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Loudoun County School Board, School Board Organizational Meeting, Thursday, January 9, 2025

Date: Thursday, January 9, 2025
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 16m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1045703767?rel=0
BoardDocs (School Board): https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/loudoun/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=DBNQ59679910

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 2026-10-11. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:49] okay good evening i am going to uh call to order the january 9 2025 annual school board organizational meeting per policy 2210 i'm acting as chair to begin this meeting i have been notified that april chandler would like to remotely participate in tonight's school board meeting mrs chandler could you please state your location and whether this is a personal or medical matter i'm in my home and this is a medical matter okay and is anyone present with

[00:01:23] you at this location and if so please state their names um my adult child um grace chandler is upstairs and my spouse paul chandler um is also upstairs i am alone in the basement with the door closed thank you therefore i will entertain a motion that miss chandler's request to participate remotely be granted so moved moved by Ms. Chernoff is there a second second by Dr. Deans at this time board member board clerk if you could just prepare the board oh we don't have them we're going to do

[00:01:58] a roll call vote then all right um I'm just going to go in order that I'm seeing you just want to do an I and an A okay we're going to do all in favor raise your hands a I all opposed Ms. sorry I can't you guys yet okay all right then Ms. Chandler is admitted to the meeting welcome to the meeting I have also been informed that Mrs. Donahue would like to remotely participate in tonight's school board meeting Ms. Donahue if you could please state your location and whether this is a medical

[00:02:30] or a personal matter yes thank you Dr. Spence I am I am at my office and this is a medical matter okay and is anyone present with you at that location there are some uh individuals in the larger office suite but not in my office okay thank you therefore i will entertain a motion that miss donahue's request to participate remotely be granted all in favor raise your hands state aye aye aye we have to we have to oh we didn't oh i didn't i didn't no i don't do this

[00:03:06] for a living uh okay do we have a motion i'd like to make a motion to allow miss donahue to participate in tonight's meeting thank you ms mansfield second by ms chernoff all right all in favor say aye aye aye ms chandler does aye as well we'll record that any opposed no and with that welcome to the meeting ms donahue thank you okay also per policy 2210 the division the division superintendent acting as chair will request nominations for chair no second for nominations is required the floor will remain open for nominations until there are no more nominations

[00:03:45] the division superintendent will take a roll call vote starting with the first nomination and proceeding through each one as needed until one nominee receives a majority vote additional rounds of nominations may be required in order for one nominee to secure a majority vote to be appointed once a chair has been elected i will turn the meeting over to the newly elected chair who will continue with the process of filling the remaining positions using the same process through which a chair was chosen. At this time, I'd like to open the floor for nomination for the chair. Dr. Spence.

[00:04:16] Okay. Ms. Chandler and then Ms. Donahue. I nominate Ms. Melinda Mansfield for chair of the Loudoun County School Board. Okay. Ms. Donahue. Thank you, Dr. Spence. I nominate Ms. Lauren Chernoff for chair. Okay. Any other nominations for chair? Okay. Seeing none, I'm going to close the floor for nominations. We will take a roll call vote for each nominee until one nominee

[00:04:53] receives a majority vote. So the first nominee is for Melinda Mansfield and when your name is called if you would please state your vote for Mrs. Mansfield. We will start with the Algonquian district and proceed in alphabetical order by district name. Ms. Chandler how do you vote? Aye.

[00:05:17] Mrs. Griffiths how do you vote? Aye or nay? Yes ma'am. Nay. Ms. Donahue how do you vote? Aye. Dr.

[00:05:33] Deans, how do you vote? Aye. Ms. LaBelle, how do you vote? Nay. Ms. Manfield, how do you vote? Aye. Ms. Chernoff, how do you vote? Nay. Dr.

[00:05:44] Rasheed, how do you vote? Aye. And Mr. Streffi, how do you vote? Aye. With that, I have a count of six ayes. Oh, did I ask Ms. I did ask Ms. Donahue. Sorry, let me double check my math. Yes, I have six ayes and that is with Ms.

[00:06:13] Chandler, Ms. Donahue, Dr. Deans, Mrs. Mansfield, Dr. Rasheed, and Mr. Streffi as ayes, three opposed with Mrs. Griffiths, Ms. Lavelle, and Ms. Chernoff as nays, and therefore congratulations Chair Mansfield. I will now turn the meeting over to you. Thank you, Dr. Spence. I'd like to take a moment to thank my fellow board members for once again electing me as board chair. I continue to

[00:06:51] humbled by your confidence me a year ago I hope to build bridges between board and administration and with our families and community and together as a board we have worked toward that goal of building bridges by listening to our community and creating new policies like the cell phone policy and diabetes policy we listen to our educators and revamp the special permission policy we worked with parents to enhance the playground policy and included inclusive playgrounds as well as accelerating the timeline in the CIP budget. We expanded career and technical education

[00:07:27] opportunities and increased support of educators through our pay raises and retention bonuses. We established a new performance monitoring committee to examine metrics and achieve data and to examine metrics and achievement data more closely. All of those items I've mentioned are only a snippet of what this board together with our family, staff, and community has accomplished.

[00:07:50] Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't mention all the hard work from the superintendent and the cabinet through newly implemented board tours, which have helped us build trust with each other and form positive and extremely collaborative working relationships. It truly takes all of us working together to inspire and constructively challenge one another to ensure that LCPS is an environment where each child thrives and where families feel supported and empowered in their children's educational journey.

