Coraggio Consulting
Fairfax County School Board Meeting, Thursday, February 23, 2023

Date: Thursday, February 23, 2023
Place: Fairfax County School Board, Virginia
Length: 3h 44m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmnBVhScWFo
Official School Board page (FCPS): https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/leadership/school-board

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 2026-11-04. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:05:05] Good evening, everyone. The board is currently in closed session, and our meeting will convene at 715.

[00:11:38] This February 23rd, 2023, regular meeting of the Fairfax County School Board will now come to order.

[00:18:33] Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance, a moment of silence, and a performance of the National Anthem by the Spring Hill Elementary Harmony Ensemble under the direction of Deborah Rudd.

[00:18:42] Thank you, Spring Hill. That was beautiful.

[00:21:10] Agenda Item 2.02, Certification of Closed Meeting. In order to comply with Section 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia, it is necessary for the Board to certify that since the Fairfax County School Board convened a closed meeting on February 23, 2023, to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered by the board in the closed meeting.

[00:21:43] Do I have a motion? Ms. Corbett Sanders, is there a second? Ms. Omeish, all those in favor, please raise your hands. That motion passes with Ms. McLaughlin away from the table. Agenda Item 2.03, Announcements.

[00:21:59] Ms. McLaughlin is absent this evening. If you would like to review a copy of the agenda and any agenda item that is being discussed tonight, that information may be found at the back of the auditorium or on the website at fcps.edu backslash school board backslash backslash board docs tonight's meeting is being broadcast on channel 99 and live streamed on the website at fcps.edu backslash tv backslash channel 99 i call on miss togby for an announcement the national education associations read across america

[00:22:33] is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on or around Dr. Seuss's birthday. Parents, teachers, students, and members of our community all come together to celebrate the joys of reading and to encourage it to become a habit. Schools are places where every child is welcome and encourages students to delve into diverse books from diverse authors that will appeal to an increasingly diverse student population national read across america day is on march 2nd and it is a day to celebrate being

[00:23:10] able to read so head to the library curl up on a couch or just become a bookworm thank you miss togby agenda item 2.04 resolution honoring public schools week the board would like to invite each recognition recipient for a photo after the reading of all the recognitions i call on miss toland for a resolution whereas the fairfax county school board expresses support for the designation of the week of February 27th through March 3rd, 2023 as Public Schools Week. And whereas this

[00:23:46] year's theme, hashtag here for the kids, brings together families, educators, and community members to shine a light on public schools and their partnership with parents to ensure success in the classroom, on the sports fields, and in the arts. And whereas the Fairfax County Public Schools offers over 1,200 high school offerings, 34 advanced placement courses, 37 international baccalaureate courses, 40 dual enrollment courses, the AP Capstone, and IB Diploma.

[00:24:24] And whereas the Fairfax County Public Schools Career and Technical Education Program prepares students for a wide range of post-secondary experiences and careers, with a core program of CTE courses offered in every middle and high school, including business and information technology, family and consumer sciences, health and medical sciences, marketing, technology and engineering education, and trade and industrial education, as well as offering six specialized high school academies, offering advanced technical and specialized courses in cyber

[00:25:03] IT, Computer Science, Automotive, Culinary Arts, Education, Construction Trades, Entrepreneurship, Nursing, Firefighting and EMT, Dental Careers, Biotechnology, Criminal Justice, JROTC, Cosmetology, Engineering, TV Media Production, Fashion Design, Veterinary Science, and more.

[00:25:31] And whereas the class of 2022 had a graduation rate of 94.2% and reported earning over $145 million in scholarships for college. And whereas during Public Schools Week, the school board honors roughly 181,000 students and over 25,500 dedicated employees working in 199 schools and centers.

[00:25:58] and now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board expresses its commitment to our students, families, educators, and staff to prepare students to succeed in a diverse and changing world. I so move. Is there a second? I'll second. Ms. Bukarski, Ms. Tolan, would you like to speak to your resolution? Yes, thank you. Just a couple of interesting statistics if you didn't already know um public schools in the united states as of 2021 there are nine 98 577 public

[00:26:35] schools 76 of all schools in the united states public school students there are over 1.2 million public school students in the united in virginia just in virginia and last year there were 3.3 million public school graduates across the United States the hashtag here for the kids is a nice tagline but it really gets to the heart of what we do here in Fairfax County we work to provide each student a path for them to make the most of their strengths and guide them to go beyond their challenges we provide

[00:27:13] parents caregivers and families a vital role in their students journey and FCPS we work together with our community to make Fairfax County a destination for families, businesses, and anyone joining us here in Fairfax County. We know that companies relocate here in part because of our Fairfax County public schools. Mr. Frisch and I heard this firsthand yesterday at the Tyson's Development Meeting. We are thankful to our taxpayers. Our real estate taxes and sales taxes pay for our schools here in Fairfax County, and we are thankful to our

[00:27:50] taxpayers and the Board of Supervisors for working with us to celebrate our public schools. I just have to say, as a FCPS parent, my sons attended FCPS K-12 all the way through. They were ready for college and the academic demands of college from day one. I see our Langley students sitting here. I've got one son that went through Langley. And now my children excel in their chosen careers.

[00:28:16] I still thank the teachers, the counselors, the athletic coaches, the trainers, and the fine arts teachers and many many more that helped my sons in academics and extracurricular activities that set them on this road for success and provided the social network for them to grow as strong healthy young men and contributors to our society and i hear many families in fcps that say the same thing so thank you to our staff our students and our community together we have built a successful and and strong public school system.

[00:28:52] - Thank you. Ms. Bikarski, would you like to speak to your second? - Sure. Good evening, everyone. I'm honored to second this resolution in support of public education tonight. As a first generation American, access to high quality public schools was imperative to my future and that of my sisters.

[00:29:11] Indeed, public schools are the bedrock of our democracy. David Labrie, in 1997, an educational historian, argued that there have been three overarching goals of public education in the United States since its inception in the 1800s: democratic equality, social efficiency, and social mobility.

[00:29:34] A democratic equality goal aims at educating an engaged citizenry capable of actively participating in a democratic society. Ensuring a world-class education for every child, regardless of the zip code in which they live the language spoken in their home or their ability creates the greatest equalizer to opportunity and a path to their lifelong success we are indeed at a crossroads when it comes to the future of our public schools we must

[00:30:08] continue to stand up to attacks that are eroding public trust reinvest in our educators and students and champion the ideals which they represent represent I'm proud to send my own children to our wonderful FCPS schools with our national recognition as one of the best school systems in the United States.

[00:30:31] And I call on all of us, community, parents, teachers, students, to continue to fight to fight to improve our public schools together, whose doors are always open for all students and change lives for the better.

[00:30:48] Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Thank you. While much of what I wanted to share has been said, I did not want to miss this opportunity to celebrate public schools as a former public school teacher, as a former public school administrator, and as an individual whose own children attend public schools in Fairfax County.

[00:31:13] was said public schools have become the great equalizer I'm not sure they begin in that way but we are certainly there now regardless of income level regardless of race language or ability public schools can be the place where our most disadvantaged students are able to springboard into the world to have experiences that are productive in the work world and in the college world so So my ask for this evening is that we honor these public schools by doing whatever it is

[00:31:47] that we can to strengthen them, fully fund them, support our teachers, let's not erode their expertise in the work that they do with our students, our most precious commodities. So I ask us to continue to put forth every effort to support our public schools because for many of our students it is the place that makes the most difference in their lives.

[00:32:11] Thank you. Thank you, and I will just echo the sentiments of all my colleagues here today of how amazing it is to have a strong public education system that provides every student the opportunity to find their best path to success.

[00:32:28] And that is something that is important for our community, for our society, for our democracy, and really for our humanity. So I'm pleased to support this resolution. Thank you. And with that, I will call for the vote. All those in favor, please raise your hands. That's Ms. Keith Gamara, Ms. Marin, Ms. Omash, Ms. Tolan, Ms. Corbett Sanders, Ms. Darenette Koufax, Dr. Anderson, Mr. Frisch, Ms. Cohen, Ms. Bikarski, and myself.

[00:32:50] That motion passes. That is unanimous. Agenda Item 2.05, National Social Work Month Recognition. I call on Ms. Cohen for recognition. As a proud aunt of a soon-to-be school social worker, I'm really honored to be able to read this one.

[00:33:09] March is national school, national, let me start from the beginning. March is National Social Work Month, and this year's theme is Social Work Breaks Barriers. It embodies how social workers help empower students, families, communities, and our society to overcome hurdles that prevent them from achieving better well-being.

[00:33:29] School social workers are professionals who are trained to examine and address life's challenges in a holistic way. They have expertise in many areas, including mental health, human development, behavior, trauma, and family systems.

[00:33:46] School social workers in Fairfax County Public Schools use their training experience and skills to provide services to children, families, and school staff members to remove personal and environmental obstacles for supporting student academic performance. They are committed to helping every child achieve, ensuring equitable access and opportunity, building relationships to strengthen student and family engagement, and supporting mental health wellness to help students succeed in school and life.

[00:34:19] Thank you. Agenda Item 2.06, National Athletic Training Month recognition. I call on Dr. Anderson for recognition. March is National Athletic Training Month, and it's a time to recognize the important role certified athletic trainers employed by Fairfax County Public Schools play in keeping our students safe. This year's theme is there's an AT for that.

[00:34:48] It reflects the multi-faceted role FCPS athletic trainers play in promoting the health and safety of our student athletes before, during, and after practices and competitions. Nationally certified, state-licensed and medical professionals, FCPS athletic trainers provide comprehensive athletic health care services, including conditioning, injury prevention, injury treatment, and rehabilitation services in FCPS high schools. FCPS's 44 athletic trainers consistently go above and beyond to

[00:35:27] support our athletic programs and without question are essential members of the FCPS's Activities Program. During the 2021-22 school year, FCPS athletic trainers provided care to over 9,500 individual student-athletes, treating more than 19,700 cuts, scrapes, bumps, bruises, sprains, strains, and fractures. Even when faced with unprecedented circumstances, FCPS's athletic

[00:36:01] trainers play a vital role in our overall efforts to support athletic opportunities for all FCPS students. A short video will be played tonight in recognition of the athletic trainers. Please play the video now. In recognition of National Athletic Training Month, the FCPS athletic training program wanted to shed light on some of the roles and responsibilities our athletic trainers manage on daily basis hey are we good to go us on there's an at for that i don't want to get drunk football

[00:36:40] but i want to do it the right way there's an at for that i need some ice i don't like i'm really bad in gym class there's an at for that what do we do if there's no at on site then let's go over our emergency action plan meeting aap there's an at for that i'm a week out of surgery the doctor said i need to start rehab there's an at for that i didn't know this i messed up my throat feels There's an AT for that.

[00:37:15] I think I have a concussion. There's an AT for that. Hey, back jacking up again. Yep, there's an AT for that.

[00:37:33] My doctor needs a copy of my juvenile security. There's an AT for that. I'm having left shoulder pain and chest pain, and I looked it up on 11B, and it said I'm having a hurt attack. Is that hurt?

[00:37:48] Yeah. You have a rotator cuff strain. There's an AT for that. Mr. Athletic Trainer, what stretches will open up my hip and make me faster? There's an AT for that. We're ready to be tested.

[00:38:05] There's an AT for that. Our athletic trainers also provide additional support to athletes, parents, coaches, and staff, including but not limited to those listed here. Talk to your athletic trainer today and see what they can do for you. There's an AT for that.

[00:38:27] There's an AT. Thank you. Ms. Cohen, before I let Dr. Cohen, just say a few words since I skipped over your chance to speak to your resolution. I do. I just very quickly I don't see her here Heather Murphy Dr. Murphy where are you oh yes you're so far the lights are so bright I do want to say I'm so grateful for the work that you all do I see it all the time when I go to games etc with my children but I had the opportunity last year to bring my daughter for us to watch her work there was track going on kids from all over the

[00:39:03] division and it was just so wonderful to know that you were there to take care of our students and I think there was track in one field and lacrosse in another and so the work that you do is so integral to having our students be safe on the field and I was just very grateful to have the opportunity to see you at work so thank you for the invitation and I'm looking forward to coming back again very soon to see you out this spring the rest of you athletic trainers thank you for all of your work it is highly appreciated and I'm so glad that this video shows that there's an AT for all of what ails us.

[00:39:38] So thank you again, and congratulations on this week. Before we take our pictures, Ms. Cohen, if you'd like to speak. I'd like to stand between us and a photo. I just wanted to say thank you so much.

[00:39:54] Our social workers, there's not a list long enough to really encompass what you actually do. Your mediators, your vital members of local screening and IEPs, your trauma-informed caregivers and case managers and specialists and you're kind of like flight attendants you tell us all how to navigate the system the ins and outs what we need how we can connect with outside services and I think the most important thing to me is that our social workers are such an important lifeline for our kids our biggest goal is when our kids graduate that we're

[00:40:31] able to identify at least one trusted adult in the building. And I can't tell you how many times it's you guys. So thank you so much for what you do. We know that you shoulder a lot in your work for that. And we would not be able to do this without you. So thank you. Thank you. I would like to invite the athletic trainers, students, and staff to please join the board for a photo at the front of the dais. And I ask that my colleagues remain at the dais for the next two photos for our other groups that we're recognizing. So athletic trainers come on down and those who

[00:41:08] are supporting them. Is there an AT for that? If you're here this evening in support of National

[00:43:34] Social Work Month, please join the board at the dais for a photo. That was our final photo. Madam

[00:45:25] Chair, that was our final photo. The next order of business is community participation. Speakers

[00:46:16] must limit the remarks to no more than two minutes in length. At the conclusion of two minutes, the microphone or video will be turned off. School board members will be listening but not responding to individual speakers. The school board will not hear statements involving issues that have been scheduled for public hearings, such as a capital improvement program, budget, and boundaries.

[00:46:35] Comments targeting, criticizing, or attacking individual students are not permitted during public meetings. Complaints regarding school-based employees should be directed to the appropriate school principal or other school officials. Speakers should refrain from using personally identifiable information in connection with an individual student or school-based employee.

[00:46:53] Additionally, speakers should be respectful and observe proper decorum in their statements, avoiding profanity, inappropriate gestures, shouting, and comments that run counter to the spirit and letter of the school division's non-discrimination policy. The school board welcomes community members to provide comments at its regular business meetings and public hearings on school board deliberations, school-related issues, or particular topics. All statements should be directed to the school board, and speakers should remain at the podium until concluding their remarks. As a reminder, speaker substitutions are not permitted. A speaker may not yield their time to another individual before or during their remarks. Shouting and outbursts from the audience

[00:47:33] will not be tolerated. We are grateful for those who have come to speak to us today and we thank you for your cooperation. Madam Clerk, please call the first speaker. Our first speaker is student number one. Good evening, my name is Caleb Ludlow. I'm a senior at Langley High School and I'm speaking years on behalf of sanctioning boys volleyball as a high school sport so volleyball is the fastest growing team sport for boys and young men in the

[00:48:12] United States the game's popularity among young men has soared by 22% over the past five years in the total of the US not including Fairfax County volleyball is also considered one of the top 10 safest sports with the concussion rate being incredibly low but we'll still need our wonderful trainers to help with splinted fingers and in my opinion when compared with the multiple other sports I've played it's one of the most positive in terms of cooperation and fun and team building. There's been a recent push for boys volleyball and in an effort to make the sport official many schools in Northern Virginia have raised awareness by creating interest clubs. This led me to start my school's

[00:48:51] interest club with my brother to promote the sport that I wish had been officially sanctioned when I was a freshman. I was amazed by how supportive my school's administration and girls volleyball coach were in allowing us to practice in our school's auxiliary gym and wear our school's colors and names in the multiple club competitions around here there's something special about playing for your school last year I played for a club attached to another school and after playing this year for my own school it is far more rewarding to play with your classmates and friends and wear your school's name I would I mostly want the interest club and team that I helped to start to become something more when I'm in college and I want all the young men in Northern

[00:49:31] Virginia to have the chance to play volleyball in high school thank you thank you our next speaker is student number two hello my name is Seth Ludlow and I'm a sophomore at Langley High School I'm also speaking here today on behalf of making boys volleyball an official high school sport so currently there are 73 high schools in Virginia that sponsor boys volleyball and in Northern Virginia as you probably already know Northern Virginia makes up 40% of the population of Virginia yeah there's no schools in Northern Virginia that do

[00:50:08] sponsor boys volleyball. So why is Northern Virginia lagging behind? This fall, I played in the Nova High School Boys Volleyball League with my brother, Caleb, which had a record high of 35 teams with more than 380 boys, which is a whopping 200% increase from three years earlier. While in this league, I felt more positivity from both my team and from opponents than I ever have in any of the other sports I play, such as soccer or basketball. So how can we implement this in schools. First, to address the issue of interest. About one year ago, a petition was put out in northern Virginia in support of making boys volleyball an official high school sport. This

[00:50:46] petition garnered over 2,500 signatures. Along with the 200% increase in the Nova High School Boys Volleyball League, as well as many others who may have not expressed their desire for volleyball vocally, there's plenty of interest. Additionally, boys volleyball would be inexpensive to implement in high schools because of the existing equipment from the girls volleyball. The additional costs could easily be covered by fundraising and player sign-up costs. I've played volleyball since I was eight and I can confidently say that it has been the most positive sports environment I've been a part of. I've made great friends and amazing memories through volleyball

[00:51:24] as I'm sure many others have. The decision to make boys volleyball an official high school sport would provide a valuable community to so many And I truly hope you can help us to implement it. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is student number three Good evening. My name is Sean Prendergast and I'm the president of the Woodson Boys Volleyball Club I've been fighting for four years to have volleyball recognized as a sport and I'm still working towards that before I graduate this June There should be equity in sports and there clearly isn't

[00:52:02] For me personally has been really exciting to see how volleyball has grown at Woodson my freshman year I was begging my friends to play volleyball with me. I think I only had four other people play with me And if you know anything about volleyball, it's not even enough to play a game Last year we had around 25 people and this year we have over 50 people, which means we had to have three teams What has really been great Volleyball has given me the opportunity to be a leader and become friends with people who I otherwise wouldn't hang out with In the end, it really makes you wonder why Bill Curran continues to tell us boys that we can't have a varsity sport and that i hope after this evening you'll all be asking him the same question thank

[00:52:41] you for your time thank you our next speaker is teresa kano hi um first of all thank you for letting me come tonight i've never done anything like this before um i'm a parent of a seventh grader at glasgow and a fourth grader at belvedere um and i've been very interested in serving our community in the mason district area in particular i've served on the pta board

[00:53:20] and elementary school for three years and even when I'd outlived my term I still helped to volunteer within the community. Right now we have a big decision to make about middle school athletics and I did hear that we were we were considering doing middle school athletics initially basketball at the secondary schools and we in our area are really really pleading and praying that you will consider the Mason District area as one of the first schools to have a program like this.

