Coraggio Consulting
Fairfax County School Board Meeting, Thursday, July 11, 2024

Date: Thursday, July 11, 2024
Place: Fairfax County School Board, Virginia
Length: 3h 24m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yx9LFskDzk
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 2026-11-01. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:04:21] ladies and gentlemen thank you for joining us tonight i apologize for the delay the board has

[00:19:36] just come out uh they had to recess their closed meeting we will be starting at 7 30 7 30 i apologize

[00:19:43] for the delay this july 11 2024 regular meeting of the fairfax county school board will now come

[00:27:17] to order please stand for the pledge of allegiance followed by a moment of silence and a performance of the national anthem by hughes middle school student jocelyn looney i pledge allegiance to the

[00:27:29] Oh say can you see early love so proudly the twilight's last gleaming broad stripes

[00:28:16] and bright stars through the perilous fight o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly

[00:28:33] another round of applause for our very talented student incredible that's very good agenda item

[00:29:31] 2.02 announcements miss lady has submitted a written request to attend this evening's meeting virtually due to a personal conflict all those in favor of approving miss lady's request miss Sizemore hyzer mr mcdaniel mr mckelveen miss st john cunning miss marron miss anderson dr anderson mr dunn miss dixit mr moon that is unanimous for all board members present Miss Lady, will you test your microphone and camera?

[00:29:56] Yes, I will. Testing, testing. All right, we hear you loud and clear. I want to welcome our new student representative, Megan Sawant. Miss Sawant, welcome. She is a rising senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and is serving on the board as our student representative from July 1st, so not too long ago, to June 30th, 2025.

[00:30:25] You can learn more about her by visiting the school board's website. If you would like to review a copy of the agenda or any agenda item 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/schoolboard/boarddocs.

[00:30:42] Tonight's meeting is being broadcast on channel 99 and live streamed on the website at FCPS.edu/tv/ch99. This is a reminder that the school board members will no longer make remarks about a proclamation when it is presented to the board for a vote.

[00:30:58] They may choose to make remarks during board matters conclusion of the meeting agenda item 2.0 through three 2024 outstanding fcps employees proclamation i call on miss marin for a proclamation whereas the outstanding elementary new teacher award recognizing an elementary teacher who is within their first three years of teaching and demonstrates outstanding performance and superior instructional skills was awarded to marianne castle multiple disabilities teacher lorton station elementary school and whereas the outstanding secondary new Teacher Award recognizing a secondary teacher who is within their first years of teaching

[00:31:36] and demonstrates outstanding performance and superior instructional skills was awarded to Simone Keolani Jenkins, English teacher at West Potomac High, and whereas the Outstanding New Principal Award recognizing a distinguished educator and extraordinary leader who is within their first three years as principal was awarded to Raven Jones, principal right here at Luther Jackson Middle School, and whereas the Outstanding School-Based Operational Employee Award recognizing a school-based operational employee who has made unique and exceptional contributions to FCPS was awarded to Thelma R. Pemberton Abbott, Instructional Assistant at Mount Vernon Woods Elementary School.

[00:32:12] And whereas the Outstanding Non-School-Based Operational Employee Award, recognizing a non-school-based operational employee who has made unique and exceptional contributions to FCPS was awarded to Anith Methulele, Staff Assistant, Academics Office.

[00:32:28] And whereas the Outstanding School-Based Professional Employee Award, recognizing an operational and/or non-instructional school-based employee who serves in a curriculum support or student support capacity and has made unique and exceptional contributions to FCPS, was awarded to Darrell C. Byron, Special Education Department Chair of Lewis High School.

[00:32:48] And whereas the Outstanding Non-School-Based Professional Employee Award, recognizing a non-school based operational employee who demonstrates commitment fosters cooperative relationships and has made unique and exceptional contributions to FCPS was awarded to Karen Bolt photographic specialist experience and engagement office and whereas the outstanding school-based leader award recognizing a school-based leader who demonstrates outstanding leadership and strengthens the learning environment through their work was awarded to Daniel Hornbecker director of student services Frost Middle School and whereas Whereas the Outstanding Non-School-Based Leader Award, recognizing a non-school-based leader

[00:33:26] who demonstrates outstanding leadership and strengthens the learning environment through their work, was awarded to Beth Visioli, Director, Communications in Experience and Engagement Office. And whereas the Outstanding Elementary Teacher Award, recognizing an elementary teacher who demonstrates dedication, commitment, and the ability to propel students to high levels of success, was awarded to Shea Hestmark, second grade teacher, Columbia Elementary School.

[00:33:51] And whereas the Outstanding Secondary Teacher Award, recognizing a secondary teacher who demonstrates dedication, commitment, and the ability to propel students to their high levels of success, was awarded to Madison McKenna, severe disabilities teacher, West Springfield High School.

[00:34:06] And whereas the Outstanding Principal Award, recognizing an innovative and highly affected administrator whose vision inspires and guides staff, students, and the community to help LEAD THEIR SCHOOL TO EXCELLENCE WAS AWARDED TO JAMIE GADLEY, DRANESVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

[00:34:22] NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE FAIRFACS COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD CONGRATULATES AND EXTENDS ITS HIGHEST COMMENDATION TO WINNERS OF THE 2024 OUTSTANDING EMPLOYEE AWARDS AS EXCEPTIONAL EMPLOYEES WHO CREATE AND DEMONSTRATE THE BEST INSTRUCTIONAL AND SUPPORT PRACTICES.

[00:34:37] IS THERE A SECOND? I SECOND. MS. ANDERSON. I WILL NOW TAKE A VOTE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR. Ms. Eismerheiser, Mr. McDaniel, Mr. McElveen, Ms. St. John Cunning, Ms. Marin, Mr. Dunn, Dr. Anderson, Ms. Anderson, Ms. Dixit, Mr. Moon, and Ms. Lady, and myself. That is unanimous.

[00:34:55] Congratulations. Agenda Item 2.04, Washington Post 2024 Teacher of the Year Proclamation. I call on Ms. Dixit. Paris, Laura Centuria, fourth grade teacher from our very own Sully District's Colleen Powell Elementary School has been named Washington Post Teacher of the Year.

[00:35:22] This recognition is for educators who have exemplified excellence in their profession by inspiring learning, encouraging individual growth, demonstrating subject matter expertise, fostering collaboration, and leading by example. She was selected from the group of 19 finalists who teach at schools in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.

[00:35:45] N. Whereas Ms. Centuria has taught at Powell Elementary School since its first opens its doors in 2003 and is known for fostering a welcoming, collaborative environment inside and outside of the classroom.

[00:36:01] Laura Centuria brings positive energy, a caring nature, a strong sense of compassion to school every day. Her belief that every child deserves their best opportunity is reflected in her work as she creates safe space where all students are encouraged to celebrate their strength, embrace one another, learn from their mistakes, and reach their highest potential.

[00:36:25] And, whereas, her work goes beyond her classroom walls to the entire student body at Powell Elementary through her leadership at the SCA. She builds and creates an uplifting community around her, making an intentional and ongoing effort to construct an environment from everyone, students, teachers, and staff.

[00:36:47] Know that they are valued, cared, and important. Laura Centuria served as a mentor of her fellow teachers and has led fundraising initiatives with support, pennies for patients, building a school in Malawi, Africa, providing a service dog for a veteran, buying books for the school in need.

[00:37:04] a foot bank in California, the American Cancer Society, and a Make-A-Wish Foundation, amongst others. And where Ms. Centuria leads by example by empowering students to see themselves as global citizens, emphasizing respect, kindness, and hard work.

[00:37:21] Laura Centuria's ability to give children a sense of belonging stands out for her community. And she also laughed as a superhero to school families. Allowed it at school, sorry. Children and those who have been given the opportunity to learn from and then with her have been forever chained in the most amazing way.

[00:37:40] Her love for children shines through in all that she does. And whereas a graduate of Brandeis University and Leslie University, Miss Centuria was recognized as FCPS Honors 2023 Outstanding Elementary Teacher and received Powers Elementary School's 2016 Human Relations Award.

[00:37:59] She has a rare talent for identifying her students' innermost strength, and the gift has earned her the title of Washington Post 2024 Teacher of the Year. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board extends its heartfelt congratulations to Ms. Anturia on being named Washington Post Teacher of the Year, a testament to her exceptional leadership and dedication and its deepest gratitude for her long-standing service and profound impact on our students and FCPS community.

[00:38:33] Thank you, Ms. Dixit. Is there a second? I second. Ms. Anderson, I will call for the vote. All those in favor.

[00:38:49] And now for the school board.

[00:39:09] Ms. Sizemore-Hyser, Mr. McDaniel, Mr. McElveen, Miss St. John Cunning, Miss Marin, Mr. Dunn, Dr. Anderson, Miss Anderson, Miss Dixit, Mr. Moon, Miss Lady, and myself. That is unanimous. Congratulations. Clearly unanimous. I call on Miss Anderson for a proclamation. Whereas the Fairfax County School Board Community Advisory Committee members voluntarily serve the board to provide recommendations, guidance, and insight on

[00:39:44] such topics that are critical to student and staff success and wellness, and whereas the adult Community Education Advisory and the Career Technical Education Advisory Committees work to provide program alignment between K through 12 education and post-secondary training opportunities including increasing engagement in high-quality work-based learning opportunities and expanded community education programs and focused on the enhancement of course planning and advising provided feedback to current and new programs and courses and

[00:40:19] And, whereas the Advanced Academic Programs Advisory Committee and Advisory Committee for Students with Disabilities continued their engagement and research to ensure all students, including, respectively, those who are twice exceptional and those who require related services, assisted technologies, and various therapeutic supports, have access to the services and programming they need to be successful.

[00:40:44] And whereas the Facilities Planning Advisory and Human Resources Advisory Committees engaged in work to ensure a premier workforce and educational spaces for our students and staff; participated in facility-related meetings; developed memorandums for facility planning framework and reasons to reconsider current procurement methods; provided alternatives -- providing alternatives to the current process; and created a safe space to voice human resources concerns and assisted with collective bargaining, improvements in the hiring process, recruitment, inclusion,

[00:41:20] and the adoption of the Employee Bill of Rights, and whereas the Family Life Education Curriculum Advisory and School Health Advisory Committees focused on the health of students, including lessons related to personal boundaries and consent, presentations, and data from division and county surveys to identify strategies to support student mental health through increased social connections.

[00:41:44] and to increase girls' reproductive anatomy understanding, and demonstrated that strategic data collection is crucial for utilizing resources effectively to connect student technology use policies with student health, and provided recommendations for promoting equitable access to extracurricular activities and their role in protecting the mental and physical health of students, and whereas the Minority Student Achievement Oversight and the Title I Parent advisory committees, examined foundational practices to make recommendations to support and prioritize underserved students and families, including the production of the Minority Student

[00:42:24] Achievement Parent Advocacy Handbook in print and online in five languages, created and awarded the Dr. Larry Bussey Memorial Equity Award to those to recognize those who work to redress inequitable systems and practices in the division reviewed the implementation of science-based reading curriculum in title one schools and trauma-informed teaching practices social-emotional learning and the Virginia Literacy Act now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County School Board extends its highest commendation and deepest appreciation to the school board community advisory committees for their outstanding service

[00:43:04] and dedication to the Fairfax County School Board and our students, staff, families and community members. Is there a second? I'll second. I will call for the vote. All those in favor, please raise your hands. That looks unanimous up here and on the screen by Miss Lady.

[00:43:22] The motion passes. I would like to welcome the Human Resources Advisory Committee, Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee, and Advisory Committees for Students with Disabilities, members, staff liaisons and invite all those in support of the proclamation to please join the board for photo

[00:43:47] at the front of the dais so we're splitting the photo for the advisory committees into two photos

[00:44:47] the first photo is with those with hrac msaoc and acsd members staff liaisons and anybody else there

[00:44:57] in support of the proclamation i would like to invite the adult and community education advisory

[00:45:46] Committee, the Advanced Academic Programs Advisory Committee, the Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee, the Facilities Planning Advisory Council, the Family Life Education Curriculum Advisory Committee, the School Health Advisory Committee, and the Title I Parent Advisory Committee members, staff liaisons, and all those in support of the Appreciation Proclamation to please join the board for a photo at the front of the dais.

