Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, 4th Tuesday School Board Meeting, Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 6h 50m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1187409570?rel=0
BoardDocs (School Board): https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/loudoun/Board.nsf/Public

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

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[00:02:16] Good afternoon. I call to order this April 28th, 2026 Loudoun County School Board meeting. First up tonight, we will start with our disclosures. I will start. 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. These benefits, however, affect thousands of employees

[00:02:54] well in excess of the statutory three employees whose interest 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. Mrs. Griffiths. Thank you, Madam Chair. As a member of the Loudoun County School Board, I make the following disclosure to the school board and the general public in connection with the item on tonight's agenda regarding the budget and our health insurance and related benefits and any other discussion that may include or affect benefits for LCPS employees.

[00:03:28] 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. I can and will participate fairly objectively and in the public's interest. This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the clerk of the school board for five years. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. LaBelle.

[00:03:57] 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. Specifically, as a school board member, 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

[00:04:32] through LCPS. These benefits, however, affect thousands of employees well in excess of the statutory 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. This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the clerk of the school board for five years.

[00:04:56] Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Riccardi. 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 specifically as a school board member I'm 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 interest may also be affected of which I am included. I can and will participate fairly objectively and in the

[00:05:34] public interest. This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the clerk for the school board for five years. Thank you. 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. Specifically as a school board member I'm eligible to receive health insurance and related benefits as an LCPS employee.

[00:06:00] These benefits however affect thousands of employees well in the excess of the statutory three employees whose interest 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. We will now move on to the consent agenda. Board members are there any changes to be made to the consent agenda? Mrs. Griffiths? Thank you Madam Chair. I just want to make a comment about about the consent agenda.

[00:06:30] There are five proclamations tonight, and it takes a lot of time to read them through. I don't think it's good governance to read them through completely. I ask that if they are on consent, we just vote and not take the time to read them all. We do that for all other consent items.

[00:06:48] It takes a lot of time. It'll take us a while to read them all. Thank you. - Thank you. Back to my original question. Are there any changes to be made to the consent agenda? miss recording thank you madam chair I would like to move item 3.06 the new policy 4190 on other post employee benefits funding to be removed from the consent agenda as a separate action item thank you a school board member can change the consent agenda by request and therefore has asked that item will move to action at 13.01 school board members mrs. Griffiths has made a

[00:07:25] request that we not read the proclamations in full. Could we take a temperature check on the will of the board? Thumbs up if you would like to not read the proclamations. Okay. So it's 4-4.

[00:07:52] It doesn't, well, just there is a complexity under Virginia law. I'm going to ask our parliamentarian. This is a temperature check. Is it fair to say it doesn't pass? Thank you, Chair Chandler. Yes, that is fair to say.

[00:08:09] thank you for that clarification and with that before we vote on the consent agenda we will read the proclamations that are on the agenda for this evening we will start with human resources and talent development teacher appreciation week recognition and education education appreciation month and that item tonight will be read waiting by mr pepper thank you madam chair this is the

[00:08:48] the Proclamation for Teacher Appreciation Week and Educator Appreciation Month, which is May 2026. Whereas since 1984, the National PTA and the National Education Association have designated the first full week in May as a special time to honor and celebrate teachers for the important role they play in the growth and development of our children.

[00:09:06] And whereas Loudoun County Public Schools, with its 6,850 dedicated teachers, stands as a beacon of educational excellence, nurturing the minds of over 80,000 students across 100 plus schools and programs, and whereas the tradition of public school education across the United States and Virginia resonates deeply within the halls of LCPS, where teachers are the bedrock of our educational system, and whereas LCPS teachers impact students beyond the classroom, they instill values, ignite curiosity and foster resilience, shape academic success, empathy, and embracing and celebrating the rich tapestry of cultural identities, backgrounds, and experiences found in our community, and whereas Teacher Appreciation

[00:09:45] Week is a heartfelt celebration of the tireless educators who shape students and who are the future of our community, and whereas Educator Appreciation Month celebrate all those who support our students as they reach academic and personal achievements that ensure their bright futures, and whereas Loudoun County Public Schools joyfully join school systems across the United States in celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week and Educator Appreciation Month, now therefore be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board formally recognizes May 4 through May 8, 2026, as Teacher Appreciation Week, and be it further resolved, that the

[00:10:20] Loudoun County School Board will recognize the entire month of May as Educator Appreciation Month. Thank you. Our next proclamation is Asian American Pacific Islander Month, and Dr. Rasheed will be reading that proclamation. Thank you, Chair Chandler. It is an honor to read this proclamation.

[00:10:37] Whereas Asian American and Pacific Islander American Heritage, originally commemorated by Congress in 1977, celebrates the rich histories, diverse cultures, and significant contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in the United States, and whereas Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have made profound and positive impacts in all aspects of society, including education, government, business, science, the arts, and community leadership, thereby strengthening the fabric of our commonwealth and our nation,

[00:11:10] And whereas the contributions of AAPI individuals and communities have been instrumental in shaping the history and development of the United States and their perseverance in the face of adversity serves as an inspiration to all. And whereas recognizing and celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month in Loudoun County Public Schools supports the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and helps to educate students about the importance of understanding and appreciating different cultures and perspectives.

[00:11:45] And whereas LCPS strives to foster an inclusive environment and acknowledge and celebrates the rich cultural heritage of our diverse student population, ensuring that all students feel valued, seen, and heard.

[00:12:00] Whereas 26.2% of enrolled LCPS students are Asian American and Pacific Islander Americans, and 7.35% of the LCPS workforce has self-identified as Asian American and Pacific Islander American, and whereas Loudoun County Public Schools reaffirms a commitment to providing educational opportunities that reflect the histories and contributions of all racial and ethnic groups, promoting unity and combating discrimination. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Loudoun

[00:12:35] County School Board proclaims May 2026 as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in Loudoun County Public Schools encourages students, educators, and the community to learn more about the achievements and legacy of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through classroom activities, events, and discussions that foster awareness and respect. Thank you. Our next proclamation will be Jewish American Heritage Month, and this proclamation will be read by Ms. Chernoff. Thank you, Madam Chair. Whereas Jewish American Heritage Month originated in 1980

[00:13:12] as Jewish Heritage Week, April 21st through 28th, 1980, and was designated as Jewish American Heritage Month on April 20th, 2006, and whereas the history of Jewish Americans is deeply interwoven with the story of our country, including their perseverance through challenges, contributions to democracy, and commitment to justice and equality. And whereas Jewish Americans have played essential roles in the advancement of education, science, civil rights, the arts, business, government, and numerous other fields strengthening the fabric of our Commonwealth and our nation. And whereas education is a vital tool in fostering appreciation of diverse cultures,

[00:13:49] traditions, and history, and is essential to understanding that anti-Semitism and hate in any form are unacceptable in our schools which should remain places of respect and inclusion and whereas creating learning environments free from prejudice through education dialogue and community engagement demonstrates Loudoun County Public Schools commitment to diversity equity inclusion and accessibility for all students and staff and whereas as a school community it is important that we speak up to demonstrate our belief that hatred has no place in our school community or society and whereas Loudoun County Public Schools continues to collaborate and partner with various community members

[00:14:27] and organizations to further its effort to nurture strong relationships and unity in a culturally sensitive, responsive, and meaningful way. And whereas Loudoun County Public Schools reaffirms its commitment to fostering a learning environment where all students feel safe, valued, and empowered to learn and appreciate diverse cultures and histories. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board recognizes May 1st through May 31st, 2026 as jewish american heritage month in louden county public schools but it is further resolved that louden county public school board encourages staff and community members to observe recognize

[00:15:03] and celebrate the culture heritage and contributions of jewish americans to our country the commonwealth of virginia our beautifully diverse county and our schools during jewish american heritage month and throughout the year thank you our next proclamation is ehlers-stanlos syndromes and hypermobility Spectrum Disorders Awareness Month and this will be read by Ms. LaBelle. Thank you madam chair. Whereas Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome or EDS is a group of connective tissue disorders that can significantly impact the lives of those infected leading to challenges in daily living mobility and overall health and whereas

[00:15:41] hypermobility spectrum disorders or HSD is a group of connective tissue conditions characterized by joint hypermobility joints that move beyond the normal range that cause physical symptoms like pain injury pain or injury and whereas EDS shares similarities with hypermobility spectrum disorders which are connective tissue disorders that can cause symptomatic joint hypermobility and joint instability and which cannot be explained by other conditions they are referred to as spectrum disorders because people

[00:16:16] experience a wide range of types and severity of symptoms. And whereas awareness and education are crucial in fostering understanding, support, and proper care for individuals with EDS and HSD, and whereas the most common type of EDS, hypermobile EDS, is believed to affect at least one in 31,000 to 5,000 people, although the true prevalence is not known and may be greater, and whereas certain types of EDS may be identified through genetic testing, however, there is

[00:16:53] currently no such test for hypermobile EDS. And whereas there is currently no known cure for EDS, and greater medical research is necessary to offer aid and relief to those coping with this disorder, and whereas by bringing greater awareness and understanding to EDS, an untold number of individuals and families may hope to lead healthier and more fulfilling life.

[00:17:21] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board formally recognizes May 26th as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobility Spectrum Awareness Month. Thank you.

[00:17:37] Thank you. The next proclamation is National Mental Health Awareness Month, and I'll be reading that one. National Mental Health Awareness Month, May 2026, whereas mental health is essential to everyone's overall health and well-being, and whereas mental health challenges affect one in five children during their school years, yet many children with mental health challenges do not receive appropriate treatment, and whereas children's mental health is directly linked to their learning and development, and the school and classroom environment provide an optimal context to promote positive mental health and behavioral health and build skills that influence mental health outcomes,

[00:18:15] and whereas mental health awareness and prevention education serve to counter stigma, misunderstanding, fear, and barriers to accessing services and treatment, and whereas strong partnerships with community agencies, families, private providers help to overcome these public health challenges and promote greater support for those affected, and, whereas, the Office of Student Mental Health Services was formed to advance mental health supports for students so that they are healthy, ready to learn, and may positively contribute to their school and community, and, whereas, school counselors and social workers, psychologists, and student assistant specialists

[00:18:51] are especially trained to provide a continuum of mental health and behavioral health services in schools that support and strengthen learning and development. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board formally recognizes May 2026 as National Mental Health Awareness Month.

[00:19:10] In witness whereof, the Loudoun County School Board issues this proclamation to honor and recognize the National Mental Health Awareness Month. And finally, our last proclamation is National School Nurses and Student Health Services Appreciation Day. That will be read by Mr. Svensson.

[00:19:26] Thank you, Madam Chair. Whereas students are the future and by investing in them today, we are ensuring our world for tomorrow, and whereas families deserve to feel confident that their children will be cared for when they are at school, and whereas all students have a right to have their physical and mental health needs safely met while in the school setting, whereas students today face more complex and life-threatening health problems requiring care in school, and whereas school nurses have served a critical role in improving public health and ensuring students' academic success for more than 120 years, and whereas school nurses address the home and community factors that impact students' health

[00:20:03] and whereas school nurses are professional nurses who advance the well-being, academic success, and lifelong achievements of all students by serving on the front lines and providing a critical safety net for our nation's most fragile children and whereas school nurses act as a liaison to the school community, families, and health care providers on behalf of children's health by promoting wellness and improving health outcomes for our nation's children and whereas school nurses support the health and educational success of children and youth by providing access to care when children's cognitive development is at its peak and whereas health clinic specialists and school nurse assistants support the health and educational success of students

[00:20:41] by following action plans, participating in the care of students with chronic conditions and rendering first aid and emergency care and whereas school nurses are members of school-based teams providing care coordination to address the school population and whereas school nurses understand the link between health and learning and are positioned to make a positive difference for children every day, and now therefore be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board formally recognizes May 6, 2026 as National School Nurses and Student Health Services Appreciation Day.

[00:21:11] Thank you. I'll now entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. So moved. Thank you, Ms. Chernoff. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Pepper. With that, we will move forward with an electronic vote. Board members, please record your vote.

[00:21:35] Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes with six school board members voting yes, including Mr. Svensson, Ms. Chernoff, myself, Mr. Pepper, Dr. Rasheed, and Ms. LaBelle. One board member voting no, Ms. Riccardi, and one board member abstaining, Mrs. Griffiths, and Vice Chair Donahue absent for the vote.

[00:21:59] Thank you. And with that, we will move on to our work session. We'll start off tonight with Item 4.01, the Department of Business and Financial Services Fiscal Year 26, Third Quarter Financial Review, which will be presented by Ms. Willoughby, our Chief Financial Officer.

[00:22:20] Good evening. I have before you today the full financial report for the Third Quarter Financial Review. The report would normally be available in BoardDocs, but I know we are having some challenges with that.

[00:22:38] Tonight, though, I will present the highlights, which include actual financial reporting from July 1 through March 31st, and projections for the remaining months through June 30th. Since it is the third quarter financial review, this presentation will be focused on changes from the second quarter review.

[00:23:03] Fortunately, I'm not, there it goes. All right. So, starting with the school operating fund, the total revenues for the school operating fund are projected at $2 billion, which is $4 million below budget.

[00:23:23] and does show improvement from the second quarter, where at that time we were projecting a $5.2 million shortfall. State revenues continue to be the main driver with enrollment from the beginning of this school year, continuing to be under budget. A modest increase in sales tax projections improved the state revenue line.

[00:23:42] Federal revenue has been adjusted to correctly code Medicaid reimbursements to the federal line versus the other revenue line, as had been displayed on previous reports. No real changes, though, in these funding streams, just the technical correction to the financial report.

[00:23:58] Our other revenue streams also have a modest increase related to facility rentals and additional AP test fees. Moving on to expenses, on this side, we are projecting a total surplus of about $30 million, which continues to be primarily driven by savings and personnel costs.

[00:24:22] As you know, personnel costs account for about 90% of our budget, so this is where we typically see our budget surplus from lapse and turnover. Licensed fill rates remain the same as the second quarter at 99.4%. As shared during the second quarter financial review, our margins in this area are already tight.

[00:24:42] Last quarter, we were looking at 1.7% of the personnel budget falling out. In this quarter, that has decreased to 1.5%. As a reminder, general budget practices anticipate personnel surpluses at around 2% or higher. I would like to highlight also how winter weather-related closures and delays can impact our financial projections.

[00:25:04] Earlier this year, we experienced seven weather-related closures. These closures incurred costs of about $1 million due to overtime and extra hours worked by personnel who have essential operation responsibilities such as facilities, transportation, and safety and security.

[00:25:21] However, these costs were more than offset by $1.6 million in savings from not having subs and other part-time school support positions working on those days. Our operating and maintenance accounts are generating $3.1 million in savings. This is a minor decrease from the $5.2 million that we were projecting at the second quarter. This narrowing of budgetary savings is expected as we near year-end. We are also impacted from rising fuel costs and increases in some of our materials and supplies. Contractual services is currently expected to exceed its budget related

[00:25:59] to legal services, and we will bring a request to the school board for an end-of-the-year budget transfer, along with some other year-end financial housekeeping items. After accounting for revenues and expenses, we are forecasting a $14.3 million ending fund balance, which is a decrease from the $17.5 million that we were projecting at the second quarter.

[00:26:26] This figure is after the anticipated $12 million carryover that is included in the FY27 budget as a funding source while 14.3 million is a large amount it is only seven-tenths of one percent of our entire budget this is a very small margin to manage while ensuring that we do not go over our allocated funds before we began transferring year-end funds to the health self-insurance funds it was our practice to return no more than one percent of the budget to the county however it is our intent to again transfer the remaining fund balance to the health self-insurance fund as

[00:27:02] allowed in the county's appropriation resolution. Moving to the school nutrition fund. This fund also feels the impact of those weather related closures and also from closures from last week's election and year-end school adjustments. When closures occur, the operation does not generate any revenue despite continuing to incur fixed costs. This is the majority of the difference from the second quarter to the third quarter projection.

[00:27:37] Personnel costs are projected nearly the same as the second quarter with $1.6 million projected as savings. In operations and maintenance, we see the impact of the unanticipated school closures as food and supply costs were not incurred during those days.

[00:27:53] Combined, we project $5.1 million in expenditure savings. The net operating loss, or the difference between revenues and expenses, is now projected at $6.6 million, which is unfortunately higher than the $5.1 million projected at the second quarter.

[00:28:11] To cover this shortfall, we will again draw from the fund balance, and we will continue using the fund balance to subsidize operations while other measures are implemented to increase revenues and reduce costs. As previously shared, balancing revenues and expenses will remain a challenge, particularly as we continue to provide annual pay increases.

[00:28:31] These added expenses require new, sustainable matching revenue. Our priority remains to minimize the level of the future school nutrition subsidy needed while working toward long-term financial stability.

[00:28:46] Next, we'll look at three of our self-insurance funds, the workers' comp, which pays for claims expense related to work-related injuries, and the short-term disability and Virginia local disability program funds, which accounts for short-term disability claims. They are set up into two separate funds because depending on which VRS retirement plan an employee is in drives their disability programs.

[00:29:10] Being self-insured for these three funds means we cover all expenses with the transfer directly from our school operating fund. Dollar for dollar plus additional funding to maintain our minimum two-month claims reserve as outlined in our policy. Projections here remain relatively the same from the second quarter.

[00:29:28] With the workers' comp fund expenses and the VLDP fund expenses projected to exceed their budget, we will bring a supplemental action to the school board to increase the budget spending authority for these two funds as we get closer to year-end. Our fourth self-insurance fund, which is our large health self-insurance fund, revenues here see an improvement primarily from the $12.8 million that LCPS requested from the county FY25 year-end funds. In addition to

[00:29:58] that, pharmacy rebates continue to increase as well. On the expense side, we continue to see improvement. You may recall hearing me describe that we were seeing our claims leveling off during the first and second quarter financial reviews and I'm happy to report that this continues to be the case. Our second quarter projected claims exceed a budget by $27.6 million and that has been reduced to $24.5 million in this third quarter. Medical claims are leveling off, however pharmacy is an area we continue to watch. Also as a reminder, the contractual services line in the

[00:30:36] report includes the cost of the new Medicare Advantage plan that began in January. Hopefully these trends of additional premium revenue and the leveling off of claims expense continues and we can return to the fund covering its operations without additional funding support from the school operating fund I'm off a slide I'll just still talk about health health self-insurance there it

[00:31:13] goes the second quarter forecasted negative fund balance of 22 million and that has improved to now only be a negative 2.4 million as mentioned as part of the school operating fund projection we do intend to transfer surplus funds to this fund at year-end.

[00:31:30] I will also share at this time that the county supported a change in their appropriation resolution language that previously capped transfers to 10% of claims, and now that language has changed to reflect a cap equivalent to the transfer of no more than two months of claims, which would be 17%.

[00:31:52] And this is also more in line with best practice, and also, more importantly, our fund balance policy. So that was a very helpful change on the county side. Next, we'll move to our capital programs. There are two funds here, and both programs are expected to fully spend their budgeted allocations.

[00:32:14] The first fund is the Capital Asset Preservation Program Fund that holds funding from the county to address major maintenance and system replacement projects. Savings in certain line items, like roofing, will be reallocated to address overages in line items like the HVAC.

[00:32:30] Overall, $3.4 million is currently projected to be surplus at this time, but again, will be utilized to address any other unanticipated overruns. For the CIP fund, you will notice more specific project information has been provided in the Narrative Financial Report.

[00:32:51] There are several school projects at different phases of planning, design, and construction. Projects are forecasted to be within current budgets with the exception of the VIEW Transition Academy. As the program and project have evolved, extensive renovations to the existing building and a building addition are required that will exceed the total CIP funding.

[00:33:09] As a result, additional funding will be requested once the design has progressed further and a detailed cost estimate can be determined with funding coming from other project budget surpluses, tapping into the CIP contingency that is held by the county, or perhaps a bit of both.

[00:33:27] We also continue to work to provide more detail on our capital projects and spending, recognizing the significant dollars that run through these programs. And that concludes my update, and I'd be happy to take any questions. Thank you, Ms. Willoughby.

[00:33:43] Board members, I'll open the floor to questions. Ms. Riccardi? Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you so much, Ms. Willoughby. So I guess as we're kind of getting into the end of the year, and I'm hearing that there's going to be some supplementals requested, Do you have kind of a ballpark now what you think you're going to be asking for?

[00:34:06] And can you kind of clarify for me from which funds we're going to be looking at those? And I don't need exact numbers, but just ballpark. So the actual financial reports, anywhere where the funds projected expenditures are exceeding the revised budget is an area where we will need to bring forward a budget supplemental.

[00:34:33] So, for example, the workers' comp fund, the projected expenditures is projected to exceed the budget by $107,000 at this point in time.

[00:34:51] So, what the budget and financial analytics team will do, they'll use that as a starting number, but also want to perhaps give ourselves a little bit of a buffer, depending on the timing of when we bring that budget supplemental forward. and then the identified funding source would be an additional transfer from the school operating fund to provide that additional budget authority do you have do you have an idea I mean as you guys are getting to your projections have you guys have an idea about what we're looking at and then and I guess in my question my next question that would be and how does that compare to what was

[00:35:26] asked for last year I think it we were seeing similar similar situations with same funds this time last year so the workers comp fund I believe I believe is our three I mean our self insurance funds where we were running into that situation where the budget was not sufficient to cover the actual claims activity coming through so we're looking at a little more than a hundred thousand for the workers comp fund to increase the budget for the VLDP fund currently that is projected to overrun the budget by six hundred and forty five thousand

[00:36:00] so maybe about 700,000 there and I think that might be the only one maybe there might be a school nutrition in that and no school nutrition is within budget the other one is our health self-insurance fund is projected to overrun the budget by 27.5 so we're looking at 29 ish 28 yeah 28 no more than 29 I doubt it'd be

[00:36:34] that much more unless I'll give the caveat while things are you know relatively stable and with projections but we still have you know two more months to process you know claims activity because again these are all the common thread here is that these are all claims driven and so you know all it takes perhaps is perhaps a significant workers comp claim to you know that wasn't on the radar you know similar with on the health projection side although I do feel more confident that there's more stability there so I do want to just put that

[00:37:11] caveat that there could be some additional movement and it could even be movement in the other direction you know maybe it may not be as significant but I think as the ballpark a 28 to 29 million dollar budget supplemental which again is just increasing the budget authority because we have to have the authority to spend the dollars that we have available, you know, to us. Okay. All right. Thank you so much.

