001good evening I will call this meeting to order before we begin I need to certify our members who are participating virtually Mr Frisch has submitted a written request to virtually attend this evening's meeting due to a personal conflict Miss Cohen and Miss Keys gamara have submitted a written requests to virtually attend this evening's meetings due to a medical conflict all those in favor approving these requests raise your hand that is Miss mccarski Miss Dr Anderson Miss McLaughlin Ms darnak Colfax Ms Corbett Sanders Miss Tolan Mr Mish Miss Marin and myself all those opposed abstaining that motion passes welcome our colleagues virtually before we begin our public hearing let us pause for a moment of silence and our members of the students from South County High School thank you and we keep them on their and
002their families and our thoughts and prayers good evening and welcome to the public hearing on the capital Improvement program on behalf of the school board I would like to thank you for sharing your comments with us this evening this hearing is being broadcast on channel 99 and live streamed at fcps.edu backslash TV backslash Channel 99. tonight we have 24 registered speakers each speaker is allotted two minutes and we ask you stay within that time limit the timer will start when you begin to speak and the timer will sound after two minutes speaker remarks must address the capital Improvement program when your name is called in-person speaker should approach the podium and begin speaking virtual speakers should unmute your microphone turn on your camera and begin speaking substitutions are not permitted if you would like to
003address the board but do not register in advance please see the clerk for up to one of five available slots and before we start I would like to recognize Boy Scout 2ba 702 from Annandale with members from Marshall Falls Church Lewis Lake Braddock Woodson Frost amongst others so welcome tonight thank you for joining us and attending our meeting please stand and be recognized oh thank you for seeing how your government works thank you so much Madam clerk please call our first speaker our first speaker is student number one hi I'm a student at Thomas Jefferson High School and a member of the environmental impact Club I'd like to talk about the environmental stewardship section of the capital Improvement plan and how it can better reduce FCPS carbon emissions over the past decade you've made strides
004towards carbon neutrality both by reducing emissions and passing resolutions to recognize the climate crisis and set goals with the joint environmental task force however after reading this stewardship section of the capital Improvement plan I noticed in shortcomings you barely set any concrete goals for the next four years to assist you in your objective reduce of reducing emissions by 50 by 2030. the capital and through Improvement clip the capital Improvement plan covers the fiscal Year's 2024-2028 bringing us within two years of the deadline to reduce our emissions by 50 as recommended by both the joint environmental task force and the intergovernmental panel on climate change or ipcc the environmental stewardship section mostly focuses on actions FCPS has already taken in the past rather than guidelines for the future I challenge you to include specific requirements for
005carbon reduction in the capital Improvement plan to make sure we can reduce our emissions fast enough one such requirement I think is particularly important is the constant construction of Net Zero ready facilities many FCPS schools are up for construction and renovation in the next four years and these facilities will be in operation for decades if they are not built sorry I have to pause you for a second I apologize there is a technical that our online speakers could do not have any volume can you please reset his time for 50 seconds my apologies we just need to make sure our online can hear us all right apologies we will pause while we get our technical difficulty straightened out and I I'm so sorry sorry would you like me to start from the beginning or from
006where I left off yes from the beginning if we'll really set your time thank you all right thank you thank you for your patience Madam quickly let me know if this is it we're good all right if you could reset a sign for two minutes you may start from the beginning thank you all right so I'm a student at Thomas Jefferson High School and a member of the environmental impact club and I'd like to talk to you about the environmental stewardship section of the capital Improvement plan and how it can better reduce FCPS carbon emissions over the past decade you made strides towards carbon neutrality both by actually reducing missions and passing resolutions that recognize the climate crisis and set goals with the joint environmental task force however after reading the stewardship section of the
007capital Improvement plan I've noticed some shortcomings you've barely set any concrete goals for the next four years to assist in your objective of reducing emissions by 50 by 2030. this Capital Improvement plan covers the fiscal years 2024-2028 bringing us within two years of the deadline to reduce our emissions by 50 as recommended by both the joint environmental task force and the intergovernmental panel on climate change or ipcc the environmental stewardship section of this plan mostly focuses on actions FCPS has taken in the past rather than guidelines for the future I challenge you to include specific guidelines for carbon reduction in the capital Improvement plan to make sure we can reduce our emissions fast enough one such requirement I think is particularly important is the construction of Net Zero ready facilities many FCPS schools are up
