Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County Public Schools, Minority Student Achievement Advisory Committee (MSAAC) Meeting, Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Place: LCPS Administration Building / School Board Room, Ashburn, Virginia
Length: 1h 48m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1156646936?rel=0

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-12. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:00:56] Hey, we are going to get started this evening. Good evening, everybody. Thank you for joining us. If you're listening in, thank you for joining us. My name is Erin Kunkel, and I serve as Immediate Past Chair, and tonight I am going to be serving as Acting Chair of our MSAC meeting tonight.

[00:01:15] We're going to go ahead and get started because we've got quite a bit to cover, and we want to make sure that we get everything in and make sure we get you guys out and home on time. So we'll get started. Tonight's theme is building foundations together and we're going to continue our focus on, you know, what makes MSAC, MSAC. We're going to focus on, tonight we're going to focus on our bylaws and Robert's rules and really kind of set the foundation so everybody has an understanding of how MSAC operates as an advisory committee, but also how MSAC operates within

[00:01:53] Robert's rules. So as we go forward and we do our work and our advocacy in the community, everybody has a basic understanding. So if you would, please sign in. We have triple checked the codes. They do work for you. If you are a student delegate that is joining us, just sign in and just click the box

[00:02:14] as a delegate. I forgot to add student delegate to the form.

[00:02:49] Okay, if you haven't had a chance to scan the form, I'll put it back up at the end of the meeting so you can scan it and you can sign in. Otherwise, if you wouldn't mind just sending an email to msacchair at lcps.org and just say, hey, Erin, I attended the meeting tonight and I will just make note of that just so we have it. So this is tonight's agenda. It looks like a lot, but I promise it's not. We just have a lot of little parts happening. So welcome. We're doing that now. We're going to have a moment

[00:03:28] where Dr. Rashid is going to share community framing and acknowledgement. We're going to discuss MSAC leadership transition. And then we're going to have an overview of our MSAC bylaws and our advisory role. And then we're going to have a training on Robert's Rules of Order. And then we're going to have table discussions. And then we have a special election announcement.

[00:03:49] And then we will close and adjourn for the evening. So we're going to keep moving forward. And as always, I like to just ground us in our MSAC mission statement because it's important just for us to remember why we do what we do, why we're here in the room, and what we're advocating for.

[00:04:08] So the Minority Student Achievement Advisory Committee, MSAC, is dedicated to partnering with Loudoun County Public Schools, parents, and the community to acknowledge and promote the needs of minority students. MSAC is also dedicated to building a school system that is culturally and socially competent in position to provide fair and equitable learning experiences for all students.

[00:04:28] And that is an emphasis on all students. Although our work is, as I always say, focused on the minority and marginalized students and families in our community, our work is for all students because when we open one door, we want to hold the door open for every student and every family to have access to that.

[00:04:46] When we make a change, we're thinking of everybody, not just ourselves. So as you go about talking with your schools and telling people about MSAC, remind them that we are for all students and that everyone is welcome to join us. I am going to turn it over to our school board liaison, Dr. Rashid, for our community framing and acknowledgement.

[00:05:10] Thank you, Chair Kunkel, and thank you, everyone. I'm so excited to be here. You know, it's a new year. It's a new bringing, and this is something that, you know, we can look forward to. It's truly an honor to be here with you all, students, advisors, and committee members.

[00:05:27] We're all about building community, and I love what MSAC represents. MSAC represents a lot, and I noticed that it's kind of like a chain reaction. When you support your students, when you see their feedback, when you hear them, when you tell them you're listening, it really builds a sense of foundation.

[00:05:44] It comes from, after foundation, then it comes with community support, and then after community support, it builds a better school. And in the end of the day, that's what we want, we want to build a better school. With this common ground that we have, I think we can definitely shape the future. We've also already shaped whatever it is that we've had today, and that being said, I understand the purpose of the committee.

[00:06:08] Not only does it create community, again, like I said before, but it's also to help create the school environment. So that goes into our surroundings as well. I'm excited to see how the committee members watch them grow, I like to see the leadership grow, I'd like to see the members grow even further.

[00:06:24] I also want you to know that I have my support, and I think I said this a couple of months back, that whenever you have to go, and I mean this to parents, I mean this to students, whenever you have to go and visit a school, feel free to reach out to me. I would love to accompany you to talk to any of the faculty, the counselors, even the principal.

[00:06:45] It's very important that you understand that, that you feel that you have a voice at the table, that you are seen at the table. So always feel welcomed, don't ever be shy about that. I always wanna make sure that no one ever feels like they're being silenced, and thank you for that.

[00:07:01] Thank you, Chair. - Thank you, Dr. Rasheed. Now we are going to move, grab my iPad. We are going to stop for a moment and discuss an MSAC leadership transition.

[00:07:22] Our current sitting chair, Tammy Jones, is not with us this evening, but she did send me a letter that she would like me to read and share with you all. And it says, "Good evening, everyone. I want to start by sincerely thanking you, thanking you for collaborating with me and for giving me the opportunity to serve as chair of MSAC during the first quarter.

[00:07:44] It has meant more to me than I can put into words. I want to share that due to recent health discoveries, I've decided to step down from this role. This wasn't an easy choice, as anyone who knows me understands how passionate I am about this work. However, I also recognize the importance taking care of myself so I can continue to make meaningful contributions.

[00:08:04] For over 20 years, I have built my career as a federal employee and through nonprofit initiatives dedicated to supporting diverse and minority communities. Equity is not just a temporary commitment, it is a fundamental part of my identity. Even when I am not in a leadership position, it remains an inherent part of who I am.

[00:08:21] The MSAC mission is deeply personal. My daughter attends Loudoun County Public Schools, so this isn't just a policy or topic for me. It's about real life. It concerns our children, their classrooms, their teachers, and their futures. As I step back from this role, I want to ensure continuity.

[00:08:38] I'm thankful that our immediate past chair, Erin Kunkel, has agreed to serve as interim chair until a new one is selected. Erin's leadership continues to shine through her passion and support for MSAC. Although I am stepping down as chair, I'm not stepping away from the mission. The fight for equity and opportunity for all students remains important to me, and it always will be.

[00:08:57] My simple request is this: Keep going. Keep showing up. Keep asking the tough questions. Keep advocating for students and families who need their voices heard. What you do hear matters more than you realize. Thank you for the grace you've shown me, for the work you continue, and for allowing me to serve.

[00:09:14] I leave this role with gratitude, pride, and a strong faith in this group. The work continues, and I know it's in good hands. forever together in unity. Tammy M. Jones. I'd like to take a moment to just thank Tammy for her leadership. Thank her for stepping into this role. It's not easy. Personal experience can affirm that. But I would like to just thank her for what she's done for our committee and being dedicated to working with us and continuing to make MSAC's voice stronger and our equity work shine even more. We are going to keep her in our hearts and our thoughts and her prayers, her and her entire family. We wish her well. We wish her health. We wish

[00:09:50] her a speedy recovery. But as I told her when she told me, first and foremost, you need to take care of yourself. Do not set foot inside these doors until you feel healthy, well, and your best self. We need her and our family needs her to be her best self. So if you would join me in just offering a round of applause for Tammy and her work. So now we come to the interesting part. Building foundations together. We're going to talk about the MSAC bylaws and how we as a committee, as an

[00:10:28] advisory committee work together. So why do the bylaws matter? First of all, wait, wait, wait, wait. Stop for a moment. Pop quiz. Who has read the bylaws? You can tell the truth. Who has glanced at them? Who knows they exist? Okay. I just want to make sure. Okay. Do not feel bad. The first time I went to delegate training and they handed us the bylaws, I was like, oh my gosh, what is this?

