Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, Specialized Programs & Centers Committee Meeting, Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Date: Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 1h 2m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/954195103?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 2026-10-21. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:00] but are also pursuing meaningful careers that align with their abilities and interests. The transition center would also foster independence by teaching life skills that are crucial for daily living, for example, managing finances and taking public transportation.

[00:00:20] Creating a dedicated transition center would also bring our eight CAS sites together and provide a safe and inclusive environment where students can build social networks and develop friendships. But most importantly, having a dedicated transition facility would also allow for more consistency in delivering transition services.

[00:00:42] So we really ask now that we take this time, we meet together, and we really form some great ideas with everybody coming together with different ideas of how we can build an efficient training facility for our students with disabilities who we know can do it.

[00:00:59] They need to have the proper training and opportunities. - Thank you. - Okay, thank you to everyone who provided comments. Your input, as always, is extremely important to us.

[00:01:15] And that being said, we need to move on to our next item, which is to approve the minutes from our last meeting. Has everyone had a chance to review the minutes? Are there any corrections or additions?

[00:01:31] If there are no objections or corrections or additions, I entertain a motion to approve the minutes from April 2nd. Is there a second? All those in favor say aye. - Aye. say nay okay and the minutes are approved thank you and moving on let's begin by reviewing the agenda are there any adjustments or additions to the agenda as it is shown if so please raise your hand and state your proposed change and again just like what I mentioned at the beginning there are two time

[00:02:06] sensitive items on the agenda that is 5.03 and 5.04 and that is the annual agreements and the revised school year calendar so we will be discussing that further to kind of expedite those two items moving on so let's move on to our first agenda item and the first item is the Hillsboro Charter Academy renewal application and I'll turn it over to Ms. Lehman if there's any information or anything you'd like to discuss thank you thank you so much to update everyone it's been two months since we've met so during our April meeting the proposed

[00:02:45] a Hillsborough Charter Academy proposed renewal application was presented and discussed with the committee with various staff members weighing in and providing further information you see it here on the agenda tonight for action additionally there are LCPS staff recommendations also included as attachments to the agenda so at this time I'm going to turn it back to dr.

[00:03:06] Rashid so that you all can decide what you'd like to do further okay all right awesome I'd like to open the floor for discussion members of the committee do you have any questions or comments yes mr. strip thank you chair just want to just looking at all the documentation and reviewing it just want to also appreciate all the input and feedback and the outreach from HCA and just adding

[00:03:40] the context and the history and just hearing from from the school community as well you know I haven't been out to the school just yet but appreciate all the input and the conversation about around this so just start there thank you mr.

[00:04:00] Streffy I echo mr. Streffy's sentiments and I agree I think that I'm well I'm a firm believer in the charter schools I believe that all the students always all All LCPS students need an opportunity to become their very best and I always wish to see this to come to fruition at all times.

[00:04:25] But that being said, just to move forward, I would like to, any other questions? That's it? Okay. I would like to make a motion to send the HCA agreement to the full board for review and approval. Is there a second?

[00:04:41] We weren't taking any public comment, I mean after the comment, is there something you wish to say? if that's okay yeah just just from the hca side of it since we had not okay okay if that's okay sorry i wasn't sure if we were like on the agenda to talk or not um so yeah um the hca board hasn't had a chance to review these recommendations from um staff yet uh and my understanding was we were still scheduling a meeting with dr spence and some other folks um to discuss this as well it hasn't put on been put on the calendar yet so it was my understanding we weren't going to move on this today but there were just some recommendations so no one had informed us that this is moving today I knew it was an action item but we have not had a

[00:05:21] chance to review it from our board's perspective we just got these changes on Friday our board met I guess a week two weeks ago yeah last Wednesday sorry it is to my understanding it is also a time-sensitive document yeah and division counsel I had discussed the potential for doing I thought that one thing that could have been on the agenda for tonight was to put in a goodwill extension that we're actually putting was recommended for the next contract but to put into the current one in order for that to extend without any dispute moving forward so that was my understanding of what we might be discussing today I I originally had this for voting to

[00:06:00] moving forward to having it move forward sure but are you saying you need more time to we do yeah because we did not have a chance to review these recommendations by staff we just received them when they were public on Friday so my board hasn't had a chance to review them I mean I emailed them over the weekend but we couldn't take any action on it. I see. I will seek comments from cabinet and my committee members. Sure. Any discussion or any questions anybody may have? Yeah, just defer to staff as well. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. We certainly understand HCA's position and its board's

[00:06:38] position. We'd respectfully indicate that the staff recommendations at least to 3.3 sections 3.3 27.11 and 29.1 were have been discussed previously I believe when this was before this committee as an information item and as we shared discussions kind of offline with HCA as well so those should not come as a surprise to the board the two new items are clarification to 2.0 which is a term

[00:07:16] and as you'll see the proposed language provides you know flexibility and memorializes that in the event that charter school agreement or any of its associate associated agreements lapse there's an agreement that there's kind of a provisional period where the agreements would still run while the parties are negotiating and finalizing which is pretty uncontroversial and you know if it's a will of the committee to have a separate agreement and you know allow additional time for consideration we can certainly look into addressing

[00:07:53] that through a distinct and separate agreement again if that's the will the committee but that that specific staff recommendation shouldn't be too controversial and I would think that both parties are in agreement with that given kind of the posture if there's a potential or pending lapse in any of the agreements.

