001Okay. So, I call to order this May 13, 2025 regular meeting of the Fairfax County School Board Public Engagement Engagement Committee. And we will now come to order. Um, I will call on Miss Anderson for item 10.2, uh, proclamation considerations. Okay, so there are a few things that we needed to look at related to proclamations. Um, what you're receiving now is a red line of just that copy or area of this the governance manual. And you'll see that there's quite a few changes. The reason that that is is mostly because things were being moved from one section to another and that causes the whole thing to look like it's been changed even though some of the information has hasn't necessarily been changed internally. Um I did want to talk a little bit about a philosophy
002change with how we're doing proclamations and recognitions like just overall and I would like to start by talking about the types of acknowledgements that we do. So on the first page you can see that we have the letter on behalf of the schoolboard chair on behalf of the entire school board. We have a certificate of appreciation. We have schoolboard proclamations. And then I'm actually recommending that we include a fourth category here of schoolboard recognitions which is how we do many of the different recognition ceremonies that we do related to VHSL and those types of things. So, one of the things that we need to talk about is one one request that I have is that I would like to reorganize the content in this section to actually match up with each individual category of acknowledgement
003so that it is a little bit easier to find the information immediately and make the document more useful because right now we have a fair amount of things all over the place and it's hard to follow if you're actually trying to come in to the document to use it to figure out what's the path forward. Um, so that's number one. Number two, earlier this year we added the annual proclamation category for anniversaries. And as we've likely seen is that it's taking a fair amount of time in our meetings. And while I definitely want us to make sure that we are doing school anniversary acknowledgements, I would recommend that we move that into more of a recognition category the same way we're doing with with um VHSL and and the teachers the national teacher certification list,
004things like that, so that it would be done in January of every year in one acknowledgement ceremony for that entire year of theu of the schools that were hitting a milestone. And that way if a board member still if you had a significant milestone like this year Fairview Elementary hit 125 years and we did a proclamation related to that and that was actually before we had adopted the the proclamation process um for school anniversaries. I just think that this is one way that we can still acknowledge those significant anniversaries for schools and not have it take up quite as much time because you'll notice in some of the proclamations it's very repetitive. like our schools are all awesome and they're all doing very similar things and so a lot of the language that we're using
005to call out individual schools is very repetitive. Um and so that would be that would be my recommendation for there and then we would just need to codify that the same way we have and this actually serves um Christina if I'm correct this actually serves as a way to codify what we're actually doing for VHSL as well. And so some of the language in here, um, the problem is is because it's kind of all over the place right now, it's hard to figure out where that's all happening, which is why I'm recommending a reorganization of the content in this section. Um, so that's that. The other thing that I will note is that earlier this year, one of our colleagues brought forward a proclamation related to the Hindu religion. And unfortunately that was not on
006the approved list of annual proclamations. So it would be my recommendation for us to move all religious proclamations to being member driven um in order to have equity because there are so many different religions. It would be impossible to make sure that we acknowledge all of them. And so if a member wants to bring a proclamation related to a particular religion, they would do that as part of that process. So they could use it as one of their two. So that would be my recommendation for that. And then I've heard that there was some angst by the previous board wanting to keep them keep the different proclamations separate. My recommendation in that section with annual proclamations is actually to separate them by month because I think it's far easier for us to track which ones
007come in which month and we can ensure that we have a an adequate distribution across. Is that okay with everybody? Would we like to keep it like this but also include an ann like a just a standard annual calendar so that we could see how things were falling? How do we want to move forward with that? I mean listing by monthly will be fine and we can always have a list of things in alphabetical order somewhere for if anybody wants to see where particular proclamation stands and when. But I think listing it so that uh you know one you know great benefit of doing that is to see whether we are doing 10 proclamations and and I I so I think that regardless if we keep it broken up by school activities national heritage and
008holidays those types of things if we keep them in those broad categories I still think it would be helpful to ensure that we have a calendar somewhere in this section that actually shows the distribution across um and includes the other ones. on so includes um board recognitions and things like that so that we understand as board members when we're looking at this what our proclamations and recognitions are going to be throughout the year. Okay. And also that also helps board members who want to bring their own member-driven proclamations to see oh boy I don't want to be one out of 20 in particular month and etc. Absolutely. And that's that's what I was and madam clerk is there a problem with doing that? No, we would actually recommend doing a chart. That's what I'm Yeah.