[00:11:05] and what does this mean? It is only by happenstance and circumstances that I've had an opportunity to thumb through these several times and read them, and you'll be amazed at what's in them. You'll be amazed at what goes on, but they are not complicated. They're not going to throw you for a loop. I do not want anybody to panic and think, oh my gosh, I have not been doing this right. This is no judgment. This is exactly just everybody getting on the same page with the same understanding of how our committee works so with that why do the bylaws matter on your table there should be a staple copy if there's not there are extra ones out there grab one for yourself

[00:11:43] copies of our bylaws you can follow through now I am not going to go line by line through the bylaws we would be here all night and I am not an attorney I do not speak legal speak so I'm going to give you the top level this is what you need to know these are the salient points to get you started, but I do encourage everybody to read the bylaws. So the bylaws are for us to have shared expectations. These are expectations of this committee, of us as delegates as we serve on the committee, and these are the way we're going to operate. They outline clear roles and

[00:12:21] responsibilities for delegates, for our executive board, and even there's information in there that pertains not directly, but it helps our members understand how it works. So our members our community members that come and join us understand this is how you can and this is how you cannot participate it is in order for us to have a fair and consistent process so we don't change with every election and every new executive board we're not changing the rules over and over again or we're not making up rules as we go along like we have a clear cut set of guidelines of how

[00:12:57] we're going to operate. And it provides protection for the committee and its members. When we move or we make choices or decisions, when we interact in the committee and in the school building with the school board, anything, those bylaws protect us. So if someone says you didn't do anything or you told me to do this, if we're operating under our bylaws, that provides us protection as committee members and it protects the integrity of the committee. So your reference for this portion is if you see I try to keep it that way if it doesn't look like that way I apologize

[00:13:28] on the right side I'm a lefty so that was completely opposite to me so on the right side when you're looking at the screen there's just a reference to the bylaws portion that we're discussing as we go through so article two focuses on MSAC's purpose the bylaws provide us a purpose and clarity on how when and where we move meaning there are rules we just can't roll up to the school board. It'd be like, I want to talk to this, this, this, this, and this, and this is what I'm demanding. There's a process. There's a way that we go about engaging with school board members,

[00:14:06] with administration officials, in our schools, and even with our parents. So these are our processes on how we do so. What MSEC is and what it is not. At MSEC's core, it is an advisory committee, and that is it. We are an advisory committee. I always like to think of us as Jiminy Cricket.

[00:14:27] We sit on the shoulder and we provide a nudge, hey, maybe think about these students, or that's a great program, but not everybody's going to want to participate in that. Or you wrote that policy and those seven words right next to each other seem like they might inflict harm. We're just there to provide a tap on the shoulder and say, hey, remember this. Think of these students. Think of these parents. Think of these family. And if they ask, like, what do you think we should do in that. That's what advice is. I know it is hard because sometimes we don't want to advise. We

[00:15:04] don't really want to advocate. We want to grab the pitchforks and we want to race to the front door and we want to fight. I'm going to ask you for the remainder of the year to work with me and put the pitchforks down. I know that all of us in some way, shape or form come from a place where we've been hurt. Our children have been hurt. We've been disappointed. We've been disillusioned. But if you can come to these tables and advocate with us to put together great feedback, to offer suggestions, to tell us what's happening, tell us what you see, tell us a need, and help us convey that to our school board members, to our school board liaison, she will do it.

[00:15:42] I promise she will. To help us get a need out or to ask for support from the division of DEIA, if you will come to the table ready to have a conversation and to pull together that advice, even when everything in you is saying, nope, just let me, just let me go off. I will meet you in the parking lot and you can stand and yell at me. You can scream at me, get it out. And then I'm saying, now come to the table with me and let's find a really great way to fix this. It's not minimizing your pain. It's not saying it didn't happen. Believe me, I know it happened. I still live with the repercussions of the things that my kids have experienced daily. But what I'm asking you to

[00:16:21] do is say, okay, that hurt, but now we need to work. We need to figure out a way to help our division fix it. We are focused on equity, on access, on student achievement. We want our students to succeed. In fact, we want every student to succeed. We don't want to see any student fail.

[00:16:41] We want the same thing that I want for my babies, that I want for your babies, that I want for everybody else's babies. I'm not going to say my babies are more important. Now, I'm partial to my children, but I'm going to love on yours just as much as I love on mine. And if you say, hey, Erin, my child needs help. My child needs support. Then I'm going to say, when, where, what do you need? How can I help? Where can I point you? Ask me whatever questions you need, and I will ask the right people to get you the questions. That's what we do. That's how we operate. We are nonpartisan, and we are noncommercial. We don't take sides. I know we all have opinions, but we do not take

[00:17:20] sides. We do not amplify any businesses over the other. When you see us share flyers out, that is us sharing community information. We get the flyers, we type up the wording, or we ask what the wording is, and we share it out. I'm informing you. I'm not saying this organization is any better than anyone. So if you have a flyer, if you have an event, if you have something you'd like to share, we can do it. But a thing I want us to always remember is our platform as MSAC is precious.

[00:17:47] We get to be protective over it. We don't want to platform other voices over ours. We don't want to platform other organizations over ours. We can support, we can encourage, we can get the word out, but our main priority as MSAC is the work that MSAC does. MSAC is not a decision-making body. We don't get to tell people what to do. We are not the bosses. We don't get to say you fix it or else. That is not our role. We are not a political organization. We are not going to galvanize around political issues. We are not going to say vote for them, not for them. We don't do

[00:18:27] that. We do not take sides. We are nonpartisan. We are nonpolitical. We are noncommercial. We do not say we don't even take sides religiously. Everybody is welcome in our room, in our space. Our space is safe for everybody who comes to join us. So your reference for that is articles two and three, our purpose and our basic policies. Membership, voice and participation. So who gets to participate? The delegates represent their schools and community voices. You join MSAC as

[00:19:03] a delegate by volunteering with your PTO or your principal and signing up, sending us that wonderful application, and then we're like, oh, you're in now. So you belong to MSAC. We take it, you join us, we get you trained up, we take your questions, we help you get started, and you're a delegate.

[00:19:21] Our meetings are open to the public. We invite family members, community members, staff, teachers, anyone that wants to join us in these important discussions or just sit in the room as support. We encourage them to do so. Our delegates have a voice and they have a vote.

[00:19:37] Your voice and your vote does matter. We vote on things such as elections of our new executive board committee. We vote on things such as changes to the bylaws. We might even vote on a motion that needs to happen. and we do so accordingly as delegates.

[00:19:56] MSAC members, these are people that have signed up to just be a part of MSAC. They can attend meetings and they receive the newsletters, but MSAC members do not vote. They're a part of the committee, but they do not vote. They can offer us feedback, and we can take that into consideration, we can discuss that as an executive board, but they don't get to say, the members don't get to say, this is what you need to do, I'm declaring so.

[00:20:21] Our delegates' voice and vote is what matters the most. And that is in Article 4 of membership.

[00:20:35] Voting in quorum. How many of you know that we have to have a quorum? How many of you know that that quorum is 25% of the number of delegates on our roster? Okay. So if we had to vote tonight, doing a rough count, we barely missed making quorum.

