Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) Meeting, Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Date: Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 2h 20m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1189905643?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 2026-10-11. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:01:45] good evening everyone thank you guys for your patience apparently this computer just this laptop loves to do the updates right when I get here and so we just have to wait for it to finish updating welcome to our last presentation of the school year and today I first of all I do want to let you know the public comment is in the public comment sheet if you need to sign up for public comment It's back there.

[00:02:10] Also, if you would please use the QR code up there to sign in, I would appreciate that. And then other flyers are in the back. One of the things I wanted to mention is our transition team, they'll be coming up here, but we have some wonderful products from our CAS students who made these on the 3D printer that we had from the last meeting, If you guys were here and you saw that and they are available for purchase back there.

[00:02:42] So please go on back there, take a look. I already, I'm really happy. So, and without further ado, I will call up our transition team to begin our presentation.

[00:02:59] And this is, you know, we've been really working very hard, very closely with the team on our transition center, which is our view transition academy. And they're just going to present something that we've envisioned for many years coming now together and actually becoming a reality.

[00:03:21] So I will introduce Jenna. Hello. Hope everyone's doing well this evening. We are going to talk to you a little bit about where we are in our View Transition Academy project.

[00:03:39] So we've been working, actually, my time hop popped up. A year ago today, we held our first roundtable for the Transition Academy. So this room was filled with stakeholders, parents, community members, teachers, principals, anybody that you could think of we had in here giving us feedback as we were starting the project.

[00:04:02] And so here we are a year later with some really exciting updates, and we've really fleshed out some things. But we want to hear from you. So as some of our biggest stakeholders, we want to make sure that what we are building will meet the needs of our students and will serve them accordingly.

[00:04:21] And so we have done, aside from that big roundtable, we've done a staff listening session, we've done a student listening session, and now we're doing a session with all of you to get some input and some feedback on kind of where we are.

[00:04:38] So there's presentations on your table, there's stickers. I'm going to introduce Melissa here in a minute, and she's going to give you kind of the rundown on where we are with design and construction. But as we get started, as we work through this conversation, what I want you all to think about is your student in this building, and what do you want that to look like for them, okay?

[00:05:04] And the purpose and the goal of this building is to open up opportunities to all of our students with disabilities. This will be an IEP team decision for students to attend. So there will be little in the way of them participating. There will be a criteria checklist, but that will be, like, mainly to ensure safety of the students when they're in the facility because of some of the pathways that we're going to have and some of the opportunities.

[00:05:30] But when I tell you we are involving everyone. We are working with our deaf and hard of hearing students and our vision impaired students. We have OTs, PTs, speeches. We talked about how much space we need in a room for standers for our students who may be in wheelchairs.

[00:05:46] So we are considering all of the pieces as we're designing and building this opportunity for our students that they so much deserve. So again, as we're talking through tonight, as you're hearing the presentation, as we're talking through the pathways. Consider your student, when they're a junior, senior in high school, a returning grad, them in the building, and what do you want to see? What do you think needs to be there? And please make sure you provide us that feedback. And with that, I will turn it over to Melissa Tello, who is the assistant director for, I almost had it, design. Ah, I'm all, I'm like

[00:06:24] our construction person, and that's so not her title. So I tried to really hard to get it right tonight and I was so close the assistant director for design of our project so Melissa take it away the answer to a lot of names so anything anything goes thank you all for being here tonight and we're really honored to have the opportunity to talk with you all and hear your really valuable feedback as we refine and develop the design of the project so we are gonna go through a little bit of background we are aware a lot of people have background already on the project, but to really just provide a general background, we're going to talk briefly

[00:07:04] about pathways, kind of where we are in design process, and we have some opportunities for you to specifically give feedback working at your table groups. So, again, high level kind of recap. As Jenna indicated, this is a unique facility that is going to be designed to really deliver career and job readiness skills, as well as independent living skills to the students up to

[00:07:37] age 22. We are looking also at the possibility of middle schoolers coming to visit the facility as career exploration opportunities. There will be low student to teacher ratios, a lot of hands-on learning, which you'll see in some of the pathway information. And really that goal that I think Jenna described is that this is a place for everyone to learn and that hopefully they're going to walk away from their time at this academy with a certification, a credential of some kind

[00:08:14] to really help that job readiness and a path for their future. The kind of nits and nats of where we are. We have funding that is really adopted in this fiscal year to further the development and construction, and we have been working on design in advance. The goal is to provide approximately 500 student capacity, 250 students per day, and the thought is like an A-Day, B-Day schedule like many of the high schools. We are on a site, which we'll show you shortly, on Marwood Drive that Loudoun County government

[00:08:54] purchased for LCPS for the specific use of the View Transition Academy. And so we are leasing that site from Loudoun County government. The project, the site has an existing building. It was ironically, formerly an older LCPS elementary school but has since been several different uses, most recently a Montessori school.

[00:09:19] So we are going to be significantly renovating, essentially gutting and rebuilding all the mechanical electrical plumbing systems, ensuring the envelope of the building, roofing, windows, that sort of thing.

[00:09:35] We also are going to be adding to the building approximately 25,000 square feet to fit the program that we've been working on with the transition services team. That program, and we'll see this in plan, has approximately 10 classrooms and space for 15 lab hands-on working spaces for the pathways.

[00:09:57] There's independent living lab and then your kind of usual school support administration spaces. And our goal is to open in the school year 28-29. So we're moving pretty quickly. This is just an aerial image of the site as it exists right now.

[00:10:14] the red being the property line so this is on marwood drive it the back of the site does front to route 50 which is kind of an interesting arrangement but we are really focusing the development on say the front half of the site we do intend to keep that walking track loop that you can see and develop several outdoor features so to look at the pathways we have worked with our

[00:10:46] consultants, VLK architects, and the transition team to develop this list of 15 pathways. So all of the table groups should have a set of informational pages on these pathways. It describes a little bit more information about the specific objectives, some of the key equipment, and certifications for each of the pathways. Our first exercise is having you take a look at these pathways. So as Jenna

[00:11:19] mentioned, we had a couple student and staff listening sessions, and they have been immensely valuable. I am always just blown away by how insightful our students are when we engage them. The detail that they focus on that through their experience is so meaningful that, you know, an adult from the outside just doesn't see it the same way. So we're really, really thankful to have had those opportunities. And these are some photos from our student session.

[00:11:53] We're going to ask you to do a similar exercise at your table with that list of pathways. Share them amongst yourselves and take a few minutes and look at them, read them. And with your green stickers, like the students did, place your votes. Again, going back to Jenna's introduction, thinking about your student, what they may like, or what your goals may be for them, and we're being gracious and allowing everyone two votes, so you don't have to pick just

[00:12:29] one, but place two stickers on the pathways that you think would be the most interest, And we'll take about five or ten minutes and ask everyone to do that exercise, kind of independently, but at your table, and then we'll ask you to report out.

[00:13:07] Can we think about two more minutes?

[00:17:32] Okay, can we cast our final sticker votes? And as you all are doing that, if someone can look at your packet and identify the top two that have the most stickers.

[00:17:49] we're going to ask everyone to report out.

[00:18:11] Everyone, if we could resume, we'd like, if we didn't hear the instructions, if anyone could identify their top two by table, the pathways that had the most votes.

[00:18:44] Okay, everyone, I'm going to use my mom voice now. Could we begin?

[00:19:00] we're going to start in this corner and go down the rows and around could you report to us the top two of your pathways all right and this central loudon table okay

[00:19:45] okay and automotive oh sorry you got it i got it okay animal care makerspace automotive Thank you, Jenna. We got Digital Lab and Skilled Trades. Okay, we selected Automotive Services and Animal Care.

[00:20:13] We chose Digital Lab, Skilled Trades, and Safety and Security. We, too, broke the rules and came up with three. Automotive Services, Hospitality, and Safety and Security.

[00:20:32] We are also nonconformist table. We picked Healthcare and Wellness, Landscaping, Hardscaping, and Animal Care. We're going to be rule followers, horticulture and culinary and food services.

