Coraggio Consulting
City of Fairfax School Board Work Session, Monday, April 21, 2025

Date: Monday, April 21, 2025
Place: City Hall, City of Fairfax, Virginia
Length: 2h 12m (video)
Official meeting video (city, Granicus): https://fairfax.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=13&clip_id=4166
Agenda: https://fairfax.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?view_id=13&clip_id=4166
Minutes: https://fairfax.granicus.com/MinutesViewer.php?view_id=13&clip_id=4166&doc_id=e1e9293b-421a-11f0-b7f5-005056a89546

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-13. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:01] good evening everyone it is Monday April 21st of 2025 and this is the work session of the City of Fairfax school board our first presentation is our middle school student panel we'd like to welcome all of you and thank you we know you guys probably have a lot of homework and other activities and other things you might want to be doing so we appreciate your time we just have some questions that we want to ask um of you guys and uh trying to think of the best way if you guys want to just raise your hand if you want to to answer the question that way we won't put anybody

[00:00:39] on the spot um does that sound like an okay plan okay um just who who will start with facilities okay necessary hey good evening um so one major responsibility of the city of fairfax is the school buildings or what we call the school facilities what are some things you like in regard to the buildings or facilities are there things at other schools that you have been to that you would like to see that you would like to have in your school think big

[00:01:21] yes one thing i like is we have an extensive uh extensive ground so we have a big field on the front we have a nice black top in the back and even on the bedroom side of the building there's We have an open field, some tables, like a tarp, like a tent.

[00:01:38] And I think that's really great because then, you know, when you have a lot of activities going on or you have recess going on, there's a lot of space. Like, there's no shortage of that considering that, you know, we are in a city. Which is, I find this really nice. Is there anything that you would add to that space that you can think of?

[00:01:58] Well, I mean, if there was some sort of way that we could get rid of all the geese poop out in the field, that would be wonderful. Okay, that's actually a good... that would be wonderful okay i'll write it down does anybody else anything inside the building any part like maybe these spaces that you would like to see for extracurricular activities or yes

[00:02:57] One thing I don't really like is that in some of the hallways, like at like the hallway intersections, there are these like dividers in the middle of the door frames, which kind of is a literal pain sometimes because people are pushing and shoving in the hallways and then you get slammed against that and it kind of hurt and it actually doesn't kind of, it hurts a lot sometimes.

[00:03:22] so it's like if there would be some way to get rid of those and put something on the doors so that they can still close properly but there's no metal bar in the middle of the doorframe that people get slammed like if there's none of that I think that would be kind of nice to see we remove them sometimes here in certain door frames right is it mostly on the old part of the building Christy Yeah, they're talking about Levin and Main Street.

[00:03:51] Yes, that one. I do want to, I think, I was just thinking, on the other side, Germantown is not a corner. There's no renovations. Yeah, I think it's the older part of the building. Anybody else?

[00:04:11] So before we move on, I forgot to ask everybody to introduce themselves. So Bryce, we'll start with you. Just say your name, what grade you're in. How about that? I'm Bryce, I'm in seventh grade.

[00:04:27] i'm charles i'm seventh i'm sorry i'm in eighth grade okay all right um miss hickman do you want to sure i want to talk a little bit about the cell phone policy i know that that's new for you eighth graders um obviously for the seventh graders it's your first time experiencing it so if you don't mind sharing a little like how are the how is the cell phone policy implemented in most of your classes um are they collected or they stored in a certain way and are the policies do you see that they're enforced kind of in the same way in most of your classes or are they

[00:05:05] is it totally different we'll just ask that you don't use like specific teachers names just give us a general idea i think in most classes a lot of teachers like always remind them And where do you store your phone?

[00:05:31] Is it just in your backpacks? And they always ask this to you. Okay. So a lot of my teachers, what they do is, like, if they see a phone and it's not the first time, they'll take it and they'll keep, like, they'll be like, okay, you know, I've seen you on your phone more than once.

[00:05:55] Hand me your phone, please. and they keep it stored in their desk in a safe spot, and then they're like, at the end of the day or at the end of class, can you please come see me? We'll have a small talk, and I can give you your phone back. But something I've also noticed is that if it's repeated, I've seen this a couple times where the teachers had to take the phone a couple times, they take it to the office, and they're like, now we're going to have to call your parent or guardian.

[00:06:25] Yeah, I mean, I feel like most teachers do this. It's not like one teacher in particular, But it's just kind of nice, and it's not like they're very strict, like, oh, you have your phone out, oh, that's, like, a punishment, like, oh, you get detention, oh, that's, like, suspension or anything.

[00:06:41] It's, like, gentle reminders, and then if it happens repeatedly, then it gets a little bit more strict, the teachers get a little bit more strict. What about seventh grade, you guys? How is it in the seventh grade? Because you're coming from, you know, being in an elementary school last year to this year.

[00:06:59] It's mostly the same thing as seventh grade. I feel like the teachers do the same thing, the warnings and stuff. That's really it. How do you guys feel about the policy in general?

[00:07:18] It's all right. I think it's all right. It helps us sometimes to stay away from our devices a lot, so we're not inclined to always use them. I think it's actually fairly generous considering what some of the other policies, other schools have, like Frost Middle School, for example.

[00:07:42] They have their students put phones in pouches and then store them in their backpacks. So I feel like it's very nice that we do this, and I feel like it's a good system, and it works without needing to take further steps. For those 8th graders who are there, do you see a difference between the cell phone use between last year and this year?

[00:08:01] I feel like last year I noticed a lot more 8th graders were using their phones, and this year I think a lot of the 7th graders don't use their, like a lot of the 8th graders that were 7th graders last year don't really use their phones. Thank you.

[00:08:20] I'm going to just sort of piggyback on this question. So would you say that in a class period, is it often or not often that a teacher will have to stop instruction to redirect a student about a cell phone being out?

[00:08:40] Or is it just infrequent? I would say it's infrequent. The teacher usually doesn't have to stop. Anyways, if the student is on their phone, Something I've noticed, it's usually during free, like, you know, when we have independent work time.

[00:09:02] Okay, that's fair. And we're on our own doing our own work, and sometimes students will go off and... Would you guys all agree with that? Ms. Sassari, do you have a... Oh, no, not yet. Oh, okay.

[00:09:18] Okay. Okay. The next set of questions we're going to ask you are about some of the activities at school. So can you talk a little bit about what kinds of things you do during the recess time? Sometimes I'll be basketballs out.

[00:09:37] people be playing basketball. Sometimes there might be footballs out, but football is like more of the grass thing so that people don't get hurt on their blacktops. So that's one of the things. Like football, soccer, and then every now and then you'll see some people walking around the track or kicking around a soccer ball. I tend to usually just, I resist on the field, so I tend to walk around and talk with my friends um but I also see a lot of people yeah they have footballs um

[00:10:15] there's a couple volleyballs a kickball um someone I know sometimes he brings in a cricket ball and they practice some him and a couple kids that play cricket they practice their cricket pitching which is actually pretty funny to watch um and then yeah but last year my recess was on the germaton side of the building so on that little bit of a street there and then so there was like hula hoops and jump ropes and frisbees and that kind of stuff so I feel like you know

[00:10:52] there's a lot of equipment that are around the building for recess that's more geared to the location so like fields will have more footballs and volleyballs and stuff, blacktop will have more basketball and like other balls and stuff. And then the Germantown side will have more hooloops, frisbees, jump ropes, ring toss.

[00:11:13] So I'm going to ask a follow-up question related to that. So do you guys have ideas for other things that you would like to have available at recess other than what is available? Not really.

[00:11:34] I feel that what we have right now is good enough. A lot of equipment actually sometimes goes unused. Some people just don't use it. And we only have like 10 minutes outside, so it's not like, you know, we have a lot of time to use it.

[00:11:50] So what we have, in my opinion, is... Is there plenty of places for you guys, like if you just wanted to socialize with somebody or read a book? Because I know I'm sure there are places to sit. Ms. Hester, I know you had a question about recess.

[00:12:07] I do. Last year you mentioned that you had recess at Germantown, and then it sounds like this year you were on the Bevin side. Are you all able to rotate around for recess? It depends on where your TA class is, because if you have, it depends on the hall that your class is in and the teacher that you have.

[00:12:31] I guess it's distance probably, right? So you don't have to walk too far. You waste the 10 minutes you do have. And I guess for the 8th graders, have you been able to experience recess on both sides of the building, or are you kind of only stuck on one side or the other the last two years?

[00:12:47] Um, since we have like LS which is learning seminar, it switches like every month and each LS has like, so like each time we get to go to PH is like, wow, pretty recent, I would say that we switch.

[00:13:14] This is about them, I know, for next week, recess and giving them a choice, they don't know that yet. You're in the now. So we're going to send some information this week, we're going to send stuff to families, but we'll refer it next week, we're going to experiment to see if we can do it next week.

[00:13:33] Okay, that sounds good. So I have a question. What happens if the weather's bad? What do you do in your classroom through recess? We're able to use our hot pops a little bit. Okay. We're able to, like, get some board games, too. Okay. Okay. Yeah, like you said, you can use your computers and also get out board games or read a book or something like that.

[00:13:58] So it's, like, ten minutes of just free rest-your-brain time. Yeah. A lot of teachers have, like, board games. like some art teachers like print out like colored things. - Oh, that's nice. - Does anybody play cards?

[00:14:13] I'm just kidding. - Sometimes, yeah. My TA teacher actually has a couple tennis balls. So what people in my TA do when we have indoor recess is we play table balls. So we bounce the ball on the team and someone has to catch it. It's a crazy game, it's really fun.

[00:14:30] - We have some classrooms out in the room. - Maybe some kush balls. - Yeah, in my classroom, it's in like, at the end of the building for no windows, so that's why we're allowed to do it. So do any of you participate in after-school activities?

[00:14:47] Yeah, I do track and cross-country. Okay. Charles, do you do anything? No. Sorin? I do Model UN, Quiz Bowl, and I did theater in the past, but now I can't do it due to Quiz Bowl.

[00:15:04] Oh, okay. EIP with George Mason. Oh. And they give me a free tutor. Oh, cool. All right. You said EIP? Oh, EIP.

[00:15:23] Are there any school-based clubs or groups that you wish that were available at Catherine Johnson that other schools have that we don't have? Yeah. A lot of high schools have, like, a lot of different, like, maybe, like, more sports.

[00:15:42] Like, I know our school, you have volleyball, You could have football, basketball, like other sports, like tennis or other sports. What would be your, like, top two choices if you could have? You could have outdoor soccer.

[00:15:58] Outdoor soccer. Yes, maybe lacrosse. Okay. Anybody else? It doesn't have to be sports. Anything else you wish that?

[00:16:15] I know a lot of other schools, they have a debate club. I feel like that would be cool. I know we have a very strong model event program at our school, but obviously a debate program would be cool to have because it's a different kind of public speaking format.

[00:16:30] Yeah, 100%. Anybody else? Does anybody have any other questions? Is there anything else you all would like to share that would help us?

[00:16:46] I have a good question. So how do we all get selected? How do they get selected? That's a good question to ask Mrs. T. Not Mr. Smith. Thank you.

