[0:10] This April 10th, 2025 regular meeting of
[0:13] the Fairfax County School Board will
[0:14] come to order. Please stand for the
[0:16] pledge of allegiance followed by a
[0:17] moment of silence and a performance of
[0:19] the national anthem by the Navy
[0:20] Elementary School Strings under the
[0:22] direction of Robert Salsberg and Tanya
[0:25] Stanley.
[0:31] To the
[0:32] flag
[0:34] of the for it stands one nation under
[0:39] God indivisible with liberty and justice
[0:43] for
[0:52] all.
[1:07] [Music]
[1:18] Heat.
[1:34] Heat.
[1:49] [Applause]
[1:53] Heat. Heat.
[2:04] [Applause]
[2:12] [Music]
[2:19] [Applause]
[2:30] We have one more round of applause for
[2:32] those talented kids.
[2:39] Agenda item
[2:40] 2.02, announcements. Mr. McDaniel has
[2:43] submitted a written request to attend
[2:45] tonight's meeting virtually due to
[2:46] personal reasons as he has child care
[2:48] conflict. He's located in Fairfax,
[2:50] Virginia. All those in favor of Mr.
[2:51] McDaniel's request. Miss Marin, Miss
[2:54] Dixit, Dr. Anderson, Miss Anderson, Miss
[2:56] St. John Cunning, Mr. Moon, Miss
[2:58] Seismarhiser, and myself, that is
[2:59] unanimous for board members present. Can
[3:02] Mr. McDaniel test his microphone and
[3:04] camera.
[3:06] I'm here. Thank you. Thank you.
[3:10] Mr. Dunn is submitted a written request
[3:12] to attend tonight's meeting virtually
[3:13] due to a medical reasons. He is located
[3:15] in Mount Vernon, Virginia. All those in
[3:17] favor of Mr. Dunn's approving Mr. Dunn's
[3:19] request. Miss Marin, Miss Dixit, Dr.
[3:22] Anderson, Miss Anderson, Missheiser, Mr.
[3:24] Moon, Miss St. John Cunning, and myself,
[3:26] that is unanimous for board members
[3:27] present. Mr. Dunn, will you test your
[3:29] microphone and camera? I'm here. Thank
[3:31] you. Thank you very
[3:33] much. If you'd like to review a copy of
[3:36] the meeting agenda, please see the back
[3:37] of the auditorium. To obtain copies of
[3:39] any items or supporting materials being
[3:41] presented tonight, please reference the
[3:44] QR code on the agenda or visit
[3:48] fcps.edu/boards. Tonight's meeting is
[3:50] being broadcast on channel 99 and
[3:52] livereamed on YouTube and our website at
[3:54] fcps.edu/livestream.
[3:57] Tonight's meeting is also being
[3:58] broadcast in Spanish on YouTube at
[4:03] youtube.comfcps and
[4:05] espanol. Agenda item 2.03, ArabAmerican
[4:08] Heritage Proclamation. I call on Mr. uh
[4:11] Moon for the proclamation. Thank you,
[4:13] Mr. Chairman. Just for your indulgence a
[4:16] little bit, let me get to
[4:20] that. Whereas April is a time to
[4:23] celebrate ArabAmerican heritage and
[4:25] culture. pay tribute to the
[4:27] contributions of ArabAmericans and
[4:30] Arabic speaking
[4:31] Americans. This year's theme,
[4:34] ArabAmerican heritage, honoring the
[4:36] past, inspiring the future, reflection
[4:39] the community's legacy while
[4:41] highlighting the next generation of
[4:43] leaders making strides in business,
[4:46] government, education, science, and the
[4:49] arts.
[4:50] And whereas nearly four million
[4:52] Americans trace their roots to an Arab
[4:56] country. Arab Americans hail from 22
[4:59] Arab nations and are diverse ethnically,
[5:02] religiously, politically, and
[5:04] artistically.
[5:06] And whereas for centuries, Arab
[5:09] Americans have made valuable
[5:11] contributions to every aspect of
[5:12] American society in medicine, law,
[5:16] business, education, technology,
[5:19] government, military service, culture,
[5:22] and inventing many groundbreaking
[5:24] innovations to include television
[5:27] transmission and LCD screens, waffle
[5:30] cone, emotion recognition technology,
[5:33] the iPod, and the phone, surgical
[5:36] developments, including the concept
[5:38] behind coronary bypass surgery and
[5:41] internet security advances such as the
[5:44] digital signature standard DSS.
[5:48] And whereas since migrating to America,
[5:51] people of Arab descent have shared their
[5:54] rich culture and traditions with the
[5:56] neighbors and friends while also setting
[5:59] fine examples as model citizens and
[6:02] public
[6:03] servants. And Arabameans have also
[6:06] enriched our society by sharing in the
[6:09] entrepreneurial American spirit that
[6:12] makes our nation free and prosperous.
[6:15] And whereas two notable Arab Americans
[6:18] have influenced millions of people
[6:20] around the globe. Khalier Gibran was a
[6:24] writer, poet, and visual artist. He
[6:28] immigrated to the United States in
[6:30] 1895 from Ottoman ruled mountain
[6:33] Lebanon, Borasarifet, now Lebanon. His
[6:37] best known work is the 1923 book, The
[6:40] Prophet. It has become one of the
[6:43] bestselling books of all time and has
[6:46] been translated into more than 100
[6:49] languages. Fairfist County Public
[6:51] Schools alumni Hora Kby is a is of
[6:55] Egyptian descent. She is a successful
[6:58] broadcast journalist and was a TV host
[7:01] of Dayline NBC and the Today Show. She
[7:05] attended for Hunt Middle School, then
[7:07] known as Steven Foster Middle School,
[7:10] and graduated from both Fort Hunt high
[7:13] school and Virginia Tech. And whereas
[7:16] the celebration of ArabAmerican ancestry
[7:19] and cultural heritage educates our
[7:21] fellow Americans encounters bias,
[7:25] misconceptions, harmful stereotyping and
[7:28] shares abuses by other ethnic groups.
[7:32] And ArabAmerican Heritage Month is an
[7:35] opportunity to celebrate the great pride
[7:38] and vibrancy of the over 100,000 Arab
[7:42] Americans in Virginia whose abilities
[7:45] and contributions strengthen Virginia's
[7:47] economy, diverse culture, and
[7:50] communities. And whereas Fairfest County
[7:53] Public Schools believes in fostering an
[7:55] inclusive community that empowers all
[7:58] students and families. ArabAmerican
[8:01] Heritage Month presents an opportunity
[8:04] to explore and appreciate the diversity
[8:07] that strengthens our community through
[8:10] classroom activities and educational
[8:12] programs. We aim to enrich our students
[8:15] understanding and appreciation of Arab
[8:18] American heritage.
[8:20] Now therefore, be reserved that the
[8:23] Fairfest County School Board hereby
[8:25] proclaims April as ArabAmerican Heritage
[8:28] Month and officially recognize the
[8:31] contributions Arab Americans have made
[8:34] to our society. We encourage the
[8:37] celebration of the collective ingenuity,
[8:40] creativity, cultures, and traditions of
[8:43] ArabAmericans and encourage
[8:45] participation in educational events
[8:47] honoring their contributions.
[8:50] So I move.
[8:52] Thank you, Mr. Moon. Is there a second?
[8:54] Miss Seismore. All those in
[8:56] favor of the proclamation, Miss Marin,
[8:59] Miss Dixit, Dr. Anderson, Miss Anderson,
[9:01] Miss Seismoreheiser, Mr. Moon, Miss St.
[9:03] John
[9:05] Cunning, Mr. Dunn and Mr. McDaniel, will
[9:08] you verbalize your I see your hands now.
[9:11] Thank you, Mr. McDaniel. Mr. Dunn and
[9:13] myself. That is unanimous. The
[9:14] proclamation passes. Congratulations.
[9:17] Agenda item 2. Yes. Applause is in
[9:23] order. Agenda item 2.04, month of the
[9:26] military child proclamation. I call on
[9:28] Miss Marin for the proclamation.
[9:31] Whereas April is the month of the
[9:33] military child. This designation was
[9:35] established by former US Secretary of
[9:37] Defense Casper Weinberger in 1986 to
[9:40] acknowledge and honor our youngest
[9:42] military heroes and the significant role
[9:44] they play in our communities. And
[9:45] whereas the 2025 theme for the month of
[9:48] the military child is celebrating
[9:50] military child and youth building
[9:52] strongger character and relationships.
[9:55] Military youth show bravery,
[9:57] adaptability, and resiliency through
[9:59] frequently changing family environments.
[10:02] And whereas Virginia is home to over
[10:04] 77,000 military connected school age
[10:07] students, more than any other state in
[10:08] the nation, Fairfax County Public
[10:10] Schools proudly supports around 13,500
[10:13] military-connected youth and their
[10:15] families. And whereas our military
[10:17] connected students bring a wealth of
[10:19] life experiences to our schools.
[10:21] Military families relocate frequently,
[10:23] leading their children to change schools
[10:25] and support networks with each move.
[10:27] These students know firsthand what it
[10:29] feels like to be the new kid and know
[10:31] how a welcoming attitude can help every
[10:33] new student. And whereas military
[10:35] connected children overcome many
[10:37] challenges and have unique experiences
[10:38] as a result of their parents'
[10:40] assignments at duty stations around the
[10:42] world. And whereas FCPS is honored to
[10:44] participate in the purple star
[10:46] designation program. The 96 FCPS Purple
[10:49] Star schools are recognized by the
[10:51] Virginia Department of Education and
[10:53] Virginia Council on Interstate Compact
[10:55] on Educational Opportunity for Military
[10:57] Children for supporting military
[11:00] connected students and their families.
[11:02] And we remain dedicated to ensuring all
[11:04] schools earn the purple star designation
[11:06] by the 20 26 the 26 27 school year. And
[11:11] whereas on April 9th, FCPS celebrated
[11:13] Purple Up Day, purple symbolizes all
[11:15] branches of the military as a
[11:17] combination of Army Green, Marine Corps
[11:19] Red, Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force, and
[11:22] Space Force Blue. Therefore, be it
[11:25] resolved that the Fairfax County School
[11:26] Board celebrates April as the month of
[11:28] the military child in recognition of
[11:30] military-connected students for their
[11:32] heroism, character, sacrifices, and
[11:34] continued resilience. This month
[11:36] provides a powerful opportunity to raise
[11:38] aware raise raise awareness and build
[11:40] support for these children. And
[11:41] therefore, be it further resolved that
[11:42] the Fairfax County School Board extends
[11:44] our appreciation for the service of all
[11:47] children for military families and
[11:48] encourage everyone to wear purple
[11:50] throughout the month to celebrate our
[11:51] military connected students and
[11:53] families. Thank you, Miss Marin. Is
[11:55] there a second? Second, Dr.
[11:58] Anderson. All right. All those in favor
[12:00] of the
[12:01] proclamation, Miss Marin, Miss Dixit,
[12:03] Dr. Mr. Anderson, Miss Anderson, Miss
[12:05] Seismoreheiser, Mr. Moon, Miss St. John
[12:08] Cunning, Mr. McDaniel, Mr. Dunn, and
[12:09] myself. That is unanimous for board
[12:11] members present. Congratulations. The
[12:12] proclamation
[12:14] [Applause]
[12:18] passes. I would like to welcome One
[12:21] second. Yes. Deputy uh welcome Deputy to
[12:24] the Fort Belvore Garrison, Commander,
[12:26] Mr. Shaun C. Leah and all those here in
[12:29] support of the month of the military
[12:31] child proclamation to please join the
[12:33] board for a photo at the front of the
[12:34] deis.
[14:12] I would like to welcome all those here
[14:14] in support of the Arab American Heritage
[14:16] Month proclamation to please join the
[14:18] board for a photo at the front of the
[14:20] Yes.
[15:16] Agenda item 2.05 National Board
[15:19] Certified Teachers
[15:21] Recognition. Good evening and welcome
[15:23] leadership teams, honores, and guests.
[15:25] We are pleased to recognize those
[15:27] Fairfax County Public Schools educators
[15:29] who have earned or renewed National
[15:31] Board Certification for the 2526 school
[15:34] year. It is my great honor on behalf of
[15:36] the Fairfax County School Board to
[15:38] recognize our national board certified
[15:40] teachers for their dedication and
[15:42] contributions to the education of our
[15:44] students. And now I would like to
[15:45] introduce the division superintendent,
[15:47] Dr. Michelle Reid.
[15:50] Thank you, Chairman Fr. Good evening and
[15:53] I would like to congratulate each of you
[15:56] on achieving or renewing your national
[15:58] board certification. National board
[16:00] certification is a rigorous and
[16:03] prestigious achievement and we are proud
[16:05] to be here to honor your commitment to
[16:07] excellence as educators. To you, our
[16:10] 2025 honores, you're part of a very
[16:13] elite group of education professionals
[16:16] who can say that they have achieved
[16:17] national board certification. Over the
[16:20] last 24 years, over 500 teachers in
[16:23] Fairfax County have earned national
[16:25] board certification. As classroom
[16:28] teachers, you are 23 of the
[16:31] 222 currently teaching in classrooms and
[16:34] serving in leadership positions across
[16:36] Fairfax County. National Board
[16:38] Certification embodies everything we
[16:40] hope to see in our teachers. This group
[16:43] of educators has demonstrated their
[16:45] commitment to high quality instruction,
[16:47] equity, family engagement,
[16:49] collaboration, and self-reflection on a
[16:52] national level. Thank you for sharing
[16:54] your gifts with the students, staff, and
[16:57] families of Fairfax County Public
[16:59] Schools. And now I would like to welcome
[17:02] one of our instructors from the national
[17:04] board certification course visa lam to
[17:07] read the names of our honores and
[17:09] congratulations again. Thank
[17:16] you. Good morning everyone. Oh no good
[17:18] morning. Good evening. I'm still like in
[17:20] my day zone I guess. Um at this time we
[17:24] will recognize teachers who have
[17:25] achieved national board certification.
[17:28] We invite you to use the QR code to
[17:30] access the digital program. I think it's
[17:33] going to come up there. Um the digital
[17:35] program for more information about each
[17:37] of our honores. Honories, when your name
[17:39] is called, please stand and remain
[17:41] standing until all honories are called.
[17:44] Melissa Johnson, Lake Bradex Secondary
[17:51] School. Patrick Noel, Caldwin Run
[17:54] Elementary School.
[18:00] Uh, additionally, we would like to honor
[18:02] the following individuals who are being
[18:04] recognized for achieving their national
[18:06] board certification, but were unable to
[18:08] come this evening. And they are Heather
[18:10] Hall from Westgate Elementary
[18:14] School. Kristen Bowersfeld, Terara
[18:18] Center Elementary
[18:21] School, Hannah Brown, Bailey's
[18:24] Elementary
[18:26] School. Lyanna Clark, Bailey's Upper
[18:30] Elementary
[18:32] School. Carol Dalmat, Madison High
[18:35] School.
[18:38] Rachel Juan Elmenorf, Holmes Middle
[18:43] School. Thank you all. Please join me in
[18:46] recognizing once again the
[18:47] accomplishment of all of the new
[18:49] National Board Certified Teachers.
[18:51] Congratulations and a big
[18:58] applause. Uh please be seated. Uh the
[19:02] following National Board Certified
[19:03] Teachers have renewed their
[19:04] certificates. Honories, when your name
[19:07] is called, please stand to be recognized
[19:09] and remain standing until the honories
[19:11] are called. Uh Julianne Braden, Lauren
[19:14] Hill Elementary
[19:16] [Applause]
[19:23] School. Laura Chammy, Madison High
[19:29] School. Francis Clark, Keen Mill
[19:32] Elementary School.
[19:37] Heather Jung, Holland Meadows Elementary
[19:39] [Applause]
[19:42] School. Lauren Kenny, Woodson High
[19:48] School. Rachel Morris, Lauren Hill
[19:50] Elementary
[19:54] School. Aliana Taylor, Hayfield
[19:57] Secondary School.
[20:02] Additionally, we would like to honor the
[20:03] following individuals who are being
[20:05] recognized for renewing their national
[20:07] board certification but were unable to
[20:09] attend this evening. Emily Kefir, H.
[20:12] Hearnden Elementary
[20:16] School. Bethany Leighton, Sangster
[20:19] Elementary
[20:21] School. Darren Misac, Lake Bradock
[20:25] Secondary School.
[20:26] [Applause]
[20:29] Megan Stanley, Cooper Middle
[20:32] School. Julianne Trimble, Bull Run
[20:35] Elementary
[20:37] School. Christa Vettle, Hayfield
[20:41] Secondary
[20:44] School, Jodsana Walampati, Madison High
[20:49] School, and Mary Wolf H. Hearnden High
[20:53] School. Congratulations to the renewed
[20:55] national board certified teachers.
[20:58] [Applause]
[21:05] At this time, we would like to invite
[21:07] the school board and leadership team to
[21:09] come to the dis for a photo with the new
[21:11] and renewed national board certified
[21:13] teachers. We're going to take two
[21:14] photos. The first will be with all
[21:17] honores and the second will be with all
[21:19] newly certified honores.
[23:19] So the second photo is with our newly
[23:22] certified teachers.
[25:30] All right. Agenda item. If board members
[25:33] could please return to their
[25:42] seats. Who's missing?
[25:53] Agenda item 3.01, community
[25:55] participation. The next order of
[25:56] business is community participation. We
[25:59] welcome all community members who are
[26:01] here and those who have signed up to
[26:02] speak this evening. Additional
[26:03] information about signing up to provide
[26:05] comments at regular schoolboard meetings
[26:06] and public hearings can be found on the
[26:09] schoolboard's website,
[26:10] fcps.edu/schoolboard.
[26:14] During the sign up process, community
[26:15] members acknowledged they were informed
[26:17] of the school board's expectations for
[26:19] proper decorum when providing comments.
[26:21] These expectations are also available
[26:23] online and with the printed agenda and
[26:25] meeting materials in the back of the
[26:26] room. We ask audience members to be
[26:28] respectful of one another. Shouting and
[26:30] outbursts will not be tolerated. Please
[26:32] hold your applause until the conclusion
[26:34] of a speaker's remarks. Audience members
[26:36] may not join speakers at the podium and
[26:38] should remain at their seats, including
[26:39] while recording video or taking photos.
[26:42] We're grateful for those who have come
[26:43] to speak to us today and thank you for
[26:45] your cooperation. Schoolboard members
[26:48] will be listening but not responding.
[26:50] Madame clerk, please call the first
[26:51] speaker. Student speaker number one.
[27:02] My name is Michael and I am currently a
[27:04] sixth grader at an FCPS elementary
[27:07] school. I will be attending middle
[27:09] school next year and I'm excited about
[27:11] the afterchool activity opportunities
[27:14] that will be available to my classmates
[27:15] and I if the funding does not get cut
[27:17] for them. Middle school can be a
[27:19] challenging time with increased academic
[27:22] demands and being in a bigger school
[27:24] with more teachers and expectations.
[27:27] Being able to participate in battle of
[27:29] the books or quiz bowl or be a part of a
[27:31] school musical are things that are also
[27:33] so important to the development and
[27:35] mental health of my fellow students.
[27:38] Providing us with additional outlets and
[27:40] opportunities for engagement beyond
[27:42] school work makes us more well-rounded
[27:44] and gives us the chance to develop
[27:46] varied interests and learn new skills
[27:48] that will help us as we continue our
[27:50] schooling and in life. I urge you to
[27:53] consider other school budget funds that
[27:55] could fund the crucial middle school
[27:57] after school activities program should
[27:59] the item be cut from the county budget.
[28:01] Thank you for your time.
[28:08] Kate Wilska.
[28:13] Most middle schools in the school
[28:14] district offer family and consumer
[28:16] sciences as an optional semesterl long
[28:17] elective. Whereas high schools have
[28:19] classes that fall under the umbrella but
[28:21] are
[28:22] not general and instead focus on
[28:24] specific careers like fashion design or
[28:26] hospitality. Students who didn't take
[28:27] general fax classes during their short
[28:29] time in middle school or move to the
[28:30] county later don't have the opportunity
[28:32] to. Not only are these classes not
[28:33] available for high school students to
[28:35] take, even when they are available in
[28:36] middle schools, many people simply don't
[28:38] take them. But the students who don't
[28:39] take facts are missing out on the
[28:41] benefits of it. While many high school
[28:42] vocational classes prepare students for
[28:44] different careers, they're lacking in a
[28:45] class that prepares them not just for a
[28:47] job, but for life in general. The skills
[28:49] taught in fax classes are wide ranging.
[28:51] Learning mending techniques can help
[28:53] students recognize quality and avoid
[28:54] fast fashion. Whereas learning how to
[28:56] cook and where food comes from can
[28:57] encourage better knowledge of nutrition
[28:59] and understanding of the impacts of
[29:00] farming on the
[29:02] environment as well as other skills such
[29:04] as childcare and budgeting. Many FCPS
[29:07] students don't see the benefit of these
[29:08] classes and as a result are missing out
[29:09] on an opportunity to be more prepared
[29:11] for adulthood. More high schools should
[29:13] offer general fax classes to give older
[29:15] students a chance to take a general
[29:16] class rather than one designed with
[29:17] vocational education in mind.
[29:19] Additionally, the idea of making a fax
[29:20] class a graduation requirement should be
[29:22] considered. There already a long list of
[29:24] classes needed to graduate such as core
[29:27] subjects like math and history and
[29:28] additional classes like personal finance
[29:29] and fine arts electives as well as
[29:31] others like foreign language being
[29:33] highly encouraged. It wouldn't be much
[29:34] more of a burden to require students to
[29:36] at some point between 7th and 12th grade
[29:37] take a fax class and the benefits of
[29:39] learning those life skills would last
[29:41] throughout their lives. Thank
[29:43] [Applause]
[29:50] you BB Aali.
[30:01] Good evening everyone. Dear Fairfax
[30:03] County officials, my name is BB
[30:05] Kobrazelli and I'm a senior at Hernand
[30:08] High School. I'm here to bring attention
[30:10] to a challenge that many students who
[30:12] are new to this country face. From my
[30:15] own experience, I know how difficult it
[30:17] is to start over in a new country.
[30:19] Despite all of that, I have been part of
[30:22] leadership taking dual enrollment and
[30:23] AVID classes. However, learning a new
[30:26] language, adjusting to a different
[30:28] school system, and keeping up with
[30:30] academic expectations can be very
[30:32] overwhelming. One of the biggest
[30:34] struggle for many students like me is
[30:36] the so exams. For those who do not speak
[30:39] English as their first language, these
[30:42] tests can be especially stressful and
[30:44] hard to pass. I know this struggle
[30:47] personally because I have not yet passed
[30:49] the science as the wall and I'm trying
[30:51] my best to pass it this year so I can
[30:53] graduate and receive my diploma. Many
[30:56] other students are in the same
[30:58] situations failing, pressured and
[31:00] anxious because uh passing these exams
[31:02] is required for graduation. I
[31:05] respectfully ask the county to consider
[31:07] making the process easier for students
[31:09] who are still learning English, whether
[31:11] through extra support, testing options
[31:13] or other helpful solutions. Giving these
[31:17] students more opportunities would make a
[31:20] big difference. I am writing um on
[31:23] behalf of all the students who are new
[31:25] to this country in facing this
[31:27] challenge. I hope you will take this
[31:29] issue seriously and find ways to support
[31:31] us so we can all have a fair chance to
[31:33] succeed. Thank you for listening.
[31:41] Ryana
[31:47] Quasi. Good evening everybody. Um my
[31:50] name is Rihanna Kazzy and I am the
[31:53] outreach specialist for Turning Point
[31:55] which is a program of the Fairfax Falls
[31:57] Church Community Services Board, a part
[32:00] of Fairfax County. I am here today to
[32:02] tell you about a little bit about our
[32:04] program. Uh we are a program that
[32:07] provides services to Fairfax County
[32:09] residents that are experiencing symptoms
[32:12] of psychosis. So briefly, um symptoms of
[32:15] psychosis can include hearing um and
[32:19] seeing things that others don't. Um
[32:21] experiencing
[32:23] uh behavior, unusual behaviors, unusual
[32:27] thoughts. So, uh, Turning Point has two
[32:30] different tracks specifically to address
[32:32] this issue in Fairfax County. We have
[32:35] one that is the, uh, first episode
[32:37] psychosis track. So, specifically,
[32:40] anybody who's experiencing symptoms
[32:41] within, uh, the last two years is
[32:44] eligible for this program and the
[32:46] high-risk track, which is anybody who's
[32:49] experiencing some general symptoms,
[32:52] broader symptoms, um, but hasn't been
[32:55] diagnosed yet. So this program is a
[32:57] wonderful program. It uh provides so
[33:00] many different services like caregiver
[33:02] support, family support, psychotherapy,
[33:05] case management, physical activity,
[33:08] really trying to build resiliency and
[33:11] self-sufficiency and re-engaging our
[33:13] clients back into the community. So we
[33:16] are making an appeal to Fairfax County
[33:18] schools, particularly high schools, if
[33:20] they're noticing any symptoms in their
[33:21] students or even parents, um to please
[33:24] make a referral. I can provide that
[33:26] referral email for you after this um
[33:28] after this meeting and it's just an
[33:30] absolutely wonderful program and um we
[33:33] really want to work with schools. So um
[33:36] thank you so much and um I hope that if
[33:39] you have any questions please let me
[33:41] know.
[33:45] Frank Cole
[33:59] Mard, excuse
[34:07] me. Good evening. I speak to you tonight
[34:10] as a 50-year Fairfax County taxpayer,
[34:13] father of three former FCPS students, a
[34:16] Vietnam vet, and retired Voice of
[34:18] America journalist. My topic tonight is
[34:21] the school board's responsibility in
[34:23] conjunction with FCPS administrators,
[34:26] the staff, school admin, and teachers to
[34:29] keep students safe and protected. This
[34:31] responsibility is just as important as
[34:34] your responsibility to educate students
[34:36] in the academic disciplines and
[34:39] partnering with parents. Some of the
[34:41] safety issues in question include
[34:43] student drug overdose incidents, human
[34:46] trafficking, sex trafficking, gang
[34:48] activity,
[34:50] normalization/promotion of apparent
[34:52] sexual acts, abortion as a means of
[34:54] birth control, and instances of gender
[34:57] dysphoria. Ironically, gender dysphoria
[35:00] is most likely brought on by topics in
[35:02] the family life education curriculum or
[35:05] the suggestive survey questions in
[35:07] socioeotional health or the health and
[35:10] human growth curriculum. Recently,
[35:13] Governor Ynan said in Virginia, parents
[35:16] have a fundamental right to make
[35:18] decisions on their child's upbringing,
[35:20] care, and education, and include schools
[35:22] notify parents if a minor student if a
[35:25] minor student expresses gender in
[35:27] congruence or request school
[35:29] participation in affirming their gender
[35:32] identity. Schools should gain parental
[35:34] consent before implementing any related
[35:36] plans, including counseling. Raising a
[35:39] child consistent with their biological
[35:41] sex, including related mental health or
[35:43] medical decisions, is not parental abuse
[35:46] or neglect. This is common sense.
[35:49] Fairfax County Public Schools, however,
[35:51] is one of 12 school systems in the
[35:53] Virginia that have a policy to deceive
[35:56] parents about their own children. I ask
[35:58] you to please recognize that keeping
[36:00] secrets from parents is dangerous and
[36:02] among other dangers opens the door to
[36:04] predators. It states calls parents
[36:08] abusive to raise their
[36:17] Jeffrey
[36:24] Aki. At the start of his campaign speech
[36:27] shortly after he was shoved by a
[36:28] radicalized would be assassin, Theodore
[36:30] Roosevelt said, "It is a very natural
[36:32] thing that weak and vicious minds should
[36:34] be inflamed to acts of violence by the
[36:36] kind of awful macity and abuse that have
[36:39] been heaped upon me for the last three
[36:41] months by the papers. We need to teach
[36:44] civics. There are few young persons with
[36:46] whom I speak who appreciate our
[36:48] constitution was mankind's very first
[36:50] governing document to state all men are
[36:53] created equal or anything remotely
[36:55] similar. They don't recognize our rights
[36:57] come from God not government and that
[36:59] our government is created to defend
[37:01] those rights. Fortunately, children
[37:03] aware of those are homeschooled or
[37:05] taught in private schools. We need to
[37:07] teach history the good and the bad. For
[37:09] example, in order to create a society
[37:11] that liberated Americans from tyranny
[37:12] and create full equality, something
[37:14] grave was put off until a later date.
[37:17] That date was September 1861, the Civil
[37:20] War. And the struggle continues. America
[37:22] is not perfect, but it is great because
[37:24] we confront the struggle. It is great
[37:27] because we treat history honestly and
[37:28] keep discussions open. It is great
[37:30] because we trust in the human spirit,
[37:32] not in government control. History shows
[37:34] us governments that need to control
[37:36] always end badly. Our constitutional
[37:38] republic defends flourishing. It is in
[37:40] the defense of our rights so egregiously
[37:43] trespassed against us during co. It is
[37:45] in the defense of our free marketplace
[37:46] of ideas and open discussion without
[37:48] reprisal so dishonestly trespassed
[37:50] against our children with compelled
[37:52] speech policies. And it is in the
[37:54] peaceful transition of power so
[37:56] desperately fought against by the weak
[37:58] vicious minds who attempted to kill a
[38:00] presidential candidate, have incited
[38:02] violence against justices, put men in
[38:04] women's sports, etc., etc. We do indeed
[38:07] need to love and cherish each soul and
[38:10] lift all to their greatness and their
[38:13] potential. It is misguided to teach our
[38:14] children be racist, to enable their
[38:16] destructive behavior, and to conspire
[38:18] with them against their parents.
[38:19] Misguided. NDEI and FMLE. Thank you,
[38:29] Molly
[38:37] Sullivan. Oh, okay. Good evening. I'm
[38:39] here as an FCPS parent, teacher, and PTA
[38:42] president from the Sully and Springfield
[38:44] districts. I'm here to advocate for the
[38:45] afterchool programs and the employees
[38:47] who run them. I'm one of many residents
[38:50] uh who is in favor of the meals tax in
[38:52] conjunction with the real estate tax so
[38:54] we can keep our programs going. I'm
[38:56] asking you be more creative on how to
[38:57] increase our FCPS budget not tied to the
[38:59] county or state because they've made it
[39:01] very clear we can't count on them. Where
[39:03] can FCPS save money? Eliminate center
[39:05] AAP schools and require every elementary
[39:07] and middle school to have AAP endorse
[39:08] staff and multiple classrooms, saving $8
[39:11] million annually on transportation. Pay
[39:13] out PTO to FCPS employees corresponding
[39:16] to the step and salary at rate at which
[39:18] it was accumulated. Allow businesses to
[39:20] sponsor school events, clubs, name
[39:22] fields, auditoriums, staircases, etc. My
[39:25] ask tonight though is that the board
[39:26] make a written commitment with Dr. Reid
[39:28] uh prior to the finalized budget that
[39:30] you will retain the afterchool program
[39:32] educators in their current schools
[39:33] should their programs be eliminated. Dr.
[39:36] Reid was at GBW this week and she said
[39:38] she wanted to do that. Thank you. Uh but
[39:40] wanting to versus a written and uh
[39:42] binding commitment is different. After
[39:44] school programs employ 26 highly valued
[39:47] educators and with the threat of
[39:48] eliminating their programs, they've been
[39:50] placed under what feels like a gag
[39:51] order, barred from using their FCPS
[39:53] emails, discouraged from disseminating
[39:55] information to their school communities
[39:56] about these proposed cuts. They've been
[39:58] forced to rely on us at PTAs to spread
[40:00] the word. Dr. Anderson, Miss St. John
[40:02] Cumning, and Miss Lady know firsthand
[40:04] from having worked in our schools how
[40:06] vital adults like them are. Uh they do
[40:08] much more than just run afterchool
[40:09] clubs. Taking away a safe, trusted adult
[40:11] in tandem with the after-school programs
[40:13] will cause serious damage to the 23,000
[40:15] students they impact daily. So please
[40:18] commit to continue contracts for these
[40:19] essential educators regardless of
[40:21] budgetary constraints. Thank
[40:26] you. Robert Ridby Jr.