[00:20:57] So my group and I, we chose digital lab, automotive services, and cosmetology. I don't really have a favorite.

[00:21:24] I just like the part that it gives students multiple ways to discover their strengths and interests. And my favorite part is that the pathways are focusing on real-world skills and certifications, not just classroom training. Two votes for Animal Care and Skilled Trade and Automotive Services rounding up the...

[00:21:52] Okay, sure, just for everyone to hear, yeah. So, supply chain, culinary and food services, and hospitality, with hospitality being the number one.

[00:22:08] Great. So, really interesting. In terms of a tally, if I kept my numbers right, Automotive Services came in number one overall in your votes. with a close second of animal care, but as I look at this list, you all represented almost every single one of the pathways. Real diversity, which I think is really wonderful to hear.

[00:22:39] Very interesting when we did this exercise with the students, they really leaned two ways. One was very digital lab, makerspace, kind of, you know, forward-thinking creation.

[00:22:54] And then hospitality and wellness, like this kind of helping others vein. It was really, really fascinating. But I think that this diversity of interest represented by this group is just a great sign for the totality of the academy.

[00:23:15] So thank you for participating. We will move on. To share a little bit about where we've been in our design process and where we're going, we have engaged a consultant team to help us in this design process. So VLK are our prime architects, and they have been working with the group for several months now, really working through the details of those programs, the pathway descriptions that you saw in front of view and really getting to understand the goals and the needs of each of these really unique

[00:23:53] spaces. We also, because the site development is such a big piece of the project, we are working with urban engineering on the civil and landscape design, and we have a series of sub consultants covering mechanical electrical plumbing, acoustics, structural, and sustainability. So we have a really comprehensive team that is looking at the project, listening to all these needs. Even if they're not here, we're recording them and sharing them to really hone in on the detailed, you know,

[00:24:27] the unique details for this academy. So a little bit about the site. So you remember the aerial image from before. This is kind of our working concept right now from the site perspective. The gray portion is the existing building.

[00:24:45] We're actually demolishing a small portion of the existing building to add that blue-gray addition area. And we are modifying the site circulation to do a couple of really important things.

[00:25:02] One is to create a dedicated bus loop, which is always a safety goal for us, to separate the bus traffic from the vehicle traffic, and to ensure that we have adequate parking on the site. Those are the big kind of site changes, but there are a lot of details that we have discussed that support the wellness of the students, like the walking track and having outdoor learning opportunities, and also the pathways directly, including some gardens.

[00:25:33] There's a greenhouse and opportunity to work outside in some cases. The two blue dots designate the entrance. The one that is further north on the plan is the new main entrance to the building.

[00:25:51] And the one that is a little bit further south associated with the bus loop is really that primary bus entry for drop-off in the morning and dismissal in the afternoon. Maybe.

[00:26:08] I'm sorry. Oh, it's just the property line. Oh, there is a setback that we have to maintain that no building can be in that setback.

[00:26:24] So it's pretty significant on this site. So it's a constant reminder on our plans that we have to, we can't encroach upon that with built. It can be parking, but nothing built. This is our current concept floor plan.

[00:26:43] So the lower portion of the building is that existing building. a kind of angular piece is that addition. The entrance is again marked in the blue dots. The one on the right in this case being that new main entrance and the one on the bottom orienting to that new bus loop. In general, the plan is organized from the main entrance. The orange areas are pretty much a typical high school admin main office with the usual support of

[00:27:18] administration offices, counselor offices, clinic, safety and security, etc. And then as we enter the building, generally the purple spaces are those 15 lab pathway hands-on learning spaces. And the blue are the 10 classrooms that are really general classrooms to support those learning spaces and other continued learning needs. The yellow in the middle of the building is, we think, a really

[00:27:57] special space that is a large multi-purpose space with the pink-red kind of backing to it is the kitchen and the cafeteria that could support large functions. Everything from banquets to lectures to everyday learning for the students. There's a couple of other special places you'll

[00:28:24] see in some other images yes daylight indirect or direct is absolutely a part of every space it's a good question yeah even in the existing building so like those purple the boxes that are kind of floating in the middle they will either benefit from solitude skylights and borrowed light

[00:28:59] from those or a series of interior glass that's borrowing light from the outside so we are pulling in as much daylight as we can even in the existing building for sure this is a preliminary view of the main entrance so again this is that angled piece the addition and this is really just a first pass there have been no decisions made yet on what the building exterior will ultimately look

[00:29:34] like. The existing building is brick. So we do know there will be brick. But this is really showing the massing of the building. It's all one level. We do have some opportunities where we have higher ceilings to create some additional daylighting coming in through clear story windows.

[00:29:55] And you can see on the left side of the image, that is the kind of angled bar where a lot of those new lab spaces would be with the kind of gray box at the very end being automotive with a direct series of roll-up doors into automotive bays. Looking at the other side, which is the face to Marwood Drive, this is depicting the new bus loop that will be created from what is an existing kind of entry circle but we're really working to again to separate that circulation

[00:30:35] and keep the buses in this loop separate from the car traffic so this is showing a canopied area that is that bus entrance and then what you see kind of on the right side are mostly those classrooms in the existing building. And we, if you're looking at the roof, we do hope from a budget perspective to install solar on this project. And we are also looking for a geothermal mechanical solution to support our sustainability goals. This is the view of the back of the

[00:31:14] building um so some of those spaces that could start to become garden and support we've got um again still in development but we've talked about the need for shaded canopy spaces we have a functional need for loading um and kind of deliveries for the building but also to support the supply chain um pathway in particular you can see the back um of the gray portion of automotive and that glassy box of the greenhouse next to horticulture and landscaping and hardscaping

[00:31:51] all in the back area of the building and then just a couple more views kind of similar areas just a little more detail and then this interior view starts to show a couple of I think what we think are special spaces so the one that I had referenced previously is in the center there with those red chairs that are hard to miss which is that multi-purpose space that opens up with a

[00:32:26] movable partition into that cafeteria space that backs to the kitchen and the idea is that that is an area that the students would support hosting events everything from the hospitality aspect to the culinary aspect to even the audio visual setup of a space like this. The other really unique space, and it is a plug for the items for sale in the back of the room again, is there's a little glass box and a desk as you walk in the main entrance on the side. And

[00:33:04] that is developing into two major functions. One is a welcome desk that the students would staff in terms of developing those communication, again, hospitality, entrepreneurship skills, and right behind it is a retail space. So we are thinking that this is something like you would see in an airport, a kind of really glorified kiosk where all of the wonderful things that the students make, again, from baked goods to the 3D printed items to t-shirts to maybe plants, that this is

[00:33:42] an opportunity for them to really flex those maker space and entrepreneurial skills and have that highlighted right when you walk in the building. So we've just given you a lot of information, hopefully. And we'd like to, again, hear from you. So we would ask if you would take about 10 minutes. We've given a piece of paper on each table where we really want to hear

[00:34:14] what additional thoughts could you offer us as we develop the design. Things that you may know as parents, support, caregivers, that are just really important details for us to keep in mind.

[00:34:32] You know, we think architecture, but we want to know every one of our clients as much as we can, and you all are part of that. So if we could take 10 minutes, write your thoughts, because we'd really like to keep those papers. But we will ask again for each table to report out one of their ideas in about 10 minutes. And just as you get started I just want to add with the design of the building one of the things that we were really careful about and tried to make sure we were considering is that we want the entire building to be a learning opportunity for

[00:35:10] the students so we really are being thoughtful about how we're building it to the office space to the size of the clinic to the size of the desk where the person checks folks into the building because we want to make it so that every position in the building can be shadowed by a student so they can learn the job in real time and pick up some of those skills.

[00:35:33] So as you're talking about things you might want to see, just keep that in the back of your mind that we are thoughtfully considering space and size of spaces so that we can have students step in and support roles and learn skills in that capacity as well.

[00:35:45] And that's your, you know, a lot more to come.