[00:53:53] As you know, most of the schools, if not all the schools in the Mason District are Title I pyramid schools with greater than 60 percent free reduced lunch kids. Most families don't have the money or the means of transportation to drive or to afford to have their children play sports.

[00:54:12] My daughter's fortunate enough that her parents can drive her all the way to Fairfax County two times a week to play basketball but there's nothing in our area that allows her to grow in that sport because of this our high school sports do tend to fall behind competitively to other Fairfax County Public Schools and I also know that in particular the secondary schools already have a rising freshman program where they can participate as eighth graders in some of the freshman teens. So they already do have that advantage within their school system. Not only do we have

[00:54:49] the financial and social limitations, but we're also the only region with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders within our middle schools. So we have the largest population of students in the middle school. So we would have a greater need. Thank you. Our next speaker is Harry Jackson. Last month, local mother

[00:55:26] Suparna Dutta took a courageous stand rejecting socialism and championing American values. Days later, activists for Red for Ed, several of them in this room at this very moment, smeared Ms. Dutta, a Hindu American woman of color, as a white supremacist. A white supremacist. Here's a history lesson that we need right here in Fairfax County. Considering the current board's acceptance of anti-Israel, anti-semitism, and its embrace of one Fairfax with its equal outcomes, equity initiative, and anti-merit socialist tenets incompatible with academic

[00:56:03] excellence. Socialism and democracy are not compatible. In the name of socialist ideals of equal outcomes, FCPS has been the news for withholding National Merit Scholar awards from students and withholding honors designations from student transcripts at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. These actions clip the wings of our best and brightest with a disproportionate impact along racial lines affecting our Asian communities.

[00:56:29] socialism and the clipping of wings were two critical policies of the nazi regime yes the nazi regime under socialism the nazi sought to achieve an equal distribution of wealth with party members and wealthy industrialists receiving preferential treatment leading to the deepening of class distinctions as the wealthy continue to get richer the nazis also sought to indoctrinate children youth into the nazi ideology through their anthem poetry literature and physical training this including clipping children's wings nazi officers physically restrained children from from excessive movement or oppression to teach children discipline and obedience.

[00:57:02] Back then it was to instill in children a German national identity and loyalty to Nazism. Today it is designed to build social justice warriors. Socialism leads to government corruption and mismanagement of resources, fails to reward hard work and efficiency, and leads to lack of motivation and innovation.

[00:57:18] With mental health and SAT scores plummeting, it is exactly this dumbing down society that we are seeing today in Fairfax County, Virginia. - Thank you, our next speaker is Helen Miller.

[00:57:44] - My name is Helen Miller. February is Love the Bus Month. Coincidentally, my daughter, a junior in high school, was almost hit by a driver as she exited the school bus at our stop last Wednesday by a driver who drove around the stop bus on the right side, that is the side that the students exit on, and onto the shoulder, almost hitting my daughter.

[00:58:04] She jumped out of the way just in time, but the car barely slowed down. With the help of Ms. Tolan, which I greatly appreciate, These incidents have been confirmed by FCPS Transportation, and this car and driver were in violation of the law. The driver is guilty of reckless driving.

[00:58:21] Transportation found this because the bus has a side camera. However, they were not able to identify the car or driver. Why? Because the school bus does not have a stop arm camera, which would have taken a picture of the license plate. Numerous other school systems, large and small, already have cameras.

[00:58:37] Why not FCPS? I've tried to bring attention to cars blowing past stop school buses since 2016 and was told then that it's a community issue, so the schools wouldn't send any school bus safety reminders. Who will take responsibility for school bus safety then?

[00:58:53] It's a community issue, as I've been told, but apparently no one's responsibility, yet it's everyone's problem. We need community action from everyone and we need a communications and enforcement strategy. Stop-arm cameras are an enforcement tool that helps extend or stretch police capacity and ID cards in violation at the source.

[00:59:12] Money has been appropriated for cameras. The Board of Supervisors approved stop-arm cameras unanimously in 2013, 10 years ago. As for communications, here is a reminder on the law. On roadways with two lanes, two lanes with a center turn lane, and four lanes, all traffic in both directions must stop for a stop bus.

[00:59:33] On a roadway divided by a median, all lanes traveling in the same direction as the bus must stop for a stop bus even if there are multiple lanes. You have the authority and you have the money. Stop delaying and do it now. Thank you.

[00:59:48] Our next speaker is Norma Margulies. Good evening. I've been informed that the Chief Equity Officer Nardos King is conducting several focus groups to develop an equity strategy within FCPS that will be submitted to this board for your approval.

[01:00:12] all know that this board is the equity crusader based on the several speeches and contracts that you continue to award to your favorite equity consultants. Well, yet when it comes to providing students with the tools to succeed, this board has turned the page. For example, why are you not taking any action to implement the after-school math and robotics clubs that I proposed to you several months ago? You all know that education laws in the math fields is severe, particularly among students of color? Why you have not implemented any measures to address the lack

[01:00:49] of use by Hispanic students of Tudor.com? You know that this service is scarcely used by low-income Hispanic students. Why you have not said a word about what is going on with the National Merit Commendation Awards scandal at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology? This week, I sent you an email, a link to access the recent article by Ms.

[01:01:12] Asra Nomani with a FOIA findings of 2,000 emails that prove that the principal, Ms. Anne Bonitavos, the director of student services, Mr. Kurosaka, some teachers and some counselors willfully, willfully delayed the notification of this important award.

[01:01:28] Why you haven't implemented a plan to integrate computer science from K to 12, from K to 8th grade? You know very well that students with disabilities, such as dyslexia, that have the right to use some credits in computer science to obtain their diplomas instead of foreign languages.

[01:01:45] The Virginia Code prescribes these rights, yet the students lack the basic foundation, including vocabulary, to undertake these classes starting at high school. I guess this board prefers to award contracts for consultants. It is clear that this board-- Thank you.

[01:02:04] Our next speaker is Lori Prendergast.

[01:02:20] Good evening. Thank you for allowing me to speak. My purpose here tonight is to talk to you the need to recognize boys volleyball as a varsity sport in Fairfax County as many of you may or may not know volleyball as a varsity sport is actually a sanctioned sport through VHSL in Fairfax County for some reason it is not a recognized sport I am a parent of a senior he just he just spoke a little while ago he's been playing since fourth grade I'm also the head coach of the

[01:02:53] underground Woodson Boys Volleyball program. It has been an amazing experience to see this sport grow so quickly in the region. As my son mentioned, four years ago, we could barely muster a team. We were begging, borrowing, stealing players as we could. This year, we had over 50 players. I actually had to turn players away at one point. We had three teams. This is not unique to Woodson. This This is across the board of every single high school here in Fairfax County.

[01:03:28] Now we have been working, at least myself, other people have been working for six years to have our athletic director approve this as a varsity sport. We have been met with denials, stonewalling, ignorance, phone calls not returned, refusals to have meetings.

[01:03:50] For most of my players, they are -- this is not -- this is the only sport that they have. Some of them are from broken homes. This is a great way for them to have an outlet for them to come that they would never really have an opportunity to have. It's camaraderie and teamwork, and I'm asking the school board to give Bill Curran a call, ask him why he's denying these boys the access to an incredible sport that is growing, not just here, but nationally.

[01:04:20] again I just thank the board for the time. Thank you. Our next speaker is Steve Tunley. I'm the father of a 2022 graduate of South Lakes High School is now a freshman at the University of Virginia where she's majoring in chemical engineering. When she came home for the holidays in December I asked her about her first semester. She said that she had gotten a 4.0 GPA and it was the easiest four months of her life. How could that be? I asked. She said that the IB program

[01:04:56] at South Lakes had been so rigorous that her first semester at UVA had basically been all review of what she'd learned in high school. I picked up my son tonight from soccer tryouts for Herndon High School. I saw white kids and African American kids and Hispanic kids and Asian kids laughing, fist bumping, high fiving each other, and generally having a great time. In 10 plus years of attending Fairfax County Public Schools events, I've never seen a fight, never seen a shoving match, never heard a racial slur, or seen a boy acting inappropriately with a girl. It's a much better world than that which I grew up in. I've got to believe at least some of that is because, for example, anti-bullying campaigns from

[01:05:35] elementary school and other social and emotional learning programs that are taught in Fairfax County Public Schools. Indoctrination. I don't believe indoctrination is happening, and frankly, I don't mind teachers sharing their opinions on political and social topics with my children. I believe my children benefit from hearing from different political views, cultures, religions, and I'm not threatened by that. I don't want my children to be exactly like me. I want my children to be better than me. In closing, I'd like to thank from the bottom of my heart every teacher and other Fairfax County

[01:06:10] school employee that have in some small way contributed to my children's educational, social, and emotional development. I couldn't be happier. Thank you. Our next speaker is Kevin

[01:06:24] Engdahl. Kevin Engdahl. Our next speaker is Silke Fundaro. Good evening. My name is Silke Fundaro and I have been driving bus for Lake Braddock for the last six years. I would like to take a moment

[01:06:58] And to thank Dr. Reid for recognizing us bus drivers yesterday during the strategic planning meeting, it meant a lot to us. Thank you so much. It was bus driver appreciation day yesterday. The last time I spoke to you, I spoke to you as an individual.

[01:07:17] Tonight, I would like to address you as the chair of the Bus Driver Attendance Advice Council. You heard from two of my colleagues at the last meeting who wish to voice their own opinion on collective bargaining. I speak to the ones who have elected me to do so by the rules of our bylaws.

[01:07:40] This fall, many of our peers started to ask questions about collective bargaining and even reached out to now-retired representatives of the teams for answers. Few were given. Many of my peers started to approach the team representatives like me and our council.

[01:07:56] We decided it was in our best interest for everyone in transportation to give them the option to speak their thoughts and reached out. With a very simple and non-bias survey to gather information, we approached our best resources, our diverse group of co-workers, and got help to even translate that into seven different languages in English to make it easier to understand.

[01:08:20] From the 49% that responded, a rather good turnout for a survey that was done quickly and with very few resources, 70% expressed their wishes to have their own voice heard. If you had the chance to be included in the work team earlier or had the chance to educate our coworkers on collective bargaining, the numbers probably would be higher.

[01:08:46] Thank you all for your patience and your willingness to listen to all of us. We truly appreciate all of you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Diana Smith. Diana Smith. Our next speaker is Dion Dixon.

[01:09:07] Good evening. Between 2019 and 2022, the average SAT scores in FCPS fell 33 points.

[01:09:25] from an average score of 1218 to 1185. While it might be convenient to blame the global pandemic, the national average only fell by nine points, and the Virginia statewide average actually rose five points during the same period.

[01:09:41] Also during this period, the reading SOL pass rate dropped from 81 to 79%, mathematics from 86 to 74%, and science from 84 to 72%. You have lost focus on your purpose here.

[01:09:57] This county's quest for equal outcomes for all is a race to the bottom. We are all born with different gifts, different skills, and therefore different abilities in life. Pursuing equal outcomes for all in math, science, literature, and social studies can only result in the top performers being stunted in their progress while the less gifted set the pace of instruction.

[01:10:21] Everyone is forced to learn to the level and at the pace of the least capable pupil in the class. Equal outcomes did not produce the internet, the iPhone, or the electric car. Equal outcomes will not produce a revolution in green energy or navigate us through this economic recession.

[01:10:40] What physicist, author, or statesman will fail to make their great breakthrough because you denied them access to advanced academics in your quest for equal outcomes? If children are not encouraged to continue to excel in areas where they are gifted, why would they continue to put in the effort?

[01:10:59] they are rewarded the same no matter their level of effort, they quickly realize that maximum return on their work is achieved by contributing the least. Anyone who has studied history knows that this philosophy is unsustainable and portends the collapse of even the mightiest nations. The evidence shows that you're helping no one. Thank you. Our next speaker is student number four.

[01:11:26] Our next speaker is David Hatcher. So board members, aren't we all so proud? A relatively new district superintendent is now a national rock star for endorsing racial discrimination local tv stations newspapers wire services cnn fox and the uk daily mail all herald her instant stardom first she

[01:12:02] supported the brain dead campaign against asian-american kids and others at several high schools keeping national merit scores and achievements hidden now showering a sole source contract on her confidant Muthu Fogbaei half a million dollar sole source contract less than 10%.

[01:12:26] So he could unveil his equity-based centered strategic plan when equity remains amorphous. Sole source over $400,000. Any audits to measure success? Hmm. Now I learn we have a new experience, chief experience and engagement officer, whatever that is, and something I'll learn more about in future speeches.

[01:12:50] We know Dr. Reed is merely following predecessors. Dr. Karen Garza resigned abruptly under a conflict of interest clout, took a job with lesser pay at an FCPS vendor, and placeholder Scotty Braband, whose misguided COVID decisions led to a severe drop in SAT scores among our kids.

[01:13:12] Dropping 27 points in four years, national scores averaged about the same flat. In Virginia, other places rose 14%. I predict you'll long regret the comment, equal outcomes for every student without exception.

[01:13:29] Some of us see that as code for critical race theory, racial discrimination, and cultural Marxism. But hey, good material for future speeches. What do you think you'll be called by the school board for? Thank you.

[01:13:49] Our next speaker is Vanessa Hall. Get to me. Hi, I'm Vanessa Hall. I have two kids in FCPS in the Woodson Pyramid.

[01:14:05] I wanted to say that I'm thrilled to see excellence, equity, and opportunity as pathways to success for our students. Seeking the best for each and every one of our kids is essential to preparing them for positive life experiences, both in and out of school.

[01:14:21] However, I really want you to think about the definition of excellence. During strategic planning meetings, many have felt that excellence is not well defined or its interpretation can be exclusionary, especially when success is typically measured by standardized tests or includes classes that are inaccessible to many learners.

[01:14:42] If we measure excellence via test scores or the number of national merit finalists we produce, how can kids who test poorly, like my dyslexic daughter, ever expect to achieve excellence? For example, did you know that state SOLs are administered in English for our English language learners?

[01:15:00] Therefore, we're not testing their subject matter ability, which is why you see that students with more years of English do better on the SOLs. All students deserve equitable opportunities for excellence beyond a test score. I ask that we look to excellence in the broadest sense.

[01:15:18] It is the quality of excelling or being one's very best. That means that each and every student is given an opportunity to achieve excellence regardless of background, income, ability, language, or gender. If we focus solely on test scores, then we leave behind disabled, dyslexic, English language learners, and so many others.

