FCPS School Board Meeting - 11/11/2021

001[Music] okay if i could ask school board members to take your seats please [Music] school board members please it's not working this is going in and out this november 11th 2021 regular meeting of the fairfax county school board will now come to order in honor of our military men and women past and present who have served our great nation we ask that you please rise for the presentation of colors by the hayfield secondary school under the command of lieutenant colonel devin rule the reciting of the pledge of allegiance by student representative pranab chowdhury followed by a moment of silence and a pre-recorded performance of the national anthem by the kent gardens choir under the direction of brandy ogren and kaylee peck my name is carson luck i'm a student at kent franklin's elementary i'm using

002the fifth and sixth grade colors under the direction of basic granulation [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] happy veterans day everyone agenda item 2.02 sort certification of closed meeting compliance in order to comply with section 2.2-3712-d of the code of virginia it is necessary for the board to certify that since the fairfax county school board convened a closed meeting on november 11 2021 into the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered by the board during the closed meeting is there a motion moved by ms omesh seconded my miss keys gemara all those in favor please raise your hands all those opposed okay that

003motion passes agenda item 2.03 announcements veterans day is a day is a time for us to pay our respects to those who have served for one day we stand united in respect for you our veterans today also marks the hundredth anniversary of the first of the unknown soldiers to be laid to rest at arlington national cemetery as a sacred memorial site and the grave of three unknown american service members the tomb connects visitors with the legacy of the united states armed forces throughout this nation's history if you would like to review a copy of the agenda and any agenda item that is being discussed tonight then information may be found at the back of the auditorium or on our website at fcps.edu school board slash board docs tonight's meeting is being broadcast on channel 99

004and live streamed on the website at fcps.edu tv slash c h99 a reminder a mask that covers the nose and mouth must be worn at all times by everyone in attendance if you have a mask exemption or if you need a mask break please take advantage of our overflow room set up in the gymnasius we thank you item 7.08 award of contract lake braddock secondary school synthetic turf field replacement project has been removed from tonight's agenda at the request of staff we have several dignitaries with us this evening please join me in welcoming mount vernon supervisor dan stork providence supervisor dahlia palczek former school board members jamie strauss ilyung moon and ryan mcelveen sandy sandy evans and pat himes and miss palchuk was also a former school board member twice oh and and mr stork

005so thank you for joining us we'll be hearing from them later in this evening can somebody yes go ahead veterans day formerly armistice day is the anniversary of the armistice which was signed in the forest oh my goodness of campaign by the allies and the germans in 1918 ending world war one after four years of conflict at five a.m on monday november 11 1918 the germans signed the armistice an order was issued for all firing decease so the hostilities of the first world war ended this day began with the laying down of arms blowing of whistles impromptu parades and closing of places of business all over the globe there were many demonstrations no doubt the world had never before witnessed such rejoicing veterans day is observed annually in the united states in honor of all

006those living and dead who served with the u.s armed forces the school board directs school personnel to provide students with instructional activities that honor veterans and recognize the role of the military in american democracy many schools have special events to which they invite veterans and active duty military members of the school community to join them all right american education week november 15th to the 19th 2021 american education week was established in 1921 by the national education association to raise public awareness of the importance of public education in america this year's theme reach educate inspire reminds all americans of the importance of public education and offers the opportunity to celebrate public education and honor those who ensure that every child receives a quality education as part of the observance community leaders are invited to serve as

007educators for a day in order to get a glimpse of a day in the life of a school employee american education week features a special observance on each day of the week including parents education support professionals educators and substitute educators geography awareness week november 15 to 19 2021 established by presidential proclamation more than 25 years ago this annual public awareness program encourages citizens young and old to think and learn about the significance of place and how we affect and are affected by it too many young americans are unable to make effective decisions understand geospatial issues or even recognize their impacts as global citizens geography awareness week is observed in november and promotes what geography is why it is important and the relevance of geographic education in preparing citizens to understand and debate pressing social and

008environmental issues and problems agenda item 2.04 resolution naming the theater dressing rooms at mclean high school for jamie strauss i [Music] i call on miss dare not kofax for that resolution thank you so much and i would like to invite miss strauss up to the podium for the reading of this resolution good to see you miss strats whereas jean janie k strauss has always been highly esteemed for her respectful nature her compassion her genuineness her strong work ethic and her willingness to generously give of her time to others she has worked tirelessly to provide all children with a well-rounded education so that they have the strong foundation and skills for a successful future and whereas janie strauss is a former elementary and preschool teacher who has been actively involved in education for over 50 years

009she earned a bachelor's degree from george washington university and a master of arts in teaching from the harvard graduate school of education and whereas janie strauss has served on the fairfax county school board for 26 years and served multiple terms as the chair and vice chair she was awarded the virginia school board association advocate for education award in 2018 for her leadership commitment and contributions to public education that had a lasting impact on this region and the commonwealth of virginia and whereas janie strauss served as the president of the fairfax county council of the parent teachers associations and served on many key education and youth-related committees including the fairfax county public schools career and technical preparation task force the division planning committee the citizens bond committee and the fairfax framework for student success this longtime

010resident and supporter of the mclean community was recognized for her outstanding service to fairfax county and recently named lady fairfax of the drainsville district by the fairfax county board of supervisors and whereas janie strauss is the proud parent of four fcps graduates three of whom graduated from mclean high school where they were active in athletics and arts and whereas janie was instrumental in the formation of the nationally acclaimed cappies critics and award program the cappies is an international program for recognizing celebrating and providing learning experiences for high school theater and journalism students and teenage playwrights ms strauss still plays an integral role in the organization as the vice president and treasurer of the national chapter and the chair of the local chapter now therefore be it resolved that the fairfax county school board names the

011theater dressing rooms at mclean high school the janie strauss dressing rooms in honor of this exemplary educator leader colleague friend citizen and mentor i still move is there a second second did my miss tolin mr not kovacs would you like to speak yes i will uh janie it is a joy to bring forth this resolution honoring you my colleague mentor and friend as this resolution aptly notes janie has made education her life's work as a teacher through decades of volunteer service and is the longest serving woman on the fairfax county school board yes yes janie is the proud parent of four accomplished adult children and four beautiful grandchildren and while janie's devotions are many one arena that she is most passionate about is her support and love of the theater and performing arts she and

012her beloved husband bill wanted to bring more positive attention to teenagers engaged in creative pursuits so in 1999 bill strauss approached fairfax county public schools administrator judy bounds to begin what would become a showcase for local high school theater and journalism students with the review and awards process that was 100 percent student-driven the cappies have grown to chapters across the u.s and canada largely due to the commitment of janie strauss so it's most appropriate that in the heart of mclean where janie has resided for many years where three of her children are graduates that the dressing rooms at mclean high school be named after janie strauss and on a personal note janie i am so grateful to have begun my tenure and to have served for eight years on the school board with you you

013are a model of civility and patient you respect people and you are inclusive you are energetic and strong and you are always there as a trusted counselor and teacher for both family and friends i thank you jenny for your years of support and encouragement for both me and my family i am so fortunate to call you my friend and i am so pleased to bring forward this resolution honoring you [Applause] miss tolin would you like to speak to your second of course i would i have lived in the janesville district for 26 years so most of the time that i have lived there janie strauss was my school board representative i remember seeing her at a variety of school settings as my two children went all the way through fcps i was happy to see

014several very exciting things happen during her time on the school board including all-day kindergarten and later start times for high schools janie was instrumental in making sure all of our students had access to advanced academic studies across greensville and the entire school district my voice took full advantage of this and i'm happy to follow in her footsteps as an advocate for our advanced academic programs janie fostered parent involvement through her work with ptas and i'm happy to be connected to our journeysville pta leaders now as they continue the wonderful community contributions that they do so well i'm a huge fan of the work janey has done for us students participating in the arts the cappy's program is a huge success and she continues to work on creative ways to continue its work throughout the entire

015cove at 19 time we had many discussions about that janie was also instrumental in starting the current renovation queue that we have and that we are getting to the end of at the end of this year and we need to start a new renovation queue we need to get started all over again with that list of renovations and what's happening in jordansville mclean high school to start with i was speaking with justine klena at herndon middle last night and she reminded me that janie was also a huge proponent of our special education programs i also had the pleasure of being a staff member while janie was on the board she was always supportive of our work and innovative ideas and attended countless events to highlight student achievements she gave of her time freely to benefit

016and support students of course with janie's retirement she left huge shoes to fill on the school board i want to thank janie for being so gracious always taking my phone calls to ask for a historical perspective to get more information or to just talk about ideas of how do you work on a school board i am so proud to see us name the mclean dressing rooms after jamie strauss and i'm thrilled to second this motion thank you jamie and now call on ms mclaughlin janie it is absolutely wonderful to see you here with us this evening and to see you being honored in such a special way during our tenure on the board one of the things i found very magical was what you and bill created with the cappies having performed at the high

017school and collegiate level i never had the thrill that our fairfax county and and students in the region got to have to perform at the kennedy center but just being a part of that night and being able to present those awards standing there on that stage i thought how many countless children's lives expected forever because that is a moment that will live with them for the entire time that they are here on this beautiful earth so i want to just personally thank you so much for not just the eight years that we had together but again for your decades of service to this county too often people don't realize that this is truly service of love of kids and for you to give up so much of your time when you really didn't need to

018but because you cared so deeply about the school system about the children the families and our employees to see you being honored here tonight with this wonderful recognition i'm just so happy for you and i'm happy to be a part of this special night tonight congratulations miss corbett sanders wow what can i say um i was blessed to be able to work with you not only as a board member but as uh your vice chair and what always struck me was that you are the perfect model of a public servant and a global citizen and i am forever grateful because of the wisdom that you brought to your work with that underlying kindness and focus on our children and on our families it is such a great model for all of us and i am

019forever grateful to have been able to spend four years working closely with you and even more so grateful to your children for sharing you with us for as long as they have and knowing that you're not going anywhere you're still part of this great community so thank you and i am thrilled to be able to support this motion miss cuscamara janie i had the pleasure of coming on this board midstream while you were chair and i am so grateful for just you sitting down with me paying for lunch [Laughter] providing respectful leadership listening ear never getting rattled no matter what and um you gave me you actually pushed me a little bit into a seconding the motion for the name change of justice high school and i pushed back and you didn't move [Laughter] and

020for that i am very grateful you felt that that was something that was necessary and i didn't really perceive the moment quite frankly at the time that you spoke to me so i'm grateful for your presence i'm grateful for the way that you dealt with me with such kindness and respect and really modeling what leadership for this county can look like and what i really strive to uh emulate so thank you very much [Applause] miss seismore heiser um jeannie i'm so sorry i never got a chance to serve with you um although i understand after 26 years but i just wanted to share i don't have the personal experience of serving with you that many of my colleagues do and i've heard them speak about you over the many feels like years and years that

021i've been on this board but it's really been two and i deeply regret not being able to learn from you as a colleague and i hope i can learn from you as a former board member but i just wanted to say that as a parent of somebody of two children who are advent arts students including one who just did his cappy's play last weekend i can tell you firsthand that the cappies plays for these students are like their playoffs they're like their championship games i watch these students you know embrace the moment and this is our cappies and this is the cappy's performance and here's all the cappies critics and it was such an amazing thing that you've given the arts that is an experience that our athletes have gotten but now our theater students

022our arts gets to get do it as well and i just want to thank you as a parent who's watched what's meant to the students in these performances so just thank you for that you are a great role model for me in supporting the arts and i hope i can do a smidgen of what you've done on this board and i cannot wait to attend the cappies this year so thank you for that and thank you for everything you've done thank you miss omesh miss strauss it is a pleasure to see you and to be able to thank you formally for everything that you've been doing uh for our system for many years and the mentorship you've provided even after um i have to say i you have been on the school board for every

023year that i was in school in this system and i remember you being that stable force on the board um and and i i have to say at the beginning of this resolution you know one of the things that uh ms darren kofax read to be known of you is how generous you are with your time and i still remember this conversation that we had for a good three hours in gatehouse just talking about you know school board and the work you've been doing and kids with special needs and how we can be there for all kinds of uh kids and really championing them in their and their diverse needs so i i'm just incredibly grateful and and i think you know um just naming it as one of the younger board members as one

024of the youngest you know in office it's it's tremendously humbling and inspiring to see folks like you who have been leading the way with wisdom and and who have been able to show me some of what it looks like to lead so thank you so much for all that you've done and before we go ahead and take the vote i'll just very briefly offer my um comments number one to thank you for your incredible really a lifetime of service a lifetime long before i started serving on the board i was a spectator of sorts i guess you would call it of the school board and what always always left an imprint for me was really your demeanor your kindness your compassion um you know this is an environment where we get lots of very passionate

025people who speak to us um because it's about us our students our children and that evokes a lot of passion and um the way you handled conversations and disagreements um it's i think it's an inspiration and like miss eisemar heiser i too have a son who is on his way to um becoming a professional musician and one of the highlights of his high school career was indeed serving a couple of times as concert master of the cappy's pit orchestra so thank you very much for everything you have done for our students and with that i would like to take the vote all those in favor of the resolution to name the theater dressing rooms at mclean high school for janie strouds please raise your hands all those against that is unanimous thank you before we

026take our formal pictures are there any objections to allowing mr stork and mr mackel seemed to speak to this resolution from my board members thank you seeing as there are no objections we will recognize supervisor stork and mr mcelveen to come up to the podium not oh my gosh i know you very well ryan i apologize go ahead come up um this is it's a wonderful opportunity to be able to thank somebody that has been such an inspiration to all of us i i know you all have a spoke so eloquently to that i don't think as much i can add to that other than on a personal note jeanne and i have shared a lot of journeys in our lives and one in particular has to do with our children and that like all

