Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, 4th Tuesday School Board Meeting, Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 5h 38m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1095784143?rel=0
BoardDocs (School Board): https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/loudoun/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=DGVMQM5B8E39

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 2026-10-11. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:01:37] I have Loudoun County School Board meeting, and we will start with our disclosures. Thank you. We'll start with this disclosures. Can y'all go ahead and shut the doors, please?

[00:01:57] Thank you. I'll start. As a member of the Loudoun County School Board, I make the following disclosures to the school board and to the general public in connection with the item on tonight's agenda regarding the budget and/or health insurance and related benefits and any other discussion that may include or affect benefits for LCPS employees.

[00:02:16] Specifically, as a school board member, I am eligible to receive health insurance and related benefits as an LCPS employee. These benefits, however, affect thousands of employees while in excess of the statutory three employees whose interests may also be affected, of which I am included.

[00:02:33] I can and will participate fairly objectively and in the public interest. This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the clerk of the school board for five years. Ms. Chandler. Thank you, Madam Chair. As a member of the Loudoun County School Board, I make the following disclosure to the school board and to the general public in connection with the item on tonight's agenda regarding the budget and or health insurance and related benefits and other discussion that may include or affect benefits for LCPS employees.

[00:02:59] Specifically, as a school board member, I am eligible to receive health insurance and related benefits as an LCPS employee. These benefits, however, affect thousands of employees well in excess of the statutory three employees whose interests may also be affected, of which I am included.

[00:03:16] I am and will participate fairly, objectively, and in the public interest. This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the clerk of the school board for five years. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Strzok is not here. Ms. LaBelle. - Thank you, Madam Chair.

[00:03:33] As a member of the Loudoun County School Board, I make the following disclosure to the school board and to the general public in connection with the item on tonight's agenda regarding the budget and/or health insurance and related benefits and any other discussion that may include or affect benefits for LCPS employees.

[00:03:51] Specifically, as a member of the school board, I am eligible to receive health insurance and related benefits as an LCPS employee. In addition, as a former LCPS employee, I, as well as my spouse, receive Medicare Advantage insurance benefits through LCPS.

[00:04:10] These benefits, however, affect thousands of employees well in excess of the statuatory three employees whose interests may also be affected, of which my spouse and I are included. I can and will participate fairly, objectively, and in the public interest.

[00:04:28] This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the Clerk of the School Board for five years. - Thank you, Ms. LaBelle. Ms. Chernoff. - Thank you, Madam Chair. As a member of the Loudoun County School Board, I make the following disclosure to the School Board and to the general public in connection with the item on tonight's agenda regarding the budget and/or health insurance and related benefits and any other discussion that may include or affect benefits for LCPS employees.

[00:04:54] Specifically, as a School Board member, I am eligible to receive health insurance and related benefits as an LCPS employee. These benefits, however, affect thousands employees well in excess of the statutory three employees whose interests may also be affected of which I am included I can and will participate fairly objectively and in the public interest this disclosure will be reflected in the public record of the clerk of the school board for five years thank you miss Chernoff I know the rest of y'all keep me honest with vice chair Donoghue and mr. Streffi when they get here as a reminder for me we'll move on to agenda item three approval of the consent agenda board members are there

[00:05:31] any changes to be made to the consent agenda yes miss Chandler thank you madam chair I would like to pull item 3.10 the RFP for pharmacy benefit administration off the consent agenda please okay we'll move that on to well first of all that is the pharmacy benefit if I remember correctly there might be some items that may not make it appropriate to for the for to say here for some proprietary reasons.

[00:06:07] Ms. Willoughby, can you shed some light on that subject if you're here? Yes, at this time, I've had multiple discussions with our procurement team, our benefits team, as well as our consultants. And at this time, we do not believe that there will be any information that would have to be limited to discussion only in closed.

[00:06:30] We do not have any additional information that has to be discussed in closed as we are still in the middle of the procurement process and we're not able to disclose those regardless. Could you repeat that one more time?

[00:06:48] It was pretty loud out there. I'll start with the summary, which is there's no need for close from staff's opinion, and that's based on discussions that I have had with our department teams and our consultant related to the information that would be provided.

[00:07:12] Okay, then we'll put it on for action and we will discuss everything out loud here. Thanks. that will be item 3.0 3.10 it will go to we'll move it to the beginning of the we'll make it item

[00:07:36] yeah 11. 01 and move everything else down thanks okay um can i have a motion for that to approve the consent agenda i move to approve the consent agenda uh do i have a second second i have a second by mr by dr deans it's been probably moved and seconded to approve the consent agenda at this Time will take a vote to approve it.

[00:08:13] Clerk, please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote. Clerk, please close and display the vote.

[00:08:29] And that motion passes unanimously with Mrs. Griffiths, Mr. Estruffy, and Vice Chair Donahue absent for the vote. Okay, let's move on to student recognitions. Department of School Leadership, LCPS Middle School Intramural Seven versus Seven Champions recognition.

[00:08:46] And all of this will be presented by Mr. Derek Berry, our Director of Athletics and Extracurricular Activities. - Good evening, Madam Chair, Dr. Spence, members of the school board.

[00:09:04] Tonight presents an opportunity to extend our heartfelt recognition to the outstanding individuals and teams from LCPS who exemplified excellence by clinching the state championships in VHL athletics or activities. Their unwavering commitment, relentless dedication, tireless efforts culminated in a remarkable achievement this past spring.

[00:09:26] We would like to recognize the county champions in the middle school intramural program as well. So we start the presentation with our middle school intramural program recognition. This spring, we completed our final season of the year in which our middle school played 7-on-7 soccer.

[00:09:46] This culminated in the all-LCPS championship tournament on June 7th. The Trailside Timberwolves emerged victorious that day by a score of 3-1 in a great final game against J.L. Simpson Mustangs.

[00:10:02] Congratulations to the Trailside Timberwolves on taking home the title.

[00:10:07] We'd now like to shift our attention to our high schools as we recognize the VHL Spring Sports Team Champions.

[00:11:15] First, we salute the Broad Run High School girls tennis team who this year secured their second straight VHL Class 4 state title.

[00:11:46] Next team being recognized tonight is the Heritage High School baseball team, which captured the VHL Class 4 State Championship and the team's first ever state crown.

[00:12:41] Next, we recognize the Loudoun County High School girls soccer team who earned the VHL Class 4 State Championship.

[00:13:18] Next team to be recognized is the Tuscarora High School softball team, which captured the VHL Class 4 State Championship and the first title for the school softball program.

[00:14:09] boys soccer team is our next team to be recognized tonight as they brought home the VHL class five

[00:14:58] state championship and the first title in their program's history. Next team to be recognized tonight is the Independence High School boys lacrosse team which captured the VHL class five

[00:15:06] state championship and their program's first state crown.

[00:16:00] Independence High School as we recognize the Tigers girls soccer team on capturing their second consecutive the class five state championship

[00:16:45] recognized tonight is the Riverside girls lacrosse team which captured the VH cell class five state championship the second in their program's history of two sports in the spring which compete as individuals as well as come as complete teams 14 different student athletes achieved the dream and brought home at least one individual gold medal across the spring sports season. We'd like to recognize each of them for their achievements tonight. First we have Broad Run

[00:17:23] High School sophomore Lexi Rattari brought home her second consecutive VHL Class 4 Tennis Singles Championship by dominating the state bracket, only losing two games during the entire tournament. Stay where you are, Lexi, as Lexi and her sister Izzy topped the podium for the second straight time for Broad Run High School as the VHL Class 4 Tennis Doubles Champion, winning the final match in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.

[00:18:04] Next, we have Loudoun Valley's Sammy Gaylord, who won the VHL Class 4 State Outdoor Discus event with a throw of 124 feet, 7 inches.

[00:18:36] Next, we have Rock Ridge's Kim Tomoka, who won the VHL Class 4 Outdoor Track and Field Championship in the 400-meter dash by clocking a time of 48.42 seconds. Next, we have Tuscarora High School's Tate Forrester, who won the VHL Class 4 State Outdoor Championship in both the shot put and discus with a throw of 62 feet, 2 1⁄2 inches in the shot, and 174 feet in the disc.

[00:19:19] Next, we have Briarwood's Megan Greenland, who won the VHL Class 5 Outdoor Championship in a 3,200-meter run with a time of 11 minutes and 3 seconds.

[00:19:45] Next, we have Independence Ava Dramon, who won the VHL Class 4 state championship in the shot put with a throw of 40 feet 7 3⁄4 inches. After winning the event during the winter indoor season, the Potomac Falls 4x4 relay team of Jack Manfredi, Nathan Short, Carter Dunstan, and Caden Richardson won the VHL Class 5

[00:20:18] championship by clocking a time of 3 minutes 17.92 seconds. Another name you may recognize is he won state titles in cross country and indoor track. Riverside Thomas Ray won the another VHL class 5 state outdoor championship this year in the 1600 meter run by clocking a time of 4 minutes

[00:20:48] and 18.71 seconds stonebridge high school's corn rucker won the vhl class five state outdoor championship in the shot put with a throw of 60 feet nine inches and then came back and won the discus with a throw of 168 feet three inches and our final state champion for state champion for

[00:21:23] recognition tonight is josh johnson of freedom high school josh brought home some more than one gold medal in class in the class six track and field championship this time in the outdoor 100 and 200 meter dash josh ran the 200 meter dash in 21.27 seconds and a particular note is that josh also set the vsl class six state meet record in the 100 meter dash with a time of 10.47 seconds This breaks the meat record that was previously held by Olympian standout, Noah Lyles.

[00:22:14] In closing, we extend our congratulations to each and every individual and team for their outstanding achievements.

[00:22:31] Your dedication, perseverance, and unwavering commitment have brought honor to yourselves, your schools, and the entire LCPS community. Congratulations once again.

[00:22:47] Thank you, Mr. Ferry. And thank you to all who showed up and are now leaving. Bye. Have a good summer. Okay. All right, we're going to be moving on to the work session, starting with Item 5.01, Office of Superintendent Third Quarter Forecast, presented by Dr. Mark Bergen, Chief of Staff.

[00:23:31] Good evening, board members. This quarterly forecast, of course, does not include July. Since the board is in recess in July, we have one meeting in August. Reading across the top, the advisory that we propose in the next quarter will be the school business partnership on the 9th of September.

[00:23:50] We, in our work session, plan to engage the board quite a bit around strategic planning and how our central support team supports schools in their school performance and strategic planning. So you'll notice the work sessions are school performance and support framework overview, as well as the one LCPS strategic plan 2027 update and annual student achievement data presentation on September 23rd.

[00:24:15] Other work sessions, given the time of year, we'll have the budget calendar for FY26 in september as well as the preliminary budget fall forecast on september 23rd and of course the next quarterly forecast will be presented to you during that time frame and then information items will start to populate as we get closer to those dates we are already signaling that we will have a tentative discussion on policy for participation in the thomas jefferson high school any questions about the forecast thank you dr bergen any board members any questions no seeing none okay thank

[00:24:53] Thank you, Dr. Bergen. Mr. Streffi, before I forget, would you please read your disclosure? Absolutely. Just a moment, Madam Chair. Thank you.

[00:25:30] Madam Chair, as a member of the Loudoun County School Board, I make the following disclosure to the school board and to the general public in connection with the item on tonight's agenda regarding the budget and or health insurance and related benefits and any other discussion that may include or affect benefits for LCPS employees. Specifically, as a school board member, I am eligible to receive health insurance and related benefits as an LCPS employee.

[00:25:50] These benefits, however, affect thousands of employees well in excess of the statutory three employees whose interests may also be affected, of which I am included. I can and will participate fairly objectively and in the public interest. This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the clerk of the school board for five years. Thank you, Mr. Streffi.

[00:26:06] And then we will now move on to our next item, item 5.02, Human Resources and Talent Development, Title IX Overview, presented by Lisa Boland, Chief Human Resources Officer. I think she will probably go ahead and introduce everybody else who's coming.

[00:26:48] Thank you, Chair Mansfield. I have Christopher Moy, our Title IX coordinator, here this evening to present the Title IX overview for the school board.

[00:27:05] Good evening, school board and Dr. Spence, and thank you for the opportunity to provide an overview of Title IX as it relates to LCPS and specifically the 2020 Title IX regulations.

[00:27:21] First, I just want to highlight our four strategic, you know, one LCPS 2027 strategic plan for excellence. You know, as it guides our work for all employees within the division, including the Title IX office, our goal is to empower students, hire, develop, and retain exemplary staff, operate as an enriched division to benefit all student experiences, and engage our community.

[00:27:49] Our students are at the thread that drives our mission to provide a safe and inclusive environment for all students and staff. And as you'll see, the work of Title IX office supports each and every one of these strategic goals.

[00:28:11] So next, I want to look at our core values, specifically the top three. As this is embodied in the work of the Title IX office, as we look and go through our Title IX process, we always aim to provide holistic support, that we are providing support to each and every party who's involved in our process and making sure that they continue to be able to access the educational program which LCPS provides. In equity and opportunity, Title IX is all about

[00:28:47] program equity and ensuring that we're in compliance with equity and opportunity for all our students, regardless of their gender, regardless of their sex. We are providing equity and opportunity for all our students. And finally, trust through listening. You know, the Title IX process is a difficult process, and we want to gain the community's trust. We want to gain the parties that participate in our process. You know, trust through listening, you know, in our process. So these are three core values that we particularly embody as we work through

[00:29:27] the Title IX process. So what is Title IX? So Title IX, at its basics, is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in educational programs or activities which receive federal financial assistance. Now, the mission of Title IX is to reduce or eliminate educational opportunities caused by sex discrimination.

[00:29:56] You know, as we look at the definition of Title IX here, we see it says no person. That means that everybody is under Title IX. All our students, all our staff, all our administrators, you know, visitors that come into our schools, and any third-party contractors.

[00:30:19] Everything that we do, including our employment, is under our educational program and activity. So everybody is covered by Title IX as we look in what we are doing. So the 2020 regulations create a Title IX framework in which a school's obligation to respond is activated only when certain conditions are met.

[00:30:55] So specifically, we have to be a school receiving federal funds. We are a public school. We do receive federal funds. We're under Title IX. We have to have an employee, any employee, which has actual knowledge. What that means is that any employee is on notice.

[00:31:14] They are told about sexual harassment. They witness something in the hallway. They have knowledge of that. We're on notice when any employee has knowledge of potential sex-based harassment or sexual harassment.

[00:31:33] And we're obligated to respond. Now, the conduct that is alleged has to be of Title IX sexual harassment. And Title IX sexual harassment has a very specific definition. And it is conduct on the basis of sex that meets one or more of the following provisions.

[00:31:54] The first one I talk about is a quid pro quo. This is the provision of a benefit or aid in exchange for unwelcome sexual conduct. This will always involve an employee and someone in power, a supervisor or a staff member who engages in a this for that, you know, that if you do this, I will give you that.

[00:32:18] You know, the second one is what I call a hostile environment. And this is where the conduct determined by a reasonable person is so severe and pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively denies the person equal educational access.

[00:32:39] Under the regulations, it does need to meet all three. The conduct needs to be severe, it needs to be pervasive, and it needs to be objectively offensive from a reasonable person's point of view or somebody who is similarly situated. You know, the third provision is any incident of a sexual assault, which includes rape, statutory rape, a fondling, sodomy, or a sexual assault with an object, each of which have their own separate definitions. You know, any incident of dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking

[00:33:18] are also under, you know, Title IX definition. So when looking at that, you know, the conduct needs to meet those definitions when we're looking at them in order to meet this threshold or to meet the conditions under this framework.

[00:33:37] It also needs to occur within our educational program or activity. Under Title IX, I have to have substantial control over the harasser in the context of the harassment. So a lot of things happen in the community.

