001good evening everyone Thank you for joining us The board will start at approximately 7:15 [Music] That's a Board members please take your seats This is all messed up Y'all I jumped the gun We have four more minutes to goof off and talk but not leave the deis This May 8th 2025 regular meeting of the Fairfax County School Board will come to order Please stand for the pledge of allegiance followed by a moment of silence and a performance of the national anthem by the Carl Sandberg Middle School Symphonic Band under the direction of Beth Anderson Morgan I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation indivisible andice for Must [Music] Wow Heat [Music] Oh yeah Okay [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] We have another round of applause for
002those very talented students and their music [Applause] educator Agenda item 2.02 announcements 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 99 and livereamed on YouTube and our website at fcps.edu/livestream Tonight's meeting is also being broadcast in Spanish on YouTube at youtube.comsyolcps and espanol This evening we would like to welcome Virginia State Senator Saddam Salem representing District 37 to our meeting Agenda item 2.0 0 through three teachers paraprofessionals afterchool professionals and related service providers appreciation month proclamation I call on Miss Dixit for a proclamation Whereas the National Parent Teacher Association hello Thank you Whereas the
003National Parent Teacher Association founded Teacher Repation Week to strengthen respect and support for educators and the teacher profession And whereas every community members knows a great teacher who made the difference in their life or in the life of a loved one And we thank those educator during teacher appreciation week and always And whereas quality education is essential in the well-being of our society and our community recognizes and supports its teacher in educating the children of our community And whereas our teachers are the foundation of our education system and the acknowledged instruction leader in the classroom across our divisions And whereas teachers are trusted respected professionals who must be empowered and supported to do their best work and provide highquality innovative learning experience that serves all students and various Fairfest County Public School real life superheroes
004are our teachers paraprofessionals afterchools professionals and related service provider who create rich environment for our students to learn be creative encouraged and be feel supported And whereas these educators instill in students the joy of learning expand their horizons encourage their talents and foster healthy self-esteem a sense of civic responsibility inspiring exploration and a desire to never stop learning And whereas these educators devotion to their work and learning reflects a love of teaching and an understanding of the individual need of the students And whereas over 16,000 teachers in Fairfax County Public Schools demonstrate their personal and professional dedication to providing an excellent education for the children in our community And whereas Fairfest County Public Schools value the skills creativity and professionalism that characterize our educators And the Fairfax County School Board applause the accomplishments skills and
005dedication of its educators Now therefore be reserved that the Fairfest County School Board proclaims May 5 through9 2025 as educator appreciation week in Fairfax County Public Schools and recognizes honors and extends its highest commendation to teachers par prof professionals after school uh professionals and related service providers and therefore be it further reserved that Fair County School Board calls on the Fairfest County community to take a moment to express their appreciation and celebrate our educators for their skill dedication and devotion to their work Is there a second second Thank you Mr Moon All those in favor of the proclamation Miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr Macke Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismarheiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself That is unanimous [Applause] Congratulations Agenda item 2.04 Asian-American and Pacific
006Islander Heritage Month Proclamation I call on Dr Anderson for a proclamation Thank you Whereas Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders AAPI make up 18.7% of the population in Fairfax County including over 34,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade And whereas APIs have been immigrating to the United States for hundreds of years with the first documented arrival in Mororrow Bay in present day California in the 1500s and today are the fastest growing racial group to the country increasing in population by 81% between 2000 and 2019 And whereas AAPIs have endured much have endured such injustices such as the naturalization act of 1790 and 1870 the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 the Japanese interament which established concentration camps that incarcerated Asian US citizens from 1942 to 1946 and federal policy that prevented immigrants of Asian descent from becoming US
007citizens and having access to the vote until 1952 And whereas AAPIs continue to experience racism harassment employment discrimination and hate crimes in disproportionate numbers including most recently with hate crimes against Asian-Americans skyrocketing by 149% in major American cities from 2019 to 2020 And whereas AAPI student needs can get overlooked due to the model minority myth as evidenced by varying levels of high school dropout amongst Asian-American subgroups greater than average incidents of limited English proficiency less return on degree for compensation when entering the labor market and higher risk of contemplating or attempting suicide among AAPI college students And whereas AAPIs have made significant accomplishments and contributions in all areas of society that have propelled our country and have played a pivotal role in America's history for centuries And famous AAPIs include vice president former vice president
008Kamala Harris Jumpa Lahiri Pulitzer Prizewinning author uh Salo Khan founder of Khan Academy AJ Bot co-inventor of the USB George Teay trailblazing Asian-American actor Chenang Wu known as the first lady of physics Steve Chen co-founder of YouTube and Philip Vera Cruz a Filipino American labor organizer who worked along Cesar Chavez and Dolores Wuerta to found the United Farm Workers And whereas Asian-American and Pacific Islander students and their families are an integral and long-standing part of the United States Virginia Fairfax County and Fairfax County Public Schools and also reflect the rich and vibrant diversity of cultures histories and languages of the many different countries of Asia and the Pacific Islands Now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board proclaims the observance of AsianAmerican and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in celebration and recognition of
009the many contributions of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders have made to our society Is there a second i second Second Lots of seconds Fourths apparently Uh thank you Miss Marin and Mr Mr Makovine Um for the purposes of the minutes I think Miss Marin said it first So Mr Mavein you'll have to be third Uh all those in favor of the motion Miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr McVine Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismarheiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself That is unanimous Congratulations The proclamation passes [Applause] Section 2.05 honoring Freedom Hill Elementary School's 75th anniversary proclamation I call on Mr FRS for a proclamation Thank you Whereas Freedom Hill Elementary School established in 1949 has served as a pillar of the educational excellence in the community for 75
010years providing a nurturing learning environment and fostering a strong sense of community And whereas Freedom Hill School a one- room schoolhouse built by FCPS in 1873 once stood near the school's present- day site and served the local community for 50 years until 1923 marking an early chapter in the area's long legacy of public education And whereas Freedom Hill Elementary was built in an area that was once a large settlement of hunt and hunting camp used by native peoples prior to the arrival of colonists And whereas like all FCPS schools at the time Freedom Hill was a segregated school And in September 1961 desegregation began when two African-American children were permitted to enroll And whereas Freedom Hill embraces its motto many cultures one community as it educates students from over 45 nations and 35 language backgrounds
011promoting diversity empathy and global awareness in every classroom And whereas the dedicated teachers and staff at Freedom Hill inspire curiosity creativity and a love for learning through innovative and rigorous instructional practices including problem based learning blended learning and a wide array of programs in STEM critical and creative thinking and technology And whereas the school's commitment to academic excellence is reflected in its students achievements including marked improvement in reading and science testing scores and a decrease in chronic absenteeism during the 23 24 school year demonstrating the impact of strong partnerships with families staff and students And whereas Freedom Hill provides essential support for unique learners through its specialized education programs including enhanced autism intellectual disabilities and preschool autism classrooms ensuring that all students receive the resources they need to succeed And whereas the school's full-time local
012advanced academics program challenges students to engage in complex problem solving and critical thinking with each teacher in the program holding a state endorsement in gifted education And whereas the Freedom Hill PTA plays a vital role in enhancing student experiences through events such as the back- toschool picnic culture and heritage celebration which is really awesome uh Halloweeningo and community ba building volunteer programs And whereas Freedom Hill fosters student leadership through the student council association patrol officers program and the FHES live news team encouraging students to develop confidence responsibility and communication skills And whereas the school's partnership with the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology through the Buddy program supports students with intellectual disabilities highlighting the spirit of inclusivity and mentorship within the community And whereas Freedom Hill is a proud positivity project school teaching
013students about character strengths ranging from bravery and creativity to integrity and gratitude which promote self-confidence empathy and appreciation of differences Now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board honors Freedom Hill Elementary School Freedom Hill Elementary School on its 75th anniversary for its legacy of academic achievement commitment to diversity and inclusion and unwavering dedication to fostering a vibrant supportive and innovative learning environment for future generations Is there a second second Mr Moon I will call for the vote All those in favor miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr McDan Mr Meline sorry Um Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Mr Fresh Miss um Miss Seismore Heiser U Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss Lady and Miss St John [ __ ] Cunning and myself That's unanimous for all at the table Proclamation passes The proclamation passes Thank you Wanted to
014make sure we got that in there All right Agenda item 2.06 honoring the 70th anniversary of Gunston Elementary School proclamation I call on Mr Dunn for a proclamation Whereas Gunston Elementary has proudly served Fairfax County since opening its doors in 1954 to generations of young learners And whereas a school has been enriched by the dedication of its teachers staff and administrators who over the decades have nurtured and guided thousands of students through their formed of years with dedication compassion and a commitment to academic excellence And whereas Gunston Elementary has continually adapted to meet the needs of a growing and diverse student body incorporating innovative programs and teaching practices that prepare students for future success while also preserving the strong community ties that have been a hallmark of its history And whereas AVID began as a
015college preparatory and academic success program for secondary students Gunston established the first AVID elementary school in Fairfax County and was showcased as a model program for AVID board of directors which included AVID's founder who had never seen Avid Elementary in action before And whereas Gunston Elementary has forged a valuable partnership with the historic Gunston Hall for an annual fund run held to support a robust after-school program that fosters learning creativity and community engagement And whereas Gunson Elementary exemplifies the FCPS mission by inspiring young minds promoting lifelong learning and helping students develop into responsible and engaged citizens who contribute positively to their community Now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board hereby honors the 70th anniversary of Gunston Elementary School celebrating its contributions to education its role in the community and its commitment
016to student achievement and growth And now therefore be it further resolved the Fairfax County School Board congratulates the students faculty staff alumni and the entire Gunson Elementary School community on this significant milestone and wishes them continued success in the years to come Is there a second second Mr Mr Mavine Thank you All those in favor I'll call for the vote Miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr Mavine Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismore Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself Unanimous The proclamation passes Congratulations All right moving right along Agenda item 2.07 recognizing Emily Burl Proclamation I call on Miss Marin for a proclamation Whereas South Lakes High School is dedicated to cultivating the full academic potential of every student where faculty embrace the strengths and experiences of all learners
017who at the school represent over 70 countries and coursework includes the international baloria program 82 co-curricular and e extracurricular activities a focus on leadership development through many avenues plus award-winning performing and visual arts offerings And whereas access to rigorous mathematics coursework is a predictor of academic and life success and a strong foundation in mathematics promotes continued learning and growth for students throughout high school and beyond Whereas Emily Burell a dedicated mathematics educator at South Lakes High School is being recognized for her outstanding contributions to student learning resulting in earning the presidential award for excellence in mathematics and science teaching as conferred by former US President Joseph Biden And whereas at South Lakes her course offerings have included functions and data analysis algebra 2 and international baloria mathematics applications and interpretation working with students from 9th
018to 12th grade including targeted support to students who have been marginalized by traditional curriculum so as to create relevant and engaging learning opportunities with project-based assessments And whereas Emily Burrell's passion for nurturing students confidence and agency as a vital component of academic and life success expands her work beyond school day classes into her role as the school's equity co teacher in which she champions student voice empowers students to share their perspectives and develop structures to leverage their assets to remove barriers in learning And whereas Emily Burrell's expertise and dedication to mathematics education are exemplified in her presentations at local and state conferences where she shares best practices on topics such as building community through collaborative learning and building mathematical identity through open-ended projects as well as writing in esteemed publications such as Virginia Mathematics Teacher
019and Education Week Now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board recognizes Emily Bell for her exceptional dedication to students her commitment to equitable education and her outstanding contributions to students and colleagues at South Lakes High School and Fairfax County Public Schools Thank you Miss Marin Is there a second i second Miss St John Cunning Thank you All those in favor please raise your hand Miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr Mavine Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seisbarheiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself Again that is unanimous and the proclamation passes [Applause] I would like to welcome all those here in support of the Freedom Hill Elementary School 75th anniversary proclamation to please join the board for a photo in front of the deis I would like
020to welcome all those here in uh support of the Emily Burrell proclamation to please join the board for a photo at the front of the dis I would like to welcome all those here in support of the Gunston Elementary School's 70th anniversary proclamation to please join the board for a photo at the front of the dis I would like to welcome all those here in support of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month proclamation to please join the board for a photo at the front of the dis I would like to welcome teachers paraprofessionals afterchool professionals related service providers and all those here in support of the educators appreciation week proclamation to please join the board for a photo at the front of the dis All right Agenda item 3.01 community participation The next order
021of 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/schoolboard During the sign up process community members acknowledged they were informed of the schoolboard's expectations for proper decorum when providing comments These expectations can be are also available online and with the printed agenda and meeting materials at the back of the room We ask audience members and others to be respectful of one another Shouting and outbursts will not be tolerated Please hold your applause until the conclusion of the speaker's remarks Audience members may not join speakers at the podium and to remain at their seats including when recording videos or
022taking photos We're grateful to those who have come to speak to us today and we thank you for your cooperation Schoolboard members will be listening but not responding Madame clerk please call the first speaker Jonathan Roy Hello and thank you I'd like to uh thank the school board for allowing me some time to speak today I'm here on the topic about the proposed pilot program to adjust middle school start times for two middle schools Uh a few things that I know is that adjusting start times for middle schoolers as as in the pilot program will likely have a very positive impact on the students academic performance their health and many other benefits to the community I also understand that it's a costneutral pilot program so it's not going to cost any money And the I
023understand that this proposal has lost some support in recent weeks due to some individuals saying that it might have a negative impact on commute times and child care situations Uh some points I wanted to make is that commute and child care changes happen all the time for families Uh kid progressing from elementary school to middle school a parent changing the work environment a babysitter moves away These changes are inevitable and I don't think that should be a barrier for us trying a pilot program Um also what might be a perceived negative for some might be a big benefit for other families We don't know that yet because we don't have the data and that um there's a lot of strong evidence that this costneutral proposal will have positive impacts on the community and the only
024way to dispel these unknowns is to do the pilot program which is why I'm strongly advocating for it Um if we don't do a pilot program for this that kind of closes the door forever on a sit on a possibly a big uh solution like this because if we don't do it through a pilot program how else would we do it a pilot program is the only way to proceed And I think closing the door on that forever would be a big step backwards for the county Um yes there might be some negatives but we don't know what they will be And I think doing the pilot program collecting the data and then analyzing it will better inform the school board on how to proceed from there But to kill it before it even happens
025in a pilot program seems I don't know maybe a little shortsighted or just uh you know we might leave a very good opportunity to die on the vine or something like that Um I would hope that this uh the school board hopes to not halt progress and to move this pilot program forward Thank you very much for hearing me out Appreciate it Stephanie Catz All right Well thank you all again for giving me the time to uh speak tonight Um I am here on behalf of the Afton Glenn community Um we are standing in opposition to the proposal to reszone Sangster and Lake Bradic Secondary School to Newington South County Uh the proposed change would significantly disrupt our children's education with research indicating that mid-stream school changes are tied to lower academic outcomes social disconnection
026and increased emotional distra distress It'll fragment our community and provide no measurable benefit to the broader school system um focusing on the school board's goals for the achie goals for achieving um balancing capacity Sangster is not over capacity Uh this proposal however pushes Newington over capacity with additional proposals for pushing it further over capacity indicating undue burden on existing resources and and existing students Uh goal number three removing isolated attendance islands Aton Glenn's proximity to Sangster Elementary is actually undeniable We are less than 0.2 miles from the existing boundary for the zone Uh it takes about four minutes for our students to get to school and we are in fact not an isolated island We are just connected by one main throwaway Um we are a four-minute drive to Sangster Yet under the proposed plan
027there are pieces of the zone where students are being bust over one hour up to Sangster They are driving past Halley Elementary past Silverbrook Elementary And the distinct difference is these are estates that are close to Fountain Fountain Regional Park um these students pass both both schools on the way indicating that the consistency that is needed to make sure that these proposals go into effect and are not resulting in undue busing are not taking place Um quick and quickly to say that we are a very tight-knit community We have a lot of military personnel in our community and we have specifically Lisa and Grant Griffith indicated they are both active duty Air Force They have both turned down multiple career advancement opportunities to keep their children at Sangster and Lake Bradic and they purchased their
028homes as did we all for the purpose of keeping our students in these schools Thank you Sean Lacier Hello school board I am uh joining you today to also advocate for the continuation or the beginning of a pilot program middle school start times I think it is uh a sad state in a county like Fairfax that we have 11 year old children getting up at 6:00 in the morning to catch the bus and getting home between two and three Um I I understand the pilot program is supposed to have both PO and Gallows I'm a a parent of two children that are in elementary school although one is about to join middle school so I will be living this uh next year Uh again I beg you try the pilot program Let's put it back
029Let let me my 11-year-old daughter sleep past 6:00 a.m next year Let's find the data Find out if this can work for the county If it costs us money eventually then fine We should be able to do this Please let the pilot program continue Thank you Kathleen Mard Good evening First of all congratulations to all those honored this evening Yes they are superheroes in all of these schools the teachers the paraprofessionals the security and I we respect that We understand that However uh we have some problems in our schools Um in addition to your primary responsibility of educating students we have uh the very real threat of gang activity drug use violence and per your January resolution 2022 on human trafficking victims of human sex trafficking have been identified from every FCPS high school multiple
