Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County Public Schools, Finance & Operations Committee Meeting, Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Date: Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Place: LCPS Administration Building / School Board Room, Ashburn, Virginia
Length: 1h 07m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1089871059?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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[00:00:26] - Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all for being here. I'd like to call to order this June 3rd meeting of the Finance and Operations Committee. My name is Arben Estreffi. I'm the chair of this committee. I'm joined by Chair Mansfield and Mrs. Griffiths. Go ahead and get started.

[00:00:41] Is there any public comment for today? Okay, seeing none. We will move on to the approval of the meeting minutes. I'll go ahead and make a motion to approve the minutes from May 13th, 2025. Do I have a second?

[00:01:00] - Second. Seconded by Mrs. Griffiths. Is there any discussion on the meeting minutes? Seeing none, we'll move it to a vote. All those in favor of approving the meeting minutes, please say aye. - Aye. - Aye. That motion will pass unanimously.

[00:01:17] The meeting minutes have been approved. Move on to the approval of the consent agenda. Are there any questions regarding the consent agenda? Seeing none, I will now make a motion to approve the consent agenda.

[00:01:33] Do I have a second? - Second. - Seconded by Mrs. Griffiths. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we'll move on to a vote. All those in favor of approving the consent agenda, please say aye. - Aye. - Aye.

[00:01:49] - That motion will pass unanimously. The consent agenda has been approved. And we'll move on to our action items. Starting with 5.01, Business and Financial Services, RFP R24250, Language Interpretation, and Translation Services Renewal.

[00:02:09] I will go ahead and make the motion. I move that the Finance and Operations Committee placed this item on the school board meeting consent agenda and recommends the Loudoun County School Board renews RFP R24250 language interpretation and translation services to Liberty Language Services and PGLS LLC effective August 1st, 2025 through July 31st, 2026.

[00:02:32] Do I have a second? - Second. - Seconded by Chair Mansfield. And we will see if there's any discussion on this item or if there's anything else to add from the team. This was an information item in the last meeting.

[00:02:50] Do we want to talk through anything else on this item, Ms. Villia? I have nothing else to add. Board members? Yes, Mrs. Griffiths? Thank you, Chair Streffi. Just one question. Providing the English language services to students and their families is a financial burden for LCPS.

[00:03:11] Does LCPS receive any state, federal, or federal funding for the translation services? I don't know if that was discussed last time. It was not discussed, and funding that we receive is not earmarked specifically for this activity.

[00:03:28] So where is the funding coming from? Is it a specific budget? It's absorbed as part of funding to run the school system and identified as a resource that's needed to support the students and families that require interpretation services. Any other discussion? Seeing none, we'll move on to a vote.

[00:03:58] All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. aye all those opposed please say nay nay that motion will pass with myself and chair Mansfield in support and mrs. Griffiths in opposition this will go to consent as it's in this this one is in that was in the motion itself that it

[00:04:26] would go to consent so in in 5.01 you'll see in the motion itself so recommended action on the top if you go into the item you'll see that the motion that we read was that the Finance and Operations Committee placed this item on the school board consent agenda and recommends that we renew that RFP.

[00:05:06] We'll move on to 5.02. Business and Financial Services RFP R24250. Language interpretation and translation. I'm sorry, I think my page refreshed. Business and Financial Services Loudoun County School Board to request financing for approved CIP projects not to exceed $107,220,000 for school purposes.

[00:05:33] I'll begin with a motion. I move that the Finance and Operations Committee place this item on the school board meeting consent agenda and recommends the Loudoun County School Board approve the attached resolution requesting funding for school purposes. Do I have a second?

[00:05:49] - Second. - Seconded by Chair Mansfield. I believe this item is going to be presented by Ms. Casale. - Thank you. Due to time constraints, this item has been brought to you as an action item. The Lownden County Finance staff will bring this referendum to the Board of Supervisors, Finance, Government, and Operations, and Economic Development Committee meeting on June 10th, and the full Board of Supervisors meeting on June 17th.

[00:06:17] In November, the 25th election, we will be discussing FY27 funding needs. The resolution takes into consideration the 11-6 to finance the design, construction, and improvement of the school renovation and replacement program.

[00:06:33] The $5 million to finance the design, construction, and improvement of the Special Programs Academy expansion. The $9620 is for projects included in the CRA budget line of the CIP, which address the replacement, repair, and update of critical facility systems.

[00:06:49] Some of those examples would be energy conservation, fine arts, theater, music programming improvement for high school and middle school, and the playground replacement. This would be a total not to exceed $107, $220 for the general obligation bonds. Thank you very much.

[00:07:07] Board members, do you have any questions or discussion? Yes, Ms. Griffiths. Thank you, Chair Struffy. Can you repeat where that money is going again? You just mentioned it. Can you just go over that again, please? It's also listed in board docs on the action item, but I can list them out.

[00:07:24] The 11-6 to finance the design, construction, improvement of the school renovation and replacement program. The $5 million design, construction, improvement of the special programs academy expansion. And then the 9620, the projects included in the CRA budget line of the CIP.

[00:07:46] I just want to mention, I have a problem asking the taxpayer to fund $107,220,000 through a bond referendum this November. With no real details and how the funds will be spent. And in addition, this is being rushed through.

[00:08:02] You just said time constraints. So it automatically goes to action item for us. So we didn't have an ample amount of time to review this. I feel like it's being rushed through the consent agenda for the June 10th meeting.

