Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, 2nd Tuesday School Board Meeting, Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 5h 49m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/922887057?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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[00:00:00] At this time, we will start with the disclosures, and I will start. As a member of the Loudoun County School Board, I make the following disclosure to the school board and to the general public in connection with the item on tonight's agenda regarding the budget and or health insurance and related benefits and any other discussion that may include or affect benefits for LCPS employees.

[00:00:22] Specifically, as a school board member, I am eligible to receive health insurance and related benefits as an LCPS employee. These benefits, however, affect thousands of employees while in excess of the statutory three employees whose interests may also be affected, of which I am included.

[00:00:38] I can and will participate fairly objectively in the public interest. This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the Clerk of the School Board for five years. Ms. Chandler. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. As a member of the Loudoun County School Board, I make the following disclosure to the School Board and to the general public in connection with the item on tonight's agenda.

[00:01:00] regarding the budget and or health insurance and related benefits and any other discussion that may include or affect benefits for LCPS employees. Specifically, as a school board member, I am eligible to receive health insurance and related benefits as an LCPS employee. These benefits, however, affect thousands of employees well in excess of the statutory three employees whose interests may also be affected, of which I am included. I can and will participate fairly, objectively and in the public interest. This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the clerk of the school board for five years. Thank you. Vice

[00:01:37] Chair Streffi. Thank you Madam Chair. As a member of the Loudoun County School Board I make the following disclosure to the school board and to the general public in connection with the item on tonight's agenda regarding the budget and or health insurance and related benefits and any other discussion that may include or affect benefits for LCPS employees. Specifically as a school board member I'm eligible to receive health insurance and related benefits as an LCPS employee. These benefits, however, affect thousands of employees well in excess of the statutory three employees whose interests may also be affected of which I am included. I can and will participate fairly objectively and in the public interest. This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of

[00:02:14] the clerk of the school board for five years. Ms. LaBelle. As a member of the Loudoun County School Board, I make the following disclosure to the school board and to the general public in connection with the item on tonight's agenda regarding the budget and or health insurance and related benefits in any other discussion that may include or affect benefits for LCPS employees specifically as a school board member I am eligible to receive health insurance and related benefits as an LCPS employee these benefits however affect

[00:02:51] thousands of employees well in excess of the statutory three employees whose interest may also be affected of which I am included I can and will participate fairly, objectively, and in the public interest. This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the clerk of the school board for five years.

[00:03:11] Thank you. Ms. Chernoff? Thank you, Madam Chair. As a member of the Loudoun County School Board, I make the following disclosure to the school board and to the general public in connection with the item on tonight's agenda regarding the budget and or health insurance and related benefits and any other discussion that may include or affect benefits for LCPS employees.

[00:03:29] Specifically, as a school board member, I am eligible to receive health insurance and related benefits as an LCPS employee. These benefits, however, affect thousands of employees well in excess of the statutory three employees whose interests may also be affected, of which I am included. I can and will participate fairly, objectively, and in the public interest.

[00:03:47] This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the clerk of the school board for five years. Thank you. Ms. Donohue, do you have? Great. Thank you, Madam Chair. As a member of the Loudoun County School Board, I make the following disclosure to the school board and to the general public in connection with the item on tonight's agenda regarding employee salaries, the budget, and or health insurance, and any other discussion that may include or affect salary and benefits for LCPS employees.

[00:04:13] Specifically, my spouse, my minor children, and I are enrolled in LCPS health insurance that may be affected by any potential changes to employee salaries, the budget, and or health insurance. Additionally, my sister-in-law is an LCPS employee who does not reside with me and is not dependent on me These subjects include thousands of employees while in excess of the statutory three employees whose interests may be affected Of which my spouse my minor children my sister-in-law and I am included I can and will participate fairly objectively and in the public interest This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the clerk of the school board for five years. Thank you We will now move on to agenda item 3 approval of the consent agenda

[00:04:53] board member are there any changes to be made to the consent agenda i see none before we vote on the consent agenda i have one resolution five proclamations to read remember that we only have one meeting due to spring break and this month and that is the reason the agenda is so long the one resolution is the 2024 virginia school boards association business honor rule read by

[00:05:19] miss labelle whereas public schools and local businesses are an integral part of this community and whereas many local businesses play a crucial role in supporting our schools and whereas the economic health of our community, state, and nation depends on a strong public school system and whereas collaboration between local public schools and local businesses strengthens schools and the business communities alike

[00:05:56] by providing a well-trained and highly educated workforce and whereas an excellent public school system is vital to the quality of life in this community and fundamental to preserving strong democratic society now and in the future. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board names Amazon and Amazon Web Services, Loudoun Laurels Foundation, and Climate Heating and Cooling to the 2024 Virginia School Board Association Business Honor Roll, showing appreciation for these firms ongoing support of this community's public schools their work has

[00:06:35] aided this community in focusing on the goal of providing the best public schools we can for every child who attends them thank you miss labelle the first proclam the the first proclamation is for from the department of business and financial services national school breakfast week read by vice chair estrafi thank you madam chair whereas the school breakfast program has served our nation admirably since it was permanently established in 1975 and whereas the school breakfast program is dedicated to the health and well-being of our nation's children

[00:07:11] and whereas the school breakfast program joins and has been joined through the years by many other excellent child nutrition programs and whereas there is evidence of a continued need for nutrition, education, and awareness of the value of school nutrition programs.

[00:07:26] Now, therefore, be it resolved that we as the Loudoun County School Board recognize the week of March 4th to the 8th, 2024 as National School Breakfast Week and encourage all families to become aware and concerned about their children's and their own nutrition habits in hope of achieving a more healthy, healthful citizenry for today and the future.

[00:07:49] Thank you. The second proclamation is from the Office of the Superintendent, Equity and Education Month, by Dr. Deans. Whereas inequities in schools have become an increasingly significant challenge in the United States and Virginia, and whereas we recognize that factors including, but not limited to, ability, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status have a demonstrated history of impacting

[00:08:25] the educational opportunities provided to a student, and whereas the promise of public education is for every child to be successful in school and life, and whereas it is important for Loudoun County Public School families, students, teachers, and school administrators to be aware of the diverse needs of learners and to encourage discussion of the challenges as a school community, and whereas the Loughton County School Board has established an equity

[00:09:02] committee composed of various internal and community-based stakeholders and charged with making recommendations for policies to support the creation of a culturally relevant, culturally responsive and sustaining school system and whereas we recognize that inequities in resources information educational settings access to programs and pathways impede student learning

[00:09:36] and whereas in addition to ensuring a culturally responsive learning environment for each and every student and employee, Loughton County Public Schools is committed to identifying and removing barriers to increase greater access to learning and achievement throughout the school division, and whereas the school division continues to collaborate and partner with various community-based individuals and organizations to further its efforts of forming

[00:10:14] strong relationships in a culturally sensitive, responsive, and appropriate way. And now, therefore, be it resolved, the Lawton County Public Schools recognize the month of March as Virginia School Boards Association Equity in Education Month, with the intention that educational equity, stronger equitable practices, and access and opportunity become

[00:10:46] an integral part of the local day-to-day dialogue with the goal of equitable change in LCPS communities and classrooms. In witness thereof, the Loughton County School Board issues this proclamation to proclaim March as Virginia School Boards Association Equity in Education Month.

[00:11:10] Thank you, Dr. Deans. The third proclamation is from the Office of Superintendent Women in History Month, read by Dr. Rasheed. Thank you, Chair. Whereas in 1909, the first Women's Day took place as a national observance, and whereas the first National Women's History Week proclamation, March 2 to March 8, 1980, was signed by President Jimmy Carter, and whereas, especially during Women's History Month, we celebrate the many achievements and contributions made by women to the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States' economic, cultural, spiritual, and political development.

[00:11:44] And whereas in 2023, 18 women sought local public office in Loudoun County, with 13 being victorious to include eight new members of the Loudoun County School Board. And whereas American women of every race, class, and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways.

[00:12:08] And whereas American women have served our country courageously in the military, and whereas American women have played and continue to play critical economic, cultural, and social roles in every sphere of the life of the nation by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home.

[00:12:28] And whereas 48.6% of enrolled Loudoun County Public Schools students for 2023 to 2024 school year are female. And whereas 77.3% of the Loudoun County Public Schools workforce for 2023 to 2024 school year are women.

[00:12:48] And whereas 98.9% of female students in the 2023 to 2024 four-year cohort graduated on time compared to 98% for all students. And whereas American women of every race, class, and ethnic background served as early leaders at the forefront of major progressive social change movements, Not only in securing their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity, but also in the abolitionist movement, the emancipation movement, the industrial labor movement, the civil rights movement, and others.

[00:13:24] And whereas, despite these contributions, the role of American women in history has been consistently overlooked and undervalued in the literature, teaching, and study of American history. And whereas, during Women's History Month, we focus on the critical role of education in the history of American women.

[00:13:42] Now, therefore, we, the Loudoun County School Board, do hereby proclaim March 1st through March 31st, 2024, to be Women's History Month in Loudoun County Public Schools. Be it further resolved that the Loudoun County School Board strongly encourages our staff and community to observe, recognize, and celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of women to our country, the Commonwealth of Virginia, our beautifully diverse county, and our schools during the month of March and throughout the school year.

[00:14:15] - Thank you. Before we continue on, Mrs. Griffiths, do you have your disclosure available? Would you mind reading it, please?

[00:14:33] - Thank you, Madam Chair. As a member of the Loudoun County School Board, I make the following disclosure to the school board and to the general public in connection with the item on tonight's agenda regarding the budget and/or health insurance and related benefits and any other discussion that may include or affect benefits for LCPS employees.

[00:14:53] Specifically, as a school board member, I am eligible to receive health insurance and related benefits as an LCPS employee. These benefits, however, affect thousands of employees while in excess of the statutory three employees whose interests may also be affected, of which I am included.

[00:15:11] I can and will participate fairly and objectively in the public interest. This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the Clerk of the School Board for five years. Thank you. - Thank you, and we'll continue with the proclamations. The fourth proclamation is from the Department of Student Services, Autism Acceptance Month, read by Ms. Donahue.

[00:15:32] - Thank you, Madam Chair. Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that one in 36 children have been identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD, and whereas most recent statistics from the Virginia Department of Education in December 2022 reported 27,711 students with autism as their primary disability in the Commonwealth.

[00:15:55] And in December of 2023, Loudoun County Public Schools reported that 2,080 students with the primary disability category of autism are served in LCPS. And whereas the increase in the number of students with ASD in Virginia mirrors national statistics and is the subject of research to better understand the causes of autism and factors contributing to the rise in the number of children diagnosed, And whereas Loudoun County Public Schools celebrates autism acceptance by wearing red to support LCPS students with autism and their families on April 2, 2024, World Autism Day,

[00:16:31] and supports school-based efforts to provide special events promoting autism acceptance. And whereas Loudoun County Public Schools empowers all students through inclusive and meaningful learning opportunities with exemplary staff, an engaged community, including families and caregivers, are part of valuable collaboration with LCPS staff that supports open communication and respectful relationships, resulting in positive outcomes for all involved.

[00:16:57] And whereas Loudoun County Public Schools supports these efforts and will continue to provide support and training to students, staff, and their families. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board proclaims that April 2024 is declared as Autism Acceptance Month.

[00:17:15] - Thank you. The fifth proclamation is from Department of Student Services, Month of the Military Child, read by Ms. Donahue. Thank you, Madam Chair. Whereas, April is the month of the military child, a special month to recognize and pay tribute to military families and their children for the daily sacrifices made and for their commitment, courage, and unconditional support of our armed forces.

[00:17:39] And whereas, the Commonwealth of Virginia is home to more than 77,000 children whose parents serve in the military stationed in Virginia, with 1,524 self-reported military-connected students attending Loudoun County Public Schools, and whereas military families and employees in Loudoun include active duty service members in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force, and as members of the Reserves and the National Guard, and whereas LCPS has 801 students who have a parent or guardian who is active duty, 363 students who have a parent or guardian who is in the reserves, 312 students who have a parent or

[00:18:18] guardian who is in the National Guard, and 223 employees who have self-reported as military veterans. And whereas the children of our service members continue to make significant contributions to schools, communities, the nation, and our commonwealth despite prolonged and repeated absences of one or both parents, and whereas military-connected children often demonstrate resilience, perseverance, maturity, and cultural competence in the face of frequent moves, family separations through deployments, and reintegration following deployments, and whereas the month of the military child provides an opportunity to salute our military

[00:18:55] children and acknowledge the contributions they bring to their families, our schools, our communities, and our commonwealth, and whereas Virginia is a proud member of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, which addresses key transition issues encountered by military students including enrollment placement attendance eligibility and graduation and whereas across the nation individuals are encouraged to wear purple on april 17th 2024 in celebration of purple up for military kids to show support for military connected children and to thank them for their strength and sacrifices now therefore be it

[00:19:34] resolved that we as the loudoun county school board recognize april 2024 as the month of the military child and encourage loudon county public schools and communities to celebrate this recognition with activities to honor the contributions of our students from military families and the further resolved that loudon county public schools expresses its sincere gratitude to military connected students throughout loudon county for their service to our great nation thank you miss donahue i will now entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda vice chair

[00:20:10] thank you madam chair I motion to approve the consent agenda we have a motion by vice chair Struffy to approve the consent agenda is there a second a second by miss Donahue it's been properly moved and seconded to approve the consent agenda as a reminder there's no discussion for items on the consent agenda and at this time we'll take an electronic vote clerk please open the

[00:20:40] vote board members please record your vote clerk please close and display the vote. The motion passes. Eight with one abstaining. Mrs. Griffiths. Thank you. We will now move on to agenda 4.01, the Minority Student Achievement Advisory Committee update presented by the MSAC

[00:21:10] chair, Ms. Erin Kunkel.

[00:21:45] Good afternoon. My name is Erin Kunkel and I serve as current chair of the Minority Student Achievement Advisory Committee for the 2023-2024 school year. This afternoon I would like to share an update for MSAC for the current school year and to give a little look ahead for MSAC during the 2024-2025 school year. This is our agenda for this evening. Next slide, please. The Minority Student Achievement Advisory Committee is dedicated to partnering with Loudoun County Public Schools, parents, and the community to acknowledge and promote the needs of minority

[00:22:21] students. MSAC is also dedicated to building a school system that is culturally and socially competent and positioned to provide fair and equitable learning experiences for all students. I would like to emphasize that while MSAC's focus is the fair and equitable treatment and learning experiences of minority and minoritized students and their families in LCPS, MSAC's advocacy is for all LCPS students. Our goal is to empower, inform, and advocate for all.

[00:22:51] Next slide, please. Where we started the year. MSAC's theme for the 2023-2024 school year is stepping up for the community. Our focus has been advocacy, collaboration, policy and regulations, empower delegates, programs and resources, and we have also focused on changing up just a few things for the school year. We have focused on a rebranding and reframing of MSAC. There are still many students, families, and community members who do not know about MSAC or its mission. We wanted to reframe the narrative about what MSAC does, who MSAC represents, and open the doors to the

[00:23:29] entire community. We have also focused this year on engaging more with the community and membership through social media, feedback surveys, and encouraging delegate feedback and suggestions. We are currently working on creating an all-new MSAC newsletter, hosting Ask Me Anything style live streams, and more. We want to hear from our students, families, and communities. Their input and feedback and their concerns have helped us shape our meetings and our focus for this year, and they will continue to do so. We have also continued to work on updating MSAC's LCPS webpage to make it more user-friendly and just a little more accessible. We are currently finalizing an

[00:24:09] all-new MSAC delegate toolkit. The purpose of this toolkit is to be available to all MSAC delegates. It provides the next steps, points of contact, things to know to help a delegate as they begin their journey in serving and collaborating within their schools and in their communities.

[00:24:25] Lastly, we are focusing on continuing our reach out to school board members, LCPS administration, staff, and officials to renew and to create new pathways and avenues for partnership and collaboration. Next slide, please. Where we are currently.

[00:24:43] This year, we've had some amazing things happen. We have welcomed many different MSAC former delegates and members. We have welcomed LCPS officials to provide us timely updates on things from what the role of the ombuds is to CTE programs, including the EDGE program, Academies of Loudoun, and the upcoming new programs that will be arriving in the 2024-2025 school year.

[00:25:10] This year, some of our meeting themes have been a kickoff for MSAC. This year, instead of just jumping right into meetings, we came together in this room to discuss what we wanted to do, where we needed to focus, to get the delegates real-time feedback and to ask what we could do better and how we could better serve the community.

[00:25:27] Our meeting theme for last month was you are welcome here. We wanted everyone in the community to know that they are welcome in NSAC spaces, and these spaces are safe and a great place for them to come to be in community, to learn more about what's happening at LCPS, and to become better advocates for their children.

[00:25:44] We've also hosted meetings around the topic of equity, access, and advocacy. And one of the highlights of this year has been our family dinner and social better together. It was a wonderful evening filled with great food, great conversation, and being in community as we headed into winter break.

[00:26:00] I'm most excited to announce that we have welcomed our first NSAC student delegate. We asked, and the answer was yes, and we now have 20 students signed up to be NSAC delegates to represent their schools and their communities. We've also added the delegate spotlight.

[00:26:17] In this spotlight, we let our current delegates come into the room and share with us their experiences, share their journey to becoming an MSAC delegate, to really provide us their why as to why they're with us and why they continue to show up for these meetings and continue to advocate within the community.

[00:26:33] We use these opportunities to reach out to the delegates and to remind ourselves that we're not alone as we advocate and we work to make our schools a better place. MSAC also continues to provide its timely and relevant feedback and comment on policies as we receive them and we have been working to grow our policy team and our policy unit to be even more effective when we do so. Next slide please. Looking to 2024-2025. Looking ahead I'm very excited about what's in store for MSAC in the next school year. Here are just a few highlights. We hope to have an

[00:27:11] MSAC delegate in every school, and every MSAC delegate will be working and collaborating with the equity leads within their schools. MSAC remains committed to addressing the increase in racial slurs and hate speech throughout the division. We firmly believe that hate and hate speech have no place in our schools and that LCPS can and must create a community and a culture that unequivocally says so. MSAC is here and ready to collaborate, support, and partner in any way we can. MSAC will continue its work on its resource handbook. This handbook will focus on how to advocate for your student from kindergarten to high school, graduation, and beyond. This book

[00:27:50] will be a living document that is updated regularly to include new resources, new programs, and new ideas as we all continue to learn how to best work for our children's education. MSAC will continue in its community outreach and engagement endeavors, including advocacy, collaboration with LCPS, in various community partners, policy, feedback, commentary, and above all, we will continue to work on empowering our delegates. Lastly, I just want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has dedicated their time to meet with and come to MSAC meetings to provide valuable feedback

[00:28:27] and suggestions and has expressed their interest in partnering with MSAC this year. Our collaborative meetings and the insightful feedback we have received has significantly contributed to MSAC's focused advocacy efforts, and the establishment of an inclusive space where everyone feels welcome.

[00:28:44] I am filled with hope and remain so, and I have anticipation for the remainder of this school year and the upcoming academic year. MSAC has significant opportunities to expand its impact within the community, foster collaborations, and to drive meaningful change. Thank you for your time.

[00:29:00] Thank you, Ms. Kunkel. I just wanted to say that I love the stepping up for the community. I think that's great. It's so true. And it takes all of us and hard work to step up. And I really appreciate the student delegates. I think that's a wonderful change. And the collaboration with SEAC. I think for so long, as a history, we've been in silos for so long. But now I see people coming together and working together and collaborating. And I think that's beautiful. So thank you for all of

[00:29:34] your work. Board members, do you have any other questions? Yes, Ms. Donahue. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Ms. Kunkel, for the information that you shared with us this evening and for everything that you do to support our students and our LCPS community. I just was curious how MSAC delegates are, who is eligible to be an MSAC delegate, and how are the delegates selected?

[00:29:59] Anyone is eligible to be an MSAC delegate. All you have to do is have a heart and a passion for this. And we only ask that we have our delegates reach out to their PTO, or if the PTO is not responsible for it, then to reach out to their principal and let their principal know that they're ready to serve as a delegate.

