001[Music] this May 22nd 2025 regular meeting of the Fairfax County School Board will now come to order Please stand for the pledge of allegiance followed by a moment of silence During our moment of silence let us remember Congressman Jerry Connelly and extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family He was a tireless advocate for Northern Virginia and the board will present a proclamation in his honor at the June 12th 2025 regular meeting I pledge allegiance of the stands one nation under God indivisibley and justice for all [Music] Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we held at the twilight Lights last gleaming Who's brought stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight or the ramp parts we watched were so gallently streaming And the rockets red glare The
002bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave for the land of the free and the home of the brave [Music] [Applause] I neglected to identify our singer before uh she started and it was not just an ad for the Cappies but please do turn in Uh that performance of the national anthem was from Itsuko Scoville from South Lakes High School Please give it up for her Very talented Agenda item 2.02 announcements In accordance with changes to the Code of Virginia section 2.2-37083B which occurred on July 1st 2024 members of the public body who have a disability or are caregiving for another for someone with a disability now count toward quorum as if the individual was physically present In this
003case Miss Lady has notified the chair and clerk of the board that she is using remote participation as she is caregiving for an individual with a disability Thus Miss Lady will be counted as in person for the purposes of for the purposes of quorum tonight and does not need to be voted in by the board Uh she is located in Williamsburg Virginia Miss Lady please check your audio and video Good evening Chuck Chuck Hello Thank you Thank you If you would like to review a copy of the meeting agenda please see the back of the auditorium To obtain copies of any items or supporting materials being presented tonight please reference the QR code on the agenda or visit fcps.edu/boards Tonight's meeting is being broadcast on channel 999 and livereamed on YouTube and our website at
004fcps.edu/livestream Agenda item 2.03 Children's Mental Health and Wellness Proclamation I call on Mr McDaniel for a proclamation Whereas mental health is health and is integral to every adult and youth's overall health and well-being and the health and wellness of our children are of paramount importance to the future vitality of our community and nation Mental health conditions are real and prevalent but stigma and fear of discrimination keep many who would benefit from mental health services from seeking help And whereas while everyone experiences times of difficulty and stress throughout their lives one in five adults and one in five youth struggle to address a mental health illness condition in any given year 50% of lifetime mental illnesses begin by age 14 and 75% by the age of 25 Only half of youth with a mental health condition
005receive treatment Early intervention and education are proven strategies that significantly contribute to the development of healthy children who are better equipped to handle the challenges of adolescence and adulthood And whereas children's mental health and wellness month highlights the importance of positive mental health in a child's healthy development Research also supports protective factors like trusted adults both within educational settings and in the wider community connecting with others being physically active and seeking professional help when needed play a critical role in supporting the mental and emotional health of our youth And whereas the collaboration between Fairfax County Public Schools and county agencies along with partnerships with nonprofit organizations like Healthy Minds Fairfax is essential to increase awareness of signs of mental illness and to address barriers to accessing services through the coordination of prevention early intervention and
006treatment services And whereas children's mental health and wellness month is an opportunity to celebrate the work of FCPS to increase awareness of the connection between mental health and social emotional and psychological well-being and access to school counselors social workers and psychologists is crucial for addressing the mental health needs of students And the division has established no cost mental health taotherapy sessions for all high school students that are private and confidential and our students highlight awareness through awareness throughout participation in wellness clubs and activities in their schools and the work of the student advisory council And whereas FCPS is committed to prioritizing the mental health and well-being of all students providing resources and support services that promote positive mental health and address mental health concerns encouraging open communication and reducing the stigma associated with mental health
007collaborating with families educators mental health professionals and community organizations to create a comprehensive network of support and implementing programs that foster social and emotional learning resilience and coping skills Now therefore be it resolved the Fairfax County School Board proclaims May 2025 as children's mental health and wellness month and we urge all members of our school community to actively participate in activities that promote children's mental health and wellness throughout the month of May and beyond Let's work together to ensure that every child in Fairfax County Public Schools has the opportunity to grow learn and flourish in a mental in a mentally healthy and supportive environment Thank you Mr McDaniel Is there a second second Miss Lady All those in favor of the proclamation Miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr Makave Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss
008Seismarhiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss St John Cunning Miss Lady and myself That is unanimous for board members present Congratulations Thank you Miss Anderson Agenda item 2.04 honoring the 70th anniversary of Bucknell Elementary School proclamation I call on Mr Dunn Thank you Uh whereas Bucknell Elementary School has served as a foundational educational institution in Fairfax County since opening with just 14 classrooms in 1955 in response to the postworld war II population growth in Northern Virginia And whereas Bucknell has remained adaptable throughout the decades embracing integration in the 1960s the introduction of a kindergarten program and evolving its curriculum to prepare students for success in middle and high school And whereas Bucknell has continually upgraded its facilities starting with significant renovations in the 1970s that included the addition of a gymnasium modernized systems and later improvements
009such as a library computer lab and main entrance updates making the school a safe and welcoming environment for learning And whereas Bucknell actively embraces its motto to build empower succeed offering enhanced academic programming through initiatives such as English for speakers of other languages classes project excel reading first grants to support literacy and student achievement and the establishment of a parent center in 2010 And whereas Bucknell will further its tradition of innovation by launching Fairfax County's first public Montasauri program in fall 2025 initially serving three four and 5-year-old students in multi-age classrooms Now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board hereby honors and commemorates the 70th anniversary of Bucknell Elementary School celebrating its distinguished history outstanding contributions to education and enduring legacy of academic excellence community engagement and service And now therefore be
010it further resolved the Fairfax County School Board extends its heartfelt congratulations to the students faculty staff alumni and community of Bucknell Elementary School on this significant milestone with best wishes for continued success and prosperity in the years to come Thank you Mr Dunn Is there a second second Mr Chairman Mr Moon All those in favor miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr Mavine uh Dr Mr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismore Mr Dunn Mr Moon uh Miss St John Cunning and myself All those opposed miss Lady are you in favor okay Uh Miss Lady should be counted in the affirmative column No that means it's unanimous So congratulations [Applause] Agenda item 2.03 honoring the 35th anniversary of Saratoga Elementary School I call in Mr Dunn for a proclamation Uh whereas Saratoga Elementary School has served as
011a cornerstone of educational excellence in Fairfax County since opening its doors in 1989 And whereas Saratoga Elementary has dedicated teachers who provide highquality differentiated learning opportunities establish a trusting and positive learning environment and believe all students can achieve at high levels And whereas Saratoga Elementary is home to a diverse community of families and staff offering a continuum of services from preschool general education the advanced academic program and enhanced autism classrooms And whereas Saratoga Elementary is a proud purple star school valuing the commitment and sacrifice of our military families and supporting military connected youth through a student and family orientation and military connected ambassadors And whereas Saratoga Elementary focuses on the whole child through workout Wednesday and providing access to sensory pathways and zen dens where students can implement strategies to help their brain be available
012for learning Now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board hereby honors and commemorates the 35th anniversary of Saratoga Elementary School celebrating its distinguished history outstanding contributions to education in Fairfax County and unwavering commitment to nurturing the intellectual social and emotional growth of its students And be it further resolved the Fairfax County School Board extends its sincere congratulations to the students faculty staff families alumni and community of Saratoga Elementary School on this meaningful milestone with best wishes for continued excellence innovation and achievement in the years ahead Thank you Mr Dun Is there a second i second Miss Anderson all those in favor miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr Macke Dr Anderson Mr Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismarheiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss St John Cunning Miss Lady and myself That is unanimous Congratulations
013The proclamation passes And before we continue Mr Dunn informs me that um the president of the PTA at Saratoga is here and she was just named the PTA volunteer of the year for the entire Commonwealth of Virginia Uh her name is uh Chesapeake Darlimple Did I get that right no Del Rimple There we go I apologize Um so thank you very much for being here All right Agenda item 3.01 our pictures first This is what happens when I go off script Mr Dunn Yeah it's all Mr Dunn's fault It's not my fault for not paying attention to where we were All right Uh the clerks will now instruct us on taking a photo and we will start with uh the 35th anniversary of Saratoga Elementary School So please join us if you're here for that
014at the deis in front of the at where we stand for photos I would like to welcome all those here in support of honoring the 70th anniversary of Bucknell Elementary School proclamation to please join the board for a photo at the front of the dice I would like to welcome all those here in support of the children's mental health and wellness month proclamation to please join the board for a photo at the front of the Agenda item 3.01 community participation The next order of business is community participation We welcome all community members who are here and those who 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's website at fcps.edu edu/schoolboard During the sign up process
015community members acknowledged they were informed of the school board's expectations for proper decorum when providing comments These expectations are also available online and with the printed agenda and meeting materials in the back of the room We ask all audience members to be respectful of one another Shouting and outbursts will not be tolerated Please hold your applause until the conclusion of a speaker's remarks Audience members may join may not join speakers at the podium and should remain at their seats including when recording video or taking photos We are grateful to those who have come to speak to us today and thank you for your cooperation Schoolboard members will be listening but not responding Madame clerk please call our first speaker Patty Ker Hi I'm speaking to you as the parent of a twice exceptional AAP4 autistic
016fifth grader and I wanted to share a good thing that just happened So I'm going to brag about my kid for a moment My kid just quit chorus He advocated for his needs and opted out He made it happen without our help And I'm just really really proud of him Self- advocacy is the most important thing we can teach our 2E students Autistic students routinely experience misunderstandings and overwhelm in the school environment Too many times autistic students receive negative feedback because teachers misunderstand what they are saying what they are doing or why Our 2e autistic students are expected to mask their disabilities and behave like neurotypical students Especially in the general education setting there is an urgent need for updated training updated autism training for administrators teachers and staff I've asked my student what he
017would change about school He says he'd like to be able to choose classes that he's interested in like you can in college Our 2E students in all schools and all settings need access to academic rigor enrichment activities like science and math Olympiads supportive programs like AVID and time for self-regulation Our kids need sensory friendly school design and nerd diversity affirming support Every year families pull their two key twoe kids out of FCPS So I ask you to please talk to our kids and find out what they think school would be would would improve school I appreciate it Young Lee Young Lee Frank Cole Meard Good evening to all of you I speak to you tonight as a 50-year Fairfax County taxpayer father of three former FCPS students Vietnam vet and retired VA voice of America
018journalist The beginning of this Memorial Day weekend is a solemn time as I remember my fellow veterans who risked and sometimes gave their lives to keep our country safe They did so to ensure that you would likewise keep our students safe and educate them in partnership with parents Student safety issues include drugs gang activity human trafficking grooming the promotion of LGBTQ1A plus map ideologies transgenderism allowing boys and men and girls bathrooms and locker rooms is of major concern Many gender confused children are autistic or on the Asperger spectrum or have other special needs and are further misled by the FCPS sexed curriculum or socioeotional health/human growth and development survey questions asking such things as when did they first have sex how many times a month do you have sex or do they think they are
019the right gender we need to be empathetic but in today's culture empathy is redefined Words like compassion kindness and justice are no longer rooted in truth but are twisted to advance dangerous ideologies that appeal to emotion over reality The exploitation of empathy quote unquote to promote notions like trans women or women abortion is healthc care and no human is illegal are examples of slogans that sound caring but the policies behind them often cause deep and lasting harm By twisting moral language you manipulate well-meaning persons and parents into supporting agendas that ultimately undermine truth and hurt the most vulnerable On this Memorial Day let's get back to what has made this country great recognizing that keeping secrets from parents is dangerous and opens the door to predators and traffickers Thank you Please play the video testimony
020submitted by Stephanie Lungquist Aurora Good evening Earlier this year during a closed session meeting schoolboard members quietly decided to create 12 new clerical positions for your own personal benefit Your new staff will be enjoying enjoying salaries of $121,000 for about eight months of work totaling $1.5 million Meanwhile FCPS leadership announced last week it is reducing the number of special education leads in elementary schools as well as the number of advanced academic resource teacher positions throughout the district So just to get this straight you are hiring overpaid secretaries for yourselves and eliminating teacher positions in schools I know that with the exception of Matteo Dunn all of you refused to comment on this but even you must see that this is wrong In the last 5 years you spent at least $400,000 on new office space
021for yourselves and voted to substantially increase your own salaries And I guess now you have the power to hire your friends as overpaid clerical workers with taxpayer funds I wonder if some of you are making hiring decisions based on your future political ambitions For example at large member Kyle McDaniel who is currently embroiled in a scandal for allegedly embezzling $1.5 million from Blue Label Aviation hired Democratic campaign strategist and donor Laura Stokes Rational Seismore Heiser appointed the vice chair of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee and former chief of staff to a Democratic delegate as her district director Is she preparing for her next political move after the school board i understand that Carl Fresh and Robin Lady promoted their staff aids What a nice 68% raise at the taxpayers's expense It's sad when the people
022who are managing a $4 billion budget behave like children in a candy store with their parents' credit card This corruption and nepotism are made even worse by the fact that you're eliminating teacher positions that affect student outcomes You should be embarrassed You need to be better leaders and we need an external audit of the budget Thank you Please play the video testimony submitted by Michelle Wis Hi my name is Michelle Wis I live in Fox Mills in Reston with my family You can see we're a little little pocket on the back end of South Restston Our kids currently attend Crossfield Elementary because they walk and then they go to Hughes and South Lakes which are just about a mile away We were thrilled to see the kids stayed in their existing schools in scenario one
023But then we were shocked in scenarios two and three when they were bust in two different directions to Rachel Carson and Oakton It doesn't make sense If you look at the current boundary maps for me middle school they go to Hughes which makes sense because they are resting kids They attended rest in child care and preschool programs and their religious congregations and scout troops and ballet schools and pediatricians and orthodontists and dentists are all in Rest in And so staying at Hughes and going to South Lakes makes sense for our kids The school board's ultimately going to have to decide what's more important walkability or keeping cohorts together But to that point if it's keeping cohorts together why wouldn't the school board consider a fourth scenario which would be moving our children to Hunter's Woods
024they would have to move ride the bus but the bus ride is the same as a car ride to Crossfield And our kids would be able to stay in the IB programs We're extremely concerned about our secondary children being moved halfway through an IB program to an AP school Please keep our kids in the South Lakes Pyramid for middle and high school The school board has to make the decision about the elementary school but the reality is is that Oakden Pyramid never should have come into play Thank you Mr Fr That was our last public speaker Thank you Madam Clerk Agenda item 4.01 student representative matters I call on Miss Sant Thank you Good evening everyone This past Monday I chaired the student leadership developments programs mock work session where 12 student leaders discussed and
025voted on mock proposals that came out of their mock forum just a few months ago I was absolutely blown away by what they had to share at the table and their proposals included universal student meals a path to inclusivity and support implementing vaping education through targeted education and reducing substance abuse in FCPS schools and lastly redistribution of the high school grading policy While these mock proposals are part of the program they reflect what students across FCPS are thinking feeling and experiencing right now So I wanted to take some time to share some of the findings that they presented at the board First to talk about the vaping proposal According to the 2023 state of tobacco control report by the American Lung Association Virginia received an F in youth tobacco use prevention policies That places us
026among the lowest ranked states in the country and students are noticing While we do have our alcohol tobacco and other drugs unit students in the mock work session raised concerns about its inconsistency in being applied in schools and across grade levels Some students reported receiving these lessons twice a year in their health class while others at the same school level said they hadn't received the content at all this year Another issue is timing The health curriculum that covers health and wellness and sometimes the alcohol tobacco and other drugs unit is generally taught to 9th and tth graders integrated in the PE curriculum But what about 11th and 12th graders who don't take health and PE or the students who opt to take health and PE over the summer and then don't receive the education in
027the same way at an age where peer pressure experimentation and stress are often heightened shouldn't we continue to reinforce substance abuse prevention speaking from personal experience I only had one vaping related lesson in eighth grade in 11th grade I have received nothing this year We also discussed the challenges from a teaching perspective if we were to say move the alcohol tobacco and other drugs unit into advisory or interd disciplinary lessons at every school depending on how each high school worked so that everyone could access it But the thing is advisory is a place where we squeeze in so much content from APs to college applications to portrait of a graduate executive functioning keeping track of everything that's going on in schools to do it effect to effectively add in these vaping lessons Schools need more
028guidance planning time and equitable materials Students also talked about wanting more resources um to help with substance abuse but I believe we have them and we do from our substance abuse prevention program to our school-based specialists and digital content But the issue is is that it's not reaching students the same So it's not that we lack information We're lacking access visibility and consistency and getting these lessons to students the same Another proposal focused on our high school grading policy While FCPS uses the 7030 split students have noticed a lack of consistency between the rolling and quarterly gradebooks that happen at each schools that um and the thing that I actually want to mention about this is that we didn't notice this inconsistency until one student said "Well I have a rolling gradebook." And another student
