FCPS School Board Meeting - 10/6/22

001foreign thank you this October 6 2022 regular meeting of the Fairfax County School Board will now come to order I will make the following announcement the Fairfax County School Board understands that our lgbtqia plus students staff and families are worried about the impact of Governor Jenkins proposed model policies for transgender and gender expansive students nearly one in five transgender and non-binary youth attempted suicide in the last year lgbtqia plus youth who found their school to be affirming reported lower rates of attempting suicide it is necessary to ensure our school Community is a place where all students can live without fear of prejudice discrimination harassment or violence our policies and regulations will continue supporting our transgender and gender expansive students and their families Fairfax County School Board policy 1450 protects students Educators and other staff from

002discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity Fairfax County Public Schools regulation 2603 relies on robust parent Guardian engagement to help provide transgender and gender expanse to students with protections and supports we will continue partnering with parents and Guardians because their involvement is necessary to Student Success furthermore our school board is committed to following the Virginia Human Rights Act Title IX prohibition on gender identity discrimination and the subtle law of Grimm versus Gloucester County School Board 972 F third 586 4th circuit 2020 which requires respect for students gender identity protecting supporting and affirming our transgender and gender expansive students is critical to achieving a safe and respectful learning environment for all students and providing them with equal access to educational programs and services and activities the work to do so in a holistically inclusive way

003continues but we know that from this commitment we will not waver please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a moment of silence and Performing the national anthem by the Cooper Middle School symphonic band under the direction of Matthew Baker to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all one instruments [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Applause] it's wonderful section 2.02 certification of closed meeting compliance in order to comply with section 2.2-3712d of the code of Virginia it is necessary for the board to certify the sense of Fairfax County School Board convened a closed meeting on October 6 2022 to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully Exempted from open meeting requirements and

004only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convene the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered by the board during the closed meeting do I have a motion does McLaughlin do you have a second Miss Tolan all those in favor that is Miss kikamara Miss Marin Miss Amish Miss toland Miss Corbett Sanders Miss McLaughlin Dr Anderson Mr Frisch Miss Cohen Miss bakarski and myself that motion passes and as we have a I think that's it I don't see anyone on the screen so section 2.03 announcements Miss darinak Colfax is absent this evening item 5.07 2022-23 Title 1 parent advisory committee charge has been moved from new business to the consent agenda at the request of a board member if you would like to review a copy of the agenda and any agenda

005item that is being discussed tonight that information may be found at the back of the auditorium or on the website at fcps.edu backslash School Board backslash board docs tonight's meeting is being broadcast on channel 99 and live streamed on the website at fcps.edu backslash TV backslash Channel 99. I call on Miss Tommy Madam chair may I be recognized yes just Dr Anderson I'd like to make a motion to add the truthful education and FCPS support for educators and school-based administrators resolution as item 2.09 to today's agenda thank you Dr Anderson are you making a motion to amend the agenda yes that motion required two-thirds vote of the board to pass that is not correct I think we should just wait for it to be seconded and I can speak to it well I can ask

006our um parliamentarian for that correction do you have a second can we have the motion be seconded I'll second all right Mr Paul will you let us know how many what's the um vote needed for to amend the agenda um Madam chair I believe it's either two-thirds or a majority of the entire board as a motion to amend something previously adopted all right does anyone wants to speak to this motion yes I would like to speak to this motion briefly um I have four points that I'd like to share and I'd like to expand on those very quickly this resolution is aligned to FCPS work and serves as an umbrella statement to support the work being asked of staff on current policies and upcoming education Equity policy and controversial issues policies the process by which

007I bring this forward is permissible as outlined in the board's governance manual on page 58. the resolution has broad support of the community advocacy groups and the superintendent board consultation and communication has been provided beginning September 1 exactly five weeks ago this resolution is directly aligned like I shared with the equity and policy work presented by the board on July 12th this resolution is a signal to our teachers administrators and staff who are engaging in the work of the board and to show that we are recognizing the challenges that that they face and that they have our support in this difficult work tonight we will read in the principal's recognition that educational leaders face many challenges to supporting the in educating our students the teaching truthful education resolution Dr Anderson the motion is just to

008amend the agenda it is not a motion to speak to the merits of the actual um resolution itself okay so let me speak to that to amend the agenda according to our governance manual page 58 the school board members who are wanting to have an item included in detail shall contact the board chair or the clerk with the request I made this request on September 1 and again for the third time on October 2. the division superintendent or individual school board members can also bring any new business not listed as part of the agenda this is what I'm doing right now and it requires a majority vote according to page 58 of our governance manual the chair has a prerogative to limit a postpone discussion of the new business until the next scheduled meeting unless

009overruled by a majority of the board which is my ask at this point that we allow for this resolution to be heard this evening and to be voted upon this evening I would like to point out that this is a resolution and not a typical action item we have five resolutions that have been brought this evening that did not have any previous posting or indication of Advance majority support which is not a prerequisite to bring forth an agenda item there is no provision in the governance manual knowing Robert's rules that state only measures with majority support can be brought forward for consideration by the body so I will stop there to share that I do have permissible governing policy to bring this forward doctor and Dr Anderson are you asking to amend the agenda or

010bring this as new business I am asking to add this item as agenda 2.09 so you're asking to amend the agenda I'm just making this clear because you mentioned both new business and amending I just want to make sure we're clear which one you're asking for I am requesting that the agenda be amended so that the truthful and education resolution be added as item 2.09 okay thank you for the clarification is there any other would you like to speak to your second Miss Amish um my understanding is that the community has been asking for this for some time uh to have a strong board statement in support of well we've already been uh speaking to and I appreciate Dr Anderson having shepherded this for some time now after hearing testimony from the public at least

011for two meetings um especially from SEPTA uh the Fairfax Education Association the Fairfax County Council PTA is the NAACP and others so um I do understand that perhaps Justice the latest Justice denied so I um do support hearing this today thank you does anyone else who speaks to speak to the motion of amending the agenda only not the merits of the resolution Miss Marin yes thank you I support this amendment I'm aware that it was first brought by Dr Anderson on September uh 5th to the board and I've been in support of it since that moment um again it also reflects the input of constituents I would have been happy to Second it thank you for doing so uh to my colleague and um the governance manual is something that the governance committee is going

012to be working on to have clearer processes for Resolutions and recognitions including clarifying who contributes language but at this time I think there's been ample notice and I do support this addition to the agenda tonight thank you Miss McLaughlin thank you I do appreciate the work that Dr Anderson has done on this um and certainly appreciate the time that she and I initially spoke about this but there are 12 members on our board and what what I understood to be both from Dr Anderson who emailed our board at 10 30 in the morning on Monday saying here is revised language we that is exactly what the email said then our chair and vice chair considered it in chairs on how we would incorporate this to our agenda and that we were notified it would be

013placed for a vote on October 20th um I have shared with Dr Anderson that I appreciate all the edits because this isn't simply about our belief in the merits of the resolution but because this is a statement that will be coming from the board we need to make sure that all of the details the statements that in there we speak with accuracy and impeccability and I did share with Dr Anderson and I'm concerned about one statement in the resolution that I I think is not a accurate reflection of the community in which we live it is not an accurate reflection of how a degree of fear may exist within our employees and I worry that when the board makes a statement like that that's going to affect the morale of our employees in effect that

014the pers the perception about our County so I think that there's a way to um refine this resolution and have a unanimous support from the board and that's important and so um procedurally for the audience to understand Dr Anderson did not tell at least me or other board members that she planned on pushing for this tonight and had she explained that on Monday I would have made sure that even though we were very busy this week that she and I could have had this conversation the statement that was read earlier this evening in support of our trans and lgbtq Community was a work of collaboration by the board and I know we can get there with this resolution as well I'm simply asking our colleagues to make sure that this is a resolution that we

015all feel speaks within with impeccability and accuracy and I would like for us to continue having this done in that manner and we vote on it on the on the 20th Miss keys gamara yes thank you um I'm I'm supporting this opportunity because I've heard from a number of our community members and our staff members that really want to make sure that we are clear in this very difficult time period where some of our leaders are making statements that make it difficult to do their job every day it's my understanding and I had an opportunity to review this I think about three weeks ago and we've had comments coming from that time period so I I guess I disagree a little bit about the opportunity to give comment although I understand it is difficult to

016bring 12 people we've had we have lots and lots of discussion I think that part of the reason this is coming forward today is because when we are working with our Advocates when we are working with our community it's important that we look like we're responsive and I know that there is no intent not to look that way but it is important that when these issues are raised and when we hear these various cries for help that we do our very best to try to make sure that the community understands that we hear them and for that reason I will support this discussion tonight thank you thank you Miss Cohen I appreciate it um I I think there's just some confusion on the part of several of us my understanding was that this is slated

017for the October 20th board meeting is that not accurate that is accurate um I I guess I think Dr Anderson and several folks in our community have done a beautiful job of securing support for this and rewriting after countless feedback has been given I very much appreciated Dr Anderson you incorporating some of the changes that I had initial concerns about and I committed to you that I would support this resolution so I certainly am not in any way trying to take that back um I guess my fear my frustration is that we have this beautiful room full of folks here tonight and I'd like us to be able to move on to public comments and so if we're going to do this on the 20th I hate the idea that we're going to spend another

01825 minutes arguing about whether it's done this week or the 20th because I imagine that our community is ready for it to happen but the difference between two weeks or not is is not make or break so um I'm honestly not sure how I'll be loading but I do want to make it clear I support the resolution in totality but I'm ready to get to hear from our students and our community Ms Corbett Sanders can I say ditto um I want to First be very clear Dr Anderson has been advocating for this and has you know I had not spoken to her in several weeks and last night at 10 45 at night we had a conversation about this motion this resolution and at that point it had not been and I said to her

019I have not seen it on board docs I have not seen it on our agenda anywhere to be had having said that then today we did receive notice that it is scheduled for the 20th of this month and on the 20th of this month I will be very pleased to support this resolution and um I will also offer some great appreci even more appreciation for the work that Dr Anderson has done and The Advocates in the community because the other aspect of it is that I understand from a couple of my colleagues that there is just a little bit of a Nuance that they would like to see resolved and if we can get that resolved then the voice of the board is that much more powerful because we have a ideally the all 12

020of us voting in support of the resolution but significantly more people supporting it at that time so I appreciate your uh advocacy Dr Anderson but I will not support amending tonight's agenda Miss Marin yes I believe that the best way for me to appreciate Dr Anderson's work and to respect the embassy of the community is to support the change in the agenda and then to support the resolution Robert's Rules and the governance Manual of this board allow for the agenda to be changed board members can make changes at the table so I move to call the question there is a motion to call the question that takes a two-thirds votes I'll call for the vote to call the question all those in favor oh sorry I do have a second yeah who's Miss Keys gamara's

021second all those in favor that is that motion fit that is Miss bakarski Miss Cullen Mr Frisch Dr Anderson Miss Marin Miss Keith Camara Mr Mish which were you buddy so that motion fails Madam chair yeah we need to call for the known votes as well I'm sorry I can't hear you you need to call for the votes against as well all right so let me try I will call for all those in favor Miss bakarski Miss Cohen Mr Frisch Dr Anderson Miss omish Miss Marin Miss keys gamara all those opposed Miss Tallinn Miss Corbett Sanders um Miss McLaughlin and myself that's four we do not have the two-thirds I believe for that to pass so we will continue with the conversation next we had Miss well we're not going to go backs on this

022we'll go Miss Tolan Miss Marin called the question that was her statement thank you I just wanted the opportunity to also thank Dr Anderson for working so hard on this and the um the peak ball that have assisted her with putting this together um I have had a number of conversations with Dr Anderson the last couple of days and I appreciate that I did express to her that um I did want a little bit more time to gather a little bit more information not because I don't fully support the spirit of this resolution I absolutely do 100 percent um the only concerns that I have or I just wanted to make sure that we have it right because I don't want there to be any way that we are even further slowing any of the

023work that we're doing around um supporting I mean the point of this is to support our teachers and our administrators in what they're trying to do in our central office in any changes that they're making to our curriculum materials and I want to make sure that that work is happening so I was fully prepared to work on this and be able to vote on the 20th so I would prefer that we have a center agenda on the 20th thank you see for that I will call for the vote I'd like to make one more statement please my light is also on I think we're going to call for the vote at this point we've had statements to make I'd like to make one more statement because there were many things said that I would like

024to offer some additional information around oh I'm so sorry it's abroad all right I will let Miss honey speak she did speak oh twice so I sound all right at least one person spoke twice so summation um I I just wanted to offer I mean this is this is really unfortunate that we landed here but um I've certainly been on the other end of essentially trying to bring something and people piling on for procedural reasons as to why it shouldn't happen um and I just In fairness I mean I know Dr Anderson has been talking to me about this for a long time now uh I know colleagues have as they've shared been you know genuinely trying to work through something that we can all get behind but I just I in in in in

025feeling that I have to speak the truth of what I've seen I think Dr Anderson has tried to follow a procedure in several ways and um it's simply been pushed and she's been promised several times that it's going to be on the agenda of X meeting and so it's how many you know at some point I'm not going to wait until I'm promised it's October 20th or it's whatever God knows what day and I think that's where this is coming from because it tends to be that this is the same thing we see when uh you know you have protesters that behave in a certain way right and then the question is why are you protesting in this way this is not the way to civilly you know show your your disgruntlement right we have

026a procedure we have a way to do these things but at some point people reach uh the point of doing something differently because they've tried all those things um so I just I have to say that In fairness to Dr Anderson because I've totally been on the other end of this um and saying that guys it's good work I think we all agree with what it says um there's no reason to um perhaps in inaccurately signal to our community that we don't stand behind this um so that's the best I can offer Dr Anderson and Mr McLaughlin then we'll call the question thank you I just want to qualify some things about the timetable the first then it was sent to the entire board on September 5th and then I began from that day until