[00:30:20] And then the principal reaches out to us, they fill out a short-ish Google form, and then they go through an orientation with me and the executive board, and after that, they're a delegate. But we don't want to turn anyone away who wants to serve and who has a passion for the work.

[00:30:40] We just ask that everybody comes with an open mind and an open heart and a willingness to wade into these tough conversations, but a willingness to stand up and stand in the gap for our students and our community. Thank you. Thank you. Board members, any other questions or comments?

[00:31:00] No, seeing none. Thank you so much for coming and presenting with us. Thank you. Seeing no more questions, we'll move on to Agenda 5. We'll move on to our work session with Agenda 5.01, Department of Student Services, multi-tier system of supports, system update with Ms. Tedra Richardson.

[00:31:26] Please remember we have a hard stop at 6 p.m. so we can get the room arranged for the regular school board meeting. So if we don't get to all of your questions, please email them to Dr. Smith and Ms. Richardson. We've allocated about an hour for the presentation and questions.

[00:31:43] Ms. Richardson. Thank you, Chair Mansfield. Good afternoon, Chair Mansfield, Vice Chair Estreffi, members of the board, Dr. Smith, and my distinguished colleagues. It is truly my pleasure to introduce Mr. John Lodi, Director of Diagnostic and Prevention Services, and Dr. Stephanie Lopala, Multi-Tiered System of Support Supervisor.

[00:32:07] This afternoon, Mr. Lodi and Dr. Lopala will share information on the LCPS multi-tiered system of supports with regards to the evolution of MTSS in LCPS, aspects of our model, tiered support to students, and the dynamic support provided to schools.

[00:32:28] At this time, I turn the presentation over to Mr. Lodi and Dr. LaPala. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Mansfield, members of the board, Dr. Smith. I wanted to express my sincere appreciation for giving us this opportunity to present our work on multi-tiered system of supports, which will herein be known as MTSS throughout today's presentation.

[00:32:55] Introductions were already covered. I do want to mention that to my right is Dr. LaPaula, the current MTSS supervisor. I'm very proud of the work that she has led across this division for over 17 years, most of which has been focused on the issues of MTSS.

[00:33:21] Let me, perfect. All right, what is MTSS? Well, it's not a program, it's not a curriculum, and as defined on this slide, it is our way of work. It is our philosophy that supports the whole child.

[00:33:37] That's the academic behavior and social-emotional needs of our students to promote their learning and success. Now, MTSS is also an approach that fulfills our LCPS mission and vision.

[00:33:54] Every student, emphasis added, will reach their full potential and all students to make meaningful contributions to the world. Also, MTSS is our playbook. It's how we operationalize some of our core values, such as holistic support, rigorous teaching and learning, and individualized success.

[00:34:16] And we'll show that to you in the course of our presentation this afternoon. All right, as suggested on the last slide, MTSS is grounded in our strategic plan.

[00:34:31] It is a key strategy that we use to meet our division obligations to keep students at the center of our work and meet the needs of all of our learners. By downward extension, MTSS is embedded in our school improvement plans, and that's how we connect ourselves to the work in the schools.

[00:34:52] All right, to help you conceptualize MTSS and its related terminology, I want you to visualize this as an umbrella term that integrates three separate frameworks that have common core components that we will review that support student learning and success.

[00:35:16] Response to intervention is the framework that drives our support for academic needs of our students. Positive behavioral interventions and supports, PBIS, as it's known as, is our approach to supporting behavior. And school mental health, the framework, is our mechanism by which we support social-emotional needs of our students.

[00:35:41] All right, so MTSS is 17 years in the making. Here is a timeline. I'm happy to say I've been here doing MTSS since 2007. We started with RTI and PBIS in a few pilot schools. It took us a while to get going.

[00:36:03] We reached full implementation of PBIS, our behavioral framework, across the entire division in 2012. Five years later, school mental health framework was developed. It was a compatible way in which we implemented social emotional support across our division and it became the genesis of the unified mental health teams. During the same year we worked closely to integrate our three frameworks into a singular idea and still working on that as well. 2019 we completed our

[00:36:40] implementation of RTI across all of our elementary schools and began what we thought was going to be a five-year implementation of SEL, our social-emotional learning strategies. I believe we did it in two or three, if I'm not mistaken, across our elementary and middle schools.

[00:36:57] That brings us to 2022, which was the implementation of the MTSS module that started as a pilot and is now fully built out, and this is our way to document the intervention and support work that we're doing across the division.

[00:37:15] So this was a important moment in our implementation. All right, get your pencils ready on this one. So core components of MTSS. We're going to go into a lot of detail throughout the presentation, so we'll never leave these ideas. But I just wanted to briefly review them so you have something to base your understanding on.

[00:37:37] Screening is foundational. It's our systematic processes to monitor student progress and to identify students who are at risk. So in essence, it's our surveillance system to keep track of our kids who are at risk for poor outcomes.

[00:37:53] Screening is often universal, meaning all students. And in some cases, it's strategic, select students based on available information. We know they need support based on existing data. Generally, it's completed to two or three times a year.

[00:38:10] And we use screening measures that have appropriate psychometric properties, reliability and validity that help accurately identify our students in need. So number two, multi-tiered levels of support is our service delivery model.

[00:38:29] It includes multiple tiers of increasing support to address the needs of all of our students. It's critically important that MTSS is aligned with all of our school structures and functions to create system coherence. So we work closely with the Department of School Leadership, Department of Teaching and Learning, research, assessment, school improvement offices, and others to ensure our structures work in the system in which we live.

[00:39:02] Our framework, the multi-tiered prevention framework, is focused on prevention. Our mantra is systems that invest in prevention see fewer problems. Tiers have intensifying support built into them.

[00:39:19] Generally, you'll see MTSS as a three-tier model. That's the way it is here in Loudoun. And so we intensify our tiers up the three levels as needed for our individual students. And fundamentally, strategies and interventions we use come from science.

[00:39:38] come from evidence-based literature, what works, and that's, we try to align our interventions and supports with what works in the peer-reviewed literature. And thirdly, progress monitoring.

[00:39:54] Progress monitoring is our ongoing use of data to monitor student progress for those who are receiving intervention and support. We are assessing both their level of performance and their growth in particular as we work towards student goals. It also helps us evaluate the effectiveness of what we're doing, both the instruction we provide to students as well as the interventions and the frequency of progress monitoring like intervention is driven by the tier of support that is actually needed.

[00:40:27] And then finally, data-driven decision-making is at the heart of how we integrate data with instruction. All decisions are driven by teams using multiple sources of data with defined data guidance to guide accurate decision making. Broadly, it informs us about who's at risk and what their needs of support are. It helps us determine when we need to tier up the support for a student or decrease that support. It helps us select the appropriate interventions that meet the actual needs of the student and allocate our resources accordingly. And in some cases, it helps

[00:41:06] us inform suspicion of disability when a student doesn't respond to intervention. All right, here we go. Triangle. The multi-tiered prevention framework is support is layered and therefore intensified. So intervention support, you should know, is always in addition to core programming.

[00:41:30] It's never in replace of what we get at Tier 1. Students who require more support receive Tier 2 support in addition to the Tier 1, and students who require more individualized support receive Tier 3 instruction.

[00:41:47] You'll see here on the triangle 80%, 15%, 5, 80, 15, 5. They represent the typical proportions of students whose need fall within each of these tiers. In Tier 1, high-quality universal instruction is provided in effective systems.

[00:42:06] About 80% of the kids respond to core programming alone. That's all they need to be successful in addition to some degree of differentiation and remediation. In Tier 2, some of our students, approximately 15%, receive supplemental intervention support in addition to Tier 1.

[00:42:28] And in tier three, approximately five percent or a few students who have more severe or persistent problems receive the most individualized and intensive supports in this framework. The percentage of students support across the tiers is one of several factors that drives the division MTSS support to our schools.

[00:42:53] Schools, for example, with high fidelity and great outcomes might receive basic support while schools whose implementation is lower or maybe their outcomes are not where they should be. They receive the most support from the MTSS division team.

[00:43:10] So one final slide from me before I pass it on to Dr. LaPaula is I wanted to spend a brief moment on this slide. It's important to note that we do not label students or schools, for that matter, as Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3, and here's why.

[00:43:27] So looking at this example profile of an individual student, you can clearly see that the student's behavioral and social-emotional needs are easily met in Tier 1 or through Tier 1 strategies and instruction. From this illustration, math may require some tier one differentiation and remediation at times, but largely the support can be provided only at tier one.

[00:43:53] However, within language arts, this student requires tier two support for writing and more individualized tier three support for reading. As you can see, no one tier accurately describes this child or his or her needs. Therefore, students are not tiered, rather support is tiered to meet the needs of our students.

[00:44:14] Similarly, schools are not tiered because they have similar profiles of need as well. So this is the point at which I pass it on to Dr. LaPala. For the duration of our time together, my attempt is going to be to give you a little bit of detail about each of the three frameworks, but really spend the majority of the time that I have talking about how the frameworks align under MTSS from a practical lens at the school.

[00:44:47] So we're going to go over all of the core components that Mr. Lodi just discussed, but I wanted to make sure that we were all singing from the same sheet of music before bringing them together. So this is the last triangle, I think. So this is just highlighting for us when we think about RTI being our approach for academic.

[00:45:07] It's really in concert with our core content offices. And so what we're looking at are terms that are going to be familiar to you. At Tier 1, you're looking at things like strategies, engagement opportunities, extension, enrichment, remediation.

[00:45:22] And what we do there is through the use of the universal screeners and through formative assessments that happen ongoing is we look to see the skills that students are ready to demonstrate. And for the students that need a little bit more support, that's when we bring up the idea of tiers two or three.

[00:45:41] And the literature will often call that advanced tiers. And what we do there is we are providing interventions in place for students that have been driven by identified areas of weakness. As Mr. Lodi mentioned, it's important to remember that we're not supplanting tier one.

[00:46:00] Intervention always layers up and lives on top of that high-quality core instruction. So to practically think about this from the lens of a school, this would be a pathway that would be followed. So our universal screeners are administered fall, winter, spring.

[00:46:17] What happens then, and those are administered, excuse me, in literacy and math. What happens then is that data is reviewed by the school teams. Typically, they'll call those like a day-to-day or a CLT. And they will look at the data and identify which students might be experiencing some learning gaps and would be good candidates from intervention.

[00:46:38] They'll talk about that, they'll group them, they will assign an interventionist and identify the cadence by which the intervention will be provided. The student intervention plan then has specific goals that are outlined for that student and those goals are paired with evidence-based interventions.

[00:46:57] The interventions that are going to give us our greatest probability for success in closing those learning gaps. The implementation then occurs, by the interventionist and the progress is monitored. This atypical rule of thumb is that at Tier 2, data is collected two times a month and at Tier 3 generally weekly.

[00:47:19] Sometimes that can change based upon our calendar, but the point is that we are engaging in an ongoing cycle of data collection to see if the student is responding to the implemented intervention. At the end of that cycle, we review the data and we look to see what decisions need to be made.

[00:47:37] Do we need to change the intervention? Do we need to try something new? Can the student be exited from intervention? So this is an ongoing process that happens at our schools throughout the course of the year, starting with that universal screening data and then going throughout the course of the implementation of the intervention.

[00:47:57] I did mention that universal screeners occur in literacy and math. And I did want to point out here that you may be wondering why I'm only going to focus on those two content areas. and so I want to make sure that we're on the same page with that as well. There is no evidence-based intervention in the literature that's paired to other content areas, so history, science, things like that.

[00:48:18] When we peel back what the concerns generally are, all roads generally lead us to a literacy concern, for example, comprehension or a mathematical concern like computation estimation. So a concern might come up in another class for a student, but interventions are generally written in the areas of literacy and math in the academic realm.

[00:48:40] So specific to literacy in Loudon, this first point is showing us what our specific universal screeners are that we use. From that point, we do have a threshold screener, a strategic screener that we'll use called FastBridge. And then FastBridge is also used as our main progress monitoring tool to help monitor the student's rate of improvement throughout the course of the interventions.

[00:49:07] I'll repeat myself on the next slide, but we have created over the years in collaboration with multiple offices, including teaching and learning, EL, and the Office of Special Education, we have looked at the decision trees to help us guide our decision-making, which helps create some consistency across our schools.

[00:49:32] It helps our schools better understand how to take that universal screening data and make decisions from it. It helps identify which students may be in need of intervention, which interventions are best paired with that, and then also ways to communicate that with our families. The only difference on this slide when we're talking about mathematics for assessment instruction intervention is that our universal screeners change, as well as our interventions and our progress monitoring tools. But as with literacy, We do have guidance documents that help our schools when they convene for those data days

[00:50:10] to help them make sense of the data, identify which students might be in need of additional supports at Tier 1 and which students may be in need of advanced tier support at Tiers 2 and 3. The second framework is PBIS, and we'll call it that because that's a lot of words to say otherwise, and this is the framework that we use to help support our climate and culture throughout our buildings.

[00:50:37] And in a nutshell, PBIS is mainly sitting for us at tier one, and then we use that to help drive our supports for behavioral interventions at tiers two and three. It's a systematic and an evidence-based approach to supporting positive relationships across the school, building that climate and culture, making school a safe and predictable and consistent place for not just our kids, but also our staff, so that they understand what the expectations are and that it helps to foster not only their academic learning but also their social and behavioral success. We've been implementing PBIS for a really long time in our county and we have

[00:51:16] been able to see the fruits of that implementation and some of the outcomes we have seen are the things that you see noted on the bottom of that slide and I will give a few more details towards the end of the presentation. While there are a lot of components to PBIS, there are many things that you will not see readily. Some of these things include our schools looking at data on at least a monthly basis. They're looking for behavioral trends. They're identifying areas school-wide in which additional learning may need to occur, where we need to provide more reinforcement to students

[00:51:55] for demonstrating the appropriate behaviors. But there's also a lot of things that any one of you who walks into one of our schools will notice that will give away that PBIS is present. The first thing that you'll likely see when you walk into a school is you'll see expectations posted schools come up with those they are posted not only throughout the common areas in the building but they're also posted in the classrooms the part that you may not see is that beyond just the posting of the rules they're taught and they are explicitly taught throughout the areas of the building students have an opportunity to practice them a lot of times students have a say and they have agency and what the expectations should

[00:52:34] be, and sometimes that changes as our students get older. And then we also are able to provide supports directly into the classroom. One of the things I do want to emphasize here too is another sort of hallmark of PBIS that you may see are tickets. And really what lives at the heart of that is that tickets are great, but what we really care about is that students are provided with recognition and feedback when they demonstrate inappropriate behavior. So some schools decide the tickets is the way that they want to do that. We stress that we want students to be provided

[00:53:09] with feedback that's behavior specific. It's timely. The same way that they're provided with academic feedback. We need to know when we've got it right so that we can do more of it. In addition to the positive end of the house, we also do have consequences. And those consequences are right up front communicated. If this expectation is violated, this is the consequence that will occur, and as part of an approach to positive discipline, students are able to engage in reflective activities to identify how they may address that same behavior moving forward.

[00:53:50] And finally, the third and final framework as part of MTSS is social-emotional learning, SEL, and this is provided, as Mr. Lodi mentioned, in the context of the framework of school mental health. The definition is there for you to peruse when we have a little bit more time, but at the heart of this is that we are trying to provide skills to our students explicitly so that they engage in competencies that are not only going to serve them well while we have them in our schools, but also when they leave us so that they're ready for the world that's out there waiting for them, whatever that means for them.

[00:54:29] So we provide explicit instruction in five main areas, self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness. And what we know through this diagram and from our work is that keeping it in the school doesn't give us the biggest bang for our buck.

[00:54:48] So we really partner with our families and we partner with our communities so that our students are able to demonstrate these skills not only within the school but extend them out into the community as well. As we increasingly hear of the importance of SEL, this slide simply provides for you a listing of some of the skills that students experience as part of their explicit instruction to actively help support their learning.

[00:55:13] Things like setting goals, having a growth mindset, dealing with frustration, and how to move on from that. Organization and time management. These are the skills that we know that are needed for life. These are the skills that help us, whether it's an academic demand or a social demand.

[00:55:32] This is just an example of some skills that are taught and some of the strategies that are used to address those skills. By all means, not an exhaustive list of things and strategies that are used, but it helps provide a starting point to the conversation with our kids so that we're able to talk through strategies that may work for them, strategies that they may want to try as they're on their own journeys.

[00:55:55] And then this one is focusing on skills that we're using to help support our students while they are in our schools with us and supporting those positive learning environments. You'll notice that some of them really lean towards having those interpersonal skills and those relationship skills with others, how to resolve conflict in a way that maintains a relationship but stills allow you to have your voice.

[00:56:23] Some of the skills that some of us maybe wish we would have had a little bit more practice with. when we were growing up. And so these are, this is the way that we introduce this to our students. This is done through explicit instruction in the elementary and middle school. We do use a curriculum to help teach these skills. But what we know is that a curriculum is but one small piece of an approach to social emotional learning. So we also emphasize not only the supportive environment for our students to help them foster these skills, practice them, generalize them, but also academic integration so that they are able to practice and infuse these skills throughout

[00:57:00] the course of their school day and use them during content as well. At the elementary school, content is provided through morning meeting. There's about 20 minutes that students have every day. And at the middle school, that occurs during their advisory time using the curriculum. At the high school, we do not have a curriculum that we use, but it is in concert with the work of our unified mental health teams who provide lessons to students. We also have other programming such as peer and sources of strength, which helps to promote that positive school culture and climate

[00:57:36] for our students at the high school level as well. And finally, to round this out, family communication and engagement is incredibly important in all aspects of MTSS. We have really tried to be quite transparent with our work with social emotional learning. So we do have language that's recommended for our schools to use. They send out information to families about the content that's going to be addressed. We also have content that's sent home to families so that they can practice those skills at home, and we encourage them to send into the school ways that their

[00:58:11] student has used that skill within the community. We also worked to provide family access for every single one of our families so that they can look at the content that's provided to their student as part of the curriculum. And we continue to provide guides and guidance for our school leaders in supporting SEL through things like wellness nights, parent coffees, presentations at the school, et cetera. And that was a lot to cover in 15 minutes. And so what I want to do now is to

[00:58:48] use the rest of our time and talk about how we have taken those three similar yet distinct frameworks, put them under the umbrella of the MTSS framework, and I'm going to walk you through how our schools are hitting each of those core elements that Mr. Lodi mentioned at the beginning.

[00:59:07] So starting with universal screening, I did mention this a little bit, and when you have these slides, know that if you see an image on the slide, you can click on it, and it will take you directly to the document, and all of that is living on our public website for you. So our decision trees are used for the areas in which we universally screen, so literacy and math.

[00:59:33] And again, these are not a replacement for professional judgments in all cases, but they help provide us with some guiding principles for how to use our universal screening data to help make decisions. The decision trees not only walk you through the initial what do I do with this data conversation, but it walks you through which interventions, which evidence-based interventions are going to be the best fit based upon the need. And then it walks you through how to create the plan, how to communicate that plan with families. So it walks all of our schools through the whole

[01:00:09] process. In the lane of literacy, which is the tree that I'm guessing you probably can't exactly see on this slide. We typically use FastBridge as a secondary screener after we use our universal screener because that helps us isolate the skill by which the student may be in need of intervention.

[01:00:30] And similarly, FastBridge, which is a product, is also used to help progress monitor our intervention plans for literacy at tiers two and three. We also have trees for math. I just didn't think that you needed it on every single slide. So know that when you click on that, you can find your way to the math tree as well. Strategic screening is used in the areas of behavior and mental health. And what our schools are encouraged to do is to develop something that we call entrance criteria, and that's using existing data sources. So things like office discipline

[01:01:06] referrals, frequent visits to the nurse or clinic, attendance, a decline in academic performance, teacher referral. And so that helps our schools also define and lift up students of concern so that we can put advanced tier support in place in the areas of behavior and mental health as well.