[01:15:38] To achieve the goal of excellence, equity comes into play, giving each student the support and resources they need to succeed. Equity does not bring anyone down, rather it recognizes that we do not all start the same space and that additional resources can bring every student up to ensure that they have an opportunity for excellence in school and life equity is a critical tool for excellence and thank you all very much for supporting it thank you that was our final speaker we also have one video

[01:16:10] testimony submitted by heather grinberg my name is heather and i'm an fcps school bus driver of over 16 years i and my colleagues have already spoken at length to most of you about the the intricacies of our jobs as they pertain to collective bargaining. So tonight I'd like to talk instead about what's simple. From the Code of Virginia, Section 40.1-57.2C, as presented to the Collective Bargaining Workgroup, where no collective bargaining resolution has been adopted, employees in a unit considered by them to be appropriate may initiate

[01:16:47] a request for bargaining. We've presented to the board the results of a survey sent to transportation staff showing that over 70% of respondents would feel best represented in our own unit. A simple amendment in section 6A of the draft resolution. Four bargaining units. Number four, transportation. Pretty simple. And if that amendment were made, what would happen next? The resolution would still pass, we hope. That would still happen, I think. The administration unit would begin the process of choosing their union. That would still be the same. Instructional staff would go about beginning to choose their union. Yes, that would still be the same. A slightly smaller

[01:17:26] operational unit would start working on choosing the union that they would like. That would be the same, and then transportation staff would start choosing the union that could best represent us. That's it. Us choosing the association that would best represent us does nothing to harm or detract from any other unit. It makes you wonder how anyone could be opposed. Why would you be? What dominion does any other bargaining group have over us and our needs? We are adults, professionals, and we are telling you that no one knows what's best for us, except for us. By the way, that same survey showed that 95% of respondents in transportation want collective bargaining to

[01:18:04] pass in some form so please I'm asking you to pass collective bargaining but do so with the one simple amendment that we are asking for I thank you thank you agenda item 3.02 strategic plan update I call on dr. Reed the strategic plan

[01:18:26] update oh thank you madam chair thanks Laura for bringing this up it's my pleasure this evening to provide an update to the board the first round of

[01:19:01] community forums have been completed. Beginning on January 30th, we've hosted 12 community forums. It's been a very busy month since then and I want to thank all of you who've attended those. We've had, I think, a great turnout. We've had 325 people across the county that have shown up and an additional 250 who've utilized our Let's Talk connecting feed to provide input i want to say that we're going to be hosting additional community forums this spring and we're going to continue to work to provide feedback to inform the plan

[01:19:39] finally i want to thank all our community members family members students and educators who participated we have over 150 staff members who either facilitated or were part of organizing and planning in addition to the 325 so close to 500 folks were involved in just a lot of work we have some key milestones all day yesterday we had the core planning team and again a full house and thank you both to our chair and vice chair for attending the team by the end of the day were able to craft draft goals measures and pillars which will enable the supports for our goals to

[01:20:19] be met and today we had our principals our central office team and admin team provide feedback on the draft goals measures and pillars developed yesterday so i want to also share that these are going to be provided and shared with stakeholder groups to solicit feedback with our alignment team and our faith-based team and will also be part of a feedback process with our parents families caregivers as well as staff the next slide shares the timeline for that feedback and we're really excited about the opportunity to hear what our community thinks about

[01:20:57] the work that really has been informed by tens of thousands of voices because as you recall we had close to 90 000 student voices as well as part of this conversation we're continuing our student voice meetings and our principals are going to be conducting reality check topics based on the draft goals I encourage you and anyone watching to continue to keep up with our website our OCCR team has continued to do a fabulous job of updating all the data and the process register to attend a future community forum and of course tune in to

[01:21:35] Thursday evening board meetings where you'll be receiving a regular update finally again we've We've had over 250 submissions to our Let's Talk app. So I encourage community members, staff, or students to utilize that for further feedback. And that's my update for this evening.

[01:21:54] With applause, Dr. Reid. Thank you. Thank you very, very much, Dr. Reid. Seeing no, oh, Ms. Tolan? That's okay. Sorry. Iris is really fascinated by the reality checks. Can you just talk a little bit about how that works?

[01:22:12] Like they're checking those things. How does that feedback get back to the -- does it go back to the core planning team? Right. Like, how does that work? So what's going to happen in the reality checks is essentially there are a variety of modalities for that, but it's really what it says, right? It's a check on the reality.

[01:22:28] Like, we have draft goals now, draft measurements from which those goals will be measured, and draft pillars which provide those supports for us to achieve the goals. So the reality check is going to be different groups saying does that resonate with what they believe the direction of the division in terms of our 2030 North Star goals ought to look like and be able to provide feedback on phrasing, framing, different measures, things that perhaps, you know, are a check in and feedback and that information will go back to the core planning team as well as to you as a board at your next work session

[01:23:07] or retreat where you're going to be looking at data received. you miss Marin yes I just wanted to share some feedback from the community based on the community forum that I hosted was it last week you know I think it attracted people who perhaps hadn't been engaged with the school division before and it was just overwhelmingly positive people said that they learned a lot they enjoyed looking at the data although it was something a very different approach that they'd been in you know usually it's a Q&A or perhaps a PTA meeting they've been most involved in but people were just really invigorated and just talking with one another.

[01:23:44] So there is a thirst for that in the community. I hope we can do more things to allow people to get together who might not usually get together and to talk about the real content of what's happening in schools. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Marin. I have heard in many ways it's an opportunity for our community, regardless of perspective or point of view, to come back together and engage in dialogue that really will lift up our student experience.

[01:24:10] you Dr. Reed and I will just take a brief turn to say I'm really thrilled to see this process I've participated in the virtual forum and I've also went to one of the in-person forums and I agree with what Miss Marins just shared that it was really wonderful to see people not just kind of hearing in a one directional way but really digging into the data and talking in small groups and grappling with what do they want to see for our school system in a very student centered way and what I really do also like is the checks because I think what I've heard from the community members is within the core planning team or in the forums what happens now do I get to see where all my work goes do I get to see

[01:24:48] how this gets compiled so I think having the voices of people and one thing I really appreciate is the people from all different perspectives and points of view coming together basing it in data but also basing an experience and being student-centered in that way but many people have asked coming together to think about what our goals what our objectives what are those pillars of those build on and then seeing you know the synthesis of all of that from all of these different voices to come back to say does this still kind of meet the direction you thought we're going so I'm really thrilled to see it I'm excited to see the board dig into this at our next retreat as well as we walk hand-in-hand

[01:25:26] with our community in this process and get to the end where the board really works with you to take ownership of a plan for our system so well thank you madam chair I think the the strength and it will be the diversity of input and feedback so there's a lot of strength in diversity with that I see no other board member wish to speak so I will call on you Dr. Reed for agenda item 3.03 academic matters thank you madam chair this is a particularly timely topic and thank you Dr. Presidio for noting that February 19th through 25th is

[01:26:02] engineering week celebrating engineering so we thought it would be a kind of a fun idea for the board and the community to think about early childhood which really is our very youngest learners and having an opportunity to think about our access to STEAM engineering in our early childhood special ed programs as well as our early childhood computer science so we have a short video I believe that we're going to watch about our youngest learners engaging in in engineering. Laura? One, two, three, push!

[01:26:41] STEAM is perfectly designed for pre-K. The pre-K is the best environment because the kids at that age, it's their first opportunity to be at school most of the time. And so we can create an environment for them where they feel safe to make mistakes, where they have hands-on materials to explore. It can really help them develop those creative and critical thinking skills. Ooh, it went all the way to, what are those numbers Amina, teaching a three and a four. STEAM is just the acronym for science, technology, engineering, art, and math. It's just

[01:27:18] a fancy way to say hands-on learning with open-ended materials. So STEAM materials can literally be anything that the kids are able to explore, experiment with, problem solve with. What? So maybe we can use this with the Legos.

[01:27:39] So today we brought out the crane pieces, and at first they weren't really sure what to do with them. They were like, there's a string, there's a hook, it has this wheel. I'm not really sure. Once they figured out the mechanics of it, through their natural exploration, I was able to bring up examples from real life or from our curriculum.

[01:27:57] Have you ever seen something like this in real life before? Uh, yeah, I guess. He made an immediate connection to a tow truck. And then it empowers them that they're coming up with the answer. It's great for their social-emotional skills as well because they're going to have that confidence so when they're going on into school they know, "I can solve a problem."

[01:28:17] Did it work? Yeah! Yeah! So what did you have to do to make it work? You have to put a house right there and blocks right here. Growing up in school it was the teacher tells you the problem and then the teacher tells you the answer, and you just have to remember it. And I never cared. I didn't like school, so naturally I became a teacher. But when you're introducing these STEAM materials, and they're having hands-on learning experiences, they create their own problems. So they have an intrinsic need to find the answer for that. They want to learn. They want to know the answer.

[01:28:55] They're looking to you to help guide them. So this one spins these. This one spins these. How can you add And just seeing that growth and watching their minds work.

[01:29:12] How can I figure out this problem? And you can see them across the room and you're like, oh, she's going to. And you have to, it's so hard because you love them so much. You want to just solve the problem for them. And I think that's all of our natural instincts. Like I have to just like step back and put my hands behind my back and say, okay, I can see it.

[01:29:31] Just be patient. Don't bother. You can do it. Given that space and giving them that time and the tools, they're capable of amazing things. So, I think that the video really speaks to the excitement, the inquiry, learning, the making meaning, the problem solving.

[01:30:00] And I want to share that this year, as of this year, 100% of our pre-K and early childhood special education students are also now engaging in STEAM learning. And this milestone has been achieved through a partnership and a collaboration across the offices of Early Childhood, Department of Special Services, and our Instructional Services Department.

[01:30:20] I think that's really exciting for our youngest learners to be exploring new ideas and have new experiences in a really safe space. We're also excited as they begin practicing their portrait of a graduate skills because 15 years from now, and Sloan, you didn't put that in my notes, that would be probably 2038.

[01:30:43] We're thinking this represents the class of 2038. So we're excited about their future graduate skills. When I think about STEAM education and problem-solving skills, it's so critical to start with our youngest learners. As the late Sir Kenneth Robinson talked about, our kindergarten students often could come up with over 250 uses for a paperclip, while many juniors in high school when surveyed could come up with five.

[01:31:11] So when we think about our very youngest learners, there's just a fearless creativity that I think is inspiring for all of us and the sooner that we can really be thoughtful about problem solving and incorrect activities, I think the better.

[01:31:27] Let's go ahead to the next slide, Laura, please. impact again is tremendous there are state and division priorities that we've been talking about this evening and across the last several months through our strategic planning processes and in the years prior here in Fairfax County public schools we know that the foundation of early childhood is critical we've included that as part of our FY 24 budget request and believe that it's just essential that our youngest learners come to school with these opportunities. So with that I will end academic matters this evening.

[01:32:06] Wonderful. Mr. Frisch. Thank you. I've been to some of our elementary school STEAM labs and they're fantastic. I mean what was captured in the video is pretty accurate. How are we going to expand that over what period of time so that every student has an opportunity to take advantage of this? Are you talking about expanding early childhood or expanding STEAM labs across elementary schools?

[01:32:33] Yes, both. All right. Because it's an equitable approach to making sure that every student has access to this. No, it's absolutely critical and what's interesting I think is that one of the sort of buckets that is beginning to emerge as a goal in our strategic plan is the importance of early childhood experiences.

[01:32:53] And as we know here in Fairfax County, we're only serving 37% of our income eligible early childhood learners, which leaves us quite a little bit of room to make progress. I will also say that as the strategic plan begins to evolve the critical thinking skills, the creativity and problem solving and collaborative work styles that are a part of STEAM projects and labs, as you're referring to, Mr. Frisch, I think if that becomes a stake in the ground as part of the strategic plan, that's going to move along that progress in a significant way.

[01:33:28] You mentioned the gap we have to close in early childhood education. I think in a previous work session, you said that your goal was that we would close that gap by 2030. Correct. What would that goal look like if it also included the types of experiences that we can offer those kids?

[01:33:43] So closing that goal, and that again is related to our income eligible early childhood learners, would require approximately 40 new classrooms a year. And our early childhood office, as well as our instructional services department and cabinet, with our facilities team, continue to work through what those scenarios could look like.

[01:34:06] We have to be pragmatic and not look at the gap as too large to begin making steps. And when we think of plans over time, what we know is we need to phase in each year and have a benchmark goal so that we can continue to make progress. It doesn't happen overnight.

[01:34:21] Having said that, I also think that when we think about equitable access to programming, it doesn't matter whether that program is in the classroom or outside the classroom, as we've heard this evening. It's really critically important to the development of our young people and future graduates in Fairfax County.

[01:34:39] Thank you. Ms. Darnett-Koufax. You know, I can't let you speak about early childhood without saying thank you for recognizing this and for working forward and for highlighting this. I was not even aware that we were having these steam labs in the early childhood realm.

[01:34:58] But also speaking to your earlier presentation, as you mentioned, Ms. Sizemore-Heiser and I are on the core planning team. And what I wanted to say is, you know, I've been part of two core planning teams with previous strategic plan that the board put together and now this one.

[01:35:17] So I have had that great privilege to watch the teams come together in different ways. And one thing I did speak to Kenneth about yesterday, I said what's very interesting to me, the first meetings were harder than they are now.

[01:35:35] And so you are having very diverse people with diverse thoughts and ideas coming together and understanding as they delve into the data, as they look at what's before them, coming together and saying, "This is what we need."

[01:35:52] And there was a lot of synergy yesterday afternoon as we worked on our projects. Just by luck of the draw, I picked my favorite color that morning, which happened to be pink because I had it on, and that was the early childhood group that I got here.

[01:36:08] But this was a random thing. So, you know, just working with that group of people, hearing what you're speaking now, I just love seeing the dovetailing of what's happening because you're already listening to what you know is happening, and we're moving forward, and that's what we need.

[01:36:25] We need parallel tracks. We need to say this is what we're planning for the future, but this is what we can do now, and this is how we can incrementally move forward to that greater goal. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, Dr. Reed. I'm very excited to see the work that you're doing.

[01:36:42] As Ms. Janet Koufax says, we're building a plane and you're still flying it. So I think that's wonderful. Thank you very much. I will move on to agenda item 3.04, student representative matters, and I call on Ms. Togby. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[01:36:57] Good evening and happy Thursday, everyone. I want to thank the students that were here earlier today to testify. Your voice should always be at the table for the decisions that are pretty much made that directly affect you guys. So it's always great for me to see students here, and it makes me very happy. That being said, it has been a great last few weeks. On Monday, I was able to join Supervisor Sturck and Ms. Corbett Sanders, as well as the members of the Mount Vernon High School JROTC and local Girl Scout trips at the Mount Vernon Estate to lay wreaths. We got to hear a bit about how George Washington envisioned the future of this country but we also got to hear

[01:37:34] about the background of the Mount Vernon estate and how much of it was built off the backs of the enslaved people there during the time. So in addition the Girl Scout troops also led or also laid wreaths at the memorial of those who were enslaved and later buried at Mount Vernon. On Sunday I was able to join Dr. Anderson at the McLean Community Center to hear from author and Pulitzer Prize winner, Nicole Hannah-Jones, thanks to Ms. Marin, who was so kind to not only secure tickets, but to pass them to us. It was such an amazing experience, and I truly, truly will treasure

[01:38:09] it for the rest of my life. Prior to the Q&A, I was able to have a couple conversations with a few of my peers at Lake Braddock and Edison about how the documentary really taught us about how the contributions of black Americans almost touched everything that's here today and it's I'm just really grateful for the experience and I'm so glad I was able to go. Last week I was able to attend the mental health town hall that was hosted at Lewis High School. It was such a powerful conversation but also a really needed conversation. The questions that students were asking were

[01:38:45] questions that kind of always been in the back of my mind and I'm sure the back of my minds of some of my friends and classmates. In attendance, we had Dr. Axler, Secretary Cardona, and Surgeon General Murphy. I think something that really resonated with me was when the numbers from the CDC's report talked about how much kids were struggling, we really were not surprised. I saw a few shocked looks on the faces of some of the adults in the rooms, and I was kind of surprised that they were surprised. And I honestly, I really hope that that conversation is able to serve as

[01:39:20] a catalyst for change within our own division when it comes to these mental health conversations. And yesterday I was able to join our SAC members at Woodson High School as they gear up for their presentation to Dr. Reed and the leadership team. A big discussion that was had was the language within the SRNR, more specifically regarding dress code, and the delegates were able to express their concerns.

[01:39:44] But at the same time, we're also really glad to be able to communicate what they want to see and next steps. so really big shout out to the speakers who were able to join us in addition they also had a conversation about the phone policy that was super candid they talked about a lack of consistency within the implementation across the county but they also talked about how they believed that the policy kind of works backwards and isn't actually as effective as it was hoped to be and i kind of just sat there and took all that information in because my own experiences with the policy of course like aren't the same experience as everyone across the

[01:40:20] county but something that I did realize was as I was kind of like sitting there and thinking to myself was that how are we supposed to have students learn and understand how to be independent in their own self-advocate if we kind of have our teachers in a way kind of serve as like babysitters during their lesson plans of like oh so-and-so's on the phone in the back of the classroom let me pause my lesson walk all the way back there make sure that they understand policy or tell them to put their phone in the phone locker or whatever they called it and I just I kind of realized how much of an interruption that actually is during my class time personally I would say my biggest concern is that we

[01:40:59] categorize advisory time or study hall time what it might be called a different schools as instructional time which means that there's no phone usage when really in my opinion students are the creator of how they want to use that time if I want to go see my teacher during that segment of advisory time I'm I'm allowed to, but also if I want to do homework in my advisory period and listen to music or something, I'm not allowed to do that because I'm not allowed to be on my phone during that time.

