9/25/25 - FCPS School Board Meeting

001This September 25th, 2025 regular meeting of the Fairfax County School Board will now come to order. In the event of a tornado warning, everyone should quietly and calmly proceed through the lower right hand door at the front of the auditorium and follow the directions of unifor security and staff. Please be courteous to each other and do not panic. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance followed by a moment of silence in the performance of the national anthem by Justin Kan Lee, a soloist from Luther Jackson Middle School. I pledge allegiance to the flag. [Music] [Applause] Can you guys please give one more round of applause for our amazing student. [Applause] Agenda item 3.02, announcements. On behalf of the school board, we would like to welcome Fairfax City School Board Chair Carolyn Pitches and member Sarah

002Kelsey to to us to join us this evening. Uh Mr. Fris has submitted a written request to attend this evening's meeting virtually due to a medical conflict. is attending this evening's meeting from his home in the Providence District. All those in favor of Mr. Fr's request. That is unanimous for all board members present. Mr. Fresh, can you check? We see you. Can we check Can you check your mic? >> Yes. >> Perfect. We can hear you as well. >> Agenda item 3.03, honoring National Literacy Month Proclamation. I call on Mr. done for a proclamation. Whereas International Literacy Day was established as September 8th by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, in 1967 in Thran, Iran, as a reminder of the importance of literacy as a human right. And in 2024, the US

003Senate passed a resolution designating September as National Literacy Month, noting that literacy is the cornerstone for personal growth, economic opportunity, and a strong society. And whereas on September 28th, 2023, the Fairfax County Public Schools Division Superintendent presented on the equitable access to literacy EAL plan, which commits to using data to identify systemic barriers, providing a solid foundation and literacy and deepening educators knowledge of evidence-based literacy and culturally responsive teaching. And whereas Fairfax County Public Schools equitable access to literacy plan aligns with the Virginia Literacy Act of 2022 to ensure the f that FCPS aligns with the commitment to evidence-based and highquality foundational literacy programs. And whereas according to the 2024 FCPS division literacy plan, the district is committed to ensuring that students receive explicit instruction in reading and writing to achieve proficiency in literacy and

004eliminate disproportionate outcomes based on race, gender, zip code, ability, socioeconomic status, or languages spoken at home. And whereas this commitment has been made with the understanding that literacy is essential to human potential and economic success as a 2020 Gallup study found that the United States stands to lose up to $2.2 trillion dollars annually due to low adult literacy rates and low literacy creates a major skills gap in our workforce. Now therefore be it resolved the Fairfax County School Board hereby proclaims September as National Literacy Month and reaffirms their commitment to promoting reading and literacy as the catalyst for our students future academic success, their preparation for jobs of the future and their ability to in a global economy. >> Is there a second? Mr. Moon. Thank you. I will call for a vote. All those

005in favor? Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Mine, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismore, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, Mr. Fresh, and myself. That is unanimous. Agenda item 3.04. Honoring Alice's Kids, a local nonprofit organization proclamation. I call on Miss St. John Cunning for a proclamation. Whereas every day countless children may feel shame or embarrassment because they cannot afford a prom ticket, field trip fees, back to school clothes, summer cramp, instrument rentals, and other items or services that more fortunate peers may take for granted, leading to potential setbacks in their personal and academic lives. And whereas Kids, a Fairfax County based nonprofit organization, responds to thousands of requests from teachers, social workers, and family liaison across the country by anonymously paying for these items in a way that avoids shaming the

006child or their parent or caregiver. And whereas Alice's Kids has provided direct anonymous financial assistance to thousands of children in need living in Fairfax County since its inception in 2011. And whereas Ron and Laura Fitz Simmons, who lived for years in poverty, named their charity after their inspiring mother, Alice. And whereas at the beginning of the school year, Alice's kids is especially inundated with requests from Fairfax County Public School teachers, social workers, and family liaison for help in providing basic supplies such as a backpack, back to school clothes, and school supplies. And whereas requests this year have increased considerably compared to previous years, at the same time, many new teachers, social workers, and family liaison may not be aware of the services provided by Alice's kids. Whereas the school board of Fairfax County Public Schools

007encourages all FCPS personnel to utilize the unique financial services provided by Alys's kids should they identify a child with a specific need. Now therefore, be it resolved that the school board of Fairfax County Public Schools expresses its deep gratitude to Alys's kids for supporting Fairfax students in a way that lifts them while preserving their dignity. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. McDaniel, I will call for a vote. All those in favor? Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Mcine, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismore, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Miss or Dr. Anderson, Mr. FR, and myself. That is unanimous. I would like to welcome all those here in support of the honoring Alice's Kids, a local nonprofit organization proclamation to please join the board for a photo at the at

008the front of the DAS. I would like to welcome all those here in support of the honoring national literacy month proclamation to please join the board for a photo at the front of the dis. Agenda item 4.01, community participation. The next order of business is community participation. We welcome all community members who are here and those who have signed up to speak this evening. Additional information about signing up to provide comments at schoolboard regular business meetings and public hearings can be found on the schoolboard website at www.fcps.edu/schoolboard. During the sign up process, community members acknowledged they were informed of the school board's expectations for proper decorum when providing comments. These expectations are also available online with the printed agenda at the meeting and the meeting materials at the back of the room. We ask audience

009members to be respectful of one another. Shouting and outbursts will not be tolerated. Please hold your applause until the conclusion of the speaker remarks. Audience members may not join speakers at the podium and should remain at their seats, including when recording video or taking photos. We are grateful to all those who have come to speak today and thank you for your cooperation. Schoolboard members will be listening but not responding. Madame clerk, please call the first speaker. >> Barrett Wilford. Good evening. My name is Barrett Wilford. Uh I'm a senior at Woodson High School and a captain of the Woodson robotics team. Our team has had many struggles in the past several years. However, there this most recent year has been very historic in our region. Uh each team must uh compete in two regional events

010out of the seven available to then qualify for the district championship. In our first regional competition, uh we made it to the playoffs for the first time ever and got fourth place and then we won our second regional for the first time ever. This qual qualified us for the divisional championships. uh and we even had the 20th highest uh statistics in the world for one of the scoring categories and then we went on to win this district championship as well. Um this district championship was larger than a state championship as it um had team the best teams from Virginia, Maryland and DC. at Woodson. Uh teams such as the crew team and the esports team which aren't register rec recognized as official sport team have had their names in uh for their state championships recognized

011on the side of the school. With robotics growing in popularity and with this recent achievement and now having uh over 50 active members uh we think that we deserve to be recognized along these titles as well. On behalf of Calvotics 8590, I ask that our district championship be honored alongside Wood Woodson's other championship titles. Thank you for your time. Michael Parker, Misha Cherno, Good evening, Chair Anderson, school board members, and Dr. Reid. My name is Misha Cherov, and I'm an FCPS employee. I am here to speak about the 2425 employee engagement survey and to inform the board in case you were not aware that the results are not being posted on the internet like previous employee engagement surveys. In the past, employees had the ability to review the survey results on the internet and analyze

012data by school, region, office, and division. This year, I scoured Atlas, which is the FCPS internet, and could not find one data point, chart, or graph with the survey results. When I reached out to HR for help finding the survey results on Atlas, I was told if I wanted to review my school's results, I had to contact my principal. I then followed up with HR asking if there had been a change in how the results are being shared with employees and have not received a reply. This leaves me with questions. Where are the full survey results? Who has seen them? Why are they not being shared with employees on the internet? Is there a plan to make this divisionwide data available for employees to review? and who benefits by keeping the survey results off of

013the internet. We did our part by completing the survey. FCPS leadership team, it's your turn now to be fully transparent with your employees by posting the employee engagement survey result data on the internet. Thank you, Tanya Maddox. >> Hi, my name is Tanya Maddox. I served in the military for 29 years and I moved here from California and I brought my niece and my nephew with me and their mother and we moved to one of Dr. Bennett from the Riverside um school district. told me that when I move here during the epidemic that um they're going to get a good fire um Fairfax is going to get a good superintendent. And I said, "Okay, doesn't bother me. What school as long as the kids are good." We moved from we used to live in um

014Ridge Drive, Ridge View Drive. and I moved out of there and moved to route one near north near um Fort Belvo because I'm military and I wanted to be closer to the base and we put our kids in the school there. Um I was frustrated by the school and um my thing is always follow the follow the chain of command and I follow the chain of command. So I sat down and wrote a letter and I said I'm going to write this letter and I called Dr. Bennett, she said she's going to answer. I said, "Little old me, she is not going to answer." So, I wrote the letter and I got a phone call from her secretary and she says, "Dr. Reed requests your honor to be here." And I said, "Uh, me? You

015sure?" I said, "Oh, it's going to be on Zoom." And she says, "No, she wants you in present." I says, "Okay." So, me being a chief, I'm ready to fight. This is it. I'm ready. She made me look because she had more everything that I would as a chief. She remind me so much of Chappie James, the first fourstar black general. She remind me of that of her. The way she carried herself, the way she talked to her Thank you ma'am. Thank you. Thank you. Cooper Jessup Good evening board members, Superintendent Reed. My name is Cooper Jessup and I am a badged mentor with the Woodson robotics team. I am the second loudest dad with the Woodson rowing team. I am a man to a basketball scorekeeper and I'm the coach of a six sixth

016grade Lego League team. But Tonight I'm here to talk to you about equity. The board has made some several great calls in the name of equity already. Um changing the way TJ admissions networks was a huge win. Equity is one of the reasons given for our current reasoning effort. As a dad, I cheer equally loud for crew and for robotics. When the rowing team were state champions, I was very proud. The team's achievement was commemorated with a prominent display on the front of the school. Robotics team are champions also. Like the rowing team, they participated and succeeded in other events to qualify for their championship tournament. The robotics team, like the rowing team, walked away with the trophies, the medals, and the imitation to the next level of play. Unlike the rowing team, the robotics

017team are district champions, which means for the entire state of Virginia, all of DC, and the entire state of Maryland. Also, unlike the rowing team, the robotics team were invited not to national championships, but to world championships. Unlike the rowing team, the robotics team's achievement was not commemorated on the front of the school. To quote our great leader, Dr. We are embarking on a four-year plan to bring robotics teams to all FCPS schools. That is a great plan. We should finish that plan with equity though and be equally proud of the success and recognize them the same way as we recognize our other championships like esports. Eric Johnson, Christy Bena also signed up to provide uh have a video played tonight, but we never received the video. Thus, there is no video testimony tonight. Chair

018Anderson, community participation is complete. >> Thank you. Um agenda item 5.01, rep student representative matters. I call Miss >> Good evening, chair, vice chair, and members of the board. Today, I would like to reflect on the SACE meeting that happened this week. The superintendent's advisory council met for the first time this week. They had their first meeting with Dr. Reed asking questions about current issues. I sent out a survey for this month after the meeting where I asked three questions. How well do you feel FCPS communicates big changes, for example, new policies or schedule adjustments to students? And what could make that communication clearer? two, one, what is one way your school could do a better job including student voice and decisions? And three, how is the new cell phone policy affecting your day, positively

019or negatively? For the first question, here are two student responses that stood out to me. In my opinion, I know recently that the FCPS community has had a lot of new changes in their policies. Me personally, I've never I never know these changes before because I feel like FCPS doesn't really publicize it. So, unfortunately, students like me won't know about these certain policies. I feel like FCPS should definitely start giving more resources for students who are curious about what these what these new changes are. Obviously, I think a lot of students would like to know what's going on in FCPS. The second response that stood out to me said, most new most new changes are communicated when the student to the student body first as rumors, then they are made official. Communication should be made

020clear if it is made directly to students before it impacts them, either through email or schooly or parent contact. One concern that I continue to hear from students across FCPS, it's not just what decisions are made, but how they're made. Too often policies are announced without clear communication about the reasoning student input considered or how success will be measured. This lack of transparency can leave students feeling disconnected and sometimes even mistrustful of the very systems that are meant to serve them. Students want to be a part of this process, not just recipients of the outcome. Transparency builds trust and trust builds stronger policies. By openly sharing how decisions are made, what data is reviewed and how students how student voice is included and what the expected outcomes are, we can contribute to a culture where

021students feel valued and respected. I encourage the board to continue to prioritize clear communication and genuine student engagement and decision-m. It's not just about the policy itself, but about the process that gets us there. On a related notes, on a related note, excuse me, I want to speak on behalf of the students of Hayfield Secondary regarding the mold issues that have persisted in their school building. For months, students and families have expressed concerns about the air quality, health effects, and overall learning environment. While short-term fixes have been made, the reality is that students continue to feel as if there's temp students continue to feel as if these are temporary band-aids rather than meaningful resolution. As students, we want to feel safe and healthy in our classrooms, not distracted by worries about mold or which or

022whether conditions are worsening. The uncertainty has created anxiety and that lack of clarity can sometimes feel just as harmful as the mold itself. This is why I urge the board and division leadership to provide a clear transparent plan forward. Students, families deserve to know which specific steps are being taken, what timelines are attached to those steps, how will progress be communicated, and most importantly, how will we ensure that this does not remain an ongoing reactive cycle, but is rather resolved through long-term investment in our school facilities. Students at Hayfield and across FCPS deserve more than patchwork solutions. We deserve to learn in spaces where our health and folks are protected. The board leadership, the board's leadership in communicating concrete next steps can restore trust and provide the reassurance that students, staff, and families need right

023now. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Miss McConen. Agenda item 6.01, action item, certification of closed meeting compliance. In order to comply with section 2.2-3712D 2-3712D of the Code of Virginia. It's necessary for the board to certify that since the Fairfax County School Board convened a closed meeting on September 25th, 2025, to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from the 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. Thank you. Do I have a second? Mr. McDaniel. All those in favor? Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Mine. I assume Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismarhiser, Mr. Moon,

024Dr. Anderson, Mr. Fresh, and myself. All those opposed abstensions. Mr. Dunn, do you have a vote? Yes. Okay. Mr. Dun is madam cler. Will you read the vote? >> The votes 1101. The motion carries. >> Perfect. Agenda item action or agenda item um confirmation of action taken in closed meeting item 6.02. Um I call on Miss Jen Cunning for a motion. >> I move to deny the school reassignment appeal of a student who was charged with unlawful act in the community and to confirm the disciplinary decision of the division superintendent. >> Thank you. Is there a second? Mr. McDaniel. All those in favor? Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Mine, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Seismarheiser, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, Mr. Fresh, and myself. Abstensions. Miss Dixit. believe it's >> motion is

0251101. The motion carries. >> Perfect. Closed item or closed motion number two. I call on Miss St. John Cunning for a motion. I move to deny the school reassignment appeal of a student who was charged under 18.2-58B.3 [Music] of the code of Virginia as related to an alleged crime that occurred in the community and to confirm the disciplinary decision of the division superintendent. Is there a second? >> A second. Miss Marin. All those in favor, Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Meline, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismore, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, Mr. Fresh, and myself. That's unanimous. Close. Motion number three. I call in Mr. McDaniel for a motion. >> I move to expel the student who committed a serious offense in violation of school policy and who was charged

026with multiple weapons related offenses in violation of the Commonwealth School. Is there a second? Second, Dr. Anderson. All those in favor, Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Mine, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismarheiser, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, Mr. Fresh, and myself. That's unanimous. Close motion number four. I call Miss Lady for a motion. I move the school board authorize legal counsel to make an offer in the case discussed in close session according to the terms and conditions discussed therein. Mr. Moon second all those in favor Mr. McDaniel Mr. Meline Miss St. John Cunning Miss Lady Miss Dixit Miss Seismore Mr. Moon Mr. Fresh opposed Miss Maron Mr. Dunn Dr. Anderson and myself. I believe that's everyone. Will the clerk please read the vote? >> The vote is 8 to four.

