Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, 4th Tuesday School Board Meeting and Public Hearing, Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Date: Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 4h 26m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/829537129?rel=0
BoardDocs (School Board): https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/loudoun/Board.nsf/Public

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 2026-10-20. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:00:00] I call to order this May 23rd, 2023 meeting of the Loudoun County School Board. We will begin our agenda with item 102, remote participation. I have been notified that Denise Corbo would like to remotely participate in tonight's school board meeting.

[00:00:15] Ms. Corbo, could you please state your location, whether anyone is with you, and whether this is a medical or personal matter?

[00:00:34] Ms. Corbo, can you hear me? Ms. Corbo, can you hear the meeting?

[00:00:55] Okay, one moment.

[00:01:51] Ms. Corbo, can you hear us?

[00:02:27] Check one. Ms. Corbo, can you hear me now?

[00:03:21] Ms.

[00:03:52] Corbo, can you hear the meeting now? Can you hear me?

[00:04:16] Yes, we can hear you. Ms. Corbo, I've been notified that you'd like to remotely participate in tonight's school board meeting. Could you please state your location, whether you're alone or with anyone else, and whether this is a medical or personal matter?

[00:05:00] Ms. Corbo, can you hear me? Ms. Corbo, I understand that you're requesting remote participation. Could you please state your location, whether you're alone or with anyone else, and whether this is a medical or personal matter? This is for a personal medical.

[00:05:19] I will now entertain a motion that Ms. Corbo's request to participate remotely for a medical matter be granted. So moved. Is there a second?

[00:05:36] That motion will fail for lack of a second. Ms. Corbo, would you like to request remote participation for a personal matter tonight? No, not at this time. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:05:53] At this time, we'll move to item two on the agenda, the approval of the consent agenda. Is there a motion, Mr. Medby? Yes, Chair. I move that the Loudoun County School Board approve the consent agenda as posted in the board docs.

[00:06:09] Is there a second? Seconded by Ms. Okedek-Bey. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. That motion will pass unanimously of members present with Reeser and Corbo absent for the vote. We'll now move on to item three, our work session.

[00:06:31] The first item, 301 revisions to the MOU between the Loudoun County School Board and the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office and the Leesburg Police Department. Ms. Boland.

[00:06:58] Thank you so much. I'm going to have Ms. Ray Mitchell, Chief of Schools, join me as well as her department works heavily with law enforcement in the oversight of the level offices as well as school administration.

[00:07:26] This evening, I just have a brief intro to give the school board an overview of the work that went into the revised draft that you see before you this evening. The review of the Loudoun County Public Schools and Law Enforcement Memorandum of Understanding began on January 19th.

[00:07:49] This work included weekly meetings with designated members from the school division, Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, and the Leesburg Police Department. This group worked together with a common goal in mind to ensure a safe and secure learning environment for all students and staff.

[00:08:09] In an effort to strengthen communication between parties and reinforce our commitment to our partnership, we agreed to make edits together during our meetings and utilize two roles to support the process. The first was a facilitator.

[00:08:24] This individual was neutral to the content, allowing all participants to remain engaged in the process. This individual assisted with keeping the group on task, posing questions when appropriate, and eliciting clarity on next steps that could be captured on a shared agenda.

[00:08:45] The second role included a recorder or note taker. Again, this individual was neutral to the content and allowed all participants to remain engaged in the process. This individual recorded ideas and comments from the group, sharing information in the running agenda and working draft available to all parties.

[00:09:07] This group held five initial meetings and completed a first draft on January 16, 2023, before sharing with senior leaders and legal counsel for review. The group reconvened on March 23, 2023, to share recommended edits and finalize its second draft.

[00:09:27] During the week of April 10, Dr. Smith met with Sheriff Chapman and Acting Chief Grigsby to discuss the draft MOU before sharing proposed revisions with LCPS school board advisory groups and the community for feedback on April 17th, 2023. The work group came back together on May 11th, 2023 to discuss feedback and agree on a final draft of the MOU, which has been brought before the school board as an information item this evening. I'm proud of the work this group has

[00:10:03] on and honored to collaborate and partner with LCSO and LPD to ensure our schools and workplaces are safe. It is my hope that you have had an opportunity to review the recommended changes and I will do my best to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Boland.

[00:10:24] Board members, do you have any questions regarding the proposed changes to the MOU? Mr. Morse. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I certainly appreciate the updates, and looking this over, I believe that this answers a lot of the concerns that the board and the community had in respect to how recent events were handled in 2021 with the assaults.

[00:10:46] In your opinion, with the modifications here, would this have changed, could this have affected our response in 2021 to the situation that occurred? So I hesitate to respond to that question only because I was not intimately involved or with that process or how things occurred with law enforcement.

[00:11:14] But I do believe that this clearly identifies our responsibility as well as law enforcement's responsibility. It also clearly identifies the acknowledgement that although law enforcement has to investigate, LCPS also has a requirement under Title IX, which was not in the MOU previously.

[00:11:39] I also think outside of this document, the relationship LCPS now has with LCSO and LPD is very different than it was at that time, and I only see that getting better. So I would say yes, but hesitate to say yes.

[00:11:54] Good. Okay, the second question, and you kind of talked about the fact that now we are ensuring that both sides know the responsibilities of the other, and specifically the LCPS side. Lines 240 through 243, you talk about in the event a joint investigation cannot occur, LCPS will notify the sheriff's officer of police department that it will be moving forward with an administrative review.

[00:12:19] Can we, somewhere in the document, define what administrative review is so that it's a little clearer what our actions are going to be? So we moved away from administrative investigation back to administrative review.

[00:12:39] In HRTD, for an employee investigation, it's always an investigation. But it's my understanding, and Ms. Mitchell can correct me if I'm wrong, that in the Office of School Administration, they refer to it as a review, an administrative review of an incident that involves a student.

[00:12:58] So it seems to be it is an investigation. I don't know how else to clarify other than to call it a review and or an investigation. I think what we need to do is define exactly what steps are being taken under an administrative review, because the next sentence says, we'll notify the SOPD at the conclusion of the investigation. So they're being used interchangeably in this sentence. If they're the same, then we can call them the same. I think that the sense is that they're different. The administrative review may have a different process or different steps. I don't know. But if it does, I think we

[00:13:34] need to spell out in this document what an administrative review is. I think that was just they miss in changing one without changing the other. I would hesitate to identify the steps because they change depending on the circumstances.

[00:13:50] There is not a, there's a goal for an order of the way that an investigation goes, but there's no guarantee. - Okay, so then instead of spelling out steps, perhaps if we're going to keep the language as it is, I think we need to at least define what an administrative review is.

[00:14:08] I think that'd be helpful. Thank you. Additional discussion, Mr. Mahedvi and then Ms. Okadekbe. Thank you, Chair. So, Ms. Boland, I think this is, we were in Student Services Committee and we were reviewing a policy 8025 and its rights of adult and eligible students.

[00:14:34] That was a policy we were reviewing. And one of the items in that, I'll just read a little bit about the one item that we have, which speaks to, no, sorry, I'll take the back. There's too many policies open. forgive me this is a reports of missing children not the rights of it where in in the section a it talks about duty when notified that a child is missing so it says pursuant to virginia code 52-31.1 law enforcement will provide reports of the disappearance of any child living within the school division upon notification by law enforcement agency of a child disappearance

[00:15:13] the principal or designate shall indicate by mark in the child's and dot dot dot so many of the policies where, again, this is where we're trying to strengthen the communications, where, again, this is in the policy, the expectation that the law enforcement will report back to school if a child is missing. How do we capture this in the MOU? Because there's a lot of ask in the MOU of having the communications, not only from a school division to the law enforcement, but from law enforcement to this. I know maybe there's a way to capture some ways, but I just wanted to kind

[00:15:50] address how do we make sure that language like this and I'm sure we have across many policies that is captured into in some ways that that addresses that so I don't know where it is off the top of my head but what I will say is we had lots of conversations about roles and responsibilities as are defined in code which it sounds like you are referring to and it does confirmed somewhere in here, and I can look and find it, that law enforcement, the SRO,

[00:16:23] LCSO, LPD, it spells it out, is responsible for all things covered, as is indicated in the Code of Virginia. And we tried to, I tried to simplify this a little bit, rather than duplicating language, because if we pulled code language and inputted it into the MOU, in each and every place, the MOU would be pages and pages long, and we'd have to keep it updated every time a code changed.

[00:16:56] So at the end, we did add an addendum, more of like a crosswalk, to try to pull out and hyperlink each code that is referenced and each policy that is referenced within the MOU. So somewhere in here, it does say that law enforcement is essentially held accountable for following the code of Virginia.

[00:17:17] Just for us, since we're up here, the code being referenced here, just if you don't, I'll email it to you, is 52-31.1. So 52-31.1. That's all. Ms. Okadagbe.

[00:17:36] Thank you, Chair Sorotkin. I wanted to ask if you can address the issue that had been brought up through the Joint Committee. So there was a recommendation for an additional language to specify that parents should be notified before law enforcement were to speak to their child or if law enforcement was speaking to their child.

[00:17:58] And I know that that language wasn't incorporated, and I understand that it's based on code. But if you can address that, I know that that was a question not only in the joint committee that came up as a recommendation, but it's something that we've heard from community members, parents, about concerns about that.

[00:18:17] So if you can address that and speak to why that language was not incorporated. Absolutely. So there are several codes that address law enforcement's ability to stop and question minors without parent approval and or participation. And we tried to address that on line 275 in the revised red line version and basically state in accordance with the Code of Virginia SROs have authority to stop question that is where their authority is given it is the law

[00:18:56] it's not additional authority that LCPS or the school division is given them it is the law is that helpful it is helpful it is helpful I think that and I know that's why the language was put there and I just wanted for the benefit of those who might be watching or may watch later to have that explanation as to why that wasn't incorporated thank you if i can also add there was an additional

[00:19:28] request that came out of the joint committee in regards to training um and that was updated and added on line 88 just for reference in the event the board is looking for that the additional training was added as well so all of the changes oh sorry did you have more mrs okadek go ahead

[00:19:54] Well, and just to further that, just to, again, for those who don't have the document open, it's related to the Sheriff's Office and Police Department approved training in advanced crisis intervention techniques, which include trauma-informed training.

[00:20:09] Thank you. So all of the, I want to confirm that all of the changes that are in the red line, have those all been mutually agreed upon with the Sheriff's Office and with Leesburg Police Department? Yes, sir. Okay, thank you.

[00:20:26] I just want I want to take a moment to commend the entire LCPS team that worked on this for collaboratively working with our law enforcement partners to get this updated and for making some very positive changes throughout the MOU. I've seen some recent statements from Sheriff Chapman regarding how the relationship with LCPS has improved and that is not easy praise to get.

[00:20:49] So I just wanted to make sure that I recognize the efforts of Dr. Smith, Ms. Boland, Ms. Mitchell, and everyone else who's been involved in this process to get to this point. It is greatly appreciated. Additional questions or discussion? Seeing none, is there interest in putting this on consent for next meeting?

[00:21:10] No, we'll put this on action. I think that's probably wise. So we'll put this on action for our next board meeting. With that, we'll move to 302 from the SPC Committee, Health and Medical Science, or HAMSCI, Academy proposal.

[00:21:30] Ms. Sheridan, since it came out of committee, do you have any opening remarks? No, I believe Dr. Ellis and others are coming up, so we'll let them take it. Thanks. Good evening, and thank you, Mr. Sorotkin and Ms. Sheridan.

[00:21:53] I am joined this evening with Ms. Renee Dawson, our Assistant Director of CTE Computer Science and Community Connections, who has been instrumental in planning the HAMSci program to date. So this evening, we want to share some information that we shared with the Special Programs and Centers Committee at their May meeting.

[00:22:14] We had the opportunity to share our proposal for Health and Medical Science, or HAMSci, Academy. And the committee voted to bring it forward to the full board for your review and potential approval. At the committee meeting, I shared that we are seeking approval to continue to plan for the Academy.

[00:22:31] So I want to be clear that we are still early in the planning stages, and this is not a final product. We've garnered what we think is sufficient staff and community interest that we are prepared to complete a proposal for you and seek your approval of the concept and continued planning.

[00:22:49] Next slide, please. So first a little bit about special programs generally before we dive into HAMSCI. Our special programs are directly aligned to the LCPS strategic plan, specifically Action 1.1, providing rigorous and culturally responsive instruction to ensure deeper learning, and action 1.2 developing accessible specialized programs each plan you see should be aligned to these actions in the strategic plan next slide this slide the special programs and centers committee has become quite familiar with

[00:23:25] over the past several months this shows our program status the status of current and future programs and programs we are just considered considering or just beginning to think about we've been updating the SPC committee on programs in the planning and in the development phase of those last two columns and have spoken before about the Air Force JRO TC program that we've previously requested from the national organization we continue to be on their waiting list just as a side note for when programs are added in Virginia you'll also see other programs under consideration and that very first column lists ideas based

[00:24:04] on special programs the special program survey that we did this past year so So tonight we will focus specifically on HAMSCI, on the health and medical sciences in the proposal phase. Next slide, please.

[00:24:20] So as you recall, the Board approved new policy 5.1.1.5, Special Programs, that outlines how special programs are developed, approved, continue, and even canceled if necessary. So in accordance with policy 5.1.1.5, any new special program or academy must be approved by the school board before implementation this means that this evening we are essentially seeking your approval to continue planning before it is implemented if you if we do receive your approval this evening or rather at the next board meeting staff will continue to plan in earnest and will provide you regularly update regular updates on the planning process through

[00:25:00] the SPC committee and full board meetings as requested I do want to be clear as we get more specific about ham side that there are many unknowns that we still need to work through in the planning process and again as I mentioned staff is confident enough in our initial planning that we are moving in the right direction and so it's it's sometimes unsettling to bring you something without all the answers but we're pretty confident in the direction that we're moving so now a little bit on the next slide about the ham side

[00:25:34] program specifically this slide shows an overview of the program you do have a a copy of the complete proposal in BoardDocs. The format of that proposal is outlined in Policy and Regulation 5115. The Health and Medical Science Academy is designed to expand learning opportunities for students in grades 9 through 12, so this is a high school academy proposal, with learning experiences that enrich and expand upon their interests and strengths in the health and science fields. Each HamSide pathway will align with industry credentials

[00:26:12] and an integrated work-based learning experience, such as mentorship or clinical experiences. Students will access knowledge in health science literacy through a curriculum that develops critical thinking skills coupled with those industry credentials, preparing them to be in the healthcare workforce.