[01:01:26] And those interventions, when determined, are provided by members of our unified mental health team. So the second core element is the tiered levels of support. And this obviously would come into play after the data has been reviewed and appropriate candidates for intervention have been identified. One of the processes that we have been leaning into this year is helping our schools come up with a process by which support can be requested. So the universal screening data provides us with a really predictable time of year, right, to identify if a student's in need of support. We

[01:02:06] know that it's going to happen in the fall and the winter, for example, and usually that helps reveal some of our students that are in need of intervention. But what happens during the other times of the month when a concern might come up? Well, that's when a process like a request for support comes into play. So if I'm a teacher in a school, I'm noticing that I have a concern about a student. Many of our schools will fill out, I guess the best way I could describe it would be a simple Google form. And what they would do in that is they would say, this is what I'm concerned about. This is what I've tried. I've already contacted the parents and this is how the conversation has gone, I would like to discuss the student of concern further with my colleagues at

[01:02:45] an intervention team meeting. So basically that's sort of like the ticket to the conversation, if you will. So then the intervention team would convene. We would talk about the student and we would identify if that student should receive some more tier one supports. That would be the things like enrichment, extension, remediation, etc. Or if the student should have an intervention plan or MTSS plan. Before we do that, there's three questions up on the slide that we are encouraging our schools to ask because we want to make sure that we can answer these questions prior to putting

[01:03:19] something in place. Assuming that we decide to move forward with the development of an intervention plan, this is where the MTSS module has become new to us. As Mr. Lodi mentioned, this is our first full year of using the MTSS module as a platform for all 100 of our school's K-12 to document intervention plans for students. It has been a big win for us because we now have a one-stop shop where no matter if a student moves school to school, staff transitions school to school, we have

[01:03:56] one system that's predictable and consistent for all of us to use. We decided based upon the areas of MTSS that plans could be created for students in one or more areas to align with our work. They would be math, literacy, behavior, or mental health. What's been really great about this module in particular is that it's completely customizable. So what our team does is we meet with content offices, we meet with the Office of School Mental Health, and we talk about what are we using this year in terms of evidence-based interventions. What are we using for our progress monitoring tools

[01:04:34] and those are the choices that appear for our staff to use. What that also means is education is always changing. So we know in the landscape of literacy, for example, that things have changed. We now use, for example, vowels instead of pals. We're going to have some new literacy interventions that are going to come to us and we'll be able to have a tool that's reflective of the work that we're doing in our division and it's going to grow with us over time.

[01:04:58] The intervention plans also detail things like the learning gap that's been identified, goals when the intervention is going to occur and also includes the student progress monitoring data. After we identified the four areas, we associated what we call learning gaps with those areas. This slide is showing you, after looking at our data so far this year, these are the top four learning gaps in which intervention plans have been created for students this year

[01:05:30] associated with the area of concern. Math literacy, pretty straightforward, but you'll notice that there's some overlap in learning gaps that are used to address behavior and mental health areas of concern, and that's going to be something that we'll continue to talk through to make sure that we're supporting our schools in appropriately classifying those interventions. As I mentioned, because the tool is able to be customized, we are able to then align our evidence-based interventions with those learning gaps. And so on this slide, again, difficult to read,

[01:06:08] This provides an outline of the evidence-based interventions that would be associated with a phonological awareness or phonics learning gap. And this is really helping us to support the fidelity of implementation, making sure that we are aligning the intervention with the need so it's a just right fit for our students.

[01:06:30] I also want to highlight here that this is helping our staff in our schools better understand the role that all of us play in supporting interventions at both tiers two and tier three. And what we have also done to help support this conversation and implementation is we have created intervention fact sheets for every single intervention that could be selected.

[01:06:54] Those fact sheets detail things like, well, what is this intervention? What does this look like if it were to be implemented at tiers two versus tier three? Who's the best audience for this intervention? What training or resources might be needed to successfully implement this intervention and how do I access that?

[01:07:14] And then there's also guidance provided on goal setting and progress monitoring. Another support that we have provided to schools, which came at their request, is we have provided sample intervention goal statements for every single intervention that we have also within the module.

[01:07:36] This slide is giving you an example of a behavioral intervention, check-in, check-out, as well as a mental health intervention, small group counseling. And we have provided this so that schools can get a jumpstart with their comfort level. They are able to adjust the goals as the student progresses throughout the intervention.

[01:07:55] But we are trying to provide as much scaffolded support to our schools as possible, as they are continuing to learn not only the product, but also tightening up their intervention practices at the school level. The third element is progress monitoring. One thing that I wanted to state that I may have not said is that the conversation changes to progress monitoring at tiers two and three, while we are always monitoring progress at tier one. So it's just, it's a distinguishing of terms,

[01:08:28] But it really helps us identify we need to do something different with our data collection when we're addressing student needs at Tiers 2 and Tier 3. So progress monitoring occurs throughout the course of the intervention. As I mentioned, generally two times a month at Tier 2 and weekly at Tier 3 on the academic side of the house.

[01:08:50] What you see here is an example of a data chart which comes directly from a trained site in the MTSS module. And this is focusing on a math intervention that's been implemented for a student. You can see that the student's goal is at the top of the screen with the associated data points that have been entered by the student's interventionist.

[01:09:11] And this same type of chart of a similar feel would show up when talking about a literacy intervention. What we do here then is we look at this data and we identify what's our next step. Do we need to change the intervention? Do we need to adjust the goal?

[01:09:27] Do we need to exit the student from the intervention? Do we now suspect that something else might be going on and additional support is needed for the student? Because behavior and mental health are a bit different and those interventions don't come with associated progress monitoring probes in the same way that academic interventions do, our unified mental health team members use something called goal attainment scaling to help progress monitor their interventions.

[01:09:55] And essentially what that means is We are leveling up the behaviors and the skills that we would expect to see from a student after participating in a behavioral or mental health intervention. And it helps provide some guidance around whether or not that skill was attained and subsequently generalized for that student outside of that intervention experience.

[01:10:18] The final core element of MTSS surrounds itself with data-driven decision-making. And this is really what brings it all together. Again, your eyes aren't deceiving you.

[01:10:35] You probably can't quite see this, as I know I cannot. But I wanted to give you an indication of what we're able to now see in terms of intervention data, which is significantly different from how we've been able to look at this work in the past. At the division level and at the school level, we are able to ask questions like, how many students in third grade received an illiteracy intervention and met their goal?

[01:10:59] We're able to ask questions like, what percentage of students in our school received a specific math intervention? We're able to look at it by grade, by student subgroup. We're able to look at the data in a lot of different ways, which helps us not only with programmatic decisions when you think back to RTI, PBIS, and SEL, but also intervention conversations.

[01:11:23] What does my school need? Does my school need more access to professional learning on evidence-based interventions? Do we need more support in how to make sense of our data? And so we're able to use this information to help us guide our next steps strategically.

[01:11:40] If schools are also using the request for support feature that is within the MTSS module, they're also able to look at that data. As a school, I'd be able to look at how many requests for supports have been submitted for a specific student or by a specific teacher in a content area, grade level, and then we're able to get together as a team and say, why might that be happening? What might that student need? What might that staff need? How can we help support them as they are seeing some of these needs arising for our learners? What this looks like at the school level is taking that student progress

[01:12:16] monitoring chart through that cycle of inquiry and meeting again as an intervention team and asking these questions. Was the intervention implemented as intended? Did we do the thing the way the thing is supposed to be done, right? That's a big part of our fidelity conversation.

[01:12:35] If yes, how did the student respond? And then what may we need to do next? So again, tightening up these conversations, which has created some systemic conversations that can happen across grade level, giving us a better window into the intervention data for our students But again, none of that is a replacement for the work that's happening at Tier 1 to support the academic behavior and social-emotional needs of our learners through the other frameworks which make up a multi-tiered system of supports.

[01:13:10] I spoke a little bit about the decision trees having a component of highlighting the communication of the intervention plans to families, but I do want to show you specifically how that's done and the expectations that surround that communication. So in line with policy 5350, our intervention plans within this system can be directly emailed to families or they can be printed out and shared with families in that way.

[01:13:40] Most of them are emailed, as you can imagine. We also encourage our schools to discuss the intervention plan with families prior to putting the intervention in place and then continually provide updates to our families. There is no real set guidance in terms of when those conversations, those ongoing conversations occur, but it seems to make sense to do it in tandem with report card times or if there's a substantive change in the student's intervention experience, if they're exited, if we're trying something different.

[01:14:13] When you have an opportunity to click on that slide, we are also trying to increase our communication with families. So what you'll have there is that is a one-pager, which explains what is intervention and how is that not special education.

[01:14:30] And so that provides an opportunity for families to make sure that they know more about it. And then the right-hand side of that document explains to families the expectations for communication about their student's intervention plan. This is what you can expect to receive in terms of notification and progress updates from your child's school.

[01:14:50] We've talked a lot about our use of the module and how this is our real, our inaugural year of using it K-12 100 schools. I wanted to share some data with you on where we are so far in this journey, and this was pulled mid-February.

[01:15:07] I suspect if I went in there again today, these numbers would be different because things are ever-changing. But as of mid-February, do you remember that triangle from the beginning where Mr. Lody showed 80-15-5? Approximately 15% of our students in LCPS have had an intervention at any point throughout this school year.

[01:15:26] That doesn't mean that that many students are currently receiving intervention. It means that at any point throughout the year, they had an intervention plan. The bullet points on the top show you the percentage of students receiving interventions in the four areas in which plans can be created. A student can have an intervention plan in more than one area because people may need more than one thing.

[01:15:47] And then additionally, we are continuing to work on tightening up that communication on not only the progress monitoring, but also communicating that information with our families. So how are we supporting schools with all of this implementation?

[01:16:04] We use a combination of both implementation and outcome data when working with our schools. So our implementation data is going to be things that the schools do directly to help assess themselves on those frameworks, RTI, PBIS, and SEL.

[01:16:22] So there'll be things like where they can assess their practices across tiers one, two, and three. Our schools then develop action steps, which align with their plans for continuous school improvement, which helps keep all of that work aligned and integrated. Our team also helps to conduct walkthroughs and sometimes strategically at different points in the year based upon what a school may need and how that may help inform progress towards their goals.

[01:16:48] And we visit every single school. We're in the schools constantly. And so we have coaching support forms that we use. We collect them on our schools, and then we use that to collaborate with other offices and departments so that we can also provide alignment with the supports that we're providing to our schools.

[01:17:05] Our outcome data, things like the universal screeners that I shared with you, in addition to SOL data. We also look at climate surveys, teacher perception survey data. We have seen increases throughout the years in things that we want to see increases in.

[01:17:22] Feelings of connectedness, feelings of safety, relationships, student to student, student to teachers. We've seen some growth in those areas. Also in the land of discipline data, we've seen huge reductions in discipline data. So before we started PBIS in 2007, we were sitting at an office discipline referral rate of 18 percent. Last year we were at nine percent. So by putting these things in place and really emphasizing those proactive, those preventative, the things that we can do ahead of when those behaviors occur, we're able to establish that climate and culture which keeps a sense of school

[01:17:59] community for our kids. We also continue to have, when compared to the state, the lowest suspension rate, we are sitting below one percent for our students. So we want to keep them with us in our schools so they can access learning and have not only academic but behavioral and social success.

[01:18:20] Support has definitely been sustained and I would argue that this has been sustained because of the infrastructure that's been built behind it to do so. So as Mr. Lodi mentioned, we do have a division MTSS team. That team directly works side by side with our school leadership teams and also we have champions for the work in our school we have coaches we have leads that help support PBIS SEL and RTI in many of our schools I'm also now hearing MTSS leads MTSS points of contact and we work directly with those individuals to also help influence team members that sit at the

[01:18:59] school which obviously then filtrates down or tunnels down into our all staff having exposure to professional learning opportunities, resources, opportunities to extend their learning. And at the end of the day, who this is all for is for our kids.

[01:19:16] And we wanted to put all these things in place so that we're able to help our students in reaching our mission of supporting them to make meaningful contributions to the world and fulfilling our obligations of the LCPS profile of a graduate. To do that, we do provide strategic support to our schools.

[01:19:36] So we provide push-in support to our schools based upon their level of need. We work with our schools to review their data. We sit down with them on regular intervals. We tier the schools to identify how much in-person support a school may need, and that can change from, you know, quarter to quarter or year to year, depending on a lot of different factors.

[01:19:59] We also work with our schools to help set and achieve their goals, which, again, are in concert with their plans for continuous school improvement. We help to conduct site visits and walkthroughs, and during those times, we will not only talk to our framework leaders, but we will talk with kids.

[01:20:15] We'll talk with school leaders. We'll talk with staff. It's not uncommon for our team to also run focus groups with kids to hear how things are going because that's our best way to know if things are working and where we can stand to make some change. We also directly support our classroom teachers through opportunities for professional learning on classroom systems.

[01:20:37] things like how to de-escalate behaviors how to provide opportunities to respond how to set up an environment that's available and accessible for learning we support our schools by visiting them and doing school-based team meetings and the last bucket there we while we do provide what I guess I would classify as tier one professional learning access for all we really spend a lot of our time providing tier two and tier three professional learning for our schools They tell us what they need. We tailor it to them. We provide school-based, you know, whole staff

[01:21:13] learning, all the way down to team learning, individual staff learning. It just depends on what our schools tell us that they need, and we work to support that the best that we can. Somehow, I got through all of that, which feels like something I wasn't going to be able to do, but I, again, I would like to end my time with you by extending my gratitude. It has been a real pleasure to be able to share the work that we're doing we're incredibly proud of how far we have come and we look forward to continuing to refine our practices to support our students and again i

[01:21:52] thank you for your time this evening yeah i know there's only uh seven minutes um but we're happy to take questions with the remaining time thank you um miss shirna thank you madam chair um i know we only have a few minutes and this is this is work near and dear to my heart I know you know that Dr. LaPaula so I really I just want to point out that there's a lot that's going on with MTSS

[01:22:27] obviously this is a complex system educators are involved at many levels and you know like you said it's not a perfect science and I am appreciative of a structure that exists to input data to follow some consistent tracks and put kids in those categories what concerns me is that there is a disproportionate amount of the tiering in different schools when you I actually requested some data just as you know background because this is my background I've worked in this work a lot of each school's tier two and tier three data to date and just the percentage of kids because when

[01:23:05] you look at slide eight and you look at that pyramid and you've said you know that's a typical school anybody that has percentages that are above those numbers it puts stress on a building it's stressful when you have more smaller groups that need to be met and specialized instruction that now general education teachers need and you know we're trying to implement blocks of intervention time where we can get all that done so I just wanted to tell my colleagues and and board members that there's one piece of data that just really stood out and I'm glad that only you know 15 percent across the whole division but at elementary there are some schools that are really

[01:23:43] struggling and in fact based off of the data that I was given 72 percent of our elementary schools 44 out of 61 have higher than five percent tier three that's something that we have to look at And I would really ask that we do this work together, that we would extend this time.

[01:24:04] Seven minutes is not enough time to do a work session. And I think we have to pivot here and go from receiving to leading and really starting to have some real work as a board in partnership with staff and with schools to address some of these things that are underneath the veil when we dig a little bit deeper.

[01:24:25] I, you know, some schools, the highest one is 44% at tier three. That's crippling to a building and that has implications. And I think our staffs are feeling it in certain areas. So I would just ask us board members, you know, if you would be open to it, I would really like for us to further this conversation in another work session where we really do a deep dive and we do the work and we figure out where we can really lead this county in addressing the needs of our students who you know are falling behind so it is a heart piece for me

[01:25:00] and I've just asked for your support and and we'll figure out those next steps together I hope. Thank you Ms. Chernoff and as someone who's done this for years and been in Mr. Lodi's office talking to him with my son who's dyslexic and this kind of work I would agree that there's a lot of understandings that we need to come to and we should probably look to further this conversation either at our next meeting or perhaps during a retreat or something because there's a

[01:25:33] lot to unpack in here and it is 557 board members we have three more minutes anybody yes I will try and ask one question but I had several can on page four under action 1.3 care for students can you explain what it means to ensure an affirming learning environment and what it means to implement a culturally responsive framework that guides school climate? You're referring to the school board strategic plan? Okay. I think the part that I could probably speak to are the

[01:26:11] underlying strategies that we've been asked to implement as a, both as division, but in our office in particular. Part of our work to ensure that students are cared for is the implementation of the multi-tiered system of supports. Another area of work for us that's at the heart of what we do is the implementation of our mental health and wellness, social-emotional learning services for our students. That is one of the ways in which this office cares for our students

[01:26:47] to ensure that they're able to self-actualize. If you're familiar with Abraham Maslow's pyramid of needs, in order to self-actualize, basic needs have to be met, including some areas that are softer in nature, self-esteem, belongingness, safety needs. And so we think that's critically important for some of our students in order for them to learn successfully in our classrooms. So while the care for students is an action of the school board,

[01:27:24] this is what we were hoping to illustrate through our work with MTSS. Thank you, Mr. Lodi. I don't think we have any more time for any more questions. We have a hard stop at six, which is why I thought we would continue the next meeting as well.

[01:27:42] Okay, at this time, we will move our item 5.02 to the first information item in our formal meeting this evening. And right now we will adjourn for dinner. Thank you.

[01:27:58] We'll be back.

[02:00:48] Good evening. The board is coming out of recess at this time. And we will be picking up with item 8.01 and 8.02, the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. Tonight, the Pledge of Allegiance will be led by an amazing group of seventh graders from Farmwell Station Middle School.

[02:01:11] The group of inspiring, this group of aspiring doctors and nurses started the Future Health Professionals Club to learn more about their interest in the field of medicine and health sciences. When they tried to make their club an official chapter of the Health Occupation Students of America, they were told that Virginia law did not allow them to have a chapter because their school did not offer certain classes. Undeterred, the students worked with Senator Suhas Subramayana to create Senate Bill 707. If passed, the bill will permit public, middle, and high schools to

[02:01:49] establish career and technical education student organizations, regardless of whether such schools offer career and technical education courses. These incredibly intelligent and passionate students have testified in support of the bill to the Senate and the House subcommittee on K-12 education, both times receiving unanimous support. The bill is on the governor's desk waiting to be signed, having passed the House and the Senate. These students should be celebrated for their self-advocacy, passion for helping others, and their obvious commitment to the LCPS mission of making meaningful

[02:02:26] contributions to the world. The national anthem will be performed by Alexis House, a 14-year-old eighth grade student at Harmony Middle School. She has performed the national anthem at many places, including the Frederick Keys baseball games, and has been a regular anthem singer at Morvin Park in Leesburg. She is currently bell in the musical at Harmony, and she has just returned from Louisville, Kentucky for the ACDA Southern Regional Honors Choir. Alexis is very excited to perform the anthem for you tonight. At this time, I will ask everyone to rise for the Pledge of Allegiance

[02:03:05] and remain standing for the National Anthem.

[02:03:18] To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we end the twilight's last gleaming

[02:03:55] Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming, and the rocket's flag was still there.

[02:05:16] The next item on the agenda is student staff recognitions. We will start with item 9.01, one LCPS spotlight, expanding the computer science pipeline, presented by Mr. Neal Slevin. Thank you, Chairman Mansfield.

[02:05:32] At this time, I'd like to invite representatives from Rockridge High School to the podium to present our March 1L CPS Spotlight, expanding the computer science pipeline. This is John Duhlman, and I serve as principal of Rockridge High School.

[02:05:54] It's my great honor this evening to present you and celebrate a pilot course here at Rockridge that enhances our common mission to empower all students to make meaningful contributions to the world. This pilot exemplifies our school's mission to extend experiences to our students beyond the classroom through innovations and substantive partnerships.

[02:06:13] Next slide, please. This evening, we will provide you a brief overview, accentuate our incredible partnership with Janelia Farms, our research, and most importantly, provide you the valuable perspectives of some of our incredible students. Next slide, please.

