Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Joint Board of Supervisors & School Board Committee, Monday, February 6, 2023

Date: Monday, February 6, 2023
Place: Board Room, First Floor, Government Center, 1 Harrison Street SE, Leesburg, Virginia
Length: 1h 8m (video)
Official meeting video (county, Granicus): https://loudoun.granicus.com/player/clip/7210
Agenda (Granicus): https://loudoun.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?view_id=73&clip_id=7210

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-22. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:04] - Good afternoon. I call to order this February 6th, 2023, joint committee meeting of the Loudoun County School Board and the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. I have been notified that Denise Corbo would like to remotely participate in tonight's joint committee meeting.

[00:00:21] Ms. Corbo, please state your location, whether this is a medical or personal matter, and if anyone is present with you at your location. - Thank you, I am home, I am alone. Under policy 2420, I'm asking for remote meeting participation due to an ongoing disability and medical condition as recommended by HRTD under federal ADA disability law.

[00:00:48] I will now entertain a motion from committee members that Ms. Corbo's remote participation be granted for health and medical reasons. It doesn't appear that anyone is going to make that motion.

[00:01:04] Ms. Corbo, would you like to request remote participation due to a personal matter today? Okay, thank you. this is a health issue, not a personal matter. - Okay, thank you. So we will move on to public input. I have been notified that there is no one signed up for public comment today.

[00:01:21] I just wanted to verify that. Okay, thank you. As no one has signed up, we will pass over item two on the agenda. We'll move to item three on the agenda for the co-chairs report on board of supervisors and school board activities. Ms. Class, would you like to go first?

[00:01:40] - Thank you, co-chairs Rodkin. I have a very short report this meeting, for this meeting, but first I want to start with welcoming co-chair Sorotkin to the joint committee. I look forward to working with you this year as we review several important initiatives.

[00:01:56] The comprehensive plan amendment to move the Red Hill community from the rural policy to the transition policy area is scheduled to be voted on by the Board of Supervisors at our business meeting tomorrow. This includes a large LCPS parcel that is slated to be a high school, a middle school, and an elementary school.

[00:02:17] This comprehensive plan change will allow public utilities to be brought to the private parcels located in the community. The allowable buy right and planned residential density will remain unchanged. The county administrator is scheduled to present his proposed budget to the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday, February 15th at 5 p.m.

[00:02:38] Additionally, the Board of Supervisors and the school board will hold a joint budget meeting at 5 p.m. on Thursday, February 16th. This will be followed in the month of March by three budget public hearings and several work sessions to review and prioritize the budget.

[00:02:56] This will be a tight budget year with several tough decisions in addition to the miscalculation by the state on how much funding each school district will get. Also, lastly, the Board of Supervisors will approve the budget at our April 4th meeting, which is before the next joint committee meeting.

[00:03:18] Even though we will not meet, I know members from our respective boards will be in communication. Information on the proposed and then adopted budget is available at loudon.gov slash budget. That's my report, co-chair. Thank you, co-chair Glass.

[00:03:34] It is my honor to join this committee and serve as co-chair this year, and i look forward to working both with the members on the board of supervisors and the school board this year i did want to touch on just two brief topics that have updates since the last time the joint committee met first regarding early literacy and the science of reading in december the school board voted to delay in selecting new english language arts textbook resources we were originally planned to adopt new curriculum for fall 2023 that would be aligned with the science of reading as required by the virginia literacy act

[00:04:12] but the virginia department of education has been significantly delayed in publishing their approved list list of resources and the board consensus with that was that we should wait for that list to be published to avoid the risk of spending millions of dollars on a non-approved resource and then having to re-adopt later on most of our 2023 calendar year thus far has been dedicated to reviewing the school boards or the school division's fy24 operating budget we adopted that budget on february 2nd and just some very brief highlights it includes

[00:04:48] a minimum five percent raise for all lcps employees who are receiving a step increase staffing standard enhancements for elementary school counselors which would ensure a minimum of one per school significant enhancements to english language staffing standards A new position in high schools called Student Support Advisors, which would primarily focus on providing additional support to students transitioning either to or from alternative school placements.

[00:05:18] A middle school intramural sports pilot program at four middle schools. Enhancements to sick and personal leave for 10 and 11 month employees. Continuation of multi-year rollout initiatives for our new international baccalaureate program and elementary dual language immersion programs and the elimination of all athletic fees for students.

[00:05:43] And we look forward to presenting our FY24 school board adopted operating budget in much further detail beginning on February 16th during our joint work session of both boards.

[00:05:59] And that concludes my report. And now we will move to item four on the agenda, our information items. and we'll begin with information item one, the title one school designation, and I will turn it over to Dr. Ellis.

[00:06:17] - Thank you, Mr. Sorotkin. Good evening, board members. This evening, we have an overview of title one in LCPS. I believe this is being brought to you as a topic from your 2022 joint committee work plan. This evening, I'm joined by Scott Meisensal, our school improvement supervisor who also oversees all of the title funds, and he will provide some information on Title I and LCPS, and then we're happy to answer any questions.

[00:06:44] So I'll turn it over to Mr. Meisensal. - Thank you, Dr. Ellis, and thank you, Joint Board of Supervisors and School Board Committee for the opportunity to share an overview of our Title I program and also the practice that we have in place for identifying Title I schools.

[00:07:02] Title I Part A is a federal law and a funding source intended to improve basic programs in low-income schools. This part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, also known as ESSA.

[00:07:21] The purpose of Title I is to provide all children significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps.

