Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County Public Schools, Joint Committee of the Loudoun County School Board (LCSB) and Loudoun County Board of Supervisors (LCBS), Monday, March 24, 2025

Date: Monday, March 24, 2025
Place: LCPS Administration Building / School Board Room, Ashburn, Virginia
Length: 1h 27m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1064918983?rel=0

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 2026-10-13. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:01:31] - Good afternoon. I call to order the March 24th, 2025 Joint Committee with the Board of Supervisors meeting. Welcome everyone to the LCPS boardroom. We are very happy to host the joint committee this afternoon.

[00:01:49] Before we officially start our meeting and subsequent public comment, I'd like to address the big old elephant in the room. And we've all received numerous emails and phone calls about the Golden to Mars electric transmission project. And I want to remind everyone, all y'all, that the General Assembly authorizes the State Corporation Commission, or SCC, as a regulatory agency to control Dominion.

[00:02:17] Please know that the Board of Supervisors and School Board can truly only state our respective preferences at this point in the process. While it's generally true that the School Board is able to control what goes on on our property, in this instance, the SCC may be able to decide otherwise.

[00:02:36] with eminent domain we are running all that understanding to ground per se in any case we strongly encourage you all to advocate with the SEC and also to speak with your delegates and senators and with that we'll start our public comments um as you know per board docs we were originally allotted 15 minutes for public comment however we received over 40 requests and therefore co-chair glass and i discussed the dilemma and decided that we'll hear 20 public

[00:03:14] speakers for one minute each and everyone else please send your comments to us via email um we'll start with our virtual public comment and um i'm hoping mr jackson are we able to use our timing on this or do i have to use my phone as a timer it's good we can use the timer okay perfect all

[00:03:49] All right, okay, I will read the public comment script. Thank you for engaging with the school board through the public comment process. The school board welcomes comments from the Loudoun County's residents and believes that strong community engagement and outreach are important components of a successful school system.

[00:04:06] Time limit, there will be a total of 20 minutes allocated for public comment. Speakers must limit comments to the time allotted. Based on the number of speakers in the agenda this evening, we are limiting the number of speakers to the first 20 speakers in the order they signed up.

[00:04:22] All speakers have been allotted one minute each for public comment. Please be advised that speakers who missed their time slot will not be called at a later time. All audience members shall maintain civility, decorum, and respect for the functioning and dignity of the school board at all times, and abide by the public comment procedure set forth in School Board Policy 2520, entitled Participation by the Public, and on the LCPS Citizen Participation website.

[00:04:49] Those resources also provide information on the distribution of materials to school board members, given that under no circumstances may a speaker approach the dais. In accordance with School Board Policy 2520, speakers should refrain from vulgarity, obscenities, defamation, profanity, or other like breaches of civility, decorum, and respect.

[00:05:11] Speakers also may not target, criticize, or attack individual students and or individual division employees during public comment or engage in conduct that otherwise disrupts or delays the meeting. Inappropriately loud conversations or outbursts from those in attendance will not be tolerated and security staff will be asked to restore order.

[00:05:32] Per School Board Policy 2520, when reasonable, the chair will warn a speaker of breaches of decorum or of these rules prior to the chair terminating speaking privileges or taking other action to preserve the civility, decorum, and orderly conduct of the meeting, which could include, but is not limited to, the chair directing staff to remove the attendee from the remainder of the meeting and or the public comment being concluded for the evening.

[00:05:57] The public is reminding that access, well, for this, we do not have, it's just audio. We're not live streaming. And at this point, we look forward to hearing your comments. And we'll start with our virtual public comment.

[00:06:15] Looks like the first one I've been told has not signed in. So the second one, Chandra Matipatla, and the second one is Ram Rupareti.

[00:06:40] I'm a resident of Loudoun Valley 2 community. I oppose the routes four and three proposed by the Board of Supervisors. It's utterly disappointing to hear that supervisors thought the route four is the least impacted route of all, where in reality it is the most devastating route for the kids.

[00:07:03] Kids walk, bike through this route to Rosalie Codder and Rockridge High School. It's inhuman to let kids go through the dangerous effects of electromagnetic fields emitting through these 500 kV transmission power lines through their entire time they spend at the school.

[00:07:21] We already have a 230 kilovolt line passed through the eastern side of Rosalie Codder and Rockridge High School. And there's already a cell phone tower on the premises of Rockridge High School. School board has already banned the cell phone towers on school premises. Why not the same rules apply to these high-voltage power lines?

[00:07:40] Going underground, or at least a partial underground that covers the school premises, is the only solution for this. Thank you. The next one is, was that Ram Ruperetti? The next one would be Donnell Hughes.

[00:07:58] Good afternoon, giant board. The proposed high-voltage power lines will destroy our privacy, endanger our children, and devalue our homes.

[00:08:16] Over 2,400 students and about 300 staff members at Rosalie Carter Elementary and Rockridge High Schools will be exposed to EMFs every day, with long-term health risks spanning generations. Schools should be places of focus and safety, yet these power lines will disrupt learning environments, impact academic performance, and create additional safety hazards.

[00:08:37] These lines also threaten our walking trails, making daily commutes stressful and unsafe of young students. We do not get transportation from county today because our homes are less than one mile from schools. Routes Green 3 and Blue 4 will destroy vital green spaces, harming wildlife and the natural beauty of our community.

[00:08:59] Why sacrifice our environment and well-being when alternative routes exist? The school board must reject all above-ground routes on school property. Do not delay. If cell towers are banned near schools, why should powerlands be any different? Thank you. The next one will be Gabriel Hughes, followed by Donnell Hughes.

[00:09:20] Good afternoon, members of the school board and board of supervisors. My name is Gabriel Hughes, and I am in the third grade at Rosalie Carter Elementary. I want to talk about the new 500 KV power lines that might be built near our school.

[00:09:37] One proposed route would have students and parents walking right under these high voltage lines, which makes me really worried because it's not safe for us. Another route is too close to people's backyards. I know adults are in charge of making these big decisions like this.

[00:09:54] Walking near such tall and dangerous wires feels wrong. And having them so close to homes makes me think it's not fair to those families. Please, can you grown-ups think carefully and find a safer way to build these lines without putting our safety at risk?

[00:10:12] This could really increase the risk of lightning strikes. I really hope you vote no to this plan until we have a better solution. Thank you for listening. Thank you. Donnell Hughes, followed by Shinovas DeConda.

[00:10:29] Good afternoon, members of the school board and board of supervisors. My name is Donnell Hughes. As a parent of a third grade student at Rosalie Carter, I'm here to urge you to consider potential risk of erecting 500 kV power lines within 300 feet of our schools.

[00:10:45] While scientific evidence may be mixed, the possibility of increased cancer risk, especially for our children who are still developing, is something we cannot ignore. Our children's health and safety should always come first. I respectfully ask you to vote no on both overhead routes traversing the LCPS campus until further research is conducted and alternate underground solutions are fully explored.

[00:11:11] Let us prioritize the well-being of our students, ensuring their environment is as safe as possible for their growth and development. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you. Sheena Vaz, followed by Sheena Vaz Dekonda, and then we'll start with our in-person Sam Mutreha.