[40:45] Good evening, Mr. Chair, school board,
[40:48] and wider community. My proposal tonight
[40:51] is that those of us on opposite sides of
[40:56] these really hot topics sit down
[40:59] together and eat and visit without
[41:04] discussing these hot topics. I have a
[41:08] friend with whom I disagree sharply
[41:10] about many things in the culture war. At
[41:13] this point in time, these topics are too
[41:16] hot for us to talk about. So, we visit
[41:18] and we spend time and we eat. We read
[41:21] books that we both enjoy. Um, I talk
[41:25] about at other times the eraser of trans
[41:28] folk and the trauma and death to people
[41:31] in my
[41:32] community. He at other times speaks of
[41:35] things that he sees that are equally
[41:38] dire, but we can still sit together and
[41:42] see one another as human. Um, and I
[41:45] think that's what our community has to
[41:48] do. We have to sit down together and
[41:53] rehumanize one another. Otherwise, we'll
[41:57] get nowhere.
[41:59] Um, my friend and I have the luxury of
[42:02] doing this because we're not directly
[42:05] affected by the things that we fear. And
[42:08] I don't want to retraumatize or blame
[42:11] folks who are directly
[42:15] affected. But we cannot see one another
[42:18] as evil or dishonest. We must see one
[42:21] another as human in these
[42:26] times. I've really gotten off my speech
[42:29] here. Uh so so I'll just say thank you
[42:32] all for listening. If anybody wants to
[42:34] contact me, I'm sure you can Google me
[42:37] and uh find contact information. Thank
[42:40] you for
[42:41] [Applause]
[42:47] listening. Shella Mural
[42:53] Dear. Good evening, Dr. Reed, Chairman
[42:56] Fr, and school board members. I teach
[42:59] fourth grade at Westbrier Elementary
[43:01] School and I'm here to request your
[43:03] assistance and bring your attention to
[43:04] the fact that FCPS is not honoring
[43:07] teacher trainee uh years of full-time
[43:10] teaching experience on the step pay
[43:11] scale. This contradicts FCPS regulation
[43:15] 4625, which explicitly states, quote,
[43:18] "Full-time teaching in a public school
[43:20] shall be allowed for experience credit."
[43:23] Close quotes. Hired in August 2021 to
[43:26] teach KT to6 on an APA scale. I was then
[43:29] hired to teach full-time under the
[43:30] teacher resident program created to fill
[43:33] urgent vacancies in 2022. I was then
[43:36] rehired in 2023 under the rebranded
[43:40] teacher traininee program. After
[43:42] fulfilling all the coursework
[43:43] requirements last month, HR cited a
[43:46] contract clause that discredits my years
[43:48] of full-time teaching experience and put
[43:50] me on the step one of the pay scale.
[43:53] Teacher trainees have fulfilled all the
[43:55] responsibilities of a contracted teacher
[43:58] unassisted. Our community trusts that
[44:00] the work of full-time teachers entrusted
[44:02] with their children's education is
[44:05] credible and therefore must be
[44:07] creditable. As a parent of two FCPS
[44:10] graduates, I certainly trusted that all
[44:13] our teachers were being treated
[44:15] equitably. Denying recognition of
[44:17] teacher trainees teaching experience
[44:19] sends a message that our years of
[44:21] full-time service and contributions are
[44:23] not valued. If those positions were not
[44:26] marked unfilled or vacant, shouldn't our
[44:29] time be credited? I respectfully request
[44:31] that my full-time teaching experience be
[44:33] recognized in accordance with regulation
[44:36] 4625, allowing our service to be made
[44:39] whole by fair compensation of the work
[44:42] that we have diligently carried out.
[44:44] Thank you for your
[44:50] time, Robert Drummer.
[45:01] Good evening, uh, Chairman Fish, uh,
[45:03] Vice Chair Anderson, distinguished board
[45:05] members. I'm Robert Drummer. I'm a
[45:07] member of Omega 5 Fraternity
[45:09] Incorporated, the Omocrron Capaca
[45:11] chapter that serves primarily Western
[45:13] Fairfax, uh, H. Hearnden, and Restston,
[45:16] Virginia. I serve as chair of our, uh,
[45:19] Omega STEM committee as well as on our
[45:22] fatherhood and mentoring, uh, initiative
[45:24] committee. Uh however, I'm speaking
[45:26] tonight solely on my own behalf in my
[45:29] personal capacity and not in uh uh as an
[45:32] official representative of the
[45:33] organization or any other public or
[45:35] private
[45:36] entity. Um over the past three years,
[45:39] I've volunteered with our STEM program
[45:42] uh at Langston Hughes Middle School. We
[45:44] sponsor their VEX robotics team. Uh we
[45:47] also sponsor the aerial drone uh
[45:51] competition team at Reston Teen Center.
[45:54] And during the course of those three
[45:56] years, I witnessed personally these
[45:58] young people, middle school students
[46:00] grow and
[46:02] develop not only in their hard skills
[46:05] but in their soft social um and life
[46:08] skills. Um, additionally, one of our
[46:10] brothers, uh, Chuck Smith, who's a
[46:12] former math instructor, has volunteered
[46:15] as a tutor at Rest and Teen Center, uh,
[46:18] for math, as well as volunteered last
[46:21] year at the VIP summer camp.
[46:26] Um, in addition to our robotics and STEM
[46:30] programs, we also sponsor awards for the
[46:34] Fairfax County Science Fair, uh, which
[46:36] is a pipeline through the middle school,
[46:39] uh, STEM and robotics programs and drone
[46:42] programs. So, as you consider the
[46:44] FY26 budget, particularly the efforts to
[46:47] eliminate the after-school program
[46:50] funding for middle school uh activities,
[46:53] I we beg you to reconsider uh that as
[46:56] these funds are uh indispensable in
[47:00] helping these kids uh particularly many
[47:02] of them from marginalized communities.
[47:12] Please play the video testimony
[47:14] submitted by Stephanie Lenquist Aurora.
[47:18] Good
[47:19] evening. A is for the aviator Amelia
[47:22] Heheart. This is how an appropriate
[47:23] public school display celebrating
[47:25] Women's History Month would have begun.
[47:27] Instead, West Springfield High School
[47:29] experienced something entirely
[47:30] different. A divisive and inappropriate
[47:32] display that began with A is for
[47:34] abortion accompanied by the image of a
[47:36] coat hanger. I could go on here to
[47:38] discuss the other aborant posters in the
[47:40] display which Dr. Reid explicitly
[47:42] classified as critical thinking and all
[47:44] 12 of the schoolboard members also
[47:46] supported with their cowardly silence
[47:48] when asked to comment via email. In
[47:50] reality, the display was politically
[47:52] one-sided and undeniably controversial.
[47:54] In the future, students might wish to
[47:56] hang signs in the hallway that cover a
[47:58] variety of themes and issues. I'm all
[48:00] for free speech, which is why I object
[48:02] to your compelled pronouns policy. So,
[48:04] let me ask you this. Is it district
[48:06] policy to allow students to hang
[48:07] whatever they would like to in the
[48:08] hallways? If so, please do make that
[48:11] clear. I suppose you wouldn't object to,
[48:13] for example, a display supporting the
[48:14] Second Amendment featuring an image of
[48:16] Lieutenant Governor Winston Sears, a
[48:18] proud Marine Corps veteran holding a
[48:20] rifle. Controversial issues distract
[48:22] public schools from their mission, of
[48:24] which he seemed to have lost sight. The
[48:26] most recent So data reflects poorly on
[48:28] the district. 22% of SCPS students
[48:31] failed reading, 72% failed writing, 24%
[48:34] failed math, 27% failed science, and 59%
[48:37] failed history. FCPS is at the center of
[48:40] yet another national scandal in
[48:42] education because of its poor
[48:43] leadership. You could have acknowledged
[48:45] the divisiveness of the display and
[48:47] removed it immediately, but you didn't.
[48:49] Our tax dollars should not be funding
[48:51] projects and curricula for children that
[48:52] violate many of our principles and
[48:54] religious beliefs. Why is it that
[48:56] whenever faced with an 8020 issue, you
[48:58] irrationally choose the 20? The way you
[49:00] handle the ABC's to me display reflects
[49:02] your biases and willingness to engage in
[49:04] viewpoint discrimination against
[49:06] students who overtly objected to the
[49:08] exhibit. District leadership should set
[49:10] a better example for its students moving
[49:12] forward. Thank you,
[49:17] Chair Fr. That was our last public
[49:19] speaker. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Agenda
[49:22] item 4.01, student representative
[49:24] matters. Miss Sant is attending an event
[49:26] with her future university tonight. I
[49:28] will let her break the news uh and
[49:31] regretfully could not attend tonight's
[49:33] meeting. So, we will skip student
[49:35] representative matters and hear from her
[49:37] next meeting. Agenda item 5.01 action
[49:41] item certification of closed meeting
[49:43] compliance. In order to comply with
[49:45] section 2.2-3712D
[49:46] 2-3712D of the Code of Virginia. It is
[49:49] necessary for the board to certify that
[49:50] since the Fairfax County School Board
[49:52] convened a closed meeting on April 10th,
[49:53] 2025. To the best of each board members
[49:56] knowledge, only public business matters
[49:57] lawfully exempted from open meeting
[50:00] requirements and only such public
[50:02] business matters as were identified in
[50:03] the motion convening the closed meeting
[50:05] were heard, discussed, or considered by
[50:08] the board during the closed meeting. Do
[50:10] I have a
[50:11] motion? Mr. Moon, do I have a second?
[50:14] Miss Seismore. All those in favor, Miss
[50:17] Marin, Miss Dixit, Dr. Anderson, Miss Seismarhiser, Mr. Moon,
[50:22] Miss St. John
[50:23] Cunning, Mr. Dunn, and myself. Uh, and
[50:27] anybody opposed?
[50:30] Abstensions. Mr. McDaniel. The motion
[50:34] carries. Agenda item 5.02, action item,
[50:37] confirmation of action taken in closed
[50:39] meeting. I call on Miss Dixit for a
[50:41] motion. I move that the school board
[50:44] authorize the superintendent and legal
[50:46] council to negotiate the acquisition of
[50:48] certain real property, real estate
[50:50] property for a public purpose according
[50:53] to the terms and condition discussed in
[50:54] close session. Is there a second?
[50:57] Mr. Dunn. All those in favor of
[50:59] the motion, Miss Dixit, Dr. Anderson,
[51:02] Miss Anderson, Miss Seismore, Mr. Moon,
[51:05] Miss St. John
[51:06] Cunning, Mr. Dunn, and myself. All those
[51:09] opposed, Miss Marin.
[51:12] Abstensions. Mr. McDaniel, will the
[51:14] clerk read the vote?
[51:16] is 811. The motion carries.
[51:22] All right. Agenda
[51:24] item 5.03, action item, financial year
[51:27] 2025, third quarter budget review. I
[51:29] call in Mr. McDaniel for a motion.
[51:40] I move that the school board approve the
[51:42] FY2025 third quarter budget review as
[51:45] detailed in the agenda item on board
[51:47] docs. Is there a second? Second. Miss
[51:49] Seismore Heiser. Mr. McDaniel, would you
[51:51] like to speak to your motion? Uh just
[51:54] want to echo what I said at the last
[51:56] meeting. Uh this is a fairly routine
[51:58] item. Um you know, we we the budgeting
[52:01] uh process is one where there's really
[52:03] just not a lot of wiggle room. And I
[52:05] think if I recall correctly, this
[52:06] represents a
[52:08] 0.015% variance of the overall budget.
[52:11] Um, and that and the funding is going
[52:12] into safety, mostly safety and security
[52:14] priorities. Uh, so I'm happy to move
[52:17] this forward and uh, thank you to Lee
[52:19] and her staff as always for the hard
[52:20] work you put into the budget.
[52:24] Thank you, Mr. McDaniel. Miss
[52:25] Seismarhiser, would you like to speak to
[52:27] your second? Yeah, just briefly. Um, I
[52:30] wanted to first start by saying I really
[52:31] thank our budget team, budget staff as
[52:33] well. Well, this is a very detailed um
[52:34] review that we do, you know, every
[52:36] quarter on the budget and down to the to
[52:38] the penny is very actually very
[52:39] impressive in the with such a large
[52:41] budget. So, we really do a quite a good
[52:44] audit review of our budget every quarter
[52:45] and to get the details of the changes.
[52:47] Um I'm really excited to see that we
[52:49] have 6 million additional dollars for
[52:52] towards safety and security that came
[52:53] out of I believe our lawsuit against vaping and that is going to be
[52:57] used towards all sorts of great ways
[52:59] including panic alert system, security
[53:01] camera
[53:03] 600,000. Sorry. Sorry. 600,000, not six
[53:06] million. I was a little too excited. So,
[53:09] $600,000
[53:10] um using to security cameras, panic
[53:13] alert systems, and all sorts of other
[53:14] safety and security measures. So, I
[53:16] think um I hear about that a lot from
[53:18] our constituents. I think we all do
[53:19] about ensuring our schools are safe and
[53:21] secure and our students feel safe and
[53:22] secure. So, this is a great way of using
[53:24] some of that funding. So, I'm excited to
[53:26] see that. And beyond that, I'm um I
[53:28] thank our budget staff again and Dr.
[53:30] Reid for your hard work. Thank you, Miss Seismarheiser. Dr.
[53:34] Anderson.
[53:36] Yes, thank you. I too am very excited to
[53:38] see that allocation to um security
[53:41] because I do remember when um with the
[53:43] former board when that a when that um
[53:46] lawsuit was awarded to us. That was the
[53:48] goal that it'd be utilized to help
[53:51] counter some of the harm that's been
[53:53] done. Um so very excited to see that.
[53:55] Just a couple of questions. Um I I guess
[53:59] Dr. to read or Miss Burden the grants
[54:03] for 653
[54:05] um roughly
[54:07] $1,000 um that has 3.5 positions for the
[54:11] magnet schools assistance program. Can
[54:15] you speak a little bit about that? I am
[54:16] unsure what that relates to.
[54:21] I believe that's the Monatory Grant.
[54:26] Yes. Yes, we received a monastery grant
[54:29] I believe u we have briefed the board on
[54:32] that and we do need to begin hiring for
[54:34] that. I had made the connection. Thank
[54:36] you for that. And the other question was
[54:39] regarding the additional roughly $48,000
[54:42] in the nutrition grant. Um how is that
[54:44] be how will that be used? Is that
[54:46] earmarked for some particular activity
[54:48] or just back to the general uh food and
[54:50] nutrition fund? Miss Burton,
[54:55] I'm gonna ask Mr. Mute to speak to that.
[55:00] We're going to have to get back with you
[55:01] on that. I'm so sorry. Say that again.
[55:03] We're going to have to get back with you
[55:04] on that. Okay. Thank you. Um those were
[55:07] all my questions. Thank you, Dr.
[55:09] Anderson. Miss Marin.
[55:13] Yes. Thank you. I think um you know I
[55:16] would love to see the board talk more in
[55:19] depth about um the spending and the
[55:22] expenses and the budgeting and really
[55:24] it's not really a budget, it's what's
[55:26] gone out. So I think you know being
[55:29] really intentional and focused on
[55:30] talking about the spending and
[55:32] continuing to expand it to be a one
[55:34] Fairfax approach. I just can't help but
[55:37] read this third quarter budget and think
[55:40] about what we're going to vote on in
[55:41] just a few weeks and know that the
[55:43] funders, the county board of supervisors
[55:46] have um offered a shortfall of $150
[55:49] million, which is really to pay for the
[55:51] raises for our staff and be more
[55:53] competitive. That's really the biggest
[55:54] thing in there. And people keep asking
[55:56] me, well, what's going to be cut? What
[55:58] are you going to cut? Well, we really
[56:01] can't cut that much more if you want
[56:02] people in buildings teaching children.
[56:05] Um, so I just wanted to confirm that the
[56:07] board all knew um the facts, you know,
[56:10] that and the public as well that we were
[56:11] all on the same page. So, you know, that
[56:13] middle school after school programs we
[56:15] heard our students and community talk so
[56:16] eloquently about. It's $4 million in
[56:19] savings and it's a program that supports
[56:22] um 20 is it 23 23,000 students. However,
[56:26] I think a student Dr. Anderson told me
[56:28] that it might not include our Mason
[56:29] District middle schools. So, that could
[56:32] be um even more than that. So again, $4
[56:34] million to cut after school programs
[56:38] for 12 and 13 year olds. Um the VIP
[56:42] summer camp for students most in need.
[56:45] 16 crossing guards are proposed to be
[56:47] cut, which includes the crossing guard
[56:50] at Oakton High School. And if you know
[56:53] the tragic crash that happened at Oakton
[56:56] High School, it is I I don't understand.
[56:58] I have I'm curious about that decision
[57:01] what the data is. Um, the data provided
[57:03] in the county's budget says it's because
[57:05] other surrounding jurisdictions do not
[57:08] have crossing guards at high schools.
[57:10] Um, yesterday, Chairman Jeff McCay
[57:13] announced a program to offer offer a
[57:14] $15,000 signing bonus for applicants to
[57:17] the Fairfax County Police Department.
[57:19] And I support public servants getting
[57:21] paid, but we can't balance the budget on
[57:24] our teachers backs. So, my wonderings
[57:26] are will those hired officers have
[57:28] crossing guard duties since they are
[57:30] police department employees and why not
[57:32] offer a signing bonus to crossing
[57:34] guards? Um, I'm aware that several
[57:36] vacant positions have been cut. So, you
[57:39] know, we've got a lot of people in the
[57:40] market looking for work. It seems like
[57:42] this could be a win. Um, but I just have
[57:44] a lot of questions and would love if our
[57:47] board could sit down with the county
[57:49] board um as I've voiced and asked for,
[57:52] but that hasn't happened. And so I have
[57:54] a lot of remaining questions. So I'm
[57:55] glad that this third quarter agenda can
[57:57] be accurate in what it is, but it's just
[58:01] hard to plan for the future when these
[58:03] cuts are being made without the
[58:04] budgetary justification. So I hope that
[58:06] we can continue to do that. Perhaps in
[58:08] the next fiscal year, we can have a
[58:09] better system to meet with the county
[58:11] board and talk about the 13 billion in
[58:13] assets this school board is tasked with
[58:16] uh stewarding. Thank you. Thank you,
[58:18] Miss Marin. I will take a quick turn.
[58:21] Um, I appreciate uh colleagues elevating
[58:24] the investments that this uh budget
[58:27] review is making in safety and security
[58:30] uh with funding from the lawsuit that we
[58:32] entered into on vaping. Um, we have
[58:34] other lawsuits that we're in currently
[58:36] around social media use by our our
[58:37] students and hopefully we'll see similar
[58:39] results there. Um I would note um that
[58:43] it's a particular boon for this work
[58:45] around safety and security especially
[58:47] for our elementary schools uh because
[58:49] the work that we typically do and and
[58:51] perhaps Mr. Lambert or others can
[58:53] correct me if I'm wrong um is funded by
[58:56] grants typically and so this is new
[58:58] money that is not part of the typical
[59:00] grant making cycle that we engage in to
[59:03] uh fund these projects. Is that right?
[59:07] Yes sir. much of the camera funding does
[59:10] come from grants. So very much look
[59:12] forward to seeing these dollars pay off
[59:15] for the school division. Uh I know that
[59:16] safety and security is of the utmost
[59:18] importance for all of us. So thank you
[59:20] all. We will go ahead and vote for the
[59:21] motion on the
[59:23] screen. Seeing no others all those in
[59:26] favor Miss Marin, Miss Anderson, Miss
[59:30] Seismoreheiser, Mr. Moon, Miss St. John
[59:33] Cunning, Miss Dixit, Dr. Anderson, Mr.
[59:36] McDaniel, Mr. done and myself that is
[59:38] unanimous. The motion carries moving
[59:40] right along. Agenda item
[59:44] 5.04 action item social studies basil
[59:47] instructional resources. That is a
[59:50] mouthful. I call on Dr. Reid for a
[59:53] presentation on the social studies basil
[59:55] instructional resources. Thank you,
[59:57] Chairman Fr. Um I know that our
[1:00:00] instructional services division has put
[1:00:02] a lot of time and energy into this. So
[1:00:05] this evening I've asked Miss Noel
[1:00:07] Clemenco, our assistant superintendent
[1:00:09] uh for curriculum uh to present uh the
[1:00:13] social studies basil instructional
[1:00:15] resources uh that we recommend the board
[1:00:17] approve this evening. Miss Clemenco.
[1:00:20] Thank you Dr. Reid and good evening
[1:00:21] chairman Fresh and school board members.
[1:00:23] Thanks for the opportunity to bring you
[1:00:25] some information about this um adoption
[1:00:28] process. If um I'm going to just ask
[1:00:30] someone to click the slides. Thanks.
[1:00:32] Great. So over the past year um we've
[1:00:35] conducted a basil resource adoption
[1:00:37] process as outlined in regulation
[1:00:39] 30004. This includes collecting teacher
[1:00:41] and school input. It includes public uh
[1:00:44] review convening of an instructional
[1:00:46] committee um which is a diverse uh group
[1:00:49] of stakeholders and we'll talk more
[1:00:50] about that. We've also carried out the
[1:00:52] IT and security reviews necessary to
[1:00:54] keep our students and our systems safe.
[1:00:57] Next slide please.
[1:00:59] What you see on the slide here is the
[1:01:02] outline or the timeline, excuse me, the
[1:01:05] timeline of the multiple steps um that
[1:01:07] our team has gone through as we've um
[1:01:10] looked at basil resources. As you can
[1:01:12] see, we started about a year ago. And
[1:01:14] this whole process hopefully uh will
[1:01:16] wind up in us adopting books and
[1:01:18] implementing this fall. I'm not going to
[1:01:20] go through each of these lines. This is
[1:01:22] a similar process that we go through
[1:01:23] with all of our basil resource adoptions
[1:01:25] that includes many of the things I I
[1:01:27] mentioned on the previous slide. Next
[1:01:29] slide, please. It's always important
[1:01:32] that we start with our educators in the
[1:01:34] classroom first as we begin these
[1:01:35] processes. So, we um reach out to our
[1:01:38] social studies teachers and our
[1:01:40] elementary classroom teachers as well as
[1:01:41] our school leaders to find out what are
[1:01:43] the musthaves, what would they really
[1:01:45] like to see as we purchase these new
[1:01:47] resources. And what you'll see up on um
[1:01:50] the slide is basically that we heard
[1:01:53] clearly that they're seeking engaging
[1:01:55] materials that are integrated into our
[1:01:57] technology systems and align to the
[1:01:59] Virginia standards of learning. And just
[1:02:01] as a note, we are um implementing new
[1:02:03] standards of learning at this time. So
[1:02:05] this is all at the um at the perfect
[1:02:07] moment uh to meet those new standards.
[1:02:11] Next, um, one of the hallmarks of our,
[1:02:14] um, review process is the instructional
[1:02:17] resource review committee that you'll
[1:02:19] see up here on the slide. That group
[1:02:21] takes a look at the, um, books that have
[1:02:24] been uh, submitted. And you can see on
[1:02:28] the slide that it's 60% teachers, 20%
[1:02:31] school-based admin administrators, and
[1:02:33] 20% community members. And those
[1:02:34] community members are the ones that um,
[1:02:36] this board put forward to be part of
[1:02:38] this process.
[1:02:42] when the IR we call it the I if you can
[1:02:44] go back I'm sorry um when the IRC
[1:02:47] members are um pulled together we spend
[1:02:49] some time like kind of norming about
[1:02:51] what we're looking for to ensure that
[1:02:53] each of the members truly um understand
[1:02:56] what criteria we're using which would
[1:02:58] include so alignment pedigogy um
[1:03:01] navigation design and access and
[1:03:03] differentiation now the next slide so
[1:03:07] the IRC um combined with our interviews
[1:03:11] with the vendors that we did during the
[1:03:13] IRC process. Uh the public review, the
[1:03:16] feedback from the IRC, we landed on five
[1:03:20] different publishers. Okay, I'm going to
[1:03:22] go through them relatively quickly. If
[1:03:24] you want to go to the next slide, I want
[1:03:26] to remind people that um attached to
[1:03:28] board docs is uh attachment C that has
[1:03:32] detailed information about each of these
[1:03:34] books and why the IRC felt like it was
[1:03:37] um the best book to recommend. So you'll
[1:03:40] see at the elementary level grades four,
[1:03:42] five, six, and let me just make a a
[1:03:44] statement here. Um historically FCPS
[1:03:47] does not centrally purchase K3 social
[1:03:49] studies materials. We provide them with
[1:03:51] very robust materials from the county
[1:03:53] and offer other supplementary uh
[1:03:55] supplementary materials, but we do start
[1:03:57] the more formalized textbook types of
[1:03:59] books at grade four. And you'll see that
[1:04:02] we've landed on two different um
[1:04:04] publishers for for those elementary
[1:04:06] grades. Five pawns for Virginia studies
[1:04:09] and then Savas for five and six. Um, you
[1:04:11] probably are aware that in grade four,
[1:04:13] Virginia studies is the topic and so we
[1:04:16] really often have to go with a smaller
[1:04:18] publisher uh for those to really have
[1:04:21] the materials that are are tightly
[1:04:23] aligned. So that would be our five
[1:04:25] ponds. Our plan for these is to buy
[1:04:27] digital for every student and then one
[1:04:29] set of books for every grade level so
[1:04:32] that they can be used for collaborative
[1:04:34] learning small group kind of work as
[1:04:36] well as to provide print when needed for
[1:04:38] accommodations or um
[1:04:41] preference. The next slide as we go into
[1:04:44] middle school grades seven and eight we
[1:04:46] um we continue with Sabus for seventh
[1:04:48] grade. So we have that continuum for
[1:04:50] five, six, and seven. Um digital and
[1:04:53] print uh class set uh here. So once we
[1:04:56] get into middle school, we do not
[1:04:58] purchase one per grade level, but it's
[1:05:00] one per class. Um so each teacher gets a
[1:05:03] set of print materials here in seventh
[1:05:05] and eighth grade. And in eighth grade,
[1:05:07] again, we're back to five ponds where we
[1:05:08] really want to make sure we have that
[1:05:09] Virginia government um uh covered well.
[1:05:15] Okay, moving on to high school. High
[1:05:18] school gets a lot more complicated in
[1:05:20] social studies. Uh what we have in
[1:05:22] social studies up there at the top is
[1:05:24] our standard and honors courses. You'll
[1:05:26] see the world history, world history 2,
[1:05:28] US history and government. We have
[1:05:30] chosen Sabus for that. Um the plan is to
[1:05:32] buy digital and then print copies for
[1:05:34] each classroom just like in in middle
[1:05:36] school. Now in social studies, we do um
[1:05:39] allow substitutions for those honors and
[1:05:42] standards classes of AP world and AP US
[1:05:45] and AP uh US government. So, we also
[1:05:48] will centrally purchase those books
[1:05:49] because those are courses for
[1:05:51] graduation. Once we get into electives,
[1:05:54] then those are school-based purchases.
[1:05:56] And you'll see our advanced placement
[1:05:58] and electives of the ones listed on here
[1:06:00] will all be from McGra Hill. You may be
[1:06:02] asking, where are the IB books, right?
[1:06:04] Where are the IB books? I don't want
[1:06:06] anyone to think that we do not support
[1:06:07] the IB. um they do use some different
[1:06:10] types of resources that we have
[1:06:11] contracts already in place for IB and we
[1:06:13] continue to to work very closely with um
[1:06:16] with our IB schools to make sure their
[1:06:18] needs are met. The next slide is just a
[1:06:20] continuation of high school. Um we have
[1:06:22] more elective courses that would be
[1:06:25] school-based purchases and then our one
[1:06:27] AP human geography that is also a
[1:06:29] potential graduation credit. So you can
[1:06:32] see that as we go through the different
[1:06:34] courses it does get complicated. We have
[1:06:35] to work with a lot of different
[1:06:36] publishers to get the best the best
[1:06:39] possible product for the different
[1:06:41] courses. Next slide,
[1:06:45] please. So, as I said in attachment C,
[1:06:49] individual books have ration why the the
[1:06:51] group found them to be the best um of
[1:06:54] all the submitted resources. Overall
[1:06:56] what the the IRC identified to be true
[1:06:59] about these books is the alignment to
[1:07:01] Virginia standards which is incredibly
[1:07:03] important but also a high level
[1:07:05] engagement through um like inquiry based
[1:07:08] uh activities. We also need to make sure
[1:07:10] that the technical the technical
[1:07:12] requirements that they can sign in
[1:07:14] through schooly and to make things as as
[1:07:16] seamless and easy for students and
[1:07:18] parents. Um that they meet the
[1:07:20] requirements for accessibility and
[1:07:22] cultural responsiveness and that we
[1:07:25] ensure that each of these resources have
[1:07:28] the scaffolds and supports um for our
[1:07:30] multilingual learners and students um
[1:07:32] with special learning needs. There's
[1:07:34] also there was also a desire to really
[1:07:36] look at the and support geographic
[1:07:38] skills and awareness because sometimes
[1:07:40] that is something that doesn't get as
[1:07:42] much time in our classroom. So those
[1:07:44] were some of the um rationes for the the
[1:07:47] resources. Next slide
[1:07:49] please. So it's important as we're all
[1:07:52] talking about budget lots of times. Uh
[1:07:54] it seems like every day people are
[1:07:55] talking about budget. Um there obviously
[1:07:57] is a cost to purchasing these new
[1:07:59] materials and we wanted to go ahead and
[1:08:01] share that today. It is important to
[1:08:03] realize that this is a seven-year
[1:08:05] investment. Um we literally um will have
[1:08:08] these books and these these online
[1:08:11] accounts for seven years and that's
[1:08:13] typically the same schedule that the
[1:08:15] Virginia State Department of Ed looks
[1:08:16] and changes um any standards of
[1:08:19] learning. So we try and line up the
[1:08:20] basil resource process with the
[1:08:23] standards of learning um changes. And
[1:08:26] the final slide, I believe. So, the next
[1:08:28] steps, and of course, we'll take
[1:08:30] questions here in just a minute, but the
[1:08:31] next steps would be for you all to vote.
[1:08:33] And should you choose to approve these
[1:08:35] resources tonight, we will be working to
[1:08:36] finalize the contracts um and make the
[1:08:39] purchases uh in June, put everything in
[1:08:42] place for for um for the next school
[1:08:45] year. We will go ahead and gain teacher
[1:08:47] access and PD and start that at the end
[1:08:49] of the year where we have some um staff
[1:08:51] development time after the students are
[1:08:53] uh gone. and then finally full
[1:08:55] implementation in the fall for all the
[1:08:57] new resources. So that is uh the
[1:09:00] presentation and we're happy to take
[1:09:01] questions. Thank you.
[1:09:04] All right, get things started with Miss
[1:09:06] Marin for a motion.
[1:09:14] I move that the school board approves
[1:09:16] the titles listed for the social studies
[1:09:18] basil instructional resources as
[1:09:19] recommended by the instructional
[1:09:20] resource review committee and the
[1:09:22] instructional services department
[1:09:23] leadership as detailed in the agenda
[1:09:25] item on boards. Thank you Miss Marin. Is
[1:09:28] there a second? I second. Miss St. John
[1:09:30] Cunning. Miss Marin, would you like to
[1:09:31] speak to your motion? Yes. And I'd just
[1:09:33] like a clarification. Chair, I do have
[1:09:35] some questions. Would you prefer that I
[1:09:37] wait until after I No. However you'd
[1:09:39] like to use your time is fine. Okay.
[1:09:40] Thank you. So this um this is the second
[1:09:44] basil that this board is approving. We
[1:09:46] approved the literacy basil and the math
[1:09:48] one is forthcoming. So this is um it's important that we see the
[1:09:53] information publicly and have a chance
[1:09:54] to talk about it. I wanted us to be able
[1:09:58] to have any questions answered. And
[1:10:00] while I am very confident in the process
[1:10:02] and appreciate the service of those
[1:10:03] who've been on the committee, including
[1:10:04] Lisa Anne Moore, who I appointed um and
[1:10:07] found it a very worthwhile experience, I
[1:10:09] just I have some questions that I'd like
[1:10:11] to ask uh based on the feedback that
[1:10:13] I've heard.
[1:10:15] So given that there is not a K3 social
[1:10:19] studies textbook, how is consistency,
[1:10:21] quality, and anti-racism incorporated
[1:10:24] into the creation of those materials?
