001good evening complete people please be seated this March 21 2019 regular meeting of the Fairfax County School Board will now come to order please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance a moment of silence and the performance of the national anthem by the Sangster and white oak Elementary School's string Chamber ensemble under the direction of Consuelo Sevilla [Music] you [Music] [Applause] in order to comply with section 2.2 37:12 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 March 21st 2019 to the best of each members 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
002board during the closed meeting do I have a motion motion made by Miss Schultz seconded by mr. moon all those in favor and that motion is unanimous so a few announcements before we begin tonight's meeting the high school on saw English basal instructional materials approval and the monthly report on employee separations agenda items have been removed from tonight's consent agenda at the request of a board member if you would like to review a copy of the agenda and any agenda item that is being discussed tonight that information is on the table by the auditorium entrance tonight's agenda is available by going to school board on the FCPS homepage and selecting board Docs under upcoming school board meetings the meeting is also being streamed live online select school board from the full menu then click on
003the watch live button on the school board meetings web page please turn off or silence your cellphone's mr. tigner is absent this evening so i call on mr. moon for an announcement thank you madam chair I want to recognize mathematics and statistics Awareness Month that's April 2019 April is mathematics and statistics Awareness Month which is a collaborative effort of the American Mathematical Society the American Statistical Association the mathematical Association of America and the Society for industrial and applied mathematics it marks a time to increase the understanding and appreciation of mathematics and statistics why both subjects play a significant role in addressing many real-world problems such as internet security sustainer sustainability disease climate change the data deluge and much more research in these and other areas is ongoing revealing new research and applications every day in
004theory such as medicine manufacturing energy biotechnology and business mathematics and statistics are important drivers of innovation in our technological world in which new systems and methodologies continue to become more complex also we have a boy scout troops as well 15:32 from Annandale Virginia there's a mr. bureau hot lesson is a Scoutmaster okay Wayne too bad Thank You Dennis for joining us this evening [Applause] Thank You mr. moon we are welcoming back tonight miss Shultz and she is asked to have a moment so yes I just want to acknowledge the help and assistance of a lot of people particularly Angela Petro my executive assistant in the school board office and the rest of the school board office staff - J Pierson our interim Region four assistant superintendent and Becky Bayne egg I have been doing work
005behind the scenes since since January but I'm pleased to come back to the board and do my work fully publicly and for all of the people retired employees former employees current employees some of my children's teachers neighbors people of all persuasions across the for your thoughts and your actions over the last few weeks it has been very very meaningful to be in my family thank you thank you Miss Schultz we are glad you are back now I call him miss Strauss for the recognition of Autism Awareness Month thank you madam chairman Autism Awareness Month is celebrated every year in April to provide an opportunity for families friends and local communities to raise public awareness and acceptance of autism and the unique aspects and talents of all our people autism is a complex developmental disability that
006affects an individual's social interaction and communication skills it is known as a spectrum disorder because each child is different and is affected in unique ways with many strengths and challenges students with autism attended many of our schools in Fairfax County and grow up to make meaningful contributions to the community at this time I would like to invite staff from the Department of Special Services and all those who are here this evening and support of Autism Awareness Month - please join us at the dais for a photo with the board thank you ma'am we do have a public portion of this ma'am ma'am thank you very much what an impressive group here tonight thank you so much for being here I know that there are members of our a CSD as well as septa the parent
007group that's very involved in special education PTA activities so thank you all very much for being here I do want to correct the record there was a statement from the audience that we lock children in cages I can assure you that Fairfax County Public Schools does not lock any children in cages there are instances where we have had students in seclusion we those have come to light in the media over the past couple of weeks please be assured that this school board takes it very seriously that we have a caring culture here in Fairfax County Public Schools and that the only time that seclusion or restraint is ever used is to ensure the safety and security of individual students and so I would like to assure the audience and people watching from home that this
008is an area that this school board and the superintendent takes very seriously and we are committed to ensuring that there is greater transparency in how our practices are conducted in all of our schools but the tribute is when you look at all of the fine men and women who came here tonight to be honored as teachers as parents who are active in the community it shows how much we care about all of our students and those students with autism are a very important part of the fabric that makes up Fairfax County Public Schools thank you this evening we are pleased to recognize the Fairfax County Public Schools teachers who have earned a renewed National Board board certification for the 2018-19 school year also please join me in welcoming members of the city of Fairfax School
009Board who are with us this evening to celebrate the accomplishment of teachers from Fairfax High School in lanier middle school joining us our city of Fairfax Schools Superintendent dr. Phyllis Pichardo assistant superintendent mr. Diego Wilson school board member dr. Mitch Sutter field thank you for coming this evening it really means a lot to all of us and now I call on dr. Bray Bryan for the recognition Thank You chip Thank You chairman Corbett Sanders good evening everyone I would like to congratulate all of our teachers here on earning or renewing your National Board Certification let's give them a big round of applause I just want to share with you as FCPS leaders and accomplished educational professionals your impact on student learning is unmatched you are reflective practitioners you've enhanced instruction I know going through the
010National Board I never did but one of my colleagues did to do all the video of you teaching and to analyze he sent me a three-hour tape to analyze and I was like oh my god how many of these do you have to do it really is a serious pursuit of excellence in teaching that you've done and you have enhanced instruction you have developed and demonstrated advanced teaching knowledge and you have helped Fairfax County continuously implement best instructional practices all of this around the goal of serving our students and reaching our goal of portrait of a graduate attributes for every kid in Fairfax County this program in Fairfax County started over 22 years ago we have 486 teachers in Fairfax County who have maintained national board certification 225 of them are currently still teaching in
011FCPS classrooms so I just want you to know on behalf of the entire system we're proud of your commitment to continuous learning and striving to be the best that you can be for your students for your schools and for Fairfax County Public Schools you're focused work and reflective practice have supported us in achieving the goals in our strategic plan our office of professional learning and family engagements proud to support those that are seeking initial certification or renewing by offering professional development and candidate support lisa barrow director of professional growth and career development will now come up to share some highlights about that rigorous process we were just talking about leading to national board certification and again I am very very proud of you and look forward to the rest of the ceremony to congratulate you
012on a job well done miss Farrell thanks dr. Reuben I'm delighted to participate in the recognition of the accomplishments of these distinguished teachers along with our school board our leadership team our administrators and our guests the National Board program was designed to develop retain and recognize accomplished teachers and to improve practices in schools national board certification is the most recognized voluntary professional certification available in education teachers are certified in 25 different areas pre-k through 12th grade the teachers we recognize tonight have earned or renewed their national board certification by successfully completing a voluntary assessment program designed to recognize effective and accomplished teachers who've met high standards based on what a teacher should know and be able to do the process is designed to assess a teacher's ability to put into practice five core propositions which
013demonstrate that teachers are committed to students in their learning know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning think systematically about their practice and learn from experience and are members of learning communities in order to earn certification teachers analyze their instructional practice and ability to meet the needs of their students they submit videos of their teaching and provide student work samples that demonstrate academic growth all of which are examined through a process of reflective analysis at this time I would like to introduce you to a newly certified nationally board certified teacher who's going to highlight her journey to national board certification Ashley Kupfer tson is a general music and chorus specialist at Island Creek Elementary School she serves as a musician teacher with
014the Fairfax choral society Youth Program and as an adjunct faculty member at the American Kodai Institute of Loyola University city of Maryland she holds a code I certify certificate and certificate of study and arts integration from the Kennedy Center's changing education through the arts program Ashley is an active member of the National Association for music education and the Virginia organization of code i educate errs where she serves on the board as president-elect recently examples of her work were featured in teaching music to students with special needs a practical resource by dr. Hamill as an instructional leader she has served as a curriculum writer for the FCPS general music curriculum a pyramid lead music teacher for the Hayfield pyramid schools a presenter of professional development geared towards music educators Ashley's a passionate educator who believes in
015the power of education and the power of music to connect people she's a lifelong learner dedicated to ensuring that all students have access to high-quality joyful music instruction I know you'll join me in welcoming miss cut person [Applause] good evening fellow national board certified teachers supporters and school board members my name is Ashley Cuthbertson I am a music specialist focusing in elementary music education and vocal music currently teaching at Island Creek Elementary and I teach kindergarten through sixth grade two years ago I found myself working tirelessly non-stop and elicited looking to craft musical experiences for my learners that would inspire them give them tools to become lifelong music makers and the global citizens that we hope for through portrait of a graduate through this pursue my own craft of teaching continued to improve however my
016passion for looking for the best instruction for my students was becoming overshadowed by my feeling of uncertainty I kept wondering is this enough is this the best am I putting my energy in the best parts of my instruction I had heard about the National boards before and after speaking to a good friend of mine who had previously gone through the process I realized that going through the process to pursue national board certification would answer all of those questions that I had what I really was seeking was insight into my effectiveness as a teacher beyond my own narrow view and it seemed that there would be no better way to find out then to become a national board certified teacher you see as a music educator it's not unusual for me to feel like I'm on
017an island we often work alone or if maybe one other educator therefore we have few opportunities to learn and work from each other I was also seeking feedback on my ability to teach music so last year I began my national board churning as someone who doesn't do anything halfway I went all the way in and submitted all of the components in one year rather than the several years at the national board does allow it was grueling work months and months of working late through the nights weekends every break researching planning and then re planning videotaping re videotaping writing and rewriting I answer the National Board process thinking that I would be evaluated on my peers it was a kids education and finally found out if my hard work had paid off and maybe a good
