Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, Specialized Programs & Centers Committee Meeting, Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 42m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1053585871?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] Hey. Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to call this February 4th, 2025 meeting of the Special Programs and Centers Committee meeting to order. My name is Dr. Rashid, and I'm the chair of this committee, and we appreciate your presence here today. The purpose of today's meeting is to discuss the Academy of Global and Linguistic Studies update and a proposal, and the Specialized Programs update.

[00:00:28] So before we proceed, we value public input. So if there's anyone from the public that would like to say something, they can. Let's just fill out a speaker card at the registration table. And I'm not sure if anybody signed up for public comment. Okay, and we will move forward.

[00:00:49] All right, so first off and foremost, we need to approve the minutes from our last meeting. Has everyone had a chance to review the minutes? And are there any corrections or additions? There's no objections or corrections.

[00:01:06] i entertain a motion to approve the minutes from december 3rd 2024 yes miss labelle i move that we approve the minutes from december 3rd of 2024 i'm so moved and all those i second obviously all those in favor say aye aye any opposed say nay so the minutes are approved uh let's begin by reviewing the agenda which is very brief and kind of what i mentioned before um we're again talking about two information items which is the academy of global and linguistic studies update and proposal and the special programs update are there any adjustments or additions

[00:01:44] to the agenda go ahead and raise your hand and state your proposed change all right so we will move on to our agenda item the first item is the academy of global and linguistic studies update and proposal i'll turn it over to mr slevin to present thank you dr rashid i'm happy to have the team here to do most of the presentation today i would like to note though that this item is an information item for this committee meeting we did present this earlier in the school year to the special programs community to get some initial feedback and thinking from the committee but at this point as you know it is proposed in

[00:02:23] the superintendent's estimate of needs to support a planning year for this Academy and so in order to prepare for that planning year we need a approved proposal from the board so we would like to get your input and feedback on the proposal as it is now we would bring it back in our at our March special programs meeting as an action item and then it would go to the full board for an information item and then ultimately action approval prior to the end of the school year.

[00:02:53] So with that, I'm going to turn it over to Ms. Clark, our Director of Academic Programs. Thanks, Mr. Slevin. And as he stated, our updated proposal is, the full proposal is in board docs for you to review. But just want to kind of review some of the information that we shared with you, I think, back in November. So the Academy of Global and Linguistic Studies will provide an opportunity for students to become globally minded problem solvers through meaningful engagement in the sphere of the international relations and high need languages

[00:03:29] to tackle current and future global challenges within an academic. The program will offer two career-focused pathways with a paired language with the potential for expansion to other languages.

[00:03:47] So as you can see there, we'll have a global leadership pathway with Arabic partial immersion and the Global Business Pathway with Chinese Partial Immersion. Both pathways will focus on language proficiency, cultural competence, global problem-solving skills, and academics.

[00:04:06] The academy will be housed in LCPS at one host site, and we will do that once we get approval. We would pick that like we have any of our other programs through a process for that host. So here you'll see some data, the top chart.

[00:04:26] While there are several special program options in high school for students pursuing careers in STEM, opportunities for students pursuing careers in the humanities are currently limited. In 2022, the LCPS Curriculum and Instruction Committee wanted to determine student and parent interests and preferences in language offered in LCPS.

[00:04:49] Arabic and Japanese were among the top choices. Currently, Arabic is not offered in LCPS, and Chinese is only offered at two of our high schools. The National Security Language Initiative has identified Arabic and Chinese as two of the most important languages for government and military work.

[00:05:09] The bottom chart, in 2022, families were surveyed on potential special programs that LCPS could offer in the future. While an international global studies special program was not on the list of possibilities, a civic leadership academy was listed as a potential program and gained significant interest.