[02:06:29] By way of introductions, you'll meet Mr. Mayuski, computer science teacher here at Rockridge High School, Dr. Mike Perham, Director of Innovations and External Relationships, Ms. Kirsten O'Grady, Computer Science Resource Teacher, and two of our awesome Phoenix students, Amulya Gattapati and Brian Tran. Next slide. This pilot aligns beautifully with our Loudoun County Public School's core values and strategic plan. Specifically, next slide, all six of our core values shown here. You will note that equity and opportunity and individualized success

[02:07:06] as two primary values and, next slide, this partnership also aligns with our 2027 Strategic Plan for Excellence. Goal one specifically, empowered students, especially 1.2, expanded opportunities for multiple accessible pathways to success through diverse programming and, next slide, goal four, engaged community and especially 4.2, strengthening and creating new business and community partnerships. Next slide. As a brief overview tonight, next slide, you will note the

[02:07:43] partnership with Janelia Research Campus has been seamless. I wish to thank the Department of Teaching and Learning, Nicole Algonne in math and Jesse in compara, especially Mr. Grant Schaefer, supervisor of community connections, and Mr. Nick Grazita, supervisor of computer science, for initiating and creating a pilot for computer science independent research, a course that will prepare students for employment through credentialing and workforce readiness upskilling through hands-on on-site experiences. It's my great pleasure at this time now to introduce Mr. Yara Mijewski, an exceptional Rockridge High School teacher who will speak to his role in developing

[02:08:19] this amazing course and this important partnership. He will also introduce our students who ultimately are the reason we do what we do. Mr. Yara Mijewski. All right. Good evening everyone. As was mentioned, my name is Jaromiejewski. I'm one of the computer science teachers at Rockbridge High School, here along with two of my wonderful students, Molly and Brian. This past year I was tasked with piling in a new course at Rockbridge High School. It has been one of the most daunting tasks I have undertaken in my decade and a half of teaching, but it is one that I think is definitely worth it.

[02:08:57] It provides opportunities for students to further their journey in computer science. Until this year, the highest level computer science class that a student outside of the academies could take was AP Computer Science A. When I first started teaching, this was fine, as the very large majority of Computer Science A students were seniors. But now a lot of students, like Amalia and Brian, are taking AP Computer Science A and excelling in it, not just in their junior year, but in their sophomore year as well. While this is a wonderful trend, it also provides a dilemma. It provides basically a gap between that year

[02:09:37] and the time they graduate where they don't really have a computer science class to take. Hopefully this new class will help bridge that gap. Now this new class focuses on higher level programming in Python, data structures, as well as machine learning and AI. And maybe in the near future we'll have one more class as well. Thank you. And now let me introduce Kirsten O'Grady, our computer science resource teacher. Thank you. I'm here today as a proud Loudoun County graduate who can attest to the profound effect of Loudoun's commitment to computer science

[02:10:14] education. It means so much to me that I can now contribute to keeping Loudoun at the forefront of computer science education. I've been supporting Rockridge as the first home high school to offer this curriculum and we are excited to be expanding it to two additional schools next year. The demand for a four-year computer science pathway has been evident among our students and parents and teachers alike and i'm delighted to take part of the team that's taking steps to realize this vision i am pleased to introduce dr mike perham from hhmi janelia whose invaluable support has helped us

[02:10:53] realize this opportunity thank you um i'm mike parham i lead outreach from janelia research campus part of the howard hughes medical institute and we've had a great partnership with lcps from many years it was with our position in doing research and what we do we have sort of a good sight into what's coming down the pike what technologies are important and this was something that we helped pilot at the academies of Loudoun with Pete Randall and and John Dr. John Chapin and seeing the success in

[02:11:30] that class we were really excited to to take it a step further and work with all these fabulous folks to roll it out to the home high schools which is our hope to expand that opportunity which is the mission and our goal as as outreach professionals with with genuinely research campus. So I will hand it off to Amulya. Good evening my name is Amulya Gotipati and I am a junior attending Rockridge High School. As a passionate student immersed in the field of computer science I'm thrilled to share my perspective on the new machine learning course. This isn't just another class rather it is a dynamic exploration

[02:12:07] into the modern advancements in computer science through hands-on experiences with stacks, queues, and trees, we're not only learning about data structures, but we're mastering them. For students aspiring to major in computer science like myself, this course is an invaluable stepping stone as it equips students with the practical skills necessary for success in college level computer science courses and beyond through the completion of the Python coding course by Carnegie Mellon and the machine learning course by Kaggle. But that's just the beginning. In this course we delve into artificial intelligence by learning about various machine learning algorithms, which are the foundational

[02:12:43] concepts that form the bedrock of computational problem solving. From learning how to pre-process data sets to even coding neural networks, we're equipping ourselves with the necessary tools of machine learning to develop innovative solutions to real-world challenges. Thank you. Hello, my name is Brian Tran, and I'm a senior taking the Rockridge Data Structures and Artificial Intelligence course.

[02:13:08] The course has allowed students to dive deeper into computer science beyond what AP courses offer. It's proven itself as a great addition, allowing students to learn advanced concepts and pursue independent research. The success of this course shows that students outside the academies of engineering and technology need access to more courses.

[02:13:26] Loudoun should aim to have a four-year pathway where students can take computer science courses throughout their high school career. Importantly, computer science courses do not have to exist in a linear path. New additions can be branching to diversify what students learn and allow them freedom in what they choose to study. There are many promising courses that Loudoun can adopt.

[02:13:43] A four year AI course could build upon the knowledge gained from previous classes and expose students to a rapidly expanding industry. A machine learning course would push students into one of the most important topics not only within artificial intelligence, but in all of computer science.

[02:13:58] Finally, a course focused on web development would allow students to pursue an alternative path into a crucial area. But computer science is a broad field, with many different topics and careers. The courses we provided are just a few examples of what Loudoun could offer to support students.

[02:14:13] are many potential courses that Loudoun can add but the computer science curriculum must expand to allow students greater opportunities. Next slide please. We'd like to open our presentation to any questions that the school board may have at this time. Thank you. Board members do you have any questions? Yes Ms. Chandler. Thank you all so much for this very informative presentation.

[02:14:44] I am particularly heartened to hear from the students and to see how excited you are about this opportunity um i'd love to hear a little bit more about how the relationship between lcps works with janelia farms and and particularly what are janelia and particularly um what aspects of course design um come into play thanks absolutely so um when we started the partnership with the academies basically we brought john pete and and two other teachers i believe to janelia and janelia has

[02:15:19] a lot of software engineers and scientists that use machine learning every day. And so we taught them a lot of what they would need to know to teach the students and then cooperatively we helped push along what became a curriculum. We kind of kicked it off and provided that consulting expertise as the teachers themselves developed the curriculum and got feedback from us.

[02:15:44] And today, what our plan is, is, for example, over the past summer, we had Yaro in and at Janelia, and we met a lot of the researchers that can come and assist, come give a career talk, come give an example to the students, and also essentially give some tutoring to teachers as they figure out what machine learning is and how to implement it.

[02:16:09] Thank you so much. That seems like a great way to make sure that we stay current as the technology changes as well. Are there any other questions? Yes, Dr. Rashid. Thank you so much. I think this is a wonderful opportunity. It says, you know, in your slides that you expanded this opportunity to Rockridge. I was just wondering if there were other schools that this has been expanded to.

[02:16:35] Are there any other questions? I have one question. So, and I was trying to look up the law that's there. There is a law that we can have a foreign language requirement.

[02:17:03] And would this be a computer science that could be part of that foreign language requirement since it has python well that's also up to the admissions but it is a it but every

[02:17:40] virginia college has to has to take it um not other colleges so you're saying that this might not be one of those classes that could be used thank you so much any other questions no thank you so much at this time we will move to item 10 our school student school board representatives

[02:18:19] comments our students this evening are mariam toffwood naisha patel and mary hackman i would first like to introduce miss mariam toffwood miss toffwood is a senior at potomac falls high school she currently serves as senior class president editor-in-chief of the newspaper and the news yearbook. Mariam is a varsity member and captain of the cross-country winter track and spring track teams. Outside of school, she's on the team leadership council at Cascades Library and a server at Ashby Ponds. Mariam plans on majoring in journalism and minoring in political science.

[02:18:58] Ms. Tafwood. Good evening school board members, educators, families, and fellow representatives. My name is Mariam Tafwood and I am a senior at Potomac Falls High School where I currently serve senior class president, editor-in-chief of both our yearbook and news magazine, and captain of the cross-country and track teams. I am also an incoming freshman at the University of Virginia, where I will be double majoring in media studies and political philosophy, policy, and law in the fall. I'm honored to be speaking before you all today, and I'm even more honored to be representing Potomac Falls, a vessel for learning, growing, and high achievement. To be a part of the Potomac

[02:19:35] Falls community is to revel in rigor, inspiration, and enrichment. I've witnessed firsthand how our students take the excellence that is modeled for them by students and staff alike and how they go out and share it with the community. I've seen it in the form of a team effort with our yearbook being the only one in LCPS to be selected as one out of 56 books across the nation as a pacemaker finalist for journalistic excellence for the second year in a row. I've seen it in how our varsity boys basketball team, which is graduating nine seniors, went undefeated in the regular season with a 26-1 overall record, winning Potomac Falls another Potomac District Championship, Region 5 Championship, and giving our school the chance to

[02:20:12] host its first state championship game since 2019. Thanks to a team of talented broadcast journalism students, we were able to follow the team's journey to the state tournament through The Grind, an 11-episode video series shot, edited, and produced by students. The excellence demonstrated by Potomac Falls students in a collaborative effort is not dimmed individually. Just last weekend, we sent 70 DECA students, the most in school history, to the DECA State Leadership Conference in Virginia Beach, where they brought home 40 total awards with senior Arjun Seti, the VP of Career Development for Virginia DECA, winning the VA Association of Marketing Educators

[02:20:46] Scholarship. Additionally, our chapter president, senior Alexa Lopresti, became gold certified and a finalist for the VA DECA scholarship. Our indoor track team, which is near and dear to my heart, dominated at the regional and state level, with seniors Joseph Ernest and Taylor Caldwell placing second and fifth overall, respectively, in the triple jump at the VHSL Class 5A state championships at Virginia Beach two weeks ago. They join a group of individuals, as well as our boys and girls 4x2 relay teams, in advancing to the national level. This past weekend, they took on Nike Indoor Nationals in New York City, New Balance Nationals in Boston, Massachusetts, and are

[02:21:23] traveling back down to Virginia Beach this weekend for Adidas Track Nationals. The entire Panther community is rooting for them. When we're not out winning awards and creating totally Insta-worthy headlines for ourselves, we as Panthers give back to the community. This past Saturday, the PFHS Science National Honor Society chapter held their annual Saturday Science event, an opportunity for elementary age students to be introduced to science concepts as they cycle through hands-on labs and demonstrations guided by PFHS science teachers and students. Our SNHS, alongside many other clubs and honor societies, will be back on Saturday, April 13th for our annual Night at the Falls, which is a community-based event that brings

[02:22:01] together hundreds of people and promotes clubs local businesses and volunteer organizations and yes this is me formally inviting you all to attend although i could stay up here for much longer sharing with you all the many achievements and accolades that permeate the panther community i'll finalize my remarks by expressing gratitude to dr spence for the opportunity to speak today and to my principal dr brandon wolf without whom i would not have the steadfast guidance these last four years. Thank you all. Thank you. Now I'd like to introduce Ms. Nyesha Patel, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology who is passionate about both data science and

[02:22:40] policy. She is co-president of her school's prestigious Model UN team and hosts the largest high school-run conference on the East Coast. She also holds leadership positions in her school's cultural club Namaste and Investment Club. Outside of school, she has her own non-profit, Girls Who Math, which has reached over 32 countries and 1,000 students. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing chess with her dad, and watching movie with her friends. She hopes to make a significant contribution to the board during her time as her school's student representative.

[02:23:17] Ms. Patel. Good evening, chair, board members, and everyone here. I'm Nysha Patel, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, and I'm honored to be here before you. I would like to bring attention to updates regarding financial grants, program expansion, and group and student achievements that were done at TJ.

[02:23:37] Thomas Jefferson High School's partnership fund, TJPF, recently awarded over $50,000 in grants to support the school. Each of the students' 180-plus clubs receives a grant up to $1,500 to further academic success.

[02:23:54] TJPF recently awarded over $10,000 to fund one of TJHSST's hallmark events, Hack TJ, which was hosted two weeks ago with great success. Hack TJ is a hackathon with over 800 students in attendance from all regions in the DMV. Upcoming events include iNight with over 600 students from TJ performing to an audience of over 2,500, and Tech Month, the largest high school running model United Nations Conference on the East Coast with over 65 schools currently registered, 10 coming from Loudoun County.

[02:24:25] Teacher-originating student programs, particularly the mentoring program known as the Big Sips program, has reached expansion to over 10 schools in Fairfax County, more than five in Loudoun County, and two schools in Prince William Counties. Outside of these numbers, student groups within the school have hosted multiple after-school events within the past few weeks.

[02:24:47] Chinese Honor Society held a Lunar New Year celebration, Black Student Union hosted an after-school event to commemorate Black History Month, and many more. In terms of student group awards, TJ's marching band recently received the title of being the fourth best marching band program internationally. And in terms of sports, this has been a historical year for this school. Girls basketball made history by becoming district champions and TJ's swim and dive with both boys and girls teams won their regional championships and are populating

[02:25:18] the hashtag We Came For This Sports to TJ. Within the class of 2024, TJ is now home to eight ISA finalists, seven Regeneron STS scholars, and two Koch scholars. Students of all backgrounds from all counties and of all communities have been able to achieve academic and social success at TJ through finding their respective communities and utilizing the initiatives and resources presented by the administration and fellow students. TJ strives to continue upholding its culture of being a constantly improving academic and social environment. Thank you so much. Thank you. And

[02:25:55] last, I would like to introduce Ms. Mary Hackman. Mary Hackman is a senior at Tuscarora High School. She's the youngest of four children and has always lived in Leesburg. She is an avid Phillies sports fan. Mary is one of the Tuskegee Terror Leaders, which is the student-led cheering section at sporting events. She enjoys playing first base for the softball team and throwing shot put for the winter track team. She also played the flute and concert band throughout middle and high school. Mary is a volunteer with the National Honor Society and the service coordinated for the

[02:26:30] Key Club. Mary said, thank you for including me tonight. I'm honored to be a Tuscarora's student representative. Ms. Hackman. Good evening. My name is Mary Hackman and I am happy to be here tonight representing Tuscarora High School. The students and faculty of Tuscarora High School have accomplished remarkable things this year. Our Tuscarora performing arts truly represent the excellence that we strive for as a school. Just to recognize a few, the Tuscarora Band was invited and played in the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade in Hawaii in December of 2023. The Wind Ensemble earned a superior rating at the state assessment last Thursday. In the fall, the Marching Huskies

[02:27:10] became two-time 1A state champions. With the hard work from the Marching Huskies and the Wind Ensemble, the Tuscarora Band program has earned the title of VA Honor Band for the second year in a row. Tuscarora Theater performed a Raisin in the Sun at the MLK dedication ceremony at Douglas Community Center on January 15th. Tuscarora is excited to be one of two schools to host the HAMSci Health and Medical Sciences program next year. For more information on this program, please contact our school counseling office. Additionally, Tuscarora Athletics always strive to exemplify excellence. Over the past year, we have won nine district championships. This

[02:27:49] includes baseball, softball, girls and boys soccer, girls track and field, boys cross country, football, boys' basketball, and the academic team. Four regional championships, the football, baseball, girls' track and field, and girls' soccer teams, and two state championships last spring, the girls' track and field and girls' soccer teams. Our girls' basketball team made it to the state tournament this year, and our boys' basketball team became state runner-ups just last Friday. Last spring, senior Alyssa Kerrigan became a three-time state high jump champion. Our athletic department exemplifies the saying, you get out what you put into the game.

[02:28:26] The dedication and hard work we put in every day is the reason why we have been so successful over the past year. The Student Council has continued to serve students inside the school community by making signs supporting our programs, as well as putting on events like Power Buff for all proceeds were donated to the Loud and Hunger Relief.

[02:28:44] Tuscarora Key Club has collected over $2,500 for various charities this past year. Additionally, we undertook a massive food drive in which we donated almost 1,000 pounds of food for the Loud and Hunger Relief and provided 763 meals to families in our community. Various organizations throughout THS organize tutoring at local elementary schools before school, as well as peer tutoring in our math study halls.

[02:29:09] The acronym of Tuscarora, RISE, stands for Respect, Integrity, Service, and Excellence. It is clear that Tuscarora's success is based on these important values. I'm proud to be a part of the Husky family as we continue to rise. I would like to thank my principal, Mrs. Croft, and my SCA sponsor, Mrs. Crawford, for providing me this opportunity to serve in this capacity.

[02:29:28] I've learned so much from this experience. Thank you all, and have a wonderful evening. Thank you. Thank you all for being with us tonight and for your remarks. With that, we will move on to Agenda Item 11.01, the Superintendent Report, presented by Dr. Spence, our superintendent.

[02:29:50] Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the board. I'd like to start my presentation this evening with some program updates. I'd like to begin by sharing with you an update on the status of the Restroom Privacy and Safety Pilot Program. This program, as you all know, was announced last year and work began on it earlier this school year.

[02:30:08] of the renovation work on that and along with the technology and installation and testing should be completed later this month nine schools are participating in the pilot program in five schools which include broad run dominion heritage loudon valley and woodgrove high schools restrooms have been renovated to provide increased privacy and these rest these renovations increase restroom choice for our students who may opt to use private gender-neutral restrooms or the existing multi multi-fixured gender-specific restrooms. And it's important to continue to remind folks that all students in every school have access to both single-occupancy restrooms and multi-fixture restrooms. Four of our schools, Farmwell Station and Sterling Middle School, along with Parkview

[02:30:48] and Stonebridge High Schools, are receiving sensory technology. And three schools, Dominion, Heritage, and Loudoun Valley, are receiving both renovations and sensor technology. This sensor technology uses multifunctional health, safety, and vape detection sensors. And the goal of these for innovations and technology installations, of course, is to enhance student safety as well as increase opportunities for privacy. Throughout this spring, we will continue to actively gather student feedback from the schools that are participating in the pilot program, and we will be inviting parent and staff feedback from all schools throughout the duration of the pilot

[02:31:21] program as well, and so you can visit the website on this slide to learn more about that. Next, the annual LCPS staff, student, and family survey is now underway. School administrators, as you probably know depend on the results of this survey as they develop goals for their school improvement plans.

[02:31:41] This survey data is also used at the division level to track overall trends and monitor outcomes prioritized in the 1LCPS strategic plan for excellence and representation from all perspectives really is crucial to inform the decisions that are being made across the school division.