018teacher while it is true that I was evaluated by my peers I found out much more than whether or not I was a good teacher I discovered that truly I am a lifelong learner the reflective nature of the process exposed by weak points and led me to pursuing learning paths in order to strengthen those places I continued to strive for the highest and seek out those aspects of my teaching that can be approved and never again will I ever be satisfied with just good enough perhaps most importantly I discovered how dedicated I am to this profession of Education and my learner's so dedicated to being the best educator I can be for my students that I put myself through this rigorous and voluntary process to examine every aspect of my teaching to make it better
019for their learning while I am no longer compare completing the components I see the direct impact of my national board certification in my own classroom and my learner's everyday the mentality of constant reflection and consideration for the standards for accomplished teaching have been ingrained in me and are a part of every lesson I write in every action I take with my learner's every teacher should consider pursuing national board certification because every student deserves a teacher who is dedicated to the profession of Education and to furthering themselves in order for their students to have the best education possible I thank you all for being here today to recognize educators like myself who have worked tirelessly to demonstrate their commitment to their own professional learning growth and their students thank you [Applause] thanks for your dedication miss
020cubberson let's give her another round of applause dr. Braverman you join me we're going to honor our teachers by regions and each region assistant superintendent or their designee this evening we'll be invited to participate by reading the names of our honorees please welcome our first reader Evangeline Petrich executive principle region 3 miss Patrick is going to recognize both regions one in three honorees this evening the following teachers have achieved National Board Certification honorees when your name is called please come forward to accept your certificate meet with dr. brave ran and walked towards the race step and wait for your photo can I offer that the board members may want to come out so that they can be thanking rewarding or showing our appreciation for the hard work of these teachers and our well why don't
021we stand in front and yeah and we can Stephanie Simsek of Oakton High School region one earned the mathematics early adolescent certificate principal Jamie Lane [Applause] Ashley called Cuthbertson of Island Creek Elementary School earned the music early and middle childhood certificate principal mike Macrina Alicia st. Jean of Mount Vernon High School Region three earned the social studies history adolescence and young adult certificate principal Anthony Terrell thank you can we welcome dr. fábio de água assistant superintendent region - thank you Lisa it's such a great honor to be here tonight recognizing the best teachers that we have in Fairfax County Public Schools it is my pleasure to introduce Caitlin Buyten from Camelot elementary school Caitlin come here please come forward or she earned the generalist middle childhood certificate principal Eileen Flaherty Eileen please join us congratulations
022Michelle mckenna of columbia elementary school she earned the art early and middle childhood certificate principal michael mike cunningham please join us congratulations Michelle well done Lisa Choi of Haake Haycock elementary school Lisa unfortunate Lisa is here no she's not ahh I was super excited of Haycock elementary school earned the literacy reading language arts early and middle school childhood certificate interim principal Algy fruit alley and unfortunately Lisa was unable to join us this evening but let's give her a hand she's an amazing teacher an amazing teacher and Hannah layman mu heart of Hans middle school she earns the mathematics and early adolescence certificate principal Margaret burns she's on a recruitment field trip and so I I will join the podium for her and Hannah was unable to join us this evening congratulations teachers in region 2
023please welcome our reader J Pearson in terms assistant superintendent region 4 good evening it's an honor and privilege to bring Emily Vanderhof forward of Hawley elementary school she earned the generalist middle childhood certificate and principal Carrie Pearman at Hawley we want to recognize the presence of Becky bein egg tonight our assistant superintendent region five she's joined us to recognize Charles Burt's of Lanier middle school and he was unable to attend the ceremony component of the evening now if we could welcome Sloane presidio assistant superintendent instructional services thank you and good evening it's my pleasure to welcome and help celebrate Lauren her of esal instructional support who earned English as a new language early and middle childhood certificate supervisor Jane legal thank you please join me in recognizing the accomplishments of all of our newly nationally
024board certified teachers congratulations [Applause] before you go let's invite our principals up for a photo to join our National Board our principals need to join for a photo please join us [Music] thank you [Applause] yeah and now I'd like to have an e diaper system Y coordinator join me to announce those honorees who have renewed their certification thank you Lisa the following national board certified teachers have renewed their certificates honorees please when your name is called come forward to accept your certificate walk towards the race step again and wait for the group picture Claudette Allen of Liberty middle school renewed Career and Technical Education early adolescents through young adulthood certificate principal Adam err Brecht Amanda Bouldin of Robinson Secondary School renewed mathematics adolescence and young adulthood certificate principal Matt Uihlein Stella Santa Nene of Hayfield
025elementary school renewed generalist early childhood certificate principal Jessica Lewis Sharon Clifford of Carson high school renewed social studies history early adolescent certificate principal Gordon Stokes George Dewey of Chantilly high school renewed science adolescents and young adulthood certificate principal Scott Poole April Doan of Shrieve wood elementary school renewed generalist early childhood certificate principal michelle eugene john downs of Chantilly high school renewed social studies history adolescence of young adulthood certificate principal scott pool [Applause] maria diaz of Westlaw elementary school renewed English as a new language early and middle childhood certificate principal Linda Ferguson Heather Gibson of Laurel Hill Elementary School renewed exceptional needs specialist early childhood through young adulthood certificate principal Janice Dalton Antoinette Kidwell of Mount Vernon High School renewed mathematics adolescence and young adulthood certificate principal Anthony Terrell Rachel Lanier of Londontown elementary school renewed
026generalist middie middle childhood certificate principal we ought to Padmore Selwyn Lawrence of South Lakes High School renewed Career and Technical Education early adolescence through young adulthood certificate principal Kim ret sir Andrew Neil of Edison High School renewed social studies history adolescence and young adulthood certificate principal Pamela Brumfield Kimberly Owens of Pine Spring elementary school renewed generalist middle childhood certificate principal Nikki Yaakov ovitch Heather 50 on of Bremer Park Elementary School renewed generalist early childhood certificate principal Elizabeth Williams [Applause] Kimberly Scott of Chantilly high school renewed English language arts early adolescent certificate principal Scott Poole aniss levin of rocky run middle school renewed English language arts early adolescent certificate principal Amy good low Jessica Stebbins of Woodley Hills Elementary School renewed generalist middle childhood certificate principal Sharon Aldridge Natalie Valenzuela of Chantilly high school renewed exceptional
027needs specialist early childhood through young adulthood certificate principal Scott pool Heather wall knock beech tree elementary school renewed generalist middle childhood certificate principal Kareem Daughtery Greer Mancuso of Lanier middle school renewed English as a new language early and middle childhood certificate principal to marijuana [Applause] Angela Hunter of Edison High School renewed social studies history adolescence and young adulthood certificate principal Pamela Brimfield [Applause] additionally we would like to honor the following individuals who are being recognized for renewing their National Board Certification but were unable to attend this evening Aaron Fortenberry of Ravens worth elementary school renewed art early and middle childhood certificate principal Roxanne salata Danielle powers of Frost middle school renewed library media early childhood through young adulthood certificate principal Anthony Harris Heather David's of Fairfax High School renewed English language arts adolescents and young
028adulthood certificate principal Aaron Leonard mark mark hanim of Thomas Jefferson High School for science and technology renewed mathematics adolescence and young adulthood certificate principal and Manitoba's Janice jewel of Herndon high school renewed English Language Arts adolescence and young adulthood certificate principal Liz Noto Douglas Martin of Langley high school renewed music early adolescence through young adulthood certificate principal Kim Grier Terry Quinn of Spring Hill Elementary School renewed literacy reading language arts early and middle childhood certificate principal Sarah Aiello Megan ring of Groveton elementary school renewed generalist middle childhood certificate principal James swagger congratulations to all the renewed national board certified teachers and at this time we would like to invite the members of the school board region assistant superintendents their designee and principals to come forward for a group photo with these accomplished teachers [Applause] that
029was the part-time and we would like to invite dr. Pichardo dr. Sutter field and other Fairfax City teachers being recognized to remain for an individual photo with your school board it's for Fairfax yeah on behalf of the board I want to congratulate this year's FCPS national board certified teachers they are to be commended for their dedication to helping students achieve success in and out of the classroom let's give them another round of applause the next order of business is citizen participation tonight ten citizens have signed up to address the board speakers are requested to limit their remarks to not more than three minutes the school board will not hear statements involving issues that have been scheduled for public hearings such as capital improvement program budget and boundaries complaints regarding individual students or school-based employees should
030be directed to the appropriate school principal or other school official speakers should refrain from using personally identifiable information in connection with an individual student speakers are expected to deliver their comments with the decorum and respect appropriate to the conduct of the public's business please be mindful that there are often young children in attendance at these meetings or watching at home so language should be appropriate for all age levels thank you for your cooperation and thanks to those who have come out to speak to us tonight our first speaker is Gordon Baer followed by Amber Belcher hi it's so wet outside but wouldn't you know the moment I come to this podium my mouth gets bone-dry so if I flood my words please be kind I'm Gordon Baer thanks for the intro I am a alumni
031of FCPS schools K through 12 and I am a current resident of Fairfax County and I work on the board of glisten Northern Virginia which is a local chapter of a national nonprofit working on LGBT issues in K through 12 education thank you for your work on the amicus brief in the Gavin Graham case trans and gender non-conforming students deserve to be educated and environment free from persecution as we would all like to be so your support in this brief would send a message very powerfully to a lot of the students in the region certainly I know action might not be taken today on English bazel materials but I wanted to use it as an opportunity to discuss the need for LGBT inclusive curriculum in English and other core subjects I am a huge proponent
032of that my notes just got deleted off my phone so I'm gonna do this off-the-cuff LGBT inclusive curriculum has been studied to decrease the hostility in a school's climate both glisten and universities across the u.s. have seen the trend towards a decrease in hostile school climate with the inclusion of LGBT inclusive curriculum now this is curriculum that just gives light to LGBT persons contributions and given fields yeah so there's that I'm gonna yield to the next person but thank you so much for listening to me and have a good it's wet but you know stew dry cool amber Belcher followed by Robert Rigby hi good evening my name is Amber B Clair it's not that's fine no one ever gets it correct the first time I'm a Herndon resident I'm a steering committee member of