030middle schools and elementary schools across the county It is a crit it is critical that you consider how Northern Virginia as you stated is a lucrative market for selling children It's much more lucrative than a bag of fentanyl or drugs Recently in March we learned the arrest of a Manasses in Manasses Prince William County a leader of MS-13 MS-13 has been here for many years And in 2012 a young girl begged her school authorities to help her She was groomed and she was almost taken out of state until her mother found her I won't mention her name In conclusion I'm hopeful you'll work with Governor Yncan and assist AG Meres So more arrest of MS-13 gang members and other gangs um please stop your obsession and with the normalization of the LGBTQ1A where there's so
031much focus on that uh why don't we focus on keeping our students safe um there there's a also this DEI CRT transgender ideology um also please keep the afterchool programs if some of you have to take a cut in salary maybe that's worth it um thank you very much I appreciate your time this evening Mary Beth Bugman Good evening Last month both our state house and senate voted unanimously to adopt legislation restricting cell phone usage in all our schools from the first bill to the last The SRNR that you all are voting on tonight allows for cell phone use during passing periods and lunch and clearly does not meet the intent of that legislation Allowing cell phone use during parts of the school day would be easier Fewer objections from students who don't think they
032need to be restricted from the technology they're addicted to viewer objections from parents who have become overly reliant on contact with their kids during the school day Perhaps you've been influenced by the parents who believe that kids should have access to their phones in the event of an emergency every parent's worst nightmare I'm a Marine Corps combat veteran with a unique and deeply personal perspective on crisis communications I can assure you that when our kids safety is at risk we do not want them on their phones It's clear that FCPS has spent a significant amount of time listening to these students and parents But what of the mental health and public safety experts who are overwhelming in their opposition to cell phone use at any time and in any capacity between the bells has FCPS
033leadership spent adequate time listening to them the recommendation before you tonight would indicate that perhaps they have not You were elected to put our kids first even when the kids don't like it Even when we as parents are terrified of losing control in an outofcrol world but our kids are suffering under the weight of addictive technology social isolation lack of connection and insurmountable distraction We can limit that suffering at least during the seven hours that our kids are in school With a title wave of school districts nationwide optimate opting to implement full day bans it defies reason that Fairfax County would choose to lag on adoption and implementation of such a critical and bipartisan policy We should not be content with a half step of progress while other school systems around us have the courage
034to go the full measure I'm asking you to follow the clear intent of our state law Remove cell phones and the harm that comes with Kathy Hassel Good evening I'm speaking as a concerned parent citizen and healthcare provider The medical community broadly agrees that excessive cell phone and electronic device use in adolescence has significant impacts on physical mental and emotional health The American Association of Pediatric recommends limits for screen time as not to interfere with sleep activity and social interactions NIH and the Surgeon General Advisory Council issued formal warnings about the risk of depression anxiety poor sleep poor cognition uh cyber bullying exploitation body image issues and worsening academic performances with cell phone use I'm going to speak on a personal level I have two children at Lake Bradic Secondary School with ADHD They have
035IEPs The use of any electronic sucks them in They cannot remove their focus towards any other priorities Even when the cell phone has been put down just knowing there's a message on Instagram or Snapchat or even a text completely distracts them from important learning uh task This must be a growing sentiment because entire states like Indiana Oklahoma Utah and Alabama have banned cell phones in schools New York City had a ban and then lifted it only to reinstate it I will finish with an anecdote uh with me driving on the way to work two days ago I passed two bus stops One with a group of high schoolers that had their phone in their face or phone their face in their phone and physical social distancing And the other was a group of elementary school
036kids that were completely enthralled with a bug on the ground You could see pointing talking laughing and quite possibly learning Learning is not just in four walls not in the class not just in the four walls of the classroom with a teacher in front It's in the hallways It's in the cafeteria It's looking up and seeing the world It's not uh it's using all the senses and the use of cell phones take that away or at least limits them Please enforce bell-to-bell ban on cell phones and let's get back to the school system of 100% focused on learning Thank you Jang Wall-ally Anamesh Gupta Good evening members of the board Uh I'm a parent at Mlean High School I was here with my son last October Uh my issue is still not resolved I'm here
037to raise two issues One is the issue of due process We are attempted to resolve this issue with the Metlean administration but my family has been denied due process three times We escalated this issue with FCPS chief of schools We were promised a follow-up within a week That did not happen after outreach and over five weeks later receive a response But but we are still waiting for full transparency and a fair resolution I believe in the school systems and I believe in its values But accountability matters So does the responsiveness I ask this board to hold leadership at the same standards expected of our students Honesty responsibility and follow through The other issue is the grading policy As per the regulation 2445.7 there is no grade penalty and no record on a student's transfer when
038a course is dropped At N at Nova it if if a if there is a withdrawal it's a W However at McClean when the child dropped the dual enrollment course the W was not honored As a result there was a dis as a result of discrimination and false plagiarism citation My son downgraded the course to a from a DE level 1.0 to an honors.5 This is not a lateral transfer It is a change of course change of rigor and level If if the withdrawal isn't formally recorded as a W then the correct and fair weight must be applied to reflect the change Otherwise it's inaccurately lowers the student's GPA And I'm calling it what it is called as grading misrepresentation This affects not just the child but also the student transitioning from a DE or
039AP to a lower level course I respectfully ask the board to review that and revise the policy so it accounts for proper course waiting and applies consistent standard across all FCPS schools especially Mlean High School Thank you Feel this pain It is with a heavy heart that I stand before you today disappointed again Not for myself personally but for Fairfax County's middle school students and families who must continue to suffer not for lack of viable solutions for Fairfax but for lack of courage for lack of leadership for lack of commitment to solving this long-standing problem It appears that this board and superintendent have lost sight of the needs of our children and addressing those needs with urgency Sandy Evans and I appreciate the board members who met with us individually about 16 months ago At
040that time we described the attention you would need to give to the details Change is hard and you would need to have courage to stand up for what's best for children FCPS would need to communicate why our students need this change over and over again Specifically pediatricians recommend that all middle and high schools start after 8:30 so students have an opportunity to fulfill a basic need Systematic sleep deprivation is torture Forcing teens to wake up at 6:00 am or earlier cuts short their their sleep resulting in chronic sleep deprivation Starting after 8:30 is a tipping point that allows many more students to get the sleep they need to learn to thrive to stay healthy and safe You have squandered your opportunity to help all middle school students next fall Even though multiple options were presented
041in early December and improved since then promised action failed to materialize two weeks ago and seems to be missing from tonight's agenda When will you take action on the board's goal of healthy middle school start times prismatic helped Anna Rundle County take over our lead in the start time arena Elementary schools there now start at 8 a.m High schools 8:30 middle schools 9:15 Prismatic has given us several options to consider Let's get back to proper planning and change management and get this done Thank you Shelley Arnaldi Hello It's been a while since I've been here I would like to ask that in the future you look into showing parents faces when they have the videos later because you guys changed it a few years ago and I don't think it's ever been explained as to
042why it's cutting into my time So I live in Mount Vernon district Uh my kids are uh were three and five when I moved here in 2010 and they went to Waynewood Elementary School and my youngest is about to graduate from West PTOAC High School I'm going to tell a story about West PTOAC Two weeks ago I got a text message from the principal saying West Ptomic High School remains in stay put stay tuned protocol following an isolated incident at the school Uh a follow-up message then came say "Please do not come to the school as we will not be releasing students at this time." So I texted my daughter to see what was going on She said "Nothing really A kid got stabbed but like he was in a fight." Shortly after that I
043got video footage of the fight I saw two kids fighting and I saw an adult male walk through take a picture and walk on At the time the adult was taking the picture a smaller kid was getting beaten up by a big kid This the big kid got pulled off and the smaller kid apparently had a knife You couldn't really tell Punched the kid a bunch of times until he bled out and fell on the floor So our kids saw that I saw that If they didn't have cell phones I wouldn't have seen it We need transparency our parents We need to know what our kids are seeing in the hallways This is a hall my daughter just walked through and several of her friends saw it So I'm asking for transparency for the parents
044We should be allowed to know It's not just an incident It was a stabbing Following the fight we weren't provided any details and we were told we could not get our kids We were not allowed to pick up our children Later at a press conference the police said they were going to do uh delayed release because of retaliation Who's retaliating if we have gang members at our schools we should know about it If we have illegal criminal gang members at our schools they need to be taken out So please do something The trust policy needs to end Chair that was our last public speaker Thank you Excuse me Thank you Agenda item 5.01 action item certification of a closed meeting compliance I'm sorry uh Miss Sant Um and we only have so many of these
045left with you I don't want to step on your time Uh agenda item 4.01 student representative matters I call on Miss Sant Thank you Mr Fris Happy educator appreciation week students right now are kneedeep um in the swing of AP season and IB tests for those enrolled and we're approaching the final stretch of the school year but we really could not have come this far without our teachers I have so many of my friends who walk out of their AP exam and I'm like I'm so glad that Miss or Mr X taught me this and it was on the exam So thank you teachers Today I wanted to take some time to discuss student feedback regarding the board of supervisors budget updates AVID and student opportunities within the next couple weeks After feedback from several
046residents including students I'm excited along with the rest of you that the board of supervisors has restored full funding for middle school afterchool programs for the 2025 to 2026 school year This is a huge win for our community I want to shout out the FCPS students who met with their supervisors spoke at public hearings and with the media sent letters spoke here at community matters and took the initiative to get involved making it clear what these programs meant to them These after school programs aren't just about filling time after the bell rings These are where students discover their passions Whether it's debate theater robotics or music these are often the places where students find confidence community and the sense of direction that they take into high school with them Doing debate in middle school is
047how I realized that I was interested in advocacy and public policy One of my friends that I went to middle school with started theater there in the after school program and now will be majoring that in college In particular these programs are lifeline for students who may not otherwise have access to enrichment opportunities They create more equitable access to experiences that shape long-term successes both academically and socially While current crossing guards at high schools will remain in place through the fiscal year 2026 while other staffing alternatives are being explored this is something that we're going to have to continue to advocate for within the next year Our school crossing guards are imperative in places on busy roads especially when high schools are near middle school middle schools and elementary schools to direct the flow of
048people and traffic Next turning to AVID as we learned from Dr Reid at our last meeting the program is now expanding to other Title One elementary schools and that's amazing because it gives students the early tools they need to succeed including executive functioning and academic confidence But AVID will only be at 15 high schools next year As I've mentioned several times before when I went to the multilingual learners leadership summit back in August student in the students in the AVID program were describing the impact that it had on their journeys especially as first generation students who did not know about the college process But another student from a school where AVID is not offered expressed regret because she didn't even know the program existed until it was too late to benefit from it When we
049think about academic course taking patterns that we see across groups and demographics in FCPS AVID can be a way to address those gaps that we are still seeing As one student mentioned I wouldn't have taken honors and AP classes without AVID There are no plans to expand AVID past the one high school that we have in place next year At schools like Oakton there's a waiting list to join but at other schools students don't even know it's an option So how can we let students learn about the program so that they can establish student interest at their respective high schools and be able to establish it our college and career center specialists are incredibly valuable but they are often just one person managing the needs of hundreds of students There is need for more guidance
050in the college application process and that has pushed some students in the superintendent's advisory council to consider other options along with AVID Our SACE president is actually working on a project right now with instructional services to bring college and career support by students for students to provide guidance on this process Um in the minutes that I'll be attaching to board do board docs after this meeting I've actually attached a link um that links to a feedback poll to gauge student needs and interests in the platform for freshmen sophomores and juniors and they're also looking for student volunteers especially seniors who will be graduating this year to help out next year as we continue kicking off this program Um and I'm just so happy to be working with our SACE president and the student led initiative
051This month is also mental health awareness month and I bring this up often but mental health is a topic that we should be regularly discussing in schools and reminding our students of Every school has at least one school counselor school psychologist school social worker and substance abuse prevention specialist These staff members are there to support our students but also help students in accessing other mental health services in our community As we know all high school students have access to Hazel Health and 9th graders can be referred starting July 1st But new this summer are FCPS wellness consultations that run from June 23rd to August 1st which are available to the caregivers of FCPS students as well as middle schoolers and high schoolers These consultations are free and offer students and caregivers an opportunity to schedule
052a 45minute consultation with a school psychologist or school social worker by phone or video conference More information is being shared with FCPS communications and with the community in early June including information on how to request a summer consultation The last thing that I wanted to do was share some opportunities to support youth leadership and student voice First is that the student student human rights commission in partnership with the Fairfax County Office of Human Rights and Equity program is rec recruiting students to join their team next year The SHRC fosters conversations around diversity human rights and civic engagement while promoting a deeper understanding of several acts and the Fairfax County Human Rights Ordinance here in FCPS They take two representatives from every high school It's an incredible way to be a voice for justice while also
053learning about how government works at a local level just like our student leadership development program Applications are due on June 6th for students and the link to apply will also be in my minutes on board docs Thomas Jefferson High School's Tech Extravaganza is next week on Saturday May 17th from 10:00 a.m to 4:00 pm This free STEM outreach event hosted by TJ students along with FCPS student organizations brings hands-on activities to thousands of younger students and families as well as Title One High School Title One Elementary Schools here in FCPS and surrounding Northern Virginia counties Please support this event by attending or spreading the word in your school communities Thank you Thank you Miss Sant Moving right along Agenda item 5.01 action certification of closed meeting compliance In order to comply with section 2.2-3712D 2-3712D
054of the Code of Virginia It is necessary for the board to certify that since the Fairfax County School Board convened a closed meeting on May 8th 2025 to the best of each board member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered by the board during the closed meeting Do I have a motion miss St John Cunning is there a second mr Mr Mavine All those in favor Miss Maron Miss Dixit Mr Mavine Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismoreheiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss uh Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself That is unanimous The motion carries Agenda item 5.02 action confirmation of action taken in closed meeting I call
055on Mr McDaniel for a motion I move to expel the student who committed a serious offense in violation 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 students rights and responsibilities is a type that requires expulsion Is there a second second Miss Lady All those in favor Miss Dixit Mr Mavine Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Eismerheiser Mr Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself All those opposed abstensions Miss Marin The motion carries I call on Mr Moon for a motion I move to expel the students who committed a serious offense in violation of a school policy by possessing a weapon that under section 22.1277.07 07 of the code of Virginia and the Fairfist County Public
056School student rights and responsibilities is a type that requires expression Is there a second second Miss Seismoreheiser All those in favor miss Dixit Mr Mavine Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismore Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself Opposed abstensions miss Marin The motion carries I call on Miss Lady for a motion I move to deny the school reassignment appeal of a student who has been charged with one count of brandishing a firearm one count of assault by mob related to an alleged crime that occurred in the community and to confirm the disciplinary decision of the division superintendent Is there a second i second Miss St John Cunning All those in favor miss Marin Mr Mavine Miss Dixit Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss
057St Junk Hunting and myself Did I say Miss Dixit i apologize Withdraw My Miss Dixit's name Her hand was not up All those opposed And Dr Anderson in the affirmative All those opposed All those abstaining Miss Dixit Will the clerk read the vote could you Miss Eismore what was your vote affirmative Then the vote is 111 The motion carries Thank you It was 1101 Apologies Thank you Agenda item 5.03 action student rights and responsibilities I call on Miss St John Cunning for a motion I move that the school board adopt regulation 2601.39 student rights and responsibilities as detailed in the agenda item Is there a second i second Thank you Miss Anderson Miss St John Honey would you like to speak to your motion so we had some very robust uh work sessions on this
058and all I want to say is that I want to thank the staff for all the work that they've put into this I know that there's been a lot of go back and I appreciate that they listened Um and that's all I want to say Thank you Miss St John Cunning Miss Anderson would you like to speak to your second i'd like to echo the the sentiments as to thank staff for the hard work that they put in on this I I know um the extensive work that we have done to try to get to where we are So I appreciate your help I call on Dr Anderson for an amendment I move to amend page six section 9 monitoring and enforcement of regulation 2601.39 to add the word dispositions after required interventions and before
059and factors So that it now reads "The Chief Equity Office in collaboration with the Office of Chief of Schools shall conduct a semester review of all discipline cases involving weapons assault and assault and battery to determine the use of required interventions dispositions and factors considered prior to issuing a suspension for the related um for related violations." Is there a second mr Done Thank you Dr Anderson would you like to speak to your amendment yes I would U Miss Anderson did you want to share something really quickly before I speak without objection I would like to add a comma after I'd be happy to recognize Miss Anderson Miss Anderson I would like to Without objection I would like to add the Oxford comma after dispositions please Seeing no objection moving right along Well let me think
060about that Um thank you Dr Anderson Go ahead Yes um in conversations with staff regarding what this means I I was heartened to understand that it means that the chief equity office and the chief of schools will be reviewing um interventions that were taken when a student is not put forward for um a 10-day suspension as outlined in the um in in the SRNR But what was missing is what is the review for when they are because if we're really wanting to look at um disproportionality we have to also be able to evaluate when the sanction has been levied and when it is not So that was a piece that was missing and would have prevented staff from being able to take at that second um component So that's the ad Thank you Dr Anderson
061Mr Dun would you like to speak to your second no Thank you Seeing no others we'll go to a vote All those in favor Miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr Makov Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Missheiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself That is unanimous The motion carries All right I call on Miss Marin for an amendment I move to amend the student rights and responsibilities regulation 2601 per the markup document submitted with this agenda item so that the Fairfax County School Board complies with Virginia House Bill 1961 and Senate Bill 738 effective as law on July 1 2025 Is there a second second Dr Anderson Miss Marin would you like to speak to your motion i'm realizing now the language does not say what it is and it
062is to ban cell phones in schools to put them away for the day per the law and um you know initially when the governor proposes as an executive order uh that was on his role to tell us how to run our schools but it is codified by law by democratically elected general assembly and um you know we also discussed this at a meeting and I think at the time we we had some conversations but um it's clear that this is the right thing to do cell phones addictive technology and our growing students um are not seeing them primarily as a tool Um so we have to keep our kids safe and I I do reflect on the principles who came to our work session and talked about how the pilot went and I have to
