FCPS School Board Meeting - June 22, 2017

001you the board members come to the table please this June 22nd 2017 regular meeting of the Fairfax County School Board will now come to our order please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance a moment of silence in the performance of the National Anthem by the harmony singers from Spring Hill elementary school under the direction of Deborah Rudd [Music] Oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] Oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] beautifully done thank you so much like say thank you our Spring Hill students and principal William Hulk thank you parents who were bringing your talented students to sing to us tonight in order to comply with section 2.2 - 37 12 D of the Code of Virginia it's necessary for the board to certify that since the Fairfax County School Board convened a closed meeting on June 22nd 2017

002to the best of each members knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements and only such business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered by the board during the closed meeting do I have a motion moved by miss Paul check and seconded by miss Hines all those in favor and that is unanimous a few announcements before we begin tonight's meeting item 4.0 - agreement with fh fur for McLane High School has been removed from tonight's agenda if you would like to review a copy of the agenda and the 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

003the upcoming board meetings meaning board meetings the meeting also is being streamed live online select school board from the full menu then click on the watch live button on the school board meetings web page please remember to turn off or silence your cell phone we now go to item 2.0 for Virginia School Board Association Business Award and I call in mr. Wilson for Marshall thank you madam chair Virginia tire & auto has partnered with the Career and Technical Education team at FCPS for several years naturally with the automotive technology program as the alignment couldn't be better throughout those years and still today they provide field trips and hands-on experience intern opportunities for students at 13 of their storefront locations across Northern Virginia the intern program is a four to eight week opportunity and as an

004intern students experience all aspects of the business including the call center customer intake workflow management vehicle diagnosis and repair parts management and vehicle delivery soft skills like resume building interview training and practice and job cetera shadow' opportunities also are provided Virginia tire & auto has taken their partnership a step further by providing interns with product installation demonstrations as well as industry training from the tire Industry Association furthering their knowledge and skills about safety and regulations impacting the industry this partnership has expanded the opportunities for students support of the FCPS automotive programs connection to business and industry and has seen 20-plus interns become employees of Virginia tire and auto making it a truly authentic Workforce Development Partnership the efforts of the Virginia tire and auto team to establish grow and sustain such a meaningful and relevant

005partnership that directly supports the work of our automotive classroom teachers is to be commended thank you to the entire team at Virginia tire and auto and congratulations on being named a Virginia School Boards Association 2017 Business Honor Roll recipient I now move approval of the following resolution whereas the public schools and local businesses are an integral part of this community and whereas many local businesses play a crucial role in supporting our schools and whereas the economic health of our community state and nation depends on a strong public school system and whereas collaboration between local public schools and local businesses strengthen schools and the business community alike by providing a well-trained and highly educated workforce and whereas an excellent public school system is vital to the quality of life in this community and fundamental to preserving

006a strong democratic society now and in the future and whereas Virginia tire and auto employees have dedicated their time energy and resources in support of increasing career awareness student engagement and real connections between school and work therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board names Virginia tire and auto to the 2017 Virginia School Boards Association business honor 'el showing appreciation for the firm's ongoing support of this community's public schools your work has aided the community in focusing on the goal of providing the best public schools we can for every child who attends them here a second second by mrs. Schultz mr. Wilson would you like to speak to your washing madam chair I think that the what I what I just read describes very well the Virginia tire and autos commitment to the

007public school system so I have nothing further to add Michelle I'm just going to say that I'm proud of business businesses in our community like this that are not just the career path readiness business partners but also the Career and Technical Education readiness path and that makes me exceptionally proud because we need good jobs and this is the type of demonstration from a organization in our community that's both supports students while they're in school and then creates career opportunities for them when when they leave us thank you and would then I'll take a vote on the resolution all those in favor raise your hand and that passes unanimously at this time I'd like to invite leaders and staff from Virginia tire and auto who have so generously supported FCPS and are here this evening to

008join me and others at the Dyess for a picture with the board [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I am 2.05 Virginia School Board Association Business Award and I call on mr. Annette Koufax promotion thank you madam chair crop Medcalf has provided over a decade of support to heating ventilation air conditioning and refrigeration or hvac and our and skilled trades program at Edison Academy over the span of those years they have supplied guest speakers for the Academy's Career Service speaker series they have promoted HVAC in our careers and our courses to prospective students and parents by participating in our fall and spring open house events and the apprenticeships and skilled workforce Career Fair helping to educate parents about the outstanding career opportunities students may have in this career they've assisted with recruiting other skilled trades organizations to participate

009in the annual apprenticeships and skilled workforce career fair they've connected students to well-paying apprenticeships and growth-oriented jobs at crop Medcalf they've donated necessary materials and inquit and equipment to the HVAC program and they participated in professional development activities with students by providing interview interviewers for events I want to thank the entire team at crop MadCat for giving your time efforts and for supporting student learning and student career decisions you are now a member of the 2017 school Virginia School Boards Association business Honor Roll and I now move to approve the following resolution whereas public schools and local businesses are an integral part of this community and whereas many local businesses play a crucial role in supporting our schools and whereas the economic health of our community state and nation depends on a strong public school

010system and whereas collaboration between local public schools and local businesses strengthen schools and the business community alike by providing a well trained and highly educated workforce and whereas an excellent public school system is vital to the quality of life in this community and fundamental to preserving a strong democratic society now and in the future and whereas crop Medcalf employees have dedicated their time energy and resources in support of increasing student achievement and career awareness at Edison high school therefore be it resolved that the fairfax county school board names crop Medcalf to one of the 2017 virginia school boards association business honor roll showing appreciation for the firm's ongoing support of this community's public schools your work has aided this community in focusing on the goal of providing the best public schools we can for every

011child who attends them Sara second seconded by mrs. Corbett Sanders mr. net Koufax would you like to speak to your emotions yes ma'am I just want to thank Medcalf for your very generous and long-term support of Edison Academy its community partners like crop Medcalf that go the extra mile not only to donate monetarily but to contribute directly to success success of our individual students through by providing internships and by launching careers we look forward to your continuing partnership and we thank you so much for what you've done to date this is a Corbett and would you like to speak to your second yes I would like to echo miss Taryn add Koufax's remarks because it truly is a remarkable experience to go and observe the students taking the HVAC courses at Edison High School they're

012enthusiastic they are professional and when they walk out the door at the end of their at graduation they actually are workforce ready and we very much appreciate the care and attention that you offer to all of our students that take advantage of the HVAC courses at Edison so thank you very much and you guys are a wonderful model for other businesses in our community and I would now like to invite the leaders and staff from crop Medcalf up to the gaius to join us for a picture I beg your pardon everyone we need to have you come back to the dot we need to come back and vote I don't think this I don't think this will be a problem but all those in favor of the resolution raise your hand and that is unanimous

013we crop that Metcalf [Applause] I am 2.06 Virginia School Board Association Business Award Capital One and I call on mrs. Straus thank you with pleasure I get to read this resolution thanking Capital One Capital One has been a partnership leader in Fairfax County since consolidating headquarters operations in the county in 2000 their support for Fairfax County Public Schools has impacted regions individual schools and individuals especially in every case students highlights of their support include employee support for literacy math and science ninth Read Across America day field trips and extensive mentoring and tutoring at Pine Springs Elementary School in Falls Church culminating with the honor of receiving the FCPS 2003-2004 partner of the year they helped lead the local effort to develop finance park with Junior Achievement in FCPS instructional services in 2006 first with a

014mobile park and then in 2010 celebrating the opening of the brick-and-mortar finance park with a contract of support through 2020 bonus they've been funding and staffing to extensive library read designs one with Glen forest Elementary in 2008 and another at Mount Vernon Woods in 2012 Capital One has been collaborating with FCPS activities and athletics partnerships offices in several high schools in 2010 on a pilot program called game nights Capital One was a founding donor to the foundation for Fairfax County Public Schools in 2011 a senior executive served on the Foundation Board from 2013 to 2016 they developed marketing materials pro bono for the foundation startup phase and they've been past sponsors of the annual FCPS honors awards ceremony they provide a considerable amount of seed money to establish opportunity neighborhoods in the Mount Vernon area

015which offers young people cradle to career pathways summer internships scholarships and an imagination library Capital One has been partnering with Bailey's upper elementary school for the Arts and Sciences to support Big Brothers Big Sisters new mentoring initiative and have supported Read Across America day they are - they support the Genesee works workforce development partnership with Fairfax County Public Schools they developed and are currently running the Capital One Middle School coders program in eight to ten week after school program where students learn to code and upon successful completion receive a laptop the Capital One coders have supported students at Cooper Glasgow Jackson Kilmer Po sirot and Holmes middle school as well as Cedar Lane School as heartfelt thank-you goes out to Capital One from this school board and on behalf of all the FCPS staff members

016you've supported and students that you've helped therefore I would like to read this resolution whereas public schools and local businesses are an integral part of this community and whereas many local businesses play a crucial role in supporting our schools and whereas the economic health of our community state and nation depends on a strong public school system and whereas collaboration between the local public schools and local businesses strengthen schools and the business community alike by providing a well-trained and highly educated workforce and whereas an excellent public school system is vital to the quality of life in this community and fundamental to preserving a strong democratic society now and in the future when whereas Capital One employees have dedicated their time energy and tangible resources in support of the district strategic mission increasing student awareness achievement and

017career readiness throughout Fairfax County Public Schools supported the foundation for Fairfax County Public Schools County government and not-for-profits aligned with FCPS therefore be it resolved at the Fairfax County School Board names Capitol 1 to the 2017 Virginia School Boards Association business honor roll showing appreciation for the firm's ongoing support of the community's public schools York has aided this community in focusing on the goal of providing the best public schools week and for every child who attends them zero seconds seconded by mrs. Paul check mrs. Straus would you like to speak to your Russian yes Capital One has been a major community sponsor for 17 years every year they have graciously added to the schools and the programs that they support and on behalf of all of us we are very grateful and thankful for all

018the work of Capital One and as we have watched the new headquarters grow and the buildings get taller I suspect they will continue to grow and their partnership and support for this community that is their home and for the children of many of their own employees so thank you very much Capital One this context would you have to speak to your second yes I just want to agree with mr. Ellis as one of our strong partners in Providence district and in the county we are so grateful I know students from Pine spring to middle school in the high school have gotten to take advantage of this wonderful partnership and we hope to continue years to come and really appreciate partners in the community who help support our schools in ways that we cannot so thank

019you and with that I will call for the vote all those in favor please raise your hand and that is unanimous the motion passes and if there are people here from Capital One tonight who we are honoring if you will please come forward so you can prove it I present you with your plaque and publicly thank you [Applause] now we turn to item 2.07 resolution honoring Laura Chu and I call on mr. McElveen for the resolution thank you madam chair so tonight I will be reading the resolution honoring our student school board member Laura to where as Laura to a newly graduated member of the 2017 senior class at Thomas Jefferson High School for science and technology has enthusiastically served as the 46th student representative to the Fairfax County School Board for the 2016-17 school

020year and whereas Laura believes that helping all FCPS students reach the goal and portrait of a graduate is vital has shown keen interest in her fellow students advocated for their well-being and academic success has proudly served as the student voice on the school board by reaching out to other students during visits to various high schools and then sharing with the school board the student perspective on various issues attended numerous board meetings work sessions and public hearings and whereas she believes in community service and has set a strong example by her involvement with the operation communication as a mentor and Jill's house which provides aid to children with physical and mental disabilities and their families has been involved with the Jefferson Society the McLain Youth Orchestra has served as a Heuer Bryan youth leadership Virginia ambassador

021and participate in the 10th congressional district young Women's Leadership Program four-star leadership with general Tommy Franks and encouraging empowerment through education and served as the student represented the School Board's advanced academic programs Advisory Committee and whereas Laura maintained personal academic excellence while enrolled I'm sorry about that while enrolled and a rigorous advanced placement courses ranging from calculus and US history to micro and macroeconomics computer science psychology China Chinese and chemistry was actively involved in student activities as the president of the junior class Council a lead facilitator for Kids Are Scientists - an arbitrator and the school's Model UN Secretariat a member of the forensic speech and rotary interact club and found time and inner to participate in cross-country and indoor and outdoor track and field teams and whereas she was appointed and eagerly served as

022one of the 18 representatives I'm the school board confidential community stakeholder committee for the superintendent search in spring 2017 for the express purpose of reviewing finalists for the position of superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools now therefore be it resolved the Fairfax County School Board acknowledges with gratitude the contributions and service of Laura Chu from July 1st 2016 through June 30th 2017 and extend his best wishes for her for continued success as she begins her post-secondary academic studies and all of her future endeavors I so move is there a second second by mr. moon mr. McElveen would you like to speak to your motion I would be delighted to speak to my motion and I would say that this was a very hard resolution for me to make because it means we're going to be

023losing someone who brightens up every room she enters and brings a positive attitude to everything she does I've had the absolute pleasure of not only sitting next to Laura for the past year at board meetings but also the honor of mentoring her since her sophomore year many of you may not know that Laura actually ran for the Student Representative position twice becoming one of the top three finalists for the position as a sophomore it's at that time that she caught my attention and earned my deep respect for being not only extremely well-spoken but also for having the courage to express her convictions even if they weren't always popular she went on to earn the respect of her peers over the following year so that she easily won election as our 46 student representative she's continued

024to be a voice of reason and maturity as our student representative no matter how tense the situation or how negative the invective being hurled at her laura has always kept a positive attitude and has been a model of how to present herself as a board member laura has not only been a model for all of us but she has also been a model for the next generation of student leaders who have never before seen someone like her serve in this position she's the first chinese-american and the first person of East Asian descent to serve as student representative since the position was created in 1972 a period of 45 years Laure at a very young age is truly a blazer of trails and a Bleicher breaker of glass ceilings having attended meetings alongside her in the

025Chinese community I've seen firsthand how our younger students look up to her as a role model and how she inspires them to serve their community Laura's parents mean and fuming should be so proud of their daughter and we are so grateful to them for sharing her with us over the past year like all of us laura has enjoyed sitting in many meetings well past midnight so much so that her excitement has often carried over into her trips home from those meetings on one occasion her car broke down on another she was showered in gasoline after a gas pump from his house the smelling up the halls of TJ for many days afterwards so laura has experienced all the battle scars that come along with school board membership we wish Laura all the best as she