009So, we could have it that way. Um, and then because we generally have two meetings a month, it would allow We wouldn't specify obviously which. Absolutely. But it would allow us to more evenly distribute or if there's specific weeks. And I know there are board members who ask because they would like their proclamation to stand out a little bit more sometimes and don't necessarily want it if there's six, eight proclamations all in one meeting. Gotcha. And I think that it just would also help us add the the count having a whole calendar of how proclamations and recognitions are going to work. So that way everybody understands what the how how that's all going to happen. And also as I said, you know, if I could ask club to just give us list in alphabetical oral
010too so that when you want to find things that you can easily more easily find. Okay. Um, otherwise that's that's the majority of of the concerns that I had overall. Christine, am I forgetting anything that we discussed related to and I've never seen you guys may that previously on the board may be able to help. Oh, the the last thing I wanted to mention is that we've had requests by members to include signatures from the person who brought the proclamation instead of the the chair. However, right now it's it's in the governance manual that it will be the chair that signs each proclamation. And so the way we've been handling that internally is by allowing the board member that brings a proclamation, if they want to sign a second copy, then that's fine. And so
011this just again we put it in in writing here that that's the way we would be doing things. I think there are a couple places where we more we codify how we're actually doing things like the number of days the number of days whether it's inclusive or exclusive of a board meeting to try to hit things the right way to make sure the counts work but uh I think you've hit everything else. Okay. So my request would be and and No, you're fine. So, my request would be I would like to move that we move forward with the changes represented here um with the latitude to go through and change formatting and reorganize the information in this section to make it usable. So, we wouldn't be making significant changes to the content from here this
012point out. We would just be making it readable. And if we can also do it with grammatical Yes, I put it in. So, I'll second the motion. Okay. Thank you. Do you want me to read the motion? Can I Can I add one thing? I think in terms of um when board members bring proclamations, I wouldn't it make more sense just to have the chair plus the person who brings it sheet if that's possible? Is there a way to change that? I mean, right now it's the chair and myself, but I am not opposed to not having to sign them. Well, I'm not saying take away you. I'm just saying add an additional line. Yeah. From a space point. Space point. The seal is okay. When we did that on one of them, it was
013like it makes it difficult with the seal, which is why we've done the done it where we do two copies. I mean, formatting matters. I mean in instead of clerks I mean if a second board member could join the chair for board member driven proclaminations. I don't see why not. Is there some recording reason that we have it be the clerk? I'm just asking whether or not this is there's any legal implication that I don't understand of of any of this. I I would actually ask Mr. Mavine or Mr. Moon if they happen to know. It was that way when I came in. It's from my understanding been that way. I have no idea. I don't think other I don't think there's any legal, you know, reason not Yeah. to do it certain way. But
014the only thing I could think of is is because it's supposed to be something that is from the board and typically I have to sign things that are recorded by the board like you know madam chair I think we can always put you know extra extra line below a chair and and a board member below for the madam clerk to sign and still have a seat on at the bottom. Let's let us play with the formatting of the proclamation and before we bring this to the full board and see what we can work out. Okay. I think we would do to acknowledge the fact that once we are able to look at the proclamation formatting then we'll determine whether or not there's a path forward. ending. So, can we approve both ways that if we
015can find space that we would agree to that and if we can't then we will continue to do what we've said that we're going to do is have the chair and the clerk sign and then have a separate copy that was the board member bringing it and the clerk. Is that okay? Oh, that's fine. Okay. So, we're going to have options um based on what we can what is realistic. So, I'm going to read the full motion. Um, I move to send the revised strategic governance manual for related to proclamations for consideration before the full board with leave to make grammatical and formatting changes. And you're still okay seconding that. I'm still second. Perfect. So, all those in favor? Excellent. Unanimous. Um um so now we're going to move on to item item number 1.03
016and this is the toolkit kit updates and this is something that we've been working on since last year trying to you know work it out and um Miss um Anderson has been working on this. So um I call in Miss Anderson to give us some updates. Okay. So the first thing that I wanted to point out for everybody is that we created a quick guide for community um advisory committee staff liaison. So that way and the full version actually has a seal that um Adobe Acrobat all of a sudden decided that it doesn't like to print things and so the seal didn't come through but it it has a seal. This echoes the the feel and formatting of the document that we already have created for the operating manual. And what this does is it
017gives us one one handout that we can provide to staff leaison that pulls out all of the requirements related to how they interact with committees. So that way it's just a kind of check sheet, you know, a checklist that if Dr. read applies or adds someone to to be a staff liaison as staffing changes or as the needs of the committee changes based on the charge that this would be the opportunity for them to go ahead and just run through a quick understanding of what was required of them and so that way there's a full understanding between it's also a tool in my opinion that the chairs and or co-chairs could use as a way to understand what the staff leazison can do for them and what they shouldn't do for them and so this
018kind of gives a clear understanding for everyone involved um just how to move forward. So this would be what I would recommend. We don't need to create a full course for staff leaison. I think that's overkill but just giving them a place that all the information from the document is pulled out in one in one location I think would be very helpful to them. So this is kind of an echo of what we would be doing for other positions as well. So it would probably be that we could have a quick start guide for the chair and co-chair. So understanding what their responsibilities were and that as people were identified as as that member in the committee it would be just an easy way that they could download the information. Oh yes madam chair. Uh
019so content of the this two page where did they come from? All came directly I just did a find of staff leaison in the operating manual overall. What I did is I just took it all out and reorganized the information into these buckets of information just to make it easier to understand what the individual requirements were. And I appreciate it. Uh uh I just wish that we had all these by at least yesterday so that we could take a look at this. I know and this is just a sample. I didn't want to go too far in one direction without and the other thing is I'd like to know from you guys which ones do you want done? So, we need to know what the requirements are. Yeah. So, why don't we take a little
020bit of time to to look at it and read it? Um Madame chair, I don't know whether we are still reading, but I'm generally fine with this. the uh I think I said this multiple times previously is uh what the um what I'm looking for from the board not the committee or stly to do a perhaps a better job is because they are the board's advisory committees not superintendent and they are making a recommendations presenting the report to the board and there's a steps obviously a a steps or responses to the reporting recommendations but it's ultimately the board that has to make a decisions. So uh you know it doesn't have to be here because that's not the estab one of the one of the one of the duties for the stabilizing committee by the
021end of first quarter. Subsequently you know sometime after that board has to have formal meaning to react to the steps responses and give boards if there's any decision to be made to the a to the committees I think that's but that is something that I think the board needs to take upon and doing it. So, so are you talking about when you go down to that annual report and it's the staff liaison in coordination with the school board liaison. So, are you asking for maybe something like this for what the school board liaison should be doing or or am I misunderstanding? It's actually a change that needs to be done to the operating manual or the governance manual or just our you know annual work calendar the board will subsequently have to have because board