[02:31:57] So families, staff, and students are encouraged to complete the survey before the survey period ends which is coming up on march 17th that's sunday march 17th and a unique survey link was sent to email addresses on file so make sure that your voice gets heard and if you didn't receive a link make sure you let your school know so now we'll move into some good news from around the school division to celebrate black history month many of our schools hosted special assemblies or performances i was able to attend a really great event at freedom high school which celebrated the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Freedom High School students who are guided by Janice Decker, who is a

[02:32:36] business education teacher there, shared their talents and a performance that they spent months preparing for. More than 70 students from a range of different groups and areas of interest, and this included members of the Black Student Association, the dance team, the step team, and the K-pop dance club participated. This type of event allows students to showcase their culture and what is important to them, and I really appreciated the staff and administrators at Freedom who supported students in the production of this event. Amy Goodyear, who is a biology teacher at Heritage High School, has been named the Virginia Agriculture in the Classroom 2024 Teacher of

[02:33:11] the Year. This award recognizes a Virginia educator for incorporating agriculture into their core curriculum. Ms. Goodyear uses hands-on activities and real-life applications in her classroom to engage students in agricultural concepts. She encourages her students to develop a deeper understanding of agricultural sciences through things like NASA's Plant the Moon Challenge, which is a project that explores growing food on the lunar surface while learning about the importance of soils and nutrients for plant growth. As the Virginia Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher of the Year, Ms. Goodyear will receive a scholarship to attend the 2024 National

[02:33:45] Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in June. Belmont Middle School's Spectrum Program for gifted and talented students, led by gifted teacher Jerry Williams, with support from Ferry Rear of Orblink's Academy was one of the winners of WUSA 9's Eco Challenge. The Eco Challenge identifies Washington area middle schools that are engaging in projects and activities to lower carbon footprints and presents them with a $5,000 check from Washington Gas. The Belmont Ridge Spectrum program strives to spark student creativity and innovative thinking by allowing them to work

[02:34:20] hands-on with biomaterials and create their own sustainable products. The Spectrum program won the Eco Challenge for its project focused on replacing everyday plastic items with items that can be made from durable but biodegradable materials such as using mushrooms to build a bench. The school will use the funds from the challenge to continue its study and experimentation with projects that increase sustainability. The Loudoun County High School Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps and JROTC recently participated in three competitions which earned them invitations to upcoming regional and national championships. In December the

[02:34:58] orienteering team won the regional orienteering championship that earned them an invitation to the NJROTC national championship that will be held this upcoming weekend in South Carolina. The cadets there have finished as a national runner-up for the last two years. The combined drill and athletic teams placed third overall at a regional championship in early March and the armed exhibition drill team took first place honors in their category. Additionally the 16 by 100 relay team took first in their category, and all of these cadets will next compete at the High School Drill National Championship, which will be in Daytona Beach in May, where they will be defending

[02:35:37] their national championship. Also, the NJROTC academic team placed second overall in a qualifier meet to earn them an invitation to the NJROTC Regional Brain Brawl Championship to be held later this month in Virginia Beach, so we really do want to congratulate Loudoun County High School's NJROTC program for its continued excellence.

[02:35:57] We've also, on this evening's agenda, you know, there was a proclamation for National School Breakfast Week and that was recognized from March 4th to March 8th. The theme of this year's National School Breakfast Week was "Surf's Up with School Breakfast" and celebrated the importance of nutritious school breakfasts and fueling student success.

[02:36:18] And we celebrated across our schools with surf decorations like beach balls and flower lays for our students. And speaking of that. We also celebrated Frederick Douglass Elementary School, which was recognized by the Virginia Department of Education's Office of School and Community Nutrition Programs for its Outstanding Breakfast Program.

[02:36:38] Frederick Douglass Elementary offers a Breakfast in the Classroom program, which has seen a remarkable 50% increase in the number of students who are being served a school breakfast. Breakfast in the Classroom and all of our school breakfast and lunch programs help our LCPS students achieve their potential.

[02:36:56] Last Tuesday, LCPS educators came together for the third and final countywide staff development day of the school year. Nearly 8,000 educators attended approximately 700 professional learning sessions. These professional learning sessions supported our educators as they enhanced their own learning and connected with colleagues to collaborate on focus areas.

[02:37:14] In addition, the second annual Launching Your Leadership Conference was held later that afternoon at Trailside Middle School. The purpose of this conference is to provide professional learning focused on leadership development where participants discuss the pathways to instructional leadership positions in the school and beyond.

[02:37:33] More than 250 aspiring and current leaders attended and 28 professional learning sessions were offered. So we do hope all our educators gained value from the professional development day and I know we appreciate their commitment to LCPS and our students and all of those who are engaged in organizing these events for our educators. And then recently members of the LCPS administrative team rolled up their sleeves and supported the Loudon Education Foundation's fueled program. The team packed over 1,200 meal bags which will be distributed to LCPS families and students who are food insecure. It's important to remember that each week the LEF coordinates a team of

[02:38:11] volunteers to pack donated items into meal bags and LEF partners with Amazon web services to deliver meal bags to our LCPS families at no cost. We are proud to continue to partner with LEF on numerous activities because they support educators and students through grants and scholarships as well as numerous other projects like the FUELD program. Madam Chair, that concludes my report this evening. Thank you, Dr. Spence. It's always nice to hear what's the good stuff that's going on. At this time, we'll move on to item 12.01, public comment,

[02:38:48] starting with virtual and from now on we will always start with a virtual 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 the strong community engagement and outreach are important components of a successful school system. Speakers must limit comments to the time allotted and based on the number of speakers and the agenda this evening all speakers have been allotted one minute each for public comment. Please be advised the speakers

[02:39:22] who missed 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. Please remain seated unless arriving, departing, speaking at the podium, or during a break.

[02:39:43] 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.

[02:40:15] Speakers should refrain from vulgarity, obscenities, defamation, profanity, or other like breaches of respect, nor may speakers target, criticize, or attack individual students and or individual division employees during public comment.

[02:40:33] Speakers should communicate those concerns to their school principal or an appropriate school official. The school board requests that comments on an individual student or employee-related matter not be shared at public meetings where the disclosure could violate applicable confidentiality requirements. Speakers should face the dais and direct their comments to the school board.

[02:40:56] Per LCPS policy 2520, members of the school board will not 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 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

[02:41:34] 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 12 copies of the materials.

[02:41:51] Under no circumstances may a speaker approach the dais. The public is reminded that access to the school board meetings is available through LCPS-TV on Comcast Channel 18 and Verizon Fios Channel 43. The live stream of the meeting may be viewed on the website.

[02:42:07] We look forward to hearing your comments. We will start with Simi Vanscoy. We do not have the first caller.

[02:42:24] We'll continue with Emily Wallace and then Casey Traylor. I'm here because when my kindergartner asks me why his friend doesn't have to go to school in the scary dark, and he does, I tell him I'll ask. So, why only us? Why have we drawn the short straw and been asked to hold on to it indefinitely? Employ a foundational elementary lesson here. Take turns.

[02:42:48] Choose equity and rotate this burden to other schools. Why? I'll highlight two of the many negative impacts of this. First, academic and health. It's a 135-hour loss of sleep per year relative to the normal schedule, and it's been so difficult for my kindergartner that we're looking at private schools. We get up in the dark, he begs me daily to let him sleep, and sadly being tardy benefits him. My children can't eat breakfast before school because they aren't sufficiently awake or hungry. Going to an unlucky Loudon Elementary means empty bellies fuel the days.

[02:43:16] Financially, this is a bad situation for working parents. Our afternoon bus stop time is 2 30, which means 45 extra minutes of child care needed each day, and that's more than four thousand dollars a year. That means I need to leave work at 2 p.m. to get there in time. Equity is achievable here. Thank you. Casey Traylor followed by Brenda Bankston. Karen of a student at Catochton Elementary School where the school start time has been too early for the past several years.

[02:43:48] One of the many problems with the early start time is that it deprives our children of the opportunity to spend quality time with their working parents, especially those who work late shifts. My husband is one of them and he barely gets to see our kindergartner during the week. She only sees him for two and a half hours and all of that time is spent hurrying to get ready for school. This is not healthy for their relationship nor for their emotional and mental well-being. A later start time of just 30 minutes would make a huge difference in their lives and give them more time to connect. I understand the early start time is a result of bus driver shortage, which is a difficult issue to address. If there's no other way to solve this problem, I ask you to at least consider a rotation system so that the same schools do not have to suffer

[02:44:25] from the early start time every year. This would be a more fair and balanced approach and it would show that you care about the diverse needs and preferences of our community. Thanks for your attention and action on this issue. Thank you. Brenda Bankson, followed by Sandy Sullivan.

[02:44:46] Oh, speakers' faces. Attention-seeking? Outrage? Election season? Mocking ideas? Outing vulnerable groups? Nefarious reasons? Seen that. It's said we need to honor the public with cameras on the speaker? Harassment? Doxing? No honor there. Campaign soundbites? No honor there. Everybody else is doing it. No honor there. Desmond Tutu mused, don't raise your voice, improve your

[02:45:21] argument. I feel heard without a video. DEIA and SEL matter. Voters are your focus group. We elected you. Please don't vote for theatrics. Thank you. Sandy Sullivan followed by Leslie Katz.

[02:45:46] Good evening. I'm Sandy Sullivan, an elementary school teacher who currently serves the members of the Loudon Education Association as their president.

[02:46:02] I look forward to the transportation update later this evening, and we thank Ms. Chernoff for requesting the presentation. When the change in start times was made, many did not understand the real reason for the change, so naturally that caused concerning questions. While working to improve on-time arrivals and lessen second-low buses and other concerns, the changes impacted students, families, and educators.

[02:46:22] I'm glad data has been collected surrounding issues and performance. I would appreciate knowing the actual numbers the percentages equate to in the graphs depicting tardiness and absenteeism. Striving to communicate so stakeholders understand the reasoning when changes are made and responding to their input, concerns, and questions is key to fluid operations and greater buy-in.

[02:46:46] Regarding policy 8040, LEA looks forward to and urges this board to public support 8040. Otherwise, it makes it difficult for educators to support students in the classroom and schools where it counts. Thank you. Leslie Katz, followed by Teresa Rendon.

[02:47:04] There's a critical equity issue that demands your attention. Half of elementary schools start 30 minutes earlier than the other half. By implementing this staggered schedule, you are prioritizing one group of students over the other, suggesting that their health and educational opportunities are more important.

[02:47:23] Each morning at 645, as half of elementary school children in Loudoun are still asleep, my daughter and I navigate the dark to reach the bus stop. Early start times cause insufficient sleep, which leads to poor focus, performance, and emotional regulation. A later start time can relieve these issues, improving health and academic outcomes, while reducing absenteeism and tardiness and saving families thousands in afternoon child care.

[02:47:46] For two years, we have struggled with this schedule, finding it unsustainable and financially burdensome. It's unrealistic for working parents to accommodate the daily early dismissal to meet a bus arriving at 2.30. Please prioritize our children's well-being and academic success by implementing later start times countywide.

[02:48:07] Thank you. Teresa Rendens, followed by Lauren Sigler.

[02:48:22] Lauren Sigler, followed by Shee Von Fleet. You were told by the staffer that denied Lilly's waiver, the same one that sat next to your lawyer describing Lilly's mental illnesses as friend issues on social media, that we lied.

[02:48:38] and that Lilly wanted the waiver for athletic purposes. A few years ago, that staffer tried to get this body to prohibit all activity waivers, but fortunately, the board did not vote for a policy that, as they said, would only punish students. That same staffer did not speak to anyone involved in Lilly's care or even to Lilly when investigating her request.

[02:48:58] No one has ever spoken to us, to her doctors, or to her therapists. This body and its agents have lied about her, belittled her and ignored her. Can you honestly believe we would be here every night if this were for athletic purposes?

[02:49:16] Has any of this made sure that every student, as Ms. Donahue's words said, feel valued, heard and empowered to thrive both academically and emotionally? It is not. Most people tell us our mistake that we came to was not cheating, but our kid asked for help and you punished her.

[02:49:33] - Thank you. Shiv Von Fleet followed by Sam Swaminathan. - On Sunday, I spoke at the War on Women Conference in Los Angeles. One of the speakers was Riley Gaines.

[02:49:50] In her speech, Gaines described how the girl swimming medal was snatched from her and given to the male swimmer, Leo Thomas. Thomas was allowed to be in a girl's locker room and allowed to destroy women's sports because of the Marxist transgender ideology.

[02:50:07] When that happened, made into national news, many were utterly shocked, but few came to their defense. Things has changed. Many are waking up. Today, we are here. We are here to defend our girls.

[02:50:23] The obstacles are you sitting in front of us. We have to ask whether you really believe that girls can be boys and boys can be girls, or you are covering up so that you won't be canceled by the woke mob. We elect you to educate and to keep our girls safe.

[02:50:40] Are you doing it? Thank you. Sam Swaminathan, followed by Nauman Akhtar. Nauman Akhtar, followed by Omer Butt.

[02:51:05] Before advocating for policy 8040 within our schools, I urge board members to implement this practice within your own homes.

[02:51:21] I challenge you to encourage your sons and daughters to utilize the bathroom simultaneously or changing in each other's presence. By experience firsthand, the potential discomfort and privacy concerns, you will gain a deeper understanding of the issues at stake.

[02:51:40] We live in a civilized society. That's why we have rules. Don't make it a jungle where there are no boundaries and individuals can act without regard of others' rights and privacy. It is essential to recognize that equality does not equate to uniformity in all aspects.

[02:52:00] By allowing individuals of different genders to share bathroom facilities, we risk the principle of privacy and dignity that form the foundation of our civilized society. Thank you. I hope you understand this. Thank you. Omer Bhatt, followed by Venkant Parimi.

[02:52:28] Good evening. According to Division's data tracking dashboard, dashboard.lcps.org, of the 82,553 students enrolled, 65 students identified as non-binary.

[02:52:57] Again, 65 students identified as non-binary. Approximately 0.1%, with 51.3% identified as male, 48.6% identified as female. This is an update until February of 29th.

[02:53:15] My suggestion, keep the boys in the boys' bathroom and locker room, girls' bathroom and locker room, And create a separate space for the non-binary students. Have them their own privacy. So when they are using the restrooms, they are not being judged.

[02:53:30] They have their own private space. I'm a father of two, and I understand how it feels. Please keep our boys and girls and the others safe. Thank you. Thank you, Venkat Parimi, followed by Ananda Datiparthi.

[02:53:48] I'm here to say that as a father of a daughter, a girl, I'm very concerned hearing about this policy of sharing the bathroom across genders.

[02:54:06] So, the reason being, with the safety, the primary aspect of it is the physical and psychological safety of a girl, if some untoward incident happens, none of the policy makers may or may not be responsible, which will be dealt with that kid throughout their lifetime.

[02:54:29] So that's keeping some of the policies needs equal and needs to be treated equally everyone as a human being. This is not the one which there are some boundaries where the freedom of one person will stop or the policy it will stop when the freedom of the other person or privacy of the other person starts.

[02:54:51] So considering this, I request not to consider this policy. Thanks. Thank you. Ananda Thatiparthi, followed by Vijay Musi Kampala. Vijay Musi Kampala, followed by Vamsi Kapula.

[02:55:20] Vamsi Kapula, followed by Beth Hess. Beth Hess, followed by Chitin Sodhi.

[02:55:46] Many of you say that Policy 8040 is a complicated issue and you don't want to rush decisions, but this isn't complicated, and decisions on finalizing the policy have taken far too long. Policy 8040 must be evaluated based on its objective impact rather than subjective sentiments.

[02:56:03] You cannot afford to let personal biases or emotions cloud judgment when determining its effectiveness and consequences. At a previous meeting, a speaker commented that the idea of sharing bathrooms had never been an issue. So what's the big deal? So if it's never been an issue, why are we creating a policy to make it an issue?

[02:56:23] Prioritizing facts over feelings ensures that our policies will be rational and steeped common sense. Let's commit to prioritizing facts over feelings when evaluating policy 8040. And by doing so, you'll uphold the integrity of the decision-making process and ensure that our policies are grounded in reality. Or you can get sued like Fairfax County. Thank you. Chitin Soti

[02:56:50] followed by Hasek Mian. Hasek Mian followed by Tahir Khan.

[02:57:10] Tahir Khan followed by Jan Merker. Jan Merker, followed by Bill Sigler. Not only are the LCSO canine searches entirely performative and completely useless, they also give unwarranted access to our kids to a politician who has a documented history

[02:57:44] of putting politics before the rule of law, an alleged history of retaliatory behavior, and a reported history of protecting a deputy who allegedly engaged in inappropriate behavior with Loudoun minors. Mike Chapman's political agenda doesn't mesh with LCPS's mission. The risks of Mike Chapman abusing the canine search program for political purposes are far too great to allow this to continue. I am asking this board to pull the plug on canine searches immediately

[02:58:19] and find a better solution. Thanks. Thank you. Bill Sigler followed by Oscar Valenzuela. Good evening. Our daughter's counting down the days until she was out of LCPS, largely because her high school sports experience has been downright awful.

[02:58:41] We don't want other students to have such a bad experience in LCPS, so I want to urge you to do three things. One, align LCPS with the rest of the state. Grant waivers for mental health welfare. We've heard from parents in Fauquier County, Fairfax County, Frederick County, who have all gone through that process and gotten waivers for that purpose.

[02:59:04] Two, involve your mental health services staff in the transfer waiver process. It's flabbergasting that this doesn't happen already. Three, talk to the student and parents as part of the transfer waiver process. The bottom line for LCPS, please support your student-athletes.

[02:59:23] Right now, you treat them as adversaries, and you punish them when they speak up. Thank you. Oscar Valenzuela, followed by Michael Rivera. Hi, I'm Oscar Valenzuela, and I'm a Loudoun County resident for over 20 years.

[02:59:52] I went to LCPS schools growing up, middle school and high school, and I have two daughters, a 7-year-old and a 13-year-old. That's two beautiful girls right next to me. And I am saddened to hear of Policy 8040.

[03:00:11] You know, the school system has really changed since I was a kid. And, you know, it's saddened to hear that, you know, my daughter has to worry about going to a bathroom with a male. I'm not a female, so I'm not a woman, so I don't understand the fear. But hearing the challenges that she faces in school is very disheartening.

[03:00:30] I think it's an injustice to her and to many of the children at LCPS. You know, these children are minors. If they can't make decisions like drinking alcohol or, you know, buying a weapon, why do they make a decision on?

[03:00:50] Michael Rivera, followed by Mike Clancy. Ms. Chandler, I know this is tough, but try and pay attention to the people speaking, please.

[03:01:07] Policy 8040 was implemented by a tyrant school board member, Chair Brenda Sheridan. She loathed public criticism and used her position to further her politics and personal agenda. She hijacked the committee meeting reviewing 8040.

[03:01:22] The board and the administration ignored documented negative feedback from the community in board docs. You can find it. And they ignored negative feedback during public comments, also in board docs, until it gets deleted, of course. The administration claimed they reviewed feedback to shape the policy, all lies.

[03:01:39] That same administration is driving the review of 8040. The last school board was extremely successful at dividing the community. The only way forward is to repeal 8040 and start over in a transparent and honest process.

[03:01:55] Only the school board can make that happen because public confidence in this administration and the appointed superintendent is severely eroded. Thank you. Mike Clancy, followed by Venkat Sagi. Good evening. I'm a candidate for Congress and a lawyer.

[03:02:15] I attended Mr. Estrophy's town hall meeting last week, and he said the school board wants to show a good example for the students. A good example would be to follow the law. Governor Yunkin's model policies are the law, and Virginia law mandates the school board shall adopt these policies.

[03:02:32] It's not an option. The law makes it mandatory. So show the students a good example. Rescind policy 8040. It violates the current law. It is an illegal policy. and implement Governor Youngkin's 2023 model policies without any further delay.

[03:02:51] Otherwise, there'll be lawsuits like the one filed in Virginia Beach, the one filed in Fairfax last week, and I will address this to the United States Congress. Thank you. Thank you. Vinket Sagi, followed by Lynn Woods. Lynn Woods, followed by Juan Sugura.

[03:03:17] Hi, I'm referring to the unequitable school start times. I have children that go to Catoctin Elementary, and they have to get up so early and they're upset about it every day. They're so exhausted.

[03:03:33] They don't want to eat. They don't want to get out the door. And it's just a struggle that's unfair that it is put on only one portion of the families. In addition to the big burden of those families then having to either be home that early or pay for additional child care that other families aren't having to do in the district.

[03:03:51] So if it's not an issue that can be resolved, the only fair and equitable thing to do would then be to rotate through them if you can't find a way to make it that all the schools can start later. It's just not a fair burden to only put on some of the families that seem to have just been arbitrarily picked.

[03:04:09] Thank you for your time. Thank you. Juan Segura, followed by Paul Lott. Paul Lott, followed by Brandon Michon.