[00:07:37] Title I funds are to be used to directly impact student achievement by providing additional services that increase the amount and quality of instructional time, providing students with an enriched and accelerated academic program, significantly elevating the quality of instruction, and affording parents substantial and meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children.

[00:08:02] One of the main uses of Title I funds in Loudoun County Public Schools is to support staffing based on identified needs from comprehensive needs assessments. Nine and a half school-based FTEs are funded through Title I. These positions include reading specialists, instruction facilitators, EL teachers, math coaches, and STEM teachers.

[00:08:27] Funds are also used to support part-time supplemental pay for before and after school activities of teachers at Title I schools. These activities include additional instructional time for students, professional learning for staff, and curriculum development. The Loudoun County Public Schools McKinney-Vento specialist is also funded through Title I.

[00:08:47] Title I funds also are used for supplemental instructional supports to include subscriptions to digital content, books for classroom libraries, author visits, materials to support STEM activities, as well as other instructional supplies. Based on the school's needs assessments, Title I funds are used to support professional development through attendance at conferences, workshops, and staff book studies.

[00:09:16] All of Loudoun County's Title I schools utilize Title I funds to provide meaningful opportunities for families to participate in the education of their children. In addition to family nights to support math, reading, and science, schools host family engagement activities to address the ongoing needs of students and families throughout the school year.

[00:09:38] Title I also funds non-school-based set-asides to include transportation for homeless and foster students, supplemental funds to support instruction for students at North Spring Behavioral Center, and private school set-asides for participating non-profit private schools. Each spring, non-profit private schools are invited to participate in title programs as required by Federal Programs Equitable Services.

[00:10:02] For the 2022-2023 school year, we do not have any private schools currently participating in Title I. Every year, the federal allocation is made to the Virginia Department of Education based on poverty level from census data estimates.

[00:10:20] The census data estimates are based on a statistical model that incorporates information from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, administrative records taken from federal income tax returns and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the most recent decennial census, updates to the population estimates that the Census Bureau may have completed since the last decennial census, data on supplemental security income recipients, and economic data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

[00:10:52] So the federal government uses a number of resources to get an estimate on the current census data, and that's what determines the amount given to the Virginia Department of Education. The Virginia Department of Education awards subgrants to divisions based on federal allocations and other adjustments.

[00:11:11] As we can see on the graph shown on the slide, while the division free and reduced lunch percentage has been consistently increasing, the census data estimates for Loudoun County have remained relatively unchanged. The chart on slide 11 shows the allocations for Loudoun County Public Schools since 2016.

[00:11:33] In alignment with the Loudoun County Census estimates, the allocations have also relatively been unchanged since 2020. Again, Title I allocations to a division are based on the census estimates, regardless of the number of schools that are served as Title I. For the current school year, Loudoun County Public Schools serves eight elementary schools, one middle school, and two high schools, all as school-wide Title I schools.

[00:12:04] Prior to 2021, free and reduced lunch data had been the data point used to identify poverty levels and the identification of Title I served schools in Loudoun County. Beginning in 2021, if schools are identified as Community Eligibility Provision Schools, CEP schools, this data is required to be included in the Title I application to the Virginia Department of Education.

[00:12:30] CEP schools data are overseen by the Loudoun County Public Schools School Nutrition Office. CEP is an option created by the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 that allows high-poverty schools to offer breakfast and lunch to all students at no charge without collecting school meal applications.

[00:12:48] It uses directly certified data to identify poverty percentages of students. It is also used in the calculation for differentiated staffing standards. We currently have nine schools identified as CEP and one CEP program.

[00:13:06] Community eligibility provision data is not directly connected with Title I, although it is used as a data point for identifying poverty levels. The chart on this slide from the Virginia Department of Education provides multiple options for identifying schools to be served as Title I.

[00:13:25] The first column, labeled CEP status, identifies divisions that have all CEP schools, both CEP and non-CEP schools, or no CEP schools. Since Loudoun County Public Schools has both CEP and non-CEP schools, we must choose from the highlighted options in the second row.

[00:13:49] Option one, we can use CEP data for CEP schools and apply a multiplier of 1.6 and use free and reduced lunch data for the non-CEP schools. Or option two, we can use CEP data for all schools, regardless of their CEP status, with or without a multiplier.

[00:14:16] Recently, Loudoun County Public Schools has used the threshold of 50% poverty to serve schools as Title I. Title I guidance states that any school over 75% must be served and any school 40% or higher is considered eligible for school-wide Title I under the parameters of the grant application. LCPS has used a threshold of 50% to maintain consistent support to the schools with greatest need. Average daily membership of free and reduced lunch status was used to determine poverty levels for all schools until 2021. Again, beginning with the

[00:14:52] 2021 grant, a combination of CEP and free and reduced lunch data was used to identify Title I schools. To have a consistent data source for all schools, LCPS is using the CEP data only with a multiplier for all schools to identify Title I eligible schools for the 23-24 school year. This would be connected to option two from slide 13. The chart on the right shows the comparison between the data used for the 2022 identification, which was CEP and free and reduced lunch combined,

[00:15:30] comparing it to the option to just using CEP data with a multiplier. So based on last year's data, if we would have used option two, as we're preparing to do for the next year, just CEP data, we would have identified Frederick Douglass Elementary and Leesburg Elementary in addition to identifying Meadowland, Potomac, and Robey High School for the 22-23 school year.