[00:46:13] i would like to welcome laura centuria and invite her family colleagues and all those in support of

[00:47:56] the washington post 2024 teacher of the year proclamation to please join the board for a photo

[00:48:02] at the front of the dais okay for the outstanding employee photo uh we're gonna uh turn that into

[00:50:11] two photos as well so i'd like to welcome the school-based outstanding fcps employees and invite their families administrators colleagues and all those in support of the 2024 outstanding fcps employees proclamation to please join the board for a photo and then we'll do another photo

[00:50:29] with the non-school-based families and employees if you are the recipient of a award from the first proclamation please come on down um the awards for employee you know school-based employees

[00:51:03] anybody else so we're doing two photos the first photo is for school-based employees who we're doing two photos so that we can make sure we get all the employees and their families in the photo the first one is for those who won school-based outstanding employee awards so them and their families are

[00:51:27] welcome to come up to join and then we'll do a second photo thank you all right and now the second photo is for non school-based outstanding FCPS employees and their families administrators colleagues and all those in support of the proclamation to please join the board for a photo at the front

[00:51:58] of the dais all right agenda item 2.06 annual school board organizational

[00:54:13] arrangements miss Marin is the outgoing vice chair would like to take a moment to provide some brief remarks thank you chair Frisch as I shared publicly at a board regular meeting in June I'm not seeking to remain vice chair in tonight's annual board organizing vote as I said at that time my goal was to provide the needed leadership for the board during the transition time of the previous board to the current one that began in January of this year and I want to help lead the coalition that's growing in Virginia to get the money for our public schools as do by law from the governor and the general assembly during these past months as vice chair I've worked to fulfill the duties which is mainly to assist the board member elected chair and his duties on behalf

[00:54:53] of and for the board our school board is a flat board which means that no one member has more authority than another. As such, I've worked to support the chair in facilitating sound board decision-making by anticipating and addressing board and member needs. Having the largest school board in Virginia and a board composed of busy people, it takes intentional and consistent effort to facilitate the information sharing that leads to decisions about work plans and ultimately public actions that direct the superintendent and her work to preparing every student for success. Helping the chair not to direct but to facilitate board work has made this job even less of the quote part-time job it's defined to be but I've taken the

[00:55:30] responsibility of being vice chair with all the seriousness and care I could muster because every opportunity for the board to convene and deliberate students futures is one that needs the utmost attention I'd like to thank the chair for his partnership on our work as a leadership team I want to thank the school board office staff for all they do to support the work of the board and put together the many logistical pieces every week and every day so this This includes our clerk team, our office administrative assistant, and our technology specialist.

[00:55:57] Lastly, I want to thank Superintendent Reed, who approaches every conversation about board work with the highest attention. As she says many times, research actually shows that students perform best when the leaders at the top of the system, the superintendent and the school board, work effectively together.

[00:56:13] I expect the trust built will continue between the superintendent and the school board so we can achieve what is best for our students. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Marin. of business is agenda item 2.06, the annual organizational motion. Section 22.176 of the Code of Virginia specifies that at the annual organizational meeting, a school board shall elect one of its members to serve as chairman and may elect one of its members to serve as vice chairman, both for a one-year term, and shall also approve other appointments and designations of responsibility necessary for board operations during the year. I will

[00:56:52] now ask Dr. Reed to conduct the election the selection process for the school board chair for the next year. Thank you Mr. Frisch. At this time I will open the floor to nominations for chair of the Fairfax County School Board. I nominate Carl Frisch for chairman of the board. Is there a second? I second. Carl Frisch has been nominated as chair. Are there any other nominations? Hearing no other nominations the motion before the board is to elect Carl Frisch as chair of the

[00:57:29] Fairfax County School Board. I'll call on those members who nominated Mr. Frisch for comments first. Ms. Sizemore Heiser would you like to speak to your nomination? Yes I would gladly speak to my nomination. Thank you very much. I'm very honored to nominate my dear friend Carl Frisch for a chairman of the school board. He has admirably finished Ms. Toland's term as chair these last six months and so I think he's had one of the longest job interviews for this job of this last six months and I'm really appreciative that he stepped into the chair role to finish Ms.

[00:58:02] toland's term and i'm honored to nominate him as the immediate past chair i can say it's very difficult to be the chair of a flat board it's quite the tightrope walk to bleed while making room for 11 strong voices at the table and um you've done it admirably and so i'm honored to be able to be grateful that you're stepping up to do this again for 12 months um i um have really admired watching you try to walk that tightrope as calm as cool and collected as you've been I've never seen somebody who can pivot so quickly in the moment

[00:58:38] and you you are a strong leader who never seems to break a sweat no matter how many things are thrown at you in the middle of these meetings you just handle them in a very common measured way you've done an admirable job of taking a board of sort of three different groups six brand new members four who served through hell together and two who served together for many years but missed the last four years of hell and try to gel us all as one unit. And the work you've done alongside your vice chair has been great. I look forward to 12 more months of us growing strong as a team.

[00:59:11] I just thank you for stepping up to do this. I thank you for your friendship. I thank you for all the times that you've taken my call, even though I know you're getting up in six hours to do all the things you do again and you've still taken the call. And I thank you for being willing to listen and to try to get to yes for everybody and try to get everybody to a win.

[00:59:28] So thank you for your leadership, and I'm honored to nominate you for chair. Ms. St. John Cunning, would you like to speak to your second? Yes. As a new board member, I appreciate the leadership Chairman Frisch has shown for the first six months of his term as chair and my term as a newbie.

[00:59:50] As my colleague said, this term began with eight new board members, and although two of the new board members had been previous board members, they have expressed how many things have changed since they were on the board. Sherman Frisch has worked hard to bring the new board members up to speed, although some of us still feel we're drinking out of a fire hose, and to bring consistency and cohesiveness to this board. On a personal level, every time I have reached out to Sherman Frisch, he has been calm and fair and has taken the time to help me understand and work

[01:00:25] things out I know he has done this with other colleagues as well I am happy to second the motion so that's chairman Frisch can have a full year as chair and continue the great work he's been doing so far I look forward to working with him and I look forward to more of his dad jokes in his chair's notes so that's the other thing he has a great sense of humor so it is an honor for me to second are there any other board members who wish to comment mr. moon Thank you. I have a brief remarks in support of Mr. Frisch and also a little bit later on, Ms. Sandy Anderson as well.

[01:01:05] Before I read my remarks, I want to thank, in a service, I want to thank Melody Maron, parting vice chair, for your service for the last six months. I know that you're a hard worker. You're putting countless number of hours to support the work of the board and an assistant chair do his job as the chairman of the board.

[01:01:29] With that said, I am honored to express my support for the re-election of our current chair, Carl Frisch, and I'll also be supporting one of our newly elected members, Miss Sandy Anderson, a little bit later on for vice chair.

[01:01:44] Our chair has worked tirelessly while prioritizing the needs and well-being of our students. Ms. Anderson brings new perspectives and a passion for education to the leadership role of vice chair. Having served alongside her on our governance committee, I am confident her leadership will strengthen our board's effectiveness.

[01:02:08] As we move forward, however, I want to stress upon a couple of important points. based upon my more than 20 years of service on this board, during which time I have served as a chair and vice chair multiple times. First, the chair and vice chair should treat all board members with fairness and be role models in how they work and interact with others.

[01:02:34] Second, they must ensure our board and the school system comply with the policies and contractual obligations. must pay close attention to policy 1203 and our responsibilities under the employment contracts with the leadership team members in this vein I ask soon to be elected chairman or re-elected chairman and vice chairman to provide the school board with opportunities to discuss performance evaluations of the LT members leadership team members per the policy and contracts ensuring

[01:03:13] that the border lines with our policies is a fundamental to maintaining transparency, accountability, and trust within our community. I look forward to Mr. Frisch and Ms. Anderson providing the necessary leadership to do so. Dr. Anderson? Thank you. I will also make all of my remarks at this time for both positions. Firstly, I'd like to thank Mr. Frisch and Ms.

[01:03:43] Marion for their work for the past six months. Serving in these leadership positions, not only takes a lot of time, but a lot of energy and a lot of effort and it deserves recognition so thank you both. Secondly, while I will not be voting in the affirmative for this position this evening, I expect that each of you will be successful in your nominations. Moving forward, I urge both of you as our board's new leadership to consider a renewed effort towards fostering a strong adherence to the charge of the school board regarding its job of oversight and I'm sorry regarding its oversight

[01:04:21] role of the division and our responsibility to our constituents to also be intentional and honoring the board structure and to be mindful that we have a flat board and it is a shared decision making in all areas other than those outlined in the governance manual and lastly to focus on bridging divisions and to be intentional in fostering a productive and safe work environment for all employees from each of our classrooms to the school board office you will have my support and commitment on these efforts are there any board Ms. Marin I've enjoyed working I will be

[01:05:00] voting to support the renewal of our chairs leadership I've enjoyed working with Carl's I've been vice chair I've seen the attention he pays to details and the work of the school board Carl's committed to the board's success and I'm proud that together we've been able to put better processes in place for the school board's work so that meetings are smoother and work is more planned out this I believe has helped the superintendent and her team to produce timely thoughtful work per the board's directives are there any other board members Mr. McIlvain so I too will make comments about both positions at this time excuse me I want to thank Mr. Frisch and Miss Marin for their work over the past six months particularly for their efforts to make our

[01:05:38] meetings run smoothly and timely as well as for their attention to detail on things like our board calendar and processes they've spent countless hours in our service and that service is greatly appreciate it. I also want to thank especially Ms. Marin and wish her luck in her leadership role with VSBA as she goes off to get the money. Going forward, I want to highlight several things.

[01:06:00] I do want board leadership to ensure that our board speaks with one voice and that all members are represented and treated equally. Silencing of voices is unacceptable. As models for everyone who works for this system, our board needs to remember that people are watching everything we do and our actions need to serve as models for others through respectful and respectable behavior. I also want to reassert as we have heard countless times tonight that this board is a flat board the chair and vice chair are first among equals and finally when it comes to board superintendent relations we provide the oversight as a board and the superintendent runs day-to-day operations after six months on this board if someone asked me whether we have been providing effective

[01:06:38] oversight of the system and superintendent my answer would in fact be no there is a slippery slope to ceding too much authority to our executive and we're slowly inching down that slope i'm counting on our chair and vice chair to stop that slide and reassert board leadership of the system with that i extend mr frisch and miss anderson my best wishes for a successful year are there any other board members that wish to make a comment if there are no more comments

[01:07:15] then we'll proceed with the vote which requires the majority of votes from those board members present and voting actually did miss lady have her hand up i didn't no okay the motion before the board is that carl frisch be elected chair of the fairfax county school board all those in favor the motion please signify by raising your hand and saying aye and then I need to do I think a voice vote around so that would be Miss Sizemore Heiser um Mr. McDaniel aye Mr. McElveen

[01:07:51] abstain um Miss St. John Cunning aye Miss Marin aye Mr. Frisch aye Mr. Dunn sorry aye Dr. Anderson nay mrs anderson aye miss dixit aye mr moon aye miss lady aye so the motion passes at this time

[01:08:25] i am pleased to introduce the chair of the fairfax county school board carl frisch thank you very much um make this quick uh i first want to thank miss marin uh for her partnership over the last six months. It is not an easy effort to bring you know more than a half of a board on and we've done that two cycles in a row and you know it would the work around onboarding our new colleagues

[01:09:04] would not have been possible without Miss Marin and I very much appreciate her laser-like focus on helping to adjust long standing board practices to better optimize our work the better we are at doing this job the better our kids have a chance at succeeding um and so i very much appreciate your partnership these last six months um i'll speak to miss anderson's uh coming nomination as well um i joke sometimes about uh miss anderson's interest in fonts and uh document layout um but

[01:09:42] But there's something behind that, right? It's this want to put our best foot forward. And in everything that Ms. Anderson does, it is a desire to put the best foot forward for this school division. And I'm very much looking forward to partnering with her on behalf of our flat board for the next year.

[01:10:02] I haven't always been perfect. I don't think anybody has. But I am in a constant effort to do better every single day. I am grateful for the opportunity to continue serving as chair, working together with our parents and caregivers and our staff as we advance the student-centered focus of our strategic plan.

[01:10:21] And I remain committed to working with my colleagues to ensure that our amazing educators and school staff have what they need to deliver on the promise of excellence, equity, and opportunity for every single one of the children in our school system who deserve a shot.

[01:10:41] achieving their full unique and limitless potential. So I look forward to the year ahead and all of its challenges and all of its benefits. Thank you. All right. At this time, I will open the floor to nominations for vice chair of the school board. I nominate Sandy Anderson as vice chair of the school board. Is there a second? Second. Mr. McDaniel. Sandy Anderson has been nominated for vice chair. Are there any, are there other nominations? Hearing no other nominations, the motion before the board is to elect Sandy Anderson as vice chair

[01:11:20] of the Fairfax County School Board. Ms. Marin, would you like to speak to your nomination? Since Ms. Anderson's time on the board since January, I have observed her to deliver on the work she commits to doing and to seek options for how the board can work more effectively. Like myself, she is a systems thinker who keeps the big picture in mind while working out the details. I believe these kinds of skills are an asset to serving as vice chair. I appreciate that she has put forth her candidacy as vice chair as it's a significant undertaking that's necessary for the board's success. I look forward to working with her in this new capacity for the year ahead.

[01:11:52] Thank you, Ms. Marin. Mr. McDaniel, would you like to speak to your second? I will be brief. When I first met Sandy about a year ago, I asked her, as most people who run for office ask each other, "Why are you doing this?" She very matter-of-factly said to do the work and get things done. And the simplicity of that was refreshing. I have no doubt that she will focus on the work and focus on getting things done. She's fair. She's methodical. She's someone I know I can bounce ideas off of and we generally come to a better outcome of a working product.