063continue to u recognize Dr Meiselle at Langston Hughes Middle School who has really done an outstanding job of keeping cell phones away and it's that person and that leadership structure that makes it happen Um so it's when people say "What do we do to stop cell phone use?" Well first you know we have a policy but we also have outstanding administrators that know how to do it So I didn't I was concerned that some principles might feel it wasn't possible but like we believe in them and we're going to have to do this Um finally though we could do everything perfect during the day and a kid could go home and use their device in a really inappropriate and bad way And so we have to have our families helping And it's hard I have
064a ninth grader and a sixth grader I get it It's hard but we've got to do this together So I hope my colleagues will support this amendment and enforcement of the law Thank you Miss Marin Dr Anderson would you like to speak to your second um yes Uh one of the things that I want to bring attention to is on page 76 of the red line SRNR where the definition of bell to bell is defined It is from the first bell rings at the start of the school day until the last bell at the end of the school day to begin instructional time until dismissal time at the end of the school day I I'm getting garbled here Um it also says it includes lunch and in between classes Um we've had this debate at
065the work session We received clarification from senators Parski and Suravel who were very clear in their letter to the board that says the following The Virginia law that was passed last month unanimously requires that during belltoell from the start of the end of the regular school hours students are prohibited from the use of their cell phones on school grounds The intention of lawmakers is is in pass in passing this law is to clarify that the current class lunch and between classes students are not permitted to use their cell phones at any time It is not a ban because students are able to bring their schools their phones into schools They're just restricted from their usage In addition to the law and making sure we are following that the same way that all of the other
066132 school divisions in the Commonwealth are doing I actually looked it up Arlington already has policy Alexandria already has policy Prince William already has policy Lowden will be voting on their policy very shortly So we will be the outlier in not following this um regulation Um so in addition to that we come to the practical piece of what is happening in our schools The principles that I serve in my region are begging for this because it is hard to bring a child back from utilizing their phones Um you know it because you see it at your own homes once it's in the hand It's really hard to get them to put it away And imagine if you have a short passing period students are wandering in the hallway waiting to use it a little bit
067more therefore impacting the time that they could have in class Now they're late Now we have an all added value to it And honestly I also have a teenager I would love for him to use his cell phone in the lunchroom because I think that's a space that's a little bit less restrictive but it is not the law And I do believe we really have to follow that Um I do have a question though with Dr Reid I just want to be sure that it is your position that the board would be following the law with the current language in the red line version to allow access during passing and lunches I believe we had legal council's interpretation of that language that indeed um was that the word restrict um could be read in a
068different way um to allow um because there was an age appropriate piece language-wise within the bill um that kindergarten for example might be treated differently than a senior in high school So that term could be um inferred to mean something other than a ban but I'm gonna ask Mr Foster to directly respond to why that is So just so we're clear this evening Uh yes the superintendent has stated the legal advice I'd previously provided at a work session Uh what matters under the common law of the Commonwealth of Virginia is what the language is in the statute Thank you So that is a yes to my question Dr Reed do you believe we will be in keeping with the law with the redline language within the letter of the law that's correct As per Mr
069Foster's um council And then my second question is the letter that we received from Senators Picarski and um Saravel What was the conversation and the takeaway of that missive with staff i didn't discuss the letter with staff Okay thank you Um just and all in all I I really hope this is something we could all get behind because again it it takes away some it covers it provides cover to our staff and I think they really need that in addition to what I aorly mentioned Thank you Dr Anderson Mr Dunn Thank you Um I think the statutory text is clear I think the legislative intent is clear from the recent letter we've received from Senator Serville and Senator Picarski I think if uh we continue to play games with uh the legislation the legislature will
070simply clarify it and then we're uh have wasted um an opportunity to initially start with complying with the law Uh international surveys conducted with pizza testing shows students feel increasingly isolated and alone while at school surrounded by their peers while finding it increasingly difficult to make friends during the school day And most mental health experts today attribute the recent decline in mental health and adolescence to increasing isolation from cell phones and cell phone dependence which causes less social interaction with peers and a decline in unstructured time a trend that predates the isolation that resulted from the COVID pandemic It's this isolation that's driving the need for more social emotional learning because students are unprepared and lacking the skills to socially interact When given unstructured time with access to phones many students revert to the comfort
071of their phones as a means of coping However this further drives isolation and consequently the need for learning Why would we allow access to cell phones during lunch which should be the time the time when students engage with each other we don't want them doing it in class That's a time for learning But during lunch that's the time when you should bring all the kids together where they learn social skills They meet people from different walks of life and they learn to engage every day with different people So they're comfortable in any environment They're adaptable They're kids right we need to get away from the addiction of cell phones which is being driven by large internet companies that use neurologists to addict us through dopamine It's ridiculous and we need to not uh pay any
072heed to those who advocate for more cell phone usage We need to get away from this And it's not how humans were built It's not how kids are built And it's not healthy And it's causing all the problems that we see in our teenagers and young kids today Thank you Mr Dunn Soon others will go to the vote All those in favor of the Can we put the motion on the screen thank you All those in favor of the motion on the screen Miss Marin Dr Anderson Mr Dunn All those opposed Miss Dixit Mr Macke Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismarheiser Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss St John Cutting and myself The motion fails I call on Miss Anderson for an amendment I move to amend page 17 of the proposed student rights and responsibilities
073regulation to reg to related to 9th and 12th through 12th grade cell phone use to say the following Cell phone us is restricted and cell phones may be only used on campus before the first spell after the last bell and during lunches Is there a second second Miss Lady Miss Anderson would you like to speak to your amendment yes I would Um I have been steadfast in my support of allowing developmentally appropriate differentiation of the cell phone use for our high school students I do I do not believe that we should be treating kindergarteners the same as we do seniors Personally I still believe that our existing policy is the best approach to give our high school students the chance to learn how to appropriately navigate the the use of technology which will likely be
074an important aspect of their lives moving forward As everyone likely knows over the last year we ran a pilot to ensure that the enforcement of our existing regulation and our neighboring divisions were also piloting approaches that mimicked our regulation However the new Virginia law has disrupted the strong work that we had been doing The confusion is that many of us had conversations with the lawmakers when they brought the bill for consideration and understood that the intent was to allow FCPS to continue the approach we were already taking to eliminate the cell phone use during instruction which I wholeheartedly support I want to reiterate that I still agree with the legal explan explanation from our last work session on the SRNR and what was said here If I understand correctly this law provides the plain language
075to suggest that we need to institute developmentally appropriate restrictions for all students The only thing the governor's amendment did was add the reinforcement of the bell-to-bell nature of the restrictions which we already have Our existing regulation is a restriction for our high school students However I spent a lot of time talking to my constituents my colleagues and most importantly students and staff What this amendment represents is a compromise And in my opinion just like the best compromises everyone's a little unhappy It gives our students a brief 30 to 35 minute window to check their cell phones to do things like coordinate rides home check work schedules and listen to music We know abstinence education doesn't work for other areas of our students lives and I believe strongly that this is this is another place that
076this is true We need to give our oldest students a place to practice managing their devices and opportunities to fail and try again I want also to remind parents that you can always decide to limit your child's cell phone use You can delay providing cell phones and other smart devices This is in your hands as well Thank you Miss Anderson Is there a second or Miss Lady would you like to speak to your second uh I'm not going to add a lot more um other than to say that um it's my understanding that and I I was not at the work session What was reported to me was that the principles at the high school level um didn't wanted kids to be able to have phones at lunch Um it's also the language in the
077law speaks to age appropriate having spent the majority of my career at the high school level um knowing a significant number of students who work uh often and and help pay bills in their house uh with that work um that they need to be able to access changes or opportunities uh to get a shift because of a cancellation uh and they wouldn't be able to have that communication So uh I'm not going to blavorver the point Um I I do understand also the advocacy against cell phones Um throughout my entire career as a counselor and director of student services uh I I begged parents not to put cell phones in their kids' hands at young ages I beg them to charge them in their room Um I beg them to charge their computers in their
078bedrooms meaning the parents bedroom Children should not have devices after they go to bed nor should they probably have them at other times if they can't control them Um and I say that knowing that I certainly I didn't I wasn't raised in a cell phone time but had I been I can guarantee you my mama would have controlled it Um because she controlled a lot of things in my life Um and I mean it's it's a tall task but I I one of the things I'm asking is with this change that everyone delay longer and longer the age at which you give your child a cell phone Um because the 20 it's more like 20 to 25 minutes by the time they actually get a lunch and sit down at a sit down at a
079table and have to get up and then go to lunch to go go to class Um I'm not concerned about that 25 minutes Uh I'm concerned about what they're doing um outside of that time And we do need to preserve instructional time and the piloting ban that we had this this year in place uh was very effective Thank you Thank you Miss Lady Miss Marin I'd like to address the procedural and the work approach of this board This is a motion a topic of which we never discussed publicly This was a brand new idea introduced to the board via an email Um and for me I worked with Dr Anderson to set up a motion I emailed it I texted people and said "Do you have questions do you have do you want to talk?"
080Other than the my co-patron three people I spoke with and said they were maybe So thank you for reaching out and having that conversation with me Two people were nos And I respect the passion of the motion maker even though I disagree with the motion And five colleagues didn't say a word to me but you just voted down the motion Voting down a motion you haven't even given the time and the collegiality to talk with the motion makers about and then voting on a motion that we never talked about publicly is poor policymaking and the lastminute nature of these changes is really doing us in That's why we're getting flooded with emails about grading because we're not being clear in our deliberations and we're not talking to one another about these decisions This has been
081on our we've had three meetings about this and never once has the option of available at lunch been suggested I'm just floored that well I I do ask then that the maker of the motion and the seconder please be prepared to handle any communications or any litigation that is going to come forth because our school division will apparently be disobeying the law So I really hope that you can be prepared for that And um I I just I will not be supporting this motion And we also cannot dictate what parents can do We can't tell parents to not have their kids have their phone at Wess What happens if a kid goes out for lunch to go in the hallway does that count or not count i I'm very disappointed at this board Thank you
082Miss Marin Miss Dixit So um my microphone wasn't working earlier So I think it's okay Um so I actually uh like this motion and the reason being I just had a student graduating from high school last year from Centerville High School And from my parents perspective that was a time to check in He never checked his phone during the school day He never looked at his phone messages nothing But during lunchtime I was able to find out what his plan was to take the bus home or he has to go to uh staying in the extra class or he's going to a friend's house There were things I needed as a parent because my son even though he was senior he is 16 years old So that was a time for me to get in
083touch with them Um and I would say there are students who are parents We had a graduation ceremony in Mountain View recently and there was a uh one of the speaker was a young mother She has a child u and she's caring for so ability to take the phone away from a mother who has a baby I would not agree to that Lastly about the students there were students who are working they were the only bread winner for their family and they were students who were uh needed to know if they have to pick up a shift at night I am I am no I am I feel for those students who have to work and also study and not have the luxury to keep their phones away all day Um this is a necessity
084for them So for that reason I would be okay with just a phone usage during the lunch hour just for them to be able to check their message And I and I hope that this the law is going to be okay with it and and I hope uh everybody is going to be okay with it Thank you Thank you Miss Dixit Mr McDaniel thank you Um a year ago I brought forward the pilot program and a year ago I helped drive this issue forward because we were um the school system especially at the high school levels in the position where it was the wild west with cell phones And what we learned in that pilot program is that if we enforce the rules that we had on the books it significantly curtailed what was going
085on in schools And we heard that from our school-based staff uh a couple of months ago Um the legal side of this I'm not a lawyer I I I don't even pretend to to do what lawyers do But I think it's safe to say there's ambiguity there And nothing prevents the general assembly next year from fixing that ambiguity if they so choose And if they do that then this board will obviously comply with whatever language they come up with But I want to say thank you in particular to staff that worked hard on this Dr King and your department and everybody that worked hard on this because if I recall correctly the amended motion that I'm going to support right now of basically saying lunch is allowed but hallway passing period is not neither is
086any other period during the day If I recall correctly that was your original recommendation was it not right And then this board gave some feedback and then it went here and then it went there and then it went back there and then it went up there But we're back to square one with what our very capable staff is recommending So thank you for your work Um I'm happy to support this move And this is not a move that says you know to to Miss Lady's point we're talking 25 to 30 minutes We're not talking unfettered access We're talking 25 to 30 minutes a day for high school kids That's it and if we need to fix it next year because of legally reasons or whatever that may be we can do that Thank you Thank
087you Mr McDaniel Mr Dunn as a school board member it is my first obligation to follow the law and to ensure that the superintendent and FCPS follow the law As an attorney I appreciate creative lawy lawyering but there is a difference between creative lawyering and blatant disregard of the law Tonight I ask my attorneys to oppose this amendment which is contrary to law It's unlawful But let's pretend we have the choice Okay On the one hand we have reams of data and dozens of scientific studies showing the mental trauma caused to our students by cell phones Now on the other hand we have do we have any data showing that allowing cell phone use at lunch produces any benefits for our students no we don't Are there any other school divisions that allow cell phone
088use at lunch i asked this question to FCPS leadership and I was told none Zero So this amendment proposes to ignore state law and reams of data and scientific studies because we feel like it because we think we know better than the scientists because we think we know better than the state legislature that is extremely disappointing And let me say as the schoolboard member who represents the Mount Vernon district to know that the dozens or hundreds of students who are pulling out their cell phones to record the stabbing we know that cell phone causes more fights More fights with injuries When cell phones were taken away at Edison fights dropped from 88 to 22 by by an incredible 400% decrease Sorry not doing the math right right now But incredible overnight drop in fights with
089injury Same for vaping same for drugs same for all kinds of things dropped by just taking away the cell phones I ask my colleagues to prioritize student safety and security student mental health student well-being and adopt a bell-to-bell ban on cell phones and reject this amendment Thank you Mr Dunn Mr afternoon Uh thank you Thank you Mr Chairman I'll be I am supporting this amendment Uh that and board members will all recall that as to what some of some of the things Mr Don has stated about statutory language We had discussion about how to interpret restrict versus ban ban and there was a consensus among the both members that a restrict does not equate to ban legislative intent What the legislative intent which a couple of state senators might have clarified as to uh what
090the intent was But when you look at the language from the language you don't see that intent that clearly and so I am honoring the consensus interpretation by the board of the language in the state statue allowing a use of the selfunding lunch hour for the high school students I am willing to give it a try and trust our high schoolers to just to stick to lunch hours for the use of cell phones rather than completely taking that away whole day in school because they may really need to communicate with some other people outside the schools even amongst classmates on certain things and use of a cell phone may be the best way to do during lunch hours And having said that a three times the board had discussed about the cell phone news policy
091I think Miss Maron one of my colleagues representing uh Hunter district stated that a a line during the lunch hours was never discussed and coming out at the for the first time There may be that may be but our governance manual does not require all those amendments to be brought to the work session and discussed at the work session We have we have we go through these work session and have a discussion and based upon the conversation that take place at those work sessions and even outside the work session between schoolboard members a board member or board members can craft amendment and notify colleagues 48 hours before the board meeting I think that's what the maker of this amendment had done and I appreciate that And Miss Maron you know that I had conversation with
092you about a prior amendment I also had conversation with Dr Anderson about the amendment that she proposed So uh if other board members did not respond to your request to have a conversation I don't have a control over that but I did have the conversation with you and I want the public to know Thank you Mr Moon I'd like to remind colleagues per Robert's rules to direct their comments through the chair If they'd like to invite another colleague to speak they can engage that colleague and ask if they'd like to participate and take some of their time uh to keep the the tenor of the conversation in within decorum Um Miss Seismarheiser thank you And um having been on the board that actually instituted the first set of restrictions on cell phones in 2022 let's
093be clear that the restrictions on cell phones um prohibited the use by students in elementary and middle school from bell-to bell starting in 2022 The only thing that we allowed in 2022 was in high school The cell phones could be used in the passing periods and at lunch So we led the work on this in 2022 The issue since then was ensuring implementation which we have worked very hard on including what Mr McDaniel talked about in ensuring implementation of these rules When you read the bill it restricts a restriction is a limit That's the plain language definition of restriction You can look up the def dictionary definition It also says age appropriate and developmentally appropriate That's the first rules in looking at a statute Having said that when I ran for this office because of
094the experiences I had my children and what I saw I said I am going to keep front and center those students who have the least ability to speak for themselves Over a third of our students qualify for free and reduced price meals A lot of those students may be working jobs to support their families Those jobs may be shift work A boss is not going to call the front office of a school to offer a shift that's open for the student That is not how our world works anymore And if a student doesn't get that message and isn't able to respond they lose that income That's who I'm thinking about give them an opportunity in high school as they're becoming adults with adult-like responsibilities to learn how to do it Some of our high school
095students are parents Some of our high school students watch siblings at home after school because their parents are working 25 minutes to fulfill adult-like responsibilities is reasonable Instructional spaces is where the majority of the research shows about the benefits in schools And we have not allowed cell phones in instructional spaces per our policy since 2022 I am privileged that I didn't have to have my children work to support my family I had my children plug their cell phones in outside of their rooms at night But I ran for this office to represent everybody and to be the voice for the people who needed it And in high school they're learning to be adults And some of them are adults Our high school principles have told us that they they support this version They don't believe
096in a a bell-to-bell ban The law is consistent with that So let's be clear This debate is about 25 minutes during the day And those students who I'm thinking of are probably working and aren't able to come to our all day work sessions and leave school to do that or come here to speak to us So I support this Thank you Miss Seismarheiser Miss St John Cunning thank you Um I want to say that I I I really struggled with this Um and I had various conversations with all of the with se with the makers of both amendments about this Um in the end I felt this was a good compromise for the reasons that have been stated before In my district there's a large and significant amount of students that are on free and