[00:08:18] So would you be able to provide more of a detailed breakdown for us? I can address the timing and then would ask Mr. Lewis to share additional information on the specifics. This is a regular process with the county in terms of how they fund our capital projects.

[00:08:37] Each fall they do typically go out and put on the ballot language regarding issuing a bond. The timing is in coordination with county staff, and it's usually a delicate balance between recognizing that our school board does not meet in July, and I believe their board takes the month of August off.

[00:08:56] So trying to get all the items in place, along with gathering information from the county, which they have to gather from their bond council, it's quite a process. And so, unfortunately, this is being brought directly to the committee as action to bring to the school board to support the county's timeline as well.

[00:09:18] And Mr. Lewis. Yes, thank you. So the additional part of this is the numbers and the dollars that you see listed here are based on the school board's adopted CIP for FY26. And so the county staff takes that and they decide how they're going to fund each of the projects that they approve as a part of their CIP as well.

[00:09:37] So our projects were approved by the school board and then again approved by the supervisors. Then they take those projects, group them into these three categories, all of our projects grouped into these three categories, and divvy up those dollars. They may not add up to the number of all the numbers that we have in our program because they don't sell bonds for the total amount of each program, so each project.

[00:09:58] So they will go through their process, and that's their prerogative as our funding source, and decide how they're going to do that. and they've decided here to sell bonds for the $107,220,000. So they are funding the school board's approved CIP with this process.

[00:10:19] Because there was an issue with renovations and that sort of thing, LCPS capital facility renewals and alterations, would that mean, can you explain that to me? would that mean renovations to LCPS facilities or what can you just elaborate on that yes so that's a line item or a group of projects actually in our CIP so we if we had the CIP here we can do that you see those grouped in there and so it's multiple projects that we would do and I don't have that list right in front of me so I won't try to to quote those but they're

[00:10:55] they're multiple as I mentioned a minute ago all of our projects in FY26 are boiled down of these three categories that they put in in this item and that's that's by the county's direction so multiple projects that would be for anytime we do a critical system replacement those types of things alterations additions or interior renovations to our buildings and last question what we're approving today you know when I get when I go vote and the bond is on there to vote for it I was told it's already covered whether you vote for it or not is that true because of

[00:11:32] our vote today? So I'm not the financial person, but the projects are approved when the school board adopts the CIP and then the board of supervisors adopts their CIP. So our projects are done. This process is just how the supervisors have decided to fund all those projects. So to your question about what's on the bond, you're voting on the bond, if I recall the language correctly, is you're voting on the method to fund the projects, not the approval of the

[00:12:04] projects. Thank you. Members, any other questions? Seeing none, we'll move on to a vote. There's a motion on the floor. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed, please say nay.

[00:12:26] Nay. That motion will pass with myself and Chair Mansfield in support and Mrs. Griffiths opposed. We'll move on to item 5.03, support services contract award for GMP1 under RFP 23-522 CMAR part two construction services for Banneker Elementary renovation and addition. I will move that the Finance and Operations Committee place this item on the school board meeting consent agenda and approve and recommend the Loudoun County School Board approve the contract award for GMP1 under contract

[00:13:03] 23-522, excuse me, for $41,833,921 to Gilbane Building Company and authorizes the chair to sign the final documents upon presentation. Do I have a - Second.

[00:13:21] - Second. - Seconded by Chair Mansfield. Is there any discussion? - Yes. - Mrs. Griffiths. - Regarding, wait, we're on 5.03, right? Yeah, okay. I'm all for much needed renovations to our schools.

[00:13:39] The cost increased for this project. So I was just curious why the cost went up. Can you tell me what we've done so far for Banneker?

[00:13:56] So the cost increase was a variety of factors, partly due to inflation. So these numbers were created some time ago, and over the course of the last three years, we've seen historic inflation and cost escalation in construction.

[00:14:12] That's part of it. The other part of it, too, is for renovation projects, as we start getting into the design and we start understanding the needs of the existing building more, oftentimes the cost or the scope of work needed increases as well. So through the course of the development of the project, the cost increased beyond what we originally estimated.

[00:14:34] I understand the school was built in 1948. Is that correct? The original was, and there was an addition done a number of years later. So as far as renovations, can you tell me, like, what exactly have you been doing? Did you put in a whole new HVAC system?

[00:14:52] If you could just give me some details on that. So it's quite an extensive renovation. Um, we are reprogramming many of the spaces in the existing building, um, in order to accommodate the, the needs of, of the, uh, of the school. Um, so this, it has a relatively new HVAC system in it, although we need to augment that for the renovation.

[00:15:12] Um, but the school have, uh, you know, will have interior renovations, new finishes, new restrooms, everything will be brought up to ADA standards. Um, so it will maintain its historic character in the sense that it's a 1948 building, although it will have all the functionality of a new building okay thank you remembers any other questions or discussion seeing none we will move it to a vote all those in

[00:15:43] favor please say aye aye aye that motion will pass unanimously and move on to 5.04 support services revision of policy 6410 high performance building design construction operations I move that the Finance and Operations Committee recommend that the Loudoun County School Board adopt the staff revisions of policy 6410, high-performance building design, construction and operations.

[00:16:15] Do I have a second? - Second. - Seconded by Chair Mansfield. We'll open it up for discussion. Mr. Pasqualee, do you want to speak to this? - I'll just note that this policy went out for public comment, and based on that public comment, we are not recommending any further changes to the policy.

[00:16:36] - Thank you. Board members, any discussion or questions? Seeing none, we'll move on to a vote. All those in favor, please say aye. - Aye.