[00:17:03] Do you guys have any questions for us as the school board? Normally, you made a good impression on everybody. Yes, yes. Thank you, Ms. Ann. Someone who has the confidence to come speak to a room full of adults. Also, we appreciate you guys coming and being so open and honest with us.

[00:17:21] Thank you for having us. Thank you. All right. Grab some cookies. Yeah. Thank you. I was going to say, I just want to turn out, as a parent, if you ask for school activities, I don't have kids in Atlanta middle schools, but I'm very high on time in FCPOA.

[00:17:42] Oh, yeah. It's amazing. It's amazing. It is amazing. It is. Like, I cannot, I don't know, I don't even know how to thank you or whatever. It is amazing that they have some super quiet things. You know, I was so afraid of middle school.

[00:17:59] I had one of the mills, one of the upcoming mills. I was so worried, so, and I think the after activities needed, like, for a huge disaster. Because there's something for everybody. I feel like there really is. Every day there's a pickleball club that's just starting now. Oh, pickleball.

[00:18:16] Yeah. You know, it blows my mind. This is a middle school, and they have so much. They do. Can I ask, what elementary schools did you guys go to? I was Providence. Providence. Providence. Willow Springs. Willow Springs. Willow Springs, Providence.

[00:18:32] Okay. It's always just curious kind of where people are. But it's amazing. I do hope my daughter knows what he's doing. Yeah. He's the one.

[00:18:49] Mr. Dale's the best. He's the one to thank. For sure. He does a great job. I have to go with the coach, but we work with him all the time. Well, thank him for being the coach for that. And congrats. You guys have been on a winning streak, I hear.

[00:19:05] Yes. Oh, yeah. We got nationals in. I was going to say, I thought it was nationals. Two and a half weeks of things. Where is nationals? We have one in Chicago, and then two weeks after that, we have one in Orlando. That's amazing. Nice. Yeah. Good luck.

[00:19:23] Good luck. Thank you, Olivia. And good luck to the rest of you on the last two months, month and a half? It's about two months. Mr. Dejo made an announcement at lunch. I think he said there's in total like 30-something days left. That's all. Some. Wow.

[00:19:39] 38. Thank you. They know. But not 30. 30 days will graduate. Thank you. Well, but they have to go past graduation. Wow. Thank you all. Have a good night. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:19:54] Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you. Thank you for being here. I appreciate it. It was really nice to meet you.

[00:20:09] Thank you. Thanks. It was really nice to meet you. It was really good luck in your fashion. Thank you. Thank you so much. We'll see you guys next year. Bye. Thank you so much for coming. Yes, thank you. Thank you.

[00:20:24] Thank you for being here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. I have your favorite. Yes. No. Oh, do you have orange? I don't have more of theirs. Oh, I don't want to.

[00:20:41] Actually, I don't want to. That's what I have because all the orange ones are at school. Oh, are we muted or pauses? You need a what? I said are we muted or pauses. Are we still running? Should I pause?

[00:20:57] should I pause it for until yeah yeah it gets posted on the website okay good evening everyone welcome to the city of Fairfax school boards student panel we thought that maybe we would begin with everybody just say your name and what grade level you're in we'll start right here I can't believe it I'm a senior I'm I'm Caroline Cronin, and I'm a freshman.

[00:21:26] I'm David Forrest, and I'm a freshman. I'm Colin, and I'm a freshman. I'm Mila Pichardo, and I'm a senior. I'm Miles Burry, and I'm a senior. I'm Tyler Rickman, and I'm a junior. I'm Jonathan Dutton, and I'm a senior. Okay. All right, so we have some questions for you guys.

[00:21:43] And if you'll just raise your hand if you want to respond to the question, no pressure. But we'd love to get as much feedback as we can. Ms. Cessary, I'm going to start with you. I'm going to start with one of our questions on the rolling gradebook.

[00:21:59] Do your classes use a quarter grading system or a rolling gradebook or a combination of both? They all use a quarter grading system. We'll go down that line here.

[00:22:17] Most of my classes are a combination of both. Some of them have quarter and some of them have rolling. Let's say a combination of both, some of them. Most of the classes I've taken have quarterly gradebooks, but only one of them had a rolling gradebook.

[00:22:34] All my classes, actually. Okay. And what are your thoughts on each of the grading policies? And do you have a preference of one over the other? Me personally, I prefer Porter just because I'm a big procrastinator.

[00:23:00] And with being a big procrastinator, I mean, with Porter, it gives me like a deadline. You have to set up such time to get your work in. And honestly, it's like a schedule for me to be in that process.

[00:23:19] Yes. So like the quarter grade book, it always gives you a fresh start for each new quarter. And you can't really escape any of your past mistakes. So if you did really bad in the first quarter, you're trying to better later on. You can't like escape that bad period initially. Yeah, we'll just keep going down the line here.

[00:23:36] Yeah. Yeah. So like Connor said, I think I like quarterly better just because it gives you a fresh start. And it also, with the rolling grade book, you have to go in and click in your assist and see what you have. It just makes it too complicated, and most of the students don't want to do that extra step.

[00:23:58] So they forget about those assignments, and then the next quarter comes, and all these assignments are zeros. I think that the majority of my classes that have had rolling grade books are pretty easy, like elective classes, where it's like it doesn't really matter if you have like a rolling grade book or not because it's not like a difficult class so it's like they're because i feel like rolling grade book is more for it's like okay you've earned like a really good grade in this class like let's carry it over but most of these classes that have rolling grade book it's like they're not hard

[00:24:30] personally i think i enjoy the rolling grade book more i think it's i strive to get really good grades because that's just me and I think it's annoying to have good grades in one quarter and all of a sudden one single thing that you mess up can give you a bad grade and make it hard for you

[00:25:05] to get a get a better grade that quarter but if everything is rolling you have you can have a good basis to start off of and that keeps you stable and you're able to to keep around that good grade

[00:25:18] For me, I personally more prefer rolling grade book because like you can see like how much you improve each time. And it's like a quarter is like it is like overall grade. But for the rolling, you know, like each time I'm doing this assessment and this quiz grade, test grade. I mean, like compared to detail and overall, I mean, detail is really important. You know, like every single detail and every single step you're going through is like it.

[00:25:50] You can see your own personal growth, so I more prefer rolling. Just out of curiosity, how many guys went to KJ because they have a rolling gradebook throughout all classes? How was that transition from a rolling gradebook to KJ to sort of this difference of gradebooks here?

[00:26:17] Sorry, what's that? It was so long ago. It was so long online. Oh, that's fair. That's fair. When we were freshmen. It was the first year back in Texas. First year back. yeah so really for freshmen it was the biggest change yeah i don't know i think i think i i enjoyed seeing a strong grade and a grade that could be stable even if i make a mistake on one

[00:26:46] thing more and i think i've been a little bit more annoyed this year by the by random assignments at the start of the quarter if i can migrate significantly i think i guess i got a little

[00:27:07] bit more annoyed with the quarter grading. Thank you. You got a comment? So I'm not from this area. I just moved here. I'm from Georgia. And back in Georgia, we actually have a semester break book. It's my new semester. I'm going to say from semester to quarterly, I like semester better just because it gives, most likely for seniors and newcomers, it gives you the chance to take the most important classes first.

[00:27:42] before we take care of regular classes so for you know we have a semester here for a student like me transferring in i will only have to take my three classes instead of having to choose eight classes because we're quarter based and now it prolongs me early graduation or stuff like that so overall i've filled that semester but quarterly is also great appreciate that thank you for sharing that I'll move on to the next question on facilities.

[00:28:19] One major responsibility of the city of Fairfax is the school buildings, or what we call facilities. What are some things you like in regard to the buildings and facilities? Are there things at other schools that you have been to that you would like to see?

[00:28:41] or have at our school i'm going to start this one off because so i think high school does a phenomenal job with everything they have to offer here um there's a few little things though on just making sure uh sometimes there's hiccups with custodial issues i think that's a big athlete or Miss Mellon thing but maybe more custodians sometimes it's a little bit

[00:29:20] more helpful because sometimes outside there's just a little bit of trash here and there but it's I think they try their hardest but there's only two that go outside so I think that more custodial staff would be helpful other than that this is the best school sorry can I ask what your role is because you seem very in the know here I guess I could let me be safe here is this like Nancy in training here just an assistant to the director

[00:29:58] very cool well thank you for doing so where like where are you seeing most of the trash is it in the athletic fields or just random spots so just like things where you drive in and it's like oh piece of trash there and obviously some people go out and get at this stuff that but it's just not regularly checked places like just makes like along the fence line by the state yeah just Sometimes it blows it out of the trash, but there are other things like that.

[00:30:37] There you go. So I have two things. Overall, I really like how things are at Fairfax. I like that the hallways are actually ample, because I know some other schools are super, super crowded. They have holes in the water, the ceiling's missing.

[00:30:52] I do like that our school is pretty in place. But the two things I would have to say is when it comes to athletics, like teen locker room storage, because i remember my like freshman year and sophomore year um like i i was part of the cheer team all four years and i remember that we were not allowed to keep our things in locker room because there weren't enough for all the girls plus the cheer team so it was like the cheer team was kind of like oh just i kind of figure out where to put your stuff whether it be the locker you just like carry around all day and that was like really annoying until you know my friends and i started to drive and we could just keep our stuff in the car but i and then it wasn't like

[00:31:32] that for the one season I was on the gymnastics team, but I will say, like, if we're going to have a lot of, like, sports, like, let's make sure that everybody can keep their stuff safe and not have to, like, you know, blow two backpacks all day. And then my other thing, I'm not really sure if this falls under facilities, but, like, parking and, like, it's, like, it is not good at Fairfax. I got into a car accident coming out of the parking lot, like, and I just think, like, this really needs to be revised. Is it the parking lot or the, leaving like the parking lot because thinking about the student lots um very small little yeah

[00:32:10] like what coming into school it would basically if you're like looking at the front of the school it's that right lot coming out that left hand turn is blind every single time and it's just like parents are very um inconsiderate to the fact that a lot of these people are new drivers or you know just like teenage drivers and get very aggressive as well and i've seen buses do this specifically but I've also seen parents I park on the other side so I kind of come out the kiss and ride to do my left turn and you know one lane is going up one lane is going down I've seen school buses in fact go across the yellow line up like the like the right side when they're supposed to

[00:32:49] on the right side to cut around the traffic as I'm trying to do my left hand turn and I've had like parents do it and I've honked at them and they just looked at me like I'm crazy like but I think I just find it so crazy that school buses are doing this it's like trying to get around it's like buddy like i know you might have to wait but like that is your lane yeah so that aggravates me a lot but um he had you had a comment oh okay all right adding on to mila's point i was going to talk about that even before she said it i totally forgot about that but i've seen two accidents so far at that at that intersection since i've been driving up it's just a four-way

[00:33:28] stop traffic lights definitely definitely definitely just people fly up and down there even during the school day except line turn and it's it's a 25 mile an hour speed limit but everyone knows people go 30 40 whatever and it's it's very very dangerous when you're looking left and you think you're clear left you're looking right then you go fly back and it could definitely get someone really hurt or even killed if they're walking across the street and there's no crosswalk

[00:34:00] Mr. Pottenberg, since the school board, we own that road, what is the possibility of getting a speed camera put online in front? Like one of the ones that shows you the speed?