[00:05:31] Now I'm going to turn it over to Kelly James, our world cultures specialist. Thank you. So as we look to expand our world language course offerings through the Academy of Global and Linguistic Studies, this chart shows a comparison of neighboring districts and districts of similar size, and the world languages that are available to students in person at both the middle and the high school level. The languages that are in bold and read are the languages that are less commonly taught. In LCPS, as a reminder, Chinese is offered at two schools and we currently have three or four

[00:06:06] sections of Russian at one school. So looking into what makes this program unique, one of the big pieces, because one of the pathways is preparing students for global leadership for work in State Department, Homeland Security, really that proximity to DC is an ideal location that allows us access to resources and lots of opportunities for these students.

[00:06:30] As Ms. James just highlighted, the expansion of national security languages, so focusing on those critical language skills for national security. And we did a lot of research of other programs across the state and really across the country prior to and in the process of writing this proposal. And one thing that really sets this one apart is that it's career focused.

[00:06:48] programs in neighboring districts and across the state tend to focus more on global leadership, global citizenship, and this really is focused in on getting students into careers in the State Department, Homeland Security, those types of roles, and or global business. It's also relatively cost effective. It does not require any specialized equipment or anything of that sort, and really I think it's a pioneering initiative. As I mentioned, we did extensive research. There is not really anything like this definitely nothing like it in the state and something similar maybe

[00:07:23] in some ways in newark new jersey we did visit a school however some of the things that we're bringing that will make this unique is the interdisciplinary nature we've talked with the english supervisor about how cortex will reflect the cultures of the area students are studying and how science courses may reflect case studies from the areas they're studying so it really is that interdisciplinary approach, and also the fact that it's building on existing programs like the Loudoun International Summit that really could make Loudoun a leader in all of this.

[00:07:52] I'm going to pass it to Ms. James, who also has heard from our national intelligence community as well as local businesses. So we received a lot of positive feedback and support from a chief member of the language group in the National Intelligence Agency who said that it would clearly be an outstanding program that would definitely build the language skills, regional knowledge, and domain-specific expertise that we need for our national security workforce and for our business and financial communities. We also received a letter of support from the executive director of Loudoun Economic Development who confirmed both the need and opportunity for a program like this situated

[00:08:29] here in Loudoun, home of Dulles International Airport and the international business community within 30 miles of D.C. International business is a cornerstone of Loudoun business community, attracting more than 122 top international companies seeking entry into the U.S. market and creating more than 4,000 jobs.

[00:08:47] We also gathered feedback from our teachers, teacher leaders, and principals. And really, things they highlighted was the increasing interest in courses that they're seeing, like comparative government that focuses on or international relations, as well as clubs with a global focus, like Global Ambassadors, Model UN.

[00:09:06] They highlighted that this complements existing educational initiatives while also providing students unique pathways tailored to their interests and aspirations. It offers options for advanced programs in humanities. As Ms. Clark already highlighted, there aren't a lot of options for students looking to pursue something in the humanities.

[00:09:23] And it really highlighted the opportunity, all the opportunities with our proximity to Washington, D.C. So our goal would be to empower students to become global citizens and effective problem solvers by providing immersive educational experiences in international relations, fostering that multilingual proficiency, developing more cultural understanding, and then a technological adeptness to address contemporary global challenges.

[00:09:48] And the Academy of Global Linguistic Studies will focus on the objectives of language proficiency, cultural competence, global problem-solving skills, and interdisciplinary academic excellence. We know that language learning leads to cross-cultural understanding and the ability to communicate and collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds, as well as the confidence to engage in global communities and take part in a global economy and international workforce that is becoming increasingly culturally diverse.

[00:10:18] So on the screen here, you'll see our timeline. So right now we are in the 24-25 program and budget approval stage. If we get the proposal approved and the funding allotted, then we would move into the 25-26 planning year where we would do program recruitment, enrollment, stop hiring, and training.

[00:10:42] And then our first cohort of students would be starting in the 26-27 in the 9th grade with 100 students at that host school. And then in the 27-28, again, would be that year two where we would have 9th and 10th graders.