[01:41:25] So I think there are many examples of this and this type of treatment, and I think it's a conversation that we actually have to revisit. In addition to the SAC meeting yesterday, I was able to join the core planning team's strategic planning conversation. Each group was very passionate about how we developed our goals and our visions for this process, which was very energizing.

[01:41:45] That is all I have for today, but I will say I'm very excited to be joining Ms. Cohen at Lake Braddock tomorrow. I will be putting my stallion pride aside during my visit there. And, of course, the next round of community conversations in relation to strategic planning, I believe, is going to be happening in March or late spring around that time period.

[01:42:06] So please continue to stay up to date with the website to learn more. And as always, thank you so much for your time, and have a great end to the week of CPS. Thank you, Ms. Togby. Ms. Barron, I see you had your light on. Did you need to be recognized? Yes, please, if that's okay.

[01:42:22] That's fine. I just wanted to validate what you're sharing, Ms. Togby, not that you need it, but something came to mind where I was meeting with Madison Robotics students who spend 20 hours a week after school working on robotics. And so what you're talking about, about students' time, you know, I'm hearing that too.

[01:42:39] Like, why can't students work on those things during the day? How are we looking at time? So I hope that we can look further into that, Dr. Reed and colleagues. - Thank you, Ms. Marin. Agenda item 3.05, Superintendent Matters. I will call on Dr. Reed.

[01:42:54] - Thank you, Madam Chair. And it's my great excitement this evening to announce we have passed our 100th day of school this year. And we had quite a celebration across the division last week and we are in our 24th week of school. It's hard to believe.

[01:43:11] Since last we met, I've been able to take in several athletic events. I joined our Centerville community to watch the Centerville and Southlakes basketball teams play. It was really an exciting game as well as the Marshall community where the Statesman won a district basketball game over one of our Arlington High School colleagues. So lots of exciting playoffs coming up as well in a variety of sports. Happened to be at Robinson Secondary School this morning and Principal Tracy Phillips was proud to share that their wrestling team had just won the state championship again I

[01:43:47] believe for the third year in a row so they were beaming I want to say that last week I had a fabulous visit to Cooper Middle School to meet with some of our middle school students who really take into heart community service and providing supports for our neighbors in Turkey and Syria who have been so dramatically affected by the recent earthquake and these young people are just working really hard to collect both donations of monies and foods and just everything clothing housing materials and I was just really impressed with

[01:44:26] their heart in their inspired work many of whom had family in that area during that time and I think just realizing that what happens in any part of this world touches people excuse me touches people in our own county and I it's you know it's just inspiring to see our students respond in that way speaking of other impressive student stories I had an opportunity to visit Luther Jackson middle school last Friday and principal Raven Jones and her students showed me

[01:45:00] around and I will say my most exciting time was in a hydroponic greenhouse engineering group where Vivian shared with me the hydroponic work and I will tell you that for seventh graders to be doing hydroponic and understand not only the hydroponic aspect but they actually are going to be putting live tilapia in a tank so that there's fish fertilizer that's automatically with two gallons of water they can raise the equivalent of an acre's worth of lettuce with two gallons of water a week. So there are so many exciting things our young people are doing that

[01:45:37] I think is just altering, I think, the course of our world in so many ways. Recently, actually recently being today, Chair Sizemore Heiser and I also visited Laurel Ridge Elementary School as well as Robinson. And at Laurel Ridge, it was really exciting to see our young preschool programs and our preschool autism programs and just have an opportunity to see our youngest learners work on communication skills, and so many other opportunities, some incredible artwork, and just, we were in another classroom, a fourth grade classroom, where they were doing a kindness

[01:46:16] project, looking at the character trait of humility. And I just thought, what a powerful lesson to learn at a young age, and remembering February 17th was National Act of Kindness Day. Last weekend, I had the chance on Saturday to attend the Woodson Pyramid Stringapaloo and I've never seen so many cellos and violins and violas on one stage it's a wonder we didn't do any anyhow there were a lot of students on stage and a lot of excitement in the crowd and then the evening Robinson secondary the middle

[01:46:51] school program put on the Adams family and I will say it was a fabulous opportunity also just in terms of recognition want to remind folks that February 15th was School Resource Officer Appreciation Day and just want to give a shout out to all our school resource officers and all the work they do to keep our schools and our meetings and us safe and you know providing just a lot of service in so many ways quietly and often in a thankless way so thank our SROs as well as our bus drivers who were here this evening National Driver

[01:47:30] AND FINALLY, I THINK MS. TOGBY TALKED ABOUT OUR LEWIS HIGH SCHOOL VISIT WITH OUR SECRETARY OF EDUCATION AND OUR SURGE IN GENERAL AND JUST HOW EXCITING THAT WAS AND DR. AXLER AS WELL I WAS VERY I KNOW PRINCIPAL SMITH KICKED US OFF AND JUST HAS SUCH A DEEP COMMITMENT TO THIS TOPIC AND WANT TO THANK OUR BOARD CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR AS WELL AS SUPERVISOR LUST WHO ATTENDED THAT EVENT WE HAVE WORK TO DO BUT THERE WAS A GREAT ENERGY IN THAT ROOM. SO THAT'S WHAT MATTERS THIS EVENING. SO THANK YOU. WONDERFUL. THANK YOU, DR. REED.

[01:48:06] WE'LL MOVE ON TO AGENDA ITEM 4.02, SCHOOL YEAR 2023-24 CALENDAR FOLLOW-ON MOTIONS. THE NEXT SEVERAL FOLLOW-ON MOTIONS WERE NOT VOTED AT THE FEBRUARY 9th MEETING AND YET POSTPONED TO TODAY'S MEETING. SO I WILL START BY CALLING ON MS. CORBETT SANDERS FOR A MOTION. THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR.

[01:48:23] I MOVE TO DIRECT THE SUPERINTENDENT TO WORK WITH THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE TO DEVELOP A PLAN FOR the promotion of enrichment and or recreational activities that may be available to our students for our students to participate when schools are closed for professional work days and extended periods of time is there a second second thank you miss corbett sanders would like to speak to your

[01:48:56] motion excuse me thank you madam chair as you all know we spoke extensively about the calendar at at our last board meeting and it was a robust discussion and quite a bit of it was about the impact of some of our extended periods of time where kids aren't in school on our families.

[01:49:17] And so this really is a partnership with the county in ensuring that our kids are given opportunities to participate in enrichment and recreational activities and provide some relief for working parents.

[01:49:35] Thank you Mr. Koufax to speak to your second. I just appreciate Miss Corbett Sanders bringing this forward. I think there are opportunities to do this just like there were opportunities before. There were no middle school after school programs for a while and we got those together.

[01:49:55] So I look forward to seeing what we can do in the spirit of one Fairfax to bring this together. Thank you Miss Marin. Yeah, this, you know, matter of child care has been one that just continues to be stagnant in our county. Just recently, there was a whole thread on a local Facebook group in the Hunter Mill District, and people were wondering, you know, on the calendar days when there's teacher work days, why can't there be school-age child care? And people are saying, Melanie, what can you do? And I said, well, it's the county. And I feel like I've gone around, and I know many of us

[01:50:31] have gone around. And this system of where we have childcare, not to mention early childhood also, you know, just throw that in there, in the county's, you know, universe of things, is it time to examine that? Because the solution, there has been no solution. I myself as a parent sat on a sack list for my children. And when I called and asked, I was, well, there is no solution to expand space. And that's just not, we can't just keep saying to people, there's no space. So, So, you know, I had wondered, too, even if we, you know, there was talk of at one point reverting back to half-day Mondays, could there be, you know, school-age child care or programming or something?

[01:51:10] Like, I just feel like we've got to get innovated here, and Dr. Reed, I think you're all about innovation and finding solutions, but this has just been stagnant for at least a decade. So I support the motion. I was wondering, Ms. Tolan?

[01:51:30] I am in full support of this motion as well. And, you know, and I appreciate what Ms. Mara is saying. It's a bigger problem even than what the motion is talking about and just looking at our own calendar days. I was on a meeting this morning, a student success meeting with, you know, Reston Cornerstones and Herndon Cornerstones and our Herndon-on communities, you know, a lot of community organizations that provide before school and after school care but then there's the issue of you know how do the kids get to the school

[01:52:07] from that location i mean on and on and on there's just all kinds of logistics and we had a long conversation about how you know there were a couple school representatives and then all these county and not-for-profit organizations how do we all work together and communicate together across the organization so everybody knows what everybody else is doing and we can support each other but they're just we need a concentrated effort on it because there's so many logistics that are getting in the way so in a county our size you know there's it's great that there's all

[01:52:44] this stuff going on but it lends us to um you know some of the confusion and the issues so look forward to you know working on this thank you for bringing the motion Thank you Ms. Tolan. Seeing no other board members who wish to speak I will call for the vote.

[01:53:02] The motion before us is on the screen. All those in favor please raise your hand. That motion is unanimous with Ms. McLaughlin away from the table. That motion passes. I will now call on Ms. Omeish for a motion. Thank you. I move to direct the board governance committee to work with the superintendent on developing a new calendar policy or to revise existing regulation 1344 to devise a comprehensive calendar policy that includes but is not limited to which factors are considered calendar criteria, how they are prioritized in ways that are equitable and fair,

[01:53:37] what roles various entities play in informing the process, and the timeline by which this occurs, and to present this draft to the board early enough for it to be approved before any future calendar discussion or development. Thank you. Is there a second? Second.

[01:53:53] Dr. Anderson, Ms. Omeish, would you like to speak to your motion? Yeah, thank you. I think this year's calendar process, last year's calendar process are very obvious examples of the need for outlining what our criteria are, indicating and committing to consistency around what matters and developing it, and especially in centering fairness around how we do it.

[01:54:17] I think that being able to codify that in a place that's clear and accessible is also transparent and helps us arrive at our goal of ensuring we are keeping in mind all members of our community when planning in big ways like the calendar.

[01:54:35] For some, vacation is a great opportunity to enjoy some recreation and luxury time. For others, it's a struggle with burdensome expenses, having to worry about childcare and dipping in the money that otherwise is not available. The way we calendar is the difference between whether people feel included, whether they feel like they don't belong.

[01:54:55] So there are major implications for it and how it impacts employees on all levels of the pay scale and certainly for our students and our community in how they experience school time or not.

[01:55:12] So in prioritizing learning and recognizing what the needs are moving forward and that our students need most, I hope that we can be more thoughtful and intentional in developing these various components, all four pieces, and I know I'm confident that Dr. Reed and her team will be very thoughtful in making sure that we do this better the next time.

[01:55:31] So with that, I hope that my colleagues will support this effort, and I know I've heard support around the table at our various work sessions already. Oh, and I want to thank staff for emphasizing the importance of this. I know other divisions have examples.

[01:55:48] Mr. Smith in particular, thank you for your work in brainstorming this, and I'd love forward to the collaboration that's going to happen to make this possible thank you dr anderson would you like to speak to your second yes i will briefly do that thank you to miss omesh for this this is exactly the kind of policy that i've been yearning for as you all have heard me say last year this year the year before i have felt that some of our calendar decisions have not been clear and consistent. And so this is an opportunity for us to not only have factors that help to drive

[01:56:25] the calendar, but to prioritize it and to have transparency in terms of how is it that we've arrived to the decisions to which our calendar illustrates. Because right now, when I am asked, I don't have these answers. When I ask here, I don't have, those answers are not necessarily given to me so I think this is a great opportunity for us to really hone in on what is it that is driving the decision making behind our calendar I think we're way more than overdue and having such a policy will help to mitigate some of the time that we spend developing on the calendar and maybe not

[01:57:04] having three and a half hour meetings around it as we did just two weeks ago so I hope that there's support for this calendar from our colleagues i too have heard a lot of people feeling as if it's also overdue so i'm looking forward to the vote thank you thank you miss toland did you wish to speak that's okay no worries i was gonna it's this calendar policy right so seeing no other board members who wish to speak i will call for the vote the motion before us is on the screen

[01:57:43] all those in favor please raise your hands that motion passes unanimously with miss mclaughlin and away from the table agenda item 4.03 fiscal year 2024-2028 capital improvement program follow on motions I will call on Mr. Frisch for a motion thank you I move to direct the superintendent to develop an annual school traffic and pedestrian safety assessment program that addresses school traffic and pedestrian safety concerns resulting from severely congested kiss and ride lines

[01:58:21] bus traffic and other issues this annual program would mirror the capital improvement programs method for addressing capacity deficits with a menu of potential mitigation strategies and an equitable queue of schools with the most pressing needs implementation timelines and an update on pending current and recently completed remediation projects is there a second I'll second Ms. Bukarski Mr. Frisch would I just speak to your second to your motion, excuse me. Yes, thank you. From Oakton and Vienna to Tyson's and Falls Church school

[01:58:56] communities across Fairfax County face significant road and pedestrian safety concerns that too often result in tragedy. This motion directs the superintendent to develop an annual comprehensive plan to prioritize and address these critical safety concerns. Tonight's vote demonstrates this board's commitment to keeping our students, families, and staff safe. It will result in an annual review of the road and pedestrian safety issues in our school communities, providing a framework to prioritize mitigation projects. It will make it easier for our board and the communities we represent to monitor progress, and for our hard-working facilities and transportation

[01:59:33] staff to collaborate with our partners at VDOT, FCDOT, FCPD, and the Board of Supervisors. In November, several of us took part in a World Day of Remembrance event at Oakton High School with Fairfax families for safe streets. At that point in 2022, vehicle crashes had killed 22 people on Fairfax County's streets and highways, the most in more than a decade. I went to the funerals of some of those victims, students from Providence District. Traffic violence is heartbreaking for

[02:00:07] the friends, classmates, families, colleagues, and communities of its victims. This motion will not solve every road or pedestrian safety issue we face, but it is a critical step in the right direction and I am proud to offer this motion it is the product of numerous thoughtful conversations with staff and my board colleagues to refine its scope and broaden its impact for that collaboration I'm grateful thank you Ms. Pekarski would you like to speak to your second sure just very briefly I do want to thank Mr. Frisch for working with staff to come up with what I

[02:00:43] believe is a very systematic way of looking at all our schools across all our districts we all know we have pockets of issues but this will give us a way to really kind of hone in our time and prioritize what we can do and use our resources effectively Mr. Frisch is correct it is imperative that we do whatever we can to keep our students and our staff and the areas around our schools as safe as possible thank you thank you I see several board members

[02:01:21] members wish to speak miss keys Gamora yes thank you I I want to thank mr. Frisch for discussions regarding this and looking at this issue in a more comprehensive way it is critical I think as we bring issues to the forefront that are of concern across the district for us to utilize our resources to address the concerns in a way that can benefit as many people as possible so I know that's not where you started and so I just wanted to say thank you for moving

[02:01:58] the needle a little bit because as an at-large member I know sometimes I may have to poke a little to encourage and I thank you for I thank you for this motion today and I appreciate your work thank you thank you miss Cohen yeah I I to really appreciate it I was just sitting here trying to list out my schools that I think have a kiss and write issue and I ran out of paper so you know a few off the off the bat that have caused some really serious issues and and especially where we have kids crossing streets at places that we don't

[02:02:38] have a crossing guard or we do at certain times but not the times when kids come my only request in this is when we say other issues I just want to make sure that accessible parking spot locations is a part of this. We know that this year we've been really fortunate that we had a parent who brought to us an issue where because of the Kiss and Ride line it eliminated the ability to get into the handicapped spots and so then they couldn't drop their child off in a safe manner at all. So I'm so appreciative of Mr. Fanshawe and the team

[02:03:16] for remedying that super super fast as soon as it was brought to our attention but I know we can't expect everybody to bring that so I just want to make sure that we have an eye to that when we're looking at those safety issues and the only other thing that I would ask is just working hand in hand with the safe routes to school person because in a perfect world we are not have as many having as many people utilize cars we're biking we're walking we're scootering all of those things um and so in in in a per and using our wonderful buses for our bus drivers who weren't here but um and so i hope we can cut down on kiss and ride traffic that way but

[02:03:53] i i do appreciate just how comprehensive this is that the safety isn't just about um kiss and ride but it there is just such a drop-off and pickup issue at the vast majority of our schools so thank YOU FOR BRINGING THIS CARL THANK YOU MISS TOLAN YES THANK YOU UM THANK YOU MISS KOMM FOR BRINGING UP THE SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL POSITION IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THAT PERSON IS COMING ON BOARD NEXT WEEK THAT'S RIGHT RIGHT SOMETHING LIKE NEXT WEEK WE HAVE A TALL ORDER FOR THAT PERSON

[02:04:32] EVERY TIME LIKE MISS KOMM WAS SAYING I HAVE A HUGE LIST OF YOU KNOW SCHOOLS THAT HAVE ISSUES near the school with a path or you know a sidewalk that's missing where people are trying to walk or bike to school and so I keep saying that person is going to solve all of these issues for us but I appreciate this motion I'm giving it maybe a little bit of organization around you know that work that needs to happen um i also um you know really appreciate um in my discussions with mr

[02:05:10] frisch over the last week that he included bus traffic in there you know you heard from one of my constituents earlier this evening that we had um you know a near tragedy um at a langley high school bus stop you know just last week and um you know that the whole that's part of our transportation system and um you know that's just another area that we need to be looking at as well so i appreciate you including that i think most of our districts are similar to drainsville and that we've got roads ranging from you know four lane highways with the median down we've got cars

[02:05:47] getting on and off the beltway you know two lane roads you know with horse trailers and you know landscape trucks and speeding delivery trucks you know on those roads and so um you know having some concentrated effort and really looking at these situations um and coordinating efforts with our county and board of supervisors will be excellent thank you i will fully support this motion thank you miss corbett sanders i too want to thank mr frisch for working with me because um as he so

[02:06:20] eloquently said this affects every one of our districts across the county and uh not just our elementary schools. But it's also important for people to understand that so much of our student safety is dependent on partnerships with Virginia Department of Transportation, who runs the majority of the roads in Fairfax County. And so Fairfax can't put up a sign. Although I've had some suggestions of putting up our own signs and just winging it, I don't think that that is

[02:06:59] something we want to do and so we have VDOT we have Fairfax County Department of Transportation we have the enforcement piece which is chronically understaffed and so as part of this I hope that we will also provide to our principals standard communications mechanisms that can be sent out to our families about safety in kiss and ride safety on our streets safety about our

[02:07:34] buses because as we heard tonight we have had people asking for those and they had some principals send them out some don't so if we could have a standard bank of communications on each of these subjects I think would be very helpful and could facilitate some of this so thanks again and I will be supporting this. Thank you. Dr. Anderson. Thank you. What a difference two weeks makes. Two weeks ago when we were here having this conversation I had a follow-on motion as well to address

[02:08:13] similar issues at Belvedere and as Ms. Cohen shared I could have listed many many other schools as well but it's the most egregious one because it spills out into such a major highway. Also two weeks ago miss omesh had a follow-on motion to absorb these two motions and here we are so thank you miss omesh for planting the seed and thank you mr.