[00:26:35] Next slide, please. So after we looked at the survey data from our school community and local experts, We saw HAMSci as an area of interest and need in the community. We then worked with the help of the Loudoun Education Foundation to build that interest among community members.

[00:26:57] We knew we needed to surround ourselves with experts in the field. So on April 28th, LCPS, in partnership with LEF, hosted a Health and Medical Sciences Roundtable event. There were a total of 35 participants.

[00:27:13] Mr. Sorotkin and Mr. Mahedvi were able to attend, and we were grateful for that. The 35 also included 23 health and medical science workforce representatives in the community, higher education representatives, and, of course, LEF and LCPS staff.

[00:27:31] Our efforts for the roundtable were to have industry feedback for college and career readiness in the field of health and medical sciences, in addition to sharing what we had done so far in exploring HAMPSI. Industry experts shared information relative to current job needs and shared their skills, attributes, and competencies they thought were needed in potential employees for the workforce.

[00:27:57] The inclusion of higher education representatives also yielded rich conversation around the potential for HAMPSI. The event really was inspiring and further demonstrates LCPS's continuous commitment to providing these high-quality learning opportunities for our students while expanding our business partnerships.

[00:28:19] So in addition to working with our community partners, we have also been fortunate to receive some grant funds in support of this program proposal. One of the positions that would be supported from one of the grant funds in the planning and will be key to the planning is the HAMSIDE coordinator.

[00:28:38] This position is much like the coordinators for the International Baccalaureate, and you can see on the screen some of the responsibilities the HAMSci coordinator will have in the planning process. Next slide, please.

[00:28:56] On slide 8, you'll see a quick high-level overview of the HAMSci development timeline. So our official planning would begin in the 23-24 school year. The first year would launch in the 24-25 school year, and we would have full implementation in all four grades in the 27-28 school year.

[00:29:24] On slide nine, you will see two potential HamSci course pathways that students would take and the courses that they would take in each year of the program. You can also see that students would have work-based learning experiences in grades 9 through 11 and more clinical experiences in grade 12.

[00:29:44] Additionally, we are working through integrating HAMPSI curriculum into additional content areas, such as English language arts, health and PE, and science. So it truly would be an integrated program. On the next slide, you'll see that we've drafted what cohorts would look like if we were to select two high schools for the program.

[00:30:10] And at this time, staff is recommending two high schools. Keep in mind these are all estimates and they could potentially change due to multiple factors such as building capacity, enrollment, etc. As you can see, our current thinking is that when fully implemented, it would be at two schools, 300 students each for a total of 600 students.

[00:30:32] On slide 11, you can see that we're also planning and mapping out budget over the next several years. We are, as I mentioned, excited that we have garnered concrete support from community partners through grant funding.

[00:30:48] Those boxes are shaded in green, and we are thankful for the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, who has funded a ham-sci coordinator. The resource teacher is in the Perkins grant, and also Inova has funded the ham-sci camp.

[00:31:09] Again, I want to be really clear on this slide. This is not a complete picture, and the TBDs listed could potentially be giant TBDs, particularly transportation. that's probably the biggest unknown at this point and and one of the main reasons we truly are seeking your approval for continued planning because we would need to have pretty serious in-depth planning conversations between Department of Instruction and transportation in support services that is definitely the biggest unknown and so that would factor into the total cost

[00:31:46] next slide please so in terms of next steps upon school board approval staff would continue the planning and as I mentioned continue with regular updates through the SPC committee or the full board if you prefer one of the key next steps would be to determine the schools we would seek we would determine the schools using a similar process to the dual language immersion schools that we chose that was a comprehensive process that worked very well and we would replicate so that included multiple factors including looking at that family

[00:32:25] and student interest survey that we completed last year to see the schools that have hampshire as a high interest area we would also look at building capacity now and in the future and we would seek principal and school leadership interest and support so we would survey the principals to determine who was interested and then look at those other factors as well and again at this point we are looking to start this in two separate high schools having two locations would not only increase obviously the number of students available that the program would be available for

[00:33:01] but it would also help with transportation instead of having to transport students all the way across the county. We would continue to work with community and industry partners on planning those work-based learning experiences and the clinical experiences that I mentioned. We would plan and budget for transportation to the new academies, create marketing materials for students, families and school-based teams, similar to how we are doing with dual language immersion and the IB program this year.

[00:33:31] And we would continue to develop curriculum for HAMSci Pathways, including that integrated curriculum that I mentioned. So lots more to be done, but we are enthusiastic about how far we have come already. And Ms. Dawson and I are happy to answer any questions. And my only regret is that HAMSci is not the science of Hamilton the musical.

[00:33:55] So I understand transportation is somewhat of an unknown, but wouldn't this follow the same model as International Baccalaureate or NJROTC? Why is it such a big question mark? We must have some idea of the order of magnitude, right? So I do think we have some idea, and I don't know if Mr. Lewis wants to provide more details, but every time we add another layer to the transportation or another cog in the wheel, it shifts the entire, and I'm not an expert in transportation, But every time we add something, the whole system must adjust.

[00:34:29] So I think it is a little more complicated and definitely more expensive than simply replicating what we do for IB. Mr. Lewis? Yes, thank you, Mr. Soraka. One of the things that adds to that is when we start looking at all those schools having the same time of day to start and we're trying to get students to come to their homeschool and then get to the next school, And so it just really exacerbates the shortage of the drivers and also the timing and the short amount of time frame that we have to get from one place to the other.

[00:35:00] And so we believe it will add a significant amount of buses and staff to be able to accomplish as we add on more and more of these opportunities. OK, thank you. Board members, any questions for staff regarding the discussion? Thank you. I do have two questions. My first question is regarding the survey that you sent out in 2021.

[00:35:26] So I see that 44% of the respondents were favorable in terms of wanting this addition to the county. Can you let me know how many people filled that survey out? I can certainly get that number for you. I don't have it in front of me. Thank you. And my second question is, with the academies of Loudoun right now currently being overcapacity, and not overcapacity but not able to serve all the students that should be going there because you have, what, 300 on a wait list or over 300, nearly 300, Would this, is the idea to take some of those students off of that wait list and be able to allow them to be housed in those other schools so that they are able to access that program?

[00:36:06] I really appreciate that question, Ms. Polifko, and I should have mentioned this in the presentation. So this program is not meant to replicate the health and medical science courses in the academies, and it is meant to provide additional opportunity because, as you mentioned, there is clearly more interest and ability of students who want programs in the academies than there are seats.

[00:36:32] That is a known problem that we struggle with. And so one of the main purposes of adding special programs in academies is to continue to expand those opportunities. I also am glad you asked that question because I'll point to the enrollment process.

[00:36:47] So the academies has an application process, as you all are aware. The idea with this special program, the HAMSY program, is that it would be open to any eighth grade students through a lottery.

[00:37:03] - Ms. Okedekbe. - Thank you, Chair Sorotkin. So going back to getting an understanding of the interest level. So the estimate is that there should be 75 students per grade level at each school who are participating in the program.

[00:37:20] So again, just pointing to the survey results, if you can speak to how we understand that that's the level of interest that's there And then I have a part two question. Thank you. So in that survey that we did, we did have a 44% interest from students and families in the Health and Medical Sciences Academy.

[00:37:41] And one of the things that we were able to see is we kind of pinpointed different clusters that had more interest in it. So there was definitive interest from our students in Health and Medical Sciences. It was in the top three because I think if you grouped all of the language interests together, health and medical sciences was in the top three.

[00:38:04] And then I'll also just add that we may find that there is still more interest than there are seats in HAMSci, and we will continue to monitor that. We could add a HAMSci program at a different or third or fourth location.

[00:38:21] We could also look at expanding the number of seats in the existing schools. We have some options for that, but we think we're starting with a reasonable and manageable number. Thank you. And you touched on this a moment ago, but can you speak more specifically to the pathways that the HamSci program would be targeting and then differentiate a little more specifically from the health and sciences program that's currently at MATA?

[00:38:49] So I'll start and I'll ask Ms. Dawson to jump in. So the pathways on slide nine, is it? Sorry, so to clarify, so not necessarily the pathways, I should have used a different word.

[00:39:08] Okay. I meant post high school. So in other words, what types of career paths or roles are we anticipating that this program would be helping students to achieve and then also then differentiating.

[00:39:25] You said that this shouldn't be replicating what we have at the academies, but then how is it different and is it different because of the coursework or is it different because it's leading to different types of endeavors? Thank you. Sorry to interrupt, but yeah.

[00:39:41] So thank you for that question. One of the things that we did in our preliminary planning of what pathways that we wanted is we used some of the data that we had received from a report that was generated with George Mason University, which is a health care workforce data analysis.

[00:39:58] And that report kind of generated jobs that are trending and in the area of health and medical sciences. So we looked at those jobs. And then we also looked at information that we got from the health and medical sciences roundtable. And we asked those business partners, what are some of the jobs that you see in your industry that are in need?

[00:40:19] And what we wanted to do was to not necessarily specialize this so much that it limits it. Because what we discovered with all of that data is there is a big spectrum in the health and medical sciences field. And there's also data that supports there are spots for nurses and for doctors.

[00:40:36] But phlebotomy is also an area of interest. So we wanted to give them, the students in these two programs, options to fit in nicely into any of those pathways. We actually did ask our business partners during the roundtable event if they would be interested in signing a letter of intent for some of our students that wanted to leave and go directly into workforce.

[00:40:59] And so I'm happy to share that several of those partners in that roundtable said yes, they would be interested in doing that. So in our discussion and our thinking about building out these pathways, that's what we're kind of looking at is the spectrum of opportunities in health and medical sciences for our students.

[00:41:18] And then on the flip side, I'll just add from the Academies of Loudoun perspective, they are more specialized courses. So we have a certified nurse aide class. We have a radiology tech class. We have a pharmacy tech class. So they are very specialized, whereas the Health and Medical Science Academy is more broad, as Ms. Dawson explained.

[00:41:40] Mr. Madby. Thank you, Chair. So, again, I was glad to join the roundtable. You know, one thing I do want to bring it up, I think thank you for all the work you've done, and I think from how I gather, it's still learning. I mean, we'll still be planning for the next year, ironing out many of the questions the board members have asked.

[00:42:01] In the next year, we'll be planning out whether the capacity or the program itself and so on and so forth. So first of all, I want to thank, you know, the Cloudmore Foundation for their contribution to kickstart this program. I mean, you know, I think the partners is exactly where we need to help and support.

[00:42:19] And I kind of go back to, I know Mr. Suratkin, not taking away your talking points, but I think when we came as, most of us, when we came back in 2019, 2020, we came with the vision that we wanted to enrich this, what the different programs Loudoun County offers.

[00:42:36] I know we had the Academies of Sciences and the Tech and the MATA, but what else we could do more to bring the so-called Academies back to the students where they are. IB was a big one of the programs that we have sort of started going towards that.

[00:42:54] I truly admire this particular program being offered. I know that many folks that I've heard, they're pretty excited and looking forward to it. And the third thing program that I'm hoping that once we get this thing going is going to be the Academy for the Arts as well.

[00:43:12] So I think that's something we are due for that as well. So hopefully this journey will lead us into one more academy as we move forward with it. So again, thank you for all the work you've done. And I don't have any questions. I just want to share my comments with you. Thank you. Additional discussion?

[00:43:30] Seeing none, we'll place this on action for our next board meeting, a new program. That'll take us to our last item in the work session, 303, from the Department of Support Services, name recommendation for new elementary school ES32.

[00:43:47] I'll turn it over to Mr. Lewis.

[00:43:59] Good evening, board members. We appreciate the opportunity to come tonight and share with you the information provided to you actually from our naming committee.

[00:44:18] As you recall, back in February of 2023, we had a conversation here in this room about whether or not to appoint a naming committee, and you decided to do that. And in March 14th, you appointed that committee. And then April, there was two meetings of that committee. And then the 23rd, we are here tonight to bring you the recommendations from the naming committee for the new school.

[00:44:40] I do want to share that we added another document this afternoon. You may have gotten a notice about that. Because we had some conversation here in this room and the committee made some comments as well, they provided for the main recommendation, and you'll see there that their recommendation is for Harvest Ridge Elementary School, but also provided three alternate names, one of which being the Hovater Primary School, which we had had a conversation about.

[00:45:05] And so there's some conversations back and forth about students arriving at the building and being confused with school. So we added that, the last document, if you see that rendering to share just how closely, how proximate those two buildings are on the campus for just some background and some context for the conversation about whether or not it would need to be a completely separate building or a separate name or whether it could be the share that the existing Hobartor name, which is what their second or their first alternate prop recommendation for the naming of it is.

[00:45:39] So at this point, I think that's all the information we wanted to provide was obviously Azir's information tonight and we'll come back on June 13th for action. I'm happy to take any questions you may have. - Board members, any questions regarding the naming committee's work or the recommendations?

[00:45:57] Mr. Mahedby. - Thank you, Chair. So I know this is not on topic, but I guess, Mr. Lewis, I wanna commend you and your team for the renovation we did at Douglas High School. I know that's, I think the school looks amazing.

[00:46:12] So I just wanna recognize, I know we did the inauguration, et cetera, last, this weekend, But, again, I just want to recognize you and the team for dedicated work in making that happen. Thank you. So coming back to the names, I guess I know there are folks, again, from Harvest Ridge.

[00:46:35] Then I also learned a little bit about, I think that's what comes back to Harvest Primary, where you have Harvest Elementary and then we have, sorry, Hovatter, sorry. I'm losing there. Thank you. So Hovatter Primary and Hovatter Elementary. And because Hobatter primary would be K to two, and then Hobatter elementary would be three to five.

[00:46:58] And so one of the feedbacks I sort of heard was having, keeping the Hobatter family as such. I know the names and which schools you go to, but it will create a little bit more family or consistent for that particular children as they're going through from K to five.

[00:47:18] So I don't know if you have, I'm sure the board will discuss that, but that's something feedback I heard. is that perhaps having that whole batter family and having whole batter primary I know the recommendation is harvest rich so I don't really have a hard way one way or the other but I just wanted to bring that to the board for discussion and I don't know if you have anything Mr. Lewis to add to that discussion I really appreciate that so I'll just share that initially as we talked here in this room back in February the staff asked that question

[00:47:50] But as we go through the naming process, our job is to stay neutral and allow the committee to bring forth their recommendations and post those up to the board for your discussion. Additional discussion?