[00:33:57] Some things may happen at someone's house over a weekend. Those are outside LCPS Title IX jurisdiction. I can't investigate those. I can only investigate things that are occurring within our educational program activity, which includes extracurricular activities. It could include a field trip. It can include sports events. It can include, you know, any kind of theater events or anything like that, but it's part of our educational program. Anything outside is, you know, considered

[00:34:31] outside our jurisdiction. Now, when this threshold is met, we must respond promptly in a manner that is not deliberately indifferent. Now, deliberate indifferent is a legal term that means clearly unreasonable given the known circumstances. You know, at a minimum, what the regulations require us to do when we meet this threshold is we have to offer supportive measures and give the option to file a formal complaint. That's the minimum for meeting the deliberate and different standard.

[00:35:09] Now, when Title IX, when conduct meets this Title IX threshold and any employee has notice, The school cannot impose, you know, punitive or disciplinary consequences on the accused or who I call the respondent.

[00:35:29] So we can't immediately take disciplinary action like we would under the Code of Conduct. You know, under our policies, you know, where schools usually can take almost immediate action for, you know, conduct that violates our Code of Conduct.

[00:35:48] If it is Title IX sexual harassment, it has to go through the Title IX grievance process. And it must be, and we can't do anything until they are found responsible. You know, so we must use the Title IX grievance process if it is Title IX sexual harassment.

[00:36:10] Now, Title IX application. So the Title IX regulations require school divisions to investigate and respond to complaints of sexual harassment that meet the specific threshold that I just covered, which includes conduct defined as severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that effectively denies equal educational access. If an allegation in a complaint meets this threshold, the school division is obligated to follow specific procedures outlined in Title IX, including conducting a

[00:36:48] formal investigation. Failure to follow this process could result in deliberate indifference. We are required to follow a process that is laid out by federal regulations. So the school's obligation, again, if an allegation in a complaint meets the threshold, the school division must treat the parties equitably and what that means is we must investigate in our investigation must

[00:37:25] we must conduct a fair and impartial investigation to determine the relevant facts of the case we must provide an opportunity for the parties to review the evidence to respond to the evidence to have an advisor participate in the process you know that are the obligation for collecting the evidence is on the Title IX office and not on the parties. We are also responsible for providing supportive measures, you know, and provide supportive measures to both parties. It's not

[00:38:01] just a complaint, but we have to provide supportive measures evenly and equitably to both parties in this process. You know, and we offer immediate support to the affected students, such as changing classes, providing counseling, offering other accommodations to minimize the impact of the harassment. And we are also required under Title IX to take remedial action. So what that means is if the investigation finds that the sexual harassment occurred, you know, the school must, we must take action to stop the harassment, prevent its reoccurrence, and address its effects.

[00:38:40] You know, that's something that we always must do when we're addressing, you know, Title IX sexual harassment, stop, prevent, and remedy. So it's important to understand what a report is versus a formal complaint.

[00:39:03] So a report is how kind of the process starts with the Title IX office. So as I mentioned, you know, when an employee, any employee has actual knowledge of sexual harassment, they, you know, we mandate all our employees are mandated reporters.

[00:39:23] So what that means is that if any employee has actual knowledge of sex-based conduct, we require them to report to their school administration who is required to file a report with the Title IX office.

[00:39:45] Now, the conduct that we are looking at and what we ask school administrators is to report all sex-based behavior. We do not ask school administrators to try to determine, well, does this meet the definition of sexual harassment?

[00:40:01] My office are the subject matter experts. We're the ones who determine whether something is sexual harassment or not. What we want our schools to do, if it is comments based on sex, if it is touching based on sex, if it is visual harassment based on showing somebody or something, we want them to report that so that we can assess what's going on. You know, reports can also be filed by the community.

[00:40:31] We have a mechanism, the platform we use called Guardian. We have a community complaint form that allows both the complainant, any witnesses, any third party, any parents or guardians to submit an incident report directly to our office so that we can review the information. It doesn't have to this is, you know, we want the schools reporting to us, but if a parent learns of something after school, they want to report directly to the Title IX office, we have a mechanism in order for them

[00:41:07] to report directly to us. Now, the Title IX, my responsibility and my team's responsibility is we assess all reports to determine whether it falls under Title IX, and we do that by that threshold I just reviewed with you. We're looking at the definition of Title IX sexual harassment to determine, based on the information the school is reporting, would it meet this criteria? And does the conduct, is it within the educational program or activity? Is there evidence or is the

[00:41:46] allegation, does it support any one of the definitions of Title IX sexual harassment? Our job is to assess and determine whether the conduct that the school is sending us could meet that threshold. Now, it's important to note that LCPS addresses every single report that it receives.

[00:42:09] But not every single report is addressed through the Title IX grievance process. So what that means is that conduct that does not meet the Title IX threshold, it is referred back to the school for the school to address under 8210 or our student introduction to discipline.

[00:42:34] But all conduct is addressed, and likewise for employees, if it's an employee report, the conduct is referred back to workplace relations to address under 7014 our HR policies.

[00:42:53] So LCPS is addressing all the conduct, but not all of the conduct is addressed through the Title IX process. Now, in order for an investigation to occur, a formal complaint is required.

[00:43:11] Now, a formal complaint can come in one of two ways. It can be filed by the complainant directly with our office, and we have a form on our Guardian platform that complainants are required to fill out, make an allegation, and request that the school conduct an investigation.

[00:43:31] You know, the complainant's parents can also file a formal complaint. You know, we do not accept third-party complaints. So if you are not the guardian of the person who is making the allegation, you cannot file something on their behalf.

[00:43:50] Now, the Title IX coordinator can also file a formal complaint on behalf of the division. Now, I file a formal complaint when there are instances when a complainant doesn't want to file a formal complaint for a number of reasons.

[00:44:10] But in looking at the circumstances that are known, I may say if we do not move forward, we could be deliberate and different. Now, the criteria I use for signing a formal complaint is I look at and determine whether there is predation.

[00:44:31] You know, is this a predatory report? Is it a pattern? Does it involve more than one complainant? You know, does it involve threats or violence or weapons? Those are the criteria that I look in the reports, you know, as we're working with complainants if they don't want to file.

[00:44:51] I may have to file on behalf of the division to move forward to ensure we're not deliberate and different and to ensure that we're minimizing risk and we're addressing appropriate behavior. Now, the flowchart that you're seeing is when we get a report of a possible Title IX violation.

[00:45:14] So this is what is required by the 2020 Title IX regulations. So when we receive an incident report, you know, that based on its face, based on the information that is provided, we say, yes, this could be Title IX sexual harassment if proven, we immediately contact the complainant and their guardian and family, and we're setting up an intake with them.

[00:45:42] The purpose of the intake is to gather additional information, to provide information and assess any supportive measures that are needed, and to offer them the ability to file a formal complaint. We provide them with a formal complaint link after a meeting that allows them to think it over and determine whether they file a formal complaint.

[00:46:09] once that meeting is done I either receive a formal complaint or based on the information I am signing a formal complaint. Once a formal complaint is received I am required by the regulations to notify the parties of the allegations in what I call a notice of investigation and allegation. So in that notice I have to name the person who is making the allegation and I have to provide details of the allegation for the accused to respond. I have to provide them

[00:46:45] appropriate due process for them to have enough information to respond to the allegation. In this process, I contact both parties. I review the NOIA is what I call it. I review this notice. I go over what's in it. You know, as part of this notice, we are also required to notify both parties that the respondent is presumed not responsible until and unless they are found responsible through the Title IX grievance process. You know, so again, we can't take discipline or any action

[00:47:24] against a respondent. They are presumed not responsible until we go through the Title IX grievance process. Once that notice is issued, my investigators will conduct an investigation. What that investigation looks like is they will meet with the complainant to gather information, gather their allegation and what they're making, and they will interview the respondent, the person who is being accused, to find out what their response is. We are also asking for,

[00:47:59] are there any witnesses? Are there any outcry witnesses? Did you tell anybody this? Did anybody witness this? Were there teachers that maybe have witnessed it? We're also collecting documentary evidence. Could be text messages. Could be video surveillance. Could be anything. Our job and our investigator's job is to collect the evidence. It's not, we don't put that on the parties and say, well you have to provide all the evidence to us to make your case. It is our responsibility,

[00:48:32] our investigators, to gather all the evidence in an investigation. Now once that evidence is collected, we put that evidence in what we call an investigative report. And that investigative report contains all the relevant evidence that is based on the allegations. Now, excuse me, The Title IX regulations require us to go through two 10-day review and response periods.

[00:49:05] So the first 10-day review, we are required to send them the draft investigative report and all the evidence that we have collected. This includes any testimonies that we've received from witnesses, their own testimony, the respondent's testimony, any documentary evidence.

[00:49:24] It's a full transparency of everything. They get to receive, review, and respond to everything. They can challenge evidence. They could ask that we conduct additional interviews. They can provide additional evidence as part of that first 10-day review response.

[00:49:46] Once that evidence comes back, my investigators will consolidate the report, consolidate that information. They may conduct additional interviews based on what was provided and then create what we call a finalized report.

[00:50:05] And then we send that final report to the parties again for a second 10-day review. Now, the second 10-day review is for the parties to, again, review the investigation evidence, and they have the ability to submit questions directly to our non-LCPS third-party decision-maker who maybe they want to have the decision-maker ask questions of the other party, or they want the decision-maker to ask questions of a witness.

[00:50:40] That is their right. So they have the ability in this second 10-day review to submit questions to the decision maker that who can pose those questions to the parties or witnesses as part of the decision making process. Now, once that 10-day review is over, I do transfer the file over to our third-party decision maker. And it's important, I know I'm saying third-party decision makers, and I want you to have a clear understanding of what that means. So these are

[00:51:17] non-LCPS employees who we have contracted with. They are subject matter experts in Title IX and best practices and, you know, providing, you know, determinations. You know, their review of the final report is an administrative review, and their determination is based on the preponderance of the evidence. So what that means is when reviewing the relevant evidence as a whole

[00:51:47] is it more likely or not that the conduct occurred? It is 50% and a little bit more you know based on preponderance. When they complete their determination they send that determination back to me and I deliver it to the parties. Now that determination must detail the rationale for their determination. They have to explain in detail how they got to the determination, including credibility assessments, including the evidence they used or evidence that, you know,

[00:52:24] they didn't use in their determination. Now, once that notification of outcome comes out, the parties do have the ability to appeal that determination. It is a limited appeal based on procedural regularity, new evidence that either wasn't available or wasn't known at the time of the investigation, or there is bias or conflict of interest on my part as a Title IX

[00:52:56] coordinator, the investigator, or the decision maker. You know, we send our appeals to a third party decision maker. So this goes to a different decision maker than who made the original decision excuse me, original decision maker. Again, you know, these are subject matter experts. You know, most of them are attorneys who we use to make these determinations. So it's important to know that the Title IX coordinator under the 2020 regulations is required to dismiss a formal

[00:53:33] complaint if the conduct would not be Title IX sexual harassment, if proven, at any point during the investigation. The majority of the time, if I receive a formal complaint, I have to review it to determine, does this meet the threshold that we cover? If the complaint on its face and that allegation it's making doesn't meet that criteria, I'm required to dismiss at that point. But if we're halfway through our investigation, we've collected evidence, we could be in first 10-day

[00:54:07] review, and the evidence coming back is it doesn't meet Title IX sexual harassment. It may not be pervasive. It's only a one-time event. You know, I'm required to dismiss that. I'm also required to dismiss if it didn't occur in our educational program or outside the United States. I do have discretionary dismissal if the complainant wants to withdraw their complaint. So sometimes a complaint will come to me and they'll say, I want to withdraw my complaint. I don't want to no longer participate in this process and a complainant can withdraw their complaint you know if an if a

[00:54:47] student or employee leaves lcps so if a student unenrolls or we're investigating an lcps employee and they resign during the investigation i have discretionary dismissal where i can dismiss the report because i no longer have control over that person you know i can also discretionary dismiss if there's insufficient evidence to make a determination.

[00:55:15] Now, my dismissals are also subject to appeal. So if I'm dismissing something and a party feels I got it wrong, that this was severe, pervasive, objectively offensive, or this was fondling, they have the ability to appeal my dismissal, which again goes to a non-LCPS third-party decision maker.

[00:55:40] We use these decision makers for all appeals, even my determinations, to ensure that we are following the process that we're supposed to be following. So what happens when we receive a report of possible title violation, but we don't receive a formal complaint?

[00:56:05] So again, we're meeting with the complainant, we're providing supportive measures, we're giving them the option to file a formal complaint and the complainant doesn't want to file the formal complaint and based on my review of the evidence review of the information that i have in front of me this doesn't rise to the occasion where i'm going to sign a formal complaint so we are required you know we're still required to provide supportive measures you know but i can't send this to the school and say, okay, they didn't want to file a formal complaint, so now I'm sending

[00:56:43] it to the school for the school to discipline under 8210. I can't do that because the conduct is still Title IX sexual harassment, and the only way we can address it is through the Title IX grievance process. And so what the regulations tell me is that I need to honor the wishes of the complainant in front of me and provide them anonymity if they don't want to participate in our process. Unless I have reasons of why I need to move forward, you know, with the Title IX

[00:57:18] complaint, then we support the student in the school. Now, part of this process, I may reach out to the respondent and their family and have a conversation with them to say, hey, we received an incident report about this you know the complainant does not want to file a formal complaint but i'm notifying you so that you have this information you know you can talk with your son or daughter you know about the behavior but we're not moving forward with a formal complaint at this time and then we work with the school to make sure we're providing proper supports

[00:57:56] you know in supportive measures to again stop the harassment prevent its reoccurrence and address its effects. So those are supportive measures that we would use. So which brings us to supportive measures. So what are supportive measures? So these are measures that are meant to restore and preserve equal educational access, you know, without unreasonably burdening the other party. Again, I can't discipline, I can't unreasonably burden the other party. They are

[00:58:31] offered equally to all parties and are non-disciplinary. So some examples include no contact order. You know, these come from my office and they are mutual. So both parties cannot contact each other. You know, regarding, we don't just issue a one-sided no contact. We make sure that we're covering both parties, that both parties should not have contact. You know, we do counseling referrals. We do academic adjustments, modifications of deadlines, safety planning, safety and escort services, modification of work or class schedules. We can change work or school

[00:59:10] locations, you know, and other tailored measures appropriate to the circumstances. You know, we work with the school and we work with the family in providing these supportive measures to tailor them to the circumstances that are going on to make sure we are providing comprehensive support to the individual going through this. We will also provide these supports, like I said, to the other party if they need supports as well in the process. So as you heard, you know,

[00:59:43] the Title IX process can be daunting. It is complicated to say the least. And so one of the things that we have really made an effort for is making sure that we are providing education, prevention, and awareness on the Title IX process.

[01:00:02] You know, so we have trained all our school administrators, and we have worked with them to identify training for staff. And so this last year, we worked with several schools to provide all staff training on, you know, what is Title IX?

[01:00:20] What are your responsibilities as a mandated reporter? What are you reporting? What do you need to do, you know, to ensure we're covering that? We worked with refresher trainings with our school social workers, elementary APs, middle school deans, the kind of frontline staff that are seeing these the most, that we're sure we're educating and we're providing awareness on, okay, this is the Title IX process.