[00:11:29] Board of Supervisors and school board members, as the school board's responsibilities are primarily towards students and staff and their well-being, please vote to reject all above the ground lines on school property.

[00:11:47] And also, according to American National Standards Institute, the proposed power lines are of extra high voltage, not just high voltage. So they are ranging from 240 kV to 1,000 kV, which are fatal to school children's health and their well-being. So please, please reject all those above the ground lines near the schools and neighborhoods.

[00:12:08] Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you. Sam Mitreha, followed by Nandita Paridkar. Push the button there and it should be right.

[00:12:26] All right, you hear me? Okay, thank you. Good afternoon. I just request the school board not to choose between elementary school kids and high school kids and approve yet another right away from Dominion. They already have one. And this is going to set up a precedence for future for high-voltage transmission lines to go across other schools as well in Loudoun County.

[00:12:48] So please, say no to both blue and green lines. Dominion's feasibility report is flawed. Do not take them at face value. The proposal for partial or fully undergrounding of lines has not been thoroughly researched by Dominion. Other communities in Chino Hills, California have done this before, and Black and Reach were the contractor who did it, and they are a contractor for Dominion as well.

[00:13:10] So I'm not sure why Dominion can't use the same contractor and do the same thing here. Dominion has misled. Everyone was saying they need like six to seven acres of land for those substations. But in fact, in California, they did it in three acres, and that was 10 years ago.

[00:13:26] So definitely, please take everything, do not take everything at face value. Look at everything. That's all. Thank you. Thank you. Nandita Paridkar, followed by Shravan Dugaraju. Good afternoon, members of the board.

[00:13:43] My kids go to the schools impacted by the power lines. I would like to humbly request school board to vote to reject all above ground routes on school property. Please do not delay. The school board's responsibilities are only towards their students and staff.

[00:14:01] The school board shouldn't be under any pressure to take decisions that are against their responsibilities towards students and staff at LCPS. Please make it a policy to not allow above-ground power lines on school property and codify that so you're not dealing with this again in the future.

[00:14:21] Thank you for the opportunity to talk here today. Thank you. Siobhan Dugaraju, followed by Mala Kalva. Good afternoon, school board. Please reject all above-ground power lines around the school premises.

[00:14:41] We already have cell phone towers behind the rock ridge. We do not want to have additional power lines or any electromagnetic fields in our communities. And Dominion is not providing all the details, the very detailed research they have done.

[00:15:01] We cannot take them at the face value. We cannot trust them yet. please do not vote any power lines around the school board. Thank you.

[00:15:16] - Thank you. Malakalva followed by Arun Subramani. - Good afternoon, everybody. The school board members, it's your responsibility to protect LCPS students and staff members.

[00:15:34] Please reject power transmission routes on school property, say no to it. Board of Supervisors, please do not pressure the school board to take decisions against their responsibilities. Least impact means what? Less homes impacted?

[00:15:51] You don't count the number of schools impacted? The RLC, high school, stadium, baseball field, soccer field are less than 100 feet away from the proposed power line. Which means like we are currently enrolled with 2,400 students currently enrolled, 300 staff members are impacted and their families will be impacted heavily.

[00:16:17] A double-circuit transmission line, which is 500 kilowatts and 230 kilowatts power lines, this is really, there is already a 230 kilowatts power watts. Thank you. Thank you. Arun Sabramoni, followed by Jagadish Chinuri.

[00:16:37] Good evening. As you have seen in the past few weeks and months, there is no unanimous agreement on which is the best route for our power lines. I'm not here to make you convinced one way or the other, but we can all agree on one thing. We've got to provide the safest environment for our kids and the most healthy environment for our kids.

[00:16:58] If Loudoun Reserve Drive has a restricted path so that kids can go to school and come back safely, if cell phone towers are not allowed, if Department of Energy, sorry, Department of Education doesn't allow in Virginia to have new schools set up along power lines, how come it is safe for us to do this to our own existing schools?

[00:17:17] I humbly request you that we do stand on the side of facts and science. This impact study by Dominion is flawed. And as you have seen, we are taking people to Mars. Why can't we put a safe underground option for our kids?

[00:17:35] If you sincerely believe that we are doing our responsibilities to keep the children safe and healthy, please reject all the lines above and let us look at underground options and go for more and better options for the children. Thank you.

[00:17:51] - Thank you. Okay, the next one is Jagadish Chinuri, followed by Shreyas Chamidia. - Good afternoon, giant board members.

[00:18:07] The safety and well-being of our children must come first, right? And between, as one of my friends suggested, between Rosalie Carter High School and Rockridge High School, there is already a 230 kilowatt power line. On top of that, on the grounds, there is a cell phone tower.

[00:18:23] This new proposed 50 kV high-voltage power line is a dangerous addition. Schools should be safe spaces for learning, not sites for hazardous infrastructure. This new power line raises serious concerns about health risks, electromagnetic exposure, and overall safety.

[00:18:40] Our community deserves better, and we must advocate for safer alternatives. I wanted to inform Mr. Sainz, who is our district supervisor. Last time he mentioned that the existing power lines emits less radiation, but in fact, the new proposed 500 kV high voltage power line emits 60% more than more powerful radiations.

[00:19:04] Please consider that. And I request board members to strongly urge-- - Thank you. - Yeah. - Thank you. Shreyas Chamidia and then Ananya Chinuri.

[00:19:25] No, Shreyas. Ananya Chinuri, about Chetan Doma, and he'll be followed by Keqing Liu.

[00:19:52] Hello. Thank you for offering me the opportunity to speak here. My name is Chetan Doma, and I'm a sixth grader at Stonehill Middle School, and soon I may go to Rockridge High School. The routes that Dominion proposed are unacceptable.

[00:20:08] Routes green and blue are alarmingly close to the schools that I will go to, and there are many neighborhoods that are greatly impacted by these power lines. Mountless people are risking cancer because of these transmission towers, and wildlife will also be affected. Children such as I will go to these schools for around seven and a half years.

[00:20:25] For seven and a half years, we may expose ourselves to radiation. A study stated that children living within 200 meters of a power line like this risk a 23% chance of leukemia, and 300 to 600 meters risk a 69% chance of leukemia.

[00:20:43] We need to act now and refuse. We simply can't take lives at risk like this. They could also put power lines in a more abandoned area. We all hope you make the safest decision for us. Thank you for your time. Thank you.

[00:21:01] Kejing Liu, followed by Bavitha Doma. Good afternoon. My name is Kejing Liu, a Loudoun County resident. He is my son, Gannon Liu, first grader in Rosati Carter Elementary School.

[00:21:21] We are here to respectfully urge you to reject Dominion Energy's proposal to build high-voltage power lines on or near school property.

[00:21:36] The lines emit EMFs, and there are like multiple like studies link the -- sorry, I'm just like a little bit reverse my first time. So starting link like long-term exposure, like to serious health risk, including the childhood leukemia and also our teachers and the staff got daily exposure.