027of us we have needs and issues that connect us and sometimes it's our work sometimes it's the school board issues sometimes the policy sometimes it's where we live in this case some of that personal connection has to do with what you work through as parents and for janie and i we've worked through a number of things and and always had our kind of opportunities to check with each other about what we're doing and how we could do it differently but those kinds of personal connections are the most powerful ones that you can have in your lives i know for me i serving with janie was one of the best things that ever happened with me but i know what she's done with all of us and how she's connected all of us for so many

028years is what truly has been the difference for in in my life and i know in so many lives hundreds of thousands of lives that's if you think about that millions of lives if you think about it overall in those 25 years and as a final note and this is i have a hard time saying this but but i also had the deep pleasure and joy of meeting and engaging with bill strauss and bill was just an amazing individual uh obviously a key part of cappies and making it happen and really the driving force and i think anybody who knows bill knows that driving force is probably one of the operative words there but but the two of them together uh really have made such an incredible difference in our community uh there are very

029few people in our community that have done anything close to what they've been able to impart to us bill with the humor and and always the fast remark but also a great story janie with that stable steady kindness and compassion and commitment to kids so again we've been deeply blessed as a community and i'm happy to have had the opportunity to thank her and share that with you as well so my pleasure mr mcelveen i apologize good evening everyone it is my great privilege to speak with you here tonight to honor two very special individuals janie strauss and eli young moon obviously we'll get to young moon a little bit later but first i want to acknowledge the hard work that this board and leadership team have done over the past 18 months you have

030continued to show up at a very challenging time so thank you for your indefatigable service to our community the last time i spoke to before you was actually your first board meeting back on january 9th 2020 to actually launch this naming process the prior september miss daryn at kofax and i had begun discussing ways to honor the distinguished careers of these two individuals we're honoring tonight but we didn't have time to engage completely with the schools and to complete the complex paperwork before the end of our term i'm pleased that we are finally completing that work here tonight and i particularly want to thank deputy superintendent francis ivey assistant superintendent fabio zulavaga mclean principal ellen reilly tj principal ann bonita bus board clerk bev madeja former board clerk eileen mulberg barb gibbs and diane long

031for their support throughout this lengthy process as this board and school system leadership knows well public service often requires persistence sometimes you have successes sometimes you face failures and sometimes it takes everything you have just to show up the two individuals we are honoring here tonight janie and ilyung not only showed up at this deus for collectively half a century but they never stopped standing up for what was in the best interests of students and staff of fairfax county public schools we are all beneficiaries of their work in many ways seen and unseen and whether we realize it or not everyone in this auditorium has been touched by them i for one benefited from their leadership both as an fcps student and as an adult on the school board young and janie didn't know me

032when i was a student but el young came to my orchestra concerts janie sat on stage at my graduation these may seem like small things but in the end they matter showing up matters the cappies and the theater arts program the world language program international exchange programs adult and community education esol the athletic training program the student achievement goals the school board governance manual the portrait of a graduate a non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation and gender identity these hallmarks of fairfax county education would not have been possible or sustained without the leadership of janie and ilyung janey served as both a mentor and a font of institutional knowledge for me and our colleagues as you have heard she served as a motherly figure helping guide us through the superintendent searches strategic planning processes transformative

033budget proposals and capital improvement plans audit reports and undertaking unprecedented initiatives for fairfax county led the nation she still serves as a walking encyclopedia and historian of the school system today as for ilyong there are many things i can't say about him in a public forum but i did have the great privilege of running as a team with him twice for school board and serving alongside of him as two of the three at-large school board members together among other things we attended countless concerts science fairs state football championships and more than 200 student graduation ceremonies we even combined our strength to lift linda burke across the stage at her retirement ceremony when he was first elected to this board ilyan was the youngest person ever elected to the fairfax county school board and even more

034impressively he was the first korean american to win elected office on the east coast and one of the first asian americans elected to public office in virginia both janie and elion worked with five superintendents not counting all the interims and if you can believe it superintendent brabrand wasn't even the most difficult to deal with just kidding scott this institution is better because of them our community is better because of them and each of us individually are better because of them and now our next generation of community members can remember janie and ilyung when they prepare to take the stage for a theater performance at mclean high school or attend a sporting event at tj and i for one think there is nothing more fitting thank you for all you have done and congratulations il young

035and janie [Applause] go ahead and sister us thank you well first of all thank you very much dan and ryan that was lovely i've missed all of you for two years i thought after the retirement while we'd all go out to dinner and you know travel and have great fun and there i was in my cove bubble and my daughters would have tied me to my front door if they could have so i have survived but thank you all very much for your very kind words and oprah do you remember i met with you you were i think in middle school you were doing a tutoring program you're right i should have mentioned that absolutely i don't right i've known you a very long time and showed up absolutely you read the book to the

036kids you were just a little girl but first i would like to thank all the teachers and the educators and all those who support our children you became educators to challenge and inspire our students to become all they can be here are lyrics to a song my dear bill strauss wrote entitled i teach a child you will see yourselves in these words i teach a child to chase a dream and right a wrong to pass the torch of truth i ask a child to see the beauty in his soul i'd like a child to take a path we've never tried and then that child with years of learning as his guide can build a better better world and with real purpose in his stride he'll find the courage of the hero deep inside they all

037have a hero and that is why and why all of you teach children we believe in the promise of our kids and we work every day because we know if we work hard enough and work closely enough with our parents we will find that hero thank you mclean high school for the wonderful education that you've given my three daughters and for your continued dedication to every child in your care as a school board member we find out our needy kids and we also are amazed at the way in which you encircle those neediest of children thank you and thank you for honoring me with the naming as part of the mclean theater program mclean high school theater is very special to me and my family it began many years ago with the bill strauss special

038of a complete parody of of a gilbert and sullivan show fully produced and elizabeth and lodel had to learn to get along with the crazy strauss family so i'm working with elizabeth again on another project theater is live storytelling and we all have stories to tell through the arts mankind shares some of our most enduring messages the arts transcend time place culture and language thank you fcps for making the arts part of our core curriculum our theater programs educate children about the great works of theater and teach them how to produce theater the experience of production has special value unto itself first there is room for everyone on the stage or behind the stage high school theater isn't really a funnel toward broadway it teaches important life skills putting on a show requires focus discipline

039creativity dedication to the whole group and everyone depends on everyone else to create the magic and best of all it's fun we need that so a special acknowledgement to our program at mclean in 2019 at our last cappy's gala pre-pandemic mclean high school's production of the lord of the flies and their excellent student critics were recognized for their excellence and you again put up with us on the stage with all that sand last year cappies was virtual our kids produced 58 virtual shows theater must go on especially in challenging times even if it's in zoomy squares woodson did zoomy square shakespeare this year live theater is back i encourage you to attend a great show in one of our schools and we'll see you at the cappy's kennedy center gala in june to celebrate our

040students and teachers across the region we're back again thank you all so much it has been my honor to serve the children and families in fairfax county and to have had the opportunity to be a proud member of this school board thank you all very very much thank you mr house and if the family and friends of miss straus can come to the front for a picture with the school board thank you so much welcome to come to the podium here so you can have or to the dais stage here for a picture agenda item 2.05 resolution naming the main gymnasium at thomas jefferson high school for science and technology for mr il young moon i call on ms mclaughlin for the resolution thank you chair picarski i am so deeply honored to be able

041to present the resolution to my dear colleague of eight years il young moon my fellow braddock district resident and my former predecessor as the braddock district school board member along with at large whereas il young moon was appointed as an at-large representative to the fairfax county school board in and in november of that year became the first asian american to be elected to a public office in virginia mr moon served with integrity and distinction for over 20 years on our fairfax county school board and whereas mr moon's fervent belief in service was evident in his work on numerous fairfax county school board committees he was also generously served his time as a member of the affordable housing advisory committee the fairfax county police chief's diversity council the american youth philharmonic orchestras and the fairfax county

042athletic council and whereas as a well-respected lawyer immigrant son of a custodian champion of staff mentor and valued friend to all who know him mr moon knows the importance of service to the community and helping those less fortunate and i do see that mr moon is not up here to be enjoying the spotlight so we do need you here as we read this i know how much you love being in the center of attention and whereas mr moon sponsored the budget proposal that ensured every high school would have a full-time certified athletic trainer which has made school safer for the past 15 years he cares about the health and well-being of our student athletes and continues to support the recognition of the valued work of our 50 athletic trainers who are vital to the success

043of our sports programs and whereas mr moon's support leadership and stalwart presence was a vital part of fairfax county schools activities and athletics for over two decades he could be found at sporting events graduations art shows science fairs and concerts throughout our public schools and whereas mr moon is the proud parent of two thomas jefferson high school for science and technology graduates jun young class of 2006 and wu young class of 2009 he was an enthusiastic supporter of tj athletics while cheering on his son wu young as a member of the boys basketball team and was always willing to volunteer his time handling concessions working the ticket booth serving as an announcer and singing with that beautiful voice the star-spangled banner and now therefore be it resolved that the fairfax county school board names the

044main gymnasium at thomas jefferson high school for the science and technology the ill young moon gymnasium in honor of his dedicated years of service to both fairfax county schools and thomas jefferson along with his advocacy for student athletes athletic trainers coaches administrators iso move is there a second seconded by miss corbett sanders miss mclaughlin would you like to speak to your resolution i would thank you um this one is bittersweet for me because i truly appreciated as my time was concluding with mr moon after eight years of service together he became such a wise counsel to me and nothing is more meaningful than the time we served as budget chair and vice chair and one of the things that was so characteristic about mr moon was not only that he was known for his professionalism

045and the way in which he focused on treating each and every person with dignity but one of the things he tried to teach me over and over again is to praise in public and share your constructive feedback in private and i think that as a result not everyone understood the analytical mind at times and the deep dedication you felt for accountability and i really got to see that when we served together as chair and vice chair the outstanding questions and research and details you brought to your work i also want to say that it was really wonderful over the years to hear you and the trio with ted belkoff and ryan mclevene with your beautiful voices singing the national anthem at many events that we had here for the school board and that there is

046no doubt in my mind that not only you the longest serving male on the fairfax county school board but also that you and ryan mclevene surely set a record for the number of graduations you attended [Applause] on a more personal note mr moon you've heard me share that i am the granddaughter of canadian irish immigrants and i know what it meant for my grandparents to come at the turn of the century but what so few people understand is that all that you and your family overcame when you immigrated here from south korea the way in which you worked so hard to use education as that opportunity to become the harvard law law graduate to have your own successful practice and then continue to not only have two remarkable sons but again give over 25 years

047of your time and your love and your dedication to our school system you are a beautiful and shining example of why our country a nation of immigrants continues to be the greatest place to live in the in this entire world i also want to just finally say that as you know my husband and my oldest son played varsity basketball at woodson high school and the storied coach red jenkins known throughout the county and frankly throughout the commonwealth of virginia the woodson gym is named after him and when i think about what a legend red jenkins is that now you join him as another legend and that when the community comes into the thomas jefferson gymnasium and sees the eel young moon gymnasium they will truly understand why this county's number one sports fan is now

048being honored in the most beautiful way and well deserved way so you will get to enjoy [Laughter] a basketball that is signed by all of the current board members former board members and anyone else we could find who could share their love and appreciation for you on that basketball so i know i've gone on too long but we irish are known for loving our words right ms hines and so i will end with this um my beloved ryan mcelveen hence the pronunciation mcleve i just also want to take a special moment to thank you um as you said this has been a tough 18 plus months my colleagues up here no one could imagine when we joined and started this third term together what we would be faced with for you to give us this

049gift not just to honor two immensely deserving citizens of fairfax county and former colleagues but for us to be able to sit here this evening together and really celebrate our shared humanity our shared love and respect for the work that we're doing here and our deep commitment to want to make a difference in the lives of children i want to personally thank you ryan what a glorious night you've created for everyone and a well-deserving honor to two treasures here in fairfax county miss carpet sanders well that's going to be hard to beat isn't it folks but there's so much to say um and very little time to truly recognize this amazing man who is standing before us tonight i've had the pleasure of knowing mr moon for almost 15 years when i met him on

050the as i joined the advanced academic programs advisory committee and he was the liaison during the time i've known mr moon i've just been inspired by his servant leadership this quietly humble man is wise beyond his years and is an incredible legal scholar who embodies the pursuit of education in the legal field but also is a polyglot and recognizes that the most effective way of communicating with somebody is to communicate with them in their native tongue and so mr moon went off and learned spanish because he knew that the demographics in fairfax county were changing and that he wanted to be able to speak to people and recognize them in their own language and so it just shows what an amazing man and a humble man he is he also is a biblical scholar and

051a sunday school teacher and children have learned from him for generations and are so inspired and still i see pictures of them coming up to him as an adult and thanking him for what he has done he's also a wonderful son to his father in addition to being a great father to his two boys so i am so very proud to be able to call you my friend i've also had the pleasure of serving with you in a professional format when i was the chair and you were the vice chair you were an incredible partner who helped guide the work of the board and ensure that all voices were heard while at the same time ensuring that we focused our work on student success and student outcomes he recognized that for us to be the