033equality Loudon and I volunteer for FCPS Pride and the transgender Education Association I want to thank you all for moving forward with the amicus brief in support of Gavin grim I've not had the pleasure of meeting Gavin myself but I am inspired to see someone two-thirds my age fighting for the rights of not just himself but also other transgender students because they need it they need as many strong allies as they can get I ask that to be sure that you include a statement of acknowledgement that transgender students are the gender they identify with and deserve the same respect and dignity as all other students at FCPS just as I seek acceptance in my workplace trans students just want to have the same opportunities and experiences as every other kid at their age school is
034hard enough as it is but trans kids may not drink or eat as much so they don't have to go to the bathroom and there there's a reason why there's a high prevalence of urinary tract infection amongst the transgender community there's and there is also an above-average experience of bullying and suicide than their cisgender peers and studies have shown that that is because of outward affects of acceptance at home but especially also acceptance and being able to be themselves in school as well commonly you may hear an argument very often that allowing trans students using to use the bathroom they prefer would increase sexual assaults and restrooms and locker rooms however there is no evidence that this would happen just just a couple years ago Justin Wilco the PWC school board reached out to every
035large u.s. school district with LGBTQ inclusive protections and they found that there have been zero incidences of either a transgender student attacking or a cisgender student attacking wearing a dress of any students in restrooms across the country this argument is just like any horror movie monster it is scary and concept but it's not real you may also hears of well there's only two combinations of chromosomes that there's xx and XY and there's a bathroom for each I have a bachelor's degree in biology so I may be a little overqualified but that is not true that is just scientifically incorrect there is X X Y there's XY of other combinations there is more than just two and science moves further every day to show to back up where culture and society has been for years and
036so the truth it what is true is transgender students are the gender they say they are whether they are male female in between or outside of the gender binary and they deserve the right to use a bathroom of their choice so please include a strong statement of support for our transgender students thank you Robert Rigby followed by Laura Baker and math Mary Mathewson good evening school board members and senior staff my name is Robert Rigby jr. I am the president of SCPs pride which is a social welfare organization for parents of LGBTQ students and LGBTQ staff connected with Fairfax County Public Schools tonight you are discussing English page with materials one thing to consider its inclusion of information short stories and sections of novels that include passages about LGBTQ people including transgender people there are
037many many such age-appropriate materials some of these include reference to legal cases involving transgender students we would like to thank you for moving forward with the amicus brief in Gavin Grimm's case and to share some thoughts first Gavin is an honored member of our community and a personal friend of many of us we are pleased that the school board is supporting him many people in Fairfax County are waiting on the outcome of this case with the hopes that it will enable us the FCV SB to move forward a statement in an amicus brief in support of transgender students would be a tremendous step forward in supporting transgender binary and non-binary students it would be a clear declaration by the school board that you think transgender and gender non-conforming people should be fully integrated members of
038our community we have a couple of thoughts in addition first we think that Gavin's case is not the cynic quinone or the without which nothing for writing a regulation if decided in Gavin's favor it would require school systems to accommodate trans kids but even without it we are still allowed to do so and should do so it is important to members of our community that the school board make a strong statement in support recognizing trends and to people as real in all aspects of their school lives transgender boys are real boys in all aspects of their lives non-binary and gender creative identities are real and transgender girls are real girls all day in school the brief written by the Arlington County School Board last year is a strong statement supporting transgender students in all aspects
039of their lives in school it is a good point of reference thank you for listening Laura Baker followed by Mary Mathewson and Carl fresh good evening my name is Laura Baker hmm I'm a parent and the septa twice exceptional committee chair I'm here to address the planned advanced academics equity study because I want to ensure that students with disabilities are not forgotten the proposed AAP equity study is a welcome and necessary step to ensure that the advanced academic programs are not violating the civil rights of minority students English language learners and students with disabilities FCPS is primarily focused their efforts on title one schools and I hope we see some impact from this but as a disability advocate I was disappointed that students with disabilities also referred to as twice exceptional or tooie barely got
040a mention in the AP overview by miss Maloney and dr. Presidio as the twice exceptional chair I know there are roughly 2,000 identified tui students in FCPS are three large of special education categories being ADHD dyslexia and autism these are brilliant kids with amazing gifts but they require specialized instruction behavioral support and access to academic rigor to succeed students with autism in Virginia have doubled in the past nine years and 2e students with complex behavioral needs are on the rise tui is not a new problem for FCPS between 2004 and 2012 FCC PTA the ACS D and the AAP Advisory Council studied the problems and made recommendations but when I came on the scene in 2016 none of the recommendations had been implemented I've spent the past three years organizing parents and collaborating with staff
041to address the recommendations one by one but in the meantime ours 2e students in FCPS faced impossible barriers special ed and aap systems are not designed to work in tandem and are often in direct conflict with each other I happen to know firsthand that many of our brightest students are underachieving suffering school refusal and dropping out because we are feeling them after watching the school board work session from 311 I do when I thank those of you who spoke up for two E's to Smith Sanders Michelle mr. Wilson miss Keys Gemara accept us - my parents have attempted to work with the county while simultaneously holding the county's feet to the fire we are critical stakeholders in this study and I suspect we would have been overlooked if you had not spoken up on our
042behalf dr. Brenda said transparency restores trust with stakeholders and efforts at gathering equity data are important because we can't fix anything if we don't know it's broken there is no greater broken trust in the school system than between schools and parents of students with disabilities especially those with high potential who are struggling to succeed in Fairfax County please include septa as a critical stakeholder in this AAP review thank you Mary Mathewson followed by Karl Frisch and Amanda Campbell good evening my name is Mary Mathewson and I'm an English teacher in Fairfax County I'm here to talk about the need for more inclusive literature to begin I want to thank the school board for moving forward with the amicus brief in the Gavin grim case it sends a good message of inclusivity with that message in
043mind I want to share a definition written by my 11th grade class when they were reading the book when I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago it reads the American Dream is the freedom to consciously take advantage of the opportunity to be who you are our classes are ethnically diverse and that's a big part of the reason why the adoption of new literature needs to be an ongoing process but what does inclusion really mean my American Lit class class is made up of 23 students three seniors and 20 juniors two white students three Asian students five african-american students and 13 Hispanic students ten students for whom English is their second language with five different home languages 15 males seven females and one still trying figure it out all of these categories of kids brings a
044set of experiences with them to the classroom they have believed' systems that define what's moral both for their pick from their parents and what they've chosen for themselves they all have a cultural background that allows or disallows their acceptance of people's experiences when those experiences are different from their own they all have a comfort zone that needs to be both challenged and defended so that we as teachers can help them develop into productive compassionate involved and evolving adults who define what America will be and what an American can be the classics are part of our history they explore the foundation of American culture but they are only one part of a diverse collection of beliefs morals and experiences we need to make sure we're including all of our students in that journey to self-discovery we
045need literature that allows all students to examine perspective experience struggle status and the most current reality of family dynamics in addition to including ethnic diversity we need to include diversity and how people define themselves specifically when it comes to gender even when that definition is not what we would call conforming the literature we use in the classroom doesn't have enough of that while our cortex are more ethnically diverse I don't have anything to offer my LGBTQ students they can't relate to the typical experiences of our most common literary heroes we need literature that explores the realistic identity development of every student in the 21st century all shades of Caucasian all shades of brown all levels of English language acquisition and the whole spectrum of sexual and gender identity thank you for listening Carl Frisch followed
046by Amanda Campbell and Cathy Millar all right let me begin by saying thank you for letting me speak to the school board and staff my name is Carl fish I live in Providence district my partner is a teacher here in fairfax county for the last 13 years tonight you were slated to be talking about the different instruction materials that are being reviewed there are new titles in the mix that address things like journalism and reporting they could they couldn't come at a better time and they have a possibility of providing students with real-world learning opportunities perhaps if some of these materials were already in new students would be here tonight putting their new journalism skills to work as the school board takes a stand in favor of simple human dignity and equality for all of
047our students I joined others in applauding the School Board's history on these issues and its decision to move forward with an amicus brief in support of Gavin Grimm's case against Gloucester County School Board amicus briefs are submitted to the court by an amicus curiae which is Latin for friend of the court that translation is apropos tonight when Gavin grim faced discrimination at his school he needed more friends on his school board your amicus brief can stand up for Gavin grim and in doing so it can stand up for the other Gavin Grimm's right here in Fairfax County it can send a powerful message to support that there is support for transgender and non-binary students and that they have friends on the school board such a move would have a clear declaration that this School Board
048believes transgender and non-binary students are deserving of the same dignity respect and rights as anyone else and that they are fully integrated in our school community let me be clear mr. Grimm's case is an important one if he is successful it could require all school systems to accommodate trans kids if he is not successful that shouldn't stop this school board from doing precisely that trans boys and trans girls are different than any other child they should be treated equally by the Fairfax County School Board in all aspects of their lives anything less would be a betrayal of the principles of equity and opportunity that many of us talk about every single day Thank You Amanda Campbell [Music] sorry good evening I am here tonight speaking as an individual member of the Fairfax County special education