[01:00:46] This is what we require you to do. We're also working with peer student leaders at several high schools to develop potential training needs for students. We know there's a lack of knowledge about Title IX and how to report incidents and what Title IX covers and what the process is. So we're developing, along with the high school education office, a program on Title IX, Educating the Future Campaign, which will include an informational video and poster for secondary school students to promote Title IX awareness. It'll provide

[01:01:24] information on what are some examples of behaviors of Title IX sexual harassment. If you're experiencing that, who can you go to as a trusted adult? You know, providing a QR code for the Title IX office and our website in the report form so they can reach out directly to us. You know, we know that we need to kind of promote and provide more awareness and prevention about Title IX sexual harassment. You know, we've also presented that launcher leadership to both current LCPS and aspiring education leaders and the title nine offices participating in community events to

[01:02:03] raise awareness you know as much as we can get out there we want to get out there our overall goal is to make sure we are broadening our education that we can reach all our stakeholders to ensure that they know and understand what title nine is that they know how to report incidents so we can get them the support they need to address behavior that's happening in our schools so they can have It was a sex-discrimination-free environment.

[01:02:34] And with that, I am happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr. Boyd. That was a lot of information. Board members, do you have any questions? Yes, Ms. LaBelle. Thank you, Mr. Murray.

[01:02:52] There are, I understand, two spaces where parents can challenge a decision, ask for an appeal. Could you review where those two spaces in the process are? Yes.

[01:03:08] So for an appeal, one would be the dismissal of any formal complaint. That would be my determination that if I'm dismissing a formal complaint as part of the Title IX grievance process, they can challenge that dismissal, which goes to a third-party decision-maker.

[01:03:29] They can also challenge the determination that is a result of the Title IX grievance process. So if the decision maker comes back and finds someone responsible or they don't find somebody responsible, both parties have the opportunity to challenge, to appeal the determination.

[01:03:51] So it's not one-sided. You know, when we receive an appeal, you know, again, I have to follow a process where I'm allowing the other party to weigh in on that appeal and provide information and provide kind of a written back and forth as part of that appeal.

[01:04:09] process. But those are the two instances where a parent can challenge either my dismissal or the determination of a Title IX grievance process. And that decision after the appeal is final, correct? Yes. It's no longer appealable. Okay. I also had questions. We're talking about collecting data and trying to find out what's going on with some of our students in school.

[01:04:39] Is there any data that you could share with the board on how many referrals you get for Title IX, what grade level they generally are, or is that confidential information?

[01:04:59] I will refer to Ms. Boland to answer that question. Thank you, Ms. LaBelle. So I would say yes and no. we do have data that we're happy to share with the board in regards to the number of reports, how it's broken down.

[01:05:18] We would be very cautious about how we presented that data. For example, if a school had less than 10 reports, we wouldn't necessarily share that information with the board because then we fall in this gray area of whether or not it's personally identifiable.

[01:05:34] But we do have information. So if you have specific questions or questions want specific information, please feel free to email us and we can provide that. Okay, thank you. And I'd like to thank you for coming, Mr. Moy. That was one of the things that I had asked for as chair on the Student Behavior and Accountability Committee.

[01:05:54] I feel like the things that you are doing to try to further the knowledge of our students in our community about the use of Title IX is very helpful. And I appreciate that very much in your being here tonight. Thank you.

[01:06:09] Dr. Rashid. Thank you, Chair. Thank you so much for this presentation. I especially like the flow charts, you know, really put things in perspective and helped me to understand it better. I just had one question. I assume the answer is no, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

[01:06:28] Are there any changes being proposed to Title IX under, like, under federal leadership that you know of? Is there anything coming down the pipeline that isn't a question on a broader note? No, not that I'm aware of. There were 2024 regs, and those were, you know, did not go through.

[01:06:50] You know, they were vacated by a judge nationwide. So there are no further Title IX regulations coming down the road, as far as I'm aware. Thank you. Dr. Deans. Thank you for the presentation.

[01:07:07] The decision maker, you say that they are subject matter experts. What is their, what are their qualifications? Thank you for that question.

[01:07:24] So our decision makers, the majority of our decision makers are attorneys who are, you know, associated with, you know, Title IX, you know, specifically firms, you know, that we use. They are associated with national organizations who provide training to all Title IX coordinators across the country and the regulations.

[01:07:46] So, you know, these are experts, you know, who have not only trained on Title IX regulations, but are very familiar with the decision-making process and trained on the decision-making process. Thank you. Let's go to Ms. Chernoff, and then I'll come back to Ms. LaBeau.

[01:08:07] Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Mr. Moy, for being here. And I echo my colleague's sentiments. This is very clear, and I think it's great information, not only for us, but for the community. I just mostly have some just clarifying questions. I want to make sure that I heard correctly. When you talked about on slide seven about meeting a threshold, so you said it's pervasive, persistent, all those things.

[01:08:32] Is there some sort of, like, rube? I mean, who oversees that it is meeting that threshold? So you said it was LCPS that's making that initial decision as to whether or not to move forward, and then you have the checks and balances of the different third-party entities.

[01:08:48] But who oversees, what is used to determine that, I guess, is my question, to make sure that it does actually meet those things. Because to me, those things could seem vague. So thank you for that question. So in looking at whether something is severe, pervasive, or objectively offensive, or I can use the fondling, you know, which is intentional touching of someone's private area without consent, and it has to be for the purposes of sexual intent or sexual gratification.

[01:09:20] You know, those are difficult concepts to determine, you know, especially for children, you know, whether something involves sexual intent or gratification or whether something is severe, pervasive, objectively offensive. You know, so severity is the egregiousness of the conduct, you know, either by the incident or in the aggregate.

[01:09:44] you know with physical sexual conduct being more severe verbal conduct can be severe when it is abusive when it is humiliating when it is embarrassing you know when it is you know directed at a person and you know it is kind of meets that you know humiliating it's abusive you know and threatening yeah yeah so pervasiveness is the widespread how widespread the conduct is So when looking at pervasiveness, usually we're looking at more than one time.

[01:10:21] It's more than one event. It could have been, you know, multiple events. You know, it could have been, you know, looking at it could be one event, but it went, you know, viral. Right. And everybody knows about it.

[01:10:37] So, you know, that's kind of how we're looking at what pervasiveness is. And these terms are determined kind of by, you know, the experts in the field. You know, the experts we're getting training from of how we define severe pervasive.

[01:10:53] And objectively offensive is, you know, is it objectively offensive from a reasonable person's point of view or somebody who's similarly situated? So if I'm in the shoes of this person, would it be objectively offensive, you know, to me?

[01:11:09] And then the denial of equal educational access. It doesn't need to be a complete denial. I don't need to see somebody stopping coming to school in order for that to be a complete denial.

[01:11:26] But if somebody is changing their location or doing something in school that they're not able to benefit from the school environment like they were before the harassment occurred, that can be a denial of educational access.

[01:11:41] you know so those are things that the regs put in place that that's really kind of how we're looking at the you know determination and honestly you know some of those decisions when i look at that it's not my determination to look at something if i have something you know i i look for my decision makers to make those determinations okay and then are the third party entities meant to be that checks and balances then so that when it so when you've looked at that and done all of that and you've decided that it meets the threshold is that part of the reason that a third party then

[01:12:16] becomes involved absolutely okay yes because they can look at the evidence and they determine based on the relevant evidence you know in looking at as a whole you know does this by the proponents of the more likely or not did the conduct occurred and violate our policy and you said they then the third party can ask for more evidence if they want or more additional interviews if they feel it's necessary is that mandated as part of the process or is that something that's up to their discretion that is mandated as part of the process now they don't have to but if our

[01:12:51] let's say one party submits in that second 10-day review that i want the decision maker to ask questions of the complainant you know to you know test their credibility to you know because i think i don't think what they're saying is credible or you know believable you know so i want the decision maker to ask specific questions now the decision maker has to find those questions are relevant if they choose not to ask those questions they need to provide a rationale for why they didn't ask those questions i appreciate that i have several more but i'll defer to others first

[01:13:28] dr deans and then ms chandler and then i think ms labelle had something did i understand you to say that no action could be taken against either the respondent or the complainant until the investigation ends? Yes, so we will provide supportive measures to the parties, you know, as part of that process, but we can't take any disciplinary action. Now, we usually wouldn't take any disciplinary action against a complainant anyways, but I couldn't take any disciplinary

[01:14:07] action just because somebody has an allegation against them. You know, that wouldn't be giving them due process, you know, the Title IX regulations require enhanced due process, especially for the respondent. Not disciplinary, but supportive actions to protect the complainant. Yes, to, you know, protect, you know, the safety and support of the complaint, and we may provide, you know, a safety plan for both parties. We will work with the school to ensure that we're providing that equity between both parties. So if we're providing a safety plan for one party, we're usually involving the other

[01:14:46] party to provide that same safety plan, you know, as part of the process. Supportive measures for both, for both parties. Yes. Ms. Chandler, are you done, Dr. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Moy and Ms. Bolin. This is very informative, and I just want to make sure that I have understanding on a couple of points, so I have a few questions. The only three types of harassment that could trigger specifically a Title IX investigation are quid pro quo, hostile environment,

[01:15:22] and sexual assault. Is that correct? No. No? So the third provision would be any incident of a sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking. Oh, thank you for that clarification because that does definitely expand the definition on that third point thank you that's great um and then um i just want to make sure i'm clear i i this kind of piggybacks on dr rasheed's question there were some edits that were made in 2024 but they are not in effect anymore and could

[01:15:58] you please clarify what regulations we're responsive to at this time yeah so the current regs we are responsive to are the 2020 Title IX regulations. They were introduced in 2020 by the last Trump administration. You know, there was regulations introduced in 2024 that were going to take effect and a federal court vacated them nationwide. So they are no longer in effect. You know, no one is following them nationwide. You know, everybody has reverted back to the 2020 regulation.

[01:16:35] Thank you for that clarification. That's very helpful. So we are responsive to the regulations that were put into place in 2020 under the first Trump administration. Yes. Okay. And then I do appreciate the clarifications around the third-party decision maker. Is that always our protocol? Do we use the third-party decision makers in every instance?

[01:16:57] Yes, we do. Okay. And then this is my last question. Thank you for your patience, everybody. But what liability would LCPS or the Loudoun County School Board face if we were not to comply appropriately with these regulations? I may refer to Division Council to answer that question.

[01:17:19] I mean, we could be found deliberate and different if we did not follow the regulations, if we did not follow the process. But beyond that, I think that's an answer that Division Council may want to weigh in on.

[01:17:39] Mr. Allen. Thank you, Ms. Chandler. At this time, that would be my response as well in terms of deliberately indifference, but I'm happy to provide more information in the future. Oh, okay.

[01:17:56] I was curious if you could offer me a definition of what deliberate indifference was. Deliberate indifference is clearly unreasonable given the known circumstances.

[01:18:12] That is essentially the legal definition. So if, you know, based on what we know, you know, and we don't act on it, and the court says, well, you knew you had actual knowledge of sexual harassment, you either chose not to move forward or do something, you can be held deliberate and different.

[01:18:34] Thank you. That's so helpful. Ms. LaBelle. Thank you. I just wanted to, again, affirm that at the end of the year, you send the number of complaints that we've had to handle through Loudoun County Public Schools.

[01:18:50] Is that data kept by the state? No, we do not give any data to the state.

[01:19:05] Okay, so all of it's kept here in Loudoun County, we know, Ms. Boland, how many cases there were, or what levels they, high school, elementary, whatever, excuse me, and all of that is kept private, but we could look at a number if the board member wanted to know how many of this or how many of that they could come and talk to you about it, yes?

[01:19:31] Yes, ma'am. As Mr. Moy stated, we utilize a system known as Guardian, which allows individuals externally, community members, to also have the ability to file a report, and we track all of that within the system.

[01:19:47] Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate both of you for coming in today. Ms. Chernoff and then Ms. Restreffi. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just have two last questions. Anywhere in, there's two places in here I saw actual timelines. I saw two 10-day periods, so I'm clear on that. Outside of that, are there timelines that they are trying to adhere to, or is this sort of like it takes as long as it takes? And I ask this mostly because these are kids, right?

[01:20:15] They're going through something pretty serious that could have ramifications for them big time down the road if they are found guilty of doing these things. So while they're in that waiting period, that's unknown. And so I would imagine that that would be very scary from age 5 to age 18. So could you talk a little bit about timelines? Because this seems significant. Yeah, thank you for that question. It is significant.

[01:20:45] And this is a problem within the regulation. So what the regulations say we have to do, and I was on one of my sides, is we have to respond promptly. Now, promptly doesn't have a definition. It doesn't have a timeline within the regulations.

[01:21:03] So what we try to do is our investigators will do the fact-finding piece of the investigation within the first 30 days. So we try to, depending on the case, interview everybody, gather all the facts, gather all the documentary evidence within the first 30 days.

[01:21:23] And then we are starting the two 10-day review period, which given the school year usually takes up about a month because we do basis on school business days where LCPS is in operation.

[01:21:41] So they follow our schedule. So weekends don't count and holidays don't count. And then, you know, sending it to the decision maker can, you know, be another two weeks to 30 days in order for that determination to come back.

[01:21:59] So most, I would say the majority of our reports take three to six months, you know, to get through. And that is incredibly difficult. And I realize that I work with administrators, I work with parents, you know, every day.

[01:22:14] And unfortunately, because of the requirements of what we have to do under Title IX, this is a problem for all school districts across the nation. That, you know, these are the rigs. These are what we have to follow.

[01:22:30] But, you know, an investigation does take three to six months. Mr. Strachey. I'm sorry. Can I add something, Madam Chair? Keep in mind, that's best case scenario.

[01:22:46] The other thing to add to what Mr. Moy said was during those 10-day periods, there can be requests for extensions of time, and there often are. So the complainant and their family or the respondent and their family could ask for an extension of that 10-day period to review.

[01:23:06] Like Mr. Moy also said, there's also the opportunity for them to bring forth new information and to make requests of the decision-maker to interview new individuals, ask certain questions, or ask questions in regards to the information that they've had an opportunity to review during those 10-day periods.

[01:23:26] So I just want to level set, because three to six months is a long time, and that's best-case scenario. I just think that leads to more thorough investigation as well. So, okay, Mr. Streffi, and then I'm going to go next.

[01:23:45] Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Moyes, Ms. Boland, very much for the clarity that you've given us in this discussion. For me, what stood out was really how federally defined this process truly is, or how regulated this process truly is, right?

[01:24:07] And the guardrails that exist in LCPS for whether that's presumption of innocence, impartiality through the third-party decision-maker, the supportive measures, those two rounds of review, the 10-day periods that we keep talking about, and that focus on due process.

[01:24:26] I also appreciate that we're encouraging and kind of educating folks on the reporting of Title IX throughout the division. I think that Ms. LeBell shared that as well. For me, I kind of, I have, again, two questions. One is I want to focus on a little bit more on Ms. Chernoff's question around the eligibility and whether that's severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that you referenced, that criteria, and just how we ensure kind of the consistency and fairness, given that I know you addressed it, but I just want to kind of dig into that a little bit more.

[01:25:03] And then the other question was the ramification to students, right, whether that's due to a result that relates to consequences or whether that, you know, a decision was not in favor of the complainant. What are the ramifications to students? Thinking as if we were families trying to educate our children and students on this process and understanding the seriousness of this.