027The motion carries. >> Thank you. Close motion number five. Miss Lady, >> I move the school board authorize legal council to settle the matter discussed in close session according to the terms and conditions discussed therein. >> Is there a second? Second Miss Seismore. All those in favor Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Mavine, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismore, Mr. Moon, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Fresh, and myself opposed abstensions. Dr. Anderson, the cler The votes 1101. The motion carries. >> We got through them all, guys. Good job. Okay. Action item 6.03, advanced academics exploration of new full-time AAP center in Annale in the Anenddale Pyramid. I call Dr. Anderson for a motion. I move that the school board approve to move forward with conducting the necessary community engagement process on the proposal for

028opening a new middle school AP center at Pole Middle School. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. McDaniel. Dr. Anderson, would you like to speak to your motion? >> I would. U Thank you to Mr. McDaniel for pulling this off of the consent agenda because it does allow me the opportunity to share some additional details um that otherwise would not have come to light. Um in October of 20 October 20th, 2020, um two form topics were approved by the school board for future action. One was to establish AP centers at all middle schools and the second was to expand local level level four local level four programming in all elementary schools. This board action was consistent with the advanced academic report that was presented to the board also in 2020 by Dr. Plucker and

029his team. Um there's been progress with the local level four expansion and I believe very few schools are still left to meet that and I know m um Dr. Presidio I've been tracking that with you. Um but to date there's been little movement on the um on the middle school piece until now. I'm in agreement that all middle schools should be evaluated for this expansion and will be supportive of the forthcoming follow-on motion. However, we need to have a starting point to tackle this long-standing issue. Po Middle School is a reasonable starting point because of its unique position. Region six in which Pole Middle School um is contained in the Anidel pyramid as well as Hayfield and Lewis. It is the only region that there is no middle school AAP center. This requires students who

030are um um slated to go to PO to leave the entire region in order to access programming which FC which FCPS has determined they require. There's a gap in service continuity. Currently, some Annadel Pyramid students must transfer two times in elementary school in order to receive continuous full-time AAP services. That is a unique occurrence which does not happen anywhere else in Fairfax County Public Schools. There is no fairness in that and certainly there is no equity in that structure to students and their families and their caregivers. That is not an equitable access to program. that is not equitable access to programming again to which FCPS has determined those students are eligible. Students who attend the K5 local full-time program at Anadel Terrace, Bradic, and North Springfield, they must either transfer for one year to Canterbury

031Woods to continue sixth grade and then transition back to Frost or attend their neighborhood middle schools in order to receive full-time AAP via enrollment of four middle school classes, which is not quite the equivalent. As it stands, staff has followed the current guidelines, which is outlined in regulation 3333 and 8130. Staff's proposed timeline is consistent with the boundary process timeline and fulfills the access to programming factor outlined in policy 8130. Overall, the FCPS commitment is to provide for all students still applies to this as well. Even though it may not impact thousands of students, but it will impact hundreds of students, we've shared before on this stage that all students deserve our best effort and commitment. So there has to be no minimum to justify advocacy. The staff and principles at PO and Anadel High

032School are excited by the possibility to serve students who reside in the Anidel Pyramid in the Pyramids schools. The superintendent has shared with me not once but twice. >> Mr. Anderson, that was your time. I can put you on a go back. >> Yes, please. Thank you. >> Absolutely. >> Mr. McDaniel, would you like to speak to your second? >> Um, just briefly, I'll reserve my com most my comments for the follow on motion. I was happy to work with Dr. Anderson on this and the next motion as well. Um, this is a large step in the right direction and it's been coming for a long time as Dr. Anderson mentioned. So, happy to second. >> Thank you, Dr. or Thank you. Thank you, Mr. McDaniel. I see no others. Oh, Miss Go for it.

033>> Thank you. Um well, I applaud Dr. Anderson, the Mason District Representative, for being a true champion for her community. Um she has always got her eyes out for her students, and I'm glad that the board can support her. And um you know, for me, I do want to be sure that as we go forward that we're looking at the relevant policies and the regulations, which might seem mundane, but they really do help us be sure that equity and is achieved in the future. We don't want this happening again. I also would um would ask if it's possible for this community engagement process to be rolled into the many or a part of the many meetings that are happening about boundary conversations. And so, you know, apologies for just sharing this, but I was at

034last night at South Lakes High School at the community boundary meeting focusing on South Lakes High and H. Hearnden High. And it occurred to me uh there's a lot of meetings coming up and a lot of opportunities. And while that's fabulous, it's also kind of overwhelming. Um, especially since they're all happening right away. And I just wonder, is there a way that in the upcoming already scheduled meetings in the Anadale pyramid, could that engagement work out? Um, recall we also have the Western High School public naming, the public hearing process, and before we know it, we're also going to have the CIP public hearing and the budget public hearing. And so, you know, not only to to help the public, you know, be engaged and not be trying to come back and forth, but really

035so that we're syncing up the holistic view because we know that there are more middle schools that also don't have AAP centers and this is the most dire and so acting now is is appropriate but we also know part of the boundary policy uh process is to look at access across as one of the factors for boundary changes. So, I just wanted to share that if there's a possibility to roll this out as part of the already scheduled community engagement nights, um I think it it makes it easier for the public to engage. Um and I do support this tonight, but I'm not going to support going full sale into putting this in every pyramid. You know, this is a particular followup that, you know, has been long time coming. I think the next piece

036about are we going to do this in all the pyramids? The board needs to have a discussion about how we want to offer advanced academic programs and I'm just not going to green light, you know, putting programs everywhere, especially not with a budget attached to it. How much is that going to cost? So, I will be voting for this main motion. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Baron. Dr. Anderson for go back. >> Yes, I'll just kind of finish my statements here. As I shared earlier, as I was as I began just a little while ago, the superintendent has shared with me multiple times that she is supportive of this plan. She's also outlined that this measure is also a strategy to bolster the district's plan for increased algebra 1 enrollment. We will also benefit

037in the matter that we will be reducing transportation costs because students won't have to be taken out of pyramid. Reduced capacity at Frost Middle School will be one of the side um one of the results which will open the opportunity perhaps of discussing grade six in that pyramid. We will reduce capacity at Glasgow which currently serves as the only uh middle school AP center in the Mason district. So I hope for your support on this this evening and thank you. >> Thank you Dr. Anderson. Um I will call for the vote. All those in favor. So Mr. Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Mine, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismore, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, Mr. Fresh, and myself. That is unanimous. I call on Mr. McDaniel for a follow-on motion.

038>> Thank you. I move to direct the superintendent to develop and present to the board by March of 2026 a comprehensive plan for establishing advanced academic program centers in every middle school and division. >> Uh, is there a second? Second, Miss Lady, Mr. McDaniel, would you like to speak to your motion? >> I would. And I don't want to reiterate all the reasons that Dr. Anderson uh spoke to on the Anandale issue because they all apply across the other 11 middle schools and the other nine regions that do not have access to this programming. In our boundary policy A130, there's a line in there about equitable access to programming. I was on a town hall last night with the community and this issue came up. What exactly does that mean? What that means is you

039shouldn't have to go to a different base school to access various types of programs. AAP is one of those types of programs. We should not have kids being busted out of their base school to attend. Um, and just to kind of give a sense of the scope, H. Hearnden, Madison, Mount Vernon, Centerville, Robinson, West Springfield, Westfield, Hayfield, Lewis, and with the previous motion Annadale. Um what this motion will do is ask the superintendent to come back with a plan to close the remaining uh nine pyramids, the remaining 11 middle schools to expand AAP across the entire division. As we know, algebra one by 8th grade that has been pounded into our heads by our very capable superintendent algebra by 8th grade is a key factor for student success uh setting up not just for the

040rest of their K12 education but their postsecary but their post education and for life. So, I appreciate the support of my colleagues on this motion and I'm looking forward to conversation. >> Thank you, Mr. McDaniel. Uh, Miss Lady, would you like to speak to your second? >> Yes. Um, if anyone followed me on the campaign trail, this is one of the things I talked about often. Um, I feel strongly and high expectations for all learners. Um, I did not realize until I uh got on the board how behind we were in mathematics and how some of our schools were not offering algebra 1 uh in a robust fashion. Um, but we've done that work um under the leadership of Dr. Reid. We've moved the needle in all of our testing, every single discipline uh reading,

041math, science. Um, and we have um a lot of gifted learners in our in our system. Um the other thing has been come crystal clear is with the boundary work um often the middle schools that are quoted as having the most split feeders in them are our AAP centers because of the very reasons that my colleagues have noted um that students are leaving their neighborhood schools to go to an AAP center for middle school only to come back to their high school because we don't have such a thing at the high school level. Um during my tenure working at Fairfax County, we um created open enrollment in terms of AP honors IB classes at the high school level. We also did that at the middle school level. Um but I also want to reiterate that

042when students are in a center, they they travel sort of as a pod. Okay? So they're in advanced academics in every single subject. Um and for a lot of our students, that's the level at which they need to be challenged. Um, and then we also have students who can take advanced coursework in some subjects or even perhaps all. Um, but this work is of great importance because I'm tired of busing kids to programs instead of sending kids to their neighborhood school where they have the programs that they need for every single student. Um, so I strongly stand behind this. It's something that I've wanted to do for a long time. Um, I'm also very interested in the uh the October 20, 2020 uh I I guess board followon motion that my colleague uh referenced in

043evaluating all uh elementary schools for level four because that's not being done with fidelity either. So, um while that's not the motion on the table right now, I do think we need to look to make sure we have level four in every elementary school. Um because again, I think that um our kids are much smarter today than we were when we were their age. Um, and this is starting at kindergarten, first, second grade. Um, and so I don't think I think think if we don't scaffold this way, we're not going to be ready for how talented our kids are when they're hitting fifth and sixth grade and they're about to embark on middle school and all of their schools that are in their neighborhood schools should have the program that they need. So, I obviously

044fully support this. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Lady. So, we had a whole lot of lights come on all at the same time. So, I'm going to do my best to make sure that I hit everybody, but I have everyone. So, we're gonna start off with Mr. Fr. Mr. Fish, we can't hear you. I think you >> How many years of Zoom and I still forget press the uh unmute button. I apologize. Um I'm happy to support the motion and the previous motion only need to speak once. um you know, these are essential services that we need to get to all of our students. And with I think 10 pyramids that have no uh middle school um AP center, um I think the work is long overdue and I look forward to getting the

045plan because that's what we're really voting on is getting a plan for this and then we'll be able to kick the tires on it and move forward. So I appreciate the makers of the motion and the previous motion and forward to casting my vote. >> Thank you. Uh Dr. Anderson. >> Yes, thank you. One of the things that I failed to mention, the forum topic that was introduced five years ago now was to expand in all middle schools and this was also very consistent with the advanced academics programming, I'm sorry, advanced academics report which was commissioned by the 2019 board. Um, recommendation five is to expand to all middle schools. So, this is not just due now. It is overdue by five years. This is a long time and that we've been waiting to have

046this conversation. And so, I'm very excited to um to support this motion because it's already something that the board decided needed to happen five years ago. So, we're just doing the work that was not done. This is not new. This is just something the board already agreed to doing five years ago, October 20th of 2020. So, I'm really looking forward to that plan because we do need to provide access to our kids and this is just a tip of the iceberg when we talk aboutmies are not even accessible for many of our kids just because of where they're located. So, we have a lot of work to do to fulfill that tenant of the policy 8130 which is access to programming. Mr. Well, I just want to add one pyramid that was not included on

047the previous list, which is South County High School Pyramid. Does not have an AAP center. Um, it does have a cohort, as does Whitman Middle School. Um, and I get confused and I've done a lot of research to try to figure out what's the difference between an AAP cohort and an AAP center. They both start with C, some letters in common. Uh, but the basic difference is uh you can leave the pyramid it's a cohort and you don't have as much robust attendance and engagement in the same level of resources as a center. So I definitely appreciate the verbiage of this motion which ensures that there is universal access in every single high school pyramid uh to uh equitable uh and uh fully resourced and staffed AP centers at the middle school level because we

048have too many kids leaving their high school pyramids which is a bus transportation issue. Yes. But it's also disrupting students established friendship groups, established um social uh relationships and forcing them to move between high schools, between middle schools, between high schools. And that is disruptive to their to their learning. It's disruptive to student outcomes. And what we're really looking to do is make sure that every child can receive a world-class education wherever they live, whatever school they attend, and thus have the maximum opportunity to achieve the American dream. Thank you. Miss Mary. >> Yes. Well, I appreciate the conversation and the interest of my colleagues in trying to expand access and I think that's why we are committing to the boundary policy process. One of those tenants of the four is to expand access. I

049I do think the board needs to be clear about how we continue on with past directives of a board. While I was on the October 2020 board at that time, going forward today in September 25, as if that was just yesterday, it's imprudent. We weren't going through the boundary review process five years ago. We also have not had a public discussion about expansion of AAP centers. We have not had a discussion about how the school division and how this board wants to offer AAP. If every middle school has an AAP center, are they really centers? Isn't that just providing the quality of instruction that some of our students need? Um it was mentioned that students go in a pod. Some of my constituents think it's segregation. I have constituents who tell me how after students

050switch to a different school, their neighborhood friends are left behind. Other kids are left back to feel like they aren't smart enough. So, the board needs to have a real conversation because also from what I'm aware of, which is only my own research because the superintendent hasn't yet presented this to us, but this is a very old and outdated model. Other school divisions when they're doing best practices do not segregate children and bust them other places. Um, I also to um you know, we're already adjusting for all these different needs. You know, in middle school, the students could take honors, they could take electives, they could take all these other things. So, the system is already trying to beef up the needed curriculum. So, again, why does how is it a center? It's not like

051elementary school, but again, we're just so missing the conversation. I also think that we're starting to overload the community. We have to remember that some people are unemployed. They're losing their jobs. It's stressful. We're doing this boundary process. Do we really expect that people will come out and be part of yet another engagement process? Not to mention the staff, you know, and I know Dr. you know, wants to commit to doing everything, but I don't think that doing this fast when we've already got the boundaries and Western High School to be decided in Jan by January that we're also going to throw in adding a bunch of AAP centers when again the board has not had a public deliberation with current data and best practices about what is best to provide advanced academic instruction to

052children. We know that the superintendent has a 2E a twice exceptional um group. We have not heard those findings. I'm the leazison to the board's academic advising um the the public committee and they're doing all sorts of information that I know this board has not looked at. So I really urge my colleagues to you know just hold that enthusiasm for just a few weeks more until we get to the boundary phase part and then let's see where things shake out because why not have more career tech programs? Why is AAP any more important than career tech? There's no HVAC system, no HVAC program in the northern part of there's all sorts of things we could ask for. So I will not be voting in favor of this motion. >> Thank you, Miss Maron. Miss Dixit.

053>> So thank you, Mr. McDaniel, for bringing this motion. Uh I'm in support of this uh mostly like factf finding uh trying to find information. I'm open to that. I I also want to see the cost implications um as we are going to be into a little uh tough budget situation. So would be interested to see how much uh of the cost neutral because as uh my my fellow board member said the busing takes a lot of time and also resources. Um there's also other expenses which comes uh with these a centers but there is benefit of that. Uh my my my uh son was in AP center uh but was bit far from the house and they had to stay in the bus for like 30 40 minutes every day both like going to

054school and coming back. So if you had a been in his other school uh it would have been so much easier with 10 minutes ride at the max. So um and the the extracurricular programs I think are offered more at the center schools. So they have more access to those uh competitions and things like that and um it's it thing has opened doors to lot of the students who are not participating in if we have it in all schools. So my uh quote would be to uh definitely figure out how can can we do this and um and I'm open to that proposal to see what uh Dr. Bra Dr. Reed brings it uh to us by March. >> Thank you Mr. Mismer. >> Thank you and I appreciate this conversation. Um, first I want

055to thank the maker. I only want to speak once. Thank the maker. The first motion. Um, I've heard a lot from the Anendville community as well and many of the feeder schools about the importance of an AAP center there. So, thank you for the motion. >> Yeah, I was in the room. Yeah. So, thank you for bringing that. I'm happy to support it. Um, as far as the follow on motion, I'm also happy to support this. I think um there are many many initiatives that we want to do and many good conversations we need to have and we can still have them because this following motion simply asked Dr. Reed to bring back a plan. We will still have to have a conversation about budgetary impacts if any. Um and there's time at that point

056when we have more details what that plan would look like. I for one think it is a great idea to expand access at every middle school to an AAP center. Too often we have children going out of their pyramid for AAP in elementary school, then coming back to their pyramid, others leaving their pyramid. It is it is such a cause of children being in and out of their pyramid, adding to transportation costs, but most importantly impacting a student's ability to maintain those bonds and connections that are so important. And as we've seen over the research over the last 10 years and more starting to recognize the vital importance of the sense of connection and belonging to students academic success. Having said that, one of the things that I felt very important, one of the reasons

057I wanted to be on this board was to expand access to educational opportunities and expand access to help foster student strengths. Those students who have an academic strength and need to be in an academic an AAP center program, a level four center program. deserve to have that at their base school. They shouldn't have to choose between leaving their neighborhood and the academics that they need. And this will allow us to expand that access and remove the barrier. I know too many students who had to choose between providing child care for younger siblings and going to a elementary school. I know too many students who at that critical middle school years had to choose between leaving friends. I know too many families who are juggling two different schedules because of one child. It is really important

058to provide this access and I'm really glad that we're exploring that opportunity. So, thank you to the makers of the motion. I'm happy to support it. >> Mr. Moon. >> Thank Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh thank you, Mr. Thank you, Mr. McDaniel, for bringing up this follow motion. Uh I still do have a couple of questions to ask. I don't know whether it will go to you or Dr. Reed. Uh would you uh Dr. Reed? Perhaps I'll go Dr. You know, if this motion passes, would you interpret this as something that board may want to implement from the August of 2026 and possibly may have to you may have to incorporate in upcoming boundary recommendations, but this is going to affect the enrollment at the middle schools. I do not think that starting bringing a