[00:48:09] Seeing none, we will bring this back to action for a naming decision at our next school board meeting. So we have some additional time, so we will start on a couple of information items.

[00:48:25] We will start with 1401 from the Finance and Operations Committee, budget transfer request for transportation fuel. Mr. Morse. Thank you.

[00:48:41] I will, once Mr. Lewis gets seated, I'll turn it over to him. But the discussion here is that fuel costs, obviously, with inflation have climbed significantly, requiring us to go back and to augment the funding for the fuel strips.

[00:48:58] So, Mr. Lewis, are you ready to discuss? Sorry, as I was getting down, I didn't hear which item we went to. We're on 1301, budget transfer request for transportation fuel.

[00:49:14] Yes, sir. So that's essentially is with the experience we've had over the year, we have a great deal of cost overruns with the cost of fuel over the time, and so we're just simply transferring funds from one account to the other within the transportation division to cover the fuel.

[00:49:31] Board members, any questions regarding this item? Mr. Beatty. Thank you, Chair. Mr. Lewis, and maybe Ms. Willoughby, could you talk about how we've got costs everywhere that are going up, but we are able to find projected savings? I mean, are we actually value engineering some of the services where we're not providing what we need, or how are we able to have such great costs, which I believe are true, in one area, but then also find all these savings in another area in order to make this up? Could you talk about how

[00:50:04] that all works out so in this area one with the fuel the the cost that we were experiencing were were definitely one of the higher increases we were seeing across the budget and while we are seeing inflation pretty much hit all areas there can be some areas where again with the budget

[00:50:42] being an estimate we can still fall below the actual budgeted amount also because the fuel that had been expended if you think there was an attachment in board docs where the cost overrun was really at the beginning of the school year and we were just watching to see what happened as we moved through the year that steps were taken, I'm sure, in the Department of Support Services to begin identifying areas where they could make some reductions knowing that we would have a cost overrun.

[00:51:15] That's very helpful, thank you. Additional questions? Interest in placing this item on consent during our next board meeting? We'll place this on consent. We'll now move to 1302, also from the Finance and Operations Committee, Appropriation of the Villas at Cascades Cash Proffer.

[00:51:36] Mr. Morse. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Finance and Operations Committee reviewed the request for the expenditures of this appropriation. The appropriation is actually very specific to the area in which Meadowland Elementary is located.

[00:51:54] So the discussion was that a significant portion of the proffer will be applied given as a cash payment to LCPS, and it will go specifically to the Meadowland Elementary School play area. And so I can turn that over to Mr. Lewis for details on that.

[00:52:14] Yes, sir. I think that you covered it pretty well that all the money, all the cash proffer will go to the Meadowland project as designated in the proffer language. Board members, any questions regarding this item? Mr. Beatty.

[00:52:31] Thank you. Mr. Lewis, how many students do we anticipate this project adding to the local schools, specifically Meadowland, but any other ones around it? I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I'm not sure I understood that. So, I guess, how many students do we anticipate this particular development adding to the schools?

[00:52:47] Like, is it going to also increase some of the, take up space, I mean, I assume it'll take up space, but more than, will we have enough capacity? I'm going to ask Mrs. Tate to help me with that. Essentially, this is a project that's also already been done and approved.

[00:53:05] And so we are making use of the proffers done with that. So I think those are all in account for us. So my guess is that this state can correct me if I'm wrong, that those numbers are already accounted for in our projections. Correct. This is a proffer that resulted from the rezoning.

[00:53:22] And so by receiving this, we're not adding additional children. But I understand what your question is, and I don't have the CIP with me. But I can look at the CIP. You think it's in there? Yes, sir. Okay, thank you. Yes, sorry. Additional discussion? Seeing none. Interest in placing this item on consent for our next board meeting? We'll place this on consent and we'll try to do one more. 1303, also from the Finance and Operations Committee, request to name the Broad Run High School Gymnasium, the John Costello Gym, in accordance with school board policy 6510. Mr. Morse.

[00:53:58] Thank you, Mr. Chair. The committee received a request from the principal of Broad Run, Mr. David Spage, requesting the naming of the gymnasium, and it would be the John Costello Gym. As per our regulations and policy, that would be a duration of 10 years. Three board members had already indicated their support for this before it even got to Finance and Operations Committee. Finance and Operations Committee voted 201 with one absent to forward it with the recommendation that the school board name the gymnasium, the John Costello Gym for 10

[00:54:38] years. Board members, any questions regarding this item or the naming request? Ms. Polivko. Thank you. I know we haven't quite gotten to the point yet where we make a determination about whether or not this is going to go to action or consent. I would just urge the board to put this on action because I think it's the most respectful thing to do in this case. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:55:05] And usually we do that for namings just in case family members or others wish to attend. Was that, did I cover it? You covered what I was going to say. Thanks. Okay. Any additional discussion? Seeing none, we'll place us on action for the next board meeting. And with that, we're going to go into recess at this time and we will be back at time certain 6 30 p.m. The board is now

[00:55:28] in recess.

[01:29:13] Good evening. The board is coming out of recess and we're going to begin our evening session with item six, which is the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. Our pledge leaders tonight are the VHSL individual champions that are being recognized for capturing the VHSL state championship in their sport and event during the fall and winter seasons. And we're going to learn a little more about them each individually when we get to the student and staff recognitions right after this tonight. Immediately after the pledge, we're going to hear the National Anthem, which is going to be performed tonight by the Light Ridge High School Orchestra.

[01:29:51] The Light Ridge Orchestra is in its third year of existence and is under the direction of Robbie Carroll. Students at Light Ridge have the opportunity to participate in three different ability-based ensembles. Light Ridge Orchestras have received high ratings at the District Concert Assessment.

[01:30:07] So at this time, I will ask everyone to please rise for the national anthem and remain standing, I'm sorry, for the pledge, and remain standing for the national anthem immediately after.

[01:32:03] That was wonderful. Thank you all so much for performing here tonight. This time we'll move to item seven, student and staff recognitions, and we'll begin with 701, the recognition of our VHSL individual state champions.

[01:32:22] Thank you, Chair Sorotkin. We're going to invite our Assistant Director of Athletics and Extracurricular Activities, Derek Ferry, is going to come to the podium, and I'll invite Chair Sorotkin and Vice Chair Mejedevi to join me on the floor.

[01:32:42] Good evening, school board. It is my honor tonight to take a moment to recognize our individuals and relays that captured a VHL state championship in either the fall or winter season. The long hours and countless sacrifices and dedication to their craft have paid off this year for these nine individuals and relays.

[01:33:03] First, Anthony Ciotoli from Independence High School. Anthony won the VHL Class 5 Wrestling State Championship at 106 pounds by pin in 4 minutes and 24 seconds.

[01:33:26] Next, Rafael Hippolito from Independence High School. Rafael won the VHL Class 5 State Wrestling Championship at 165 pounds by pin in 31 seconds. Next is the Girls 200-yard Medley Relay from Independence High School, comprised of Kylie Boy, Nina Wyskowski, Alden Zirkle, and Megan Davies, won their VHL Class 5 State Swimming Championship by swimming a time of 1 minute 45.

[01:33:58] 38 seconds in the finals. Next is Lorne Thomas from Independence High School. Lorne won the VHL Class 5 State Indoor Track Championship in the 55-meter hurdles by running a time of 8.

[01:34:20] 11 seconds in the finals.

[01:34:42] Next is Luke Roberts from Loudoun County High School. Luke won the VHL Class 4 State Championship at 144 pounds by a decision 3-2. If I mispronounce the same, I'm sorry.

[01:35:06] Next is Aria Ibizube from Riverside High School. Aria won the VHL Class 5 State Indoor Track and Field Championship in the shot put by a throw, by throwing a distance of 38 feet, 4 inches in the finals, which was actually almost 2 feet farther than the second place person.

[01:35:29] Next, we have H.T. Tragal from Riverside High School. HT won two VHL Class 5 State Swimming Championships. He captured the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.93 seconds and the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45.31 seconds. Next, we have Kylie

[01:36:04] Sessions from Riverside High School who won the VHL Class 5 State Swimming Championship in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1 minute 3.53 seconds. And last for this evening, Wendell Nagu from Woodgrove High School. Wendell won the VHL Class 5 State Indoor Track and Field

[01:36:33] Championship in the triple jump by jumping 46 feet 3.5 inches in the finals. Congratulations again on this well-deserved honor and all the sacrifices that you made to accomplish this feat.

[01:38:14] Next, we have item 702 from the Department of School Leadership, Rockridge High School, Cognia School of Distinction. Turn it over to Ms. Mitchell. Thank you, Chair Sorokin. Good evening, board members.

[01:38:30] This evening, we are going to recognize Rockridge High School for their Cognia Award. To present the award, we have with us Dr. Myra Sawyers, who is the Cognia representative, and she currently serves as the director of the Mid-Atlantic Region.

[01:38:45] Please come forward, Dr. Sawyers. Good evening everyone. It is a pleasure to be here this evening to share this award with the Loudoun County community and to share with you why this honor, this recognition is such a great honor. Accreditation from Cognia is a valuable mark of distinction recognized around the world.

[01:39:16] Our research-based performance standards are the highest education standards. They give schools a shared framework to achieve measurable and meaningful improvement. Cognia provides actionable data from professional evaluators who are experts in the field and are experienced educators and provide continuous guidance for improvement.

[01:39:44] They define the characteristics of a good education institution and provide guidelines for efforts that will visibly grow learners, teachers, leaders, and educational organizations.

[01:40:03] Each year, Cognia identifies schools and systems around the world that best exemplify excellence in education and stand out in their service to learners based on the results of our rigorous academic standards.

[01:40:23] Cognia is proud to recognize Rockridge High School for earning the 2022 School of Distinction Award. This award recognizes institutions in the year of their accreditation review for excelling in their implementation of high-quality learning, organizational effectiveness, and commitment to continuous improvement.

[01:40:54] Rockridge High School was recognized by their accreditation and review team for their, quote, strong leadership that embeds a unified mission and purpose, a culture of collaboration and support that creates multiple levels of support, and a school that fosters a mindset of excellence that empowers students.

[01:41:24] the leaders, the professional staff, support staff, parents, and students are all committed to excellence in education. So it is again a pleasure to congratulate Rockridge High School for the 2022 Accreditation with Distinction Award from Cognia.

[01:41:55] Charest Rockin, Vice Chair Mehedovian, members of the school board. Thank you for allowing me this evening just for a few brief comments. First, I want to thank the members of Cognia, Dr. Sawyers especially, for presenting this at Rockridge High School at a meeting on May 9th, but also again today. This recognition not only acknowledges what we do as educators at Rockridge High School, but also serves as confirmation that our work is understood and holds the promise for future generations. Think about this. When did we go through this accreditation process? Of course, it was the crazy year following COVID, right? Global pandemic, we chose to go through accreditation,

[01:42:31] But the process, this process, was vital for us as it affirms our focus on mental health, our standards, and our high expectations, as well as provide us a roadmap and a path forward. In terms of affirmations, a few things became abundantly evident through this process.

[01:42:48] First, our staff care deeply for our students and proudly and continuously seek ways to celebrate all achievements. Second, our teachers celebrate diversity, a school that represents 74 different countries. It's most evident in instruction that is truly culturally responsive.

[01:43:05] Rockridge High School has an undying passion for allowing student voice and ownership, knowing that this is the path to deeper learning. Rockridge High School staff are creative artists who are hungry for professional development at all terms. Collaboration is natural for a Rockridge High School teacher, and they are passionately hungry that CLTs are done with fidelity, holding a belief in an aligned curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

[01:43:27] Our teachers seek reasons for students' behaviors and fully integrated processes to support mental health and wellness. But this celebration of Rockridge High School must also be a celebration for all of our highly trained professional teachers within LCPS. And I thank you all, as board members, for continuing to seek ways to attract the very best to LCPS, remembering that people, not programs, are the foundation of high-performing organizations.

[01:43:55] Thank you very much.

[01:45:18] We'll now move to item eight, comments from our student school board representative. Tonight, we are welcoming back Elizabeth Brubaker from Woodgrove High School. Good evening. My name is Lizzie Brubaker, and I'm a junior at Woodgrove High School.

[01:45:35] I'm currently Woodgrove's SCA president. Two weeks ago, I shared some of the great things I've witnessed in my school this past year. Tonight, I'd like to focus on some important events currently happening at Woodgrove. First, this Friday, we are sending three students, Lily McBride, Cadence McGrath, and Samantha Mare, to compete in debate nationals in Louisville, Kentucky.

[01:45:56] Only a select number of debaters can advance to this competition. These three students have worked very hard, as you can imagine, to reach the level of excellence that would give them this wonderful opportunity. The Woodgrove community is so proud of them. Just yesterday, our girls lacrosse team competed at regionals.

[01:46:12] They played a great season, and though they did not win last night's game, their advancement to the regional level shows their hard work and drive. Our arts department hosted the first ever fine arts expo since we've returned from distance learning, and it was very successful. All disciplines of the fine arts, band, orchestra, choir, and art, came together to create an exciting evening with many performances and activities.

[01:46:35] Students, parents, and staff from our community came out in support of it, and the fine arts department was able to raise money to go towards our music and arts programs. As I mentioned two weeks ago, Woodgrove's Fine Arts Department has been quite successful this spring, earning the title of Blue Ribbon School after superior performances across all ensembles.

[01:46:54] As graduation comes closer and we prepare to send off our seniors, approximately 375 of them, I am reminded just how quickly time in high school flies by. Though I am just a junior and I have a year until it is my turn to graduate, I know that year will go quickly.