[00:20:57] So five-second PSA, if you're an MSAC delegate and you're listening to the sound of my voice, please encourage other MSAC delegates to join us for our meetings so we can make quorum. Also, because it looks really, really, really awesome when we're all in the room.

[00:21:14] And pro tip, when we're all in the room and we all show up together, they listen. It's pretty awesome. So that is my PSA. Please join us for the meetings. We need you here and we need you in the room so we can do the work and the business and the advocacy that we are so determined to do.

[00:21:32] Thank you for attending. We do not have proxy voting, so you cannot vote by proxy. You cannot say, hey, I want to vote on this, but I'm not going to be here, so can I give you my vote now? No. We need you present to vote. Now, we can still have our discussions.

[00:21:50] We can still have our informational session, as we're doing now, but we cannot vote or move on anything without that quorum. So if you ever see us up here and we're quickly counting and doing the math in our head, we're trying to ascertain that we came to quorum so we can vote on, And that vote includes not just elections, that vote includes meeting minutes.

[00:22:13] That vote includes if we have a big, huge change to our agenda for the evening, all of that. We need you in the room to vote as such. In the instance that we are holding a vote, and I need you to remember this fourth bullet point because it's going to come up in a little bit later, the committee will be given 30 days notice before any vote takes place.

[00:22:37] So you have 30 days. We'll put out when we announce that we're going to be taking a vote, we're giving you 30 days heads up so you know, so you can plan to attend, so you can cast your vote. And it's important that you attend because if you aren't there and you don't participate in the vote, technically you cannot be upset with the results of the vote because you were not present.

[00:22:56] So please remember that quorum. And your reference, your big reference point is if you have not read the policy 2310, hi, welcome to homework. Please read that because that's very important because that's how we operate. That policy plus our bylaws are a very important understanding because that tells you what our role is according to LCPS policy, but it also talks about why we need to have quorum.

[00:23:24] Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Chair. I was just curious about the 25%. You said something about the number of delegates. Yes. If we have 10 delegates, you have to have? If we only have 10 delegates, of the number of delegates we have currently on our roster, so right now we have 66.

[00:23:44] I believe our quorum number is about 20. We always aim for, I always aim for 25 people. That tells me that we are over and above, but we should aim for that threshold. So if our roster is, say, completely filled and we have 103 delegates, we would just need 25% of 103 delegates to be present in the room to vote.

[00:24:06] Thank you, Chair. Thank you. And then how we work together. So our roles and processes. So the chair is, the MSAC chair, their role is coordination, facilitation, and representation.

[00:24:22] I also like to think of it as you're the face of MSAC. Like, you're the people, if you go out, this is the person that people recognize as the chair of MSAC, the person that they're looking forward to ask MSAC questions. The executive board consists of our vice chair, our secretary, there's a lot here, vice chair, secretary, MSAC communications, MSAC policy, MSAC social media.

[00:24:48] We have an MSAC outreach. We have a role for delegate liaison. We actually have, like, 10, 11 roles on our executive board. Our dream is to fill them all. but the executive board is in charge of planning, governance, and continuity. We keep the ball rolling. We meet almost weekly to discuss what's going on, things we've heard, where we're going in our next meeting, updating each other on what we're thinking and all of that.

[00:25:11] We try to get together to kind of plan so it doesn't just all magically happen. Behind the scenes, we're working really hard to make sure that everything's coming forward. the delegate your role is to participate in the meetings to advocate in your school and to be a school connection I also like to say a helper the best way to get in and get the feel of your school and to let them know that MSAC is important is to show up and just help I cannot talk about the number of olipop and popsicles that I just cut open one day just standing there it had to have been at least a thousand because those kids had lots of popsicles that day and just cutting

[00:25:50] popsicles and just standing there and talking to parents and family and letting them get to know me and they were like what do you do and I'm like I'm on MSAC are you a teacher no MSAC what does MSAC do oh thank you for asking and having a conversation and introducing MSAC in our community that's your role as a delegate our meetings are held every third Wednesday of the month so don't forget we will always try to get an information out to you get an alert out to you flyers everything in a timely manner but we hold our meetings every third Wednesday of the month barring closure because of inclement weather or if the district is closed for any reason that is

[00:26:28] when we don't hold meetings but we will always try to let you know and notify you with advance notice and keep you update as best we can and then every year in May we host our elections we try to have those on the last meeting of the school year so that very last meeting of the year is when we have elections. We will announce them earlier. In this case, we'll announce them in March, and then we'll have an election for the 26-27 school year in May. So your reference for that

[00:26:59] is Article 6 and Article 8, and that is roles and meetings and procedures. So we do have expectations, and we do pride and take ourselves seriously about our integrity. So what protects our credibility, regular participation. So we all just can't one day up and say, nope, not coming.

[00:27:26] It doesn't look good. It doesn't look like we take this seriously or that this is important to us. We're respectful. We are respectful of each other, even when we disagree, even when we don't like what the other one is saying. Just because someone's lived experience is not your lived experience does not make it untrue. Again, our spaces are safe. They are inclusive. They are welcoming. They are inviting. We want people to know that this is the place you can come to have a conversation. This is a place you can come to be your full self and nobody is judging you.

[00:27:59] Nobody is saying, no, you're awful. I don't like you. We don't do that here. We are always acting in the best interest of the students. So even if it's something that you don't like, if it is in the best interest of our students, we hope that you would talk to us, share your feedback, give us an idea of what we can do, but also engage with it because our students and their voice matters.

[00:28:21] And we've worked really hard in the last couple of years to amplify student voice and to make their voice and their thoughts and feelings a part of our process and to make sure that they feel heard and not just part of the room, but nobody really cares. Please avoid using the role for personal or organizational gains. I don't know what else you want me to say. Just don't do it.

[00:28:46] Please don't. So that is referenced in Article 5 under officers, executive committee, and advisory committees. Also, a little star there, Section 3. But basically, we're all adults. We all know what is expected of us. We all know how we want to be treated, how we want our children to be treated. We all know that this committee is important, that there should always be an MSAC.

[00:29:13] And if we start mistreating it and taking advantage of what our committee can and can do, then we're no longer effective. We don't want anybody to say that. So all we're asking is that you do remember that our work is important and our work is vital for everyone. And so what I want you to remember, because that was a lot, I am not demanding that you read the bylaws, but please maybe glance at them, thumb through them.

[00:29:38] Just take a little peek. Please know that they exist. Now you do. So, everybody should raise their hand when I say, who knows that the bylaws exist? Thank you. So, you know where to find them.

[00:29:53] They are on our website. If you haven't already gotten one, get a handy-dandy copy for yourself. When you're unsure of what to do, please ask questions. We will take the questions. We will answer them as best we can. And there have been times I will tell you that I'm like, I don't know what to do.

[00:30:11] Yes, ma'am. I don't know if this is a typo, but page four and page six both have an article six. goes from article 5 page 4 has article 6 yes I page 6 goes back to article 6 again yes no that was purposeful I was trying to connect points because I didn't want to I didn't think y'all wanted me to stand up here for five hours and talk about so is are they the same article it's in the same article but when I was going through I felt like both of those articles referenced

[00:30:45] both points so it kind of all goes together if you will it just how to make the bylaws make sense without going through each individual article was my challenge last night and over the weekend but i can edit that if you'd like and i can say i'm talking about the bible yes so if we're okay

[00:31:14] go back again and show me so article specifically what is your concern again yes it's not a numbering issue it's purposeful because the article four when i talk about membership and

[00:31:44] then article six also references membership but there's specific i can fix that i will i will edit that for you and i will clarify that for you all and i will get that to you by monday thank you sorry not braining correctly today okay we will edit the bylaws because i see what you're saying

[00:32:24] now and we will just we it could be yeah it's just a numbering issue I see it now um yes I will we will work to edit that number um we'll probably have to vote on that but we will edit that number and fix that um that through being for a loop I apologize okay so yes uh hello hi sorry uh you meant this may have been addressed this is my first meeting it seemed like though this was the time to ask because I see the theme through this part is about participation and being in attendance here. 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. is not really easy. As a parent, I'm a single father, right? So

[00:33:03] how do I, as much as I want to be a delegate for this, are we able to attend virtually? Is that something that has been discussed in a previous meeting that I missed? We have discussed it in prior executive board meetings, and we batted it around during when we had distance learning.