059plan forward in March um and trying to implement it in August is really five months. It's it's not likely that any plan would be implemented in the fall of 26. There would need to be more thoughtful planning done. So I think at the soonest it could be uh implemented or at least the beginnings of a plan could be implemented in the 27. >> So if this were brought to the board, comprehensive plan were brought to the board in March. If the board gave you full blessing, go with the full force, but you will still not be able to implement that by is that by August of 2020, is that your assessment? >> Yes. because I don't want to give a force message out to public that that with all the boundary discussion going on whether

060this is going to be another big factor into that discussion. So I I haven't begun the planning yet because you haven't voted to direct me to do so. But I I think that it may not be possible to bring every school online even in the same year. You know, we have to be thoughtful about uh any significant change of this magnitude. Um there's a reason likely that this wasn't done a number of years ago, right? So, I I would really want to be thoughtful about planning this and um be thoughtful that whatever I bring you in March, it may be a multi-year phase in plan of bringing all middle schools on board with a program because we want to make sure the program is thoughtful. There are certification requirements for teachers who teach in the

061advanced academic program and there's not we can't just disassemble currents and staff to cover every middle school. So there's some we have to backwards plan, right? Because we want to engineer success for our children and our staff. So I I would predict that whatever plan I bring to you in March would not begin the implementation till the fall of 27 and likely it would not be a fullscale move in the fall of 27. It likely will take several years because we have to build the capacity of our staff to provide the programming in all middle schools. >> Thank you. Thank you for your thoughtful responses. I think that provides a lot of clar clarification to this motion. >> Yes, sir. >> Miss John Kenny. >> Um, thank you. I am really happy to see this

062motion. Um, like many of my colleagues, I believe that every student and all students can raise can can rise to are capable to rise to the level of expectation that is presented to them. Uh, and sometimes that comes at different times and if you are not at a specific center then you may not have that opportunity. Um, I think every every school should be offering advanced academic program. I don't think we should call it a center. It should be just an advanced academic program across the board for middle schools eventually across the board for elementary schools because it does help those students to be in a school that is in their neighborhood. And it also helps them to sometimes be those role models for those kids that are right on that verge of being able

063to advance. And I've seen that happen so many times. But if you segregate those kids out, then that opportunity is lost. Um, and so we are providing academic support for those kids that need it at that level. But there's also leadership opportunities and the development of that child in other capacities that will make them a strong individual uh in helping support other students as well. So this is something that I know will take time and that it does have to be done thoughtfully. Um, but I think it's some we got to start with the first step and we got to start moving there. Um, and I think that eventually we'll get there. But I am really happy to see this because I have seen this work in other schools that become local level fours and

064elementary schools and all of a sudden these kids that would not have gone to the center are taking as advanced classes and that's what we want. We want that opportunity for all our kids. So I'm happy to support this Thank you, Miss Jen Cunning. I'm gonna go ahead and take a turn real fast and we've got some gobacks. Um, the cool part about the implementation of a plan like this means that we don't actually need community engagement because if we offer it at every school, then it's not necessarily talking. The other cool part is that it's not actually going to impact boundaries because you're not moving kids and it doesn't impact capacity the same way. We can actually keep kids in the base school where we expected them to be. So, there are some benefits

065to this um coming up with this plan. I also see a huge this was one of the first conversations I had with Dr. Reed after I came on the board is that I agree wholeheartedly that we need to review our current AAP offerings and figure out what our plan is moving forward. I see this as a best time to plant a tree is 30 years ago or today is that we're just going to get started here and then have that be an give us the ability to open up a larger conversation in the future. So I I wholeheartedly agree with this. Um I also think that this is essential if we're going to um along the path that I hope that we're absolutely going to continue related to TJ admissions is that if we have

066offerings at every school or if we're taking kids from every school, then we need to best prepare them to be successful um in those locations. So, as far as I know, there could potentially also be cost savings related to reducing transportation costs. And in addition, um, I think that because we're we're educating children in classes anyways, it's not necessarily an additional cost in the same way that we would expect because the fact that the students are just identified for a particular class within a school. So, I see nothing but positives here. Um, I do necessarily I absolutely agree that we need to do some work on the back end to make sure that we are still headed in the direction that we want to be headed in. But I think that this is just a

067along that path. So, I'm in support. Um, we're moving on to go back with Miss Lady. >> So, just a couple points of clarification. I was referencing um when kids travel sort of as a pod that is the AAP court cohort in an AAP center. Um, I'm not a huge fan of that. I do believe um in the high school model that uh it might be that kids take everything at the advanced level, but it might be that they don't. Um, but we need high academic expectations of all learners. I do think this is going to be cost neutral or save money. Um because as my colleague referenced, transportation is going to change. I think at present I have kids who could walk to Hernand middle but they are on a bus to go to

068Hughes. Um so these kinds of things will change. Um and in terms of boundaries you're going to your neighborhood school. Um I also agree I think people need to fully understand this is a plan that Dr. Reed's going to bring. It's going to be a scaffolded uh implementation because it takes time. Um and the other As I was at Marshall High School, we transitioned from AP to IB. And the IB training the theory is that, you know, if you teach IB, you teach standard. And so the more teachers we get trained in advanced academics that also teach standard kids, the better the teaching is across the board. Uh again, the more PD we can get for teachers and more enhances so it's in their toolkit. Um but I think it's important people to understand um

069that that would be my vision and it was when I was working to build a master schedule, I didn't want someone teaching just AP. Um, I liked people teaching AP, but I liked them teaching some courses scaffolded at different levels. And I think it's important. I think it helps our kids and I think it helps um the teaching that's taking place. So, um, again, just wanted, you know, and and ultimately we would lose the term center. You would just go to your middle school um because that's would have all the programming that you need. Um, I think it's time that we we start making neighborhood schools have all the program that our kids need uh instead of taking them away from their neighborhood schools because of a program that's that they don't have. Um so

070again, I'm very excited about this motion, but do understand that this is going to take some time. Uh and I'll be patient in that process. >> Thank you, Miss Lady. Mr. I I just wanted to highlight I I love this uh as as a template for future um issues that we come across that we want to address whether it's world languages or CTE programs or other things because this is all about establishing a plan having the board review the plan and then executing against the plan for a number of years. And as I talked at Nauseium at the last board meeting I really like plans because plans, you know, it's just a bunch of people going in different directions. So, a plan is something that you can put on paper, you can publish to the

071public and then hold uh FCPS accountable to accountable to over over a number of years and perhaps over a number of superintendents um because sometimes progress takes a very long time. Uh I think this is great and and I hope this does become a model for other uh advances progress that we're looking to make in order to ensure universal access uh equal access to programming uh no matter what high school pyramid or what neighborhood you live in. >> Thank you, Mr. D. Miss Mayor. >> So again, I support expanding access to opportunities. I also support planning out the work and the resources to make that happen. Um, you know, in the near future, reviewing the calendar ahead leading up to March 2026, we have the boundary work scheduled to complete in January 26, the Western

072High School programming. At the same time, I just got word that our joint facility review committee of which myself and another member on with the board of supervisors, a new committee that is tasked with finding budget savings on our facilities, that's going to start um at the end of October. And there's like five or six meetings between then and March that are going to need our staff in budget, facilities, and um operations to help us make the best case to the board of supervisors about where we can find savings. That's going to take a lot of work. And we have a companion committee on technology. We are also going to be developing the budget which again last year included no new investments um and developing the comprehensive um the capital improvement program general assembly advocacy.

073So you know we had conversations about expanding world language and we could have all the best ideas but if we don't have money and time we are really just it's not going to happen. So I'm concerned that this is putting forth a new initiative. when the superintendent last year presented in her budget a budget without any new initiatives and we didn't get $120 million and now we're approving a new initiative with zero dollars attached to this I heard more training for PD looking at international baloria as a model wonderful program very expensive we're going to need time and by the way all of our elementary school teachers they're still learning how to implement the brand new reading program that is in year two um So, you know, we need to do the work to get

074the money. Sorry, I didn't mean to do that, but we just I just don't understand how we're going to do this well. And again, the best practice is not to create centers from what I understand because I haven't been publicly briefed about it. >> Thank you, Miss Maron. I will call for a vote on the motion, which will momentarily be on the screen. All those in favor, Mr. McDaniel, Mr. Mavine, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismheiser, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, Mr. Fresh, and myself. Those opposed, Miss Marin. Will the clerk please read the vote? >> The votes 111. The motion carries. >> Thank you. Agenda item 7.01, 1 performance review instructional program EL9 monitoring report. Each year, the school board assesses the superintendent in part on the basis of

075the school division's reasonable progress towards achieving the 2023 to 30 strategic plan goals and adherence to a set of 13 executive limitations found on pages 14 through 31 of the board strategic governance manual. The superintendent provides annual monitoring reports to the board for the each executive limitation. The board on whether the provided report is in compliance or if corrective action is needed. I call on Dr. Reed for a monitoring report on executive limitation 9 instructional program. So, thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board and public. As the chair just mentioned, I'll be presenting executive limitation 9, which discusses the instructional program here in FCPS. So, um paraphrasing this evening, the uh Um, executive limitation nine talks about maintaining a program of instruction for all students uh within the division strategic plan goals. And at

076the time of this report to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief, I've gathered information and evidence that I believe supports compliance with the board's executive limitation associated with this topic and would like to share some highlights this evening. There are currently 11 areas of executive limitation 9. On the slide before you, we have items one through five. And on the second slide, we have items 6 through 11. And for those watching at home, the entire monitoring report is attached to uh board docs and feel free to follow along. This evening I will highlight some of the newly added or updated areas of executive limitation 9. So um one of the things we looked at uh on May 22nd 2025 budget followon motion update uh wanted to provide an update on that is uh

077it was an opportunity to report back in this executive limitation and that was the request. So as you see in the chart um the both the elementary special education department and a s remained level um this school year. So the um follow on motion update uh generates uh information that was consistent with the board uh direction. On the next slide, uh under new and newly added information, we have some updates regarding our work around inclusion. And again, there's a lot in the report that's not new or updated, but that we consistently But these are new year overyear. We continue to partner with our inclusion experts to support schools as we identify areas of growth. Um this work includes improvements to the IEP process, our staffing models to remove systemic barriers to inclusion and having a

078series of asynchronous professional development modules on inclusive practices for all staff. some of which will be rolled out I believe later next month uh in October which is our division professional development day in January. The superintendent's advisory committee for twice exceptional programming was launched and that was a new uh committee last year. The committee is working on reviewing current structures and practices that impact our twice exceptional learners and offering recommendations at increasing access and development of unique programming for our twice exceptional students. One of the um outcomes of that group was also information that was handed out at back to school nights this evening or this evening this fall um for back to school nights as well as um creating definitions and a framework that will build on the twice exceptional handbook that uh was

079developed several years ago. Another bit of new or newly added information were the secondary grading and reporting guidelines that were updated for school year 2526. Um the FCPS learning model which represents the instructional vis vision for best practices in teaching and learning. And this model was updated uh over uh last year's to match up and align with our strategic plan goals as well as teacher evaluation performance standards. Uh the basil resources that were purchased last year were new kindergarten through sixth grade and will be continued to be used and our English language development common assessments will be fully implemented this school year and these help us monitor our multilingual learner student progress. Um those are all new uh pieces in our instructional programming. Another section of new or newly added information. Um staff is working

080to develop a plan for expanding our CTS programming and services, our career and transition support programming and services. Um as we've noted, we've expanded access to algebra 1 and sixth grade this year. Um and we continue to enroll more students in algebra 1 by 8th grade with the same very high algebra 1 pass rates in grades six through eight as you've seen previously. Um we're also uh just really excited about the opportunity um to provide these um opportunities for our learners at uh as we shared in previous academic matters. Our algebra power up which occurred during the summer for the first time this year combined our AVID um strategies with a transition into algebra 1 for 8th grade and middle school. And finally, to support learning over the summer, we created a summer learning resources

081web page for families who have students currently in grades K through six. Um, one of the things we're working on right now is making sure that our younger students are able to take their devices home more regularly. Uh, that way they spend less time on screen in the classroom. and if they want to use uh screen time for support at home um that is preferable at this point as well as making sure next summer those will be accessible to students uh to take home for the summer to match our resources online. So at this time madam chair this concludes the summary of the monitoring report for executive limitation 9. I want to add one point just at the end um because this is our instructional executive limitation. And I want to make sure that the

082board knows that I'll be drafting and bringing for your consideration an increase in our graduation requirements around mathematics as part of an instructional program strategy which would start with next year's 7th grade class. But I do think we need to think about uh requiring algebra trig as a graduation requirement. A number of majority of other states already require that. Virginia does not. But it is a key skill set for our students to have that level of mathematic understanding when they leave Fairfax County Public Schools. Uh for trade and technical school, it's a necessity to pass apprenticeship exams. It's a necessity. It's the foundation on which the SAT exams are written. Um it's a gatekeeping course for many chemistry and physics courses. So I think that even if our state is not requiring it as a

083graduation requirement, it's I think plausible that we join 40 other states in this country and require it here in Fairfax County Public Schools. So I'll be drafting that with our instructional services team um with a phase in approach because we want to make sure our students are aware of the um requirement in plenty of time to be able to um complete that requirement. So, Madam Chair, thank you for the opportunity to present EL9. >> Thank you, Dr. Reed. I now call on Miss Dixit for a motion. I move that the school board finds that the superintendent is in compliance with executive limitation number nine, instructional program. I further move that the school board approve the monitoring report based on the super reasonable interpretation of executive limitation number nine instruction program as outlined in the strategic

084governance manual. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. McDaniel. Miss Dixet, would you like to speak to your motion? >> Um, I would just like to say that Dr. uh read um you know the algebra in u you know 8th grade is u it's a step in the right direction but what you envision is actually the trig and algebra is the graduation um I totally agree full 100% uh we are in that competitive world right now our students are going to be facing a lot more challenges and you know just to get a decent job and with with the changing environment so uh I think it's uh it's amazing and I I definitely uh would like to see this moving forward. >> Yeah, thank you Miss Dixs. I the current research

085says math limits 84% of your career choices and algebra trig is a cornerstone of that and if our students are completing algebra in eighth grade geometry in ninth that gives them three years still to right you could be in algebra by 10. So I think it's a very reasonable requirement as long as we start with a phase in. >> Mr. McDaniel, would you like to speak to your second? >> Just that, you know, we're this board is getting to the point where we're about going to be halfway through our term. And I'm speaking for myself, I know when I get to the end of my term, I want to look back and really be able to point to instances where we keep raising the bar of academic expectations. And that's really what this e what

086I really focus on with this e. It just happened that this EL came tonight after the previous conversation that we just had. It was totally random. Um, but you've been very consistent at raising the bar on academics across the entire division. So, happy to second and support. >> Miss Mr. Jud, >> thank you. Um, can you provide more information on the current status of the implementation of the science of reading the benchmark uh literacy curriculum? Sure. Um we continue actually it's year two of the basil curriculum and our elementary team has been working really hard. Uh the reading plans also which are a requirement. Um I think the state requires those K8 and Fairfax County requires those to be added for the 9th through 12th graders. uh because we know that not every student benefited

087from the early literacy curriculum work and the science of reading because it's a very recent initiative in the last several years. Um our elementary staff have I think this year seen the the year two of the curriculum is much smoother. I think teachers have become more comfortable with it and students are more comfortable knowing the routines because they've had a year of practice of those routines uh prior to the next year. Um, so we're excited about some of the progress and as you recall, Mr. Dunn, last year was the first year we had multilingual student paired materials for literacy, which we've never had in the division previously. And so that's a body of work that our multilingual staff in concert with our general education staff um have really done a fabulous job of learning how

088to um braid that into our literacy work. So, we're hoping for much stronger data this year um because it, you know, it's brand new last year. So, we're really hoping to see uh some growth this year. >> That's great. Um can you advise like what level of complaints you've received about the benchmark curriculum? I've received a few, but certainly not the same volume as last year. >> So, I think that we have students at times that have said that it's not the most exciting literature, and I would probably agree. Um it's uh teaching um reading right and writing. It's also requiring a lot more writing than we had traditionally been doing. Uh which I really appreciate. Um I think where we as staff I think have uh one year of its use. I I think

089there's a lot it's a lot smoother than it originally was. So I think I've received fewer concerns um about it this year. And I also want to note that there is no perfect curriculum, right? That uh they're going to be we hope children are reading at home, that they're utilizing our public libraries um and our school libraries. Our librarians work really hard to make sure we have books that are high interest for children. So if they're not seeing some of the literature and the benchmark that might, you know, spark that curiosity that they'll find those books in our libraries. Um I think we have some of the best librarians in the country. Um, and I've seen some of the book collections and they're amazing. So, I think there's always a balance. Uh, but I haven't

