Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, Human Resources and Talent Development (HRTD) Committee Meeting, Thursday, June 20, 2024

Date: Thursday, June 20, 2024
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 1h 4m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/964655221?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] - Thank you. - All right, good afternoon, everyone. My name is Anne Donahue. I am the acting temporary whatever chair for purposes of this meeting, as Mrs. Griffith, who is our committee chair, is not able to be here today.

[00:00:19] So thank you all for coming. I'm gonna go ahead and call our meeting to order. Number two, item number two on our agenda is public comment, but I understand no one signed up for public comment for today, so we can dispense with that. move on to item number three which is approval of draft minutes from the April 25th 2024 HRTD meeting which was the last meeting of this committee as we did not have a committee meeting in May. Ms. Chandler have you had an opportunity to

[00:00:52] review the draft minutes? I make a motion to approve the draft minutes. Second the motion is improperly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Okay. Agree. All those in favor say aye. Aye. That motion passes unanimously with Mrs. Griffiths absent for the vote. Now we will move on to section four of our agenda. We do not have any information items today. We will go

[00:01:26] straight to our action items. The first one on our agenda is 4.01 HRTD revisions to policy 7910 reduction in force uh ms boland i'm going to make sure i don't say mrs griffiths all my notes say mrs griffiths uh today we are bringing back policy 7910 reduction in force and policy 7920 reduction in force classified employees as an action item as a minder as a reminder we are proposing changes to these policies to streamline condense and simplify the reduction in force

[00:02:06] process so one of them is a deletion in sort of similar to what we've done in the past should you approve the recommended changes it would also require the approval of the deleted policy at this time i would like to ask nicole davis director of hrtd to present this policy good afternoon so i just wanted to briefly remind you that the revisions to this policy again were to simplify and clarify the reduction in force process by combining 7920 reduction in force

[00:02:41] classified employees into policy 7910 reduction in force with one policy applying to all staff groups to do so as Ms. Bolin mentioned policy and regulation 7920 reduction in force classified employees was struck with policy 7910 being revised with the procedural steps removed and incorporated into regulation 7910 the language from the policy incorporated into the regulation was reorganized so that there was clear definitions of the process for each workgroup licensed and non-licensed employees again with clear

[00:03:21] procedural guidance for each group the language struck from policy was incorporated into the regulation remains the same with no changes to that guidance public comment was reviewed for this policy and no changes to the policy were made based on the information received as the majority of the public feedback surrounded around the regulation, which we have provided for your review.

[00:03:44] Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Davis and Ms. Bolland. I neglected to mention at the beginning of this meeting that this meeting is being audio recorded, although not video recorded, is not being live streamed, but the audio recording will later be available for anyone to access and listen to through the LCPS website.

[00:04:10] Please remember to turn your microphones on before you speak and be mindful if you have any visual aids that those will not be reflected unless you actually describe them. Okay, back to the matter at hand.

[00:04:27] Sorry, what is staff's recommendation? So staff would recommend that the committee approve the recommended revisions and the deletion of 7920 and send it to the school board as an information item for this coming Tuesday's meeting.

[00:04:52] Thank you, Ms. Boland. And I think I asked this at our last meeting, but just to make sure that I'm understanding the language and the policy correctly. If a reduction in force were being contemplated, it appears from the language that it would be the school board who decides if conditions are such that they trigger the necessity of having a reduction in force.

[00:05:18] Is that correct? Yes, that is correct. That's covered in Line 9. And then if the board determined that a reduction in force were necessary, then the superintendent would determine or superintendents doesn't mean would determine what positions would be subject to that riff that is correct thank you ms chandler do you have any questions um actually no i'm quite comfortable with this and and to be honest um i'm happy to make a motion to um i'd say i'll move

[00:05:57] that we accept the revisions to policy 7910 and delete the and also at the same time um yeah delete 7920 and move that forward to the full board for a decision. I second. The motion has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? No discussion. All those in favor say aye. Aye. That motion passes unanimously with Mrs. Griffiths absent for the vote. So that

[00:06:29] dispenses with items 4.01 and 4.02 because we have now voted to support the recommendation to delete that policy to send that to the full board. So we will move on to item 4.03 HRTD revisions to policy 7650 licensed staff contracts. Ms. Boland. Thank you so much. So today we are bringing back policy 7650 licensed staff contracts as an action item. As a quick reminder, changes were made to this policy to make it more current and to align with our business practices in 2024. And I will

[00:07:06] turn it over to Bob Phillips, director of HRTD, to present the policy changes. Thank you. Good afternoon. As a further review from the last meeting, the changes suggested by HRTD to the policy focused on updating language and the language that defines the business processes for employees with contracts that are currently utilized through the Human Resources Management System, HRMS, and other LCPS electronic tools to better reflect our current electronic practices feedback was reviewed public feedback revolved around clarification of special