[00:22:05] Our school should be a safe zone, not the experimental grounds for the utility infrastructure. So please take a stand by. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Babitha Doma, followed by Lakshimanaran Chandra Mauli.

[00:22:35] Babitha. Lakshminaran Chandra Mauli, followed by Vinad Yamala. Good afternoon, board members.

[00:22:54] My name is Lakshminaran Chandra Mauli. I'm a resident of Loudoun Valley and proud parent of two daughters, one who will attend Rosalie Carter and another who would attend Rockridge High School. As a parent, I cannot choose to protect one child over another, and neither, I think, this community as such.

[00:23:11] There is no safety in choosing between Route 3 and Route 4. Both are harmful, and both must be rejected. The school district rightly rejected a cell phone tower construction, citing EMR consents. These new high-voltage power lines are more riskier, and the risk travels at a longer distance compared to the EMR radiations of cell phone tower.

[00:23:34] So I would ask the board members to reject this. To the county board, I feel that there is a long-term planning here. With the rise of data centers in our region, we should really push for underground options rather than running lines near our school, which seems short-term.

[00:23:50] Please stand with us in protecting our children's health, safety, and future. Thank you. Thank you. Vinod Yamala, followed by Mayor Savalia. Good evening, board members.

[00:24:09] My name is Vinod, and I stand here deeply concerned when I hear the phrase least impacted routes. Can you define least impacted? Does it mean fewer homes affected, fewer complaints, or less visible opposition? Because from where I stand, the green and blue routes do not mean least impact.

[00:24:29] They mean sacrificing our children's safety, comfort, and future. How is placing very high voltage power lines near schools where over 2,400 children spend most of their day considered least impact? Does their health, their well-being, their future not matter?

[00:24:48] Children deserve a safe and comfortable environment to learn, grow and excel. A change like this introduces discomfort not just physically but mentally. Do you all agree that a child should feel excited to go to school, not uneasy or unsafe?

[00:25:04] If even one child is affected, we have already failed. It's about rejecting false choices and demanding a responsible solution. Thank you. Mayor Sabalia, and followed by, and we'll start the wait list, Sirisha.

[00:25:23] Good afternoon, board members. Imagine a place where the well-being and safety of our children take the top priority. That's what the school should be, safe havens for learning, growth, and dreams. Today, I stand before you to advocate for critical costs.

[00:25:40] No power line near by the schools. So high-voltage power lines are more than just ISON. They carry potential risk, and research has raised concerns about foreign exposures of EMFs and their impact on health. So by ensuring we are free from the shadow of power lines, we send a clear message about children's safety matters.

[00:26:03] Let's choose to protect their future by creating environments that inspires, not in danger. Together, we can make this a priority for the school, children's health. Thank you. Sirisha Bumarebdi, followed by Anvita Gantari.

[00:26:24] Hello, can you hear me? My name is Sirisha Bumarebdi, and I have two daughters, two high school kids. One of them is a freshman at Rockridge High School. Do not forget that there are schools, no matter what route you choose, There are schools on Loudoun County Parkway. Stonehill is within 500 feet. Moorfield is within 500 feet.

[00:26:49] So our children are affected no matter what route is chosen. There is a reason why Board of Supervisors selected and recommended a route. Because if you do not pick a route and it is going to go to Loudoun County Parkway, where not only schools and you are impacting 17 communities and also thousands of commuters rely on Loudoun County Parkway every single day.

[00:27:17] Please make sure that the Dominion doesn't come to Loudoun County Parkway and that is the most disastrous thing. It is going to spoil the entire Loudoun County. Please make sure that... Thank you. Anvita Gontari followed by Sushil Bombardekar.

[00:27:44] Ready? Yeah. Good evening, everyone. I'm Sushir Bambardeker. I am a resident of Loudoun Valley, with kids going to both Rosalie Carter as well as Rockeridge.

[00:28:02] Rejecting Route 4 Blue and Route 3 Green is going to allow Dominion, the right-of-way path, fallback path of Orange, which is going to be affecting 1,100 houses. Not just those houses, 15 plus communities, Stonehill Middle School, Moorfield Elementary School, as well as Primrose Daycare and Inova Loudoun Hospital.

[00:28:30] As far as the impact and the issues concerned with the high voltage lines, yes, there are issues. And rejecting Route 4 and Route 3 will protect Rosalie and Rockridge. but at the same time, it is going to condemn Stonehill and Moorfield Elementary.

[00:28:48] The option, the best option forward is to follow Board of Supervisors' recommendation, take those route for blue or route for green and relocate the impacted fields for the play fields for Rosalie Carter and Rockridge, ones that are basically being deemed as threats.

[00:29:09] So please be the leaders for everyone, not just for one section of community. Thank you. I think Bhavna Shandok followed by Raj Paradekar. Is there Bhavna?

[00:29:29] No. Okay, Raj Paradekar. Good afternoon, everyone. So my kids also go to school that are going to get impacted by the power lines.

[00:29:47] And we would like to humbly request the school board to vote to reject all above-ground routes on school property. And please do not delay the vote. It has to be now. Everything that Dominion says should be independently verified. They have not explored the partial underground options thoroughly, as we have found from their feasibility report that they published two days ago.

[00:30:10] The school board shouldn't be under any pressure to take decisions that are against their responsibilities, which are towards the school students and the staff of LCPS. please make it a policy to not allow above ground power lines on school property and codify that so that you're not dealing with this again in the future thank you for the opportunity to speak here

[00:30:35] today thank you Amar Antikam and that will be our last speaker good evening school board and county board I'm Amar Antikam resident of Loudoun Valley Estates and a father of two young children one is studying in Rockridge the other one is Rosalie when the cell phone towers are not allowed in the school zones due to electromagnetic field impact and the radiation. How is Dominion thinking of having a high voltage transmission lines around the schools and community, which

[00:31:11] is not fair. Close to 2,500 children currently studying in those two schools and going forward many more students will be admitted into those schools. It's a continued process. So every student studying there will be impacted with something or other and with the health issues.

[00:31:30] I request the school board to reject Route 3 and 4 to protect the children who are future of the nation. It's the school board county and leaders' responsibility to keep children's and public safety first and push Dominion for the underground lines. Counties should instruct Dominion to expand their research regarding underground lines and take necessary steps to save the children county public.

[00:31:53] Thank you. Thank you. And with that, we'll conclude the public comment for today. Thank you all for coming out and for providing your public comment. We will now move on to the co-chair's report on the Board of Supervisors and School Board activities.

[00:32:10] Co-chair Glass, I've been speaking a lot. Would you like to start? Yes, thank you, co-chair Mansfield. I'm looking forward to another productive year working together. First, I would like to state for the record that Supervisor Tacroni will serve as the vice co-chair for the Board of Supervisors side.

[00:32:29] Since the joint committee met in November, the Board of Supervisors has undertaken several items that I want to bring to the school board's attention. First, the Board of Supervisors has wrapped up the county's budget process, and we are slated to approve the fiscal year 2026 budget at our meeting on Tuesday, April 1st. In that budget, we were able to fully fund the requests from the school board, recognizing an increase in state revenue as well. The tax rate for real property, such as someone's home, will be 80.5 cents for every $100 in assessed value.