022generally as as you probably remember that when these reports are presented to the board we have a limited amount of time we have so many committee presentations all bunch you know toward the end of the year either in two nights or one whole day and etc and so really you know do not have a enough time to make really judicious decisions. So we gota and then also we got to give a staff time for their own feedback to the recommendations. Once we receive all those by the end of first quarter in the following year bold next got to make some decisions. I I think that I agree with you and I think that what the way we need to do that is by ensuring that all board members understand that the way we take action
023on that is by actually someone needs to either bring it forward as a forum topic and send it to the appropriate committee. We need to make a motion to present to the superintendent. We need to use the standard tools that we have to take action and it would be gaining consensus. It's all of the things that we normally would do to move action forward. I don't think I don't think that it makes sense for us to have a response because I think trying to coordinate a response between all 12 of us is a difficult task and I think that we would have many different answers. But I do think having a recognition of how action could happen after that would also help a lot of board members. So I think adding that to the governance
024manual would be helpful. I mean let me give you some thought about that. You know what I was thinking was you know board set aside an evening to have AAC recommendation staff's responses any decision to be made by the board there may not be nothing. So I said okay nothing from any board member okay move on we go to a shack do that set aside time one evening and doing it uh so that because over over the course of many years I've heard I've heard you know quite a few times from advisory committee members that we do all this work you gave us a charge we do all this work and then there's nothing we are hearing nothing from the bold it would be very interesting if we could actually format it similarly to a
025forum topic is that where where we had a forum discussion because then people could bring up forum topics that were specific to all of the like if we had one night that was here's here's all the different charges that or here's all the different recommendations we were given. Does anyone want to take action? Then we can use that as a way to gain. Absolutely. So some so you know put it in a certain certain you know systemize that so that board members know this is way to do it or and also committee members know that we are utilizing this way to really give a formal feedback you know formal response bold response not superintendent because that's bold committees advisory comm I mean never mind I have an idea but is it okay if I share
026it Um would it would it be possible for you to work on that section of the governance manual to codify what you're actually talking about and then bring it to like bring it to us the next time. Okay. And that way we can take it to the board as a full recommendation um for change and I think that that just but madam chair if could I also pick another experienced board member Ryan Becker to work with me on the on the on the portion. I you have to ask him first but of course. Thank you. Thank you madam sir. you know, because it can really be a a a less than three board members to working together. So, uh just want to pick his brain. No. And I think it fixes an ongoing situation that
027we've all heard. Yeah. Because I've heard that over three decades. Right. Basically, same complaint, same year, and never been fixed. Right. Right. And someone that sat on the other side as being on a committee as a community member, it it's something that has to be addressed. So, thank you for bringing that up, Mr. Moon. Otherwise, um, so if we're okay with this, what other quick start guides would we want? Would we want one for the schoolboard liaison so that the schoolboard leaison can determine what their role is? And then the other one that I was wondering is chair and co-chair just because those are the those are the positions that would stand out as um a little different and that way it just helps everybody understand what the what the responsibilities are. Okay? because my
028memory is not that clear on the roles of chian vice chair of a advisory committees whether they are not already codified somewhere and the in the our governing our operating manual this is not there this is about training this isn't about this isn't about codifying it is codified it's this is about training the people that are going to be responsible for that information and so if we can give them a way to easily dis you know, decipher the information that they need. All of these would lead back as to the primary source document is the operating manual because that's where all the information would come from. Okay. So, I agree with the categories that you that you outlined. um you know particularly some of us being new school board members all you know even though
029we're not anymore but when we come in and and we get all the information just having that quick guide I think would be very helpful for us as well as for the chair and vice chair of the advisory committees just having that guide so I agree that having something like this for each of those categories would be helpful okay and then the other thing that I wanted to talk to you related to the member toolkit that um I've been working with the folks in communications about just a little bit and I think that it we're about to the point where we need to touch base with the folks in IT. Um we're trying to determine what content and what types of assets we're going to want to have in the training that we're going to
030be creating is are we just going to use videos? Do we want to test? Do we want to be able to track completion? Like all of those things, we need to know those things in order to ensure that we pick the platform that is going to do what we want it to do. So, if we can have feedback related to the assets that we're going to want in the training, I think that would be helpful. So, I think um a concern that's been brought up is the firewall and how people that are on these committees can access. I mean, we have platforms within FCPS, but then but then there's a firewall. Unless you have an FCPS address, you can't access it. And so that would be an IT question. And also the question of we
031want to make sure that, you know, I know when we do my P my um, you know, PD programs, you can track like who's done it, you know, who hasn't completed it. And then I guess that's a question for it. And I would defer to someone that does this professionally training and you use platforms like what platforms you think are workable and then we'd have to discuss with it how we could marry that with what we I think we're going to take it a little bit of the other direction is I think we're going to look at what assets we already have um and determine which one makes the most sense to use for what we're trying to do. Um because you're 100% right. We need access outside the firewall because we are not suggesting
032that we bring everybody into schooly or anything like that because the lift of that. We need it to be easily managed by either the committee or by the clerk team in order to make sure that any changes that are made to the training over time are easy to implement. And we also need it easy to build because we don't want to have to go back to it or communications every time we need to change because again that is we so we need it something that's easily um adjusted. Um but what types of things are you going to want people to do in this course and how much time are you going to want them to spend in order to get up to speed with what their role on the committee would be? I mean are
033we thinking no more than an hour for a training? I mean, that's a long time when you're talking about a training like this. So, I would want it to be something that could be done in chunks over time, that kind of thing. Just so that um I also think this is a marketing tool for us for people who are interested in being on our committees because I think that you could we could have a portion of it that was forward- facing enough that just gave a general overview about what committees were and things like that. want people to have to take a quiz. Like those are the those are the types of questions that we need to know before we go talk to it about what we've got available. It's okay if we don't have
034opinions agnostic. Okay. Um my only recommendation would be to have some sort of check for knowledge just to understand what we need to keep an eye on. Um, and it's largely a lot of the things related to the staff leaison and what the committee can do to to direct staff. So, I do think having something in there that talks about the fact that reiterate the fact that we are that these committees are our committees just as Mr. Moon just said and then move forward with determining the fact that, you know, they direct staff or make requests of staff through the staff liaison. Just reiterating it. It would probably be no more than 10 questions, five questions, something like that. just as a quick, you know, and it kind of serves as an acknowledgement of the
035different the different um rules that we have in place. Does that work for everybody? It does. I've taken those PDs and sometimes I misunderstood something. I take the quiz and I get it wrong and then I go back and I'm like, "Oh, I totally misunderstood it." You know, so I, you know, I totally didn't grasp it. And so I think it's helpful. Um, it's basically just a learning tool and an exposure tool for people so that they understand what the rules are and what the capacity is of the work that's being done and what can and can't be done. Okay, sounds good. And would you guys want different Do we want videos? Do we want just just the operating manual and then the check for understanding? How is it that we're going to make sure