029said "I have a quarterly gradebook." Even though we're both using 7030 we don't have the same type of gradebook and that does affect grading The student who also created this proposal felt that the 70% weight on tests places too much pressure on high stakes exams especially in math classes where three to four tests could make up most of your summitive grade for that quarter And while we do have summitive retake options to 100% it doesn't necessarily guarantee that your grade will be higher Especially when students are juggling new material with old material and for those who aren't strong test takers But when asked to revise that 7030 split student leaders were divided among what should ideally be formative summitative homework or practice How do we revise this number when so many different people have several
030different opinions on how it should be implemented again this was just 12 students at the table and we were all divided At the same time we also have to think about the continuity for our students and our teachers who experience these changes as we've implemented these new changes this school year but what happens in the next school year these student leaders brought such thoughtful ideas to the table ideas that reflect the larger student experience and leave us with more questions about what we should do in the future I am so grateful that we brought this program back this year and the questions that students raised And thank you to all of our schoolboard members who attended and shared your feedback with these students as well I also attended the Fairfax Global Leaders closing ceremony this
031past Sunday and I just wanted to thank you Mr Meline for organizing such an amazing program and the leaders that you help shape Um and lastly TJ Tech Extravaganza a STEM event for students in grades K through eight was held this past Saturday And we had 19 Title One elementary schools and over 2,000 visitors that came to visit And I think that this is just an amazing way to continue to spread STEM education here and spread the excellence that we have here in FCPS Um so just thinking ahead at the next schoolboard meeting we have all of the high schools in FCPS will be graduated So um if you're graduating congratulations Excuse me Thank you Miss Sant All right Agenda item 5.01 action certification of closed meeting compliance In order to comply with section 2.2-3712D
0322-3712D 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 May 22nd 2025 to the best of each board member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempt from open meeting requirements and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered by the board during the closed meeting Do I have a motion miss Marin do I have a second miss Seismheiser All those in favor miss Marin Miss Dix Mr Makov Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Eismerheiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss St John Cunning Miss Lady and myself That is unanimous Agenda item 5.02 action confirmation of action taken in closed meeting I call on Miss Marin for a motion
033Thank you Mr Chair I move to suspend We're not there yet No sorry my apologies Um close me in compliance Got it Motion I move to expel the student who committed a serious offense in violation of schoolboard property schoolboard policy by possessing a weapon that under section 22.1-277.07 of the code of Virginia and the Fairfax County Public Schools Student Rights and Responsibilities SRNR is a type that requires expulsion Is there a second i second Miss St John Cunning All those in favor Miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr Mackin Dr Anderson Miss Anderson Miss Sorheiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss St John Cunning Miss Lady and myself All those opposed Abstensions Mr McDaniel The motion carries I call Miss St John Cunning for a motion I move to expel the student who committed a serious offense in
034violation of schoolboard policy by possessing a weapon that under section 22.1-277.07 of the code of Virginia and the Fairfax County Public School student rights and responsibilities SRNR is a is a type that requires expulsion Is there a second second Thank you Miss Seismore All those in favor miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr Mavine Dr Anderson Miss Anderson Miss Eismerheiser Mr Moon Miss St John Mr Dunn Miss Lady and myself All those opposed Abstensions Mr McDaniel The motion carries I call on Miss Anderson for a motion I move to deny the school reassignment appeal of a student who participated in a group in the group assault of a student at school and confirm the disciplinary decision of the division superintendent Is there a second i second Miss St John Cunning All those in favor miss Marin Miss
035Dixit Mr Mavine Dr Anderson Miss Anderson Miss Esmerheiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss St John Cunning Miss Lady and myself All those opposed abstensions Mr McDaniel The motion carries Agenda item Oh sorry I call on Miss Anderson for a motion I move to deny the school reassignment appeal of a student who participated in the group assault of a student at school and confirm the disciplinary decision of the division superintendent Is there a second second Miss Lady All those in favor Miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr McVine Dr Anderson Miss Anderson Miss Seis Morheiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss St John Cunning Miss Lady and myself All those opposed abstensions Mr McDaniel The motion carries I call on Miss Anderson for a motion Number five I I move to authorize council to take the steps discussed in
036close session related to a pending litigation matter Is there a second second Mr Mavine All those in favor miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr Mavine Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismore Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss St John Cunning Miss Lady and myself That is unanimous The motion carries Agenda item 5.03 action financial year 2026 approved budget I call on Miss Seismarheiser for a motion I move that the school board adopt the fiscal year 2026 approved budget as detailed in the fiscal year 2026 advertised budget modified by the adjustments included in the agenda item Is there a second i second Miss Anderson Miss Eismerheiser would you like to speak to your motion yes Just briefly I um this has been an incredibly difficult budget year as many have seen We were facing a shortfall of
037$121 million which is the largest shortfall I believe FCPS has ever faced at least in the the recent future or at least recent past excuse me And so that required some really tough decisions And I think what makes some of these decisions so tough was the fact that we all up here and I think many in the audience understand and believe that public education is the bedrock of our community of our economy of our democracy Residents move to Fairfax County because of our schools Businesses come to Fairfax County because of the schools and the strong public education system and the educated workforce FCPS is known for its high quality education and breath of program offerings In addition to that it is one of the largest employers in Virginia and has one of the largest bus
038fleets in the Mid-Atlantic This takes excellent educators in each and every building and strong administrators in each and every building and strong leaders who have the skills to manage that complex and large organization A $4 billion a year organization with 40,000 employees and 181,000 students and 200 schools is a complex and costly challenge And to provide an excellent education on top of that takes strong dedicated people at every level So with that I want to start by thanking our funders Since we do not have any ability to raise our own revenue I want to thank our funders for the state the federal government and our Fairfax County which provides 70% for funding our schools and for supporting public education I want to thank very much um in this first year of collective bargaining which is
039a really exciting year I think several of us were on the board when we voted in collective bargaining I was chair when we passed it And I and in this era where we are not able to keep up as much as we'd like with teacher compensation making sure our teachers and staff have a voice at you a voice in their future and a seat at the table is something that I hold and we all hold very dear and I I applaud our teachers and staff who are fighting hard for that right for themselves And I'm excited in the first year collective bargaining to to be able to say that we were able to bargain Um we were hoping for the 7% raise but at least able to hold for a 6% raise for our FEU
040um um union and I'm proud to be part of that Um I know there's been a lot of concerns about the three areas about the areas that were proposed to be reduced in our budget in order to meet our obligations And that includes reductions in classroom teacher allocations which may result in 275 teacher positions or fewer teachers across our school system in school fewer ones in our county in our buildings Eliminating cross classroom monitors Changing some of the staffing formulas regarding central funding of a special education department chairs Um removing the funding for social studies curriculum materials and electric buses all of and reducing central office funding by 3% All of these will have an impact in our schools in our buildings and our ability to provide the education that we're known for But I
041have faith in our team and our staff and especially our teachers and staff in the building to continue to do the excellent work that they're going to do And as far as the special ed department chairs and arts we've had a lot of reassurance from Dr Reid that those positions using working with each principal will be kept um whole as we move into and equity whole as we move into next year So thank you for all the advocacy and all the voices and thank you especially to our teachers and staff and families and community for supporting public education I'm excited to vote for this budget Thank you Miss Seismaris Miss Anderson would you like to speak to your second just briefly I'm not going to belabor any points that have already been made We understand
042that hard decisions had to be made made this year and we understand that they have real impacts and we are grateful that we are working with all of the partners required in order to make those things possible and we understand that that it may not have been the exact choice that everybody would have made Um we're doing the best we can with what we've got and as one of my colleagues likes to say this is a bare bones budget We are funding the things that we absolutely have to in order to keep moving Um and we are going to continue to advocate both at the state level and with our county partners to make them understand fully where we are and why and how we've gotten here And so um I'm looking forward to digging
043into that work with my colleagues And I I am grateful for where we landed this year that at least we we have been able to preserve the compensation that we have been talking about for over a year So we didn't get all the way there but we got close and it um I'm grateful for where we ended up Thank you Miss Anderson I call on Miss Marin for a motion You do Mr Chair I move to suspend the rules and consider the question of postponing indefinitely the proposed budget amendments Is there a second i second A motion to suspend the rules and consider postponing indefinitely the proposed budget amendments has been made and seconded It is not debatable and requires a two-thirds vote to pass If the motion to suspend the rules passes we will
044consider postponing indefinitely the proposed budget amendments During that time board members may discuss the benefits or drawbacks of the amendments in question and they uh they can also discuss why they should or should not be considered individually tonight If the motion to postpone indefinitely passes the amendments in question will not be excuse me If the motion to postpone and definitely passes the the amendments in question will not be heard this evening and we will move on If the motion to postpone indefinitely fails the board will consider each amendment individually Adoption Uh and since this is not a debatable motion adoption of this motion again requires a two-thirds vote All those in favor of suspending the rules Miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismore Miss St John Cunning Miss Lady and myself All
045those opposed Mr Mavine Dr Anderson Mr Dunn and Mr Moon The motion carries The rules are suspended Mr Chair count doesn't sound like it What's that i didn't get the count but that sounded like that was fewer than 2/3 It's eight It was eight Eight passed Okay Yes Did I not say myself what about Miss Lady i think that's I said Miss Lady Yes Her hand is up Thank you Eight Uh the motion to suspend the rules carries the motion to suspend the point of order I don't see Miss Lady I don't see her screen I don't see a hand I don't think that counts It's right there Right in the middle of the screen Robin Lady has her hand up Miss Lady would you like to verbalize your vote i am voting Yes Thank
046you The motion to suspend the rules has been adopted We will now consider the motion to postpone indefinitely the proposed budget amendments Miss Marin would you like to speak to your motion to postpone indefinitely the proposed budget amendments you know the budget work takes place over a long period of months and this year was particularly ownorous and we our superintendent worked to make it make something happen with respect to the you know agreement with the unions and we had a very short time period to um turn things around and so having motions come to the deis at this late stage doesn't give us the opportunity to really hear them out fully and you know I was thinking about this if we want to be transparent but if we did every single conversation at the Dis
047we would never be able to get our work done So talking you know leading up to a public meeting still gives us the opportunity to share what we think but to actually debate back and forth is is not a good use of of everyone's time So um I hope that we can in the future talk about these things more fully with with more time Thank you uh Miss Marin And uh at the discretion of the chair I will invite Oh sorry Miss Anderson Would you like to speak to your second um I feel similar to my colleague in the fact that we we all have things that we find important and we all have things that we would aim to to change funding for Um at this point I believe strongly that we have come
048up with a deal that in a in a agreement with our partners in lots of different arenas and I think that it's important for us to follow through with that um agreement Thank you Miss Mayor Miss Anderson At the discretion of the chair I will invite Mr Dunn to speak next since these are his amendments Mr Dunn thank you I believe we share the same objective to provide every child with a world-class education and a safe learning environment Unfortunately FCPS has fallen short in recent years of providing a safe learning environment in middle schools and high schools in particular And there's one simple reason for this School administrators do not have a sufficient number of security guards The standard number of security personnel in a middle school is one school resource officer and one security
049guard or two The standard number of security personnel in a high school is one SRO and four security guards or five I wondered if school administrators considered the standard number to be sufficient to meet the needs of their schools And the re the resounding answer is no I conducted a survey over the past week of schools across the county And here's a sample of what they said In Sully district they need at least four additional security guards In Mount Vernon at least nine In Providence at least three In Drainsville at least three In Mason at least four In Springfield at least six This is almost 30 Based on school our school administrators at least 29 additional security personnel are needed across the county This reflects the responses of half of our 50 middle schools and
050high schools So you can extrapolate out that the number is at least double that or approximately 60 security guards The question is are we going to listen to our school administrators who we trust to manage our schools every day and who know better than anyone in this room the needs of their schools and the apparent answer is no We are not going to listen to them and we are not going to provide them with the resources the boots on the ground to ensure the safety and security of our schools staff and students The question is why our most sacred obligation as schoolboard members is to ensure the safety and security of the children who are entrusted to us each day by parents guardians and caregivers It is a legal and moral imperative but we are
051failing Ask any middle school or high school student do you feel that is safe to use the bathroom in your middle school or high school the answer is invariably no In fact I've never had a yes Bad things happen in the bathrooms That is what my children told me That is what I heard as recently as this weekend in Tyson's directly from students mouths That is the reason many principles close most if not all of the bathrooms in their school during the school day denying students safe and accessible bathrooms Many students too many hold don't go to the bathroom at all during the school day holding in their bladders It's unhealthy Ask any teacher or staff member do you feel that your middle school or high school is safe and the answer is also almost
052invariably no You will hear about the drugs the fights the vaping You will hear about teachers who are forced by the insufficient number of security guards to act as heroes to perform the functions of security guards Breaking up fights stopping stabbings We should not ask our teachers to be heroes They are already heroes for the burdens they bear It is time to act And if not now when when will it be time to provide our children with safe and accessible bathrooms and schools this has been going on for years It's time to act Thank you Mr Dunn Miss Lady Thank you Mr Chair Um I feel the need to speak with to this uh just in light of the fact that I've been most recently working in our public schools but also as someone whose
053expertise and life's work was in mental health If we were going to have a pot of money where we could hire more staff I would implore this school system to hire more social workers counselors psychologists because the work we need to be doing is in prevention We have troubled children but we don't have enough people to support them to speak with them to work with them to prevent aggressive behaviors acting out and the things that Mr Dunn has highlighted Yes we want our children to feel safe I never felt unsafe as a as an employee at Chantilly And whenever we did surveys I don't believe that any of my colleagues felt unsafe And I think that most of the surveys indicate that most of our children do feel safe in our schools Um but I
054just want to say that you know as has as been indicated earlier it's late in the game to kind of debate what should be happening in our budget But if we suddenly did have this type of money I wouldn't want to hire 60 security because I don't want to create a space and a situation where we're triaging and reacting I'd rather be proactive I'd rather get out in front of it I'd rather hire specialists who can work with our kids and can intervene when they're at at hopefully earlier intervention so we can prevent any of this aggressive behavior So I just I'm want my community to understand that I want our students to be safe I'm 100% supportive of that But I do believe that what what all the research says that when students have
055a trusted adult who they can talk with that is a big thing in their social emotional health and well-being So we need to put those type of people in their life and have exposure to them Um and that's that's going to be the best thing moving forward is prevention It's not being reactive but being proactive Thank you Thank you Miss Lady Dr Anderson Thank you Um this motion to I guess indefinitely suspend um postpone the amendments is not one that I will support I I don't believe this is the right way for us to do business I certainly understand we need to have more conversations before we get to the deis We need to have more planful work but we also have to acknowledge that we've been in a place that is not ideal We
056had a work session literally on Tuesday where we learned certain things and asked certain questions Time was originally not on our side from the very beginning given the timetable that we've had since the board of supervisors made their decision on May 13th It was hustle and hurry for everyone involved including us Yes it will take time for us to have the discussions that are presented in some of these amendments of which by the way I have none So there's no dog in the fight for me personally But I think as a collective that is our job That is our primary fiduciary duty to discuss the budget and to wrestle it into the things that's going to represent what our community wants It doesn't mean we have to support it but cutting off the conversation alto
057together it it just really saddens me that we're not able to devote the time that this budget deserves to really explore the ins and outs even with the limited time that we've had Again we just had a work session on Tuesday where we just learned some new information and today's Thursday So there has to be grace for that and for us to do our job of really turning every stone in order to have full discussions on the things that matter to our constituencies Thank you Dr Anderson Uh Mr for me I agree with everyone that this has been a lot of work and uh many thanks to our budget chairs and staff and everyone who has put in that work But I have to say I'm pretty shocked Um this is the first time I've
058seen this kind of indefinite postponement on the budget no less one of the most important things we do Um I urge my colleagues to give their peers the opportunity to present their ideas You don't have to agree with them I don't agree with all of them Regardless how you feel about the proposals cutting them out uh is not a very collegial thing to do So let the voices of your colleagues be heard Thank you Mr McAfee and Miss St John Cunning I too want to appreciate all the hard work that has gone into this budget particularly because it was a new way of doing the budget which affected what the time um the timing was and the quick turnaround I understand everyone's frustration I know that each and every one of us has different areas