026goes off to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania this fall although she hopes to go into business there certainly weren't graduates who eventually choose to give up their business career to pursue politics our society would all be all the better if she chooses to do so Laura thank you for all you have done for our students in our school system if nothing else you have taught us an important lesson we should never accept a car ride from you on behalf of the board I want to present you with something that every college dorm room needs a photo collage of your favorite school board members [Laughter] all right mr. moon would you like to try to stop that with you there is no way they don't know it how would I know everything then

027mr. Ryan Recker bin has already said about Laura I'm gonna surely miss you it's not just in Australian Chinese American community are you've been a role model for all students in Fairfax County I mean you can even very succinct in what you want to say but at the same time even very thoughtful a very insightful with the three packs providing to the work of this board and I want to thank you for that you know watching you over the last one year period and just someone who only had two sons in the family I have been thinking wow I wish I could have a daughter like Laura it's been so delightful to watch you participate in along with us with Al again we may I may be watching a few football games and basketball games

028and not necessarily always rooting for your team I wish you were a you pan me time yeah thank you Lord you know if you all heard that resume right it's like every time we describe one of our student representatives in law you are no exception I feel like we're actually describing a team of 15 students right who have somehow developed a clever hologram right and actually but you are one person you're one student and it's amazing what you've already accomplished in your life and in that way I think you're a role model for all of us I would describe you as describe you as someone with courage and poise always that you always give everything thoughtful analysis and very mature I think mr. McIlvain said that so I can't echo everything that's been said and

029just let you know that we will cheer you on we want to hear from you as you go out there and continue to make us proud and make us look good this project Laura I still remember the day I met you at TJ when I came to speak it was a small group and you came out and definitely stood out I was so impressed I wished I could have gotten to see you more but every time you spoke in here and I think miss Hines mentioned my words my thoughts of your brave you are not only well-spoken but every time we've tackled a difficult issue you have taken it on in a manner that shows that you're not fearful if difficult task and of seeing things from different perspectives and of trying to gather the

030information of what our students feel I feel like I wish we could have more students representing us but you've done such a marvelous job of going out and meeting with high schoolers and trying to compress some of all of the different thoughts that are out there and share them with us and so I think you've done a marvelous job of representing your 188,000 colleagues and FCPS and we wish you all the best and I hope to see you back soon every time you come home please come and see us here thank you Strauss Laura congratulations and we will miss you your leadership skills are commendable but what I think is most interesting is that you are thoughtful you are gracious you are patient and you are courageous and what you need to say and because

031you are so well-spoken and so even in your presentation that the words that you speak are so meaningful sometimes we've had very difficult meetings and there have been very contentious things that you have found your courage to speak on behalf of our students that you represent and you have not you have graciously through taken in all the sides of whatever has come forward but then you then have spoken on behalf of our own students of what you think is in their heart that takes great courage but tremendous poise and that is a sign of leadership because we listen and I sure hope that people who are watching us on TV listen and take to heart what you have to say you're an excellent representative will miss you good luck and as design said you are

032certainly at least 15 students or maybe 20 or 50 or a hundred or hundred and eighty-eight thousand because they are all lined up right behind you for us to listen to carefully Thank You Laura mrs. Corvis Anderson so I remember when I first met you neither one of us was on the board and there was this charming and insightful young woman who came to the advanced academic programs Advisory Committee and I was so pleased because of your quiet leadership and very insightful comments when they needed to bring people together to focus on what was most important and as you joined the board I was so thrilled because of that quiet leadership aura and it's it's something that we talk about the role of people on this board to be good models for our students and

033our community and you certainly have lived up to that challenge you're a wonderful model for all of our students but also for all of us on this board in how you approach your work and how you approach your life so thank you we cheer you on and you know that you are always welcome to come home to Fairfax we need people like you to go off and explore but come back home mr. Neher kopeck flora I want to thank you for your leadership and your hard work as part of our board every time I would even whisper dry and she's so impressive in her ability to articulate her thoughts with with as my colleague said with patience measured and sometimes it has been a difficult situation where you sin so your wisdom and your ability

034to do that is wise beyond your years you don't realize even I think sometimes what an amazing skills that you have but it has been wonderful watching you be a part of this this group of ours and I just thank you it's been a pleasure to get to know you and I thank you for all that you've done you are an amazing role model for all of our students and I can't wait to see all of the amazing things you're going to do it you can so please stay in touch and keep and keep a surprise if your success is there miss mcLaughlin so I won't repeat all the amazing but well-deserved words of praise you've heard from my colleagues so I will leave you this as I get the bragging rights that Laura's going

035to my alma mater the University of Pennsylvania mr. moon and where I hope you will eat many cheesesteaks at AB nerve I hope that you will become a Philadelphia Eagles fan and that you will learn the Penn fight song and most importantly you will thrive and enjoy for tremendous and amazing years of learning because you've worked hard and you have certainly distinguished yourself as being one of the very best we could produce here in Fairfax County schools we thank you for your service and are very very excited to hear about how your next journey begins up in Philadelphia so best wish is a go Quaker I'll just say that Laura you've been a very effective advocate for the 188 thousand students in Fairfax County and your outreach has been excellent your advocacy your ability to

036analyze an issue and talk about it thoughtfully weighing both sides of it you've been excellent at doing that I think you have helped lead the ongoing effort for student mental health which is then so important you've helped the Student Advisory Committee on on that effort which has been ongoing and I know they valued your input there you're definitely a rising star I think probably you're a rising star before you you got here but you continued just to go higher and higher you're talented young woman very dedicated and well-rounded and and just plain nice so you know we can use all of that we can get so we have learned from you I hope you learned something from us I take note that the TJ renovation was completed just as you're leaving right and so here

037you go you go off to your next adventure but there it's the end of one year on the beginning of another so congratulations and do come back we do want to hear from you you've been marvelous and and we will definitely miss you and with that I am going I think there's no call for the vote all those in favor and that is clearly unanimous congratulations Laura and if your family and friends would come to the front [Applause] you [Applause] you nor will have a few words to say during student representative matters so we will now move on to item 2.08 resolution honoring dr. Jayne lip and I call him is McLaughlin for a resolution it is my distinct pleasure to share this resolution honoring dr. Jayne lip whereas dr. Jayne lip has worked for

038Fairfax County Public Schools for thirty-one years in different roles including special education teacher at Edison High School special education coordinator at Bell Willard and special education program manager at the area one administrative office sub school principal and director for student services at he appealed secondary associate principal and principal at South County secondary school principal at South County High School and assistant superintendent of the Department of Special Services and whereas she has consistently demonstrated a sincere commitment to all students of Fairfax County Public Schools to be treated fairly and equally in order to thrive in a vibrant healthful safe enriching and respectful environment and whereas she has been a passionate advocate for students families teachers and staff by generously giving of herself and participating in any and all activities celebrating the talents and efforts of students

039and fellow educators and where she is given countless hours of her time to develop and mentor other leaders in Fairfax County Public Schools and whereas she has worked with determination and tireless collaboration with school board members principals administrators and teachers staff families and students to ensure and maximize the strength and success of students in the Fairfax County Public Schools now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County school board extends its deepest appreciation to dr. Jane lip for her outstanding service and dedication to Fairfax County Public Schools and to our students and to community members but we also can gradually and wish her well on a retirement and her new journey I so move second second second and bye mrs. Schultz MS mcLaughlin do you have a one speed to your motion yes thank you

040Jane there are simply no words that can fully capture your remarkable leadership it's without question that your emotional quotient otherwise known as your EQ is simply off the charts but beyond the fact that you are a remarkable leader one of your other greatest qualities as humility your willingness to truly engage with our community with any stakeholders who come to you your willingness to listen and to embrace the new information they want to impart and share the empathy that you extend and I've been so blessed to watch and learn from you your willingness to problem-solve and really take each and every situation and look for the the finest resolution that honors our students and Families it's just purely been a joy and I want the community know that what's not captured in the resolution is that

041Jane has been a remarkable champion of student mental health and well-being she was instrumental in bringing this 21st century lifelong critical skills of executive functioning as well as social-emotional learning to our students she's also been instrumental in our decoding dyslexia advocacy work she also was instrumental in bringing dr. mark bracket from the Yale Center for emotional intelligence into our schools and really transforming what happens for our students and finally it's been a pleasure to serve with you on the joint county task force the successful children youth policy team you just continue to incredibly improve each and every room each and every meeting and each and every task that you take on and I certainly have benefited from being able to work with you and just inspired by you it's been a blessing to be with

042you Jane mr. Sholto Jung speaks your second thing so I've been on the board for six years and we've seen educators and leaders and students and superintendents come and go and on a few occasions there's a departure that I'm not quite sure how we're going to be the same system again how the magnitude of what somebody has done can ever exactly be replaced and you know I'm a student of history and I love it and I have a quote for you dr. Levin from President John Quincy Adams who has nothing to do with education but if your actions inspire others to dream more learn more do more and become more you are a leader and in every sense of the word that that fits you because often our students who and their families who struggle

043to dream more to do more to learn more and to become more their path was made better by your presence whether it was in a school in a classroom or leading part of this organization that is very complex and you will barely be missed his dress doctor lip Jane we share the same name and we come from the same state you have an unusual Talent you are a sole favor you're a healer you're a comforter and in the education business that's the business that we're in but there are very few educators who come along that have that extra gift you have it you enter the room and we all feel it you are able to calm the waters you give all of this advice and we listen carefully and we believe you because somehow in

044your heart you know what's right for a child or a family and it has been your job to help some of our neediest children and our most overall parents because they are trying to parent very needy children but there is always something so comforting in real in your advice and to soothe children and parents we will miss you there aren't many people who come along to have that gift chain and I know that you will go on in your next chapter and somebody is going to get you to come forward to help them again you're not really going to retire by that Lake I can say that they will find you and if they don't I will let the people in Wisconsin know where you are because there are many more children and families who

045need the kind of understanding support and love that you have to give we have learned so much from you we will miss you terribly but you are a singleton person not many like you in life thank you thank you for years of service to us and our children and our families we love you this is Corbett Sanderson so Jane I know you come from Wisconsin but you know you are now a daughter of Mount Vernon you're a daughter of Mount Vernon because your years of service and the way that you have embraced each one of our children you know from Edison to Hayfield to being part of that original team at South County that created an oasis and in an old farm field that wasn't there and for that we are forever grateful in Mount

046Vernon and as someone who first met you at while we were both on the advanced academic programs Advisory Committee and then where you invited us in to come see what you were doing at South County because we were trying to get that spirit going at West Potomac and you invited a bunch of parent leaders and staff to see what you were doing to build the stallion nation and it's something that I believe contributed to the development of the world's greatest high school at West Potomac so thank you for that and most importantly thank you for your kind heart and wisdom that you're not only shared with our students and our parents but for those of us on this board you all you've met you have left indelible mark on Fairfax County Public Schools our students

047and in Mount Vernon so thank you this true hi dr. luyt so in little nothing was when I was first elected a student representative our previous student representative then actually sent me a list of people you have to meet and you were the first one on the list so of course I had to meet you and I'm so lucky to have been able to you this year we sat through meetings together and every single time I look you in the eye it's like we have a conversation just telepathically because I know what you're thinking you always put students first and it's so amazing to see a friendly smiling a bubbly personality everywhere I go I love spending time with you throughout the year I'm going to miss seeing you so much but it's been a

048wonderful ride learning from you and seeing you and hearing all your comments throughout meetings so it looks like we're leaving together I I just want to say thank you for a wonderful year and being one of the first and best people I've met here miss Paul check I won't cry Jane I feel like you are the mom of FCPS I feel like we're about to be orphaned you have a very lucky mr. Jane sitting here in the second row glowing and pride and he should be I feel like I only got a year and a half with you a year and a half too short but it's it's hard to imagine this job without you here you definitely helped help us slow down and think through things and feel and understand where we're headed and

049a job that fuels and a system that feels very busy and always running and I think if only every one of our students had a chance to meet you personally they'd understand what an impact you've had on them and on our school system just you know I spoke to officer Allen earlier you're not really leaving we're making sure it's open second we've got a plan got a tent outside for you but seriously I hope you're not I hope you'll remain in our hearts in it and as her friend you'll send us some delicious cheese from Wisconsin we really I can't you've left some big shoes I won't talk about the size of them but we I will leave it there thank you so much the school system really oh so much to your leadership and

050your kind this and I hope it remains for years to come thank you and enjoy your time this man totally a consummate professional in what you do while focused on the issues on hand you are always sincerely listening to other people's concerns in your display of sympathy and empathy always smiling now I'm a sometimes going to a meeting with you or maybe some angst some anxiety to a certain extent of maybe even anger resentment you know how to calm me down I thought I was a patient person but you are so much more patient than I am ever done so much from you and thank you when you go up to Wisconsin to a lot of fishing on the lake when you catch some good fish I like sushi and sashimi so send me some

051good fish thank you mister McElveen so Jane I first met you when you were principal at South County and I remember walking into that school and it was remarkable how beloved you were and how much you loved them back in return it was palpable and that only continued into your role as a system superintendent where you loved everyone back just as much as they loved you you know during your tenure you have had to deal with some of the most sensitive difficult and contentious issues of our time and many people don't know how much you have to work you have to put in behind the scenes on those but you always put students first as we've heard tonight you always took on every challenge with a smile and that tireless positive attitude and as everyone

052who said we will miss you but we know where to find you so Godspeed and fine yeah I'm a little surprised by all this talk of Wisconsin I must have missed a meeting because you know that usually the deal is when you leave us you don't go far so that we can call you back and call you back and call you back and helps that's going to be hard for you to work remotely from Wisconsin I'm just saying but I you know I can't say much more than has already been said except I think that the Department of Special Services as you know and as anyone who knows the system knows covers a wide range of some of the toughest and definitely most important work that we do and as James shop it was always

053a pleasant positive place with a smile and confidence that you know I always knew that nothing was too hard to be solved anything anything that was good for kids is always possible so I believe that just from being here and being you and doing your job as well as you have you've left a wiser and empowered of FCPS behind you and we will be able to continue the work that you've done so thank you miss Janet okay dr. lip James what a pleasure it is then to work with you during my time on the board whenever I needed a balance point I guess I'll call it that as to what would happen if we did this or what do you think how would that work if we implemented that I was well advised in my

