Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) Meeting, Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 3h (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1060341432?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] QR code for you to sign into our meeting, whether you are a member, a community person, a staff person, please just take a second and let us know you're here. Let us know if you'd like to get on our email list or not. My name is Liz Crotty.

[00:00:17] I am the SEAC chair, and we will get started now. We've got a couple of little presentations for you this evening, so I am very excited. First off, we are going to start with the topic of health care transitions, and we have Ms. Jeannie Kloman from Student Health Services joining us this evening to share more with us about that.

[00:00:41] So I'll let her get started. Thank you.

[00:00:55] Good evening, everybody. My name is Jeannie Kloman. I am a registered nurse. I've been a school nurse for many, many years, and I'm currently working as a supervisor for Student Health Services here at LCPS. And I wanted to talk to you a little bit about transitioning your student from pediatric health care to grown-up health care.

[00:01:22] This presentation aligns with our core values of holistic support and opportunity, holistic support, equity, and opportunity, and individualized success.

[00:01:42] And our strategic goals are highlighted empowered students, enriched division, and engaged community. So as we start with an overview of healthcare transitions, it's also called HCT for short, please hear what I'm saying and view the documents I'm going to be sharing with you with a lens of your child's developmental level.

[00:02:17] some things are going to be way too easy for some students that I talk about and some things may be more challenging and take a little bit longer for people to be able to do on their own so I wanted to just put that disclaimer in there and I'm going to share some products with you as well I'm not recommending one product over another and these are examples just examples and there's so many things out there that can be helpful and websites that can be helpful, and I wanted to share as much of that as I could with you so that you can support your student as they grow into an

[00:02:56] adult. So healthcare transition, or HCT, is the term used to address children moving from pediatric healthcare to adult-focused healthcare. It is suggested that plans for healthcare transition begin for you with your child around the ages of 12 to 14. So it's going to be important if your

[00:03:27] child is about that age to start practicing now. Some things that you can do is to begin to allow some independence with medical issues and appointments as is developmentally appropriate it for your child. If your child has a chronic health condition, the school nurse will try and support increased independence for students as is appropriate and safe for them at school, but we can also do this at home. For instance, if your child has a chronic health condition

[00:04:04] and is spending more time with friends away from you, you could consider obtaining a medic alert bracelet or card for them that helps others know if there's a medical emergency how to respond and help your child and if your child has a severe allergy for instance they could begin carrying their own epinephrine learning how to read labels to avoid their allergen and telling people advocating

[00:04:41] for themselves and telling people about their allergy and there are similar things for other chronic conditions such as diabetes or asthma or seizures that students can in some cases start to do for themselves during the ages of 14 to 15 we would like for your child to start finding out for you to find out what your child knows about their own health and your family medical history

[00:05:17] Both you and your child can take the Got Transitions Transition Readiness Assessment. There's a little picture of it here, and I'm going to show it to you in a bigger picture on the next slide. This is super helpful to just kind of first lead you to some things to think about, and then see where your child is, and maybe set some goals for the future to increase their independence in certain areas.

[00:05:48] During the ages of 15 to 16, children may begin to carry their own health insurance card, learn more about their health and what to do in the case of an emergency, practice making a doctor's appointment, and ordering prescription refills with your support, either by phone, online, or through electronic applications like MyChart, perhaps.

[00:06:16] Begin to see the doctor alone for portions of their visit, and that helps them gain some independence, managing their own health and their own health care needs.

[00:06:33] You can ask the doctor to talk with you about privacy rights and how that will change when your child turns 18. You would want to work with your child's provider to obtain a medical summary that they could take with them to their next doctor, their adult doctor, and talk with your child about what they would like to, how they would like for you to support them as they grow

[00:07:11] older. Maybe they would like to speak more with the doctor on their own and provide information to the doctor rather than having parents provide information. Maybe they have some private questions they'd like to ask the doctor without you present and these are good ways for your child to practice being independent with their health care it's also important to talk with your child about what they would like in the

[00:07:41] future before they reach the age of majority for young adults ages 18 to 21 your child is then of legal adult age and can be legally responsible for their own care. Parents and caregivers cannot access their adult child's medical information or be in the doctor's visit unless the child agrees or there is paperwork that has been filed to provide

[00:08:15] other access. Talk with your pediatrician, your child's pediatrician, and have your child talk with their pediatrician about making a recommendation for a provider, an adult provider that would be a good fit for your child as they move from pediatrics to adult health care and then once they have that person's name they can set up their first appointment and there's other documents that we can share that will be helpful for them at that first appointment. I

[00:08:53] wanted to show you a bigger picture of this health transition skills checklist. It talks about your child knows how to get to the doctor's office makes doctor's appointments has a list of medicines that they take knows how much of their medicine to take and then there's categories they can do this already they need more practice they plan to start doing this by a certain date or they will still need ongoing support and some of these things don't won't apply to your child

[00:09:27] I found this checklist at the Parents Educational Resource Center, which had lots and lots of information and documents that could be helpful to you.

[00:09:47] And one item that I found very interesting and super helpful is this letter of health care decision support that you can complete with your child. I'm going to pull it up here so you can kind of see. You won't be able to see the whole thing, but part of it.

[00:10:09] There's instructions here about how to use the letter, how to work with your child on the letter, what to do with the letter after you get it, what the letter can help you do, what the letter is not.

[00:10:25] The letter is not its own power of attorney form. You still have to have one of those if you need one. But the letter can be filled out by your child to share with their pediatrician now.

[00:10:43] Or as they get older, their adult care doctor. And it talks about their needs, what makes them comfortable, things that make them uncomfortable, how the doctor can explain things to them in a way that's easiest for them to understand.

[00:11:06] It can talk about how they understand their own health concerns and what they are and how they behave when they're upset, worried, or confused so that the doctor can sense this and they can work around those challenges.

[00:11:23] But I strongly urge you to take a look at this and I'm going to provide you, or your team here will provide you with a list of resources and links via email so that you can go back and look at any of these resources.

[00:11:38] and pull them up for yourself, okay? This particular letter I found from ARC, okay.

[00:12:04] I'm going to talk just briefly about advanced directives. This is not intended to be legal advice. I just want to bring advanced directives to your attention in case you hadn't thought about them before and just talk about them briefly.

[00:12:23] When we talk about advanced directives for people with disabilities, We want those individuals to have as much autonomy as possible while keeping trusted relatives and trusted others involved and available to provide support with health care decisions.

[00:12:43] We don't have a crystal ball, and we can't see into the future, so planning ahead and having the necessary legal documentation prepared and shared with all providers can prevent anxious moments in the future when you're dealing with a medical emergency or a serious diagnosis.

[00:13:08] So, I do have links in here to more information about advanced directives, and I strongly urge you to take a look at those if you haven't done so already. For consideration here, I would like to share a couple of items that I think could be very helpful.

[00:13:31] One of those is a medical alert card, and I'm going to show you a picture of that. I guess I'm not. Yeah, shucks. Okay. anyway it's like a credit card the credit card has a QR code on it and you can use this card to load up all your child's medical information their insurance card information their emergency contacts their health concerns medication that they take all of those things can be put on the

[00:14:10] card and they can keep it with them in case of an emergency similarly there is a bracelet that can also come with a QR code or it can just have the health concern and a phone number on it. EMS personnel are trained to look for those and those are super helpful if there's a medical emergency when your student is away from you.

[00:14:40] Consider helping your child learn how to use portals such as MyChart, which is a way where they can practice making appointments and then you can have access as well and follow up and double check and make sure that everything is done properly.

[00:14:57] They do have an appointment on this date at this time. With this doctor, you can check test results, make sure that appointments have been made for tests if tests are needed. So that's a really easy way can sort of work in tandem together on that.

[00:15:14] explore other tools that can help your child learn to manage their own medication and medical regimen. And speaking of tools, there is a toolkit that I found here. This is the Center for Transition to Adult Healthcare for Youth with Disabilities. And there are multiple toolkits here that would be very useful depending on the needs of your child. And I wanted to just show

[00:15:51] you a couple of those real quick. For instance, there's a toolkit under just about the basics of understanding health care transition, teaching your child about health care and their own personal health care. And then this one especially was very interesting leading day-to-day health care

[00:16:24] routines. There is in here a tool to help track medication administration, make sure that if they're going to be managing their medication independently or starting to do that, there's a way to check that off so they can be sure that they're not missing that. There's some tip sheets on tracking medication that can be very helpful. And just kind of some tips about moving through the

[00:17:01] health care process that are easy to understand and can be very supportive and there's in addition there's going to be additional toolkits coming out later on different topics and I wanted you to be able to see those too I thought there was a spot that should the ones that are to come but

[00:17:35] maybe not here they are understanding your legal rights in health care settings and this is for the student for the child meeting your health care visit so how to find your voice and speak with your physician and planning to move if someone's moving to an independent living situation there's information there too about how to manage your health in that way so I hope that you'll take a look at some of these and find that you find some of these resources helpful and I appreciate

[00:18:11] you having me here to speak this evening and thank you very much for your time. You're welcome. Does anyone have any questions for Ms. Cloman? All right. Well, thank you so much. Thank you. Those were some excellent resources. I can't wait to go and check them all out. I know I was writing them down, but the presentation will be available on our website. So if you would like to go in there and click on the links and look around, that

[00:18:50] will be available on our website under today's meeting. And so now we are going to transition, oops, it's not that far, into our movie. So I'm going to let Catherine introduce it. So I'm really excited to share On Beauty and the work of Rick Rodotti and Positive Exposure with you all tonight.

[00:19:19] Rick is a longtime family friend and advocate for people with disabilities. Started as a high fashion photographer, worked with the likes of Elle magazine and all the people and, you know, Cindy and all the ladies.

[00:19:41] Realized when he saw an individual on the streets of New York with albinism, realized how gorgeous she was, but she wasn't represented in anything that he did for a living, anything that was touted as beautiful, as amazing, as gold standard. And so he started to dig in and found NOAA, the National Organization of Albinism and Hypopigmentation, and said, oh my gosh, I'm so excited. I want to come and photograph all of your people. And they said,

[00:20:16] no, go away. I won't say exactly what they said, but no. Because typically what we find in society is negative connotations of people with genetic difference and in particular if you look at movies and print ads and things like that people with albinism are typically we see them as negative or villains or whatever and you'll hear in the movie you'll hear him talk a little bit about that so he took a step back started connecting with other genetic organizations

[00:20:50] which is how our family met him we work closely with the chromosome 18 registry and research society which is based out of ut health science centers in san antonio texas and so when we met rick along with our chromosome 18 buddies there was a cool connection because as a parent it's someone who gets it who doesn't need to get it he understands but he doesn't need to understand he will sit and he'll sit with you and cry but he doesn't need to he does it because his he has

[00:21:28] that heart and he has that passion for people and connection and um and he is an amazing artist so um when we talk about health care and transitions um to me these just go together really well because he focuses on photographing people with genetic difference and in the last 25 years has expanded to do work with the Weill School of Medicine and some of the

[00:22:03] other medical institutes, higher learning, so that there are opportunities to train new medical students. There is a book, a series of books, and they're just known in the medical education circles as Smiths. They are the books, if you've ever seen something that has a picture of a person up against a stark wall with a black line across their eyes, because that, you know, covers all the important parts, those are images from Smiths, and they show a really

[00:22:39] stark picture, and humanity's lost in those, and joy and choice of foods, choice of favorite subjects, choice of fun is lost in those pictures, and Rick really works to bring life and humanity and draw that out so that we are seen and that we are counted in life, in everyday life.

[00:23:05] So working with medical schools and working with health care teams, he has developed a project called FRAME, which I still can't remember the acronym FRAME. He will talk about that after the movie.

[00:23:21] But it is giving a voice for families and individuals living with genetic difference to share their medical history. What it's like having a diagnosis, what it's like going through the medical support process. difficulties and joys, difficulties are hard.

[00:23:39] Sometimes just finding caregivers is insane. And so having these resources for families to be able to access, to know they're not alone, but also for professionals to access, to gain a better understanding, it's life-changing for those of us who need those supports, who look to those connections to be able to function and move forward and all of the good things.

[00:24:09] So On Beauty came about in partnership with Cartemquin Films and Joanna Rudnick, who is a filmmaker, and it looks at the life of a few different people, kind of what Rick's work is about in a nutshell, and then following a couple of people on their journey to show what the positive exposure projects are about.

[00:24:37] Before we start, though, I have a couple of questions for you guys. And I'm hoping that you will pull together a little bit because I'd love you to talk in groups of three or four if you can.

