FCPS School Board Meeting- 9/14/2023

001the September 14th 2023 regular meeting of the Fairfax County School Board will now come to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a moment of silence and then a performance of the national anthem by our very own Langley High School magicals under the direction of Carolyn player flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one na under God indivisible with liy and justice for all [Music] by [Music] The [Music] sooud Who stripes and the [Music] [Applause] [Music] prove through the night that our flag was still there [Music] [Applause] [Music] that of [Music] the [Music] of [Applause] w okay agenda item 2.02 certification of closed meeting in order to comply with Section 2.2 3712 D of the code of Virginia it is necessary for the board

002to certify that since the Fairfax County Public School board convened a closed meeting on September 14th 2023 to the best of each 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 cor Sanders do I have second Miss om all those in favor okay that is Miss cobt Sanders Dr Anderson um miss mclocklin miss mcari miss Tolen uh Miss Marin Miss om Miss Cohen and Miss Rog Riser thank you anyone opposed anyone abstaining miss Karen keys gamero um 2.03 confirmation of action taken and closed motion number one I call on Miss Cohen for a motion I move that the

003school board approve and award a contract according to the terms and conditions discussed in Clos session and authorize the division superintendent or the director of the office of procurement services to execute deliver and administer the contract on behalf of the school board is there a second I'll second all those in favor that is Miss cobt Sanders Dr Anderson miss mclin miss mcari miss Tolen Miss Marin Miss am Miss Cohen M Miss keys gamara are you voting affirmatively and Miss rochest Eiser thank you motion number two I call on Miss corber Sanders for a motion I move to excuse from attendance at school certain students identified in closed session meeting puru to Virginia code section 22.1 through 254 B1 is there a second thank you Miss am all those in favor Miss CT Sanders Dr Anderson

004Miss marari Miss Tolen Miss Marin Miss om and Miss Rog Riser all those opposed all those abstaining Miss Cohen and miss Karen kees gamaro and miss mclin some announcements 2.04 I would like to recognize in our audience this evening some former school board members we have Miss Sandy Evans with us Mr Ryan mline and Mr or Moon would you like to just [Applause] stand thank you for joining us um Miss Darna cofax has submitted a written request request to virtually attend this evening's meeting due to a personal conflict all those in favor of approving mofa request that is unanimous for those at the table and we have this uh Mr frish is away from the table this evening before we continue I would like to alert the public to a change in the start time

005of our regular meetings as all of our regular meetings will now begin at 7:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. we thank the public for your understanding and Grace as we have worked to develop our school year 23 24 annual calendar and meeting times and we are hoping that with this change in time to be much more punctual in the the start time and the actual beginning of our meetings thank you um turning back to tonight's meeting um if you would like to review a copy of the AG the agenda or any agenda item that is being discussed tonight that information may be found at the back of the auditorium or on the website at fcps.edu school boardboard dos tonight's meeting is being broadcast on channel 99 and live streamed on the website at fcps.edu TV

006ch99 after read reading tonight's proclamations the board would like to invite each recipient and their family and friends to join us for a photo I call on Dr Anderson for a proclamation thank you very glad um whereas Mr Daniel amof CMB am has served on the Fairfax County School Board facilities what's oh oh thank you Mr amanov would you like to come forward my apologies thank you and I'll start again whereas Mr Daniel amanov cmbm has served on the Fairfax County Schoolboard facilities planning advisory Council called fpac as a founding member since October 2020 and served as Vice chair for seven years and chair for three years from 2019 through the 2021-22 school year and whereas Mr aminoff's deep commitment and dedication resulted in his participation in over 130 fpac committee meetings as the Mason

007District representative and whereas Mr amof developed numerous recommendations to the school board to promote strategies for comprehensive long long-term facilities planning activities and whereas Mr amof provided valuable input to FCPS staff on the evolution of the capital Improvement plan Al CIP and subsequent revisions and whereas Mr amof consistently provided expert insight to the school board's comprehensive Planning Development Committee cpdc where he participated in efforts to enhance The public's understanding of the CIP improve the public notice process and advocated to increase opportunities for Community engagement throughout the facilities planning cycle and whereas Mr amof consistently demonstrated the characteristics of an inspirational leader serving with humility and efficiency he has generously provided guidance to the current chair solicited community input and administered his duties with a collaborative spirit and good humor to improve the overall work of

008the facilities department and FCPS now therefore be it resolved that the fairfox County School Board extends its highest recommendation and deepest appreciation to Mr Daniel amof in recognition of his outstanding service and dedication to the students families staff and community members of the Fairfax County Public Schools and the Fairfax County Public School Board and I will have the pleasure of seconding this motion Dr Anderson would you like to speak to your Proclamation yes I would be pleased to do that Mr aminov has been a steadfast and consistent voice in all matters facilities FCPS has benefited from his expertise and commitment for many years years as you have heard he was appointed to the fpac committee by my predecessor Miss Sandy Evans who is in the audience and she could not have made a better choice

009I had the pleasure of meeting Mr amof in the fall of 2019 during which time he informed me of his background his work to date on the committee and that he was the current chair after quite a period during which I asked many clarifying questions I know that's new to you all and he patiently answered every single one of them Dan humbly stated that he would understand if I felt compelled to end his appointment and secure my own representative I was floored that a person who spent the better part of an hour educating me about the work of fpac outlining his goals and guidance would then easily recuse himself of course I declined the invitation to replace Mr amanov but that first interaction was illustrative of his character a humble leader an expert leader and

010one who is driven to serve without egoo for the next several years Dan would become my go-to for advice and guidance on many issues including the boundary adjustment at Justice uh in the Justice pyramid elementary schools discussions of grade six in the Mason Middle Schools and of course the Justice high school parking situation he always made himself available and would offer sound and research-based guidance based on the needs of the community not only did he know his stuff but he also knows the Mason District which made him an invaluable resource an asset to me to fpac to to cpdc and to the board it is with some Melancholy that I honor Mr amof this evening because not only is it welld deserved but I am fully cognizant of the fact that he is leaving and

011clearly the next Mason District representative will have very large shoes to fill his colleagues Mr Chuck fanshaw Miss Katie cesa are here in the audience and that speaks volume to the work that you have done here in FCPS thank you and I will speak briefly to my second um I was uh I want to thank Dr Anderson for bringing this forward and for allowing me to get many of my sentiments actually written into the proclamation so I won't repeat those um Dan amof is the consant professional he has given his time tirelessly to the affc committee and the entire time that I was involved with the committee which has been several years um he was often um the chair and and always um giving his leadership generously he cares deeply about our facilities and in

012putting forth clear helpful ideas for their Improvement the Improvement of our design and construction department and our facilities and maintenance processes he's very deserving of this recognition this evening his quiet leadership was so valued and he was always careful to reach out to the public on any issues that um fpac was dealing with Dean we will miss you at fpac but hope you will not be going too far a Fields so we can see you again thank you we have a couple of other board members that would like to speak Miss mirin yes Mr anof we haven't had quite a large opportunity to engage a little bit but as I listen to especially the number of meetings you've been to I just really have to Marvel at your true service to the community and you

013showed up you just showed up and it reminds me of how I ended up in this seat I just showed up up to meetings and at a time when I'm out in the community and people ask what can I do you could show up and you did and that's Community leadership that's Civic engagement it's not this big thing so I just hope that other people could look at your example and know that you can do really important things little by little if you just show up and stick with it so thank you Miss Cohen I think Dan uh my meeting with you was my first official meeting as a school board member um and I was boy I felt like I'd won the lottery um with being placed on fpac so thank you Miss Corbett

014Sanders for that um and we had to spend the next year and a half together um and as you educated a lot of new members on the fpac committee you were also educating a new Schoolboard member and you were always so incredibly generous with your time uh patient and uh we all look to you for guidance and also just kind of for calm in this in the storm um because sometimes in fpac we can get pretty worked up so um thank you so much much for everything I I echo my colleague sentiments that I hope you will still stay a cell phone call away and uh and really truly um just so appreciative of your service and all the time that you gave in the middle of a busy life so thank you Dan thank

015you Miss Karo so Dan recently I came across this quote by Harry Truman which I think you exemplify it says it is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit and um I had the pleasure not only of meeting you before I ran but once I became the chair of the comprehensive Planning and Development Committee we worked together to try to improve processes so that the community could better understand and better participate receive notice and have an opportunity for real input into that process and so I'm just grateful for your knowledge I'm grateful for the humility that Mr Truman described so well I'm going to get a poster of that because I just love it um but I I really you know I have a lot of things written

016on here you helped work for uh toward greater Fidelity in the process you communicated effectively you were always very very kind in helping bring us um to a better place and I you know know pun intended you really were and have been a rock to that whole process um and so I I say thank you you will be missed um but I have your phone number so it's good thank you Miss mclocklin Dan I too want to take a moment just to uh Praise Your Service to our school Division and to our community um you preceded me in your service to the system by just a few two years and uh I know that uh as a founding member of fpac uh you and Charles hookie the former bartic representative um really helped shape and

017transform not just fpac the facilities planning advisory committee for those who aren't familiar uh but you became a model of what every Schoolboard advisory committee should and can become uh the level of expertise uh that you all brought the massive amount of time dedication and attention that you brought with your level of expertise to help our system uh there's never enough Staffing positions as you know and uh one of the largest school divisions in the nation uh there is always more work and Analysis that needs to be done and you all so selflessly gave of your time as professionals to really help us to help our students and our School Division and uh you know know it's just it's so hard to see you retiring because you've been the face of fpac and uh I

018just want to truly convey again uh my gratitude as a Fairfax County resident um the amount of dedication and talent uh that you brought to this effort and uh with gratitude thank you Miss car Sanders Dan I just I met you in 2010 and I Met You in 2010 as fpac was getting started um and I was just in awe of the fact that professionals from elsewhere in the county could care as passionately about the needs of the students on Route One that um the magisterial district members did and the thing that I am so appreciative of is that that was not a oneandone oh isn't this interesting we're having a couple of meetings down in this area it was a dedication to ensuring that the needs of our students across this County no matter

019what their zip code is was uh taken into account and that every child deserves not only a worldclass education but a worldclass building in which to go to school and so I uh was in all of you then I continue to be in all of you as I watch the fpac develop and I am forever grateful from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of all of the students in the uh Mount ver and magisterial District thank you Miss am thank you um thank you Dr Anderson for letting us uh giving us the opportunity to celebrate Mr amov and all his contributions I know I haven't had the chance to work as directly with you not as the Le is onto the committee or uh the person who appointed you to the committee um

020but I was struck meeting after meeting when you've presented to us by actually what was named your expertise your humility your patience through what probably was frustrating year after year coming back sometimes with the same recommendations um and seeing a massive uh project uh which is FCPS facilities take its time to improve year after year but with your steady guidance your cander about the challenges um I I've certainly uh respected that and and wanted to just emphasize you know the things that you've worked on as a part of fpac I mean capacity improvements to our schools Renovations even setting up now what's coming is a renovation que process not just kind of an arbitrary renovation cycle boundary adjustments for multiple schools to help our kids uh be present in class and not have to worry

021about too many kids and and have more attention with their teacher by the way that we design our buildings because that directly impacts student learning uh even even you know talks of what now will be coming new high school right so so many accomplishments uh and those are just to name a few um that have supported directly the learning environment of our kids and therefore the mission of our system which is supporting students all in the W you know amidst whatever political turmoil and and and perspectives were in the environment while that was happening so I just want to uh thank you uh uh sincerely for all that you've contributed to the system and I hope that folks in the audience Folks At Home Folks watching get inspired because we're so lucky to have talent

022in our community that comes and serves and becomes a part of the solution not just you know complaining on the outside but really contributing and putting in the hundreds of hours and talent like you have so thank you so much for setting that example okay seeing no other board members that would like to speak I will call for the vote those in favor Miss Corbett Sanders Dr Anderson miss mclin miss mcari miss Tolen miss Karen Keys gamara Miss Marin Miss am Miss Cowen and Miss Raja Heiser Heiser and Miss Jen kofax thank [Applause] you oh thank you all very much for the kind words and it's been great working with you these past um 12 13 years for sure and and it was great to know some of you even before you became uh uh

023school board members um we we did accomplish a lot in that period of time in making the um uh facilities part of the whole equation and making it much more transparent for the public um um through the enhancements to the CIP as well as uh working with the supervisors on the bond issue and you know the whole host of of things that come into play and I I just want to appreciate your interest in um in hearing our recommendations and doing what you can with them given um you know what you can do and not do with with funding and and things of that nature so um thank you all very much for for engaging on the facility's piece and it's been a pleasure working with everyone thank [Applause] you thank you Mr amof um

024agenda item 2.06 Lake bradic Secondary School 50th Anniversary Proclamation I call in Miss Cowen for a proclamation whereas Lake bradock Secondary School opened its doors on September 4th 1973 and proudly celebrates its 50th anniversary and reputation for providing generations of students including four of ours up here uh from a richly diverse Community with an excellent academic foundation and whereas lake bradock is dedicated to providing a rigorous instructional program in an inclusive and supportive environment for students who represent over 80 countries and speak 53 different languages and has enriched students through a wide variety of award wining winning academic co-curricular and extracurricular programs and whereas the school of the largest in Virginia for K12 education currently serving 4,385 students in grade 7 through 12 where 95% of students go on to attend a two or fouryear

025college or university provides excellent Educational Tools and learning opportunities for its students by embracing new initiatives Rec recognizing the importance of student engagement robust academics and arts and Career and Technical education in developing creative minds and providing alternative avenues for Learning and whereas The Faculty parents parent teacher teacher student Association booster organizations and community of Lake bradic are committed to the emotional well-being and academic achievement of all students through increased access to rigor and enrichment with academic and socio emotional supports and celebrating its diversity as a strength that enriches and broadens the educational experiences of all students and prepares them to be connected adaptable resilient and engaged Learners utilizing Innovative approaches promoting a kind and inclusive culture and centering student voice and choice to ensure all Bruins thrive in a dynamic world and whereas thousands

026of students have passed through the doors of Lake bradic Secondary School and benefited from the efforts of dedicated and caring teachers and staff who still who instill the school's core values of commitment responsibility Integrity respect and compassion with a shared Vision that all students graduate as communicators collaborators ethical and Global Citizens creative and critical thinkers and goal directed and resilient individuals now therefore be it resolved the Fairfax County School Board honors Lake Brad Secondary School on the occasion of its 50th Anniversary commends the school on its history of educational excellence and enrichment to the students and community and conveys its most heartfelt best wishes for a successful anniversary celebration is there a second I will second Miss Cohen would you like to speak to your Proclamation you beta um you know I I will say

027our family certainly bleeds purple and gold you all see me with my lanyard every week um between Raja and I we' sent four kids to Lake Brock High School Secondary School um and I know that so many of you who follow the board probably get tired of hearing us uh commend and speak so highly of Lake bradic um but truly it's because we are so proud of our school that has helped turn um our favorite human beings um into the ible people that they are and largely um it's because of you all so thank you so much for all that you do um we have many times in our family uh counted our blessings and um lake bradock has always been one of them so a huge shout out to all the amazing staff um

028Miss Kars is here the principal Terry Hampton associate principal and Bob Gaylord our amazing PTSA president who We're Never Letting leave um so thank you thank you so much and I know you all give so much of yourselves and your personal life we all have made um your baby our mascot at school so um we notice you show up at events you show up at theater and choir um and band and football and every sport Under the Sun and we see you and our kids see you and so thank you for everything that you do and uh all the magic that you make for our kids Miss eer Heiser would you like to speak to your second I definitely would um I don't really know where to start having had children at Lake bradic from

0292011 to 2022 um this is just my uniform the purple and gold um and so I just um it is an incredible school I remember when I um we moved into the lake Bic um area and I was concerned about a secondary school and the fact that it's the largest high school and I thought oh this is this is going to be interesting but um I will tell you just as a parent who's gone there whose kids have gone there both of my kids came in with their struggles and they both came in with um experiences where um they their whole child their whole being their whole needs um weren't seen their strengths weren't seen and their needs in some ways weren't seen until they got to Lake bradic and I'm not saying they didn't