[00:33:07] The general personal property tax rate will be $4.15 per every $100 in assessed value for the tax year 2025. However, for vehicles, the board voted to lower the tax rate to $3.09 for tax year 2026. As part of the fund balance considerations at the end of 2024, the Board of Supervisors transferred almost eight million dollars to fund one-time needs at the request of the school board.

[00:33:39] Baseball and softball press boxes at Briarwoods High School and Loudoun County High School were also funded through an additional two million dollars. The Board of Supervisors also voted to make CASA, YAS, and Parks and Recreation summer camps free for children who are LCPS McKinney-Vento students or who are on free and reduced lunch. This was funded through existing grant dollars and will provide much-needed child care relief to those families. Earlier this month, the Board of Supervisors approved the commission permit application for the LCPS Student Welcome Center

[00:34:19] on enterprise street in sterling the center will utilize an existing nearly 6 000 square foot building on a county-owned parcel finally the board of supervisors provided our preferred routes as part of dominion's golden tomorrow's transmission lines project the board of supervisors voted to endorse for route four or the blue route as our preferred alignment for the project with route three or the green route as our secondary preferred alignment. Both these routes will utilize both

[00:34:55] county-owned and school-owned property and would require agreement from both boards. While the final decision on any power lines route stands with Virginia State Corporation Commission and Dominion Energy, each board can provide input and work with Dominion on arriving at the least invasive option for the community. As have been shared with the school board, the Board of Supervisors does ask that the school board also adopt either the blue or the green route as a proposed alignment, which would allow Dominion Energy to confidently pursue that route at their

[00:35:33] filing with the State Corporation Commission. The alternate routes that do not go through Rock Ridge High School and Rosalie Carter School Campus affect a drastically higher number of homes. The blue route has 64 homes within 500 feet of the power lines, while the orange route and red routes, which are Dominion's identified alternatives, have around 1,000 homes within 500 feet of the power lines. This is more than 10 times as many people affected.

[00:36:06] While endorsing power lines through a school campus is a very difficult decision, we ask that the school board consider the larger community impacts if they are not allowed through the campus, forcing the lines down Loudoun County Parkway. That decision would affect many more residences and have larger visual and community impacts. We ask the school board to endorse either the blue or green routes. That is my report, Co-Chair Mansfield.

[00:36:34] Thank you, Co-Chair Glass. On behalf of the school board, I'd like to thank the board of supervisors for fully funding our budget we appreciate that something that i think you guys would be interested in is at the march 18th fno committee meeting they we took action to revise policy 4020 which is student fees and charges where we incorporated the school board investment to remove student fees for supplemental cte materials covering all related consumable costs for classes, and this will remove the barriers and considerations for students pursuing CTE

[00:37:09] pathways based on out-of-pocket expenses, things like buying a robot for your robot class. It will come before the board tomorrow night as an info item. F&O also reviewed as revisions to policy 6130, unpaid meal debt. This is to clarify definitions of delinquent and bad debt, specify the student meal account expectations that they be communicated annually and add that students with free or reduced meal applications direct certified students and those in CEP schools receive free meals and cannot charge a second meal if funds are insufficient.

[00:37:49] This policy has one more meeting in FNO before it goes between the full board. I also wanted everyone to know that the school board approved the calendar for the Dulles South attendance zone change process to help with the overcrowding at Mercer, Willard, and Lightridge. In addition, school board policy 6530 changing school attendance zones is being reviewed in F&O, and I'll be making an amendment that all school attendance zones will be comprehensively reviewed every five years to assess student enrollment and school capacity imbalances.

[00:38:20] This is to help us be more proactive and not be continually behind the eight ball with school boundaries. I'd like the public to know that registration for ECE Learning Labs is now open for children ages 3 to 4 and families can register for their enrollment lottery.

[00:38:36] And it's time to register your kindergarten and or new LCPS student for the 2025-26 school year. It's a two-step process, online pre-registration and also in-person registration. Rising 6th and 10th grade students can now sign up for LCPS's exciting Summer in the Arts program.

[00:38:58] And this is where they can explore classes in music, theater, visual arts, dance, creative writing, and robotics. I want to say congratulations to James Eric Sasek from Belmont Ridge Middle School History Teacher for receiving the 2024 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Excellence in Teaching Award.

[00:39:14] And finally, the Loudoun County School Business Partnership Executive Council, in partnership with the Loudoun Education Foundation, hosted its annual School Business Partnership Awards Recognition Breakfast on Friday, March 21st, at the National Conference Center.

[00:39:32] 720 people attended the event where LCPS celebrated impactful collaborations between our local businesses and schools and recognize the many partners who help LCPS students and schools succeed. These partnerships provide vital support and expertise that enhance educational opportunities for students.

[00:39:55] And it's together we thrive, building stronger connections between education and the community to build a brighter future. And that ends my co-chair report. We can move on to item four, our action item, starting with item 4.01, the 2025 proposed schedule of meetings countywide.

[00:40:16] And I'm assuming this is going to be presented by Mr. Vincent Jones, our county administration, and Mr. Don Traynor, LCPS Support Services. Good afternoon, committee. So I'm Vincent Jones with Loudoun County.

[00:40:33] And before you, this action item really just sets your schedule for 2025, identifying your meeting dates for June, June 2nd, September, September 15th, and November 17th for 2025. - Committee managers, do you have any questions about setting these dates?

[00:41:00] - Yes, Supervisor Brestman. - I don't have any questions. I just wanted to note that I won't be here on the June 2nd. - Any other?

[00:41:15] I can entertain a motion. - I move that the committee adopt the dates for the Joint Board of Supervisors and School Board Committee meetings for the 2025 calendar year.

[00:41:34] - Second. - I have a second. I have a proposal by, I have a motion by Ms. Chernoff And I have a second by Supervisor Tacroni. Is there any discussion? Seeing no discussion, I can take a voice vote.

[00:41:50] All in favor say aye. And all opposed say nay. I think that was unanimous. And so we can move on to action item 4.02. Revisions to 2024-2025 Joint Committee Work Plan countywide.

[00:42:10] Again, Mr. Jones, County Administrator, and Mr. Trainer, LCPS Support Services. Gentlemen, the floor is yours.

[00:42:26] Thank you. I'll start off and I'll need Mr. Traynor to help as well. So you will see presented for you on the screen here are the remaining items for your 2024 and 2025 work plan. These were items that you've already had approved and here we're simply asking for you all to consider the dates that we have proposed as staff. And with that, I will yield to Mr. Traynor.

[00:42:43] Thank you. So just drawing your attention to the item number 10 there, congestion must go. That is a program that LCPS no longer actively supports. We have materials available, but we don't have an active program with that. So we're recommending that that item be removed from the agenda for a few upcoming presentations. You will see down the right hand side of the chart there, the recommended quarters that we get to those meetings, specifically the land matrix item

[00:43:19] 11. The land matrix discussion, we've been asked by the staff that are the primary points of contact for the land matrix team to push that out a little bit because they're actively looking at the organizational structure of that committee and may have some changes to propose. So I'm sorry, Mr. Trainer, could you please repeat that one more time? So can Can you speak into the microphone a little bit more?