[00:33:21] We met virtually the entire time. I would say in your best interest, I know it's hard, but we were before we switched to 6 to 8 we were doing 7 to 9 so we were even later in the night so what we did was we made the adjustment especially for our student delegates because we knew that they were coming from activities and then having to go home and do homework until all hours of the night wasn't something we wanted to do I would recommend that if you want to attend and you still want to be a delegate please do please consider that if you can't make it maybe just reach out to me and we can discuss it further even if it's like if you say we I can come let's

[00:34:01] say for the remainder of the year I can come February March I can't come in May or April but I can come in May if you just give us a heads up it'll be fine now we're saying if you can't come to every meeting we would suggest being a delegate being a member but if you're really wanting to be a delegate we can figure our way through it we would rather you be in the room with us but we understand that we have commitments, jobs, families, and things like that. We can discuss it and figure out what works best for you and if it's the best fit to be a delegate. But I would just say, like, if you can come next month, the next two months, but then that next month is not a great month for

[00:34:37] you, just let us know. We're not going to be like, you didn't come, now we're kicking you out. That doesn't work like that. We want to try to make sure that you are active and involved and informed, but we can figure it out and yes you can listen to the meetings and the recordings after the fact but the preference is for you to be in the room but i also understand that schedules are complicated it is rough sometimes when a lot is going on so maybe we can have a discussion about it and figure out what works if that's for you i mean i'm always open to a discussion yeah gaining clarity is good it sounds like though the virtual was just not it's not even on the table right no none of the

[00:35:12] committees really do virtual it because we wouldn't know if you got in and we'd have no way it has been asked several times but that's not really an option that we have to do at this time yes you can still be a delegate but we would just have to figure out what worked best in this situation i would just say if you can't come to any meetings because six to eight does not work then i would suggest being a member but if you can attend some of the meetings it's just

[00:35:44] not every single time with notice, it is possible to still be a delegate. And that's the best I can say. I understand all of that, but also you mentioned the voting can even take place unless there's 25% of delegates. I don't know how people want to hear of delegates, but it seems like it would hinder the process. I don't know, but thank you for your information. Well, I will say this about having our 25% of the delegates. That's why it matters to get people in the room. That's why we try to make sure that we get our notices out about our, with our flyers, our meeting updates,

[00:36:19] and keeping the delegates informed that is very important it is but again we know that everybody has schedules and lives but we try to make it as amenable to everyone but we there's no perfect system that appeases everyone if there was somebody would still be dissatisfied so i would just suggest that you know just know that we do need you in the room we do need the conversations to happen the preferences for every delegate to be in the room but we know that that is not possible all the time. It just isn't. And so we just try to make sure that everybody is informed and understands what we need to do. And so I will finish with a clear process helps MSAC to do

[00:36:59] its meaningful work. And now I'm going to turn it over to our LCPS legal staff to present to us about Robert's Rules. And the Robert's Rules are going to talk about how we organize and how we go through our meetings and how we should conduct our meetings according to Robert's Rules.

[00:37:27] Great. Thank you so much, Ms. Kunkel. Good evening, everyone. My name is Cheryl Richardson. I'm Assistant Division Counsel for LCPS, so one of your LCPS attorneys, and it is my pleasure to be here with you this evening. This is the first MSAC meeting I've had the pleasure to attend, so I'm glad to be here.

[00:37:55] I wish I was talking about something more fun, truthfully, but this is very necessary, and so I want to make sure that I provide you with the information that you need and also take the opportunity to answer any questions that you have. Because similar to your bylaws that Ms. Kunkel just spoke about, this is really the other large set of rules that apply to the work of your committee and all the other committees of LCPS.

[00:38:23] So we are going to start with FOIA. So raise your hand if you have heard of FOIA. Okay, good, good, good. So this is basically the right of the people to have access to what is public business.

[00:38:42] So every state has their own version. So our Virginia FOIA is obviously called VFOIA. And our VFOIA was enacted in 1968 by the Virginia General Assembly. And basically, it provides for two things.

[00:38:58] One is free entry to meetings of the public body. And that includes all of our LCPS meetings, school board meetings, committee meetings, and otherwise. And it also provides for, and this is probably what you think of more when you think of FOIA, is ready access to the records held by public bodies.

[00:39:19] It basically gives the public a right to see how business is transacted across public bodies. And sometimes these laws across states are referred to as the sunshine laws. So if you've ever heard that term, that's what we're talking about here. And if you've got questions throughout, please just raise your hand.

[00:39:37] I'm happy to answer whatever questions that you have. So basically, the purpose of FOIA generally is openness. We want to be transparent in the business that we conduct as a public body. So now I think I've said public body about 10 times since I've started talking.

[00:39:52] So what is that? So basically, a public body, for our purposes here, is a body that is created by the school board for the purpose of advising the school board so because of those those two things we as a committee MSAC is a public body and therefore subject to the rules of Virginia FOIA so this is these are the categories of things that I'm going to cover so we've got training meetings records costs and then of

[00:40:29] course penalties so to get started here required trainings so required training all elected public officials are required to attend FOIA training so all of your school board members including dr. Rashid have to do annual FOIA training let's switch here sorry lost my page and then dr. Ellis Williams have

[00:41:05] you trained it's my understanding that you've given the folks and everybody some information about FOIA already or not or not yet okay okay perfect thank you so also so that so that's pretty cut and dry everybody's required to do annual training oh I said all of our elected officials but the other thing is meetings so when we're talking about what records are available and we're

[00:41:41] talking about meetings um you've you've heard the you've heard miss conkle talk about a quorum so in a quorum for this committee is 25 percent of the body of the delegates so in any time there is a meeting of a group of a public body that is um that's a quorum or for purposes of the school board that's three or more members together, that is considered to be a meeting. So if you add that to the discussion of public business, those activities can be subject to FOIA. So when we

[00:42:21] think about how that applies to the school board, so if we've got three school board members driving in a car to a conference and they're discussing public business, that is a meeting under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

[00:42:37] For the purposes of this group, if 25% of your delegates are together and they're conducting public business, that is an official meeting under the Freedom of Information Act. For our other board committees that have three board members as the committee itself, it just takes two people because that is a quorum for those little bitty committees.

[00:43:02] So there's been some questions already this evening about electronic meetings. So I want to address that just a bit here. So public meetings are allowable in Virginia under very certain conditions.

[00:43:22] So to give you an example, for the school board, they can only have a virtual meeting if there's an emergency order from the governor that says that they must, or that that's the only way they can meet. So, COVID would have been a good example of when the school board members could meet virtually.

[00:43:43] But generally, there are virtual meetings, and I'm going to talk about this a little bit more later, so I just want to touch on this now, but there are a whole host of rules that must be complied with in order to have virtual meetings, which is why many committees choose not to do it, because it's a significant list of rules.