049PTA given that the Board is recognizing Autism Awareness Month this evening I believe it is important to open a dialogue regarding an issue that affects students with disabilities the use and documentation of restraint and seclusion in FCPS I'm sure you are all aware of the reports published by wamu this last week and today I listen to the radio show as well and I was incredibly disappointed that FCPS chose to decline the invitation to be present in the discussion the initial statement provided by the district stating that in part quote we believe seclusion and restraint and management and safe of severe student behavior is being used appropriately and quote is incredibly dismissive to the families that spoke out about how their children were treated I appreciate that the district has since come out with a statement
050indicating that you will be thoroughly investigating the use of documentation of restraint and seclusion but it does not excuse the tone of the initial response released by the district there are both local and nationwide problems that exist in how students with disabilities are treated with regards to severe behaviors that are a manifestation of their disability according to the Office of Civil Rights 122 thousand students across the nation were physically restrained mechanically restrained or secluded in 2015-2016 and of that number students with disabilities represented 71 percent of all students restrained and sixty-six percent of all students secluded FCPS is own strategic plan documents show that students with disabilities make up 14% of the student population and yet represent 40% of all discipline cases in the county and these statistics are just from the documented incidents and
051there is much that goes undocumented Virginia is taking steps to address this at the state level as seen by their Town Hall on restraint and seclusion earlier today research has shown however that of the ten states with the highest incident levels of restraint and seclusion six had meaningful prohibitions meant to limit the practice it is clear to me that local districts must take the lead on this issue in order for any meaningful progress to be made as for what FCPS can do I have a few thoughts FCPS must involve the community in the process of the investigation stakeholder groups like septa the ICSD etc must be consulted throughout the process FCPS should also schedule a public hearing on issues on the issue of restraint and seclusion so that the community has an opportunity to voice
052their experiences and concerns before FCPS renders any decisions on how to move forward mechanicals restraints and prone restraints must be prohibited clearly define if not prohibit seclusion involuntarily removing a person from their typical placement to a one-on-one setting with supervision with the door unlocked would be considered seclusion in a mental health setting the same should be true in schools all incidents of restraint and seclusion must be documented in writing verbal communication alone is not sufficient parents must be notified within 24 hours there are more ideas in the documents I provided with my testimony on a personal note I am well aware that there are amazing teachers in schools in FCPS my daughter attends one of those schools and I am who team is amazing that said thank you Kathy Mallard followed by Eric Jones thank
053you very much first I would like to state my opposition to authorizing funding for the Lea high school turf replacement because artificial turf has been shown to release toxins into human humans in the environment artificial turf can cause concussions and knee Argent injuries and they're also dangerous heat traps that are prone to causing heat exhaustion in addition I want to say that it appears at the school board is not being open with the public about promoting and passing certain policies the school board used taxpayer money to politically lobby and promote an amicus brief in the grimms case this position could earn your injury on females while resulting in violations of Title 9 laws by discriminating against females resulting in unfair and unequal competition and undermining the integrity of female sports I ask is the school
054board opposed to protecting female students from being forced to share showers and dressing rooms with any person who possesses a penis and tech testicles I speak today as a parent of female and male students who are active in competitive sports in fairfax county public schools school sports at in fairfax are separated into two groups one for boys one for girls does the Fairfax County Public Schools justify having separate sports groups based on the sex of the student shouldn't boys and girls all compete together regardless of their sex does the Fairfax County School Board recognize that having females compete in sports with males would be unfair to the females in view of the scientifically proven physical differences between the sexes including in muscle composition especially between males and females who have gone through the two respective
055puberty processes the great African American sprinter Wilma Rudolph achieved Olympic championships in women's screenings she would not have achieved such records and she Wilma Rudolph would be unknown today if she had had to compete with males who had gone through male such as Jesse Owens similarly women's Tama stars Serena Williamson Martina Navratilova will be unknown today if they had to compete against males will this fairfax county school board uphold the fairness and integrity of girls and women's competitive sports will the school board guarantee that female students not be forced to compete in sports with any person who has been born male with XY chromosomes penis testicles and has gone through male puberty will the school board guarantee that females that are taya females that are taking male hormones and organic compounds not be permitted to
056compete in sports with females who were born with XX chromosomes and have only natural female hormones in their body will Alice have will the school board guarantee that students faculty and staff be protected against coercion and retribution if they if they to to participation in sports with persons with male bodies thank you very much good evening I went to congratulate all of the national school board honorees tonight wonderful job at my name is Tabatha Walter my family and I are residents of Fairfax County I appreciate you allowing me to talk on the Lee high school turf contract I opposed the authorization of five hundred thousand dollars for this project artificial turf has been shown to release toxins caused bodily harm to students and can trap heat inside this is this can be extremely dangerous for
057Fairfax County students that would leave long lasting effects on their health similarly I would like to address a dangerous situation that you at the school board are continuing to put our children in it has been reported that this board is instructing your lawyers to draft and file an amicus brief in the Gloucester County Schools transgender case apparently you're going to intervene in this case against the school district policy of protect the privacy and well-being of girls and boys keeping their sex segregated private spaces separated by sex Gloucester County was even willing to provide a private bathroom to a student identifying as an opposite gender but that's not good enough for the plaintiff or for you you have given no notice the Fairfax County residents about your plans to intervene in another school districts lawsuit the
058secrecy is appalling and unethical and what business is it of yours at Hoag loss they're counting what to do you are simply spending our hard-earned taxpayer dollars to make a political point this amicus brief doesn't help any of our students it is just a way to push Fairfax politics on other children and families instead the school board should focus on protecting our students privacy bathrooms are very vulnerable spaces especially for developing children and for those suffering from gender dysphoria studies have shown that 6 out of 10 students will experience some form of physical sexual harassment in school many of these incidents going on unreported allowing boys and girls private spaces and vice versa will only increase that number why are you waiting for these incidents to happen instead of preventing them on behalf of the
059safety of our daughters and our sons I ask that you not move forward with this amicus brief thank you [Applause] Teresa champion good evening my name is Teresa champion and I'm the parent of two adult children one of which has a diagnosis of autism at the age of four and another diagnosis of pandas which is an autoimmune disorder I'm gonna start with an analogy so I'm sitting at an IEP meeting and I'm the only person there on my side of the table and everybody else is there's eight other people there and they all represent the school district so that's sixteen eyes sitting there blinking at me somebody's clicking their pen somebody's chewing their gum somebody else is whispering to the person next to him I'm trying to talk about what my son needs as far
060as his educational accommodation and I'm getting more and more frustrated because I don't seem to be getting any response so nobody's buying into what I'm saying so I pound my hand on the table papers go flying they view what I just did as aggressive I thought I was just making my point I was upset they jump up grab me throw me down on the ground hold me down all the while yelling for more people to come help them take me to a room down the hall so I can cool off now this actually kind of happened to my son and for adults held him on the floor in a darkened room for ninety minutes now this is a stack of papers and I hate to disabuse you but yes they are put in seclusion rooms
061and they are held there in 2013 through 14 175 times one child same child 2014 through 2015 151 times 2016 15 through 2016 111 times same child so that's four hundred and thirty seven times so with the regulations coming out for restraint and conclusion excuse me restraint and seclusion we've got to Brent ban prone restraint only use restraints seclusion where there's a threat of imminent serious physical harm forbid use of restraint seclusion for mere property damage eliminate the regulation allowing restraint seclusion be used to maintain order and control you've got to ban prone restraint children die require schools to notify parents immediately you need a public hearing on this never use restraint seclusion when it could harm the child medically or psychologically as documented by the child's IEP team you need training there's a school
062in Northern Virginia called Grafton they no longer use restraint and seclusion and I will tell you they've had a 64% decline and client and do staff injury and an estimate savings of this should catch your attention 16 million and associated costs from overtime turnover and workers compensation stop treating children like POWs thank you thank you this is the portion of the meeting where the board will confirm Oh actually sorry about that I call on Miss Darren AK Koufax for a motion I move that the board approve the titles listed for high school language arts as recommended by the language arts basal instructional materials adoption committee and the selection Advisory Committee do I have a second seconded by Ms Strauss mr. Anaya Koufax would you like to speak to your motion no I'll yield my time
063to mr. Keyes Kamara I wanted to take this opportunity because we had a few speakers that spoke about the basel curriculum and mentioning various groups one late lady spoke eloquently regarding she was actually a teacher and spoke eloquently about having a book about being Puerto Rican and we've had folks talk about the LGBT community as well I do think it's very important that our curriculum is reflective of the of the diversity of our students I can tell you as a parent where where my sons were introduced very early to images that look like themselves but unfortunately all of them were slaves are somehow tied to oppressive images that is damaging not just to the child that that their looks the person that is looking like to someone that looks like them but also to everyone
064around them we need only look to events of February in them in the state of Virginia to realize that this is true when we do not tell the whole story about our history when we do not acknowledge people in their community and how they have contributed to who we are as a state it hurts everyone and so I simply wanted to make a statement so that we can work together and continue to work to make sure that our curriculum is reflective of who we are because that truly is how we build everyone in our community so that they not only feel good about who they are but we learn to respect one another thank you Miss Strauss would you like to speak to your second I think miss Keith Kumar did a great job thank
065you very much for your remarks mr. Wilson thank you madam chair I think that miss Keith Kamara has raised important points in acknowledging folks who've been at the podium tonight talking about and identifying what they see as deficiencies in the titles that are recommended I I guess I wonder whether or not this isn't even an important topic that we should discuss and review as a board given the comments that we received and I I don't know whether other board members would feel the same but rather than I mean this was a consent agenda item so typically we wouldn't even have this level of discussion but given what we've heard tonight I think we as a board should step back and table this approval so that we can can have a more fulsome conversation about the