[00:43:49] Thanks. Okay. Sorry about that. It is much louder. And I apologize. The staff, LCPS staff is recommending item 10, congestion must go, that that item be removed from the agenda.

[00:44:07] Since this was placed on the agenda, LCPS no longer has an active staff program focused on congestion must go. So we still have the materials available previously that we could go through. But it's not a current program that the staff is actively working.

[00:44:26] And then item 11, the land matrix committee activities update. The two primary staff members for that committee have asked us to delay it slightly. So it's in recommending the first quarter of 2026 as they are currently working, looking at the possibility of kind of reorganizing which staff were involved within that committee between LCPS and the Board of Supervisors staff, or sorry, County staff.

[00:44:58] Sorry about that.

[00:45:11] Chair Glass. Thank you, Co-Chair Mansfield. So for the LCPS land major committee activities, are you talking about, so quarter one of 2026, that's when you want to move it to have that discussion? Yes, ma'am.

[00:45:27] Okay. Okay. so that would be what february march because they have that that date hasn't been set yet but it would be sometime between the january march of 2026. i seem to remember that the board of supervisors has things going on in march is that correct that we weren't able to make a meeting it's it's usually it's usually our budget budget so it would be the end of march i

[00:46:00] guess okay i guess you should be okay but february do you take that off yeah we could do february Okay. Okay. Supervisor Tacroni.

[00:46:21] Thank you so much, Chair Mansfield. So, Mr. Traynor, I have a question about congestion must go. I met with the principal of Light Ridge High School, Dr. Hitchman, and they are experiencing significant traffic at that school cluster.

[00:46:37] You know, there are three schools there. Is Loudoun County Public Schools addressing traffic issues outside of congestion must go? Our staff primarily on the transportation side is actively working with the school administrators trying to focus on ways to reduce traffic congestion on the campus and we are looking at some schools to try to make physical changes to the parking lot areas to see if we can make adjustments.

[00:47:06] It is a never-ending problem it seems on our school campuses and we just, for many of our schools we have hundreds and hundreds of parents dropping off students each day, and our campuses just were never designed for that volume of traffic.

[00:47:24] And so, obviously, big encouragement for students to walk, ride to school, ride the bus to school as much as possible. But it's a never-ending program for us, and we are working with each of the schools, especially, and Light Ridge is one of those, along with Henrietta Lacks and Hovater that have that challenge at the moment.

[00:47:48] but I'm not sure that I would say that they're the worst within the system. Yeah, yeah, and I met with Dr. Gabriel as well in Independence High School, so I'm working on a traffic signal issue that they brought to my attention, and the HOA board brought it to my attention as well, so I do think there's an opportunity to work together on these issues.

[00:48:08] I accelerated the urgency of that traffic signal, that intersection. That's at Creighton and North Star. There have been some major accidents with students, but, you know, it helps to have collaboration.

[00:48:23] So I don't know if you would recommend anything. I thought congestion might go, might be a way that we could work together on clusters like Independence Cluster and Light Ridge Cluster, you know, to fix traffic issues that maybe Latin County Public Schools can't do all by themselves, but together we can make a difference.

[00:48:45] Thank you, Supervisor Takarani. - I think for this particular item, Congestion Must Go really was a campaign focused on increasing bus ridership, walking, carpooling, and biking to our campuses. - Okay. - So it really wasn't specifically designed to address traffic congestion issues.

[00:49:06] I do think we worked those through other conversations with county staff and school administration, as you heard, Mr. Turner, but it's just a different, it was really a campaign intended to change how parents were bringing their students to school. Okay, is there another way we can work together as a joint committee?

[00:49:24] Is there another opportunity to look at traffic? I'm just talking about traffic congestion, pretty much. So as the superintendent and AK, these are primarily staff, this is primarily staff, a staff function where we just work together staff to staff.

[00:49:44] If what's being requested is for us to come to the joint committee and provide updates, i guess we can do that of the different projects we're working on i mean certainly if you have specific concerns if you want to let me know then we can make sure that that's on the list of issues that the staff are working around kind of these traffic concerns that are impacting schools yeah i mean i can do that because i do get principals do reach out so and i'm willing to go meet with

[00:50:19] principals so i just you know i'm happy to bring it to your attention but some of you know i have the most schools in my district i mean a lot of them are big clusters so and there are traffic issues so i think what we can do is add an item to the next quarter that just kind of brings back

[00:50:53] those known traffic issues we're coordinating on together okay that's the pleasure of the committee I can be helpful, you know, getting some of them accelerated or, you know, through VDOT. I know VDOT is looking at the intersection right now, but, yeah.

[00:51:12] Okay, thank you. And just the add-on to that would be then if you have been contacted by community members or staff with concerns about congestion, if you'll just make us aware and we can include updates on those to the committee as well. Great. Okay, thank you.

[00:51:28] Thank you. Supervisor Briskman. Thank you. so these dates were not in our packet correct these dates that are on the right-hand column they weren't in our packet I didn't see them in my packet okay okay so we're being asked to endorse these dates as I understand it for those items is that what we're being asked to do it's okay I looked at them now I just didn't have that last column there's like two packets like one person gave us and then another person gave us yeah and in my in my board docs

[00:52:06] it's not my version of board docs is not in there but I'm fine I've looked at them but this is these are the dates that staff is asking us to endorse yes yes okay okay thank you I had submitted two other items and I believe mr. Vincent said they could be addressed within some of the items that are already on our work plan and or they could be added in supervisor glasses motion and just for the just for the committee's edification I've been having well actually April and I have been, sorry, school board member Chandler and I have been having conversations with at least

[00:52:45] one of our Title I schools about funding the D.A.R.E. t-shirts. And we've kind of gone around the Mulberry Bush a couple times with LCSO. And then LCSO did the research and found that to fund the D.A.R.E. t-shirts for all schools and staff when they're doing D.A.R.E. would be all of $70,000.

[00:53:06] So, I think that that would be the most fair thing to do, and I just, I couldn't figure out any other way to get it off the ground except to bring it to this committee because I have not been able to get it accomplished in another way. So hopefully we can kind of add that and figure out what kind of request needs to either come from LCPS or does it need to come from LCSO so that the Board of Supervisors could hopefully fund DARE t-shirts for all the kids in Loudoun County, but especially for our Title I schools, which really do have an issue trying to raise the money.

[00:53:40] They have to pay for the DARE t-shirts out of their PTO budgets. So that's one item that hopefully we can work on. And Mr. Vincent, which part did you think it could go into, or do you think it needs to be included in Supervisor Glass's motion? Sure. It could be included in Supervisor Glass's motion, but the item before you right now is the 2024-2025 work plan.