[02:08:37] Frisch for following up because it was helpful for us to take a look at this issue on a much more comprehensive level because it is impacting many schools throughout our division one of the things that I do want to ask mr. Fenshaw While I'm very excited about mirroring a CIP process, I'm hoping we don't bring into this potential protocol some of the disadvantages of the CIP process, which is school board members jockeying for position for the queue.

[02:09:10] So how do you foresee having an objective measure to identify what needs to be taken care of first rather than having us, again, try to lobby for which one of our schools should be first in the queue?

[02:09:26] And I ask this knowing you're working on a renovation queue process. I want to make sure that we're carrying some of those lessons learned or the lessons that will be learned into this work. Thanks for the question. I mean, we are very early in the process, but I will say that studying traffic and pedestrian, there are certain criteria that the departments of transportation go by, and I think that's probably one of the things we're going to have to rely on as we rank or grade these sites.

[02:10:03] So, I mean, I think that's, I'd start with the good engineering basis is probably the way to accurately describe the problems that we might be looking at. Thank you so much. I'm definitely looking forward to an objective set of criteria to determine how we allocate limited resources.

[02:10:24] I also know another issue that has been plaguing our schools is the reduction of the crossing guards as they are exiting, you know, their tenure, they're not being replaced. By the police department. Can you speak to that a little bit? Mr. Fenshaw? I'd have to I'd have to get back to you because I'm I'm not Up on the crossing guard issue. Okay. Well, I'll please just keep that as part of your As part of your work because as I was speaking with staff to determine what possibilities are there for Belvedere and other schools who have this experience of

[02:11:01] Kiss and ride lines etc. The lack of crossing guards became a significant issue and the fact that the police department was really reducing How they are allocated throughout Fairfax County. So thank you and happy to support. Thank you. Dr. Anderson. Miss Marin. Yes, thank you. It's ironic. We were just talking about school-age child care and the role of the county and transportation is even more of a quagmire of issues and I've been no stranger to it in the last few years. I've had one parent get

[02:11:35] hit by a pickup truck on a crosswalk and her kid from school, a grandparent the same and you know over my time I've seen sidewalks that are just all bumpy, there's no way to walk, take years to get paved over, signage, you know I think that this is another place where we've got to get clearer about who's responsible for what and time and money and who owns the work and making sure It makes me cringe when I walk to a meeting with parents and community members, and the principal is standing there with this group on a corner of the road.

[02:12:08] That's our instructional leader, and that person is now being tasked with being, you know, part of the traffic control, and that is not our job. And so the rest of the community needs to step up and take care of that. So, you know, I'd love if this motion includes, you know, what's the maintenance time, right?

[02:12:25] We've got the condition of crosswalks, the signage, the lighting, but then where's the regular review of what could be done to enhance things because we know more kids are walking. They need more signage. I also think that when we do renovation projects, it's critical to be sure that the planning is done.

[02:12:41] We had an issue where at McNair Elementary Upper, we had a gorgeous new building, and the crosswalk was in a place where the community wasn't accessing it. Fortunately, we worked with the county, but it took quite a while to get a new crossing guard. I will say, too, though, we have to keep the communications going with our families because we can't have parents crossing in the middle of busy roads if we've got crosswalks, so that's that.

[02:13:03] But the other thing I wanted to mention is a potential idea is, you know, an app for reporting maintenance needs. I know the town of Vienna had had something like this, and it was really helpful. Like, you know, there's a downed power line. There's an out light. Maybe we could do that and take some of the communications that we get and just forward it straight to that maintenance.

[02:13:19] So I very much support this motion. Thank you for putting it together. And the collegial way in which you incorporated our feedback. it's really great. Thank you. Thank you. Seeing no other board members who wish to speak I'd like to call for the vote. The motion before us is on the screen. All those in favor please raise your hands. Ms. Keats Gamara. Ms. Marin Ms. Elmesh. Ms. Tolan. Ms. Corbett Sanders. Ms. Janet Koufax. Dr. Anderson. Mr. Frisch. Ms. Cullen. Ms. Bukarski and myself that motion passes with Ms. McLaughlin away from the table. Thank you all. I would like to call on Ms.

[02:13:51] Marin for a motion. The board moves to direct the superintendent to develop a plan to update the ed specs for renovations and new construction projects to include food preparation facilities that are most capable of delivering fresh and diverse food options is there a second second dr anderson miss marin would you like to speak to your motion this is a really exciting uh trajectory of what the board has helped put into place you know i think coven really dampened the progress that was going and bringing the salad bars to schools. But now we've received a report from last year's follow-on motion that myself and

[02:14:29] Ms. Corbett Sanders put forth, really trying to get a sense of how can we get better food in our schools. We know supply chain has been an issue, but that aside, during COVID, we know that our kids want good food. And I was even at Marshall Road earlier, and they have a composting program, which is amazing, which the PTA is paying because there's no way you could compost that amount of food on site. But they're seeing a lot of cafeteria-bought food thrown in there. Not as much home brought food but the cafeteria food the kids are not enjoying and it is going right into composting that we now have PTAs paying to responsibly take care of although they do we have a lot of schools that do reserve unopened

[02:15:05] items and then donate that to you to children and families in need which is wonderful but you know I think that some really exciting steps are afoot and I welcome dr. Reed to share what those might be but this gives a broad enough approach so that we can talk about how to get better options how to get more diverse options we know our students would like halal options so I think this is a good next step and turn over dr. Anderson thank you dr. Anderson did you speak to your second oh I'm so sorry I think you asked Dr. Reed to speak at some point that's fine thank you go ahead dr. Anderson okay thank you I'm

[02:15:43] very happy to support this this follow-on motion for the very same reasons that Miss Marin articulated we have a lot of possibilities in our kitchens we have a lot of renovations taking place so hopefully some new construction and it's time for us to turn to talk about how can we have spaces that may be more than just reheat kitchens not necessarily from scratch but something in between that offers some greater alternatives to our students rather than what we're offering right now not just in the types of food that we offer but also the quantity of food that we offer because we've also heard here about how some of our high school students are lamenting the

[02:16:22] portion sizes it's just insufficient for them even our middle school students so I'm hoping that's also part of this option and also as schools are gardening you know the lettuce that they're growing right here at Luther Jackson which I hope you had a chance to taste when you visited their little lab back there as schools are gardening as you know we visited with miss peas and carrots throughout the openings of the salad bars we just really need to have options that are also a little bit more reflective of the diversity of our student needs it's not just peanut butter and jelly anymore for us so we

[02:16:59] need to have a space that can help us grow into that as well as food recovery which is miss Marin also shared this is a program that can be exponentially beneficial to our to our community but we don't have the space or a process or even an intentionality to create an opportunity to recover food that is not being utilized that we could pass on to others so I'm very hopeful that this will help us to think a little bit bigger when it comes to our food options thank you miss Cohen just building an empire here to sell compost in the

[02:17:37] spring from the schools yes I just want to say that this is awesome and I think this is part and parcel of conversations that we've even had about expanding kitchen capabilities at some of our alternative schools and centers which have definitely been not utilized at all and do you know just one point to what Miss Marin said about the supply chain shortage I was just reading this article about a month or so ago that talked about that the school systems that had more fresh resources did not suffer from the same supply chain

[02:18:15] shortage issues. And the rub is that those are not going anywhere anytime soon. So I saw the other day, I went to Giant, there's none eggs. So, you know, I think you see that we go in these waves where everybody's trying to buy milk or eggs or an eggs are $8 and something, you know, a carton.

[02:18:34] So I think if we can create in this huge system something that's a little bit more self-sustaining and gives our kids opportunities, as Dr. Anderson alluded to, the number of schools that are doing these outstanding gardening programs and getting their kids involved.

[02:18:50] We went to Centerville Elementary School a couple of weeks ago, and they've incorporated this whole system where kids have all of these responsibilities and eggs, yeah, and, you know, they have chickens, yeah. I'm not sure which came first.

[02:19:07] they sorry um but it is all you think of all the science units that can be done around it you know it is just amazing to watch how some of our schools here have incorporated all of this and if we can benefit them by saying hey we'd like to use your lettuce this week um i just i think it would be incredibly cool so thank you so much for doing this miss maron and dr anderson uh something I'm really excited to support thank you miss Corbett Sanders yes thank you just

[02:19:40] a question about this motion because I do support it in concept my question though is a lot of what we're talking about some of it goes into the ed spec some of it goes into our scholastic programming some of it goes into you know How do we address some issues as far as what are the food services and a revision of our food services programs to have more fresh food?

[02:20:14] So I would ask that this plan, before it's enacted, actually come to a work session with a comprehensive discussion about the peace parts of it so that board members can hear about it, can have some input into it.

[02:20:33] and really expand it beyond just that ed spec piece. It's more of a visioning piece, I think. And I presume that's what you're thinking, right, Ms. Marin, or would you support that?

[02:20:50] Go ahead, Ms. Marin. You know, we worked, yes, and we worked to really tailor this for the CIP, which is so facilities-based. So there were more programmatic pieces that Dr. Anderson and I and others are interested in. So perhaps that could be part of it, but for the CIP we try to stay within those parameters.

[02:21:11] So could I ask Dr. Reed, would you be willing to bring this back to us in a work session to have a more comprehensive discussion about it? Dr. Reed, go ahead. Okay. Yeah, thank you, Ms. Corbett Sanders and Ms. Marin, because I think we've gone back and forth on this follow-on in terms of its direct connection to the CIP, and I agree that a broader visioning around how we talk about our food and nutrition programming is also relevant so I think we can do both both the follow-on mission okay and also the

[02:21:49] interconnectedness the food web almost like right yeah thank you there is a forum topic pending around this food nutrition policy that play goes hand in hand with this fall on motion oh yeah you kind of stole my thunder I was going to talk about that programmatic yeah we've got the forum topic on school nutrition which I think will be a holistic opportunity for us to have a conversation so I think miss Marin for being collaborative on that and giving

[02:22:24] us a chance to have that conversation in a work session and I think this really is specific to the CIP and where I do believe we are going to be ending up so why prolong where we need to be so I will support it thank you thank you miss Tolan thank you I am excited about this motion and just wanted to also point out that we have ed specs for outdoor classroom spaces also at all of our schools that are renovated moving forward and we had the you know state

[02:23:03] money that we're using to put outdoor classroom spaces in our schools that are not near renovation time and those outdoor classroom spaces will include edible gardens so as a number of my colleagues have mentioned it's a great opportunity to couple the work going on in those edible gardens with our salad bars and what's happening in our cafeterias I do know that we're hiring someone new in food and nutrition services shortly and I hope that we will you know find someone that's going to be creative about you know big picture pulling all of this stuff

[02:23:38] together and I do want to say I was at Hutchison Elementary School yesterday that is it's one of our schools with you know 87% free and reduced meals 1,100 kids in the school and so you know it's one of our CEP schools so over 900 kids generally go through that lunch line every day and the salad bar was mobbed I mean they were very organized about having the kids go through but it was taking some time so I'm really hoping that I understand that we're slowly slowly you know getting very methodically the salad bars back

[02:24:15] into our schools but I hope for some of those really large schools maybe they can have two salad bars so just throwing that out there being big anyway appreciate the motion thank you mr. and I Koufax yes thank you um maybe I'll take this opportunity to ask Dr.

[02:24:35] read to talk and as I spoke to Miss Marin two weeks ago when this was here because previous boards have worked on the fresh food initiative but haven't gotten to where we are I know we are currently working with our partners at real food for kids and previous members of the school board Ryan McElveen in particular I know it has been meeting with you and the Real Food for Kids people so if you could just give us an update whatever you want to share

[02:25:11] whatever you're ready to share as far as where you see that because that does contain this facilities piece and what your thoughts are on that. Thank you Ms. Darnak-Kovacs and I really want to thank Lee Burden and Marty Smith as well and Maria Perrone for the work she did prior to transitioning to a new role in human resources and it's true we do have an executive director of food nutrition posted and we're really excited about the opportunities to look at our food and nutrition program having said

[02:25:47] that one of the things we recognize is we have eight central kitchens across the division and the current central kitchen at falls church is being remodeled right now and mr fansha and mr Smith have worked with Ms. Burden and Ms. Perrone and our Real Food for Kids partners to look at equipment that needs to be purchased that would allow us to do scratch cooking within the Falls Church Central Kitchen, which we then can deliver to the schools served by the Falls

[02:26:19] Church Kitchen. And we're looking to provide many fewer processed foods. And we're really excited. We recently did a Zoom video call with Boulder Valley because they're really noted for their fresh food and healthy non-processed food protocols and we're really excited about.

[02:26:42] We spent an hour on that call and we're going to continue to work with them to really be thoughtful about healthy food. because when we talk about mental health, really a healthy diet, rest, activity, all those things contribute to mentally healthy, ready-to-learn young people, and it's really important, as well as our food choices. We know we've had significant interest in halal food offerings and wanting to make sure that we're able to find stable resources for purchase so that our supply chain can stay

[02:27:19] current so we're working with community partners as well in that arena so just really excited for the direction of where our food is headed um at this time so thank you and thank you for working with them again and reaching out to them because it was something that was had a real momentum stagnated for a while so thank you for picking that ball back up and i will support this thank you and i will say as someone who's not yet met miss p and miss carrot but i'm hoping to meet them on Monday. I am very, very excited about this. There's also Mr. Broccoli. I didn't mean to

[02:27:56] leave out Mr. Broccoli. I'm so sorry to Mr. Broccoli. Broccoli's been popular. I will say broccoli and carrots are probably more my favorite than peas, but I don't want to insult Ms. P. But I wanted to say that I think I really appreciate the conversation around that Ms. Corbett Sanders raised and Ms. Bukarski and Ms. Marin around how do we have holistic conversations around some of these topics that include our ed specs or include our renovations that also include our policy and I think this is maybe a great way to put a little plug-in for policy governance that I know Ms. Merrin and I have talked about and others on the board have talked about where we have our operational expectations that you would regularly report to the board on and one of them

[02:28:33] could be around you know food nutrition or student wellness and this could be part of what you report on so I look forward we have a a bit of a time set aside in a work session coming up to sort of start digging into policy governance I know the idea was to finish our strategic plan and then really dig into that work from there to build out from the plan but just a little plug that I think that would give us a I think you called it a steady cadence for really hearing about these big-picture issues so with that I very much support this idea and this motion I thank you Dr. Anderson and Ms.