[00:15:58] The chart on slide 16 shows how some other divisions have identified schools to be served as Title I for the 22-23 school year. Guidance from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education says that after ranking all schools' attendance areas by poverty, the local education agency must first serve, in rank order of poverty, its areas above 75% poverty, including any middle schools or high schools. After an LEA has served all of its areas with a poverty rate above 75%, the LEA may serve lower ranked areas. This chart shows how divisions

[00:16:38] have thresholds set to meet the needs of their most disadvantaged schools. Other division Title I contacts have recently shared with me that they too, their division, are in the process of reviewing their identification thresholds and poverty data sources for identification of Title I schools for the upcoming school year. Next steps. In April, the Virginia Department of Education will release the CEP data which will be used to identify Title I served schools for the 23-24 school year. We must

[00:17:12] report changes to Title I status to the Virginia Department of Education in May. Prior to notifying the VDOE of potential changes, we will provide this data and list of schools to the school board for awareness. The consolidated application will be completed and submitted to the school board as an information item in May and as an action item in June. The deadline to submit the application to the VDOE is July 1st. So this concludes the overview of the Title I schools, our program, and how we identify schools. I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you.

[00:17:51] Committee members, do you have any questions regarding this information item? Ms. Umstead. Thank you, Co-Chair Sorotkin. There was a rumor kicking around Leesburg probably 10 years ago, and I'd like to find out what the actual facts are.

[00:18:12] The rumor was that if two of Leesburg's elementary schools were classified as Title I by the county, they would be eligible for funding. But given that the county only got a set amount of dollars, those dollars would have to come come from other Title I schools.

[00:18:31] How is the funding actually handled? - So correct me if this is not answering your question. We receive an allocation based on the poverty level for the division, regardless of the schools that are served. So it's not based on the number of schools and the number of schools with high poverty.

[00:18:49] It's based on the division census data for students, for school aged, the population that's at the school age, a percentage from the census data, which determines how much we get as a division to support Title I.

[00:19:10] We must serve anyone that's 75% or higher, schools that are 75% or higher, and then based on identified needs in rank order, we can't skip a higher percentage school. In rank order, we can serve additional schools. So a school that would have been qualified over 40% for poverty, is we're not getting any money directly for that school.

[00:19:35] We're getting it as a division allocation. - Okay, that's helpful, thank you. - Ms. Briskin. - Thank you, and thank you so much for this presentation. I find it fascinating. I asked for this to be part of our work plan last year. Kind of for the same concern that you had, I feared that we were leaving money on the table because we used the 50% threshold versus the 35 and the 40 that some other jurisdictions were using or that we were permitted to use.

[00:20:05] So let me rephrase what I understand you just said, and you can correct me if I'm wrong. We get a set amount of money based on this poverty level, and then once we get that set amount of federal money, each jurisdiction decides how that money is distributed amongst the potential Title I schools.

[00:20:28] So the federal government requires us to serve 75% or above, but we don't have those. So then what we decide, right? We don't have any 70, oh, we do. Okay, I thought we didn't have any 75% or above when I was looking at the chart. Could you turn your mic on, please?

[00:20:46] Sorry, slide 15 from the presentation shows this is based on last year's data, the poverty level for our schools. I see, okay, so that's not the free and reduced lunch. So those that have, if you see the schools that have the asterisk next to it in the blue section, those we use CEP data for.

[00:21:08] And so with the multiplier, that's why we see, we may see some of those schools are at 100%, where they may not truly be at 100%, but the CEP with a multiplier brings us to that level. The schools without the asterisk could use the free and reduced lunch data. So we can see, we do have schools above 75%.

[00:21:26] And again, this is one of the reasons why we want to move to all CEPs. So we're using a consistent data source and not combining two separate sources to identify our schools. And you were absolutely accurate with your understanding that we get one allocation regardless of the schools.

[00:21:43] So I was a little bit confused about the multiplier. Can you explain that, please? I'll do my best. The multiplier. So when we're looking at CEP data, if we can go back to slide 13, it's the one that explains the CEP.

[00:22:12] Do you get a multiplier depending on how many students or families are in SNAP and TANF? - So the multiplier is a federally set multiplier. There's a range that they're allowed to go for it. It's currently set at 1.6.

[00:22:29] And what that is meant to do is to adjust the CEP data to be more reflective of what free and reduced launch data would look like for schools. So they take the CEP, which is, they use identified students based on the chart to the left.

[00:22:49] They use certain standards or certain criteria, certain students enrolled in certain programs to identify students that are 40% or more. And then the multiplier is meant to adjust that because your CEP is going to be a lower number than what your free and reduce is.

[00:23:08] And that's meant to make the CEP more reflective of what that would be if we compared it to free and reduced lunch. When we look at the next slide, I believe, keep going, I'm sorry, I think it's one more.

[00:23:25] So looking at last year's data, this is where we're looking at, if we look at the schools without the asterisk in the 2022 CEP and FRL column, the middle column, we can see what their free and reduced lunch numbers were. So for example, Leesburg was at 46.8.

[00:23:44] When we use CEP with a multiplier, that's the last column, and actually it's a little bit higher than what free introduced lunch would be it brings it up to 55.31 but that multiplier is meant to be more equivalent to what free introduced lunch okay would be okay okay so is it fair to say then because one of my questions was um should we be uh recruiting is not the right word but should we be trying to increase the true free and reduced lunch numbers um or is that

[00:24:17] kind of taken off the table now so we don't need to do that and the follow-on to that is if these schools are now title one at 50 like i'm assuming the green ones will now be in will all of those students then be getting lunch and breakfast and they don't have to go sign up for it they don't have to ask for it those sorts of things great question so as far as the breakfast and lunch goes that's all based on if the schools are identified as community eligibility provision schools which is handled by the office of nutrition the

[00:24:55] data comes out in the spring from the Virginia Department of Education so that's not directly connected to being title one or not title one that's based on if they're identified as CEP which the office of nutrition handles the going back to if we use CEP only with the schools in green will they be identified this is based on last year's data so i don't want to make any assumptions that our data is going to be consistent yeah if our data is consistent this upcoming year then they would have they will be so okay if their data changes of course that could change if they're identified or not so well okay

[00:25:34] so let me ask this a different way will families in title one schools still have to go and request free and reduced lunch because that can be demoralizing that's what i'm getting at right So if the school is identified as a CEP school, then they will not have to.