066titles that are included Thank You mr. Wilson miss Hines would you like to speak to this yes as it happens mr. McIlvain and I are working with dr. Presidio on a forum topic now we hadn't yet brought it to the rest of the board but I think many of us have been approached particularly about our social studies in history curriculum by members of the community from traditionally underrepresented communities and so I want to thank dr. Presidio and dr. Bray brand and dr. Doron well we had a conversation recently with mr. McIlvain just last week in fact and we got a little update on what the office of equity is already doing to try to improve our cultural responsiveness or cultural accuracy our historic accuracy and I think our forum topic will likely ask for a
067work session so that the board and the community can be brought up to speed on what the work that's already happening and then also I think there's a desire and we're still working on what the language would be I think there just is a desire in the community for some input on curriculum and training because of course this goes beyond textbooks it goes beyond you know the the novels that the kids read curriculum is goes is so much and it has so much to do with professional development and training so as I say it the forum topic is in the works which is why I apologize neither mr. mikulina or I has even talked to any other board members about it but I do agree with the the comments that have been made tonight and
068the groups that have come to me with the concern that we do need to do better with our curriculum and we need to make sure that we are centering the voices of those most affected and most interested but I think also we should probably hear from the office of equity about some of the good work that's going on and we have not yet and I know there it's in the works but I think would be good for the board to know what we're doing so far but I also think it's extremely important for us to figure out how to allow public review and comment are as much of our curriculum as we can make available and our professional development as well thank you miss Hines miss mcLaughlin thank you I first want to say Ms
069Keith Kumar I appreciate that you pulled this from our consent agenda I'm a bit perplexed why we find ourselves on something like a basal cell adoption that we're doing this this particular year the Braddock district was one of the Magisterial districts where we would appoint someone to serve on the committee and I was receiving updates from my appointee but it's not that every single school board member had one and so you know I'm I'm uncomfortable honestly in voting on this tonight as an action item I think I I would have preferred that we would have had at least a one hour work session where with the fact that we had a committee that worked on this and worked with staff and clearly had I mean they met multiple times and I just think that when
070the board ends up having responsibilities like this to vote on something even though I appreciate the tremendous work that staff and the volunteer committee members served on it we're we're being asked to put our hands in the air and vote on something so I guess in in response to what mr. Wilson said I would ask not to put anybody on the spot but either dr. bravery and or dr. Presidio if one of you could maybe speak to if there's a would it present a challenge if we were to postpone this vote just we've got absolutely nothing on our agenda two weeks from now and we have a work session on Monday could we not just have a one-hour board discussion and presentation about why the recommendation and what the committee had to say and and
071then it would really only be a two-hour postponement of tonight's vote yes I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this item and I would say that we could certainly delay the vote tonight but we would still want to have a work session in a timely manner so Monday certainly would be okay I don't know if the agenda would accommodate that but the reason for the urgency really around this is we do need to move forward with contractual negotiations so the board's vote tonight would just affirm adoption of the materials that the committee which has been working on this since October of 2018 has selected and as soon as we have approval for that then we enter contractual negotiations and the reason it's important that we begin that process is we want to be able to
072get the materials in the hands of teachers before they leave for the summer holiday because it's really important for the teachers to have an opportunity to understand the materials begin to work with them and plan with them and kind of get a head start on the year so certainly we could delay the vote but if the board chooses to do that we'd like to schedule a work session as soon as possible thank you dr. Presidio's so and follow-up to my question on that one one thought that occurred to me is when you were working with the Committee on this and the recommendation that's before the board tonight was it unanimous was there any you know sort of vocal dissent among committee members where it wasn't sort of a clear consensus about what's being put before
073the board I mean if it turns out that the committee again fully supports it unanimously then it would leave it less difficult for I think the board to be concerned that's the whole point of a working committee but that would be my bigger concern is that there wasn't sort of a strong consensus on what's being brought before us there was a strong consensus I think a few other points that the board might want to consider I'll speak to him briefly just tonight all of the comments by the board members and the speaker's here tonight are incredibly important about the representativeness of our curriculum and we take that to heart and it's something that we're working on very seriously as part of this adoption process we actually used a new tool to review all of the
074materials from the different vendors and the different publishers to look at issues of cultural representation so looking for examples in how students are depicted in literature how individuals are actually as depicted as experts so making sure that we have selections from the diversity of writers and this tool that we developed was actually developed by a new staff member that we had the opportunity to hire in the fall as part of the equity office expansion we had an opportunity to hire a multicultural curriculum resource teacher and we hired dr. Deborah March who has a PhD in African American Studies from Yale University and she's been tremendous in helping us think differently about our curriculum and just start to kind of scratch the surface of some of the issues that we know that we need to address
075so again we'd be happy to provide more information to the board in more detail about that work but that was something that was considered as part of the adoption process the other thing I would just kind of highlight in terms of urgency is that we do have new state standards and the SOL tests will be based on those new standards next year and we have not adopted new materials to be in alignment with those standards and those standards changes so we are anxious to be able to move forward but we certainly understand the questions that the board has thank you dr. Presidio to my colleagues I would just say that I'm I'm curious to see where you all are on if it turns out that postponing bite to our next business meeting in two weeks
076might give people a little more comfort I'm supportive that if people feel that that's the delay isn't necessary I do want to hear what you're thinking before we vote so is it your intention to offer a I have mr. Wilson offer an amendment and you second it to postpone the adoption of the basal materials until the 4th of April which is our next business meeting and in the interim have a have a work session on that I would like to get the input from my colleagues before I would support a motion like that if we are a body of 12 and and so it's I don't want to put forth have mr. Wilson necessarily put for a motion if if there's not going to be some sort of support so I just think people should
077speak to that and then we'll know whether to put forward that alternative thank you miss mcLaughlin I see a lot of lights still on so if you are not intending to speak please turn off your lights okay so now I have miss Evans hasn't spoken to this miss Strauss followed by a go back for miss Keyes Gemara thank you madam chair I want to thank miss Keyes Gemara for raising this and also for members of the public for raising this I do think that this would warrant more consideration and more of a review because this has been raised typically we don't get this kind of a response when when we're adopting these kinds of materials so you know we often rely on our pointees we do bring members of the public in to review this
078but I did want to ask dr. presidio beyond the the appointees and the citizens was there an official opportunity just for members of the public for the parents to review did we actively go out and seek that yes so we followed our existing policies and regulations which call for a public review period we received 22 comments those comments are posted on board Doc's in full tonight well I do not receive a lot of public comment I'm sorry we did not receive a lot we did not receive okay so I think that tells us something it's it's one thing to offer the opportunity it's another to when people come to us and say we need to be a little bit more thoughtful I don't think it would harm any to give each of us an opportunity
079and give members of the public an opportunity to provide more comments so I would support delaying this and having a conversation and have the materials available to us and to members of the public just to give us a little bit more time to weigh in and see if if we just need to move forward with what's here or if we have other opportunities so thank you again miss Keyes Gemara for raising it and to miss McLaughlin's question I would support moving this on to the next of the agenda at our next regular meeting miss Strauss thank you and thank you dr. presidio for giving all the information as to the work that has been ongoing I believe since October and thank you for sharing that we have had an expert not only in in equity
080but in in cultural matters to make sure that we meet all of our goals there are 10 books would it be possible for all school board members to be given a set of all ten of the textbooks by tomorrow so that we could read them and be prepared for a discussion on Monday I don't know how else we would do this there are ten text books okay well that's what I'm wondering what people would like to do this is a significant adoption and certainly we can take a look at it but I don't know at what level people are interested because it would take if we're really going to look at this we really I think need to be able to spend some time and notes and do some research if that's what people are
081after I personally am pleased with amounts of work that has gone into this and it is important that they meet all the the goals but I also know that we we must get to the contracting phase so that these can be ordered so that teachers will have them in place I think us a realistic goal so that would be my concern thank you miss Strauss I have a go back by miss Keys Kamara Thank You Madame chair I actually would support mr. Wilson's move I initially was was really just trying to make a statement but the more that I think about this the more that I realized that the community while we our staff has done an excellent job and seeking as much information as possible the buck stops with this board we are the
082ones that will be held responsible for the outcome of what we are presenting and I think that we already saw information from dr. Presidio making sure that we're not throwing a wrench in the process so that we can still move forward but I asked one board member and I know I can only speak for myself I feel a responsibility you know I I have to say that I had to spend a lot of years correcting the lack of any inappropriate information that was given to my son I had to go to his school and sit down and listen to his call his students next to him ask him whether his family members were slaves because our curriculum was centered on if you are black then you were associated with slavery so we have an opportunity
083to correct and to and to really receive information so that perhaps we can we can protect some families from what I believe could have been irreparable harm I was fortunate enough that I was able to teach African American history in my home I'm not sure that a lot of families are able to do that and so I do feel a responsibility here and I would support the motion so before I take a vote I do have a question and it's really on logistics of this you're with postponing until April 4th is there a possibility to have a because there's lots of really good information on board docks as to who has what comments were provided the process that was used but I think there is a wish by members of this board to take a
084deeper dive as to the content of the ten titles that are here I don't believe that in the next few days these board members are going to be able to actually review all ten titles what would be very helpful and I don't know if this is possible dr. durán and dr. Presidio but is there somebody who can put together a chart that has all ten titles and the scoring associated with with the diversity and equity parameters that dr. Presidio you were indicating the new staff member looked at with their software so that we have a that this board can have the comfort of knowing whether or not or the level or in depth of diversity of diversity of learning materials in these kind these ten titles does that make sense makes sense I'm not sure