[00:37:36] Any other questions? Ms. Chernoff? Thank you. And thank you, Ms. Willoughby. I apologize for not getting this to you in advance, but I just had a clarifying question about the fill rate on slide three. So when we have, just for my own understanding, when we have a higher fill rate, so the 99.4, sometimes that can impact the balance that we were projecting. And so it's a good thing that we're filling our slots, but it can adversely impact the budget because those rollover or the

[00:38:09] turnover funds are not available. Is that fair assessment? Absolutely. Yes. It absolutely is a good thing. And I wouldn't even say it necessarily like negatively impact. It just makes our job that much more challenging and projecting and making sure that we don't overrun the budget because with that area being the largest driver of our fund balance thank you I appreciate that I know we've worked really hard to get that fill rate up and stabilize so that's a good thing but I was just wondering if that was why that those numbers were showing that thank you mrs. Griffiths thank you madam chair if

[00:38:48] you can answer for me miss Willoughby what does the FY 27 trajectory trajectory look like for the health SI fund if we use three significant one-time items to land at negative 2.4 million in FY 26 what's the structural plan for FY 27 and beyond if you can answer that for me so you may recall as part of the budget that that the school board adopted in January the FY 27 budget included information related to the health fund and so we outlined the forecast of what that looked

[00:39:27] like that's part of the plan to address the negative imbalance that we were projecting at that time and that we continue to see happen now was the 20 I think it's a 20 percent health premium increase we also recently you know this year made a change with our pharmacy benefit manager and then I'm sure that there are a number of other items but there this fund this operation of managing the health plan is something that is in constant movement of looking at the plans,

[00:39:59] monitoring the claims, working with our consultants, looking for opportunities to help stabilize the fund financially. I can also share when we start talking about the FY28 budget, I think you'll hear even more about the planning to continue the positive trend that we're on of making this fund be self-sufficient and not have negative fund balances.

[00:40:28] And this has, I mean, we had talked about the OPEB, so it kind of, it goes together, I guess, because we're managing the funds for the benefits and the retirees? So the OPEB, since it's a trust fund, is not included as part of our financial projection, and it's a separate fund from the health self-insurance fund.

[00:40:47] And so that fund has millions and millions of dollars in it, and as you may recall, has a dedicated funding stream of about $12 million that is going in every year and has been for several years to build up the reserve to make sure we have funds in the future to pay for those retiree benefits.

[00:41:11] Sorry, I was just curious about investments and that sort of thing because I had brought that up last time. And one last question for you. In the Health SI Fund, it requires a transfer to maintain a positive net position for FY26.

[00:41:27] And we're transferring all available SOF balance to do it. What is the contingency plan if it continues to run hot in FY27, if I may ask? Well, as I shared, we've actually seen a leveling off.

[00:41:43] And so hopefully each quarter that we report on and we continue to see that leveling off gives me more confidence that it's not a temporary blip in our projections, that hopefully it is something that's more sustained. So, right now, everything is trending positively.

[00:42:01] If things were to take a turn, then I think what you could anticipate is as we enter the FY28 budget discussion, whereas maybe I was hopefully anticipating not having to do 20% and being able to reduce the premium increase, we may need to do another 20% or larger.

[00:42:22] Or we may be bringing, you know, plan design changes. so there there's definitely you know discussions and again active management for either direction but I'm happy to report that right now we are on the right direction well thank you and I'll be in touch with you for that information as any of this going to come to the Finance and Operations Committee or are we going to be going over that actually on May 12th is the budget work session and then I think that will probably kick off the FY 28 and I can share maybe more information.

[00:42:55] But typically all budget items come directly to the full school board. Thank you. Any further questions? Seeing none, well, thank you so much for the presentation, Ms. Willoughby. And we will move on to our next item, 4.02, Department of Student Services Special Education Annual Plan Application Approval for 26-27, which will be presented tonight by Ms. Richardson.

[00:43:26] Oh, no. Yay. And Nykia Purnell, Ms. Purnell.

[00:43:37] Good evening. Chair Chandler and School Board and Dr. Spence. So I'm Nakia Purnell, the Director of Special Education, and tonight I am here to share with you the annual plan for FY27. Bear with me because now I have to control the clicker and my paper. I don't think it's working. Okay, well you guys,

[00:44:10] oh, it's working. Or did I do that or did someone else do that? Okay, it's like magic. So I'll start with a little bit of background around the annual plan. So this is an application for federal Title 6B funds that support students with disabilities in the school division. The annual plan also serves as an agreement to provide services according to regulations for special education. Funding from

[00:44:40] Title 6B is contingent upon the approval of this plan. There are multiple components to the plan and I will go through them one by one and share a bit of information about what they cover.

[00:45:00] So in your packet, you should have a copy of this. So in your packet, you'll find the draft of the plan that we have completed for FY27. We provide the assurances and certifications that we will implement special education and related services in accordance with the regulation.

[00:45:18] We acknowledge that we work with the local jail to provide services to eligible students between the ages of 18 and 22 years old. We must also provide information regarding our maintenance of effort, MOE, which is a requirement of our regulation. Maintenance of effort requires school divisions to spend at least the same amount of local or local plus state dollars for a current school year on the delivery of special education and related services as were spent from the same

[00:45:53] sources during the preceding fiscal year. So basically, we need to spend the same or more each year. The annual plan also covers proportionate set-aside. The proportionate set-aside is the requirement that we set aside a proportionate share of our funds from Title VIB to support students who are homeschooled or parentally placed in private schools. And of note, that percentage is typically commiserate with the percentage of students that are homeschooled or privately placed. The annual plan application also requires that we outline plan spending for the

[00:46:32] funds received, which I will go over in the following slides. All right. So there are two parts of this grant. On this slide, you'll see the first part. This is the plan spending for Title 6B K through 12. So this is our school-aged part of the grant. Part 6B, Part B 611, which covers school-age students in Part B 619, which supports our youngest learners receiving early childhood special education services. So our plan spending for Part B is outlined on this slide. So you can

[00:47:10] see we've allocated 105 special education teacher positions, two specialist positions, one financial analyst position, two supervisor positions, two coordinator positions, one program assistant position and one teacher assistant position. And you will see the total amount in the Title 6B grant for K-12 learners is $15,982,872.52. The proportionate set-aside amount is $81,730.06.

[00:47:51] Of note, in previous years, should you do a comparison, you will notice that we've had enough funds to cover some additional curriculum resources and materials. But based on the actual amount that we've received historically, which continues to be lower and lower each year, we will only have enough funds to cover the positions that have been listed here for FY27.

[00:48:25] Okay, moving on to the second part of the grant, Title 6B, and this is for our preschool-age students, ages 3 through 5. So the allocation for this particular part of the grant is much smaller, as you can see, $244,474.66.

[00:48:45] And we will utilize these funds for the allocation of two ECSE teachers, so our preschool-age teachers. And the proportionate set aside from this amount is $709.76. I've included a picture from the packet that you all have simply because the forms are a little antiquated.

[00:49:11] So you might not be able to expand the box, but there may be an additional page outlining this. So this shows you what we intend to use towards our proportionate set aside and how we're breaking down those services. So I will explain that in a little more detail.

[00:49:27] So we utilize proportionate set-asides funds for the direct provision of services, including both direct instructional and consultative services for those parentally placed students with disabilities. All services are contingent upon the availability of available funds through the proportionate set-aside and appropriately qualified staff, including LCPS employees or contracted service providers.

[00:49:53] So currently, and for FY27, these services may include transition planning services for students ages 14 through 21 inclusive, transition activities might include but are not limited to review of coordinated activities for transition age students, connection to community resources, and goal setting in the areas of employment, independent living, and post-secondary education.

[00:50:21] Related services, as outlined in the students' individual service plans, or ISPs, for all eligible students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, who are perennially placed. Direct instructional services align with the needs identified in student ISPs provided to support access to the general education curriculum and address students' individual learning needs.

[00:50:49] Direct services are available at an LCPS school location or through virtual instruction. Additionally, consultative services to private school staff and families regarding instructional strategies and appropriate interventions for students found eligible for special education and related services as outlined in the students' ISPs.

[00:51:11] So those are the things that we have identified that can be covered through the proportionate set-aside for FY27. Those are identical to the things we've identified in the annual plan for FY26 of note. I think I'm still making myself believe I'm switching this, but I don't think I am, so I'm not going to pick it up again.

[00:51:34] So, some other points to summarize, just for a better understanding. These funds come from the federal government and are meant to support students who have been found eligible for special education under the IDEA. So not just students with disabilities, not students with 504 plans, but just students who have been identified under the IDEA.

[00:51:58] Of note, at its inception, which was back in 1975, 45% of funding was promised to states. It is important to note that over the years, they really haven't exceeded about 25%. And the point of that is that this is probably a place, if we wanted to lobby, this is a good place to do so because they've not made good on this promise to date.

[00:52:26] Additionally, in LCPS, this particular grant only makes up, as you can see by the numbers, about 5% of the budget for special education in the division. And it is also important to know that it makes up approximately about 4% of the Department of Student Services budget.

[00:52:43] So some special education processes, such as eligibility, as you all know, are actually a part of the Office of Diagnostic and Prevention Services and do not live in the Office of Special Education. I said I wasn't going to pick it up, and I did it anyway.

[00:53:02] Okay, so the annual plan and its funding applications are prepared, again, according to the VDOE guidelines and represent compliance with federal IDEA law and the Virginia regulations for programs governing students with disabilities.

[00:53:18] This particular presentation was presented to SEAC on March 4th, 2026, and then subsequently approved on April 8th, 2026. The plan is due to be submitted to VDOE on or before May 20th, 2026.

[00:53:38] Any questions? Board members, any questions? Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair. Ms. Perel, thank you for the presentation. Very helpful to understand. And I actually had questions on the PSA, but you answered them, which was fantastic.

[00:53:56] My question is, you mentioned that the funding each year continues to get lower. Is there a particular reason for that? Is it our student population? Is it, like, I know the local composite index changed? Well, there you go. There's the answer. The local composite index does change. And as that changes, obviously, they basically assume that Loudon can provide more funds.

[00:54:20] So we continue to see that each year. It has certainly decreased annually, at least in the last five years. We've not seen an increase over that time. And that is the primary reason, I would say, for it.

[00:54:39] Because certainly it is based on the calculations that VDOE completes. And I think our local composite index is one of the driving factors for that change. How does this, and I appreciate that because that was helpful. How does that relate to the mandate that we have to spend the same amount every year, even though they're giving us less money every year?

[00:55:01] Well, that just means we have to add more money. So we supplement that? We do. Then we have to spend, we have to add more to the budget and local funds to make up for that if we are not receiving that amount. But again, remember, this is a very small amount. It's only 5%. So if we're being honest and transparent, we are already spending the majority of the amount to meet MOE annually coming out of those funds.

[00:55:25] So not that we would like this amount to decrease at all, because every dollar counts. But I do think it's important to note that it is a very, very small portion of our entire budget, which is about $314 million, I believe.

[00:55:41] No, I appreciate that. I just so and this is the kind of last question of course it looks like what based on what you're saying is the money actually goes fed state loud and so there's a filter that is in between because it's supposed to be 15% of the cost is what it's funded to the state at but we only get 5.2% so well in the original promise was well actually much larger than that so there is a there is a state-level filter that this goes through as well absolutely and that's That's why we consistently say, if we get to a point where we feel like we want to lobby

[00:56:19] the state to say, hey, this was a promise made back in 1975, you've not made good on this promise thus far, we could use actually that 45% as opposed to what we've been receiving. And I know in past years, we've certainly advocated for that in our directors' meetings for Region 4, and we asked lots of questions around this, so I think it is a good place to focus our attention, seeing as how budget is going to continue changing here in Loudoun.

[00:56:50] Although we are one of the divisions that seems to be blessed in that area, I do think, again, any dollar amount that we can bring in is going to be helpful for the provision of special education in our division. I appreciate the clarification. It's helpful just to kind of see that there's multiple layers to this process that we don't always get a control over yes thank you any other questions all right thank you so much for the presentation you're very welcome and should you come up with any questions after this please feel free to reach out to me good night thank you all right with that we will move on to item 4.03

[00:57:30] department of support services lcps sustainability update which will be presented tonight by miss clark sep please correct um if i mispronounce please correct me if i mispronounced your name You're good. It's Clark-siped, like typed.

[00:57:53] Yes, it's a hard one. It gets pronounced many different ways. I am told, Sharon and Nakia, that there's a way to turn this thing on, so I'm working on it. Right side? All right.

[00:58:12] Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for giving me and all of the work that will be represented in this update time with you tonight. My goal is to update you on sustainability across our division, And we're going to do that tonight through celebrating good work.

[00:58:29] So let's dive in. One of the things we want to start with tonight is just a quick kind of reminder of our sustainability framework. Many of you sitting up on the dais will remember that our sustainability framework was approved by you, the school board, in June of 2025 as the foundation for incorporating sustainability into LCPS.

[00:58:54] This really has been our guidance document for the past year, representing not only the goals of the Office of Sustainability, but also LCPS goals. And knowing that that support comes across the division really has been instrumental in our ability to develop relationships, to create collaborations, and to achieve some of the work we're going to talk about tonight.

[00:59:17] You should all have a hard copy of the framework. There is a QR code on the screen for anyone in the room that would like to access it digitally. And if you don't have a hard copy and would like one, please, please reach out to me. I'm happy to deliver that to you.

[00:59:34] The framework really grounds us in a shared definition of sustainability, which is always important when we are talking about something as big and complex as this topic. And it treats, as all of us have talked about previously, sustainability as this holistic approach to our mission and operations. As we integrate sustainability into who we are and how we operate here in Loudoun County Public Schools, we emphasize those four things that are shown on the screen in purple bolded font. And in doing so, we're also helping

[01:00:09] to advance the overall mission of the division, which of course is to empower our students, all of them to make meaningful contributions to the world. Our sustainability framework is anchored in four goals, those top priorities, and 15 target areas, which are the areas of impact or influence that we have selected very strategically because we think that's where we as a division right now can bring about systemic lasting change. And those goals you'll see up on the screen, I'll give you just a second to weed through them to refresh yourselves and as you do so I want to call to

[01:00:46] your attention that the red purple and blue boxes a traditional approach to sustainability really is rooted in the intersection of those economic environmental and social systems which we embody here with our goals one through three but you'll notice that there's a fourth one on the screen and that's because of the process that we went through here over the course of about 18 months in developing our framework, pulling voices from multiple stakeholder groups across our community, and leadership kept emerging as a really critical part of this work, and there was a recognition there that for us to truly

[01:01:24] bring about that systemic and lasting change that we're looking for, right, to achieve the goals that we're setting out, leadership at multiple levels is critically important, so that's why that fourth goal is included in the framework. You'll see the variety of target that are covered under those four goals.

[01:01:45] And I love the variety it's here, right? Simply because it's kind of those on-ramps. It's ways to be part of this work and to get engaged. And you see that, and I'll share some examples later on, where also when you engage in one part of this work, it often leads to an overlaps with other parts as well, which I think really underscores how inherently integrative this work is.

[01:02:13] Our framework is also rooted in our history, what we've accomplished to date. It allows us to do more building on that history and context, and it is student-centered at its core. I think those two things stand out a little bit and make our framework slightly unique in the sense that it ensures that it's relevant, that it's applicable.

[01:02:37] It's not something extra. It's not something on the side, right? It also is really empowered by our why, that desire to create these authentic learning experiences for our students that prepare them for the future.

[01:02:53] And we see that through this emphasis throughout the document on making the connection between student learning and sustainable practices. Do you see the people on the bottom of the screen? That's our icon. You see that throughout that document. if you flip through the pages, it calls out ways that we are making that connection between student learning and sustainable practices. And man, the opportunities are endless when it comes to that. I look at this list, and I get super excited, right? Can you see the opportunities here to connect with curriculum, with cross-content connections? Can you see the opportunities here

[01:03:32] for leadership at every level. Our kendis can participate in this just as easily as our seniors. They might be doing different things, but there's opportunity for all of them. And I get pumped about that. That's why I'm standing, not sitting, because I get a little bit animated. So they allowed me to have a little bit more space as we talk tonight. Okay, so that was our quick 101 primer on the LCPS sustainability framework. What I really want to focus on from now forward is sharing with you what has been happening in the last 10 months since approval of the framework.

[01:04:11] And this sub-goal mapping is kind of a logistical piece that really underscores some of the early successes and achievements that I want to celebrate with you tonight. So I want you to understand what we've been doing. My office has been meeting with departments across the division, not quite everyone yet, but a whole lot of them. And together, we're sitting down and exploring how current, planned, and dreamed of goals in our different departments and teams currently connect to the sustainability framework. And also, where are their opportunities for sustainability work

[01:04:51] within their fields that maybe now are given new motivation or impetus because of the framework and its goals. Each team in conversations like this has also been asked very specifically to think about where are those connections for our students in what they do. And so the example that you see here, I love it, is this process done with the transportation leadership team.

[01:05:18] And we sat down together, and I have big posters on the walls. Many of you know how I operate, and we've got sticky notes, and we've got markers, and we've got all sorts of fun stuff, and we literally work our way through the different goals and the different targets. And I know you can't read this well, but you see that there's not something in every single slot, right?

[01:05:38] But where it makes sense, where those connections can be articulated and explored, we note those down. And what I also love, and I was hoping you could see this a little bit bigger better, but in the photo on the bottom right of your screen, if you could read some of those sticky notes, there's things like rooftop solar, better insulation in our central garage.

[01:05:59] How can we use wastewater to reduce water consumption at the central garage? So this sort of planning for transportation even isn't only about vehicles. They're thinking about it systemically. And that's just a really great example of what's been happening across the board.

[01:06:15] We're also able to celebrate early wins, even in this single example of sub-goal mapping with transportation. Back in the fall, you may remember you as school board, as part of our CIP planning, we approved yellow and white fleet master planning that was undertaken by a whole group of different teams within support services that ties directly to not only goals and a need there in transportation, but we also looked at operational needs, we looked at costs, and we looked at how do our plans for our fleets reduce our environmental impacts.

[01:06:53] This was a team that included construction services, facilities ops, transportation, planning and GIS, sustainability, and it came to you longer-term planning as a way to really think about all of those different things combined. Let's talk about another area, and this is a format of slide that you're going to see now for the next few minutes.

[01:07:14] I want to talk about buildings and schoolyards. We have talked a good bit in the past about our construction processes, our renovation practices. You know very well that our current construction work focuses on an emphasis on leading towards LEED certification and how we do new construction, how we do renovations.

[01:07:35] We also have talked at length in the past about how we very effectively, as a division, use our energy savings performance contract to integrate energy efficiency improvements into construction and critical systems renewal. But what I want to celebrate with you tonight, all of that really good work continues.

[01:07:54] What I want to celebrate with you tonight is a willingness, and not even a, willingness isn't the right word, it's a desire here in LCPS to have students, staff, and community voice inform the design and construction of our healthy learning environments.

[01:08:12] Take a look at the photo on the screen. This is two students from Waterford Elementary School who are sitting in front of a 3D model that they designed and constructed for one of two courtyards that is being added to their building as part of upcoming renovation and addition.

[01:08:32] Construction services had been working with members of the Waterford community for months leading up to this moment, really trying to understand what they wanted as part of this design and construction work. But when it became clear that these two new courtyards would be added, they invited sustainability into the conversation because they said, we should design these as outdoor learning spaces from the get-go, right?

[01:08:56] Educators shared our excitement when they heard that. one of them in particular Bethany Waterfall is the fusion teacher and the green team lead at Waterford and she said Clark can my kids get engaged in this and so I worked with them over the course of about three months they designed a survey that went out to their whole school that collected information about what their students and teachers wanted in these courtyards and then those students summarized all that feedback they drew plans these are fifth graders for these courtyards. They then built their plans in Minecraft and then developed

[01:09:32] 3D models of those plans or poster presentations that they were able to present to our construction team and their ideas are now being incorporated into design. That's sustainability in action in the sense of we need that student voice. We're thinking about outdoor learning from the beginning.

[01:09:50] We're thinking about how all those spaces will be used. It maps to all four goals in our framework. you see those boxes at the bottom. And then you can also see that multiple LCPS departments and teams were involved. Coming soon, we're doing something similar but quite different with Watson Mountain. Think about Watson Mountain, right? Newest school that opened in LCPS. It's also next to the largest construction site in LCPS. Students have lots of questions. What did this mountain look like before we came here? Why are there massive piles of dirt? Why are we cutting down all the trees and what are we going to do with those massive rocks that you pulled out of the dirt?

[01:10:29] There is opportunity for learning there. There's opportunity for student inquiry there. And that is going to be a really fun project in 27. Given time constraints tonight, I'm not going to spend too much time on this because you as a board will see this at your June 9th capital budgets retreat.

[01:10:46] But this is another way that we're looking at our buildings. This group has been meeting periodically for several months, really looking at building capacity and space utilization. Answering the three white, smaller bullets there in the middle of the slide, really trying to help to inform decision-making that's coming around capital planning for years and years to come.

[01:11:08] Internally, there's a new app that's been developed by our amazing planning and GIS team that offers real-time insight into how current building capacity is being used. That is something that we can dig into during the capital planning process to really help inform not only our internal decision-making, but your decision-making as a board.

[01:11:25] Is that sustainability? Heck yeah, it's sustainability. We're talking about conserving resources, improving efficiencies, operations building design. All of that maps to our sustainability framework. If you spent any time with me talking about waste, you know two things.

[01:11:44] One, I totally nerd out when we talk about waste. If you want to come hang out anytime, you're welcome. And also, I definitely think and will always, always say, cafeterias are classrooms. And we've got two projects that have been ongoing over the last year that have really showed what's possible there.