052world class school system that our community expects us to have that we must all be servant leaders and ensure that every student employee and parent was made to feel valued and respected the renaming of the gem at tj is a great recognition for mr moon's commitment to excellence in the classroom and on the sports field many of you may not know that ilyong has traveled across the state to support our teams at the district and at the state level and i've had the pleasure of standing on the football field with him and his dear friend and colleague ryan mcelveen and sitting in the stands supporting our basketball teams i was so pleased to have them there with me because some of you may not know but i am not a real sports official aficionado so

053um having their expertise was very helpful as they interpreted referee calls for me it was also incredible to see the two of them sharing the joy of being together and cheering our teams on it just brought a smile to my face and also to know that they were there for our kids every moment of every day so when we name or rename school facilities i believe we need to do so with the concept of inspiring students today and into the future and mr moon's own story of coming to the united states as a young man living in poverty and entertain and entering our public schools with limited english knowledge he ascended to the top universities in this country and has become the first asian-american to be elected to the office to office in the commonwealth

054of virginia is a story that all of our children can aspire to it is a story that students going through the halls of tj need to see and understand so it is my great pleasure to be able to second this motion for my dear friend little young man [Applause] miss kisgamara mr moon you were you welcomed me when i ran for office showed me the ropes insisted that i go to games [Laughter] and it was such a joy to be between you and ryan and to finally get on the board and go how many graduations are we going to i never won but i came close i kept at least i kept up but really i want to thank you for bringing such a level of professionality when i was just learning the ropes i

055remember you used to call me well you would jokingly say how's my junior member and i won't tell people that i called you senior but in any rate we had a lot of fun and i appreciated having another lawyer on the board so that we could balance things and have a conversation to really uh encourage our colleagues and all of us to think about what we were doing you never took these duties lightly and that is what i recognized and respected so much we didn't always agree you never raised your voice to me you were always fair and gave me a listening ear you challenged me and then you let me have my own opinion and i say to you that you showed us what leadership looks like in fairfax county and how we can

056look at our entire county and changing demographics and really work together to build for each and every student so i thank you for your humor we always stood together on this on the back here and i told you i do not well at any rate that's i won't share all of that we had several conversations there that will not be shared today but i do appreciate your leadership and your friendship your kindness and i always am so grateful that you were there for me as i was learning thank you so much [Applause] mr kofax mr moon i am thrilled to support this amendment honoring you my colleague a true statesman and my dear friend as this resolution references your personal story is one that embodies the american dream son of a custodian an immigrant who's

057worked so very hard to achieve your dream of getting into harvard law school and then going on to practice law and serving your community in so many ways including 20 years on this school board i understand there's an autobiography coming out soon and i cannot wait to get my copy but i digress there so getting back to the american dream we know there is no denying that we as americans love our sports and mr moon you are a fan of every team in this system and anyone who knows who has gone to a game with you like i have who've attended a game or two know that he cheers he yells he'll storm the floor once there's a big win and he's even grabbed the microphone to congratulate the winning team when there was a

058championship one i was there with a basketball team so what better way to honor you ilyan moon than to name a gym for you at thomas jefferson high school for tech science and technology the school where both of your boys played on sports teams and graduated elian you are funny you are compassionate you are a great listener you have provided me with sage advice and taught me patience along the way you are an amazing father to your son i appreciate all the support you have given my family and me and i am grateful to have you in my life as my friends i am proud to have served with you on this board and i wholeheartedly support this resolution miss cohen mr moon this feels like a very full circle moment because the first time

059that i got to really start to get to know you was when you asked me to be your guest at the cappies i remember when we got there that a mutual friend said dear lord you didn't let him drive you did you [Music] we'll talk about that later but i do just want to say to you that over the last crazy two years um i'm so appreciative of all you have done to continue to be a resource to help teach me how to get along with my colleagues and to always do it with a smile on my face you always keep us on our toes and we're so grateful it's interesting that tonight we are honoring two people who are very short in stature but who are giants i'm about to say something nice but

060who are giants in their compassion and their care for every single student and all of us up here absolutely stand on both your shoulders so thank you for everything you've done dr anderson [Applause] oh thank you mr moon i still remember when i had a chance to speak with you at manoa bakery when i decided to run for this position i just want to say i'm very grateful for the time that you have taken both you and janie we had a very long conversation not even a year ago or so where you took many many hours just to walk me through some things that i i just really appreciated your guidance and leadership um but because i did not have the chance to really work with you all on the board like many of my

061colleagues i did ask a former member who held the seat miss sandy evans if she would be willing to let me live let me honor you through her words and so i will share some of the statements that she provided to the entire board to consider um it is with great pleasure that i write to support the naming of the main gym at thomas jefferson high school for former school board member elian moon mr moon served on the fairfax county school board for more than 20 years including several stints as chair having served with him for 10 of those years as a school board member for mason district and interacting with him as an advocate before that time i can attest to the fact that he brought the utmost diligence and integrity to the to

062his board service his contribution to our school system were incalculable during his long tenure he always put the needs of students at the forefront of his mind and was a stalwart advocate for advanced academics esol services and world languages he also advocated relentlessly for improved salaries and benefits for teachers and other employees mr moon could always be counted on for his thoughtfulness and fair-mindedness on every issue and for dealing with constituents and colleagues with respect and understanding while having a full legal practice he managed to be one of the most reliable and hardworking board members in terms of board work as well as his enthusiasm and par i'm sorry as well as his enthusiastic participant in countless ceremony ceremonial and celebratory events for students and staff as an avid sports fan mr moon was a

063familiar presence at innumerable high school athletic events throughout the years in all seasons and across multiple sports with both of his sons having attended tj he has a special connection to that school in the sports program thank you sandy for allowing me to read your very very kind words and i wanted to use these words because i think they better captured who you are representing to fairfax county public schools and not just to the schools i have a neighbor i'm not sure who you know this she's a few dollars down from me probably no more than three who's a very close friend of yours and your name comes up very routinely on her walks with her dogs so your reach is broad even for folks who don't have children in the schools at this time

064so thank you for all of your work and i'm very happy to celebrate you today miss tolin all those words are hard to follow but i just want to attest to the fact that i know even after you finish your term in the school board i cited you at the maclean langley basketball game so i know you're still going to the games which we so appreciate and i also just wanted to thank you so much for your your mentoring and your calm and professional advice thank you so much for all of the work that you have done for our school district ms omesh mr moon despite the college rivalry you always reminded me of every time we met um i i really want to thank you from the bottom of my heart how grateful i

065am to you for everything that you've contributed i have to say like uh miss strauss you were there for every year that i was in school and you know thinking back you were especially an inspiration as someone who ran in a time when immigrants didn't have the same visibility in elected office and as a speaker you know of english as a second language as someone who worked hard to make it in this country i uh was always inspired by that and the fact that you traverse such difficult terrains that i don't know is always acknowledged to get to where you are to serve and and live that passion that you came to to bring to fairfax county so i really just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being example as

066a fellow man of faith who always did that in stride and as a bigger person to bring people together and i'm inspired by that and and hope to continue learning from your wisdom miss seismore heiser [Applause] thank you mr moon as an at large member and the first asian american elected a public office um you're especially a relevant trade trailblazer for me but the one way you may not realize it is um your sense of humor your kindness your sage advice and your adoption of the sports in your adopted country and i hope you take this as a compliment because it's the highest compliment i can give reminds me of my father he also was an immigrant and he became a rabid 49ers fan denver broncos fan and his sage advice and kindness and sense

067of humor is what i see in you and so i want to thank you for giving that gift to all of us i'm sorry i never got a chance to serve with you but in meeting with you especially as i became vice chair and the advice and kindness you showed me has really helped inform me of my work here and sometimes i feel like you know my father who passed away many years ago is right here so i hope one day i can go to basketball game with you and see the same spirit so thank you mr moon thank you for your tireless tireless work for the students and staff of fairfax county public schools and thank you especially for your generosity of spirit no matter what thank you [Applause] mr moon my turn [Laughter]

068i am just so humbled that i get to sit here tonight and honor you um you know i think i'm known as somebody who kind of gets right to the point of things and rather quickly and getting to the point is that you're just an incredible human being an incredible human being you're humble you're kind you're honorable you've got strong integrity you're there to help everyone whenever they're they ask and even when they don't ask you're a man of deep faith i i've treasured our time together the service that you shared with me um a couple of years ago and you're a model and an inspiration to so many of us obviously but so many students and people in my community when i go out i still hear about mr moon from many people you

069have been a mentor to me the last couple of years and you have become a friend and for that i am deeply deeply grateful to you and while your service ended on this board what many people don't know is that your service to our community and to children continues you are continuing to look for ways to help our students with their education to progress to become more successful and to have more opportunities and for that i thank you and with that it is my honor to take a vote on the resolution to name the main gymnasium at thomas jefferson high school for science and technology for il young moon all those in favor please raise your hands that vote is unanimous [Applause] before before you speak mr moon i did want to invite mr stork

070who wanted to share a few comments well my first thing i want to do is to to bow to mr moon and to thank him very humbly and sincerely for his decades of service and not only to the board and to the community but really our connection that goes beyond decades i had a number of stories but this has been a long evening already you all have been so eloquent far more eloquent than i could have possibly be could possibly be about what he's done what he's given i would just let that stand as said and i will mention two things one is that i had the wonderful opportunity to take a trip to korea when i was on the school board that uh really was my introduction to korean culture and community community which

071deeply helped me better understand the passion the commitment to education that not only is mr moon's but truly the korean community and that was a blessing and it is i don't i had not had the opportunities that he had had to to do all those things when when you were younger maybe not intentionally but it was part of your life and but the many other trips and many other connections that he's made with fairfax county and and korea has been huge across the board not only the county but also schools so those connections are long lasting and have made a real difference in all of our lives so i wanted to personally thank him for that in his work and then a side trip to china that that i personally did on my own but

072he helped to schedule for me and little did i know when he scheduled it that he it was a wonderful trip but he's got it to a korean travel agency and so my whole trip in china was with a korean group and no one spoke english so i learned a lot about how to communicate and but that's that's the joy again of connection the last point i wanted to make is something that i know you all know you all have spoken about it really throughout the conversation tonight his absolutely deep commitment to our frontline workers folks who are making a difference in schools the commitment to the folks who who need extra a little bit extra hand but more importantly need to be recognized for the work that they do custodians teachers aides folks who

073are always seen as is the most crucial part of the operation but we all know particularly in these cova times how central they have been to us and frankly how important it is that they be paid equitably be treated equitably and be honored equitably and i know that that is a key part of who you are and what you've taught to many of us and i thank you ever so much for that commitment and that education that you really that learning you provided to all of us and as a last note i want to thank not only mr moon as vice chair of the board i want to thank my my my friend and team member from mount vernon district karen corbin sanders when she was chair the commitment that you all made to the

074joint environmental task force jet our commitment to all things environmental and and making a difference in reducing our carbon emissions etcetera we've made incredible progress because not only your leadership there and miss corbin sanders leadership there but across the board and doing things teaching kids making a difference in their lives because we all know how critical that commitment is right now and i know your ongoing commitment support for those can make an essential difference in not only our lives but more importantly in our children's life so thank you again very much thank you supervisor stork mr moon the honorable modern chairman vice chairman and members of the fairfax county school board and also the superintendent of dr problem good evening as i understand that the brevity is a virtue i am going to keep my

075remarks very brief but before i go to this very brief script i need to rebut some of the things that by a mr mcelveen and some other some other board members mr america there is a no story that you cannot share in public as far as my driving behavior is concerned i know i drive way too slow i mean that's something that i cannot i cannot get over with that said with that said uh i am truly honored and humbled by this naming resolution and i appreciate it as a former school board member i know pretty well what effort is going to bring this kind of resolution to fruition so i want to thank all those people involved in the process most importantly students parents teachers administrators at thomas jefferson high school for science and

076technology i also want to thank the superintendents and the school board clerks offices for their support special appreciation goes to the four individuals who wrote the letters of support former school board members and events pierre curran heather murphy and of course another famous group of the member of my circle board member ryan mccarvin i understand that it was a mr mackervin who has left the entire process from the beginning for both me and janice rausch by the way as far as janie strauss and i are concerned yes we are the two shortest shortest school board members and that has something to do with the longevity of the service on the board so be careful that's going to happen to you i have never been good in any sports whether in korea where i was born

077and grew up until the age of 17 all here in the u.s in fact during my high school freshman year in korea i received all a's but there was 1b and that b came from the p class back then in korea you had to be strong and fast to get on a in p and i was in not strong and i was certainly not fast however i love watching and supporting sports and i always enjoyed showing for the fairfax county public school teams talking a little bit more about sports when i first came to the us in the middle of my high school years obviously with a language barrier everything here in the u.s being completely new to me i struggled to get adjusted the new surroundings but it was the sports it was a

078sports a couple of a good native born friends of mine introduced to me to me too football games and basketball games where i suffered the first time in my life what the football game looked like i had a hard time following where the ball was going and i didn't understand the rules at all but my friends my friends were very patient with me explained to me explaining to me every rule of the games and we got to know each other really really well so he wanted a sport and i must tell you my friends on the board sport is a universal language sport can help our students and members in the community overcome whatever the barriers they are whether it's a culture language or social economics it's a sports that can bring the mankind together

079this resolution is especially meaningful in that the students and the teachers and community members who use domain gymnasium tj would have opportunities to ask why my name is associate with a gym they may get to think about what serving public means and how we can all do it and why we should all do it you can also remind us about the importance of free and high quality public education that we should continue to provide to our students and how we should prepare our students to be courageous to step up to the plate to make contributions to where being of the communities they belong to once again i feel honored by and grateful for this resolution but now before i beat a good evening i need to thank my former colleagues who are here for me