008for construction and renovation during this Capital Improvement plan if they are not built at least Net Zero ready they will not be compatible with long-term carbon reduction goals to specify that all new and renovated FCPS facilities must be Net Zero ready finally I'd like to thank you for all the work you've done and can you continue to do to protect the future of our planet at a time when National and State climate policy is sketchy at best it would be really refreshing to see a model that works please continue to be a leader in effective environmental policy thank you our next speaker is student number two my name is Arya Lee and I'm an eighth grader at Carson Middle School and part of Friday's for future DC a youth-led climate organization the capital Improvement plan
009will help program will help determine fcps's priorities for the next few years the climate is changing and so should we improvements I would like to see happen to address climate change are create a bigger budget for making all School roofs Solon ready and make solar panel installations through PPA is a high priority solar power saves taxpayer money in a mitsuno CO2 as stated by FCPS in the CIP PDF prioritize the practices to developed and implemented by staff members in order to address global warming and to meet other important environmental initiatives that jet goals are unanimously approved directive of the school board make them a priority these objectives include a 50 emissions reduction by 2030 and being carbon neutral by 2040. the science is Clear Solutions are available we must keep the global temperature rise below
0101.5 degrees Celsius to avoid the worst climate change the ipcc says global warming could reach 1.5 degrees as early as 2030. we only have 2420 gigatons of CO2 in our carbon budget to have a two-thirds chance of staying below 1.5 degrees we can't make passive ideas of goals FCPS is one of the largest school districts in America emitting around 147 000 metric tons of CO2 in 2021. there is still time to change but time is running out my generation will live in a world shaped by climate change and what the people on power do or don't do it's your choice FCPS can be a leader in this fight for climate action so I ask you to listen to the young people make a plan for problem neutrality make climate action the priority for the capital
011Improvement program so youth everywhere can have a planet and a future to look forward to thank you our next speaker is student number three my name is and I am a middle school activist from Friday's for future DC a youth-led climate organization the capital Improvement program will determine how our school district runs for the next four years with the problems our communities are facing priorities need to change FCPS has started to make progress with climate change by asking facilities and transportation services to implement the following measures regulation 8534 to minimize operation expenses by conserving energy policy 8542 to prioritize practices in order to address climate change also for the past few years FCPS has received the energy star partner of the Year award for Energy Efficiency in buildings but what does this mean if our
012emissions have gone up since 2020 and that we will not meet the joint environmental task Force's goal of being carbon neutral by 2040. and what about the aspiration to be at zero waste by 2030 the definition of aspiration is a hope we no longer have time to hope we only have time to act and the pursuit of green career paths for students will not mean anything because if we are not limiting Global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the time I graduate high school then it will be too late the resolution on climate change action passed by the school board in October 2018 calls on the state and federal governments to take action and for local governments to follow but more often than not change happens the other way around politicians won't change unless
013the people demand it FCPS has goals to promote environmental stewardship but they're surrounded by the words aspirational or if feasible if we are to take real climate action then we need real goals and real substantive action we have seven years to combat climate change and it starts with you listening to civilians and making climate change and Equity the priority for CIP 2024-2028 thank you thank you our next speaker is Deborah tisler good evening everybody loves a good magic trick until it turns out to be nothing more than a bait and switch performance Act this school board sells you the best plan but it's really among the worst at this juncture do you remember Clifton Elementary School the elementary school that had some of the highest performing students well rather than fix the elementary school building
014those students were shuffled and moved over to lower performing schools in order to make our scores look better I remember because I was teaching back then and I saw the data points and I heard the discussions well that school remains closed and empty in an area that is grossly overcrowded almost 15 years later the same bait and switch act continues years ago the federal government made headlines for ten thousand dollar toilet seats and elected officials said it wouldn't happen again but here we are in DC's backyard with high cost estimates to rebuild or build a new school on the Clifton site whereas in 2010 keeping Clifton Elementary School open and deferring renovation would have been beneficial to the school system community and most of all the children at the time the Virginia Department of historic