[01:12:02] We continue to do our student-led food waste audits. I know I shared a little bit about that with you last year. We now have four schools that are actively engaging in that process with us. 3,700 students have been able to participate in these activities where they actually sort waste.

[01:12:18] They bring all their waste in the cafeteria to a big station. There's groups of students that sort all that out. They weigh it. They collect qualitative and quantitative data, and they figure out what that data tells them, and then they figure out their own strategies for reducing that waste. 845 pounds of cafeteria waste have been sorted to date, if you're interested.

[01:12:39] And if you ever want to jump into one of those, you are welcome. As you can see on the screen, we have a lot of fun. Oftentimes, those conversations quickly lead to food recovery. And that is something that has already existed in LCPS for a long time.

[01:12:56] Food recovery is where we save usable food that's sold in our kitchens, right? Unopened, whole fruit, that sort of stuff. And we save it from going into the trash by recovering it in the cafeteria. And that can be used as snacks for kids if kids are still hungry during lunch. And sometimes schools donate it to local food pantries.

[01:13:13] But school nutrition and sustainability have partnered together, and we're asking a question around how do we make that something that's available to all students, right? How do we ensure that that opportunity to take on that sustainable practice is there in every school? It's recognizable.

[01:13:28] It's not stigmatized at all. And so school nutrition and sustainability with support from AWS and LEF are now piloting different types of food recovery stations in 15 schools across our division. 13,000 students are using those on a daily basis.

[01:13:45] And the schools that are represented in this pilot served almost 800,000 lunches last year. So that tells you the scale of the operation we're talking about and the potential for reducing waste. Food waste actually releases methane when it decomposes, which is a stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

[01:14:04] And so when you think about the potential for really rippling out change and the activation of students as stewards, this is a really hands-on way for them to engage in something that they're part of already every single day in the cafeterias.

[01:14:23] Our big goal, school nutrition and sustainability, I've talked about this for a long time, is we want food recovery in all 100 schools, and we're currently creating a toolkit that's going to help that to happen. Many other teams also involved in this. We have to have the support of our custodial teams who are awesome through facilities ops.

[01:14:41] And then you see here, too, that school leadership is a huge part of this, too, because our principals are really important changemakers and motivators when it comes to taking on these practices in our schools. Okay, we're almost done, but this is one of my favorite topics, and I need you to know about it, because there is something exceptional that has happened when it comes to outdoor learning here in LCPS over the last several months.

[01:15:08] Working closely with our amazing science division, which of course is part of teaching and learning, and a community partner called the Thinkering Collective, we have trained a special AI bot to learn the K-5 science curriculum, the new LCPS instructional framework, and Virginia Standards of Learning for science, K-5.

[01:15:34] And we have used that AI bot to work with us to map outdoor learning activities to every single unit in the K-5 science curriculum. Every single unit. These are shelf-ready learning activities that are embedded in our curriculum.

[01:15:53] They are called out with a visual icon. Teachers got to vote on what that icon was, right? And that means that it's all in one place. Educators don't have to go somewhere else. It's easy to find right there at their fingertips, ready to implement in their day-to-day work with our students.

[01:16:10] This builds on what we learned in the MEWE cohort that we talked about last year where we found out, yes, it's good to have the idea. We understand how important this is, but you've got to make it shelf-ready. You've got to make it implementable for me. And we also know that targeted PD is absolutely critical, and so we're expanding those options for the coming year.

[01:16:28] We're also taking on an outdoor learning space exploratory study that will help us understand what do we currently have, right? What are the baseline needs from educator and student perspectives on what we need to encourage kids and educators to get outside? And also, how do we ensure that every type of learner has access to safe outdoor learning spaces no matter what school they're in?

[01:16:53] And so we're excited to take on that study in the next year and come back to you with information about what we learn. Last big example before we finish up, and I know we've talked a lot about LCPS's track record before when it comes to energy excellence, our facilities operations and construction services teams continue to spearhead phenomenal energy efficiency and renewables work, which you can see showcased in the middle bullets. Some of the data and statistics that are there for you take into account not only solar and geothermal systems that are currently operational, but also ones that are being currently constructed.

[01:17:31] The request from our facilities ops team last year when it comes to sustainability was this. They said, okay, we've got all this cool stuff happening, this wonderful track record of all of this amazing work and achievements and cost savings, et cetera, but how do we get building users more engaged in ways also that they better understand their role, their impact, and the opportunity just by being part of our community and being in our buildings on a daily basis for environmental stewardship.

[01:18:01] And that's why you see what we're celebrating today is our 42 schools who earned Energy Star recognition. That's a national recognition for energy excellence. 98% of schools participate in our energy shutdowns last school year, which is huge when it comes to energy savings during those times when buildings are closed.

[01:18:20] And 59 schools participate in our load shutting program, which not only protects our grid during really intensive times of use, but also saves us money. Five load shedding events in summer of last year brought about $130,000 in savings that will be put against future utility bills.

[01:18:40] We're working on user guides, building use guides that will help to really promote energy education and also help students, educators, community members alike to find other ways to help. And something I know you'll be excited about, we're focusing on the remaining LED lighting retrofits.

[01:18:57] Within the next six years, we believe that 100% of our schools will be 100% LED, which not only saves costs, but also improves occupant comfort and the learning experience. We talk a lot when we're together about embracing sustainable practices and elevating student voice and leadership.

[01:19:16] This is a program you have supported for two years now. We're supporting it again in the coming year. I just want you to know how thankful we are for that. You see the quote from an educator at Woodgrove. This is such an opportunity for educators to work with their students and do things that they simply could not do before.

[01:19:35] Green Teams doubled in size, more than doubled in size, in the current school year. We have more than 7,000 students directly engaged. More than 30,000 students, actually, with updates to this slide, are benefiting from these projects. You know the variety.

[01:19:50] I know at least those of you that were able to be part of this last year know what's done by Green Teams. it's amazing the projects they take on if you've not yet met our green team leads and I'm looking at the three of you that are new come join us on May 27th you get to meet all of them and their students you get to see what they're doing it's gonna be amazing in this room at 4 30 please come we did it before school board meeting last year see we're kind of a captive audience this year it's not so we need you to come over we need you to support our educators and students

[01:20:24] and we serve ice cream. It's really fun. All right. You know we can't do what we do without partnerships. Wonderful examples here. I want to particularly spotlight before we close out the work that we've been doing with the County of Loudoun over the last 10 months.

[01:20:40] Really cool opportunities to combine efforts to support both LCPS and County of Loudoun goals when it comes to sustainability, energy efficiency, and the like. We're taking on a composting feasibility study. The Board of Supervisors is interested in figuring out how do they extend the composting services that have been offered at the landfill for about two years now and have tasked their staff with looking at what it would take to extend those to county facilities, including schools. I've helped with some really cool site visits. We've spent a lot of time in cafeterias over the last year. I love it, right? But that's going to lead to some cool recommendations. We're

[01:21:18] hopeful within the next several months. The reports are not out on that. We'll bring it to you as soon as it is. And then did you know that County of Loudoun partnered with LCPS to plant more than 5,000 trees at the Woodgrove High School campus last year? You've seen them, right? Driving through.

[01:21:35] I know. It's wild. Let me tell you, they reached out and said, hey, we want to do this. It's part of their carbon reduction strategy. Lots of great land available at Woodgrove. Do you want to partner? I said, yes, let's talk about it. My one condition is that students get involved. And so the environmental club helped to design and to research where those trees went, what kind of trees they were. They led the campus tour when county folks came and walked the campus. Sustainability in action with students at the helm. And you can see great other examples here of not only local,

[01:22:11] but statewide work. LCPS has taken a real lead in promoting these sorts of opportunities at scale. couldn't do it without our partners. LCPS really is building a culture of sustainability and I am so proud to be part of a division that models what we teach. I want you to be proud of these accomplishments as well and so I'm very hopeful that the presentation tonight has armed you with examples and I want you to go out and share those stories. If you need more details, if you need pictures, please reach out to me. And I also want you to share your questions and your ideas.

[01:22:48] something that gets you fired up and you think it's connected to this, please come have a conversation with me. I am a connector. I'm a facilitator. I can help you bring that about in the work that we are all doing together. Take a minute and read that blue font. This is what's reminding us that sustainability is not part of our work. It's a driving force that influences all of it. And all of us have a role. Stay tuned for even more student leaders in this space.

[01:23:19] in school year 2027 as we launch the inaugural round of our Student Sustainability Leadership Council. I can't wait to tell you more about that. And knowing the passion, drive, and creativity of our students and have a little insight into the opportunities that this program is going to provide to them because I'm designing.

[01:23:42] I suspect that I will not be alone giving this update to you next year. So thank you again for the opportunity to share with you tonight. Thank you, Ms. Seiped, for that presentation. Board members, do you have any questions?

[01:23:58] Mrs. Griffiths. Thank you, Madam Chair. I did go to an elementary school that has a refrigerator. I guess they put food that they probably would have thrown out. Did you, I mean, I have a lot of questions here, but did you provide those refrigerators?

[01:24:15] Because I've always noticed there was waste. Did you? So some of them. The food recovery has existed in LCPS for a long time, School Nutrition has provided some of them over the years, but as part of our grant currently with AWS and LEF, we are providing fridges to schools that are part of the pilot that want to take on this program, but that don't yet have a fridge.

[01:24:38] So it depends on where you went. Okay. Okay. I didn't know if you provided that or not, or we already had that. So it seems like we sort of already had that. As far as the resolution of the Loudoun County School Board calling for the state and federal Action on Climate Change. Why does the current sustainability framework reference the resolution when no current school board members have signed off on it? Because it still is currently part of our history. It's a signed document that was brought forward and approved as part of this board's history. And in my opinion, and I think the opinion of many of us in the district, it's part

[01:25:17] part of the context that's been set here. Loudon is one of few school boards, right? Loudon is one of few school divisions that can say it has a resolution on climate action or climate literacy or environmental literacy, and it is such a wonderful green flag to wave. It is a model for school divisions across the nation, and when I spend time, I've told you I've spent a lot of time working at the state level regionally but also nationally through several networks that I am part of and when folks see that the school board here historically has supported this type of work even years ago before this office

[01:25:56] was established before we had a framework they they say wow this is a division that we would like to emulate thank you for that I'm hoping we can see documentation later on that we can sign off on it also the green leads page 16 I guess slide 16. 62 stipend green team leads. Each lead receives about $919 stipend totaling about $56,978. What is the role of each green team lead that is receiving this stipend? I don't

[01:26:31] know if you can give me complete details but just if you could summarize for me. Absolutely and I'm happy to provide a more detailed written explanation moving forward but those leads are the ones that are named in their school to coordinate the activities of the green team. Oftentimes that happens. They're planning, their coordination, their preparation time happens outside of their regular contract hours. It's just like planning for a class, but they're planning for student-led action projects, often based on the topics, the ideas, the problems that their students are super excited to take on as part of their green team activities. So it is a stipend that's offered,

[01:27:11] just like many other stipends in our division. You can find it in what used to be called the Buddy Book. I don't know what it's called now. Sorry. It's changed names a few times. But it has gone through that HRTD process of approval. It's actually the smallest stipend that you will find in that book.

[01:27:29] So basically it's current employees that... 100%. It is staff that are already working in those schools. Okay. And just a couple more questions for you. energy conservation and efficiency projects slated to spend over 67 million does this include the I think you mentioned the solar panels but what about geothermal wells and LED lighting does that include that as well so that is the the line that's in the capital budget that you're referring to correct yeah yeah yeah it's probably gonna yep that's been approved by the board and then you'll have the opportunity of course to start your FY28 capital planning very very soon it's coming up on

[01:28:07] June 9th. That is for a number of different energy conservation projects, largely in the next several years. It is supporting those LED lighting retrofits that we spoke of that not only save dollars through energy conservation, but also bring significant improvements to the learning environment and occupant comfort. At this time, and Mr. Traynor, if you'd like to speak up, Much of that funding has been reduced in recent capital planning periods.

[01:28:36] Construction, really, where we're adding solar in the next short term in our capital budget, as well as geothermal, is through active construction projects. So energy conservation currently, and again, we'll get you more detail in a written response after this meeting, but most of those dollars, and Mr. Treanor, correct me if I'm wrong, are being focused on LED lighting in the near-term future.

[01:29:00] Oh, and last question, and this is probably CIP as well, but electric buses, are you involved? Are you working closely with them? Are we going to be getting electric buses now? Are we going down that path?

[01:29:16] So you may remember we talked about some of this in capital planning. We currently have 31 electric buses that are active. At this time, as part of our yellow fleet planning, which we talked about right now, We have paused on electric buses due to a number of different factors, and again, I'm happy to provide more of that in a written response that offers you more detail and actual numbers.

[01:29:38] But we looked at things like not only cost, with some of the federal subsidies going away, the cost of an electric bus is three to four times a diesel bus, but also operational reliability, range, and those sorts of things. And so at this moment in time, although we recognize the environmental benefits of electric buses, we also know that we have to think about our operations.

[01:29:59] We have to get thousands, tens of thousands of kids where we need them to be on a daily basis. And so we have paused the electric buses and instead are beginning a pilot where we are actually adding propane-fueled buses to our fleet, also with reduced environmental impact but very negligible cost difference and much better reliability and performance, at least in our experience to date.

[01:30:24] The only thing I'll say about the propane is they can explode? They're very sensitive to explosion? There's a lot of good studies that have been done around that, and we can share some of those that might reassure you of safety. Thank you.

[01:30:39] Thank you for your questions. Ms. LaBelle. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for your presentation. It's been very educational. One question I do have is about the LED lighting. Has anyone considered how it might impact students with epilepsy?

[01:30:56] Will it trigger seizures? That is a concern. And if we have total LED, what's going to happen with these students? We have considered that in our studies that have led us to this. And again, there's lots of good guidance around that in terms of ensuring students safety and health and comfort.

[01:31:18] There's actually some studies that also show, if I'm remembering correctly, that LED lighting can actually be more beneficial for students with some health concerns, maybe not all. And so just as we do currently, I was just in a classroom the other day, and it was an environmental chemistry classroom with a bunch of really awesome juniors.

[01:31:38] Mikhail Salup and I, energy supervisor, were in there talking about carbon and greenhouse gas reduction, and there was a child there that had a light sensitivity. And so we make those accommodations often on a child-by-child basis as well. We turn down the lights. You know, sometimes students have other different types of adaptations that they can do.

[01:31:55] We have taken that into account. And again, there are studies that we can provide that can back up some of the ways that we would be approaching those sorts of sensitivities. I would appreciate if you would send me some of that information. Sure. Thank you. Sure. Thank you. Dr. Rasheed? Can we get a calendar invite for the May 27th event that you mentioned?

[01:32:13] Absolutely. Thank you. All right. Thank you so much for the presentation. In the interest of time, board members, we're going to move on to our next item. Thank you. That was very informative. Thank you, Chair. As we have socialized, we are planning on a working dinner for the board.

[01:32:28] And with that, we will be moving into closed session. Ms. Chernoff, do you have a motion? Yes, Madam Chair. I move that the Loudoun County School Board recess this public meeting and enter into a closed meeting Persuayant of 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia for the following purposes.

[01:32:45] Consultation with legal counsel pertaining to actual litigation where such consultation or briefing and open meeting would 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 public employee as authorized by Section 2.2-3711A8 of the Code of Virginia.

[01:33:13] Consultation with legal counsel pertained to actual litigation where such consultation or briefing in open meeting would 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 current public employee as authorized by section 2.2-37118 of the Code of Virginia.

[01:33:39] And finally, discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for public purpose or of the disposition of publicly held real property where discussion and open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body as authorized by Section 2.2-3711A3 of the Code of Virginia.

[01:33:58] Ms. Chernoff has made a motion. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Svensson. It has been properly moved and seconded that the Loudoun County School Board go into closed session. Is there any discussion? Seeing no discussion, clerk, please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote.

[01:34:17] Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes unanimously with all eight school board members, President and Vice Chair Donahue absent for the vote. With that we are now in closed session and the board meeting will reconvene at 6:30. Thank you

[02:04:00] Good evening. The board is coming out of closed session at this time Miss Chernoff do you have a motion? Yes, 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 Meaning reflect that no formal action was taken in the closed meeting. Thank you Ms. Chernoff has made a motion. Is there a second?

[02:04:27] Thank you, Ms. LaBelle. It has been properly moved and seconded. Board members, please record your vote. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes unanimously with all eight school board members present for the vote and Vice Chair Donahue absent for the vote.

[02:04:50] Ms. Chernoff, do you have another motion? Yes. I move that the following resolution certifying the closed meeting be adopted and reflected in the minutes of this public meeting. Resolution number 37-2526, whereas the Loudoun County School Board has convened a closed meeting on this date, pursuant to the affirmative recorded vote, and in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia for Freedom of Information Act, and whereas 2.2-371D 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 lawfully exempted

[02:05:30] open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting to which the certification applies and to only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard discussed or considered by the Loudoun County School Board thank you miss Chernoff has made a motion is there second second thank you miss Riccardi it has been properly moved and seconded and clerk please open the vote board members please record your vote clerk please close and display the vote that That motion passes unanimously with all eight school board members present and Vice Chair Donahue absent for the vote.

[02:06:11] Thank you for bearing with us for that procedural activity this evening. Welcome, everyone. And with that, we will move on with item number seven, the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem.

[02:06:28] The National Anthem will be performed tonight by the Willard Chamber Strings, led by Bryce Anderson. The Willard Chamber Strings is an advanced ensemble comprised of the top string players at Willard Middle School. This dedicated group rehearses weekly and has performed more than a dozen times throughout the school year, including appearances at feeder elementary schools, special events at Willard, a Veterans Day celebration, and a collaborative performance with the Army String Quartet.

[02:06:57] Many of these students have been selected to participate in all-county orchestra and Junior Regional Orchestra, reflecting their high level of musicianship and commitment. Their contributions support Willard's tradition of excellence, including earning the Blue Ribbon of Musical Excellence Award for the fifth consecutive year. Willard's music program serves over 1,450 students, representing more than 85% of the student body, and this ensemble reflects just a small portion of the program's strength and talent. We are grateful to the school board, community, and county administrators for their continued support of the arts.

[02:07:38] Now, please rise for the national anthem. We'll start with the pledge. I pledge allegiance.

[02:09:56] That was absolutely incredible. Thank you so much.

[02:10:29] All right, and with that, we will move on to item number eight, a school board administrative advisory committee update. Tonight, we will be joined with the Loudon Education Alliance of Families, LEAF, which will be presented tonight by Ms. Brooke Linville, our LEAF chair. Welcome. This is on. Okay, yeah.

[02:11:08] Good evening, Chair Chandler, Vice Chair Donahue, school board members, Dr. Spence, LCPS staff, and members of the community. My name is Brooke Linville, and I'm honored to be the chair of the Loudon Education Alliance of Families, or LEAF. I currently represent Eagle Ridge Middle School in the Dulles North District, and will move to represent Briar Woods in the fall. This is my second full year as a LEAF member and I have valued my role as a chair during the 25-26 school year as we have sought to broaden representation and build out the leadership roles on the committee.

[02:11:45] Tonight I'd like to share an update on LEAF including what we've been working on so far this year and where we're headed. Next slide. As we end this school year we have reflected on LEAF's focus of strengthening communication, trust and collaboration between families, schools and LCPS leadership. For those new to the board, LEAF is a school board designated advisory committee that seeks to elevate parent voices through policy discussions and feedback. We bridge the connection between the district and families through collaborative conversations with division

[02:12:20] and support personnel throughout LCPS, which I will speak to in more detail momentarily. This has been a year of change for us, including the change of board representation from Ms. Chernoff to Mr. Svensson. Our April meeting was the first meeting to facilitate that handoff, and we look forward to engaging with Mr. Svensson during our monthly policy discussions that are at the core of the work that we do. We also had a full turnover of the leadership team and have worked to build out that capacity and elevate those responsibilities. Next slide. LEAF is in its fourth year, and it's

[02:12:57] encouraging to see how much the group has grown in both structure and impact. We have held six of the eight meetings this year, with one canceled as a result of the tornado threat, and the final meeting to be held in a couple of weeks. Those meetings have been supported by LCPS staff. Our 2025-26 leadership team includes myself as chair. Our vice chair of planning had to unexpectedly resign from the whole committee due to work commitments, which is sad. Monique Buckley is the vice chair of membership at Lunsford Middle and Sarah Lebonite is at Evergreen Mills and is the vice chair of communications. LCPS staff continues to serve in an interim role as our

[02:13:34] Secretary. Together, the team guides discussions, strengthens collaboration, and ensures the meeting reflects the priorities of the members and the families that we represent. Next slide. This year, 47 of our 100 schools have representatives, including educational centers, and five additional schools currently have alternates in place. Our goal for the coming year is to increase representation to 75 percent of the county. Each member serves a unique population and contributes their perspective in ways that are necessary to elevate the conversations that we have.

[02:14:06] As you can see, there are gaps in that representation. On this slide, we have broken down the membership by grade level. Our elementary schools have the most proportional representation, with 62% of those schools having a LEAF member. Half of our middle schools have a representative.

[02:14:22] Fewer than 30% of our high schools are represented. While it is not uncommon to see parent participation decline into secondary education, many LCPS policies directly impact those students and parents. For example, we recently had a discussion about the new math policy initiative, and while elementary parents can provide important perspectives about what to expect, our secondary parents provide look-back opportunities and can identify needs that are critical in those conversations.

[02:14:50] Next slide. We have further broken out membership by Planning District so that you as board members can see the representative schools in your areas and illuminate some of the larger gaps in membership. We have solid representation in Ashburn, Central Loudoun, Dulles North, and South.

[02:15:10] Next slide. Next slide. Eastern and Western Loudoun are the least represented with no secondary representation in those areas. This is one of our targets for next year, including identifying attendance barriers for those schools.

[02:15:30] Next slide. An important part of our work is supporting the Division's policy review process. So far this year, members have received notifications for 33 policies open for feedback. The policy update corner has previously been led by Ms. Chernoff and is one of the most meaningful parts of our meetings.