[01:12:27] As Mr. McElveen alluded to, said, you know, being leadership is no extra power, there's no extra vote, there's no extra anything. You're first or second amongst equals. And really this job of chair and vice chair, in this case vice chair, you're herding cats. So I know you're allergic to cats, but you wanted you're gonna do it so good luck there there is one person I do have to apologize to though tonight they're not in the audience and that's her husband Joe because her workload and her time commitment did just increase but I have no doubt that she will do an outstanding job I'm looking forward to

[01:13:06] working with her thank you mr. McDaniel what other board members wish to speak Ms. Sizemore Heiser. Thank you. I was waiting to thank our current vice chair, but the cat kind of got out of the bag a little bit early. So I would for Sandy, I'm sorry, the cat's out of the bag. So I have some Benadol for you. But I do want to take a chance to thank Ms. Marin for her leadership and her hard work as vice chair this year. I know you came in at a great time where we were finally ready to focus on the processes. And that is one of your extreme strengths is getting the processes in place and making sure that we have good procedures. So I really appreciate your latest

[01:13:44] shot folks and coming into that and your sense of humor and working through things and your offer of help as we've worked through governance on some tough issues and you're calling say what do you need how can i help and that's a great attitude for a leader to have is how can i help so i really appreciate that and thank you for your time and your hard work um as for miss anderson i am i have it's been an honor to get to know you over the last year plus since we also had sat down and had coffee and talked about all the things funding for school board um and i'm really really honored to support you in this position um having sat in that seat it is a tough place to be and um one of the

[01:14:23] reasons i really want to support you is that we need people on this board who are going to get things done right and move the work forward and you are very good at getting having served with you on both the public engagement committee and governance committee you have been a wonderful partner in getting things done and brainstorming ideas and working things through but even more than that what i think it takes to be a leader of a flat board is someone who isn't just trying to make sure your interests or your priorities are being met but when you see somebody else who has a prior to your interest working with them to try to get that to a win where the board is comfortable and that person has their priority moving forward too and that's the leadership right it's the

[01:15:03] leadership of how do we move the work of the board together how do we get all of our colleagues to be seen and heard how do we move all of our priorities together that that works for all of us as a board it is difficult to work as a body and not just as individuals and i really appreciate your as as you put it using your powers for good so i wish you the best of luck thank you for stepping up it is a really tough place to be and i am really grateful for you stepping up into that role and um i'll always be here if you have any questions or need to bounce ideas but i have every faith that you have the leadership skills to do this job well.

[01:15:39] Thank you, Ms. Sizemoreheiser. Ms. Tixit. Hi, first of all, I want to thank Ms. Marin for the last six months of your leadership. And I really like how focused you are and a very serious person.

[01:15:56] I'm not quite the same, so it's fun to be with you sometimes, too. And also, Mr. Fresh, you really, from the time I've known you, you've always supported me and as a new board member too. So I look forward to working with you for another year and I have nothing but say the best things for my friend Sandy, Ms. Anderson. She is amazing and I cannot wait to see you in this position. Thank you so much.

[01:16:28] Thank you, Ms. Dixit. Ms. St. John Cunning. So I too wanted to take an opportunity to thank Ms. Marin for all of the work that she's done. She's been gracious. She's been kind. She's also been available to us whenever we We needed any kind of response or had questions, and I really appreciate that.

[01:16:48] You were always very gracious and helpful to me, and I really appreciate that you're taking the bigger challenge of getting the money. I think that you're in the right place, and we're there to support you, so you can lead the fight, and we'll be behind you supporting you.

[01:17:04] As far as, you know, I've had the opportunity also to know Ms. Anderson, also a good friend that we've gotten to know each other and her work is impeccable. She is committed, she is strong, and is fair as well.

[01:17:20] And I think when we have a flat board and you have 12 very strong opinionated people having a flat board and you have two leadership positions and having both of those people in that leadership position that comes with no extra anything but extra work is --

[01:17:38] I appreciate that you all step up to the plate because it's a lot, I mean, I know it comes with a small compensation, but that does not equal the work that you guys are going to have to be doing, and I appreciate that you're willing to take on that extra work, and work with all of us as equals, even though you were carrying heavy loads, so thank you.

[01:18:02] Thank you, Ms. St. John Cunning. If there are no other comments, oh, sorry, Ms. Lady, go ahead. My apologies. Thank you. I just wanted to also offer my support and thanks and gratitude to Ms. Marin as Vice Chair.

[01:18:22] You have taught me so much, and I think that in our listening sessions to one another, I hope that I've also taught you some things about operations. But what you know about policy and how you can break things down, I'm forever grateful so your phone will not stop ringing even though you're not Vice Chair.

[01:18:41] i will still be reaching out to you for support uh mr frisch as chair um thank you yes for stepping up and stepping up again um you are on speed dial as well for all of us and i it's just it's an enormous amount of work i'm not sure the public fully fully comprehends um how much time it takes to lead uh this board and how much um sort of disposition it takes to lead a flat board of of strong personalities who care deeply about students but often have differing thoughts around how to best serve them um so i just want to thank you and then i and congratulations to my my my

[01:19:18] friend sandy anderson i'm very excited for you uh less is more um and i i love the attention to detail and i can't wait for you to get started so just congratulations to all the three of you and AND MAJOR THANK YOU FOR STEPPING UP AND TAKING ON ADDITIONAL WORK.

[01:19:34] THANK YOU, MS. LADY. MR. DUNN. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK MELANIE MARIN FOR HER GREAT SERVICE AS VICE CHAIR. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK MR. FRISH AND MS. ANDERSON FOR STEPPING UP TO SERVE MR. FRISH RENEWING HIS SERVICE.

[01:19:54] WE ARE FORTUNATE TO HAVE TWO TALENTED AND DEDICATED LEADERS WHO WILL GUIDE US IN THE COMING MONTHS when this board has taken on very substantive and important and transformational initiatives that will serve the mission of providing a world-class education to all students and preserving the legacy of excellence while expanding academic and extracurricular opportunities for all children so i appreciate their service we are i am personally grateful and I know we are all grateful for their willingness to to lead us through this

[01:20:34] transformational moment at a critical juncture in the history of public education. Thank you Mr Dunn. If there are no other comments then we'll proceed to a vote which requires a majority of votes from board members present and voting. The motion before the board I'm reading the wrong one the motion before the board is that Sandy Anderson be elected vice chair of the Fairfax County school board all those in favor of the motion please signify by raising your hand and saying aye

[01:21:08] miss Sizemore hyzer mr mcdaniel mr mckelveen aye miss st john cunning aye miss marron aye mr dunn aye dr anderson aye miss anderson aye miss dixit mr moon aye miss lady aye and myself aye that is unanimous the motion passes at this time i am pleased to introduce the new vice chair of the Fairfax County School Board Sandy Anderson congratulations Mrs. Anderson the board will take

[01:21:44] a brief recess after community participation so that we can make some arrangements on the dais and I will now give our new vice chair an opportunity to speak Vice Chair Anderson thank you um I'd like to thank our current or our just past leadership team this gets a little confusing at this exact moment um for everything that you guys have done over the last six months it was no easy task to take on, herding all of these cats, as I continue to say to Mr. McDaniel.

[01:22:13] And it's particularly hard when all the cats have very similar personalities in terms of very strong, dedicated folks, which is what makes us awesome, but also makes us difficult. So it's very interesting to me that Mr. Frisch would choose to talk about effort, not perfection. I actually have that saying over my front door, and it's something that we say often in our house.

[01:22:34] and so you will get no shortage of effort for me and i don't promise perfection however i do think that we have some amazingly good work to do and i'm excited to get get to it so thank you thank you vice chair anderson i now call on vice chair anderson for a motion i move that the school board authorize organizational arrangement and appointments as follows one designate the 2024 25 calendar regular business meetings, which are typically held on Thursdays, as well as closed sessions and work sessions.

[01:23:11] The board's calendar of meeting dates will be based on the school year and will be published in July as detailed in attachment A of the agenda item. Special meetings, board committee work sessions, and other special functions will also be scheduled.

[01:23:27] Liaisons and committees will be organized to support the board's work. If needed, committees of the three board members considered student disciplinary cases in closed meetings. Set the salary of board members at $48,000 per year and that of the board chair at $50,000 and reimburse all board members for travel expenses in the conduct of official business including attendance at meetings at the same rate as employees of the board.

[01:23:54] Compensate the student representative for attendance at public meetings not to exceed $50 per day and reimburse for related travel expenses at the same rate as employees of the board. Appoint Marty Smith to serve as the superintendent's designee to attend any meeting of the school board that the superintendent cannot attend. Appoint Christina Seclo as the clerk of the school board and Kevin Jackson as the deputy clerk of the school board, each with a corporate surety bond as required by the Code of Virginia. Appoint Wendy Billetier

[01:24:30] to serve as interim deputy clerk of the school board until August 1st, 2024, for the limited purpose of attending work sessions and regular meetings in the absence of the clerk or other deputy clerk. Appoint deputy clerks of the school board for the limited purpose of signing titles to school division vehicles and countersigning payment warrants as detailed in attachment B of the agenda item. Appoint agents and duty agents of the school board to examine, approve, and order payment of financial obligations of the school board and to approve disbursements made of from

[01:25:04] all petty cash funds as detailed in attachment b of the agenda item appoint agents and deputy agents of the school board to examine approve and order payment only in connection with the educational employee supplementary retirement system of fairfax county or efr fc as detailed in attachment b of the agenda item authorize the chair and clerk to sign all legal documents for the board other than those requiring the signature of some other officer, and authorize the vice chair to sign in the absence or unavailability of the clerk and the deputy clerks in the absence or the unavailability of the clerk, authorize Marty Smith, chief of staff, to

[01:25:44] execute official documents, including those relating to state, federal, and impact aid requiring the superintendent's signature, and those related to the Virginia Department of Education reports, documents, requisitions, and other official correspondence in the absence or unavailability of the division superintendent effective through June 30th, 2025, and retain the outside law firms as assigned and managed by the Office of Division Counsel, the firm of Hunt and Andrew Kurth to provide general legal advice and litigation services, the firm of Blankenship and Keith to provide general legal and special education

[01:26:20] advice and litigation services, the firm of Franklin and Prokopec to provide workers' Compensation Services, and the firm of Michael E. Kenney, PLC, to provide general legal advice and litigation services, the firm of Jackson Lewis to provide general legal advice and litigation services, the firm of Sands Anderson to provide general legal advice and litigation services, and other firms that are determined to be necessary from time to time. Is there a second?

[01:26:50] I will second. Ms. Marin. Ms. Anderson, would you like to speak to your motion? No. Ms. Marin, would you like to speak to your second? yes I think this is a fantastic display of how the board seeks to be transparent and uphold the law each year we have this reorganizing meeting where we express to the public and assure for our our board and our superintendent exactly what it is that we are committing to especially when it comes to fiduciary or in legal responsibilities I want to point out the list of legal firms at the end I think is needed particularly given the amount of litigation that the school division

[01:27:26] has seen in recent years, those are tax dollars that are spent to litigate on the school division's half that could be spent on student instruction. However there are many instances where we cannot either provide the amount of legal counsel in-house or there are simply things outside because of workload there are things that might be outside legal counsel's expertise or in the case of the board we sometimes need a different legal counsel because the legal counsel we have is actually under the direction of the superintendent and sometimes there can be a conflict of interest.

[01:27:58] So it's important for the public to know that there are dedicated millions of dollars spent to in-house legal staff as well as outsourced legal staff. I also did just want to make one comment on item number 10 that authorizes Mr. Smith to execute documents in the superintendent's absence through June 30, 2025.

[01:28:17] I would think that in that interim between June 30 and the next July organizing meeting, as ours, which is July 11th, 11 days after the end of June, that in the unfortunate event where we would need Mr. Smith to step in, the board would make an appropriate amendment to this or pass something to give that coverage.

[01:28:37] Perhaps given that this is the board's motion, the chair can speak to verifying that? We certainly can. We can do that at any time without objection or as a formal motion. Okay, thank you. That is it. Mr. Dunn?

[01:28:57] I'd like to speak to number 11, the outside law firms. I find this list of law firms to be duplicative. If you look at the categories of legal services provided, it's general legal advice and litigation services for five or six of the firms.

[01:29:14] I believe this represents an example of waste, wasted resources, wasted funding by FCPS. I look forward to working with my colleagues to consolidate to a smaller number of law firms where we can obtain a larger discount and preserve our funding and spend it in a fiscally responsible way. Thank you, Mr. Dunn. Seeing no others, we'll take the vote. All those in favor of the motion, which is on the screen, Ms. Seismar-Hyzer, Mr. McDaniel, Mr. McElveen, Ms. St. John Cunning, Ms. Marin, Dr. Anderson, Ms. Anderson, Ms. Dixit, Mr. Moon, Ms. Lady, and myself, all those opposed.

[01:29:54] Mr. Dunn, will the clerk read the vote? The vote's 11-1. The motion passes. Thank you. All right. Agenda Item 3.01, Community Participation. The next order of business is community participation.

[01:30:10] We welcome all community members who are here and those who signed up to speak to us this evening. Additional information about signing up to provide comments at school board regular business meetings and public hearings can be found on the school board's website. During the signup process, community members acknowledge they were informed of the school board's expectations for proper decorum when providing comments.

[01:30:30] These expectations are also available online and with the printed agenda and materials in the back of the room. We ask audience members to be respectful of one another. Shouting and outbursts will not be tolerated. Please hold your applause until the conclusion of a speaker's remarks. Audience members may not join speakers at the podium and should remain at their seats, including when recording video or taking photos.

