can repurpose from this warehouse as opposed to having to create that may be more of a Dr. read question. So, I don't want to put you on the spot, but >> Sure. No, it's I think that that you know, we're doing this warehouse theater support in phases, but I think that's a good idea. Sort of like a library of what's there

269so um theater programs could access it. We're also looking at it as a site for our um transition program that we talked about earlier. Um, and so that may be an opportunity for someone to come in and create that um type of a library or um I don't >> indexing of the um of the items. I know we're still somewhat limited in the space, but I've been really pleased um with how hard um the staff is working to try to make space because it is an important piece because I get around and try to watch a number of the different theater and musicals and it really um I think it's really helpful to be able to share props. >> Yeah. And I think I mean that's the reason I mean it was Miss Dar Kofax

270and I who brought the motion to do that on the previous board but you know I think having the space is the first step right making it easy for the different programs to know what's there and to know to share before they because it's a change of habit for us >> right well and it's it's I think what the warehouse has done is not just provided the space but also the movement of the uh material around the county because that was the second thing how are we going to get it from one place to another and the team's done a really nice job of that. But you're right. I mean, I think everything that we have been um asked to do, we're doing it. And then we just need to continue to take it up

271a notch. And our our warehouse is just uh well, you can see it. There's an enthusiasm that's magic out there. At the warehouse, I've spent quite a little bit of time out there. Even recently we had to make an adjustment with food storage height with the pallets and that required talk about mathematics and I could go there tonight but that required a lot of problem solving on the part of the team to bring down some of the pallet heights and all of that but it's um you know it's a great group out there. >> I'll just say one last thing that kind of goes to the value of sort of our central office right and and the work that all of the organizations do. We talked about HR earlier. We're talking about, you know, our

272facilities folks and our warehouses to support learning in our schools. And we couldn't do the learning without all of this work. So, thank you for the work that you do. Thank you for making sure that folks know to use that warehouse and and that way it helps save schools money and time and effort um and helps the environment. So, thank you for your work. >> I bet I think you know team FCPS is strong. So, >> Miss St. John Cunning. Um, so first of all, I want to thank you for all your work and I've spent many hours in the warehouse and I would like to lift up that when you are a family leaison and you need to get all kinds of things for free. Uh, you go to the warehouse to outfit your

273office and to you know try to replace items and I think a lot of people don't understand that there's a great resource there because we don't waste I mean that's a way for us not to waste. I mean, if someone doesn't use something in the classroom, they send it to the warehouse and another classroom might need it. And I cannot tell you like the treasures that I have found at the warehouse. I felt like I was thrifting and I was like, "Oh, I can outfit my whole office or the school needs this. Let me go look at the warehouse before we start looking to purchase that." So, aside from all the other fun stuff that you guys do, which I think is critically important, I think it's important for us to realize that we try

274to be resourceful with what we have and we try to manage our resources. And the value of that warehouse in terms of us not having to spend money on certain things is is just a a huge benefit. >> Thank you very much. Um um item nine, consent agenda. Our adopted rules of parliamentary procedure. Robert's rules provide for a consent agenda listing several items for approval by the board by a single motion. Many items listed have gone through board review and documentation has been provided to all board members and the public in advance. Items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board member prior to the meeting. The consent agenda is on the screen. Is there any objection to approving the consent agenda? >> I object to item 9.05, a word

275of contract HVAC air and water balancing at Hayfield Secondary School. >> Item 9.05 is removed from the consent agenda hearing. And seeing no other objections, the remainder of the consent agenda is approved. I call on Mr. Dunn for a motion. >> I move that the school board award the contract for the HVAC air and water balancing at Hayfield Secondary School to Anandale Balancing Company, Inc. in the total amount of $397,64.31 and authorize the division superintendent or the chief operating officer to execute, deliver, and administer the contract on behalf of the school board. >> Is there a second? >> I second. >> Thank you, Miss Young Cunning. Uh Mr. Dunn, would you like to speak to your motion? >> Yes. Um, but more importantly, I'd like to provide the superintendent with the opportunity to speak to

276um this this contract because uh Hayfield Secondary School um has witnessed an extraordinary effort by the superintendent to remediate the mold that was discovered there earlier this year and there was a email sent today or imminently and I just wanted to provide her an opportunity to to speak to the totality of the extraordinary investments that were made and uh and and what has now been determined at at the closing of this initiative. >> Well, thank you, Mr. Dunn, and um I I really appreciate the board and your leadership on this situation as well. I know a number of you um spent time out at Hayfield this summer and at the start of the school year when we had one of the I believe uh second most humid um if not the most humid summer we've