[00:24:54] And there's three questions I'd like us to consider before we start the film. One is, what are society's traditional standards of beauty and how do these standards impact individuals with disabilities or genetic conditions? So if you can take a second and just in your peer group there, what are society's traditional standards on beauty?

[00:25:19] What do you think?

[00:25:42] Okay, there it is. So we're just going to... Perfect. Okay.

[00:26:02] And maybe we can...

[00:26:18] Maybe take a little share. Yeah. Yeah. So about 30 more seconds.

[00:27:01] So coming back together, if you are willing to share out something that stood out in your conversation um we'd love to hear from you if we have any volunteers but i'm also really good at voluntolding so just stop it's nia's mom so hello uh we came to the determination we decided we

[00:27:38] wouldn't stick with just group three we ordered we said come on board because we're not we're inclusive so uh we noticed ready what was it symmetry symmetry yeah symmetry and what did you say? Young. And ready? White. There we go. Absolutely. Yeah, that's awesome. Irene. Okay.

[00:28:10] One second. I think inner beauty is interests and strengths. Interests are stuff that you like, and strengths are stuff that you do well. Sometimes those go hand in hand, but sometimes they do not. Strength is like working on a difficult math problem, but still being able

[00:28:36] to get through it. Skills are like being on your phone. Only at appropriate times, right? Yes. And I think one of my skills and interests is organizing, even if people don't think what I

[00:29:03] choose to wear is organized enough. Awesome. So I love that the first word was symmetry.

[00:29:20] Yeah, because we, when you have an individual with facial dysmorphology, whatever it is, they're not always images like them around.

[00:29:38] And so we talk about that in other ways, but we don't necessarily hit the symmetry, asymmetry piece. And so that's something that's been really important to me and our family, is having those conversations. So it's a big word, and we don't talk about it.

[00:29:53] Second question is, how do you think media representation, or lack thereof, affects self-esteem, identity, and especially for people who look different from social norms? So media representation when you're not in the social norm.

[00:30:19] Oh, yeah, exactly. What is the social norm? And that may be part of the question. Like, where are norms? Where do they come from? Who decides? Yeah, this one we can talk about out loud if you guys would like to do that one.

[00:30:43] I was going to say, it's not even just anyone with facial asymmetry, deformed, anything like that. We're talking a good population that don't fit in those norms.

[00:31:00] So how are we getting everybody now, inclusively, to fit into those norms where they could be part of that? Yeah. We always would say normal is a relative term.

[00:31:18] Well, and I think this question also is probably answered very differently today than 20, 30 years ago because we have an incredibly fractured media landscape and it's not the homogeneous landscape that we had at one time. So cultural norms vary widely.

[00:31:35] We talked also about, you know, over time, those things tend to drift in different directions and so forth. So it's not as clear as it once was. But you mentioned, I think, the key word, which is norms. And that's usually what you get back to in any society is anything that's outside the norm is not as as ideal yeah and it is very different and rick and i've had conversations from when he started positive exposure to today and how the

[00:32:10] conversations have shifted and where the the um everything has shifted because societal norms have shifted and we talk more openly about things than we did um my parents grew up in the whisper generation where you did not say things out loud like cancer or like those were just not norms.

[00:32:34] Now we talk about them freely openly and I'm grateful that we have that but it does there's a challenge in that. Last one and really quick and then we'll get into the good stuff. What does positive exposure mean to you and why do you think visibility matters for marginalized communities?

[00:32:52] So positive exposure not necessarily not the organization that you hear about but just positive exposure in general what do you think about that if i may i think i've mentioned it before i have a sister or had a sister who was down syndrome and she grew up with us she went

[00:33:26] everywhere with us all my friends met her their parents met her and i think at that point it started to normalize the idea that a child with down syndrome could go anywhere do whatever the parents wanted whatever his siblings did and it was fine so I think the more exposure you have

[00:33:48] the more normal it becomes any other thoughts on positive exposures on all sides yeah the exposure is great but in you know all around for us to be able to share with other people and for other people to be able to be comfortable to ask questions and come and learn and then hopefully be a part of the community and add support.

[00:34:27] You can't participate in something if you don't know about it. And sometimes if you don't have personal experience, it can be scary or, you know, just seem like an odd thing to try and break ground in a new landscape.

[00:34:44] So the exposure piece and being able to familiarize and, you know, share compassionately with others is a big way to avoid the isolation that I think a lot of people really struggle with when we're talking about this kind of stuff. Yes. I think for our family having open conversations, if you, you know, being able to talk about hard things and then, and being able to do that in, in that open setting with new voices and faces. And then we have crazy cool friends now because of those conversations. I was going to say, as a child, I can remember

[00:35:22] being uncomfortable around someone with Down syndrome or someone with polio or something like that I became special ed teacher but the point of it I think one word we're not using is empathy which is that the minute you engage with someone that's different and you learn about them you immediately develop a sense of empathy in the brain and that's so crucial with our young youngest kids to have included with them in their education is kids with all different

[00:35:58] kinds of disabilities it will make a world of difference for the next generation we've talked about the move from sympathy to empathy we we don't want to deal with sympathy that that means something is wrong that should be fixed or there's something so out of the norm that it should be set aside or something empathy is that connection to where you want to gain an understanding of the individual and where they are and hopefully that's reciprocated where then you develop that friendship relationship.

[00:36:34] So moving from sympathy to empathy is an amazing thing that we can offer in learning for all of our kids and for us. I just want to mention another point that is going to sound a little bit strange but it does help me with working with a lot of people with disabilities for the last 15, 20 years is I think about human being in a binary way.

[00:37:01] Like there is the spiritual side, the soul, and there is the form, the body with the mind and all that. So I look at all human being as whole because at the spiritual level, we are all the same. Whole, complete, and nothing needed. It's all there.

[00:37:20] But maybe the form is different, but that side of the spirit is the same. So once you hold that thought and the idea in your mind, you kind of look at them just like anybody else. Thank you.

[00:37:39] Did you have a comment? Okay. As an 18-buddy myself, I also think good experiences also need to celebrate and reward as well as not-so-good ones.

[00:38:07] Like after the past of my mom, We all decided to do a trip around the USA. Hey, I had some good experience with that, along with some bad experiences.

[00:38:27] And that was exposure, right? Yes. You got to see and do some crazy things. Zip line. A zip line. Irina's been to all 49 U.S. states and Canada getting to Alaska on a family reset.

[00:38:48] So yeah, your exposure and your ability to try new things and not be held back from trying, right? I suffer during December when me used to see a hatched up first. Yes, bye.

[00:39:06] Awesome. So I want to dive into the film. It's about 28 minutes. There are snacks and water in the back if you need something really quick.

[00:39:22] Rick will be joining us right after the film for Q&A and to share some updates of what's happening with positive exposure. So here we go. It feels pretty freeing because you can do whatever you wanted on the bike when you had your halimunda on.

[00:39:53] Take all your anger out on the track. People, they stare. Am I really that different that you have to stare?

[00:40:18] I see you on the street and say, that's albino. Instead of thinking, okay, that's gym, you know? You don't see us like a passenger. Hi, guys.

[00:40:36] I was a fashion photographer in New York City. I'm actually traveling around the world, photographing people with genetic conditions. I had never thought of the power of a photograph as in the impact it would have in someone's life. Where would you want to see Rick's photographs?

[00:40:54] I think that it would make a lot of girls realize that there are people out there with differences. As a fashion photographer, I bought hook, line, and sinker into that whole beauty idea. This is the face, this is what you do.

[00:41:11] And I thought, there's got to be something else. Do you see this? You're going to die when you see this. Awesome!

[00:41:30] Wow! Photographing someone with a difference. Somebody will come and see the photographs and say, you're really capturing their inner beauty. And I'm like, fuck inner beauty. These kids are gorgeous.

[00:41:46] i remember when you kissed your first boy at a race no yes you came running back to the truck and you said mom mom i just kissed the boy no i didn't kiss him i was five and he kissed me it's not an exciting story

[00:42:17] we did know that we were going to have a sarah and we were celebrating and when she was born i remember i said what is that i was not getting any answers from any doctors i had a dermatologist who i worked with and she said i'm sorry i can't come to the hospital i'm

[00:42:54] not affiliated with the hospital and I said bullshit you're my friend get in here and see me it was called Sturge-Weber syndrome the birthmark is also on the brain on the eyes and the complication was neurological problems and Sarah could be a person that really couldn't function in life and this is my

[00:43:33] elementary school. I haven't been here since I left school. I've developed this way of not seeing people staring at my birthmark. Kind of basically I look down when I walk so I don't have to stare look at people staring at me. If I fall promise not to laugh at me. She left for homeschool when she was in eighth grade because she had difficulty being in a school environment. If you're not

[00:44:09] the most popular, than you sit at the lunch table by yourself. I was quiet. I was. I always just sat there and ate my lunch. Where is she? Get over here!

[00:44:28] Hello. Hello. Um, actually, I rode motorcycles. What? The time I was 13. I have to tell a lot of kids about you now. This is 20 years for me of, like, ushering her through life and trying to make her be a really comfortable person in the world.

[00:44:59] Come here, look at this. Come here, you gotta see. Is she gorgeous? Sarah! So gorgeous!

[00:45:18] Oh, it's gorgeous. I like my hair. You're hot. What really kind of pushed me to the next level as a fashion photographer was that at one point I was shooting Cindy Crawford.

[00:45:45] I had a certain innocence and also a certain beauty, a definite beauty. I see the hype, but it was all done for me. Her hair, her makeup, I didn't feel like I was in any of those images. It was Arthur didn't care about the person inside the photograph.

[00:46:04] He could change how people saw a dress, how people saw a look, but not how people saw themselves or how people saw the world. I've known Rick 30 years.

[00:46:20] That is just not who Rick is. I remember looking at the camera and I'm thinking, I don't even have to be here. Oh, this is not what I want to be doing.

[00:46:57] The internet and trade loop for albinism information in Africa. Let's see, what is your name, John? I'm John. My name is Anne. Anne, I'm Rick. I didn't get any directly about Kenya. But I came across Rick and positive exposure.

[00:47:17] Sometimes people think it's the mother's fault, but both mother and father have to carry the gene. The photos that I saw, they're like, wow, oh, there are still more people in the world who have albinism and who are actually smiling. I was, oh, Rick is now the person I need to contact first.

[00:47:38] Oh, Jerry, you look stunning. In the olden days, Niva Child was born with albinism. The midwaves were supposed to kill it at birth. It's something like an abomination.

[00:48:00] Thanks, John, that's great. You're called money or working banknotes or what, what have you. Those issues you can say, let them go. Like somebody stopping you and calling, hey, person, what should you stand and start fighting for, no?

[00:48:17] You know the reason why this person has called you money? You know why? Okay. Yeah, you know. You can be killed and then your body parts be used, maybe for business purposes, sold. If you talk to people in Tanzania, this is how it all started.

[00:48:32] Some African witch doctors claim the body parts, skin, golden hair, and even the genitals of albinos will bring good luck in love, life, and business.

[00:48:48] More than 40 albinos have been slaughtered in Tanzania, and it's now spreading across East Africa. If something happens to you and you keep it to yourself, and the next time he'll grab you and take you. So help the guys understand we are not money, we are not.

[00:49:07] This is a possibility that could also be in Kenya.

[00:49:34] These are classrooms, and I used to sit there at the center. People with albinism have low vision. Some of these kids go to blind schools, but I went to regular schools.

[00:49:51] And you see there, the blackboard looks grayish. The contrast was too low, so I could never see what the teacher wrote. What were the kids like toward you at school in this classroom? They didn't want to be social with me. But when it came to classwork, they always had to come to me because maybe they had a question and I would be the only person to answer.

[00:50:13] So they had no choice. In high school, it was my first time in a boarding school of about a thousand girls. We had these open places where people go take a shower.

[00:50:29] One day, I was taking a shower and the whole school was there looking at me without clothes. So after that, like, I would even miss taking showers to avoid people looking and making nasty comments.

[00:50:52] Oh, hello! Oh, hello! Oh, that's it.

[00:51:09] Oh, Jane, Mathera! They thought I cannot get out. Oh, no, that happens still today. Yeah. I think I'm going to get out of here.

[00:51:29] I'm going to get out of here and get out of here.

[00:51:51] After my mother died, I was shocked. Did you hear that? Yes. I was here, because I was here. I was here to help my mother.

[00:52:06] Yes. I was here to help my mother. My mother, I was here to help my mother. Okay, so she says, I was born by a mother like you. - Like me.

[00:52:22] - I get very nice. - So.