[01:47:09] this thursday the class of 2024 council is planning a senior versus staff kickball game to close off the year when it dawned on me that my class was the senior part of that title i realized just how true this was i know that my time at woodgrove is limited but i am so grateful for the support and resources it has offered me the past few years and i have no doubt that it will continue to do the same for others in years to come thank you thank you we will now move to item

[01:47:43] nine, our acting superintendent's report. Dr. Smith. All right. Good evening, board members. We have, I'd like to start out with tonight with some good news and updates from around the division. We have several excellent things to share, but I'll start tonight with a few personnel announcements, two of which were approved in tonight's personnel actions item. Luckett's principal, Carolyn Clement, is retiring. I don't believe Carolyn made it this evening. Carolyn grew up in Springfield, Virginia, and she's a graduate of JMU and Shenandoah University. She began her career with LCPS in 1985 as a speech-language pathologist, which when was then was the Department

[01:48:21] of Pupil Services, now the Department of Student Services. She transitioned to be a school-based administrator in 2006 and then became the principal of Luckett Elementary in 2014. If you add all this together, you'll see that Carolyn has made an impact for LCPS students for 38 years. She's led Luckett's Elementary to the mission of providing a safe and nurturing environment where each child is challenged to acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to become an independent, lifelong learner and to become a productive citizen of our ever-changing community, country, and world. She's truly embodied the dedicated educator all our children deserve. I just want

[01:49:00] to tell Carolyn we thank you and we wish you the best of luck as you enter this next chapter of your life. I am also pleased to share this evening that Luckett's Elementary will now be led by the new principal, Laura Ganley, starting July 1st. We welcome Ms. Ganley. She is also a graduate of James Madison University and has a master's degree in instructional technology from George Mason University and an educational leadership and administration certificate from George Washington University. She started her career as a second grade teacher in LCPS at Rolling Ridge Elementary in 1994 and has served as an LCPS as an instructional facilitator of technology

[01:49:39] and a professional development specialist. This experienced educator emotionally recently served as the assistant principal of Sugar Land Elementary. I know Luckett will welcome her as we do in this new role. Congratulations, Laura Ganley. I'm also very pleased to announce this evening that Ms. Tedra Richardson has been appointed as the assistant superintendent of student services. Mr. Richardson, you please stand. Since 2022, Tedra has been the director of special education for specialized instruction in LCPS. Her career began as a special education

[01:50:16] teacher in Louisa County and then in Broward County Public Schools in Florida. From teaching, Tedra advanced to the supervisor of special services in Spotsylvania Public Schools, and within that district, she ultimately advanced to the executive director for student support services, a position she held for 10 years. Tedra holds a bachelor degree in psychology from JMU and a master's degree in varying exceptionalities from Nova Southeastern University.

[01:50:42] We welcome Tedra to this position and are looking forward to her leadership in the Department of Student Services and across LCPS. Congratulations, Tedra. With graduations fast approaching, LCPS high schools hosted decision days. Students shared their plans for college and for a future, including college, career, or military paths.

[01:51:03] We celebrated high school accomplishments and enjoyed one more fun occasion with their friends and teachers. We're going to take a few moments now to watch some of the highlights from these Decision Day celebrations.

[01:53:12] to expand on that moving forward. So as you can tell, it is graduation season. And so tomorrow, actually, we will kick off the 2023 graduation season with the Academies of Loudoun graduation ceremony. And our graduations will continue through June 12th. In addition to these events, we'll also be celebrating, we just celebrated the MSAC awards where they were presented on Friday night. We'll have the SEAC awards coming up as well, the campus graduation and the teacher cadet ceremony. We wish all of our graduating seniors the very best. On Friday evening, the Minority

[01:53:48] Student Achievement Advisory Committee, or MSAC, presented its annual awards to a full house of students, parents, and community members. The event featured Phyllis Randall, the chair of the Board of Supervisors, and Donna Fortier, the CEO of Mobile Hope, as guest speakers. The Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity presented academic awards to more than 50 LCPS students. MSAC chair Talia Bush and Aaron Kunkel, MSAC membership chair, presented student and staff awards for equity and the Wendell Fisher Awards to LCPS staff members who represent the vision of MSAC's founder.

[01:54:22] Student awards for equity were Addison Lasley of Dominion Trail Elementary, Prenamya Giddaw of Mercer Middle, and Esha Venkat of Broad Run High School. Staff awards for equity were Robin Scott of Kenneth Colbert Elementary, Caitlin Couch of Potomac Elementary. And the following LCPS staff members received the Wendell Fisher Award, Samantha Ashley, a language arts teacher at JL Simpson Middle School, Principal Mark Hayden of Potomac Elementary, and Lottie Spurlock, our

[01:54:53] Director of Equity Office. Congratulations to all of our MSAC Award winners. On Sunday, we celebrated an historic occasion in Loudoun County's history with the rededication of Frederick Douglass High School, now called Historic Douglass High School Education and Development Campus. The rededication of this building is a testament to the commitment of our community to keep this important legacy alive and ensure it will continue to serve an important role in our community. The historic campus was opened with a festive celebration that features school alumni and their families, civic leaders, and elected Loudoun County officials. The great-great-grandson of Frederick

[01:55:32] Douglas was able to provide the keynote speech. More than 450 people gathered to participate and tour the restored 1941 portion of the building, which holds the office of the Loudoun Douglas High School Alumni Association, or LDAA. The NAACP and the Edwin Washington Society also have offices in this building. In addition to these offices, community members who visited were able to see a rotating collection of historic photographs, memorabilia, and other exhibits honoring the rich legacy of past and present generations who helped to ensure that African-American children in Loudoun County could receive an accredited secondary education. The building will also

[01:56:10] house several LCPS and Loudoun County program offices. The public is invited to tour this newly dedicated space and to watch the video of the rededication, which is available on the historic Douglas High School website at lcps.org slash Douglas. I'm very happy to share that 17 LCPS students received scholarships through the National Merit Scholarship Program. 11 LCPS students will receive $2,500 scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

[01:56:40] These students were selected for more than 15,000 finalists from around the country. In addition, six LCPS students will receive the corporate-sponsored merit scholarships. This year, approximately 840 high school seniors won corporate-sponsored awards, financed more than 100 corporations, company foundations, and other business organizations.

[01:57:03] Just this morning, Virginia delegate David Reed recognized an LCPS homegrown initiative, the Virginia Cyber Slam Conference. This conference, organized by Jennifer Marden, a Loudoun County High School cybersecurity teacher, and Chris Stark, a Briarwoods High School cybersecurity teacher, with support from a committee of teachers, scholars, and cybersecurity experts, and featured a keynote presentation by the Virginia Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, Alicia Andrews.

[01:57:31] It also included presentations from cybersecurity experts from the U.S. Secret Service and four interactive sessions at which students tried out their cybersecurity skills. More than 500 students across five Virginia counties attended this event at George Mason this past January.

[01:57:49] I extend my appreciation to these enterprising teachers and those who took the time to recognize them today. The Loudoun County High School Navy Junior ROTC program presented the colors at Sunday's Nationals baseball game. Performing this service on the national stage is a tremendous honor to the LCHS NJROTC program and just wanted to recognize and thank them for recognizing the program and LCPS so well.

[01:58:17] Last week, student artists and their families attended a very special art show, one that was just for them. A gallery walk through the superintendent's suite showed off student artwork selected for display on the second floor of the administration building. Six canvas paintings created by elementary, middle, and high school students working in groups will remain on display in the superintendent's office, the office of communications, and the office of the auditor general.

[01:58:40] Human Resources and Talent Development's first annual mental health fair was a great success. It was held last Saturday and was open to all LCPS staff. The fair featured sessions focused on de-stressing, laughing, and just relaxing.

[01:58:57] More than 150 participants gathered to enjoy sessions like guided meditation experiences, chocolate and infused water tastings, peaceful planting, plus learning sessions on topics such as creating a culture of connection, and wake up well. All participants had the opportunity to learn calming techniques and find resources to improve mental health.

[01:59:17] LCPS is proud to take this step to help support our staff. Congratulations to our 2022 Outstanding Substitutes of the Year. These substitutes are honored for their continuously demonstrating responsibility, reliability, and flexibility.

[01:59:33] These winners have gone above and beyond to inspire students in our schools and serve as positive role models. Our outstanding substitutes of the year are Kristen Procasino, nominated by Lovettsville Elementary, Najma Aiden, nominated by Stuart Weller Elementary, Elham Ali, nominated by Farmwell Station Middle, and Janet Endress, nominated by Potomac Falls High School.

[02:00:00] In addition to these four winners, 46 other substitutes were nominated for this incredible honor. The Virginia High School recognized 14 of our Loudoun County High Schools as a part of its 2022-23 Winter Sportsmanship Honor Roll.

[02:00:16] To qualify for this honor, member schools cannot have a player or coach ejected from any competition. This winter, more than 3,900 athletes and 550 coaches participated in approximately 2,884 competitions across 179 teams.

[02:00:33] Way to go, LCPS. And in sticking with the VHSL theme, four LCPS high schools, Briarwoods, Freedom, John Champ, and Riverside will host the 2023 Virginia High School Spring Jubilee. This is the state championships for just about all of our spring sports.

[02:00:53] The semifinals games are set for June 9th, with championship games to follow on June 10th. Freedom and John Champ will host the Class 6 state tournament games, while Briarwoods and Riverside will host the Class 5 state playoff games. Good luck to all of our competitors and come out and see the great competitions.

[02:01:11] Now we'll move on to a few operational updates. The safety and privacy in our school restrooms is progressing well. Architects and engineers are tasked with finding solutions that create a balance between school safety and privacy for students and staff. Our support services have joined the PTSO meetings at Broad Run, Woodgrove, Loudoun Valley, and Dominion to share details of the projects and answer any questions.

[02:01:34] The program has been very well received during these presentations, and they have found that parents are very appreciative of the opportunity to view the details and have their questions answered. The pilot program details can be found on our construction services webpage with the support services and include slide presentations as well as FAQs.

[02:01:52] As a reminder, physical resident renovations are being made to Woodgrove, Loudoun Valley, Broad Run, Heritage, and Dominion, and technology developed to monitor activity in the restrooms will be implemented in three of those schools, as well as technology-only improvements to Farmwell Station and Sterling Middle Schools, as well as Stonebridge and Parkview.

[02:02:10] LCPS has made progress on the policies identified for updates as a result of the special grand jury. All seven policies recommended for review and update in December are now complete, and the public can find all of our policies by visiting our lcps.org slash policy review.

[02:02:26] As a general note, LCPS policies were reviewed every five years per the Code of Virginia. And during the policy review process, feedback is sought and included from several advisory groups, stakeholder groups, and it's also available for the community at large on our homepage. It's been my pleasure to visit school locations around the division with our school board members for a series of listening sessions this spring.

[02:02:50] One of my priorities as acting superintendent was to rebuild trust and relationships with all of our stakeholder groups. Holding listening sessions was the goal within that priority, and to date, we have completed eight of the in-person listening sessions with over 250 total citizens. The ninth session will be held this week and is held virtually with at-large member Ms. Denise Corbo on Thursday, May 25th.

[02:03:13] Those who wish to tune in or submit a question should visit our web address shown here on the site, and they must register by noon so they can receive the participation link. And that concludes my report this evening. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Smith, for the look at all the great things going on around LCPS.

[02:03:32] That will take us to item 10, which is the public hearing for the abbreviated elementary school attendance zone change process for Tuscarora Crossing. And I've been notified by staff that there are no speakers signed up for that public hearing.

[02:03:48] So that will conclude the public hearing. The next item on the agenda is public comment. Thank you for engaging with the school board through the public comment process. The school board welcomes comments from Loudoun County residents and believes that strong community engagement and outreach are important components of a successful school system.

[02:04:09] Speakers must limit comments to the time allotted. Based on the number of speakers and the agenda this evening, all speakers have been allocated two minutes each for public comment. Please be advised that speakers who miss their time slot will not be called at a later time. All audience members shall maintain civility, decorum, and respect for the functioning and dignity of the school board at all times.

[02:04:30] Please remain seated unless arriving, departing, speaking at the podium, or during a break. Violations of civility, decorum, and respect include shouting, heckling, jeering, applause, or other noise which disrupts or delays the meeting, obstructing speakers from being able to see the school board and vice versa, interrupting speakers, attempting to speak when not called to do so by the chair, and approaching a speaker or otherwise attempting to intimidate, disparage, or distract a speaker, staff member, or other meeting attendees.

[02:05:02] Speakers should refrain from vulgarity, obscenities, profanity, or other like breaches of respect, nor may speakers target, criticize, or attack individual students during public comment. Speakers should communicate those concerns to their school principal or an appropriate school official. Additionally, complaints regarding division employees should be directed to the school principal or an appropriate school division official. Speakers should face the dais and direct their comments to the school board. Per LCPS policy, members of the school board will not answer questions, or respond directly to the public during the public comment period.

[02:05:38] Violations of decorum or civility by any meeting attendee may result in the chair directing staff to remove the attendee from the remainder of the meeting. Repeated or persistent violations of decorum or civility by the audience may result in, on the decision of the chair, public comment being tabled until a later point in the meeting's agenda, limiting the number of attendees in the meeting room during public comment for safety reasons, or the public comment period ending for the evening. Copies of materials for board members should be given to the public information officer in the media box at the back of the boardroom prior to the start of the meeting. Please provide

[02:06:13] 12 copies of materials. Under no circumstances may a speaker approach the dais. The public is reminded that access to school board meetings is available through LCPS-TV on Comcast Channel 18 and Verizon Fios Channel 43. The live stream of the meeting may also be viewed on the LCPS-TV website. So for the fourth Tuesday meeting we traditionally start with virtual public comment but we have no virtual speakers signed up for tonight's meeting so we will move to our in-person

[02:06:42] speakers. The first speaker is Brenda Bengston to be followed by Jessica Kirkland. DEI and SEL efforts combat cruelty. For two years threats of violence were shouted, texted, and voicemailed to the school board and staff speakers heckled children a student rep and other speakers we read

[02:07:18] see how well she would hang from a tree and adults laughed pretend renters from tennessee canada and north carolina vilified lgbtq students and allies and targeted people of color the haranguing message to erase. Two weeks ago, I heard students that were sitting near me joking about threats. Want us to check to see if you made it out? Implied alive. Then laughter. Too many former students of

[02:07:55] mine have died. A runaway who froze to death. Car, motorcycle, helicopter accidents, cancer, and suicide. This is personal and not a laughing matter. So when someone demonized our marginalized students and allies using the Bible to justify drownings with a millstone, cruelty. Yet the crowd laughed. Before the last meeting, a Sinclair crisis story was dumped right after breaking news

[02:08:29] of an ex-president's liability for sexual assault and defamation. Conveniently absent from this well-timed narrative, all for who two years purposely used these meetings for selective cruelty. Thankfully, there was never laughter about sexual assault. Thank you. Jessica Kirkland

[02:08:55] to be followed by Sandy Sullivan. As the school board noted in its May 9th proclamation of awareness of the fentanyl and opioid epidemic, these drugs and their effects present a rising crisis for teenagers in schools. However, awareness isn't the same thing as knowledge, and both are useless without meaningful action which is what I am here tonight with my colleagues to request from the school board. Action. My classroom is uniquely positioned within my school.

