Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, School Board Elementary School Attendance Zone Public Hearing & Work Session, Monday, October 23, 2023

Date: Monday, October 23, 2023
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 27m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/877324662?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 2026-10-19. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:01:33] Good evening. I call to order this Monday, October 23rd, 2023 School Board Attendance Zone Public Hearing and Work Session for Henrietta Lacks Elementary School Zoning. The first item on the agenda is item 201, remote participation.

[00:01:51] I've been notified that Denise Corbo would like to remotely participate in tonight's school board meeting. Ms. Corbo, could you please state your location, whether you're alone or whether anyone is with you, and whether this is for a medical or personal matter? I'm home, I'm alone, and I'm requesting participation due to an ongoing disability and medical condition.

[00:02:14] At this time, I will entertain a motion that Ms. Corbo's request to participate remotely due to an ongoing medical condition be granted. There is not a board member who's going to make that motion tonight. Ms. Corbo, is there any other requests related to remote participation that you'd like to make tonight?

[00:02:33] No, thank you. With that, we'll move on to item three on the agenda, which is our attendant zone briefing, and that will be followed by our public hearing and then a work session. So for item 301, I'll turn it over to Mr. Lewis and Ms. Tate.

[00:02:52] Thank you, Mr. Sorokin. Ms. Tate's going to run us through some slides to brief an overview of the proposed plan, and then we will be happy to take any questions you may have. Good evening. Again, if you will indulge me, I will go through the information in your folder.

[00:03:12] We've got a copy of tonight's agenda, as well as the speaker list for the two persons who have signed up to address the board this evening. We have a copy of tonight's briefer presentation. Then we have two maps, one of which is the elementary attendance zones for this current 23-24 year.

[00:03:31] And then the second map is the secondary school attendance zones for the 22-23 school year. Following that, we have a planning zone map, which includes all the planning zones that are part of this boundary process. And then folded within are the same two documents we provided last Thursday night, which is the planning zone resident student counts by grade, by planning zone.

[00:03:54] And then the planning zone projection sheet, which is posted on the webpage as both a PDF and Excel for those who may wish to create a plan to share with their board members. And then we have a copy of the staff plan as presented last Thursday night Unfolded within that is the tracking chart that identifies the planning zones that were moved from their current school zone to In this instance the four planning zones that have been reassigned with the staff plan to Henrietta Lacks and Hovater

[00:04:30] And as we receive more plans from board members that would be updated to reflect and then the final document in the folder is the move tracking chart which identifies planning zones that have moved planning zones where they've attended from 2014 2015 school year through this current school year so this again is the brief agenda for tonight we'll give you a briefing review what we presented last Thursday night provide some additional information mr.

[00:05:04] Sorokin had asked about planning zone DS 6.4 then the public hearing and then a work session if you all have questions for us this is again the location we've got Braddock Road Lightridge Farm Road and Henrietta Lacks is being constructed adjacent to Hovater Elementary based on the direction of the board at a recent board meeting Henrietta Lacks for its inaugural year will have K1 students and Hovater will serve grades 2-5 but the intent would ultimately be that Henrietta Lacks serves students in the primary grades K 1 through 2 and then

[00:05:41] Hovater would serve grades 3, 4, and 5. So as the students progress out of Henrietta Lacks they would attend Hovater Elementary School. The factors that the board considers in an attendance zone change process guided by policy 6530 includes facilities, proximity, community, accessibility, stability cluster alignment certainly the board may consider other factors during the process but these are the guiding ones all of the information provided to the board last Thursday night as well as tonight's agenda item

[00:06:20] are have been posted on our planning page there's multiple ways by which one can access it most easy for the parents and families and our elementary school communities is to locate the actually brought my pointer to see if this works to locate the fall attendance zone change button that's located on the top on the home page of each of the elementary schools they click that and it will take you directly to our Dulles South page you can also access it through the LCPS org we have additional information now since I'm reusing the

[00:06:58] slide from last Thursday night we have a lot of wonderful resources in our map gallery as well should folks wish to view those in addition to our agenda tonight we are again partnering with Virginia Tech to utilize the redistrict app so if individuals watching at home or here tonight wish to create a plan or board members wish to create a plan to modify either the staff plan or start afresh the redistrict tool is a option for parents to create plans and then submit them to their school board members if it is a endorsed by a school