[00:08:15] The last one is on Section 27.11, staff added following language, which acknowledges applicable requirements under Title IX regulations and addressing and investigating various federal claims to which lcps must adhere so um that that was previewed uh with hca's board chair but you know it's certainly within uh the will of the committee whether it would like to um either table this or continue it to the next committee meeting um to allow them time and just a question

[00:08:53] will that be um will that because we have two school board meetings that remain if we were to table this my question is would we make it to June 11th or we have to extend this to the very last school board meeting of the academic year it's the last one because it's too thank you madam chair that the next scheduled meeting for this committee I believe is after the July recess so that would be August 6 20 24 so short of having a special meeting to consider that in

[00:09:29] advance of the June 11th or June 25th board meeting then there would need to be you know some memorialization that there's an agreement of the minds to extend just for the current time if there's pending negotiations going on that the current agreements in place would extend through that and would it be okay to have a I know the only next time we have a meeting would be in August but for SPCC, Mr. Streffi?

[00:10:03] - Thank you, Madam Chair. So from, just wanted to ask, so once this is presented to the full board and presented as an information item, would we have an opportunity to also be able to post additional comments from HCA team to the full board for consideration?

[00:10:28] And then that could also impact the, potentially the final motion that would come at the action item phase, is that? - Thank you, Mr. Streffy, yes, that's correct. There would be additional time for the board to weigh in if that's again what the committee so chooses.

[00:10:46] - That was also kind of my assumption looking at the staff recommendations is that I didn't see really too many, I didn't see really any surprises. And I know the big ticket item being the facilities improvements and just kind of My take on that is really I kind of lean towards what staff is recommending is not memorializing it into the agreement and not superseding kind of the cap and the capital budget process sure but That doesn't really speak to if and how we should prioritize. Yeah

[00:11:24] Yeah, and if I may mr. Shreffy. Yeah, so I think just the two points one as Mr. Allen presented I think to us I think a good a good idea moving forward would be to memorialize this somehow to continue our good faith negotiations we can probably just take the same language you proposed to put into the new one and memorialize it whatever you think is frankly best whether it's an amendment to the current or just a separate motion or whatever that might be to allow that full conversation and yet and just again to give the background where we are coming from Dr. Spence wrote to us following the last meeting following mr. Lewis's comments clarifying the position of the district at which point I think dr. she I think you were on the

[00:12:01] emails as well you know we asked for a meeting he agreed and at this point I think we're just trying to figure out a time to meet so again this is where again and I certainly appreciate what mr. Allen's saying this is not a big surprise anything that we're seeing we know what staff's position has been on this but there's some other remaining questions for example even on the the three the first change the 3.1 I'm not looking at it right now but it only mentions the cap and not the sip and things like that so I still think there are a lot of other outstanding issues additionally though I can certainly see perspective from the district when it comes to how to memorialize this there are other ways that we can deal with this again as a separate agreement not

[00:12:39] part of this agreement so again I think there's a lot of options we haven't explored yet and frankly just because I'm you know hearing from the superintendent knowing that this is gonna be conversation with mr. Lewis and some other folks on staff to figure out you know where we maybe can come to you and say we're all on the same page that was my understanding of where we would be sitting today and if anything there could be this possible extension of the current agreement just so we could get out there and have that conversation and frankly just time limits because since we didn't have the meeting last month we thought this would have been hashed out and we would have enough time but obviously we did not so bad timing I think is how this all worked out but that's kind of where we are coming from what we'd like to see moving forward I

[00:13:18] would just like to ask a question to counsel if we were to I guess table this until there is discussion further discussion about it what would be the limits in terms of a date for it because I know the next time we meet is August so what would happen in that case thank you madam chair so if I understand correctly if it's the will of the committee to continue this as an action item to allow for further consideration or discussions to be had and the

[00:13:55] thought was to not have another SPCC meeting until August is that correct yes okay then conceivably this item would not be moved to the board at large for a vote until August at the earliest and so the charter agreement would not be renewed and are executed until then so what would be needed is some memorialization in an agreement signed by the board chair and the HCA board

[00:14:31] chair as well just memorializing that while the parties are in good faith negotiation the current agreements and associated agreements would remain in place for the current time being I know you probably covered this a little bit but this council have any apprehension to doing that I defer to staff to see if