090heard as many concerns uh this year as I did last year. I agree with you. >> Um, can can you advise I I know that there was some discussion in past board meetings about um introducing a new math curriculum that might I don't think it's called the science of math, but is do you have plans or are you already implementing a new math curriculum in our elementary schools? >> We are still in that selection process. We're piloting a few uh different curricula. We know that a high quality curriculum is critical. We have to have that. Um and I I know there's not a science of math, but I'm going to share that direct explicit instruction of mathematics is just as important as direct explicit instruction of literacy. So, I think there's a high need for

091our young learners to master basic math facts. um because your ability to have fluent numeracy is important uh just as fluency in reading is important. So um more to come on a new math curriculum but uh we should have something on board for the fall um of 26. >> For those new math curricula are you looking at um best practices from Finland, Singapore, South Korea, countries that have you know high achievement and and math outcomes? I know the committee is looking at a lot of those uh at the best practice for sure and researchbased strategies. I know that the TIMS report which is the international report on math and science one of the um issues they continue to raise year after year with the United States is how much review we do. We tend to

092review more than most other countries. So that often as our children get older, our scores become less and less competitive. Um, so I think what we want to do is make sure that whatever curriculum we select that um, you know, that we're able to minimize some of the reviewing because the new content in mathematics is also very important to get to. >> Um, I I I met with uh an elementary school uh, leadership recently and they mentioned that they had lost um, seven instructional staff as a result of the budget cuts last year that were mentioned early in your report. Um some of those were classroom monitors, some of them were um you know positions lost due to the tradeoffs to maintain right the art uh full-time and the sped share and I just wanted

093to ask you know we're we're asking in that context for that school and other schools in a similar position for them to achieve the same mission with you know seven people is a lot right um in an elementary school that's fairly small um how you know is is there anything that we can do to to bolster staffing right within the limits of of our budget to enable um you know elementary schools to have the resources they need because among the challenges are that you'll have a part-time art or full-time art doing you know the the young scholars and many other missions and it's just not and each of those missions is is is a full person right so how can we you know make sure that we keep on track especially with advanc advanced math

094and other important kind of divisionwide goals if if we're asking them to to um we're not cutting back the requirements, right? But we're we are cutting back the staff. >> So, I think that that's something we're going to have to look at in our upcoming budget discussions is how we allocate staff and the I think we clearly need to make sure that um our classrooms are focused on first, right? Um, but I think that's a definite conversation we're going to have to have with the budget moving forward when we're not fully funded. It creates a situation that results in tough choices. >> And I I think in in the current budget environment, we we can't expect more money um given the cuts to Medicaid and other federal programs that is going to just put a

095huge hole in the state budget. So I I just ask, you know, not to come up with any solutions off the cuff, but definitely for us to think about how to be more efficient or make sure that we are um adjusting the requirements um at the school-based level if if we're not providing them all all the staff rather than stretching staff then and asking them to meet unrealistic objectives. Um can you talk more about what we're doing to help students who are falling behind? I mean, we've we've talked in the past about the Spring Sprouts program, which is a great program, but as we've also talked about, that mainly helps the school in terms of um reducing the chronic absenteeism, but it doesn't necessarily catch up the student in terms of learning. And I do

096worry about students who fall behind that we don't necessarily have a system to bring them back up onto grade level. So, is is is there a plan since I like plans that could be developed in a system that could be implemented or considered or thought about to to help students who do fall behind or who may arrive at FCPS's door already behind and and and and there might not be the resources especially at the middle school and high school level to get them back up to speed. >> Yes, sir. So, one of the plans that we did have um was our high impact tutoring and that's really garnered um some very positive results. I just saw a note this evening. Um Miss Lemon, do you want to just share quickly if you can bring that

097email up? I think you were copied on it. While Miss Lemon brings that email up, I think we did have a comprehensive divisionwide plan for high impact tutoring. And I'd like her to share uh the data and kind of give me the sign when you're ready. >> I'm ready. All right. Let's hear it. >> So for 2024 2025, students who did not receive tutoring in reading averaged a a sixpoint increase on their SOS and students who did receive tutoring from our All-In Virginia high impact tutoring program, they averaged 14 points increase. And then with mathematics, again, students who did not receive tutoring, they did an average of eight uh point growth. and students who were participating in the tutoring did a plus 15. So really supported the acceleration that we were looking to get. >>

098So our high impact tutoring plan worked. Uh however that money is no longer in the budget. So we're going to have to look at how that plan came to be and how we might otherwise fund and support that work because we know it works. the importance of getting fully funed. >> Thank you, Mr. Dunn. That was your time. I can put you on a go back. Dr. Anderson, >> I'm very glad to follow that high impact tutoring because as I reviewed my notes from last year, that was one of the questions that I had asked. What is the impact of the high impact tutoring? And so, thank you for sharing that. And it would be great if that was just embedded in here as well. >> We just got the note tonight. >> You just

099got it tonight. Okay. I believe it just came in like two hours ago is what I saw. >> It wasn't in time. Um just kind of going through what is here. If you could speak a little bit more clearly to the um strategy of homework that you've outlined on page two, I believe of the report where you're talking about homework and the grading of homework. I I want to be sure that community and staff are clear on what those expectations are because I know we've had much more uh extensive discussions about it which might be helpful for all to hear. >> Yes, ma'am. Uh we did reinstitute or reinforce the idea of homework and um I'm just trying to pull up my page here real quick. Um, and I think that it's a critical um,

100skill set for our young people to learn at, and the younger the age that that behavior is practiced, the better. Uh, I don't know about the rest of you, but I take things home still uh, to work on on occasion. And it's it's something that's an important really executive functioning skill we're looking for among our youngest learners and our middle and high school students. Um, we put some guard rails around the expectation, which is we should never have homework that is anything other than practicing something that's already been taught. In other words, it's an opportunity to practice a skill that's already been presented, modeled, practiced, and worked on in a class. Um, it also can be used for reading at elementary. I think that children become better readers when they read more. Um, there's a

101lot of research around that. Um, we know that fine and performing arts students often are asked to practice instruments at home or uh practice lines or moves. Um, we know that uh many student athletes practice some kind of a sport or activity outside the school day. Uh, it's a natural part really of learning and growth. Not all learning happens directly in the classroom. So, we want to recognize that effort as well. and recognizing that effort within our formative grading structure made the most sense. Um, so I know that there's, you know, a little back and forth right now because parents are busy and so forth. And I'm going to say really that, um, it's really something that we expect students should be able to manage even if parents are busy, right? that this is a

102skill we hope um and expect that our that our young um middle and high school students are able to complete homework as a part of a of a learning experience here with us. >> Sure. Absolutely. Can you speak to the point regarding equity because there's conversations that if a student has maybe Mr. Dunn as the parent, they're going to go home and review everything. It's going to come back 100% correct. And if a student happen to have me as a parent and I'm busy doing other things and they don't have that additional support, how are we addressing that piece which I know is a high concern for many communities? >> So many of our parents who are the busiest parents um have said they want their students to have homework because they want them to

103have an opportunity to practice skills. uh whether they're working, you know, two or three jobs or taking care of other family members. But there's a I think we make a lot of assumptions about what families do or don't want in terms of homework or rigor for their students. And I I think that in the parent groups and I meet with many many different parents across the division each year. Um there's really a hope that they are able to see what their students are working on and can partner with their children to be successful in school. for those students who have less uh adult support when they get home. Again, the expectation is that homework is not new learning, but it's practice of learning that's already occurred in the classroom. >> And there they won't necessarily

104be penalized for not being 100% correct, but rather the effort of completing the work would be the focus. >> That's correct. In particular, reading logs, right? There's I don't know how you incorrectly read for 20 minutes unless you just don't do it. Um but you know we have like I said fabulous library collections to enable um access uh to high quality literature for our children um for our music program. You know I've kind of stated that but it's not intended to be a gotcha or a penalty. It's intended to be something that builds strong healthy habits for our young people. >> A habit of mine. Thank you. Um last year when we completed this I also a asked questions regarding rigor how that would be measured and to ensure consistency across the division one of

105the things one of the strategies that you shared that would be utilized are the common assessments right >> please provide an update of that how is that going what is that showing because I don't see that being reflective here >> yes ma'am and that is critical because we heard some concerns that if we're in a certain part of the county a particular math class was not as rigorous as in another part of the county. And we want to dispel those uh rumors and concerns because we believe that we have high rigorous instruction across all schools in the county and should be accessible to all children. Um as far as an update on the common assessment initiative, I'm going to call on Miss Lemon. I know you've been very involved in that. Do you have a

106minute or two just to kind of where are we with that and what are we expecting as a result of that? Sure. We are having windows for uh common assessments for different subject levels and then we have reporting out to the regions and the schools who's participated in those common assessments during that window and then schools have the ability to uh really work together to kind of benchmark one another and to work with their regions. And it also supports our team in resources and seeing what schools might need additional supports and resources to ensure that you know children are growing and moving. We also have it on our dashboard >> and I would love to see that of course is that something that you can share with us again that doesn't have to be entire

107dashboard but a screenshot because I would let love to get a sense of what is happening with those common assessments because I I believe from what Miss Lemon just shared. Are they optional because you said some schools have completed them and some schools have not. Can you speak to that? >> There the common assessments are not optional. There's just a window. So there's a window for which the school can choose to take the test. >> Okay, thank you for that. So what are we finding? Where are we having great success and consistency across the division and where do we have more work to do? >> So I would want to before I speak publicly about that go back to the dashboard and be very clear about that. Um but I'm happy to provide in an

108upcoming Friday letter a static point in time uh picture from the dashboard. >> Yes, that would be very much appreciated. Yes ma'am. >> Um, one of the things I also noticed here is a professional development regarding um, rolling gradebook which I think is important because I don't think we have had um, fidelity with utilizing rolling gradebook and with its intent. It's just been something that we say but it hasn't had the um, the provisions behind it. But what I did not see is what is going to be provided for the middle schools that are still using rolling gradebook because we have high school courses, high school credit courses happening at the middle school level which will follow those students and on their um transcripts. Can you speak to that a little bit please? >> Yeah,

109the we did not want to add one more thing to middle school teachers this year. So we are not doing any requirement to use a particular grade book at middle school at this time. if they are teaching high school courses, I believe that's where they work with their high school colleagues, but I'll turn to Dr. Prescidio because um the rolling grade book is an anomaly to me uh here. So, I'll have Dr. Prescidio talk about it. >> Yeah. So, um I think as Dr. Reed already mentioned, the focus for rolling gradebook implementation divisionwide um is for high schools in school year 2627. Um, and that came out of the work that uh the board did last December passing the new grading and reporting policy, wanting to get consistency with practices. But as Dr. Reid mentioned,

110we're starting with high schools in 2627. So those are the teachers that we're focusing on with coaching, support, professional development. Um, individuals at the middle school level can choose based on conversations with their administrative team whether or not to use a rolling grade book. Some were previously, um, some were not. So, if teachers need help with anything, um whether it's technical setup of a rolling gradebook and the student information system or best practices, uh we're more than happy to provide um on-site support, but we're not doing any coordinated professional development for middle schools because we want them focused on some of the other priorities like uh algebra by 8th grade. >> Sure. Absolutely. And I don't disagree with giving them the opportunity to focus on some of their priorities, but there is a gap. there

111is a gap because we do have a number of teachers at that level who are using the role in grade book which may not be to students advantages without the proper training. I'll take go back please. >> Thank you Dr. Anderson. Um Mr. Moon. >> Thank you madam chair. Just uh Dr. Reed, thank you for the presentation. Have a few questions regarding bas resources. I'm looking at your report page number four at the bottom. I think we all do remember that adoption of social studies based resources was postponed or delay being delayed due to the budget adjustments we had to make. Uh and so schools I guess teachers are purchasing one year digital subscriptions. Is that >> actually the division purchased one year digital >> division? Okay. >> Which is what we had the year

112before. >> Whether that actually resulted in savings. >> We believe it was far less expensive than ordering the basil. I don't know exactly what the numbers were, but I know >> the point of this was not to purchase. >> Correct. >> Uh spend more money. So, >> uh Dr. Presidio, do you have a cost for the digital subscriptions for one year? No, not off the top of my head, but I'd be happy to get that >> part of your Friday memo and and also uh since couple of colleagues already mentioned about you know budget another difficult budget year uh what impacts would not having a page of resources adopted for another year, how would that impact us in teaching and learning >> in social studies >> or or any any basil resources. >> Well, I

113think that right now um the um the lack of basil resources in mathematics will continue to be problematic for our ability um to provide the best math experience possible. Uh that's consistent. We talk often about being a school system and not a system of schools and having a basil curriculum. I think Mr. Melbine and I I was trying to remember on the first day of school or maybe it was the second we were going through classrooms and actually at different schools and very much so saw very similar um content in our literacy uh curriculum not you know in a pragmatic way but we were able to see concepts taught across grade levels which is what a school system has. And when you have that level of basic curriculum, you have that ability to see that

114across an entire county. So I think, you know, we've we've waited one year for math. We postponed social studies. I don't think we can do both in the same year. Uh so social studies may flip behind math. Um but uh that's in a budget that's as tight as ours right now. I think we're going to have to make choices that are difficult. I mean, we're not we're not, you know, deliberating budget right now, but we're not if it comes to that, if it comes to that, >> that I'm I'm hoping that we have a plan to be able to provide the support the students and teachers deserve. Uh with that said, I another question that I have is the very last sentence on the same page uh at the bottom is schools have the options

115to purchase additional print textbooks. So are you are you implying that all the schools have nec necessary resources to purchase additional print textbooks? So there's a longstanding tradition here which um I think I learned about in my second year here where we don't buy textbooks for every student at the secondary level but if schools want to like there is an adopt well I'm going to let Dr. Prescidio explain it because you're uh the one that explained it to me as I was asking a lot of questions. So Dr. Presidio, the long-standing instructional services. >> Yeah, the the short answer to to this is this particular sentence is meant to indicate that if a school was short a number of needed textbooks, hard copy textbooks that they would use their instructional supply allocation that they get

116to purchase those additional textbooks. So, for example, maybe they have an increase in student enrollment. Maybe some of the textbooks were lost or damaged over the last seven years of the adoption cycle. That's why we provide the schools with those sightbased funds to be able to make those purchases. We just wanted everybody to know given the fact that we delayed the the new adoption of materials that we extended the contract so that we could purchase new print materials as well as digital materials off that contract. You know what I'm trying to get at is whether you see a a you know among among different scores wide different practices of purchasing putting copies. >> No, that that's not been the case. We've always whenever we've done an adoption, we've given clear guidance about the expectation and

117different times it's been different. Sometimes it was there needed to be just a class set of hard copy materials and students could check those out if they needed to check them out and take them home. Other adoptions we did class sets and then individual copies for students. And the the major difference of why we've done it differently at different years is how much funding we had available to purchase the materials. So >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Moon. U Missheiser, >> thank you. And um first I just wanted to pass on a compliment. I know the look on our face that I heard from two E families as they started the school year and they got an email from the AERT to the two E families specifically saying please let us know how

118I can help you. I'm here to support your student. And they were very pleasantly surprised and happy because I think it was the first time they felt acknowledged in that way. At least that's what some of them shared with me. So I wanted to pass that on to your team that the efforts are being seen and felt. I know sometimes the good stuff doesn't get passed down. So I wanted to pass it to you. Um I am very excited about this report. I think we're doing a lot of really good things. Um a couple things when we talk about the basil curriculum to pick up from my colleague on social studies. I think it's important as we're moving into as budget chair as we're moving into the budget season. You know, and I had a

119brief conversation with Miss Burton about this earlier about talking about what the impact last year was on the things that we couldn't do and what that means and how the, you know, the literacy basil curriculum for example that the board funded a few years ago and the impact that has made right and the impact of having to delay the social curriculum and perhaps delayed even longer depending on where our budget situation falls. I just think that knowledge is power. So, I think that is important. Um, I am thrilled about the algebra work that we're doing and the early math work we're doing. Um, and I'm thrilled about the literacy work that we started before that. I still have the question around literacy work that's come up before for the students who didn't benefit from the

120science of reading, the ones in middle and high school. I had three meetings today with special education families and this came up for some of our students with dyslexia who are now in high school but still behind in reading level. So I would encourage you, you don't need an answer today. I would encourage you and your staff to think about especially those who are behind into later grades as what are we doing to target interventions for them. I understand that some of the budget, you know, we don't have the high impact tutoring, but there are students who missed out on that. So that's the first thing I would encourage you to look at. Um I still think that there's room for understanding about dyslexia and how it how it manifests. And and it's great that

121we're talking about textbooks and books. So, we got to make sure in our language that we speak that we don't unintentionally make someone feel bad if they're an audio book or they're a different type of learner. And I think there's a little bit of that happening from what I'm hearing from families. So, I think it's important to talk about access to, you know, all of these materials, not necessarily reading. So, that is the first thing I would mention. Um, I think obviously reading is very important, but however people can learn is the important thing to mention. Um, I am very happy to see this work on inclusion. As we've talked about before, the um the data is clear and the research is clear around these models. Um I will say in some my meetings today,