[00:54:01] And so those items that you were mentioning would be in additions and deletions, and so they will be part of the 2025-2026 work plan. Yes, the next item. Oh, I'm sorry. That's all right. Okay. Well, since I'm on the topic, the other item was just to follow up on the student fees, which I know we've done a lot of work on, but I'm not comfortable that we've covered marching band and theater and those sorts of things.

[00:54:31] So I would like an update on that at some point. Sure. I will ask Mr. Traynor, are you ready to speak to that item? So we're going to, I think we need to make a motion for this one first. Yeah, let's do this. We can do this one first. to make a motion for this one before we go to additions and deletions.

[00:54:47] Thank you, I got us off track, thank you. It's okay. So do I have, I can entertain, so we would be taking off one of those removing congestion must go or are we revamping that?

[00:55:06] Yeah, I think what the staff offered if it's the pleasure of the committee is to replace that in the next quarter with a report, I wasn't clear on the timing, but I think the next quarter on a report of the joint work that the staff are doing on traffic projects at schools?

[00:55:25] Correct, and I was contemplating. Could y'all go into that? I mean, y'all, you guys, your lower voices, I really need to. So. Please. That's a mic on. Okay, yeah. So I think what we had offered the staff was to come back in the next quarter with a report on what we are working on as staffs involving traffic issues at schools.

[00:55:51] OK, so should that come to, is that going to be an addition and deletion? So my understanding is that was being asked, and I'll defer to Supervisor DeCrony, but that would be a substitution for the Congestion Must Go item.

[00:56:07] So do we need to vote on it here or on the next item? I think you could just make a motion to replace it, which is what I thought was being offered by. OK, so a substitution. Yeah. OK, as amended.

[00:56:24] That's right. Okay. Supervisor Co-Chair Glass, do you have that motion? Do you want to, do you guys have any more discussion before we do a motion for the items that are remaining on this 24, 25 work plan? You guys? No? Okay. All right. I'll entertain a motion. Yes.

[00:56:48] I don't have a written motion. Ms. Chernoff, do you want to take a stab at it? Supervisor Glass, with your permission, I've been tracking everything. I think I've got it.

[00:57:04] Thank you. Can I give it a go? Yes, go ahead. All right. I move that the Joint Board of Supervisors and the School Board Committee recommend that the Board of Supervisors and the School Board approve the updates to the 24-25 Joint Committee Work Plan with the recommendation to substitute congestion must go with a congestion and traffic update for various identified schools and that we delay item 11, LCPS Land Matrix Committee updates to early February 2026.

[00:57:33] The motion, do I have a second? I have a second by Supervisor Briskman. It has now been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? I do have one question.

[00:57:51] It looks like on here that you wanted speed camera enforcement program in school zones. It looked like you wanted to move that to Q1, Mr. Trainer. I'm sorry. Superintendent Spence. All for good reasons.

[00:58:09] Not the first time I've heard that today. Can we repeat that? Sorry. So it looks like on my handy-dandy little thing here that it looks like there was a suggestion that speed camera enforcement program in school zones also be moved to Q1.

[00:58:28] That's correct. Okay, so then we might need to... So we never had dates that were scheduled for those that was adopted by the board. So the staff's recommendation is that the speed camera enforcement program which is item 12 on the list on the chart that that be in the first quarter of 2026 and then the safe passages to schools program overview be scheduled for November of 2025 which is item 13 on the list item 14 youth substance abuse response and resources that update would be scheduled for

[00:59:07] September of 2025 and then the affordable workforce housing on school sites would be scheduled for November of 2025. So all of those did not have dates previously scheduled by the committee. So the recommendation from staff is that we assign those dates to these items.

[00:59:28] Okay, so there does not need to be any amendments. I think it's fine. Okay. Any more discussion regarding this? Okay, all of those in favor say aye. Excuse me, Chair. Oh, yes. I do have one additional update.

[00:59:45] We'd like to request that the replacement item For number 10, the congestion must go with the updated report on traffic congestion items. We'd like to schedule that for November. I know the conversation said the next quarter, but we'd like it to actually be the third quarter, which is November.

[01:00:06] Okay. Can someone make that amendment? And then Ms. Briskman will, Supervisor Briskman, who made it. Co-Chair Mansfield, I have a question. So I just wanted a little clarification. So we're doing the first part, the 2024-2025 community work plan.

[01:00:24] So is that including the June meeting that we will be having, or is this... It wouldn't be, because we would do that for additions and deletions. Most of those items on the June agenda are new items.

[01:00:43] Okay, thank you. Okay, so I don't think we have to redo the motion because these were already approved and we didn't name dates in the motion, so I think we're okay.

[01:01:09] Okay, I have a motion. It's been seconded. All those in favor, say aye. All those opposed, say nay. And that motion passes unanimously. And we'll now move on to item five, requests and additions and deletions to the work plan, which is, this is where we're gonna talk about June because it's a new addition.

[01:01:35] Okay, I think it's the same people, Mr. Traynor and Mr. Jones. Yes, so what you see on the slide is the staff's proposed topics. These are new topics that we have received from staff for the June meeting specifically.

[01:01:56] Okay, so that would be the school boundary discussion and CIP impact presentation of the Loudoun County Advisory Commission on Youth 2025 State of Loudoun Youth Report at the June meeting and making this a standing item that is presented every year and then the Mars transmission line.

[01:02:25] Is there any discussion on this? Yes, Ms. Bristman, Supervisor Bristman. Thank you. If I might ask staff a question. Mr. Hemstreet, I know that Dominion is filing with the SEC on Friday.

[01:02:46] How long does it normally take the SEC to make a decision? I'm just wondering if June is going to be too little too late to have that conversation? So I spoke, I asked staff that question this morning. I just did not get an answer back before this meeting, but I did have the same concern that you just articulated.

[01:03:03] So if June is too late, I'll have to come back and let you know and we'll let the co-chairs know. Okay, okay. Yeah, I don't recall with the last iteration of this how long it took them to make their final decision. I want to say they're usually pretty quick.

[01:03:19] They are, okay. So, I mean, I think that, well, I was speculating that this may be too late this morning, but I do want to go back and check with staff and just verify my speculation. Okay, okay. So, co-chairs, I'm comfortable with leaving it on, but, you know, if anything, we just get at least an update and confirmation about what happened, even if it's already happened, we can still.

[01:03:44] And it might also behoove us to get an update because, heck, by June, there's probably going be more proposals for power lines somewhere. So maybe we just do a Dominion update. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Supervisor Bristman. Any other suggested additions to the 2025-26 work plan? I know I asked my board and I didn't get anything. So Co-Chair. Yes. So if we can.