[02:29:04] Marin for bringing this forward and I will call for a vote the motion before us is on the screen all those in favor please raise your hand that is Ms. Bukarsky Ms. Cohen Mr. Frisch Dr. Anderson Mr. Koufax Ms. Corbett Sanders Ms. Tolan Ms. Omeish Ms. Marin Ms. Keyes-Gamara and myself that motion passes with Ms. McLaughlin away from the table I will call on Ms. Daronak Koufax for a motion thank you madam chair I move to direct the superintendent to bring a plan for performing arts warehouse to be used to catalog and share sets props

[02:29:40] costumes equipment instruments and other related items I will second this motion. Thank you. Ms. Jarenette Koufax would you like to speak to your motion. Yes I would. For years now members of this school board and previous boards have been working to find a performance art warehouse. This is needed to provide more equitable experiences for our students and for promoting stewardship of the environment. Many of our schools produce the same show titles each year with rights and royalties, costumes, sets, props, theatrical equipment. Schools and programs are sometimes spending between $5,000 and $30,000

[02:30:18] to produce these shows primarily using their own generated funds through ticket sales and booster and PTA fundraising efforts but due to limited space storage in our schools after a production is complete set pieces props and costumes are often discarded as there's simply not enough room to host them these are valuable resources that could be catalog stored and shared among schools, saving on human and fiscal resources, as well as promoting more equitable experiences for students and promoting stewardship of the environment.

[02:30:54] Staff has previously estimated that this system of sharing, storing, and reusing could save FCPS up to $300,000 each and every year. I want to give a special thanks to our FCPS Theater Arts and Dance Education Specialist, Ms. Tara Taylor, who has been educating both board members and staff for years about this outstanding need. In addition Ms. Sizemore Heiser and I have talked to Mr. Fanshawe and Dr. Reed about this long-standing issue and they have shared their support in providing us with the plan and we look forward colleagues to your support on this initiative. Thank you and I will just

[02:31:32] speak briefly as well because I think you covered it very well but this is a long-standing initiative that is both an issue that promotes equity and is fiscally responsible as it saves as Ms. Janet Colfax say approximately three hundred thousand dollars a year but it really it to me is also equally important that it's it's the most equity it costs you know some schools spend fifteen thousand to thirty thousand dollars on building a set in costumes while others have five to ten thousand dollars many of the schools you know in different years perform the same musicals and plays and it would be very beneficial to

[02:32:08] schools to be able to share the sets the costumes the props it would help equalize where some schools have many more resources through booster funding to build more elaborate sets and costumes than other schools may have so it really helps equalize that this don't only has an impact on the quality the production the students can perform but also on their ability to perform in what what I would call their Super Bowls and their championship games VHSL competitions the Cappies Awards it does make a difference in the overall look of the production when you have our student critics come in to criticize they talk about the production the lighting the sets all of those pieces so it helps

[02:32:47] equalize that field so more of our students can be able to be nominated and succeed in their Super Bowls and their competitions the VHSL competitions the Cappies Awards and so I really do thank Miss Tara Taylor who spent I think a year talking to us about this and the equity is going to bring in many years before that with my colleague Mr. Koufax and others on the board as well but and it's also I will say very environmentally friendly because instead of throwing away some of these sets we are storing them cataloging them and reusing them in a way that you know promotes environmental

[02:33:21] stewardship as well so I'm very excited to second this motion I see Ms. Omesh go ahead Ms. Omesh thank you so much and I appreciate you all taking the initiative and bringing the idea. I guess I didn't necessarily have the opportunity, I guess it wasn't posted last time, so I'm just wanting to hear a little bit from staff maybe, just as background. I know we received an email like two days ago, I think, on this. I think it's still a worthwhile effort to learn more about, so I just want to hear a little bit from staff about what it's going to require

[02:33:59] so that I'm informed. Yeah, thank you, Ms. Omish. I know that Mr. Fanshawe and I have discussed this topic, and we reviewed a plan, it was actually a three-year plan, I believe, put together in 2015 to do the very same thing we're discussing, and I think sometimes things get stalled because there are competing priorities, but one of the things that I think we need to be thoughtful about is we may not be able to find the perfect place right away, but we can look at where could we begin the storage of some of the sets and costumes

[02:34:36] and so forth so mr. Fanshawe and I we support this and believe that it's an important equitable access move because even just my you know my kind of moving around the division watching different shows we have so many talented young people across the board but really differentiated access to what I would consider sets that are built or props costumes that type of thing and I think it will really provide an opportunity to save resources that could be otherwise allocated and I believe that we think that we can at least put some stake in

[02:35:15] the ground on this as we plan forward so I think I think it's the right thing to do excellent well thank you both for catching that in that case and I look forward to you know hopefully things don't have to wait for a board motion to happen if they were waiting from 2015 but I'm grateful that they were brought to the floor thank you miss Amesh miss Keith Camara yes I appreciate this I read it this morning didn't have an opportunity to discuss it so and I appreciate the idea of sharing our resources I think it's an excellent

[02:35:50] idea i'm i guess i'm wondering if the board will hear anything in follow-up to this i i i appreciate i believe that this is a request for a plan um i know in terms of things being equitable oftentimes there are things like location um that may come into play whether transportation is available those sorts of things so is there is there a place for the board to kind of hear what your

[02:36:23] best thinking is in response to this and how this might work as a follow-up I would expect that again this is sort of my first experience with follow-on motions but my understanding is that we collect those follow-on motions and then it's an expectation that you hear back about what happens with those follow-on motions so I would expect that we're going to continue to do that work and at such point that the board would expect the response I would be responsive to that so I'm happy to provide an update ideally we would review things like this annually

[02:37:01] and kind of at a calendar time so that we know that this is the month we're going to review that give staff a target as well to make sure as they are thoughtful about their work but absolutely i mean i hope we do more than just a plan i hope we actually begin the implementation of this oh absolutely i'm i'm not objecting to anything i i just think in terms of i'm not quite sure where the need would be um and whether the locations where that are available would be close to the need you know i just kind of feel like uh go ahead mr yeah if you don't mind i think what

[02:37:41] we're looking for and and we will I think staff can blue sky this better than I'm going to explain this now but what happens is after these productions are done and they spend hours and monies there's no place to store them at the school so what we want is we want a storage place maybe several places where these pieces can go in bulk in parcel saving the woods saving the Costumes, saving, all those things that we mentioned.

[02:38:12] Because right now, you know, my daughter was involved. I'll just give you personal. I tried to give costumes to people, you know, because she's done with her dance. And they're like, we don't have a place to put them. We don't have anything. So we are just looking for the very beginnings of this.

[02:38:30] And hopefully in the plan, it will talk about how, you know, we can have transportation assistance to bring this to and from. So I know they'll do better than I just explained, but there is a real need there because basically we're just trashing a lot of stuff or we're remining it every year.

[02:38:49] Oh, I'm not doubting that at all. I'm sure it is. And I'm hoping that there will possibly be like an online catalog of what is available so that people can just, they may even decide what show they're going to do depending on what they can get access to.

[02:39:08] But hopefully there will be an online component. I fully support it. I just hadn't had a chance to discuss it at all. And, you know, I'm hoping that we consider those things like location where we may have schools that have a higher FRM and that sort of thing that may determine where the need could be.

[02:39:29] So just look forward to hearing a follow-up and throw those things out as a consideration. I think the other, thank you, Ms. Keys-Gamara, we're also thinking like marching band often has large pieces that really other marching bands might be able to use and so forth. I love the idea of the online sort of library because I think that's important. I also want to share that Saturday night at Robinson, I met a couple that came to the show and had helped produce the sets, even though their children had graduated because they loved doing that. And I started talking about this idea and I don't know if they were formal boosters right

[02:40:08] theater boosters but they're really excited about helping so I think we have also a number of volunteers in the community that when organized would really you know be excited about the resource reallocation I guess for lack of a better term it's just about sort of convening those groups and boosters so I appreciate thinking about that so you just when you said that it I thought of grand involved and those types of organizations that you know they may there may be a group of people who don't necessarily want to go in the classroom but they're really good at logistics

[02:40:44] I'm thinking military for some reason but at any rate I think we have lots of resources when within this community that could help and I just wanted to suggest how we might think it through thank you thank you Ms. Keyes Gamara seeing no one else who wishes to speak I will call for the vote. The motion before us is on the screen. All those in favor, that is Ms. Keats-Gamara, Ms. Marin, Ms. Omesh, Ms. Tolan, Ms. Corbett-Sanders, Ms. Dernot-Koufax, Mr. Frisch, Ms. Cohen, Ms. Bukarski, and myself with Ms. McLaughlin and Dr. Anderson away from the table. That motion

[02:41:21] passes. Agenda Item 4.04, Fiscal Year 2024 Advertised Budget. I will first call on Dr. Reed to share a few remarks. Thank you, Madam Chair. It's my pleasure to speak to the proposed FY 24 advertised budget we believe I just want to thank our staff that have worked so very hard on this budget and it's everybody behind you who's contributed in some way to this budget development with a special thanks to Lee Burden and Alice Woodington and I believe I saw Matthew Norton come in and

[02:41:58] Marty Smith their intrepid chief operating officer this is a solid budget that really supports the excellence equity and opportunity work that we are endeavoring to do and as you know the operating budget totals 3.5 billion which is an increase of 7.6 over the FY 23 approved budget and we believe the needs expressed within the budget our needs that are going to meet the vision mission and goals of our fairfax county public schools i would like to ask lee burden if there's

[02:42:36] anything she would like to say on behalf of the team or any details that she would like to add at this point miss burton um no i don't have anything else to say you covered it all thank you all right thanks miss burton thank you dr reed i will now call on miss tolan for a motion i move that the board adopt the FY 2024 advertised budget as detailed in the agenda item. Is there a second?

[02:43:07] Second. Ms. Bukarski, Ms. Tolan, would you like to speak to your motion? Of course. FY 2024 may be another challenging year due to the impact of the pandemic and limited new revenue, but as the budget committee chair so far, I'm generally pleased with our budget development process for FY24. I'm also thankful for the help of the budget committee's vice chair Stella Pekarski. It has been a pleasure to work together over the past few months. I also want to thank our colleague Karen Corbett-Sanders and Michael Malloy for keeping our budget team abreast of the state budgeting

[02:43:46] process as we move through this work. There's going to be some fun times ahead with that. In October the budget committee conducted a work session to determine school board priorities for the fy24 budget at the work session school board members shared themes for the fy24 budget and based on the work session results we proposed a school board budget resolution identifying these priorities that was unanimous unanimously adopted at the november 14 2022 regular meeting the resolution asked the superintendent to continue focusing on

[02:44:26] a needs-based approach for school staffing as well as concentrating on the school boards to treat strategic budget priorities as follows student academic success and closing achievement and opportunity gaps student health and wellness a long-term approach in hiring and retention of the workforce and ensuring all students have access to best practice education and safe and well-maintained facilities. It should be noted that on Tuesday of this week, the county executive delivered the county's FY24 advertised budgets, and in that

[02:45:02] proposal the superintendent's FY24 proposed budget is "fully funded" in the sense that the county executive funded all recurring costs as identified in Dr. Reed's proposed budget. The retention bonus included in the governor's introduced budget is non-recurring and if that survives the General Assembly deliberations it may be funded with FY23 carryover either with the Board of Supervisors or the School Board. We have a joint meeting next week with the Board of Supervisors to discuss the budget scheduled or to discuss the budget. This

[02:45:42] is scheduled for February 28th. The County Board of Supervisors have just begun their review of the budget with final funding levels determined in early May. We will all be involved in public meetings during this budget process with our Board of Supervisors counterparts. Additionally, the House and Senate budgets were released last week. The two bills vary significantly, and neither proposal provides funds to address the VDOE calculation error. Recall that the calculation error results in a reduction in state revenue to FCPS of $12.7

[02:46:21] million. That was included in the governor's introduced budget for FY24. Further, no hold harmless proposal has been initiated even though the calculation error affects all Virginia school divisions. The Senate and House budgets currently result in a net negative impact to FCPS ranging from $30 million to $39 million, including the loss of the $12.7 million. The General Assembly is continuing their budget deliberations and they are scheduled to adjourn this Saturday but all

[02:46:55] signs are pointing to them not having a final budget by then. A brief recess or a possible special session is likely. So at this point in time we do not know what our state revenue will be. Currently no amendments or follow-ons have been proposed for this budget. I want to encourage my colleagues to read the budget questions that have been submitted to date. Many of them ask for in-depth information about this budget and other topics the final budget approval is scheduled for may 25th 2023 and in closing just a huge thanks to dr reid our budget team that she mentioned

[02:47:33] lee burden alice wingington matthew norton mr smith and they are also colleagues looking into some potential areas we've heard from the public at our budget hearings about athletic trainers um stipends for fine arts teachers salary increases for senior principals and directors and those are things that are being looked at currently under discussion and we'll be talking about that more as we move forward overall it's good news budgets raises for our for our employees

[02:48:10] step increases as well as initiatives that provide needed support to our students thank you everyone thank you Ms. Toland Ms. Bikarski would I speak to your second sure I'm not sure there's much left did such a wonderful job but I will thank Ms. Toland for all her hard work she really has worked hard the last few months and of course our budget team as well and Dr. Reed I appreciate all of the hours that all of you have spent to to setting the priorities for this budget season and I believe

[02:48:45] DR. SUPERINTENDENT REID HAS DONE A GOOD JOB ON HER FIRST BUDGET CYCLE TO ENSURE THAT THESE PRIORITIES WERE MET IN THIS ADVERTISED BUDGET. WE BEGAN THIS CYCLE IN OCTOBER WHEN COLLEAGUES WERE ASKED FOR THEIR INDIVIDUAL PRIORITIES AND WE WERE ABLE TO COME AND DISCUSS THESE IN OUR WORK SESSIONS TO COME TO A CONSENSUS.

[02:49:07] CHAIR TOLAN AND I THEN COMPILED AND COMMUNICATED THE MANY QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS TO STAFF AND Dr. Reed that were asked and shared for their consideration most of these centered around academic success and workforce and staff issues the comments that could become budget questions were summarized and submitted as such from the budget committee so please be aware that staff will be working diligently in the coming months to gather this information that was requested by the board and have it for our consideration I hope my colleagues tonight

[02:49:41] will vote to support this advertised budget that's focused on student academic success health and wellness competitive compensation and retention of our teachers and workforce and safety and security I look forward to what will certainly be a continued busy budget season thank you thank you Ms. Kiesgaura Ms. Marin yes I'll start up from from the top so it's disappointing that the state um doesn't have these numbers for us because you know we're trying to do our job and and we can't do our job if the people higher up the chain don't do their job.

[02:50:20] So, you know, politics is tough, right, to compromise, but we need a budget. And last year, the governor also did not deliver a budget on time, and it delayed us again. This is a bad pattern. We cannot effectively govern our schools and do our job if we don't have our budgets, and our staff is, you know, class A, super doing everything they can, and we just get stuck in the mud.

[02:50:42] So that is really disappointing. Also disappointing is that the state is not covering the loss that was mistakenly, it's a mistake on them. We do lots to prevent losses on us, but it would really be nice to have that state leadership in rectifying that mistake.

[02:50:58] So in another category, another one in the category of working together, I'm really pleased that the county has risen to this level of support. It's no secret that everything seems to cost more money and people need more support. So I'm just really pleased that this is the starting point. So thank you to our chair and vice chair and to the superintendent and the county executive and the supervisors for coming out with a budget that says that they support our public schools.

[02:51:23] Dr. Reed, I did have one question that I'd appreciate you addressing at the end of my speaking, which is about interventionists. I've been hearing from staff that all these people that we employed, that schools chose to employ with the ESSER funds that are, of course, going to have to have an off-ramp.

[02:51:40] What do we do? Because that work is not done, right? we know the kids just can't say okay like that's it you've done you've reached your maximum this is ongoing so I'd like to hear how we're going to off-ramp from ESSER I'd like to hear a little bit more about that and then finally about music stipends you know our teachers stood here in our last meeting and they've since sent data this data is astounding I mean we all know that teachers work work extra every teacher works extra so just in in Hunter Mill the overages of hours of high schools where I either represent the student or even the band staff, one of the band directors is

[02:52:12] a friend of mine, the overage of hours ranges from 385 hours, which is 48 eight-hour days. So about a month and a half that our bands have at the lowest and at the highest over 700 hours. That's 87 and a half days. That's almost three months of work in addition to their daytime. So it's such a shame that this was not this right sizing of stipends was not realized sooner but I think it's an opportunity to talk about how we compensate these staff who is part of their job there I mean tonight we had a teacher up here with her

[02:52:52] students singing you know this is part of their curriculum and what they do so I'm I know dr. Reed you've been very receptive and many of us on the board have been troubled by this so if you could please speak to that question about the intervention is an offering the ESSER funds and then also what we're doing for our music stipends to keep performing arts and keep our very amazing staff here in Fairfax. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Marin. I think the off-ramp of ESSER positions is challenging, not just for our interventionists, but other positions. I know one of the things that we really worked hard to do was not hire positions with those funds because we knew that at some

[02:53:30] point those funds wouldn't be there and we may not be able to accommodate further budgets. So So there are going to be choices, I think, that we'll need to make moving forward in terms of comparative decisions around which positions we're going to be able to continue funding and which not.