277had in the history of Northern Virginia. So we did have a serious uh mold concern that arose this summer. We had a um also a leak and a roof situation. But we um to extraordinary means actually to provide air scrubbers and rerouting um plumbing and HVAC systems that were cleaned over 350 coils, ceiling tiles uh removed. It was a full remediation uh effort and um you're correct, Mr. Dunn. I did provide the board the letter that'll be going out to the Hayfield community tomorrow um with a closeout letter from Arcadus, the um mold remediation group that uh goes into great detail, provides the data um and I believe the transparency the community has asked for about the uh close out of this project. And so um I appreciate you pulling this off and drawing attention

278to those extraordinary efforts. I think many of us spent quite a little bit of time out there on weekends and um going back to check. Um so I appreciate that. And Mr. Gordon um do you want to just make a couple comments about the highlights from the Arcadus report? >> Uh yes ma'am and thanks to the board for this action. This uh this this contract will actually help us uh improve the indoor air quality. actually will help us uh expend extend the useful life of the systems we have within the facility and it will ensure uh proper humid humidity set points that we'll go forward with and this contract coupled with uh our third party vendor Arcadus um with an additional to adding some data loggers at a different point will help us get to

279a position where um come the next high humidity season uh we won't be here again. So thank you ma'am. >> Right. Right. And I I think the other thing that we are putting into place across the division and in particular we're starting at Hayfield is um a monitoring system so that we would pick up um any sense of a situation like this much more quickly so we can uh react more quickly. So um I also appreciate Mr. Gordon and the team uh their focus on preventive measures moving forward. um it's always uh more efficient to prevent issues than it is to remediate them after they occur. So, we're working very hard to make sure that uh we have some lessons learned from Hayfield and the mold remediation and we want to make sure that we

280have a number of schools that are built over sort of watery boggy areas and uh you know we just have to adjust our practice as the weather changes. So, thank you Mr. Dunn >> and I especially appreciate the fact that when there was a one-time flooding incident and and then it was determined that there had been a recurring issue over time that you know you demonstrate extraordinary leadership with Mr. Gordon and his team to not just uh seek a quick fix but instead a permanent solution that will ensure this never happens again either at Hayfield or anywhere else in the school division. So, it's a opportunity for for you again to uh strengthen the the daily operations and management of our school division uh that can give parents the confidence that um their children will

281attend school and they will be safe and environmentally healthy. >> Thank you, Mr. Dun. >> Thank you, >> Miss St. John Cunning. Would you like to speak to your second? >> Um I too would like to thank the supervis the supervisor the superintendent for her leadership. Um I appreciate all the time you put into this. I also really want to thank uh Dr. Pona and Mr. Gordon who kind of camped out at Hayfield um for several weeks at a time. Uh they were there overseeing at different times what was going on and um really focused on that. I also want to thank CH uh Chair Anderson for working with uh Chairman McCay and uh I consistently worked with uh Supervisor Lusk uh to do followup on the Hayfield mold remediation situation. Um, one of the

282curses of living in Virginia for this um, desert Texas scroll is to find out that there's clay here and that the wa that water doesn't seep down and that there's this little hunting creek trib tributary that goes all over our region. And if you're sitting in that water just rises up from the ground and comes in up through your basement and um that would be a gift in the desert. [laughter] But but these are the challenges that we have in Northern Virginia. Uh so I learned a lot about topography with Hayfield and I think we all did. So I really want to um thank the hard work that everybody put into this because it was a challenge and Mr. Gordon, you were relatively new to the job. So you were just uh thrown into the

283deep end and and you survived. So thank you. >> Thank you, Miss St. John Cunning. I will call for a vote on the motion which is on the screen. All those in favor, Mr. Fresh, Mr. Meline, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismore, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, and Dr. Anderson, and myself. So that is unanimous for all board members present with Mr. McDaniel away from the table. New agenda item 10, new business. The following are new business items. There will not be a vote on these items this evening, but action is scheduled at a future meeting. Agenda item 11, board committee reports. I call on Mr. Mavine for an update on the audit committee. >> Uh, thank you very much. So, we had our um uh audit committee meeting a couple weeks