080and jamie parents dahlia again for speaking so elegantly of course ryan i'm not going to forget you understand of course who wrote one of those four letters in support of me and also as we recognize the school psychology awareness week i want to thank all the school psychologists for their work and thank you and have a good evening and i'm taking my basketball with me mr moon at this point i would like to invite you along with family friends and all supporters to the dance for a photo with the school board agenda item 2.06 school psychology awareness week i call on miss elmesh for the recognition school psychologists are uniquely qualified members of school teams serving students staff and families school psychologists receive specialized advanced graduate preparation that includes coursework and practical experiences relevant to

081both psychology and education they apply expertise in mental health and learning and behavior to change lives by taking actions to help children and youth succeed academically socially behaviorally and emotionally in alignment with the fcps strategic plan and portrait of the graduate school psychologists help individuals realize their own abilities develop the skills they need to cope with the normal stresses of life work productively and fruitfully and be valuable contributors in the community school psychologists help students develop the social emotional and life skills necessary to realize personal achievement in growth and to build resilience and a sense of belonging through the delivery of direct services using evidence-based practices school psychologists help students build social and emotional competence and the skills required to actively engage in learning school psychologists collaborate with school teams to develop universal prevention and

082intervention practices across multi-tiered systems of support these practices foster resilience increase educators understanding of social and emotional development reduce barriers to learning and enhance students as protective factors school psychologists bring knowledge of data collection and analysis to team discussions which informs the development of interventions and monitoring of student progress school psychologists intervene when students experience mental health issues which may require a thorough risk assessment intervention through individual or group counseling and helping to connect families to community resources they are members of crisis response teams and risk assessment teams they assess and assist students at risk of harming themselves and they teach and implement trauma-informed practices school psychologists consult with school staff and parents to further their understanding of youth mental health and empower them to develop the necessary skills to respond to complex student needs

083all children and youth can face problems from time to time related to learning social relationships making difficult decisions or managing emotions such as feeling depressed anxious worried or isolated school psychologists help students families educators and members of the community to understand and resolve both long-term chronic problems and short-term issues that students may face they're a highly skilled and ready resource in the effort to ensure that all fcps children and youth thrive in our schools our homes and in life i'd like to welcome the staff from the department of special services to please join me and the rest of the board at the dyas for a photograph or not but let's give a big round of applause to all of our psychologist support teams agenda item 2.07 fairfax county school board budget priorities resolution i call

084on ms corbett sanders for the resolution whereas the fairfax county school board is committed to ensuring that every child is provided a world-class education that includes access and opportunity for strong academics workforce development and the arts allowing them to achieve their full potential and whereas the fairfax county school board is committed to ensuring that fcps continues to be able to attract and retain the best educators and whereas the fairfax county school board recognizes that covet 19 has had a detrimental impact on our students learning and mental health which has resulted in exasperating achievement gaps and learning delays and whereas the fairfax county school board recognizes that fairfax county has balanced previous budgets by delaying investments in major maintenance for buildings be it resolved that the fairfax county school board directs the superintendent to develop a

085budget proposal based on the needs of the school system that prioritizes investments to mitigate and remediate the impact of covet 19 on academic achievement learning loss and achievement gaps investments in literacy in the science of reading access to advanced math and stem opportunities in all elementary schools and prioritizes the upkeep and development of outside learning spaces teachers and administrators are provided the time to participate in professional development and planning to meet the students needs provides needs-based staffing to include teachers instructional assistants administrators school counselors nurses psychologists social workers behavioral interventionist specialists parent liaisons translators and supports for after school co-curricular and extracurricular activities and implements recommendations of the advanced academics and career and technical education studies in the special education audit ensuring that our students building and transportation staff receive competitive compensation to include a

086step increase and focus on the needs for a healthy learning environment to include proper facility maintenance and provide the board recommendations for savings and realifications reallocations of funds based on staff evaluation of programs and expenditures iso move is there a second seconded by miss keys gemara miss corbett sanders would you like to speak to this resolution uh it's actually seconded by the vice chair for budget ms tollin seconded by miss tolen thank you that's okay that's corbin sanders yes um hold on one moment i'm sorry i want to bring up my notes so this resolution represents the first time that the school board has provided broad guidance to the superintendent as he prepares his budget and reflects and it reflects a follow-on motion that this board approved last year during our budget deliberations under the

087state code the superintendent is required to bring to the board a proposed budget that is based on the needs of the system and he will do so in january providing budget guidance is a best practice which is similar to the approach used in our neighboring jurisdictions including alexandria arlington and loudoun county this guidance identifies those areas that this board feels are the most important needs of the school system and our focus in this guidance is putting students first and addressing the needs of our students and staff as we emerge from this global pandemic the guidance also provides a framework for our initial discussions with the board of supervisors which is scheduled for later this month i want to thank miss holland and all of my colleagues for your help in developing this guidance and i

088especially want to thank miss burden and miss wiggington as they work with us in this budget development process so i hope that you will all support this resolution thank you thank you miss corbett sanders miss tollen would you like to speak to your second yes thank you i do also want to thank my colleagues for their careful consideration of budget priorities to allow us to pull all of those together to develop this resolution the resolution is meant to be a big picture view of priorities so that the superintendent and his staff can work on more particulars around this and um we can share this with the board of supervisors in the the week before thanksgiving as we start to to look at our budget our joint budget process over the next couple of months happy

089to support our strong academics and workforce development efforts and importantly as i spend time out at our schools and talk to principals about what is happening to support our students academically and socially it comes all comes down to our staff and the hard work that they are doing in their work with our students we must make an effort to take care of all of our staff and show them that we value their work by compensating them for what they do and to make sure they have the professional development that they need to bring educational best practices to our classrooms covered 19 and issues with ventilation and use of space has highlighted the need to keep our facilities maintained and to allow our students and staff to learn and work in places that are as healthy

090as possible i'm happy to support this resolution mr frisch thank you um first i'd like to thank our budget chair mr corbett sanders and our vice chairman tolin for the collaborative process that is already underway and for a process that is already you know showing us that many of us see eye to eye on the priorities that we would like to pursue in the budget this year especially when it comes to investments in the science of reading and literacy advanced academics stem advanced math i look forward to the budgeting process as it goes forward and to continuing to have these conversations um not only with all of you but with staff and with our colleagues on the board of supervisors as well but if this resolution is any indication of where we're headed i think

091we're going in the right place right direction thank you miss marin yes thank you to our budget committee chair and vice chair for this resolution i think this is a great example of how the board is tasked with setting the visionary policy that the superintendent and then staff are charged with implementing and i think as has been said having alignment around key issues about literacy math stem career development this morning i was at our career technical education committee and there's no doubt that there are amazing things happening in this school division the more we can strategically align them and integrate them budget and make sure what we're investing is really returning on that investment for student success this will just continue to be even better offerings for our students and the benefit of our community

092thank you miss kisgamara thank you i too want to thank our budget chair and vice chair uh for putting this together uh having conversations with us as as really as a result of our retreat earlier when we talked a little bit about our priorities and and i wanted the public to know that this has been a continuing process we've also done this a bit early earlier this year in the sense that we did a forecast work session early uh this week and and and what i see throughout all of the recommendations is a commitment to improve access to opportunity for every student in fcps improving that opportunity to have experiential learning to enhance our high school experiences and to really start to rethink that so that our students feel that they have the opportunity to

093really explore who their best selves and their talents and that they are supported by their academic experience so i say thank you to our uh chair and vice chair for the budget and to my colleagues thank you go ahead and take that vote all those in favor please raise your hands and that vote is unanimous with dr anderson and miss darren kofax away from the table thank you everyone agenda item 3.01 superintendent matters and i'll now call on dr brabrand thank you chairman picarski members of the board first of all i just need to say tonight is one of the most inspiring moments i've experienced as a fcps employee over a span of 30 years we just saw two giants in fairfax county and if there were a school board national hall of fame those

094two people would be in it and i think today when we think about school board service what you all have been asked to do what they were asked to do we really got a chance to see history in the making in the history of fcps with leaders like them and the history that we will be making you all as a board and working with me and the administration that school board members now more than ever are the heart of our community the heart of our schools and just it was just an amazing night speaking of partnership with the administration and the school board i certainly want to share some updates with you that i talked about at the work session on tuesday around our quarantine lengths this school board has been a strong advocate and

095we have had conversations now over several weeks about looking at reducing quarantine lengths to limit the impact on students who are close contacts i share in the desire that the board is expressed and this week we learned that fairfax county's community transmission dropped from substantial community transmission to moderate community transmission a level yes applause a level we have not seen since july so as a result of these changes coupled with the low transmission we continue to see in our schools we will be shifting our quarantine length from 14 days to 10 days effective this coming monday in addition it is my plan to further reduce quarantine lengths down to seven days by december 1st as we ramp up our diagnostic testing with our vendor that will be starting on monday there will be full communication

096to our community tomorrow and we look forward to continuing to bring you updates as we i think enter the final phase of this pandemic i also want to just thank uh folks as we go and talk from quarantine to vaccination because now we got great news just in the last several days of the vaccination availability for elementary kids and i was honored uh as i know you were miss picarski and miss seismer heiser to be a part of a national rollout of the kova 19 vaccination for children ages 5 to 11 that we got to do monday where we welcomed the first lady of the united states of america and the united states surgeon general to a vaccination clinic at franklin sherman elementary school where ironically and historically they were the school where the first

097polio vaccine was administered in 1954. fcps is proud to be leading the way in the vaccination rollout for children ages 5-11 just as we did in 1954 and we're thankful for the partnerships with the fairfax county health department with anova and with the fairfax chapter of the american academy of pediatrics all who were present and all who've been working with me as we have coordinated a complete comprehensive rollout of the vaccination to our kids at the pediatrician clinics at anova on the weekends which has just gotten tremendous demand for their mass vaccination center the mass vaccination centers at tysons and at the government center with the county health department and beginning in the days ahead pop-up clinics at schools that will be done after school on weekends in our areas where we're still seeing unvaccinated

098levels of the community and access issues so i'm thrilled with that partnership and we will continue this partnership in the weeks and months ahead i am optimistic as i said that we are in the final phase of this pandemic i do encourage the superintendent families to get their children vaccinated and to speak as the surgeon general has said to speak with your doctors speak with your healthcare providers if there are questions and concerns about the vaccine and finally i want to wish everyone a happy veterans day today our schools honored veterans day and and yesterday i had the opportunity to participate here um just over at gatehouse just across the block in the recognition of the 246th birthday of the united states marine corps and we have meant yes let's applaud that we have many

099marines in fairfax county public schools and our employees and many of our employees who are the sons daughters sisters brothers not only the marine corps but of the entire united states armed services we celebrated all of the branches we listened to all of the patriotic songs and i actually got the here for the first time the the the song for the newest part of the armed service the space force and it was really cool it just reminded me of watching star trek as a kid the actual emblem and the music it was really pretty cool but to be serious we know we've had many challenges over the last 20 months but veterans day reminds us that there have been challenges over the entire history of the united states and people our veterans have stepped forward

100and their sacrifice their bravery are an example for all of us to continue to follow today tomorrow and in the years ahead so thank you very much chairman picarski for giving me a chance to share my superintendent matters a bit earlier tonight so folks could hear the great news about our quarantine approach in the days ahead thank you thank you dr bray brand it is indeed fantastic news agenda item 4.01 community participation the next order of business is community participation speakers must limit their remarks to no more than two minutes in length at the conclusion of two minutes a microphone or video will be turned 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

101as 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 official 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 that run counter 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 in-person speakers should wear a mask when addressing the board we are very grateful for everyone who has come today to speak to us we thank you for your cooperation and for your patience

102tonight as we had those um special recognitions our first speaker is christy hudson on this veterans day thank you to our fcps families and educators who have served or who continue to serve your service and sacrifices are unparalleled relocating every 12 24 36 months to new schools in new states sometimes in different countries in different continents is incredible maintaining continuity of education for your dependent children during a pandemic exacerbated your challenges and also expose some cracks in our school system about how military kids are treated despite this you continue to serve ensuring our country remains the home of the free because of the brave so on behalf of parents to all of our military kids educators and families thank you and happy veterans day speaking of kids and parents it's been 19 months now of

103us doing this parents standing here beating our heads against what feels like a brick wall our words our calls our emails our kid-focused advocacy all too often falling upon deaf ears recent developments in the commonwealth have made it clear parents are tenacious we won't be shut out of our children's lives and we expect a seat at the table when it comes to taxpayer-funded public education i'm asking you today to appoint parents to the public engagement committee that will be responsible for choosing our new superintendent invite us to the conversation we have value to add and allow us to have a say in who will lead fcps into the future parents are ready to move forward we want to be partners in education but we need you to let us so please stop shutting us out

104and instead invite us to help our our next speaker is stephen brussell in august i attended a virtual return to school town hall hosted by the superintendent on the new safety protocols for in-person learning in the meeting dr benjamin schwartz was introduced as an expert on this issue he claimed that all studies show that masks help prevent the spread of cova-19 this weeping statement is both one-sided and false i know many studies that indicate that mass wearing does not help prevent the spread of covet 19. the announcement email said that we could call in live i tried to call in to discuss the science and statistics behind the mass squaring policy and the potential adverse effects physically socially and emotionally in children wearing masks all day however for me to call in i needed an