[01:30:52] We are grateful to those who have come to speak to us today and thank you for your cooperation. School board members will be listening but not responding. Madam Clerk, please call the first speaker. - Kareem Abdelwab.

[01:31:20] I'm a sophomore at Langley High School and I have a younger brother that will be going to Cooper Middle School. In school, we are taught to be honest and upfront about our actions. We are told that hiding information is as bad as lying, but that is exactly what the school board has done.

[01:31:36] You have been working on a policy change, 8130, since February, but no one told the students, the teachers, or anyone in the school. It was not discussed and we only found out in the summer while everyone was gone. Robin Lady told the parents this was an adult conversation and that students should be left out of it until after the decisions were made.

[01:31:55] That is not honesty and nothing about this process has been upfront with the individuals it will impact: the students. Make no mistake, the students are aware now. Every student should have the opportunity to learn in schools that are representative of their communities, but they should also have the resources they need to succeed.

[01:32:12] Your policy and this board's focus is on moving students based on population size, openly disregarding the impacts that this will have on the mental health of students. You have stated that children are resilient, so they will be fine. We lived through COVID and we were not and are not fine.

[01:32:29] We are resilient, but just because we can survive these changes doesn't mean we should have to. We are not numbers, we are not populations of cattle you move from one field to another as it becomes too crowded. We are the humans who will be the future of Fairfax County and this country.

[01:32:47] schools have taught us enough to see that this is a complex problem that needs to be solved. But boundary changes are the short-term solution that prioritizes the ease of your work over the well-being of the students impacted. We should be the priority and you should find a way to be resilient and find real long-term solutions to the issues impacting the students across Fairfax County. Fairfax matters, so can you tell me how does this policy prioritize the well-being of our

[01:33:14] students thank you for listening ritha kareem gott jones i'm the director of fairfax matters foundation a non-profit civic organization founded by your constituents and composed of more than

[01:33:48] 1500 families from across fairfax county we've existed for exactly one month as of tonight and we are just beginning we are families advocating for children transparency and safety in all matters affecting the education and success of all students throughout the county this is our purpose and it is our name. We seek the opportunity to work with the school board to enhance the quality of education for all students. However, we also recognize the inherent danger of policies that are created by, as Dr. Riccardi Anderson stated, laypersons in the absence of data and

[01:34:25] community input. We are asking you to table any vote on 8130 until after you've completed studies, conducted meaningful community engagement. Although fighting this board is the last thing we want, we have left or you have left us little choice as members of this board have openly stated they hear what we want but they know better and will proceed anyway as you listen to the individual members of our organization who represent the community you serve i would ask that you reflect on whether or not your decision to move forward with 8130 is that of an elected representative

[01:35:01] or something else entirely we do not want this to be an acrimonious situation but if the board decides to enact 8130 without information and input as currently planned the community is prepared to take all available steps necessary to defend the children and communities that make fairfax county one of the greatest places to live in america so i ask this of you will you listen

[01:35:27] to your constituents and table the discussion and vote on 8130. thank you george becerra edith Patricia Solarte. Fairfax matters. So what are the facts in this effort? What problem are we trying to fix through the policy change? The board members have

[01:36:07] cited issues with over or under crowding in schools, transportation costs, or transportation times. However, all of these problems can be addressed in the current version of policy 8130. And yet, rather than addressing the disparities in underperforming schools, than helping the influx of immigrants brought into the county or focusing this board's efforts on any other problem we are focused on changing a boundary policy. So what problem is the school board trying to address by adopting a new policy? The board has cited that the

[01:36:42] boundary policy at 13 years old is too old to allow them to do their work. The US Constitution was written nearly 237 years ago and the amendments added to it have only given protections to the people not authority to the government good policies do not need to be rewritten because when they are based on facts they stand the test of time this board has not provided any facts to support the need to change this policy they have told news outlets that they might change it due to state requirements but there are no laws that mandate that

[01:37:20] they give themselves broader authority to move students no laws to require them to remove protections from boundary policies and no laws that require them to mandate boundary changes every five years so please tell us what is the problem these new policies seeks to address thank you for listening Richard

[01:37:50] Solano thank you you want a noches my name is Rick Solano I am a FCPS parent I have two daughters in a system and I ran our PTA a couple years ago none of the adults in this room have experienced the childhood educational and social disruption on a global scale that our children had to endure during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[01:38:17] I know it's difficult to walk a mile in another person's shoes, so I want to share three hard statistics that should horrify you as they did me. First, a Harvard Graduate School of Education study found that U.S. public school students in grades three through eight lost the equivalent of a half year of learning in math and a quarter year in reading. This decline was uniform across different demographics affecting all groups regardless of income or race second a study published in the lancet found a step change increase of over 25 percent in anxiety and

[01:38:51] depression among children and adolescents during the covid19 pandemic and third a study by the world economic forum found that teachers observed a 30 increase in socialization issues such as sharing group interactions and conflict resolution among young students post lockdown which contributed to a 26 year-over-year increase in teacher retirements our children don't need a new 8130 policy that ignores the impact of boundary changes on our students and families

[01:39:26] and introduces systematic disruption our children are challenged in schools our children in challenge schools need our collective investment in their communities and schools to lift them up to world class standards but most importantly and fundamentally they need stability after what they have lived

[01:39:49] through thank you jennifer falcone good evening the great fall citizens association is a community organization with more than 50 years of advocacy within fairfax county chartered to promote all aspects of community interest accruing to a common good GFCA supports a community based

[01:40:24] approach in solving the complex problems confronting our school administrators draft policy 8130.8 and the unpredictable future it creates will contribute to uncertainty in our student community and create stress for students and parents alike changing boundaries should be the last effort Shifts in districts should be substantiated on a fully transparent data driven basis requiring a complete boundary study every five years undermines the principle of community based

[01:41:02] schools boundary adjustments will also impact parents and students investments in and feelings of memberships in a community parental and community involvement are the cornerstones of thriving school environment students and parents alike need stability not the uncertainty of draft policy 8130 and what it promises the strength and quality of our school system is a significant factor attracting people to Fairfax County and the primary consideration

[01:41:38] for families with children and those that plan to establish their families here policy 81 30.8 threatens that appeal as community school schools disintegrate through a process of continuous boundary changes and instability so too will the will the allure that brings in new families once again gfca respectfully asks the board to pause its action and create more opportunity

[01:42:06] for community engagement throughout the entire cheryl binkley good evening board and dr reed nice to see you all i have read the proposed changes to policy 8130 and find them cogent and well considered the triggers for higher levels of 15 for public input and increased scrutiny seems to me an appropriate figure and every five years to take a look at our demographics is not

[01:42:45] too often i'm most concerned about the need to quickly address the next phases of what has become inconsistent student assignment and extreme overcrowding. The National Center for Education Statistics has told us the negative results of overcrowding directly affect students. Effects like noise, distractions, lack of adequate bathroom access, crowded class sizes, lack of space for new programs, unnecessarily long commutes, and increased maintenance and wear and tear on facilities that decrease learning and lower graduation rates and shorten

[01:43:23] building lifespans are what Fairfax County is experiencing across the county in many locations right now. Teachers at my nearby middle school and high school tell me that in my neighborhood behavior management and attendance are both negatively impacted by overcrowding so it would be wonderful if we had the money and fast systems to build our way out of this we don't and we can't rebalancing our attendance zones is one of our few readily available tools please

[01:43:58] don't wait don't equivocate move forward with all due speed to provide some to relief to our overcrowded schools and our long-riding students who often pass schools on their way to their school. While we discuss they are waiting. Thank you. And my kids went to sixth grade in middle school and did great. Wei-Chan Wei.

[01:44:32] My name is Hui-Chan He. Fairfax matters, but where are the facts on what this policy actually means? The new policy says boundary changes can be made to provide equitable access to programs and facilities, but when we ask the board members to define what this means, to explain how it will be measured, and to help us understand

[01:45:04] what programs will be prioritized. They have said, I do not know. Immigrant families make up a large part of our community, and we all share a common reason for coming to America, a better life for our children. Whether we are in Springfield, Herndon, or Gray Falls, we all choose where we live based on our priorities in educational opportunities for our children as well as the community that surrounds our children under 8130 we fear that frequent boundary changes

[01:45:44] will disrupt our kids friendships and stability without understanding how the board is improving their education there is a lack of transparency in this policy and a lack of understanding by the board of what this policy means, what authorities it gives, and how it will be implemented.

[01:46:08] When your own board members cannot answer simple questions about the impacts and powers this policy provides, why are you moving forward to enact the new policy 8130? 8130 will give the board a hammer to break down boundary lines, but we don't understand what you are building, only what you can destroy jenna white good evening and thank you for your hard work on boundary

[01:46:47] policy 8130 it's much needed and i fully support it but tonight i'm here to ask you to vote yes for the glasgow boundary change i've been fcps parent since 2005 the whole time as a proud mason district family we spent six years at glasgow middle school for four of those years i was a pta vice president the other two active committee member and volunteer so he spent a lot of time in the building it was too big even back then even more so today it's just too big it's that simple

[01:47:21] as you know glasgow has over 1700 students your own policy recommends a maximum of 1350 students in a middle school this is too many people too many adults too many students too many families too much infrastructure equipment supplies programs you name it it's too much for a middle school it's too big then add to that our unique population 63 percent free and reduced lunch you hear so many numbers all day long but think about 63 percent what that means and what that looks like in one

[01:47:56] school there's a huge concentration of need a pulsing intensity at this school we have enough challenges at 63% free and reduced lunch without this oversized enrollment and you can imagine the barriers for these families to do something like this get here tonight and wait a couple hours to talk to you for two minutes so i hope to speak for those families who cannot come here and do this tonight this problem can be addressed boundaries are complicated but our community wants this

[01:48:29] we need this this can be alleviated please do not wait for 8130 to proceed we need this right now the entire mason district community wants it we have new communities being built new apartments coming in we cannot keep pushing this down the road thank you jennifer kudru hi members of the board my name is jennifer kudru i'm a constituent of yours i live in great falls um and i believe

[01:49:07] that fairfax matters since i learned about policy 8130 i've been engaged to the fullest extent possible attending your school board meetings your governance meetings where i've heard several of you express that you value and seek community engagement and public engagement on this important issue miss seismar heiser you mentioned to fairfax now that you wanted to gather community feedback whether from experts or otherwise and have that information mr mcdaniel you said during a board meeting that the community should have a seat at the table i believe you i thank you but but respectfully we feel there has not been genuine or meaningful engagement or opportunity for our input on 8130.

[01:49:45] Despite the community calling out for objective, qualitative and quantitative data, there has to date been no evidence that we have seen to support such an incredibly impactful policy change. The MGT consulting report is the only study on which this board is relying that we are aware of and based on any metric of evidence-based decision-making, the methodology is problematic.

[01:50:07] I urge you to look again at the survey questions that were sent to the parents. They're not clearly written. They make assumptions. They're leading in nature. They're not collecting quantitative data from parents and constituents. The MGT consulting report itself emphasized the need for transparency and clarity, yet there has been none.

[01:50:28] It presented recommendations that were not supported by the responses they received from the surveys to the communities. I want to make one statement. We're not against boundary adjustments across the board or questioning your authority to do so. needed as we've heard perhaps at Glasgow it is needed but as the previous speaker stated 8130 is not required in order to make that change when needed. Fairfax Matter has published an open letter to the school board it's being published and being in the process of being sent out and we ask you to read this letter and consider tabling the vote on 8130 until you can answer

[01:51:01] the questions that we have presented. Thank you. Tamer Abdelwab Fairfax Matter and our children matters most my son kareem provided the first statement to the board tonight and i'm so proud of the courage he showed in preparing and speaking in this forum this courage is a product of the

[01:51:39] community he has grown in and the education system he has learned in every student every child in fairfax county deserve to have the same opportunity to be invested in and uplifted by the communities they live in the communities that represents the schools they attend this is a hallmark of the american dream education based in communities with shared values that give children the ability to have a better life and a greater opportunity than their parents.

[01:52:04] This is why my wife and I are here. This is why so many immigrants live in Fairfax County. We wanted to give our future, the future of this county and this country, a better life. Students should be at the forefront of the discussion on policy changes and of the decisions this board and our community makes.

[01:52:21] Students should be the priority of which paths we take in solving problems. Are our choices based on what's best for them or what's easiest for the board? Do our choices provide for better opportunities, better access to education, better future for our students? Are our decisions ones that will contribute to the long-term success of the students, or are they short-term solutions that provide temporary fixes?

[01:52:43] Are we creating stability in their life, contributing to their success, or do decisions such as the new 8130 create instability and anxiety? Everyone recognizes the complexity of the problems this board must solve, and communities of this county are prepared to work with the board to solve these problems for our students and for our collective future.

[01:53:05] Will this board join us in this effort? Will you place the future of all students above this current ambition and work with your community to solve the problems facing our schools? Thank you.

[01:53:26] - Yi Ping Pan. - Hi, my name is Yi Ping Pan. Before I input my requirement for any general school policy, I would like to point out my base principles. First of all, I respect the differences.

[01:53:43] Secondly, I believe every student should be given equal opportunity and equal protection, but I oppose equal resolve. I support immediate action to reduce overclouding problems in some schools with the principle not to hurt other students at the same time as much as possible.