054early tenure on the board asked dr. lip and it wasn't too much longer after that when I knew to go to you directly when I was troubled with something or when I needed advice in decision-making so your advice and wisdom were always on point your demeanor was coming and your smile always reassuring just as it is right now so I thank you for all that you've done for the school system for the children and for your work on advising this board in difficult decisions you have been such a professional and we truly truly will have a void without you here what your retirement is well-deserved and I wish you all the very very best on your life's next adventure but come back and visit before I let dr. Lockhart have the last word I'm going

055to impart echo what my colleagues have said but it's it's hard to say these things enough for somebody with your your talent and the impact that you've had on the school system dr. Lib one of the things that always impressed me about you was it didn't matter how tangled a situation was you just went right in and started untangling it and figured out how we're going to find the best resolution to this issue and to say that that you're upbeat and positive is certainly an understatement I I don't think I ever talked with you with when you told me something couldn't be done or couldn't be fixed or we couldn't handle this somehow whatever the situation was so you have had a huge impact on the students of Fairfax County and particularly our most vulnerable

056students are so I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and say how much we are going to really truly miss you dr. lips so I know we all feel that way and there will be a great big space there where you are always welcome back so with that I will ask dr. Lockhart to say a few words before we vote mrs. mrs. Straus is going to remind me she's going to Pat me on the hand at home yeah absolutely after thank you madam chair I certainly echo everything else that the board members have said dr. lip I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart I know I certainly share the sentiments of our leadership team and our staff at large for thanking you for the

057work you've done mr. Schultz I also have a quote that I'd like to share except I don't know who said this but I'm gonna say it anyway and it's very true in education circles and it's very applicable to you dr. lip the quote is no one really cares how much you know until they know how much care and I don't think it takes anyone more than a couple of seconds if you've never met dr. lip to figure out how much he truly cares she cares about FCPS she cares about every single student in this system and I think she's lived by that mantra she's managed with her mind but led with her heart a great example for all of us and she certainly keeps students as kept students at the center of every decision and

058and anything that she's done here in FCPS I've learned personally a tremendous amount from you and have benefited from your leadership and for that I'm grateful and appreciative and I certainly know that FCPS is a better place for you having served here so thank you dr. Lee and with that I will call for the vote all those in favor please raise your hand and that is unanimous dr. Luke would you please come down join us for a photograph [Applause] [Music] I have everyone angle your body we can switch to little fighters we have a word room or both ends [Music] [Applause] perfect okay [Applause] [Music] yeah yeah yeah and dr. whip we are honored to give you the floor thank you very much good evening distinguished school board members in our superintendent Lockard leadership team

059members central and school staff students and members of our Fairfax Community I want to thank you for hiring me and giving me the privilege a memorable experience of being an educator in Fairfax County Public Schools during my tenure I've had the honor of working with outstanding students esteemed staff and exceptional families across eight positions over the course of thirty one extraordinary years FCPS has been my second family and provided me with a welcoming and secure home away from home let me first take a moment to thank my wonderful husband John who's been my partner and confidant for 39 years I was only 15 when we met throughout my various roles and responsibilities John has always been there to encourage and support me in my professional endeavors at South County high school they used to call

060him first dude he's made me laugh each and every day and never allowed me to take myself too seriously thank you dear John to our school board [Applause] [Laughter] to our school board thank you for tirelessly working to offer an extensive continuum of programs and services to meet the needs of our diverse district I will forever be grateful to you that you embrace the concept of providing relevant and meaningful education for all students and as I have said on many occasions in this school system our school system all means all you have focused on meeting academic social emotional and transitional needs of our young people and you have also brought to the forefront the needs of our staff thank you for your outreach and work with families and the greater community as you have encouraged

061them to invest in their children thereby enabling us to provide them with quality life and learning experiences to parents and Families thank you for sending us your very best and for trusting and collaborating with us on their behalf you are necessary and true partners in providing our youth with exceptional education to our school and central staff thank you for caring about encouraging and supporting our students colleagues and families as you have shared your knowledge and extensive expertise with all of us your passion for and dedication to the profession is admired and respected and to our DSS family thank you for investing in and being active participants on our exceptional team I am eternally grateful for your willingness to embrace and address challenges as we have identified and implemented creative ideas and solutions to meet the

062needs of our schools to our students thank you for daily demonstrating what it means to be a good student and citizen while showing compassion for and supporting your peers it is with pride and pleasure that I have observed you demonstrating your leadership skills as you have embraced our mental health and wellness initiatives and focus and you have worked on other educational district initiatives you will plan hosted and supported numerous successful events and activities in your school communities through your daily work and actions I am reminded that our future is truly in good hands thank you also to the wise men are as I've worked with throughout my Fairfax journey there have been so many professional exceptional professionals who have offered sage advice and supported my work in initiatives as I further developed as an individual

063and educator whether it was my participation in lead Fairfax shadowing strong leaders are consulting frequently with colleagues I was able to hone my craft and continue to strengthen and expand and strengthen my repertoire of skills and as one of my closest mentors once said may you and your colleagues discover and remember that your greatest resource lies within each other during the last several weeks I reflected on and been reminded about the life lesson of change they're exciting times ahead as dr. Scott Brandt takes the reins as your new superintendent and Theresa Theresa Johnson because it becomes your assistant superintendent for special services you are in great hands and they will collaborate with you well we do recognize and know that challenges remain as we grapple with a larger and more diverse student population school funding

064and resources remain tight however I am confident that you will continue to put students first and stay dedicated to the cause of meeting the needs of all students staff and families please continue to have high expectations and support all students as they strive to acquire the attributes of a portrait of a graduate remain committed to implementing ignite our strategic plan that identifies and addresses the various needs of our students staff and school communities stays and mute as being the eternal optimist who believed in our youth and the great promise and opportunity of Education continue to be ambassadors and cheerleaders for our district as I say often in life we can never have too many cheerleaders thank you for continuing to advocate for our constituents as John and I approached July our native state of Wisconsin

065is calling us home and we look forward to the tall evergreen trees serene looms on the beautiful lake and gorgeous sunsets in the North Woods we will be spending more time with family attending Badger and Packer games and eating more cheese and ice cream to support our beloved dairy State in closing I reflect on my gratitude for the wonderful years of memories of Fairfax County and my thoughts are captured in the words of one of my favorite characters Winnie the Pooh how lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard you may have gotten from my sight but never from my heart again thank you my educational heroes and champions thank you [Applause] thank you doctor left those beautiful words I am 2.09 resolution supporting continued federal funding for national endowment for

066the humanities and arts I call on mr. McElveen for the resolution thank you madam chair I will be reading the resolution supporting continued federal funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the arts and associated summer education programs for schoolteachers whereas the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts our independent federal agencies created in 1965 and are dedicated to strengthening teaching learning and the Arts in our nation's schools and communities and whereas the neh is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States and a major funder of summer education programs utilized by Fairfax County elementary and secondary educators and whereas neh summer education programs including teacher Institute's and seminars have enabled Fairfax County history and social studies teachers to participate in summer professional development programs

067that benefit their students and neh summer education programs allow FCPS teachers to earn professional development points towards recertification as required by the Commonwealth of Virginia and whereas the NEA recommends more than 2,400 grants for every congressional district in the country a significant percentage of which go to those who have fewer opportunities to participate in the arts including high poverty neighborhoods and underserved populations such as people with disabilities and veterans and whereas Congress has demonstrated bipartisan support for both the NEA and neh in recent years taking modest steps to increase their funding and whereas the budget request for FY 2018 sent to Congress by the administration proposes to eliminate the NEA neh and the summer professional development programs for k-12 educators they support thus removing a significant source of grant funded professional development and teacher recertification

068programs for FCPS teachers now therefore be it resolved with the Fairfax County School Board supports the NEA the neh and associated summer education programs for k-12 teachers and calls upon members of Fairfax County's congressional delegation to support at least level funding and Congress's annual appropriation for these organizations and FY 2018 I so move there a second so I don't buy mrs. Strauss mr. McElveen would you like to speak to your motion I will make this brief as we have had quite a few recognitions tonight but this is an issue that was brought to me by educators in our community that have participated in these programs and they are passionate about FCPS educators continuing to have opportunities to participate and that beyond that the NEA and the neh are such intrinsic institutions in our society and

069it's important that this board stand up for them when they're most needed this is trust yes both of these organizations neh and NEA are critical community supporters very often teachers and communities are able to write grants and ask for often not huge amounts of money but enough to create unusual opportunities for children that would simply not be present if these organizations were were eliminated they are important for all students that have opportunities in the arts it's important for the Humanities these are these are just part of the quality of life that all children in all communities need to have in order to be not just well educated but to bring the joy and the passion in their lives so I absolutely hope that NEA and neh will survive and at least receive level funding it

070is very very meaningful in a lot of communities and particularly communities that have no other resources and our teachers who very much enjoy the opportunities for for further development in grants that are so meaningful in their classrooms so thank you mister McElveen for bringing this forward huh yeah I do want to thank mr. Macklin very much for bringing this forward as a classroom teacher in Fairfax County over the years I picked up a lot of training one way or another sometimes you know specifically but sometimes because other teachers that had training and they brought it into the teams and into the classroom and I taught general education in the classroom and those those little pieces of the Arts that you bring into the classroom are so meaningful to the students and when we talk about

071you know creativity and communication and critical thinking that's all about all about the arts and we need those things in the classroom and I've used everything I've learned over the years so you know we we joke sometimes that we don't get very much from the federal government at budget time right but the few things that we do get are so critical and this is one of them and I think it's very important that we as a board speak out thank you it's a clockwise I just want to thank mr. McElveen again for bringing this to the board without question these are two extremely important national agencies and I think they deeply affect important aspects of Education in our society and the importance of this board being the tenth largest school system in the country to

072stand up in a united voice and express to our elected officials at the federal level how important and how much we believe in these programs is what makes this resolution so important so thank you mr. McElveen and thank you to the educators who brought it to mr. Mackall needs attention it is the community's engagement and bringing information to this board that allows us to be able to do our very best work so it matters mr. Nick oh I'm sorry miss Oh miss Darren echo picks yes I just want it again echo my colleagues sentiments to thank mr. McElveen as as someone who believes that the arts are extremely important to all of our students particularly those who may not have the financial means to to go to some of the things that other children have

073opportunities for these grants to our schools are are vastly important and it's important that we as a board recognize it and that we support that and we call upon as the resolution says members of our congressional delegation to support at least level funding for these programs next year so thank you Ryan for bringing this forward thank you okay nothing else I'm consistent so I don't understand why we're offering this resolution this is the federal budget I'd rather spend time talking about the signs that are in the audience and the position that we place some of our our teachers in I think potentially with unintended consequences of our budget vote so I'd rather spend the time of this board talking about this 2.8 billion dollars that's in our county and how it affects our employees and

074I also say this as the mother of an artist there are many studies that show that federal funding and support of Arts in this fashion has actually suppressed the earnings of artists has suppressed opportunities for artists and that you are subsidizing something that if it were allowed into the free market you would actually increase both the opportunities for artists opportunities for more learning and and certainly the pocketbooks of artists so this is another case of I think our board getting way out of its Lane I'm not going to support resolutions to amendments to the US Constitution or anything of the like why why we continue to get out of our lane and instead of focusing on the 1.1 million residents in Fairfax County who need the dedication of our time and our resources here the

075earlier resolutions this evening were to honor people who have served and who have achieved and have attained and contributed to Fairfax County Public Schools this is this is off the rails miss Corbett Sanders thank you I too will echo what I've said in the past which is that here in Fairfax County were actually dependent on three funding bodies the three funding bodies are the local the state and the federal and our funding comes in two forms essentially direct funding and indirect funding and part of the indirect funding is the funding that is provided to our schools and to our students through grants through opportunities by participating at events at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts which does get funding from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as opportunities in other venues around

076the DC metro area because we are blessed here in Fairfax County by the proximity that we have to Washington DC so I will be supporting this resolution because I believe that we as educators have to educate the whole child and that includes educating the in the area of the arts and our community expects this from us because if they didn't we would not have seen the very large representation from our community as we talked about funding for our music programs in elementary schools so thank you [Applause] Thank You mr. McElveen for bringing this to us I have one go back I'm miss mcLaughlin just briefly one of the beauties of a democracy and free speech is that we all get a chance to share our diverse perspectives and I respect each one of my colleagues

077for the diverse perspectives that we bring to our work so I I do want to clarify however that as Miss Schultz talked about what matters to this board I don't want to confuse anyone at the audience in the audience or who's watching this evening I think this board cares deeply about every advocate sitting in this room I think we care about the issues so the advocates are here tonight spending five minutes talking about a resolution that helps allow our congressmen and our senators to understand what matters again being the tenth largest school system the country if we don't speak up who will and so I do hope for the audience especially tonight you don't misconstrue that this resolution means we don't care any less about the important things that you are here tonight to make

078sure that we see and understand and recognize and spend time on seeing no other life I will call for the vote on the resolution supporting continued under federal funding for National endowments for the humanities and the arts all those in favor please raise your hand Hines Paul check Corbett Sanders Straus Evans moon McElveen I'm sorry McLaughlin baronet Koufax McElveen all those opposed all those abstaining Schultz and that motion passes with mr. Wolfson away from the table now turn to item 3.0 one citizen participation that tonight ten citizens have signed up to address the board and we have two video testimonies as well 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

079program budget and boundaries complaints regarding individual students or school based employees should be directed to the appropriate school principal or other school official speakers should refrain from using personally identifiable information in connection with an individual student 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 Arianna Habibi hello my name is arianah Habibi and I would like to yield my time to John coila sir good evening my name is John Culliver I live a few blocks from

080Jeb Stewart high school and have lived in the Mason district for over 25 years appointment to school board advisory committees are an important part of citizen engagement and outreach as the school board establishes its priorities taking community input into consideration and as you have seen with the ad hoc committee advising you on the Jeb Stewart High School renaming committees do not always achieve consensus my background is I work for the US House of Representatives for over 33 years including the last 15 years as the staff director of the subcommittee that oversees and wrote all of the u.s. Coast Guard and maritime policies the United States I've been on the winning side of policy debates there and I've been on the losing side of policy debates last week we had a horrendous act of violence in

081Alexandria when James Hodgkinson shot at members of Congress wounding a congressman a law enforcement officer and a former congressional staffer while law enforcement personnel are investigating this according to statements in the press and social media it's very clear that this terror Hodgkinson had severe disagreements with President Trump and the republican-controlled Congress in a similar way jeb stuart disagreed with our nation's first Republican President President Lincoln and the Congress who was supporting him he too chose to use violence to achieve his policy objectives this isn't present ism or revisionism using violence to resolve policy disputes has never been acceptable in the United States since the US Constitution was ratified and took effect in 1789 and last week did these patent a stated she believed that the as of the civil war were higher tariffs and other