[00:10:59] And as you can see, we would continue to build out that program through the 12th grade. So I want to spend a little more time talking about what these pathways would entail. Pathway one, the global leadership pathway, students would have partial immersion in Arabic.

[00:11:15] So 25% of their school day would be in that language. And then as they progress, they're going to be getting advanced coursework in international relations, conflict and cooperation. We will provide students opportunities. The school culture will have embedded opportunities for other exchanges and activities that might promote a better understanding of those cultures.

[00:11:35] And really the goal for this track is to prepare students for jobs in national security, State Department, international organizations. The other pathway, the global business pathway, would have that partial immersion Chinese, Chinese for 25% of their day, with their advanced courses in junior and senior year focusing on dual enrollment economics and entrepreneurship, looking at jobs in global companies, multinational corporations, with the similar opportunities open to them where there are opportunities for internships and exchanges.

[00:12:03] So just as an estimated budget at the one school location, you can see here an overview. And the next slide, we're going to see a more in-depth view of the budget, it would take five years for full implementation to get that planning plus the four years of students through the cohort student enrollment would be 400 students in that program 100 per grade level you can see the cost there and then the total ftes part of that cost would be the four positions which would be one coordinator one content specialist and two fte support that program

[00:12:40] here's the more in-depth look of the budget items across the year so you can see what we're asking for in this current budget cycle would just be that, really that coordinator position with a little bit of curriculum and professional development funds to just get that planning year up and running. And then you can see across FY27, FY28, FY29, what those additional costs would be. And then finally, really what this is about is expanding opportunities. The Loudoun International Summit was very much a grassroots. I myself was a sponsor when I was in the classroom

[00:13:19] for the summit where we were bringing in students from all over the world to engage in real conversations about the UN sustainable development goals and how they can have an impact in their community so this would allow for an expansion of that and coordinators and specialists and a school that this is one of their focus the specialist the global education specialist would be able to promote global education across schools right now we do have teachers that do exchanges but expanding those opportunities um internships field trips um like I said we have a wealth of resources in DC that would provide opportunities for our students um and

[00:13:58] also curriculum enrichment to ensure we're keeping that that concludes our presentation we'd be happy to answer any questions you might have at this time thank you so much for this um for this presentation very well thought out and very detailed I'd like to open the floor for discussion so members of the committee do you have any questions or Ms. LaBelle.

[00:14:25] Yes, I was wondering, you're going to have both of these programs in the same school or two different schools? I know you have the Global Leadership and then the Global Business. So they would be two pathways in one school, so yes.

[00:14:43] Is that what you refer to host site on one of the slides? Okay. And what determines which school? Is it a survey that we look at? We look at demand? Great question. So we have a process in place for that. so we will once we get approval we will hold an information session for all of our high school principals to attend and learn more about the program to see if they think this is a good fit but there's a lot of criteria that goes into it we look they have to fill out a survey that they're interested with some questions of why this would be good for their school but then we also pull

[00:15:19] together a committee that reviews the interest from the principal because we want the leadership on board to support the program to make sure it thrives and then we'll also look at location transportation is it you know where is it located and then also capacity at that building as you know some of our schools have more capacity than others at this time so we would look at all of those components in making a determination for that host site for the program and then I noticed the two differences in the slide there was one side with red bold in it and then there was another slide before that that had asterisk as to the

[00:15:58] parents demand versus the students request. The one that had the red bold in it. What was that again? It was something about the most common. Those are our less commonly taught languages. The next slide that has the comparison. Those are the languages. So at most schools we have French, German, Latin, and Spanish. So the bolded languages are the languages that are not that is common. So American Sign Language in high school that is common. That's what you're saying. Chinese, Russian. That's all ASL, in Latin, is not as common of a language that we have, which is why it's bolded.

[00:16:33] It's not a common language. Okay. It's interesting how everything centers around Washington, D.C. We say that a lot, and that's beneficial to us.