[01:54:01] Thirdly, school is the most important fact for majority parents to buy a house. School change will affect house price. For most homeowners, the house is also their biggest financial asset. So when you, the selected school boarders, make any new policy or policy change, please consider the following requirements.

[01:54:23] Number one, transparent. Be transparent on why, how unaccountable. For example, be transparent on the reason why the McLean High School were overclouded. Why was not solved before. What can be done with current authority or policy tools?

[01:54:40] What are the reasons for the action, but not that, the other choice. Any policy or action needed to be accountable. There should be a transparent way to check the results, to have a future policy bet, or to be correct, bad policy quickly. All goals, research, methodology, facts, data, results needed to be transparent.

[01:55:02] Secondly, student first, equal opportunity and protection. Act quickly on those students in overparted schools. Ask whether they want to move, ask other students too. Students first, count every student. Number three, efficient and long-term.

[01:55:19] In long-term, school overcapacity should be solved by local government when new home construction is rebuilt and closed. Keep what made FFS for good today. Solve the new problem quickly and efficiently, little by little. A black-check 8-3-30-so-powerful policy is more like one in socialism and communist country.

[01:55:43] Please be careful and sure to blend in such products. - Willow Walkie.

[01:56:01] - Board members, Dr. Reed, thank you for being here tonight. My name is Willow Walkie, she/her/hers. Dranesville appointed to the Family Life Education Curriculum Advisory Committee, or FLEACAC. I'm a proud parent of four FCPS grads and grandparent of two possible future FCPS students.

[01:56:20] I'm also the president of TGA and the board of FCPS Pride. CLICK HACK has taught me so much about the diverse community of FCPS, about how student questions are submitted via a note card, handed out at the start of class and collected at the end, alleviating the fears of students.

[01:56:41] The committee gets a set of topics that we're going to address each year. We meet monthly, get research from the staff, do our own research, and come prepared to discuss. The chair and my favorite parliamentarian try to keep us on track.

[01:56:57] We have long discussions on the wording and nuance of the curriculum, reviewing videos for the curriculum to see how appropriate they are. The experience of the members is evident in every interaction.

[01:57:13] Recently we worked on how to get consent and boundaries into the lessons in a modern understandable way. The way kids talk about relationships today is very different from when my wife and I dated in the 80s. After all this wrangling over wording and nuance, the FLECAC staff generates a report, delivers it to the school board, and it goes out for public comment, which is not a survey.

[01:57:40] It is a comment period and is more accurately called an open access poll. Anyone can post as many times as they want. It's not a statistically accurate sample. It's how internet polls get ships named Boaty McBoatface. The people who do this work are dedicated to doing the best they can for all students, especially the most marginalized.

[01:57:59] It has been an honor to be on FLECAC and it is honored to work with everyone on that committee. Thank you. Mike Byrne Fairfax matters I'd like to highlight four specific concerns with the proposed revisions to policy 8130 first school boundary adjustments are a short-term tool that will not address the underlying causes of odor overcrowding in our schools I am concerned the school board seems unwilling to meaningfully consider alternative approaches

[01:58:33] That are more likely to yield long-term results such as overhauling the process for approving school renovations and building new schools Boundary adjustments will exacerbate the problem by shifting capacity concerns from one school to another. Second, I have ongoing questions about the data that the school board is relying upon to justify potential boundary adjustments.

[01:58:53] For example, the annual CIP identifies the factors used to prepare student enrollment projections, but the school board does not explain how it calculates projected school membership based on those factors. It is critical that the school board provide full transparency into these calculations and underlying data before proceeding with revisions to policy 8130 or introducing specific boundary adjustment proposals third there is reason to believe that the school board CIP projections may not be accurate undermining one of the primary rationales for boundary adjustments and raising the possibility that future boundary adjustments will create follow

[01:59:28] on capacity problems in other schools lastly I am deeply concerned that the school board and the superintendent are unwilling to provide any transparency into how the revised policy would be implemented. For example, what capacity utilization thresholds will the school board and the superintendent use to determine that boundary adjustments are needed?

[01:59:49] How will the superintendent determine which programs should be prioritized in order to provide equitable access? There is no reason why the superintendent cannot or should not provide detail and transparency regarding implementation now or the school board considers adopting revisions to policy 8.1.30.

[02:00:07] The school board should pause its work to revise the policy and focus on providing critical transparency thank you chair fish that was our 13th speaker so that was our last public speaker thank you at this time the board will take a brief recess for about five minutes

[02:08:39] board members please return to your seats board members please return to your seats she will be

[02:15:38] all right we will go ahead and get started again agenda item 4.01 student representative matters

[02:16:14] i call for the very first time on miss swan welcome to the board thank you good evening everyone. First I would like to say that it's an honor to be here today. Thank you to the Superintendent's Advisory Council for electing and trusting me with this role to best advocate for the proposals and incredible work that they do each month representing over 180,000 students. I'd also like to thank Rita who couldn't be with us tonight, our previous student representative, for the impactful change she initiated during her term and for welcoming me into this role along with several other members of the school board. My name is Megan Sawant. I'm a

[02:16:50] a rising senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, and I'm excited to serve as your 54th student representative to the school board for the 2024 to 2025 school year. One of my primary goals for this year, which I emphasized deeply during the election process, is to increase student engagement with board decisions and create two-way communication between the students and the board. It's not just about bringing student voices to the table, but taking the board's decisions made at this table back to the students. My voice and my role don't serve their purpose without the collective student voice and hearing the important backgrounds they have and for the student voice to be effective it's

[02:17:28] crucial that they know what happens at the school board and understand the thought process behind the decisions made to distribute this information to students effectively we need to find the right platforms whether that be updates through homeroom or the college and career specialists or the superintendent advisory council representatives from each school or recapping the board meetings and spreading upcoming opportunities in FCPS through social media which I hope to take a lead on this year and in fact through the college and career specialists application for student representatives to eight of the citizen advisory committees were sent out during the first week of June and closed on June 30th and I'm pleased to report that we

[02:18:05] had nearly 50 applications reading these students passionate responses about their experiences has been so inspiring and fills me with confidence that the perspective that selected members will bring will bring new things to the table And I think this truly highlights the student initiative within FCPS, and I'm excited to begin interviews next week and proceed with the selection process to be completed before school starts.

[02:18:30] Moreover, it's not just about representing the student voice, but also about understanding the diverse experiences of students across our county and its six regions. What one student experiences at one high school in one region can be vastly different from what another student experiences in a different region.

[02:18:46] The needs of a student who participates in a lot of CTE classes as compared to someone who's involved in student government, as compared to someone who's really into athletics or activities is different. And on top of that, four years post-pandemic, students still continue to face learning gaps and social gaps that manifest in different situations across the region.

[02:19:07] And so when it comes to finding resources or plans to address these specific needs, I I strongly believe that FCPS already has a multitude of resources, like Hazel Health for mental health services, Tutor.com for extra help in addition to classroom instruction, Coursera Career Academy to earn certifications that have evolved to meet students' needs.

[02:19:26] The list goes on, but we need to focus on how to effectively distribute them to the regions that need them and teach students and teachers how to use these tools in their classroom. This is how we address the Universal Design for Learning and Strategic Plan Goal 4, focused on making sure that each student has access to high-quality academic programming and resources regardless of what region they attend school in.

[02:19:48] Speaking on the strategic plan, just a couple weeks ago I was invited to attend and speak at the first ever FCPS Innovated Symposium at Herndon High School for secondary teachers focusing on strategic plan goal 5 about innovating novel solutions to engage students and ensure that every student graduates equipped with the skills to succeed after high school.

[02:20:08] It was an enlightening experience to listen to the different lesson plans teachers used to engage students from the Global Classroom Project to work-based learning for students with disabilities. One program that I especially liked was by a speech therapist at Lake Braddock Secondary School who implemented peer mentorship groups to incorporate students with IEPs and 504s into a social setting.

[02:20:29] This event is a perfect example of helping to spread the word of resources in FCPS and showing how different teachers use them and i look forward to see how this event grows in upcoming years and maybe even expand so that students can attend and really learn about what teachers are doing across the county i've attached a link for resources for the innovative event in board docs if you would like to learn more about the teachers uh the programs that teachers have developed i'm thrilled to work with the several stakeholders in fcps this year and what this next year holds i know i'm ambitious but this is just the beginning thank you thank you and welcome again

[02:21:03] agenda item 5.01 action items certification of closed meeting compliance since we have to return to closed meeting after our regular meeting we will come back and do this later this evening agenda item 5.02 action item confirmation of action taken in closed meeting i call on miss st john cunning for a motion i move to deny the school reassignment appeal of a student who assaulted another student and caused serious injury and to confirm the disciplinary decision

[02:21:37] OF THE DIVISION SUPERINTENDENT. IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND. MR. MOON. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, MS. SEISMOUR-HEISER, MR. MCDANIEL, MR. MCELVEINE, MS. ST. JOHN CUNNING, MS. ANDERSON, MR. DUNN, DR. ANDERSON, MS. MARIN, MS. DIXET, MR. MOON, MS. LADY AND MYSELF, THAT IS UNANIMOUS.

[02:22:00] AGENDA ITEM 5.03, ACTION ITEM FINANCIAL YEAR 2025 RISK ASSESSMENT AND AUDIT TOPICS. I call on Mr. Mackelveen, the audit chair. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[02:22:18] I move that the school board approved the FY 2025 risk assessment and audit topics plan as detailed in agenda item on board docs. Is there a second? I second. Ms. St. John Cunning. Mr. Mackelveen, would you like to speak to your motion?

[02:22:35] Just very briefly, the board has had numerous opportunities and work sessions and other places to discuss our FY 2025 risk assessment and audit topics plan. It incorporates um important topics uh to the system uh as you know all board members um as well as our audit committee members had the opportunity to to submit ideas we came up with a list of 40 to 50 topics we narrowed that down um and i think we have a good list now um so um look forward to this passing tonight thank you thank you mr mckelveen uh miss st john cunning would you like to speak to your

[02:23:11] second i concur with mr mckelveen i appreciate the input of all the board members to get to this to the the subjects and topics that we are now approving thank you miss st john cunning seeing no others we will go ahead and have a vote on the motion all those in favor of the motion on the screen ms seismorheiser mr mcdaniel mr mclovine miss st john cunning miss anderson mr dunn dr anderson miss marron miss dixit mr moon miss lady and myself that is unanimous congratulations agenda

[02:23:44] item 6.01 performance review assess excuse me asset protection EL2 monitoring report I call on Dr. Reed for a monitoring report on executive limitation two emergency superintendent succession all right thank you chairman Frisch this is a fairly straightforward executive

[02:24:13] limitation and it again identifies the expectation that I name a successor should I be unavailable to exercise these duties. And having so done, I've designated our chief of staff, Marty Smith, to assume those responsibilities in the event I suddenly and unexpectedly lose the capacity to serve as the superintendent. One of the things to prepare Mr. Smith for this is making sure that

[02:24:47] both he and I are aware of our strategic plan goals and plans. And also both of us sit in on senior leadership team and Mr. Smith is aware of any plans that are upcoming so that there's never any doubt as to where we're headed should something unexpected occur he's quite familiar with the board policies regulations and our governance manual which includes the process we're going through this evening so he's also familiar with our strategic plan and the priorities

[02:25:20] of the division so um this would be my executive limitation two presentation and be happy to take any questions thank you dr reed mr dunn um thank you uh uh dr reed um i believe that um with respect to this el that i i would find uh that you're not in compliance because i believe that we have many seasoned leaders but i don't know who other than marty smith as a short term for emergencies

[02:25:59] i don't know who the long-term successor is and this is a matter i've raised but i wanted to raise it again i believe that you should have a deputy someone who you are training as your obvious successor because you have established a great vision you've established plans through 2030 but there's a lot of years between now and 2030 and in the event you become incapacitated for whatever reason um i believe there should be someone within fcps within our four walls who can serve as your obvious successor to implement your vision through to completion

[02:26:36] and and so for that um i believe uh that i i don't know who that person is today um And I believe it should be something that is part of organizational planning, succession planning for FCPS.

[02:26:52] For a system of our size with a talented cadre of executives, we should know not just on a short-term basis for a day or two, but over a longer term, who could serve in that position. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Dunn.

[02:27:08] Mr. McDaniel. I appreciate that, you know, we could potentially set up a designated survivor system, but that might be a little overkill here. The only question I did have, a question and a comment that may follow a question, a scenario for you, because I'm a pilot.

[02:27:34] Of course you are. You didn't know that, did you? I knew that. What if you and Mr. Smith are on the same airplane going to a conference and something occurs? So we never travel on the same plane.

[02:27:52] Well, I mean, if we were just in Boston this week, the senior leadership team, as you know, and I flew back this morning to be here, and Mr. Smith is still there with the team. Okay, good answer. Thank you. And a comment. I would presume that if, you know, this is a true emergency succession.

[02:28:12] So if there is a long-term, not a temporary, but a long-term incapacitation, God forbid, that this board would then come back and put a permanent or acting superintendent in place as part of a normal course of business. Is that a fair comment?