105access code that was not provided i called in around a hundred times during the event to verify this and i emailed the events organizer thus this was a false town hall potentially accidentally i sent a message to the superintendent about the issue it has now been three months without a reply i also reported the issue to the school board's inspector general he determined there was no fraud but refused to explain what happened this looks suspicious democracy and science are traditionally based on an in-depth examination of both sides of any issue education should be about teaching students to think critically and ask questions rather than accept a narrative we must set an example for our children thus it is essential that we reschedule an in-person town hall with dr schwartz on these protocols thank you our

106next speaker is gina lincecum [Applause] good evening i'm the parent of a recent graduate from fcps and i have two more in high school as my friends and i came to the last board meeting we wanted to express our appreciation to all of you again for your time and effort on the school board don't feel that you're getting enough um appreciation for what you're putting into this during a difficult season i really appreciated hearing about ms strauss and mr moon this evening and on behalf of my family and others i would like to thank all of you for the updates that you passed in july to protect trans and lgbtqia plus students and staff i did ask my high schoolers if there was any message they would like me to pass along this evening and

107they both mentioned feeling safe in school and i just wanted you to know that thank you very much our next speaker is amy burns my name is amy burns and i'm a monthly payroll tech at gatehouse i'm here to ask for help with the salary and equity of payroll tax that appealed the 2019 denial for re-class and those texts i came after i have documents of our four-year struggle if you need them there are two chapters the first 2017 payroll department applied to reclassify boas to payroll tax a position that more accurately reflected the work we perform every day we were told that all we needed was one person person to sign off in july of 2019 we were denied and told no recourse we found an application for appeal for denial hearing i've represented

108our payroll team and we won we were payroll texts but only in title and not in the salary that goes with the tech position chapter two for seven months i tried to find someone to explain why the salary did not go with the title we won twice i was asked by my director to stop for a week i complied each time i submitted a four-year request for reclassification with budget implications and it was 48 i finally asked marty smith to help us and gave him my documentation march of 2020 as kova was hitting we got our results got a career ladder back small salary adjustment but not to the tech position and only back to 2019. the usual is the date of application for i was asked by if i was done by my director

109the day that we got our notice what we fought for in 2021 we achieved just not for the participants of the appeal the new higher policy brings in all new hires and a step three plus experience we are the senior members with the not our next speaker is kim putins [Applause] good evening i am a parent in fcps um quoting the words of uh nelson mandela there can be no keener revelation of a society sold in the way in which it treats its children here's how children have been treated by fcps instead of listening to the local federal and international public health entities about schools being safe you favor political motivations to keep kids out of school for over a year you cow towed to political pressure from teachers unions but ignored teachers pleas about

110virtual and concurrent learning you ignored and gas-lit parents who raised the alarm bills about isolation and loss of learning from virtual learning while the rate of suicides depression and anxiety skyrocketed you impose a vaccine mandate on healthy young athletes while ignoring that the true risk is to kids who are obese which is on the rise you espouse equity while ignoring decades of studies in real world examples showing that education is the key to ending the cycle of pottery poverty you muzzle kids every day with a ridiculous mask mandate when you have a .003 percent risk of dying from covet more kids die each year from the flu from drowning and choking you denied special ed students in person learning last year but rented out our schools to provide child care and learning pods you asked

111parents to help teach our kids virtually for over a year but ignore and mock parents who want to have a say in our kids education and my absolute favorite is you don't stand up to hypocrisy about fundraising and using our kids to fundraise in person for the benefit of the schools but you do nothing to help stand up for them when it comes to celebrating them at an awards ceremony in person you all have been anti-student and anti-parent for over a year and we will not forget it get back to educating our kids our next speaker is robert wearty good evening first of all recognizing today is veterans day i want to thank all veterans who are present or watching for their service in defense of our country a self-governing republic conceived in liberty not

112as a wilsonian administrative bureaucratic state now to my topic transgender policies these policies especially with regards to athletics force girls to compete against biological males which is inherently unfair due to biological differences between males and females puts girls at a disadvantage when competing for scholars for college scholarships follow the biological science puts girls in dangerous situations as has been so tragically shown by recent events in neighboring loudoun county are we to believe similar events have not occurred here in fairfax what policies and procedures has the school board and each school's administration put in place to prevent such incidents and when they occur what is the school board's protocol for informing families about the violent incidences that have occurred the policies also violate law they infringe on parental rights they compel speech they infringe on religious

113exercise they violate privacy rights violate due process violate equal protection ferpa and enable and the enabling statute so why not transgender teams our next speaker is stephanie axelrod hello i'm a strong supporter of fcps as a lifelong resident graduate and educator with 10 years of teaching experience in the county i'm here to speak against a requirement at some schools requiring students to eat outside during the cold weather months my daughter's elementary school class is scheduled to eat lunch outside through the end of the second quarter or at least january 12th after which time presumably other classes will rotate to eat lunch in the cold according to emails from her principal and the regional executive principal it appears this issue is beyond their jurisdiction so i'm here to request dr brabrand and members of the school

114board devise a plan to stop allowing required outdoor lunches as we enter the coldest part of the year few adults are comfortable eating lunch outside when temperatures are below 60. administrators have referenced 45 degrees as a possible cutoff for suspending required outside lunch on a single day here are some questions if it's a 45 degree cutoff at what time and where are we gauging the temperature what if there's no sun what if there's chill so it feels colder what if it rains the night before so they have to sit on the cold and wet ground you may say these questions sound ridiculous and they do sound ridiculous but there are the questions you'll be asking the administrators teachers and staff to make every day these dedicated professionals are stretched too thin and there's not enough

115staff to oversee outside lunch in fact my child's class has been completely or partially unsupervised twice in the past two weeks ultimately as a friend noted it's cartoonishly evil to require children to eat outside in the cold like something out of a charles dickens novel also over 1 million children including my daughter and my son have already received their first coveted vaccine this week i urge you to allow all students to be indoors as a matter of compassion let's return students to the cafeteria for comfort and security thank you all for your time our next speaker is scott savart good evening my name is scott sivart i am the parent of two fairfax county school students tonight i am speaking about the declining membership trends report i want to bring to everyone's attention u.s patent

116number 1078657 awarded to rockefeller university in the patent states the present invention provides methods and compositions for the remote control of cell function based on the use of radio frequency waves to ins excite nanoparticles targeted to specific cell types the patent makes use of the following components number one radio frequency electromagnetic fields number two nanoparticles that can guide themselves to a specific part of the body and self-assemble and then act as a receiver and a transmitter number three magnetized metal oxide nano particles the covet shots contain graphene oxide which independent laboratories in spain japan and germany have confirmed graphene oxide is able to self-assemble this is just one of many similar patents designed to take away our freedoms us global and uh us and global elites are experts at dividing us as a way to

117further grow the power of government the covet 19 scenario is just the latest example the goal of the global elites is to merge artificial intelligence with humans to make us trans humans act accordingly and thank you our next speaker is frank mallard good evening i'm frank cole mallard father of three former fcps students fairfax county resident for about 50 years retired voice of america producer broadcaster and vietnam veteran thank you for your veterans day tribute earlier this evening i want to salute any veterans in the audience tonight and thank them for their service i also thank board member karen keys gemara i believe she's not here at the moment for her participation today at mclean high school veterans day event it was great to see some of the mclean high school students participating and learning

118about veterans day and the history of the us military involvement and sacrifice around the world a part of my time in vietnam was in saigon where i met many wonderful vietnamese people some of whom have moved to fairfax county which is a strong vibrant vietnamese community they have come here for a better life to escape communism and are grateful for the freedoms and opportunities this country affords especially the educational ones i recognize that as fairfax county school board members you have many areas of responsibility most importantly the provision of academic and technical training for students so that they can become participating contributing members of the workforce and society at large so i ask you please direct your focus back to primarily educating kids in a safe and healthy environment please stop confusing them with a

119marxist critical race theory pornographic books surveys asking them how many times they've had sex and if they might be transgender that only can cause this confusion and trauma and distraction when i was working with the vietnamese people in saigon never did i think that 50 years later i would need to ask the u.s school board to stop confusing students especially immigrant and special needs kids but that's what i'm doing and thank you very much for your time our next speaker is jennifer linton tid i'm jennifer litton tidd and i'm greatly gravely concerned about trauma being inflicted on lgbtq children i'm afraid all progress made to hear their voices and support their needs are in danger i feel the loudest voices bombarding queer children with hatred will prevail over their vulnerable population children are being bullied

120online by adults they're being shamed mocked and threatened by adults some fear retaliation for exercising free speech adults have bullied children standing at this podium at the virginia disability caucus at a neurodivergent liberation coalition we are profoundly concerned with the trauma being deposited onto the developing brains of queer children all over northern virginia trauma causes permanent physiological damage to the brain and impacts both the ability to learn and life outcomes it's a lifelong struggle from which a brain never fully recovers i've suffered from ptsd all my life because an adult brutally raped me as when i was five years old it is always a good time to have a serious discussion about rape culture but comparing queer relationships to pedophilia is not a serious discussion but a lie all the noise about banning books and

121bathrooms is queer bashing disguised as child advocacy data shows that lgbtq kids are far more likely to be victims of violence than to commit it and hate triples their suicide rates over straight kids maya angelou once said hate has caused a lot of problems in the world but has never solved any the hatred our queer children are fielding from adults is not solving problems but i fear it is creating a lifelong trauma from which these children will suffer there is no this is no way to for them to live at least for those able to go on living and restore genderqueer and long boy our next speaker is norm hall norm hall our next speaker is george becerra good evening chairman picarski school board members and superintendent bray brand my name is george becare and

122i'm one of the co-chairs for the minority student achievement oversight committee which at the public is unaware of one of the school board advisory committees we're here tonight to add our views on the current superintendent search and the firm pick for this for this search gr recruiting we hope this board does not add on other contracts this main contract like the previous search firm of hya were able to do for the last eight years hya has done the last two previous superintendent searches hya was known mainly for its executive search expertise and nothing else but somehow they were able to obtain multiple contracts for the strategic plan creation the school board and new superintendent expectations retreats and many lt leadership team hirings hoa also had former scps assistant superintendents on its staff this may have

123been coincidental but these type of perceptions sometimes lead to mistrust in the community in regards to the actual work of the juror recruiting will be doing i can tell you in a quick sentence what months of outreach and committee input will produce everyone will say that he's looking for the next savior ngr recruiting will search own candidate their own candidate database sent in the whole us for that person msa oculus knows that the real work of hiring a new superintendent will start after this information is gathered msaoc will provide the board in the next month or two are suggestions of what could be done differently this time in the community panel and the pr and then the product coming out of the community power to the board to make its final decision msac has been

124on the committee panel for the last four superintendents last 24 years as fbs is in a time of transition keep in mind that this new system higher will trigger resignations from the leadership team members from the end of this school year to the end of the first year the new superintendent some voluntary such as retirements some for promotions to other districts and some forced out all this being known when a new superintendent comes to a school district and for the fact that the public engagement committee has never been involved in the superintendent's election so please correct that error thank you very much our next speaker is peter stanton peter stanton okay good evening ladies and gentlemen of the school board thank you for giving me the time and opportunity to speak tonight i am like

125another unlike on all other concerned parents here tonight i host a syndicated and conservative radio show called 7-5 radio syndicated on the liberty news radio network my word to you is hold the line keep the pornographic books in schools let the kids decide if they want to be transgender or not i mean kids can't decide what they want for dinner they can't decide what they want to dress up for halloween but let them uh decide what they want to be in terms of gender and let the boys dress up as girls and play girls sports tell the black kids that they're victims of racism and tell a white kid they're racist why do i say this i have a vested interest in the fairfax county school board myself and other independent media such as nova

126news now or know it now dot tv have a vested interest because you provide so much material you treat parents like garbage you got parents out there with signs you have the fbi investigating parents as call them domestic terrorism it makes great radio makes great entertainment but i can't thank you enough but anyways i got some business cards any parents that want some business cards come and see me thank you keep up the good work our next speaker is catherine karis can follow that one um esteem members of the board and mr super superintendent i would first like to formally thank each and every one of you for all that you have done and will continue to do for the young learners of this county my name is catherine karas and i was one of

127those young learners maybe i still am still pretty young i attended pre-k at little langley um i'm in an elementary school at churchill middle school long fellow high school langley um before attending the college of william mary and now i'm at 2l at wake forest school of law and i know it's not harvard like mr moon's prestigious qualifications sorry but as a part of my education law course um i was asked to attend a school board meeting and make a couple of public comments so thank you for allowing me to do that today um i made the drive up here because i'm passionate about fairfax county and the kids that create its identity something that i've come to realize during the past year and a half in law school is that while i may know

128them now i had no perception whatsoever of the law as it applied to me during my time at fcps this is unfortunate and i would like to speak for current students who don't know how the law can be helpful to their own growth and enrichment i believe that fcps should be implementing student learning related to the law now more than ever young students are struggling to focus amidst a global crisis struggling to create lasting connections and struggling to most importantly value themselves internally the law is empowering it has meaning across this country if nothing else is stable in this world right now adults at least have the law to give us something to steer us in the right direction but what about our students they deserve all the empowerment and individuality that we can give

129them to thrive and get ready for the real world it doesn't have to be about how kids can rebel against the law it can be as simple as providing classes on how to file for paid taxes that was our final speaker we also have two video testimonies our first one is theodore geiss i don't particularly appreciate that's come to the point where i have to speak here tonight since i'm 4 000 miles away and not another continent but i think it's necessary now i want to talk about how this school board and other local school board and how these regular meetings have become these new political battlegrounds of america and how embarrassing it is to everyone no matter what side of an issue you're on that it's hostile i've watched the past few meetings and