[00:16:48] Why not take advantage of it? Any final thoughts or comments on this? Can I make one follow-up comment? Yes, please. So in regard to ASL specifically, because that is a topic of interest to our community and the board, I think I would use the word specialized in terms of languages due to our ability to offer the course based on finding appropriate staff to meet the demand so I'm not correcting Kelly but what I think about ASL is the specialization versus like our Spanish and

[00:17:23] French I think we would that is why in the budget we're proposing different approach for ASL this year like can we somehow take a regional approach to offer some of these languages and grow so just need to start I think thinking as a county a little bit differently to how we're offering courses these languages would definitely fit into that model.

[00:17:51] Thank you, Mr. Slevin. Any final thoughts or comments on the agenda item, on this agenda item? We'll move on to our next one, our next item, which is special programs update, and I'll turn it over to Mr. Slevin to present.

[00:18:10] Dr. Masheed, Ms. Clark is going to take the lead on this presentation as well to provide you an update on a number of items related to special programs. Thanks, Mr. Slevin.

[00:18:41] So today we'll provide a brief overview of the admissions timelines for our special programs, share some details about the IB stipend positions that we have in place, highlight the outstanding work being done in the HAMSTIE program, and discuss the potential need for a possible new survey.

[00:19:02] So up first, we'll provide a brief reminder about our current admissions timeline for special programs. So as you can see here, our AET and AOS, that deadline was back in October, and the enrollment window will be in March.

[00:19:23] We've aligned those programs so that all of them will be in that March timeframe, as you can see here, for our high school programs. So Advanced AET and MATA, that one is still currently open and will close on February 10th. Again, students will find out in that March to August timeframe for enrollment.

[00:19:43] Our Health and Medical Science, our International Baccalaureate, and our Navy Junior ROTC program, That closed on January 31st, and that enrollment window is March through August. I do just want to point out our HamSci and IB does remain open.

[00:20:00] We pool for the lottery on that January 31st date, but we do leave that open just so there's no confusion here. I just want to clarify that. Those students that added after January 31st will be added to the wait list of the lottery by date and time.

[00:20:17] So just wanted to point that out. Our dual language immersion is actively, students are enrolling for that, for registering for kindergarten and enrolling. That will be open until March 21st for kindergarten and first grade wait lists and offers.

[00:20:33] And we will be doing those enrollments from April through August. Now I'll transition to talk about our IB stipends for international baccalaureate. As part of the IB diploma program, students have to take courses in the six subject groups.

[00:20:54] And they also have to complete the core. The three core components are the theory of knowledge, in which students reflect on the nature of knowledge and on how we know what we claim to know. They also have to do something called the extended essay, which is an independent, self-directed piece of research that ends with a 4,000 word.

[00:21:18] And then lastly, they have their creativity, activity, and service, in which students undertake and engage in activities related to each of the three strands. So these stipend positions for the IB program are crucial to ensuring the program's success and sustainability.

[00:21:35] Each of these stipend positions plays a vital role in guiding students through the demanding requirements of the full IB diploma program, including those three pieces of the core. The stipends recognize the dedication and expertise required to fulfill these roles, effectively, ultimately contributing to the overall success of the program and the students it serves.

[00:22:00] These three stipend positions have weekly after-school meetings for their particular area. Multiple times a week, they have face-to-face time with students to hold progress checks and ensuring the students are meeting the necessary requirements and they design and maintain the handbooks for each of them.

[00:22:20] Each core has a handbook. So specifically, the TOK, the Theory of Knowledge, stipend responsibilities include but are not limited to collaborating with DP teachers to integrate TOK across the school, preparing students for presentations and essays, and ensuring assessments are properly uploaded with all necessary paperwork completed.

