001good evening everyone this June 11th 2015 regular meeting number 21 of the Fairfax County School Board will now come to order please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance a moment of silence and the performance of the national anthem by the Haley Elementary School whistleblowers recorder Ensemble under the direction of Gwen Ward IED Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands under God indivisible with liy and justice for all [Music] w [Music] [Applause] true thank you ladies and thank you to all the parents for sharing your wonderful children with us we really do appreciate you coming out tonight thank you next going on to our next agenda item um certification of our closed meeting in order to comply with section 2.2-cu of the code of Virginia
002is necessary for the board to certify that since the Fairfax County School Board convened a closed meeting on June 11th 2015 to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully Exempted from open meeting requirements and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered by the board during the closed meeting do I have a motion um a motion by Miss H Miss um hin seconded by Miss Smith all those in favor um that would be Moon Reed mine um Hines Smith Darren at kofax Matt velov mlin uh Strauss Reed um absent Evans sorry absens Schultz and St thank you the motion passes and a few announcements before we begin tonight's meeting if you would like to review a copy of the
003agenda and any agenda item that is being discussed tonight that information is on the table by the auditorium entrance you may access tonight's agenda and related meeting documents by going to the FCPS website selecting Schoolboard and then upcoming meetings and agendas the meeting is also being streamed live on FCPS website homepage click on watch the school board live and I ask you to please turn off or silence your cell phones thank you madam Madam chair we have some voice Scouts in the audience AB absolutely uh we would like to recognize Boy Scouts in the audience from Troop 680 they're based in Mount Vernon and they are working on their Communications Merit Badge welcome and from Troop 976 we have a new Eagle Scout in our midst our very own Mr Ben press [Applause] thank you
004again welcome to everyone to tonight's meeting there are uh several recognitions and awards on our agenda tonight and we've altered our normal process slightly to help the presentations flow more smoothly all recognitions and awards will be announced and read first so when your name is called we ask you to please move forward to the lect right over here and be recognized and then we will ask you to be seated when all recognitions have been read each award will have the opportunity with friends and family to come forward to receive their award and take a photograph with the board before we present the awards I would like to ask Mr Stephen s sstack to stand hi Mr Sten Mr Sten is the program director for the app Apple Federal Credit Union education foundation and since 2007
005the Education Foundation has generously funded our first two student awards the $1,000 Laura Ashley Piper scholarship award and the $500 Schoolboard character award on behalf of the board I would like to thank you Mr sstack and the Apple Federal Credit Union Education Foundation for your support and we'll begin our Awards with the Laura Ashley Piper scholarship and I call on Miss Schultz so I have a distinct pleasure of giving a student from the Springfield District for the second time um on my term the Laura Ashley Piper scholarship Laura Ashley Piper served as a student representative to the Fairfax County School Board from 1986 to 1987 this outstanding student talented athlete and exceptional leader graduated from Robinson Secondary and the Air Force Academy and was commissioned as a second Lieutenant to the Air Force she was
006killed in action over Northern Iraq in April 1994 to honor Laura Ashley Piper's strong commitment to student participation and to recognize her high standards of achievement and involvement and her willingness to continually accept responsibility throughout her lifetime the school board of Fairfax County has established an annual $1,000 Laura Ashley Piper scholarship in 2007 Apple Federal Credit Union Education Foundation began its endowment of the Laura Ashley Piper scholarship providing $1,000 annually we appreciate their continued continued generosity each year every high school May nominate one senior student who exemplifies the attributes of personal excellence and commitment to Student Government of Lieutenant Piper a committee from the office of school Counseling Services Department of instructional Services considers the nominees there is an engraved plaque in our school board office with each Winner's name this year the school board
007will recognize Cole de pasquali from Robinson Secondary School the recipient of the 2015 law Ashley Piper scholarship and so um Madam chair if you would I have a resolution I would like to read whereas Cole D pasquali has remained consistently committed to Excellence in academics Sports and student leadership responsibilities throughout his years at Robinson Secondary School and whereas Cole has maintained a 4.51 grade point average while completing the full IB diploma courses and actively participating in various School clubs community activities and honor societies to include the National Honor Society the student advisory Council peers opting to improve School engagement and Central Fairfax Young Life programs has earned multiple academic and achievement awards at Robinson Secondary including the Robinson Secondary AC academic booster Awards in 2013 and 2014 and in all a honor rooll status throughout
008his entire High School career and there's more whereas Cole is a gifted athlete respected by his teammates coaches and has served as the team captain on a varsity wrestling team at Robinson Secondary earning multiple honors which include the 2013 13 National High School coaches association academic All-American award the 2014 Washington Post allnet first team two-time Virginia state champion three-time Northern Region Champion four time Concord District conference champion and three-time high school All-American champion and and I told you there was more whereas Cole has been actively involved in his community sharing his academic and artistic talents from tutoring peers mentoring atrisk students organizing a blood drive at Robinson Secondary and other areas of community and service including active participation in Wounded Warriors Adams Angels Children's National Medical Center Kyle's camp vhsl Kerman rehabilitation hospital and Sunrise
009Assisted Living Center and whereas Cole's acceptional leadership abilities strong communication skills commitment to duty and passion and enthusiasm for helping others demonstrate a maturity well beyond his years and in every way personifies the characteristics and ideals to which Laura Ashley Piper aspired now therefore be it resolved the Fairfax County School Board Awards the 2015 Laura Ashley Piper scholarship to Cole de Pasqual in memory of Lieutenant Piper and in recognition of the drive determination and dedication to Excellence of both I so move is there a second seconded by Miss Hines second all those in favor the vote is unanimous congratulations so Madam chair we're GNA have uh pictures afterwards correct so Cole if you could sit with your very very proud mother I imagine and we'll take some pictures in just moment and I wanted to
010point out Cole told me he's going to Stanford University next year [Applause] so thank you our next recognition is recognition of the 2015 Schoolboard character award and I call on Mr Latif thank you if you could like to join us please I'm pleased tonight to provide Prov some information about this award and how it was conceived the school board character award was initiated by former student representative to the school board Chris jelli and established by the student advisory Council in 2001 the award is given to a junior or senior Who quote demonstrates a continuous record of high morals strong integrity and good character and who is recognized as a role model for students in Fairfax County Public Schools in day-to-day Behavior I am pleased to announce that Jorge Douglas Romero deid delid excuse me a
011Junior at Robert ele High School is a recipient of the 2015 Schoolboard character award congratulations and I get the honor of speaking about Jorge because he um goes to Lee High School which is one of the schools in my district in lee district that I represent Jorge truly embodies the traits required of the Schoolboard character award Jorge has not had your typical high school experience in 2011 he left his parents and extended family in a country with conflict and turmoil and came to the United States with a dream of earning a high school diploma when he arrived he did not speak one word of English and had to adjust to a new country a new culture a new language all without the support of his parents and family Jorge's goal was to learn to read
012and speak English as as quickly as possible so he could Advance academically and after four years he has successfully achieved his goals and excels at his studies Jorge is an accomplished student in the field of electrical construction and Engineering at the Academy for engineering and Scientific Technology and serves as a student ambassador in addition to receiving several awards for outstanding performance Jorge maintains an a average and has passed the first and second levels of the electrical apprenticeship exam he is an intern at Mount Vernon Estates and works to ensure that the electrical system for George Washington's res residence is operational and secure Jorge is a role model and a leader for other students not only in school but also in his church and Community he is active in his church youth group has been involved
013in community program that collects and distributes food to those less fortunate and is an avid and ented soccer player Jorge's willingness to accept difficult challenges his sense of responsibility and his commitment to succeed in the United States has led his great success and has provided significant opportunity for his future he has always demonstrated an exceptional work ethic High morals strong integrity and an admirable character and as one of his nominators noted Jorge is the epitome of what we want in his Studio students and Community member Jorge we wish wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors and I am pleased to be able to present to you the 2015 Schoolboard character award in a few minutes you'll also be getting a check for $500 and a plaque recognizing your achievement congratulations I next
014for our distinguished school resource officer award call on Miss Evans thank you madam chair I am thrilled to be presenting the 2015 distinguished school resource officer award tonight we are pleased to honor our school resource officer officers Fairfax County Public Schools and the Fairfax County and Fairfax city police departments have had a mutually beneficial relationship for more than a decade one of the Hallmarks of this relationship has been the school resource officer SRO program sro's work with school administrators and staff to help ensure a safe and peaceful learning environment for students before we begin the awards ceremony this evening I did want to ask if there were any members of the Fairfax County Board of supervisor ERS in the audience if so would you please stand that's all right that's fine I'm sure they're here
015with us in Spirit uh next I would like to ask the following members of the Fairfax County Police Department to please stand and be recognized on behalf of the chief of police Lieutenant Colonel Aaron shyal Deputy Chief of Patrol thank you major Cindy mallister Pat control Bureau Commander Captain Chris Marsh fa Oaks District station Commander Captain David Smith Mason District station Commander Lieutenant Brian Holland School liaison Commander Lieutenant mufid Corey Franconia District station assistant Commander Lieutenant Anthony Matos Mason District station assistant Commander Sergeant Bill Fulton SRO supervisor Sergeant Mike gubish SRO supervisor I would also like to ask other members of the Fairfax County Police Command Staff to please stand and be recognized thank you very much the annual distinguished school resource officer award was established to recognize the efforts of outstanding sro's this year
016the SRO award selection committee members were director of Safety and Security Tom avarello security coordinator Jim mlan region one assistant superintendent Douglas Tyson and liaison Commander Brian Holland three school resource officers were nominated by their principles these nominees are Stellar examples of the outstanding officers working in our schools and on behalf of the school board I would like to congratulate each of you on your nomination our first nominee and if you would please stand when I say your name is police officer first class Amy G Hayfield Secondary School our second nominee is police officer first class Brett man Madison High School and now it is my pleasure to present the 2015 distinguished school resource officer award to police officer first class Mario Colorado Jeb Stewart High School but there's more now I get to say
017a few remarks about the wonderful officer Colorado as the school resource officer at Jeb Stewart officer Colorado consistently demonstrates distinguished performance and he is committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for over 2,000 students faculty and staff officer Colorado coordinated efforts with administrators School staff and Fairfax County resources to develop and Implement safety programs and processes and to improve safety measures in the school officer Colorado also presented informational sessions to educate parents and staff about Trends and warning signs of drug use gang activity and human trafficking the information he provided in the sessions resulted in a raised awareness by School staff and provided the opportunity for staff to intervene more effectively with students and provide appropriate resources to parents officer Colorado remains committed to steuart high school and is diligent about building strong relationships
