Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, Finance & Operations Committee Meeting, Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Date: Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 36m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1049144160?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 2026-10-16. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:00] All right. Good afternoon. I call to order the January 21st, 2025 Financial and Operations Committee meeting. I'm serving as chair for the next five to 10 minutes because Chair Estreffi is remote, but I've been notified that Chair Estreffi would like to participate in the FNO Operations Committee meeting remotely. Mr. Estreffi, would you please state your location and whether this is a medical or personal matter? Thank you, Chair Mansfield. I am in my home in ashburn virginia and this is a medical matter is anyone present with you at this location if so

[00:00:36] please state their names um i am in my room alone um but my wife and son are um in the home with me and i'm in a different room okay i will go ahead and entertain him and i'll go ahead and make the motion that mr estruffy's request to participate remotely be granted do i have a second second i have a second by uh mrs griffiths it's been properly moved and seconded to approve by uh chair streffi's remote participation and at this time do we take a voice i guess we'll take a voice

[00:01:13] a voice vote all in favor say aye aye aye on all opposed and the um eyes it passed that motion passes welcome chair streffi to the to the meeting and i will now turn it over to you as chair Thank you, Chair Mansfield. I would like to first, seeing that the meeting has been called to order, move on to public comment. Is there any public comment for this evening?

[00:01:50] No, there is not any public comment for this evening. Thank you. Seeing no public comment, we'll move on to the approval of the meeting minutes. I would like to see if board members have had a chance to review the draft meeting minutes from December 17th, and we'll then entertain a motion to approve the meeting minutes.

[00:02:22] I'll go ahead and make that motion. So I move that the draft meeting minutes from December 17th, 2024 of the Finance and Operations Committee be approved. Do I have a second? Second. Seconded, I believe, by, was that Mrs. Griffiths? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Is there any discussion? Seeing no discussion, we'll go ahead and vote.

[00:02:50] All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. and that motion will pass unanimously the meeting minutes have been approved so we'll move on to the first of our action items for this evening we'll begin with a motion I'll go ahead and make that motion I move that the finance and operations committee recommends the Loudoun County School Board approve the revision of policy 6140 free and reduced price meal services I'd also like to

[00:03:25] oh so that is the motion do I have a second a second seconded by chair Mansfield I would like to leave the floor for Ms. Mills our director of school nutrition to present anything else related to this to this action item Ms. Mills good afternoon so we got some wonderful suggestions from the MSAC committee that we weren't being clear enough on where the applications could be

[00:04:01] found so both online and paper applications and also when so we went back and we edited in multiple sections here in the policy so under on line 27 we added our website that's where a family can find the application so we linked the website there and then also under we added a section called free and reduced price meal applications again knowing that this is the most important part and we want to be infinitely clear so we added section b and again linked the

[00:04:38] application there and then said that these applications the paper applications would be available at the schools starting six days before the first day so they are we like to get them as soon as we can we have to get them approved by the Virginia Department of Education before we can make them available to the community but we felt like we could commit to six days so we added that and then we added one more place section 2 47 through 51 that section we added a link as well

[00:05:15] again just it is our heart's desire that families can find these applications so we put it in a number of places and felt like those suggestions were excellent for us. Thank you very much for that summary. I have no real questions around the revisions. I think you've summarized them really well. From my perspective, I'm more curious around the first day information. And if you can just give me a little bit more context around what the families will see in that first

[00:05:49] day information related to uh reduced and free meal uh information is it a link is it the full print like a print version of the application itself um excuse my ignorance on this so no it's a link to our website so the application is actually located on our website and first day information goes out before the application is available so we're we are thinking that we make them, give them access, answer questions about the free and reduced price meal program in the first day information, but it doesn't actually appear until six days prior to the start of

[00:06:28] school. So we start by having them go to our website because there's a wealth of information about the program there. Okay. That's helpful. When specifically will families receive the first day information? Like how long before? I'm looking at my notes. I asked for that same date and I'm going to have to get back to you because I am not positive but that is important to know so can I get back to you with that information of course and on the website where

[00:07:04] they're being referenced in the first day information will it say that the application will open up on a specific date or six days before the start of school will it be explicit in that yes we can absolutely commit to that that's not a problem there's also a lot of Q&A on in the first day information so that would be appropriate there as well just to make that infinitely clear okay board members any other questions or discussion i do um i'm wondering if there are any um so i