030have good experiences before then but um I remember walking into the um the activities fair with my son with autism whose music ability I every time every teacher I had to fight for people to see it and it was just seen it was just given and I mean I cried going oh my goodness this place is Magic because it sees our kids for who they are and it sees it for their strengths and for my daughter who had some um some trauma and couldn't get the support she needed until she got to Lake bradic and one of your counselor said said I'll take care of this I got her and they are thriving because of the community at Lake bradic because of the kindness the caring and I see it in the parents I see

031it in the students it is a kind caring inclusive place and it is it is Magic and um I just can't thank you all enough and I'll just say my my son's prom date went to a different high school and I won't name the high school but she spent one after one evening with the lake bad kids and said these kids are the nicest kids I've ever met I wish I went here it is it is the culture you have created it is a great academic environment it is a great well-rounded environment the education you provide and the last thing I want to say is about the teachers at Lake bradic the teachers are so dedicated and they care they still remember the kids years after they graduate they talk so kindly and nicely and

032positively about them the the culture you've created there is amazing so go Bruins a couple facts I wanted to lift up that I think are so special about Lake bradic did you know that it has the only Band program to earn the Virginia jior honor band award every year that that award has been offered which is pretty incredibly magical so congratulations ltic band and congratulations to the girls gymnastics for back-to-back state championships and finally for the theater for winning the best play Cappies last year so that shows you just a little bit of of the Excellence at Lake bradic that goes along with the academics and the CER and Technical Ed and everything you provide but kudos to you and your staff and your teachers and the boosters and the parents and the community for

033creating a school that just takes care of its kids and graduates really kind intelligent and empathetic human beings so oh and thank you to penny for being here too the regional assistant superintendent oversees it so I'm so excited we'll celebrate this one last thing thank you Megan um Megan is a mistal member who covers Lake bradic but she knew she had two Lake bradic parents here at the Das and so she kindly gave up her her her spot to celebrate so thank you Megan for that and um and I always apologize to Lake bradic because they had two Schoolboard member kids there so um and you guys did a great job congratulations Lake bradic keep up for another amazing 50 years of graduating amazing human beings and with that we're gonna let Miss mclin speak

034I I I did graciously say to the two of them while I share almost 50% of the uh school magistery there was no way I was getting between rachna and lake bradock so uh I I doo though um have a special place in my heart um for 12 years it has been a true honor to be one of the Schoolboard members who not only represents the lake Brad Community but actually has it in her magisterial District just down the road um I have many fond memories of lake bradic and some of them have been tough ones because as people know I had three boys come through Woodson all athletes in multiple Sports and we were constantly playing Lake bradic and while football was a very painful four years um no competition there uh we did

035have some good wins in men's basketball and in swimming uh but what I can say uh in representing the school is uh to the leadership um currently led by principal Lindsay Kars and her incredible team um and uh supervised by Penny gross uh Lake bradic truly reflects the very best that we hope for in our Fairfax County Schools it is uh a community of love a community of achievement a community of support and uh to be able to be a part of that in some small way uh to realize um how magical after decades and decades and as we are celebrating tonight the golden 50 years it's much to be proud of so congratulations to the entire Bruins uh I do love to wear your purple and gold when it's not against Woodson warmest congrats

036okay with that I will call for the vote those in favor okay that's Miss cobt Sanders Dr Anderson miss mclin miss mcari miss Tolen Miss Dar kofax Miss ke Kamara Miss Marin Miss om Miss Cohen and Miss seiser Heiser fantastic okay agenda item 2.07 the vsba that's Virginia Schoolboard Association business honor Ro Proclamation I call a Miss Dara kofax thank you madam chare whereas public schools and local businesses and not for-profits are an integral part of our community and whereas many local businesses and Community organizations play a crucial role in supporting our school and whereas the economic health of our community State and Nation depends on a strong public school system and whereas collaboration between local public schools and local businesses and Community organizations strengthens schools and the business's communities alike by providing a well-trained

037healthy and highly educated Workforce and whereas an excellent public school system is vital to the quality of life in Fairfax County and fundamental to preserving a strong Democratic Society now and in the future therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board names the Children's Science Center greater Washington partnership and real foods for kids to the 2023 Virginia school boards Association business honorable showing appreciation for East each entity's ongoing support of fairfx County Public Schools your work has aided this community focusing on the goal of providing the best public schools we can each and every child who attends is there a second second thank you Miss hes Mna kex would you like to speak to your Proclamation yes Madam chair I do want to take this opportunity to share our deep appreciation to the

038Children's Science Center greater Washington partnership and real foods for kids each has provided very meaningful support to FCPS this year an important year of connection and reconnection and this recognition is well deserved for each and every one of them the Children's Science Center and FCPS ignite partner for five years regularly presents engaging family science nights involving a host of volunteers who provide Dynamic Hands-On steam activities to students students and this year the Children's Science Center will support 18 tital one schools in FCPS with family science nights greater Washington partnership provides FCPS students with connections to Real World Experience through external ex externship opportunities their ready Pathways initiative is where FCPS students explore experiences in it so that when employers from government and Healthcare to arts and energy hire workers they might hire a known quantity

039a trained FCPS student and real foods for kids we began our partnership with them in 2012 when former School Board member Ryan mine took the lead with our board to evaluate our countywide food offerings and created the Statesman station pilot kitchen real foods for Kids mission is to change eating behaviors and improve health outcomes for children and families in the greater Washington region their sustainable access to Whole Foods impactful nutrition education and local systemic policy changes so after 12 years we are now Contin we have now reopened all of our salad bars in every school and we're moving forward with scratch kitchens and restaurants have adopted recipes from the real foods kids culinary challenge I want to thank each and every one of you for your endeavors to connect our students and our families to

040the broader Community thank you and congratulations for you are FCPS is 2023 Virginia school boards Association honorable recipients and we truly appreciate Miss amasa would you like to speak to your second yes thank you um and I'll try not to repeat too much of what Miss DNA kofac said I um so grateful to these organizations there are yet other examples of folks in the community who have decided to step up and contribute and be part of the solution as we all know the old adage it takes a village to raise a child and no doubt local business contributes to our community's success and supports public education the vsba business honor Ro is just a small way for us to recognize local business and their for their support and it's a way that helps us say

041thank you for their vital contributions we're grateful for all the public private Partnerships and this recognition helps highlight and uplift these Partners who do such incredible work uh mentioning a few things that weren't mentioned the Children's Science Center specifically started 18 years ago as an all volunteer effort so students out there get inspired um but has been a part of our partnership for five years and they've regularly regularly presented engaging family science science nights which were mentioned but that also add to our our curriculum and support our activities through stem initiatives and activities in our schools science technology engineering and math of course uh and this school year the Children's Science Center will be supporting 18 of our Title One schools in FCPS with family science nights I'd be remiss not to mention their explicit

042commitment to supporting those who are underserved and using stem to empower communities and also I want to give a big shout out to Natalie Anderson who was a passionate volunteer who introduced me to this wonderful organization uh and tan Spivy who are the executive director I don't know if she's with us but who's LED this wonderful organization since 2010 uh real food for kids also um has been a partner with us for 12 years and who's especially important this time uh because we did lose some funding for for supporting our kids with meals after coid uh and that's left many families uh uh with with gaps that we still need to address um the uh real foods for kids has been supporting our instructional services department and guiding some of the family and consumer Sciences

043teams uh teen teen living as as it's better known in schools uh and I've certainly been a fan of the culinary challenges that have been hosted that Foster Innovation among student chefs teaching them how to make healthy food flavorful uh the last one was hosted at Robinson I have to shut that out after Lake bradock sorry um but uh kids were making vegetarian dishes and getting creative with food uh so these and and yet again another instructional opportunity to show our young chefs the opportunity that that exists in in and the challenges uh that uh are part of setting up school venues so better appreciation for our staff and finally the greater Washington partnership whose ready Pathways initiative is where FCPS students explore their experiences in Information Technology preparing them for the workforce and potential

044employers have already recognized from government to healthcare and energy uh and know that when they hire a quality candidate that's finished this program they have classroom and world real world experiences that they're able to contribute to a future career so that's just a little bit about these wonderful organizations I want to to thank them again uh and I'm sure my you know alongside my colleagues for their contribution and we look forward to additional Partnerships uh in the future that further support our students thank you Miss C Sanders would you like to speak yes I wanted to just briefly talk about the inspirational leadership of each of these organizations people stepping up to fill niches but also you often about the three to succeed that every child needs and each of these organizations represent the importance

045of that third pillar which is caring individuals in our community and so I know um I'm looking out at one of my constituents Mary Porter who uh I got to know about real food for kids well before I was on the board because of the work that Mary was doing and frankly the work that Ryan mline was doing working with Mary on these initiatives and the importance that if our children have healthy diets and healthy food then they prosper in the classroom but it's also a pathway to success that these kids participating in these programs are inspired to pursue careers that are um that they get to explore as being part of these competitions so thank you very much I appreciate you all Miss Cohen would you like to speak I would I uh have

046had the Good Fortune of getting getting to know a few of these folks and very grateful um I I think this is just such an amazing example I can't think of another year where what I've seen is three organizations who find a need find a gap um and figure out through an awful lot of their own personal sacrifice and service um how to bridge that Gap and you know we say all the time we can't do it alone and you all are just such a model example um of the kinds of Community Partnerships that we need to have to give these opportunities to our kids that really enrich their lives and as Miss Corbett sandard says um said you know also give them more trusted adults in their lives more opportunities to explore uh career

047Pathways and we're just so grateful for you and I did want to since Miss omsh did such a lovely job of highlighting um the family science nights I did just want to say um that a whole chunk of the team from the science museum is not here tonight because they are actually doing a family science night at one of our schools tonight so um thank you so much thank you for all that you do and we're really um so pleased to have the opportunity to give you all a shout out thank you Miss Baron yeah I think these three uh organizations and the conversation for me really focused around partnership filling gaps and accountability so you know the Children's Science Center we don't have a renowned Science Center in our area here and years ago

048people had the foresight to say what if we did have a space and when my kids were little we would go to this lab space and it has grown to be something that can come to schools and even I was reading a school newsletter today and they said we we won the we won the science center to come and help and you know you're filling a gap that the community you know that others you know haven't been able to sustain a large building it takes time when it comes to uh greater Washington partnership you know I see our Career Tech staff here there's so many Partnerships that make the career Force education work I mean there's just so much you could teach a kid in a classroom right they got to get out and see

049what's really happening and so that it's just so critical even you know in a week or two I'm meeting with the local Chamber of Commerce and Ron we know that that these Partnerships are valuable but we know that business also wants to be partners with us to get those great employer um those employees and lastly real food for kids um I was at the event when we you hosted Chef Anne Cooper the Renegade lunch lady who has gone on to really create the tools to bring salad bars to schools and um so much so when I was out there one year I I went to visit her and just kind of to say oh my gosh I think you're amazing and it was from that experience but you were filling a gap and I'm so

050pleased that superintendent Reed has now helped to fill that Gap as it should be it's our school division's responsibility to provide the healthy food um we got wayed with the salad bars during coid but whatever they're in um and you know we're going to have an expo with our new food nutrition service director is going to do an event with student food there's a time and a place for partnership and then there's a time for the system to take it on and do it and I'm really glad that we're in that space and I know we're not going to say goodbye in our partnership but you got us here so thank you Miss mclin with 12 voices we're always trying to be a little mindful that uh there's a lot that can be said and

051it can make a meeting run very long uh but there's no way I could pass up a moment in particular to look out to my friends former fellow advocates in the community from real food for kids um it's bittersweet to think what it took to get here um and being a community former Community Advocate it's not fun sometimes to tackle FCPS as it used to be um and so so I hope that what we're celebrating here tonight is first and foremost you all of you for your tenacity and your willingness to fight fight fight and then I look at Mr mline I see Mr Moon um Miss Dar kofax we were on the front lines to try and help you as new board members to really Elevate and get our school division to understand Food

052Matters you know children cannot be optimal in learning if they do not have healthy food and you helped lead us there we had a Consultants group that came in to help get us there but if you had not stepped up I can't imagine where we wouldd be sitting here today and so Dr Reed that uh walk through history Lane um you know it looks really easy right now because we've been really lucky and I want to thank my current board members because you've continued to carry the torch and the belief in Why Real Food Matters for kids um you know I wanted those sad bars up and running a lot faster than we got them going especially at the high schools where we have such a 50% of our kids um but again with tremendous

053gratitude as a parent as a Fairfax County resident as a board member you guys are amazing and um I also want to say to the Children's Science Center I've really been fortunate um to have the Outreach from them um we are trying to ensure that Northern Virginia benefits what Southern Virginia already has um a a state sponsored Science Center so that we can build scientists and people interested in stem and uh we are not there yet um but you as well have recognized a need that we have not been able to fulfill not just in our schools because we don't have resources um but that in a county where our poverty continues to grow we cannot continue to think that children only discover the sciences and stem Fields through their families or their neighborhoods it

054needs to be done as a collective community so thank you for what you're doing as well and I stand ready to keep helping along the way and to the greater Washington partnership thank you as well for continuing to be part of our village that helps to raise a child it makes a tremendous difference and uh you know Jay Grant I know that you continue to be so much a Connecting Point for this School Division in our community so I want to say Especial thank you to you because you are a lean and mean machine we uh really need to get more resources for you and your team um but you help make the difference too so thank you Miss seiser Heiser would you like to speak just briefly because I I know a lot of

055my colleagues have spoken already and and I agree with many of the things they're saying I just wanted to share personally um for the science center and the the science museum You're Building I when I moved here from Cali from California in 2001 I was really surprised at how little Northern Virginia had I when my I was pregnant with my son and my daughter was a toddler and we had gone to so many fun Hands-On science places for young children in in Northern California and I came here I was like where is everything outside of DC right and so to see it come to Northern Virginia where our families can enjoy it where we don't have to travel into DC or I used to drive to Baltimore so I just applaud you for bringing science

056to our students in a Hands-On interactive way and expanding it and then also partnering with the schools to make sure that we have it here it is just amazing and and for real foods for kids I was just sidebarr with Dr Reed saying we need to start like culinary competitions like kids baking Challenge and things like that to get kids really into the things that they see on TV I know so many my friends kids are doing these challenges at home it would be fun to kind of bring that in the schools too but I just want to thank you for and I know it's maybe not quite your your um your uh Mission but I just think anything to get the kids excited about creating with food is is amazing right and but I

057just want to thank you for bringing science to Northern Virginia where families can enjoy it together and where young kids get can get excited about science so wonderful and thank you for your Partnerships Miss berski thank you I too want to lend my voice and just say a thank you to these three organizations my personal experience with the Children's Science Center has been as a PTA president many moons ago um where I've been able to coordinate some of these family science nights and they are truly amazing and I hope that is a resource that anybody who is listening right now who is involved um our parents this this is an incredible way to get kids excited about stem and it's fun um and it's so easy to set up so I I I I hope

058people take advantage of it because it really uh is amazing and you've done wonderful things for our students and ignited um excitement uh and of course real food for kids we we've been working together for a while um thank you for for pushing us to where we are today I've enjoyed your culinary challenges um you know that chantilli uh food um our kid chefs uh was event was amazing and I think you know when we hired Dr Reed and I spoke to you and I said you know I think I think we're going to be in a good place right now I think this is what we've been waiting for what you've been pushing us towards and I hope you're seeing that um right from the very top that nutrition for our children healthy options

059to fuel their minds and their bodies so that they're prepared to do well in school to be academically focused is taken very seriously and and I cannot wait to see uh the changes that are going to be coming through for our kids and I I thank you thank you for bringing us here okay seeing no other board members that would like to speak I would just make a couple of comments um so many amazing things have been said about these organizations already um but I just want to make sure people know this these relationships go back a long ways I see Joanne sitting here um I was working at Marshall High School at the time that Marshall was being renovated and they were one of the first schools to get the multiple lunch Lines Just