[1:10:26] And how is that even aligned to
[1:10:28] benchmark literacies content which has a
[1:10:30] very you know social studies based
[1:10:34] content and
[1:10:36] approach to the superintendent please.
[1:10:38] Yeah thank you miss Marin. Uh Miss Cleco
[1:10:40] I know that's a topic um that you worked
[1:10:43] with. Um would you please share what the
[1:10:45] committee's thoughts were on that? Of
[1:10:46] course and and could you just repeat
[1:10:48] your first question? I couldn't I
[1:10:50] couldn't hear it exactly. Yes. So given
[1:10:52] that there is not a KTO to3 textbook,
[1:10:55] how is consistency, policy, and
[1:10:57] anti-racism incorporated into FCPS's
[1:10:59] creation of the materials that are to be
[1:11:01] used?
[1:11:03] So I'll I'll start with the second
[1:11:05] question um first and you asked about
[1:11:07] Benchmark and and as a reminder, one of
[1:11:10] the strengths of our benchmark advanced
[1:11:12] program is the um science and social
[1:11:15] studies content that is included in the reading materials. And as soon as
[1:11:20] we adopted benchmark, our um elementary
[1:11:24] social studies started to work very
[1:11:25] closely with our language arts uh
[1:11:28] specialists to see what we could align
[1:11:31] chronologically, right? Because in the
[1:11:32] early years of social studies that it's
[1:11:34] more topical as opposed to like when
[1:11:36] you're doing history. So we do what we
[1:11:38] can to align to um to align the topics
[1:11:42] to to help that to help that learning.
[1:11:45] We do provide to teachers, we provide to
[1:11:48] teachers planning and pacing guides that
[1:11:50] give them units and lessons and all of
[1:11:53] the pieces that they need to teach um to
[1:11:55] teach the um the social studies
[1:11:58] curriculum at K through3. And we do uh
[1:12:02] work with our um specialist that
[1:12:05] specializes in cultural responsive
[1:12:07] pedigogy to ensure that those meet the
[1:12:10] standards outlined in our in our
[1:12:12] framework for curriculum uh for
[1:12:14] culturally responsive pedigogy.
[1:12:16] Thank you. Yes, I'm aware of the work
[1:12:18] that FCPS did as part of um a consorcia
[1:12:21] to work on that cultural um culturally
[1:12:24] sensitive uh materials and I know that
[1:12:27] there was an audit of lessons that
[1:12:29] teachers had had access to that were
[1:12:31] many or some were found to be not
[1:12:33] appropriate. My question is how are we
[1:12:35] ensuring consistency? Like are you are
[1:12:37] you saying that every first grade is
[1:12:39] going to have the same content just like
[1:12:40] benchmark or is it going to be the
[1:12:42] school's choose?
[1:12:44] So we have Our social um our elementary
[1:12:48] teachers are provided with curriculums.
[1:12:50] You know, they have multiple curriculum
[1:12:52] areas, right? And so we provide them
[1:12:54] we're providing them benchmark right now
[1:12:56] that is a very tight curriculum. In
[1:12:59] social studies, we provide them the
[1:13:01] planning and pacing guide that has the
[1:13:03] lesson, it has the resources, it has
[1:13:05] everything um everything laid out for
[1:13:08] them. So teachers don't have to go and
[1:13:09] find other things or bring or bringing
[1:13:11] things in. Everything is prepared um for
[1:13:14] them to use.
[1:13:16] Okay, thank you. I mean, I feel like
[1:13:17] benchmark is a lot more like this is it
[1:13:20] and everyone's going to do it. So, I I
[1:13:21] do have cons some concerns, but um you
[1:13:24] know, regarding the print versus
[1:13:25] digital, the superintendent has talked
[1:13:27] about having math textbooks and being
[1:13:29] that so critical 40 books per set in a
[1:13:33] group for for elementary. Why then not
[1:13:35] the alignment to have paper textbooks if
[1:13:38] it's such an an important thing for
[1:13:39] math? Dr.
[1:13:43] Well, I think that I mean it's a great
[1:13:45] question. I would say that the topic of
[1:13:48] social studies and civics lends itself
[1:13:50] to a more fluid um content in the sense
[1:13:55] that mathematics the basic core math
[1:13:58] facts have not changed u significantly
[1:14:01] in many many years. uh whereas many of
[1:14:05] our history books are dated within
[1:14:07] several years in terms of the content
[1:14:10] they're able to cover. So I think we
[1:14:12] tried to strike a balance with social
[1:14:14] studies to say while we're going to
[1:14:16] provide text books, we also wanted an
[1:14:19] online option to make sure that we
[1:14:21] remain current. Um and I welcome Miss
[1:14:24] Cleco adding anything to that um that
[1:14:27] the committee also discussed.
[1:14:30] There are there are a lot of advantages
[1:14:32] in the digital products, right? A lot of
[1:14:34] supports um for multilingual learners
[1:14:36] and a lot of supports for students with
[1:14:38] um with different learning needs and we
[1:14:40] feel like we can really leverage that.
[1:14:43] We're not, you know, with the math we've
[1:14:45] talked a lot about having that math book
[1:14:47] and and sending it home and having that
[1:14:49] support parents and having that come
[1:14:51] back and forth. Social studies for a in
[1:14:54] a lot of ways is done in the classroom,
[1:14:56] right? it's done in a little bit more of
[1:14:58] a um a um whole class way and with
[1:15:01] cooperative learning or or collaborative
[1:15:03] groups. So I think it I think we have
[1:15:05] the flexibility having the books, you
[1:15:07] know, especially for students who might
[1:15:08] need that for an accommodation or might
[1:15:11] have a learning preference, but I think
[1:15:12] there's so many benefits to having um a
[1:15:15] digital text that can can provide that differentiation.
[1:15:19] Thank you. Yes, I'm I'm for the digital
[1:15:20] text as well. What's the plan to really
[1:15:22] integrate it with schooly? Uh the chart
[1:15:24] the slide said seamlessly and easy for
[1:15:26] students and parents. I have not seen
[1:15:29] that exact thing happen yet. What's the
[1:15:32] plan? What's the professional
[1:15:33] development? Is that going to occur
[1:15:34] before the school year? Is it required
[1:15:36] professional development?
[1:15:38] So we will have um professional
[1:15:41] development starting in June. We'll
[1:15:43] start to get sort of our early adopters
[1:15:45] in um right after school's out to to
[1:15:48] build some capacity at every school. Um
[1:15:51] and then we'll continue with
[1:15:52] professional development in August and
[1:15:54] then throughout the year. It will take
[1:15:56] us a little while to get to everybody.
[1:15:58] Um we don't have the same sort of bigo
[1:16:01] symposium um like we did for language
[1:16:04] arts. Um but we do have a plan that is
[1:16:07] not only for this first year roll out
[1:16:09] but knowing that every year we'll need
[1:16:11] to train people as they come in into
[1:16:13] social studies. As far as the school Gy
[1:16:15] piece, what um you know, we've worked
[1:16:17] really closely with it to establish sort
[1:16:20] of what are the things that we expect
[1:16:22] all vendors to have so that when so kids
[1:16:24] can have single sign on they don't have
[1:16:26] to go over here to a textbook that when
[1:16:28] they go into schooly those things are
[1:16:30] they work seamlessly. So when they go
[1:16:31] into their account they'll have access
[1:16:33] to their resources. Well that's great. I
[1:16:35] I'm more concerned about how consistent
[1:16:37] it's being used teacher by teacher and
[1:16:38] in the classroom. So that's an ongoing
[1:16:40] concern that I have. Um, I'll just move
[1:16:43] quickly because I know I'm still going
[1:16:44] here. Um, the feedback that I got from
[1:16:46] my um, committee appointee was there
[1:16:49] could be way more um, with um, with
[1:16:53] teaching about diverse cultures, ethnic
[1:16:55] minorities, facilitating conversations
[1:16:57] about history that is difficult. Um, I'm
[1:16:59] aware that the Holocaust has two
[1:17:01] paragraphs mentioned in the world
[1:17:02] history text and two pages in AP
[1:17:05] European history. So, I just um however
[1:17:08] we're going to supplement and um we've
[1:17:12] got to you know we've talked about
[1:17:13] facilitating we have a controversial
[1:17:14] issues policy. We really need to lean
[1:17:16] into this because it creates problems
[1:17:18] when our students can't learn how to
[1:17:19] talk about difficult topics. So, thank
[1:17:21] you. Thank you, Miss Marin. Miss St.
[1:17:24] John Cunning, would you like to speak to
[1:17:25] your second? No. Thank you, Mr. Dunn.
[1:17:34] Yes. Thank you. Um so uh I I would like
[1:17:38] to understand uh will there be a
[1:17:41] physical textbook for every student in
[1:17:44] every grade?
[1:17:48] There there will not be a physical
[1:17:49] textbook for social studies. No.
[1:17:53] Okay. Um I I have a big problem with
[1:17:56] that. Um the committee uh strongly
[1:17:59] recommended a a physical textbook um and
[1:18:04] uh with digital resources as a
[1:18:06] supplement. I mean I can tell you from
[1:18:07] firsthand experience I've seen the
[1:18:10] digital uh social studies resources when
[1:18:12] it's digital only and it is extremely
[1:18:15] superficial. Um, and as a history major,
[1:18:18] um, I take issue with, uh, what was
[1:18:22] stated a few minutes ago that, uh,
[1:18:24] history is much more fluid. I think
[1:18:27] there are certainly voices in our
[1:18:29] society today, um, trying to misstate
[1:18:32] history, but history is, um, you know,
[1:18:36] objective and should not be subject to
[1:18:39] constant reinterpretation.
[1:18:41] Um, I I I think we need to stand up for
[1:18:43] history and stand up for history being
[1:18:45] taught in physical textbooks, which I
[1:18:47] believe every study and every teacher on
[1:18:49] that committee recommended as being
[1:18:51] superior to a digital resource. So I
[1:18:54] will be voting in opposition to to this
[1:18:57] recommendation because I believe, you
[1:19:00] know, tradition and studies show that
[1:19:02] children learn from textbooks and the
[1:19:05] digital resources when it's digital
[1:19:07] first are clearly inferior to what's
[1:19:10] available in in a textbook. Thank you.
[1:19:14] Mr. Dunn. Miss Anderson,
[1:19:17] I just want to echo a few things um that
[1:19:19] some of my colleagues have brought up.
[1:19:20] I'm a big fan of digital stuff um in
[1:19:24] terms of of as supplemental um
[1:19:27] information. However, I am a little
[1:19:29] concerned about the fact that our fourth
[1:19:31] graders who are in the so for history
[1:19:34] are not going to have access to
[1:19:36] textbooks in each classroom. So, I think
[1:19:39] at bare minimum, this would be something
[1:19:40] that we would need to continue working
[1:19:42] to expand toward is because those kids
[1:19:45] are are utilizing those textbooks more
[1:19:47] often where they can go back and forth
[1:19:49] more consistently. I'm also um concerned
[1:19:52] about our AAP classes that are actually
[1:19:54] dual. I mean, most classes switch back
[1:19:57] and forth between science and social
[1:19:58] studies. So, in theory, they could
[1:20:00] probably share resources. So even if we
[1:20:02] got another set or two in a grade level,
[1:20:05] you could have the the classes switching
[1:20:07] back and forth so that they could
[1:20:08] utilize the resources at different
[1:20:10] times. Shuffling textbooks back and
[1:20:12] forth between classrooms is still
[1:20:13] problematic. However, for our AAP kids,
[1:20:16] they're doing both all day, all every
[1:20:19] day. So they do science and um social
[1:20:23] studies in every class period or every
[1:20:25] day. And so I think that that's another
[1:20:27] place where we we need to at least
[1:20:29] evaluate whether or not those classes
[1:20:31] need to have a physical textbook because
[1:20:34] they tend to go a little bit deeper into
[1:20:36] the content. So thank you for raising
[1:20:39] that, Miss Anderson. And I also want to
[1:20:40] respond to Mr. Dunn's comment by fluid.
[1:20:43] What I meant was definitely not
[1:20:45] rewriting history, Mr. Dunn, that we're
[1:20:48] in a seven-year cycle. So seven years we
[1:20:51] have a new presidential administration
[1:20:53] and so forth. So sometimes books no
[1:20:56] longer have the current um you know
[1:20:59] current history in them. So definitely
[1:21:01] we were not interested in rewriting um
[1:21:03] just so I just wanted to clarify that
[1:21:04] because sometimes we go longer than
[1:21:06] seven years if they're budget issues and
[1:21:09] um our books can become very much so out
[1:21:10] of date. So that's that was my point to
[1:21:13] Miss Anderson's point around um the
[1:21:16] different uh depth to which uh students
[1:21:19] might go. I think that's certainly a
[1:21:21] valid point and a wonder at this point
[1:21:24] in terms of looking at um the budget and
[1:21:26] a redistribution of text versus digital
[1:21:30] because you know that we're paying for
[1:21:31] licenses or books. So I think we could
[1:21:34] certainly take another look at that
[1:21:37] and as I said like if we can continue to
[1:21:40] have supplemental information that is
[1:21:42] more flu a little bit more fluid in
[1:21:44] terms of building on things that are are
[1:21:45] available I'm all for those things as
[1:21:47] they develop. I think that when we're
[1:21:50] considering particularly for the fourth
[1:21:52] graders with Virginia history that's all
[1:21:54] a large part of that is all based on
[1:21:56] what is being tested and that is not
[1:21:59] unfortunately in our state currently
[1:22:00] that is not as likely to be more
[1:22:03] innovative and fluid um based on what's
[1:22:05] being evaluated. So hopefully these
[1:22:08] textbooks would have have a longer shelf
[1:22:10] life than maybe other things. So I think
[1:22:12] that looking at I understand the
[1:22:15] cost-saving measure for fourth through
[1:22:17] sixth graders. I do I do get that. I
[1:22:19] just would love to see more kiddos have
[1:22:21] the opportunity to have textbooks in
[1:22:24] hand in those classes. So, if we could
[1:22:26] figure out even how to double it so that
[1:22:28] you could have two sets in each grade,
[1:22:30] um then it would give more flexibility
[1:22:32] for for staff to be able to use those.
[1:22:35] Thank you.
[1:22:39] Miss Anderson. Mr. Moon.
[1:22:43] Uh thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[1:22:45] listening to uh what a vice chair Sandy
[1:22:48] Anderson has asked and providing
[1:22:52] extra print for the fourth graders. How
[1:22:56] much extra would that cost?
[1:23:01] I would need to to do that calculation.
[1:23:03] And I do want to be clear
[1:23:04] um we have not written any contracts. So
[1:23:07] these were just estimates based on what
[1:23:09] we're proposing. So, your feedback
[1:23:11] tonight can help us to um can help us to
[1:23:14] determine if we need to buy more print
[1:23:16] or whatever and I can get some
[1:23:18] additional costs, the per the per book
[1:23:20] cost. Okay. Okay. Appreciate it. And
[1:23:22] couple of weeks ago, um Miss Clemenco,
[1:23:26] thanks for sending me your response to a question that I posed related to Basor
[1:23:32] text books adoption. But that was that
[1:23:35] actually had to do more with the
[1:23:37] curriculum rather than textbook. We put
[1:23:40] textbooks are there to support teaching
[1:23:42] our students our curriculum and for as
[1:23:46] far as the social studies concerned in
[1:23:48] large part that states standards of
[1:23:51] learning dictates what we must at least
[1:23:54] teach our students. My question goes to
[1:23:58] uh in social studies especially in world
[1:24:01] history
[1:24:02] uh do we go above and
[1:24:05] beyond a state standards? If so, how
[1:24:10] much do we go above and beyond state
[1:24:12] standards?
[1:24:14] Yeah, at this time I mean we really are
[1:24:17] aligned to the state standards. We don't
[1:24:18] choose other areas to to branch off on
[1:24:21] there. there may be opportunities where
[1:24:23] students have some choice and they may
[1:24:25] take different pathways but as far as
[1:24:28] the units and the the objectives in
[1:24:30] those units um they are they are tightly
[1:24:32] tied to the state standards or in the
[1:24:35] case of AP or IB uh why do we take that
[1:24:38] position why do we because just a
[1:24:40] limited amount of time we have in the
[1:24:42] class to cover that everything that is
[1:24:45] required to be covered by standards and
[1:24:47] learning that is primarily the reason
[1:24:49] right we have a a limited amount amount
[1:24:51] of time and um so giving more time and
[1:24:55] being able to go in in depth in some
[1:24:57] topics as opposed to to adding more
[1:24:59] topics. uh I'm asking these questions
[1:25:03] because you know over last three decades
[1:25:05] I've been involved in public education
[1:25:09] as a schoolboard member basically that I
[1:25:12] have felt I have felt all along that uh
[1:25:17] when we are teaching world history to
[1:25:20] our students a amount of time amount of
[1:25:24] time we spend teaching the history of
[1:25:27] certain parts of the world were grossly
[1:25:29] inadequate.
[1:25:31] And I'm going to give you an example of
[1:25:34] how we teach history of Asian nations.
[1:25:37] 60% of world's population are Asians.
[1:25:41] But how much time do we devote teaching
[1:25:44] history of those
[1:25:46] nations Asian people to our students and
[1:25:50] you we you also need to consider in the
[1:25:54] demographics of students in our fair
[1:25:56] county.
[1:25:58] And I know for standards of learning
[1:26:02] that's something that we have to lobby
[1:26:04] if you want to change it the state board
[1:26:06] of education. But I was hoping that
[1:26:08] would go beyond above and beyond the
[1:26:11] minimum requirements by state standards.
[1:26:13] If you think that we just don't have
[1:26:15] enough time I guess we must then work
[1:26:18] together to ask state board of education
[1:26:21] to make some changes.
[1:26:25] So, I I do think that that is always the
[1:26:28] most
[1:26:29] um I won't say it's efficient because
[1:26:31] the state doesn't move quickly, but it's
[1:26:33] definitely one way to to approach it to
[1:26:36] um advocate with the the V the state of
[1:26:39] Virginia to build out different parts of
[1:26:41] the curriculum in different ways.
[1:26:43] There's certainly many advocacy groups
[1:26:44] that I think get involved every time new
[1:26:47] standards are written and we'll see that
[1:26:48] shift a little bit um where one thing
[1:26:51] might be um covered more more in one
[1:26:55] year and less the next time. So I think
[1:26:58] that advocacy is one way. Um obviously
[1:27:00] we hear from many many groups um as a
[1:27:04] school division wanting and hoping to
[1:27:06] have more time and more focus um in the
[1:27:09] different courses and and I think we
[1:27:12] would love to do that to the greatest
[1:27:13] degree possible but we must preserve the base which is the the standards.
[1:27:20] Thank you.
[1:27:22] Mr. Moon. Miss Dixit.
[1:27:27] Thank you for the presentation. Um I
[1:27:29] actually just had a question about some
[1:27:31] of the uh recommendations you have with
[1:27:33] the also available in Spanish and some
[1:27:36] are not. So I was just thinking about
[1:27:39] our multilingual learners and we talked
[1:27:41] about that the language acquisition
[1:27:43] takes time and having a textbook in
[1:27:46] their language and we have lot of like
[1:27:49] uh MLS who are Hispanic students who are
[1:27:52] also we're trying to make sure they are
[1:27:56] getting the content and also while
[1:27:57] they're learning English they can take
[1:28:00] test and learn in their language. So and
[1:28:03] so I just wanted to know we c we can
[1:28:06] keep it consistent that with all some
[1:28:08] grade levels there is the it's available
[1:28:11] we have picked a vendor who provides a
[1:28:13] Spanish book um some vendors don't
[1:28:15] provide that um also with the public
[1:28:18] comments I kind of read few that there
[1:28:21] were few which were saying like oh this
[1:28:23] is not the best book for them but that
[1:28:26] is a recommendation I'm talking about
[1:28:28] grade five and grade six um
[1:28:32] recommendations.
[1:28:34] So, just to address your first question,
[1:28:36] we wanted just the board to to see what
[1:28:38] is available in Spanish. We have not
[1:28:40] made all the decisions about how we
[1:28:42] might buy Spanish um uh where we might
[1:28:45] try some Spanish books. We It's also
[1:28:48] important to realize that one of the
[1:28:50] strengths of the digital is that when
[1:28:52] you go into the digital platform, you
[1:28:54] can read it in many languages. So, we
[1:28:56] have a variety of languages um available
[1:28:59] um through the digital platform. So that
[1:29:01] is a a yes. Um
[1:29:05] and the comments you're talking about,
[1:29:07] were those from the committee or were
[1:29:09] those from the the public? The public. Yeah, the public. Um we had very
[1:29:12] few comments. Um sometimes the public's
[1:29:16] very engaged in these processes and
[1:29:17] sometimes not as much. So we did have
[1:29:19] very few. What we do with those comments
[1:29:21] is we take the comments and we share
[1:29:23] them. Um, so the IRRC will have all the
[1:29:26] comments to put into the sort of um, mix
[1:29:29] as they're making their recommendations.
[1:29:32] And I know a lot of my colleagues said
[1:29:34] digital um, may not be good for younger
[1:29:37] students. Um, I agree with that too. Uh,
[1:29:40] I I think textbook will really help um,
[1:29:42] having in the classroom. But I also
[1:29:44] think we should definitely use augmented
[1:29:47] reality for some of these history
[1:29:49] lessons and uh social studies and and
[1:29:52] such and if that is something um have
[1:29:56] you looked into that?
[1:29:59] So not during this process but I can
[1:30:02] certainly imagine right like having sort
[1:30:04] of the augmented reality field trip
[1:30:06] experience. Um I think that would be
[1:30:08] something we would probably try on a
[1:30:09] smaller basis. I I'm making an
[1:30:12] assumption the cost would probably be
[1:30:13] cost prohibitive to do it um right off
[1:30:16] the bat at a large scale, but it might
[1:30:18] be something that we could try. I have
[1:30:20] not seen any for social studies. I have
[1:30:21] seen them in some other subject areas,
[1:30:23] but it's definitely something that could
[1:30:24] be investigated.
[1:30:26] And I know we have some global
[1:30:28] classrooms and global programs uh in
[1:30:30] FCPS. uh do we uh talk to other schools,
[1:30:35] other countries about the history
[1:30:37] they're learning and have like a you
[1:30:39] know cross history lesson sometimes.
[1:30:42] So um with our global classroom, a lot
[1:30:45] of those exchanges are are focused on
[1:30:48] the UN um sustainability um goals, but
[1:30:53] um I think just in natural I think it's
[1:30:55] probably more cultural than historical,
[1:30:57] but I think there's a lot of cultural um
[1:31:00] exchange of information. Okay, thank
[1:31:02] you. But it was another opportunity,
[1:31:04] right? It's another opportunity. Um in
[1:31:06] fact, I was very impressed with my son
[1:31:07] was um in his high school in Centerville
[1:31:10] High School. He he brought some papers
[1:31:12] home and it was so much knowledge about
[1:31:14] the Hindu um um Indian history and Hindu
[1:31:17] mythology and history and and and he was
[1:31:20] learning that um in in the the classroom
[1:31:24] and I I the material is very good. So I
[1:31:27] think there are some really good stuff
[1:31:29] uh is being taught to the students. So
[1:31:31] thank you.
[1:31:33] Miss Dixit, Dr. Anderson.
[1:31:36] [Music]
[1:31:37] Thank you. I do want to say thank you to
[1:31:39] um both Miss Marin and Mr. Dunn as well
[1:31:42] as Miss Anderson because some of my
[1:31:44] questions have already handled, but I
[1:31:45] will um reiterate that I do think having
[1:31:49] a textbook for fourth grade students
[1:31:51] would be something that is um optimal.
[1:31:55] Um just to kind of dig into it a little
[1:31:57] bit more, what is the differential
[1:31:59] between the digital text and the
[1:32:01] physical text in terms of cost?
[1:32:05] I have it but it's hard for me to answer
[1:32:07] questions and look it up. So I I will
[1:32:08] provide it for Dr. Reed the Friday
[1:32:10] letter. Okay. So there is there is a
[1:32:14] differential. I just don't have it in my
[1:32:15] brain. I can I can definitely look it
[1:32:17] up. Is it significant? I'm imagining the
[1:32:19] digital is cheaper.
[1:32:22] Let me just get let make sure I get it
[1:32:24] right because sometime it it's
[1:32:26] interesting. You would think that
[1:32:27] digital is cheaper but the bundle you
[1:32:29] know there's the bundle then there's the
[1:32:31] separate costs for items. So, I just
[1:32:33] want to make sure I get it correct for
[1:32:34] you. I would definitely like to have
[1:32:35] that information before I vote because I
[1:32:36] think that's important to my um to my
[1:32:39] vote here. Um but I have some other
[1:32:41] information that I'd like to ask. Um
[1:32:43] also in the presentation you talked
[1:32:45] about shipping and professional
[1:32:46] development being separate. What is the
[1:32:48] cost of those two um things? So, we have
[1:32:52] not negotiated on professional
[1:32:54] development and a lot and and I I don't
[1:32:57] want to presuppose that um and limit our
[1:33:00] negotiation power. I will say that
[1:33:02] shipping will probably be just under a
[1:33:04] million dollars. I know that sounds like
[1:33:06] a lot, but that is shipping to a hund to
[1:33:09] uh 200 schools, lots and lots of boxes
[1:33:12] is is uh no um small small cost.
[1:33:16] Okay. Um one of the concerns that I
[1:33:20] heard back from teachers when we rolled
[1:33:22] out the language arts was the lack of
[1:33:24] seats during the professional
[1:33:26] development for the summer. um those
[1:33:28] teachers who completed their
[1:33:30] professional development in the summer
[1:33:31] felt a lot more prepared to walk into
[1:33:33] the classroom. What is the plan to
[1:33:35] ensuring that everyone who wants to
[1:33:37] participate in the summer will have that
[1:33:40] PD opportunity? I was hearing that is
[1:33:42] not the case. You said there was limited
[1:33:44] there were limitations.
[1:33:47] there are limit there right now as as we
[1:33:50] speak there are limitations um to have a
[1:33:52] certain number from every school attend
[1:33:55] um and that is primarily because we
[1:33:58] don't we do not have the same grant
[1:33:59] funds that we had to to do the summer
[1:34:01] literacy program from the state of
[1:34:03] Virginia we had the all-in Virginia
[1:34:05] grant that we were able to fund the
[1:34:06] summer symposium um for uh literacy last
[1:34:10] year um but what we will have is access
[1:34:13] to the materials and other um resources
[1:34:16] is available to them to to start the
[1:34:18] learning on their own. Um and then we
[1:34:20] will kick it off in in um August. Thank
[1:34:23] you. Can you please also share students
[1:34:26] who are in AP schools and those who are
[1:34:28] in IB schools are they subject to the
[1:34:30] same set of SOS?
[1:34:34] So as we speak right now we do um
[1:34:37] performance assessments. So it depends
[1:34:39] on um so yes if there is an if there is
[1:34:42] an so um they are subject to the same so
[1:34:47] which is what raises my concern
[1:34:48] regarding not having any text for the IB
[1:34:50] schools and I heard you say that you
[1:34:52] will work with the schools but I don't
[1:34:54] know what that means um I don't know
[1:34:56] what that means in terms of materials
[1:34:58] are they digital are they hard copy the
[1:35:00] way that it's being provided for our AP
[1:35:02] schools um is it going to be centrally
[1:35:05] funded I I need those details please so
[1:35:08] I've tal so when uh the team started
[1:35:11] working on this and they put out the RFP
[1:35:13] um they there really weren't any IB
[1:35:15] books that even came forward right so
[1:35:17] and that was a red flag for me so the
[1:35:19] first thing I did is I started talking
[1:35:21] to the IB principles and said what is
[1:35:23] happening in social studies for your IB
[1:35:26] classrooms and some of the IB coursework
[1:35:29] um um has there's some flexibility
[1:35:33] within the IB casework and of I'm sorry
[1:35:36] IB program there's a lot of um casework
[1:35:40] kind of of materials. So we have
[1:35:42] contracted with a different company and
[1:35:44] I apologize I don't have the name of it
[1:35:46] um for to ensure that our IB students
[1:35:48] have the materials that they need and the principles were saying they did
[1:35:54] not need to have a a textbook like the
[1:35:57] AP. It's a different kind of course um
[1:36:00] than the AP course. So they have
[1:36:02] different materials. I believe they are
[1:36:04] primarily digital. I do believe that
[1:36:05] they are primarily digital. um and they
[1:36:08] have been um found that they are are
[1:36:10] more than sufficient. I appreciate that.
[1:36:13] Um but in going back in terms of our
[1:36:15] conversations regarding we're school
[1:36:16] system. So when we have a presentation
[1:36:18] about a textbook adoption for the
[1:36:20] system, it needs to be fully
[1:36:22] comprehensive and it has to include the
[1:36:24] what the presentation that is here must
[1:36:27] include what you just shared with me
[1:36:28] because I couldn't write it fast enough.
[1:36:31] Understood.
[1:36:33] Um, one of the things that I do see as
[1:36:35] an as a positive to the digital copies
[1:36:38] is the opportunity for translation. Um,
[1:36:41] and I must I must have misheard, but can
[1:36:43] you confirm if a if there is a an
[1:36:47] opportunity for translation in in a
[1:36:49] different language? How many languages
[1:36:51] are there? And are students also allowed
[1:36:53] to take assessments in that language in
[1:36:55] that digital format?
[1:36:59] So, I do not know about the assessments
[1:37:01] and and I will have to get you the the
[1:37:04] number of languages. My team told me
[1:37:06] that it there are um many many it's not
[1:37:09] like six languages, but I don't have the list in front of me. It's more than
[1:37:13] the eight that we frequently use. So,
[1:37:14] there's Oh, okay. Thank you. Um and the
[1:37:18] other piece is regarding the digital
[1:37:21] access for parents because we do have
[1:37:22] some grades where it's only digital
[1:37:24] right now.
[1:37:26] How is that going to be better
[1:37:27] facilitated? Because I will tell you as
[1:37:30] a parent who tried probably a few years
[1:37:32] ago and stopped trying to access the
[1:37:34] digital textbook, it's quite difficult.
[1:37:38] Are you saying like challenging? No,
[1:37:41] thank you. Um, are you speaking about
[1:37:42] just being able to log in or you mean to
[1:37:44] navigate? I'm sorry, say that again. Are
[1:37:46] you mean to log in or to navigate the
[1:37:48] textbook? Um, both. Oh, both. Okay. Um
[1:37:52] so
[1:37:53] um I appreciate that feedback. Um of
[1:37:56] course and I think the the best way to
[1:37:58] approach that is to
[1:38:00] ensure sometimes what we do is we put
[1:38:02] the information and and forgive me Miss
[1:38:04] Maron in schooly right so people can go
[1:38:06] into schooly and then parents would know
[1:38:08] how to do it and then sometimes we can
[1:38:09] also put it on on the internet so
[1:38:11] parents can just say online textbooks
[1:38:13] and it would give people the login. Um
[1:38:16] so it depends on it depends on the uh
[1:38:19] type of login we have. Um but we can
[1:38:22] make sure that login are accessible.
[1:38:25] Often there are videos that we can post
[1:38:27] so that parents can see it. I understand
[1:38:29] that when you only are logging in once
[1:38:32] in a blue moon. It kind of feels
[1:38:33] overwhelming like how do I navigate
[1:38:35] this? How do I find it? But if we can
[1:38:37] have if we have some quick reference
[1:38:38] guides like we do for some other
[1:38:40] materials online hopefully that will
[1:38:42] help parents that would be helpful
[1:38:45] particularly if there's some
[1:38:46] translations in other languages which
[1:38:48] parents would be right more easily
[1:38:50] access but not being able to get to them
[1:38:53] is is a hardship. So hopefully you can
[1:38:55] navigate that. Um
[1:38:58] I I I was not my time. Yep. That's your
[1:39:01] time. Okay. I'll let it go back please.
[1:39:03] I have one more statement. Thank you. Go
[1:39:04] back.