[02:09:29] Just outside my classroom door are the single stall locking restrooms that were to be provided for gender expansive students. These bathrooms have become the weakest point in our ability to keep students safe at school as the locking doors provide students the space and lack of visibility to engage in behaviors that are unsafe, risky, and potentially deadly.

[02:09:48] From my classroom door on multiple occasions this year, my students and I have witnessed an administrator knocking on the door of a single-stall restroom with the warning that they will have to unlock the door if the non-responsive student behind it doesn't respond or come out. On the other side of the classroom, my window is right next to the front door of the school where ambulances pull up when students experience what is called a medical emergency.

[02:10:11] My students have on numerous occasions seen ambulances pull up to assist their peers who have emergent medical needs. Students cannot look away from the effect these drugs are having on our school and student body. It's outside their classroom doors and classroom windows. These events have become normalized for them, an intrinsic and inherent part of the high school experience.

[02:10:31] They can't look away, and I need the community and the school board not to look away either. For students who receive emergency treatment for drug use while at school, there must be more robust support provided by the district to keep these students safe, as well as the staff and other students. Alternative placement options, such as at the North Star School or what was formerly the Douglas School, need to be on the table for students whose needs clearly exceed what we in the general education setting are not able to provide.

[02:10:59] LCPS must invest more resources into providing intensive substance abuse counseling and treatment options for students with documented substance abuse issues. Thank you. Thank you. Sandy Sullivan to be followed by Jennifer Siren. Good evening. I'm Sandy Sullivan, an elementary school teacher who currently serves the members of the Loudoun Education Association as their president.

[02:11:29] Recommendations come down, decisions come down, and then those who have to make it work have to figure it out. Recommendations and decisions regarding reducing or not even maintaining staffing for speech and language pathologists and special education teachers have been made.

[02:11:45] Now your devoted educators who currently work to ensure students' needs are met despite overloaded caseloads are faced with more challenges for the next school year. How do these staffing and caseload decisions support our students? How do these staffing and caseload decisions ensure our students' needs are met? Thank you. Jennifer Siren to be followed by Megan O'Meara. When we moved to

[02:12:16] A few months after he'd been there, he made the comment that he had never seen so many ambulances at a high school before. His classmates told him that it was overdoses and suicide attempts. My daughter talks about avoiding bathrooms where people are smoking weed.

[02:12:36] My students talk about kids getting high as early as 9 in the morning. And a few weeks ago, a student asked me if the medical emergency earlier in the day was an overdose. We don't know because we have student privacy. As a parent and a teacher, I hear these things, and I hear the resignation and the frustration with the ineffectual attempts of the adults in our school system to create a drug-free environment.

[02:13:00] In Loudoun County, we have a strong culture of protecting student privacy, but as a school district, we need to understand the extent and nature of the substance abuse problems that our students are experiencing, because it impacts not only the students who are struggling with addiction, but their siblings, families, and friends.

[02:13:18] and the impact is felt across the schools as the day-to-day educational experience is eroded as a result of the presence of drugs. It's not enough to just share resources with a small group of parents who take the initiative to come to a meeting. LCPS needs to systematically gather data on substance abuse in our schools, to study it in a meaningful way, and to share its findings with the community.

[02:13:43] I suspect that when you look at the data, you might be surprised by the pervasiveness of the problem throughout the county, just as you were with the attendance data that came out a few weeks ago. With a foundational understanding, we can begin to design targeted programs to support these students and to ask our state representatives for policies, programs, and laws that will support our efforts.

[02:14:05] Thank you. Thank you. Megan O'Meara, to be followed by M. Jenkins. M. Jenkins, to be followed by Anne Donoghue. Are you Monica O'Meara? I'm sorry, go ahead.

[02:14:24] Good evening. I'm an LCPS teacher. As my colleagues have attested and as you're probably aware, a growing number of our students are, throughout the county, are at risk of having fatal overdoses at school. Our capacity to support these students in school is terrifyingly limited.

[02:14:44] We are not a hospital or a rehab center. In a situation like this, providing teachers with Narcan and CPR masks for emergencies, as the district has done, is the absolute least it can do while claiming that it's protecting students. We used to have a program at Douglas that helped students like this, many of whom are dealing with multiple issues like mental illness and trauma.

[02:15:07] North Star does not offer this program, nor does Robey. Our school systems have already sized up, other school systems have already sized up this program and their schools to implement support for their most vulnerable students. Montgomery County has partnered with Shepard Pratt Hospital. Arlington Public Schools works directly with the Department of Health and Human Services and local agencies.

[02:15:27] And Fairfax County is now considering opening an addiction recovery high school, like those already in operation in Chesterfield County and in Frederick County, Maryland? What will we do for our most vulnerable students in the absence of any program that provides pathways to recovery? Narcan and CPR masks are not enough. Please study this issue and please find a sustainable solution for students, teachers, and administrators who are dealing with this

[02:15:56] problem every day. Thank you. Thank you. M Jenkins to be followed by Ann Donahue. Ann Donahue to be followed by Susan Ouellette.

[02:16:15] Good evening, Mr. Chair, Mr. Vice Chair, and board members. Thank you for your service to our community and our students. I'm here this evening to ask you for three things. First, regarding the name of the new Elementary School 32 in Aldi, I encourage you to select Henrietta Lacks Elementary School.

[02:16:34] The reasons for this are Henrietta Lacks is a native Virginian. She was born in Roanoke in 1920. And as you may know, in 1951, she was treated for cancer at Johns Hopkins, which was unfortunately unsuccessful, and she died at the age of 31. While she was being treated, doctors took cells from her without her knowledge or consent, which were then used for decades of life-saving medical research.

[02:16:59] For years, the public was unaware of her connection and contributions to bettering health for everyone, and neither she nor her family ever received any remuneration for the contributions made from her own body to the medical field. There's only one school in the entire United States named for her, and it's in Washington state.

[02:17:20] I would suggest to you that the Commonwealth, her own home state, should have a school named in her honor. And in addition, the LCPS, out of your 86 schools, only three are named for women. In addition to that, I would also ask you to, as one sign, to show our LGBTQ plus students that they are welcome and supported in our school, I encourage you to vote yes on the proclamation declaring June to be Pride Month.

[02:17:47] And finally, to acknowledge the seriousness that gun violence poses as a threat to our students as it is the number one cause of death for kids up to the age of 19 in the United States, I urge you to vote yes on the proclamation to declare June 2nd Wear Orange Day.

[02:18:03] Thank you. Thank you. Susan Ouellette to be followed by Peter Livingston. LCPS is failing its students through its unwillingness to address COVID lockdown learning loss.

[02:18:21] Up until the lockdown, my son was an excellent math student who loved algebra. During the lockdown, his final grade in geometry was a B. His final grade in algebra 2 was an A. So what's the problem? The problem is that he has no understanding of what's being taught in pre-calculus this year.

[02:18:37] When I realized how lost he was, we opted for private tutoring. When the tutoring place tested my son on algebra concepts this January, he scored a zero, yet he earned an A in algebra last year. Obviously, that grade was wildly inflated and doesn't represent what he actually learned.

[02:18:56] The tutors have helped with homework and test prep so he can pass pre-calc. It's working, but it's a very loose band-aid. He's retaining almost none of this. They recently tested him on, quote, high school fundamental math skills, and he scored a 40 out of 100.

[02:19:13] As a pre-calc student, he should have scored at least a 90. As the tutor put it, my son lacks fundamental math skills, and, quote, this has impeded his learning as he does not have the prior knowledge needed for many pre-calc topics. When LCPS touts its, quote, excellence, I can only laugh.

[02:19:32] What you've done is lower standards and inflate grades, not educate. And I don't blame the teachers for this. I blame LCPS. And if you want to talk equity, what about the families who can't afford private tutors? Hundreds of dollars a month.

[02:19:48] You're setting them up for failure and they have no recourse. It's time to get serious about lockdown learning loss. If every LCPS student took the fundamental math skills test that my son did, parents would be shocked by the results. Getting serious means making students repeat classes they took during the lockdown if they don't understand basic concepts.

[02:20:09] Do that, and then we can talk about excellence in this school system. Otherwise, face it, LCPS is an educational Potemkin village where rosy claims of academic excellence are nothing but a facade. Ma'am, please yield the mic to the next speaker. Thank you. Peter Livingston to be followed by Mark Wynn.

[02:20:27] Dr. Smith, I'd like to commend you for taking steps to rebuild the trust lost by this disaster of a school board. By holding the community listening sessions, you've shown this deadbeat board what it's like to engage with the community.

[02:20:46] So thank you for that, and I hope you continue to do them if you become superintendent and continue to grow in your ability to engage with the community. I pointed out to you at that meeting that this board of mostly pretend liberals has time and time again stolen from the poor to give kickbacks to their wealthy friends. The examples I use of what's happening in my community's Title I eligible elementary school aren't unique to that school, but it's systemic issues of handouts for the wealthy and budget cuts for the poor.

[02:21:08] It's shameful against the values of the community that elected this board of incompetence. I'd like to impress upon you of how important it is for LCPS to do more to those in need in our community. Building a new PVHS, balancing extracurricular spending so it's not disproportionately spent on the wealthy, ensuring we don't allow this board to cut teacher summer pay in half again, covering the gap between what LCPS receives in Title I funding and what it recommends to be spent, like it did before this board, and meeting EL staffing standards are all things that would go a long way to achieving that. Additionally, I'd like to point out to you that the second DTS slipped below 600 students, their dean was removed and shipped off to Aldi to the wealthy kids.

[02:21:45] In fact, it was done at 598 students, and bringing him back was blocked by this board again last year at 596 students. Yet the dean hasn't been returned now that DTS has over 600 students. This is one of many examples of harm this board has rubber-stamped to the most vulnerable in our community during their term. I'd also like to point out to you that my community taxes have been raised by nearly $900,000 specifically for DTS, yet again facing staffing cuts as it has every year that my children have been there. This is simply stealing from the poor and giving to the rich. I'd ask for you to look at ways to fix this as soon as possible. Hundreds of economically disadvantaged and English learning students just at DTS and thousands across the county are counting

[02:22:23] on you. Only nine more meetings that this board has done. I, for one, cannot wait. Thank you. Mark Wynn to be followed by Carrie Mishon.

[02:22:49] The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godliness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God or gave thanks to him.

[02:23:11] But their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts became darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the images made to look like mortal men, birds, animals, and reptiles.

[02:23:37] Therefore, God gave them over in their sinful desire of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for lies.

[02:23:53] They worshiped and served the created things rather than the creator. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lust. Even their women exchanged natural relationships for unnatural ones.

[02:24:11] In the same way, men also abandoned their natural relationships with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with one another and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

[02:24:34] Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to their depraved minds to do what ought not to be done. Not my words, but the word of God, Jesus Christ.

[02:24:52] Carrie Michonne, to be followed by Brian Davison.

[02:25:04] Teachers, administrators, and staff all play such a key role in the life of a child. One of our daughters said this last week, I feel like we were blessed to have teachers whose passion was teaching. They loved going to work each day.

[02:25:21] They loved the subject they taught. They cared about us in no specific order. Mrs. Linsacombe, Mrs. Shoemaker, Mr. Lamp, Mr. Hall, Mrs. Jones, Mr. Hicks, Ms. Akers, Mr. Colbert, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Curtis, Mrs. Phillips, Mr. Parris, Mrs. Haggerty, Mr. Gross, Mr. Staples, Mrs. Snap, Mrs. Dominique, Mrs. Chunta, Mrs. Vaughn, Mr. Bailey, Mrs. Mallory, Mr. Staples, listed twice, Ms. Austin Kelly, Mr. Crippage, Mr. Gillespie, Coach Todd, listed four times,

[02:25:58] Mrs. Linda Cousins. After 36 years straight of having children in K-12 public school, we close a chapter in our home, and I wanted to highlight a few of the people who have had lasting impacts on our family from a list compiled by our six children. Our list could go on with many, many more people who have touched our home, and I thank each and every one. When we moved to Loudoun County 27 years ago, it was a small and growing county. Ten years later, found families moving here specifically to have their children educated in the number one ranked public school system in the country. And now we leave where there is no number one distinction except for being number one

[02:26:38] in the news on a nightly basis. Return to supporting the fabulous educators. Return to teaching the basics for all the children. Return to making it safe for all the children. Return to doing the right thing. It's possible to right the ship. And in the meantime, for all these fabulous people who have touched our home, I thank them. Ian and Brenda, please put me on your list. I stand for all the teachers children and staff no one should have to say what was sent to me this morning lcps has made it so that i hate my job teaching thank you brian davison to be followed by abby

[02:27:15] platt good evening i was a little surprised that the union over here didn't complain about having to work 180 days next year given that they only had 170 this year we'll see if they catch on to that next year um i wish the new superintendent hears what the lady over here said about her child scoring in algebra um it's just pathetic right and every external test shows it that y'all have loud in its school system is a pathetic school district you have talented students who

[02:27:54] do well with a monkey in the front of the class and that's effectively what we have but i do want to thank you tonight particularly brenda ian harris and and atusa's missing for giving me the honor of representing loudon county public schools in the community panel search process where we interviewed the new superintendent. Very honored that y'all would trust me with that. We got some good questions. I would say in the whole process going over the spring, I would encourage you to wait to select a superintendent, just like all the parents. You will get really good candidates once all y'all are replaced and they see that there's stability and we won't have to tear up

[02:28:32] the new superintendent and toss them out again. For Ms. Ogadegbe, I wanted to thank you for bringing up the gun issue. There's a lot of homicides, and I really appreciate your support. I'm super excited that you're on board with strong policing because we know that young black kids are eight times more likely to commit a homicide and be the victim of a homicide. So with strong policing, we can correct that. And in addition, illegal aliens. So we heard, y'all didn't report this because y'all don't want anybody to know, but a Percival boy, a Blue Ridge student, was arrested carrying a pistol. He's associated with the MS-13 gang. And unlike Brenda, who lies about

[02:29:11] her threats, the boy told a fellow student when they got off of the bus in a hushed voice, I'll shoot that kid. That is what a true threat looks like. But y'all keep it silent, just like you keep the assault that occurred in Belmont Ridge, our neighborhood school, that the police are having to investigate. Is that another sexual assault that y'all are suppressing?