[00:16:51] - That motion will pass unanimously. We've reached our information items. So we'll move on to 6.01, business and financial services, state cost per pupil for tuition purposes.

[00:17:08] And this is presented by our director of budget and financial analytics, Casey Jones. - Good afternoon. School board policy 8125 admission requirements provides for the admission of non-resident students tuition students and school board policy 4010 tuition fees directs that two different tuition rates be established one for out-of-county students and one for out-of-state students using the FY 26 adopted budget and the following state count and following the state calculation is required by policy 4010 school year 2025 2026 tuition for out-of-county students would be $16,022

[00:17:46] and tuition for out-of-state students would be $24,819 unless otherwise directed, the action to establish tuition rates will be brought as a consent item to the F&O committee on June 17th and as a consent item to the school board on June 24th. I am glad to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yes, Chairman. So I know that we're looking at the recovery school and a little bit down the line, another year or so, probably, where the idea was to have other counties come as well as open it up, if I'm correct. Okay, I'm looking over there.

[00:18:24] So would this be part of that tuition rate, or would we ask for more because it could be a special program of some sort? May I ask Ms. Richardson for her input? Ms. Richardson? Good afternoon.

[00:18:47] Thank you, Chair Mansfield, for that question. Currently, the Virginia Department of Education has a funding sort of process for regional programs. So I do think that is something, because this would be the first time, at least under my tenure, that LCPS might be considering a regional program.

[00:19:07] So I would work with Mrs. Willoughby and her team to look at our tuition policy and to see how it aligns with the process that the state already has established for regional programs. Usually it is a cost report that is done.

[00:19:23] School divisions have to break out the per-pupil services that students receive. You submit those costs to the state, and then you get reimbursement. So we would need to see, based on the scope and breadth of services that we would be providing at our recovery school, which one would be most beneficial to sustain our program and make sure that we maintain a high level of quality resources and services to students.

[00:19:49] I know TJ, when we go to TJ, they don't really give us an amount for students with IEPs. because that's kind of subject to whatever services they need. Is that kind of the cost that you're talking about also for a student?

[00:20:06] Okay. All right. Thanks. And further just building on that, there's actually coordination between the state and the school, the two impacted school divisions in terms of the student count and where the state funding goes. So TJ is a perfect example related to that, that we can look at and just reverse for our situation.

[00:20:27] I just wanted to put it on our radar just in case. I'm sure y'all are thinking about it. Thank you. Any other discussion? Well, do we need to put that in this policy? Anything towards that?

[00:20:43] No, because it won't come back up for another five years. So the policy to review is having a five-year cyclical review. If pertinent things happen in between that five-year period, we absolutely have the opportunity to bring the policy back. I think at this time, this is a perfect example of a policy that actually gets updated every year because of the budget.

[00:21:06] And so we would just coordinate, as Ms. Richardson said, regarding what the updates would be related to the regional program, either at the next review or the one following, just depending on the timing. Thank you.

[00:21:21] Seeing no other discussion, we'll move on to 6.02. Business Financial Services, RFP R25712, Lease Purchase, Financing of Vehicles and Equipment, presented by Ms. Filion. Good evening and thank you.

[00:21:38] This item is being brought before you as during the FY26 budget process, the school board agreed to continue the lease purchase financing of vehicles and equipment for technology. In the amount of $10 million, 0.61%, which is actually lower than the percentage that we're paying in FY25, which is currently 4.05%.

[00:21:57] I bring this before you this evening as an information item, and as that you consider either action or consent on your June 17th agenda, and the school board consent agenda on June 24th. Thank you very much, board members.

[00:22:13] Any discussion or questions? With no other discussion, is there appetite to put this on consent for our next meeting? Ms. Groupitz? Consent? Yes. So this will go on consent, and we'll move on to 6.03, business and financial services, This is RFP R23260 Turf Maintenance Renewal, presented by Ms. Villio.

[00:22:43] Bring before you the first renewal on this contract for turf maintenance services. We did have a 15% price increase in this service. Please keep in mind that the initial term was two years to get the program up and running. So it's not unheard that the first increase would be 15% since they didn't have an increase for two years.

[00:23:04] This item is also being brought before you to be considered for action or consent on your June 17th agenda and the school board consent agenda on June 24th. And only one responded.

[00:23:20] This was the only respondent to this? I'm sorry. Yes. Three vendors came to the pre-bid meeting, but only one vendor responded. Once again, you're running into a situation with the size of our jurisdiction once they saw the work that needed to be done, but that is correct. Board members, any other questions?

[00:23:37] Yes. Ms. Griffiths. might be getting away a little bit from this but I did have a question and maybe Mr. Lewis can answer it for me one of my schools through the PTA did turf they raised money for turf and they're paying on it a previous PTA put it through a booster years ago and they're paying I'm not sure that it's being replaced at Stonebridge the turf I don't know if you can if you're familiar with

[00:24:11] that whole situation. And I was wondering if we can somehow relieve them of paying the maintenance fees on that. Does that make sense? It does. I am familiar with the original installation. That was one of the first fields that we put in an artificial turf. But I'm going to ask Mr. Woehead to update you on the replacement cycle. Good evening. We replaced the turf at Stonebridge High School, I believe it was last summer, replacing all the turf on the main stadium football field. So it is new after premature failure due to some improper usage and maintenance

[00:24:48] in the years past. So it's an all new field at this point. I think my question was, they've expressed to me that they have to pay out of their funds, their booster funds and fundraising to keep up the turf. Does that sound right? We provide this school. We have an athletic custodian station at each school. The athletic custodian's job is to maintain the turf. We provide all the equipment and all the tools they need to do that and then we also several times a year hire a contractor to do deep cleaning and removal of all the debris and any some instances you'll have errant metal and things of that nature with our whole goal to maintaining the

[00:25:28] shock absorbency of the field so it's safe and that there's no head trauma or any injuries unneededly created by hard turf so they shouldn't there should be zero cost for the school to maintain or use the field. They could be alluding to the fact that they took a loan out to pay for the previous field, which I'm unaware of.