097reduced lunch There's a lot of high school students that take care of student of of younger siblings And as someone that has worked in the school I know when an elementary kid sometimes doesn't get picked up because their high school students phone wasn't working So I've seen what happens when their phone went was out of power and a sibling wasn't picked up and there's panic I think it's important to note that in terms of our procedure our procedure is that we can write these amendments 48 hours in advance and there's another amendment we voted on that we received and there was no discussion Usually the maker of an amendment reaches out to this to the rest of the members to discuss it If I see an amendment and I don't have a question and I'm
098okay with it I'm not going to call that person If I do have a question I'll call that person But it's usually incumbent on the person that is making the amendment to reach out to people to say I'm making this amendment What do you think about it and I was approached by people that made the amendment just sometimes if people don't talk to you they don't have a question or they know what they want to do So I don't want to belabor the point that this is a bad way to do things because we all know the way that it's done and this was all done the way we have all decided for it to be done Um I think this is a valid compromise And the other thing that I think is critically important
099is to support our staff And our staff at the high school level has said that this is what they want We cannot always support them with the raises that they need but when they tell us that they're okay with something and it works for them then we support them as well Thank you Miss St Jun Cunning Dr Anderson Yes Um thank you We seem to be having a lot of conversation regarding the clarity of the law and what it doesn't provide Um had the law been clearer at least to some Um then these concerns regarding students who work regarding students who are parents I I wonder how we would find a way to make it work Um and I think we would find a way to make it work we would find a some sort
100of space because we do know we have those students in our communities I think that space should have been happening right now because the law is clear I will not be voting for this motion I will not be voting for this SRNR because I do not want to be associated with not following the law We have been told by folks who were in Richmond who we trust to go down to Richmond to do the work for us They were clear with us and we are still continuing to disregard it And it makes me wonder where does it end if we have that flexibility to provide um the cell phone usage at lunch or at passing why not first period why not gym why not photography why not wherever it is that we want i I
101don't think we have that flexibility I I do believe this to be an arbitrary application and I want nothing to do with this Um plus I also want to affirm um the comments that were made regarding u mental health that was made by uh those comments were made by folks who were here just earlier on the community participation side and um segment rather and Mr Dunn also shared some very good information It it does matter I we had a colleague here that said something that was I think pretty impactful to me several weeks ago in terms of if those kids didn't have that that cell phone at um at during the West Poe incident that trauma would not have been um spread across the division the way that it did to other kids who were
102not there because they would not have been filming That really stuck with me um even though it is not my community it was a a statement that really impacted me and I think we are doing the opposite of that and it just befules me um currently and I I will not be in support of the motion or the SRNR today Although I'm very grateful for all of the work that Dr King and her office um have done You took a lot of time to respond to my questions Um so very appreciate appreciative of that Thank you Dr Anderson Miss Sant So I kind of see both sides of this because students see both sides of this and up here I have to present those both sides But first I wanted to thank Dr King because
103she met with me she met with students in those SRNR work sessions She looked at the student feedback and her team did an amazing job putting this all together So what we got from students is from the survey which I have pulled up right in front of me right now is that they do feel like they're more focused during instructional time when they don't have their phones with them but they appreciated being able to check their phones once in a while And I actually wanted to read what one student said Um this was written in December where they said "I am worried that the cell phone policy will turn into a bell-to-bell policy in 2025 I feel that students should be able to use their phones and other electronics when class is not in session
104during lunch for example as a way to relax and do something they enjoy." Um bringing up the point that Miss Anderson said of kindergarteners versus high schoolers and seniors having that trust in being able to use your phone how you can during those um non-instructional periods was really important for students But given all of this being said what we were told especially in those conversations that I was having with students is that it wouldn't be possible with the new Virginia law And that I can agree with that we do have to follow the law So no matter what we vote on um what still is different in schools is the degree to which the cell phone policy is implemented from school to school to school And I've mentioned this before how teachers enforce it between
105classrooms even within the same school looks different So no matter what we vote on this is still going to be an issue whether we keep it during lunch or not Um and I know that's divided on both sides but that that's what it is Thank you Miss Swant Miss St John Cunning again Thank you Um I just wanted to go back to state that this policy has been in effect and the consistency of enforcement has been the issue Our cell phone policy for having places where the cell phone could be stored That's what we had pouches are extremely expensive and during this budget time we cannot afford them Now in terms of PE be the the students in high school will still have the cell phones in their backpacks as they're moving back and forth
106Okay so even though they're restricted from using them if there is something that happens in the hall just because they can have it at lunch they can still pull it out of the backpack Now the thing is to teach them not to do that And as as I said in my statements after what happened at West PTOAC we got to teach our kids to give a hand out instead of a hand to be filming things And that's incumbent on not just us to teach them but on parents to teach them I just want to make that perfectly clear And I also when we talk about the legal issue our council has advised us that this is within the legal parameters this amendment would not have come up if that that didn't exist And so I
107just wanted to clarify that in a perfect world we would be able to have those cell phones stored away somewhere and we would have enough money to do that We don't We have to teach kids how to use them and we have to encourage our staff members and support them to enforce the policy as it has been written since 2022 and I hope that this discussion will help us move forward with that Thank you Miss St John Cunning Mr Dun for go back I just want to be clear on the process by which we arrived at this legal interpretation If you watch the video it was schoolboard members who advanced this legal interpretation not division council Division council was not in the room when this interpretation was advanced division council came down later to support
108that legal interpretation But frankly when uh schoolboard members advance a legal interpretation I would expect as an employee that legal counsel would support that because that's what employees do They support their boss So if this was if this had followed a proper process there might have been a question asked of division council to provide a legal interpretation which then could have been discussed and followed That was not the process that was followed And as an attorney I can tell you uh this is not the way it goes It's cart before the horse And also as an attorney having been the lead legislative affairs attorney for a10 billion dollar agency I can tell you what the proper reading is And it's a ban A ban is a ban is a ban There's a famous poem to
109that effect We should all know it We should all follow it Thank you Thank you Mr Dunn Miss Marin just a question Uh is a budget amendment going to be forthcoming if there's suggestion that teachers need to be trained on how to teach kids how to use cell phones that's going to cost money and materials and resources So I'm wondering if the makers of the motion will be providing a budget amendment to help with that roll out and to teach kids how to use cell phones which we have some curriculum on with safe you know digital citizenship But I would like I'd appreciate any update about any kind of forthcoming budget amendment Thank you Miss Marin Miss Anderson I just have a few clarifying questions Um Mr Foster what would be an age appropriate restriction
110if it was not based on the age of the students i I don't know I mean I I I can't come up with one Okay So is is it possible here that this was just a a a slip of an amendment in terms of the the the way that the the law was amended by the governor that there was just a there's the the original intention was what the lawmakers told us that the original intention was which was to codify our our ability to do what we were doing and what other divisions were actually following us on And is it possible that the governor put an amendment that put bellto bell but it didn't actually change the language of the overarching of the overarching language in the bill yeah I mean this is why courts
111um throughout the common law history of this country have focused on the language of statutes and not the statements of individual legislators because the individual motivation of an individual legislature is going to vary from legislator to legislator um what does not change is the language of a statute and that's what they focus on and and and to be clear that was um the basis for the conclusion that I reached in the guidance that I had previously provided to the board is what the language of the statute says and I appreciate that Um I will say that I do believe that this was a mistake I understand very clearly that we will likely have more more strict language coming depending on what happens um next year I would also like to say that the feedback that
112we received from both students staff teachers everyone was related to our existing policy The pilot was about enforcing our existing policy That what was was what was shown that worked So what Dr Dr Reed what I would like us to consider this year is knowing that we likely have more stringent responsibilities coming forward and and will likely have language that would actually prohibit you spell the bell which I think was the I understand that that's not what the bill said or not what the law says but it is I understand what the makers of the law um had in mind Can we use this year to try to think about communication systems that we will likely have to put in place that would allow our staff to do the same things that happened when I
113was a kid where you'd have to have call the office and send a note down to the because our email system does not allow appropriately does not allow students to email their parents And so if we don't have a system where kids can actually contact their parents throughout the day what are we going to be able to do as a division to support that for this number of students so you're asking for us to contemplate like a system for students to connect with their parents but not a cell phone Exactly Okay Um and it doesn't have to be an answer today I'm just saying that this is work that the division is going to have to do because for a division our size that is larger than 11 states correct we are going to have
114to come up with a plan on how we're going to facilitate the type of communication that parents have now come to expect with their their students Yes ma'am Um I would also like to reiterate that we have digital citizenship in our curriculum currently that this type of thing needs to be talked about in terms of I fully and completely do not believe that a Bellevel ban is going to stop people from doing things with their cell phones in between classes and recording and things like that That's not going to happen We have to talk to them I agree And so I would really like to also ensure that we make sure that our staff is modeling the behavior that we're expecting of our students because that is also something that I'm seeing is that there's
115a whole lot of teachers walking around that have their cell phones out when we are now telling staff or students that they're not supposed to have theirs And so we've got to figure out as as a group how to how to navigate all of this a little bit better than we are Thank you Seeing no others we will put the the amendments on the screen Okay I saw it go off I saw it go on then off then on then off then on Dr Anderson all facts Um you know I I definitely know that we have advanced in a way that communication between parents and and students are are different and their children are different You know I worked in a school my entire career Um and I'm a parent now with kids with cell
116phones So I appreciate that But I do want to also kind of bring some of the communication that does happen because it is so accessible It tends to not be as urgent or important I'm not saying always but there's a routine with oh I'm just going to check in this thing really quickly But for the things that are important the things that are urgent we have this weird little tool in the office called a telephone that parents can actually call and leave messages for their kids with the school phone that happened before I was there I would answer the phones in the office and it would be a parent wanting to change a child's dismissal or to do something That is still a tool that I want to make sure that we don't forget is
117still available Um the other thing again I I keep going back to this because it has to make sense to me The law says that we have to restrict student use and smart devices from bell to bell Our own definition of the Nsr of in the SRNR says it is after the first bell rings at the start of the school day to begin instruction until the dismissal bell rings at the end of the school day So bell-to-bell is defined here and yet we have this insertion of lunchtime which is not inside of the beginning or the end bells as far as I can remember So that piece just also doesn't sit well with me But thank you Thank you Dr Anderson Miss Marin you've already spoken twice so I can't call on you again Yes
118I'm sorry The motion is on the screen We will now go to a vote All those in favor of the uh amendment on the screen please raise your hand Miss Dixit Mr Mavine Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismore Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself All those opposed Miss Marin Dr Anderson and Mr Dunn The motion carries All right we are now returning to the primary motion as amended Seeing no others we will go to a vote for the motion to pass the amended SRNR All those in favor Miss Dixit Mr Macke Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismore Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself All those opposed Miss Marin Dr Anderson Mr Dunn The motion carries Moving on I call on Miss Seismarhiser for a follow-on motion I
119move that the school board direct the superintendent to develop a process requiring parents guardians and students to acknowledge and agree that cell phones smartwatches and other wearable devices are the sole responsibility of parents guardians caregivers and students while they are on FCPS property or attending FCPS sanctioned events Similar to those guidelines used to manage other bring your own devices These guidelines should include but are not limited to statements acknowledging that FCPS is not responsible providing charging spaces for or the care of such devices that FCPS is not responsible for the security safety loss damage or theft of such device and that students must abide by the acceptable use policy and the students rights and responsibilities document if they bring one of those devices onto FCPS property or to FCPS sanctioned events I second like your
120motion Yes Thank you Um before we had onetoone laptops and other types of devices for our students we had a bring your own device policy where students families could send laptops and other types of devices with their students And there was an agreement that had to be signed that Fairfax County Public Schools were not responsible for those devices Similar to the language I just read out loud However that bring your own device policy um and the the statements that design explicitly excluded cell phones and other similar devices So now that a lot of families are sending cell phones with their students to schools we want to make sure it's it's a bring your own device We are not providing cell phones to students although we're now providing laptops It's important for families to acknowledge in
121the same way they did with laptops that if they choose to send these types of devices with their children to school they are responsible for those devices and the students are responsible following the rules in the SR&R regarding those devices So it is sort of cleaning up or bring your own device and ensuring that families know that this is their device that they're sending with their student and they're responsible for any damage any theft and maintenance etc these devices So it's like a little bit of clean up but that's what this is for Thank you Miss Seismarheiser Miss Anderson we'd like to speak to the your second I won't belabor anything that my colleague said Um but I will say that I have mentioned this several times um to the superintendent and to other colleagues
122about the fact that we do need to acknowledge that when you bring a cell phone into the school it is your device and it is your responsibility and parents responsibility to help facilitate and and ensure that their parent that their student is following the rules with the device the same way as it used to be when they used to bring their own laptops to school So um this is just a request to ensure that parents have have that moment to acknowledge that as they move forward throughout the school year Thank you Miss Anderson Mr Dunn I I find this quite problematic Um we are a school system not a parking garage When you enter a parking garage you get a little ticket On the back of that ticket is in size four font uh language
123such as this saying you know the parking garage disclaims any liability for loss of property for people breaking in for damage caused to your vehicle Um this is attached to the SRNR which is 150 page document Um and we asked parents to sign There's inconsistent signing by parents by students and it's certainly not structured as a legal contract So I'm not sure how we can uh impose a kind of a legal disclaimer that would be enforcable or binding in any sense um on on parents and students Uh I find this highly flawed Um I think there are ways you could do this but I don't think this has even been examined by division council Mr Foster have you examined whether this is enforceable under Virginia law i have Sorry You have or haven't i have
124Yes H haven't I have I have Okay And so it is enfor So this so this could potentially excuse our liability for a cell phone that gets destroyed or lost in an office where it's being held overnight Yeah I'd be happy to discuss offline the uh in further detail the legal analysis that I did but I have looked at it and I have concluded that this is compliant Okay Well I I can say as an attorney I find it not enforceable under Virginia law There is provision under Virginia law for who is responsible for what in the event of of a tort of loss of property of damage to property I think we should again follow the law as with the last motion or amendment Uh the law is the law and we should follow
125the law and if we want to change the law and enforce some kind of contractual disclaimers there are ways to do that I don't think this is the way Thank you Mr Dunn Seeing no others we will go to a Oh I apologize Miss Seismarheiser I just want to clarify because it it seems like a little confusion here This itself is not the actual language or the pro All this is is a follow on to direct the superintendent to develop a process So this isn't the contractual law or whatever this they will sign It is and we are allowed under the law to direct the superintendent And that's what this is doing is directing the superintendent to direct develop a process I imagine she will work with division council and other appropriate staff to develop
126that process that is legally compliant We're just asking her to develop the process That's all this follow on is I want to make sure there isn't any confusion We're not actually asking them to sign what I just read We're asking what I just read is asking the superintendent to develop what they will sign So I just want to clarify that because it seemed like there might be some confusion Thank you Miss Seismarheiser The follow-on motion is on the screen Seeing no others all those in favor Miss Dixit Mr Mavine Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismoreheiser Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself All those opposed Mr Dunn with two uh colleagues away from the table The motion carries All right Agenda item 5.04 04 action New intergovernmental contract Alexandria City School Board
127DBA Alexandria City Public Schools professional development services for supporting multilingual learners in tier 1 content instruction I call on Mr Moon for a motion Thank you Mr Chairman I move that the school board approve the intergovernmental contract with Alexander City School Board doing business as Alexandra City Public Schools for professional development services for supporting multilingual learners in TR1 content instruction and authorized the division superintendent or the director of the office of procurement services to execute deliver administrative contract on behalf of the school board Is there a second a second Miss St John Cunning Mr Moon would you like to speak to your motion uh thank you Mr Chairman I made a request and thanks for granting my request to move this from the consent a consent agenda to an action item uh because I felt
128that this particular contract was important enough to be highlighted and and explained by our staff members to why you know this particular you know contract is needed and what kind of a services you are seeking to be provided under this contract and I gave heads up to a doctor whether he could describe those Absolutely Thank you Mr afternoon for the opportunity to speak to this contract because it really is essential for the success of our multilingual learners that um are over 25% of our student population in FCPS right now And uh primarily what we what we know about our multilingual learner population from particularly from the five goal reports that we've looked at um as a school system this year is that our students are continuing to struggle um while they're gaining academic proficiency in
129English uh in the English language They're continuing to struggle with access to the academic content So our multilingual learners have tremendous aptitude They're some of the hardest working students that we have in the school system um but they're not performing as well as we know that they're capable of and as well as we know that we need to support them in achieving uh those particular levels of success So what this contract would do is it would allow us to contract for professional development and instructional resources and materials to provide to our staff uh particularly in those academic content areas uh to support students with accessing the academic language the vocabulary and the content that's very uh complex The organization that we're contracting with here is uh Project GLAD It's uh probably the preeminent organization for
130supporting multilingual learners in the United States and they have several regional uh facilities where staff can get trained This particular contract allows us actually to work with our local facility so that we can save uh travel costs and um have those professional learning opportunities here in Fairfax County And more importantly what this allows us to do is develop uh our own trainers within Fairfax So within a couple years we would not even need the procurement uh services through project lab because we would have our own internal staff that would be certified to be able to provide uh these types of professional learning experiences for our teachers You know that thank you Dr Pillio uh one thing that I want to know from that description statement on the second page of the agenda item uh is