[00:46:08] All right. Can we start wrapping up? There's been a lot of discussion. Jenna is making her way to the first table. All right. We're going to come back together. My child next to me. So some of

[00:46:47] this is his. Swimming pool, basketball court. Mine was like a calm down room, like a quiet area if they need it um and then also like a social meeting area like teaching the smarter interactions kind of real time kind of the golden standard so um like an area where they can all be social together instead of it being like in the job setting or classroom setting um i put charging

[00:47:24] stations and then you said you already had the gym so yeah thank you and we have um talked about potential scheduling and one lunch for the whole building so that would be some very open seating and social time for the students or time to take a step away and find something quiet.

[00:47:47] We have a variety of spaces planned for those purposes. I apologize because I came in a little bit late but one thing that I was hoping the layout had and it's more civil than architecture is an area to practice driving, a driver's ed area.

[00:48:07] The other thing, I just toured a college with my oldest daughter, and they had this room where you could go and get help with how to dress for interviews and how to update your LinkedIn profile. Awesome. And just like these very, they even had half of an airplane, and their whole slogan was networking on an airplane is fabulous, and they want you to, like, talk to the person next to you, and maybe that could be a social skills.

[00:48:40] That's awesome. That's great. Great. Fly somewhere? Fun. You said something, and it gave me a thought, but now I don't know. I lost it that quick. Nope, it's not your fault. I lost it before you said something. It'll come back to me. We talked about the teachers and the importance of, like, teacher retention.

[00:49:06] So, like, have we thought about teachers' lounges or instructional space for staff? I saw administrative space, but I didn't know if that also included places where teachers can be supported. And then also, is this space going to be used by students who are not getting standard diplomas?

[00:49:27] Sorry, is it only going to be used for students, sorry, I forgot the only, who are not getting standard diplomas? So that brings me back to your point, because now it clicked, it all happened. Part of what we are planning curriculum-wise is that the students will spend like a half a day in their pathway, but the other half of the day they're going to be taking classes that we probably don't spend enough time on with our students, so we're going to be working on healthy relationships, understanding your body, medication management, all of those kinds of pieces finances budgeting if you're a small business owner what does that look like

[00:50:04] paying taxes you know some of those things but where we can really break them down to a level where the students can take it in and better understand it and we will offer opportunities to students who are working on a standard diploma because it's an iep team decision we can't make a decision to say no so we are looking at how we can group students and scaffold instruction so we make sure that we are offering credit bearing content for our students who need it to achieve that standard diploma and then how we can scaffold that content for our students who are maybe on the applied studies diploma when talking about certifications like small animal animal care

[00:50:42] for example we're going to start by looking at what is the curriculum at the academies and then we're going to scaffold down from it so we're going to start up and work down instead of starting down and working up so that way we are meeting the needs of our students coming in maybe on that standard diploma track and also when we're looking at certifications and credentialing you know maybe a student will come through and get whatever that highest certification is in animal care but perhaps then we have a student who comes out with a credential or certification dog walking because that's where they are and that's what they can achieve but then they can walk dogs in their

[00:51:19] neighborhood and they have it on their resume that they're certified to do that so okay so our comment is we love it we wish it could serve more students any chance we could add a second floor because out of the 10,000 you know

[00:51:47] so as melissa alluded there are some zoning restrictions which limits a little bit how big the building can be and how much of the ground it can cover with a roof the things with a roof count um so i would just say at first we were so overwhelmed i was like how can we possibly have anything to add to how amazing this is but then we thought a little bit more and you know just um

[00:52:22] we started thinking wheelchairs um and just we know that all of our spaces are ada accessible but really making sure that our wheelchairs can actually navigate that we have surfaces that are going up and down to accommodate that the eye gaze stands can like find a place to maneuver because i know that's often very challenging yeah um so then also having visuals on signage like maybe lamp symbols or something like that um maybe health activities like pilates or treadmill

[00:52:56] um also we'll all come join it will be wonderful yeah and then jumping on the idea about the driver's education um to be able to earn a license and also they have that simulator over at wilson workforce that we're thinking like maybe something like that we could have that would might be hard to actually build like a driver's ed course but if we could have like that simulator where students could kind of see if maybe they're ready for a driver's ed experience and then also working on

[00:53:33] how to access and use public transportation those are great so anyway it's amazing and i'll just comment on one um ada is obviously the law and we really are looking at it as our minimum here because we understand that there are additional people and devices and the importance of flexible furniture placement so that all that circulation can happen just as seamlessly as possible and that everything has a place. We often, as we all do, I feel like in our homes,

[00:54:08] you kind of neglect storage. And so it's like, oh yeah, I'll just, you know, shove that over here. But really being purposeful that everything has a place to be stored so that it's not creating obstacles and circulation in a higher level, you know, even than we normally would. So yeah, really important. Hi. Okay. Well, we had convertible areas or labs that can account for change in pathways. So for example, if some pathways fall out of fashion or have new technology, are they easily convertible? Yeah. Also, once a pathway is chosen for the students themselves,

[00:54:46] can it be merged with a complementary pathway? So for example, digital lab with, I think, the space the maker one the maker space one and also can a student easily transition to a different pathway based on preference and or ability is there a security vestibule or security plan within the current design hundred percent we also had sensory areas does the design include elements that offset the potential for sensory triggers such as sound reduction insulation for loud areas or airflow enhancement for areas with potent smells for kids with sensory processing issues.

[00:55:25] And also a location to teach and practice soft skills as well as independent living and other career and life skills. Great comments, thank you. And on that little bitty plan that we had that you probably couldn't read any of the little spaces, we do have an independent living lab in the plan and it will be laid out as a full, like a one-bedroom apartment so the students can kind of get a feel for living in a place of their own and understanding the different components.

[00:55:54] And we're really excited because we spend so much time with the transition team right now. We're also doing that in high schools currently with them. So we're really excited about that. Okay, so our group came up with several, but one of this one's, and maybe it's just me, making sure that there's a variety and plenty of restrooms.

[00:56:19] Some students require single use and need plenty of space in there, and some students are working and learning and can use a multi-stall restroom. So ensuring that there are plenty of those and they are readily available in school. Making sure that students have a locker space so that they could store their belongings so they're not trying to take them all about all day long or perhaps somewhere that they could leave a change of clothes in that school and aren't having to transition back and forth with those every day.

[00:56:44] We noticed on the plan that there's staff parking and parent drop-off, but perhaps marking a space for student parking for those students who are able to drive themselves. And then we did have an idea for perhaps a mock town, and I will hand it over. I was just thinking, in Fairfax County, the police department training academy has a mock town in the basement.

[00:57:08] There's like a bank and a grocery store, and I don't know if there would be space for that, but at least in the classrooms, there could be built-in space, like hospitality could have a front desk built in or something like that. You can convert it to all different kinds of opportunities or situations, but I don't know.

[00:57:28] I could probably show you what the mock town looks like, too, if you need it. Yeah, no, understood. Like, yeah, and there are some plans already brewing about elements within that kind of mock town, like kind of what your daily life is. Yeah. All right.

[00:57:49] So, Jenna, building on what you said about creating opportunities for work experiences even outside of the pathways, One thing we were thinking about was, you know, like out here, we have the security team. So even though we may not really need a security, you know, scanner and the brand that goes around you and whatever.

[00:58:07] But, yes, I mean, for me, you do. When I come visit, you definitely need that. But to let the kids, because like TSA, you know, any of the sports things, these are real jobs that pay real money if they knew how to, you know, scan a body properly or, you know, put things through a scanning picture.

[00:58:27] So that was one idea. Another great idea that came up was a physical therapist who had visited the site thought it might be good to have various surfaces so that for mobility purposes, the students can practice walking on different surfaces and creatively thinking about how, you know, when you're in a work environment, you might come across an uneven surface or something you need to be creative about finding alternatives.

[00:58:54] So there was that. Another great idea was having virtual reality booths that could offer physical introductions to experiences like the supply chain, you know, the picking of things. They can practice picking in the virtual reality booth before they actually maybe go in the community or do something picking of supplies in the school there.