[00:07:35] board member we would then map it and it would be part of a future work session or meeting we are here tonight at the 23rd which is a public hearing and work session the next meeting would be November 8 and then we have school board anticipated adoption oh and I have a typo there my goodness December 12th it's school board adoption of elementary school attendance zones it is elementary I said secondary on the thing so we are not doing any secondary attendance zones with this boundary process and I will correct that typo

[00:08:10] for the December 12th just realize that the 2030 24 elementary school attendance zones the schools that are part of this boundary process include Aldi Arcola Buffalo Trail, Cardinal Ridge, Elaine Thompson, Goshen Post, Hovater, Hutchison Farm, Liberty Little River, and Pinebrook Elementary. The planning zone table which identifies the same elementary school attendance zones but again provides the planning zone detail we have that map posted on the web page as well folks we also have a quick link so that folks can figure out what

[00:08:49] planning zone they live in if they're not sure or they can call our office and we can confirm the planning zone data that matches to the map we have posted again on the web page but we provided for each planning zone the elementary middle and high school attendance zone this current school year we have provided the resident k5 students as of September 2023 and then we provided projected enrollments for the next six years k5 additionally we provided qualifying free and reduced meal statistic and English learner

[00:09:27] eligibility detail for this 23/24 year again I will remind the board and those watching at home this is based on resident students so where they reside in the school zone not necessarily what school they attend and then we have all of the cliff notes there at the bottom with the school codes and with the Excel form on the web page people can select out of that yellow elementary zone to create different plans to see what variations of any our staff plan or any other plan could look like conditions without change again is based off the

[00:10:07] resident students this format is utilized for the staff plan as well so on the far left we list the schools we provide the 2023-24 base building capacity then we provide the k5 resident student counts and the percent of those students off of the base building capacity again we have the projected k5 students numbers for the 24 25 through 2930 and we then provide the percent base capacity in the out year six year six and then the qualified free reduced

[00:10:42] student and English learner detail based on the proposed zones in instances where we have and this is more on the planning zone table if we have students that are ten or under we mark those with an asterisk on the planning zone but we provided that detail here this again is the staff plan that was presented last Thursday night the area in purple is the Hovater attendance zone and we have recommended with the staff plan for planning zones leave their current school

[00:11:17] to attend Henrietta Lacks and Hovater there are no changes proposed for our Cola for Buffalo Trail Cardinal Ridge Goshen are take the fact for Cardinal Ridge touches and farm Liberty Little River or Pinebrook we are recommending that DS 06.6 and DS 06.9 both currently in the Goshen post attendance zone be reassigned to Henry and Lacks and Hovater beginning next fall we're also recommending with the staff plan that planning zone DS 08 the heartland

[00:11:54] community be reassigned from Elaine Thompson to Henrietta Lax Hovater Elementary School and then the final planning zone was DSO 6.4 which is currently in the Aldi Elementary School attendance zone and includes Peach Ridge Court which is a street in the greens of Willisburg we're recommending that that planning zone also attend Henrietta Lax and Hovater. Mr. Sorokin you had asked last week about this port there are 15 single-family detached homes so we're just providing it here for a little zoom in so to speak of the

[00:12:34] planning zone in addition to Peach Ridge Court the planning zone includes Peach Orchard Lane and Frosty Meadow Lane the staff plan again here we've noted the purple highlights that we're providing the K2 for Henrietta Lacks and the 3-5 for Hovater recognizing next year it will not be K2 but K1 but we're providing this for an illustrative and one can see in the far right the only school that is over capacity in the out year with this plan would be Aldi

[00:13:08] Elementary but we have our coal at 71% Hutchison Farm at 69% Pinebrook at 73% And then we have several of our schools that are sitting at the 89-90%. This is our contact information.

[00:13:26] Any emails we receive over the course of this boundary process, we will forward to the board and cabinet and the superintendent. We have a dedicated webpage for the process. I, again, put the little link that's on each of the elementary schools' homepages there on the left-hand side.