027the end of September to have conversations with just about every single one of you most of you on the phone some of you via email but that happened and this is the third version the third version was sent on October 2nd that stated the title of the email said resolution 410 6 because in a previous conversation without chair she said we would put it on 10-6 if you make these changes changes were made so 10-6 was what I was looking ahead for and then that was sent on Monday with that title for 10-6 no one could have missed that subsequently I have another communication that says it would be tentatively for 10 20. that was the last communication I had yesterday hence why I'm here today because we've moved from my initial hope which is

028to have this ready on 9 15 and I get it there were there was work to do so 10-6 was the date 10-6 the goal post was then moved that is why I'm here because I think a lot of communication went on with the board some of you way more extensive than others but significantly enough so that we can stand behind this and I also want to say that our teachers have signed on to this they are saying this is important they are saying this reflects their experience SEPTA the NAACP msaoc these are the people who work in this division they are saying this reflects my experience how could we not honor that and be invalidate that thank you Miss McLaughlin [Applause] um again I I'm I'm disappointed we find ourselves here because again this

029should be a positive and very powerful resolution from the board it's it's unusual because it was a resolution drafted by our Advocates brought to the board for consideration that we then come out with a strong statement and as I shared with Dr Anderson she and I served on the governance committee where we've spent the last year working on our our controversial issues policy because we want every single one of our Educators to feel safe in the way that they deliver exceptional curriculum to our students so this resolution is really important and we should be getting unanimous support from the board for it and as a former Advocate who's someone created the Fairfax education Coalition in partnership with FAA with fcft and many parent advocacy groups I've been on the other side of that and I

030also know that when the executive boards come forward and support something that is important for us to hear but that's not what this debate is tonight the debate is that I'm looking at doctors Anderson's email from this Monday morning where she said I hope that we can bring it to this Thursday's school board meeting we were told by our chair that this would be on the 20th I think it is really important for everybody to understand that when a board member says this is my hope but then we get told something different I never received an email from Dr Anderson saying I plan to make this motion that I'm going to push this through whether I know I've got 12 people supporting It or Not That is not how we do our best work and

031that's all I'm asking of my colleagues Dr Anderson knows that I respect how hard she's worked on this I respect our community that's been in support of it but there are some things as Ms Tolen said that we want to make sure when this board is speaking to something that we're going to be speaking and and making sure that it's accurate um and and I told you making statements about our community and fear we need to make sure it's stated accurately and finally again we have an existing School Board policy on controversial issues to protect our teachers that exists now we're trying to improve it make it even stronger and that is on the pocket to come to the full board so the fact that that our Educators don't even realize that we have these

032Protections in place right now concerns me because I don't want a single teacher in the school district to be teaching in fear being afraid for their personal lives and currently the language in that resolution alludes to that so I do hope again that Ms omish in all frankness painting any one of us on this board is trying to obstruct this out of technicalities is not respectful if we want to make sure that this is the most powerful resolution with unanimous support which can get done by the 20th when Dr Anderson never told us that she wanted to procedurally do this that is not good board work thank you I will call for the vote we need a two-thirds vote to or majority of the entire school board so I will call for all those in

033favor of amending the agenda that is Miss Keys gamara Miss Marin Miss Amish and Dr Anderson and Mr fresh all those opposed that is Miss yeah we did not have a majority of the school board voting for so that motion fails Madam chair I'd like to be recognized yes Dr Anderson I'd like to make a motion to add the FCPS commitment to truthful education I'm sorry truthful education and FCPS support for educators and school-based administrators resolutions to be added to the new business today Dr Anderson you don't need to make a motion for that it um I I I'd like to offer it I know it doesn't require a vote but I want to articulate it I'd like it to be added to new business today so when we get to the new business section

034of the agenda I will excuse you to speak up and I can recognize you for that I'm absolutely ready for the clerk to go ahead and add it to new business today and I will send you the exact language absolutely that would be fine it's already scheduled for the 20th so that works with our alignment with what it's scheduled for um all right so section 2.03 announcement sorry I call on Miss talk before an announcement national school lunch week is October 10th through 14th the national school lunch program otherwise known as nslp serves nearly 30 million children every school day President John F Kennedy created national school lunch week in 1962 to promote the importance of a healthy school lunch and a child's life and the impact it has inside and outside of the classroom

035the nslp ensures that the health and well-being of all public school students boost academic perform performance by giving students the feel they need to succeed and closes the opportunity gap for children across the county during nslw from October 10-14 2022 FCPS spotlights the hard work and dedication of our food and nutrition services employees bullying prevention month recognition in an effort to promote awareness of school bullying the month of October has been designated as bullying prevention month bullying is defined as any aggressive and unwanted behavior that is intended to harm intimidate or humiliate someone involves a real or perceived power imbalance and is repeated or has the potential to be repeated over time bullying includes actions such as threats spreading rumors attacking someone physically or verbally and deliberately excluding someone from a group bullying can also

036take place through technology also known as cyber bullying bullying can affect anyone and everyone those who are experiencing negative outcomes include depression anxiety sleep difficulties lower academic achievement and dropping out of school board members superintendents teachers and parents play a critical role in creating a climate where bullying is not tolerated when adults respond quickly and consistently to bullying Behavior they send the message that it is not acceptable research shows that stop that this can stop bullying Behavior over time parents School staff and other adults in the community can help prevent bullying by taking by talking about it building a safe School environment and promoting kindness and inclusion when we stand together thank you thank you Miss togby agenda item 2.04 National School principles month resolution the board will invite each recognition recipient to the diaspora

037photo after the reading of all recognitions I call on missing the resolution thank you whereas the celebration of National School principles month honors elementary middle and high school principles and recognizes that school leadership is essential in preparing students for Success both during their Pre-K 12 years and Beyond and whereas principles serve a variety of critical roles such as instructional leaders Community Builders assessment experts budget analysts facility managers public relations experts and guardians of various legal contractual and policy mandates as I'm sure they know well and whereas dedicated and inspiring principles work collaboratively with students families teachers and the community they set the academic tone of their school by setting ambitious goals and forcing rigorous standards and maintaining High curriculum standards and expectations for all students and whereas leadership is second only to classroom instruction among

038all school-related factors that contribute to what students learn at school and whereas educational leaders face many challenges in supporting and educating our students and it is through their perseverance and passion that Fairfax County Public Schools continues to produce career-ready students and now therefore be it resolved at the Fairfax County School Board recognizes October 2022 as National School principles month and the importance of school leadership and ensuring every child has access to high quality education I so move is there a second I'll second Miss picarski Miss Amaze would like to speak to your resolution yes absolutely uh it's an honor to be able to recognize our principals who've shepherded our school system through many difficult years uh recently and of course an exciting year with many successes this time around that our school board introducing this

039resolution on our principles of course for their Visionary leadership and tireless pursuit of success for each student is nothing compared to the efforts that they put forward but but I am hoping that in making this a month we are extending even beyond what former Governor Northam had declared in January of 2021 as the Virginia School principal's Appreciation Week where here we recognize their work across the Commonwealth uh for a month and with this resolution passage of course we're proud to celebrate every one of our principals we are also proud as a division that we have outstanding principal Awards and outstanding new principal Awards as part of our FCPS employee awards ceremony as small gestures of appreciation for truly the Monumental work that they do of course we're up here you know doing our our best

040uh to set a tone for our system but on the school level they're really responsible for cultivating that community and inspiring Young Learners from the beginning of their Journey all the way through to continue pursuing uh their lifelong journey as as Learners um you know something uh that's quite interesting is that principles weren't always a part of school buildings at the beginning of the 20th century as schools Grew From one room School houses and to schools with multiple grades and classrooms the need arose for someone to manage these more complex roles and it actually started initially by teachers who continued to teach while dealing with school management needs which I'm sure any principal could tell you is a crazy idea but as schools grew principal teachers ended up becoming full-time administrators who are able to

041handle of course the demands of the management responsibilities placed on their time and so principles of course continued to wear several hats and until today serve as the North Star for our students and so with that I want to make sure that I recognize many principals who were able to join us today which I know again this is really just a small token of appreciation from us for all the work that you've been doing so as I say your name if you would please stand we have Josh de smider from shrevewood elementary Chad Clayton from the Davis Center Nikki akubovic from Pine Spring Elementary School Margaret Barnes from Holmes Middle School Victor Powell Powell from Glasgow Maddie fallen from Sleepy Hollow Candace hunstad from Herndon Elementary who's also the president of the Elementary School Association

042principals Kim retzers from South Lakes High School Gordon Stokes from Carson Middle School Maggie Grove from Wolf Trap Elementary School Lisa borrow from Cooper Middle School Amy monticcio from Hughes Middle School Craig Herring from Walt Whitman Middle School and Ann Smith from the key centers the special education center if there's anyone I missed please stand or if anyone joined us um we are so grateful please join me in giving them a warm warm Round of Applause we'll of course be calling you to take a photo with us shortly but to them in the nearly 200 principles we have in our division thank you so much words will never be enough to express our appreciation for you uh but we hope that we continue um to be inspired by one another in the fact that you

043all are leading a generation and are really inspiring uh a movement forward towards a more just Society by educating these young minds thank you Miss so much Miss vikarski you'd like to speak to your second thank you um I'm also um happy to be seconding this ocean and I did see Miss Amy goodlow as well from Rocky Run my own kids principal for a few years just want to make sure we had everybody um thank you for coming out we know it's a long day for all of you but we appreciate you being here so that we can offer our thanks in person in public for all you do our principals are um you know I think the best in the country the professionalism their hard work they set the tone for a school leadership

044at the top matters very very much and you can tell a high performing school by the leadership that it has our principals are instructional leaders their scheduler extraordinaires their cheerleaders of our students and our staff their innovators their nurturers and they're just all-around Miracle makers um at different times and I think we can appreciate that now after what we've been through the last few years more than ever so on behalf of the board I just want to thank all of you for your dedication to our students and staff and everything you do on a daily basis for FCPS we are very very lucky to have you uh as part of our FCPS family thank you Miss Tolan in an effort to get all of our principals home to their families after a long day at

045school I'll keep this really short um I have always enjoyed working with principals and I so respect the work that you do I see you as the ultimate entrepreneurs and managers in our school system I think all of my principals know and I extend the same to any principle I'm here to support you in your incredible work do not hesitate to reach out at any time thank you Dr Anderson I would be remiss if I didn't take the the opportunity to say thank you to our principals and I see numerous principles from my cluster and actually my own child's principal Mr Powell thank you so much for being here as one board member who used to have your job what I have been saying the last three years is thank goodness I don't have your

046job because it has been just so very difficult and so very thankless and you all have persevered you've had to manage your own trauma while trying to guide and help others with theirs and while you're moving the the school instructionally the work has just been immense and you have done it with a plum and you've done it with Grace and I'm just so very grateful for all of you those who are represented here and those who are not with us for all of your work because it is Herculean and I'm just so very Amazed by what you do each and every day so thank you thank you Miss McLaughlin yes I know we have a long night but I I want to just briefly say that I'm not only grateful for every principal who's here

047this evening for your tireless work um and really ensuring uh high quality education for all of our kids but I also want to thank all of my Braddock District school Braddock District principles because they have certainly over the years have always treated me with a partnership that I deeply appreciate and it's already enough that principals have a regional superintendent executive principals and the superintendent and the assistant superintendents and the fact that you do partner with us on so many ways and I I really just want to say that is appreciated with gratitude so thank you for all you've done and especially throughout the pandemic and emerging from it Ms Cohen thank you and I know we missed a couple of folks too I saw Anthony Harris from frost is tucked back there if you'll wave

048thank you and laronda Peterson from Riverside you stood up somewhere too oh okay thank you thank you guys so much um I just wanted to say I echo of course all of this but um my mom was a principal my mom was my principal which um yeah that was a rough one for both of us um but I did just want to say I I hope that you can go home and share with your families how much we appreciate them because we know what they give up to have you give a 110 to your job and your school family I know that all those kids become your kids I remember being very jealous of that as the child of the principal but those are your kids and and we appreciate that you see our children

049as your children I see Mr Powell your own child is here thank you so much so please do pass along to us from us how much we appreciate what your families give and what you give up to give us what you give so thank you thank you is not quite enough but it's it's what we've got right now Miss Corbett Sanders just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you all because there are no greater Hearts no bigger Hearts than the hearts of our principles they often are the ones to dust off our kids knees when they're fall they teach how kids can resolve differences amongst each other and they are absolutely focused on the academic success of each and every child in a building and so you all are the heart of our school

050system and I thank you for what you do every day thank you and with that I'll just take a couple minutes or actually less than that really briefly just to say thank you from all of us here we all truly appreciate the hard work and I know you must be exhausted because I know you probably all start at 5am and this is late for you so I won't say anything more other than say we are so grateful for how you care for our students each and every day and how you engage with our families each and every day so thank you with that I will call for the vote all those in favor and that is unanimous wonderful yay sorry I just had to say that I was very excited I love our principals um

051agenda item 2.05 custodian Appreciation Week recognition I call on Miss McLaughlin for the recognition wonderful uh good evening everyone the Fairfax County School Board is proud to celebrate National custodian appreciation week which runs from October 2nd to the 9th custodians are the employees who keep our schools and workplaces running smoothly and often operate behind the scenes FCPS is dedicated custodians keep our schools and buildings clean and safe both inside and out they understand safety hazards and the proper use of various cleaning and sanitizing Solutions it has been said that custodians really run the school and have a huge impact on the school culture and the student achievement they've also been instrumental in recent years and ensuring our students and our schools remain safe for them and staff during the covid pandemic maintaining our facilities takes