[02:15:50] During the most recent member feedback survey, our members strongly agreed that the policy corner was a valuable part of their LEAF experience. Ms. Chernoff has also shared that these discussions have helped guide her own decision-making in other board deliberations. Members use this time to ask questions, share thoughts, and identify areas where they may need more information or support.

[02:16:11] These discussions build understanding and strengthen two-way communication between families and LCPS. Our members also shared that they were not sure that the feedback had any impact on policy decisions. Mr. Svensson and I provided a demonstration in our last meeting of the policy feedback process with Mr. Svensson showing how policy feedback was presented to the board as well as how that feedback changed or informed eventual decisions.

[02:16:38] We will continue to ensure that the feedback loop is closed to meet the needs of the membership. Next slide. This year, LEAF has had the opportunity to review 34, I think I just said 33, 34 policies. You can see from this chart that LEAF members have had the opportunity to review and provide feedback on 145 policies over the past four years.

[02:16:58] The number of policies reviewed each year varies depending on when and why they're scheduled for review. Next slide. Another part of our meetings are collaborative conversations with LCPS personnel. Among the topics discussed this year were FOIA, budget priorities, the capital improvement plan, special programs, mental health, and safety and security.

[02:17:22] Often these discussions are informed by member feedback or community concerns. As we look toward next year, we are trying to take into account member feedback to present information in a timely manner so that they can take the information back to their communities in time for it to make an impact. Next slide.

[02:17:39] As I stated previously, building membership is one of our primary goals for the coming school year. We are working with LCPS staff to develop and implement our membership drive as a PTAs turn over. We have designed these flyers that are pictured here that can be used during school visits or posted to social media, highlighting our work and the kinds of people who may be drawn to this work.

[02:18:01] Our incredible membership chair has also built out a communication spreadsheet for all PTAs in the county, which we will be using to send this information out to be shared with all of the communities in the school division. But we can also use your help. We will share these flyers with each of you and ask that you share in your newsletters and on socials as well.

[02:18:19] Those interested in joining our committee can speak with our PTAs, principals, or email us at connectwithleaf at gmail.com. We appreciate all of your help in building out this committee. Next slide. As I close, I want to emphasize the importance of what LEAF represents.

[02:18:37] It's more than a group. It's a bridge between families, schools, the division administration, and the school board. Our leadership team is committed to moving the Alliance forward, expanding representation, strengthening communication, and ensuring that every member feels confident in their role as a trusted connection point for their school.

[02:18:55] Throughout the year, we continue to gather feedback, review data, and reflect on what we're learning to guide our work and measure our impact. Every conversation, policy review, and call to action brings us closer to a stronger, more connected community. We are also hoping in the coming year to strengthen our working relationships with the other advisory committees to help bridge the communication among and between each of the groups that they represent. Together, we'll keep building on the foundation of collaboration and shared purpose that defines LEAF, creating a space where every voice is heard and every family feels valued and supported. Thank you all for your continued support of the Loudon Education Alliance of Families and for your partnership in helping strengthen engagement across our division. Thank you,

[02:19:34] Ms. Linville. Thank you for the presentation and for being here to share this information with us tonight. It really resonates with me when you talk about your group being the bridge between our relationships with schools and parents, and I really appreciate the work that you're doing. And with that, I'll open the floor to the board for questions. Mr.

[02:19:55] Spinson. Not so much a question, but a thank you to Ms. Linville for your leadership of LEAF. It's truly a collaborative place where parents can come and discuss with LCPS staff and school board members, about policies that are coming up, about processes that are in place in the schools.

[02:20:11] And I was just really pleased by how thoughtful the dialogue was at our April meeting. And I'm really looking forward to working with the group and looking forward to helping with the membership drive. And luckily, we have a lot of folks here tonight. So if you know of someone in a school who would be a good fit to be a thoughtful, engaged parent and be that bridge between the school community and LCPS administration, let them know about LEAP.

[02:20:36] it's a great group of parents and i really appreciate being a part of the of the group thank you so much thank you all all right thank you everyone and with that we will move on to item number nine recognitions tonight we have human resources and talent development our 2026 annual award winners this will be presented by miss boland thank you chair chandler each year loudon

[02:21:11] county public schools recognizes employees whose contributions are essential to the success of our schools and students. From classrooms to cafeterias, from transportation to facilities, this work reflects the collective effort of a dedicated team supporting every aspect of the student experience. While tonight's awards highlight a group of exceptional individuals, they also represent the broader commitment and excellence demonstrated daily across our entire division. These recognitions are an important part of how we celebrate our

[02:21:50] staff and reinforce the value of their contributions to our mission. At this time, I'd like to invite Carrie Sims, the Supervisor of Employee Recognition, to present the 2026 annual awards. Dr. Spence, school board members, cabinet, colleagues, and esteemed guests, I'm thrilled tonight to introduce our exceptional annual award winners. This year we celebrate individuals who represent the heart and soul of our division, each playing an indispensable role in fostering a vibrant and successful learning environment for our

[02:22:26] students. From the inspiring dedication of those working directly with children to the tireless efforts of those who support the division from behind the scenes, these individuals embody the collaborative spirit that makes our division so strong. They are the best of the best, going above and beyond in their daily work to ensure that every student has the opportunity to thrive. Their passion and commitment are truly the driving force behind our students' success and it is an honor to recognize their remarkable contributions. Nominations for these awards were allowed to come from students, parents, co-workers, and supervisors. For the second year in a row we've received over 700 nominations

[02:23:06] including 235 for Teacher of the Year. The LCPS community shared heartfelt stories of the impact our employees made on their children. Colleagues described collaboration, outreach, and relationships. Students wrote about those aha moments and success after struggle. Over the past month we've traveled across the county to surprise our winners and we're excited to honor them at additional upcoming banquets. At this time I would like to ask our operational award winners to join me up here. And while they're doing so we're going to try and make this efficient as well because we have pictures that we

[02:23:43] would like to take. If we can ask Dr. Spence and the chair of the board to come off of the dais and meet us at the bottom of the dais. And then our school board members, if we can join behind them for our pictures.

[02:24:11] Our bus attendant of the year, Sharon Brent. Our bus driver of the year,

[02:24:32] Shakiba Friday.

[02:24:59] Custodial services employee of the year, Linda Pocasangre-Lopez, head custodian, Blue Ridge Middle School.

[02:25:22] Information Technology Employee of the Year, Joey Berrios, Digital Experience Specialist from Cedar Lane Elementary School.

[02:25:49] Professional Trades Employee of the Year, Charlie Markham, Plumber with Facilities Operations.

[02:26:10] Safety and Security Employee of the Year, Brandon Sellers, School Security Officer, Willard Middle School.

[02:26:36] Nutrition Services Employee of the Year, Evelyn Sabalos, School Nutrition Manager at Brambleton Middle School.

[02:26:57] Support Staff Employee of the Year and working this evening, Sherry Byrne, clerk to the board.

[02:27:22] We'll be taking one group picture with all of our operational awards winners.

[02:27:38] Let's give them one more round of applause.

[02:28:45] Congratulations. Thank you. In our instructional awards group, we congratulate the following individuals.

[02:29:01] Administrative Support Employee of the Year, Ann Grazier, Financial Technician, Belmont Ridge Middle School. Instructional Support Employee of the Year, Jessica Trigiani, Teacher Assistant at Madison's Trust Elementary School.

[02:29:35] Employee of the Year Peggy Tyree, Instructional Technology Facilitator, Hobatter Elementary School, who could not be with us this evening. Support Services Employee of the Year, Donna Vanek, School Social Worker, Madison's

[02:30:03] Trust Elementary School. We have four substitutes of the year since we have over 3,000 substitutes with us. Our first substitute of the year, Katherine Cox, Sicklin Creek Elementary School. So substitute of the year, John Hunt,

[02:30:40] Lovettsville Elementary School. Our Secondary Substitutes of the Year:

[02:30:58] Benjamin Nichols, Heritage High School. Erin Pagan, Broad Run High School. Teacher

[02:31:37] of the Year at the elementary level: Maria Emilia Proano. Proano from Hovater Elementary School. New Teacher of the Year at the middle school level: Eric

[02:31:58] Enciso from Watson Mountain Middle School. Our New Teacher of the Year at the high school level: Bentley Chen, Heritage High School.

[02:32:36] County Public Schools 2026 Teacher of the Year, and our 2027 nominee for the Washington Post Teacher of the Year, Eric Kurzman from Blue Ridge Middle School.

[02:33:05] Finally, our Loudoun County Public Schools 2026 Principal of the Year and 2027 nominee for Washington Post Principal of the Year, Katie Johnson from Belmont Ridge Middle School.

[02:33:36] While they are finishing up pictures, to the families of our award winners, we extend our deepest gratitude. Your unending support, Encouragement and understanding form the bedrock upon which your loved ones achieve such remarkable things. We recognize that their dedication often extends beyond the school day, and your sacrifices do not go unnoticed.

[02:33:56] Thank you for sharing these exceptional individuals with us. Their impact on our students is profound, and it is a testament to the strong foundation that you provide. Let's give one more round of applause to the 2026 LCPS Annual Award winners.

[02:36:45] Congratulations, everyone. We're so happy that you were here to join us. We'll just ask if you're moving towards the doors that you please head that way so we can continue with the business.

[02:37:30] Award winners, you are amazing. Thank you so much for being here. We'll just ask you to take pictures in the lobby, please. Yeah, it's okay. I'll call you. I love it.

[02:37:49] Congratulations, everybody. That was wonderful.

[02:38:34] That was so exciting. Thank you so much. And we will now move on to the next item on our agenda, which is item 9. 02, the one LCPS spotlight, inclusive learning experience based on Teach Town curriculum at Belmont Station Elementary School. And Ms.

[02:39:01] Timothy, I'll ask you to introduce your team. Come on up. Good evening, Loudoun County School Board members, LCPS staff, and community.

[02:39:20] My name is Erin Timothy, and I'm the very proud principal of Belmont Station Elementary School. Next slide. It is an honor to be here tonight to share with you all the incredible work that our team has done in aligning the adapted curriculum, TeachTown, with one LCPS strategic plan for excellence by empowering our students, goal one, and engaging our community, goal four.

[02:39:46] Tonight, we will share with you a brief overview of our beloved programs and how we adjusted our curriculum to engage our students and community in a memorable learning experience. Next slide. Please welcome our wonderful school team.

[02:40:03] Danielle Culligan, Assistant Principal. Allison McLaughlin, Special Education Dean. Jenny Verbicus, our K-2 program special education teacher. and Kristi Grina, our 3-5 program special education teacher, along with many other staff who arrived this evening to support us. This year at Belmont Station, our focus has been on lifting voices to empower our students. We recognize the importance of our students' ability to communicate effectively and guide their learning in order to maintain optimal engagement. What we are about to share

[02:40:42] with you today demonstrates the outcome of this work. At this time, our amazing assistant principal Danielle Culligan will come up to share with you more about how our teachers turned a simple lesson into a robust cross-curricular and authentic learning experience for their students. Next slide please. When planning, our teachers utilize the Virginia Essentialized Standards of Learning or the VESL. VESL are the revised academic content standards for students with the most significant

[02:41:20] cognitive disabilities in grades 3 through 8 and high school. Specifically, the VESL defined the required content for reading and mathematics in grades 3 through 8. Our teachers utilized the TeachTown curriculum that our wonderful special education dean, Allison McLaughlin, will share about next. Next slide, please. TeachTown is a research-based comprehensive special education curriculum designed for students with disabilities, including autism and developmental disabilities.

[02:41:59] Currently, it's in our third year of implementation within Loudoun County Public Schools specialized programs. The curriculum is used daily to drive academic growth. By utilizing a standards first adopted core curriculum, TeachTown fosters essential life skills in social communication, language development, and behavior ensuring measurable outcomes and meaningful learning opportunities for students with moderate to severe disabilities. Next slide. At this time,

[02:42:34] I would like to invite our spectacular special education teacher, Christy Grigna, to share with how we use the TeachTown adaptive curriculum at Belmont Station. Next slide, please.

[02:42:52] For our TeachTown units, my class read The Wizard of Oz, while Ms. Furbiscus' class read Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Because these are well-known stories, we brought them to life through student performances to make the learning experience more meaningful. Each TeachTown unit integrates English language arts, math, science, and social studies into the central narrative, allowing our students to be fully immersed in the theme across all subject areas, while also allowing us to reinforce key concepts across the entire curriculum.

[02:43:26] Next slide, please. Now, I would like to share with you some of the adaptations we made to the TeachTown units that allowed us to put on the performance. Next slide, please. To create a truly meaningful experience, our team developed a performance based on the TeachTown unit books.

[02:43:46] We began by adapting the scripts to ensure accessibility for all learners, empowering our students by encouraging them to take risks, speak in front of an audience, and brought the characters from the stories to life. By integrating the source material across all subjects and practicing at every opportunity, we ensured the students felt confident and fully immersed in the curriculum. Next slide, please. Now our K-2 program special education teacher, Jennifer Bickis will share about how we engage our community for these TeachTown performances.

[02:44:24] Next slide, please. In bringing this performance to life, we procured costumes for every character, created props and set designs, as well as practicing in front of multiple audiences. On opening day, we were honored to welcome parents, staff, and district stakeholders to witness the results. This showcase provided a vital platform for our students to demonstrate their hard work and talent before the very people whose support made this production possible. Here's a brief video demonstrating the process, as well as clips of the performances.

[02:45:00] In the course of several weeks, our students studied the TeachTown curriculum and featured the stories of The Wizard of Oz and Golden Glocks and the Three Bears. We took the already modified TeachTown story and created an easy-to-read reader's theater version.

[02:45:18] With the help of our teaching assistants, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, PE teacher, and general education peers, the students learned their part and added their own unique style to each role. My name is Vicky. I'm melting.

[02:45:37] I'm melting. Oh, dude. Baby Bart is the tornado. One day, there was a tornado. Her house was going round and round.

[02:45:53] She is almost a lion. Lion. I need some courage.

[02:46:08] Baby Bart is the break, will break. Whoa, whoa. Where is it, whoa? Are you gay, little girl?

[02:46:24] You look scared and all alone. I look like every girl. Mmm, look. I would be able to glow.

[02:46:48] She tasted the third ball. What?

[02:47:06] What's fun in the play? Um, I am baby bear. Flop in my bed. Who broke my chair? Who's that idea? Who's that idea?

[02:47:24] I'm so familiar. I love it. It's a fun show.

[02:47:52] Now that you've seen them and their wonderful work on the big screen, we would love to have our stars come up and introduce themselves. Come on up, everybody.

[02:48:20] This is Baby Bear. So, my name is George.

[02:48:40] My purple bear. Who likes grass by Chris Biddell? My name is Jayden.

[02:49:02] I play the lion. I can't get through this in my day.

[02:49:24] What did you say? Give us one second. Alright, ready? My name is Vicky. I was a witch. I'm melting. I'm melting. Can you melt? Can you melt?

[02:49:41] Oh my god. Alright, good job. Vicky!

[02:50:00] Tell him your name. It's okay. Tell him your name. What's that? Your name. Bodie.

[02:50:17] Bodie, good. My name is Bodie. My name is Bodie. I need a heart.

[02:50:35] Yeah, yeah. Can I come? Yeah. Good job. Yeah. My name's Kalea, and I like, um, which good? Which?

[02:50:50] What was her name? Um, Glenda. Which Glenda, good job. My name is Kalea Kalea, and I like, um, which good? Which? What was her name? Um, Glenda. Which Glenda, good job. My name is Kalea Kalea, and I like Gully Rocks.

[02:51:13] I have so much fun. Good job. My name is Mateo. I'm a reader. Good, the reader. Okay, good job. my name is my name is Joy I am Dorothy that concludes our presentation does

[02:51:51] anyone have any questions thank you so much for this opportunity well thank you so much and I have to say a heartfelt thank you so much to all of the students who really brought the story alive for us here tonight we are so grateful for the work that you're doing and for sharing this meaningful work with all of us. And with that, I will open the floor to questions from the school board, and we'll start with Ms. LaBelle. I want to thank you for bringing your cast in to us tonight, and I want to tell the school board, now you know why I spent the last 54 years in special education. Mrs. Griffiths.

[02:52:31] Thank you, Belmont Station. I'm sorry I missed that play, but just wonderful, and it just warms the heart. Thank you, Ms. Timothy. Thank you. Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, guys.

[02:52:46] This was amazing. It was so cool to see. And whoever said their favorite part was the tornado, that was my favorite part. That's probably why I'm a science teacher. Thank you so much for being here tonight. And thank you to all the students. Once again, we're so grateful for seeing what

[02:53:07] you've learned in school.

[02:53:30] Next up, we will move on to item number 10, our student school board representative's comments. Tonight, our student school board representative is Yushra Navid. She is a 12th grade student at Dominion High School and has been part of the Student Council Association and Global Ambassadors Club. She is president of the Global Ambassadors Program at Dominion and assists in planning the wonderful Loudoun International Summit that takes place each year and just took place a few weeks ago. Yushra values strong leadership, relationship building,

[02:54:07] and having fun through the new experiences gained at school. She is very interested in business and will be attending George Mason University this fall to major in business administration. Let me be the first to say congratulations. And welcome, Yusra. The floor is yours.

[02:54:25] Thank you. Good evening, everyone. And thank you so much for having me here tonight. My name is Yusra Naveed, and I am honored to be here with you all to share an experience that has become such a significant part of the person I have become in these past four years at Dominion High School.

[02:54:42] I have been guided in this journey by peers, friends, teachers, and mentors who have helped me face obstacles and overcome challenges. As an Asian American Muslim woman who comes from an immigrant background, I have been able to find a place for myself where my voice not only matters, but counts.

[02:54:57] I have been gratified with the opportunity to be a part of our school's Student Council Association Equity Committee and to serve as the co-president of our Global Ambassadors Program. Each opportunity has unequivocally carved me into the person I am today.

[02:55:14] From hosting an international summit online my freshman year to bringing it back in person after COVID, meeting people from around the world, from around the globe face-to-face has not only allowed me to deepen my understanding of new ideas, cultures, and values, but it has also allowed me to appreciate the strength in our differences.

[02:55:33] Being a part of the Student Equity Committee has also allowed me to voice my passions, concerns, and ideas and also understand those of the people around me. Being co-president of our school's Global Ambassadors Program has allowed me to be part of something great that connects leaders from around the world and gives our students the opportunity to host exchange students and be exchange students themselves.

[02:55:54] I myself have had the privilege to travel to Qatar with my peers and teachers, and none other than Dr. Brewer himself, who is also sitting here. It was an incredible experience. He like caught me door dashing Shake Shack at 3:00 a.m. one time, it was crazy. But yeah, these experiences have made me realize that there is so much more about school than just sitting in a classroom and learning.

[02:56:14] School is and should be a place where students bloom with creativity and find it within themselves to know their beliefs, values, rights, and Dominion High School is exactly that. It's a place where students feel welcomed and safe, with our security system being awarded the highest safety and security award of the year, and where staff and security aren't seen, students are.

[02:56:35] When we walk out against global injustice, drug and fentanyl use in our schools, and governmental concerns like ice on our school property. We have hosted anti-hate speech assemblies led by students themselves to fight hate and root it out in our school. Where the adults leave an empty space, our students are sure to fill that void with their voices.

[02:56:55] Our students have a renowned passion for education, theater, music, athletics, and culture. And I would like to give a shout out to Dominion High School for being the first school to introduce the Academy of Global and Linguistic Studies for the first time in Loudoun County this fall, for its debut in the 2026 to 2027 school year.

[02:57:13] It is a surreal feeling when I think about the fact that I will be graduating from a place that has built such a close-knit community. And as I head to George Mason University this fall and go on about my future, I hope to take these values of community, culture, and kinship with me through every chapter of my life.

[02:57:31] And as we are reminded every day, our lives are a priceless treasure. Our presence here in our community is a gift. We are loved unconditionally, and we are always truly Titans. Thank you so much for having me, and go Titans. Thank you so much for being here and for sharing your experience with us, and best wishes next year as you journey on in your education.

[02:57:59] Thank you. And with that, we will move on to item number 11, our superintendent's report, which will be presented tonight by Dr. Spence. Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the board. It's always my pleasure to share good news from around the school division. This evening, we'll start with Harper Park. Students from Harper Park Middle School's ecology and gardening clubs helped plant an eastern redbud tree today as a part of the town of Leesburg's Arbor Day celebration.

[02:58:24] The event highlighted Leesburg's long-standing Tree City USA designation and offered our students hands-on experience and proper tree planting techniques. To commemorate the occasion, students shared tree facts and read the poem Advice from a Tree. Harper Park's assistant principal Aaron Pinheiro noted that planting a tree inspires hope for the future, expressing confidence that this tree will thrive just as our Harper Park and LCPS students do. In celebration of Earth Day last week, Lincoln Elementary School held its annual Earth Day celebration where students spent the afternoon immersed in hands-on activities designed to spark thinking about their environment and ways to protect it. They addressed a simulated oil spill, made a craft

[02:59:02] highlighting the importance of pollinators, and learned about the vital role that bees play in our ecosystem. This Earth Day activity was just one of the many events happening across LCPS as schools and staff strive to inspire students to answer the call to protect our planet on Earth Day and every day. And for those interested in more Earth Day and Earth Month celebrations, don't forget about the Student Environmental Action Showcase tomorrow evening from 5 to 8 at the Academies of Loudoun. Students from all grade levels will share projects and research aimed at solving today's environmental challenges and celebrating the natural world. Speaking of the

[02:59:37] Academies, Innovation Day at the Academies of Loudoun brought together nearly 500 Propel and Level Up students for a celebration of STEM learning and creativity. Students presented innovative projects inspired by this year's theme and demonstrated their problem-solving skills and competitiveness in a battle of the bots challenge. Participants also explored virtual reality experience and enjoyed activities not typically found in a school setting, like riding roller coasters and motorcycles. The Propel and Level Up programs, which are provided to our elementary and middle school students, expand access to STEM opportunities for students who have been traditionally underrepresented in those fields. We want to thank all of our teachers and staff

[03:00:16] who supported this activity the Virginia Student Council's Association named Parkview High School educators Faith Primus and Nick Bailey the 2026 VSCA advisors of the year each year VSCA calls for nominations of student council advisors who exemplify the best qualities of student advisors students identified Mr. Miss Primus and Mr. Bailey as advisors who inspire them to take risks share ideas and pursue leadership opportunities Ms. Primus and Mr. Bailey have spent years supporting young leaders, empowering students to discover their voices, and building a student council program where every student feels valued and capable. Congratulations to them on this

[03:00:55] recognition. We also want to recognize three LCPS principals who are recently selected as members of the first class of the Principal of Distinction program with the VDOE. This program recognizes school leaders for exceptional leadership, improved student achievement, and fostering a positive school culture. Please join us in congratulating these outstanding principals. Katie Johnson of Belmont Ridge Middle School, Dr. Michelle Luttrell of Loudoun County High School, and Paul Thiessen of Pinebrook Elementary School. COSEN, or the Consortium for School Networking, honored LCPS

[03:01:29] with its 2026 Team Leadership Award at its annual conference in Chicago on Friday, April the 17th. The award celebrates a district leadership team whose strategic use of technology has had a transformative impact on student learning. LCPS was recognized for its team of technology leaders who work together to use technology to transform learning and empower teachers, strengthen partnerships with family, and serve their community with intention and care.