122there is still some concern about the fidelity of implementation of IEP processes and IEP goals in general. So I would encourage you, I'm glad that we're making improvements on the IEP process, but I'd encourage you to look at improvements on fidelity of implementation. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Heisaris. Miss St. John Cunning. >> Thank you. Um I wish the I I encourage the public to go and look at the report because it does have a lot more information and I'm just going to refer to a couple of pages here. Um, first of all, great that high school instructional staff are getting that professional development on the rolling grade book, but just for clarification purposes, can you explain that to our public because I think some people don't know what that means. >>

123Yes, ma'am. I'm going to have Dr. Prescidio explain it. >> So, a rolling grade book differs from a traditional grade book. Um, and I think most of us when we went to school probably were on a traditional grade book that at the end of a quarter or at the end of a semester, the grading window would close and you would have whatever grade you had for that term and then the next term would start over fresh and you would earn a new grade and then at the end of the year all those grades would be averaged together. A rolling grade book stays open from the first day of school till the last day of school. And it gives the opportunity for students um to make up work um that maybe they didn't master um you

124know the month previously or the quarter or semester previously. So it gives them more opportunities to demonstrate mastery. And you know one of the things that we've found that our our teachers and our administrators really advocate for is that we believe that all of our students are capable of achieving at the highest standards. But we know that learning sometimes it takes a different amount of time for you know different individuals. So the rolling gradebook gives students that flexibility that if they didn't master something in the first quarter but they did it in second quarter that their grade doesn't have to be averaged against their performance from a prior quarter. Now they've been able to demonstrate it they can get credit for that and they can continue to move on. So that's the main difference with

125the rolling grade book. And then there's you know technical things with the setup and everything but that's the main difference. >> Thank you. And then um on page five, Dr. Reed, can you speak a little bit about the summer learning resource web page that you provided for families because I think that was a great resource and I really love that it was provided in different languages. >> Yes, ma'am. That was a new initiative uh this past summer and we hope to build on that for the coming summer. Um but it's really an opportunity for children not to lose a lot of the gains they'd made during the school year. There's a term summer slide that's often attributed to uh students learning uh their grade level material and then leaving school for six to eight weeks

126and then coming back and not maybe remembering everything. So, we want to make sure and next summer as well, we're going to be building out those resources and making sure that our children are able to take a device home over the summer if their family chooses to and be able to access those resources to maintain um at least in the core academic areas uh an opportunity to practice over the summer. What we discover, I think, and what research tells us is one of the most important resources we have is time. And so how we choose to use time um either during the school days, before and after school, summers, weekends, breaks um can make all the difference for children that are either behind or children uh that have a desire to explore new content. Um

127we're really examining all the ways in which we can use time differently. >> Thanks. I love that. And then, okay, page seven and eight, world languages. I think there's some really um I just would like for you to speak to the cohort of the students that earned the seals of biiteracy because I just think that's pretty amazing. >> So, we're really excited about that. um the opportunity to earn a seal of biiteracy really recognizes our multilingual students in particular for their strengths um and not seeing being multilingual as a challenge as much as it is a strength and I had a good time even our student um board member um Faith which she's was at sack this week I asked the sack group like how many of the uh students in the room spoke more

128than one language and it was easily twothirds of the students in the room. And I think we need to recognize that many of our young people do speak multiple languages and that is a strength. So um I I think that the opportunity and the promotion of the seal of biiteracy is something we're going to continue. >> Yeah. So, just for the record, 4,041 of our students uh received the Virginia Seal of by Literacy, and that's an award that's made by the State Department of Education, and that's I think that's pretty impressive. Um, >> yeah, over 4,000. I think it's incredible. Um, so thank you for noting that. I'll make sure the team is aware of that. >> Um, and again, these are all things that, you know, were in the report and were not in

129the presentation. Um, the question I was going to ask you is, you know, the success rate that we've seen with that, you know, high impact tutor tutoring and how we could expand and support that and the fact that there's no funding. Um, I'll I'll just go a I mean, if you could just read some of the statistics, it's on page 15. um in terms of what the impact was and their annual typical growth because that's very impressive. So I'm going to um on page 15 of the report um and this was the all-in Virginia funding which we were actually very grateful for and made extraordinary use of. So, we did have um not sure which data you want to prefer that I read. Uh but we did do in-person tutoring. We had over 10,000 students

130that were um tutored. Um of those who participated in the reading tutoring, 38.9 passed their reading so with an average growth of 14 points from the prior year, which I think um is really an extraordinary growth point uh for our young students. And the math again, they had an average growth of 15 points from last year's math so on average students in grades three through eight who were below grade level in reading and received high impact tutoring made 134% progress to their annual typical growth. Um which um that's incredible. Um, and on average, elementary students in grades three through six who were below grade level in math and received high impact tutoring made 114% progress in their annual typical growth as well as um close to 4,3,953 students or 41.61% that receive tutoring had fewer

131absences this year compared to last year. I think it matters when students feel like there's, you know, that level of support. Um, because we're often drawn to something, we're motivated by doing something that feels good. And when you're tutored and feel like you have more of a mastery and you're confident, more confident as a learner, I think it's easier to show up, right, every day. So, it it's really um shared some definitely positive uh data for us. I just think that this is the kind of thing that we have to highlight to our funders and say we have seen and we have the data that shows this works but right now we don't have funding for it. So if we want to continue to be the stellar school system that we are we need to

132be able to fund this programming. Um, then finally, I would like to you to speak a little bit along kind of the same trajectory, but this is on page 17, the Twilight Program, because I think that's also really important for some of our older students, particularly some of the kids at work. Yes, ma'am. Uh so the Twilight program really is a flexible credit recovery program and uh it supports students on-time graduation and we had 12 high schools participate this year serving 344 students which marked a 29% increase over the previous year. of the students involved, 95% were either promoted or graduated because of their coursework and this achieved the primary goals of the program wherein 426 courses were completed over the 12 high schools. >> Thank you. I think I could probably point to a

133lot more, but those were the few that I just really wanted the public to to hear and to listen to see the success that we are um reaching and thanks to the hard work of all of the staff in our system. So thank you for highlighting that. >> Yes ma'am. >> Mix it. >> Dr. Reed, I just have a quick remark or maybe you need uh get your feedback. U you know AI is in everything and it's everyday life. Um how's FCPS planning to incorporate AI for uh instruction design and um also uh preparing our students for that future? Well, so I'm really excited to share that we're going to be doing a presentation for the board on October 7th at our work session uh on AI and really an evening November 3rd. I think

134we finally settled on uh that is we're titling meeting the moment, right? uh we feel like we um are really needing to involve our community um in shaping the direction that we want to take with AI as we move forward and also level setting so we have a communitywide understanding of what we're talking about when we're talking about AI because it's become I think such a common term that I sometimes feel like I have one like bubble over my head about what I think it is but you might have a different bubble But we're sort of talking like we're talking about the same thing. So I think the work session is going to be an opportunity to level set uh where we are as a school division and then the community evening is an opportunity

135to bring our community to the table and talk about how we shape our future uh for our 22nd century skills. We also have a strong partnership with ISTY the international society for technology and education. Uh Richard Colada is the CEO. They've partnered with ACSD, ASCD, >> ACD, >> ACSD, and uh so we're very excited about that partnership. We kicked off the third cohort of our Lighthouse Schools um earlier this week and you'll hear more about that partnership and what AI looks like um in that, but we're very excited about uh planning forward in that uh space. >> Thank you. Mr. Dunford, go back. >> I I love the conversation about AI, although I've been somewhat skeptical about AI generally, but I wanted to just bring your attention to a new study that was published um

136on September 16th by Google. And the whole concept is learn your way is what they call it, and it's personalized learning. And it's actually the first usage of um gender of AI. and I'll circulate the uh the PDF uh report um to you, but it's um not just theoretical. They actually put together personalized um content through their generative AI platform, Gemini, and then they went out and had it tested by independent experts, which I think is exciting because they could take a single textbook, which is, you know, locked in stone once it's printed, right? once it's published and they could from that um through the AI drive content for different grade levels based on that single point of contact and um also adapt it to different learning styles. So if you're an auditory learner, if

137you're a visual learner, if you're a kinesthetic learner, they could adapt it just through this generative AI. And I think that is so powerful because that for me represents the most transformational application of AI that that I've seen outside of perhaps uh the medical and scientific fields. And I think um that really could um help us to ensure that every child is getting the individualized support they need with the support of this robust platform. Obviously with the um oversight and assistance of a of a in-person human teacher because that those human social connections are what guide the learning process. But um I I do hope that FCPS being a leader in the AI uh in education field already will will actively look at this um and since it already has a a partnership to some

138degree with Google build on that and and see if we can uh pilot it to some extent. >> Yes sir. I I know we're taking a look at that as well as Konameo. We've looked at that um and those follow into the high impact tutoring ideas uh without sort of the human that is part of the uh process but definitely opens up doors for us for our multilingual students as well as students who just need the personalized support plan >> and I think that's really all students these days you know I think everyone needs a little bit of extra help. Thank you. >> Yes sir. Dr. Anderson thank you. I do have a question for Miss McComin. She had to leave, but she did ask me to ask her question, which is, can you share

139the specific developments, I'm sorry, the specific improvements in the IEP process, and she'll just take your answer. >> Sure. Thank you. Um, Dr. Presidio, you want to relay those, please? I know you've been working with Dr. Edmonds on that. >> Yeah. So, there's a number of things that we've been working on. The first thing is we've been working with our consultants, the intern actually they're international experts in the area of inclusion to review all of our IEP documents and our entire IEP process um to make uh process improvements. So, one of the first things that we did is update our IEP checklist to really clarify the things that we want to make sure uh are discussed in every single IEP meeting. Um, and we've included some of the new work that the board has done

140even uh recently uh with the cell phone accommodations for students with disabilities. That's included on the IEP checklist. Now, um we've worked to make sure that as part of that process, we're looking at um the uh the ability for parents and students on the front end um to really speak to student strengths because oftent times in the past, I think we uh jumped immediately to services that were needed without really fully exploring the strengths that students had um and thinking about the types of accommodations and modifications that would uh enable them to be successful in the general ed uh setting. And so we're working on that process and um there's a lot more work that needs to be done. Um but we're pretty excited to be partnering with the consultants we have again looking at

141every single document uh that we use in the IEP process. >> Thank you. U now I'm going to finish with the rest of my questions. Some things that I see that we're missing from this because of previous discussions. Um just some focus on closing the the achievement gaps. Just kind of some of that data really lives in instructional services. um as well as any plans or progress on writing which we know has been an issue. Um and thirdly, just the reading performance of students who are in the sixth grade middle schools because we know that their teacher prep was not the same. Well, the structure was not the same. We've had some workarounds, but I'd like to see a comparison between like students. Are we having similar performances? Um as well as on the last

142page, I notice all the field trips. Thank you for providing that. But what seems to be missing here is how are we taking advantage of TJ's planetarium which in years past has been open for schools to visit as uh on a field trip and I don't think I've heard about that in quite a few years. >> I would have to defer to Dr. Prescidio about the use of TJ's planetarium. >> Yeah. So thank you for noticing the attachment on the field trips. We just included that to really highlight the uh the division sponsored uh field trips that we have. So obviously I'm not going to go through everything that's on that list, but starting in fourth grade with music performances um all the way through things uh that we do for uh students at the

143high school level. So those are division sponsored budgeted uh field trips that we provide for. We do have access to planetariums including the TJ planetarium for schools if they choose to take a field trip um to a planetarium but that's not something that we do for all students at a particular grade level and the chart is just the things that we do for all students at a particular grade level. >> I'm not even sure that the awareness that this is an opportunity exists because from what I understand the planetarium at TJ and at TJ rivals that of what's downtown and so I I'm not sure the awareness is there. Maybe we can be a little bit more communicative with the elementary principles that this is an opportunity that exists. >> Sure. >> Um just very

144quickly, I wanted to speak about the pacing guides and the lesson planning. Um I've received some concerns and complaints from teachers, even principles, that they're not as helpful as I think people who are developing them are wanting them to be and they're inconsistent across the um across the subject areas. I wonder how can we ensure that they are that you are receiving that feedback which is part of this executive limitation and we're having perhaps the folks who are writing them going into the schools to see how they're being implemented and really hearing about the concerns. >> No, I I appreciate you sharing those suggestions. I think they're all good. We we try to do a lot of of that work. I mean, first I would just clarify and we had some information in the EL9

145report about the number of curriculum projects that we ran in the summer uh to update our planning and pacing guides. Um, but I think one of the important things to note is that we develop those with uh teachers from the schools during the summer. So those aren't things that are just done um at Willow Oaks or in Gate House. Those are things that um are supported and really done collaboratively with instructional staff in the schools. We do collect feedback on them. Um they're never perfect. There's always room for improvement. One of the things that we're working to improve right now is on some of the resources trying to have more examples um of how to differentiate our resources. So as we're working, you know, again on our inclusion work, it's really important that we have

146differentiated resources and we're not asking teachers to create those. Um, additionally, we're working to update um, some of our resources with videos that would actually show teachers how you would use a particular strategy or use a particular resource. So, we're always open to more feedback. Um, those materials can always be improved and we go through a constant review uh, refresh cycle um, every year. >> Thank my time. Thank you, Dr. Anderson. U, Mr. Moon. And I'm sure I was not asking for go back. >> Thank you. Okay. At this time, we're going to go ahead and and call for the vote which for the motion that's on the screen. All those in favor, Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Meline, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismarhiser, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson,

147Mr. Fresh, and myself. That is unanimous. We are going to take a quick break in just a second, but we're going to do the policy review first and then we're going to flip over and take a 10-minute recess. So, agenda item 8.01, policy review, instructional program EL9. The next order of business is the policy review for executive limitation EL or EL9 ex instructional program. Annually, the board will review each executive limitation at the time that of the monitoring report is provided to determine if revisions are needed. Um, board members may offer amendments to executive limitations at any at any regular meeting, provided they send the final language to the board and clerk at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting to at which it's to be considered. At this time, no amendments have been

148submitted in advance of this meeting, but board members may provide comments on EL9 before we vote on maintaining the current language for the next year ahead. I call on Mystics for a motion. >> I move that the school board maintains executive limitation 9 instruction program as it currently detailed in the strategic governance manual. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. McDaniel, Miss Dixit, would you like to speak to your motion? >> No. >> Mr. McDaniel, would you like to speak to your second? Okay. Seeing no other board members, then we're going to go ahead and um vote for the motion that's on the screen. All those in favor, Mr. McDaniel, Miss Marin, Mr. Meline, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Lady, Miss Dixit, Miss Seismarheiser, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, Mr. Fresh, and

149myself. So, that is unanimous. So, we are going to take a quick 10-minute break and we will be right back. [Music] Board members, Please take your seats. Okay, we're going to come back from recess. Agenda item 9.01, academic matters. I call on Dr. Reid for Academic Matters. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. And this evening, academic matters. We're going to talk about future ready students in Fairfax County Public Schools. And we're excited to highlight some of the innovative learning experiences our students engage in across elementary, middle, and high school to support academic and career planning. So, this connects to goal five and talks about our commitment about every student graduating ready to thrive in life after school. Tonight's uh presentation will showcase examples that highlight our equity commitment to center student voice in preparing our students

150for success after graduation. So as we think about what it means to be future ready, we feel it our students need rich learning experiences, durable skills, and exposure to career related learning that best match their unique interest and goals. And honestly, I think as many of our students are preparing for careers that don't yet exist, they don't even necessarily realize what uh their interests or goals might be. And I think many students have to have that experience to find out what they don't want to do uh just as often as what they do want to do. So tonight, we'd like to showcase a few examples uh that are targeted towards goal five of our plan. In FCPS, career exploration actually begins in elementary school. Uh, one of the ways our elementary schools focus on this

151is through opportunities for students to begin connecting personal interests and skills to classroom leadership roles. Some elementary students complete skill and interest inventories, explore job postings, write letters of interest, develop early resumes, and assemble portfolios that capture their experience. It's also an opportunity to see some of our portrait of a graduate skills in action. Another opportunity in middle school in particular is Fairfax County Public Schools has partnered with Junior Achievement. Um, and our eighth grade students attend Finance Park as a economic and financial literacy education program that's conducted through business partnerships. And it's an opportunity uh for all of our eighth graders to engage um at this um building. And honestly, I went I've spent a day there with eighth graders. Um it's right near Frost Middle School, I believe. And um really, it's experiential