[00:07:38] see that you have it in english or spanish do we have any other accessible i mean translations and the rest of that is not can we do that on the website you can we don't do that on the paper but you can on the website is there the ability to have that on paper if needed it wouldn't be problem we could have it at our office and i imagine we could um figure out you know the based on history what the requests have been and maybe because that's how we decide how many to print to

[00:08:13] begin with so absolutely we could look at years past and see which application you know which language is predominantly requested and again we're going to send these out to the schools um based on how many paper applications were filled out in the prior year so we could look at those we would have that data thank you absolutely any other questions or discussion yes mrs griffiths thank you chair streffi um chair streffi uh did you you you already mentioned

[00:08:46] that the date was 20 uh 2023 did you already say that i thought you you were talking about a date Oh, I was I was asking about the date that families receive the first day information versus when the application for reduced and free meals will be available and just kind of comparing the two.

[00:09:05] But I don't I didn't I don't remember mentioning anything about 2023. Oh, OK. So a link that's included with the Virginia Department of Education Office of School Nutrition Programs Monthly Eligibility Report for program year 2022-2023.

[00:09:23] so i i thought that maybe i i missed that and you had discussed that um is there a more dated updated report for 2023 2024 um what is the percentage of students who qualify for the free and reduced meals uh meal increases each year so i apologize are you referencing that year in particular i'm sorry well i mean you have 2022 2023 so for 2024 do you have the numbers of

[00:09:55] of students that qualify for the reduced meals we actually do we report that the official count date for our program is october 31 and the vdoe will publish that on their website this month i believe so um but yes we can provide that so you're looking for the current year is that correct yes correct um you have up to 2023 what was it in 2023 and i just want to compare the increase okay do you have the 2023 numbers yeah we can provide i'm sorry you're talking about posted on

[00:10:31] school nutrition's website correct yes yes um i can get that all for you so absolutely um and also um for the red line copy 20 to 22 now please correct me here um there was an issue with edits It's the red line copy, 20 to 22 community eligibility provision, CEP.

[00:10:56] CEP is defined as a non-pricing meal service option that allows schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to all enrolled students in low-income areas without requiring household applications. Again, can you confirm the percentage of how many LCPS schools qualify for the CEP provision?

[00:11:20] Is it 25.6% of LCPS schools? It's 11 schools, yes. And last question, what is the cost of the reduced meal?

[00:11:41] Can you clarify what you mean by the cost of the reduced meal? Well, I mean, when I was a kid, you know, there were, you know, there were reduced meals that you could buy.

[00:11:57] Like, let's say you forgot your lunch or whatever. So what's the, what is that? What's the cost? I mean, I paid for it at the time, but I'm just curious to know. It would be the same cost, wouldn't it? It is.

[00:12:12] And thank you for providing that clarification. The meal is the same regardless. So it is the same price, whether or not you're a paying student or you're a free and reduced student. Oh, I just wanted to know the cost. For a paying student, are you?

[00:12:31] Well, I'm sorry, which category are we talking about? If it's the same, what's the cost for a reduced meal? Okay, we'll provide that. Okay. Thank you so much. Sure. Sorry. I think one last question from me.

[00:12:47] The six days, are there any restrictions or limitations that are trying to limit the number? I mean, to keep this as close to the first day of school as possible, what are some of the limitations on our side from making that longer?

[00:13:08] Or what other considerations that go into setting that date? We're really at the mercy of Virginia Department of Education to approve our application. So the way it works in school nutrition, if you start school at the beginning of August, they will review and approve your application first.

[00:13:31] Whereas with us, since we're starting later in the month, we're behind all the districts that start earlier in August. So we're usually putting pressure on them to please get our application reviewed and approved so we can get it posted and disseminated. So it really is up to them to get it done.

[00:13:50] We submit that information on June 30th. So they have it all that time. It can be very frustrating. Well, thank you for providing that additional context. That really helps. Absolutely. I mean, the only other comment that I have from my side is I feel pretty comfortable with the revisions to this policy with the condition that obviously some additional clarity goes on the website or in the FAQs related to when the application will be

[00:14:24] live and available for families to fill out. Any other questions or discussion? I just have one more question real quick. Is it still true that even if a kid does not have money at that time we still provide them with something yes absolutely okay i just want to make sure thanks and where is that would that not be in our policy that's just a standard operating procedure or is it a regulation or anything it is in um unpaid meal debt policy 61 30 that we have