[00:52:38] - Hi, it's very nice to meet you. - I could be making millions of dollars a year. - Be very calm. - Ah!

[00:52:59] - Hello, this is Joe. - Hi, Joe. - Hi, how are you? - It was 1997. I just did a huge casting. I left the studio and was running down the street and spotted this beautiful kid waiting for a bus. I knew she had albinism.

[00:53:14] It was like somebody punched me in the head. I read the medical textbooks and found albinism, and it was all the same type of image. They were images without humanity, of sadness, of illness, of despair. - He came up to me in the bus stop and was like, I really want to photograph you.

[00:53:33] Like, gave me his business card and everything, but, you know, growing up in New York, like, you hear, like, you know, there are all these sorts of creeps out there, you know? And I sort of was like, uh, no thanks. I went back the very next day, but I prepared a little sample of my work, put a letter to her mom.

[00:53:50] I think the second time, he, like, brought a portfolio and everything, and I was like, oh, I guess this guy's legitimate. The sweat was pouring off me, and I thought, okay, great. But then a week went by, nothing happened. I had it on the bus, but I think, like, it still kind of, like, weirded me out, so I left it on the bus.

[00:54:07] You left that folder on the bus and hid it? I did. I spent hours on that goddamn folder. and I would go out there all the time thinking well maybe and I never saw her again it's taken me over 10 years to photograph her so I contacted national organization for albinism and said hey let's show the world the beauty of albinism let's work together and they told me to get lost later found out this because there were fears of exploitation every time there was an article

[00:54:39] it was always about a victim or a sensational story albinos burst into flames am I the bits of despair and like so you can tell me if you like the images we'll partner and they agreed the girls walked in for the first shoot and sat down and i mean that's how she sat i know rick's described this but this is how she was when i first photographed the first girl christine in

[00:55:18] my studio when i was like you are stunning and then this kid just went boom his motivation was to do a beauty story, as Rick Guidotti, the fashion photographer.

[00:55:41] He hired the best stylists right off the runway closed. I brought her to this one agent and she said to me, she said, "Well, this isn't what Condé Neste is doing." And I wanted to, I was like, excuse me, one second, open the window and I was going to jump out or push her out.

[00:55:56] He went from company to company to try to sell them on the idea that just because they let Cindy Crawford keep her mole is not speaking highly of the inclusiveness of what's beautiful. And I started thinking, well, Life Magazine, why not? But I'm like, I don't know anybody at Life Magazine. So I figured, well, I'll just call. I just remember looking at them and going, wow, he just turned convention on its head. In the media, especially in magazine photography, you photograph rich people and celebrities in color and with really flattering lighting

[00:56:32] and ordinary people are always photographed in grainy black and white and natural light so that every flaw is obvious it was in the magazine in six weeks as i started shooting people i was also

[00:56:53] talking to them and i was hearing about their own experiences and i was taking notes a little heckling from friends like why would you bother you can't make money at it what's the payoff you don't understand that this was a human movie after the life magazine piece came out i thought That was it. We're done.

[00:57:33] These are going to be such great photographs. And then I started getting calls from people in New Zealand, in the UK, the States, saying, you got to meet my son, or I'd like to meet you, or my son needs... I gave this to my daughter, and she has them all up on her wall, but it's not helping. You need to meet her. Can you meet her?

[00:57:54] This is Susan Shaper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My name is Mr. John Curtin, and I'm from the quaint little town of Bolton, Connecticut. No, no, no, it's okay, it's okay. No, no, no. Okay, it's okay.

[00:58:10] We have to be quick. We have to go quick. Okay, my name is Michelle Moon. I'm 26. I can drink margaritas. Right after Life Magazine came out, the chromosome 18 registry contacted me and they said, this is such a universal message here.

[00:58:29] Would you come to our family conference? But first I did my research as I was supposed to, what chromosome 18 is, and saw really horrible photographs. And I thought albinism was so easy. This is terrifying. I don't want to do that, I don't want to do that.

[00:58:45] But I went and I opened the auditorium door and was instantly surrounded by kids screaming with laughter. At that moment, surrounded by kids drooling or on the floor all over me, taking photographs, I thought, shit, this is what I've been in training whole life to do. I mean every time he sees her I need to take a picture of this gorgeous baby and you can just see he he knows that she's beautiful. I found out in utero I was 22 weeks pregnant he had a tumor growing so that prompted an

[00:59:24] amniocentesis. They did the amnio and then they said that he was going to be profoundly retarded had no quality of life that bringing him into this world would be a disservice to my family into the world. The doctors actually faxed me two research reports on Ring 18 kids with pictures of aborted dead fetuses while I was pregnant with him and they said this is this is it this is all we know I'm sorry and so it was it was quite horrendous to take away somebody's hope is it's just wrong and I don't think they should do that to anybody one of the tools that they're they use at school for training made by a doctor who

[01:00:04] created a system of showing how a condition presents itself a diagnostic But he's getting the kid's head, and he's, like, saying, well, this is Noonan's syndrome, and he's turning the kid's head. You see how, like, unattractive and how little, like, how recessed the jaw is and how abnormal the size of this eye is.

[01:00:23] Notice his severe malar hypoplasia. What do I do if my daughter or my son is diagnosed with this condition? I'll do the same thing that Rick Wadati would do. I would run the medical textbooks. And your only option here would be suicide. You start to mourn when you see that these are the images.

[01:00:38] hypothyroidism and down syndrome. Hi! Yeah, you're gonna enjoy that. This is Smith's. It's another book. I want to do the modern version of Smith's book of dysmorphology, but this is how I shoot.

[01:00:58] Well, but then, of course, Sturge Weber and ophthalmia. That's Wyatt, by the way, is awesome. But now here's a picture of cryptophthalmos, where the eyelid has grown all the eye. I definitely understand the need of education. What does, how does morphine syndrome present itself? But I can't I can assure you that no one has ever walked into a doctor's office looking like this.

[01:01:21] No. Carrying into a portable black bar. I just photographed a young woman with Marfan syndrome who, three years ago, as a 12-year-old girl, was asked to disrobe and walk down a table in a conference room with physicians and notepads.

[01:01:36] She's 12. You're impressionable at 12. That's kids scarred for life. As a medical student, I saw those pictures. I saw those pictures used to teach us about genetic conditions.

[01:01:51] People look as if they've never had a slice of pizza. They've never seen a movie. You know, they've never kissed anyone. And if that's what you see and that's what you learn, you'll never be a doctor that listens to your patients.

[01:02:07] Because those pictures look as if they're people that don't have anything to say. - Rick took pictures of him the way I saw him. Not the way everybody else saw him, But the way I saw him, and it was the first time I had somebody tell me how beautiful he was.

[01:02:25] He didn't tell me he was small. He didn't tell me he had fat cheeks from his steroids. And they were these most beautiful pictures of this blue-eyed little baby.

[01:03:17] When we discovered him and he came to us, he's 16 years old.

[01:03:39] Wow. And he could not talk. Oh, no. And he felt maybe this boy need not to be seen. Oh, everybody must see him. Like, he's been locked in the house for 15 years. It's growing back now. Yeah, he was in 15 years in the house.

[01:03:58] You're amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Mother, where is the mom? No, we have never trusted the mom, we've never trusted the dad. We only know the grandmother. It's so painful to see, like, the same things I went through, people still go through.

[01:04:18] To tell mothers of today how to raise their kids with albinism, first I have to forgive my mom. But that thing has left a scar in me. I can't forget it.

[01:04:54] I didn't want to set up positive exposure Kenya. I saw the impact of a visual image as a very strong tool of passing information.

[01:05:11] This is your first day in the office. Your first day at work. So you're going to be okay? Yeah.

[01:05:31] As a kid, I grew up being afraid that I would be rejected. But now I have to be afraid of my own life, which has been contributed by a culture that oppresses a certain group of people. So I think it's the high time we break some of these taboos and tell them we are not ghost-like, Like we are not special. We are just human beings.

[01:05:57] You see the organization is this positive exposure. I have a question. Can you reverse if you get really bad sunburns? Can you reverse it? To me, I think these are my beauty spots. True. Okay, thank you. Go ahead, Sarah.

[01:06:31] It's going to be a funny day. Okay, good. It's going to be very informal, very easy. I was very nervous. Why? You were home schooled, right? I was never in high school. Wow. I didn't think it was going to be this big. There are a lot of kids here. What do you think? Do they look mean? Intimidating.

[01:06:50] I'm a little nervous, too. Ashley was asked recently, is it difficult to meet people, especially boys? And Ashley's response was, no, it's not difficult. That's all he sees is my wheelchair. That's his problem. going and meeting Rick just gave her this huge push into her life I got my first job she's moved into her own apartment it's a huge step and it's one that's now stuck right now I'm studying for my GED even though I'm 21 now I

[01:07:28] haven't gotten it yet but I really want to I'd like to invite our Sarah Byron and Dominga. Anybody have any questions for our panel here? Any off the top of your head? Yes. I'm wondering if you have anger towards the people who didn't seem to accept you.

[01:07:50] When I was younger anyway, I definitely have anger towards the kids who just didn't want to be around me. And I always got the stares and that made me uncomfortable. I don't like going around high schools. That's changed.

[01:08:06] Like, did you have a moment where you realized that you're beautiful? I started to really accept myself when I met Rick, because he was always, you're gorgeous. It was like, I am. Also, if we'd like to eat lunch.

[01:08:24] You can eat lunch with the theater, too. No, that's on Fridays. At, like, 13 or 14, I started racing. That's how we're going to change the way people see difference.

[01:08:40] You know, you go like this, you know?

[01:09:08] shiny I stay up and write late nights my wardrobe is jeans and faded shirts a mixture of what I like and what I wear to work I'm not neat and got a neck full of razor bumps I'm not the classic profile of what the ladies want you might think I'm depressed as can't be but when I look in the mirror I see sexy ass me and if that's something you can't respect then that's me my life's better without you actually to everyone out there who's a little different I said damn a magazine these is god's fingerprints you could call me ugly but can't take nothing from me i am what i am doctor

[01:09:42] you ain't gotta love me the filmmakers so now i can't stop them so i apologize um rick is going to be joining us in a second um i wanted i made myself a note because i forgot about this in the

[01:10:20] film when he approached Conde Nast the first time and they said no several years later my older daughter Pauline and my mom and I got to go to a gallery opening of positive exposure in the Conde Nast building in New York City in Times Square and it was the most amazing thing because it was in a place where we shouldn't be, where we hadn't been welcomed and where all of these

[01:10:56] beautiful things and people pass through and all of this work, and we were there too, so it was amazing. Oh, there he is. Hi, friend. What do you mean Pauline didn't belong in Condé Nast?

[01:11:13] She absolutely belonged in Condé Nast. Well, she absolutely did. I should have brought the photographs of that, because that was one of our favorite nights, and especially our favorite night with you no gorgeous um irene is here and she says hello hi irene so we just finished the film yeah and you can see um most of us not all of us but most of us yep he can see you from right there

[01:11:45] if you wave right there yeah i could see so we just finished the film um we've we've not talked about it but i just shared that condona story because i i'd forgotten that was that piece was in there but we'd love to hear an update of um that was made a few years ago and you have been working tirelessly and have a lot of great projects and things happening so give us an update well sure well hi everybody it's so glad to be here i'm actually zooming in from new zealand i'm at

[01:12:22] the auckland airport heading back to la and then to new york afterwards currently i was here for Rare Disease Day, first later Rare Disease Day, which was the 28th of February, of course. And then Rare Disease Day certainly was an event in Children's Hospital in Sydney, Australia.

[01:12:41] And then we did a lot, had a lot of media coverage, which is really exciting. And so here I am heading back to the U.S. Lots of happens as we created that film. Sarah, I'll give you a quick update on Sarah, who's like one of my favorite people.

[01:12:56] Sarah, from being a very shy young woman, who then kind of now she's joined a women's roller derby team. And she's her current work, her roller skating, her derby name is Off Track Betty. And she's really good.

[01:13:13] And she travels to New York all the time, always competing. And she's really amazing. And her beautiful Jane White there from Kenya. We got married about a year and a half ago, two years ago. Two years ago. And her daughter was just born. Our daughter is Nadia, and I don't know if you can see her.

[01:13:29] That's our gorgeous Nadia, and she just turned a year old on January 22nd, our 23rd. So, yeah, so things have changed, everybody, and positive exposure is still going strong. We have since then started a whole film program called Frame, which is Faces Redefine the Art of Medical Education.

[01:13:48] Positive Exposure is a nonprofit organization that promotes a more inclusive world through photography, through film, and through educational programming. We have a really strong focus on medical training. We certainly hope that health care providers in training early in their training understand that it's never what you're treating, but always who you're treating, always forcing humanity front row and center in medical training.