015resources provided historic Rehabilitation tax credits to rehabilitate school buildings for continued educational use but just like today Common Sense was thrown out the window at this point Clifton Elementary School must be renovated with expansion to meet the current needs of the community unfortunately it is estimated to come at a high price tag but we must move forward to ensure the needs of our students are met I know you can dig up those funds and some of those ways are trimming the procurement card costs and eliminating excess fees likely thank you our next speaker is Sandra Davis in late 20 Waples Mill Mosaic and Providence elementary schools in the central part of the county were overcrowded in particular Fairfax County had been excessively zoning County students into a city of Fairfax School Providence Elementary for years
016Providence is a title one minority majority school that winter when this board should have been tackling the big issue of returning to school Carl fresh instead persuaded this board to act to his political benefit the voters of this County wanted those disadvantaged children moved out of the decade old moldy trailers at Providence and into a brand new school on Blake Lane which had been set aside by the FCPS board for 20 years but Carl Frisch's neighbors wanted a dog park to further pamper their pooches he simply gave away these kids school when the chair of the city of Fairfax School Board objected to the unilateral change Mr fresh shushed her saying she was ruining the party atmosphere of the joint working session the board decided to go with a supposedly cheaper option of renovating the
017site at dunloring despite the traffic jam it would cause on one of the most congested roads in the county the neighbors convinced the rich McLean residents paid off this board to move the school and to avoid the chaotic redistrict redistricting that comes with it instead costs have ballooned because the dunloring building must be torn down not renovated the sport doesn't have to continue treating canines better than disadvantaged students stop the done lowering project and build a new school in the original site as intended and clear out the trailers at mosaic and Louise Archer let's do the right thing and redraw Elementary School boundaries in the Northeast part of the county thank you our next speaker is Anthony Sabio followed by Joanne Sears Anthony Sabio Joanne Sears tonight I'm not going to address how the school
018board failed our children academically as shown via plummeting test scores or how FCPS according to the office of civil rights at the federal department of Ed violated the civil rights of special ed students when they shuttered schools or how they've been systematically focused on killing Merit as shown by the recent scandal at TJ or the fact that some of the school board actually believe they are deserving of higher office nope tonight I'm going to address the fact that this school board continues to put our children and staff at risk there are over 800 trailers being used on campuses across FCPS it has been the easy button for overcrowding in the McLean pyramid and other schools by this school board the modular classrooms are built to withstand the elements and not bullets from an active shooter
019some of these trailers are far from the protection of the brick and mortar of a real school building and our children and staff have been turned into Sitting Ducks by you while you focus on pet projects like changing the names of schools every time this board adds a trailer they put more and more children and staff at risk God forbid there is an active shooter in our community the Bloodshed of children and staff will be on your hands because you have failed to invest our budget a 3.4 billion dollar budget in Real Construction to mitigate overcrowding Moms Demand Action thank you our next speaker is Robert Jordan followed by Vanessa Athena good evening I'm speaking on behalf of the Faith Alliance for climate Solutions which is a local nonpartisan non-profit that works to identify and
020advocate for local solutions to The Climate crisis I'm happy that our students who spoke earlier have talked about the jet recommendations which I was going to mention but I'll go on the energy recommendations are not being met and we really feel that the FCPS staff has not taken them seriously um we are have several recommendations that we we feel should be made to improve our performance of the FCPS performance um first it's important that there's a firm date for the fpac task force to identify the ways for to incorporate jet goals in FCPS facilities planning there is no date as far as I can tell and that one must be established secondly energy conservation projects that will lead toward achievement of the jet goals should be implemented in addition to the renovation and construction queue
021uh projects they should explicitly be incorporated into the proposed Capital asset preservation and renewal program that assistant superintendent fanshaw mentioned that your work working session when FCPS develops a new renovation and construction queue industry use index of schools should be incorporated in heavily as a heavily weighted Criterion when establishing the Q priorities and finally FCPS must establish a clear implementation plan to meet jet thank you our next speaker is Vanessa Athena followed by Harry Jackson Harry Jackson meeting School Board um I was very disturbed by what I saw in the last um FCPS uh work session where members of the school board unfairly blame members of their staff saying claiming that they because they themselves were not experts within facilities planning they rely on the expertise of the staff to provide them viable options that