085how long it would take to put that information together we are talking about ten different texts that we need to look at and I'd hesitate to commit to a timeline without conferring with the language arts coordinator on that but obviously we want to expedite the process so if that's the request of the board we would put it together as soon as practicable what is the deadline by which you have to contract with the various vendors to have books in hand for each of the teachers before they leave for the summer well there's a number of factors that go into that some which involve my department many of which involve the office of procurement so again without committing them to a certain timeline I'd like to try if possible to have a decision from the board
086within the next two weeks miss Hines if you don't mind thank you maybe because my feeling is I'm willing to go with giving it another two weeks and to look at what we can get maybe on Monday night you know whatever you have I think there is a lot of information here and maybe it's just a matter of pulling it into a format that is a little bit easier for us too and for the community to say this is on our agenda for the work session and we'll have a PowerPoint or something where it's a little more digestible publicly for everyone and whatever additional information you have about diversity and all that would be helpful personally I think you know basal readers is that's what that's you know are not the whole curriculum we know
087that right I mean textbooks are usually only a part of the curriculum and so I still think we need to do a much larger we need to have much larger conversation with the community about our curriculum and our professional development our teacher training on cultural and historical accuracy and respect but I think if this gives board members and members of the public a little more comfort to wait a couple of weeks I could support that so with that I'm going to take the vote and the motion I'm good mr. Wilson would you like what restate your I guess madam chair I'd be curious to what you and mr. net kopacz what your thoughts are because we're there eight of us a third of the board is missing so I think rather than have the potential
088for a deadlock I think I'd like to hear before I make a motion so what is your opinion I guess is what I'm saying on the potential for a motion I haven't made a motion but I think I think we I will be happy to support a motion to postpone by two weeks but I don't think that required me to say this before I raised my hand no I was asking for a vote so miss Keyes Gemara or you missed first mr. Wilson are you planning on making a motion or shall I ask miss Keyes Kamara to make the motion to postpone by two weeks I would also like to know mr. Koufax his opinion as well all right it was my eye I think different people have changed their mind as we sat here
089at the board table when I made the motion I understood that we were going to move ahead with this and so as I listened to people I think we have a process I think they process is a good one I think the process has been going on for months I think if we as a board feel like we can make any inroads on a process in the next two weeks I'll be happy to support it I don't know I I think it's a larger we have other questions here for a more extensive topic on this at another time because I feel like the process that we use is one that we've used before and that's why it was originally on the agenda I do understand why people wanted to make comments and and I and
090I and I get that and I appreciate that but I think those topics are ones for will require greater discussion than what we can quickly get through Monday evening and then and whatever dr. Presidio he seems you know I know he'll get to us whatever he can but it's a it's a lot of it's a lot of things condensed into four four four what I think the board has good reasons to want to review these type these types of issues that were brought forth at this table but I don't know if this is the right way to do it okay I would make the motion the madam chair that's appropriate now so the motion that you were making mr. Wilson is I would make the motion madam chair that the board receive delay the vote
091on this matter tonight and that it receives a briefing on this topic at the next available time on a work session and then followed by an appropriate time on the regular meeting schedule to have this vote I think it is be helpful I think we've heard too much tonight both from the diocese for our fellow port members to to vote on this now it would seem very premature and I think it would allow the public to weigh in and have input to each of their board members and perhaps to provide us additional information so I that would be my motion to delay the vote tonight to allow for where you think at a work session and for questions following that at the next available time at a regular schedule so we actually need you to
092have a date certain for delaying the vote on this so may I can i reformat that a bit for you well I would say madam chair since you create the schedule and and at weekly meetings in chairs make the the agenda I would leave that up to your discretion if you if you think that that's possible after one work session next week to have a vote the next board meeting then okay but that seems that like a very compressed timeframe to me Thank You mr. Wilson I'm not sure that was quite emotion I'm going to try to be succinct in restating this and then I will see if there if this is the motion you would like to make and if you do not want to make the motion I will see if anybody else
093wants to make the motion the motion is to postpone the adoption of the basal English the high school English basal instructional materials until April 4th the next which is the next board meeting and to schedule a one-hour work session to discuss the materials that are to be approved at that date do I have a second seconded by Ms Keyes Gemara all those in favor yes I thought we had all spoken to that motion quite extensively but we can go ahead and speak more to it mr. Wilson as the maker of the motion would you like to speak to it any more thank you thank you Miss Keith Kamara is the seconder of the motion would you like to speak more to it no I think I've expressed myself thank you very much miss McLaughlin you
094would like to speak the warm invitation to speak I the reason I would like to speak ever so briefly is because there has been a lot of confusion about what we're gonna expect dr. presidio to bring and I presume based on the calendar that it may be as soon as Monday so I wanted as someone who spoke to this proposal to just simply say I think if staff brings a summary of what the Committee's recommendation had been I was reading through what my appointee had said and there was consensus on some things there were a few things where they were a little bit conflicted and and had some debate I think if we just get that summary in a public setting which is what our work sessions are it's not just for the board's benefit
095but the public and then have that sort of digested presentation of what the committee did and it raises awareness to to the committee's work and why the board would then be confident moving forward with the April 4th vote so I wanted to speak to it because I was concerned that dr. Presidio and perhaps dr. Bray ran started to worry a little bit about how massive of an expectation was from the board I think ms hynes said it best it's just compressing and summarizing a lot of what was posted and let's just have a public discussion at a work session thank you thank you Miss McLaughlin miss Strauss please yes I just wanted I believe our only opportunity for a meeting is on Monday evening which has a full agenda already and I just thought since
096the public can't see what we're seeing the titles of the books in question is one called no red ink which is a 9 through 12 textbook my perspectives by Pearson 9 through 12 iti T which is an intervention support textbook another AP Advanced Placement course writing America language and composition and contest text another AP textbook literature and introduction to writing and reading and writing for an elective course glencoe speech for an elective course on journalism matters an elective course the art of public speaking an elective course on inside reporting an elective course the art of watching film so these are the books that the committee has is asked that they be purchased I would hope that we would have multiple copies of the books for people to I mean if that's really what people are
097interested in seeing what they look like so that they can be available I guess in the school board office as of tomorrow and people can come through and and page through and see as much as as you can read I think that's fair Thanks Thank You mistress dr. brand can I just ask you to wait one moment until Miss palchik has a comment please thank you it's more of a question in the process I this was answer why I had to step away so I appreciate having me hopefully possibility to review the recommended materials I guess my question would be coming in at this point in the process are we able to look at alternatives is there a chance to be able to to see if something is not appropriate what would be another option
098I guess I'd like to know so if we say a text is not appropriate then then what comes next in that process then according to our policies and regulations would reconvene the committee and the committee would begin their work again and that is a months-long process so we would not have instructional materials at the beginning of the school year to address the new state standards most likely hold on once again miss Patrick are you finished I'm happy to hear from the makers of the motion I completely agree and support the intent and I guess I'm just trying to better understand it might have been explained when I walked away if we're looking and I think we're looking to address the whole process but for the specific one at this point I guess if you could
099restate the goal of the additional two weeks and what we hope to be able to do during that time I guess that's the question I'm not saying yeah you're Nate just wanted to get that in dr. Brian do you want to respond and then I guess I would love to ask the makers of the motion and if you already responded I would love it if you could reiterate that I would so Miss Powell check the idea of postponing by two weeks was raised so that people could better under and how the instructional materials that are that make up this package of materials and there are 10 10 titles how they are reflective or not reflective of the diversity goals that have been expressed not only by speakers here but more importantly by the work that
100this board has done on equity and the work that dr. durán and others are doing so it's really to better understand what people are putting their hands up in support of on April 4th we have been told by dr. Presidio that April 4th is about the last state that we could do this and ensure that the materials are available for next year and I appreciate I guess my my question I think I'm understating the process correctly and my only pauses for me if I get a chance to review these and I say these materials are not reflective I don't really have any choice other than to continue through the process this year unless we don't decide not to have materials when we start the school year I'm just it my understanding it correctly I get
101it reviewing the materials I look forward to reviewing them and at this point the only thing we're asking for as a board is to be able to understand how reflective or not non reflective these materials are of the diversity we want to show in our materials but we just to be very clear with us with the public that we will not necessarily have the opportunity within those two weeks to make any changes to those chosen materials I just want to clarify this step away I think that's what I heard and I just want to be clear if I'm understanding this correctly I have miss Evans in queue and then I will go to dr. Bray brand and then okay let's just very quickly I wanted to support what mrs. Strauss said about having the materials
102available I don't know that we need to have one per board member but if we could have a couple of copies in the school board office and then available when we have the the work session itself is that doable okay I'm seeing not so that's all I wanted to say thank you thank you miss Evans I have dr. Bray Brian I'd this may help the board some you try to listen as a superintendent and understand what the board is trying to say and I think I went to a school district for a few years and got to see other districts outside of Fairfax County there are some districts that have textbooks that are 10 15 20 years old out of cycle Fairfax County has always been on top of every adoption cycle with a process