[00:14:57] to yes absolutely any uh final discussion or questions so board members then let's move on to uh a vote all those in favor uh please say aye aye aye um for this to go to consent to consent is that well this would uh you know my assumption we can talk about that afterwards but um

[00:15:32] my assumption is this would go to the full board um i i would not want this to go on consent to the full board oh okay yeah because i'll be looking for numbers i was going to put an email together okay thank you yeah that's a that's a good point as well there's there are some outstanding questions so all are we ready to finalize the vote all those in favor aye aye aye so that

[00:16:03] motion will pass unanimously and this will go to the full board moving on to action item 4.02 support services gmp2 award for rfp 23520 cmar part 2 construction services for park view high school replacement presented well we will move on to the motion so i'll make the motion i move that the finance and operations committee approve and recommend the loudon county school board approve

[00:16:38] the contract award for gmp2 under contract 23 520 for 148 million 743 thousand and 32 dollars to dustin construction inc and authorizes the chair to sign the final documents upon presentation do i have a second second seconded by chair mansfield um mr pascarelli um our director of construction would you like to add any comments to this um this motion thank you mr streffi uh I will step in for Mr. Pasquarelli, who is out today.

[00:17:14] So we appreciate the board's review of this or the committee's review of this. As you noted, this is part two of the construction process. The CMAR, which are construction management at risk contracts, are done in phases. And the board had previously approved part one in the pre-construction phases of the contract.

[00:17:32] This will be the final, or GMP2, which stands for guaranteed maximum price. Number two, that finalizes the rest of the scope of the work and has us ready to engage the contractor with the full scope of the work. The first set, as you might know, the project has already begun some work out on the campus.

[00:17:50] We're really excited about that, and that work is being done under GMP1, and so we are happy to move forward with GMP2 and happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, Mr. Lewis. Board members, any comments or discussion?

[00:18:11] Seeing no comments or discussion, do we feel comfortable to take this to a vote? Okay. All those in favor, please say aye.

[00:18:29] Aye. Aye. And that motion will pass unanimously. And Mr. Lewis, do you feel that this should go on consent for our February 11th meeting?

[00:18:47] Thank you, Mr. Streffi. I meant to ask that. We are comfortable with that and would appreciate being able to do that, but it's at the will of the committee. Okay. All those in favor of moving this to be a consent item, please give me a thumbs up. I think I can see your thumbs up. Yes, I can. Okay, so it looks like we have all three committee members giving a thumbs up for consent. So this will be on for consent. Thank you.

[00:19:15] Moving on to our information items. Our first information item is business and financial services, RFP R20251, Instructional Supplies and Related Services, Renewal, presented by Ms. Filiot, Procurement and Risk Management Director.

[00:19:32] Thank you. And I will start by saying all of these have the option to go on your consent agenda at the next finance committee meeting or come back as action. so I wanted to add that due to time I was trying to hit the common factors in these the first one is a renewal the final renewal for our instructional supplies and related services with school specialty incorporated this is for the supplies ordered by the teachers for the teacher classroom as well as by the schools and is being brought before you this evening is the estimated value of this award is 1.5 million dollars thank you the only comment I had was there

[00:20:12] was a statement in the information item that said there were no changes in the contract terms and conditions but then there was a second part of that sentence that said with updates to the market basket based on current usage what does that mean attached to your document you have the market basket what the market basket is is the most frequently purchased items by the school system and every year they take those items and give us a special pricing below the catalog discount count price. So it is simply a change in pricing, not a change in any of the terms and conditions

[00:20:46] within the contract. Okay, thank you. Board members, any other comments or questions? Yes, Ms. Griffiths. Thank you, Chair Streffi. I think I remember this from last year. This is the renewal. We were discussing the supplies. I'm bringing this up again. I'm refreshing my memory.

[00:21:12] The supplies at all the schools, the storage rooms where they would be able to find the supplies. can you get a little bit more into detail I understand they receive an allowance some of the teachers receive allowances but I was requesting that teachers be able to go and get any supplies they need at the school can you give me some more information on that yes each teacher every year is annually allowed to sit that they sit down with the school specialty website and they order their supplies for the start of the new school year whether it be using their instructional allotment or their extra teacher allotment that they have available to them they order those items off of this contract and they are

[00:21:51] delivered in bulk to the schools in August also anytime during the year they can do those same orders but they just come by UPS as deliveries are made in addition the front office can use these to equip their storage rooms as well as classrooms these are used along with our office supply contracts that we have with Amazon and Office Depot are the truck to primary users that we use for our office supplies. So there's two different contract methods for these supplies. But if a teacher runs out, they are able to go to a storage room and get more supplies? That would be handled