[00:15:00] there's any appreciable concerns that they have with this approach no I don't have any concerns with this approach except that we don't have our board chair's approval and she's not here so I don't know how she would respond I assume she'd be fine but I don't want to speak for her and I'll just reiterate what mr. Allen said about I don't believe that there are any surprises in this document and I also don't think that sending it to the full board halts

[00:15:38] any future conversations I also feel the same I think I'm okay with either option frankly but I think that we are we are not short cutting any conversations to be had and totally open to any of the considerations that come out of those conversations to the full board and willing to give from my perspective at least to make sure that we have the space for those to be considered at the full board so I don't think that it truncates the conversation very much from my perspective can I ask just from a process perspective then if they were

[00:16:17] bring it to the full board and then make an amendment if it came as an information item that would still end up pushing it to August anyway wouldn't it so there are two board meetings left in this current fiscal year it would be June 11th and June 25th so if we at the committee chose to put this as an information item on the June 11th before the board then the board at large would have an opportunity to vote on this by June 25th allowing them to potentially execute a finalized agreement before the June 30th lapse if I may the last day proposed by Dr. Spence was June 26th for us to discuss so that would put us past the date so

[00:16:55] I mean if we can make it happen earlier fantastic but that to your point as of right now at least the discussion would not happen prior to the next meeting which is why I asked thank you. I will say as a practical consideration if the committee does choose to put this before the board as an information item on June 11th it would ensure that you know all any other agreement if the board decides that there should be further discussion and that's its decision it would then have an opportunity to at least know that there's a another agreement memorializing kind of the lapse or potential lapse in place so it doesn't fall off the radar so to speak and so we can make sure everything that

[00:17:34] needs to get signed get signed by June 30th thank you any other questions or comments all right thank you very much all right yes yeah my last one was yeah sorry I think in the same way and per what dr. Ellis mentioned I think there would have to be some sort of process to bring it to the board to approve for the chair to sign anyway right so I think if there was something done today as a moralizing you could accomplish the same thing by moving that forward in the 11th and either memorializing it then or memorializing it on the 25th and accomplish the same thing without sort of moving it too far if we don't have a a chance to have that discussion prior to the 25th.

[00:18:13] - So you're saying if it doesn't go to June 11th, it goes beyond June 11th, would something memorialize it to go to the next school board meeting? - No, I'm saying that as Mr. Allen just pointed out, moving something forward in this meeting would make sense to go forward as an information item on the 11th. That item could just simply be an amendment to the current agreement, or again, whichever, I defer to Mr. Allen on what is the best way to do it.

[00:18:35] Either a separate agreement or an amendment to the current agreement could also be proposed on the 11th and then approved on the 25th. I would defer to the council about that to answer. - I'm in agreement. The practical consideration I raised is to simply coming, since we're addressing, you all are addressing this as an action item today, something going to the board on June 11th.

[00:18:57] And it seems like this action item could kind of, part and parcel, go to the board for a full discussion and to kind of echo this discussion we're having to determine best next steps. - Okay, thank you. Thank you very much. - Okay, all right, we will move forward.

[00:19:15] So any other questions, comments, we're good, okay. All right, so I would like to make a motion to send the HCA agreement to the full board for review and approval, is there a second? Thank you. I would like to, I would like to make a motion to amend the draft HCA agreement with the amendments listed in the listed document in board docs, is there a second?

[00:19:39] - Second. - Okay, thank you, Mr. Streffi. Okay, so any questions? just to confirm this this will go with the staff reckon with all the SAC recommendations to the full board and the effort will be made to have you know to bring all the discussions to bear to the full board and have the space to be able to discuss those and determine the action necessary which either be

[00:20:11] approving the the agreement or memorializing some other agreement in its place yes that is my impression yes all right so we will go back to the base motion as amended yeah we know we didn't vote on the amendment yet okay so all those in favor for the for the amendment say aye aye aye and any opposed say nay and that passes with a two to zero with Miss LaBelle being absent for the vote

[00:20:48] okay so yes so any final thoughts or comments on this agenda item before we move forward okay great all right so oh do I have to vote on the base motion okay vote on the basement for good measure okay we'll go back to the base motion as amended all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed say nay I don't know if I did the amendment thank you madam chair just to clarify you you can vote on the base motion as amended.

[00:21:26] - Okay. - And if that, maybe I miss her. If you've already done that, that's clear for the record. Thank you. - Thank you. Okay, so if there's no further comments, we'll move on to the next agenda item, which is the CTE update for Academies of Loudoun. And I'll turn it over to Dr. Principal Priddy, the principal of Academies of Loudoun to present.

[00:21:48] - Thank you. Thank you for having me here today. The Academies of Loudoun opened in the fall of 2018 with a mission to empower students to explore, research, collaborate, innovate, and to make meaningful contributions to the world in science, technology, engineering, and math.