103that's been defined for years and years but I think what I heard tonight is to pause for just a week to make sure you're comfortable with what's in it if there's something that strikes you so strongly or the community to not move forward we won't move forward and we'll use the existing textbook resources we have whether they're aligned with the new standards or not hopefully the additional time to pause and we can find time I think working with madam chair to find time in the work session to bring you a thumbnail sketch to have the the materials available in the school board office and to get your comfort level in a place that you're willing to move forward with the process and still meet the goals so we may not be able to replace and
104find something if you don't like it but we can give you that extra moment of time to reflect and make sure that you feel comfortable before we move forward with those books and and that is what I want to do for the board and the community and if dr. Presidio and we didn't have time to chat but if he if he has shared which she just has that we can still make it work with an April and early April approval then I'm more than willing to support that and support and work with you all to have that work session discussion on Monday so with that I will call for the vote the motion on the table is to postpone the adoption of the high school English instructional materials until April 4th and schedule a work
105session a 1 our work session for March 25th to discuss the materials that are scheduled for adoption on April 4th all those in favor and that vote is unanimous with mr. moon miss Schultz miss Darin at Koufax and mr. McElveen away from the table I now call on Miss Evans for emotion I move that the board confirm the separations for the period beginning February 1st 2019 and ending February 28th 2019 is there a second second by miss Hines miss Evans would you like to speak to your motion I know I think this was to give miss Keyes gamar an opportunity to speak miss Hines would you like to speak to your second no thank you miss Keyes Kamara would you like to speak to your motion hold on a second thank you we still have
106seven in the room please go okay see thank you madam chair I did want to pull this also from the consent agenda because this is the information that the board receives with respect to folks that are separated from FCPS and I wanted to make sure I publicly asked about the breakdown of these numbers and dr. Brandt I think I've asked this before and what I'm looking at I don't know if they can put the document up on the screen for the public basically gives us numbers of folks who have stepped down or for whatever reason separated from groups of employees leadership team principals assistant principals both supervisors and cetera but is it possible dr. Barron that this report also include demographic information yes that's something we could do okay I part of the reason I'm
107asking this question is I know that we are working on the equity profile and I think that this could be possibly included as we we've had a number of questions from the community with respect to our hiring etc and as we look at how people are separating it would be helpful to see whether there are any patterns that we need to be concerned about thank you I don't have any other board members that have indicated they'd like to speak to this so I would miss mcLaughlin I just wanted to express my appreciation to my colleague miss Karen Keith Kamara there are times with the 12 of us that we have a consent agenda and thankfully with 12 eyes 12 pairs of eyes people end up identifying agenda items that might benefit from not just the
108board having an action vote on it versus consent agenda but again providing I think a little more elevated public awareness on some of these decisions we made so I just simply wanted to a say how much I appreciated her doing that and I'm supportive of her desire to get the type of information she's described and to also just make sure the public understood that there are these benefits when some items that might be a very easy vote but when they go to consent agenda we don't speak to them and then unfortunately then we don't necessarily help raise public awareness so thank you mrs. mcLaughlin so with that I will take the vote all those that the board confirms the separations for the period beginning February 1 2019 and ending February 28 2019 all those in
109favor and that is unanimous with Miss Schultz away from the table mr. moon away from the table mr. McElveen away from the table and mr. Wilson away from the table our adopted rules of parliamentary procedure Robert's Rules provides for consent agenda listing several items for approval of the board by a single motion many items listed have gone through board review and documentation has been provided to all board members and the public in advance items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board member prior to the meeting 6.01 board wart board award the contract for the boiler replacement @y anoke elementary school to the lowest response have been responsible bidder boiler and furnace cleaners Inc Hurley company division in the amount of three hundred and ten thousand two hundred dollars and
110authorized the division superintendent or the assistant superintendent of facilities and transportation services to execute and administer the contract on behalf of the school board 6.02 board award a contract for the Lea high school than synthetic turf field replacement project to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder gt-r turf Inc in the amount of four hundred and seventy seven thousand dollars and authorized the division superintendent or the assistant superintendent of facilities and transportation services to execute deliver and administer the contract on behalf of the school is there any objection to approving the consent agenda hearing and seeing no objection the consent agenda is approved new business the following our new business agenda items there will not be a vote tonight on these items but action is scheduled for a future meeting 7.01 award the contract for the
111boiler replacement at Fair Hill elementary school to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder and authorized the division superintendent or the assistant superintendent of facilities and transportation services to execute and administer at the contract on behalf of the school board 7.02 award a contract for the Westfield High School synthetic turf field installation project to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder and authorize the division superintendent or the assistant superintendent of facilities and transportation services to execute deliver and administer the contract on behalf of the school board item 8 superintendent matter next on the agenda is superintendent matters and I call on dr. brave Hren Thank You chairman Corbett Sanders I wanted to let you know that Ronnie Taylor our director of food and nutrition services for MCPS was named a winner of the 2019 silver plate award
112by the International foodservice Manufacturers Association in the elementary and secondary schools category mr. Taylor joined FCPS in 2015 and as you all well know has been responsible for a massive overhaul and our approach to food and nutrition in our schools for expanding salad bars for example adding a line of entrees salads and wraps and really doing a lot more with summer feeding for our schools with kids that and families that need that he came to FCPS from Southern California where he was instrumental in expanding the farm-to-table school lunchroom movement has brought that spirit here to Fairfax the silver plate Awards go to individuals in one of nine categories of food service management and we're certainly proud of mr. Taylor for this recognition we had 12 kids who earned grand prize awards at the 64th annual
113Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fair held March 15th through the 17th at Robinson Secondary School I appreciate dr. Ivy heading instructional services as deputy superintendent being there to see these great winners as were other members of our leadership team winning individual grand prizes included computational biology and bioinformatics David tumor of Hayfield high sick and Eric school for embedded systems we had Rachel manage reshawna Sarah and DJ Betty of TJ for energy chemical we had Kane yang of TJ for microbiology we had Sarah Sian Mia Mar Burgos Rosario and Sachi supa clang of sect of Hayfield secondary school physics and astronomy we had Luke Marini of Lake Braddock secondary school and Justin Wang of Schwindt of Chantilly high for robotics and intelligent machines we had Jerry way of Oakton high school and biomedical engine earing
114justin hue of madison high school a real diversity of schools getting our top prizes at this Science Fair we're really proud anyone who's ever done a science project which I did as a kid it's a lot of work and we're really proud of their efforts so that's all I have to share tonight thank you very much thank you dr. Braverman next on the agenda is board reports and I call on Ms Heinz for an update from the forum held earlier this evening thank you madam chair just just to let the public know if you're not aware we have forum meetings and we have them right here in this building across the hall on the same night that we have our regular this regular business meeting twice a month well we don't always have it but
115when we have a forum meeting it's right here right before this meeting and the agendas are public so what we do in our forum meetings although it is an informal type of meeting it is public and there is an agenda and the public is welcome to comment and to be there we don't do anything we don't make any decisions at our forum meetings that are secret so tonight at our public forum meeting the board approved a motion brought by mr. McElveen to direct the boards Governance Committee in collaboration with the superintendent to develop a clear consistent policy for excusing students from school for advocacy and or civic engagement activities so the Governance Committee will take that on please watch for governance committee agendas over the next few months because those meetings are also public thank
116you miss Hines next on the agenda is board matters and I call on mrs. Strauss thank you I would just like to congratulate Adam artis sure who was a third-place finisher in the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search Awards he is won a prize of a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the last 30 years TJ has had 25 students who have been selected for the top 40 honors and only 10 students have made ten so this is an unusual honor for our students so congratulations to to Adam also like to congratulate again all of our students participated the Science and Engineering Fair and to our national board certified teachers we recognized tonight thank you the Shults yes just briefly I do have a comment about thanking some of the parents who came and spoke earlier
117this evening about twice exceptional students students with disabilities and the stories that have been in the public eye around restraint and seclusion please know that this board is taking these issues very very seriously and working with the superintendent and staff in particular one of the comments had to do about discipline of students with disabilities and the disproportionate rate of 14 percent of our student population but forty percent of students who wind up in a discipline process it is something that I know in particular miss McLaughlin and I have been rather dogged about as well as some of the other board members I am I and I continue to be concerned about the disproportionality in our discipline process not only of students with disabilities but of boys which are at you know an infinite ratio compared
118to girls and of minority students so if you happen to be a student with disability and you're a boy you're gonna wind up in the disability or in the discipline process at a rate exponential to appear and if you add a minority student on top of that you're really in trouble and so that is something that you know I personally am passionate about and be continuing to work with the division superintendent and division staff particularly DSS to to keep addressing I do want to thank the white Oaks entry PTA and community for inviting us miss McLaughlin and I as we share the school to a forum with the parents and with the staff was excellent they asked really probative questions and it was a wonderful evening and also Willow Springs my tours of my schools
119have restarted and I want to thank the Willow Springs staff and principal for inviting me for a wonderful conversation and as we go forward with the rest of our board meetings I'm I do implore my colleagues that we were to have a balanced agenda that has action items I know it's difficult as the chair and vice chair work with the superintendent but you know in the course of a year we have some board meetings that go until you know one o'clock in the morning and we have others that end you know very early earlier if I stop talking but I haven't had any board minutes for a while so I'll just take a few more minutes but I do I do implore us to continue to work towards the work of the board and and
120elevate certainly forum topics a little bit more publicly while they are quote-unquote a public meeting before this meeting they are not on camera there is an audio tape that eventually gets published as an mp3 on our website if you can ever find it but forum topics that wind up spending a lot of taxpayer money or for rain off of our regular board work I think require maybe a little bit more elevation into the public eye rather than getting on the agenda and and then moved off into some committee work so I do express concern about that thank you miss Evans I thank you because I'm following the Schultz I certainly agree about elevating the level of the forums and this impact is is something that we've discussed and the governance is taking a look at