[01:25:33] And I would just want to know those consequences and how this might affect the student down the line. Thank you for that question. So I address the eligibility question first. And again, you know, I think the checks and balances as, you know, Ms. Chernoff noted, is really the third party decision makers. It's their job to make that determination as part of their decision making, whether something is severe, pervasive, objectively offensive. You know, and this is, you know, the decision makers we use, this is consistent

[01:26:08] across that process. You know, I think a checks and balance for me, if I'm dismissing something and i'm saying it's not severe pervasive or objectively offensive again that is appealable and that's to check on me to say well i disagree with what you're saying and you know they can appeal that and have a third party decision maker review that and if it comes back that you know i was wrong i this could be severe pervasive objectively offensive then we just pick up

[01:26:40] the investigation where it was, you know, so the investigation would continue. Now, regarding kind of the, you know, the outcome and consequences, you know, if somebody is found in violation of 8035, you know, the report is referred to our Office of School Administration, to the Director of School Administration, to assign discipline. So again, our responsibility in any violation is to stop the behavior, prevent its reoccurrence, and address its effects. So when considering discipline,

[01:27:19] this can range anywhere from a parental conference to expulsion, you know, including short-term suspension, long-term suspension, in-school restriction, restorative conference, you know, there are a range of disciplinary consequences. You know, that's for, and again, this is the separation of the process. So I don't get a say in what the discipline consequences are. Our decision makers don't look at what the consequence is. That is, you know, looked at our, you know,

[01:27:54] director of school administration looks at the report and makes the determination based on SBAR and based on, you know, Virginia code, what should be the appropriate discipline in this case. you know and so you know that's how you know that works so as far as ramifications are concerned and putting things on school records and that they continue on to postgraduate what happens then I don't it might you might not know I don't know if Dr. Spence could weigh in or someone else so

[01:28:32] what I understand is it would go on somebody's disciplinary record but are those records you transferred to higher education or where somebody applies, my understanding is LCPS does not transfer disciplinary records to institutions of higher education. That is not part of the packet that is received by institutions. So institutions may not be aware of any Title IX violation that occurred within the, you know, within LCPS's, you know, K-12 program.

[01:29:09] Yeah, generally speaking, what the colleges and universities are asking for are transcripts, and transcripts do not include disciplinary information. Thank you. Ms. Chandler? You actually covered my question. Thank you, Madam Chair. Okay, Ms. LaBelle, and we have three minutes.

[01:29:26] And then Ms. Chernoff. Thank you, Madam Chair. One more thing, Mr. Moy, would you address retaliation? If a student has a decision go against him and he and or his family or community try to retaliate against the complainant, could you speak to that, please?

[01:29:46] Thank you for that question. So retaliation is part of the regulations also, and retaliation is prohibited by all parties against everyone who participates in the process. So a retaliation would be someone threatens a person or a complainant for making a complaint.

[01:30:07] That can be investigated and that could be a charge as part of my Title IX investigation if I find out about it during my investigation. I can actually charge that and let the decision maker determine whether or not there's retaliation. And, of course, we are providing immediate measures to ensure that we're stopping any retaliation.

[01:30:31] Now, what the regs don't, I can't do under the regs, is put in a gag order or stop students from talking about the Title IX process. You know, kids are going to talk.

[01:30:48] I can't stop that. But if somebody is threatening somebody, if somebody is spreading rumors about somebody because of the Title IX process, whether they are a complainant, whether they are a respondent, whether they are a witness, that could be retaliation in that policy.

[01:31:05] And it can be investigated under the Title IX grievance process. It can also, depending on when the retaliation occurs, can be referred back to the school for the school to address under 8210. Okay, so this is, if the retaliation occurs after the final decision, this goes back to the school or to you?

[01:31:29] Usually it would go back to the school to investigate, you know. But a complainant could, the person who was retaliating against, could file a formal complaint with my office and allege retaliation. And we would accept that complaint and we would investigate that complaint of retaliation.

[01:31:46] Okay, thank you. Ms. Chernoff, and then we have two minutes. Two minutes um I'm just thinking about the flowchart and I was thinking about what you said about discipline And I know that for us, you know The disciplinary measures as a school board entity are decided by the division of school leadership And you know then on top of that if it meets a certain threshold like a 10-day suspension or more or there's an appeal Then we would get involved other than that And is it important then for there to be neutrality by the school board that that may happen down the road?

[01:32:22] I'm trying to understand what the school board's involvement is in this process so that the public understands that this investigation has to go on and then it would be at the discipline point. Is that correct? From my understanding, yes. I can't talk about that because it's not my process, so I may refer you to Dossel to answer that question, but yes.

[01:32:48] If there is an appeal of the sanction or discipline, if it's related to a long-term suspension, that that would be heard by the school board. Thank you. But probably worth noting that the school board can't hear an appeal to the third-party decision makers.

[01:33:12] You know, there's an appeal process there. That's heard by a third party. That appeal happens through that third party. And once that decision is rendered, the school board's not hearing that. So the decision is what the decision is. What you've both mentioned is then if there were to be a sanction, a disciplinary action, that would follow the normal course of appeals through the school board as you all already do.

[01:33:34] Thank you for that clarification. Thank you, Ms. Bolin. Thank you, Mr. Moy. Board members, if you have any further questions, I'm sure you can go and email. Okay, thank you so much.

[01:33:53] And the board will go into recess until 6.30. Thank you.

[02:04:09] All right, good evening. The board is coming out of recess at this time, and we'll continue with item 8, the Pledge of Allegiance, National Anthem. Our pledge leader today is Maitha Nalamachu from Stonebridge High School.

[02:04:24] She's a rising senior at Stonebridge High School. Maitha is a dedicated and community-minded student with a strong interest in civic engagement and hopes to pursue a career in law. Will everyone please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[02:05:06] All right, and now we will move on to item 9, the superintendent's report, presented by Dr. Aaron Spence, our superintendent. Thank you, Madam Chair, and it's my pleasure to share some good news from around the school division.

[02:05:23] I'd like to start by recognizing Brittany Bryan. Is Ms. Bryan here? Can you see her? Okay, well, that's all right. We're going to just note that she has been named the next principal of Mill Run Elementary School. Ms. Bryan currently serves as the assistant principal of Mill Run. Prior to that role, she served as assistant principal at Forest Grove Elementary and held dean positions at Stewart-Weller and Sicklin Creek Elementary Schools.

[02:05:46] She's also been a kindergarten teacher and a first-grade teacher at Madison's Trust and a second- and third-grade teacher at schools in Prince William County, and we welcome Ms. Bryan and congratulate her on her new role. I want to start off the rest of our news with the moment we educators appreciate most, graduation.

[02:06:02] Over the past several weeks, LCPS celebrated the graduation of 6,932 seniors for the class of 2025. Nearly 70% of our graduates reported that they will attend a four-year college in the fall, while over 17% will attend a two-year school.

[02:06:19] While going to college was the most common choice for our graduates, more than 5% of our graduates plan to enter the workforce, 2% are planning to enter military careers, and just over 2% plan on taking a gap year. So we congratulate the class of 2025. Today, LCPS joined with the Loudon First Responders Foundation, the Loudon Education Foundation, and Flags of Valor to express our gratitude to the heroes who serve and protect our community.

[02:06:45] This year's First Responder Cookout held at J.L. Simpson Middle School honored the hundreds of first responders who answer the call each day to keep our communities safe. It was a day of recognition and connection, one that both our staff and first responders look forward to each year. Representatives from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, including their canines, along with officers from the Leesburg, Middleburg, and Percival Police Departments, and the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue were in attendance.

[02:07:10] Together, staff and community volunteers prepared and served more than 600 hot dogs and hamburgers to officers, firefighters, EMTs, and support canines. So special thanks to the Heritage High School administrative team that braved the heat to man the grill. This annual event is a meaningful reminder of the courage and commitment of our first responders and the importance of strong community partnerships that support the well-being of our students and families.

[02:07:34] I also want to recognize the outstanding work of our Career Technical and Adult Education Office, the Department of Human Resources and Talent Development, and our many school and community partners who recently hosted the Teacher Cadet Ceremony. This inspiring event honored 248 high school students committed to becoming educators.

[02:07:52] Through this Grow Your Own initiative, students are supported with real-world classroom experiences, enrollment with Shenandoah University, mentoring and even substitute teaching opportunities in college. During the ceremony 130 students received letters of intent for future employment with LCPS. 14 high schools were represented and with 15 schools offering the program the ceremony was a true celebration of the partnerships that helped shape our future workforce. To all those involved thank you for your commitment to building a strong pipeline of passionate educators. This month more than 570 high school students had the opportunity to

[02:08:29] participate in a powerful learning experience through the Hands-On Heroes event at Dominion High School. Thanks to partnerships with the Loudoun County Combined Fire and Rescue System, Inova Hospital, and the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, students gained critical life-saving skills and explored careers in public safety and health care. Events like this are made possible through the leadership of staff like Alyssa Kaufman, our health and physical education teacher at Dominion High School, whose dedication brought this program to life. Hands-On Heroes is a shining example of how our schools and community partners are working together to prepare students for real

[02:09:03] world success and service. Next, Sterling Middle School student leaders in partnership with Mercy Chefs and NFL athlete Tyler Biotish packed 500 backpacks with shelf-stable kid-friendly meals to support their peers and families during the summer months. This event, which is part of Mercy Chefs' Summer Huddle Backpack Build initiative, blended hands-on service learning with a message of empathy, teamwork, and purpose. Students worked in color-coded teams across two assembly lines packing items like mac and cheese, applesauce, granola bars, crackers, and more, with each backpack

[02:09:40] representing the equivalent of 10 meals. We want to thank these student leaders from Sterling Middle and, of course, our partners with Mercy Chefs for this activity. We want to celebrate tonight the Goshen Post Elementary School's Odyssey of the Mind team, the Sigmas, who won fourth place at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals Tournament for their solution to the technical challenge MechAnimal Sidekick. To achieve this recognition, the team designed, built, and operated an original robotic animal that performs tricks with the goal of lifting spirits. The team also won first place at both the Catoctin Regional Tournament and the Virginia State Tournament. Odyssey of the Mind's

[02:10:17] an international problem-solving competition with over 13 countries and 29 states competing at the World Tournament. So congratulations to the Sigmas for that incredible accomplishment. We also want to acknowledge and celebrate 16 Farmwell Station middle school students who are members of the school's chapter of the Healthcare Occupation Students of America who participated in the Dome Experience at Inova. The Dome Experience is a unique educational offering inviting community members to witness open-heart surgery firsthand while learning how healthy and not-so-healthy lifestyles can impact their own heart health. Through this experience,

[02:10:55] These students learned directly from health care professionals about the procedure, and afterwards, these students visited the University of Virginia's new northern campus at Inova and toured those facilities. We're pleased to note and congratulate the 10 LCPS schools that have been recognized as Project Lead the Way Distinguished Schools.

[02:11:13] Project Lead the Way is a national nonprofit organization that creates transformative learning experiences and empowers students to develop in-demand knowledge and skills for future careers. The LCPS high schools that were recognized are Briarwoods, Freedom, Heritage, Independence, Light Ridge, Loudoun Valley, Riverside, Stonebridge, Tuscarora, and Woodgrove high schools.

[02:11:35] Five of these schools, Briarwoods, Freedom, Heritage, Loudoun Valley, and Woodgrove, also received this award the previous year. As you know, board members, LCPS is committed to supporting our staff as they continue to grow and develop their skills. The Talent Development Leadership Academy, hosted recently by the Department of Human Resources and Talent Development, provided a unique opportunity for support services personnel to continue their professional development growth.

[02:12:03] This academy focused on topics such as communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, and other topics. LCPS department leaders also participated in the academy as guest panelists. Congratulations to those staff members who completed this leadership academy.

[02:12:18] me and then finally this evening I want to congratulate the Department of Communications and Community Engagement. The department recently won national awards for video and communication campaigns produced this year. The department won a bronze telly award for LCPS school bus etiquette a video created to inform and support our students during their time on the bus.

[02:12:37] The department also won three awards from the National School Public Relations Association for excellence and strategic communication engagement and and storytelling. These awards include the golden achievement for the bright award for the bright future begins here cam excuse me bright futures begin here campaign. This was developed in collaboration with the LCPS head start and step teams and the campaign reflects LCPS's ongoing commitment to early childhood outreach and family engagement. An award of merit for special purpose purpose publication was received for reflect and connect 52 prompts that inspire thought and

[02:13:15] conversation. This is a resource supporting the emotional well-being of staff, students, and leaders, and we want to give a special thanks to the social and emotional learning team and student services for their partnership in developing and distributing these cards. And then finally, there was an award of merit for video series for Beyond Words, Building Understanding Through Experience. This student-focused series has highlighted the value of soft skills through insights from Loudoun County business leaders, also created with the support of the social emotional learning team and student services the videos help students grow the skills they need to

[02:13:51] thrive in school work and life and madam chair that concludes my report thank you dr spence okay and with that we will move on to public comment all right um thank you for engaging with the school board through the public comment process the school board welcomes comments from loudon county residents and believes that strong community engagement and outreach are important components of a successful school system speakers must limit comments to the time allotted based on the number of speakers in the agenda this evening all speakers have been allotted one minute each for public comment please be

[02:14:29] 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 the dignity of the school board at all times please remain seated unless arriving departing speaking at the podium or during a break violations of civility decorum and respect include shouting heckling jeering applause or other noise which disrupts or dislays the meeting abstracting speakers from being able to see the school board and vice versa interrupting speakers attempting to speak when not called to do so by the chair and approaching a speaker or otherwise attempting to intimidate disparage or distract speaker staff member or other meeting attendee

[02:15:09] speakers should refrain from vulgarity obscenities defamation profanity or other like breaches of respect nor may speakers target criticize or attack individual students and/or individual employees during public comment as a As a reminder, school board policy 2520 states speakers may not target, criticize, or attack individual students during public comment.

[02:15:30] Speakers should communicate those concerns to their school principal or an appropriate school official. The school board requests that comments on an individual student or employee related matter not be shared at public meetings where the disclosure could violate applicable confidentiality requirements. I do want to take a moment to clarify a few things.

[02:15:48] As I've explained previously, speakers can personally identify a student or employee without stating a student's or employee's names. That is, personally identifiable information is any information that a reasonable person can link together to pinpoint an individual student or employee, and where that individual student or employee is known to others in their school and surrounding community based on the context that is shared.

[02:16:12] The school board welcomes you to share your concerns, but asks that to the extent you have prepared your remarks that target, criticize, or attack any individual students or employees, You generalized such remarks to ensure compliance with board policy. For example, students that target, criticize, or attack a student or an employee, or a student or an employee from a specific name school, or a student or an employee with characteristics where the information would personally identify that student or employee to others in the school or broader LCPS community would violate school board policy.

[02:16:51] However, comments that discuss general concerns with students or employees at schools and do not target, criticize, or attack an individual identifiable student or employee are permissible. Under school board policy, I, as a school board chair, am charged with the responsibility to maintain order during the school board meetings.

[02:17:11] Accordingly, when reasonable, I will warn of breaches of decorum, civility, and respect and ask speakers to redirect their comments prior to possibly discontinuing individual speaking privileges or taking other actions to preserve the civility, decorum, and orderly conduct of the meeting.