[03:04:30] Good evening. That the right to be free from any governmental discrimination upon the basis of religious conviction, race, color, sex, or national origin shall not be abridged, except that the mere separation of the sexes shall not be considered discrimination. That is the Virginia Constitution, section 11. Even if you accept that gender is fluid, we all acknowledge that sex is not. Bathrooms and locker rooms are truly divided

[03:05:05] along biological lines by the biological sexes, not separated by genders. Rather than accommodate transgender politics, we should teach our children that where we dispose of bodily waste and how we wash dirt and sweat from our bodies should not be an expression of our identity. Create a policy that preserves the separation of the sexes according to the Virginia Constitution. Reject

[03:05:34] policy 8040. Thank you. Brandon Michon followed by Kerry Michon. How are you doing? I'm not here to talk about any specific policy or position or about the budget passing internally that will definitely have an impact on our taxes next year. This is a whole new board with a brand new superintendent. I'm hopeful that you guys will really look at the policies and procedures that the prior individuals that sat in your seat implemented over the last few years. As all of you know, Loudoun County has been the most controversial school board in the country over

[03:06:14] the last few years, and I'm hopeful that you guys can look back and consider where there are areas where you guys, sitting in these seats, can be helpful to help grow LCPS, obviously help the students flourish, and improve on areas that you guys have opinions for. If you agree with many of these decisions of your predecessors, that is totally fine, but if you don't, I ask that you guys look deep inside yourself and ask yourself, are you willing to speak up to make a difference?

[03:06:45] Thank you. Thank you. Carrie Michonne, followed by Susan Cox, followed by Corey Brunet.

[03:07:11] I am a concerned citizen who has attended many school board meetings. I have made speeches advocating for Parkview after I became aware of its neglect. I have also advocated for transparency, accountability, safety, literacy, merit, and sound spending. I care.

[03:07:27] Outreach is valuable, and I thank Arben for his efforts at hosting a town hall, which I attended on March 6th. When it was my turn to speak, a woman shouted questions interrupting me. She did this to others. Arben said nothing about these outbursts. She proceeded to flip me off while filming me.

[03:07:44] This was unsettling. Later, I find she has written an op-ed in Loud Now full of disparaging remarks about some of the attendants, and she downright lied about me. What is so dangerous about her letter is that she mixes truth with fibs, thus giving the public a false impression of current events and of the people involved.

[03:08:02] Her intimidation tactics do not help the community heal. I bet she is the one responsible for a meme disparaging the elderly using my image from this town hall. Denounce these unprofessional actions. Thank you. Carrie Brunet, followed by Tiffany Balefko.

[03:08:20] Please sit down. Good evening. My name is Corrie Brunet, and I'm an English learner teacher at Broad Run High School. Since I last spoke to you, I have had the opportunity to talk to colleagues and students at schools around the county.

[03:08:40] Every time I ask if they have personally witnessed or even heard of issues with differently gendered students using the restrooms of the opposite sex, without exception, they ask me what I mean. I re-explain, and the simple answer is no. As you know, we have officially had gender-neutral restrooms for at least two years.

[03:09:01] If this is such an issue, why haven't there been large groups of concerned parents speaking about this for the last two years? Where are the thousands of suffering students? Like I said last time, this is a non-issue. Let's focus on real problems, like the 49 open teacher and teacher assistant end of year positions, some of which date back to September.

[03:09:23] LCPS will never outperform its educators. Thank you. Tiffany Polifco, followed by Sean Kane. For nearly three years, the people who come deliver public comment have been dehumanized because the previous school board was more concerned about protecting their own egos than they were about serving the people.

[03:09:52] Public comment is for the people. You are here to serve the people. Whether you agree with them or disagree with them, they deserve the dignity and respect to have their faces filmed when they come up to speak. Tonight you have a pivotal chance to change course, to change the trajectory that the previous school board put into place.

[03:10:13] You can show respect and dignity to the public whether you agree with them or disagree with them, or you can continue down the same path of dehumanizing and disrespecting the people who put you in your seats, whether you agree with them or you disagree with them. But please know this, whatever you choose tonight, whatever your choice is, you will wear that vote on the lapel of your jacket, just like that LCPS button.

[03:10:36] We will not forget how you vote. We will not forget whether you choose respect or dehumanization. Sean Cain, followed by Masalia Viral. Good evening. 28% rate of tardiness, schools that start early versus schools that start late.

[03:11:06] Top 10 most tardy schools in a county all start early. The top 10 best school start times, 8 o'clock start. The worst part about this, I've conducted this research on my own, and when shared with the council, with the board, and the office of the superintendent, nothing's been done about it.

[03:11:29] So there's an impact. There's an impact to tardiness. There's an impact to students. There's an impact to teachers that are traveling. There's an impact to test scores. And I'm sure there's an economic impact, as you've heard earlier. So my ask of you is, do the research. Let's see what the impact is. Let's own equity. Let's own continuous improvement. And let's make a change before we enter next school year. Thank you.

[03:11:55] Thank you. Masalia Viral, followed by Suzanne Satterfield. Good evening, respected ladies and gentlemen.

[03:12:10] I firmly believe in LCPS's commitment to provide equitable, safe, inclusive, and affirming environment to all students. That's what I saw on the website. However, I see a fundamental issue with the policy 8040 that clearly contradicts this pledge and will try to explain what and how.

[03:12:28] Equitable, which means fair and impartial. While the potential wants of a particular group of students are being considered by providing the option to use the facilities of their choice, the wants, pleading of non-LGBTQ students and their parents, several of whom are clearly not comfortable due to safety concerns, religious sentiments, cultural values, etc., are completely being ignored in this policy.

[03:12:55] then how can we say that Policy 8040 is being fair and partial to the students who are not LGBTQ? Safe, which means freedom to pursue activities without fear. How is Policy 8040 fulfilling the commitment towards safety? Thank you.

[03:13:11] Suzanne Satterfield, followed by Andrea Weiskopf. Outside of my speech, I did want to thank you for your town hall because I think they're important.

[03:13:28] Today is Detransition Awareness Day. This day is to celebrate those that share their stories of the physical and mental harms they have endured from what was known as gender-affirming care so others can be saved. Chloe's breasts were cut off at 15. At 16, she regretted it. It's been five years, and the grafts on her nipples ooze daily.

[03:13:49] I know I've given her bandages when she stayed with me. Isabel started testosterone at 14. Side effects have caused vaginal atrophy and chronic pain. At 20 years old, she walks with a cane. Richie had a vaginoplasty 10 years ago.

[03:14:06] He has constant pain, must stick a dilator in his false vagina to keep it from collapsing, feels unclean and unattractive as urine leaks out of his body and is unable to feel sexual pleasure. No one is born in the wrong body. Get out of kids' heads and back to academics.

[03:14:22] Do no harm. Thank you. And please sit down. Andrea Weiskopf. Vitriol and malice have been heard, but there is something that makes me even angrier, and it is you.

[03:14:47] You had the opportunity to use your voice and your power to affirm and protect children who are misunderstood, marginalized, and maligned. You think you finagled away to avoid making a decision.

[03:15:06] But your delaying tactic was, in and of itself, a decision. You decided to remain silent. Our LGBTQ students need you.

[03:15:26] Allies must never be silent, yet you are. Thank you. Black Lives Matter. Thank you, and that will conclude our public comment for today. Thank you all for coming out and providing your public comment.

[03:15:44] Board members, at this time, we will take a five-minute recess, and we'll be back around, let's say, let's go ahead and make it 10 minutes, at 7.56.

[03:26:51] It's time to come back up, 56.

[03:27:03] Okay, the board is back from recess. We will now move on to our action items, starting with 13.01 from the Department of Support Services, current elementary school students affected by the attendance zone changes policy 8160 survey results for certain rising grade four and grade five students.

[03:27:40] I will now entertain a motion regarding the current elementary school students affected by the attendance zone changes.

[03:28:15] Yes. Madam Chair, I move that the Loudoun County School Board approve the exception requests received for certain current grade 3 and grade 4 students to remain at their 2023-2024 zone school for the remaining years of elementary school. There will be no LCPS bus transportation provided. Transportation to and from school for these accepted students will be the responsibility of their parent guardian for the student's final years of elementary school. I have a motion by Vice Chair Streffi. Do I have a second? Second. Yes. We have

[03:28:47] second by Ms. Chernoff. The motion that the Loudoun County School Board approve the exception request received for the certain current grade 3 and grade 4 students to remain at their 2023 and 2024 zone school for their remaining years of elementary school. There will be no LCPS bus transportation provided. Transportation to and from school for these exempted students will be the responsibility of their parent garden for the student's final year of elementary school. Before I ask for discussion mr lewis would you please give us a brief overview of this item with any relevant updates

[03:29:22] sure thank you madam chair so tonight we are asking for the school board to approve the exception request provided to us by parents of students that have been rezoned from the december 12th decision by the previous school board to rezone students at arcola i'm sorry or not Acola, Aldi, Goshen Post, and Thompson, and then Hovater as well.

[03:29:50] And so those classes or those schools have all been affected by this. And by policy 8160, those students that are rising fifth graders or current fourth graders are by policy allowed to request an exception to stay at their school.

[03:30:07] And the previous board also took action to include rising fourth graders in that. So in this item, you'll see that we have surveyed the students the policy also requires us to send out surveys so those surveys went out in the month of February they were returned to us and you see two charts in the in the item and you'll see where the rising or the current grade four rising fifth graders 54 families were surveyed 30 of those families responded and 21 have opted to stay at their their current school and moving to the grade three students which will be the rising fourth graders 73 families were surveyed

[03:30:44] 43 responded, and only six have decided to stay at their regular school. And you see the schools that are identified there. So this was an information at the previous meeting, and we are here in coordination with the Department of School Leadership.

[03:31:01] We're all in agreement that we can support that from the enrollment projections and the expected enrollment at those schools and would support the school board approving those exceptions being requested. Board members, do you have any questions?

[03:31:21] seeing no more discussion or questions we will now vote on the motion that the loudon county school board approve the exception request received for certain current grade three and grade four students to remain at their 2023 and 2024 zoned school for the remaining years of elementary school there will be no lcps bus transportation provided transportation to and from school for these accepted students will be the responsibility for the parent guardian for the students final year of elementary school clerk will you please open the vote board members please

[03:31:54] record your vote clerk please close and display the vote the motion passes ununanimously we will now thank you mr lewis we will now move on to agenda item 13.02 from mrs griffiths camera during public comment i will now entertain a motion regarding camera during public comment thank you madam chair i would like to make a motion to put the cameras back on the public do i have a

[03:32:28] second. I have a motion by Ms. Donohue. I second. I have a second by Ms. Donohue. The motion to have the cameras turned back on the public has been properly moved and seconded. Ms. Griffiths, would you like to speak to your motion? Thank you, Madam Chair. Directing a camera towards a public speaker helps capture and relay their message effectively, enabling remote viewers to access the content. It is crucial for live streams, recordings, or broadcasts to provide a clear and

[03:33:01] engaging representation of the speaker for the audience. Surrounding jurisdictions like Prince William, Alexandria, and others follow this practice, and Fairfax has their cameras situated to capture the entire boardroom. It is also a matter of respect to those that take the time to come and address the board. They are our constituents. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths.

[03:33:27] Is there any other discussion? Yes, Mrs. LaBelle. I know you never see me down this way because I don't say much but I'm I'm here I would like to amend this motion to say that parents and students if a parent brings a student or a student under the age of 18 is speaking or present in the video clip that they have a signed release for that student as every other student that appears in this room or anywhere in the

[03:34:02] county where they go to a photo or a video has a signed release from their parent. So I would like that added to the amendment that students that appear on camera will have a signed release by their parent. Thank you. Are you making that amendment? Okay I need Mr. Dr. Spence you want

[03:34:33] to talk? Okay so I'm going to need you to write that all down so we know what it is exactly before we so we can i'm thinking there's probably more discussion first before we okay all right while you discuss yeah any more discussion about cameras on yes miss chandler thank you madam chair um i wait wait wait sorry is there is is there a second to carrie's uh motion sorry got ahead of myself

[03:35:09] we have a second by miss donahue um okay so now let's do discussion miss chandler thanks again I do agree. Public comment is a very important part of the work of the school board.

[03:35:34] It's important for the members to hear various perspectives, and it's one way of getting each of us out of our own echo chambers. I've definitely heard things in public comment since becoming a member that I've gone on to research and use to evaluate my own perspectives. But when public comment becomes the focus of the meeting, instead of the information or action items on the agenda, it undermines the work of the school board and limits transparency.

[03:36:00] When public comment lasts for hours and decisions are made at midnight, the work of the school board is not accessible to citizens. That said, public comment is only one part of the conversation between elected officials and constituents. Other opportunities to provide feedback include email, phone calls, office hours, school events. Honestly, I get feedback from my neighbors when I'm out in the world walking my dog at the grocery store in conversation. And repeatedly over the course of the last year and speaking to hundreds or even maybe thousands of constituents during the campaign

[03:36:36] and now going about my work as a school board member i have heard from many algonkian constituents who have said this i want our neighborhood schools to be excellent and i want the division out of the news for that reason i will not support any efforts to turn the cameras back on i'm open to changing the format in other ways but turning the cameras back on now only invites and undermines the work of the school board and the transparency of the school board thank you miss chandler so right now

[03:37:12] we are discussing putting the camera back on people on the on the public and also having waivers for uh under under 18 that is what we're speaking to right now a release i sent it to your email if you want to check i wrote it out okay so is there any more discussion on that particular moment before amendment yes ms schernoff i actually have a couple of questions um and some

[03:37:47] comments but i was wondering if we could get some background since last time we didn't really get to discuss i'm wondering if we could understand why what the context was for removing the cameras and how that decision was made i asked because it's my understanding that that may have been an internal decision without a vote but then i was able to find in committee where miss polifco brought it up to have them turned back on but i was unable to find the vote for when it was when they were voted to be turned off so i'm looking for some clarification on how that decision was made and

[03:38:25] who made it and if the board actually ever even voted on that yes we may have to do a little research okay because all of this happened prior to anybody sitting over there like so i don't know west do you have any insight into that not on the off the top of my head i mean i think you know the we know we have a little bit of the history of why the decision was made and you sort of heard

[03:39:01] a little bit of that just now i mean i think it was about concerns about some of the demonstrative behaviors and wanting that not to be the focus of public comment wanting comment to be to the board and not for you know demonstration purposes and that was at least as I understood it talking to board members when I arrived here the general purpose of that but I don't really have the background on when and how that happened okay I did ask ahead but that's okay also I the reason I ask is because it seems interesting to me that there may not have been a vote to take

[03:39:41] them off, but now we're voting to put them back on, but I don't need to delay the vote to hear that information. I'm inclined to support turning the cameras back on. I know some people also want accountability of the board. I don't know if that's something that, you know, could be a split screen where it's us and them, so it's not like we're getting off the hook, but over the past four years, I think decisions were made in general to make the public feel less than. And so when they came to speak to a meeting and then they weren't shown, I think that that furthered that feeling as we have heard. So I feel by turning them back on, we can start to restore some of that trust and build back

[03:40:21] transparency. That being said, I think it's important that as they exercise their First Amendment rights, that they do follow the guidelines laid out and set by the policy of the school board. And if we need to tighten that up to not have certain behaviors, then that's something that I think we could take the responsibility to do so. But I do believe that we do need to restore the dignity. Additionally, another argument, I mean, since I've been on this board, I hear all the time that this is what the other districts do. This is what the other districts do. We need to calibrate our decisions and have contacts from our neighboring districts. And in general, I don't like that argument all the time because I really want to focus on what LCPS does well

[03:40:59] more than what our neighboring districts but I have come to respect that argument actually because I do think it does anchor us and gives us some framework and our neighboring districts for the most part have the cameras on and even here in Loudoun County our own board of supervisors has the cameras on in their meetings on their speakers so I think if we are going to always give context to what other districts are doing we better adhere to that at all times. I want to see some consistency in that argument if we're going to use it. So I am inclined to support this for those reasons. And if we need to do some policy work to

[03:41:35] firm up, you know, what behaviors we may not want to see as an abuse of power, then maybe that's something we should look at. Is there any discussion? Yes, Ms. Donahue. Sorry. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[03:41:52] I have mixed feelings about this proposal because I agree with many of the comments that my colleagues have already made in that I don't want the focus of our meetings to be overwhelmingly on public comment instead of on the work and the work that the board is doing and the information that we're trying to provide to the public.

[03:42:21] But that does have to be balanced with the First Amendment right of everyone in Loudoun to come here and talk to us. That being said, I am reluctant to agree to a proposal that would turn the cameras back on without requiring approval from the speaker.

[03:42:48] I don't like the idea of saying we will turn the cameras back on to record everyone who comes up to speak. Because I think, unfortunately, there has been a history of the last few years of people who are outspoken in this forum of later being harassed as a charged word with a specific legal definition.

[03:43:12] And I don't necessarily mean that specific legal definition, but having consequences following them in their outside lives and with allegations that it is retaliatory conduct for opinions expressed here.

[03:43:30] And I'm not comfortable with agreeing to a mechanism that might cause that to continue to be problematic. Is there any other discussion?

[03:43:53] Yes, Mrs. Grievous. Thank you, Madam Chair. In response to Ms. Donahue, I'm just curious to know, what did we have before when it was public, when they were on the public? Did we have something on the website explaining that they were going to be public, that they were going to be filmed?

[03:44:14] I think the issue is that for minors, right, like, well, there's a lot of issues at hand here. First, we can't control for what they wear, what they, their signs.

[03:44:30] They could have all sorts of things that we could get in trouble with FCC on. And I'm not interested in this being a political grandstanding, which has been happening a lot lately. And I think that takes away from the work of the board.

[03:44:49] So I'm not apt to voting for cameras being put back onto the public because I don't really think it gives any dignity besides public comment is for they're supposed to give comment to the school board.

[03:45:07] I would like to add, I mean, I would like to make, I guess, an amendment to the amendment. So I would like to move for the cameras to be turned off for the public comment.

[03:45:30] And in their place, staff inserts a slide with the LCBS logo on it and the words public comment in progress with audio and closed captioning so that the people may hear and see the public comment. Would I have a second?

[03:45:47] I second. Okay. Thank you, Dr. Rasheed. Is there any discussion? Yes, Dr. LaBelle.

[03:46:02] Thank you, Madam Chair. It is possible that, as Ms. Donoghue had said, we could set up rules if you plan on being and speaking before us, you know, no explicit language, no, we can actually set a set of rules and also have a release, just make the release general so that they are aware that they are going to appear not only on our TV, the filming of our board,

[03:46:36] but that that may be used for outside purposes, social media, TVs, whatever. And that release could be part of they have to sign that and agree that they are not going to be doing anything with obnoxious language or bad messaging or political advertising, whatever we want to decide as a board.

[03:47:00] That could be part of the release. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. LaBelle. Any other discussion? Yes, Dr. Rasheed. Again, I echo what Ms. Chandler and what Chair Mansfield has said.

[03:47:16] The main concern is safety for the people that speak. I'm trying to avoid a Jerry Springer show type of episode. So for that reason, I can't support that the camera be on the speaker. But mainly, it's the safety issue.

[03:47:35] Thank you, Dr. Rashid. Vice Chair Strafi. Chair, I just want to get some clarity around your amendment. and so you're if you can just correct me you're saying we turn the cameras off of the board and the public and that would be your amendment yeah and you put a slide there with our logo and says public comment uh in progress and then you have closed captioning and you have audio at the same time with the closed captioning will it be the the presenter and what the like it'll just be the

[03:48:11] presenter the whole time and their name when you call the name for each speaker to come forward to talk, will that also be placed on closed captioning? No, it will be said by me and it will be on closed captioning by when I've said it or whoever's chair says it and then as they're talking it will be closed captioning. Thank you. Yes, Ms. Donahue. Thank you, Madam Chair. So with your proposed amendment, the live stream on the internet as well as the broadcast on television

[03:48:46] and the recording public commenters would still be heard it's not visible uh and uh would your proposal allow or preclude individuals in the room from you making their own videos as frequently happens now no thank you yes mr just a point of order are we just skipping over doesn't miss

[03:49:22] la belle have to agree to add an amendment since it was seconded to add your so no she does not have to agree to you can make an amendment to the amendment and then it can be seconded okay and then we go backwards from there okay is that correct mr allen yes that's correct and in here it's my understanding that amendment and substitute motions are used synonymously but we're at the highest level there can't be any other substitute arm amendments on top of yours sure okay so no

[03:49:55] more amendments no more men i'm in the amendment thank you is there any more discussion yes thank you madam chair um along with uh what lauren was saying about not maybe more research needs to be done um who voted for it in the past maybe we need to find that out maybe we also need to find out about FCC violations, if we've ever had those before.