131a observation about what may be happening in classrooms Uh let me read that particular sentence uh for public observations in classrooms further reveal a concerning imbalance in classroom interaction with the teachers dominating the talk time and multilingual students having limited opportunities to practice and develop their language skills As a former Mr myself Uh this really struck the cold and this is one of the areas we really need to focus and work on and thank you Thank you Mr Moon Miss St John Honey speak to your second No Thank you All those in favor of the motion on the screen Miss Dixit Mr Makavine Miss Anderson Miss Seismarheiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself that's unanimous for board members present with three away from the deis Mr McDaniel uh Dr
132Anderson and Miss Maron all right agenda item 6.01 01 performance review relationship with families and community stakeholders EL3 monitoring report Each year the school board assesses the superintendent in part on the basis of the school division's reasonable progress toward achieving the 2023 to 2030 strategic plan goal strategic plans goals and adherence to a set of 13 executive limitations found on pages uh 14 through 31 of the board strategic governance manual The superintendent provides annual monitoring reports to the board for each uh executive limitation The board then votes on whether the provided report is in compliance or if corrective action is needed I call on Dr Reid for a monitoring report on executive limitation three relationships with families and community stakeholders Good evening Chairman Fr members of the board and the public Uh as Chairman Fr
133indicated tonight I'll be presenting executive limitation number three uh addressing relationships with families and community stakeholders So in relative to executive limitation three um this is a really honestly quite important uh executive limitation in terms of our connection to the community and at the time of this report to the best of my knowledge information and belief uh I've gathered information and evidence that I believe supports compliance with the board's executive limitation associated with this topic and I'll share some highlights this evening I want to remind the board and those watching that there are seven areas of EL3 um which are on the screen and the full report is um attached to the uh agenda so you can also go back and read the full uh monitoring report This evening I'm only going to be sharing
134selected indicators um but the rest as I mentioned is uh available on the full monitoring report So I want to look at indicator one and just remind the board that we hosted our summer extravaganza in June of 2024 Uh this event welcomed over 900 students family staff and community partners in June of 2024 And this year's event will be held on May 10th Um actually I believe that's this Saturday So um we'll have an opportunity to gather again We've contracted with Samaritan to develop a volunteer software management system to create a more streamlined volunteer program for those who want to volunteer in FCPS We're in the middle of a test phase for eight schools which will be launched in the second week of May and then will be fully implemented this fall We continue to
135provide countywide professional learning to facilitate positive relationships with students and families And some of these topics um are neurodiversity and learner variability to name a couple Want to remind the board about our multi-year plan to support all schools in earning the Purple Star designation and currently remind the board that we have 96 purple star schools with 27 new designations in 2025 Further we launched our video podcast our voices our future um on our internet channel this year these podcasts center student voice within our work and in 232 24 the channel had a 20% increase in video views with over 22,700 hours of watch time and these are key um opportunities to connect with our community We also had a net gain of 1,700 subscribers Our multilingual channel had an increased watch time of 28% So
136we feel like we're also reaching out to a wide variety of our members of our community We uh want to report our student registration welcome center workflow has been uh developed in Guardian which is a centralized case management tool This has improved the overall efficiency and communication so that we are facilitating a more timely enrollment Uh the targeted implementation for this uh workflow is actually this month Uh staff at the welcome centers continue to provide families with the linguistic and cultural support needed to complete registration paperwork access resources necessary to facilitate timely enrollment and also in uh one of the key areas is facilitating connection to um health care uh needs as a condition of enrollment So you see some data uh in terms of student registration and international transcript uh evaluations that are conducted
137So looking at our second indicator uh want to remind uh our board that we have virtual military family gatherings uh quarterly military connected family advisory council meetings Those were new this year Um and a military connected youth advisory committee with two students from each high school being uh put together uh want to Oh all right In u March of 2025 um I uh had an opportunity to uh receive a acknowledgement of our work uh in our school division by AESA Um number three indicator three uh we conducted 10 focus groups with 128 participants between April 29th and May 21st uh to learn from families about their experiences and better understand how to support them The 2324 family engagement survey was open from March to April um and highlights are shown above One of the things
138that we think about in terms of using structured methods to collect feedback there are a number of topics we've been collecting feedback on Middle school start time the boundaries rights and responsibilities and so forth Um also basil materials which have come under consideration uh being elementary social studies and mathematics Looking at uh indicator 4 we've used the let's talk platform specifically to ask questions about the SRNR again and a variety of policies um and gather feedback on these changes Uh we do have quarterly meetings with faith faith leaders from around the county and working we work on strategic topics one of which was immunization Um also mental health support over summer vacation times and so forth Um and in partnership with Fort Belvoir the National Museum of the Army and the Fairfax County Economic Development
139Authority the Bridges to Success Career Path event was hosted uh in March of 2025 Again very well attended So Mr Chairman this concludes the presentation for Executive Limitation 3 Relationships with Families and Community Stakeholders Thank you Dr Reid I call on Mr Mavine for a motion Thank you Uh I move that the school board finds that the superintendent is in compliance with executive limitation number three relationships with families and community stakeholders I further move that the school board approve the monitoring report based on the superintendent's reasonable interpretation of executive limitation number three relationships with families and community stakeholders out as outlined in the strategic governance manual Thank you Mr Mavine Miss Seismoreheiser would you Is there a second thank you Mr Makov would you like to speak to your time thank you Missiser would you
140like to speak to your second it's going to be a late night so I'll just be brief and say Dr Reed I really appreciate the significant number of community meetings and events that you attend on a regular basis and the amount you engage with community stakeholders with all viewpoints and all walks of life um and the the way you listen to them and and some of the great things that we've done to engage the community the summer extravaganza and other things you keep buildings This is definitely one of your strengths as a superintendent is the way you engage and listen to and and um and interact with the community And I've noticed a big difference in terms of um how much the community feels involved and heard from the time you started So I'm I'm
141honored to second this It is definitely one of your strengths and I want you to know I don't know when you sleep I don't know how many miles you put on your car every year but it is noticed and appreciated Thanks Thank you Miss Seismore Mr Dunn I'd like to second everything that was just said because I think that's very true Um certainly hope you get paid per mile because I'm sure you would get paid quite a bit Um so can you tell me a little bit more about the Samaritan uh software um volunteers uh to do what um and is there an option to use members of our community who are highly educated uh who might be retired or who might be working part-time i was just speaking to someone last night who wanted
142to come in and teach in our school You know a very niche area of science and technology that I'm sure is hard to recruit as a full-time FCPS employee um at law schools graduate schools there are many faculty who teach part-time Uh is that something that we could do and through this tool so Mr Dunn that's exactly the resolution we're looking for I I heard early on in my first uh still here uh from community members who want to volunteer who find it challenging to get through our volunteer approval process We also want to make sure that we have a consistent process across the county for background checks um and making sure that all of the opportunities are available uh across the county and uh known to those who want to volunteer We have a
143knitting group uh out in your area of the county uh that would really like to do uh knitting in schools and they've been really excited about the possibility of having a much simpler access to the volunteer system I believe uh Miss Hall is the uh chief that's been working on that I believe it mirrors the county system Miss Hall do you have a couple details about that for Mr Dunn please yes thank you That is correct It it is uh mirroring the Samaritan It's the same company that the county is using This will be very similar in that the schools will be able to post uh opportunities for volunteering and then we'll also be able to on the other side uh collect information from volunteers in terms of the types of uh skills they're offering
144the types of uh um you know the volunteer opportunities they're looking for um and even the regions that they're looking for So they'll be able to look across the division at the opportunities that are available Um and there will be volunteer training as well to make sure that they understand the expectations of the volunteers as well as the background uh checking Is is there the ability to designate particular schools that they might live uh in proximity to when you say designate particular schools what do what do you mean our plan is to open it up to all volunteers and to all schools ultimately so that they're posting information Sorry If I'm a volunteer and I live near Fort Hunt Elementary and I want to volunteer at Fort Hunt Elementary rather than all of region 3
145is there the opportunity for a volunteer to say this is where I'd like to volunteer yes And is there uh option under Virginia law for um for volunteers to come in and teach like adjunct faculty during the school day particular coursework so Mr Solomon I might I will defer to you I have what I think would be accurate but go ahead While we very likely wouldn't have a volunteer coming in to teach a class we would employ them So we would hire them uh with Fairfax County Public Schools to in the case that you're describing teach that one class And if they're not looking to be paid that's something we may have to go back and research I I would think Mr down As long as we have a background check that's clear that if
146a teacher a classroom teacher wanted to invite a volunteer in to teach a lesson or a series of lessons uh under the super supervision of the classroom teacher that would be fine Great Um can you talk a little bit about there's a lot of great stuff in here about uh Purple Star Schools but is is there any particular outreach done to military families to understand that difficulties transitioning in transitioning out since they often do that in the middle of a school year and uh sometimes on short notice depending on when orders are received So Mr done in part to uh respond actually to your suggestion A year ago we did convene a military connected family advisory committee uh which I do meet with quarterly now and that family committee uh brings concerns and we share
147topics One of the things we've implemented in the last couple years is online registration So families are able to register before they um transfer if they know they're coming in So um and I know our central registration is also working to expedite overseas uh transfer registrations because we want to make sure that students are able to sign up for courses before they're full and so forth So uh we've really I think increased our outreach and connection to our military families That's fantastic Um in terms of outreach I know that there are a lot of churches and nonprofits that would love to partner and I've spoken to many of them who would love to partner in tutoring mentoring or even serving as a host site for pre-k classes uh etc Has there been any engagement um
148that wasn't mentioned in the report but is there any engagement um that you're pursuing beyond you mentioned a quarterly meeting with faith faith leaders so that engagement is ongoing and for example we talk about what's going to happen in the summer months Last year we talked about training youth leaders with some mental health skills mental health first aid Um but I do think that the new software for volunteering also we talked about a particular um faith group wanting to do like math facts right so I think there's been a little bit of a gap in terms of what what what do schools possibly need and we're hoping this new system will be able to say we would like someone to work with math flashcards for example or site words um so that if I'm a
149volunteer or I'm a youth or a nonprofit group to say we really want to you know we want to be math facts heroes uh then they would know that if they want to go to these seven schools that's what they could do So it's really trying to match up a volunteers's interest with our needs Um and that's when I think it's going to best work And the Samaritan system will be able to accommodate groups who are volunteering not just individuals Well there would often be a representative of the group that may need to um sign up but I I'll defer to Miss Hall Maybe there's a possibility for the group but I'm I'm guessing it's going to be a spokesperson for the group It will accommodate groups and when it comes to the training and
150the background checks if it is a volunteer you know an organization that wants to volunteer every individual in that group would be going through the process But there the uh family and school partnerships uh Dr Rene Huffman Jackson is the director She's uh spearheading the implementation of Samaritan She's working closely with community relations uh as specifically our business in uh community partnerships administrator to make sure those partnerships that are coming through that office are also going through uh ultimately going to go through Samaritan That's helpful And have you thought about um you know not just requesting people to come to FCPS but you know going out to HOAs and civic associations to engage with them because they're also a source of volunteers and potential relationships that can be do some bridge building And I also
151want to mention lowincome communities which you know don't always have technology fluency that they fill out FCPS surveys We certainly see that in the kind of the characteristics of people who respond uh to the surveys but actually going out to those communities not necessarily yourself because you are quite occupied but sending out representatives of SPS leadership to try to reach out to different communities for example along Route One to engage with them understand their needs understand how we can do more or do things a little bit differently that might be more accommodating of their needs and requirements Yes sir I I know that Dr Pon is out in the community often our chief of schools um region office staff Um and in our excuse me in our academic matters tonight you're going to see a
152new strategy uh that uh we just received grant funding to undertake about actually taking learning out to the community which we're really excited about Great Thank you Thank you Mr Dunn Dr Anderson Um thank you I do want to start with some um positive kudos Um under indicator 7 the public the publication of the um separation reports that has been exponentially improved I've always was always concerned that the data that we received prior to less than a year ago had been um siloed and it was not in context And so the new format has been really very helpful to really get a clear sense of what's happening in the division And also I in terms of communication going out I do want to recognize the efforts of the chief engagement office I I've raised concerns
153many times regarding the stories that are being um displayed on the FCPS news you choose um just ensuring that we have wide representation across the entire division and I think that has occurred and I hope Miss Hall is here to Okay good Um so I I do want to recognize that Thank you It's been very intentional Um one of the things that I wanted to raise um and this falls under both indicators one and two Um very often we have a work session or even here where questions are raised or it's part of the next steps at a work session and then the response is provided in a Friday letter I always h not always but I have a lot of requests from the community asking about well what does that what was the answer
154to the question that was asked because that component that comes to us in a Friday letter is not made visible elsewhere I would love to hear your thinking in terms of how we can take that piece because I know the entire Friday letter is not for publication but how do we ensure that there's visibility to those responses that are being raised from official meetings that are now provided in the letters So I think um what I could do is visit with staff and see if um as we have uh next steps responses that are part of that public document um we could I think we could send it to the clerk's office to post Um so we could add that step if that would be helpful Right That would actually be helpful because very often
155people who are watching for particular things like well I heard it was in the Friday letter but we don't see that So thank you for that Um one of the other components that I'd like to talk about I believe it is in indicator three We've had this conversation since I've been on the board um regarding when there's feedback that is received from the community and do we have the right representation is it across the various parts of our community what is the threshold that is going to inspire confidence i would love for that to be teased out a little bit what what is it that we're looking for when we send you know a survey about issue X what is the threshold that we're seeking and if we don't arrive to that threshold then what
156do we do just making sure that that's a little bit more visibil visible and more intentional so that we don't have these missed pockets of communication Oh I'd like to go back please I have Thank you Dr Anderson Mr Moon Thank you Mr Chairman Uh thank you Thank you Dr Ree for the presentation and your hard work uh we all know how hard you work and this is such a large discussion I don't know how you can uh stay involved as much as you have been with all different stakeholders and different communities Uh I have worked with many other superintendent and you are far above and beyond what any superintendent can ever do So thank you for that With that said we are at the same time we can't you know we always look for
157continuous improvement We do So uh I'm going to ask you a couple of questions regarding a a I mean this is from the summary a summary pages of the family engagement survey of 23 and 24 I don't know whether you have that Sorry that I didn't give you a heads up but I think some of the statements couple couple of places you know it states that uh I mean I'm I'm gonna give you a data about a third of a parents a guardians you know seem to be stating that they are not receiving enough information about what they can do at home to support their child with the mental health and wellness And also you know similar percentage of parents and guardians state the same thing about uh not having enough information from schools on
158what they can do at home to help their children improve their learning So uh that has been something that I have noticed for a long period of time that especially for a multilingual families and especially those parents who may not be familiar with a American education system and and much less with the English language and how they can help their children to be more successful in schools Uh you have any comments on that i think I think data seem to show that you know much lower percentage of parents uh indicating they are getting enough from their schools So I know that was one of the drivers for starting the family academy Um so that that's um information I know that the documents that we're sending out are certainly being translated into our highest um language
159uses and I think they've tried new technology talking points and uh technologies that are um maybe more nimble to get information out to parents but um I you know I think that that continues to be a challenge I probably I would guess that the uh students teachers are the most connected to the families often um or the school principal You know it's at that school level Um so I I think we certainly can continue to set goals around that Um I'm trying to find the data Do you have the page number uh that is from a page six Page six Page six of the family engagement survey as a summary and insights There's further detail in the back I you know you can you can you can send us a you know written response you
160know tonight Okay Yes sir And and you know when you do that if you can you know looking into a maybe further detail of the data we already have we should have whether those about a third of the parents who seem to be saying that they not receiving enough information from schools to help their children uh whether uh you know those one-third tend to come from more of multilingual families So I can check on that and get back to you on that I do think the other piece in terms of information to help students one of the big asks has been some kind of textbook or some kind of written material to come home which I think was why the reading basil is so critical that we actually have materials that go home and as
161we look forward um to new curricula I think that's that's a key piece as well so parents can actually um see something and work with their child but I will get you um sort of our plan and update on that in an upcoming doing Friday letter Okay Thank you Thank you so much Yes sir Thank you Mr Moon Mr Mavine Thank you So one of the biggest um changes that I have uh felt coming back on the board is the fact that um we no longer have a calendar committee Um and that was a big surprise to me because we would always have a set place to go to feed information that we got from the community about you know concerns or um happiness about various aspects of our our calendar Um so I think
162the question I want to ask is how are we taking in that input now and how are we using it input on the calendar Yeah So at this point we're trying to keep a three-year out calendar going a perpetual calendar Um I know when I got here in 2022 we didn't have a calendar yet for that fall And so it's really important I think what families one of the pieces of feedback we received was families really wanted to have that calendar well in advance to make travel plans and those types of things So um I don't know that I receive a great deal of feedback right now on the calendar Uh but it um any feedback that I would receive on the calendar I know I guess we could share with the board I haven't
163received feedback in a while So but I'm happy to share that with you Uh thank you for that Is there will we ever have a calendar committee again or is this all administrative now it's really um I I don't know that I can answer that unilaterally but I think at this point we have posted I think Mr Smith we've posted the calendar through 2728 That is correct So we certainly could again Okay I think just as as a board we need to have a discussion about how um we bring our input and the community's input in better into that process Um the the other question I have is u a general question on our um our start time um prismatic study community engagement Um I think uh I don't think anyone on this board would