[00:22:28] on a school-by-school basis. I would not have that information available as far as what they put into their supply rooms. Does the principal order as well, or is it just the teachers? The teachers generally order. The principals can also place orders, but they will place their order through their financial technician who will put the order in the system for them but they have that ability as well so they would take into account if they ran out of something the year prior okay all right thank you so much you're welcome thank you any other questions or discussion seeing none uh board

[00:23:04] members would you like uh to consider this item um for our um next fno meeting uh consent agenda all those in favor thumbs up okay i believe we have all three of the committee members um with of thumbs up so um this will go to the consent agenda to consent for the next fno meeting moving on to our next information item 5.02 um business and financial services ifbi 25316 secondary music

[00:23:40] instruments and furniture for new schools and ongoing needs um and this is again presented by miss filial procurement and risk management director and as miss griffiths said she'll probably remember this one from last year too we're all coming back around now to our annual this is a new contract we bid this contract annually due to the fluctuation in pricing related to these musical instruments the item this year we only saw one percent increase which is really good compared to past years and these are for the items that are used at our secondary level music programs and are awarded to various vendors per the attached award

[00:24:16] recommendation. Thank you and this might touch on what Mrs. Griffiths asked in the previous information item but how are these needs established and how are the purchases made?

[00:24:33] Are they made in bulk or are they made individual because there's multiple vendors in that sheet and do the schools purchase directly? So how does the purchasing happen through this vehicle? For this particular contract the primary purchases are made by our music supervisor.

[00:24:50] Reason being, this year we're not opening a new school. So this is just a contract for ongoing needs. So if a band increases and they need another tuba or they need another saxophone, he can order that. So it's on a needs basis. It's based on what the schools need to equip their musical program.

[00:25:09] And it's done through the music supervisor's operating budget. Thank you. Board members, any other comments or questions? Yes, Ms. Griffiths. Thank you, Chair Streffi. Last year, and I don't want to speak for Chair Mansfield, but we were discussing the marketing of the instruments to the schools.

[00:25:34] I didn't know that you had these instruments and you offered them to kids that may be interested in that sort of thing. My son ended up with a second instrument. So I'm just curious to know, was there marketing and advertising for these extra instruments, to try these extra instruments?

[00:25:57] I'd really like to see a lot of marketing and advertising for kids that may not know that they don't have to go to a store to get the instrument, and they might be able to get it from the school. How is that going? Can you just let me know? I would have to get more information from Mr. Pearson, the supervisor of music, But I know that based on our meetings last year, he did a lot of work with the secondary schools to say, hey, we've got these options out here.

[00:26:21] We want kids to be able to play instruments. I mean, I know kids that play two different instruments, right? So they want to make sure they have that opportunity and they're not turning them down because they don't have enough instruments or the instrument that the student wants to play. So I know based on last year that he did do a lot of work with the secondary schools.

[00:26:40] And as far as I know regarding my son, he didn't see the marketing himself, but his teacher had asked if anybody wanted to take up this secondary instrument. So I really like that option to really get out there and let everybody know, all the kids know, hey, you know, we have these extra instruments, maybe try it, give it a shot.

[00:27:05] So I'm real big, and I don't want to speak for Chair Mansfield, but I'm really big on the marketing and letting parents and students know that we have these instruments because I was not aware before. So thank you, thank you very much.

[00:27:24] - Thank you. Board members, any other comments or discussion? - Vice Chair Strafi. Yes, Mrs. Griffiths, I agree with you. Yeah, we're on the same page. And I would like, you know, and I think Mr. Pearson would probably be happy to follow up with us and because we want to give as much accessibility to music as possible thank you seeing no other discussion board members um are you all okay with this item

[00:28:00] also going on consent for our next fno meeting and if it goes through consent on the next fno meeting to go to consent on the uh to the full board so thumbs up um yes i believe all three committee members have their thumbs up um so this will go on consent and then follow to consent to to the full board. And that, just for the record, right, for 5.01, that would be the same. It would go to consent to our next Finance and Operations Committee meeting and then follow to consent to

[00:28:34] the full board. So moving on to our next information item, 5.03, Business and Financial Services, RFP R24254, American Sign Language, ASL, Interpreter Services. And this is, again, presented by Ms. Filion. Thank you. This also, this is the first renewal. You awarded this contract last year to multiple vendors. Multiple vendors are needed for the American Sign Language services as there is a need at any given time, day meetings, evening meetings, parent meetings.