059that we would like to um you know adjust in the budget and if each of us took our preferences we would be here for the next two weeks um to hear Mr Dunn in his statements you would think that our schools are the most dangerous places in our county and that is not so I'm I'm someone that has worked in the schools and had to leave my school position to be here uh to tell you what it's like to be down in the trenches and in the schools I agree with what my colleague said I would rather invest in people so that it's preventative because that's what studies show our psychologists our social workers our counselors and our family liaison are the ones that really impact the well-being of our students Can we make improvements
060in security absolutely I'm not saying that we can't We don't have the money to do that right now and that's unfortunate But if it was if we were going to start readjusting where money would go then that's where I would want to invest in is in our people because those are the people that make the difference and impact the lives of the students And I speak from personal experience talking about the value of teachers and counselors that literally saved the life of my daughter And so our schools are safe Our schools are teaching children Our schools are saving lives Thank you Miss St John Cunning Uh Miss Dixit uh thank you first of all uh Dr agreed uh Miss Burden and the entire FCPS team for their hard work on this budget I also want
061to thank the budget committee for their leadership Um on this point of um you know what we discussing right now I I do understand safety and security is very important Um I believe in having more security cameras in school if the budget allows I I do believe in having extra monitors uh in the schools so we can watch the hallways um bathroom uh you know detectors for vaping but um we just don't have the resources right now I wish I could do all of them right now I'd add to their budget But what I could not support and will not is cutting salaries of any school uh teacher or or staff member their FEU non-FEu it doesn't matter But I will not cut anybody's salary Um I will not uh do any irresponsible thing just
062two days before uh or one day before the budget uh is has to pass So I would work with the our colleagues to you know find ways to fund uh these other initiatives by my colleagues and and I I do I do uh believe that our schools are safe um as my sons have gone through these schools I have always asked them every day have you do you feel safe do you feel you any there's an issue um there was no not no complaint for 12 years but yes sometime it happens and we understand that so I I really appreciate uh that what we have done here with uh the limited budget we have and I I I think we have a path moving forward is work very very closely uh with our other partners
063the state and county and and make sure we get more funding next years to get all these initiative uh fulfilled Thank you Thank you Miss Dixit uh Mr Moon Thank you Mr chairman for giving me an opportunity to speak because it sounds like uh my colleagues want to shut down the debates and on budget uh in my three decades of involvement with the schoolboard discussion I've never seen anything like this shutting down the whole debate we talk about needing to have a discussion moral discussion but this is basically not wanting to have that discussion period Uh at times due to the time constraint we may want to limit the discussion by calling the questions but this is simply shutting down the whole discussion period A couple of colleagues of mine talked about work session not
064being scheduled until a couple of days ago very unfortunate we didn't have that disc work session last week We should have should have the work session right after we had a public hearing so that board members could have enough time more time to reflect upon the discussion from much earlier work session and start thinking about what to bring to the table for discussion having more conversation amongst the board members Unfortunately that did not take place What happened on Tuesday i went home By the time I got home it was almost close to 9:00 because we had a work session from 5:00 scheduled until 8:30 Sit down cool down your head reflecting upon what transpired at the work session What could I bring to the table for further discussion and crafted something and shared with my
065colleagues first thing I got was well that was not showed within 48 hours Oh folks that work session schedule did not end until it came within the 48 hour window I am sick to my stomach Thank you Mr Moon I'm going to take my turn and talk about sausage making and the process and the hours that I spent trying to make sure that board members have the things that they want considered here I think Mr Dunn would agree that I have been in constant contact with him about this I hope he would Um and here's what happened uh with on that 48 hour period which this board adopted And I don't just get to break the rules That is a rule of the board So if the board wants to change that rule they can
066with a two-thirds vote Um we received eight amendments that were virtually identical and other colleagues came and said "Well can we do an omnibus?" In other words consider them all at the same time which is what we do when we've got a bunch of motions where there is a want to pass them all I spoke with the parliamentarian and he informed me that you can't do an omnibus because these motions are virtually identical but they all do it differently So you can't pass them all at the same time You can't risk passing them all at the same time because they'd do the same thing Um and so this is what we came up with And to get to the nut of what board members were asking to do which is to consider all eight of
067these it was eight at the time it's now four uh at the same time And so as I articulated both in introducing these motions to make sure everybody understood it and as I did to Mr Dunn before the meeting uh that the conversation about this motion was an opportunity to talk about the merits of the amendments It is not for amendments that are wildly different They they have a different funding source So the merits of that approach could have been discussed in this motion not just the process Um but when a board member comes to me and says,"I want to do X Y or Z," I don't shut them down even if I agree disagree with them I spend hours before every single meeting it seems like these days walking through parliamentary procedure with colleagues
068to make sure that they get exactly what they want out of the meeting if the board is willing to take it take it there with them I never turn anybody away from that And when colleagues said that this is what they'd like to do I even told the uh amendment maker that this is what people were planning to do Another chair wouldn't tell anybody any of this and they would just push for the most efficient meeting by hoping that people were in the dark about parliamentary procedure and not tell them how this works Let people fail on their motions Let people not know that it needs to be seconded But that's not how I do business If next week there or next meeting there's a motion that I don't agree with and somebody has a
069complicated path on how they want to get it done I'm going to tell them how that path works even if I don't agree with it In this case I don't agree with the base the fundamental part of one of the motions which means I don't agree with it any of the motions That doesn't mean I won't work work with Mr Dunn to address security concerns in the future It just means I don't support these amendments and rather than having a debate about the same thing eight times or four times now and just changing the funding source I'm going to support the motion to to do this all at once Thank you Uh doc Mr Dunn followed by Wait Miss Seis Wait you you're live Miss Seismore has not spoken yet So I wasn't going to
070speak because this is really a motion to suspend the rules to but I think it's important to say that all of us want to make sure that the atmosphere in which our kids learn is the best most safe inclusive and welcoming atmosphere because the data shows that when kids feel safe supported and included they will learn better The data also shows when kids are fed when they are mentally well when their families are engaged they will learn better At the end of the day all of our goal I believe is to make sure that the kids can learn what they need to learn to be successful on the path that is right for them Now I named a bunch of things there that kids need to learn to to have to to learn I agree
071with my colleague that kids need to feel safe to learn There are lots of different ways kids can feel safe I recently met with social workers Social workers engage families help deal with kids mental health and mental wellness Our social worker ratio is 1 in,400 I would love to bring an amendment to have more social workers We have not done well with inclusion My colleagues have heard me talk about this I would love to bring an amendment to bring back the inclusion resource teachers we used to have in Fairfax County because that shows that some of our most vulnerable students with the biggest gaps inclusion datadriven sciencedriven works I would love to have more security guards but I don't think I want security guards sitting in the bathrooms So the reality is that this is
072a very tough budget We are $121 million shortfall from what we asked There are many things that would make our kids feel safe supported and I haven't even talked about enrichment and education in setting them up for for what they need for these careers that we don't even know what they're going to be yet That's the reality of where we're at We all constrained ourselves because I think we all have excellent ideas including my colleagues on how to make our kids' education better But at the crux of this here's what I know We cannot have an excellent education without excellent teachers If you talk to almost any parent or any kid what they will point out the difference between a great year and a bad year is the teacher And so my priority and I
073believe a lot of our priority was compensation because we have to keep up with our surrounding jurisdictions especially those that are paying more and it's cheaper to in which to live I wish we could do all of these things I think it's difficult to put all of us in a situation where we have to pick and choose I choose the teachers Thank you Miss Seismoreheiser Dr Anderson Yes I'm sorry Mr Dunn Then Dr Anderson uh I wish we could do all things too but Maslo's uh hierarchy of needs says safety and security is number two after hunger and thirst That's a basic need If we don't meet that basic need we can't meet any needs How can you achieve educational progress progress and outcomes if kids aren't safe what message does it send to our
074community if we decide to indefinitely postpone the safety and security of our schools staff and students president George Bush once said "Message we care." Is our message now message we don't care because we're putting it off indefinitely How much do we need to provide a sufficient number of security personnel at every middle school and high school in the county 5.2 million Let me say that again 5.2 million That's 0.00155% of the $4 billion FCPS budget Within the past two weeks FCPS decided to spend $6 million on metal detectors for every high school and middle school $6 million With that same money 90 security guards could be allocated to middle schools and high schools across the county to ensure the safety and security of our children I would rather invest in security guards rather than fickle
075technology Beyond that we have multiple buckets of money from which we can draw 5.2 2 million including increasing central office reductions from 3% to 5% of the $248 million budget That is so important I'd rather have security of our kids rather than a few extra bodies at Gate House Contracted services also increased from 48 million to uh 42 million to 90 million just within this year There's certainly $5 million in that bucket that could be used as well as strategic funding which increased 700% Preventive services are great and I've supported increasing the number of social workers and psychologists to the nationally recommended ratios But what happens when someone gets stabbed what happens when there's a fight what happens when there are drugs are you going to send in the social worker no You're going to
076send in the security guard you're going to send in the school resource officer We need to have them not in our bathrooms but walking the hallways Making sure that our kids feel safe and are safe as a practical matter Thank you Mr Dunn Dr Anderson thank you One of the things that I think it's also important to share because we do follow Robert's rules here and Robb's rules does allow for bringing motions at the table at the dis on the spot Yes our board did make a decision to have 48 hours be our rule Um but if Robbins rules is applicable in some places it should be applicable in all the places And I get it There are a lot of very worthwhile things I think everyone has said here Whether it be counselors whether
077it be inclusion whether it be safety all of those things create require dollars and will create better experiences for our students However that is not the reason why I'm even speaking tonight about this I'm speaking about this process that we are engaging in right now which essentially quells debate Not having the opportunity to talk about things I it's dismaying to me and I don't think that's the right way for us to go as a body Um yeah it's just not being able to have the discussion The last thing that I want to say on this point I know that Mr Moon had made mention of um on Tuesday wanting to inquire a little bit more about our non-FEU um workers who are hourly just finding a way to provide some more a higher um percentage
078of compensation increase to that group That's a discussion I think we would like to hear and like to have It doesn't mean that we would vote for these things It doesn't mean that we need to agree with all of them but shutting down the debate that we're kind of having now in a backdoor way It this is the same time that we're committing whether we're committing the time to discuss about committing the time or just giving the time to have the discussion It's really troubling to me that we are comfortable with just shutting down debate for ourselves Thank you Dr Anderson I'll take my go back for the record The 48 hour rule was adopted using Robert's rules by 10 members of this board We would not have that rule were it not for Robert's
079rules which has a stipulation in there in case the board does want to adopt something And so we used it 10 of us And if there is significant support for not using that rule it can be suspended That's also Robert's rules I don't get to change the rules on my own Period Mr Moon thank you Dr Dr Anderson for putting up you know what I wanted to have at some discussion tonight Thank you Mr Moon So oh sorry I'm not done Okay Thank you I know I know you want to cut up the debate but I wasn't done So uh so for a a employees who not part of a collective bargaining there are about 13,500 employees Out of that 1,400 highest paid employees within the school system 12,000 hourly employees are the least paid
080employees within the school system Superintendent's proposal to give a 5% compensation increase for those employees basically are setting aside $13.5 million for 1,400 employees highest paid employees close to about $10,000 per employee on the average versus $5 million for all $12,000 hourly employees for about $400 per employee which comes down to about $2 per day I mean that's the kind of discussion I want you to have on the table Thank you Mr Moon Mr fix it Uh Mr Chair point of order This dialogue needs to be gerine to the motion about the board pro process to suspend but we have nobody else left to speak So we'll be voting on the motion All right All the Can we put the motion on the screen for postponing indefinitely it's right there on the bottom of the
081screen All those in favor Miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismore Miss St Junk Cunning Miss Lady I can't see you Miss Lady and myself All those opposed Mr McAfee Dr Anderson Mr Dunn Mr Moon The motion carries We will now return to the discussion of the general budget Dr Anderson Thank you Firstly I do want to say thank you to the budget team because as I shared just a little while ago having to react very quickly to the everchanging um landscape of the budget is not easy So thank you for that Um secondly um Dr read Well no Secondly I do want to say thank you to all of the individuals who did come to the public hearing um a week or two ago It feels so much longer but I
082know it hasn't been that long Um I believe we had over 200 people sign up to share and to talk about the different things that were of great concerns to them We heard that night quite a bit of advocacy for the special education chairs We also heard a lot of advocacy for the um arts We also heard quite a bit of advocacy for the classroom monitors Um before we take our vote Dr Reid I would love for you to speak to our community who may not have had the opportunity to tune in to Tuesday's work session regarding what we are able to do with these three positions Yes ma'am Um essentially the I'll start with the classroom monitors first Um the classroom monitors have been um integral uh to the work in our elementary schools
083over this past uh several years since the COVID pandemic They've provided a great deal of support uh to schools uh and you know provided admirable service and support We've not been able to find a funding source to continue that role So um that 13.3 million is something we need to balance the budget Um where there is flexibility at different schools uh principles or staff may uh have the opportunity to have some uh classroom monitors and some uh reduced role depending on uh funding reserves or flexibility at the school level As far as the AART positions as you recall we um left the AART positions in title one schools intact So it was our non-title one schools that we reduce the central funding allocation for As well as the special ed department chairs we reduced by
084half the centrally funded um allocation So recognizing that we're not able to keep a full-time special ed department chair and full-time AART position in the continuing um budget base So what that's going to require is for us to work and our regional assistant superintendents and our chief of schools office will be working with each principal to look at their unique context and provide we've given our elementary principles um an extra 15% of their carryover Traditionally we've capped that at 10% but we're allowing 25% to give them more flexibility and being able to for this one year only fund source to provide those other half positions or those other uh half uh keep those people whole in those roles So the opportunities for principles will be to utilize trades to utilize more flexible carryover and where
085necessary we'll also look at the staffing reserve which is a central fund of money again one-year only dollars So we I did meet with our special ed department chairs and our AARTS and assured them that they would have uh that they would be kept whole for this year uh but also recognize that those 0.5 positions that are not in uh what we call the operating budget base uh we're going to have to have conversations and I think our board uh very much so uh understands this that we're going to have to have conversations about these roles and other roles within the division uh depending on our funding our projected revenue for next year So um and also want to make a comment that our special ed department chairs our AERTs and our classroom auditors um
086are all working extraordinarily hard on behalf of each and every one of our students as all our staff do And um these budget decisions are really difficult Um but that's uh that's where we are at this time And I believe everyone understands that uh we're going to continue the work uh that these positions undertaken particularly our work I think as Miss Carter mentioned this evening our work with our twice exceptional students our inclusion work um and our work with our students in advanced academics as well So um that's the update Thank you Um just to put a final point just wanting to be sure that there's understanding in the community because I'm sure we've all received lots of questions about this Um I even received a bunch of questions even as late as today Principles
087at elementary schools um non-title one elementary schools will be able to use their carry Well I want to backtrack I don't want to confuse principles at elementary schools will all be allotted an additional 15% in their carryover funds So that's step one It's kind of a graduated scale and they're expected to utilize those funds to make up the difference of a arts and um sped chair the 0.5 If that is insufficient then they move to step two which is prioritizing their trades in order to arrive to these positions as holes to make those two positions whole If that continues to be insufficient then they're too engaged with their regional associate superintendent in order to access potentially the staffing reserve because at the end of this year the expectation is that in our elementary schools even
088given the budget situation that we're in but using these different um options that our ARTS and our special education chairs will be 1.0 at all elementary schools Is that an accurate statement i want to qualify that the and Miss Burton is trying to we have to be careful when we use one the whole FTE positions because the only half of the position is going to be centrally funded in the budget The other half of the position is going to be funded either by carryover trades or the staffing reserve to keep our uh people whole this year But I think it's just the term position that we have to be the position isn't fully in the budget Half of them is half of the position is but you are correct that uh the uh the people
089will be whole in those roles and those roles this year only So next year will be a different conversation um because we don't yet know what that budget landscape is Um but one of the things that I do want to put out into the ether here is the budget if the budget landscape is as dire as it was this year that we begin some of these conversations a lot earlier Um because we were really short on time this time around Thank you Dr Anderson Mr Oh Mr Dunn Uh I want to thank um Dr Reed for her leadership throughout this process Um my colleagues on the budget committee and the school board for all their hard work as well as all the FCPS staff who have had to navigate a very difficult and challenging process
090And this is a process first and foremost Um we deal with throughout most of what we call budget season We have a lot of unknown variables How much will we receive from the county how much will we receive from the state how much will we receive from the federal government which might abolish the US Department of Education Um we only get towards the end of that process to the point where we actually have some definite or nearfinite numbers and of course there are lots of priorities there's always more we want to do in a variety of respects and uh this has been particularly turbulent um with the introduction of collective bargaining where you know a commitment was made at the beginning not quite fulfilled and then had to have lastm minute uh negotiation because of