[00:34:17] Yeah, and says you will get a ticket if you're speeding. Just curious. Because that is a blind turn. And just to emphasize, we've had them out to kind of assess for crosswalks and to assess for some type of a traffic light, slipping my mind, the project that's supposed to go in.

[00:34:42] Yeah, but that's not, whatever the footprint of the amount of DOT traffic that has to travel over there, it doesn't mean the qualifications, because the kids have, yeah, the kids have brought this up, like, frequently, so they've tried to come up with some of the... Oh, is that, I mean, as long as I've been on the board, it's been a problem.

[00:35:01] What about having either a traffic officer, a school resource officer doing like conducting traffic and that little online run and instead of like having, you know, right away, okay, that road, that lane had two minutes, okay, stop, let this person go out, okay, now stop, let the buses go through instead of, you know, just a little more.

[00:35:25] I feel like if there was officer present there, then it could also help. I mean, I don't know if that could happen. No, that has also been, we've had discussions about, and I think, Mr. Plottenberg, what was the issue? We couldn't get, they didn't have enough officers, right?

[00:35:42] That was down. Yeah, but in general, we couldn't get any additional officers. That was one of the things with staffing, much like custodians, they cut back the custodian ratio at one for qualifies the amount of square footage and activities and so forth at each level.

[00:35:58] But the same thing, the difficulty of getting staffed in the patrol officer traffic bar out there has been one of the worst. The school resource officer. I mean, I know that we actually do need, but that's the issue with that one is the timing of the day when the most...

[00:36:20] They want school resource officers. There's so much going on that they're needed really where they're currently stationed. But I will follow up. Again, I add that to my list with Chief Fonson. Okay, in terms of parking, do we have enough student parking?

[00:36:36] I'm just thinking about the parallel parking that's online and run, that's when you're trying to make that left and you can't see. We do until about now, and we max out at parking. Usually around May when our juniors now become of age to get permits as well.

[00:36:55] Yeah, we have another small wave in the spring, And then we do try to assign those spots towards the end. Sometimes kids want to still be in the front of the school versus being put on the side or around the back of the building. So that's still easy entrance access.

[00:37:12] So we try to honor what they're requesting, right, when they're purchasing the parking. But to eliminate them, no, I don't think so because we still have all the parking. Okay, I was just thinking even just to put some homes on those just so people could see it.

[00:37:29] And the back lot is now just all faculty, right? Because back, like six, seven years ago, it used to be, that used to be with seniors part. Yeah. And then it flipped. It's an academy. Yeah, it's an academy. Because with the over 1,000 kids coming from me, you have that three-times-a-day wave of them coming.

[00:37:48] We'll work on that. We'll see what, you know, what we're able to do. Yes, Tyler. Okay, so this may be redundant because I've had a couple meetings with Mr. Fulbright and of course we'll do as well. So, the bathrooms, they don't really work that well.

[00:38:06] There's always doors that are off hinge. Some of the doors are missing. Some of the, like, you go to lock it, and then the thing is broken right there, so it really just slides back no matter what. A lot of them are broken. They've been broken for a while, and that really needs to change because of, like, privacy and such.

[00:38:22] Also, the sinks, they don't work that well. Yeah, we know. There's a tap on top. We made the sink on. We made it like this. Yeah. They just made fun of me because I was like, I can't watch my pants. Is it in all the, would you say it's in all the bathrooms that you, yeah, most of them are all the bathrooms.

[00:38:47] And then, also, I respectfully disagree with Mila about, like, spacing the hallways. I think it's very crowded, especially at this intersection right here. Hallways. But another thing I also think is the lockers nobody uses them i've seen less than five people this year use a locker uh in my like passing the hallways and so i think we should take out the lockers make more that would allow for more room but i don't know how that will it's well we've looked into that it's it's a little

[00:39:20] harder than you think to just remove the lockers because on the floor it's mr plattenberg You can't just take out the lockers because it leaves the way it was constructed.

[00:39:38] Unfortunately, the grass is spot on because they were placed up on top of this concrete form as a tile around the base. But you would then have that huge stripping hammer construction that would be a nice, you wouldn't see. To replace all the flooring in the entire school.

[00:39:56] And what it really gets to is a lot of things you're talking about. The new laboratory or sinks, fixtures that are going in, aren't that way. They're made much more reasonable because of, and through renovations, that's when usually that's addressed.

[00:40:12] As far as bathrooms and locks, those are definitely things that we can bring up with Ms. Giselle Gray, and those are work order items. Whenever you have something like that, let somebody know, custodial or administrator know, because we can get those addressed.

[00:40:29] That's part of our school services agreement. They're supposed to come out and fix this whenever there's an issue or if a door's taken off. There are literally doors? Yeah, the field pass bathroom, there's no door. It's been like that for at least a month.

[00:40:47] Probably longer. I will say about the locker thing, I actually used my locker a lot freshman and sophomore year when I didn't have a cheer locker. Right, that's where I would stuff my things and all my friends and I would. also because you know like team activities spirit boxes whatever it's like kind of nice to just be able to show some things in there then obviously once you get a car it's like a whole different thing right um but also the only other thing that i can think to add is um you know the like the water fountains especially the ones where we like the bottom of your water bottle this is kind of

[00:41:24] interesting but in my biotech class we did um we were taking just like swabs of different things around the school to like try and grow bacteria and someone spots like the top of um like the refill water thing and like that bacteria was a different color than the rest of the ones that we grew so i don't know if these are like getting changed or like like washed frequently but it's it is very bad you don't know when it's when the filter's been changed and that brings it back to The one in the field house, the red light's been on for so long, it's been burnt out.

[00:42:02] Oh, my God. Really? Why do we not know anywhere? Again, those are maintenance issues. So if you see those things, you're driving me around. But, yeah, those are things. And if you see me in the hallway, you know, talk to me.

[00:42:19] Pull me aside. That one does have a work order. Yeah, and the bathroom door has a work order. And in the bathroom door, you mentioned it. But how long has it been? I mean, we're running on FCPS work orders sometimes anywhere from 6 to 8 to 10 weeks because they're not in a list of priority.

[00:42:43] So can I ask a favor? If it's something like a bathroom and it's been, let's say, two weeks, can we just go ahead and have the school contact us? and we can take care of just especially for back I had a question mainly for Dr. A you do a great job of having the kids reach out to y'all because I see all the QR codes and whatnot through school is there a way for students to report issues like is there a form on like their student page or something that says hey if you see something

[00:43:21] like the sink isn't working or there's a door missing or a lock's not like just like a quick google form yeah we can we can create that we definitely have the vice incident and all that other type of stuff yeah we can create would that be like too much would that be like okay i was gonna say yeah i think we do a really good job with making sure students feel safe and connected with other teachers and stuff there's always surveys and stuff that go out but um yeah i personally my experience i feel like i can understand who to tell and all that stuff and i think that average

[00:43:55] student would be able to, someone that's comfortable to talk to a teacher would tell them, and I think any teacher could get in contact with Ms. Gray or someone that knows who to put over for, but I think a form would be helpful. I don't think there's any lack of students not understanding who to talk to.

[00:44:16] It's just going back to the same thing of students not going to go and say they're going to forget about it as soon as they walk out of the bathroom. I think that would be helpful. Also, I know that in at least our leadership class, we've had, towards the earlier in the year, but we had conversations with Dr. A, and she asked us a whole bunch of questions, and we told her things that we noticed around school, and again, the parking issues, all these things.

[00:44:44] Regularly, we've had chances to be able to talk to counselors or admins or Dr. A about issues that we've seen around the school. What about as freshmen who are brand new to the school? Do you guys know who to go to or tell those kinds of things to, or not quite yet? I would just go to the teacher whose class I'm in and tell them so that they could tell somebody else.

[00:45:10] Other than that, I don't know. Okay. Is there anything that you all have noticed about the facilities since? There's two different kinds of sinks that I know are typically throughout the school. yeah i think one typically you have to push and hold otherwise it goes off right one of them is one that i've seen much more often and if you push it it'll stay on for a little however and those are typically the there's less of them but those are typically the ones i always go to so i

[00:45:46] it's fresh and then wash my hands oh sorry hold on real quick I'm sorry I'm sorry can you just speak up just a little bit for me so sorry okay in the middle of the hall in the center where like where students walk through I noticed like since it's such a tight space it's crowd there which makes students push each other with their back and also in the bathroom I know some students were

[00:46:22] getting to flush toilets or I can see some toilets that's cost by students that's unfortunate actually piggybacking off of um for entrance I like I agree with him like especially in the morning and dismissal um getting out of there is a hassle that's why I like thank God for the early release days on Thursdays and Fridays for seniors because like maybe getting out of that door is like Black Friday in the mall. It's really terrible. So like just a suggestion,

[00:47:00] I don't know if it would be possible, like I don't know if that door thing right there is going to close the door and just like Google throughout the day. Like I'm moving now, like opening the door because like someone stepped in my new shoes. and it's the capacity once that I mean this the school has crept back up in capacities to what it was back in about 2010 and in 2010 it was literally like shoulder to shoulder in the hallways and we're we're approaching those numbers

[00:47:36] again so the best thing would be um does anybody else have any comments about facilities okay um miss kelsey you wanna um so our next questions are about the new cell phone policy and i love the looks on the face as you say it um how is the new cell phone policy implemented in most of your classes like when and how are the phones collected or where are they stored um are the policies also consistent and

[00:48:14] consistently enforced across the class excuse me yeah you're good come down there yeah come hi how are you yeah so um in general i would say they're not very consistent across my classes uh oh david i'm gonna interrupt you for a second don't share the specific teachers names yeah just share the information yeah um there it's there are some classes where it feels like it's

[00:48:47] barely even enforced really and the the teachers not paying full attention to students hiding their phones and there's other classes where it's that you're required to put your phone in the in the little cubbies um i definitely don't i definitely don't feel like it's very consistent um i i think generally that keeping keeping the phones in the cubbies is not the greatest of ideas because i

[00:49:26] I think students end up hiding their phones and using them anyways. I think it would be better just for students to keep them in their backpacks and have, of course, strict policies on if you're caught using your phone.

[00:49:44] And I think it would be better if more teachers focused on kind of like walking around the classroom and looking at students who are kind of suspiciously like looking down or looking at a specific corner of their computer or something.

[00:50:02] I don't know, just anything kind of like that. Personally, I have also walked out of my class a couple of times without my phone and then had to go back. I know a friend who forgot it and had to get it the next day, didn't have it that afternoon. So I think that is something that is not the greatest thing to happen.

[00:50:22] Sorry, when you mean cubbies, do you mean like something like that on the wall with like the numbers? Yeah. Okay, thank you. I'll just be honest here. It's always, always, always going to be a losing battle with students, okay? So TikTok shop, they have $5 replicas of your exact same phone.

[00:50:43] You put it in the cubby, and so it's always... You're giving away. They know, they know. Now I'm going to go home. There's always going to be a way where students get around it. Not that that's saying that you shouldn't do anything about it, but if it's not a phone, a computer, it's a computer, It's a personal laptop, not a personal laptop, it's a tablet.

[00:51:07] So it just keeps on piggybacking. And I think what would be a more productive way is keeping it in a backpack, where if you see it in your sight, then you get it taken. That's how most of our classes are nowadays. For the first week to maybe two weeks, it was always cubbies, those little phone holders.