164would say that um that went particularly well Um and um it it was disappointing for me because I think the um the communication process harmed the eventual outcome um which I know we're going to talk about shortly Um so I don't know Do you have any lessons learned from that process well I I know that when we hired Prismatic you know to work this process the community engagement the routing and so on and so forth they spent I want to say two years I think they've been working on it They began with community engagement and then drew up models Um I Mr Muick thoughts on lessons learned with the community engagement i think you were um present for most of those meetings Yes ma'am Um as you know we um we sent out another survey
165right before and uh spring break and we're get we just got the uh results from that um late last week Um and the lessons we learned from the previous attempt was just a better use of our communications team here And I would attribute that probably to my newness and inexperience here Um and the communications team the second time around really did a lot in terms of translations community engagement texting families and getting everything in Uh we had the 302 just under 32,000 parents respond 16,000 students and about 10,000 staff which was a huge improvement over the one last year Um and we're in the process of reviewing those results now I think I forwarded those in a Friday letter Yes ma'am The results I think one of the lessons learned Mr Meline in that was
166you know we characterized this sort of as a middle school start time initiative and I think our elementary families really wanted to weigh in as well So that was one of the things to think about what are those ripple impacts and making sure we cast a wider net Um so I think for sure that was one of the the pieces Okay Thanks I know we'll discuss more of that later Okay Thank you Mr Mavine Miss St Cunning So I I really don't have a question I just want to say that I applaud the work that's been done here and I know that a lot of this work comes out of family and school partnerships Um and once being part of that division I know how much work goes into it I know the value of
167what our parent leaison do and what our family engagement regional reps do Uh and I know that sometimes there are unsung heroes and at so many of these community events the interpreters that are there um can't think of last names but Angie Gracie and Patty are almost at I think they probably work 90 hours a week when these events are going on And I just really want to lift that up and thank them because um it takes a lot of work and it takes a lot of time and we keep saying we want more and more and more but our staff is not huge in that area Uh and but they're doing a huge lift and so I just really want to take the time to to thank them and recognize all the work that
168they do Yeah Thank you Miss St John And I I think that that's very timely Angie Gracie and Patty have put in an inordinate amount of work also our security uh staff that showed uh all those events There's just there's a lot to put the events together So thank you for noting that And I specifically want to thank our security event our security people because a lot of times I'm the last one to leave and they wait for me and I appreciate that because they put in extra time because of me Thank you Thank you Miss St John Cunning I'm going to take a turn First congratulations everyone This is the last e of the school year So everybody a pat on the back Not only the superintendent and the school board for having to
169go through this process and getting to go through this process but staff for helping to prepare this work I want to tell you how much more substantive our meetings are because of this process The depth of information that we dive into is deeper than anything that I've uh experienced on on this board Um and I very much appreciate um the transparency that this brings to the system and the methodical way that it helps us provide accountability to the superintendent I want to pick up where Mr Mcaveine left off on the survey question You know I think our team does an excellent job when when it's focused on getting people to respond to surveys And so when we hear a number like 30,000 you know it adds fodder to my argument that the way that we
170do our surveys and report out the results is flawed Not necessarily the way that we capture the information but then we say things like parents think this or students think that And really all we're saying is the people who responded to this survey feel this because we've done nothing to weight the answers uh based on the populations of the school or their demographic breakdown or whatever And our sample sizes are plenty large enough to weight these things scientifically so that we could say x you know 60% of our students feel this 85% of our parents feel that And we probably even have a large enough samples of things at a lower level like within middle school within high school um from this region from that region I have trouble citing the surveys we do because
171they're anecdotal without that weighing And so I've toyed with bringing a corrective action memo on this subject over and over again I don't think that's necessarily ne that's not necessary because we are doing the engagement but I want that engagement to mean more to the board when we make our decisions Um the other thing I want to bring up Miss Marin uh had a follow-on motion and there's a couple things that we launched a new website as a school division Um and I think it is way better and it has a lot of functionality that many schools don't use and it was something that was problematic before the new website You know some schools you'd have a whole bunch of things on the community calendar Other schools you'd have to be on the newsletter to
172receive that information We need to do a better job of ensuring that the tools were paying for are being used so that we're communicating properly with families in addition to the other ways that we reach them so that when a family is new to the school and maybe they're not on the text list yet or the newsletter list yet they can just go to the website and see Not to mention I went to five musicals in the last week I would love for our community to be able to find that information on the website really quickly because our kids are really talented Um and so um I I believe the motion is being pulled but I look forward to partnering with colleagues to ensure that the the message behind that that we do a better
173job of using these tools and training families to use the tools we're providing them happens Um and I appreciate uh my colleagues comments on this uh and other subjects All right Um I have some lights on I don't know if they're gobacks or not Dr Anderson thank you Just two more things because I may not get the opportunity to do this Um as we're talking about middle school start times here I'd love to get a glimpse of your thinking of the report that was sent to the board yesterday I believe we had two reports that were sent yesterday uh one that was done I think right at the tail end of last week and we've gotten a lot of reports from Prismatic in the last two weeks Did we have two yes ma'am The one
174that we received on Friday and then one yesterday at noon Okay So I think the one on Friday if I'm remembering correctly I don't have my notes in front of me right at this moment but I think on the one on Friday is that the one that had the double backs and the time that wasn't you weren't able the team wasn't able to verify the times yes ma'am The double backs and a 30-minute reduction in run time overall And that wasn't perceived as possible from the team Yes ma'am Okay So um so the Friday uh afternoon uh report from Prismatic I think to Mr Muick's point we had doublebacks and the time um I think the Prismatic had taken some of the runs to smaller or shorter times than the team felt with traffic and
175all existing conditions was actually possible So it was not a costneutral option I believe there was another one that came in today or was it yesterday uh yesterday at noon Yesterday at noon So that Oh that's right Because I sent it to you I sent it to you as a board yesterday at 5:00 Um but that one again was not costneutral based on the team's analysis Is that correct yes ma'am Okay So I believe that we've continued to get reports but they continue not to be able to be vetted as costneutral So um and I don't recall why this uh the one yesterday afternoon was not costneutral but I think it was similar The run times I think the double backs were taken out this time but the run time still didn't work Yes ma'am
176Okay So and that's the most recent report I've seen was yesterday's yesterday afternoon's report Okay Then I'm not sure the one that I'm looking at that is dated the 7th it has a negative one bus right that would make it costneutral Is there another factor that I'm missing the run times that um I believe Well Mr Muick you probably have the technical because you talked to your team Yes ma'am Uh yeah they removed the doublebacks but the 30 minute reduced run time is still there And if you remember from the prior uh alternatives back in December and February our run time right now on uh the buses is 110 minutes and shaving 30 minutes off to a total of 80 We've always felt that shaving from 110 to 100 was doable 110 to 90 was
177a a stretch and 110 to 80 cutting 30 minutes out of our start to finish run time was just not doable And there's a couple examples in here like uh current Justice bus run that goes from Justice to Sleepy Hollow It's currently 35 minutes and it's very tight and that got shaved down to 20 Uh there's a park lawn example from Parklon to Glen Forest currently 40 also tight with traffic cut down to 30 So it's examples like that in this that in in my routing in our routing team's opinion is just not achievable because we would get out there'd be lateness there would be delays and we would only end up creating more double bags to create buses to get back in there So while it may look like it's uh costneutral on paper
178when you give it to the routing team to look at those exact traffic patterns those neighborhoods those small bus loops they are looking to say okay whether or not we can or cannot do it And they don't have that confidence that we can achieve that at a cost neutral and it would end up costing us buses to get in there Okay maybe I may be getting the terms confused It sounds to me like it's costneutral but the feasibility to operationalize it is not there because does that add an additional cost to negate the cost neutrality that is identified in the report yes ma'am It it would because those run times that have been shortened so dramatically What's going to happen in execution is that we're then going to have to create and find buses elsewhere
179to get in there to handle that workload because the time has got shortened so much in that one pyramid I see that That's very helpful Thank you I think one of the things that would also be very helpful is if we were to post this because again you've heard people speak about it today I get emails about it constantly People are looking to see what what is it that we're going to do in this area Um so from what I think I'm hearing there's no staff recommendation because this is not a feasible option there's no staff recommendation because we were not able to come up with a costneutral option Right Um this is not feasible Okay Thank you And the last thing that I wanted to share and I'm glad Mr um Meline reminded me
180of that I was at a PTA meeting at homes not too long ago for the entire pyramid and it did come up quite a bit regarding how to give feedback on the current calendar It wasn't a calendar committee um question It was our community was accustomed to giving feedback to it Granted it was every year and then it went to none at all Is that an opportunity that can be provided it doesn't matter if we have a two-year calendar three-year calendar If I I think they're following the same rhythm They're just looking to be able to give feedback primarily a lot of the concerns that I heard were we were starting early and also ending late and there were some other things but they just want to know where do they deposit that information and
181what will come from you all to do that Um I think just as families who want to provide feedback on any topic they could simply email us um and provide feedback on the calendar or email you and provide feedback on the calendar Um I don't know at this time there's not a a calendar committee that I'm aware of but it's certainly something we could talk about Um but I'm happy to read the feedback and respond Yeah I think that might be something for you to consider I wouldn't want to say just email me because we'd like to organize it a little bit better Um and again it doesn't have to be to the extent of what we've had before but there has to be some space to be able to do that And um I
182think my last comment is um some of Well no I think I'm going to save that for another time Thank you Thank you Dr Anderson Uh really quickly Dr Reed do you think that you're following the school board's policies as it relates to the school calendar yes sir I do All right So and and from my knowledge I think you are There were customs of previous boards that were not enshrined in our policy That's not necessarily a good or bad thing about what the practices were but if the board wants to have a mechanism for soliciting feedback on a three or four year calendar or what have you I think we can talk about the policy for sure Um but uh as far as I'm concerned I've read the policy because I've had some questions
183about the calendar as well and we're following it And the one thing piece of feedback I get even when there's a criticism of the calendar is I like having the knowledge of years out and sometimes there's a butt Um but people more than anything that I've spoken to and that I've received feedback on appreciate the consistency especially staff uh and parents So uh Mr So I certainly agree with my colleagues that um effective planning far in advance is is characteristics of a well-run uh well operated organization Um the one criticism I hear of the calendar is that um our kids have a day off or two days off almost every week of the school year And it's hard to make academic progress when you know you have a three-day or four day weekend every week
184Um I hear that from teachers I hear that from principles I definitely hear that from parents I hear that from students Um so I definitely think that's something that um needs to be considered Um I don't know what to do with the information about from prismatic It kind of came in late Um and it seems like there's more work that could be done there but um certainly the the delivery was uh excuse me there's a fly who's taken up attraction to me Hopefully that won't deduct against my time Nature is conspiring Will the clerk please give 10 seconds back to back to Mr Dunn for the fly we stopped his time when we realized I believe there's a song about letting me fly Um so so I wasted the 10 seconds Uh so thank you
185Um so I I I I think there there might it might be worthwhile to look at um a pilot in another district and I'd like to offer the Mount Vernon district Perhaps there's a pyramid West PTOAC South County Mount Vernon that might benefit or be easier to meet than the Mason district But of course I'll support my colleagues uh efforts to have a pilot in her district But uh I I I really hesitate for start times to deploy something systemwide that hasn't been at least piloted at least once But at this point where we are in May um it seems unlikely that or more difficult to implement a pilot on this short of a notice Is that is that your opinion Dr Reed it is Um do you support generally the idea of a pilot
186before implementing change school start times systemwide well as I uh Yes sir I do And I previously shared that with Dr Anderson I think if it was possible to do a um pilot prior to rolling things out I think it's always a good idea we think about pilot pilot proof of concept and then scale uh particularly since we're going through a new routing software uh for the coming year that honestly takes the stakes up even higher because a lot of divisions when they implement new routing software that's a huge transition for our drivers our routers our families uh and we've heard you know stories where that doesn't work always at the beginning of the year and sometimes creates real issues so the team has been working very hard on that and I know Prismatic's been
187working hard with our routing team trying to put together a costneutral option because I mean clearly we were uh have some budget challenges Um so if we were able to do that and that's why we kept getting reports I think they you know would present something and then there was something you know an issue and then take it back and so forth It's been iterative Um but yes I mean I think trying to pilot it makes sense But I would also say and I've shared this uh with other board members I think trying to make that decision this late in the year is difficult for families who need to plan Um and it's not so much the middle school families but we've heard you know from some elementary families about afterchool child care if their
188times are moved which I think they're willing to do It's just they need maybe a little more time than May to make those plans Thank you Thank you Mr Dunn Seeing no others we will go for a vote with the motion on the screen All those in favor Miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr Meline Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismarheiser Mr Moon Mr Dunn Miss Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself All those opposed Dr Anderson The motion carries All right moving on to agenda item 7.01 01 policy review relationships uh with families and community stakeholders EL3 The next order of business is the policy review for executive limitation 3 relationships with families and community stakeholders Annually the board will review each executive limitation at the time the monitoring report is provided to determine if revisions
189are needed Board members may offer amendments to executive limitations at any regular meeting provided they send the final amendment language to the board and clerk at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting at which it is being considered I call on Mr Mleine for a motion I move that the school board maintains executive limitation three relationships with families and community stakeholders is as it is currently detailed in the strategic governance manual Is there a second second Miss Seismore Dr Anderson Oh sorry Mr Mackle would you like to speak to your motion no Thanks Mr Seismaris would you like to speak to your motion no thanks Dr Anderson she's not here And her light is off Okay Is on Was on It It was I think Mr Mavine fixed it All right Um seeing no
190others I will call for a vote All those in favor of maintaining the policy Miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr Makave Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Miss Seismarheiser Mr Dunn Mr Moon Miss Lady and Miss St John Cunning and myself That is unanimous We will now take a 10-minute break to 10:13 while colleagues complete the form or use the virtual edition Um and we will pick things back up at 10:13 10 minutes [Music] Board members please take your seats Board members please return to your seats Your 10-minute break has expired board members please return to your seats for a conversation about the approved budget All right welcome back Clearly it's late One of our colleagues just started singing the welcome back Cotter song Um not my age Uh agenda item 8.01 financial year 2026 approved
191budget I call in Dr Reid for a presentation of the financial year 2026 approved budget Dr Reid Thank you Mr Fr Um this evening I'm going to be presenting um the uh fiscal year 2026 approved budget which will be amended from the budget that I uh presented earlier this year um as a result of um not receiving the full county transfer and therefore not being fully funded I want to start uh my comments this evening simply with um a thank you to all of our staff who work so very hard each and every day uh to produce incredible uh missiondriven work and data I want to thank our educators in all of their roles um who have never worked harder uh under changing academic accountability conditions and changing expectations um changing so uh requirements um
192new curriculum it's they've never worked harder and I just want to particularly this week provide a big thank you to all of our educators and all of their unique roles I want to thank our food nutritious food nutrition services staff for the work they've done this year They've worked harder I think than almost any year The amount of time learning new recipes doing more scratch cooking putting in more time to make sure our food is healthier Um that's a big a big commitment and I want to thank our board members particularly uh Mr Meline for his work on best food for kids uh the amount of time each of you have spent as board members in schools supporting projects supporting bodies of work Um this division I've I've never been more proud of the work
193of our team our facilities and our maintenance and our custodial teams continue uh to give their all each and every day to help our facilities uh regardless of the time of the renovation cues Uh but to have our facilities look and work as amazing as it's humanly possible We've brought projects in on time and on budget Um and I want to thank our team for that We've done some ribbon cutting finished some renovations successfully Again folks are really working hard Our transportation staff the fourth day of school this year 98% of our runs in the largest bus fleet in the country were on time That's incredible Uh the time and talent and the work our security staff our IT staff our support staff in the central office Um just a big thank you and this
194budget really outlines the priorities that um that I have and that I share I know with you as a board in terms of what we believe is important and what's most important is staying student centered and at a time uh where public education has never been more important the power and promise of public education we're going to use every dollar we receive wisely um and put it to its best and highest use So as I begin to talk about the budget this evening in detail I also want to remind those who are watching u that we reconfirmed this week that we are in fact larger than 11 states in this country and that we in fact educate our children on a cost per pupil at a lower rate than all of those states Our overall
195budget at $4 billion sounds like a lot of money and it surely is a lot of money And 11 other states spend more money on fewer kids And our results annually are better and stronger And that's due to the leadership of this board and the work of our staff all 40,000 of them So as I move to go through the details I also want to thank um our union leadership um in particular Leslie Houston and David Walrod who worked tirelessly this last year and the year before to lay a groundwork for collective bargaining which was historic here and the first time we've done that here in Fairfax County and Marty Smith and the HR team William and John Uh there's been a lot of work and I'm proud of the work uh that's been done
196and I think you can be as a board proud of the work that's been done So let's go ahead and kind of walk through where we are uh we did need to go into or back to collective bargaining because in the resolution that the board uh provided as well as the collective bargaining agreement if we're not fully funded uh from the county transfer we do need to go back to the table and renegotiate um wages which we did uh since we received notice of the county budget So as you can see on the slide we had a county transfer reduction of 149 million However we did receive uh from the state Uh the governor did sign the general assembly uh budget So that did provide us 28 million So we still have a gap of
197121 million So in this case uh we went uh back to the bargaining table and while we previously had asked for um or agreed to a 7% um raise for our FEU bargaining agreement This uh revenue adjustment does provide and notes that we were not able to get to 7% in our uh negotiations uh in the last two days However our FEU staff uh will be receiving 6% in this budget And we believe that um that 6% uh is going to be we hope a positive reflection and a note of our commitment regardless of the budget transfer to do everything we can um to come as close to honoring that ratified agreement as possible I will also share that and I'll go into more detail uh in the coming pages on the other topics We're