284ago and we uh went through our audit reports uh and schoolbased audits among several other things. Uh we did convey to the board um several things that came out of closed meetings. So, if you have not reviewed those, please do because those are timely issues. Thanks. Agenda item 12, Superintendent Matters. I call on Dr. Reid for Superintendent Matters. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Given the hour and the early rising with our um winter weather event in the morning, I'll pass this evening. >> Thank you, Dr. Reid. Agenda item 13, board matters. Next on the agenda is board matters. I will call on each board ma school board member to speak. We're going to kick things off with Miss Seismore. >> Thank you. Um, thank you [laughter] is what I'm going to say. Um, I don't

285know where I'll be next time this board meets. And so I just wanted to take a few minutes as I look to all of you to thank you for everything that you do. I know sometimes I push you very hard on certain topics. Um but I will say that I love the fact that in so many of the things that we do I hear the phrase strength focus education because that is not a phrase I heard in 2019. And for every child there is a strength or multiple strengths. And I feel like I'm Laura Jane Con right now [laughter] which which Carl will understand. Um it was a real passion. It is a real passion of mine and a real mission which is something that my son taught me that you never dismiss any child

286and every child is human and every child has value and every child brings something to teach somebody else. And I appreciate you all letting me share that. And I appreciate you all lifting up that notion in your work. And I hope that you all consider and continue to look at every child not by name and by need, but by name and by strength. And so I want to thank you for the work you've done in a variety of areas. I want to thank my colleagues because this is hard work. This is thankless work. But this is the work of our future and this is the work of our democracy. And this is the work that will build an amazing country, an amazing county. And there is no greater work than the work that you all

287do. The work our staff and our teachers every day and our administrators in the buildings do. And I hope every time we look at a child, every time we work with a child, I hope we say, "What can this child teach me today? How can I lift up the humanity in this child? And how can I foster the strengths of this child? and what can I do today to make sure this child has the best future they can have when they leave my building, my room, our schools. So these last six years have been the best of my life. >> Thank you, Miss Emeriser. U Mr. Uh, pass. >> Mr. McDaniel, >> pass. >> Mr. Fr. >> Thank you. Um, quick update. Um, I uh enjoyed November having an opportunity to visit schools with our

288state legislators. Uh, Holly Seabold and Saddam Slim at Freedom Hill. Uh, David Boliva at Oakton Elementary School and Congressman Walkenshaw at Mosaic Elementary School for Tommy's teachers tour where the Virginia Lottery came and celebrated our educators. Um, and I'm excited to continue in December. Um, I have been shadowing some of our amazing staff in our schools. Um, last week I got an opportunity to work in the library at Manua Elementary School, scanning books for kids and and reading to them. Uh, earlier this week I shadowed one of our incredible bus drivers, Mr. Spalding, on a Pinpring Elementary School bus stop. And tomorrow I will be cleaning Shrievewood Elementary School with the janitorial staff, which I'm excited to to do, especially if I get to power the uh the floor waxer. Those those look incredibly fun.

289Um yeah, we'll see what time this actually happens. Um and uh had an opportunity to uh join my colleagues in welcoming our student leaders uh for the student leadership development program uh in Providence District. We have a sophomore this year, uh, from Oakton High School, uh, Nadia Mir, who is an incredible young leader, and I'm looking forward to seeing her grow throughout that. I want to give a big shout out to the Oakton Cougars girls, uh, flag football team, the first champions in Fairfax County uh, public schools history uh, on their tremendous win. Uh, and I'm looking forward to closing out this year attending various plays and musicals which you can find across Providence District in my newsletter. And if you have any winter gear, new or lightly used, Supervisor Palic's office is hosting uh

290a winter gear drive. So, please check the newsletter or her website uh so that you can donate for uh the effort to keep members of our community warm. Thanks. Dr. Anderson, >> Mr. Moon, >> thank you. I to my district school board member Rational sizeer, if I don't see you at the next schoolboard meeting, uh we are waiting for another $193 million. Okay. Thank you, >> Mr. Dunn. Uh first I wanted to uh congratulate Nor Fitzpatrick uh of West PTOAC High School who was uh selected to participate in the student leadership development program from the Mount Vernon district. Uh yesterday I was excited to join the West PTOAC Academy for the official launch of an exciting partnership with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority which will provide our students with invaluable internships and career opportunities. I