[00:51:25] Everyone had their numbers, put it in, get it in class. And it slowly started to trickle maybe one or two times, put your phone away. And then after that, now it's not one of my classes is enforcing it. But if you have your phone, if you have it on your desk or anything in sight, it's a, hey, give it here, bring it up from your desk, and you lose it for the rest of class.

[00:51:51] And I think that's a little bit better rather than trying to get everyone's phones. Who's number 19? It's just way, way, it's a big time suck at the beginning of each class.

[00:52:06] to try to figure out who's those and where. - So I've actually, when I got the paper, I was like, this is gonna be a, this is gonna be a good one. When I first got to the school, I wanted to write a whole story about it or a book, but I didn't, I'm happy I couldn't say this.

[00:52:31] Honestly, with the cell phone policy, like he said, it's always gonna be a losing battle. I feel, I'm gonna like register to our actual government. We have a federal government and we have a state government. that are governing in, you know, you've got in the district and in the states being the schools.

[00:52:48] And then you have cities within the states. So I feel that, you know, you as a school board, you give out your rules and your regulations. The state, which is the schools, they say, okay, we will have the cities or the, you know, the classrooms abide by this, but also allow each individual teacher to make their own policy that can get approved.

[00:53:11] The majority of each class is like, what, 90 minutes to a class, maybe 120 sometimes in a class. They're not teaching that full 90 minutes or that full 120. You probably walk in, you get a warm-up or, you know, whatever.

[00:53:27] The teacher teaches for the first 30 minutes, and then you have your assignment. And during assignments, I mean, people are diagnosed with ADHD, and I know you get accompanied in your IEP, But, I mean, just in general, when people lose focus, I mean, if you're in a class, you just got done teaching, was talking to you for 30 minutes.

[00:53:47] I mean, the attention spans are really short, and especially as many people. Allowing the teachers, okay, you have 30 minutes, all right, that's five minutes, you get your phone or whatnot. Or even allowing them to have access to their phone, listening to music, or look at a show while they're doing the work.

[00:54:03] I'm going to snitch on myself. I put my phone on my Chromebook, and I look at my show while I do my work. And sometimes my teacher has a problem with it. The majority of them don't because they know at the end of the day, I still get all my work done. So allowing those teachers to have that structure to the way that they can organize their classroom, I feel like that would be a better way to do it just because they're not having to enforce something they don't want to.

[00:54:30] Yes. So in my classes, a lot of my teachers ask us to keep our phones in our backpacks. And despite the teacher's best efforts, the students still get away with having their phones under the desk or on their screens.

[00:54:49] And a lot of my teachers do walk around, but they're not noticing it. And then when the kids get away with it for the first and second times, and then the third time, they start making videos in class. And I don't want to be identified in any of the videos, and I know that some of my peers wouldn't want to.

[00:55:07] so it creates a distraction it disrupts the learning environment and I would also say that if there's extra time in class I know that I would want my teachers to maybe give us extra practice or give us books to read or something because I just think there's always more to learn and that the phone can't really teach you that much um you can have most of you have oh there's I'm sorry so for the cell phone policy I mean some teacher they're like really

[00:55:41] strict to the cell phone policy they're like stick to their like the policy they make like at the beginning of the school year they're gonna tell us like I'm gonna collect phone when it's during test time or like when I had handing back those test grade you have to like we have to collect our phones but some teacher they did mention about the cell phone policy but they didn't stick to their policy like not consistent so that might cause some student taking advantage like they know this teacher is not come like stick to the rule and they know all this teacher collect phone one day and another day

[00:56:20] that teacher this is not going to care about the cell phone policy so i mean like teachers should like stick to the point from the beginning to the end so students know oh this teacher is like really straight to this policy we have to follow it. I mean, this is something that we can't...

[00:56:39] Kenneth, did you have something? The name might teach you how to supply our phones and stuff with it. We will get it back at the end, but my mother's cell phones remain with us.

[00:56:58] We don't know how she is here. Thank you. You might also enter saying your name. My name? Yeah. Andres. I don't speak very well in English.

[00:57:13] I will try it. It's about the cell phone policy, right? Okay. I always have a thought about the policy. I don't think it's like something about the t-shirt.

[00:57:31] The t-shirt is, some t-shirt said, go and put the shirt from there. Other t-shirt said, keep it in your backpack. Other t-shirt doesn't pay attention to that. I feel it's more the student.

[00:57:49] The student needs to know that they don't need to load the cell phone, distract. And that is something that doesn't matter if the teacher or, I don't know, the president talks to the student.

[00:58:07] They don't will do it. If they don't want to pay attention to the class, if they don't want to learn, the more

[00:58:20] The common excuse is that they are lazy, so if they are like those types of adolescents, saying all the time that they are lazy and tired and those things, I don't think that there is no way to encourage to, you know, don't use the cell phone.

[00:58:51] I think that it's better to focus on the student that wants to learn, and the other, I don't know, they will know then, in the future, that that is a mistake.

[00:59:11] So, like, going off of that, because that was the point that I was going to bring up, was, so I remember when I was in elementary school, 6th grade, my teachers were always like, oh, well, things aren't going to be like this in middle school. And in middle school, my teachers were always like, oh, things aren't going to be like this in high school. And one thing that I do not understand is, like, why?

[00:59:29] I feel like sometimes we're almost, like, baby about the phone policy. Like, SCPS is so, like, oh, what's your plans after high school, college, university, trade school, like, all these things. But I know for a fact, next year when I go off to college, my professor isn't going to be like, oh, you have to put away your phone right now.

[00:59:45] Like, we're studying. Like, oh, like, can you pay attention to this lesson in college? It's like, if you choose to pay attention, great. Like he was saying, if you choose not to pay attention and you fail, that's on you. And I've always been one to be able to, like, self-regulate, like, my phone usage. Like, okay, I want to pay attention to this class because I actually want to do good on this next test.

[01:00:02] Like, I'm going to put my phone down. And I understand that, like, obviously there's all levels of high schoolers and there's people from all different types of backgrounds that maybe you don't know how to regulate, like, your phone usage. But I also think, like, it's that really strong, like, if you are, like, if you actually have plans for your future and you actually, I don't know, want to graduate and move on, you need to learn yourself to be like, no, I have to put away my phone right now.

[01:00:27] I'm not going to use it while my teacher is talking. And if you don't, then that's on you, and you just have to learn your mistake later. Because the reality is, throughout the rest of your life, you are not going to be a baby. And I know this for a fact, because as I'm going through applying for colleges and setting up my college accounts, there's not a lot of instructions on what I'm supposed to do.

[01:00:45] And I just know for a fact. And also, I work two jobs. And they've never told me, it's like, you need to put your phone away right now because you're supposed to be doing this. No, I'm supposed to know. If I use my phone right now, there's, like, there's consequences to those actions. And I just don't believe that, like, certain high schoolers are going to learn that if they don't face those consequences.

[01:01:07] So, I don't know, I believe that there's two sides to that. So, I don't know if you guys know anything about this. But back in like September or October or something, I got a notification from NBC4 and it was like the governor had signed something that required high school students to follow the policies of middle school, which is keeping your phone completely away, including during passing time and lunch and stuff.

[01:01:37] and it said it would go into effect on like january 5th 2025 something never happened don't know what happened to it but i i don't think it should happen because i mean students are going to use their phones during class time anyways but they're going to use it more during class time if they don't at least get that chance to relax and spend time during lunch or during a passing period and so yeah yeah let me let me do my next one because i think it'll kind of go with it

[01:02:17] because it's still on the cell phones um kind of already answered one of our questions of how do you feel about the policy which we clearly understand um so just to let you know if fairfax high school was actually a pilot for the cell phone policy um in fcps the question that we want to know, though, is, so other high schools, when they start adopting these policies, based on your guys' experience this year, what policies and what things do you think they need to incorporate into it? So what should we have coming in? Because we're still kind of... I just want to clarify

[01:02:54] before they answer that. So Fairfax High School was a control group. So we were not the cell phone folder mandatory so as a control group teachers could use the folder or just tell the kids to put it off and away yeah and then we were just to document the referral system um but we weren't like the pilot was they had the mandatory storage yeah let's just let's start at the end and go down because everyone seems to have their hand up do you have anything you want to add no no you good Okay, later.

[01:03:29] Thank you, Pat. Go for it. So with all the new other schools, the schools that are trying to implement this new program, I would say referring back to what I said earlier is a more, I'm not going to say relaxed, but relaxed structure.

[01:03:50] Like my fellow students said, I mean, allow that teacher to, allow that teacher to regulate their classroom. That's what I'm going to say. Because, again, they're not teaching for a full night. So allow that teacher to regulate their classroom and not sign a cell phone policy a little bit.

[01:04:06] I don't think that it should be a statewide or a county-wide regulation. I feel that that regulation needs to be upon the teacher. The teacher, when they turn in their lesson plan, they also turn in a cell phone plan.

[01:04:21] Okay, this is the plan that I'm going to have for the next quarter, and this is what I'll buy by. Not something where the school or the district group has to say too much. Do you think teachers should have autonomy with how they utilize it?

[01:04:39] I also agree with that, but I also want to weigh in about my thoughts about the policy. So, personally, I don't think it's that good because, first of all, all teachers don't enforce it. Some do, some don't, but also, like, smartwatches, like, they don't take away smartwatches.

[01:04:54] So, you can take away phones for a test, oh my gosh, take away phones, but then half of the kids have smartwatches, it doesn't make any difference. They're just going to cheat if they want them. Adding on to that, too, there's two sides of it for me, the academic side of me and the personal side of me.

[01:05:14] So I want to say the academic side, I have lots of friends. I go to North Carolina almost every weekend, and my friends that live down there have a downer pouch. I think that would be really beneficial because if you get stuff done, there's no way around it.

[01:05:31] But then the personal side of me is leaving early or any personal issues. What happens if there's an emergency? We had a lockdown here after, what did it, two years ago, a year ago? If I didn't have my phone, that would have been really scary.

[01:05:47] I was just able to be in contact with a few people, even though you're not supposed to. But it's different on paper than when it's actually huddled around. um i think that it's you're never gonna get it but that's probably the only way that probably um i i also agree a lot with what miles says in the sense that like um i understand like having to put your phone up for a test obviously right you're taking a test or like a quiz like i understand that and then i also understand what tyler was saying was like if someone's going to cheat they're

[01:06:25] going to find a way to cheat like period because people have been doing this since before most most teenagers have phones, whatever, and it's like, I understand that obviously we want to try our best to make sure that, like, you know, students are putting their best, like, foot forward, but at the end of the day, there's only, like, so much that can be done, and then also, like, there's, like, that, like, emotional aspect of it.

[01:06:45] I do remember that lockdown two years ago, like, I was texting, like, my parents, and it's just like, oh, wait a minute, it makes me, I know it sounds funny, but it's, like, something that's, like, really, like, serious. Oh, I was going to say, yeah, I teach, so I get it, yeah. And, like, there's been days where I've, like, had, like, panic attacks during my English class, and the only thing that calms me down is texting my mom, you know?

[01:07:03] So it's, like, there's two sides of it. Kenneth, do you have anything you want to add?