[00:25:47] That could be what they're alluding to. They took a loan. I'm still having conversations with them about it. I was going to meet with one of the booster presidents in July. But yeah, that's pretty much what happened. So every time they switch, they're stuck with this cost because they took out a loan.

[00:26:08] So I'm not quite sure how we can alleviate the situation. Can you clarify what you mean by every time they switch? Well, when they switch, you know, the presidents and stuff, the people that fundraise. When their kids graduate, I think it's like a two-year limit that they're able to run every time.

[00:26:30] But every time they're stuck with this loan. So I've been trying to figure out. They mentioned it to me. I'll be honest. I don't have all the details, but when I saw turf maintenance, I was just curious, and I thought I would ask today, if you don't mind.

[00:26:47] But you understand, they took out a loan, so I don't know how to alleviate that issue from them, because they keep getting stuck with that. My suggestion might be to maybe get some more information from Mrs. Griffiths, and we can kind of get some detail around it, because I don't know that it's going to impact the approval of this RFP.

[00:27:10] So maybe we can, would you be agreeable to take it offline? Sure, sure. I wasn't sure if, I mean, any costs are involved, you know, with any of the turf fields in this RFP. So you're saying it wouldn't be? This RFP is for basically herbicide application along fence lines, cracks and crevices within parking lots.

[00:27:33] It's more natural turf maintenance. It's for basically True Green is a firm that would provide. I misunderstood. All right, thank you. Thank you so much. So this is an artificial turf. This is what I was thinking it was. It's actually grass and, like, hardscaping and that kind of stuff. We're not talking.

[00:27:48] This is non-athletic fields. We don't have artificial turf. This is normal grass, just, like, okay, thank you. So this would be for, like, entrance, basically all the asphalt areas to cracks. I wasn't sure it went with this, but I just wanted to ask the question. Thank you.

[00:28:05] Okay. This makes a lot more sense. Thank you, Chairman. because my next question was going to be I didn't know that all these schools had turf but now I get it all right any other questions or discussion seeing none we'll move on to yeah that's a great thought board members we want to put this on consent for the next meeting thumbs up yes so this will go on consent moving to 6.04 business financial services IFB I-25115

[00:28:42] cafeteria paper supplies presented by Ms. Filio. This is being brought before you this evening as a new contract. Last year was the first year we had a contract separate from our other food supplies for these cafeteria supplies. In what we learned and what was needed for this year, we did this new solicitation and are recommending award of the contract to Riverside Paper Supply effective August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026, and is being brought before you this evening be considered as action or consent on your June 17th agenda and the school board

[00:29:16] consent on June 24th thank you may I ask on what basis it was given to this vendor was it based on price or other factors this vendor we did it based on the vendor that provided the lowest price on all items that way we have one big delivery and this particular solicitation the contract award the biggest item is the is the trace that's the biggest line item on this one our trays or come through this vendor. Thank you. Any other questions or discussion? Seeing none,

[00:29:55] do we want to put this on consent as well? Thumbs up. Yes. So that will go on consent. And we'll move on to 6.05, Business and Financial Services, RFP R25274, Playground Equipment and Related Products and Services, presented by Ms. Villar.

[00:30:12] This contract is being awarded for the projects to be done in FY26 for the playgrounds as discussed with the school board this is the first round of that playground project we are recommending award to two vendors playground specialist as well as all recreation of virginia this is being brought before you as the total estimated value of this award is 4.2 million dollars and we would like you to consider for action or consent on june 17th and school board consent

[00:30:43] on june 24th board members any questions or discussion wonderful all right um is there consensus to put this on consent yes so that item will go on consent thank you moving on to 6.06 business and financial services rfp r22283 property and casualty insurance program renewal once again as stated this is a renewal of our property and casualty insurance and you will see

[00:31:17] that we have a 5.3 overall increase in the annual premium which is standard for the insurance industry at this time we our contract is with virginia association of counties risk pool or Acorp this is the fourth renewal option for this contract the current contract expires June 30th And we're asking that you consider having this as action or consent on June 17th and the Lowndes County School Board consent on June 24th, thank you any questions or discussion seeing none Would we want to put this on consent for our next meeting is up?

[00:31:52] So yes that item will go on consent for our next F&O meeting and we'll move on to six zero seven Business and Financial Services, RFP, R23267, Groceries, Renewal. This is another contract for our school nutrition program, our largest contract, which is for the food that is delivered to our schools.

[00:32:14] The vendor on this contract is Cisco with the estimated value of $12 million, and the average unit price increase, which is 3%, which does align with the current consumer price index for food and cost increases. We are bringing it before you this evening once again for your June 17th committee meeting and school board consent on June 24th.

[00:32:36] Thank you, Ms. Villiot. Any questions or discussion? Seeing none, would we like to put this on consent for our next meeting? Thumbs up. All of these snacks and everything are considered smart snacks and everything like that.