091some policy choices that were made um that created a whole lot of um turmoil because budget cuts were put on the table which were never articulated to the school board or to the public earlier in the season and caused a lot of trauma honestly for employees who found out on a Friday morning that their positions might be eliminated or cut back the following year and they might not be able to pay their mortgages um or meet their family needs Um we need to do this different We certainly need to do this different So if we do have cuts in mind we articulate that early and often in the season So if people want to come and advocate for their positions for their communities they can do so Um but I am always in favor of
092robust debate of of thorough conversations with the community I started my journey to schoolboard based on my advocacy at that at that speaker um to prevent uh the elimination of high school sports theater and performing arts music education and in elementary school and uh language immersion programs And I see some of my allies uh in the audience who fought with me uh and an ally on the school board today It's so important that we continue to allow people to advocate articulate their views because when we don't then it's sudden it's dramatic it's traumatic and and that is contrary to the spirit of our country and contrary to the interests of our school system Thank you Mr Dunn I'll take a turn Um so tonight we are making history by approving the first ever collective bargaining
093agreement in a budget that Fairfax County Public Schools has ever had Uh this milestone is the result of years of organizing collaboration and compromise And we are better for it Through the CBA bargaining unit employees will receive a 6% raise along with meaningful improvements to leave working conditions planning time and other benefits The budget also includes a 5% raise for our hardworking employees who fall outside of the collective bargaining uh agreement At its core the CBA is about improving the quality of education in Fairfax County school public schools by underscoring the notion that teachers working conditions are students learning conditions Despite its historic nature we have to be honest This budget is not everything we wanted it to be We are disappointed that FCPS did not receive full funding from our state and county partners
094The superintendent has done an incredible job working to bridge the $121 million funding shortfall while trying to limit the impact on uh of cuts on classrooms Still we need to acknowledge that progress was made The state's SOQ changes brought nearly $30 million to FCPS a step in the right direction And one of Jark's one of their 16 Jark recommendations As a reminder the nonprofit nonpartisan JARK estimates that if we were funded at average levels from the state we Fairfax County Public Schools would receive $568.7 million more each year So we have to do more next year to push the governor and the general assembly to to do even more on JARK The board of supervisors increased its transfer helping us meet core obligations They pulled back on other proposed cuts that would impact students like
095eliminating middle school after school programs and high school crossing guards And I'm grateful for that I'm most grateful for members of the community especially the students who came to public hearings to express their views on that matter And so it's going to require deeper more meaningful collaboration and working together with our state partners if this is going to be different next year Budgets are values in action but they are also complex constrained decisions This one reflects hard choices shaped by underfunding but also a landmark victory for educators and some real wins for students Let's commit to working even harder together next year with our state county and federal partners to get it right Thank you Miss Dixit Thank you Mr Chair I want to sincerely thank the students parents staff and the community member who
096shared their thoughtful inputs whether at the public hearing or Sully district budget town hall or through directly reaching out to me through this budgeting process Your voice and input have been very important guiding our decisions Uh in Fairfax County we expect excellence in our school and with a wide range of activity that support all the students But as we have said before FCPS cannot keep up with this continued state under funding and budget cuts Um to address this funding shortfall this year the revised FCPS budget has several adjustments and we have already addressed that many times that $121 million But this measures of uh which have taken um somehow to uh still meet the demand of our community it's only for one year We have funding for many of these positions Uh over time there'll
097be fewer adults in the building which will mean larger class sizes less intervention for struggling students and less support for teachers directly impacting learning outcome If budget cuts become normalized we could lose years of progress we have made in making education fair innovative accessible for all students Um we I'm very happy for the additional funding we got with the state partners but we still are very low in terms of other neighboring uh states and funding Um and I'm very excited to support the the first uh contract for collective bargaining agreement and the race for the educators and I will continue to support our educators and the staff members Anybody who's working in any capacity in FCPS I'll be there to support them till my time on the board Um I would also like to continue
098the collaboration much earlier with the supervisors uh and our partners at Fairfest County to better align ourselves with the in the budgeting process so we have hopefully more funding next year Uh thank you so much everyone and I hope everybody is um have a safe night and safe summer but yeah let's let's get this done Thank you Thank you Mr Dix Mr Moon Oh thank you Mr Chairman Just briefly I am supporting the budget Uh in my 22 years serving on the board uh there wasn't a single time that I did not support the budget Uh at the end of the day you need to have a budget to continue educating our children and supporting our educators as well But I want to say this to a public We we may be talking about tough
099fiscal times next year being even tougher But I must tell you that if we do not invest in education there is a simply no future for us So even with the so regardless of a fiscal challenges we need to put our resources as much as possible to education and we need to support our educators especially those in classrooms Thank you Mr Moon Miss Marin Well I'm glad I work in the world of learning because this budget process has proven to be quite the teacher this year and this is like my 10th year of the process But um but not just for me I know many residents including children and adults students and staff you know collective bargaining offered its own coursework for learning and then having $150 million shortfall provided another um way of seeing
100things and then further yet when the agreement had to be rebared And while I'm glad that we've all learned and certainly seen a huge surge in advocacy and interest I've worked so hard over the last few months to avoid the pain of these cuts I just I wouldn't even admit that it was going to happen until May 8th So um or 6th but you know I was reading um some of the obituaries about Congressman Connelly and remembering seeing him standing on what is now Mosaic It used to be a dilapitated run-down movie theater space I remember that with my own eyes And to see that he with others really worked to create big things that benefited the whole county And you know now I think about all the elementary schools we have here the mixed
101housing the metro station the business and I want us to get back to that when there's this vision of all of us really thriving here So I've said before there are two truths about the budget here in Fairfax and probably in other place in Virginia One is that the board of supervisors provides more money each year and as such FCPS has received more money each year That's totally true But the second truth is that FCPS requires more money each year to maintain the level of public education expected in this community And I'm hardressed to think of anything in demand now that costs less than it did now than the prior year That's why we have cost of living adjustments and that's why we have inflation calculations right i mean we know that it will go
102up Um but there is a third truth and uh this relates to um the percent of revenue and this is a huge lesson and I think where we really need to have that conversation with the board of supervisors because it's that percent share of taxpayer dollars that has declined over years and I'm still identifying the data and know the superintendent has unearthed it It was a rallying cry cry last year but the bottom line is last year we had 52.7% of that revenue and this year it's 51.5 So when the superintendent proposes a budget based on prior years it's not unreasonable It's based on historical data And so I look at places like Prince William where they have a set rate of 57% and they can do other work and not have to debate it
103every year So I the biggest thing that I would love to do together as a board is work with the county board in in a much better collaborative way But we don't get to decide that alone right so I really hope that the county board you know we can sit together share information better talk about how we can really spend our tax dollars in the best ways so we can really have that that Fairfax that we all came to live here for or stayed here for Thank you Thank you Miss Marin Uh seeing no others we will have a vote on the budget motion which is going to be on the screen momentarily All right All those in All those in favor of a approving the motion Miss Marin Miss Dix Mr Macke Dr Mr
104Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismoreheiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss St John Cunning Miss Lady and myself That is unanimous The motion carries Congratulations [Applause] I call on Miss Seismore for a follow-on motion I move that the school board direct the superintendent to provide updates to the board on efforts to ensure that the advanced academic resource teachers ars and special education department chairs are fully and equitably staffed at the elementary school level in the 2526 school year These updates should be included as part of the annual executive limitations process with details provided in the appropriate monitoring report or reports for example EL4 human resources EL5 financial planning EL9 instructional program etc Is there a second i'll second Thank you Mr Fish Uh Miss Eismerheiser would you like to speak to your motion yes Just
105briefly um this follow-up motion simply asks that as part of our regular e process that Dr Reed come um report to the board on the efforts that she's already talked about and and promised the board and the community in terms of keeping our advanced academic resource teachers and our special education department chairs fully and equitably staffed our elementary schools Um it we heard a lot of concern from our communities our parents our our teachers and our staff about the importance of both of these roles in our schools in our buildings The e process the executive limitations process was actually brought to us by Dr Reid as a way for Dr Reid to report to the board and the community in a transparent and public way at every schoolboard meeting at what where one of these
106are heard on a specific area of operations human resources financial planning etc And it is a systematic process in way by which the board can hear updates on different operational matters And so all this follow-on motion does is ask Dr Reed to come and report on the efforts to keep the um arts and special department chairs staffed in the way she's already um through this executive limitation process we have in hand So I hope my colleagues can support this Mr Fish would you like to speak to your second yes Um as Miss Seismarheiser said um the superintendent made commitments to staff uh and uh during the board uh work session uh this week about the work that will be done to ensure that um our special education department chairs and our AERTS are made whole
107this year And I think it's incumbent on the board to ask that the superintendent report on the progress of that commitment as part of the typical EL monitoring reports Uh just to give an idea we're giving complete flexibility on where this would fit into the monitoring reports but some ideas Dr Reid uh EL4.1 uh A uh is values employee talent and expertise to ensure that all are treated with dignity or respect It could go there E4.3B maintain favorable working conditions to promote high morale It could go there Uh EL9.2 two ensure programs curriculum and materials support equitable access and opportunity for all students It could go there EL9.4 uh it could be ensure consistency and instructional expectations across all programs schools and programs The point is there are lots of places where this type of
108data could reasonably be included Uh I had really great conversations with some colleagues about this including whether or not the policy should be updated um to reflect the goals of this motion Uh and I reflected on that And the reason that I have these EELS's written down is because I went back and read the EELS to see are there things that I might change or add to get at this And I ultimately determined that this data which is really a one-year snapshot that we're looking for um fits perfectly fine in terms of reporting in one of many ELELs And in terms of timing uh the instructional program ELEL's we don't have those scheduled yet this year but uh last year EL9 was in September and EL4 which is human resources was in October November Um
109so that's probably roughly when we'd be thinking about getting an update from the superintendent if things are similar next year like they were this year Uh so and I appreciate all the work that our staff is doing to help the superintendent follow through on those commitments I know that it has been a tough couple weeks not only for the budget team but also for uh Mr Solomon and his team as they try and make this all work Miss Marin thank you You know you may have noticed I'm a stickler for process and policies and things like that So I love that the motion talks about the e but I feel like it creates an extra step that we could avoid if we just proposed the change language in the actual EL Um indeed at the
110last schoolboard meeting I had prepared some language to change an EL at that time but there was a lot of discussion And I I guess people still had questions and a a few of us have raised uh that we'd like to make some tweaks to other policy language And so at this point of the year what I suggested and um I did share this earlier was how about we do it like a package of EL updates all at the same time because I think that's really a better practice and we could even make it more global not just about the sped chairs and the arts but it could be that we're asking that the um it could be that she provides a status report of staffing changes as a result of an annual budgetary action
111because that's really the intention of these ELS is to be more global And I think putting the follow on is more of a habit that we were trying to move away from and really use the power of the ELS I also do think that I mean the superintendent has said publicly and to all of the principles that this will happen So for me I don't need to underscore the trust and it also gets to I guess just how we do the work and how many times are we going to divert from just the main thing like she's got it We're good we're going to hear about it We have quarterly reports We have year-end reports So um I understand the need to assuage the community Um I kind of feel like there's been a ton
112of communication So I don't really support the motion So I might abstain or not I don't want people think I don't support informing arts and special ed chairs I just the process matters to me and I'd like us to work as cleanly as possible Thank you Mr Dunn Um I would like to bring an amendment to the following motion Uh I move to amend the follow-on motion to delete the words provide updates to the board on efforts and replace it with provide a plan And I would like to move to amend the follow-on motion to delete the words in the 202526 school year Mr Dunn can you do that one more time for us sure I would like to I I move to amend the following motion to delete the words in the 202526 school
113year It's right in the middle And I move to amend the following motion to delete the words update to the board on efforts and replace that with a plan Is there a second mr Mavine Second Mr Dunn would you like to speak to your motion i would Um I feel the following motion is unclear in its uh intention and desired outcomes because the phrase to provide updates to the board on efforts Um in in the business world we talk about um effort doesn't count but outcomes do And so fundamentally what this following motion is seeking to achieve is to ensure that we continue to employ advanced academic resource teachers and special education department chairs for the foreseeable future I think we heard almost 200 people testify to their value to their elementary schools And so
114I think fundamentally what we want is not updates on efforts which is really just spinning wheels but instead a plan a plan to ensure that they remain continuously employed And the second edit I proposed to delete the words in the 202526 school year What that essentially conveys is that we only care about extending their employment for one year Now the testimony I heard from 187 people and it was 187 people is that these are indispensable resources The special education department chairs are indispensable resources to make sure IEEPs get done and get done right to support our special education teachers and our special education students and their families and that advanced academic resource teachers are fundamentally important not just to serve students who are already receiving advanced academic services but to ensure that every student has
115equal opportunity to receive those services in their base school not just at AAP centers but to realize the vision that AAP services will be provided at every elementary school every middle school so that every student has equitable access and if you're on the bubble you can get access you can be included because if we talk about inclusion all the time There's a difference between the the talk and the walk And so I think these edits will better achieve the objectives of of this following motion Thank you Mr Meline would you like to speak to your second uh no Thanks Mr Fresh I agree with 98.7 uh% of what Mr done said except we have a plan a plan It may not be the plan that you're articulating but we have a plan for this year
116and I want a report on the execution of that plan Did it work do I support the superintendent coming forward in the future with a plan for how we're going to address these needs of course I do But that's not what this amendment seeks to do This amendment seeks to make sure that the plan that has been articulated in the work session in the meetings with the ARTS and special education department chairs is executed and that it results in what we're told it's going to result in So if you want to bring forward uh a forum topic or another motion that asks for a plan and maybe not even just for these two positions we heard about other positions as well Uh I would likely uh support that Also the monitoring reports are not so
117much for plans being presented to the board as they are for updates on the execution of work So not quite the right place to put it but I support almost everything except for that little nugget which is where it's being placed I'm going to ask that everybody go ahead and turn off their lights if you are do not want to speak to this particular amendment So Miss Seismarheiser thank you And um similar to my colleague I I also support 98% or maybe 99% I don't quite know the quite number of what you bring I think we all understand the value of these positions I'll just say personally having both had an AAP child and a special education child before these positions were in place and seeing the difference they make in the buildings I I
118understand from a personal level the value our department chairs bring in supporting teachers in ensuring those IEPs and processes are happening and engaging with families There is so much that they bring Same with the advanced academic resource teachers One of the things I'm proud of on this previous board that that we did was expand the local level fours and those AARTS came out of a report that um that we had from a consultant on how to improve our AAP programming and that was one of the recommendations also to help support that local level force So as a parent I understand the value of these positions Um like my colleague I also believe in the importance of process The EL monitoring reports are to give us updates on what is operationally already happening They aren't a
119place to deliver plans Again if there's a forum topic or other ways to do that I'm happy to entertain and think about that But right now all we're looking for is for updates on what Dr Reed has already operationally promised through the EL reports That is what those are for And so I I don't believe this is the right forum to do what's being recommended But I appreciate the thoughts and the commentary and I'm happy to to look at it in a different way Miss Lady thank you Um so I first want to thank all the people that came and spoke and advocated for arts and sped shares Um but I also feel like someone who worked with staffing sheets and did did trades for 15 years at Chantilly at we just voted on a
120budget The budget cut each of these to.5 I feel like this following motion is now telling Dr Reid that everyone must trade other staffing to get back to a 1.0 My concern is and I voiced this before we have schools of differing sizes I have several schools in Drainsville over a thousand children Perhaps they need a 1.0 of each of these but I also have some smaller schools that that have differing needs I also want to uplift the schools who have implemented steam classrooms To mandate these become 1.0 each might be mandating that you cut a steam teacher It could be mandating that you cut an EMERT It could be mandating that you cut a reading specialist I just want my colleagues to understand how staffing works And I trust the superintendent She indicated to