022um that they to follow I'm sure that they did but you didn't follow them in fact we're in a dire situation now where we have schools that are being overcrowded and the resources to find this the resources to find money to to expand school capacity and how do we end up here well this first let's do a lessons learned it's been a comedy of errors I'm sure the staff did not advise a school board to violate those students with disabilities and have where you found an OCR complaint where you now have to find money to provide compensary services I'm sure the staff did not tell you to discriminate against Asians at TJ which is why did you go into a lawsuit which you're likely going to lose or to violate the human rights of students
023at Langley Westfield and Thomas Jefferson Again by failing to notify them and probably will end up with a class accuracy which will cost more money but um I saw another thing here another copy of Errors we talked about that if you live in the Pro Providence area or zone for Marshall to be aware that dunlore elementary school that Mr Frisch Champion for wasn't needed and that ever opened required massive and unnecessary boundary changes probably multiple schools in the Marshall pyramid including at a minimum Freedom Hill sandwood and shreewood and it's also done nothing to plan for future enrollment and growth in Marshall even though the FCPS longer term projections indicate that Marshall could pick up more kids in the coming years than any other High School due to the construction Tysons again another comedy of
024error that if you live in Providence you know zone for Oakton to be aware that Mr first took money earmarked for a new school in Oaks in Fairfax Oakton and rerouted to Dunmore to save Blaine Blake Lane Park a dog park prioritizing dogs over the future of our children again another copy of error that need not happen you should have maybe we should be a better Steward of our resources and prioritize the futures of our children thank you our next speaker is Jack Shelton followed by Joe dombia Jack Shelton Joe dombia followed by Shelly arnoldi ERS representing the face Alliance of Client Solutions as well well the CIP is an incredibly ambitious program planet is in an um planetary crisis existential planetary crisis the county has committing to very aggressive targets to to 2030 to
0252050 reduction on fifty percent emissions neutrality on carbon the CIP needs to incorporate all the Net Zero elements they have to be follow-ups checking interaction of the different agencies that are involved into making this a reality how all of this is going to happen the answer it is for you to consider having a net zero Champion that can oversee and can look for these initiatives going forward so let's go now a little bit about the CIP five years 10 years planned a list of schools for renovation construction expansion no indication of how this these programs are going to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions we don't know exactly how these numbers are going to be called and whether there is going to be a way to really satisfy the deadline they ask please to include the
026means for us to identify and for you to identify how this is going to really in fact be taking place the asset management program talk about backlog of equipment that is not considered anywhere the invitation to please look and integrate this into the CIP financing I Rise here two incredibly effective means to get money to improve the problem that is the S cause the to be considered thank you our next speaker is Shelly arnoldi followed by Susan Stillman Susan Stillman followed by Susan Taylor photography going on there hi my name is Susan Stillman I'm a volunteer with Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club and I thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening on the Sip for 2024 through 2028. my area of Interest are sustainability with a focus on solar energy and Net
027Zero construction my understanding that the board is directed The FCPS staff to deploy on-site solar and that any new buildings designed started in 2021 must be designed for Net Zero Energy this is a directive with unanimous support from the board for those in the audience that don't know about Ned zero design it's a building designed to be so energy efficient that with the addition of solar and possibly ground Source heat pumps that the building can stand on its own and provide all its own energy I'm in the process of building a net zero home and I'm really excited about the prospect of being able to control my energy costs have cleaner air in my home and other attributes that that come with Net Zero building the Architecture Firm Perkins Eastman did a study for you
028all that said that building a new school building an elementary school to Net Zero would cost you an extra five percent and renovating School an elementary school would cost an 11 extra and that the life cycle cost over a savings over 30 years would be six to seven million dollars that's for every school that's real taxpayer money so um I spoke with an architect that works with FCPS and he said that they had been told to go back to designing the schools to the old way not to Net Zero if that's the case then we've got a problem because he said it's too expensive now with the escalation and the cost of of building and um and the you know the costs and materials and the cost of Labor and so on if that's the