[00:07:45] covenants and the probationary period for teachers who transferred to loudon county public schools from another virginia district after attaining continuing contract status in that district no further changes were made to the policy based upon that feedback sorry can you point us to those the changes no no further changes were made i said okay thank you miss chandler i am i'm curious to learn more about why the three-year um especially in this position in the position

[00:08:22] where someone is an established teacher in another district and they move over into lcps what um in our practice has indicated that continuing three years as a probationary period is most appropriate there our current practice if someone obtains continuing contract status in another commonwealth virginia school district they have two years of probationary period we feel the two years is very important a because we are a high achieving district and sometimes when

[00:08:58] teachers make the transition to loudon county public schools they may struggle with the high expectations of the community the content the curriculum the schools themselves are larger they might be coming from a smaller school district so having those two years to help grow and nurture those teachers rather than just making a decision on one year serves our teachers as well as our school hiring managers better. Thank you for that and Madam Chair if I may is that information confirmed by school principals as well that it really does

[00:09:36] matter? Yes especially from our coaching and mentoring team as well because even though they are a new they're not considered a new teacher but new to loud and teachers also receive support from the coaching and mentoring team so and that is our that's the biggest struggle coming to loud in the expectations the community yeah i understand that absolutely and i appreciate that a great deal my last question really will be um have we ever looked at and are you able to quantify where most of our teachers are transferring from. Could you give me an example of what districts that are

[00:10:15] smaller than Loudoun, where teachers might be coming in high numbers? I don't have official data in front of me, but anecdotally, when we go to fairs and we have our own fairs, Frederick County, Virginia, Winchester, public schools, Prince William and Fairfax are larger than us. I'm I'm trying to get my county straight in Virginia.

[00:10:39] I did not have Virginia history. I'm not a Virginia native. But those would be the two off the top of my head, especially from the west, the counties from the west. And then we also get people who transfer over from a different state, West Virginia area, which are smaller too, although the continuing contract wouldn't apply to them.

[00:10:57] Well, thank you very much for that clarification. That's very helpful. So I was curious, in light of the, one of the feedback comments was perhaps a shorter probationary period could be more appealing for us recruiting people, especially as to educators who are coming here from another district.

[00:11:25] And I take your point of they need time to settle in here, even if they already have experience teaching, and that absolutely makes sense. I was wondering if you happen to know, roughly, when educators transfer to LCPS from other districts, do we see trends as far as it's mostly teachers with less than five years of experience or, you know, teachers with significantly more experience?

[00:11:54] And was there any consideration of, as I see the two-year, it looks like the two-year probationary period for educators transferring from another district applies to anyone transferring from another district. I wondered if there was any thought of making it contingent on the years of experience that the educator had before coming into LCPS.

[00:12:14] So the two-year probationary period only matters for those teachers who complete four years in another district and receive continuing contract. Now, that district may have, the current code says three years to receive continuing contract, but in the past there were, you can make it all go all the way up to five years before receiving continuing contract.

[00:12:39] So it would be dependent upon that district and their current practices. And then that's when they transfer, and that's when the probationary period of two years is applicable. If there's a teacher who starts one year in Fairfax and moves to Loudoun, they have a three-year probationary period because they did not achieve continuing contract in the current district or the district that they're departing.

[00:13:06] Thank you. Okay. And what is – oh, Ms. Boland. If I can just add something, too. Something that's really important for us, you know, we've just created this Office of Talent Development.

[00:13:23] We really would like to move away from or move towards, I shouldn't say away from, move towards a really deep growth mentality environment. And moving the fear would be, one of the fears I would have moving to one year is the impact on the other side.

[00:13:47] where there's hesitation in continuing to provide additional support and growth in that first year because now instead of a non-renewal in year two, now they might have to go for a full-fledged dismissal.

[00:14:03] And I would not want that to be at the top of someone's mind in the way that they were responding to a teacher in the first year. the inability to continue to provide support because of what might be the result should they not be successful.

[00:14:20] I would be fearful that whether it would be conscious or subconsciously, that would be in the back of their mind. So I would really be hesitant to move away from the two years. And just anecdotally, I haven't seen where the two years has caused any type of a retention issue.

[00:14:39] I do think there are lots of things that cause us that we can work towards for recruitment purposes, but I haven't heard Where the two versus one has been a deterrent to someone coming to loud in thank you for that perspective miserable And that's that's a good point and well taken All right, I Sorry and what is what is staff's recommendation?