152learning and where students actually find out that it costs a lot more to do some of the things that um they thought perhaps cost less. Uh so it's an opportunity to provide relevant real world financially literate decisionmaking. Um and each middle school has a finance park lead teacher who coordinates these trips and ensure that uh our eighth graders take part in this simulation. At the high school level, there are numerous opportunities to explore future career interests. And additionally, our annual FCPS college fair and post-secary night are coming up in the coming month here in October. And these are great opportunities for students and their families to learn more about post-secondary opportunities. Tonight, we'd like to highlight a unique learning opportunity called Instruction to Industry. So in partnership with local business and community partners, we host

153an annual instruction to industry I2I future ready conference which connects our students with over 125 local employers in high demand career fields such as business, healthcare, technology and engineering. The event uh provides students with a chance to gain hands-on exposures to career pathways. And last year's event created 3,000 studentto employer interactions with over 200 paid internships. The event uh will take place in March this year where students will explore career presentations, networking mini sessions, and mock interviews. Additionally, our uh FCPS offers unique and specialized programming for students uh with disabilities through our career and transition services programming. Uh tonight we'd like to highlight some of those opportunities uh that these uh services provide in partnership with local business and community and transition services. So um there are a number of uh different types of events

154that are highlighted on this slide that occur over the course of the year from October through April and uh provide opportunities for our students to explore future career opportunities. Finally, um, Madame Clerk, let's go ahead and watch the video to see student learning experiences in action. Our goal is simple. It's to prepare every student for a successful future. That's why we're so excited to offer rich learning opportunities that align with goal five of our strategic plan, ensuring that every student graduates ready to thrive in life after high school. Through their K through2 experience, students across FCPS have targeted opportunities to explore future careers, build financial literacy, and develop portrait of a graduate skills. These experiences will help them transition successfully through graduation and into their adult life. At the elementary level, schools are doing simulations

155where students explore different classroom jobs, matching their personal experiences and skills with roles like line captain, technology support, or even cleanup crew. Applying for jobs this year was different because we actually had like more of a choice for which job we picked. And it made us feel it made us have a more real world experience building resumes and applications, having to list down our skills and what we were good at, how we could work in a group. It all we also had more of a choice. There was a wide range of jobs to pick from. So that made it more hands-on and lifelike. Finance Park is an experience that all eighth grade students attend. Before they go, they spend three weeks learning about financial literacy, which includes savings, spending, and career options. If you visit

156a finance park, you're going to see a bunch of different businesses. Students go from storefront to storefront where they're going to have to make some tough decisions. What choices are they making for their cars? What type of groceries are they purchasing? Are they going on vacation this year? Are they budgeting for that vacation? Finance Park is a great simulation for all our eighth graders to experience what it feels like to be an adult making some real life financial decisions. >> Every year, FCPS and surrounding school divisions across Northern Virginia team up with Virginia Ed Strategies and the INOVA Healthc Care System to host instruction to industry, a future ready conference. This is a regional event designed to connect students with local employers in high demand career fields. Participating high schools send students on this field

157trip that provides hands-on exposure to career pathways, essential workforce skills, and meaningful industry connections. But this isn't your typical career fair. Instruction to industry takes things to the next level with career cluster themed rooms, dynamic networking workshops, and even rapidfire mock interviews. And the impact, it's huge. Employers reported more than 3,000 student to employer interactions, over 700 planned follow-ups, and nearly 200 paid job and internship offers, all from just one event. And this year, it's bigger than ever. Over two full days in March, the conference will serve twice as many students as before. These opportunities, especially starting at a young age, will open students eyes to the possibilities that they may have never known about, allow them to dream of a bright future, and give them the tools to thrive regardless of the path they

158take. >> So, Madam Chair, that is academic matters for this evening. >> Thank you, Dr. Reid. Um, at this now I'm going to invite board members to ask any clarifying questions or provide comments. We're going to kick it off with Miss Dixit. >> Thank you, Dr. Reid. Uh, amazing work being done in our division in terms of getting the students future ready. Um, I'm I would love I loved uh finance park when I visited with my son many many years ago. I just wish it was open to more students in other grades too like high school. I think after 8th grade they don't go back to this at all, right? Maybe a refresher in 12th grade might be needed because then they're ready for, you know, real life after that. Um, so they need to

159know how to manage money. Um, I really like the the instruction to industry future ready conference. Um, and I uh think it's going to double the size. That's great. U is it possible to do uh like more IT specific uh conference and something like that uh as we are into this uh industry right now in we are like a Silicon Valley of East Coast in Northern Virginia and so many big companies are here innovative innovations are happening in AI is in other divisions. So I would like our student to get exposed to that also. Uh because there are a lot of students right now after college are not being able to get the jobs they're this industry is looking for. There's a mismatch happening and if our students know the what this industry is looking

160for and they can intern with them maybe it'll help them to future help them with their education postsecary as well and then maybe come back to work for these companies. So I would love to you know you know see if something like that happen with our maybe with the our IT department also supports that. >> Yes ma'am. It's a regional conference. So I and you were correct. I know our Northern Virginia Tech Council led by uh Jennifer Taylor they're really working to make us a hub right in Northern Virginia technology hub. So, I will make sure we pass along that um request that we increase the IT um presence. Thank you, Miss Dixit. Dr. Anderson, thank you. I I heard about the IBCT certification. I am not sure I have that term correctly. Can you

161speak to that a little bit? >> I think you're talking there is an IB CTE capstone certificate and I I'm not sure where we are on that here in Fairfax County, but Dr. Prescidio likely will know as it's part of our instructional program. >> Yeah. So, we do offer the IB uh career related learning certificate. Um and students can earn that at all the IB schools if they complete the coursework and then there's additional assessment work and things that they need to do. Uh but we do offer that. It is available. >> And can you explain how that's a benefit to students? Well, um, you know, I think again the the focus of the presentation tonight obviously was, you know, some divisionwide things that we're trying to do, but, um, all of it is related

162to, as Dr. Reed already mentioned, kind of allowing students to explore interests, um, that they may have uh, for future, you know, post-secary education or future careers. So, if a student, for example, in an IB uh business class um completes the career related learning uh program, that might give them additional information and additional skills that would inform um their selection of what they might want to study when they're in school. And I'm using that particular example uh because my son who just graduated last year participated in that and he decided to major in business and finance when he went to college. But again, the the point is to allow students to have that deeper dive and really understand how to apply the more theoretical learning um that they're getting in school to what um those

163career opportunities would look like in the real world. >> Thank you. I thought that was an exciting development. Glad to hear that it is here. >> Thank you, Dr. Anderson. >> Miss Lady, >> sorry, I'm going to be quick. um the I future the the the conference that >> that they referenced. What's it >> I to um I saw that the gentleman being uh interviewed had the CTE sign be behind his head. So I'm just asking is is that only the kids who are currently enrolled in a CTE course and how long have we been doing this? No, it's open to to students regardless of whether or not they're enrolled in CTE courses, although most of our students are enrolled in CTE courses. I think um 65,000 students, you know, complete a CTE course every

164year, middle school to high school. So, most of our students are, but it's open to anybody. Um that's our workbased learning specialist that you saw who's part of um the uh counseling and college and career readiness office. So, he just happened to be filmed with the the CTE banner behind him. But, uh, he supports work-based learning experiences for all students. >> And how long have we been doing this event? >> It's a couple years. I don't know exactly how many years, but I think we're in the third year if I'm correct. So, I think this is the third year. >> Okay. So, perhaps it's since I left because I don't recollect. >> No, it's relatively new. Yeah. >> Okay. Okay. That's great. I mean, it's fantastic. Um, and I love the expansion of it. I

165just want to make sure it's open to all students. Um because you know some Well, you're correct. A lot of our kids do take a CTE course. Um not all of our kids do outside of the econ and personal finance. Um or perhaps AP Econ if if if they want the more rigorous version. Um but the opportunities for internships and things like that are pretty phenomenal um for kids who are very much in a you know different track than a than a career technical track. So that was my main question. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Lady. I hope that we get invited to the I2I conference next year because we're that would be exciting. So, agenda item 9.02, opening of schools report. I call on Dr. Reid for the opening of schools report. >> Well,

166thank you, Madam Chair. I am thrilled to be able to provide our opening of schools report and sharing a recap of our strong start to the 2526 school year. Uh for tonight's opening of schools report, I'll be sharing who we are and how we provide a world-class education for each and every student in Fairfax County Public Schools. Um a look back at the success made possible through the efforts of our incredible community, and I look forward to what the new year is going to bring for our students, staff, and families. I could not be prouder of team FCPS. We have an incredible community of students, staff, and families. And we have been working hard as we prepared for this year. Uh I think you'll see the fruits of our labor here shortly. And recognizing that

167as we work together in an aligned, coherent fashion, anything is possible. So, let's roll the first day of school video to start us off. The wheels on the bus goes and [Music] the wheels on the bus goes round and round all through the town. [Music] Time to begin. We kind of feel a little >> What grade are you guys? >> Second grade. >> What's your name? >> Dr. Reed. I'm your superintendent. >> Feeling all the way. Going up. Going up. Going all the way. Going high. Going all the way up. Going all the way up. Going all the way. [Music] >> It's nice to meet you all and we wanted to say welcome to the 25 26 school year and welcome to kindergarten. Going up all the way up all the way. [Music] >> Good

168morning. >> Happy birthday everybody. Going to see you later. Bye. And so, um, Mr. Muick is over there high-fiving the wheels on the bus. Um, but, uh, he sings that in senior leader meetings as well. Uh, nobody opens schools like Fairfax County Public Schools. Uh, it is one big celebration across the county. We recognize learning happens best in community and the data that we have here. We're thrilled um about um Fairfax County Public Schools for the first time is proud to have seven of the top 10 high schools in the Commonwealth be Fairfax County Public Schools as well as the number five school in the nation according to US News and World Report. We have 262 students from 19 different high schools that are among the semi-finalists named by the National Merit Scholarship uh corporation

169for 2026, which is a 40% increase in numbers over uh 2025. And our standard of learning results continue to show our division outperforming uh state averages. We've also increased the number of eighth graders, as you can see, enrolled in algebra over the last several years from 58 to 74.5%. And they are continuing to pass at similar rates even as we've in um increased our numbers. Next slide. Let's talk a little bit about ready for real life and our seniors. Um, for the class of 2025, we've identified that 81% of our students enrolled in a college equivalent course. Over 16,000 earned industry credentials. Um, 5,400 successfully completed a career and technical education course. And our students earned more than $168 million in scholarships. As we think about enrollment, um, we remain the ninth largest school division

170in the United States with 199 schools and centers. By public school enrollment, we continue to be larger than 11 states in the District of Columbia. Our learners are incredibly diverse. Uh, and we're proud that 85% of our funding goes directly to instruction and support student learning. Our students speak more than 194 languages and more than one in three are eligible for free or reduced lunch and meals. More than one in five are multilingual learners. More than one in six receive special education services. And 7% or just about 13,000 are military connected. As we think about our staff, for the first time in many years, we started the school year with 99.7% of our positions filled on day one. It's the lowest in three years. We have a total of 41,298 employees, including part-time and hourly,

171making us one of the largest employers in Virginia. We started the year with 141 ambassador teachers from around the world who are doing incredible work. And this is a program where there are over 700 ambassador teachers coming to the United States with just over 20,000 of these ambassador teachers applying for 700 positions. I'm grateful for the efforts of our dedicated and innovative educators and all of our staff who support our work in all kinds of roles across the school division. It's one team, one mission, and it's showing great results for our children in this community. We know that um FCPS works with many types of businesses that uh remain valuable assets to our students and the young people in Fairfax County. These partnerships take many forms and meet the needs of our schools, which help

172drive our strategic plan. They provide key foundational donations, mentors, tutors, speakers, afterchool programs, student clinical experiences, um mentoring, needs-based donations, workforce development, arts, get to green. All of our work is um honestly the result of tremendous partnerships and our strong community support which has uh sustained the traditions of excellence here in Fairfax County. As we think about engaging our community, uh engagement that's intentional is fundamental to our mission. As you can see, we've got an exciting schedule this year again, including 20 family vision group meetings. We had a great start kickoff meeting um at our event earlier this month. We're also moving forward with community and employee conversations which take place throughout the fall, winter, and spring. We've already had several of these meetings and honestly continue to hear uh valuable feedback that guides our

173missiondriven work. Want to thank everyone who comes out to share their thoughts, voices, and feedback. Uh and we're looking forward to continuing this work in the coming year. When we think about food and nutrition services, the new menu items that are being rolled out are really exciting. We've had 22 new lunch recipes and six new breakfast recipes. And I don't know about you, but I remember um being at a dinner some time ago that uh Joe, let me think, the Frugal Gourmet, I'm trying to remember what his real name was, but he was the guest speaker and he said, you know, most American households have 15 to 20 cookbooks and make the same 10 recipes all year long. So, it's exciting to see that we're going to have 22 new lunch and six new uh

174breakfast recipes. lots of opportunity for student feedback and engagement and a focus on sustainability and scratch cooking. We know processed uh food is not best for our young people. And let's think about those buses and all of our drivers, mechanics, routers, um dispatchers, just an incredible team and team transportation. It was thrilling to say that 96% of our bus routes were on time on the first day of school, which is incredible as one of the largest school bus um fleets in the entire country to have that kind of um on time rate on the very first day of school. So, we continue to um see a drop in our vacancies, a 48% drop year-over-year is an incredible drop uh in our vacancies. And as you can imagine, the logistics involved in managing a fleet as

175large as Greyhound with 6,987 routes driving 93,731 miles every day. Um, our team does incredible work. We're also this year excited to pilot a new safety and routing system on our school buses. The new tablet-based technology includes real- time navigation, the radio frequency identification check-in for students, which you're going to hear more about, and live bus tracking for families, all designed to make the ride safer and more efficient. So, we're thrilled about our work in transportation. And let's take a look at um some of our building data. We have 28 million square feet of buildings with 188 energy star certified buildings currently with a 100 million plus worth of energy saved divisionwide over the last 12 years. As we think about um digital resources, we continue to improve our student device experience. We've purchased uh

17628,000 new laptops, which by the way, we did purchase fewer than we had intended based on budget uh circumstances last year because we extended 50,000 current laptops um and just upgraded them to extend their useful life. So, we didn't purchase those. We replaced 470 projectors, as you can see on the slide. And we've seen a tremendous uptick in our digital tool engagement with almost a 30% increase in parent digital consent with a 90% increase in the use of digital registration tools. We continue to see the value our families get engaging digitally with our division and we're thrilled that we are for the first time having an online calendar that um is going to include events from all schools uh programs and the like which is going to be a tremendous asset to our families. And

177there'll be a whole another uh presentation just on that to the board as well as for the first time we're going to be developing a mobile app um which actually is developed and is available in the app store um for either um Android or Apple phones. And this app will be able to put the power of uh news feed into every um family's uh phone, mobile phone because we find that more and more our families are on the move and can monitor calendar, parent view, and news feeds with emergency notices um through the app. So, we'll be uh putting out uh information about that very shortly with a video um as we complete our beta feedback period. Our capital improvement program, just want to clarify those programs that were completed this summer. uh we provide

178during the first week of school, this is another data point that's not on the slide, but during the first week of school, the office of facilities management received 3,042 work order requests. And within the first two weeks, the team successfully fulfilled and completed, 1537 of these um and are continuing to complete uh those tickets. Uh we capital projects uh added modern amenities, enhanced safety, removed modulars and did renovations, created new classrooms, offices, libraries, cafeterias and parking. You can see the summer infrastructure work completed is an enormous uh number of projects and again are completed and schools under construction are listed. We've already mentioned our new safety tools, technologies and menu items. So, what else could possibly be new? Well, you can read on the slide that there are a number of initiatives that are new

179um or a continuation this year with perhaps a different focus and we continue to work hard to take our game up in every way possible. Um we know that uh Fairfax County Public Schools drive the engine of our economy. Strong schools support strong businesses which support strong families and residents and community. And we need to recognize that our work here in FCPS doesn't just impact our students, it impacts our staff, our families, and everybody um across our community. So when our schools thrive, our communities thrive. And we appreciate the community support and partnership in that. So, welcome back Fairfax County Public Schools and happy to take any questions. Uh, but this uh presentation is posted for those who want to revisit it and rewatch the video over and over and over again. So, thank you,

180Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Dr. Reid. At this time, we're going to go to Dr. Anderson to kick us off. >> So many parts of this were exciting to to hear. Um I I'll just start with some of the good news things that I saw. Um the teacher vacancies. That's always been a high concern and it is very exciting and not to mention comforting to parents to know that their students, their children are starting the school year with a teacher and not with a long-term sub. So I do want to share kudos on that. Um and I would be remiss if I didn't extend kudos to Mr. Muick on the driver vacancy um reductions. Um, I just want to know how did you do it because from what I understand this year we don't have