060based on your advocacy and we spent many hours Walking The Halls of Marshall working on this project so I so appreciate it and I think we mentioned that we have an official partnership with the Children's Science Center of five years I maybe that's the official one that Mr Grant has worked on but I remember much longer than 5 years ago um being on the science team and we just talked about this a week or so ago that there were many many conversations with the Children's Science Center at the very beginning in our um science experts and and curriculum experts on you know what what this could be and what could happen and and lots and lots of excitement around it and I understand you are celebrating your 20y year anniversary very soon and um just

061the incredible progress that you have made over that time is really remarkable so thank you for being here tonight to both of both of you and and to our other partner here as well the greater Washington partnership so with that I will call for the vote all those in favor that's Miss Corbett Sanders Dr Anderson Miss McLaughlin Miss marcari Miss Tolen Miss Daren kofax Miss ke gamara Miss Mar Miss am Miss Cohen and Miss seiser Heiser thank you and I guess that is unanimous all right um with that we would like to invite family members staff and community members who are here this evening um in support of the vsba honor role awarde Children's Science Center to please join the board for a photo at the front of the dis please note that we we

062will be taking a photo with each of the vsba business honor awarde separately so I ask that my colleagues remain at the Das for the next photos e okay I would like I would like to invite those here in support of vsba business honor rooll awarde greater Washington partnership to please join the board for a photo I would like to invite those here in support of vsba business honor role awarde real food for kids to please join the board for a photo e I would like to invite those here in support of the Lake bradoock Secondary School 50th Anniversary proclamation to please join the board for a photo e [Music] I would like to invite those here in support of the Proclamation honoring Daniel amof to please join the board for a photo e okay

063we are moving on to agenda item 3.01 Community participation the next order of business is community participation we welcome all community members who are here and those who signed up to to speak this evening community members can sign up to provide comments at Schoolboard regular business meetings and public hearings on the school board's websites at regular business meetings speakers May address any school related issue except those that have been scheduled for public hearings such as the capital Improvement program budget and boundaries comments targeting criticizing or attacking individual students are not permitted during public meetings comp complaints regarding school-based employees should be directed to the appropriate School principal or other school officials speakers should not use personally identifiable information and connection with an individual student or a school-based employee additionally speakers should be respectful and observe

064proper deorum in their statements avoiding profanity inappropriate gestures shouting and comments that run counter to the spirit and letter of the school division's non-discrimination ation policy which protects students and staff from discrimination based on age race color sex sexual orientation gender identity religion National or origin marital status or disability speakers must limit their remarks to no more than two minutes direct their comments to the school board and should remain at the podium until concluding their remarks additionally only the speaker May stand at the podium they may not be joined by others speaker substitutions are not permitted a speaker may not yield their time to another individual at the conclusion of two minutes the microphone or video will be turned off Schoolboard members will be listening but not responding we ask audience members to be respectful

065of one another shouting and Outburst will not be tolerated audience members should hold their Applause until the conclusion of a speaker's remarks and remain at their seats including when video recording or taking photos we are grateful to those that have come to speak to us today and thank you for your cooperation Madame clerk please call the first Speaker Joseph Bailey um good uh good evening um everybody uh my name is Joseph and um I uh I kind of had a script but I just going to um you know go for it um so I've lived in a lot of places um before here I lived in Hawaii and before Hawaii I lived in China and before China I lived here and um I've played volleyball basically like my whole life kind of or at least

066since elementary school and um I feel I feel like it's created a lot of good memories for me um you know I remember doing barbecue nights at Seth Low's house and playing volleyball in his backyard and I also remember playing you know uh volleyball in middle school and um I think that you know when you I'm pretty close to graduating in sophomore and so I only have a couple years left I think that it's not really you know your GR in chemistry or things like this that you bring with you but it's um the memories on your sports team and stuff like that and um so I think that making a Varsity Sport will probably kind of like make it more serious and will just make it like a better experience you know we have

067the um the interest there was a lot of kids who came to the tryouts and um we're just lacking some funding right now I think um we've got you know great coaches and um parents who participate and I'm really grateful for that and um so yeah I think that um yeah I think we're just lacking some funding honestly and um you know yes sorry CU I'm I am a little bit short on time um anyways yeah um some other good memories I think are um in middle school we got to play uh volleyball um like during recess and stuff so that was nice and um anyways uh thank you for your time and okay Payton Walcott okay t t sweet so hello everyone my name is Peyton and I'm coming here for the same issue

068as Joseph and that is I firmly believe that we should have boys volleyball be a varc sport in Fairfax County and I think the main premise for that argument rests mainly upon the fact the opportunities just do not align with the popularity of volleyball in Fairfax County we currently have two main volleyball clubs operating out of Fairfax County the St James program which is in Springfield and then nvva I remember going to the St James trial just two years ago and I have friends that tried out this past year when I tried out there were over 120 boys who showed up this next year or this year 150 boys showed up and only 20 made the team and with nvva a similar amount showed up and similar amount made the team and so what boys

069are having to do in Fairfax county is they're either having to stop playing volleyball if they picked it up too late and weren't skilled enough to make these Advanced teams or they're having to travel all the way to Maryland and rush hour traffic to try to make the the practices at 5 p.m. even though they're on school nights which is just if you know the traffic going up to Maryland is really difficult to do and it really is sacrificing academics and then also regards to just the school I think the importance of volleyball rests not only in the activity that boys are getting from the sport you're getting physical fitness which is much needed in this country but you're also developing connections with your friends and with teammates I think one issue that's really plaguing

070high schoolers today is largely mental illness and while I haven't personally suffered from that I have testimonies from many of my club teammates many of my school teammates who came with anxiety from school and their only release was boys volleyball and so I can just think about the popularity mixed with all these very popular issues and the fact that boys volleyball can really bring a strong group of very responsible young men together and can help them develop important skills that they'll carry throughout their lives I think it's a very important thing that we need to push and a strong reason why we need um boys volleyball to be of RC sport here in Fairfax County thank you Seth [Applause] llo hello board members my name is Seth llo I'm a junior at Langley High School

071now I know what you're all thinking I'm wearing a tuxedo to give more validity to my thoughts and you're exactly right I'm just kidding I just sang the national anthem with the langy magic RS here so I'm also talking about boys volleyball today going to provide some more of the facts and the interest uh that we've had so you may not remember but I spoke at this uh same meeting about a year ago about boys volleyball becoming a sanctioned sport since that time I as well as many others namely my mom and a coalition of other parents have worked with Rob Bailey to fulfill the requirements for boys volleyball to be an improved sport set by Dr Reid and Bill Kern's office in their July meeting uh about boys volleyball since then we've made significant

072progress and we're now asking you to help set the ball in motion see what I did there in specific the interest at Langley High School has skyrocketed over the past year last year we had 10 boys try out for the team and this year we had 31 boys try out for the team and this is with no formal advertisement other than Word of Mouth also our interest Club spiked from 30 members to 150 members as Joseph mentioned and we have a lot of our team here tonight um it's not only happening at Langley though I know some of the concern was that it maybe started at Langley but not other schools uh for example anandale High School this year has over 45 boys registered South County had over 60 boys interested but couldn't accommodate all

073of them on the team uh Woodson has over 50 boys registered uh I've played their team a few times and Lewis High School has over 34 five boys registered and is planning to make two teams so in total the Northern Virginia boys volleyball league which all these teams play in spiked from 35 teams last year to 48 this year this means that this league has seen a 300% increase in the last four years uh last four years alone we've seen incredible growth in boys volleyball and FCP thank you Mora [Applause] camp um hi my name is Mora Campion um I'm a sixth grader at Great Falls Elementary um and I'm also part of the climate Conservation Club um I wanted to come here today to talk about reducing cafeteria waste and schools I believe this

074cause is very important because landfills are piling up with waste and particularly plastic um Fairfax County schools use plastic utensils which kids use every day and in my my School Great Falls Elementary um the cafeteria offers plastic forks spoons and knives along with plastic trays which are used one time and then thrown away there are 199 schools and centers in great fair in Fairfax County and if half the students use a plastic fork spoon and knife every day um in the landfill there will be two statues of Liberty and one year Alone um but we don't really need to have two Statue of Liberties in our land um there's better ways to do this and one of the ways is us kids can use reusable utensils and Trays but all we need is Fairfax County

075to buy them um us kids could also be a part of cleaning them but really at the end of the day it's us who um are going to have this problem when we grow up and all the generations after us um the climate Conservation Club circulated a petition calling on schools in Fairfax County to make a difference by reducing um waste created by cafeterias um so all of us we walked around our neighborhoods to persuade people into acknowledging that this is an important cause um Our Hope was to get over a 100 signatures together and we succeeded in doing that so um right here is the petition um and this is only one of them which I have done um but we have multiple others um and the decision that fairfa County could do well

076I should I should have mentioned earlier if you have a written script you can certainly hand it to our Clerk and and for any of you and we'll make sure that the Schoolboard gets it Andrew cow uh testing okay hi good evening my name is Andrew cow and I represent the boys interest club for volleyball as well as the boys volleyball club uh Team so starting High School I was e eager to contribute my skills and experience um from volleyball to the Langley Community but um as I searched through all the pl the pamphlets brochures and all the club interest forms I just couldn't find boys volleyball within that group and I asked my counselors where the boys volleyball team was only to be returned with a puzzled look and him saying what like there

077is no boys volleyball team and frantic like I frantically you know I went into a frenzy started researching clubs Sports and how we can make this a reality but I thought I was the only one fighting this battle and I grew very disheartened until I realized that one of my um great uh friends would be sitting right next to me in chemistry St lllo and after exchanging our uh passion of volleyball uh you know we gathered a bunch of members up to really kick this off and our progress today is evident of all the effort we put in every person sitting behind me in that crowd is here because because of their Blood Sweat and Tears blood from diving to save impossible balls finger pain from too many jammed fingers and wrists that have received

078impacts from powerful spikes sweat from hours of drills practice and focus and tears but not just tears of defeat and failure but also tears of joy when we we triumphed uh such as when we almost won the championship last year by realizing this dream we can provide students with the proper structure and resources to play the sport that we all love so much our mentality on the court is how our mentality when speaking into today we will spare no effort in making volleyball a Varsity Sport Ethan Pao Ethan puu hello hello my name is Ethan Pooh and I'm a senior at langy high school I just wanted to share a short synopsis about my volleyball experience throughout high school before my freshman year I had already played volleyball for a couple of Summers where I

079started to love volleyball at the beginning of freshman year I look at the list of Varsity Sports we offer and volleyball just isn't there then sophomore year goes by and still no volleyball not even a club team I'm always asking around and meeting up with friends just to pass a ball back and forth it feels like volleyball doesn't even want me to play junior year comes around and I start coaching for a local boys team with my friend on the girls varsity team all of my kids were fired up coming to every practice we meet every week put in the work and have fun while doing it not to brag but we ended up winning the championship the kids asked me relentlessly about Langley's team I had to tell them once again volleyball just isn't

080a Varsity Sport this year my senior year I finally get to wear this jersey to represent my school's colors so this sport is about providing opportunities for the young boys who are passionate about volleyball it's about giving the opportunity to the next generation of athletes we need to Foster the growing interest in this amazing sport thank you for your [Applause] time student number seven good evening my name is Ethan lamb and I am a junior at Langley High School I'm here on behalf of making boys volleyball an official School sport for several years Fairfax County student athletes coaches parents residents and other supporters have advocated for the approval of boys high school volleyball as a recognized inter Scholastic club and ideally a varsity High School sport why indoors indoor boys volleyball is rapidly gaining popularity

081in the United States is and is now considered one of the fastest growing Sports in the country with respect Fairfax County um Fairfax County lags behind during Co IID lost interest in the many things in many things including the two sports that I had mainly done and by the time that I came back to school I felt that I had no place in it not being able to be an avid part of the community being able to represent the school gives us students a sense of Pride and motivation to strive for higher and together we can achieve such goal as students we have shown that interest exists and continues to grow significantly in the in the northern Virginia area similar to the rapid growth across the Mid-Atlantic States so far we've gathered we've gathered signature

082lists enlisted coaches and supporters and educated our principles and a athletic directors now with your help we hope to make an FCPS High School boys volleyball program a reality thank [Applause] you Vanessa Hall hi I was waiting for more students um my name is Vanessa Hall and I have two children in FCPS uh at the last school board meeting my heart broke listening to adults demonizing and dehumanizing students which is why I'm so appreciative of your continued support of sccps Regulation 2603 regarding gender expansive and transgender students your action supports the rights of students and parents while abiding by state and federal civil rights regulations and policies those same speakers demanded that you get back to basics like Reading Writing and math but this get back to the basics rhetoric focuses only on subject matter

083while ignoring key Basics like safety and inclusion which are critically necessary to ensure that students have the opportunity to succeed in and out of school research shows that when students feel unsafe or excluded at school their ability to learn and succeed in school decreases dramatically students cannot learn if they fear their hijab will be ripped off or that a gunman will enter the school students cannot learn if they fear being outed by a teacher or are prevented from using the bathroom of their gender gender identity students cannot learn if they're abused at home or excluded at school inclusion means making sure that every student can see themselves in the books and history lessons but also among the Educators it means Equitable support and accessible classes for students with disabilities and English language Learners yet it

084also includes offering advanced math for all or maybe even volleyball students support school safety and inclusion they've said this again and again in surveys and their advocacy they've walked out against gun violence and walked out in support of inclusion of and respect for lgbtqia students thus it really makes me wonder why so many adults seem angry about these kind of Basics since most adults do not spend half of their lives in school every day thank [Applause] you Christine Holdman thank you ladies and gentlemen of the school board and thank you for giving me the opportunity to address you today I stand before you as a concered citizen advocate for the freedom of thought and expression in our schools book Banning is a subjective process that can be influenced by personal bias politics and cultural factors

085it results in certain groups or individuals having undue influence on what our students can and cannot read have you heard the saying what's good for the goose is is good for the gander well all political groups or cultures can use the ban the other guy's book as a strategy and before long the only book in the library maybe will be Herald in the Purple Crayon maybe I haven't read it in a long time when books and ideas that address uh important and often sensitive talks are removed from schools and libraries and curriculum it can have several negative impacts suppression of a diverse perspectives this can reinforce existing prejudices and stereotypes and this inhibits any society from advancing to be a more perfect union Banning books often explores The Experience band books often explore the experience

086of marginalized and minority groups and a lack of exposure can lead to a lack of empathy Andor ignorance of what the realities are faced by these other groups and and really aren't we all in some sense a marginalized group don't we all wish that they could understand us better in the terms of in terms of History we need to teach our young people all of The Good the Bad and the Ugly of our past history and then we can look at our current society and say what are our prejudice what are our stereotypes how can we be better Banning of book books and ideas Fosters fearful environment and a follow Jennifer lton [Applause] tid a report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds in the United States one in seven children are neglected or

087abused used in FCPS one in seven is over 25,000 children in child abuse cases 77% of children were victimized by a parent abused and neglected children are nine times more likely to be involved in criminal activity and live two decades less 40% of 4.2 million homeless minors are lgbtq that's 1.6 million nationally 16% of lgbtq Youth reported that they ran away from home with 55% of those reporting that they ran away because of abuse and or fear of abuse due to being lgbtq 14% of queer miners say they were kicked out or abandoned 177% of FCPS students identify as lgbtq that's 30,600 half of them reported feeling depressed four times Fairfax uh lgbtq children reported having suicide ideation than their siset peers why is the state more concerned with protecting the parents some children fear