[03:01:56] Congratulations to the LCPS accounting team for extending their winning streak. Thanks to the efforts of these dedicated individuals, LCPS was awarded the Association of School Business Officials Certificate of Excellence Award for the fiscal year 2025 annual comprehensive financial report.

[03:02:15] LCPS' continued participation in ASBO's Certificate of Excellence program is a testament to our division's commitment to transparency and high-quality financial reporting. And then finally this evening, I'd just like to take a moment and reflect on the tremendous School Business Partnership Breakfast, which was held on Thursday, April the 16th.

[03:02:33] More than 800 people attended this year's event, which celebrated the partnerships and community members who helped expand learning opportunities across our division. The event highlighted how collaboration between schools and the business community strengthens opportunities for students who represent the future workforce of Loudoun County.

[03:02:51] This year's theme, Elevate Loudoun Partnerships and Pathways, was brought to life through student-designed posters, custom 3D-printed centerpieces, and a student-designed program cover. LCPS has nearly doubled its community partners over the last two years, from 1,000 partners in 2024 to nearly 2,000 registered partners in 2026.

[03:03:13] Many thanks to all who worked to make this event a success and for continuing to build these incredible partnerships supporting our learners. And Madam Chair, that concludes my report. Thank you so much, Dr. Spence. And with that, we'll move on to item number 12, public comment.

[03:03:28] These are our procedures for public comment. Thank you for engaging with the school board through the public comment process. The school board welcomes comments from Loudoun 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.

[03:03:46] Based on the number of speakers and the agenda this evening, all speakers will be allotted two minutes each for public comment. Please be advised that speakers who miss their time slot will not be called at a later time. Decorum and civility. All audience members shall maintain civility, decorum, and respect for the functioning and dignity of the school board at all times.

[03:04:06] 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 delays the meeting, obstructing 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 a speaker, staff member, or other meeting attendees.

[03:04:36] Speakers should refrain from vulgarity, obscenities, defamation, profanity, and other like breaches of respect nor may speakers target criticize or attack individual students and or individual division employees during public comment as a reminder school board policy 2520 states speakers may not target criticize or attack individual students during public comment speakers should communicate those concerns to their school principal and 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

[03:05:15] confidentiality requirements. I do want to take a moment to clarify a few things. As has been explained previously, speakers can personally identify a student or employee without stating a student's or an 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. The school board welcomes you to share your concerns but ask that to the extent you have prepared remarks that target, criticize, or attack

[03:05:55] any individual students or employees, you generalize such remarks to ensure compliance with board policy. For example, comments that target, criticize, or attack a student or an employee or a student or an employee from a specific named school or a student or an employee with any 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.

[03:06:25] 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 the school board chair, am charged with the responsibility to maintain order during school board meetings.

[03:06:46] Accordingly, when reasonable, I will warn 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 civility, decorum, and orderly conduct of the meeting.

[03:07:03] 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 a 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.

[03:07:44] Speakers should face 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 and civility by any meeting attendee may result in the chair directing staff to remove the attendee from the remainder of the meeting.

[03:08:07] 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.

[03:08:27] Distribution of materials to school board members. Copies of materials for board members should be given to the public information officer in the media box at the back of the room before the start of the meeting. Please provide 12 copies of the materials. Under no circumstances may a speaker approach the dais.

[03:08:45] The public is reminded that access to the school board meetings is available through LCPS-TV on 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 there are no virtual public comments tonight and we have two speakers our first speaker is suzanne satterfield followed by andrea weiskopf suzanne

[03:09:12] satterfield excuse me you love to talk about mental health make proclamations for it and throw money at it while you play the biggest role in adding to the rise in students anxiety and other mental health issues. Policy 8040 introduces students to the to the terms transgender and gender expansive

[03:09:48] which are rejections of one's biological reality. It can make students believe they can be born wrong and even change their sex. LCPS grooms vulnerable children to partake in behaviors that go against social norms like using opposite sex bathrooms and locker rooms, use a different name and opposite sex pronouns or a bunch of made-up ones. In typical groomer fashion, LCPS promises to keep this all from students' parents as they act like they know what's best for them. The student is made to feel special and celebrated, which is a form of being love-bombed. This grooming negatively

[03:10:24] impacts a child's mental health and they start to believe their parents don't love them or they are not safe at home. They may start to lose friends, see grades drop, start taking drugs and partake in other questionable behaviors, but you will all keep your heads held high and take zero responsibility as you wave your colorful grooming flags. You may have fooled yourself into thinking that you have done this type of child good and welcomed them to return to LCPS as a teacher or sub. The harsh reality is they have been on a downward spiral since being groomed by you.

[03:11:02] Your suicidal empathy towards mentally ill students and teachers are going to get people killed. Thank God for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Safe to Talk app was utilized by someone that cared more about saving lives than affirming a mentally ill employee's thoughts.

[03:11:19] NAD 40, NDI, raise your hiring standards for teachers and subs instead of just hiring bodies to fill a seat. Children's lives are at stake. Thank you. Andrea Weiskopf will be our final speaker.

[03:11:45] I only came tonight because I wanted to ensure that each and every child and their family hears from a speaker that they matter and that they belong in LCPS, no matter what.

[03:12:01] trans men are not the reason women pick the bear.

[03:12:16] Women pick the bear because for most of our experiences, predators are often male. And that is why women pick the bear. Again, I don't really have anything written. I just want you to remember you are only as brave as your next action. You

[03:12:49] are only as much of an ally as you are at your next opportunity. It has to keep going. You have to ensure that each and every child who attends LCPS belongs and their family knows their child

[03:13:13] belongs and that they are welcome and that they are celebrated. Protect trans children. Please protect the most vulnerable of our students, and that includes our trans children. Please protect

[03:13:40] them. Thank you. All right, we'll move on to our action item for this evening. This is item 13.01, Finance and Operations Committee, New Policy 4190, Other Post-Employment Benefits for OPEB Funding. Mrs. Griffiths, do you have a motion? Yes, Madam Chair. I would like to make a motion to approve this policy for OPEB, and I can say a few words on it if you'd like.

[03:14:17] Thank you for making that motion. Mrs. Griffiths, is there a second? A second. Thank you, Mr. Pepper. Yes, Mrs. Griffiths, would you please like to speak further to your motion? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. The purpose of the OPEB, the Other Post-Employment Benefits Funding Policy, is to establish the funding objectives and strategic framework for Loudoun County Public Schools in relation to retiree health care plans.

[03:14:45] This policy is intended to ensure that sufficient financial resources are available to meet the future benefit of plan participants while maintaining the fiscal integrity of the plan. It also aims to ensure that employer contributions are adequate to fully fund the plan's current year obligations.

[03:15:03] Thank you. Thank you. School board members, is there any discussion? Yes, Ms. McCarty. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to make an amendment. Thank you, Ms. Riccardi. Would you like to read your amendment? Sure will. I'd like to add a new section C7 after line 73 of the red line, and it would read, As part of each annual budget presentation to the school board, the chief financial officer shall report the proposed OPEB pre-funding appropriation request for the upcoming fiscal year, alongside the actual appropriation amounts

[03:15:42] for the prior three fiscal years. In any year in which the proposed appropriation request is below the prior year's level, the CFO shall include an analysis of the projected impact on the plan's funded ratio trajectory. - Thank you, Ms. Riccardi.

[03:15:57] Ms. Riccardi has made an amendment. Is there a second? - Second. - Thank you, Ms. LaBelle. Ms. Riccardi, would you like to speak to your amendment? - Sure, both of these amendments that I'm making are just adding a little bit of oversight on our part to this entire policy, which I think is just really helpful.

[03:16:16] It winds up giving the school board a public, clear, recurring visibility into whether OPEB is being adequately funded year over year. By requiring the CFO to report to the county's OPEB contribution as a standing line item in the annual budget presentation, the board demonstrates its commitment to the retirees and employees who dedicated their careers to LCPS.

[03:16:38] When funding is on track, the record reflects it, and when it isn't, the board is positioned to respond. Thank you. Board members, any comments or questions? Any discussion? Mr. Pepper.

[03:16:54] Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to hear from Ms. Willoughby, actually, on this amendment, because I believe it does impact some of the budget stuff. What kind of impact would this have on our presentation? What kind of impact would this have on the OPEB? Thank you for the question.

[03:17:13] So in the budget document, the book itself, we do present information on the annual OPEB funding. Because historically, the last several years, there has not been a change in funding, and part of the budget presentation to the school board has been focused on the changes, that's why there has not been a special call-out related to the OPEB funding request each year.

[03:17:36] In terms of the amendment, as I shared with Ms. Riccardi when she shared this, I have no concerns. I had actually indicated that I made a note that we can make sure that we can bring this forward as part of the presentation, just to put a highlight, even if it's simply stating that there is no change in the funding request and that we remain on track with our OPEB funding goals.

[03:18:02] So really, I just see this as really, I guess, just codifying a request for some additional transparency in the budget process. Thank you. Mr. Spenson. I had a question for Ms. Willoughby in terms of, I guess the amendment seems a bit prescriptive in terms of the amendment strikes me as something that would be more that something along the lines that we would adopt within our own internal practices and processes and whether it's staff working on the budget side or how the school board would like information presented.

[03:18:39] I'm just wondering if there's some reason we want to change the format or how it's presented in the future, if that would involve a change to policy. I just want to make sure that we're not diving too deep into the weeds of presentation in this formal policy that it might be easier just to have a practice that the board can change as we go forward.

[03:19:03] - This is one example of many that would be included as part of the budget process. And to your point, we don't have policies directing what specifically is to be presented to the school board.

[03:19:18] Rather, we follow best practices regarding priorities and funding levels. Another example that I could give would be related to our school nutrition fund. I share information during the budget process. We had a lengthy discussion after this last budget process related to the challenges of managing the fund versus just the specific budget request.

[03:19:41] And that was in tandem to the challenges that we were experiencing. Conversely, as I stated earlier, that's why there wasn't a big discussion, a special highlight or spotlight put on OPEB because there wasn't a change and there wasn't any imminent concern related to that.

[03:20:00] So this would be also an exception to that. And I could just perhaps offer, you know, maybe a discussion could be related to, you know, something that's more of a regulation related to budget processes versus codifying this.

[03:20:19] you. Ms. Chernoff? Thank you Madam Chair. I appreciate the dialogue around this amendment and I appreciate Ms. Riccardi bringing it and I know the committee itself is working on sort of evaluating some budget practices so I would be open to a regulation but actually I'm gonna support this tonight. I just think given the history with and since this is a new policy and given the history with retiree benefits and just keeping everything out in front of us as a new school board member I remember that sort of passing me by and not really realizing that that was such a huge impact and then on the back end we ended up creating a committee and learning all the things I'm seeing nodding in the

[03:20:58] audience so for me I think just having that checkpoint I don't think it's really calling anything out it's we have a policy now let's just report if there's no changes great and if there are then having that historical piece I really do actually appreciate we've asked for that in the past as part of budget presentations to sort of have that historical trajectory and miss will be your team has been amazing about bringing that and talking about the relationship with the board of supervisors and the funding and really it's for me it's more about an education piece as a board member and I'm not going to be here forever so I know sad face but I think it's really key that we

[03:21:34] have that in place in policy so that for board members to come that that is just part of the process that we would get an update given that we're adding this policy. So I will be supporting this amendment. Thank you. Ms. LaBelle. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Ms. Willoughby. I know that we're asking you to cover ground that we've covered before, but I know that the retirees in the system have been very worried about this.

[03:22:03] And just to have that little bit of transparency for them to see what is happening. Yes, you're still remembered. Yes, we still care. It means a great deal to them. So for that reason, I think that this is a good amendment to add to the policy thank you thank you mr.

[03:22:24] Svensson thank you I appreciate the discussion I I have no qualms with the substance of having this in the budget I just would prefer to have our practices kind of live in one place and not kind of put budget presentation practices in policy here and there so that's just to explain a little bit my thinking and would prefer this to be not in the policy itself any further discussion miss recording yeah I appreciate all the feedback you know I I think one of the reasons why I wanted to add this in here is because at the end of the day, the reporting to us is our responsibility.

[03:22:58] I mean, it's literally in code that we're responsible for the financial oversight. And what I don't want to have happen is what's happened in the fact that there hasn't been any changes, and so it just kind of has fallen off the radar screen. And as Ms. Chernoff had shared, you know, I am also concerned that we've got other funds that we just really need to keep a closer eye on.

[03:23:17] This doesn't hurt anything. doesn't take any extra effort to make sure that we just pull out a line item in the budget and the documents as we're doing it and we're looking at it. So I think it's just a way for us to keep a really close eye on it. I think our teachers and those that are in the retirement fund you know deserve that oversight from us. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you Mr. Carter. I don't disagree at all with the substance of this. I think this is an extremely important item that we all need to be made aware of. I just think that when we start to get into the nitty-gritty of codifying every single that needs to be in a presentation we sort of lose sight of the forest for the trees and I get what Miss Chernoff has said right we don't know what we don't

[03:23:56] know we jump up here for the first time right when you and I were going through the budget presentation and mr. Spence and as well for the first time we had no idea about OPEB or I couldn't even tell you what OPEB was until I jumped up here on the dice but that being said I really do worry about codifying every single thing and do like the idea of kind of leaving our practices separate from our policy. And it's just for that reason alone is really the only reason that I'm against this amendment, not because of substance, not because of content, not because of importance. But I appreciate the work that you're putting in on this. Thank you. Any further discussion? All right,

[03:24:33] seeing no further discussion, let's move forward with the vote on Ms. Riccardi's amendment, which has been properly moved by Ms. Riccardi and seconded by Ms. LaBelle. Again, the amendment reads, add new section C7 after line 73. As part of each annual budget presentation to the school board, the chief financial officer shall report the Loudoun County School Board of Supervisors proposed OPEB pre-funding appropriation for the upcoming fiscal year alongside the actual appropriation amounts for the prior three fiscal years in any year in which the proposed

[03:25:08] appropriation is below the prior year's level. The CFO shall include an analysis of the projected impact on the plan's funded ratio trajectory. Clerk, please close and display the vote.

[03:25:24] Okay. That motion is tied with four school board members voting yes, including Ms. Riccardi, Ms. Chernoff, Mrs. Griffiths, and Ms. LaBelle, and four school board members voting no, including Mr. Spenson, myself, Mr. Pepper, and Dr. Rashid. In the event of a tie, according to policy 22 or excuse me 2440 the order of business quorum rules and voting in section d on voting I guess it's d section 2 in any case which there is a tie vote when all members are not present

[03:26:03] the question shall be passed by until the next meeting when it shall again be voted upon even though all members are not present in any case in which there is a vote on any question after complying with this procedure or in any case in which there is a tie vote when all the members are present the clerk shall record the vote and the motion resolution or issue voted upon shall be defeated so with that we are at an impasse and this item will be added to the agenda for the next school board

[03:26:33] meeting and with that we will move on to our information items first I have one more amendment and I know the so the whole thing is moving to go to the next because we have a tie vote.

[03:26:52] - Mr. Allen, would you like to weigh in on that? - Thank you, Chair Chandler. Yes, you would have to resolve one layer of amendments prior to moving on to the base motion or any other amendments.

[03:27:10] So based on that construct, then if the motion is being moved towards, or the matter is being moved to the next board meeting, that amendment, once it's resolved, any other amendments can be taken up thereafter. and then the base motion, either as amended or not, can be resolved at that time.

[03:27:31] - Thank you. All right, information items 14.01, Department of Business and Financial Services, fiscal year 27, budget supplement for available state funding, presented by Ms. Sharon Willoughby, our Chief Financial Officer.

[03:27:48] - Thank you. This information item is related to an action that the General Assembly took recently when they adopted and passed their FY26 caboose bill. This bill provided additional state funding to school divisions, allowing them to either provide a $1,500 bonus payment or provide an equivalent pay action for standards of quality-funded positions in either fiscal year 26 or fiscal year 27.

[03:28:18] LCPS has been allocated $6.2 million as the projected state share of the cost to provide the bonus or equivalent compensation action. However, as many of you know, LCPS has more robust staffing than the minimums that are funded by the SOQ, and the estimated cost to provide a $1,500 bonus to all LCPS employees would cost approximately $21.3 million.

[03:28:43] Therefore, LCPS has elected to satisfy the equivalent action requirement in lieu of the bonus payment based on compensation actions already included in the school board's FY27 budget. In accordance with the FY26 SOQ bonus business rules published by VDOE, no additional expenditures would be required to be eligible for these funds.

[03:29:07] Essentially, the step in COLA that was averaging a 6.5% to 7.5% pay increase for employees next year more than satisfies the equivalent pay action requirement. By recognizing these funds in FY27, LCPS gains additional financial flexibility as we start the new fiscal year.

[03:29:28] So the staff's recommendation is for the school board to approve the budget supplemental request for $6.2 million to the school operating fund for FY27. And if the school board votes for this passage at the next meeting, when it's an action item, then this would be transmitted to the county board of supervisors for them to take action on this request.

[03:29:53] Thank you, Ms. Willoughby. Board members, are there any questions? Mr. Pepper? Thank you, Madam Chair. and thank you, Ms. Willoughby. For those of you who are not educators, bonuses are not the best thing for educators because they don't count towards their VRS. And so enrolling this into salary and benefits because we're giving the step in the COLA next year and then taking it the way that Ms. Willoughby provides is an excellent solution to this. And I wholeheartedly agree with this method because it ensures that our educators get both the compensation they deserve from the state and that it will count towards their future retirement their

[03:30:32] earnings so I think this is a really clever method of doing things thank you any further questions all right I am hesitant to ask board members because it's a budgetary item and a large amount but is there interest in moving this to consent okay seeing that we're not unanimous we'll move on we'll see this back next time on action I knew my instincts were good there we'll move on to item 14.02 Finance and Operations Committee Thomas Jefferson High School

[03:31:10] for science and technology the LCPS contract with Fairfax County Public Schools for school year 2728 this evening this will be presented by Mrs. Griffiths Mrs. Griffiths the floor is yours Thank you, Madam Chair. The FY27 budget includes for Thomas Jefferson over $7,253,782 for tuition for LCPS students to attend Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

[03:31:38] Just a little background, LCPS is required to notify FCPS no later than June 1st if it intends to continue this participation in sending students to Thomas Jefferson for the 2027-2028 academic year.

[03:31:55] The application process for students entering Thomas Jefferson in SY28 begins September 2026. My thoughts, this is a great opportunity for our students. it's a top school in the nation I ask that my colleagues continue the Thomas Jefferson contract and if I can ask that it go on consent I'd appreciate it thank you thank you any questions or comments school board members I'll open the floor um yes dr. Rasheed I just had a few questions about again this is for

[03:32:32] renewing the contract for LCPS with TJ am I correct because I do see FCPS on it Okay. So, and I didn't know the proper cabinet member to address this to, but I was just curious, and I ask this every year only because I want to see if there's any changes from the year before.

[03:32:49] What are the number of buses that we bus from LCPS to TJ, and what is the difference between last year to this year? Chair Chandler, I'm happy to start, and then if I need anything.

[03:33:06] Yes, Mr. Slevin, thank you. So, currently we have eight buses that transport students to Thomas Jefferson High School, and I believe that that is the same number that we've had in the previous year. And on average, there's about 48 students on each of those buses.

[03:33:22] So, we have just shy of 400 students out of 10 TJ, and it is a pretty popular service that is utilized by our families. When you say 48 students, so it's how many students per bus? Just from my own curiosity. 48 per bus. 48 per bus and that is the maximum so currently um has that changed from last year you said that is the same so in the agenda item and board docs we do have historical information knowing that this is of interest to the board and on the second page you see that transportation costs um have fluctuated somewhat around nine hundred thousand dollars to nine hundred fifty thousand dollars

[03:34:01] over the past four fiscal years but there hasn't been um a significant variance in in the cost and I believe that we have maintained those eight buses over the years. And is there a projection for, like, an increase in enrollment? So has there, I know you said 48 is the maximum, but the actual number of students that go to TJ is that, has there been an increase from last year to this year?

[03:34:25] So we saw an increase in the amount of students that were admitted to TJ in school year 22, 23. That's when we got up to around 400. We had about 380 students. And for the past four school years, that's where we've hovered, And that's where we anticipate it staying unless there's any major changes to the admissions process.

[03:34:43] But we would be able to project that when this item comes, when we actually get the actual contract for approval in the fall. And does the contract state if there is some sort of, and maybe it does, I don't remember, it's been a while. Is there any type of policy, rather, that states we have some sort of plateau or a maximum amount of students that would go to TJ, that we would bus there?

[03:35:08] Not within the contract or within policies within LCPS right now. So there is a potential to increase it to nine buses, for example, or 10 buses. I exaggerate on purpose, but that could be a possibility in the future. Am I correct? It could be, and part of the reason why we're talking about transportation tonight is the school board adopted the Thomas Jefferson High School policy last year that asked for this to be reviewed annually.