018with students and staff he has a constant and very visible presence around the school and his daily interactions with students and staff are not limited to just the hallways he also impacts class room instruction through his involvement with the presentation of the partners for safe Teens Drivers program and the implementation of the curriculum program of studies officer Colorado has even been a guest instructor in the first year criminal justice class providing a unique perspective to the students as the school resource officer at Stewart officer Colorado has displayed dedication hard work and integrity it is with great pride and admiration that the school aard honors officer Colorado's commitment with this presentation of the distinguished school resource officer award [Applause] and next we have a special recognition from the Fairfax County Council of ptas and I would
019like the president of this organization Miss Debbie katrick to please come to the front okay let me get these in order just one second I don't want to forget anything oh here we are well I was expecting to come after something else here but um I wanted to um thank Mr Latif I'm here tonight on behalf of fair fat County Council PTA uh we wanted to recognize um Mr latif's excellent contributions this past year during your term term and as that term is coming to an end we wanted to be sure and give you a recognition that you so richly deserve Harris your commitment leadership and being a true advocate of the students in fairfa county is greatly appreciated by our C our our Council and our families in fairfa county and we W wish
020you all the best as you begin your new adventure in Scotland and um we Just Want to Thank You by presenting you with a Virginia PTA student achievement um certificate as well as a certificate of appreciation uh from our Council so I'm going to present this to you there's a letter from our Virginia PTA State president as well um with this uh accommodation so thank you so much and I know that was supposed to be all I was up here for but I have a little extra um um recognitions that we would like to share we actually want to recognize all of our school board members here tonight we so appreciate all the dedication um the hard work the um commitment that you have shown to the school district and your advocacy um that you
021do every single day and you actually Go Far and Beyond what we could even hope for so with that um we have a certificate of appreciation for each and every one of you a yes but we also wanted to give a um a Virginia PTA uh certificate of distinguished service to uh chairman darx kofax and to Dr Karen Garza uh both of you have had unwavering support of our school district you have advocated for our students on a daily basis and we certainly appreciate this advocacy coming from the council and um we just uh it's just a small way to say thank you for all your hard work and we know this fall is going to be kind of busy for all of you coming up so with the end of the school year now
022we wanted to share our appreciation uh by presenting you with a certificate so thank you all very much and we'll just pass them out really quick okay and Kathy dric is our president-elect and she's going to be here to help me do [Applause] that thank you guys sorry oh thank thank you so much what what a lovely surprise and and and and an honor for us and we will get pictures with you in in in a in a moment but thank you so much I love the end of the year it's so exciting and invigorating where we can honor all of the achievements of everyone and what a nice surprise for you to honor us thank you so much so now board members I would like to invite you to the risers for the present
023for the pictures we're can we do that during the second part with yes yes thank you I think this is just part one of the recogn part one we have one one more part of there's more we have a special card just for Harris yes yes I would like to call the Laura Ashley Piper scholarship winner Cole de pasquali to come forward with his friends and family for the award and pictures with a board so far [Applause] soond we'd like to call our 2015 school board character Award winner Jorge Douglas Romera Del Sid with his friends and family [Applause] we'd like to call the two nominees for the distinguished school resource officer award police officer first class Amy G from Hayfield Secondary School and police officer first class Brett man from Madison High School to
024come forward go right over there you can take pictures together if you'd like whichever way you want you want your own picture right [Applause] and our 2015 distinguished school resource officer police officer first class Mario Colorado [Applause] please must be my family's coming too everybody come on come on [Music] awesome I think thanks for and finally we would like to call Debbie Kilpatrick and incoming president Kathy from the Fairfax County Council of ptas now you're talking now you're talking nice we need you all of our [Applause] pictures should I remain standing over here I guess or yes stay the oh boy should be interesting and next I am going to call on Miss mland for a resolution for our student representative to the school board Harris Latif thank you madam chair uh I know that
025my colleagues and I are all very eager this evening uh to share with each other and with all of you what a remarkable young man we've had the most incredible pleasure of serving with this year um but I will go ahead and begin first with um the resolution honoring Harris and Latif whereas Harris Latif a graduating senior at Langley High School has served with dedication and enthusiasm as the 44th student representative to the Fairfax County school board for the 2014 2015 school year and whereas through his diligence and commitment Harris has served as a tireless and enthusiastic advocate for over 185,000 Fairfax County Public School students he has been a passionate and effective pre representative for students visiting every high school in Fairfax County and working to ensure that student concerns and perspectives were expressed
026to the board Harris has been a significant source of ideas and information for student council Representatives throughout Fairfax County schools and whereas Harris has been a superior role model throughout his outstanding academic career he was an officer in Langley High School's leadership Honor Society and participated in the Freshman mentoring program he worked for four years on the Stu School newspaper and was editorinchief of the broadcast journalism class morning television news show Harris was the recipient of the 2014 Langley High School William and Mary leadership award and represented the Commonwealth of Virginia at the American Legions boys Nation program in July 2014 where he was named Secretary of Education for Boy Nation and whereas Harris has an understanding of the complexities of educational and social issues that affect Fair Fairfax County students he wrote newsletter summaries
027of each Schoolboard meeting that were distributed to students and faculty and he collaborated with the Department of special services to prot participate in our community conversation on teen stress fostering wellness and resiliency for students and parents and whereas Harris is an active participant in his community he has served as the co-chairman of the Relay for Life of Langley mlan he is a member of the Museum's student Advisory Board in Washington DC and he volunteers at the Reston Hospital his commitment to community service was recognized by his being awarded the president's volunteer service award board now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board acknowledges the exceptional service of Harris n Latif expresses its genuine appreciation for all of his accomplishments and extends its sincere wishes for his continued academic and personal success at
028St Andrews University in Scotland I so move second it seconded by Mr Moon all of us all those in favor the vote is unanimous thank [Applause] you let's do pictures yeah sure family on everybody got more spe [Applause] chairman darat kofax Dr Garza members of the school board family friends teachers administrators I'm going to miss our little bimonthly talks won't you I'd like to thank M mclaughin for your very very kind words after 12 months countless hours of meetings mile long email chains and plenty of long afternoons crisscrossing Fairfax County it seems that I've reached the finish line of my time representing my nearly 185,000 fellow students overall serving as this board's 44th student rep has been a journey and a learning experience that I will surely look back upon for the rest of my
029life and speaking of looking back let's start from the beginning 11 months and a day ago some fresh-faced 17-year-old wearing one of his father's suits addressed you from over here for the very first time he talked about working with the sa visiting a few high schools here and there and he overall he promised to be a constructive and a productive voice for the students of Fairfax tonight an exhausted looking 18-year-old and slightly better fitting clothing stands before you hoping he make good on those promises some highlights of our year together in October this school board did the thing I am most proud to have been a part of during my time as student representative you put Decades of debate to bed that pun was intentional when you passed later High School start times one of
030the most significant in what I hope will be a series of decisions made by this board to promote the health and wellness of my fellow students thank you to miss Phyllis Payne and the rest of the parents and students of sleep and Fairfax for working for years along with Miss Evans to make a healthier start time a reality for tens of thousands of Fairfax County students in November the board voted to protect students from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and last month on the basis of gender identity important Moves In what must be this board's never-ending effort to ensure that FCPS is a safe and welcoming place for each and every student in May FCPS held the second annual community conversation on teen stress I enjoyed so much working with Dr lip Dr
031Baylor who's here with us tonight M McLaughlin Ben press and others throughout the year on such an important topic and I'm proud that FCPS is recognizing and addressing such an important issue just a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of announcing that I completed my listening tour and successfully visited each and every high in secondary school in FCPS I totaled over 900 miles of driving and countless hours sitting in traffic meeting hundreds of my fellow students from across the county was an experience that very few others get to have and for that I'm and grateful and if I learned nothing else during my time as student representative I learned that we students here in fairfx Fairfax excuse me are far more alike and connected than we are different and distant and that's a lesson
032we all have to learn as a community moving on as I prepared to leave my post I've been reflecting on all the knowledge I've accured as student representative that will immediately lose any and all significance the second I finish the speech take the ridiculous amount of acronyms I've had to commit to memory for example I know that Ben press over here fre ly meets with the shack at the gak and that the Wy guide is practically a holy text in the eyes of Miss Quinn and Miss Michael and don't get me started about the eaas at the SBO I'm leaving the job as a student representative satisfied which uh with what I've done but not without a few unrealized dreams from the coup d'a of the Fairfax County government Ben press and I began planning
033after we heard that the Board of Supervisors was going to underfund our budget to Mr velov and M as of yet unanswered call for Fairfax County to sued and break free from the pesky mandates from the Commonwealth legislature there's a few things that we just didn't get around to uh one other item that remains unchecked on my bucket list even though we've known each other for nearly a year and a half now even though we have spent countless hours in meetings and events Mr Ryan mline has yet to follow me back on Twitter I am as shocked as you are I know I know didn't get around to it I guess and now on to the most important thing I will say to you all tonight thank you first and foro thank you first and
034foremost I want to thank my family is who is here tonight at my first meeting last July Mr moon in what he thought was a joke told them that since I was going to be working with the Schoolboard they just weren't going to see me anymore and little did he know that he was being serious I haven't seen them in ages so it's nice to see you all again it's been a while Lo to my grandfather who's watching at home uh another quick thing I'm joined tonight by my younger brother Mr Casey Latif stand up for just a second Casey there you go it's a sixth grader at Great Falls Elementary about to go to Cooper Middle School I'm also joined by the principal of Cooper Miss Arlene Randall and I predict mark my words
035in five years Casey no pressure will be joining you as your 50th student representative so we'll see what happens to my friends first of all bless you for coming out to a school board meeting I know I had to talk a few of you into it but uh nonetheless thanks for coming and seeing where I've disappeared to all these many months also since this is my final meeting you all will no longer have to endure my constant comments concerning my job as student rep although no promises on that one to my teachers past and present who have joined me here tonight thank you we often mention here at the school board that our educators are our most valuable resource and that is beyond true I've had amazing teachers from Great Falls Elementary from culvin run
036from Cooper and from Langley thank you to FCPS staff and the school board staff who has helped me over the last year thinking to miss rhs miss Torres barthal Miss Goddard and Miss marielen hook along with the rest of the team at the school board office I'd like to thank those community members who have helped and worked with me throughout the school year along among them Mr Steve Greenberg of the fcft Miss Debbie Kilpatrick who you saw earlier with the FCC PTA remember what I said about acronyms the great students and parents of sleep and Fairfax and at real food for kids I want to thank and congratulate the era parent the 45th student representative Mr Benjamin press of James Madison High School who will take the Reigns on July 1st from our habitual preting