[1:39:06] I'll take a turn very quickly. Um, just
[1:39:10] to set some historical background on
[1:39:13] this. See what I did there? Um, so
[1:39:16] people may recall a few years ago when
[1:39:19] uh the Virginia Department of Education
[1:39:21] was wrestling and the state board of
[1:39:23] education was wrestling with the
[1:39:24] Virginia standards of learning and
[1:39:26] initially came out with I think a four
[1:39:27] or 500page uh standards document that
[1:39:30] was riddled with errors uh historical
[1:39:33] inaccuracies and what many labeled as
[1:39:35] whitewashing uh Virginia and US history
[1:39:39] including eliminating references to
[1:39:41] Martin Luther King Day and Junth and
[1:39:44] many other problems. And as a result of
[1:39:46] that coming out, uh, many educators
[1:39:49] across the Commonwealth spoke out. They
[1:39:50] started attending public hearings about,
[1:39:53] uh, the curriculum standards and the,
[1:39:56] uh, standards were changed and reduced
[1:39:58] down to 53 pages, um, with many of those
[1:40:02] inconsistencies, errors, and, um,
[1:40:04] omissions, uh, addressed, but many left
[1:40:07] unressed. And so,
[1:40:10] um, I'm I am worriedish about, uh, only
[1:40:15] aligning with the Virginia standards of
[1:40:17] learning. I realize that's not the only
[1:40:19] thing that we're doing. Um, but I'd love
[1:40:21] to hear a commitment that the work in
[1:40:24] educating our students about social
[1:40:25] studies and history in our schools will,
[1:40:28] in addition to meeting the Virginia
[1:40:29] standards of learning, will also conform
[1:40:32] comport with our educational equity
[1:40:34] policy and our strategic plan
[1:40:35] objectives. Of course. Yes.
[1:40:38] Um that's good to to hear and
[1:40:40] reassuring. Um and hopefully um you know
[1:40:44] in the years ahead um we can ensure that
[1:40:47] Virginia's standards of learning for
[1:40:49] social studies and history uh fully
[1:40:51] encompass the the complexities of our
[1:40:54] history. So um I appreciate all the work
[1:40:56] that went into this from the community
[1:40:58] from board members comments and
[1:41:00] questions on this topic and look forward
[1:41:01] to the implementation. We have two
[1:41:03] gobacks. Mr. done.
[1:41:08] Uh, thank you. Uh, so I I'd like to ask
[1:41:11] um if uh as part of the information for
[1:41:14] the Friday letter, if uh there could be
[1:41:16] a cost estimate obtained to provide a
[1:41:19] textbook to each child, not just uh
[1:41:21] available in uh the uh you know in the
[1:41:25] classroom, but to be able to take home.
[1:41:27] Uh I I had the pleasure of witnessing
[1:41:30] last summer all of the books, thousands
[1:41:32] and thousands of thousands of books that
[1:41:34] were purchased and delivered to each
[1:41:36] school and organized at great um effort
[1:41:38] uh labor and time uh to implement the
[1:41:41] new literacy curriculum. And that's
[1:41:42] because books help kids learn. And in
[1:41:45] the same way, we need to buy books um
[1:41:49] and textbooks specifically to help kids
[1:41:51] learn history because uh we can't rely
[1:41:54] on, you know, the little quickie videos
[1:41:56] they have in these digital only uh
[1:41:58] curricula. Um and I I also want to
[1:42:00] listen to the committee members who came
[1:42:02] together to emphasize textbooks with
[1:42:05] digital uh supplements is is the
[1:42:07] preferred uh course of action. Um so if
[1:42:11] is that something that uh Dr. Dr. Reed
[1:42:13] that you would be able to provide?
[1:42:16] Yes, sir. I can provide that. And and
[1:42:19] Dr. Reed, in your experience, do you I
[1:42:21] mean, you you advocated textbooks for
[1:42:23] math. Um do you uh do you think that
[1:42:27] textbooks for social studies might also
[1:42:29] be prudent to ensure that kids learn
[1:42:32] comprehensive history? And noting that
[1:42:35] in every history class I ever took in
[1:42:37] elementary, middle, and high school, we
[1:42:38] never got to, you know, the last 40
[1:42:40] years. So updating for the most recent
[1:42:42] president, etc. um may not be necessary
[1:42:45] because mostly you get through the first
[1:42:47] twothirds and then the school year is
[1:42:48] over.
[1:42:50] So I am definitely a fan of textbooks um
[1:42:53] and I'm definitely a fan of students
[1:42:55] being able to take those home. So I'll visit with staff about uh the
[1:42:59] possibility of doing that depending on
[1:43:02] where the board lands on this this
[1:43:03] evening. Okay. Uh so may I ask a
[1:43:06] question to the chair? Does that mean
[1:43:08] that um given the the the cost estimates
[1:43:11] have been requested not just by me but
[1:43:13] by others that the vote on this motion
[1:43:15] should be delayed perhaps? No, unless
[1:43:18] the board decides to delay the motion
[1:43:20] but there's a motion on the table.
[1:43:26] Okay. Uh thank you very much. Thank you,
[1:43:29] Mr. Dunn. Dr. Anderson,
[1:43:32] thank you. That actually was one of my
[1:43:34] questions. um particularly because I
[1:43:36] wanted to have greater clarity on
[1:43:37] providing those physical materials for
[1:43:39] grades uh for the younger grades as well
[1:43:41] as having greater clarity on what is
[1:43:43] happening with our IB schools. So I will
[1:43:45] be voting no to give you the time and
[1:43:47] space to revisit and rejig this a little
[1:43:51] bit and I hope it can include um some
[1:43:54] other discussions regarding the PD for
[1:43:57] teachers. I realize that there are
[1:43:59] grants we don't have access to, but if
[1:44:02] we're not setting up our teachers for
[1:44:03] success, what is it that we're expecting
[1:44:05] for them to be able to do? Um I I didn't
[1:44:07] hear a clear plan. Is this a train the
[1:44:10] trainer model? Whatever that is. And
[1:44:12] when and whatever that timetable is, I
[1:44:14] hope that can be revisited. And I would
[1:44:17] ask that we provide a note to the
[1:44:20] superintendent on this tonight so she
[1:44:22] could have a little bit of time and rep
[1:44:23] and represent with some of those answers
[1:44:26] um with some of those questions
[1:44:28] answered. Um otherwise I think we're
[1:44:30] kind of stuck to what we have tonight.
[1:44:32] So I will be a no.
[1:44:36] Thank you Dr.
[1:44:37] Anderson. Miss Marin,
[1:44:41] Dr. Reed, can you speak to what the
[1:44:43] outcomes would be if the board voted no
[1:44:45] on this this evening financially timing
[1:44:49] and like what's the status now of our
[1:44:51] social studies basil materials?
[1:44:56] Well, we're within the cycle to order
[1:44:58] new
[1:44:59] materials. Um, we did this evening. Um,
[1:45:03] I want to, you know, Dr. Anderson, you
[1:45:06] indicated there were more things you
[1:45:07] would want in a presentation. So, I want
[1:45:09] to be clear that um staff really uh put
[1:45:13] this together very at late. Um so, I
[1:45:16] will own the responsibility for what was
[1:45:18] in or not in the presentation. I know
[1:45:20] staff worked very hard to put something
[1:45:22] together for this evening. Uh I would
[1:45:25] then also say that part of why they did
[1:45:28] that was because the sooner materials
[1:45:30] get here, the sooner this spring they
[1:45:32] can work with staff on developing them.
[1:45:35] Um, however, having said all of that, I
[1:45:37] feel like,
[1:45:39] um, you know, if we need to wait two
[1:45:41] weeks and come back with a plan that is
[1:45:44] thoughtful, we do this every seven
[1:45:46] years. So, we want to get it right. Uh,
[1:45:49] so, um, I think better to do it well
[1:45:53] than rush if we're not sure. So, um, the
[1:45:57] impact, Miss Marin, is that we would be
[1:45:59] delayed in receiving the materials, but
[1:46:02] um, so that's the impact. Thank you. And
[1:46:05] when do you know the last time that the
[1:46:07] bo a board approved basil materials for
[1:46:10] social studies? Miss Clemenco, do you
[1:46:12] have that information? It would have
[1:46:14] been prior to my arrival. If this is
[1:46:16] 2025, I would guess seven years ago
[1:46:18] roughly be 2018, but I think it might
[1:46:21] have been eight years ago. I think we're
[1:46:23] a year late, a year behind. Well, that's
[1:46:26] not as terrible because I know we were
[1:46:27] quite behind with the literacy
[1:46:29] materials. So, that's a relief.
[1:46:32] Um, so you know, I did pull this off of
[1:46:34] the consent agenda and I do think, you
[1:46:37] know, we need to realize that we need to
[1:46:39] see these materials. I believe I also
[1:46:41] pulled the literacy materials off the
[1:46:43] agenda back then so we could review
[1:46:45] them. Um, and so the math materials
[1:46:49] whenever we get there should also be
[1:46:51] presented to us well in advance. It's
[1:46:53] just curious that this most intimate
[1:46:55] part of learning is not agendaized and
[1:46:58] even a work session really, right? I
[1:47:00] mean I um so I'm also just a point about
[1:47:04] printing. I was talking to one of our
[1:47:05] local book owners and she said um this
[1:47:08] was earlier this week at the tariffs um
[1:47:10] lots of the printed books and color come
[1:47:12] out of Hong Kong and that would be a big
[1:47:14] price increase. Um and something I
[1:47:16] didn't get to ask about in the budget
[1:47:18] session just about how are we doing with
[1:47:19] prices on on all the things. But I I'm not as confident in this motion um
[1:47:26] after the discussion and so I hope my
[1:47:29] colleagues will also further discuss
[1:47:30] whether we wait or we move forward. So I
[1:47:34] hope you will all respond and give
[1:47:35] input. Thank you. Thank you Miss Marin.
[1:47:37] Miss Sanderson
[1:47:40] I'd like to make a motion to delay the
[1:47:43] motion on the table to a date certain
[1:47:44] which the next meeting April 24th. Is
[1:47:47] there Dr. Dr. Anderson seconds. Miss
[1:47:51] Mary Miss Anderson, would you like to
[1:47:54] speak to your motion? No, I think that
[1:47:55] we've all made it clear that we want a
[1:47:56] little bit more information. Dr.
[1:47:58] Anderson, would you like to speak to
[1:47:59] your second? Just one quick question.
[1:48:00] Will two weeks be certain? I'm assuming
[1:48:03] it'll be the next board meeting. Will
[1:48:05] that be sufficient time? Yes, ma'am.
[1:48:07] Thank you.
[1:48:10] All right. All those in favor of
[1:48:12] delaying to a date certain at the next
[1:48:14] board meeting the discussion of this
[1:48:15] motion. Miss Marin, Miss Dixit, Dr.
[1:48:18] Anderson, Miss Anderson, Miss
[1:48:19] Eismerheiser, Mr. Moon, Miss St. John
[1:48:21] Cunning, Mr. Dunn, Mr. McDaniel, and
[1:48:23] myself. That is unanimous. Thank you
[1:48:25] everybody for your
[1:48:32] work. All right, agenda item
[1:48:35] 5.05, new self-source contract, Teach
[1:48:38] for America, Inc. Teachers trained to
[1:48:40] support high school, excuse me, highne
[1:48:42] schools. I call on Mr. Dunn for a
[1:48:44] motion.
[1:48:48] Thank
[1:48:51] you.
[1:48:52] Uh, I move that the school board approve
[1:48:56] the Soul
[1:48:57] Source contract to Teach for
[1:49:01] America, Inc. for teachers trained to
[1:49:03] support high need schools and authorize
[1:49:06] the division superintendent or the
[1:49:08] director of the office of procurement
[1:49:11] services to execute, deliver, and
[1:49:13] administer the contract on behalf of the
[1:49:15] school board. Is there a second?
[1:49:18] Dr. Anderson, Mr. Dun, would you
[1:49:20] like to speak to your motion?
[1:49:23] Uh, yes. I I uh really appreciate that
[1:49:28] uh FCPS under uh Dr. read is continuing
[1:49:33] to explore every avenue by which to
[1:49:36] recruit new teachers to our school
[1:49:38] system. Teach for America is a very
[1:49:40] successful program that has existed for
[1:49:42] many years and uh I think it offers the
[1:49:46] opportunity to continue to provide uh
[1:49:50] you know more teachers at a time when
[1:49:52] we're facing a local, regional and
[1:49:54] national teacher shortage. Thank you.
[1:49:57] Mr. Dunn. Dr. Anderson. Yes.
[1:49:59] Um I I do appreciate literally the
[1:50:03] opportunity to exercise exploration of
[1:50:06] every avenue in order to grow our
[1:50:08] teaching force. I I that has to be
[1:50:10] commended because we're in a place where
[1:50:11] things are are challenging. Um my
[1:50:14] concern which we did talk about a few
[1:50:17] weeks ago when you first sent this is
[1:50:19] that um these teachers are to be sent to
[1:50:23] our highest need schools. That's the
[1:50:25] structure. That's how it's based. And
[1:50:28] the training, if I understand correctly,
[1:50:30] um Mr. Solomon or Dr. Reid, um the
[1:50:33] training for TFAS, it's a fiveweek
[1:50:35] summer course and then they're sent to
[1:50:37] us. Yes, they are supported throughout
[1:50:39] the year um by TFA, but it's five weeks
[1:50:42] and then you're in front of the highest
[1:50:44] needs
[1:50:45] students that we have in our county. I
[1:50:48] struggle with that. It's so
[1:50:49] counterintuitive. We've had conversation
[1:50:51] about conversation after conversation in
[1:50:54] our um budget work where we talk about
[1:50:57] that we need to have those master's
[1:50:58] degrees teachers because they are the
[1:51:01] best for our kids and yet it doesn't
[1:51:03] feel as if we're putting the best and
[1:51:05] not to say that there are not TFA rock
[1:51:07] stars. There are there are unicorns
[1:51:09] everywhere but overall the um retention
[1:51:13] is not what we would like it to be and
[1:51:15] all of that is available. I'm happy to
[1:51:17] send it to you all and the preparation
[1:51:20] is definitely not what it I would like
[1:51:22] it to be personally for our highest
[1:51:25] needs schools. So I'm really struggling
[1:51:28] um with it knowing that we are just
[1:51:30] trying to grow the workforce in all ways
[1:51:32] possible. I in all good conscience when
[1:51:35] these are these are teachers that are
[1:51:38] identified for regions two and three it
[1:51:40] will be our least ex our least prepared
[1:51:43] teachers in front of our highest need
[1:51:47] students. It it's it's hard for me to
[1:51:50] wrap my mind around
[1:51:52] that. So I appreciate the opportunity to
[1:51:55] have this conversation.
[1:51:57] I would say that our teacher trainees
[1:52:00] are actually less trained than our Teach
[1:52:02] for America candidates would be. The
[1:52:05] contract is for five uh Teach for
[1:52:07] America candidates who have a desire to
[1:52:11] be in education and they do receive as
[1:52:14] you indicated the fiveweek summer course
[1:52:17] but they are supported by Teach for
[1:52:18] America mentors uh throughout the rest
[1:52:21] of the year which is actually even more
[1:52:24] support than we're able to provide our
[1:52:26] new teachers or our beginner teachers or
[1:52:30] our uh teacher trainees. So I I feel
[1:52:33] like um my experience with Teacher
[1:52:36] America has been amazing in terms of
[1:52:39] candidates. We still have the
[1:52:40] opportunity to interview and select the
[1:52:43] five we wish. So it's not just you know
[1:52:46] candidates provided to us. We'll have
[1:52:48] the opportunity to interview and have
[1:52:50] that final say.
[1:52:53] But I do believe that uh actually
[1:52:56] several of our leadership team members
[1:52:57] are Teach for America alums who uh went
[1:53:01] into Teach for America and then
[1:53:02] developed and uh recognized a deep
[1:53:05] passion for education and made it their
[1:53:07] life's work. U so I often find that we
[1:53:11] acquire very
[1:53:13] missiondriven individuals
[1:53:15] um that really contribute to not only
[1:53:18] the education of the children in front
[1:53:19] of them but to uh the entire division.
[1:53:23] No, I appreciate that. And if you'll
[1:53:25] recall, I had similar concerns with the
[1:53:28] teacher trainees. So, for me, this is
[1:53:31] not new. Um, but it does make me also
[1:53:34] wonder, um, some years ago, we were
[1:53:36] talking about the Call Me Mister
[1:53:38] program, which were is I think those
[1:53:40] were credentialed teachers already. Are
[1:53:43] we still looking at that in order to
[1:53:45] continue to grow our workforce? Because
[1:53:47] I haven't heard anything since well,
[1:53:49] it's been at least three years. One of
[1:53:51] the reasons you haven't is Dr. Wilson on
[1:53:54] several occasions reached out to that
[1:53:56] program and didn't receive a response
[1:53:58] back. We were also asked to check
[1:54:01] references or other uh business partners
[1:54:04] and uh those uh calls didn't result in
[1:54:09] confidence that that would be a program
[1:54:11] that would
[1:54:12] um bear great fruit here. I see.
[1:54:18] Um, I lost my train of thought here.
[1:54:22] Um, I I lost my train of thought. I'll
[1:54:24] have to go back.
[1:54:26] Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Mr. Moon,
[1:54:30] uh, Dr. Re, so how many how many how
[1:54:33] many teachers are you seeking through
[1:54:35] this contractor? This uh first year of
[1:54:39] the grant is uh we would be seeking
[1:54:41] five. Just a five. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank
[1:54:44] you.
[1:54:45] uh you know my concern with uh you know
[1:54:49] basically with the teachers from a teach
[1:54:53] for America is that they don't tend to
[1:54:56] stay as long as non- teach for America
[1:55:00] teachers and if it's just like a Dr.
[1:55:03] Anderson stated if they are going to be
[1:55:06] sent to a high need schools. I think our
[1:55:10] own data also show that there is higher
[1:55:13] turnover in those schools for
[1:55:16] our regular teachers than other schools
[1:55:21] and
[1:55:23] so worried about there a you know
[1:55:27] duration of stay with us whether it's
[1:55:30] going to even create higher turnover in
[1:55:32] those school that is my concern but it's
[1:55:35] small number to begin with so I'm
[1:55:38] willing to take that risk and see how
[1:55:40] that goes. Wish you well. Thank you, Mr.
[1:55:43] Moon. I'll take a quick turn. Um, at the
[1:55:47] South by Southwest uh, education
[1:55:49] conference um, feels like six years ago.
[1:55:52] It was like a month ago, Miss Marin and
[1:55:54] I had the opportunity to attend a
[1:55:56] session uh, led by a conversation with
[1:55:59] the leader of um, uh, Teach for America.
[1:56:04] And one of the topics that came up in
[1:56:06] that discussion was uh the efficacy of
[1:56:08] the program. In other words, are these
[1:56:10] just recent college grads who are taking
[1:56:12] this as an opportunity to serve and then
[1:56:14] enter another profession? And while a
[1:56:16] certain number of folks do that, um more
[1:56:20] than 60% of Teach for America educators
[1:56:24] stay for more than two years and uh
[1:56:27] about a third stay for more than four
[1:56:30] years. So, I think it becomes something
[1:56:32] that's on us, to Mr. Moon's point about
[1:56:36] uh how long people stick around. I think
[1:56:37] it's on us as a school division to give
[1:56:40] these educators a reason to stay with us
[1:56:42] and to stay in the schools that they're
[1:56:44] placed in. Um, and so, uh, I'm I'm
[1:56:47] confident in the program, uh, and I'm
[1:56:49] grateful for the work that's gone into
[1:56:51] finding every conceivable avenue of
[1:56:53] bringing people into the system. And
[1:56:54] hopefully with the changes that we're
[1:56:56] seeing across the school division as it
[1:56:58] relates to hiring, retention, etc., um,
[1:57:01] these programs can bear even more fruit
[1:57:03] and perhaps even lead the averages that
[1:57:04] we see nationwide for the program. So,
[1:57:06] thank you for bringing it to us. I have
[1:57:09] Mr. Don Ferggo.
[1:57:11] Uh, thank you. Um, do you know um uh
[1:57:15] what your long-term plan is uh Dr. Dr.
[1:57:19] Reid? Because I note um by comparison we have the uh international educator
[1:57:25] program that started very small and has
[1:57:27] grown uh very substantially. Um do you
[1:57:30] have a long-term vision for you know how
[1:57:33] many uh teachers you would like to
[1:57:35] ideally uh receive through Teach for
[1:57:38] America eventually?
[1:57:40] Thank you Mr. Dunn. You know, this is a
[1:57:43] it's a good question. It it asks me to
[1:57:47] be a bit speculative. I I will say that
[1:57:51] we were calculating just the number of
[1:57:54] education graduates in the Commonwealth
[1:57:56] of Virginia and recognizing we hire over
[1:58:00] 2,000 teachers
[1:58:02] annually. We there are not enough
[1:58:04] educators graduating from education
[1:58:07] programs in the Commonwealth to fill all
[1:58:10] the positions we annually have. You
[1:58:13] know, with 40,000 employees. So, I I
[1:58:15] think we're looking at five this year.
[1:58:18] I'd like to see how the program goes,
[1:58:20] how the supports work. Virginia is
[1:58:22] fairly new to Teach for America. Other
[1:58:25] states have been much more involved for
[1:58:27] longer time periods. Um, so I, you know,
[1:58:32] it's a fair question. I think we would
[1:58:33] want to grow it from five. Um, I don't
[1:58:36] know how many it will grow to, but we're
[1:58:38] going to have to look at non-traditional
[1:58:42] uh I non-traditional plans and systems
[1:58:46] to keep our schools fully staffed
[1:58:48] because traditional programs just are
[1:58:51] not providing sufficient graduates at
[1:58:53] this time.
[1:58:56] Uh, thank you. I I I note that there was
[1:58:58] a rand study of uh Teach for America in in Indiana and then it found that uh
[1:59:04] on average TFA teachers were more
[1:59:07] effective at increasing student
[1:59:08] achievement than non TFA teachers uh and
[1:59:11] had uh a demonstrable impact on uh
[1:59:14] student outcomes in English language
[1:59:16] arts and math. So, so I think the data
[1:59:19] does show that the program is effective
[1:59:20] and I note the the positive comments by
[1:59:22] my colleague. Um, and so for that reason
[1:59:25] I I greatly support this um this program
[1:59:29] in the introduction. I note it is being
[1:59:31] deployed in in region three and region
[1:59:34] four I believe. Is that correct?
[1:59:36] It will be deployed in generally
[1:59:39] speaking in our title one schools and
[1:59:42] those actually we have title one schools
[1:59:43] across the division. But I do think
[1:59:47] regions uh two and four both have uh
[1:59:51] regional assistant superintendents who
[1:59:53] are TFA alum uh and have a special
[1:59:56] interest and heart for that program. So
[1:59:58] I believe that you're accurate.
[2:00:01] Okay. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Dunn. Dr.
[2:00:03] Anderson. Um thank you. I I finally find
[2:00:06] my thought. Uh, one of the opportunities
[2:00:08] that I've had in, you know, in my work
[2:00:10] in education was actually in the
[2:00:12] District of Columbia was to work as the
[2:00:15] director of teaching and learning and
[2:00:17] that in that required for me to um be in
[2:00:21] charge of all the professional
[2:00:22] development and coaching which also
[2:00:23] involved um the review of many of the
[2:00:27] TFA teachers uh which DC has a huge
[2:00:29] number of and the turnover is high and
[2:00:33] the turnover is high because we are
[2:00:35] essentially having teachers who are not
[2:00:38] as trained as we would like them to be
[2:00:40] in front of our highest need students.
[2:00:42] And I do believe that the record here
[2:00:44] says it's um regions two and three. Um
[2:00:48] do I think some TFA teachers can be
[2:00:50] successful? Absolutely. I I know that
[2:00:52] one of our folks um that's in leadership
[2:00:55] can be, but overall that has not been
[2:00:58] the case because of the turnover that
[2:01:00] has been as high. and past four years
[2:01:03] it's actually 25% and not necessarily a
[2:01:05] third. So that is a risk for me that is
[2:01:10] challenging to take when we are placing
[2:01:13] these individuals in front of our
[2:01:15] highest need students. So title one
[2:01:18] schools that are already under it are
[2:01:23] receiving ideally not you know the
[2:01:26] candidates we will be seeking the
[2:01:28] candidates that we speak about all of
[2:01:30] the time during our budget processes
[2:01:32] where we are um recruiting and wanting
[2:01:34] to retain our our um mast's level ma
[2:01:39] mast's level teachers and I do envision
[2:01:42] unfortunately a future where over time
[2:01:44] our title one schools
[2:01:46] will have a lot of these teachers which
[2:01:48] really makes it difficult for all of the
[2:01:50] work that we do which rely on that
[2:01:52] teacher
[2:01:53] expertise. We know that is the number
[2:01:55] one impact to student learning. It's
[2:01:58] teacher expertise and so I do have those
[2:02:00] concerns and so I will be a no on this
[2:02:03] because it is going to also be the
[2:02:05] schools that I represent that largely
[2:02:07] have um this great core. And again, I do
[2:02:11] not want to be offensive to say that no
[2:02:13] TFA teachers cannot be wonderful because
[2:02:15] that is not the case because a lot of
[2:02:17] licensed teachers also have struggles,
[2:02:20] but I I I just have too many worries for
[2:02:22] this to work for me.
[2:02:25] Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Miss St. John
[2:02:26] Cunning. Um, so I have the fortunate of
[2:02:31] fortunate opportunity of knowing a lot
[2:02:33] of teachers that have participated in
[2:02:35] Teach for America and I would probably
[2:02:38] guess that we have some that are
[2:02:39] teaching for us now through Edu Fukuro
[2:02:41] because I know Edu Fukuro uses that
[2:02:43] program and they are in our title one
[2:02:46] schools. Uh, and I know that the
[2:02:48] retention rate for Edu Futuro is is
[2:02:50] relatively high. Um
[2:02:54] so to the extent that we do not have you
[2:02:58] know a lot of people that are graduating
[2:03:02] and I really
[2:03:03] commend the job that we're doing to find
[2:03:06] teachers where we can. and I
[2:03:08] participated um last week with uh
[2:03:12] Hispanic Educators Association on how
[2:03:15] we're supporting the participate
[2:03:16] learning teachers and I know that
[2:03:19] there's some very intentional work going
[2:03:21] on through HR and I appreciate what
[2:03:24] they're doing. I appreciate the work
[2:03:26] that other organizations of are doing to
[2:03:29] help support our teachers and in
[2:03:33] programs such as um participate learning
[2:03:36] and and I know that the same kind of
[2:03:38] support will be there for teachers that
[2:03:40] come through this program. It's five
[2:03:42] teachers. I think we can be very
[2:03:44] intentional in supporting them. Um and
[2:03:47] again I think we already have some of
[2:03:48] them teaching in our schools through Edu
[2:03:50] Futuro.
[2:03:53] Thank you Miss St. Junk Cunning, Miss
[2:03:55] Marin. Yeah, I've I think it's great to
[2:03:59] have the data about Teach for America
[2:04:01] and Mr. Frisch. Yeah, we did get to hear
[2:04:02] the founder talk about it
[2:04:05] and it's only five teachers and if they
[2:04:09] are surrounded by supportive
[2:04:10] professional, you know, um colleagues
[2:04:13] plus the Teach for America program. I
[2:04:16] mean, we currently have empty spaces. I
[2:04:18] would think a Teach for America
[2:04:19] individual who is smart and
[2:04:22] motivated is more preferred than having
[2:04:25] a substitute as well-meaning as they are
[2:04:27] rotating in and out of a classroom for
[2:04:28] instance for a long-term sub. So, I'm
[2:04:30] willing to go for the pilot and see how
[2:04:32] it goes. And I do expect that they'll be
[2:04:34] fully supported.
[2:04:36] Thank you, Miss Marin. Mr. Moon,
[2:04:41] just one quick comment. I know that your
[2:04:43] intention is to put them in the high
[2:04:45] need scores. Maybe that's how we start,
[2:04:48] but if needed, you know, they can be
[2:04:51] also placed non- high needed scores,
[2:04:53] non-title one
[2:04:55] scores. Thank you, Mr. Moon. All right,
[2:04:58] we will go to a vote for the motion on
[2:05:00] the screen. All those in favor, Miss
[2:05:02] Marin, Miss Dixit, Miss Anderson, Miss
[2:05:04] Seismarheiser, Mr. Moon, Miss St. John
[2:05:06] Cunning, Mr. Dunn, Mr. McDaniel, and
[2:05:08] myself. All those opposed, Dr. Anderson.
[2:05:10] The motion carries. It is adopted. Thank
[2:05:13] you very much.
[2:05:16] Agenda item. Actually, we're going to
[2:05:17] take a 10-minute break, recess, uh,
[2:05:21] before performance evaluation. So, we
[2:05:23] will be back uh, at 9:15.
[2:06:37] board members, please return to your
[2:06:40] seats.
[2:07:57] All
[2:07:59] right. Agenda item
[2:08:03] 6.01, performance review, asset
[2:08:05] protection EL7 monitoring report. Each
[2:08:08] year, the school board assesses the
[2:08:09] superintendent in part on the basis of
[2:08:11] the school division's reasonable
[2:08:12] progress toward achieving the 2023 to
[2:08:15] 2030 strategic plans goals and adherence
[2:08:18] to a set of 13 executive limitations
[2:08:20] found on pages 14 through 31 of the
[2:08:23] board's strategic governance manual. The
[2:08:25] superintendent provides annual
[2:08:26] monitoring reports to the board for each
[2:08:28] executive limitation. The board then
[2:08:31] votes on whether the provided report is
[2:08:33] in compliance or if corrective action is
[2:08:34] needed. I call on Dr. Reed for a
[2:08:37] monitoring report of Executive
[2:08:38] Limitation 7, asset protection.
[2:08:41] Good evening, Chairman Fr, members of
[2:08:43] the board, and the public. Tonight, as
[2:08:45] uh Mr. Fris mentioned, I'll be
[2:08:46] presenting Executive Limitation 7, which
[2:08:49] discusses asset
[2:08:51] management. This
[2:08:53] uh eel is named for you on the slide.
[2:08:58] And I want to reiterate that at the time
[2:09:00] of this report to the best of my
[2:09:01] knowledge, information, and belief, I've
[2:09:04] gathered information and evidence that I
[2:09:06] believe supports compliance with the
[2:09:08] board's executive limitation associated
[2:09:10] with this topic. And this evening, I
[2:09:12] will share some highlights. If you're uh
[2:09:15] listening at home, the full document is
[2:09:18] attached to board docs. And um I
[2:09:22] appreciate the staff work in helping to
[2:09:24] put it together. There are nine areas of
[2:09:27] EL7. This slide shows the first four and
[2:09:32] indicators five through nine are on this
[2:09:34] slide. Additionally, tonight's
[2:09:37] presentation includes updates on last
[2:09:40] year's EL7 corrective action plan. This
[2:09:43] evening, I'll be sharing selected
[2:09:45] indicators even though the entire report
[2:09:48] is online.
[2:09:49] Indicator one ensures that the division
[2:09:52] assets are protected, maintained, and
[2:09:54] properly dislo disposed of or recycled
[2:09:57] when no longer in use. This year, our
[2:10:00] warehouse team created a rapid action
[2:10:02] plan that focused on procurement
[2:10:04] analysis and vendor engagement. Um,
[2:10:07] successfully mitigating impacts through
[2:10:09] cross-training multiple members in the
[2:10:11] staff uh to buy and maintain continuity,
[2:10:15] including instituting weekly review
[2:10:17] meetings to prioritize needs and improve
[2:10:20] vendor relationships. This expanded the
[2:10:22] team's procurement knowledge, which
[2:10:24] created a stronger and more adaptable
[2:10:27] workforce.
[2:10:28] Indicator four of this EL focuses on the
[2:10:31] protection of division assets um which
[2:10:35] honestly are uh comprehensive in nature.
[2:10:38] Currently our comprehensive school
[2:10:40] boundary review website provides
[2:10:43] transparency through readily accessible
[2:10:45] information about this uh really
[2:10:48] momentous process. In March of this year
[2:10:51] in conjunction with the Fairfax County
[2:10:52] government we did launch the school bus
[2:10:55] arm camera program to boost safety. Want
[2:10:58] to give a shout out to our chief ex uh
[2:11:00] operations officer Andy Muick um who
[2:11:03] really drove this process. You like that
[2:11:07] Mr. Muick. I thought that. So come on.