[00:25:56] All schools, all students, I'm sorry, all students in a CEP school receive free breakfast and free lunch regardless of their poverty status. Okay, I think, I'm sorry, I just had a lot of questions.

[00:26:12] I just want to make sure I got them all covered. Sorry, committee members. I don't know if anyone else has questions. So if we were to, so there's bills in the General Assembly right now to be offering free meals across the board. If that happens, I guess I'm understanding after this presentation, if that were to actually happen, that doesn't impact Title I at all, right?

[00:26:38] So they'll, okay. No, that would not. It wouldn't impact our data as far as identifying poverty level or the funding that we receive. Okay, great. I think I'm good. I'm just a little worried about relying on the Virginia Department of Education for anything right now, but hopefully nothing will be delayed from them on this and everything will be accurate.

[00:26:59] Thank you. Additional questions? Ms. Ogadegbe. Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to clarify that if there's a Title I eligible school that's not CEP, then families do still go through the free and reduced lunch process.

[00:27:22] I just wanted to make sure that that was clear. Okay, thank you. Thank you for that clarification. That's unfortunate. Thank you. Any additional questions? - Seeing none, thank you for the overview.

[00:27:37] Really appreciate it. With that, we'll move to our second information item on safe pedestrian passage to schools, part two. - Oh, sorry. - For this, I think we have additional staff members who are coming up to present.

[00:27:58] - We do, but I wanted to-- - Ms. Kate, Ms. Kate. - I'm sorry, I wanted to get the presentation up before I started talking, just in case I was more challenged than normal. As they are coming up, we have in the audience At the table we have Lou Mozarak, who is the Assistant Director of Loudoun County Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure, Laura Ghosh, who is the Senior Traffic Engineer also with DTCI, Nancy Boyd, the Director of DTCI, is here.

[00:28:27] We also have Dustin Cousin, also a Senior Traffic Engineer with DTCI. And then joining me at the table here is Scott Davies, LCPS Director of Transportation. From the audience, I have Sarah Howard O'Brien, Supervisor of Land Management, and I see Elizabeth Kratz, who is our Traffic and Pedestrian Specialist.

[00:28:46] So, certainly, I'm not going to be able to answer all your questions, so I rely on these knowledgeable folks, and I am also a poor substitute for Kevin Lewis, who could not be here this evening. So with that, this is part two, June 6th at the committee meeting, the committee added the safe pedestrian passage to schools topic to the 2022 work plan.

[00:29:09] Additional guidance was provided to staff in September to come back and talk to you on November 7th, which was part one. At the November 7th meeting, the staff identified potential pedestrian facilities and school walk zones or touching school properties they reviewed we reviewed completed and current safe route to school projects included associated timelines we shared information on existing pedestrian underpasses and tunnels we acknowledge the challenges of crossing guard recruitment and we also outlined the process to relocate crosswalks that were asked of us by committee members

[00:29:48] today we are here to answer the additional questions that were asked of us identifying potential solutions and improvements to pedestrian concerns as voiced by community members provide information on whether crossing guards could be paid through the safe routes to school program and also to provide information on what organizations are responsible for maintaining and improving tunnels and underpasses for safe passage for school sites I will now turn the microphone I will mute myself and I'll let Laura Ghosh walk through

[00:30:21] their findings. Thank you Bev. Okay so the county addresses pedestrian safety concerns through three primary processes. The first process is on an ad hoc basis in which the county addresses pedestrian safety concerns at a particular location after receiving direction through board member initiatives or through other formal direction. In the FY 2019 capital improvement program the county initiated two overarching programs to systematically address pedestrian and traffic safety throughout the

[00:30:55] county. So the first one is, or at least one of them, is the sidewalk and trail program. And we discussed the sidewalk and trail program at the November 7th, 2022 joint committee meeting. But for those of you who haven't heard of it before, under this program, the missing sidewalk and trail segments throughout the county are ranked according to 17 criteria and used to develop the sidewalk and trail projects that are implemented through the county's capital improvement program. The need for accessible ramps and marked crosswalks adjacent to missing segments are

[00:31:30] typically identified during concept development in this program. The second program that we use to implement crosswalk improvements is the intersection improvement program. So that was also identified as part of the FY 2019 capital improvement program for the purposes of funding improvements at five to six intersections per year typically crosswalk improvements will accompany intersection signalization projects as well as projects that involve curb section modifications such as roundabouts or other innovative intersections okay next slide please thank you the county's

[00:32:08] intersection improvement program works in the following way so we periodically review conduct a county-wide review of unsignalized and signalized intersections that exclude driveways along arterial and collector roadways. The third round of review was conducted in 2022 and included 726 unsignalized intersections, 216 signalized intersections, and 15 roundabouts. For each of these intersections, we review traffic volumes and crash history, which also includes pedestrian and