037dinners to our nearly nightly phone conversations Ben has been an amazing Ally and a friend since I first met him and I'm confident he will do superbly as the voice for Fairfax County students an interesting fact since he is the student representative and this year is an election year for our Schoolboard members he's the only person who's guaranteed a seat at this table for the entirety of next school year he doesn't have to worry about November he doesn't have to do anything so congratulations Ben you guys have to work for it but Ben he's done he's done i' i' like to thank the members of the student advisory Council who have been a fantastic bully pulpit and a source of support throughout the year I'd like to thank president Mike Maro who's on vacation in
038Florida but he's joining us via FaceTime hi Mike hey how are you VP Miss Anastasia Sova and secretary Mr John theopus who is holding Mike on his phone they have been my own personal student gov Brain Trust throughout the school year I'd also like to thank our sponsors Miss Riley and Mr perier as I mentioned at our last meeting I'd again like to thank the sa for providing a place for Miss goth and I to meet and subsequently hit it off we attended both Woodson and Langley proms in relay for lives together and before anyone asks president Maro assures me that the sa bylaws do not include a non-fraternization policy I made that made certain of that uh at langle I'd like to thank our principal Emeritus Mr Matt regon he's the current principal of
039South County our inner principal Mr Bruce Butler my senior class assistant principal Miss Jessica stats my DSS Miss Sonia Williams my school counselor Mr ready and my College and Career Center specialist Miss wolf who is in Vermont and supposedly watching this to Dr Garza thank you so much for always being willing to hear my comments my complaints my concerns about the issues facing our County to put it simply you're a remarkable leader and we here in Fairfax are lucky to have you at the helm to the school board since I first met members of the school board at my election some 491 days ago you all have been nothing but caring supportive and eager to hear me out on any issue concerning FCPS you all have taught me much about politics education human nature and
040the true meaning of serving one's Community to the public although they may seem divided at times regardless of background or political affiliation having worked with them for a year I know this to be true they each have the same goal which is to make FCPS a great school system to send your kids to each and every morning they all share that goal and that's what they work on so thank you you Fairfax County school board thank you for working hard for us students in what can be an often thankless job and lastly I thank the 2013 2014 Student advisory council members who elected me some 16 months ago thank you for taking a chance on that kid from langle you had never met before but he had some pretty high hopes thank you for allowing
041me the privilege of serving my fellow students and I'd like to leave you all with this final thought I've spent the last year studying the ins and outs of Fairfax County Public Schools I've seen the many challenges we face but I've also seen the good and I've seen the great the amazing programs and the opportunities available to our students across the county our remarkable community of Advocates and parents who are so involved and critical to our future success and I've seen our dedicated and passionate Educators who go to work each morning and make our community's goal of educating our young people and providing them a bright future a reality my advice for you is to keep fighting the good fight don't let Petty politics or gamesmanship distract you from your goal and from why you
042are here and that is to focus on the future because that is what you all are fighting for each and every day ensuring a bright future for our entire community and our world through education so keep it up Fairfax County School Board leap over the hurdles that may come your way you can do it and I'll be watching thank you than you thank you thank you we have some members that would like to make some comments and we'll start with Miss Schultz so we may have Michael Maro is like having the whole world in his hands and um I'm sure that uh it would have been nice if the technologically savvy um amongst us had delivered his speech via Skype or tweet or uh what's the Periscope or anything else but um nonetheless uh the
043sac president um is not able to be with us tonight and as my student leader U Mr Maro has asked me to read some comments for uh Mr latif's departure although many are not aware of the enormous role he plays every student in Fairfax County has been privileged to have Harris Latif as their student representative as student representative Harris has performed his duties Faithfully effectively and representing every single student in FCPS on a wide range of challenging issues taking them headon and working his hardest to ensure that the collective voice of f CPS students is heard and heed there is no doubt that Harris has left rather large shoes to fill and has invariably rais the bar for every future student representative although I'm disappointed to see him leave I know only greatness lies ahead
044as he will serve as spokesman for incredible achievement of each and every student here in Fairfax County I've been humbled to work with Harris representing students in Fairfax County and I have been and I will be infinitely more honored to know him as a friend Harris thank you for your service to me Michael Maro and to all of your fellow students and I wish you the best of luck in whatever you choose to do although I'm sure you'll not need it and so that's that's for Michael and for me as my seatmate my tweet mate um your leg overs will be missed um you must instruct Ben on leg overs um your ability to navigate when your GPS fails to the other end of the universe um attending your student Town my student town hall
045is with me um and representing from Clear across the county um all of the voices uh even when we disagreed vehemently um you were a joy and I could not have asked for someone better to sit next to for this year and to his family thank you for giving him up to us because we are better for it Mr velov so I will be brief uh Mr Latif it's my understanding that you're going to be going to a political jurisdiction that most recently came very close to passing a referendum for for Independence so I'm counting on you bringing back some pointers how do you think I chose my college Miss Evans what can I say about Harris Latif I mean what an amazing leader what an amazing advocate for students it has been such a
046pleasure to work with you Harris from I think it's been over a year ago now that you and I sat down with your predecessor will ash and talked about the year and ever since then uh we we've talked and uh you've gone out there we now sit down with uh with your successor um Ben press and it will be it was seamless with you coming in it will be seamless with you going out um I did want to mention that you have in particular been a very powerful and clear voice for student mental health and in particular the later start times and I very much appreciate your um standing up for the students and particularly for their the teen stress and mental health issue which is such a huge issue and uh I appreciate your
047voice in that uh you have been wonderful at reaching out to I believe each and every High School you have visited each and every high school and that is extraordinary to be able to do that in this County um and you have done whatever you have done you have done it with Grace and with humor so uh the best of luck to you we will just miss you terribly um we will look forward to hearing what's next for you um in the years to come and we know we will hear much much more from you thank you thank you for everything Miss McLaughlin Harris knows that uh I am the mother of three boys and as I told his parents earlier at this even evening if I could have a fourth son I could only
048be so proud to uh have a young man like Harris and to his parents I cannot adequately convey what a remarkable son you have uh his ability to lead the voice of our students in a high performing School District to speak with such passion and um such dedication to how we can improve uh the educational experience of our students in this County uh he has made a tremendous difference uh for the students here this year and in the years to follow because of that powerful voice and uh I I mentioned to haris several times uh knowing that he's going to St Andrews that he will go overseas and he will represent not just Virginia and not just the United States but he will be showing the world the best that we have here in America
049and I am so grate f as an American that you will be there to show them who we are and the very best of what we are and to know that you will uh go there and have those International experiences as you spoke earlier tonight the commonalities that we all share here in Fairfax and you'll get a chance to see that globally as well without question your leadership skills uh are inspiring to I know to me and to my colleagues um often times uh when we were having some of our most difficult conversations uh you would find that threading through the needle ability to really speak to the heart of a matter and um unite many of us in understanding where uh that Common Ground was uh I hope and pray for the sake of
050uh our future that your experience here in this year has uh not only inspired you to want to continue Public Service um but that you realize that that is the gift that you can be bringing to our world and I wish you nothing but the very best of success in the years to come and please stay in [Applause] touch Miss Hines followed by Miss TR so Harris I want to ask you is this difficult because it seems like nothing's ever difficult for for you but is this hard to listen it's hard I know hard to leave and hard to listen to all these wonderful words about you but we need to say this okay this helps us to say these things about you um we tonight as you know we have celebrated some incredible students
051um and as usual I am humbled by our students and um I I am so humbled by you having the chance to get to know you um your dedication your resilience your self-deprecating humor cheerfulness your humble commitment to uh making life better for other people you've been an example for your fellow students and your fellow board members through all of that um I think that uh what you already understand is that humility is power when you when you humble yourself to the work you open yourself to working hard and to asking questions and to learning and to really empathizing and representing other people I don't know if you're the fellow students in the school system all of them recognize what a great voice they have had in you but they have definitely and clearly many
052of them do and I'm glad to see some of them here tonight um we gladly FCPS gladly take credit for you of course um but we do also understand that the Bedrock of your family is where you got started um and we do know that Fairfax County Public Schools is an excellent school system because of dedicated and passionate parents like yours um and so thank you all very much I know you have not seen much of Harris for the last last year you've shared him with us and with the entire school system and we are so grateful to you um you know with 180,000 students we struggle as you know we struggle to hear the student voice um and Harris you absolutely made it your mission to be that voice for 180,000 students and it's
053that that you would even take that on you know it seems so overwhelming but you took it on with good grace and humor and energy um and you did an amazing job you have set the standard you know uh for people who come after you um I think that you are also living proof that we are better when we work with our students that we do better work when we work with our students um so I I don't I saw your pictures from your prom and you were on the mall you know the National Mall with your beautiful date and um I I think I wrote something like the world is your oyster because that's how I feel when I think of you haris your headed off literally to the world and you will make
054a difference out there and um I know that you will will use your gifts and your opportunities uh in the in the other centered way that you have lived your life here and that you will make a huge difference in the world um we are just so much better for having known you and spent time with you so don't be a stranger you know I do follow you on Twitter so I'll keep Mr mlan up to date on your your comings and goings Miss truss uh Harris I first met you as a young student at koven run you nominated your school bus driver to be the support employee of the year and on your nomination she won and I you were probably only this high but you were articulate then I remember reading the package
055I thought oh my how this young man can write this well and be this articulate you told wonderful stories and it's so wonderful to find you as this grown young man now one of the things we've all talked about in fact that you really did get to all of the high schools and all the secondary schools and you in your remarks you talked about one of the things you learned is all the things that bring our students together what binds them we are all alike it's not what separates us but what brings us together you are a wonderful spokesman for the millennial generation you are civic-minded and you understand what your job is as you go forth in the world and when you admonish us to continue to work for the future and to invest
056in our children which we must but it is because you as a leader encourage us and push us on and you find The Binding peace that brings Society together and it is only then that we can make the wise decisions so you have always spoken so well you've helped us to think better as we've debated what how should we come down on an issue your voice has always made a difference haris so we are ever ever grateful for you I have one wish you hug your parents well they will miss you mightily they really will and I want to thank your parents again you have raised such a fine young man and I know he's going far away next year so you be very good you Skype every Sunday night okay I know what it's