121us in the work session She reiterated again tonight that with the RAZ with each individual school that she's going to work with those principles to do some school-based decisionmaking around what the needs of that school is My fear is to put this in writing in this format is mandating that she make every single ART and sped share a 1.0 which then doesn't allow her to work with each principal in each RAZ to be specific to our elementary schools so they can do what's best for their kids and for their communities and for that reason I can't support it Mr refresh for a go back Dr Anderson Dr Anderson Okay Unless I missed something I thought the goal for this year was that we were going to end up with a 1.0 of ARTS and a
1221.0 of special education chairs using that threepoint system we discussed at length during the budget vote So that is going to happen Bar none Is that correct Dr Reid yes ma'am So it's not an if it's not a can it's going to happen using one of those three things or or a combination of those three things for this year For this year That's correct So this is asking that you provide an update that it happened Yes ma'am Because the as mandatory Yes ma'am Thank you Mr Fr um to a colleagueu's points about equit equitable uh staffing I completely agree and I have a lot to learn from my colleague who has placed literally hundreds if not thousands of people in different jobs around uh our school system So I appreciate that and I do have
123uh you know I can see that a school with 2,000 kids has you know different needs per position than a school with 800 kids That makes perfect sense Let's have that conversation next year as part of the plan Um this year we know what the plan is The plan gets us to 1.0 Dr Reid it's not technically 1.0 because of how we're doing the budget Correct Which is why we use the word fully instead of 1.0 because it's not technically a 1.0 even though that's the result Yes sir That's correct And so what this simply asks is that the superintendent report back on those commitments It may not take her more than 10 minutes to do so Uh I'm not sure exactly how long it'll take but at least we'll have a report back It'll
124be part of the normal monitoring process for next year And wherever we end up during next year's budgeting process will tell us where we need to end up on the monitoring reports in the future Mr Dunn did you want to go back yes please Um I I appreciate the 98% but it's always the 2% that matters right um I I did want to address because there was a suggestion that I bring a follow-on motion Gosh that 48 hour rule it's a real killer right i could bring a follow-on motion right here but for that 48 hour rule I wonder why it's there in the first place And I've never publicly addressed this but it's because I brought a motion in August 2024 to have outside counsel conduct an independent investigation of the Hayfield football scandal
125The next schoolboard meeting that was voted on by 10 of my colleagues And I think we've seen that that 48 hour rule is really inconvenient when we want to make progress in our school system when we want to have debate when we want to bring motions here at the meetings because some conversations been had and like gosh that's a great idea 98% there if you just tweaked it I could tweak it if I didn't have to wait 48 hours and get my Delorean travel back in time right um uh I could move to a suspend rules but I think if you've watched more than one schoolboard meeting you see that I normally vote with four not with eight And so I think it's important that we recognize the realities that we're in a democracy right
126and we talk about democracy at risk We need democracy on the school board as well So with that thank you Seeing no other lights we're going to go ahead and vote first on the amended language that's on the screen in front of you All those in favor uh Mr Mine are you voting for your amendment mr Dunn Um all those opposed uh Miss Dixit Mr McDaniel Mr Fresh Miss Seismore Miss St John Cunning Miss Lady and myself All those abstaining Mr Moon with Miss uh Marin and Dr Anderson away from the table Okay So now we are going to remove return back to the original Oh that will the clerk please read the vote Sorry it's 2712 because we have Miss Marin and Dr Anderson away from the table Okay the motion fails Yes so
127now we are going to return back to the original followon and we're going to seeing no lights related to that further discussion we're going to go ahead and take a vote here So all in favor of the motion as on the screen the original motion or follow-on motion on the screen please raise your hand So we have Miss Dixit Mr Meline Mr McDaniel Mr FR Miss Eismore Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss St John Cunning Miss Lady and myself That's unanimous for all board members at on the dis currently with Miss Miss Marin and Dr Anderson away from the table Thank you Agenda item 5.04 action proposed 2025 school bond referendum This item has been postponed until the June 12th regular meeting Agenda item 6.01 Why don't we do folks want to take a fivem minute
128recess before we go into the presentations thank you We'll take a fivem minute recess [Music] Hey hey hey [Music] [Music] Board members please return to your seats colleagues please return to your seats board members please return to your seats Dr Reed I think we'll let the stragglers join us as they sit Go ahead Go ahead Edison in begin Yes Okay All right Um so goal two of our strategic plan states our commitment uh that every student will experience an equitable school community where student health and well-being are prioritized and student voice is centered As part of this commitment we're dedicated to ensuring that every student has access to the necessary mental health and wellness services to support their successful engagement in school So this evening um I'm thrilled to bring academic matters around mental health
129and wellness supports and I um this is really important as I had an opportunity to do a short video with one of our theater musical theater students yesterday morning which we'll share later in the next week Um one of the things he said is that he really found his voice when he uh felt confident and um centered in his school environment So I think this is really important So I want to note that this evening all Fairfax County public schools and programs are supported by school-based mental health professionals This includes school counselors psychologists social workers and substance abuse prevention specialists And I will say that uh our folks have been incredibly uh thoughtful caring and dedicated to the focus of making sure our students um are supported while in school School-based mental health professionals provide
130a range of services to support the social and emotional well-being of our students And these professionals collaborate with administrators teachers and parents to create positive classroom cultures as they recognize and respond to students emotional needs effectively To learn more about the unique training expertise and contributions of each of these professionals you can visit the websites linked on this slide So moving to policy 2121 uh Fairfax County Public Schools supports student mental health and wellness essentially in through three areas Number one prevention and education Secondly assessment and intervention And thirdly crisis support and uh postvention That's a term I haven't used before but that must be prior to intervention So anyhow these uh processes for supporting schools are critical and continue to be part of um activities that uh are necessary for the world-class education we
131provide here in Fairfax County Public Schools In addition to the services provided by our school-based mental health professionals we also have a number of community partnerships These are designed to provide easy access to mental health services and encourage students to seek help and support For example our Minds Matters a nonprofit organization focused on suicide prevention Our Minds Matter clubs encourage self-care and healthy habits Uh promote social connectedness increase pro-social skills and increase help seeking behavior in youth We also have partnerships with the Healthy Minds Fairfax short-term behavioral health program and Hazel Health Um and these support increased access to mental health services for students who may be experiencing mild to moderate mental health challenges Hazel Health currently is available to all high school students and the short-term behavioral health program is available to all high
132school and middle school students The partnerships we have with Fairfax County Community Services Board and the Heart Leaf Center deliver mental health services on site in our FCPS school buildings And our partnership with Northern Northern Virginia Family Services includes school-based mental health and prevention services um that are also critical for uh the safety and mental health and well-being of our students Currently the Our Minds Matter clubs are in 19 high schools 11 middle schools and one elementary school and on-site community services board services are available in 10 schools Heartleaf therapy are available in two elementary and will be expanding to an additional four in the 2526 school year When you think about mental health it's really important to think about how we collaborate with families and how critical that relationship is The Family Academy and
133the Family Resource Center provide ongoing opportunities for families to learn about youth mental health develop the skills and understanding needed to identify challenges and seek help and promote the development of protective factors that support resilience and well-being This slide shows the most recent family resource center presentations offered by school-based mental health staff Finally I want to highlight how FCPS is supporting our students and our community as we respond to the ongoing opioid crisis We've provided a scaffolded unit of health education comprehensive education to prevent the use and misuse of drugs by increasing awareness of these substances and discussing healthy behavioral alternatives as well as providing information on how to access supportive resources and services These uh substance abuse prevention specialists are assigned to every Fairfax County Public School pyramid and are based in each high
134school And these hardworking professionals work every day uh to support our students and uh to think about substance misuse prevention It's really a critical part of our ability to have students focus on school in school We've also established a comprehensive overdose protocol for all school administrators to follow in the event of a suspected school connected student overdose This protocol includes immediate steps for maintaining student safety as well as follow-up actions to support the student who experienced the suspected overdose and any staff or student bystanders who observed or responded to the suspected overdose Each school clinic has been stocked as well as every school bus and every AED unit in every high school in every Fairfax County public school with Nlloxxone and all school administrators school health room aids public health nurses school safety and security
135staff middle school after school specialists transportation staff athletic coaches and athletic trainers complete a training program on recognizing opioid related overdoses administering the lock zone and promptly seeking medical attention for a drug overdose We also send out divisionwide notification anytime there's a confirmed overdose overdose in any of our schools to ensure transparency and community awareness Finally we use opioid settlement funds to develop a prevention program focused on encouraging open family communication and fostering helpseeking behavior which includes our become unskippable message included in our FCPS communications over the fast past few months Madame clerk would you please play the video you need your gun if I Teens are pros at skipping what they don't want to hear Listen up We need to especially when it comes to hard conversations like discussing fentinyl I need to talk
136to you right now You know I don't want to hear excuse But with the right approach you can become unskippable Hey do you know what to do if a friend overdoses and when you're unskippable you can teach your teen how to spot and respond to a fentinol overdose so that they can help save a life Learn more at fcps.edu [Music] Thank you So um Chairman Fr that is academic matters for this evening and I'm happy to take any questions Thank you Dr Reid Dr Anderson thank you That was definitely very powerful Um those are important conversations to have and I know we've had a lot of community outreach regarding um drug overdose So thank you for that Um one of the things that I I'd like to think is happening is that we're having fewer
137happening this year than we did last year Is that accurate we were in senior leadership recently and realized that we didn't even want to say it out loud but our dashboard currently is zero uh suspected overdoses in our schools this year which is huge uh progress But again exactly all of the things say all the prayers do all of the things so that that continues Um can you speak a little bit to what is available for our students in K8 outside of school because we know that our high school students are able to access Hazel Health Um what is available for our K8 students so the K6 K5 and most uh in three um or three areas um I essentially our K5 and K6 schools have school-based staff counselors social workers psychologists Uh our middle
138schools are able to access I want to say there's a particular I think it's LEAF something leaf Apologize Um our middle schools are able the Heartleaf Center um delivers some therapy in middle schools and some in elementary but not all Um so I think that in our Northern Virginia family services include some So it's I think that um the high school there's a much tighter uh web of services and I think at middle school it's a little more fractured and elementary it's more school-based and partnering with parents And I think at elementary probably what's going on right now is probably right But I do worry about the middle schools because we know that the youth data It really shows elevated levels of you know anxiety All of the things um that we are seeing at
139our high schools are happening at our middle schools with seventh and eighth grade students particularly So it just continues to make me wonder how can we better support that level so that it's not as fractured but it's easily accessible the way that Hazel Health is I know you and I have had conversations in the past in terms of bringing that down to the lower level Have we been able to make any inroads on that we have not moved the Hazel mental health telemental health into middle school Um we have not done that yet Is that still a possibility it is a possibility Uh but there is a budget implication Uh currently the annual cost of Hazel Telemental Health is 1.26 million and that's what we're funding it uh in the FY26 Uh and this from
140July 1 of 2024 through May 13 of 2025 We've had 1,068 students referred um all of which are high school students with 2777 taotherapy sessions conducted referred I thought it was self um well I guess self-referred are teachers also referring students to his or health Uh roughly 50% of the referrals came directly from families and 50% came from school-based mental health staff which includes school counselors social workers or psychologists And I think we included referrals from families could also include students Thank you Uh I I would be remiss if I didn't share in especially in a time of really tight budget times we've allocated a significant amount of dollars to this program which I think is very worthwhile And it's supposed to be able to um be available to all of our high school students
141which total around what 25,000 students More than that More than that Yes ma'am And we have a thousand accessing it That's at a cost at 7 $1,100 per kid That doesn't seem to be a lot of bang for our buck It appears that there is not well I should say in grade um it looks like the most usage is occurring currently in grade 11 uh where 867 sessions occurred followed by the 10th grade year at 724 the ninth grade year at 651 and our seniors utilized at the least as at 535 sessions So I you know our students there are variety of ways that we reach out to let students know um but it is not used as robustly as it certainly could Not at all And the difference at high school if you could
142refresh my memory is that students are they requiring parental permission to participate at the high school level we've done opt in and opt out and I think right now Dr Prescidio do you want to confirm which way we are right now i think they We are requiring parental permission So parental permission is needed at the high school Yes For students to participate It seems to be a little bit easier then for us to just absorb the middle school students into that group because we also know that there's a need there and we are really not getting the most impactful um participation It just seems as if we should have some space there to perhaps renegotiate that contract to be more inclusive of our um 25,000 middle school students of which a fraction would participate just
143to get a little bit more out of this Again I'm a big fan I just worry about the investment and not really seeing that we're getting as much out of it as we should be Yes ma'am And I I think the renegotiation I think those conversations um are ongoing but I will make sure I check in with staff to see because I think it's a per pupil fee Uh but given the usage I think it's certainly a fair question Thank you Dr Anderson Mr uh Mr Moon Uh thank you Mr Chairman Uh Dr agreed I think I did ask this question previously but I wasn't sure whether I have received a a response and this question is the best way to deal with mental health issues is to prevent them from happening prevention is the
144best way to handle With that said with that said as we set higher and higher standard and asking our students to take more rigorous courses and more AP and IB courses our students become under more and more stress few days ago actually about a week ago I was have a conversation with a one particular freshman and was surprised to hear that maybe I should not have been surprised you know taking three AP courses I said wow as a freshman and how do we reconcile students being stressed out because we are asking for more and more and our desire to prevent mental health issues prevent that from happening Yes sir I I think that there has to be moderation in all things right in the sense that if we are there often students push themselves and
145want to take a I think a rigorous academic load and need to eat well and sleep well and be active and uh in community with their uh families and friends and so forth So I think uh for students that want to take an academic load that um might be three AP courses as a freshman I think as long as they have balance in other parts of their uh lived experience I think it can be managed well I think one of the things we've talked about I think more and more isn't that we're going to be able to live a life that is stress free or anxietyfree What we're going to have to I think more so support our children and our honestly our adults as well is how do we manage stress because it is
146a part of our lives Uh people are anxious about a variety of topics and I think how to think about managing that stress and anxiety is very important today um in a variety of ways So that's how I would reconcile that I one request that I make is you talked about students putting a stress upon themselves Uh I feel that I feel that a lot of stress come from parents asking more and more from their children comparing them with perhaps with other children other students etc I think we may have to do I think we may need to do a engage our parent children more and talk about this And in the past I even went as far as us having conversation really meaningful conver serious conversation with college admission officers whether if they're looking
147at certain number of AP in highest courses one could take from a student's high school career that's going to put pressure upon students to get there and And unless we need we hear clearly from college admission offices that they're not really they don't really have uh uh certain number everybody has to achieve to be able to be admitted to that school It's not more the better that there's going to be more and more pressure upon our students I mean that's been that's been that's what I've seen over the last three decades Yes sir I I think a college admissions conversation likely makes sense I think as people understand uh the reality of what admissions counselors look for I also think sometimes the pressure and the stress is not just academic It can be social Um
148it can be not making the team that parents want a child to try out for an athletic team or a first chair in the orchestra or a theater role and they've become an understudy and not so I think there's stress and pressure and anxiety across so many um aspects of growing up for lack of a better term And it's not just being in a class or being on a team or being in an ensemble or being at a work job but it's also I think our reluctance to accept that students sometimes are imperfect and perhaps we are imperfect as well Um I think when I spoke with our Oakdton robotics team and they talked about how important uh failure can be in learning and I don't know if we make that safe uh for our
149children So I think there are a lot of ways we can mitigate stress and anxiety Um and we probably need to work harder at that So I I take your point Thank you Mr Moon Miss Lady Thank you uh Chair Fr I need to first start by thanking all of my colleagues in mental health uh school counselors directors of student services psychologist social workers substance abuse counselors Um the work you do is important The work you do is life-changing The work you do um is you know um you save kids lives on a daily basis You you create for them uh a future Um and I just can't thank you enough for all the work you do Um I want to touch on a little bit of what my colleague was just talking about in
150terms of uh college admissions Um you know we would do senior survey data at Chantelli and we added on questions beyond what was required from the state of Virginia and most of what we were trying to capture was what did seniors wish they had done differently And overwhelmingly overwhelmingly they all indicated they wished they had taken a less rigorous uh course and had more fun because they probably would have gotten into the same college they got into Um I make this point We want our kids to challenge ourselves We we we definitely have kids can handle three APs as freshmen We definitely have kids who are embarking on things that are probably stretching them beyond what's probably appropriate which is impacting their mental health their sleep and other things in their life Um but to
151the college admissions thing you know I always used to do this at parent meetings I would say to my parents I want you to take out a piece of paper and write down where your uh child's pediatrician went to undergraduate and they all chuckled because they didn't really know Next thing I asked is where'd your accountant go to undergrad well they don't know I could go on and on from a dentist to an attorney to you name it Um the point being that you know all of our colleges are fantastic and a college education is transformative for the kids who are collegebound Um I also want to uplift trades We live in an industry now where the pendulum is swung back to where you don't have to have the piece of paper to thrive We