[00:32:42] bicycle crashes, and we assess the intersections and rank them on a scale of one to five, with intersections the most in need of improvements receiving a ranking five designation. If improvements are not already programmed in the Loudoun County Capital Improvement Program studied by VDOT or under designed through proffers, the ranking five intersections are further studied to determine appropriate improvements. The further studies typically include a review of the need for pedestrian infrastructure improvements. The table on this slide provides a summary of the ranked

[00:33:20] intersections within the 2022 to 2023 walk zones by 2011 election district. As you can see 268 of the 726 unsignalized intersections and 62 of the 216 signalized intersections are located within or adjacent to school walk zones. Some total of that is 330 intersections within school walk zones, and these represent locations at which crosswalk improvements, if needed, may benefit

[00:33:54] walking students. Of these, 14 crosswalk locations were requested by the Joint Committee for review. And next slide, please. Thank you. Staff organized the 14 requested crosswalks by school zone and created a total of 12 maps. Those are included in attachment 2 of the item, and those maps illustrate the location of the crosswalk requested, overlaid on top of 2022 to 2023 walk zone, sidewalk and trail program, and intersection improvement program information.

[00:34:28] The table in attachment one of the item provides additional information and identifies whether there's a need for further prioritization and funding for each crosswalk location. So attachment one summarizes basically we have currently there's three intersections that have been identified crosswalks that are currently being designed or are being implemented.

[00:34:54] There are five requested crosswalks that require funding for implementation, and there are six requested crosswalks that require funding for further study. And that's it. I'll pass it back to you, Bev. The other questions that staff was asked was, can Safe Routes to School funding be utilized to hire crossing guards?

[00:35:21] Unfortunately, it cannot. It can be utilized to train and provide equipment, such as vest or signs, but federal-funded grant money is not applicable to crossing guard salaries. We had also provided this at the November meeting.

[00:35:39] This is a map of pedestrian tunnels by Election District, and then we had provided this chart. This is to answer the question specific to who maintains the underpasses and the tunnels. And for the most part, you can see here that it's community associations or homeowners association.

[00:35:57] There is one proximate to Sugar Land Elementary where LCPS maintains the lighting. But in all other instances, the responsible party is a homeowners or a community association. With that, we will conclude.

[00:36:13] If there's questions specific about any of the areas, we can certainly answer those questions. But thank you. And thank you for the report. Committee members, do you have any questions or discussion points regarding the presentation? Ms. Briskman.

[00:36:31] Thank you, Laura. I'm sorry, Ms. Ghosh. I want to give you a name like Queen of Crosswalks or something like that. It's been great working with you the last three years. You said in your presentation that there were three crosswalks that were funded or going to be improved.

[00:36:50] Which ones are those? They are on map four by Liberty Elementary and Freedom High School. The crosswalk request was for a crosswalk across the school entrance, and LCPS has indicated that they will be implementing that crosswalk.

[00:37:15] On map six, we're at John Champ High School walk zone. That crosswalk request, Latin has a CIP project that's going to be widening North Star Boulevard. And so there's a pedestrian cut-through across the median being planned as part of that improvement.

[00:37:36] I remember. That design is also looking at implementing a pedestrian underpass, like a tunnel, under North Star Boulevard, approximately 1,000 feet south of the roadway.

[00:37:53] And then the third one is Lowe's Island Elementary School walk zone. So that's Lowe's Island and Salty Drive, and that's already equipped with high visibility markings. And we have extended, well not we, but LCPS is working with BDOT to extend the school zone so that it starts north of Salty Drive, which reduces speeds when elementary students are potentially passing through there.

[00:38:23] So the third one's not necessarily installing a new crosswalk. That's just a change to that intersection. right right it's reducing speeds through there which is an improvement god oh okay okay okay great um yes i i'm sorry kevin isn't here mr lewis isn't here because i wanted to thank him for putting in that waiver request to to put the additional school signals north of that intersection so that that it's slowing down cars going south that's been a big issue in my district and I wanted to ask when those signals are actually going to be put up because the foundation is there.

[00:39:00] Does anybody know when they're actually going in? The person that's been leading that effort is sitting right over there, Ms. Liz Kratz. Okay, thank you very much.

[00:39:16] So then on map five, I'm sorry, yeah, on map five, so there's these yellow, it's the Horizon Elementary one, there's these yellow X's. And so what we're saying there, first of all, I just want to reiterate, it's a ranking one intersection it's the safest intersection in the county so it's not going to necessarily get attention because it's ranked as one of the safest intersections correct yeah yeah okay so these yellow x's are on map five because the community has asked for crosswalks there

[00:39:51] correct okay and we're reviewing that or it's because it's a rank one we're not going to look at it for a very long time correct unless we are directed otherwise like with the BMI or something like that okay and other programs and the walk zone however is not north of Broadmoor even though we know lots of people are walking to school from that townhouse community over to Horizon but it's not part of the walk zone so if it were to become part of the walk zone and I know the schools are

[00:40:30] saying we're not going to make it part of the walk zone until roadway improvements happen but if it were to become part of the walk zone would that be an impetus for us to improve those intersections with crosswalks? Kevin Scott do you want to talk about criteria for walk zone?