052hard work extensive knowledge perseverance and is not for the week of heart FCPS custodians are constantly visible helpful and in many ways the First Responders and emergencies at our schools students know them love them and enjoy celebrating them so please make sure that you thank them for the incredible jobs that they do and we will be having a recognition in just a few minutes and I will say a few personal remarks before any of my colleagues would like to add theirs I I grew up in Northern California and I was in elementary school almost 50 40 to 50 decades ago or years ago foreign old um the point being yes I'm in my mid-50s I should have just LED with that um but uh I still remember Mr sabatini he was my my elementary school

053custodian and Mr sabatini was beloved by every one of my my classmates in our elementary school and while I can't really do the math tonight about my own age uh I do remember him fondly and uh I do know that even for my own children and their custodian at little Run Elementary and how she was just so beloved by everyone and so I really just wanted to put a personal touch to these remarks it's not just simply a recognition that we're doing um but that I know each and every one of us can think back in our own childhood years and think how amazing our custodians and the role they play in bringing love support and kindness to our children's lives each and every day thank you board members have two minutes to dress this

054recognition should they wish I see Mr Frisch has his light up thank you last year I had the Good Fortune of being able to Shadow our custodial crew at Mantua Elementary School I got to put on the blues and then get to work with them cleaning the school it is incredibly difficult and in time intensive work um and you know whenever you visit a school I highly suggest you check in with the custodial crew and thank them for the work that they do I would just add that you know these kinds of recognitions are Never Enough when it comes to saying thank you and so my hope is that just as we have in the last two years we will continue to show our thanks with our dollars as well thank you Dr Anderson again

055another opportunity for which I can't miss to say thank you to our custodians and I'm sure that the principals who are in the bill in the room will also agree that is your best friend in the building they have the same house as you you hang with them Summer Snow Day closures that is your buddy and that's the experience that I've had with every custodial custodian and custodial staff that I've worked with so I am eternally grateful for the work that I know I have received from them and the work that I see that they're doing for our schools each and every single day our kids are messy they are so messy to get through a day and not have the building look like a bomb went off it takes a lot of work and

056now custodians do this with so much ease we don't even see it you know your building is awesome where you don't even think about it it doesn't come easy so please thank you so much to all of our custodians and their work and I do want to Echo what Mr Frisch just shared we need to offer more than platitudes we need to offer compensation that is a living wage and that really supports what we're seeing here that shows the value you know we have to put our money where our mouths are they thank you Miss Keys Kamara yes I too want to say thank you I feel oftentimes our custodians are the front lines for our schools they create a an atmosphere that is welcoming um clean buildings well-kept buildings actually contributes to how children

057perceive being able to access education and so your work is invaluable I still remember my elementary school custodian his name was John he miraculously knew where people were and so when my brother came to look for me he went to Mr John and Mr John said Karen's over there so I am just so grateful for the presence of our custodians and um just thank you I thank you on behalf of all of our families because we really couldn't do much of anything without your constant diligence and your work thank you thank you Miss Tolan um I just a little bit of an anecdote the custodians are absolutely amazing and a key part of any team that you have in your school and anything that you're trying to get done when I was working with our

058Environmental Education Program here with FCPS and I would work with teachers and they would ask me oh if I'm setting up an Eco team at my school who's the you know who who needs to be on the team I always they were sometimes surprised when I said the first person you need to recruit is your custodian because if you're building a garden you're changing the recycling in your cafeteria you're doing an energy conservation program the custodian needs to know about it and they'll help you what once or else people would say things to me like well our custodian doesn't speak English and I said well I have yet to find a custodian if I showed them a monarch chrysalis out in the garden that they didn't get it and why we were building these amazing

059Gardens for our students to work in one of the things I did is went to the custodian training program and the warmth and the welcoming reception that I had from the custodians when they were really pulled in as part of the team was incredible so they're part of the team with a capital T thank you so much for everything you do thank you Miss Corbett Sanders thank you madam chair so this part of the meeting Dr Reed is not supposed to speak she gets to speak a little bit later but I had the uh privilege and the joy of being able to visit a number of our schools with her and was so proud of our buildings but it was so wonderful to see Dr Reed admire with fresh eyes about how great our facilities

060are maintained by our custodial staff and the reason they're maintained by our custodial staff in that manner is because our custodians take they take pride and they take ownership of those buildings and it is absolutely amazing when you go to buildings that have not been renovated in 35 years but the floors are impeccable the grounds are well kept and it's because of that pride and their recognition that our kids feel better about their education if they are able to attend a school that is shiny and well maintained and orderly and that is because of the wonderful custodial staff that we have and so I'm going to Echo the joy that Dr Reed shared as she toured the buildings with me so thank you to each and every one of you and a special shout out

061to Mr poone at West Potomac whom I count on as a very dear friend having spent a lot of time in that building Miss Amish thank you I know my colleagues spoke to the contribution of our custodians to the health and safety of our of our buildings uh and of course their cleanliness I I want to also add that uh it's a it's always a point of reflection for me that we're honoring our principles and our custodians at the same time and really as a division how we treat our custodians how we treat our operational staff uh tends to speak to our leadership ethics as a division uh and and and being able to see ourselves truly as a flat organization and seeing and recognizing the value in every one of our of our employees

062uh you know our custodians tend to be contributors to raising our children and instilling values in them in the hallways they're also the the cool adult that kids can be friends with when they're not able to find someone in the building and that's something to really celebrate and recognize I certainly know that the custodian played that role in my school in my school and I hope that we can always celebrate them and recognize them as such because too often we for I think it's fair to say right we forget um their their role and perhaps even um they might they might feel invisible and so I I don't know if our custodians for the tonight are in the room um do we have them there yeah can we give them a round of applause please

063for all their hard work in a time when the safety of our school buildings and of our communities uh are not always guaranteed I thank you I thank you for all that you've been doing and for being there as role models for our kids in the building thank you Mr mesh and before I call for the vote I'd like to say a couple things um I wanted to name this custodians that I know is here and I apologize if I don't have your name but no we celebrate and and respect and are so grateful for you also but from Claremont Elementary School we have Jessica Lopez and Agnes benpa from Liberty Middle School we have three custodians I apologize I don't have your names from Longfellow Middle School one of our wonderful custodians is here

064from Marshall High School we have osai Rebecca Prince fosu and John Keller and from Woodley Hills Elementary School we have Brandon Davis and I'm on myoli thank you for all your hard work thank you for keeping our school so amazingly neat I don't know how you do it I had two kids in my house and it was much messier than I see the school with sometimes thousands of kids so I'm very impressed and thank you for being that adult for our children who often need it and is we so respected Mario work so thank you for being here Madam chair I'm sorry just I know one custodian out there her name is Ms Jose from Marshall High School so I want to thank her thank you [Applause] thank you agenda item 2.06 moving on with

065our five resolutions today lgbtqi plus History Month resolution I call on Mr Frisch for the resolution thank you whereas lgbtqia history month is recognized in October across the United States and in Fairfax County Public Schools to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions and experiences of too often overlooked or silenced lgbtqia people communities and movements throughout our history whereas this special month was founded in 1994 by Missouri high school history teacher Rodney Wilson who chose October for the inaugural celebration to coincide with National Coming Out day on October 14th and commemorate the first March on Washington for lgbtqia rights in October of 1979 and whereas the national PTA States quote that schools should be a safe supportive and respectful environment for all students and that quote lgbtqia plus students are more likely than their peers to be

066bullied feel unsafe in school and skip school due to safety concerns and whereas students are involved in GSA clubs at many middle and high schools throughout Fairfax County Public Schools where they can Network and socialize with each other and educate their communities through forums announcements and other activities and these clubs are an asset to our schools with research indicating that schools with gsas have better mental health outcomes for all students and whereas the Fairfax County School Board celebrate rates its richly diverse community of lgbtqia students families and staff recognizes the urgency of its charge to foster a school Community where all feel valued supported and hopeful and advances policies that protect lgbtqia students and staff so they can live without fear of prejudice discrimination and violence now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County

067school board on behalf of the students Educators and families of Fairfax County Public Schools does hereby Proclaim October 2022 AS lgbtqia Plus History Month in Fairfax County Public Schools and in the spirit of One Fairfax that the Fairfax County School Board urges all to learn more about the many historical and contemporary contributions and experiences of this diverse community and to build a culture of inclusivity and Equity not only during lgbtqia plus history month but throughout the entire year ISO move is there a second second Miss Cohen Mr Frisch would you like to speak to your resolution yes thank you uh first I want to thank chair Sizemore Heiser for presenting tonight's statement from the board and for guiding it through that process over the last week or so um I think it speaks volumes about

068where we stand as a as a community a school community making lgbtqia history is exhausting but it's critical work I am proud of the policies and regulations we have implemented in Fairfax County Public Schools to protect and affirm our lgbtqia students particularly those who are transgender and gender expansive unfortunately we have not always moved fast enough generations of students and staff have walked the halls of our buildings before they were treated with respect by our School Division thankfully we have made tremendous progress especially in recent years of course there will always be obstacles on the road to full equality take the governor's shameful and divisive model policy it flies in the face of state law and legal precedent trampling the rights and simple human dignity of transgender and gender expansive students it forces their parents

069and Guardians to jump through legal Hoops to have their children respected I am not surprised that so many students are speaking out in protest they are part of a long often forgotten or unrecognized history of queer usually young people who were fed up with the bigotry of the status quo in which they lived and decided to stand up and change from the Madison society and the daughters of belitus in the 1950s to the Gay Liberation Front and the lavender Menace of the 1960s and 70s from act up and lesbian Avengers in the 1980s and 90s to the transgender Education Association FCPS pride and pride Liberation Front here in Fairfax County today this moment is just as much a part of our lgbtq history and journey as Alan Turing cracking the Nazi Germany's Enigma code The

070Stonewall riots that helped launch the modern movement the hate crime murders of Matthew Shepard and Brandon Tina the Supreme Court decisions recognizing marriage equality and so many other moments throughout our history our young people stand shoulder to shoulder with notable lgbtqia history makers like Harvey Milk Marsha P Johnson Sylvia Rivera Elaine Noble Barbara Giddings Audrey Lord Bayard Rustin not to mention countless nameless faceless activists lost to history and violence who were never recorded I salute our young people for standing tall and weathering the attacks we've seen over the past two weeks from online trolls adult bullies who should know better and political leaders who swore an oath to uphold our constitution but see no room for lgbtqia people in the rights it affords please know I stand beside you and will do everything I can

071to support protect and defend your access to a quality and inclusive public education that values everything that makes you you you belong here we are glad you are here and we will not abandon you [Applause] thank you Mr Frisch thank you Miss Cohen would you like to speak to your second I would thank you I was fortunate to grow up in a place where we all took care of each other different faiths different political ideologies different ages different races different backgrounds and yet we took care of each other no questions asked I remember when I broke my collarbone by deciding to ride my Huffy down Jill Martindale's Rocky Hill I caught serious air and wound up shoulder side down laying in the middle of the street I laid there fairly proud of my Evil Knievel

072impression but completely broken and in a heap in the middle of the street a neighbor heard me crying and came running he carried me all the way home he didn't ask me how I got there he didn't judge any decisions I had made along the way to wind up in great need of his help he just scooped me up because in my neighborhood there was no such thing as somebody else's kid in these last few weeks I've thought a lot about that I've also had a whole lot of time in prayer as our family observed Rosh Hashanah the days of awe and Yom Kippur it's amazing what fasting will do to keep your mind busy and every year at this time I'm reminded of the words of Rabbi hello when he was asked to explain

073the whole Torah our Bible in Judaism he said that which is hateful to you do not do unto another the rest is commentary this resolution is the honor lgbtqia History Month but lgbtqia history is our shared history how we continue to treat our lgbtqia students staff friends and neighbors becomes our history as a community as a commonwealth as a society will we treat our students the way we want our students treated will we without judgment protect our students we get to choose how the next chapter of lgbtqia history is written in FCPS we will stand on the right side of History we will continue to protect our students thank you Miss Cohen [Applause] Miss McLaughlin every year I look forward to this important month in recognition uh my husband and I we're very blessed to

074have the most amazing young son who came out to us this gay at the middle of his junior year and I mentioned that because as his parents we did watch him come through the Fairfax County schools and at times as an elementary school kid as a middle school kid um kids couldn't understand why was a boy hanging out with so many girls why was he sitting at the table having lunch with them why wasn't he sitting with all of the boys and it came with some teasing and some bullying and it made it tough but thankfully by the time he reached Woodson High School the kids had matured a bit and it became that if you bullied a gay kid you were the one who actually was the person that was going to be mocked

075and criticized um but when I think about this month when I think about my son when I think about any lgbtq IA student representation and how they learn in history matters and you know it Carl beat me to the punch mentioning Alan Turing people may know him from the the film The imitation game the incredible British crypto and the as they call them the Crypt analyst who helped break the Nazi codes so that we could get the intelligence with British MI6 to know what the Nazis were doing and to help beat them back and win the war that was the first part of the story that's the celebratory part of the story the second half of the story that we know and so many of our other underrepresented groups in history is the tragic side

076of the story that it was still a society that didn't accept gay people that he was imprisoned for being a gay person and he ultimately took his life I say that because the richness of helping all of our children understand these histories that it is to be mourned where we were and it is also to be hopeful of where we are and where we'll continue to be and so this month I just am very grateful to be a school system and part of a school board that wants to put such an emphasis on honoring this calling out and recognizing it and I want to thank everybody here in the audience tonight in particular for your beautiful rainbow flags for your cheers and for your presence and saying that we are all here for one another