[03:50:23] Maybe that's something we should dive into and see if we've ever had that situation. I think I have an answer on the vote question. So there was not a vote taken by the full board to turn the cameras off.

[03:50:41] It appears that that was a conversation between board leadership at that time and the administration. Ms. Polifco in committee, as you pointed out, raised a motion to try to have that reversed, And there was not a second on that in committee, so that didn't go further.

[03:50:58] So there was no vote on that. Thank you, Dr. Spence, for that clarification. Yes, Ms. LaBelle. So if there was never a motion to turn the cameras off, do we need a motion to turn the cameras back on?

[03:51:14] It's an interesting question, Ms. LaBelle. I love being interesting. Thank you. I mean, I would say no, other than it's current practice.

[03:51:31] And I'm not necessarily willing to just go change that without at least board leadership's consent, which is, I think, how it happened in the first place. And I'm not hearing that I'm going to get that from board leadership. And so I think the full board probably needs to provide that direction.

[03:51:51] Yes, Vice Chair Struffy. Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, the issue of cameras on the public commenters, I'm trying to look at it holistically, right? I personally wouldn't have an appetite to pull back or restrict public comment format in a way that would limit people's ability to advocate or appear before the board.

[03:52:18] And I know, as far as I understand, I know that other neighboring areas have different rules and different formats for their public comment that may be more restrictive than what we have here. And I don't want to get too hung up on the camera issue as the entire definition of how we run public comment and what that means for transparency and other factors.

[03:52:41] So, you know, I am, although I wouldn't have an appetite to restrict public comment, and I really do feel that, you know, we need to value it. Not sure I place the same emphasis on the cameras for the reasons that were already brought up by some of the board members.

[03:52:59] Okay, so yes, Dr. Deans. I think what Ms. Griffith just said might be a point of clarity. What are the FCC rules?

[03:53:17] What are the legal implications before we vote? Because so many of the public commenters bring their children, and that is a touchy, tricky subject.

[03:53:35] Well, I think we're going to have to vote since we have the voting on right now. um we've made motions and everything else um so yes miss donahue i'd like to call the question madam chair for the first for the for the motion that we're going to vote on right now your amendment to miss labelle's amendment to mrs griffith's motion or your substitute motion whatever yes

[03:54:09] yes i will restate my motion before we vote on that and then we'll go up is that what you're you're asking yes please okay thank you perfect okay so um so we have the substitute we have the motion by me that is to move i move that the cameras be turned off for public comment and in their place staff inserts a slide with the lcps logo on it and the words public comment in progress with audio and closed captioning so that people may hear and see public comment

[03:54:41] clerk would you please open the vote chair i have a point of clarification i believe there There was a motion to close the debate or question, and there wasn't a vote on that actual motion, which needs a two-thirds vote.

[03:54:58] What are you talking about? Ms. Donahue's motion to call the question. When was that? Oh, requires a vote. Okay. So let's. Just for clarity, if you call the question to end debate, it requires a two-thirds vote of the full board to end the debate.

[03:55:21] So you would need to do that first before you vote on your motion. Or you could simply withdraw that and the chair could decide to end discussion. Either way. You want to keep it? Yes, please, Madam Chair. Okay, here we go. I move to call the question. She moves to call the question, which we need to two-thirds vote.

[03:55:36] Okay, Clerk, will you please open the vote? And Madam Chair, was there a second for that? Is there a second? Yes, Mrs. LaBelle. Yes. Clerk, will you please open the vote on the call and the question? Board members, please record your vote.

[03:56:02] Okay. Board members, will you please record your vote? is it going clerk please close and display your vote and we need a six people so one two three four that passes seven to two with dr deans and mrs griffiths opposed okay so now we move back up to go ahead and vote on yeah i'm saying it again it's okay so i moved that the cameras be turned

[03:56:40] off for public comment and in their place staff inserts a slide with the lcps logo on it and the words public comment and progress with audio and closed captioning so that people may hear and see public comment clerk will you please open the vote board members please record your vote clerk please close and display the vote that motion passes six to three so that that's it that's so

[03:57:15] we will move the cameras will be turned off for public comment and in their place staff will insert a slide with the lcps logo on it and the words public comment and progress with audio and closed captioning so the people may hear and see public comment okay moving on we will i'm just reminding you guys that we're going to have to stop by 9 p.m for our closed session um miss richardson do you think that 30 minutes is enough time yes okay so our first information um item is

[03:57:50] item 5.02 which was continued from our work session earlier this evening the student mental health services update will be provided by the student the department of seaworthy services led by Ms. Tedra Richardson, and I'll now turn it over to Ms. Richardson for an introduction of this item. Good evening, Chair Mansfield, Vice Chair Estreffi, members of the board, Dr. Spence, and my distinguished colleagues. It is truly my pleasure this evening to present to you Mrs.

[03:58:27] Jennifer Evans, the Director of Student Mental Health Services, as she provides an overview of Student Mental Health Services. This evening, Ms. Evans will provide an overview regarding the evolution of the office, which is two years into its inception, information on aspects of the office, share information about division resources, highlight community partnerships, and spotlight the key roles of the dynamic professionals across the disciplines that student mental health

[03:58:59] services encompasses. At this time, I turn it over to Mrs. Evans. Thank you, Tedra. Good evening, Chair Mansfield, Vice Chair Strafi, School Board members, and Dr. Spence. I appreciate the opportunity to share the Student Mental Health Services update with you this evening.

[03:59:16] This ongoing work in the Student Mental Health Services office supports the goals and aligned actions of our strategic plan. It is centered around a holistic support approach to address the academic, behavioral, social, emotional, and mental health needs of all of our students.

[03:59:39] So, these are just the buckets that the Student Mental Health Services Office encompasses. It includes attendance practices and procedures, the unified mental health team, which includes school counseling, student support, which is school social workers, school psychologists, student assistant specialists, and then we also have restorative practices, prevention programming, such as peer and sources of strength. And we also are responsible for the crisis

[04:00:10] response team that occurs. In July of 2021, we were asked to conduct a comprehensive review of the state of our mental health needs for students across our population. That in-depth review led to the resources we experience now as a division in the Office of Student Mental Health Services.

[04:00:33] I will go through the recommendations that were given to us and provide a status update, all of which have been completed. So the first one that I want to talk about is the partnerships. At that time, we had many existing partnerships, and I'll briefly describe each partner, Loudoun County Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Developmental Services. We partner with them for a variety of services, including prevention and intervention, after-school programs, and also Camp Real, which is an opportunity for students who are at risk to be supported over the

[04:01:08] summer. Those are in select schools throughout the county. Youth for Tomorrow provides therapeutic day treatment to students who have Medicaid who are exhibiting behaviors that may put them at risk for removal from the classroom or maybe putting them at risk for removal from the home. The Brian Bartell Foundation is a suicide prevention non-profit organization that has truly helped us with implementing sources of strength. They introduced us to that program years ago and since then we've kind of taken that on and at this point we now have 31 schools but they offer additional workshops for parents and students in the community and often we are referring students

[04:01:48] to those laws domestic violence and sexual assault services we've worked with them in in many ways throughout the years specifically on dating violence and healthy relationships they have been instrumental in working with our peer programs they go into the peer classrooms and do workshops and they've also assisted with trainings. George Mason University, we partner with Dr. Christy Esposito-Smithers, who is a professor who specializes in suicidal youth. She's done excellent trainings for our staff as well as our parents. In the last year, a little over a year, we have added all of those new partnerships, many of which you probably recognize. The Williams

[04:02:27] Center is a treatment center in Leesburg that focuses on adolescents and adults who have substance use or co-occurring disorders. Love Like Adam Foundation is focused on hazing prevention. The Cook Center for Human Connection, we started with parent guidance, which is resources for parents specific to different topics. And then this year, we launched the coaching for all parents. That's unlimited. SCAN of Northern Virginia, we work with them to do trainings as well as make sure that what we're doing is trauma-informed. The One Love Foundation is another partner that helps us with healthy relationships, and in seventh grade and eighth

[04:03:05] grade, we now do lessons focused on healthy relationships in partnership with the One Love Foundation. The newest partnership is Family One Mentoring. They have been in our county for many, many years and have truly only served students through CSA funding. Now we have an opportunity to expand their services and really provide targeted one-on-one support to students who are in need of that one-on-one support within the school, who might need breaks from classrooms, who might need support outside of school.

[04:03:35] Obviously, we need parent permission, but they also do in-home services as well. So that's a new partnership for us. The other recommendation was to improve the visibility and knowledge of our unified mental health teams, and I think we've done an amazing job with this.

[04:03:50] We've updated our website, which will also be updated again, to give an overview of the office. And every office that's within Student Mental Health Services, I think it's important to note that on our main page, you'll see Student Mental Health Services. There's a button that takes you to that website.

[04:04:07] And then I wanted to include some examples of what each school's page looks like. We wanted it to be uniform. Previously, every school had different resources. Every school had different layouts. We wanted consistency for our parents and for our students to be able to go to whatever school their children go to and see the same information.

[04:04:25] So we established also a crisis resource that is now embedded on every single school page too. As you all are aware, we were given the opportunity by the previous school board to hire 33 additional school counselors.

[04:04:43] That was amazing, and we are still in the process of hiring because there is a shortage of school counselors. We have hired all but 10 for the elementary schools, so that is a continued effort with HRTD and going to the ASCA convention and trying to find the people to fill these vacancies, but we wanted to get rid of the itinerant model, which you can't time when emergencies happen at a school building, so we didn't want to have any counselors who were going back and forth between two schools.

[04:05:16] As mentioned in the work session, the MTSS framework is now being implemented at all schools. The snapshot right here on the right shows you the current number of plans for mental health only. So as you can see, we have 346 plans for Tier 2 and 201 plans at the Tier 3 level, which totals up 1,103 plans that are documented.

[04:05:42] So those are our highest-need students who are getting that type of service, and that can include small group, individual counseling, or check-in, check-out. And all of these formal interventions require parent permission. So parents give permission for the intervention, and they're also provided with progress monitoring updates and when the student exits the service.

[04:06:07] All right. This slide really was also a recommendation, but I think I wanted to put it all together because the recommendation was to provide mental health professional development to students, licensed and non-licensed staff. We do a lot. This isn't even encompassing all of it, but our students receive the Sources of Strength program.

[04:06:27] there are about 50 students in each of our schools that have the program which is now 31 schools there are 740 leaders who also turn around and do messaging campaigns to other students in their building the peer program was positive experiences and educational relationships that is students who are trained in helping skills to help other students and there are 309 peer helpers across our high schools we also have a superintendent's advisory council and this is the second year there's been a mental health focus, so we take their feedback, and then we implement new strategies as a result of that. The student advisory councils are in each of our high schools, and then we also

[04:07:07] have the social-emotional learning now in all elementary and all middle schools. Staff, this is just a snapshot of some of the trainings they receive. They are required to take a mental health awareness training at least once. We also have the parent seminar series that is open to the community and our conference, which has been really, really successful. We've had our sixth annual and we reached over 500 community members. This year on March 5th, we had our second annual Unified Mental Health Team Professional Day, which allowed every single mental health team member to come to Dominion High School to receive training for the entire day. We had Dr. Dalton present,

[04:07:45] who's the school refusal anxiety expert, and Dr. Stone. And the feedback we've received has been very, very beneficial. And then in the afternoon, we had staff share their expertise with one another. As I mentioned, we have met all of the recommendations of the Student Mental Health Task Force. And so I ask for permission to rebrand that work. The work is going to continue. We will continue expanding our partnerships and keep doing the work that we're doing. But I'd like to change

[04:08:18] it to the Student Mental Health Servants Alliance. And that will be embedded in our office. As you all know we have unified mental health teams at every level. At the secondary level, the unified mental health teams are more systems level. So they're looking more at data. What are the common trends that we're seeing? What are the areas we need to look at? What is our attendance patterns? What are our discipline patterns? How many screenings are we doing for suicide? How many threat assessments are we doing? And then from there, they build up to the targeted interventions. At the elementary level, it's really student-specific. So we're

[04:08:54] looking at what are the behaviors we're seeing, and then how are we addressing them with that MTSS model. You've seen the triangle. I'm not going to explain the triangle again, but as John Loney and Dr. LaPaula described, we've got the 80, the 15, and the 5. And tier 1 is what all students receive, and then we build up from there. And I want to make sure you have an idea of who is a member of the Unified Mental Health Team. Secondary, you'll see the list there. At the elementary,

[04:09:34] it's a smaller group. That's a problem-solving team. And then at both levels, you have the optional attendance of the administrator, the health clinic specialist who shares data on how many students are coming to the clinic. And then the student assistant specialist at the elementary, that's an idea that we're looking at. So when we have additional staffing, we will be looking at bringing the student assistant specialist to those problem-solving teams.

[04:09:58] We do have students who have violations at the elementary level or have a family member who may be using that needs support. Again, this is not a full list of all their job responsibilities. This just gives you a highlight of what they really focus on.

[04:10:16] A lot of people don't know the difference between any of these folks. The school psychologist provides behavioral and mental health support. The social worker is really that link to the community when there's needs outside. The school counselor is the primary care physician who addresses academic, behavioral, social, emotional, and mental health.

[04:10:35] The nurse provides the medical lens to help with chronic conditions. The student assistance specialist really works with our at-risk students who have complex mental health and substance use concerns. And the administrator is the leader of the team. High level want to give you just some of the prevention programs that are in place.

[04:11:00] the comprehensive school counseling program, the bullying prevention at the elementary and secondary level, and as John Lodi mentioned and Dr. LaPaula mentioned, we have the sources of strength at the secondary level, which really complements the social-emotional learning at the elementary and the middle.

[04:11:19] The One Love Foundation, which I described, the signs of suicide prevention presentation is delivered at those grade levels, sources of strength, which we discussed, positive experiences in educational relationship. I do want to expand a little bit on peer in that what they do is they meet at a class period and it's a non-credit class period.

[04:11:44] So these are students who have the ability, the flexibility in their schedule, and they're taking this on to volunteer to help their school climate, which I think is really, really amazing that that's what they would like to do with their free time they're trained to help other students but they often go not only to do one-on-one mentoring in their school but they often go to the middle school in the elementary school to do campaigns or one-on-one mentoring which is a really really neat experience to observe the kids the younger kids just adore having the older students come and share the positive messaging with them and then as you're all aware our student

[04:12:21] assistance services are responsible for the prevention and intervention. And then we're really excited about the possibility of expanding that role in other ways. These are some of the new targeted interventions.

[04:12:38] As we talked about, we discussed the MTSS modules and the intervention plans that the student mental health services staff will develop, most of which right now are focused on goal attainment scaling. And they're individualized for each student, depending on their needs.

[04:12:55] They may be in a group, but each student will have different sets of goals. What we're looking at now is bringing on K-12 Tier 2 curriculum that will give us all of those components, assessment, curriculum, progress monitoring, and the really beneficial aspect of this Character Strong platform is that it aligns perfectly with our MTSS learning gaps.

[04:13:18] So we're really excited about bringing this on, and with our partnership doing the Tier 2, they will allow us to develop a Tier 3 alongside with them. So that's a great opportunity for our mental health services team. We are in the process of hiring five more student assistance specialists.

[04:13:34] And then Family One Mentoring is something we've just rolled out this week to our schools. So we're having those meetings with the mentors and the Unified Mental Health Team staff. And then the Karen Foundation, who is the best treatment center that I am aware of in this area.

[04:13:50] They are in Pennsylvania. That's the closest treatment center that I would recommend anyone go to. They have provided free training for our student assistance specialists on these three areas. One is specific to nicotine education. So when a student has a first violation, this is what they're working through.

[04:14:07] It's evidence-based. And then there's a second, which is a 60-minute deeper dive for those who have an alcohol or drug violation. So this will be included in the substance use education class. And then we would like to roll out an eight-week nicotine cessation program for students with parent permission.

[04:14:24] if we have those numbers but the staff are ready and willing to do that after school and as you're all aware because there's been a lot of communication about these two new exciting opportunities for parents we have free parent coaching as i mentioned in english and spanish unlimited weekly phone calls with a coach who is getting supervised by a licensed professional they share content that is all created by licensed mental health professionals So this is available, and we have this on every website as well.

[04:14:59] And then last but not least, CareSolus is a navigation partner. We've all heard that finding providers, getting someone that's within your network, finding someone that is accepting new clients is really, really challenging. CareSolus has been essential in helping families find providers.

[04:15:19] We are seeing the tracking, as I've described previously, where we make the referral. Then we can see when they've contacted, they've received contact from Care Solus, then we see when their appointment is scheduled and that prompts our mental health staff to follow up with the parent and say, "We see that she's had this appointment, are you happy with the provider?

[04:15:37] Can we get a release of information so that we can partner with this provider to make sure we're consistent in our approaches with your child?" If parents don't want to do that, they don't have to, they can go to the dashboard themselves and find a provider and put in their own information. So there's a warm handoff, or you can find someone through your own self-navigation.

[04:15:59] Looking ahead, I am still committed to finding more therapeutic day treatment options. I've had conversations with two other organizations, and we're in the process of developing MOUs to figure out how do we meet the needs of all of our students who might need support in school and to support our teachers who are supporting students with challenging behaviors.

[04:16:18] Our goal for student assistance staffing is to get to one per secondary school with the ability to go to the elementary school and as you've heard me talk about our programming we're really excited about the possibility of a recovery academy which would be in collaboration with our community partners and also transition centers for students who are coming back from mental health hospitalizations that is all so i open it up for any questions that you may have thank you so much for your time thank you miss evans okay so i just want to uh really quick before

[04:16:57] we start our questions with you i just want to remind the board that if we want to end by 10 we need to end this at 9 if you want to stay and finish everything we do have two items or i guess actually one item that really needs to be done to it's time sensitive and that's the calendar so um so i would like to see a show of hands or a thumbs up of everybody who would like to stay

[04:17:24] longer than 10 o'clock to get things done okay so we have one two three we have maturity i just don't know it doesn't need to be unanimous does it mr allen no it does not and it's within your discretion as chair to make that call well then i think we can go ahead and stay later um as long

[04:17:58] as we have quorum um okay so uh okay now so board members do you have any questions for mrs evans and okay we'll start let's start on this and let's start with Ms. Chernoff and then Ms. Donahue and then Ms. Griffith. Thank you for the presentation. I just have two quick questions. One is how are most of your partnerships established? Is it sort of through some of the research that you do? Is it like word of mouth? Like is it mixed? And then the second part of that is are they all funded in our operating budget currently or are some of them pilot and grant funds as well? So the first question

[04:18:37] is typically i've been in loudon county for over 22 years so you started with loudon county government so i've been around and have lots of connections which um has led me to the additional partnerships um and word of mouth so i've met with the organizations found out information brought it back to the team and decided which ones we want to move forward with based on our needs and some of these are built into our budget some are not there's no charge okay some are grant and so a mix it's a mix perfect um and then i just had one question about the character strong

[04:19:13] curriculum um we just had a lengthy discussion in curriculum instruction about the instructional minutes and so i'm just wondering and thinking about how we where this would fit um we're already fighting tooth and nail to get everything in at least for sure at the elementary level so just thinking of those parameters would this be something in addition to sel is this replacing it looks similar in structure i just googled it real quick but um if you could speak to that a little bit i i feel very protective of our teachers time and the one more thing might push people so i

[04:19:50] just if you could give some context about how that would be implemented so this is not teacher delivered okay so i should have clarified that okay it is our unified mental health staff god who are delivering whether it's in group or whether it's in individual services so they're already doing these services they're separate from the classroom they're pulling them for groups or one-on-one counseling and they're going to be using the curriculum that's already there okay and then do you guys use the traditional rfp process like we do for literacy i just generally

[04:20:23] don't know you do yes okay great thank you any other questions yes miss griffiths thank you madam chair uh crane's corner um includes three they have three counselors a school social worker and a psychologist uh just from one elementary school we continue to throw more and more money and resources at the mental health crisis what data do we have to support these interventions are working.