[00:40:48] Can you repeat the question? I apologize. So if you look on map five and it's Horizon Elementary School and Broadmoor Drive we know that that townhouse community over there is walking across the street. Like they walk, they want to walk to school. They do walk to school. There's no crosswalks. So the schools have said, we won't consider expanding the walk zone unless basically that street is safe to walk or there's crosswalks. And so my question was to DTCI, would we, if it becomes part of the walk zone, it's like a chicken and the egg thing, right? If it becomes a walk

[00:41:24] zone then would we have more of an argument to fund crosswalks there basically so for i understand we can only look at the at the at the existing conditions when we're assessing the walk zone and looking at expanding the walk okay okay okay yes okay that that kind of answers my question the other question this might be a vdot question but that's a 30 mile an hour road um which and i we don't have very many 30 mile an hour roads but what are the chances that we could get it reduced

[00:42:01] to a 25 mile an hour road on Broadmoor or would that be a VDOT question we can do a traffic study it's called a speed study okay that looks at what the 85th percentile speed is along that roadway and then makes decisions about what is the appropriate speed for that roadway okay okay great thank you I think that's all I had thank you um chair Sorokin and thank you again for the If I may, just to reference, attachment one in the packet does provide a chart, and it

[00:42:35] provides notes that as both staffs were looking, we provided some feedback based on potential improvements, and so I would reference that for the horizon question, which I passed it down the table. Additional questions?

[00:42:52] Co-Chair Glass. Yes, thank you, Co-Chair Sorotkin. I recently received additional constituent feedback regarding an asphalt trail in the southeast corner of the Milf Run Elementary School property that's in need of repair. Could LCPS staff look into the condition of this trail and make any necessary improvements?

[00:43:15] Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Since most of the tunnels are maintained by HOAs, could LCPS or DTCI have issue if murals were painted in these tunnels part of the concerns that that I've heard is that the tunnels seem to be scary I've thought of communities paint murals it might help students feel more comfortable walking through those

[00:43:50] just a thought it's a thought yes so we can figure out how to reach out to those HOA's specifically for that yes ma'am okay thank you um does staff have any Any indication on what the research into the classification and compensation of crossing guards might result in?

[00:44:13] For that, I would defer to county staff as crossing guards are under the sheriff's. Supervisor Glass, we can take that information back and come back to the committee the next item.

[00:44:29] Thank you. You're welcome. Does staff feel that their recommendations could come from the safe passages to school review that could be brought to the next meeting?

[00:44:55] Could you, I'm sorry, could you repeat your question, Supervisor Glass? If we could bring these back at the next meeting, is that the question? Yes, yes. I think we would have the capacity, the specific locations in the item, I think we could certainly do that.

[00:45:13] Okay, thank you. Co-Chair Srockin, I had a motion to make. I had emailed it to you all, so I hope you all had a, yeah. Okay, so I move that the Joint Board of Supervisors and School Board Committee recommend that the Board of Supervisors and the School Board, direct county and LCPS staff to prepare an action item for the April planning and, I'm sorry, for the April Joint Committee meeting prioritizing potential crosswalk locations

[00:45:52] listed within item two for planning and implementation purposes. Is there a second? Second. seconded by Supervisor Umstead. Ms. Glass would you like to speak to your motion? Yes well I just want to thank everyone from LCPS and DTCI for all of your work on this. The review of the crosswalk locations brought to us by community members will be very helpful as we work to address parents and student concerns with walking to school. I look forward to the recommendations that will be brought

[00:46:25] to the committee in April. Is there any further discussion on the motion? I'm sorry could you repeat the motion please? I didn't I didn't get a chance to see it in email. Okay I move that the joint board of supervisors and school board committee recommend that the board of supervisors and the school board direct county and LCPS staff to prepare an action item for their April joint committee meeting prioritizing potential crosswalk locations listed within item two for

[00:47:00] planning and implementation purposes. Okay thank you. Any further discussion on the motion? Ms. Reeser. Thank you. So, Ms. Co-Chair Glass, just so I can make sure I understand what you're trying to effectuate here, is for us to go back to each of our respective boards and direct our staff to prioritize this item so that when we come back and reconvene, we have an action plan to discuss in April?

[00:47:36] Yes. And I think this would have the effect of essentially adding this to our 2023 work plan for a April action item? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your hand and say aye.

[00:47:55] Aye. Aye. That motion will pass unanimously of committee members present with Ms. Corbo absent for the vote. Is there any further discussion on the safe pedestrian passage to schools information item? I have one. On map six for John Champ High School and the crosswalk there, You mentioned that there's a tunnel going 1,000 feet from somewhere, but I wasn't clear on what that somewhere was and where exactly that tunnel was going to go.

[00:48:25] Yes, it's about 1,000 feet south of the intersection of Sacred Mountain and North Star. Okay, great. So that's, I'm really glad to hear that because I've held my breath there firsthand while watching students trying to cross that intersection unsafely.

[00:48:43] So I think a tunnel there is a great idea and appreciate that. What is the timeline for that? It would be part of the county's widening of that roadway in the next few years. We could get back to you.

[00:48:59] I don't have the specific year in front of me, but it's in our CIP and it's under design right now. - Okay, thank you. Yes, I'd love more information about exactly when the construction schedule and go live for that would be. Ms. Reeser.

[00:49:14] - Thank you, co-chair Sorokin. So I have some follow-up questions about map number five in Horizon Elementary School. Isn't it... Isn't it accurate to say that Broadmoor actually is within the walk zone, but that a walk zone exception was provided because it's unsafe to cross Broadmoor?

[00:49:35] That is correct. So I'm just wondering if that changes the chicken and egg problem. I mean, the problem, it is a walk zone, but because there's no safe way to cross the street, the kids are being given a bus that no one's actually taking.

[00:49:55] So we have to figure out a lot of the transportation issues we've talked about in Algonquian are circular. So we have to figure out a solution for what's actually happening there. So I wonder if that changes the calculus about it is within the walk zone.

[00:50:11] It's just that a bus is being provided as an exception because it's unsafe to cross there due to the speed and there being no crosswalk. May I respond? That changes my calculus for doing a BMI.