077together Let There Be Love foreign [Applause] thank you I look forward to a future where lgtbqia plus history is simply part of American History woven into the stories truths tragedies and contributions of people who have made up this nation and continue to do so whether it's understanding the Civil Rights battles fought for rights of equality or contributions in any number of areas that have augmented the lives of others of communities um this is truth and education that we're seeking and truth and education is accepting it's exploring and it's celebrating American culture and I pledge to do all that I can to ensure that FCPS provides this instruction to our students thank you thank you Dr Anderson um Mr fresh spokes Mr fresh spoke so beautifully I'm not sure we can all follow what he shared

078but I do want to say that we are here for you it is very important that every single one of our students who are in our schools feel safe and that they feel protected and I hope that you hear that this board is committed to that that is the right thing to do and that is the only thing to do we are all dismayed with what has been happening over the past few weeks and I have heard from countless parents who are very concerned about what possibly can be taking place in FCPS but we are committed to ensuring that you are safe in our schools and we are committed to ensuring that there is truth in education as Miss Marin said so that you see yourselves in our curriculum you see yourselves in our schools

079so we are here for you Miss Corbett Sanders why do you all have all those resolutions it takes an hour to get through all the resolutions that you all have I'm going to take this off because it takes an hour to get through all the resolutions that you have on a typical school board agenda what does that have to do with education it has everything to do with education because through these resolutions through our recognitions we are able to honor and celebrate all that is good in Fairfax County Schools but it also provides us with the opportunity to have each of our children see themselves in what we honor and so I just applaud the maker of the motion and the seconder of the motion but I also encourage each and every one of us

080to follow the spirit of the motion which is to better understand lgd lgbtqia history and see that lgbtqia history in the United States is American history it goes back to our roots and we need to celebrate the individual identities that are reflected in a resolution such as tonight so thank you thank you Miss keys gamara thank you I uh too thank the makers of our motion and I just want to say unequivocally that every student in our schools deserves to feel safe protected cherished and seen there are no exceptions to that rule when one works in education it is our responsibility to tell the truth about history all of it and this is our history despite recent political statements that have been hurtful and harmful I believe that I stand with my colleagues by saying

081that we will stand with you and protect you and to make sure that when you come in our buildings you understand that every student understands that is where they belong until every student receives that promise we will work to make sure that they receive a caring culture for every student everywhere not just in FC CPS not just in Fairfax County not just in Virginia but in this nation picking on children using them for political purposes is simply wrong and we stand against it we stand together against such Shenanigans and we are so glad that you're a part of who we are thank you [Applause] Miss Tolan I want to also thank the um people that have read our motion here today and the eloquent remarks of Mr first Miss Cowan and Miss McLaughlin um thank

082you so much um I just have a very short little statement um I've been in education for a long time and sometimes people ask me why why do you do like what you do and it really boils down to one thing I know what I want for students and it is for them as miss Karen kiss Camaro so eloquently said as well I just want students to walk through our doors and feel like they are safe and welcome and that we give them a learning experience that is geared to them as individuals and whatever their needs are and this certainly certainly includes students in our lgbtqia community and I just want you to know I'm here to support you thank you Miss bakarski thank you to the makers of the motion um for your eloquent

083remarks I too just wanted to say we are of course living through quite historic times right now and that is difficult for many in our community but as my colleagues have said every child belongs in our schools sometimes the only place where they find acceptance and um and you know respect is within our school buildings and we have an obligation to our students to make sure that those school buildings are places where they want to come back every day so thank you to so many of you who have come out tonight and please know that we are dedicated it is our mission always to ensure that every student in FCPS is respected valued belongs and sees themselves as part of a a larger community thank you Miss omish thank you the vote on lgbtq plus

084History Month today is quite Timely as my colleagues have shared the resolution reminds us of the struggles of human history and what humans have faced in forging a place for everyone it inspires us and gives us hope that we can find a better way and it reminds us that history is never just singular but is always plural so that when we recognize and learn history we we can begin the dialogue and have fruitful conversations given the reality of what is unfolded in the past few weeks today is not the time to comment on the merits or cons of the resolution itself today my Reflections are about Justice what the moment calls on us to do and how we can come together to see and to see with Clarity in clouded times what the right thing

085to do is it's about a Fearless Justice that stands for the oppressed speaks up for the marginalized and always always upholds the truth some of us may be too hurt or afraid to sift through the dogmatism or ideological hardlines to see through things through the lens of another it's true that there are topics some of us will simply simply never see in the same way since the beginning of time until the end of it across human history people have held Different World Views and perspectives about all kinds of topics today is not a day to discuss these things the fact of the matter is that tough times in human history have also proven capable of bringing us together and today we took we come together for a clear purpose we must firmly reject these attempts

086to silence erase dismiss or harm transgender members of our community and what is lost in the political climate today in all of this is actually the human element the human element that we're all commanded to tap into every student and staff member deserves to exist in our system and safety and even more importantly with dignity and even with differences we can come together to defend the Dignity of one another the most basic form of dignity is to honor the chosen name of another person basic empathy demands that the Dignity of trans people has been hurt by the protests where I've even heard trash has been thrown names have been called and by the intentional misnaming that seeks to do nothing more than hurt misnaming kids especially when it's malicious is simply not free speech this

087is a pattern of justifying hate speech and hiding behind free speech obviously free speech is a core value but we must all stand against the smoke screen of an excuse to harm vulnerable populations downplaying the harm of others is an abusive power and really is tyranny In This Moment regardless of Our World Views let us tap into a deeper Humanity to acknowledge the humanity of the transgender community and be ones who speak up for justice because matters of Justice are ones we must all be able to speak up about the students have led and speaking clearly and their power continues to inspire us let us listen and hear them and affirm themesh we are here except we who here accepts that kids trying their best to get through school and figure out who they are

088be harassed and disrespected no one and no one ought to miss Amish My Hope for today is that we can come together around this I'll always strive to call for nuance and public discourse and without a doubt further dialogue here is necessary to build understanding but today is an important moment to acknowledge that it is an attempt to be seen to be recognizable today our transgender students and staff you matter and it is our job to protect you it is our job to support you and with my vote today I hope you know that I'm here to stand up for you good thank you and just briefly because we have quite a few uh recognitions for today and I know our audience is waiting to come speak to us I will just say my remarks

089and I will just say that I don't understand I don't understand we are all human I don't understand we are all human why would anybody try to other dismiss bully act like we are not all human I just don't understand a trans student or lgbtqia students all of our students are part of the beautiful diverse breadth of humanity and we love you and we protect we want you and we value you and you belong here in FCPS and we as a board will do whatever we need to do to protect you and make sure your school Community is a safe School Community for you and we need to hear from you on that because if it's not a safe School Community if things are happening please tell us because we need to know and I'm

090so grateful to my colleagues I'm so grateful to miss Cohen and Mr Frisch for bringing this resolution also for um for your hard work and championing that statement and and I'm grateful to be able to work alongside you so we can get to our board to you know unanimous support for that statement it's so important when we're making important statements to have our of our voices reflected in support and so I really appreciate the flexibility that you all had this week in listening to our colleagues voices and making sure you made space for all of us to be able to contribute so we could stand strong in support of our lgbtqia students and I just want to say to all of our staff our families our students who are scared we got you let us

091know if we're failing in that and we will fix it we got you you belong here and with that I will call for the vote all those in favor and that is unanimous [Applause] agenda item 2.07 dyslexia Awareness Month resolution I call on Miss Marin for the resolution dyslexia Awareness Month where is dyslexic children and adults face difficulty with the phonological component of language and so have trouble matching the letters they see with the sounds those letters and combinations of letters make presenting a struggle to read fluently spell words correctly and learn a second language among other challenges and where is the Virginia Department of Education has established a definition of Dyslexia in part as a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin and whereas dyslexia can present differently in individuals often causing challenges

092with Reading Writing and spelling that also affects speaking remembering understanding speed movement and basic math and whereas the difficulties of Dyslexia have no connection to individuals overall intelligence and is rather an unexpected difficulty in reading for an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader and people with dyslexia often are fast and creative thinkers with strong reasoning abilities and where is the onset and severity of Dyslexia varies for each individual and impacts up to 15 to 20 percent of the population according to the international dyslexia Association and whereas dyslexia a different way of learning and thinking and individuals with dyslexia require specific instruction with strategies designed for their success in achieving literacy and whereas Fairfax County Public Schools has developed a division-wide literacy plan that ensures comprehensive pre-k-12 research-based reading instruction that

093is aligned with the science of reading so that all students including those with dyslexia May achieve their full potential and whereas students Educators and their families will benefit from increased awareness about the nature of Dyslexia in the indicators of Dyslexia that can lead to early identification and intervention and the combination of strengths and difficulties that individuals with dyslexia can have now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board recognizes October 2022 as dyslexia awareness month and encourages all residents at FCPS staff to learn more about dyslexia including identifying dyslexia knowing supports available for use by Educators and families and highlighting the success that individuals with dyslexia can have in their careers in life I so move is there a second second Miss Marion which I just speak to your resolution I think what's

094so important about this resolution is that the component of raising awareness um I am so thrilled to share this resolution not only for the importance it has in my own family every day but because the responses I have received from the community about elevating dyslexia and truly raising awareness shows that it is valuable to highlight um highlighted today and throughout the month so relatedly this month also speaks to raising awareness about dysgraphia which is real is another relate which is related to neurobiological challenges with writing and again there's another condition that I've heard feedback as well you're speaking about this now you're raising awareness about it now I find with dyslexia you just don't know what you don't know so in the last few years I've seen awareness of Dyslexia really increase in FCPS and

095ultimately be encapsulated by the movement here to um and even in Virginia to use the science of reading to ensure that all children are literate but especially help those children who do struggle with dyslexia um so I'll leave it at that and I'm really pleased to elevate this and and also thank our staff for the number of resources including a dyslexia handbook that is available on our website there's a lot of information and we have services to help students so please do reach out to your your students teachers if you think that they might have a struggle thank you Miss Keys gamara would like to speak to your second thank you I am honored to be able to support my colleague in raising awareness about dyslexia as some of you may know I for the

096last 20 years I have or so I've advocated for children much of which involved the educational Arena and it is heartbreaking and yet an opportunity when we discover that a child has dyslexia I had a case recently where the child was actually 17 years old before she figured that out but the good news is that we have so many more resources now dyslexia is actually fairly common between 15 and 20 percent of the population has dyslexia and and Fairfax has done a great deal of work since 2015 when we officially acknowledged it we've added a literacy screener created the dyslexia handbook as my colleague said and improved instructional support and so this board is here to support every student we know that every child is capable of achieving and we want to work together with

097our community and our families and supporting our students who may be dealing with dyslexia thank you thank you Miss bakarski Miss Corbett Sanders thank you and thank you to the makers of the motion I think this is such an important area it's one that came to our attention as early as 2015 when we started recognizing it and it was largely because of The Advocates coming to us and saying we need your help we know our children are exceptional children but they need help because of Dyslexia and that is when we introduce the screener but I also think that this is a great opportunity to demonstrate how with the appropriate tools and supports people who have dyslexia can rise to such incredible levels of leadership and some of the most famous people in this country have

098had dyslexia starting with George Washington George Washington Albert Einstein in Europe Leonardo da Vinci one of the best engineers and artists of all times a more modern artist being Pablo Picasso and a whole range of people who are in the Arts including Steven Spielberg and Whoopi Goldberg so I encourage when you talk to students with dyslexia to share with them that they have a rich history of supporters but also of famous people who have with the appropriate tools and supports been able to overcome the challenge of being dyslexic thank you and with that I will call for the vote all those in favor and that is unanimous agenda item 2.08 Cooper Middle School band recognition I call on Miss Tolland for the recognition okay first of all we need another or a round of applause

099for that incredible rendition of the national anthem [Applause] thank you so much to Cooper for that um on behalf of the Fairfax County School Board I am honored to recognize the Cooper Band and band director Matthew Baker for the program's excellence as winners of the 2021 subtler cup and other um multiple honors located in McLean the Cooper Band program features 180 amazing students in three concert ensembles a jazz band a percussion and percussion ensemble under the direction of Mr Baker and Miss singer they're here with us this evening the Cooper band has performed at the Virginia music educators Association conference in 2017. and we're the First Virginia Middle School band to perform at the music for all national concert band Festival in 2019. they received the 2019 National band Association Blue Ribbon program of Excellence

100award in June of 2022 they were awarded the prestigious subtler Silver Cup by the John Phillips Souza Foundation they will again be the future the featured Middle School band at the Virginia music educators Association conference in this November the southern cup is known as the most prestigious International honor a middle or Junior High School Band program can receive a middle school band program must achieve and maintain high standards of excellence in concert performance over a period of seven years under the same conductor to be eligible for the settler cup the cupert beans have performed at the White House Easter Egg Roll recorded for NASA's recent Artemis one launch and performed clinics in Boston Symphony Hall in Atlanta Water Arts Center they actively work with artists to produce commissions and consortiums to increase the amazing repertoire

101of music for Middle School bands all over the country congratulations on this esteemed award and and honors to Mr Baker Mrs singer and the entire Cooper Band program Miss Barrow the principal there and all of the Cooper middle school students and Families we wish you the very best in your future Musical and academic Endeavors your work in our school Community has a huge positive impact on so many levels thank you [Applause] thank you before my board members have a chance to make remarks if they wish I would like to recognize former School Board member Pat Hines who's here with us this evening thank you Pat for being here [Applause] if any of my colleagues like to make remarks Miss keys gamara do you want to speak great thank you congratulations Cooper Middle School band it

102is this is an incredible incredible honor and I personally know how important the Arts are to our students to their development academic social emotional making those connections those friends the the ties between um between communication between math and just the beauty that music and art bring to our world so congratulations we are so proud of you and with that I would like to invite the Cooper Middle School band and staff to please join us at the dies for a photo I'll ask my colleagues to please remain in the front at the dies for the next four photos thank you come on up Cooper Middle School thank you I would like to invite those here this evening in support of the custodian Appreciation Week recognition to please join the board for a photo I would like