[00:22:16] With the three curricular programs that we offer, AET, AOS, and MATA, classes can be categorized into three types of content areas, math, science, and CTE. Last year, LCPS participated in a federal programming review for career and technical education.

[00:22:39] This is a routine review that happens periodically throughout the state, usually on about a four to six year cycle. All schools in LCPS were part of the CTE review. And with a multitude of CTE courses, ACL of course was also part of that review.

[00:23:00] In the following slides I will speak about some of the information that we received from that federal programming review. Next slide. So not only as a high school do we go through a full accreditation process every five years by Cognia, we also undergo program certification and accreditation by pathway for specific areas of study.

[00:23:31] Last year was a big year for us. We had three of those ongoing accreditation reviews. One was for the American Culinary Federation, one was for the American Society of Health System Pharmacists, and one was for HVAC Excellence.

[00:23:50] So again, it was their normal time to be due for review. However, we had not conducted the process fully when they visited in February. So an area of concern was found that there were three pathways that were not accredited were due by the end of last school year the american culinary federation education foundation accreditation site visit for the culinary arts pathway was conducted on march 7th and 8th of

[00:24:24] this year acl is currently in candidate status awaiting the final report we expect to receive that in july of 2024 the american society of health system pharmacists accreditation for the pharmacy technician pathway was granted fully on february 16th 2024 and the process is now complete the hvac excellence accreditation for the heating ventilation air conditioning and refrigeration pathway was granted on october 25th 2023 and the process is now complete as of april

[00:25:02] 11th in 2024, a welcome announcement from VDOE was received that will now allow school divisions to have a choice of meeting either state or national programmatic accreditation standards for these pathways that require the secondary accreditation. So that gives us more flexibility moving forward. However, these three pathways that were up will now be good for three to five years.

[00:25:30] In the MATA program that we offer at ACL, there are 26 pathways. One year in a MATA pathway equals 520 hours of instruction and results in three high school credits, most often with 1.5 credits awarded each semester.

[00:25:59] A finding in the Federal Programming Review indicated that we needed to reorganize how credits are awarded. We have worked with VDOE to review what is currently in place for every MATA pathway and we have developed a plan that adjusts course alignment to comply with VDOE course sequences and how credits are awarded.

[00:26:25] The new plan will maintain the three credits awarded per year and the same amount of instructional time, which is 520 hours per course. During the review with VDOE, we identified the following adjustments that will need to be implemented in school year 25-26, so not this coming school year, but the year after.

[00:26:50] Computer and digital animation will become a one-year pathway instead of a two-year pathway, and Computer Integrated Engineering and Design will be retired after finishing out the last group of enrolled completers. Everything else will maintain three credits. We're just adjusting the credits from 1.5 each semester to perhaps one in the fall and two in the spring.

[00:27:18] And VDOE has approved all of the other recommendations. Since I've been with LCPS in 2016, we've had a lot of collaborative opportunities, most notably with the science office and the math office and the CTE office.

[00:27:38] But specifically on this project, some of the things that made us successful was just the open communication with teaching and learning, the scheduled check-ins as needed to brainstorm, collaborate, and ensure common understandings. We scheduled regular check-ins with the Virginia Department of Education.

[00:27:58] We received guidance and feedback from them on our proposals. We frequently seek peer feedback from one another to ensure valuable insights, suggestions, and perspectives are gathered, and we've collaborated to investigate multiple pathway opportunities to ensure the maximum number of credits earned mirror the physical seat time.

[00:28:18] That was the VDOE feedback, and again, they have now signed off and approved all of the recommendations for the restructuring of the MATA courses. What questions do you have? At this time, I'd like to thank you, Dr. Pretty, for this great presentation and for giving us this information.

[00:28:43] I'd like to open the floor for discussion. So, members, do you have any questions or comments? Yes, Mr. Stroup. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Dr. Pretty, for all this information and for this update. Just curious as to the retiring of the one, I think it was Integrated Engineering.

[00:28:58] I don't call the name, but the circumstances around retiring that program. So, it's Computer Integrated Engineering and Design, or CIED, and the way it has been structured does not meet the requirements for a course sequence, and so there was no viable option that we found with multiple meetings with VDOE, so we don't have a choice.

[00:29:14] We have to retire that pathway. Okay, and I'm still a little confused on that, the course sequence.

[00:29:30] Yeah, so every MATA pathway, we'll take an example, like a one-year pathway is sometimes a semester course and then a semester course. And that's what they mean by a course sequence. So you have to pass the prerequisite before you can go on to the following course, essentially.