130i have noticed that these meetings have gradually become more hostile and more divisive no speaker should be shamed for speaking about their beliefs since here in america we have a freedom of expression and everyone should be able to share their political thoughts it doesn't mean you have to agree with them but there should be a level of mutual respect it's also quite sad to see how many of you adults have started using these petty playbooks against each other and fighting more than your teenagers probably do no one should be doxing or attacking anyone on twitter that is completely wrong and disgusting and finally i want to share i have a message for the entire community it doesn't matter whether you're a republican democrat or independent just please get together and sit down to discuss what

131issues are of concern to you there are so many issues that face education today and i hope that the rhetoric can be toned down a lot and that we have civility at these meetings we all know there was an election last week and not everyone had the same reaction or like the outcome but as americans we have a duty to come together and work on the issues that need solving especially with education here in fairfax county there are so many things that concern everyone so we need to come together and focus on solving these issues rather than letting divisiveness control the meetings please take these words because it's for the greater good of all of us please thank you have a good night our next video is kathleen friesen good evening members of the school

132board thank you for the opportunity to address you this evening i would like to speak tonight about the covet screening testing program that is supposed to be implemented starting monday november 15th i'm recording this video on the evening of tuesday november 9th and as of now there is still not full details on how this program will work as the parent consent form has not yet been posted however i know from the earlier work session on october 19th that miss corbett sanders and miss cohen expressed concerns that the surveillance testing could deplete fairfax county public schools american rescue plan elementary and secondary school emergency relief funds the third group of those funds by hundreds of thousands of dollars per day now as you know the majority of the fairfax county public schools community wants those funds

133to be spent on unfinished learning and on mental health and academic support those funds especially need to be going to our most vulnerable learners and instead we're talking about using them on a screening testing program that is being implemented at the same time as elementary school students have become eligible for the cove vaccine while our older students have been eligible for months and we have seen the impact of that in the low case numbers in our community the fairfax county public schools administration has admitted that covet spread in schools is vanishingly rare i would submit that if we have money that we desperately need to use on tests that isn't the sr3 funds that we should be spending that money instead on tests to stay the program to keep students in school despite the fact

134that they're close contacts of a covid case without risking the health of their fellow students thank you very much for your time okay agenda item 5.02 contract to george mason university for the provision of coursework to eligible fcps instructional employees i call on ms mclaughlin for the motion [Applause] i move that the school board approve and award a contract to george mason university for the provision of coursework to eligible fcps instructional employees effective as of this date through june 30th 2027 and authorize the division superintendent or deputy superintendent to execute and administer such contract on behalf of the school board is there a second second seconded by dr anderson ms mclaughlin would you like to speak the motion yes i would like to speak to the motion um briefly so i had asked that this

135be removed from our consent agenda because i did not see posted on our public agenda information related to this contract and i think that it's important that anytime the board is actually authorizing the expenditure of funds we and the public need to understand exactly what it is how much and why so um dr brabrand i would ask that if you or one of your team members could speak to this contract um just to make sure that everyone's aware of it the cost and the purpose and if there's any history to this contract thank you ms mclaughlin mr smith would you like to share some context for this contract sure and we have staff available to answer questions about the contract uh we have procurement staff to talk about uh how we're going to pay for

136the contract and we have uh uh actual staff who it will be bringing the the professional development online and so we'll first go to our procurement staff to talk about the contract itself and the course of the contract how it will be paid out hi good evening uh this is michelle pratt turning on my camera here um so this is a three-year contract um it is its purpose is really to provide and i'll let kathleen waltz and her team go into greater detail but it's to provide tuition benefit uh to certain staff there's sort of three arms to this program it includes the grow your own 50 50 tuition sharing model as well as a tuition reimbursement contract cohort and then some additional special education provisional coursework um the contract itself is is is again

137it's a three-year term um the expenditures anticipated over the next three years will range um between 600 and 1.5 million depending on the number of cohorts and the number of participants uh under each of those programs so i'm going to let kathleen jump in with specifics about the programs thank you um and what i'd like to share and michelle did uh briefly review that there are three parts to this contract the first part and the newest part of the contract is to grow your own pathway this is an opportunity for our current classroom support staff to seek bachelor's or master's degrees in special education so that we can have additional classroom teacher positions for our students with special needs this is a 50 50 tuition sharing benefit for our current again classroom support staff we

138are pretty excited about this program because in addition to the coursework that they will engage in there are wrap around supports for them including some coaching and mentoring opportunities for them to engage in further professional development and then what they provide back to the division as a commitment to stay with the school division for three years and to provide support during our esy programs the second part of the contract is our tuition reimbursement program we have priority for those staff members who are personal pursuing coursework in special education and we have other groups of employees who seek certification in other areas including early childhood general curriculum and adapted curriculum so the third part of our program is contract courses that we pay for at george mason university these are two allow for our staff to

139earn provisional licensure in special education we pay the full tuition for these courses so that again we can have more uh more people who are available to support our classrooms in special education so the three components are what is represented in this contract and um it is an opportunity to for us to meet our goals in the premier workforce and to ensure that we have um the best and the brightest for our students with special needs i i will also add that it's important to note that these funds were approved by the board as part of our sr3 plan and we had a conversation about the how the grow your own programs would would work to support our needs here in fairfax county and so 1.1 million of these dollars are part of our esr

140grant and then the remaining would be the requirement of our operating fund thank you mr smith the other questions i had asked was is this something that we've been doing is this a long-standing commitment and this is just a renewal or is this a expansion of prior contracted work with george mason thank you for the question and the grow your own is the new part of the contract and the other components of the contract are um arrangements that we've had with george mason university over a number of years i'm not sure how many years it goes back but we have provided coursework for the provisional licensure and we have had the tuition reimbursement benefit with george mason providing discounted courses i'll just add to um that the the prior contract um was approved by the

141board in january 2019 and expired over the summer so this the the portion that this replaces was was previously approved by the board so uh i'm just trying to follow a little bit here that's saying it's a three-year contract but actually the language is that it would be effective now through june 2027 that makes it a little over five years not three um and i do remember this contract coming to the prior board and the concern is not the the good intentions the concern was the cost per pupil what were the rates we were paying um how many students were going to benefit from it how the pricing was done um and and so that's what caught my eye on this one is again i i recognize we're very fortunate to have george mason university

142here in fairfax county and they are good educational partners um but i i still think that it's important when the board is going to be asked to put its authority in approving a contract then we really do need to have this type of information that's being presented to us tonight and then from trans for transparency purposes the public needs to be able to access and have this information so i would just say to my colleagues that um this isn't the first time that this contract with george mason has come before us before i would really urge us again um to support um this request to dr brabrand that we really do need to have this information posted publicly and the board needs to be able to be made aware of it um i don't feel

143tonight that um there's anything i can say i can't support it and i do know we have a deep need for special education instruction um i i will just say to dr brabrand i really hope also that our division has gotten better at making sure in how we evaluate our special education teachers i'm aware of past cases where we had provisional teachers who were licensed to teach in one subject went back to george mason to for this provisional on special ed out of their love and dedication for students and the evaluation was being done by administrators who were not special education experts and that that presented problems for and we were losing these teachers during their provisional tenure so there's it's been a long night and i don't want to belabor believe we labor this

144but i really i do appreciate the information you've all brought forward and i thank my colleagues for your indulgences we'll certainly take your feedback to heart and i will follow up on this issue about the proper evaluation of those candidates we desperately want to attract and retain our special education teachers and so thanks for that feedback i'll look into it dr anderson would you like to speak to your second just very briefly i do want to thank ms mclaughlin for raising this issue because while i was able to review some of the documents some of the rationale on on board docs there were some greater level of specific specificity that were provided during this brief staff conversation so thank you having said that we are in a situation where the need for teachers is dire

145across the board and in areas of special education it's even more intense so i hope that this will serve as an opportunity to recruit interested candidates to apply and commit to fairfax county so i will be happy to support that on that alone and as a former teacher who did get the the opportunity to benefit from similar programs where i taught um i'm very familiar with this plan and this initiative so i'm glad to support thank you miss corbett sanders yes thank you and um thank you for allowing me to speak to this because what i wanted to raise the attention of my colleagues is that we have a long-standing relationship with george mason university in the development of teachers and so this looks like an extension of that relationship and the more that we

146can do in our community to grow our own so to speak is uh we have to do more of it and we have to do it not only with george mason but also with some of our other educational partners such as marymount and mary washington because we are in a national teacher shortage and as bad as the national teacher shortages for general education teachers it is acutely worse when it comes to special ed teachers and we need to do everything we can to encourage people to go into this field because they truly are heroes this past week i had the opportunity to speak at a job fair at fort belvoir to address people who were transitioning out of the military and i encourage them to pursue opportunities with fairfax county public schools and to consider

147switching into the teaching profession because we know that they're they those personnel have been heroes we know that dr anderson actually served and i meant to say happy veterans day to you today as well but it's also one where we want to capture and uh encourage as many people as we can who have a love of children and a love of learning to be able to get tooled and get these skills and contribute to our community so thank you i would encourage everybody to vote for this miss toled all right lights have turned off is picarsky okay um i i did ask a question from staff that didn't get answered go ahead um yeah so just that other lingering question so um ms pratt said it's a three-year contract but the language is making it

148five years so the additional time is for contract renewals and so it gives us the opportunity to renew the contract at the end of the for the the three-year period so that those renewals are built into the contract the possibility for renewals but i guess what i'm trying to figure out is if the board approves this because of the way the language says the board would not necessarily see this come back until after 2027. i will ask miss pratt to clarify smith you were right the june 30 2027 contemplated the initial renewals however the contract value that we've cited represents three years of work so so we do have the option to renew after june 30th of 2024 so we can we can we can bring that back to the board after the initial uh

149three-year term is up if we were to exercise additional renewals okay so that thank you for that clarification so the the point is that in 2024 if the division were wanting to extend that beyond the three years it would come back to the board again that's correct yes because it's a government-to-government contract excellent thank you all again for your assistance with my questions thank you miss mclaughlin and we'll that with that i'll go ahead and call for the vote the motion is before us on the screen all those in favor please raise your hands that vote is unanimous thank you motion passes agenda item 5.03 award of contract to the university of wisconsin i call on miss mclaughlin for this motion thank you i move that the school board award the contract to the university

150of wisconsin for english language proficiency assessments as required by the virginia department of education for the 2021 school year and authorized the director of the office of procurement services to execute deliver and administer the contract on behalf of the school board is there a second i'll second seconded by dr anderson miss mclaughlin yes thank you again um dr bravran and team uh i did want to just have again a little more uh detail than what's listed on the agenda so i noted here that it's this is a for a one-year contract expected to cost about a million dollars depending on the number of assessments we would end up needing to do uh the question i have is uh one have we used the university of wisconsin in the past is this just a recurring contract

151in pro forma and if so for how long yes i'm gonna let uh sloane i wan i wanna say this has come to the board multiple times because it's uh around our contract for weeda testing and this is the only vendor that does that but dr presidio please correct me if i'm wrong no you're correct dr braban this has come up before and um it is confusing i think just as a matter of form because this is a federal and state required assessment that we give to all of our english language learner students and we have approximately 35 000 english language learners in fairfax county which on this contract it would work out to roughly you know a little bit under 30 dollars i think per student is what is charged and the money goes

152to the university of wisconsin because they are the vendor of the assessment the wida assessment which is used in about 80 percent of the states in the country so it's going to them because they are the developer of the assessment it is required again um as a state expenditure with no state reimbursement for that assessment i think that's why it's confusing i appreciate that but so because they're the only vendor this is the one we historically use so the state selects the vendor we don't select the vendor and we're required to bear that cost okay and thank you for talking about cost is this something that fairfax county tax dollars pay for is it part of the federal funding formula state funding formula we talk about unfunded mandates i'm wondering where this one falls um

153you know i think you could probably lodge it under an unfunded mandate because it is something that you know we do bear the cost you think about as a comparison you know the state required assessments our standards of learning assessments you know those costs are covered by the state of virginia but again this is a federal and state requirement that all school systems are required uh to bear the cost of this now i i appreciate that clarity and um i i certainly know then that we it is something we have to do but i think it's important for the public and all of us involved to understand where this expenditure is going so this is just coming out of our general fund correct okay thank you dr anderson just briefly i just wanted to be

154sure to add that the weed is a really important assessment because it determines the proficiency of language for our students who are not native speakers and it reassesses their progress each and every year and that really impacts their programming and instruction and support level and so this is an important assessment because it is so informative to the work of our classroom teachers so again i would urge everyone to please support this contract and i remember having this conversation a little bit last year about this very contract so it is an annual one that comes up so thank you thank you i'll call for the vote the motion before us is on the screen all those in favor please raise your hands and that motion is unanimous consent agenda item number six i will now um

155allow the vice chair to go ahead and read that for us our adopted rules of parliamentary procedure robert's rules provide for a consent agenda listing several items for approval by the board of of the board by a single motion many items listed have gone through board review and documentation has been provided to all board members and the public in advance items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board member prior to the meeting the consent agenda items are on the screen is there any objection to approving the consent agenda seeing and hearing no objection the consent agenda is approved item number seven new business the following are new business agenda items there will not be a vote on these items this evening but action is scheduled at a future meeting