[00:44:07] So generally speaking, when it comes to meetings, things that can get you in trouble. So this is where, you know, you want to keep the lawyers out of it. So how to stay out of trouble when it comes to meetings and FOIA. If you get a group email, don't reply to all.

[00:44:25] Because you've created, if you do that, you have created a communication possibly for a quorum, which then makes that, if you're talking about public business, that then makes that a meeting. So also to that point, try to keep all communications one-on-one, whether that's in writing or whether that's a phone call or, you know, some, like, Zoom or some electronic version of call like that.

[00:44:52] Also, after a meeting is over, you know, after you've closed and adjourned, if a couple of you, again, or a quorum would gather and, again, just say, oh, you know what? You know, I really feel strongly about this one thing that we've discussed you and you're engaging in a conversation and you've got a quorum you are now having an official meeting so these are ways that it's easy and and really it can be unintentional but that those things do constitute a meeting and can create legal troubles so and all of

[00:45:32] that primarily is around notice that's really the crux of that problem because public meetings of public bodies require three working days of notice. So if you've got an impromptu meeting in a car on the way to a conference or a gathering after a general body meeting like this, you're having a meeting without official notice to the public. We also need to provide agendas. Those materials must be provided and be available for public inspection. And I'm

[00:46:09] going to talk about the exemptions here in just a bit. So talking a little bit about Robert's Rules, getting to the whole, the title. So basically, if you're talking about things, let me go back a slide now that I'm, if we're talking about things that are very sensitive topics or highly confidential, and so examples would be a personnel record or student scholastic records, those things can require a closed meeting so that's where the discussion

[00:46:47] would not be subject to the Open Records Act and that information would not be available to the public so there are again a lot of rules around what constitutes a closed meeting so first of all you must identify the subject matter and the purpose and then cite the exemption and there are a lot of exemptions under FOIA about why why you can have a closed meeting and we also then provide a review from the Office of Division counsel just to make sure that

[00:47:24] we're not running afoul of the Freedom of Information Act so once the meeting is over and the body has conducted their but their business in the closed meeting there's a motion for a certification which basically says at the end of the meeting we promise that we have stuck to that topic we haven't talked about other things we've limited our discussion to that and then then they come out of closed and back to open the other rules are around voting no voting can happen in a closed session and again they officially have to state the

[00:47:59] reasons before there is a public vote and include those reasons in the notice okay so now I've told you I was going to talk about remote participation so again the school board is very limited on when they can have a full electronic meeting and so school board members are limited to two times per calendar year or just a quarter of the meetings that are held whichever is more however there is an exception if you are if you were ill or if you're a caretaker for someone

[00:48:35] who is ill then you there isn't then you can have an unlimited number of opportunities to participate in electronically in public meetings all right and this is where this is another big area where my office comes in is FOIA requests for records so if you are a citizen of Virginia or you've got kids at LCPS you are able to get records under FOIA so records it there's it is

[00:49:13] a very broad definition as you can see it can be handwritten notes it can be reports it can be emails it can be text messages it can be nearly anything in which members of a public body including you all as MSAC as an MSAC committee and delegates are transacting public business so when we get a FOIA request one other thing I want to mention about a FOIA requests specifically if any of you so

[00:49:48] committee delegate members or the committee leadership if you receive a request for records it doesn't have to be on an official paper it doesn't need to be officially done on our website if anyone can send can send you an email and say hey I'd like to get these meeting minutes from this meeting or or it could be a copy of the bylaws it could really be anything that you all are talking about or discussing that information then should be submitted to our LCPS FOIA office and we will process it under FOIA to

[00:50:26] respond to them sometimes and I run into this a lot people think there's you have to fill out an official form you don't all you need to do is ask for records in whatever way that comes in. So if you ever get the question, please give that information to Ms. Kunkel or your other MSAC leadership or Dr. Ellis Williams who will give it to our FOIA office so that we can make sure it gets processed because as you can see from my slide, we've got five days to respond.

[00:50:59] So don't let that get lost. If that comes into you with an email, don't let that get lost below the fold, as we would say. And that request also needs to be made with reasonable specificity. So oftentimes if we get a FOIA request and we're like, we're not really sure what you're asking for, we will follow up with that person and clarify because we want to, our job is to be transparent.

[00:51:23] We don't want to make people feel like we're doing something on the sly or that we're hiding anything, certainly. We want to make sure we're giving people the information that they're asking for to the extent that it's allowed under the law. So we will work with them to do that.

[00:51:41] We also will provide, because there can be a cost associated with this, so we will also give an estimate of the cost before we provide any records. If that time takes more than five days, we can get an extension for up to seven additional days.

[00:51:59] And then sometimes we get records requests that are humongous, where it's like 10,000 emails or something like that. So at that point, if we can't get it to someone in 12 days, which would be the total amount we're allowed, we'll work with people and say, can we give it to you as we prepare it?

[00:52:18] So we call that a rolling release, because we do want to give people the information that they're asking for. Now, as you can imagine, some of that information is confidential. So we will do redactions to that information and anything, but we can only do redactions, again, under what our Virginia FOIA Act provides for.

[00:52:44] And I want to say off the top of my head, I think there are 55 exemptions. It's a lot. And these are just some examples of what those could, what they might be. So again, things that you would think.

[00:52:59] We don't release a staff person's personnel record or a student's record if it's not your child or attorney work product or security and safety plans related to our security for the district.

[00:53:18] The other thing, just to make aware, when we do withhold records because they're confidential and exempt under FOIA, we do have to provide how many pages that was. So again in the effort of in you know the spirit of transparency if we give you 20 documents and there are actually 30 responsive records but 10 would be confidential we will let you know that there are 30 total and we're withholding 10 and for what reason. Again the whole idea here is openness and transparency. So going back to what

[00:53:55] I said before, if you get a request for records of any sort, please give that to your leadership so we can get it to our FOIA officer as quickly as possible because the time is short. And also as a reminder, as somebody who reviews some of these responsive records, all emails and messages on your personal devices become public records if you're discussing public business so one thing that i would say about that is please don't put anything in an email or a text

[00:54:32] message that you don't want shared with the universe because it is you can't when that we have no choice sometimes but to release those things to the to the public and sometimes the requester is a news outlet right so some of this information gets shared broadly so be very thoughtful about what you put in emails and text messages. And that's exactly the same advice I gave to my own children, right? Even though, you know, they're obviously their records would not be subject to FOIA, but just as a general rule of thumb, right? It's a good lesson. Just be thoughtful

[00:55:09] because those things can live on forever. And again, requests go to our LCPS FOIA office and our FOIA officer is Dan Adams. And that information is all on the LCPS website as well, so if you have any questions about that. So I mentioned before that there can be costs for a FOIA request. So the law provides that we can charge, and we've got a formula of how we calculate this, but basically for the search, for the access to the documents, because sometimes that is a pull from our Department of Digital Innovation

[00:55:47] and supplying the information and then, of course, making photocopies. So we always provide a cost estimate when there is a charge, and there's not always a charge, but when there is, we provide that cost estimate to the requester before we fulfill so they have the opportunity to say, whoa, that's more than I thought.

[00:56:08] So then they have an option to either make a smaller request or they can choose to pay it and we will just fulfill it as it was asked. So because the Virginia FOIA Act is a law, of course there are penalties.

[00:56:24] So if we've got someone who submits a FOIA request and they feel that we did not abide by all the laws and restrictions that FOIA provides, they can file a complaint. And they do.