103to invite those here this evening in support of the custodian Appreciation Week recognition to please join the board for a photo I would like to invite those here this evening in support of the National School principles month resolution to please join the board for a photo foreign I would like to invite all those here this evening in support of the lgbtqia History Month resolution to please join the board for a photo I would like to invite all those here in support of the dyslexia Awareness Month resolution to please join the board for a photo sorry you know agenda item 3.01 Community participation the next order of business is community participation speakers must limit the remarks to no more than two minutes in length at the conclusion of two minutes the microphone and video will be

104turned off school board members will be listening but not responding to individual speakers the school board will not hear statements involving issues 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 complaints regarding school-based employees should be directed to the appropriate School principal or other school officials speakers should refrain from using personally identifiable information in connection with an individual student or school-based employee additionally speakers should be respectful and observe proper decorum in their statements avoiding profanity inappropriate gestures shouting and comments are encountered to the spirit and letter of the school division's non-discrimination policy all statements should be directed to the school board and speakers should remain at the podium until concluding their remarks as a reminder

105speaker substitutions are not permitted a speaker may not yield their time to another individual before or during their remarks shouting and outbursts from the audience will not be tolerated we are grateful for those who have come to speak to us today and we thank you for your cooperation our first speaker is Natasha [Applause] good evening my name is Natasha and I am a high school senior in the Sully District I'm also a lead organizer in the pride Liberation project a coalition of queer students working to uplift the lgbtqi plus community I'm here today to discuss the revisions to the model transgender policies released by the Virginia Department of Education on September 16th these new policies not only remove the previous guidelines school boards are required to enforce but they counter the very intention of the

106original Law to affirm and protect transgender and gender non-conforming students using evidence-based practices there is nothing evidence-based about these new guidelines transgender and gender non-conforming students would have to pass through hurdles just to be respected closeted students could be outed to their parents by School faculty by enacting this law the lives and safety of all Queer students would be jeopardized as a queer student I am terrified not only for myself but for the countless friends of mine whose lives could be destroyed by these Provisions being queer in school is difficult enough going to extreme lengths to ensure that being openly queer is simply not possible for the vast majority of students is inhumane my biggest fear is what could happen if this draft could went into effect currently 50 of lgbtqia plus students in FCPS

107are depressed 50 percent if their rights say spacious safe spaces and self-expression were taken away this number would only Skyrocket historically schools have provided Mental Health Resources for these issues under the new guidelines many queer students such as myself would have nowhere to go and nowhere no one to turn to students who are already isolated and ostracized from school environments would be kicked to the curb completely we cannot let this happen we cannot let our school system fail a group of students that is it is required by law to serve we cannot let queer students suffer another blow if these new guidelines to the model transgender go into policies go into effect please reject them and please signal to the Virginia Department of Education that this is unconstitutional please take concrete action against them and

108we need you to protect us thank you our next speaker is Madeline [Applause] hello my name is Maddie and I'm a student at Oakton High School and a member of the pride Liberation project I'm here tonight to speak about the Virginia Department of education's proposed 2022 model transgender policies and the devastating effects they would have on the queer student body first of all I'd like to emphasize that these policies are using parental rights as a cover to invalidate transgender students they are blatantly discriminatory and prevent students from receiving gender affirming care such as correct name and pronoun usage access to counseling and participation in extracurricular activities corresponding to their gender without explicit parental consent these policies not only take away the individual rights of but Force schools to outgender queer students and enable the oppression

109of all Queer students I'm open about my sexuality to most of my friends but not to my parents it terrifies me that the vdoe views my rights as a person to be less important than my parents rights to information coming to terms with and expressing my sexuality has been a long process one that I'm still going through I've had panic attacks anxiety episodes and full-on mental breakdowns over it and that's without the added pressure of possibly being forcefully outed to my family all students but queer students especially should be able to seek out counseling and feel safe at school these policies deny them that right without the protections that these policies aim to take away many queer students will be left with no one to turn to the vdoe states that all children should be

110valued and respected yet they continue to marginalize queer students I can't express enough that these policies are catastrophically bad for the transgender student community and open the door for discrimination against all Queer students no one should have to go to school in constant fear of who they are FCPS needs to step up now to prevent these policies from being implemented in schools please don't let queer students be cast to the side don't stay silent and prove to the state that we matter less than other students thank you our next speaker is Finn [Applause] hello my name is Finn I'm a senior at Lake Braddock and I'm going to tell you about my experience as an openly queer student these past two years I never had any problem before the pandemic no matter how I presented

111or what I wore I was allowed to be me however after kovid that's where the problem started I don't have a normal style and I don't use traditional pronouns I sincerely believe that the reason these students have gotten so bold is because they see their parents acting like this they see their parents bully transgender kids constantly calling us Predators slurs and establishing to their children that harassment and bullying of people who don't look exactly like them is okay encouraged even I was posted on an Instagram page last year that was specifically for targeting lgbtq plus kids they posted my location in the school saying that they wanted me to get beaten up to Humble me I've been called slurs had trash thrown at me multiple times and even sexually harassed since then because of what

112I look like and how I present I am not alone queer kids are constantly targeted because of who we are but we will not be silenced when I was rep when I repressed who I was because of fear of what others thought I was suicidal I hated myself but I would rather be hated by others for how I present than hate myself because I'm not honest about who I am this new model policy will never silence me and other trans kids harassment of others because of them being different is wrong no matter what others tell you if FCPS adopts this new model policy it will show these parents and children that this behavior is okay and encouraged transgender kids must be supported and protected and it is your responsibility as adults to support us adoption

113of this policy is lethal for some trans kids we have the right to feel like and be treated as human beings thank you [Music] our next speaker is Patrick [Applause] I'm Patrick I'm a high school senior at Thomas Jefferson High School and I'm here with the pride Liberation project to talk about the new vdoe policy one of my friends is gender non-conforming they're not able to testify today because it's not safe for them to do so their story is featured in a Washington Post article titled Virginia's trans kids fear being outed by yonkin policy and they gave me permission to elevate their story here today my friend spoke anonymously with a journalist because they're not out to their parents yet if they did they would probably lead to them losing financial support for college or

114even losing housing print FCPS policy forbid School staff from outing students to their parents without student permission but the model policy would nullify that if that happens my friend's counselor who knows that my friend is gender non-conforming is likely to ouch thumb my friend is not alone in their family situation the Trevor Project found this year the fewer than one in three transgender youth live with supportive families worse the University of Chicago reported in 2018 that's queer youth have a 120 percent increased risk for homelessness due to being rejected by their families could it and this Washington Post article Governor juncken responds to the sphere by saying I would say trust your parents but he fails to consider the relationship that some career students help of unsupported parents when my friend even suggested possibly being

115transgender to their parents a couple months ago they were not allowed to speak to their little sister for an entire week a lot of the support for Force clouding claims that school staff should not be able to keep secrets from parents but this isn't about teachers or counselors this is about our futures when I hear that my friend is scared dreading for the moments that they get an email from their counselor when everything could fall apart I'm worried with them if my friend trusts their parents to kick them out of the house we should trust them as well this score must openly reject the model policy and call out to the video thank you our next speaker is Marie Lewis [Applause] foreign good evening we can hear you school board thank you for giving me

116the opportunity to address you regarding Governor Junction's changes to policies affecting some of the most vulnerable members of society trans non-binary and gender expansive use I'm Marie of the Woodlawn district and my pronouns are they them or she her I envy gen Z trans youth they have opportunities and options that were not available to me growing up in the 70s and 80s I did work as an activist with queer nation and act up in the early 90s to help that process along but to not have the opportunity to really begin to understand myself and my gender until I was 48. I was 48 when I started my own transition and all the Lost Years where I was living a half-life haunt me so now government and young Ken is proposing to take away the protections

117that have been given to trans students over the past two years when they could feel affirmed and accepted and put in place that policies that will cause them direct harm and place your lives in safe home environments at risk from parents who don't want any queer or trans youth in their lives it seems to me that junkin's new policy is in violation of the Ada as gender dysphoria is a protected disability under the Ada at least in the fourth circuit also according to the EEOC intentional misgendering or dead naming someone is a form of sexual harassment if Governor yonkin's Purpose with this policy is to provide a safe and healthy environment for learning for children he has failed if the goal is to eliminate trans students from Fairfax County well give it a few years

118and he'll have succeeded either by forcing them back into hiding and later yields of counseling sessions and related bills or by increasing the suicide rate thank you our next speaker is Lindsay Latham good evening my name is Lindsay Latham and I'm here tonight in the first week of augmentative and alternative communication awareness month to ask again that FCPS prioritized developing policies and instructions for students who need and use AAC in the classroom earlier this year I worked with my State Delegate to introduce a bill that would have required school districts to provide key staff members training to ensure that meaningful AAC based instruction is offered to students like my son Calvin on the first day of school we did this because year after year Calvin and students like him have walked into FCPS classrooms with

119eager teachers and staff who don't realize until we tell them that they need more than operational training to appropriately support their AAC users our effort at the general assembly ultimately failed after lobbyists deposed it just handled this through the IEP process they said as if we were newbies to the system magically after raising the issue at the general assembly his esy team got the training and Staffing necessary to support his AAC related goals and it was the first time he ever met his communication goal within an original time frame that his IEP deemed reasonable so imagine my disappointment when we learned at an IEP meeting last week that his case manager teacher and aide had not been trained in the strategies that were developed and implemented this summer we will this will be yet another

120year where Kevin Will Wait months until the school team is at least as proficient as he will his most reliable mode of communication and no amount of rewriting an IEP is likely to prevent this from happening again it is time that you all start ask taking action an AAC based instruction just as seriously as you do instruction on World Language and other courses I ask that you direct the superintendent to convene a group of stakeholders to develop a model policy and AAC users users Bill of Rights that demonstrates fcps's commitment to language development not only for those who use ASL but for all AAC users thank you our next speaker is Willow wokey school board members and Dr Reed I am Milwaukee she her president of the transgender Education Association of Grant greater Washington a

121member of the FCPS Pride board I've had kids in FCPS since 1995 and this is my last school year I'm here to reiterate support for regulation 2603 in opposition to the proposed policies by the Virginia Department of Education as a parent I know parents rights are important so are the rights of children sometimes children are afraid to tell their parents things things the child May perceive their parents will disapprove of as a child your family is supposed to be your safety net providing basic needs like food shelter and clothing when my middle son was a senior he refused to get his college applications and there were arguments deals broken promises and frustration all around one day it finally came out he was afraid to tell us he had enlisted in the Marines he was afraid

122we would disapprove try to change his mind make his home life feel less safe I'm sure he had already felt unsafe holding in that secret when a child thinks they may be trans or gender diverse or just a little different they are likely to be afraid to talk about it with anyone if they are lucky they may be able to confide in that teacher with the rainbow flag someone who is safe and can't take away their food shelter and clothing the child may already know whether a parent will disapprove they may be afraid because our society keeps attacking trans kids they are being used as political Pawns the proposed policies only make this worse for Trans and other queer students they take away a safe space not their food shelter and clothing but the space

123where they have the opportunity to explore and understand themselves a little better before they go home and maybe talk to their parents who will hopefully support them also teach truth teach queer history teach anti-racism thank you our next speaker is Cheryl Binkley [Applause] hello I lost my hard copy at the rally so I'm reading for my phone but before I get into what I was I'm here to talk about I just have to say that um listening to the students speak to you guys at at school board meetings reassures me of the future their strength their dignity and their eloquence just renews my faith so much and I want to thank you guys for being there [Music] um but then there's the other thing that's a sidebar about what has been going on most of

124tonight I need to remind you of something in March of 2020 two and a half years ago the Virginia legislature restored the right of public employees to Collective bargain other districts have moved forward and at least six are in the late stages of re-establishing collective bargaining for their employees Fairfax County government side approved and issued their ordinance in May of 2021 a year and a half ago but not so Fairfax County Public Schools we still do not have a clear and cogent resolution for bargaining nor a described publicly described path for getting there your 27 000 employees stood by this board and by Gatehouse and all of their students through a terrible pandemic through attacks from radical radical political operatives and they deserve to have you stand by them now and provide them with a

125way forward to work under a clear and and our next speaker is Emily vanderhoff good evening Jared Sizemore Heiser Dr Reed and members of the board my name is Emily vanderhoff I'm an FCPS teacher in Fairfax County resident I'm also a proud member of my union fcft and I hope to cover a few topics tonight the most important thing that I came here to say is that as leaders of the school system the most important charge you have is the safety and well-being of our students when vdoe released the proposed model policies on September 16th the safety and well-being of every trans and non-veterinary student in Virginia was threatened I ask you to vocally oppose these policies and show that FCPS truly affirms all students by naming that trans and non-binary students are harmed by

126these proposed policies I asked you to take concrete actions to ensure that they are safe and affirmed at school I appreciate massage statement from the start of the meeting and each comment to the resolution from each of you and I hope to see the message reiterated and acted on by all scps leadership I urge you to meet with the students of Pride Liberation project and trans and non-binary staff members and families to hear their concerns and take steps to make our school system safer and more supportive for them I also ask you to firmly denounce the attacks against students and staff speaking out in support of trans students next I ask you to take up and pass to teach truth resolution our students deserve an education that is culturally representative and teaches historical truth as

127Educators we need your vocal and unwavering support in order to provide this education and finally I asked you to add the collective bargaining resolution to the agenda of your next meeting it's approaching a year since the work group started drafting resolution language the process has been delayed for long enough and it's time to release a public draft and join other Virginia districts like Richmond and Arlington in passing a meaningful collective bargaining resolution thank you our next speaker is air Queen hello my name is air queen and I am a transgender non-binary autistic teacher in Fairfax County I am on the FCPS Pride board and I will be a parent of an FCPS student next year when my daughter enters kindergarten I'll use I use they them and fin Fun's pronouns at this point I imagine