[02:29:30] Thank you. Abby Platt, to be followed by Karen LaBelle. The news coming out of Loudoun County this last week, 10 days, has been terribly eye-opening.

[02:29:50] Every night, my jaw is literally on the floor. To hear and see exchanges of people in a group called the Loudoun Love Warriors, documented and exposed words of vitriol and hate, threatening moms and dad that come and stand at this podium to address public elected officials is stunning to me.

[02:30:13] It's obvious that there is a chilling effect. The numbers here to speak today are so low, lower than they've been in months, because people don't want to be on a list. With several of you who are obviously colluding with this group, it is clear that there's long-standing relationships there, that you were in the group, that you added others, that you wanted to have a voice in there.

[02:30:37] And it's disgusting to me that adults would wish to dox, hurt, damage, both professionally, personally, and otherwise. To me, that is scary and clearly wrong.

[02:30:53] Parents should be able to come and speak to elected officials without fear of harassment, intimidation, retribution, cancellation, or a smear campaign. It is clear that there are obvious, long-standing relationships with several of you, with people in the Loud and Love Warriors group.

[02:31:14] When will you stand and speak to protect all of your constituents? When will you fight for all of us that you talk so often about inclusion? When will that happen? I will be watching carefully tomorrow when Chair Randall speaks, even though the public will not be allowed in that forum.

[02:31:36] You are all colluding with her as well. Please do the right thing. Get back to educating our children and protecting them in the schools. Thank you. Karen LaBelle, to be followed by Susan Cox. Susan Cox, to be followed by Victoria Hunyadi.

[02:32:02] Diversity is our strength, but only if we unite and compromise. Equity means different things to different people. It sometimes fills in for justice. But equity that seeks equal outcomes and not equal opportunity will end up dividing, destroying, and dissolving a once sought after community, school system, and country.

[02:32:20] This is not justice. Inclusion that excludes people who have diverse ideas is not inclusive. Language changes over time, but a society that isn't clear in its meanings will end up talking at cross purposes. There is much hypocrisy and illogic in DEI.

[02:32:37] We need student safety and parental rights without fear of being labeled a domestic terrorist. We need community input without the threat of public comment being cut. We need the freedom to share diverse ideas without intimidation. Those who seek to stifle public comment and intimidate speakers are not only doing the community a disservice, but their language becomes dangerous and criminal when they threaten to harm others.

[02:33:02] Threats of violence are unacceptable and should be denounced. I understand there is an investigation into such hateful behavior. Yet another stain on Loudoun County. No one should have to fear being put on a list for speaking up at a school board meeting and advocating for their beliefs, students, or concerns.

[02:33:19] We should not have to fear our government or our neighbors no matter how many times we speak. Be glad parents care and want to be involved. Be happy we have school spirit and want improvements for Parkview and other schools. Be thankful we enjoy freedoms here in America and that patriotic people want to ensure that future generations will continue to enjoy these freedoms.

[02:33:41] quote the time is always right to do what is right mlk jr release the report more accountability and transparency are a good thing we need trust restored not just talk but actions and policy that hold people accountable and add to transparency competence safety and educational excellence quote our scientific power has run out thank you victoria hunyadi to be followed by

[02:34:09] Andrea Weiskopf. Good evening. My name is Victoria Hunyadi. I'm a parent, a former substitute teacher, and a current candidate for Loudoun County School Board. Today, we experience a seismic cultural shift on how our children are being educated through the current public system.

[02:34:34] Our schools here in Loudoun County are no exception from the politically and ideologically driven curriculum, school board policies, and grading system. Under the disguise of social diversity, students are being groomed to discriminate their friends and classmates based on their race and where they came from. Under the disguise of inclusion and gender equity, students are being groomed to reject the unchangeable reality and truth of biological sexes of male and female.

[02:35:06] Under the disguise of anti-bias education and environment, students are groomed and teachers are forced to comply and parrot racially divisive ideas and push a gender-neutral environment. Policies are being implemented to weed out teachers who do not comply and children are being bullied if they dare to disagree.

[02:35:28] It is very alarming. We are damaging the next generation mentally, emotionally, physically. We must restore the focus on academics, safety, and morale in a professional learning environment where both our teachers and students can thrive.

[02:35:46] We must teach the truth and love all children, regardless of their color of their skin or where they came from or what they have done. We must restore excellence in our schools in partnership with our families to raise the next generation to be excited to pursue their dreams and not force them to think one way. Thank

[02:36:07] you. Thank you. And Andrea Weiskopf is our final speaker today.

[02:36:27] I have attended funerals for students. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer teens are four times more likely to commit attempt suicide than their classmates. Yet LGBTQ students who have one, just one accepting adult, are 40% more less likely to attempt suicide than their LGBTQ peers who don't. One, just one.

[02:37:02] I beg that each of you ask for a moment of privilege to tell our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students, that you are an accepting adult. Lives depend on it. This is not about politics. This is about children. I teach children who are in sixth grade, most of whom are 12. Children who are 12 are old enough to know that cats can't talk, but they are young enough

[02:37:37] to hope they are wrong. Many children don't lose their last baby tooth until they are in sixth grade they know the tooth fairy isn't real but they still like to pretend tamir rice was 12 he was in sixth grade he was black i will not let my students be the next tamir rice he was 12

[02:38:10] black lives matter thank you and that was our final speaker so that will conclude public comment for this evening. We will now move on to our action items starting with 1201 from the Department of Instruction, Career, Technology, Primary, Content, Resource, Recommendations. Dr. Ellis, before I make a motion here, any significant public feedback received or anything to report regarding the recommendations? Thank you, Mr. Sorotkin. I'll just briefly share that there is a summary of the

[02:38:46] feedback that we received in board docs for you we did receive comments and keep in mind that there are many resources on this list and the comments were regarding all of them there may have only been one or two per per resource the there are no red flags as far as staff is concerned they have gone through every single comment they have emailed responses when a when applicable A couple of people couldn't access the materials, things like that.

[02:39:20] So we feel confident in what we recommended at the last meeting. Thank you. Thank you. I move that the Loudoun County School Board approve the primary content resources as recommended by the CTE Adoption Committee. Is there a second? Seconded by Mr. Mejedevi.

[02:39:36] Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. That motion will pass unanimously of members present with Reeser and Corbo absent for the vote. We'll now move to 1202 from the Student Behavior and Accountability Committee, Policy 8255, Protective Orders.

[02:40:00] Ms. Ogadugbe. Thank you, Chair Sorotkin. This policy came before the school board at the last school board meeting as an information item and was brought back, although there wasn't much discussion on this, it was brought back for action to make sure that the full board had an opportunity to review the policy in detail this policy provides guidelines for how school administrators are to handle protective orders it's important to note that protective orders are brought to us

[02:40:40] voluntarily by families for whom a student is a party to a protective order so I'll discuss it later, but I would like to make a motion. So I would like to move that the school board approve and adopt policy 8255 LCPS guidelines for protective orders. Sir, a second. Seconded by Mr. Mejedevi. Ms. Okedekbe, would you like to speak to your motion? Yes, thank you. So as I was saying, this provides guidance to administrators for how to handle protective orders. The biggest

[02:41:19] thing to understand is, or the thing that we had, I would say, a lengthy discussion during committee about was how protective orders, if on file, would follow a student should there be a transfer between schools. And there is, within the policy, there is reference to the paperwork that is involved in the process that schools follow when a student

[02:41:52] transfers to make sure that everyone is aware and specifically in the um sorry i'm just finding in the red line version here on line 64 that the senior registrar's office will add necessarily necessary alerts in the student information system and that the school will maintain a hard copy of the protective order in the student's cumulative folder and i would just ask if there are any

[02:42:24] additional comments from staff on this sorry mr. Fulton dr. Fulton is making his way to the microphone yeah good evening thank you part of what we built with the protective order policy was in 2019 Virginia state code came out that

[02:43:02] established that school principals are responsible when protective orders are delivered to them providing a supporting support plans in place for students so one of the things that miss Huggabate talked about is that we do have something called a comprehensive student support plan that we put in place and work with principals when a protective order is in place. If a student were to transfer, it's not the protective order that's the most important piece. It's that comprehensive student support plan. So in the Phoenix system, an icon would pop up on a student's name if they moved to another school, letting the staff know that there is a protective order in place and that there's a comprehensive student support plan in place for them to look at. Protective orders often with school principals,

[02:43:42] unless they're dealing with family issues, there's not really a long time that they have to put this policy in place. For instance, I got a call yesterday from a principal in the afternoon for a protective order that they just received that's going to last till next Monday until the court hearing.

[02:43:57] So they have four days to put something together as quickly as possible, making sure that they're aware of and staff that need to be aware are aware of what details they need to be aware. Information in protective order is protected and parents have a right to determine whether that information is going to be shared with school staff or not shared with school staff.

[02:44:14] Board members, any questions or discussion regarding the adoption of the policy? Mr. Mahedby. Thank you, Chair. I'll just add that online, I think it's more along the line of 64 to 66, where I think the committee discussed quite a bit about how do you make, how do we ensure that if there's a protective order in the student file, how does it make sure the student transfers?

[02:44:44] You know, again, some may transfer with it in the protective order, some might not, but that there was an alert in place. I think there's a new line added there where we specified that the senior registrar's office will add necessary alerts in the student information system.

[02:44:59] So to ensure that even if there is a hard copy of the protected order, that'll get forwarded to the right school. And there was a lot of concerns. So I think we debated a lot. And that's the language we sort of came back to where we felt I think addresses most of the committee's, committee members' concerns.

[02:45:20] just wanted to share that as well additional discussion seeing none all those in favor of the motion to adopt new policy 8255 protective orders please raise your hand say aye aye that motion will pass unanimously of members present with reaser and corbo absent for the vote we'll now move to 1203 from the department of support services abbreviated elementary school attendance zone change process for Tuscarora Crossing. Is there a motion, Ms. Okadugbe? Thank you, Chair

[02:45:58] Sorotkin. I move that the school board, one moment, that the Loudoun County School Board adopt the recommended attendance zone change to assign the Tuscarora Crossing development to John W. Tolbert Junior Elementary School. The adopted change will take effect immediately. I'll second. Ms. Okadugbe, would you like to speak to your motion? Thank you. This came before the board during the last meeting and as discussed this is a new development um and based on the proximity uh it is across

[02:46:35] route seven but it is adjacent to other um it is in line with the attendance zone for tolbert and again as a new community this doesn't impact any families at this time and that's pretty much all that we had heard i don't know if there are questions additional discussion mr Thank you, Chair. I don't know if staff, I think, Mr. Lewis, you have anything to add to this?

[02:47:08] Thank you, Mr. Mahedby. We don't have any more substantial data for you, just other than we had a public hearing earlier and then we had no speakers. So we believe that the community is in support of that as well. Additional discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor of the motion, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. The motion will pass unanimously of members present with Reeser and Corbo absent for the vote. We'll now move to 1204 from the Department of Student Services, LGBTQ plus Pride Month proclamation. Ms. Sharnan. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that

[02:47:47] the Loudoun County School Board adopts a proclamation recognizing June 2023 as LGBTQ plus Pride Month, whereas the month of June is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer Pride Month, LGBTQ plus Pride Month, and whereas LGBTQ plus Pride Month is just one way that we can honor both the obstacles and strides of the LGBTQ plus community including the LGBTQ plus students and staff members of our school division and whereas a 2021 national school climate survey conducted by

[02:48:20] GLSEN identified the vast majority of LGBTQ plus students who attended school in person at some point during the 2021-2022 academic year 83.1 percent experienced in-person harassment or assault based on personal characteristics, including sexual orientation, gender expression, gender, religion, actual or perceived race, ethnicity, and actual or perceived disability.

[02:48:47] Whereas a 2022 survey conducted by the Trevor Project for LGBTQ plus youth provides critical insights into suicide risk factors, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health care disparities, discrimination, and conversion therapy. Survey results revealed that the LGBTQ youth who lived in an accepting community had access to LGBTQ affirming spaces and or felt high social support from family and friends reported significantly lower rates of attempting suicide in the past year. And whereas Loudoun County School Board recognizes the unique mental

[02:49:25] health needs of some of our lgbtq plus community members and whereas policy 1040 and 8040 provide guidelines for the equal opportunity for an equitable safe and inclusive environment and it is the intent of the school board of loudoun county that every policy practice and procedure shall reflect this commitment and whereas loudoun county public schools upholds the commitment to creating a welcoming inclusive and affirming environment that embraces all student and staff identities and whereas Loudoun County Public Schools rejects hateful language and actions based on gender identity gender expression and sexual orientation

[02:50:03] and whereas everyone should be able to live without fear of prejudice discrimination violence or hatred based on gender identity gender expression or sexual orientation and that right should be acknowledged at all levels of public education therefore be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board on behalf of all students, educators, and families of Loudoun County Public Schools does hereby proclaim June 2023 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Pride Month in Loudoun County Public Schools, and be it further resolved that the Loudoun County School

[02:50:37] Board urges all to respect, honor, and celebrate our diverse community and build a culture of inclusivity and equity, both during Pride Month as well as during the other 11 months of the year. Sir, a second. Seconded by Ms. Ogadegbe. Ms. Sheridan, would you like to speak to your motion?

[02:50:56] I just believe that this is the fourth time this proclamation has come before the board, and I think it is really a testament to this school board during this term that we have brought this forward four times, and I encourage members to support it.

[02:51:11] Further discussion? Mr. Beatty. Thank you, Chair. I'd like to make an amendment after the last whereas, Such that would say, whereas male bodies and female bodies are different, and Loudoun County Public Schools recognizes the need for separate bathrooms to provide for privacy and safety and, I guess.

[02:51:31] Mr. Beatty, could you say that one more time? Whereas male bodies and female bodies are different, and Loudoun County Public Schools recognizes the need for separate bathrooms to provide for privacy and safety. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Mr. Morse.

[02:51:47] Mr. Beatty, would you like to speak to your amendment? Yes, thank you, Chair. I think this is in line with our current CIPCAPP projects where we're trying to fix the bathroom problems. And given that this policy, this proclamation talks about policy 1040 and 8040, which are directly responsible for those kind of projects, I think it's important that we put that into this proclamation in order to crystallize that.