[00:32:55] Yes, this vendor is smart snack compliant. They have our smart snack compliance list. And also with this vendor, all menus and ordering are coordinated with school nutrition who ensures compliance with all required guidelines and regulations.

[00:33:11] Okay, great. Thanks. Wonderful. Any other discussion? Seeing none, do we still want to put this on consent for the next meeting? Yes? Okay. So that item will go on consent, and we'll move on to 6.08 Business Financial Services RFP R25275 Auditorium and Black Box Dimmer System Services.

[00:33:35] This contract may sound familiar to you as you previously approved a contract award for these services. but we had a vendor protest that took place following the award. And based on that protest, we had to no-award that contract and go back out to bid again.

[00:33:53] When we went back out to bid, we provided more detailed evaluation criteria, breaking it down. We also clarified some things in the actual scope of work for this service. And what we're bringing before you this evening is the contract award to Artistic Concepts Group.

[00:34:11] Based on the results of the evaluation committee scoring and once again We'd like you to consider this for action or consent on June 17th and on the school board consent agenda on June 24th Thank you any questions or discussion seeing none do we want to put this on consent thumbs up and that item?

[00:34:31] Yes, we'll go on consent moving on to six dot zero nine business and financial services RFP are one nine two zero one vehicle repair services renewal? This is the fourth of six renewal options for this contract, and this is for our transportation team for the services that we must outsource outside of the services that can be completed in our central garage. We have multiple vendors on this contract, which you can see by the awardee list, and this had an average price increase of 2% based on the items on the contract.

[00:35:10] So once again, we'd like you to consider action or consent on June 17th and on the school board consent agenda on June 24th Thank you Just maybe you can give us a little bit of context on what some of the items would be that we would outsource out in terms of service One example that I can give you and then I'm going to turn over to mr Lewis is like some of the larger engines the buses Some of those engines and some of the specialty work, but I'm going to turn it over to mr Lewis for anything he'd like to add. I don't really have the details of that. We do have Tisha

[00:35:46] Austin here with us. Maybe she could help us with that if you don't mind to come up to the microphone. So we can get you those details then. Sure. Any other discussion or questions? Seeing none. Yeah, we will hold on consent, just get a little bit more context to help us understand. Yeah, we will add some examples into the item. Thank you. Moving on to 6.10 Business and Financial Services RFP R25270

[00:36:21] pharmacy benefit administration in order to realize some cost savings in our pharmacy benefit program we went out looking for doing a new competitive solicitation with Aon who was our consulting firm for pharmacy benefit service provider this is the vendor who will administer the program the vendor is CVS Caremark or actually Caremark this particular vendor came in overall with a a significant cost savings over the term of the contract, and also when working with CVS

[00:36:57] Caremark, we did confirm that if a CVS Caremark is not available in their area, they can go to other providers, such as Walgreens, Harris Teeter, Giant. So they are working with other vendors or other providers to provide coverage for our pharmacy benefit program.

[00:37:18] Thank you. Any questions or discussion? Yes, Chair Mansfield. So this would be instead of Express Scripts? That is correct. And I had emailed Ms. Willoughby earlier because CVS is closing a lot of things nationwide, but this is a different entity?

[00:37:39] This is Caremark, who is with CVS, but Caremark also has the mail order program and also will partner and work with Walgreens, Harris Teeter, Giant. We made sure, because there are certain areas that don't have a CVS, so they will still be able to get their prescriptions filled at other pharmacies.

[00:37:59] Did we look at all, Aon, is that the name, comparable of like ADHD medications or those kinds of things? Yes, that was part of the presentation that was provided by both vendors as well as questions that were addressed by Aon.

[00:38:16] Okay. Yes. And we're not privy to any of those kinds of things, are we? Those presentations are proprietary. They're confidential. Any other questions? Yes, Ms. Griffin. I just had a quick question.

[00:38:33] Why are we not using Express Scripts? Because I know they have a great delivery program. Did they, like, cancel us? No, ma'am. We put out a solicitation to see if we could negotiate some cost savings with the program. We put out a new solicitation. Express Scripts also responded.

[00:38:48] But based on the evaluation criteria and the overall scoring, CVS came in with the best offer with a cost savings of approximately, I would believe it was $25 million. Over $191 million over the next three years is the total cost, and then the cost savings was $25.6 million.

[00:39:12] So the item mentions, in addition to the cost savings, it says combined with their commitment to service enhancements and limiting member disruption.

[00:39:34] Maybe is there some additional context around what additional value points that we are expecting from this? I will call Ms. Evans up, if she could come up, please, and share some of the additional incentives being offered by CVS.

[00:39:51] If it's not readily available, we can also provide it as part of the item at your next meeting as well. So we did do a disruption analysis with CVS, and the overall disruption is less than 4%.

[00:40:09] they have a mail order program they also have equivalent programs to for example the save on program for especially drugs not sure what other questions you're asking I'm sorry I was just referencing the language around service enhancements as compared to the current vendor versus any potential disruptions so anything that we're basing this decision off of outside of cost so I will have to get back to you

[00:40:41] more specific information, generally the technical component of the program, so comparing what we have versus what they're offering. CVS was offering more services, more support for diabetes management, for example, or for some of our specialty programs, particularly with immunotherapies, so, but I can get more specific information.

[00:41:10] Okay. Thank you. to add, too, also the other thing was increased customer service and a level of support from CVS, what they demonstrated to us. They were increasing the customer service levels from the services which we are currently receiving. I guess Express Scripts has never been my friend, but especially if you're thinking about hormones and those kinds of things because of women of certain ages. And so I'm wondering if they're comparable, if they're better or

[00:41:43] Those are the kind of questions I'm wondering, especially for certain problems that you might want to make better with medication. And I just want to make sure that there's, I have a problem with ADHD medication in particular, as well as hormones.