057like to have children you bet so thank you and we will follow you on Twitter we need to know what you're doing and perhaps you'll learn to play golf in the mids of Scotland I don't know but again thank you for your wisdom and your leadership and I know Ben will do his very best to be as good as you were you trained him well but we will miss you Harris and we love you thank you Mr Moon thank you madam chair uh just like Mrs fuss I clearly remember third grader from cin Ron elementary school back in 2006 I was the chairman of the board at the time and this precautious third grader with a Cod and cod and tie you know making a speech in front of 12 Schoolboard members and superintendent and
058food audience uh there was I immediately saw a great leader in this third grader 8 years 9 years later we have Mr Harris Latif like this I just can't can hardly wait what he will be like 9 years from now when he is 27 so so keep us posted on what you do for the next 9 years at least and I will miss you and it's a huge issues to fear by Ben press I feel sorry for him at this point in time good luck Ben thank you [Applause] Mr M thank you madam chair so as we saw tonight Harris has quite the fan club uh and I think he is also converted the 12 of us into his fan club and so we're so honored to be there and I think it goes without
059saying that you have put your whole heart into this job and um we do hope as you go off that um you know that you are in our hearts as well so we will we will um sincerely miss you and all that you have brought to our school system and I think what was um so unique about Harris is that there was no evidence of a threat of hate in anything that he did it was always about building people up going out to the community doing things um to make other people's lives better and so I think we can all learn from you um on that point uh I I I think we could also learn from you and the fact that you have um been so passionate in everything you've done whether it's your
060your um sometimes long- winded speeches uh but very passionate speeches your your wonderful newsletters and um your listening tour um which um you have you have hit more high schools faster than probably all of us up here so that's very impressive but um I I I have to say my favorite memory of per of Harris um was during his junior year um he he asked me to do him a favor and that favor was to call in and um ask his his date to Junior Prom to prom for him not me going to prom by the way if there are any journalists here asking his date to go with him uh and um it was so um amusing because I think I was on um Skype when I did it and I got to see
061everyone's reactions but um I think I was able to see in that um the evidence of how you really brightened people's lives um around you and so um that's one I will always remember you're the only one I have done that for by the way and I'm not going to do it again um and um one of the things many of us um don't realize is that Harris is a very passionate photographer um and he he he he did that for um his school um newspaper right and um so we couldn't let you leave here tonight without an all-important dorm accessory something every student wants to hang in their dorm um their their freshman year and that is a picture of not only not only Harris but you get to look at look at all
062of the the 12 of us every time you look up at your wall so that will that will be over my desk while I study each and every night promise you that wonderful and um the best best part about it is we all look younger and thinner including you so um it's a good reminder that's an old photo I have to say so um with that um I have just followed you back on Twitter and I think all of us will be following all that you do um in the future so thank you Miss Reed thank you madam chair we all can't resist now you know there's just so much to be said here that we want to take this opportunity um one there's a few things about you I won't repeat what has already
063been said so some unique things um I've said from the very beginning that you're a 45y old and an 18-year- old's body and I I just feel like you're wise beyond your years and when uh it's like the commercial you know when uh Harris Latif talks everyone listens I mean because the things that you say you're very thoughtful and you usually wait to listen to us first and then you'll pipe in with something that's just a whole different perspective that really gets us thinking and it helped us make more informed decisions so we very much uh appreciated that um also though your insightful people talked about that your passionate people have talked about that and of course the sense of humor that's come out at just the right times um there was one time I
064know we had a very pentious meeting and it was your birthday and we uh we do have a little fun every now and then believe it or not we we gave you this big chocolate cake right and you you brought it home you said oh my family will really like this I haven't seen them for days but and and the best part though was when you got home your little brother Casey you took a picture of him and it looked like he was like just about to just jump right into the cake and eat the whole thing and you sent that to all of us and I thought just that was just so such a nice thing to do to kind of break the tension a little bit um and then another time uh that
065tells you a little bit about this individual um there was a time in recent memory when we uh had a full audience and people in the hallway it was a very um a very tough night and it was unusual to have that many people in the audience right and so we all speak and we all you know very passionate and about what we wanted to uh say to the audience and to each other and and then uh and then when it's Harris's turn he had his notes and he kind of put them aside and he just looked out in the crowd and he said I hope all of you people come back when it's time to talk about the budget so we appreciated that too I think again um you know we've all said it
066it you we're going to miss you you have been just such a wonderful uh breath of fresh air for all of us and um you have broken the tension and you have helped us um I think just see things differently and for that uh we appreciate and also I think as you go out into the world um as as others have said you are going to represent Fairfax County and so we're so proud of you and I know your parents are proud of you also um but we we tend to feel that we might have had a little something to do with it this past year so we're kind of all kind of honorary parents maybe he's the honorary brother um but he's not old enough to be your parent but um but we all
067do feel very strongly about you and hope that you'll keep in touch with us because we know that you're destined for greatness thank you Mr St here I'm I um keep my remarks fairly brief because I think much has been said about what I feel and I think uh folks have I think really the sentiments and the accolades that they've given you have been absolutely well earned I mean I um there's only really two schore members that I hold um in high esteem and you're clearly one of them there's another student rep that that before you that I equally would have that would share that with you so I think you have acted as a true leader should of of your your of students I mean you have gone out you've been out you've gathered
068you've you've learned you've grown you've shared you you really brought people together and that is the essence of my mind of leadership and and the I think the confidence the self assurance that I've seen you have the advocacy you've you've taken on certain positions is exactly what we want as a board exactly what this community needs from its student leader and um I think you've just done an outstanding job and it's just truly been an honor and a pleasure to have worked with you this past year so thank you very much Miss Smith you are an outstanding young man and um I think it brings it home when I look at who came here your second grade teacher your principles so much of life is how we treat people and how we talk to them
069and interact with them and I mean that's a sure sign that that you know how to relate to people you will have have an outstanding future we all know that um keep up the good fight and doing the work and and being true to yourself as you move forward but I I wish you very well I know you'll have a successful life Harris you are a true role model for students everywhere and I have so enjoyed um spending our time together on this board it's been a pleasure to be with you I truly appreciate your humor and your wit it is amazing you are you're with your friends the funny things that you come up with that you say and you have your work ethic the way you had set goals and agendas for yourself
070and you've completed them and you're as they as other board members have test testified your maturity and your wisdom beyond your years or are truly magical to to be a part of um I think you and I've had a few little conversations where I said you know sometimes it's hard to remember that you're only 17 or 18 right and um because you know sometimes things happen that were difficult on the board and um but you handled it with Grace and ease and that um that speaks to your your your maturity and um um Mom and Dad I know you are so proud and we are proud of him too we are happy to have had him part of our Schoolboard family this year and we know all of these wonderful characteristics that all 12 of
071us spoke of are going to take you far in Scotland and the years Beyond we will miss you please stay in touch because we want to hear about all of your future successes [Applause] and Dr Gerson maybe I get to wrap it up um and I will be brief um but I do want to to weigh in and but first I want to say I'm I'm I'm assuming the prom request was affirmative right because that would have been very embarrassing otherwise um so that's good um you're the one of the most impressive young men I've ever been around you're so intelligent you're articulate calm Under Pressure wise beyond your years there's no doubt about that um and being the student voice on our on our board um you've always um added significant value to our
072work um and you've always helped us be mindful of why we're doing this uh even during the difficult conversations you were the voice that always kind of brought us sometimes back to brought our perspective back um and as they say you know oh the ohow the places you will go and the great things you're going to do and with your talents and your abilities the possibilities are endless so we will always be cheering you on and yes I do follow you I follow you on Twitter as well and we'll continue to do so so we can keep up with you when you're in Scotland so we wish you the very best we are very grateful for you as well very proud of you and congratulations to your parents and family and now after all that
073we got to get back one more okay actually you know is it possible for Mr mine to present that gift to uh absolutely just go and give him that might invite a lot of questions if you really do hang it in your dorm room [Laughter] that's a good idea I was Ring my brain we are his surrogate parents for the year so that's all he can explain us all right next order of business is presentations to the board and this is the citizen time for citizen participation speakers are requested to limit their remarks to No More Than 3 minutes the school board will not hear statements involving issues that have been scheduled for public hearings such as capital Improvement program budget and boundaries or personal tax on any person complaints regarding individual students or school-based
074employees should be directed to the appropriate School principal or other school official if the concern is a group concern please consider appointing a spokesperson and while that spokesperson is speaking those in support May stand to show their support tonight 10 citizens have signed up to address the board Gerald actman Steven Mosley Steven Greenberg Mary Beth style Jerry leard Ruby Nick nicod uh Nikki hayatt Kathleen Gillette Mard Christopher yasco and David Mason and then after that we will have one video testimony submitted by Adam hayatt so we will begin with Gerald actman I have come before you uh to speak about the process for approving the budget plan the process should address whether the budget should include some funding for switching to nonp polystyrene lunch trays in FCPS cafeterias these trays as you know are sent
075to a facility that burns the trays for energy that sounds good until you learn that polystyrene or styrofoam contains the chemicals styrene and Benzene both are suspected carcinogens and neurotoxins and styrene leeches into food and drink that comes into contact with it exposure to styrene is also linked to skin irritation chromosomal damage fatigue lack of concentration and thinking and learning disabilities it should be self-explanatory that polystyrene is hazardous to human health polystyrene is also detrimental to the environment it is petroleum based and the second most detrimental material to Earth according to the EPA I did the math and if 140,000 students in FCPS buy lunch in schools every day that's 2,200,000 poly sirene trays that are getting burned each year and a lot of nasty chemicals what does this add up to FCPS is wasting
076resources and polluting the environment to say nothing of the danger they are putting every single student in by exposing them to such a dangerous material this practice needs to be stopped the best alternative would be purchasing reusable trays and washing them in dishwashers but this would be difficult to do in the short term because it would have a high upfront cost although it would be cheaper in the end since most trays would not have to continually be purchased an alternative that could be adopted more quickly is to switch to biodegradable or compostable trays there are many options such as paper cardboard cornstarch and even palm leaf and the cost of purchasing them may not even be higher than poly styrene even if it does cost a little more money it is better than the health