198also making a staffing formula adjustment Uh you can see uh that will bring uh a savings of 33 million Um we're looking at deferring our social studies materials uh at 15 million And I'll go through this in more detail I think you can um see this slide So if we want to go to the next slide we'll take some look at some detail work here Uh the employee compensation adjustment is 33.4 4 million and the employees as I mentioned before that are represented by Fairfax Education Union will receive under this budget a 6% raise and those staff who are not FEU represented employees will be uh receiving a 5% raise or a 5% increase further to take advantage of the one-time state bonus for SOQ funded positions eligible employees are going to receive their $1,000
199bonus uh prior to June 30th which is in part um recognizing uh the compensation gap Again we did not want to leave money on the table The state uh funded this to be paid out in FY25 So this will be paid out um by June 30th of FY25 Then um we're going to look at uh to fund the 6% and the 5% we're going to do a staffing formula adjustment which in this case uh creates a different ad divvisor it adds one to the divisor So that um these formula changes will result in about 275.3 fewer positions which uh will be an average of less than 1.5 positions per school And this does save $33.3 million Um one of the things that we know about this process is that uh this we have more than
200275 positions currently open So we believe that we're going to be able to place all staff in this situation However there obviously is an impact when you have fewer staff in the schools under the plan to defer social studies materials The plan is to um we have a textbook fund that funds current and future instructional resource um adoptions At this point given the need to uh do as much as we can uh to fund our salaries uh for staff we're going to defer the um ordering of social studies materials which save $15.3 million Further uh we postcoid provided classroom monitors in elementary schools I believe these were hourly staff so they're not FTE staff but the funding for these monitors uh will no longer continue They've been in place I think for three years Uh
201and um this will be a savings of $13.2 million Next um as we look at uh the formula adjustment to our elementary school specialed leads or our special ed department chairs at elementary school we currently are allocating from a central budget 1.0 positions to each elementary school The middle and high school allocations are not centrally funded for special education department chairs rather those are um funded within ratio So at this point uh we've made the decision to uh cut the 1.0 special education lead teacher positions by 0.5 uh to save $9.3 million And so this is going to be uh something that we will work with elementary principles in the coming days to talk through what that modeling will look like uh to reduce those positions by half We're also um expecting across the board
202central office department reductions uh 3% for each department and that will total 7.5 million which may or may not include positions could be contracts could be uh materials other expenses could be vacant positions uh but each department is looking at a reduction of 3% the um form formula adjustment also for elementary AART staff Um this is going to look uh I want to be uh clear on terms of how we're uh addressing this Currently we have a 1.0 AART in all elementary schools And at this point what we're saying is we will leave the 1.0 0 a intact at our title one elementary schools but all other elementary schools will be staffed with a 0.5 a which reverts back to uh prior year funding and staffing levels We will also finally I think these are
203our last two adjustments um we're going to reduce electric uh bus funding uh 2.8 8 million and so that saves 2.8 million and I've cut uh non-local travel uh by half So that will save us I want to uh share with the board that these cuts I've tried to be um as judicious as possible in trying to maintain uh momentum to achieve the goals of our strategic plan and they're um with less funds coming in and commitments to providing a working salary for our hardworking professionals who also are living in one of the most expensive counties to live in Um it's essential that we make uh some cuts to be able to afford the salary increases Again um this evening this is not where I would choose to be but uh I think that given
204the information we have presently this is um our best attempt to provide a balanced budget for 2026 that uh recognizes the hard work and efforts of our staff and maintains services closest to our students um and the classroom experience necessary to produce produce a world-class education here in Fairfax County Public Schools I want to finish um with the uh available balance summary which was actually on one of the first slides So this again is just a a summary of the um of the topics I've outlined and then looking at the next steps This is the timing Uh this evening is May 8th Uh so I'm obviously presenting the approved budget to you uh my budget to you Uh next week the board of supervisors they'll adopt their final FY26 budget There will be public hearings
205uh or a public hearing on May 13th and May 14th if needed The board as you recall will have a work session on May 20th and then you will be voting on the final approved budget as a board on May 22nd So for those watching there is a website to stay involved and learn more about the budget process Um but we are sort of uh nearing the end of the budget process at this point and I am optimistic that we're going to be able to continue to do the work we do here in Fairfax County Public Schools and uh we will stay in the light So Mr Fish that is my budget presentation Thank you Dr Reid And as is the custom of our board to kick us off in budget discussions we will first
206go to our budget chair Miss Seismoreheiser Thank you And thank you Dr Reid Um and to your staff Mr Smith and the budget team Miss Burton Mr Norton Miss Whittington and the rest of the staff and FEU and their leaders Leslie Houston and David Wallro This was a tough budget and a tough change to make and I I appreciate the very compressed timeline in which you all entered back into collective bargaining and came back to us with an agreement Um we are lucky to live in a county that has traditionally supported and funded a strong public education system especially in the historic underfunding by the state And while we were disappointed that the county was unable to fully fund the advertised budget we recognized the fiscal realities faced by our county the underfunding by the
207state and the change in the commercial market uncertainties in federal landscapes and much else um led to where we are today I'm I believe we all firmly believe in the value of public education for Fairfax County People come to Fairfax County businesses come to Fairfax County because of the strength of our public education system And I believe our community and our funders fully believe in the value of our public education system A strong public education system means less crime more economic prosperity higher property values and a stronger democracy We appreciate the county's budget restored the 7.7 millions of funding to programs that directly impact FCPS including the middle school after school program for this next year high school crossing guards and transition supports and we appreciate their willingness to diversify revenue streams of the food
208and beverage tax Although we were hopeful that additional tax would help close the gap with our budget request Um and I hope we could engage earlier with the board of supervisors and our collaborative process in the spirit of one Fairfax for developing the budget Our community is counting us on us to maintain the priorities of our county including a strong um school system I am glad Dr to read with these tough decisions you made that you were able to find a way to prioritize compensation for our educators I know it wasn't what we were hoping for with the original agreement but you found a way to to prioritize the best we could We cannot have excellent schools without excellent educators and we are competing against surrounding jurisdictions that are paying higher and have a cheaper
209cost of living So I I appreciate that you're able to do that These are tough cuts and these are cuts that I believe will impact FCPS's ability to continue to be the FCPS the community expects us to be I know you and your staff and our educators will do the hard work to minimize those impacts especially do the hard work to minimize those impacts on the classroom And I believe that your proposal here is doing just that minimizing the impacts on directly to the classroom But let's be clear we are at an inflection point here For years I've heard people talk about doing more with less I believe we are now at a less with less point The proposal here which I think is fair and the best you could do um will impact our
210staffing ratios in our schools which could impact our class sizes It impacts our ability to provide additional supports for advanced academics for special education It impacts our ability to um maintain the excellence that we need to do We are a large organization with 40,000 employees We have to have a strong HR cyber security IT instructional staff especially without the social studies That's all part of central office I know my time is up I will perhaps take a go back I'll just end by saying I appreciate all the hard work I appreciate the collaboration with our unions and I appreciate the collaboration with our funding partners We would be nowhere without all of this So thank you Thank you Miss Seismarheiser Dr Anderson Um thank you One of the things that I want to be sure
211that we get out at least in this conversation because this is going to be news there's going to be a lot of worry worried folks both employees and parents So I'm hoping we could also kind of um get into some greater details regarding some of the information that you shared and I'd like to start with the ARTS and the special education chairs for elementary schools Can you speak to whether or not those cuts will allow us to reabsorb those individuals into the school division or are we talking about essentially people losing positions altogether and having to separate from the system yes ma'am So in those categories it based on the position openings we still have we believe that uh we will be able to absorb all of those positions back into classrooms Um there I
212we still are hiring and um so absolutely we don't believe that uh we will actually end up losing the staff will lose positions and there's no differential pay because these are teaching positions so there won't be a change in in compensation if they move from being an art or a chair to a classroom position I don't believe so It's a reassignment position and we have uh language that addresses that topic Okay Wonderful Thank you Regarding the hourly monitors uh those all part-time or full-time or combination they're hourly So I think that um not all schools utilized monitors Some traded them some didn't use them and didn't trade them So we had a wide variety of use of that budget line item Uh again the budget line item was put in as we returned to school
213from COVID It was not a prior position Um so in some cases they were full-time and in some cases not but these will be positions that will not be reabsorbed in the system because they're hourly employees And it depends on it depends on their role their certification their lensure or not uh with 40,000 employees there are a number of roles in the division that have really variant licensing requirements So I can't speak to which ones could you know find other uh professional opportunities within Fairfax and which may not What I know is that our credentialed teachers all can find a home to stay at this point Okay Thank you Um and when you speak of the social studies were those one-time funds for the social studies basil which is now being recommended to not happen
214no those are we put funds into a I want to call it a sinking fund for um instructional materials and textbooks So this is an annually replenished fund We hope that next year um we will have a different level of funding so we can restore those funds but they are annually replaced And what's the yearly allocation into the sinking fund miss Burton because if we're adopting every seven years I I believe it's probably in the neighborhood of 20 millionish And that's for all adoptions I guess we don't usually do more than one in a given So 20 million a year is what we put away I don't think it's that much but we'll have to get that number for you Yes Thank you And lastly um just kind of the big ticket item regarding the
215the staffing again not wanting for parents who are watching to think now my kids class sizes will be raised Can you explain why increasing the staffing formula will not impact class sizes yes ma'am So the staffing formula adjustment I believe it was on slide if we could go back to um slide four please This is a it's a staffing formula adjustment which essentially uh increases the divisor used to calculate the number of general education teachers by one So what this actually does is there's an average of less than 1.5 positions per school So there's not a one to one like the all class sizes aren't necessarily going to go up It's the ratio of staff assigned to that school um that will be shifted So Miss Burton would you I'm sorry you explain that I
216just need to drink a little water for a minute Sure Maybe somebody over in the gallery can help me understand what is the current formula to get a better scope of where the change will be I'm going to ask assistant director Matthew Norton to speak about this Thank you I almost got my voice back Uh yes happy to be here to clarify for you all So at the elementary school level we have a divisor of anywhere from 20 to 26 depending on the free and reduced uh lunch rate And so that one increase will change that divisor from 20 to 26 to 21 to 27 Um at the middle school and high school level uh we have uh a similar set of divisor that we use Um I believe off the top of my head
217that middle school is 27.4 and so it would be going up to 28.4 Um and then high school is um I believe 31 uh going up to 32 Um what I can tell you is that as it relates to uh state requirements uh related to um uh u you know the the SOQ or the standards of quality and what what they require Um the standards of quality require divisionwide ratios for elementary uh of 24 for K through three and 25 for grades one through four four through six And then the standards of quality require a schoolwide ratio of 21 uh to one uh at the middle school and high school level Um in FY25 we had a divisionwide ratio of approximately 16.4 4:1 Um and so this increase of one would raise us to 17.4
218to1 which is still well below the 24 and 25 required in the SOQ Um and then at the middle school and high school level um in FY25 our ratio um at our for our highest schoolwide ratio is 6 point uh 16.3 to1 Um our average across middle schools and high schools is 13 to1 Um and so a one increase would take us to 17.3 um at the highest and an average of 14 And so that again that's still well below the SOQ requirement of a schoolwide ratio of 21 Sure Thank you for that overview I have some more specific questions but I think I'll wait on those for the work session that is is that next week after I I will wait on that And just the last thing I'd like to just offer for
219consideration the special education um the special education changes I I would love for some consideration for the workload of the various schools It is different So a 0.5 might be great at one site and a 0.5 might be really um stretching um a a a teacher in that position at another site because they have that many more IEPs and the case load is just greater So I would love for for us to get to a space where there's a formula that is actually based on need and not just school Thank you Thank you Dr Anderson Miss Marin that data point about our school division being larger than that of 11 states and yet we have a lower people cost than each of those states That's really powerful and we're doing more with less But I'm
220concerned at the precedent it sets Um that we do more with less and our biggest assets are the humans that work here and they have a limit they have a limit of energy and capacity and I'm concerned that our experienced educators and staff will burn out Um not to mention you know the political context and ongoing national teacher shortage So that is a concern of mine that we're now perpetuating You know if I could improve anything in our schools it would be smaller class sizes So to see that reduction of 275 educators from our classrooms that is a tough one for me Um you know our board policy allows for more students per teacher than I'd like us to have So I am also eager to review this so that it guides future budgetary decisions
221and holds those in place But um I must commend you Dr Reid as the executive of this organization Your professionalism knowledge and experience It's it's the ultimate model of leadership in all the ways Um your experience with collective bargaining in your previous school division has been supremely valuable I've learned so much about the process Even tonight I'm still learning and I hope that we can also debrief this um to to just keep learning more Um that you've participated in the rebargaining these past 48 hours and continue to tend to myriad critical school division work grading practices facilities funding student safety and more It's superhuman And again uh there is is a limit So I um I hope you have a nice long rest this weekend Um but you know as I've begun reflecting on this
222year's budget experience I'm thinking about the ripple effect Um you know something that will happen now will have future impacts that we can't know yet And I think about the advocacy and the students who were activated and the residents who learned more about how their tax dollars are being used And um I'm eager to continue that work and I I hope that the teachers and staff are satisfied with this outcome Thank you Thank you Miss Marin Mr McDaniel Thank you Um rabbit out of a hat That's what I've I've the only conclusion that I think is reasonable to come to is rabbit out of a hat Uh and a rabbit out of a hat that 48 hours ago not only did the hat not exist but the rabbit was probably on life support Um that's
223what this presentation Poor rabbit My if my daughters are watching they're going to be very upset Um they should be in bed Um but that's what this is is a rabbit out of a hat Um the cuts are painful but they're not as painful as it could have been especially in this fiscal environment Um and what this proposal does is it keeps the dollars in the classroom on the kids focused on the core mission and not just the expenditure in the classroom but the most important asset in that classroom which are the teachers and all the support staff that support the teachers All of our staff give 120% all the time And I think it's really easy when we talk about contracts and legal leaves and this percentage and that percentage and you look at
224budget as a P&L and it kind of becomes a very formulaic exercise It's very easy to forget the fact that the people that are responsible for educating our children give 120% every day And if they took that same approach that I think is very tempting for some people to take they could just say "I'm going down to 90%." Or maybe 80% Or "I'm going to go from above and beyond to just what I have to do to meet the minimum requirements of my job and that's it." And if we get in that position we're in a very dangerous we're on the back side of that curve and we don't need to be there and this budget this this update um has saved us from that So thank you for the work Lee Thank you for
225that work And um we we've still got a few days left but I'm very optimistic Thank you Thank you Mr McDaniel Mr Moon thank you Mr Chairman Uh Dr Reed thanks for the presentation I knew that this was hard work Uh you only had less than 48 hours uh since we heard of what the county was going to do a couple of days ago and you had to have conversation with uh union leaders representatives and come to a a your a proposer uh tonight With that said I I need to ask a couple of questions a staffing formula change just for the general education teaching positions Uh does it also have any impact on any other positions such as custodial staff positions no sir Okay because custodial step we in the formula itself has a
226number of teaching positions as a factor and I just want to know whether that's going to have any uh real implications and reducing the number of custodians especially for larger schools where you may be you could lose more teaching positions than small elementary schools Oh give me just a minute You said five Lee Yes Yes So let's review that real quick then Um the staffing formulas provides custodial as well Matthew do you want to Mr So I'm going to revise that Okay Uh yes Thanks for the question Mr Moon Um what what I'll say is that uh our custodial formulas are based on the square footage of the building the number of staff in the building um and a factor for community use And so because there's a reduction in the number of staff in
227the building resulting from the 200 270ish teachers there are a few schools affected where there's a loss of a overall number of 5.5 custodians Um it's probably in 0.5 increments across the schools So so my my rough estimate is there's about 11 schools that would have a So you are estimating about five for the whole position losses for custodians That's correct Okay For the whole division Sure I'm going to keep that in mind and give some thought about that Uh and hourly employees how many hourly employees going to be affected by this is it 10,000 how many hourly employees do we have the um instructional I'm talking about 2% 2% from seven you know giving 5% instead of 6% or 7% that includes hourly employees Correct The FEU bargaining group is receiving 6% Yes And
228all other employees including hourly are receiving 5% So I want to know your number of hourly employees We may need to get back to you with that exact number Okay Thank you And one last thing is I'm sure in order for you to come up with this list of cuts uh I have to assume that you would have considered you must have considered larger list and come down to this and I would like to know as much as possible uh what you have considered but rejected So I can provide that to you at the work session on 20th prior to the work session hopefully so that I can give some thought Yes sir Thank you so much Thank you Mr Moon Mr Dunn Uh well congratulations on negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement in 48
229hours or collective bargaining agreements Uh it's an incredible accomplishment and uh I really appreciate all the hard work for you and your team and I congratulate the uh the unions as well Um I have advocated consistently to support our teachers on the front lines and our teacher unions and support staff Um so I very much in favor of the portion of this uh amended budget that increases their pay to 6% because as the data shows um our teachers and support staff are underpaid relative to market and they're the ones who I've consistently advocated to focus our investment uh to bring all of those teachers and support staff at least to market if not above because great teachers make great schools and that's what people pay taxes to to achieve Um but I I can't support
230an increase in class sizes under any circumstances Um if you look at the history of Fairfax County when have we increased class sizes and I've gone back and I've read the Washington Post articles It was in 2008 2009 when the world was collapsing Um it's in other economic circumstances that are dire And we all agree that we would like to have more money but these are not this is not a dire economic situation It does not merit a class-size uh increase uh simply to achieve um a 5% pay raise for non-FEU staff who our data shows are already paid out or above market It doesn't make sense You could have a lower pay raise for non-FU staff and preserve some of those uh teachers and preserve um our current class sizes which have already been
231increased over the years to be more than they should Um when I was vice president of advocacy for the Fairfax County Council PTA in 2018 I did a 6,000 person study and the top two priorities across every demographic was class sizes and teacher pay So certainly we need to increase teacher pay but we also need to maintain our class sizes So I do appreciate the work that's been done but uh just on a policy choice of increasing class sizes I have to disagree Thank you Mr Dunn Miss Lady thank you Um and thank you for this tremendous work um on a short turnaround My apologies that this is going so late because I know you have not slept That's okay I don't need to sleep I do have uh one question um related to the