[00:42:03] Those kinds of things that are harder to find and that people have more of a, we're going to deny you, we're going to change this, that kind of thing. Women's health is a big issue. So I think what you're talking about are more formulary issues. So what's on the formulary versus what is not or what is alternative is offered.

[00:42:25] And I can go through and get you some more specific examples. But if you have a particular thing that you're asking about, that would be helpful. There's just been some constituents who have been upset about, particularly ADHD medication.

[00:42:41] They want some generic, some not generic, or depression medicine, something for depression, mostly mental health. But then there is also the women's health aspect of it that has been a little difficult. So I'm just wondering. It's not something people often talk about or want to talk about.

[00:42:57] But if we're talking about health for our staff, I think it's important. Yes, ma'am. I will get you some more information on that. Yes, Ms. Griffiths.

[00:43:16] Like Ms. Mansfield, I was concerned about hearing CVS. but it seems to me you have backups just in case because, yes, they are closing a lot of stores. In my experience, I didn't have a good experience. I had a good experience with CVS for many years, and then they closed a location by me, and then I tried to go to another one, and I had issues.

[00:43:36] So my concern is CVS. I don't know that they're doing very well, so I'm glad you have backups. And if you could just repeat those backups again, you know, for the recording. So in case anybody's listening so they know, I'd appreciate that.

[00:43:55] Sure. So we very specifically asked about Walgreens, Giant, Harris Teeter, Kroger. So we specifically asked. There's also some independent pharmacies. And I can get those names like in the Berryville area, in the Percival, Levittsville areas.

[00:44:17] There are some independent pharmacies as well. Yeah, I just want to make sure that they have all these choices Because I'm just not feeling good about CVS these days. So thank you. Thank you This yes, so this item we do need to ensure that we have a contract in place by July 1 Okay, and the reason we need to do that is we need to prepare for open enrollment and we're going to be switching Programs for both our retirees as well as our employees So it is important that we get it through just so you know, so we can get your questions answered at the next meeting to help you feel more comfortable with that decision.

[00:44:55] So we can bring this back then as action and provide the additional information that you're requesting. I'm happy for it to go to consent next time because you can always pull it off consent when we're at the dais. But I would like to know a little bit more the formularies.

[00:45:14] That's not going to stop me from putting it on consent today. I will add the other thing that I'm seeing in the world of procurement is brick and mortar is going away. More and more people are shuttering the brick and mortar and going to mail because it decreases costs, overhead costs.

[00:45:29] So we're running into issues with a lot of different things where that door to be open to go into is going away. The problem with mail is that sometimes they deny you and you don't get that face-to-face discussion.

[00:45:46] And then you're sent to one person, another person, and then you have to go to your provider. And then, I mean, it just can take a long time. That's part of the customer service component. Right, and sometimes it's not so great. The benefits will be working very closely with CVS Caremark on.

[00:46:01] But that's one of the things we want to make sure of is that passing around from person to person. Now you need to go back here because I understand what you said. I've experienced it myself. But no, that is true. Or you can go to the pharmacist and there'll be, there's nothing I can do. They won't approve it. then you leave there.

[00:46:17] So that's something that I know they're very aware of and that came up a lot in the discussion was the customer service component, having a dedicated team to help LCPS. Thank you very much. Appreciate all of the additional context and information.

[00:46:33] I know that you'll probably be attaching some additional information to this item and some detail, but with that, do we want to still put this on consent so we can still pull it off and the attachments will be on the item in advance of the next meeting.

[00:46:55] Board members, thumbs up if you still want to put this on consent. Okay. So this item, yes, will then go on consent. And we'll move on to business and financial services, RFP, R25272, Medicare Advantage. The reason why we went out for this solicitation is because of the information we received from Cigna that they would no longer be providing Medicare Advantage after December 31st.

[00:47:22] Therefore, we went out for competitive open solicitation, once again, working with Aon. The committee, the top firm in both the financial component and technical was United Healthcare. Therefore, we're bringing before you this evening the recommendation of the award to United Healthcare, who also provided the plan with the most accessible services and the least amount of disruption for our current vendors.

[00:47:48] So therefore, I bring that before you this evening. Thank you. Yes, Chairman Mansfield. I see that in the in-board docs, there's a 100% change in the annual cost compared to the current contract with Cigna, and that there's a reason is because Cigna didn't charge a premium.

[00:48:07] So are we going to be paying that premium, or how is that going to work? So we're paying the premium and not paying claims. Cigna essentially took a huge loss to keep our business.

[00:48:31] And to add on to that, they took that loss and they offered this as an incentive whenever we went out to solicitation for our overall active plan as well. So this was under an umbrella because, as you know, Cigna is our current provider related to our self-insurance for the active.

[00:48:49] So this was under that umbrella. So you could almost say that they took a loss or perhaps it was embedded in the overall pricing. But regardless, they are no longer offering that. And so now for us to go out into the commercial market, we will be paying the $3.9 million to ensure that we have Medicare Advantage services for our retirees come January.

[00:49:16] Thanks. And we've only ever offered one type of Medicare Advantage option? Okay. PPO plan. Yes. Cigna was our Medicare Advantage provider previously.