[00:29:52] And so VDOE calls that a completer sequence or a course sequence. And there's a flaw in the way CIED is currently structured that we can't fix. Got it. makes sense thank you um if i don't have any questions or comments if there's no other comments or questions we'll move on to the next agenda item then okay all right awesome thank you which is uh the special the special program's annual update and i will turn it over to mr neil

[00:30:24] slevin or uh sharing any information you'd like thank you thank you dr rasheed i'm joined this afternoon by members of the department of teaching and learning this will include our regular update on special programs but also by policy we are required to provide an overview of a status

[00:30:58] report of each of our special programs annually so this is in service of meeting that requirement of policy to give you a little bit of a glimpse inside what is currently happening within our special programs and there'll be some opportunity to have some discussion around programs in the pipeline or just general questions about where we're at with programs so with that i believe I'm kicking it off with Miss Katie Clark our special program supervisor. Thank you. Good afternoon.

[00:31:24] Thanks for giving us some time to give you an update on our special programs and academies. Our special programs and academies are directly aligned with our strategic plans specifically aligned action 1.1 core academic excellence and 1.2 multiple accessible pathways to success.

[00:31:43] Here's our agenda today and I do have some program owners with us today to discuss each of these programs this is our special programs status chart this chart helps keep us on track of programs that are being considered all the way through programs that have been fully implemented in lcps we do have some updates this evening for this chart that we would like to point out on the next slide in this updated status chart you will notice that the propel level up and beam

[00:32:22] programs are no longer included on our special programs chart. They are programs that LCPS offer and they will still have a program evaluation and will report out as part of 1.2 in the strategic plan, but they do not change the student standard approved program of studies. In other words, although these are all student programs, they are aimed at supporting students within the existing academic pathways and course of study. In contrast, the programs identified on this chart are all programs that deviate from such traditional academic pathways

[00:32:59] and course of study. You will also see on this updated chart that we have accurately displayed AET, AOS, and MATA under the Academies of Loudoun. Next we just want to talk about some future, do you want to add something? Did you want to mention the access cap? That's the next slide, yes gotcha. All right just some future programs that are in in the works. The accelerated college and

[00:33:36] Employability Skills Access Academy that Dr. Ellis has already given this committee some information about with George Mason is a lab school specifically designed to support the transition of at-risk learners into college and high demand careers. The program will place a significant focus on information technology preparing students for careers in the essential and growing field. This initiative is a collaborative effort between George mason university northern virginia community college and lcps the partnership aims to leverage

[00:34:11] the strengths and resources of these institutions to provide comprehensive support and education to students and then the second program we want to just bring to your attention this afternoon is the international studies academy the world language and cultures and social science and global studies supervisors are currently jointly working on a proposal for a high school international studies academy this collaborative effort aims to create a specialized educational pathway for students interested in global studies and international relations the two primary

[00:34:47] pathways under consideration for the international studies academy are global leadership and global business these pathways will prepare students for leadership roles in a globalized world and careers in international business respectively we will continue to keep this committee updated on next steps with these two future potential programs. Just pleased to share the achievements of our special programs office this year. We have made significant strides in engaging and informing our community about the opportunities available through our special programs and here are some of our

[00:35:26] key successes. We successfully organized and hosted our inaugural special programs fair last fall. This event provided a platform for students, parents and educators to explore the diverse range of programs we offer and to engage directly with program representatives. We do plan on expanding this fair to two locations next fall and we are planning to structure it a little bit differently with a potential guest speaker and breakout rooms for all of our special programs. We did conduct eighth grade assemblies at all 17 middle schools in

[00:36:02] our district. These assemblies were designed to inform students about the special programs available to them as they transition into high school helping them make informed decisions about their educational paths we are currently working with the communications office to produce an advisory video tailored for middle school students outlining the benefits and opportunities within our special programs additionally we are creating an information flyer specifically for elementary students introducing them and their families to concept of special programs. We held numerous program information nights

[00:36:40] throughout the year. These events offer detailed presentations and question and answer sessions, ensuring that families received the information they needed. In addition to those individual program sessions that were held for each of the programs, the special programs team also presented at SEAC, MSAC, the gifted advisory, LEAF, and did a face presentation as well. And lastly, starting on May 1st we are excited to have the admissions and outreach team from academies joining special programs office and the department of teaching and learning policy and regulation 5115

[00:37:17] allows for the establishment of special programs or academies that provide opportunities for students to focus on their interests talents and strengths while meeting the goals of the lcps strategic framework again today we are here to give you an update on our dual language immersion our health and medical science international baccalaureate and our navy junior rotc program and so i'm going to turn it over to our program owner miss kelly james to give an update on our dual language immersion good afternoon so as a brief overview we're finishing our first year of the dual language immersion program which is hosted

[00:37:57] at two elementary schools potomac elementary and sanders corner this program is a 50 50 two-way immersion model students are selected in kindergarten through a random lottery process transportation is not provided for students who are living outside of the DLI attendance zone so this is our DLI timeline for expansion in FY25 we're expanding into first grade each year after that we're going to continue to budget to add teachers for this program all the way through FY29 when the DLI