[01:07:20] Like the pouches or the cubby things? I mostly agree with everything Aldama said. I think generally it should be a little bit more relaxed. I think mostly phones should be kept in backpacks.

[01:07:37] But, you know, if teachers say that students can use them, then they can. Also, I partially disagree with the smartwatch thing. I do have a teacher who, during tests, also includes that students have to take off their smartwatches and put them in their backpack.

[01:07:58] And I also have a question that I've never been able to ask the right person. In the videos that we've watched on lockdowns, it says that if you're not able to get to a classroom and close to outside, you're supposed to go out and get away from the building.

[01:08:22] And then, once you're safe, you call 911. But I wonder, if none of the students that are outside have their phone, how are they supposed to call 911? And they're told not to go near the building because they could be thought of as the threat.

[01:08:38] so what would you do there if you're all running down the street and you're running away from the situation it'd be to start waving your hands at traffic coming by online and saying help they need help at the school that's what I always told my students to run down to the police station right down the street yeah yeah or the fire station in the other direction right I think you guys You guys are really well suited here in between both depending on which way you are going on.

[01:09:14] Literally. Right, on plenum. Just break up. You know where the Sherwood Center is? Yeah. You know where the elementary school is? In the church? It's right across. It's right back there, yeah. If you make a right out. You don't go that way. You go that way. Have you tested it?

[01:09:31] It takes a long time to sprint there. He said seven minutes, so I don't think I can do the seven minutes. These two have an answer. Caroline, do you have anything you want to add?

[01:09:47] I would say I think the teachers need to use numbered pockets a lot more often because it's really effective when it is used. And I think teachers need to be a lot more strict about phone usage because it just creates a really uncomfortable learning environment when phones are actively being used during class.

[01:10:05] And I never know what my peers are doing on their phones. And, again, I don't want our faces to be all over the Internet if we're not comfortable with it. And we don't know if they're identifying us in some way. And then in terms of emergencies, I feel like the term emergency with phones needs to be defined more.

[01:10:27] Because if there's an emergency and you're on the school grounds, the staff is going to take care of you and they're going to make sure that you're okay. And then if you have to exit the building, I just feel like we're in a spot where there's a lot of help around.

[01:10:43] And so I think the term emergency needs to be more clearly defined in terms of phone usage. Nothing else there? Do you have anything to add first? You said come back, okay. So my question is, if the school needs to adopt this policy, it's like, it can be, I think that you need to talk with every person.

[01:11:11] teacher and every teacher can take different way. I think a way that is, I don't know the exact name in English, is meritocracia. Like, basically, if you want something, you need to gain, you know, you need to fight for them and you need to, you know, win. Win that. If maybe, I was thinking, It's an idea, I don't know.

[01:11:44] If you want your cell phone, minimum, in that class, you need to have, like, I don't know, B in that grade. Something like that. Something that you say, I don't know, ex-student said why he has their cell phone.

[01:12:00] And the teacher said, like, he has a B. You have, you have a B. - I like it. - Everybody on that grade. Exclusive. Okay, last one on cell phones, and then we're going to move on.

[01:12:26] Another thing with the cell phones is when you take away their cell phone, when you get rid of the cell phone, the student, there are students that use their cell phone because, again, they do not want to be here. They're forced to be here by the law. They're forced to be by their parents.

[01:12:42] I mean, they're forced to be here, and they don't want to be here. So their cell phone is just another way of escaping that. When you take away the cell phone, all the student's going to do, he's going to go to the bathroom for an extended period of time so he can go talk to his friends. He's going to go to sleep in the class. He's going to disrupt the class. So again, there's really no winning.

[01:12:59] His idea, honestly, it makes it win because, okay, you want your cell phone. Now prove to me you deserve your cell phone. Turning your grade, I mean, turning your work. Okay, you got an A. Okay, you did your work. Okay, I can give you your cell phone back. Now you can go sit down. Thank you.

[01:13:19] Okay, so... I'm going to combine the first two questions, but the next topic is kind of looking at course selection. So how are you informed about the courses and the options that you have as a student here at Fairfax?

[01:13:35] Do you think that the course advising process has been helpful to you, or do you have any ideas for how that could be improved? So this is like a topic that I actually feel really strongly about. So I remember like when I was an underclassman, we would kind of have like, it was like a line time session where you choose, you know, like, four different things that you could go talk about that elective or talk about the class, and the teacher will do, like, a slideshow and all these things, and you, like, learn about the class.

[01:14:03] And I think that was helpful to an extent. But then what I always found the most helpful was talking to an upperclassman who's already taken that course, not even necessarily with the teacher, sometimes with the teacher, but, like, just getting, like, a student perspective on the class.

[01:14:19] And I know that's, like, difficult because sometimes students are very opinionated on teachers and whatnot but I think that is that isn't the most helpful because I I don't want this to sound like rude or any types of way but there's definitely at least three classes I can think in my head I would not have taken if I knew that that is the way a teacher is in a class or if that is if that's just how they run the class because I've taken some very difficult classes with amazing teachers and have made it so great for me but I've also taken some classes that are like elective are easier classes that like I'm someone that I always like show up like I always do my work

[01:14:57] but genuinely I've had some classes where I do not want to go I do everything my power to like if I have an appointment I try to schedule it during that class like I do whatever I can to get out of it because just being in their classroom is so like almost like detrimental to me like I do not want to be there or if like the class itself is difficult and sometimes like sometimes it might be a teacher's passion but maybe it's teaching just isn't their like absolute strong suit you know and so then it's but it just makes it so difficult and like I was kind of in a situation like that with one of my classes this year that I realized that like this was not a good class for

[01:15:37] me to take and I did everything I could but it was too late in the year for me to switch out so I just kind of had to be like struggling a lot but like I got it really you know it's April but if I could have had like an like upperclassman or someone tell me like the actual truth about the actual class and the way it's run I think a lot of things would be different in terms of like kids that actually want to show up to school and like things like that um I mean the key like it's like basically like the key name with um upper classroom and classroom that's like a little

[01:16:10] good idea but um have you ever heard the term like bring my professor yeah um something like that but for high school. But am I, sorry, really quickly, am I right, can I just, when you sign up for the majority of classes, you don't, it could be a multitude of teachers.

[01:16:31] Yeah, and the majority of them have multiple teachers. Okay, so there's just like a select few that have only like one teacher. Okay, continue, I just wanted to clarify. But like, rate my teacher, like, because the piggyback of our third thing is like, if If we know what we're signing up with before we get into that class, I feel like it will help us.

[01:16:54] I have a class that I really do not like going to. And if I were to know when I signed up to that class that this is how it was going to be, if I could have looked at my profession like, oh, I would have asked for a transfer before it was too late. I feel like if we did something similar, if we allowed something similar to where, okay, there's a window period.

[01:17:15] You have three days to pick out your classes with your teacher, your ideal teacher, and then we can put you in there, we can put you in there. But, you know, there's a window. It's not extended, but I do feel like that is a better way to help because, I mean, once you get in a class that you don't want to be in, I know for Lisa, for me, I'm someone like, if I don't want to be in this class, I'm going to show I don't want to be in this class or I'm just not going to show up.

[01:17:39] You're going to love college. You are. You really are. I think for, I don't want to speak for, I think it's, first of all, they don't know. And if they did that for 2,400 kids, I think the whole scheduling process might have to start four years in advance.

[01:18:00] Well, yeah, I think the difference in high school and college scheduling is high school scheduling is random, right? You make a blanket list of, I want to take these seven classes, and then you put it into like a randomizer, and it's good stuff. In college, you get to actually look at it, cross-check with rate your professor, build your own schedule, pick your time slots, and actually figure it out.

[01:18:19] So you're going to really have a good time with that. Adding on to Brandon, but most adding on to Mila, I agree with Brandon as much as I could because it's really, really hard to work with some teachers, right?

[01:18:35] But it's not their fault entirely, because they have a really big passion for what they do, but they can't express it well in a teaching environment, if that makes sense. There's some teachers that I've taken a test right after the lesson that we learned.

[01:18:54] So there was no time of trying to study or anything. There was a lesson, but a point-question test. So my brain is mush after that, and it's the test. And it's really hard to try to understand what your teacher's going to be next year.

[01:19:11] But that's not anything that the school could change, right? So I think that's every high school has that problem in America and across the world, probably. That's just part of high school, and that's been like that for as long as the school's been here.

[01:19:29] Can I add on to that real quick? Is that, yeah, like, okay, I understand that it's, like, somewhat difficult to be, like, honest about those things. that there's, you know, like 200 kids trying to get into, like, this one class and there's three teachers, like, you have a, like, 66% chance of, like, getting, like, that teacher that, or not getting that one teacher, right?

[01:19:50] But if there's just a way for, like, students to actually be honest about the way that they feel about a certain teacher, because I know, I'm thinking of one person, right, I'm not going to say who they are, but it's like, I know for a fact that they're the only person that teaches that class, that subject, and I've heard year after year, like, I remember being a freshman, hearing the seniors talk about this, the exact same problem, and so then, if it's a thing where it's, like, what, she has 200 students times four, that's been, like, at least 800 people come through, right, and they all have the same complaint, is there not a way that we can, like, really

[01:20:27] express how we feel about, like, one certain class, or, like, one certain, like, teacher, I don't really know how that would work in a way where we can be obviously respectful towards that person but like some type of honesty because that's then where i'm telling like my my junior friends like do not like just don't like skip it so you're saying give give giving feedback on a specific teacher so that it that can be changed or adjusted based on the teaching because you know if you tell you have one english 11 teacher that isn't a good fit for you but you can't you know people have to

[01:21:01] take English 11 still, but being able to, and that's another, that is another thing. Do you guys do any sort of like classes? They're teacher initiated as part of like contract. I'm having like the flashbacks to college where you like finish the semester and you do the anonymous. Do any of you here, do any of your teachers ask you for feedback on like on their practices and how they're doing? Yeah. At the end of the year. At the end of the year, but not like before that. But there's nothing that we can dictate for that.

[01:21:31] And you guys don't see that information, that's strictly for the teachers, like if the teachers ask for feedback. Oh, yeah. Well, interestingly enough, we have a few teachers that are happy to share it because they'll use it as, like, coaching feedback in their journey.

[01:21:50] I have, like, four or five that have done that and asked, like, how would I better improve this, this is how people are feeling. Or just noticing that the classroom culture is off, and we recommended them give the survey to see, like, what maybe isn't working. because assessment is down, classroom culture is off, like now it's time to really maybe like get their feedback, right?

[01:22:08] They're going to tell you what you can fix to make them better, but we can't mandate that. So I think David had a comment. Kenneth, do you have one? So I'm well aware of all the courses that's really valid. This is a phenomenal job because the courses will pick our schedule next year.

[01:22:30] So the transition from 8th grade to here. Go ahead. I felt pretty well informed about the courses. And I did feel the course advising process was helpful. You can go to teachers of the same general subject, and they can tell you more about what that next level of the course is like, or comparing the normal versus AP or versus honors kind of thing.