[00:15:07] so staff would recommend that the committee approved the revisions to policy 7650 licensed staff contracts and move the policy forward as an information item to the next school board meeting okay since you took the last one I will I will move for this committee to approve the proposed revisions to policy 7650 and send it to the full board for the board's consideration second this motion having been properly moved and seconded is there

[00:15:40] any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. The vote passes unanimously with Mrs. Griffiths absent for the vote. And now we will move on to item 4.04, HRTD revisions to policy 7730, religious accommodation. Ms. Boland. Thank you. Today we are bringing forth policy 7730, religious accommodation as an information item. We are updating this policy to provide consistency across the division for our employees who wish to request

[00:16:15] accommodation for religious beliefs religious accommodation leave has been updated to provide information on how to request an accommodation who to look to for information and the process for review for those requests and at this time I would like to ask Jeanette Evans director of HRTD to present the changes to the policy thank you so the policy we have we got received one comment and public comment regarding the respects of sincerely held religious beliefs which is part of the eeoc

[00:16:54] civil rights code so that language has been left everything else is the same it's this is giving employees direction and a process for requesting religious accommodations thank you ms evans ms chandler thank you madam chair um i i will say i'm very much in support of this updated policy and pleased that the division has recognized some changes in terms of not only the students we serve but the staff who are here as well and i'm happy that we can put into

[00:17:33] practice and into policy a very clear expectation for how this particular accommodation can be approached and i just would say i very much appreciate it i'm glad that it's it's very clear what the process is and I know in thinking back on our conversation in April I just would like to clarify the the reason why the process is centralized

[00:18:00] is to make it more consistent across the board yes thank you okay thank you Ms. Evans I echo Ms. Chandler's comments I am also heartened that LCPS is cognizant of the changing demographics of our student body and our workforce

[00:18:36] and ensuring that we are being proactive in our in our acknowledgement of that of the changing identity of our workforce and student body and ensuring or making efforts to hopefully ensure that everyone feels welcome and included I am also glad that we are putting in place procedures to ensure accommodations for

[00:19:05] our staff I suppose I'm sorry what is what is staff's recommendation so staff would ask that the committee approve the recommended changes and send this policy 7730 to the full school board as an information item at Tuesday's meeting

[00:19:34] Ms. Chandler. I move that the HRTD committee accept the revisions to policy 7730 and move it forward to the full school board. Second. The motion being properly moved and seconded, is there any further discussion?

[00:19:49] All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. That motion passes unanimously with Mrs. Griffiths absent for the vote. And now we will move on to our item number 4. 05, HRTD revisions to policy 7724, public service. Ms. Boland. Thank you, Ms. Donahue.

[00:20:10] So today we are bringing forth policy 7724, public service leave as an action item. As I shared previously, we are updating this policy to provide clarification and transparency on what is covered under public service leave and the conditions of this type of leave.

[00:20:28] Public service leave allows our employees who are interested to participate in public office the opportunity to take leave without pay for 60 days for campaigning purposes and provides the opportunity for them to take leave without pay to attend meetings for the office that they hold.

[00:20:45] This policy also confirms that those employees who are elected to the Loudoun County School Board are covered under Policies 2110, Qualifications of School Board Members, and 7520, Non-School Employment. And at this time, I would ask Ms. Jeanette Evans to present any additional changes.

[00:21:06] Thank you, Ms. Bullen. Ms. Evans? We did not have any public comment on this and we have not made any changes to the policies from April. And I believe I know the answer, but just to clarify, since it is an audio recording, when you say we did not have public comment, you mean the policy was posted for public comment and none was received.

[00:21:28] Correct. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am, again, very much in support of this policy.

[00:21:45] I'm glad that we're able to clearly outline our expectations and establish guidelines for how best to make this possible for our staff. And I am grateful that it is available. As an elected official, it is easy for me to say it is very time-consuming.

[00:22:03] And I guess I would be curious, I can think of one situation locally where a TA is elected, I believe, to office in Loudoun County. but are we aware of any other employees that are currently serving as elected officials or campaigning?

[00:22:23] I'm not aware of any campaigning, and other than the one, I don't think there's any others at this time. No, but we do get notifications when they choose to campaign and or if they are elected. Just from the perspective of managing such a large school division, would it be a reasonable accommodation, really, to have someone gone for 60 days if they were serving in the House of Delegates, for example?

[00:22:55] I mean, that does feel like it could be problematic if they were in a licensed position that required a substitute. You mean what we're currently offering? So 60 days is a long time.

[00:23:11] We will pay for it, I'm sure. regards to frustration and but we do try to support kind of both sides of the house right allowing them to do their public service commitment as well as maintain a position and so we have been able because it's not too frequent we've been able to make this work with long-term substitutes and/or kind of our lapse in turnover and our vacant positions being able to fill it and then return them when

[00:23:47] they return. I appreciate your entertaining my question. I don't plan to make any motions to change the policy. It was just something that I was wondering. I mean, I think in terms of putting our students first, I just was curious about that. So thank you. I don't have any further comments.

[00:24:05] And to date, I can't think of a teacher that we've had.

[00:24:23] Yeah, it's been several years. So the fact that it happens so infrequently, truly that may be why it's easy to get comfortable with it. I do appreciate that clarification. Further comments?