[00:49:32] How many years is this? Does this come up every year? Is this a three-year contract? This is a three-year contract, but every year we will be negotiating the amount that we're paying. Right now, due to the uncertainty of what Medicare will look like in year two, right now we're locked in for year one, and then it's contingent upon Medicare on what they provide towards the program.

[00:50:00] I know that one of the factors was the least amount of disruption, but was UnitedHealthcare the cheapest among the five? Yes, they received the highest score in both financial as well as technical.

[00:50:17] They were the lowest cost. Okay. Yes, Ms. Griffin. End of deadline on this. If we don't put it to consent, I mean, when does this need to, you said July 1st? This is the same thing because we have to address this during open enrollment with our retirees.

[00:50:34] We've got to get them all switched over. You've got to have ample time to provide literature and information on it, communicate with the retirees, and ensure that they are aware of the new program that's effective January 1. So they're not aware yet.

[00:50:51] If we approve it, then you're going to get the information out to them. Is that right? Right now, this is coming to you as an item, and we have begun final negotiation because this is contingent upon contract approval. So we are in negotiation with United right now on the contract.

[00:51:09] So through this being public, they are aware there's going to be a change. But they knew there was going to be a change because Cigna is no longer providing this year. Right. It was a real problem. Okay. Thank you. Any other discussion?

[00:51:29] Seeing none, do we want to put this on consent? We can always take it off, just like the last one. But no. So, all right. If we want this on consent, thumbs up.

[00:51:45] Okay. So we'll keep this on action for the next, if I know you can guess, Janice Hill. I mean, I'd just like to remind everybody that the reason why this is later not because of you guys, it's because we made our, we waited and we made a vote later to put this RFP in place.

[00:52:07] So that was on us because we were grappling with Medicare Advantage for our retirees. So I just want to let that out there. Thank you.

[00:52:23] So we'll move on to our next, our last two information items. Starting with 6.12, Department of Student Services, naming of the LCPS Transition Center. And I believe this is presented by Ms. Richardson. And Ms. Carter.

[00:52:42] Dr. Carter, sorry. No, that's Jenna. No, I'm so sorry. Yes. Dr. Carter, Ms. Richardson, and she's not here. No. Yes, Jenna. Apologies. And Ms. Arndt. Good evening.

[00:52:58] Thank you so much, Chair Estreffi. I am joined this evening by Ms. Jenna Arndt. She is our supervisor of transition services. We do have a PowerPoint, but for the sake of time, we don't have to go over that. We want to give you a high-level overview of our LCPS Transition Center.

[00:53:16] It is going to be a comprehensive program for students with disabilities focusing on career and technical education and independent living skills to enhance their workforce integration, independence, and quality of life.

[00:53:31] We will focus on supporting high school students with disabilities, those who are working towards or have achieved their applied studies, or those that are working towards a standard diploma off cohort as determined by their IEP teams.

[00:53:50] We will provide vocational evaluations as well as career exploration, and the center will be staffed with a multidisciplinary team. So as you're aware, our students with disabilities face significant barriers to accessing quality education and career training.

[00:54:13] The goal of our program is to provide our students with disabilities the opportunities that they may not be receiving otherwise. The focus of the center or of our school would be inclusivity in education by bridging the gap between secondary education and the workforce, economic empowerment by equipping students with marketable CTE skills and enhancing their employability, and also their personal development through access to resources and staff who will help them develop soft skills for personal

[00:54:48] growth, confidence, and self-reliance. Our program focus will center around workplace readiness, independent living, and vocational skill development. Our program capacity, as we're working through the planning phase this year, and we know we have a planning phase for at least next year, we're looking at a total program enrollment of approximately 500 students.

[00:55:15] We are projected to house 10 different programs for our students that focus on career exploration and on the job skills and training needed. The multidisciplinary staff, comprised of job coaches, vocational evaluators, career and technical education staff, and special education teachers, as well as related services providers.

[00:55:43] Our partnerships with local businesses and community organizations will be providing a direct path for students to shadow, intern, and find jobs. And as we learned in our last committee meeting, which was special programs and centers, we also have some interest from our community partners for some volunteers to come in and assist with our transition center.

[00:56:05] So we are open to that experience for our students as well. For our program, we currently have projected eight overall goals. We did host a transition center roundtable, and we received extensive feedback on our goals and objectives. So we will continue to keep the board updated on our goals.

[00:56:24] But they range from the student in enrollment and participation process, career and technical skills, post-secondary outcomes, our vocational evaluations, and career exploration.

[00:56:40] That career exploration aspect is really focused on our middle school students. And coming out of the roundtable, we even had a suggestion to open that up to elementary school students. We're focusing on our community partnerships, staff training, student and family satisfaction, and operational excellence.

[00:57:03] Now, Ms. Arndt has the good part. So we would like to propose the name LCPS View Transition Academy. This process for naming was a collaborative effort engaging community members and key stakeholders, such as our transition teachers, all members of the Department of Student Services team, and also we worked with our Special Education Advisory Committee for input in ensuring it aligns with the school's identity, purpose, and vision while fostering broad acceptance.

[00:57:35] So VIEW, as you could probably figure out, is an acronym, and it stands for Vocation, Independence, Employment, and Work Readiness, which each signify key areas of the program. Thank you. We remain available for any questions.

[00:57:54] Thank you both very much. Any questions or discussion? Chair Mansfield? I love the name and I'm super excited about this. The only thing I'm wondering about is what is our process, the legal process for this and for RISE, for the programs to be able, like trademarks, all the rest of that, what is that process that we need to go through?