[00:50:32] Absolutely. Yeah, I wasn't aware of that, or if I was, I forgot. that it would it seems to make no sense why that's not in the walk zone so but now I get it so okay thank you well when I when and if I do a BMI I'll just include that in the background perhaps but thank you I do need to clarify that the the homes on on that are along Broadmoor are not in the walk zone so okay that so why is that because because we don't have the students cross that that because of the because of yes but otherwise they fall within the one mile of the walk zone

[00:51:11] oh that's in our yes right right that's exactly what I was explaining to Ms. Briskman right we yes okay um and then my other question was uh regarding the Lowe's Island um the Salty Drive and Lowe's Island Boulevard changes that are going to take place uh what will the speed limit will it be 25 the school zone will be 25 I know in some places like around Sugarland Elementary it's 20, but that's because the existing speed limit is already 25. And I'm assuming that this

[00:51:43] is, I don't know if Salty will be 20 or 25 miles per hour, if you know. It will be 25. Salty will be? Lowes Island will be 25. Will Salty also be reduced or no? No, this is only on Lowes Island.

[00:52:04] Okay. Thanks very much. Additional questions? Seeing none, we'll conclude discussion on that item. Thank you very much. So this will take us to our action items. The first is on the 2023 schedule of meetings, which staff was very gracious in working with co-chair Glass and myself and other committee members to find dates that work for hopefully all committee members for most of our

[00:52:37] meetings. So as it stands now, our remaining meeting dates for 2023 would be April 17th at the government center, June 12th here at the LCPS administration building, September 18th at the government center, and December 11th at the LCPS administration building with a 4 p.m. start time for each of those meetings. So at this time, I would entertain a motion that the joint board of supervisors and school board committee meet as described in the February 6, 2023 joint board of

[00:53:16] supervisors and school board committee meeting action item. - Second, you just made the motion. - Is there a motion? - So moved. - Moved by Ms. Reeser, seconded by Ms. Briskman. Is there any discussion on the motion? - Oh, I do have a discussion.

[00:53:31] - I will unfortunately-- - Ms. Briskman. - Yes, I will unfortunately not be able to be here on June 12th. My son will be graduating from high school that morning. So I don't think I'll be leaving my family to come to a joint committee meeting. Apologies, even though I love you all. I won't be here on the 12th, thank you.

[00:53:48] - Congratulations, preemptive congratulations. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor of the motion, please raise your hand and say aye. - Aye. - That motion will pass unanimously of committee members present with Ms. Corbo absent for the vote.

[00:54:06] That will take us to our second and final action item on the 2023 joint committee work plan. In your documents, you will see five information items, or excuse me, five items total that were proposed by committee members.

[00:54:24] The first on an information item on the SRO Memorandum of Understanding, the second on an information item on LCPS pickleball courts, a third information item on student bus passes, a fourth information item on student activity fees, and a action item on the joint committee rules of order and mission.

[00:54:50] Additionally earlier this meeting co-chair class made a motion to add an action item regarding the safe routes to school to our April meeting which passed unanimously among committee members present so I guess I will open it up to discussion to see whether anyone has any additional items for the work plan that they would like to propose before we before we have a motion on the work plan seeing none i will entertain a motion that the joint board of

[00:55:29] supervisors and school board committee recommend that the board of supervisors and school board approve the 2020 2023 work plan as proposed and direct lcps and county staff to prepare the board of supervisors and school board approved items for the designated meetings as well as to to further move that the Joint Board of Supervisors and School Board Committee recommend to the Board of Supervisors and School Board that the additional item from Ms. Glass be added to the 2023 work plan as discussed as the February 6th, 2023 Joint Board of Supervisors and School Board Committee meeting.

[00:56:08] Is there a motion? - So moved. - Second. - Moved by Ms. Grissman, seconded by co-chair Glass. Is there any discussion? Ms. Olmstead. Thank you, Co-Chair Sorotkin. On the number one item, the information item on school resource officers, I guess the members of the school board here are comfortable with that.

[00:56:36] It appears to be for the committee simply to get information about the MOU. I think that certainly there are areas in here that may require some sensitivity, reaching out to the sheriff, make sure that we are not trying to tell him how to do his job.

[00:57:00] But if this is simply so we can understand how he does his job, I think that would be beneficial to us. So is my understanding that this is an information for information only at this stage? Correct. I'd like to defer to Ms. Brissman to answer that question as she's the one who requested this item.

[00:57:23] So I think she'd be the most equipped to explain what her reasoning is behind recommending this item for the work plan. - Thank you. - Thank you, co-chair Sorotkin. So the reason I brought this item and tried, and I am asking for it to be added to our work plan is because since we last met, we had a grand jury report come out on the investigations and subsequent charges and the entire process around the sexual assaults in our schools.

[00:57:54] What was painfully obvious in that grand jury report was that the initial investigation of the initial assault was handled poorly and it was called an iffy case and it became very apparent to me that the victim was not believed in that certain investigation.

[00:58:19] So what I would like to see, and I believe that we do have the, authority may not be the right word, but I think that we do have a right to know that the SROs in our middle schools and high schools have the appropriate training in trauma investigations, have access to the appropriate resources that might be needed in these sorts of cases, that they are appropriately trained for investigating

[00:58:55] and/or interviewing potential minor victims in such cases. And we directly fund the SROs from the Board of Supervisors that go into our schools. And so what I would like to see is that we have criteria now in the MOU between LCPS and LCSO that ensures these sorts of cases will be handled appropriately with the sensitivity that they deserve and that they are reporting up to a person

[00:59:33] within LCSO, whoever the command, you know, whatever the command chain is, that they are reporting up to somebody who also has training and sensitivity to handle these sorts of issues. because it is painfully clear to me that if this case were handled appropriately and that student had been charged initially and that it didn't take blowing up a school board meeting to have him charged and arrested, that the second assault would never have happened.