[00:08:20] I've learned so much from every single one of you. Thank you all for your support. It's an honor. At this time, we'll move on to item 2.02 on the agenda for the election of the school board vice chair. And the vote will be conducted using the same process as for the chair.

[00:08:39] And I'll now open the floor for nominations at this time. Are there any nominations for vice chair? Yes, Dr. Deans. I nominate Anne Donahue. I have a nomination for Ms. Donahue.

[00:08:54] Are there any other nominations? Yes, Ms. Griffiths. I nominate Lauren Chernoff. I have another, the second nomination for Ms. Chernoff. Let me get it.

[00:09:12] Are there any other nominations for Vice Chair? Okay, with that, I will now close the nominations for Vice Chair and we will, the vote will be conducted at the same process.

[00:09:32] So seeing no more, I will close the floor for nominations and we'll take a roll call vote for each nominee in the order in which the nominations were received. until the one nominee receives a majority vote. I have the first one. The first nominee is Ms. Donahue.

[00:09:50] When your name is called, please state your vote for Ms. Donahue as Vice Chair. Ms. Chandler. Aye. Ms. Griffiths. Nay. Ms. Donahue.

[00:10:10] Aye. Dr. Deans. Aye. Ms. LaBelle. Nay. My vote is aye.

[00:10:28] Ms. Chernoff. Aye. Dr. Rasheed. Aye. Ms. Estreffi. Aye. And this motion passes with seven in favor and two opposed being Ms. LaBelle and Mrs. Griffiths.

[00:11:00] Congratulations, Ms. Donahue for vice chair. We'll now move on to item 2.03 on the agenda, election of the VSBA official delegate and alternate. The duty of the official delegate is to vote during the VSBA delegate assembly once a year and to take action on the school board's position on the vsba legislative positions i will now open the floor for nominations for the vsba delegate at this time are there any nominations yes mr dr rashid i'd like to nominate april chandler as vsba

[00:11:37] delegate i have a nomination for miss chandler as a vsba delegate by dr rashid are there any further nominations yes mrs griffiths i'd like to nominate carrie labelle um thank you for the nomination for Carrie LaBelle. Ms. LaBelle as VSBA delegate by Mrs. Griffiths is received. Are there any other nominations? Seeing no more nominations for a VSBA delegate I will close the floor for nominations and we'll take a roll call

[00:12:14] vote in the order in which the nominations were received and we'll start with the first nominee is Ms. Chandler. When your name is called please state your vote for Ms. Chandler as VSBA delegate. Ms. Chandler how do you vote?

[00:12:29] Aye. Mrs. Griffiths how do you vote? Nay. Ms. Donoghue, how do you vote? Aye.

[00:12:48] Dr. Deans, how do you vote? Aye. Ms. LaBelle, how do you vote? Aye. My vote is aye. Mr. Struffy, how do you vote? Aye. Ms. Chernoff, I think I messed up.

[00:13:06] Ms. Chernoff, how do you vote? Aye. Sorry about that. Dr. Rasheed, how do you vote? Aye. And the motion passes with eight in affirmation and one opposed, being Mrs. Griffiths.

[00:13:25] Congratulations. Ms. Chandler. and I'll now and we'll move on to the VSBA alternate delegate I'll now open the floor for nominations for the VSBA alternate delegate are there any nominations yes Ms. Chandler I nominate Ms. Carrie LaBelle I have a nomination for Ms. LaBelle as VSBA alternate delegate by Ms. Chandler are there any further nominations seeing no more nominations for VSBA alternate delegate I will close the floor for nominations and will take a roll call vote in order in which

[00:14:03] the nominations were received on Ms. LaBelle as VSBA alternate delegate. When your name is called, please state your vote for Ms. LaBelle as VSBA alternate delegate. Ms. Chandler, how do you vote? Aye. Ms. Griffiths, how do you vote? Aye. Ms. Donohue, how do you vote? Aye. Dr. Deans, how do you vote? Aye. Ms. LaBelle, how do you vote? Aye. My vote is yes. Ms. Chernoff,

[00:14:37] what is your vote aye dr rasheed what is your vote aye and mr streffi what is your vote aye that motion passes unanimously congratulations ms labelle you are a new vsba alternate delegate and we will now move on to item 2.04 on the agenda a resolution approving loudon county school board organizational business for calendar year 2025 vice chair donahue is there a motion

[00:15:12] Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the Loudoun County School Board approve the resolution approving the Loudoun County School Board organizational business for calendar year 2025. We have a motion on the floor. Do I have a second?

[00:15:32] Second. I have a second by Ms. LaBelle. The motion has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion on the motion for the LCPS organizational business for calendar year 2025?

[00:15:48] and is this in regard to who we picked tonight no ma'am this is just discussion is just germane to the motion for the lcps organizational business for calendar year thank you any discussion seeing no more discussion we will now vote on the motion to approve the loudon county school board organizational business for calendar year 2025 and i guess i will go ahead and just

[00:16:17] a's and nays um all that in favor uh say aye aye aye aye one two i think that's eight uh all in a post in opposition um the motion passes with eight to one um with mrs griffiths in opposition seeing that there's no more business the january 9th 2025 loudon county school board meeting is now adjourned please drive safely home

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