[00:24:42] Ms. Mullin and Ms. Evans? um okay so i move that the committee approved the proposed revisions to policy 7724 and forward this policy to the full board for its consideration second this motion has been properly moved and seconded is there any discussion no thank you all those in favor say aye aye aye motion passes unanimously with mrs. griffiths absent for the vote that completes our action items so we will

[00:25:15] We'll now move on to our discussion items starting with 5.01, a presentation on employee recognition. Ms. Boland. Ms. Thank you so much. I'm very excited for us to be able to share information with the committee this evening about the employee recognition program.

[00:25:37] As you may remember or recall, we were privileged to gain a brand new supervisor position on july 1st of 2023 to support employee recognition and that was miss carrie sims who is sitting behind me and will present this evening's position with her assistance we have been able to not only consolidate what were our current recognition programs but we've been able to expand them significantly and make quite an impact on on teacher appreciation staff appreciation staff

[00:26:15] morale, which is ultimately our goal for being the employer of choice and improving both recruitment and retention practices. So I would like to just give her the opportunity to share with you a snapshot of what we've been able to accomplish in just a single year.

[00:26:38] Thank you. We do have slides for this. I'm not sure if we want them up on here or if everyone has a copy of the slides. I believe we both have them up on our Chromebooks, so to your discretion.

[00:26:55] I'll go ahead and start. I'm fine. As long as you guys have the slides as well. Well, thank you for allowing me to share a little bit about what my office of one has been able to do in the past year. The division understands that part of my role is to help with the recruitment of new staff.

[00:27:17] But then the other piece, and just as important, is keeping and retaining quality staff once they are hired. So my role has two different aspects to it. The very public-facing role is the coordination and enhancement of all of the awards programs, streamlining the processes for those, making sure there's consistency and equity across the division.

[00:27:41] Behind the scenes, because we can't have 8,000 teachers of the year, I assist division leaders, both school-based and in central office, in developing cultures of appreciation within their work locations so that way every employee, no matter where they are working, can walk in and feel supported, respected, and valued, with the goal being higher retention rates as well as higher employee satisfaction rates.

[00:28:10] The first is our annual awards, and this year we were able to add five additional awards, making all school-based employees eligible for an award. We received over 225 nominations for our instructional and operational awards programs.

[00:28:32] All operational support personnel who are not in leadership positions are also eligible. That would include many central office staff job titles. I conducted an analysis of which schools were sending in nominations, who was eligible, was not and we now have almost our entire employee fleet eligible for these awards they've been very well represented at the school level nominations can come from parents from colleagues students as

[00:29:07] well as supervisors my favorite probably is our shine program and that is the spotlighting heroes in education partnership that we have with the loudon education foundation it is a division-wide recognition program basically shout outs what happens is I'll receive a nomination I put it up on our website I inform the employee of the nomination as well as their direct supervisor and then at the end of the month I narrow it down to about five nominations that really stand out for their impact to the

[00:29:45] community send those over to Latin Education Foundation and they choose a winner from there. We then work with Dr. Spence's office and whatever the administration of that work location for that employee is to determine a reveal based on the employee's preferred recognition style. Some people like being recognized in front of a whole school. Some people would prefer it in private, and so we want to respect that. To date, we have 532 nominations this year from over 80

[00:30:18] different locations, including most departments within central office and over 75 schools. So it has been incredibly successful to date. We've updated our employee recognition page. We really want that to be a place of highlights of accomplishments and achievements from our employees in the division. We also use it as a way to inform our community of how the nomination process works, where to find those forms and to encourage them to nominate people as well.

[00:30:51] For our first-year teachers, our novice teachers, we wanted to create division-level engagement. And so each month, our novice teachers received a letter from HRTD reminding them that we are resources beyond just hiring you. We are here for your entire life cycle as an educator.

[00:31:12] and it came with a small token of appreciation, not a gift, but just a reminder of something that you are seen by us and giving them tips and resources for how to find support within the district. And that has been well received as well. One program that I took over was our retiree program. In the past, we had a retiree dinner at the end of each year. As the division

[00:31:45] grew, the number of eligible people grew as well. So costs for that dinner increased. Data would show that maybe half of the eligible people would come to the dinner. Finding a date where principals and school board members could attend with employees was difficult. And so we wanted to provide something that was more personal and meaningful for our employees who gave us many, many years of service. We contracted with the awards network, and now based on their level of service, whether it's one to nine years, 10 to 14 years, 25 and up, they get a certain dollar amount to spend at an

[00:32:24] online catalog. So this is a gift that will last much longer than a meal. We also have an online program with all of the retirees' names that is given to all of our retirees. So that takes the place of the program that they received at the dinner. Gift choices have included a range of jewelry, electronics, home appliances, and tools, and this program has been very highly regarded by the retirees that we've spoken with. Each retiree receives a packet in the mail with a personalized