[02:17:29] Such action includes calling a recess in order to maintain and or restore order. If speakers fail to comply with board policy regarding public participation, you will receive a warning and request to redirect or generalize your comments. Should you fail to redirect or generalize your comments after that warning, you may be asked to yield the microphone at which time you should yield the microphone as well as the floor and take your seat and I will then call the next speaker to the extent necessary I will also warn of breaches of decorum civility and respect from attendees prior to taking other actions to preserve the orderly conduct of the meeting speakers should face

[02:18:06] the dais and direct their comments to the school board per school board policy 2520 members of the school board will not answer questions or respond directly to the public during the public comment period. Violations of decorum or civility by any meeting attendee may result in the chair directing staff to remove the attendee from the remainder of the meeting. Repeated or persistent violations of decorum or civility by the audience may result in, on the decision of the chair, public comment being tabled until a later point in the meeting's agenda, limiting the number of attendees in the meeting room during public comment for safety reasons, or the public comment period ending for the evening. Copies of materials for board members should be given to the public information officer

[02:18:45] and the media box at the back of the boardroom before the start of the meeting. Please provide 12 copies of the materials. Under no circumstances may a speaker approach the dais. The public is reminded that access to school board meetings is available through LCPS TV on Comcast Channel 18 and 1070 HD and Verizon Fios Channel 43. The live stream of the meeting may be viewed on the website. We look forward to hearing your comments. We'll start with virtual

[02:19:09] comments. And the first two are Kathleen Pollard and Robin Ness. Thank you. My name is Kelly Pollard and I am an LCPS school social worker. In July, I'm working extended school year ESY and have been made aware that LCPS is paying most ESY workers close to double the school board approved and published banded rate for $77.85 an hour. This increased rate does not extend to team members

[02:19:45] like social workers. If some groups get paid the increased ban rate, all groups should get paid the increased ban rate. The published fiscal year 25 adopted hourly banded rate is $39.14 and describes work as licensed, off-contract, summer instructional and professional work. Social workers remain at ban 15 at $39.14 an hour. During ESY, social workers offer relief to students and teachers who need a break from class and assist students in crisis by completing threat assessments and suicide screenings all lcps staff who work esy deserve to receive equitable pay if the school

[02:20:21] boarders are committed to equity and student success please take action on this and pay all employees fairly thank you thank you robin s followed by meredith ray and community we will not allow it you are not a different opinion you are devoid of human decency you sit in church on sunday thinking you're good people you're not you have to have a group to pick on since you have no good policies, ideas, or solutions for anything. We will continue to normalize what should never have been questioned in the first place. Everyone deserves the freedom to be authentically

[02:21:01] themselves. And anytime someone calls it a mental disorder or throws God around like a weapon, know that the only real disorder is thinking you get to decide who someone else is. And the only God this offends is the one made up by bigots to excuse their cruelty. To our trans community and our queer community we see you you matter keep signing thank you thank you meredith ray followed by brenda bankson we do not have a virtual public commenter signed in with that name

[02:21:34] brenda bankson followed by michael deval is welcome here means a district embraces the beauty of inclusion and diversity yet on june 10th gbtq allies saw a slanted sinclair story straight out of Project 2025 to influence fear and loathing for our students. Someone called not just for erasing LGBTQ friends and allies, but for executions. There's no reasoning with those who

[02:22:12] spew hate and tiresome tropes who quit public schools because of the transgenders. They say a tiny fraction of trans students don't matter. Black students were segregated. Special ed students were isolated in the basement of an old Leesburg school. Did those tiny fractions of the whole matter? Everyone is welcome here someday. Thank you. Michael Devello, followed by Lynn Davis.

[02:22:49] Once upon a time, everybody knew the earth was flat. Time is the same for everyone. Gender is defined by the biological sex determined at birth. But we know more now, don't we? Those before us use their education to investigate the world they discovered the earth is not flat it's not even a sphere these are key facts if you want to use satellite communications or imagery time is not the same it changes due to differences in velocity and gravity anyone here use the gps it wouldn't be

[02:23:26] the same without relativistic corrections gender exists on a spectrum a close um obviously technical

[02:23:55] difficulty, but we're going to move on. Thank you, Lynn Davis. Voters are not focusing on trans people and are frustrated to see their school board members having to spend so much time on it.

[02:24:12] Only 2% of voters said issues, excuse me, issues related to gender people were in their top three in 2024. 2%. In focus groups, voters say they want their representative focused on what will help their constituents at large. But one party and one church want this to be a big hot button issue. People like Gary Higgins. He's not shown up to school board meetings as regularly as he recently has, but he is running for re-election. So he chooses to use vulnerable children to promote

[02:24:51] his re-election campaign. Frankly, that's just disgusting and it's dangerous. And we will call it out every time we see it. Thank you. Thank you. And we're going to be moving on to in-person speakers, starting with Phil Woodis. No, Phil Woodis will follow by Renee Smith, followed by

[02:25:17] Tumai Harding. Three boys, same allegations, same facts, but only one case was dismissed because the investigator said even if proven true, it wouldn't meet the Title IX definition. That's what he did for one boy. But my son, still under investigation for the exact same thing. How is that fair? How do

[02:25:57] you look at a parent and explain that kind of double standard? Tonight, he also claimed all students are offered supportive measures. My son got nothing. Not one check-in, not one offer to help, nothing. And when asked what happens if the school doesn't follow protocol, he said you could be found indifferent. But he left out a keyword, deliberate. And that's exactly what this is, deliberate indifference to my son, to my family, to what's right. You've turned your back on the very kids you're supposed to protect, and we're the ones left picking up the pieces. Thank you.

[02:26:32] To Mai Harding, followed by Jason Harding. I come before you today to express my concern about bias by the LCPS Title IX office. I have personal experience with the bumbling incompetence of the Title IX office and the conveniently sloppy approach to investigating sensitive matters.

[02:26:58] The rights of parents and all students are consistently disregarded if they conflict with a certain agenda. A few years ago, a horrific sexual assault forced a new and improved Title IX office to be organized. Unfortunately, incompetence and special treatment for favored victims remain the office's primary mission.

[02:27:17] Earlier this evening, an LCPS Title IX representative claimed that an average case takes three to six months, not for my daughter's case. LCPS Human Resources had already come to a conclusion within three months, but Title IX would not allow HR to give us the results of their investigation.

[02:27:33] Instead, they had the girls wait a grueling 17 months to tell us that the teacher groping one girl and rubbing the backs of all the girls and talking to them about things of sexual nature were not grounds for sexual assault or harassment. According to the Title IX office, meanwhile...

[02:27:51] I'm sorry, your minute is up. Jason Harding. I'm sorry, it wouldn't be consistent with our rules that we've put in place.

[02:28:11] Shirlina Mann, followed by Lee Scott. My son had just turned nine years old when LCPS Title IX falsely found him guilty of attempted sexual assault, despite zero evidence, no witnesses, and a classroom full of people who confirmed it never happened.

[02:28:35] Even LCPS administration admitted there was no proof and the outcome was wrong, yet they later claimed their hands were tied by policy. Since hearing our story publicly, brave teachers have come forward to confirm the girl who wrongfully accused my son has a pattern of lying, bullying, and blackmailing.

[02:28:50] Most shockingly, she has made many other false allegations, including against three staff members. - Just stop the clock real quick. If you could generalize your comments, as I shared during comments at the outside of my public comment period, speakers should refrain from targeting, criticizing, or attacking individual students during public comment As that is against school board policy, please direct and generalize your comments.

[02:29:14] We want to hear them while insurance compliance with policy. Timekeeper, please resume the clock. The third party never once questioned her credibility. My son is the victim here of a horrendous false claim and also of a broken system.

[02:29:29] We entrusted LCPS to protect children, but instead it punished a sweet innocent one. You still have the power to act without deliberate indifference. reopen this case, allow an independent review, and ensure the real due process that we have been denied as our appeal was refused consideration. If not, we will pursue every legal and public avenue until justice is served. The longer you delay, the delay. Thank you. Lee Scott followed by Camille

[02:30:00] Blackwell. So Camille Blackwell followed by Jane Jackson. So we called the tail end of the question and answer session that was going on earlier tonight and I'm just here to say that that was not our experience at all. He talked about preponderance of evidence, and I think you guys need to know the evidence against this nine-year-old boy to suggest that he was getting sexual gratification was his use of riz jokes. This is in the documentation. He was in a classroom, your classroom, on your computer, Googling with other kids riz jokes. Read them out loud. That's

[02:30:39] the evidence. The other evidence was one statement from one witness that reads like a Frankenstein statement, dot, dot, dot, parentheses, dot, dot, dot, parentheses. It's cobbled together. And so when we busted our butts for appeal, provided all this evidence, that statement was completely retracted.

[02:30:55] She said, I never saw anything. And we provided new evidence. They wouldn't see it. They just refused. They said it wasn't considered new. But still to this day, he still can't tell us what is new. What would be new evidence? So I appreciate you guys asking all these questions. That was not our experience. Whatever we heard on the drive over here, I had to rewrite my speech. That was

[02:31:16] from that so thank you jane jackson followed by aaron krumblis hello all thank you for being here tonight and for what you do i appreciate it i know it's been a long year and with all of the policies procedures title nine and everything else that you have to do i thank you um i'm an ashburn

[02:31:52] resident i've had three grandchildren matriculate through laden county public schools and to this date. I've been very happy, but I'm here on behalf of my grandchild. Every student deserves to feel safe, respected, and valued at school, and that includes trans and non-binary students.

[02:32:18] When schools affirm a child's identity, we reduce bullying, mental health struggles, and even suicide risk. This isn't about politics. It's really about protecting our kids. And I know the Policy for the board, policy 1040, talks about equity.

[02:32:37] Thank you. Thank you. Erin Crumbliss, followed by Chris Countryman. Hello.

[02:32:53] My name's Erin Crumbliss, and I am a teacher at Loudoun County Public Schools, as well as having a professional background in pharmacy. I want to thank you for taking the pharmacy agenda item off consent and moving it to something where you can have a discussion.

[02:33:11] I really hope that you take that discussion and ask for the transparency you deserve. I shared with the school board earlier today an example of what can be shared publicly from someone who I know in the industry. And I really hope that you ask for that information so that you can make a very informed decision about how that's going to affect your employees.

[02:33:32] Having a 4.7% disruption rate is absolutely going to impact your employees. There's going to be an impact on every single one of us who takes this insurance, and I just ask you to please get a transparent, unbiased vote and know what you're voting for.

[02:33:50] Thank you. Thank you. Chris Countryman, followed by Corey Brunet. Good evening. I was disappointed when I ran out of time for my comments during the May meeting about retiree health care, and now I'm even more disappointed that we're faced with the same situation and I actually get to finish them.

[02:34:17] Because someone said so is where I left off. It's never a good reason. Just ask any high school, middle, elementary school student. Yet here we are again. The school division is telling you to make this benefit change because they said so. They have not been transparent with the school board or the employees about the impact of these changes, and I still contend that LEA has the right to bargain these changes.

[02:34:41] A vendor change that impacts employee costs and medication availability is a change. A 4.7 disruption rate is a change. LCPS continues to spew lip service of involving employees, yet when it comes down to it, they really just want people to do the things because they said so.

[02:35:05] Thank you. Corey Brunet, followed by Kate Hall. My name is Corey Brunet, and I'm an English learner teacher at Broad Run High School. I'm addressing you tonight to ask that you not vote for the new Pharmacy Benefits Administration contract until you have all the information. No one has been provided any information to make an educated decision on this, least of all those most impacted, the employees. This is actually worse than the changes they tried to push through regarding retiree health care. At least we had some information that time. And by the way, that change was only going to affect a small group of

[02:35:43] former employees. Your vote tonight will affect virtually every single current employee. LCPS employees can ask for more information every day of the week and twice on Sundays and never get a response. You, however, are the ones with the power to get answers from LCPS. Stay committed to your promise of transparency. Force them to give you the information you need to make a good decision that later you can defend and be proud of. LCPS will never outperform its educators. Thank you.

[02:36:13] Kate Hall, followed by Carla Wallace. Good evening. I'm an LCPS school teacher. I'm speaking tonight on behalf of the staff that will be impacted by the proposed changes to the prescription benefits. Once again, LCPS is acting in bad faith, trying to sneak this through while staff are on break without informing anyone. They tried to do the same thing with the health benefits for retirees. Thankfully, you appointed a committee to look into the impacts and evaluate that decision. I hope that you will make the same decision here. My father was a teacher.

[02:36:50] He had a rare medical condition and was forced to take early retirement when his school system changed their prescription benefits. Some of his prescriptions cost upwards of $1,000 apiece. It was more cost-effective to our family for him to retire and be grandfathered into the old coverage, but this resulted in financial hardship for my family.

[02:37:10] LCPS has not considered or evaluated the monumental impact that a change to prescription coverage would have on the families of LCPS staff. I urge you to further evaluate this change before making a decision. Thank you. Thank you. Was it Carla Wallace? Followed by Gali Aruna Reddy. No, Carla Wallace.

[02:37:44] Gala Aruna Reddy, followed by Omer Butt. Good evening. I humbly request all school board members, and especially those who voted for rezoning-based motion, to revert the change for Braddock Corner DS12.6.

[02:38:05] Braddock Corner is a very small community and has less than 10 students per grade in elementary and middle school. In the years 2026 and 2027, there will be only 28 middle school students, and in subsequent years, it's less than 20. With the current plan, Mercer is at 110% and Willard at 104%.

[02:38:25] By reverting Braddock Corner, Mercer will be at 108% and Willard at 106%. It's an improvement of 2% capacity for middle schools and saves a very small community from being rezoned. I sincerely hope this request will be granted from Braddock Corner DS 12.6 as an amendment.

[02:38:43] Thank you. Thank you. Amir Bhatt, followed by Ann Miller. Good evening.

[02:39:03] My name is Amir Bhatt. I was silenced on June 10th board meeting after waiting on the phone for one hour and 26 minutes. As CPS must drop the charges are untied in the line for sexual harassment against all three boys.

[02:39:22] These are innocent kids, our kids. Stop the politics. Quit dividing Loudoun County. We are in this situation because of the policy 8040 that was created years ago. Since its creation, we have occurred so many complaints and incidents.

[02:39:39] As I've stated repeatedly, love and kindness must be shared with all kids. All lives matter. Policy 80-40 needs to be changed so it works for all. Respect is deserved by all kids. Thank you.

[02:40:00] Thank you. Ann Miller, followed by Abby Platt. Good evening. On this national day of prayer and fasting for life, God's word tells us much about his children. He tells us that he knew each child before they were ever formed in their mother's womb.

[02:40:18] Before they were born, God sanctified them and ordained their lives. God's precious children have been entrusted to you. It is a sacred responsibility to steward and protect the children of this county. The Supreme Court ruling on Scrimetti informed this nation that there is a medical and scientific uncertainty surrounding gender-affirming care.

[02:40:37] Because you have taken an ideological stance and refused to address policy 8040, our schools have become a battlefield of a cultural war strewn with carnage of precious, innocent children who have been maimed, mutilated, castrated, sterilized, gaslit, confused, and traumatized.

[02:40:52] May God heal these precious children and their families. You have attempted to play God by systematically manipulating the consciousness of generations. You were entrusted to protect the children, not to destroy them. The consequences of your actions impact generations.

[02:41:09] May God have mercy on you. Thank you. Abby Platt? The Department of Education under President Trump made clear in the 2020 Title IX regulations that sex means biological sex, not gender identity.

[02:41:28] That interpretation aligned with decades of legal precedent and respected girls' rights to privacy in bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports. You cannot have it both ways, claiming to follow the law while cherry-picking which version fits your political narrative.

[02:41:44] The courts, including all nine Supreme Court justices, have affirmed that biological reality matters, especially when it comes to the safety and fairness of female students. Cases like Grimm have been misinterpreted for years. Even there, the decision did not establish a blanket right to access opposite-sex facilities.

[02:42:03] More importantly, our district is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights for potential noncompliance. Failure to act puts LCPS in direct risk not only of losing federal funding but of facing litigation, sanctions, and further erosion of public trust.

[02:42:19] You have an obligation to uphold the laws interpreted by the courts. And with that, that ends our public comment for the night. Thank you all for coming out and for providing your public comment. I think we will move on to our action items, starting with 11.01, Finance and Operations Committee, RFP, number R25270, Pharmacy Benefit Administration.

[02:42:50] Mr. Struffy, I think, do you want to go ahead and have a base motion? Sure. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the Loudoun County School Board awards RFP R25270 to CVS Caremark, continuing upon contract approval effective January 1st, 2026 through December 31st, 2028.