156the new business items are on the screen i'll turn it back over to our chair okay agenda item 8.01 board committee reports and i'll call on miss cohen for governance committee report and then ms darnak kofax for an update from the audit committee followed by mr frisch for a public engagement committee report thank you very much our governance committee had our first meeting of the year october 26 and we met to discuss the acsd bylaws the addition of decoding dyslexia of northern virginia as a voting member of the acsd and the fcps trust policy the committee approved the addition of decoding dyslexia virginia and it was added to tonight's consent agenda which just passed yay um and the acsd bylaws were sent back for minor revisions and we will see those again soon and the

157trust policy is continuing to be worked on thank you for the audit committee our second audit committee meeting was held on october 27th and the auditor general introduced a new deputy auditor mr chris migliaccio mr migliaccio has over 20 years of professional auditing experience and prior to adjoining our team he was with the society for human resource management sherm in alexandria where he served as head of internal audit services next the auditor general with the american institutes of for research air air our researchers presented a proposal on the expansion of year two special education scope of work cost of the proposed expansion and proposed adjusted delivery schedule based upon the feedback from the consensus this board reached on september 21st the general auditor team then presented the results of the fy 21 local school activity

158fund audit report and the observations uh noted report lastly the audit committee went into a closed session and our next meeting will be december 9th and for the air report i had sent to all of my colleagues yesterday the update to the contract and happy to discuss with you if you have any questions or comments i apologize to my colleagues in advance for a very lengthy report i'm about to give the public engagement committee met earlier this month we continued our review of school board advisory committees thank you you win however we have one more committee um report skip committee by ms mclachlan well and i'm going to rely on my wonderful partner on skipped elaine tolin if i if i skip anything on the skipped update um yeah where's where where are our dads

159with bad jokes when we need them um so i anyway i just wanted to let you guys know that you know skip had been put on hiatus during um the the covet time period and so we really lost almost about 10 months of work so where things are right now it's which i think is important for you all to know we just got the update and we'll have a full skipped presentation december so we have an executive committee which has got about 16 members on it and that senior leadership team for schools county government the two supervisors julia palczek rodney lusk and then elaine tolen and myself the good news is that um the behavioral health uh blueprint program that we have they are going to be asking for funding to really expand mental health

160services here in fairfax county and so that was a a welcome update that we're getting more details will come in december um what they're doing is they come to the skipped and say we think this is merit worthy please give your endorsement to it and then that goes to the board of supervisors but supervisor laskan palcek already said that they think there is strong support and understanding for training and additional staff so that we can again not really truly help our students and families in need um innova hospital and the keller center with long time skip member rick likewise are also going to be partnering on this figuring out better ways to make sure that sadly children who are in crisis and are ending up in the er and sometimes staying there for days on

161end their parents have to be with them to provide supervision and an er is no place for a child in a mental health crisis while they're awaiting hospitalization that is more suitable for their needs so i was just really happy to hear that with this board's focus on the mental health needs of our community that this is really a strong push we are scheduled thanks to our chair and vice chair that we will be bringing to you all a very detailed framework on community schools in january i can't emphasize enough that while we have a lot on our plates when we talk about educating the whole child we talk about really closing opportunity gaps it will be through the community schools and i'm really excited that we're going to be bringing this to you all

162our voices are crucial to this because how this transforms the way we deliver not just education but county services it's it's right there for us on the front lines to be involved in so um that's the main things i wanted to point out um workforce development is another big piece miss um supervisor lusk is heading that one up ms supervisor paul check is heading up early childhood education we are going to get that briefing as well and some budget requests and really appreciate the partnership between county schools and county government to to really address um the needs for early childhood ms derek cofax has been one of the champions for more than eight years as a board member and many years prior to that so good things are happening there miss tollin did i forget

163anything um i think you did a pretty good job i'm really looking forward to hearing about the community schools you know we've talked a little bit about it with your updates previously so um i think that'll be really exciting to hear that in january and each of the um committees that mr mclaughlin mentioned where will we again starting to meet with small groups and getting more detailed information on each of the committees that were were each spearheading so um you know mr mclaughlin is working in community schools and i'm working on behavioral health so we'll have much more in-depth information just in the next couple months excellent thank you attend item 9.01 board matters and seeing that it is veterans day we've got our very own school board veteran we will be starting with dr

164anderson [Applause] thank you chair for karski i appreciate that thank you everyone happy veterans day to everyone and i just want to update uh in terms of the happenings in mason district and in honor of mr moon i'm going to continue and have this be an athletic report for the mason district because sports were abound and i will start with the justice volleyball team after an undefeated regular season the justice volleyball team was named national district champions they went on to excel at the akapon regionals all the way up to the championship game last night which unfortunately did not work out well i do have the same as corbett sanders on monday they beat west potomac so that was nice sorry for you all um the wolves fall hard but ultimately fell short last night

165in the fourth set but they will still move on to the state tournament this saturday at 7 pm where they will face herndon falls church high school sophomore haley her anonymous qualified for the vhsl state 6a cross country championship that will be happening this saturday she holds the record for the fastest time in foster girls cross-country history and is currently ranked in the top 10 in 6a last friday the justice football team was also named national district champions for the first time since their first game in the regional finals is at lake braddock tomorrow night at 7 pm the tj high school boys cross country was named national district champions as well very quickly i have to highlight a marching band has been really rocking out in mason district and the bands from annandale high

166school and thomas jefferson high school earned the coveted superior rating at their state assessment and i'm going to wrap up the athletic piece which was for mr moon with the theater piece which is for miss strauss um because we have the justice high school wolf pack theater which is going to be presenting the mouse trap edison high school which i have a little bit of part of will be presenting into the woods and this next weekend you can see a night of one acts presented by the luther jackson middle school drama department which is right here and puffs presented by annandale high school theater company congratulations to all of these talented students and thank you all and have a good night miss marin followed by miss tolin well i'd like to first thank our fairfax

167county voters for overwhelmingly approving the school bond with 70 percent of voter support so that is a tremendous showing of the support of investing in our public schools not only the facilities and renovations but in all the work that we do in schools the way that schools engage students and parents and families the way that we try to hire and retain our staff so thank you fairfax county for that firm and endorsement of our public schools and the work that we do to honor the diversity of our students and encompass that value and disseminate it through how and what we teach children um in in collaboration with partners who are the first first teachers of students and children i've been a bit busy with an issue that happened uh dear wolf trap elementary school where

168unfortunately one of our parents was hit in a crosswalk right before school pick up and she is recovering but it was you know fairly serious and so yesterday i was able to meet with a supervisor walter alcorn the mclean district police officers who serviced that area as well as pta leaders and our school administrators to talk about many possibilities on how we could make that road safer so a real intersection not that's a pun but an intersection of you know state county school policies and services but i'm hopeful that some things will come of that and i'm looking forward to visiting the class of a constituent who is a high school band director and so uh like you dr anderson i very much enjoy a good band and on that note i will congratulate the

169madison warhawk marching band for taking the title of state champions in their competitions so we just have some fabulous uh some fabulous marching musicians in fcps and then lastly i'm looking forward to next week which is going to be filled with the virginia school board association's annual meeting and that is something that i have yet to have attended in person while on the board so i'm looking forward to getting to to get with my colleagues here as well as those around the state to see how we can you know advocate together and work together to improve our work here in our own division and then also statewide thank you yes happy veterans day and a huge thank you to all of our veterans and their families with the first quarter ending happy to have had

170the chance to talk with students parents teachers and other staff to hear how the first quarter went overall i'm hearing good things other than a few bus routes that we're still having trouble with and where we are seeing challenges our school-based staff is working hard to find solutions and i look forward to continuing these discussions as we move forward to see how we can best serve our students and to see the esser plans that our our schools are currently submitting dr brabrand i want to thank you for working with us to lower our quarantine time and to make vaccinations as readily available to our students as possible miss merritt i'd like to thank you for your advocacy on this and miss mclaughlin as well for the information of the public one item on our consent

171agenda tonight is a roof project at mclean high school the mclean high school roof replacement project is part of a long longevity assessment for all fcps schools where the existing roof system is nearing the end of its life cycle this new fcps design and construction high energy insulation roofing system will make the building more energy efficient in both heating and cooling lowering energy costs the installation the insulation covering and waterproofing roofing system also utilizes high energy efficient materials that reflect the sun's harmful rays and actually lowers the roof temperature leading to longer roof life and energy savings this project does not preclude any future plans for potential renovation or capacity enhancement at the high school yes it was a very exciting week for franklin sherman as dr brabrand mentioned dr jill biden and u.s surgeon

172general dr vivek murthy visited franklin sherman elementary school earlier this week i am pleased to announce that mr paul vistakis has been named the new principal for ludy lewis codes elementary school he served six years as the principal at riverside elementary school in the mount vernon area congratulations to him and welcome speaking of bands the herndon high school marching band will be performing on the steps of the lincoln memorial during the national parade of heroes in dc this saturday the herndon high school's njrotc will also be participating in this event the event starts at 10 a.m at the lincoln memorial and it will be a event to honor veterans i had a great time at lemon road elementary school at their dance-a-thon it was a huge success and i can't wait to see pictures of

173the principal ashley castillo working from the rooftop i visited with mclean high school counselors and was able to meet with their young women student leaders and believe me they were incredibly impressive and asked lots of great questions about you know working as a woman in the workplace and i'm really excited to see the incredible things that these young women will go on to do i certainly one of my more joyful events was seeing the kindergarteners at great falls elementary school dressed up in their book characters holding their books um it was a wonderful time to see the the joy and the excitement going on there i was at aldrin i'm really excited to see the new steam work that they're doing and the incredible learning that's taking place and today i was very happy to

174take part in copenhagen elementary school and cooper middle school veterans day events cooper middle school sca planned their entire event and they just did an amazing job they actually had the air force brass quintent there to perform the the music patriotic songs america the beautiful and songs for each of our areas of the services i want to give a huge shout out to our design and construction staff for working overtime through the night to get the new cafeteria area at cooper middle school ready for that event today thank you so much and tomorrow mclean high school ptsa is hosting a panel on mental health for students so i'm looking forward to that that's such a big topic for us right now and we'll be meeting with the great fellows citizens association schools committee tomorrow afternoon

175and stopping by at forestville elementary congratulations to all of our fall high school athletes in completing their season we have so many awards across greensville and the entire district and congratulations to all those teams best of luck and welcome to our winter athletes on to the next set of sports ms mclaughlin followed by mr not cofax thank you um i first want to begin uh expressing my deep gratitude to our nation's veterans as the great-granddaughter granddaughter and daughter and niece of veterans who've served in world war one two and korea combined i personally appreciate the ultimate sacrifice that so many in our country have made in order to defend and support not only our nation but to make a better world so thank you i also want to say that i really appreciate how much

176our school principals welcome us as school board members to come and visit with them uh recently i visited the lake braddock secondary school and look forward to future visits with my awesome colleague laura jane cohen and we'll also look forward to visits with annandale high school woodson and robinson yesterday i was at frost middle school for the fall student services advisory council and for my colleagues i hope you'll all have an opportunity or have done those in the past uh dr braver and it was really amazing to see um how the counseling staff at frost middle school all the things that they are doing in so many different ways to support every single student uh it was one of the most professional presentations i've enjoyed and made me really proud of the hard work that

177our our staff are doing in the buildings each and every day i was also very fortunate that ms keys gamara and dr anderson joined me for the north springfield elementary school pta meeting it's always wonderful to see our parents engaged coming out and asking extremely thoughtful questions they were particularly interested in of course in our superintendent search and what that might look like so those that was really good to talk about dr brabrand um i really want to take a moment to praise you and your team um you know i've been relentless on how we're handling our students who get quarantined and i know at times with me you've had to have the patience of job um but i really do feel that you and your team have worked extremely hard and not only that

178but you've listened so carefully to me and my colleagues in our desire to really find a way to keep our school safe but truly mitigate learning loss and so this was great news that you shared tonight and a shout out to my colleague melanie marin you've really worked hard to bring you know health care experts to the conversation and i think that's helped our board and it's really helped our system so thank you for that um i will just put my plug in again because i told dr bravery and i would do this that i know that we don't have all the answers with test to stay i know we're waiting on the cdc to decide what to do but i just want to put it out there that because the flu and covid have

179so many similar symptoms i just want us to have a game plan and be prepared that we will need an on-ramp for children to be able to come back to school if they have exhibited flu-like symptoms and that's all it really was and so i know that as we get our elementary school students vaccinated and yes please anyone watching this meeting and if you have elementary school children please please get your child vaccinated that the science is there in support of protecting them and their their lives um and then finally i just want to end on a really happy note not only was it wonderful this evening to be reminded um that fairfax county has been fortunate to have so many dedicated public servants including the the great giants of janie strauss and ilyung moon

180but it made me feel really good about the 12 of us and how it doesn't matter what differences we have the 12 of us are so equally committed to making this system work better for our employees our families and our students and i'm just very grateful for all of you and your deep deep commitment here's to hopefully having a wonderful time at the virginia school board conference it's been long overdue thank you uh miss mclaughlin those that was a nice way to and very very very good so yes thank you colleagues for all of our hard work together because it's not easy i do appreciate you all and i do want to thank the voters of fairfax county for passing this year's bond it's extremely important that we we do this and we truly do