082economic policies adverse adversely affecting southern states ken Longmire stated that he believes that it was because of policies regarding slavery what they both agree on it is it was about policy differences and whatever the policy differences were there's no justification for Jeb Stewart and his associates to take up arms against our Constitution that establish a peaceful process for resolution of differences between the states he chose to take up arms against our constitutional democracy in a war in which over 350,000 members of our US military were killed as policy members on a democratically elected board do you think it is ever justifiable for someone to use violence if they disagree with your policies people around the country are watching this board in Fairfax County to see what you choose to do and what do you want

083to remove the honor that was granted to Jeb Stewart even though he took up thinking yeah initially I was okay thank you even though he chose to use violence to attempt to achieve his policy objectives we would name a school after James Hodgkinson we shouldn't name one after Jeb Stewart thank you Hayden Ortiz is Kaden Ortiz here hello my name is Kaden Ortiz and I am a former Robinson RAM throughout my middle school and high school years I struggled with my gender identity and sexuality unfortunately I had to learn what being transgender meant for an interactive representation on a teen TV show this led to unclear information causing harm to my mental psyche we cannot entirely control the way that the trans community is represented in the media however what we can do is provide

084useful and correct information about what it means to be trans being misinformed about that meaning can cause mental harm and physical harm to Tran students recently a transgender school transitor girl at a school in Fairfax County was attacked by one of her peers because of that kind of misinformation for many students it could mean being attacked or it could mean detrimental self-harm and/or suicide I know that if I had been properly introduced to what it means to be transgender in middle school I would have not have attempted suicide myself nor experienced bullying for my peers I believe that Fairfax County wants to protect all students as referenced by the students rights and responsibilities handbook regardless of their race color religion national origin gender disability sexual orientation gender identification genetic information or any other characteristics protected

085by federal and/or state law I ask that you please take into account this information on making the significant decision thank you my next speaker is Robert Rigby good evening board member superintendent lockers and staff my name is Robert McGee I am the current president of that CPS pride we are a certified employees group for LGBTQ and allied staff we have been joined by LGBTQ parents and parents of LGBTQ students I stand again today to thank you for continuing to include the LGBTQ students and family life education we are beginning to your positive statements from students about hearing the word sexual orientation gender identity gay lesbian bisexual and transgender used in their health classes please do not change that I'm sure you heard that last night the Prince William school board joined you in including text

086orientation and gender identity in its non-discrimination policy one of the school systems mentioned as having no negative incidents in the amazing research done by school board member justen walk was Fairfax County Public Schools of this I was very proud mr. Wilke in that PowerPoint said 3.6 million children are covered by such policies with zero negative incidents he noted that most of the systems he research also had detailed regulations such as the ones passed by our neighbors in Frederick Maryland last week and such as the ones put on hold by our own system last summer none of those systems had negative internet - either I told you when Martha died the teacher a club sponsor as an employee was experiencing the rising scent of panic about the results to our students of not having this implementation

087that sense of panic has not abated it has grown I realize you're stuck on bathrooms and locker rooms but dozens of other school systems with native students have already written regulations we are not breaking ground here you heard a few weeks ago from the mother of the girl who was attacked clearly that incident would have been avoided if the teacher were trained on how to deal with conversations in class about a student's gender it could have been sidetracked at the security staff nursing staff and school administrators had been trained the mediator for a sort of justice has made the unacceptable statement that we must agree to disagree about her gender that sort of thing would be avoided if he were trained this month I myself for a colleague's a I don't feel like I have

088to use his her his pronouns because she takes advantage of the privileges of both genders but does one make of that some training would help an administrator said can't they use the bathrooms they were born with another said they all use single person restaurants don't they two staff people said the regulations are hold so I guess it's left up to me I cannot tell you my time is up I have one more same thing to say I'm going to miss you Jane Eyre chica I'm going to miss you George Erickson [Applause] my name is George Erickson I'm a Mason district jet steward pyramid resident in many years when I arrived Fairfax County in MCPS were exemplars of superb County government and superb public school system with a strong financial foundation this made FCPS a magnet

089that attracted and retained outstanding teachers to regain that former stature teacher compensation that spear levels is required school board leadership performance and superior levels is also required neither condition presently exists correction of this situation would start with exemplary school board leadership in the conduct of school business school boy business for this reason school board member Pat Hines must recuse herself or be recused from the expenses and community dividing it Jeff Stewart name change proposal being advanced by conduct that violated the oath of office and the code of conduct of members the process to decide the outcome of Jeff Stewart name change proposal as engineered by chairman Evans and member irons was / updated its at inception and continues to be corrupt to this very meeting the oath of office sworn to by all board members

090obligates them to quote faithfully and impartially discharge those quote all their duties to comply with this oath requires Hines and Evans to be recused either voluntarily or by board action it also requires the other board members stopped casting an unseeing eye to the open unfairness the covert partiality of treatment and the downright biased manipulation of the process that has taken place the board must now act to terminate the corruption of this process to demonstrate its members commitment to the highest standards of conduct prudent financial stewardship and fair impartial and transparent conduct of board business only that will put FCPS on the road back to its former exemplar status clearly member Hines and Evans must recuse from the Stewart name change process if requisite high standards board leadership or to live at CSP I asked the

091board if the corrupt process is not corrected and made fair what road is letting you wrap up in attending this charity I will wrap up right now what road is left to right that wrong with litigation Thank You Emma Chatham greetings board members superintendent and staff my name is Reverend Emma chattin I'm the pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Northern Virginia a spiritual community for all people no exceptions no kidding I also co-facilitate several groups for trans and non-binary individuals teens tweens young adults as well has their parents in addition I am the executive director of the transgender Education Association of the Greater Washington area so while I stand here alone this evening I carry with me the voices and the hopes of many of your constituents as well have their gratitude for your

092continuing to include GLBT IQ students in the 7th through 10th grade family life education curriculum physicists and cosmologists even Hawking lamented that human aggression is the greatest threat that humanity currently faces he said that the best cure for aggression is increased empathy to bring us together and a peaceful and a loving State that's not a minister or a theologian that's a theoretical physicist for goodness sake I believe education is essential in the process of increased empathy it brings with it a greater understanding of the broad diversity of humanity and shows us that there is a big wide wonderful world out there and even more essential is that education should lift society together and every single one of us can benefit from a greater understanding and acceptance of one another we do our best to prepare

093trans and gender fluid children for the world but we must also do better is to prepare the world for these children this requires training and education and this means the training and education of your staff it simply isn't realistic to expect that every teacher and administrator automatically comes equipped with this knowledge and this understanding being inclusive requires homework it also means being better prepared and equipping you the board for the important decisions that you must make get to know someone who is trans you still may not understand the culture and the condition but you may come to know greater empathy and the commonality of humanity that exists with all people and that people who are strange strangers are simply strangers because we do not know them and by showing hospitality and kindness to strangers some

094people have entertained angels unaware finally the children that you educate today will help to build the future that we all live in tomorrow so has a community we all reap the benefits of the Fairbanks County cool school systems broad inclusivity and I'm very grateful for its national reputation has a leader and one of the best in this country may it continue to be so welcome he thank you and thank you for having me tonight everyone my name is Wilson and I'm a 2016 graduate of Oakland high school as well as a lifelong member of this County tonight I will speak on a matter of serious import to the free cakra port namely students emotional and mental health which is invariably affected by the name of their school over the past few months we have experienced

095fear in our communities people feel emboldened to attack immigrants foreigners and anyone perceived as different no one particularly students to have this suffer in such an environment the tragic death of South Lake sophomore nabber Hasan in this past weekend regardless of motive has made all people particularly Muslims feel unsafe in these times spinifex County should make clear that all students are welcome just as I and many others at her vigil this Wednesday stood with their community and solidarity there is no better opportunity than renaming jets stuartt high score as a recent graduate chinese-american and son of immigrants neither I nor my friends have any share in the Confederacy for lost cause but we do have a stake in America our country we believe in understanding the past without glorifying it we believe in protecting heritage

096while promoting progress we believe in history not myths this past weekend I was in Richmond I went to the church where Patrick Henry demanded Liberty the Capitol were the Confederate Congress gathered and the memorial where Barbara John's struggled for equality is immortalized I saw history the name of Jeff Stewart High School is not history but Confederate glorification it is a monument to a mythic past a more recent incarnation of the same racist sentiment behind the infamous movie Birth of a Nation and must be exercised Stewart fought to shamelessly perpetuate slavery and treason he chose his hill to die on the Confederacy let us not make the same mistake when you vote next month tear down this wall of hate we can build something better our communities demanded our future looked upon us and asks us

097where were you when you had the opportunity to write past wrongs and chart a better course thank you Harel nice hello my name is karol nice I'm a Providence district residents mother of six and an F CPS graduate thank you for this opportunity speak with you tonight as an F CPS stakeholder a former educator and because I've served on a school board myself I started periodically attending these meetings about a year or so ago and from my experience on a school board I really empathize with your position that you can never please all of your constituents all of the time but what's puzzled me however is why this school board spend so much time on money on issues that are inherently divisive and controversial especially when you don't have to and when there are definitely

098other pressing issues with regard to the family life curriculum I'd like to ask why does FCPS feel compelled to go so far beyond what is mandated by the Virginia Board of Education in this form I realize that asking any kind of question is rhetorical because it's a public comment period and you can't answer back and it's for that reason that I've been hesitant to request a slot for public participation because ultimately what I'd love to hear is some because is to the many why's that have been voiced by so many many constituents here are just a few why are you devoting so much time and money to developing controversial elements of the FLE curriculum when the majority of families would have little issue with the state standards of learning money is especially a concern when

099the budget is being balanced by increasing class sizes and breathing teacher pay why is it necessary to devote so much class time to SLE in ninth grade there are ten 90-minute sessions that's a full two weeks of class time a student completing K through 12 in F CPC FCPS will have had over 80 hours of FLE wouldn't teaching core academics be a better use of some of this class time why are you placing life science teachers in the impossible position of having to rectify the real science of x and y chromosomes with unproven politically trendy gender fluidity why is it constructive to frighten and perhaps steal the innocence of nine and ten-year-olds by introducing the concept of a father raping his daughter how does this work to prevent such a tragedy I think we can

100all agree that something like that is tragic I just don't know if that's the way to do it I just urge you to please take a look at all the lessons in the FLE curriculum with an eye towards both content and the classroom times spent too much of the program is insensitive to the diversity of the families in our school system I know many who voted against the meals tax in November because they feel their concerns on being addressed please use the resources you are temporarily entrusted with with the advancement of universally acknowledged academic objectives instead of ones that are inherently controversial and divisive so thank you again thank you for all you do and especially for your endurance for these late-night meetings Keith Arthur I'd like to say thank you for the opportunity to

101speak to you physical border to Maine I'm Keith arbors and I'm a resident of Ghana Virginia and have three children in the school system having a child in the fourth grade I want to say that first off that I agree with the dissenting opinion on the grade three video that it should just replace the older problematic grade four video the message is identical and it just was making updates to it that was less frightening and was an improvement over the inferior grade four video which used live actors which I think even when I saw it was a little bit uncomfortable so I recommend you just reply instead of adding it in addition to aside to that on a highly an issue with the ethylene materials which I noticed two years ago the problem one of

102the problems timing of the guideline changes in the comment period and then the publication of the actual ethylene materials with the lack of community input before its use in the curriculum fairfax county is home to one of the most diverse populations in the nation and as such no great care needs to be taken when addressing sensitive topics in order to respect the various diverse cultural moral moral differences that families may have i am a christian whose moral values aligned with the doctrinal statements of the prevailing majority of the religious groups in fairfax county regarding abstinence teachings on homosexuality and transgender behavior Fairfax County residents are forty four six percent are affiliated with the religion the Catholic faith comprising eighteen percent of that and most of the other groups also having doctrinal statements that aligned with

103the Catholic Church our F Lee guidelines took our state F elite guidelines to great care with respect to the wide diversity of opinions on sensitive topics and the perfect county F elite curriculum doesn't take that same great care the an attempt to take sides and moral stance stances of sensitive topics where there's a valid difference of cultural and religious opinion and that's outside that is outside the authority of the schools to do that their job is sexual and reproductive health and topics such as such sexual orientation should be included in those sections regard to sexual health and perhaps more guidance towards anti-bullying and in those topics but nothing should be inserted to persuade the moral views towards it our F Lee program crosses the lines and smashes the wall of separation of church and state

104when it does that it's the basic human right to adhere to the moral views of your religion and that's according to the UN Declaration of Human Rights article 18 and 19 and it also says that we're free hold and form opinions without government interference in regards to that so inclusion in these days of partisan divide rather than choose the solutions that divide in a liate and alienate let's take greater care to apply to the ethylene materials so that it does respect to great diversity that we have in our county thank you Charles haver madam chairman I'd like to yield the initial portion of my time to my daughter Victoria it was a 20-17 student at Webster high school hi I'm my name is Victoria haver and I graduate HS last week from Jeffster high school

105and many people love to discuss the issue of the name changes a problem of race if you wish to keep the name you are racist or you support racism case closed except not quite Jeb Stuart's legacy is more complicated than either side let us not forget that he was a person as valuable and enviable as any one of us to some he may in fact be a symbol of segregation to others a matter of pride but this discussion I do not believe should be focused over the moral arguments of his name the truth of the matter is that a decision to change the name of Jeb Stuart High School will have enormous repercussions on the community monetarily and otherwise the benefits remain small to change the name of the school will not tackle the hardest

106problems it will only increase division and tension for example our teacher retention rate has been low FCPS teachers are paid below market average and conditions at Jeb Stuart are further encouraging their exodus from broken toilets to overcrowding and large classroom sizes we should be focusing on these problems instead if the name is an issue students should be educated on its history not encouraged to hide from a history that is ours for better or for worse I would add to Victoria's comments by saying I fully support anything we can do to increase salary and retention of our teachers I will state categorically as a homeowner if in the Stewart pyramid that I would support increasing our real estate tax to achieve that goal having said that I would not support my wife would not support any