[02:43:11] Do I have a second? Can't discuss it. Okay, I'll go ahead and second so we can have discussion. Okay, that's been properly moved and seconded. So, is there any discussion?

[02:43:28] Ms. Filion, or do you, or Mrs. Willoughby, do you want to? I just had one update. First, I would just like to emphasize once again that the action before you this evening is to select a vendor to specifically provide pharmacy benefit administration in support of the benefit that remains unchanged and that was already approved by the school board when they adopted the FY26 budget.

[02:44:00] The update specifically is for in board docs, we loaded a pharmacy RFP cover letter, which is the public portion of the RFP that we were able to load into board docs to make it easier for you to locate.

[02:44:16] I would like to highlight a few excerpts from the cover letter that further support that, again, this is an RFP looking for a vendor to provide pharmacy benefit administration. There's a specific sentence that references that additional information about the plan, meaning the benefit plan, can be found at the website and it identifies our LCPS website by stating that it's highlighting that there's no change through the plan and that the plan is a resource of or is a source of information to the RFP

[02:44:51] there's another sentence in the cover letter that specifically states all offers are required at a minimum to duplicate the plan features and levels of coverage presently offered to Loudoun County public schools again emphasizing this isn't about a benefit change it's about provide selecting a vendor to provide the services to support the benefit plan other than that i don't have any additional updates i do have many friends from last week also available to address any questions

[02:45:27] that you may have thank you miss willoughby board members do you have any uh discussion yes mr Thank you Madam Chair. Thank you Ms. Willoughby. I wanted to dig in to the disruption rate and just see if we could get a better breakdown. For example one question would be if looking across all of the categories was there any individual category that went above the 5%? Is that a total average? Just trying to understand and maybe you can give us a little bit whatever you can give us in terms of an explanation of the disruption and the examples of those. And

[02:46:05] And I'll ask Mr. Roberts from Aon Consulting if he could field that question, please. Yeah, thank you. I think the best way to answer that is probably to describe the process that's gone through to create those disruption numbers.

[02:46:25] Information about the pharmaceutical products that employees and their families used during a particular period of time was provided to each offer. The offer then identified, as of a particular point in time, how each of those drugs would fall on their formulary.

[02:46:46] A formulary is a drug list that identifies what tier a drug is on, and that tier then drives the copayment that's associated with that benefit, or with that particular drug. And so when we say there's a disruption, that means that that particular drug, and of which there are many that folks take, was moved to a, I guess we would call that a higher tier, and copayments would go up for that drug.

[02:47:17] There were smaller numbers that were positively impacted, so the copay would go down. And there are also, in any formulary change, there are some drugs that are either newly covered or would be excluded in favor of a clinical alternative.

[02:47:36] Any other questions? Yes, Ms. Chernoff. In terms of, so this went from finance and operations straight to consent, correct? In terms of protocol for the reason why this went to consent, can you just revisit that?

[02:47:56] I know you said that this was already approved in the budget, the decision. So this is the RFP to support that action. Can you elaborate on that a little bit? Ms. Chernoff, the chair of the F&O can elaborate why we do that the way we do it.

[02:48:12] Can you elaborate on that, Mr. Estraffi? Yes. So any of the policy, we hear a lot of procurement-related items. So anything that's policy-related will go through the same cycle. It will not go on consent. And anything that's not policy-related, we will default to consent.

[02:48:29] And if we catch it, for example, if there is appetite to take it off of consent, we will address that in the committee. In this particular instance, the base motion itself had the wording, believe to put it on consent and so we discussed taking it off consent but we had already voted on it is my oh we did take it off okay all right so I think that's what we said is it would be off of consent at the end of the committee meeting and then it goes from consent to there because it's a contract to consent here at the full board gotcha and it's just a different process because mostly

[02:49:09] for timing purposes and its contracts but like we said we did actually take it off in F&O to discuss a little bit more about it and the people from Aon were here as well to help us parse through some of it and so then because it's in that motion we put it on consent here and so then we took it off I appreciate that I just didn't realize I guess the the clarifying question I'm is because this was approved in the budget as the change the RFP process was

[02:49:43] already put in motion is that correct well that I can miss Philly or she's here or miss Willoughby in our efforts to manage benefits in a in a financially sound manner I mean you probably don't recall but during the budget process we did highlight some of the steps that we take to try to make the fund more financially stable and we talked about how we one of our actions was to go back out to the marketplace and see

[02:50:17] what was happening with the pharmacy vendors and we were you know happy to see going through this process that we are able to realize significant savings with our pharmacy contract it's not necessarily that it was included in the budget I mean the the budget does cover the cost of the benefit it was more an operational decision of us managing the benefit program and the financial management of the health self-insurance fund and then I guess I'm just thinking about as these

[02:50:51] changes roll out how will those changes be communicated and how will they understand what those changes are employees. So I will take that Ms. Chernoff and answer in broad terms and then I will look to Ms. Evans to see if she has any more specific details but ultimately part of the reason why the timing is so important is to allow us to have enough time to communicate to employees any possible changes or shifts before open enrollment.

[02:51:29] And that communication plan is quite extensive with a lot of documentation, a lot of pamphlet work, a lot of communication. We have a new tool who we refer to as ALEKS that we like to make sure that employees are now utilizing to make sure that they're accessing the benefits that work best for them.

[02:51:52] And so any change that would happen in regards to open enrollment, we would want enough time to be able to communicate that. Thank you. And the only thing I will add to that is that anybody who might have a change will get notification from the PBM at least 60 days prior to January 1st, 2026, which again leads into we need time, the vendors need time to get that information collected and those notices out.

[02:52:25] And then because this is CVS, does that mean that they are bound to CVS then, or there's still other options? But if there is a CVS, do they have to use a CVS? That was a little bit confusing in the presentation to me.

[02:52:44] So CVS is one of the pharmacies. They can also go to Kroger, which would be Harris Teeter. Costco, they can use Walgreens, they can use Walmart, they can use Giant, so they can use other pharmacies.

[02:53:00] Okay, thank you. Mr. Straffi. Thank you, Madam Chair. So I think I'm clear on the formulary changes, and it does make sense to me, especially based on what we discussed in committee around the expectation, even outside of a change in vendor, that formulary that you would experience formulary changes periodically right I am curious as to what other types of disruptions or adjustments that employees could expect such as shifts in pharmacy networks is there a change

[02:53:36] their increase in prior authorizations mail order requirements or cost sharing differences what are the other types of changes we keep talking about formulary Is there anything else we should know? So the only other significant change that pops in my mind, and Mr. Edwards, you can jump in if there's additional ones.

[02:53:59] Anybody who's doing a 90-day mail order retail through Walgreens will have to move it to Costco, Kroger, or CVS. So in other words, we have a program where you can do a 90-day prescription and get it at Walgreens.

[02:54:18] So it would just move to Harris Teeter or to Costco or to CVS. Yeah, and I can add to that. There are additional things that may change regarding prior authorizations or other elements.

[02:54:38] But similar to formulary, those can change regardless of your PBM partner at the time. So they can shift in time. And in some cases, you want your PBM partner to have that flexibility. New drugs come on the scene all the time. Drugs come off of patent and generic equivalents come into play.

[02:54:55] So those kinds of changes allow the PBM and, by extension, your plan to react to those changes in the market. Just one more question for me. Thank you. Ms. Willoughby, you mentioned that in the procurement, the responses had to align to all of the existing benefits and requirements of the existing procurement that we have.

[02:55:21] Is the new vendor bound to all of those requirements, or did we just specify that in the procurement? How are we going to make sure that they're bound to that? I'm actually going to ask Ms. Evans to address that question.

[02:55:38] And I'll just highlight, this is where you get two departments to bring our expertise. And Human Resources and Talent Development has the responsibility of the Benefit Administration and Business and Finances here to support with the contract and the financial management.

[02:55:54] And so I will ask her to address that question, please. So from the pharmacy point of view for the particular medications, if there's something that goes to that is excluded in the CVS care mark, there will be an equivalent medication.

[02:56:14] So something that is equal to just like periodically ESI changes our formula. And so something that was being covered is now not covered, but there's a different medication that is. And so CBS will work with employees and with their providers to make sure that these medications are available.

[02:56:37] Dr. Rasheed. I think you already answered this, Ms. Evans. But just to be clear, so if there's a medication that somebody is on, and then they're on a 90-day supply, for example, and then they switch to another vendor, and under the new rule, would it be that substitution is permissible but a different like a different kind of substitution or is it the same substitution they were previously allowed to have they can still have that but just at a different pharmacy so you're actually kind of talking about two different things here i think

[02:57:17] so if there's a sub so if there's a medication that goes to the excluded list there will be an equivalent, pharmaceutically equivalent options provided. And the employee and their health care provider can work with CVS. If there needs to be some back and forth, there can potentially be exceptions or extensions for a period of time while they work that out.

[02:57:41] In terms of the 90-day retail, which is kind of a different question, yes, they would have to switch from Walgreens to Costco or Kroger or CVS.

[02:57:52] Okay, thank you. Any other questions? Yes, Mr. Streife. Last question. There were references to, there were some constituent feedback related to the sheer cost savings that we're experiencing and the concern that, you know, just the question of, to say it blatantly, how could we possibly not experience, you know, more severe disruptions or changes, unexpected changes, given the amount of savings that we would experience with this new vendor?

[02:58:28] Just wanted to address that openly and see if you had any comments. I am going to ask Mr. Roberts to share how that works. I think he's much smoother at it than I am. Yeah, I would say that similar to some of the comments I made earlier, the pharmacy industry and the pharmacy landscape changes significantly and changes relatively often.

[02:59:01] You can pick up the newspaper and see new drugs are coming on, expensive drugs. And the financial deal that's available with a given PBM is in part in reaction to that. And we often find that deals available improve over time as new techniques evolve to take advantage of changes in the marketplace.

[02:59:27] So it is not rare for us when we see a marketing or an RFP process, it's not rare for us to see a better deal emerge than the one that was previously in place over the last several years. So I have a question.

[02:59:47] So a while back, there was some press around generic Will Butron XL as opposed to brand name Will Butron XL. And there were people who said, okay, I can't take the generic form.

[03:00:05] And actually, the FDA actually did studies later and showed that there were differences in how the drug was released in the bloodstream. So when you're talking about brand name and then you're going to replace it with a generic, sometimes it's not bioidentical.

[03:00:22] So then is there something in this new contract that says if it's not bioidentical, Are there other things that they can do, appeals, something else?

[03:00:39] How hard is it to get the brand name if they need to get it? Because it's not bioequivalence, I guess, is what it's called. So there are processes in place for people to have appeals with the PBM to stay on a particular medication because of the side effects of the alternative.

[03:01:06] Those exist just like in our medical insurance. So that, yes, that safety net is there. Yeah, and I can add to that. I mean, I'm certainly not a clinician, so I can't speak to particular drugs. But when those formulary decisions are made, the PBMs have panels of experts that go through that, including clinicians and ethicists and others that kind of inform those decisions.

[03:01:33] And there are always appeals processes. The classic example of an appeal is someone who might be allergic to an ingredient in a preferred medication, which is a pretty straightforward one. But they can run a range of different reasons why folks might want to appeal. But that process exists.

[03:01:50] Ms. Chandler. Thank you, Madam Chair. At this time, is anyone able to speak to if the deductible change for families or individuals because of the change in this RFP? So this is only a change in the vendor.

[03:02:07] It is not a plan design change, so none of that changes. Thank you. And then if someone is choosing to use a different vendor other than CVS and they're on the approved list, like you said, Kroger, Harris Teeter, or Costco, are there any differences in cost that we are aware of at this time?

[03:02:32] Not that I am aware of at this time. Okay, thank you. I just want to thank you for putting the RFP letter on here because something that is making a difference for me is the 1, 2, 3, 4th paragraph that says all offerors are required at a minimum to duplicate the plan features and levels of coverage presently offered to Loudoun County Public Schools.

[03:03:01] So that was like the minimum, it looks like. Any other questions? So board members, it has been, when does this have to be, this needs to be, we need to pass this, correct?

[03:03:20] We need to decide? Yes, please. Okay. So board members, it's been, the motion has been properly moved and seconded um any other discussion before we move on to the electronic vote seeing none we'll move on to the next vote to the vote um i'm getting to my okay board members please do your vote uh

[03:03:58] clerk please close and display the vote and that motion passes seven to zero with mrs griffiths and vice chair donahue absent for the vote okay we'll move on to department of business and financial services uh fy26 budget final alignment presented by um sharon willoughby our chief financial officer miss willoughby i'm sorry go ahead um no it's just a presentation no okay go ahead uh mr straffy will you make a motion sure thank you madam chair that the i move that the school board

[03:04:35] adopts staff's recommendation to approve a supplemental increase of um eight million seven $700,000 to the FY25 school operating fund, recognizing state revenue to provide a retention bonus to all eligible full-time employees, following the plan described in staff's presentation.

[03:04:51] Further, the school board aligns the FY26 school operating budget with the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors' FY26 appropriation by increasing state revenues by $15,100,000, decreasing state revenues by $9,500,000, and increasing expenditures by $5,600,000, $15,000 to fund the second installment of the employee retention bonus. I have a motion by Mr Struffy. Do I have a second? Second. Okay. How is the second by Dr. Rashid?

[03:05:23] Any other discussion any other? Yes, Ms. Chernoff. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I do apologize for being absent at the last meeting But I did watch back and and I am going to support this tonight I'm going to vote yes, but because I want our teachers to get their bonuses and I think that that's a great thing But I did want to just mention something that came on my radar and I not meaning to beat a dead horse But I did find out from some retirees people that are retiring this year are just getting the six hundred dollars And because they will not be employed with us on 8 22 25

[03:05:58] They are not getting the four hundred dollars and we do provide a bonus for ten cumulative years of LCPS service If you are a retiree, but there are gaps there And so, once again, we're having a conversation about that with our educators.

[03:06:14] And I understand that because the governor's provision does not apply fully to us because we have increased staffing standards, which I think are wonderful, and I'm grateful for that. And I'm grateful to the Board of Supervisors for putting this forward to fill those gaps.

[03:06:32] But I do continue to want to raise these things because they come across our radar, and then people feel like they've been gypped, and I think that that's important to share. Could someone help remind me of the thing?