[01:23:03] We have, of course, as she said, the line time times thing where we can go to classes that we're choosing and the teachers can talk about what the class is like and we have line time and that time can be spent going to a counselor and talking about that and of course a teacher that teaches you knows what you are like and what would be

[01:23:35] good for you um one thing that I think could be helpful is having a day for for for 9th 10th and 11th all separately to go to um a class of their choosing maybe maybe two two classes or something and literally just sit in on the class and see what a normal class is like in that class with that teacher and see what that's like because you're not always going to get a good idea of

[01:24:14] what the class would be like just from the teacher telling them about it seeing it for yourself acting as if you were a student in that class could help you understand what it would be like and that could just be time during a certain period of the day where classes are in session and the class would be spent with students spread out around the school seeing what classes would be a fit for them.

[01:24:46] Lady, do you have anything? For me, the thing I think we should improve about is that I get more feedback about how that class, what is the level of the class I want to take from the student more than I get from the teacher and counselor.

[01:25:07] Because for me, it's like a different situation. I'm new to the country, and I was still in ESL last year. So we only have one ESL teacher in Fairfax High School. So it's just, it's causing like...

[01:25:23] You mean counselor, right? Yeah, counselor. Sorry, she said... Yeah, the counselor. So there's only one counselor for ESL. So there's like a lot of students, because Fairfax High School is known for diversity. So, but even though I'm new to the country, I know what my goal is and what I want to take.

[01:25:42] I want more, like, deeper advice about, like, how can I achieve my goal? Because, like, in my home country, the school system is, like, totally different. So, I'm, like, new to the system. So, I want to know, like, if I want to achieve this goal, which class is going to be the best fit.

[01:25:57] I got those information more from the student, like, compared to getting those from the counselor. So I think like counselors should have some deeper conversation with the student, have different situation and like background and whatnot.

[01:26:13] So maybe like more about to listen to the student, what their plan for the future and what their goal is. So I think that might be helpful for like what class you're looking for. Back over there. So this is more like overall course.

[01:26:36] I want to say a little bit, one of the students up here said you learn something then that's automatic test. And I've been in a class, one of my classes is exactly that. And I don't know if it's something that the school can do or it's something that can be rewritten wise.

[01:26:57] Because I mean, I've talked to the nurses, it's an important thing. But in English, almost English 12, I mean, you learn 15 vocabulary words. And after those 15 vocabulary words, you have to remember all of them, and then you're tested next week.

[01:27:16] So if I learn them Wednesday, I get tested on it Tuesday. And so the only problem with that is, is communicative. I said that word so wrong. But it starts from the very beginning of the year, and it's to now. So from August to April, I have to remember all of those words, and they're all on my test, or they're all on my list.

[01:27:41] So the words that actually repeat themselves, or the definition that repeat themselves, it's like, okay, well, this is a one word. The definition could literally be three of these, and they're all on the test. So it's not, okay, well, now this is a trick question, because which one is the right one?

[01:27:57] You gave me a week, you gave me so much short time to remember, all these words and now you're putting all these words in front of my faces and they all have the same meaning so it's really difficult and it's really cruel and unusual punishment um when you get this when you get that test out so i mean i don't i don't know there's anything that you guys part-wise if you can like rewrite it um but i think that the day where we go and like see other

[01:28:34] classes that's probably the best thing i think we do during a lifetime uh so i think maybe we should have a second day because i found myself doing this year i went some classes and i was like yeah i don't want to take this class anymore and then i was like i looked back at the thing and i'm like i don't know what's your class i want to choose now because i don't know what the content of this class is and this class is and this class is and like i was lucky i had a couple friends to tell me okay this class is whatever and this class is whatever uh but if somebody were to not have They have a group of people around them or they're new to the country or something like that.

[01:29:09] They're new to the school community. They could have no idea, no clue what to do. So I think maybe we could have a second day. That instead is just one, so you can see eight classes instead of four. And then also, I think personally, I've had some awesome experiences with scheduling courses.

[01:29:30] I know it's very hard to schedule courses, but when it happens year after year, it's really annoying. And I feel it's all happening myself. I'm going to be wrong, but that's what it feels like with my peers that I've talked to. And then also or specific, like certain classes, like I asked to be in such class, oh, it's full now, and then because I think they're trying to I could be wrong here. They're trying to have every student reach a single AP class, but then we don't have room for other kids that want to take more and such, so if you're taking multiple APs, it's less like

[01:30:09] We want kids that have not taken AP yet to take AP. I could be wrong here. From what I've heard, that's what happens, but I put it on. And then also, I wish my counselors wouldn't push me more in certain ways because I feel like I've missed a lot of opportunities I could have had in previous years.

[01:30:30] So middle school, I feel like I missed that on a bunch because my counselors didn't push me as much. And that led to freshman year not having as much learning as I could have had. sophomore year, same thing. And the only thing that saved me was AP World because it really introduced me to the full AP spectrum.

[01:30:47] And I was always against AP. But I feel like if my counselors would have pushed me more, it would have led me to maybe get into that earlier and, like, realize what I enjoyed more and the different courses that I was able to take and I was able to succeed in.

[01:31:07] I remember, it kind of has to do with, like, the course advising process, But I remember we did this for my freshman and my sophomore year, and then we didn't do it my junior year. I don't know if it's because the juniors just didn't do it and someone else did. But basically, we had a paper that had, like, the eight classes on it, and it was, like, carbon copy.

[01:31:29] So one of them was white and one of them was yellow. And then you wrote down the classes that you were interested in, and you would go and have, like, conferences with your, like, current teacher about what they thought of that class, and then they would sign off on it, regardless if they, like, agreed or not, but that they, like, interviewed with you. And I think that that was, like, so, so helpful, choosing what class to take the next year, because I specifically remember talking to my history teacher my freshman year, saying, like, you're going to do so good in AP world, like, do it.

[01:31:58] And I was, like, so unsure at that time. I was like, there's no way I'm going to take an AP class. But she pushed me to take it, and it ended up being, like, one of the best classes I've taken. And I also remember, so I was in geometry honors, and I went to take algebra 2 honors. And so I put that on my paper, and my teacher was like, I'm not sure.

[01:32:15] I think this might be, like, a little bit too fast of a pace for your class. I mean, if you really try, you'll probably be able to do good. And I was like, I think I'll be able to do it. I struggled a lot in that class. And he was right. Like, he knew that it was going to be too fast-paced for me. Yeah, I still did it, obviously. You know, like, it was fine.

[01:32:31] I got a good grade in it. But, like, it was just, like, hearing his feedback was, like, so, so helpful. So I went into the year knowing, okay, this class is going to go a little bit faster than geometry did. So like after, I just realized I have to like-- - So you're absolutely right, it has changed.

[01:32:48] The county has now instructed that we are not allowed to provide what that was called recommendations. So we are not allowed to say anything like that anymore because we are an open enrollment county. So things like those practices have been eliminated because of like you obviously had a really great experience but sometimes students are not pushed into things they can be in and then they're being blocked or there's a barrier to them being able to access courses and so the the thought is is that when we took that when you take that away kids can sign up for what they want to sign up for if

[01:33:25] they have questions or comments like yes that's why you still have your teachers telling you about the different levels but specifically that practice was we had to eliminate it we were no longer allowed to do it but I I appreciate your feedback. Was it because students were just flat out not allowed to take a class that they wanted if the teacher didn't agree? Or was it just like a general better... You were still allowed, but so you had a great experience with whoever recommended you to take history. You didn't have a great experience with whoever advised you in math. Right. I mean, that's fine. No, I know, but that's why. And so even though it was presented to you in such a way, we're allowed to tell you

[01:34:05] you can go up. We're allowed to tell you you can maintain. We're not allowed to tell you that you can't achieve at the level that you are deemed you're ready to achieve so we can advise across we can advise up we cannot advise children down what about students like what if you did something to like you know how you have ambassadors for each like i'm an ambassador for criminal justice okay why don't you have an ambassador for the math department you have an ambassador for a social studies department and then one day you know how we have a career day okay well this is ambassador. You come, you have schedule, line of time, eight, you send a group of sophomores, you send your professors in there.

[01:34:41] Okay, hey, I see that you have a post about English. Can you tell me about English 12? And you have it for each grade level. Would you still be able to do something like that? Yeah, a student, like, you guys talked about it multiple times, and I think you're absolutely right. That street data of, like, just being able to talk to your peers is very, very valuable. And I heard you when you said having the opportunity to have more of that and I I think like in my head I'm I was being more specific in a sense of like should we have a panel for students who want to take AP classes for the first time or who students who want to take dual enrollment or honors classes or a specific elective and like that's that's

[01:35:20] kind of like what's swimming in my head right now so I definitely heard that feedback but you can that's always an option yes I need to speak to Tyler's point I think the goal is to find what you're passionate about earlier and push you in that way. So it isn't to offer priority or opportunity over one, it's to provide those passion and priority opportunities for all, because everybody here, there's at least something that you're good at, somewhere you want to push yourself, somewhere you can go a little further, a seat you've never seen yourself in before. And what we don't want you to do is get to 11th grade, and that'd be the first time you're getting that opportunity. You want

[01:35:58] to find those opportunities earlier for, you know, every student, even if it's just one. And that It could be, you know, if you were in a self-contained special education class and you moved to a team talk class. Or it could be if you were in a general education English class and now you moved to an honors English class, right? Like the opportunities are there for students to push themselves somewhere that they feel comfortable with.

[01:36:17] Like not about being uncomfortable having that opportunity. So I am curious for the freshman, now that there are more, my understanding is more AP opportunities as sophomores, is that something you guys are hearing your peers talk about? You know, it doesn't sound like it was as common when you guys were a little bit younger.

[01:36:38] Like AP Seminar, for example, or AP Geography. Not much talk about it. Are you guys taking this? Is anybody enrolling in those classes next year? So you're talking about it a little bit. Okay.

[01:36:54] I'll be curious, especially with the ninth grade offering of AP now, too. Yeah, if that will continue to change. And in the next couple of years, we hear different things. I wanted to follow up. Someone over there said that you felt shut out by AP classes because was that, what was your option then?

[01:37:17] Did you go to another AP where you had to move down to an honors? What did that look like for you? This year, I was going to take Lynn. Every class was full. I could switch out as many as possible and I could not. So I either had to drop history, one of my history classes down, or I could just stay in the English class I was in.

[01:37:39] I just decided to keep it as it was, if I didn't want to mess up the rest of my schedule, because we were already a couple weeks into school already. And, yeah, so I just kept it out was, and just throughout the year. So I wasn't able to take those cool English classes I didn't want.

[01:37:55] Also, last year, same thing happened, but it was only English, all the crap, whatever. But same thing that happened last year as well. - Thank you. - Well, thank all, I mean, you guys, thank you.

[01:38:13] I know you have. - Oh, Ty. - Oh, one more comment. This doesn't pertain to any of this, but for line times, especially in the last few weeks, we've had a lot of non-releasable line times. First, okay, so I'm just gonna use this as an example.

[01:38:29] The cultural celebration, I'm 100% what they're doing it for, but I had a math midterm that same day, right after the cultural celebration, and I normally use line time to study, And the fact that it was non-releasable made it so I tried to bring my stuff and study in there, and I could not study in there.

[01:38:47] It was way too dark. I tried as much as possible to get out so I could, like, study for my midterm, especially because that's, like, a very – you get it twice to three times a week. If it's a short week, you get it once a week. You can maybe not get it any time that week.