[02:53:48] So in terms of the intervention, specifically, we do know that our ESSER dollars, I believe, will still run through next year. It's the fall of '24 that they're completed. I'm just doing a double check, fall of '24. for next year one of the things that we're really going to need to be attentive to is what I try to call our ROI a return on investment on a number of positions in terms of their impact in terms of the student experience right and our strategic plan I think is going to make things much clearer as we look at key goals and then measurements and as we look at how we're able to meet

[02:54:28] those measurements and meet those goals I think the types of positions we're going to be able to fund moving forward and then maybe more challenging budget cycle is going to require a lot of conversation but I believe for next year the Esther dollars will remain intact as far as the stipends I think you're correct a having had an opportunity to meet with Tara and also to hear from a number of you on the board and staff we recognize the inequities currently that exist around our fine and performing arts stipends and it is our intent to

[02:55:02] look at a phase in or a roll-in plan to make whole those stipends because we really do value those that work and we know that learning happens both inside and outside the classroom and that our fine and performing arts are core to our educational mission here in Fairfax County so we are going to be able to as is told and shared we're gonna be providing more details to you about what that looks like in the next several weeks as we approach May but we are we do have I think a pretty concrete plan to address that and I appreciate you

[02:55:39] bringing both topics up well thank you and I think the challenge is that you know it is such a large school division and people want to see something happen and it's just it takes time and it's hard to to voice that to people who you know they we want because we want to give them I know everyone here wants to give them more and I will put another request into for our guitar teachers who currently have no stipend so I know you had that as part of your review well that's correct and I know dance as well one of the things these fall under the category really of retention of our staff and I think that as we look at how we're allocating the retention funds that we've set aside I think there's

[02:56:19] space clearly for this uh this work and it's necessary i think you've all been pretty clear about that with me thank you miss maron miss omesh yeah thank you so much um dr reed i guess uh you know when i was having some conversations with ms tolan about this i should start by saying i am grateful for the back and forth conversations i think it is a big win where we are with the board of supervisors and where things are headed um while being mindful of where the state you know you know, where we are with the state, and unfortunately, the lack of support there.

[02:56:57] But I did want to just name, I guess, you know, through our work sessions and the discussion, there was some conversation around how we might prioritize, at least my advocacy, was trying to be a little bit less arbitrary with what we choose to prioritize this time around, given that we don't have a strategic plan. I can't speak up for every cause out there that I'm not even aware is being neglected, but I'm worried that that is likely the case in a lot of areas. And one that immediately comes to my mind is language and translation, which we're $98

[02:57:29] million short of the need that was estimated by staff when Dr. Braebrand was here last cycle. So I just, I think I hesitate with where we are in that it hasn't changed. I know that there are things people are raising for your consideration, I'm hopeful that those will reflect themselves in the future when we have the opportunity to work on this again.

[02:57:56] But yeah, I want to name that because I don't feel in good faith that I believe all of these to be the priorities of where we are because I don't know that we've properly assessed the needs to allocate urgency fairly. I think that's always where I'm finding tension.

[02:58:14] So I'm very grateful for us prioritizing staff. That's an obvious area of urgency, I think, for our division. We've talked a lot about that. But perhaps for other pieces, I don't know. But I'm grateful for the work, and I know that all of these things are important.

[02:58:32] I just don't know where to put them in my fairness picture. But thank you so much. So Ms. Omish, the language translation, I do want to share that we are looking at also some technology supports for that in ways that hopefully we can do it more efficiently at less cost but it's not a topic that we're leaving unresolved so I do want you to know that that is a high priority at this point as well. Thank you. Mr. Frisch? Thank you. Echo the concerns about the state budget

[02:59:07] Ms. Marin it'd be great to know what we're getting and I hopefully they lean a little bit more towards the Senate's more robust support for public education. I'm also my I continue to be concerned about the governor's lack of leadership in addressing his nearly $13 million math error for our school system and far larger percentages of other school systems budgets so I'm quite hopeful that our legislators can rise to the challenge that's been abdicated and solve that problem for us and for public education and public

[02:59:46] schools across the Commonwealth. Superintendent Reed can you tell us a little bit more about the 15 million dollars for our literacy uh program yes thank you mr frisch uh one of the key priorities honestly as i've entered the division is our early literacy work the implementation of our science of reading and we know that in costing out materials professional development a robust and i think um at scale uh rollout that that's actually um i think a

[03:00:21] conservative number for cost in terms of what we're going to be able to purchase for that amount but the state is in the process of selecting a list of available materials. You got exactly where I wanted you to go. I knew I did I walked right into that but as soon as the state comes out with their material list which we had hoped actually to see a year ago is my understanding then we're going to able to have a process to select and those dollars are a set-aside for us to begin our foray into that experience and professional development is going to be a key to that effectiveness. And of course our friends in instructional

[03:01:00] services have been filling the void of the lack of approved materials from the Commonwealth with materials for our educators as well as the professional development. Yes sir. So hopefully our friends at the Virginia Department of of education will finish that work and we will be able to invest these funds I know that we've been waiting for quite a while so looking forward to that finally I'm excited to see the 3.2 million dollar investment in our year two jet joint environmental task force goals when we started when this board started in 2020 we could confidently say that the facilities and

[03:01:39] transportation departments energy efficiency work was saving us eight million dollars a year that could go back into classrooms and today as we sit here that figure is nine million dollars so we're making progress and these that's what these investments are about yes the wonderful side benefit is that they are good for our planet and for our public health but they are also good for the taxpayers and for the school system which is always looking for ways to invest in our students and their success. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Frisch.

[03:02:16] I will just say a few brief words. I appreciate both Miss Marin and Miss Amesh lifting up some long-standing needs and I appreciate Dr. Reed's statement that there's there's room in our budget for and there's many priorities reflecting and I also want to lift up what my colleagues have said about our real need for the for the state to address the math error as well as I hope we get the literacy information soon so that way we can move on with our own literacy programming but I did I'd be remiss if I didn't have a chance to say thank you to you Dr. Reed to Miss Burden and Alice Williamson and

[03:02:53] our staff too and especially to our budget chair Miss Tolan and our budget vice-chair Miss Bikarski for all of your hard work in getting us to this point and I do also want to thank our Board of Supervisors for as Miss Marin said showing their strong support for Fairfax County Public Schools in their system so I'm very grateful to their support as well as they are fully funding our recurring costs and that is very exciting and very appreciated and I just want to say for someone who's been talking about these stipends I think since your day one dr. Reed I think I gave you the whole packet of stuff I think on day one and knowing what some of our surrounding jurisdictions are

[03:03:29] doing for our performing arts teachers it is a retention issue because I know know Loudon has multiple layers of stipends for different for a music director for a technical theater director and we have one that I think doesn't come close so I'm really excited about that and thank you for lifting up guitar as someone whose kid was in guitar for seven years it is really important and I'll just say you know as our performing arts programs are rebuilding coming out of COVID a lot of our teachers are working even extra to do recruitment and pyramid concerts like you mentioned the strings Palooza and that is on top of their regular shows that they do I know at Lake Braddock I see the theater teacher

[03:04:09] there I think every day until 5:00 or 6:00 running some rehearsal or the other so thank you for addressing that and thank you to our colleagues on the budget committee to our staff for working so hard and to our board of supervisors Dr. Reed you had your light on did you want to speak to that right I I would be remiss if I didn't thank Miss Tolan and Miss Patarski as well they've been fabulous to work with and um chief executive brian hill has been a tremendous asset to me in my first year walking through the budget process and he's been extraordinarily thoughtful in

[03:04:45] teachings and teaching and guiding and really providing thoughtful feedback so uh thank you chief executive hill um i really appreciate it so thanks awesome thank you and with that I see no other lights are up so I will call for the vote I will call for the vote for the motion which is on the screen before us all those in favor please raise your hands Ms. Bukarski Ms. Cohen Mr. Frisch Dr. Anderson Mr. Koufax Ms. Corbett Sanders Ms. Tolan Ms. Marin and Ms. Keys Gamara all those opposed all those abstaining Ms. Omeish that motion passes

[03:05:25] with Ms. McLaughlin away from the table congratulations to our budget chair and vice chair agenda item and congratulations to our budget staff I would remiss thank you Ms. Byrd Ms. Winnington thank you agenda item five consent agenda are adopted rules of parliamentary procedure Roberts rules provide for a consent agenda listing several items for approval by the board by a single motion many items listed have gone through board review and documentation has been provided to all board members and the public in advance items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board member prior to the meeting the consent agenda items are on

[03:06:03] the screen is there any objection to approving the consent agenda hearing and seeing no objection the consent agenda is approved agenda item six new business the following are new business agenda items there will not be a vote on these items this evening but action is scheduled at a future meeting the new business items are on the screen agenda item seven board committee reports i call on miss keys gamara for a comprehensive planning development committee update and then miss tollen for a report from the skipped committee miss corbett sanders for governance committee update and ms cohen for an audit committee update miss keith camara thank you uh the cpdc met on january

[03:06:43] 30th 2023 we were pleased to welcome new member dr carolyn pitches to the committee who will now represent fairfax city school the fairfax city school district on the committee and i'd also like to thank miss toby sorison for her long time service on the committee we will miss her she was extremely knowledgeable and always had insightful comments for us we've been working on ensuring community engagement on cip projects and other rhythm renovations the committee along with fpac chair katie herman continued its

[03:07:20] we all continued our robust conversation and review of protocol to ensure proper community notification and public engagement concerning capital improvement projects both the facilities team and the Office of Communications and Community Relations played a critical role in preparing a revised document for the committee to review and discuss.

[03:07:41] We'd like to thank Chuck Fanshawe and Helen Lloyd for their participation and provision of information for review. Next steps, we look forward to reviewing a more concise description or graphic that clearly articulates and depicts who in the community should be notified about upcoming capital improvement projects and when they should be notified and the how and what of opportunities they will have for input and engagement in the process the committee looks forward to bringing a draft forward for board review and discussion soon we also had an opportunity to discuss Kent Gardens

[03:08:19] elementary school miss Elaine Toland helped us to understand the issues that she's been dealing with and we've been utilizing both FPAC and CPDC to work with Ms. Toland to try to make sure that we can support her in her efforts. We heard those issues and concerns raised clearly and multiple times during the CIP public hearing in January.

[03:08:42] We want the community to know that we are not just monitoring the situation, but are actively working with staff to determine what solutions can be applied to address the concerns we've heard from the community. And I'd also like to thank Ms. Toland for inviting me to tour Kent Gardens to to see the problems that they are dealing with firsthand.

[03:09:02] Thank you. - Thank you, Ms. Keyes-Gamara. Ms. Tolan for a report on SCIPT. - Yes, so the SCIPT Committee met on February 1st. I want to give a shout out to Dr. Sloan Presidio for participating in the presentation that was given that day on the Opportunity Youth Program.

[03:09:24] I'll run through a few things on this, but Dr. Presidio, if I missed anything, please jump in. At that meeting at the beginning of February, the opportunity youth people talked about the plan that they have.

[03:09:40] They're developing an action plan to engage educators, businesses, government, and nonprofits and involve youth and young adults to align resources and initiatives to create an education to career system that better connects Fairfax youth ages 14 to 24 who are currently not in school.

[03:10:02] school, or working, trying to connect them to in-demand careers. There are five goals in the report that they presented at the beginning of this month. Establishing clear and consolidated ownership and accountability for a collaborative network of organizations and programs to support these opportunity youth. Lower high school dropout rates and improvement in on-time graduation rates.

[03:10:29] To provide consistent regional re-engagement outreach and navigation support to help opportunity youth access quality programs and services. Increase local capacity in high-quality, low-barrier, and high-impact career development programs and services for opportunity youth.

[03:10:52] Increase business engagement to help develop untapped youth talent into reliable sources of skilled workers. fairfax futures is recommended as the coordinating organization and a definition of their role will be coming as a group skipped unanimously approved this plan in addition at the same meeting we had a report on progress toward having the county work with the national organization my brother's keeper skipped also approved moving forward with this work myself and miss mclaughlin serve on this

[03:11:30] committee and we are currently working with the board chair to get a work session um colleagues on skipped work and topics for the whole school board so that we can give everyone more specific information on all of the skip topics thank you thank you miss tolin miss corbett sanders yes thank you madam chair the governance committee met uh last week and then this week had a work session and so it was a very busy month our work our committee meeting really

[03:12:04] focused on preparing for the work session which included reviewing the electronic signatures policy which is now scheduled for action two weeks from now the remote participation policy for school board members to be able to participate remotely in meetings and that too is on the agenda in two weeks for action The school board member professional standards policy, which after our discussion on Tuesday, we'll go back to the governance committee with some additional work.

[03:12:39] The recognitions and resolutions policy also discussed in depth on Tuesday and we'll go back to governance for additional work. We also talked about the way that going forward, we suggest setting priorities for the governance committee on an annual basis.

[03:12:58] Once the new governance chair is selected, they will work with the superintendent to establish two categories per year where all of the policies within those categories will be reviewed. We also talked about the need to make some changes to our governance manual, and we will continue working on that.

[03:13:19] Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Corbett-Sanders. Ms. Cohen? Thank you. audit team took some names and kicked some butt this week. We did the internal audit status update. We looked at what recommended follow-ups were there. We looked at the succession planning and leadership development audit report. And we looked at a few of the schools that have been part of the business process audit summary. And then last but not least, we were able to send policy 5410 back to governance and we'll do it all again next month that was an awesome summary

[03:13:57] thank you agenda item 8 board matters not that the rest weren't awesome also agenda item 8 board matters next on the agenda is board matters and I call for some is keys tomorrow thank you as you know we didn't have board matters last time and some things I can't help but share so hopefully I won't sound like an auctioneer um i was happy to join at the end of jan in january the making us visible bringing asian american history to k-12 schools uh that event was so much fun i love the books with all

[03:14:36] of the diverse characters and um it just warms my heart i had an opportunity to go to a few graduations both bryant and mountain view graduation which of course is a celebration that we all get to have together with our families and our students and got some really good pictures as well i was happy to see some of my colleagues at those events um had went i've gone to i think i'm up to five strategic plan um events which are always good because i get another chance to review

[03:15:10] the data so that's awesome um let's see i attended the langley pyramid rise against hunger uh service event um and um it's always fun to see the community come together and let's see i think i've covered this page um oh and i also had an opportunity to go to a pta the fairfax fcp pta one of my favorite for this month that was last month was the fabsy let the little light shine showing at Lewis High School oh my gosh just brought tears to my eyes about how

[03:15:49] students rose up to really fight for their schools and it was student-led and it just it's very educational to understand how a community reacts to change and so I I understand that it's available on PBS I didn't see it there I I saw it at Lewis High School very worthwhile to participate to get an opportunity to watch that I think it's I think it's an education for all and I've asked I would like for our board to watch that movie actually I'm also I'll

[03:16:28] try to wrap this up I don't want the bell to ring Dr. Anderson and I had an opportunity to participate in a panel on the state of black education with us a buyer congressman buyer am i saying it correctly lauren okay congressman buyer um at any rate what a robust conversation i i was uh we were there with um the president of uh george mason um a representative from Nova some a representative from the Black Parents Association with Arlington our community really cares about this issue guys and they care

[03:17:08] about our school board so I just I wanted to make sure I mentioned that because people are paying attention and then lastly I will say last night there was a virtual meeting on teen drug abuse with representatives from all over the region talking about what they are doing within our schools and one thing they emphasize and I'll stop was the importance of having social and emotional supports available as our students to assist them in making better decisions this is a real crisis and I know that our board is concerned about

[03:17:44] this but it was sobering to hear the information they had to offer so thank you and I hope everyone has a good weekend thank you miss Marin yes the last few weeks we've had a number of safety issues I think happened in the school division and one of them was close to home for me and the conversations have been interesting you know parents trying to figure out you know should I send my kid to school what should I do what can I do what is the school doing and I've been reiterating that the schools are doing everything

[03:18:17] that we can to prevent violence to prevent bullying I know there's more that can be done in some places, but what I've really realized is that it's up to the adults to do what the schools can't, which is, of course, you know, be with children outside of school hours, and, you know, it really broke my heart hearing about some of the things that happen across the school division, and, you know, I'm trying to share with people, I think, these one-on-one conversations, really small conversations, is what it's going to take to face each other in a respectful way and figure out how to live together so that our children can see that being