[03:35:33] And so this is the board's opportunity to look at the cost we've been spending on transportation to see if it's coming out of line. So you would have an annual opportunity to have this conversation if you're seeing increases in the amount of transportation. So let's say the FY27 budget increases out of line with where we've been the past few fiscal years, that would be a dialogue we have going into the next fiscal year.

[03:35:59] - Thank you. - So I think that was the intent of the policy change So that we have this conversation annually. Yeah, that's reassuring. I just wanted to clarify that and tell my colleagues here on the dais that out here in the West, over here in this neck of the woods, our busing that goes to, I mean, in the wintertime especially, we have some challenges when we have our students go to schools and stuff like that.

[03:36:25] And in the past, there was a shortage of bus drivers or transportation due to some reason. So that's why I just always put this a little bit of a red underline underneath it. And I'm all for opportunity. I think this is a great opportunity, but I always want to keep that on alert.

[03:36:42] Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Any other discussion? Oh, Ms. LeBell. Just a quick question. I guess it would be Mr. Slevin who's going to answer. When these bus drivers drive the buses out to TJ, do they remain there until the end of the school day, Or do they come back to Loudoun County and wait to go back?

[03:37:05] What do the buses do in between their trips to and from TJ? I'm going to refer that to Mr. Traynor. Thank you. So, Ms. LeBell, I will have to get that information, get it back to you.

[03:37:21] I'm not, I don't know what they do right now. Okay. Thank you. In the past, though, and I think Ms. LeBell has heard this in the past, we were told that when there's a bus driver that, and I'm not talking about Academies of Loudoun, but for TJ, that the bus drivers stayed there and they continue to be on payroll while they're there waiting.

[03:37:45] I know you have to verify, but we were told that in the past, so I think this is part of why we're bringing this up, too. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, Ms. Riccardi. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Slevin, could you, we talked a little bit last week about just the tuition question I had about the $18,000 versus what was in the letter with the $24,000, Could you clarify that for me again, exactly what we're paying for the tuition per student?

[03:38:20] Yes, Ms. Riccardi. So what you're seeing in board docs for information is the agreement for school year 26 and 27. So tonight's action is signaling intent to Thomas Jefferson High School and Fairfax County Public Schools that we intend to maintain this relationship going into the 27-28 school year.

[03:38:41] And so the contract that has the amount of $24,333 is the contract that's currently in place for our students attending Thomas Jefferson High School this year. The historical document has a cost of $18,000 for school year 24-25, which is FY26.

[03:39:07] That contract is also in board docs, and the cost per pupil is listed as $22,664. And I believe your question comes from the disparity between the cost that's listed as actual versus what was in the contract.

[03:39:23] And on line seven in each of the contracts, there's a statement that says less the state's supplemental per pupil funding for the governor's school based on the cooperating division's LCI. So the cost for sending our students to Thomas Jefferson is supplemented from the governor's school's fund.

[03:39:45] So the actual cost is lower. So the supplemental is about $3,700 that reduces the tuition. Thank you. Yeah, so what's the final number? The final number, we don't have the actual cost yet loaded for FY27, but for FY26, the final number was $18,034.

[03:40:09] All right, thank you so much. Yeah. Okay. That's great. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. LaBelle. Is the cost for tuition for students going to TJ higher or lower than our per seat that we are getting from the state here in Loudoun County?

[03:40:31] Are you asking about our cost per pupil, or what are we getting from the state? Cost per pupil. So while we don't have the tuition cost for the next contract for school year 27-28, for next year, our local cost per pupil is $25,940.

[03:40:56] Thank you. Can I ask you just to repeat that one more time? So the cost per pupil for the adopted FY27 budget is $25,940. Thank you. Ms. LaBelle.

[03:41:13] I take it that, sorry, I take it that the difference in the two is that we are getting subsidies for the students going to TJ. Is that why that is lower? You want to try?

[03:41:32] Thank you again, Ms. Willoughby. I think we're looking at two different bases of numbers. So our cost per pupil is a prescribed formula related to, you know, deriving our average cost per pupil, you know, of regular operations.

[03:41:49] I think Fairfax uses a similar formula to start off what their tuition rate would be. And then there are other factors, as Mr. Sloven has mentioned, that have not been finalized yet. So while you could roughly look at the two numbers as a comparison to get a general idea, but I wouldn't say it's an apples-to-apples comparison.

[03:42:10] Okay, thank you. Thank you. All right. Seeing no further discussion, I will ask if the board has any appetite to put this item on consent. Nope, it doesn't look like we're unanimous, so we'll bring this one back for action.

[03:42:34] All right, with that, we will move on to 14.03, Human Resources and Talent Development School Calendar Options for 28-29 School Year, presented by Ms. Lisa Bolin, our Chief Human Resources Officer.

[03:43:05] Good evening, I'm sure this is your favorite time of year. Okay, so several years ago, HRTD established a goal of providing our staff and families with multiple year school calendars to better support long-term planning. In alignment with that goal, we are bringing forward five calendar options for the 28-29 school year for your consideration this evening. So LCPS is committed to supporting every student in pursuing and reaching

[03:43:41] their full potential and empowering them to make meaningful contributions to the world. Establishing a thoughtfully designed school calendar is a foundational step in fulfilling this mission, work that HRTD has supported over time.

[03:43:58] For our new school board members, I want to highlight that the student calendar serves as the foundation for the teacher work calendar. Together, these calendars establish the framework that guides the development of all other staff calendars, a total of which we have 29 staff calendars. 14 additional calendars of those 29 are what we mock up for various positions. As you can imagine, developing a school calendar that meets the needs of more than 80,000 students and their families is both complex and challenging

[03:44:38] and not a responsibility we take lightly. The calendar must comply with LCPS policy and Virginia Code serve as the foundation for more than 25 staff calendars impacting over 13,000 employees and remain aligned with our core values and the goals of the 2027 Strategic Plan for Excellence.

[03:45:03] We recognize the weight of this responsibility and the number of lives affected by these decisions. Before presenting the draft options for the 28-29 school year, I would like to take a moment to review the school calendar development process. Over time, this process has shaped the guiding principles reflected in both our current calendars and the draft options you will see this evening. For our returning school board members, many of these factors will be familiar. For those

[03:45:37] who are new, I hope this overview provides helpful context as you consider the calendar options before you. The development of the school calendar is guided by LCPS policy and regulation 7040 as well as Virginia code and other applicable laws. Policy and regulation 7040 provide direction on key areas such as student and teacher calendar build, school holidays, staff development days, inclement weather procedures, and other scheduling considerations. In addition, Virginia code requires

[03:46:13] school divisions to provide either 180 instructional days or 990 instructional hours each year. LCPS exceeds this requirement as our students receive 6 hours and 45 minutes of instruction each day, or 6 hours and 15 minutes of instruction each day, 45 minutes exceeding the requirement another factor impacting calendar development is house bill 1148 which moved the

[03:46:48] virginia june primary election to the third tuesday in june this shift can impact the last day of school and other end-of-year activities as we've seen in previous calendars i'd also like to briefly address a topic that often receives significant attention snow days in recent years mild milder winters have led to increased questions about how snow days are calculated and included.

[03:47:20] LCPS has maintained a fixed calendar for more than 30 years. This provides consistency for families and staff in planning the school year. Rather than building calendars to the minimum requirements and adjusting them for closures. LCPS has a banked time approach. Because our students receive more instructional hours than required, this additional time allows the division to absorb inclement weather days while maintaining a stable, predictable calendar. This approach is

[03:48:00] reflected in School Board Policy 7040 and continues to guide our work today in the development of calendars. An additional key consideration in calendar development is the start of the school year in relation to Labor Day. This is an area where we also receive questions. In Virginia, school divisions that wish to begin the school year more than 14 days prior to Labor Day must be granted a waiver. LCPS received this waiver several years ago and it remains in effect today.

[03:48:38] As a result, LCPS may begin the school year more than 14 days before Labor Day without requesting an additional waiver. We have also confirmed that this waiver does not require LCPS to close schools on the Friday before Labor Day.

[03:48:58] In addition to the laws and regulations that guide calendar development, stakeholder feedback has been a critical part of this process. HRTD has worked intentionally to gather input and use that feedback to inform the development of the calendar options.

[03:49:19] This has included ongoing engagement with the school board as well as input from student, teacher, and principal advisory committees over the past several years. In 2024, we established a calendar committee with representatives from across the division to ensure a broad and diverse perspective.

[03:49:40] While not a standing committee, this group continues to be engaged in a consultative role to support the development of current and future calendar options. We also developed a dedicated calendar development webpage in 2024, which remains available as a resource for our community.

[03:50:01] In addition, we have conducted surveys with staff and families over multiple years. In 2024, five surveys were distributed across advisory groups, the calendar committee, and the broader school community. These surveys gathered input on key factors, such as the start and end of the school year, lengths of breaks, holidays, quarter lengths, alignment with neighboring divisions, and total instructional days.

[03:50:31] Based on the feedback gathered through surveys, advisory committees, school board discussions, and public comment, HRTD identified a set of guiding principles to help inform the development of the school calendar options you will be seeing this evening.

[03:50:48] These principles serve as a foundation for the work while still allowing flexibility in the development of individual calendar options. The first two guiding principles are the start and end time of school, which historically is two weeks before Labor Day approximately, with an end date of approximately the second week of June.

[03:51:11] The second guiding principle involves breaks, with a two-full-week winter break and a one-week full spring break. Additional guiding principles include a target of 180 instructional days.

[03:51:30] In 2024-25 school year and 25-26 calendars, they have included fewer days due to election day and then the change of the last day of school from a Monday to a Friday.

[03:51:47] And of course, the recognition of one holiday for significant religious observances from major world religions as is outlined in regulation 7040. In addition HRTD has heard and responded to feedback regarding gap days school days that fall between existing holidays and can disrupt continuity as well as preferences for starting and ending the school year on a Monday. So we we do our best to guide or to develop calendars that reflect the preferences in those two areas as

[03:52:25] well. The collective feedback and guiding principles informed the development of this evening's five draft calendar options. And now I'd like to review the five calendar options before you this evening. Options one through four are traditional calendar options for the 28-29 school year and include both student and teacher calendars. As you will see, each of these options

[03:52:58] begins prior to Labor Day and includes a two-week winter break and a one-week spring break. Option five is structured differently. It includes a 28-29 school calendar and a 29-30 school calendar as part of a phased approach toward a year-round calendar model. I'm going to start with option one.

[03:53:25] Option one includes the following for students, 180 instructional days, a start day of Thursday, August 24th, aligned with the guiding principle of beginning approximately two weeks prior to Labor Day. It includes a two-week winter break and a one-week spring break, fairly balanced quarters, and a last day of school of Friday, June 22nd. There are a total of 25 full

[03:54:00] five-day weeks of instruction in this calendar. That's out of 40. In this calendar, spring break does still align with Easter. For teachers, option one includes 194 scheduled work days and three unscheduled work days, a start date of Wednesday, August 16th, six days prior to the student start date and an end date of Tuesday, June 26th, two days after the student's last day. Option two is

[03:54:38] very similar to option one with one key difference. For students, option two includes 180 instructional days, the same start date of Thursday, August 24th, two-week winter break, a one-week spring break, fairly balanced quarters, and a last day of school of Friday, June 22nd. The primary difference is that option two spring break is aligned with the end of the third quarter rather than Easter. We are presenting both options one and two in response to both school board and community interest in

[03:55:14] exploring calendars that decouple spring break from Easter. It is worth noting however that prior survey results have not had a clear indicated preference of either approach. For teachers option 2 again mirrors option 1 with 194 scheduled work days, three unscheduled work days, a start date of August 16th, and an end date of June 26th. Options 3 and 4 share several common features as well.

[03:55:50] Both options reflect a start date one week earlier than options 1 and 2, which results in a last day of school, that is one week earlier as well, in mid-June rather than late June. For students, both options include 197 instructional days, which avoids the school year ending on a Monday, a start date of Thursday, August 17th, a two-week winter break and a one-week spring break aligned with Easter, fairly balanced quarters, a last day of school on Friday, June 15th,

[03:56:30] and a total of 24 full five-day weeks. Again, for teachers, 194 scheduled workdays and three unscheduled workdays, a start date of Wednesday, August 9th, six days prior to students, and an end date of Wednesday, June 20th, which is two days after the student's last day.

[03:56:57] Option four, again, is very similar to option three. The key difference here also being that Easter does not align with spring break. Option five represents a totally different approach than the previous options.

[03:57:20] For several years, there has been interest in exploring a more traditional year-round school calendar. In response, option five introduces a phased step-in model toward a year-round structure.

[03:57:36] If adopted, this option would include calendars for both the 28-29 school year and the 29-30 school year, allowing families and staff time to adjust and plan in advance as the division transitions to a more balanced calendar model.

[03:57:55] Option 5, the transitional year-round model, this model gradually shifts instructional time across the year to create a more balanced calendar, reduce extended summer learning loss, and minimize immediate disruption to traditional schedules.

[03:58:17] The key elements of the transition include a modest reduction in summer break rather than an immediate shift to a full year-round model, expansion of existing breaks to create longer, more meaningful intercessions, fall, winter, and spring, a focus on federal holidays with other holidays converted into instructional days to support extended breaks.

[03:58:44] So that's a key difference in our traditional calendars. In 28-29, for students, they would have 180 instructional days, a start date of Thursday, August 10th, three two-week breaks in fall, winter, and spring, a shorter first and second quarter to align with winter break with the midpoint of the school year, observance of federal holidays only, and a last day of school of Wednesday, June 13th.

[03:59:19] A total of 30 full five-day instructional weeks are included in this calendar, 30, 3-0. Also included is the 29-30 calendar, which is the second phase of the more traditional year-round model based on an approximate 45-day instructional period followed by a 15-day break with some adjustments for holidays.

[03:59:54] So for students, this calendar provides for 180 instructional days, a start date of Monday, July 23rd, three three-week breaks.

[04:00:10] And those three three-week breaks are why the start date is where it is. A three-week break in the fall, a three-week break in the winter, and a three-week break in the spring. more consistent quarter lengths, again observance of only federal holidays, and a last day of school of Friday, June 14th. So here's some important considerations for these models as you think through this. With this option, the earlier start date results in a shorter summer break for both

[04:00:46] students and staff. However, this shift is necessary to support a move toward a balanced year-round calendar structure. While option five outlines a phased approach, there is flexibility within this model. Should the school board wish to explore alternative transition step adjustments, such as a one-time modification to instructional days or calendar timing, could be considered to further ease the transition. For example, the board could consider a modified approach to the

[04:01:23] 28-29 school calendar with 175 instructional days that results in a one week earlier end date on June 6th, allowing for an additional summer time week while still moving toward a balanced year-round calendar structure. If the school board chooses to pursue option five, the teacher calendar would be developed in collaboration with the relevant departments, including the departments of school leadership and teaching and learning to adjust professional development as

[04:02:02] needed, depending on the direction of the calendar. Additionally, HRTD frequently receives feedback from stakeholders asking why school cannot start after Labor Day and end before Memorial Day.

[04:02:26] While this request may seem reasonable, we have developed two sample calendars for illustrative purposes only. These are not options that we recommend the school board take action on to demonstrate the challenges associated with these timelines and this approach.

[04:02:51] The first illustration reflects a post-Labor Day start and a pre-Memorial Day end, including only federal holidays. And as shown, this model provides approximately 1,000 instructional hours across 160 instructional days, which means we don't meet the number of days for code, and we only have 10 hours of additional instructional hours beyond the state requirement.

[04:03:22] This would significantly limit the division's ability to absorb any inclement weather or emergency closures. Any time beyond those 10 hours would need to be made up, most likely by extending the school year. The second illustration reflects the same post-Labor Day start and pre-Memorial Day end while maintaining all currently LCPS-observed holidays.

[04:03:48] This model results in approximately 975 instructional hours and 156 instructional days, which means we don't meet the state requirement of hours or days. Additionally, given that the standard teacher contract includes 194 scheduled workdays and three unscheduled workdays, this approach would significantly increase the number of non-student workdays for teachers and other licensed staff.

[04:04:25] We recognize that this is a significant amount of information and we appreciate the time and thoughtful consideration you put into school calendars. It is our hope that we have provided you with well-researched options and the information needed to support a confident discussion and decision on how best to move forward as a division in support of our students and staff.

[04:04:49] So what's next? Following this presentation, HRTD will distribute a survey to staff and families to gather feedback and better understand priorities related to the calendar options presented this evening. Our goal is to bring the calendar options back to the school board as an action item at a future meeting prior to the summer recess.

[04:05:12] This timeline allows the board time to review the options, consider stakeholder feedback, and engage in any further discussion. Ultimately, our goal is to support the school board in adopting a calendar for the 28-29 school year by the end of June.

[04:05:29] Once adopted, HRTD will partner with the Communications and Community Engagement Office to publish and share the approved calendar with staff, families, and the broader community. Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration this evening, and we appreciate your engagement in the process, and I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

[04:05:51] Thank you, Ms. Bolin. Board members, I'll open the floor to questions, and we'll start with Ms. LaBelle. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Ms. Bolin, for all the work. I know how hard it is for you to put all the different options in there. So I'm going to ask a question that I have been asked, and I'm sure many of the other board members have been asked.

[04:06:11] Have you considered including the holiday for Orthodox Christians? I know they were asking for a Good Friday and something else, I can't remember what, but I know that it's a different day than the traditional Christian Good Friday.

[04:06:28] So thank you for the question, Ms. LaBelle. We, and I jotted down a few actually, because we get requests to add many different holidays to the calendar. And our response is typically that would require a change to regulation and ultimately a discussion with the school board.

[04:06:50] At this time in regulation, it is one holiday for nationally recognized world religions, I think is what the definition was determined. But we get requests to add Veterans Day, Ethiopian New Year, Ethiopian Christmas, the Christian Orthodox holidays, Good Friday and Christmas, which are different.

[04:07:18] The Persian New Year, we've gotten requests for a second Eid, as well as to recognize both Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. our response has been that we absolutely will come back to the school board to see if there are additional holidays however if we begin to add additional holidays we would have to review all of them thank you um mr pepper thank you madam chair um so probably more than anyone i'm very

[04:07:54] opinionated on the calendar because i live by a school calendar um and i appreciate the hard work you put in with all of these options i i like that you've given us a lot to think about um for me and maybe this is different i actually don't care where spring break sits i don't care if it's on easter i don't care if it's another quarter what i care about is that our spring break aligns with spring break from all the other school divisions around here because if you don't you are going to have a nightmare for staff members with their children and child care um because not every teacher lives in loudon county and not every loudon county student has educators who are parents here so just going to put that out there as food for thought but if you look at what's happening

[04:08:34] Manassas this year because Manassas is misaligned next year it is it is an issue already and the educators are really unhappy so like I said I don't care when it's misaligned I am also going to say I love that you put in the thought for year-round schooling I am vehemently against year-round schooling and those are those are my thoughts like vehemently because we are talking about putting in IB programs we are talking about losing students the opportunity to go to governor school we're talking about students who have formative experiences at summer camp and all of these things are major considerations if we even consider something like this there's a huge financial loss for

[04:09:11] teachers that lose their summer work so there's a lot to be considered people who love it love it people who are against it our guests if we do something like this it is in my opinion going to have to be staggered and selected at certain sites and people are going to have to have the opportunity to go in and go out which is going to affect 8155 which is our policy on school assignment so I'm going to put that out there right now that there is going to be major uproar if we go year-round and and i am not a fan of it whatsoever that being said i would love to hear my fellow board members thoughts on all this because there's a few things i'm passionate

[04:09:45] about and school calendar is definitely one of them mrs griffiths thank you madam chair um i i to piggyback on that uh school retention um when i had an issue where we lost um a teacher because she lived in Fairfax and it didn't align so that was very upsetting to my kids when we lost that particular teacher so it's really a retention issue but I think there's a lot to unpack here

[04:10:19] and I and I appreciate all the work you're doing and everything I just the calendar was on the agenda but the actual calendars were not so I got a lot of emails where was it I know we had a board docs issue i know we had a board docs issue but um the calendar i'm this information it would have been helpful if it was up a couple days earlier so people parents and and students and everybody could digest it now i know it's just an information item but um if we could try and stay within that once it's on the agenda get it up as soon as possible i'd really appreciate that as well

[04:10:56] are you aware that it wasn't up right away or you're looking at me like maybe um i'm wrong So I am aware we made some changes to bring year-round calendar as an option last week versus bringing it back as another alternative calendar.

[04:11:21] We've discussed year-round as an option for the past several years. We've put it in surveys for the past several years. We keep talking about it as an alternative calendar. And so the decision was made to see what the response would be if it was an actual option on the calendar.

[04:11:42] And so that took some additional work. And then, yes, we attempted to put it up yesterday, but there was a board docs issue. And I appreciate you adding that option. I really do. I know of maybe one person that would like year round, but I guess there's a lot more people that are interested in that.

[04:12:03] So I think it's mostly a lot of the holidays, people are looking to have them as excused and not count towards the 180 days. That's the feedback I get as far as the holidays, like a day here, a day there.

[04:12:21] Because in addition to that, you throw in work holidays for the teachers, staff holidays, not holidays, work sessions for the teachers, I apologize, not holidays. So all that adds up, and I think that frustrates some parents.

[04:12:37] But you don't need to hear that from me. You already know. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Swinson. Thank you, Madam Chair. I had a couple questions about Option 5, the year-round calendar, just some clarifying ones. So you had said that for the 2028 to 2029 school year, it would be 30 of the 40 weeks would be full five-day weeks, I think.

[04:13:01] And is that the same for the proposed 2029-2030 option that would follow? Is it also 30 of 40? I have to double-check the 29-30 weeks, but I believe it will be the same.