128that everyone here has heard the devastating statistics surrounding what happens when transgender young people are purposefully excluded or discriminated against we have all heard that as few as one affirming adult can make a meaningful and impactful difference in the lives of transgender students and it's often times schools are the first place where a student feels comfortable enough to express who they are the information and research supporting inclusion and protection of transgender and gender expansive students is readily available for anyone to find and has even been published in reputable peer-reviewed journals such as Pediatrics by the American Academy of Pediatrics all of that is crucial but it is something that always seems to get left out transgender people whether they are students or adults or people first we have dignity and autonomy and we belong in

129every space trans students belong in the same spaces as their cisgender peers and if that means the extra rules or protections are needed to keep our students safe we need to do everything possible to keep those regulations in place the blatant discrimination that has been shown by the vdoe in their new model policy needs to be called what it is and our own regulation regulation 2603 needs to be maintained and reinforced with actions and not just pretty words or platitudes our students need to be protected our students need to be heard they are not tomorrow's leaders they are truly today's leaders and we really need to follow their lead thank you so much our next speaker is George Becerra George Becerra our next speaker is Christina McCormick good evening and thank you so as one

130of the last speakers tonight on a very important very personal issue there's a lot that you've already heard and so I want to I'm going to go off script a little bit and I want to talk about I wanted to make this personal for you and to share why this is so important we're talking about the support and safety of transgender students um the first thing I want to say is when you look behind me and you see these amazing young people I want to say how grateful I am for them to be here tonight for them to have the courage to be here to speak for themselves but not just for themselves but to speak for their peers that might not be able to be here as those are authentic selves tonight and that's

131huge that's Brave and that's courageous and I'm grateful there's one student back there that I'm even a little bit more grateful for and the reason for that is because two years ago I almost lost him to depression to gender dysphoria to anxiety and I can tell you with certainty that without the support and affirmation that he received from his school counselors and his teachers and a lot of other work at home I think our story would have been a lot different so this is real it's legitimate it's personal I appreciate everyone's words tonight but they're just words what we need to see is action so in addition to your words we need to hear publicly and unequivocally that you will reject these new model policies because of the effects that they can and will have

132on our students and Families I appreciate your words but we got you as not a plan we need to see a plan thank you our next speaker is John Dwyer [Applause] before I start I believe I had an ASL interpreter oh thank you thank you very much thank you my pronouns are he and him the 2022 model policies claim to support the rights of all students however if you read more into it these rights do not extend to anyone who is not cisgender Section 3 statutory Authority and requirements is the only place that lists model policies concerning the quote model policies concerning the treatment of transgender students that address quote common issues one of these statutes is related to the quote identification of students however this statute is given several caveats in section 3D of

133appendix 1 in the sample policy this says that even if a trans student has had changes to their official record regarding their name gender or pronouns a School Division cannot quote compel School Division Personnel or other students to address or refer to students in any manner that would violate their constitutionally protected rights basically if teachers or students refuse to use a trans student's name or pronouns even after they've been officially changed they cannot be stopped it is not free speech to misgender or dead name someone this is one of the many examples of the rights of cisgender students being prioritized in these model policies the right to not be dead named or misgendered is one of the many fundamental and necessary rights for all trans non-binary and gender non-conforming as well as all Queer students

134by not ensuring these rights the 2022 model policies will create School environments that are distressing and unsafe for them especially for those where the only place that they could be comfortable expressing themselves without fear judgment or hostility was at school please oppose these inhumane policies they have no place in our in our schools our County Schools our Commonwealth schools or anywhere thank you [Applause] our next speaker is Sierra hi my name is Sierra I also go by Ranger I use they them and he him pronouns interchangeably and I was not aware that I was speaking tonight so I do not have anything prepared what I can tell you though is my experiences I'm a trans student in Fairfax County and that is one of the most terrifying things I've ever done existing as a trans

135person is hard even with the new uh with the previous school board regulations the ones that affirmed trans people the ones that were here to support us and the new model policies will take that away they will hurt people like me they will hurt me they will hurt my community they will hurt everybody that I care about they will they take away some of the fundamental things that we relied upon to be safe in schools and to be safe in homes therefore I'm asking all of you stop these policies in Fairfax County I'm asking you all to take direct action against these policies I'm asking you to say no to the Virginia Department of Education and to the governor Gwen youngkin thank you [Applause] that was the last speaker for this evening we do have

136three video testimonies and the first video is from Sophia I'm Sophia I'm in sixth grade at Foxwell elementary school and I strongly oppose of gen of Governor Junction's new policy against lgtbq plus students although I am not transgender I am an ally I have trans friends and I believe that everyone has rights and how everyone has a right in this in this Safe Community my dream is that everyone gets called by their pronouns and gender identity everyone deserves a chance to learn in a safe space thank you for your time our next video is from Debbie Kilpatrick good evening school board members and Dr Lee I'm Debbie Kilpatrick vice president of Outreach for Fairfax County Council PTA a major focus of our council's advocacy is student wellness which includes the Mental Health crisis going on

137within our County State and Nationwide the 2022 Virginia PTA legislative priorities includes advocacy to fund the standards of quality to provide unified mental health teams at the nationally recommended ratios and support for school safety with funding to implement evidence-based strategies and increase Mental Health Resources to reduce bullying School violence and shootings National pta's resolution on children's emotional health and mental health awareness states that ptas should strongly encourage efforts to support comprehensive School mental health programs that include adequate access to school psychologists school counselors and school social workers the evidence to offer more in-school mental health supports is front and center and we ask the school division to seek out all options to increase the number of these critical School staff on Monday the U.S Secretary of Education announced two Grant programs established to increase access

138to Mental Health Services for students by increasing the number of school-based mental health professionals in an effort to address the nation's Mental Health crisis we encourage FCPS leadership to explore these funding opportunities in support of our students thank you our final video is from Rodrigo Soto my name is Rodrigo Soto and I'm a 2012 graduate of Lewis High School formerly known as Lee High School I'm speaking today to ask our school board to strongly reject Governor youngin's ugly harmful proposed policies when it comes to dealing with lgbtq students particularly trans students when I was in high school one of the first people I came out to as gay was my English teacher at that point in my life I already knew what many in my family thought of gay people having been called derogatory words

139in both English and Spanish since I was young I chose to come out to my English teacher because she taught me the power of using my own voice to express Who I Am the values I hold and to be Unapologetic in my own truth thanks to her I was able to build a supportive Community a chosen family that loved and cherished me and that helped me navigate obstacles that nobody should have to go through including having my own father tell me that I would die when I finally came out of the closet to him today trans students disproportionately face some of the cruelest attacks by both other students and even adults these policies would worsen an already hostile environment instead of adopting these poorly thought out policies Fairfax County should be a leader in fostering

140an inclusive learning environment for all lgbtq people who call Our Community Home thank you agenda item 3.02 superintendent matters I call on Dr Reed thank you chair Sizemore Heiser and thank all of you who took the time to show up this evening and share your truth we appreciate that thank you since the last board meeting on September 15th I've made a number of school visits it's been a very active time as the school year has begun I want to share that I've been at Rocky Run Middle School Brookfield Elementary and Colin Powell Elementary and we've seen some amazing teaching and learning activities and events occurring during that time they've also been able to attend a number of extracurricular activities field hockey games football games and the band turned in band competition on Saturday September 24th

141and our students whether they're in the classroom or out in the fields or as we saw again this evening our music is such a powerful learning experience for so many young people in terms of community conversations the 27 pyramid conversations are continuing recently I've been at Herndon Westfield South County marshall Robinson and Mount Vernon and it really is I think so important to hear from our community students and staff who have attended those meetings we're down to 10 meetings left which means we've completed 17 of them so if you have an interest in coming out yet please check the website for Community conversations I also want to remind families that impact aid forms have gone out to our military families and the commander and I were able to do a video this week which will

142go out to our military families and again a reminder that our military families are a very large part of our community we're actually the number of military families in our school division is comparable to the Virginia Beach City school size of the entire division so just want to again be grateful for the service and commitment that those who serve and their families make each and every day I'll also be hosting a community conversation for our military families Thursday October 13th to hear their perspectives as we launch our strategic planning work as well I've helped had the opportunity to gauge with specific student groups these past few weeks I've met with the student advisory Council as well as our student Equity Ambassador leaders and I think I've seen student School Board representative togbe at both events

143actually at the student advisory Council as well as the student Equity Ambassador leaders I also had an opportunity Sunday afternoon to visit with the FCPS Pride group and met and spoke with several students Sunday afternoon as well at that event and again continued to be impressed with our students their perspective and it is true they do represent leadership for today not in the future I want to shout out again the custodian appreciation week I know Ms Corbett Sanders talked about my enthusiasm for our custodial staff they are amazing they make 37 year old buildings look new and take such very good care of our schools our students and our staff so just want to thank them mightily also want to remind us that we did have World teachers day this week and just recognition for

144all of our teachers who have taken on Herculean tasks with class sizes mentoring colleagues new to the profession maintaining unbelievable schedules as we work to support our students returning to school for the second year following our ins or out of school opportunities during the pandemic uh finally I also want to mention that I met with our transportation team this morning and had a tour of the luring or no Lorton Transportation Center it's quite an uh quite a operation I had an opportunity to also visit with one of our very experienced bus drivers uh Debbie who's been driving for 33 years and had just finished putting spiders in her bus which I thought was a um for Halloween it was they were not real I know I'm not a spider person they weren't they were fake

145spiders thank you but you know she talked about her students she drives for Holly elementary school and just talked about um just how much she loves what she does and I think what a joy that is to be able to do what you love each and every day and just want to thank Debbie and all our transportation colleagues uh please stay tuned for strategic planning there will be more communication coming out I hope that all those who came this evening to speak will also lend their voice to our strategic planning conversation it's important that we're all at that table and then finally just a reminder to share your feedback on in-person instruction and continuity of services our Esser three dollars uh Community survey has gone out and please check the website we want to hear

146your feedback on our resource stewardship for our Esser dollars so thank you Ms seismorheiser thank you Dr Reed agenda item 3.03 student representative matters I call on Miss togby thank you madam chair uh quickly before they leave I want to shout out and thank all the students that came to speak at tonight's meeting you guys are the true Superstars and I am so proud of each and every one of you guys good evening everyone and happy Thursday as we wrap up week seven I believe there is quite a bit to unpack so the official list of student representatives to advisory committees were finalized and I have to say all of the students who applied were absolutely amazing and they were all so passionate about the experiences of our student body and they truly emphasize the

147importance of student voice behind in the behind the scenes discussions so quickly congratulations to yaziz sanvi Landon Christian Eden Jasmine Shanti Andrea gase um Ami husq and opal super proud of this amazing group and I can't wait to see everything that they do at their meetings and in the last two weeks I've gotten to meet with both student groups sac and seals they met for the very first time and I'm super grateful for the chance to work with them again and to see what amazing work we are going to be able to present to the leadership team this year I can tell you that they are both off to an amazing start and they've already started documenting project ideas and action items I was able to attend the Herndon High School showcase of bands which

148I was told is the second largest competition in Virginia and let me just say they were absolutely amazing I couldn't help but think about all the coordination required to get at least half of the show done so Props to them um with the news that came out of the governor's office I have to say that I am just really proud of what students have been able to do the last few weeks they've spoken their minds and they did so in a massive way there was a Statewide walkout where many students who were in Fairfax participated and they they call Fairfax home and I want to make something really clear it is part of your job to respect protect and Empower all students in our County I know at the start of the board meeting we

149made a statement and I I want to emphasize do more than just make a statement release that out to the public support students by being in contact with GSA leads and sponsors step up in the sense where be more than talk and I want to see action um Andrea Grace who is an FCPS student and also works with the pride Liberation project said something that really resonated with me and she honestly she said this past like it's the best way I could probably summarize all of this revoking transgender protections now would be like dialing back the clock it'd be like telling students we don't really care you're not really who you believe yourself to be so please take a moment and sit with that quote lastly next week Dr Reed will be at Oakton Fairfax

150in Centerville for her community conversations so students please attend them I will be hitting up both of those leadership classes for all those schools so be sure to check out the website for all that information and thank you Miss togby agenda item 4.01 confirmation of action taken and closed thank you this is a portion of the meeting where the board will confirm any action regarding issues that were discussed in the close meeting these issues may include action taken regarding student disciplinary matters board members have discussed each individual case and at this time will make several motions to confirm the recommended action I call on Ms Corbett Sanders for a motion I moved to excuse from attendance at school certain students identified in the closed meeting pursuant to Virginia code section 22.1 through to 254 B1

151is there a second Miss Marin by Miss Marin I will call for the vote all those in favor that is Miss picarski Dr Anderson Miss McLaughlin Miss Corbett Sanders Miss Tolland Miss Amish Miss Marin and Miss Keith gamara all those opposed all this abstaining Miss Cohen Mr Frisch that motion passes I call on Mr Frisch for a motion I moved to deny the grievability appeal of the employee discussed in closed session and to direct the superintendent to take steps discussed in closed session is there a second second Dr Anderson I will call for the vote all those in favor that is Miss bakarski Miss Cohen Mr Frisch Dr Anderson Miss Tolan Miss Marin all those opposed miss kieskamara miss omish miss Corbett Sanders and Miss McLaughlin that motion passes agenda item 4.0 T sorry zero