291attended recently Bucknell Elementary's first Montasauri informational night where families and community members learned more about this new free program available to families in the West PTOIC pyramid. the first public Montasauri uh program in FCPS. I was also honored to present a proclamation to recognize Waynewood Elementary's 65th anniversary at its 2025 Gobble Gallup. And I wrapped up the month with visits to Riverside Elementary and Lorton Station Elementary. Thank you to the Mount Vernon High School PTSA and the Belleview Elementary PTA for inviting me to present at your recent meetings. And thank you also to the Fairfax County Council PTA for inviting me and my colleagues to join its annual PTA advocacy day. Finally, please consider donating non-p perishable food items in grocery store or Walmart gift cards to benefit the 2025 Mount Vernon District Food Drive

292that I am co-sponsoring with Supervisor Dan Stor. All donations will go directly to Mount Vernon High School families facing food insecurity over the long winter break. Please stop by the Mount Vernon Governmental Center to drop off your donations by Friday, December 5th. Thank you, >> Miss Dixon. >> Just want to say to everyone, I this is my last uh meeting, not like you, but [laughter] for this year because I'll be uh out of town and uh in person. So, I wish you all happy holidays. Thank [laughter] you, >> Miss St. John Cunning. >> It is difficult to follow Miss Dixit with her humor. Uh I really did not have prepared remarks tonight. Um but I do want to also say thank you to all of my colleagues and thank you to um to Rajna. um

293because uh when I first came on this board, she really helped guide me and teach me a lot and she continues to do that and is an example of someone that is um extremely um passionate uh dogged about things and I think has taught us all the value of recognizing and looking at each individual whether they're a student, a young adult or an old adult that We all bring value. We're all important. Um, and I think that if we all believe that and walked through this world that way, we'd be in a better place. So, I really want to thank you. Um, and if you are still here, of course, we are going to love to have you, but if you are not here, then we are going to be bugging you and we're going

294to expect results. So, [laughter] and we will be lifting up a lot of things to you. So, thank you and good night. >> I call on Dr. Eid. >> Yeah. I just wanted to on behalf of our staff, uh, thank you Rajna for your contribution, your dedication. Come on, guys. [applause] um we've both learned from you and hopefully um we'll continue to um support the vision that uh lifts up each and every child in the strengthbased system. So, thank you >> Miss Lady. >> Thank you. Um and again, thank you Rashna. Thank you for what you've taught me. I really appreciate when you visited Chantilly um and actually thought you had something you could learn from a director of student service and someone who supervised performing arts and um and by name by strength. Amen

295to that. By name by strength. Thank you for all that work. Um want to congratulate Gigi Fernandez who is my uh selection on the student leadership uh to the school board. She's a Langley student and was delightful. It was great to meet her the other evening. Also want to encourage everyone to vote for the Wash FM Christmas High School choir contest. Uh three FCPS high schools out of the 12 choirs in the first round. Vote daily for Langley or Mlan or Sunville until December 9th. Uh go to Wash FM website to listen to the choirs and vote daily. Winning course program wins up to 5,000 for their school's music program and perform at Capitol One Hall on 127. Uh, next round will be announced on December 10th at 8 am. Um, was very excited to

296celebrate with Hearnden High School staff as they honored were honored by Tommy McFly's teacher tour contest. Everyone got lottery tickets and filled them out and there was lots of celebration when they won $50 or even if they just won $1. It was great to be with those teachers this afternoon. um had a great time last Saturday joining Drainsville Elementary principal uh Gladley and teachers and students at the Hearnen Fortnitely Library um and really enjoyed watching students get excited about reading and choosing books to bring home. Uh and forgive me if any of our younger students are up listening to our remarks, but tomorrow is the 67th day of the school year. Uh and I love Drainsville Elementary School's 67 reading challenge. uh they are challenging students and families to read six or seven books before

297winter break starts. So anyways, happy 67. Thank you. All I you keep thinking that but it doesn't work. Um, I'm going to take three seconds and just say I would like to say that while this may be the last time this configuration of the board is here, I would like to lift up all the good work that we've done together um in the in our short time together on the board and how much we appreciate the fact that you you have always listened um to the folks that were newer on the board and learning. So, we appreciate it. So at 1210 a.m. we are returned.