088than the children who fear their parents 57% of child abuse is detected in schools by trusted adults the parents matter movement blly ignores the existence of Parental child abuse and neglect which endangers all children please ignore election year culture wars save lives instead Joseph Miller does this start or is there a button I need to press here okay um you preside over a segregation scheme that disproportionately assigns black and Latino census blocks to soall split feeder elementary schools in some cases 50% of these schools are Hispanic or Latino the outcome is that our black and Latino students travel farther distances to get to middle and high school this is a physical barrier to the classroom and creates unnecessary bus routes that ultimately cost taxpayers money this is a pretext P FCPS says it has split

089feeders to address overc capacity issues but in some cases these schools are still designated as split feeders even after the capacity issue has been removed in Sully District uh Green Brier East continues to be designated a split feeder School even though the uh closest Middle School Rocky Run is now projected to be at 67% capacity uh students who live in segregated in segregation era communities like uh Greenbrier continue to uh attend uh Rocky Ron Middle School while students in census blocks outside of greenb attend Rock attend Katherine Johnson which isn't even in the same High School pyramid and Katherine Johnson has projected to have a uh capacity of 83% compared to 67% at the closest Middle School uh a recent Penn State VCU study found that segregation in Virginia is highest in Northern Virginia and

090the school board simply can't uh pretend that this isn't happening anymore I urge the school board to take immediate action to uh provide uh more substantial oversight over planning uh and facilities and to remove uh split feeder status of elementary schools where it's no no longer necessary or legally justifiable on under the Civil Rights Act thank you Sher cuffle right um good evening everyone uh I've been researching library books at Shanty high school and i' like to read an excerpt from one that I came across today it's suggested reading in some of the English classes it's called The Bluest Eye by Tony Morrison the overview of the book on the website um States prola breed love a young 11-year-old black girl prays every day for beauty she wishes she had blonde hair and blue eyes

091so she would fit in at her school unfortunately she faces a lot of Strife in her life the author finishes with the statement a powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and Conformity and as we all know social media doesn't help with that so we have Charlie he's a grown man and prola is an 11-year-old on page 149 I'll read quote prola lost her balance Charlie raised his hands to her hips to save her from falling he Pat his head down and nibbled at the back of her leg his mouth trembled at the sweet firmness of her flesh this 11-year-old he closed his eyes her body was rigid her throat silent a bolt of excitement ran down his genitals and softened the lips of his anus he wanted to F her tenderly but the tightness

092of her vagina was more than he could bear he thrust into her until he is done end quote he realizes that she's passed out and covers her with the quilt she wakes up wondering what the pain between her legs is as her mom Looms over her my question is what educational value is this kind of book this is in our high school if my 15-year-old son who would be in nth grade got a copy of this book I would be horrified I don't understand why things like this are in the school and it's suggested reading and this happens this gentleman touches little girls he abuses all kind of women in this book and this is what's in our high school thank you [Applause] Maryann Burke good evening I'm Maryann Burke and um as you all

093probably know all these Schoolboard seats are up for election this November and you can tell things are heating up because false claims are circulating about this current School Board One false claim is that the decline in SAT scores shows that the Fairfax County Public Schools are failing and the claim suggests that this will lead to a drop in property values in the county and it's on a particular website particular um uh party's website but school districts across Virginia and other states and around the globe had similar declines in SAT scores between 2018 and 202 to and fairx County students perform above the state and Global sat averages rather than blaming the decline in SAT scores on one's opponent candidates should recognize other factors that influence SAT scores fewer students now take the test compared to

094in the past only three quarters of the students Nationwide took the test in 2021 compared to 2020 80% of colleges and universities no longer require SAT scores with applications so fewer students are reporting their scores to colleges and fewer students are retaking the test for better scores also there is a shift in profile of students taking the test standing on the computer for May I continue not sure what's happening are we okay okay please continue okay also there's a shift of the profile of students taking the test free and more accessible testing has allowed more students from lower income families to take the test and this these data show that these students tend to score lower than those from higher income families and students who do not plan to attend college are now taking the

095test because it's free and during the school day so why not perfix county is part of a nationwide movement to deemphasize entrance exams within the college admissions process please tell people to don't be fooled [Applause] please play the video submitted by Stephanie lanquist Aurora we don't have any sound apologies one second are are we able to fix this video please the tech team is working on it we will restart Miss List's video as soon as they have addressed the issue Madam chair we're having an issue with the video um it's coming out of the truck they are trying to resolve it should we take a five minute break is this a five minute issue or if we could take a 5 minute break that would be great okay so we need to watch this video

096thank you okay board members in the public we will reconvene in five minutes um to see their video good evening I appreciate the ability to opt out our ch e okay board members if you could please um return to the Das we need to continue public participation okay Madam chair we have resolved the video issue so if the booth could play the video video please good evening I appreciate the ability to opt out our children this year from social emotional learning lessons that was a necessary first step to honor parental rights I kindly request that you extend that option to equity lessons which include topics like white privilege my children for example are mixed race and I don't need teachers or school Equity officers telling them how to interpret that or encouraging them to view

097their friends in racial terms as a parent I also do not believe our children should be sharing bathrooms and locker rooms with students of the opposite sex as FCPS policy currently dictates aside from students being uncomfortable this poses a significant safety threat as we learned from the two sexual assault cases in Lowden County public schools in 20121 I think if you surveyed parents across Fairfax County and asked them if they wanted their children to share vulnerable spaces with the opposite sex you would find that we would overwhelmingly vote no we do not if you ask us if we have the right to private information about our children's gender identities we would vote Yes we do but FCPS is in defiance of parents in both of these cases you revealed your hand at the July work

098session when you said the majority doesn't always dictate right you are currently representing a tyrannical minority and we know it despite 84% of respondents disagreeing with your illogical changes to the Family Life education curriculum you are still trying to find a way to force that through you were elected to represent your constituents and preserve the safety of all children but you are failing we kindly request that you educate our children and leave the parenting to us thank you madam chair that was our last public speaker thank you you and apologies for the technological difficulties 3.02 academic matters Dr Reed will now share academic matters good evening Madam chair and thank thank you for the opportunity to share academic matters this evening uh we're excited to bring an update to the board on our compensatory education

099uh process we've had a tremendous amount of work uh put forward uh by many many staff across the division over the course of last spring in particular and over the summer and the fall and we're really excited um to share the progress we've made in the implementation of the uh plan could we go ahead and move to the next slide thank you so one of the things that I want to make sure that we're clear as we close in on this uh process is that to date we have conducted extensive communication with our families on the compensatory education process across the division we've held uh a number of over 30,000 IEP and 504 meetings uh provided more than 27,000 hours of compensatory services to students and processed a significant amount of family reimbursements in this

100case um we've paid out already um more than 5.5 million um to families in private services so there's been a tremendous amount of work and I think it's important that both our community um and our and you uh really recognize how hard our staff have been working um as we uh complete this process so one of the things that I want to share are some uh details and at this time we're currently 96.7% complete with the conferences and this is data regarding the number of meetings up to date as of August 28th we've continued to uh hold more meetings since August 28th and fully expect that we'll have 100% of our meetings held by October 15th which is when we've had um an extension granted by the office of civil rights so the office of

101civil rights and our contact with them have been very complimentary of the community's efforts um and that's why they agreed to an extension until October 15th again our staff continues to work very hard and we also want to note that our continued Outreach will continue um and is ongoing until all those families in the incomplete um or not started category have been contact conted and met with so one of the things that we wanted to also share is that it's each of these I AP meetings the over 30,000 have been held and the 504 team meetings it's actually at that table that collaborative table where the eligibility has been determined for compensatory Services based on the collaborative conversations around the individual student data these determinations have been tracked centrally and in terms of service hours

10220.4% of students were determined to be eligible with over 60,000 hours of services provided by Fairfax County Public School staff the services can include instructional related Services life skills and employability services several examples of these delivery methods have included before or after school summer school or individual schools that are colocated with extended um with esy summer programs and Regional sites for Saturday programming families also have had an opportunity to have private provider options when those are discussed at IEP meetings and those may be through parental reimbursement or more recently we're working on Direct paid EV vendors because we know that that can be a hardship to have parental reimbursement I do want to share that with regard to uh family reimbursements as of August 31st we have dispersed 5 .5 million the majority of which

103was based on coverage of needs during the pandemic period from April 14th 2020 through June 10th of 2022 approximately 3,000 IEPs have been found eligible for reimbursement to date and that we do acknowledge that some families have experienced process issues that have delayed reimbursement and we apologize for that and appreciate our community's patience with that Pro process we're currently addressing delays we have mobilized and moved staff into um that pipeline process so that we're able to speed up reimbursements in particular and as I mentioned earlier we've streamlined processes to be able to pay vendors directly in terms of our ongoing actions and where we're headed um with this project again I want to remind uh the board and our community that in our continued conversations and colle collaboration with the office of civil rights they

104have expressed uh gratitude to the FCPS team for our progress on the agreement and they have been complimentary of the efforts including reporting and the support of this process ongoing audits by both FCPS and OCR will continue to support Improvement and process efforts and this process I just want to end with saying it has been a huge heavy lift for our staff and for our families and our students and we're pleased with the high percentage of participation participation and discussions of I AP teams and offer our grateful thanks to all involved in the process so that is academic matters this evening Miss Tolen thank you I have at least one board member with questions Dr Anderson I know this is a surprise to all thank you for this very important report um I just want

105to ask some questions that have been asked of me um regarding some of this work but before I get there I do want to say thank you to all of the staff I know this was a huge lift um from our central office folks who are trying to facilitate and and um administer what it was going to look like to our classroom teachers and case managers who had to carry this out this is significant so this is not a small feat and I want to be sure to highlight that one of the things that I'd like for you to to kind of highlight a little bit more you spoke about it but I think a little bit too quickly because I really want to make sure that our parents are guarant are understand how the

106eligibility eligibility is determined um because when one looks at that data set that says only 20.4 students so nearly 80% of those cases have not been found eligible I want to have Clarity that this is not a predetermined um decision it's not one where there's a very clear set of criteria but rather one that is highly individualized so if you could speak to that process a little bit more I would appreciate it thank you Dr Anderson um indeed 20.4% of the students were determined eligible and that included over 60,000 hours of service that were provided those decisions were made at the IEP table which was a collaborative conversation between Fairfax County staff and students um and families at the table not always students but Fairfax County um staff and families I do and same with

107the 504 so as during the course of those conversations a variety of types of data assessment data um anecdotal data conversations come to bear and decisions are made at that point about what um would best meet the needs of that student moving forward so it is a unique process to each student and I also have our current interim assistant superintendent for special education here which I may um Dr Edmond herd do you have something you'd want to add to that if that's possible at this point to further clarify those decisions at the IEP table please what you stated was correct Dr Reed um it is a very individualized process where the teams come together they look over the data they work with parents and the teams that are represented there to make decisions but it

108is very individualized determined based on student needs by looking at their time during that Co period any Services they may have missed how instruction looked and looking at the data um that was present for students um and the um requirements are outlined in the OCR agreement as well but your answer is Right On Target thank you thank you uh the second question is regarding the support for staff because I know we all heard how massive of a load this was for staff as they embarked on this um a few months ago and I know there's a little bit more work to go how are we ensuring that we're not burning our folks out that we're putting together as much as possible I know data collection was an issue that really crushed the workload for some

109of our employees I'm just wondering how are we moving forward to ensure that they can still move on with their duties currently while completing the rest of the meetings and eligibility requirements so I think that's a great question it's U unquestionably one of the heaviest lifts um our staff have undertaken since the coid pandemic I would say that the schools uh that both that I visited this year and also last spring um all the staff came together to support our special education staff there was a lot of there were a lot of our principals administrative team our special ed chairs with in schools um our support staff that came around um our teachers our special education teachers to provide support having said that it was a huge and heavy lift as you know we have

110provided that extra 30 minutes for our special education staff with Esser dollars um over the last year and this year as we know that there's been a lot of extra work and extra time that's been committed to this process and um I just I'm grateful for the persistence and the dedication and passion of our Educators um I don't know that we've provided enough support for the task that we ask them to do I I would definitely agree with that and my last inquiry is regarding the reimbursements I was actually asked this by a constituent as to whether or not there was criteria for reimbursement was income level part of the discussion for reimbursements the families so the criteria for reimbursements were really what was determined at the table the IEP table or the 504 table

111um Dr Edmond's heard would you be able to provide a little more clarification on any type of sliding scale I think is the question um for reimbursement or if that was not a factor at all in terms of the reimbursements they were determined by the information that was provided by um our parents at the table all of those things were considered as they determined what the reimbursement amount was going to be um so many parents provided information regarding any type of tutoring they may have provided um to their students during that coid period and all of that was used to make a determination regarding what their reimbursements would be I think what I also hear um and what I believe is that a parent's family's income was not part of that consideration it was around

112the services necessary to be provided as a result of the I AP team's decision would that be accurate that is correct thank you thank you Miss Seer Heiser thank you and thank you for the support and thank you to the team um and Dr Edmond turd for um you know I've been advocating and talking to you about this since probably mid July and some of the issues around reimbursement and around services so um I know it's been a huge lift for our team and our teachers so I just want to say thank you and for our staff as well in making this happen but I just wanted to lift up I know you had talked about that there is a process now for direct pay for the vendors which is very helpful because that way

113parents aren't out sometimes large sums of money while waiting for reimbursement but I just wanted to lift up that direct pay isn't just for services going forward for any but also any services that have been delivered but not yet paid for parents going to initiate a process to make that switch um is my understand I confirm that so that's correct you know so if there're and not to have vendors be paid for any length of time but just let families know that they don't have to be out as long as they haven't already paid for the services right thank you Miss eore Heiser I I think this process um we haven't had an OCR complaint that required this type of lift previously so I think we've in many ways some of the processes as we've

114developed them have been chasing the um the task a little bit so it feels like we get um then we fix the process and then it's going to be over right but I do know that we are working on making sure vendors are on our list to be able to do direct pay I see um our CFO Miss Burton is with us remotely um Lee do you have a minute to share how that process for reimbursement is going at this time um yeah yes I mean I I think it's going pretty well um Miss herd would probably be able to answer that quicker um I will tell you that you know we have tasked three Finance employees to assist with the effort all right thanks Miss Burton I think what Miss Burton's referring to is

115we've actually um redeployed uh several Finance employees also to help because we knew we had a backlog of reimbursement to reimbursements to process in addition to making um that direct pay to a vendor available so that we wouldn't have parents needing to front uh front fund with the uh vendors thank you Miss Burton thank you and just uh so I can say for the public if there is a family member who has questions about reimbursement who should they contact if they need help um Dr Edmond's heard who would that be they can reach out to me or they can reach out to the planning administrator which is Deb Scott okay and they can copy me on emails if that's necessary too we I've been trying to be very responsive to parents um when they've had

116questions concerned to research and give them updates in returns in regards to their reimbursements as well and then um just one last question I think Dr Anderson lifted this up that there's 20% found eligible and um you know about 80% found not eligible for services do you know what guidance was given and support to families to be full Pro um members of that process to talk about how they could I know some of the evidence was anecdotal evidence right as so in terms of helping families and IEP and students themselves advocate for themselves in terms of what they may or may not feel like they need in terms of compensatory Services thank you Miss seore Heiser Dr Edmond heard what guidance was provided to families we've provided quite a few letters which was also included

117in Dr Reed's presentation that detailed the process there are also FAQs located on our compensat services website that can detail the information that parents or students because in some of our cases these are students that may have graduated that are requesting services or compensatory Services as well so um we've listed that information in our letters we've sent out uh two email blasts um since January as well as sent letters in the mail trying to correspond with parents as well as with students um for those that we have may have missed so all of that information is outlined in the letters and also it's outlined in our hubs so parents and students can access that information there wonderful and one last question if there are parents who opted or or students who opted to um have

118Services provided by their private vendors and seek reimbursement is there a um pathway for them if they can't find a vendor or that the services fall apart the vendor busy moves for them to then come back to FCPS and say we need you to provide those hours as opposed to using a private vendor so that's a great question I know we're under a certain you know expeditious timeline to get these plans set up but Dr Edmond's heard is that an option for families perhaps who are struggling to find a vendor they can definitely reach out to their previous school they can reach out to us too as well um and we can see if we can post information regarding that on the Hub as we update information as well that would be great I've had