[02:28:30] That would be up to the board. So we would have that authority to do that. Nothing prevents us from calling an emergency meeting and handling it. That's correct. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. McDaniel. Ms. Dixit. Dr. Reed, obviously we don't want anything to happen to you.

[02:28:49] and especially till 2030 so our tragic plan is implemented. Risk is every day in our lives and it's not just a plane crash or things like that but it's also driving such as going to one place to other and being as busy you are and how much time you spend on the road and also talking, You know speaking and taking a lot of matters all the day We we feel you're one of the risk But will be while you have sure have a designated driver or somebody who can take you around

[02:29:28] That's something I've been mentioning and thinking but I would really like the support to You know take that as a note. Thank you. Mystics it. Miss Marin. Yes. Thank you for explaining that the successor It seems interim as needed would know the strategic plan. But what about operations?

[02:29:52] How is it? I'm concerned that every day who's going to know, you know, the buses are out. I know we have our leadership. Maybe you can just explain that more. I want to be sure that school's opening and everything's happening every day. So essentially we have a senior leadership team that's made up.

[02:30:10] As you know, I have flattened the leadership structure so that we have a number of chiefs of really specific operations that come right to the superintendent in terms of reporting immediately to the superintendent I think that's created some real efficiencies and it's been able us enabling us to move more quickly on a number of topics than we've previously been able to mr. Smith is the chief of staff is keenly aware of all those operations and is also keenly aware of those day-to-day workings whether it's transportation and as you know we run

[02:30:45] one of the largest transportation systems in the country at over 1600 routes every day really rivaling greyhound we also serve more food more lunches mr muix here and we have a tremendous senior very talented senior leadership team so between transportation our security mr vaccarello is here our chief safety and security officer there's a tremendous operational impact each and every day 24 7 quite honestly so we keep a rhythm of text in terms of weather and operations around

[02:31:22] opening and transportation as you know because i forward you emergent information as it occurs there's a very defined process for addressing emergent situations and people know their roles and we've acted on those and provided that information to you as a ward when necessary okay thank you thank you miss marin uh mr moon thank you mr chairman uh you know dr reed i have a tremendous tremendous respect for you and and i pray that nothing happens to you but one great

[02:31:58] witness on your part is you don't take a break you need to take from time to time you need to learn to relax and take a true break and rest and and in those instances i hope that that will happen you know from this point and on from time to time because we all need some rest that that mr marty smith while you are taking a break will be able to perform your job i have i i have much

[02:32:35] you know not only do i have much respect for mr marty smith as well but you know he has a requisite experiences both you know instructional side and an operational aspect of the school system he's been with the school system for you know decades and he's very well capable of performing uh you know his duties as someone in your place while you are taking a break but you know having said that i also want to echo the comment made by my colleague cma dixit about you needing to have because you visit many schools and you go from event to event and and meetings to meetings you

[02:33:14] know your your time is precious and I would love to see somebody else other than you actually driving the car when you are traveling from place to place so that perhaps in your car if you're not taking a rest preparing for the next meeting you can even make a phone call to school board members and do other things I think again I think that's uh money well spent investment that is I I think that's all we need.

[02:33:42] Thank you both for the feedback. Thank you, Mr. Moon. Dr. Anderson. Just two quick comments. One, I do want to point out that Mr. Smith in his former role, before he became chief of staff, was the supervisor of the biggest departments that we have here.

[02:34:04] He was over HR, over the finance department. He had been the supervisor to Ms. Burden. HE HAD BEEN THE SUPERVISOR TO THE FACILITIES ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT. HE HAD BEEN THE SUPERVISOR TO SAFETY AND SECURITY.

[02:34:20] SO I'M VERY CONFIDENT IN HIS DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF THE ORGANIZATION TO KEEP THOSE TRAINS RUNNING. AND SO I THINK HE'S AN APPROPRIATE CHOICE. REGARDING SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS, I TRUST THAT YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL AND ADULT PERSON.

[02:34:36] YOU CAN DECIDE, YOU KNOW, YOUR BREAKS AND YOUR DRIVING HABITS. So what you want to do with those is up to you. But I think this is a good and appropriate choice. Thank you. Thank you. And I do agree. Mr. Smith's had a tremendous amount of experience, both in the division and is asked often to mentor leaders outside the division.

[02:34:57] Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Mr. McElveen. Thank you. So I just I would disagree with Mr. Moon. I think you look relatively well rested tonight. Hopefully the lower temperatures in Boston probably helped. We've been dying down here this week, but I do want to follow up on Mr.

[02:35:17] Dunn's line of questioning about deputy superintendent. And I think I'm at a disadvantage. A number of the new members of the board are disadvantaged because we weren't here as part of the conversation about the reorg. So is there eventually an intent to bring on a deputy?

[02:35:33] And if not, why not? I don't have an intention to do that. There's a great deal of research that talks about the flattening leadership structures and particularly large organizations and I I spent a lot of time also speaking with dr. Ivy who was our prior deputy superintendent who was fabulous and felt that there were so many things that got added that really her ability to primarily focus for example on the regions and the schools sometimes got lost and that focus is so critical the ability to have a flat

[02:36:12] senior leadership team where in this case we moved to a chief of schools where that dr. Ponce his role then is simply and simply not being simple but to have a laser focus on all of the regions and the schools and not 50 other duties as a sign which then became very difficult to manage so what we're trying to do is make sure that within each chief role there's a very clearly defined expectation and role and that that work then rises weekly for all of us to discuss in terms of a portfolio management

[02:36:50] plan so that we're able to move the division in the direction we know we need to move it the deputy i think to mr dunn's point um if that's um you know at some point that's you know some divisions utilize that role for different reasons in this case right now for our needs I'm not planning to add another senior leadership role of that nature at this time thanks that's helpful I mean just you know and mr. moon has the greatest longevity here but we to my knowledge we've always had a deputy so it's it is a change for the system so thank you for explaining it also in some

[02:37:27] ways enables more senior leaders to really I think have an opportunity to have a leadership role that is more expansive for the three days mr. Smith and I were in Boston of course we're on the ground email and phone accessible at any time dr. Ponce was here who also has a superintendent credential right on site so with a flat leadership structure not unlike a flat board there's an opportunity for a number of leaders we have dr. King dr. Ponce dr. Presidio

[02:38:02] um mr smith all of whom have a superintendent credential um and all of whom i think want to flex those muscles at different times and several of whom want to be superintendents so i just think it's a great opportunity to have a lot of opportunity for our senior leaders thank you mr mckelveen uh miss st john cunning um so i i just want to say that i do believe you're meeting this executive limitation because my understanding and as as i read this is that it is for an

[02:38:37] emergency situation. And God forbid anything happens we there is a plan for that emergency situation depending on what the situation would be. I would assume that as a board then we take the next steps to either you know start looking for a new superintendent or appointing someone from the leadership team. But I don't think this is a succession plan in terms of long-term succession. It's an emergency situation. And so in that sense I think this is completely the limited your executive limitation you're meeting it and I do

[02:39:15] think that the way you have flattened the leadership team and the leadership leadership team members that I've worked with are more than competent and more than able to step up and run their respective departments I think you've done a good job to where not that this is gonna sound good but you've done a good job to where if you're not there they're gonna keep the show running and And I think that that's, no, but that's an important role of leadership to not, if it's just you and nobody else knows what they're doing, then we're in trouble.

[02:39:48] And you've left us in a situation that if there is an emergency and, you know, Marty Smith is there, then that's perfect. But then the rest of the leadership team, they're running their ships, they're part of the ships, and I think it'll be smooth running. AND I COMMEND YOU FOR THAT, BECAUSE BUILDING LEADERS IS SOMETHING THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT AND NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE GOOD AT THAT, SO THANK YOU FOR THAT.

[02:40:11] THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MS. ST. JUNE CUNNING. SEEING NO OTHERS, I WILL CALL ON DR. ANDERSON FOR A MOTION. I MOVE THAT THE SCHOOL BOARD FIND THE SUPERINTENDENT IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH EXECUTIVE LIMITATION NUMBER TWO, WHICH IS THE EMERGENCY SUPERINTENDENT SUCCESSION.

[02:40:31] I FURTHER MOVE THAT THE SCHOOL BOARD APPROVE THE MONITORING REPORT BASED ON THE SUPERINTENDENT'S REASONABLE INTERPRETATION OF EXECUTIVE LIMITATION NUMBER TWO, two emergency superintendent's session as outlined in the strategic governance manual is there a second second mr. moon dr. Anderson would you like to speak to your motion at length no this is fine we've covered it we have somebody to take care of the organization when there is an emergency thank you mr. moon would you like to speak to your second I second dr. Anderson thank

[02:41:09] you. Seeing no others, we will go ahead and take a vote for the motion. All those in favor, Ms. Seismar-Hyser, Mr. McDaniel, Mr. McElveen, Ms. St. John Cunning, Ms. Anderson, Dr. Anderson, Ms. Marin, Ms. Dixit, Mr. Moon, Ms. Lady, and myself. All those opposed, Mr. Dunn, abstentions?

[02:41:31] Will the clerk read the vote? The vote is 11-1. The motion carries. Thank you. All right. At this time the board will take a few moments to document their individual feedback on the monitoring report school or members may complete the hard copy found at their dais seat or the online version linked in the meeting script if you have any issues accessing the form please contact the clerk it'll be a very brief

[02:42:03] moment board members need more time they can work with the clerks to ensure

[02:42:40] that their forms are received agenda item 7.01 policy review emergency superintendent succession el2 the next order of business is the policy review for executive limitation to emergency superintendent succession el2 annually the board will review each of the 13 executive limitations at the time the monitoring report is provided to determine if any revisions are needed moving forward the board may also review any of the executive limitations at any time a change is needed at this time board members may provide comments on executive limitation to emergency superintendent succession to determine

[02:43:17] if any revisions are needed this time board members may suggest revisions although again they can suggest them at any time seeing none if there are no further comments or discussion I call on miss Sizemore Heiser for a motion I move that the school board maintains executive limitation to emergency superintendent succession as it is currently detailed in the strategic governance manual is there a second yes mr. Dunn I will call for a vote for the motion oh other board members who would like to speak on this seeing none I will

[02:43:52] call for a vote on the motion which is on the screen. All those in favor, Ms. Seismar-Hyser, Mr. McDaniel, Mr. McElveen, Ms. St. John Cunning, Ms. Anderson, Mr. Dunn, Dr. Anderson, Ms. Marin, Ms. Dixit, Mr. Moon, Ms. Lady, and myself. That is unanimous. Agenda item 8.01, Superintendent Matters. I call on Dr. Reed for Superintendent Matters. Thank you, Mr. Frisch.

[02:44:16] I'm really excited about next week. Not that tonight isn't exciting, but next week we are having our leadership kickoff which means that all of our principals and all leaders in the division will be gathering Monday we have our regional kickoffs and looking forward to our regional assistant superintendents as they lead their teams and Tuesday we kick off the entire division leadership team so a lot of activity next week and our strategic plan as you know continues to be our North Star. I want to also welcome Ms. Sawant to the school board, our student

[02:44:55] board member, and look forward to having an opportunity to sit down and visit with you in the coming weeks. We also had a delegation from the Seoul National University of Education visit recently. Mr. Moon and I and Dr. Tyson had a chance to sit down and visit as we learned a little more about the work preparing educators and we're going to be doing um not really an exchange per se but they're going to be doing a visit with um educators uh later this year to schools here in Fairfax County in Region 1 and just really excited about that possibility. I also

[02:45:34] want to mention that this week we started our summer programming and we have 34,827 students enrolled in all of our summer learning programs so schools are actually quite busy right now we're hoping things cool off a little bit so we can get back to some outdoor activities but we do have a lot going on with bridge to kindergarten extended school year camp credit recovery and other enrichment activities and then I have a personal fan favorite I just really want to call out our safe routes to schools mr. Sheldon who Andrew Sheldon who put together a puzzle hunt

[02:46:12] all across Fairfax County and we've had thousands and thousands of families participate but it's a great way to get outdoors when it's not 105 to visit our parks and learn a little bit about all the trails that are out there and just really a lot of excitement so that will be superintendent matters this evening mr. Frisch thank you dr. Reed agenda item 8.02 collective bargaining update I call on Dr. Reed for a collective bargaining update presentation.

[02:46:55] All right. Thank you, Mr. Frisch, and thank you, Kevin. So this evening, I think it's appropriate as we walk through some information for our community and our staff and on this topic, really, that's dawning here for us here in Fairfax County Public School.

[02:47:21] So I'm going to take an opportunity this evening to share an overview on where we are with collective bargaining here in the division, where we've been in terms of our timeline and where we're headed moving forward. So I'd like to share this graphic.

[02:47:37] And again, for those watching from home, this is posted to the board docs agenda. But I want to remind folks that in the spring of 2020, which is really interesting, a lot of things were occurring at that time, and one of those was that the General Assembly here in the Commonwealth of Virginia granted permission for collective bargaining in the public sector.

[02:47:59] So, at that time, the school board here in Fairfax County initiated sort of an action which really was a work group that included 18 employee associations and division leadership to explore what collective bargaining could look like here in Fairfax County Public Schools.

[02:48:20] So, there was a draft collective bargaining resolution that was unanimously supported by the work group, and it was really a collaborative process. And I also want to call out Mr. Smith, who's not here this evening, who played a large, large role in this work in terms of bringing that group together and heading up really, I think, enormously powerful collaborative conversations.