[00:32:58] letter from Dr. Spence, a certificate for their accomplishments, and then the code to redeem their gift online. And they have a year to do that. We have now included our years of service folks as well in that. People reaching 25, 30, 35 and up. I've partnered with the recruitment team on the employee lifecycle, assisted in the development of the principal PDs for the onboarding experience and participating at virtual job fairs, really promoting the employee

[00:33:33] recognition that LCPS engages in and as I said earlier I serve as a resource for the division leaders I've presented professional development sessions at the elementary principals forum I'll be presenting at our administrative leadership team retreat at the end of July on utilizing recognition and appreciation for retention purposes I've conducted multiple individual site-based meetings based on interactions with division leaders principals want to get better at what they do. They all understand the importance of recognition, but they need details

[00:34:09] and ideas for how to do that. I've developed a Staff Appreciation Days calendar for leaders in the division so that all schools and all work locations can be recognizing people on a consistent day each year and giving them tips and ideas for how to do that effectively within their communities.

[00:34:33] And I believe that that is all. That last one I don't need to explain. That is just some of the tips and ideas that I've given to principals on how to show appreciation in the workplace. So, thank you for allowing me to present today.

[00:34:48] Thank you. Welcome to the position. And I'm very excited that HRTD is devoting time and resources to our employee recognition efforts. Do you have any questions? Sure. Well, I'll echo Ms. Donahue's remarks.

[00:35:06] Honestly, you know, one of the things that I've appreciated as an LCPS parent now for over a decade is how hard our teachers and staff work. And I'm glad that we're dedicating resources to show them how much we appreciate them.

[00:35:23] I love to watch the Shine Awards. And I also appreciate how, I mean, I can only assume that it's purposeful, but I love how it's a different role each time. and that really we're, like, finding a way to support and empower everyone.

[00:35:42] So thank you for that. I'm very interested in the program, and I like your resources at the end for the principals. It is interesting. Do you have a plan as you move forward in your role over the next year to reach out to the schools that haven't participated yet? Yes.

[00:36:00] That is going to be part of the professional development offered in July and August for our administrative leadership team, And I'm also going to be focusing on outreach to non-instructional leaders as well. Most of my work this year has been with school-based leaders, and I'll be involving non-instructional leaders next year.

[00:36:19] Well, that's great. Thank you for that clarification and for your work. I echo what Ms. Chandler said, and I love this. I love that slide.

[00:36:37] And I hope that you're sending it to all the principals and maybe posting it everywhere. And I'm the liaison for Love and Education Foundation. And I remember the first time that I met Danielle Nadler, that's one of the things that, like, the first thing she started talking to me about was the SHINE program.

[00:37:00] And I had no idea that that was a thing that LCPS did, and I was just thrilled to hear about it. So thank you. And with that, we'll move on to item 5.02, discussion item 5.02, presentation on subcentral 2324 data.

[00:37:27] Ms. Boland. Thank you so much. So each year, typically in May, we bring our data in regards to our substitutes and present it to committee to talk through, to get an idea of hiring and retention and all the strategies to support all the asks as, you know, we continue to focus on providing substitutes so that our teachers, our instructors can take the time they need when they need it.

[00:38:00] um and we're bringing that forward today i will ask um bob phillips the hrtd director that supports subcentral um to to present that information this this afternoon thank you ms bowen mr phillips thank you thank you for allowing me to share the information about the subcentral team you will see lots of data points uh embedded in the slide to want to try to give you a more robust story of what the subcentral team does at a very high level of overview and what they do to support to the strategic plan of Loudoun County Public Schools.

[00:38:39] Next slide, please. In alignment with the Division's Strategic Plan for Excellence, the Department of Human Resources and Talent Development focuses on cultivating exemplary staff, or Goal 2. As a reminder, here is our driving statement upon which we center our actions and our commitment to our missions and goals.

[00:38:58] Next slide, please. This is an overview of a graphic taken from the Superintendent's Estimate and Needs, which gives you the entire view of the HRTD department as a whole. Tonight, we're going to be focusing in on the red one about subcentral.

[00:39:17] Next slide, please. LCPS is committed to being the employer of choice by cultivating high-performing teams of professionals. Today's presentation will serve to provide you with an introduction to the roles and responsibilities of the subcentral team, share data, and share a brief overview of the candidate journey as a substitute for LCPS.

[00:39:37] The subcentral team consists of Kelly Koptish, who's in the audience today, Nicole Donilon, who's also a coordinator in the audience, Kelly is the supervisor. And Hannah Schneeberg, one of our program assistants, she's not here. LCPS recognizes that substitutes play a crucial role in maintaining continuity and quality in education and as such understand the importance of having a pool of skilled and committed substitutes who are able to seamlessly transition into their role and offer support when needed.

[00:40:06] The subcentral team devotes a great deal of time and effort into recruiting, hiring, and onboarding, developing, utilizing, and retaining high-quality substitutes. A key component of their responsibilities is the management of Smart Fine Express, the substitute management system for Loudoun County Public Schools.