152have a lot of career-based um programming where kids can leave high school and walk right into a nice salary get training within that industry and really thrive Um so back to the mental health piece um you know I think we just need to you know help kids understand that there are numerous pathways Um and understand that college is a launching point um for all kids to do well once they get there Um but I just I'm really grateful um and it's interesting because I felt like there was a little bit in the presentation heavy on opioids and the work we're doing with substance abuse Um and I'm grateful for the comment that yes there's there's zero right now knock on wood within the dashboard in terms of overdoses Uh but what we still have combating
153is social media We have what what kids are using to define their self-esteemes Um and you know learning how to manage stress and if they're you know I will also speak to the parent piece You know as a parent um you know it was your time is up Thank you Okay I can give you a go back if you like Thank you All right Thank you Um Miss Dixit thank you Dr uh Reed for highlighting uh the mental health and wellness support from FCPS Um I did want to um I remember something if last year you had made a presentation about our sixth grader have some behavioral uh and they're ex exhibiting that they're feel like they're getting more bullied or they complained about loneliness and other things I wanted to see if that that
154trigger is still going on like it was it was an uprise I think that time Yes ma'am You remember that correctly And I will be getting that data back I think at some point for this coming or this past year Um and as soon as we do that'll probably be in an EL next year So I will make sure we get and if we have anything current I'll include it in a Friday letter And and that kind of really emphasized the need of more counselors at school Um and our student to counselor ratio is are really low Um I mean it's a high role I don't know But yeah we need more counselors And um and what is the ratio right now for uh title one schools do you Well all of our title one
155schools except two are elementary right now So um Dr Prescidio do you have the ratio roughly of our counselors in title one schools the ratios in our title one schools for counselors aren't aren't any different Um the ratio and and Mr Solomon might know the precise number but at the elementary uh ratio for counselors I believe it's 1 to 500 Uh thank you so much Um actually uh a reason I bring it up I was in center ridge elementary was talking to a counselor and they definitely said that was uh something they wanted to elevate is the need of uh more resources in terms because there's a lot of need in in title one schools and student coming from different background multilingual learners and they just needed more uh I guess reinforcement so something to
156I guess look at um considering that um I know the last time we talked talked about Hazel Health and there was a way uh we were try I think going to move to opt out and so all the students will be opt in Um Mr Seti did we uh do you remember this conversation about Hazel Health that we'll keep it opt in and then students can opt out if they need to Yeah it's not really a technology issue Um the issue is that when students um are experiencing mental health issues and needs we want to make sure that the parents the family members are really involved in that process We're not trying to create barriers for access Um and that's why parents and families can provide uh direct referrals make those direct contacts without working
157with their staff But when a student is working with a psychologist or a counselor and that counselor or psychologist recommends some additional services outside of the school we want to make sure that the parents involved in that process Okay Thank you And uh and it's good to see the number rising up Last year it was 500 some students Now it's like almost double So that shows it's being more u there's a more uh awareness of it I definitely agree that we should expand this to a middle school student that is a time students are going through a lot of changes mentally emotionally physically and um and they're lost sometimes right i mean having my own boys I can kind of relate to that So I I feel like uh we're we're missing some opportunity and
158if we get that support earlier I think it could be helpful them for them when they are going to high school So I think middle school are really really important for a lot of things we do and especially as two years in the school in and out it's it just they need more support So um we'd like to see if that can be uh added and also I think the cost of it if I think uh maybe talking to Dr uh Miss Burden that maybe per pupil cost of negotiating with you know some way we can bring the cost down per per uh student that we will work on that Yes ma'am Thank you Thank you Miss Dixit Oh I'm sorry Sorry Um some of the video links weren't working on the presentation you just
159shared U and I was thinking it's um maybe it's because we are an FCPS uh laptop It would I don't know if other students can use share watch it too Was it the link to the video or some of the links to uh the videos the suicide prevention video the other videos here we'll um we'll take a look at that and repost a version to board docs with the working link Thank you for pointing that out Thank you Yeah Thank you Miss Dixit Miss Marin Dr One of the challenges I recall being raised was that uh using Hazel during the school day that was a challenge because a student would need a private place and that was hard to staff and so I do wonder about the low usage So again it was that students
160would require a private confidential place and that would mean that staff would have to then um monitor that And so so I just do wonder about that if that's cause for the low um involvement if it was to be expanded Uh I wanted to share something that sticks in my mind I think it was in 2023 I was at a high school and they were doing a government civics things and somebody asked them you know it was like this whole senior class and they said "Raise your hand if you have someone in this school that you can name that you trust and not a lot of hands went up." And so I do wonder about you know how are we ensuring that the students have that at least one person and this gets to like
161the whole you know transitioning into the grades and having that that person Um also when you first arrived about three years ago you had shared data about how this generation is differently engaging in behaviors than past including like drug use and right um dating and driving And so the statistic about the decrease in fentanyl overdoses also makes me wonder about that data and you know are we do we know who our kids are in this generation and just how often are we as a board knowing i mean I know my daughter and how she is but there's a whole bunch of other kids who are different So um I just wonder about how we as a board can be sure that we're thinking of the kids the way that they really are and not the
162way that like we grew up And um I wondered if there's any data if we know what are the most uh prevalent mental health challenges our students have like what are the most frequent um is that broken down so we could say "Okay well we need to staff up on this kind of thing but maybe not this kind of thing." So um yeah Yes ma'am I mean I think that's a great question I don't have that data this evening but I could go back to staff and see if we do track that Um so I'm happy to do that Yeah Well what comes to mind is a a friend and constituent just had a challenge with her um student who did not want to go to school and a secondary student and so like what
163do you do when you have this human that doesn't want to move like you can't really move them right and so it ended up that the assistant principal was a wonderful resource you know called and talked the students through what was going to you know and and it got solved so and I I've heard other stories of kids who are have a lot of anxiety going to school so like if that's a rising thing right what do we need to do to help that as opposed to you know fentanyl overdoses We keep going you know to prevent that But anyway just something I was wondering about Oh it's a good point I uh more to think about obviously Yeah Yes ma'am That sounds good Thank you Thank you Miss Marin Miss Lady for a go
164back Oh sorry Miss Heismer Thank you Just just briefly a couple things Dr Reed First I really appreciate this presentation and um I wanted to kind of lift up what our student rep said about some of our substance abuse um programming that we have I'll just wait a second No no it's okay We're having some camera issues So just a moment No it's okay Go ahead Dr Reed Thank you So um some of the substance abuse education I don't know exact I think your point is very well taken right and I think it would be good to have some of that education earlier So you don't need to tell me today but it would be maybe good to get a follow-up to see what we do have embedded for our students in our earlier years
165because I do think some of that um education that we have can be very powerful And and while I'm I'm glad to see the fentinyl overdoses are going down this is still an issue in our society I can tell you some of the stuff we have is very powerful just anecdotally from one student which happens to be my kiddo who went to one of our fentinol prevention town halls before he went to college and now asks every single person when he sees a bag of gummy bears if there's drugs in them So it you know it is powerful stuff and I think it gets our kids to think right you know and maybe realize there's dangers where they don't realize So I think it's important to have that The other thing I wanted to I
166was surprised wasn't listed here is the family summit because the family summit has a lot of different supports you know formerly the special education summit but there's a lot of different strands around mental health and mental wellness again anecdotally I can tell you you know when my own child was diagnosed with autism much I learned a lot about that at the family summit first so I think it's an important thing you know to lift up especially since it's back in person when it's been virtual for a long time so I just wanted to mention that that I think that's an important piece where our families can really learn a lot and then take those strategies home to their students So and this last thing I want to say is this goes back to what I've
167been talking about for a while when it comes to our budget right not only are we facing a shortfall but we're also schools are being asked to do so much more than they ever were asked to do right and our principles and our teachers and and our leadership team and and everybody you know the the workers in our building everybody's been asked to you know not just educate our students academically but you know ensure that they're mentally well ensure that they're fed ensure that we engage their families And that's a reality that we have to get our community to better understand that the demands are on schools are higher than ever and we've got to be funded to meet those demands So thank you for all that you do and just I would really put
168a plug in for earlier substance abuse education I'm a big believer in preventative education and also for talking about that family summit and all that it offers because it really is a wonderful resource Thank you Yes ma'am We'll make sure to include that moving forward I'm gonna take I'm going to take a turn Um so one of the interesting things as we've been talking about fentanyl the last several years is that at the same time that fentanyl overdoses were going up and frighteningly so drug use by the same cohort of students you know uh young people was going down significantly And that was a very difficult needle to thread when it came to communicating with parents right how do you explain to parents that drugs are your your child is far less likely to use
169drugs today than they were a couple or many years ago but if they do use drugs they are far more you know they're they're far deadlier right that they could be laced with fentanyl etc And so I I would hate to leave the public with the perception that what we're talking about here is um an epidemic of drug use right what we're talking about is the deadliness of fentinol And so it is extremely encouraging that this education is working Uh that we're seeing numbers go down And we're not just seeing it in Fairfax County though that is encouraging We're seeing it all over the country with young people in particular And I you know I'm hopeful that the trajectory of fentanyl use and the damage that that has on people will you know be more
170in line hopefully nobody uses right but that it would be more in line with the historic low numbers of students using elicit substances How do you thread that needle more effectively with parents to communicate that schools are safe the it's not Everybody's not using drugs Uh but fentanyl yes is extremely dangerous So I think threading that needle really our mental health professionals and our substance abuse professionals have been really thoughtful about that And I think as all of us just use language that you use this evening Mr Fresh I um I think our students are less likely to use drugs However the drugs that they may use are more deadly Uh and I think the other thing about fentanyl is you can inadvertently use fentanyl if you're not very careful about the source of any
171kind of uh pill that you might be taking and just even aspirin that you get from a friend Absolutely Yes sir Yeah So just I mean being good uh and wary consumers I think uh we have to really help our our young people with Well in the years ahead I'm looking forward to partnering with you and the rest of the uh staff as we explore other ways to support not only students from ever you know hopefully never getting involved with uh drugs Um but also helping students who have encountered drugs and are now living um uh clean lives um because they could use more support in our schools as they navigate what is already difficult time for any teenager let alone one living in sobriety while also getting their education Yes sir Thank you Mr
172Dunn I just wanted to say uh with respect to fentanyl that we have heard in presentations u the risk not only for children and students but for adults as well and how it's important for every human being regardless of age to be careful about where they procure their pharmaceuticals from because unless you're buying direct from Walgreens or other reputablearmacies um ordering online even obtaining a bill from a friend we heard a story not so long ago about a judge who you know borrowed an aspirin and was found dead the next day Um that's extremely unfortunate for people who have no intention of engaging in illegal drugs don't think they're engaging illegal drugs but uh the pills they receive are for whatever reason reasons that escape me are contaminated So certainly um for all of our
173community not just our schools um it's important to be prudent be safe and know where your uh where your medications are coming from um because this is a larger societal problem and not not just limited to our schools Thank you Thank you Thank you Mr Dunn Miss Sant Thank you Um this is very timely just given what we were speaking about earlier this week with students Um and as we can see on the screen there are so many different resources but I don't think that they always reach the students Like when I was saying like there's substance abuse specialists a lot of the students were like "Well I didn't know or I don't know who that is for my pyramid." But what I did want to talk about was the ATOD lessons Like I know
174in middle school it's well given through health and PE classes and I can sit through my inbox and actually find weeks where I was submitting those assignments But when it gets to high school and you can choose to take HPE um over the summer and you don't get those health lessons the same or you do it in nth and tth grade but it's only a week How how do you implement the ATOD lessons for 11th and 12th graders because what I heard from students varied a lot So great point Miss Swan and uh Dr Dr Prescidio uh what does our curriculum look like for juniors and seniors which might be really critical times for sure in high school for a TOD lessons yeah I'm going to actually on that one I think phone a friend
175I believe Dr Axler is online and could maybe help us with um the scope and sequence of delivery of lessons from uh elementary through secondary Sure Good evening everybody Um yes Dr Pidio is right do have um a scaffolded sequence of health and PE lessons focused on substance use from K through grade 10 Grades 11 and 12 have specific separate folky And so there are um more uh there's more flexibility in the way that those are implemented But all um students are required to participate in specific activities focused on identifying um areas of um potential risk in substance misuse Trying to focus on particular substances what the risks may be with those um ways to identify um protective factors and particularly look at um refusal skills um and healthy replacement behaviors um in both grades
17611 and 12 and that's overseen by um our instructional services department um specifically our uh health and PE curriculum Thank you Um I I just guess I want more clarity on where those lessons are done 11th and 12th grade because in 11th grade they had pulled us into a special session and given it to us but in 12th grade I didn't receive anything So I'm just wondering how specifically schools go about implementing that whether it's advisory or other periods So just something I noticed Thank you Miss Sant go back Dr Anderson Yes thank you I did forget to ask a quick question as related to slide three Um some schools have an inordinate number of crises in terms of um risk assessments in terms of you know student alopement which we know can take anywhere
177from two hours to the entire day to contain and to deal with all of the things that that involves um how does the district quantify the type of supports that are needed at the sites that have more um frequent occurrences of these activities than those that do not So I know we have staffing standards and those um as you I know as the board and the community know the staffing standards exceed the standards of quality the SOQs uh that are funded from the Commonwealth Um either Dr Prescidio or Mr Solomon or Miss Burton the staffing Um and perhaps I should explain a little bit more because I do know we have the staffing standards but these are the kind of unanticipated um activities that occur in a school year because I do know centrally those
178threat assessments risk assessments those things are um gathered um I'm sure and tracked by some office But does that result in additional support for the schools um because you know from somebody who worked in the school knowing that any of these events can take the counselor the classroom teacher the special education chair the principal assistant principles just dealing with the crisis at hand and having multiple of these crises across a year could really burden a school So I'm just wondering how is that data treated for additional support so I think that probably sits in instructional services Dr Presidio because you have the DSS department there Yeah Yeah So I think it's a combination of the instructional services and the department of special services staff and even some folks in the region offices So we don't
179adjust our staffing standards um typically based on that data We're staffing based on the students in the school But what we do do is we provide a lot of centralized support to Dr Reed's point from central office So if there's a crisis in a school we have a crisis response team of social workers psychologists counselors um that are available through central office and oftentimes redeployed from other schools in the school division to support those crisis situations So that could be everything from you know a significant issue of safety a loss of um a community member in the school that is going to require significant counseling services to uh increased behavioral incidents in a school where we need to push in additional supports or um you know utilizing um those resource staff in in a number
180of ways on mental health and safety issues for for particular schools that might be highly impacted Are those supports able to be deployed immediately when there is for example a threat assessment and let's say a school is handling multiple threat assessments across the week for a period of time Absolutely Okay Thank you And just the last thing that I wanted to share because as you mentioned during your last statement regarding Hazel Health that it's a contract that is per pupil I wonder instead of perhaps paying for 100% of the high school students to be able to participate given our participation rates perhaps we have a smaller percentage maybe it's 10% which would still be more than what we have currently and still be able to pull up the middle school students I think that's good
181feedback I think that certainly can go into the renegotiation conversation as one of the possibilities Yes ma'am Thank you Dr Anderson Mr Dunn All right Seeing no others we'll let you take your seat Thank you Dr No strategic planning update We're doing it from your Am I not correct that there's a camera issue and I think I think the camera issue has been resolved So the current camera issue we are still having it There's a couple ways we can go about it Dr Reed can be shot from the back We can shoot her from the side She can go from her seat The back is fine Film We can film I think film from the back is a beautiful thing Yeah So we do not need to have Dr Reid speak from the deis Not
182unless she wants to be on camera Whatever you prefer Thank you Mr Fish I think I'm here and let's move forward strategically with our strategic plan update All right Um thank you Chairman Fr Members of the board as a reminder to our public each month we share an update on our work around the strategic plan And this evening we're going to talk a minute or two about goal four equitable access and opportunity And this is a goal I think that's uh again very important and tied to mental health and wellness Uh it's one of those measures in this case where we're going to look at a focus on accessibility to extracurricular activities And this evening I'm excited to share with you the work we are doing with math and science olympiad in our title one
183schools And who wouldn't love to be involved in math and science olympiad our math leads are fierce Um and our science leads uh as well as you can see from the quote on the screen Um are we in a uh how about impact of school connectedness there we go As we can as you can see from the quote on the screen participation in outofclassroom activities has been linked to a number of positive academic outcomes as well as positive self-esteem and feelings of belonging which in fact um are connected to mental health When our students are involved whether it's clubs sports programs like science and math olympiad they tend to do better in school and attend more consistently In other words belonging and that sense of authentic belonging matter The powerful connection between engagement and well-being