119some families reach out and ask that question so that would be wonderful to post that information and and again thank you to your team and your staff and to our teachers I know this has been an incredibly heavy lift and I appreciate the partnership especially as I've brought some of these issues to you multiple times over the last few months and you've worked very hard to address them so thank you very much to everybody for that hard work y thank you Miss Kei gamra yes thank you um I to want to thank our staff and and and the patients of our family this was a very difficult time period I remember uh being uh entering the co period and trying to figure out how to service our families um and you know perhaps language was

120was not the best at the time and that kind of got us where we need where we are today but um I have seen our staff members work over time to try to address this and so some of my concerns are um how how are we going back or perhaps there's some things in place already to identify where um perhaps more support is needed or where staff is suffering and like how are we monitoring this because it appears to me this is such a heavy lift that we can't you know I'm trying to understand how we're providing that level of support for staff as they're implementing this amongst everything else that they're doing and whether we are we're having support for our staff to try to alleviate places of extreme stress so thank you Miss

121keys gamara and I in terms of the conferences needing to be held which was a huge time commitment and the preparation for the conferences which the data collection I think we've discussed was a really um it was a deep time commitment all of those um you know at this point 96.7% of those conferences have been held they've been prepped and so forth those providing compensatory Services now um I believe we do have contracts those are by application and we have staff that have applied to be a provider of these hours so Dr Edmund's heard I I think we're past some of the heaviest lift part um but I want to make sure I mean that is to say still educating right now as a heavy LIF for all of our our staff at this time

122uh but the the conference piece I believe we're closing out of but Dr Edmond's heard in terms of the provision of these Services um I believe those are by um application but I just want to check my thinking on that they are our teachers can provide those Services as well as the vendors that you've been speaking of um earlier too as well um so we're always recruiting teachers who want to help participate in providing um services for student students we are also looking at some uh virtual Services we just talked to a vendor regarding that and we're continuing to have conversations to see how we can assist with delivering the services too as well as for supporting our staff in their efforts which has been as you've indicated a a big LIF we do meet

123with our department chairs to assist them providing them with u training we of course have our procedural support Liaisons that are supporting our schools we also our department has a weekly office hours that's offered for our principals and support staff to come and get questions answered as well our data team has been working extensively with our schools um just a couple of weeks ago we provided them with a list of schools um a list of students I'm sorry that they needed to continue to reach out to because those may have been our homeschool students it may have been private students it may have been students that have returned back and reenroll so we're trying to make sure um that all of our efforts goes towards meeting and getting all of our students at least communicated

124with to determine if there are any more meetings that need to be held so I think our estimate is around 500 more out of all of the ones that we had to offer is about 500 more remaining which may or may not need to be done at this point whether parents reach out or whether we need to do any more followup with those so forgive me I don't understand the process and necessarily how we're it seems to me that there's a there is an opportunity I could be wrong of a disparity for perhaps where you may have parents that hey my kid is missing something I went ahead and paid for this but then there were parents who couldn't pay so how are we trying to achieve the level of fidelity between those two because

125it seems to me one would have a very clear clear record of what they had to do in order to uh address provide compensatory services to their child and the other would have perhaps not had as clear of a record so I think that's Miss kear I think that's the actually Salient point of this process right for um and our intent is to make sure that every student um has the opportunity to have the educational hours support and experience necessary to meet their IEP or 504 goals so I would again uh defer to Dr Edmund's heard on the cost piece but I know that at that IEP or 504 table which every family has a right to have and again we're at 96% there that whatever that team determines is necessary either for what was

126paid out or what needs to be paid out that that gets taken care of of um from our from our perspective Dr Edmond's herd um you want to add anything to that um that is that is correct it's that decision that's made at the table of course we do have some families who were able to um you know provide all types of services for their students and some that may not have been able to so it's coming to the table what is it the student needs and how can we look at providing that and it may be through the school it may be a teacher who provides it after school or before school um to that student or if the parent did um pay for some Services it's doing that reimbursement so it does vary

127by you know from student to student but just trying to make sure that the school team team listens carefully they determine what the needs were they determine what was missing from that student or that they did not receive and we do our best to to provide those services for them thank you Dr Eder T night I think there are inequities right like we would be disingenuous to not acknowledge that there were families that had funds to pay for services during the pandemic that other families were not and this process is really intended and should be centered in the absolute needs of the individual student at this point so that we are able to provide that access and opportunity moving forward um in whatever way that team feels is going to be most effective and responsible

128for the student moving forward well having attended a number of I team meetings and just understanding how parents can sometimes feel even in in inequity just being in the meeting and not understanding the process or not feeling as equipped as all these educational experts around them um I I I I truly believe our staff members are are working hard to try to figure that out I just know the realities of it I know how parents can sometimes just feel as though I don't even know what just happened even and that's by no fault it's just it's just the structure of it so I would just ask for and I know this is probably happening uh just a continuous monitoring and uh looking for areas of improvement um because it is a process irrespective of having

129to provide compensatory services or not it's a process by which parents and often students can feel lost and somehow slighted and so I just think this is a really very difficult area and so I appreciate the opportunity to get a a report but I I know that we'll continue to work on this so thank you yes ma'am Miss mclin hi I know it's late um Dr Reed but I just wanted to lend my voice to what other board members have raised about um the reimbursements um I've too have received a number of emails and it's it's been concerned conc erning to me because right now the emails I'm receiving not withstanding all of the deserved praise that board members have made and how hard your team is working but um I think we are suffering

130from a loss of Faith people are interpreting this um delay as intentional and um it's it's unfortunately creating um a deep loss of trust in us so I think we might need to work with our office of communications and community relations uh to and and our chief um engagement officer to really intentful um communicate back out about this backlog as we've talked about sometimes in the absence of information people you know fill it in with whatever narrative they can understand and I know all of us including you um want to continue to grow trust from our families um and you know that I'm not happy with the federal government I think that um that the way in which um they put the terms to this um was not um helpful to families and it wasn't

131helpful um for our teachers um and trying to do what we all believe in terms of compensatory Services I just think that the the process that they wanted us through the voluntary resolution agreement I do not think the federal government did well in finding the most streamlined approach to help our families and in the end this is about helping our students and when we want to do learning loss and the federal government sets up what I believe was a very bureaucratic process our students were the ones and the families were the ones and now our staff who are all um feeling the Fallout from that so that's my little Soap Box on that a little bit bit but more importantly I hope that we can maybe take um a very careful effort to make sure

132that um as we talked about how hard your team is working we need to help communicate that out um and then to other questions that were listed tonight we absolutely need to have a hotline um so that people know how to reach out if they um feel like it's that the they don't understand the delay or what's going on um and I I think we'll need to also utilize the Staffing that and the program we have of the Ombudsman we have staff in there as well and they could I think serve a role to help again connect um families who are concerned um with our staff thank you yes ma'am Miss am yeah thank you um and thank you to staff for all their hard work and this massive Endeavor I'm happy to follow Miss

133mlin actually in a similar sense I find myself in a Bittersweet moment where I'm glad that we've accomplished this and I think it's you know I'm proud to see it underway but you know it's not uh lost on me that we got here because we were kind of forced to get here and it was a place we there was certainly um a lot of advocacy to get us here but that never proved sufficient before you even got here um so that leaves me wanting to kind of ask what um your observations have been Dr Reed and terms of how a situation like that can be avoided because that really I think was the S the original source of the distrust um or the loss of trust rather where things were promised they weren't delivered on

134um and now because we said it couldn't happen and it wasn't possible and when we were forced to make it happen of course it was possible right um so I don't know if you have thoughts around how we might rebuild that trust I certainly would encourage some thought in that area because it's I think it's much longer than just not being able to access information readily or being able to access these Services right now um and speaks to I think a larger systems area of improvement let me say um in terms of what we consider possible and and what we're willing to do and when we're willing to do it to meet what we to do right by people what we've promised or what we've committed to so um I don't know if you have

135any reaction to that but I do think that trust um is easily broken and hard to rebuild so I think that as we commit to doing the things we say we're going to do and as you um pointed out doing right by our students and our families and staff uh that will rebuild trust doesn't happen overnight you know we didn't get here overnight uh but I do think as each day as staff get up and give it their best and work hard to uh do the things and deliver on the promises that you know we've made in public education I think gradually trust becomes rebuilt as a result of that um but it's a day after day after day it's a deliberate uh deliberate discipline practice that we're going to need to continue to be

136engaged in yeah no I appreciate that and I think at the very least invalidating the community's you know feelings around this um and hopefully taking the communication steps and whatever else necessary to minimize the gaps in this one spe in the delivery specifically I did have questions just about um the eligibility piece so I know there's a large chunk of students who are deemed ineligible I don't know if that was just because they didn't fall in the window of when these Services were not delivered or if there was anything else to that so I what we could do is provide maybe a report of sort of the major reasons but again I think one of the things I've been cautioned by staff to be thoughtful about is that each of those IEP te meetings or

137504 meetings um were very focused on the individual at the center of the meeting right it's not possible to give sort of broad guidance per se about what should or shouldn't be um provided because it's really uniquely based on that individual plan um but I I don't know Dr Edmund's heard if you have just the sense of um those reasons perhaps why I think to your point why a number of uh Services might not have been provided or might not have uh been initiated I have to get used to using this um so I would say you know the time period in which the services that parents may present in terms of when those Services may have been rendered is important the types of services that may have been rendered as well and their relation

138to the IEP was extremely important but it is really important the points that you made Dr Reed about connecting it to the individual students needs and looking at what occurred there wasn't a a menu per se um but some of them just didn't fall within the window and they had we had to follow those requirements that were outlined in the OCR agreement and I can provide more information regarding that too um as well since that's come up thank you we could provide that in the upcoming Monday letter sure no I think that's helpful it just leaves me anytime I see that something like that it leaves me wondering you know who was it that wanted it and and perhaps needed it was overlooked something like that so right uh I appreciate that diligence um and

139the last thing I was just curious how this manifested for homebound students if at all I don't know if they were deemed an eligible category depending on certain criteria I believe they would be if they had an IEP or 504 plan and more homebound but again um because I believe the office of civil rights the V was specific to IEP and 504 plans but Dr Edmond heard that is correct we also looked at students um we've been looking at a lot of our students who've been homeschooled as well as those who were in private schools so we've tried to make sure that we you know it kind of has run the gamut so we have looked at all of those students too as well okay and so Services were delivered to them as well yeah

140yes if they responded to the letter or if we reached out as a school to them okay is it too late for them to reach out now if they hadn't I imagine it's very difficult to reach out to families we don't even have in our system right that has been difficult and that's why we've had so many mailings we've you know used Vari variety of ways to try to reach families so um yes they can continue to reach out they can reach out to their school they can reach out to our department too as well and we'll make the necessary connections for them okay and then after that I guess do they end up having to have a separate IEP like meeting right because that presumably they didn't have something like that in place right

141we still have to go through the IEP process so that we can document everything of course so we would still but our homebound um students were also eligible as well okay all right thank you all so much for this is really important work thank you thank you Dr Reed thank you Miss Tolen item 3.03 student representative matters I call him Miss kareim thank you madam chair good evening everyone as many of you be may be aware this past Monday September 11th marked a very tragic event in American history I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the significance of this day and honor those who are affected by the events of 911 it's a reminder of the resilience and strength that communities can show in times of adversity now shifting our Focus the application

142window for advisory committees has come to a close and the process of selecting students to serve is currently in progress however I want to emphasize my commitment as a student representative to continuously provide students with opportunities to make a meaningful impact in Fairfax County in line with this commitment I would like to introduce a new opportunity for stud students interested in stem in the previous year I had the honor of participating in the student Equity Ambassador lead program also known as seals where I served on the access to technology committee during our involvement we identified a significant issue The Limited availability of stem opportunities for youth in our community in response to this challenge we took proactive steps and established an organization called technology Youth Empowerment or Tai for short Tai's primary mission is to

143bridge the gap in stem education for elementary schools in our County that may not have the same opportunities as others our dedicated team has been visiting these schools to promote stem education covering a wide range of topics from computer science to physics to engineering we believe that the impact of our initiative can be greatly expanded with the involvement of representatives from different high schools who share our passion for stem education if you're interested in becoming a part of tha and making a positive impact on on the education of our community's youth applications will be on board do soon be on board dogs and also sent out to Career Specialists Monday September 18th now I'd like to address the other documents soon available on board docs each School Board member along with Dr Reed also has

144copy of copies of these documents at hand subsequently following the board meeting last time I've engaged in further discussions regarding the grading inequities I've had the opportunity to speak with students from various parts of the county and compile a document summarizing their perspectives additionally I've had a constructive conversation with Mr Presidio our esteemed Chief academic officer who supports establishing consistency across grading systems this document highlights the significance of fairness and Grading and academic matters these not only influence students emotional well-being but also play a pivotal role in shaping their postsecondary op options it also advocates for the standardization of grading regulations across all of our schools which must be supported by extensive research and datadriven insights to ensure their effectiveness and fairness furthermore the document delves into grading systems notably the 4.0 scale and the

14510o scale prompting the need to establish a consistent system as a school board it's incumbent upon us to ensure that all students have the opportunity to thrive numerous scenarios exist that extend to and Beyond secondary postsecondary opportunities they also impact students mental health and overall well-being the academic matters document available on board doog serves as a valuable resource for enlightening the community and individuals about the significance of the issue and offers viable Solutions at the end of the document a key request from students is presented to ensure Equity by implementing consistent grading policies that are proven effective through data analysis across all schools in Fairfax County the next doent I'd like to draw your attention to pertains to lunch matters a topic that has been raised by our students and it's crucial that we address

146their concerns this document outlines the circumstance where some schools have implemented the community eligibility provision also known as C guaranteeing free lunch access to all students without the need for submitting meal forms this creates a significant disparity as it's a common issue that many students do not have lunch for various reasons currently 45 schools have adopted C and it's imperative that we extend this to the remaining 177 it's worth noting that funding for these lunches come from federal sources therefore the document suggests prioritizing advocacy efforts in our federal legislative program to secure free lunches for all students at schools with C students can easily obtain their lunch without without any Financial barriers in contrast students at nonce schools May struggle to pay for their meals even if they do not qualify for free lunches this

147is due to the the complex challenges that many families face that cannot be adequately captured by standard forms the request presented in this document echoing concerns of students is to ensure that free lunches are accessible to all students without the need for submitting meal forms the next document pertains to prayer rooms highlighting their importance in accommodating midday prayers and fostering an understanding of the significance the document is linked to a previous one posted on board dogs from the last meeting under student representative matters in which doctors L down Chow Express support for this cause and raise concerns school board members and Dr Reed also have a copy of this in front of them within the capital Improvement program the presence of prayer rooms in various schools is underscored it is essential for stakeholders to grasp

148the importance of having dedicated prayer spaces where students can pray comfortably free from obstructions like chairs tables and pictures unfortunately some students have reported instances where School administrators have accused them of wasting time to skip class this document encom encompasses all aspects related to prayer aiming to put an end to these accusatory comments when students hear such remarks it can convey a disheartening message suggesting that they do not belong or that their needs do not matter however FCPS is dedicated to engaging inspiring and fostering thriving environments for all students thus it is crucial to engage with these students and fully understand their needs at the bottom of this document the request from students is clear allow students to engage in prayer without scrutiny and provide suitable areas for this purpose the final document titled Spirit

149Matters outlines the procedure for introducing a spirit program in your school this document also incorporates a checklist provided by the Department of Justice I strongly urge and encourage students to take action and consider implementing this program in their school Spirit Matters not only amplify the diverse student voice but also provide valuable leadership opportunities for students I also intend to raise awareness about this impactful program during my school visits another noteworthy matter to bring to your attention is the proposed renaming of Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School WT Woodson served as the superintendent of Fairfax County for an extended period spanning from 1929 to 1961 his tener encompassed significant historical events including the consolidation era the Great Depression World War II and the initial years of the post World War II baby boom it's worth noting that