[2:11:10] Uh drove this process and worked really
[2:11:13] tirelessly to get to an agreement uh
[2:11:16] with multiple uh stakeholders so that
[2:11:19] we're able to launch this program. Uh it
[2:11:21] is designed to reduce the number of
[2:11:23] violations and injuries caused by people
[2:11:26] who disregard uh the school bus arms
[2:11:28] being out and create really dangerous
[2:11:30] situations for our students um and our
[2:11:33] staff. Uh we know that most injuries uh
[2:11:36] during transportation occur during
[2:11:38] boarding and disembarking the buses.
[2:11:41] Uh continuing on with indicator 4, I
[2:11:44] want to highlight the work of our office
[2:11:45] of communications uh who worked with our
[2:11:48] schools to create sort of a top 10 or uh
[2:11:52] 10 highlights which showcase things that
[2:11:55] their school communities were proud of.
[2:11:56] And I know we've gotten a lot of
[2:11:58] positive feedback from community
[2:11:59] members. uh because our schools are
[2:12:02] unique. Even though they're part of a
[2:12:03] school system, each of our schools have
[2:12:06] unique contexts and unique uh pride
[2:12:08] points that uh we love to see them
[2:12:11] share. We also note that we're sending
[2:12:13] positive story roundups to the board and
[2:12:15] division leaders and ensuring that staff
[2:12:18] are aware of the appropriate use of the
[2:12:20] FCPS logo and branded materials.
[2:12:24] Indicator 8 talks about how we utilize
[2:12:27] knowledge management to ensure assets
[2:12:29] are known, maintained, and transferred.
[2:12:32] Want to share that since last year's
[2:12:33] report, the Office of Facilities
[2:12:36] Management has developed and implemented
[2:12:37] over 35 new standard operating
[2:12:40] procedures. Honestly, that's a lot in
[2:12:42] one year uh to create systems of
[2:12:46] efficiency. The Office of Assessment and
[2:12:48] Reporting maintains the FCPS guide for
[2:12:50] the Virginia Assessment Program as the
[2:12:53] knowledge management of federal and
[2:12:55] state required assessment and
[2:12:56] accountability procedures and
[2:12:58] expectations continue to grow
[2:13:00] anonymously continue to change. And as
[2:13:03] of October 2024, our employee exit
[2:13:05] surveys are now administered digitally
[2:13:07] during the offboarding process through
[2:13:09] Staff Connect.
[2:13:12] In August of 2024, the board approved a
[2:13:14] corrective action plan for this EL which
[2:13:16] included work on our knowledge
[2:13:17] management processes. Since then, the
[2:13:21] office of the chief of staff has
[2:13:22] initiated several actions related to
[2:13:24] this work, including the development of
[2:13:27] a Baldridge framework application, an
[2:13:29] inventory of existing documentation of
[2:13:31] major activities in the division,
[2:13:34] development of a standard divisionwide
[2:13:36] onboarding and offboarding procedures,
[2:13:39] creating standard templates for standard
[2:13:41] operating procedures, project management
[2:13:43] plans, and new hire handbooks, as well
[2:13:45] as the identification of opportunities
[2:13:47] to further embed this work throughout
[2:13:49] the division. vision staff took
[2:13:51] seriously uh the corrective action memo
[2:13:53] the board required last year and have
[2:13:55] acted uh prudently in responding to
[2:13:59] this. Indicator 9 is about the annual
[2:14:02] review of existing leasing agreements,
[2:14:04] contracts,us and other agreements to
[2:14:06] ensure assets are being used in
[2:14:08] accordance with the division strategic
[2:14:10] plan goals. As directed by the board,
[2:14:12] the office of facilities planning
[2:14:14] services prepared a lease consolidation
[2:14:16] plan which provided background
[2:14:19] information and options to support any
[2:14:20] future review of leases to determine
[2:14:23] necessity, cost analysis, and alignment
[2:14:26] to the division's strategic plan. And
[2:14:28] also as part of last year's EL7
[2:14:30] corrective action plan, division council
[2:14:33] has conducted an analysis of best
[2:14:35] practices for our memorandums of
[2:14:37] understanding. Based on this analysis,
[2:14:39] we've updated FCPS practices on memos of
[2:14:43] understanding in several areas as you
[2:14:45] can see on the
[2:14:47] screen. Mr. Chairman, that concludes the
[2:14:50] presentation for executive limitation
[2:14:53] number seven, asset management.
[2:14:56] Thank you, Dr. Reid. I now call on Miss
[2:14:59] Dixit for a motion.
[2:15:06] I move that the school board finds the
[2:15:08] superintendent in compliance with
[2:15:10] executive limitation number seven, asset
[2:15:12] protection. I further move that the
[2:15:14] school board approves the monitoring
[2:15:16] report based on the superintendent's
[2:15:17] reasonable interpretation of executive
[2:15:20] limitation number seven, asset
[2:15:22] protection, as outlined in the strategic
[2:15:24] governance manual. Is there a second?
[2:15:27] Mr. Moon. Miss Dixit, would you
[2:15:31] like to speak to your motion? Uh, no.
[2:15:34] Thank you, Miss Dixit. Mr. Moon, would
[2:15:35] you like to speak to your second? I just
[2:15:36] have a question. Can I ask to I don't
[2:15:39] know whether this should go to uh Dr.
[2:15:40] Reed or Mr. Muik. Uh, as to asset
[2:15:46] management, I'm sorry, this is or ass
[2:15:49] management. I'm talking about number one
[2:15:53] a my question goes to a disposing and
[2:15:56] recycling part.
[2:15:59] uh we have a lot of computing
[2:16:03] devices given out to students also to
[2:16:06] STEM members and every what five six
[2:16:09] year cycle we do replace them. What do
[2:16:12] you do with replaced
[2:16:15] uh computing devices? So great question
[2:16:18] Mr. Moon. I I know that many of our
[2:16:21] computer devices are on a lease uh plan.
[2:16:24] So I'm going to ask Mr. Seth to talk
[2:16:27] about um the life cycle of our
[2:16:30] computers. Well, there's quite a few
[2:16:32] different things we do. Uh first and
[2:16:34] foremost, when the devices come off of
[2:16:35] rotation from primary use, we try to see
[2:16:38] if they have usable life and repurpose
[2:16:41] them to be able to reallocate to someone
[2:16:43] who could be using it for different
[2:16:44] purposes. So, sometimes they can go
[2:16:46] longer than 5 years. Um, if there's not
[2:16:49] primary life because of the, you know,
[2:16:51] there's damage to some parts and pieces,
[2:16:54] our repair shop actually scavenges as
[2:16:57] many of the parts off that laptop and
[2:16:59] preserves it to repair other devices
[2:17:02] because we typically buy 5,000 of the
[2:17:05] same models so we have enough of those
[2:17:07] parts to repair. At the end of all of
[2:17:09] that, uh there is a process of disposal
[2:17:11] where the hard drives are removed and
[2:17:13] they're separated so no data is disposed
[2:17:15] and then the physical sort of whatever
[2:17:17] is left of the device is shipped to the
[2:17:19] warehouse for disposal appropriately
[2:17:22] through the warehouse process.
[2:17:25] Okay? Because I recall a few years ago,
[2:17:28] number of years ago, there was, you
[2:17:30] know, unfortunate incidents
[2:17:33] of, you know, some of our inventory
[2:17:37] items
[2:17:39] being not properly disposed of. Yes,
[2:17:42] sir. And I'm hoping that that doesn't
[2:17:45] ever happen again. But at the same time
[2:17:47] you know those properties must have or
[2:17:50] have some values to someone outside the
[2:17:55] school system even though we are not
[2:17:56] using it and I think when we're talking
[2:17:58] about properly disposing and recycling
[2:18:01] that we make a maximum use of those that
[2:18:04] when I say maximum not just for us but
[2:18:07] those who may have some value may see
[2:18:11] some value in using some of the a assets that we may not be using it but
[2:18:18] could still be used by somebody outside.
[2:18:21] Yes, sir. I I do I am aware of the
[2:18:24] incident uh that you're referring to and
[2:18:26] that led to um a review and look at uh
[2:18:31] processes which uh have been enhanced
[2:18:34] since that incident and it shouldn't
[2:18:37] happen again. Okay. Thank you. Yes, sir.
[2:18:40] Thank you, Mr. Moon. Dr. Anderson.
[2:18:47] Um, thank you very much. Let me just get
[2:18:49] a minute to pull up my notes
[2:18:53] here. I apologize. I cannot find it.
[2:18:56] But, um, one of the things I I'm just
[2:18:59] going to be super brief here. Um I think
[2:19:01] the entry plans that have been um
[2:19:04] identified in this measure are very
[2:19:07] helpful because I think it's a great way
[2:19:08] to really streamline um a principles
[2:19:12] interactions with the community and how
[2:19:14] to in that we will kind of march
[2:19:16] together. So I'm very excited about that
[2:19:18] development and looking forward to its
[2:19:19] expansion. And as we discussed, um I
[2:19:23] will not be voting in support of this EL
[2:19:25] um based on information that I shared
[2:19:27] with you in close session. Um but
[2:19:30] there's some good stuff here. Thank you.
[2:19:34] Dr. Anderson. Mr. Dunn,
[2:19:37] uh thank you. Um I wanted to ask about
[2:19:39] the school bus stop arm camera program.
[2:19:42] Um I believe it's currently uh marked
[2:19:45] for 50 buses and I think that's a a
[2:19:48] small fraction of our total um school
[2:19:51] bus program. Um can you share any plans
[2:19:54] you might have uh for expansion of the
[2:19:57] program over time? Yes sir. Mr. Dunn, we
[2:20:00] started with 50. I think originally the
[2:20:03] plan was to start with 250. Uh but what
[2:20:06] we realized in the negotiation is that
[2:20:10] uh our Fairfax County law enforcement
[2:20:13] partners needed and I think fairly so we
[2:20:17] needed to get the program underway for
[2:20:19] them to determine the amount of time and
[2:20:22] effort it would take on the part of law
[2:20:24] enforcement uh to be responsive as well
[2:20:27] as the part of the courts to be
[2:20:28] responsive. So we're starting with 50
[2:20:31] and with the expectation that once we
[2:20:34] identify the time required to manage the
[2:20:37] program effectively, we would gradually
[2:20:39] grow it.
[2:20:41] Uh well, I appreciate that. Um I'll just
[2:20:43] say on the street where I live, um when
[2:20:46] the stop arm is extended of a school
[2:20:48] bus, people drive around it um both
[2:20:51] ways. And uh and it's shocking to me
[2:20:54] that in our country that uh student
[2:20:57] safety is put in such jeopardy on a
[2:20:59] daily basis by by reckless drivers um
[2:21:02] especially on a neighborhood street. Um
[2:21:05] so I I really appreciate uh that um that
[2:21:08] Mr. Muick and and Paul Andre uh you know
[2:21:11] uh enabled uh one of the stop arm camera
[2:21:14] buses to to be deployed in my area to
[2:21:17] help deal with that um with that crisis
[2:21:20] along with uh resources from SCPD. I was
[2:21:23] also wondering if you could please um
[2:21:25] talk a little bit more about the top 10
[2:21:26] lists that uh have been developed for
[2:21:29] each of the schools because I think it's
[2:21:31] a remarkable um program and uh that a
[2:21:34] remarkable accomplishment by the
[2:21:36] communications team. So thank you Mr.
[2:21:39] Dunn and I also you know big shout out
[2:21:41] to Mr. Dunn who was uh part of the
[2:21:45] thought partner on this topic. Uh it was
[2:21:48] uh I think Mr. Dunn has said several
[2:21:50] times that you know we've done and
[2:21:52] continue to do great work but if we
[2:21:54] don't talk about it sometimes it's not
[2:21:56] uh obvious to everyone. Uh and so I
[2:21:59] appreciate Mr. Dunn your encouragement
[2:22:01] on that. And I'm proud of our uh
[2:22:03] communications team uh Lisa Hall and
[2:22:06] Beth Fazolei and Tracy Wyn and the team
[2:22:08] that has done that work and honestly all
[2:22:11] of the principles across the division
[2:22:14] and their staffs who um really put
[2:22:17] together I think some very unique lists.
[2:22:20] Uh but it also speaks to how much more
[2:22:23] our schools are than numbers, right?
[2:22:26] because so many of the lists have
[2:22:28] moments and um sort of attributes that
[2:22:31] aren't about uh traditional data, but
[2:22:34] really help make our schools something
[2:22:37] special here in Fairfax. So, I
[2:22:38] appreciate you drawing attention to
[2:22:40] that. I I I think it's so important when
[2:22:43] we have so much um negativity on social
[2:22:46] media about our wonderful public schools
[2:22:48] that um that this top 10 list was
[2:22:51] developed. So for every school um
[2:22:53] parents and students can see what are
[2:22:55] the top 10 reasons this is the best
[2:22:57] school for my child to attend. and and the top 10 list and I've read
[2:23:02] probably, you know, 50 of them by this
[2:23:04] point are really remarkable and they're
[2:23:06] very individually tailored and they can
[2:23:08] reflect just all the amazing things that
[2:23:10] are happening in our schools and and un
[2:23:12] unfortunately too little of that gets
[2:23:14] publicized um in the kind of uh morass
[2:23:17] of social media. So, I do encourage um
[2:23:20] all Perfex County residents to learn
[2:23:23] more about your local schools and spread
[2:23:25] the word um because uh you know talking
[2:23:28] to people, having conversations can help
[2:23:31] uh build greater trust and and and and spread the knowledge of the daily
[2:23:36] excellence of our schools. Thank you.
[2:23:39] Thank you, Mr. Dunn. Miss
[2:23:42] Heismeriser.
[2:23:44] Thank you. And don't worry. Um, first I
[2:23:46] want to say I really appreciate the
[2:23:48] inclusion of all the work you've been
[2:23:49] doing on knowledge management because I
[2:23:50] know that was an um area I had concerns
[2:23:52] about last year with the report. So I
[2:23:55] really appreciate the inclusion of the
[2:23:56] work that has been done as well as the
[2:23:58] work you're talk about continuing to do.
[2:24:00] Um, so this is great and I I really
[2:24:03] appreciate that there's 35 new operating
[2:24:05] procedures SOP since the last report and
[2:24:07] there's a task force um for those SOPs.
[2:24:09] I really do think once it's all in
[2:24:11] place, you're going to have a much more
[2:24:13] streamlined operation which will save
[2:24:15] cost and time and make you more
[2:24:16] effective. But I had a couple questions.
[2:24:18] I saw that the Baldridge framework,
[2:24:20] which I know is the um the budgeting and
[2:24:23] just sort of the overall audit and
[2:24:24] review of our budgeting process is going
[2:24:26] to include a review of operations and
[2:24:29] areas identified for improvement in
[2:24:30] knowledge management. Can you talk a
[2:24:32] little bit more about how that process
[2:24:33] is going to look towards um looking at
[2:24:35] knowledge management processes? Yes,
[2:24:37] ma'am. I the Baldridge folks actually
[2:24:40] are going to be in the division the week
[2:24:41] after spring break uh to do some
[2:24:44] interviewing and do some shadow working.
[2:24:46] Uh Mr. Smith uh the our chief of staff
[2:24:49] has really been spearheading this work
[2:24:52] uh and I'd like to have him respond
[2:24:53] maybe more specifically to your
[2:24:55] question. Yeah, certainly. And so we're
[2:24:57] looking forward to providing the board
[2:24:59] an update. uh you can see in our uh
[2:25:02] report that uh we will be submitting our
[2:25:05] 25page application in April and we'll
[2:25:08] certainly provide that to the board in a
[2:25:10] Friday letter so that you can get a gist
[2:25:11] of uh some of the topics that are
[2:25:13] covered uh as part of the Baldridge work
[2:25:16] the knowledge management piece there is
[2:25:19] an aspect of that around uh data and
[2:25:21] data management uh there's also an
[2:25:23] aspect of that as we on the leadership
[2:25:26] team are engaging uh in the work with
[2:25:29] the uh bald Aldridge team. Uh we're
[2:25:31] actually noting that work and keeping
[2:25:33] track of that work and are adding that
[2:25:35] work to the database of SOPs and other
[2:25:38] structures that we're building to ensure
[2:25:40] that we uh hold on to that knowledge of uh our team as they might come on or
[2:25:47] go off the team. That would be great. As
[2:25:50] I said, I think building this structure
[2:25:51] or continuing to build this structure
[2:25:53] will make you our team much more
[2:25:54] efficient and effective. and when there
[2:25:56] is turnover or promotions and things
[2:25:58] like that, make it more easy for someone
[2:25:59] to be able to jump into the work right
[2:26:01] away. So, I appreciate that and it's
[2:26:03] great. It's part of that structure as
[2:26:04] well because I hope they'll have some
[2:26:05] recommendations as well of of changes or
[2:26:07] areas.
[2:26:09] Ironically, one of the strongest bodies
[2:26:12] of evidence for knowledge management are
[2:26:15] the
[2:26:16] eelss and um I think that's been noted
[2:26:20] that coming into a system and being able
[2:26:23] to see the work of the system in every
[2:26:25] critical area as well as the goal
[2:26:28] direction has really captured knowledge
[2:26:31] management in ways you know that we
[2:26:33] might not traditionally think about it.
[2:26:35] Well, thank you for bringing that idea
[2:26:37] to us when you came on board. No, you
[2:26:39] deserve the kudos for bringing that idea
[2:26:40] to us and the board took it and ran with
[2:26:42] it, but it was a great way of really
[2:26:44] capturing what we're doing in all these
[2:26:45] critical areas. Um, one last question is
[2:26:48] just a suggestion when you're looking at
[2:26:50] knowledge management. I know you've been
[2:26:51] looking at it in terms of SOPs for your
[2:26:53] leadership team and your central office,
[2:26:55] but one of the things that I've often
[2:26:57] heard, and this is before I even ran for
[2:26:58] this position, teachers talk about is a
[2:27:00] knowledge management for some of the
[2:27:02] lessons and resources that are being
[2:27:03] created, especially for teachers who are
[2:27:06] having to modify or adapt lessons. They
[2:27:08] often have to re, you know, I've heard
[2:27:10] teachers talk about having to recreate
[2:27:11] the wheel every year. And I know there's
[2:27:13] obviously there's always going to be
[2:27:15] some tweaking to make it individualized
[2:27:17] for students. But if you had at least a
[2:27:20] starting point, it would make it for
[2:27:21] make it easier for teachers to recreate
[2:27:23] it. And I've often talked to teachers
[2:27:25] about a central repository for some of
[2:27:27] these either lessons they've created or
[2:27:28] materials they've created, especially
[2:27:30] like I said those that have to be
[2:27:32] modified from the genetic curriculum. So
[2:27:34] I just want to put that idea out there
[2:27:36] as a knowledge manager that could really
[2:27:37] help our teachers and staff out as well.
[2:27:40] Thank you. I'll uh note that. And
[2:27:42] um it does seem with the tech uh online
[2:27:47] world we live in that we could capture
[2:27:49] those accommodations or those lessons
[2:27:51] that are modified or accommodated. Well,
[2:27:52] I know some teachers have started their
[2:27:54] own repositories to share and all sorts
[2:27:55] of things. So, I know there's things out
[2:27:57] there, but um it would just help
[2:27:59] especially as we have so many newer
[2:28:00] teachers in some of these areas, it
[2:28:02] would probably really help them both do
[2:28:04] well their first few years, but also
[2:28:05] maybe stay because they're not doing so
[2:28:07] much work to create something that
[2:28:08] someone else has created. So, thank you
[2:28:10] for that. Yes, ma'am. When you were
[2:28:12] saying not recreate them, what I was
[2:28:14] thinking and we forgot to put in here,
[2:28:16] so we're gonna add next year is the uh
[2:28:19] warehouse for our theater uh props
[2:28:21] because we've uh Miss Samansky and Mr.
[2:28:24] Muik have combined. I've actually seen a
[2:28:27] lot of the props out in the warehouse as
[2:28:29] we're transitioning to that. So, I'm
[2:28:31] very proud of them and their work in
[2:28:32] bringing that. That's awesome. I'm glad
[2:28:34] you mentioned that. And since you
[2:28:35] mentioned, I'm going to also make sure
[2:28:37] the word is getting out to our theater
[2:28:38] departments as well about that resource
[2:28:40] for our theater departments. Thank you
[2:28:42] for that. Thank you, Miss Seismore
[2:28:43] Heiser. We will take a vote for the
[2:28:45] motion on the screen. All those in favor
[2:28:48] of the motion as listed on the screen,
[2:28:51] Miss Marin, Miss
[2:28:54] Dixit, Miss Anderson, Miss Seismar,
[2:28:57] Heisner, Mr. Moon, Miss St. John
[2:28:59] Cunning, Mr. Dunn, Mr. McDaniel, and
[2:29:01] myself. All those opposed, Dr. Anderson.
[2:29:03] The motion carries. Moving right along.
[2:29:06] Agenda item
[2:29:08] 7.01. Uh I will remind board members to
[2:29:10] complete their their evaluation form uh
[2:29:13] at their own discretion. They can turn
[2:29:14] it into the clerk or fill out the online
[2:29:16] version. Agenda item 7.01 policy review
[2:29:19] asset protection
[2:29:21] EL7. The next order of business is the
[2:29:24] policy review for EL7 asset protection.
[2:29:27] Annually, the board will review each
[2:29:29] executive limitation at the time of the
[2:29:31] monitoring report is provided to
[2:29:32] determine if revisions are needed. Board
[2:29:34] members may offer amendments to
[2:29:37] executive limitations at any regular
[2:29:39] meeting, provided they send final
[2:29:41] amendment language to the board and
[2:29:42] clerk 48 hours in advance of the meeting
[2:29:44] at which it is to be considered. At this
[2:29:46] time, no amendments have been submitted
[2:29:48] in advance of the meeting, but board
[2:29:50] members are able to make remarks on EL7
[2:29:52] asset protection as a policy before we
[2:29:55] vote on maintaining the current
[2:29:56] language.
[2:30:00] Seeing none, I call on Miss Dixit for a
[2:30:02] motion. I move that the school board
[2:30:04] maintains executive limitation 7, asset
[2:30:07] protection, as it is currently detailed
[2:30:09] in the strategic governance manual. Is
[2:30:12] there a second? Second, Mr. Moon. All
[2:30:15] those in favor for the motion on the
[2:30:16] screen, Miss Marin, Miss Dixit, Dr.
[2:30:19] Anderson, Miss Anderson, Miss
[2:30:22] Seismarheiser, Mr. Moon, Miss St. John
[2:30:23] Cunning, Mr. Dunn, Mr. McDaniel, and
[2:30:25] myself. That is unanimous for board
[2:30:27] members present. The motion carries.
[2:30:29] Agenda item 8.01, academic matters. I
[2:30:32] call on Dr. Reid. So, thank you,
[2:30:34] Chairman Fr, and members of the board.
[2:30:36] This evening I have the uh real pleasure
[2:30:40] uh to talk about our Purple Star
[2:30:42] schools. As it is um our Purple Star
[2:30:46] month as well and uh having over 13,000
[2:30:50] military connected uh students here in
[2:30:52] Fairfax County, our Purple Star School
[2:30:54] initiative is really an exciting
[2:30:57] initiative. I want to remind our
[2:30:59] community that military connected youth
[2:31:01] do move around more than other youth.
[2:31:04] Um, and I like to think of that honestly
[2:31:06] as a strength. Uh, the building of
[2:31:09] resilience, um, our empathetic, uh,
[2:31:12] military connected youth and often
[2:31:15] service-minded. Uh, we've really had
[2:31:17] some great focus groups with, uh,
[2:31:19] military connected youth as well as
[2:31:21] families. But they're also challenges
[2:31:24] even though they move around and change
[2:31:26] schools three times more than their
[2:31:27] civilian peers. Um it while it builds
[2:31:31] resilience, it also in fact uh at times
[2:31:34] can create learning gaps or overlaps, it
[2:31:37] can be stressful and it certainly uh if
[2:31:40] parents are deployed or in circumstances
[2:31:42] that uh may not be safe. Uh it creates a
[2:31:46] level of um anxiety I know for many of
[2:31:49] our young people as well because when
[2:31:51] anyone in the family is serving really
[2:31:53] everyone in the family is serving. So,
[2:31:56] um, we also want to note that 80% of
[2:31:58] America's military connected youth do
[2:32:00] attend public schools. So, um, just want
[2:32:04] to, uh, point out that our four pillars
[2:32:06] continue to be important, uh, in how we,
[2:32:10] uh, continue to utilize Purple Star
[2:32:13] School programming. Um, in goal one, uh,
[2:32:16] Purple Star Schools provide intentional
[2:32:18] support, uh, through transitions, while
[2:32:21] goal two supports peer-led student
[2:32:24] ambassador programs, which amplify
[2:32:26] student voice and support a positive
[2:32:28] school climate. Goal three, uh, Purple
[2:32:32] Star Schools utilize available
[2:32:34] evidencebased practices to provide
[2:32:36] access to academic rigor as well as
[2:32:39] supports that celebrate the experience
[2:32:41] military connected students bring. In
[2:32:43] goal five or goal four, uh, purple star
[2:32:46] schools are responsive to military
[2:32:48] connected students lived experiences,
[2:32:51] strengths, and needs. And in goal five,
[2:32:54] our purple star schools prepare military
[2:32:56] connected youth for on-time graduation
[2:32:59] and a wide variety of variety of
[2:33:01] post-secondary
[2:33:04] opportunities. The purple star criteria
[2:33:07] are on the slide. And in addition to the
[2:33:10] central office staff support, schools
[2:33:12] must meet other criteria to receive this
[2:33:16] designation. And these include a school
[2:33:18] point of contact to serve as a liaison,
[2:33:21] a peer-led transition team, a division
[2:33:24] military web page, specialized support
[2:33:26] for students with special needs, and
[2:33:29] staff receive special professional
[2:33:31] development to broaden their
[2:33:32] understanding of the needs of military
[2:33:35] connected students. Schools further must
[2:33:37] engage in special military observances
[2:33:40] such as the blue star welcome week,
[2:33:42] veterans day or the month of the
[2:33:44] military child as it is this month. So I
[2:33:48] want to show you the map of all of our
[2:33:51] uh purple star
[2:33:52] schools and the central office team
[2:33:55] continues to provide ongoing support to
[2:33:57] these schools as they fill out uh their
[2:34:00] requirements for designation and retain
[2:34:02] that designation. The application period
[2:34:05] for those of you um for your magisterial
[2:34:08] districts or are at large uh the
[2:34:11] application period opens this month in
[2:34:13] April and it closes in September. This
[2:34:16] school year alone, the team provided 29
[2:34:19] purple star application workshops, 11
[2:34:22] student ambassador trainings and uh
[2:34:25] training kits for and toolkits for
[2:34:28] celebrations as well as recognition and
[2:34:31] designation um
[2:34:33] topics. So here are our statistics for
[2:34:37] um purple star schools since 2018. You
[2:34:40] can see on the far left of the chart
[2:34:43] were the number of purple scar star
[2:34:45] schools we had. Uh we currently have 96
[2:34:49] and of those 96 multiple schools have
[2:34:51] renewed their designation at least once.
[2:34:54] We have a two-year plan which has come
[2:34:57] from the superintendent's desk which
[2:34:59] requires that every school will become a
[2:35:01] purple star school by the end of next
[2:35:04] year. So, we expect to reach 150 purple
[2:35:07] star schools in October of 2025 with the
[2:35:10] remaining schools earning their
[2:35:11] designation in
[2:35:13] 2026. It's important that every single
[2:35:16] school, all 200 of our schools um are
[2:35:19] purple star designated because we have
[2:35:21] military connected youth attending every
[2:35:23] school in the division. Whether it's two
[2:35:26] students or 200 um it's important that
[2:35:29] they feel welcome. So, I feel like I
[2:35:31] want to really thank our staff who have
[2:35:33] done Renee Luffman Jackson's here, Dr.
[2:35:35] Luffman Jackson and Miss Hall. I mean,
[2:35:38] we started with less than 20 and we're
[2:35:40] already at 96. So, props to that team.
[2:35:44] That's and props to all of our
[2:35:46] school-based staff that are doing the
[2:35:48] work. Want to share the impact uh
[2:35:51] creating a welcoming culture, fostering
[2:35:53] connections. Um it's just it's really um
[2:35:58] our military connected youth get really
[2:36:00] excited when they talk about um being a
[2:36:02] Purple Star school. It means something.
[2:36:05] It's it's not just a
[2:36:07] designation. Uh so as we continue to
[2:36:10] look at uh families who appreciate that
[2:36:12] we have this year begun a military
[2:36:15] family advisory committee with Dr. L
[2:36:17] Huffman Jackson's guidance again and
[2:36:20] we've been able to resolve um challenges
[2:36:23] that some of our military families have
[2:36:25] in had as well as a big shout out to Mr.
[2:36:28] Sethy and his team uh because we created
[2:36:31] a lot of online registration
[2:36:33] opportunities for our families
[2:36:35] transferring in and out and Miss Hall
[2:36:37] and our central registration team uh
[2:36:40] being able to provide a seamless
[2:36:43] enrollment from anywhere around the
[2:36:45] world. We're very proud of the progress
[2:36:47] we're making. And with that, I'd be
[2:36:50] happy to take any questions. Thank you,
[2:36:52] Dr. Reid. We'll start with our military
[2:36:53] connected vice chair of the board, Miss
[2:36:55] Anderson.
[2:36:58] Um, so my kiddo the other day when we
[2:37:01] were doing the purple up at his school,
[2:37:04] he decided that he was going to send
[2:37:05] himself down because he knows that his
[2:37:07] father is military connected. Um, my
[2:37:09] husband retired in 2019. And what I what
[2:37:13] I found out later is that he wasn't
[2:37:15] actually included on the list of kids
[2:37:17] that were military connected because we
[2:37:19] only have a designator in CIS for active
[2:37:22] duty members. And so I'm wondering if we
[2:37:24] can maybe expand that so that when
[2:37:26] people are registering they can let us
[2:37:28] know whether or not they're from a
[2:37:29] retired family. And that way those kids
[2:37:32] that are military connected through a
[2:37:34] retired family member, it may be a cool
[2:37:36] thing to be able to include them on more
[2:37:39] things as we're going through. I love
[2:37:40] that we're doing this. Um I think it's
[2:37:42] awesome to prot to help support these
[2:37:45] families in every way that we possibly
[2:37:47] can. So, thank you. Yes, ma'am. Thank
[2:37:49] you, Miss Anderson. Mr. Dunn.
[2:37:53] Well, I just want to say thank you to
[2:37:55] FCPS and the superintendent for
[2:37:57] everything you're doing to ensure that
[2:37:59] um military families uh receive all the
[2:38:01] support they can. Uh because they face
[2:38:04] unique challenges and um as as the
[2:38:08] father of three kids who are either in
[2:38:09] the military or going into the military.
[2:38:12] Um I am especially proud of the military
[2:38:15] service um in our community. And it's
[2:38:17] not just uh the folks who are active
[2:38:19] duty um who are serving. It's it's uh
[2:38:22] the spouses, it's the children as well
[2:38:24] because they are uh uniquely affected,
[2:38:26] moving frequently um and adapting to new
[2:38:30] environments and and always supporting
[2:38:32] the military in in various ways, large
[2:38:34] and small. So, I look forward to uh
[2:38:37] working with you, Dr. agreed to continue
[2:38:40] to strengthen the ways in which we can
[2:38:42] support and serve our military families
[2:38:44] to make sure that we make it easy for
[2:38:46] them to arrive and we wish them well
[2:38:48] when they uh depart for other
[2:38:50] destinations and while they're here uh
[2:38:52] they receive robust uh support and
[2:38:54] services. Thank you. Thank you, Mr.
[2:38:57] Dunn. Seeing no others, we'll move right
[2:38:59] along to agenda item 8.02, strategic
[2:39:02] plan update. I call on Dr. Reid. Thank
[2:39:06] you, Mr. Fr. And again, very excited to
[2:39:10] talk about um our strategic plan update.
[2:39:13] And this evening, I'll be talking about
[2:39:15] the collaborative work under the chief
[2:39:16] experience and engagements engagement
[2:39:18] office um that's being led by Dr. Renee
[2:39:22] La Huffman Jackson, uh the director of
[2:39:24] family and school partnerships and Angie
[2:39:26] El Dave, the director of community
[2:39:27] relations. Um, and this is really an
[2:39:31] exciting opportunity this evening to
[2:39:33] look at pillar B, um, which is our
[2:39:37] vibrant home, school, and community
[2:39:38] partnerships. And this evening, I'll be
[2:39:41] highlighting our FCPS family academy.