[00:29:10] These services are available, coordinated, and scheduled to have the interpretation services available when needed and being brought before you this evening for your approval. Thank you. Board members, any comments or questions? Seeing none, can we get a thumbs up or down to move this item to consent for the next F&O meeting and then to follow through as a consent agenda item for the full board meeting. Thumbs up? Okay. So that item will

[00:29:49] go to consent. Chair Mansfield, did you have something? Yeah, I just wanted to be clear with the procedure. So it would go on consent and we would vote on it here in the committee. And then from there it would go to the board. I just didn't want anybody to say, okay, we'll just go. So I just wanted to be sure with the procedure. With the condition that it gets approved on the consent agenda. Thank you. Moving on to 5.04, business and financial services, RFP R24253,

[00:30:22] benefits consulting and actuarial services renewal, presented by Ms. Villione. This is also the first of four renewal options for this contract. You awarded this contract last year to Aon Consulting to provide service and assistance to our benefits programs here at Loudoun County Public Schools, including such things as helping with the creation of solicitations, data analysis and consulting services and is being brought before you this evening as the base value of this contract is $346,000.

[00:30:54] Thank you. Any questions or discussion? Yes. I would like to take a look at it a little bit better before it goes anywhere, if you don't mind, Chair Struffy.

[00:31:12] Sure. So no questions as of right now, but you'd like the opportunity to review this so we keep it off consent. Any other questions or discussion? Reviewing, when does this contract expire?

[00:31:41] This contract is currently effective right now through February 28th, 2025, and then the annual renewal will be through February 28th, 2026, with three additional renewal options after that. So it's on a year-to-year basis.

[00:31:58] Okay. And assuming that this will go to the full committee for action, what would, in order to make sure that we have this item approved by the full board by February 25th, which is, would anything special need to happen? I just want to be aware.

[00:32:22] That is right on schedule if you guys do this as an action item on February 18th passes on the February 18th as action Goes on the school board consent and is approved on February 25th. We will be fine in the event There was further discussion. I would request like a one-month extension to get us through until approval So there's options available if there were questions that did come up So just to remind everybody to that even if it's on consent for the school board Someone can always pull it off and we can vote on it then.

[00:32:52] That's always an option during the meeting, too. Right. Okay. Wonderful. So it sounds like, Ms. Griffiths, you still want to keep this off of consent?

[00:33:12] Yes, Chair Stringer. Sounds good. Any other questions or discussion? Seeing none, we'll move on to 5.05, Business and Financial Services, RFP R23251, Building Commissioning Services Renewal, presented by Ms. Filion.

[00:33:29] This is the second renewal option for this contract. This particular contract requires building commissioning services to get a list of qualified firms to commission LCPS building projects throughout the year. These projects include both construction services appropriated budget as well as the CIP funds.

[00:33:49] The estimated value of this contract is $1 million and we did see a 3% rate increase in the services offered under this contract and is being brought before you this evening for your approval. Thank you.

[00:34:04] The only question I had was, were any of the previous vendors left out of the renewal? I didn't have the historical context that I just wanted to ask. All vendors that had previously had a contract renewed. Okay.

[00:34:21] Board members, any questions or discussion? Seeing none, would we like to put this item on the consent agenda for the next Finance and Operations Committee? Thumbs up or thumbs down?

[00:34:37] I believe I'm seeing everyone's thumbs are up, so this will move to consent. And our final information item this afternoon is 5.06 Business Financial Services, IFB I-23321 HVAC filters for ongoing needs renewal.

[00:35:01] Ms. Filia, you can take us home. All right. This is actually a renewal. As you had stated, there is no change in pricing for these services. The estimated value of this contract is $785,000 to provide the HVAC filters used throughout the school system.

[00:35:17] and that based on the value of the contract is being brought forward to you for your approval this evening. Thank you, board members. Any comments or questions? Seeing none. Can we get a thumbs up or thumbs down on whether to put this item through to consent on the next finance and operations committee? Okay. I see all three thumbs are up. So this item will move to the consent

[00:35:46] agenda. Moving on to new business. Is there any new business for this afternoon? Seeing no new business. We'll now adjourn this January 21st meeting of the Finance and Operations Committee.

[00:36:07] Thank you all very much.

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