150during this era also included a period of segregation fast forward to 2023 the values and principles of FCPS no longer align align with the historical context in which the school's name was established the need for a name change is apparent During the period of segregation it's important to recognize that various groups face challenges minority minorities face particularly severe hardships making it appropriate to consider renaming the school and in honor of a minority figure one individual who has garnered substantial support for this renaming is Carter G Woodson an esteemed African American historian and writer nevertheless it's essential to acknowledge the plethora of other highly respective minority figures who can be considered for this renaming alternatively consider considering renaming it to Prosperity High School could hold great significance symbolizing the success and growth of our students especially

151given the school's proximity to Prosperity Road thank you thank you Dr Reed 3.04 superintendent matter thank you madam chair uh this evening I'm delighted to introduce uh Janice seminsky as our new chief of facilities services and capital programs who will be overseeing our Capital Improvements in planning and Facilities Management uh Miss zinsky has served or worked in the K12 industry for over 17 years both in the private and public sector and has deep project management skills in a school environment while demonstrating success in delivering large projects quickly and on budget she comes to us from the Washington DC government where she was the executive program manager in the Capital Construction Services Division there she led a team to implement large capital projects for the District of Columbia public schools managing a six-year budget of over

152$2.8 billion in this role she consistently set inter agency records for efficient smooth and timely procurements miss zin's work with the DC government has given her extensive experience in working with internal and external stakeholders including government officials and local politicians before her role in Capital Construction she was director of facility planning and design for DCPS and facilitated all communication engagement for facility projects prior to joining the DC government Miss zinsky worked as a licensed architect and has designed many K12 schools in the DMV primarily in Maryland last year she moved to Fairfax County and is a proud FCPS parent so she is thrilled to be joining our FCPS team and serving our Greater Community in her new role Miss seminsky um I'm going to ask you just to make a couple comments from where you

153are if you wouldn't mind just brief comments please sure I just want to say good evening and it's such a pleasure to be here as Dr Reed mentioned my backgrounds in architecture having spent the last six years in DC government prior to that working in private practice mostly focused on K12 facility so it I hope I don't sound insincere but school facilities really are a passion of mine and so I'm excited and energized to work with the community here in Fairfax and and to do the best that we can so thank you very much for having me thank you Miss zinsky and I one of the other things that wasn't in your bio that I know our board is very committed to are our green jet goals and your work around creating and uh designing

154and delivering uh green facilities as well has been really inspiring iring to us absolutely as I was leaving the District of Columbia we were opening up our fourth Net Zero ready facility so I have a lot of great lessons learned and expertise that I hope to share with with Fairfax yeah thank you Miss sininsky so um I'd like to then share that since our last meeting I've had the opportunity to visit many of our schools um I've attended 10 back to school nights since we last met at Bonnie Bray Elementary Cherry Hill Elementary Chesterbrook Elementary which I think are the Chipmunks the Chesterbrook Chipmunks it was a fabulous most of our mascots have determined are either cats or birds of some kind or another also had a chance to be Graham Road Elementary Hunt Valley

155Elementary Oakton Elementary where I actually had a chance to visit cluckingham Palace um cluckingham palace with the hens that are uh in Residence uh and they're very uh healthy hens um that uh love our students and our staff um in addition to our back to school nights I've had an opportunity to visit seven schools since last we met and had a real opportunity to see the instructional impact firsthand that our amazing FCPS staff are supporting um and seeing our students as well so big thank you to bradic elementary school Cameron Elementary School Hutcherson Elementary School London toown elementary school police Center quanda Road and ravensworth Elementary School where we've had an opportunity to see just a lot of uh student and staff and family work uh today I want to call out um an award

156ceremony that I attended for one of our teachers at Katherine Johnson Middle School Eric haaro haaru um who's a general science teacher was awarded the Fred Rogers Institute helper award for his career work and dedication to teaching and he's one of only 13 Award winners across the United States um which is really quite an achievement and the um Katherine Johnson Middle School staff were present while um the uh staff from the legacy of Fred Rogers Institute helper award were there to help um you know recognize this so big congratulations to Eric and I mean who doesn't love science so we are very fortunate to have Eric and his Spirit of heart um as part of our FCPS family also had a chance to check in on quite a few other activities um the Woodson volleyball

157team where I had an opportunity to visit um with our principal Carlin Floyd who um has done such a nice job at Woodson for so many years um Oakton and Westfield played last night and principal Jamie Lane and I had a chance to um watch our girls involved a number number of field hockey games um at West pomac uh Mount Vernon High School mlan um and last Friday had an opportunity to be at the football game at West Springfield until thunder and lightning gave us pause I do want to also share that we didn't have a chance to talk very much uh at our last board meeting but we did have six of our FCPS high schools ranked in the top 10 in the state by US News and World Report and we're very very

158uh proud of our high schools that have been ranked in the top 10 those six are of course Thomas Jefferson High School for science and technology mlan high school Langley High School Oakton High School Marshall High School and Woodson High School so we want to congratulate our students and staff on um on these High School uh campuses want to remind the community that we're going to be sharing more information about upcoming Community conversations which will occur in each of our regions beginning September 26 more to come on that topic next I want to just share that we are excited to celebrate 264 students from 15 different high schools who've been recognized as National Merit semifinalists this year and all of these semi-finalists are eligible to move forward in the finalist process I also want to

159share that this number of 264 is an increase of 26 students over last year and it's also more students than we've ever had in Fairfax County even prior to the pandemic it's the highest year on record in fact um ever with the previous high was in 2019 which was the highest year on record since 2016 which is the latest data we have so just really excited um that our students continue uh to outperform even those students that came before them so we will also be posting our commended student uh numbers however as those are only sent to our high schools we are collecting those they're not a central distribution list but again congratulations to many many of our students um in that uh in that work uh finally I want to mention that U earlier

160this year as many of you know the Fairfax County electoral board sent a memorandum to the school board to request that we adjust our school calendar for this Academic Year um to be revised to close schools on March 5th 2024 because it is the presidential primary election day uh for both parties here in Virginia and as we have discussed and as I've met with legal counsel and staff we've determined that closing school on that day will not affect our hours necessary for conducting school so indeed I have decided um operationally that we will close schools for primary day on March 5th 2024 and we will be communicating that um out to schools keeping schools open during primary voting would cause security parking challenges and would interfere with the use of our cafeterias and gyms which

161are often used as polling locations in schools previously FCPS schools have been closed during the presidential primaries in 2016 and 2020 so this is a continuation of that practice um so we will be getting more information out to families and staff on that but we wanted to make sure that this is a a clear um communication this evening as well thank you madam chair thank you Dr Reed agenda item 3.05 opening of schools I call in Dr Reed for a presentation okay um we have a start of a video with that so let's go ahead and start with that students will be filling classrooms soon for their first day of school at several area school systems including Ina over for kids inira County they'll Beil in to the 199 schools across the county super awesome

162and I'm so excited so this is how you start the first day of school welcome back to the first day of school 2324 it's so exciting to be here in Fairfax County as we enact our full new strategic plan go Fair one of the goals of that plan is to have all students in Algebra 1 for their eighth grade year this is your second full year inant was adding Middle School sports tell me about that Middle School sports is critical I think when we think about the mental health needs of our students eating healthy being active getting plenty of rest being in community those are so important you know we get to wake up early and I get to see my best friend yeah and it's the beginning of a great year very excited about

163the beginning of the school year for FCPS it's going to be a great year [Applause] have a good day so um this is an exciting year um it is uh my second year and it feels like it's uh we are ready to roll when I think of all our students and staff and the excitement they had on the first day again I want to uh share uh the excitement of having worked with um starting our first day I think with uh you madam chair at 4:45 in the morning at hearnden high school so having our heon high school hornets and staff uh ready to go at 4:45 is pretty uh amazing so as we look at our first day of school by the Numbers this is an annual report that has become a tradition so

164one of the things we thought we would do is just kind of do a by the numbers and one of our goals this year and why there are some uh folks that have looked at the 39,4 N staff and said it seems like that's a lot more than prior years what we chose to do this year make is make sure that we included all staff even if they were hourly or if they were part-time or our I'm just here to say we love our substitutes and our substitutes we count on them and we haven't always reflected those in our numbers and so we want to make sure that all of our staff know they're part of our staff family regardless of how many hours um and in what capacity they work with us so our

165students again continue um to come from all over the globe speaking over 200 languages bringing unique uh perspectives thoughts and opinions um one of which of course is they love the new salad bars so I wanted to share some facts around Transportation I think that uh the fact that uh 90% of success is showing up I think that was a comment that was made earlier this evening that talking about the importance of being present I want to say that our transportation superheroes are absolutely amazing we have more than 1,700 drivers attendance and Route supervisors is working to get our students to school safely and on time each and every day and while we've had some glitches this fall we've had a tremendously smooth start and the 6,390 bus routes uh that are routed daily and

166um as part of our annual process and the over 82,000 miles covered um are not insignificant so just want to Big shout out to our transportation folks and we think about other uh numbers I want to make sure that we give a big thank you to our food nutrition staff um serving over 76,976 meals and um that's on a daily basis our Learners can only do their best work when they have healthy Nutri nutritious food um we provide almost 14,000 breakfasts and more than 63,000 lunches on our first day of school alone when you stop and think about that th those numbers are um incredible um I also want to share how appreciative we are of our tspcs and Es spits and our technology staff across the division and all the staff that are part

167of our um utilizing or utilization of Technology within the schools by the third day of school this year we had distributed more than 108,000 devices to students that's not an insignificant number so let's think about also just how we're taking care of our uh facilities I introduced m miss zinsky this evening and just want to remind staff that we here in Fairfax County are actually our custodial and maintenance staff take care of 28 million square feet of school um that's it's an incredible amount of square footage all through the summer we renovated 170,000 square feet across eight schools and a big thank you to our community for funding these bond referendums which allow us to renovate our schools our custodial staff is more than 1300 strong and they work tirelessly to keep our schools all

16828 million square feet of them clean safe and welcoming and I've worked in a lot of Divisions around the country and I will say our schools are maintained their uh Second To None our staff work really really hard um when I think about um the other uh piece the other uh staff in our schools that have worked tremendously hard I'll also include our school security officers our SRO our security team our safety teams they have gone out of their way to make sure that they've been present that our schools that we've run the safety audit which we'll talk more about later this fall but it's been a tremendous amount of work to make sure that our students staff and families um can feel safe and secure at school in the extracurricular Excellence area we want

169to make sure that we understand many of uh our lessons learned and much of our uh Community Building occurs outside the classroom as well as inside currently we have 7,000 student athletes across all four all fall Sports at our 25 high schools 2600 students participating in marching band and 40 different theater Productions are already underway across the School Division so we're really hopeful to see many of you and many of our community out and about I think that um Middle School athletics are also beginning right now and we'll have numbers for you shortly so I think we already took a look at our first day back um and just want to thank everyone on uh Team FCPS that has helped make this year a strong um start to the year and last slide just want

170to make sure thanking again a big thank you to Educators leadership team principls assistant principles directors central office staff it's been a really special time uh from our very youngest Learners the class of 2036 our kindergarten team uh to the graduates planning to graduate in 2024 we're so grateful uh that everyone's back and we're looking forward to getting to work so Madam chair that is our opening of schools 2023 by the Numbers report thank you very much we have a couple board members that would like to speak Miss Marin yes thank you I think the data you provided is really compelling and and I'm glad you're sharing it I wanted to talk for a moment about transportation and I actually got this really great letter from a third grader asking me to look into uh

171flat buses versus round buses I think actually we all got it but from a Marshall Road student but anyhow um you know I I know I think what I heard when I was at at schools the last few weeks is most families are understanding when the bus is delayed and I think they're understanding more and more that we do have a shortage of bus drivers just like there is Nationwide but what they really get less forgiving about is when that um the where here comes the bus app is not accurate so if we could you please do something to make that as accurate as possible I think that that would be great especially for Middle School when those kids are getting up really early and then you miss the bus and that really just um

172is tough so I wanted to relay that another idea that a parent shared with me was when you have that transition from elementary to Middle um so like in some places like for instance uh thorough Middle School you've got kids who may have never taken the bus because they've been walkers right and now they're getting on the bus they're getting really early and someone said well couldn't there be like a hub where maybe you know can the Walkers go to school like they've been doing and we pick up at Flint Hill Elementary and and get the kids over so just some more Innovative thinking about does it have to be you know bus stop to bus stop as we've done or can we you know kind of again help especially for students who have never

173you know R the bus their entire K you know through Elementary career um I I do also need to mention that I'm really frustrated with the continued um it's not an FCPS thing frustrated with the um very slow response if you can call it that of County and State Transportation Services to fix ongoing problems I been working with some families that have spent I think it's eight years advocating to get one particular intersection fixed or another school where there's crumbling sidewalk that is controlled by the county or the the state and if we are going to be tasked with being the instructor leaders and providers of this community we cannot have our instructional leaders out on the corner directing traffic um and we can't uh we we just can't do it so I really am

174going to be pushing hard because it it's just ridiculous right it should not be this way so I would appreciate any of your help when you talk with your counterpart at the county um and then certainly legislatively but it's not acceptable for it to take years to fix pedestrian problems so thank you M MCL hi Dr Reid again I know it's late um and so uh you know we can talk more um offline but um I I I do want to say I'm a little concerned about the opening of schools report um you know in past years we got an actual report um I believe in 2019 it might have even been as much as 40 pages so this was um unlike I think maybe what other board members saw I just saw some essential

175basic numbers I don't know how that necessarily helps us understand the true opening of schools and you know I'm okay if we decide that we don't need to do an opening schools because we just need to focus on opening schools and um I'm not you know looking at reports for report sake but um I just wanted to give you some feedback that might be good for you and your team to look at what it's been in the past and what we want it to be um and you know how I feel about the videos it was lovely but I'm not sure who the audience is for um and I do worry that uh for people who are concerned that we're not meeting their needs to educate their kids and then you see this lovely little

176video that looks like it's a promotion for something but I don't I don't I'm not quite sure where I see that still fitting in with um our primary Mission so um I'm I'm not trying to sound too much like a grinch it is heartwarming but uh I I do worry about that so in terms of opening of schools uh you know I I do hope that maybe going forward we can think about what do we want it to be telling us um in terms of our numbers um you know going a little more deep deeper and broader across our schools where are the needs because I feel like tonight I just got to know what I already know um about the basics of our schools but you know what what do we need to be

177as a collective board working with you to address now that we've opened them right so yeah well thank you for that feedback I know we've previously contracted this report out to like a consultant person that wrote it and what we really felt like we would wanted to try to do this year was try to do this inhouse and provide data that we would be able to um really capture the essence of this opening day of school um I can certainly go back and we can look at the document from last year um it and we can fill in those numbers again I think for you and we'll make sure we do that for a Monday letter we can do that yeah I mean I don't know if we're there's two different things happening here there's

178the PowerPoint which was some beautiful lovely photos of our students and employees but the data was di Minimus it was yeah just really really like you could fit that all on a one pager um and I think I I really as you know that I'm the data girl I'd like to right dig in a little bit more about where we are what we need um I'd like to even understand where we are from what was our enrollment um when we ended the school year in June what's our you know the delta I think that's a little confusing I thought we were over 180,000 we closed 797 right now right so that we're down students well we're actually at projection because we generally grow and by the end of the month the projection will be at

179180 by the end of September we have we still have students enrolling every day right now right so um but we're not technically up yet well we're at projection budget projections right projections are different though from Total enrollment like our families um often are asking us what's happening with FCPS is total enrollment are we going up or down and from where we were at the end of June we're higher than we were at this time last year I I think that's a a matter of how people want to look at the equation I I will say I think we've usually looked at the equation of how did what how many students do we have when we ended a school year and then where did you know where are we when we opened our doors if