152two excuse me sr3 allocation of funds to support academic intervention coveted case managers and monitors I call on Ms Tolland for the motion I move the school board approved the reallocation of funds to support project 9 academic intervention and project 27 coveted case managers supervision monitors is there a second second Miss pokarski Miss Tolland would you like to speak to your motion yes please um several amendments to the sr3 grant are necessary for FY 23. since the amendments are greater than one hundred thousand dollars they must be approved by the school board first FCPS is still seeing coveted cases in our schools and the need to report cases to the Fairfax County Department of Health in the case of outbreaks coveted case managers are needed in schools to allow our administrators to concentrate on supporting

153and coaching teachers and staff in academic work in addition schools have found the monitor positions to be important and helpful to monitor students to allow more planning time for teachers to make sure all classrooms lunchrooms and playgrounds are sufficiently supervised each day even with a substitute teacher shortage I've heard story after story about the wonderful monitors our schools have hired mothers from the community retirees aspiring teachers Etc the monitor positions are a game changer as the principals say in order to provide the schools this year the same level of funding that was expended in FY 22 we are moving money from two accounts a 4.1 million dollar amount in carryover from Project 27 which is Project 27 is the monitor account so it's unspent monitor money from last year just because we had a hard

154time recruiting enough people into those monitor positions so we saved some money but we need that money this year so we're moving it over um an additional 1.9 million will be directed from Project one which is our special education teacher contracts again simply because we there weren't enough people for us to hire so we had some extra money there so that money is being moved um also to this monitor account for this school year additionally schools received estimated academics which is Project nine and wellness project two allocation ranges in May 2022 to support planning for fy23 um in order to provide schools with sufficient funding levels 0.6 million is needed this school year that specific amount of money going the specific amount of money that is going to every single school is outlined in the

155document that was posted on board docs just the other day this money can be redirected from again our special education teacher contracts because we couldn't hire enough people so the money's there and we're moving it over for that um that level of Esther funding school by school we first received information about this in the beginning of August and just this week our budget staff thank you very much to them posted a very comprehensive piece of information going through account by account and line by line um you know exactly where the money was coming from and where I was going so um with that um I think that's enough information thank you Miss bakarski you'd like to speak to you a second well I I don't think there's anything left to add that was a very

156detailed and thorough um explanation so I'll just let my colleagues ask questions if they need thank you Miss McLaughlin thank you um do you want to First convey my appreciation colleagues and Dr Reed that my concerns that when this was on the school board agenda two weeks ago we did not have any attached documents at all and I know how much this board is committed to making sure that not only the board is knowledgeable before we take action but that the public also has that information to understand how we're arriving at decisions so I do want to express my appreciation to our CFO Lee Burton and her team whoever pulled this documentation together it certainly provided more information than what we had I will probably set up a time to talk with our budget chair

157and Ms Burton because I'm I'm still trying to understand how we pull information together um on this and so um I guess I just have a quick question um because on its surface I absolutely support academic intervention services and I also support case manager monitors but one thing that struck me since Dr Reed is really helping us appreciate what loose versus tight looks like there's a lot of latitude here on the case manager's monitors section and I'm just was hoping someone and staff can explain to me why would some schools be using funds for case managers some are using them for monitors and you know what ends up driving that differential because of how we're allocating per pupil funding for both these positions so thank you Miss McLaughlin I would expect that each school is

158looking at their unique context in terms of what the academic needs are for the students that they're serving but I would be happy to defer also to Dr Presidio as I know his instructional Services have been overseeing the plans so Dr Presidio yeah just to be clear the academic interventions portion I don't have any questions about it was the second bucket of money related to case managers and monitors thank you for that clarification Dr Presidio yeah absolutely and um those those positions again as Dr Reed already kind of said is it really does depend on the unique context of the school so there's kind of two major functions that those folks are providing you have the managers who are doing the kova tracking the covid case reporting um all of the notifications and all the

159work with Fairfax County Health Department as well as managing the cares room and then the monitors were the folks that were providing that support to make sure that students were supervised when we were you know social distancing in the classroom in the school um in you know in some of our school students were spread out over the entire Campus outdoor classrooms outdoor lunch and it really depended on you know based on the staff that the school had where they needed to expend those funds the most but there are two different categories and schools could spend in both categories if they needed to spend in both categories and we provided that distribution in terms of the breakdown for schools based on the student enrollment in the schools yeah I appreciate that Dr Presidio I know with

160200 schools there can be varying needs at the building level are these hourly positions do we know the case managers and the monitors those were hourly yeah hourly they were both hourly so almost like a substitute teacher each school can hire and bring in as needed because as we're all aware uh you know the the covid cases that we were dealing with in FY 22 will hopefully be different from FY 23. fingers crossed that that's a that's a great point and when we originally built the budget for FY 23 we made that assumption and then you know we had some different spikes with variants and we opened the school year very conservatively keeping our health and mitigation practices in place which is why it's important that we restore the funding to the full level so

161schools can still hire those folks and you know hopefully things will continue to progress positively as we're kind of seeing right now and we might have some you know balance left over at the end of FY 23 that could be reallocated to other needs in fy24 great yeah Dr Presidio was I think sharing we had quite actually several uh conversations about that feeling like it was more important to be prepared for um what we might call a worst case scenario and then pull back rather than not have uh folks allocated and find ourselves in a tight spot absolutely no doubt I think it's just um by holding off and voting tonight everyone I do think that this helped us get information again for our community that is following how we're spending our Esther dollars to

162understand you know what are these shifts and changes and uh you know I I really do look forward to also making sure that um you know we Mage we specifically have a project manager for our s or dollars and I I would maybe ask that we continue to kind of get some updates on that yeah um Dr Patrick is actually on the line here with us virtually tonight um so she's here with us and um just as a reminder to the board in the community we're actually going to have a work session on November 1st where we're going to review the updated uh evaluation findings of the impact as well as the financial position of where we're currently at in the grant so that work session I think will provide a lot of information and

163then there will be a public hearing on November 3rd where the public can as well as the open online survey share any input that they would like to share as we think about building our plan and adjusting our plan for next year wonderful and I do want the public to understand that uh you know really Dr Reed under your leadership and focus um in responding to some constituency we heard of I really appreciate your proactive efforts to engage the public in an in-depth way thank you yes ma'am I also want to mention that we're going to have a full sr3 update work session on November 1. thank you Lee Burton thank you Miss Burton great thanks thank you I will call for the vote all those in favor Mr Frisch Dr Anderson Miss McLaughlin Miss

164Corbett Sanders Miss Tolan Miss Amish and Ms Keith gamara myself with Miss Marin away from the table so that oh oh thank you and Miss Marin that motion passes unanimously agenda item five consent agenda our adopted rules of parliamentary procedure Robert's Rules provide for a consent agenda listing several items for approval of the board by a single motion many items 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 seeing and hearing no objection the consent agenda is approved agenda item 6 new business the following a new business agenda items

165yes Dr Anderson yes I'd like to add the FCP uh the truthful education and FCPS support for educators and school-based administrators resolution to new business it is already on new business Dr Henderson it's agenda item 6.03 thank you the following of 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 agenda item 7 board committee reports sorry I was very confused agenda item 7 board committee reports I call on Miss Corbett Sanders for a governance committee update and Ms Cohen for a report on the audit committee Miss Corbett Sanders yes thank you madam chair the governance committee uh met earlier this month and we agreed on the procedures for the operation of the committee

166for the remainder of the year we also identified policies that we would focus on on a monthly basis clustering those policies to a single Department giving Guidance with to the superintendent to ask individual departments to take a look at a cluster of policies and provide feedback so that we do not have representatives from multiple departments at a given meeting so our first Focus will be in October on facilities and transportation and environmental stewardship policies that meeting will take place on October 19th and we have asked for input from our assistant superintendent for facilities as to whether the policies are effective and efficient aligned with the jet goals the CIP and our Ed spec additionally we have asked for an assessment of the relevancy of each of the individual policies being presented as to whether it's

167appropriate in today's world future agendas will focus on specific departments as I mentioned additionally we send a no change policy member memo to all of the board members and school leadership there are five policies which are on that memo please take a look at the five policies and provide input that was sent out two weeks ago and we asked for input by the 7th of October so that it could be put on the edge the consent agenda later this month those five policies include the auditor general Authority conflict of interest and statement of economic interest the automated external defibrillator program home instruction and homeschooling and extracurricular activities thank you very much Madam chair and I appreciate my board members providing any comments that they might have thank you Miss Corbett Sanders Miss Cohen thank you

168audit got off to a roaring start with uh unqualified committee chair no just kidding um I'm learning I'm learning so many things highly qualified um we have our next meeting on October 12th and I'm looking forward to getting more information about the completed I.T systems Business Systems integration audit and um we're just going to go from there thank you Miss Cohen agenda item 8 board matters next on the agenda is board matters and I call on Miss bakarski sorry sure I'll go first thank you let me just find My Notes real quick um well the last couple of weeks have been busy as usual uh focused on um some principal meetings um I have had a couple of design committee meetings for a couple of my schools who are starting renovation so that's always very

169exciting for the community and I urge um folks to kind of be engaged in that and follow along um and share their input um I'm looking forward to the community conversations at Oakton High School on October 11th and Centerville High School on October 18th with Dr Reed so please come out and share your thoughts with us I um also have quite a few School visits planned that uh of course I'm excited about in the next couple of weeks homecoming games and parades um so that's that's fun and I know my kids are also looking forward to that so if you see me please come and say hi introduce yourself I also had the opportunity to tour to tour the Western Fairfax Christian Ministries Annex in the Sully District um it was amazing to just see

170how they've grown over the years and are serving um just thousands of people in our community um you know our families but also in our schools with their refrigerator programs and I was very thankful to the executive director for taking me and my staff Aid around and and just showing us what the work they do and the ways that they can partner with us to make sure that our families are well taken care of thank you thank you Miss Cohen um it's been a world win I think last three weeks of getting to go to different schools again and as always absolutely the highlight of this job is getting to go into schools and into classrooms and see so much fun learning happening and happy happy kiddos I really appreciated having the opportunity to go

171to South County High School where I thought we had a really good turnout of parents because stallions and um and really good questions tough questions but really good really good engaged questions um and that was awesome to get to be together mostly I just want to say um that I hope as I mentioned in my um comments about lgbtq history month that this last nine days was a time of reflection for all Jews all over the world and as we celebrated our new year but also as we had our day of atonement and I just appreciate all the good work that happens here but I also am very appreciative of my colleagues who respect on those days that those are days that we observe and we don't work and I appreciated so many of you

172just reaching out and wishing me a happy New Year and um and wishing me an easy fast so thank you I'm certainly grateful to be eating again and um and happy New Year to to everyone who observes but also it's always just a great reset for all of us to have that opportunity to start the year Anew so thanks thank you Mr fresh thank you madam chair uh recently had an opportunity to revisit Frost Middle School and check in on the renovation we saw their state-of-the-art lecture hall the science wing and some giant new gym skylights that have been installed we even had an opportunity to listen to the band practice in the new music rooms with really high ceilings and great acoustic wall panels so I'm looking forward to seeing the school finished in

173the future and thank principal Harris and team for welcoming me not far from frost Mosaic Elementary School was named a 2022 National Blue Ribbon School mosaics high performance in reading and Mathematics during the 2018 and 19 school year earned them the honor of being named an exemplary high-performing school out of 297 schools named this year Mosaic is one of only seven schools in Virginia to receive the Accolade so we are very excited for them and wish congratulations to Dr Asti and her team at the school and all the students for their well-deserved honor and recognition on another note Oakton High School will be hosting the Oakton Classic this Saturday at 1 pm 16 schools from across Northern Virginia will be participating in this seasonal marching band competition followed by an exhibition performance by Christopher Newport

174University's marching captains so good luck to all nine FCPS schools who will be competing this weekend and finally I am looking forward to several upcoming School visits over the next two weeks and superintendent Dr Reed's upcoming Community conversation at Oakton High School next Tuesday look forward to seeing everybody there thank you thank you Dr Anderson um thank you last week I had the opportunity to visit Timber Lane Elementary School for the first time because they're a school that is new to the Mason I had not represented that school until the redistricting and so it was fantastic to meet with principal shiette and his staff and for the warm welcome that they provided me with I appreciate it so much learning about the school the community and the school's needs I'm looking forward to attending the

175Falls Church High School homecoming game tomorrow against Edison High School I'm excited to join in the pre-game parade my allegiance will be split however because I do represent a portion of the student body of each school so I'll be cheering for both sides totally non-committal um congratulations to Mason District resident but Benoit sen who attends TJ High School Benoit was selected as a 2023 National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists hopefully next year I can also offer congratulations to students to from all of the schools in Mason I do want to say thank you to the folks who attended the Mason District round table which I hosted just two weeks ago which has grown significantly from a PTA PTO Roundtable to include our community I'm sorry our committee representatives from all of the board advisory committees as well

176as as well as our family Liaisons and community in other community members I was so inspired by that meeting I was energized by all of your questions and all of your energy and your enthusiasm and wanting to ensure that our students also have access to the FCPS promise thank you for to Dr zuluwaga and Dr Reed for joining us and responding some very tough questions um I look forward to visiting Glasgow Middle School and Justice high school next week with Dr Reed so that will be really fun I do want to say thank you to the Glasgow parents who came to the meeting last um last week oh it feels like so long ago last week it was a very difficult conversation but we appreciate your candor and your presence and I would be remiss

177if I didn't send a huge thank you to Marcia Donovan who is the family liaison at Glasgow she turned out a number a record number of parents who are English uh who are whose for whom English is their second language clearly me too and it's true for whom English is their second language and they were comfortable to express themselves and to speak either in their native language or in English but it was wonderful to see that part of our community really very very well represented during that meeting so uh Miss Donovan whatever you're doing please keep it up and share it with rest of our schools so we can get similar turnouts and call looking forward to see you at the Oakland classic because we do have many of our students who will be participating