121that and so I hope we can move forward with that and in in a speedy way so so thank you for raising that mrs. Schultz I want to thank the the many PTA PTO presidents who join me in conversation taking a time out of your Sunday afternoon too it was a great conversation from across mason district so I want to thank the members who came out and to also say that we will do it again make sure that we can continue the conversation throughout the district it was great to see the just world Fair Festival at Annandale High School a couple of Fridays ago just a marvelous marvelous community service that was showcased there as well as food and performances so kudos to to Annandale for putting putting that on I also wanted to say
122it was it was lovely to talk to a group of students that visited our area from Suffolk University in Boston and we're particularly interested in learning about the justice high school name change and I appreciated the teachers and student and miss Keyes Gemara for joining in that conversation with some some very dedicated students students dedicated to social justice so that was that was an excellent conversation - and unless I just want to thank Lynn Forrest elementary school to invite me to be one of their guest readers that their spring into reading is always wonderful to join your classrooms for that kind of event and see that the wonderful children and teachers and and all that's going on in the classroom miss Keith Kumar thank you I want to follow two of my colleagues actually I
123want to reiterate something miss Schultz says with respect to the recent reports on restraints we are indeed taking these concerns very seriously and the board is will be meeting and involved in work sessions and that sort of thing to make sure that we get to the bottom of this problem we are not we are very aware of how parents feel about this and we want to make sure that we can properly handle this by doing a very deep dive beyond that I'm not going to say much I know we have to go back into closed session I did enjoy visiting Groveton Elementary last week I was quite amazed at their mindfulness program it was very relaxing I actually needed it and I'm glad to hear that the staff as well as the students can benefit
124from that so Bravo to growth in elementary miss McLaughlin so I will preface by saying that since mr. moon is my seatmate and we were at several things together he said for me to speak for both of us so I just want to begin with first saying after our very robust discussion about the high school English basal instruction materials adoption that as noted earlier Jason Morgan was my appointee and was really a wonderful volunteer to this committee that met multiple times over many months and sent very detailed summary notes so I will be sharing those with my colleagues as well as when we prepare for Monday but truly appreciate the time and dedication that staff and the committee members did as mr. Schultz noted the White Oaks Elementary PTA invited us to come speak with
125them for well over an hour and it was very enjoyable to talk with them on a variety of issues including elementary school parents concerns about screen time and what this means with FCPS on I also had the pleasure on st. Patrick's Day to join both mr. moon mr. McElveen and miss Strauss at the region science fairs miss Strauss noted earlier there was well over a thousand students and family members proud family members staff all there to honor what was just an incredible array of scientific talent and certainly represents the tremendous talent that our students have and what they bring in the hard work and I want also want to give a shout out to the many corporations that support our students provide them with honorary Awards some were well over a thousand dollars so that
126is very much appreciated I also had the pleasure of attending Lake Braddock's annual pre-assessment concert which is led by director Michael Liu Liu Lee and Jason Miller it was fantastic as someone who is not musically inclined I was a singer it just to hear the instrumentals was really powerful and a beautiful reminder of the talent again of our students and dr. bravery and the commitment of this school division to enable our students to excel at such a high level with dedicated music teachers so that was lovely that same night the Lake Braddock PTA also sponsored one of our central office staff members who is an expert on drug and alcohol awareness and prevention and specifically the topic was on vaping and zhu ling and so i will be sending out a message on that to
127my community but i wanted to spotlight it again for those who are watching that vaping and julie is a national epidemic and i'm using that word with intentionality it is something that didn't exist when many of us growing up who are now parents and when you didn't have that lived experience it's harder to look for and help your children but it is very serious nicotine addiction from these vaping and julián devices is very very serious so please become aware informed and look to our schools as part to let them know if you're seeing this happening among your children and their friends also I just want to make sure that my community knows that this coming Saturday dr. Bray brand and I will be at Robinson secondary school for a free performance and I invite any
128and all who would like to come it is called a birra and the mountain and it's being sponsored by our Fairfax County Special Education PTA along with the Conner strong foundation and it is a wonderful fairy tale play written by students performed by students who themselves have had their own challenges but it's about inclusion and celebrating everything that we know makes students special and their abilities not their disabilities at 17 actors student actors and really it's it's a wonderful way to come out it's a free performance and that was something I sent out to my community and then I did also want to make the community aware that Woodson is sponsoring a wonderful speaker who is a Olympic competitor Olympic coach at the Rio games he is a former addict who overcame his drug addiction
129and so he is a national speaker he will be at Woodson next Wednesday March 27th at 7 p.m. it's a free event open to the public but again very much trying to help us talk about teen substance abuse and prevention as well as a story of inspiration of people getting back on track and finally I just want to let my community know that I will have a budget town hall for the Braddock District for upcoming FY 20 but and that will be next Thursday evening at 7 p.m. and supervisor cooks Braddock district office thank you miss McLaughlin mr. moon yeah I think mrs. McLaughlin has used up all my time but I'm gonna still mention about a mrs. mcLaughlin and I both participating attending the avid program presentation at Twain middle school there were yesterday
130wasn't it yesterday [Music] in class the class and seeing what's happening without all the teachers basically invite other school board members if you haven't been to other classes please go as far as the student piece hours I'm gonna give that to mr. Mac urban to talk about later but one thing that very noteworthy for me to mention is the sin of elementary school PTA meeting that I was invited to come and see you know I've been to many PTA meetings but this was the first time that I actually saw a student performance being included as a part of their PTA program right their death gave not only students an opportunity to perform in the presence of many parents but also parents to see the student performance then or saw war parents to come to the
131PTA meeting and she don't get to see what the others I want you talked about a PTA meetings as well thank you mr. moon mr. mcavee thank you madam chair sorry for the coughing fence over here hopefully this is on the mend so just very briefly I'll run through the things that I've done not in detail but it's been great to join colleagues so many of these events at fan quest at Lake Braddock just World Festival at Annandale the Peace Awards with several colleagues in Fairfax the fashion show at Fairfax High School the student demand students demand action event where Talia and I presented on the one-year anniversary of the student walkouts attended international nights at both Lee High School in West spring filled our science fair for the region last weekend Springfield Franconia area
132band mentorship fair at TJ yesterday with mr. moon si si at Edison today with dr. Bray brand a very stimulating discussion earlier today with girls who code at Langley and then I'm also with the Boy Scout Troop 987 in Vienna speaking to them on the Constitution so it's been a very busy time of year and Spring Break is around the corner mr. patchak thank you he was able to attend several meetings and I just want to highlight a couple that really stood out last week to PTA meetings I want to thank facility staff for joining us and dr. zuluaga to speak to one of my most overcrowded schools shri wood elementary school to start a really thoughtful and informative conversation about how we address capacity what the school be able to do is just in
133the short turn but then what the boundary process will be as we go along so I think there were great questions and more information is coming on that and miss Evans and I were Woodburn for their beautiful large annual PTA meeting held close to one of the communities over in Annandale and we had interpreter Spanish English a huge turnout they had a potluck and events for kids and really want to highlight as one of the ways when we try to engage larger parts of our community and PTA meetings what burned did a really excellent job that evening and also in addition to joining mr. mcavee n-- the n-double a-c-p this week miss Keith Kumar and I were there held a budget Town Hall down in Franconia and I think the ability to have more of
134these town halls with geographically but also different portions of our community and questions that come up I think is critical and when we do those together schools and County I think they were able to have a more fulfilling conversation and one very special thing was able to do is as many of you have noted and if she walked away but mr. Arnett Koufax tries to have us really address some of the dangerous behavior we see in people driving around school buses so I want to thank staff who helped us make the life of at least one family much safer this past week in helping with our stop arms and and helping look at bus routes and how how we address that and we have a lot of work to do but really important reminder it
135is not legal to drive around a stopped school bus and people especially children could get hurt so I appreciate the community and really the community engagement and advocacy around that I mean coming up next week is our Providence district joint schools and County budget meeting it's going to be held on Tuesday March 26 at 7 p.m. at the Providence community center with our staff on schools and county both presenting and supervisor Smith and I will be there and then finally I will have my next office hours on April 4th so thank you and good evening thank you Miss palchik miss Hines I will pass tonight okay then I will be very brief I want to I've attended many of the same events as my colleagues so I won't go through all of them however I
136do want to call attention to the collaborative work we will be doing with the board of supervisors so after our work session on Monday night we will be meeting Tuesday afternoon for a joint work session with the board of supervisors on budget and we will also have the Economic Development Authority there to talk about how we can collaboratively work with the Board of Supervisors to support economic development and workforce development additionally I just want to give a couple of shout outs of great opportunities for people to see FCPS at its finest and that includes our student leadership cohort will have their mock forum on the 25th of March on the 26th arch the Mount Vernon pyramid chorus we'll be performing and on the 27th of March it will be March Madness at West Potomac High
137School which is a lot of fun and then we will be at an SBA next weekend with that this meeting is adjourned or actually no we are going into closed session so this part of the meeting is over but I will make a motion to convene closed meeting the board will now make a motion to go to closed meeting to discuss and consider personnel matters specifically the assignment performance and/or disciplining of specific public officers and specific public employees pursuant to section 2.2 37:11 a1 of the code of virginia to consult with legal counsel regarding litigation and specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel pursuant to section 2.2 37:11 a-seven and a-eight of the code of virginia and student and discuss student safety and discuss and consider disciplinarian other matters concerning
138one or more students pursuant to section 2.2 37:11 a2 of the code of virginia do i have a motion motion made by miss Strauss seconded by Ms Schultz all those in favor that motion is unanimous with mr. Wilson away from the table we are now in close