181appreciate it this is how we get our schools built and renovated and we so appreciate you doing that uh early last week i guess it was um i went to rodney supervisor lusk's office with my colleague karen corbett sanders and um he had um bit he he did this as a way to honor those who in region three um and that uh those those teachers who won excellence awards in our system and um the ones that he uh invited were amelia carr from bucknell david wurst from roscio and alfonso smith from lewis high school and i chose to highlight this because he was asking them questions and their positivity just shined through you knew why they were the the winners of the teacher or principal of the year because they had the the stamina the

182energy to make it through and the things that they said when he goes how are the kids they all said the kids are happy the kids are happy in my class they are happy and uh so to uh borrow uh borrow a saying from the 60s the kids are all right and uh we uh we hope that this continues as um we continue to do things to keep them healthy from the cova virus and safe and but it was really good to hear that from these amazing teachers who have been honored several times now um also i i attended my apac meeting this week and they're charged they'll be exploring the middle school curriculum the honors program in the aap program and i too um want to thank janie and ellian for all of their

183public service and i'm so glad you've got additional honors um tonight from from our group and from the schools where your children have graduated from and represent and finally veterans day thank you to all who serve i too come from a family where many have served and i particularly every year one of my cousins posts about um our our dads and um my dad and three of his four brothers all served in world war ii together so there's this picture when they all came home and the face of that mother my grandmother was just incredible and so i think about them and their service and all those families who have families just like that who serve this country thank you for your service we honor you not just today but always have a good night

184miss cohen followed by mr frisch i i'm so glad to follow that because i just wanted to wish a happy veterans day too to all of our families um who serve and just a reminder to of all of the families who make it possible for our veterans to serve i've had the great fortune cherry run has been an amazing place to grow up together as military families come and go and just to get to know the sacrifice that our husbands and wives of military members and their incredible chameleon kids what they sacrifice to make the sacrifice possible is beyond measure i'm super grateful for my papa who was a merchant marine in world war ii and my uncle who was a marine charlie battery in vietnam and i think of them often um and especially

185today on veterans day um i really want to give a big shout out to hunt valley's um miss rapel's second grade class who had me in last week and um just had some very persuasive letters and posters about how important monarchs are and how important milkweed is and i'm convinced guys i'm totally convinced and we're going to work together on in the spring building them on our garden together at hunt valley so way to go kids and miss rapel your kids are amazing um we have another teacher in the audience vermont valley who's cheering i had the good fortune of getting to bring some of my legislators to school november is bring your legislator to school month so we had delegate carrie delaney who joined miss picarski and i at chantilly high school we had

186dan helmer who joined me at centerville high school and then delegate kathy tran who joined me at south county middle school in kingman keen mill elementary school and i must say at every school those kids kept us on our toes they asked great questions about what were some of the hardest things about being a leader what were some of the qualities that you needed to bring tips and and we had some experiences at the schools that were just so reinforcing of some of the things that we get to collaborate with our delegation um a young woman brought up how life-changing it has been to have menstrual products in the bathroom and it was so cool to get to hear um something that i know the previous board worked awfully hard on in in collaboration with

187with our state legislature so thank you to everybody on here who worked for that um i just want to say again echo um what ms darinath kofax said the kids the kids are happy and i know our teachers are burned out i know our administrators are burned out i know everybody's tired um but i do want you to know that when we get our kiddos back home at the end of the day we are awfully grateful for you and the incredible job that you're doing the kids the kids are happy so thank you all right as we honor our veterans including my navy dad and my air force sister for making sacrifices to preserve our democracy i want to thank our facilities team uh our custodians and other staff for helping to facilitate the democratic

188process uh during last week's election like many of the people on this dais and thousands of people across fairfax county i was up early with my partner evan voting in a at our local elementary school i don't think i've ever voted in virginia without voting inside of a fairfax county public school and i also want to thank fairfax county taxpayers for approving the school bond i would be remiss if i failed to note that this is the first school bond that will will begin with net zero energy design for all upcoming renovations and new construction projects it's very very exciting and like our other investments in energy efficiency and conservation these new net zero energy facilities will save us millions of dollars in the decades ahead and that is money that we can invest directly

189in student success with that just a few updates from providence district i had a great visit at fair hill elementary school uh principal cooper showing me around and talking to his team who are working very hard i got to meet a lot of great kiddos kindergartners third graders and fourth graders and um also had an opportunity to participate and listen in on the community meeting for the mosaic elementary school renovation project and the fairfax uh high school principal selection community meeting as well finally i had an opportunity to attend the opening session of the northern virginia regional juvenile justice symposium uh where i also saw ms keith gemara and miss marin and i want to leave my colleagues and the public with something that i heard the keynote speakers say that has stayed with me

190um in the days since he said you get what you tolerate and that just hit me like a ton of bricks and i love it thank you miss kiskamara followed by mr mesh thank you so the problem with being on this end after we go through every all my colleagues have already told what i've done so um i will say that i really enjoyed uh being at the mclean high school this morning participating in their veterans day event where the the local rotary club had veterans there explaining their experience there is an initiative right now to recognize vietnam war veterans as it's the 50th anniversary of that activity and he gave us some really interesting details and comments as well as a special coin to properly thank them because unfortunately due to the political atmosphere

191at the time those men and women gave their lives and their time and their service but they were not welcomed at home and perhaps there's a lesson in that for all of us um but i the real treasure for that was that they um delegate kathleen murphy um presented a resolution to a nurse who had served i believe in world war ii from this area and she [Music] saved a lot of lives and she was there she was 101 years old yeah so um it was really cool to meet her and uh you know it made me think okay i'm just i don't i'm not gonna be able to finish that sentence it made me think of people in my family who have served who were no longer here but also that my son is

192serving in the same capacity and he's just such a pistol and calls me regularly and tells me what to do so i want to wish everyone a happy veterans day i say that when i say happy i mean that i hope that we learn we revisit right now how we stand together because that's what our veterans did for us no matter how what our opinions were at the time they stood for country they stood so that our children would feel safe so that we could have a democracy that i believe is truly under attack right now so i do hope that we can get back to being neighbors and actually listening and not feeding one another on sound bites so i will end there my colleagues have already told everything else and i hope everybody

193has a good weekend happy to follow the sentiment wishing our over 80 000 veterans in our county a blessed and reflective and happy veterans day i wanted to shout out students at woodson the cavalier congress who was invited to present at the metropolitan education research research consortium for all their hard work and putting together equity and inclusive inclusion initiatives at the school that can be a model for our other high schools i also want to remind everybody that the calendar process is underway i know our staff hosted a webinar earlier this week outlining the steps and anyone interested in paying attention to that can find specific details as to what that's going to look like on the website tj applications are also live and the deadline to start the application is next wednesday so just

194a reminder to our community any students who are 8th graders who are interested in math science technology to take a look and make sure you get those in by next week i also wanted to acknowledge some of the things shared in public comment um dr brabrand if we might consider specifically some of our payroll technicians who've been agonizing over some concerns for some time and then the outdoor lunch piece which i know we discussed as we head into the winter i'm just making sure we are responsive as much as possible on what we hear from our community and finally um i'm looking forward to joining miss cohen tomorrow at to honor uh sanctuary elementary school as they get their national blue ribbon award and then of course to join my colleagues next week at the

195virginia school boards association conference so realizing that i am between everybody actually the two of you get get to uh finish so i'm going to be fast i hope um i do want to uh do a shout out to our veterans and just really thank the principal gates at holland meadow elementary school in particular because they do a fantastic celebration for veterans day every single year they bring in heroes from each of the service branches whom inspire the children they have a gentleman who sings old glory that will bring tears to your eyes he is just so majestic in uh in bringing life to this flag through the ages and i urge people to when you see someone in uniform thank them for their service and thank them for their service not just on veterans

196day but every single day that you see someone in uniform and that means if they are in a military uniform if they are in a uniform for our first responders if they are wearing scrubs today nowadays it changes our community when we become a community of gratitude and veterans day is really about being a community of gratitude and it's a hundred years ago today that our first um military personnel was buried at arlington cemetery in the tomb of the unknown soldier but what's interesting about that story is that we were the third country to have a tomb of the unknown soldier and there was a young man a young military um enlisted in france who was told to guard these three bodies and then was told now you need to pick one of them actually

197there were four caskets you need to pick one that's going to be entombed at arlington kid goes well what how do i make this choice and they said it'll come to you this is not a joke this is a true story and so this young man kind of looked and he had some flowers and he essentially um almost did an eenie meenie miney moe and picked this one casket that was then sent to the united states and laid in state in the rotunda of the capital the only time in the history of the united states that a casket laid in state and nobody knew who was in the casket 100 years ago in 68 000 people visited the capitol to pay tribute to this unknown soldier it was incredibly inspiring and it's something that i

198think we should all remember as we think about veterans day today and every day and every year and give thanks to those personnel when we see them walking on the street or serving our country so just want to add that little thought additionally i had the opportunity this week to say goodbye to principal bezdeckis because he is going to coats and you're about to get a fantastic principal he's very talented and capable but i wanted to drop by just to kind of get some lessons learned from him and we had a really interesting conversation but he said you know karen the thing that scares me more than anything else today in our school system is that we have to have people teaching in our title 1 schools and our title 1 schools are often the

199last to be fully staffed and so dr brabrand i will be coming to you to ask you for advice and to prioritize our title one schools when we do our staffing in the future because they are oftentimes the most vulnerable and that we certainly shouldn't be coming in on thanksgiving without ours our title one schools fully staffed and using a lot of temporary personnel last i did visit the hayfield student advisory council meeting and one of the students said something very profound he said you know we're building back muscle mass and we need some help we need some grace and understanding that to a certain extent when we were remote we were able to get up walk around do all sorts of different things and now we're having to build back not only the stamina

200necessary for being in class all day but the academic stamina and rigor so um i thought that was an interesting perspective of a young person who uh is very happy to be back the best part is to be able to socialize and be with his his friends but it is also important to understand that we need to give our students some grace in rebuilding their stamina um and last i would like to thank my colleagues who attended the northeast regional meeting for the vsba and for their support and the support of our neighboring boards who have selected me to serve as the regional chair for the next two years and my commitment to you and to the other boards is to ensure that we spend a lot of time uh listening and sharing best practices

201so thank you besides my heiser [Music] sorry i'm having microphone issues thank you and um i'll try not to repeat what my colleagues have stated i wanted to but i do want to say um as many of my colleagues have stated uh happy veterans day to all of the veterans out there and their families who sacrificed a lot to support our um our soldiers um as they um fight for our freedoms and you know it's interesting i didn't unreally understand the life of military families growing up i didn't have a lot of contact even though little known secret i was in jrotc for all four years of high school but i still didn't have a great understanding of um you know of i know shocker right of um really what a life of a military

202family was like until i married my first husband who was came from a long line of military families and he was on our rotc scholarship at berkeley and um living with him in san diego where we were first stationed was really eye-opening in terms of the sacrifices military families do and the hardships of their life and it gave me a lifelong respect for our people in uniform so happy veterans day um dr bergeron thank you for your hard work ms marin thank you for your hard work all my colleagues for our advocacy and i'm really excited because i know this is going to help our students with their learning so thank you for working in the collaboration to to reduce the quarantine dates um i wanted miss marin mentioned the james madison high school marching

203band which is on my list as well for the state championship i just want to also put out there that this is their consecutive kind of state championship because unlike vhsl vubota did not have state assessments last year and so james madison won the state championship in 2019 and then again in 2021 so that's kudos to a really strong program so i wanted just to put that out there so congratulations james hi james madison hi marching band and i wanted just to mention that one of the speakers talked about the need for teaching about law to our students and there's a program that i taught when i was in law school called street law which is recruiting local law students to come teach about the law that everybody should know to high school students so

204i think it's a great suggestion and great program i was excited to visit sangster elementary school with laura jane cohn and then go back tomorrow to celebrate the blue ribbon award but i will say um the favorites of my school visits these last few weeks was actually the woodson listening tour that i did with my colleague megan mclaughlin where we really sat and listened to um the students and heard the student voice on a variety of topics and it was very interesting to hear what they shared from schoology to returning back to school and the need as ms corbett sanders said for stamina and also my visit to westfield with miss picarski and talking to the leadership class i really enjoyed it but the highlight was to visit the davis center work sites and see

205our students who um are post graduate students who with special education needs who are in davis pulley and step and see them at their work sites at burlington coat factory and hyatt regency so i'm grateful for our partnerships who give our students a chance to work and hopefully go on to paid employment so lots of other things to say but i will stop here because it is late and it's just miss picarski standing between us in bed so thank you everybody that's a lot of pressure and i always have that distinction um well i've done a lot of things this week my colleagues have shared some of them um it's it's been as usual a very busy couple of weeks i do want to congratulate miss corbett sanders i was going to share that um

206and i'm very excited for your new position and and what you're going to do um in in the coming year uh i of course was honored to represent our board uh to welcome the first lady and to really kick off that um national vaccination effort um my favorite part of the event i'll share was the associated press which was there it was a franklin sherman associated press but they were really awesome so i appreciate the way um the the teachers really made it a great learning experience for our kids kids were absolutely cute i took my kids to get vaccinated it is the best the only way we will get back to normal reducing the quarantine with the vaccines available we can only keep getting better so please vaccinate your children please feel talk to

207your to your pediatricians if you are worried they are safe they are effective and they are the best weapon we have against kovid i also attended the oak hill community meeting and um i want to thank the voters who did pass the bond it will be particularly it was particularly important and impactful for my district because it will fund renovations at brookfield at least corner and it will allow for site acquisition for the western uh high school so thank you very much for your support of our public schools i think that's my cue to be finished so um happy veterans day to everyone thank you and this meeting is adjourned there we go you