[00:38:34] program will be fully implemented this next chart is our current kindergartners in the program who are continuing into first grade you'll see that the two bars that are the highest enrollment are because the host schools as they make up half of our program with the other half coming from out of zone elementary schools we've had a really great first year with some of our DLI events including cafe compadres parent institutes Hispanic heritage parade and presentation, a Veterans Day DLI presentation, our December school board

[00:39:09] spotlight, a DLI Mother's Day performance, just to name a few. Another one of the successes of our program is improved education about the DLI program by having families watch a video about our dual language immersion program during the online registration process when they aren't registered for kindergarten. Next week we're beginning our end of year DLI celebrations at each schools where students will receive a certificate and a medal to commemorate their first steps towards bilingualism and biliteracy. We've also been meeting

[00:39:44] with each school to reflect on the year and begin planning next year. Thank you. Good afternoon. I am excited to share an update on the Health Medical Sciences Academy, affectionately known as HAMSAC. And I am Renee Dawson, Director of Community Connections and Programs. So I want to remind everyone of a little bit an overview of ham sci we will have ham sci at two host sites briarwoods high school and tuscarora high school rising ninth grade students public private and home school are eligible to show

[00:40:24] interest into this program all students are selected through a random lottery selection process this is a four-year commitment for our students who are from out of zone and they become full-time and fully matriculate into those two schools as we've shared before we are excited to launch this health and medical sciences academy in 24 25 we are currently in the process of enrolling our ninth grade students for the 24 25 school year and we will have full implementation in 27 28.

[00:41:03] we have one update that we'd like to share that we're very excited about the intent to submit a proposal for the cte governor's health sciences academy and we have submitted that the purpose of this form is for us to express a school division's interest in establishing a Governor's Health Sciences Academy in Loudoun County and I'm going to turn it over to Miss Clark. Thank You Mrs. Dawson and now we'll give a quick update on our International Baccalaureate. As all of you are aware we have two authorized IB

[00:41:41] World Schools that was a huge accomplishment this year making it through the authorization process so Heritage High School and Loudoun Valley are official IB schools just like CAMSI all rising ninth grade students are able to show interest in this program a little bit different but out of zone students are selected through a random lottery selection process and just want to note that all of our zoned students have access to this program so any student attending Loudoun Valley or Heritage automatically have access to this program just by their zoned attendance this is a four-year

[00:42:18] commitment and students who are from out of zone become full-time students at both either Heritage or Valley. I do want to just point out that our IB fees have increased slightly not much only a little bit but our annual fees and the test fees have gone up just a few dollars. Here is our International Baccalaureate timeline so as you can see we're gonna have our first year of IB courses next year so our content supervisors have been working really hard with our IB trained staff to get those courses ready for our students and then in the 25 26 school year that would be our first class of IB diploma

[00:42:57] candidates so this is a similar chart to what you saw for dual language immersion this school year we enrolled our first group of out-of-zone students to both heritage and Loudoun Valley in 9th and 10th grade this chart shows current students who are attending one of our IB schools from out of zone as a reminder all students zoned to heritage and valley do have access so there are more students accessing this program than what is shown on the screen but I just also want to point out that all interested

[00:43:33] students last year were offered placement in their respective iv schools and there was no wait list by the end of that program so all students had access we are currently enrolling our rising ninth graders just like the health and medical science program at both heritage and valley Emissions data for that for the 24-25 school year will be reviewed and finalized for this program at the September SPC meeting We are excited to have our first class of juniors taking IB courses at both heritage and Valley during the 24-25 school year

[00:44:06] I just want to briefly talk about potential IB expansion if we were to expand IB in Loudoun there are three programs that i just want to briefly talk about the ib diploma program is what we have at heritage and valley it is a rigorous two-year international education program designed to prepare students for university and higher education it offers a challenging curriculum that is globally recognized and highly respected by universities worldwide if we were to consider expansion we could consider

[00:44:43] two additional high school locations in either the east or the south this expansion would aim to increase access to this prestigious program for more students providing them with enhanced educational opportunities the second one listed there is called the CP the career related program it is an innovative education option tailored for students who want to focus on career related learning in the last two years of high school it allows students to create an individualized educational path that leads to further study or employment after graduation the CP

[00:45:18] provides practical and academic skills that are directly applicable to career fields, making students ready for the workforce or higher education. This program could be expanded at the two current DPIB schools, Loudoun Valley and Heritage. It is something we could add on very very easily and cost-effectively, and that would offer more students access to career-focused education opportunities. And then the last one I just want to point out is called the NYP, the middle years program the middle years program is designed for students aged 11 through 16 covering grades 6 through 10 the NYP provides a

[00:45:58] comprehensive framework that encourages students to make practical connections between their studies and the real world students who complete the NYP are well prepared to undertake the IB diploma program or the career related program the NYP builds a strong foundation of skills and knowledge that supports students academic and personal development given the integration of the MYP with the DP. Now I'll turn it back over to Mrs. Dawson to talk about NJROTC. So just as an overview for NJROTC, it is housed at one high school in

[00:46:36] LCPS and that is Loudoun County High School. Rising ninth grade students, public private and homeschool students, can show interest in this program. The process is out-of-zone students are selected through an admissions committee and an interview process. All zoned Loudoun County High School students do have access to this program. This is a four-year commitment and students who are from out of zone become full-time students of Loudoun County High School.