029case then in the next budget cycle I hope that the school board will adhere to its commitments have and have the county provide the additional funds needed to get to the Net Zero we know the Board of Supervisors uh supports Net Zero thank you our next speaker is Susan Taylor followed by Doug Taylor good evening remarkably I'm here to speak to you for the third time about the conditions at Kent Gardens Elementary School quite frankly I'm not even sure what I can say uh Ken Gardens does not have adequate instructional space for its students full stop the board has known this for at least 10 years yet this version of the CIP once again puts ported potential solutions for capacity deficits all of which save boundary adjustments and construction have been deployed at Kent Gardens
030to no avail as for boundaries a process quite frankly that could have been initiated in complete completed years ago even now sits as an idle promise as to construction we're told it's difficult because zoning variances are required and when questioned what has been done to investigate obtaining those variances were met with silence and blank stares so essentially the answer to the hard questions is well it's difficult so instead we do nothing finally the CIP document States and I quote that it is updated annually to reflect changing conditions within our schools and communities Capital project needs are informed and updated by the facility capacity evaluations completed each year this can't possibly be true because when asked there doesn't seem to be a single board member or person in a facilities department or committee that can answer
031the questions about what modifications have been made to the renovation queue since 2009 nor can they answer why there are at least 15 elementary schools listed in the current CIP with no capacity issues yet there are others within our district with demonstrable problems but we're supposed to vote on a bond next year for more money for these projects when no one can seem to answer why they are in the CIP so I'm thank you our next speaker is Doug Taylor followed by Robert Rigby [Applause] first off thank you to The District staff and the Committees and the board members for the many hours of earnest effort that have formed the CIP you probably don't hear that enough in fact I don't think you've heard it once tonight thank you my comments will focus on the
032CIP renovation queue that is finally going to be updated I want to address two of the potential criteria that are under consideration for prioritizing the queue the first I often hear or see listed in materials is how long it has been since the most recent renovation uh a straight time calculation bulldozes over many of the most Salient considerations about our infrastructure and is not nearly sufficient my understanding there's a comprehensive building review being conducted that will consider many of those more diverse questions about the past Renovations the current state of the infrastructure its future life expectancy and it is my hope this is great news that these more robust criteria will be used to inform the renovation Hue rather than a straight calendar time calculation we can do better the second criteria is projected enrollment
033and capacity given the vital importance of this metric I would like to see more transparency around the data and the methodology that we are using for in our enrollment projections and to have the opportunity for greater public review and input into that process I also ask that we make available the capacity of all of the school facilities not just the program capacity of the classrooms themselves how many students do the library the gym the cafeteria the labs how what do they support at a given school we can't just look at the classroom or trailer capacity alone and as far as I know those other capacity data points are not available to the public um have our projections fully and appropriately accounted for the shifts in matriculation patterns that TJ is now encountering as a result
034of the change in its uh admissions process most schools should be projected for higher or lower enrollments most likely going forward as they are sending more or less kids to TJ than they did in the past only transparency about our projections will sufficiently answer these types of questions thank you our next speaker is Robert Rigby followed by Vanessa Hall I am vice president for advocacy from the Fairfax County Council PTA and a multiple member of the Fairfax County Special Education PTA and a local union I want to speak about how the design of Renovations in new construction can have input from established family and parents organizations new and old student organizations and certified employees organizations in the design process why such organizations as ptas will be able to bring to you needs of student staff
035and Families high-level decision makers or the design and construction trucks may not even be aware of these needs one specific example um is making um our actual physical plans welcoming in particulars um uh for for people uh students with disabilities that that non-disabled people may not even know about this includes accommodations steering drills and Locker another example are needs for space for minority phase a third are how to make non-binary and transducing some stuff reach out to stakeholder groups we are ready and can help Elevate um traditionally muted note I'm not talking about asking the community to solve thorny public relations issues I'm I'm talking about seeking information on specific needs and proven solutions that that may be out here on the community an Open Access survey by FCP PS clearly doesn't produce useful information