181any double back buses. >> So I'm going to have Mr. Muick and Mr. Solomon uh answer because the two of them are a powerful team to uh solve this issue. Mr. Muick will start with you and then float to Mr. Solomon. >> Yes ma'am. Um thanks Dr. Anderson. It was uh definitely teamwork between transportation and HR. And the big thing was putting everything in one location. So, we have all our normal uh hiring conferences that the transportation team does uh at Lorton at Stonecraftoft, but once a quarter they have one here at the uh at Gate House and uh Williams team shows up with fingerprinting. We've uh worked to get Anova to show up to do physicals, blood work. So, you know, once you get the driver candidate here, we can do everything. Help them

182with their resume, do the interview, get the blood work. you know, the the more you get done before they leave, the better a chance you have of of capturing them. So, um it was great teamwork between the two of us to do that or our teams really. We just we were smart enough to get out of their way and let them work. >> That that that's very convenient because you also prevent all the delays for them coming back to do all of those things. Great strategy. Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. You're welcome. And Mr. Muick took the words right out of my mouth. uh making it a one-stop shop so that our candidates can complete everything from fingerprinting to drug testing to making sure that we're doing their physicals to helping them with their application

183to coming and doing their interviews all in a one-stop shop fashion versus having to send them from location to location to location. And for what it's worth, hiring a bus driver requires additional steps that other positions don't require. So doing it all in one-stop shop fashion while they're with you increases the likelihood that they're hired exponentially. That is fantastic. Thank you to both of you. I do have a follow-up question for you, Mr. um Solomon. I I know that we're highly staffed. Um so that's great, but in terms of the substitute um are we having a shortened period for from application to actual um approval >> at the beginning of the year? That's when we see our peak hiring volume for substitutes. And we are seeing it take on average or were seeing it take

184on average about four weeks. As of um in a normal situation it takes about two weeks. >> Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. And I also noticed here Dr. Reed that our ambassador teachers came up to 141. I think we had 125 26 last year. It it's okay. Um I I my wondering is with what's happening in the federal government regarding um visas, do we have impact to this program based on that? >> Mr. Solomon, >> at this time there is no impact to the J1 program. You may recall that there was a temporary pause or challenge with uh J1 candidates getting appointments with the Department of State to complete their visa processing back in May. However, at this time, we have no indication that there is an impact to the J1 program. >> Okay. Wonderful. Thank

185you. I'm so glad to hear that. One of the other things that you highlighted here, I can't find which slide, but it speaks to the consent form. As a parent who has to do this for multiple children uh across so many layers. Thank you. because this was the easiest year where I was able to just it was in one place and I just kept on going sheet after sheet after sheet and I yes no yes yes no or toggle to do it all. It is so much easier. I cannot stress how much easier that form has or that platform has become and I'm sure some of the other parents had the same experience. Huge improvement. So for that I I'm I'm very very very very very grateful. Um my last question is regarding um enrollment.

186We are about 4,000 off from the end of last year. Uh we anticipating growth and where are we seeing this or is it scattered across the the grade levels? Could you speak to that please? >> Yes ma'am. We generally grow from the beginning of the year through till the October end of October. Uh but we um are slightly obviously lower enrolled this fall than we had predicted, but again we're continuing to grow perhaps not as quickly as other years. Um and we do have some uh students uh for whom they're a bit reluctant uh to be in school at this time that we're working on creating some online options uh for them at this time. >> Oh, thank you. Do they still count as FCPS students? >> They will be once we enroll them. >>

187Oh, I see. All righty. Thank you. Thank you all. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Moon. >> Uh, thank you, Madam Chair. Thanks for the presentation. Uh, I remember the first day of school getting up at 4:30 in the morning to go to a first church by 5:30, but it was very early in the morning to celebrate. uh the with the slightly less lower enrollment I know it's going to grow but as of this point does that bring us some savings? >> Um at this point probably in incidentals but we're going to have to we're going to be monitoring that to see uh what the trend line shows and uh keep you updated on that. >> Okay. I guess with a lower enrollment perhaps we get the less state funding. >> There is a bit less

188of that. That's right. >> Upsetting. >> Okay. With that, I was looking at that math data. Eighth graders enrolled in algebra one or higher which shows a tremendous jump from 2020 2022 to 23 year to 25 26 school year 58.4% 4% to 74.5%. That's a remarkable 16% jump. Uh and below that slide at the bottom, I would see for fifth graders, I think you wanted to include the fifth graders information taking advanced math going up by 10.6%. uh I would expect if you want to grow uh high school students or eighth graders take higher math then it's got to start from early grades. So looking at you know elementary school data is perhaps the right thing to do maybe the fifth grade why is that only 10.6% when eighth graders has shown higher increase in

189taking higher math. Well, so the 10.6% in fifth grade year-over-year is just year-over-year growth in numbers of fifth graders. Um, if I'm reading it correctly, it's hard to see. >> Well, you said you said since 20 to 23. So, it was it's not >> Yeah, it's Oh, there I can read it on that. Right. 10.6% increase. Um, so it is not as large an increase and I think we're going to see larger increases once we have a math basil curriculum. Uh, but we do have um a significant number of sixth graders now in algebra which we've not previously had and it didn't make it into this report but I think Miss Lemon has that data for us. So, Miss Lemon, can you share and we probably need to add it to the online slide. >>

190We have 741 students this year in algebra one in sixth grade. >> An increase >> and it it's an increase. Last year I believe it was 30. So from 30 to 741 and I want to say 33 are participating in our virtual class and um 33 schools and 20 schools are participating in person as part of our pilot. >> I'm more of visual learner than auditory. So if you could put that into writing so that I could go back later. >> Yes, we'll get something for you for sure. >> Okay. >> And that that pilot's expect to expand. So over the next two years, we expect to see algebra offered in every elementary school, all 141. Um, >> okay. >> For our students, >> I'm excited to see 99% of our positions uh, you know,

191being filled at the beginning of the year, but however, did our position reduction have something to that? >> Most certainly, right? We had fewer positions to fill. That's correct. >> Okay, that's That's a sad part of the fact of seeing 99.7%. >> But at the same time, 99.7 is much better than what I used to see, though. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's what I have, >> Mr. Money. >> Well, thank you, Dr. Reid. Um, this is a very helpful presentation. Uh, and I do want to say how much I value being able to visit schools with you, so I really appreciate it. the first two days being able to go around. Um it'd be nice if we could do that more throughout the year and have those opportunities. Um

192uh the uh there's the slide on community engagement uh is uh also a very impressive slide. Uh I would argue it may be too impressive. Um I think uh we have we may have taken things too far when it comes to community meetings uh on on various topics. Uh, I think we need to think critically about topics we're engaging community on so there's just not a um people don't get get tired of hearing from us. Um, there is value in um doing targeted engagements um that engage people on critical topics at critical times. I think the um the boundary meetings that are taking place right now are an example of um where we may have taken things too far. Um so that's just something for um to take back and and consider. Um on the

193slide about our transportation work um I saw there are listed 31 electric buses. Um I you know my recollection last year is that with the grants we had received that would have brought the number to something around 85 or thereabouts. Um, so is 31 um is that what we're stuck with now given that we've had to >> we're actually at 48 because we received I believe 17 um before the uncertainty with the federal grants around EV buses. So, I believe we're up to 48. And had the certainty been there for um funding for the remaining, we would be up to what, Mr. Muick? >> It would have uh we would have gotten us up to about 108. There was about another 60 that got snagged with the grant um problems. >> Yeah, we were on

194a we had a good tailwind going, but we are I believe at this point plateaued at 48. >> Got it. Okay, that's very helpful. Um on on the food uh issues, so one of the things that's come to my attention as well as several other board members is that we've seen um an increase of energy drink usage among students um particularly middle middle and high school. Um and that's concerning. Um about a a decade ago um we made a very concerted effort uh to remove all soda products from our schools to get rid of our sugary drinks and other things. Um and I think that was a great stance. Um obviously kids aren't procuring energy drinks at school, but they're bringing them in. Um so I think that's a community conversation we need to have.

195um but it can be very harmful to to student health and I know our principles are um addressing that on the front lines but if there's we can think critically about how we can address that um more broadly as a district. Uh and then I think finally uh just speaking broadly about beginning of school and the school year um I think it's no um surprise to anyone in this room that it felt like um there wasn't any summer this this past summer. Um and we've become much more um our summer has been really constricted this year. We're we're going into the middle of June. Um, so I do think there's value in um, bringing back some form of the calendar committee um, or at least having that conversation as a board. So, welcome thoughts on

196that. >> I think that's probably a board conversation um, that we need to have if that's something that you all want to take a look at. But I would agree the summer flies at this point for sure. >> Miss Seismarheiser, >> thank you. And um thank you for the this presentation. I think there's some really amazing successes in here. Kudos to your transportation team for 98% on time or it was I mean that's amazing. I remember that the Laura when I was a parent for many years staying at that bus stop it was like oh it's first day it'll take a week or two before anyone's on time. That was that was the statements at the bus stops. And so to see 98% on time the first day is amazing. Um, I do like to

197point out in slide 11 the hundred million dollars saved in the last 10 years from the Energy Star buildings. I think it's more I think it's really valuable to lift up that when we are doing programs that are helping our climate, it also helps us save money and that's an important fact to lift up. Um, I do want to mention Dr. Reed just for the community to know on slide eight when I think it's like when you talk about the community meetings and it's okay you're flipping I'll I'll let you know when I have a question. Don't worry. Um, but I just wanted to commend you for that. We heard when we started on the board from a lot of families that there wasn't enough family engagement. There wasn't enough family in you inclusion. There

198wasn't enough chance to talk to to families. And you did it the first year and I thought, okay, well, this is her first little listening tour and that's going to be it. And you've continued to do it every single year. And that is to be commendable because I see when I go to schools and back to school nights and other events, I see families talking about how engaged they feel with their schools. That's also kudos to the hard work our building principles and their admins and teachers, but you can see a different level of feeling engaged. Even if they're frustrated, they at least feel like they're engaged with. So kudos to that. I wanted to ask a little bit about the enrollment decrease. You know, maybe it's probably too early to have a sense of

199what's causing that. Um, I know there was some conversation about just the the kindergarten birth cliff, right, that came that came through, but do you think the current policies on immigration or what's happened to the federal workers and people moving out of this area could have had an impact? That's a pretty big decrease from last year to this year. And I think it's a decrease from what we expected as well. So, I'm curious if you guys have any data or or did any to figure out what's going on. We have some data and I I'll be providing some uh reporting on that in the coming weeks. We also traditionally start lower and continue to build um over the first few months of school. So um but I do think um clearly some of the immigration

200um policies have impacted families um and choices. So >> I would just are you aware of any students who are choosing not or their families are choosing not to send them to school for fear because that is what one of my worries is that we have stu are we seeing a greater rise in chronic absenteeism? Again maybe too early to tell but I I worry about students missing out on education because of fear. >> Right. So we're in our sixth week of school. So it's hard to establish absenteeism rates this quickly. It is. Um but I I can get back to you on um the other topic. >> I think just something to watch, right? Because if if we do if that's the fear, how can we engage our families to make them try to

201feel safe >> in this environment to send their kids to school? And then the last thing I will just say as a an area perhaps to work on a little bit on we talked about page seven about partnerships and you and I have had many conversations about the number of organizations and businesses in the community that are very eager to partner with our schools and I think that's an area for growth. So I would love to see more information about these partnerships that you list maybe in a Friday letter and then areas plans for for growth in that area especially in if I just finished my sentence in eras of tightening budgets I think those partners have become even more important. Thank you. >> Yes ma'am. >> Thank you misshiser. Mr. Dunn >> I appreciate

202the discussion about declining enrollment. I think it's concerning. I think uh there was a great uh article recently in the Hekiner report uh online uh that this is a trend nationwide and maybe immigration has something to do with it, but it's also just families are having fewer kids and I went to an education conference this summer and learned from some colleagues in California and elsewhere that you know there is just a dire situation in some school divisions which maybe you saw in your previous uh school divisions where you where you uh were a leader. um that and they are going to such an extent that they're hiring marketing firms that specialize in bringing in more students and I think we don't want to get to that point. So I know I mean this is a

203wonderful presentation the videos are amazing but I think there's still a long way that FCPS has to go in its marketing and communications. Um there's just not sufficient public awareness of the incredible data that is in this report. Um I would love to get a sense of how this data compares to our peer school divisions and how it compares to private schools within Fairfax County because I bet if you rack and stack, we're head and shoulders above our private school competitors. And that's data that we need to publish, that we need to put out there because um there are a number of families in our county who have chosen to homeschool or to private school based on their belief that their kids will get a better education. But uh I'll bet you dollars to donuts

204that any public school in our county will give um a kid a better education than homeschooling or private school, regardless of the school or how qualified the parents are who are teaching. And that story needs to be told because you know ultimately we're in the same business as as you know any uh consumer retail establishment. We need customers to come in the door because if they don't um that undermines the foundation of credibility that we when we go to the county for you know further do further contributions to fully fund our budget. And so I just ask more efforts be made to tell that story to the public. Not just to us. You do a great job of telling us. Um, but to tell the public and figure out ways to do that. I I

205love the state of the schools and other things you do, but sometimes I feel we only talk to, you know, PTA members and those who are already in the know. We need to get outside that bubble to reach the people who are retirees and might be encouraging their their their sons, their daughters, their their relatives to either move here or not move here. And I know housing affordability is definitely an issue, but but those decisions can be influenced by word of mouth. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you, Mr. Dun. Miss Dixit, >> I just lost my chain of thoughts. I don't know. Uh so I wanted to just say first of all Dr. Eid that um FCPS of course is is a trends setter um school system in the country and we are continuing um

206improvising improving the scores and everything else just like the algebra one benchmark we have. Um I wanted to know and this can may not be linked to our strategic goal but how about science uh and mainly computer science are we tracking that also as a like more number of students enrolling in them or we are encouraging them to do because that's where I see the future is. >> Yes ma'am. I I know this afternoon I just reviewed a survey that's going out to students about computer science. Um, and I also, you know, I think our conversation on October 7th at the work session, we're going to talk a little about uh how we're programming our CTE courses across the division, how we're doing a refresh or planning a refresh for our academy courses in conjunction

207with the conversation around the new Western High School, in conjunction with just making sure we have global work um and knowledge priorities in place across the school division. So I think there's that's a topic there's more to come on. Um and of course for much of the data science, machine learning, quantum AI, a lot of it relies on mathematics. So and the ability to build logic and prompt writing you know around literacy. So we think that as long as we make sure we make good on those building block uh core academic areas, it will also improve the possibilities for computer science uh in the future. Thank you, Dr. Eid. I I'm again I think I'm too tired today. >> Dr. Anderson, did you need to go back? >> Yes. Just very quickly, I I really

208wanted to just comment on uh Mr. Malcolm's comments regarding the calendar. I have been receiving a lot of feedback from um parents about the calendar and again because of just the lack of summer um and I'm not sure what you're hearing from the teacher associations, but I'm wondering um is there a space for us to make that one of your community conversations or a survey so that we can get more robust feedback because I'd like to get a sense of is the feedback that I'm receiving in a vacuum. um because it's it's been more than I've received I I think in you know the last few years and I know we had routinely before had a parent feedback component to the calendar process. So I think right now we have a perpetual calendar that's always

209three years out. One of the serious concerns that I was faced with when I first came to the division in the summer of 2022 is we didn't have a calendar for that fall because we hadn't uh come to agreement on that. And we don't ever want to be in a situation where we can't have calendars at least a couple years out for people for planning um for travel for families for our military uh families that are moving in and out and having that information. So I think before we want to start surveying um you're asking my opinion so my recommendation is before we start doing the surveying that the board decide whether you want to step back from a perpetual calendar that enables us to have a three-year out planning cycle. Um because gathering information

210I think once you make that first decision then you would want to gather information about how you might want to amend it. But right now we're we have the three-year out calendars and that I think is a topic you'd want to decide first. >> Sure. I think there's a some opportunity here for conversation because I don't think these two activities are mutually exclusive because if because parents have loved the three-year calendar because they're able to plan all of the things that you've just said. But there has to be some space for us to get some feedback within that process. So I I don't think we stop the outlook um without having I I I don't think that we can um remove feedback about the calendar to still keep a calendar in front of them. There's

211some space to do that. And I'd just like to figure out what that could be. Perhaps it's knowing we have the next two calendars coming and we are providing we're getting feedback now for the fourth year, but something has to to change because the emails are continuously they're being more dissatisfied and I I think there's a space for us to also hear the community voice on this and I hope you can figure that out with your team. >> Well, actually, I'll wait for the direction of the board before I direct the team on that because that's currently something that's in it's set. So, I want to make sure that I am uh following the direction of the board. >> Sure. So, I will raise that for the board's consideration then. >> Absolutely, Dr. Anderson. Thank