[00:56:43] So, and if that's upheld in a court, Our responsibility as LCPS, then, is that we are responsible for covering the complainer's attorney's fees. So there is actually a cost.

[00:56:58] So, again, I ask, you know, please be thoughtful when you're using email or text messages so that we can make sure that we are all complying and following the law because that's really what our goal is for sure.

[00:57:17] So again, as I mentioned, Dan Adams is our FOIA officer. This is his contact information. And he's also there if you've got questions about FOIA or if you've got questions about records. Generally, you can certainly reach out to him. Or if you've got concerns or complaints about a FOIA request.

[00:57:36] The other opportunity for answers about FOIA is from our Virginia FOIA Advisory Council. And the executive director there is Alan Gernhardt. And you can see his contact information is there as well. And this information would all be available online.

[00:57:52] Or you can certainly, you know, take a picture of the slide. Or if you need something else, I can provide Ms. Kunkel or Dr. Rasheed with this information as well. So, at the end of the day, our take-home message is please avoid conducting or holding inadvertent meetings.

[00:58:11] Because that is a FOIA violation. Again, because they require three days notice and chatting with a bunch of other delegates or committee leadership members could be an inadvertent meeting when it's really completely innocent on its face.

[00:58:27] Also, emails on public business are likely subject to be disclosed in response to a FOIA request. So please transact business, you know, in your meetings and just one at a time.

[00:58:48] And that is, that's all the information that I have for you. But I will, I'm happy to answer any questions that you have. Do you have any questions for me? Yes, ma'am. Hi, thank you for the presentation. I wanted to know, it's kind of a two-part, when you're submitting a FOIA, a Virginia FOIA request, Is there a recommendation on, like, a template?

[00:59:13] Does FOIA need to be in the subject line? I saw the slide. It talked about being as descriptive as possible. But if someone's submitting one, is there a place where we can go and look at a good template? Absolutely, yes. So on the LCPS website, if you search FOIA, there's a whole page that provides instructions as well as a form to fill out.

[00:59:36] But like I said, if you choose not to do that, if you just send an email, if you send an email to Dr. Rasheed, if you send an email to Ms. Kunkel, that can be considered a FOIA request also. But yes, the more information you provide, the less we have to guess. And like I said, though, if we aren't sure, we would just reach out and make sure that we're understanding what you want.

[00:59:58] But the form is the clearest way to provide that request. Absolutely. Any other questions? Oh, yeah. Thank you so much, Michelle. I just wanted to ask, would it be a reasonable FOIA request, and just to give context to the audience, if we were to say, well, I want all the emails exchanged between one MSAC delegate to another MSAC delegate with the word, I don't know, with the word LCPS in it, and then would that shoot out as a request with that?

[01:00:35] they would have to ask both delegates or actually look into all the emails that were ever exchanged between the two delegates with that word just that word lcps and everything else gets exposed in that email yes is that how it yeah okay yes yes i always tell people please please please be thoughtful about emails please please please because i oh it's so easy it's so easy yeah yeah there are a lot of people that are sorry that they added added a note about somebody or

[01:01:10] you know had you know expressed some negative thought about some situation um that they yeah and we all cringe for that person but if there's not an exemption under FOIA we have to release it so yep go ahead thank you miss Cheryl how about if a delegate reaches out to you as um as a I guess an attorney or as a legal counsel uh is that subject to being FOIA'd so

[01:01:41] um it depends it depends so typically the board works with our office of division council and the members of the lcps cabinet also so what i would recommend would be easiest if you all as delegates reach out to your committee chair or dr rasheed or dr ellis williams with those types of questions and then then i can work with them to get an answer um sometimes those conversations would

[01:02:13] be covered by attorney-client privilege but like I said it kind of it depends okay yes hello again this is my first meeting this may begin because yeah we're glad you're here is this a is this a common like we're just educating us so we know or is this a response like an incident to happen well both yeah so um so this so what we do is we provide this type of information for all of our committees obviously the school board gets a little more information because they are the

[01:02:50] elected officials so they have a different level of responsibility than everyone else but we just want to make you aware that these laws exist and again like your bylaws now you've got awareness right everybody raised their hand when Ms. Conkle said do you know and you did yes and you do so similarly we just want you to be aware that FOIA is also a structure in or under which we all need to work and I want to just help help everybody avoid any pitfalls so that you can all conduct business and we can be transparent about that without running afoul of of our Virginia FOIA

[01:03:25] laws. Absolutely. Yes. This is regarding our email and should it become required for our email to be FOIA. Do you have a recommendation around maybe having a separate email if we're serving as a delegate, I hadn't thought about that before, but probably most of us are using our personal email account. Should we have a separate email just for the work of our MSAC committee?

[01:03:55] Yes, Ms. Kogel. Hi. When I did delegate liaison training, I recommended to some of the delegates that if they just didn't want to, in addition to all the emails you get from your teachers, your student, and all of those things that you get, having an email where concerns from parents and family members can go where it's just there it's not in your personal email is not a bad thing to do if it makes you more comfortable creating one and even recommending above that it's just saying discuss it with your pto and principal just say i would like to perhaps create an msac account for

[01:04:32] our school and just something msac schools um initials just so you know where it is and that again that's where all the msac things can go and it's a great history point of reference for things going forward if that makes you more comfortable i would recommend doing that and then that way your personal email is your personal email because 25 teachers and then 75 emails from msac and things going on can be overwhelming and a lot of information to filter through and keep in mind that if you're not talking about public business if it's your personal like if you're

[01:05:09] having a conversation you know with somebody about oh I recommend this orthodontist they were amazing right that's not subject to FOIA because you're not transacting public business so even if you do use your personal email if you're not talking about public business we we would not release those that type that information even if you make a personal comment about in a mixed in so if you've like a paragraph about business but then you've got something about oh I was sorry to hear about so-and-so we would redact that because again that's not personal

[01:05:46] business or that's not public business it's personal business mm-hmm yes thank you I just want to confirm thank you for this information but can our personal emails be FOIA'd meaning if I sent you an email that can be FOIA'd can if you're discussing public business if two delegates are talking you can FOIA our personal emails if you're discussing public business so what we would do is

[01:06:18] we would ask we I'm not sure how the process would work we would probably ask you first for your emails that are related to or that have a keyword in them because we are we do we're not going to comb through all of your emails so that's sort of to your point earlier privacy yes so like it would there would have to be a search term in there like msac or if there's a topic that you're all talking about there and there's a keyword related to that you know like if it's some policy for instance that you're all discussing and providing input in if there was that policy number there would have to be some

[01:06:58] indicator that it was public business we're not going to comb through all your personal email No, I very much value this information because it gives insight on why sometimes when you email a principal, you get a response that's kind of very cold or doesn't really have a lot of information or very often you get a phone call instead of a response.

[01:07:18] Right, exactly. And that gives a little insight into also knowing when you need to put things on record. So sometimes having, if you're getting a phone call with certain information, having to respond back in email saying this is what you said to ensure for your own protection, for your own, you know, advocacy for your children or for whatever privacy issues that you're concerned is reporting back and saying, per our conversation, you said one, two, three.

[01:07:46] So this is kind of like, I'm getting a better understanding of when advocates always tell you, you know, make sure you put things in writing is also the other side of being FOIA is also for our own protection as well. Yes. If it's in writing, then it is in writing, right? And it lives in the larger world.