[01:14:12] I know a lot of family conferences, a lot of family advocacy groups, as you saw, the Chromosome 18 conference in the film, but we've been to over 100 of those, and they're all in the summer months, and I go to as many as I can, but I bring local med students with me and I shove them in daycare and I lock the bar on them and I leave them in there and I always check back on them at the end of the day and they always have gum on their shoulder or poop in their hair but they're going to be better healthcare providers because they've met these kids not in crisis so that prompted us to create a film series called Frame which is Faces Redefining the Art of Medical Education very brief films 10-12 minutes long all accessible

[01:14:50] on our website all downloadable and the films kind of present the basic homework characteristics of a certain diagnosis or topic, but as presented by someone living that experience themselves. Again, placing front row and center in medical training, humanity.

[01:15:06] One of our films on sickle cell just won Best Documentary in the New York State International Film Festival, which is really exciting, and our documentary series on food insecurity, looking at the impact of food insecurity on prenatal and maternal health care, Adolescent care, adult care, and older adult care just won the Lake Placid docuseries episodic award for the best pilot, which is really exciting.

[01:15:34] So we're really broadening our audiences and really creating lots of opportunities globally to celebrate the beauty and richness of human diversity. So we're going to show, we have a gallery in East, we had a gallery for the last seven years in East Harlem, and we've just relocated to a 14,000, sorry.

[01:15:53] There will be one second. Sorry. I'm at the airport, as I said. Thank you. Thanks for your patience on that one.

[01:16:18] Yeah, so there's, I forget exactly. There's just so many, so many great things happening. So our gallery, we had a gallery in East Harlem, But we just moved to 14,000 square feet in the financial district in Wall Street on Maiden Lane in New York City, where we're going to create a positive exposure educational cooperative, bring all of our local collaborators, national and global collaborators and partners everywhere to showcase the work and their collaborations there.

[01:16:45] And then we'll also showcase and highlight a lot of our artists from around the globe, from our community, often at risk of stigma and exclusion. So you see, Rubenstein, you're all welcome to come and hang out at the gallery. I'll give you keys, come any time. Catherine hasn't been there yet, but Catherine, I can't wait to you.

[01:17:02] Come and check it out. It's kind of amazing. We just moved in in January, so we've got a lot of work to do. So hi, everybody. So here we have a quick update, and I hope everything's okay. Thank you. Yeah, I think one of the neat things that we haven't shared yet is the connection of individuals living with uh genetic condition disability um the pearls project oh is that still rolling oh yeah the project is an online blog platform that presents provides an opportunity for our ambassadors around the globe to talk about their lives from their unique perspective

[01:17:41] and that's also under programs on our website and accessible there's a lot of blogs that we're also using that to showcase the lives of our ambassadors everywhere in the world so it's transitioning a it from a blog platform to more of a showcase to show the talents and the art and the enthusiasm and the passion of our global ambassadors. So check that out as well. It's really exciting.

[01:18:05] Awesome. And you mentioned the summer conferences and things. Are there any that you would like to get into that you haven't made a connection with yet? Or are you kind of, where are you with those? We're always invited. We don't really solicit the advocacy organizations. We're invited, and generally when we can, we always say yes when we can.

[01:18:28] We're working now with a couple of other photographers, so if I'm not able to make it because of a previous conflict, we're able to send other photographers in our stead. We have worked with this wonderful photographer, Allison, who's actually traveled to a couple of our conferences as well. But again, it's all about creating imagery that celebrates the beauty and richness of human diversity.

[01:18:46] neat and just a quick plug in october um typically there is the positive exposure gala so if you need something fun and exciting to do on a tuesday or a thursday just tuesday in new york city i could always use a partner in crime come with me and see some of the amazing people that were in the film as i was watching it rick i just was remembering um so meeting dr nadia and meeting Jane and meeting and knowing Emery and Deke and living life with them. And I think that's

[01:19:25] one of the things, and I'm going to have to tell you something because this was a great connection tonight even. The piece that we talked about before about living life and connecting with people when there is difference and moving from the isolation to connection. And there is a friend here tonight who I met through another friend about 25 years ago 22 years ago because of Pauline and she's here tonight and we reconnected and I know her face and I know her voice here in the

[01:20:03] SEAC and as a strong parent I didn't make the connection that we knew each other through Pauline and through the chromosome 18 registry. So you're doing stuff in Loudoun County tonight, friend. Yeah, awesome.

[01:20:19] And I just followed Pauline's lead. Wherever Pauline takes me, I go. So Pauline has always been the forefront of every one of my presentations. She's always one of the first photographs I present after the Albinism Peace and Life magazine. And everywhere I am, no matter which country, which continent, which language, which culture, Pauline helped me spread the message that we all share the exact same needs.

[01:20:45] And that's a need to be seen, a need to be heard, a need to be loved, and, of course, a need to belong. And that's our Pauline who's taught me all those and continues to teach me. So, amazing. If you have a second, do we have any questions that you all would like to ask of Rick while we have him?

[01:21:17] Anybody want to travel with me? Here we go. I'll just make a comment because I know in looking at some of the materials and so forth ahead of this meeting, you look back in history and sometimes there's an uneven history about sort of the expression of people that are different.

[01:21:41] And sometimes that's been expressed as sort of a curiosity more than anything in the past. But I think that your talent for this and your motivation for this, particularly the niche that you found in medical education and using these talents that you have to really improve that process tremendously, is a great service to not just this community, but to the whole world.

[01:22:07] And so thank you for what you're doing, and thank you for doing it the right way. Thank you, sir. Thank you. It's an honor. It's been such an honor to be part of this community now for close to 30 years. And it's working with individuals and communities at risk of stigma and exclusion.

[01:22:24] But coming at it from the lens of a fashion photographer, truly, it really is looking at beauty and looking how beauty really does exist there. And it exists in full color. We're just told that it doesn't. And, you know, as a fashion photographer, we're always told who is beautiful, always to work within the, forced to work within the parameters of a beauty standard that I didn't necessarily create.

[01:22:45] It was so exciting to then be able to broaden the vision of not only myself, but so many of my colleagues and friends to see beauty in human diversity. And the beauty does exist. So thank you so much for that comment. So, Rick, before we saw the film, Catherine asked us a few questions.

[01:23:08] And so I'm going to ask you a similar question. Okay. You know, we talked about how as youngsters, or I did, we were very uncomfortable with someone who had Down syndrome or who had polio, something like that. Were you always such a good person, or did you have to learn a certain amount of empathy before you did this work?

[01:23:38] Well, you know, when I first spotted this kid waiting for a bus, I was working in the food and in the photography fashion industry. I was living in Milan and Paris and New York. And I was right in the middle of all that. So I didn't have anybody with a disability or a difference in my life prior to that spotting a kid waiting for a bus with albinism in New York City.

[01:23:59] And that kind of opened my eyes to the stigma that this young lady and people living with that condition shared, the stigma, the discrimination they experienced because of their difference. And one of the things that I've learned by watching and being listening and being excited to broaden the parameters of the beauty standard is that when we're walking down the street and we see someone that has a difference, either we stare at that person, but then we hear our mother's voice in her head screaming, don't stare, it's not polite, so that we look away.

[01:24:27] But after working 20, almost 30 years with these incredible community and these incredible ambassadors, they taught me that that looking away sometimes is even more painful than the staring. So it really is about creating, the drive here is to create opportunities to steady the glance, steady the gaze of the public, to don't look away, come back, come back, come back.

[01:24:50] Wait till you see, you'll see what I see. You'll see beauty. If you just look a little bit, ah, and then you see it. And then all of a sudden you're overwhelmed by this incredible sense of beauty. And then you stay enlightened. It doesn't shift back to the old way. So once I saw that beauty and that kid waiting for a bus, my world changed.

[01:25:10] And the greatest opportunity for me and the greatest experience for me has been to be able to present that beauty back to the public in exhibitions that are from the Smithsonian to airports in Canada to the Faroe Islands, Sydney, Australia, but around the globe, just creating opportunities to see beauty in that difference.

[01:25:32] And most importantly, all the images are presented the same way. They're always faceful on a face mounted on glass or plexi. So as you approach this beautiful face, this energy coming off the face of this image, you're also aware of your own reflection.

[01:25:49] So making it help you understand that it's not about them, it's about us, and it's about all of us all the time. Thanks for coming. I had a question at the beginning, right?

[01:26:05] you said when you were going to take the first photo of, and I can't remember her name, and she was, yeah, and she was like, oh, no, thanks, right, and she didn't call you back. It took you 10 years. I imagine now some of that gets easier, but do you still encounter scenarios or situations where people are, you know, afraid to take the pictures or unsure of your intentions or any of that still?

[01:26:28] Beautiful. So the first girl that I saw, that was Margaret, Margaret, who I first saw, but the first Girl, I thought it was Christine. Yeah, you know, I was just recently in South Korea. We're working on a global initiative, working with individuals that don't have a diagnosis. So, of course, when you have a diagnosis, you have your advocacy organizations, you have your family support group, your community, your specialists.

[01:26:50] When you don't have a diagnosis, you are pretty much on your own. So we're traveling around the globe, connecting centers of excellence to one another. So we're building community that way. And we always go to, We're working with, there's going to be an international conference run, an undiagnosed initiative.

[01:27:05] So we'll go through, we do a lot of preliminary work there for photography, so we create an exhibition. Going to South Korea, we were told that by the hospital that was putting this, hosted the exhibit, we're told that their community in South Korea, they're not, the culture here is not about celebrating difference, and they were not going to have a lot of people that wanted to be photographed.

[01:27:25] It's much more private, much more reserved. And so they were really concerned about me coming because they were afraid that there wouldn't be enough people to make it worth our while to go and photograph. So they reached out to 35 families, thinking they'd get about three to five. We needed a minimum of five families to photograph.

[01:27:44] And I did a little presentation, like a five-minute presentation of what we're doing. At first, it sounds a little like someone's coming to take photographs. Why take, take, take? Well, I haven't taken a photograph in 30 years. It's always a collaboration. So I made it very clear in the presentation.

[01:27:59] And all 30 families participated. So there's always a little resistance if someone doesn't know what's happening, what our perspective is, or how we're approaching this, or the history of positive exposure and why we're doing what we're doing. But once people understand that, they've joined very enthusiastically.

[01:28:18] And again, it doesn't matter what's country, culture, community, language, continent. People join enthusiastically and passionately. No one wants to be seen as a disease or diagnosis. And when we realize that these are presents, this is about raising awareness and celebrating the beauty and richness of human diversity, people join in full force.

[01:28:39] This is, as Joe Boggess says in the film, this is a human movement. Thank you so much. It's incredible. Thank you. Well, Rick, thank you so much.

[01:28:57] And always, always, I'm encouraged by you. And it's always, I can't, I'm not sure how many times I've seen the film. We've talked hundreds of times, but there's always joy, and there's always good stuff with you, and I'm so grateful for the work that you continue to do, and thanks for sharing it with us tonight.

[01:29:21] My pleasure. If I can throw a quick plug, on March 12th, we're going to be premiering online virtually two of our latest films that we received a grant from Robert Wood Johnson. These are films on our aging, intellectual, and developmental disability community, and And they have champions and health care providers that champion the community of people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their aging communities.

[01:29:44] So if you're around, I think we're screening the films at 7 p.m. Shoot me an email and I'll make sure you get on that. We'll send you the link for the screening. I think you can go to our website or you can also go to our Instagram, Positive Exposure, and find out and log in and register for the film.

[01:30:03] It should be a lot of fun. Hope to see you there. Yeah, we'll make sure. in our new space yeah yeah yeah it's um we're we're working on a trip already liz and i are gonna road trip it so yeah thank you come come come come thank you thank you so much love you thank you so much rick this is wonderful thank you thank you thank you and i hope you get to all the places you need to be safely okay um so how about we take a quick five minute stretch bathroom

[01:30:41] break and then we will jump into business so since we do have a bit to get through and I want to respect everyone's time. Public comment sign-up sheet is in the back so if you would like to make a comment during that period just add your name to it and then we will collect it right after the

[01:30:59] break. Guys we're gonna get started I know that was a quick little break kind of a tease. Once

[01:38:26] again for those of you watching at home or who didn't get a chance to give us your attendance there's the QR code feel free to scan it and let us know you're here these are our the role of SEAC and our Virginia regulations which you can find on our website if you would like to read in more detail I will not go through these this evening just to quickly introduce ourselves as I said my My name is Liz Crotty, I'm the SEAC chair.