[00:47:04] I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Slevin to give you some information about HB 98. Thank you, Ms. Dawson. One item that came out of the General Assembly this past session was House Bill 98, which focused on the satisfaction of of the physical education requirement for our high school students, for those students participating in junior ROTC programs.

[00:47:33] We are bringing this to your attention because it does permit each local board to accept participation in JROTC as fulfilling physical education requirements applicable to students in grades nine and 12. So that would impact our ninth and 10th graders in the JROTC program.

[00:47:49] Part of the complicated part of this legislation is that there's much more to the curriculum within our ninth and 10th grade health and PE courses than just the physical education requirements. And so we do not plan on taking this exception this first year.

[00:48:06] It came in late in the spring. We are anticipating it may have some implications at the school level. So staff plans to work with the administration Atlanta County High School and the JROTC program throughout the summer and the fall to make potential recommendations going into the 25, 26 school year.

[00:48:22] So my purpose for sharing this slide just to acknowledge that the House bill exists in case we do get questions from parents or constituents we plan on studying the impact of the bill and making a recommendation for the following school year that is going to conclude our update I know that we are facing a time crunch but I do want to take a minute and thanks staff so much time and effort goes into these programs to make them impactful for students and each of these staff members represented today deserve a big thank you so we're happy to entertain any questions or comments. Thank you for that very detailed presentation. I appreciate it. And thank you

[00:49:01] for taking the time out to explain each slide to us. I'd like to open the floor for discussion. Members, do you have any questions or comments? Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. I know we don't have much time, but there's so much to talk through with this. I was just curious before I make a few comments I was going to ask what is the next I guess special programs or at what what's the next time we're going to talk about this at the full board level I know that sometimes it's divided between IB program or something else but is there another so we are we are tentatively

[00:49:39] scheduled in the school board forecast for the first meeting in August okay to do an update on student pathways and special programs I believe that'll be a topic at your board meeting next week or your retreat working with Dr. Smith okay but we're tentatively scheduled for the first meeting in August but it is an item that we know we want to get in front of the full board okay so just a few quick comments just to add to the discussion one is obviously very excited about the Access Academy I was super excited hearing about it in the beginning and I think that just

[00:50:14] I think the variety of opportunities that we are experimenting with and piloting across the division is something that I am continuously excited about but with that I think as more and more programs go into that right side of the the column of implemented the questions become what happens with all of those and how do we expand them further and then as a board just think I've been thinking about do we double down on some of the already implemented ones and expand them or do we continue experimenting with other pilots that maybe serve different

[00:50:52] diverse buckets of our student populations which again I'm excited about doing and experimenting with so that's some of the things that I am kind of tackling in my mind and then the just as we expand even further I'm curious about how much more complicated communication gets with across the division and informing families and students around all of these different opportunities and which one is really perfect for them because it's the number of options increases sometimes the more options you give folks the more confused they you know

[00:51:28] decision fatigue right so what what happens and how are we planning around that and and then IB program so all out of zone students were given access in this cycle was that okay last year last year in last year's admission everyone that expressed interest did receive an offer to attend thank you that was it thank you I have a couple questions but I'll keep it kind of like I'll only ask a few of them when as we expand the programs will be will

[00:52:04] there be an opportunity for students to transfer for example from one IB program to another as they get closer and closer to logistically speaking to people's residences or people's homes so that's something I wanted to know and the other one was the fees you said they did increase but will they will they consistently increase with every new cohort or with every every new year and what would attribute what would make that fee increase so I'll ask miss Clark to answer but I just want to clarify we're not talking about student fees we're talking about fees to have the name IB that we pay IB so we're not

[00:52:43] charging students any fees so if you could talk about the transfer and what's causing the increase of the fees sure to my understanding this is an increase that hasn't occurred in a long time I'll give you an example for the 2324 school year the annual DP fee was 12,233 and it's increasing to 12,600 so we're talking minimal but they did do a small increase same thing for the exam fees it's going from 119 to 123 so again just a really small increase I don't believe that it doesn't happen yearly that is my understanding it's they they

[00:53:19] look at it over time and as we expand on the IB programs and other areas can students will they have the opportunity to transfer if it's closer in location to where they live I'm assuming yes but I just wanted to ask I can answer yeah so we would probably start the IB program like we did at Valley and Heritage with rising ninth graders so that new cohort would be able to begin at that new school but anyone that's already in the program we wouldn't be set up yet to start offering those junior and senior classes until they have graduated so