[01:04:21] yes thank you next slide so this is a this slide identifies additional items from the Board of Supervisors that were given to staff and you'll see in the parentheses behind each one the staff recommended dates for when those would be presented to the board or the committee the first one is an update on the activity fees and extra for extracurricular activities the second one is the expansion of the existing safe passage to schools item the third is covering the cost of the D.A.R.E. t-shirts for Title I schools. And then the fourth item is the

[01:04:58] unpaid meal debt. And then the next slide is a list of the topics that were proposed by LCPS, our Loudoun County School Board staff members, the transition center, which staff is proposing to cover in 2025, and then content testing of confiscated vape devices, which staff is also proposing for september of 2025 just for organization's sake can we talk about uh okay

[01:05:31] so we have june 2025 what's our next meeting september 2025 october no just november it's every other week it's every month right december but we are not going to do january would we do february instead or march that has that you know that quarter meeting has not been decided yet you know obviously we're in the first quarter of 25 now it could be could be march we've got a lot

[01:06:07] of budget activity that happens the first couple of months okay i'm just trying to get in my brain head what it looks like um because i'm thinking that the school boundary discussion and the presentation from acoy is going to be kind of long and we have an hour meeting um so i don't know if anybody is thinking that way, unless you all want to go to an hour and a half.

[01:06:47] Hour and a half is fine. Okay. So then that would be June, September. Is there any discussion about these suggestions? And so when did you say that the cost of D.A.R.E.

[01:07:02] T-shirts, where could we put that in? It's listed up there for November 25, yes. Okay.

[01:07:23] Any other discussion about additions or deletions? Chair Mansfield, thank you. Yes, I'm sorry, Supervisor Dracone. Yeah, so I had a late-breaking edition that I don't know if it can be considered.

[01:07:39] I'm on the COG farm committee, and we did a farm tour in D.C., and schools in D.C. are doing something called Footprints, which is where they have a curriculum in elementary schools.

[01:07:55] I don't think it's in middle and high schools where they teach kids about gardening and cooking and nutrition and um like it's a whole curriculum it's a whole lesson plan it's not it's not just putting a garden out at a school um i think it's awesome and dc has it at like 16 schools and i don't know if that's something that we could consider given given our um where we are with sustainability and how it's important to kind of be able to have food security it might

[01:08:33] make sense to add some kind of ag curriculum or look at some ag curriculum like food prints it's with farm fresh is the name of the group so this isn't anything new i think a lot of different jurisdictions are doing it but i was kind of i was really impressed dc was doing it because they don't really have much land you know at their schools and so I was like wow this is awesome and the kids made me a great ABC salad of apples and beets and carrots and I thought it was really good and I thought we might be able to look into this maybe it's not something to look at you know

[01:09:13] maybe it's kind of last on the list but I think it's it's a unique opportunity that I feel like it might be beneficial to at least pilot it you know you'd have to kind of have that commercial kitchen in a school which would make maybe new schools something we could pilot it at or I don't know if schools have a kitchen Dr. Spence might know this or Mr. Traynor but I think it's a really cool addition potentially if my colleagues agree to look at it so Mr. Traynor do we have something like that in local schools or Dr.

[01:09:47] - Dr. Spence, would you like to answer? - I do. Well, I would say this, Supervisor Kearney, we are making substantial inroads with the agricultural community here in Loudoun County with our career technical education team as we're looking at pathways, with our family and community engagement team as we're looking for school-based opportunities to integrate some of our agribusiness into our schools, and with our curriculum team and our sustainability office as we look at expanding understanding of sustainable practices,

[01:10:23] which includes food sustainability as a part of that. I would say I would defer here to our board, but I'm not sure a joint conversation with the supervisors on curriculum matters is probably the best place for that conversation, although I'm more than happy to take what you have, share it with my team, and think about some opportunities that they may see there.

[01:10:48] My concern would be, like I said, kind of analyzing the requirements. We don't have scratch kitchens, generally speaking, right now. So if that's a requirement, that would be one conversation we would want to have. And then outside of that, just space inside of the curriculum at the moment and where we would put that.

[01:11:06] We'd need to do a crosswalk with the standards. We've got some evolving science standards in the elementary schools, as well as ELA and math standards. And I'd want to make sure that we could fit that into the curricular expectations. So that's a long way around to say I'm not sure where we'd fit that into this conversation.

[01:11:22] There would be a lot of work that would need to happen on our end before we could come back and talk about that with this committee. I think that makes sense, and it is curriculum-based, but just being on the farm committee of the metropolitan region, I see things, and I just thought that food prints was really a unique, awesome opportunity that D.C. is doing.

[01:11:47] I think Arlington might be doing it as well. I don't know. I just know I saw it in D.C. And the kids really loved it and seemed, you know, they understood nutrition. They're, like, learning how to cook. And it just seemed like, and, you know, they had a garden outside that was maintained over the summer because, you know, it's part of the curriculum.

[01:12:08] And it just seemed like a really unique opportunity. And I'm happy to give you information about it. I can send you a link to it. But there's a whole curriculum. So that's that. And then the second one that I brought up is expanding safe passages to school. So while I appreciate part three from 2023, it was just crosswalks.

[01:12:31] It didn't include sidewalks. And I think a comprehensive approach is what I was looking for. I love that we're being more proactive. But I don't know that I'm a big fan of folding the sidewalk or the safe pedestrian passages to school into our sidewalk and trail program because we have 1,200 missing links.

[01:12:53] So it'll never get done. So I think having it as a separate program that is prioritized and funded separately through potential grant funding and looking at it holistically, not just as a crosswalk is what I would be looking for in this expansion is to really look at it from how do we get kids that are within one mile of the school safely to the school in a walk zone because those are priority missing links for safety for the kids.

[01:13:31] Thank you, Supervisor Chacroni. Supervisor Briskman. Thank you. So I do like the ag idea, but I have to say I honestly tried something like that last term in this committee and really was trying to solve the issue of how can we have the gardens, at least at our elementary schools, be more viable because the LCPS understandably has always said and said last term that the teachers that sponsor it aren't there in the summer.

[01:14:08] So I was trying to create a partnership with PRCS like we did with the pickleball courts. And with all due respect, LCPS said talk to the hand. We're not going to do it. So, I mean, I'd love to talk about it again.

[01:14:25] I understand the idea that you don't want us meddling in curriculum. That's totally fine with me. But I saw some success with getting PRCS to partner with LCPS on that one project. So I was hopeful, but it came down to basically, I believe LCPS thought that we were trying to force gardens down the throats of elementary schools.

[01:14:46] And anyway, so I don't know if we want to add it to our agenda again. Maybe we can have some offline conversations about it first before we actually bring it to committee. Because like I said, I tried something similar last term and it didn't quite work out.

[01:15:03] So, I don't know, there's different people around, so maybe we can try again. Thank you. So, what reminds me of, we are having a pilot of after-school program, and maybe that's maybe a space.

[01:15:21] We can talk about that later offline, as far as a pilot is concerned. And then we're also doing some after-school summer programs. So, yes, Ms. Chandler.

[01:15:37] Thank you. I'm looking at the schedule and just wondering if anyone in terms of my colleagues on the joint committee or anyone from staff would find it beneficial to move some of the items that could potentially have a budgetary consequence up on the schedule, although I recognize that September sounds like a heavy lift already.

[01:16:02] But in terms of looking if there were an interest in changing the fee structure or covering the DARE t-shirts and certainly the transition center could have budgetary consequences from the conversation. It's quite a lot. I don't think we heard it down here.