036that everybody I mean the check for the the operating manual is not an extensive document but it is it is significant enough that having just a video or two explaining what what advisory committees are and that kind of thing it probably would be helpful. So um Madame Ber are you volunteering your time and expertise and talent to create one? Yeah, we'll we'll figure out I'm going to work with communications and determine the best path forward on that. It it will likely be um it could be that I actually ask different board members just for a quick clip that is you talking about one aspect of it. I think this is a great opportunity for lots of us to get our voices in here. I know some some better jobs than others. I and you know
037ones with the best voices. I mean I just I'm looking at one as know that you have a lovely voice. So just be careful. Thank you. Thank thank you madame. You are you are you you are so kind. We could have you sing it Mr. I will I'll volunteer you and and perhaps Mr. Melvin to be those voices. But I think that there are some ways that we can it not be a heavy lift. It can be a voice over type thing. it doesn't but getting more voices in in I think would be a helpful thing because then also the advisory committee members can see that this is a it's important to the board. I think that having some some varied folks in it would be helpful. So I will work on looking at what
038the content of that could be because I know we're short on time here and so trying to figure out how to do this quickly I think is going to be important and and I do agree on videos. I know we people learn differently and I think having those videos would be helpful for some people for you know visual auditory learners you know some people just reading a manual it's it's not going to it's just maximizing the different ways that people can learn and that's all for me for right what we have for right now we have some updates that are going to need to happen to the member toolkit on the board side um in the next goround coming up. Okay. Thank you. Um so I know that um we've been working a lot with
039student voice and representation and we had been looking at obviously whether we should have one or two uh student um representatives. But aside from that, there's the student leadership program uh that uh one of our deputy clerks, Mr. Jackson, has been developing that was resurrected thanks to Mr. Mine and I know he's put a lot of work into this and I want him to present to the committee the kind of work he's done. Um I know some of us have been to the events for this for the students and they have been inspiring. So I now call on uh deputy clerk um Mr. Jackson to give us his presentation. So showtime for Mr. Jackson. Okay. Could you could you go maybe the the other end of the table rather than Okay. Well, thank you, Chair
040St. John coming uh for having me. Um, and I'm excited to share this morning on uh our efforts on student representation, student voice, and student leadership programming. So, today uh I'll cover this in three chunks. So uh first we'll talk about student repres uh student representation and the student representative to the board. Um I'll give a position overview go into orientation and onboarding um the student representatives work and engagement and then offboarding and alumni [Music] engagement. Uh so first for some grounding um student representatives to the school board and FCPS are commonly referred to as SRSBS. So if you see that acronym anywhere that's what it's usually referring to. Um policy 1802 establishes the student representative position um here in FCPS. Um and it gives an overview for um eligibility um election and then uh
041the role of the student representative um and Virginia student representatives are authorized by the code of Virginia. So 1820 uh policy 1802 aligns with that uh respective um section of the code. Um and finally uh it um details uh what student representatives are empowered to do. So, they're empowered to participate in board discussion. Um, be eligible to propose resolutions for consideration. Um, and finally, uh, be eligible to state how they would have voted. Um, had the student eligible to been el had the student representative been eligible to vote following, uh, any board vote. Um, so here is a chart of student representation across VOE region 4. Um, and that's what VDOE terms as Northern Virginia. Um and so as you see, we're kind of right in the middle of the pack. Um so this is
042just a um preview of our current student rep, Megan. Um so Megan was elected in April of 2024 and is currently uh finishing out uh her term. Um and she is in the class of 2025 at TJ. So, um, student representatives are, um, able to apply and elected to be, uh, in the role, um, in the policy, uh, and through the policy, uh, process established in policy 1802, um, and the REGGG. Um, and so, um, there is an application, uh, process for them. So to be considered for the election they um are required to submit a written component um and then a 30 second candidate video um via flip um and then um there are two components of the general of the election. There's a primary election um which is virtual and the students um
043applicants are not required to be at this portion. Um and so that was held on April 3rd, 2025. Um and then um candidates who are notified by email regarding the primary election results. Any candidates uh who advance to the general election are required to be there. And so this year's general election was held on April 9th um at TJ. And the result of that election was um the student advisory council electing Faith Mcconen um a South County high school rising senior who will be the 55th student representatives to the school board. So, uh, next up, once student reps are elected, they go through a immersive orientation and onboarding process, uh, with the clerk's office. Um, and so during this orientation, we, um, uh, go through many of the components listed on the screen and some
044that are not. So, first off, we talk about the role of the student representative, what their priorities are, what they're looking forward to accomplishing in their term. Um, we give them an overview of the school board. So we discuss our process and structure. Um we uh introduce them to schoolboard members and give them a Facebook so they are able to recognize all of you by the time of their um first meeting. Um we go over uh schoolboard bylaws. So starting with the strategic governance manual um any relevant um policies um that they'll need to be aware of. Um we go over SBO personnel and functions. um introducing them to um each of you each of you guys' offices as well as our office. Um and then finally, we cover FOYA because the student representative is
045covered by that. So, we want to make sure that they are aware of um all that entails. Um then we go into schoolboard work. So we talk about the types of schoolboard meetings, how ideas are proposed for board consideration, um how the schoolboard makes decisions and where the student rep uh factors into SB decision- making. Um and then also as part of this we go over the uh structure and governance of FCPS as a system, the LT U members and um what all the departments are. Uh finally um for the first part of this orientation we um uh we have them um schedule one-on-one meetings um and do introductions with SBM's SBO staff, Dr. Reed and LT. Um and then we prepare them for their introduction at the July 10th regular meeting. Um and go
046over who the uh SB mentors will be for that year. Um, next up we go over the regular meeting overview. Um, noting that they will lead the pledge of allegiance at every schoolboard meeting and then also um report on student rep matters. Um, we go over the beginning of their work which starts uh early with appointments to uh schoolboard community advisory committees. Um and so you'll see listed here are the um advisory committees that were appointed at the beginning of the year with our uh two committees that are no longer in existence. Um, I will also point out um that um our previous stu our recent student reps have been very interested in facilities and you'll notice that FPAC isn't one of the um advisory committees they appoint to um and so um just putting
047that forward for your consideration. um we go over and establish their schoolboard web page and um social media handles and also meeting with the uh social media point person and communications um to make sure they're ready to go when their term starts on July 1. And then finally, we do HR um and IT onboarding. So we make sure their email is set up um and active um that any FCPS um platforms or applications they need to access they have they are able to access them and then finally they'll get their badge and we'll um make sure their pay is set up. So um how does a student rep go about their work and engagement? Um so one they present student matters at um all schoolboard regular meetings. uh they attend uh student advisory council meetings
048to share board updates with SAC as well as to support their work on the strategic plan uh plan goal proposals that they uh present um at the end of every year. Uh they meet with staff to advance student initiatives. Um so this year um our student rep Megan was really focused on uh work on the grading policy, the SRNR with regards to working with Dr. King on cell phones. Um food and nutrition supporting the uh FCPS food show. Um as well as the uh portrait of a graduate um um work uh sorry can we go back to the uh and so then they also share remarks at meetings um and community events. Um and so I'm sure many of you have seen Megan uh around um with you as you uh are attending your work.