[04:13:28] No problem. But I would prefer to double-check. Yeah, no problem. and then I was wondering for the option five as well on Easter I see on the options here that it does line up I guess I actually because Easter changes it seems like it would likely line up with Easter but is the idea that it just lines up with the third quarter if for that option that's correct okay thank you those are my clarifying questions for option five I really appreciate you putting this together it's helpful to see it all laid out oh and one other thing for the option five for the 2028 2029 phase in year is essentially the

[04:14:07] difference between that and the four other options is that we've moved to just federal holidays I guess and instead of taking instead of having the other holidays that LCPS recognizes so option you mean option five the yeah I was thinking about like what if that option the 2028 29 calendar within option five was just its own option is that the difference mostly that it's just the federal holidays and not and in addition it is a two-week fall break a two-week winter break and a two-week

[04:14:44] spring break so the lengths of breaks um are longer right and there is a guaranteed fall break So it's the introduction of those intercessions versus spreading out the school holidays.

[04:15:02] So the trade-off of the intercession is taking some of the other non-federal holidays and putting that into the larger chunks. Yes, to keep from extending the school year longer. Thank you. That's helpful. Thank you. Ms. Chernoff. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[04:15:19] It's no secret that I have had concerns with our calendar in the past. And I continue to have struggles with our calendar. And it's no fault of the department. I think we have a lot of moving parts, like you said. We got a lot of opinions. And you make one group happy, you make another group unhappy.

[04:15:36] We are serving incredible educators. We have to be responsive to their needs, as well as our community needs. And they are vast and wide, as I have learned on my social media account. If you want more followers, post about the calendar. You will get feedback.

[04:15:52] so that would be my advice and turn on the comments so here's the thing here's where I'm at with this I have even proposed my own calendar in the past so I've been down this road and I sort of feel like we're at an impasse I think what the way that I see this from the community feedback that I've gotten is that it's really two paths either we're going to continue down the road of what we've always been doing and that's going to mean late ish June finishes which to

[04:16:28] me a June 20 number for a student finish is like oh no can't do it maybe others feel fine with that but that feels alarming to me and we have a seven and a half week ish summer this summer so the summers are getting shorter and so to me if we're gonna continue with our guiding principles all of them and not wiggle on any of those things, which is what we have done to try and meet the feedback, we are basically doing year-round school with none of the benefits for the learning loss and

[04:17:04] for the breaks. And so for me, I'm very open to seeing what the public says. Personally, I would support year-round school as a parent and an educator myself, but obviously we're going to need to do some work on feedback. I also think we have got to have an honest conversation about holidays. If we are not going to go to year-round school and our summers are getting shorter and shorter and our teacher contract days are staying the same so we're paying them what we say we're paying them and it's not lowering that, we've got to have an honest conversation about it because

[04:17:39] everything I know about child development and teaching and education and about some of our most vulnerable learners tells me that consistency is key. We talk about that all the time across many different topics. And so I'm having a hard time. I know we say it's five days, but it's five weeks. And when you look at what you said, 25 out of 40 weeks being interrupted, that's 62% of the school year that is uninterrupted. And then you have 75% if we go

[04:18:14] to 35-day weeks. The other piece of this, and I honor where this holiday, I think it's really unique what we do here in LCPS to be culturally responsive. But over the last year, I too have received many emails asking for more and more holidays.

[04:18:30] And so when we say we want to be culturally responsive and inclusive, but we're only going to recognize nationally recognized religions, how is that inclusive and responsive? And I have always felt like we have a responsibility to instruction first in LCPS.

[04:18:45] And every curriculum is built on a five-day week. Every intervention, tier three, tier two, is built on four days of instruction and a day of assessment. And that consistency allows for us to monitor where students are and where they're going.

[04:19:01] And so if we're, I am concerned about that. Now, if this, the will of the board remains that we don't want to touch that, and that may be the case, I feel like something's got to give. And so that's where I'm really willing to have the dialogue about year-round school. Because I think it could be a win-win in that situation for us.

[04:19:20] And obviously, there are concerns about athletics. I have lots of questions about how that will impact our athletic schedule, playing other teams in other districts. I have questions about CIP projects, how that will impact our renovations. I have questions about employees who are out of county.

[04:19:38] Are we going to lose them? Are we going to pay for their kids to come here so that we don't lose them? Parks and rec, summer camps. How are we going to help those students that need that care throughout the year with longer breaks to maximize intervention and resources. I mean, there's lots to unpack here.

[04:19:56] So here's my ask to the board to consider. I'm very interested in this feedback. I think this is probably going to be a big deal, I think, for us, if we're going to really engage in the conversation of shifting to year-round schools. This is a big conversation.

[04:20:12] So I am wondering if after we gather the feedback, if instead of it going straight to action, We could possibly have another presentation as an info item or even a work session to unpack and have these conversations on the dais in front of the community after we've seen the survey results before we vote.

[04:20:35] I am worried about getting those results and then voting that same night as too much of a lift. I think there will be too many questions that need to be answered. and then sort of charging us in the meantime as board members to go out to our communities and start having this conversation so that's my ask I don't really have any questions for you I think we've unpacked a lot of really good questions here I'm anxious to have this dialogue and I would like to see our calendar shift in some way thank you thank you and mrs. Griffith thank you

[04:21:08] Madam Chair I agree with Ms. Chernoff on so many different points and I would definitely consider that her suggestions and also is it possible to have a calendar that only has the federal holidays as I mentioned earlier you know excused absences for holidays because that when you when you have all the holidays in there you're losing instruction time but also professional

[04:21:45] development days I know that comes up a lot that's necessary right for during the year to have all those days those professional development days is that right well PD days are required by code thank you miss Riccardi thank you madam chair thank you for this presentation super curious and I have a ton of questions as always I guess one of my questions is when you do the survey, will we be able to get some longevity data? So it'd be great to be able

[04:22:22] to see year over year if the results have changed over time and mindsets are changing over time. I know you're not going to probably ask the same sets of questions, so that's going to be the key part of this. So we sort of have what you're asking for that I could provide to you that we presented maybe in the fall when we did the last calendar options, we have asked the same types of questions, and we provided sort of that year-over-year type synopsis.

[04:22:59] So I'm happy to provide that presentation to you. We wouldn't have it this time because the goal of this survey is really to get preferences on these options based on the feedback we've received already year over year about preferences.

[04:23:17] And, you know, we have asked about year-round schooling preference. We expected a hard no and didn't get the hard no, which is how we got here. We continue to sort of present different options and still ask if there was interest.

[04:23:34] We've also asked, I know there was mention about aligning with other school divisions. We also have asked year over year how critical that is for individuals and how much that would impact them, and it wasn't as significant as we thought.

[04:23:51] So this survey wouldn't support what it is you're asking for, but we have done that, and I'm happy to provide that. Yeah, I'd love to be able to just kind of see historically kind of what questions have been asked and what the response rate has been and where kind of people are heading. My next question is can you I can't remember which policy it is that deals with student holidays and taking student holidays. Can you remind me I mean for the calendar options that are just the federal holidays I believe that families can take religious holidays in any like any number of them throughout

[04:24:27] the year as long as they coordinate with their school. Can you remind me or can somebody remind me of that so it is in policy that if a student has a religious holiday or religious observance they can take that day without being impacted and there's no limit yeah and there's no limit i'm i'm still honestly like i'm fascinated by all this i i've watched over the years this conversation is is quite something else um to say the least so i'm i'm i'm really curious about how we're doing this like most everybody else here too and I've and I've met

[04:25:04] with hundreds upon hundreds of the Coptic Christians asking about the same thing about their holidays as well so I get those things and plus many other faith groups asking for the holidays and it's really hard to juggle all of this and keep our kids in school and the consistency I'm also kind of digging into the research on year-round just out of curiosity so we'll see we'll see how this goes but thank you for all the options thank you mr pibber thank you madam chair you know i have strong feelings but we all do and i actually really like what

[04:25:42] mr and off had to say we need more time on this um we need to be very clever and the truth is i don't like your own schooling but i don't hate option five for 28 29 but then i look at 29 30 i'm like oh my god what was the start date july 7th or something just absolutely ludicrous it make me snicker up here like whatever it was july it was july so it's it's it if we did something like this i would like to fit the summer where summer belongs perhaps is my thought on this um because we keep sliding summer earlier and earlier and it's not a summer and i agree like

[04:26:20] june 22nd i looked at any day i was like um but then i also looked at june 15th and then we start in August of whatever. So it's kind of fudging the days around. I will tell you that I, too, you know, I don't question the holidays because I know we have such a diverse community here in Loudoun County, but where I work in Falls Church, and there was an uproar for a year, they, after two years of having all these holidays, just ended it.

[04:26:49] And they were like, federal holidays only, and teachers get two days of religious leave that they can use against their leave, and that's the end of it. In our school year, I will tell you, we start two weeks before Labor Day, but, man, we are done this year on June 5th. And we have a lot of full weeks, and the summer is the summer.

[04:27:07] And I'll tell you, it feels really good to know I have that week to come party with my kids at their school in that last week of June at the end. So it's just food for thought. Obviously, these are suggestions and not the final option.

[04:27:23] We all have the ability to go and kind of finagle these calendars ourselves and present options as we do. But I would love to see what the community feedback is. I really would love, in that question, that option five, if you're listening in the community, like look at option five and look at that 29-30 projection because it is not what many people think a school year should be.

[04:27:47] And so I really want to know this feedback on year-round schooling as a community. I would love to see that and bring that to the table for our next discussion. Thank you. Well, I'll step in for a minute. I haven't had a turn yet. So I have enjoyed having this conversation with the community over the course of going on three years now, four years maybe, if you look at it in a different way.

[04:28:13] But there are some things that stand out to me. And one of the things that I'm reflecting on is some feedback that I've heard from principals directly about how frustrating it is to have that time after SOLs and to have to fill that in, which is something, just in terms of this conversation, that's just sort of ruminating in the back of my mind.

[04:28:34] I'm really pleased that we're going to engage in this conversation, and I am absolutely supportive of at least asking the community what they think about year-round school. I think we have a lot to weigh here and all of the constraints that all of our that all of you as colleagues have mentioned it weighs on my mind too so i'm i'll just say i'm really excited that we'll ask the community and hear what the community has to say and i will commit to making sure that we can have an additional work session um through the calendar although we'll have to work closely with administration to figure

[04:29:14] out exactly how to time that with the surveys but i do want to say to the loudon county community, please let us know what you think. It matters really quite a lot because we do want to honor, I mean, I will be honest, like, and I like to talk about this a lot. I love how diverse our county is, and I will probably, in my own research, go and look at how some of the neighboring counties compare in terms of the makeup of the population. I think that it's something that we've done to honor the people who are here, although to be fair, it was not done by anyone that's sitting on the

[04:29:52] board now. It's important to have the conversation and to reflect on it, but I do expect in terms of how we're in this period of collecting feedback that we will hear from members of the community who value those days, and I would just ask that the board weigh that because we do have an obligation to serve the children who are here. And with that, any further questions? Ms. Riccardi?

[04:30:16] Thank you, Madam Chair. I just had a quick question. Could somebody get the data on, you know, when students take a longer break, like they go overseas for more than I think it's 15 days, whatever that number is, I'm not sure what the exact policy is, that we unenroll them.

[04:30:34] Could somebody get me the data for the last, like, three years or since COVID on annually, kind of how many unenrollment, re-enrollments we've had? That'd be a really interesting thing to look at. I'm kind of looking broadly at the crew, yeah.

[04:30:52] You know, because I think that would be a really interesting piece of data to see and kind of understand what we're looking at as far as families wanting to travel for long-term overseas and then having to unenroll and then re-enroll their kids. Thank you so much. Thank you. I really appreciate that question, and I would just ask if we could, in collecting that data, assess whether or not we're able to see any impact on scores or grades.

[04:31:18] Is that possible? All right. Yep, thank you. All right, and if it's more than an hour, let us know. I'm sure we could get three people to... Yeah, well, okay, so we have three.

[04:31:34] I support it. I hear Ms. Riccardi and Ms. Chernoff are also in support, and I'm happy to add myself to that, too. Are there any other comments on the calendar? All right, thank you. Chair Chandler, can I just... Mr. Svensson, the team did add up the number of full weeks on the 29-30 calendar, and it's 32 full five-day weeks.

[04:31:56] What number was that? the 29 30 version of the option five 28 29 was 30 and 29 30 was 32 32 full five day weeks yes thank you for that clarification and thank you for the presentation and all the work that went into it and with that we will move on to item 14.04 department of teaching and learning oh wait yeah that's right i just had to check we were there for a minute uh career and technical

[04:32:30] education Perkins grants 2026-2027 local plan and grant application. I'm presented tonight by Mr. Slevin. Thank you, Chair Chandler and board members. I'm here tonight to seek the school board's endorsement of the CTE Perkins plan for school year 26-27. What is the Perkins plan? The Perkins plan is federal support for CTE programs focused on improving the academic and technical

[04:33:09] achievements of career and technical education learners by strengthening the connections between secondary and post-secondary education and improving accountability. It's a state formula grant under Title I, and school systems can supplement but not supplant local funding, and the funds cannot be used for consumable items. In the past, the Perkins Plan and LCPS has been used for a variety of purposes. So looking backwards before we talk about the proposal for school year 26-27, in the past, positions have been funded within the Perkins

[04:33:43] plan. 30% respectively of the allocated budget in the past was provided to FTEs within the budget. It also supported CTSO competition travel. Those are the student organizations associated with our programs such as DECA and a focus on special populations. There was training for teachers, stipends for professional learning, equipment and improvement and we had an amendment in spring of 2025 that shifted to more school-based needs as we moved away from some of the positions within

[04:34:16] the Perkins plan. Going into school year 26-27, we are shifting our priorities. With new leadership and the CTE five-year plan and the expansion plan, we are thinking a little bit differently about the use of the Perkins funds. We are leveraging system resources to reduce the need positions so we no longer have any positions within the Perkins plan. One position was moved into the local budget in the FY 26 budget and another position was not filled when it when it was vacated. That means more funds go

[04:34:54] directly to our schools and to our students. So about a third of the Perkins plan will go to program improvement equipment such as in our labs or CTE labs in our schools aligned with our expansion plan. A third of it will go to professional learning for our staff and then the other third will support strategic initiatives such as k-12 career development and special population resources and certifications the image here that you see is a document from a recent c-tac meeting our career technical and education advisory committee plays a key role in the development of the perkins plan and their

[04:35:28] input was sought in the development of the plan so in terms of a timeline the team in the perkins plan there's a lot of data that we need to look at at our program as well as local industry data to help us prioritize the needs we have worked to draft the plan of the past few months it is now being submitted to you for your review we will also submit it to the video e for approval where we'll get some feedback and some revisions on the content but ultimately we are seeking approval we'll be seeking your approval at May 12th of the plan going forward when we hopefully will have spending authority beginning July 1st.

[04:36:08] With that, I'm happy to answer any questions or take any comments for the team. Thank you, Mr. Slevin. Board members, any questions or comments? Mrs. Griffiths. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[04:36:24] Is it possible to get the – when are you sending the plan to us? You're submitting it to VDOE, but can you give us a tentative plan so we can just take a look at it? So the plan is loaded in BoardDocs. Oh, it is? Oh, Board Docs was down when I looked, so okay.

[04:36:40] So there's this presentation, and then there's a rather lengthy document, but as you go through it, if you want to have any questions, Dr. Grubbs or myself will be happy to hop on a call or answer any emails as you take your time. Sorry about that. Thank you. No problem. Thank you.

[04:36:59] All right, I'm not going to ask to put this on consent, given that we're going to read the plan, so we'll just move on. Thank you so much for the presentation. Next up, we have 14.05 Student Services Committee Revised Policy 5310, Special Education and Deletion of Policy 5330, Special Education Student Eligibility and Transfer Procedures, presented this evening by Mr. Pepper.

[04:37:24] Thank you, Madam Chair. So the first information I have tonight is Revised Policy 5310 on Special Education, which is coupled with the deletion of Policy 5330, which was titled Special Education Student eligibility and transfer procedures the reason for this is that both were up for their cyclical review and the policies were combined into policy 5310 to help streamline a lot of information items for staff and families and also ensure that we were still following federal and state requirements to consistently implement special education policies across the division this policy went

[04:38:01] through several rounds of revision and also received a lot of feedback from some of our community and advisory committees, in particular SEAC and MSAC put a lot of thought into this. The recommendations were taken. We went through this policy pretty extensively in student services, and it's pretty clean and really did a good job kind of cleaning up the language for special education and what it means to be a special education student in Loudoun County.

[04:38:30] Thank you, Mr. Pepper. Board members, any questions or comments? Any appetite to add this to consent. All right. This item will come back on the consent agenda. Thank you very much.

[04:38:52] We will move on to 14.06, Student Services Committee Revised Policy 6640, Emergency First Aid, CPR, AED, and Diabetes Management Trained and Certified Personnel. You're up, Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair. I think I've got like five of these in a row. This is Policy 6644. It's a new policy. It's on emergency first aid, CPR, and AED certified personnel. It's an update based off of changes at the state level, just for requirements. Actually, 6640, there is a typo in the background

[04:39:28] information. So if we can get that changed, that'd be lovely. But otherwise, this is just an updated policy on who can provide first aid, what there is. There was a few changes from MSAC, but this is really just very straightforward approval of people who are certified to give these really important life-saving techniques at our schools. Thank you, Mr. Pepper. Board members, any questions?

[04:39:55] Do we have an appetite to send this to consent? All right, thank you. This item will come back on the consent agenda at the next meeting. We will move on to our next item, 14.07, Student Services Committee revised policy 8080 home instruction. Again, Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair. This is a revision of policy 8080 on home instruction. There is only one small change from the initial policy, and that is just an addition of a section at the very end on the disclosure of information

[04:40:31] provided under Virginia Code section 22.1-254, section B1. It's just in compliance with state code. So otherwise there are no significant changes to the policy as written. Thank you. Any questions? All right. And any appetite to send this to consent? All right. Thank you very much. This item will come back on the agenda as a consent, on a consent agenda at the next meeting.

[04:41:01] Next up, 14.08, Student Services Committee revised policy 815 individuals who may be admitted free. Again, presented by Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair. This is a revision of policy 815, which is students who may be admitted free.

[04:41:18] The changes in this policy are near the end. We had to change a little bit of the kind of regulations in the policy for students who are dependents of full-time active duty members of the uniformed services.

[04:41:33] Just kind of clarifying the regulations to ensure that they can be enrolled in Loudoun County public schools based on space, parent having an ID card, and that evidence that the parent will be on active duty as well as the timeline for residing in the school division.

[04:41:53] It's not any major changes to the policy, but it does just make sure that those students of full-time active duty members of the uniformed services are able to attend Loudoun County Public Schools, and it's now also cross-referenced with policy 8155 on school assignment. Thank you, Mr. Pepper.

[04:42:11] Board members, any questions? Yes, Ms. Chernoff. Thank you, Madam Chair. I know when we first got on the board, There was some questions in the first budget cycle that I was a part of about a retention initiative to potentially be explored by the board.

[04:42:28] I don't think anyone ever picked it up about employees that are out of county having their kids come here for free. I know currently we charge a tuition if they're out of county. That is correct, right? Yes, that is correct.

[04:42:43] What is that cost? We just had an inquiry last week. I believe it is around $16,000 annually for in-state and about $24,000 for out-of-state. Okay, I am going to make maybe some board members upset because I don't want this to quite go on consent yet because I would like to get some data on how many of those students are coming to Loudoun County Public Schools, if we could get that for next time as an information item, or was there any discussion about that in committee?

[04:43:16] There was no discussion about that in committee, But because this just recently came up from an employee, I had my team to pull the data. We currently have six students paying tuition for this current school year. Okay, does anyone know if we get inquiries about employees that work in other counties wishing for that fee to be waived?

[04:43:38] I can think of a couple. I'm seeing head nodding. Okay, I'm going to mull this over a little bit more, so I apologize. It will not go on consent. But I'm just curious. I know we're always looking for retention efforts. I know we just had a calendar conversation about that, too.

[04:43:55] So I know there's a lot swirling. But I am interested, seeing that the number is so low, what that would look like if it was reduced or waived. Thank you. Thank you. Any further questions?

[04:44:10] All right. This item will come back to action for the next school board meeting so that we can explore these options further. And now we'll move on to 14.09, Student Services Committee, New Policy 8425, Student-Athlete Extreme Heat and Protection, presented by Mr. Pepper.

[04:44:32] Thank you, Madam Chair. This is the last one, I promise. This is New Policy 8425, Student-Athlete Extreme Heat and Protection. We are putting this policy in place. It's based off of regulations for the state so that we're a little more compliant. Yes, Latimer County Public Schools has already followed what was known as the Stringer Institute after Corey Stringer about our protections of athletes.

[04:44:55] But this goes into a little more detail. It codifies different temperature levels and what must be done for monitoring. It also talks about prevention, hydration, and treatment, as well as when those students who have suffered a heat emergency of any kind can return to play.

[04:45:12] it applies to our athletes it applies to our band members but it really just puts into place the exact protocol to keep our students safe from from extreme heat. Thank you Mr. Pepper. Board members any questions? Because this is a new policy I'm gonna ask that I'm gonna keep it on action so this item will come back for action next time. And with that we have completed the information item section of our agenda and we will move on to board member comments and committee

[04:45:48] reports. We will start tonight with Ms. LaBelle. And I'm ready. Thank you, Madam Chair. Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Emmerich Elementary in Percival and had a meeting with Principal Haddock, and we talked about the many successes in this exemplary school. I also visited HCA, Hillsborough Charter Academy, and had a talk with Principal Vickers about some of his concerns.

[04:46:18] Now yesterday, we had our April Student Behavior and Accountability Committee meeting. We had no action items, but we did discuss policy 8265, student searches involving students and seizures of contraband, as well as policy 8270 student dress code.

[04:46:37] I'm sure you're all excited about that one. I'm hoping that both of these will come back for action at our May 18th SBAC meeting because we have sent them out to the community as well as MSAC and SBAC and SEAC and all the rest of them.

[04:47:00] Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Rasheed. Thank you, Chair. I was recently able to go to the screening event for the film Multiple Choice at the Academies of Loudoun. Multiple Choice highlights one school district's innovation center where students explore careers, They help build their future after high school, even if they don't intend to pursue college.

[04:47:22] I strongly believe in career pathways and varied options for our students to create productivity and satisfying lives. Career-based learning is vital. I do look forward to seeing how we can improve and grow opportunities in our school division, including for students with disabilities as part of transition services.