[00:59:18] Then there was an idea about on-site preschool program to have children cycle in and out. for the child care pathway, maybe even an on-site ECSE inclusion class. And then the last thing was, like, in the animal care pathway, but it could be some of these others as well.

[00:59:37] Loudoun County, well, some of these licensures are required by the state, and there's your national certifications. But Loudoun County could also create their own little certifications, like for vet assistant or grooming or kennel care that may not necessarily have big tests that these students are going to have to take, but it still provides them something nice that they can photocopy and take to potential employers and whatever.

[01:00:03] Those are great. Thank you. Really great. I couldn't tell from the diagram. Is there a loading dock in the back? Yes. Okay, so that was my one suggestion.

[01:00:18] So I supervise facilities at my school, so. Awesome.

[01:00:33] What we were really struck by was the way that this facility could be used to interact with the community given safety considerations. And so the story that I told her is I was one of six children and my father used to take the six of us to a school to get our hair cut because it was like $2 per kid. And he was like, great, done, let's do that. And so you have all of these, like even your horticulture group, if they're, you know, they can have a plant sale or like if you're working with HOAs, maybe they're supplying you know there's ways too that i just think this is such an amazing program that you

[01:01:10] would then build community support to be able to expand it and grow it and do it in other places because people would get all these great benefits from it anyway yeah absolutely that's a wonderful comment i'd love to see sensory friendly quiet spaces included throughout the building for students who may need regulation breaks and it would also be great to keep involving students and parents in the design process since they understand their day-to-day needs better than anyone else?

[01:01:48] Sensory room to include a trampoline and a swing.

[01:02:04] And I said, see Ashburn Rec, for example. They did a really good job with their new sensory room. Apollo signs in each learning space for AAC users. Space for movement breaks. So not just like, okay, you take a break, but there actually needs to be a space.

[01:02:22] And that could be with the trampoline, but a lot of kids need movement breaks. Our representative from LCPS here said like a shower or a locker room and then a music room. And I second the acoustics with the appropriate kind of muffling.

[01:02:40] But music therapy would be great to have more of that. And I like the library option. I would love if there was an option where students could eat in the library or somewhere more quiet than just the cafeteria because there's going to be a lot of students that that would be too overwhelming.

[01:02:58] A counseling room, that's staffed. And I added with a box of Legos. So, you know, like it's great that there's somebody employed, but they just want to go sit on the floor and talk to somebody and make some Legos. Lots of fidgets that should go without being stated.

[01:03:17] We had a question mark about whether or not there would need to be toileting space or if that would be an appropriate placement for that sort of need. a staffed nurse and clinic, emphasis on the staff. And again, our LCPS had a great idea of community collaboration, like a presentation room.

[01:03:37] If there were people from the outside that they could come in, like if there was actually a physical space. And then we also second the in-house related service providers, especially like a staffed BCBA or RBT.

[01:03:56] Wonderful. Thank you all for this incredible feedback. Oh, wait. Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to skip it. That's all right. So I'm not sure this, you know, I came in about halfway through your presentation. So you might have said something about this already.

[01:04:13] Is there a plan to connect some of these pathways to what's going on with some of the programs at Northern Virginia Community College? They've got a really great horticulture program, a really great vet tech program, those sorts of things. How much cooperation or tie-in does it make sense there?

[01:04:29] Might be a thought. All things that we have started discussing as we're working our way into curriculum planning. So, yes. Great. Thank you all. This has been wonderful feedback. Again, we are always amazed by the level of detail and insightfulness that we get from speaking with a variety of folks and really appreciate that today.

[01:04:55] So, a couple just concluding next steps. This is kind of what the rest of our design schedule looks like, where we will be continuing to develop the design in a series of deliverables that the transition team and others will be a part of that will be ongoing, literally beginning with a deliverable we received yesterday through the fall, and it's really just looking at all these details of feedback that we've

[01:05:34] received, absorbing everything, looking at ways to implement solutions to the elements that have been identified, and then detailing them for the purpose of construction. We do intend to kind of follow up with the students and the staff in the fall to share this is what we heard and this is how our design has developed to kind of collect any final feedback um and to you know continue that learning opportunity between the students the staff

[01:06:11] and our process our goal is to be in a place where we're putting the project out for bid in the fall maybe late fall um and our to get to a point where we would start construction hopefully in january 27 um so we're pretty busy and we're moving along um and that schedule may adjust a little bit but right now we feel really good about where we are and the process that um will follow and again that's all to get us to an opening in what will be august of 28 which will be here before we all know it.

[01:06:50] Just in conclusion, we really would love to continue to hear input. This QR code is available and referenced to our project webpage that's hosted under Construction Services.

[01:07:06] We have cards on the table with the QR code, so if you want to take a handful and share them with other friends, community members, please do. All that input comes directly to us. We look at every single message we receive.

[01:07:22] And if you've posed a question, we try to answer it. And if you just want to give us a comment, that's wonderful too. We would really love to continue to hear from you. And with that, we are complete. And if there are any questions, we'll kind of hang around at the end.

[01:07:40] But again, we really appreciate the time. And look forward to more feedback in the future. Thank you. Thank you so much.

[01:07:55] You know, we really, really, really appreciate the thoughtfulness and the amount of planning, collaboration, discussions, even still ongoing that we're going to be putting it out there for everyone to give feedback.

[01:08:11] So please do anybody else just spread it out there because this is the opportunity to make these changes as we're starting to build. So I appreciate that. So we're going to go ahead and take a five minute break and then we'll come back for our business portion of our meeting today.

[01:17:12] Okay, everybody, let's go ahead and get started again.

[01:18:37] Thank you. If you haven't had a chance to sign in, can you please scan the QR code real quick?

[01:19:05] here's our agenda okay y'all last meeting i'm not going to go through all of this okay i will introduce myself i'm shanoz khan i'm the sea act chair and we have um katherine moran our sea act vice chair of planning tom ketchum our sea act vice chair of membership we have liz karate our sea act past chair aaron rizalpo our sea act vice chair of communications and then Nakia Purnell disappeared, but she is our SEAC liaison.

[01:19:43] And we have Carrie LaBelle, our SEAC school board liaison. Okay, and now I want to take a moment to admit the virtual attendees. Do we have a motion? Oh, Katie Rosenbrook, our secretary.

[01:20:05] I'm so sorry. And there's Katie over here. I was like, I looked over here, and then I was like, okay, sorry. it's been moved and then do I have a second thank you all those in favor say aye any opposed any abstaining welcome to our virtual attendees do I know okay did anyone have a chance to review the April meeting minutes I sent via email

[01:20:40] if so do you guys have any corrections or look good okay we're gonna go ahead with those in. Public comment. Okay, SEAC uses a public comment to inform our work and to advise the school board of our needs. We do ask that the comments focus on system-wide issues rather than individual students or staff. You can share your thoughts by giving a verbal comment up to three minutes or by submitting your comment in writing to be read by the SEAC chair. And please remember

[01:21:18] to follow up with our CX secretary with the written comment, so it's part of the record. We do have actually two public comments. The one is in person and one I will read. Talia.

[01:21:46] Hi, everyone. I'm here tonight as a parent of a special needs student at Stonebridge High School, and I'm speaking not just for myself, but for many families who are deeply alarmed by what is happening to special education in our school. When I first came to Stonebridge, my first impression was honestly heartbreaking. During open house, our special education students were separated from their typical peers and placed in what felt like the basement of the school, an isolated space that looked more like a large janitor's closet than a place where students

[01:22:20] should feel welcomed, valued, and included. Their Chromebooks were not there. They were physically separated from general education students, and as a parent, the message felt clear. Our children were being placed apart. As the mother of a child with disabilities, that moment stays with you.