[02:48:47] I also want to thank our association leadership of our 18 groups, because it takes a tremendous amount of effort to come to agreement. It's most interesting, honestly, I recently had a chance to hear from Senator Warner on a variety of topics actually a week ago.

[02:49:04] And one of the things he shared is one of the most critical job skills in the industry right now that people are looking for are employees that can get to yes, that have the ability to compromise.

[02:49:15] AND I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS MR. SMITH REALLY MODELED HERE WAS THE ABILITY TO BRING VERY DIVERGENT OPINIONS AND PERSPECTIVES TOGETHER TO CREATE SOMETHING WE HOPE WILL POSITIVELY IMPACT OUR FAIRFACS COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS MOVING FORWARD I WANT TO SHARE THAT THE SCHOOL BOARD APPROVED THE RESOLUTION THAT WAS BROUGHT TOGETHER IN MARCH OF 2023 AND THIS THEN BEGAN THE NEXT SEGMENT OF OUR WORK ON MAY 1 OF 2024

[02:49:46] Fairfax education unions known as FEU petitioned for elections. There were 27,534 eligible employees who were issued secret ballots as a part of this election. 10,899 of those employees voted which equals 39.5 percent of all eligible employees and on June 10th the election resulted in FEU receiving majority support for the representation for licensed instructional and operational

[02:50:20] bargaining units this is a big step as we look then at the bargaining unit composition this licensed instructional group these are some examples again on the left side of worker workers or staff that would be included in the licensed instructional and the operational groups and so So there are a number of different job titles that are listed here, but these are not exhaustive.

[02:50:52] There are more titles. These are examples that are provided at this time. I want to share the vote tally for the instructional unit again. These are the percentages and the raw numbers, and we did review these with association leadership as well as those monitoring and supporting the election process.

[02:51:20] In the licensed instructional bargaining unit, 48.3% of our eligible employees cast a vote, and of those employees who voted, 96.9% were in favor of representation. I want to move to the vote tally then for the operational unit, and in this case for For our operational unit staff, 26.3 percent of eligible voters cast a vote, and of those who voted, 80.7 percent were in favor of representation.

[02:51:58] So in terms of the election status, I think it's important to note that the electoral ballots were issued confidentially by Ballot Point, which is the leader in electronic voting and selected by FCPS as monitored by the Labor Relations Administrator, an independent third party.

[02:52:19] So the elections ran from June 3rd to the 10th. There then is the following 14-day objection period from which no objections were registered, and the majority of votes cast determines the results.

[02:52:38] So I want to then remind you as the board also our community that the next step as a result of the process that I've explained moving forward under section 8 point L and M of the collective bargaining resolution is that the school board it requires the school board to certify the election results so we're reporting the results to the board as I'm doing this evening and they're posted for our community as well so in In reporting the results to the board, we must certify the results, and if representation

[02:53:17] is decided on, recognize and certify the appropriate employee association, in this case titled FEU, who will then become the exclusive bargaining agent for their unit. And this is planned, and it's on new business this evening, and planned for board action at our next meeting, which is July 18th.

[02:53:41] SO I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING TO THIS IMPORTANT WORK AND FOR LEADING THIS WORK IN OUR COUNTY. I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE A STRONG POSITIVE MOVE FORWARD FOR OUR EMPLOYEES AND FOR OUR STUDENTS AND OUR DIVISION.

[02:53:59] I THINK AS WE COLLABORATIVELY MAKE DECISIONS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF OUR STUDENTS. THANK YOU, DR. REED. AT THIS TIME, I WILL NOW INVITE BOARD MEMBERS TO MAKE ANY CLARIFYING COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS. We'll start off with Mr. Dunn. Dr. Reed, thank you for your leadership of this important initiative to enable our employees to become partners in our shared mission.

[02:54:23] I've been requesting, I know my colleagues have as well, there's the immediate question that's addressed in your slide, but I have not received any briefing or education on what is the timeline and what is the comprehensive, like, what came before, where are we now, and what comes next. Right? And so that's something that's been lacking. And what I don't know is whether anyone's planning for that. I know that you've dealt with unionized workforces

[02:54:56] before, and I have as well as a COO, but I haven't in this context where you're creating a unionized workforce from scratch. And so as a board member, I feel completely unprepared for what may be one of the most momentous, uh, transitions, transformations, um, and, uh, what is the 10th largest school district in the country. Um, so I would ask that, um, a, a, a team be established if one hasn't been established to lead planning for this, um, transformation, uh, and that that

[02:55:31] team engage with us. So I, I, if you asked, if you had a gun to my head and said, who's in charge of collective bargaining for FCPS, I would not be able to give you an answer. I don't know who that person reports to. Do they report to you? Do they report to someone else? I don't know.

[02:55:47] Where are we in that planning? I don't know that either. And that's embarrassing for me as someone who has to respond to constituent inquiries because I'm getting constituent inquiries. And we need to be planning. We need to be engaged. We need to be prepared because otherwise this is steering the Titanic around an iceberg, right?

[02:56:10] Let's not run into it. And so I would just ask that there be a renewed effort both for the school board and for the public so that we understand not just what we're doing right now in response to this vote, but what's going to happen over the next 12, 18, 24 months and be transparent with the public and with our workforce about that process and what our roles and responsibilities are, not just in what we can and can't say.

[02:56:36] I mean, that's fine, but that doesn't really tell me what my role as a member of this board is, both in the near term and over the long term. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Dunn. Dr. Anderson. Thank you.

[02:56:56] I just want to make sure that I circle back to, I guess, some of the things that Mr. Dunn has just shared and maybe just offer some clarity because, you know, this started with the last board. And so I think some of us have taken for granted some of the information that's already under our belt. I WAS IN THAT ROOM WITH MR. SMITH WHEN WE FIRST STARTED WITH THOSE 17 ORGANIZATIONS.

[02:57:17] THE ROLE IS THAT IN LIEU OF SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS THAT TYPICALLY WOULD OCCUR, THE SUPERINTENDENT WILL BE DOING THIS WORK WITH THE GROUPS AND COMING BACK TO US, OF COURSE, AS WE ALWAYS DO, TO PROVIDE OVERSIGHT AND TO PROVIDE AGREEMENTS. BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'M HOPING YOU CAN SPEAK TO THAT I HOPE WILL BE HELPFUL REGARDING THE NEXT STEPS AND WE HAVE AN LRA. CAN YOU MAYBE SPEAK TO THE ROLE OF THAT INDIVIDUAL JUST TO OFFER SOME CLARITY.

[02:57:50] SO WE DO HAVE A THIRD PARTY LABOR RELATIONS ADMINISTRATOR WHO SUPPORTS THE WORK. FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE RECENT ELECTION, OUR THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATOR ACTUALLY WAS responsible for making sure the elections uh were able to be conducted i think that that is a person that whose responsibilities are somewhat defined in the resolution and will continue to be more defined i think one of the things that's important to remember for all of us here in fairfax county

[02:58:28] is this is a new paradigm for us to collaborate within. And it's going to continue to evolve in a-- I mean, the point of collective bargaining is that it is bargaining, which is to say that the different groups are going to-- we're going to be meeting and collaborating and setting our course collaboratively.

[02:58:55] So we don't want to also get out too far ahead THAT PROCESS BECAUSE A LOT OF THAT WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE WITH OUR LABOR PARTNERS AT THIS POINT AND WITH THE SUPPORT OF THIS LABOR RELATIONS ADMINISTRATOR WHO'S THERE TO TROUBLESHOOT AND BE A RESOURCE TO BOTH THE DIVISION AND THE LABOR GROUPS THAT WILL BE WORKING WITH DIVISION LEADERSHIP.

[02:59:17] SURE. THANK YOU. AND WHILE THIS IS NEW TO FAIRFACS COUNTY AND FAIRLY NEW TO VIRGINIA, THIS IS NOT A SITUATION WHERE I BELIEVE WE'RE, YOU KNOW, BUILDING THE PLANE AS WE FLY IT. it's just going to be evolving over time and so I'm looking forward to to that evolution and ensuring that the board has very clear updates as to what is taking place and maybe a chart would be helpful regarding the organization and to you know who's like level one and how does it make its way up to the board absolutely and I do want to assure the board there is a very clear plan

[02:59:54] moving forward once there's a decision on certification so we also don't want to get out ahead of certification and talk about plans until we do have certification that's critical and I I think it's important for us to take that step and then have another conversation about it thank you dr. Anderson looks like we have no others thank you dr. Reed thank you mr. Frisch agenda item nine consent agenda our adopted rules of parliamentary procedure Roberts rules provide for a consent agenda listing several items for approval by the board in a single motion.

[03:00:34] 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 a board member prior to the meeting. The consent agenda is on the screen. Is there any objection to approving the consent agenda? Hearing and seeing none, the agenda is approved.

[03:00:54] Agenda item 10, new business. The following are new business agenda items. There will not be a vote these items this evening but action is scheduled at a future meeting agenda item 11 board committee reports i will now call on the following standing committee chairs to speak if they have anything to report audit committee chair mr mckelveen do you have anything to report the only thing i'll report is that we are in the process of selecting our new community member for the committee and that will take place imminently and we hope to be able to advertise that appointment very soon thank you thank you budget committee chair dr anderson do you have anything to report

[03:01:32] no thank you comprehensive planning and development committee chair mr. Dunn do you have anything to report no thank you governance committee chair miss Sizemore Heiser do you have anything to report no our last meeting was canceled so there's no changes from my previous report thank you public engagement committee chair miss Anderson do you have anything to report no successful children and youth policy liaison team liaisons dr. Anderson or miss st. John Cunning do you have anything to report no we're in recess right now thank you agenda item 12 board matters next on the agenda is board matters i will call on each school board

[03:02:11] member to speak miss lady coming my delay here all right first i want to welcome megan sawat as our new student representative i look forward to working with you this year and learning about your priorities i also want to thank lita kareem for her service to the school board this past school year and you're working with her around helping all students and learning about the many opportunities across fcps i want to offer another congratulations again to drainsville's elementary

[03:02:49] school principal jamie gadley who was named outstanding principal of the year when you walk into dreams elementary school you feel the presence of principal gadley and her teachers and staff from every smile to each lesson and all the collaborative work taking place in each classroom her professionalism skills and love for students families and staff is evident in every conversation and visit i have to drainsville she works tirelessly within the surrounding community building relationships and supporting her students families and teachers one of her One of her priorities this year was to reduce the school's chronic absenteeism, but through her leadership there was a significant decrease of 13.7 percent.

[03:03:25] She moved the school from 20.6 percent chronic absenteeism last year to 6.9 percent this year. Thank you Principal Gadley, Duranesville Elementary teachers, staff, students, and families for this amazing accomplishment. I also want to congratulate our other Duranesville staff and teacher recognition finalists.

[03:03:40] Principal Litz, Marshall High School Outstanding Principal, Principal Vareb, Herndon Middle School Outstanding New Principal, Katherine Safion, Longfellow Middle School Outstanding New Secondary Teacher, Colleen Nolan, Marshall High School Outstanding Secondary Teacher, Rebecca VanVrancken, McLean High School Outstanding Secondary Teacher, and Lan Ong, Chesterbrook Elementary School Outstanding School-Based Operational Employee.

[03:04:02] I also want to thank all of the advisory committee members who volunteered their time and expertise to help Drainsville across our nine advisory committees. They commit to work hours to ensure FCPS provides what our families and students need. I also want to thank my colleagues and Anderson for bringing forth that proclamation this evening to recognize all of our advisory committee members and all the work that they do for our system.