[00:40:24] This platform allows for efficient scheduling and communication between administrators, teachers, substitutes, and real-time analytics to track school needs and fill rates. In addition to day-to-day substitute placements, the sub-central team also supports the allocation of long-term and site-based substitutes.

[00:40:45] Next slide, please. To achieve the goal of cultivating high-performing substitutes, LCPS begins to attract top talent to join our substitute pool. This involves highlighting the benefits of being employed by LCPS and the various incentives utilized to attract and recognize substitutes for their loyalty and service.

[00:41:06] Subcentral currently supports an extensive substitute workforce. The high retention rate among substitutes speaks volumes about the environment cultivated and the positive experiences created for them. Recognizing the importance of flexibility, LCPS offers substitutes the freedom to tailor their commitments, positions, and locations to ally with their individual preferences and needs, including daily jobs, site-based subjobs, and long-term assignments.

[00:41:33] LCPS also takes great pride in knowing that the starting work as a substitute is a pathway to career advancement and full-time employment opportunities. During this past school year alone, we had 342 substitutes that transitioned into full-time positions with Loudoun County, with 189 of those 342 moving into full-time teaching positions.

[00:41:56] LCPS's commitment to substitutes extends to offering competitive compensation and payment incentives and is excited to share that for the 24-25 school year, all daily substitutes working in an assignment will now earn $135.03, an increase of $22.28 a day.

[00:42:15] In addition, LCPS recognizes our substitutes' commitment and wavering dedication to the district by providing enhanced rate of pay for substitutes who work more than 25 daily assignments, known as our loyalty rate. Next year, this incentive will continue, and the substitute will be eligible to earn $150.01 a day for the remainder of their assignments after number 25, an increase of $16.31 per day.

[00:42:44] Finally, LCPS utilizes an enhanced rate of pay to encourage substitutes to work assignments on days that are identified historically as difficult to fill. We call these high-volume days. LCPS will continue this incentive to support the needs of our school with no change in the rate.

[00:43:03] Next slide, please. Subcentral has been proactive in its recruitment efforts by hosting a variety of events to attract high-performing substitutes. Through a combination of innovative outreach efforts and increased engagement with potential candidates throughout the community, SubCentral has been able to attract top talent to join the substitute pool.

[00:43:24] Recruitment initiatives include both in-person and virtual recruitment sessions on Zoom events or Handshake, which have provided valuable opportunities for engagement interaction. Additionally, the SubCentral team targeted aspiring educators by participating in events such as the Educator Rising Conference and leading various teacher-cadet recruitment presentations.

[00:43:44] These events have allowed the team to engage with high school students interested in education careers, inspiring them to consider substitute teaching as a pathway to future employment. Furthermore, targeted outreach efforts to retirees who bring valuable experience has expanded the recruitment.

[00:44:01] Next slide, please. As a result of attracting and recruiting, you can see for the school year 23-24, the number of applicants and hirees of substitutes has increased. A major reason for these increases is deliberate focus made on streamlining the substitute hiring and onboarding processes to match that of other LCPS positions.

[00:44:22] This mirroring approved the efficiency of the time to fill for substitutes. In addition, in February 2024, the steady assessment was added to our hiring process for applicants who do not have formal teaching experience or a teaching degree. This comprehensive assessment equipped and evaluated substitute applicants on their knowledge and understanding of classroom management, instructional strategies, and the needs of special education students, and other essential skills that related to the substitute position in LCPS.

[00:44:53] Substitutes also receive a comprehensive Vector Safe Schools onboarding training prior to working to ensure that all substitutes clearly understand district and state policies, safety protocols, and daily expectations when in the classroom. To increase substitutes' comfortability in stepping into their first assignment, the subcentral team partnered with various central office teams, DDI and DTL, to provide meaningful training resources and opportunities to engage with trained support staff.

[00:45:24] In addition, all new substitutes who attend their in-person new hire session receive a golden ticket. Substitutes are instructed to present this ticket to the front office of their first substitute assignment. This served as a visual cue for the schools to engage with DES and the IFT to assist this new substitute with seamless transition into their new role.

[00:45:47] Next slide, please. The subcentral team utilizes the SmartFind Express dashboard daily to monitor substitute analytics and identify specific school needs. By closely monitoring these analytics, the team is able to allocate additional site-based substitutes to schools in need and better anticipate hard-to-fill days throughout the year.

[00:46:10] This provides streamlined support and minimal disruptions to teaching and learning. This year, the overall fill rate averaged 84.7%, showcasing the effectiveness of our substitute staffing strategies. With the utilization of our site-based substitute program, schools were able to successfully fill open positions when a substitute assignment was not selected by a daily substitute.

[00:46:33] As a result, our adjusted fill rate for licensed position increased to 98.1%, ensuring minimal disruptions in classroom instruction throughout the school year. Finally, the loyalty demonstrated by our substitutes who have worked at least 25 assignments speaks volumes about the positive experiences and relationships that have been built within LCPS.