[02:52:14] Further discussion on the amendment? Ms. Polivko. Thank you, Mr. Beatty, for your amendment. When we talk about all students, we should mean all students.

[02:52:31] and right now we don't mean all students because we're telling our girls that they need to be okay with boys coming into their bathrooms and that if they are not then then they're not being good allies and that if they're not okay with boys being in their bathrooms then they can go use the single-use restrooms and leave their safe space which is their gender-identified bathroom the girls bathroom or they can see a counselor to help them with dealing with the mental impact of having boys come into their bathroom that they might not be comfortable with so lcps has created

[02:53:05] a problem and they also have the staffing to help fix that problem and that's not inclusive it's not welcoming and it's not affirming it's not affirming to our girls and and it's not just our girls that feel that way i'm sure there are boys that don't want girls in their bathrooms as well so mr baity i support your amendment to this proclamation thank you further discussion on the amendment Ms. Sheridan. I am not going to be supporting the amendment because quite frankly the language proposed by Mr. Beatty is just the bastardization of what this proclamation states and therefore I

[02:53:43] will not support it. Further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor of the amendment please raise your hand and say aye. Those opposed please raise your hand and say nay. Nay. Any abstentions?

[02:53:58] That motion will fail three, four, two, with Sheridan, Mejedevi, Sorotkin, and Okedegbe opposed, and Reeser and Corbo absent for the vote. So that will bring us back to our base motion of the Pride Month proclamation.

[02:54:18] Further discussion, Ms. Okedegbe. Thank you, Chair Sorotkin. I think that this is a very important issue, and I am supportive of the proclamation.

[02:54:33] I think it's important to recognize that students do need to feel safe and welcome and seen in order to learn, and the statistics show and the reality is that LGBTQ plus students experience an inordinate amount of harassment and experience homelessness in disparate proportion to the rest of the population.

[02:55:10] And when we look at suicide attempts and death by suicide, LGBTQ plus students are at risk. It is important that we stand up and we say, you are welcome here.

[02:55:27] We do see you and we need our schools to be safe places. I also will share and I talk about this as part of why I stepped up to run.

[02:55:43] but I grew up, my mother is gay. It was at a time in the 80s where it was an uncomfortable thing for people to talk openly about their lives. Sometimes at work, people would be uncomfortable and not able to speak about that. Fast forward to today where people are more comfortable in sharing who they are. I have talked with young people who unfortunately have

[02:56:13] had horrendous experiences. One student in particular was a friend of one of my children whose parents sent him to conversion therapy, not once, not twice, but multiple times, which was incredibly stressful and damaging for him. He later, I think now he's grown and out of

[02:56:44] college and thriving he did not convert and become un-gay and his family has reconciled with him and understands that what they put him through was harmful and luckily for them they were able to give each other that grace to come together and heal as a family and to welcome you know welcome him for who he is so thank you for bringing it forward and to the school community who supports our LGBTQ plus students.

[02:57:19] Thank you. Further discussion? Mr. Beatty. Thank you, Chair. I have another amendment that I'm going to put as the last whereas. Whereas male bodies and female bodies are different, and Loudoun County Public Schools recognizes the need for separate sports leagues to provide for fair competition.

[02:57:37] Can you read the second half of that again or just a little slower? And see, whereas male bodies and female bodies are different, and Loudoun County Public Schools recognizes the need for separate sports leagues to provide for fair competition. Sir, second. Second. seconded by Mr. Morris. Would you like to speak to your motion, Mr. Beatty? I think this is in line with what we see in the national conversation about the, would someone say the assault on women's sports? And I think in an effort to promote fairness and to promote a safe environment for our female athletes, I think it's imperative that the school board supports this addition to this

[02:58:14] proclamation. Further discussion? Ms. Polipko. Thank you, Mr. Beatty. This is obviously, yes, this is a national issue. This is not limited to collegiate athletes. It's not limited to professional athletes. High school athletes are, in many cases, we saw tonight these VHSL athletes come in. These kids are incredible athletes, and they're incredible because they work extremely hard to achieve the accomplishments that they've achieved. I grew up as a competitive

[02:58:48] swimmer, and I woke up every single morning, five days a week, at 4.30, and I was in the water at 5 a.m. swimming thousands of yards to better myself as a female athlete. I specialized in breaststroke and I swam all the way through practically high school. I burned out doing year-round swimming, but I devoted every moment of free time that I had to my sport. And if I had had to compete against a boy at the age of 15 or 16, there is very little chance that I would have been able to win races that i swam in because boys are physically stronger they're in most cases

[02:59:26] they're larger especially at that age now when obviously when kids are younger when girls and boys are younger you know six and seven years old competing that's a different story but we've got girls all across this country who are losing out on high school scholarships to attend colleges where they want to compete because boys are beating them in their sports so i support your amendment Mr. Beatty thank you Mr. Mahedby thank you chair I know Mr. Beatty I think you made made the amendment and I don't know I don't believe you plan to vote for the the proclamation anyway

[03:00:00] but I think this as much as Ms. Polifco mentioned I think all the sports high school sports is is governed by VHSL so school board as it is have no authority whatsoever in regard to that but I think this there will be conflicting two different things up here I know Mr. Beatty is making motion and I think this is also political posturing to I think on on on this particular topic I think it's a proclamation recognizing that we have students and staff I think that's the nation of this proclamation versus getting the debates off high school and and we could definitely have the debate

[03:00:36] at some point but I think this is about the proclamation and and not about the high school sports etc so I would not be supporting it because I know Mr. Beatty is not going to support the proclamation, regardless of how many amends may be made tonight. Thank you. Further discussion? Ms. Polivko.

[03:00:54] Thank you. I just want to close by saying that if we're including Policy 8040 in this proclamation, while we may not have control over VHSL in this situation, sports are a part of Policy 8040, and under Policy 8040, we are saying that boys and girls have an opportunity to compete on the same sports teams, and that is why I supported Mr. Beatty's motion. Thank you. Further discussion on the amendment?

[03:01:21] Seeing none, all in favor of the amendment, please raise your hand and say aye. Those opposed, please raise your hand and say nay. Nay. That motion will fail 342 with Sheridan, Mejedevi, Sorotkin, and Okadegbe opposed and Rieser and Corbo absent for the vote.

[03:01:37] We are once again back to the base motion. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor of the motion to adopt the proclamation recognizing June 2023 as LGBTQ plus Pride Month, please raise your hand and say aye.

[03:01:55] Aye. Those opposed, please raise your hand and say nay. Those abstaining. That motion will pass 4-2-1-2, with Beatty and Polifco opposed, Mr. Morris abstaining, and Corbo and Reeser absent for the vote. We'll now move to our final action item, 1205, from Ms. Okedegbe, National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Ms. Okedegbe. Thank you, Chair Sorotkin. I move that the Loudoun County

[03:02:27] School Board adopts the proclamation recognizing June 2nd, 2023 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day. This proclamation declares the first Friday in June to be National Gun Violence Awareness Day in Loudoun County Public Schools to honor and remember all victims and survivors of gun violence and to declare that we as a country must do more to end this public health crisis. Whereas every day more than 120 americans are killed by gun violence and more than 200 are shot and wounded

[03:03:04] with an average of more than 17 000 gun homicides every year and whereas americans are 26 times more likely to die by gun homicide than people in other countries in other high-income countries and whereas Virginia has 1,121 gun deaths every year, with a rate of 12.8 deaths per 100,000 people, a crisis that costs our Commonwealth $14.2 billion each year, of which $288.3 million is paid by

[03:03:38] taxpayers. Virginia has the 36th highest rate of gun deaths in the U.S., and whereas protecting public safety in the communities they serve is the district's highest responsibility, and whereas support for the Second Amendment rights of law-abinding citizens goes hand-in-hand with keeping guns away from people that shouldn't have them, and whereas gun violence prevention is more important than ever, as we see an increase in firearm homicides and non-fatal shootings across the country, increased calls to domestic violence hotlines, and an increase

[03:04:15] in city gun violence and whereas in january 2013 hedaya pendleton was tragically shot and killed at age 15 and on june 2nd 2023 to recognize the 26th birthday of hedaya pendleton born june 2nd 1997 people across the united states will recognize national gun violence awareness day and wear orange in tribute to Hedaya Pendleton and other victims of gun violence and the loved ones of those victims. And whereas the idea was inspired by a group of Hedaya's friends who asked

[03:04:53] their classmates to commemorate her life by wearing orange, they chose this color because hunters wear orange to announce themselves to other hunters when out in the woods. And orange is a color that symbolizes the value of human life and whereas anyone can join this campaign by pledging to wear orange on June 2nd the first Friday in June in 2023 to help raise awareness about gun violence and whereas by wearing orange on June 2nd 2023 Americans will raise awareness about gun violence

[03:05:29] and honor the lives of gun violence victims and survivors and whereas we renew our commitment to reduce gun violence and pledge to do all we can to keep firearms out of the hands of people who should not have access to them and encourage responsible gun ownership to help keep our families and communities safe. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board declares the first Friday in June, June 2nd, 2023, to be National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

[03:06:00] We encourage all schools to support their local community's efforts to prevent the tragic effects of gun violence and to honor and value human lives. Second. Sorry, who was the second from? Ms. Sheridan, thank you. Ms. Okadegape, would you like to speak to your motion?

[03:06:19] Thank you. The proclamation itself contains a lot of the background information. I think it's also, I need to zoom in because my eyes are, sorry.

[03:06:49] So the person mentioned within the proclamation itself hadiah pendleton was shot and killed at the age of 15 one week after she had performed with her high school at president obama's second inauguration and i remember this as many people do as as a just a striking tragedy tragedy and there are so many more stories and it's important to raise awareness. I say this also understanding that proclamations do not by

[03:07:26] themselves bring about the change we want to see, but they help to reinforce the things we care about and aspire to impact in positive ways. I also wanted to note that in collaboration with the Moms Demand Action community group that advocates for public safety measures that can help protect people from gun violence, staff recently made some enhancements to the safety and Security webpage to include information on Be Smart firearm safety and gun storage information for the community.

[03:07:59] The suicide prevention information and resources portion of the website to include additional information about suicide prevention at home, including Loudoun County medication and firearm storage. Loudoun County actually offers free storage for medications and firearms.

[03:08:19] the Be Smart Firearms Safety and Guns Storage, Suicide Proof Your Home Strategies for Means Restrictions and Enhancing Safety in Your Home, and then another Harvard Means Matter. So all of that to say that the continued education and outreach efforts are an integral part of ensuring the safety of our community.

[03:08:44] Thank you. - Further discussion on the proclamation? Mr. Beatty. - Thank you, Chair. There's one phrase in here, Whereas support for the Second Amendment right of law-abiding citizens goes hand-in-hand with keeping guns away from people that shouldn't have them.

[03:09:00] This is so incredibly important, the idea of having rights and duties and having the right to bear arms, keeping bear arms, and the responsibility that goes along with that to make sure that you protect those weapons, keep them out of children's hands, that we don't have any tragedies on our hands. It's so important that everyone remember that, and I think that's, along with a lot of the things, that's a key thing that has to be reminded to people all the time.

[03:09:22] Thank you. Further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting the proclamation recognizing June 2nd, 2023 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye.

[03:09:37] That motion will pass unanimously of board members present with Reeser and Corvo absent for the vote. Board members at this time will take a short break. Please be back in your seats ready to go at 820. The board is now in recess.

[03:19:49] The board is coming out of recess and how appropriate that we're coming out of recess and we're going to talk about playgrounds. We're picking up our information items with 1304 from the Finance and Operations Committee, Revision of Policy 6320, Playgrounds. Mr. Morse. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[03:20:05] So coming out of the Finance and Operations Committee was an update to our Playgrounds, Policy 6320, and the adjustments that we made, there were some that were made as recommendations from VSBA, and there were some adjustments to languages and the references to the different elements such as surfaces and things like that. I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Lewis to provide additional detail. Mr. Lewis. Thank you, Mr. Morris. So I'll just briefly go over some of the changes that were made. You see in Section A, beginning on 914, is where we talked about, as Mr. Morris

[03:20:44] mentioned, some suggestions we got from the VSBA, and it just talks about the ownership of the equipment we maintain and assume ownership of it, and allows us to do inspections and repairs. Down in lines 32 through 38, you'll see where we had some specific information about responsibilities to make sure instead of just saying the school division, we identified support services so that folks reading the policy would know exactly who was responsible.

[03:21:11] Moving on to the next page, you'll see the next most significant thing I think is from we went in line 67 where you talk about the ADA and the certain accessibility things, and we moved from specific requirements of what's in the building or what the requirements of the playground to reference the ASTM and the IP EMA standards.

[03:21:39] So in case those changes were made by those standards, then our policy wouldn't have to be revised as well. You also see we had a number of comments from SEAC. We accepted most of those. There were a couple of those that we did not, and we provided in the item the reasons why we didn't do that. And then some other just editorial things and rearranged some things in the policy.

[03:21:59] But we're happy to take any questions. Mr. Stocks is here from my area that is responsible for the playgrounds, and so we're happy to take any questions you may have. Board members, any questions or discussion regarding the policy changes? Ms. Ogadegbe.

[03:22:16] Thank you, Chair Sorokin. Just thank you for the notations in the red line version around where the recommendations came from. I think that's really helpful for the community also to get that feedback and see, oh, that came from SEAC and that was implemented.

[03:22:32] So I appreciate the extra step in making that more noticeable. Thank you. Additional questions or discussion? I just have a question about on line 68 of the red line where it says efforts shall be made to install accessible routes and inclusive playground equipment.

[03:22:51] So what does the routes refer to? Is that like walking pathways to the playground or within the playground or what is that trying to get at? All of the above. So an accessible route is determined by the ADA for a route that a person will travel to get from one place to another.

[03:23:10] that is all, that entire route is accessible and can be traveled by someone with mobility issues. So those are defined in the ADA. And so we just wanna make sure that when we do the designs that they are checked by folks that have that expertise to make sure that not only you can get to the equipment, but in some cases on the inclusive playgrounds that folks with mobility issues can actually enter certain pieces of equipment and be able to enjoy the equipment rather than just be close by.

[03:23:39] - Okay, thank you. Any additional questions? Interest in placing this on consent for our next board meeting? Okay. We will place this on action next meeting. And our last information item, 1305, also from the Finance and Operations Committee, adoption of policy 6720, former policy 8-3.