049And then um they also attend events that SPMs are invited to. Um so with offboarding and alumni engagement um one we are currently working on piloting an exit survey this year. So this would be the first year that we do an exit survey for student reps and so that it's currently in development. Um my goal is to get that to Megan by June 1st. So, she has the month of the entire month of June to think that through and um provide um reflective answers um that will help us as we gear up to welcome our uh next student rep. Um and so I am seeking feedback on what you as SPMs would like to know um as um student reps leave the board. Um and so any feedback that you um can provide will be
050greatly appreciated. Um, so attachment A, um, which I passed around is the, um, list of student reps to the school board. Um, and so we were able to do some pretty comprehensive research going back. Um, the only, um, you'll see on page two, um, the only, uh, or the main research that we have left to do is identifying who the first four student board members to the board were. Um and so um initially there was a uh position of student board member um when we had an um appointed uh school board. And so those um students were appointed by the BOS and they were voting members of the board. Um and then and then when um and then the board of supervisors um um eliminated that position. And so after that, the school board then
051appointed um established the student representative to the schoolboard position. So working with um uh the team over there to try to help identify those first four um reps since they would have been included in those records. [Music] Um and then I mean and then the rest of the information on the chart here um is what we could find. I mean and as we uh come across things um we're adding them um to the list as well. Um the student representative handbook is in development. So right now we are working on a um a first draft um after doing um research analyzing um what student handbooks look like not only across Virginia but also um in other jurisdictions in the country and things that we might want to incorporate. Um and um thanks to Megan and
052we're also uh connecting with former um student reps um going back a few years to get their input as well. And then finally for alumni engagement um opportunities um these are five um general areas um that I'm bringing to you for your consideration on how we can um engage with our alumni student reps. Um so the first is digital engagement opportunities. Um so it's um being able to connect with our former student reps and our alumni through social media um digital events. So uh maybe uh virtual sessions um especially for our more recent um alumni. Um the second area would be event based engagement. So hosting annual reunions or invites to um social inerson gatherings. So for instance, if you wanted to do a at the every December at the end of the semester or
053you know December and June um events where we connect with our former um student reps and invite them back. Um advisory boards um you can establish an informal advisory board for uh alumni student reps to provide guidance, feedback and support um to FCPS or FCSB. um professional development, providing alumni with information to access um available PD uh that we offer such as um offerings through the adult and community education program. Um and finally, mentorship. So providing an early career um student rep mentorship program to connect student rep alumni um with guidance and valuable insights as they jump start their um careers and lives. So that should be the first chunk. So I can pause for questions now. um on on this section if there are any. Have you seen any school or any divisions that
054actually offer some sort of like internship credit or anything like that that would be made available to the student rep through that process just because I think that I mean the work that she's doing is amazing. like I've as I've seen it they're they're amazing and it's definitely work that is applicable to the things that they're doing in the future. So I was just wondering if there was like a leadership internship or anything like that that Not that I've seen. I can look into that. Um especially as we um have um students who are like dual enrolling or taking Yeah. So then they can get that Yeah. they can knock out that internship requirement earlier. I understand that it would be a lift for us to determine all the components of that. I just think
055that it would be something that might draw other students that may be interested in it. So, just as an op option. As a note, the student rep does get paid. So, I don't know if that affects things. Do paid internships. That is true. and and also as far as payment is concerned I mean student representative does not get paid for every meeting attending so on and since I have a microphone why not uh minor just a minor correction to note about the list of student representative historical list of student representatives you Back in 1994 and 1995, we had two two strong reps to serve at the same time. Um there was the second gentleman was Chip Warden CIP last name W and from Lake Bradock. He served with Mr. He served with Mr. Howard Fold
056at the same time. Um, just going back to your earlier um, thing, Sandy. Uh, I missed that. Do you mean internships in the schoolboard office or what? No, I meant actually being able to count the work they do towards some sort of credit. And so that way if they wanted to take it and I think that it would be an option, you know, if they had a student, but it might mean I'm just thinking out loud. It might mean that if they came to a work session, it would be part of their internship rather than having it be that they were just missing school. You know what I'm saying? So, it's it's just a consideration of the the time and effort that they put into it as to whether or not they could gain some
057sort of credit for it. I know we have the um the new internships throughout FCPS for this summer. Do is the schoolboard office getting someone for that or not? Not at this time. That's something internships are something that the board as a whole needs to think about. Um so but at this time we we don't have a student internship for this first section. And I really want to thank you and I and I wasn't aware that um you know the student rep could at the end of the vote indicate which way they would have voted and so that's new information to me. So I don't know that they know that. So So yeah, we did go over that in orientation this year. Um but they so uh Megan does know. um but it was something
058that wasn't covered and so prior student reps didn't know um that that was an option um in in doing research this is something that um a number of uh jurisdictions in Virginia u school boards have as well um so it was kind of neat to to know that yeah well and I guess the right thing wasn't so much I didn't know that I shouldn't have said I shouldn't have said that she may not have known like maybe what we should consider is when we are taking the vote at the bias to give space for, you know, here's the vote and then give that opportunity because how can that student, you know, then we move on to the next thing. Yeah. No, that's no definitely a great point. And so currently our process is that um
059the student rep would notify the sorry student rep would notify the clerks if that was something that they wanted to do and then um we would notify the chair during the meeting. Um but you know we're definitely open to if you want to more formalize or institutionalize that as a process that um then that's you know something that we support if you yeah no that stuck that just stuck out to me because I didn't regarding that I think representatives as Mr. actually noted do have a right to voice their opinions on any issues and while talking about anything that is on the table for discussion he or she could also participate in discussing it and could certainly express his or support or nonsup support or being neutral on certain points I think that's a way