[00:22:45] Additionally, the role involves facilitating professional development for teachers, chairing and managing TOK team members and promoting tolerance, understanding, and international mindedness. Encouraging community participation in TOK lessons, staying updated on TOK developments and curriculum changes, and working collaboratively with the CAS and EE coordinators to implement CAS and EE within TOK content are also some of the key responsibilities. The extended essay stipend responsibilities again are some of some of these and not limited to

[00:23:25] ensuring students select an EE subject taught at the school and assigning appropriate supervisors the role involves introducing explaining and supporting the reflection process providing both general and subject specific EE guidelines to supervisors and students and completing signing and submitting the reflection planning and progress form additionally the Responsibilities include providing EE exemplars, ensuring familiarity with IB academic honesty requirements, coordinating three mandatory reflection sessions with students, and verifying

[00:24:01] and confirming the authenticity of a final essay before the final reflection session. And the last one is our Creativity, Activity, and Service stipend. And again, these are just some of the responsibilities, but not limited to implementing the CAS objectives according to the cast guide aligning cast activities with the school and ib philosophy and communicating cast matters with parents students and staff the role also involves monitoring and maintaining records of cast activities facilitating cast related professional

[00:24:37] development teaching cast lessons on the stages of service learning providing quality reflection exemplars and ensuring student community interactions at all stages of the service And next, just wanted to share some examples of what those creativity, activity, and service projects could be.

[00:25:00] So as you can see here, for creativity, they could design and paint a mural in a public space. For activity, they could organize a school-wide fitness challenge with various events. And then for service, they could plan and execute a community garden to promote sustainable living.

[00:25:17] Those are just a few. There's some more listed there. And so I just wanted to share some examples of what those projects are going to look like for those IB, the full IB diploma. And next, I would like to have Vandana Sharma, our Health and Medical Science Coordinator, just share a quick spotlight from that program.

[00:25:42] Yes, Ms. LeBell. I was wondering if we could ask questions on the IB program before we move on to the next one so they don't get forgotten or lost. Absolutely. Okay, thank you. When I look at this cast, do they have to do one of each creativity, the creativity, the activity, and the service project?

[00:26:08] Do they select one or two of them, or do they do all three? Yes, they have to do all three. And when I look back at the one we had before it, at the signing up for the AOL, did you find that there were more students signing up this year in the, I know you're not finished yet, but in the MATA program, did that open up more this year?

[00:26:39] We have some initial numbers, but the process is still. Yeah, that process closes on February 10th. But yes, we have significant interest in our programs, all of our programs.

[00:26:56] Okay, thank you. So, and I can share, I don't know if I have MATA written down. You have 24. Oh yeah, I have 2,000, this was as of yesterday, approximately 2,640 students for MATA. But again, that one is still, the window is still open.

[00:27:13] Okay, thank you very much. Those are a couple of the questions that I had. But in comparison to, like, at this time last year, just because we know how, like, things have changed when it came to lottery, is that, if you know, is that higher than what we had proportionally at this time last year for the MATA folks or the MATA applicants?

[00:27:34] I believe it's slightly higher, but I would definitely want to confirm that. I was very curious, and I'm excited to know. Absolutely. And then what did DP stand? It was in dual? DP stands for the Diploma Program. So there are four programs that IB offers.

[00:27:51] They offer the PYP at the elementary, the MYP at the middle years, and the DP, which is the diploma program. That is the program we're authorized. And the last program they offer that we could consider is the career program. It's the CP program, so diploma program.

[00:28:08] And then also with the volunteer you had mentioned as the services, can they start that any time in the four years they're in high school in the IB program? So that really starts, the DP program truly starts in 11th and 12th grade. so that is when that um kicks in is 11th grade but does it let's say like a freshman in the ib program or a sophomore would like to just volunteer in any of these things at the under the service title could they do that um let's say they did that in 10th grade could that count towards their final uh ib diploma so to say um i'm not sure but i can find out and get back yes very specific

[00:28:43] but the dp is specifically for 11th and 12th um so i i believe it has to happen within that But they absolutely, as a school, try to engage all the students and get them to participate. But I can find that answer out and get back to you. No problem. Thank you so much.