[01:22:39] My son is here with me tonight. He has level one autism with a mild to moderate intellectual disability diagnosis, with the intellectual disability being the leading diagnosis in his case. Believe it or not, his profile is actually quite rare, and the reason he functions as well as he does today is because of significant, intensive early intervention and because of extraordinary educators who believed in him early. This is why I have not stood at this podium in literally in years. This is because after that difficult first impression, I met the special

[01:23:15] education case managers, teachers, and support staff at Stonebridge, and they changed everything. They knew my child. They protected him. They advocated for him. They understood his communication needs, his triggers, his learning style, and how to implement his IEP in ways that actually helped him succeed they gave me peace they made me believe all will be well and for a while it was but now we are watching those very people the experienced experienced trusted special education case managers teachers and support staff the people who carried our children protected them

[01:23:54] and helped them succeed leave in large numbers these are not ordinary departures they are these These are educators who have built years of trust with families, many recognized right here through SEAC awards, and many whom parents specifically rely on because they know our children personally.

[01:24:14] For students with disabilities, consistency is not optional, it's critical. When you remove the professionals who understand our children's emotional regulation, behavioral supports, academic needs, social challenges, and transition planning, you are not just creating staffing gaps, you are creating real academic, emotional, and developmental harm.

[01:24:34] Parents are hearing directly that these departures are being driven by leadership and administrative failures within the school environment. When an entire department begins to collapse at once, that is not coincidence. That is a system failure.

[01:24:49] This is not about routine turnover. This is not about budget lines. This is about vulnerable students losing stability, safety, and support. Families are losing trust, staff morale is collapsing, and students are the ones paying the price.

[01:25:04] We need immediate action, not another delayed review. We are asking for a formal investigation into the leadership and administrative environment at Stonebridge High School and its role in this mass special education staff exodus. Immediate intervention to stabilize the special education department before further damage occurs, a real retention strategy focused on keeping experienced, high-performing staff, especially those trusted by families and recognized for excellence.

[01:25:34] Leadership accountability where necessary, including administrative changes if that is what it takes to protect students. Transparent communication with families about what is happening and how continuity of services will be protected. Parents are paying attention.

[01:25:50] We are organized and we will continue escalating until our children are protected. Our goal is not conflict, it is accountability. Our children cannot advocate for themselves at this level. That is our job. And tonight I'm asking this board, the school board, not really you, but to do yours.

[01:26:07] because special education students are not expendable. Their teachers are not expendable and their futures are not negotiable. Thank you. Thank you.

[01:26:25] And I'm gonna go ahead and read the second one that came to me. I would like to address an important aspect regarding how our community-based programs recognize and celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week. Due to the nature of our staff's work offsite at various locations, they are often unable to participate in traditional on-campus celebrations this presents not only logistical challenges but also risks overlooking the significant sacrifices and dedication of these exceptional educators and job coaches our work requires constant

[01:27:02] commitment many hours are dedicated to supporting our students often without the opportunity opportunity for breaks or participation in typical appreciation events held within the school buildings recognizing appreciation solely within the physical school environment inadvertently excludes those who work outside its walls, our mobile teachers and job coaches, who serve as vital support systems for students at their most vulnerable moments.

[01:27:31] I encourage us to reconsider and adapt our approach to recognition. Let us develop strategies that truly acknowledge the efforts of all staff where they are, in both hearts and in action. It is essential that every educator, especially those working tirelessly to help our students transition into the community, feel seen, valued, and appreciated.

[01:28:00] Their unwavering dedication warrants our full acknowledgement and sincere gratitude. Thank you for all those who made public comment.

[01:28:20] And now we will move on to our updates. First with Leanne Kidwell from Family Resource Services.

[01:28:39] slides in here perfect good evening everyone a couple of people asked me I didn't think you were gonna be here tonight but I am because we have a workshop two workshops coming up and I just wanted to highlight them it's new for this year but I think that they're gonna be repeated next year on multiple times so it's you care for you care for families and there's gonna be two different sessions in-person sessions the first one is Wednesday May 27th from

[01:29:13] six to eight here at the admin building or the same session repeated Tuesday June 2nd from 12 to 2:00 so when you go into registration it will ask you if you want the evening or if you want during the day so they're both the same session both in person both here so that is our last workshop for the year and if you need me this

[01:29:39] is how to find me and now we have nikia pernell miss nikia special education director good evening guys i don't have a lot of updates tonight but i have the update you always want to know

[01:30:04] what happened I swear oh my gosh I swear see that's why because we hit 10,900 students we've been I know I broke it I broke the computer so officially as of today 10,900 students were on our way to 11,000 we said we would get to 11,000 by the end of the year we have 348 in initial eligibility. Craig is here now. I know that you know you're supposed to have out your calculator

[01:30:42] which is 85 percent of 348. If we add that to 10,900 we're going to hit 11,000 students before the end of the school year. So we are really working hard. Again lots of happenings. We don't have as many updates as we had the last time. We are kind of in end of year planning. So lots of staff in conversations lots of profile of a learner conversations really calibrating our program students so that they have peers that are of like cognitive ability behavioral abilities skill knowledge so that our teachers are

[01:31:20] having a better instructional environment and our students are having better social environments to engage with one another in so having those conversations we've been presenting with all of our friends across the division our principals at all levels our partners in the department of school leadership and so we're just having a lot of internal meetings to start that proactive planning for FY27 no major updates but very excited because all of our SEAC award planning is underway so we have the inside scoop on that so we're spending lots of time working on that and getting those announcements out so those are

[01:31:58] really exciting times for the schools because when those acknowledgements come out it is really a bit of a competition I do know when I was the supervisor of the independence cluster I was very proud when we had the most nominations so it does turn into a little bit of a competition so we love SEAC awards season and end of school year planning I do think we are at 25 days left looking at a teacher the teachers usually know yeah they were tracking I think okay so

[01:32:29] 30 we were at 30 days left on monday so maybe i went too far we have about 27 days left of school so the countdown is on it is almost june can you believe it yes so we're that much closer to the opening of view transition center very very very exciting and thank you guys for participating we will be utilizing your feedback in the final planning stages um for view transition academy

[01:32:58] thank you who's next there you go Carrie LaBelle good evening and thank you for having me here again I want you to know if you want to know how many days are left in the school year you need to ask a high school senior that's the secret

[01:33:35] not a teacher they're trying to pull it together I'm I'm really impressed by all the things that we talked about and heard about today for the new view transition center I think it's going to be an incredible program and I can't wait to see it start so that's the first thing that I wanted to say I also still have some concerns about the new SOL regulations that are going to be going into effect raising the SOL pass rates and the ability of our students to be

[01:34:14] able to reach it those that were just barely making it now might find it a little bit more so if you have a voice about that if you want to say something about that you need to contact the Virginia Department of Education because we're on the same page here I think but let them know what your opinions are you write letters to me all the time write letters to them too so that that's That's pretty much what I have to say.

[01:34:43] We are looking forward to the celebration coming up for the SEAC awards and it's going to be a spectacular night. It always is. So please make sure you come. Thank you.

[01:35:01] Okay. And then we're going to move on to our did you know. All right. So this is my last did you know.

[01:35:19] Did you know that effective IEP meetings are built through partnership? I know you guys all know that. This is just our general reminder. Under IDEA, IEP meetings are intended to be collaborative, student-centered, and data-driven. The strongest meetings happen when both school teams and families come prepared and ready to the table.

[01:35:40] What could this look like in practice? For families, it's important that we review the materials in advance and write down questions or concerns, share our child's strengths, share needs, priorities from our home and community, Ask for clarification when something is unclear.

[01:36:00] Sometimes alphabet soup can get confusing for all of us. Ask. Ask the questions. Advocate for what will help your child succeed now and in the long term. For school teams, sharing draft IEP components ahead of time, and these are all things that we do currently.