178such as the Annandale High School Marching Band Saturday at 1 15 as well as the Edison High School marching band and I represent a part of that school thank you good night Miss McLaughlin thank you just a couple things first I want to thank Dr Reed for joining me at Fairview Elementary where we were celebrating our military connected families and you know really giving them an opportunity to know how much we appreciate them being members of our Fairfax County School community and helping them feel connected to the school staff they've really created such a wonderful reception with coffee and and breakfast treats and just being able to talk with the families and hear what their experiences have been some military families who've already been with us and then the new families who've just arrived and

179hats off to Fairview Elementary's team for putting together the extensive amount of paperwork it takes to become a purple star school but it really is amazing and I hope that all of us can help encourage and Spotlight when this happens in our schools because I'd love to see all 200 become purple star schools secondly I just want to make note that tomorrow is Woodson High School's homecoming parade it will start at 4 30 and go through the Woodson neighborhoods that are off of Ollie Lane and I'm excited to participate in that parade again as in Prior years it looks like mother nature is going to give us a nice dry evening and having two sons who played football at Woodson in particular it's always fun to come together and celebrate in preparation for the big

180game and then I just want to finally note that there's no way with the late hour and my time limit that I could lay out all the things um that are going well under Dr Reed's leadership but I wanted to share with my colleagues that I am profoundly grateful that every turn in particular I'm seeing it also in our office of transportation and Facilities my community is bringing concerns to me and under assistant superintendent interim assistant superintendent Chuck Fanshawe and as well as Dr Reed in particular when I've brought these issues I'm amazed how quickly and thoroughly and effectively they're being addressed and that makes a big difference I know for my community and I'm sure for many others so I know we can't always fill each other in but I wanted to end on

181that really positive note you really are incredible I just hope you are finding time to sleep at some point thank you thank you Miss Corbett Sanders yes thank you I want to first thank the members of the ventures and community of the Mount Vernon District these are all the faith-based leaders in that area who welcomed me yesterday for a discussion about the opening of schools and how the faith-based community can support our schools and our students most effectively it was a great event I also want to thank Dr Reed for being such a great listener at both the South County Community conversation and the conversation with the Mount Vernon High School pyramid Community as well we also were able to participate in the Fort Belvoir job fair this is the third time that Fairfax County

182Public Schools has been able to participate in that job fair and it's a wonderful opportunity because as you have mentioned Miss McLaughlin we have so many families that are connected with the military we have 13 500 students who are connected with the military and for belvar is often the terminal assignment for military families and so it's a great opportunity for Fairfax County to be able to recruit there and we appreciate that we're able to do so I was also able to join in at the Colchester Town ribbon cutting for Good Shepherd housing Colchester Town currently Good Shepherd owns 85 units there and what that does is it preserves affordable housing along the Route One Corridor and that ribbon cutting was especially important because Amazon as part of their investment in Northern Virginia donated two million

183dollars to affordable housing and provided that to Good Shepherd housing last week to invest in the community so thank you very much to Amazon and thank you to Good Shepherd housing for that because our families need the supports going forward we have a busy couple of weeks this Saturday at Walt Whitman there will be the steam the steamology stem Fest and that will be from 12 to 5 at Walt Whitman Middle School and the following week on the 15th at the high blood center we will have the steam Fest at the wish Center and that will be a great opportunity both of those for our students to do Hands-On science we will also be cutting the ribbon at the Lorton community center and library on the 15th and it's very exciting because that library has

184opportunities for our students to um to participate in extracurricular activities because many of the students who live right behind that Library they actually have the longest bus commute to get to a school which is several schools away and so we're really excited about that Center thank you thank you Miss toland thank you I've also been out visiting many of the schools across the drainsville district and attending community events we have a meeting tomorrow morning at Kent Gardens to reach out to the community regarding discussions on alleviating the overcrowding at that school and what some of our options are been working on some issues issue focused student mental health and wellness I had was had the privilege to attend a staff meeting with our director of student services at Langley High School and um you know

185just heard firsthand you know what that office is dealing with and the struggles our students are having um in this first quarter of classes they also hosted it at McLean High School also hosted um Chris Herron who is an inspirational speaker around addiction and substance abuse and I think did a really nice job talking to our students about that issue Miss McLaughlin and I had our first skipped meeting our executive committee meeting so um we can fill the board members in on what was discussed there it was kind of an overview of where we are um we are still struggling in the McLean area with Transportation issues so I did visit the Stonecroft Transportation Center and put together a short summary paper for our senior staff with observations and ideas and so um that is

186being looked over by um Mr Smith or CEO and um Mr fanchop um we are especially looking to bring relief to our late afternoon buses we still have a lot of late arrivals um I was planting today with collaboration from the Fairfax County Department of storm water management at Lemon Road elementary school and I will be tomorrow I think Miss Marin's going to be there too at Aldrin elementary school as well um see oh back to Transportation I'm really looking forward to in a week or so I'm getting up really early so I can meet one of our bus driver supervisors at 5 30 and see what the morning looks like as they organize all of the bus routes for the day it's a busy job I'm looking forward to finding out more about it

187the Herndon High School homecoming parade is on Saturday and I'm super excited we recruited Dr Reed to be in the parade and I think Karen Keith gamara is going to be joining us as well um we have an Under the Sea theme so a good time should be had by all um it's always a great event um was happy to attend some Community conversations with Dr Reed most recently at Marshall High School thank you for being there I went to a student improv event at the Herndon Arts Center where it was really awesome because it was both the Herndon High School team and the McLean improv team and they were amazing and lots more but I'll stop at that thank you Miss Tony Ms omish thank you Ms Talon always has so many different events

188just going to runs out of time um no I I uh I was really excited to see that uh we once again uh surpassed the average on SAT scores our students are brilliant um although SEC scores are certainly not a reflection of any student's worth um I'll be the first to tell you that but uh truly uh have been exceeding the mark academically as we've known them to do um but I do know that kids are stressed right now seniors we're just about a month away from some of the Dead College deadlines so wishing all our seniors the best of luck as they plan or sorry uh yeah seniors as they plan for their next year um I also wanted to uh well in hopes that our community our Jewish Community had a blessed Rosh

189Hashanah and Yom Kippur I know it was a long fast um but uh grateful that we have the opportunity to take moments of reflection even if we don't belong to the faith that celebrates it to recognize the pluralistic society we hope to build and the the ways that we can teach our children uh the reason we observe for our neighbors and hoping that colleagues as we begin calendar conversations again starting this year that we further support this it seems like it's actually a new era where School divisions across uh the region have have taken this step so it's an exciting new time I also want to acknowledge Monday's indigenous people's day um so it's important for us to recognize of course the first inhabitants of this country who unfortunately underwent a genocide at our own

190hands um but to really celebrate the culture and continued contribution uh of course of our native peoples in this nation so I hope that folks take a moment to reflect on that this Monday uh Wednesday I want to just remind everyone it's rock and roll I don't know if I'd recommend rolling to school but um just an opportunity to practice healthy uh and environmentally friendly of course steps forward as we imagine a different future and biking or walking to school if that's not your usual route in a way that's safe of course finally I do want to remind our community we've started receiving feedback on the capital Improvement program as you might know this is an annual process that we undergo to review our facilities and there's going to be a public hearing scheduled later

191in about two weeks the form for that will open uh if you want to come speak to us you know in person but there is an online form or ready to solicit feedback so feel free to share any thoughts you might have um and then I also wanted to acknowledge I know there was some concern in the community about um some recent findings that came out around disciplined um disproportionality for students with disabilities this continues to be a problem of course our board has acknowledged it and we did discuss it briefly uh at our work session on Tuesday in a more holistic review of special ed programming and needs and how we can improve the situation in our division so looking forward to continuing those conversations with my colleagues and that's my time have a

192good night everybody thank you Miss Marin yes I want to share that uh I heard overwhelmingly from my constituents about the joy and Equity of having the Jewish holidays off the two holiest days of the Jewish year and indeed a rabbi who represents many Hunter Mill constituents remarked it is the first time in human history that Fairfax County Public Schools has had Yom Kippur off for students and staff that is how momentous that was so um it is surely something to be seen and it was um very much appreciated by by constituents whom I've heard from I will indeed be at Aldrin Elementary tomorrow to help with this rain Garden early in the morning and next week Oaks in high school is hosting its annual candidates day which I was really pleased to attend a

193few years ago and I still keep in touch with one of the the few Oakton High School constituents that I have who has gone on to intern in local government and local elections and is doing great things in college so I'm really excited to have that opportunity again and I hope that those Oakton students will not wait until Friday to connect about local matters and will attend the Oakton High School pyramid Community conversation with Dr Reed that is the preceding Tuesday November excuse me um October 11th and as I was just remarking with our student rep Ms togby you know this is for students too come here your superintendent come let her hear you it's a wonderful opportunity so so don't waste that opportunity I also was really really found our special ed audit to

194be interesting the discussion on Tuesday and I think there's a lot of opportunity to do more and a lot of the things seem very obvious to me and I hope that we can make some quick action as we also build on the longer term needs that that are there including continuing to provide supports for our dyslexic students I heard a parent's night talking about alternative communication supports that's something I'm also very interested in so a lot lots of work to be done I'm also really looking forward to the Strategic plan that is being kicked off again another opportunity for the community to come together but but really where my husband lately is the Strategic work the governance work being on the governance committee you know I do want to ensure that the board is upkeeping

195our end of accountability by reviewing our policies every five years and um I at a minimum so that's something I'm eager to do this year and then finally as we celebrate walk to school month I believe it is or walk to school day that's coming up on a Wednesday I was able to join chairman Jeff McKay and supervisor Walter Alcorn and other leadership in the county to launch the take a moment Campaign which is really about taking a moment when you're in transit whether on foot or bike or car to just look around you know make eye contact with a pedestrian or another driver or just check that you know left or right way one more time because we have had such an increase in traffic incidents and not only cars or automobiles and Automobiles

196but people and bikes and Automobiles so please take a moment you know our kids are worth it our people are worth it and you might see signs around but just you know we'll have to do our part so thank you good night thank you Miss Keys camera yes I had to have to say mention the sped review the special education review audit that we received the final um results from this week I'm really looking forward to working with my colleagues as we review that um that is the culmination of three years of work and hearing from the community consistently and I just um am grateful for being able to to work with Miss Corbett Sanders and bringing that Forum topic forward and looking forward to what we can build out of that as a result

197of that collaborative work this past few weeks involves some travel for me but I also had an opportunity to attend the National Council of negro women's brunch which focused and somewhat on what is going on in our schools and encouraging people to get involved in local government I also had an opportunity to converse with our educate Fairfax Foundation Representatives as we talked about the new innovators innovators fund and I had an opportunity to sit down with students who heard from former civil rights leaders as they talked about how they can evoke change and so it was just um exciting to see them be able to ask questions how did you do this as a student leader they were people who had the had the opportunity to walk with people like Julian Bond and others and

198to hear our students ask them how can we accomplish things it just it was it was a moment so I'm appreciative of that and um I will say for educate Fairfax put it on your calendars November 9th uh will be the um the breakfast and I'm looking forward to that and being there with our featured speaker speaker um our superintendent Dr Reed so I hope everybody has a great uh weekend and I I know I'm not quite the end but pretty close so good night thank you Miss Keith gamara and I know I'm what's standing between you and bed but it's 10 20 which I'm pleasantly surprised at um so I'm going to say I very much enjoy going to my community conversations of going to community conversations with Dr Reed to watch her speak

199to the community that Herndon South County in Robinson as an at large member sometimes it's a blessing and a curse to have the whole County but it is actually very interesting to hear perspectives from around the county and see hear similar concerns and questions and thoughts and hear the differences as well and really you know marvel at how we have such similarities and differences in you know County as big as we are and and how that how that happens and how we can address that you know and it's that I think what you call tight and loose how do we make sure we address the needs of that Community but also have a consistent educational experience across the county so that was great I enjoyed meeting with our state legislators and board of supervisor members

200alongside our legislative liaison Karen Corbett Sanders today as we talk about um and with Dr Reed about our school notification to school systems of employee arresting convictions and we continue to follow um up on that to make sure that we are doing everything internally as well as working with our federal and state legislatures to address those concerns I really enjoyed going to the free student bus pass and Metro Bus event for those who don't know Fairfax county is expanding its free student bus and Metro Bus program to include five high schools now for free bus service and since 2018 students have taken more than a hundred and ten thousand free Metro bus trips in Northern Virginia and this gives them access to going to see their friends going back to school for football games for

201work it is it is a game changer for many of our students I've enjoyed meeting with many of our community groups our Hispanic Educators Association Asian Education Association and FCPS staff about really a multicultural approach to our work and how to support all of our students Fairfax Federation and citizen Association leads SEPTA for public education and the Fairfax County Disability Services Board where we talked very timely about the need for better transition support and handoff and coordination between Fairfax County and what the county provides to our students which was something that came up pretty significantly with our special education Rapport and we really talked about how do we develop a One-Stop shop for people with disabilities and our students and their families in that in that soft handout I enjoy going to Mosaic Elementary School

202community meeting on renovation and seeing the exciting plans for Mosaic and finally we had so many resolutions I didn't bring this one but I did want to mention that disability employment awareness month is October and for those who don't know it's to celebrate the contributions Americans workers with disabilities and Studies have found that Americans with Disabilities are especially productive and motivated workers but have a much harder time getting jobs promotion and fair pay there are three times less likely than others to be employed and often from sub minimum wages for their work the greatest unemployment rate is actually for persons with disabilities and often their strengths get overlooked because of the deficits so it is an important month to celebrate it's important month to realize that while we have made strides there's still a lot

203more strides to make and with that this meeting is adjourned