077costs of exposing our students teachers and Community to the dangers of polystyrene I have started a petition to urge the school board to phase out the use of polystyrene in our cafeterias hundreds of people have signed already and I am continuing to publicize it and get more signatures The Washington Post recently reported that six of the largest school districts in the country have stopped using polystyrene Arlington and mountgomery County public schools are our following suit Fairfax County needs to be next I hope the school board will address this urgent issue immediately for the sake of the environment and the health of students thank you thank you madam chair can I can I just ask you who what school do you go to I go to uh the school Luther Jackson you do yes whoever his
078English teacher is Kudos you have a future in broadcasting with that voice you did not phenomenal job thank you so much for sharing with us we appreciate your time thank you thank [Applause] you Steven Mosley followed by Steven Greenberg all right thank you School Board um I was praying for for you guys uh before we started and uh John 3:16 came to my mind God so loved the world they gave his only son that whoever believe in him should not perish but have eternal life I'm going to talk about truth and the biggest truth is the truth that Jesus talked about there is being born again and so if you don't hear anything I say tonight if you don't know what that means come talk to me uh in the notes there I have um
079so God created Mankind in his own image in the image of God he created them male and female he created them I'm a black Evangelical Reverend and I also work in higher education I have a special interest in this topic for Spiritual social and professional reasons on June 25th you'll decide one of the most consequential topics in recent memory the fle in its current form will change the way students are educated about sex family structure and morality first off spiritually from a spiritual perspective there is no comparison between black and homosexual or transgender being black which is a blessing from God should never be compared to the sin of transgender or homosexuality one is sin one's a blessing from God as I just read in Genesis spiritually speaking one of the issues the issue of
080transgender gender the Bible is clear that God made us male and female second Point social socially experimenting with our children currently the fle has recommended fourth graders to learn about incest sexual orientation or transgender the idea that sexuality is fluid for grades 7 through 10 and the issue that concerned most parents is the issue that they're not allowed to opt out on some of the issues that we push the health program you really need to reconsider that before you vote on it Bruce Jenner announcement has made this a polarizing one we must remember that how one identifies should not take the place of Science and Truth in the minute I have left I just want to point out here's a couple of the responses here's the truth that we need to hand hand on to
081one is this man cannot determine his gender just like I can't determine my race both of these things are gifts from God and affirmed by science two instead of teaching or questioning our students about their sexual orientation we should teach our children our kids about successful family structures sex and morality we should teach them to accept and love who and how God made them affirmed by science we should teach them to finish school graduate from college or trade school we should teach them to get and stay married to the opposite sex then have kids the social science affirms that when people follow this prescription they have a 80 95% success rate of being poverty-free professionally we don't discriminate in Fairfax county is something I heard multiple times in the hearing and that led me to
082think of title seven and Title 9 which tells us that we cannot discriminate and we don't so since we don't discriminate we want to assist transgender those who identify as that to get away from Suicidal Thoughts we assist in reducing the bullying and suicide rate by educating students to respect all people through loving them as we love ourselves Mr Steven Greenberg followed by Mary Beth [Applause] style the renowned and soon to be retired Mr Latif our champion Dr Garza FCF school board members my name is Steve Greenberg I'm president of the Fairfax County Federation of teachers and I represent more teachers than any local president in this state period put it on record I will be speaking to 6.01 tonight but also the most important thing which is 2.08 which is honoring Mr Harris Latif
083before I begin I want to remember to thank you on behalf of my membership for passing the recent non-discrimination policy changes revisions in regards to 6.01 please know that fcft always appreciates when this board works to analiz and improve our budget process unlike our County Supervisors who continually ask you to jump through more Hoops for no apparent reason other than a waste your time by the way please know the FCPS save FCPS bumper stickers are in and fcft is so proud to donate these FCPS does not uh does not have the money to advertise its need so we're going to help out we want to get the word out to the community we'll have tens of thousands of these on the street of Fairfax soon let the games begin I'm so happy to be here
084tonight to honor uh Harris Harris has been a great friend and an ally to fcft he served as first chair of the prestigious fcft student voice committee and assisted Us in addressing a multitude of issues this year that impacted both students and teachers our relationship has been one that would be need to be uh replicated across this country sooner than later teachers and students must advocate for our Public Schools together we are the same team we collaborated together this year as equals Harris two Sailors and a bar I'm I'm sorry to your parents uh two adults I have brought you a goodie bag from fcft so you can dress like a proper Union Thug sorry to your parents again I got you an extra large to match your first suit you have been a great
085student leader and friend I've been blessed and now you dude you rock your special man someday you may become one of the greatest leaders ever one with unshakable courage even when others lack resolved someday Harris you may be our best friend once again perhaps from another chair I leave you with this my friend of all the adults in this room you have proven to be one of the wisest and bravest and you may understand best why I'm going to leave you with this I quote once again we find that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has failed to fully fund Fairfax County Public Schools this is extremely disheartening we entered this budget year making a good faith effort to work collaborative with the Board of Supervisors we worked for nearly a year with the county
086executive and the Board of Supervisors to develop a reasonable budget that met uh that met only the very minimal needs of FCPS and in the end they did not deliver supervisors are sending a clear message that they are unconcerned about the increasing challenges of our students our teachers and our schools those great words are from our leader Dr Karen Garo tell your friends as Steve said bullies who try to censor will lose thank you for letting me know where your Achilles heel is so I can poke it relentlessly go off and cry in the corner whatever you want to do we're going to continue to educate the community aggressively we will protect the students and teacher of Fairfax when the politicians won't thank you for everything Harris and thank you as well Dr Garza good
087night [Applause] Mary Beth style followed by Jerry leard Fairfax County Schools have no expertise to teach lessons on the development of transgender identity its teachers and counselors are not qualified to answer the questions of students this secular humanist religious belief that the soul is separate from the body and that man creates his own reality is not supported by science there is no agreement in the therapeutic World certainly no agreement in society and even among the therap the theorists who are fighting among themselves yet you're teaching it anyway that is arrogant students of History know that this dualism of body separate from Soul emerges in The Human Condition every couple of hundred years this time its iteration is gender versus sexuality earlier religious zealots were just as enthusiastic as The Advocates of today but each time
088reason has put down this error because it is not based on truth it has resulted in confusion your objective in the fle states students will identify that development of identity of individual identity occurs over a lifetime and includes the component of sexual orientation and gender identity it states over a lifetime then why would Fairfax County Schools accommodate children in changing their body to match their so-called gender and what school of De developmental psychology supports this description individual identity will also be described as having four parts biological gender gender identity includes transgender gender role sexual orientation includes heterosexual bisexual and homosexual none if your identity is just your sexuality and gender then you have psychological problems you have no right to limit our students with this warped worldview most parents most people don't understand the topic
089and not because of a lack of Education or compassion I've studied it and the problem is that it doesn't make sense the good news is our kids are smarter than these so-called experts it was a child who pointed out that the emperor was naked my son says kids walk out of classes that are teaching the silly Theory and shake their heads most aren't buying it even if they regurgitate it for the grade on the test you have successfully taught them to learn for the test one kid said he was going to present as a backo another another a sperm whale but the most appealing is a unicorn in other words they get that choosing or changing your identity is a fantasy but there is data teaching hospitals that provided sex change operations in the 1970s
090all abandoned the practice because it did not resolve the Deep psychological problems of the poor tormented Souls the head of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Dr Paul you stated I concluded to provide a surgical alteration to the body of these unfortunate people was to collaborate with the mental disorder rather than to treat it the treatment for a person with a disordered body image is not to change the body to match the disordered you don't cure anorexia by making the body fat you address the disordered image so the body and soul become healthy remember lobotomies were considered compassionate too do you want to join the other fads of the Therapeutic Community in schools that said oops we were wrong sorry about your kids please please complete your comments Jerry leard followed by Ruby Nick Deo thank you
091I am a Fairfax County resident married 45 years with five children and eight grandchildren the Fairfax County Family Life Education proposed changes have nothing to do with Family Life and everything to do with the sexual indoctrination of our children this must be adamantly opposed gender identity transgender sexual orientations Etc distort the truth beauty and goodness of the human person as male and female teaching that one can redefine gender according to how one feels sexually at any given moment implies that the body and thus the entire person is merely a thing to be manipulated used and disgarded Ed rather than loved and respected what a profoundly distorted and sad view of the human person many psychiatrists are lamenting that their profession needs to concentrate on trying to fix the mind of individuals with gender identity disorder
092rather than mutilate their bodies and yet the County School System wants students to Define sexual orientation terms learned that their individual identity has several parts believe that there is a boundless spectrum of sexuality developed throughout a lifetime and appreciate individual differences due to sexual orientation and gender identity since when do we treat a mental disorder as though it is an optional healthy lifestyle Choice once our children once our children are in sexual information overload how do we protect them from erotic discussions or behaviors with their peers and others how do we protect their sense of modesty and decency presenting sexuality to our young people merely as something that can be defined by one's own discretion is degrading and dangerous has the school system become so fixated on sexual features that it has forgotten children are
093more than the sum of their body parts furthermore attitudes leading to gender identity disorder are analogous to anorexia and similar illnesses in which a person experiences discomfort in his or her body and becomes fixated on certain body features we don't respond to anorexic individuals with mere tolerance applauding anorexia as a viable dietary option rather we offer mental healing several years ago Anthropologist lion el Tiger lamented that quote realities ignored are realities corrupted unquote individuals with non-heterosexual behaviors inclinations and identities are at a higher risk for mental health problems from suicide substance use disorders anxiety and mood disorders intimate partner violence and sexual abuse that's the reality to teach otherwise is reality corrupted thank you Ruby Nick Dale followed by Nikki hayatt thank you for allowing me to speak it is obvious from what is unfolding
094before us that this is a well orchestrated plan by the well-funded lbgt political agenda to push their lifestyle as normal what we are seeing comes from the Playbook from Kevin Jennings a homosexual and anti-christian activist the former safe School Zar Kevin Jennings is the founder of glsen the gay lesbian straight education Network according to American Family Association of Pennsylvania Jennings supervised his organization during time when it sponsored events featuring pornographic material at Brooklyn High School in Massachusetts in 200 5 and taught a session to school children on how to gauge in homosexual acts a conference that became known as fist gate guiding young teenagers on how to engage in perversions including the horrifying gay fetish known as fisting although he left his post as safe School Zar in 2011 due to pressure his agenda is