[01:38:56] We have our Vice Chair of Planning, Catherine Moran, who spoke earlier. Our Vice Chair of Membership, Carla Sola. Our Vice Chair of Communications, Erin Rosalpoe. Katie Rosenbrook is our SEAC secretary.

[01:39:12] And then our past chair is Sharon Trope, who's joining us virtually. Dr. Paige Carter is our Director of Special Education. is not here but in her stead we have Tom Shelgren who is our LCPS special education supervisor and over to my right we have Carrie LaBelle who is our school board liaison and then our alternate is Melinda Mansfield. So first thing we're gonna do is admit our virtual attendees. Do I hear a motion?

[01:39:44] All right. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Nay? Any abstentions? All right. That is unanimous. We have Beth Carlson, Melissa Waugh, and Sharon Trofe who are approved to enter the meeting.

[01:40:06] Also, I sent out our February meeting minutes. Did everyone hopefully have a chance to look over them? were there any revisions that we need to make hearing none we will enter those in and get them posted on our website and next we have parent resource services with leanne kidwell to give us an update good evening everyone i'm leanne kidwell with parent resource services and we

[01:40:43] have a lot of exciting things coming up in march that i hope you can join us at the first one is this coming Saturday, right here in this room, the Summer Resource Fair for families of students with disabilities. So, it's a vendor fair with folks coming in that are -- Parks and Rec is coming, the YMCA is coming.

[01:41:07] We have a really cool -- Nova Cool Cats are coming, which is a ice hockey team specifically for people with disabilities. We have just a whole variety of vendors. It's going to be from 9 to 12. It's an open house kind of theme, so you stop by anytime between those hours and chat with the vendors.

[01:41:26] The next thing we have coming up is going to be next Thursday, and it's Parenting the Anxious Child. We had this last year. It was very well received. It's going to be a 102 A and B, and then the last thing is our diploma options, and that's going to be virtual, and that's at the end of the month on the 27th.

[01:41:48] We've had a lot of success with virtual this year, so fingers crossed we'll do more of that next year. And then if you need me, this is me. Any questions? Excellent. All right. Next up, we have public comment.

[01:42:10] We use our public comment to inform our work so that we can advise the school board on special education needs. We ask that you focus on system-wide issues rather than individual concerns or specific situations. Please do not use student or staff names.

[01:42:27] Verbal comment may be given, but please complete and submit a form tonight or some sort of written comments and follow up with our SEAC Secretary, Katie Rosenbrook, with your written comment. And your written comment can either be read by yourself or I can do it and just try to limit your remarks to three minutes, please.

[01:42:48] So first up, we have Dina Griffiths.

[01:43:02] Thank you so much, Ms. Crotty. Thank you for everything you do. My name is Dina Griffiths. I'm your Ashburn District School Board member. And I just wanted to come because I just wanted to let everybody know that what you guys are doing is very important as you advocate for your children.

[01:43:25] So I will be brief. I want to apologize. This is the first time I'm actually speaking since I've been elected. But, you know, there's been a lot of talk about playgrounds, transition centers, and restraint and seclusion. I thought I would take the time and share my thoughts on special education.

[01:43:43] I want to talk about something that should unite us and not divide us, special education. Supporting students with disabilities is not a partisan issue. It's a matter of ensuring that every child, regardless of their abilities, has access to education and the resources they need to thrive.

[01:44:03] I have tried to get funding needed, and I will continue the fight. I guess I am not understanding why more money is not given to special education and special education programs. It can be in the form of more teachers, a transition center, so many other areas that funding can make a difference.

[01:44:22] When we advocate for special education, we are standing up for opportunity and human dignity. We are recognizing that every child deserves a chance to learn, grow, and contribute to society. And when we invest in these students, we strengthen our schools, our communities, and our future.

[01:44:43] This is not about left or right. It's about right and wrong, common sense. It's about making sure that laws protecting students with disabilities are upheld, that funding is adequate, and that educators have the tools they need to support every learner.

[01:44:59] What truly matters? Giving all children the education they deserve, because when we do that, we all win. I am in this fight because I believe that every child should have the opportunity to be successful after high school. I have seen some great advocacy.

[01:45:17] ask you to continue to advocate for your children by coming to school board meetings and or sending emails to school to the school board and let me repeat please continue to advocate for your children and a better future with that said I am open to ideas on how I can help I am already looking into a program with the cast to do inspections of our schools and playgrounds that need to be replaced I would love more ideas I am here today to ask for your assistance for what we can do better to help the special education community take a look at budgets that's

[01:45:54] all public information and come up with suggestions of areas we do not need to fund that money could potentially go to the needs of special education i need your help and appreciate your help and keep up the advocacy for your children thank you very much our next comment is devon riley uh good

[01:46:33] Good evening everyone, my name is Devon Riley. I wanted to communicate a concern regarding the access to elementary specials for special education students, music, art and library for self-contained special education students.

[01:46:50] It has been my experience as a parent that there is no consistency in how schools approach this for their self-contained special education students. Some schools value the self-contained classrooms and put them in the master schedule, and students rotate through specials; however, some schools do not, and others do not.

[01:47:19] I did not realize that there was no guarantee for access for my self-contained student. I assumed that my child was getting to attend music and library and art; however, he was not. realized I immediately began to advocate for him to get access for this. It is March and he has had the opportunity three times to go to music class, zero times to go to art class, and zero times to go to the library. To truly solve the this problem LCPS needs to support the schools that they have enough special

[01:47:55] staffing to include these classrooms in a master schedule and at the minimum schools and IEP teams need to let parents know that their child's IEP is not including them in this. It should not come as a surprise to parents that oh wait my my kids not getting these classes. As a 20-year theater educator I have a very inclusive program and it not only benefits the special education students that are in my classes and in my plays but it also benefits the

[01:48:33] general education students as we talked about today the exposure the empathy that is created and the responsibility that we all have to not all to care for each other and to help each other with our strengths and our weaknesses thank

[01:48:51] you and next we have Pat Lodi good evening everyone my name is Pat Lodi I'm a transition teacher at Freedom High School I'm also the Hope Club sponsor

[01:49:23] um just to show of hands is anybody familiar with the hope club or the hope dance okay all right so for those of you who are not familiar the hope club is similar to like best buddies i'm sure most of you have heard of that organization so that organization i'm sorry hope club was started about 15 years ago i don't know have the proximate year but it was started by a student freedom high school student and we've been having dances for at least 11 years i've been at freedom for 11 years So we've been doing it that long with the exception of when we had COVID.

[01:49:58] So I just wanted to share with you about our event. So on April 8th, Freedom High School in South Riding, Virginia will host the annual Hope Dance, a heartwarming celebration for students with autism, intellectual disabilities, and multiple disabilities from all 17 high schools in the county.

[01:50:16] Last year, we welcomed over 300 attendees, including their incredible special education teachers and assistants, for a day filled with music, laughter, and moments of pure happiness. This year's theme is Glow Your Own Way, is more than just a reference to the glowing lights that will fill the room.

[01:50:39] It's an encouragement for exceptional students to embrace who they are and to celebrate it. At the Hope Dance, students will be free to dance, stim, sing, socialize, and simply be themselves in a space where joy has no limits.

[01:50:57] In times where the world feels heavy, events like this serve as a reminder of the goodness, resilience, and light within our communities. Last year, I witnessed a student with Down syndrome move to tears. And when I asked if she was okay, she simply smiled and said, yes, I'm just so happy.

[01:51:18] Those are the stories that deserve to be shared, the ones that uplift and inspire. I also want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Office of Special Education, Dr. Paige Carter, Tom Shulgren, and the Freedom High School administration and staff for their unwavering support in making this event possible.

[01:51:40] so let's make this celebration to remember if you have a high school student attending the dance have them put on their brightest neon or white let's light up the day with energy joy and an unforgettable memory does anybody have any questions about the dance yes yes this was sent to all of our special education uh deans um all of our designee uh assistant principals and

[01:52:13] department chairs so what uh basically we give uh we when we sent the email out we have the department chairs or the deans they email us they fill out a google form with the amount of students that are attending and the amount of staff okay uh you could contact the teacher or even the dean or department chair the special education it is yes good question it is during the school day so

[01:52:47] that we can have staff supervise so they will have to do special permission forms just like it with any type of field trip so that each school will have to do permission form as well as do reserve transportation. We have our nurses on staff. We have other amenities. We're going to

[01:53:12] have a changing table as well in a quiet room.

[01:53:30] Thank you. All right. Next we have a did you know talking about at your service special education supervisors but this is not Lucy. This is Tom Schalgren-Fellingen for Lucy. Thank you. I'm not Lucy, and I'm not Dr. Carter, so here we go.

[01:53:48] My name is Tom Schalgren. I'm one of your special education supervisors. I do have the pleasure of supporting the Light Ridge Cluster as well as half of the Freedom Cluster. I also oversee Virginia IEP. Tonight, I am going to go backwards.

[01:54:05] I'm going to talk a little bit about Lucy was unable to make it today, so I'm going to talk a little bit about At Your Service. One of our goals at the Office of Special Education was to go out and support our schools and our staff in a different way. Like I mentioned earlier, I already support the Light Ridge and Freedom Cluster, but that is specific to special education.

[01:54:26] At your service, what happens is schools will submit a form document asking for different types of support. The more applications they get, the more names they get in a hat in order to get pulled into a bucket to get their name pulled for us to go out and support.

[01:54:45] We go out and support each quarter, and the school gets to decide how they will use the special education supervisors that are there. We're there to support them in any way that they ask. For example, I had the privilege of going to Sterling Middle School because today was one of at-our-service days for this particular quarter, And they had a variety of different activities.

[01:55:06] There were seven supervisors there to support today doing activities such as teaching classes, collecting data, supporting teachers with writing IEPs, completing behavior intervention plans. I spent a lot of time filing.

[01:55:22] It's one of the things teachers are there to teach, so filing sometimes gets a little bit behind. So we were filing progress reports and IEPs and things like that in the file. It was amazing. This afternoon, there were a group that went to Forest Grove.

[01:55:40] Last quarter, I went to Watson Mountain. I had the privilege of teaching a self-contained science class. It's been a while, so that was kind of exciting. And then I also got to support an English class where students were getting ready to give presentations, and they were able to practice in front of me, and I was able to give feedback.

[01:55:58] So it's just another way, other than doing our normal supporting schools, go out and do other things that they are specifically asking for. On Monday, we had the drawing for our next quarter schools. I'm not going to ruin it because I don't think they've been notified yet, but I want to tell them Margaret's back there shaking her head not to share.

[01:56:16] But we know who those schools are, so we're very excited to go out and support them. I think Pinebrook is getting supported Friday because we missed them last quarter because of a snow day, I believe. so we're making that up on Friday to go out and support Pinebrook to do whatever they need.

[01:56:32] So that's just a little bit of another information we wanted to get out to you as to different ways we're going out to support our schools. Supporting parents, we are here to support you, not only the school.

[01:56:50] So anytime that you may be having concerns or questions that you might not be getting answers, you can reach out to your special education supervisor at any time. I field numerous questions from parents. Oftentimes it's something simple that I can answer. Sometimes I have to get additional information from the school, and then I'll either answer your question or let you know that someone will be getting back with you, and then I'll follow up with you, or your special education supervisor will follow up with you to make sure that you are able to get that answer that you need.

[01:57:19] We're here to support you through the eligibility process, the IEP process, answer any questions that you have. We're your advocates for you and your child just as much as you are. So anything that you need, the questions you have, please reach out to us, and we will support you in getting those answers or questions.

[01:57:38] Is there a list somewhere of which cluster is supported by which supervisor? Yeah, it's on our special education website. It lists all of those. You'll also see our nice little pretty pictures up there, so you'll have to put a name with a face.

[01:57:55] I know that's not my favorite picture, but that's the one that's on it. I know it looks like me, but it's not my favorite, and I don't know why I have a picture up there and everyone else presented tonight doesn't. But, yes, there's a list on there. It gives you the name of your supervisor, it gives you their contact information, and actually gives you a picture of them as well.

[01:58:14] You're welcome. Yeah, so that was some of my questions that I was going to ask, but to be quite honest, I've been in the SEAC for over two years now, and I had no idea, I didn't know until right now, I looked up for my school, who my special education supervisor was, or the role.