232special education uh department chairs elementary schools the schools that are doing inclusion I believe there's six elementary schools next year doing inclusion I just would ask if we consider keeping them at a 1.0 know um as they and because they've volunteered they step forward and they're ready to do that work and I just feel like we probably can work that out within within this budget uh for those six That would be nice Um I also while I understand that that we have situations like this it it does make a difference if you have a thousand kids at your elementary school versus if you have 300 right in terms of workload related to ARTS and and for IEPs and local screenings and things like that Um the only other thing I want to say is um
233that I don't like using the terminology increase class size Thank you for articulating this is a formula change because I don't want parents believing you're going to have a child added to every single class that's out there because that would be a reduction that's astronomical right um as the one that's proposed up here and also with the proposal with AART to 0.5 and also our elementary special ed chairs to 0.5 we're putting those people back in the classroom I mean the the the high percentage is that those people are going to be back working with children So if you look at this as a one to one.5 perhaps person per building you've got a 0.5 or actually a 1.0 at the elementary level who are going back in the classroom So I just want to
234make sure the public fully understands that And then lastly um I I I don't um I I'm personally I struggle with any reference to the non FEU employees already being paid at or above market I don't believe that to be true I I I just um I think that's hard to I think there I I I just think that that while there might be a few situations I'm not aware of where that where that exists Um and so um and I and and I'm also as a former employee and a school board member very aware of what a lot of our people do at varying levels Um and every single person's job impacts learning in some capacity So um thank you for working hard on this I think it's it's tough You know it's going
235to be hard We're going to have to adjust Um and um we are kind of in crisis right now because that's what we're hearing uh from the board of supervisors and from the community around real estate tax And so these were tough decisions Um and just thank you for the work Thank you Miss Lady Miss St Cutting So I want to echo what my colleagues have said and want to thank all the work everyone did on this budget including the FCPS staff team and the union team I know that there was a lot of work before with the collective bargaining and then in this 48 t um hour turnaround which is like nothing short of a miracle um particularly because we were able to structure it in a way that had a minimal impact on
236instruction However I would be remiss if I didn't mention the negative impact of losing monitors in the elementary schools I happen to know several monitors and I've worked in elementary schools and I can't convey how integral they became in the school community um how endearing they were to some of the children and how at any moment they were able to switch and you know step up to if there was somebody that wasn't in the front office or if you had to cover the clinic or if you had to you know an IIA didn't show up um although they're not licensed um and hourly that doesn't diminish the impact of the work they had and so I I'm very sad to hear that some of them are going to be leaving I understand this is a
237tough budgetary situation and that's where we had to go Um but I did want to talk about how integral they were in some of our elementary schools Um I know we've said you know FCPS less with more Um the thing that I do know and I've said before is that we have incredible staff and teachers in our schools Somehow some way they will make it work Is it optimal no Am I concerned about some of our staff leaving to our neighboring divisions absolutely And we'll see by the end of this year what happens Thank you for mentioning the work of our classroom monitors They've been stalwart right they've worked extraordinarily hard and I it's a very difficult decision We hope that many of them take opportunities to join in different roles and stay on with
238team at FCPS Thank you Miss Saint Cunning I will take a turn Um the first thing I did on this board uh in terms of putting a motion forward was amend our legislative program to remove our opposition to collective bargaining We were the only school division in in the Commonwealth that did that And that year our partners in the legislature came through and provided the ability for us to be where we are today And I've been thinking a lot about what the term collective bargaining means Collective meaning we're all doing this together bargaining means it's a tight rope It's a balancing act And um you know I keep telling people this is the first collective bargaining agreement Fairfax County Public Schools has ever had We've not found any evidence of it anywhere else It's happened
239in other counties in Virginia not here in Fairfax and now we've had two bargaining agreements So I think that's a tremendous accomplishment in this short order to do that Um but I also want to note that these sacrifices which is what these changes in formulas and everything else are are sacrifices And our educators and staff are walking in clear cleareyed that this puts more strain on their work just so that they can provide more for their families so that they can attract better employees for more employees more uh qualified world-class educators and other staff to our school system And so with this pay increase comes added responsibility added strain etc And so it's our obligation to collectively address that in the months and years ahead so that we can reduce that strain And you know
240I would be remiss if I didn't note in the budget that notes we're getting $30 million more from our state partners because they have I was at a homeowners association meeting last night and I noted that the legislature had fi had gotten a check mark on one of the JARK recommendations Uh correct me if I'm wrong Miss Marin 15 or 16 recommendations 16 So we've got 15 more It's a start We have a long way to go It's about $30 million out of $568 million We need more We need more help from everyone And so the only way that's going to happen is if we remain collective in our commitment to this that we you know link arms with our brothers and sisters in our unions that are are committed to this work to ensure
241that we bring more resources into the system so that we can pay more so that we can attract uh world-class educators and keep the ones that we've had in this family for a very long time And so I appreciate all the work that staff has done People are probably watching this if they're watching they're probably wondering why everybody looks so tired Well they've been up for a couple days trying to get this resolved and the work shows and it's in front of us It's difficult work but that's why we're here So I thank Dr Reid for this and I thank our staff and our unions uh for helping us get to where we are today And I look forward to working with my colleagues on this budget in the weeks that we have left All
242right I have one go back for Miss Seismoreheiser Thank you and I appreciate that I wanted to just ask a couple questions Dr Re can you describe a little bit the difference in membership of FEU versus the non-FEU i know you mentioned 6% for FEU and 5% for the others Could you describe a little bit who the others are the just in broad categories So the other um the other union is the title Mr Smith would you I don't get the acronym right It's FCFPSA the Fairfax County Federation of Principles Supervisors and Administrators And that that union includes principles supervisors and administrators Uh and there are a number of educational specialists in ISD who are also a part of that group So we mean educational specialists like our reading intervention teachers and our behavior intervention
243teachers And is that who you're referring to or is that something different uh that's something different than those teachers who are in the classroom or and those those resource teachers It also includes our hourly employees right they get the 5% not the 6% Miss Burton is nodding yes but I I'm also FEU may have some as well um that are hourly I think we have hourly employees So it it's important to note that our hourly employees are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement Mhm So we have our uh hourly contracted who are our bus drivers and food service employees They are in FEU and so they are eligible for the 6% And then uh our hourly employees uh we raise the hourly rate uh as we would uh in the past most of our
244salary scales and that will be raised in accordance with the 5% for other employees I just want to make sure we're actually Can I just want to clarify that we're actually I think we need to name some of these differently because hourly contracted and hourly I mean I think it gets confusing at times when we are having these conversations So um I think we're going to have to look at our semantics as well Yeah I think so I just want to mention it's a it's a you know kind of a broader group in that not it's administrators is some of our hourly as you put it right So it's they may or may not be above or at at market right I think it'd be behoove us to look more into that I know we've
245talked about some of our um APS leaving for higher pay and other surrounding jurisdictions So it you know I just wanted to point that out You know it's look this is a tough environment We're in a tough this in a tough environment right now with the uncertainty I appreciate the board of supervisors for continuing to support public education Um you know I wanted to mention a little bit about some of these specific things The reason I think the staffing formula is important to mention is that because it reduces the number of staff available for a school right and they can trade for different positions So they can change the impact that may have on the school but it reduces the number of staff available Is that correct yes ma'am At an average of about one
246to one and a half per school Okay And so and then the monitors what my understanding part of what monitors were helping is that as we're providing these extra interventions for students to help close some of these longstanding gaps as well as some of the gaps related to COVID but even some of these long-standing gaps and also helping with teacher planning time Is that correct is that Yes ma'am That's correct Yeah So it does all these have an impact on the classroom and you know when I when I said earlier I wanted to explain a little bit when I said you know we're at this less with less and that's partially because in the last few years I feel like schools are being asked to do more than they ever have in the past providing
247meals addressing root causes of absenteeism engaging families providing technology and acting as community centers with over 500,000 events per year and dealing with heightened security needs from the from the gun epidemic Right and so is our staff And so that's something that we have to recognize that when we give a higher salary We focus on compensation is because we've asking more and we have been for a while So thank you for what you've done This is truly a rabbit out of a hat as my colleague said Thank you to your staff and and thank you to our our funding partners for what they can do and hopefully we can find a way to work together collaboratively to continue to support our schools Thank youer And I I want to make sure that the board that
248you understand will have a lot more detail for the work session in terms of numbers of employees in each group and job titles and the difference between hourly hourly contracted It's it's a lot to review in this type of a setting I think it'll be um we'll be able to provide a lot more detail and have a um a much more a richer dialogue in the work session Thank you Dr Reid And for members of our public who are watching at home we have a uh school board budget public hearing on May 13th and we also have a uh budget work session on May 20th So uh we invite people to tune in or join us in person for those events Um we're going to take a one minute recess Nobody moved from the desk
249I have to ask a question all this frivolity over there Okay Um we're going to continue with the agenda Uh with unanimous consent we will skip the strategic plan update but we will take academic matters Dr Reid academic matters All right Thank you Chairman Fr Um academic matters this evening is a match for our executive limitation three and it's a fairly short academic matters this evening but I really um am just thrilled at this uh work Uh we talked this evening about community relations and going out to our communities This is a brand new project Uh FCPS is launching an innovated classroom on wheels that is going to be hitting the road this summer And Dr Pon and his team are uh in particular uh responsible for this work which supports pillar B uh vibrant
250home school and community partnerships And I want to mention that the goal is twofold uh both to provide extra academic help and to strengthen connections between families and schools And we're thrilled because I think tonight we talked about how do we get out into communities and not just expect communities to come to us So phase one is a transformation of a bus Um before we're able to launch this we needed to completely transform a school bus and our Marshall Academy students played a key role So let's hear from our amazing Marshall Academy students and see their progress a few weeks ago where they told us we're going to be demoing a bus which sounded really interesting and they started telling us a little bit about it and how it was going to be a classroom
251on wheels And I was asking my teacher what was that what that was all about and she came over to me and said "Hey I need your help we're taking out all the seats on this bus This is what we're going to be doing today in class I was like "Sounds great." And so she had one of the previous day's students walk through it with me of uh cutting the bolts out and removing them And that was how it started And from there we went off I heard a whole bunch of noise I was curious I was like "What's going on out there?" And they were just taking out the seats and making sure that they were doing the job And this guy over here he showed me how to do it He told me
252to take off the boat safely and not to get hit with sparks So this guy showed me what to do and I just did it So we're like more hands-on in it with tools So I think that's pretty cool about it And it's kind of hard cuz we had to like locate where the bolts were without damaging any other components of the bus This is a very unique project I don't think I would have had the opportunity to work with the auto tech students at all Yeah it really helps with the real uh world because people with different skills really like help complete a lot of important projects in this world The tables will be cut in half right here So then not only does the teacher have enough spher but the students can also
253have enough space to go to one side to either talk to the teacher or uh be in groups to work together uh from a more technical standpoint we had to figure out exactly how we wanted to fit everything in while still allowing space and mobility throughout the bus like a normal classroom Um and we used like a like a CAD program to figure out some of that we already know like how much space we have and what are like the limitations that we can make into the uh to the bus without like pushing it too far so it doesn't you know have the wrong measurements and have like the wrong things inside We wanted to finalize a floor plan before we decided on a dedicated electrical system because there's more than just a couple of
254wires to think about you have to think of how are we going to power it so that it's not running on gas and it's not super loud So we've had a couple of options to think about there too We also collaborated with uh Fairfax representatives on this project uh with their feedback and the needs that they believe that the children need Nothing compared to right now that we're doing with the mobile academic bus it's does not compare to to this which is exciting It's a great opportunity because it's unique It's not this copy and paste project that the teacher says "Oh here's something you guys can do It's it's large scale and it has the opportunity to be more than just a classroom project." It feels nice to hear like there's going to be more
255like involvement with like the community and schooling at the same time Like I feel like that's an important thing I wasn't expecting to be something like this but I'm really glad I was able to be a part of it and I'll be happy whenever I see it Right Absolutely I thought it was just something we're doing you know to help the engineering class But now since I found out that we're actually helping the community it's it's great It's great to know that this is a truly communitydriven initiative created for the student by the student within FCPS highlighting the importance of themies This is a realworld hands-on learning What an opportunity for our children They gain practical hands-on experience in their respective fields At FCPS we care about the unique needs of every student This part
256of the foundation of the family academy The idea came up from our goal to bring learning and support directly to our students and families that will break barriers and bring the community together In order for us to truly engage we have to also listen what families are looking for more academic support more connections and more opportunity for engagement We have to create those spaces bring the opportunities where families are So we have to show up reach out and build that community That's how we can grow all together So I want to also share with the board that the funding for this project since we're talking about budget tonight came from a grant So this is completely grant-f funded to redo the bus and to have our students at the U Marshall Academy do that Uh
257the summer pilot program the initial roll out is supported by a uh Virginia Department of Education innovation grant Uh the targeted student outreach high school students that need credit recovery and elementary and middle school students that need core content support are going to be invited to participate And so um the bus is going to coordinate with food and nutrition services summer meal sites to maximize reach So we also provide food And the long-term vision is we see strong family partnerships as crucial for school success and the classroom on reels is a it's a key step in fostering this engagement So that is academic matters Chairman Fr Thank you Dr Reid I call on Miss Marin Um I would like to suspend the rules to bar discussion of this agenda item tonight All right Is there
258a second second Mr McDaniel uh suspension of the rules is not debatable It does require a two-thirds vote of the board and if it receives twothirds vote we will move on to the next agenda item If it does not we'll continue with the normal conversation All those in favor of suspending the rules to eliminate board discussion during this agenda item tonight Miss Marin Miss Dixit Mr Macke Dr Anderson Mr McDaniel Miss Anderson Missheiser Mr Moon Miss Lady Miss St John Cunning and myself that is unanimous for board members present Uh without objection we will skip agenda item 8.03 strategic plan update All right Agenda item nine Our adopted rules of parliamentary 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
259a 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 scrolling on screen Is there any objection to approving the consent agenda hearing and seeing no objection the consent agenda is adopted Agenda item 10 new business The following are new business agenda items There is not a vote on these items this evening but action is scheduled at a future meeting Agenda item 11 board committee reports I call on Miss Marin for a state legislative update We got some money It is a unexpected thing Thanks to general assembly uh we got our VSBA northeastern regional meeting next week I'm
260helping to co-host with 13 of our school board uh members there uh other boards So um we just got to start planning for the general assembly Thanks Thank you Miss Marin Mr Mavine for an audit committee report Uh yes we discussed our business process audits our Q1 and Q2 continuous monitoring reports and our risk assessment and audit plan for next year Thank you Mr McAfee Miss Lady for a governance committee report Yeah At our April 29th governance meeting we advanced the following revised policies for consideration by the full board Policy 2232 student attendance Policy 2301 psychological testing screening student evaluation and placement and policy 241 grade level placement of students in grades K through eight Our next governance meeting will be May 13th Thank you Thank you Miss Lady Agenda item 12 Superintendent Matters I
261call on Dr Reid Thank you Mr Fr Uh Superintendent Matters Um lots of activities and events recently Uh but what I do want to share and we'll be sending communication about um out uh tomorrow uh is that we did have a full review of the recent of this year's Monday early release days for elementary and those as you recall uh we designed those to provide um elementary planning time opportunities because our elementary planning time was not as um equitably uh uh accessed as secondary middle and high school planning time So the committee has reviewed the committee includes uh staff parents um and central office staff and schoolbased staff Uh they've done an evaluation of the work which I have shared with you and the recommendation moving forward is to continue those limited early release days
262in the coming year Uh the uh recommendation is rather than have them on Monday because there was a lot of uh there were a lot of Monday holiday conflicts and specialist schedules they would like to move that to Wednesday And um I think that we want to also uh get in communication out sooner to families than we did last year And we will still provide um child care in those afternoons for families who require that who are not able to have students come home um at the time of the early release So we will be communicating uh that we will continue those limited early release days next year but Wednesday rather than Monday Um and thank you Thank you Dr Reid All right A little different these days We're checking with board members to see
263if they'd like time during board matters If not they don't they're not obligated to speak Uh we have one board member who had requested an opportunity this evening So Miss St John Cunning Thank you Um and don't all be mad at me So this is basically this is basically for all of us This week is teacher appreciation week and I'd like to take this time to thank every FCPS teacher for the commitment and love they dedicate to our children their students each and every day The apples on this das are representative of the gratitude we hold for you As I reflected on what I wanted to say tonight I wanted to convey to the public all that our teachers do in the two minutes allotted to me Impossible I know Then I came across a
264post that says it best Here are the words of teacher and Arthur Matt Eichel Eicheldinger I've been thinking about all the things the world has asked us to do You've asked us to teach kids and we are happy to do so You asked us to inspire and show opportunities Absolutely You asked us to be mentors and to steady hands when the world gets shaky And we rose to meet that But then you asked us to do a lot more To navigate grief and trauma To hold a space for children in crisis while carrying our own To manage behavior shaped by stress and instability without the support and training we need to take on roles of counselors nurses crisis responders all before lunch To prepare our students for gun violence and attacks To adapt to new
265standards changing curriculum and public scrutiny often without asking what we think To stay quiet when our profession is politicized To stop doing things that frankly aren't taking place in our classroom to keep smiling through the kids through budget cuts banned books and more safety drills But still we show up with patience purpose and heart This week you thank educators and we're grateful for that But more than your thanks we need your voice your advocacy your respect And right now many of us are being shaped as the enemy But we are not that We are helpers We always have been Sitting in this chair I can and will always respect and be a voice and advocate for our teachers However as Matt asked we need your voice and your advocacy We need your help to help
266the helpers Thank you Miss St John Cunning And on that very appreciative note I'd like to thank all of our staff who are still with us this evening At uh yes it was two minutes No at 11:24 p.m this meeting is adjourned [Music]