[01:16:27] I'm sorry. I probably need to move in closer too. I'm just wondering if anyone would see a benefit to moving the items that actually have a budget or could potentially have a budgetary consequence up on the schedule into September just to give our team more time to make adjustments.

[01:16:48] So that would be which ones? That would be the... 1, 3, and LCSB1. So activity fees, DARE T-shirts, and Transition Center.

[01:17:04] Well, Transition Center is already September. So then we would put the confiscated vape devices on something else with that objection. Okay, I think that sounds like a good idea.

[01:17:26] Sure. Yeah. Oh, would you like me to make a motion? Sure. Thank you, Co-Chair. Would you like to? So, for the D.A.R.E. item, we did this for us, this is an item that the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office would come and speak with you about. And so, November is a fine time frame for that item before we get into our budget development process.

[01:17:48] September, October, November. Oh, Ms. Chandler was saying September, but you think November? So for the sake of clarification, in terms of that budgetary item potentially would be shifted onto the sheriff's budget and that's why it's not an issue, that's the discussion that we would be potentially having?

[01:18:15] Yes, that is a discussion because the DARE program is funded through the sheriff's office. Great, I would be comfortable with that then. Point of clarification, anytime I've talked to the sheriff's department, they seem to think it's an LCPS budgetary item.

[01:18:32] So, hence why I brought it here. So, you know. We did poll them about their availability to come talk about this thing. Great, okay, maybe that'll work. Yeah, they agreed to November, so I'll certainly make sure. I don't mind if it's on, it's such a small amount, I don't mind if it's on September, honestly, if it's on November or September, but just for your information, that's what I was hearing.

[01:19:00] So, we'll certainly confirm those details. Thank you. Okay, is there any other discussion? I do have a couple more updates for you. I hope y'all took some good notes, Mr. Jones. Sure, a couple things. So first is when you're considering the new items for quarter two of 2026, you all have indicated that you wanted the ACOY presentation to be an annual thing.

[01:19:27] So in addition to what you approved for June of this year, we would also just add it to quarter two of 2026 as well as one of your new items. And then finally, that Safe Passages to Schools program, we've talked about it before, but that is fully within DTCI to take care of and manage, and we have our other programs, like you mentioned, Supervisor Cicrony, that would capture this.

[01:19:54] I'd like to have some more conversation around you about how we work on this at our staff level. Yeah, I would, because putting it in the sidewalk and trail is not, I mean, that's a 1,200 list. and so I do think what I'm looking for is a comprehensive program because if you do a crosswalk you need a sidewalk that connects it it's a comprehensive program and what I see here is with the safe passages to school number three is all crosswalks and and that's great but I have a lot of missing sidewalks to get to crossing guards you know so I just I feel like it almost needs to

[01:20:32] be a separate program and not folded into existing DTCI programs so that discussion has been taken up within the Finance Committee I think the point that just mr. Jones is making is that this issue is a hundred percent on the county side I don't know exactly what to do with this we if this comes back when it comes back to the board we would be obligated to advise the board that this This specific program is 100% A county program and currently is within the purview of the finance economic development or government operations and economic development committee.

[01:21:10] And so the board would have to discuss where they want this program to be in terms of its purview. We'll go back and check the direction we have from the board. I do think that we are under one phase of the first phase of this program.

[01:21:26] And then we have a second phase, which is supposed to take a look at, I think, the next set of connection projects. And so we're supposed to come back to financing the board on that with the next CEPI, yes.

[01:21:44] Well, and there are grant opportunities, too, that aren't available in just the plain old sidewalk and trail program. Um, you know, I know that Loudoun County Public Schools have gotten a grant at one point, um, for some of these improvements. Um, I don't even know if that's been spent down yet, but so I just feel like having it as kind of a separate program gives us more options for funding as well.

[01:22:12] Yeah, I'll talk to you offline, but I, but I, I, I, I think that it's not, putting it in, folding it into existing programs doesn't give it the priority. i think i think i would like to see so that's kind of that's what i'm trying to say because this has come through so many times to this committee and we're still talking about it correct so so two years ago so if we go way back into history when the program was first created it's always been under v under vdot's purview and primarily under the responsibility of the

[01:22:46] local government however at the when the program first came about the county was not equipped to process or construct these connections, and so the school division took it on as part of their construction program. However, even the grants that you're referring to, those grants would be recommended by the school staff, and then they would come to the county for the county to make application for those grants, and then if we received the grants, then the school division would go and construct the improvement. So a couple years ago, we made a decision with the

[01:23:24] school division that since these are primarily road construction projects under VDOT's purview and the county now has a program to do these projects, we transferred responsibility from the schools to the county. And so this is now a 100% county program. And so I don't think we're here suggesting that it shouldn't be a standalone program. I think the issue here is what committee under the board of supervisors has purview over this this project all i'm saying is right now the

[01:24:01] finance committee has purview over this project in this program the discussion that's before the committee is whether or not this should be part of the joint committee's work plan i think as staff we're saying that when this goes if it stays here on this we are going to be obligated to tell the board that this specific program is within the finance committee's purview and we would ask the board to decide which committee this program goes to whether it's the joint committee or the finance committee as opposed to having it under the purview of two committees okay understood but but i might

[01:24:40] do a board member initiative to have it be a standalone thing not be folded into other existing county projects like sidewalks and trails and the intersection improvement program yeah i'll talk offline but but i i think this deserves its own we've been talking about this for a long time and it deserves its own attention its own priority otherwise you know we have literally 1200 to 1400 trails that are missing in the county and this will just get thrown into that without a specific focus on school zones

[01:25:16] walk areas what's missing so anyway we'll talk offline but I'm I I want to take this up as a priority so we'll figure it out but I don't mind you giving an update okay so thank you supervisor to crony so at this point I don't know that there's any motions because we still have to take it back to our respective boards for additions and deletions and then come back yeah that's correct supervisor committee if you would make a motion to recommend to your respective boards that you consider the changes that we've made this afternoon

[01:25:55] and then it will be effective for your June meetings and beyond. Okay. Super Co-Chair Glass, do you have a motion? Yes, I do. I move that the Joint Board of Supervisors and School Board Committee recommend to the Board of Supervisors and the School Board that new or additional items be added to the 2025-2026 Joint Committee Work Plan as discussed in staff presentation at the March 24, 2025 Joint Board of Supervisors and school board committee meeting as proposed and have LCPS and county staff prepare Board

[01:26:31] of Supervisors and school board approved items for the designated meetings. I have a motion by Co-Chair Glass. Do I have a second? I have a second by Ms. Chandler. Is there any other discussion? Actually, I just want to thank all of my colleagues for bringing the topics up, Philip.

[01:26:50] You brought things to the table that some of us haven't thought of and different concerns that our communities have thank you thank you coach our glass seeing no more discussion I'll take a voice vote all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed and we have one absent for the vote so that is one two three five and one absent for the vote Ms. Chernoff we can we'll move on to item five which is adjournment I guess there's no more business to discuss the March 24th 2025

[01:27:29] meeting of the Joint Committee with the Board of Supervisors is now adjourned. Thank you for your work and drive home safely.

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