095being executed in schools Across America under the guise of civil rights and safety Jennings bragged about how homosexual activists tricked the Massachusetts legislature in his 1995 Landmark speech entitled winning the culture War Jennings States and I quote in Massachusetts the effective reframing of this issue was the key to the success of the governor's Commission on gay and lesbian youth we immediately seized upon the opponent's calling card safety and explained how homophobia represents a threat to student safety by creating a climate where violence name calling health problems and suicide are common finding the key effective frame for your community is the key to Victory unquote their definition of a safe school is where the lbgt sexuality is actually actively affirmed and any opposition is silenced I have compassion for the struggling those struggling with their gender
096identity but this should not be pushed in the classroom this mandatory curriculum is pushed under the guise of civil rights and compassion this is why we are outraged say no to the updates in fle our children and parents deserve respect and safety thank you very much Miss Nikki hayatt followed by Kathleen Gillette [Applause] Mard represent my wife Nikki who is unable to make it today she's yielding her time to former scps School Board m Michelle Brickner please join with me in giving her a warm Round of Applause for many years to her service of community and schools thank you as a former School Board member I recognize the time and effort that you give you are about to make some momentous changes to the Family Life Education Program first by supporting the changes recommended by
097staff and the fle committee you will move a large large swath of material out of fle and into Health with the intention of removing the state required parental opt out the reason given by Liz Payne health and physical education coordinator is that it aligns with the new Virginia health SOS and must be moved fle has been part of the state code since 1987 the F FCPS fle objectives mirror the state fle objectives although divisions are given some leeway to add material at least 85% of these FCPS fle topics that they wish to move do not correlate with Virginia health s's they are fle objectives that fit into the state fle standards as such no matter where a School Division would place them they are still fle and opt out must be available to parents removing
098fle objectives and making them mandatory is outside your Authority under the law please keep all fle object objectives opt out second on May 11th at the fle work session Liz Payne told this board that gender identity already existed in grades 9 and 10 and was being added in grades seven and 8 in truth it was not in grade nine thus it will be added to 78 and n Virginia fle guidelines state that objectives within grades 7 through 12 may be reassigned only one grade level up or down however it seems Fairfax County believes it can add the topic even three grade levels below its initial placement in 10th Grade with no consequence please remove all references to gender identity transgender bisexuality and sexual identity from fle lastly there is a callous disregard for parents rights
099to opt out forms are no longer included in the orientation packets for parents they are G given the runaround about where to find them in the school this leaves parents searching the vast FCPS website to find the forms this is unacceptable please provide parents with the opt out forms in their orientation packets thank you Kathleen Gillette Mard followed by Christopher [Applause] yasco good evening I will also speak on the proposed changes to the Family Life Education component um I speak to you as a mother of a former FCPS student a taxpayer a member of an organization ation seeds but most importantly as a citizen deeply concerned for the cultural and moral welfare of our country our state and the innocent beautiful children who are being forced to lose that innocence I want to share with
100you what we experienced as parents with the FCPS Family Life Education Program about 8 years ago when our then seventh grade daughter brought home an optout form which I happened to find among her papers um I decided I would go and look at the curriculum before making a decision but to do this I had to go to the school to see the detailed lesson plans I mean there was a general description of what they would be studying with very euphemistic titles healthy relationships Healthy Lifestyles staying safe well I sat down with a large binder and proceeded to review the fle topics and lessons plans many of them did sound innocuous but as I flipped through the pages I became nauseous did our daughter at the age of 12 really need to know about various forms
101of sex beastiality masturbation and something I had never heard of fisting needless to say we opted out and then things changed with her friends her friends who had not opted out started meeting the boys after school in the bamboo forest two of her girlfriends decided that they would hick let's let's experiment with lesbianism and demonstrated their fondness for each other publicly it was probably just for shock value but you can see where they were influenced her friends dropped her and she grew depressed fortunately she still had one good friend we parents decided that we would send her to a private school where she remained for the remain of her high school education she eventually went to the University of Virginia with a master's degree earning a master's degree in public policy as a a a
102five-year student she just completed two years teaching first grade as a bilingual specialist in the Dallas Independent School District superintendent Garza and uh she told me that she did not they don't have mandatory um lessons for teaching tolerance Etc but they naturally with each with their colleagues they teach the children the proper ways to behave to care to share at any rate in conclusion I have these requests do not move the large amount of material from the op op well that's it okay I have to give up but uh this book I recommend you all read this book this will tell you why today instead of talking about academics we're discussing sex education in our schools thank you ma'am thank you Christopher yasco followed by David Mason excuse me my name is Christopher yasco I
103am a lifelong County resident and father of three children the oldest of whom is an elementary student in the county I'm here today to speak with you about the proposed changes to the Family Life education curriculum the initial recommendation submitted by the F curriculum advisory committee would move the discussion of sexuality out of the Family Life Education and into the broader Health curriculum thereby stripping parents of the ability to opt out rhetorically I have to ask why what does the committee seek to gain from this I would think that the board would relish the opportunity to provide parents with options to guide their child's education rather than remove parents from the discussion the school board and the parents are supposed to be allies working together to ensure a top-notch education for the children of Fairfax
104County and instead the board has sought to subvert the role of the parent in teach in the teaching of their children about fundamental moral issues you must preserve the ability for parents to opt their children out of the curriculum if necessary I believe or at least I hope the board and the parents share the same goals when it comes to our children we want to build a safe and nurturing environment for the kids so they can be educated and productive adults I strongly advise the board to be mindful of its responsibility to the community and remember the parents are a children's first and most important teachers thank you David Mason first I want to thank the board for allowing me to speak and the fleak for all of their hard work have all the board
105members personally read the fleak recommendations and proposed changes as well as the January 2015 health education standards of learning for Virginia Public Schools if not better table fleak recommendations than vote to approve I have or at least tried to read both documents some fleak lesson objectives seem to lack a clear reference in the Virginia standards this means fleak objectives appear in excess of state requirements and would impose more than the state requires the Virginia standards seem to contain no clear mention of sexual orientations transgender or sexual identity yet these topics appear in fleak objectives adults find these topics hot polarizing and controversial yet fleak objectives seem to assume magically that children are mature enough to comprehend understand and appreciate such topics particularly when it involves non-reproductive sex and sexual identity it is naive to assume
106that somehow children are more mature than adults children are vulnerable and suggestible there is a concern that lesson plans could contain objectional biases or philosophies or hidden agendas how many parents would support lesson plans teaching normal sexual sexuality includes non-reproductive lifestyle choices and sex change or irreversible body mutil muz fewer grandchildren would follow when people reach adulthood there's plenty of time for them to determine what is normal for them we don't need the schools to do it for them when they are vulnerable children and to impose special interest agendas on them Virginia standards seem to contain no clear mention of Tolerance yet emphasis on tolerance is included in fleak objectives particularly related to sexual ual orientation does this imply that tolerance could be extended to any and all types of sex if so this is
107a slippery slope confusing sexual behavior with abusive sexual behavior we agree on the need for tolerance and acceptance we do not need schools to Define normal for our children nor special interest agendas to Define normal it would be good for children to learn about sex and sexuality in the right terms along with the consequences in a controll setting children already learn a lot about sex from their peers sadly much of it incorrect children do not do children need to understand that sex has one primary objective reproduction not all the weird freaky stuff it would be a mistake to teach as normal weird freaky sex kids should be encouraged to talk to their parents that's why parents need broad opt out Provisions the problem with fleak isn't teaching about sex and sexuality that's part of life
108the problem is a philosophy surrounding how it is taught and what is defined as normal fleak only defines broad objectives with detail left to the implementing lessons to be written later with public having little say on the content philosophy or agenda this means there's no way for the public really to know what fleak would mean for the children of fairfx County when there is disagreement on a philosophy or agenda being taught parents need to have sufficient opt out and ability to easily review lesson plans and materials therefore it would seem wise to table acceptance of fleak recommendation and to postpone changes until lesson plans and supporting objectives can be subjected to per to public review and comment particularly concerning sexual orientations transgender and sexual acceptance thank you we now have a video by Adam hayatt
109I wear read today as the majority of the board has Abridged our free speech by Banning signs even peacefully standing up for their beliefs during board meetings is this tolerance and respect these actions are reflect Ive of a larger issue the sincerely held sexual beliefs are conflicting with sincerely held relig religious beliefs teaching these man-made philosophies that directly contradict biology nature science and religion in the public school sponsored by government puts them on a collision course the LGBT right side has come out it is time for people of faith and freedom loving people of no particular Faith to come out and stand up for our freedoms before we lose them in November 2014 at the invitation of Pope Francis there was a colloquium on marriage and family at the Vatican in Rome Italy in attendance
110were religious representatives from 14 different Fai including Christian Jewish Muslims from even Iran and others and six of the seven continents all of whom Express their beliefs on what is happening to the definitions of marriage family and gender in today's morally confused World they all agreed completely with beliefs on the sanctity of the institution of marriage and the importance of families as the basic unit of society is remarkable how family centered priorities and Mar marriage cross a cut cut across and supersede any political economic or religious differences the so-called family life curriculum changes as well as the new additions to the health curriculum go against the teachings and Faith of most of the major world religions the LGBT Rights Movement is nothing new it comes is as old as Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old
111Testament we have not evolved beyond our biological sex the humanist movement would put man's reasoning above that of our divine Creator Leviticus 18 calls it an Abomination and confusion we see gender confusion here today and warns of the destruction of such Nations that practice it man seeks in vain to substitute the biological natural and god-given law of biological gender for some other standard and will only result in confusion and anger these ideas are an attack on everything most people hold dear and sacred our freedoms Our God our religion our wives and our families Virginia state law reads a parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing Education and Care of a parent's child the 1786 religious restoration Act of Virginia calls such ideas of forcing the fallible and uninspired man on others