[01:36:17] These are all our best practices that we use within LCPS. Use objective data to guide recommendations. space for family input and questions throughout the meeting and keeping the focus on the student outcomes and independence. Some shared responsibilities that we carry are keeping the student at the center of all decisions, focus on data and lived experience, work toward clear, measurable, meaningful goals, and maintain a respectful solution-oriented tone even during disagreement. IEP meetings are most effective when they are completed in partnership. Preparation on

[01:36:57] both sides leads to clear plans, stronger trust, and better outcomes for students, which is our goal across the board. Thank you. Okay, now we're going to move on to membership. Tom? So we are currently static with the number of PTO-PTA reps, which is a lot better than where we started the year at. We still have to close the gap on the rest of those. There will be, for anyone either

[01:37:33] present or listening online, an email going out just confirming the representation for next year since we're already at the end of the school year and some of those people I know will want to roll off. But at this point, all principals have at least responded with an indication that they are searching for a representative if they don't have one currently.

[01:37:52] And we are currently at 21 voting members for SEAC, so we are full on that regard as well. But still, if you are interested, you can go on our website and take a look at our application and the criteria and feel free to apply because as we have members sometimes roll off we do take a look at the applications and select the next one in in the queue did you want to talk about GAC or any did you have any other yeah so updates on the others equity council meets tomorrow so we haven't met since last time GAC will

[01:38:29] be meeting on May 14th I know it will be in the CAC talking points that you get as well. That presentation is actually going to be on Twice Exceptional Learners. It is a virtual meeting, so that link will be going out along with the SEAC talking points for anybody who wants to sign up to join that conversation as well.

[01:38:54] Okay. So we are going to have our executive committee meeting in person right after this meeting ends over at Clyde, so you're welcome to join us. We are looking into when we're going to schedule our next policy and compliance subcommittee because we did receive two additional policies. It may be in the summer. We will have to take a look at that and see where our schedules

[01:39:21] lie on that one. Okay. We have our, well, nominating committee. We're multi-tasking committee.

[01:39:43] Good evening, everyone. So as you will recall, Carla and I went over our proposed slate for next year's officers for SEAC.

[01:40:02] We also encouraged anyone who had any interest in any of these positions to please let us know or be thinking about whether you would like to throw your name into the mix. um so at this time we are um open to hearing a motion to accept the slate but then at that point after we do a motion then if you would like to have your um name added to consideration

[01:40:37] then we can you know have a good old-fashioned vote on each position um so do i hear a motion Thank you, Jen. Is there a second? Okay, I've got a couple seconds, so we're good. Now we will open it up for discussion.

[01:40:58] Would anybody like to add their name into the mix? Oh, we could. Do we have a slide where we put it on? No? Okay. we know we know okay to to um just so everyone knows what they're voting on we have aaron rizalpo as chair we've got tom ketchum continuing on as our seac vice chair

[01:41:33] of membership we've got laura colossi as our vice chair of planning and we have marcia kelly as our vice chair of communications and Katie Rosenbrook as our SEAC secretary all right now is there anyone else all right well then yeah don't don't all I mean well at this point then I think we can go ahead and vote on the motion to accept our slate as

[01:42:12] proposed um all in favor please raise your hand up oh we do we haven't done our roll car yet thank you tom all right let's make sure we have quorum uh carrie adams here elizabeth crotty here jen jenna d donato sorry uh marcia kelly uh tom ketchum present shanaaz khan here rosina

[01:42:43] katak uh laura colossi mary mcclintock uh alicia mcfadden craig metz steven meyer

[01:42:59] Catherine Moran, Kelly Ralston, Erin Rizal-Poe, Catherine Rosenbrook, Carly Sabatino, Carla Sola, Sharon Trompf, Melissa Wah, and Sakina Zarbouche.

[01:43:28] All right, since we have established quorum, all in favor of accepting the slate, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. Aye. All opposed? Nay. And any abstentions?

[01:43:45] All right. Moving over to our remote users. Sharon Trof? Aye. Carrie Adams? Aye. And Sakina Zarbush? Aye. And Carly Sabatino?

[01:44:02] Is she one of those? Aye. Okay. All right. Excellent. All right. Well, congratulations, guys. Yay. So we will be going through the transition after the SEAC Awards.

[01:44:20] So you can still feel free to continue to harass Ms. Shannas. Until then. That's an opportunity, right? All right. Thank you all. Thank you. So I want to personally congratulate all of our members who were elected today.

[01:44:42] I mean, seriously, you've got now Laura on the EC, so guaranteed treats. So there you go. I also wanted to take this opportunity to say that I really enjoyed my time here as SEAC chair. I think that I really appreciate all of our collaboration with our LCPS admin, our LCPS staff, and I don't just say that lightly.

[01:45:09] I mean, we've been through many, many years of difficult situations. We still have very hard conversations, but the willingness for everyone to come together and to talk and to listen through the issues, I really, really appreciate each and every one of those who have worked with us.

[01:45:29] So thank you all. Thank you to Katie, Catherine, Tom, and Aaron, and Liz, you know, for supporting me and helping me through this whole year. I think everybody took their role very seriously, and, you know, we make a great team, and I can see that the new members coming on, new executive committee, same thing.

[01:45:52] I think it's a great team, so we really look forward to the next year. And with that, Liz, you might as well just come back up. I think I agree, yeah. Laura's been really a major component of our SEAC awards this year, so.

[01:46:12] Yeah, so we have our SEAC awards. Everyone should be there. It's the best party ever, okay? June 3rd, 6.30 p.m. at Light Ridge High School. I did send out a sign of Genius, so if you want to, well, everyone should be there to volunteer, the CF members.

[01:46:29] But also, if you want to help donate or whatever, towards the trophies or anything like that, right? And then also a fun announcement. We're probably, right, going to have the cast members sell their little 3D printed thing there, So that's going to be fun.

[01:46:46] Good reason to show up. Yeah, for the trophies, once we place the order, which will be happening in the next couple of weeks probably, then we'll have the actual order number that we can share out that you can just call Crown Trophy and say, I want to credit $200 to this account.

[01:47:10] And they'll happily go ahead and do that. So it'll just take a little bit of time for us to get that order number. But then we will distribute it to any interested parties. Everybody must attend.

[01:47:28] Did we say that? It's mandatory. It's mandatory attendance. I will find all of you. I just wanted to ask the sign-up genius. How do I get a link to that?

[01:47:45] Because Hutchison Farm was interested in contributing. So we never got a link to that yet. and we will make sure you get it yeah thank you oh look at that we've got a post-it note that came from the post-it note holders how convenient oh the the list of winners is going out and we can also send out the we what we did is we sent out the sign up genius to all of our CAC members as well as the PTA PTO reps but if there are is there anyone else who would like access to it we

[01:48:24] are more than happy to share the link so thank you so much that was a great question yeah and the list of winners is going to go out here pretty soon hopefully by the end of the week maybe maybe soon soon just keep an eye out for it thank you yeah the sign up genius yeah the link

[01:48:56] is shareable yeah so you could you can share it as widely as you would like i i don't know if we want it on our website though just because i mean i'm not saying that tons of people come to our website but you know yeah let's share it within our communities of trust okay okay um subcommittee reports i know that i didn't put any dates because i think everybody wrapped up the subcommittees

[01:49:30] um this month i do ask that each of the co-chairs of the subcommittees please uh i requested that you type up kind of a summary of this year and I'll send you a template of exactly what we're looking for like and some of the stuff that you've been working on so that we can include that in our annual report next year so we'll begin with meaningful inclusion yeah no so we're going to continue on with the video project is kind of the primary thing we're doing right now obviously

[01:50:07] we've done a few other things earlier this year that will be included in that report and we'll schedule that kind of as early as we can starting the coming school year. Okay, so we wrapped up our last subcommittee meeting beginning of April. Yeah.

[01:50:32] A lot of the similar conversations we've had the entire year, we've talked about the VALs, the SPIRE, the utilization of those matrices that Kim and Margaret have put together so beautifully. One thing I do want to highlight is we have continued to have that ongoing conversation about how our program classes are really starting to work within their CIFs and their teams to utilize more of our interventions and then also tying that into core curriculum.

[01:51:04] One thing that I know I would like to see the conversation continue into next year would be writing intervention. It is a big need, and we sort of started tapping into that at our last subcommittee meeting. So all in all, I thought we had a really productive year.