[01:08:05] But again, the only, it has to be public business in order to be subject to FOIA. So if you're having a conversation with the school principal about your child, that unless you request that record as a parent, that would not be something we would disclose under FOIA.

[01:08:29] Okay? All right. Thank you all so much. It's been a pleasure to talk with you. I wish I said that it could have been something a little more like fun and exciting, but I appreciate your attention. Thank you.

[01:08:54] Okay. Now we're going to move a little bit.

[01:09:12] I know we've been sitting for a while. so um i want you to take two minutes and if you are if you are a new delegate if you would occupy these two tables just fill in those two tables and then if you're a returning delegate fill in those tables with them if we need to spread out to two more tables do the same thing we're going to have a table discussion but i would like our returning delegates and our new delegates to

[01:09:47] participate in this discussion together so move now move I am NOT technically a delegate if I'm I'm an equity lead for my school so where should I go right in the middle okay perfect go to a table here thank you for coming thank you so yes move you're gonna come back to you can go back to your stuff but for just

[01:10:16] like a couple minutes come this way please

[01:11:41] want to stay here with me and hold me up. Welcome back there. I knew that I'm going to do a special election. And then go home tomorrow.

[01:12:07] Thank you. Okay. So tonight we are going to discuss meeting with your principal. So for our returning delegates, who always had the opportunity to meet with your principal? Okay. So for our new delegates, who has set up a meeting or is working their way toward it? Okay. Who's not met with them at all? Tell the jurors. That's fine. I believe you. Okay, so what I thought when I thought about us having a table discussion is sometimes it's hard to take that very first step. I know it's like I signed up, I'm here, I'm coming to the

[01:12:44] meetings, and now y'all want me to meet with my principal? Yes, because you have to set your intentions. You have to let them know what you're going to do. You have to let them know why you're there, what your purpose is. When I say set your intentions, the first time I met with my principal when my kids were in elementary was we just said, hey, how you doing? And how are you doing? Became endless conversations about how we could work to bring our school together and to strengthen our school's culture. And just that one conversation and setting our intentions together helped us build a great collaborative relationship. And I let my principal know what I had hoped to do,

[01:13:23] what I had hoped to bring to the table as an MSAC delegate. So the questions that we have or for the new delegates, I'd like you to just think about and share, if you feel comfortable, what is one thing you would like to share with your principal? And when I say share, like, what made you become an MSAC delegate? What do you hope to bring to the table as a delegate?

[01:13:43] How do you hope to help your school? What is that one thing you can share? It doesn't have to be shoot for the moon, over the top. It can be the simplest thing. And then I would like you to discuss with your table, again, if you feel comfortable, what is one intention you can set for the rest of the year? What is one thing you can work to do? Maybe it's to make sure that MSAC is always on the PTO agenda and you're always sharing at every PTO meeting. Maybe it's connecting with other people, supporting an event, whatever it is, set one intention and share that with your table. For my returning delegates, to help them get an idea of what you're going to do, I would

[01:14:23] love for you all to share what your conversation was like. How did it go? What worked? What didn't? And then if you have insights as everyone's sharing, please share your insights because if you've been here for a while, you know way more than you think you do. You know and have experiences that can help them see that, oh, I can do this too. Or maybe that's a way to approach the conversation or ask, like, is this the best way to have it?

[01:14:49] So for, we'll say till 7.30. Yes, is that what time it is? Yes, it's 7.15. Till 7.30, we're going to have table discussions. So discuss. Thank you.

[01:30:29] Okay.

[01:30:39] Let's take a couple of minutes and kind of share what we've heard in discussions. See, look, I get y'all talking. Okay, so I get y'all talking and y'all don't want to stop talking.

[01:31:03] maybe okay so if we would we're gonna take it table by table and i'm gonna start on this side of the room and if you'd just like to share if you feel like to share we just share just like just a couple minutes anybody okay um okay wait wait wait wait time out okay i'm gonna fix it

[01:31:39] right quick so one two three including miss trufelia you're not allowed to talk miss trufelia was our our vice chair last year so she can't talk it so somebody else please uh hello again it's me the new person in the room yeah uh so i'm gonna fall under the new delegate role right i uh was interested in becoming a delegate i haven't gone through the forum and everything i'm a uh elected official from the pta of cedar lane it's an ashburn and so if we go through these

[01:32:16] questions here what is one thing i'd like to share with my principal uh or the intention to kind of go hand-in-hand for me because I'm at that school all the time they know they know me I got two fourth graders I don't mess around right so I got a meeting tomorrow um but I talked to the principal frequently she actually was gonna come I don't think she's here but either way she was good she was gonna show up I talked I got if I got concerned that something to say I actually was upset I didn't get a reply on the email but after going through the

[01:32:50] presentation with all the legal I understand why yeah because so what my concern was though was about racial slurs and how it was handled the school and I was like I feel like I should myself should have done more research about the policies right because this is all a business right anyway um so that being said I had a concern I addressed my concern via email I didn't hear anything back and I since I waited I sent a couple follow-ups still nothing back again it all makes since now. But when I saw the assistant principal, because we had a transition with principals at that school, I asked him about it. You know, I sent this email, da-da-da. We had

[01:33:28] a great dialogue. He actually told me that he had a great dialogue. He didn't know how to relate, though, so that's the problem. It's not the kids, right? This is learned behavior at home. Anyway, so I share everything I can with the principal. I think if you can't, then that's an issue, right? Like, I'm not sure what happens at other schools, but if I can't talk to you, then why is that? So an intention that I like to set for the year is to again kind of work with them i offer to come talk at the school right because i think parents need to be educated maybe they don't understand what they're saying it's picked up

[01:34:01] somewhere kids don't just be born and hate someone else for the way they look and um i want to make the school a safer space for my boys but it's it's a worldwide problem actually so um i just think communication would be would be an intention we all can set for the year i don't know is there

[01:34:23] anything else we should talk about no that's good you did good in case everybody doesn't know I just learned this but there is a database that we all have access to it or we can get it access to it

[01:34:54] to find out oh yes click it's click yes your administrators have access to that right having these conversations with your admin right like what is you know let's go through the policy what is our every school building is a little different obviously they everyone follows the policy but everyone is a little different with the way that they go about it or things like that or the way

[01:35:32] they communicate so I think the equity lead is a great person to reach out to that's kind of that absolutely they're not necessarily an administrator so they can be your advocate um and also that liaison who's in the building every day that can speak to the administrators on a regular basis thank you and now to this side so um just to piggyback off of what you said um we learned in our chat here from the returning members that every time there is an incident with a racial

[01:36:07] slur, LCPS policy is the entire school should get an email about that, the fact that it happened every single time it happens. That is the policy. Oh, just one second. I'm sorry. Dr. Liz Williams. It's not to all families that are in this room. If it's in a cafeteria and it happens, if it's in a hallway, but if it is a school-wide endeavor and you cannot determine who was or was not impacted

[01:36:46] or did or did not hear, it will then be sent out as a school-wide message. Much like if there is an incident where the ambulance is in the front and someone may have had to be transported, that would go to the whole school because the assumption is somebody saw the light, somebody saw it pulling up, but if it is in a space and only a classroom was impacted, for example, we've had scenarios in which an incident may have transpired in a classroom where adult to student to student to student, and that class is notified.

[01:37:16] That class is notified, not that entire grade, because that classroom's families need to be told. It is not something that is broadcasted to the whole school, so that is the caveat in that policy. And that's not, it doesn't vary from school to school?