180it's that we have a cycle of we always have more at the end of a school year then we always have a dip that goes below maybe partly being military and people leave out and then others move in and so Apples to Apples if you're saying we are year-over-year in September we're up but we still should have then had the contextual data we are still not at our Peak enrollment that we were in June I think those are important numbers to know you bet I'll make make sure you have them for the Monday letter no I'm I'm it's not a rush I'm I'm more focused on how do we make this work of your time your team's time and the board's time meaningful and for the public when we look at an open of schools

181report this one was just a bit of a surprise for me so again I'm more about getting the work done than you producing reports so I hope that's the takeaway here more than anything but um I didn't feel like this ended up being a report it was just a few PowerPoint slides with some numbers on them okay thank you thank you Dr Anderson thank you um I just kind of want to piggyback on that a little bit I I was kind of looking for a little bit more information to kind of tell our story and one of the things that I know I've discussed with you and I've mentioned to some of the Rises one of the most important pieces that tell our story when we're talking about being prepared for the opening of schools

182is our hiring I would have loved to see information in terms of how many teachers did we hire how many vacancies do we still have how many teachers are not licensed how many of those ambassadors that I greeted here are present and working that really tells the tale and it really speaks also to what the community is hearing because I know day one I shared with you a parent who was very excited to return back into our schools right um had two subs for her child and like oh my God is this going to be a good experience and I make a good decision that is a story that I would personally would like to hear um and I think uh Miss mclin also hit on a concern that I had because I'm looking at

183the data from last June and our enrollment at that time was 181 851 and I'm looking at the slide that says we have 15,700 new students and our total is 179 it's a little bit hard it doesn't align quite fully what I think I'm hearing from you is that from last September from September 22 we we're 15,000 students over but I I think the June to um September data would be a lot more helpful at least to me um one of the other things that you talked about here that I'm going to just jump in here um I'm going to look forward a little bit because I do want to give rise to the experience that many of our families are having in our schools yes there's a lot of excitement there are a lot

184of kids who are coming in excited the teachers are and everything's going great but I also like for us to talk about particularly as you're talk about renovated buildings kind of our HVAC issues because we've had so many schools it's not one two three it is dozens of schools that have that have had HVAC issues some of those may have been renovated schools I I'm not sure um some of those issues could have been because the buildings are old and because the systems are old whatever it is but it tells a tale of the experience particularly because we have had such a heat wve and I think just kind of looking back a little bit or looking ahead um that's going to be a piece where we'll need to talk about a little bit more

185because we are only going to get more intense weather and our systems cannot keep up so how is it that we're going to plan for that future I would love to get a sense of we have chillers I literally was visiting a school uh menua the assistant principal brought a chiller to be placed in a classroom that was over 86 degrees every day and that should not be the case but that's an experience so I I would like for us again to tell the full tale um when you're talking about oh so fall Sports I I appreciate um you I'm trying to find the slide here fall Sports can somebody pull up that slide please yes there it is 7,000 student athletes um and I'm not speaking about Middle School sports because again as a

186a Middle School Parent I know that's starting next week um so I am not wanting to talk about that but one of the con um one of the conversations that I think you've had with us a lot is the connection to activities um really impacts our students mental health we have 7,000 student athlete and fall Sports 2600 in marching band out of how many high school students because I think at last um count we had oops I cannot find it here but I had it here in my notes somewhere how many high school students that we had what is that percentage and what is our goal what are we looking for where are those students um and future reports I would love to hear a little bit more um information on that because I also

187want to dig down into how is it that some of our schools some of our students are not participating as much as we would like them to right really telling the story of our participation levels Who's involved who's not involved Because unless we have that data we are not going to be able to to determine what the barriers of that participation are for us to remove it for really true Equity um actually the good news is that's going to be that's one of our strategic plan measurements so we'll have a significant amount of data um on that topic later this year okay thank you I I got one more thing but I heard that was my timer Sanders thank you Dr Reed um I just want to kind of give give you a little bit

188of background in the past this report was always offered at the last meeting in September and so there was a little bit more time and there was a little bit more data available and so um I welcome that this report is being presented earlier but I would actually um I think give you Grace in that this was um front loaded in a way that maybe not all of that data is is readily available um so just offering that little uh historical perspective but I also um wanted to do a couple of shoutouts about the success of our schools and what's going on um in you know the state just issued its accreditation data right and um it's my understanding that every school in Fairfax County um with the exception of two are fully accredited and

189that we expect one of those two to become fully accredited soon in the next couple of days once the data is reviewed and that the other one is regarding not the academic performance but um the dropout rate um at that school and so that is actually data I think our Community would be very interested in um seeing and I would encourage that you um in future reports build that in the other thing is that um you know the state of Virginia does Exemplar School uh notific notifications and awards and I'm very proud of the fact that Fairfax County Public Schools has three that are listed as Exemplar schools Thomas Jefferson High School um and Sangster and West Brier Elementary Schools as well as um and I'd have to count but just a huge number of

190schools that are re being recognized uh for their continuous Improvement and that when you look at the size of Fairfax County where we only rep well we do represent 133% of all the students in the state of Virginia uh I think that our representation on these list exceeds that 13% and so I would um hope that in the future um your staff pulls that if we go back to a more formalized report and kind of allows people to see uh where we you know the successes but also where we're uh we recognize that it's a continuous improvement process and I want to thank you for um frontloading this data and I look forward uh to uh next year seeing it a little later in the month with a little bit more details thank you um

191I don't see any oh m m would you like to speak yes thank you so much um Dr Reed it's uh always exciting to see the developments of the beginning of the school year so thank you for everything you've been doing to make sure we continue not only Su had a successful start and that we continue into the year successfully um I'm wondering if there have been any um unique observations up to this point I know last year we' heard a lot about how Co had impacted student Behavior the gaps teachers were observing just from a high level if there was anything unique or different that that may have come to the service Surface by now I you know I feel like it's been in large part and all of you I think have been

192out at schools as well I think it feels like a more normal start of the school year than prior years in you know the last couple years have been in the sense that um the routines seem better known students um are coming and families for many of the schools the back to school nights I attended those were the first iners uh back to school nights they've had since PRI you know prior to co so I feel like a lot of the routines that um have been known and uh class routines are uh students are coming back really prepared and uh I think more focused honestly uh than a year ago so uh and staff I think are you know more prepared in the sense that um it's just a little more time has passed and

193I think we're um clear um so I I think that I've uh from a high level just seen a lot of excitement about the start of the year and you know that deep sense of PR that's familiar I think to students staff and families here in Fairfax no that's awesome and and I'm wondering if um I just want to make sure that we still have some of the supports in place for what we might anticipate down the line so one example I know it was a long fought and one uh effort to get tutor.com for example or just a free tutoring one-on-one for kids I don't know if we're still doing that I just wanted to check in we are it's still in place okay so for the community to be aware right the free

194oneon-one tutoring in pretty much every subject 247 is available through CIS that's correct for any kids because we don't want any kid falling behind we don't want the end of the quarter kids to wake up right now we can be preventative that's correct because we're almost halfway through first quarter now right right time has flown by and then yeah and then the tele Mental Health Services which of course are available to kids should they need that um do we have any I know it's not the topic of the day but just in terms of Engagement and what I know there was even talk of expanding to Middle School at some point so I don't know we have not done that yet um but uh I don't have numbers yet on the tele mental health for

195this year we did provide you as a board numbers for last year right um but it's early days so um yeah just elevating additional resources also for the community to be aware of and then the last thing was I remember uh per our last conversations on srnr and whatnot um a tool would be available to students at some point to um let's say report concerns related to perhaps correct Prejudice discrimination whatnot that they might experience at the hands of Staff specifically uh for additional support so did do we have any updates on that or where we left off no staff are continuing to refine um a tool that we can make sure that there's an awareness for and a process that um we're able to be really responsive to any cons concerns that are raised

196so more to come on that topic okay so not live just yet not live just yet okay but we're uh taking one more review uh by legal counsel on that topic and just making sure we have no bugs in that system once we go live we want to make sure that we don't have a student uh make a report or somebody make a report and then us not be able to follow up right away on it so we're just making sure the technical uh pieces are in place and making sure we have one more review okay I will be Eyes Wide Open excited to see that and certainly look forward to making sure our community uh is able to access the tutoring tele Mental Health Services that are already available to them thank you so

197much yep you bet Miss mclin has another quick question um yeah just more of a quick observation I was thinking and listening to board members and I I hope that maybe your team is taking notes as we've talked because people have really raised some important value ad of this opening schools report again helping raise awareness to what our families don't know um things like our School nurses where do we stand with that how do we profile and let people know why the school Clinic is more than just the health aids we used to have in the past where are we with you know our social workers and psychologist that we have you know added on over last year um these are sort of things that I think to what Dr Anderson and others have said

198it is sort of a celebration of when we opened our schools and we opened them with these addition positions and programs and services that you know I think really help people appreciate what we do well beyond just the direct instruction in the classroom and then the other thing for because I think the numbers are important for all of us is you mentioned the 15,000 or so I know obviously every year we graduate out our seniors right and then we bring in about 13,000 or more kindergarteners right so I think when we say we've we've grown by 15,000 Students County residents are thinking wow you know we're in a big explosion time again and I I think that's the contextual data that's important because if it turns out that you know the the net growth what

199has this year-over-year been um will help us to understand because as board members we have to start anticipating budget and impact of the growth so that's that's why I think these num numbers are important yeah I think if we go to the slide we didn't grow by 15,000 students what we are calling out is that they're 15,700 new students within that enrollment number I I know but I I'm just telling you the way that people who don't study that Nuance when they hear 15,000 new students they're not thinking oh because we have 13,000 new kindergarteners plus we netted another 2,000 kids who moved to the area so I think we have to remember again there's what we understand and then what the general public understands good point yep all right Dr Reed I just have

200a couple of things I was gonna say um about this um report um or just opening of schools I mean I have to say that even with you know the bus issues I've heard of the shortage of you know special education staff um in some situations in my school's large class sizes where we need to get selected staff you know in place you know there of course are issues but overall the back to school nights that I have attended and the you know welcome events you know just before school started have been have had better attendance than I have seen you know during my tenure on the board people are excited staff is excited staff has done an amazing job welcoming people and even with the large numbers that they've been seeing coming into these

201events they've handled it um very very well and parents overall that are at the event seem really happy I'm super proud of our ptas yes um the teams of you know PTA members have been there working at every single event and doing a great job and I also you know we saw it together at um you know two of our jille schools math right work very intensive math work and literacy work starting on day one or even before school started really trying to get kidss into the right math class right um to make sure that they're really excelling so there's been a lot of really great work um you know I do agree with some of my colleagues on some of the you know the numbers that maybe we were missing and we would love

202to see um but I think that moving forward it's going to be really interesting to see now that we have our strategic plan and we've done all of this work we'll talking a few minutes on our executive expectations and start seeing all of that reporting I think a lot a number of the things that have been brought up here this evening are going to show up um in those reports so um that will be very valuable information for the board and for the public and I just have to throw out there maybe I'm a sucker for a cute little girl at the end of the video but um I I like the videos um and maybe it's also because I you know somehow raised a filmmaker I think those you know very short clips just

203showing lots of schools and lots of people and lots of pride in what's happening um and really capturing the essence of that first day of school for a lot of people is a really great tool so I just throw that out there so well thank you so um with that um I don't see other board members um to speak on this topic uh we will move on to our next agenda item 4.01 executive expectations I now calling Miss bski for a motion I move that the the school board approved the proposed revisions to the Strategic governance manual to replace the operational expectations with executive expectations and update the Strategic governance manual accordingly as detailed in the attachment on board docks is there a second I will second Mr KY would you like to speak to

204your motion I will try even though it's way past my bedtime um after the completion of the Strategic plan the school board had two Retreats and a work session to discuss these revisions to our governance manual the result of these was an update to our current operational expectations now revised to Executive expectations these revised expectations will provide a structure of accountability for the superintendent to report on the division's progress towards meeting the goals of our new strategic plan part of this new accountability structure the superintendent will provide annual monitoring on each executive expectation during a public meeting the board will then vote to approve each expectation monitoring report or we will be able to request a written action plan or correction I hope everyone can uh vote for this thank you Miss Mar would you

205like to speak to your second yeah I think you know these executive expectations are the way that the board is going to show to the public how we're keeping the superintendent accountable to what the public has elected us to do and expects of our Public Schools so I'm very eager to have this new um this updated system in place which is the high level standard for how boards govern and I'm eager to have a record of all of these reports to go from this point forward into the future thank you thank you it's seiser Heiser would you like to speak to this motion yes thank you and I'll be brief given the late time first I just wanted to thank um Miss Tolen you and and Mr frish and the board's hard work in our

206two Retreats and the work session as well as um Dr Reed for really shepherding this process through one of the things that um last year when we worked on the Strategic plan and pass the Strategic plan I kept hearing from community members is well how are you going to make sure that that plan is actually implemented and one of the complaints of our previous strategic plan was with given turnover in leadership that it was harder to know what was being implemented and so what I'm really excited about this and I'm so appreciative of the leadership to get us to this point is that this is a consistent transparent public structure to hold our superintendent accountable and her team accountable to implementing the Strategic plan it's not just the goal reports but it's even the expectations

207of what we expect her to do in I believe 13 different areas that's embedded in our governance manual where the superintendent will come to one of these regular meetings in the public recorded to say here's what we're doing on this particular topic as aligned with our strategic plan and the the part that I'm really excited about in addition to that is that there's consistent followup buil in so it's not just here's a report let's all go home but here's a report we agree we don't agree here's we think you need to bring us in addition and there's a plan for followup if the report doesn't meet our standards so I just love the fact that we had the community and staff and so many people come together to work on our strategic plan that really

208it's it's the plan that belongs to the community to lift up the schools and now we have a really consistent structure that we're refreshing that was already there from the previous boards and I know the previous boards really committed a lot of time and energy to building the structure and now we're refreshing it to align with our strategic plan that provides for this really transparent public um holding of our superintendent accountable to implement the plan so I'm really excited about this I appreciate all the hard work in getting us here and I just can't wait to see the reports and um see all this in action so thank you very much for all the work to get us here Dr Anderson yes thank you uh I will be supporting um the changes to the governance

209manual the executive expectations I do want to say um um thank you to every member of this board because we really trudged through all of this through the um Retreats and even um the conversation just this last Tuesday the work session I also thought um Miss Tolen you did a really masterful job of sheering us through that conversation it was collaborative it was um productive and it was really something that I think all of us can get behind so I I'm very excited about the place where we've landed having an opportunity to have report reps that are going to be um acted upon that we are going to decide whether or not it's meeting the Strategic um goals that have been set and then having a corrective action I I think it's a perfect place

210for our board to really move forward into moving the needle in our um and our division and so I I'm very excited for that so thank you all oh I do want to highlight one thing that I I want to make sure that the public knows if they missed it there's a whole new section that was not pre previously there in the um previous operational expectations the Safety and Security piece and this was born out of board members um advocacy to really make sure that we were being clear to the superintendent regarding our our expectations of Safety and Security so again I I think this board did a really great job of really pushing and massaging and ensuring that we have a comprehensive as possible document so that we can be clear C that the

211expectations that we have for this division are being met so thank you all Miss canders yes Madam chair thank you and um it's actually nice that we're talking about this after we just had a conversation about returning to um a sense of normaly because what we're talking about here with these executive expectations are are an update of the operational expectations and a return to what had been a very um you know a process that was so important which is having a process for reporting out on key aspects of the Strategic plan and having the opportunity for board members to identify areas that needed um additional work or further honing in the past these were done in a next steps process um in which board members voted on those next steps and that was the way

212that um work was future work work was to be conducted and so what this does is it really formalizes a process that we all know is so important in that in um many ways during the coid years we ended up losing um that structure or not not losing it but pausing that structure and so this is similar to the return to normal C wec with our um kids in schools with our um Staffing this really is a return to a model that is a very important model and it allows for um clear guidance and um structure and I uh appreciate also I appreciate two things one uh especially the collaborative manner in which everybody worked to getting to where we are in this um and also a recognition about that Safety and Security piece because