112a false religion and calls it sinful and tyrannical and speaks of the deprivation of both Liberty and an infringement of natural rights the family of proclamation to the world States we warn the disintegration of family will bring upon individuals communities and Nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern profits we call upon responsible citizens of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to protect and maintain the family as the fundamental unit of society visit this URL or read FCPS board documents for prior meetings support parental rights for teachings on human sexuality in K through I want to recognize there was one more School Board member here uh Mr Steve [Applause] hunt thank you all for coming out tonight um next on our agenda are is our confirmation of action taken in a closed meeting this
113portion of the meeting is where the board will confirm any action regarding issues that were discussed in the closed meeting these issues may include action taken regarding student disciplinary matters board members have discussed each individual case and at this time we'll make a motion to confirm the recommended action I call on Miss Strauss for a motion thank you madam chairman I move to deny the school reassignment appeal of a student who participated in an mob assault against another student and to confirm the disciplinary decisions of the division superintendent I second seconded by Miss Reed all those in favor Moon Reed mine Hines Smith Daren at kofax velov mlin uh Strauss Evans uh abstentions Schultz with Mr St away from the table the motion passes our adopted rules the next is our um consent agenda our
114adopted 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 board members and the public in advance items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board member prior to the meeting 5.01 approve the minutes of May 21st 2015 regular school board meeting 5.02 adopt a resolution honoring the 60th anniversary of bush Elementary School 5.0 that was 5.02 5.03 award a contract of West Brier Elementary School addition to Sumpter Contracting Corporation in the amount of $ 7,540 th000 and authorized at the division superintendent or the assistant superintendent of facilities and transportation services to execute and administer the contract on behalf of the school
115board is there any objection to the consent agenda seeing and hearing none the consent agenda is approved we next move on to new business the following are new business agenda items there will not be a vote tonight on these items but action is scheduled at a future meeting 6.01 approve the process for the approved budget main motion as detailed into the agenda item and update the Strategic governance manual accordingly 6.02 appoint individ uals to serve for a one-year term ending ending June 30th 2016 on the adult and Community Education Advanced academic programs Career and Technical education human relations minority student achievement oversight school health and students with disabilities advisory committees as listed in the agenda item 6.03 approve the appointment of Michael Burke to the erfc Board of Trustees for a one-year term beginning July
1161st 20 5 6.04 authorize the division superintendent or the assistant superintendent Department of facilities and transportation services either of whom may act without the other in consultation with legal counsel for the school division to take all actions necessary and appropriate to negotiate execute deliver and administer an agreement in any related documents with V Dot or on such terms as they deem advisable in settlement of the petition in con condemnation filed by vot in the Circuit Court of Fairfax County 6.05 approve the appointment of Susan Quinn reappointment of Susan Quinn and Christen Michael to the erfc Board of Trustees for a one-year term beginning July 1st 2005 and ending June 30th 2016 and next we move on to superintendent matters Dr Garo thank you madam chair members of the board um our budget task force begins
117their work next week um and their goal will be to assist us with the diff difficult task of making some tough decisions for fiscal year 17 we anticipate a significant budget deficit for the 16 17 school year potentially more than $100 million uh because this next round of cuts follow consecutive years of uh reductions totaling almost a half a billion dollars this next round of reductions will affect student programs and services so we believe it is important for our community to have a say in these very very important uh and impactful decisions the budget task force will be comprised of Representatives identified by each Schoolboard member the chair of the County uh Board of Supervisors uh FCPS teachers our teacher associations principles and employee organizations and community business and parents the task force will work
118throughout the summer and make recommendations a later this fall the proposed recommendations will need to be completed prior to the development of the 2016 2017 student course C catalog used by our schools and I will also need those recommendations prior to the development of the superintendent's proposed budget which will be presented to the school board on January the 7th uh 2016 this is extremely important work and I want to express my gratitude and appreciation to the volunteers uh who have uh demonstrated their willingness to work with us on this important Endeavor we'd also like to invite our community to weigh in on uservoice on fcps.edu and I've noted that there are already uh quite a number of uh suggestions that have been posted uh so we are interested in what our community has to say
119and their suggestions and ideas and those will be provided to our task force as they make these important uh decisions well in schools this is a very uh special uh season of the year because it's the time for celebrations and um we have entered into graduation season 2015 I know that our Schoolboard members are already attending graduations as am I attended quander Road's graduation yesterday along with a number of Schoolboard members um and we have several coming up over the next several weeks I want to personally congratulate our almost 12 12,000 graduates who have worked so hard to accomplish their goals and I want to wish them all um the very best in their future endeavors um and along the the note of celebration last night we had our FCPS honors Gala and we honored
120all of our employees of the year and it was such a wonderful event where we really uh highlight and recognize what great employees uh we have throughout our uh division um talented and dedicated um and have a great degree of love and care for our students William Bates of hearnen high school is principal of the year and gave a wonderful speech about the work that they're doing in the hearnen pyramid it was very inspirational I I believe um Eric McAn of Frost Middle School first year principal of the year um Kimberly Scott a Franklin Middle School teacher of the year she was also uh inspiring U and continues to amaze us uh in every way Lee daughtery of Mount Vernon High School was first year teacher of the year Jeffrey Lyn of Marshall High School
121support employee of the year Brady rch of facility support employee of the year Ruth azimi of Robinson Secondary was our our hourly employee of the year and yes Miss Evans she was apparently aison I was very excited uh to have been recognized and then uh Gordon Jenkins of Information Technology received the leadership award so we congratulate each and every one of these employees I believe they epitomize the countless almost 25,000 employees uh that are just so wonderful and do a great job each and every day and service to our children so thank you very much and that completes my comments Madam chair thank you Dr Garza next on our agenda is board reports and I call on Miss Schulz for a report on the May 11th public engagement committee so on our p uh May
12211th public engagement uh one of the first things we talked about was the um a need to have a comprehensive approach to um legislative strategy going into the fall so we can talk uh more proactively before pre-filing um and potentially talking about things like King's Dominion law um and helping um members of the public with a little bit more of a clear strategy on how to navigate all of these issues and potentially work with uh Matt gilfoil and occr around how to provide information to more streamlined to help the public um work with legislators uh on either pre-filing um legislation or as soon as legislation is pre-filed start advocacy um earlier in addition we worked with staff and um the department of Information Technology um we've had a number of issues of late which have
123had uh what I would call high level interest and um somewhat flooded um individual board members uh inboxes we talked about a way to find a way to um capitalize on technology going forward and more effectively use all of the resources that Microsoft Outlook provides um work closer in collaboration with members of staff um around that and then I think that there are some future developments in it um in that regard in addition we asked for um assistance with the website to put more um fact-based information um in the hands of the public so that uh there would be less that they would need to solicit from us in terms of basic questions um in an addition we talked about um an update to the Schoolboard websites um the school board members websites and we're
124going to talk about the functionality of board docs coming up and what we can continue to do to help to improve that um most significantly uh with back to school night and as some members of the public alluded we're going to have a um a busy season ahead of us uh we both helped uh schools on back to school night and helped ourselves and actually helped our um our facilities and Technology staff around the back to school night videos we're not going to actually um well we're going to bring this to you as a recommendation but um the suggestion of PEC and staff is for us to not tape individual board member um videos but to do if we're going to do anything have a a statement over red and then just have our pictures
125streaming with our contact information um this particularly helps schools that have multiple board members um we've had board members tape seven and a half or 8 minute long videos and other members not tape at all and the objective is to get to um streamline um what was it Mr mcline streamline not Hocus Pocus I don't remember that um so that's that covers Us on May 11th thank you Mr moon for the audit committee on May 27th thank thank you madam chair on May 27 audit committee discussed status of the current audit work and also discussed a business process and turnable audits for eight schools and or and also time and attendance audit the audit committee further discuss topics are fi 2016 audit plan and and then a tra plan is going to be a presented
126sometime in June for the committee's consideration and the a committee further discussed the selection process for adding community members to the Schoolboard audit committee and we have work session on scheduled for June 29th for the full bold thank you thank you Mr moon on May 28th I was the meeting manager for our citizen advisory committees um we heard reports from Early Head Start family and early childhood education program and the Head Start policy committee the human relations advisory committee the school health advisory committee and the title one District advisory committee I want to say that we so appreciate the time and energy of our appointees and staff as they work throughout the year on these committee reports we heard some great ideas we thank you for these and um we welcome your comments and staff
127will be working on a response to your report shortly and I call on Mr velov next for the June 1st report from our citizen advisory committees thank you madam chair on the evenings of June 1st and June 4th the board received annual reports from five citizen advisory committees uh APAC acsd msoc CAC and Ace the facilities planning advisory Council and the foundation for applied technical education fate the reports reflected the members comprehensive work in addressing the board's 2014 2015 charge including detailed analyses and specific recommendations for implementation in the coming year staff will prepare a response to each committee and will share the response with board members in September board members members will schedule a work session no later than October to review staff's feedback and to respond to the committee's outlining the board's proposed
128actions thank you Mr velov and I call on Mr mline for the June 8th uh work session uh so on June day 8th we had um all day work session where we covered um several topics the first being the um operational expectation of the relationship between the superintendent and the school board um we delineate some next St STS um on that relationship uh we also heard a presentation from the um erfc on how that plan is doing and finally we uh heard a presentation on the Strategic plan and had opportunities um to submit feedback on that thank you next we move on to board matters and I will start with Miss Schulz I'm going to pass okay thank you Miss Sans I just want to uh congratulate an and de Terrace Elementary School which just
129celebrated its 50th Anniversary they had a wonderful event there last week uh many many uh Alum came back uh to uh celebrate with them former teachers former students and uh it was just a wonderful event so congratulations to anandale Terrace and I'm looking forward to the graduations congratulations all you seniors M St thank you I attended the Cedar Lane graduation last week which is always a wonderful event because it's very personal and um uh each each graduate is given uh wonderful remarks are presented by the teachers to to every single students it's a very moving ceremony so I want to thank and congratulate all of our graduates at Cedar Lane uh good luck to all those who will be graduating next week it's lots of fun and I would like to thank uh Church Hill
130Road Elementary School and the Langley pyramid PTA leaders who uh sponsored a budget um discussion inviting um uh supervisor John F myself to talk about the proposed uh 2017 budget and as Dr GZA has has indicated and what we all know is a projected significant deficit and um John F again indicated that he felt it's very important that before the county executive begins to put together the County's budget that the needs of the children and the teachers in the school system are presented clearly much sooner than has been done in the past so I really appreciated that clarification and congratulations to all those who won Cappies at the uh Cappy Scala last Sunday and it was a lot of fun thank you to all my colleagues and Dr Garza and lots of other people who