[2:39:44] So, the Office of Experience and
[2:39:47] Engagement helps uh, FCPS create a
[2:39:49] positive student, parent, staff, and
[2:39:52] community experience. In August of 2024,
[2:39:56] the office launched the FCPS Family
[2:39:58] Academy to improve and enhance
[2:40:00] homeschool collaboration. This academy
[2:40:03] serves as a one-stop site where families
[2:40:06] can connect, engage, learn, and receive
[2:40:09] support both virtually and in person.
[2:40:12] These resources empower families to
[2:40:14] navigate FCPS and support student
[2:40:17] learning at school and home, which at
[2:40:20] the end of the day is leading us to our
[2:40:23] uh strategic goals. When we look at the
[2:40:26] family academy impact, you can see what
[2:40:28] it's had since August of 2024 through
[2:40:32] March of 2025. in the learn with us
[2:40:36] section of the academy. Over 250
[2:40:38] sessions have been offered to support
[2:40:40] family engagement and the programs have
[2:40:43] been provided over three eight and 10
[2:40:45] sessions with specific family education
[2:40:48] curriculum to support school attendance,
[2:40:51] school readiness, disruptive behaviors,
[2:40:54] the extinguishment of those behaviors
[2:40:56] not supporting the behaviors and
[2:40:59] reunification. Their programs have
[2:41:01] helped families navigate formative
[2:41:03] experiences in their children's lives
[2:41:05] such as early literacy and home
[2:41:07] instruction for families of preschool
[2:41:09] youngsters, a parent project, getting to
[2:41:11] know FCPS, and other programs. The
[2:41:14] Family Resource Center also continues to
[2:41:17] offer a vast array of webinars for
[2:41:19] families through the academy. At this
[2:41:22] time, we're going to hear a little bit
[2:41:23] more about the Family Academy. Madame
[2:41:25] Clerk, please play the video.
[2:41:35] [Music]
[2:41:40] Established in August 2024 by the Chief
[2:41:42] Experience and Engagement Office, the
[2:41:44] FCPS Family Academy was created to
[2:41:47] strengthen homeschool partnerships and
[2:41:48] support student success. By bringing
[2:41:51] various learning opportunities under one
[2:41:53] umbrella, it helps families navigate
[2:41:55] Fairfax County Public Schools and better
[2:41:57] support their child's education. The
[2:41:59] Family Academy brings together a variety
[2:42:01] of classes, webinars, workshops, and
[2:42:04] programs offered by FCPS, equipping
[2:42:07] families with the tools to support their
[2:42:08] child's needs and learning at home.
[2:42:11] Additionally, it provides valuable
[2:42:13] information on available resources to
[2:42:15] ensure that every student has what they
[2:42:17] need to thrive. The family academy is a
[2:42:20] curated hub of resources for families
[2:42:23] that we work cross departmental and
[2:42:26] across offices to provide to families.
[2:42:28] told us that they wanted an
[2:42:31] opportunity to connect with other
[2:42:32] families and support their child's
[2:42:34] learning at home. Through the family
[2:42:37] academy, you can find virtual and
[2:42:39] in-person classes and programs like home
[2:42:42] instruction for parents of preschool
[2:42:43] youngsters, also known as hippie. Hippie
[2:42:46] helped Rosie Amaya recognize her son's
[2:42:49] strengths and areas where he could grow.
[2:42:51] I can now have a conversation with his
[2:42:53] teacher and you know let let her know he
[2:42:57] has difficulty in let's say counting
[2:43:00] till 20 or he loves science. I've
[2:43:04] learned that learning is everywhere and
[2:43:07] it could be simple and fun. Rosie also
[2:43:11] participated in the family academyy's
[2:43:13] early literacy program. Early literacy
[2:43:16] classes are offered in multiple
[2:43:17] languages. The Family Academy offers
[2:43:20] other multilingual programs, too,
[2:43:22] including Getting to Know FCPS, a family
[2:43:25] orientation. Getting to know FCPS
[2:43:28] provides a perfect avenue for families
[2:43:31] to have a strong start in FCPS. We
[2:43:33] create a space where they feel welcomed.
[2:43:35] Our goal is to ensure that families walk
[2:43:38] away with an understanding of how to
[2:43:39] navigate FCPS by the end of this
[2:43:42] interactive orientation.
[2:43:45] Fair
[2:43:51] FP.
[2:43:52] [Music]
[2:44:01] family.
[2:44:16] The family academy is successful because
[2:44:19] we honor the feedback from our families.
[2:44:22] We always looking for ways to grow and
[2:44:25] improve. We're working with them to
[2:44:28] design opportunities and resources that
[2:44:30] they tell us that they need. Tea Jali
[2:44:32] attended a workshop called the parent
[2:44:35] project and participates in monthly
[2:44:37] webinars offered by the family resource
[2:44:39] center.
[2:44:51] resources Fairfax County
[2:44:54] excellence, equity, and opportunity.
[2:45:00] So, it's pretty um impressive work and
[2:45:05] it happens often uh without a lot of
[2:45:07] fanfare, but um I want to make sure that
[2:45:12] you know I'll continue to be delivering
[2:45:13] reports and uh sharing the progress um
[2:45:17] and what uh we continue to be com
[2:45:20] committed to uh keeping our community
[2:45:23] informed about this work. Uh and a
[2:45:26] reminder that we're going to be
[2:45:27] presenting goal five leading for
[2:45:28] tomorrow's innovation at the April 24th
[2:45:31] school board meeting and that is our
[2:45:33] last and final goal uh presentation of
[2:45:35] the year. So Mr. Chair, this concludes
[2:45:38] our April strategic plan update. Thank
[2:45:40] you very much, Mr. Moon.
[2:45:43] Thank you, Mr. Ch. Just a couple of
[2:45:45] quick questions. Uh the family resource
[2:45:49] center, do we rely on mostly hourly
[2:45:53] employees? to run the programs. I
[2:45:56] believe that would be true, Mr. Moon.
[2:45:59] Okay. Uh based upon some conversation I
[2:46:03] anybody else that
[2:46:07] No, I believe that. Yeah. based upon you
[2:46:08] know some conversation I had with some
[2:46:11] staff members in early literacy program
[2:46:15] uh some challenges include because we
[2:46:19] are
[2:46:20] providing only hourly rate just a few
[2:46:24] hours a week and it's not throughout the
[2:46:28] entire year either it's a broken up into
[2:46:31] a segments of few weeks at a time it's a
[2:46:34] difficult to keep staff to stay in the
[2:46:39] program too long. I mean, they get they
[2:46:42] come in and do it, get trained and move
[2:46:45] on to some other
[2:46:48] positions. Any thought? Well, yes, sir.
[2:46:51] I mean, that's true. It is a challenge
[2:46:52] and the programs are not year round as
[2:46:56] we shared. Sometimes they're three week,
[2:46:58] six week, 8 week, 10 week programs. So,
[2:47:01] we would have to look at adjusting the
[2:47:03] programming to pay um more hourly more
[2:47:07] of an hourly rate or to make positions
[2:47:10] salaried. So, I think at this current
[2:47:12] budget uh time, which I'll talk a little
[2:47:15] more about in our next item, I don't see
[2:47:18] a lot of room for changing that program
[2:47:20] for this year. But I think if we want to
[2:47:23] think
[2:47:23] about a multi-year program to enhance
[2:47:27] that, they also would connect to
[2:47:29] preschool. I think in some cases the
[2:47:31] early literacy or hippie program uh but
[2:47:35] you're correct. I mean there's a
[2:47:36] turnover of staff and uh people often uh
[2:47:41] want more hours and so I think that is a
[2:47:44] challenge. I mean it's a challenge for
[2:47:45] our foundation. I hope that you can
[2:47:47] bring that up for discussion maybe not
[2:47:49] for this upcoming budget but the
[2:47:52] following year hopefully. Yes sir. Thank
[2:47:54] you. Thank you Mr. Moon. going to fix
[2:47:57] it.
[2:47:59] Dr. Reed, this is amazing. Um, I believe
[2:48:01] that relationship between the family and
[2:48:03] the school system is very integral to
[2:48:05] for student success too and especially
[2:48:08] for a lot of immigrant families and who
[2:48:10] are coming and with language barriers
[2:48:11] are really good to see that different
[2:48:13] languages um you know people speaking
[2:48:16] when they're in u participation. I my
[2:48:19] question was this. Most of these uh
[2:48:21] programs are geared towards preschoolers
[2:48:23] or younger uh I guess um K K3 or K4. U I feel like connection of the family and
[2:48:33] uh and the parent is family and the
[2:48:35] school is lost a little bit in the
[2:48:37] middle school and high school. So is
[2:48:39] there a way to bring those people also
[2:48:42] in this conversation or have events and
[2:48:45] I understand it's not easy. Uh but I
[2:48:48] just feel as a parent I did not have
[2:48:51] that much of in involvement with my
[2:48:53] son's school uh in middle school and
[2:48:56] high school. I think you've raised a
[2:48:58] great point and I um as a former high
[2:49:01] school principal I used to tell parents
[2:49:03] it's the time our children most need us.
[2:49:06] uh we think it's younger but I think it
[2:49:08] really is very often um as they get
[2:49:11] older right so I'm going to turn to Miss
[2:49:13] L or Dr. Lauffman Jackson to talk just a
[2:49:16] minute about what we do provide for
[2:49:17] middle and high school uh more likely I
[2:49:21] think of families moving into the
[2:49:22] division but I will ask her to share
[2:49:25] what is available in middle and high
[2:49:26] school. Sure. Um the video highlighted
[2:49:30] some of our programs and those weren't
[2:49:32] all of the programs and you are correct
[2:49:34] that those were highlighting our um
[2:49:36] school readiness programs. However, at
[2:49:39] the middle school and high school level
[2:49:42] um we have programs like parent project
[2:49:45] and um parent project works with
[2:49:47] families around um attendance and some
[2:49:51] of those other um issues of support
[2:49:54] around supporting their child. um
[2:49:58] programs and classes are one aspect of
[2:50:00] the family academy. We also have
[2:50:02] workshops that are targeted to um middle
[2:50:06] and high school. We recently held
[2:50:08] sessions um in the Edison and the um um
[2:50:14] not West PTOIC pyramid around I'm a
[2:50:17] middle school parent. Now, what trying
[2:50:20] to help our families um transition from
[2:50:22] elementary to middle school and at the
[2:50:24] end of the month there's going to be a
[2:50:26] session a work sess um session at uh
[2:50:29] Robinson and we're going to taking that
[2:50:32] around to all of our pyramids. Um so
[2:50:35] there are workshops and programs for the
[2:50:38] middle and high school. However, the
[2:50:40] video highlighted these early um school
[2:50:44] readiness programs. Thank you for the
[2:50:46] answer. And last question is um there's
[2:50:48] so much of information uh overload there
[2:50:51] are messages going out from school and I
[2:50:54] don't know if this is uh how are you
[2:50:56] able to get to the the families like it
[2:50:59] is because I'm sure they're getting ton
[2:51:01] of a communication so what what is being
[2:51:03] successful so
[2:51:05] far Dr. Luffman Jackson.
[2:51:10] So, we work with our communications team
[2:51:13] um through a lot of marketing through
[2:51:15] our uh FCPS this week communications.
[2:51:19] There's always a section around the
[2:51:20] family academy and all the offerings and
[2:51:23] the family academy is designed in six
[2:51:25] areas and the learn with us is one of
[2:51:28] catalog but we also have resources and
[2:51:31] tools and other sections of the academy.
[2:51:34] We in this principal toolkit weekly
[2:51:37] there's also information that goes out
[2:51:39] for principles to put that into their
[2:51:41] communications so that we can have a
[2:51:43] broader um marketing around the
[2:51:45] division.
[2:51:48] Thank you Miss Dixon. Miss St. John
[2:51:51] Cunning excuse
[2:51:58] me I'll come back to you. Sorry Dr.
[2:52:02] Anderson,
[2:52:04] I want to get her some water.
[2:52:08] Oh, okay. Um very quickly, the parent
[2:52:12] project is that the um initiative that
[2:52:16] exists at Annadel High
[2:52:18] School because I did have an opportunity
[2:52:20] to visit that
[2:52:21] probably a year two years ago and it is
[2:52:25] really great and our parent leaison's a
[2:52:28] huge part of that and just for
[2:52:30] everybody's edification there's a
[2:52:32] component where there's dinner that's
[2:52:34] provided so parents and students are
[2:52:36] able to have a meal together then they
[2:52:38] separate and the students engage in
[2:52:40] their learning to further their
[2:52:41] academics and the parents engage in
[2:52:43] learning to help support their students
[2:52:45] and then they come back to to um discuss
[2:52:49] how they're going to be working
[2:52:50] together. It is actually one of the most
[2:52:53] powerful things that I I've seen and so
[2:52:56] having an opportunity to expand that
[2:52:59] because I do not know how many high
[2:53:01] schools provide that. Um Dr. Um, Hoffman
[2:53:05] Jackson, can you articulate how many
[2:53:08] schools have that?
[2:53:12] I don't have the exact numbers, but I
[2:53:14] can tell you it's at many of our high
[2:53:16] schools. This year, we also partnered
[2:53:19] with our um colleagues in social work
[2:53:22] for our Virginia all-in grant and we've
[2:53:26] been able to spread it further. So
[2:53:28] parent project is for the middle and
[2:53:29] high school and the same program for
[2:53:31] elementary is called loving solutions
[2:53:33] and it's the same curriculum but for
[2:53:36] different age groups. It is very
[2:53:38] targeted and very structured. And my
[2:53:40] other question is regarding the um what
[2:53:43] you've just showed. How many of our
[2:53:45] schools have um the the family project
[2:53:49] opportunities? Is it all of our schools?
[2:53:51] And how do we determine if it is not
[2:53:55] the family project? I'm sorry, I losing
[2:53:57] the name of what we just talked about.
[2:53:59] Oh, the family academy. The family
[2:54:01] academy. So, I think that's open to the
[2:54:04] whole division, but
[2:54:07] Miss Hall, so that's centrally based.
[2:54:09] This is Yes, this is centrally based um
[2:54:13] through family and school partnerships.
[2:54:14] Uh community relations also has a role
[2:54:16] in it and it's it is divisionwide. Um
[2:54:19] both, you know, they're virtual and
[2:54:21] hybrid opportunities as well as in
[2:54:23] person. Um, we're continuing to build
[2:54:26] programming for the rest of the division
[2:54:28] and pyramid by pyramid. Okay. Thank you.
[2:54:33] Dr. Anderson. Miss St. John
[2:54:34] Cunning.
[2:54:36] Okay. I was really excited and I guess I
[2:54:38] just started to cough as as you all know
[2:54:41] this is very close to my heart because I
[2:54:43] was a parent leaison or family liaison
[2:54:45] as um they are called now.
[2:54:49] Um one of the things that first of all
[2:54:52] kudos um to all the work that's being
[2:54:55] done and like anything it could be
[2:54:57] multiplied as Mr. Moon said we could
[2:55:00] have more full-time people doing this. I
[2:55:02] think one of the most powerful uh
[2:55:04] messages from what one of the parents
[2:55:06] said was that she was really impressed
[2:55:08] that that family liaison was there and
[2:55:11] even though we talk about parent project
[2:55:13] and family reunification which Fairfax
[2:55:16] County created and has gone on to teach
[2:55:19] at other divisions because the program
[2:55:22] was so incredible and really helped our
[2:55:24] families. Uh so there is programming
[2:55:27] from preschool all the way to high
[2:55:30] school. And I will tell you that aside
[2:55:33] from all the programming, the most
[2:55:36] critical part of our family and school
[2:55:39] partnership are those family liaison
[2:55:42] that are there on a daily basis, that
[2:55:44] have the cultural competency, that have
[2:55:47] the language skills to connect with our
[2:55:49] parents, that have the ability
[2:55:52] to bridge, as I would always say,
[2:55:55] passing the trust between the teacher
[2:55:57] and the parent or the counselor and the
[2:56:00] parent or the social worker and the
[2:56:02] parent and who are actively involved in
[2:56:04] our community. A lot of our family
[2:56:06] liaison are not just in our schools,
[2:56:08] they are in the community, they are
[2:56:10] doing the work and just kudos for the
[2:56:13] work that uh Dr. Reneella Hoffman
[2:56:16] Jackson is doing who was once my boss
[2:56:18] and uh so kudos to the work that you're
[2:56:22] doing and um I will always advocate for
[2:56:26] the work that our family liaison do
[2:56:28] because they work endless hours because
[2:56:30] they are committed to the families and
[2:56:32] they stay with some of those families
[2:56:34] from head start through graduation. And
[2:56:37] so um I just can't say enough about the
[2:56:41] programming. Uh I would love to have a
[2:56:44] million dollars to expand it. Um because
[2:56:47] that is so critical when we bring our
[2:56:50] families in and empower the parents and
[2:56:55] when the parents see that the value that
[2:56:57] they have in their children's education
[2:56:59] when they themselves maybe weren't
[2:57:00] educated but they recognize that they
[2:57:03] have that power with their kids. It is
[2:57:06] just priceless. So thank you for all the
[2:57:09] work. Thank you. It's a great team.
[2:57:12] Thank you, Miss St. Jen Cunning. Moving
[2:57:14] along. Agenda item
[2:57:16] 8.03, financial year 2026, approved
[2:57:19] budget update. I call in Dr. Reed. Thank
[2:57:21] you, Chairman Fr. and good evening,
[2:57:24] members of the board and those
[2:57:26] listening. Uh this evening we're taking
[2:57:29] an opportunity to remind the school
[2:57:31] board and community about the ongoing
[2:57:33] budget work uh that surrounds our FY26
[2:57:36] budget and provide some important
[2:57:38] updates as we progress towards final
[2:57:41] budget adoption on May 22nd. So this
[2:57:45] evening you're going to see some repeat
[2:57:47] slides and information because um as we
[2:57:51] progress towards these May deadlines uh
[2:57:54] just wanting to there's value in
[2:57:56] restating some of our uh major tenants
[2:58:00] here and again just reminding our
[2:58:03] community that FCPS is committed to
[2:58:07] delivering a worldclass education. Um,
[2:58:09] there are many who would say that our
[2:58:12] school division is our county's greatest
[2:58:15] asset. And to continue uh being this
[2:58:19] incredible asset to our county, it's
[2:58:21] important that we maintain high
[2:58:24] expectations which require us to
[2:58:26] continue to have sustainable high
[2:58:28] support. Um, I do believe that uh a
[2:58:32] world-class education is an economic
[2:58:34] engine and we're very uh proud of the
[2:58:37] work of our staff and our students and
[2:58:40] the support of our families here in the
[2:58:41] county. Just a reminder on class sizes.
[2:58:46] This is something that our county has
[2:58:48] often prided itself on is maintaining
[2:58:51] reasonable class sizes so that all of
[2:58:54] our students have an opportunity to be
[2:58:56] known by name, strength, and need.
[2:58:58] Currently, FCPS ranks fifth out of eight
[2:59:02] uh school divisions in our region in
[2:59:05] terms of class size. However, when
[2:59:07] school levels are considered
[2:59:10] individually, elementary school we rank
[2:59:12] third of eight, middle school sixth of
[2:59:15] eight, and high school fourth of eight.
[2:59:18] We know um that it's really important uh
[2:59:22] to continue monitoring this data point
[2:59:24] as again overall we rank in the middle
[2:59:27] of our wavy
[2:59:29] districts. Want to remind our community
[2:59:31] about our uh beginning teacher salaries.
[2:59:35] This is important as we spoke earlier
[2:59:37] about the number of graduates from
[2:59:39] Commonwealth uh education programs. When
[2:59:42] there are more positions open than there
[2:59:44] are graduates, it's highly competitive.
[2:59:47] And so these starting salaries become
[2:59:49] more important. In
[2:59:51] FY25, we ranked fifth out of eighth. And
[2:59:55] assuming we receive full funding, we
[2:59:58] would rank second in starting teacher
[3:00:00] salary. So it's, you know, we're hopeful
[3:00:03] that we're going to uh have full funding
[3:00:06] and that we'll be able to see um our
[3:00:09] staff be ranked at least second in
[3:00:12] starter teacher salary. also want to
[3:00:14] remind our community that we have the
[3:00:16] lowest ratio of central management um
[3:00:20] compared to those divisions around us
[3:00:22] and really by significant margins. In
[3:00:25] other words, um as the second uh largest
[3:00:29] school division in the area, I believe
[3:00:32] is um Prince William County, I think
[3:00:35] we're still uh well below uh the ratio
[3:00:39] in terms of central management. So just
[3:00:41] really trying to be thoughtful about
[3:00:43] making sure our resources are at the
[3:00:46] school level where we know the action
[3:00:48] with our students occurs. Want to remind
[3:00:52] um our community that the $4 billion
[3:00:55] operating fund budget reflects the scale
[3:00:58] as one of the largest school divisions
[3:00:59] in the country. We are the ninth
[3:01:01] largest. We run the largest school bus
[3:01:03] fleet in the nation and by many accounts
[3:01:06] are larger than seven states worth of
[3:01:09] enrollment. With that overview, we
[3:01:12] continue to summarize uh the proposals
[3:01:15] from our county and state partners which
[3:01:17] you see here on the slide. And I think
[3:01:20] that it's really important to note that
[3:01:22] while our budget request of the county
[3:01:24] included an additional 268.3 million,
[3:01:28] the county executive at this time um has
[3:01:31] only recommended an increase of 118.6 6
[3:01:34] million which leaves a $150 million gap
[3:01:38] in the transfer at this time. I want to
[3:01:42] um share again uh next slide please
[3:01:45] Kevin. Thank you. Uh there are two
[3:01:49] distinct budgets that we're referring to
[3:01:50] and I think there's been a little
[3:01:52] confusion at times. So, it's important
[3:01:55] that in this PowerPoint this evening
[3:01:57] that I want to clarify that this slide
[3:01:59] number seven are county budget decisions
[3:02:03] that have impacted schools, which are
[3:02:05] not Fairfax County public school budget
[3:02:08] decisions, but rather um Fairfax County
[3:02:11] budget decisions. And you can see these
[3:02:13] on the slide. Um, and I just want to
[3:02:17] clarify again, these um sit within the
[3:02:20] county budget side. In looking at the
[3:02:22] state budget update, um, at this time in
[3:02:26] March, the general assembly amended the
[3:02:28] governor's budget in a way that could
[3:02:30] result in Fairfax County receiving an
[3:02:33] additional 28.3 million in funding for
[3:02:37] FY26. However, the governor followed up
[3:02:39] with recommended amendments and vetos
[3:02:41] that would have reduced the 28.3 to 15.7
[3:02:46] million. More recently, stay tuned, the
[3:02:49] general assembly rejected most of the
[3:02:51] recommended budget changes and so now
[3:02:54] have sent it back to the governor um
[3:02:56] with the possibility of us um recouping
[3:02:59] the additional 28.3 million and the
[3:03:02] governor has 30 days from the general
[3:03:04] assembly's latest action to review and
[3:03:07] take final action on the budget.
[3:03:10] want to remind those watching about the
[3:03:12] JARK recommendations and the uh chronic
[3:03:15] underfunding really of schools across
[3:03:18] the Commonwealth. Um again estimating
[3:03:21] annually an underfunding of Fairfax
[3:03:24] County Public Schools of over $500
[3:03:28] million which is approximately $3,100
[3:03:31] per student enrolled in Fairfax County.
[3:03:36] At this point, the local WAB divisions
[3:03:38] have released their budgets. And while
[3:03:40] we are poised to have the second highest
[3:03:42] beginning teacher salary in the region,
[3:03:44] our standing could be at risk without
[3:03:46] sufficient funding. Really, regardless
[3:03:49] of where we end up at beginning teacher
[3:03:51] salaries, we will continue to lag behind
[3:03:54] at the midpoint and maximum salaries
[3:03:57] among the wavy divisions. In looking at
[3:04:00] the impact of the county and state
[3:04:02] budget, uh the funding gap could range
[3:04:05] anywhere from 120 to 150 million based
[3:04:09] on the governor's decision to sign or
[3:04:11] not sign the current budget. And also
[3:04:14] just wanted to put out there for um the
[3:04:18] board and our community that and you may
[3:04:20] be aware that the board of supervisors
[3:04:21] have advertised a real estate tax rate
[3:04:25] increase and a potential meals tax.
[3:04:27] While the advertised real estate tax
[3:04:30] rate is included in the county
[3:04:31] executive's budget proposal, the revenue
[3:04:34] from the meals tax is actually not yet
[3:04:37] included. And so what we did is provided
[3:04:40] some calculations to support um the
[3:04:44] discussion here. And originally when
[3:04:47] there was a meals tax proposed and
[3:04:49] envisioned several years ago, there was
[3:04:51] a discussion at that time that there
[3:04:54] would be 70% of the distribution of
[3:04:56] those meals uh taxes that would go to
[3:04:59] Fairfax County public schools. So we
[3:05:02] calculated that half of this because it
[3:05:04] would only be half a year could result
[3:05:07] in an additional 45.5 million to help
[3:05:11] reduce our funding gap range further. I
[3:05:14] mean, if the county decided to provide
[3:05:16] 100% of the allocation of this 4% meals
[3:05:19] tax, it could increase as much as 65
[3:05:22] million in additional funding, which
[3:05:25] would really support a narrowing of the
[3:05:27] gap in the transfer.
[3:05:30] So this is a lot of information, but
[3:05:33] what I've been most impressed about in
[3:05:35] the last couple days is I had an
[3:05:37] opportunity to host a roundt discussion
[3:05:40] on this budget with some of our student
[3:05:43] journalists. So, we had an opportunity
[3:05:46] and I really want to give Beth Vizolei a
[3:05:48] shout out from our communications team
[3:05:50] who said, "Why not go to our lead
[3:05:53] journalists or those folks who write for
[3:05:55] their school papers and media and we
[3:05:59] then had 24 of our 27 high schools
[3:06:02] represented um yesterday afternoon. So,
[3:06:06] I started the meeting um and we thought
[3:06:08] we'd explain some things about the
[3:06:09] budget, but lo and behold, we did not
[3:06:11] need to because they came prepared and
[3:06:14] they had some tough questions um and
[3:06:17] really had, you know, I think a lot of
[3:06:21] insight into what a high-erforming, high
[3:06:23] achieving school division is and how
[3:06:26] it's impacted them. And I think you'll
[3:06:28] be proud of that and also their
[3:06:30] understanding that we are at a
[3:06:32] crossroads.
[3:06:34] What's helped them become the young
[3:06:36] people that they are as they transform
[3:06:39] the world around them is a legacy move
[3:06:41] they want for their younger siblings and
[3:06:44] their future children and a community
[3:06:46] they want to come back to after they've
[3:06:48] gone on uh to have adventures out there.
[3:06:52] These voices matter and I think we need
[3:06:54] to make sure we remember why we're here
[3:06:57] and center our work in the voice of our
[3:06:59] young people. So, let's see how this uh
[3:07:03] rather large press conference went.
[3:07:05] Thank you, Kevin. Hi, I'm Kelly. I'm
[3:07:08] from Fairfax High School. Um, with the
[3:07:11] necessity to defund certain programs or
[3:07:13] delay new initiatives, I also read
[3:07:14] online that the middle school after
[3:07:16] school program might be cut, but I
[3:07:18] wasn't sure if that was 100% true. Um,
[3:07:20] what criteria does FCPS use to determine
[3:07:23] what programs are reduced or eliminated?
[3:07:26] So, right now in our budget, we didn't
[3:07:29] plan to reduce or eliminate any
[3:07:31] programs. We've uh worked on
[3:07:34] efficiencies, but your example of the
[3:07:36] middle middle school after school
[3:07:37] program, the county actually funds that
[3:07:40] program, not the school division, and
[3:07:42] they've chosen to cut that. So, that
[3:07:44] wasn't a cut we would have chosen to
[3:07:46] make and we hope they reinstate that.
[3:07:49] It's very important.
[3:07:54] Hi, I'm Sierra and I'm from South Lakes
[3:07:56] High School. Um will any of the budget
[3:08:00] go for to like school security and
[3:08:03] safety and if so what are the things
[3:08:06] that are going to happen? So why is FCPS
[3:08:11] asking the county for more money this
[3:08:14] year? What do you think the
[3:08:16] ramifications would be if FCPS were to
[3:08:18] not receive that money or that
[3:08:19] additional funding they're requesting?
[3:08:21] Because FCPS currently has no plans to
[3:08:24] my understanding of getting rid of DEI
[3:08:26] that we'll be losing the 4% of federal
[3:08:29] funding that is in our budget. How is
[3:08:30] that going to affect everyday life for
[3:08:32] students? There are a number of
[3:08:34] practices that in fact are quite
[3:08:36] supported and our former secretary of
[3:08:39] education was very clear about that. And
[3:08:42] as we do continue to follow state and
[3:08:44] federal law, we still believe that
[3:08:46] equitable opportunities for our students
[3:08:48] is what really is the generator for
[3:08:50] excellence. So, we're not planning to
[3:08:52] lose those funds and um we trust that won't come to pass. I think
[3:08:58] teachers are one of the most important
[3:08:59] aspects of our county and I think it's a
[3:09:02] big accomplishment for the county to
[3:09:04] agree on collective bargaining. How will
[3:09:06] the county maintain recruitment for
[3:09:09] teachers despite like the um shortfall
[3:09:12] the budget shortfall for the 7%
[3:09:15] anticipated salary increase? I'm come
[3:09:17] from an alternative high school that has
[3:09:20] less student at the principal high
[3:09:22] schools and my question is how will the
[3:09:24] proposed budget will continue to fund uh
[3:09:27] multim high school and schools like it
[3:09:29] with the significant increase in
[3:09:31] students who are economically
[3:09:32] disadvantaged and in special education
[3:09:35] programs multilingual how will the
[3:09:37] additional funding be allocated to meet
[3:09:39] these changing needs and priorities
[3:09:41] other schools in the county are also are
[3:09:43] nearing time for a remodel or additional
[3:09:45] funding We know that these schools are
[3:09:47] in need of upgrades or increased
[3:09:48] support. Having a sister who's a first
[3:09:50] year third grade teacher in FCPS, I was
[3:09:53] heartened to see that with this 7%
[3:09:55] increase, uh FCPS teachers will become
[3:09:58] first in starting salary. But I am
[3:10:01] concerned to see that even with the 7%
[3:10:03] increase, which obviously is not
[3:10:05] promised, um FCPS will still be fifth at
[3:10:08] midpoint salaries and seventh out of
[3:10:10] eight at maximum salaries. Given that
[3:10:12] the $297 million increase in the budget
[3:10:15] is large is largely dedicated to
[3:10:17] compensation for educators and services
[3:10:20] for diverse learners, what measures,
[3:10:21] indicators, or set goals will FCPS used
[3:10:24] to measure the the effectiveness of
[3:10:26] these investments in improving student
[3:10:28] outcomes in overall school? Do you see
[3:10:30] any long-term impacts on low-income
[3:10:33] students in the foreseeable future? Is
[3:10:36] there going to be a priority over sports
[3:10:40] versus arts programs with the budget?
[3:10:43] you know, as you read news reports and
[3:10:46] hold your elected officials accountable.
[3:10:48] Uh these are our tax dollars and your
[3:10:51] parents' tax dollars and soon to be your
[3:10:53] tax dollars and we want to make sure um
[3:10:56] that they're spent in a way that really
[3:10:58] shapes and lifts up uh future
[3:11:00] generations because the budget, while
[3:11:03] it's not the most glamorous topic, it
[3:11:05] drives everything we do.
[3:11:12] So, I think we've got some pretty
[3:11:14] amazing young journalists. And I'm just
[3:11:17] gonna spoiler alert, if you want to know
[3:11:19] the answers to all those questions and
[3:11:22] more, you have to check in with your
[3:11:23] local school media. So, I'm not scooping
[3:11:26] them. Um, but they were pretty amazing.