[03:18:55] modeled so I thank staff for all that you've done to put safety first for our children and our staff and I just want to keep doing more to help your job be more focused on academic instruction I do see we have we had educators here tonight I know collective bargaining is on the agenda coming up I continue to support bringing that resolution to the table and bringing forth what was worked on by those involved last year. I had a nice time the last few days talking about climate change activism and work in the Madison Pyramid. I met with the Madison student Mad Climate Club when they were trying to calculate their carbon

[03:19:34] footprint and we ended up talking about once again how you know they're meeting after school to talk about these issues and they really want to explore them during the school day and they're not finding that their science classes really are getting to the heart of climate change instruction and certainly helping them figure out the jobs that they're going to need to help combat this so I hope Dr. Reed we can do more to incorporate that and then similarly the Madison Robotics Club these students spent you know I said 20 hours a week in this club and certainly we could incorporate that and in fact in some places robotics is a course that students take so but those students were generous in attending the Marshall Road Elementary School science share which is

[03:20:13] kind of a low-pressure way to just have kids come and do kid created science projects and share and it was really fun and that is such a cool community they're doing a lot with composting when teacher talked to me with worms in her hand i'm like yes that's what it's about so and finally basketball season continues in earnest south lakes one tonight hot off my my phone for my husband says 71 to 59 so they will advance tomorrow postseason to the next round and it is hard to keep up with all the basketball challenges happening among the elementary schools between the middle schools kilmer and thoreau but um i plan to attend as many as as I can with my son asking me for concessions everywhere we go to get candy and soda so support

[03:20:52] in those booster clubs all right good night thank you Ms. Amesh thanks I was thrilled just today actually before this board meeting to join a bunch of young students or middle schoolers at Glasgow Dr. Anderson's school to talk to them a little bit about what it's like to be on the school board what it means to advocate to the school board and what their role in that can be I also wanted to to celebrate we didn't have the chance to do this last time because we cut off board matters but how amazing is it that we had a gold medal Olympic winner from our high school Marshall Ilya Malinin yeah that's incredible and and

[03:21:30] just really it's a testament to the kind of encouragement inspiration that kids can get from our schools and communities on a perhaps less exciting note I do want to make sure along those lines and supporting sports and and what our young people find their successes in. Dr. Reid, I know we heard from a number of our young people today, our students, about potentially recognizing volleyball as a boys' sport in our high schools, VHSL and whatnot. So it seems like something to look into, perhaps. And I know you're a huge supporter of athletics and how that impacts mental health and student engagement. So I have

[03:22:07] no doubt that that's a common interest. So I'd love for us to look into that. There's also a lot of history in February, you know, a number of community members reached out to me just a few days ago was Japanese Day of Remembrance, something for us to certainly reflect on as we learn our history and think about it. The days when, you know, Iwo Jima unfortunately happened and set a record for really what, I hate to say, human evil is capable of. And so that's something just to remember, especially actually in advance of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is coming up, and just so many moments for us to think about what human beings are capable of

[03:22:44] and how we can turn the tide and turn the trajectory to make sure that we're building better for the next generation. Especially, I think, in light of even the... Today is the anniversary of the Arbery murder three years ago of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, and just being thoughtful about kind of what's going on, and especially in light of, you know, I was really reflective.

[03:23:09] There's a lot of this advocacy around where the next FBI headquarters is going to be and the board of supervisors advocating for it to be in Fairfax and whatnot. But it really pushes me to think about how people's experiences with law enforcement, with the surveillance state are just different and what it means to be an inclusive community, especially in light of just the recent Washington Post article this week about how Malcolm X's family is suing the CIA and FBI for wrongful death for $100 million in damages.

[03:23:39] So just thinking of the different paths people walk in the same community and what it means to shape a narrative of us, not just of some, I think is really warranted. On a different note, I know a number of our families are just recognized Ash Wednesday, some of whom are amongst our own staff.

[03:24:00] So hoping they had a blessed experience, and I do hear the time. But with that, have a good night, everybody. Thank you, Ms. Samesh. Ms. Tolan? Thank you. So I do want to just start talking about a couple of things that weigh very heavily on me.

[03:24:20] We've discussed this already this evening, traffic and bus safety. We heard Ms. Miller talk earlier this evening about the car that passed a stop school bus just in this past week. And we escaped a near tragedy. Please, to everyone, everyone in the community, please drive safely near our buses, near our schools, in our kiss and ride lines, et cetera.

[03:24:44] The lives of our students and family members are just too precious to risk, so please slow down. As Ms. Kees-Gamara mentioned, substance abuse is at a crisis level here in Fairfax County.

[03:25:00] We did have pyramid-by-pyramid meetings with our substance abuse specialists and county counterparts, and the discussions need to continue as we deal with this as a whole community across the entire county.

[03:25:16] So looking forward to being part of those discussions and part of some of those solutions. You know, our skipped behavioral health group talks about this as well. And so I'll look forward to having more in-depth conversations with the board in our work sessions.

[03:25:33] On a lighter note, congratulations to some outstanding Drainesville teachers from Region 1, 2, and 5. Region 1 Outstanding Elementary School teacher is Maureen Mair, an ESOL teacher at Hutchison Elementary School.

[03:25:51] Region 1 Outstanding Professional Employee is Tara Dutton, a reading teacher at Forestville Elementary School. The Region 2 Outstanding School-Based Professional Employee is Sarah Español, a speech-language pathologist at Marshall High School.

[03:26:08] And the Region 5 Outstanding Elementary School teacher is Kristen Sigley, a fourth-grade teacher at Coates Elementary School. I've had the pleasure of shadowing students recently at Langley High School, Herndon High School, and at TJ, and we'll be doing that in a week or so at McLean High School, and we'll write up what I've learned attending those high schools with the students once I finish my trip to McLean.

[03:26:42] I do have to point out one of the most fun things that I was able to do is watch the Namaste Club dancers at TJ as they prepare for International Night. That club has, I can't even imagine how many, a couple of hundred students, male and female, all preparing these incredible dances, which was really fun to see.

[03:27:08] I was able to see Haycock Elementary School's National History Day presentations and was just blown away by the high quality of those presentations. And I have lots and lots of other things to talk about, but I've heard the bell already. So have a nice evening, everyone.

[03:27:26] Thank you. Ms. Corbett-Sanders. Thank you. And thank you, Ms. Toland, for raising up the opioid crisis that our county and our country is facing. I read a statistic that opioids are the biggest source of death of any category for people under the age of 50.

[03:27:49] And so it is affecting us in dramatic ways, not only our students, but our students' families when somebody in the family is addicted. And so we have to lean into this crisis. We also have to lean into the crises on traffic safety, and I have asked repeatedly, and I will continue to ask, that we modify our driver's ed courses to include more in-depth language and instruction on traffic safety, both pedestrian and speed and buckling up.

[03:28:27] But on a happier note, this weekend, I hope to see my colleague, Ms. Derenak Koufax, because West Potomac will be playing Hayfield in the basketball Aquacuan finals, and that's what the boys will be doing, and the girls will be playing Edison.

[03:28:49] And so both of us share these schools, so it will be fun to see these kids on the court. I also urge people to come out on March 14th to the Mount Vernon estate and have your voices heard about the changes to the history and social studies curriculum for the state of Virginia.

[03:29:15] That is the public hearing for this area of the state. I think there are five separate public hearings. so please have your voices heard I also the following night on March 15th I will be holding a budget town hall with Supervisor Stork and with that good night everybody and thank you for all you do thank you I will start with Miss Cohen I just tricked you thanks very much I wanted to say Miss Burton left but

[03:29:53] we we did have three birthdays this lot in the last week we had Miss Burton Carl and Rachna so happy happy birthday to you guys one year younger I have no doubt thank you to the Rotary Club of Fairfax who hosted me I guess it was last week it could have been three weeks ago I'm not really sure but it was lovely and I so appreciated the robust conversation and really good earnest questions about you know what's actually happening in our schools and so I I appreciated the awesome dialogue that happened we had our Springfield District

[03:30:31] strategic plan community forum as you wrapped up the round one and it was great to see so many people come out appreciated that on a gorgeous night to give up your time and come help us and also was able to get out to Newington Forest Elementary School and Bonnie Bray Elementary School just great visits and so much excitement going on in the classroom uh we we had such a we had such a good time uh the kindergartners taught me a thing or two um also had our pta pto roundtable which had i think

[03:31:08] the largest number of attendance that we've had all year and so really appreciated people coming out and spending their time um to have these conversations and and it was it was great they asked a lot of wonderful questions and the last thing i just wanted to mention is like so many of you I had to go my husband and I to parent night as part of driver's education where you have to get there by 7:00 or they lock the doors you know they won't let anybody else come in late and and the presentation that we were given about you know what the program is and what the expectations for our kids

[03:31:47] was you know very eye-opening there were some pretty graphic videos that they showed about with some people not wearing their seat belt and and they talked excessively extensively about speed and how rattled they were by some of the things that have happened in our community and how they really are doubling down with the kids and each of the instructors shared a personal experience that they had had losing a former student in a high-speed accident

[03:32:20] And so I do just appreciate that as awful as some events have been in our community that our instructors are able to utilize that to try to make our kids understand and help them know that some of these dumb decisions that you make when you're 16, 17, just making sure that they are not life-ending decisions.

[03:32:46] So I really did appreciate Mr. Seuss and Mr. Nieto at Lake Braddock. Thanks for a great, though sobering, night and last one for me. So I really checked that off, done with that. The timing was great.

[03:33:05] Ms. Bukarski? Thank you. I, like Ms. Keese Gamara, had the opportunity to go to the Mountain View graduation. So congratulations to all those students. it's always inspiring for me to attend that graduation and hear their stories and their struggles and what they had to go through to actually graduate I also had the opportunity to go to the Concord District Championship for indoor track so lots of incredible athletes from my schools who just did incredible

[03:33:41] things in all the different races. In general it was actually a very light week for me as the Pekarskis were hit with the norovirus and it did not leave anybody unscathed. So in addition to that I was able to go to the Oak Hill PTA meeting a couple nights ago and I want to thank them for giving me the opportunity to connect over the important issues that we're working on. I know

[03:34:11] next week will be much busier thank you mr frisch thank you uh yesterday i attended the tyson's community alliances launch event with my colleague miss tolan we were joined by supervisors palchick alcorn and faust along with many business leaders and community members in celebration of the new organization there are more than 120 000 employees and 27 000 residents in tyson's it is clear that the growth of this community the one evan and i call home uh won't be slowing down anytime soon

[03:34:51] in order to best serve the needs of this ever evolving community the tyson's community alliance launched to build bridges between residents businesses fairfax county government and fairfax county public schools as the board's magisterial representative for most of this area i'm excited to see the alliance take off and i'm looking forward to seeing how they help shape the future of tyson's speaking of the community this week i also attended mosaic elementary school pta their meeting to discuss road and pedestrian safety issues related to the school's major

[03:35:25] renovation project along with the adjacent blake lane corridor we had great turnout with more than 40 parents present and highly engaged in our conversations about student safety i'd like to thank fairfax county fair fairfax families for safe streets the team at facilities and Transportation Services, our Office of Safety and Security, Supervisor Dahlia Peltrick's office, and Captain Hanson from FCPD for joining us in the discussion. On a final note, I will be rounding out my week tomorrow by attending Woodson High School's International Night and the FCCPTA

[03:36:01] Student Reflections Awards. I'm looking forward to celebrating the achievements of our students with my colleagues tomorrow evening. Have a good night, everyone. Thank you, Dr. Anderson. All right. It has been busy. I want to also talk about some of the visits I've had, but before I get there, I do want to bring up the fact that I appreciated the volleyball advocacy that we saw this evening. In November of 2021, I had the same conversation with Bill Curran and Mark Greenfelder about boys volleyball because there was advocacy there and it wasn't feasible then. And I sent

[03:36:41] them another email for us to take another look because I think it's time for us to turn every stone to make that a possibility for our students I know we all have limitations but let's just get creative there I had the opportunity to visit the two newest principals in Mason District beech tree elementary I visited with principal Clark and also here at Luther Jackson visited with principal Jones and I have to say both of these visits were really wonderful our principals are learning our students they're learning our schools they have their pulse to the needs of the schools and are making changes that are positive

[03:37:20] and really welcomed by the community so I'm very excited to see what these two wonderful educators will bring into our schools and therefore the division on a long-term basis I also had the opportunity this was two weeks ago one of the most exciting things that I've had to do to date at Annadel Terrace Principal Badia invited me to a learning walk where they were observing student engagement obviously this speaks very nearly and dearly to me as a former school principal because I think learning walks is an opportunity to really share what is happening in a school and to really hone in to the

[03:37:58] impact of the professional development that you provide and to really evaluate what is the impact on student achievement and it was wonderful to be able to participate in that discussion not to say that everything was great but everything was a learning opportunity and I think it's just one of most effective ways to move teacher practice and I thank you so much principal Bedia for inviting me to that wonderful event it was very impactful I do want to say congratulations to a couple of folks hopefully I find my page here the region to outstanding elementary teacher miss Christine has

[03:38:34] a from Sleepy Hollow and also the region to outstanding secondary teacher Miss Annie Ray from Annandale High School. Congratulations to both of you and also to Westlawn Elementary School for being presented with the 2022 Award of Communication for Excellence. This award celebrates the creation of excellent websites, newsletter, and social media content that informs and engages its readers. Special recognition though to Miss Alana Dushuk and Cindy Chote who was substituting at the school at the time for their fantastic work in that

[03:39:10] effort. We have lots of events happening in the Mason District so we have the that was the bell. Okay lots of events reading my newsletter. Thank you Dr.

[03:39:27] Anderson Miss Dernet Koufax. Speed reading this is already mentioned but it bears repeating how wonderful it was to hear from the special panel on youth of Mental Health held at John R. Lewis High School with the US Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, Surgeon General Vivek Murtha, CDC Director for the Division of Adolescent and School Health, Kathleen Aether, and Dr. Mike Alexander, the Acting Director of Intervention and Prevention here at FCPS.

[03:39:52] I was so proud of our students who share their insightful and candid questions with our honorable panel. And as Dr. Reed mentioned last week, FCPS will receive $13.5 million as part of the Department of Education grants to provide early intervention and prevention services.

[03:40:10] Thank you to our amazing bus drivers for getting our children where they need to be every day. We appreciate you not just this week, but each and every day, so thank you so much. February 15th was School Resource Officer Appreciation Day, and I want to thank all of our SROs who help keep our schools safe for our students.

[03:40:33] I want to thank everyone who came out to both strategic planning community forums at Edison High School and West Springfield High School over the last few weeks. We appreciate your time and input. And after several reschedules, Dr. Reid and I recently got finally to do region three schools.

[03:40:51] We visited Linbrook Elementary and Hayfield Secondary. Thank you to Principal Kathleen Sane at Linbrook and Interim Principal Matthew Mao at Hayfield for hosting Dr. Reed and myself. It was wonderful to meet so many impressive high school students.

[03:41:07] And I can just say just such adorable and excited elementary school students. And finally, congratulations to the graduates of Bryant High School, February class of 2023. I was able to witness your graduation and hear your impressive stories with several of my colleagues.

[03:41:25] And we all wish you the very best in your next chapter. so thank you and good night thank you i'm not going to repeat many of the events that my colleagues and i've been at together um so just a couple things i wanted just to mention in addition in addition to the mental health town hall that i was honored to be able to attend alongside our superintendent and mr koufax i had the honor of being able to judge the regional scholastic art awards and at mason and they're all on display at nova for the rest of this month and when you walk in to see our students art it will blow your mind away I wanted to buy the

[03:42:04] pieces because they were so amazing and very professional and I think me a long time I almost miss my next appointment trying to judge and I and I sent an email to all you all in chairs notes but I did find out that we are able to get digital prints of the ones that the school board selects as winners to be able to hang up at the school board office so we're in the process of looking about the cost of printing and framing but I think it'd be super exciting to have our students we've selected and the artwork was was so if you have a chance to go look at it please take a go take a look at it I enjoy this treaty planning core team meeting I enjoyed interviewing Keenan Hicks a Boy Scout and his answering his very interesting questions on how to keep

[03:42:42] our students safe in our schools and finally I just had to share I had a really lovely visit with dr. Reed this morning at Robinson Secondary School and Laurel Ridge as an at-large member my goal with dr. Reed's our school visits is try to take you to see some of our different programming that we had so I thought it was really useful to take you to a secondary school model to see so similar to Mason district with sixth grade and middle school in region 4 we have two of the three secondary schools and so I think it's interesting to hear about maybe the challenges of middle school sports in a secondary school model where it's all the same facilities and then to go to Laurelidge elementary school to see the preschool autism class the CSS site and the

[03:43:19] enhanced autism class as well as the Spanish immersion it is a school replete with programs. But my favorite moment was after when Dr. Reed was walking with the principal at Laurel Ridge and these two students walked by and the principal said to them, she's in charge of all the schools. And they walked and as soon as they got behind Dr. Reed and I could see their faces, they were like, and that was the highlight of my day.

[03:43:46] So with that, this meeting is adjourned.

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