[00:58:20] I might have to phone a friend, Mr. Lewis. Can you walk me through the policy procedure again? So we've now proposed the naming convention for our LCPS Transition Center.

[00:58:36] I know that we'll have to go through a vetting process, and then I do believe it requires a resolution coming out of committee that one of you or all three of you would carry to the full board. Is that correct? Yes, and that's for the name of the program to do that by policy.

[00:58:56] But you asked a question about copyright. What was the exact question? So I'm wondering if there's some legal kinds of things that we have to do first. And I know, I think we have, do we have either Mr. Allen or Ms. Ewing maybe? Yes, so I'll phone a friend too and ask. I'll phone a friend. And this would be also for the RISE Center as well.

[00:59:16] So just two questions all in one. Ms. Mansfield, as part of the process in policy 6510, we will get an independent third-party source who will research. That one is typically an IP attorney who will look at trademark copyright to make sure that any name is not infringing any current marks and that there's also goodwill with that name.

[00:59:39] So that will be part of our process when it's brought forward back to the F&O committee. Okay, so this will be brought back next time or brought back, is this process going to take a while? I mean, I'm super excited for this to start.

[00:59:56] Sure. So the work in planning is not going to stop. I do think it's going to take some time for us to work with that third party to do the research and the vetting that is required. So more than likely, we would be bringing this back to F&O in August. Okay, thank you.

[01:00:13] Thank you. Any other discussion? Yes, Mrs. Griffiths. Thank you, Chair Struffy. I'm too excited about this. I really wanted this to take off. I have no problem with the name, but one of my questions was if you were using policy 6510.

[01:00:31] In case I missed it, I was just curious, are we going to house in a school or another building? Was that decided and I missed that? Can you just clarify? Oh, and my second question was, does it stop at age 22 as well? It does. Okay. Can you just let me know if it's an existing school or another building?

[01:00:50] We are working with our facilities and operations team to locate a freestanding facility in which we would house our transition academy. We don't have it yet. - Correct. - Okay, thank you. - One more thing.

[01:01:06] And when we get that building, that will have a separate, that's a separate naming as well. That has to go through our policy, right? So programs one way, building another. - Correct.

[01:01:24] - Sorry, I don't, and you're talking about the transition building itself. I think we can name the program. We don't necessarily have to name the building as well, but that'd be a choice of the board. We can have that conversation when we get to that point.

[01:01:49] Okay, so we'll move on to 6.13, Department of Student Services, naming of the LCPS Recovery School. Thank you, Chair Streffi. I am joined this evening by Mrs. Jennifer Evans, our Director of Student Mental Health Services.

[01:02:10] And this is truly her baby. It's been a vision of hers for the past 10 years, so I will hand it over to her. Thank you so much. Good evening. It's good to see you all. We do have slides attached to board docs for your review, but with the time and limitations, I will just review the purpose of the program with you all, which is really to provide high school students with, foster an environment for them to work on their recovery skills while accessing their academic needs.

[01:02:40] They'll empower adolescents recovering from substance use disorders by providing an alternative environment, as we've spoken before, when a student has been in treatment or in residential settings, coming back to their home school is really challenging for many, many reasons. So we're excited to provide this nurturing environment and pull all the resources together for them, bridging community partnerships, whether that's Family One mentoring, that would be peer recovery specialists, that would be Loudoun County Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Developmental Services, and also providing families with resources that are

[01:03:17] much needed to understand the disease of addiction and what that looks like and their role in helping their child succeed. So it will be only for high school students. We're slotted to have about 10 to 15 students in August and we also are looking at establishing additional MOUs to ensure that everything is provided to the students but ultimately once those students graduate whether that's from their homeschool or from the RISE Academy we want to make sure that they have those things in place so that they can continue to be productive citizens of Loudoun County so as you know the

[01:03:52] timeline we got to support with the bill from BDOE and the General Assembly we had our recovery school roundtable we have visited Chesterfield we'll be planning another visit very soon to meet with their team and find out some best practices things that they had challenges with we're also meeting with another facilitator director of a Montgomery County recovery school soon and we're very excited to just bring our community partners together and map everything out in the coming month I also want to introduce our principal who's actually in the building dr. Mac who I think you met at the last school board meeting but we're very excited about her leadership and bringing this

[01:04:32] forward so we're excited to announce the name that we would like and it aligns with everything all of the goals and objectives to be the RISE Academy and it stands for recovery inspiration strength and empowerment thank you very much really excited about this and I appreciate you adding into the slides the important milestones just to remind us how much advocacy and work was done and all of the stakeholders and the community partnerships that that went into this getting us here so really appreciate you all any questions or

[01:05:09] discussion yes just just to reiterate past discussions you're starting with 15 students it's at North Star correct yes so we have a designated wing on the second floor at the North Star building okay and to maintain it you always have to have how many I thought you needed like 30 or more to maintain so our capacity would be 25 so LCPS first year 15 to 20 and then when we open it up if we decide to open it up to the region we would have a slot for each of the divisions with a max

[01:05:43] of 25 any other discussion seeing none um just there's a lot of items today um in terms of action um on this this both of these items will come back for action next time right yes so we will work with that third party vendor to vet both of the naming um conventions that we've put forward

[01:06:21] for the VIEW Transition Academy and the RISE Academy. So we anticipate being able to bring it back as an action item to finance and operations in August. Okay, so not next time in August, understood. All right, so we'll move on to new business.

[01:06:39] Is there any new business for today? Seeing no new business, thank you all for being here. I appreciate you sticking with us, thanks. Meeting is adjourned.

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