[00:46:55] This year, there was a 10% increase in the number of substitutes who qualified for the loyalty rate in comparison to the previous, for a total of 171 additional substitutes working more than 25 daily assignments. Next slide, please.

[00:47:11] Finally, education and professional development are ongoing strategies to support the growth of our substitutes and our school-based personnel who support them. This year, the sub-central team coordinated training and development initiatives to equip substitutes with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their roles.

[00:47:32] Previous feedback from both substitutes and LCPS staff highlighted the growing importance of technology in education, prompting efforts to provide explicit training materials focused on helping substitutes become more familiar with the instructional platforms, software, and digital tools used in our classrooms.

[00:47:51] This enabled the substitutes to feel more comfortable and be more successful in fulfilling their assignments. Some of these initiatives include technology training guides and video links, updated substitute handbooks, FAQs, and SmartFind user guides. The team provided school personnel with the same user guides, timely service and support, and in-person and virtual training sessions.

[00:48:14] By investing in targeted training and support initiatives, SubCentral develops a highly skilled and adaptable school staff and a substitute pool capable of delivering high-quality instruction and service to support the daily operations of any school building in Loudoun County.

[00:48:35] Thank you very much, Mr. Phillips. I have a couple of questions. My first one is, can you explain what a site-based sub is and how it differs from the other categories?

[00:48:51] Sure. We have three, basically three categories of substitutes. Our daily substitutes, those are substitutes who get a call every day and may work in one building one day, one building the next day, different assignments. Our second, which are site-based subs, we use a staffing ratio for them of 25 licensed teachers to one substitute and allocate those subs to the same school every single day.

[00:49:18] So they are at the will of the principal and the admin team to fill in for any sub that doesn't pick up assignment or if subs do pick up assignment to help support teachers who may be in crisis with children or they need additional planning time because the last time their team wasn't there or whatever the case may be.

[00:49:39] Our third group is our long-term subs. They pick up jobs that are assignments that are longer than 11 days. So on the 11th day, our long-term sub rate kicks in, and they stay, and they are paid at the highest rate because they are performing the duties of the teacher. They are planning. They are meeting with teachers in CLT. They might be meeting with parents. They are doing grading and all the other responsibilities that are included in the teacher's role.

[00:50:07] Thank you. For site-based subs, are they assigned for an entire, are they engaged for an entire year or for a specific set period of time? We strive for a year, but we know sometimes the sub world, they are in and out because of the job responsibilities, as well as some of them taking on full-time jobs in Loudoun as a teacher assistant or a licensed teacher, depending on that site-based sub.

[00:50:40] But yes, our goal is to get them in a building for as long as possible because they become familiar with the program and the kids. that doesn't always work out sometimes it's not the best fit particularly a school or the level so we you know we encourage them and we have opportunities for many different opportunities to either take a step back and try a different school or just go into our daily assignment role and and continue in that role where you we need help as well thank you and as to retirees as

[00:51:16] possible subs what kind of outreach does HRTD make to retiring teachers or recently retired teachers well legally we're not allowed to make official outreach until after the separation period so we want to make sure that they are separated for the legal amount of time when they do retire and then we will engage them in either email or postings or the case may be sometimes a The retiree may indicate that they could be interested, and then the subcentral team either follows up with that site-based subcoordinator.

[00:51:55] That is a very important role. We probably should have mentioned it here. There is usually one person at a school who really coordinates the substitutes, and it's a magical job, right, looking at the number of jobs, the planning period, the master schedule.

[00:52:10] They will sometimes let us know that, hey, they talked about they might want to sub and be interested in subbing for us after that elimination period or whatever VDOE calls it on the retiree side. Is that the correct word, Jeanette? Elimination? What is that period? I mean, how long?

[00:52:28] It's 30 days from the first day of their contracted period. So a teacher who retires in June is not going to be eligible until October 1st because it's 30 days of a month. It has to be a full first to the end of the month month.

[00:52:44] Okay. And that's a -- is that by Virginia Code or -- That's a VRS Virginia Code requirement. Yep. Okay. And so once you get passed -- once the teacher -- retired teacher gets passed that 30 days, how does HRTD -- what do you do to reach out to encourage them to come back?

[00:53:03] Again, we put out many -- we work with our communications office to talk about being a sub. We host events, recruitment subs. And again, if the teacher indicated that they were going to be interested in being a sub, we try to make personal contact with a group email sometimes.

[00:53:22] I saw in here that you have done presentations to teacher cadet recruits, which I think sounds fantastic. I understand there is a group of retired LCPS teachers.

[00:53:42] Do you, are you in contact with that organization? Do you do presentations for them? Not specifically, but we would love to have that contact information and get in touch with them. We can use all the subs we can get. For my other question, Ms. Chandler.