060to do rather than forcing students to uh you know say one way or the other on every issue and one more thing to note is in the past uh you know student representatives uh that even though they are unable to bring forward a a motions by themselves they had they could you know ask a board member or board members to bring forward to the board is something that he or she is advocating for. Yeah. And so uh a few thoughts that um um come to mind on that is um absolutely Mr. Moon. And so um I if you'll recall last year our student reperto worked with Dr. Anderson to bring forward a form topic on student representation that kind of helped to jumpst start our um consideration of how that looks here in FCPS. Um
061and then Miss St. John Cunning. Um uh just uh following up on um the uh student rep voicing. I think both one what Mr. Moon said and I think sometimes when they uh recently they've jumped into the discussion so they've kind of already identified either um what's important to them or how they would have voted. But then two um it also um um I can also you know remind our student rep um in future um of this um as an option um because we do cover it in orientation and we cover it at the beginning of the term but we don't um reinforce that that is a available to them. So we can certainly do that. Thank you. And not a question for you but Mr. Moon historical um institutional memory. You may know who
062those first student reps were that were appointed by the board of supervisors. I'm not that historical. So, uh I may be a historian, but I'm not that historical to remember that. But thank you for asking. Okay. So, we can move on to the next slide. Um, and so, um, the next, um, topic that we'll go over is student voice. And so, um, how we are able to empower that. And so, our, uh, partnership with the SBA, um, allows us to, um, empower and, um, uplift student voice, um, through a couple of opportunities every year. Um two that I want to highlight is the VSBA annual art contest. So um that is something that happens on an annual basis where as part of the uh regional VSBA forums um divisions um in that region are invited
063to um submit artwork by their students. And so we always participate um and submit artwork for this contest and uh winning submissions um are displayed in the VSBA offices uh for that uh next year and then they're returned to us the following year. Um and then um back in November, I should say 2024. Um but uh we were able to support a group of uh students from Marshall High School who presented at the annual um student representative workshop. And so their presentation was on discovering the power of student advocacy. Um and so um these incredible student leaders were able to um talk to student reps across um Virginia about um their center for uh voters initiative and um specifically discuss their journey to becoming the first group of high schoolers uh in the nation to
064single-handedly champion legislation in the US Congress. And so their um work on the high school voter empowerment act had passed um the US House of Representatives um but died uh during that session. So um the students talked about that work um lobbying and advocating um uh with house members um and trying to get that uh push through um which would empower um schools to be voter registration agencies in the um in the United States. And so, um, they talk with the, um, student representatives about, um, all the the process leading up to this and, um, ways that you could advocate on, um, scales such as this, but also small scales, um, within your local communities as well. Uh, and so we can move on to the next section, um, which is going to be about
065the student leadership development program. Um so the program goals for uh the student representative for the student leadership development program this year as we restarted from a pandemic uh necessitated pause um were one that the program would be geared towards students interested in the future in law, government or public policy. Um and that student leaders would observe how FCPS is governed. Um engage in leadership development uh submit policy proposals for consideration by their fellow uh student leaders. um have the opportunity to participate um in or observe um various advisory committees to the school board. Um and finally to even seek election as the student representative to the school board. Um and before we move on, I would just note that we were successful and that uh on that last point um Faith, our incoming student
066rep was uh Mr. Dunn's representative on the student leadership development program. We can move on to the next slide. Uh so the application process um so for recruitment um the first bullet lays out the timeline for this year. Um so in um early August on August 5th we first announced that the student leadership development program was going to be coming back and we were going to be um opening applications on um August 28th. Um we um officially opened the application uh process. Um the student uh application deadline was September 30th. the principles um had a nomination deadline of October 15th. Um and so principles were for this year allowed to nominate up to five students from their schools uh for consideration. Um applications were sent to schoolboard members on October 24th. Um and selections were
067due uh back to us by November 11th and all application all applicants were notified of their application status by um November 16th. And so um as part of um our um advertisement um principles through their razes um DSS's um and counselors um were all uh sent the application information to send out to their students. Um we also utilized infogs and actions and SPM newsletters um to advertise this. Um so for applications we received over 200 applications uh this year which is a record for most received in the program's history. Um so um there's clearly a desire among our students to engage in um leadership and learning. Um and um all of the applicants as as you may recall were um exceptional um and accomplished. Um and so after conducting a comprehensive and exhaustive review, 12
068student leaders were selected for this year's cohort. Um and they include representation from every uh magisterial district um and reflect the diversity of our county and were chosen due to their outstanding achievement, leadership potential and dedication to their communities. Uh so uh first up for this year's program we are going to talk about um leadership education and learning. Um so um the students in this year's program participated in five monthly cohort sessions and so in these sessions uh student leaders engaged in leadership learning which included a presentation group activity or interactive activity on the following topics. Um so leadership 101 being an informed leader goal setting being a thoughtful leader interpersonal communication being an active leader um what does this success look like and tough lessons learned on leadership. Um and um as a part
069of these components, we had speakers speak to the student leaders. So um we had almost every schoolboard member um uh talk uh do a leadership talk. Um also our student rep Megan Sant um facilitated a leadership talk as well as delegate uh Karen Kiskamara. Um and so thank you for sharing your knowledge, wisdom, and expertise with the students. um they really enjoyed being able to connect and engage um with um you all as leaders. So um going into program activities um the first requirement of the program in addition to attending the monthly cohort sessions was to attend schoolboard meetings um to get a sense of um and context for how the board uh goes about its work. Um so student leaders had to attend um four schoolboard meetings. So in person they had to attend