[01:51:26] And Stephen and Rosina?

[01:51:39] So I'm the SEAC rep to CTAC, which is the CTE advisory committee to the school board. And a number of us have been discussing there the possibility of starting a CTE camp in the summer for next summer that would be for students with IEPs largely who are advancing towards a standard diploma.

[01:52:09] In our last meeting, Dr. Grubbs, who runs the expansion program of CTE programs, came forward and said that he was considering Perkins grants, which are federal grants for CTE programs, that LCPS was probably going to apply for them this summer in August.

[01:52:34] And the program that we had been discussing for summer camp for these students fits the bill because special education is one of the categories required for Perkins Grants. So that's good news.

[01:52:51] And I think as a result of Dr. Grubb's interest in the Perkins Grants, this is being fast-tracked so that there's a meeting, first meeting next week will occur. And then I expect that there will be enough substance so that they can write a proposal for the August submission.

[01:53:15] So that's great news, and I'll keep you updated. Yesterday at the transition meeting, we discussed this. It was a very useful meeting in terms of what are the nuts and bolts that are required for such a program. I had more information.

[01:53:34] I just have a few things that actually I'm throwing out to everyone. We also discussed CII and the lack of consistency amongst all the schools and CII opportunities. They vary, as many parents can tell you. When CII should begin as an elementary school versus middle school because it already exists in high schools.

[01:53:56] And then Jenna mentioned welcoming feedback on new student-led enterprise models that also could be CII opportunities. So I think we would all appreciate, if anyone has any feedback, to send that to Shanaz. Thank you. We're going to quickly move Aaron on to the email as soon as possible.

[01:54:21] Hey, you still find me wherever I am. Okay, now we get to move on to our policies. So, Craig? Hello, everyone.

[01:54:45] the policy subcommittee met and we went over these two policies home instruction which is the homeschooling policy and individuals who may be admitted free which and for these two policies we didn't have anything that we thought was relevant to our community of interest to give feedback on does anyone have any other input onto these if we do not could we have a motion that adopt that we have no recommendations for these two policies. Second. Moved and seconded. There a motion to adopt the recommendation that we have no recommendations for these policies. Is there any

[01:55:24] further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. And are there any abstentions? Carrie Adams? Aye. Sharon Trove? Aye. Sabrina? Aye.

[01:55:48] I'm sorry that's okay thank you and Carly Sabatino I motion passes unanimously sorry allergy season the next policy policy 8425 student-athlete extreme heat and protection and I believe this is a new policy to deal with this issue and and so we had some concerns because this was not really written with special education students in mind so we wanted to add the bits to help recognize the unique needs of students with disabilities. For example,

[01:56:26] the student may have communications needs and that the student might not themselves be able to recognize that there's a problem in the way that a neurotypical student might. And so they may not be able to self-advocate in that moment the way that a different non-disabled student might. And so we wanted to just make sure that there were some things in the policy that would cause some things to go into staff training to help make sure that the staff who might be dealing with such situations are aware of the special needs of just students with disabilities and so the recommendation is under the staff

[01:57:06] training to add this language here just asking that this when we train staff on this policy about heat protection safety that we add some things about communication and about self-advocacy and recognition self-recognition needs for students with disabilities. My hope for this one is this is pretty straightforward. Is there any discussion or if not, could we entertain a motion?

[01:57:32] Absolutely. Just technically yes, but... Yes, sometimes. Listen, it sounds selective. So question on this because I agree I think it's a great idea there, but with different, is there something we can do broadly or does it need to be specific, right, like per that student, right? Like if you're training someone who's maybe

[01:58:09] the football coach, right, and you have somebody, like I would think we sure want broader training, but I think we would want that specific, right, like those specific coaches to know for those specific students who are on that team. Is that something we're considering adding in here? So what you're describing would go into the IEP under supports for staff.

[01:58:29] Oh, it does? There's a section for that. Hopefully your IEP team is using that, right? Well, my kids aren't old enough to need that. But that would need to be something determined by the team and put in the IEP. Okay. But we are talking, there's still kind of that 30,000-foot view of here are the things you might want to think about.

[01:58:51] And because there will be staff training for this policy anyway, the thought was is that we should at least just make sure that there's a little bit of a wedge in that training module to cover the needs of students with disabilities to make sure that everybody at least has that broad stroke, here's some things you should think about.

[01:59:08] If there's something that needs to be very specific to a specific student's needs, that would go back into the IEP of that student. Sounds good. Ms. LaBelle. Thank you. I was one of the people that worked on this during our discussion in committee.

[01:59:29] I think that what you're probably going to be better off asking for as part of the training, Obviously, we're not going to put all the training stuff here. I think it's also not just the coaches and the assistant coaches, but your athletic trainers. And I think at some point in this process, you need to make sure that a child that has a disability is identified and that that information is what goes to the coaches, the assistant coaches, and the athletic trainers.

[02:00:02] And at that point, they could also be provided with if you need to know more about communication or you need to know more about health issues. I think that's where it'll fit in. But don't forget that a lot of times it's the athletic trainers that are working and taking care of kids with the health issues as well.

[02:00:20] Is there any further discussion? I'm new, so if this is outside the parameters of what's possible, that's my excuse.

[02:00:42] but I'm just thinking could it be expanded to the training to gym teachers because I mean is the policy already written and because they really are going to see the most kids that would have issues communicating you know their their needs with respect to physical activity I think the way the policy is written that this is a training being given to all such staff and so if it gets put in here as this shall be part of the training and it's given to all such staff that that that

[02:01:19] will happen so I think that's broader than that already I think it's a superset of that doesn't it does include gym teachers then or do we know you were you were nodding so with regard to the conversation we're having gym teachers are already required as teachers who serve students with disabilities to be informed about any of the needs that they have so you're thinking a school-based team everyone on that student's team is required to review the iep any health care plans all of

[02:01:57] those things because they are members of the school community sometimes our coaches and coaching staff don't also work in the school so this is a subset of that community that also works with students so we're getting into school-based staff and some of these staff aren't school-based staff so wouldn't be trained in the same way so i you know it's two two separate groups of staff i guess is what i would say so your school-based staff are already receiving these trainings and i think this policy is to ensure that the coaches are also receiving the information that regular pe teachers would

[02:02:36] have already received during the school year okay thank you for that clarification is there any further discussion or is it time to make a motion? I'll make a motion to adopt recommendations on policy 8425. Moved and seconded. The motion is to adopt the recommendations to policy 8425. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all

[02:03:13] those in favor please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. Opposed nay. Are there any abstentions? Carrie Adams? Aye. There's one name, well I know there's one name that's that's not carly sabatino i sharon troff aye sakina i motion passes unanimously the next policy is policy 6640 which has to do with emergency first aid cpr aed and diabetes training

[02:03:52] there's a phrase that's used in this policy during regular school hours and that appears to limit some of when some of the supports that are required by this training would be available and we were concerned by that at the very least when there are school sponsored activities that are happening outside of the regular school hours when students would be present we would want those supports to potentially life-saving supports to be available for this one I think that we were just expressing this as a

[02:04:30] concern rather than making a specific wording recommendation if is there any discussion on this one or should we okay where the microphones go what's what's a What defines a school-sponsored event or activity?

[02:04:57] When we were looking at this one, yeah, that's a hairy question. Luckily, there is some guidance from the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights with regards to things like accommodations and students with disabilities. But that's part of why we don't have a specific wording recommendation on this one because that is a little hairy and probably needs to be developed a little bit by, frankly, by attorneys.

[02:05:20] So we didn't want to lose the message for the wording on this one. I just was going to add, yeah, because when we talked about this in committee, does that apply to being on the school bus or, you know, during field trips? And how wide or how narrow do you make that?

[02:05:37] And it could get very, as Craig said, very hairy with the wording. Right. Could you please? This has come up at our school for PTA-sponsored events. So they're in the school building, but they happen after school hours.