[03:24:03] Mr. Morse. Okay. I'm calling it up. Obviously, a very short policy, redrafted. And did you have any specific comment on this, Mr. Lewis? No, sir.

[03:24:19] The main change of this, we moved it from just being a fire drill policy to a safety drill policy, and then we had put the notice in there that we're in compliance with all Virginia state mandates, so it would require access or compliance with things like tornado drills, earthquake drills, and all those, and it goes just beyond a fire drill, so it's a simple change, but it encompasses a lot of different things.

[03:24:45] Great. Thank you. Any questions or discussion regarding this one-paragraph policy? Seeing none, interest in placing this on consent for our next meeting? Okay, we'll place this on consent.

[03:25:03] Board members, since it's looking, knock on wood, looking to be a fairly early evening, without objection, I'm going to move board member comments and committee reports to before our closed meeting. And we'll start with Ms. Sheridan. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[03:25:19] I'd just like to invite the public to the next equity committee meeting, which is on June 1st at 5.30 p.m. here in the boardroom. we also live stream that meeting and so of course the public is welcome to watch as well and the next special programs and centers committee will meet june 20th at 6 p.m i would like to take this opportunity to commend staff on the rededication of douglas high school to see this tremendous project come to completion and done in such a respectful way in incorporating the community stakeholders it is truly an honor to be a part of the ceremony on sunday and to know the

[03:25:59] legacy of Dulles will continue from the beginning when we first started talking about it in committee and then here on the dais and to appoint all of the committee members that served and met so often over the last few years and to see the results is truly an amazing project and I just wanted to make sure that we also thank staff because you were you were there all the way through it as well so thank you and finally as we enter graduation season I'd like to congratulate all students that are graduating, completing a program requirements, and being promoted. Finish the year strong. It's

[03:26:35] almost done. Thank you. Mr. Morris. Thank you. I do appreciate the entire board's patience as we work through the Finance and Operations Committee backlog. Certainly, staff has gone through a lot of effort to get those policies updated, so I do appreciate the work that they've done on that.

[03:26:55] The Douglas rededication was absolutely phenomenal. It was so moving to hear people talking about how they were students in that school so many years ago prior to segregation and how proud they were to see that school rebuilt. Just just incredibly important piece of of Loudoun history so I would encourage people who were not able to attend to go out and see that. I was had the opportunity to participate in several recognized Ask a Model program sessions over the last couple weeks at Little River Elementary, John Champ, J. Michael Lunsford and Stonehill Middle School. I think it's important work that our

[03:27:34] counselors are doing, especially in view of all the mental health challenges that our students are having through the year. It's been exacerbated through COVID. It just seems to continue to grow and grow and become a larger problem. I'm certainly proud that this board has fully supported reducing the ratio of teachers to students to 250 across the board, I believe, is where we are now.

[03:27:59] mental health services are just so critical also had the opportunity to sit in the support services leadership program where we sat and did some team building exercises it's nice to see the leadership opportunities for those even in the support services those that are outside of the classroom necessarily but still play a vital role in LCPS and taking care of our children finally I look forward to VHSL state finals which are going to occur in Loudoun the

[03:28:31] The 6A, Region 6, will be held at John Champ and Freedom High School, the other two at Briar Woods, and what's the fourth school? Riverside. So we're going to have all the state titles in Divisions 5 and 6 up here in Loudoun County in two weeks, so I would encourage people to go out and see some of the best sports that you'll ever see.

[03:28:54] It's phenomenal to see the level of play, and there are a ton of LCPS schools that will be participating. So good luck to all the teams. Good luck to all the graduates, thank you. - Thank you, Mr. Beatty. - Thank you, Chair, I'd like to thank Dr. Smith for the opportunity to have the listening session with him last week at Heritage, that was amazing.

[03:29:16] I think it's been so missing from our term and I hope that we can do it in the fall and then we can, the next board will continue this 'cause it's just, it's a great opportunity to get that real feedback that's with someone where you can actually answer the question where it's not the two minutes that they get the public comment stand, it's an opportunity for them to ask a question, for you to respond, to listen, and to really understand what's going on in our schools.

[03:29:43] And then I thank Mr. Lewis for the Western Loudon presentation on the capital improvements that are going on, especially discussing about the bathrooms and trying to help parents see how this process is going. And then finally, I can't echo my colleagues enough about the Douglas High School rededication, And I think it's wonderful, the speaker, Mr. Green, Mr. Kevin Douglas Green, there was a quote that he said that I'm gonna repeat and I think it's so key and it's such an important part about what we do here.

[03:30:16] And he said, there should be no way for a parent not to be involved in their child's education. And I think that should be one of our guiding principles. It should be our North Star, honestly, as we go through this, so thank you. - Thank you, Mr. Mahedby.

[03:30:33] - Thank you, Chair. We've been busy with the audit committee and student services. The student services, we got to review three policies that came as an information item. Policy 8435, 8025, and then the deletion of policy 555.

[03:30:51] So we'll be kind of, it'll be going out for feedback and hopefully we'll work on June 28th as an action for that. In the audit committee, there are two items presented by our, in the committee.

[03:31:07] We should be seeing a policy that comes through it. It's an audit policy that currently just came as an information item to the committee. We'll be working through that, collecting feedback through all our advisory committees as well. And then hopefully the board can get a chance to see that as well.

[03:31:25] Besides that, in the audit committee, there was also a discussion on the audit universe as well. So there are almost 15, 16 different audit items that be identified. We, as a committee, went through and discussed, helped sort of prioritize it based on where we have been hearing concerns from the committee, concerns from the board, and how do we sort of go forward with it.

[03:31:50] So that should be also coming to the full board for their feedback, and hopefully an agreement on that as well. So hopefully look for that perhaps in July. So then just to kind of share, I think I'm really excited about bringing both the policy and the audit universe back to the board as well.

[03:32:09] Lastly, I think the Douglas high school rededication, I think my colleagues already shared that. I happened to go to that building before the renovation started, during the Martin Luther King march used to end at that building and seeing what that building was and what it's become.

[03:32:26] I think, again, kudos to the committee that helped kind of design that and build where it is. And also, as I said earlier, to Mr. Lewis and his team for really doing a really fantastic work in making that happen. So just thank you. That's all. Thank you.

[03:32:43] Ms. Okudakbe. Thank you, Chair Sorotkin. Congratulations to all of our graduating seniors and to all of the rest of our students as we conclude the 2022-2023 academic year.

[03:32:59] I look forward to joining several of the upcoming graduation ceremonies to help mark this occasion. I've had the pleasure of visiting many of the Leesburg schools and PTAs this spring, where I've heard from school administrators, teachers, and parents about the wonderful things happening in their schools, along with concerns as well, and so we've had a good opportunity for conversation.

[03:33:22] One of the highlights for me was the visit to Catoctin Elementary School. I've lived in Leesburg for over 20 years, and as I've driven by on Catoctin past the school, it always seemed to me as this very small rectangular school.

[03:33:38] What I didn't realize going inside was the unique 1960s architecture, which is still in place with those two pod structures in the back where you feel like you are in a spaceship of some sort. So that was just a joy and very special.

[03:33:55] Last night, I attended the eighth in the series of nine community listening sessions with Dr. Smith at Loudoun County High School. It was a great opportunity to connect with the community. There were a number of really great questions and some subsequent discussion. And I was especially interested to hear some of the ideas that came from the high school student who participated in the event who will be a senior this upcoming year.

[03:34:20] Over the weekend, I had the honor of attending the rededication of the historic Douglas High School. And I'm just going to share something from the program bulletin that we had all received for those who weren't able to attend or don't have information about the history of the Douglas High School.

[03:34:42] So Douglas High School was built during segregation and was Loudoun's first and only black high school from 1941 to 1968 when segregation ended in the county. For years, delegations of parents and patrons met with the Loudoun County School Board to request adequate facilities and additional teachers for their children.

[03:35:03] They were repeatedly told there were no funds to purchase land, while funds were found to purchase additional land for white schools. Undeterred, the parents worked together, and with the help of Gene's supervisor, Gertrude Alexander, supervisor of black teachers, formed the countywide league in 1938 to consolidate and strengthen their efforts.

[03:35:26] The community raised $4,000 through donations, bake sales, and the assistance of William Willie Hall, who obtained a loan so that a school site could be secured. With that money in hand, the league was able to negotiate and purchase the land the school now sits on from William S. Gibbons to build an accredited high school what's not listed here but was said through verbal comments was that that sale actually happened at night because Mr. Gibbons was concerned about people knowing he was selling the land the league hired well-known civil rights

[03:36:01] attorney Charles Hamilton Houston to help persuade county officials to allocate funds for the new school the school board agreed to fund the high school if the league sold the land to the school board for one dollar. The history of Virginia's massive resistance and Loudoun County's delayed desegregation are a legacy we need to continue to teach, learn, and recognize. This weekend's event recognized that history and honored the families and community members who fought to ensure their children had access to educational opportunities. Our entire community benefits to this day from

[03:36:39] that hard work, advocacy, and insistence for high-quality schools. Leesburg and Loudoun are home to many Douglas High School alumni and descendants, many of whom came to see the restoration of the building and the preservation of the Douglas High School story and history for our community.

[03:36:58] History is hard and difficult and uncomfortable, but through acknowledging our past, we can understand the present and positively impact the future. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Polifko. Thank you.

[03:37:15] I had the pleasure also of attending a community listening session with Dr. Smith at Broad Run High School earlier in the month. And I also echo my colleagues' statements in that this was a great opportunity for us to engage with the public, for us to be able to talk to stakeholders and use a scenario where we were able to interact with dialogue instead of just having to hear public comment and not be able to comment back or respond to questions.

[03:37:47] So I also, I do commend you, Dr. Smith. I know you've been through a lot with those listening sessions. One can be tough. And I know that doing them week after week has got to be tiring, but it's so important for this school system.

[03:38:03] It is so important for our community. And I also hope that moving forward, we'll be able to continue to offer more of these to the public because I think that the dialogue is largely what's missing, and we cannot rebuild trust without that dialogue. That's just one key piece. So thank you for all the time that you've dedicated to attending those listening sessions. I, as the chair of the communications and outreach committee, I will let the public know that we have actually decided to cancel June's meeting, so there will be no meeting on June 5th, and part of that is just due to all the upcoming graduations. Board members are going to be attending a lot of graduations coming up here

[03:38:43] in the next few weeks, which leads me into my segue on graduation. I am excited to be attending multiple graduations coming up here in the next few weeks. I look forward to watching the joy on these students' faces as they embark on the next adventure in their lives. There's so much promise for these kids who've worked so hard to get to where they are now, and I congratulate their families and their parents for working so hard with their children and being such an integral part of their education. Thank you for all of your involvement. On June 6th, I will be attending the SEAC Awards, and that will be happening from 6.30 to 8 p.m. at Stonebridge High School, so I'm

[03:39:23] looking forward to that. And I will also be visiting Broad Run High School coming up here in the next few weeks to attend some of their instruction in their special education program classrooms for autism and ID so I very much look forward to that and I've had a lot of wonderful opportunities in the past several months to visit many schools within our district not just broad run but but elsewhere in Loudoun County to our specifically to our special education program classrooms it's been wonderful getting to see the students working with their teachers and their and their aids and

[03:39:58] for me to be able to be a part of that so thank you and that concludes my comments for this evening Thank you. The next meeting of the Curriculum and Instruction Committee is scheduled for Monday, June 5th. We'll have quite a few policies that were our action items that we will be looking to review and send to the full board.

[03:40:19] Like many of my colleagues, I had the privilege of attending and participating in the Douglas High School rededication on Sunday. I know many of my colleagues have already spoken eloquently to it.

[03:40:36] What struck me is that it didn't feel like our project, even though we've done a whole lot of work and had a whole lot of meetings and LCPS staff has done an incredible job with this. But on Sunday, it felt like the community's project, where it felt like we brought everyone to the table, everyone had a voice, and we got it right.

[03:41:06] And we don't always get to say that, but this time I think it would be hard for anyone to argue. And I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome and having had the opportunity to play a very small part in the success of that project that generations to come will get to enjoy.

[03:41:26] That will conclude my remarks and board member comments and committee reports. So we will now move back to item 14, our closed meeting. Is there a motion, Mr. Mahedvy? Yes, Chair, I moved to the Lowndes County School Board, recess this public meeting and enter into a closed meeting pursuant to section 2. 2. 37. 12 of the Court of Virginia for the following discussion of the performance and the contract renegociation of specific public employees as authorized by section 2. 2. 37. 11. A. 1 of Court of Virginia, requiring the provisions of legal advice by such counsel as authorized by section 2. 2. 37. 11. A. 8 of the Court of Virginia.

[03:42:07] Consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding legal matters relating the performance and contract renegotiation of specific public employees and discussion, consideration, and salaries of prospective candidates for employment as division superintendent as authorized by section 2. 2. 3711A1 of Code of Virginia.

[03:42:27] The board shall dispense with the attendance of the superintendent or his designee pursuant to Virginia Court of, uh, Court of Virginia, section 22.1-69 during a portion or all of this meeting. Sir, second.

[03:42:44] Seconded by Ms. Okedegbe. Any discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. That motion will pass unanimously. If members present with Rieser and Corvo absent for the vote, we're now in closed session and not anticipating any motions coming out of closed session.

[04:24:33] All right. The board is coming out of closed session. Is there a motion Mr. Mahedvi? - Yes, Chair. I move that the closed meeting be adjourned that the Lowne County School Board reconvene its public meeting and that the minutes of the public meeting reflect that no formal action was taken in the closed meeting.

[04:24:49] I move that the following resolution certifying the closed meeting be adopted and reflected in the minutes of this public meeting. Resolution 43-22/23, whereas the Lowne County School Board has convened a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote in accordance with provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, and whereas Section 2.2.37.12.D of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by the school board that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law.

[04:25:17] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Lowndon County School Board here certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting to which this certification applies, and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed or considered by the Loudoun County School Board.

[04:25:40] - Is there a second? - Seconded by Mr. Morris, any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. - Aye. - Aye, the motion will pass unanimously of members present with Reeser and Corbo absent for the vote. That will bring us to item 16, new business.

[04:25:55] Is there any new business tonight? Seeing none, we are adjourned at 9:27 PM. Thank you everyone.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Coraggio Consulting · aguyonx.com