107effort or resources spent on changing the name more than 90% of our laundress Lea diverse students at Deb Stewart see no compelling need and indeed the compelling need is for increasing salaries better retention and improving education which could and should include a study of the man himself both Jim Stewart and I are graduates of the Military Academy at West Point where our model since its inception more than 200 years ago has been duty honor and country that those watchwords formed the basis and the foundation of the character of my fellow graduates as they chose whether to fight for the Union or fight for secession I believe that Jeff Stewart chose wrongly however at a time when our fellow citizens referred to these United States instead of the United States it is easier to understand why

108a man who devoted him sit in his entire life to duty honor and public service who never earned his keep from the sweat of another of another's brow would and could choose to name his home state as his country rather than attempting to erase that heritage what better way to teach our children about the wrenching dilemmas of that time than to study the demand and the character and the code and to think about the integrity nians into a TV audacity that mark our radar as the proper escort mascot of our school thank you we also have two videos tonight and the first is from Linda Wilson are we ready to run the video madam clerk all right hello and dr. Linda Zamora Wilson I'm a Latina and educator and a concerned parent from Fairfax High

109School and voicing concerns pertaining to FCPS curriculum and policy more specifically how curriculum is approved and how parents are informed during the first week of school my child got home the English course syllabus for me to sign it contained this generic MCPS disclaimer the first sentence gives the impressions the books are read in their entirety by all committee members the terms administrators and teachers imply that trusted and trained professionals were part of the process I was stunned when I recently was informed by the principal that there is no regulation mandating for the committee to read the book as an educator I find this a derelict in duty as a parent I find the first sentence meaningless by using this statement FCPS is implying cloud 2 a process that lacks academia rigor this is concerning because

110it opens the door for inappropriate material to be inserted into the curriculum the second sentence states that the book may contain explicit sexual situations as a parent reading this I make certain assumptions I know that the school can't show r-rated movies without my permission so I fit a reasonable expectation that r-rated books are not approved this is also an incorrect assumption and couldn't be further from the truth my case in point this is when I was Puerto Rican it's a memoir of a Puerto Rican girl coming of age it's mandatory reading for 10th grade English and I'm going to show two pages from it remember this book has been approved by administrators teachers and parents have also been personally informed by the principal and English Department shows that they would have no issue reading this

111book out loud in class note if this book were to be made into movie would be rated nc-17 or rated X for nudity and sexual acts this is not at all appropriate for 10th grade let alone high school aside from the inappropriateness the book portrays minority women in outmoded roles in references several scenes where the child is sexually assaulted the humiliating and crude act of simply accepted as part of Latino life which normalizes the sexual degradation of women as a Latina find this unacceptable disturbing and in direct conflict with regulation three zero one one point three in conclusion item requests in the following from the board one remove the book from the approved list to change policy and regulation three zero zero nine point one zero to reflect the same requirements from both the approving

112committee and any person challenging a book three change policy such as the committee must read the approved book in its entirety for change policy such that all approved books must be rated seeing as movies this is a familiar rating system and it will help the parent to set accurate expectations of the material and enable a quick or responsive scene as inappropriate 5 change policy says that if an approved book has not been read by the committee the missus must explicitly state that 6 change policy switch that is an approved book has not been rated by the committee then the syllabus must explicitly state that the book may contain rated R or nc-17 material this minimizes erroneous assumptions and fosters transparency and trust between parents in school thank you the second video is from Monique for

113Rudy Rudy and I'm the chair facts County resident and FCPS parents I would like to talk about the Peacock recommendations report I have two main concerns my first is that the objectives listed for our curriculum are so general that they leave a large amount of room for interpretation this is very apparent from the recent review of two different videos to support the objective of helping elementary school children identify inappropriate touches and how to respond one has a tone of empowerment and one emphasizes victimhood one video clearly explains to students how to seek help and one not one presents the information in a non-threatening manner and one shows a young girl struggling as she's pinned to her bed by her older stepbrother both videos meet the objectives but in very different ways why not parents get

114the opportunity to review these materials and comment on them before they are chosen as part of the curriculum last spring there was a community comment period for the annual sleek hack report that ended on June 24th of 2016 but the new materials were not available until August so who is reviewing the actual material there was not a single sleek hack meeting between March 2016 and October of 2016 if sleek AK is not familiar with the materials for each objective who is I feel strongly that a complete review of every lesson and FLE is required just approving a high level objective not not when you don't know how that objective is being achieved my other concern is regarding the crosswalks of Virginia Department of Education objective 4 FLE and the SPPs fle objectives let's start with

115the fact that FCPS erases the innocence of five-year-olds in kindergarten by introducing the idea of bad touches whereas the state objectives in kindergarten focus on positive expressions of love and friendship the video we objective introduce age-appropriate medically accurate information about babies starting in first grade with the idea that humans and other mammals have babies in second grade they teach that babies grow in a mother's body and in third grade they teach that babies begin with a sperm and an egg by contrast FCPS suddenly slams nine year olds with information about erection and nocturnal emissions in fourth grade with no mention at all of babies until fifth grade when sexual intercourse is introduced if no wonder so many children are uncomfortable talking about reproduction related topics and don't see babies as an important part of the

116equation we wait until they're old enough to sexualize reproduction and be embarrassed by it rather than seeing it as a natural biological process a complete review of the materials being used in FCPS FLE and a realignment with state standards is desperately needed that concludes citizen participation we go to student representative matters and I call and miss true Thank You chair so this being my last time to speak really quick this happens every single time I have a long list of thank-yous and the first thing you actually goes out to all of you in the audience the citizen especially those who are speaking during citizen participation and who send videos every single time I have to speak after you guys and every single time your words still ringing in my head so it's really hard to

117focus but again thank you because that leaves a very lasting impression and it's taught me that there's always work to be done but that people in our county have such strong voices so thank you for coming today and for speaking a second thank you goes out to all the students that I've been able to meet this year I've been able to meet so many from our youngest children to our oldest students and I learned so much about the strong voices that we have in our County and has been a blessing to be in Fairfax County from kindergarten to twelfth grade so it's been a very long run I want to say thank you to all the students out there third is to my parents unfortunately couldn't be here today but who faithfully text me at

1189:59 5510 1005 up until 2:00 i am reminding me that i have to go home and a very special thank you to my friends who faithfully pick up the phone at 2:00 a.m. when my car breaks down to pick me up so there's so many people always looking out for me and i just want to thank all them today all of them are really out there going into new internships and jobs and i wish them all the best and they've been so supportive a big force thank you goes to the three moms over here miss Malvern miss Benedict Oh miss Madea who have been so wonderful to me who check in on me all the time texting me emailing me asking me what's up and it's just such a wonderful it's just so wonderful to

119keep in mind that they're always not just one but three more moms out there looking out for me all the time so thank you for everything you've done this year and finally of course all the board members I didn't get to say this earlier but I want to say thank you because I know that learning is limitless if there's one thing that FCPS has taught means that learning is limitless but you guys have teaching me she taught me what it means to be a citizen of the community into the world so thank you guys for a wonderful year I'm going to miss this but I've already talked to Ben we know we're going to come back all the time I might not come back as much as he does but I will be back very

120soon because FCPS is home so thank you for teaching me that thank you Miss - we will miss you very very much we now turn to confirmation of action taken and closed meeting this is the portion of the meeting where the board will confirm any action regarding issues that are discussed in the closed meeting these issues may include action items regarding student disciplinary matters board members have discussed each individual case and at this time we'll make several motions to confirm the recommended action I call and mr. moon for emotion don't you madam chair with a great pleasure I move that the move that the school board real point dr. Steven McCullough as deputy superintendent and authorize the chair to sign the employment contract on behalf of the board according to the terms and conditions discussed

121in closed session so second seconded by Ms pal check mr. moon did you want to speak or trust briefly again I want to thank service show dr. Lockhart as an interim superintendent your tenure is not over yet it goes on to our new superintendent comes on board on July the 10th but on C comes on board we fully expect your continued service as deputy superintendent which is what's your desire I understand and thank you I look forward to a continuing working relationship with you miss Patrick's it's also briefly thank you for your study hand your wholeness and compassion and and work in support of all of your staff as we have gone through this transition and we're so grateful that you will be here as we transition in dr. Bray brand so thank you and

122I hope you get some rest this summer as okay I hope you think this is a good thing this we view this as a reward for your service and not a punishment that you have to you get to stay with us so you know I want to make sure that you're not lake bound with the dr. lip we we've had a rough year that you know a year ago today looking forward we would not have expected we would put this behind us and have in our rearview mirror what is in our rearview mirror which is kind of a mess but you've gotten us through and through the whole thing the saving grace has been the hope that you were going to be there at the end to stay with us and be a steady hand

123to a new leader and iPhone I'm very very grateful for your leadership during this time stormy as it was and the fact that you are going to be a tremendous asset to us going forward and to dr. brave and so thank you very much dr. Walker he's Moroccan I want to enthusiastically support the words of praise that my colleagues have given you dr. Lockhart without question the time that you've spent at the helm not only did we as board members feel great reassurance with you doing the work you did but we really saw through the leadership team that the business continued the system was able to progress in very positive ways with a lot of things going on and throughout it you were Gyre 'less but continue to bring that warm smile of yours to

124the work every day and it's deeply appreciated so we're excited to be approving your your contract and look forward to a great deal of time working with you in the future miss Cory Sanderson so dr. lip said earlier that all means all and that is something that in having had the pleasure of working closely with you over the past seven months I believe that you are the real thing when it means all means all because you have put your all into every day that you have filled in as the superintendent and so we are very appreciative of that I also believe that moving forward this system is about to experience the real dream team you and dr. brand are going to be an incredible team and to use his his quote it's going to be

125all about doing the main thing keeping the main thing the main thing and that is keeping our students at the center of all of our decision-making so dr. Lockhart I appreciate your quiet leadership the integrity that you bring to all of your work and you're very perceptive approach to doing things so thank you and it is with great pleasure that I support this contract this is dress thank you dr. Lockhart thank you for the incredible heavy lifting that you have done and your desire to stay on which is wonderful that you want after dr. grant comes and that you partner with all of us and step back please thank your family it has been difficult and I know that your commute in your long hour and very early mornings to get here so please on

126behalf of all of us thank them for their patience and their willingness to support all of us and the children of Fairfax County by supporting you in your job we are very very grateful and by approving this country of course you stay out of your position until July 10th but the fact that you have affirmative Lee said that that that you stay to support and partner with all of us we are very very appreciative of that Thank You Sharon echo packs Steve I want to thank you for the extra hours you put in I know it was very difficult at times but you never complained you were always professional and I just appreciate you being there at the helm when we were suddenly without a superintendent so thank you for everything I know you are

127going to be a great right hand to our next superintendent and we look forward to continued working with you as as the deputy back in your slot but thank you for everything that you've done to this point it's been magnificent I do want to thank you dr. Lockhart this you you've been marvelous leader and we could not have been where we are today without your calm leadership and so I'm delighted we will continue to have you there I want to reiterate you you are still interim superintendent until July 10th we're not going to let you get off the hook so and I know that the transition is already well underway and we appreciate the smoothness with which that is going and with that I will call on the vote on the motion to reappoint dr.

128Steve Locker all in favor raise your hand and that is unanimous [Applause] Ryan said are we going to take a photo hahahaha I now call on Michelle's promotion I moved to reject the recommendation of the hearing officer and to take the action discussed in closed meeting regarding the employee identified in a closed meeting and to authorize the Chairman to notify the employee by letter of the Board's decision second by mr. moon all those in favor raise your hand all those in favor raise your hand okay Oh collect I'm sorry Hines palchik Schultz group Sanders Evans moon McLaughlin Wilson Dara net Koufax and McElveen all those opposed all those abstaining Strauss and that motion passes by Collins Corbett Sanders for emotion I moved to deny the school reassignment appeal of a student who used illegal drugs

129at school during the school day and to confirm the disciplinary decision of the division superintendent second by mrs. Straus all those in favor raise your hand Hines pal check Corbett Sanders Strauss Evans moon McLaughlin during at Koufax McElveen all those opposed all those abstaining Schultz and Wilson that motion passes I call I mrs. Strauss for a motion thank you I moved to deny the school reassignment appeal of a student who assaulted another student and to confirm the Disciplinary decision of the division superintendent decadent by mrs. Corbett Sanders all those in favor raise your hand and that is unanimous that motion passes I call on Miss Korbut Sanders for emotion I moved to deny the school reassignment appeal of a student who made threats against specified students and the larger school community and to confirm the

130disciplinary decision of the division superintendent second seconded by mr. donut Koufax all those in favor please raise your hand Hines Paul chick Schultz Corbett Sanders Strauss Evans moon Wilson Garnett Koufax McElveen all those opposed all those abstaining McLaughlin that motion passes all right and we announce this at the beginning that item 4.02 has been told from tonight's agenda I go to item 4.03 agreement with US soccer foundation for Minnie pitch play area at North Springfield Elementary School and Collin is McLaughlin for emotion I move that the school board approved the installation of a mini pitch play area with associated logos for the drawings and specifications previously submitted to and approved by the Office of design and construction services and authorized the division superintendent or assistant superintendent facilities and transportation services either of whom may act

131without the other to negotiate execute and administer on behalf of the school board the grant agreement and any related agreements in connection with the mini pitch at north Springfield Elementary School very second second second environment starin at Koufax would you like to speak to your motion miss McLaughlin actually since I see mr. platenburg is with us I would like to defer my speaking to this and if he could just provide a summary to the full board what you provided to mean M is their net Koufax about the benefits of the mini pitch play area I think that would be most beneficial to the board members will be glad to this in-kind grant really is providing a a surface at north Springfield Elementary that really is something that we don't provide and in addition to just

132a regular asphalt area it's providing a type of surface that I don't believe these students and these children and let alone the community would have access to otherwise it's just a great opportunity and a real good partnership Jericho pecks would you like oh are you yes so now that he's given the the summary I just share with my colleagues I do think this is an example of where we benefit from the public private partnership type model here and I do hope that people will be supporting it this is a school that is in my district mr. net Koufax would you like to speak to your second briefly I just think it's wonderful to see this kind of support from our alumni I thank the efforts of mr. Goodson for his work with the US Soccer

133Federation get this project done in such an expedient manner so the children in the Springfield and other districts are able to use this space in the fall and I urge my colleagues to support the installation of this mini pitch play area Thank You manager narcotics and with that I'll call for the vote all those in favor please raise your hand that vote is unanimous that motion passes unfortunately I have had a small family emergency so I'm going to turn over the rest of the meeting I'm going to turn over the gavel to mrs. Straus yeah thank you the next agenda item is agenda item 4.04 family life education advisory committee recommendations and I will call on misspell check promotion apologies I move that the board accept the recommendation to approve the recommended media and lesson