[00:28:59] And while we're on IB, I do want to take advantage of speaking directly to these stipends since it was an interest of the board at the budget session last week. One of the things that we had the opportunity to do when we were developing our IB programs is to work with the International Bank of Moria.

[00:29:20] And early in the process, we had some advising about how to support programs. And it's common that these three particular topics are supported in some form or fashion in IV programs across the country and the world. So when requesting a stipend in the budget process, staff, such as Ms. Clark, are responsible for listing out what those job responsibilities are, The number of hours that we anticipate them working every week outside of their regular workday because these are just teachers at Valley Heritage that are receiving these stipends.

[00:29:55] Based on that number, there's a process that's used to determine the amount. These stipends were actually, if you recall in the presentation, there was an asterisk that said FY25. There were actually a budget for the stipends was approved last year, but the actual job descriptions weren't finalized.

[00:30:14] That's why they're showing up this year with that process. So hopefully that helps a little bit of understanding of how we came to that role and description of what they do. Yes, Ms. LaBelle. So I'm trying to understand how many teachers do we have teaching IB in each school?

[00:30:33] Is there one or a core like of three that teach everything they need and one of them would get the stipend? How would that work? So we have teachers in subject areas across almost all subject areas that teach IB.

[00:30:50] So it's not just a couple teachers. The schools selected their CAS stipend, EE stipend, and so the coordinators worked with their school staff to identify those positions, and then they submitted those names. So those are teachers, again, that are also most likely teaching IB, but these are extra responsibilities outside of their contract day.

[00:31:14] One teacher per stipend. Multiple teachers aren't getting the stipend. No, that wasn't my question. I just wondered if it was one teacher and a stipend, and I'm thinking, wait a minute, how many do we have? So that clears it up. Thank you very much.

[00:31:40] While Mr. Slevin is pulling it up, thank you so much for spotlighting HAMPSAI tonight.

[00:32:01] I am so excited. I'm really proud to be part of this fantastic opportunity for our students. At HAMPSAI, we focus on providing students with hands-on real-world learning experiences that develop critical skills while exposing them to exciting careers in health care.

[00:32:21] For example, our students this year have participated in labs like DNA fingerprinting and toxicology. These activities not only hone their analytical skills, but also encourage them to think about the ethical and scientific complexities of solving real-world problems.

[00:32:39] Through these labs, our students engage in discussions about the ethical implications of DNA analysis and the interpretation of toxicology reports, preparing them to tackle complex scenarios. Career exploration is at the heart of HamSide.

[00:32:56] From the moment our students join, they learn about a wide range of careers in biomedical science. These include familiar roles like medical examiners, as well as less conventional paths like data scientists and contact tracers. To expand on this, to expand and expose our students to multiple career pathways, we've partnered with Inova to host a guest speaker series.

[00:33:22] Through this series, students will hear from professionals in radiology imaging, respiratory therapy, medical lab services, and diagnostic imaging. These small group sessions are designed to provide insight into their daily work, career journeys, and motivations.

[00:33:39] Students will also hear about logistics, like training requirements and salary expectations. We're excited to help our students connect classroom learning with real-world opportunities. And if you'd like to learn a little bit more about our guest speaker series, that QR code will take you to our flyer.

[00:33:58] And I want to thank you for this opportunity today. Questions about Hampside before we move on? Just a comment. It would be nice maybe one day for Hampside to have CPR just for their students that's just a thought but i you know i don't have a question so staff received that feedback and we talked about cpr i believe in cni so we're happy to uh back with an update on that all right so

[00:34:37] next we just wanted to talk about special programs and academies and potential new survey if this committee feels necessary so just to kind of remind you back in march of 2022 there was a survey so it's been almost three years coming up since we last surveyed our community about what programs and academies they might be interested in so our question for you this afternoon is does this committee are you guys interested in conducting a new survey for both students and parents and guardians and there's a potential timeline there if we want to discuss that of potential