[04:47:40] I also attended the second annual Civics B in Loudoun, held at Brambleton Middle School. Twenty middle school students competed to represent our county at the state and national level, showcasing how they engage in civics and make a difference in their communities.

[04:47:57] This event was a great reminder of how Loudoun students are preparing to become thoughtful and principled adult citizens. And last night I attended that teacher cadet recognition ceremony at Briarwoods High School. I was able to enjoy the event with LCPS Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Ashley Ellis, and Chair Chandler.

[04:48:17] The ceremony was an important step for high school students who are committed to bright futures as educators. I was also able to enjoy this moment with Ms. Chernoff. I am excited to know that these LCPS students will return to our classrooms as LCPS teachers.

[04:48:33] Earlier today, I was happy to be at Light Ridge High School today to help celebrate the marching storm band of Loudoun County for two reasons. One was they were formally invited to perform in the London Parade, the annual New Year's Day celebration in London, England on January 1st, 2027, and will be one of the few marching bands from the United States to have the distinct honor of performing in next year's London Parade.

[04:48:58] That's half a million spectators and hundreds of millions of television viewers worldwide. And the second is that for this and other accomplishments, they were commended on the floor of both the Virginia House and the Senate during this year's legislative session. So it was wonderful to see the students band boosters and administration, faculty, and staff join Senator Srinivasan and Delegate John McAuliffe to celebrate this band.

[04:49:22] And finally, I'm excited to see everyone in their best tea party attire. Yeah, I'm watching all of you at the annual MSAC Equity Award Celebration at the historic Douglas School in Leesburg on May 9th. So the event begins at 2.30 p.m.

[04:49:38] visit MSAC on social media for more details and don't forget to RSV before this Friday. Thank you chair. Thank you Mr. Pepper. Thank you madam chair. See I get to follow you Dr. Ashid tonight. It's so difficult because you've just done so many cool things. So since our last meeting we've had two student services events. The first is our regular student services meeting and if you were paying attention at all to our information items we did a whole heck of a lot. Policies that went to the full board included all the fun stuff from CPR to extreme heat to home instruction to

[04:50:14] individuals may be admitted free as well as our revised policy on special education but perhaps the most important part of that meeting was we had a long discussion as we start our look at revising policy 8155 which is looking like it might be called out of zone transfers we heard from several principals in the division one from sterling middle school and one from light rich high school about how auto zone transfers are affecting their school and their population it's really interesting and we are going to slow walk this because it is a super important policy

[04:50:48] the other thing that we have student services we had a continued work session on 5340 which is the safe and supportive removal of students that those work sessions are now done we're waiting to hear back from Student Services with the final version of that copy. Other things going on in the world of Dulles. I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a Lightridge versus John Champs soccer game.

[04:51:14] Lightridge just annihilated them. But besides that, I also got to see the Pinebrook Chorus. Yeah, Dr. Richie's celebrating. I got to see the Pinebrook Chorus perform to start that game. And So it was really just hitting all three schools at once.

[04:51:30] It was really cool because the kids got to walk the soccer players out, and they split up between the two teams because if you don't know, Pinebrook split between the two schools. So it was really super fun to see that. Outside of that, I am very excited to go to this equity as a tea drinker. I'm very excited.

[04:51:48] Yeah, I don't do feathers, but I might bring my unicorn tie, so you never know what's going to happen. Outside of that, looking forward to getting into a few schools in the next week or two. I got a big day of elementary party for myself lined up with Liberty and Hutchinson Farm and, oh my gosh, Little River.

[04:52:10] So just very, very excited to keep hanging out with my dullest friends. And with that, I'm going to yield the rest of my time. Thank you, Mr. Pepper. Mrs. Griffiths? Thank you, Madam Chair. Per the Finance and Operations Committee update, we continue to review contracts and discuss ways to improve how we can understand the budget moving forward.

[04:52:32] So that's going to be coming to the board. Shifting gears, celebrating our schools and community, I've been fortunate to attend several school performances. Matilda at Belmont Ridge Middle, Little Shop of Horrors at Broad Run High School, The Sound of Music at Stonebridge.

[04:52:48] all were wonderful productions and I wish I had been able to attend more I also heard great things about Chicago at Potomac Falls where a friend's daughter performed a few more shows are coming up in May so I'm hoping um people would will get out there and see Frozen at Broad Run High School now is the perfect time to do that because you know with the school year ending we have to have our Broadway in our backyard um school visits special events um so much to to post but Belmont Middle as you saw tonight Miss Johnson was recognized as principal of the year Heritage High School I met with principal Adam who was doing tremendous

[04:53:25] work and overseeing some outstanding programs feet meet was was really good the other only other school other than Stonebridge I think I heard was a Latin Valley it's an amazing event which takes place at other schools but and you know I'm hoping we can we can do more with that students and staff volunteers support special education students through activities and games and it's truly wonderful to see so I wanted to thank Dr. Rawson from Latin Valley and Dr. Flynn from Stonebridge. I too went to Light Ridge and I got to attend a faculty meeting a pep rally and the student enthusiasm was just over the top

[04:54:04] I scored some great decade years so I'm happy about that and then lastly I I attended Career Day at Belmont Station last Friday, and it was a joy talking to the students about their future dreams. Based on conversations, though, Loudoun County may have many veterinarians, but not many school board members. Perhaps they'll change their minds someday, so we'll see what happens. But anyway, continuing advocacy. Lastly, I continue to advocate for all Loudoun County schools. I regularly meet with teachers, staff, and parents throughout the year. These conversations

[04:54:40] are vital and provide an opportunity to share events, concerns, and ideas happening in each school community. Thank you for the opportunity to serve. Thank you. Well, it has been an incredibly busy last two weeks, which has been delightful, and it feels as if we're, well, we are walking into one of the busiest and best seasons of the year. There's going to be so much to celebrate over the last, over the next couple weeks, and I believe I heard last night at the teacher-cadet ceremony that it's only 32 days and maybe it's 31 if you count from tomorrow so it's going to go

[04:55:17] quickly it is crazy but it was such a joy to be at the school business partnership breakfast really enjoyed that and appreciate all the hard work from the team and putting such a lovely event together where we really had the opportunity not just to celebrate the ways that our business partners support our students with job opportunities and career exploration but also the ways that they jump in and help to meet some most basic needs. It's just a really beautiful relationship that we have with the business community here in Lauda and I'm very grateful for that.

[04:55:52] I was happy to bump into Ms. Chernoff at the International Summit Student Showcase. I know it has a cooler name than that, but at least you understand what it is when I say it that way. It was really great to be able to spend time talking to the students who came as part of the the exchange program I had to talk to students from China and Germany and Italy and hear about their projects and they were working on things like gender rights and food recovery and and saving the environment so it was really nice to hear how all those students had the availability

[04:56:26] to come here explore some of our historic sites and really work together to challenge to on some of the biggest challenges that exist in our society today so it was very innovative and wonderful to talk to them. I loved the celebration for Miss Johnson that I attended with Mrs.

[04:56:44] Griffiths. It was just really wonderful to see all the joy in that community and how vested the community is in her success. And you could just feel the joy in the community that she's created there. I want to also say thank you for organizing the student services work session, Mrs. Richardson.

[04:57:05] I think that approach is very effective, and it was great to have the opportunity to really dig in and work with our parent advisory partners and other experts who were there. And last week, I enjoyed visiting Lowe's Island and reading to kindergarten and first grade and also going back to my, like, stomping grounds at Algonquian Elementary School, where I served on the PTA and also spent lots of time subbing.

[04:57:32] It was just always great to go back, and even though I think that's as long as it's been since I've been in Algonquian, since 2011, it was great to just jump right back into the community. Chicago was wonderful, and the teacher-cadet signing community was wonderful, and I never take the full time, so thanks for entertaining me.

[04:57:52] And we'll move on to Ms. Chernoff. That's some pressure. I also enjoyed the international summit as well, and I learned a lot.

[04:58:07] And the one thing I learned is that they wish they had a Chick-fil-A. That was what every single kid told me, which I was like, okay. Last week, I had a really special opportunity. I know Ms. Griffiths and Ms. Riccardi also did this to visit the construction site for the soon-to-be brand-new Parkview High School.

[04:58:23] These opportunities as a school board member are just so special. I feel so blessed to have a front row seat to the amazing work that is happening in LCPS. And I feel like this project especially exemplifies that. Witnessing all the workers and the progress of the new school renovation, it's just really special.

[04:58:42] I think it's extra special that the current students are watching that building go up next to them. It's so powerful. And it's just bringing that community together. And this building is massive in both scale and impact, I think. And I cannot wait to see it completed and filled.

[04:58:58] So go, Patriots. That was amazing. Last week for the Head Start Policy Council, it was a special morning. has included the annual self-assessment process where families, community members, and LCPS Head Start leadership come together to analyze goals across various areas of the program, including family engagement, health and safety, mental health supports, enrollment, and education.

[04:59:18] We took time to hear updates from each of these areas and then provided feedback on how it's going and where the program can continue to grow. And it was a packed house, an amazing turnout and a wonderful opportunity to connect with our families and learn more about Head Start. I also last week had the opportunity to visit Tolbert Elementary and see their new library mural which was created using Book Fair funds to honor the school's namesake, John W. Tolbert.

[04:59:43] Mr. Tolbert's legacy in Leesburg runs deep. He was not only a dedicated bus driver and church elder, but also a respected community leader who played an important role in advancing educational opportunities and advocating for students during a pivotal time in our history. And that mural beautifully captures the many dimensions of his life and influence, highlighting both his service and broader impact that he had across the community.

[05:00:06] It was truly meaningful to see that inspiration and also the children got to engage with the artist across three weeks' time and learn about the art process and just interact with her, and it sounds like it was really precious. Over the weekend, I was continuing to support the arts, as many of my colleagues have.

[05:00:24] I saw Newsies at Heritage, we saw Frozen at Tuscarora, And shout out to Dr. Spence's son, who was Shrek at Blue Ridge and had the lead. It was wonderful to see him. There's one more show in Leesburg coming up. So if you haven't gotten to one yet, it's Simpson Middle School is doing Matilda, May 7th through 10th.

[05:00:43] And I also enjoyed, for the third time, judging Cake Wars at Trailside Middle School put on by our FACTS students, the Teacher Cadet Ceremony, and I'm very much looking forward to the ribbon cutting tomorrow at our new Eastern Loudoun Welcome Center. And that's a wrap. Thank you.

[05:00:59] Mr. Spinson. Thank you, Madam Chair. I was really pleased to join LEAF for their April meeting. And thank you, Ms. Chernoff, for helping transition me into that role. It's a great group of parents. And we had a great conversation around some policies coming out of the committee, the student-athlete extreme heat policy and the bullying prevention and education policy, some great questions and feedback that we all will take into account.

[05:01:27] And I also wanted to thank Principal Loya at Farmwell Station Middle School for hosting me last week. It was fun to explore the school and meet students and teachers, talk about SOL prep. Shout out to the equity lead at Farmwell.

[05:01:42] They have a great equity wall with resources. They also have a great outdoor learning space, so apropos of our discussion about outdoor learning earlier this evening. I loved attending the teacher cadet ceremony last night.

[05:01:57] It's such a great program that we have, the Grow Your Own Initiative, where we can, with the students who have completed the program here in LCPS, finish their college education, have that guarantee to come back here and teach at LCPS.

[05:02:14] That's amazing, and it was fun to see all the students get their recognition. And the Sarah Mickelwhite student cadet gave some really touching remarks about what it means to be an educator. So I appreciated being there. And I also appreciate hearing that the keynote speaker, Mr. Varev from Latin Valley, who had some words of wisdom for the students.

[05:02:36] And I think I also wanted to say the School Business Partnership Breakfast was a highlight of this past month. I knew it was a big event, but not having been there before, I was amazed at how huge an event it was. And I enjoyed meeting the folks from the Morbin Park Foundation at the table I sat at and learning more about the environmental teaching that they do with our students.

[05:02:59] It's really incredible work. And that's all I have. Oh, also, just for folks in the community, make sure if you have feedback for us, submit feedback on the dress code and on student search and seizure. Those are some important policies coming out of SBAC this past week.

[05:03:16] So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Carney. All right, last but not least. So I'm really excited to have had the opportunity over the last several weeks to connect with students, educators, and families, and community partners across Loudoun County and through a wide range of events. I attended our Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee meeting, which was at Inova Loudoun, which was absolutely amazing.

[05:03:40] I attended the School Business Partnership Awards breakfast, and this Friday we'll be joining Dr. Slevin and Dr. Grubbs and the SeaTac crew to go up to the Aviation High School in New York, which is going to be a really great experience. So I'm really excited about that.

[05:03:57] In Sterling, as Ms. Chernoff mentioned, Ms. Griffiths and I attended a hard hat tour of Parkview High School. We got some really great video, and we're going to be putting out a really great video for our community here on our Facebook page relatively soon. I think the thing I'm so excited about is this is about 100,000 additional square feet of space for the school and everything is bigger and better in this building i i'm so excited about it so i'll have that video coming out on the facebook page relatively soon um i did have a chance to conduct a great town hall at sterling middle school this month as well to get feedback

[05:04:33] from parents and staff which was really really interesting um i want to congratulate nick bailey and faith primus at parkview for their 2026 vsca advisors of the year recognition which is really exciting over the weekend i had a chance to attend the parent coalition to end human trafficking it was a forum that was held in sterling it was a really important conversation to bring awareness to our community and you'll be seeing more about this in upcoming events it's also been especially inspiring to see our student innovators and achievement in action i went to the propel and

[05:05:08] level up innovation day and the nourishing ninjas program at lightridge high school which was a lot of fun. I was also honored to attend the 41st Annual Loud and Fowler Awards out in Leesburg, which was always amazing. I think they had something like 40-something different cases.

[05:05:26] It was just, the stories are always really inspiring. Again, tomorrow we have the Eastern Loud and Welcome Center ribbon-cutting, which is going to be an awesome event. I'm really excited. We did a tour of it a couple weeks ago. And finally, tomorrow night, I have my town hall from 7:00 to 8:30 at Rockridge High School we have a great panel of community members that are going to be discussing the Dominion transmission line issue and I really look forward to working with the community and representing their views here on the board thank you so much thank you and thank you colleagues for sharing all of the activities that you've been engaged with in the community

[05:06:02] over the last two weeks with that I will ask is there any new business oh miss LaBelle? I just said, is there any new business? I was just up, I said. New business. Ms. LaBelle, do you have new business? I certainly do. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[05:06:20] It's rather serious. Recently, Catoctin District has seen an increase in serious accidents involving reckless and impaired driving among teen drivers. It worries me. We've had some deaths, some serious, serious injuries, and I know it happens in other districts as well.

[05:06:41] I just, I'm more connected to Catoctin, and you know how that is, but I'm sure that there's been others in your districts as well. I'd like us as a school board to consider additional ways that we can support student awareness, and I'd like to implore parents to please have these conversations with your children and remind them of the dangers of making these decisions. It's an alarming and unsettling pattern and as we approach prom and graduation season this raises a significant concern for the well-being of our students and the

[05:07:18] broader community. So if you could, as a board and as an administration, try to come up with some ways that we can possibly message the students and their parents about these dangers I don't want to see anymore over this school year thank you accidents thank you thank you for raising that issue it is a very serious issue and I guess we can continue to have some conversations for some concrete ways we can support that thank you

[05:07:54] mrs. Griffiths thank you madam chair and just to piggyback on that I didn't hear miss labelle mentioned e-bikes i'm hoping to i'm hoping to possibly have the sheriff's office come in and and and start speaking to schools about the dangers of e-bikes because i just step outside my house they're everywhere they're not wearing helmets they're not paying attention they're going really faster than they should be so that's another issue where we really need to have whether it's the sheriff's office or somebody else experienced to come in and talk to our

[05:08:33] elementary middle and seniors i would say um but it's mostly elementary and middle school that i'm seeing that are really going crazy with these e-bikes and they're extremely dangerous so i'm glad miss uh labelle had brought that up that she's concerned about accidents and i'm concerned about e-bikes uh in my area thank you okay any further new business all right um with that thank you so much um we will move on to our closed meeting the board did not get to complete its

[05:09:08] discussions on some topics it took up before the dinner break so we will um have another motion to convene the closed meeting of dr rashid do you have a motion yes chair i do i move that the Loudoun 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 purposes consultation with legal counsel pertaining to actual litigation where such consultation or briefing and open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the public body as authorized by section 2.2

[05:09:44] - 3711 a 7 of the Code of Virginia in consultation with legal counsel employed retained by a public body regarding a specific legal matter related to a current public employee as authorized by section 2.2 dash 3 7 1 1 8 8 of the Code of Virginia discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for a public purpose or of the disposition of publicly held real property where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body as authorized by section 2.2 dash 3 7 1 1 a 3 of the Code of Virginia discussion in consideration of the assignment of a specific public employee and consultation with legal

[05:10:23] counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel as authorized by section 2.2-3711 and 2.2-3711 of the Code of Virginia.

[05:10:38] Discussion of the performance conduct of a specific public employee, employee 2042-826 as authorized by 2.2-3711A1 of the Code of Virginia. Discussion or consideration of matters that would involve the disclosure of information contained in a scholastic record concerning any LCPS student in consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel as authorized by Section 2.2-3711A2 and 2.2-3711A8 of the Code of Virginia.

[05:11:12] Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Rasheed. Dr. Rasheed has made a motion. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Svensson. It has been properly moved and seconded that the Loudoun County School Board go into closed session. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, clerk, please open the vote.

[05:11:28] Board members, please record your vote. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes with all eight. School board members present, voting yes, and Vice Chair Donahue absent for the vote.

[05:11:43] The board is now in closed session.

[05:48:38] Dr. Rasheed, do you have a motion?

[06:44:00] Yes, I do, Chair. I motion that the school board direct counsel for the board clerk and the school board to take actions on behalf of the school board. Oh, sorry. I read the wrong thing. We have to start with the motion to adjourn the closed.

[06:44:16] My mistake. 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. Thank you. Dr. Rasheed has made a motion. Is there a second? Second.

[06:44:32] Thank you, Mr. Pepper. It has been properly moved and seconded that the Loudoun County School Board adjourned the closed session. Is there any discussion? Clerk, please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote. Clerk, please close and display the vote.

[06:44:53] The motion passes unanimously with all eight school board members present and Vice Chair Donahue absent for the vote. Dr. Rasheed, do you have another motion? Yes, Chair. I move that the following resolution certifying the closed meeting be adopted and reflected in the minutes of this public meeting.

[06:45:11] Thank you. Dr. Rashid has made a motion. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Ms. Chernoff. It has been properly moved and seconded that the Loudoun County School Board certify the closed meeting. Is there any discussion?

[06:45:27] Seeing none, clerk, please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote. Clerk, please close and display the vote. The motion passes unanimously with all eight school board members, president, and vice chair Donahue absent for the vote. Dr. Rashid, do you have a further motion?

[06:45:50] Yes, and I think I got this one right. Yes, I do. And that the school board direct counsel for the board clerk and the school board to take actions on behalf of the school board to convey its determinations as discussed in closed session with respect to a matter pertaining to a specific public employee.

[06:46:09] And I have another one. Okay. We're going one by one, right? Okay, okay. Because we have so many. Thank you, Chair Chandler.

[06:46:33] This does not reference a specific ... Perhaps it would be clearer if Dr. Rashid reads both motions and then you take each in turn. Okay. Please continue, Dr. Rashid.

[06:46:52] Sure. Thank you, Chair. That the school board uphold and adopt the hearing officer's findings and recommendations dated April 15, 2026, and hereby dismiss and terminate employee number 204826 from employment effective immediately. For the clarity of the board, I'm going to ask Dr. Rasheed if you could start at the beginning and read the first motion and then the second motion in one order.

[06:47:19] Sure, thank you. Sure, Chair. That the school board direct counsel for the board clerk and the school board to take the actions on behalf of the school board to convey its determinations as discussed in closed session with respect to a matter pertaining to a specific public employee.

[06:47:35] That the school board uphold and adopt the hearing officer's findings and recommendations dated April 15, 2026, and hereby dismiss and terminate employee number 204826 from employment effective immediately.

[06:47:56] Mr. Pepper, do you have a question? I was going to second that, but are they two separate motions or one single motion? Two separate motions. So technically, I feel... Oh, but I was told to. Yeah, we just read both of them.

[06:48:13] Thank you, Chair Chandler. Yes, that was previewing the two motions to give context to board members. And so now, Dr. Rashid, you can read the first one and give a second vote on it. Thank you for reading the first one again.

[06:48:31] No problem. Thank you, Chair. That the school board direct counsel for the board clerk and the school board to take the actions on behalf of the school board to convey its determinations as discussed in close session with respect to a matter pertaining to a specific public employee. All right. So it has been properly moved by Dr. Rasheed and seconded by Mr. Pipper on the first motion related to the public employee.

[06:48:58] Clerk, please open the vote. School board members, please record your vote. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes unanimously with all eight school board members present and vice voting unanimously and vice chair Donahue absent for the vote.

[06:49:18] And one last time, could you please read the second motion? Thank you, Chair. That the school board uphold and adopt the hearing officer's findings and recommendations dated April 15, 2026, and hereby dismiss and terminate employee number 204-2826 from employment effective immediately.

[06:49:34] Thank you, Dr. Rasheed. Dr. Rasheed has made a motion. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Pepper. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Clerk, please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote.

[06:49:59] Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes with nine school board members voting yes, including Mr. Svensson, Ms. Chernoff, myself. I'm sorry, six. Pardon me, it's 1120. I will start over. That motion passes with six school board members voting yes, including Mr. Svensson, Ms. Chernoff, myself, Mr. Pepper, Dr. Rasheed, and Ms. LaBelle.

[06:50:24] One board member voting no, Mrs. Griffiths, and one board member abstaining, Ms. Riccardi, and Vice Chair Donahue absent for the vote. And with that, we will move to adjournment. The April 28, 2026 school board meeting is adjourned.

[06:50:40] Thank you, and please drive home safely.

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