[00:53:55] those students that are in the current cohort would stay at their zoned IB school and then we would start that new IB program with those rising freshman students and then for the MYP program that's available are they available in specific schools or is this just kind of everywhere throughout the county similar correct me if I'm wrong similar to the diploma program we would we would choose a site likely tied to an existing high school that has an IB program so a middle school feeding into an existing program any other

[00:54:33] questions or comments and if there's no further questions I'll move on to the next agenda item which is a time-sensitive 5.03 the HCA and MCCS technology and support services annual agreement and I will turn it over to Ms. Lehman to present if you have any information about it. Thank you. So to provide some background

[00:55:11] thank you. Each charter school both Hillsborough Charter Academy and Middleburg Community Charter School have technology services agreements and a support services agreement for our review and recommendations for board approval. All of these contracts are currently set to expire on June 30th 2024. One approach we could take is to suspend the rules and take this as an action item today so these are ultimately before the board at its upcoming meeting on June 11th as information items and conceivably as action items at its June 24th meeting that approach would allow the school board to approve and ultimately execute the updated agreements by June 30th another approach is to review and

[00:55:50] recommend that the board execute an amendment to each charter schools current charter agreements with the school board to include language that sets forth quote in the event the charter school agreement or any of its associated agreements lapse the parties agree that they will operate under the prior respective agreements for up to three months unless one the parties affirmatively withdraw from the charter school agreement while the new agreements are being negotiated or two the school board invokes its demand for possession under the lease lease's holdover provision turn it over to you thank you miss layman I'd like to open the floor for discussion members do you

[00:56:28] have any questions or comments so if I understood correctly there was a bunch recommendations one was to suspend the rules and send this to the full board for consideration as an information item or an action item information item to the June 11th meeting okay and and then one of the other recommendations if you could just clarify the recommendations one more the other recommendation ties into what we were discussing earlier and to add the provision that if something isn't completed by the expiration date that under good faith we would continue

[00:57:07] under the previous agreement thank you all right thank you and thank you miss for providing that information I would like to move that we do suspend the rules and and take the information item of 5.03 as an action item do I hear a second second I guess we could take a vote on that so all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed say nay hey and that that motion

[00:57:41] passes with two to zero with Miss LaBelle being absent any other further comments before I move on to the next agenda item okay um without further ado madam chair as a point of order so you've suspended the rules to move this from an information to an action item so if there's now a motion that it moved to the board for oh yes right right okay so i did okay so i moved to send a little from i moved to send these technology and support services agreements for hca and mccs to the full

[00:58:17] board as an information item for its June 11th 2024 meeting uh is there a second second okay um any discussion okay and then we'll take a vote all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed say nay and that passes with two to zero with uh msabelle being absent and on to our next uh item any discussion before i go on to the next item okay uh the next item is 5.04 middleburg community charter school revised 2024 2025 school year calendar and I will segue that to

[00:58:53] miss layman if she has any information sorry thank you madam chair when the school board began the discussion of a potential delayed start days throughout the calendar Middleburg Community Charter School follows a different calendar they start earlier than we do and they end earlier than we do so they add but they go the same length of day so they immediately went to their calendar and rather than planning to do if that had gone forward which we now know it's not they went ahead and identified four days within their calendar on which to provide professional development for their staff and that is what is reflected in the calendar that's attached and I think you

[00:59:31] had mentioned that there's no disruption of instructional days and it's all it all equilibrates fine yeah it's exactly what we're looking at as a proposal for ourselves right now just different days awesome any any questions or comments I'd like to open the floor for that.

[00:59:46] All right, that being said, I, because this is time sensitive, I do motion that we suspend the rules and take the information item 5.04 as an action item to the, as an action item. Is there a second?

[01:00:02] - Second. - Okay, and all those in favor, I guess we'll take a vote. All those in favor, say aye. - Aye. - And any opposed? No, no one. And that passes with two to zero with Ms. LaBelle being absent. And I move to send the MCCS revised 2024-2025 school year calendar as an information item to the full board for its June 11, 2024 meeting.

[01:00:29] Is there a second? - Second. - Any discussion? All right, we'll take a vote. All those in favor say aye. - Aye. - All those that oppose. And that goes on as two to zero, with Ms. LaBelle being absent.

[01:00:46] Any discussion before we move on? All right, any new business? All right. Our next meeting is scheduled for August 6th, 3:30 p.m. Mark your calendars. I know we're big fans. If there's no further business, I entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting. Yeah, yeah, please. All right. So I've entertained a motion to adjourn the meeting. Do I hear a second? Okay. All those in favor say aye. Any opposed? All right.

[01:01:20] The meeting is adjourned. Thank you for everyone that attended.

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