[00:54:03] Thank you. And thank you, Mr. Phillips, for this information. I will say, as a former LCPS sub and a daily sub and a long-term sub, I appreciate hearing the updates. One of the things that I had from my own experience was particularly a challenge in terms of the time that it took to gain access, especially as a long-term sub, to the programs that you need to access in order to fulfill the capacity.

[00:54:33] I'm happy that there have been improvements there. That was definitely a need. In that role, I have had the opportunity to observe how well the site-based sub program is working and would like to just recognize that. I think that was perhaps one of the best COVID innovations that occurred in LCPS.

[00:54:56] When you really build relationship in a school, the site-based subs at the schools where I often frequented are treated just like any other employee and are viewed, I think, as a team member who really is serving an important capacity. And those site-based subs that I know have a great deal of talent and flexibility because they are really able to drop in in any position, right?

[00:55:22] You might be in the gym teaching PE, and then tomorrow you're, you know, teaching calculus, right? I mean, it's a big role to fill, and they're doing a great job. But I was curious, very excited to see the increase in rates for daily subs.

[00:55:39] But are we updating the rates for site-based subs at this time? I don't remember off the top of my head, but I think they were updated beginning of last year or in the middle of the year, but not going to increase in 25 fiscal budget.

[00:55:59] So at the beginning of last year, we increased long-term subs because they were quite significantly behind. And then in the budget, we were able to get through the daily sub rate along with the necessity to then update the loyalty rate because of the two being sort of connected.

[00:56:25] The goal would be each year that we're tackling some type of rate. As you can imagine, our subs rates, they add up quite quickly, and so they're a high-dollar budget item. So we can't necessarily attack all of them in any one given budget year.

[00:56:43] So the goal would be to continue that process, yes. But just as Mr. Phillips said, the site-based subs, that was a rate that had been increased more recently than the other two rates had. And as you can imagine, it's kind of like a back-and-forth.

[00:56:59] We raise ours, then Fairfax and Prince William raise theirs, then we go. So it's a vicious cycle. Well, I will go on the record as saying I have been advocating in other spaces for including the site-based subs in the literacy training, especially at elementary schools because they will be filling in and they do take that role on every day.

[00:57:24] That said, given the fact that the change in the calendar will mean that that level of employee will lose working days, most likely, as it stands right now. It might be something to consider in terms of planning for next year. And if they were included in those trainings, they would be paid their daily rate.

[00:57:46] And I know that Dr. Ellis has been having conversations with me about the number and what that potentially could cost, and I know that she's been speaking to Ms. Willoughby about it as well. I'm so grateful to hear that. Thank you. I also am very interested in hearing more about the Educator Rising conference.

[00:58:04] My daughter is in Educator Rising, and it's been the best experience. I have two daughters. I talk about them differently. So my younger daughter loves Educators Rising, and I'd be curious to hear how that relates to the sub-experiences and what opportunities might be there as well.

[00:58:26] Sure. So the recruiting team, in conjunction with other teams, subcentral, as well as our CTE department, coordinates with our teacher cadet teachers and the Ed Rising Sponsor Club, the sponsors of the club at each high school, to put on a conference.

[00:58:43] So it's a mini educational conference for the students. They get dressed up. The bus brings them. This year we had it at Shenandoah out in Winchester. The previous year we had it in Shenandoah in Loudoun County. So the bus brings them there, they choose, there's a keynote speaker, the superintendent says a couple words and says hello, they get a swag bag, and they get to choose their different sessions as if you were going to a professional development experience.

[00:59:12] One of those sessions is led by our subcentral team, who talks to them about what do you need to do to become a sub when you go to college, and get all the paperwork in now So when you come home for your first break, you could start substituting for us and making money for your college and spending money and all that stuff.

[00:59:33] So that's kind of what the subcentral team does at the Ed Rising Conference, as well as going to some of the teacher cadet classrooms where they did a similar presentation to recruit those ones who are interested in teaching.

[00:59:49] That's great. Thank you for that information. Thank you, Mr. Phillips. I just had one more question about everything that you've told us about. Is there a mechanism to collect feedback from the full-time educators and/or students and/or principals about how the different subs are doing?

[01:00:17] We do survey our subs frequently, but we never looked at that perspective. And that might be something to work with our research office to develop a survey. I think that would be interesting to learn, especially given the statistics on, you know, what you were saying about the on-site subs are there for an entire school year, and the long-term subs could be there for extended periods of time, and even the daily subs, if they are doing, you know, 25 days a year, that's a lot of repeat appearances in our district.

[01:00:49] So I'd be interested to hear how the people around them think that that's going. This is fantastic information and seems like a great program. Thank you for their presentation.

[01:01:05] Anything else? Okay. Then we'll move on to item 6, new business. Is there any new business? No, ma'am. Is there any new business? Okay. In that case, we will move on to item 7 which is adjourned.

[01:01:23] So the June 20th, 2024 HRTD committee meeting is now adjourned. Thank you all for coming. Get home safely and have a great summer.

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