[03:04:25] I also want to let folks know I have an open position for a Drainsville resident on the Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee. Look in my newsletter for more information on how to share your interest in this committee. I want to offer congratulations to the Longfellow Middle School, Cooper Middle School, JJ High School, and Langley High School Science Olympia teams who attended the national tournament Michigan State University all earning medals. Additionally, I want to congratulate our Drainsville student schools that were recognized as trophy class winners of the VHSO Media Championships, McLean and TJ for their magazine, George C. Marshall, Langley, McLean, TJ for their

[03:05:02] news magazine, McLean for online news, and Langley, McLean, TJ Westfield for yearbook, and McLean High School for broadcast journalism. Our student journalists and the journalism teachers do an amazing job bringing stories alive to their student body in our community through their student perspectives. Consider supporting their efforts by subscribing to their works to give them the financial support to continue their publications and learn what is happening in our schools and what matters to our students. At this point, I also want to hope that people can get outside and enjoy the outdoors despite the heat that you've been enduring. I think there's

[03:05:37] a light at the end of the tunnel. I just want to wish all of our students continued refreshment in their summer and continued focus for our students who are in summer school. Thank you. Thank you Miss Lady. Miss Marin. Sure I'll keep it short since I did speak a lot tonight for me several times. Well my students Dr. Reed are two of those students in the many that are in FCPS programming this week. They participated in the career and tech program and came in with lots of interesting stories and things so I'm very grateful for that program. I'm going to be welcoming my new staff aide on Monday after my recent staff aide

[03:06:13] departed after four years for a new opportunity so I'm very excited about that. I'm also meeting with lots of principals in my district. There's a few that are new so I'm excited to get to know them and share about Hunter Mill and the students as I and the community as I know it and I'm headed to several meetings elsewhere in Virginia with next being Richmond for the Virginia School Board Association's Education Conference where I'm looking forward to speaking with school board colleagues from all over the state to what we're going to do we're going to get the money so that's what I'm working on so we'll see you next week same same place same time thank you Miss Marin

[03:06:51] Dr. Anderson um yes I just want to remind our community that the summer meal program continues to provide healthy meals during the summer months provides the free meals to children 18 and under and we have many schools in the mason district who are offering breakfast and lunch Beachtree, Annandale Terrace, Bryn Mawr Park, Luther Jackson right here, Woodburn Elementary, Mason Cress, Holmes, and Bailey's are just a few. I also want to remind our rising high school

[03:07:25] juniors and seniors that they may take up to two tuition-free college courses through NOVA's Early Online College Program. The courses are synchronous, they're online, and for college credit and 13 different courses are offered registration for the fall semester should occur by the 26th which is later this month i also want to take an opportunity to extend my deepest thanks to the mason district citizen advisory committee members several of whom have been fantastic volunteers for the mason district for seven years or more yes they are that great and

[03:08:04] And I'm gonna take a moment to say thank you to our ACSD volunteer, Harry Henderson, MSAOC, Edward Osborne, HRAC, Leonard Bumbacca, Flea CAC, Greg Martin, APAC, Lee Richardson, FPAC, Bart Stewart, who was here earlier with his youngins, C-TAC, Marissa Applebaum, Shaq, Kelly Fernandez,

[03:08:35] Ace Holly hazard. Thank you all because you all ensure that Mason District always has representation on all of the committees and for that I am very, very grateful and have a good rest of the summer. Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Mr. Dunn. Well, first of all, I'd like to encourage everyone to be sensitive to the heat. It is dangerous. It is deadly. And so please take care to stay hydrated and to stay in the shade. We do have a lot to celebrate this year.

[03:09:09] we had dozens and dozens of honor graduates from the high schools attended by Mount Vernon District students. We had a good number of students who enlisted in the military to serve our country. We also had a National Merit Scholarship winner, Lucy Marshall.

[03:09:26] We also were fortunate to have the Laura Ashley Piper Award awarded to a Mount Vernon District student at the last at the last school board meeting. I'd like to congratulate the FCPS Employee Award winners who are from Mount Vernon District Schools, including a Lorton Station Elementary School multiple disabilities teacher, Mary Ann Cassell, who has awarded the Outstanding Elementary New Teacher Award, West Potomac High School English teacher, Simone Ghilani Jenkins, who has awarded the Outstanding Secondary New Teacher Award, and

[03:10:01] Lewis High School Special Education Department Chair, Daryl C. Byram, who has awarded the Outstanding School-Based Professional Employee Award. I also wanted to thank all of the community advisory committee members who volunteer their time year-round to provide expert advice and insight to FCPS.

[03:10:17] I want to express my special thanks to Ms. Lois Pressman, who is a founding member of the Adult and Community Education Advisory Committee and served as the Mount Vernon District's representative to this committee for 40 years from 1981. I was so honored to see Lois tonight at tonight's proclamation ceremony and I'm very grateful for the positive impact she's made on so many schools and communities in the Mount Vernon District County, Mount Vernon District and countywide.

[03:10:46] I also want to invite everyone to join Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Stork and me for the second annual Back to School Community Day on August 3rd from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lorton Community Center. This event will include a moon bounce, face painting, free food, a health fair, hearing and vision checks, and a giveaway of free backpacks and school supplies.

[03:11:08] Our goal is to provide at least 250 backpacks for Mount Vernon District students and families. To make this happen, we really need your help. I encourage all who are able to stop at the Mount Vernon Government Center at 2511 Parker's Lane to donate a backpack, pens, pencils, crayons, notebooks, loose leaf paper, and other essential school supplies so we can make sure every Mount Vernon district student has the tools and supplies they need for academic success.

[03:11:34] So please make your donation now and plan to join us on August 3rd for what promises to be a day full of food and fun. - Thank you, Mr. Dunn. Ms. St. John Cunning. - So very briefly, I would of course like to welcome Ms. O'Walt, our student representative.

[03:11:50] Thank you for being here and I really enjoyed your words earlier. Also a reminder that we do have the free breakfast children you know for all children up to the age of 18 in the Franconia district that would be Lindbrook, Woodlawn, Garfield, Groveden, Mount Eagle, Forestdale, and Mount Vernon Woods. Breakfast is provided from 9 to 10 and from 12 to 1 is when lunch is provided and so really take advantage of this offering. And that's really about all I want to say is everybody have a safe and enjoyable summer and really excited about the kids that are starting summer school. I know for a lot of our

[03:12:28] kids they really enjoy coming back for summer school and really want to praise the teachers that come back for summer school to teach our kids. Thank you Miss St. John Cunning. Mr. McElbeen. So we'll start out by just thanking everyone who came out to talk about policy 8130. I've enjoyed having the opportunity to meet with many of you in the community over the past few weeks and we appreciate you bringing your voices to us on that important policy and the same goes for our friends from Glasgow for making their voices heard look forward to supporting that boundary

[03:13:04] change the next time it comes up for the second time just very briefly I will be departing Monday with a group of 25 students for China we're going to be spending three weeks in Beijing Chengdu Yunnan and Hong Kong so I will come back to you after board recess very tired probably very thin from all the heat, but that's a positive thing. So I hope everyone has a wonderful board break and look forward to seeing you all again in August. Thank you, Mr. McIlveen. Mr. McDaniel. I also would like

[03:13:42] to thank all those who came out and spoke on the 8-1-30 policy and those who stayed behind as well and witnessed the other very boring work that we do. I want to comment very briefly on an item that has now gotten back into the press and it's these little things. The executive order issued by the governor, I read it and then I looked at our policy and then I read the executive order and then I looked at our policy and I said, well, look at that. They're pretty close. So I'm confident that our existing policy is going to fit perfectly within that executive order, whatever that shakes

[03:14:20] out to be. And I did want to go out on a limb and say thank you to the secretary of education because two days ago she was on the news up here, and you know what she said? Thank you, Fairfax County and Loudoun, but Fairfax County, thank you for stepping up on cell phones and for your leadership on cell phone policy and on cracking down on cell phones.

[03:14:43] So there seems to be some synergy between us and the governor, and I'm optimistic that after our pilot program comes back with some data, we're going to be on the road to addressing this critical issue and leading the way for not only Virginia and our school divisions in Virginia, but hopefully across the country.

[03:15:06] Thank you, Mr. McDaniel. Ms. Sizemore-Hyser. Thank you. I just wanted to say just on the eve of our business year closing on the school board for this year and then the election of our new and returning chair and new vice chair, I just want to thank each of you on this board for all the time that you've dedicated to this work and all the talents you've used to help make FCPS and especially your passion.

[03:15:32] What I love about serving on the previous board and on this board is that everybody comes to this work with this passion. And the passion is to make FCPS a better place. I just want to thank, and we may not always agree on that path forward, but the passion and the heart and the dedication and hard work are always there.

[03:15:47] So I really want to say just from the bottom of my heart, I really appreciate having gotten to work with all of you these last six months and really look forward to another really great three and a half years together of doing good trouble, as you'd like to call it. So thank you for that. And I just want to say even as we celebrate the work that we've done these six months and the team and the partnership we've created, you know, I want to mention that we still have a lot of work to do, especially for some of our most vulnerable and students with the most needs and so I always want to remember that and you're welcome Miss Anderson lift that up so that way we don't forget that there are many of our

[03:16:26] students who really need us to be this voice at the dais and many of our families and teachers who need us to be a voice at that dais so thank you for for doing that work alongside me and thank you for partnering and I know there's always growing pains as a new board comes together but I really appreciate the work you've done I want to extend a warm welcome to Megan so welcome to the school board I look forward to meeting with you and hearing what you want to do and how I can help you in that along with my colleagues I'm really really excited to have you here and I'm so excited to have the student voice I say this every year but I learn from our students every single year and I look forward to learning from you as well as you do your work and I just wanted to say I you must have been reading my mind so I was gonna say I'm

[03:17:03] so impressed that the bipartisan cell phone policy we passed two years ago is now kind of a model for what Governor Youngkin wants to do for the state so it was a lot of work that we went through two years ago and and a lot of meetings with families and teachers and admins and so I'm really glad that this policy is is getting legs and showing that it works and now we need to make sure it's being consistently implemented as well and we're providing the sports to our building level staff to ensure it's implemented but having said that I'm really looking forward to our last meeting next week a little bit of a well-needed recess and getting back in my schools when school starts up at the

[03:17:41] end of the beginning of the school year to see all the kiddos coming back and all the good work we're going to do going forward but just thank you to the leadership team as well i know you all work incredibly hard you all probably started at four in the morning maybe five for you all four for dr reed um but thank you all for your hard work and your dedication i know sometimes it's a lot to have the 12 of us breathing down your necks and and we know and we appreciate at least i appreciate all the professionalism that you and your passion and dedication you bring to the work and thank you to my colleagues as well. Thank you, Ms. Seismarheiser. Mr. Moon.

[03:18:15] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, Megan, congratulations. Congratulations again. You're going to get to introduce your family members earlier this evening. I saw them in the audience and make sure to invite them back at the next meeting so that I could say, properly say hello to them. And also Dr. Reed, you know, thanks for spending some time meeting with the visitors from seoul national university of education as explained to you that is the top notch very top a teacher's college a training and producing elementary school teachers in korea

[03:18:54] and as you pro as you perhaps know that you know in korea top college grads also become teachers and i look forward to having about a dozen aspiring teachers from the college that teachers college to visit us in January of next year to share what they are learning in their college with some of our teachers in a couple of our schools. With that said, Mr. McElveen, if you need anyone to carry your luggage or water bar, which you will probably need a lot of

[03:19:30] water, I am volunteering myself. Just let me know. I have a seat right next to the door on the airplane for you. Sounds like you just got a trip, Mr. Moon. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[03:19:47] First of all, I want to welcome Megan. Like everyone else, we are excited to have you. And your opening comments today were pretty interesting. So we cannot wait to see what good things you do and change our mind, especially from the student perspective.

[03:20:04] Sometimes we really need that voice from students. I also want to thank all the community advisory committee members MEMBERS WHO CAME IN TODAY AND SERVING IN THE COMMUNITY. I USED TO BE A VOLUNTEER MYSELF AND SERVED ON THE SCHOOL BOARD COMMITTEE IN THE PAST, SO I KNOW IT'S A LOT OF HARD WORK AND CONTRIBUTION AND I THANK YOU TO ALL THE SULLIE DISTRICT COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND ALL THE OTHER DISTRICT AS WELL.

[03:20:31] I CONGRATULATE THE STUDENTS OF THE 13 FCPS STUDENTS WHO EARNED NATIONAL MERITS COLLEGE SPONSORED SCHOLARSHIP AND ESPECIALLY THE four Sully District students Andrew Zanotti from Westfield High School, Anusha Das, Austin Thomas, and Sanjay Ranjit from TJ who were amongst them. The Virginia Music Educators Blue Ribbon Award is the highest award given to a school music program in the Commonwealth of Virginia and recognizes excellent achieved excellence in band orchestra and choral performance.

[03:21:03] Congratulations to Sully District Schools, Centerville High School, Chantilly High School, Westfield High School, Fairfax High School, Katherine Johnson Middle School, and Rachel Carlson Middle School on this significant achievement. FCPS students earned 30 National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. This includes Sully District student from Oakton High School, Westfield High School, TJ, Shantley High School, Rachel Carlson Middle School. Congratulations to all of them. And last but not least, I would want to congratulate 13 FCPS students who won award at at the 2024 International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles.

[03:21:43] There were students from TJ and Chantilly High School among them that placed in multiple categories. I'm so proud of them and their solution mindset, using innovative and forward-thinking approach to solve socials, environmental, and economic challenges through technology.

[03:22:00] I hope everyone is having fun and restful summer. Obviously, take a break from the heat. And a big shout out to all our students and educators for their hard work and perseverance. Good night. Thank you, Ms. Dixit. Vice Chair Anderson.

[03:22:15] I also would like to welcome our new student representative. So I'm really excited to work with you. I also would love the opportunity to bring forward the proclamation with our chair related to the work that the community advisory groups do. I spent a lot of time learning about all of the different advisory groups through my work with the operating manual this spring.

[03:22:38] And it was so I feel a certain affinity to all of them related to the hard work that they do for our school system. So I just wanted to say thank you again for everyone that was able to come out tonight. And thank you for the work that you do around our district.

[03:22:55] So thank you. Thank you, Miss Anderson. Really quickly, I think we are in for a treat with our new student rep. I've heard from our clerk team and our deputy clerk, Mr. Jackson about the great onboarding that they've been doing with her.

[03:23:11] And I think we are going to have a fantastic year with you. So thank you for stepping up on behalf of our entire student body to join this board. We have had a long meeting tonight. I thank everybody for being here. And we do have to return to closed meetings.

[03:23:29] So I'll cut my remarks short. It is 10:23. We will return to a closed meeting and are now on recess. Hopefully we will be back very soon.

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