[01:58:29] So I do think it's really helpful, like talking to Lucy, love Lucy. I think it's really great to hear. I'm wondering, though, if maybe we should just make like an awareness push, maybe during somebody's IEP like hey by the way this is who your special education supervisor is and these are like the types of things they can help you with just for like awareness sake sure sure I know we introduced ourselves the very first SEAC meeting we are here we sat at our tables and introduced ourselves that way but I think that's a great idea thank you you're welcome yeah I'd love to think that uh everyone comes to our SEAC meetings but or watches them we may not get

[01:59:03] everyone that way anybody else okay I'm also here today to give the office of special education update. This is typically the update that Dr. Carter gives. We are now up to a whopping 10,625 students with disabilities. That's up a little over 20 from last month. And just look at that number and knowing the amount of students in my cluster. I still have it going through the eligibility process. And I see John shaking his head. I know that this number is going to continue to rise as the year progresses. And you probably won't see any type of decrease until we have some

[01:59:42] of our students graduate at the end of the year, but that is a very large number, and that being said, because we do have so many students, the great news is that the budget was approved, so because of that, we are now currently actively recruiting teachers, special education teachers, and TAs for the 25-26 school year.

[02:00:06] We have been approved to add 40 additional specialized programs, so that's 40 additional teachers that we're looking at. The locations for those specialized programs have already been identified, and those schools have been informed. We've also been approved for 25 additional CrossCat teachers as well, so we're also looking at hiring for those positions.

[02:00:31] Because we now have that, the staffing allocations have been provided to the schools, so they know how many staff they'll be allotted for the upcoming school year, which is a little bit earlier than in previous years, so that'll give them more time to go through the hiring and recruiting process.

[02:00:47] That's very exciting. I know in previous months, Dr. Carter has shared the recent audit that the Special Education Department went through by the VDOE. She shared some of those findings with you.

[02:01:02] We're now beginning the external audit that she mentioned previously, so we'll be working with the American Institute for Research, or AIR, on that external audit. Currently, we are in phase one of that audit, so we are in the process.

[02:01:20] They have requested 100 randomly selected de-identified student records, so we provided them the list of students. We haven't given them the records yet, and we're also going to be providing them with all of our special education policies, procedures, and practice documents so that they can be reviewed.

[02:01:39] So that's where we are right now in phase one. We'll then be moving on to phase two, which then will include classroom observations. They'll do some on-site visits. They'll interview a variety of different stakeholders and then also have some surveys sent out.

[02:01:56] At the conclusion of that, we'll get a list of strengths and recommendations for improvement based upon that audit. And that's all the information I have around. All right, thank you. I just had a quick question.

[02:02:14] How were the 100 random selected students selected? I do not know the answer to that. I'll have to go with Dr. Carter to get that information. I do know that she requested that a random poll come out of Virginia IEP, but I'm not exactly sure what the different demographics were for that.

[02:02:31] But I'll find out. I have a question. How do you de-identify the student records? It's just redacting the students. There's no identifying information. There's no student identity. There's no student IDs, there's no student names, there's no student initials, there's no birth dates, so all that information.

[02:02:46] - Right, but are you talking about school grade level and disability? Because you can still identify a student based upon those factors. So that's why I'm interested in how we de-identify, 'cause just removing someone's name, right, does not, like, you could remove my name and not say I was here, but you could say my job title, right, what I do, that I'm a SEAC board member, or a SEAC member, and you could figure out who I was.

[02:03:09] So I'm interested in that de-identification coming from a privacy legal background. Absolutely. Thank you. You're welcome. One more.

[02:03:31] Behavioral personnel actually being identified to be hired. That is correct, because the 40 different programs are a variety of different programs. So they could be programs that require behavioral assistance. So that would be part of the TAs. So there could be behavior programs.

[02:03:48] There could be autism programs. It could be students with behavioral concerns. So it's a variety of different programs. Thank you. And next, please welcome Mr. John Lodi, our LCPS Director of Diagnostic and Prevention Services, standing in for our Tetra this evening.

[02:04:12] Tom, it should make you feel better that my picture is up there as well. Fair enough. Fair enough. Good evening. Thank you. John Lodi, Director of Diagnostic and Prevention Services, and Ms. Richardson's at a professional conference.

[02:04:34] and so she asked me to stop in and provide some awesome student services updates. And Ms. Crotty, how do I advance this? Couldn't have been easier.

[02:04:50] All right, so I have three updates I wanted to provide membership with. This is an awesome week for student services. We have two proclamations that were read by the school board in addition to the SEAC committee meeting. So let me give you a quick back story on SEL.

[02:05:08] So March 3rd, Monday, was SEL Day, and we have our schools celebrating SEL. By training, I'm a school psychologist, and I read a book in the middle 90s. It was written by Daniel Goldman, and it was called Emotional Intelligence.

[02:05:26] Anybody have ever heard of that? So it was sort of a book that came out a few years after the bell curve. And one of the things we know from intelligence research is that about 50% of the variants in major life outcomes can be explained by intelligence and achievement.

[02:05:45] But that leaves a really big question. What else explains life outcomes? And Dan Goldman, who was an American psychologist, and we were seeing a shift in the field of psychology from focus on psychopathology and abnormal psychology to what we know as positive psychology.

[02:06:07] So what are the skills that lead to wellness, happiness, mental health, resiliency, sort of the positive side of development? Well, his research sort of established something that we can finish the statement on IQ.

[02:06:29] IQ and achievement may provide most of the explanation for our career context. However, EQ, or emotional intelligence, often explains one's success in that employment context.

[02:06:47] And SEL was a longtime vision of mine to make sure we have opportunities to build positive psychology and wellness in our kids. And not just our general education students. Our panel, which included SEAC membership, Dr. Carol Nichols-Williams was a SEAC representative who helped us select our curriculum, Second Step.

[02:07:12] And we work to ensure that all students, students with disabilities, students with disabilities in programs, would have exposure to learning on acquiring important social-emotional skills that are important to life. And so we are celebrating SEL Day, and LCPS has been implementing an SEL program since 2019, but everybody knows that.

[02:07:35] And one of the things that often gets lost is why do we do it, hence my back story. So we went out to the workforce and interviewed people to get a sense of what they see as important skills in a career context, in a job, in a career pathway.

[02:07:55] And we let owners, business owners, talk about what is important to employee success and contribution to the work in their business. So we have a series of videos.

[02:08:12] I'm gonna share one tonight, it's very short. You'll start to see it on the LCPS website, you'll see it in our social media, you're gonna see it in the LCPS newsletter here, I think it comes out in March. And I have PowerPoint phobia and that's simply, when you have a PowerPoint and you wanna play a video, there's a good chance you're gonna not get it to work, so we'll see what happens here.

[02:08:38] All right, fingers crossed. - I believe the most important skill in doing the job I do as the owner of a company is having empathy.

[02:08:57] I believe that when you run a company, you work with so many different types of people and you have to understand that people show up for work and they have things going on in their lives. They have situations occurring that you don't know are happening.

[02:09:16] You have to have the recognition and the ability to know that what they're dealing with in their personal life could be affecting their work life. I can see when somebody's having a little extra challenge in their day, and I tune into that.

[02:09:31] I believe I use problem solving every single day in my job. And quite honestly, I thrive on it. And if somebody comes to me with a problem, I'm looking for the solution. So I'm looking for the person who says we have a problem, but here are two solutions of ways we can work through it.

[02:09:50] So I think it's important to recognize that we have problems, but recognize what those problems are and already think about the ways to get by them, the ways to get around that problem. And there are multiple ways. As an owner of a firm, I could always have learned more about leadership.

[02:10:10] People are looking at you to guide them. And I think training in being a leader is not something that just comes naturally. Certainly you learn it in your profession, but there are skills that you can learn. There are courses you can take. It's important to always be learning and growing and refining those skills as a leader. Yeah, yeah, PowerPoint phobia has surfaced. There is actually video of her being interviewed and yeah, so yeah, that's true. I didn't want to give it

[02:10:46] away. It would be such a disappointment later if you had the full video. So thank you. Should have known it was going to happen. All right. So there will be a series of videos. And again, it's to highlight important critical social emotional learning skills that have to do with like self awareness, social awareness, which includes empathy, interpersonal skills, responsible decision making, self-management, these are absolutely important in both in school but in our life context so proud of the work we do in this area and supporting students with disabilities

[02:11:25] in this area. Another thing is National School Social Worker Week this week. School social workers are amazing. We get to celebrate 81 of them in LCPS. Our goal to get one in each of our schools is coming closer and closer.

[02:11:42] if you do the math. And they provide service to all of our families, and they do some amazing work for our families with students that have disabilities. One of the starting points that I think is so critical that we have to remind ourselves of is that the social worker meets with each family who is going through the eligibility process. It's an opportunity for the parents to tell their story, provide their input, and that's conceptualized and captured in a social

[02:12:15] culture evaluation so we can really see the familial, the sociocultural variables that are at play when trying to make a decision about a disability. And our school social workers provide so much support to our families and our students, both guiding them to internal resources and at times external resources. There are primary counselors for students who need intervention and counseling, whether it's in their IEP or adjunct to their IEP,

[02:12:51] such an important part of the process. So we celebrate them this week as well. And the last thing Ms. Richardson asked me to share with you, I'm sure you've been tracking the The work on the LCPS Transition Center for Students with Disabilities.

[02:13:07] The special ed team has worked with transition teachers to come up with a name for the transition center, and they've narrowed it down to two, but Ms. Richardson wants your feedback. She wants everybody on the SEAC membership to have an opportunity to complete this.

[02:13:25] They have access to this link. yeah well i don't have access to but we'll yeah we'll get access i'm so sorry um but uh there are two names to select from and i understand that the recommended name will go to a committee of the school board in may so we're looking for additional feedback from this group that concludes my updates for the department of student services so thank you very much and carrie do you have an

[02:14:03] an update for us this evening. Excellent. First of all, I'd like you all to stand up. Come on.

[02:14:23] We are going to cheer because seclusion is gone. Yes. And it was you guys who did it. It was a lot of talking with members of the board that had no clue about what was going on. And Liz and Shanaz where are you back there yeah I see you and we talked to just about everybody and you guys with your coming forward as as Mrs. Griffith mentioned and speaking at the board helped and

[02:14:57] you did it it was wonderful so you can sit now pat yourselves on the back or pat Mitch over pat somebody else if you can't do one of these it's good so that's the first announcement that I wanted to say we needed to celebrate that. The next thing that I wanted to tell you you just saw we have a transition center approved and we are going to name it and I met with them the committee on Monday and there's some things I can't tell you until next Tuesday but and I'm dying to tell

[02:15:34] you this, but to answer some questions about it, I can do that. I had a question earlier about what kinds of things would we have CTE-wise. We're looking to put in programs that will meet the needs of our students. If any of you remember the old Monroe program where they actually had things that, you know, our kids could do, those will be available through the Transition Center.

[02:16:01] We're going to be doing career assessment at the middle school level, having them look at different career fields and then kind of narrow down career opportunities that they might be interested in. From there, we're going to be going forward into high school. We'll be looking at doing some career preparation classes at the transition center.

[02:16:23] We haven't figured out yet how we're going to set up the day, whether they're going to go half a day and then half a day in high school. school or not, but, or a full day. We're also going to be having elementary schools come up and do programs there. We're going to have business leaders coming in and talking to our students about the different careers that are available to them. So I'm very, very excited, and these are the things I can tell you about. I can't wait till Tuesday, though. I'll tell you what. So those are a couple of the things that I wanted to talk about. If you have any questions, oh, I know, CTE.

[02:17:03] Um, I'm also on the specialized programs and centers committee and CTE, we're talking about bringing all those classes from Monroe, not all of them, but many of them back to the high schools so that they will be open to the students that want to go to.

[02:17:23] I know, um, I spoke with Dr. Shipp over at Woodgrove and he is very, very open to having agriculture there, working with plants, working with animals. He says he's got a lot of land. We can do whatever we want with it. So we're looking to do that. We're looking into having medical technology programs, not for doctors and nurses, but for things that you might do.

[02:17:50] There's things like phlebotomist or, you know, practical nurses, nursing assistants, things like that. We're going to be having cooking classes again so that you can go into culinary arts. So all kinds of things will be coming back up.

[02:18:07] And again, a lot more opportunity than there used to be will be coming through our transition center if it's not coming through the CTE classes. So if your student isn't going to be able to compete or learn from a regular CTE class, there's always our transition center.

[02:18:27] We're hopeful that we're going to have our, we also have in our budget, if you hadn't noticed, Not only did they put in the transition center, but they put in $5 million so that we can start our program. So that's really, truly a good thing coming through.

[02:18:45] So if you have any questions for me, you can e-mail me. That's my good news for today. It's hard to top that. We'll move into the SEAC chair report.