070one regular meeting and one work session and then virtually they had to uh stream um or watch one public hearing and one um committee meeting. We unfortunately didn't have any forms this year. So um they all uh attended committee meetings and for those virtual meetings they submitted a uh report on the meeting um just to verify and also um share their their wonderings and their knowledge learned um uh as they attended the meetings. And so that um is information that we'll share with the board um as we compile it um based on their observations what um and and things of that nature. Uh the next um item was a service project. So student leaders completed a service project um that addressed a cause that they cared about in their neighborhood, school or local community. Um
071and so those um reports um are due back soon. So, um, as we're getting them, they, um, the projects that are in the causes that our student leaders focus on were, um, pretty impressive and inspiring. So, looking forward to sharing those as well. Um, and then finally, we had our student schoolboard forum. Um, so, um, student leaders created a forum topic proposal that addressed an issue that they wanted the school board to act on. Um, and so in this they, um, watched past forums. um we discussed it in our monthly cohort sessions and they met with um or were supposed to meet with each of their schoolboard members on their uh form topic. Um and so we had that uh um student forum on um April 8th and the following forum topics were advanced to
072the student school work session. Um so one um there was a joint proposal um so two student leaders um combined theirs um and uh on strengthening substance abuse um awareness prevention and support programs um through targeted education and implementation of vaping education in middle and high school classrooms across FCPS. Um the second was a redistribution of the FCPS high school grading policy and the third was implementing a universal school meals to address food insecurity. And then as the program gets ready to wrap up, we have our student school work work session scheduled for next Monday, May 19th. Um, and so each of those three topics will be presented by the student leaders who brought the topic forward. Uh, following the presentation, they will engage in a discussion. Um, and finally, they will take a consensus
073vote um um on whether that topic should be moved forward. um and any topics that move forward. We presented a certificate at the program completion ceremony um which will be our official wrap-up of the program and celebrating the successes of the participants and their leadership journeys um throughout um and moving forward. And finally, um that uh is a link to our student leadership web page on the FCPS website. Um, and so that provides links and information to the public on both the uh student representatives to the schoolboard position as well as our student leadership development program. And that's all I've got. Thank you for that very comprehensive report and I would invite questions. Mr. Johnson, thanks for helping the school board revive this program. uh there was just something tearly cherished by the former board
074especially by Mr. Mbian. Uh so with that in mind uh since we have revived t just to revive this for the first for the first time in several years that uh what you know how this program has run might be different from how that used to be run uh by the prior board you know prior to 2000. uh would you would you know the differences between how it is being run right now versus how it used to be run? I'm asking this question uh because I have noticed the differences that there's a more a a time commitments required from the participants compared to prior years. whether that's putting some a a some hardships. Hardships may be a harsh word but uh because high school students you know can be very busy and they might not
075have known that what they were getting into when they signed up for the leadership program. I don't know whether when we advertise this program that whether we had to give an indication as to what sort of time commitments in terms of amount of hours in it were given to them so that could attract more applications or uh better inform the applicants about what they were getting into. Yeah. So um Mr. afternoon. Um this year we did add a lot of leadership education um uh to the program. Um so that's the main difference. The monthly cohort sessions didn't um um were a new component that was added this year. Um we did um in the orientation session um go over the explicit requirements of the program um as well as both um on the application but
076as well as on the um on the at the orientation session ask them for specific dates that they were both available for those meetings and um to list which schoolboard meetings they would like to attend. That way we could plan around um in our office. Um and then going forward we're able to advertise as a full complement of program requirements when we um um have our next year's uh application process. Thank you madam chair. So uh one suggestion uh is that perhaps we uh take excess survey amongst leaders to see whether this was something that they they expected fully and and they have no qualm about it or whether they have any suggestion for any adjustments going forward etc. So that if uh any a a a adjustment is needed uh then we can do
077that before we advertise this for the fall. Yeah, absolutely. And one part of the program that um when Mr. Mleavine uh had introduced it was exit survey. So, at the program completion ceremony, they'll pre they'll complete their exit survey um and we'll be able to share that information um with the board as well as uh relook at our processes and how the program is going to um look um next year. That's one thing, Mr. moon that we do want to look at moving forward is how we can enhance the program, what changes we need to make, what works for the student leaders, what doesn't, if it's too much for them in terms of time, if there's something else that they would like. Um, one of the things, so I I don't know if you guys
078are aware, but Mr. Jackson served in on the uh DC State Board of Education as a student rep, and so he has that knowledge as a former student rep. So, this is something I asked him to take on specifically given his background, his passion. Um, so he's really done a great job of of um kind of taking all of this on when it comes to the student rep. And one of the things that he felt like we needed to add to this program was more on leadership education to help the student leaders actually understand how to be leaders um and give them more than just here we're going to do you know the mock things but help them develop their skills as as something to make the to enhance the program. But that's something that
079we are continuously looking at is how do we make the program better? How do we enhance the application process? How do we make that more accessible for students? Because I know that was an issue this year um in terms of some students were easily able to do things online, some students needed to write. How can we also make it so it's not as hard for principles and um school leadership? So, we're looking into all of these things on how we can enhance the program now that we've brought it back. Oh, thank thank you. Thank you. especially thank you for sharing uh Mr. Jackson's former role as a student representative in Washington DC and probably from that perspective he might have really wanted to enhance what he offer to our students and appreciate that but let's
080also look at from a usual perspective how users might have felt that I know Mr. Mr. Jackson is a high achiever. But thank you. Yeah. No, so I would just add um my thanks to uh Mr. Jackson for all his work on this. I know it was an intense amount of work. Um but I I agree with Mr. Moon. I think we should um we should get the feedback. Um and you know, in my opinion, we probably didn't advertise it as as being that as as intensive as it was. And you know, it's a good thing that we provide them so much content, but we just want to see Um, Mr. Jackson, I mean to that I had this question before the previous questions were asked in terms of um what the attendance was, the