[04:20:54] Thank you. That is a great question, and I think the MTSS is one way that we are, but prior to the MTSS intervention plans, which were progress monitored, we were capturing data and making sure that students are making progress. If a student's not making progress in whatever the said service is, they shouldn't be in that service, or if they need a higher level of care, they should be exited.

[04:21:16] So the entrance criteria looks at a lot of the different variables at that systems level, which helps us to identify the students who have the need. And then, of course, we have to get parent permission to do any of these interventions with students with regard to mental health.

[04:21:32] But yes, we're progress monitoring, especially when it comes to small groups, because in my mind, that's just a sacred time to have many kids together. And if you don't have the right composition of a group, it's not going to be effective for any of those students. So individually, each student has their own set of goals that we are looking at and asking our staff to share with us as outcomes and you have the data that you can send to us yes it would be quite some time to find that data because it's now in the mtss so i can share that with you but previous that would be challenging because it's by

[04:22:09] stakeholder group so the social workers had a curriculum the school counselors have curriculum but we can find it miss donahue thank you madam chair i didn't have any questions miss evans i just wanted to say as a parent of an elementary school child in LCPS who struggles with mental health challenges and has benefited from services provided through your office and the people who work under you I am deeply and personally very grateful for the work that you do and everyone

[04:22:46] who works in student mental health. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you Mrs. Donahue. Okay so So thank you, Ms. Evans. Thank you, Ms. Richardson. Always a pleasure. I think that in time, thinking about time, we will skip item 14.

[04:23:09] 01 and move on to 14. 02, Department of Teaching and Learning. Actually, no, we're going to skip all the way to 14. 03 just to make sure because this is time sensitive.

[04:23:26] Human Resources and Talent Development HRTD student school calendar and staff calendar update presented by Ms. Lisa Boland, our chief human resources officer. Ms. Boland. Good evening. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you extending the time, so I'll try to speak fast. Okay, as you may know, I'm going to try my best. As you may know, multi-year student school calendars were presented it to and approved by the previous school board on May 9th, 2023. This included the adoption of a

[04:24:05] 2024-25 and 2025-26 student school calendar. Next slide. LCPS is committed to centering the work around helping every student pursue and reach their full potential and empowering them to make meaningful contributions to the world. The creation and adoption of the student school calendar is a foundational step to fulfilling that mission.

[04:24:35] This evening, I will provide recommended adjustments to the school calendar to address changes needed in two areas. The first is addressing election day for both the 24/25 and 25/26 school year. And the second is a swap that allows for the observance of Rosh Hashanah in lieu of the observance of Yom Kippur for the 24/25 school year.

[04:25:04] Okay, nobody told me I was gonna have to do this. We will start with the upcoming election days. For way of background, in March of 2021, the governor signed Senate Bill 1148, which changed the date of the Virginia June primary election from the second Tuesday in June to the third Tuesday in June, which became effective July 1, 2021.

[04:25:31] As the June 2022 primary elections were canceled, the last day of school for the 22-23 school year was prior to the primary elections, and the last day of school for this school year is also prior to primary elections. Therefore, no calendar adjustments have been needed. With the school board's adoption of the student calendars for the 24-25 school year and the 25-26 school year, respectively, the last day of school set for students would be Tuesday, June 17, 2025,

[04:26:09] and Tuesday, June 16th, 2026, both of which will coincide with a potential primary election provided such an election is scheduled. Annually during the month of March, the Loudoun County Elections Registrar informs LCPS staff whether a June primary election will be conducted or not.

[04:26:30] We have been informed that one will be conducted. These next two slides represent the current student and teacher calendars for the 24-25 and 25-26 school years. The last day for students, which is the election day, and the last day for teachers are highlighted for your reference.

[04:26:51] These slides are just for your reference. As mentioned previously, three calendar adjustment options have been drafted for your review this evening. I would like to take a moment to highlight a few things for each option. Option one would seek to shorten the instructional school year for students by one day from 180 instructional days to 179 instructional days. It would include an adjustment to the last day of school for students for both the 24-25 and 25-26 school year, moving

[04:27:30] the last day from a Tuesday to a Monday. In this option, there would be no change to the teacher calendar or any additional impact to any other staff calendar, but would provide teachers for three scheduled working days as opposed to the traditional two days after students complete the school year. Option two seeks to maintain the instructional school year for students at 180

[04:28:03] instructional days. To do so, this option would adjust the first day of school and the last day of school for students by two days. For the 24-25 school year, the first day would move from Thursday, August 22nd 2024 to Tuesday August 20th 2024 and the last day would move from Tuesday June 17th 2025 to Friday June 13th 2025. For the 2526 school year the first day would move from Thursday

[04:28:39] August 21st 2025 to Tuesday August 19th 2025 and the last day would move from Tuesday June 16th 2026 to Friday, June 12th, 2026. In both years, this option still allows for an equal number of A and B days at the beginning of the year for our secondary schools. Although there would be no change to the start or end dates for the teacher calendar, there would still be an impact.

[04:29:11] Maintaining the same return date for teachers mean that instead of returning six days before students. Due to the earlier student start date, teachers would return only four days prior to students. Additionally, this option will require changes to other published staff calendars, including school nutrition staff, transportation employees, teacher assistants, and behavioral assistants. Option three also offers a 180 instructional day school year for students.

[04:29:49] Like in option two, this option would adjust the first day of school and the last day of school for students by two days. Students would begin school on a Tuesday and end on a Friday, which would still allow for an equal number of A and B days at the beginning of the school year for secondary schools.

[04:30:07] Different from option two, however, is that option three would also adjust the first and last day for teachers by two days. This would allow us to maintain a calendar providing teachers with six full days prior to the return of students.

[04:30:24] So for the 24-25 school year, the first day for teachers would move from Wednesday, August 14th, to Monday, August 12th. And the last day would move from Friday, June 20th, to Tuesday, June 17th.

[04:30:40] For the 25-26 school year, the first day for teachers would move from Wednesday, August 13th to Monday, August 11th. And the last day would move from Thursday, June 18th to Tuesday, June 16th.

[04:30:56] This option would also require a change to other published staff calendars as identified in option two. The next area of discussion involves an adjustment to a currently recognized religious holiday.

[04:31:13] In 2021, the school board worked diligently with various stakeholders, including local religious organizations, such as All Dulles Area Muslim Society or the Adams Center, the Jewish Community Relations Council or JCRC and others, to identify one holiday of significant value to designate as a school holiday.

[04:31:35] Since that time, LCPS has received feedback and additional information related to various holidays. Most recently, several stakeholders have brought to our attention and asked for flexibility with the observance of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This slide represents the current student and teacher calendars for the 24-25 school year, with the currently observed holiday of Yom Kippur highlighted for your reference.

[04:32:05] You'll see it's Friday, October 11th. Recognizing the importance in creating a culturally inclusive school year calendar, it is critical that we develop and maintain meaningful partnerships with community groups such as the Jewish Community Relations Council or JCRC. These partnerships allow LCPS an opportunity to learn more about how the exact dates and time of day some religious holidays are observed are determined and how this might impact our staff and students. This evening I present to you a change to the 24-25 school year

[04:32:43] that will be recognized on all of the previous three revised calendar options reviewed this evening. Because Jewish holidays begin at sunset on the evening preceding the holiday for the 24-25 school year, the designated holiday date for Yom Kippur is actually Saturday, October 12th, and for Rosh Hashanah, it is Thursday, October 3rd. Since Yom Kippur falls on a weekend, the JCRC has requested that instead of celebrating Yom Kippur as a school holiday on Friday,

[04:33:15] October 11th that LCPS instead recognize Rosh Hashanah and designate Thursday, October 3rd as a school holiday in its place. We know it is not possible to observe every special day as a designated student and staff holiday, but it is our goal to collaborate with our community partners for a best case scenario to ensure that we are inclusive, welcoming, and supportive for students and staff. We believe this change accomplishes that for the 24-25 school year.

[04:33:53] I know that was a lot to digest, but it is my hope that we have provided the board with well thought out and researched options and the information necessary to confidently discuss and ultimately decide how to move forward as a division to support our students and staff for future years. So what's next? We acknowledge the significance of actively seeking and incorporating feedback from students, staff, families, and community members. Therefore, HRTD has crafted a timeline to facilitate this essential process. Currently, a survey is scheduled to be sent to

[04:34:27] stakeholders, including families, staff, and community. This survey is tentatively scheduled to go out on Monday, March 18th, and will ask the participant to rake the three options presented this evening in order of importance. As we are getting closer to the end of the school year, it is critical that this survey go out as soon as possible to ensure everyone has the ability to make any adjustments based on the final recommendation from the board. Once closed, HRTD will work with the research office to collect and summarize survey results to provide to the school board

[04:35:01] when this item returns as an action item at an upcoming April board meeting. Additionally, HRTD will be presenting these calendar options at upcoming teacher, student, and principal advisory committee meetings, where future calendar discussions will also begin. As we move forward with the development of future calendars, we will continue to reach out and involve staff, students, and our community. Additionally, HRTD will present information on historical calendar work at the March HRTD committee meeting, where we will share the beginning stages of the creation of a school calendar development committee, where the goal is to have representation across the

[04:35:39] division, as well as key stakeholders involved in the discussion to ensure all voices are heard and considered. Additionally, HRTD will continue discussions and review all feedback received in consideration for the development of future year calendars. We intend to continue participation in principal and teacher advisory committee meetings and work with neighboring school divisions to provide calendars that best support the needs of students, staff, and families. Thank you for your time this evening and i'm happy to answer any questions that ms mansfield will allow thank you

[04:36:17] ms boland um okay board members do you have any questions quickly anyone yes ms donahue thank you madam chair going back to your election day conflict information ms boland um on slide 10 um or comparing slide 10 to slides 11 and 12 in slides 11 and 12 um under those options it's very there is a line that says for teachers 194 work days but there is no such line on slide 10 for

[04:36:54] option one and i was i just was hoping you could speak to so for option one there will be no change to the t the current teacher's calendar as it's represented for 24 25 the only thing changing in option one is student information so what is the the teacher work day under option one for 24 25 teacher work days scheduled work days is 194 okay and uh and sorry one other one um uh what is the

[04:37:28] right we're proposing 180 school days for students or possibly 179 under option one what is the state requirement because i believe it is less than that if i remember correctly so it's not less than that so um and this is some of what we will talk about a committee really trying to understand this board's philosophy so we have historically for years and years and years with the exception of I think one year when Mr. Hoyler reduced the number of days we have

[04:38:01] recognized 180 instructional days for students the code is 180 instructional days or 990 instructional hours. At some time before I came to LCPS decades ago, there was a decision made to extend the school day by 30 minutes. And so we meet the requirement in hours so we could go less

[04:38:35] days. However, there was a decision made to prioritize learning loss and not reduce the number of days or hours. So even so if we pursued option one even if we adjusted the student calendar to 179 student days we would still be meeting the state requirement for the total number of instructional hours for the academic year. Yes ma'am. Thank you. My understanding from code also is 5.5 hours excluding lunch and so and that includes all your bell time everything else in PE

[04:39:11] but um for most of the high schools we have six point and for most of the schools it's 6.8 hours a day except for roby which is 5.5 north star which is 6.2 and um academies of loudon which is six yes mr so just to clarify an option one the teachers would still have a teacher work day on the election day is that correct that's correct okay and they had a teacher work day on actual

[04:39:46] election day this year correct november 7th yes yes well no they had a work day in march or in okay i thought they had to work on november 7th primary on the on the primaries okay on the primary day okay just wanted to see if we've never done it before but we have yes ma'am okay any other questions thank you miss boland um do we need to put this this is just going to happen do we need put this on anything this it will come back as an action item in april with more information when i

[04:40:24] have all the feedback from the public all the feedback from the advisory groups to to provide to the board this is just an information item this evening cool thank you all right um i would like to get you guys uh to tell me if i'm thinking we will uh go ahead and go into closed session and then if we have time maybe we'll continue with 4.04 14.4 but we might not so let's see how

[04:40:59] long the closed session goes all right as of now we are in closed session thank you oh we have to make a motion go ahead vice chair staffee thank you madam chair i move that the loudon county school board recess this public meeting and enter into a closed meeting pursuant to 2.2-3712 of the code of Virginia for the following consultation with legal counsel pertaining to an actual or probable litigation where such consultation or briefing an open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the public body as authorized by section 2.2-3711

[04:41:35] of the code of Virginia and consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding a specific legal matter related to a former public employee as authorized by section 2.2-371188 of the code of Virginia. I have a motion by Vice Chair Estreffi. Do I have a second?

[04:42:00] Yes, Ms. Donahue. Second. I have a second by Ms. Donahue. Clerk, please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote. Clerk, please close and display the vote. The motion passes and we are

[04:42:25] now in closed session.

[05:37:26] Thank you. Board is now out of closed session. Vice Chair Estreffi, do you have a motion? Yes, Madam Chair. I move that the closed meeting be adjourned, that the Loudoun 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 i have a motion by motion by vice chair streffi do i have a second yes miss donahue thank you i have a second by miss donahue is there any discussion no we don't have to do discussion no discussion we'll take an electronic vote clerk

[05:37:56] please open the vote board members please record your vote clerk please close and display the vote that motion passes unanimously and now we have another motion yes madam chair I move that the following resolution certifying the closed meeting be adopted and reflected in the minutes of this public meeting whereas the Loudoun County School Board has recon has convened a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote in accordance with the provisions of the

[05:38:34] Virginia Freedom of Information Act and whereas 2.2-3712d of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by the school board that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law. Now therefore be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board hereby 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

[05:39:06] school board i have a motion by vice chair streffi do i have a second miss labelle i second the motion the motion has been seconded by miss labelle is there any discussion i see no discussion we'll take an electronic vote clerks please open the vote board members please record your vote clerk please close and display the vote the motion passes unanimously so before we move on

[05:39:42] I said that we would go on and we do you guys I would I would like to take all of the rest of the information items and move them to the next meeting and then move on to item 16 board member comments can I take a straw poll to see if that's amenable to everyone yes no can I take a straw

[05:40:22] poll to see if you guys want to continue the information items or move them to the next one so yes move them to the next one thumbs up okay we'll move the items to the next one um all the items information items to the next one and then we'll move on to item 16 board member comments and committee and we'll start with Ms. LaBelle thank you Dr. Rasheed I have no updates thank you Dr. Rasheed Ms. Chernoff thank you Madam Chair last Thursday March 7th the curriculum

[05:41:01] instruction committee met we had several presentations we got an EL update an update on the Welcome Center and the overview of the work that they do and then we talked about the elementary master schedule. Over the past eight weeks since elected I've gotten many emails and spoken with elementary teachers about the master schedule.

[05:41:17] I also lived it as an employee as an elementary school based facilitator that supported teachers and students daily and that is why I asked for it to have it on the agenda as an information item. I did communicate feedback that I heard around not just the logistics of the minutes in the the day, but also how this schedule was rolled out and the perception that exists among some educators that it was communicated with a lack of understanding of the elementary day-to-day life of the school. Staff presented on the feedback, and they have also received and gave short-term and long-term recommendations, and all of the slides can be found on board docs.

[05:41:51] If you are interested in hearing the actual conversation, I would recommend looking up the recording on board docs. It begins around minute 57. The conversation is ongoing, but we have heard your feedback, and I thank you for giving it. I, along with staff, understand that changes possibly need to be made. I will be in touch with updates as we work towards those short-term and long-term solutions. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Chernoff. Ms. Donahue? Thank you, Madam Chair. My committees have not met since our last board meeting, but I did want to comment briefly on the trip that I was able to take part in to the Chesterfield Recovery Academy on Friday,

[05:42:27] March 1st, which was an amazing opportunity to see the program that they've built there to support students who are going through their high school journey while also recovering from substance abuse. And I think it provides a fantastic roadmap for a path forward for us to do something similar here in Loudoun.

[05:42:47] I'm very excited to be able to get to work on that. And next week, yes, next week on Tuesday is GiveChoose, a day for making donations to charitable causes and the Loudon Education Foundation for which I am the board liaison and which had a meeting of its trustees last week is collecting donations through GiveChoose. LEF does some amazing work including continuing education scholarships for

[05:43:21] LCPS staff members. Applications are being accepted for that through March 30th and also So they're accepting applications for innovation and education grants, which are their classroom grants. So applications for that are through April 4th.

[05:43:39] All of the information can be found at the loudeneducationfoundation.org. And next week, legislation, audit, and policy and HRTD are scheduled on the 21st and the Student Services Committee, although that might be changing.

[05:43:54] So we'll keep board docs updated. And possibly the Joint Committee on Collective Bargaining may meet next week. Again, it will be on board docs. Big week. It's a big week.

[05:44:11] Thank you, Ms. Donahue. Vice Chair Straffi. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm watching the time this time. In our last Finance and Operations Committee meeting, the majority of the discussion was around draft policy 6330. We had some really good conversation and comments, and it's still being worked through committee.

[05:44:30] And I'm really, I feel positive about the work that's getting done on that policy. And it looks like it'll come up not in this upcoming Tuesday, but the following Finance and Operations Committee meeting. I also had the first Sterling District Town Hall last week.

[05:44:49] It was an opportunity to really engage the community. What we did is we, and this is just for fellow board members to know, I polled folks in my newsletter about what they wanted to talk about. And it was overwhelmingly, the interest was for mental health and substance use.

[05:45:06] And so we had the opportunity to have Ms. Evans and her team join us and give a presentation that I think had some really critical information for community members. And I also gave a presentation as to what kind of my priorities and what the last two months looked like.

[05:45:22] There was a little bit of humor in it as well. But for me, in the last two months, really, it's just a search for the magic ingredients. So I got to visit Rock Ridge High School and Parkview and just seeing some amazing things, right? Seeing Principal Jefferson, you know, and where his stash of secret candy is and understanding that no one really knocks on his door, right?

[05:45:48] And just the sheer amount of times that, you know, in our meetings we got interrupted. I think it was like 12 times that somebody just walked in and seeing how accessible and caring he was. And the same thing with Principal Duhlman at Rockridge, really asking him, you know, what's the magic ingredient for him in terms of why students and staff feel so empowered in his school and his focus on listening and elevating everyone in the school.

[05:46:13] So looking forward to the next town hall. And that's it from me. Thank you, Vice Chair Streffi. Mrs. Griffiths. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to mention Riverside High School is having a fundraiser in bingo night on Thursday.

[05:46:34] I'll be sending you the information, and hopefully they'll send it out as well to the board members. But it's a fundraiser for the kids to get money to go to London and be in the New Year's Day parade. And it's 68 band members, and they will perform.

[05:46:53] So I just wanted to mention that. but also we did have the HRTD committee. We didn't get to go through that today, but it was over policy 7022. We don't have to go over it, I guess, right now, but I just want to mention it was from committee employee classification, and then we also had 7628 about retirement benefits that I believe we'll go over in the next meeting.

[05:47:21] So that's my update on the committees, And I'm hoping anybody that can go to bingo night at Riverside High School, you know, it's a great little fundraiser for the band. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths. Ms. Chandler? Thank you, Madam Chair. I really don't have a report. I'll just say the greatest joy of the last few weeks, in addition to visiting the recovery school, has been being able to visit in the schools and attend events and really see the hard work that everybody's doing every day at LCPS.

[05:47:49] So thank you. Thank you, Ms. Chandler. Dr. Deans? We had our first equity committee meeting for the term, and out of 33, there were eight absent, three of which had called or sent an email, so that was positive.

[05:48:09] Also, the equity department has invited me to several of their activities out into the schools, and that's exciting. That's exciting. Thank you, Dr. Deans.

[05:48:29] okay so um with that um we'll move on to agenda item 17 new business is there any new business for tonight seeing none uh since there's no more new business thank you staff for staying i appreciate it i'm sorry we didn't get to the information items but we'll do it next time it'll be a long long night i think um the march 12 2024 meeting of the lcps school board is now adjourned. Thank you for your work and drive home safely.

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