[3:11:29] So, I'm going to close out the
[3:11:31] presentation this evening just with a
[3:11:34] reminder that there are so many things
[3:11:36] that FCPS does that exceed the minimum
[3:11:40] state standards. We just jotted down
[3:11:42] some of those um in alphabetical order
[3:11:46] uh both on the instructional and
[3:11:48] operational side of the house that um
[3:11:51] and just a I think a real reminder that
[3:11:54] our community has expectations and we
[3:11:57] traditionally have funded those and
[3:11:59] supported those and at this point uh the
[3:12:03] crossroad situation we find ourselves in
[3:12:06] is that that classroom experience is
[3:12:08] going to be impacted one way or another
[3:12:11] depending on um the degree to which
[3:12:13] we're funded and our students also
[3:12:16] wanted to me to make sure that I noted
[3:12:18] that a world-class education occurs both
[3:12:20] inside and outside of the classroom and
[3:12:23] FCPS has always taken great pride in
[3:12:25] that. So, I want to remind our community
[3:12:28] about next steps. Um, and this is the
[3:12:30] timeline, date line. Uh, the next major
[3:12:34] milestone for the county are the public
[3:12:36] hearings that the board of supervisors
[3:12:38] host from April 22nd through the 24th.
[3:12:42] The budget, uh, the county budget will
[3:12:44] be marked up on May 6th and finalized on
[3:12:46] May 13th, while the school budget will
[3:12:49] be presented on May 8th with final
[3:12:51] adoption scheduled for May 22nd. So, a
[3:12:55] lot to keep track of and we do have a
[3:12:58] website uh to you know for folks who
[3:13:01] want to stay involved but at this time
[3:13:03] that's um the update on our budget
[3:13:05] process. Chairman FR. Thank you Dr.
[3:13:07] Reid. I appreciated the Smith's t-shirt
[3:13:09] in that video. Um and I also want to
[3:13:12] note since this presentation was
[3:13:15] prepared we've added a PM work session
[3:13:17] for uh the committee of the whole the
[3:13:19] budget committee. So, we'll be doing
[3:13:21] that on the Tuesday the 22nd from 6:30
[3:13:25] to 8:30. Obviously, open to the public
[3:13:28] and available in all the other platforms
[3:13:30] that we typically stream on. We'll get
[3:13:31] started with Miss Seismoreheiser.
[3:13:36] Thank you. I appreciate it. And first,
[3:13:37] thank you for this presentation. And um
[3:13:40] I think it's important for our public as
[3:13:42] we saw from the the public comments
[3:13:43] tonight and the things that I've been
[3:13:45] hearing and others have been hearing to
[3:13:46] kind of have a bit of a update on what
[3:13:49] is the status of our budget and really
[3:13:51] what is at risk here with our budget
[3:13:52] too. So I appreciate you talking about
[3:13:55] one, you know, I wanted to mention in
[3:13:57] some of the statistics you give in the
[3:13:58] early slides. It really does show how
[3:14:00] effective and efficient we are, right?
[3:14:02] Our class sizes are not the smallest,
[3:14:04] but they're not the biggest in the
[3:14:05] county in the area. we had the lowest
[3:14:07] ratio of central office staff to um to
[3:14:11] given our surrounding jurisdictions. And
[3:14:13] um but the other thing I really wanted
[3:14:15] to point out first, well first was that
[3:14:17] Smith's t-shirt because that brought me
[3:14:19] back to my day. So that was pretty
[3:14:21] awesome. So whoever that student
[3:14:22] journalist was, please let him know he
[3:14:24] made an impression on us. Yes, ma'am. Um
[3:14:26] but slide seven, you know, I just I wish
[3:14:28] the people who were here tonight to
[3:14:29] speak about the middle school after
[3:14:30] school program, we're here to see this
[3:14:32] part because you know while we are in
[3:14:34] tough budget times and you know I wish
[3:14:36] the state would do more to address the
[3:14:39] chronic underfunding as shown in the
[3:14:40] JARK report. You know there this is you
[3:14:43] know and we're trying to work in
[3:14:45] partnership with our board of
[3:14:46] supervisors. you know, it is difficult
[3:14:49] to see some of these cuts that I think
[3:14:50] there's there's some confusion in the
[3:14:52] public as to where these cuts are coming
[3:14:53] from, right? And I hope that the um
[3:14:56] board of supervisors will continue to
[3:14:58] fund the middle school after school
[3:14:59] programming. I've heard from lots of
[3:15:00] families and students and teachers of
[3:15:02] how beneficial it's been for the
[3:15:04] students at the middle school. But I
[3:15:05] wanted to point out that these are all
[3:15:06] of the different areas that are that
[3:15:08] impact the school system that are not in
[3:15:10] our budget. They're they're been
[3:15:12] traditionally in the county's budget on
[3:15:14] slide seven. Is that a correct way of
[3:15:15] interpreting that slide? Yes, ma'am. It
[3:15:17] is. And I think that's important to
[3:15:18] point out that these are additional ways
[3:15:20] that the county supported the schools,
[3:15:22] but it's always been traditionally part
[3:15:23] of their budget. And so, it would be
[3:15:25] difficult having a shortfall that we
[3:15:28] have of either 121 million or 149
[3:15:30] million depending on what the state does
[3:15:32] to absorb an additional $7.7 million to
[3:15:36] cover. So, you know, we're already at a
[3:15:38] crossroads. I understand everybody's
[3:15:41] budget numbers are tight right now, but
[3:15:43] it would be difficult to include include
[3:15:45] that in our budget as well. And the only
[3:15:47] the last thing I wanted to mention on
[3:15:49] slide 13, when you say these are the
[3:15:52] areas that we exceed the minimum state
[3:15:54] standards, what I'm assuming what you're
[3:15:56] trying to get at is that the state only
[3:15:58] funds us for what they consider the
[3:16:00] state standards, the SOQs, right, in
[3:16:03] terms of um staffing for schools because
[3:16:06] the state funds us on a staffing model,
[3:16:08] right? Correct. And so the amount that
[3:16:10] they fund us for staffing doesn't cover
[3:16:13] all of these things. Is that correct?
[3:16:15] Yes, ma'am. That's correct. So if we
[3:16:18] have this much of a shortfall and the
[3:16:20] state isn't making up their share from
[3:16:21] JARK and from the underfunding um and
[3:16:25] we're not getting it from the county
[3:16:27] because there's a lot of competing
[3:16:28] interest and a lot of issues on the
[3:16:30] budgets on both sides.
[3:16:33] All of these things that you listed here
[3:16:34] could potentially be at risk for not
[3:16:37] continuing or some of these things. I
[3:16:40] think that there the reason we noted
[3:16:42] them is there is a risk they certainly
[3:16:43] could be impacted. Um for example, we
[3:16:47] have more
[3:16:49] um we have more staffing in some areas
[3:16:53] than the state uh talks about. The uh
[3:16:56] advanced academic resource teachers, for
[3:16:58] example, are not in a state SOQ. uh but
[3:17:02] Fairfax County has determined that those
[3:17:04] roles are important for the work that
[3:17:06] occurs in our classrooms and schools. So
[3:17:09] it you know as you go down these lists
[3:17:11] there are either they are not in the
[3:17:15] state formula or we've enhanced the
[3:17:17] state formula to provide a higher level
[3:17:20] of service delivery for our students
[3:17:22] here. I mean a couple things I wanted to
[3:17:24] mention in here the college and career
[3:17:25] specialists which we just heard from our
[3:17:27] students. I know you mentioned that to
[3:17:29] consider how important that is.
[3:17:30] Elementary art, music, and PE teachers.
[3:17:32] We know how important having a
[3:17:34] well-rounded education is in the
[3:17:35] elementary school. So, I think it's
[3:17:37] important to realize that this is what
[3:17:38] the crossroads means, right? If we want
[3:17:41] to continue to be Fairfax County, this
[3:17:43] is where our crossroads is at, and we've
[3:17:44] just got to figure out how to continue
[3:17:46] all of the great things that we're
[3:17:47] doing. One last question on this. Oh,
[3:17:50] I'm sorry. Can I can last question?
[3:17:51] Sorry. Um, are you aware of how much
[3:17:55] money average school systems spend above
[3:17:57] the SOQs? Like, are most school systems
[3:17:59] able to staff schools within the SOQs in
[3:18:02] Virginia? Are we unusual that we go
[3:18:04] beyond that? No, ma'am. I I know that
[3:18:06] schools across the Commonwealth tend to
[3:18:09] staff above the SOQs and for for sure
[3:18:13] here in Fairfax County, that's left to
[3:18:15] the county uh pretty much. And we're
[3:18:17] grateful for the support our county has
[3:18:20] provided over the years. uh because
[3:18:22] that's enabled us to uh go beyond the
[3:18:25] minimum and I think when we talk about
[3:18:27] excellence uh we definitely that
[3:18:30] requires more than the minimum right so
[3:18:33] um our community's always been there for
[3:18:35] us and we trust that will continue thank
[3:18:37] you thank you Missmerheiser Miss Marin
[3:18:44] u Dr. Reed, the questions I've gotten in
[3:18:46] the community the last few days, um, I'd
[3:18:49] like to ask you please. One of them is
[3:18:51] why can't the superintendent cut
[3:18:52] something else to keep the afterchool
[3:18:54] programs?
[3:18:56] So, at this point, the afterchool
[3:18:58] programs, as per slide seven, were on
[3:19:02] the county side of the budget and if we
[3:19:05] were being fully funded, like our full
[3:19:07] transfer, we could
[3:19:09] likely look for some spaces. Uh, but
[3:19:12] we're already in a situation where we're
[3:19:15] not being fully funded potentially up to
[3:19:19] $150 million, which would not leave any
[3:19:23] uh wiggle room at all at this point to
[3:19:25] be funding from the school budget, what
[3:19:28] traditionally has been funded from the
[3:19:30] county budget. Well, that is the the
[3:19:31] next question I receive is why can't
[3:19:33] FCPS tighten its belt more in terms of,
[3:19:36] you know, being more efficient and where
[3:19:38] is data substantiating that FCPS has
[3:19:40] done so already? and there's really
[3:19:42] nothing left to cut. So, we had a chart
[3:19:45] and I'm not sure if it's still up on the
[3:19:46] website, but if not, we'll make sure
[3:19:48] it's up tomorrow morning, but over the
[3:19:50] last 10 years, we've cut over $800
[3:19:52] million from our budget, either in cost
[3:19:54] avoidance, efficiencies, or simply
[3:19:58] efficiency cuts. So, we can absolutely
[3:20:01] document over 800 million in savings
[3:20:03] over the last decade. I'm aware you've
[3:20:05] already had to inform those middle
[3:20:07] school staff who are FCPS employees
[3:20:09] funded with county funds that they will
[3:20:11] not have a job beginning July 1. Are you
[3:20:13] able to state how many jobs you've
[3:20:16] reduced either within this budget
[3:20:18] development season or even just say in
[3:20:20] the last year? So, I would say that uh
[3:20:23] much as the county has discussed their
[3:20:26] number of jobs that they've um
[3:20:28] eliminated, many of those were vacant
[3:20:31] positions. And similarly in our
[3:20:34] efficiency work, we have uh closed down
[3:20:37] vacant positions as well. Um, and I
[3:20:41] would also say when you think about
[3:20:43] fewer, we're right around 1% of central
[3:20:46] office support, the vast majority of our
[3:20:49] staff are at the school level. So, we
[3:20:51] have not um to date eliminated positions
[3:20:55] at the school other than those that are
[3:20:57] enrollment driven. Uh but with the level
[3:21:01] of of transfer dissonance, it's going to
[3:21:05] be very difficult not to look at
[3:21:07] school-based staff or programs in
[3:21:09] addition to central office-based.
[3:21:12] Um about the student meeting with the
[3:21:13] journalists, did the individual
[3:21:15] journalists re research the situation on
[3:21:17] their own perhaps with you know
[3:21:19] information or direction from your staff
[3:21:20] or are FCPS students being taught now
[3:21:23] and consistently about local government
[3:21:25] and its impact in their lives? Each of
[3:21:27] the journalists that came are writing or
[3:21:31] um providing I mean they're acting in
[3:21:34] the role of a journalist at their
[3:21:36] school. Several have asked for follow-up
[3:21:38] interviews. Um we did not provide the
[3:21:41] questions. Um and they came uh ready
[3:21:45] with actually more questions than we got
[3:21:47] to in a little over an hour. Well, I
[3:21:49] can't wait to receive a copy of that
[3:21:50] link so I could share it. I am concerned
[3:21:53] though because when I've talked to a
[3:21:54] number of students recently and even in
[3:21:56] the past whether it's AP government IB
[3:21:58] course or you know gened uh they really
[3:22:02] don't understand what's happening
[3:22:04] locally. We you know they think they
[3:22:06] vote every four years and I know like
[3:22:08] Oakton High School has an amazing
[3:22:09] program where they bring in candidates
[3:22:10] and they have a model Congress. What you
[3:22:12] know we had this whole discussion about
[3:22:13] social studies. Are we preparing the
[3:22:15] units to teach the students the, you
[3:22:18] know, litany of people who represent
[3:22:20] them and that we vote every year in
[3:22:21] Virginia?
[3:22:23] So, we didn't discuss all of that in the
[3:22:26] press conference, as you u might guess,
[3:22:29] but I do know that I think our students
[3:22:31] are beginning to form a much more cogent
[3:22:36] um perspective on their experience right
[3:22:39] now. uh and being so close to the
[3:22:42] nation's capital, I think our students
[3:22:44] here are much more um aware of political
[3:22:49] uh moves around them of all
[3:22:52] perspectives. So um in fact, there was a
[3:22:55] question about why doesn't the central
[3:22:58] office more directly fund journalism at
[3:23:01] the high schools? They took a moment for
[3:23:03] a shameless plug. Um, so we did discuss
[3:23:06] that as well. And we're still, I mean,
[3:23:08] we're at this crossroads where this
[3:23:10] board has put a stake in the, you know,
[3:23:12] a stake in the
[3:23:14] ground if it's good for one school and
[3:23:16] one community, it needs to be for all
[3:23:19] schools and all communities. And we're
[3:23:21] still working on making sure debate is
[3:23:23] at every high school. We're making sure
[3:23:25] that every high school has a
[3:23:26] publication. And we're going to do that
[3:23:30] even with this budget. uh in the
[3:23:32] situation since we're in this um this
[3:23:36] time where we're all going to have to
[3:23:37] make sure that um we keep a just a
[3:23:40] steady focus on what's best and right
[3:23:42] for our young people. Well, I could
[3:23:45] appreciate that the students are more
[3:23:46] aware, but as I've seen in a lot of my
[3:23:49] friends and community, there's a lot of
[3:23:50] focus on the federal and there's so much
[3:23:52] we could do locally and I'm not hearing
[3:23:54] that we are consistently teaching our
[3:23:56] students during the instructional day a
[3:23:58] selected time like which class, which
[3:24:01] grade are they going to learn that there
[3:24:03] are nine magisterial districts in
[3:24:04] Fairfax and they have one delegate and
[3:24:06] one senator and the governor can't be
[3:24:08] elected back-to-back terms like that
[3:24:10] granularity because I think we're doing
[3:24:12] a huge disservice if we graduate them
[3:24:13] and they don't they can't name their
[3:24:15] magisterial district. So I um I hear you
[3:24:20] and I will have some matrix of where we
[3:24:23] do that and if we don't we'll find um an
[3:24:26] opening to do that. Miss Maron, great.
[3:24:28] And I just want to thank our chair and
[3:24:30] vice chair for scheduling that April
[3:24:31] 22nd work session for the budget. Um the
[3:24:33] county board of supervisors has its
[3:24:35] public hearing that day that begins at
[3:24:37] 4. There is no set end time. I've
[3:24:39] confirmed that. So perhaps we can get
[3:24:42] there before our 6:30 meeting. So thank
[3:24:44] you.
[3:24:46] We tried to schedule it so that people
[3:24:48] could do both at least partially. All
[3:24:50] right. Uh Mr. Dunn.
[3:24:53] Uh thank you. Um I wanted to uh suggest
[3:24:57] uh slide five uh offers a comparison uh
[3:25:01] of leadership and management. Um, but I
[3:25:04] think uh you could actually provide more
[3:25:07] information to the public because if you
[3:25:10] look at all non-school-based positions
[3:25:13] as measured by the wavy guide, uh,
[3:25:15] Fairfax County actually measures up
[3:25:17] quite well. I I looked at the uh,
[3:25:20] comparisons for Arlington, Lowden, and
[3:25:22] Prince William County. Uh, Prince
[3:25:24] William County, it's 9.7% is
[3:25:26] non-school-based. Arlington 8.7, Lowden
[3:25:29] 8.3. Fairfax County is 7.45. So I think
[3:25:34] uh if you provide that comparison it
[3:25:36] shows even uh when you expand beyond
[3:25:39] leadership and management positions
[3:25:40] which is quite a small fraction of the
[3:25:42] overall workforce uh we compare
[3:25:44] favorably. Um, I wanted to ask a little
[3:25:47] bit more about the efficiencies. You
[3:25:49] mentioned I haven't seen this slide. You
[3:25:51] mentioned about 800 million. Um, but but
[3:25:54] in the video, um, you stated, uh, that
[3:25:57] you did not propose to reduce or
[3:25:59] eliminate any programs. And so, so where
[3:26:02] did the efficiencies come from if, uh,
[3:26:05] you're not reducing or eliminating any
[3:26:07] programs? So, thank you, Mr. Don. when
[3:26:10] we um in the video I said in my budget I
[3:26:14] didn't propose that right because in the
[3:26:16] original budget we didn't propose cuts
[3:26:19] to programs the efficiencies are in a
[3:26:23] number of cases where we've had open
[3:26:25] positions over time we've simply um made
[3:26:29] a decision not to fill those positions
[3:26:31] we're also looking at trades uh in a
[3:26:34] very uh direct uh manner at this time
[3:26:38] we're looking at I'll be um minimizing
[3:26:42] out of division travel next year. We're
[3:26:44] going to be uh cutting that. So, there
[3:26:46] are a number of efficiencies uh that
[3:26:49] we're working into, if you will, the
[3:26:51] business rule for this year's budget to
[3:26:53] get where we needed to get and still
[3:26:55] have the collective bargaining agreement
[3:26:58] met uh with the budget we passed.
[3:27:02] I I appreciate that. Um, as as a former
[3:27:05] COO, I I I know that uh eliminating
[3:27:08] vacant positions and limiting travel
[3:27:10] conferences, sometimes professional
[3:27:12] development is is usually the lowhanging
[3:27:14] fruit, but but ultimately is is there
[3:27:17] any plan to conduct a comprehensive
[3:27:20] examination of our programs that we have
[3:27:24] uh in existence? Because I think what
[3:27:26] we've seen over the past year and a half
[3:27:27] with this new school board is uh you
[3:27:29] know there's a lot of business as usual
[3:27:31] in the way we contract and the way we do
[3:27:33] some of our business operations and and
[3:27:36] sometimes when we have discussed them
[3:27:38] there there haven't been metrics or data
[3:27:40] to to show that the program is the most
[3:27:43] effective or or you know there are no
[3:27:45] metrics to to say you know we're
[3:27:48] tracking that this is actually achieving
[3:27:49] the original objective. So, is there a
[3:27:52] plan to conduct a very granular
[3:27:55] comprehensive um review similar to what the county undertook on its side?
[3:28:00] Absolutely. That is our Baldridge work
[3:28:03] and that is the 25page document we're
[3:28:06] going to be providing you this spring.
[3:28:08] Uh has led us uh in a number of areas.
[3:28:11] Um our non-traditional schools program
[3:28:14] for example. um are we have a number of
[3:28:17] programs that we're really looking
[3:28:20] diving into in terms of org chart
[3:28:22] program delivery and efficiencies but
[3:28:25] the Baldridge uh work is actually
[3:28:27] capturing that at a systemwide level and
[3:28:30] you're going to have an opportunity to
[3:28:31] take a look at sort of our first uh year
[3:28:34] of not just the study um but also some
[3:28:38] of the pieces that we are um how should
[3:28:41] I say uh integrating more efficiently
[3:28:43] and aligning uh because we I know if we
[3:28:45] have better alignment, we also have more
[3:28:47] efficiency.
[3:28:49] I I appreciate that. Um my my concern
[3:28:52] about the Baldrich is that it it comes
[3:28:54] with it framed as the Baldrich
[3:28:56] Efficiency Award, which kind of
[3:28:57] presupposes that we're going to win some
[3:28:59] kind of award for the work we do. Um and
[3:29:02] I want to make sure that as we're going
[3:29:04] through this, we we actually focus on
[3:29:06] how can we reduce our expenditures to be
[3:29:09] able to allocate that money towards
[3:29:10] increasing teacher pay or meeting other
[3:29:12] uh mission objectives. Um I also wanted
[3:29:15] to ask um uh in the slide 13 it says
[3:29:19] we're exceeding minimum state standards
[3:29:21] with central office reductions. Can you
[3:29:23] explain what that
[3:29:29] means?
[3:29:31] So I think that the uh there are no
[3:29:35] state standards on the support side in
[3:29:38] that particular in some of those
[3:29:40] categories. For example, uh cyber
[3:29:42] security is not something that there's
[3:29:44] an SOQ for. Mr. Sethy, is that correct?
[3:29:48] There's not an SOQ
[3:29:50] um for safety and security for office
[3:29:53] staff
[3:29:55] um translators. So, there are a number
[3:29:58] of items in that support column that
[3:30:01] don't have, if you will, a ratio that's
[3:30:03] funded from the state. So,
[3:30:06] um, essentially what the central office
[3:30:09] reductions that goes to those, uh,
[3:30:12] positions that have not been filled that
[3:30:15] we just simply said we're not going to
[3:30:16] fill, um, in many cases. So, I don't
[3:30:19] know if Miss Burton wants to add on to
[3:30:22] that in terms of the central office
[3:30:26] reductions. No, you're correct. There are not any SOQ staffing standards
[3:30:31] that are associated with central office.
[3:30:33] We do receive some funds um for
[3:30:36] leadership, very small amount of funds
[3:30:39] if you know how they do the salaries
[3:30:42] when they calculate that. Um but in
[3:30:44] general the support staff there the SOQs
[3:30:47] are either silent or very vague where
[3:30:50] they say that you must have enough
[3:30:53] safety and security people. Um it's just
[3:30:55] there's no formulas attached to those
[3:30:58] items and no funds, right? Or minimal
[3:31:01] funds. minimal funds.
[3:31:05] Um and and finally, I just wanted to
[3:31:07] mention I I know that we're always
[3:31:08] talking about salaries, but um Perfex
[3:31:11] County has certain benefits that uh many
[3:31:14] counties in our way guide don't. For
[3:31:16] example, not everyone offers dental and
[3:31:19] vision, which is very important, but not
[3:31:21] everyone provides. And we also are alone
[3:31:23] in having the ERFC, um which you know,
[3:31:26] the supplemental pension. So, I think
[3:31:28] that is a distinguishing factor and
[3:31:30] should be included in our budget
[3:31:32] presentation because you know that those
[3:31:34] things matter for for uh for staff when
[3:31:37] they're making decisions about which
[3:31:39] employer. It's not just based on money.
[3:31:41] It's based on the whole package of
[3:31:43] salary and benefits. Thank you. Thank
[3:31:45] you, Mr. Dunn. Dr. Anderson,
[3:31:50] um thank you. I I do want just to
[3:31:53] reiterate that last point that Mr. Dunn
[3:31:55] made. That's always a point that we've
[3:31:56] discussed before and has been discussed
[3:31:58] even with the last board adnauseium. How
[3:32:01] do we include that as an attractive um
[3:32:04] feature to not just retain the folks
[3:32:07] that we have but to also attract new
[3:32:09] individuals because we tend to not have
[3:32:11] it be part of the conversation and I
[3:32:14] definitely understand the um challenge
[3:32:16] because it's not necessarily part of the
[3:32:18] salary u package. It's not compensation
[3:32:21] but it is a benefit which is very
[3:32:22] unique. So, I would love to hear how can
[3:32:25] we better feature that for our own um
[3:32:28] recruitment work and I know it's told at
[3:32:31] the um job fairs but in these
[3:32:34] discussions in these slides. So, two
[3:32:38] topics I think Mr. Dunn mentioned vision
[3:32:40] and dental insurance and I just wanted
[3:32:43] to talk about ERFC. Okay. I was gonna
[3:32:45] say no just ERFC. Okay. because staff
[3:32:48] still have to pay the um deductibles,
[3:32:51] right, for or pay for the insurance
[3:32:53] benefits. Uh the ERFC is something I
[3:32:56] know we've discussed uh for a number of
[3:32:58] years and I'm going to ask uh well, I
[3:33:01] know that our HR department has worked
[3:33:04] to try to um illuminate that benefit uh
[3:33:08] to a higher degree. I will say um it
[3:33:12] depends on the experience level of the
[3:33:16] candidates coming in in terms of their
[3:33:18] uh appreciation of that value. Um Miss
[3:33:22] Burton, do you want to clarify anything
[3:33:25] about the ERFC benefit? I know Dr.
[3:33:27] Anderson said that it's, you know, it's
[3:33:30] sort of separate from salary, but it is
[3:33:31] a benefit. Um and then Mr. Solomon, if
[3:33:34] you could follow with what we're doing
[3:33:36] to amplify and illuminate that benefit.
[3:33:39] Yeah, I believe that ERFC, the local
[3:33:41] retirement plan, is the only distinction
[3:33:44] between us and surrounding school
[3:33:45] divisions. Um I'm checking Wavy right
[3:33:48] now and it looks like everybody carries
[3:33:50] um dental envision.
[3:33:53] Um the
[3:33:56] ERFC is is my understanding that young
[3:33:59] teachers straight out of college that
[3:34:01] salary is the is the item that is most
[3:34:03] important to them. Um, we certainly
[3:34:06] mention in our recruiting and Mr.
[3:34:08] Solomon can go in more detail about that
[3:34:10] about ERFC because, you know, some of
[3:34:13] their parents may be informing them that
[3:34:16] retirement is really important even if
[3:34:18] you're only 22 years old. Um, but in
[3:34:21] general, it's really more of a retention
[3:34:23] than it is um a recruitment strategy.
[3:34:28] And so that's why the salary increase
[3:34:30] that we've proposed is is so important.
[3:34:33] But it does distinguish us from the
[3:34:35] surrounding divisions um in the
[3:34:37] Commonwealth by having that that local
[3:34:39] retirement plan. And that's very
[3:34:40] attractive to um all of our employees
[3:34:44] once they've been here a few years and
[3:34:46] start thinking about, you know, the
[3:34:48] future.
[3:34:51] And I would just say that Miss Burton is
[3:34:53] exactly correct. And of course, we take
[3:34:54] a multi-pronged approach to recruitment
[3:34:57] and retention. About that benefit
[3:34:59] specifically, of course, we share it at
[3:35:00] our job fairs. We actually partner very
[3:35:02] closely with ERFC and have them attend
[3:35:04] our job fairs. Uh we share the
[3:35:06] information when we visit colleges,
[3:35:08] universities and professional
[3:35:09] organizations. And of course we partner
[3:35:11] very closely with ERC to share the
[3:35:13] information with our current employees
[3:35:15] through newsletters and other platforms.
[3:35:17] A and I can also share that uh during
[3:35:20] those job fairs, we have some employees
[3:35:22] who are of an age where they will soon
[3:35:25] benefit from ERFC and that has been a
[3:35:27] retention tool for some of those uh uh
[3:35:30] employees who might be coming later in
[3:35:32] their career and want to take advantage
[3:35:34] of moving to Fairfax to get ERFC as well
[3:35:38] as uh their VRS from another
[3:35:40] jurisdiction. Thank you. I appreciate
[3:35:43] all your responses. Um, I also would
[3:35:45] like to think how can we again include
[3:35:47] it in all of our conversations because
[3:35:50] the more we speak about our beginning
[3:35:52] scales, whether it be bachelors,
[3:35:54] masters, a lot of people are hearing
[3:35:56] that information and so it's just like
[3:35:59] one more thing that is working on our
[3:36:00] favor that I'd like for us to elevate a
[3:36:03] little bit more frequently. Um I did
[3:36:05] want to speak about the middle school
[3:36:07] after school programs and I'll speak
[3:36:09] this about this a little bit more during
[3:36:10] my skipped um report but particularly
[3:36:13] because so much of the discussions that
[3:36:15] have occurred with the board of
[3:36:17] supervisors have centered around a
[3:36:19] sliding scale for the afterchool program
[3:36:22] and I I've been adamant as one board
[3:36:24] member I do not find that to be a
[3:36:26] reasonable act a reasonable course of
[3:36:28] action because of the percentage of our
[3:36:31] students who participate who are
[3:36:33] essentially students who are
[3:36:34] economically disadvantaged. Um so can
[3:36:37] you speak to that a little bit please?
[3:36:40] Thank you Dr. Anderson. Um I Dr. Mark
[3:36:44] Emory is in charge of our middle school
[3:36:46] after school activities and has been for
[3:36:48] a long time. His um assessment is that
[3:36:53] approximately 70% of the middle
[3:36:56] schoolers who participate in middle
[3:36:58] school after school activities uh would
[3:37:01] qualify for free or reduced lunch. And I
[3:37:04] mean that's 70% of the young people
[3:37:06] participating in the program. And so I I
[3:37:09] think that the um it appears based on
[3:37:12] that data that it would be very
[3:37:14] difficult to recoup the costs of the
[3:37:16] program based on a fee structure. So I I
[3:37:21] think that um it's imperative that we
[3:37:24] think about how we are able to fund that
[3:37:27] program because so many of the young
[3:37:29] people who participate uh their families
[3:37:32] would not be able to uh fund.
[3:37:35] Absolutely. And uh Mr. Smith also shared
[3:37:38] this quite eloquently. This board and
[3:37:40] previous boards have really worked hard
[3:37:42] to remove barriers from student
[3:37:44] participating and having access to
[3:37:46] various things. this will just reverse
[3:37:48] course. And so I I appreciate that. Um,
[3:37:51] and last thing I will say on this
[3:37:53] matter, it seems to be, and this is a
[3:37:55] very technical term that I'm going to
[3:37:57] use, the juice is not worth the squeeze
[3:37:59] on this one. It's $4 million. There has
[3:38:02] to be a better way to to have some
[3:38:05] savings on the county side without
[3:38:07] taking away a program which has been so
[3:38:09] successful in um fulfilling its core
[3:38:12] mission which is to reduce gang activity
[3:38:15] which is to ensure that students have
[3:38:17] something productive to do after they
[3:38:19] are um dismissed from schools. Um one
[3:38:23] question that I do have is obviously
[3:38:26] dollars are limited everywhere. So we
[3:38:28] want to make sure that we are turning
[3:38:30] over every stone. I would love to hear
[3:38:32] the conversations that we are having or
[3:38:34] could be having with our partners on the
[3:38:36] board of supervisors in terms of how to
[3:38:38] have efficiencies in areas in which we
[3:38:40] have like work. It's not going to be
[3:38:43] teachers. It's not going to be
[3:38:45] firefighters. Is it printing? Is it HR?
[3:38:48] Is it technology? What space do we have
[3:38:51] to maximize economy of scale between
[3:38:53] these two entities that serve
[3:38:56] essentially the same constituency?
[3:38:58] Yes, ma'am. I it's my understanding that
[3:39:01] the board of supervisors has um proposed
[3:39:05] and we've agreed to some joint
[3:39:07] committees um uh boardto board on key
[3:39:11] topics. I believe facilities are one
[3:39:14] perhaps technology another. Um, but I
[3:39:18] think that is a great first step to
[3:39:20] begin to think about how uh because
[3:39:23] you're right. I mean, all of us who live
[3:39:25] in the county are taxpayers and we want
[3:39:28] our uh tax dollars to be well used and
[3:39:32] to support um the work and uh those
[3:39:36] things that make this county amazing.
[3:39:37] So, um I think that those joint
[3:39:40] committees will be a a good first start.