[02:19:04] Always exciting. Membership. Do we have any updates on our membership, Carla? no there's there's no change um although um if carly sabatino is here um we're gonna let her introduce herself she's our newest member virtually but i don't i don't see her this evening so um we will have to catch her next time all right and then um carrie already did

[02:19:37] the pretty good job but i just wanted to um share in a more boring manner um we um you know policy 5345 restraint and seclusion of students it did pass the school board with language to prohibit seclusion other changes were to allow students who use alternate means to communicate access to do so if it is safe during a restraint information will be made available on the website that states which crisis intervention approaches are used so parents will have more access to

[02:20:13] that also clarifying that restraints end when the imminent risk of serious physical harm to self or others has dissipated which was language taken from code the school board also voted to prohibit restraint on students younger than six and language was added to provide a process to determine whether good faith was taken in an emergency situation to determine whether adverse employment action would be appropriate so normally we don't do policy updates but this one there was a lot of action going on and I know a lot of our

[02:20:52] community members were very interested in it so again you know always feel free to reach out to any of our school board members about policies there's also always open community feedback even if you're not a SEAC member but you're just a member of the community and you have feelings on one of the policies that you hear us talking about, you can always go online and give your public comment, or not your public comment, but your feedback.

[02:21:24] And if you ever have any questions, feel free to reach out to me or come to our Policy and Compliance Subcommittee meetings. So, now we move on to our nominations committee, which is Carla and Laura. Where is Laura?

[02:21:41] Did she just run away? Nice. All right. Well, how about we can get started with that. Oh, there she is.

[02:21:58] She got dragged back. Thank you, Jen. Yeah, so just as an overview, you know, this is that time of year where we start thinking about next year. And we have to go through and we have to elect a new board.

[02:22:18] So we sent out emails to all of our members and asked them to please step forward and fill these roles. And so we did have some brave souls that are willing to take on these lovely roles. And so Carla and Laura have done a lot of work to reach out to them, make sure that they understand the responsibilities of each role and that they feel prepared to do so.

[02:22:43] So tonight we are going to share their bios. - All right, up first we have, bless you. First we have SEAC chair, Shanoz. Shanoz Khan formerly worked as a forensic scientist with the Department of Justice and is now starting her career as a realtor.

[02:23:03] She's volunteered at many school events and served as president of two different PTOs. With nine years of experience on SEAC, Shanoz has spent six years as vice chair of planning and one year as vice chair of communications. For vice chair membership, we have Erin Rosalpo.

[02:23:19] Erin Rosalpo has been an active member of the community and in our schools for many years. I'm sorry. This one should have been planning. Okay, sorry. She's staying on for the...

[02:23:35] No, she's communications. It's vice chair communications, Erin Rosalpo. She has been an active member of the community and in our schools for many years, Erin has served on many PTOs as both president and member of the board.

[02:23:52] She has two sons who have IEPs for various needs. Her focus has been in special education community for 12-plus years. Erin currently serves other families in the Nova area as a board-certified special education advocate. She did her training through the National Association of Special Education Teachers, Rights Law, PITC, and other educational seminars.

[02:24:15] Her goal is to support families during what can be an emotional process. Erin has also helped advocate in Richmond for specific legislative changes in education policy. She has been an active member of SEAC for two years. And then for Vice Chair of Planning, we have Catherine Moran.

[02:24:34] Catherine Moran is an experienced professional specializing in transition, vocational evaluation, and workplace readiness for individuals with disabilities. She serves as a CAST teacher for Loudoun County Public Schools, where she previously held roles as a project search teacher, middle school transition support, and vocational evaluator.

[02:24:53] Formerly, she led a nationally recognized transition program funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Catherine has provided technical assistance nationally through TACC, T-A-C-C, and collaborates with N-TACC. She holds a master's in transition special education from the George Washington University and currently participates in the CASE Special Education Leadership Institute and LCPS AI cohort, researching AI's role in transition, vocational evaluation, and workplace readiness development.

[02:25:31] If you want me to. Okay, we're going to keep on this show going. Yeah, this is what I get. Okay, for vice chair membership, we have Tom Ketchum. Tom Ketchum has been a serial entrepreneur for more than 20 years, helping build businesses from startups to thousands of employees.

[02:25:49] He holds nine patents related to artificial intelligence with four more pending. At George Mason University, he co-founded a GIS slash urban planning laboratory that led to his first commercial venture and has since built systems ranging from novel data capture systems and visualization components to detect fraud and irregularities to large-scale data warehouses and data leaks, I think.

[02:26:13] It says leaks, but I don't think that's right. Oh, it is Data Lakes. Oh, okay. All right, sorry. All right, his work in the statistical analysis of human activity using AI has led to applications including cybersecurity and identity and diagnostics for disease and concussion recovery.

[02:26:31] Tom is a proud father of four, a published photographer, active hiker, and for more than 10 years, an enthusiastic advocate on education committees focused on special education, equity, inclusion, and gifted services. He is especially proud of the work of the Meaningful Inclusion Subcommittee he has chaired to secure funding to construct new inclusive elementary school playgrounds throughout LCPS.

[02:26:56] And then for secretary, we have Catherine Rosenbrook. Catherine Rosenbrook is the instructional specialist for SOS, Start of Success, and a CAS teacher. She has been with Loudoun County Schools for 18 years. She began as a teaching assistant while she earned her master's degree in education.

[02:27:14] Catherine has been serving on SEAC for the past four years as secretary. It is her desire to remain the SEAC secretary for the upcoming year. That's it. Thank you, guys. So we will be voting at our April 2nd business meeting.

[02:27:32] This is just the slate that has been put together. If someone else would really like to run for one of these positions, you are able. But no, seriously, please, you know, we welcome.

[02:27:48] there can be nominations from the floor at that time, and then we will go ahead and take the vote. If there are no additional nominations, then we will just vote on the slate as is. So mark your calendars and please be present at April 2nd.

[02:28:08] And we had all of these, which if you would like to go back and read them in more depth, you can do so. For our reports and updates, Literacy and math, would you guys like to, do you have an update to give?

[02:28:31] - Okay, so I'll keep it pretty brief and just kind of highlight what we hit on last month. I see Margaret behind you back there, Alicia. So we kind of got into a little bit more of the secondary level at last month's subcommittee.

[02:28:47] We talked about kind of the specifics of 21st century lit and the retitling of it, but still how it's still supposed to encompass the language live components that we still currently are seeing at the high school level. So there's a lot of good information that came from that, and so I highly recommend that if you have a rising freshman for next year that you reach out to your high schools and see what that's going to look like for your child if they are slated to do 21st century lit, because it's a little bit different at each school is my understanding, but for the most part, it's supposed to be supportive in the same way that their Language Live program should work.

[02:29:26] We talked a little bit about Mylexia, and I want to emphasize to the community that if you have a child doing the Mylexia, please ask for the parent report. And that was something that we talked about. We're still trying to figure out a way where it auto-generates to the community, but if you know that your child is using that as a re-intervention program, reach out to the case manager and just say, hey, can you provide me with this report?

[02:29:46] A lot more, but I'll keep it short since I know we're under time tomorrow actually back here at admin um in room 104 b is that right margaret 104 b they'll let you know at the front desk yeah we have our work session um yeah b okay from 9 30 to 10 30 it will be in person and then our next subcommittee meeting is going to be march the 20th it will be virtually from 9 30 to 10 30. yes and the um the work session we're going to be looking at the new interventions that have been approved by the VDOE, right?

[02:30:22] It's going to be a really fun dive into them. It sounds very hands-on, so yeah, if you can make it, it's definitely worth your time. Oh, the other thing I was supposed to mention, we're also, so Aaron updated us last time on textbook adoption for secondary middle school, and we're also, we have a number of SEAC members who are attending the textbook adoption for math now so we don't have updates yet except for the fact that there are some out in the

[02:30:59] hallway that you can go leaf through and see if there are some that appeal to you there's both elementary school and secondary so there's a lot of material out there and then you members the community are welcome to give their input and feedback so stay tuned on that I understand that these will be going before the board before the end of the month so meaningful inclusion Tom do you

[02:31:28] want to so we we had a work session a few weeks ago back in February on the inclusive plan which is being reviewed with Paige and video eat this month so we should actually should have an update on that at our meeting on the 19th and And then our next work session is focused on adaptive PE on April 28th, as you can see there at 1230 here in the admin building.

[02:31:59] I think 100A, I think, is the room. Yeah, it was right next door. Yep. Yep. So, awesome. Come join us there, too. These work sessions, honestly, they're a lot of fun. And even if you don't normally attend our subcommittees and stuff like that, I think you can get a lot of value out of attending them because they're very just focused on a specific topic.

[02:32:20] You don't need to have any prior background knowledge, but getting that community input is super helpful for our work. So please come and join us. And then policy subcommittee. I'll do this, Melissa, since she's homesick.

[02:32:37] But we have a meeting upcoming on March 17th. Sorry, the February 17th. I didn't get that updated. But March 17th at 6.30 p.m., we'll be looking at, I think they just sent us a chunk more policies to look through, so we'll have fun looking at that.

[02:32:59] And then we added another meeting on March 31st to hopefully look at the LCPS annual plan before it comes before SEAC. That is one of our responsibilities as a SEAC to look over that. And then we also talked at our last meeting about holding a work session this summer to discuss some some ways that we can help parents resolve concerns and be more knowledgeable in the IEP process so more to come on that next transition

[02:33:32] subcommittee we just had a meeting I feel like Carrie spoke so much but we didn't hear something in our subcommittee but I guess I don't want to spoil your spoilers for the school board but we heard something that you're working on. It was told in the subcommittee. Okay, I'll let you have your... Are you sure? I don't want to get... It may be other spoilers. We don't know. Yeah, there could be something else, but we

[02:34:11] heard that you've been working on differentiated diplomas for CTE. Did you want to talk about that at all? I have not worked on that. Oh, okay. I thought that was your... Do you want to turn your mic on? You know me, I never need a mic.

[02:34:31] Without Samara Rasheed sitting next to me, I don't get the mic turned on. No, one of the things that I was hoping to do is work, and I have several members on the board that are supportive of it, to try to get a diploma, something between the regular diploma and the, what is the diploma call we do now?

[02:34:57] The Applied Studies. The Applied Studies Diploma. Something more like our old modified diploma, which is going to be based more on meeting state certifications for work. And we'll give them something to walk out the door that says, this is what I can do.

[02:35:16] See, I've got a certification in it. Because right now with the applied diploma, all you have is what they did on their IEP. And no child, no student, no adult is going to pull out an IEP and say, here, look at what I can do. That just doesn't do it. So I'm hoping, and that's one of the things maybe SEAC will be supportive and help me get some of this stuff done, to see if we can get a real diploma that acknowledges what our students can do in the world of work so that they have a better chance

[02:35:52] at a job. So that's all I know about CTE at the moment. Thanks, Carrie. So one of our main focuses of our meeting was, you know, as we're preparing for the transition center, we still realize that transition has been, you know, a concern in CIAC.

[02:36:14] And what is happening to our students currently as we are, the CAST applications were, you know, they closed out, now the interview process. What are we doing to improve CAST, Project SEARCH, or CII, expanding the student on success program, that internships.

[02:36:35] And so we're really trying to focus on what can we do now while we're waiting for the transition center to, you know, form and blossom into what we really want it to be. So that was a lot of our talk. And then our next meeting will be on April 8th in person.

[02:36:52] That's our work session. And we'll have an agenda out, information that will be on there. Thank you. Oh, yes, Carrie. I did ask at the meeting on Monday what was going to happen when the transition center opened, what was going to happen to CAST, SOS, Project SEARCH, all of those.

[02:37:13] And they are all going to still be there, and I told them that they needed to differentiate so that parents knew what each program was and whether it would be the best program for their child so they could make informed decisions.

[02:37:29] So that's going to be one of the focuses of future meetings. All right. And SEAC awards planning. Shanaz, do you want to just give an update to that real quick, too, while you have the mic?

[02:37:45] I do. Application for the nominations are out. We have already 123 coming back to us. So I'm a little scared what's going to happen on March 26th. But March 26th will be the deadline at midnight to submit.

[02:38:04] And we're just looking forward to really diving in and seeing. I think we also revamped the question. And looking at that, I think we're getting responses pretty quickly and providing examples is what we needed.

[02:38:21] So looking forward, we'll have more information as soon as the nominations close and how we proceed forward. Yeah, and just another plug to please go back to your PTAs and PTOs and start talking to them about sponsoring our SEAC awards, please.