[00:13:44] But any questions, comments that we receive, we will respond to. we have already received a few questions that we've posted the Q&A on our web page this afternoon so as we get questions we provide the answers in written form so that everyone can see them and all have the same answer and then any comments we have we will forward those on to the board and one more time I'm providing the calendar with erroneously stated action on December 12 it's elementary not secondary schools but we'll fix that and

[00:14:18] And then I will cease my briefing, and if you want, you can start the public hearing, or I can answer questions. Thank you, Ms. Tate. So I think we have, according to the agenda, we have item four for the public hearing, and then item five for the work session, if board members have any comments or questions at that time.

[00:14:40] So we'll transition to item four, which is the public hearing for tonight. And I want to thank those present for engaging with the school board through the public hearing process. The school board welcomes comments from Loudoun County residents and community members and believes that strong community engagement and outreach are important components of a successful school system.

[00:15:01] Speakers must limit comments to the time allotted based on the number of speakers tonight, which is two. All speakers have been allotted three minutes each for the public hearing. Please be advised that speakers who miss their time slot will not be called at a later time. All audience members shall maintain the civility, decorum, and respect for the functioning and dignity of the school board at all times.

[00:15:23] 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.

[00:15:41] 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. 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.

[00:16:04] 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.

[00:16:20] Per LCPS policy, members of the school board cannot answer questions or respond directly to the public during the public comment period. 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, the public hearing being tabled until a later point in the meeting's agenda, limiting the number of attendees in the meeting room during the public hearing for safety reasons or the public hearing ending for the evening.

[00:16:53] Copies of any 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 12 copies of any materials. Under no circumstances may a speaker approach the dais. And the public is reminded that access to all school board meetings is available through LCPS TV on Comcast Channel 18 and Verizon Fios Channel 43.

[00:17:17] And the live stream of this meeting and all other full school board meetings may be viewed on the LCPS TV website. So we have two speakers who signed up for the public hearing tonight. And the first speaker is Ravi Chimiri.

[00:17:43] - Thank you for the opportunity, I'm here. - I don't think the microphone is on yet. - Yeah, it's on. Thank you for the opportunity. I'm here for the Peach Ridge Court to be reassigned from the Aldi Elementary School to Henrietta Lacks.

[00:18:02] Peach Ridge Court is a new community. It's a new section of the community, Willisford. It's the Aldi Elementary School is like eight miles to us. The new Henrietta Lacks will be like 1.5 miles.

[00:18:17] So it will be helpful for us if you guys can consider for the new school reassignment. Thank you so much. That's it. Thank you. And our second and final speaker for the public hearing tonight is Kiran Katsuri.

[00:18:38] Good evening, everyone. My name is Kumar, and I'm representing Peach Ridge Court of Willowsford Community. So it's the same request like we want shifting from Aldi Elementary to Hendricks.

[00:18:57] So as like stated, we have like followed up with concerns like it's far from our place and the community lives like eight miles and the new schools are like just like one mile. And we are part of the Willowsford community just that this lane was allowed to Aldi Elementary but the remaining all the community is going to the Hendrix School.

[00:19:18] So my sincere request to consider our request and move from Aldi Elementary School to Hendrix. Thank you. Thank you. And that will conclude the public hearing for this evening. So we'll now move to item five, which is our work session.

[00:19:37] Before I open it up to board member questions, Ms. Tate, could you just remind the board of the process that you'd like board members to follow if they have their own plan that they'd like to submit? I don't think we've gotten over that yet. We have not, thank you. If a board member does have a plan that they would like to offer for consideration for your fellow board members, we would ask that you either utilize the Excel spreadsheet that is part of the web posting.

[00:20:03] Mr. Morris is quite familiar with that process. Or, likewise, if you utilize the Virginia Tech app, then you could provide us and say, I would like for you to map plan X, whatever the plan number that the Virginia Tech program gives it, and then we can utilize that to create the plans.

[00:20:24] And then we would work with you, we would provide it to you, and then at the individual board members' request, we would post it, or we would have it available for discussion at the next attendance zone meeting. Thank you, board members.

[00:20:40] I'll open it up for questions. Mr. Morse. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 4.6, which I guess is the zone that we've been talking about, or 6.4, That's the zone that we're talking about with the Peach Orchard Lane and Peach Ridge Court.