213we know that Safety and Security has a direct impact on the ability of our students to succeed in school they need to feel safe and confident that they are entering buildings that um will be inclusive of their needs and and uh to make sure that everybody in the building is safe uh both the uh students as well as the staff and that even in our buses in transit that it is a safe uh they have safe routes to school and so I very much appreciate this and will be supporting it and I want to thank you Dr Reed um for your leadership and really uh working with us and understanding that uh we have to you know sometimes it's more challenging uh process but I think we get to the right place Miss ke Camaro

214thank you um I think Miss Corbett Sanders was reading my mind a bit but I will revise what I was uh saying because I just wanted to provide a just a quick overview so that the community can understand what just happen um of course we spent a great deal of time on the Strategic plan which I believe provid provides an explanation of what we expect uh from our staff and what the community can expect to be happening in our classrooms and of course uh the state of Virginia has uh provided legislation outlining how uh School boards oversee um have a part provide a check and balance and have a part of uh providing supervision of our superintendent and these expectations are what we are expecting from our superintendent and I know this isn't where we

215started um but I do think it was a good place to land with all of us working together and understanding um that we had our operational guidelines previously this is an update to align it with the Strategic plan and it keeps in place as far as I'm understanding the reason I'm supporting it today that check and balance that the that the the school board provides in order to protect the public interest it is that marriage of the various sources of authority that our community depends upon and that's why I'm supporting this today thank you Miss H yeah happy to follow the comments of my colleagues um I think to to to um your credit Miss Tolen uh I think some people came in that meeting wanting to postpone some people came into that meeting knowing

216they're going to vote no on this and and we were able to bring it together in a in a conversation that was healthier than most that we've been able to have as a team so uh I'm just really grateful that we were able to do that and and end up in a collaborative way at a place where everybody can get behind this um I uh wanted to take it even a step back and explaining to the public so obviously one of our primary roles is holding the superintendent accountable after we hire her um um and normally that's looked like a you know series of conversations that the board has internally we all do our you know writeups whatever that gets published to the state of what we think her performance has been but it really

217you know it's arguable how effective it is to do an entire year look back without the opportunity to take it one step at a time component by component uh in this way and so Dr Reed to your credit um for introducing this as a possibility in a process for us to take on which I know was done in your old uh uh division um and as you know M siser was explaining earlier so starting next meeting we're going to take you know if to just make this really simple if you look at the Strategic governance manual the attachment on board dos right now um under the executive expectations we're going to start with that emergency superintendent succession component and Dr Reed's going to come present you know what her understanding of that expectation is what

218she's done on that that one will be very minimal it's really more of a formality but the board will have feedback that'll be documented uh and she'll have the opportunity to respond to that and then with each meeting taking on Executive expectation by executive expectation and really thoroughly discussing each topic so you know after superintendent succession we'll talk about Community stakeholders and Community engagement we'll talk about HR another meeting we'll talk about you know finan financial planning another meeting and on and on and on to culminate where the board will meet her at the end of the year having had all these discussions to properly evaluate her so really the process is more quantitative more um uh uh I don't want to use the word objective because nothing's ever objective but closer to objective than

219than our current process where she has the chance to pre present evidence on each of these pieces and we can evaluate her on really what the team her staff team has has been able to accomplish so I'm excited about that I think we're following best practices um which she's uh uh you know thoughtfully uh let us through um and I think ultimately we've been able to weave in equity in in a spirit of a a unifying Spirit of being able to bring conversations uh that the communities having um and and really try to elevate those voices in How We lead our division which is is also a really key uh important step in what's been included in this so we relied a lot on some of the old language but we included pieces that scream

220that priority and so I'm looking forward to being able to Center Equity uh and and and in a way that unifies the community Through Dr leadership so thank you all for everyone who's been a part of this thank you m mclin um Dr Reed I just want for the public or anyone who's still awake um or later on watching this to know that um I I truly appreciate um the collaborative approach you took with this um you recognized and heard from some of us who really felt it was important that we um come from a with a positive messaging on this that it's not limitations to you it's our expectations um and I look at those again with you know lofty expectations so that you know the public um has also an understanding of what

221the board is communicating on its behalf since we are an elected body to represent our community um I've told you how much I value and um respect your leadership and what I know you are going to continue to bring the the division um it was a painstaking process I have uh been very blessed to carry and deliver three boys nine months each and at times this felt like we were about to go through again carrying and delivering a baby it was a lot of work so anyway um the process was painful but I think what we have here tonight in front of us is something that um is going to make us stronger um um as a board and with you in our strategic um governance model um and I hope we position you with

222the next board then to go even further on it um but as I shared during that work session I'm really eager now to just roll up our sleeves and get to the work uh I don't want to do any more policy governance stuff anymore right now I just I want us to do the work together um in these next three months that at least I have left so thank you again for being a collaborative partner um I have experienced enough in my time and that's a gift of yours and I appreciate it okay now it's my turn so after working all day on these expectations in our Tuesday work session I went to the uh Langley High School back to school night and in discussions with the director of students Services there I was asking

223him how his team was doing and as part of the talk he mentioned this following quote to me he said leadership is not a muscle to flex leadership is building a skeletal system so that many can attach their muscles and we can all articulate our strengths and move and work together I just thought that was a good Capstone after my day on Tuesday um and this is what the governance work that we've been doing represents to me the Strategic plan and now the executive expectations are parts of the skeleton we still have work to do but the bulk of it is done um this is a way to put procedures in place to make everyone more efficient and able to focus on the work that we must prioritize and we must do every day the

224work of giving the young people a fair County the best education possible to prepare them for the future the Strategic work and skeleton building is the important work that this board can do to ensure the success of the next board that will be coming to these seats in January I absolutely feel that I could not have been that I could have been a more effective board member if the Strategic plan had been in place and these executive expectations had been in place earlier in my tenure we have worked hard we've worked really hard on these executive expectations and I thank everyone at the table we have had many open and Frank conversations and shared this with the public step by step I am happy to vote for these changes to our governance manual tonight so

225that we can move forward with our schedule of holding the superintendent accountable for running the operations of our impressive and very large school district through this vote we will be able able to start this work immediately at our next meeting we we will evaluate the accomplishment toward one of these expectations in a very public manner I for one am looking forward to this strategic approach to governing our school district okay and with that I would like to call for a vote on the motion that is on the screen all those in favor of the motion Miss corett Sanders Dr Anderson Miss mclin Miss GFF Cari Miss Tolen Miss ke gamara Miss mirin Miss am Miss Cohen and Miss Riner Heiser um and Miss Daren kofax that is unanimous with Mr frish away from the table

226all right the consent agenda number five our adopted rules of parliamentary procedure Roberts rules provide for a consent agenda listing several items for approval of the board by a single motion many items listed have gone through Board review and documentation has been provided to all board members and the public in advance items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board member prior to the meeting the consent agenda items are on the screen is there any objection to approving the consent agenda hearing and seeing no objection the consent agenda is approved number six new business the following are new business agenda items there will not be a vote on these items this evening but action is scheduled at a future meeting the new business items are on the screen number seven

227board committee reports there are no committee reports this evening the next item is board matters I'd like to call Miss Heiser Heiser I'm not used to being first um well thank you very much and happy back to school for everybody it's been from what I'm hearing in seeing three really wonderful weeks of school and um I know it's late so I won't take up too much time but I I just wanted to say it's been really amazing to see the families coming to back to school nights they have been so enthusiastic so happy the principls and staff and teachers have been happy even the kids are coming with their parents are really excited to be there I think having them back in person consistently across the county there's just a different energy to it that

228it's really really exciting to see and I see it at our football games and I see it at other sporting events it's it's just a feeling of yes this is what it's supposed to feel like and so I think that energy is is really exciting to see and I can't wait to see all the wonderful fun and exciting things are kids do this year but um those back to school nights have been special so I'm excited to continue to go some more next week and then um looking forward to a lot of really great rivalries in on the football field and amazing marching band shows our bands are phenomenal this year and the dance teams as well so that's been a lot of fun so with that I will say good night to everybody thank

229you Miss Cohen just a big thank you to everybody who does so much work behind the scenes and um in front of the scenes to make uh school work in the way that it does and uh and uh the Cohen household is surviving so that's always a a great nod to um all the work that's been put in so thank you all so much for everything you do and uh good night Miss am yeah thank you um I I wanted to start today I guess by commemorating or recognizing the the tremendous struggle of a global Community um you know not too long ago there was the major earthquake in Turkey but just this last week you know major earthquake in Morocco devastating entire communities uh the flood in Libya which I mean as the first

230and only Libyan elected in this country I feel certainly obligated to to make note of um thousands and thousands of lives lost to Natural catastrophe and yet we don't reflect on the impacts of climate change and the small decisions we make every day in contributing to what ends up being disasters for so many across the the globe um sitting in our own privilege where we can be shielded from much of it but not for long at some point we'll be feeling it ourselves so um my heart goes out to those families um we have a enormous Moroccan American Community here um and certainly a Libyan one since I exist um but uh uh I just wanted to make sure I commemorate that we can show Extra Care sympathy and and reflection hopefully uh that these

231moments are ones where we can really take a um a second to learn something and recognize our role in the broader suffering of others um on a uh perhaps an equally somber note um it's also a National Suicide Prevention Week which generally takes place the week after Labor Day uh it's also another moment to be able to remember um our role and and the importance of being there for others and and and paying attention to the signs um this is a moment that highlights talk Away the Dark the talk Away the Dark campaign uh it's I encourage everyone to partake in that by initiating open conversations about mental health speaking up and making sure more people know what the research reveals about how we can help prevent suicide un lighting the way for those who

232are in distress and don't feel comfortable asking for help as many of us know sometimes it is those we least expect who are suffering in silence um yesterday uh we had or actually Tuesday Tuesday oh no my gosh Wednesday yeah yesterday we had the honor of receiving uh a Vietnamese delegation um the Minister of Finance Deputy Minister and others Miss Tolan and I had the pleasure of welcoming them they came to learn about the uh audit practices we have because Fairfax County Public Schools does such a great job really of of making sure and Miss Co um and her team are exceptional in leading the way in best practices and auditing so we're very proud of that and we were happy to welcome them to welcome them into our community today happens to be National

233Virginia day I don't know if you all know that but it is an opportunity to uh bask in uh our history the good of it um we have a number of presidents that came from Virginia uh and certainly much more to to learn about our past uh and building a better future um in our community and in Virginia um I also want to uh recognize that a number of our community members Jewish community members will be recognizing rashash Shana and yam kapor in the week and uh days ahead uh so wishing them a blessed time uh with family and uh reflection in the beginning of the year thank you all and good night excuse Camaro yes thank you um I want to thank every welcome everybody back to school and truly grateful for all of

234our staff members and so many that have made it possible is truly been a pleasure this year as always to verse the county trying to figure out where I can uh meet folks um I had the pleasure of joining a youth rally at uh Bethlehem Baptist which was focused on making sure our young people were being prepared to be excellent uh in their communities in schools and just resources and loving people which is really how we can support um in so many ways I mean just that those factors of success were exemplified there um I also attended the First Baptist Church of Vienna was back to school Sunday with our superintendent and uh some of our leadership team it's truly moving to see how a community can wrap itself around its young um and just

235moments of prayer and moments of agreement that this is our job and I do want to thank our superintendent for being there with us um being there with me it's not my church but some people might think it is um uh I also had had an opportunity to go uh to a few back to school nights at Langston Hughes Middle School and um Hunters Woods and I think I went somewhere else but I don't remember it right now but um another fun little thing I had an opportunity to be um a guest uh lecturer at a conflict resolution class yesterday I'm not sure why they thought thought being on the school board might make you um have something to say about that but it was it was it was a lot of fun at um

236George Mason University um and then one last little tidbit today I had an opportunity to go to Reston Hospital um they are opening up a woman's mental health uh new section uh particularly to serve new moms um as we know if we serve our parents we serve our kids and so um as as I've done a great deal of work in the mental health field in terms of having to support kids and needing those resources I was truly glad to see that happening we are making progress one step at a time so um that's all I want to share right now and happy Happ happy weekend everybody um and we we're off to a good start I think thank you Miss bersi thank you it's been a great opening of schools Lov going back to

237school nights football games um and just seeing all the kids and staff back um it's been very busy in my household uh good you know good things of course but still getting used to the schedules um and packing lunches takes a lot of time um but so no it it's been wonderful this weekend I'm looking forward to um going to the Asha Joy 5K at Fairfax Corner which is a great philanthropic um organization in my district who is begging our schools to have their um families and staff sign up for their 5K and all of the money from those signups comes back to them with an extra donation on top um very generous donation so if you have some time Sunday morning please come out and not to be a Sour Puss folks but I

238have to say this you know I love um I love efficiency and I will say this meeting will have gone for over four hours when we're done we had one action item that started at 10:55 I'm very worried um about the length of these and the amount of work that we actually get done and the ability for people to follow along um I love our academic matters but they've turned into fullon work sessions so I hope we'll have the opportunity to discuss some ways to be um a little bit more efficient and maybe um constituent friendly for people who want to follow along thank you yeah it's extraordinarily late so I just want to Echo what um Miss pakari said uh I think sooner rather than later we need to think about um how we

239can streamline the meetings a little bit more maybe reduce our speaking time unless it's an action item um that warrants the the typical 3 minutes um and uh yeah uh staff I'm sorry you're here so late and uh appreciate the hard work that you all do um to help us run the division have a good night everybody Dr Raiders just very briefly it is late I do want to say thank you to the Glasgow Community for coming out to both of the boundary scoping meetings we've had um wonderful robust conversations and we're really looking forward to the next steps I want to say thank you to principal Hill at West Lawn as I visited first my first official visit was at West laon and as well as principal Shannon it was so refreshing Dr re

240to see such Fearless leaders in our schools who are uncompromising about doing the best thing for children so I really appreciated those visits and lastly I want to say a special shout out to Brad Elementary for inviting us and you are also there Dr Reed to attend the Tasia Guatemala mural arts project celebration if you have not had a chance to see it please I encourage you to do that it is absolutely stunning and that partnership was such a benefit to our students at radic elementary thank you all and good night m c Sanders yes thank you madam chair I'll try to be brief I want to uh thank all of our um School leaders and all of our teachers for making the back to school nights absolutely fantastic very successful also want to thank

241the ventures and Community which is the Interfaith uh dialogue in the Mount Vernon region for having me at their most recent meeting where we really talked about how the faith community um Can partner with our schools and so I look forward to strengthening that partnership and have um offered to them that we will provide them more materials and more ask on how to do that I finally want to thank our legislature because this past well actually today the governor signed a long awaited budget Bill and that long awaited budget Bill increased funding for schools substantially uh $420 million um did a temporary relief of the um support cap we would like to see it permanent and uh it was uh we can expect to see a um recommendation from the superintendent soon about what what

242we can expect out of that funding in light of some of the recommendations that are coming from uh from Richmond as well and then finally um I would like to wish all of our families that are going going to be celebrating rashash Shana this weekend wishing them a very sweet new year it is um a blessed period of time and I look forward to spending time with my family as well thank you um just quickly I want to thank our transportation staff for U training drivers and putting the lockone on our buses um in order to protect our students from fenol overdoses I thought that was a great move um I've already talked about how amazing my back to school experiences have been so I won't go into that um I do want to say

243congratulations to our 264 FCPS students who have been named semi-finalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and I'm super excited to have seen all the announcements and photos and um celebrations in the my drainville high schools um I just want to mention um for um the mlan Community Kent Gardens Elementary School capacity Community meetings start next week um we have a meeting on the 19th and a meeting on the 27th so um please join me at one of those Community meetings to take a look at um some of the various scenarios that we're looking at to um take care of capacity issues at that school thank you very much um to all of you for your patience this evening for our lengthy meeting um and uh with that this meeting is adjourned