[02:38:39] This is the time of year to do that and let them know that, see if they can set aside, you know, some money that would go to help us pay for trophies or water bottles or, you know, cupcakes, something like that. That just helps make our event so much more special.

[02:38:55] So thank you. Our executive committee will be meeting tonight at Clyde's after the business meeting. So please come and join us. It is open to the public. Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee.

[02:39:11] Do you guys have an update for us on that? Did it meet or not today? Okay. We'll get you a mic. Oh, okay.

[02:39:29] This is March. So February's meeting that was postponed because of the weather occurred today. The one thing that I think that's most important for us was Dr. Grubbs said that they are hiring this year five new teachers that will work clusters to do the, I forget what the official name is, but to actually have students spend a day in some kind of employment that they're interested in.

[02:40:09] There's one person running that program and it's only once a year that they have the The day where students can actually go to a job and see what it looks like. So now they're hiring five Individuals one for each cluster to do those to do more of that. So I think that's important. That's awesome That's great. And oh, yes, Carrie Can you get your mic, please? One other thing that they're doing for The day in the life of job experience, it's usually just for seniors.

[02:40:46] And they think they figured out finally that if you don't go to try out the job by the time you're a senior, you've already maybe made your plans for going to school or getting work or that. So they're opening it to 11th graders as well.

[02:41:01] So there'll be more opportunities for students to figure out what it is they want to do. That's great. Great. Tom? equity committee. So our last meeting last month on the equity committee was we had a very impactful presentation from a gentleman named Dr. Ben Green who was a compatriot of Martin Luther King and talked a lot about of course his life experiences but also some of the challenges that we're facing today in the current climate and some of the things that he sees that we're

[02:41:36] facing in the future as well our next meeting of course is April 3rd gifted advisory our last meeting was impacted by the weather as so many other meetings were so our next meeting is tomorrow evening and we also are going to in May have a speaker come and present nationally known speaker on twice exceptional students on May 15th so I'll have more information on that at the our next SEAC meeting, but certainly we'll want to invite everyone here to come and participate

[02:42:10] in that as well. Awesome. That sounds great. Thank you. All right. Let's do a quick roll call for quorum, and then we will move into a brief calendar discussion, and then we've got three quick policies. I think we can get through them pretty fast. Beth Carlson. Here. Liz Crotty. Here.

[02:42:37] Jennifer DiDonato, Kathy Fuligati-Lambert, Marcia Kelly, Tom Ketchum, Shanaz Khan, Rosina Katak, Laura Colossi, Alicia McFadden, Craig Metz, Stephen Meyer, Catherine Moran, Kelly Ralston, Erin Rosalpo, Catherine Rosenbrook,

[02:43:12] Carly Sabatino, Carla Sol is present. Sharon Troff? Here. Melissa Waugh? Here. Sakina Zarbush? - All right, and we have quorum.

[02:43:31] So really quickly, I put the calendar on our new business today. That was a big topic at the last school board meeting, the last couple of school board meetings, and I noticed that in one of the slides it talked about input from the advisory committees, and I was like, oh, that's weird.

[02:43:49] Like, we didn't talk about it, but they were different advisory committees that the superintendent has. But I was like, you know what? Like, maybe this is something that we as SEAC might want to provide feedback on in the future, like whether there are different kinds of calendars that fit our students' needs a little better, and so I kind of wanted to get like a pulse from our group, whether you guys are interested in that, whether there are certain types of calendars that are more helpful for your families.

[02:44:23] You know, certainly we can talk about it here. We could also put together a poll or something like that, But I just wanted to open it up and see if you all had any thoughts and feelings. Because apparently in our community are a lot of people who have some very strong feelings about calendars.

[02:44:39] So I'm guessing we might too. Anyone? All right. Okay, thanks. Yeah, come on. I do think one of the issues, especially when we're talking about those in special education, like my children, the consistency is important.

[02:45:07] So when we have calendars like this year, where we have, like, random days off throughout the entire year, it breaks up that consistent pattern. I do think, especially with those, a lot of, not everybody, but a lot of our students with disabilities benefit from structure, benefit from a consistency, a consistent thing.

[02:45:25] And when we have disruption to that, it really does throw, at least from my experience, that education and the ability to make progress. So I am looking like I'd rather longer breaks, less frequently than the consistent shorter breaks or the midweek breaks, the things that just are a break in the typical schedule for our kids.

[02:45:47] So moving toward that, I think would be helpful. Yeah. So I know one of the things that I was excited to see on the survey that went out to parents was just kind of like asking about interest in year-round schooling. It's been something that I've always kind of been a bit more interested in, just because I know for my children like having that big long extended break during the summer is hard and I also see like where when you have just like the little short you know one-offs that are scattered throughout the year that that is also not great always for our kids but you know maybe if we had

[02:46:24] some more intentional longer breaks that are scattered throughout the year I think that that could be helpful for our kids at least in my personal opinion and none of the options presented were year-round but I was surprised to see that I mean it was about close to half of parents and teachers seem to at least be open to the idea of talking about it so I don't know if that's if other parents feel that way I know year-round sounds scary but you do still get a summer and you

[02:46:59] do get breaks kind of scattered throughout the year there's some benefits to that I'm going to add on to what you were just saying in terms about the effects that I've seen personally and then also in the community with so many of these frequent small breaks just randomly thrown in and then we get to the month of May where it is five days a week for the entire month of May and these kids go through a level of burnout like I've never seen and so I think the way they've done the schedule at least the past two years and this year including I don't know I just it you

[02:47:37] we're right on SOL time around all these other pieces and then there's no breaks all of a sudden so so is this something that we want to I mean it's something we could look at we could refer to the policy subcommittee and we could talk about more there and come up with recommendations or things like that or we could try to gather some more information from our members and representatives um you know does anyone have any thoughts on a direction that we should take this

[02:48:07] and feel free to chime in online as well guys if you want to i like the i get the idea of getting more feedback from our you know from our uh our organization and our committee and then taking that back to the policy subcommittee i think for it's it's come and gone right for this cycle so i think we have a little bit of time but i do think it would be important to see um especially you know if we all agree because I have seen these like little itty bitty disruptions are very it's

[02:48:44] disrupted to the learning process and we seem to set back multiple days because of one little day midweek where we could make much more progress so I like the idea of going to the committee though like largely seeing if we can get some more consolidated feedback and then taking it to our policy subcommittee and talking about everything we found and like some research on you know what we found with, you know, hopefully something more mathematic than Jen thinks it really impacts her one kid.

[02:49:14] - Yeah, no, it's definitely, you could tell from the board's discussion that it was a very difficult, lengthy process even to put together these calendars. - I would want us to make sure that we're remembering that one of our big values is to be always inclusive and not to give up being inclusive of the other religious holidays and our desire to say we can't have, you know, these holidays here and there

[02:49:47] because that is part of, if we're going to say that we value inclusion, we should not be arguing against being inclusive of others that way. But my biggest problem with the calendar as it is, I feel like that Monday start is really hard on everybody to start on that five-day week.

[02:50:08] It's just really hard on everybody. It's much better starting on a Wednesday or a Thursday than everybody gets in. Thursday you have an A and a B class, and the older grades or the youngers, you just start, you start to learn your routine, then you get a rest, and then you come back the next week fresh.

[02:50:28] And I just feel like that's a better start to the week. And I definitely echo your sentiments. We need to make sure that all of our kids are getting opportunities to celebrate their holidays with their families, you know, and hopefully there are ways that we can do both things.

[02:50:48] So I would just add as we gather that feedback from this community that we also keep in mind what we can add to the conversation in terms of looking at this through the SPED lens. We all have those opinions, obviously, as just parents, and that applies probably to general ed students as well, But particularly if there are metrics and other aspects that we can bring to the table that really impact our SPED students specifically, I think that would add something to the voice from SIAC.

[02:51:21] Absolutely. All right. So I think we kind of have some information on a direction, and we can, you know, work together to put together some sort of survey that we can send out and get more information from people. All right. Moving on to policy review. I'm going to do it today since Melissa is not feeling well and Craig was unable to join us.

[02:51:43] So our first, we have three policies that the Policy and Compliance Subcommittee came back with recommendations. We had two policies where we had no recommendations, and that was for policy 6530, Changing School Attendance Zones, and policy 2510, Community Communications and Community Involvement.

[02:52:07] Just as a reminder, you can use the QR code there to pull up a copy of our drafted recommendations. So did anyone feel differently on policy 65-30 or 25-10? Would anyone care to make a motion?

[02:52:31] Do I have a second? All right. All in favor. Raise your hand. Say aye. All opposed.

[02:52:47] Nay. Any abstentions? All right. Oh, and thank you. And Beth Carlson, what is your vote? Melissa Wall? Aye. And Sharon? Aye.

[02:53:03] All right, that is unanimous. Moving on to policy 4020, it establishes a schedule of fees for consistent charging of student fees throughout the school division. It discusses reductions or waivers of fees and lists certain prohibited fees.

[02:53:22] So for this policy, we had three concerns. The first concern was that the fees for scholastic records requested by parents and adult students are not prohibited, and the current policy is drafted.

[02:53:42] VFOIA says fees cannot be charged for these records, and so our recommendation is to add a line, add at line 39, a new paragraph that these records requested by a parent or legal guardian of a minor student or by a student who is 18 years of age or older.

[02:54:05] The next concern on page 3 of regulation 4020, it references a charge for scholastic records. We would recommend delete the reference on page 3 of regulation 4020 reg to charges for scholastic records.

[02:54:24] And then for concern three, there is no reference to the FOIA at the end of this policy. So we also recommended to add a legal reference at line 77 with the Virginia, the relevant Virginia code.

[02:54:40] Do I hear a motion? And the recommendations. All right. One second.

[02:54:55] Is there any discussion? All right. Hearing none. All in favor? Say aye. Aye. All opposed? Nay. Any abstentions?

[02:55:12] And then Beth? Aye. Melissa? Aye. And Sharon? Aye. All right. That passes unanimously. Moving on to policy 8450, Student Lactation Support.

[02:55:31] This policy establishes standards for lactation rooms for students. And we just had a very small concern and recommendation, just that there's no mention, and it's a very short policy, there's no mention that the area should be accessible to individuals with disabilities.

[02:55:54] So we recommend that at line five it be added, the area must be accessible to individuals with disabilities shielded from public view, et cetera. So do I have a motion?

[02:56:12] Thank you, Shanaz, thank you, Jen. All right, any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay.

[02:56:28] Any abstentions? Beth Carlson. Aye. Melissa. Aye. And Sharon. Aye. Excuse me. Aye. All right. And that passes unanimously as well. Next policy. Okay. We've got 2320 School Health Advisory Board. This policy allows the Loudoun County School Board to establish a school health advisory board per the Code of Virginia.

[02:57:00] So, again, we did not have a lot here, but we did have a concern that there is no requirement to include individuals with disabilities or parents of students with disabilities on this board when health issues are being addressed by the board that are germane to our individuals with disabilities.

[02:57:23] You know, oftentimes health concerns go hand-in-hand with our students with disabilities. So we want to make sure there's representation. So we proposed to add at line seven, at least one member of the board shall represent the needs of individuals with disabilities.

[02:57:40] We didn't want to put a hard and fast number on how many it had to be or whether they had to be a parent or, you know, that we wanted to build in some flexibility, but we just wanted to make sure that people with disabilities are represented. And then the next, we just wanted to request clarification At lines 28 to 29, there was some new language that was added that these procedures should take into consideration the size and staffing of the schools.

[02:58:10] So we just thought it would be helpful to understand why that language was being added. So hopefully we can get that. Do I hear a motion? Shanaz. All right.

[02:58:27] Thank you, Jen. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor of accepting the recommendations, raise your hand, say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Any abstentions?

[02:58:44] Beth? Aye. Melissa? Aye. And Sharon? Aye. All right. There we go. And now, and so that passes unanimously, our next meeting is April 2nd.

[02:59:03] We are going to have a student panel on self-determination with moderator Kendall Schwarzneruber. Did I get that right? Close. okay, from the I'm Determined project. I am really excited about this presentation.

[02:59:18] I think it's gonna be fantastic because we're gonna have some of our LCPS students here speaking to us about their experiences. So I think this, honestly, I think this is the one that I've been most excited for all year, although tonight was pretty amazing as well.

[02:59:34] So please come and join us. May 7th is our subcommittee work session meeting where we try to get caught up on all the business of our subcommittees, and that is our last business meeting of this school year, which is insane, but here we are.

[02:59:50] So please put that on your calendar as well. Thank you all for joining us this evening and sticking with us. We hope you have a wonderful evening and get home safely. Thank you.

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