[00:20:57] Are all of the current students on those two roads? I'm 99.9% sure. I will confirm that. And the second question is, Peach Orchard Lane, how do they access the school?

[00:21:15] Are they able to go through the crossover Peach Ridge Court? It doesn't appear that way. It appears that they would have to take an alternate route. I think slide 16 might help.

[00:21:33] Peach Orchard Lane is, residents living on Peach Orchard Lane access off of Braddock Road is its own. Peach Ridge Court is an internal street within the greens of Willowsford. And their only way in or out of Peach Ridge Court is through the Willowsford community.

[00:21:55] So Dahlia Manor Place, and then they meander up through by the community center lodge. And on this map, is Braddock Road, the road that starts on the left-hand side, about one-third of the way up the graphic, is that Braddock Road?

[00:22:16] No. Or is that just a division? It's a parcel line. Braddock Road is a very faint line right on the northern part of Willard. And so we can provide a better illustration.

[00:22:34] I'll check it out with Google Maps. We'll figure it out. No, use our app, please. Use our app. I do like your maps. All of the students are in that area, though, so that's what. Yes. Okay, thank you. Additional questions or comments? Mr. Morris, just want to point out, you can see it.

[00:22:50] If you look at the top of DSO 6.8, you can see where Braddock Road cuts right through that planning district. It's that one road going through there. Additional questions?

[00:23:15] Ms. Okedekbe. Thank you, Chair. I wasn't able to attend last week, so I'm just, can you clarify, are the two streets that we had folks come and speak to us about, are they recommended to move or not?

[00:23:36] Yes, ma'am. They are both in this planning zone DS 06.4. Thank you. So I had a question. I've gotten a number of emails about DS 08 today. And the, I want to, is it true that they, if they are rezoned to Henrietta Lacks and Hovatter that they would be, as far as cluster alignment, that they would be the one planning zone going there that would not be continuing on to Willard and Lightridge, but instead would, at least for now, would continue to go to, it looks like Mercer and Champ.

[00:24:16] I just wanted to see if that had been looked at as far as cluster alignment and if any alternatives had been looked at, if that's true. That is correct. Based on the current resident students of all of the planning zones that would be served by Henrietta Lacks and Hovater, that would represent about 17%. So it would be a 17% split fee that would go to Mercer and John Champ versus the remainder of those 83% going to Light Ridge and Willard. So that is correct.

[00:24:49] We did acknowledge that, and that is perhaps a flaw with the plan, but we also acknowledge that Elaine Thompson cannot sustain the continued growth, and so we looked for an area that we recognized that they were already coming south to Mercer and John Champ, and we looked for an area that could provide relief for Elaine for a longer period of time.

[00:25:19] Yeah, that's my impression as well, at least right now, because there's no way. I mean, if you leave those 290 students at Elaine Thompson, then what you more or less have is the conditions without change, where it gets to about 120% of capacity by 2029.

[00:25:38] And if you leave them there and move a different planning zone instead, then I think it's likely you have the same problem, just with a different planning zone and not them. So I don't know. it's something I'm continuing to take a look at, but I don't know, I don't know how to solve that problem. And I'm guessing you guys didn't as well. And that's why that's the staff plan is what it is. But I'm at least taking a look at that to see if there are any other alternatives that make sense. Mr. Morse. Thank you, Mr. Chair. A follow-up question to Mr. Sorotkins. What year is HS14

[00:26:14] scheduled to open? HS14 will open in the fall of 2028. 28. Okay. So looking at the footprint and the potential, do you think that DS, or is it 08? Do you think that that would be a likely candidate to be pulled into Independence or into HS14? Yes. We would anticipate that it would attend secondary schools north of Route 50. Okay. And I realize it's way out there, but I just wanted to start thinking about that as well. Thank you.

[00:26:48] other adding additional questions or comments all right seeing none that there it is uh that brings us to the end of our agenda for this evening uh miss tate could you just remind remind everyone on when the next meeting is it is november eight and that begins at seven o'clock and it is another public hearing and work session okay so back here on wednesday november 8th for the next public hearing and work session and seeing no further business we are adjourned thank you

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