134objectives this detailed in the agenda item and as reviewed and recommended by the family life education curriculum Advisory Committee ii ii ii MMX hines ah miss paul check would you like to speak to your motion just briefly that as we do every year the floyd CAC recommendations were brought to staff and our recommendations for approved their recommendations were approved and incorporated in the in the curriculum and i hope that my colleagues will join us in supporting that these go through for the next school year thank you miss Hines would you like speak to your second Mitchell yes so um akin to some of the comments that we heard from the podium this evening I specifically have questions and I don't know which okay dr. Payne um if you want to comment in particular the questions

135are related to that video at the either third grade or the fourth grade level and if you could explain the reasons why the sort of I'm going to use you know other people's words you know potentially more threatening or more ominous video was selected if they both ultimately achieve the same objective so that the current video thats in grade four was approved I believe in 2010 so I don't have comments from then as to why it was approved I don't have documentation back for that but there is there seem to be a sense that there was like a minority dissenting opinion that that there was an alternate video this it could have been used in its place and you know why why not yeah I guess I'm asking you know why was that the minority

136opinion and what harm does it do to use a potentially less threatening video at the younger elementary grades so the committee discussed fairly extensively took almost two plus our meeting they extended meeting to discuss the benefits and challenges of both and it was brought up again in another meeting about using the new media for the grade for as I share with the committee instructionally there is a precedent for showing a video more than once but the committee felt the majority opinion was they felt strongly that both had their merits and wanted to use both instructionally there was a precedence and we bought the new video with the option to do one the other or books so that older video still could be shown yes but let's have to be shown it's at the discretion of

137the teacher it's not it's a discretion teacher it's part of the approved materials but the second video I'm sorry I'm still I'm still unclear if both videos can be used or if it if they're booked if they both will be used or can be you the the committee the majority of committee voted to show the new title at grade three and retain the current video at grade four so and this is this is where I have a little bit of a concern about how we go about we have we don't necessarily have sleek act meeting year-round we don't necessarily have a protocol we sort of Shels them when we feel like the work is finished when you know these are volunteers and week be utilizing this is obviously not contentious but is an issue of

138great interest in many communities and in the county and so I pulled this off of the consent agenda because this is a very important topic and I feel like if we just if the board just keeps placing fleek ACK on the consent agenda it's as if you know it doesn't even warrant us discussing it it's just you know moving on to the next item and I do think it's important to a lot of people and these are the youngest elementary age students I mean I'm the only person here who I have a current third grader who after tomorrow is going to be a fourth grader you know so you know I'm you know living in the shoes of the parents that have you know this concern you know these are the parents that are talking

139to me so I am basically I don't fundamentally have a issue with the sweet hack report but because there are issues like this that I feel that are unresolved I'm not going to be approving this report not because I don't approve of the work that week Act is done but because I think that we as a board have necessarily resolved how and I look forward to maybe over the next year a little bit working with you and staff and the rest of my board members on how to better utilize flea cat year-round how to address when there's a minority report issue like this you know is there something that I mean nobody on the board I mean we're getting ready to approve this nobody on the board to my knowledge has seen this so we're

140about to approve something you know in our curriculum that nobody's ever bothered to even look at and you know there was a speaker who submitted a very cogent video testimonies as you know we were approving things when the the committee didn't meet for half a year and the comment period was before the material to even produce so how can you comment on something you've never seen so it's very difficult for me to justify as a board member approving parts of curriculum that I've never even that so I'm not going to be doing that tonight mr. Glassman if I could I'd like to just add a little bit to what dr. Payne mentioned I appreciate my Schultz bringing this to the you know giving us the opportunity to take this off a consent and talk about

141a little bit because of my five years in the district this is the first time that we've probably had such a strong dissenting opinion on one of the proposed objectives and I think it's important to clarify just a couple things about the dissenting opinion so again the issue for the dissenting opinion really was that they felt that the new material the new video would be more appropriate to show at both third and fourth grade where the majority felt like there should be a different video at third and fourth grade so the board tonight has several different options you could accept the majority opinion you could accept the dissenting opinion you could do neither but I think it's important to realize that we're going to look at this issue again next year so the committee next

142year can revisit the fourth grade video and if that time they want to make a change they're certainly able to do so and then the other piece that information that I think is important is that the board also asked the committee to reconvene in April which they did to take a deeper look at how our program in Fairfax County compares to the state program and we provided the board with an outline of where you know our program compares to the state program and we're going to continue to look at those issues with more information and more study on the particular lesson objectives that the committee has requested more information and more discussion on for next year so we're planning to do that and I think we'll have an opportunity to engage in more discussion on

143some of these issues both with the committee and with the board well I really appreciate actually that that a little bit broader explanation dr. presidio because we just went through and I don't know how many hours the board spent on Advisory Committee reports where we listened to advisory committees to the board and to the superintendent and listen to their year-long work we don't ever get that from free CAC we don't sit down as a board and have Flugtag present to us we never have a discussion with them I've never sat and watched you know them you know converse with us as a board the board has never had a work session to talk about this and we're literally approving curriculum I don't know I could swag it on how many third and fourth graders there

144are in Fairfax County I'll know something like maybe it's there's 50,000 high schoolers you know roughly about 20,000 or so third and fourth graders maybe maybe more what we're approving curriculum site for you know tens of thousands of kids and we've never talked about it we haven't looked at it we haven't seen eye we haven't watched the videos and we've never had a report presented to us as a board as an advisory committee when minority student achievement we have presented we have Head Start presenting to us we have advanced academics presenting to some of all the advisory committees presenting to us and we just sort of leave the family life education curriculum Advisory Committee and our blind spot we don't meet with them we don't talk to them and and I think it's problematic and

145I think in order to have some degree of integrity going forward that that we take seriously the advisory roles the people who volunteer to go through this and meet with us that we don't just accept something over email and try to figure out later after it was put on a consent agenda what the real issues are so I look forward to us having a slightly more robust approach to this part of our curriculum for many thousands of our children miss mcLaughlin so Miss Schultz you may not be aware that I also did ask that this be moved from consent action and it just so happened today I met with some constituents who had scheduled an appointment with me maybe a week or two ago and so I talked to them today about 2:30 and they

146were sharing with me a couple of concerns I want to first start with praise they very much believe in the merits of FLE one father is like a 40 year resident here in Fairfax County as children came up through our school system and had nothing but praise for this for the education as children received but he did say that he was he shares similar concerns with others in the community that we might as a board need to just do a little bit deeper dive in understanding our FLE that right now the way that the advisory committee works with eppley they review objectives and then the lessons are developed and implemented and it is understanding the lessons don't actually come back to the advisory committee and as we know there is the objective but then there's

147how we deliver it and so they were suggesting to me that like tonight we're we're going to vote on a couple of videos and things but if you don't have the lessons that accompanying it's hard to know how the video fits in context to the information we're imparting on is on the students and they also said that it might be helpful that if the FLE appointees that board members present that if we could you know make efforts to have subject matter experts in sex education and in family life education age appropriateness that that might be something we seek out in the future with our employees and you know that they did talk about things like the the video presenter that we had during citizen participation about parents being made more aware when there might be

148sexually explicit material or maybe some that might be a little more unsettling for families and so they didn't discount that some of this is very important and we do want to inform our children but that some parents may not be aware and so this one group actually has gone through all 12 years of FLE and they've kind of done a an analysis with a stoplight red yellow and green saying you know you might want to you know caution parents go look at the lessons before you necessarily you know consent that your child's going to see all of this I will just preface that as someone with a Masters in Social Work my appointee had a doctorate in nursing and also the nurse practitioner I am such a believer and the importance of accurate and timely

149information and family life education and but I do think that I have heard parent concerns about like the book that we just saw the sexually explicit material up there it being supportive and promoting really good education for our children to miss shelters point we still have to be knowledgeable about what we're approving and what's being put in front of our children so in terms of tonight's vote I do share Michelle says concern I don't think that we as a board have deliberated on this I don't have enough information in what's there even in the report to feel comfortable recommending this so I do want to let dr. Payne know that I've heard nothing but praise for your great work and I want to make sure you knew that my abstention tonight is not a reflection

150on the great respect I have for the work you're doing but I was one of the board members who voted for the crosswalk I was also on the board matters board members we were in a minority voice that said we really needed a work session with staff and I will still continue to support that that work in dr. Presidio thank you to for your leadership and you work on this ms hynes yeah just a couple of background questions as long as we're talking about this it's my understanding correct me if I'm wrong that the state law requires school boards to approve these is that why we're doing this tonight Board of Education guidelines require that we have community input okay so so the Board of Education guidelines require us to have the phuket committee some

151sort of a flea ket advisory committee some type of eyes of committee and evidence of community input with feedback okay and so I imagine school boards around Virginia may do this differently or is it prettiest you know they may do it differently this has just been the processes processes before my time so to speak so it's just what the county has done yeah before my time to actually yeah so I do recall one time we had a free tech report directly to the board a few years ago and I forget why that was but with the work session work session yeah we did yeah I have some in the past but it's not a regular thing we don't we accept a report but we don't have a physical report you know as we do with

152our other advisory committees and it that's true just another clarifier because you know we all know this but I do feel sometimes when I talk to people in the community that they don't realize that parents can opt their children out of any or all FLE lessons is that correct correct and all the lessons are available online for parents to see right so we have availability online and and I think we have worked over the last few years to make sure that those lessons are easily available that parents are notified about it and that the process for opting children out has gotten easier over the last few years so that's another thing I think we keep an eye on as a board because it's important if we offer that opt-out that we make it real and

153accessible thank you Miss Korbut Sanders yes thank you and I think it's very helpful for us to be having this conversation tonight I have actually spoken with my appointee to the sleek hack throughout the year as they've been discussing this curriculum and it's my understanding maybe it's clarification that I'm looking for is that what we're really talking about is the introduction of a new video at third grade and maintaining the video at fourth grade that has already been used with our students in fourth grade for the past several years is that correct correct okay thank you I have to say that that is a clarification that I thought was very helpful I also understand that the FLE CAC discussed this quite in-depth and actually did it on two separate occasions and voted twice regarding this

154video as far as the recommendation so I think that's very helpful to know as far as background but I do want to well to extend my thanks for the very careful and deliberate work that the FLE CAC has begun on the crosswalk between the Virginia state guidelines and our Fairfax County curriculum I think that's helpful I also want to emphasize that Fairfax County has prided itself for years on having a more robust curriculum at all levels and in all different subject areas that we tend to go well beyond what the state recommendations are having said that I do welcome the idea of having a fuller discussion about the work of the fleet act in the future because I think it's always helpful to hear from each and every one of our citizen advisory committees however

155I wanted to talk a little bit about the the opt-out which mrs. Hines mentioned and that's something that's really important for the community to know about and perhaps we need to do a little bit more in educating our community about their ability you know parents have ownership of their students education when it comes to family life education that's why it's not in the health curriculum and when parents take ownership of their students education what that does is a all parents to decide which portions of a curriculum they want their students to participate in as part of the classroom experience and to decide which portions of the curriculum they want to take ownership and educate their children about some sensitive issues in their own home and so I always urge parents to take ownership I also

156think though and I've heard this consistently that when children are opted out of a classroom experience that it is important for all of us in the education system to make sure that they are given real and meaningful work and so that's something that I would like to see a little bit more focus on not only educating our students our parents on the ability to opt their children out but also educating them on what their students experience will be in perhaps a deeper dive on a health-related topic while the rest of their classmates are in the classroom mr. Wilson thank you madam chair well this is a interesting conversation I think that I'm going to echo the the comments of some of my other board members because I certainly don't feel like I have enough information

157to vote on whether or not to make the changes that are that we are voting on tonight so but along those same lines and I think this would be helpful for the community if you could explain how families and parents could review the Fla curriculum how do they do that they access the curriculum through the FTPS 24/7 blackboard in parent view they use their cystic ount to get to that curriculum any media we have streaming rights for is there as well schools also offer preview nights evening opportunities where they send letters out and families are invited to come in and view materials there as well as they're available in the schools during the school day we do have the lessons at the city of Fairfax Regional Library we don't have media there but we do

158have the print materials there as well okay that's terrific so I think it's at the FCPS website through blackboard and they just use their same login that they have their sis parent account and then they would go within blackboard to FLE is there like a button for FLE or something like that yes when they log in there would be a there's a tab at the top says curriculum and they click on that and it gets them right to family life education it has every grade level there you know like elementary parents can only get to elementary curriculum it gives them access to all of it all grateful yeah and I think that's that's terrific and I and I was I think I heard you say was that the Board of Education requires that you demonstrate

159engagement and input from the community we obviously have some input from the community tonight and it was pretty clear that they didn't like some of the aspects of it how do you take that into account I mean Hut obviously a sleek act committee but it went up when you hear things like this what how do you respond to it is there some way that that families and parents can feel like they're being heard but what is the part which is there anything maybe there is a maybe there's a way that you guys connect with communities or community engagement just sort of generally to allow parents to select back the concerns that they have depends I have had one-on-one conversations and phone calls from parents and actually gone head in the following year and made revisions

160based on their feedback so I think some of the things that that people had concerns about they're reflected in the comments in this particular report will be things that we will focus on when we do the review next year so that would be an opportunity to go back and take another look at that right so if they're if they're on blackboard and they've gone to the FLE curriculum and they're reviewing something is there a link then to that they can click on to provide their kind of immediate response to something there's not a link there but all the communications that go out direct them to their schools for some of the questions and then anything about the program it directs them to my office and to me directly yeah what one thing in particular tonight

161that one of the speakers mentioned was the concern that that there might be material within fle definitely curriculum that runs counter to their strongly held religious beliefs and and that does that potentially because we've been a pretty broad swath of the families that are in FCPS so that is a point of concern and I would urge you to sort of keep an eye on that particular aspect of concern that parents have because I think that is something that we do owe it in terms of being welcoming of all ideas and inclusion that that we that we respect deeply held religious convictions in the parents charge to be the primary educator of their kids in those areas yes sir thank you mr. moon I think you what am i Cheryl I am I am going to