[01:39:03] So I feel like it's very – it's a very good time for students to, like, do their homework, especially if they don't have a study call or a free period. So I don't think we should be, like, not necessarily throwing them away, but shooing them aside and putting other opportunities in the way for some people.

[01:39:19] Don't necessarily prioritize those opportunities over the studies that they're doing in school at the moment. Maybe if you did a test that day and you need to study for it, stuff like that, homework. So I feel like it's very important to keep that time open for students to use it how they please and go to teachers and whatnot and get the help they need instead of switching it out for something else.

[01:39:40] I actually agree with that a lot. and like again like I know that this wasn't on here but if there was just like I don't know it's just like I find line time like so so important and I know people have like thrown out the idea like oh is it necessary because some people just said they're you know on their phone doing nothing but like I think line time is genuinely like one of like the most important classes that we have because like the hardest class I'm taking this year is AP Physics and I think first through like second quarter every single line time I was in my AP Physics class like talking to my teacher like trying to get at least to be like actually doing anything that i could and like like i said earlier

[01:40:16] like i work a lot after school so sometimes that makes it like difficult but like having line time is just so helpful to be able to like work on things you test corrections like ask questions before a test or a quiz and like i do understand like sometimes it does get frustrating when we have like a lot of like senior meetings or like just like another like type of event in that way yes David so similar to that there was some survey we do it a couple times throughout the year I don't remember what it's called it's one of the bigger ones though we we have to go to like

[01:40:53] the NPR or the auditorium to take the survey but the most recent one which was probably back in March or something um I literally was able to log into Schoology go to where I knew it was start it and finish it before we left to go to the room where we were supposed to take it and it felt like that was a waste of my time where we could have all just done it in our classrooms and I know I know that when we go to the auditorium the wi-fi is not very good there and there's a lot of students all using their computers at the same time and that makes it

[01:41:30] worse if we're all spread out through that throughout the school that's what it normally is there's not as much stress on the wi-fi there's not as much kids in one place and i think the signal is better just in the classroom so everybody does it there and then which classroom is that i want to know i know i'm getting great wi-fi in here today for the record i guess the auditorium yeah okay okay quick um i agree with them a lot of time is probably the most important class that FHS has done, and one of my teachers in particular

[01:42:10] says that she does not offer tests in line time, and it throws everyone off. When you miss a test, if you're a test appointment, doctor appointment, anything like that, it's really, really hard to work with her, especially me.

[01:42:26] I'm here after school a lot, but it's trying to accommodate to her. She's not here on Wednesdays, Thursdays. It's only here on Fridays and Tuesdays. It's like, can I please just take it in line time? So I think, I don't know if there's a mandate. It might not be, but it'd be nice if teachers could just help work with us a little bit and let us take tests in line time.

[01:42:54] So I just have a little suggestion about course selection. Because our course selection is like during line time transaction, we can go to the course that we want to choose for next year.

[01:43:13] And the teacher who's teaching that class is going to give out presentation. But maybe we could make a student representation, like let the student who already have taken those class to give out the presentation. Because teachers, they already know the knowledge they are teaching, but the student is like learning something that's brand new to them.

[01:43:37] So if we make like student to represent and give up like feedback, it might be more genuine and more helpful to students who want to take that class. - Okay. - Okay, so like sometimes like it can be hard to think like which class you want to take based on like your schedule.

[01:44:00] And it has to do with picking choices. So like in the beginning of the year, So, like, in my cultural society, so, like, they had a sign-up, they had a cultural celebration sign-up, and I was thinking, like, should I get in the cultural celebration or not, based on my schedule, and, but my mom told me that do something that I love, like, so she knows that my schoolwork is also important, but she also knows that what I, what I want, what I love to do in my schoolwork is also important, so I decided to sign up for a cultural celebration, and, and what I love for the cultural celebration thing is that I went out there and performed

[01:44:39] and I showed support to my club. So, like, but I also understand that that some, like, we do, like, with so much schoolwork, have to practice my instrument, volleyball inside school, and have to practice for my coach celebration.

[01:45:00] That's a lot of pain. And sometimes I want to play games, but the school thing, But I know that the word's important because, like, if you get a zero, then that kills your grade, which can ruin your college application.

[01:45:21] So, like, I'm trying to understand. So, like, if I get frustrated or sad a lot, then should I take that class or not? That's what I have to think. Good question. Those are good questions. All right. Last one. Thank you.

[01:45:37] But I was listening and I was thinking to myself, and this kind of has something to do like hand-in-hand with the phone policy and also grading. We were talking about like quarter and rolling grade books, but I think we need to look more deeper in it when it comes down to, okay, you don't turn in your grade.

[01:46:01] Yes, you get a zero, but at the end of the quarter, it automatically goes up to a fifth grade that doesn't recognize. So in certain classes or in certain assignments, I mean, I know I don't have to turn this in because eventually it's going to say zero, but eventually it's going to be done. And correct me if I'm wrong, but however, I believe that we should have it to where now, okay, you've been on your phone all semester.

[01:46:27] You didn't turn your work. So why is it to where a student like me may or may not miss an assignment? Okay, yeah, thank you for the 50, but that student who didn't do their work, who, you know, disobeyed the whole whatever, I feel like we should have it to where, okay, I mean, you get what you get.

[01:46:46] That zero stays, I mean, and I don't know how you, like, regulate it, but I honestly do feel that a zero should now be recognized in the gradebook. And I can say that now because I'm a senior. It makes you happy there are zeros in college.

[01:47:03] I feel that a zero should be recognized in the grade grade. Dr. A, do you want to speak to that a little bit? Why? Because we did used to have zeros once upon a time. Up until COVID, there were zeros. Well, and then we did, then everything, the minimum grade was a 50, kind of compensated for what some of you talked about here, that one assignment would not derail, like, your overall average.

[01:47:32] Then now the policy changed back to you could give zeros, for students that did not make a reasonable attempt at the work of the policy also says that before the end of the quarter, zeros have to be turned back to 50s. So, there's really no zero.

[01:47:47] Yes. There you go. What is that to me? If you don't turn it to me, no, I'm not a part of the panel, but you want to instill

[01:48:24] behavioral change in adolescence because they are, yeah, by giving them a 50, right? So if I have a terrible first quarter and, you know, my basement is a 50, but I'm getting myself together and I'm getting, I wouldn't be able to come back from a 22% as a first quarter grade.

[01:48:43] If I get myself together and get like a 60 and then maybe a 70 and something else, I'm not coming back from anything below a 50. And if you play the game of averages, you're not going to be able to bounce. And so, you know, the idea is that, you know, that it's still an F, but that it isn't digging such a deep hole that a child couldn't dig themselves out of it is really where the philosophy comes from.

[01:49:10] And we know that adolescents' brains are still developing, so we're trying to give them those opportunities to see that not all is lost, that you can kind of work your way through coming to line time, doing retakes, like investing. Like, we really want to get those things kind of built in them, knowing that college isn't going to offer them, you know, those opportunities, but that ultimately, and I always say this, if you take grading out of it, like, the primary goal is really to give them good feedback so that anybody up here can tell me, what are you good at in math and where are you struggling?

[01:49:42] What are you good at in English and where do you struggle in English? Not, I have an 80, I have a 70, I have a 60. I want them to be able to tell me, like, what are you good at and where do you need more help or support? like what areas do you need work in so it's really trying to get um even them to think beyond the grades because we're so grade driven by that number but it's really about the feedback and if the teachers are giving them quality feedback to understand where they need to come back and improve and that's where we're trying to get to um but even with rolling grade books like um we have a lot more teachers using quarterly because i love a rolling grade book too if it's standards

[01:50:17] are skill-based but we don't have standards and skill-based grade books we have rolling grade books in name but not in practice right and so we're trying to get people to move in that direction as well i think also part of it is that if you think about it if a zero was an f then a 50 should be a c right but a c is like what 70 something it's disproportionate um and it's almost like the high school version of a bell curve yeah because when you're in college or sorry when you're in college and everybody takes the test and the average is a 62 it switches it and they

[01:50:49] grade on a curve and then everybody's grades are in any colleges all right guys it's fine the d1s do not okay well in theory that's my understanding is it's it used to be yeah yeah I was at Tech, they had a Belker.

[01:51:11] - They really don't have the Belkers at all? - They have them, they just don't use them. - Some schools, but not the majority. - They did for my master's. - Yeah, master's degree. - Some classes had the curs, but it was at the teacher's discretion. - Right. - So my criminal justice teacher, my professor, Dr. Donnie, mine is doing this, oh my goodness.

[01:51:27] No curs at all in any of her classes. And so in other classes, you can get random. - But at the end of the day, we want them to get in the mindset working towards mastery right I mean and that's why sometimes people get frustrated about retaking but it's like if you can retake and you do better we know you're learning it you're learning the standards you're mastering the standards even beyond the grade the better score shows us that you're mastering that content so when it presents itself again somewhere

[01:51:58] else you know it okay all right thank you guys so I do have a question I see you're floating on your ankle. How many are left? Yeah, too many. Yeah, I think we have like 150 students doing here. Okay, because I see a lot of, some of y'all don't have one, so. Are you guys all out, the rest of you? No. Okay. You can't get out in the school. Oh, you can't get out in the school. Okay. There's no point in where I get in the school, but once you. Okay.

[01:52:30] I was like, you have to have it for the second you stand out. All right, you guys, thank you.

[01:52:49] We really appreciate your feedback, and so do your administrator. Yes, we do. Thank you. You guys did a wonderful job. Yeah. Putting it up with your administration. i'll give you a service hour there you go if you have any other questions feel free to your answers feel free to email us thank you all thank you guys have a great night thank you thank you for coming thank you I just had to send up community messaging.

[01:53:29] I have a feeling that's all you're calling me. I think it was. Yeah, some other girl comes up to me today, she's like, I'm trying to get so excited. I was like, stop. I'm glad you're strategizing with the principle of how the instructor is at. This is not an FCPS to do this activity. This is not an FCPS to do this activity.

[01:53:46] Yeah, but is this guy new? Wait, they get money? Yes. They buy into it. 250 is. What? Yes. Last year at Langley. No one won it last year. We all paid $5. I thought it was just for the fun of the game. It's Langley.

[01:54:02] It's Langley. Everybody's like, oh, let's all play. We have their faculty. Yeah, right? We get involved. We'll play. At least somewhat more recently. No teammates.

[01:54:18] I don't know what they said. It was like a $50 buy or something for the kids. But it was crazy to me, and they said it was, yeah. And so they said they had kids who were raised. Oh, I'm sure. No, because the pop was so. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I thought it was just some light-hearted, cute little, like, you know, apparently not.

[01:54:40] So we had somebody, because we even had an issue with that last year. We had somebody that had, like, they went to open their garage, and the assassin was hiding behind the bushes and slid into the garage. I was just wondering if you know what it is, the girl got out of the car, nothing, and he showed the girl a little bit when she got out of the car, but he was like, you know, trust me.

[01:54:59] You just put it all? You just put it all? It's like, come on. You put it all? You put it all? Yeah, it's a whole thing, you're probably like, all of them here. It's a super tense. Yeah. Yeah, we're not, we're like, milder, like, so people have like, you know, stories about how she's going to be like, and then like, when you think about the possibility, and the whole thing, so it's everything that reminds me about it, right?