[00:35:16] bringing back a draft to you to get feedback in April and then potentially delivering that survey and if I could ask and just for clarification for the committee this survey would be specifically for all the programs or anything specific just so that just so that we all know so dr. she the previous

[00:35:51] survey included some topics some specific ideas for academies and we also left it open-ended for just general ideas and input and so the intent would be to include existing ideas that are in development or have been put on the table, some specific, some more broad, but we would want input from the committee, you all, in terms of what you would like to be included. That's why I'd like to come back with like a draft survey to make sure it's meeting your needs as a committee. One of the things we're hearing from this committee is

[00:36:31] thinking about the future and having some data on what our committee is looking for help us as we make future recommendations for special programs and pathways so i think i think we have a lot of options where we could go that's why we wanted to kind of take our time to make sure we get a little put some ideas on paper and then get some input from you all before we move to the survey it's something you all feel like you need as a community yeah my thoughts are you know since it's a little

[00:37:06] bit dated and i think someone had mentioned before that normally surveys are conducted i'd say three years i think and in this case it has been a little bit of a while then there's been quite a lot of changes since 2022 especially since the pandemic um so yeah i'm definitely in favor of conducting the new surveys i just wanted to hear input from my colleagues here yes mr streffi very much i agree i think it would be a really good idea to see what a survey could look like to the

[00:37:38] community at this stage i'm also very curious about our cte office and what they have if that would maybe that that could align i know that special programs are different from cte and more more comprehensive but I just like to understand how the two coincide thank you mr. straffy any anyone else before we move further mr. Bell no I'd like to say thank you I think a survey would would actually be wonderful to have

[00:38:13] there's been some changes in career pathways availability different kinds of careers coming up little deviations from what the general road might be and I I think the survey would be very helpful in identifying the interest in those pathways.

[00:38:34] Thank you. I would say, Mr. Streffi, we are planning on bringing a CTE update in the near future to this committee in terms of the work Dr. Grubbs is doing with CTAC related to a five-year plan, where are some initial steps we want to take for program expansion or reviewing what we currently have.

[00:38:56] So the timing may work out that there may be an opportunity to seek some alignment there. So we'll definitely take that reflection and think about as we come. No, but can I answer the MATA question from earlier?

[00:39:18] I pulled up the data from last year that's in board docs from our presentation in November. So last year in 2024, we had 2,239 applicants. That was the total number for MATA. And as we sit right now, as of yesterday, it was 2,640.

[00:39:37] So, again, we do not close that until February. Just wanted to provide that. Thank you so much. It's just reassuring to see that it has gone up. I just wanted to ask one question from the Global Linguistics presentation.

[00:39:55] I forgot to ask. There was a brief mention about bus transportation. Would there be a heightened need, more of a need for bus transportation, wherever the host site would be, for such an offering? I'm just curious.

[00:40:12] So it would be like any of our other special programs. For students outside that zone, They would need to get to a hub stop location to take a bus to that host site. So same thing as our IB or HAMSci and JROTC, all of those programs.

[00:40:27] So they would need to get to that to be able to get to that host site. So, yes, there would be some additional transportation costs, but similar to any other special program. Thank you so much. And I just wanted to point that out to my colleagues. Like just, you know, this is what we were talking about when it comes to these little bits and pieces of transportation.

[00:40:47] I know it doesn't surmount like such a large amount of buses, but in the end of the day, it is important to consider because as we're coming up with more and more special programs, maybe we're going to need more and more, more and more smaller bits of bus transportation, even if they have to go to a hub school.

[00:41:05] So it's just something to consider. Thank you so much. Do you have any questions or comments about this item? I don't know if you guys were done with the presentation. Okay, so if there's any questions or comments about this last item before we kind of close. so our next meeting is scheduled for take out your calendars this is the big moment right March 4th at 3 30 March 4th 2025 that's our next meeting so mark your calendars and if there's no further business I entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting okay here a second

[00:41:42] those in favor of adjourning the meeting say aye aye those in favor say nay thank you for coming out

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