036we're all just concerned that each child and staff person has the facilities available thank you our next speaker is Vanessa Hall followed by Jennifer Myers hi um I can't believe it's been a year since I spoke about my daughter's horrific experience during renovation at Frost fortunately a lot has changed in the year and the renovations going really well the Halls are clearer my daughter's harder to bully and the school's looking great I doubt that the renovation will be complete before she starts high school next fall but I want to commend you on the spacious Halls 21st century classrooms and beautiful library and thank you Ms omesh for your lovely response sharing changes you and Ms Cohen had initiated to ensure that FCPS gets a larger portion of the annual Bond sale woohoo that being said
037the current CIP shows you're dealing with nearly four decade building life cycle Decades of budget cuts and a growing Community with diverse needs our schools are overcrowded from Decades of failure of Richmond and the Board of Supervisors to fully financially support the CIP I doubt they'll ever support the schools like you all do which means that you're always trying to do so much with so little with that in mind please consider some key needs in each new and current building particularly with our recent pandemic experience for example our hallways are overcrowded we need adequate space for students to safely pass in the hall and maybe even have a quiet space when things get really chaotic I know I need that space try to make buildings as green as possible to reduce costs and Reliance on
038fossil fuels Keep Kids Safe in their schools without over hardening buildings in Miami this over Christmas I saw schools that looked like prisons which is no way to learn and no way to teach also students need access to bathrooms without traveling across campus including gender-neutral bathrooms as appropriate please regarding accessibility make schools accessible every day but especially in the case of emergencies thank you for trying to stretch the dollars to cover as many schools as possible I hope that Richmond releases the purse strings for our family and students also since it's been discussed equity and Merit can coexist thank you our next speaker is Jennifer Myers followed by Alyssa densham thank you for allowing me to speak I'm going to say that overcrowding does seem to be a popular topic this evening I I am
039yet another speaker to address the severe overcrowding at Kent Gardens Elementary School Kent Gardens is currently operating at 121 capacity with no further options for expansion this is the most overcrowded Elementary School in the region and one of the most overcrowded in Fairfax County yet no actions are being taken Fairfax is not accurately considering the population growth in the area given the methods that you utilize there are significant teardowns in our area that are drawing more families with young children and these are not being captured in your numbers this will only add to the overcrowding currently the entire sixth grade class attends school and trailers many of which are dilapidated to the point where a child's foot fell through the electives are in trailers each possible expansion technique has already been taken trailers optimizing interior
040spaces converting closets into classroom furthermore there's no more exterior Land There are now quads on the blacktop on the playground it's so overcrowded at this lunch is span from 10 30 to 2 30. the gym has to hold two classes at one time and the trailers are unsafe what makes all of this worse is the Kent Gardens is one of the tightest schools in terms of the square footage per child the this means that children are more physically squeezed or Kent Gardens than any other school in the region part of the problem is that the school has a very popular French immersion program which brings children in from other districts some coming as far away as from Herndon the school board has proposed changing boundaries or modifying the French program the parent body has expressed
041a strong preference to address the French program possibly adding a second program in Fairfax County this could address the overcrowding while meeting the overwhelming demand for the French program which currently just thank you our next speaker is Alyssa densham followed by Amanda Campbell Amanda Campbell followed by Jennifer Linton tid good evening my name is Amanda Campbell and I'm speaking tonight as president of Fairfax County Special Education PTA I was disappointed to see that there are only three mentions of accessibility in the entire CIP document all pointing to the Ada but with no real explanation of what that means in practice in FCPS as I'm sure everyone at this diocese can agree technically meeting the requirements of a law is not always the same thing as meeting the spirit of the law unfortunately there are cases
042of this regarding accessibility in FCPS for example the playgrounds are all considered to be ADA Compliant but I ask you are we truly providing accessibility if there's only one piece of playground equipment that a person with Mobility impairments can access are we providing accessibility when that one piece of playground equipment can only be gotten to by Crossing yards of thickly mulch-covered ground that wheelchairs Walkers or other Mobility AIDS cannot actually Traverse my written comments submitted to you contain more detail with photographic documentation as well we ask that FCPS include a plan within the CIP to identify a queue of playground renovations to address playground accessibility prioritizing School sites that have consistently have had higher numbers of students with accessibility needs another similar issue relates to accessible parking spaces each school does have accessible parking spaces