[01:55:17] Oh, okay, so my person, like, the player wouldn't do it. I was like, why did you do it? She said, I don't want to do it. So, if it's around, Aiden will leave. So, walk out. Walk out. So, we just doctorate. Oh, okay. Everyone has everyone's limitations.

[01:55:33] Like, I can see you somewhere. I really like this. Great. But you also do something. But when you... Mm-hmm. Or through the window. So, are you going to do some sort of... Do you never do something else? No, I wanted to.

[01:55:50] Are there any birds in there? are you kidding thank you for the opportunity to talk to you about the summer program and there are a lot of questions about what is going to happen but more importantly what isn't going to happen and we talked about it again today chair the summer of 2024 just to give you context because that we have bridge decay to sort the elementary schools and the young scholars program the middle schools offered imagine math and the reading intervention program and high schools offered some credit recovery courses online in person at several locations these are the numbers of the students that were involved in each of those programs

[01:56:29] um so i mean it was it wasn't great but there were attendance and there were offerings for students who needed it so summer 2025 what's the what's the deal with uh what's going on there but really um no schools are offering bridge to curtain bridge decay or the young scholars program except selected schools like providence elementary school or title one schools there will include the soar intervention program and an explorer's program providing leniency development instruction they're only being offered again to the title one schools so daniel's run will not be having it middle schools are not offering the imagined intervention

[01:57:07] program at selected schools however catherine johnson will be offering a pre-algebra called Algebra Power Up. It's a program designed to boost algebra and enrollment and success and I think actually we have better options at the middle and the high school and at the high school I was just talking to Dr. A she's offering summary credit recovery courses online and in person. In other words she's got over 40 different classes that she offers over the summer so huge shout out to Dr. A and that's not new for them. Some of the considerations as I said Dan is wrong. He isn't a title

[01:57:45] one school. We tried to get a cost estimate as to what the SOAR program alone really would cost, and it's over $44,000 in staffing, and as it says, not including lunch and so on. That doesn't include, that cost doesn't include a barista K or a Young Scholars. Before and after school programs, it's important to note, they appear to have been more impactful than a lot of these programs. I'm not saying in all cases because every child is different. So what are the possible and future city support? This really kind of goes down to history. Since COVID, we've had an additional

[01:58:24] position for summer to add the seats to the FCPS program for elementary. As you know, we've gone through trying to rush to provide opportunities when FCPS said that they were only going to have summer school with one school and then, of course, now having it go away. The city elementary principals discuss the possibility of adding a short kindergarten program for all students i know daniel's run opposite like three to five days before school starts um and the the elementary principals have felt well we talked whatever we talked about the first two weeks first two weeks of school first two weeks they don't assign a teacher and and what what they also said i mean

[01:59:04] if you wouldn't mind um they were talking about how beneficial it was versus yeah so each they're assigned like a homeroom class for the first two weeks but they switch in and out and they get to know the students and then they place them after the first two weeks in a kindergarten classroom so they can do assessments and get a better feel for the needs of the different children before they do placements because the initial like you know come in for half an hour wasn't giving them the information but that's done separately that from bridge decay was more focused on just children who had never been in any sort of school

[01:59:36] setting. Right. Well, thank you for that clarification, because they both said, both of our elementary principals, that that type of program is much more impactful and beneficial. Current city support, you know, really is, you've heard about it tonight, about the transition, how beneficial that was from some of the students who mentioned.

[01:59:58] So, really, that's a quick summary. I know I was asked to be brief, and I think it was. And we did spend a lot of time talking about it, both chair and vice chair, as Ms. Hinkley just pointed out, really, in the clarification talking about this and the impact and as I said it's more of what isn't being provided now one of the questions that came up is what if they all of a sudden say they're going to provide some of these programs are what they've said is going to happen and there were a lot of reasons for that for staffing getting people set up making sure they could have the programs and

[02:00:34] locations etc the logistics of all things so with that any questions you I have at least one question right now when it comes to the the programming offered at Providence is that only Providence students who are attending those programs or is that other students from title one schools close to

[02:00:58] to Providence. It's only the students of Providence that can understand. Could there? I think Mr. Phillip said it's because London Town is the other title. That's right. Right. So there'll be, he could have a program up to 400 students. So Mr. Pratt is already looking into, they're looking into hiring now a principal for that. Is there any consideration? Is there any consideration for maybe considering students who are on free and reduced lunch or might be potentially on free and reduced lunch coming into Daniel's run to potentially be eligible for attending that programming there at Providence.

[02:01:36] It's not my understanding that they're opening up for anybody but Title I students. And it was looking at it regionally. They're not Title I, they're not allowed. That's unfortunate. It is. Thank you. Okay, so one thing, I would definitely be interested in getting the pulse from the Daniels run, kindergarten teachers especially, of kind of what, looking at the numbers, I didn't realized there was only six children in bridge decay yeah um that is way less than i thought it was i think in past years it had been like 20 so that's interesting but it's also interesting to

[02:02:15] look at that there were 57 source students at daniel's run versus 49 at providence so about 44 000 is a huge amount but kind of what what the need is and what would the i'd be interested to hear kind of what the repercussions are if this doesn't take place because i know you talked about the before and after school tutoring can be more beneficial, but Daniel's Run doesn't have before and after school tutoring.

[02:02:39] The question is what the recommendations... What would it look like if SOAR wasn't provided in the summer and if it's not as beneficial as some say that it might be, what would it look like to help support the students who might have missed out on SOAR with before and after school tutoring that's not currently taking place at Daniel's Run, even though it's thriving at Providence.

[02:03:02] If you need me to clarify, well, I hope that made sense. it did okay that's all my fault we determined that it's about 44 000 per soar correct if we were to add daniel run okay miss elsie i kind of am curious though on that 44 000 what that pays for like how it's like but how many staff how many kids would that cover yeah would that cover the 57 that they had last year or is that going to cover 30 kids you know um how many teachers

[02:03:41] will that actually cover it was my understanding there was an administrator the number 12 brings a bell in my head it was like 12 to 16 that they were looking in terms of staff i thought it was based on the number 24. yeah it would cover it it says it here it would cover costs over 44 000 and staffing that doesn't include lunch or curriculum but that doesn't tell me how many teachers that is and then how many teachers go in or how many kids go in that class three sections, 85 hours, there would be three teachers,

[02:04:17] there would be two resource teachers, one IA, the allocant would be for 54 kids, so it looks like they averaged, and there would be one administrator and a registrar, and an office assistant, and a health aide, and a .5 family liaison.

[02:04:41] So that was the staffing for just Daniel's run for 54 children. And then how much then would that then, because it says it does not cover the lunch or the curriculum support, which we would have to cover as well.

[02:05:00] So how much would that, in addition? They did not give us those numbers. They just gave us the staff. There was about $1,000 in supplies that they gave us.

[02:05:19] So I think that $44 includes the supplies, but it doesn't include lunch. It doesn't include the curriculum. And from what I understand, that's also not transportation. Is that true? Yeah, that's what I understand, too.

[02:05:34] Yeah, transportation's going to be... Right, transportation's like usual transportation. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yes. Can I... So I'm very familiar with the Richard Canterman and the scholars, but I do not know as much about SWAR.

[02:05:52] Could someone provide a little more background on that? Yeah, the answer is time. We'll go ahead and provide a written response on all of these. Oh, good. It is for me. I believe SWAR is, like, for students with disabilities, I believe, if I recall correctly.

[02:06:11] No? No. Oh, that's ESY. My apologies. Thank you for clarifying. It's mostly math and reading. Yeah, yeah. And the students are identified.

[02:06:27] For all grade levels? Yeah. We have it at all grade levels. When it was as robust as it was, it was a pretty great. Just a clarification. I'm sure I know the answer.

[02:06:43] ESY is still happening, though, correct? Okay. I know it's supposed to, but I just want to make sure that. um yeah they can't yeah and if it's on the ips it's legal yeah you just gotta ask one of those questions i just kind of would like to know the other amount for the curriculum lunch and transportation as well so like oh if we did do this for daniel's run what would that cost as well yeah because that i mean we just simply didn't have it yeah no no i know that's i just kind of And the transportation would be a little difficult, but we can try and get it rough.

[02:07:22] I get that one, yeah. An estimate kind of thing, type thing on transportation, obviously. So the creek and lunch and transportation. Yeah, the stuff that wasn't included in that $44,000 for it. It's very pricey. I don't know if we're going to be able to... Well, and then that was my other question, is where are we going to find that money?

[02:07:42] Do we have to take something away? We didn't have... We haven't even... Yeah. Okay. We were just trying to get the information because... of the request because it came in so I mean just the fact that some of the programs are being basically yeah I'm not saying that what you wanted I would love it I'm just saying but my understand I think that my understanding is that also if a school does have instructional funds they can offer their own program if they're not title one but they have to have cover that so I don't know what that will look like in other elementary schools but I don't know well I mean

[02:08:17] we would supplement with city funds to boost what the county gave us right but i you know i can tell you on the finance side you don't even get 44 000 in your instructional supply account right so there's yeah yeah it's basically you know i can't imagine another school being there were concerns about the staff even though we had the number about the ability to get enough staff I was kind of curious would we be getting more bang for our buck looking into investing

[02:08:55] more in tutoring after school yeah before or after school then we might in a summer program that also includes lunch and recess and all these things if we're looking to have a way to remediate because we don't clearly don't want the 57 students who capitalize on it and utilize it last year to not have that additional support so I don't know.

[02:09:17] That might be more of a cost, but maybe it's not. Well, but that could kind of go with, because Providence does do tutoring before next school. Could we see what their numbers, like just for tutoring, like math and reading, tutoring, what their numbers are? Like, because obviously we've got 49 here for the summer.

[02:09:33] Are we hitting more? Because, I mean, it would probably be very similar at Daniel's run like that. And Dan had mentioned something about the conversations that Andrew was really bullish on. There are other ways of more meaning. Yeah, that's what he said, Andrew. that's I'm curious can we replicate that program so this might be the kind of the catalyst for the need to replicate yeah just to clarify sore is is that that's still being offered at Daniel's

[02:10:13] front is that right or nothing is offered okay sorry I just saw bridge security guard only young scholars is offered it but everything is okay Everything else is getting fed. Daniel's rental has nothing, right? Zero. Nothing I can even know has received.

[02:10:29] Right. But nothing I can never know. Nothing I can never see more. Right. And that's a great point. That's what would have been a great time to renovate. All right. Does anybody else have any?

[02:10:49] All right. I guess we can revisit this. I mean, I think it's best to do what the schools think is going to be most beneficial for them rather than us pay for something that they don't think is going to have as deep an impact as something else.

[02:11:14] So, I don't know, maybe we could check in with the principals and see where their heads are in terms of what they, I guess, it's mostly dangerous on what, you know. Because they would need to have an administrator, too.

[02:11:30] They have to pay. They have to have a summer school administrator. I mean, usually before he started. And the teachers, there's also a strong, I mean, that they are not even Daniels-run employees at the same time. I mean, they would hire from all around the town, but you can apply from, it's just a summer school job.

[02:11:50] Right. And we'll really provide all of these questions. Okay. If that's it, I'll adjourn the line. Okay.

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