[02:05:55] And so we don't have access to the nurses' supplies. So that's why we raised the concern without trying to figure out the wording, because that's going to get complicated. There is a little bit of further discussion required on this one. I think we kind of know what we want, but I think a little bit of discussion and development on how we implement it remains.

[02:06:14] Is the idea, though, that it would be part of, I know, it's like who's talking, that it would be required during PTO and PTA? Because I agree, I want things supplied. But as someone who is on multiple PTO boards, we also don't want to create huge barriers that would then just, the PTO, right?

[02:06:36] Like, we all have other things that we're doing, right? Like, we don't want to then just take away all of the activities that are great for community building and all that because they couldn't do these extra requirements. This slide doesn't capture all the context. And I think maybe giving you a little bit more context, and this just kind of reinforces the why we didn't go into specific wording.

[02:06:56] because this policy doesn't merely talk about things like devices it actually also talks about the need for there to be people who have specific training and that's that makes it even more complicated for exactly that reason now if you think there was a requirement that two people who have some of this training are there in order and yeah that gets hairy so this is a little bit above what we can just put it on one sentence recommendation and resolve there

[02:07:24] are definitely higher level discussions and that is why there's no recommendation i'll make a motion to adopt the concern concern on policy 6640 moved and seconded the rec there's a motion to adopt the concern on policy 6640 is there any further discussion hearing none all those in

[02:08:01] favor please raise your hand and say aye opposed nay are there any abstentions kerry adams aye Carly Sabatino? Aye.

[02:08:17] Jiren Trof? Aye. Sakina? Aye. Motion passes unanimously. The next one is Policy 8250, Bullying Prevention and Education. Over the years, CIEC has received a lot of reports about bullying concerned with special education.

[02:08:40] This is an issue that seems to keep coming up, and it is an issue that's recognized by the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights as an issue that can deny a student the right to a free, appropriate public education. So this is a big deal issue.

[02:08:58] The current policy does not clearly explain the connection between a bullying investigation that's being done by LCPS as part of its bullying policy and the school's responsibility to also be reviewing the situation to make sure that civil rights laws and special education laws are being followed and the student is receiving faith.

[02:09:21] There was wording, it was right from the OCR guidance. A student's IEP or Section 504 team should be convened when there are signs that bullying has affected the student's academic performance, behavior, attendance, emotional well-being, or ability to access their students or supports.

[02:09:42] And we have received a number of reports over the years that this is not often happening. So our recommendation is to add to this policy this wording here, and it's straight from the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights' dear colleague letter, as best practice guidance of what school systems should be doing.

[02:10:06] So we're simply asking to put that guidance into policy. Is there any discussion on this issue? I'll make a motion to adopt the recommendations for policy 8250.

[02:10:23] Moved and seconded. The motion was to adopt the recommendation for Policy 8250. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Are there any abstentions? Carrie Adams? Aye. Carly Sabatino? Aye. Sharon Trofe? Aye. Sakina? Aye.

[02:11:00] One more. Policy 8210, Student Discipline. This is another area that SEAC has received a number of reports over the years and this has been a priority for SEAC for a number of years. So we do have a few things for this one.

[02:11:18] The first concern is that there's this phrase, other student misconduct, and that's just very broad and subjective. And for that one, we've received reports over the years that when anything related to behavior and discipline is broad and subjective, then what we end up with is very inconsistent implementation school to school.

[02:11:44] And so the suggestion or the recommendation is to remove those lines and end up with more clear, consistent language in this policy. The second concern is that discipline going through the student discipline system still has to follow the IDEA Section 504 and any applicable student's IEP and 504 plan.

[02:12:13] We have received a number of reports over the years that, for example, a school-level administrator who is applying discipline through the school discipline policy pretty much just disregards the IEP and says, I have the authority to do this, so I'm going to choose to do this.

[02:12:31] And where there is an IEP and if it specifically addresses it, you need to follow the IEP. same with a 504 plan. So without this clarification, this policy may appear to apply the same process to all students even when that student's IEP or that student's 504 plan means that the team has determined that their LCPS is obligated to follow a slightly modified policy or a modified procedure for that situation. So the recommendation is to make the changes that are recommended here subject to the limitations and considerations such as those under the IDEA in Section 504.

[02:13:12] The third one is, over the years, we've talked about the word discipline. And in general, I think we've been suggesting moving away from that terminology because it also represents a mindset.

[02:13:28] It's kind of a crime and punishment mindset. On the school board level, a prior chair renamed the Discipline Committee to the Student Behavior and Accountability Committee, which is a, that's more than just a name, too, that's trying to affect a mindset shift.

[02:13:45] But it's hard sometimes, because that mindset remains very pervasive sometimes. And when we were reading this policy, just at a high level, the policy still seemed to have that kind of old-fashioned crime and punishment mindset.

[02:14:02] And we were actually a little concerned more, because when we were looking at the red lines in this policy, compared with its predecessor, it felt like we were going a little bit in the wrong direction. there's a little more punitive than the prior policy and I don't think that was anybody I hope that wasn't anyone's intent that's just the way the wording worked out so the recommendation for this one rather than say change this line change this line is this probably needs a little bit of a work session with community input CIAC and MSAC in particular and just look at how can we more comprehensively revise the policy and change that tone I don't think

[02:14:40] that's anyone's intention that it be that way but we just felt that the whole policy felt that way. So are you recommending that I pull that from the agenda when it comes up? Okay. And it may not end up changing a lot of the substance, but we definitely felt like just that was the approach. And someone who reads that might still feel like that's the approach that the board wants them to take. And I don't believe that that's the case anymore. I think one thing that we do need to remember when we make some of these recommendations, that they apply to all

[02:15:17] students in our school system not just specifically special ed so we have to make sure that it's looking at the entire picture and that is why the thought of maybe a broader work session with a number of stakeholders because there's a balancing that has to be made so I know that was a lot for this one it's been a significant issue for years is there any discussion or should we

[02:15:48] move on to making a motion absolutely thought you were coming in hot so here we're talking about more than just renaming like the renaming that we were doing of the committee we're talking about really looking at the entire thing and changing more than just right like i guess instead of renaming it student discipline to something else we're really talking about all

[02:16:19] the words throughout it is that the intent here you know i think the mindset was we this was one of the things we did in student services is where we sat down and we took a look at the entire policy broke it down. I think we know that our students, the data shows how students with disabilities are disproportionately disciplined. We have a really huge stake in this policy. I think MSAC would like to come probably and sit and talk about it. It would be something where I think that this is one of those policies to sit and break it down. It's a lot. It's

[02:16:59] a bunch of pages here so but i think it is beneficial that we sit as a community members and and discuss it and at the end of our subcommittee i do believe liz offered you know she volunteered to for this work session so we're set you know if we need any so all comments go to the past go to liz now yeah which will be you in a month in a no-win situation today but also and you've heard several times now the recommendation of setting up a work session and

[02:17:36] it's this idea that a revision is needed and it should be a collaborative process we kind of know what we want but I think putting everyone together and getting everyone on the same page is also a really helpful way to go about it so I'll make a motion to adopt the recommendations for policy 82. Moved and seconded. The motion is to adopt the recommendations for policy 82.10.

[02:18:12] Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. And are there any abstentions? Carrie Adams? Aye. Carly Sabatino? Aye. Sharon Troff? Aye. Sakina? Aye. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you all. Just for the record, we are making

[02:18:50] it out of here before 8 30 on our last meeting so thank you all so much oh we just we wanted to thank you so much for this last year and it's really not just us last year it's the years and years of service you have given to the SEAC the basement bedrooms that you've opened up to provide housing, the support and event funding, the amazing insight, the storage,

[02:19:27] so much storage, and the amazing insight you give to the policy subcommittee, as well as all of the other meaningful inclusions. We've done so many things that we could not have done without you, so I wanted to make sure that we didn't let this go unnoticed, so thank you so much.

[02:19:42] Thank you all so much, and with that, I will adjourn this meeting, so take care.

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