043which meets the requirements of the law yet for elementary schools at least many of those spaces are located in the Bus Loop and then in the section of the parking lot that's impacted by kiss and ride what this means in practice is that these spaces are not accessible when they are most needed during the day arrival and dismissal times we ask that FCPS audit the current accessible parking spot locations and whether or not they are accessible during arrival and dismissal and then develop a district-wide plan to address the changes needed to ensure that these spaces are available during the highest traffic times at all schools in future iterations of the CIP to increase Ada accountability we would love to see the CIP explicitly include accessibility needs in the individual School renovation plans as well as
044a section of the overall CIP dedicated specifically to accessibility in the same way that there is a section dedicated to environmental sustainability thank you thank you our next speaker is Jennifer Linton tid followed by Cheryl Binkley Cheryl Binkley followed by Michael Berry Michael Berry yes I'm here sorry I thank you for the time to speak before the board this evening and the work on the capital Improvement plan I'm here representing Kent Gardens Elementary School as a parent of both the current and a future student we only recently joined Kent Gardens Elementary and now cherished being part of such a caring and Vibrant Community we're also very appreciative of the energy and the engagement from the school's academic and administrative leadership but we've also become very concerned as we've learned more about the severe overcrowding challenges
045at the school I've experienced them firsthand through our daughter we commend the school staff for handling the situation as they have up until now it is now time that they can be provided with the capital Improvement resources they desperately need to create the learning environment we all expect for every child throughout FCPS my daughter's first experience at Kent Gardens was her new school year orientation where she learned that her classroom would be a windowless former storage closet that had been recently converted into a classroom I'm still uncertain how this was even allowed under Fire Safety protocol in our new class from this year she at least has a window but there is a makeshift classroom in the hallway for a special needs class special needs in the hallway but she goes to the music class
046and the trailers outside she's had to have Coach Island music class where she and her classmates need to keep their noise levels down in music class because the sixth grade class next door is teaching advanced math and science we can do better and we must do better the fact that Kent Gardens is not even on the list of projects with the plan for future funding at any point is unacceptable please take action thank you our next speaker is Stephanie Lundqvist Aurora followed by Norma margias good evening it's time to clear the FCPS trailer parks I think you guys have heard that several times that seems to be a common theme uh you've just allocated four hundred thousand dollars for your own office space so I think it's only fair that you should also do that
047for the children they'll be really considerate so come on now get it done uh there's plenty of wasteful wasteful spending that you should shift towards projects like putting children in these real classrooms I'll give you a few examples um so I think it does seem to pay to be friends with Dr Reed um I I know that you just issued a 455 000 sole source contract um which is non-competitive I'm sure you guys know that when you when you agreed to it um to Performance fact for more Equity planning and your strategic plans so that seems pretty excessive I I would say personally um and then that twenty thousand dollar one hour Zoom call with uh critical race Theory advocate um and then let's talk about the legal fees for a second because you spent
048that legal audit just came out and you've spent nine million dollars in lawyers in 18 months from June 2020 to December um and nearly 17 million dollars from 2020 to 2022 in legal fees so I think like it's just a good idea to stop breaking the law and getting sued would save a lot of money um with all this waste and eight percent property tax increases this year in Fairfax County coupled with increased valuations of houses and cars we the taxpayers further demand an audit of FCPS in your wasteful spending thanks Norma Margulies thank you and really move by the testimony of many of teachers parents of elementary schools that are facing overcrowding that are being submitting to you they're pleased to address and at the same time it the other side of the the
049the coin is that you keep spending 455 000 for Equity Consultants or Equity [Music] commentators and talks and also you have hired the chief Equity or a officer right means Nardo's King I just wonder if with her salary if with her salary we can meet many of the demands of this many schools it seems to me that uh Fairfax County Public School is an urging need for an audit and I will support that and we need an independent body an organic station to conduct that audit and to determine what the type of priorities that you do you have instead of addressing the real issues for instance maintenance of bathrooms basic maintenance of bathrooms on many schools what happened at Woodson High School there was a fire there and I haven't seen any interest whatsoever any
050construction the plan to address the situation or all the overcrowding but you keep putting your money on Equity empty empty words thank you [Applause] that was our final speaker thank you madam Clerk we will adjourn this public hearing take a brief break and begin our meeting at 7 25.