162support the motion that just in in response to solve the comments made by my colleagues that I want to say that in the past board you know when board so the needs with scheduled work sessions to get the presentations from flick and staff to go or in deal recommendations and sometimes when the recommendations were in a very minimal and those substantial you know changes then we Paul chose natural you know schedule work session but it will be up to the board up to the board always schedule work session to have a discussion on placate recommendations the I slight distinction between fully cat and other advisory committees we have is if you look at the regulation fully cats role is to advise curriculum coordinator as opposed to advise in the school board so if you want

163to change that role we can also change that water to go through our palace modifications but other advisory committees NSA will see and an AAPI see the Advisory Committee to the school board so they report directly to us the Corbett Sanders just a quick question you mentioned that the videos are accessible online if we have the streaming rights for them so are the two videos that are being recommended are they online are the ones the new video and then the new video we will have streaming rights for we haven't paid for those yet pending approval the other video which I think there are two maybe three videos and all the curriculum that we do not have streaming rights for because we're not able to purchase them from the vendors so the current gray for video

164in question is we do not have streaming rights for that initial kind of cope with that last little bit of information so so I'm sorry this is just this is very difficult so we're we're approving something that none of us have ever seen that there's been a strong amount of dissension like the most ever on family life and we can't even go online and see it because as one we don't own and have no streaming rights for and the other we haven't paid for streaming rights yet I'm going to make a motion a lot this is off the cuff I'm sorry but I'm going to make a motion that we postpone this I think we need to have some more conversation we're literally about to prove something not only we've not had no conversation about

165we can't even ourselves board members go online and look at we'd have to like go to Gate House and have special access with staff so I'd like to make a motion to postpone to a date certain you could you know miss Moberg you could give me a future meeting date but you know whatever that date certain is we'll get it I'm making a motion to postpone them all right miss Schultz you are making a motion to delay this item until a date certain we need to date certain to insert into the motion July 13 eliezer people work for me okay motion to delay until July 13 is there a second second seconded by mr. Wilson Mitchell's would you like to speak to your motion I mean I can't I literally could not even pull this

166up right now and look at it as a board member if I wanted to and so you know I have parents commenting on it who were part of the committee so they had the privilege to see it anybody who watches this who has a rising 3rd grader a rising 4th grader can't go online on blackboard and even look at this material and I don't understand how with any integrity we as a board can sit here and say yes let's let's pass and accept the FLE CAC report how do we accept recommendations on something that we've never even seen so I I think it's we this is one of those reasonable and prudent let's take a couple of weeks so we can at least see this material that there's been an expression of concern about this

167is where this is our wheelhouse mr. Wilson she like to speak to your sexy yes thank you and I'm chair this is I mean I think this is in a completely appropriate motion I am reminded of Colonel Klink a little bit I see nothing I hear nothing I know nothing and we're going to vote so I would urge all my colleagues to delay this vote until we've all had a chance to review and consider what we're voting on time well so I think are my two colleagues raised a good point if there's something in an advisory committee report that you're concerned about we always have the opportunity to dig deeper and get more information am I correct that the report that we're now voting on was new business on May 25th that's correct and there's

168just one other point of clarification and we're certainly fine if the board would like more time to deliberate on this that is not a problem but just a point of clarification as a reminder the current fourth grade video was approved by the board in 2010 we've been using it since that time so it's not a new piece of material it actually is an approved piece of instructional material and the new video the third grade video even though we haven't purchased it yet because we were considering purchasing it it was available for streaming during the 30-day community review period so parents could go on during that time and they could have accessed it at that time okay so I guess the concern is that board members at this point you know can't do that or community

169members at this point can't do that but I you know I do have some sympathy but I think we have advisory committee so that we don't have to do all the work right we we delegate a lot of things we have to we already spend too much time I think with each other and and and you know it's just not our job to make all of these decisions but that's why we have advisory committees and I think as I say if there's something an advisory committee does that we're concerned about and want more information on any one of us individually can certainly get that and have access to it always so I'm concerned about pushing this off now especially since we have had a month since this was new business individual board members have had

170a month to look at this video if you were concerned about it and wanted to do that I think that's plenty of time also if we move this to July is there any does that cause any problems for our process going forward or does it not matter we would be able to accommodate a delay okay all right well I see that it's not a problem but I'm still not going to support it because I you know I I think we have had plenty of time to look at this if we wanted to Miss mcLaughlin so I appreciate staff answering the question I had with respect to the motion which is accessibility to being able to see it I guess where I'm with this right now is the committee said we're fine with both videos it's

171just where the dissent was that they said one the dissenting opinion wanted to get rid of the old video just have the new video both courage and the majority said let's let's use them both that's correct and dr. Presidio you noted that the board approved the older video in 2010 which at the time the only board members who are still currently serving our believe MS Evans mr. rouse and mr. moon so in in terms of board members being able to maybe appreciate what the Advisory Committee is putting forward that's where the difficulty is that we can't see the video that they found frightening and perhaps not appropriate and so I I sympathize with what miss Hines is saying and you know that the the weight of the work that the board has and what we

172delegate to our committees but because I am one of those board members who felt that the board really hasn't committed some time and I am very proud of the fact that our board over the years have been able to you know peel back the onion and look at things a little more carefully and perhaps look at maybe nuancing recommendations that come from the committee I I would hope we would go ahead and postpone this simply because I haven't heard a single one of my colleagues at this dais talked about seeing these videos and can speak with convincing or compelling reassurances to to those of us who have concerns that we should greenlight it I definitely the board member think if you haven't seen the videos then given doctor's presidio is said we could postpone to

173the next meeting I think we owe that to our communities and so I hope people might consider the merits of postponing out see any harm from it but I would hope that there's a lot to be gained from it Courbet Sanders sure so the report that we're approving actually only has formal recommendations for grade three which everybody has said they support the new video for grade three recommendations for grade 10 which we've heard minimal about and recommendations for grades 7 through 12 for students with low incidence disabilities that correct gives me okay so what we're really talking about is almost two separate things we're talking about the recommendations of the report itself and then we're talking about an additional recommendation that is subject to further to a lot of discussion and we got feedback tonight

174so if we were to adopt the report recommendations for gray three ten seven through twelve and postpone a discussion on grade four because we don't actually have a formal recommendation for grade four and we dealt with the grade four as part of as the postponement that seems to me a very a coherent way of addressing it since the report itself is only grade three recommendation grade 10 and grade 7 through 12 and we've gotten the support from the community and from the fleet asked to introduce the new video in grade 3 it's the real question is do we want to relook at grade four and the appropriateness of that video is that correct I just checked Green would you help us on that a bit so Miss Korbut Sanders is correct in terms of the

175recommendations that are in front of the board when you would vote if you were to vote tonight you would be looking at grades three ten in the grade 7 media so she is correct about that thank you in the recommendation again just a clarification the recommendation for the new video for grade three was approved is the recommendation from the committee yes is to approve that and again just a clarification and I'm also right at the grade four where they're not going to keep that and just to clarify because we also and for those who are watching on TV we also do have the comments from the community for the people that took the time to take a look at this and the comments received regarding current recommendations there were two people who supported the grade

176three recommendation and two people who opposed the grade three recommendation but so we have four comments on the grade three there were other comments and other things they're actually not pertain to this specific report am i correct correct okay thank you all right mr. moon and leave your next I'm not going to submit a motion to postpone I you know as miss Hines pointed out this came at this what's gonna put on as a new business about a month ago in some years or when I had keener interest in taking a look at tapes I went to the school would office and to my time to watch the tapes in some other years when I saw that I didn't quite feel the need to go I chose not to go because again I could only

177spend so much time on doing a what I needed to I had to be very cognizant about there so we had we had four months I think this board is having a habit of you know not doing its work and keep postponing the things that that's been on the schedule that that I'm not gonna about the motions motion to postpone this McLaughlin did you want to go back your lifestyle yeah I just wanted to clarify something as I understood there's sort of debating on what's being recommended and what and Miss Korbut Sanders trying to maybe find the compromise where I understand it differently is yes the committee majority recommended adding this video three and the dissenting opinion said yes we also prefer the grade three video but the differential is the dissenting opinions recommendation was

178at grade three removed grade four that's really I mean technically speaking what there was the committee trying to decide do you add grade three and keep four or do you just have three supplanting four so and to mr. moons point I just I I I appreciate that again we all look at things a little bit differently but I want to caution that we should not be characterizing any of our colleagues as not doing our work there are several of us who have said that we serve as a board to deliberate as a board and we're not deliberating on this some of us are comfortable saying whatever the committee recommended we're going forward and that's fine some of us have said we'd like to hear from each other and I will restate because I'm getting ready

179to vote and I don't want to be characterized as someone who didn't do her homework I've asked my colleagues to tell me why you think the recommendation of add 3 and don't remove 4 is a good idea no one has spoken to that so delaying it so that everybody can be knowledgeable or at least some people be knowledgeable I think is important for the community see it be deliberative so I'm not going to go around accusing anyone of not being deliberative I will just describe what I think is deliberative for me and that's why I'm supporting supporting the postponement and I would also appreciate that I'm not or anyone who votes for this postponement be characterizes didn't doing their homework I don't think that it's helpful to the board mister I'd like to call the

180question I'd like what the question has but I would I would ask could we let mrs. Schultz have one last go back and then I will call for the vote unless there is import new information with someone who has not yet spoken Schultz thank you for the courtesy of that since it was my motion I do want to clarify that it was on our new business on May 25th which was the night that we went off 1:40 in the morning passing the budget we've been a little busy in the last month we have hired an AG we have hired a superintendent we have passed a 2.8 billion dollar budget we have lost a board member and had multiple community issues come up and we've all just been through graduation season I've just been to nine

181graduations in five five or six days so the assertion that at some point in the past and a 30-day comment period somebody had the opportunity to see this video I think that the fact that they saw that video reason why we received comments and it's been brought to us this is the work of the board because it was on our calendar a month ago we should move forward and act tonight is not a good enough reason to say something that none of us have been to received a committee report on when we receive committee reports on everything else and I understand that committee doesn't report to us but the you are talking about implementing a curriculum change and embedding things into our curriculum for tens of thousands of students that nobody sitting at this diocese

182seen and we should just do it because it's on our calendar that that's a terrible reason for for me to say we should just do it and we don't really have to know what's in it before we pass it all right I will call for the vote the motion on the table is to delay the approval of the recommendation to approve or recommended media and lesson objectives as ctlt's and Jenna item as reviewed and recommended by the family life education curriculum Advisory Committee the motion is to delay unto until July 13 those in support of the motion to delay mr. Schulz Miss Korbut Sanders miss McLaughlin mr. Wilson those opposed miss Hines miss Paul check miss Strauss mr. moon miss dare Nicole facts mr. McElveen the motion fails we are back to the main motion

183which is to approve the recommendation regarding the new items for family life education I will call for the vote all of those in favor of approving the recommended changes of family life education as posted in the agenda item those in favor miss Hines miss poll check miss Corbett Sanders missed rouse mr. moon mr. Nicole fix mr. McElveen motion passes I'm sorry a Posie sorry those opposing missiles those abstaining miss mcLaughlin mr. Wilson thank you thank you for your help mr. moon all right that motion passes the next item on the agenda is a consent agenda our adopted rules of parliamentary procedure Robert's Rules provide for a consent agenda listing several items for approval of the board by a single motion many items listed have gone through board review and documentation has been provided to all

184board members in the public in advance items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board member prior to the meeting first 5.01 approved the minutes of the April 27th 2017 regular school board meeting item 5.0 to approved proposed restated plan documents for a RFC in a RFC 2001 approved the appointment of Michael Burke to the ER FC Board of Trustees for a one-year term beginning July 1st 2017 item 5.0 for approved the appointment of Susan Quinn Kristin Michael and Marty Smith to the ER FC Board of Trustees for a one-year term beginning July 1st 2017 and ending July 30th 2018 5.05 approved recommended media and lesson objectives as detailed in the agenda item and is reviewed and recommended by the family life education curriculum Advisory Committee I'm sorry we've just

185that was taken off consent it was put on for action and we already have the results for that sorry about that 5.06 confirmed the separations for the period beginning May 1st 2017 and ending May 31st 2017 mrs. Rocha internazionale 5.05 that has become 5.05 thank you five yes I'm sorry that's because we don't quite have a corrected script thank you so 5.05 becomes confirm the separations for the period beginning May 1st 20:17 and ending May 31st 2017 5.06 appoint individuals to serve on school board citizen advisory committees as detailed in the agenda item is there any objection to approving the consent agenda seeing hearing and seeing no objection the consent agenda is approved new business the following are new business agenda items there will not be a vote tonight on these items but action is

186scheduled at a future meeting item 6.01 approve the Human Resources Advisory Committee charge is detailed in the agenda item 6.02 approved revisions to p224 5.2 home instruction requirements and part-time enrollment options as detailed in the agenda item this is a policy Thank You superintendent Mathers dr. Lockhart thank you madam vice chair first I'd like to thank the South Lakes High School community for their outpouring of support after the terrible loss of one of our students Nara hasslein as I want to thank principal Kim Retzer for leadership during this very difficult time our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Navas family and the entire South Lakes community tomorrow is the last day of school it's been a wonderful year of learning I'm very proud of our students our teachers our principals all of our staff

187for their hard work and all their accomplishments I do wish everyone a wonderful and safe summer finally I'd like to say thank you to the school board and the leadership team as we talked about earlier this is my last school board meeting as your interim superintendent it's been a pleasure and an honor and a privilege to serve FCPS the students the families the staff of this incredible school system I am very much looking forward to assisting and supporting our new superintendent dr. Scott brand that transition is well underway and excited to welcome dr. brand back to Fairfax County Public Schools thank you thank you dr. Lockhart next on the agenda is board reports and I will call a mr. McElveen for report on the public engagement committee thank you madam chair so at this meeting

188in our next meeting we're going to be talking about or this previous meeting we talked about the ED summit which remains under discussion we now have a superintendent the idea was to make our Edie Summit a showcase of the superintendent however in looking at the calendar for October we have realized that we already have a one Saturday set aside for the health and wellness mental health and wellness summit so we're exploring possibilities of combining resources and putting both on the same day so that's going to be something we're going to bring to the board at our work session next month in about two weeks so if everyone could be thinking whether that would be amenable please please do so thank you mister McElveen miss McLaughlin a report on governance yes I just want to again