081attendance level. Um, I'm just going to say that I know when I came to the mock um forum topic, there was one student that couldn't attend and was very upset that they couldn't attend and it wasn't through a fault of their own, but because of participation in another activity at school um where that leader of that activity was not allowing that student to take that time off. Um, so I saw that as an indication that the students really want to participate and be in attendance, but if you can give us a sense of what the attendance was in throughout the whole program. Yeah, so for our um in-person events, we um with the exception of that one um instance um we've had all of our student leaders um able to make it to those. Um
082and so for our monthly cohort sessions, it's been around the same. So each has had 10. Um there have been two monthly cohort sessions that had all 12 and then all the others had at least 10 to 11 students. So usually one or two students um had an exam or um athletic or team obligation and wasn't able to make it. Um and then in our May cohort session with um AP exams and everything um a few students were um excused to um and and and that was just as we wrapped up our sessions and prepared for the um um mock uh work session. Um but other than that, yeah, we've had pretty stellar attendance from our um our student leaders. Um so an extra question and I know we are going to get the exit
083um surveys but from the work you did and what you saw what kind of support would you like to see from the school board to help support this program if you found that there was something else that we could help support the students and support you with? Um I think the participation um just keeping that up because we've had really stellar participation and engagement from um schoolboard leaders um especially with our mock um um I'm sorry with our monthly cohort sessions. Um I think one area is and this is maybe something we can work on in partnership but um establishing maybe a guide for schoolboard leaders on what the expectations are um because we've noticed that that has varied from student leader to student leader and some um have been able to have regular um
084um engagement and meetings and being able to uh coordinate with their schoolboard members and others um not as much. So we want to just standardize that to make sure um that there is that relationship and mentorship going between the school member and their uh appointee in the program. Thank you. Are there any more questions? Thank you, Mr. Jackson. We really appreciate all the work that you've done and I know that from the meetings that I've been where the students have been at, they have been stellar and they have been excited and I have the unique privilege of although not my appointee but one of the students is someone I've known since head start. So that was really exciting to see this kid come in and not recognize the kid but recognize the mom and I
085was like what what? So, it's great to see on my end a student that started with us at Head Start and is now in the student leadership program. And that speaks to the work that everybody in FCPS does to get to our kids to this level. And I just wanted to do that shout out, not although it is for the program, but for everyone involved that got that kid to where that kid is now. So, thank you, Miss St. John Connie. I do want to note Mr. Jackson makes all of these presentations from scratch. So, it does take quite a bit of time, which is something we do need to consider um because it does pull from his other deputy clerk duties that we need him to do for other things. Um so, that is
086something we do need to consider with the program as we move forward is how we can enhance the program but make sure that it's not dominating all of his time as well. Anderson, is it possible that it would be helpful to have a school board liaison or two to to the committee that it would also be able to offer up some staff assistance on this or is that too many cooks in the kitchen? No, I think that'd be helpful um as we move into forward program years um and to help um guide that year's um work. So to give you some assistance that Yeah. Right. Mr. Mavine staff aid was actually really helpful in the beginning particularly when we were getting the applications in she has done work previously in this area and so she
087was really helpful with that. I know from speaking to Miss Brown and Mr. Jackson when we were getting the applications in because they were in such varied forms. It was a lot of work and trying and um having Miss Fliss help with that was very very helpful and so I think there are areas where the staffers could definitely be helpful if that is something that their board members are interested in in doing. I also think that if we time this correctly, this could also be very helpful for our student representative determining um people that may be interested in serving on some of our advisory committees. So students that aren't necessarily chosen for the student leadership, those are already students that have stepped forward that may be interested in other opportunities. And so it may be
088a way that we can kind of if we can coattail that work together, it might make it a little bit easier because I know sometimes there is some difficulty making sure that we have all of the student adviserss or the student reps on all of the different committees. So are there any other questions? So to respect your time and give you all a break because it will be a long evening, I uh am going to um adjourn this meeting the May 13th uh 2025 meeting of the Fairfax County School Board public. Oh, go ahead. So we when I going to talk about uh I think last time we didn't come to a conclusion on number of student rep going forward maybe not next year whether we're going to have any uh any other recommendation besides
089just continuing with one student rep. So Miss Marin was working on that and was not going to be able to be here to report on what that was going to look like. Um and she was doing some research. Um Miss I believe that Miss Marin recommended that we continue forward with one at this point until we are able to settle some of the other changes going on in our office. Um but I do think that it would might be an interesting topic to bring up with the full board at some point to determine if what the appetite there is. You know, I think I think this is something that I had shared the last time that county is so large. There are three large members uh school boardwise and there are nine district board members
090to represent the whole county and we are asking just one student rep to represent all 200 schools if not all 26 high schools 25 high schools it's a lot for student to be able to do just one to do because in the past I have seen number of school board a student representatives be able to actually come to work sessions at least part of the day on the depending upon the topics and really be able to participate in meaningful fashion that's been taken away because right lives have become busier and busier and busier and I I agree and I think that we were she was going to be doing a little bit more work and again knew she wouldn't be here today so we moved forward in another direction for the for the agenda Okay.
091So, the May 13, 2025 meeting of the Fairfax County School Board Public Engagement Committee is adjourned at 11:32. The next meeting of the public engagement committee will be held on May 27th, 2025 at 10 a.m. Although having said that, I'm going to um I don't know if they wrote this script for this script was written because I shouldn't say this publicly, but I think we may be having to change that because of high school graduations. There's a high school graduation scheduled on that date, which I'm sure some of our our members are going to want to attend. So, we will be looking at other dates to reschedule that meeting um so that we can come back together uh because I know it's important for our schoolboard members to see our students graduating and I know
092that they appreciate us being there. Thank you.