[01:00:06] So it can come to us as an information item. I know the schools are working on the MOU right now and are aware of the issues and that the schools also have engaged, I think, a broader relationship with laws, which I really appreciate.

[01:00:23] But we need to make sure if we are putting police officers essentially into our schools where something like this may happen, that the victims are treated appropriately and the investigations are appropriate with the type of sensitivity that they deserve.

[01:00:41] Thank you. Additional questions or discussion on this item? I do think it's timely to have it as an information item given the fact that we are currently reviewing our mou with the sheriff's office as we're obligated by code to do once every two years but also at least on the lcps side we've had an interest in doing so in the wake of the uh the incidents that happened in in 2021 to make sure that the lines of communication and reporting are clear and as supervisor briskman noted the

[01:01:19] fact that the funding for those positions comes from uh the board of supervisors directly and not through the schools i think makes it appropriate for the the joint committee to have that as an information item additional discussion miss reaser the only thing i'll add is i'm reminded that last year mr morse had the issue of the crosswalks come to this committee because it was i'm just reminded right now that it it was similar in that it involved lcps the the board of supervisors and lcso so um i think it seems to make sense to be a good place where

[01:01:57] we can all come together and try to have conversations about how to do better thank you co-chair glass um i i would just like to agree with with um i can't believe miss reaser thank you miss reaser i i would agree with you on that one i um i think this information

[01:02:27] is not known, at least for me as a board member on what the procedure is, and I would like to see what the process is, and to make sure that, you know, that we do protect our students and that we're doing the right thing.

[01:02:53] Thank you. Additional discussion? Seeing none, we will play. Oh, hang on a second. My apologies, Ms. Bressman. on the other items in the work plan i just had a couple other comments on the other items in the work plan is that okay go ahead okay yes we're this yes we're it's open for the work plan as a whole yeah so um i added the pickleball i know that we did pickleball a lot in the last year a year and a half i added that back in because i would like to first of all get an update to make sure that the courts that we agreed on and funded to get lined and managed by parks and rec and the

[01:03:31] nets were purchased and all of that but I also would like to make sure that we're doing this moving forward every time that a school is resurfacing their courts that some of them are lined for pickleball and I'm just not sure that was accomplished in the last kind of round of doing this but I want it to be maybe like an MOU with Parks and Rec that every time you know the the tennis courts are resurfaced that pickleball is lined there.

[01:04:01] So that's why I wanted that as kind of an information item. And then the school bus passes. I think there was some movement on this, but when I asked for this to be in the work plan, I had heard that an MOU had not yet been worked out between the county and LCPS for students to be able to have bus passes to ride our short term not the right word, fixed route, to ride our fixed route buses for free with their student ID.

[01:04:32] And I know that there was a little bit of a discussion 'cause not every student has a student ID and all that. It's my understanding that there's now, I spoke with the acting superintendent, I think last week, and he said that there's now an agreement to do a pilot, I think with 200 students or something like that.

[01:04:51] So that's some movement on it, I'm glad to hear. But the Board of Supervisors did fund this, I think last year, so I was disappointed when I first heard that the MOU hadn't been worked out yet. So the information item probably should be just what's happening with the pilot program, I hope.

[01:05:07] And then we might be able to make some recommendations out of this committee based on what the pilot program, how that works. And so I think that was it for me, thank you. - Co-chair Glass.

[01:05:24] - Thank you, and actually, when you said We were speaking on all this, I forgot about item five, which is the joint rules of, joint committee rules of order and mission. I would like to review aspects such as allowing for virtual public comment and making sure our mission statement is aligning with the work of the committee.

[01:05:45] This is a worthwhile list of initiatives for the committee to review, and I look forward to another year of collaboration between two boards and our staff. Thank you. - Ms. Reeser. - A brief question on the student bus passes.

[01:06:02] When is the pilot supposed to take place? - I'm not aware of which students had been selected for the pilots or anything. I know we've been having discussions about the student ID more globally from LCPS, which would benefit students riding our yellow buses, but I'm not aware of the specific set of students that were selected for the pilot.

[01:06:30] - Okay, but we will find out. I was just, just looking at the schedule, it seems that potentially maybe once you have some parameters or some information around the parameters, when it's going to take place and who the students are, I wonder if we could possibly discuss it in June rather than September, but we can wait to get information back from staff.

[01:06:57] Yes, we'll get back to that. Okay, thank you. as possible. Do you want to officially, sorry, co-chair Sorokin, do you want to officially change that to June in our work plan? Without objection, we will change that to June on the proposed work plan. Okay. Thank you. Any further discussion? Clarity, if I may. Ms. Tate. Does that mean that one of the other items changes to September or we just, there are new topics and I apologize

[01:07:28] if I'm out of order for my friends at the other end of the table. Ms. Reiser. While we have Proposed meeting dates, I assume that this works the same as our other committees, where the chairs can decide what to put on the agenda as timely or...

[01:07:50] Additional discussion? Seeing none, we'll place the motion to a vote to approve the work plan as amended. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.

[01:08:06] Aye. That motion will pass unanimously of board members present with Ms. Corvo absent for the vote. That will bring us to item six on our agenda, adjournment. And as we have no further business, we are adjourned.

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