184especially for our students who are economically disadvantaged underscores the importance of fostering school connectedness For the past two years Fairfax County Public Schools we're on the next slide please Fairfax County Public Schools has made a commitment to our title one schools and students in those schools to ensure they can offer both math and science olympiad programs These programs have participation at no cost Uh we cover the cost of being part of the program itself We also cover transportation for all practices and competitions and we provide meals uh from the food and nutrition services We believe every student should have the chance to explore their passion for math and science in math olympiad between uh again math olympiad teaches multiple strategies for out-of-the-box problem solving develops mathematical flexibility in solving problems and fosters mathematical creativity and
185ingenuity The program currently runs from November through March and is a fantastic opportunity available to students in grades four through eight Uh this year we offered math olympiad at 42 title one elementaryaries and two title one middle schools The enthusiasm has been incredible the math energy our mathletes bring with over 650 mathletes actively participating uh in five engaging contests that were held throughout the season Science Olympiad and our title one schools also run November through March and they build excitement in STEM by offering fun and rewarding tournaments for elementary middle and high school The program runs uh as I mentioned November through March and offers students opportunities across a wide range of grades between third and 12th This year we were proud to offer Science Olympiad at 42 title one elementary schools two middle and
186one high school Again fantastic engagement with over 500 students participating in this hands-on team-based competition which culminates in exciting in-person events And in fact uh spoiler alert for next year we met with the science olympiad uh statewide team um as well as math Olympiad and we're going to be creating a Fairfax County Public School spring Olympiad for all schools to participate We are so excited I cannot wait It's going to be um quite an event It's uh probably going to need to start uh reservations soon Anyhow at this time let's take a look at Math and Science Olympiad in action Madame Clerk please play the video [Music] Programs such as science and math olympiad in our elementary and middle and high schools really provide students with many opportunities to explore the sciences to explore math
187So we really wanted to make sure that we were offering science and math olympiad to as many students as possible Today we are going to build on what we did in geometry last week So Math Olympiad offers a variety of different ways for students to work together So we start off with our warm up and then after that we go into our whole group lesson where I teach them one subject that is our subject of the week This week we are talking about permutations and combinations It's one of our more advanced topics Every time there's a new week I always tell my mom "Mom when is it going to be math Olympiad?" It helped me because I can learn more things Like for example I was learning area I can just like divide them into
188two boxes and then add them up together Science Olympiad is a competition and it's basically a bunch of STEM projects all put together on one day We practice once a week They are given a problem or a task and they have to come up with a plan test it out try fail come up with another plan and try again And it really asks students to work and problem solve You get to choose a topic I'm doing anatomy and astronomy I always want to be a doctor and that's why I chose anatomy as a topic And it's just like really fun A lot of our work is collaborative in Math Olympiad because I do believe those conversations about why an answer is the way it is or how to get there is very important to their
189learning more than just getting that correct answer They always will be paired with a partner and that fosters the sense of collaboration with the students and that's an integral part of Science Olympian It's taught me to not uh work just work alone I should get new ideas new opinions We get to work together with other people and we're cooperating I think it's better when you're with a team because you can share ideas We're hearing from the teachers that they're seeing that students who participated in these clubs their confidence increased in the classroom and they were applying all those great problem solving skills to their different classroom courses It's important to have access to challenges where you are growing your brain through making mistakes and seeing your own learning in action It helps them understand how
190to plan organize themselves It teaches resilience sparks curiosity It gives them a broader perspective and looking at the world in a bigger lens rather than just in the classroom You get to think about things in a more practical way Um and I think it's really cool that they that they're practicing basically for things we don't know are going to exist Like all those jobs that we don't know will be here It's awesome It's great I think it's very special to have this kind of opportunity that our kids can take a sense of accomplishment and pride in that's going to ultimately you know benefit our community and you know our child's educational journey Excellence equity and opportunity So I just I that just warms my heart and I I want to for the public that's watching
191say that this board has insisted that we provide these opportunities for not just some students in some schools but all of our students in all of our schools And that's a commitment I hope you see coming to life Um our young people are going to transform the future of our community in this great nation And that work starts with our educators our children and our families that support this So I will be delivering two more updates to the board and to the public uh related to our strategic plan on June 12th and July 17th Uh so I'm looking forward to that And Mr Chair this concludes our May strategic planning update Thank you Dr Reed and Mistix it Dr Reed the is the part I get excited about the most is uh seeing a student
192doing uh other things This is learning on the on the books right this is like hands-on learning and problem solving and uh I think this going to all title one school I think this is the the best way we can do equitable uh access because um other students can find a way to get to these courses after school enrichment um their parents and other PTA members who are doing it in other schools but in the title one schools we don't see that um so I'm really excited excited to see that the one thing I wanted to say is um uh I know this is great and I don't we don't have much dollars but is the way we can have chess club in all those schools as well because I know there other schools have
193chess club and and just wanted to see if that can be happening Yes ma'am Well chess is as you know a a complex game my um Alex last week and the charity chess tournament uh gave me some moves so I could stay engaged a little longer Um but we certainly are looking at chess and also knitting Uh we've got a knitting group uh headed up by Kathy Hosek out in the Mount Vernon area and uh I know there's a a great demand uh just to think about what uh activities we can uh be thoughtful about So I will definitely add chess as a as a thought plan here Thank you so much Yes ma'am Thank you Miss Dixit Miss Anderson just really fast Um I love this I mean this is right up my alley
194in terms of a lot of the work I do in in my other world Um my question to you is how many of our non-title one schools actually have science and math olympia do we know i know there are a number of those Um Miss Lemon thoughts on about kind of a round figure and we'll get you exact numbers for the Friday letter but Miss Lemon I will definitely look it up Um I believe we have about 17 in addition to the um the title one schools that are currently in science olympiad So I understand that with the sheer volume of schools that we have I think that we may be making an inappropriate um assumption that our non-title one schools have this available to them or know how to get it started And so
195now that we've had this wonderful opportunity to know what the enrichment possibility is I think that it would be a good idea Um even before the pandemic all my my kiddos school had was math Olympiad and it was done as an ad hoc thing that just two teachers kind of took on And so I think that having some of the experience of how this could go and talking to principles about how they might bring be able to bring it to their communities and the benefit of it I think would be a really important thing for us to move forward just to make sure that we're not assuming that other schools have the same opportunity So it's just just a little point of advocacy Yes ma'am I'm sorry I will check with Emily to get the
196exact number Thank you Thank you Miss Anderson Dr Anderson thank you This has been one of my very favorite things As you know this was probably one of the first conversations we've ever had and just to see it come to fruition has been really fantastic Just to confirm the science Olympiad and math Olympiads because they're led by teachers Can that also count for fit time well that's a great question Miss Lemon I believe so Do you want to clarify because it is addressing for students who might be chronically absent and if it's addressing um if it's addressing standards that they would have missed in the school day then yes it can and I think what we're finding is that kids when they're involved in this don't end up on that chronically absent list so it's
197really a preventative more than more than anything but we can use that data for IP fit thank you which brings me to my second point you know this is great these are the things that kids get excited about adults get excited about how can we take some of these activities and infuse them in the regular activities that are occurring throughout the school day in which everyone can participate because good instructional practices are good at all times Yes ma'am I I think that's a good idea to contemplate building on Um so yeah No I I think that it's Oh my god it is correct And I think what we're So let me take that back to the team and be thoughtful about that I do know we continue to you know we have a lot of
198resources that are limited notwithstanding financial but time also becomes a resource at elementary school uh in terms of our reading writing and math uh SOS and science as well So let me take that back to the team and see what's possible And not necessarily embedding the whole program because we have a curriculum but some of the activities must lend themselves to something that we're doing Maybe it's just a matter of um aligning the scope and sequence to see what makes more sense Even if it starts off as a culminating activity to um you know some or at least an exploratory activity to some um learning And the last thing I can't see My eyes are watering I I can't see For some reason my eyes are watering Thank you I I Oh the last thing
199was the chest that Miss um Dixit mentioned All for that I vote yes Yes ma'am Thank you Miss uh Thank you Dr Anderson Miss Anderson I already did that Mr Mackeine Um yes So um Dr Anderson kind of took the words out of my mouth Um now that we are apologies for the phrase but saddled with um uh early release Wednesdays again for next year Um can we use that time to to do these activities um it's actually something that came up in a conversation at a school today That's um I think that would be certainly transportation's provided and certainly be an opportunity to to contemplate that So let me take that back to the team um and we can get back to you on that Right And I expect in some schools we'll have
200to get the PTAs engaged for funding it but um I'd like to us to make better use of those early release days Yes sir Thank you Thank you Mr Makave Miss Seismheiser Thank you Um and I really appreciate this too I'm very excited to see the the hands-on learning the excitement of the students I think you know to get to the full length of this goal and I know this wasn't a full report This goal report right it was just a sort of a a snapshot of some of the great things we're doing but it would be helpful to sort of have an audit of what is available at our school So then we have a sense that then we can do a gap analysis right because I think sometimes as to Miss Anderson's point
201right we're maybe assuming that this is available in a large swath of our schools when it is often parent or PTA driven in each school Um I also agree with my colleagues around chess and I love knitting because when we talk about mental wellness and relax that's a big part of right I'm gonna throw my pitch in again for speech and debate and and theater at elementary schools because the schools that have theater have amazing programs and it does all those things do a lot of good for communication and creativity and collaboration So but I I do think you know with the second year of these early release days I agree with my colleague that's a really important place that once we do our audit and our gap analysis perhaps we can systematically build in
202programming into those days That would be helpful But um I love what we're doing here I'd love to see a sense that if you know in my vision I would love to see like a playbook of these are best practices for elementary school right like what are the things chess knitting speech and debate science Olympiad math Olympiad I I you know robotics right I know some schools have robotics as well you know um what what does that look like and I'm not saying everything is at every school but what does that look like and how do we have that consistency because right now it seems like it's it's pretty ad hoc I mean I'm going to throw fitness in there as well right we we recognize the value of physical fitness um for our students
203So maybe something as a vision to build down when we're looking at how to fulfill this goal What's our audit what's our gap analysis and what's our vision for uh the best practices for these activities thank you Yes ma'am Can I just share an update i'm so sorry Sorry I just want to share that we do have 43 non-title one schools in Science Olympiad and we currently have 25 title one schools with chess club Thank you Miss Lemon Thank you Uh Mr Moon thank you Mr Chairman Uh earlier today I I had an opportunity to exchange some emails with Dr Pedo and gave him a heads up that I would be asking this question about a science and engineering fair But before I ask you any question uh let me just comment upon chess clubs
204I love chess At the same time as someone who grew up playing another another board game called go if you haven't seen have never played never learned just let me know I'll be willing to tutor you And American go Association has partnered with some of our schools in in FCPS and you providing free tutors stipens to our faculty sponsors and etc And in fact on May 31st uh there will be a go festival at Thomas Jefferson sponsored by a office of chief of schools So with that said Dr Presidio my question to you about science and engineering fair I think you indicated that all high schoolers are allotted spots at the regional fair How do you all lot those spots well thank you for that question and I am familiar with go and I'm also
205familiar with your aptitude at go so I will not be playing against you anytime soon Um but to uh your question about the regional science fair we had an amazing event this year was the largest event we've ever had with over 600 participants And the way the students can participate in that particular uh science and um engineering fair is it starts at the base school level So in all of our honors level science classes uh students are required to complete an independent research project And one of the ways that they can complete that is by participating in a school level science and engineering fair And then the students that are selected at the school level move on to the regional fair level where they can compete for larger prizes and then uh they can move
206on from our regional fair to the international fair and our students actually do quite well on a historical basis at the international fair as well So that's the basic kind of trajectory from classroom to the regional fair So when you said a lot among high schools is there based upon number of students in than honors level science classes or how is that done we make sure that there's a a equal number of slots at the regional fair for students to have equitable participation from all of our base high schools in in the county So uh is doing uh I guess independent research project is a requirement for someone to be able to participate in the science and engineering fair That's typically the gateway I mean there are opportunities for students to do it independently but
207typically it would be initiated through the classroom content um is the first stop So there's no other way No I mean you can there are some other ways to accommodate that but again most of the students that are going to participate in that would start at the at the classroom level and at the school um level fair and piece of data I was looking for all your h you you told me that you would need a little more time to get that data to us or to me Yeah is uh whether you can give me a number of students taking honors level science courses throughout the high schools in the county I just want to see whether there is a large range you know depending upon scores I get that TJ maybe since TJ may
208have many more students taking higher level courses but I want to see how how that's a spread No I really appreciate that question and we'll get that data for you and share it with the full board probably by next week Thank you Yeah thank you Mr Moon Miss St John Cunning So thank you I'm really glad to see these programs They're pretty amazing Um I do think we have to have an audit because I know different schools have different programs and um there are schools that have been running Odyssey of the Mind for a lot of years and they are supported by PTAs whereas some title one schools can't have that support So I think this is a great fit Um and I know we're talking about everything that we want and as someone that
209has run after school programs I I need to like calibrate everyone A lot of times it's our teachers that volunteer uh community members and you need people that are really committed I ran an afterchool program for 10 years at two different schools of a ballet folklorico and it was run for free but it took a lot of commitment to do it Um and I had a great dance teacher and well I shouldn't say it was run for free There was a fee because of the of the costumes that the kids had to wear Um I also ran an afterchool program where we had uh Nadine and we had uh the healthy plate club where kids learned how to eat healthy food and learned about healthy food and actually cook the food and learned how to
210went home and took the recipes home They had we had chess we had yoga and mindfulness All of that was teacher run and it was the funding was very limited Most of our funding was that we could provide meals to the kids Um I know that we say that all things are possible but a lot of this falls on our teachers and that kind of commitment Uh I would love to see this expand and a lot of what I saw happening in here I see in some steam programs that are integrated into our schools So um that's another thing that maybe we could look at at elementary schools where we can have that I mean not now Pie in the sky Not now But those steam programs those schools that have those steam programs are
211doing this kind of work every day and it's part of the rotation for the kids And the schools where I've seen those steam programs be successful That is the kids that is their favorite class That is the favorite place to be because they are breaking things apart They're putting them together They're being creative They're learning they're seeing how it works how it doesn't work Um so that might be one way that we can in the future with more funding institutionalize but it's great to see what is happening and um hopefully our funding partners will see the value of this Thank you Thank you Miss St John Cunning I have some lights on Do we have go backs and suddenly there were no more lights except for Miss Anderson Thank you Dr Re Thank you M
212Agenda item seven 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 have gone through board review and documentation has been provided to all board members and the public in advance Items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board member prior to the meeting The consent agenda is on the screen Is there any objection to approving the consent agenda hearing and seeing no objection the consent agenda is approved Agenda item uh number nine number eight new business The following are new business agenda items They will not be voted on uh this evening but action is scheduled at a future meeting Agenda item nine board committee reports I call on Miss
213St John Cunning for a report from public engagement committee Um the public engagement committee met on May 13th The committee discussed updates to the proclamation process The full board will be voting on the edits at an upcoming regular meeting We look forward to having a streamlined process for this and future boards Plans were also shared for the upcoming board member toolkit This will help our incoming board members and staff liaison onboarding to our community advisory committees with greater efficiency We also had a presentation from the clerk's office with an update to the student leadership program and some great information about the history of our student representatives on the Fairfax County School Board Uh I want to pause here to thank um our deputy clerk um um who has done a lot of work uh with
214the student leadership program um and it's something that we're going to be able to to rely on and build on So the amount of work that he has done is amazing and I really want to want to thank him for that Uh our next meeting of the public engagement committee will be on June 18th um at 1:30 p.m Thank you Miss St John Cunning Agenda item 13 excuse yeah agenda item 12 superintendent matters I call in Dr Reid Thank you Chair Frish Uh just want to again as it is mental health awareness month uh thank all our hardworking mental health professionals in the school division for all they do uh to provide support for our students and one another It really does matter Uh I also want to share some great news that for the