[03:06:48] Was it up to $1,000, or was it just $1,000? Can someone remind me of the? the specific budget bill language included reference to of a thousand dollar bonus or an amount that gave school divisions the flexibility to determine an amount to maximize usage of the funds to promote retention so it highlighted the thousand but then gave school divisions the flexibility and as we have discussed before we wanted to make sure we were providing bonuses to

[03:07:27] all of our employees not just limited to our SOQ positions as well as you know supporting the spirit of the bill regarding retention and I appreciate Mr. Chernoff highlighting that for our retirees we do have a separate LCPS benefit related to a retiree bonus that those retirees are also eligible for. And Ms. Willey that's only after 10 years or is that as much? The policy language if I recall correctly references 10 cumulative years of service with LCPS to be eligible for LCPS's

[03:08:06] retiree bonus so that's cumulative because I know we changed that language somewhere I'm just yes ma'am it's a cumulative okay thanks so I would say if you're retired after five years you don't get anything there's again yeah okay thanks for bringing that um all right so we have a motion

[03:08:35] anybody any other discussion no okay let's go ahead and uh take the vote clerk please open the vote board members please record your vote clerk please close and display the vote that's seven to that passes seven to zero with miss griffiths and vice chair jonahue absent for the vote we'll continue with um 13.0 11.03 department of academics consolidate grant about application

[03:09:14] presented by actually I guess it would be um Ms. Chernoff would you have a base motion for that for 11.03 yeah consolidated grant application okay would you do it please sure um I move that the Loudoun County School Board approve the 2025-2026 consolidated grant application for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as amended by ESSA I have a motion by Ms. Chernoff do I have a second? Second. I have a second by Dr. Deans. Would you like to, Ms. Dr. Ellis,

[03:09:53] would you mind telling, reminding the board a little bit about this real quick? Sure. Yes. Thank you. So I don't have any additional information, except I do have a response to Dr. Deans' question about private school participation. So in board docs, you have the full presentation that we gave last week you have the entire consolidated grant application and you have an additional document that lists the participating private schools in each of the titles for your reference you will

[03:10:27] probably wonder why there is a school in Fairfax County listed on our consolidated grant and that is because the language in the grant requires us to inquire if any school that has students within an lcps title one school boundary participating in that private school so that that private school may be on the outskirts of loudon county in fairfax but they have students who are zoned for an lcps title one school and that's all i have to add okay we have a motion

[03:11:04] properly moved seconded do we have any more discussion seeing none we'll go ahead and take a vote clerk please open the vote board members please record your vote clerk please close and display the vote. That motion passes unanimously with Mrs. Griffiths and Vice Chair Donoghue absent for the vote. We will now move on to 11.04 Curriculum and Instruction Committee new policy 5430 use of generative artificial intelligence. Ms. Chernoff do you have a motion? I do. I move that the Loudoun County School Board adopt the Curriculum and Instruction Committee's policy 5430

[03:11:43] use of generative artificial intelligence. I have a motion by Ms. do you have a second i have a second i have a second by mr streffi um it's been properly moved and seconded is there any discussion i have an amendment um i don't know why this wording bothered me so much but it did um so the first amend it's like a four-parter so on the red line if you want

[03:12:16] to move to the red line it will it would say I would amend will strive to to should and a one and a two which is on lines nine and twelve and so and then I would amend will strive to strives

[03:12:39] in A.3 and A.5 which is on lines 15 and 19 and then I would amend line will commit to commits on line 22 and 26 because I think LCPS will commit I think that we should just be committing so LCPS commits to recognizing and nurturing each student's unique strikes and then that would be

[03:13:15] the same for a six LCPS commits to instead of will commit we're going to go ahead and commit and then on amend line 9 and 12 to start each one sorry go back up to the top of so it would be to start each sentence with LCPS at LCPS use of generative AI strives to enhance the inclusivity and safety of the educational environment for all students and staff the second one would be lcps use of generative ai so it's

[03:13:53] that beginning part strives to ensure i should strive to ensure equitable access to educational resource and opportunities for all students and staff so both of those would be should i can send this to you guys too but do you understand those those are the word changes so that's my amendment does anybody have a second second by miss miss LaBelle so it's been properly moved and seconded and I just think we should have more active language honestly and consistency

[03:14:32] yeah okay we'll go ahead and vote any other discussion clerk please open the vote board members please record your vote clerk please close and display your vote now motion passes so with Mrs. Griffiths and Vice Chair Donahue absent for the vote and then we'll just vote on the base motion as amended. Any discussion? Clerk please open the vote. Board members please record

[03:15:06] your vote. Clerk please close and display the vote. That motion passes unanimously with Mrs. Griffiths and Vice Chair Donahue absent for the vote. Okay we're going to move on to 11.05 Finance and Operations Committee revision of policy 6410 high performance building design construction and operations Mr. Struffy do you have a motion yes madam chair I move that the Loudoun County School Board adopt the Finance and Operations Committee's approved revisions of policy 6410 high performance building design construction and operations I have a motion by Mr.

[03:15:44] Struffy do I have a second I have a second by Ms. Chandler Mr. Struffy do you want to say anything about this no I really don't have anything to add I I think what we discussed in the last school board meeting is that the majority of the comments here are very minimal and they address changes to Virginia code or references to new Virginia code.

[03:16:07] So, welcome any discussion. Hold on one sec.

[03:17:01] Okay, it's been properly moved and seconded. We've had discussion. Is there any, clerk, please open the vote.

[03:17:23] Board members, please record your vote. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes. unanimously with Mrs. Griffiths and Vice Chair Donahue absent for the vote. Okay, the next one

[03:17:43] is, why is this? Hold on. Okay, 11. 7, Human Resources and Talent Development, HRTD, School

[03:18:09] Calendar Options for 2027. What? Oh, God, see, there's something in, I know. 11.06, what's going on here? Okay, 11.06, Department of Support Services, LCPS Sustainable Framework, presented by Kevin Lewis, or actually, Vice Chair Estraffi, Mr. Estraffi, will you give us if I need some water?

[03:18:40] Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the Loudoun County School Board approve the LCPS Sustainability Framework as the foundation for incorporating sustainability into instruction, operations, and the culture of LCPS while also informing budget development. I have a motion by Mr. Estraffi. Do I have a second? Second. By Ms. Chernoff, would you like to speak to your motion at all for this one I'll pass it to mr. Lewis to add anything else in addition to what we discussed in our last board meeting Thank You mr. streffi at this point we don't have any other information to add what we are very

[03:19:18] excited and pleased to have the board's consideration and direction for the all the things that are included in the sustainability plan that take us into the to our next era of design and construction teaching and learning and and leadership in the sustainability realm. So we're very excited to get this moving forward.

[03:19:38] - Bless you. Okay, is there any more discussion? Seeing no more discussion. Clerk, will you please open the vote? Board members, will you please record your vote? Clerk, please close and display the vote.

[03:19:54] That motion passes seven to zero with Mrs. Griffiths and Vice Chair Donoghue absent for the vote. Okay, and now we'll continue to 11.07, human resources and talent development, calendar options for the 2027-28 school year I'll entertain a motion anybody have a motion no motions I'd like to make a motion yes dr. she I'd like to make a motion to adopt calendar option one are we talking about the calendar

[03:20:31] calendar option one okay I have a base motion to adopt option one I have a second by miss Chandler so I properly moved and seconded is there any discussion yes miss Chernoff thank you madam chair I will not be supporting Option 1 due to how far into June the late day goes. After the feedback from our last round, I felt like it was pretty clear that the time after testing, and I think Dr. Deans for her comments

[03:21:05] last meeting, about after that instructional time ends with the SOLs, and I realize that that is also in flux right now, I just can't in good conscience vote for Option 1. I see that there are a couple other options on there um that separate off uh spring break from i guess easter are there is there any discussion on that yes dr rashid i have a discussion or rather something to say about

[03:21:41] calendar option one um the majority of the feedback i got was for calendar option one i'm sure there were still many for the other options but the majority of the feedback i got was for option one but I understand there's different input. Any other discussion? Yes, Ms. Chandler.

[03:22:06] I really struggle with this. I would really like to, you know, like Ms. Chernoff, get the end of the year date a little bit closer, a little bit earlier in June. I definitely hear that feedback too, but I also want to balance the feedback that I hear from teachers and staff who are concerned about going back so early in August. And ultimately, when it comes down to these two

[03:22:40] calendar options, they don't seem significantly different to me. I wish, and I'll just put this out into the universe, I would like to get on a cycle where we address this at the same time every year, and then everybody knows to look for it at that time, and then we can have a conversation i wish i had i asked for more feedback i didn't get a whole lot it's just not something that people are going to engage with right now and ultimately i i think i come down

[03:23:18] to trying to make the best best decision with information that we have based on the preponderance of feedback we had when we voted on the last calendar and with that i come to option one

[03:23:30] Any other discussion? Yes, Mr. Streffi. Yeah, this is difficult for sure, and both options, I see the arguments for both. Both are valid, I think, where I've seen the feedback has been mostly from families who are concerned about that early start date, because folks are still in summer mode, taking vacation, and so I think that it would be a bit of a, especially without, you know, if I would have to think

[03:24:09] about if without um you know a lot of volume of feedback from families specifically i wouldn't want to make the start date that much earlier um and i would again maybe this is a learning curve for next year in terms of being able to get this out to families earlier but i i i'm hesitant i'm more hesitant to um you know end summer earlier and get folks back to school without a certain

[03:24:45] volume of uh constituent feedback so that's just my two cents so this is what 20 this is 27 28 it's two years let's see next year is 25 26 right so this would be the next year the third in the cycle 27 28 um sometimes i think people are going to have to decide if they want to fill weeks for

[03:25:14] winter break or changing other things um if you want to go a week or two later it's hard decisions I'm not a big fan of starting earlier in August either.

[03:25:37] I also don't like going into June so late. So anyway. All right. Any other discussion? All right.

[03:25:55] Yes, Ms. Labelle. Thank you, Madam Chair. Is this something we have to decide today, or can we get feedback and do it sometime, maybe the first meeting in September, when we have time to get more feedback?

[03:26:12] It is several years away, and I don't see that hurrying into this, you know, we're only taking a couple of months to get feedback. I don't think it's going to hurt that much.

[03:26:30] Ms. Boland? So ultimately, it's the board's decision. I'll just go through a couple points, and then you can ultimately make the decision. But we feel we are rather late to bringing 27, 28 before the school board.

[03:26:47] If you'll recall, when I brought 26-27, I made the comment that I would be bringing 27-28 in the spring because we did make a commitment to our families and our staff to try to stay three years ahead.

[03:27:07] It seems difficult, but the two options we brought forth, we thought mirrored as closely as possible to the feedback that we just received a few months ago. We couldn't imagine feedback shifting significantly in just a couple of months.

[03:27:26] We're happy to wait, but again, then we start to draw out that time frame where the benefit of being ahead and being able to plan and look to the future really doesn't benefit our staff and our families as significantly.

[03:27:48] I think it's just painful either way. But, I mean, another option to do is to, what, make a substitute motion to wait and keep this on information, or, like, Mr. Allen, we can keep it on information until August.

[03:28:09] I mean, we can put it to action in August. Yes, Chair Mansfield, if that's a pleasure of the board, I can continue this, postpone it to an action item. So someone would have to make a substitute motion for an amendment?

[03:28:27] Since there's a motion pending, yes, that's correct. Okay. Ms. LaFell. I move that we put this item into action for August rather than tonight.

[03:28:49] Second. I have a second by Dr. Rasheed. Okay, it's been probably moved and seconded. And is there any more discussion on this? chair mansfield oh yes can i just ask a clarifying question yes yeah if this is to be moved to august i would need clarity on the board's um quest of staff would it would you want it to go out for a

[03:29:20] survey when you say you want feedback what's the ask board members oh was it okay board members yes Ms. LaBelle I think that we need some more feedback hopefully over the summer people will start thinking about when is school starting and looking to see things so I think that we need a survey that would encompass a little bit more with the population that we're dealing with right now so with the the other

[03:29:59] thing is can nobody's gonna be back August 12th right we're gonna be sending in that circumstance, we're going to be sending out a survey in July, and we're going to simply send the two calendars and tell us what you prefer, and we can come back with that information.

[03:30:20] I suspect the response rate will be fairly low, but we're certainly happy to do that. Ms. Chernoff. Thank you, Madam Chair. I have just an honest question for my colleagues. Like, I mean, we went through pretty extensive feedback through options one through four.

[03:30:36] I mean, a lot. and we have had feedback post making that decision i do think families and educators are split i do think that if we're going to make the shift back to memorial before memorial day at some point or get earlier in the year that that would be a summer one very short summer we we've stated that do you i don't feel personally for myself that at then any of that's going to change with these two options since they're basically just one week off of each other so i would prefer that we vote tonight and just move forward I think we've had feedback over the last year about where our

[03:31:12] families stand and where our educators stand and we've talked at length about what each of us kind of bring to the table and value from our different constituent groups and I think it's time to move forward so I would just ask if it's really going to change all that much from a feedback perspective okay so let's do the history of what we just did the motion was brought for calendar one by Dr.

[03:31:37] rasheed it was seconded we discussed it miss labelle made a motion to wait until august right and it was seconded so we need to go ahead and um vote on that first and then we'll move to the base motion we need to vote on the substitute motion from carrie's first before we yeah okay unless i have another one no okay let's go ahead uh clerk please open the vote this is for carrie's

[03:32:16] motion board members please record your vote clerk please close and display the vote that motion does not pass so with Miss Chandler and miss with Dr. Deans Ms. Mansfield Mr. Estreffy Ms. Chernoff Dr. Rashid in opposition and Mrs.

[03:32:42] Griffiths and Vice Chair Jonahue absent for the vote okay so we're back to the original motion of calendar one okay any other discussion no we're voting on option one clerk please open the vote board members please record your vote clerk please close and display the vote and that motion passes five to two with Miss Chernoff and Miss LaBelle in opposition of the vote and Miss Griffiths

[03:33:22] and vice chair Donahue absent for the vote okay moving on moving on to 11.08 Student Services Committee revision to policy 8120 compulsory attendance I'll go ahead and make that motion since or miss LaBelle do you want to make that motion since you're on the Student Services Committee I'll go ahead and make it yeah that the Latin I'm yeah yeah so do you want to make their motion

[03:33:59] do you want to make the motion you want me to make a comment I'll make I'll make the motion um I make I move that the Loudoun County School Board adopt the Student Services Committee approved revisions of policy 8120 compulsory attendance. Do I have a second? I have a second by Mr. Struffy. Mrs. Richardson, since you're here, would you mind reminding the board what this is about just a little bit? Absolutely, Chair Mansfield.

[03:34:27] Thank you. LCPS Policy 8120, compulsory attendance requires that all school-age children attend school regularly as mandated by the Code of Virginia. It was heard before the Student Services committee for the first time on May 15th as an information item, then it came back to the committee as an action item on June 5th where it was voted 3-0 to move it forward to the full board.

[03:34:54] The board has, you did hear it on June 17th as an information item and now it is up again for action. The policy is just a five-year cyclical review. There were no code changes or revisions made coming out of the Student Services Committee.

[03:35:15] We staff did make grammatical and clerical corrections throughout the cross reference policy numbers were updated and there was discussion in committee as I shared last week regarding the community feedback which might lead to possible revisions of LCPS Policy 8140 which is attendance procedures.

[03:35:36] teachers. Thank you, Ms. Richardson. Is there any other discussion? Okay, seeing none, go ahead, clerk please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes with Mrs. Griffiths and Vice Chair Donahue absent for the vote. Okay, moving on to 11.09, Department of Teaching and Learning, Head Start Preschool, Annual Training Report, and Grant Continuation Application. Ms. Chandler, do you want to go ahead and make that motion. I move that the Loudoun County School Board adopt the Head Start

[03:36:14] Preschool Grant continuation application year two for the funding period of December 1st, 2025 to November 30th, 2026. Thank you. Ms. Chandler, Mr. Slevin, do you want to just give a little brief summary just to remind the board real quick? Oh, do I have a second? Second. I have a second by Ms. Chernoff. Thank you, Chair Mansfield. With the board approval tonight, that'll keep us on the timeline to have this to submit it for our annual application.

[03:36:45] I would note that based on feedback from last week, the Head Start Policy Council did reconvene around the literacy goals to align the teaching practices with the adopted Tools of the Mind curriculum. You'll notice that on pages 57 through 59 of the packet.

[03:37:03] - Thank you for doing that on such short notice. I appreciate it. Any other discussion? Seeing none, we'll go ahead and vote. Clerk, please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote. Clerk, please close and display the vote.

[03:37:21] That motion passes unanimously with Mrs. Griffiths and Vice Chair Donoghue absent for the vote. Moving on to 11.10, Department of Teaching and Learning Primary Resources recommendations. Let's see, I guess, Ms. Chernoff, would you mind?

[03:37:41] You got it. I move that the Loudoun County School Board approve staff recommended primary resources as listed in board docs. I have a motion on the floor. Do I have a second? I have a second by Mr. Struffy. has been probably moved and seconded.