131are there to help us present the awards thanks Mr St sure I can come back Miss McLaughlin I just want to uh tell all of the FCPS uh 2015 graduates that I hope you have a fantastic celebration with your families uh I'm looking forward to attending uh the lake bradic and Robinson and Woodson High School graduations this year uh within my district and to my own 2015 graduate Conor McLaughlin I'm very proud of you and I look forward to celebrating with you and our family next Tuesday Mr velov thank you madam chair um Monday uh when you had a scheduling conflict I represented you at Hayfield Secondary School um Dr Ken Hela um had uh students make presentations to me and supervisor McKay about um some ideas that they had to make uh FCPS uh
132better and one of the presentations um was about the uh poly sty uh trays and it was along the same lines as the the young man who spoke to us here uh I think time is ripe for some action there the students are certainly getting it uh another presentation that I saw was from a student who had researched uh some social services around uh kids at risk of dropping out uh in Toronto and was recommending uh that we look at some programs um that would be uh supporting such students I mean I was just really uh really impressed by the presentations that the students made and um I'd like to work with some of our Educators to see if we can um review some of the ideas that the students brought forward and and actually
133act on these things because uh they're really remarkable uh and the last thing I wanted to say was also that I was very happy uh again last Saturday to be at the chanelli um pyramid minority student student achievement committee honors Awards it's an amazing event uh hundreds of students are awarded uh for their academic achievements and ssac is just an amazing organization uh and it was an honor to be there along with uh Mrs Smith thank you Miss Smith um Rocky Run had their uh they did a History Day used to start with World War II but now they're doing people from other Wars I think the oldest person they had there was about 90 995 and the youngest was 24 that was in a war and now they call it iwitness to history day
134um some amazing art that the students did but it is outstanding how many veterans and and other people affected by War I sat next to a woman whose husband um had been put in an internment camp he with Japanese when he was 11 so these experiences that the kids are getting to talk firsthand with with people it is outstanding Jamie swatski started that at Rocky Run and they are going strong they did an 18-minute video with they have a history club uh just you know so often we're not focused on the outstanding things that happen in our schools and this is really outstanding Mr moon was there too it was wonderful and then I do have to do another shout out for shantell period minority student achievement committee uh Mr velov and I were at
135the high school recognition but they also did one on Sunday we have the Cappies for the elementary schools but the real tie-in of community members wanting to help kids achieve and and um organizing tutoring for kids and recognizing kids it's just very outstanding of the community coming together to support our kids in the schools thank you thank you Miss Hines yes thank you well um happy almost summer vacation um the pools are open uh field days are happening parties are happening and at the same time teachers and students are out there still trying to do some good work and some good learning so um good luck to you all and uh you know uh congratulations to all the graduates I will be able to attend Madison High School graduation on June 17th South Lakes High
136School graduation on June 18th and Westfield on June 19th and I want to thank staff for staggering those graduations so that I could make all three of them um also I want to thank staff um for last night's honor ceremony I know it's a lot of work to put that together but it's wonderful when we can um really celebrate and honor our our amazing staff um around the school system and I I really enjoyed um being a part of that Mr mline so I don't want to steal Mr Moon's Thunder on this but um I am honored to be um working with him and um Region 2 and and our with our uh visiting um Korean teaching interns from inchon City and and um in Korea and um I'm also honored to be hosting two
137of them at my home um and um they are both teaching at Lemon Road Elementary uh and they are enjoying um the the fun they had field day today and I know they were came home very tired um secondly um today is a very special day because we get to honor our colleague Dan St for his uh birthday um and he had a very special week today or this week and um I think we're all sad um but at the same time happy that he will be hopefully moving on to a um a less esteemed but uh higher Place uh and um finally this week um marks the beginning of um what Mr Moon and I um annually do which is our graduation um contest I think we're both slated for 23 graduations we'll see
138if we make it to that many um one of the things I do hope we can address in coming years is that there's one particular day it's always the the first day of graduation that there are so many overlapping graduations and a lot of them happen to be in single districts so even our district board members have the same problem getting to them and I know it's it's a it's always a shuffle um but hopefully we can work with with Bill Curran to see if we can find a solution to that thank you Miss Reed thank you I think I'm going to take my time and Miss Schultz's it seems like here because I've got quite a few things to to um to get everyone caught up on but I'll try to be quick um
139I wanted to do a shout out to Jeff plattenburg to thank him once again for the Graham Road Community Building CHF field I know that you and Kevin and staff worked very hard to get that done amidst lots of other things and we had the ribbon cutting uh Mr Moon and Mr mine and I were there and uh the community members were there and just wanted to thank you publicly for that and it has made a world of difference in that community so thank you last weekend I participated as I do every year in the Mana citizens Association parade and um Fran Wallingford was given the citizen of the Year award this year so congratulations Fran uh that's just such a wonderful Community I know we all have uh communities like that it's just terrific
140it makes you feel like you're back in the 1950s I think sometimes when you know people know each other's names and everybody's so friendly Miss Hines and I this week um had two Community meetings on the Freedom Hill Vienna um boundary issue I guess I'll just say and uh thank the community members for coming out and speaking very constructively and thanks to Kathleen Thomas and our two Regional assistant superintendent um and staff who came out too I thought we got some very good input and we'll be uh circling back with the community here soon on that um Miss Evans and I met recently to disc discuss something very exciting an innovation Lab at Falls Church High School and so that will be coming uh soon and we will be sending out information and getting the
141community involved but we're very excited and that's uh using profer funds and uh last but not least um nobody's mentioned Sports here yet it's a big weekend for sports we've got State semifinals at least in my schools Marshall Madison Baseball and Madison boys soccer the state finals Oakton Boys Tennis Oakton and Marshall girls tennis and Oakton girls lacrosse I'm going to try to get out and see some sports this weekend and I will see Folks at graduations I haven't counted but I know I'm not going to compete with my two colleagues on either side of me but I know I'll be running around quite a bit and look forward to seeing everyone thank you Mr oh thank you Madame chair on graduation race with uh Mr mvan yes it is true you know each of
142us have 23 on our calendar but as of today I am one graduation ahead of him I have attended three so far three more to go tomorrow plus 70 more and after that uh we can we can double check the numbers but I am one ahead of you at this point okay uh and I want to say congratulations and thank you to uh Mrs stuss for another year of job well done for the cast I know tremendous time and efforts going to make that program successful without you and your obviously your late husband you know we wouldn't be you know where we are today and as one board member and one member of the community I thank you for what you have done and thank you and if there's any school board member who has
143not been to uh that oral history day annually held Rocky Run as stated by explained to you to all of us by Mrs Smith maybe next year to make sure to be there it's a wonderful experience maybe something that should be replicated uh not just you know at other middle school and other maybe even high school and elementary schools in fairx County but maybe entire country of United States of America it's such a wonderful program for everybody in birth uh to make that you know success for her that will do for now Madame chair thank you I have two Gob backs I will start with Miss Schulz just it's not GoBack it's read it's it's yeah so it actually was U Miss Smith's um comments I just wanted to bring it up my voice is
144going that's I was passing but um the the oral history program at at um Rocky Run you know I just want to um make a plug um this is something I've been um interested in uh Dr Garza with your uh predecessor um a plug for employing vets um uh Anthony trell uh as the principal there I'm sure adds a tremendous um uh quality um to those um those events that Rocky Run has and are so um so revered um certainly with uh a a massive military population that I have in my district um but I think that it shows what you know a veteran can do in our schools and I certainly encourage um Dr pajardo in your current role for however many days it is and and your next role um next door sort
145of in still still with us but not a part of us um to encourage that um and um it's interesting to note that uh the first time that I met him it didn't take very long to find out that um he and my father were both commanding officers of the same ship um not at the same not in exactly the same time but he was the last commanding officer um before uh a ship was decommissioned that my father was a commanding officer on so it was just a fascinating um connection and um I think that he serves that Rocky Run um Community incredibly well Mr St thank you madam chair I appreciate the opportunity to wait a moment I want to thank um first off U really Kevin Sneed for his work again on the
146CIP and work with the community uh he U was gracious enough to come to kind of a follow on meeting or follow-up meeting with u the Mount Vernon District Community about next steps in the CIP and also answer questions that people had about the recommendations from staff on on next steps so we I think it was a very productive meeting and and again I think it was helpful to the community to to bring at least some initial closure to that part of the process and then I know we have many more steps to go so it was again greatly appreciated uh also thank uh waynewood Alon school for once again inviting me to Patriots Day which really an unusual event that they have essentially uh public really officers from the military and and sheriff and
147police and fire and and it's just a way of helping kids connect to the world of public service and it's just very very well done so thank you um we have um the copies that I I know we've thanked Janie before but uh Mr stuss this is just really an amazing institution that that U you and Bill and and Judy bounds and many others have started and and it just it is just truly remarkable but what our kids and what kids and dental can do in this area so I I just it's just a pleasure to go and appreciate all the work and effort that goes into that but it's going I think to great effect so thank you um this Saturday I have office hours my community office hours are from 10: to 2
148excuse me 10 to 12 at the Lorton Library and from 12:30 to 2:30 at trood Hall library and all are welcome no appointment required uh it's usually busy so it is first come first serve so please uh feel free to come um I also wanted to acknowledge on June 15th we have a a steam or science technology engineering the Arts and math information meeting night at malver high school and would encourage all to come to that it's really one of the things I'm particularly pleased about Dr Garza we've been able to you've been able to kind of lead and push forward but it's really a new day A New Day Dawning for Mount ver high school and and this is a great opportunity for parents to learn more about that um and I will be
149going to a number of graduations like everybody else and looking forward to the to that event so thank you all thank you and um on Tuesday I traveled to Richmond to a summit led by first lady of Virginia Dorothy McCulla and this was um where child and nutrition Advocates from around the Commonwealth brainstorm collaborated and learned about how breakfast after the Bell can prepare students and while some of the programs weren't exactly right for Fairfax County we have gotten some good ideas and we're looking forward and the dialogue is going to continue in this area it was very exciting I was joined by um two two ladies from um the uh Health that are our uh food nutrition services and they um it was it was a great day uh just to share ideas with
150other um Educators and staff from around um Virginia about this issue on uh Saturday I look forward to celebrating at bushill elementary for their 60th anniversary um my children began their FCPS education there and I'm excited to go back and celebrate with them I too want to thank Miss Strauss and Judy bounds for another magnificent cies um it is done so well and such an honor for our theater students and uh thank you so much it was it was a tremendous event as our as our other colleagues have said and again I look forward forward to all of the graduations congratulations all of you seniors and happy summer to the rest of you and with that our meeting is adjourned e e for