212you. Um Okay. Thank you, Dr. Reed. >> You bet. Thank you. >> Agenda item 10, consent agenda. Our adopted rules of parliamentary procedure, Robert's rules provide for a consent agenda, listing several items for approval of the board by a single motion. Many items listed here have gone through board review and documentation is provided to all board members and the public in advance. Items may be removed from the consent agenda by the request of a board any board member prior to the meeting. The consent agenda items are on the screen. Is there any objection to approving the consent agenda? Hearing and seeing no objection, the consent agenda is approved. Um agenda item 11, new business. The following areas are new business agenda items. There will not be a vote on these items this evening, but the

213action is scheduled at a future meeting. Agenda item 12, board committee reports. I call on Mr. Meline for a report of the audit committee. Thank you so much. So, the audit committee had our inaugural meeting for the year last uh Monday. Uh and we're pleased to welcome Mr. McDaniel to the committee uh this year while the rest of us are old-timers. Um uh during the meeting, General Co provided a overview of our audit plan for the year. Um and we had a 30 minute technical meltdown which was a highlight. Um so um that was the extent of that first meeting. Thanks. >> Thank you, Mr. Mine. Agenda item 13, superintendent matters. I call on Dr. Reid for superintendent matters. >> Thank you, Madam Chair, and welcome to the first full week of fall. It's pretty

214exciting that uh I can't even believe we're already in fall to be honest, the first full week, but here we are. Um we have our fall sports season in full swing, including the launch of girls flag football with our media day on Monday at Westfield High School and Tuesday at Anandale High School. And I understand the Washington Commanders will be present for a uniform reveal. So, we're very excited. There's a lot of interest across the school division. and uh I can't wait to see some of our first games. I also had an opportunity to visit Glasgow Middle School and visit with some of our middle school students to create a video that'll be coming out to the community uh regarding the implementation of our middle school weapons detection software. And I want to thank Owen,

215Deiani, Jared, Alex, Willow, and Isela who spoke candidly about uh why safety matters. So very excited about that. had a chance to visit a number of schools in the last couple weeks, in particular at Longfellow Middle School with new principal Chris Butser. Um had a chance to visit PE class as well and learned how to shoot an arrow. Archery can actually be a lot of fun. Attended a number of back to school nights, employee conversations, our first community conversations, um and got my first library card in Fairfax County. So, had a chance to be part of uh the get a library card. Um Fairfax Library Foundation's National Library Card Signup Month is this month. So, if you haven't, get out and get a library card. There's a lot of exciting uh a lot of exciting

216selections. So, uh great opportunity to meet with folks. um also attended as I'm on the board of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. We had an opportunity Gotham Sethi and I uh to attend a meeting and hear from Dimmitri Alpov Alpovich um who happened to co-found uh the cyber security uh firm Crowdstrike and learned a lot about um cyber trends and how technology around our region is growing. to mystics at this point. It's really a hub here and enjoyed our educate fairfax fourth annual alumni hall of fame where we inducted a number of alumni and I continue to be so proud to be part of a community that has uh the amazing um graduates and the folks who do such incredible things. So special thanks to our community and all our staff. And um finally, just

217lastly, I did attend the Natawaway Powell. Rick Kelly is one of our chiefs and he's in our IT department. Um and then the 17th annual Asha Ji 5K fund run. Um and the foundation shared $75,000 to a number of our schools this year. So a big thank you to them and everybody who turned out to. So thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Dr. Reid. Agenda item 14, board matters. Uh, next on the agenda is board matters. I will call on each board member to speak. Um, we're going to kick it off with Mr. Fr. >> Thank you. Um, and for tolerating my head cold and illness. Uh, I really regret not being able to join everybody there tonight. I understand we had more politicians from Richmond in our parking lot, so that's always welcome.

218Uh, I'm sure they'll keep coming back after November. Um, in any case, um, it's been a busy couple weeks. We had a fantastic time at Oakton's homecoming game, um, for our very first a night at the game in Providence where we're encouraging people to come out uh, and cheer on our football teams, cheerleaders, flags, marching band, etc. Uh, so the community can see our our very talented students in action. Um, and the Cougars happened to defeat the Cavaliers um, for their homecoming game. So that was exciting to be there with Dr. Reid and uh Principal Lane as well. Uh the very next day I was at Miller Heights neighborhood bash which is always a fun event uh in the Oakton area uh talking with members of the community. Um, and then this past weekend, excuse

219me, I co-hosted the second annual Providence Day and back to school celebration with Supervisor Powchek. Um, and was grateful to have Chairman Mccay, delegate Marcus Simon, Dr. Reid there, uh, the Marshall Statesman cheer team was fantastic. We had the Vienna of Singing Princesses. If you've not seen them, they're amazing and they're from all kinds of different FCPS schools. uh lots of other great entertainment and uh activities as well. Uh this past Sunday I joined Mothers Outfront standing in for Miss Marin um at Louise Archer uh with Dr. Reid and Hunter Mill supervisor Walter Alhorn uh and delegate Holly Seabold as we uh celebrated Sunday which is a new national day of action to celebrate all things solar and renewable energy. We talked about our new solar uh panels going in at 25 more schools, bringing

220us to 35 uh and the new electric buses that are on their way as well. And then finally, uh presuming I'm better, um uh I will be attending MLAN's football game tomorrow night um against the Yorktown Patriots uh as our second stop on this uh night at the game where we're encouraging Providence families to come out and support their local high schools. And then the following Friday, October 3rd, is Marshall's homecoming game, and we will be doing the same there as well. Also against the Yorktown Patriots. I'm afraid they're going to think I have it in for them. Um I don't know if the buzzer has gone or not. >> You had I think you had like 13 seconds left. >> All right. Well, uh lots to be proud of in Providence District from National

221Merit semi- finalist to green flag schools. Uh just very grateful. um for a wonderful start to the school year and appreciate everything that staff has done uh and the hard work of my colleagues to help get it off without a hitch. >> Thank you, Mr. Fresh. We hope you feel better, Mr. Dunn. >> Well, I've had uh the opportunity and pleasure to attend many back- to-school nights at uh Belleview, Bucknell, uh other elementary schools. Uh and recently I saw uh a great presentation about uh AVID in elementary schools at Gunston Elementary. Um all of this is very exciting and there's just such great enthusiasm among parents and students at all the schools I visited. And so I want to just say thank you to all the parents who are the first uh educators of their

222children who continue to guide the education of their uh children throughout their educational journeys and who serve as indispensable partners uh to Fairfax County Public Schools uh to teachers to school administrators and ensuring that their students receive a world-class education and achieve optimal student outcomes. Thank you. Miss Seismarhiser, >> thank you. And um just exciting fall. I can almost spell smell the pumpkin everything in the air. So if you guys can smell the pumpkin everything, let me know because that fall is my favorite season. Um the football games, the homecoming parades and Halloween and all of the things. I'm very excited. And speaking of Halloween, don't forget on October 4th, the Kings Park Library has a costume exchange. So, if you have a little one who wants to turn in their costume and get a

223new one, come check it out. Um, in addition to that, just a reminder to folks out there, I'm sending another newsletter, but in my newsletter this week, the student leadership program is um seeking applications for a student leadership to represent the Bradock District. So, please get your your students to apply. I'm really excited. We had a great inaugural program last year. Um, I want to thank the Canterbury Woods community for having me at their u meet PTA meeting last night to talk about some of their concerns around the budget um impacts to their schools and the importance of steam teachers. And so I will be talking to you more Dr. Reed about that tomorrow during our check-in. Um, and I'm very excited to announce that Wakefield Forest had an very exciting renovation celebration um, where

224they actually had a sock hop theme because their school was founded in 1955, which was super exciting. And Bonnie Bray's renovation is close to finishing. So, congratulations to all the National Merit Scholar semi-finalists from the Bradock District and the 12 Bradock Green Flag Schools for your echofriendly programs and your get to green programs. and I look forward to seeing you at a football game very soon or a volleyball game and hopefully a flag football game as well very very soon. So with that, happy fall everybody and have a great night. >> Thank you. Uh Miss Dixit, >> happy fall everyone. Have a good night. Miss St. John Cunning. Uh buenes no everyone. Uh I was happy to attend the community conversations at Woodlon Elementary with Dr. read and engage with parents and see some old

225colleagues there. Uh, also I had fun attending the running the field at Edison High School where all the pyramid schools come and all the future eagles get their little shirts that say I'm a future eagle and then they get to run the field and it was so exciting to see all the parents, all the kids and see them all at the stands cheering for the football game. I also had the opportunity to go to Lewis High School to see the initial presentation of the Lewis leadership team students projects. Uh they were so thoughtful. They were so um amazing. I can't wait to see them when they come to the end. Finally, I would just like to talk to uh our proclamations tonight. We are so lucky to have an organization in our community that helps

226support our students and supports them in a manner that they get the things that they need, but their families and the students are supported in a manner that retains their dignity. And I want to reiterate the importance of literacy. One of the reasons that I'm so proud to be on this board is we are doing the critical work. When Nash when literacy day was established, it was because of the importance of that. It is a human right a human right to be able to read. We teach that here. We provide that. And it's not just reading. It's showing our kids how to learn and have critical thinking skills. That is the foundation of all of our academic endeavors, for our children to learn how to read and to be literate. So, I encourage everyone at

227home and our children to read as much as they can. I also encourage them to get a library card from their local library because the library doesn't only loan out books, they loan out a lot of other items and they have amazing programming for our kids. So, um, with that, I'll say good night and please make sure you all read. >> Thank you, Mr. Jones Cunning. Mr. Mine, >> I want to begin by reflecting briefly on the alumni hall of fame event uh that Dr. Reed mentioned and that um my at large colleagues and Dr. Anderson and I attended last Wednesday. Um I I truly believe that's one of the if not the most powerful event um that that our county hosts every year because we get to see how our graduates go off and

228and change the world. And for those who were there, they'll recognize um uh the power that were in Mr. Jim Aosta's remarks. as you know, he is one of our alumni of um uh Anendelle High School. Um but he talked about the immigrant experience and and the values of this country and just really touched me greatly. Um so thank you to Jim and our other um 10 inductees into the Hall of Fame. Uh I also had the privilege of going to the VSBA legislative conference um this past uh Friday in Richmond with Dr. Mr. Anderson, Miss Anderson, um, and Miss Marin. Um, I've really valued the opportunity to, um, engage in fellowship with my colleagues and folks from around the state. I will say the conference itself and the lunch situation were subpar. Um, so

229we'll need to work on that in the future. Um, and then finally, earlier this week, I was in New York for climate week. Um, and one of the most interesting ideas I heard come out of that was that some districts are using the waste heat from data centers to heat their schools. So, that is something unfortunately we're going to we may consider uh in the future. Thanks. >> So, I believe last night I went to my final back to school night of the season. That was Dogwood Elementary School, which did not disappoint. They had a wonderful um setup for the specials teachers and they provided child care in the cafeteria. So dinner was on while the parents and families got to visit the classrooms. I uh I then went over to South Lakes High School

230for the community boundary meeting that was there. And this was that general um sort of update and you know I remained available for input and articulating the decisions that you know I will need to make about boundaries. And so, um, you know, I'm headed on Monday to the superintendent's conversation and then meeting with concerned families connected to Flores Elementary in particular about the designation of Western High School for programming. Headed to Madison tomorrow for homecoming. And then, because I just can't get enough of marching bands, I'm going to the marching band festival at Hearnden High School on Saturday. I invite you to join me. It's going to be fabulous. I hope it doesn't rain. And then I'm really stoked for the first committee meeting that's been scheduled for the joint facility review committee with the

231board of supervisors. That's the kind of stuff that makes me very excited. So have a great weekend. >> Thank you, Miss Marin. Mr. McDaniel, >> I have been very busy over the last few weeks um crisscrossing the county looking at very early in the I'm not a morning person. Very early in the morning, 7:30, 7:45 watching the open gate uh machines, the the the weapons detectors at work. um Westfield Edison, Chantilly Woodson, and a couple more. I can't remember off the top of my head. Um the most interesting thing I did was the Clear View Elementary School uh back kind of the back to school night barbecue where the kids got me to jump rope. I jump rope. I made in nine jumps before I lost balance. An airpod flew 10 feet out of my

232pocket. And later that night, I had to take three a leave uh just to be able to go to bed. Um, but the the the funniest thing that happened to me the last couple of weeks, I was picking my daughter up from the bus stop and it's gotten to the point where she just gets off the bus and runs off with her friends, which is great, but she got about 100 feet ahead of me. I said, "Alice," she turns around and goes and I I look at her and I'm like, "What are you doing?" And she turns around, looks at me and goes, and takes off running again. the kids are doing well. With that, good night. >> Thank you, Mr. McDaniel. Dr. Anderson. >> Thank you. I think uh Mr. Mcavine stole some of

233my thunder because I did want to talk about the alumni um hall of fame. It was great, especially as the Annadel Adams had three individuals who were being recognized in addition to Jim Acasta who had a wonderful, wonderful speech. Um that was poignant and timely. Obviously he is an analyst and speaker. Um we also had Amir Abu El Awa who is the chief of staff for our own board of supervisor chair Jeff McCay. He was an Adam as well as Dennis Scarboro an Air Force veteran who currently serves as the executive director of operational readiness for the US transportation and um um transportation security administration for TSA. So, it was just really wonderful just to see the very best um that not the very best that Fairfax has to offer, but how they've come and

234are impacting the world. And there was a wonderful um recipient who is the most accomplished violinist. She's a musician and is just going around the country just very impressive. It's a very nice event. So, I do encourage you all to attend as well. Um just very quickly, I do want to say thank you to all of the principles for their wonderful back to school nights and open houses. Um, families have been very appreciative of having the opportunity to engage with staff and with teachers. And it was very interesting at PO, Miss Barrow also did a video in addition to the schoolboard video, she did a video during the advisory lesson to introduce herself to the community. I thought that was a great way since they don't do assemblies beforehand for the principles to have an

235opportunity to to be heard in terms of what they wanted to accomplish. um also visited in the last couple of weeks Po Middle School and Brenmar Middle School as well as Edison High School. And I just want to really give some kudos to those principles for all their wonderful work. And at PO I want to highlight the fact that um there is a new approach of all hands- on deck when it comes to the advisory um period. They are teamed up and everyone is involved. Principal, deans, everyone is there to connect with the students. They develop they develop also their own community building relationships and they will be there the entire year and I find it fantastic that the administrators have have also carved out that time to build relationship with kids and I know

236that they're going to see exponential um benefit to that. I also want to say thank you to um the principal of Bremar Park, Principal Williams for all of her work of work of running a school during a renovation which um I don't know if Mr. Gordon is there is a week ahead of schedule which is a better position to be than behind schedule. So that's also fantastic. And at Edison it was really wonderful to hear from the principal and seeing how their focus on culture and community has really impacted their discipline work. So it it does um when we focus on things and put the right strategies, we see the results and I' I've seen that at these schools. Um thank you and good night. Thank you Dr. Anderson. Mr. Moon, I just want to

237note a couple of celebration holiday coming up starting with Yam Kipper on October 2nd. So uh uh wish a meaningful holiday to Jewish students and families on October 2nd. But more importantly, uh Mr. Becker knows about this. Harvest Moon Festival is coming up on October 6. harvest moon because that's the day when we have largest moon based upon lunar calendar it's August 15th according to lunar calendar it's our just like our thanksgiving and for Koreans we call it chok for Chinese they call it and for Japanese sukimi and ch tetrantho for Vietnamese and they will be celebrating a a a day of harvesting everything they have worked so hard on that day. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Mr. Moon. Miss Lady. >> Yes, thank you. This upcoming week is Blue Star Week, which

238raises awareness and fosters support for military connected families who often move to new communities, especially in the DMV. Fairfagus County Public Schools is committed to ensuring our military families feel welcomed and a sense of belonging to their local community. I certainly appreciate your service and sacrifices. I have also been out in the com out and about in the community like my colleagues. Um I enjoyed being at Langley High School's pyramid uh gathering. Um it was interesting to see the marching band come in because it was middle schools and high school and lots of instruments. Um unfortunately they fell in that game to Westfield. Um but um they will rise for another occasion. Um also in terms of boundary meetings, I enjoyed being there at South Lakes last night with my colleague, Miss Marin. Uh also

239want folks to know that there is a boundary meeting on Saturday morning at Marshall High School. Um that's at 9:00 a.m. I will be there uh virtually um to hear folks and what their feedback is for that particular pyramid. also will be at Hayfield for robotics on Saturday and then the Hearnen High School marching band competition that will be hosted. I will be there to see my uh marching hornets. Um and this Friday I will also be as with Mr. Fresh the MLAN football game. And then next week I've got a couple visits. Churchill Road, Longfellow, and Lemon Road I will be with um visiting next week and I'm looking forward to that. And also for those of you that live in the town of H. Hearnen. Um the Hearnen state of the town which

240is presented by our mayor will take place Tuesday evening um at 7 p.m. So I will be there and would love to see some of you folks out there as well. Um and I think that's it. Thanks. >> And with that at 10:40 p.m. we are adjourned.