21512th time the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation has honored FCPS as one of the best communities for music education And for those of you who've had a chance to get out and see some concerts recently and musical theater and our young soloists this evening uh our music is incredible here in Fairfax County And uh just uh props to all of our uh educators that support music and our students and families as well Uh this past week I had our first inaugural meeting of our military connected youth and it was a fabulous meeting We had about 30 uh young people from across the county representing each of our high schools and really uh had a conversation about the things that matter and the things we could improve and uh transition for our military connected youth
216We're also working on plans for a summer event uh where prior to school starting we can have military youth from a uh from around the county uh get together for a social event and compare notes and network um effectively and some of our military connected youth are actually going to plan it Uh the Louise Archer Elementary School uh ribbon cutting was fabulous and it was so u so instructive to learn about the history and meet some of the former students who attended Louise Archer Um I also want to say that uh Tuesday afternoon I had the opportunity to go to Robinson Secondary School and meet with a student is visually impaired to see how he uses his Meta AI glasses and uh really advocate for himself about those being able to be used uh regularly
217in school So I thank Principal Tracy Phillips for arranging that and um it was a it was a great conversation and have been in multiple schools in the last couple weeks But I will say on Tuesday I finally got all the answers for our boundary work I was invited to um the geospatial analysis class at Centerville High School and met with students who presented our boundary solutions that they had resolved So I'll be sharing those with our team but it was fabulous to see our students wrestle with uh boundaries and actually explain to me how they um resolved all of that So I said I really could kind of just begin to relax about that that the geospatial program and our young people they're so incredible I just am inspired Um so I think uh
218we've had boundary committee meetings many nights and we have another one tomorrow night I encourage our community to come out uh share feedback check out the website the new uh tool and provide feedback Um our process will be better uh with the more feedback we receive So thank you chairman FR Thank you Dr Reid It is now time for agenda item number 11 board matters Next on the agenda is board matters I will call on each school board member who has requested an opportunity to speak Starting with Miss Marin I did request it My only caveat is if it weren't too late I guess this is not considered too late Um yeah I just wanted to toll is the Yiddish word about the singer who was here Um Miss Utsoko Scoville So she already won
219the Cappy last year for best vocalist and she's up again this year and she's going to Ithaca College her dream school for musical theater and um it was just a super um special u surprise to see her here I also just want to share about an exceptional festival I went to the Metsuri Festival at Fox Mill Elementary which is the Japanese immersion and it's just so much it's you know culture and dance and food and crafts and art and we celebrated Endo Sensei who is retiring after 30 years and it was really just a wonderful um show of community So other than that I guess I'll just leave it at that for tonight So I I hope people have a meaningful Memorial Day and um we're going to get to the the fun parts of
220the year now Okay Thank you Thank you Miss Marin Mr McDaniel the wrong name here Mr Dunn is not at the table Miss Seismore Thank you And um I just appreciate an opportunity to speak because there's a couple things I really wanted to lift up And one I wanted to to just recognize that we had a proclamation with May's Asian-American and Pacific Islander Month And that is something that's very personal for me And so I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about that Um you my parents both were immigrants from India and they came here at a time where there weren't a lot of um it was sort of the first wave of immigration from India and things were not well known And so I was born here growing up here sort of
221the first wave of a um a culture was not easy And it's something I can see with our students right now in our trying to bridge these two cultures But so it's really meaningful to me to be the first one in my family to vote And it's really meaningful to me when my dad came here and he came as a student learned a whole new culture and embraced it He loved being American He loved it From the Giants to the 49ers to the Broncos I know I'm sorry I'm sorry Dr Reid boo Seattle He loved Fourth of July He loved everything about it And he instilled that love in me So the the thought of being Asian-American and having this beautiful heritage that is now celebrated that was not understood but is now celebrated is
222what makes our country amazing And so I just had to recognize that And and I feel very honored actually I was kind of shocked when I found this out but honored to be the first Asian-American woman elected to this board seems hard to believe that it took that long And I'm kind of honored and shocked to be the first Indian-American person elected to this board And that also is kind of shocking that it took that long but it's a great testament to how great our country is that we have a board that reflects the beautiful cultures and diversities of our community I also wanted to recognize that this past weekend was the 71st anniversary of Brown versus Board of Education and that is seinal to making sure that we can provide an equal and excellent
223opportunity to everybody And it's important to stop and think about the history that we had in Virginia where many schools were shut down to avoid integration And that wasn't that long ago And that is a huge disservice to our country So I think it's important to stop and remember that And the last thing I want to say is just a congratulations to all the Cappy's nominees because I love theater and I loved seeing so many of these plays and there's so many Cappy's nominees from the Bradock District that I could list all of them and I have all of them here So I'm just going to start reading them and then my timer goes off It's going to go off and I cannot wait to celebrate all of you guys because I've seen your plays
224and your work is incredible So marketing publicity Libby Hansen Fairfax High School Much to do About Nothing Special effects and technology Payton Morales in a certain special effects crew West Springfield High School I know my dingle My time will come off soon Oh that's it Bella Molino Lake Bradic Secondary School and Trojan Women With that go see high school theater next year It's amazing Go see middle school theater It's amazing Have a great night You know they only give us like six seconds to introduce the awards at the Cappy so you're going to have to figure it out Miss Seismarheiser Miss Lady thank you Uh I too just want to uplift all of those who have served our country Um I am a daughter of a father who served our country and a brother who
225served our country So as we approach Memorial Day um I am unbelievably grateful for those relatives of mine and also everyone who has fought for our freedom We are uh the freest country um and I'm very grateful for those who fought and come before us Um also wanted to talk about the fact that um last week I attended National Police Week I work every year with kids who were killed in the line of duty um and also uplift the counselors that I've recruited from Fairvis County that help support that endeavor Um and the fact that we have a lot of giveaways for the kids who come to the program and ended up with a surplus of school supply type items that I was able to deliver to Hutchinson Elementary one of my title one schools
226to help those students backpacks color pencils notebooks things like that So uh it was special to be able to u bring those items to them earlier this week Uh graduation's fast approaching I want to give congratulations not just to all of our students but to all of our school counselors for getting through AP testing Um I know what a labor of love that is I know how hard it is for the kids to study and prepare Um and I know everyone's blessed and and glad that that's behind them I wish all of our students well as they prep for and take the so tests and final exams the next few weeks Um and I also want to wish the best of luck to all my schools for competing in district and state championships Want to
227congratulate the winners of the international science and engineering fair awards Uh from TJ High School Auburn Wang first place in energy Uh from Langley High School Bennett Wang and Jason Pan for first place in environmental engineering And from MLAN High School Khloe Gigglio fourth place in biomedical and health sciences We also have several Drainsville National Merit Scholarship winners Uh from Langley High School Amy Key Vishua Ricassi and John Woo From MLAN High School Rachel No And from TJ High uh HSST Sophia Wang Sophia Lee Lynn Phoebe Pon and Patrick Shei Also congratulations to Emily Flores Hino Hosa from Marshall High School who received the Latinos Unidos Hispanic Leadership Alliance Scholarship presented by the Hispanic Leadership Alliance Uh finally I want to congratulate the drainsville finalist in the Fair County 2025 Fairfax Area High School Shark
228Tank Technology Challenge Second place Artisan to Alan Wang from MLAN High School Third place Gateway Jasmine Ma from TJ and Jaden Saran and Sophia Zang from Main High School and honorable mentions Kiche Tavari from Langley High School Aron Raor and Shawn Miles from MLAN High School and Chinsy Zoo from TJ Uh and again like my colleague I congratulate all of the uh nominees for the Cappies I look forward to being there on June 2nd um to honor those students And yes if you don't see high school theater please get up and do it next year And finally uh I echo my colleagues in remarks shared earlier expressing my condolences to Kathy and the Connley family on the passing of Congressman Jerry Connelly Uh Republican Representative Connley was a pillar of the Ferris County community serving
229over three decades in public service on the Fergus County Board of Supervisors and in Congress His leadership will be sorely missed And finally my condolences to all of my Jewish friends related to u the tragic uh murders that took place last night outside the Jewish Museum My heart goes out to you My prayers are with you I'm sorry that this took place Thank you Miss Lady Mr Moon Thank you Mr Chairman I was not going to speak until until Rashiser district school member inspire me to share something about my parents Uh I was the I'm the first Asian-American to be elected uh in in Fairfax County Uh unlike perhaps your parents uh my parents struggled quite a bit living here in the US Uh they never have language skills never had language skills until they
230died They didn't have language skills Uh they were not educated in their own country uh they came here for the better future of their children Their American dream was to send their three children to college and they did achieve their American dream Me being the first in my family to go to college and both of my younger sisters they went to college So they achieved the American dream by their three children achieving their American dream of going to college as well Thank you Thank you Mr Moon Dr Anderson Thank you I would be remiss if I didn't talk about my wonderful event yesterday that I attended I had the pleasure of going to the early identification program or EIP graduation last evening at George Mason University For those who are not aware um the EIP
231is a multi-year college prep program for first generation college students Um when student I'm sorry whoops I keep getting emails Um and it is a collaborative effort between FCPS and George Mason and it includes a host of Northern Virginia schools Prince William Arlington etc Um the program provides yearround academic enrichment personal and social development civic engagement leadership training opportunities for the students as well as scholarships one of the students um who was part of the program um from false church high school was the keynote speaker yesterday which was fantastic to see her in that light um and students also have opportunity to apply to the program I am want to share this point because a lot of parents don't know that this program is available and when it becomes available um they are looking to
232grow the program Dr Reed the interim um director mentioned yesterday she wants to grow the program to 1,600 which is nearly doubling it and and so I'm looking to see if we can also double our participation because looking at the list yesterday Arlington is beating us and we're way larger than they are Um but students do have the opportunity to apply for the program at the end of their seventh grade year after a recommendation from their school counselor or any other adult Um EIP is implemented in 13 of our schools and seven of those are in the Mason district Glasco Homes Jackson Poe and Anendale False Stress and Justice High Schools Um I'm really looking forward to seeing that program grow is fantastic in terms of its preparation for the students and they spend so
233much time on the George Mason campus that being in college makes it it's almost old hat They are very very prepared and not only are the students um committed to the program their parents have to be as well during the ceremony that is a pledge that is that is shared by both groups separately in terms of how they're going to be supportive of their students Um I also had the pleasure of attending an impressive performance of Annie at Bailey's Upper Elementary um recently I think Mr Moon you went on another day and it was terrific to see those very young people be so technically savvy because they were also served as the crew and I learned that the um equipment that they were working to do the sound and the lights etc are very similarly
234uh uh very similar to the equipment that is used on Broadway Yes the their director is a former I want to say Marshall High School director who came down to the elementary school So Annie was not only well acted but it was just really well produced by our students Um so thank you for providing uh us with the opportunity to be there And lastly I want to give some kudos to the Justice Rowing team They were incredible at the state championship earlier this month with seven boats competing And congratulations to the state champion women's junior quad Anna Lions Kate Shank Khloe Bernasone and Brooke Iman Jones We wish the best of luck to the women's junior quad and the men's senior quad in the women's senior double as they compete in nationals this weekend also
235want to say congratulations and I won't read all their names because there are 32 recipients um students who are recipients of the Hispanic Leadership Alliance scholarships that were awarded earlier this weekend And last but not least um the VMEA the Blue Ribbon Award which is the highest award given to school music programs in the Commonwealth To qualify for this award each school's band or chorus or orchestra must receive a final rating of superior at the VMEA district concert performance assessment I'm very happy to declare that Anendelle High School Glasgow Middle School and Justice Middle School were all recipient of this wonderful achievement Um have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and thank you Thank you Dr Anderson Mr Dunn Thank you Uh you know watching the debate on the school board sometimes can seem messy like
236watching mom and dad fight But what I what I really respect and admire about all my colleagues is the common dedication to our school our children and our communities And so just because we disagree doesn't mean uh you know we don't share those common commitments and values Um I I regret to share that Edison High School lost a beloved teacher in a tragic accident on Fry and Pole Road uh during last year's severe thunderstorm She was a dedicated teacher who will be deeply missed and my condolences are with the teachers family and the entire Edison High School community Uh congratulations to Mount Vernon District School Cappy uh nominees uh Edison High School for Peter Pan and Wendy South County High School for our course line and Hayfield High School for Crazy for You We're so
237fortunate to have such talented theater programs in our schools and good luck to all the nominees Congratulations also to the Mount Vernon High School boys track team for winning the National District Track Championship Good luck at regionals and states Congratulations also to Hayfield's boys lacrosse for winning the national district lacrosse championship in pouring rain no less Congratulations also to Saratoga Elementary School PTA president Chespig Dal Rimple pronounced dollar ripper So I did that completely wrong Um following in in the chair Um so uh she was selected as a 2024 2025 Virginia PTA volunteer of the year I was I was thrilled to join the Fairfax Federation to celebrate the incredible Karen Corbett Sanders my predecessor uh at last weekend's uh 2025 citizen of the year banquet where she received a special gratitude award I was
238also excited to uh speak to South County Federation recently about the FCPS budget and the impact of potential um uh federal impact aid Uh finally I was uh pleased to meet with leaders of the New Gumspring Civic Association and Gum Springs Community Center Advisory Board I thank them for inviting me to discuss and receive their input regarding the comprehensive school boundary process Finally I want to remind everyone that there are uh many community meetings coming up regarding the comprehensive school boundary review Uh there's one tomorrow at Lewis High School at 7 p.m There's also one at Whitman Middle School um next week on May 29th I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day and thank you to all the veterans uh and their families who have protected our country for uh more than 200 years
239Thank you Mr Dun Miss Dixit um I just want to be very brief I wanted to um just to wish everybody a Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month As a proud member of the AAPI community I invite you to please join me to celebrate the rich history contribution and culture of the API AAPI community here at FCPS for county and rest of the country I also wanted to um you know say goodbye and congratulations to Miss Suminski Um this is her last meeting with us board meeting and we will miss you immensely Um thank you for being here and the wonderful work you have done so far So thank you everyone Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend Thank you Miss Dixit And before everybody asks for time again I think we all share that sentiment Miss
240Samansky Thank you Miss Anderson It's been a busy couple of weeks and um I have enjoyed visiting schools and attending amazing school theater performances and awards ceremonies Um celebrating our incredible staff and students and engaging in different community meetings Um as the end of the school year is upon us I'm looking forward to attending graduations and transition ceremonies celebrating the accomplishments of our class of 2025 graduates um and celebrating teachers the the staff that got them there Um and I will also wi I wish all the students the best of luck as they finish their school year Um I do want to mention that it has been a tough month for two of my school communities So I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the tragic student losses that we've had at both um
241South County High School and Robinson Secondary School I send my deepest condolences to these families and school communities touched by these tragedies and I encourage all of us to be careful on the roads Thank you Miss Anderson Um most politicians take themselves far too seriously Not Jerry Connelly That's not to say he was unserious On the contrary he took his work representing us in Washington very serious But he did it with a sense of humor and an unmistakable joy that filled every room he entered You could always count on him for a perfectly timed quip during a stuffy meeting especially if another politician was talking uh or a knowing wink to make sure you heard what he heard the way he heard it It was an incredible education being Jerry's schoolboard member over the past
242six years and his neighbor over the last two how to persevere how to center constituents in the work how to marry pragmatism with progress He made public service feel both purposeful and human What a gift it was to learn from him And what a loss for all of us who had the privilege of knowing him For members of the community who would like to join us the school board will be offering a proclamation honoring his lifetime of service to Fairfax County at our regular meeting on Thursday June 12th 7 p.m here at Luther Jackson Earlier this month I had an opportunity to attend the Shark Tank Technology Challenge recognition ceremony with Miss Anderson uh which was really cool Um and I wanted to congratulate uh our students from MLAN High School Arian Rather um for
243who's also a Providence District resident who earned an honorable mention for the team's project chat which was a mobile device uh aimed at reducing social isolation among senior citizens Uh so very incredible work there I also attended the Hispanic Leadership Alliance 20th anniversary scholarship reception with several of my colleagues very excited that three Providence District residents Kaca Marquez Martinez from Oakdton Brett Garcia from Falls Church and Heidi Arz from Marshall High School are recipients I also attended uh over the last several weeks many middle and high school and even elementary school musical theater productions Uh and though the curtain has closed on this year's productions at the high school level uh you can still see great theater at our middle schools for a couple more weeks um in Providence District Kilmer Middle is hosting Kilmer
244Broadway desserts on May 30th and Thorough Middle is doing Something Rotten which is a great show uh May 30th 31st and June 1st and they're doing the Advanced Theater Act Ones on June 5th So I highly encourage folks to attend Um I also attended uh this week's student leadership development program mock school board work session Uh this is a program that Mr Mcave brought back to the board and I can't wait to see how it grows uh in the years to come because our kids are exceptional and it was wonderful watching all of the students participate in the same types of things that we do as schoolboard members Thinking through proposals arguing for their proposal taking into consideration people's amendments uh voting up and down on things Um so it was great watching and I
245appreciated um Mera Carnick my Providence District student um for her participation in the meeting Um I would also give shoutouts to all of the VMEA students and Blue Ribbon uh and National Merit Scholar winners Um uh but finally um I am the only thing once again standing between us and the rest of our evenings So at 113 and 49 seconds this meeting is adjourned again