[03:37:58] Mr. Slevin, do you wanna just really brief remind? - So this action item will allow us to move forward with the purchase of primary resources for some specific courses, such as middle school electives and our IB courses.

[03:38:15] We did receive a small amount of public feedback, nothing that would be substantive enough to change our recommendation. Many of the comments were questions, and we have been working with those community members connecting them with the right staff member to address any questions they may have about programs within LCPS. Thank you, Mr. Slevin. Any other discussion, board members? Seeing none, clerk, please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote. Clerk, please close and display the vote.

[03:38:51] That motion passes unanimously with Mrs. Griffiths and Vice Chair Donoghue absent for the vote. All right, we're moving on to our information items. Item 12.01, school board meeting calendar for fiscal year 2027 capital budget and fall 2025 school attendance zone change process presented by kevin lewis our chief operations officer mr lewis thank you chair mansfield so tonight we bring forward to you the calendar for the fall activities for both the cip and the

[03:39:26] attendance zone boundary change you may recall that on june 9th at the school board retreat we provided an overview of the five-year plan for doing attendance zone changes and so this is in alignment with that that we would begin doing the ashburn area and dulles north area for elementary school levels attendance zone changes so that's what you see reflected here on this calendar then you know i'll point out that the items there you see on in the bold are for capital budget meetings highlighted and those are in the blue font the school board meetings

[03:40:03] or attendance zone meetings in the red font anything that's bolded are happening on a regular school board meeting night so that's the the legend for how that calendar event takes place you can see there's quite a number of meetings starting today on June 24th with the information on that and you'll take action on this calendar at the meeting on August 12th and then so that will put that in motion and with that action we will also then provide notice to all of the schools that are listed at the bottom so that's always something of particular interest in school board members so any of those schools listen

[03:40:42] I believe there are 18 of them that will be involved and possibly adjusted that doesn't necessarily mean they would all be adjusted but every household will be notified that this change will take place it'll be very much like the notices we did for the Dulles South area just recently and then this will begin that process for culmination for decisions in December for both the changes to the attendance zones that the school board adopts as well as the capital budget for the capital improvement program over the next six years. I'm happy to take any questions you may have. Thank you Mr. Lewis so it looks to

[03:41:22] me that when are you going to start those letters off? We will start them after the board takes action in August so won't won't be until after the summer when everyone's back so that's August September October November December December is the action item yes so that's four months away so they will have had four months yes ma'am to look at the letter okay um board members any other discussion okay thank you all right we'll move on to our closed session mr. Straffi do you have a

[03:42:01] motion yes thank you madam chair I move that London County School Board recess this public meeting and enter into a closed meeting pursuant to 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia for the following: discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real properties for a public purpose where discussion in an open meeting would affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body as authorized by section 2.2-3711 of the Code of Virginia; discussion of plans to protect public safety as it relates to vulnerabilities and briefings by staff members to include security officials and legal counsel concerning actions taken to respond to such matters or a related threat to public

[03:42:39] safety, discussion of information subject to the exclusion in subdivision 2 or 14 of 2.2-3705.2 where discussion in an open meeting would jeopardize the safety of any person or the security of any facility, building, structure, information technology system or software program, or discussion of reports or plans related to the security of any government facility building or structure or the safety of persons using such facility building or structure as authorized by section 2.2-3711A19 of the Code of Virginia. Consultation with legal counsel pertaining to actual litigation where such consultation or briefing in open meeting would

[03:43:18] adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the public body as authorized by section 2.2-3711A7 of the Code of Virginia. And consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding a specific legal matter related to a former employee as authorized by section 2.2-3711A8 of the Code of Virginia. I have a motion by Mr. Straffi. Do I have a second? Second. I have a second by Ms. Chandler. Any discussion? Seeing none. Clerk,

[03:43:53] please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes six with Mrs. Griffiths, Vice Chair Donohue and Dr. Rasheed absent for the vote.

[03:44:17] Okay, the board is now in closed session.

[05:17:19] The board is now coming out of closed. Vice Chair Donohue, do you have a motion? - Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the closed meeting be adjourned, that the Loudoun County School Board reconvene its public meeting, and that the minutes of the public meeting reflect that no formal action was taken in the closed meeting.

[05:17:37] - Do I have a second? - Second. - I have a second by Ms. Chernoff. it's been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we'll go ahead with the vote. Clerk, please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote.

[05:17:58] Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes with Mrs. Griffiths absent for the vote. Vice Chair Donahue, do you have another motion? - Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the following resolution certifying the closed meeting be adopted and reflected in the minutes of this public meeting.

[05:18:19] Resolution number 34-24-25, whereas the Loudoun County School Board has convened a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, and whereas section 2. 2-3712 sub D of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by the school board that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law, now therefore be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board hereby certifies that, to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters is lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting to which the certification applies and only such

[05:18:56] public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered by the Leighton County School Board I have a motion to have a second I was second by Miss Chandler that motion has been properly moved and seconded is there any discussion oh yes miss LaBelle I think that she wasn't here for that part so I don't think I don't know - No, Mr. Allen, get ya.

[05:19:31] - Yeah, thank you, Ms. LaBelle, for raising that. Since there's no votes on the agenda, that would be germane to Ms. Donahue's disclosure since she missed the votes that that was relevant to. I don't see a need for her to read a disclosure at this time.

[05:19:47] - Thank you, Mr. Allen. Okay, back to our original certification of the closed meeting. Any other discussion? Okay, we'll take an electronic vote. Clerk, please open the vote. - Board members, please record your vote.

[05:20:08] Clerk, please close and display the vote, and that motion passes unanimously with Ms. Griffiths absent for the vote. All right, next we will go on to board members' comment and committee reports. Board members, do you want to go ahead and do this, or do you want to move on to recess?

[05:20:26] Okay, and new business? Yes, Ms. Donoghue, Vice Chair Donoghue. - Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to bring up one item this evening, And with my apologies to my fellow board members, I had hoped to propose a proclamation as part of our consent agenda for acknowledging July as Disability Pride Month.

[05:20:57] And I, as unfortunately often is the case for me, I am not always great at time management and I did not get my request in time. But Ms. Richardson did work with me to craft a proclamation to acknowledge Disability Pride Month for July 2025.

[05:21:16] And my new business is that I would make a motion to suspend the rules to vote on it tonight. Okay, I have a motion to suspend the rules.

[05:21:33] Do I have a second? Second. I have a second by Dr. Rashid. That motion needs to pass. two-thirds. So, any discussion? Oh, there's no discussion. Never mind. Clerk, will you please open the vote? Suspend the rules. Yes, ma'am. Board members, please record your vote.

[05:22:12] Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes seven to one with Mrs. LaBelle in opposition to the vote and Mrs. Griffiths absent for the vote so that vote passes that will so we will move to you want to take your second motion thank you madam chair we don't usually do it this way I have I have the proclamation that I can read or I don't know if it's more we normally

[05:22:46] read it before we vote on it so so we know what we're voting on okay so my next motion will be to ask the board to to approve this proclamation which I'm asking because it's our last meeting before July and we won't be back until August but the proclamation reads as follows disability pride month proclamation July 2025 whereas Loudoun County Public Schools acknowledges and celebrates the contributions of individuals with disabilities and recognizes that disability pride is an important aspect of disability rights and inclusion and whereas the month of July is recognized as disability pride

[05:23:23] month and Loudoun County Public Schools is committed to fostering a community where individuals with disabilities feel empowered, respected, and valued, and whereas it is essential to recognize the strength, resilience, and diversity of the disability community and to continue working towards a more inclusive and accessible society.

[05:23:41] Now, therefore, be it resolved, the Loudoun County School Board does hereby proclaim July 2025 as Disability Pride Month in Loudoun County Public Schools and encourages all residents to participate in activities and events that promote disability awareness, inclusion, and pride.

[05:23:56] We further commit to working with the disability community to ensure that Loudoun County Public Schools remains a welcoming and accessible place for all. In witness whereof, we, the School Board of Loudoun County Public Schools, do proclaim July 2025 Disability Pride Month. Do you want to make a motion?

[05:24:13] I move that the Loudoun County School Board adopt the proclamation, pass the resolution, adopt the resolution, whatever. I second. I have a motion by Vice Chair Donahue. I have a second by Dr. Deans. Any discussion? Seeing none.

[05:24:31] Clerk, please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes unanimously, with Mrs. Griffiths absent for the vote.

[05:24:48] All right, and with that, is there any new business? No. Okay. I do. Oh, okay. Dr. Deans. I'd like to raise as new business a conversation about the sustainability and ongoing work of the equity committee in its current form as a select committee of the school board.

[05:25:10] Specifically, in its current form as a select committee, we've had difficulty with attendance of members at our meetings. The charter subcommittee supports a reimagining of the equity committee in a different form, meaning not as a select committee.

[05:25:28] To be sure, there is work to be done, but in its current form as a select committee, it's been difficult to reach quorum for a broader level of production. Therefore, I'd be interested in hearing from my colleagues their thoughts about the reimagining of the equity committee at this time.

[05:25:55] What do I say? To suspend the rules or something? No. No, I just want to hear a conversation. Do you want it today or do you want to put it on information for August 12th?

[05:26:11] I'd like a conversation today because we've been kicking this can down the road. Okay. And I think it's a difficult time. I think it's a bad time to just not have an equity committee.

[05:26:30] So I think that some discussion today would prepare us for more information for August. I have to say I wasn't really prepared to talk about that. But my thoughts, I have heard that they want it more like SEAC and more like MSAC and LEAF as an advisory committee.

[05:26:56] That is what I have heard from some constituents. Yes, Mr. Strafi. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Dr. Deans. I'm also serving on the committee with Dr. Deans and Mrs. Griffiths.

[05:27:13] So to kind of just level set, I think it's important that board members, as we get into this conversation, to have a background as to, because the equity committee is a large committee. We have representation from diverse parts of our community.

[05:27:32] And there was a subcommittee as well as the broader committee that spoke and gave feedback around the concerns. So it's really important for us to really try to understand all the different inputs that came into that committee. It's different from our, obviously, from our other school board committees.

[05:27:52] The two areas that I think are worth noting is outside of just thinking about the actual structure, whether it's an administrative committee or an advisory committee, it was very clear to me in those meetings that the members of the community wanted to maintain the environment that people could provide input, that community input was part of that structure.

[05:28:23] I don't know personally yet whether I think this is a good part of the, this is where the discussion needs to be is whether that means it needs to be an advisory committee or whether there is room to really consider it being an administrative committee that has really, that can provide the committee more focus.

[05:28:48] Because I think that that is also something that came out into those conversations. So I don't want to dismiss that. So those are the two areas of conversation I think that we should kind of dig into a little bit more. But it would really help maybe just to kind of listen back and see, hear some of the conversations or look at the meeting minutes.

[05:29:07] But that's kind of what I'm wrestling with at this moment is making sure that this committee gets, you know, has the community feel and the input that you would get, that you currently get in equity, but you also see very much in MSAC and some of the other committees and SEAC. but it has you know that there are people that are on this committee I personally think I'm sorry make this a little bit long-winded but I personally like the idea of entertaining it being an

[05:29:39] administrative committee because I also want to hold myself and the division accountable for this work being done and prioritized in the division in a way that hasn't been able to be realized For a while in the equity committee, so I'll stop there. Thank you, mr. Strafi. I'm dr. Dean. She wanted to respond I agree. I and I wanted input from other bullet members not just

[05:30:17] Aubin Aubin and I have been there, but I wanted some thoughts from the entire board in terms of where do we go from here? real quick make sure not so Traditionally, doesn't the equity committee like make recommendations to the board for those kinds of things, like to decide to move to another structure?

[05:30:48] That's what the subcommittee voted to do, to reimagine it so that it could make recommendations. At this point, it was a select committee, ad hoc, and there was not a topic that it was given so it could give direction or advice to the board.

[05:31:09] Ms. Chernoff. Thank you. I'm open to this conversation as well, as I have heard from different people that have been involved, that the productivity level is not particularly high or headed in a direction due to attendance issues and just due to the sheer magnitude, I think, of the committee.

[05:31:27] It's rather large, right? so I'm open to hearing about it I would I I don't want to lose the forward-facing-ness of this work so I don't know what totally the parameters of an administrative committee committee would look like oh it's getting late but I do I I do think that keeping that transparency but also having input and having that community piece is important so I definitely have seen this coming you've brought it up before and I do think having productivity is the important part of a committee

[05:32:02] so I would be open to having that if we could get more information in an information item where those things those options could be outlined clearly for us and we could kind of see the trajectory of those things I would fully be behind supporting you that as as a board member Thank you. And that's sort of what I wanted or needed is to open up for us to move forward.

[05:32:28] The committee had 33 members. I was told that in order to have a meeting, I must have a quorum of the 33. Then as time moved on, I was told that I only had to have a quorum of the three board members.

[05:32:41] So what we'll need to do is come up with some new guidelines, and what we've done is gotten a copy of the other advisory committees, bylaws, et cetera, but for us to even work on it using those as our template, I wanted some input from this board to tell us whether or not we should do that.

[05:33:09] Ms. Chandler. I find I'm very open to this conversation, too, and I think it's important to make sure that the work that we're doing is valuable, and I certainly want our committees and our committee members to feel like their work is valuable as well. I would like to make sure that it's a very forward-facing conversation and that the community members who have invested time and effort into this committee have a say.

[05:33:37] So I would definitely not want to make any decisions without seeking that community input and making sure that everybody is, you know, working towards being on the same page. I think you have the community input in that the committee itself has charged us with moving it from a select committee to an advisory and or, not and or, an advisory or an administrative committee.

[05:34:10] So I think I wanted some thoughts from the board as to what I go back to the committee and say to them, where we would start working toward, where we'd start working toward bylaws, where we start working toward working with the administration.

[05:34:26] What should, which direction should we go? And they said either or. The committee said either or. I guess that's the piece that I'm struggling with a little bit, because I would hope that the committee would get to a place where they could commit to one or the other, although I understand ultimately that it is the school board's decision.

[05:34:51] But I think it's just one of, in terms of working with the community and making sure that the community is invested in the process, I feel a little conflicted about the fact that there wasn't necessarily, I mean, am I understanding correctly?

[05:35:07] that they want it to be this or that, but have not said 100% they want it to be one or the other. They don't want to be a select committee any longer. Okay. Yes, Mr. Streffi.

[05:35:24] Just to emphasize, Dr. Deans, please feel free to interject if this is not representing it properly, but I believe that the members of the equity committee, by and large, wanted the board to weigh, the conclusion was that at this point based on all the discussions that did take place the agreement or the motion was to bring it to the to the full board to deliberate further and to evaluate options and potentially come up with a

[05:35:58] recommendation is that accurate yes that's why I brought it to the full board yes mr. and then I think given that information having it as an act an information item and an action item on the agenda would give us an opportunity to have a really meaningful conversation and if community members still want to have input they certainly still will have an opportunity through that process I'd be very open to that so could we get it on the as an information item the

[05:36:37] first week in August I'm at the first school board meeting yeah yeah I think I want a little of direction as to what information you want like information on as well as what the different committee structures are as well as I mean because MSAC leaf and SEAC have you know like bylaws and they have chairs and all the rest of that and it's pretty much community based as opposed to the superintendent advisory committee which would be more administrative based my understanding and so maybe the differences between those two I'll have

[05:37:17] the members to come and speak to that in the as a part of the information item I will have them here to speak to that okay okay as well as what their desires are I mean I so yeah okay we can have that on information okay any other new business okay thank you and we will I guess with that we will go ahead and

[05:37:53] adjourn the June 24th 2025 Loudoun County School Board meeting is now adjourned please drive safely home

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