[01:37:32] Because the fidelity of reporting in general is something that we continue to massage. And I'll be honest with you, not all when I heard the commentary around racial slurs and hate speech wanted to clarify something. Our office does not manage racial slurs and hate speech.

[01:37:51] We mitigate and help support schools to have cultures in which that's not happening. So our Office of Division of School Leadership, they track, they monitor. We're informed and we're brought in when we have to go in to restore harm that has been caused, work with a grade level or a class or group of students in a forum such as this or a community meeting in which we are helping them to be upstanders and not bystanders. So we have a cadre of activities, professional learnings to garner this from our students to grow it up. Because the unfortunate part is no matter how upsetting it is to a parent, that ability to go into the school

[01:38:29] to affect change is really not the role. It is really the pressure from the exterior to make sure that what needs to happen to mitigate those circumstances or situation happens. But it could be, so I just want to make sure, because it is under the principal's purview, either them or their designee, on how they want to denounce the incident.

[01:38:54] So in some schools, you may see that it might have happened, a single incident in one classroom, and the principal or their designee decided to send out a communication to the entire school community. So they can do that. They don't have to, because they have to really realize the scope and the nature of the incident, and sometimes it's just a grade level. Sometimes it's a classroom. Sometimes it's two or three classrooms. Sometimes it's a school bus. The student's on the school bus.

[01:39:20] So it's really depending on the nature of the incident and what the school principal decides to do in the step in the standard operating procedure on how to address racial slurs and hate speech. It doesn't have to be the entire school. Sometimes there's two students, no one else heard it, it's just between those two students.

[01:39:41] So the denouncing process goes between the families of those two students and those students only.

[01:40:00] Just make a quick comment about that because we were talking about that where kind of my role as an MSAC delegate was going back and kind of helping families that were coming to me saying we're having these racial incidents and the principal's not doing anything about it and that there are repeated incidents that are happening in school.

[01:40:22] And so going back to the PTA and talking to the PTA is, do we have a problem in the school that we're not aware of as a community? And so it was, this is where the kind of our role as MSAC delegates was to also empower the PTA to take on a role of community advocates as well.

[01:40:39] To say, we're not just here to fundraise for cookies and, you know, the beautiful activities that happen, but also we are the effective community. So when you see that something's happening repeatedly at your school, the PTA requested from the principal that we wish to be informed as a whole community.

[01:40:57] And that's where it became the prerogative of the principal to say, okay, the community has requested that the whole school be informed. And once we did, of course, that kind of had unintended consequences because now it's recorded when you go to the school profiles that this particular school has a very high number of incidents compared to a lot of the other elementary schools.

[01:41:21] But that was something we needed to go through the hard part of addressing that as a community so that we are aware of what our children are saying and experiencing at school. and so from there the at least the new principle luckily is taking a more active role that when an incident happens it's assembly it's and and you know this was and i gotta say i've been an msac delegate for five years when in order to navigate this kind of i reached out to the msac chair i reached out to the dia department to say like where what is our role as not just as msac delegate

[01:41:56] but as community members and what are the different avenues of having that conversation again we're not going in with the forks, you know, we're going in as let's have a conversation because our school needs to do something about it. And the, the, the regular operating procedures are not working for those kids. You need to bring them in. We need to address them as families.

[01:42:17] We need to talk to what, to the, to the parents, like talk to your kids at home, not just at school. And that's where that became kind of a, a, a community rally rather than just a, and so I felt like that was a role as an MSAC delegate to also help the parents as well, not just the, not just the affected family themselves. Thank you all for sharing your, your thoughts and feedback and actually just helping each other. Because again, sometimes it helps to hear from someone who is in your shoes and has been in your shoes and what they can do. And I want you to

[01:42:57] remember that it's not a one size fits all. I'm not going to hand you a five sheet piece of paper and say how to MSAC without really trying. Your school is your school, and your culture is different. What works at my school may not work at Rod's school, may not work at Banan's school, may not work at my daughter's school.

[01:43:18] You have to figure out what's going on and get to know the people in your school. But I want you to know that every time you have those conversations, it matters, and you can make changes, and you can have an impact. You may not think you're having that impact like that, but give it time. It's not going to be instant. Change does not happen overnight. We all know that. It is a constant work, and you keep working at it and working at it. So, homework part two. In addition to reading policy 2310, I'm going to give you a wee little bit of a challenge.

[01:43:51] If you have not met with your principal, reach out and schedule a meeting. Try to get a meeting. They are very busy. We know they're busy. We know we're all busy, but try to get a meeting with your principal and your PTO and sit down and have that first conversation. If you are a returning delegate and you hadn't really connected with your principal this year, reconnect. Have those discussions. Set your intentions. There's still plenty of time in the school year for us to do things and to help and to make an impact. So now, because I got you out of your tables, I'm just going to keep you there and then we'll go for the night. So we have a special announcement.

[01:44:29] We are going to be having an MSAC special election. Because Tammy has stepped down, I am now acting in the role of chair through February's meeting. Here are the details in the election timeline. The nominations will open tonight once the meeting ends.

[01:44:46] This will be only for the role of MSAC chair. So if you are wanting to submit an application, it will be only for the role of MSAC chair. The elections will be held at our next general body meeting on February 18th. All applications, bios, and statements must be submitted no later than February 9th at 9 p.m.

[01:45:09] That's a hard cutoff. We will not accept applications late after that. Upon election, the incoming chair will lead MSAC until the end of this current school year, so until the end of the 2025-2026 school year. When we come back in March, we will open the elections again and have nominations open for the entire MSAC executive board.

[01:45:33] So we're going to have an election to get us through this year and then we're going to open up as we normally would for the incoming school year and we will seat a new board. We will hold those elections for all of those positions. So if you're wanting to apply for the other ones, hold that application, hold on until March when we open it up and then apply.

[01:45:55] If you would like a copy of the application, there's a QR code, you may scan it. If not, you don't want to scan it, please reach out to MSAC Outreach to request an application.

[01:46:10] And when you submit your applications, it's all on the forms and everything, you will submit your application and nomination form to MSAC Outreach. So I would like to say thank you.

[01:46:28] I know it was a long night. I know we had a lot of information coming. We had a lot of changes. But as always, I would just like to thank you for your collaboration, your partnership, for showing up. It really does matter that you show up. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.

[01:46:44] We're here to help. We want you to get home safely, drive safe. Have a great rest of the week because, yes, it is. Yes, question. Are we still doing alternate delegates for schools? Yes, or you can just be a co-delegate.

[01:47:01] You can have two delegates. Okay, because that's something that I wanted to share with the new brother. Okay, yeah, because I know it's hard because it's hard enough to find one delegate, But that is, if you find somebody at your school who's willing to kind of coordinate with you so that you're, you know, whenever you can't be here, that's something that helps.

[01:47:25] In the interest of FOIAs, as we spoke about it earlier today, I just wanted to mention that there was a FOIA of some records for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office from August 2025 about the 287G, which is the Memorandum of Understanding between ICE and the Sheriff's Department.

[01:47:48] And that FOIA detailed the officers that were in training, so now fully trained. And one of those officers was named as a school resource officer. So I thought that that was important to flag for MSAC, in addition to a behavioral health officer was also on this sheet.

[01:48:06] So I can share that if you'd like. It's FOIA. essentially okay and then I just have one last small housekeeping I don't know if anybody lost an earring it was found in the lobby if it is yours I'm going to set it here but so with that thank you again for coming please get home safely and our MSAC meeting is adjourned thank you

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Coraggio Consulting · aguyonx.com