189draw to my colleagues attention an email that I sent to you on June 19th that gave you a summary of policy updates that are coming out of governance and being recommended to all of you it's on new business for tonight and we will have a work session discussion on July 10th with action to be taken July 13th essentially there are two policy updates that relate to home instruction requirements and part-time enrollment options and as I provided in the summary to you and the email essentially what this is allowing is right now our high school level home school students can take up to two classes at their base schools but we don't have that provision for middle school students and we have some students who are competitive gymnastics and and other family decisions that prevent them

190from being full-time enrolled students in our schools and so the Governance Committee reviewed this and determined that with staff input that we could make this workable so we'll have more discussion about it at the work session but I want to make sure you're all aware that that those two policy updates are being brought to the board out of governance and it had the unanimous support of the government's committee members and the other thing I want to bring to our board's attention is that we talked about how we always have a July retreat with the board and it's really been valuable every year but given that our new superintendent will just be starting with us and in looking at board member calendars for July we really couldn't find time where we can do a Friday Saturday

191for our standard July retreat so the Governance Committee is going to be looking at this at our July 20th work session to discuss with our clerk and identify with the help of dr. Bray bran when he might think perhaps a September retreat will work best so I wanted to just sort of bring everybody up to speed on that since staff sometimes also helps us with the July retreat and it would be good for a raise to know what is on the table and what is being postponed thank you mr. McLaughlin board matters and I will begin with miss Hines thank you so this is a joyful time of year of course end of school tomorrow I've enjoyed going to graduation celebrations and our students and their parents and families and educators have so much to

192be proud of and to celebrate right now and I really enjoy so much being up there on stage and that spot where every parent and grandparent and brother and sister and aunt and uncle would like to be right where I am to watch those faces walk walk across the stage and I do take that to heart I take that responsibility very seriously and it's a great privilege for me unfortunately this has also been just a terrible week on Sunday 17-year old knob raha Simon as mr. dr. Hawker said a student at South Lake High School was taken from us from her family her friends in her community by an unspeakable act of violence I knew Nara when she was in fourth grade I was teaching fourth grade at Forest edge elementary at the time and

193even though she was not in my homeroom we of course knew all of this the children I cannot of course even imagine the pain of her parents her three younger sisters her close friends but still like so many in the community and those of us who knew her as her teachers I have woken every up every morning this week heartsick beaten down and just inadequate to the work of moving forward and wholly inadequate to the task of helping our students move through their grief and fear and believe that they will be ok again some day last night neighbors friends and peers took those first steps forward supporting each other and supporting our whole community as we came together at a beautiful vigil in Reston to honor Nara and celebrate her life and her beautiful spirit

194friend after friend got up and described Nara as I remember her kind open-hearted open-minded a welcoming friend to everyone several kids said she was like a big sister to them I imagine that we have all had the blessing of someone like Nava in our lives I hope we all have I'm so grateful to the students who put that together some of whom graduated the day before I'm grateful to Navarez family to the Cedar Ridge community to numbers teachers and school administrators community leaders who were all there last night and all gave our community a moment of peace and unity to begin to heal together I'm also want to say that I'm grateful to chief Rossler Fairfax County Police Department for joining the community last night and for leading what must be a very painful investigation

195for our Police Department you know we don't want to forget that them they're humans and they are many of them parents and every parent in this community is shaken by this tragedy so we move forward together with Navas spirit as our guide if you did not know numbre please listen to the stories that her friends and family tell look at the pictures of her beautiful smile and feel the warmth of that smile you can see it you can feel it and say her name one meaning of Nara in Arabic is pinnacle a high place and when you say her name you lift up her memory and you make light your own heart not breath we love you miss Schultz thank you I want to thank the communities I think this may have been the first

196time since I've been on the board where all of the students in the Springfield district who attend the nine different high schools that they attend aligned was a calendar that no one conflicted with each other so the Somerville Community Chantilly community Fairfax Community Lake Braddock Robinson's South County TJ West Springfield and Woodson I was able to celebrate with all of your families on graduation of your students the degree of Honor given to the students and their accomplishments as they cross the stage is a thing to behold and it's sometimes it's a the graduation itself is you know it gets a little tedious if you attend nine or 20 or whatever but to really hear about the accomplishments of our students to watch the performances those who are military bound and service to our country who

197are in the 1% who serve they will they really do accomplish a lot and it's an honor to be there and I appreciate those communities I do send the wishes to nodders family a family of four girls kind of the opposite of my family four boys a tenth grader I have a tenth grader I can't imagine the loss of your child right when you're getting ready to launch them into their life so the contrast of watching the young people cross stages and go on to the next point in their life and realize that somebody else has that that opportunity taken away from them is incredibly disturbing and and we should keep them in our in our thoughts and prayers and I do want to thank Gretchen Bulova in particular for the tremendous tremendous effort that

198went into the celebrate Fairfax on our 270 fifths birthday as a County the stories including the 14th Lord Fairfax who traveled from London to be with us and and hear about how his family history has evolved over time and how they think it's funny to come over and see their coat of arms on motorcycles and police cars and see all of the people who are embracing history over time Fairfax County public school teachers who are authors who are selling books it really was a very special sort of parochial view into history that we live in and work in and drive through every day and sometimes we don't necessarily appreciate and the ability to bring my 9 year old to that and sort of witness it was very very special and for for those who missed

199it I don't know if there's stuff online but it certainly was a menace opportunity I do want to thank the employees who have been here tonight this is the issue that I'm taking very seriously it pains me actually when when I hear when I hear that decisions this board has made have not fully been understood sometimes by the board and that we've impacted people's lives and livelihoods I look forward to meeting with you over the next little while but I do take this very seriously and some of us are asking budget questions already and the last thing I want to say oh my goodness a little bit emotional is that since we were last here there's been another horrific act of violence in Fairfax County in Alexandria and I I restrained on my town halls

200this spring mostly because of the workload that we've had which has been unlike anything I've seen in the last six years on the board just because you know this is the the natural path of what has happened but I will say that the one effort that I did have squeezed into a small amount of time to go and embark on town halls was entirely unpleasant and it was the first time I had ever experienced that and I do a lot of community engagement I've spent a lot of time in the community doing community office hours and town halls and student town halls and meeting with people who are employees or taxpayers homeowners associations and I'd never experienced anything like that and I am beseeching the community at large to take a page from what has

201happened in Alexandria and to tone down the rhetoric we we are all doing our very best we may come at it from different points of view but you know some of us have been the recipient of very very unpleasant things and it isn't necessary we can we can talk we can approach policy we can work through differences and we can do it with respect and and I'm just teaching the larger community to to keep that in mind because we don't we don't need any more of that so thank you Miss Corbett Sanders yeah we will go back to my spellcheck we missed you well I think my colleague shared many of our sentiments for this evening I just really do want to wish well wishes to all of our graduates and our students I know

202I'm very mindful in my community as well that it definitely takes a village so those of us in the community as you see our kids out this summer please take a moment to let them know you are there that you care and that you're there to support them unfortunately we have had to continue to cut many of our summer programs in this county and so there's anything you can do take a few hours to volunteer to read with some students in your community I'm sure it would be very much appreciated and and I echo the sentiments of having thoughtfulness thoughtfulness and our conversations and our discussions and I hope you will continue to model that for our kids in Fairfax County so thank you and please congratulate a graduate this week with Corbett Sanders I'll

203be brief I echo the sentiments of dr. Lockard and Miss times my heart goes out to your community but I had the opportunity to be there last night and the the love and the support and the ecumenical approach that was in Lake and Plaza is something that I hope we can all model every day going forward and that is how we will honor not row regarding me celebrate Fairfax I would encourage community members to celebrate the two hundred and seventy fifth anniversary of Fairfax County at the many different events that are going on each Magisterial District will be having some sort of celebration and if you go to celebrate Fairfax 275 I believe you can find all of those events and I would encourage you you know summertime is a great opportunity to take a

204deeper dive into learning for all of our students with the opportunities through the Fairfax 275 with the opportunities at our local historical locations such as Mount Vernon Gunston Hall Woodlawn plantation I passed by Lake Fairfax last night there are so many wonderful places that you can go and explore and share with your children and I would encourage you to do so I would also encourage that as we go into the summer months be aware of where your kids are and who they're visit who they're visiting encourage that students should not swim alone there should be kids should swim in pairs at a minimum there should be a lifeguard on duty when biking there should be two and so I would just encourage that safety is part of your conversation with your kids bicycle helmets things

205like that and thank you for a great year to all of our teachers and congratulations to all of our class of 2017 I was very impressed I think in the Mount Vernon and Lee schools where I attended the graduations the total was close to twenty million dollars of scholarship money that our students take home which means that money stays Fairfax County rather than sending it to destinations across the country for our kids attend school mr. moon are we used my time to mr. mccoggins miss mcLaughlin I first want to extend my deep sympathies as well to never have sons family and to all those who knew and loved her in the community I cannot imagine the degree of grief and while I had a commitment in my district I am very sorry that I couldn't

206be there with miss Hines and all of the incredible outpouring of County officials along with the community in Reston many of us know that Reston has a unique kinship with one another but the fact that people from around the county all wanted to be there and to honor this lovely young lady it's it's the only silver lining that we can look at a county that recognizes how powerful this loss is and to come together and to honor this young lady and ms hynes especially i had no idea that she was a young lady that she knew personally and I will be keeping you and all of those who knew her in my prayers it's a very difficult thing to go through i I do hope that all of us in the positions we have will

207continue to talk about how we promote and create an environment where children and all those in our community feel loved and that was one of the most beautiful messages in one of our graduation speeches from the Robinson teacher who was selected by the students to be the guest speaker Brian hazard it was really it all comes down to love I do want to also say doctor [Music] Lockhart been the for graduations I attended Woodson Lake Braddock Robinson and ándale I want to extend to you how impressed I was with your principals our principals and the staff the dedication that they showed throughout that's the graduation ceremonies remarkable and inspiring and I was so proud to be a part of this system and be there for the celebrations it really is amazing and I'll try to

208make sure and extend my personal appreciation to all of them but I want you to know they make us proud to miss Strauss we even had a chance to meet since the cappy's so I wanted to give a special shout out to you it was the 18th capys and my sixth year being on the board it is truly remarkable to offer a national level Tony's level of celebration of the tremendous talent in the Washington region what a gift your husband bill Strauss and you continue to bring to not just those young students but to all of us who want to love and honor the performing arts so thank you it's your you're a treasure to our veteran teachers who are here tonight I do want to echo what Michelle said I think every single one

209of us has appreciated the outreach that you've given to us and we are going to be looking at this very carefully and I have full confidence that our staff and administration are going to help us in looking at this very carefully so your engagement is meaningful and we continue to welcome your engagement as we work through this I also wanted to just say that in terms of the 275th birthday celebration of Fairfax County unlike Michelle said it was pretty amazing to meet the real-life Lord of Fairfax and his wife Lady Fairfax that he is the 14th Lord that that Lordships at dormant for a hunt in 20 years and it was his grandfather who went from California back to Maryland to New York and then reclaimed it after 120 years and brought that lordship back

210into activity it's is amazing and the story is going to be published in a book this fall his brother Lord Fairfax his brother is getting the book published and will be doing an American book tour and so some of us were talking to him about how we could bring him to Fairfax County schools so that we can really allow our children and our faculty to appreciate living history that relates to Fairfax and then finally I just want to say that I really appreciated the closing the gap presentation dr. Lockhart that rich polio presented the other day that was very meaningful and appreciate the hard work that's going on there and to all of us who were there for the gang prevention joint meeting with the board supervisors I just want to tell the community that

211I'm really proud of our Police Department and the work of the supervisors and the school board and being engaged in paying attention to that important issue and to all of the 2017 graduates please if you are going on the traditional post-graduation Beach weeks please be safe parents please give your children all the guidance needed to make good choices and I hope everyone has a wonderful summer mr. Wilson thank you madam vice chair I would just associate myself with the remarks of many of my school board members tonight very beautiful and thought-provoking comments and it is always a sad thought that it's only in times of tragedies and loss that we really sort of appreciate the value of each of us and in particularly this special unique gift that our children are and and so let's

212let's let's try as we move forward as a community to remember that we are all in it together as it were and to hold our loved ones to a little bit closer and and take care of the the people in our lives and be kind to those we meet and interact with each day to all the graduates congratulations I would also just say to dr. Lockhart a terrific job guiding the school system the school year the graduations and the principles in the soli district are just terrific and they're so impressive but to see all those kids coming across the stage so excited to to move out into the world so thank you again mr. Nicol Phipps again echoing the comments of my colleagues about the loss of our student resynthesis with her her family in

213the entire community obviously she's touched so many and we we send our prayers and love to the family and all those who knew her also thanks to all the advocates who came out tonight particularly those who are sitting here we do hear you we do appreciate you we appreciate all of our teachers and we will continue to have dialogue on these issues and for all the other advocates who came out thank you as well yes tomorrow's the last day of school enjoy have a relaxing refreshing and summer full of reading and downtime I am so you could recharge and refresh yourself and I also want to say congratulations to all the 2017 graduates this year I was the mom of a graduate and I'm very proud of my daughter who is a 2017 graduate of

214Edison High School so to her and all of her the classmates and all of the other students who proudly walked across that stage we are so sad to lose you but from our system but you as somebody said earlier and some of the compact I think with Laura who said once you're part of the FCPS family you're always apart so sore fly do well and best of luck in your next adventure be it college the military or career path mr. malfini path mr. moon gave you his time it has been evaporated you know what I'm sure if you don't mind you know one of the best graduation speeches actually came from our Colin mr. Mallory and for short I score if you know we can get a copy of the video in a video clip

215free speech I encourage all my colleagues to listen thank you that will be mr. McElveen speech them will be receiving that I think as we've all said nhadra Rogers families in our prayers and our hearts thank you miss Hines for your words that helps all of us I also want to let the Adams center community know that we are all morning with you they're important leaders in our community and I know they will do everything in their power to support nan Drew's family thank you the rest and herndon community Thank You South Lakes the loss for all of us I would like to also thank a partnership for looting Lewis coats the Heritage Fellowship Church has initiated some strong support for our school and I particularly want to thank miss Sheila coats and miss Joyce

216Tate congratulations to all our graduates wonderful graduation ceremonies I had the opportunity to be at McClain's at Langley's at Thomas Jefferson and Herndon's also Kilmer Center Cedar Lane and Mountain View and listening particularly the mountain view speeches from our students that talked about the challenges for many of those students it is truly inspiring and how proud we all are of those graduates and how grateful we are to the teachers and the hard work and the great care that that staff takes of our students so with that this meeting is adjourned thank you all