[3:39:43] Um and I believe it's been capital
[3:39:45] facilities and perhaps technology are uh
[3:39:48] where they're starting on that. Thank
[3:39:50] you. And I could see another space with
[3:39:52] cyber security. One of the things we
[3:39:54] talked about with our federal partners
[3:39:56] is how much we um invest in that and
[3:40:00] it's difficult and it's challenging and
[3:40:02] this is a good space where we can get
[3:40:04] some support from our local
[3:40:06] organization. Uh, one of the things you
[3:40:08] talked about in the student interviews
[3:40:10] and I was very glad to hear that that we
[3:40:12] are not going to divert away from our
[3:40:15] work on DEI. It is core to the mission
[3:40:18] of Fairfax County. And I I cannot
[3:40:20] overstate this because there's been a
[3:40:22] lot of concern in the community. are we
[3:40:25] going to abandon our core mission given
[3:40:27] that so many schools are doing such
[3:40:30] whether it be higher education or um
[3:40:33] institutions or even other school
[3:40:34] divisions in the state in the
[3:40:36] Commonwealth of Virginia. So I was very
[3:40:38] glad to hear that response. But along
[3:40:40] with that, can you just to paint the
[3:40:43] clear comprehensive picture in terms of
[3:40:46] what is at stake if things were to
[3:40:49] proceed in a manner that is not
[3:40:51] um that is not beneficial to us? What I
[3:40:56] mean is what grants could be potentially
[3:40:59] at stake and what is that total number?
[3:41:01] I know we've discussed this here before,
[3:41:03] so I'm not sure if you've sent that to
[3:41:04] us in a bright letter. I don't believe
[3:41:05] I've seen it. Yes, ma'am. So the um the
[3:41:10] question the student journalists asked
[3:41:12] which I think is a question that many
[3:41:15] divisions you know around the country
[3:41:18] and states honestly are addressing is
[3:41:22] the most recent department of education
[3:41:25] uh request around um commitment to not
[3:41:30] engaging in certain uh diversity,
[3:41:33] equity, inclusion practices, but also
[3:41:36] making sure we're committed to following
[3:41:39] uh the Constitution and state and
[3:41:41] federal statute. And our equity work here in Fairfax County
[3:41:47] clearly is in alignment with state and
[3:41:49] federal statutes. And therefore um we I
[3:41:54] believe that um our funds are secure and
[3:41:58] that uh we continue to work um with a
[3:42:02] clear understanding of the importance of
[3:42:04] that work and our resolute commitment to
[3:42:06] that work and we believe it's legal
[3:42:09] work. In fact, it's morally the work we
[3:42:12] have to be doing. It's missiondriven
[3:42:14] work. Having said that, um, our federal
[3:42:17] grant dollars are about 168 million in
[3:42:22] basically three large buckets, if you
[3:42:25] will. Our food and nutrition dollars are
[3:42:28] about 68 million and our title one
[3:42:32] dollars are about 50 million and our
[3:42:35] idea dollars are about 50 million. And
[3:42:39] so those would be the three areas that
[3:42:42] would be at risk um if for some reason
[3:42:45] there was a disruption in our federal
[3:42:47] dollar allocation. Um that was my time,
[3:42:50] but I do have a followup because I don't
[3:42:53] think that was the answer I was looking
[3:42:55] for. Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Miss
[3:42:57] Anderson,
[3:43:00] I just wanted to reiterate something
[3:43:02] that we had talked about earlier this
[3:43:04] week when we had our check-in. Um I do
[3:43:07] wonder whether or not some of the
[3:43:09] numbers that we have related to middle
[3:43:11] school after school um program usage is
[3:43:15] actually maybe misleading because of a
[3:43:18] certain number of factors. So what I
[3:43:19] would love us to do is because um at a
[3:43:23] town hall that I was at with Chairman
[3:43:24] McCay, he leaned over and he said, "We
[3:43:26] got to get these numbers up if we're
[3:43:28] going to keep doing this." And so I'm
[3:43:30] kind of wondering whether or not we are
[3:43:32] not representing the actual use. we we
[3:43:34] come to Luther Jackson and we see the
[3:43:37] robust afterchool and so it's hard to
[3:43:40] think that we don't have good usage
[3:43:42] across the county. So I do I I have lots
[3:43:44] of questions about where our usage is
[3:43:46] happening. I also am wondering whether
[3:43:48] or not our usage has picked up with the
[3:43:50] return to the office order for the
[3:43:52] federal government workers and so
[3:43:53] whether or not we have more usage. So, I
[3:43:56] would love for the opportunity to maybe
[3:43:58] revisit some of those numbers to to
[3:44:00] ensure that we're giving the board of
[3:44:01] supervisors the most accurate numbers
[3:44:03] possible. Yes, ma'am. Uh, I know Dr.
[3:44:05] Emry is working on that and did present
[3:44:07] some numbers at the recent skipped
[3:44:09] meeting. Um, and I will check in and
[3:44:12] make sure we have current numbers. Thank
[3:44:15] you, Miss Anderson. Dr. Anderson for
[3:44:17] your one question.
[3:44:20] Thank you. Uh what I was getting at
[3:44:22] outside of those three funding sources
[3:44:24] that you've alloc that you talked about
[3:44:26] are any other potential federal um
[3:44:29] allocations which might be in jeopardy
[3:44:32] titles. That's the listing that I was
[3:44:35] looking for. For example, one of the
[3:44:36] things we discussed very early on was
[3:44:39] the um I guess the loss of the grant for
[3:44:43] the EV buses. what other like things
[3:44:46] that are out there that may not be part
[3:44:48] of our um recurring expenditures but
[3:44:51] will essentially impact our operations.
[3:44:54] So we we receive a number of different
[3:44:57] grants from uh through federal funds,
[3:45:00] right? Uh the EPA grant was not
[3:45:02] necessarily a Department of Education
[3:45:04] grant, but definitely federal funding.
[3:45:06] And you're correct. uh we did need to
[3:45:08] cancel that order because we didn't have
[3:45:11] a commitment uh to fund it and without
[3:45:14] that we're not going to follow through.
[3:45:16] Uh Miss Burton, can you enumerate maybe
[3:45:19] several of and it doesn't have to be
[3:45:21] today but I would love to see a written
[3:45:23] list of that and could that be possible?
[3:45:26] Can that be provided? We we can provide
[3:45:29] it tomorrow. Not to put you on the spot,
[3:45:30] but I'd like to get a clear picture. Um,
[3:45:34] and just the last thing I I just kind of
[3:45:36] wanted to reiterate what was shared um
[3:45:38] by several members regarding slide 13.
[3:45:41] Um, you know, the needs-based staffing
[3:45:43] is one of the most important things that
[3:45:45] we do at our schools and it it's a
[3:45:48] necessary activity. It it's not a nice
[3:45:51] to have. It's really a need to have as
[3:45:54] it's um articulated. But one last other
[3:45:57] question which is asking you to kind of
[3:46:00] um project a little bit in looking at
[3:46:02] Prince William. Um some of the data
[3:46:04] shows that they have some of the highest
[3:46:06] um teacher um teacher salaries and yet
[3:46:11] some other slides that you've shown us
[3:46:13] also show that they have the lowest um
[3:46:16] per pupil allocation. How is that
[3:46:18] achieved?
[3:46:21] So um I would say a couple things. uh
[3:46:26] their county fully funds their budget um
[3:46:29] just as Lowden County, I believe,
[3:46:31] recently fully funded their budget. Um
[3:46:34] and class sizes are different is my
[3:46:37] understanding is one of the key
[3:46:38] differences in Prince William County.
[3:46:40] Thank you. Thank you, Dr.
[3:46:45] Anderson. Miss Marin, just under the
[3:46:48] gun. Dr. Can you share, you know, we ask
[3:46:51] you to share best practices and
[3:46:52] examples? Can you share what a another
[3:46:55] example is of how a school division
[3:46:57] works with their local funer to budget
[3:47:00] like in your previous school division?
[3:47:02] Was it this kind of bifurcated system or
[3:47:04] are you aware of other school divisions
[3:47:07] that do something differently in
[3:47:08] Virginia that we could try to really
[3:47:12] collaborate authentically with the board
[3:47:13] of supervisors? That's a great question,
[3:47:16] Miss Marin. I my experience coming from
[3:47:20] a state um where I've previously been
[3:47:22] superintendent uh we had uh our school
[3:47:25] division had our we had taxing authority
[3:47:28] um subject to voter approval but we
[3:47:31] didn't have a local entity such as a
[3:47:33] board of supervisor group uh we dealt
[3:47:36] with the state and the federal
[3:47:37] government just as we do here but there
[3:47:40] wasn't a local funer because we um
[3:47:42] retained that taxing authority in terms
[3:47:45] of Virginia and best practices is um
[3:47:48] Miss Burton, can you think of other
[3:47:50] divisions that in Virginia or other
[3:47:53] practices that come to
[3:47:56] mind? Well, a couple of divisions are
[3:47:59] still operating revenue sharing
[3:48:01] agreements. Um but those kind of gone
[3:48:03] out of fashion. They were popular 10, 15
[3:48:06] years ago. um where they have get a set
[3:48:10] amount of funding from the local I mean
[3:48:14] from the local governing body every
[3:48:16] year. But, you know, that really just
[3:48:18] shifts the conversation to the
[3:48:20] projections instead of the budget
[3:48:23] because if you're if they you know,
[3:48:26] county governments typically are going
[3:48:28] to be ultra-conservative on their
[3:48:29] revenue projections, which is not really
[3:48:31] good for people who are trying to plan.
[3:48:35] But if I was on the county side, I would
[3:48:36] be ultra-conservative, too. So if they
[3:48:40] regularly are ultra-conservative then
[3:48:42] even if it is a certain percentage then
[3:48:45] you know you're going end up with a lot
[3:48:46] of money on the back end which is not
[3:48:48] really efficient way to run your budget.
[3:48:50] So they have you know others you know
[3:48:52] critics say that revenue sharing
[3:48:54] agreements silence the voice of the
[3:48:56] people because if the amount of funding
[3:48:59] that you're going to get is always known
[3:49:02] then you know why why would anyone
[3:49:04] bother to comment about it. And then the
[3:49:06] third item is is that it would be it's
[3:49:09] very difficult for a superintendent to
[3:49:11] meet their code required
[3:49:15] um thing to provide a needs-based budget
[3:49:19] based on what's needed in the school
[3:49:21] system in the upcoming year if they are
[3:49:23] falsely pushing that number down based
[3:49:25] on a revenue sharing agreement. So it's
[3:49:28] probably not legally enforceable, but
[3:49:30] revenue sharing agreements are probably
[3:49:32] politically enforceable.
[3:49:34] Thank you. That's really interesting. I
[3:49:36] think too as the board prepares for its
[3:49:37] May 6th session about capital planning,
[3:49:41] you know, these are these huge
[3:49:42] investments that we need to know more
[3:49:44] about. And like I'm really glad that our
[3:49:45] board is looking to um learn more about
[3:49:48] other ways to fund construction in a
[3:49:50] more effective, efficient way,
[3:49:52] especially as the cost of things keep
[3:49:54] escalating. So again, these community
[3:49:56] resources, I just am so hungry for us to
[3:49:59] work in partnership for one Fairfax. So,
[3:50:02] um, perhaps in the remaining weeks we
[3:50:04] can make that happen. Yes, ma'am. Thank
[3:50:06] you, Miss Mayor and Mr. Moon.
[3:50:09] Uh, Miss
[3:50:10] Burton, those school districts where
[3:50:14] a they there isn't revenue
[3:50:19] sharing arrangement between governing
[3:50:21] body, local governing body and school
[3:50:24] board. Those local governing bodies
[3:50:27] still take very conservative approach
[3:50:30] for the revenue projections. I think our
[3:50:33] own governing body seems to be taking
[3:50:36] that approach even without the revenue
[3:50:38] sharing arrangement. Isn't that correct?
[3:50:44] I don't know. I'd have to look at their
[3:50:46] year end and see how their revenue
[3:50:49] projections compare to what they
[3:50:51] actually receive. Okay. Okay. I mean,
[3:50:53] listening to your response to uh the
[3:50:55] revenue sharing arrangement question,
[3:50:58] that reminded me of one particular
[3:51:00] school district which has revenue
[3:51:02] sharing arrangement, but they share they
[3:51:06] share additional revenue.
[3:51:10] Yes, that is usually a component of a
[3:51:12] revenue sharing agreement and that is on
[3:51:14] the back end that there's a true up to
[3:51:16] the actual revenue instead of what is
[3:51:19] projected. But again, that's not great
[3:51:21] for planning because you get it on the
[3:51:24] back end. So you can't you can't really
[3:51:27] use it. It's like one I think they seem
[3:51:29] to be using that additional revenue at
[3:51:31] the end back end for one-time purposes,
[3:51:34] right? You know, maintenance or
[3:51:36] purchase, you know, etc. With that said,
[3:51:39] uh I I am still hopeful that that
[3:51:43] county, our local governing body, county
[3:51:45] board supervisors will uh see truly see
[3:51:49] our needs and then fund beyond what the
[3:51:52] county executive has
[3:51:55] proposed. That said, that said, if we
[3:51:58] have to make any adjustments to our
[3:52:00] budget, I was looking at these numbers
[3:52:03] chart set in our budget book.
[3:52:07] uh with the assumption that we're not
[3:52:10] going to touch
[3:52:12] uh what he agreed to provide to our
[3:52:14] employees through CBA then we have to go
[3:52:17] to uh what's considered what's I think
[3:52:20] undered as
[3:52:23] logistics budget set aside for the
[3:52:25] logistics which is about $400 million
[3:52:28] and then I was looking at different
[3:52:29] categories of those for where those 400
[3:52:34] $400 million is coming from uh I think
[3:52:37] those area that is the only area that's
[3:52:40] come you know we can we can have any a
[3:52:44] adjustments that can come from but
[3:52:46] looking at each one of them it will be
[3:52:48] very difficult are you going to cut
[3:52:51] textbooks are going to cut supplies to
[3:52:54] schools uh we cannot cut insurance going
[3:52:57] to cut I am middle school a after
[3:53:01] uh you know act activity
[3:53:04] buses Uh are are we not going to
[3:53:06] purchase buses? I mean, but we may end
[3:53:11] up looking at the logistics
[3:53:13] area just for a my colleagueu's benefit
[3:53:17] and consideration. Thank you, Mr. Moon.
[3:53:19] All right, moving on. Agenda item nine,
[3:53:21] consent agenda. Our adopted rules of
[3:53:24] parliamentary procedure. Robert's rules
[3:53:25] provide for a consent agenda listing
[3:53:27] several items for approval of the board
[3:53:30] by a single motion. Many items listed
[3:53:32] have gone through board review and
[3:53:34] documentation has been provided to all
[3:53:35] board members and the public in advance.
[3:53:37] Items may be removed from the consent
[3:53:39] agenda at the request of any board
[3:53:41] member prior to the meeting. The consent
[3:53:43] agenda is displayed on the screen. Is
[3:53:45] there any objection to approving the
[3:53:46] consent
[3:53:47] agenda? Seeing and hearing no objection,
[3:53:49] the consent agenda is approved. Agenda
[3:53:52] item 10, new
[3:53:53] business. The following are new business
[3:53:56] agenda items. There will not be a vote
[3:53:57] on these items this evening, but action
[3:53:59] is scheduled for a future
[3:54:03] meeting. Agenda item 11, board committee
[3:54:06] reports. I call on Dr. Anderson for a
[3:54:07] skipped report.
[3:54:09] Yes, giving the hour, I'll be a little
[3:54:12] bit more brief, but I do want to inform
[3:54:14] the board of the last skipped meeting
[3:54:16] that we had on April 2nd. Um, both Dr.
[3:54:20] Pon, I'm sorry, Dr. Pon, Dr. King, and
[3:54:22] Dr. Prescidio.
[3:54:24] And there pro there's probably one more
[3:54:26] person who were in attendant who had
[3:54:28] been in attendance. One of the crucial
[3:54:30] pieces that I wanted to share was the um strategic early childhood um plan
[3:54:38] that the county has come together that
[3:54:40] really has four components. Um component
[3:54:43] one is to improve child health and
[3:54:45] well-being. Two, increase access to
[3:54:47] early learning. Three, elevate the early
[3:54:50] childhood workforce. and four, transform
[3:54:52] the early childhood system. And what
[3:54:55] really came to mind to me um during this
[3:54:58] meeting is that we are really working
[3:55:00] with two different definitions because
[3:55:02] we've had some interesting discussions
[3:55:04] where the minds weren't really meeting
[3:55:06] from schools and county and I think Dr.
[3:55:09] Prescidio did an outstanding job in
[3:55:11] really elevating what is our what our
[3:55:14] definition is of preschool versus their
[3:55:17] definition of early learning. It's the
[3:55:20] piece that is much more academic and
[3:55:22] much more rigorous that is missing. So,
[3:55:25] one of the things the committee needed
[3:55:27] to do was to approve this document and
[3:55:30] we had quite a robust discussion and and
[3:55:33] were adamant that we needed to have a
[3:55:36] piece in this plan that spoke to the
[3:55:38] preschool education component. Other
[3:55:40] than that, it doesn't advance our work
[3:55:42] in any way. And so, I I think Dr. again,
[3:55:46] you get the kudos on this. Not only were
[3:55:48] we able to initially infuse it, that was
[3:55:52] the ask under goal two, um but doing
[3:55:55] better than that, it's going to now be
[3:55:56] its own standalone goal. Without that
[3:55:59] being a target, we are not going to move
[3:56:02] the needle and having the skipped um
[3:56:04] committee help us to increase seats in
[3:56:08] early childhood and um yeah, in
[3:56:10] preschool. it's going to be more of what
[3:56:13] is offered, which is really not
[3:56:15] consistent with what FCPS requires. So,
[3:56:19] once we have the final um plan, I do um
[3:56:22] intend on sharing it with you. I didn't
[3:56:24] share this one because of um it it's
[3:56:27] still going to be revised, but I really
[3:56:29] wanted to make sure we were clear on
[3:56:32] their understanding of what the early
[3:56:34] childhood experiences were and how it
[3:56:36] doesn't it has not yet aligned with what
[3:56:40] our vision is for preschool education.
[3:56:46] Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Agenda item 12,
[3:56:49] superintendent matters. I call on Dr.
[3:56:51] Reid. Thank you, Chairman Fr. Uh just
[3:56:54] again a congratulations to our national
[3:56:56] board certified teachers and also it is
[3:56:59] National Assistant Principles Week. Uh
[3:57:01] so right before spring break, I know
[3:57:03] they're busy. Um just want to say big
[3:57:06] shout out to the transportation team.
[3:57:09] The rodeo was incredible. They can back
[3:57:12] buses up in tighter spaces than I can
[3:57:14] back my car up into. So I was very
[3:57:16] impressed. Um then also want to share
[3:57:19] that I enjoyed attending the La Liga
[3:57:22] soccer game at West Ptoic High School
[3:57:24] studentr run game and there was some
[3:57:26] fabulous soccer going on. Um
[3:57:29] superintendent student advisory council
[3:57:31] and I shared their reports in my last
[3:57:33] weekly reflection. It was a lot of
[3:57:35] excitement. Um want to share that the
[3:57:38] Edison High School production of Greece
[3:57:40] was amazing. Um, I could I was just
[3:57:44] incredibly uh impressed as well as their
[3:57:47] academy autoc collision class which uh
[3:57:50] finished the car they used in Greece
[3:57:52] which was a really nice partnership.
[3:57:54] Also saw a play I'd never heard of
[3:57:56] before so I might be living under a
[3:57:59] rock. Um, but Justice High School did
[3:58:01] Almost Maine and I hadn't heard of the
[3:58:04] play so I Googled it and found out it
[3:58:06] was the most performed high school play
[3:58:08] in the last decade. uh which I didn't
[3:58:10] know, but it was uh it was really a
[3:58:12] wonderful show. Also joined several of
[3:58:14] you at the 50th annual um all county
[3:58:18] sixth grade chorus, a dance move at
[3:58:21] Bailey's Upper, the pyramid art show at
[3:58:24] Westfield, a steam night at Hunt Valley
[3:58:26] Elementary. Amazing things happening.
[3:58:29] And what I loved especially were our
[3:58:31] West Springfield High School students
[3:58:32] that came uh and our TJ students to help
[3:58:35] our um students at Hunt Valley. Uh so
[3:58:40] just really lots of uh track and field
[3:58:42] at Woodson High School. We have our
[3:58:45] young women pole vaultting over seven or
[3:58:47] over 10 feet uh which is unbelievable.
[3:58:50] Um I was kind of thinking maybe I should
[3:58:53] try it but uh I restrained myself. Um
[3:58:56] and then the uh lacrosse tournament at
[3:58:58] Fairfax High School and Robinson. So
[3:59:01] just lots of exciting things, all of
[3:59:03] which are funded by our county in
[3:59:06] addition to the minimums from the state
[3:59:08] and just really trust that um our
[3:59:11] community, you know, understands the
[3:59:13] importance of those activities. So thank
[3:59:14] you, Chairman Fresh. Thank you, Dr.
[3:59:16] Reed. Agenda item 13, board matters. I
[3:59:19] will call on each board member to share
[3:59:21] their comments. Mr. Dunn.
[3:59:25] Uh, thank you. Uh, so having a little
[3:59:28] trouble with my video. Oh, there we go.
[3:59:29] So, I'd like to uh congratulate uh the
[3:59:32] nationally board certified honores from
[3:59:34] Mount Frenan District. Uh, Heather Young
[3:59:35] from Holland Meadows, uh, Julian Braden
[3:59:38] from Laurel Hill, and Rachel Morris from
[3:59:40] Laurel Hill. Um, I'd like to say
[3:59:42] congratulations to South County High
[3:59:44] School student Julia Sites for being
[3:59:47] selected as a grand prize nominee in
[3:59:49] physics and astronomy at this year's
[3:59:51] Fairfax County Science Fair for her
[3:59:53] project, the impact of municipal dimming
[3:59:55] on skylow. I'd also like to say
[3:59:58] congratulations to Whitman Middle
[4:00:00] School's special education department
[4:00:02] chair, Angela Perez, who was selected to
[4:00:04] receive a first class award for
[4:00:06] demonstrating excellence in educating
[4:00:08] students with disabilities. Uh in late
[4:00:10] March, I had the uh pleasure to conduct
[4:00:13] presentations for the Stratford Landing
[4:00:15] PTA, the Washington Mill PTA, and the
[4:00:18] Cross Point Homeowners Association.
[4:00:20] Thank you to these organizations for
[4:00:22] inviting me. These events provided
[4:00:24] valuable opportunities to share
[4:00:25] information and address the questions
[4:00:27] and concerns of families in my district.
[4:00:29] And if you haven't heard, very exciting
[4:00:31] news. A Montasauri program, the first
[4:00:34] public Montasauri program in Fairfax
[4:00:36] County is coming to the West PTOIC
[4:00:38] Pyramid at Bucknell Elementary. It will
[4:00:41] begin uh next year, the 2025 26 school
[4:00:44] year. It will start with multi-age
[4:00:46] classrooms at the prek and kindergarten
[4:00:48] levels. Families of current three, four,
[4:00:51] and 5year-olds are invited to apply
[4:00:53] through a lottery process. The program
[4:00:55] is free and transportation will be
[4:00:57] provided. The application is available
[4:00:59] online now through May 1st, 2025 at
[4:01:05] fcps.edu/monttosauri. Please check it
[4:01:07] out and uh please make sure to uh enroll
[4:01:10] your child to participate if you're
[4:01:11] interested. I hope everyone has a safe
[4:01:13] and restful spring break, especially all
[4:01:15] of our students and staff. Thank you.
[4:01:18] Mr. Dunn. Dr. Anderson,
[4:01:24] um I do want to say happy assistant
[4:01:26] principal week. Is it week or month, Dr.
[4:01:29] Reed? Is it a week or a month? It is
[4:01:32] only a week. Oh, it needs to be a month.
[4:01:34] That is one of the most challenging jobs
[4:01:36] in a school because you're doing
[4:01:38] discipline all day and you don't really
[4:01:40] get the joys often of the academic work.
[4:01:43] So, better you all than me, but
[4:01:46] congratulations on that. Um, just one
[4:01:48] thing I wanted to share. Last week, I
[4:01:51] had the opportunity to go to Falls
[4:01:53] Church High School to attend the Amy
[4:01:55] Baker Memorial bench dedication, which
[4:01:58] brought back so many so many Jaguars who
[4:02:03] graduated. They were class of 1989.
[4:02:06] While they came for a somber moment, it
[4:02:08] was wonderful just to watch them walk
[4:02:10] around the school and to see the new
[4:02:13] school that they, you know, that they um
[4:02:16] that they attended how many years ago?
[4:02:19] Um, again, it was just fantastic. So, I
[4:02:22] appreciate um the individuals from the
[4:02:24] community, one of their classmates who
[4:02:26] got that together as well as Dr. Noak's
[4:02:28] support to ensure that he could be
[4:02:30] supportive of this community because
[4:02:32] they made a beautiful moment out of a
[4:02:34] very sad event.
[4:02:39] Thank you, Dr. Anderson, Miss
[4:02:41] Marin, Miss Dixit.
[4:02:46] I'm just going to say have a great
[4:02:48] spring break. Good night everyone. Thank
[4:02:51] you.
[4:02:55] Miss Dixit. Miss Marin. Yes.
[4:02:57] I also just want to wish everyone a um
[4:02:59] happy Easter, happy Passover, happy
[4:03:01] spring break.
[4:03:03] Thank you, Miss Marin. Miss St. John
[4:03:05] Cunning. Okay, I'm going to try to go
[4:03:07] fast to cover some of the things I
[4:03:09] didn't cover at our last meeting because
[4:03:11] I couldn't talk. Uh, I was happy to
[4:03:13] attend the cares of the quarter
[4:03:14] presentation to Twain Middle School's
[4:03:16] Miss Vivian Beck and she received this
[4:03:18] quarter's cares award for showing
[4:03:20] special care for those who have not yet
[4:03:22] experienced success. Region three awards
[4:03:24] for outstanding operational employee
[4:03:27] Janelle Lewis at Bucknell Elementary
[4:03:29] School. Outstanding leader Mary Beth
[4:03:31] Starky at Edison High School. Region Six
[4:03:34] Awards. Outstanding new secondary
[4:03:36] teacher Sheridan Lusk, who happens to be
[4:03:39] a Hayfield graduate and the daughter of
[4:03:40] Franconia Supervisor Rodney Lusk.
[4:03:43] Outstanding new elementary teacher
[4:03:45] McKenzie Fagan at Springfield Estates
[4:03:47] Elementary School. Also, Edison's chef
[4:03:50] Walden and culinary students invited me
[4:03:52] and community members to judge a chopped
[4:03:54] competition. And though I was unable to
[4:03:56] attend due to the flu, it was a
[4:03:58] wonderful experience for my staff aid
[4:03:59] Mara Kaiser Bger who filled in for me.
[4:04:02] This past Saturday, I started my day at
[4:04:04] the Hayfield Craft Fair and ran into
[4:04:06] Sheila Holmes, instructional assistant
[4:04:08] from Mount Vernon Woods, Sally Bole
[4:04:10] Shelberg, retired Rose Hill preschool
[4:04:11] teacher, and Christini Bar, former
[4:04:13] Bucknell teacher, all displaying their
[4:04:15] crafts. I ended the day at the Edison
[4:04:17] Theater Company production of Greece,
[4:04:19] which was wonderful. This past Tuesday,
[4:04:22] I was honored to attend the schoolboard
[4:04:24] leadership program mach forum where my
[4:04:26] student representative Natalyia Langden
[4:04:28] from Hayfield Secondary presented her
[4:04:30] topic expanding crew to all high schools
[4:04:32] throughout FCPS. I'd like to
[4:04:35] congratulate John Micah, a math teacher
[4:04:38] at Hayfield Secondary School who has
[4:04:40] been named a Virginia finalist for the
[4:04:42] 2025 Presidential Award for Excellence
[4:04:44] in Mathematics and Science Teaching. And
[4:04:47] congratulations to Dena Ul in integrated
[4:04:51] engineer teacher in Edison's global STEM
[4:04:52] challenges program for being recognized
[4:04:54] by the Air Force for STEM excellence. I
[4:04:57] do hope you all enjoy your spring break.
[4:04:59] Happy Passover. Happy Easter. While
[4:05:01] you're out, please go online and look at
[4:05:03] all the spring musicals you can see when
[4:05:04] you come back. Also, save the date for
[4:05:07] the community conversations with
[4:05:08] Superintendent Dr. Reid on Monday, April
[4:05:11] 21st at Mount Eagle Elementary School
[4:05:13] from 6:30 to 7:30. I'll be joining her
[4:05:16] that night and just all of you have a
[4:05:19] great break.
[4:05:21] Thank you, Miss St. J cutting, Mr. Moon.
[4:05:23] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As you probably
[4:05:24] know that uh last week I was able to
[4:05:28] spend three days, three four days in
[4:05:30] Atlanta, Georgia attending National
[4:05:32] School Boards Association's conference.
[4:05:34] I just wanted to see you know rest of
[4:05:36] the colleagues you know went to
[4:05:37] different conference but I wanted to see
[4:05:40] how the NSAB conference has become. uh
[4:05:44] realized that compared to prepandemic
[4:05:46] years, the crowd size has probably
[4:05:49] diminished quite a bit and and there
[4:05:52] were fewer choices of the sessions that
[4:05:54] I could take. However, at the same time,
[4:05:57] I was able to get uh really a lot out of
[4:06:01] conference uh you know, including
[4:06:04] uh how we can better provide a programs
[4:06:07] for the multilingual learners and
[4:06:10] language and culture immersion programs
[4:06:12] as well and also as we focus more on a
[4:06:15] our you know advanced courses for our
[4:06:18] students that you know how we can make
[4:06:21] that successful and in the age of AI I
[4:06:25] about how to deal with the deep fakes
[4:06:27] and misinformation disinformation. But
[4:06:30] most of all, a lot of people a lot of
[4:06:33] people had concerns about the challenges
[4:06:37] posed by federal directors. In one one
[4:06:41] session, you know, I attended it was
[4:06:43] closed door. I closed the door so that
[4:06:46] we can have an honest conversation and
[4:06:48] media was not welcome to that room.
[4:06:53] We have pretty lively but very serious
[4:06:55] conversation. That's something I would
[4:06:58] like to share with my colleagues of
[4:07:00] record.
[4:07:02] Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Moon. Uh, Vice
[4:07:05] Chair Anderson.
[4:07:07] I hope everybody has an amazing spring
[4:07:09] break.
[4:07:11] Thank you, Miss Anderson. Uh, a couple
[4:07:14] quick things. I also enjoyed attending
[4:07:17] the 50th annual sixth grade all county
[4:07:20] coral festival. um uh week be weekend
[4:07:24] before last. It was really great to see
[4:07:27] uh so many talented kids singing their
[4:07:29] hearts out uh and playing a variety of
[4:07:32] instruments as well. Um it's not lost on
[4:07:35] me. My partner told me he was there for
[4:07:37] the uh about 30 years ago as a sixth
[4:07:40] grade student in the uh all county coral
[4:07:43] um festival. So, um it's it's still
[4:07:46] turning out very talented students and
[4:07:49] um very much appreciated being able to
[4:07:51] join folks there and open with a joke
[4:07:53] which I will now share with my
[4:07:54] colleagues who were not there. Why are
[4:07:57] pirates such good
[4:07:59] singers? Because they can hit the high
[4:08:01] sea. Oh, isn't that a good one?
[4:08:05] Uh, I also had an opportunity to join
[4:08:07] several of my colleagues at the opening
[4:08:09] of the Nova Prism Center, uh, which is
[4:08:12] the only LGBTQ center for youth in, um,
[4:08:15] Fairfax County and perhaps even Northern
[4:08:18] Virginia, uh, but definitely Fairfax
[4:08:19] County. So, we're grateful to have them
[4:08:21] in MLAN. You should look them up, uh, so
[4:08:23] you can see their services. looking
[4:08:25] forward to the false church pyramid art
[4:08:27] show uh next Wednesday um or the
[4:08:31] w the Wednesday after next um at False
[4:08:36] Church High School. Um and want to
[4:08:38] remind constituents that Senator Mark
[4:08:40] Warner is having his annual Academy Day
[4:08:42] uh coming up on Saturday, April 26th um
[4:08:46] at the University of Mary Washington. Uh
[4:08:49] you can find information on his website
[4:08:50] and Congressman Jerry Connelly is
[4:08:53] hosting his annual congressional art
[4:08:54] competition um which you can find more
[4:08:57] information about on his website as well
[4:08:59] um uh with uh a timeline uh I believe
[4:09:03] the uh nominations have to be in by May
[4:09:07] 5th. So with that, I appreciate
[4:09:09] everybody's hard work tonight in getting
[4:09:11] us through this meeting. At 11:22 p.m.
[4:09:14] we are adjourned.